Wizard: I Can Refine Everything

Chapter 356: Chapter 72: A Chance Encounter with the Pyramid

In the wilderness, a Magic Support Vehicle recklessly sped through the open fields.

Richard leisurely steered the Magic Support Vehicle, humming a tuneless ditty to himself.

Not long ago, he had nearly effortlessly conquered Three Wolves Town using the linking function of the Nightmare Artifact. Under the forceful link of the Black Pyramid, the Power of Nightmare from those creatures was siphoned completely by Richard, turning them directly into Nightmare Spirits. Those protected by the Dream Rules were also blasted into pieces by Richard’s Spells.

The few survivors had just happened to take refuge in Seeker’s Tavern.

This battle brought Richard nearly 1.5 million units of the Power of Nightmare. The only pity was that once these creatures died, their Dream Rules vanished immediately. Even with the Miracle Furnace, Richard acquired not a bit of the Dream Rules.

This frustrated Richard for a while.

The Power of Nightmare obtained from Three Wolves Town, combined with what Richard had previously accumulated, was now sufficient to replenish his spiritual power to the limit of a Second Ring Wizard.

However, although he had enough Power of Nightmare, refining it all became an issue.

With Richard’s current quality of spiritual power, the consumption for refining a strand of the Power of Nightmare had decreased from the original 0.01 spiritual power to 0.005 spiritual power.

But to refine over two million units of the Power of Nightmare, he still needed about ten thousand units of spiritual power.

And for Richard to fully recover his spiritual power required eight hours of deep sleep; based on his current one hundred units of spiritual power, he would need to sleep continuously for around forty days to refine all the Power of Nightmare.

Of course, the actual duration would be much shorter as he would certainly refine while enhancing his spiritual power.

However, it was undeniable that this was somewhat a monotonous task.

Advancing to Three Rings wasn’t something Richard was particularly anxious about. His level of knowledge, while making him a master among One Ring Wizards, only made him an ordinary wizard among Second Ring Wizards, possessing just a bit more Magic Essence than his peers.

As for Three Rings Wizards… there probably had never been a Three Rings Wizard as inadequate as Richard in the history of the Wizard World.

So Richard wasn’t particularly in a rush to refine the Power of Nightmare.

Each day he only spent half of his spiritual power as fuel for the Miracle Furnace, and he used the remaining half for daily activities.

He was currently following a map to locate a new Lawless Land.

His plan was to gradually take over the Lawless Lands marked on the map one by one.

Of course, Richard wouldn’t treat the remaining Lawless Lands with the same brutality as he did Three Wolves Town.

That would be too conspicuous.

He planned to secretly devour a part of them and then leave quietly, heading to the next Lawless Land.

Richard calculated that in about ten years, he could visit all the Lawless Lands within this ring.

Then, he would move toward the outer ring of the Nightmare Ring.

After devouring enough Power of Nightmare in the outer ring to qualify as a Nightmare Knight, he would cross into the region of the Tower of Truth in Four Rings.

The Land of Nightmare was a blessed place for him, so he planned to secure a domain there and meticulously harness it to provide a continuous supply of the Power of Nightmare.

In this way, he would have an inexhaustible source of Soul Essence.

Once at the Tower of Truth in Four Rings, Richard could operate within the Wizard World.

He could establish a Wizard Tower in the wilderness and build a Mortal Kingdom around it.

In this manner, within two hundred years, Richard would acquire a Nightmare Territory with a substantial population, without the need to compete with other Nightmare Lords.

Dreaming of the free and boundless prospects of Soul Essence, Richard maneuvered the Magic Support Vehicle, suddenly accelerating toward a black dot on the horizon.

…

Cemetery City, a massive Lawless Land.

In the ancient past, this Lawless Land was once a thriving Nightmare Territory. But as humans from the Material World migrated, this once-flourishing domain was abandoned by its Lord and gradually became a paradise for free-roaming nightmare creatures.

Five kilometers outside Cemetery City, Richard dissolved the Magic Support Vehicle into the Power of Nightmare.

The Magic Support Vehicle was somewhat conspicuous and its style did not align with that of the creations in the Nightmare World, differing from Richard’s preference for subtlety.

With the last component of the Magic Support Vehicle transformed into the Power of Nightmare, Richard called out, “Let’s go,” and walked into Cemetery City.

In the outermost area of Cemetery City lived a group of Nightmare Spirits, creatures not even equivalent to small Nightmares. This area still had a few humans residing in it, and the Nightmare Spirits barely subsisted by relying on these humans.

Even in the Lawless Land, the exploitation of Nightmare Spirits was unavoidable.

But unlike in Nightmare Territories, the Lawless Land had an additional rule: mutual plundering.

These Nightmare Spirits would fight each other, and often during a tax collection break, one or two small Nightmares would emerge from the Nightmare Spirits.

Such occurrences were nearly impossible in Nightmare Territories.

Because any skilled Nightmare Spirit was a property of the Lord, a chicken that continuously produced the Power of Nightmare.

Entering this area, the terrifying presence of Richard and his companion instantly made a large group of Nightmare Spirits retreat.

Big Nightmares, to them, were already considered immensely powerful figures.

Passing through the area inhabited by Nightmare Spirits and moving into the Inner City District,

the buildings in the Inner City District were in ruins, weathered by time, with walls and ruins overgrown with moss and vines.

The small Nightmares and Big Nightmares of Cemetery City lived here.

And in the center of this Lawless Land stood an area known as the City Lord District.

Legend has it that a Nightmare Knight resided in the City Lord District.

After understanding the structure of Cemetery City, Richard couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu.

This place, apart from the Nightmare Spirits that permit killing and the sparse population that required Big Nightmares and Small Nightmares to go out for black tasks distributed by the territory,

seemed not much different from the usual Nightmare Territories.

“Once the population reaches a certain level, order will inevitably emerge,” Richard remarked with a slight sigh.

Soon after they entered the Inner City District, they encountered an ogre with two heads, standing three meters tall.

The ogre’s four eyes carefully sized up Richard and his companion. Then the head with a broken horn and a face full of scars spoke in a dull tone,

“Foreigners, residing in Cemetery City requires paying taxes.”

Then, his other head shouted in a sharp voice, “Big Nightmares need to pay five hundred Nightmare Crystals monthly, Small Nightmares fifty Nightmare Crystals.

Little one, are you a Big Nightmare or a Small Nightmare?”

The “little one” the ogre mentioned, of course, referred to Richard beside Bones.

Bones, already robust and nearly three meters tall with his Refined Gold Armor, was just a head shorter than the ogre.

Richard, at about two meters tall, naturally appeared small between these two.

“Taxes?” Bones retorted coldly, “I fled from the territory to avoid paying taxes!

Had to pay taxes within the territory, and now outside the territory too? Wouldn’t that be a wasted escape?”

With that, Bones grasped the Refined Gold Greatsword on his back, seemingly ready to fight the ogre.

“Iron man,” “Calm down.” “This is the City Lord’s tax.” “If you don’t want to,” “wait until the City Lord wakes up,”

“we’ll all be finished!”

The two-headed ogre alternated sentences between its dull and sharp voices, making it frustrating yet clear to understand.

Nonetheless, Richard understood his point.

This Cemetery City, like ordinary Nightmare Territories, required paying taxes to the Lord.

And it seemed that the Lord of Cemetery City was quite irritable; if the taxes weren’t paid, he would deal with those who hadn’t paid,

or perhaps deal with all the nightmare creatures in Cemetery City.

“Is that so,” Richard replied indifferently. “I don’t think the Lord would awaken for such minor figures as us.”

“I’ve said my piece.” “If you don’t want to pay me,” “then find someone else to collect it.”

“But with someone else,” “they won’t be as easygoing as me!”

The two-headed ogre uttered threats head by head, and upon seeing that Richard and his companion still refused to pay, it immediately started stomping toward the inner part of Cemetery City,

shouting loudly as it ran.

“People not paying taxes!” “People not paying taxes!”

Amid its shouts, one nightmare creature after another emerged from the dilapidated buildings of the Inner City District.

“Newcomers not paying taxes?”

“Ha ha, look at those two fools, still standing there. Just wait for the Tax Collector to arrive, then they’re in for it.”

“Iron man, little guy, good on you, never pay the taxes!”

…

Listening to the nearby nightmare creatures gossiping, Richard’s expression remained unchanged.

Since he intended to steal from Cemetery City, it was natural to understand the local forces.

If this Tax Collector was powerful, he wouldn’t mind paying a bit extra later to satiate the Tax Collector’s appetite.

After all, the “wool” came from the “sheep,” and the Power of Nightmare he lost would eventually be reclaimed in Cemetery City.

Soon, a series of orderly footsteps approached from the depths of Cemetery City.

Hearing these footsteps, all the nightmare creatures fell silent.

A Ghost Carriage driven by a skeleton coachman appeared first, followed slowly by a luxuriously decorated Black Pyramid “flying” in from behind—the pyramid, supported by shoulders of hundreds of black humanoid slaves underneath.

Richard looked at this pyramid with a slight smile on his lips.

“It seems I’ve met an acquaintance.”

The Ghost Carriage came to a halt in front of Richard, and the skeleton coachman immediately stepped down, bowing respectfully and saying, “Master.”

The coachman of the carriage was a nightmare creature Richard had once named — “Coachman.”

Hearing the title “master,” the surrounding nightmare creatures looking for entertainment were stunned.

How could the Tax Collector’s loyal dog be calling another nightmare creature “master.”

Soon, the Black Pyramid also arrived in front of Richard.

The pyramid opened an eye, its pupil spinning before quickly locking onto Richard. Then, the pyramid rapidly shrank while the black humanoids bearing the pyramid also shrunk and connected end-to-end, transforming into simple, sketch-like limbs that attached to the pyramid’s body.

“Wizard, long time no see,” the Tax Collector spoke.

“Yes, long time no see,” Richard responded indifferently.

This Tax Officer of Cemetery City was the Nightmare Lord Richard had once made deals with — Pyramid.