My health recovery is incredibly fast.

Even if the Church of the Otherworld discovers that each invasion of Poseidon City results in heavy losses, they will only attribute it to the fact that "Poseidon City is located deep in the heart of the Federation," and will not question Lady Starry Night's true strength.

Xia Zuo rubbed his chin, recalled for a moment, and said:

"I never imagined that Lady Starry Night's true identity was far more complicated than I knew... Hmm... When I learned from Rexor that Headmistress Beatrice was a High Priestess, I should have realized that Lady Starry Night was extraordinary... It does make some sense that a High Priestess would work for an Archmage."

Xia Zuo paused, then asked:

"So, do Master Adanavardos and Master Rexor also possess elemental bodies?"

Christo summoned a sofa and invited Shazzo to sit down. Her colleague said:

"They do not have elemental bodies. Inside the temple, only members of the inner sanctum possess elemental bodies."

"The temple mages in the outer hall and the eternal mages in the inner hall have the same status and there is no distinction between superiors and subordinates. The only difference is that they are responsible for different things."

"However, because Eternal Mages possess elemental bodies, they naturally have more combat power than Hall Mages. Therefore, when defining the ranks of mages, Eternal Mages are ranked above Hall Mages."

"Hmm~ I understand. So that's how the inner and outer halls are distinguished." Xia Zuo nodded and sat down on the single sofa. "Then is the secret to the longevity of the hall's mages wearing the life essence of pure-blooded mages?"

“Not entirely.” Christo shook her head.

"Life essence is rare and can only be enjoyed by very important members of the temple. You can think of it as a symbol of status, and the holder has an irreplaceable position within the temple."

"The remaining important members can only rely on the longevity methods within their respective schools of thought, but the side effects are quite significant, and it's far less easy than wearing the Essence of Life."

"Guilds like the Warriors' Guild can live long lives by practicing breathing techniques and taking rare body-strengthening elixirs. The Demon Hunter School relies on dangerous mutations to maintain its vitality. Not to mention your Alchemy School, whose alchemical bodies are designed for longevity."

Christo didn't elaborate too much on the topic of lifespan.

She summoned the image jewel from the table and symbolically glanced at the scenes recorded inside.

"Your advancement trial has officially ended. I'll give you the Eastern Heretic that a high-level mage needs."

Christo placed several metal boxes on the low table between the two of them.

"In the first box are your high-ranking mage documents and badge. The second box contains the appointment decree issued by the Inner Palace. You will be serving as the resident mage of a city in the central region of the Starry Night Kingdom of the Western Continent. Beatrice will tell you which city it is."

谷敏

Christo pointed to the third box.

"This box contains essential spellbooks for high-level mages, as well as copies of ancient texts, and necessary spellcasting tools. Originally, there should have been a blueprint for a simplified tower in the box, but since you now have a better blueprint, I've taken it back. There's only one condition for becoming an archmage, and that's building your own tower. Once you meet the requirement, go find Beatrice."

Her fingertips stopped on the last box. "The contents of this box are related to your elemental body. I need to have a proper discussion with you about it."

Krestor summoned a cloud of silver sand, transforming it into a flat plan and using crisscrossing lines to indicate directions.

She reached out and touched the center of the plan, where the image of the Pillar of Creation materialized, while the rest of the area was filled with hundreds of irregularly distributed white dots of light.

These white dots of light are spaced apart and slowly rotate around the central pillar of creation.

“Selena has shown you the sights in the sky. She and the other Inner Temple mages use their elemental bodies to protect the [Gateway to the Stars]. The Gateway to the Stars is the Inner Temple’s name for the place where nature meets the stars.”

"These white dots are the residences of the Inner Temple mages in the border area, also known as outposts. According to the Inner Temple's plan, more than 300 outposts need to be established to build the most basic border defense line, including the outposts in the skies above the Western Continent."

Krestor marked an area in blue, explaining, "The glowing spots in this area mark the outposts over the Western Continent."

She waved her hand, turning some of the white light spots red.

“Red dots indicate that the outpost is already guarded by an inner sanctum mage, while white dots indicate that it is vacant.”

Xia Zuo quickly counted.

There are a total of 80 outposts in the skies above the western continent, with relatively even spacing between them, forming a grid-like distribution.

Of these 80 outposts, 9 are manned, while 71 are vacant.

The fact that there were people guarding the nine outposts meant that there were nine elemental bodies of Eternal Mages in the skies above the Western Continent, a number that was less than Xia Zuo had expected.

In contrast, the situation was quite different over the eastern continent. Almost all the points of light were red, indicating that the protective measures were several orders of magnitude stronger than those over the western continent.

"Your Excellency, how large is the Western Continent?" Xia Zuo compared the number of strongholds on the Western and Eastern Continents. The Western Continent had 80 strongholds, while the Eastern Continent had more than 220, a difference of more than double.

“It’s about one-third of the Eastern Continent,” Christo replied.

As expected, Xia Zuo's prediction was correct: the number of strongholds on the eastern and western continents was related to the continent's area.

Krestor touched the image of the Pillars of Creation, and a black column of smoke extended upwards, reaching its apex before spreading outwards in all directions along the plane.

"The Pillars of Creation used this layer of smoke to block most of the cosmic pollution for us. A very few cosmic demons that can resist the smoke will stay on the surface of the smoke. They will erode the smoke, carve out a gap, and let the pollution fall from the gap."

"The inner temple mages spend most of their time manipulating elemental bodies. We act like scavengers on the surface of the smoke, clearing away these stubborn celestial demons."

"The work of the cleaners is both dangerous and unpredictable. The inner palace has developed a systematic operational plan."

Chapter 107 Vasaksat Vanguard

Christo tapped the surface of the smoke several times, marking each location with a numbered flag.

She said solemnly:

"What I'm about to tell you is a top secret of the Temple. Only the Inner Temple mages know it. Even the Outer Temple masters, like Adanavados and Rexor, have no way of knowing this secret. You must promise me to keep it a secret."

Xia Zuo nodded and said in a deep voice, "Yes, Your Excellency. I will keep this secret and will never break my promise."

Krestor summoned several strands of silver sand, which coalesced into sand models of various shapes and placed them on flags bearing numerical designations.

"The Inner Sanctum is not entirely ignorant of the origins of the star pollution," Krestor said, pointing to the number 1 flag directly above the Pillars of Creation.

"The invasion and pollution of our starry sky is carried out by an alien demon legion called the [Vasaksat Vanguard Army], which the Inner Palace simply refers to as the Alien Demon Vanguard Army."

"The legion's headquarters is a circular nest with a spherical appearance and a surface covered with tentacles, which has always been located above the Pillars of Creation."

"If the lair of the Otherworldly Vanguard hadn't suppressed the height of the Pillars of Creation, the smoke layer protecting nature could have continued to expand outwards."

The Otherworldly Vanguard... spherical nest... tentacles... Xia Zuo frowned slightly, staring at the spherical model above Flag 1, lost in thought.

Imagine the Pillars of Creation as a jet of water shooting upwards, and the spherical lair of the Otherworldly Vanguard as a plug. When the water jet hits the plug, it bursts into umbrella-shaped sprays. In other words, if the spherical lair were to descend to the ground and completely block the crater, the Pillars of Creation would disappear…

"The flags other than number 1 each represent a Starry Sky Demon team."

Christo connected the number 1 flag with the other flags using a series of upward-curving arcs.

"These Star Demon teams all come from the spherical nests. Whenever a Star Demon team suffers a loss, a new Star Demon will fly out of the nest to fill the gap."

"The temple speculates that either this spherical nest is itself a huge incubation ground for alien demons, or there are several portals inside the nest."

"Regardless of the speculation, assembling an army of eternal mages to counterattack the vanguard of the alien demons' stronghold and destroy the spherical nest in one fell swoop is the main way to stop the pollution of the starry sky."

Xia Zuo's gaze was deep as he looked at the flag in the sky above the Western Continent.

There were only three flags there.

It's possible that the Western Continent is far from the Pillars of Creation and not at the center of this interstellar invasion war.

It's also possible that there's a vast storm between the Western and Eastern continents, making it difficult for the Demon Vanguard to exert influence on the Eastern continent after occupying the Western continent.

In short, the defense pressure over the western continent is far less than that over the eastern continent.

The demon models above the three flags are:

A lump of flesh covered in pustules and ulcers;

A bipedal monster with a ferocious face and serrated barbs on its elbows;

A short sword shaped like an octopus, with a hilt made of purple tentacles with ring-shaped suckers, and a blade shaped like an arrowhead octopus head.

谷焘

Xia Zuo searched his memory and confirmed that he had never seen any other demons or monsters that resembled the appearance of these three other demon models.

In other words, these three types of celestial demons have not yet broken through the blockade of the Pillars of Creation and the Eternal Mage and descended to the ground.

Or... they've already fallen to the ground, but are well hidden?

Shazo scratched his head, then looked at Christo.

Christo tilted her head slightly to meet the other person's gaze and asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"

"Not feeling well?" Xia Zuo was taken aback, glancing down at his robe. "No, everything's fine. Why do you ask?"

"Hmm~ It seems Rexor's judgment was correct; you belong to the kind of people who are naturally immune to cosmic pollution. What's even more commendable is that you're a pure-blooded mage." Krest smiled sweetly.

“Immune to star pollution…” Xia Zuo muttered to himself, looking at the alien demon model, the words Selena had spoken at the outpost flashing through his mind:

“Oh... I think I understand now. Serena told me that if a human sees a Starry Sky Demon in their flesh and blood, their flesh and blood will immediately disintegrate and recombine to form the appearance of the Demon. Is this the Starry Sky Pollution you mentioned?”

“Yes.” Christo nodded slightly, drawing a circle on the illusionary image before her. “I’m now certain you’re immune to stellar contamination. That’s something to celebrate. You can now face all the Otherworldly vanguard in person and engage them in close combat. But I still don’t recommend you fight in the flesh.”

Xia Zuo pondered for a moment, then realized what he meant. "You mean, not all the inner temple mages are immune to star pollution? When they face some of the star demons with their flesh and blood, they react uncontrollably, just like ordinary people?"

“That’s right. The reality is even more difficult than you imagine.” Christo leaned back in her chair, seemingly relieved after confirming that Shazo was immune to the star pollution.

Christo rested her left hand on the armrest, supporting her chin with the back of her hand. She pointed to herself with her right hand, then to Shazo. "People like you and me, and many others in the inner sanctum who possess bloodline power, are all immune to star pollution. Inner sanctum mages without the protection of bloodline power will react strongly to certain star demons. Their bodies will grow dense buds of flesh, constantly on the verge of collapse. The elemental shells protecting their bodies also show signs of disintegration."

Xia Zuo was immediately puzzled upon hearing this.

Only he knew that he had no bloodline power.

Becoming a pure-blooded mage was entirely due to meeting the job requirements, and I acquired this identity with the help of a cheat system.

No bloodline power ever emerged from the beginning...

How does he become immune to star pollution?

Relying on the cheat code hidden in the spirit thread?

It's so strange... I can't figure it out... I just can't understand it...

Xia Zuo scratched his head, tossing the question aside, and glanced at the four metal boxes on the table. "So, Your Excellency, what is the relationship between the Demon Vanguard and my elemental body?"

Krestor flicked her finger, summoning a large expanse of silver sand that condensed into three lines of text. She then connected each line to its corresponding demon model with three silver threads.

"Since its inception, the Inner Palace has been dealing with these Starry Sky Demons. The two sides have clashed no less than ten thousand times. The Inner Palace has compiled the intelligence it has gathered and created a file on the Starry Sky Demons."

"The three types of Starry Sky Demons above the Western Continent have three different habits, structures, strengths, and weaknesses. All of this information is contained in the text formed by silver sand."

"You will be stationed in the skies above the Western Continent, and you will frequently come into contact with these three types of alien demons. When designing your elemental body, you must take into account the strengths and weaknesses of these three alien demons in order to better cope with future battles."

Chapter 108 Starry Sky Demon