strokinit #216 - Section 216
#216 - Section 216
Moreover, in his heart, he had long regarded the Aalman Kingdom as his own.
As long as Earl Aalman died, Ai Luo would be the first heir to the Aalman Kingdom.
Wouldn't the entire Aalman Kingdom be his backyard?
Rhode began to prepare the antidote to the undead plague. He had inherited the legacy of the ancestor of black magic and possessed master-level attainments in both undead magic and alchemy.
Soon, all the remaining undead plague was cleared away.
Although the undead plague was terrifying, as an alchemical poison combining magic and alchemy, it would gradually be diluted by the power of nature over time.
As long as it didn't form a large-scale spread, it would self-dissolve in a short time.
After resolving all the problems and confirming that there were no oversights, Rhode returned to his territory with the Death Apostle.
"Stay here and don't move."
After giving the order, Rhode spread his wings and flew into the sky.
He took out the Sky Island from his portable space and placed it above the territory.
Located thousands of meters above the ground.
Next, he needed to find a suitable castle and then establish a space teleportation array between the Sky Island and the ground to connect them.
The Sky Island was extremely large, and the environment was suitable for human survival.
After his previous cleanup, there were no longer any creatures on the island that could threaten humans.
Next, he only needed to continuously purchase and collect people from the surrounding noble territories and transport them to the Sky Island.
According to Rhode's estimate, in a little over a decade, he would be able to successfully build a Sky Kingdom with a population of one million.
Of course, this speed was still too slow.
The fastest way was naturally war.
In any era, war is always the fastest shortcut to development.
He had the Evil Spirit Legion. As long as he continued to snowball, it wouldn't be a problem to annex the surrounding nobles.
However, doing so would easily attract the attention of the Holy See and the Empire.
Although he didn't know the strength of the Holy See, they were able to make the Emperor of the Southern God Luo Empire willingly obey.
The strength of the Holy See should at least not be too weak.
They might be hiding some powerful trump cards.
To be safe, it was better to develop for a while first.
Even if he really launched a war, he had to find a suitable reason.
"For now, I should find a suitable castle first."
Rhode stroked his chin. As a baron, it would be a little embarrassing to not even have his own castle.
He couldn't possibly move the castle on Sky Island down, could he?
Although the Giant King's castle could be considered a castle.
However, that scale was indeed a bit exaggerated.
However, finding a suitable castle was not that easy.
"Use divination magic to look for one."
Rhode muttered softly.
Divination magic is the most mysterious type of magic, and it is even related to the legendary fate.
Powerful divination magic can even predict future events.
However, to do this, one must at least be a very powerful wizard.
It is not enough to just have powerful magic. One must also possess extremely high talent in divination magic to be able to glimpse the traces of fate's movements.
Although he wasn't a powerful divination wizard, it shouldn't be a problem to simply divine an ordinary castle.
Since he decided to use magic to divine a castle, he needed a medium to cast the divination magic.
Generally speaking, this magic medium is usually a tool containing magic power.
For example, a crystal ball or something like that.
He happened to have something similar on him.
Finding a quiet and undisturbed room, he gently closed the door, ensuring that he would not be disturbed.
Rhode took out a crystal ball from his portable space and placed it steadily on the table in front of him.
Taking a deep breath, he concentrated his mind and began to mobilize the magic power within his body.
As magic power continuously poured into the crystal ball like a trickling stream, the originally dim crystal ball gradually emitted a soft and mysterious light.
Within the light, a clear picture began to emerge.
It was a castle that seemed to have stepped out of ancient legends.
The castle's exterior was magnificent and spectacular. The walls were covered with winding vines. The walls, made of huge stones, were damaged in some places, revealing vicissitudes and desolation.
The castle gate was tightly closed, and the iron lock on the door had rusted.
The surrounding garden was overgrown with weeds. The once delicate flowers had long withered, leaving only a barren landscape.
The entire castle was like a giant beast's open mouth, waiting to devour everything.
A deathly silence enveloped it, without a trace of vitality.
Rhode slowly descended from the sky, his feet stepping on the stone slab road in front of the castle, which was full of weeds.
Looking at the gloomy castle in front of him, he took a deep breath and pushed open the heavy and rusty gate.
Upon entering the castle, the first thing that caught his eye was a wide corridor.
The walls on both sides of the corridor were hung with dilapidated portraits. The faces of the people in the paintings were blurred, as if they would disappear from the frames at any time.
The chandelier on the ceiling was teetering, and the few remaining oil lamps flickered in the wind, casting eerie shadows.
The layout inside the castle was quite complete.
Following the corridor, he came to a study.
The bookshelves in the study were toppled, books scattered all over the floor, the paper yellowed and covered with dust.
A huge desk stood in the center of the room, piled with debris. The ink bottle was overturned, and dried ink left black marks on the table.
Rhode's eyes narrowed slightly, looking at a row of huge footprints on the ground.
They didn't look like human footprints, but more like a huge beast.
Moreover, it seemed that the footprints had not been left for long, probably within the past few days.
"Beast?"
There's actually a beast in this kind of ghostly place?
Rhode walked from the study into the kitchen.
The stove was cold, the pots and pans were cluttered, and corners were piled with rotting food, emitting a foul odor.
However, there were also traces of someone using it.
Rhode looked at a piece of uncooked meat that had not been eaten, blood dripping down it, with traces of beast bites remaining.
It was clearly something left in the last two days.
Passing through the kitchen was a spacious banquet hall.
A huge dining table occupied the center of the room, covered with cobwebs and dust.
The blood stains remaining on the ground and the chairs scattered in a mess all proved that a chaotic banquet had taken place here before.
It was likely related to the traces of those beasts earlier.
After Rhode wandered around the castle, he finally came to the castle's hall.
The hall's dome was towering, the stained-glass windows were broken, and moonlight shone through the cracks in the windows, forming irregular patches of light.
Rhode keenly noticed that in the corner of the hall, there was a statue of a beast.
That hideous face looked even more terrifying in the shadows.
"This thing looks pretty realistic."
Rhode walked over and looked closely at the statue, suddenly feeling a faint magical fluctuation on the statue.
Just as he was about to reach out to touch it.
At this moment, night fell, and the last ray of light in the sky disappeared.
Bang!
The castle gate that he had pushed open earlier suddenly closed automatically.
In an instant, the entire castle hall was in darkness.
Just as Rhode was wondering, a gleam of fire suddenly ignited in the castle.
Swish swish swish!
Immediately afterwards, rows of candles around lit up, rendering the entire castle brightly lit.
Standing in front of the statue, Rhode suddenly had the feeling of being spied on.
It was as if there were pairs of invisible eyes staring at him in the dark corners.
Rhode frowned and slowly turned to look behind him.