The Old Man of Azshara's Tower

This was quite unexpected—I didn't think I'd level up to 8 at a time like this. Glancing around, there's no danger nearby. Should I just allocate my skill points now?

Do it as soon as the thought strikes. He immediately ordered the Skeleton Warrior and Clay Golem to form a protective circle. With a flick of his mind, the Book of the Dead was already in his hand. He flipped it open slightly. Sigh, which skill should I add? For a moment, he was hesitant. After all, he was now in a World of Warcraft-style setting, and he didn't know if his skeleton tactics would hold up. Besides, Fangs was his only reliable skill at the moment, and the Skeleton Warrior couldn't exactly show itself in broad daylight. What was he supposed to do?

On the skill book, Bone Shield (Summon three rotating bone shields to absorb melee damage for you), Corpse Explosion (Select a monster corpse and make it explode, damaging nearby enemies), Amplify Damage (Curse a group of enemies, increasing the physical damage they take), and Lesser Blindness (Curse a group of monsters, reducing their field of vision) were skills he hadn't invested in yet. The other skills—Fangs with one point, Skeleton Mastery with one point, Raise Skeleton with two points, Clay Golem with one point, and Venomous Dagger with one point—could still be added to.

How about adding Bone Shield? Out here on the road, he kept running into sudden situations. Take those Murlocs from earlier—those wooden spears nearly cost This Humble One his life. Yeah, that's the decision. Having convinced himself internally, he immediately tapped the gray bone icon on the skill book. A flash of black light passed, and it lit up. Instantly, the incantation for the spell was automatically imprinted into his mind. He checked his personal info display, and it had changed, adding a new skill—Bone Shield: Summon three rotating bone shields to absorb melee damage for you. Duration: 10 minutes. Mana cost: 20 points.

He softly chanted the incantation, and three white bones rose up, about the size of ribs, circling and spinning around his body. "Damn, that's freaking awesome—a must-have for home and travel!" Li Shaolin felt incredibly cool and couldn't help but feel smug. Now that he had just leveled up, his mana and stamina were fully restored, and his whole body felt great. The fear from last night and the exhaustion from fleeing this morning had vanished completely. He couldn't sit still, so he immediately ordered his minions to keep moving forward. The two Skeleton Warriors, which had several broken bones after the bloody battle, were also fully repaired by his level-up, their bones gleaming white. As for the Clay Golem, no need to mention it—though it had been placed in the back to take hits, it had been absorbing the earth's power to heal itself the whole way and hadn't taken any damage at all. And so, the sound of footsteps resumed.

After showing off for a while, Li Shaolin started to feel dizzy. The three white bones kept spinning around in front of him, and it was getting on his nerves. "Damn it, this stupid thing isn't easy to use! Can I make it transparent?" As if to confirm his words, that low voice sounded again: Do you wish to make the Bone Shield transparent? Please confirm.

Having heard this voice several times, Li Shaolin was no longer surprised by its appearance. He nodded calmly, and the spinning Bone Shield began to rotate faster and faster. After a few more circles, it had completely vanished! Damn, that's amazing? Though he couldn't see it with his eyes, he could feel that the three Bone Shields were still there.

"Hey, hero, can you help me open up some space?" Li Shaolin immediately asked shamelessly. But after that one sentence, there was no more sound. No matter how much he pressed, it was like throwing a stone into the sea.

After killing another dozen or so lone Murlocs, a winding path appeared before him, curving and twisting into the woods. In the distance, he could see what seemed to be a tall building standing there.

Looking at the two Skeleton Warriors with a few broken bones, he took out the Book of the Dead and absorbed them inside. He had no idea what material the Book of the Dead was made of or what it was like inside, but the Skeleton Warriors could slowly recover their injuries when placed in there—truly miraculous.

He had the Golem follow behind him, straightened out his messy clothes, and stepped onto the path, walking in.

As the saying goes: A mountain in sight is a horse's death to ride! He walked along that path, and though it looked close, it took a full two hours, and it was already noon. Under the blazing sun, Li Shaolin wiped the sweat from his forehead and felt his stomach growling again!

Finally, a tall tower appeared before him: The tower was built from massive granite blocks supplemented with Elwynn Ancient Trees, standing nearly a hundred meters high, surpassing even the towering Elwynn Ancient Trees. The entire tower was shrouded in a layer of mist, giving it a mysterious and unfathomable feel. Wide stone steps led all the way down to the ground. On the plaque by the door were carved several large characters: Azshara's Tower!

"What is this place?" Li Shaolin had no memory of this building at all. Curious, he stepped onto the stairs.

When he reached the door, he hesitated as he looked at the massive stone gate. What was inside this tower? Would it be good or bad?

"Kekekekeke," as if no one had been here for a thousand years, amid a cloud of dust, the stone door slowly opened.

A sweet female voice came out: "Greetings, traveler. Archmage Seokretus invites you to come up to the tower!"

What the hell? He could hear the voice, but there was no one in sight for a long time. Just as he was wondering, he felt a tug at his pants. Looking down, he was startled—a tiny female gnome was looking up at him.

"Uh... a gnome? So cute?" The little gnome had big, sparkling eyes and wore a tiny outfit that was indescribably adorable.

"Ahem, so, you said Archmage Seokretus wants to see me? He is...?" Li Shaolin quickly asked.

"I am the Archmage's servant. Follow me up and you'll find out. Of course, your servant can come too." The little gnome nodded, beckoning him inside.

"My servant? You mean him?" He pointed at the Golem, finding it a bit amusing, but still said, "No need. Let him stay outside." With that, he followed the little gnome into the tower.

Spiral staircases wound upward, and many little gnomes were bustling about inside the tower, both male and female, some carrying stacks of books, others holding materials. Interspersed among the spiral stone stairs were some wooden walkways, connecting each floor to the others.

Climbing slowly along the stairs, Li Shaolin was secretly amazed. To be able to build such a perfect tower using only stone and wood was truly incredible!

After about a few minutes, he reached the top of the tower. An aged voice came from within: "Fargodeep Mine Owner, welcome!"

"Someone already knows I'm the mine owner this fast? They're not here to hit me up for a donation, are they?" Li Shaolin's heart skipped a beat as the thought came to him. He looked up and saw that the round top of the tower was filled with bookshelves, with a huge alchemy lab table set up in the middle. The most eye-catching thing, however, was a sky-blue crystal ball, emitting a faint glow that illuminated the surroundings.

A white-haired old man, wearing a sky-blue mage robe, was looking at him with a full smile.

"Uh, Archmage, you wanted to see me?" Li Shaolin felt a bit uneasy and asked softly. He felt that the old man's gaze was very sharp, as if all his big and little secrets were seen through at a glance.

"Don't be nervous. Come, come over and sit down. Let me introduce myself. I am Archmage Seokreitus, the master of this mage tower. Of course, the others in Elwynn Forest prefer to call me the Watcher." The old mage smiled and asked, "Do you know why?" Without waiting for Li Shaolin to answer, he pointed at the blue crystal ball beside him: "Because of it!"

Li Shaolin was a bit confused. He glanced up at the crystal ball, but then saw Seokreitus walk over to the side, take out a silver necklace, and gently insert the pendant at its end into a lion statue on the table. Instantly, a brilliant blue light flared!

After the crystal ball became cloudy, a scene appeared! It was fixed on the Fargodeep Mine!

The old man chanted a short incantation, and the scene began to move slowly, like a giant eye looking down from the sky, taking in all the scenery below. Even the Forest Wolves wandering around and the occasional professional could be seen clearly.

"Damn, this is basically a satellite spy." Li Shaolin was secretly shocked. This thing was way too high-tech.

Pulling out the necklace, the old man turned around and said slowly, "That is the origin of my title, the Watcher. Naturally, my purpose is to monitor dangerous things. A few days ago, I discovered that a large number of Ghouls had suddenly surged out of the Fargodeep Mine. After the mages studied the images, they unanimously concluded that it should be an Army of the Dead summoned by a Death Knight. Later, based on information we received from Goldshire that someone had already obtained ownership of the mine, we believe that the knight is connected to you!"

"That's impossible!" Li Shaolin jumped up excitedly. What a joke! That Death Knight had killed so many Kobolds in a row, and also taken out quite a few professionals along the way. If this accusation fell on his head, it would probably be enough to kill him several times over. Just the revenge from those professionals' families would be more than he could handle.

"Don't worry. After tracking and observing you later, we found that you entered the home of the Skinner Sisters. Of course, heh heh, they seem to prefer the sound of human skin being beaten." The old man said with a hint of mockery.

"Beat your sister's human skin—trying to scare me, huh? You old pervert, maybe you've got something going on with the Sisters yourself!" Li Shaolin cursed inwardly, but didn't dare show it.

"Unexpectedly, when I checked again this morning, you had arrived outside our tower—quite a surprise! So I had my servant invite you in for a talk. As it happens, I'd like to ask you for a favor!" The old man continued.