And there were hundreds, even thousands.
It was an existence possessing and gathering numerous extraordinary items.
Such an existence could naturally harvest and stir the emotions of countless people.
Fang Ming's first small trial was to harvest emotional value from Arnold, the leader of one of the top ten conglomerates in the United States.
He directly led Arnold into the ancient tower in his dream. Amidst a frantic escape, Arnold found several bottles of witchcraft potions.
Under the pursuit of monsters, he obtained a treasure that could change destiny—this plot, though cliché, was precisely because of its cliché nature that it proved its effectiveness.
The magical plot, involving supernatural powers, could deeply shock the emotions even of the leader of a top ten conglomerate in the United States.
When the real benefit—a finished product that extended life—was discovered, and he truly experienced the physical changes, his emotions were even more profoundly shaken, and he yearned for immortality through this means.
Therefore, this old man ordered a worldwide search for witchcraft potions, all to find the ancient tower he had entered back then—Fang Ming had directly pulled him into his dream, and had not set the dream's entrance as a废弃庄园 (abandoned manor).
Because this old man didn't know the address, he simultaneously had his biological laboratory experiment on the effects of a few bottles of witchcraft potions, while also exploring where the ancient tower he encountered in his dream was located… As research into certain medicinal ingredients for witchcraft potions pointed to plants found only in the primitive jungles of South America, this old man had even dispatched people to the primitive jungles of South America to search for that particular medicinal ingredient—Blood Orchid.
Of course, this Blood Orchid was not that Blood Orchid; it was merely Fang Ming indulging his dark humor.
After all, Blood Orchid and Blood Clan essentially represented two paths to immortality… In the vast worlds of the Void Sea, these two worlds were considered relatively easy for achieving longevity.
In short, the old man's various actions brought Fang Ming initial emotional value.
Fang Ming then conducted a second descent into the ancient tower, setting the location of the dream space in an abandoned manor, and then luring another group of people into the trap.
Some unlucky individuals were eliminated under the pursuit of the ancient tower's monsters.
While some lucky ones, like Hall, not only survived but also obtained some witchcraft potions and a notebook written by a Blood Clan sorcerer.
However, this was not necessarily a good thing.
Because Fang Ming had attempted to introduce an evolutionary chain system, a witchcraft system, to the monsters in the ancient tower.
This notebook happened to involve elements of dark magic.
This notebook could be considered a dark-element extraordinary item; although it contained knowledge, it also had the effect of bewitching the mind.
Clearly, Hall, a mortal, could not resist the mental seduction of a dark-element extraordinary item.
The star-level of the notebook was not high, comparable to the Water-Repelling Pearl. If one only skimmed through a few pages initially, there might still be hope. But for someone like Hall, who had thoroughly read the entire book, there was absolutely no hope.
His soul had already delved deep into darkness, striving to transform into a monster—a monster with a semblance of human form.
"Dark magic elements, light magic elements… neutral magic elements, celestial magic elements…"
Fang Ming murmured to himself.
This was the witchcraft system Fang Ming had introduced to the monsters, and it was also a product of a magical system interpreted through illusion.
In Fang Ming's system setting, humans had both a bright side and a dark side.
Therefore, blindly introducing dark energy would lead to the bewitching of the mind, and eventually, the entire being would be constructed under the source of dark energy.
By the time the entire body was composed of dark energy, humans would no longer be human. Their minds would be completely twisted, transforming from human into a monster wearing human skin. Their personality, memories, and methods of action would undergo fundamental changes.
Conversely, blindly introducing light energy, while not turning them fierce and malicious, would make them benevolent, generous, and helpful—but they would also cease to be themselves. Their personalities, memories, and methods of action would approach those who selflessly dedicated themselves to the future of humanity… This was also a form of twisted consciousness.
It was merely losing one's true self, focusing solely on all of humanity, and becoming another person wearing the skin of their former self.
On these two paths designed by Fang Ming, whether leaning purely towards darkness or purely towards light, both were paths to self-destruction.
Combining the two was the true way to maintain one's "self."
Of course, there was direct conflict between dark energy and light energy. The more intense the conflict, the more one would be blown to smithereens. How to reconcile the contradictions and maintain one's self while increasing extraordinary power and magic depended on the cultivator's own ability.
If this system deviated from the orthodox path designed by Fang Ming, the cultivator's consciousness would be increasingly controlled by the power in reverse. By the end of their cultivation, they would no longer be themselves but another being.
Even if one followed the orthodox path designed by Fang Ming, there was still the peril of the physical body being destroyed.
It could be said that the conflicts on this path made the pursuit of the extraordinary extremely difficult.
But Fang Ming didn't care.
His sole purpose was to harvest emotional value, so he couldn't make the pursuit of the extraordinary too easy. Things obtained through difficult cultivation were more cherished.
People often did not cherish things that were easily obtained.
Instead, they were enthusiastic about treasures obtained through effort and hardship.
Ideally, the ultimate treasures, obtained at the cost of blood and heavy price, were what people would truly cherish.
"The first and second waves of emotional harvesting induced by the ancient tower only harvested the emotions of a few people…"
"The scale is still small."
"Now… on this American soil, I can go all out and unleash a large-scale emergence of ancient tower monsters. I believe the American public will really like monsters…"
Gazing at the American land, Fang Ming let out a laugh.
Subsequently, in a state and a city within the United States, Fang Ming found an abandoned mountain—don't ask why it was a mountain; the current surveillance would mean appearing directly in a city would be equivalent to openly declaring war on the United States.
Starting development from the mountain and then being gradually discovered was a more normal plot progression.
Fang Ming found a mountain, which locals called Crystal Mountain. It was a local tourist spot, but not a popular one, rather a niche attraction.