Chapter 214: I Thought It’s Free!!!

’Thank goodness I placed it a safe distance away from the main residence.’ Asher thought to himself, staring up in awe at the majestic, fifty-meter-tall monolithic tower casting a long shadow across the lawn.

?WHOOSH!

?An immaculate, shimmering white protective dome abruptly surged outward from the apex of the structure, expanding rapidly in a massive hemisphere until it completely sealed off the entire estate perimeter.

?{Tower Defense Shield — Successfully Activated.}

?Asher blinked as the grand titanium-alloy doors at the base of the structure smoothly slid wide open.

?{Note: Access to the interior of the Cultivation Tower is strictly restricted to the Master and his legally bonded wives.}

?Asher exhaled a slow, grounding breath, calming his racing pulse before stepping forward. He crossed the threshold of the entrance, passing seamlessly through the spatial threshold.

?"Huh?"

?Asher blinked a couple of times, suddenly finding himself standing not in a sterile stone chamber, but in an endless, pristine open meadow carpeted in vibrant emerald grass and glowing, bioluminescent wildflowers.

?He inhaled deeply, his chest expanding as his eyes widened in sheer disbelief: "The spirit energy density in this space is easily ten times purer than the highest concentration found anywhere in Silverspire."

?{Correct... Furthermore, your wives can undergo their breakthrough safely within this isolated domain without leaking anomalous spiritual fluctuations that might alert external sensors.}

?Asher slowly nodded in agreement, but before he could take another step forward, a translucent holographic control screen materialized directly in mid-air before him.

?[Cultivation Tower Operational Requirements]

?[Single Private Cultivation Chamber: 100 SSS-Rank Evolution Stones per room.]

?[Temporal Acceleration (+1 Day): 1,000 SSS-Rank Evolution Stones.]

?[Temporal Acceleration (+3 Days): 2,000 SSS-Rank Evolution Stones.]

?[Temporal Acceleration (+7 Days): 5,000 SSS-Rank Evolution Stones.]

?[Temporal Acceleration (+15 Days): 10,000 SSS-Rank Evolution Stones.]

?

[Temporal Acceleration (+1 Month): 20,000 SSS-Rank Evolution Stones.]

?[Temporal Acceleration (+3 Months): 50,000 SSS-Rank Evolution Stones.]

?[Temporal Acceleration (+6 Months): 100,000 SSS-Rank Evolution Stones.]

?[Temporal Acceleration (+1 Year): 10 Aether Stones.]

?[Temporal Acceleration (+3 Years): 50 Aether Stones.]

?[Temporal Acceleration (+7 Years): 100 Aether Stones.]

?[Temporal Acceleration (+10 Years): 500 Aether Stones.]

[ETC...]

?"System... System..."

?Asher stared at the glowing prompt, before letting out an incredulous shout: "What in the absolute hell is this pricing structure?!! I thought utilizing this facility was supposed to be completely free?!!" he demanded.

?{Free? Stop joking around, Master. You are required to actively trigger an Investment to generate returns—nothing in this universe is handed out for free.}

?Asher stood dumbfounded, glaring at the stone requirements listed on the interface: "I can’t even use lower rank stones here; it exclusively demands SSS-Rank Evolution stones, and on top of that, accelerating time beyond a year requires rare Aether Stones—I only possess eleven of those total! While I certainly have a stockpile of evolution stones, I don’t harbor nearly enough SSS-Rank to sustain these costs."

?He slumped down onto the soft grass of the meadow, staring up at the tower’s interactive menu in disbelief:

?"This system is genuinely insane..." He slowly pivoted his gaze toward the standard System interface floating nearby:

?"Well, at least I still have you to exploit." He murmured, a wicked, devilish smirk slowly curving his lips.

?{...Do not tell me you are planning what I think you are planning?}

?"Husband? What on earth is this colossal structure?"

?"....?!"

?Asher snapped his head around over his shoulder to find Kelly standing calmly near the edge of the meadow, draped in an elegant black silk nightdress. A fraction of a second later, the spatial fabric rippled right beside her, and Juliana stepped smoothly into view, wearing a soft blue nightdress.

?He was left momentarily speechless as the spatial folds warped a third time, depositing Sara into the clearing, dressed in a pristine white nightdress layered beneath a lightweight white lounging jacket.

?"You three? What are you all doing wandering around outside at this hour?" He asked, quickly pushing himself back to his feet.

?"Well, to be entirely fair, it’s somewhat difficult to completely ignore a fifty-meter mystical tower spontaneously erupting out of the earth right in the middle of our backyard..." Kelly noted with an amused smile, glancing sideways at Juliana and Sara.

?"It also appears that we are the only individuals granted entry thresholds here; Viper and Butler Tang were blocked entirely at the outer perimeter." She added smoothly.

?"Very well. It’s actually fortuitous that you all arrived together."

?Asher gestured for the three women to close the distance. The moment they stepped into his personal radius, he projected the Tower’s holographic menu into the air, detailing the architecture, the temporal mechanics, and the exorbitant resource requirements of the sanctuary.

?After a comprehensive three-minute operational breakdown, he crossed his arms and looked down at the three wives: "So, given these steep resource hurdles, how should we strategically approach our training?"

?"Had I known this tower would be this wildly expensive, I would have set our corporate budgets to prioritize SSS-Rank stones instead of bothering with lower tiers." Kelly mused thoughtfully, tapping her chin with a slender finger.

?"I happen to possess some stones with me... What do the rest of you think? Shall we utilize this tower to collectively push our boundaries and advance to the next major cultivation rank?" Asher offered with an encouraging smile.

?{Umm... Master, what exact scenario are you envisioning here?}

?’Care to elaborate, System?’

?{Your wives possess exceptional abilities, and talents, and their baseline spiritual absorption efficiency is undeniably superior to ordinary SSS-Rank Awakened... But even so, it will take significantly longer than seven standard days of uninterrupted cultivation for them to naturally break through into the SSS-Rank threshold, and the volume of high-rank evolution stones they consume during absorption will vastly eclipse your previous number...}

?{Wife Kelly and Wife Juliana require an aggregate baseline of 10,000 SSS-Rank Evolution Stones each merely to complete their breakthrough into SSS-Rank... Wife Sara’s requirements scale even higher. If we factor in the operational consumption of the Cultivation Tower’s temporal acceleration fields, you will mathematically drive yourself completely bankrupt within an hour.}

?’You are miscalculating, System.’ Asher retorted internally with a triumphant smirk:

?’I am not the one who is going to be driven into bankruptcy.’

?{You are seriously intending to execute that exploit?}

’That is why you’re here! I plan to exploit you to the fullest!’

{...}

?"Juliana!" Asher called out suddenly, his sharp voice cutting through the quiet clearing and catching Juliana entirely off guard:

?"Here—These are exactly 50,000 SS-Rank Evolution Stones! Take them all, absorb every last one, and violently unlock your Physique!" He commanded. In the next instant, towering mountains of glowing evolution stones materialized out of the system storage, cascading onto the grass and leaving all three women staring in stunned silence.

?’I currently hold enough lower rank stones in reserve; while the System might give modest returns, if I aggressively invest SS-Rank stones right now, the return scaling will undoubtedly force it to pay out true SSS-Rank stones... Get ready to process a masterclass in exploiting the rules, System.’

?{.....}