Chapter 124

Chapter 124

In the dimly lit room, the air was thick with the acrid scent of burnt bones and ash. The crimson ritual circle cast an eerie glow, and Abraham sat cross-legged on the floor, his eyes closed in concentration. At his palms rested an enlarged crystal ball.

After a considerable amount of time, Abraham opened his eyes. “The efficiency of soul particle absorption has increased by 32%. The use of the white jade bones is indeed quite effective.”

“Indeed, I’ve seen a 30.51% improvement on my end compared to the last trial,” Lynn replied. “It seems this isn’t an isolated case. The new batch of ritual arrays is generally performing better than the previous ones.”

“It looks like we’re nearing our target. Once we complete this experiment, we can start selecting source materials. Do you have any preferences?” Abraham asked casually.

“Not yet. I’ll decide later,” Lynn said nonchalantly.

Glancing at Abraham, Lynn couldn’t help but smile inwardly. Initially, he had thought Abraham was merely a solitary figure, but as time passed and they interacted more, Lynn discovered that beneath the seemingly aloof exterior was someone who was a chatterbox. In short, he was a combination of an introvert and socially anxious person.

This guy had a lot of inner drama. Despite having lived for over 60 years, Abraham had no friends in Demon City and spent most of his time buried in his laboratory. His demeanor and disposition were no different from that of a young person’s.

Lynn realized he was not much different. Most of his time in Demon City had also been spent in the laboratory.

“How about visiting my laboratory after we’re done here? I tried out the feedback you gave me on my alchemical creation last time, and it actually proved to be effective,” Abraham suggested, his eyes filled with some admiration.

Lynn not only had better innate talent but also a deeper understanding of alchemical studies compared to him. After completing his experiments with Dragon, he would often engage in discussions with Lynn. Initially, he approached these exchanges with a sense of testing and showing off his own knowledge.

However, the more they conversed, the more astonished he became. Lynn’s mastery of alchemical studies was overwhelmingly superior, leaving him feeling utterly outclassed. It was almost as if he were listening to a formal lecture given by an official wizard.

“Not today, I have other matters to attend to,” Lynn declined.

Abraham’s face fell slightly with disappointment upon hearing Lynn’s refusal.

The Abyss Market was set to open again tomorrow, and Lynn had promised Toby that he would visit the market to acquire a specific item.

During this period, Lynn also spent some time studying the Dalfyn’s Evil Horn that Toby had given him. Naturally, this source material couldn’t be used by simply attaching it to the wizard tower as if it were a child’s toy. It required an in-depth analysis of the energy nodes within it. Furthermore, he had to construct relevant magic arrays to channel the energy from the horn, integrating these arrays with the energy node system of both the Abyss Forge and the entire wizard tower.

The task required an application of both magic array knowledge and runology. Guiding the Dalfyn’s Evil Horn was proving to be a particularly challenging issue, and Lynn had been troubled by it recently.

Unlike other source materials he had worked with before—such as the Abyss Forge, which came with established construction methods that allowed Lynn to directly reference how others had utilized them—the Dalfyn’s Evil Horn was entirely new.

This wasn’t plagiarism; at most, it could be called borrowing ideas.

However, the Dalfyn’s Evil Horn was a source material that no one had ever used before, requiring Lynn to create everything from scratch. The only relatively good news was that, although no other wizard had used the Dalfyn’s Evil Horn, some had used similar items. For instance, Lynn discovered that one wizard had used the horn of a Celestial Unicorn to create an attack sector in their wizard tower.

That wizard was someone Lynn was acquainted with, the same Maybetessa with whom he had interacted twice before.

Unfortunately, the wizard tower manual only included the construction method for the attack sector and lacked data on other processes or methodologies. Lynn felt a pang of regret.

It was akin to having the answer to a math problem without the steps or reasoning behind it. You could copy the answer, but understanding how it was derived—the process, the methodology, the relevant points of knowledge—was missing.

Lynn couldn’t help but regretfully wish that Lady Maybetessa would be willing to share her construction process for the Celestial Unicorn sector from her first-level wizard tower. However, he knew this was wishful thinking. There was no way an official wizard would entertain such an audacious request from him.

Even knowing Nocturne wouldn’t help in this situation. Although the information might not be critically important, it still contained the foundational ideas for constructing a sector. A professional could potentially derive significant insights from it. Lynn understood this well, as he himself would never share such data with anyone.

The next day, Lynn arrived once again in the plane where the Abyss Market was located, having made ample preparations.

Following him was the four-armed brute force demon, still serving as his translator.

He took the egg out of his spatial ring and crushed it. A thick, nauseating stench wafted from the egg, dripping onto the red sandstone ground.

Lynn pulled a silk handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his hands, realizing that the fly demon had not warned him about the egg’s foul odor.

Looking up at the dimly lit sky, he was interrupted by a tremor from the ground. Turning around, he saw two Abyss Giant Rhinoceroses charging towards him, each bearing a demon rider.

Lynn carefully stepped through the gap next to the stall and squatted in front of the old man. He took a discreet look at the items laid out for sale. The collection included a worn-out kettle, a gem obscured by a thick layer of grime, and a colorful snakeskin pouch...

Among the assortment of gemstones, Lynn spotted a pink stone, buried beneath layers of dust. It was unclear how long it had been there.

Lynn picked up the pink stone, and as he did, he felt a peculiar sensation of being watched.

Without hesitation, he retrieved a thousand magic stones from his ring and placed them on the ground.

Strangely, the magic stones vanished as soon as they touched the yellow burlap of the stall.

The unsettling feeling of being observed dissipated along with the disappearance of the magic stones.

Lynn didn’t bother to examine the other items; he simply bypassed them. He was confident in his discerning eye and saw no need to flaunt his knowledge.

“What did you buy?” the fly demon inquired, peeking over to get a better look.

“This. I bought it for someone else.” Lynn said casually, showing the pink crystal he had purchased.

“This?” The fly demon pondered for a moment before reaching into its ring and pulling out a matching pink crystal. “Is it this?”

The crystal was oval in shape, relatively small, and uniformly colored, but it matched the pink crystal Lynn held in his hand exactly.

“Where did you get this?” Lynn asked.

“I don’t know. A demon merchant in the Pale Plains sold it to me. I consulted some other demons, and they said it might be something from you wizards, though it’s not edible,” the fly demon replied, tossing the crystal to Lynn. “It’s yours. I have no idea what it is anyway.”

Lynn instinctively caught the crystal. “Aren’t you worried it might be some sort of treasure?”

“I’ve tried various methods to no avail. It’s of no value to me,” the fly demon said, its eyes darting around. “But I’m quite curious about what the items you’ve brought this time are.”

...

Above the vast mountain ranges, a colossal tree stretched from earth to sky, holding the world in its embrace. The stars hung like ripened fruit on the branches of this towering tree, swaying in the celestial expanse.

At the very pinnacle of this immense tree stood a grand and indescribable twelve-columned divine temple, its splendor extending as far as the eye could see. Above this divine temple, a colorful fruit, brimming with infinite mysteries, was on the verge of ripening, its alluring aroma wafting outward.

The fragrance permeated the divine temple, awakening the consciousness that had been dormant above the twelve divine thrones, each engulfed in magnificent divine fire.

The dispersing scent stirred the slumbering consciousness above the divine thrones. The consciousness awakened from the slumber began to capture the particles of information that had seeped into the void over the years, retrieving all the memories of the events that had occurred during their long period of sleep.

The once vague and grand consciousness intertwined, and in an instant, communication was completed.

“The actions of those wizards have become increasingly radical over the years. They are trying to break the balance that was so hard to establish back then.”

“Isn’t that to be expected? With the impending ripeness of Him, who wouldn’t be tempted?”

“Indeed, some wizards remain moderate, but there are also those radical wizards who persistently incite war.”

“And some wizards are entangling themselves with the Abyss once again? What are they planning?”

“It’s time to teach these wizards a lesson.”

Messages rapidly exchanged within the divine temple.

——