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Chapter 362: The Change

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

In the Royal Magic Tower of Holm, as soon as Lucien pushed the gate open, he saw the leading characters in the Will of Elements who he was familiar with including Morris, Gaston, Florencia, and so on. There were in total about fourteen or fifteen of them here. Some of them did not make it either because they were out of Allyn for their adventures and explorations or they were in the middle of the key stage of their magic study.

"Mr. Evans, you should be safe here. I'll stay outside." Bellak whispered to Lucien.

Lucien slightly nodded and walked in slowly. He smiled and greeted the sorcerers in there, "Morning, Mr. Morris, Mr. Gaston… Very nice to see you, Ms. Florencia…"

"Welcome Mr. Evans, our youngest Review Board member in the history, and also the youngest winner of Holm Crown prize," Morris stood up and introduced Lucien to the rest of the important leaders of the Will of Elements, "and he is also going to win… win… Umm, the Immortal Throne award, which is going to make him the second winner of the award in the Will of Elements! A very promising young man!"

The first arcanist who won Immortal Throne award was Hathaway, who put forward the theory explaining the basic elemental constitution of the human body.

Morris was quite unhappy with the fact that Lucien was going to steal another great sum of money from the organization's pocket by winning another ring. The leading sorcerers present were already very used to it and they even tended to make fun of it. Seeing the look on Morris's face, they murmured Morris' nickname that was given by them—the Silver-grey Miser.

Florencia was amused and also felt a little embarrassed. As a senior-rank sorcerer who was good at real fighting, and as the wife of the grand arcanist, she never worried about getting money or materials. However, for sake of the fact that Morris was her teacher, sometimes she would be on Morris's side when Morris put forward some suggestions to save the budget.

"Lucien, this is our president, Mr. Donald, the member of the Highest Council, and he just came back from the other dimension." Morris introduced Lucien to the elderly man with the mixed black and white hair.

Donald was the typical gentleman sticking to the classic, elegant tradition of the Kingdom of Holm. He was dressing in a rather formal way, and beside him, there was a black top hat and a walking stick. His light blue eyes were neither dull or sharp, but mild and gentle.

Facing the leading sorcerer who had won over the many powerful ninth-circle archmages and one of the members of the Highest Council, Lucien definitely needed to treat Donald very seriously. His titles—a level nine arcanist, a ninth-circle sorcerer, the winner of Holm Crown prize, and so on—could easily make him a dazzling role model.

"It's my great pleasure meeting you, Mr. Donald. I've been very curious about those mysterious dimensions and thus I am always holding my very respect to you and the sorcerers who are able to go there. Can you share with me some of your experiences in the dimension?" said Lucien to Donald very politely and he was trying to build a closer relationship with the president.

Donald's voice was hoarse as if his throat was somehow damaged, "Evans, as the member of Review Board, you have the access to most of the information stored in the senior rank arcana and magic library to know about the dimensions. But, of course, we all know that you're rank on the Cleansing List is rising fast, so I guess you probably do not have the time to read the books and materials."

Florencia grinned. Before Lucien, Donald, the Elements Chaos, ranked no. 53 on the list. Lydia, who had part of the succubus blood, also turned around and looked at Lucien with interest in her dark red eyes.

Before Lucien answered, Donald went on, "There are many types of dimensions, but because we haven't managed to find the newly-born ones, so far we still haven't figured out the reasons of their formation, which maybe involve the deepest secrets of the formation of the world. The two oldest, dangerous and board dimensions are not strange to us—we call them hell and abyss. They are divided into layers just like a magic tower."

Lucien listened to Donald's words carefully, and so did the arcanists and sorcerers around.

"As for the so-called Mountain Paradise by the Church, it remains quite mysterious. Mount Paradise has the most features shared by the dimensions, and the angles in Mount Paradise can be summoned just like how the other creatures could be summoned from the different dimensions. However, just like these missing planets, we have no clue where it is, and thus there is no way to explore it, " said Donald, "and the common dimensions are much smaller than the main word. We can reach the boundary of it beyond which there is darkness chaos. The geographical features, creatures and the ores produced there are also of a single variety. There is a Fire Dimension where the flame is everywhere; A nature dimension where unicorns live… In some dimensions, some planets do exist but no lives can be found on them; There are also Star Tombs where there is no gravity or any light; and also, of course, some worlds like a human society where countries are established."

The name of Fire Dimension came from the ancient magic empire, and the Congress kept it.

When hearing the name – Star Tomb, Lucien recalled the science fiction films that he watched in his last life. It sounded that a star tomb resembled the universe that Lucien knew. But why there was no gravity and light in a star tomb?

"So far the Congress has explored 87 different dimensions and we have control over 11 of them. For the rest of them, some are under the control of the South or the North Church, some have changed hands multiple times between the aborigines and the Church, and some are being controlled by the Dark Parliament or the groups believing in other gods or goddesses. Some, for example, hell and the abyss, are out of our control because we're not powerful enough. The purposes for us to explore the dimensions are to get the precious materials and resources and to find the truth of the world. I went to the star tomb this time trying to figure out if it has anything to do with the unfound planets, but unfortunately, I did not find anything."

After Donald's brief introduction, and when Lucien's curiosity was satisfied, Morris introduced Lucien to the rest of the leading sorcerers and arcanists from the Will of Elements. At this time, the gate of the hall was pushed open again and the grey-haired Raventi walked in. On the black magic robe he was wearing, the periodic table of elements was drawn.

"Alright, since we're all here. We can start our discussion now." Seeing that Raventi sat down in the chair which was quite far from him, Morris was in a pretty good mood.

Lucien slightly nodded to Raventi in order to show his thankfulness. The reason why Raventi was late was that he needed to safeguard the branch of the Will of Elements to secure Lucien's safety while he was using the demiplane.

Raventi did not care. In his eyes, it was just his responsibility.

"The first thing… about… Holm Crown prize…" Morris rubbed his forehead and then said, "The ring for Larry called ionization is ready. Shall we wait until Evans's two rings are ready so we can give the prize together?"

"Together. One ceremony is enough." said Raventi directly, "What is important should be the ring and the honor. Don't waste each other's time."

Raventi had given out the idea, and the rest of the arcanists did not think there was a need to dispute with him. So they all nodded.

"Al… Alright, I personally agree with Raventi's words. What really matters should be the honor, not the prize… So maybe we can just use a level-four or five ring to…" Seeing the angry look on the face of the many arcanists and sorcerers, Morris hurriedly corrected himself, "… I'm just joking… Now let's talk about the name for the two rings for Evans."

The senior arcanists would be really embarrassed if the Will of Elements was going to use a level-four or five ring as the prize.

"It's simple. One named Origin, and the other named Electron, Micro-particle, or Gate." Florencia smiled.

At this time, Lucien, as the winner of the prize, could only remain silent. In order to avoid irritating Morris again and also keep this as his secret weapon, Lucien was planning on submitting the paper on the radiant element next year. This paper could prove that electron was part of the inner structure of an atom and show that elements can be transformed. Therefore, theoretically speaking, the paper had proved one of the highest dreams of the school of Alchemy to be possible, and thus it was definitely worthy of another Holm Crown ring. Following the method used in submitting Miracle Experiment, the paper would be read by Fernando and Cole first and then be sealed.

The school of Alchemy originated from the skills of making magic items and potions in the ancient magic empire. Later, the sorcerers specializing in this field tried to change the properties of the substances fundamentally and tried to turn the common materials into real gold. But it never worked.

After the discussion, the two rings for Lucien were named Electron and the Origin.

Later, the senior members started to discuss some important issues in the Will of Elements. As a new member, Lucien rarely talked but only listened patiently and voted when it was necessary.

According to Lucien's observation, although the atmosphere in the Will of Elements seemed to be quite harmonious, in fact, there were also conflicts: Morris seemed to have some friction with Donald and each of them had some supporters; Gaston and the other two senior-rank arcanists formed their own group and they belonged to neither side; as for Raventi, he did not care about this at all, and he just directly yelled at anyone who he believed was being stupid.

…

The meeting ended an hour later.

"Lucien, the Hand of Paleness has decided to confer you Immortal Throne award. They want to ask you whether you prefer an amulet, a necklace, or something else? "

Morris was happy to see the money coming out from some other people's pocket.

Lucien opened the gate of the meeting room for Morris and smiled, "A magic robe is great."

Lucien had Sun's Corona, so it was not ideal for him to have two amulets together.

Morris nodded and put on a bitter smile, "Hope that I won't have to ask you what you want in the future."

Lucien and Morris walked together, chatting, and Bellak caught up with Lucien.

"Mr. Evans, do you want to stay here or go back to Allyn?" whispered Bellak.

"We go back." Lucien smiled. And then he said goodbye to Morris, Gaston, Florencia and the rest of the arcanists.

Florencia stared at Lucien using her green eyes, and said in a pretended unhappy manner, "I was about to discuss with you about the discovery of the new particle."

"We should have a lot of opportunities in the future." Lucien grinned, and then he walked to the gate connecting the demiplane. Raventi was also about to go back to Allyn with Lucien, as he was on duty today.

…

At this time, two middle-aged sorcerers happened to walk out from the demiplane warehouse.

They exchanged a look and they saw the deep hatred in each other's eyes.

The black-haired sorcerer pulled the necklace on his neck and murmured something. Then he turned around and walked to the core of the magic tower. The blond-haired sorcerer adjusted his collar and cuffs, and then he walked to the intersection of the two corridors.

It was only a short distance. Soon he arrived at the corridor and saw Lucien.

Meeting Lucien face to face, the blond-haired sorcerer slightly lowered his head and kept walking.

The second when he walked past Lucien, the blond-haired sorcerer lowered his head even deeper in a seemingly respectful way. However, the smile on his face was rather vicious.

It was the last moment… Then he would be free…

Streaks of burning light burst out of his magic robe, and a large amount of powerful alchemical explosives attached to his waist and chest blasted all together!

Bang! The power of a middle-rank sorcerer's self-destruction and the rows of high explosives blasting could match that of a sixth-circle magic spell!

"Demon! Go to hell, demon!" The sorcerer's last desperate and shrill cries lingered in the air.

Chapter 363: The Interlocking Plot

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

The blasts together with the tumbling flame were about to overwhelm Lucien. The gray slates covering the corridor were lifted fiercely with the great power, as if they were paper pieces. The bombing was deafening, so no screaming or crying could be heard.

However, when the flame and air billows were about to cover Lucien, they were instantly restrained inside an invisible cage, and thus Lucien was not hurt. In the cage, the white gas shining with the glow of fire simply could not move even an inch closer to Lucien.

The seventh-circle spell, Forcecage!

The person who was walking with Lucien was Raventi, the ninth-circle archmage, a member of the Highest Council, and the friend of the Astrologer, who was one of the leaders of Tower. Therefore, even though he did not specialize in the school of Astrology, Raventi still had the magic item enchanted with some precautionary spells. When the blond-haired sorcerer lowered his head, he immediately had the bad foreboding. In the next second, Raventi activated the spell, Forcecage, and it caged the blond-haired sorcerer within when the burning streaks of light first appeared.

Although the power of the explosion was astonishing, it was not magic. The air blast slowly died out, failing to do any damage to the magic cage. The fading sound from the air blast was full of desperation.

In front of the archmage, the middle-rank sorcerer's assassination did not work.

At this time, the movement of the dust in the air suddenly slowed down, and the colors in this space faded away.

The ninth-circle spell, Time Stop!

Lucien heard Donald's hoarse voice, "All of you, leave the place."

Unlike Raventi, Donald studied the school of Astrology, and he had rich experience in exploring the starry sky and the star tombs, therefore, his Host Star of Destiny was more sensitive than that of other people. He noticed that something was wrong even earlier than Raventi, however, the casting time of Time Stop was a second or two longer than that of other magic spells, so Raventi's Forcecage was first activated to win some time.

Lucien was a bit perplexed. He did not understand why Donald just asked them to leave. After all, the explosion had been stopped by Raventi's spell, why did Donald still choose to cast the ninth-circle spell? But Lucien still followed Donald's words, and, meanwhile, Bellak took a step forward to protect Lucien.

As soon as they started to retreat, Morris started to cast the weird spell which made him feel really dizzy. When Morris was prepared, Donald stopped the ninth-circle spell two seconds before it expired. The dust in the air started to roll and tumble again, but a half-transparent figure was pulled out of the flame and dust by an invisible power.

The ninth-circle Necromancy spell – Soul Bind!

Unlike the low-rank magic circles that shared the similar name with it, this ninth-circle spell could catch the soul before it dissolved in the air and trap it in a precious stone. Unless the spell-caster was an expert in the field of Necromancy, he or she must chant the spell first instead of directly activating it.

Lucien could see, although very blurry, that the soul of the blond-haired sorcerer was pulled into a flame-like ruby, screaming and crying. The ruby was thus covered with a layer of dark green light.

In front of an archmage, killing oneself was not even that easy!

"I'll figure this out." Holding the precious stone, Morris walked to Lucien, "Are you alright?"

"I'm…I'm okay." Although Lucien was always quite calm and quick-reacted, in front of the three archmages, he still appeared to be rather slow.

At the same time, the rest of the leading sorcerers including Gaston and Florencia of the Will of Elements also came. They cared about Lucien, and they also wanted to know what just happened here. They could not believe that Lucien Evans, one of the senior members of the Will of Element, just encountered assassination in the headquarter.

This had to be thoroughly investigated!

"Stay where you are!" Bellak suddenly raised his hands to stop them.

The arcanists and sorcerers including Lucien, Morris, Donald, and Raventi all looked at Bellak, feeling very confused.

The look on Bellak's face was rather serious and he said at a fast pace, "Forgive my rudeness, your Excellencies. The blond-haired sorcerer's target was for sure Mr. Evans. It seems that he is one of the sorcerers whose cognition world is permanently damaged because of Mr. Evans' discovery of the new particle, and he wanted to die with Mr. Evans in despair. In the past several hundred years, we have dealt with this kind of case multiple times, and it is not a big deal. However, the problem is – why the assassinator knew the time so well? Why he walked out of the demiplane warehouse only a few minutes after the meeting ended?"

The corridor along which the blond-haired sorcerer walked here was only connected to the demiplane warehouse, and the security on this floor was very strict – No one was allowed to wander around here. If the blond-haired sorcerer was doing an ambush in the corner, the patrolling golems and the built-in magic circles must have activated the alarm.

"So, my guess is that – At least one of the senior members in the Will of Elements was helping him! For Mr. Evans's safety, please stay no closer to him, your Excellencies, in case the real ringleader of the assassination can find the chance!"

Hearing what Bellak just said, the senior members of the Will of Elements were all very surprised and they looked at each other – His reasoning made sense! But who did it?

Subconsciously, they were divided into three groups, and they were on the alert toward each other. Only Raventi roared angrily, "This's a shame! Shame!"

"Mr. Raventi, Mr. Donald, Mr. Morris, please launch the investigation as soon as possible. Mr. Evans should not stay here any longer, and I'll safeguard him back to Allyn." suggested Bellak. He trusted the three archmages who just helped, especially Raventi.

Except for Lucien whose story was like a miracle, the rest of the senior members of the Will of Elements were at least senior-rank sorcerers. If there was a traitor among them, only the archmages could handle.

Donald nodded to Morris, "Let's handle this. Raventi, please send Evans back together with Mr. Bellak."

The second after Donald finished his words, the entire magic tower started to shake fiercely. A series of deafening explosions came from some distance away.

"The core!" Morris's facial expression suddenly changed. Reaching his hands forward, a mysterious gate drawn with many magic symbols suddenly showed up in the air.

The rusted, heavy black gate was pulled open by Morris. As soon as he stepped into it, Morris and the gate disappeared together.

The ninth-circle spell, Precise Transfer!

The spell worked within the range of a thousand meters. And it worked the best within the spell-caster's magic tower!

"The assassination is for distracting us?" Donald murmured to himself. Although he wanted to send out the senior sorcerers present to safeguard around, he was concerned that this might provide the traitor with the opportunity to do any further damage to them.

So he said to Raventi, "You go to the control core and turn on the second level defense of the magic tower, in case the tower is further damaged. I'll handle the assassination case."

Except for the two legendary sorcerers, only the president and the vice president had the right to turn on the top three levels of defense of the Royal Magic Tower of Holm.

Then Donald turned to Bellak and said seriously, "You safeguard Evans back to Allyn."

Allyn was very carefully designed by the congress, and the teleport magic circles were everywhere. Any fight in Allyn would be spotted immediately, and thus Allyn was now way safer than the Royal Magic Tower of Holm.

Also, right now, Lucien's teacher, the Lord of Storm, was also in Allyn, while the other two major leaders of the Will of Elements were being very busy: Hathaway was out of the city, and Davy was fascinated with trying to create a new transformation golem.

"As your command, Mr. Donald." Bellak bowed seriously, and the turned to Lucien, "Let's go, Mr. Evans."

Lucien took a glance at the senior members of the Will of Elements who had divided into three groups in a subtle way. Lucien shook his head in his mind. Then he followed Bellak to the room where the demiplane magic circle was in.

Pushing open the gate, Lucien and Bellak walked to the magic circle. When they stepped on it, the magic circle was about to activate when the light burst out.

However, the same light covered Bellak as well.

The light suddenly swelled, and the whole space was filled with the light!

Feeling extremely dizzy, Lucien was not able to stay focused. He looked at Bellak in great shock and realized that the darkness had enveloped him. In the background of darkness, the many time curves were creepy and mysterious, and the light spots were surrounding.

Bellak…Bellak was the one who plotted all of these?!

Lucien was shocked.

And they even wasted a ninth-level magic scroll, Space Countercurrent.

Space Countercurrent was a ninth-circle spell used for interrupting the process of teleportation!

When the darkness disappeared, the sudden light dazzled Lucien's eyes. But in the next second, he activated Douglas' Absorbing Wall immediately.

When the dizziness disappeared, he found himself in the middle of a broad lake. Bellak, floating in the air, was right in front of him.

There was a triumphant smile on his dark-skinned face. Putting his right hand on the left side of his chest, Bellak bowed at Lucien elegantly,

"Black Revenger, no. 135 night watcher, sends greetings to you, the Demon of Primary."

It was him!

When Bellak was waiting outside of the meeting room, he could do the timing based on the sound of their footsteps.

There were two purposes behind the cursed vase.

If Lucien had not found the problem in the vase, he would gradually drain out and die, and the Church would use this as an excuse to attack the congress because they would say that Lucien's death was because of the God's condemnation.

But Lucien did find out, and Bellak thus managed to have the opportunity to get close to Lucien!

Chapter 364: The Retribution

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

When Bellak bowed to Lucien, a layer of dim light covered the creepy black ring on his right hand.

The ring was designed in the shape that the two black snakes joined head to tail. Targeting at Lucien, a dark ray suddenly and fiercely shot out.

The magic wall shielding Lucien disappeared, and so did the enchanted magic effect on the senior-rank arcana badge—Freedom of Movement (Common). A small anti-magic field was formed around Lucien.

The seventh-circle spell, Anti-magic Ray!

As a battle sorcerer, Bellak was more cautious than the senior-rank sorcerers that Lucien once had fought against. At the very beginning, he had picked the spells that worked the best on Lucien and activated his best magic item. Also, he had limited Lucien from using any high-rank magic items by building the anti-magic field.

Lucien was unable to activate his ring, Element, and thus the magic spells built in it could not be used. Fortunately, he was relatively experienced facing the anti-magic ray, so he immediately dodged aside and tried to find somewhere to hide, as the anti-magic field would not last long.

When Bellak saw Lucien's swift movement, he realized that Lucien was also a quite competitive knight, but it did not matter to him. Smiling, he reached out his hand and gently pointed at the air in front of Lucien, and instantly, a tall and invisible force field wall rose straight from the ground.

Bang!

Lucien failed to change the direction of his movement and he ran into the wall.

Having no time to waste, using the rebound momentum, Lucien altered his direction and started to run at his full speed along the wall.

The biggest problem of this fifth-circle magic was that it was just a wall, not a cage!

When Lucien was about to jump into the lake, Bellak's buffering time for casting had ended and another gray ray shot out from his finger. No matter how Lucien tried to dodge, the ray still got him.

Lucien's eyes became glazed, and the body part struck by the ray began to harden like a grayish-white rock.

The grayish white color rapidly expanded, and in just a second, Lucien was transformed into a stone statue.

The sixth-circle spell, Stone!

"Ha, the so-called Demon of Primary… How weak you are!" Bellak put on a triumphant smile and he could not help making the sarcastic comment.

As a spy, Bellak was always under great pressure. He needed to take the chance to vent on his enemy or he would definitely go crazy. But although he was being sarcastic, he did not lower his alert. With the following series of casting, Bellak constrained Lucien completely.

After that, Bellak finally felt a bit relaxed. After all, Lucien was the student of the Lord of Storm and who knew if he had any strange magic items or scrolls.

Staring at Lucien who was right now a stone statue, there was a smirk on Bellak's swarthy face, "The command was to end the life the Demon of Primary ranking No. 53 on the list, but I just caught him alive! When the Church burns him down into ashes in public in Lance, my reward shall be abundant and my honor shall be recognized by everyone!"

He knew that he was going to spend the following several decades hiding in the Holy City, Lance, as Holm parish would have no way to protect him when facing Fernando's fury.

In Holm, all the night watchers were hiding very carefully. Once they were exposed, that would be the end of them.

Then Bellak looked around to figure out where he was right now.

Although the magic scroll carrying the magic Space Countercurrent just sent them to this random place, based on how long they had traveled just now, Bellak had the rough idea that they were not far from Rentato, and to be more specific, they should be right beside the Chirag Lake in the southeast of Rentato.

Using magic, Bellak turned Lucien's stone statue into a miniature that he could hold in his hand. The miniature looked very lively despite the gray color.

"You're a defiler, and you're doomed to be burned down by the sacred flame. What a pity… or I could ask the Pope to turn you into a permanent statue and place you in my collection room. So far you're the sorcerer ranking the highest on the list among those I've hunted, but, surprisingly, you're the weakest one as well!" Holding the statue in his hand, somehow Bellak went a bit out of control, "You get it now? With no strong enough magic power, no matter how big an achievement you have in arcana, it's just a phantom. A so-called great arcanist can easily be caught or killed by a senior-rank sorcerer!"

The fact that his arcana level was low was a wound in his heart. Bellak was not good at arcana and he had always been mocked by his fellow schoolmates and even his teachers and colleagues. No matter how his magic level improved, people around him just could not see it. And his beloved girl also jumped into the embrace of the guy who he hated the most—the guy whose arcana level was two levels higher than his, but at that time, Bellak's magic level was still one-circle higher.

"You know what? Later in an adventure, I caught him… I killed him, but slowly. I tortured him… He begged me so desperately. But I was so happy. He was always up there, looking down upon me, but finally, he knelt down in front of me, and he even wanted to send me his wife as the gift. Your high arcana level doesn't always help you, you know?"

If Lucien had been able to think, he definitely would have mocked Bellak that he was being overly sensitive and thus his life was turned into a failure. In the Congress, no one dared to mock a sorcerer face-to-face whose magic level was higher than his or her arcana level.

Bellak calmed himself down after venting out his anger. He was ready to set off for the Radiance Church as there was no more time for him to waste. Once the senior members of the Will of Element arrived, that would be the end of him.

Bellak knew what he should focus on right now despite all the emotions in his heart.

"Confess, Mr. Lucien Evans, the Demon of Primary! Confess good before going to hell! You should regret that you did not focus on improving your magic level!" Bellak shook his head when taking a glance at the miniature in his hand.

However, at the glance, Bellak saw that the statue was putting on a creepy smile!

Something was not right!

Subconsciously, Bellak immediately tried to throw out the miniature statue. He did not care whether the statue was going to be broken.

However, it was too late, as the cone breath fiercely came out from the mouth of the statue. The breath was dim and gloomy like the human beings' dark and ever-changing mind. Bellack was too close to the statue, and he got affected by the breath.

Instantly, Bellak's brain was paralyzed. He had so many thoughts flashing past his mind, that he could not stay focused!

At this time, some strange light flashed past and Bellak disappeared. At the next second, he reappeared on the other side in the air. He had got rid of the influence of the cone breath and the power of his mind was slowly recovering.

Meanwhile, a senior-rank magic armor covered his whole body.

The sixth-circle spell, Spell Trigger, which was a powerful magic spell used by senior-rank sorcerers to handle the emergencies such as assassination or surprise attack!

As soon as the paralyzation was gone, Bellak realized that it was the paralyzing breath from the crystal dragon, Alferris!

Not all of the crystal dragons had this kind of power. Alferris' dragon breath had been improved by Fernando.

Layers of stone power fell from the statue, that became bigger and bigger. The breath of the dragon was imposing, and the fish in the lake all sank to the bottom out of fear.

After signing the compact with Lucien, Alferris had suggested that no matter where Lucien needed to go, it would turn itself into Lucien's substitute using the illusion magic in order to find out who did all the plotting behind the cursed vase. As the real Lucien would follow Alferris like a mirror reflection while using the invisibility spell, Alferris' way of talking and movement would be exactly the same as that of Lucien.

However, to make sure everything looked perfect, Alferris needed to wear all of Lucien's senior-rank magic items, since they could not be replicated. Lucien was a bit concerned about it.

Alferris' illusion magic could easily fool a seventh or eighth-circle sorcerer, if he or she did not use the special magic to examine carefully, not to mention Bellak. Therefore, since Donald, Morris, and Raventi could see the truth, they did not worry at all with letting "Lucien" go back with Bellak alone.

In fact, all of Bellak's magic had failed to work except the anti-magic ray, since Alferris was immune to many spells. However, Alferris managed to deceive Bellak by using illusion, and was waiting for the chance to fight back.

Since the anti-magic ray did not affect the real Lucien who was in his invisibility, Alferris' illusionary power was still working. Later, Alferris was able to get rid of the effect of the anti-magic ray faster than a senior-rank sorcerer.

"Well, call me Lucien Alferris!" said the little crystal dragon triumphantly. One of its big claws was wearing the beautiful and shining Holm Crown ring, Element.

Although Bellak was pissed, he did not panic. Bellack knew that Alferris just turned into the seventh-circle, so it would not be too hard for him to escape away under its claws. While feeling rather confused and wondering where Lucien really was, Bellak was ready to retreat.

However, before he managed to activate the magic model in his soul, Bellak suddenly sensed a great danger!

In the air above him, the real Lucien Evans showed up because the illusion magic from Alferris had been dispelled. Beside him in the air, there was a tube of colorless liquid, and Lucien was casting a long and weird spell.

In the next second, a colorless and dim ray shot out targeting at Bellak, who immediately activated the sixth-circle defensive spell—Starlight Cloak.

The light of stars joined together and became a cloak covering Bellak when the freezing-cold ray shot him in his chest.

Bellak heard the ice-cracking sound in his mind, and to his great shock, he saw that even the starlight cloak had failed to prevent the ray. The cloak was frozen, and the freezing process quickly extended to his body.

The water drops around were frozen into solid pieces; the hydrogen in the air was solidified; oxygen was solidified—the air was also frozen. There were light-blue snowflakes in the air, shining under the sunlight, and they were from the colorless liquid.

Bellak could not move. His magic ring was frozen and then broke into pieces, the blood in his body was frozen solid, and his skin was turned into a layer of crystal ice. In the last second of his life, the shock and great fear lingered in his eyes. He had never expected that Lucien, in fact, possessed such a horrifying magic!

What was it? However, Bellak would never know now.

Mimicking Bellak's manner, Lucien put his right hand on his chest and slightly bowed.

"Thank you for the vase you sent me, Mr. Bellak."

Chapter 365: The Great Disturbance

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

The sun was shining and the lake rippling.

Before Bellak, who was frozen solid, started to fall, the ice and snow pieces surrounding him started to melt and evaporate, and then his body and the magic robe he was wearing were turned into the white powder, simmering in the air.

The power of Evans' Freezing Ray even surpassed Lucien's own expectation. The spell just turned a six-circle sorcerer, who had already cast his own defensive spells, into pieces of ice crystal and a handful of powder. Even the magic he just used was also frozen and broken into tiny pieces!

Although it was possibly because Bellak underestimated the power of the ray, no one could deny the fact that this seventh-circle magic had already won against the rest of the snow and ice spells, and what was even more terrifying was that, with the proper casting reagent, even a senior-rank-to-be sorcerer whose cognition world had been partly substantialized could use it.

In order words, because of the progress in arcana study, Lucien had managed to lower the requirement of casting this seventh-circle spell while retaining the power, which complied with the effort that the Congress had always been making.

The powder of the magic items that Bellak wore fell onto the small piece of land at the center of the lake. Lucien turned around and saw the shocking look on Alferris' face. Its amber-colored eyes opened wide.

Lucien, of course, wanted Alferris to keep it as a secret for him.

He put on a kind smile and asked Alferris who looked in shock, "Are you alright?"

"My rings… amulets…" Alferris' childish voice trembled as if there was deep sorrow in it. It had been eager to collect Bellak's magic items for a long time, which was always its biggest interest. As for how powerful Lucien's spell was, sorry, right now it was not in the mood to think of it at all.

That was Alferris. Lucien released a sigh of relief in his mind, "You know what? The powder and pieces are still valuable."

In fact, after Lucien's cognition world was substantialized, using Elemental Swirl would not drain him up anymore, and he could even use it twice in a row. Lucien had several ways to kill Bellak, but to be careful, he directly used his most powerful hidden weapon.

"Really?" Alferris cheered up.

"Of course," answered Lucien very calmly.

Although Lucien was not lying, as the broken pieces and power did have some value, when compared to the original rings and amulets, the value was not even close. However, Lucien was not going to tell Alferris the truth, since the dragon only collected them, and in fact, would never sell them.

Alferris dived and very quickly collected the powder and pieces.

"Are you happy now?" The smile on Lucien's face was still nice and kind.

"Yup!" Alferris counted the materials it got and answered cheerfully.

"So… It's time to give my ring back to me." Lucien continued to smile.

Alferris' body suddenly became stiff as it was just struck by an invisible bolt of lightning. And then it said in a pretended calm way, "Let me keep playing Lucien Evans."

"I don't need to leave Allyn recently," said Lucien. He adjusted the monocle he was wearing and informed his teacher, Fernando, Thompson, Morris, and Raventi respectively.

Seeing that Lucien was being very firm, Alferris became very depressed. Slowly and carefully, it took off the ring and handed it back to Lucien.

…

In Rentato, the Kingdom of Holm.

After finishing his preach to the several leading conservative nobles, the red-robed cardinal, Adrian, stepped out of the strictly-guarded manor.

The experienced coachmen gently pulled the reins and coaches stopped in front of Adrian nicely and smoothly.

The pastors and knights guarding the red-robed cardinal quickly walked forward and divided into two rows to guard the coaches, waiting for Adrian to get on one of them.

Adrian crossed in front of his chest and prayed at a low voice. Then, he slowly walked to the coach in stateliness.

Suddenly, as if he was warned by God, he sensed a great danger and immediately activated a seventh level divine spell, Chaos Teleportation.

A sacred gate covered in white light slowly opened in front of him.

However, when Adrian was about to step in, the visional gate connecting to Mountain Paradise shook fiercely and then shattered.

The ninth-circle Force Field spell, Space Lock!

Then, the temperature of the environment rose rapidly and the air became boiling hot. The ground had been turned into a orange-red lava and devoured the pastors, bishops, and knights before they could release their bitter screams.

The red-robed cardinal started to fall into pieces, and the activated divine armor and protective screen were also melting like small candles before a great flame.

The ninth-circle elemental spell, Raventi's Flame Hell!

Adrian could not move at all because of the space lock. Crying and screaming, he was burnt to ashes!

A few minutes later, the flame hell quieted down. The coachmen were more than scared seeing the big pit in front of them. The area of the pit just covered the area where the clergy was standing. However, the coaches and the coachmen who were just a few inches away from them remained completely unharmed, and the horses were even snorting in a quite relaxed way.

The remaining flame formed the words on the ground,

"Equal Revenge."

…

At noon, in a quiet church in Rentato.

There were no followers coming in and out since it had been converted into a cloister for the ascetics. All the fancy decorations had been removed, and the thistles and thorns representing all the sufferings were planted.

In the room which originally belonged to the bishop, a young man in his early twenties was tempering his will using pain. His hair was rather short, and his figure was robust.

Abraham was the most outstanding and talented ascetic among his peers, and he had directly contributed to the improvement of theology. Although Varantine disliked some of his point of views, he had to concede that Abraham was very likely to become a red-robed cardinal in the next five years. Many grand cardinals even regarded him as the future Saint!

Ever since the main focus of the Church started to change after facing the continuous provocation from the Congress, Abraham was among the first team of clergy who volunteered to come to Holm. Abraham once said, "Only dangers and obstacles can purify one's piety. Without death and the sufferings, no honor of devotion can be proved."

In the darkness, Abraham walked on the thistles and thorns with his bare feet, however, he did not release a single groan. Suddenly, his eyes opened wide, as the dark room was somehow lit up.

Outside of the cloister, four flaming meteorites fell from the sky and directly hit the building.

The ninth-circle spell, Meteor Swarm.

It was a magic belonging to both the school of Element and Astrology.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The cloister was completely flattened after the series of explosions.

Abraham's body was now in chunks and pieces, and his eyes were still open wide. In the last second of his life, he still had no idea what just happened.

In the air, Morris opened the gate of Precise Transfer in the sky and left before the defense magic circles in Rentato were activated.

…

Not far away from Radiance Church, in the station of the Knights of Grail.

The level-six radiant knight Sigma was leading his team, doing the regular patrolling as usual, and the sounds of the pure-white armor pieces clacking were short and crisp.

All of a sudden, he jumped forward very swiftly, but the lightning from the sky was even faster.

The lightning hit Sigma's back along with the sacred wings he had. The lightning did not numb Sigma like the common ones, but it vibrated at a high speed. Like a table-knife cutting a piece of cheese, the lightning blade easily cut open Sigma's armor and his body. The cut was burned black.

That was Fernando's Lightning Smelter!

The power of this fifth-circle spell, when cast by an eighth-circle sorcerer, was no inferior to that of an eighth-circle spell!

After leaving the words "Equal Revenge", Thompson quickly left.

…

On the thirty-third floor of the headquarter of the Congress of Magic in Allyn.

"The red-robed cardinals, ascetics, and radiant knights, ten in total, have been eliminated. We have shown the Church our resolution on taking revenge. In the future, if they dare to do anything like this again, we will make them pay tenfold," reported Thompson to the Lord of Storm.

Fernando nodded slightly, "So they are all supporters of the Pope, right?"

"That's correct. The red-robed cardinals and ascetics supported the theology reform, and the knights were even more loyal," said Thompson in an assuring way, and than he added concernedly, "We shall be prepared for the war now, sir. Seeing what we did, the Church will for sure fight back."

"Gather the sorcerers to get prepared. Also, inform the nobles. They were the ones who were pursuing the balance between the Congress and the Church, and thus they should be ready to bear the consequences," said Fernando a bit sarcastically. "We'll see if they want to support one side, keep the weak balance… or… they are going to wait until we are both weakened from the war to benefit from it. However, if there is going to be a war, the war will for sure take place in Holm. There's no way that the nobles can just look on with folded arms. The best way for the nobles to act is to threaten the Church to stay calm, and thus the delicate balance can be kept. "

After listening to Fernando's analysis, Thompson left the office to inform Affair Committee the will of the Highest Council.

After a while, Fernando saw that Lucien walked in, followed by Alferris.

"You were being quite careful this time…" Fernando was still the same tightfisted when it came to giving any praises, "So… why are you here?"

"Sir, I have finished another paper." Lucien smiled.

Fernando did not take the paper instantly but carefully looked Lucien up and down with his red eyes.

Chapter 366: The Annoyed Nobles

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

"Did you first go over it?" After a while, Fernando finally asked.

Lucien, of course, understood what Fernando meant. He grinned and said, "Sir, it's not a subversive paper… not at all. It's just a following-up paper about the discovery of electron. Sir, you must know that I found the curse in the vase because of the induction of stream of electrons, so I verified the special material of the vase using the method of studying cathode ray."

Fernando took the paper and complained casually, "I was always the one handling all the troubles you made after reading your papers. Can't you just write some normal papers?"

For Fernando, he was in fact quite happy to see some okay-subversive papers because he was always looking forward to the progress in the world of arcana. However, coping with the aftermath of an extremely overturning theory such as the discontinuity of the form of energy was a totally different story. Being quite bad-tempered and impatient, Fernando hoped that he could just wait and then read the summaries of Lucien's papers just like Douglas, however, as Lucien's teacher, he was always the one in the front to handle all the huge cognition shifts.

However, Lucien was more than happy to have his very powerful and influential teacher handle all the troubles for him and to prevent more sorcerers from having their head exploded.

So Lucien just smiled but did not say anything when hearing Fernando's complaint.

Turning the pages, the look on Fernando's face became more serious. After a while, he finally made the comment, shaking his head, "Morris will for sure hate himself because he did not help Bellak."

The title of the paper was A New Element that can Radiate Electrons Stream and Another Two Types of Rays. In Fernando's eyes, the greatest finding in Lucien's new paper was not so much the discovery of the new element called Uranium but it had proved the fact that the electrons indeed were from the corresponding atoms, and therefore, the inner structure of atom indeed existed. This accomplishment was worth another Holm Crown prize.

"It's not the major focus of the paper, sir." Lucien reminded Fernando in a low voice.

Fernando looked up with his sharp red eyes.

"Somehow the special material also emits a new element…" Lucien tried to make his language vague and ambiguous in case too much information would be released.

"What do you mean by emitting 'a new element'?" Fernando doubted his own ears.

Fernando went back to the paper and read the specific part carefully. As he was reading, his tone became more serious, "Have you ever analyzed the special material? Is this new element part of the material itself?"

"I did. I extracted some of the special elements using the Collecting Spell and the magic circles, however, the new element—I called it helium—still existed. Although there can be some undiscovered elements in the material extracted, I am sure that no helium or its alchemical form was in it," Lucien said to Fernando, pointing at the last several pages of the article.

"What is behind the elemental changes? Can elements change into each other?" Fernando could not help asking himself. After a few more minutes, he calmed down and said to Lucien as usually, "You're indeed blessed by the Goddess of Luck, Lucien. You can even get a special material from the assassination against you. I believe that, at the end of our exploration, we'll understand the secret behind the birth of substances."

Following the tradition of the ancient magic empire, the Congress liked to use the title of the goddesses to refer to different things: the nature and essence of magic were called the Goddess of Magic, the more threatening coldness was called the Goddess of Ice and Snow… However, they meant totally different things from what the churches believed.

"Sir, I don't want to submit the paper right away. I want it to be sealed for a few years just like how we did with Miracle Experiment," said Lucien.

"Why?" Fernando was very confused, as this was not a subversive paper and thus it would no further piss off the Church and other sorcerers. It would be great if more arcanists could read this paper and thus had the guidance to explore the micro-world.

Fernando turned the pages and saw the new magic spells created by Lucien at the end of the paper: Evans' Freezing Ray and Snow Goddess' Whip.

"Just for this?" Fernando asked although he knew how powerful the two spells were as the founder of the field of Thermodynamics, "Your two spells have lowered the limit of ultra-low temperature by more than ten degrees, and as soon as you publish it, you can win and Ice & Snow Medal right away… You still don't want to turn the paper in?"

Hearing that, Alferris' stared at the paper very enthusiastically. It wished that the name, Alferris, could be added on the paper.

"Knowing the existence of helium, one can easily come up with the two spells. I want to keep them as my secret weapon." Lucien explained.

Fernando grinned but shook his head, "You can't keep them to yourself for long, Lucien. Don't forget that Atlant has also taken away part of the material, and Punishment Department also has it. Take a guess, when can they figure this out?"

"In three or four years," answered Lucien.

Fernando grinned, "The upcoming five to six years should be the key stage for you to become a senior-rank, and I don't think it'll be wise if you leave Allyn too often. So you don't really need a secret weapon. Even if you have become a sixth or seventh-circle sorcerer, the two spells can still help you as they are indeed very powerful. You killed Bellak with the freezing ray, right? So your cognition world has been substantialized primarily?"

"Yup… when I confirmed that electron is part of atom's inner structure." Lucien dared not to say that the substantialization, in fact, happened when he put forward the assumption that the form of power was discontinuous.

Lucien thanked Bellak and the cursed vase again in his mind, as the finding that electron was part of atom's inner structure was also shocking enough to substantialize one's cognition world, or Lucien would not have any proper excuse.

The Lord of Storm did not doubt Lucien's words but nodded slightly, "I see. You're likely to become a senior-rank in three to four years. If you need any materials, go to my demiplane warehouse to see if you can find any. As you wish, the paper can be sealed for two years, but I'll inform Atlant about it, I just don't want him to waste his time. It can be a good thing that you postpone the submission. If you turn the paper in right away, Morris, the money pincher, is going to find his excuse that this was just a following-up finding and refuse to give you a separate ring. But, I've heard that Timothy and Ulysses are both working on the constitution of gas, and they've made some progress, so your paper probably can't be kept as a secret for too long."

When hearing that Lucien could have the access to Fernando's demiplane warehouse, Alferris' eyes immediately lit up and it stared at Lucien as if it was trying to incite him to take away every single item from the warehouse.

Lucien pretended that he did not see Alferris. Although he himself was pretty much a money pincher as well, he knew that he should not be greedy here, especially when right now he was not having a very tight budget.

"Anyway, in the next years, focus on improving your magic power first," Fernando said to Lucien.

…

In Rentato, in Nekso Palace.

"We have to stop this! The Church and the Congress can't launch the war!" James, the bareheaded duke said aloud.

The major nobles of the Kingdom of Holm who were right now in Rentato were gathered by King Feltis and Prince Patrick for the emergency that broke out today.

The leader of the noble parliament, Flenburg Duke Rakers, looked at James in a cold way, "Stop them? We've tried so hard to maintain the balance so the damned sorcerers can make their own living, but you see how they paid us back? It's going to be a horrible mistake if we keep supporting them!"

Rakers was wearing the red wig and his face was carefully shaved. The deep wrinkles at the corner of his eyes shaped the contrast to his blue eyes. His eyes were shaped as those an imposing griffin, which complied with his title, King's Griffin.

"No matter how open-minded and radical a noble is, he would not completely abandon the Church; and no matter how conservative a noble is, he is also aware of the fact that, without the Congress, we nobles would never have the power and status that we're enjoying now." Wolfburg Duke Russell did not want to waste any time but directly put the fact on the table.

Then the argument between the Conservative and the Liberal suddenly stopped. Silence presided over the palace.

Seeing the king's squinted eyes, Hackson, Chancellor of the Exchequer, hurriedly made a pretended cough and said, "Please be careful with your language, Russel. Our honor and power come from God's blessing, the generosity of our king, as well as our own effort."

Prince Patrick said seriously, "The Church first caused the conflict, and we shall not put all the blames on the Congress. Meanwhile, we can't let this rich and beautiful land suffer from war, so the mediation work is our responsibility."

Mentioning their own benefits, power, and status, the nobles gradually came to an agreement. Only several old nobles who were extreme conservatives furiously left the meeting halfway.

After assigning all the tasks to the nobles, only the king and the prince were left in the palace except the servants.

The old king cast Prince Patrick a meaningful look and slightly shook his head. As he turned around, the king murmured to himself:

"What's the future of kingdom… What's the future of the family…"

All of them knew that the balance was too delicate to last forever. However, right now, they could only turn a blind eye to that fact because there was simply no better choice.

…

In the coach, Flenburg Duke suddenly sighed.

Another noble who was sitting opposite to him in the coach asked, "Sir?"

"The Congress of Magic is way too powerful. If we keep spoiling them like this and let them grow, we'll pay for sure. James and those people are too myopic," said Rakers.

"Then why did you support mediation?" asked the noble, "Let the Church and the Congress fight."

Rakers shook his head, "Launching the all-out war right now isn't good for us. We have to find the proper chance to defeat the Congress with one strike together with the Church, and then, again, we support the remaining power of the Congress so the Church would not take all the power. We keep repeating it this way, and thus hopefully the balance can be kept."

…

"How long can we keep this balance?" asked the bareheaded duke James in Russel's coach.

Russel answered in a deep voice, "One day, we finally need to make a choice—whether we should weaken the Congress, or completely remove the South Church like the countries under the control of the North Church. Before the Saint Truth dies out, the Congress will not become a threat to us. Also, the balance in the overall situation is easier to maintain than the smaller balance in an individual country. Without being careful, this precious thing can be broken."

"If so… we won't be able to ascend to Mountain Paradise." Hackson sighed.

"Mountain Paradise? Haha.." James repeated with a laugh.

…

Several days later, Allyn still remained safe and sound. No war was launched by the Saint Truth.

Lucien got the message from Florencia:

"This weekend, your Holm Crown prize will be granted to you in Allyn."

Chapter 367: Lucien's Plan

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

Lucien did not expect that the ring from the Holm Crown prize would be given to him so fast, after all, the ring-maker, Morris, was very unwilling to give him the ring. It was only two days away from the weekend.

Unlike Aalto, in Allyn, weekend always referred to Sunday.

Florencia's voice in the electromagnetic message magic sounded amused, "You were taken away in the Will of Elements's headquarters, and my teacher, Morris, feels very embarrassed. That's why."

After pausing a bit, Florencia then sounded more serious, "At least, with the three Holm Crown rings and the magic robe from the Immortal Throne, you will be able to survive when facing a senior-rank sorcerer."

"Really?" Lucien was quite surprised. As the leaders of the Will of Elements had no idea of the fact that his cognition world had been primarily substantialized, how could they be sure that the rings could help him so much?

Florencia giggled, "This time, the magic spells enchanted in the rings are precious. My teacher's being generous and the two spells match each other very well. Of course, he regretted immediately after the rings were made. And he even tried to cancel the banquet on the ceremony to save some tiny money."

Lucien asked curiously, "May I know what the two seventh-circle spells are?"

"Umm… It's a secret. You'll see." Florencia laughed. "Keep your curiosity, so you can stay young."

Then, the electromagnetic signal was cut off. Lucien could not help his curiosity and so he started to leaf through Astrology and Magic Elements and Senior-rank Magic Book, guessing what two enchanted magic effects would be given to him.

At the other end of the office, Alferris was lying on the couch, counting its salary for this month.

…

In a retreat room in Radiance Church.

Rakers, the leader of the noble parliament, King's Griffin, was having a meeting with the grand cardinal Philibell, the leader of the Inquisition Vaharall, and some other leaders from the Church.

"Rakers, I know what you mean, and I do agree with you. I'll report this to the Holy City." The usual anger on Philibell's face had disappeared, but only tiredness was left.

In the Kingdom of Holm and the rest of the three countries, the Church's power was inferior to that of the Congress of Magic. After all, most of the Congress' legendary archmages were in Allyn, while the Church's powerful leaders were mostly spread out, and gathering them together was not an easy thing, as there were still other threats that the Church had to take into consideration.

Although the leader of the Knights of Grail, Stone, had always been a supporter for launching the war, right now he was rather calm, "We're more assured now, knowing the nobles' attitude. We hope that once the opportunity is available, you can be prepared. We'll handle the rest of the things."

Stone was not a fool. When the Congress was fully prepared, launching a war against it was obviously not an ideal thing for the Church to do.

Although Vaharall and Varantine were definitely not happy with the result, the changing attitude of the nobles was still a comfort to them.

"But according to what I know, some of the major nobles such as James and Russel are still more on the Congress' side. Do you have any suggestions, Rakers?" asked Philibell about the inner division among the nobles.

Rakers nodded seriously, "The so-called Liberal nobles are in fact not too big of a threat. They don't have many people on their side… only about ten percent. Their power is not even half of the power of the nobles who support the Church. As for the rest of the nobles, although they claim themselves to be neutral, I'm sure that they don't reject the Church. They can join us if the offer is generous."

As a knight, Stone knew the nobles better, "Rakers, you've forgotten the fact that most of the nobles are still on the same side of their lords. You're neither the king of Holm nor the successor."

If the offer was not generous enough to make the nobles crazy, they were still going to support their lord. Without the lord, sooner or later they were going to fall apart. And once they had to rely on the Church, it would be almost impossible for them to gain independence again.

Rakers remained silent for a while and his voice became deeper, "I'll convince the king."

"King Feltis is old now, and his knight level isn't high. In a few years, maybe he will receive the call from God. Can you find the opportunity in the next few years?" Philibell shook his head. As the grand cardinal who was responsible for providing medical care to the king, he knew the king's health condition very well.

Looking gloomy, Rakers did not deny.

Philibell looked at the rest of them and said in a plain tone, "But the prince is too partial to the Congress."

"…The prince is too partial to the Congress…" repeated Rakers in low voice.

…

At eight o'clock on Sunday night, the division of the Will of Elements in Allyn was brilliantly illuminated. The grand hall was filled with the sound of glasses clinking against each other.

"Lucien, Morris isn't in a good mood recently, and I don't think he'll recover in a short period of time. If there's nothing special, you'd better stay away from him." Holding the glass, Gaston joked.

On the other side of the hall, Morris forced a smile on his face and was being busy with greeting other senior-rank sorcerers.

The members of Review Board naturally gathered together, and they were surrounded by their students and friends.

Right now Lucien was standing with Larry, Ulysses, K, Lazar, and the other sorcerers from Atom Institution.

Lucien shook his head and grinned, "Now the gate of the micro-world has been opened, and more great findings are following. Mr. Morris has to be prepared."

"Is that right?"

It was Morris' voice, light as a ghost's. There was definitely hatred in his voice.

After greeting the important sorcerers, Morris walked back and he happened to hear what Lucien just said. He felt that there was a sharp arrow in his heart.

"Of course, this is a brand new field, a field that involves the deeper secrets of the substances." As if Lucien just completely ignored the hatred in Morris' voice, he said to the rest of the board members honestly, "I think Holm Crown prize should be given out every year."

"Impossible!" Morris raised his tone and looked very serious.

Florencia grinned and looked at Lucien, although she did not understand why Lucien wanted to piss Morris off. The rest of the senior members of the Will of Elements also looked at this direction, feeling quite amused.

Lucien did not care, "If no one's qualified, the position should remain vacant. If there is more than one qualified sorcerer, the prize should still only be granted to one sorcerer for only one achievement. And the time for granting the prize should be settled in each year, so we can look forward to it."

"That's a very good suggestion!" Morris hurriedly agreed.

"The problem is… this can just postpone the time, but it can't help saving the warehouse's loss." Florencia reminded her teacher. She wondered what Lucien was thinking.

She would not believe that Lucien was just talking without any specific purposes.

Lucien slightly swirled the wine and smiled, "Neither the materials nor wealth can grow themselves in the warehouse, but doing investment is different. If the time of giving the prize can be deferred by one year, the investment payback should be very considerable. The prize is always going to be someone else's, but the profit can always stay."

"What do you mean?" asked Morris. He was not a fool.

Lucien grinned, "I've talked to Mr. Arthur Doyle, and he is very interested in generating electricity using water current. He also mentioned to me that the process of making a magic crystal light can be simplified and thus be popularized among the nobles, and we can lower the requirement for using the Electromagnetic Message spell by turning the magic for keeping one's voice into a manufacturable alchemical product, and meanwhile building more magic towers for transferring signals."

The sorcerers knew that Lucien made quite a fortune with his strange-named product, Jinkela, so they all nodded and believed that it was a good idea.

Lucien smiled and continued, "What was more important was that once the nobles and the common people are used to the usage of magic in their daily life, they will not follow the Church this closely anymore. Indeed, we sorcerers don't usually associate with the common folks, but as the Church has been preaching to them all the time, we must take away the things they need from them. And when the foundation of the Church is shaken, the end of the Church can be seen. Anything in the way of the development of magic will be crashed into pieces."

"We shall talk about this later." Morris was definitely persuaded. He turned around and said to the other leaders of the Will of Elements.

Lucien cheered in his mind. The Church would for sure take the revenge when Lucien's alchemical product was spread everywhere. If Lucien took all the profit and was not willing to let the other sorcerers take a share, when he was in trouble, no one would help him out.

However, the Will of Elements would get on board now.

A person could be greedy but also had to be smart.

Morris was in a better mood now and he said to all the guests:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the development of arcana and magic is like a speeding steam train, and the changes brought by it are unprecedented. Today, we present Holm Crown prize to the two distinguished arcanists for their outstanding contributions to the field of Element and Alchemy. Let's welcome Mr. Lucien Evans from the Will of Elements first."

When Lucien walked on the stage, Morris started to read the award speech, "He found the new particle. He has opened the gate of the micro-world. His contribution to the school of Element is ground-breaking and significant. He has led us to a brand new era!"

Morris took out a specially designed ring of two crossed silver circles, at the center of which there was a crystal-blue, brilliant precious stone.

"To honor his outstanding contribution, the No. 30 Holm Crown ring, Electron, is given to Mr. Lucien Evans."

The No. 28 ring was Origin, and No. 29 was Ionization. Therefore, Lucien first got the Electron ring. Origin would be given to him later.

In the warm applause, Lucien accepted the ring. In the inner side of the ring, it wrote: "Year 819, Holm Crown, to Lucien Evans' contribution."

Lucien immediately left his spiritual mark in the ring and got the information in it:

"Holm Crown ring, Electron, level seven perfect rank magic item (one layer of seal). A sorcerer whose spiritual power reached the senior rank could unseal the ring and the full power could be released.

The unique ring is very powerful because of the enchanted seventh-circle spell, Anti-magic Ray!"

Chapter 368: The Powerful Ring

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

"The ring can help the caster to stay calmer and more focused, so the casting process is less likely to be interrupted. The effect was equivalent to the fifth-circle magic spell, Focus. The pure ring contains a great magic power which enables the caster to use the fifth-circle spell Lightning Ball two times a day, and the seventh-circle spell Anti-magic Ray two times a day. When sealed, the wearer, before reaching level six, can still forcedly cast the seventh-circle magic once at the cost of completely draining up his spiritual power and damaging his life force.

"The discovery of electron has opened the gate of the micro-world, and it has changed our understanding of the material base of the world. This ring is given to Mr. Lucien Evans, the outstanding arcanist, for his great contribution to the school of Element.

"The discovery brought by the ray is going to be more powerful because of the ray!

"From: Morris Hoffenberg."

Lucien was shocked after getting the detailed information of the ring, Electron. He believed that Morris' achievement in alchemy was only inferior to the two legendary alchemists, Davey and Klaus.

Although compared to the last Holm Crown ring, less permanently enchanted magic effects were given, this time the enchanted seventh-circle spell was Anti-magic Ray. The special feature of this magic spell made it hard to be compatible with the others. The fact that Morris could still add another enchanted magic effect and a fifth-circle spell already impressed Lucien a lot. If used properly, even if Lucien's cognition world had not been substantialized, indeed there was a good chance that he could survive when facing a senior-rank sorcerer.

Seeing that Lucien put the ring on the middle finger of his left hand, Morris almost burst into tears. The ring was a memorable masterpiece for him in his alchemist career.

Calming down a bit, Morris took out another ring. The hollowed-out white ring was inlaid with a big, transparent diamond. Under the light, the diamond was dazzling.

Morris forced himself to read the award speech:

"Since we human beings got rid of savagery, we have been exploring the secret of life. We crave to know where we come from and what life is. Many great sorcerers spent their whole life on finding the truth, but unfortunately, they never managed to get one step closer. Lucien Evans, however, designed the genius experiment, Miracle Experiment, using his extraordinary way of thinking. Miracle Experiment has revealed us one possibility of the origin of life. At that moment, his radiance could rival that of any gods.

"This is the first step that we human beings take into this forbidden area, and more steps will be taken. The Will of Elements and Holm Royal Magic Academy honor Lucien Evans with the ring for his outstanding contribution to this field. This is the No. 28 Holm Crown ring and its name is Origin."

The applause became even warmer. Although the discovery of the new particle was a great surprise, nothing could be compared to the shock which was brought by Miracle Experiment designed by Lucien. Every human being would stand in great awe before life!

Lucien had brought the apprentices in with him for the free dinner. Right now, the apprentices were staring at their teacher on the stage as if Lucien was shining. The dazzling rings almost made them feel a bit dizzy. The youngsters were also longing for the great honor, even including the most introverted apprentice, Annick.

Katrina's eyes were shining when Lucien accepted the ring, Origin. As a lady and an arcanist, she burst out, "I really want a ring like this!"

"I really want a ring like this…" Another childish voice came from the side. Drooling, Alferris was holding the largest plate, fork, and knife, but its eyes were only focusing on the rings Lucien was wearing.

"Mr. Evans' so charming!" Heidi and Layria had a different focus, although they longed for the ring as well.

In fact, even for a senior-rank sorcerer in the school of Elements or Alchemy, a Holm Crown ring was still a great goal not because of the value of the ring itself, but for the honor it represented.

Seeing his teacher on the stage, Sprint held his fists tight and his body slightly trembled out of excitement. He kept telling himself that one day he would be on the stage accepting the great honor just like his teacher.

"I'm a bit regretful. Why did I choose to be a battle mage," said Florencia in mixed feelings. "I designed so many rings, but I don't own any of them."

"You've still got one. We've got nothing," said another senior member of the Will of Element, Caroline, who was also a battle mage, said in a half joking and half disappointed tone.

There was indeed a Holm Crown ring on Florencia's right hand, but that was not hers. It was her husband Oliver's ring, named Cornerstone.

Timothy and Ulysses exchanged a look and they saw the bitterness in each other's eyes. In the past, Larry, Felipe, Timothy, and Ulysses were peers and they were at the same level. However, now both Felipe and Larry had won the prize, and the late-comer, Lucien, had even won three rings. Sometimes, Timothy and Ulysses had to admit that geniuses did exist, and thus they had to work even harder.

They understood what was in each other's eyes. Raising the glass, Timothy and Ulysses toasted.

Lucien accepted the ring and gently stroke its inner side.

"Year 817, Holm Crown, for Mr. Lucien Evans' great contribution. (In Year 819)"

"Holm Crown ring, Origin, level seven perfect-rank magic item (one layer of seal). A sorcerer whose spiritual power reached the senior rank could unseal the ring and the full power could be released.

"Three magic effects are permanently enchanted on this dazzling ring: It can affect the target senior-rank sorcerer's ability to see the future and thus a senior-rank sorcerer's prophecy can be incorrect; It can accustom the wearer to the extreme environments such as hell and abyss; It could store the wearer's spiritual power and give it back to the wearer when his spiritual power is drained up (the amount of stored spiritual power should be able to support the wearer to cast another three fifth-circle common spells).

"The ring enables the wearer to cast Chaos Teleportation twice a day because of its chaotic and furious magic power. Chaos Teleportation—a level seven magic spell. When sealed, the wearer, before reaching level six, can still forcedly cast the seventh-circle spell once at the cost of completely draining up his spiritual power and damaging his life force.

"Miracle Experiment has revealed us one possibility of the origin of life, enlightening us with its breathtaking design end shocking result. We give this ring to Mr. Lucien Evans, the chosen one by the Goddess of Life, for his great contribution. He has connected the existence of non-life substances in the world to the birth of life and expanded the range of the School of Element. When it comes to the history of elemental magic, his name is for sure going to be mentioned!

"The origin of life may start in the chaotic and dangerous primitive environment; Chaotic Teleportation sometimes can also contribute to the continuation of life. Of course, this requires the blessing of the Goddess of Probability, the favor from destiny, and the mercy of the Goddess of Luck.

From: Morris Hoffenberg."

Chaos Teleportation was a spell shared by both the divine and magic power. Requiring no spatial orientation, it could send the caster to another place dozens of kilometers away from the place where the caster was originally at in half a second. However, no one knew what kind of place the caster would be sent to: maybe at a crater facing the burning lava; maybe in the crack of a demiplane; maybe to the place where the caster's most reliable friends were; maybe right in front of another enemy's face…

Lucien knew that making this ring was also extremely difficult.

The most precious thing about this ring was its capability of storing Lucien's spiritual power. Using the three Holm Crown rings properly, Lucien could forcedly use the powerful spells in the two rings and escape using Chaos Teleportation after getting the replenishment. But, as the storage volume was still limited, if Lucien dared to overdraw his spiritual power twice, the consequence would be severe.

Of course, Lucien, as his cognition world had been substantialized, was not in a rush to use the spiritual power he would store in the ring, as his spiritual power was already enough for him to cast four seventh-circle spells consecutively. When facing a senior-rank spell, Lucien was not that vulnerable anymore.

Tampering with his hair, Morris did not want to see Lucien putting on the ring. He then said to the guests:

"Let's welcome Mr. Evans to give us a short speech."

Florencia and the rest of the sorcerers and arcanists applauded warmly, as they were very curious about what Lucien would say after only two to three years when he gave the last award-winning speech, which was classic.

Lucien took a step forward, smiling, "I remember that when I won the prize last time, I said that there were greater secrets hiding behind the periodicity among the elements, and our exploration of it would lead the elemental magic to the very nature of the world. Now it has been three years… I found electron because I studied the periodicity, and thus the veil covering the micro-world has been revealed. Meanwhile, Her Excellency, Hathaway, and my teacher, Fernando, have separated out the equivalent elements. After figuring out what these equivalent elements are different, another Holm Crown prize shall be granted."

Hearing that, Morris' face paled.

"So, the exploration in this field is going to lead more sorcerers to reach the greatest honor. And the brand new understanding of the world shall commence."

Morris' face became even paler. He did not get Lucien's main point—the brand new understanding of the world.

Raising his hands wearing the Holm Crown rings, Lucien slightly bowed, and said meaningfully:

"All phenomena can be explained. The most unexpected accidents can also contain inevitability."

Lucien thought to himself that, maybe in the future, one would have to be more careful with using the word "inevitable".

The sorcerers present started applauding warmly. In their eyes, Lucien Evans was the role model of staying curious about everything and always asking why.

…

At the headquarter of the Hand of Paleness, in Heidler.

The ghosts, Adol and Angwoods, were floating in the air, flickering in the shadow.

Staring at the gray clouds, Adol grinned, "We shall keep a close eye on the sorcerer who was going to come here to receive the Immortal Throne award."

"Why, may I ask?" asked Angwoods. It seemed to have a lower status.

Adol's cold voice was indifferent:

"On him, I smell Maskelyne…"

Chapter 369: Urgency

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

"You… smell Maskelyne?" Angwoods didn't quite understand Adol's words, but his tone became rather serious and grim when he mentioned the name.

Under the pale sunlight, Adol's delicate but lifeless skin was covered by a faint black air, and under his hood two red light spots were dancing like flames. He snorted, "The amulet he wears is made by Maskelyne… I can recognize it. Maskelyne can sense me using the amulet, and I can also recognize the amulet he made…"

"So, the last time when you leaked the secret information to Sousa was not because of Felipe, nor for triggering the internal strife in the Hand of Paleness?" Angwoods reached out his hand and caught a piece of rotten flesh falling from his body, and rubbed it back in his face.

"Those human beings are stupid and greedy. Their mind can't see. So we can play them between our hands." Adol sneered.

Angwoods's voice became deadly, "Maskelyne knew too much about our secrets, and he was a powerful prophet and an astrologer. There must be a reason why he left this magic item. Since the sorcerer named Lucien Evans in coming to Heidler for receiving the award anyway, shall we just…"

He made the gesture of grabbing someone's neck tight.

"Idiot, have you ever thought about the consequences of killing Lucien Evans in Heidler? Are you trying to let the secret of the World of Souls out, or trying to directly show the Congress the secret of the World of Souls? We may be able to do so if facing a grand arcanist or a legendary archmage, but we are now facing seven grand arcanists and eleven legendary archmages! You've got any secret weapons? Don't forget, the Congress is not our only enemy!" scolded Adol severely.

"So are we just going to let him keep his own life although he is going to give out our most important secret at any time?" Angwoods replied angrily. Although Adol's rank was higher than his, Angwoods was still a senior-rank specter. Adol should not rebuke him like this.

Adol turned around and the two red light spots flashed a bit under his hood, "If he was going to say, he would have already done so. When knowing this kind of information, it is always safer to him to keep it as a secret, since the powerful ones who know about the World of Souls are going to make his mouth shut up forever. Since there is no sign showing that the Congress is taking any actions, it shows that Lucien Evans does have a brain. Even if he is going to leak the information, Lucien Evans will wait until he becomes a legendary archmage so he is able to protect himself. We still have plenty of time. Sooner or later, he is going to leave Allyn for his exploration, and the grand arcanists cannot follow him everywhere."

Angwoods tried to say something but finally closed his mouth.

Adol warned him, "Our most important task right not is to draw the power to get ready for the return of Lord. You'd better watch your behavior, Angwoods. If you interrupt the plan, you will be thrown into Souls Furnace."

"I hear you, Adol." Angwoods put on his hood and answered in a low voice.

…

In the brach of the Will of Elements, on the first floor of the magic tower.

After Lucien bowed to the audience and left the stage, Morris calmed down a bit and introduced the next award-winner:

"Now, let's welcome Mr. Larry Clark!"

Larry, wearing a magic robe embroidered with the element symbols, walked out of the crowd. On his way to the stage, Larry walked to Lucien.

"Congratulations, Mr. Larry." Lucien smiled and nodded to him.

"Thanks, Evans…" Larry touched his yellowish-brown beard a bit awkwardly, "The weather is not bad today."

Lucien was amused. Maybe Larry was too nervous.

"Congratulations. The Will of Elements is proud of you. You're the first one who has won Holm Crown prize for three times." Florencia raised the glass and smiled to Lucien.

Lucien showed Florencia the rings and slightly bowed, "Thank you very much for the great design, lady."

Listening to Morris's introduction of Larry's great contribution to the field of magic potion making and the school of Alchemy, Florencia swirled the wine in her glass and said to Lucien, "We have got the investigation result. Bellak applied for the shift himself using the excuse that he wished to take a long break later."

"So, that being said… Was Bellak the only plotter?" Lucien slightly frowned.

As soon as Lucien went back to Allyn, the investigation on Bellak had started, as Lucien believed that this was not only a coincidence, but someone else was helping Bellak, or how would Bellak know when Lucien could notice the cursed vase?

However, according to the investigation result, Bellak just chose the time that Lucien was most likely to notice the difference of the vase. If Lucien did not notice the difference at the first a few days, Bellak would have plentiful time to get prepared and the vase would gradually damage his health. However, Lucien did see it through, and Bellak thus had to be the one taking action directly.

After all, no assassination was guaranteed to be successful.

Florencia nodded slightly and her blond hair hung down gently, "So far we haven't found any senior members suspicious. But we did make some other progress: we found Lorban in Bellak's magic tower, and from the remaining materials and Lorban's memory, we have caught a dozen low and middle-rank mages who have surrendered to the Church. Some did so because they could not make any further achievement in magic, and some because of money and materials for better development."

"We cannot fully get rid of religion when there is still death, pain, and desperation, but we cannot surrender to the Church. All the religions must be in our control." Lucien sighed.

Florencia was quite surprised by Lucien's words, but a second later, she started to laugh. She was laughing so hard that her body was shaking, "Lucien, no… I should call you Mr. Evans, you are acting like a board member! You sound exactly the same as the president Douglas and Mr. Fernando!"

Lucien smiled, feeling a bit embarrassed. He switched the topic by joking, "Really? I'm thinking of establishing a board called Sorcerers' Development and Mental Health."

"Hahaha… Sounds awesome!" Florencia laughed really hard.

On the stage, Larry was giving a short speech.

After taking a sip at her dry throat from laughing too much, Florencia said to Lucien through the electromagnetic message, "You asked me to look into where the special material came from, and I've got some clues here. Although it was the Church who provided Bellak with the special material, as it is very special, we have traced it back to the desert in the south part of Gusta."

"It's really a good news," said Lucien sincerely. In the future, he was going to need the special material made from the unique mineral.

Florencia's green eyes stared at Lucien and asked through the secret messaging, "Although the special material consists of the new element, why is it so important to you?"

Lucien did not keep the first part of his paper as a secret—the part discovering the new element, Uranium, and he got thirty arcana credits from it. Facing Florencia's question, Lucien just smiled but did not give her an answer.

Florencia was always very curious, but she knew how to restrain herself. Seeing that Lucien did not want to say, she joked, "Oh, my poor teacher, Mr. Morris…"

Their conversation ended there, and they turned to look at Larry on the stage giving his speech. Larry was calmer now, and his speech was more and more fluent:

"Just as what Evans mentioned, the most unexpected accidents can also contain inevitability. So I am thinking: why when a substance dissolves, it will be broken down into ions carrying different charges? Why do we have valence states? Why do the states show periodicity? Does it have anything to do with the internal structure of atoms? Does it have anything to do with Evans's newly discovered electron? In the world of arcana, if there is a result, there must be a reason. Any phenomenon is strictly determined by the law, so we cannot be satisfied with simply getting the result, but we need to explore further."

Florencia looked at Lucien and joked, "Mr. Douglas is really acting like a role model. More and more people resemble the president, and you are the No. 1, Lucien."

"My great honor." Lucien smiled.

…

In the wilderness of death, where tombstones were everywhere.

Lucien, Alferris, and a skull-headed lich wearing a dark brown robe showed up at the edge of the wilderness.

"So this is the Land of Long Sleep?" Lucien looked around curiously at the demiplane belonging to Thanatos.

"Yes," replied the skull-headed lich whose eyes were the two spots white flame, "His Excellency Thanatos created the place. We should move on now, Evans."

"Sure, sir Morus." Lucien grabbed Alferris since it was trying to rob the tombs, and walked to the teleportation circle after the lich.

The Hand of Paleness was very unwilling to give Lucien the award, and thus it was not going to spoil Lucien like how the Will of Elements did by holding the ceremony in Allyn. However, at the same time, as the organizer, the Hand of Paleness also had the responsibility to protect Lucien. Therefore, Morus, the vice president, a level eight arcanist, ninth-circle necromancy archmage, was given the task to welcome and protect Lucien.

Time and space changed. After the familiar feeling of dizziness, Lucien arrived at the headquarter of the Hand of Paleness.

Morus led Lucien to the lounge and said to him:

"Evans, you take a rest here. Two hours later, I'll take you to the banquet hall. By the way, many of our researches are not very pleasant to be observed and many necromancers don't like you, so you might not want to walk around. If anything happens, it would be a trouble to every one of us."

After Morus left, Lucien stood beside the window and stared at the quiet streets down there and the gray sky.

Heidler was different from other cities. Although there were a few human-shaped creatures wandering on the streets, they rarely talked to each other. Most of them were ghosts, zombies, ghouls, skeletons, and the low intelligence undead creatures developed by the Hand of Paleness such as the Skinless, whose eyes were shining with red light, and zombie dogs.

Looking into the distance, Lucien saw an invisible gap connecting to the World of Souls surrounded by the magic tower. An idea came to him—did the Hand of Paleness find the existence of the World of Souls?

When Lucien was thinking, he felt that one spot in his neck was burning. He was surprised that Mr. Rhine was now reaching to him. When being close to the gap, the power of Rhine's casting could be intensified.

"Alferris, I need to take some rest. You have fun," Lucien said to the little dragon and lay in the bed.

Lucien hypnotized himself in the bed and soon fell asleep. Seeing that Lucien had fallen asleep, Alferris jumped toward the bed and sat beside it like a little puppy, staring at the three Holm Crown rings while drooling.

Suddenly, Alferris snuffled a bit confusedly and its big amber-colored eyes blinked, as if it felt something, however, it did not find anything. Soon, its attention was drawn to the rings again.

In Lucien's dream, Rhine showed up again. He said to Lucien directly, "Something big happened to the World of Souls. Soon, the world is going to change."