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Chapter 783: A Year Later

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In the Year of 829, the Month of Fire, in an alchemy lab in Babel.

On the walls, ceilings, and floor, there were magic patterns in different colors, shining, and together they formed a complicated magic circle that covered the entire lab, thus preventing any noise from sneaking in and reducing the blazing light.

The Robe of Grand Arcanists that Lucien was wearing still looked like a long, black suit, instead of the style of the ancient magic empire. Right now, the suit was slightly bulging to prevent the last remaining amount of harmful substances away from Lucien. While in the space, Lucien's cognitive world was affecting reality and a starry sky where element spots were floating, eating, and blending in anything tangible or intangible around.

Although Lucien had always been cautious about his experiments, with this one, he was even more cautious. It was because of his failure to upgrade Moon Timer using the materials he got from Danisos. Moon Timer remained at the same level. Lucien was also badly injured. It took him half a year to fully recover.

At this time, Lucien was confident that neither he nor Moon Timer would get hurt or damaged, but he was not confident that he could improve Moon Timer to level four and make it his fourteenth top legendary item. What was more important was that since the materials he had were very limited, if he failed a second time, he had to go to another dimension to find another space-time legendary item.

There was another option that Lucien could persuade. The "silver moon" could raise the ancient time dragon in a pen and turned it into an endless source for providing legendary blood, flesh, and bones. But Lucien never considered it as it would take the dragon too long to recover from it.

According to what Lucien knew, so far, Danisos still had not recovered back to the top legendary level from the fight a year ago. It might take Danisos a few more years to recover from the fight, and Danisos probably had to spend another two to three hundred years to fully recover.

Therefore, Lucien was being extremely cautious about this experiment to upgrade Moon Timer. He did not even allow Natasha to stay in, as her destructive power in this lab had been quite considerable.

On the alchemy operation desk, the drops of pure blood were drawing a strange magic circle driven by Lucien's spiritual power.

At first glance, it looked very complicated. Even looking at it would make a sorcerer below the legendary level feel extremely dizzy, and the sorcerer would lose his or her spiritual power fast. However, for a sorcerer who had enough spiritual power, with careful observation, the special but simple pattern within could be identified.

It was just like those complicated words. When one understood the roots, remembering the words was no more complicated.

Lucien had sweat beads on his forehead. But in this fancy lab, the beads of sweat immediately disappeared in the air.

After a long time, Lucien finally finished drawing the last line. Instantly, the magic circle trembled slightly, together with the entire lab, as if there was something disturbing the space and time.

After this calmed down, Lucien processed the remaining wings and flesh and then put them on the tips of the magic circle.

After that, Moon Timer flew out of Lucien's pocket and then fell in the middle of the magic circle, covered in water-like light.

Influenced by it, the lines of the magic circle started wriggling onto the timer as if they were alive. The lines then connected to the hands of the timer and the constellation symbols on it.

During the process, Lucien's eyes did not even blink. Using all his spiritual power, he was still doing some minor adjustment.

Lucien released a sigh of relief. The first two steps going well meant that he could be more confident about the result. The previous failure came from a minor mistake that Lucien ignored, but in the end, it was amplified into a horrible result.

Staying focused, Lucien turned on the alchemy desk again. Immediately, all the energy of the entire magic tower gushed into the magic circle in the middle and overwhelmed it with the silver light, from which some light "fog" rose up.

It was using so much energy that all the crystal lights had gone off and the defense of the tower had been switched off. Pinocchio, the tower guard, had to turn on the backup energy pool.

The backup energy pool only lasted less than a minute, and the timer still needed a bit more time. At this time, Lucien reached out his right hand and pressed it against the operation desk. Using his own body, he was pouring his own spiritual power in.

Suddenly, splendid light burst out and filled the entire lab.

Tick, tick…

All the clocks in the magic tower started running fast like they were in a race. In Atomic Universe, Natasha, who was practicing sword using the element planets, also felt the extremely rapid elapse of time as if time were rushing to its end.

It worked? Natasha looked up at Babel tower. Since she became a level two legendary knight, it was the first time she felt such great changes in the environment.

Then, with a gentle click, the passage of time went back to normal. It just felt that time had passed a long time in the lab.

Lucien stared at the timer on the operational desk and believed that it now looked a bit different. Its light had become more conservative, and a new button appeared beside the original one for Advanced Time Stop.

Worked? Lucien was not sure.

Picking up Moon Timer, Lucien felt it with his spiritual power. It still felt familiar to him.

After a while, Lucien put the timer back into his pocket and finally smiled. His own legendary item had finally become the fourteenth top legendary item, and a new function had been added—Faster Cast!

Like Danisos' talent, it could double his speed for casting legendary spells!

However, Danisos could use the power without limit, while Lucien could only use it three times a day. But Lucien's casting time had been cut half, which made it equivalent to casting a common legendary spell.

Advanced Time Stop and Gravity Collapse had reached the top legendary level. Although Lucien could only use them five times a day, he was still very satisfied with the result, as he knew that with smart strategies, the power would be the key for him to win a fight!

Natasha also grinned, and she shared the joy with Lucien through electromagnetism messaging. She then returned to her practice, although such practice might not be able to bring much difference to a level two legendary knight.

What was going on recently made her feel extremely alert, so she had to seize every second to improve herself.

In the past year, it seemed that the entire situation of the world remained relatively peaceful, but this opinion was only shared by the common folks. In the eyes of the top legendaries, they knew something big was coming underneath the calm ocean surface.

The Dark Congress, the South Church, and the North Church never initiated a war in the past months. Instead, they were all targeting the countries ruled by fake gods north to the Dark Mountain Range. They were slowly eating in those countries and made them shrink further and further. A legendary level fake god could fall at any time.

The Lord of Hell had also done some achievements in uniting the powers in the Boundless Ocean despite the interference from the Congress of Magic and Elven Court.

...

The sky was blue when Lucien walked toward Atom Institution. Today, his students, Heidi, Chelly, Lowi, and Alfalia, would be reporting their progress in "artificial intelligence".

In the past year, most sorcerers were still working on digesting quantum theory, while the arcanists in the institution had already started converting the knowledge into their own powers. Among them, Annick was the first one who managed to make the breakthrough in his cognitive world and thus became a senior-rank, while Sprint, Heidi, and Lazar were also almost there.

Even those apprentices, including Lowi, had reached the fourth or fifth circle.

Suddenly, Lucien felt that the floor was slightly trembling. He knew that it wasn't from an explosion, but the "joy" of City in the Sky.

Lucien blinked to the core part of the city and saw the big smile on Fernando's face.

"Haha, finally! The stable nuclear fission reactor!" said Fernando in triumph, whose gray hair looked a bit messy.

Chapter 784: Commencement of the Revolution of Energy and Information

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The magic circle where silver and black brightness entangled raised electric light, enveloping the matter at the center that was in the middle of fission. The overwhelming energy generated was transformed by the magic circles nearby into the energy that the City in the Sky could make use of.

The fission reactor this time was no longer fierce and untameable like before. Although it still contained grave dangers, it was now steady and controllable.

"Master, congratulations to Granny Hathaway, Mr. Raventi, and President Morris," Lucien said sincerely. He had barely made any contribution to the achievement except for proposing the fission reaction and helping with the analysis of the self-explosion. It was the product of the wisdom of the four legends.

Such a fission reactor was designed in different ways from that on Earth. Since it was a combination of reverse engineering and regular research, many unknown dangers might be lurking in the middle, and one might suffer explosions and curses after one moment of carelessness. Therefore, no personnel below legendary were involved in the project. Because of the shortage of hands, Fernando and Hathaway dragged Raventi and Morris, two legends in the school of elements, into the project.

Fernando was smiling, but he snorted and said, "It should've been completed a long time ago. I was too idiotic and made many unnecessary mistakes."

He did not even let go of himself when it came to rigorously demanding and habitually despising products.

"In any case, with a stable, enormous fission reactor, the City in the Sky will have a regular source of energy. It's safe to say that this is a major breakthrough in our research on the energy well. The energy problem that shackled us before will be solved effectively." Lucien was rather glad to see the product.

Combing his messy hair, Fernando stared at the fission reactor with his slightly cloudy eyes. "Next, we will focus on the minimization of fission reactors. By then, artificial planets, airships, cosmic observatories, and the steam trains that are in need of powerful defense and attack magic circles will be given a powerful 'heart'."

By then, artificial planets and airships would be able to conduct attacks that consumed a great amount of energy, like electromagnetic cannons or laser beams. In a war, blockage would not only include the ground, the sky, and the space around, but also the cosmos… Lucien subconsciously thought of the paradigm shift of war. It would not be a dream to launch "meteorites" on the enemy's head without resorting to any sort of magic.

Also, for a magic world, minimization was much simpler than stabilization!

"However, the energy of the fission reactor was still not good enough. If we can achieve the controllability, stabilization, and minimization of nuclear fusion, all of us will be the Sun King," Lucien said humorously. "Also, many particle experiments in the microscopic domain can be put on the agenda right now. The super large collider that I proposed in the meeting of the Highest Council can be included in the secret projects of the Magic Research Board too."

In many projects of the microscopic domain, fission reactors were indispensable. They could provide many particles that could be found under normal circumstances, and they could directly participate in the experiments. Therefore, the stable fission reactor was the achievement that many researchers were in dire need of.

Lucien proposed the super large collider because the regular cyclotrons and colliding magic circles could not meet the demand of the senior-rank sorcerers.

"That's right. When we studied the nature of neutrons, I already discovered the importance of a stable reactor." The moment arcana studies were mentioned, Fernando became solemn and grave. Then, he said self-mockingly, "I didn't know that neutrons of different speeds could result in such great differences…"

As he spoke, he was deep in thought. "The experiments on neutrons and protons give me the feeling that they are not necessarily fundamental particles. For example, the super heavy particle that can participate in the nuclear force is rather weird to me."

In the past year, thanks to the new particle—muon—that Heidi discovered, more and more arcanists had devoted themselves to the study of cosmic rays. There were too many applicants in either the Atom Institution or the Tower, and it was anything but unusual to wait in line for three months. Among them, Annick discovered muons with a positive charge and those without charge, and Annonis of the Tower discovered a particle that was heavier than neutrons and protons. The new particle could also participate in the strong interaction—or to wit, nuclear force—and it had been named as "hyperon".

"I never said that neutrons and protons are necessarily fundamental particles. At the very least, no theory so far can naturally lead to the conclusion. I've always described them as the internal structure of the atomic nucleus." Lucien understood that his teacher was merely reminding him based on his keen instincts, in case the founder and pioneer of the microscopic domain would lose his head when the more fundamental particles were discovered.

He had to admit that as time went by, the grand arcanists and the legendary sorcerers were no longer following him blindly in microscopic research but had their own expansion after the digestion.

Seeing that Lucien was open-minded, Fernando stopped saying anything else. There were no experiments or phenomena that could directly lead to the question after all. It was only his arcana institution.

"Alright. I have to seize the day to discuss minimization with Hathaway." Now that everything was settled, Fernando left the core of the City in the Sky in a hurry, as impatient as before.

"Minimization… That's beyond the Earth level…" Lucien shook his head with a smile. It was both a beautiful and dangerous path. For example, would the minimized fission devices be easily damaged, and would there be ways to deal with the possible nuclear leakage? In that aspect, fusion devices were much safer. The explosion could only cause damages within a certain range. There wouldn't be any long-term problems. It was clean and safe.

...

The moment he returned to the Atom Institution, Lucien saw Heidi's complaining eyes.

"Master, you're late…" Heidi had been preparing her presentation in uneasiness for a long time, but her teacher, who usually arrived early, was late.

Lucien said in a good mood, "I was delayed by something unexpected. Let's begin."

Heidi removed her pretended complaint and walked into her own laboratory with Chelly, Lowi, and Alfalia. Lazar, Annick, Sprint, and the other arcanists who were in the institution followed them. For them, the monthly presentations always gave them something new, particularly in the fields that they were not good at. Therefore, even though Lucien did not demand them to participate, they still volunteered to join every time.

This time, Heidi and Chelly's "artificial intelligence" was half the size previously. Although it was still huge, it was more or less acceptable right now.

Heidi turned on the power. Vague sounds of electric currents echoed, and the red and green lights flashed.

"After the test run last time, we found many problems and made the following improvements…" Naturally, the presentation was conducted by Heidi who was best at public speaking. She controlled "artificial intelligence" while she introduced the theory, the specific design, the modularized applications, the storage of programs, etc.

Although there was still a long way from real arcana studies, all of the audience could tell the mathematical ideas behind it and the simulation of human thinking thanks to Lucien's "torture". Also, the system where 0 and 1 represented everything gave them the deepest astonishment. It seemed to be a representation of the simplistic beauty and the nature of the world.

After Heidi's introduction, she looked at Sprint "provocatively". "Didn't you say that your mind calculated faster than our 'artificial intelligence'?"

Sprint had always been strongly confident, if not arrogant. So, he snorted and said, "Fine, if you lose, you will work as my assistant for one month, and if I lose, I'll do the same for you. However, you cannot give the tests."

As he spoke, he looked at Lucien. "Please give us a test, Master."

Lucien nodded and picked a difficult question that required the calculation of massive data. Then, he announced the beginning of the test with a smile.

The red and green lights flashed nonstop, so fast that nobody could distinguish them. The whole laboratory was turned into a ball. After four seconds, Heidi declared delightedly, "Here's the result!"

She had inputted with her spiritual power, so the input did not take much time.

Sprint raised his head and looked at Heidi in disbelief. After ten seconds, he finally said in a low voice, "I've got the result too. It's correct… Let's try one more."

It was not because he was a sore loser, but more like he was testing the limits of artificial intelligence.

Annick and Katrina gave tests this time, but Sprint failed even though he used the ancillary computation circles.

"Haha. Our artificial intelligence this time equals the computational ability of the senior-rank sorcerers. Also, it is better at processing massive data and long-term calculations than the senior-rank sorcerers are. Annick, you can give it a shot." Heidi laughed gloatingly.

Annick did not bet but still joined the competition in curiosity. With the help of ancillary computational circles, when given tests that did not require the calculation of massive data, he had some wins against the "artificial intelligence", but when it came to the massive data that had to be processed after a long time, he had to admit that the "artificial intelligence" was stronger than him.

"Very good. Congratulations on making a solid first step. You may submit the paper now. This should help you win a prize," Lucien said with a smile.

The discovery of the new particle did not bring any honor to Heidi. Although she proved that the particle was not involved in the strong interaction and was not the predicted meson but a new particle, she was not given the Holm Crown Prize because the standard for the prize was much higher.

Heidi and Chelly both put on a brilliant smile and soon looked forward to the future. "Hathaway, Hellen, and Oliver are introducing part of the knowledge in the quantum field into the studies of magic crystals. Hopefully, there will be a major breakthrough. By then, 'artificial intelligence' will no longer be heavy and clumsy."

At this moment, Sprint was keen enough to notice a weird icon on the screen, so he activated it with his spiritual power curiously. As a result, the picture on the screen changed, and a simple process where squares fell on each other showed up.

"What's this?" Lucien raised his eyes with a half-smile.

Heidi and Chelly blushed. In the end, it was Heidi who stammered, "Master, it's a little game to test the modules. We… We didn't…"

"Okay, that's good," Lucien said without waiting for her to finish. He did not sound angry at all.

Huh? Heidi was immediately stunned.

Chapter 785: Distant View

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Seeing how stunned and confused Heidi was, Lucien said with a smile, "I like to listen to and write music when I am free, and Mr. Oliver likes to watch and create plays. That's essentially the same as you playing games. It's just a form of recreation. As long as you are not addicted to it and your arcana studies and magic abilities are not affected, there will be no problems at all."

Whether a thing was good or bad highly depended on one's attitude toward it.

Heidi and the students were not exactly scared of being criticized by their teacher. It was just that Lucien's criticism often came with a lot of "homework", such as the studies on the quantum field theory and the exercises about the new products in mathematics. It was a nightmare that they could not forget for the rest of their lives.

"Rest assured, Master. We have only devised the game to test certain modules. We won't be addicted to it." Heidi promised Lucien on behalf of her team.

Looking at the game on the screen, Lucien had a lot of mixed feelings. Although it was rather shabby, it already had the looks of the game that he was familiar with. "Let's call it Ally Tetris. As a matter of fact, game design is a good thing."

Huh? Even the shy, introvert guys like Annick were surprised.

"Sorcerers need relaxation and entertainment too. Do you not feel that the regular ways of entertainment, like opera, play, concert, ball, and Arcana Voice, are too few?" Lucien said half-jokingly. As for hunting and the other activities that nobles liked, they were not very popular among sorcerers. "Also, it will help build up the image of arcanists and sorcerers. Think about it. If there is a game that simulates adventures so that ordinary people can play as sorcerers and sense how marvelous magic is when it is used to deal with monsters and in daily applications, they will be more and more into magic."

Heidi's eyes beamed with interest, but she immediately frowned and said, "Even though the ordinary people can afford such games right now, the 'artificial intelligence' at present cannot support such a complicated game at all. Also, we are too busy with all the research programs in hand to design any other games. We have to continue the studies on magic crystals, and we need to try to melt alchemical life and artificial intelligence…"

"I'm not asking you to design it in person. There must be a hundred arcanists who are studying 'artificial intelligence' with you, aren't there? You can let them play a part. Also, the design of a game can be separated from magic. It's like writing a 'play' in the language of 'artificial intelligence'. In such a way, the job can be outsourced to the ordinary people who do not have talents in magic. You'll be creating new jobs for the kingdom," Lucien suggested casually.

"Outsource?" It was the first time that Heidi heard the notion, but she understood her teacher's meaning well. After all, her teacher was most famous for the terms that he invented. "In such a case, the simple modules can be outsourced too, but we have to devise courses… However, the most important thing right now is to improve the performance of 'artificial intelligence'."

Speaking of games, she suddenly remembered something else and asked in confusion and curiosity, "Master, the massive live stream screen was ready to be manufactured half a year ago, but why hasn't 'Arcana Voice' been live-streamed yet?"

Thanks to their studies on "artificial intelligence", the screen that could display images was invented very soon. Although a lot of efforts were spent on lowering the cost, maintaining the color, and reducing the size, and there were no products available for even the nobles yet, the large live-stream screens could already be manufactured and deployed in the squares of important cities. Thankfully, there weren't many such squares, so the Congress of Magic could still afford it. Heidi had also obtained abundant revenue through the patent from it.

"'Arcana Voice' is a radio channel. All the programs have been designed for the sound-only feature. Now that the screen displays images, many programs are no longer appropriate. So, we have to devise new programs. The interviews, interpretations, and music shows can be live-streamed, but not the others. Otherwise, why would we bother to use images? To see what the storyteller looks like?" Lucien had been teaching the Sky Radio Station new concepts and recruiting new workers.

Some of the new recruits were even ordinary people without any magic talents, but they were smart and had the most creative ideas.

Heidi understood what her teacher meant and nodded with mixed feelings. "I wonder when we can see the first real live stream…"

"Perhaps, it will be sooner than you expected…" Lucien smiled subtly.

…

A few days later, at the beginning of the Month of Scorch (August), in the city square of Rentato…

A white pillar of water erupted to the sky from the pool made of stones and fell to all directions like a waterfall, raising spindrifts on the clear water. It was noisy and loud, but no one around was upset. They even approached it, trying to drive away the heat on them.

On the opposite side of the famous spring was a weird enormous screen. It was transparent and complicated, and unique parts could be vaguely seen inside.

"Why do you think there have been no live streams when the screen has been established for five months?" A citizen asked Longman, his child.

Longman was much taller than before. As a student of the fourth grade in the first generic school, he was already a knowledgeable scholar in the eyes of neighbors and friends. Although he lacked extraordinary talents in magic, he was praised by his teacher for distinguished mathematical aptitude. Longman's parents were very proud of him and subconsciously considered their kid as a scholar, asking him whenever they had a question.

"'Live stream' is not an activity, but more like a program like 'Arcana Voice'…" Longman explained according to what he learned in school.

Right then, the enormous screen suddenly emanated gentle brightness.

"It's glittering! It's glittering!"

"There's a live show?"

"Why didn't 'Arcana Voice' announce it?"

In the square, everybody became noisy as the place was filled with confusion and excitement.

Longman and his parents ended the discussion and focused their eyes on the screen.

What would the live show be? They really looked forward to it!

After the enormous changes brought by the development of arcana and magic, the citizens of Rentato lived every day in shock and delight, so they all looked forward to the unexpected live show.

As the light stabilized, two figures appeared on the screen, one male and the other female.

The female had long hair and was wearing a long dress. The citizens who still remembered the last live stream well recognized that she was Ms. Nightingale. The male, on the other hand, was a typical Holmish man, with black hair, blue eyes, and a mustache that represented his manhood. He was wearing a neat tuxedo as if he were going for dinner.

"Hello, everyone, I am your old friend Nightingale. This is an experiment on live streaming, so it was not announced in advance in 'Arcana Voice'. Now, you will witness the first live stream from the satellite television channel of Allyn." Fearing that she was too nervous, Louise had cast a 'Mechanized Mind' on herself. She said with a sweet smile but was not really smiling, "The gentleman sitting next to me is also your old friend. He is Mr. Caron, who is the host of 'Man and Nature'."

"Man and Nature?" Longman and the other citizens watched the screen enthusiastically, wondering why Mr. Caron was asked to co-host with Ms. Nightingale.

Caron said with a smile, "I'm too nervous to say anything right now. So, let's start today's 'Man and Nature' immediately."

The moment his voice fell down, the transparent "glass" behind them released a gentle light that filled the screen.

As the light gradually faded, a green, refreshing meadow appeared before the eyes of the audience.

The meadow seemed boundless. Wherever their eyes could reach, everything was green, and a hideous monster with three horns was lurking in the grasses, having no idea that it was being observed by hundreds of thousands of humans.

"This is…" Longman looked at the screen, shocked at the unimaginable meadow. He had never seen such a broad meadow and such refreshing greenness.

The shock spread out in the hearts of everybody in the square. Jane, Ali, and Banus, wherever they were, were shocked from the bottom of their hearts after seeing the view of the meadow. It was more magnificent and beautiful than they could ever imagine.

"This is the prairie south to the desert in the Gusta Empire…" Caron interpreted it with his magnetic voice.

Was this a prairie?

Was it the south of the Gusta Empire?

For most people in the four kingdoms of the strait and the north coastline, the furthest places that they went to in their whole lifetimes were the cities next to them. The Gusta Empire was almost a different world for them. So, they never thought that they could witness a prairie in person.

So, that was what it looked like!

The three-horned monster lurked in the grasses carefully under public observation, before it lunged out and bit a lone goat in its neck!

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!" The clear image made everybody exclaim in shock!

Longman, on the other hand, had only one idea in his head. That was arcana… That was magic… They turned the impossible things possible and allowed ordinary people to see the faraway scenery without leaving their hometowns!

Chapter 786: Journey of Discovery

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The prairie that looked entirely different from the four kingdoms of the strait and the north coastline and the creatures on the prairie with every detail manifested were demonstrated in the eyes of the audience, leading the audience to enjoy the exotic view and the unprecedented dinner for the eye.

For the people who probably had never left their own city or kingdom, such a view fascinated them, as if their souls were truly placed on the prairie. They were overwhelmed by the vast, refreshing view, shrieking and roaring at the predation on it.

In the Mills School of Nobles, the same screen stood at the central square. The noble students who had just finished their night classes were attracted to it. Then, their feet seemed to have been glued on the ground, making it impossible for them to move.

"Is this the prairie?" Jane, who had always been calm and quiet, looked at the greenness on the screen, which befitted all her romantic fantasies about the prairie in her reading. So, she mumbled uncontrollably. However, the experience this time was much lesser than that during her visit to space.

The noble friends next to her expressed their shock too. Even though their families had villas, manors, forests, and hunting grounds, there weren't any such boundless prairies in Holm. That was the unique enticing view in the south of the Gusta Empire on the opposite side of the Storm Strait.

However, since they had enjoyed many beautiful views, their horizons were much broader than the common citizens. They were not entirely overwhelmed or lost, and they were still communicating with each other in a low voice.

"The live show this time is too surprising. Before, I only felt that 'Man and Nature' was fun. I never knew that it was so astounding until today." The noble ladies were more or less romantics.

"This is not a live show. As Ms. Nightingale said before, it's a satellite television." Jane's friend corrected her opinion and pressed her face, feeling that her cheeks were burningly hot. She said with a dreamy tone, "How I wish to go to the prairies, sit on the wild horses, and watch the setting sun dye the green grasses red. Jane, was the view in space even more splendid than this?"

Although they had repeated the topic many times, the boundless space was the forever romance.

"Yes. Stars were much more beautiful than on the ground. They were pure, clear, and some of them had beautiful halos…" Jane tirelessly described the scene again. What she saw and heard was deeply etched into her brain.

Without them knowing it, "Man and Nature" was over, and the picture was back to the studio. Nightingale smiled and said, "Starting from next Monday, 'Man and Nature' on 'Arcana Voice' will be stopped, and it will be aired in the Sky Channel of the Allyn Television Station. Correspondingly, we will have significant improvements and adjustments on other programs so that broadcast and satellite streams can carry out their own advantages. In the next show, you will see a brand new show that solely belongs to the Sky Channel and is different from any shows in the past. It will bring you a new and marvelous experience.

"My friends, are you ready?"

Ms. Nightingale's sweet voice entered the ears of every member of the audience, waking them up from the shock brought by the world of grasses and animals. Even the most experienced adventurers had barely been to the Gusta Empire and the southern prairie. Naturally, they were fascinated too.

"What brand new show?"

"Can there be any show that is more exciting than the prairie?"

Nightingale's words filled Longman, Jane, and Ali with curiosity and expectation.

Nightingale continued, "If you are ready, let's begin a journey of exploration!"

The gentle light appeared and slowly disappeared. A blue ocean showed up on the ocean. The waves were surging, and the seabirds were flying up and down.

"Ocean!" It was still a major shock for the ordinary people who had never been to port cities, but having just appreciated a prairie, they were much less shocked than just now. It seemed no different from "Man and Nature" just now although the scene was different.

For the noble descendants like Jane, even if they had never traveled on a ship, they had visited the coastal cities like Padrey Port and enjoyed the freshness of the ocean. So, they were relatively calm. They talked to each other in confusion, "Is this really as good as Ms. Nightingale described?"

"No, I don't think it's a brand-new experience either."

Looking at the screen, Jane was rather confident. For all these years, "Arcana Voice" never disappointed her. She trusted that "Sky Satellite TV Station" wouldn't either!

At this moment, the camera drew close, revealing a steamship before everyone's eyes. Eight magic cannons that were attached with the effect of Lucien's Fireball pointed at all directions magnificently. Then, the camera drew even closer so that the audience could see the two males and two females on the deck.

"This is the ocean near the Sinel Island. We have accepted a contract with the islanders to investigate the floating dead fish that often occurred in the ocean recently…

"In the Sinel Island, there's a story that goes like this. Many, many years ago, this place used to be the territory of a sorcerer, but he never appeared again after a certain day. From that day on, the islanders have been hearing appalling cries and seeing green fire floating on the ocean all the time. Sometimes, they are lost for days when they go out fishing. It is said that when the fishermen are lost, they will see a 'lighthouse' that they have never seen before in the event of a storm…"

As the magnetic male voice continued, Longman, who was still a teenager, had goosebumps all over his body. Was it a horror show?

"This 'Journey of Discovery' will be conducted by two middle-rank sorcerers and two grand knights. They will unravel the possible cause of the mysterious incident and look for the treasures behind it…"

After the narrator was done, the tough-looking middle-aged man on the deck cleaned his classic magic robe and said, "I'm Grilles, and I'm good at illusion, necromancy, and elements. I am the captain of this Journey of Discovery. We are about to reach the Sinel Island."

Investigate a mysterious incident, explore the magic tower that possibly lingered, and search for the possible treasures… Longman, Jane, Ali, and the other ordinary people who never had any adventure before felt that their hearts were bursting. Their eyes were focused and excited, and they were completely focused on the program. What could the cause have been? Could they find it out? Would they run into any danger?

As for the adventurers, the noble knights, and the sorcerers, although they had similar experiences before, they had never been through a journey from such a perspective. So, they were also enthralled.

As the steamship reached the Sinel Island, the sorcerers, knights, apprentices, and squires dispersed and asked the islanders for clues. Those scenes were displayed to the audience in an orderly fashion. They were more and more devoted and even began their own analysis in a low voice, proposing possible answers and pointing out the self-contradictions in the islanders' testimony now and then.

In their investigation, Grilles and the other sorcerers used magic to help themselves, solving the problems that the audience thought tricky easily. They were so astounded that they couldn't have admired magic more.

Half an hour into the program, and "three days" later in local time, the investigation reached a preliminary conclusion. All clues led to certain waters.

"Therefore, we need to explore the bottom of this part of the ocean…" While talking, Grilles cast ancillary spells such as "Underwater Breathing", leading the other three middle-rank professionals into the ocean.

"They… They are really going into the water…"

"Are they really going to explore it?"

Exclamations of shock echoed now and then. None of the audience could believe that they would witness a real adventure.

The water around shook softly, and both common and bizarre fish swam by quickly, dazzling the audience. Occasionally, fierce sea monsters came at them, only to be finished by the knights and sorcerers easily.

Even a serene girl like Jane couldn't help but feel that she was palpitating. Although she lived a peaceful life and disliked changes, she more or less had adventure fantasies, and since such fantasies could be experienced without her taking any real action, she was naturally attracted by it. She was amazed by the splendid spells and scared by the sea monsters that popped up out of nowhere. Her feelings were fluctuating more intensely than ever.

It was exactly the feeling that more members of the audience shared. So, when the shabby, broken magic tower at the bottom of the ocean appeared, all the squares were filled with cheers after gasps.

The magic tower was opened, but the golems at the gate suddenly lunged at the strangers, raising rounds of exclamations…

Slow, Ice, Fireball, and the other spells were cast, leading to praises and compliments…

Ghosts, secret chambers, treasure boxes, and traps appeared one after another. The atmospheres on the squares were almost frozen. Everybody was looking forward to what would happen next.

After Grilles finished the last monster and destroyed the magic tower, a wind suddenly blew on the square, causing everybody to gasp at the same time. Their palms were sweating, and their expressions were twisted. Excited and scared, they learned what the "new and wonderful experience" was through the unprecedented journey and exploration.

"'Arcana Voice' is too boring compared to satellite TV…" Longman's father said sincerely.

Longman agreed with him, but he was reluctant to admit it. "Some programs are more suitable as radios, like those which you have to listen to with full attention…"

"This is much more thrilling than plays, operas, and the bards' stories!" The common audience in the city square and the noble students in the Mills school remarked in the same way in excitement. It was an authentic "adventure" without any disguise!

"Even Earth does not have such reality shows…" In the Atomic Universe, Lucien, who was watching the "TV show" with Natasha, Grand Duke of Orvarit, Joel, Alisa, and John, had a lot of mixed feelings. "Even though broadcast hasn't been popularized here… Should I invent a 'Wilderness Survival' or 'A Bite of Holm'?"

Chapter 787: Incessant

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

After the Journey of Discovery, the picture on the screen was not switched back to the studio like just now. Instead, a pure and blue sky appeared together with the melody that everybody was familiar with.

In the center of the sky, a shuttle-shaped metal object was floating. It was streamlined and bright-colored, giving a strong visual blast.

"What is this program?"

"Are they going to let us experience flying?"

Having just been through the "prairie" and the "ocean" just now, the audience talked to each other in confusion and speculated the possible outcomes excitedly.

"Creative appearance design, state-of-the-air energy transformation circles, unparalleled speed, and indestructible life defense…" A magnetic male voice introduced the aircraft with great passion, while the aircraft in the sky changed its posture nonstop according to his words, demonstrating its unique magic effects.

All the audience was stunned. The world of aircraft was too far away from them. Also, the gentleman described it so perfectly that even the small nobles did not seem able to afford it.

The aircraft in the sky descended and descended, until a city appeared down below. The view of the city was getting clearer and clearer, and the square that was jam-packed with people could be clearly seen.

The square was as full as if a black torrent were flooding in, whereas the sky where the aircraft was at was spacious and empty. It was a major contrast.

The aircraft stopped above the square and looked down upon the crowd that looked like ants, which made the viewers who were sharing the vision of the aircraft somehow feel that they were high and mighty. However, when they realized that they were actually the people who were being looked down upon in the square, they felt rather complicated.

Was it the perspective and perception of those grand nobles?

The picture was frozen there, and the magnetic male voice roared, "'Reton' Model III is the aircraft most worth buying in 829. Call XXX to place an order anytime…"

It was not until then that the audience, who had listened to "Arcana Voice" and other radio programs for years, finally realized that it was a commercial. Even commercials could be so entertaining!

When they recalled how it felt like to fly an aircraft, and when they realized its price, which must have been extremely high, many young people were both frustrated and ambitious. One day, I will be successful, and I will look down upon everybody on an aircraft at the peak of my life!

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Clenching their fists, they somehow remembered the grand nobles who already had all kinds of aircraft and the privileges of nobles that had existed all the time. They suddenly had a lot of complicated feelings.

"Coming next is 'Sports Time'. We are going to present to you a flight contest between Allyn Magic School and Paphos Owl Magic School. In the contest, flight skills, aircraft, magic brooms, magic pets, and other regular methods to assist flying are allowed. The judge designated by the Arcana Review Board will score the contestants according to their performances in their flight, which will have a lot of obstacles, as well as the time it takes for them to finish the trip…" This time, it was another host doing the interpretation.

Thanks to the popularization of newspapers and radio stations, none of the audience was a stranger to flight contests, which had been held in magic schools for a long time. However, all their understanding was based on words and voices. They never knew what such games really looked like. Therefore, they were greatly attracted by the program, even secretly blaming the sorcerers, whom they dare not slander on other occasions, for not being fair enough.

Time went by fast in the new and amazing programs. When "Nightingale" announced that the satellite stream this time was over, the crowd in the square was reluctant to leave for a long time. They stared at the screen greedily, hoping that the next release would be aired right now miraculously.

"Why is it only aired once a week…" Longman's parents and all the other ordinary people around remarked. They were full of regrets and desires.

"Journey of Discovery" and "Chronicles" were Longman's favorite programs. Mesmerized, he said pitifully, "Didn't Ms. Nightingale say that the programs today are not enough for everyday streaming? When there are enough shows, we will be able to watch them every night…"

Today, "Chronicles" was a black-and-white documentary named "War between Wave and Particle".

It faithfully recorded the "war" that lingered for hundreds of years. Starting from the question "are light and spiritual power waves and particles?", the documentary introduced the beginning of the debate during the Magic Empire, the arcanists' pursuit of truth, the classic and marvelous experiments, and the miserable arcanists who fell before the problem.

The big shots whose heads exploded and the pitiful experts who were never heard again after their cognitive worlds were broken and solidified highlighted the difficulties and devotion in the development of arcana.

This documentary made the general people realize the wonder of arcana itself after it was separated from magic. They couldn't have admired the arcanists who explored the nature of the world more.

I wonder what happened after the first War between Wave and Particle, and how everything ended as it is today… Longman thought in a trance. It was much more magnificent than "A Brief History on Magic and Arcana" that he read at school. He looked forward to the following episodes of the documentary…

Longman's father suddenly burst into laughter. "Harriton spent all his money on a magic radio so that he could listen to 'Arcana Voice' at home, only to miss 'satellite streaming' as a result."

He laughed rather happily. Because of Longman's mathematical talents, he had always tried to save money for Longman's further education in the future. Even though his son had no extraordinary magic talents, there would still be improvements as long as he could distinguish himself in arcana. He did not hold the wish that Longman could become a senior-rank sorcerer and a real big shot, but he did hope that his son could become an official sorcerer.

So, after his neighbors and friends bought magic radios and stopped coming to the square, he always felt bad about himself.

"Really? I feel sorry for them. It's such a marvelous program and such a new and wondrous entertainment…" The audience nearby repeated what Ms. Nightingale said. Then, they sighed. "This screen must be much more expensive than the magic radio. Only the real nobles can afford them. Perhaps we will have to be gathered in the square for a long time in the future…"

...

"Even Mountain Paradise can't be more incredible…"

"Can it be aired every day?"

It was what Joel, Alisa, and Grand Duke of Orvarit said before they left. They were deeply captivated when they watched the satellite TV. Joel even felt the urge to create songs after "Journey of Discovery".

"Appreciating the social changes brought by arcana has become a hobby that's as important as music for me…" Natasha was also quite interested in some of the programs on satellite TV. Then, she went to the room of seclusion to practice in quietness. It was a way of exercise that Lucien proposed. Since the three lonesome years at the bottom level of the abbey helped her really grasp the melted blood power, it meant that the way of training was as good as fighting. He suggested for her to seclude herself for three days every month.

Lucien walked into the library and picked up the journals on the desk, finishing the parts that he failed to earlier.

Then, Lucien took over "January Arcana Review". Through the excerpt journal, he briefly learned the research progress in all the magic schools in the past month. It was because other than the mainstream journals such as Arcana, Magic, Nature, Elements, Astrology, etc., most of the journals contained papers that were of some value for other people but useless for Lucien. Reading them carefully would be a waste of his time. Therefore, he browsed through them through the excerpt, and if he found any paper he was interested in, he would find the original journal and read it more carefully.

"January Arcana Review" was in a unique force. On every page, the left side was the title, abstract, and keywords of the article, and the right side was the comment from the Arcana Review Board so that the readers would understand the basic content and value of the paper as soon as possible.

"'Some Points on the Gauge Field'?" Lucien suddenly found a title that he was interested in. He read the abstract and the comment, before he found out from the journal where it was published and read it more completely.

To put it unprofessionally, the gauge field was a theory that hoped that physical laws did not change because of the different measurement standards in every space-time point. Somebody had studied it in the classic electromagnetic stage. After Lucien, Fernando, and Brook established the quantum field theory, some arcanists naturally followed up.

Lucien appreciated the theory because of its future brilliance. The standard particle model was exactly founded on it, and the marvelous "God particle" was only meant to resolve the problem that certain particles in the model did not carry mass when they were still like photons.

After reading the paper and finding no groundbreaking achievements, Lucien continued reading January Arcana Review.

"On the Symmetry of Microscopic Particles and Its Confirmation?" Lucien found another paper he was interested in. It was the product of a middle-rank arcanist, who believed that microscopic particles and their "mirror" particles corresponded with each other according to symmetry except that their spins were opposite. He proposed detailed mathematical and arcana standards, which he had named "conservation of parity". He also proved that such symmetry did exist through a series of experiments.

The comments of the two members of the Arcana Review Board were basically the same. "Symmetry is a representation of the beauty of arcana and the fundamental law of the universe. This paper has little practical value, but his experiments and new concepts can help us learn more. So, he will be rewarded with four arcana credits and thirty arcana points."

The author of the paper seemed satisfied with the comment. He also divided the paper into two parts in order to claim more rewards from the journal.

"Conservation of parity…" Lucien suddenly felt that he was in the wrong time and space. He tapped the journal softly.

At this moment, Pinocchio announced that Douglas had come to visit him.

"Mr. President, what brings you here at such a late hour?" Lucien greeted him in confusion.

Smiling, Douglas said, "I'm ready for the advancement right now."

Chapter 788: Entrusting and Scheming

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

"Advancement into the demigod stage?" Lucien was truly surprised this time. It had been only slightly more than a year, and the president was all set?

Douglas said with a smile, "When you discovered the sun, my preparation was almost done. I spent most of the last year confirming the existence of the sun and melting the feedback of the truth of the world with my own research products to deploy ancillary magic circles. Opening the gate of demigods actually does not need any special legendary materials. It's the accumulations in the past that matter, like the solidification of the cognitive world, the real connection with the Host Star of Destiny, etc.

"Therefore, as long as the nature and the key of the ancillary magic circle are found, the deployment will be relatively simple. I estimated that it would take three to four years, but it's much shorter than that."

It was similar to the magic circle with which Thanos and Viken became demigods. No special legendary materials were required. As long as they completed the status transformation and accumulated enough power of feelings and faith, the preparations could be accomplished rather easily. The long time to gather the power of faith and the feelings could be saved.

As he spoke, Douglas smiled peacefully and gently, not having the excitement and anxiety of someone who was about to try to break into the demigod level. He was not even as thrilled as he had been when he learned of Lucien's discovery of the sun a year ago.

"But wouldn't it be too hasty?" Although Lucien was proud of his rationality and decisiveness at the critical moments, he couldn't help but hesitate at such a moment.

Douglas shook his head with a smile. "All the preparations that should be done have been done. Making the attempt right now and doing so ten years later will be no different. You should remember that it's been almost three hundred years since I reached the peak of legendary. I've come to you because I am not entirely reassured. Brook is smart, cautious, and open-minded, but he prefers to be devoted to his own studies. He is not very suitable to lead the Congress. Fernando and Hathaway, on the other hand, have major deficiencies in their personalities and are even less suitable. So, if the attempt fails and I don't survive, I hope that you can lead the Congress, Lucien."

He roughly analyzed the other three top legends and looked at Lucien earnestly.

"Mr. President… You'll certainly be fine," Lucien said subconsciously. Then, he said solemnly and sincerely, "The Congress will never die as long as I am alive."

Douglas smiled in satisfaction and patted Lucien's shoulder. "Then, I'll have to ask all of you to protect me during my attempt."

"Protect you? That's not a problem. Mr. President, are you going to make the attempt in an alternate dimension?" Although there were no records about the unusual phenomena when somebody broke into the demigod level, Lucien had no doubt that it would be quite noisy, considering how the advancements of the previous major levels behaved. Also, he had concluded that Thanos must have accomplished the advancement in an alternate dimension or his own demiplane.

That was why the legends of the Magic Empire did not sense anything. Behind every door of the Realm of Gates was an independent alternate dimension. Viken could have fooled Maskelyne and the rest of them.

However, Douglas' advancement was different from them. He needed the cognitive world and the demiplane, the real environment that corresponded with his cognitive world. It was obvious that he could not complete it in his demiplane. So, he could only go to alternate dimensions or places like the World of Souls. Also, if it was too eye-catching and took too long, Pope Viken, Maltimus, and the pontiff would certainly come to hinder him.

Douglas said rather helplessly, "My advancement is based on my cognitive world and my own demiplane, and I have to grasp the Host Star of Destiny in order to melt its projection in the soul completely with the soul, the cognitive world, and the demiplane. This process will be much more difficult in alternate dimensions and the World of Souls. So, I can only choose the main material world and count on the defense of Allyn."

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"How long will it take? If it's short, there will be no time for Viken to come, and we only need to take care of the Lord of Hell. Three top legends should be able to stop him with the defense in Allyn." Lucien became rather solemn. Faced with demigods, the Congress of Magic had no problem in defending itself, but it was unable to put up any counterattack.

Douglas sighed and said in a self-mocking smile, "As the legend who tries this path for the first time, I can only roughly estimate that it will take ten to forty minutes. It's hard for me to predict what will be caused in which phase."

The Congress of Magic didn't have any systematic research on the unusual phenomena yet.

"We can only assume that it will take forty minutes… I believe that the Silver Moon will be happy to have one more reliable ally. After all, Viken has the platinum staff and the key to master the power of 'Mountain Paradise'. I'll pay another visit to the Dark Mountain Range," Lucien analyzed the situation. "However, we need to be prepared that somebody would release the Will of Abyss during the mess…"

Alterna would stop Pope Viken, and the three top legends would stop the Lord of Hell. It should be enough provided that there were no other emergencies.

Douglas became rather solemn. "I'll go to the Dark Mountain Range with you and talk to the Silver Moon face to face."

Having carried the Congress of Magic to move forward for hundreds of years, he was not a person who considered his pride to be above everything, and he knew that he had to show his own sincerity if he wanted to ask for somebody else's help.

"Alright." Lucien nodded his head but hesitated for a moment. "Although it's been only five years since Viken turned into 'Benedict III', and he hasn't entirely recovered, we know that the real reason that he hardly uses 'God's Arrival' is the irrecoverable physical exhaustion and the fear for Monster Viken. When the critical moment comes, he certainly will not hesitate to use anything. So, we should be braced for 'God's Arrival'."

"Do we have to find a way to distract Viken so that he cannot arrive in time to stop us?" With Douglas' wisdom, he naturally had plenty of plans, such as attacking the alternate dimensions that were under the control of the Church, acting as if they could save Monster Viken.

Thinking for a moment, Lucien hesitated and said, "Perhaps there's a better way…"

…

In the praying room of the Saint Geno Church…

"Saint" Clement was repenting before the cross quietly. Last time, he went to the Chaotic Cosmos to take the Time Plate under the instruction of Mecantron, only to run into Lucien and almost get consumed by the high-energy storm created by the Positron Cannon. Thankfully, the Lord of Hell, who had been conspiring with him, saved him from the disaster. He was terrified for a long time after he learned from the Lord of Hell that even Mecantron was almost killed.

Unlike Mecantron, who was a container that The Angel King prepared for himself and who would be reborn in the light of the Lord as long as Mountain Paradise existed, he would've been completely killed if he had been touched by Lucien's terrifying legendary spell!

He learned the truth of Mecantron's resurrection from the Lord of Hell.

"I have gathered almost enough 'Power of Virtues', but I still need a 'container'…" The Book of Virtues, which Clement acquired from the Angel King, replaced the power of negative feelings with positive symbols such as honesty, so there were not as many problems. He did not need to capture another legend as his container and could use the utensils made of special materials.

Those were the two branches that Thanos and Viken created while they perfected the path to the demigod level. The difference was because Thanos started from scratch and was, therefore, not restrained by negative feelings and primeval devils.

"But the materials I need are difficult to collect." Clement thought rather regretfully and said, "I could've used Geno's body as the 'container' if he hadn't died a long time ago and only left his power and godhood behind… Why have I inherited the power of Geno, instead of that of Saint Ivan or Saint Felix?"

When he was sorry about himself, the suburb of San Ivansburg was enshrouded in darkness.

San Ivansburg in the late autumn was already as cold as the winter in Allyn. It was particularly freezing at night.

On a wide but not steep hill, a wagon was riding toward the manor at the foot of the hill.

The slim coachman had a red nose and wore a coat that wasn't very thick. He spurred the horse and poured hard liquor into his mouth, as if it was the only thing that could prevent him from the coldness.

Suddenly, the coachman shivered. Even the hard liquor seemed not enough to stop the coldness from rising in his heart.

He looked at the sky. Seeing that the silver moon had been blocked by the clouds and everything was dark, he subconsciously felt deserted and creepy. So, he waved his whip and accelerated the wagon.

The horse ran quickly for a while, but it slipped during a turn, and the wagon flew out, falling off the slope that was not too high.

"Damn it. How should I tell my lord…" The coachman was not heavily hurt. He stood up, upset, blaming himself for not reining the horse well.

He was about to check the wounds of the horse when he suddenly saw a cave, which was at a corner of the slope that could never be found under normal circumstances. There was a glittering coin at the entrance of the cave.

"A coin…" The coachman's eyes became passionate. He observed the surroundings carefully and walked to the cave, speculating in excitement whether or not there were treasures inside.

He was too drunk to consider whether or not there were dangers in the cave. He simply walked over and picked up the coin, not realizing that he passed through a transparent shield of light that was about to disappear.

He was about to examine the coin, but his pupils suddenly widened, because the cave was full of weird symbols that denoted pain, desperation, and hate.

The coachman went stiff and stood where he was while watching the symbols decompose and disappear in a couple of minutes together with the light shield that he did not notice.

Then, he shook his head and burped. "Did… Did I fall asleep just now?"

When the coachman walked into the cave, Clement, who was still in the Saint Geno Church, suddenly sensed something. He disrupted his "repentance" and really closed his eyes. Then, he saw a pair of mocking red eyes in the darkness.

"Somebody transformed into the status of primeval devils in San Ivansburg through the power of negative feelings. I sensed the strong pain, desperation, and hate…" Maltimus said affirmatively. "Find out who he is as soon as possible."

Clement squinted. Did anyone else in San Ivansburg know the status transformation?

Chapter 789: Discovery

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Clement floated in the darkness outside of the cave and observed the situation inside emotionlessly. Both the strange patterns and the intense hate and desperation were gone. Had it not been for the supernatural vibe that was still lingering in the place, nobody could have guessed that a minor magic ritual had been held in this place. Even so, nobody could speculate the specific content of the ritual and whether or not it was part of another greater ritual.

After an hour, after the supernatural air was dissolved in nature, everything that happened would be completely buried in the river of history.

Clement performed prophecy with divine powers, hoping to be inspired by the god. However, he did not learn anything that he had not already known.

"The guy is no weaker than me, and he was well-prepared in advance. Therefore, it's impossible for me to predict the real situation. Even the Lord of Hell cannot do that…" Clement frowned. If the Lord of Hell had been in this place when it happened, he must have been able to tell the truth. However, he was in the distant Boundless Ocean and the ninth level of hell that was even more distant. When he sensed the abnormal power of feelings, the opportunity was already gone.

Clement disrupted his divine powers and analyzed the possible suspects on his own. "He's no weaker than me… There are only a few people in San Ivansburg who meet that requirement, unless they come from outside. However, in that case, they couldn't have made such full preparations in San Ivansburg that's strictly under our watch… Right, the power of negative feelings needs a 'container' that is only one rank lower at most. I have to check who has gone missing…"

Now that the suspect had finished the status transformation, Clement was not in too much a hurry to determine the life and death of the saint cardinals and divine knights in the major churches. Instead, he waited patiently until the morning and visited the Grand Cardinals one by one.

"Your opinions are very important. I'll certainly take them into account…" Outside of the Saint Felix Church, Clement bid farewell to another saint who had inherited his power. He was full of confusion.

None of the seven saints including himself had gone missing. They were either in the main churches in Saint Ivan Church or in the critical areas that they were defending. After he reached out to them, he also confirmed it with divine powers. It was also the case for the other saint cardinals, divine knights, and legendary knights of the empire too. Only a few of them who were out on secret missions were out of touch, but there was no sign that they had perished.

In such a case, there would be no "containers" available. Had the suspect who completed the status transformation captured a legend of other forces or one who lived in isolation? Before he realized it, he found himself stopping before the Saint Ivan Church.

The pontiff has not been occupied as a container, hasn't he? Such an idea suddenly popped up in Clement's head. No normal people could have been so bold, but what if it were a lunatic who did the job?

With that in mind, Clement walked into the Saint Ivan Church and asked to meet Pontiff Belkovsky.

Several minutes later, he met Belkovsky who was as brawny as a bear in the library. His voice was still loud, his eyes were yellow, and his nose was high.

"Clement, do you have any thoughts?" Belkovsky hinted that he already knew that Clement had visited a lot of Grand Cardinals and legendary knights of the empire today.

Clement was rather shocked. He had been too anxious and should've finished it in a few days. Had it not been for the Lord of Hell's perception of the primeval devils and the power of feelings, he wouldn't have known what happened at all, and his frequent visits might have betrayed him.

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Therefore, he said in a panic, "The monsters in the Dark Congress swallowed the few countries on the north side of the Dark Mountain Range and threatened the Mother God of the Earth. I fear that the Mother God of the Earth will join them and have been trying to stop it in secret. So, I talked with the Grand Cardinals and the legendary knights, hoping to propose a suggestion after we reach a consensus."

"You should talk to me first if you have any questions." Belkovsky did not say anything else, because they were the North Church, unlike the South Church where the pope had absolute authority, and such massive, private communication would've been regarded as disrespect for the spokesperson of the Lord on the ground.

In the North Church, the power belonged to all the Grand Cardinals, and the pontiff only had the power to convene meetings. His voice was only louder than others' because he was stronger.

Of course, no saints would challenge the authority of the pontiff under normal circumstances either.

Relieved, Clement said respectfully, "I'm here to ask for your advice."

After they discussed the current situation, Clement returned to the Saint Geno Church and looked for where he had neglected. However, he couldn't figure out what the mysterious status transform used as "container" at all. After all, there was only a fixed number of legends!

He then thought to himself, I'm still in need of several special materials to build my container. Should I borrow some from the Lord of Hell… No, he doesn't know that I am not using the power of negative feelings but relying on the Book of Virtues… If only Saint Geno's body can be used. A divine body and the power accumulated for hundreds of years will be enough for me to reach the peak of legendary and make a breakthrough. Body! The saints' bodies!

Clement suddenly thought of a possibility. His facial muscles were somewhat twisted under the shock. Was it really one of them?

He kneeled on the ground and drew the horizontal cross on his chest. Closing his eyes, the brilliance of godhood appeared on his body, gathering into a cluster of light and turning into a light angel with a gold eye. Then, the silent, freezing, and monotonous black, white, and gray filled the area.

In the Temple of Spirits inside the World of Souls…

Five black iron coffins were placed with a cluster of erratic, intangible balls of godhood before or above them. Suddenly, something seemed to have flown into one of the balls, making it grow longer and bigger into an angel of light with six wings on the back.

Clement's consciousness was attached to the radiance of godhood, and he observed the Room of the Holy Spirit, which was as quiet as a grave, sensing the passage of time in it.

"Who could it have been?" Looking at the other four coffins, Clement hesitated. If he opened the wrong one, the corresponding saint would definitely sense it, and it would be hard for him to explain why he did that. Although he wouldn't be executed, he would certainly be regarded as an ambitious schemer by his fellows and ostracized.

He performed divine powers, hoping to give himself some hints, but the results of his prophecies varied and included every coffin.

Shaking his head, Clement remembered that the Lord of Hell was behind him and therefore made up his mind, ready to check the target that he was most suspicious about!

He walked to the front and stopped before the coffin of Saint Ivan, which was standing vertically. With the angelic wings flapping, he extended his right hand and moved away from the cover of the coffin.

Creak.

The coarse, heavy friction interrupted the dead silence in the Room of the Holy Spirit. The coffin behind the cover was empty, showing nothing but the cold reflection from the iron.

Clement's gold eye was immediately frozen. It was indeed empty!

Saint Ivan, who betrayed the Holy City and established the North Church, was gone! His divine body and his generations of power were all gone!

"It's indeed Belkovsky. He has completed the status transformation!" Clement could barely hold back his fury. He was angry at Belkovsky's betrayal of their ideal.

It was not until this moment that he finally realized why Pope Viken never considered the saints in the North Church when he secretly released the ways to become a demigod, because he must've known that, with the divine bodies of the few saints and the power that they accumulated, all they needed for status transformation was to collect the power of feelings, which was relatively easy. Together with the power of faith that the North Church stole, the preparations to become a demigod were already done. The resources were enough to support a demigod.

If this path did not involve the understanding of divinity and faith, and the odds of failure were not as high, Belkovsky might have already tried to make the advancement… Clement thought angrily and enviously. He hadn't even completed status transformation yet. However, he did not know that Belkovsky was unaware of the secret to combine them to break into the demigod level.

Suddenly, he frowned. "Belkovsky couldn't have fooled everyone when he collected the power of feelings in San Ivansburg. It's normal that I didn't know it, but it's rather strange that none of the saints sensed anything. Does he have any special ways?"

Thinking about that, he suddenly came to a horrible conclusion, which forced him to turn around and open another coffin without any concerns.

In squeaks, the cover of the coffin was opened, revealing the empty hollow. Felix's divine body was also gone!

The coffins were opened one after another. The divine bodies of Uriel and Aleksey had disappeared too!

Belkovsky was not the only one who had completed the status transformation!

"So, I was the only one who did not know it…" Clement laughed in his utmost fury. As it turned out, he had been exiled from the central circle since a long time ago.

After cleaning up the Room of the Holy Spirit, his consciousness returned to the Saint Geno Church, and he reached out to Maltimus.

"Belkovsky and the other three saints have all completed the status transformation with the divine bodies as 'containers'… Where did they learn the mysteries of negative feelings and primeval devils? Viken couldn't have leaked it to them. The other legends who learned it certainly wouldn't want to disseminate it either…" Maltimus considered.

He once had a plan to reveal the secret to Belkovsky at a critical moment to disrupt the situation, but he dropped the plan after he successfully arrived.

Before Clement proposed any speculation, Maltimus suddenly laughed mockingly. "I'm afraid that it was done by the guys from the Congress of Magic. They only have the secrets about negative feelings and primeval devils, and they need the way to steal and utilize the power of faith that you know. You guys are perfect partners. Hehe. To think that Douglas and Lucien Evans still insist that they will walk on the path of arcana…"

"What do we do now?" Clement asked thoughtfully.

Maltimus chuckled. "Release the message. Make sure that Viken learns it."

...

A few days later, in the Holy City…

Benedict III looked unusually awful as he read the intelligence before him. He gnashed his teeth as he hissed, "Lucien Evans…"

Chapter 790: Snooping

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

If it were anybody else, they probably could've only vaguely guessed the range of suspects, but Benedict III clearly knew that Lucien only grasped the secrets about negative feelings and primeval devils but was unaware of the ways to steal and utilize the power of faith, and that Lucien was developing the Church of Steam in secret, intending to intercept the power of faith for Heit, the God of Craftsmen. Therefore, it was very likely that Lucien Evans and the North Church exchanged their bits of knowledge to make up for what they were short of.

Of course, with his smartness, Pope Viken knew better than to jump to any conclusion. The possibility could not be ruled out that somebody was doing it on purpose to mess up the situation.

"If it's really you, your acting skill will be better than all the professional actors…" The anger on Benedict III's face was gone, but he was still gnashing his teeth.

When he tempted Lucien before, he was solemnly refused. The guy declared that it was only an experiment and that he was seeking the mysteries of nature in it but not really interested in the path. Because of his despise on the way to become a demigod created by Thanos and himself, and his firm arcana attitude in the past decade, Viken was actually convinced by him…

"First of all, I have to find out whether or not Belkovsky and his people have the part of the secret that can combine the power of feelings and the power of faith… If they do, I will have to speed up. I have to take action before they break into the demigod level…" All of Benedict III's negative feelings were gone and thrown to Monster Viken through the uncanny connection. He was no longer upset by Lucien's possible "deception" but began to consider what he should be doing at present.

Although the way to become a demigod that was created by Thanos and himself helped them turn into demigods, there were a lot of coincidences and changes that he could not understand at all during the process. Therefore, the odds of success were actually much lower than it seemed. Despite the godhood and the power of faith that had been accumulated for multiple generations, it was still barely possible for Belkovsky and his people to become demigods, and if they failed, they would either be too heavily wounded to have another try in the next hundred years, or be directly killed.

But no matter how low the odds were, it could still happen. So, he had to confirm their knowledge and modify his plan accordingly.

Benedict III touched the platinum staff next to him and looked out of the window thoughtfully. "… On the other hand, I have to get a list of all the materials that Lucien Evans asked for in the past two years. Maybe I'll be able to find something… 'Bird of Death', it's time for you to play your role. This is not a threat or a command, which is in violation of the terms of our cooperation, but a matter that concerns your own future too. You should know what's best for you…"

...

A week later, the list of all the materials that Lucien Evans exchanged for during the past three years was put on Benedict III's desk.

Every sorcerer had to conduct incessant experiments and build appropriate items and devices. Therefore, the list had hundreds of pages. One would feel that his head was dizzy when he read it and could not find anything of value at all.

"If it were anybody else, they couldn't have discovered your real purpose…" Benedict III's face was as gloomy as a swamp as he turned the pages and marked certain materials on them.

He was checking Lucien's list and marking the materials that his way to becoming a demigod needed. If there were only a few matches, it meant that they were just coincidences, but if the list contained most of the materials, the answer would be obvious. As a legendary sorcerer, Lucien undoubtedly had his own treasury and source of materials, and he did not have to exchange for everything from the Congress of Magic.

Black circles were drawn on the paper one after another, and Benedict III's face was more and more sullen. After the hundreds of pages were all checked, he finally stared at the blankness in the end solemnly. "Eighty-seven materials that the way to become a demigod needs are included here. They take up 73% of all the materials needed…"

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Suddenly, he raised his head slightly. "The eighty-seven materials also include the materials for the ritual to combine the power of feelings and the power of faith in order to break into the demigod level! Has Lucien Evans got the last step from the other legends? Or has he figured it out on his own?"

If it were any other legendary sorcerers, even including Douglas, Benedict III wouldn't have speculated as such, but Lucien had been studying the power of faith and the power of feelings for years. He had also opened the Chamber of Immortality, seen the mysteries of immortality, and proposed unimaginable, miraculous theories. So, it might've been possible for him to complete the way to become a demigod in his hands with the knowledge that he already grasped!

"… I cannot let him turn into a demigod in any case. Otherwise, he may be advanced into a real god before I have the confidence to do so…" Benedict III narrowed his eyes.

Thinking about that, he suddenly stood up. "Words came from the Dark Mountain Range earlier that Lucien Evans had completed the status transformation. Considering his preparation of materials, it's possible that he will try to make the advancement in one or two years…

"… I have to ask the Bird of Death and the other legends who are willing to cooperate to pay attention to his whereabouts and his Church of Steam…"

...

In the Month of Ice (December), when every drop of water outdoors would immediately be frozen into ice, Rentato was covered in white snow.

Augustus, leading Harold, Myrna, and the central priests of the Church of Steam, paid tributes to the silver nuclear bomb that they believed to be the embodiment of the power of the God of Steam, expressing their gratitude to their Almighty Lord and praying for His protection in the next year.

They covered their eyes with their right hands and kneeled on the ground, praising and singing for the God of Steam in their hearts.

Right then, the silver "nuclear bomb" emanated gentle brilliance, and their bodies were covered in the hazy light.

Shivering, they sensed that a sacred, almighty power eased the anxiety deep inside their hearts. Immediately, they were more peaceful and tranquil. They prayed at the same time.

"You dominate everything. You master the boundary between life and death. You're the king of the kings, the god above the gods."

Silver rays shot out of the "nuclear bomb" and fell upon Archbishop Augustus' head. Then, everything was back to normal.

Augustus slowly stood up. He said both solemnly and excitedly, "The Lord has just changed part of the prayer and decreed that we should hold a grand session at the last weekend in every month so that His glory would illuminate the dwarfs beside us, and they could be saved from the fake gods!"

"Your kingdom comes, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," the other dwarfs echoed at the same time.

Having stayed in Rentato for a long time, they were inevitably influenced by the Saint Truth, whose prayer had been partly melted into their "Mechanical Apocalypse".

After the liturgy was over, after Augustus led the central priests to preach for the other dwarfs, a cluster of blackness suddenly appeared on the top of the silver nuclear bomb, and a bird that carried the strong stink of death perched on it, examining the residues in the silver nuclear bomb carefully.

"A grand gathering every month, and a change of prayer. Hehe, you can't wait any longer, can you?" The bird made strange sounds.

After the weird sounds, the bird vanished quietly. At this moment, the most evil air somehow erupted out of nowhere and hovered inside the room.

...

"Recent changes of the Church of Steam…" Quite a few pieces of intelligence about that had been gathered in Benedict III's hands.

Expressionlessly, he tapped the table and thought to himself, It seems that his progress is faster than I expected. He's already doing the final preparations. If it weren't for the mistake in the North Church, he might've really tricked me, and he would've already become a demigod by the time I discovered it.

Leaning back against the back of the chair, Benedict III asked himself, "Where are you going to hide for your advancement, Lucien?"

Thinking about that, he suddenly snorted. "Wherever you hide, I will find you. Other people might be unable to do so, but as long as you are walking on the path of the power of faith, you will never hide from me!"

He took out a delicate figurine from a drawer. It was a bald dwarf, with weird and creepy patterns all over his head.

Viken closed his eyes and touched the figurine of the bald dwarf with his right hand. Spots of godly brightness that were barely visible for other people appeared and surrounded it like little angels.

The erratic, intangible brightness of godhood surfaced on the figurine of the bald dwarf too. Countless illusionary lines extended over from the void.

"The power of faith is gathered in… in…" Viken suddenly opened his eyes and blurted out, "…in the projection of the Dark Mountain Range inside the World of Souls!"

Chapter 791: Saboteurs

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The sky that was always pale and lifeless, the black, white, and gray environment that was dead and quiet, and the rotten undead creatures that wandered everywhere, were the greatest features of the World of Souls.

In this place, the Dark Mountain Range that stretched from the southwest to the northeast was somehow broken into three sections. Some mountains were on top of other mountains, overlapping each other as if they were doing acrobatics. The dark and gray trees also existed, but they were utterly lifeless and looked like coffins.

The famous space gaps of the Dark Mountain Range had also been reflected, but they were joined in the sky and stabbed into the ground, serving as the "end of the world" on the other side of the mountains. As Silver Moon Alterna twisted the space, the World of Souls was affected too.

At a certain corner of the chaotic reflection of the Dark Mountain Range, where enormous trees enshrouded everything, a complicated and strange magic circle had appeared at some point. The silver magic patterns that extended toward the underground world and the void were mixed with some symbols of divine powers. Together, they constituted the magic circle that was flowing nonstop like a ball.

Watching those magic patterns and divine symbols wander in the void in a strange but rhythmic way, Lucien felt that his head was as dizzy as when he read legendary classes on "Astrology and Elements", except that he calmed himself down and stabilized his soul easily this time.

Fernando, whose red magic robe dangled on the ground, stared at the magic circle with lightning bouncing in his eyes. He said in a low voice, "Is it really fine?"

He did not specify what he was asking, but his focus and the current environment undoubtedly suggested that he was asking about the magic circle for demigod advancement.

"There shouldn't be a problem." Lucien did not give an affirmative reply, because nobody was 100% confident about such things. "If things do not go as we planned, we will immediately abort the operation and return to Allyn."

Fernando lowered his eyes and covered the silver arcs of light in it. "We've spent a long time in the World of Souls preparing for the magic circle. Now that all the preparations are done, let's begin."

"Alright." Lucien nodded his head and cleaned his black bow-tie. He then took out the silver Moon Timer, which was full of mechanical beauty. After the cover of the watch was opened, the environment was immediately covered in the mysterious and unpredictable changes of time.

After checking the time, Lucien closed the Moon Timer, but this time, instead of putting the Moon Timer in the pocket of his waistcoat, he simply stuffed it into his black double-breasted suit with the silver chain.

Then, Lucien took off the black double-breasted suit that the Robe of Grand Arcanists turned into, the Congus Ring, the Holm Crown Ring, the Snow Medal, the monocle, and all the other magic items, before he slowly walked to the center of the magic circle "nakedly".

After helping Lucien to gather those magic items, Fernando looked at him in a white shirt and a yellow waistcoat and said in a low voice, "Watch out."

Lucien nodded. He took out many magic gems and filled them into the empty holes in the magic circle as the power source for the initialization. Then, he would make use of the power of the World of Souls, as well as the power generated by the power of faith and the power of feelings.

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The brilliant or quiet magic gems were embedded into the holes of the magic circle, making the spherical circle that was mysterious and amazing in the first place even more colorful and dreamy.

Lucien extended his right hand and pressed the rising stone platform at the center. He then opened his mouth and let out the remote voices that carried the air of the passage of time.

Then, the stone platform burst out the brightest brilliant that flowed to every location in the magic circle along the lines. The magic gems were lit one after another, and all the mysterious symbols arose.

The whole magic circle was brighter and brighter. At this moment, from the magic patterns that stretched into the ground, illusionary and dark water slowly flowed out.

The hundreds of square kilometers around were immediately contaminated by the aura of arrogance, greed, hate, jealousy, pain, lust, and hypocrisy, exactly like the most desperate and negative feelings in everybody's heart. Even though their bodies were still alive, their souls had already sunk into hell!

Right when the negative feelings that represented the primeval devils emerged, sacred and hollow songs and hymns echoed in midair, and the pure light that looked like little angels poured along the symbols of divine power that extended into the void. They were so solemn and lofty that the sky within hundreds of kilometers was like paradise on earth!

If one were to listen more carefully, they would hear that what was being praised was the great God of Steam, the dominator who mastered the boundaries of life and death and Atlantis on earth.

Those spots of light gradually turned into an image in midair. It was a bald dwarf; a bald dwarf with admirable air and creepy patterns on his head.

Bolts of lightning were launched from the head of this "Yuri" like mental waves and crawled into the void.

In Dumute, Heit, the God of Craftsmen, suddenly froze into a statue. He was covered in the brightness of godhood that other people could not see, and the statue of a bald Yuri surfaced inside his body!

He had thought that he could steal the power of faith from Lucien, the "God of Steam", after learning the secrets of Yuri's statue, but at the critical moment, he became an energy source and provided the power of faith of a whole country of dwarfs!

Inside the World of Souls, the "paradise" in the sky and the "hell" on the ground surged toward each other the moment they appeared as if they were sworn enemies. As a result, half of the spherical magic circle was covered in holy and overwhelming white, and the other turned into the corrupt, devastating blackness.

Entangling each other, they rushed toward Lucien who was at the center!

Lucien was about to be penetrated by the power of faith and the power of feelings when a hollow and distant hymn suddenly came over from the sky. A sacred, magnificent pillar of light hit the center of the spherical magic circle where Lucien was at!

In the high sky, a seven-floored mountain of light almost appeared concretely, and the faces of the angels were clearly visible. Standing before the projection of Mountain Paradise was a gray-haired old man, who looked gentle and peaceful and was holding a platinum staff.

Pope Viken, the strongest demigod, had come in person to stop Lucien from breaking into the demigod level!

Also, he launched "Light of Judgment" neither sooner nor later, but exactly at the moment when the magic circle was activated but had not taken effect. It was to stop Lucien and let him suffer the recoil of the magic circle as well as the powers of faith and feelings. He wouldn't be able to become a demigod in such a way in the next decade!

Other people may be unable to find you, but having become a demigod with the power of faith, I can naturally capture the flow and gathering of the power of faith. I've been waiting for days exactly for this moment!

Fernando sensed something and looked at the sky the moment the hymn echoed. He chanted the sophisticated spell, "Abrupt Magic Reverse!"

A mirror full of patterns appeared on the top of the spherical magic circle. Inside the mirror, it seemed to be a channel leading to another world.

Pa!

The Light of Judgment hit the mirror of Abrupt Magic Reverse and shattered it into pieces!

The best spell for individual defense could only resist one of the demigods' attacks!

Viken raised his platinum staff, and all the angels in Mountain Paradise flapped their wings and let out spots of light, condensing another "Light of Judgment" almost without any delay. It was his unique ability. He could launch another round of attack directly with the power of faith without exhausting himself or taking any rest.

Fernando had no time to perform any magic. His left eye suddenly turned black, with silver flashes of lightning striking inside. It seemed to be a world of storms.

It was "Eye of Storm", his unique legendary item.

It was a shame that Fernando used the legendary item too slowly. Hardly had the Storm Barrier was set up when it was pierced through by the Light of Judgment directly.

The light that was judging everything in the world penetrated the Storm Barrier one layer after another and hit the spherical magic circle.

The spherical magic circle immediately shook violently. If the Light of Judgment hadn't been mostly consumed and that it boasted certain defense abilities after utilizing the power of the World of Souls, it would've been broken!

However, Viken pointed his platinum staff at Lucien again!

Suddenly, a bright moon rose in the pale and dim sky, driving away the monotonous black, white, and gray as well as the lifelessness in the Dark Mountain Range.

The silver moon fell abruptly toward Viken.

Emitting cold and dreamy brilliance, and leaving a long tail of light, it seemed to be burning intensely due to the intense friction with the air, but if one were to identify more carefully, it was not a silver moon at all, but a young girl whose blond hair was tied on one side holding a longsword that was covered in black fire and slashing it toward Viken!

She stared at Viken with her crimson eyes attentively and carefully, as if he were the most delicious food on earth.

Faced with the full-strength attack from the Silver Moon, Viken had to change his direction and did not further attack Fernando who could barely put up any more resistance.

However, the fire that spread out the intense stench of sulfur was ignited on the ground. The bottomless canyon, the smelly swamp, the frosty plain, the bronze castle, and the other views of hell appeared all of a sudden.

An enormous volcano rose, and a magnificent shadow jumped out of the crater that was spewing out flames and smoke. There was vague mockery in his red eyes.

It was Maltimus, the Lord of Hell!

Viken smiled at the Silver Moon. I already foresaw that Lucien Evans would ask for your help! This is against his conduct and the ideology of the Congress of Magic after all, and he certainly dare not do it in Allyn or ask for any other legendary sorcerers' help except for his teacher Fernando. Naturally, Rhine and you are the only people he can turn to. So, do you think I haven't been prepared for that?

Although Maltimus was your ally before, he certainly does not wish to see Lucien Evans turning into a demigod. Therefore, he's my ally on this matter!

There are no eternal foes but only the eternal pursuit of interests. That's the motto of devils!

...

On the top floor of the Allyn magic tower, Douglas checked his pocket watch and the weather outside of the window. Then, he stood up slowly and said with a firm voice. "Let's begin. Activate the defense of Allyn."

Next to him stood Brook and Hathaway.