A massive sea vessel sailed across the ocean, its black hull resembling a moving fortress of steel.
"It's already been over five months..."
Leylin sighed.
It had been several months since the grand feast of division, and Tifa had carried out Leylin's instructions — fabricating a new identity, marrying the baron's daughter, and becoming a nobleman in his own right.
As for feelings? Well, what could one say about that? Hadn't plenty of noble couples gotten along the same way?
After that, Leylin had purged and reorganized his entourage, bringing along his trusted confidants and elite forces while handing the rest over to Tifa, instructing him to settle them on the estate and distribute wealth and land among them. It was, in its own way, a proper ending.
The situation in the north had gradually stabilized, and just as expected, the beastmen had established their nation. That Saladin had directly become their first emperor — an event that sent shockwaves through the entire world of gods.
Seeing that there were no more spoils to be had, and having received a letter from his family, Leylin chose to make the return journey.
"Without reaching [Legendary], there's simply no way to participate in the core of that feast..."
Leylin sighed, a yearning for power burning in his eyes.
In the upheaval of the north, the beastmen were the undisputed greatest winners. The other human gods had each obtained what they wanted, and even Leylin had seized the moment to make a fortune. The only losers were the Goddess of the
But competition among the gods was always a long game. The Goddess of the Weave was a deity of immense power, and this setback alone was far from enough to damage her foundations. While she quietly licked her wounds, a comeback could come at any moment.
Still, none of that had much to do with him anymore.
Leylin gazed through the translucent glass window at the vast blue ocean stretching endlessly to the horizon. A few white seagulls circled in the distance.
"This trip to the north has yielded enough..."
Leylin silently tallied his gains. In terms of personal strength, he had not only obtained a massive trove of [
[High-level Mage]! And a high-level arcanist at that! At his current age, it was nothing short of astonishing. Even in the
Furthermore, he had traded military merit for a large portion of Silver Moon City's mage resources and numerous legendary research records — more than enough to support an entire path of arcane advancement.
If the mage tower on Faolan Island were completed, Leylin would even have the confidence to train [High-level Mages] of his own!
As for the [Legendary] rank, it wasn't impossible either — though that would require both talent and a certain amount of luck.
Back when he was in the Northern Lands, Leylin had indeed considered heading to Silver Moon City to plunder a fortune when the city fell, but he had ultimately abandoned the idea.
Though the chances were great, the danger was equally immense. Having already obtained so much, Leylin no longer had any intention of taking risks.
"In terms of influence, most of Belusebabu's follower network in the North has already been brought to heel, and I now have Tifa and the Viscount's territory. That counts as a solid power base — there's a lot I can do with it going forward..."
Leylin rubbed his chin. "As for tangible assets, there are the materials from a Legendary-grade red dragon. And this!"
The Dimensional Bag flashed, and a roll of black beast-hide parchment materialized directly in Leylin's hand, still bearing traces of blood that hadn't yet dried.
Leylin gazed at the scroll. His expression gradually grew solemn.
"The ancient Shadow of
At the memory of his previous brush with danger, even Leylin felt a lingering sense of dread. That being had been an eighth-level peak Grand
At the heights that being had reached, even after its fall, whatever it left behind was sure to carry profound significance.
"There must still be secrets hidden within those Netheril ruins..."
Leylin murmured thoughtfully. Of course, due to the rash activation, that demiplane had already self-destructed — but Leylin believed the being's arrangements were far more complex than that.
"And then there's
That half-baked arcanist and mid-level mage — out of caution, Leylin hadn't dared to bring her along, instead leaving her behind in Tifa's territory in the North.
"The principles of the power of distortion..."
The impression the Shadow of Distortion had left on Leylin during their last encounter was nothing short of terrifying. The power of distortion it wielded could affect even time and space — it was almost beyond Leylin's imagination! And it had greatly piqued his interest.
Otherwise, he would have long since discarded something as dangerous as this beast-hide scroll.
No matter what arrangements these ancient Wizards had made, if he didn't take the bait, what use would any of it be?
"The ancient Shadow of Distortion... even within the Wizard World, records of it are exceedingly sparse. All that's known is that it wasn't a native of the Wizard World, but a powerful being from some other world — and no one has ever seen its true form..."
Lin recalled the information he had studied before in his original body.
"His path is clearly centered on distorting natural law, and it seems to fuse the power of time, space, or perhaps illusions…"
"The path of a ninth-tier Wizard necessarily involves the laws of space and time?"
Light flickered in Lin's eyes as he rose abruptly and walked over to the nearby desk.
The dark red tabletop was covered with mottled black spots and marks, along with numerous scratches. The miscellaneous items that had cluttered it were now all gone, leaving only a distorted hexagram formation.
Placing the beast-hide scroll at the center of the formation, a faint blue glow shimmered at the depths of Lin's eyes.
"Chip! Begin scanning and record all the information data!"
Lin ordered.
[Ding! Task established! Commencing experimental data scan!] The Chip faithfully carried out Lin's command.
"In the
Lin murmured to himself. With his background in arcanist and mage research, he had developed several small detection techniques of his own, and since they were based on the mage's path, they would not trigger rejection from the World of Gods.
"Seawater, white salt, flower petals, dragon bloodstone, night demon bat guano…"
Lin placed each item at one of the six points of the hexagram, murmuring complex incantations of law under his breath.
"The power of the bat and the dragon bloodstone, combined with the blessing of the petals…"
He had to admit that even as an improved version, his formation was still thoroughly steeped in a Wizard's style. If any other mage were to witness it, they would likely be terrified by the bizarre ritual process.
Lin finally seized a handful of fine green sand and let it drift down gently.
Boom!
In midair, the grains of sand spontaneously transformed into green flames, raining down like droplets upon the hexagram formation and slowly enveloping the beast-hide scroll.
"In the name of my Wings of Devouring, reveal the truth hidden within the illusion…"
An apparition of the Targaryen winged serpent seemed to materialize within Lin's eyes as his gaze locked fiercely onto the beast-hide scroll amid the flames. "Manifest!"
Sizzle! Sizzle! The scroll seemed to be on the verge of melting within the green flames, the bloodstains upon it appearing ever more vivid and real.
Then, drop after drop of crimson blood dripped down, carrying the power to distort the laws of reality.
"Warning! Warning! Otherworldly rule-based power detected, reaching the critical threshold of divine-world suppression!" At that moment, the Chip also flashed a red warning message across its display.
"Hold on!" Lin's face flushed slightly, but then he suddenly made up his mind, thrusting his finger into the center of the formation.
The moment his fingertip made contact with the crimson blood, a warm sensation surged through him.
What followed was the sight of his finger rapidly aging and decaying—the skin wrinkling, yellow and black patches of necrosis mottling its surface.
The decay spread relentlessly, quickly advancing from his finger to his arm, then to his chest, and across his entire body.
Sizzle! After the skin rotted away came the red flesh, and finally the white bone—all of it crumbling under the relentless force of time.
The entire void seemed to be accelerating around him, centuries passing in the blink of an eye—seas turning to fields and back again, millennia collapsing into a single moment.
"I am the Shadow of Distortion! Devour your wings to feed my heart!"
By the end, all that remained of Lin was a pair of vertical-slitted eyeballs. And only then—stripped of everything else—could he finally see it: that formless, omnipresent apparition of distorted shadow.
"Ding! Detection of law-based energy reserves depleted—automatic shutdown initiated!"
The Chip's voice rang out, pulling Lin back to reality.
"Huh?!" Lin looked down at his hand. His fingers were pale, smooth, and flawless, brimming with the vitality of youth—not a single trace of decay.
Everything in the room remained exactly as it had been. All that had transpired seemed nothing more than an illusion.
The green flames within the hexagram formation had burned themselves out entirely. The bloodstained scroll sat innocently at the center of the formation, but the hexagonal dragon-blood stones and other materials had long since vanished without a trace.
"Ancient Wizard artifacts really are as dangerous as they say—terrifyingly so…"
Lin murmured to himself: "A curse that takes effect the moment you open it? Is the Shadow of Distortion trying to resurrect itself this way? Or is there some other scheme at play…"
After thinking it over for a long while and carefully reviewing the Chip's recorded data, Lin sealed the scroll away and stored it safely.
At the very least, the Eighth-tier Wizard craftsmanship and law-based power preserved within it would prove tremendously inspiring for his current stage of cultivation.
"Regardless, I will continue walking my own path. Strengthening my power is never wrong!"
Lin's resolve had always been unwavering, never shifting for any reason.
"There's still some time before we reach the outer seas of Danbres. It's the perfect chance to review all the information on the Archmage and record every Arcane Template…"
Lin tidied his desk and slipped back into meditation.