Back in the Danbres capital,
And now, within the data the Chip had copied, he once again encountered something similar.
The information the Chip had recorded this time was extremely diverse—not only did it contain the arcanist profession templates and data, but also many other things, including even those arcanists' personal journals and the like.
A few short poems buried amidst such a mountain of miscellaneous data would likely be ignored by anyone else.
No! Given the extremely short window of a demiplane's collapse, it would already be exceedingly difficult for ordinary adventurers to locate arcanist materials in the first place, let alone bother with such trivialities.
Only Leylin, with the powerful capabilities of the Chip, could copy all of this information down at once.
Along with these few short poems, there were even several recipes included, which made Leylin's expression sour with embarrassment.
Furthermore, even if an adventurer had inadvertently taken out documents containing this information, they would quickly dismiss them with disdain.
But Leylin was different! With his previous experience deciphering encrypted incantations, he instantly recognised something unusual about these poems—the encryption method was nearly identical, very likely originating from the same arcanist!
"This kind of high-difficulty decryption pattern… combined with the difficult acquisition conditions, whatever is hidden behind it must be quite astonishing…"
Leylin pulled up the data with great interest.
With his previous deciphering experience, progress was notably faster this time. After just a few short hours, the information hidden within the fragmented verses surfaced before Leylin's eyes.
"A geographic coordinate, and a fixed time?"
Leylin scratched his head.
"Let me calculate… The time is Year 37,670 of the Divine Calendar—that's three years from now, during the month of the Dark Crow's cry, at the Blood Moon! And the location? The Frostfall Canyon in the Western Wastes… the eastern inclined angle of the Northern Cross!"
"Same pattern again! A set time, a set location, and what appears is…"
This spatial folding technique made Leylin's brow furrow slightly, as it reminded him of the
Only the Distorted Shadow's power of distortion could treat space as nothing, freely storing its own possessions and waiting for future generations to uncover them.
"However… the Distorted Shadow has already passed down its path. If one of its students has already advanced to the rank of Legendary
Leylin pondered over this.
Subsequently, more information was deciphered.
"As for the item that appeared… it's actually a floating city?" Leylin stroked his chin, his expression rather noncommittal.
A floating city! In his view, it wasn't anything particularly impressive—at least not in the central continent of the
By harnessing the power of the Mana Scepter, one could make a city float perpetually in midair, and even dramatically boost one's constitution in a single surge. Leylin had once borrowed this power himself, even visiting Sky City's core control room and handling the Mana Scepter firsthand. Naturally, he didn't find it all that remarkable.
"Hold on! No—that's not right! The floating city described here was developed independently by a Legendary Arcanist using his own arcane power! It's a fortress the Arcanists built to stand against the
Leylin's expression shifted, and he turned to read the other descriptions in the arcane materials.
Before long, he understood. An Arcanist's floating city and Sky City's floating ships were two entirely different things.
"So that's it… A true floating city uses an Arcane Core as its energy source and must incorporate the power of a demiplane. It's nothing less than an ultimate dimensional fortress! A Legendary Arcanist within a genuine floating city would wield power comparable to the Gods themselves!… Terrifying! A floating city like that— even the Gods' Divine Realms would be no different! The floating city ruins over at Sky City are at best a heavily diminished imitation, completely stripped of that power!"
Leylin mulled this over.
It now seemed clear that the Arcanist floating city was the true inheritor of the ancient wizards' design philosophy and core principles, while Sky City's version was probably based on partial ruins recovered by the Sky Throne. The copy had lost all of its authentic essence, like a child's crude toy.
"Interesting! Next time my true body awakens, I'll have the Sky Throne hand over the relevant materials for me to study for a few days…"
Leylin quickly made up his mind.
After all, against a Half-Seventh-Rank true body, the Sky Throne wouldn't have the slightest power to resist.
"And this…"
Leylin stared at the documents in his hand, falling into a pensive silence.
According to the information hidden within the short verse, when the Nether Arcane Empire was destroyed, an Arcanist happened to be conducting an experiment at that very moment. Due to an error, the experiment teleported his floating city into a lost, alternate-dimensional plane.
That Arcanist, who had reached the Legendary rank, along with the students and other living beings aboard the floating city, perished on the spot. However, the floating city itself had a very good chance of having survived.
And that floating city, by virtue of this accident, had coincidentally escaped the Gods' reckoning. It was the sole survivor—and quite possibly the only one of its kind left in the entire world of the Gods.
The Arcanist who left behind these clues had spent his entire life pursuing the pinnacle of arcane mastery. In some ruins, he had discovered the trail to this treasure! And he had successfully calculated the precise time and point at which the floating city might return!
Unfortunately... he had been born far too early — there were still over ten thousand years before the floating city would jump back!
Obviously, unless he successfully ascended to godhood or transformed into an undead Lich or something similar, he would never live to see that day. So he chose to leave behind relevant information and clues, waiting for future generations to uncover them.
"Judging by the legacy he left behind, this Arcanist who discovered the trail to the floating city has most likely long since perished..."
Regin sighed with emotion.
After the destruction of the Netherese Arcane Empire, the churches of the Gods had pursued the persecution of Arcanists with relentless vigor. To have found these clues, the Arcanist in question must have reached the [Legendary] rank in arcane mastery, which would have made him even more of a threat in the eyes of the Gods. The chances of survival would have been exceedingly slim.
Still, all of this had fallen into Regin's lap.
"A floating city that could rival the divine kingdoms of the Gods?"
Regin stroked his chin, a gleam of contemplation flickering in his eyes.
The ancient floating cities had been extraordinarily powerful. There were even records of Legendary Arcanists who had piloted a floating city to descend directly upon a divine kingdom, leaving the deities battered and humiliated.
Even if not for self-defense, Regin was deeply interested in studying the design of such a city — as well as its Mystic Energy Core and Arcane Cannons.
"A masterless floating city, capable of independently existing and operating for tens of thousands of years, and ultimately jumping back to the world of the Gods on its own... The intelligence core and Mystic Energy Core within it must have been refined to an unimaginable degree..."
"The pinnacle crystallization of Arcanist civilization? Fascinating! Absolutely fascinating!!! If I have the time, I'll go give it a try!"
Regin made his decision.
...
Several dozen days passed.
On this day, the weather was exceptionally bright and clear. Regin stepped out of the cabin he had been staying in and made his way to the deck.
The sea breeze carried a clean, salty scent, and the warm sunlight felt wonderfully soothing on his skin.
"The Arcane Template has been fully recorded, and all the information about the floating city has been completely deduced..."
Having completed both tasks, Regin was in excellent spirits. "And by my calculations, today we should arrive at Dawnstar Port!"
After years away from home, he was finally going back.
For a moment, the faces of Baroness Jonas,
"When I left, I was only around tenth level, and now I've become a High Wizard! I'm sure Mentor Ernest is going to be shocked all over again!"
Regin couldn't help but glance at his status panel.
[Regin Faolan — Race: Human — 15th-level Arcanist — Strength: 13 — Dexterity: 11 — Constitution: 12 — Spirit: 15 — Arcane Energy: 150 — Condition: Healthy — Talents: Tough, Erudite, Lesser Perfect Body — Specializations: Arcane Energy Sensing, Arcane Amplification] After his advancement to Arcanist, his status panel had changed significantly and become much more streamlined.
As for spell slots? He could still use them all the same, and he possessed the full complement of spell slots for a fifteenth-level Wizard.
It could be said that after advancing to Arcanist, Regin had gained an additional trump card beyond
"Furthermore, once I partially detached from the Weave, the Chip's speed of analyzing the Weave actually increased dramatically… It seems the Weave's constraints on Wizards are truly excessive…"
Regin studied the Chip's Weave analysis report, lowering his head in deep thought.
[Ding! 4th-level Weave analysis complete — 100%! All 4th-level spell templates acquired! Spell slot restrictions lifted! Immunity to 4th-level spell fading! All 4th-level spellcasting now material-free!]
At that moment, the Chip's notification chimed once more.
And the data beneath Regin's status panel now read: [Weave Analysis Progress: 0th-level Weave 100%! 1st-level Weave 100%! 2nd-level Weave 100%! 3rd-level Weave 100%! 4th-level Weave 100%! 5th-level Weave 55.21%! 6th-level Weave 33.89%! 7th-level Weave 17.22%!]
[Spell Slots: 7th-level (1), 6th-level (4), 5th-level (6), 4th-level (???), 3rd-level (???), 2nd-level (???), 1st-level (???), 0th-level (???)]
Seventh-level spells were already high-tier spells, and the Wizard's Ring's effect of adding +1 to all 6th-level spell slots had lost its utility here.
"My power has advanced too fast! The equipment can't keep up with demand?"
Regin murmured thoughtfully. "Fortunately, I still have a great deal of Legendary Red Dragon materials on hand. I can craft a whole new batch of equipment…"