Published at 20th of November 2019 06:00:21 AM
“Phew…”
When Merlin awoke from the strange insightful state, the Five-Elemental Wizard Heart regained its calm .
“That was close!”
Merlin whispered softly . Even right now, he was feeling slightly traumatized . The stage of consolidating the Wizard Heart was simply riddled with risks . The slightest misstep could lead to grievous consequences .
However, Merlin felt some regret for having to interrupt his insight . This meant that he gave up a prime opportunity to consolidate a Maxim . Nonetheless, giving up also meant that his Wizard Heart did not collapse .
Thereafter, Merlin flew out of the Flame Maxim zone . He made sure that he stored the evolution process of the ultimate Flame Maxim in his mind so that he could attempt to consolidate a Maxim again in the future .
Next, Merlin flew toward the ultimate Wind Maxim . This time, he did not try to derive any insight for Maxim consolidation . To be fair, consolidating a Maxim was not as easy as it might appear . The fact that Merlin had gained some insight on the spot was simply a stroke of luck .
The Wind Maxim did not give him much insight . Merlin had memorized it firmly in his mind . After all, it was the evolution process of an ultimate Maxim that was desirable even to the Great Legends .
This was only two ultimate Maxims . There was also the Water Maxim and the Light Maxim . Regarding those two Maxims, Merlin did not construct their corresponding spells, so naturally, he would not gain much insight . Nevertheless, they still constituted the evolution process of ultimate Maxims, in which all of them shared some similarities .
Therefore, Merlin also stored them steadfastly in his mind . However, since he was not familiar with these elements, memorizing the evolution process of these two Maxims was not easy . Merlin had spent more than half a month to commit these two Maxims to memory .
“Unfortunately, there’s no Darkness Maxim . Otherwise, I might be able to fuse the Darkness-type Wizard Heart and become an actual Great Wizard!”
Merlin noted down all the evolution process of Maxim but regretted that there was no evolution process of a Darkness Maxim . Otherwise, the time frame for Merlin to become an actual Great Wizard would be greatly shortened .
The evolution process of Maxims, especially those of the ultimate Maxims, may not seem very useful at this point but in reality, they had opened a clear pathway or even a shortcut for Merlin to become an Honored Legend .
Merlin could rely on the evolution process of these Maxims to consolidate a Maxim or an ultimate Maxim . Hence, there were not many obstacles left on his path .
Of course, a road can only lead . Whether or not Merlin could consolidate a Maxim would still be dependent on himself as well as the proper opportunities . For example, Merlin’s Mind Power had long since achieved the third step of Hallucinating spells yet, remained shy of achieving the Illusory Heart realm .
“Time to go out!”
Merlin looked at the evolution process of these ultimate Maxims . This multi-layered subspace was a huge price sacrificed by the Origin Lord in order to leave behind opportunities that were highly attractive even to Great Legends .
The silver puppet seemed to be omnipresent . The moment Merlin flew out, it reappeared .
“Wizard Merlin, have you memorized the evolution process of the ultimate Maxims?”
“I’ve memorized them!”
Merlin nodded with a smile .
“It seems like you’ve received a fruitful bounty . The Origin Lord left these behind just as a precaution . Nevertheless, while the evolution of Maxims may be beneficial, they may not be very useful to the average Spell Casters . This is because very few Wizards can derive sufficient insight to consolidate a Maxim and become a Great Legend! Only Spell Casters who are truly talented will reflect the true value of these gifts . ”
Merlin understood clearly the meaning of the silver puppet’s words . Not all talented Spell Casters would become a Great Legends but all Great Legends came from talented Spell Casters .
This logic was as clear as day . If an average Great Wizard memorized the evolution process of these Maxims even for the rest of his life, it might not make a difference . The reason the Origin Lord had set up these challenges was to ensure that the Spell Casters who received the evolution process of his Maxims were true prodigies .
Any Spell Caster who had managed to pass these two challenges could definitely be regarded as a prodigy . Even a civilization-level prodigy might face difficulty in overcoming the second challenge .
“You said there’s also the third challenge?”
Merlin asked the silver puppet . Since the Origin Lord was such a powerful Lord, the third challenge he had left behind must be extraordinary . However, passing it would also most certainly fetch a greater prize .
“The third challenge? That challenge is prepared for a Great Legend . A powerful Great Legend, in fact . Do you want to try?”
The silver puppet seemed somewhat eager for Merlin to accept the third challenge .
“Prepared for a Great Legend?”
Merlin deliberated for a moment . The Origin Lord was a Great Lord, so the challenge he left behind would be extraordinary . However, the more difficult the challenge, the greater the prize would be .
A treasure left behind for a Great Legend would undoubtedly be sophisticated . Although Merlin was not yet a Great Legend, he was a Spell Caster with the highest achievements prior to becoming a Great Legend in the history of Spell Casters . Even a civilization-level prodigy was no match for Merlin .
Therefore, he could not be evaluated with ordinary standards .
“Since I’m already here, I must give it a try!”
Merlin also seemed eager to try .
“Very well, come with me to the third layer subspace!”
The silver puppet led Merlin into the third layer subspace .
“Swish . ”
Upon entering the third layer subspace, Merlin was surprised to find that the subspace seemed to be filled with brilliant multi-colored lights .
Merlin saw that in the empty space, there was a multi-colored ball of light suspended in the air, seemingly hiding something . Underneath this multi-colored ball of light, there were seven staircase steps . They were seven colors in all; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple .
“Merlin, look at those seven different colored staircase steps . Once you’ve climbed all seven steps, you can walk up to the multi-colored ball of light and obtain the treasure left behind by the Origin Lord! As for this treasure, even a Lord would go crazy over it…”
The silver puppet looked at the multi-colored ball of light with an intricate expression .
Merlin’s eyes sparkled . A treasure that would drive even a Lord crazy was definitely extraordinary . He was very excited . Nonetheless, looking at the seven different colored steps, he did not dare underestimate it .
“I’ll try!”
Merlin quickly flew toward the seven staircase steps . Then, he came to the red first step . Merlin could sense that these seven staircase steps contained a mighty power . Therefore, he hesitated for a moment but finally decided .
“Boom . ”
As soon as Merlin set foot on the red first step, a series of runes quickly formed a Runic Magic Circle and trapped Merlin .
“Runic Magic Circle? Break!”
Seeing that it was a Runic Magic Circle, Merlin heaved a breath of relief . Although the Runic Magic Circle was strong enough to bind a Great Legend, Merlin’s abilities were now comparable to a two-Maxim Legend .
Therefore, he wielded his spell, fashioned it into a long spear, and tore the Runic Magic Circle .
“That wasn’t too difficult . ”
Merlin passed through the red first step easily . Hence, without any hesitation, he was prepared to climb onto the orange second step .
This time, Merlin felt blocked by an invisible barrier, preventing him from landing his foot on the orange second step .
“This bit of power can’t stop me!”
Behind Merlin, the Five-Elemental Wizard Heart loomed . A surge of Magic Power rapidly wrapped around Merlin . Then, with the power of the Wizard Heart, Merlin broke through the invisible barrier and stepped onto the orange second step .
Merlin stopped for a moment on the second step of the staircase . He was gathering his strength before taking another aggressive step .
“Boom . ”
An even more powerful force appeared . The third step, the fourth step, the fifth step…
Merlin advanced step by step, seemingly unstoppable . The Wizard Heart on his body was unleashing all its power .
However, upon arriving at the fifth step, Merlin was unable to land on the step . Even his Five-Elemental Wizard Heart dimmed a little but Merlin still could not enter the green fifth step .
Merlin knew that this was his limit . He could not go any further . His attempt of the third challenge was a failure!
In a distance, the silver puppet’s face also revealed a look of disappointment . The puppet appeared to be dismayed that Merlin did not manage to clear all seven steps of the staircase in a single try .
“Wizard Merlin, don’t worry . You still have a chance to attempt the third challenge again!”
Merlin nodded . He cast another glance at the seven staircase steps, and left the third layer subspace with the silver puppet . They returned to the first layer subspace .
Merlin was just about to leave when his eyes landed on the warship halved by the Origin Lord . This was an empire-level warship of the Atlan civilization . As for the Atlan civilization, Merlin would not underestimate them at all . Perhaps, there were some bounties to be found inside .
“I would like to enter this warship . Is that possible?”
Merlin knew that the silver puppet controlled the entire multi-layered subspace, so he asked the silver puppet .
“Oh? You’re a smart one! This is an Atlan civilization’s empire-level warship . Just because Master did not find anything useful inside doesn’t mean that you won’t either . There are indeed some good things inside but whether or not you can obtain it is up to you . However, I must warn you . Although this warship has been destroyed by Master, some of the puppets in it have gradually recovered . Furthermore, I don’t know if anything has changed . So, you must be careful!”
Merlin nodded . “I’ll be careful . Can I go in now?”
Merlin’s heart was bursting with excitement . An empire-level warship was a terrifying vessel that was comparable to an Honored Legend . In fact, just the liquid memory metal robots alone tempted Merlin to no end .
If only he could obtain a large quantity of such resilient robots, then his worry about the loss of Spell Casters would no longer be a material concern . This was well-suited to confront the Church of Light!
Thus, brimming with excitement, Merlin swiftly flew toward the humongous warship!