Chapter 160: Breakthrough! Official Wizard (1)
"God of Dawn... God of Dawn..." Lynn sighed helplessly. It was all very hard to explain.
This was an increasingly chaotic era.
Plots and schemes were springing up like weeds after rain. In truth, the nature of these so-called conspiracies didn't matter; strength was the only thing that truly counted.
This made Lynn's desire to break through all the more urgent.
Finding a quiet courtyard, Lynn retrieved the statue from his Storage Ring.
"I've secured an opportunity for you to spread your faith in the Blue Sea Empire," Lynn said to Maesys.
Maesys was briefly surprised before extreme delight washed over him. Working with Lynn was wonderfully straightforward.
"You are a rather capable wizard," Maesys marveled.
The predicament that had trapped him for so long had been shattered by the wizard before him in almost no time at all. If he could ever truly free himself, he thought he might reward Lynn with the position of Pope of the Church of the Tides, letting him spearhead the church's expansion.
Lynn naturally had no idea what Maesys was thinking. He had only brought out the statue so the deity could begin spreading his faith locally.
Afterward, Lynn hurried back to his wizard tower. Once inside, he immediately set to work studying the Gate of Angels. It was merely a fragment, and its tier was incredibly high, meaning he wouldn't be able to unravel all its mysteries anytime soon. However, he did manage to figure out a few of its uses.
The fragment of the Gate of Angels could serve as an energy core. Lynn was rather surprised to discover that it could actually connect to a plane containing energy of incredibly high purity and quality—a realm overflowing with light energy.
After careful consideration, Lynn decided to design it as his own energy core.
Combined with the Abyss Forge, even though he hadn't yet secured the planar connection quota for his Elemental Pool, he technically possessed a dual energy core setup for the time being.
This highlighted the advantage of Lynn's decision to walk the path of multi-disciplinary mastery. Another wizard would likely have had to hire outside help or spend a massive amount of time slowly figuring it out on their own. Yet Lynn, proficient in multiple auxiliary professions, completed the entire design process by himself.
About a month after installing the fragment of the Gate of Angels in the energy room, he finally managed to gather all ninety-nine bottles of High-Tier Demon bloodline essence he needed.
All the materials required for his advancement to Tier 1 were now fully prepared.
He just needed to refine the wizard tower a bit more and prepare his territory in the Abyss. Once that was done, he could enter the Abyss and break through to become an official wizard.
That was right. According to Lynn's calculations, he shouldn't break through to official wizard on the Feilan Continent.
The Feilan Continent simply lacked the necessary opportunity for his breakthrough.
Instead, that opportunity existed in another place—the Abyss.
If he could break through to official wizard in the Abyss, he might even reap some unexpected benefits.
At that thought, Lynn could hardly wait.
He traveled to the Abyss and found Dyo, who personally escorted him to a specific territory.
"This is the territory you needed," she said.
It was exactly the territory Lynn needed.
And it was the place he needed to break through to official wizard.
The land bordered a river.
Surveying the territory, Lynn felt a wave of warmth. He had to admit, Dyo had been thoughtful.
Even if two territories were the same size, their quality could vary wildly.
Different locations held different values.
The territory right in front of him bordered a murky, yellow river.
Many long red threads drifted beneath the surface of the murky yellow water. Perhaps from staring too long, Lynn found that the river was giving him a strange illusion.
It was as if he weren't looking at a normal river, but rather a surging river of blood.
Tucked within the rocky crevices along the riverbank sat a scattering of yellowish eggs.
Some of the eggshells had already broken open, and snow-white worms were wiggling out from inside to crawl along the bank.
These were the most fundamental creatures of the Abyss—abyssal worms.
It was said that all demons started their evolutionary journey as abyssal worms.
"This is a branch of the Abyss Mother River. Occasionally, abyssal demon eggs will wash ashore with the tides of the mother river."
Dyo explained to Lynn.
"According to the rules, any abyssal demon eggs that wash ashore on your land belong to you as your subjects. You have complete authority over them."
"So it's basically like you gifted me a small conscription center," Lynn remarked.
"There aren't that many, actually. This is merely a branch, so most of the eggs that wash up here are malnourished," Dyo said, shaking her head.
"The banks of the main Abyss Mother River are absolutely covered in white eggs. New abyssal worms hatch there every second of every day. Even though demons spawn in these tributaries, the numbers are minuscule by comparison—just a tiny trickle," Dyo explained.
Lynn walked up to the water's edge just as an abyssal demon egg began to hatch right by his feet. The surface of the shell bulged continuously, as if a snake were slithering inside it.
The surface of the abyssal demon egg roiled violently as whatever was inside struggled to break free.
A moment later, a tiny crack snapped open across the surface of the shell.
The fracture spread outward along the shell's surface.
A white creature then burst out of the shell. It looked like a silkworm magnified many times over, though its temperament was nowhere near as docile. The moment it broke free, its first instinct was to hunt for food.
Standing right next to it, Lynn naturally became its target.
Splat. Lynn crushed the abyssal worm into meat paste with a single stomp.
"It seems abyssal worms aren't just lacking in strength, but their intellect isn't very high either," Lynn said, shaking his head.
"This land is yours from now on." Dyo handed Lynn a gray parchment scroll.
The gray parchment was covered in cyan embroidery. However, it didn't feel like actual sheepskin to the touch; rather, it had the distinct texture of human skin. A heavy aura of the Abyss radiated from it.
Lynn accepted the parchment and let a drop of his own blood fall onto it.
The cyan embroidery on the surface of the parchment flickered with an eerie light. In the very next moment, a divine glow illuminated the sky.
The instant his blood struck the parchment, Lynn felt a unique connection forge itself between him and a certain entity.
"This is..." Lynn's expression flickered.
A strange, sudden thought welled up from the depths of his heart.
The time was ripe. Break through to official wizard. Break through to official wizard!
It was a sudden whim, flashing through his mind.
No. Lynn hurriedly snuffed out the thought, forcing his mind back into a state of calm.
Why had he felt that way just now? What had planted that thought in his head?
Frowning, Lynn cast a Clarity spell on himself, making his thoughts much sharper.
Having suppressed the unwarranted desire echoing in his mind, Lynn realized he couldn't afford to rush into things. He needed to calm down. A breakthrough to become an official wizard was something he had to decide after careful deliberation, rather than in a hasty frenzy.
The moment Lynn left the Abyss, the urge to immediately break through vanished, just as he had suspected it would.
Was it the Abyss? he wondered.
Lynn narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.
To figure out why this was happening, Lynn immediately began running experiments and analyzing his existing data.
Through a rigorous process of elimination, he quickly confirmed that the Abyss was indeed influencing him.
The Abyss was actually trying to tempt him, seducing him to break through immediately within its borders.
His caution had been right all along. He subsequently began to consider how he could resolve this problem.
Based on his calculations, completing his breakthrough inside the Abyss was still the most optimal outcome. Yet, the fact that the Abyss was so blatantly trying to seduce him made him hesitate; this was simply the contradictory nature of men.
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration flashed through Lynn's mind. If there was a problem, couldn't he just choose an environment that wouldn't heavily impact either side?
Following that train of logic, an answer surfaced in his mind.
What if he could find a place that was half in the Abyss and half outside of it to attempt his breakthrough?
By doing so, his body should achieve a sense of balance upon his breakthrough.
Furthermore, the influence of the Abyss wouldn't be overwhelming enough to heavily impact him.
However, a place like that would be incredibly difficult to find. On top of that, if he went with this plan, it meant the territory he had just obtained from Dyo would be virtually useless for his breakthrough.
At that thought, Lynn lowered his eyes, his gaze flickering slightly.
But there had to be a workaround. If he could link his abyssal territory to the outside world, creating a connection between two completely different realms, the Abyss's influence on him might be reduced to a minimum.
With that in mind, Lynn began to seriously calculate the feasibility of this new approach.