Wizard: I Have a Cultivation System

A Cardinal without power, even if he could recite the Holy Scripture backward and forward and was unmatched in theological debate, was nothing more than a well-read old man.

In the Holy City, where authority and power were intertwined, to lose power was to lose everything.

Therefore, this scorching anger was something they had to feel, had to endure, and even had to nurture.

They had to convince themselves that their current power was too weak, and that they must exercise restraint and forbearance.

"You must rely on Oriane in silence and wait for Him patiently. Do not be indignant because of those whose path is prosperous, nor because of those whose wicked schemes succeed... For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for Oriane will inherit the land."

Only by relying on the guidance of the *Holy Scripture of Truth* could they ensure their power would not be lost.

"Adrian." Ambrosius’s voice rose slightly, cutting off the other man’s roar. "It is precisely because they ’helped’ that the tower was built so quickly, that the system seems so perfect. Let him think everything is going smoothly. Let him pour more of his heart and more of his hopes into this Path. Let him climb higher."

He paused, speaking each word with extreme slowness and clarity. "The higher he climbs, the harder he will fall. Ten months is not a long time. We have already waited ten years; ten more months is nothing. The best time to destroy everything is when he is standing at the top of the tower he built, thinking he has touched hope. For now, endure your anger. Use it to forge your soul as if with holy fire. This pain is the price we must pay for the final reckoning."

Adrian was breathing heavily, glaring daggers at Ambrosius.

After a long moment, he violently slammed the monocle clutched in his hand onto the ground!

CRACK!

The delicate lens shattered, sending tiny fragments scattering everywhere.

His chest heaved, but the madness in his eyes finally began to recede, bit by bit.

He bent down, his hand trembling, and picked up the largest piece of glass from the floor. Its sharp edge cut his fingertip, and a small bead of blood welled up.

He seemed not to notice, merely clutching the fragment tightly, letting the pain stimulate his nerves.

"The reckoning..." he repeated in a hoarse whisper. "Yes... the reckoning. For... the day we right these wrongs."

「...」

「In the Holy City, within the Iscent Mountain Belly, outside the core chamber of the Mind Furnace.」

Edwin Drake leaned against the cold metal wall, his deep blue Scholar’s Robe spotless. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze was calm and unflappable.

He was toying with a small polyhedron made of some black crystal. Inside it, a miniature nebula seemed to be slowly rotating.

A figure stood opposite him.

The newcomer wore a hooded gray traveling cloak, its edges embroidered with ancient, obscure runes in fine silver thread. Most of their face was hidden in the shadow of the hood, revealing only a chin and slightly pale lips.

"A truly astonishing sight..." the gray-robed figure began. "Who would have thought that in my lifetime I would see the Path of the Wizard, under the name of ’Priest,’ take root, sprout, and even begin to flourish so openly and brazenly in the very heart of the Old Realm."

"So, you see? Our great His Holiness the Sword of Divinity is truly magnificent. He has accomplished something that generations of sages, countless incognito Wizards, and even those rats hiding in the sewers after the Dawn War would not have even dared to imagine. With his power alone, he has practically pried loose the thousand-year foundation of the Church Court."

Edwin casually tossed the black crystal into the air and caught it steadily. "Indeed. This is a dream that no Wizard since the dark ages has ever accomplished, or even conceived. Ever since that war, the sky of the Old Realm has been shrouded by an iron curtain of faith. The Path of knowledge and power has been twisted, stigmatized, and suppressed in sunless corners."

He paused, then added in a flat tone, "Until he appeared."

"Until he appeared," the gray-robed figure repeated, their tone impossible to read as admiration or mockery. "A variable from the Otherworld, an anomaly powerful enough to ignore the initial suppression of the Old Realm’s rules, a person trying to play the role of ’Savior’ or ’New God.’"

"But, Edwin, Observer of the Eye of the Profound, you should know better than I. Wizards—or rather, we who pursue truth and power—seek the freedom of knowledge, the infinite possibilities of exploration, and the interpretation and application of personal will upon the world’s rules." His voice grew colder. "We do not need an Emperor. We do not need a ’King of Wizards’ who stands above all schools and all Paths. And we especially do not need a king from the Otherworld."

Edwin stopped tossing the crystal and closed it in his palm. His gaze passed through his lenses and calmly met the shadowed face of the gray-robed figure. "So, this is why your Silver Tower chose to secretly aid the Balance Keeper’s entrapment, to accelerate his Elementalization, and even to lend your full support as he built his Priest system? You aren’t helping him. You want to watch him collapse from the inherent dilemma of his own Path at his moment of greatest success, so you can pick the fruit at the end."

The gray-robed figure chuckled, a sound that seemed eerie in the empty corridor. "’Entrapment’? Edwin, that word is far too inaccurate. Haven’t we been helping him, in a very real sense? Without the Magic Models and Alchemy data we provided, could his ’Enlightenment Potion’ have stabilized its formula so quickly? Without the people we ’recommended’ to serve as guest instructors, could his spire’s curriculum have been structured into a seemingly reasonable framework so fast? Without our help, could that great Wizard’s Tower have been built so rapidly? We are helping him, helping him greatly, so he can reach his goals faster."

He spread his hands in an exaggeratedly innocent gesture. "As for the problems with his own Path, those are the risks that inevitably accompany the Path he chose. We are merely making the process appear more natural, more in line with expectations. How can you call that entrapment?"

"Drop the act," Edwin’s voice turned cold. "That hypocritical defense might fool those disgruntled old-school Priests you’re using, or those naive, hot-blooded youths. But trying to placate me with it is meaningless."

The gray-robed figure clapped his hands softly, the sound exceptionally loud in the silent corridor.

"Heh, as expected of the Observer, you see things so clearly. However, Edwin, more than twenty years ago, when the Sanctuary opened and countless Wizards, thirsting for those ancient legacies, scrambled to get inside, you chose to stay outside, to observe."

"So what about now? Faced with this guest from the Otherworld who may soon fall due to the dilemma of his Path, faced with this change unseen in the Old Realm for a thousand years, you will still choose to observe, not to intervene. Is that right?"

Edwin sneered. "Enough with the nonsense. If you have no other substantive technical issues to discuss, then I suggest you return to your post. The deadline for the third Chapter’s mathematical model validation, part of the ’Unified Theory of Elemental Foundations’ project planned by His Holiness the Sword of Divinity, is next week. At your team’s current pace, if you don’t want His Holiness to personally ask why you’re delayed, you’d best hurry up."

The gray-robed figure’s body seemed to stiffen slightly.

A very soft, cold huff came from within the shadow of the hood.

"Of course. Work is paramount." The gray-robed figure gave a slight nod and a faint smile. "Then I won’t disturb you any longer, Mr. Drake."

With that, he turned, his gray form melting into the shadows on the wall. He retreated silently and swiftly down the corridor, vanishing around a corner in the blink of an eye as if he had never been there at all.

The corridor returned to silence.

Edwin stood in place, not moving for a long time.

He looked down at the slowly rotating nebula within the black crystal in his palm, his lenses reflecting the cold light.

’Yes, I am the Observer. And because of that, I can see other, more probable outcomes.’