Wizard: I Have a Cultivation System

Nestled at his side was a gentle lady with her brown hair in an updo. She held the man’s arm lightly, her eyes also falling upon the mother and child, a tender smile on her lips.

But faced with such a scene.

Murphy’s heaven-spanning, all-annihilating Dark Gold Sword Aura did not diminish in the slightest!

With unstoppable momentum, it continued its descent—toward the Ironspine Duke, toward the castle, toward the cozy family on the platform—and cleaved down mercilessly!

The sword aura was about to cleave the Ironspine Duke, and the castle itself, completely in two!

The Ironspine Duke sighed once more.

As he sighed, space itself warped once more!

It was like waking from a phantom dream, or the drawing of a new curtain on stage.

The castle, the platform, the sunlight, the laughter, the red-haired lady, the handsome man, the gentle woman, the toddling child... Like a reflection in water shattered by a stone, the entire scene blurred, then dissipated completely, leaving no trace.

...

Duval Territory. Duval Castle, on the open-air platform.

Kaiden smiled as he watched Annie play with their toddler son. Alina was nestled gently by his side.

Just then, he abruptly clutched his chest. His body swayed, and his face instantly turned pale.

"Kaiden!" Alina, the first to notice something was amiss, immediately grabbed his arm to steady him. Her eyes were full of concern. "What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

Annie hurried over, holding their son, her face also etched with concern. "Kaiden? What’s happening? You look so pale..."

Kaiden took a deep breath. The intense palpitation had come and gone in an instant, but the unsettling feeling lingered.

He waved his hand and forced a reassuring smile. "It’s nothing. I’m probably... just a little tired. I feel much better now."

Annie and Alina exchanged a look. Though their worry hadn’t completely vanished, they were somewhat relieved to see that he truly seemed to have recovered.

Annie gently patted their son’s back and said softly, "You should go rest. Don’t overexert yourself."

Kaiden nodded, but his gaze involuntarily drifted upward, to the space where a blade of light had just flashed through another dimension.

’Is that Father?’ he wondered.

...

「Glamorgan Earl’s Domain.」

Within one of its manors.

A waterwheel, equipped with simple gears and a drive system, turned slowly by a stream, lifting clear water into irrigation channels for the fields.

In the distance, several new brick and stone houses with larger windows stood complete, smoke curling lazily from their chimneys.

In the middle of a field stood a Lord who looked to be in his fifties. He wore a simple linen shirt and trousers with his sleeves rolled up. Alongside a gentle-faced Priest of about the same age, he was instructing several young farmers on how to calibrate a new sowing device.

The Lord pointed to a part of the device, patiently explaining, "...Increase the angle of rotation here a little, and the seeds will fall more evenly. Yes, slower now. Get a feel for the right amount of force."

The Priest, standing to the side, added in a gentle voice, "Oriane bestowed upon us wisdom and hands, not so that we would cling to the old ways. Using these new tools to make the land yield more grain, to feed and clothe more people—this is, in itself, following the teachings of the Holy Scripture."

A young farmer tried operating the sowing device. When he saw the seeds falling more evenly, just as they’d said, a delighted smile spread across his face. "Lord Count, Father Anderson, this new thing works great! It’s way better than sowing by hand like we used to!"

A gratified smile appeared on the Glamorgan Count’s face as well. He patted the young farmer’s shoulder. "If it works well, then use it well. Come the autumn harvest, the yield from our domain’s fields will surely reach a new level."

Father Anderson smiled and nodded. "The Tower of Revelation in the Holy City has sent more blueprints. Next, we can try improving the harvesting equipment. One step at a time, and life will keep getting better."

However, at this very moment.

That Dark Gold Sword Aura, seemingly capable of sundering anything, appeared again from nothing. It descended, without a hint of hesitation, cleaving down viciously toward the Ironspine Duke who had suddenly appeared in the sky, toward this thriving manor, and toward the two Elders in the center of the field who were instructing the farmers!

Without a trace of hesitation!

Faced with this scene, the Ironspine Duke’s voice carried a sigh, one far more prolonged than the last:

"Ah..."

"Murphy, you would even strike down your own flesh and blood. You would even sever the very Path that you personally set in motion, a Path that has now taken root and begun to sprout..."

"It seems you have truly undergone complete Elementalization. Your sense of self has all but dissolved, leaving only the obsession to kill me."

"This is the tragedy of a twisted balance."

Murphy’s voice echoed from within the descending sword aura:

"You are wrong."

"Whether they live today or die tomorrow, you are the cause."

"If I do not kill you today, then they—along with the billions of souls on this Continent—will ultimately perish within your so-called ’balance.’"

"They will die in the countless moments of your ’corrections,’ die in a never-ending, repeating cycle."

"Their lives, their Path—they are not being destroyed by my blade today."

"Instead, they are being sacrificed to your bullshit ’balance.’"

As his words faded, the destructive Dark Gold Sword Aura flared even brighter, its descent accelerating.

"Since you insist their destruction is my doing," the Ironspine Duke’s voice suddenly rose in pitch, "then I shall let you see what kind of future they will bring upon themselves if they follow your so-called Path!"

Before his words had even faded, the scene around them changed once more.

When the image solidified, it had transformed into something else entirely.