Chapter 1373
With Faro overseeing the Gilded Rose’s development, Leon left it entirely in his hands and focused on matters he considered far more important.
Leon quietly arrived at the estate Faro had purchased earlier and began personally arranging the alchemical array. Drawing on the designs he’d studied aboard the Fearless, Leon sealed the central castle within the array—a genuine Sky Rank alchemical array, leagues beyond even the one on the Fearless...
A Sky Rank alchemical array demanded only the finest mana crystals as its fuel. At the heart of the formation, Leon piled a mound of mana crystals three or four meters high—the power stored within those crystals exceeded that of a typical Sky Rank mage by hundreds, even thousands, of times. Standing beside the shimmering pile, Leon frowned in thought, then added another heap of crystals to the stack.
Once everything was ready, Leon closed his eyes and meditated for an hour, adjusting his state to perfection before finally summoning the Arcane Wheel.
The Arcane Wheel had lingered at the peak of True Spirit Artifact for a long time. Originally, when advancing to Sky Rank, it could have evolved into an Innate Mythic Artifact. But during that breakthrough, something unexpected happened—not just a typical transcendence, but the legendary Gate of Rebirth was summoned, transforming Leon into a true, naturally-born transcendent being.
If the Arcane Wheel advanced to Innate Mythic Artifact in the usual way, it would be less than perfect. Now that Leon himself was a naturally-born transcendent, the Wheel deserved to be upgraded in the most flawless way—to become a naturally-born Innate Mythic Artifact!
The Book of Death was a naturally-born Innate Mythic Artifact, its power immense. The Book of Ten Thousand Curses could also be considered a naturally-born Innate Mythic Artifact, though incomplete—after fusing with thirteen Destiny Slabs, it became whole, a true Innate Mythic Artifact.
But whether it was the Book of Death or the Book of Ten Thousand Curses, both were merely used as artifacts. No matter how close their connection, they were not indispensable; at their core, they were simply artifacts...
But the Arcane Wheel was different. Only it could bear the weight of all rules and insights, manifesting the true path of magic. It was the outward embodiment of Leon’s magical journey—one could even call it his very foundation.
Every titled Archmage dreams of having a True Spirit Artifact tailored to them, but only a handful ever succeed. Heaven-tier mages, however, each possess a True Spirit Artifact perfectly attuned to them, allowing both their own power and the artifact’s might to be amplified by 120%.
A Heaven-tier mage without a personalized True Spirit Artifact is at least half as weak. Some Heaven-tier mages, with their exclusive artifacts, can even unleash three or four times their normal power.
The alchemical techniques of this era are flawed. Even Heaven-tier mages might not have a perfectly matched True Spirit Artifact, and those who do often possess ones that aren’t top-grade—let alone a Transcendent Artifact uniquely suited to them.
In Northend’s golden age, every top-tier titled Archmage had a True Spirit Artifact made just for them. While Heaven-tier powerhouses with personal Transcendent Artifacts were rare, most had a perfectly matched, top-grade True Spirit Artifact.
Yet these True Spirit Artifacts, in their hands, could unleash power greater than most Transcendent Artifacts—the most famous example being Bain.
At the peak of Heaven-tier, Bain’s strongest artifact was his personal True Spirit Artifact, and its power outstripped nearly all Transcendent Artifacts.
With absolute compatibility, the power it unleashed couldn’t be measured by rank alone. Only after Bain ignited his divine fire did his strongest artifact become the Book of Death.
A truly powerful mage never worships rank blindly...
That’s why, even after advancing to Heaven-tier, Lin Yun didn’t rush to upgrade the Wheel of All Magic to a Transcendent Artifact, though he could. He kept using it as a True Spirit Artifact, but its power was no less than a Transcendent Artifact’s.
Especially now, using the Wheel of All Magic to simulate battles, the boost to his strength was simply incalculable...
In many battles before, if not for the Wheel of All Magic’s simulations, Lin Yun would’ve died several times over. Even without casting spells for real, the artifact’s power was formidable—without a doubt, the most crucial artifact in his possession.
Yet no matter how powerful a True Spirit Artifact is, it ultimately cannot harness the power of the laws. Only a true Transcendent Artifact can do that—melding with the mage to unleash strength several times greater than before.
The Wheel of All Magic floated before him, its disk slowly turning, a faint aura of mana shimmering across its surface. Suddenly, a wisp of smoke emerged from the artifact, swiftly forming three faces. All three wore sour expressions as they stared at Lin Yun, but after surveying the surroundings, Andefa froze.
“Merlin, what are you...?”
Lin Yun looked at Andefa, his face calm.
“I’ve gathered everything I need and found a way to elevate the Wheel of All Magic to a Transcendent Artifact. Now, I want to ask your choice.
This time, the method is different from before—the results will be even better. But there’s one key difference: once the Wheel of All Magic becomes a Transcendent Artifact, if you continue as its artifact incarnation, there will be no turning back.
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You’ll be bound to the Wheel of All Magic, truly inseparable—as if you were an incarnation born from the artifact itself. Unless the Wheel is destroyed and you fall, you’ll never again have a chance to leave behind the identity of an artifact incarnation.
Now, I’m giving you a choice.”
Ever since Lin Yun first encountered Andefa, he knew Andefa was hiding secrets of his own—becoming an artifact incarnation wasn’t an utterly irreversible choice.
Take Lord Shaun, for example: as long as he shed the identity of artifact incarnation before reaching Heaven-tier, he could become an independent being—a true living soul. But once he advanced to Heaven-tier, it was no longer so simple.
Especially with Lin Yun’s current method—the Wheel of All Magic, like him, would become a naturally-born Transcendent Artifact. For the artifact incarnation, there’d be no turning back; once you became one, you’d remain one forever.
After following for so long, Andefa was entitled to this choice. Equally important, the Wheel of All Magic would from now on be Lin Yun’s most vital artifact.
Lin Yun couldn’t allow any surprises. Laying everything out for Andefa in advance was the best option. If Andefa agreed wholeheartedly, all the better—the Wheel of All Magic would become even stronger than expected. With a complete artifact incarnation, the Wheel’s path of advancement would be free of its greatest limitation...
Even if Andefa refused, after the Wheel of All Magic advanced, it could simply foster a new artifact incarnation—though that one would need time to mature. In the end, the difference wouldn’t be too great.
A look of hesitation flickered across all three of Andefa’s faces, then they broke into wide grins.
“Merlin, I think being an artifact incarnation is pretty great. These have been the best days of my life—don’t overthink it, just get started.”
Lin Yun smiled faintly and nodded.
With Andefa willing to remain as an artifact incarnation, it was ideal. This way, after the Wheel of All Magic advanced to Transcendent Artifact, it would have the best possible foundation from the start.
A few seconds later, mana within Lin Yun began to boil, waves of transcendent power surging outward. Behind him, the spectral image of a massive Semi-Plane, hundreds of meters across, appeared.
The aura of the laws mingled with mana, rippling out in waves. In an instant, the room was reduced to ashes, and the surrounding rooms were shattered by the shockwaves.
Inside the castle, everything was obliterated by these seemingly weak ripples—only the outer shell remained intact, shrouded in a faint radiance. This was the power of a Heaven-tier alchemy array.
All fluctuations were sealed within the castle. Mana crystals in the array exploded one after another, their immense energy replenishing the array’s core. The mana consumed each second could drain a low-tier Heaven-tier powerhouse in an instant.
Such terrifying mana expenditure was merely to mask the coming surge. From the outside, the castle’s winds and mana seemed unchanged—completely sealed off, impervious to any element or power, whether entering or leaving...
He summoned the projection of the Natural Semi-Plane, the power of the laws casting down. At its center, the Sky Pillar shone brilliantly. Andefa glanced at Lin Yun, then slipped back into the Wheel of All Magic.
Lin Yun guided the Wheel of All Magic into the projection of the Natural Semi-Plane. The projection itself seemed unchanged, but the image of the Sky Pillar at its center grew larger and larger.
Strictly speaking, the Sky Pillar was Lin Yun’s true Semi-Plane—the vessel for all his insights. Now, it was time to use it: he would carve out the Semi-Plane and fuse it into the Natural Semi-Plane. The Sky Pillar’s significance to Lin Yun outweighed even the plane itself.
The projection of the Sky Pillar kept expanding, the entire Natural Semi-Plane supporting it. The Wheel of All Magic drifted toward the Sky Pillar’s projection—though only meters apart, it felt as if separated by dimensions.
Fine cracks began to appear on the Wheel of All Magic’s surface, like a porcelain about to shatter. Mana shimmered across it, merging with the glow of the Sky Pillar—their frequencies gradually synchronizing.
Just as the Wheel of All Magic was about to reach the summit of the Sky Pillar, it suddenly shattered...
In an instant, the Wheel broke into countless pieces, each fragment still hovering in place but now separated by tiny gaps. If you didn’t look closely, you’d think the Wheel had simply grown larger.
Within those fragments, fine runes formed the true essence of the Wheel—these were the Runes of Truth. As the Wheel slowly rotated, the contents of the fragments gradually dissipated, leaving only a structure of delicate runes.
This was the Wheel’s framework, like the skeleton of a building—the critical part. The other materials were just filler, and only together did they form a true artifact.
As the Wheel slowly rotated, its original materials were discarded bit by bit, until only a radiant Wheel remained, floating atop the Sky Pillar’s projection.
Once all the materials were shed, the radiant Wheel slowly sank from the summit of the Sky Pillar’s projection into its depths.
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In that instant, not only could Lin Yun feel it—the Sky Pillar within the Natural Semi-Plane began to shine as well. Inside, the projection of the radiant Wheel floated, and the Runes of Truth within the Sky Pillar lit up one by one.
Every Rune of Truth Lin Yun had mastered—and those he hadn’t, all 108,000 in total—shone at once, as if activated by some mysterious force.
At the same time, a tens-of-meters-high wheel-shaped projection appeared behind Lin Yun—a massive disk formed by countless concentric circles. Like the radiant Wheel, it too sank into the Sky Pillar’s projection.
Instantly, the mana within the Natural Semi-Plane was consumed as if by a black hole—the waters of the mana lake dropped by a third. Mist formed from this mana seeped into the Sky Pillar, wrapping around the radiant Wheel of All Magic.
The massive wheel-shaped projection also sank into the Sky Pillar, and the boundless mana enveloped both the radiant Wheel and the giant wheel projection.
Slowly, supported by infinite mana, the radiant Wheel and the wheel projection began to merge.
Outside the Natural Semi-Plane, the scene was the same: the core of the Wheel of All Magic began to fuse with the nearly solid wheel projection.
In almost an instant, the radiant Wheel vanished, the wheel projection disappeared, leaving only a nearly tangible, giant radiant disk.
Mana poured into the radiant disk for seven days before Lin Yun finally stopped. Then, within the Natural Semi-Plane, the precious materials he’d placed atop the Sky Pillar were sent one by one into its depths.
These materials fell into the slowly rotating disk projection, instantly shredded—99% of them rejected as impurities, only a tiny fraction merging into the disk.
Drops of Broodmother’s Essence fell into the radiant disk, catalyzing the fusion of materials, Wheel of All Magic, and wheel projection. The combined power of the Natural Semi-Plane, Sky Pillar, and the 108,000 Runes of Truth fueled this process.
Broodmother’s Essence made the process truly natural—everything born from it would be inherently perfect.
With the Natural Semi-Plane, Sky Pillar, 108,000 Runes of Truth, and infinite mana, the Wheel of All Magic was nurtured as an innate Transcendent Artifact—its birth accelerated countless times over.
In the future, Broodmother’s Essence would be sold by the drop and still hard to obtain, but now it was poured in without regard for cost, guaranteeing the perfect birth of the new Wheel of All Magic.
Nurtured in the Northend World, linked by the Semi-Plane’s projection, this moment joined Northend World and the Natural Semi-Plane—together, they were birthing the new Wheel of All Magic.
This brought immeasurable benefit to the new Wheel—even if Lin Yun could only control the Natural Semi-Plane. The birth of a Transcendent Artifact in Northend World would absorb its mana and leave its mark. Once it absorbed even a trace, the artifact would naturally fuse with the world’s source power.
Most of the mana crystals came from the Monster Plane—their mana was pure and vast, letting the Wheel of All Magic absorb a bit of the Monster Plane’s source as well.
Though the Monster Plane was much smaller than Northend World, its mana was denser and of higher quality. Its law’s evolution couldn’t compare to Northend World, but for now, only mana mattered...
With three worlds nurturing it, the newborn Wheel of All Magic would possess terrifying power and far greater potential than if it had been upgraded at Heaven-tier.
As time passed, Lin Yun’s expression grew more solemn. Besides pouring in vast mana and Broodmother’s Essence, he began infusing the Rule Runes he’d comprehended—each one a perfect, fundamental Law Sigil.
Sixteen runes, each representing a different function and meaning, became part of the Rule Runes. Every rune was perfectly formed—the most flawless foundation. He hadn’t fused them into higher Law Sigils, not for lack of ability, but because he was waiting for this moment.