Chapter 470: Howling River
It may seem like only twenty percent of the components are missing, but the impact is enormous. Some of those missing parts are absolutely critical, and finding replacements in the world of Northend is next to impossible...
"Looks like I'll have to make a trip to the Plane of Golems soon..."
Originally, the journey to the Turin Mountains was supposed to include a visit to the Plane of Golems. But some unexpected things happened along the way, and he had to abandon the plan. Still, he knew he'd return to the Turin Mountains eventually, using the plane path to enter the Plane of Golems. That place is overflowing with endless alchemical golems—a world built for them. Gathering rare materials there is hardly a problem.
Besides, that thing is still in the Plane of Golems. If he could get his hands on it, the benefits would be massive. The Sky Rank Golem’s power might not reach the heights of a true Sky Rank, but it could easily sweep through anything at level thirty-seven or thirty-eight.
Next came the construction of the alchemical array—a task that ate up a lot of mental energy and brought its own set of headaches. Problems cropped up constantly, like the alchemical array clashing with the solidified spells. Any one of these issues could turn into a huge mess if left unsolved.
Even Leon, who had taken apart countless alchemical golems over thirty thousand years, found himself buried in work. He clutched a quill, dipped it in ink, ran the calculations on draft paper a few times, then finally started inscribing the alchemical array.
He took this Sky Rank Golem very seriously. Every alchemical array inscribed on it was advanced—top-tier, really. Most of the techniques didn’t even belong to this era. To be honest, the technical gap was huge; even Saint-level alchemists probably couldn’t meet the requirements, because this Sky Rank Golem was crafted by the greatest alchemist in history: Igor the Azure Sage.
After inscribing the alchemical arrays, he solidified several spells. By the time he finished, two days had passed. Leon’s eyes were bloodshot with exhaustion. Gazing at the alchemical golem gleaming with metallic luster before him, a faint smile curled on his lips. With all the parts assembled, this Sky Rank Golem was now anything but weak...
He estimated its combat power was at least on par with a level five Sword Saint...
And this was with missing components, using ordinary parts as substitutes. If the trip to the Plane of Golems went smoothly, this Sky Rank Golem would undoubtedly become one of the most terrifying forces at his side.
At this point, he could barely contain his excitement to activate the alchemical array and see what this Sky Rank Golem was really capable of. After all, he'd poured so much effort into it. He pulled a Mana Crystal from his pocket—about level thirty-five, taken from the Wyvern King he killed in the Turin Mountains. Thirty-five might not be much, but for now, it was enough.
He placed the Mana Crystal into the power source slot.
Then...
"The end of the Howling River..."
Leon watched as the Sky Rank Golem’s eyes suddenly snapped open and, once again, it uttered something cryptic. He’d seen this sort of thing before, but it still startled him. His whole body tensed as he stared at the Sky Rank Golem. Yet after saying those words, the golem went completely silent.
"Is this another message left by Igor the Azure Sage?"
Leon couldn’t help but wonder. When he first acquired the Sky Rank Golem, it had spoken twice: once to ask, "Is anyone still alive?" and another time, "There’s no road ahead."
He’d suspected then that Igor the Azure Sage might be trying to send a message. Unfortunately, the Sky Rank Golem was far too damaged...
Any message Igor the Azure Sage wanted to deliver must be extremely important, or he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths. If he had the means, Leon would restore the Sky Rank Golem to its original state and finally read that message.
But it was just too difficult...
"The end of the Howling River..." Leon kept repeating the words in his mind. There was no doubt—whatever lay at the end of the Howling River was a crucial clue. He didn’t know much about it, but he did know the Howling River was in the Blazeforge Realm.
Suddenly...
He suddenly remembered that the Long-Legged Emperor, Sandman, spent the last ten years of his life secluded in the palace, barely showing himself. Many suspected he was gravely ill. But there was one exception—a year before his death, Sandman secretly took his guards and a group of court mages to the Blazeforge Realm for a month. After returning, he handed the throne to another son and died soon after.
Judging by the three things the Sky Rank Golem said, and by the monument Sandman and Ronan left in the Crimson Forest, these three legendary figures—each from a different era—seem to share something in common. It’s as if they all stumbled onto the same earth-shattering secret. Now, every clue points straight to the Howling River.
Looks like a trip to the Blazeforge Realm is inevitable...
And apparently, there’s an opportunity waiting for him there...
On the way back from the Turin Mountains, he’d been thinking about how to quickly boost his strength. Now, after merging three core Meditation Codices, he was a level five Archmage. The trip to the Turin Mountains had pushed his progress, but it also brought new problems. Everyone knows that to break through to Title Archmage, you have to perfectly fuse your core Meditation Codices into your Arcane Sigil.
For most people, that’s not such a big deal. Merging Meditation Codices and Arcane Sigils just takes time. But for him, it’s a real problem.
See, he had three core Meditation Codices: Equilibrium Codex, Void Furnace, and Elemental Heart. But when it came to Arcane Sigils, he only had the Mana Harness...
In other words, he could only fuse one of the three Meditation Codices into the Mana Harness. But if he did that, he’d never have a shot at breaking through to Title Archmage.
It really was a major headache...
And even after thirty thousand years, he’d never heard of anyone in history possessing three Arcane Sigils at once...
After thinking it over for ages, he finally had a lead. The Mana Harness was the strongest Arcane Sigil Northend had ever seen—almost limitless, able to accommodate anything. The Arcane Wheel was built on the same principles, and it could handle anything too. Leon’s idea was to try fusing one of the core Meditation Codices into the Arcane Wheel. Theoretically, it should work, and odds were good it’d succeed.
But that only solved two of the Meditation Codices. What about the last one...?
He’d considered merging a Meditation Codex into the Death Tome. That artifact was no ordinary relic—it had exceptional capacity. And thousands of years later, Bain, the Heavenly Mage, managed to fuse his core Meditation Codex into the Death Tome.
But fusing a core Meditation Codex into the Death Tome was insanely hard. Its minimum usage threshold alone was enough to make Leon hesitate. He figured he’d have to reach the level of a Heavenly Mage to even stand a chance, like Bain did.
So, for now, the idea of merging a Meditation Codex into the Death Tome would have to be shelved...
Soon, he remembered the diary Bain left behind. In it, Bain wrote that his greatest regret was never unraveling the Death Tome’s true secret. He always believed the complete form of the Death Tome was one of the two original books at the birth of Northend—the Book of All Spells, which recorded every spell in existence.
The other book was called the Spellbook of Ages, which catalogued every incantation ever devised. Its power was easily a match for the complete Death Tome. But just like the Death Tome, the Spellbook of Ages was still incomplete. In this era, the Spellbook of Ages was only an Essence Relic...
If I could obtain the Book of Ten Thousand Curses, then the problem of fusing the Meditation Law would be effortlessly solved...
As someone from thirty thousand years in the future, Leon remembered clearly: millennia later, a formidable figure would rise in Northend—a man named Welt from the Starry Sky Academy.
Though Welt was considered a pillar of Starry Sky Academy, the first half of his life could only be described as ordinary. It wasn’t until he led the Academy’s planar legion in the battle for the Blazeforge Realm and, by chance, acquired the Book of Death, that his name began to echo across Northend.
Returning to Starry Sky Academy, Welt vanished from the public eye for ten years, devoting himself to the study of the Book of Ten Thousand Curses. When he finally reemerged, he was already the most powerful titled Archmage in all of Northend, defeating challenger after challenger—even Sky Rank mages regarded him with newfound awe.
It’s said that Welt, master of the Ten Thousand Curse Arts, once single-handedly slew dozens of titled Archmage powerhouses during a battle for an ancient ruin—including those at the peak of their ranks. That was the fight that made him famous, and from then on, tales of his exploits spread like wildfire across Northend.
For a time, he became the object of admiration for countless mages.
By then, Welt’s formidable power had brought him into the core of Starry Sky Academy’s leadership. With the Book of Ten Thousand Curses in hand, he led the planar legion to conquer realm after realm. Decades of victories turned Starry Sky Academy into one of Northend’s most elite forces—almost rivaling the Ivory Tower.
In those days, two names were always on the lips of mages: Welt of Starry Sky Academy, and Bain of the Ivory Tower.
Every mage knew that the two who wielded the Book of Death and the Book of Ten Thousand Curses were destined to clash. Welt and Bain did not disappoint. In their later years, both reached the pinnacle of Sky Rank, becoming the decision-makers of the Ivory Tower and Starry Sky Academy.
It was then that these two top factions uncovered a secret—one said to be capable of reshaping the entire power structure of Northend. Both sides mobilized almost their entire forces; in the ensuing clashes, more than a dozen Sky Rank mages fell, not to mention the titled Archmages, who were little more than cannon fodder—the casualties numbered at least in the hundreds.