Chapter 1316
On the other side, Leon didn't dwell on the Rodney Family, nor did he seek a place to heal his wounds. Instead, he sent a message to Farrow and went straight to the small hill where Agalon resided.
If Agalon hadn't intervened personally this time, Leon would have been dead for sure. A Sky Rank Level Five powerhouse is simply terrifying—so strong it's beyond comprehension, utterly unstoppable.
His injuries weren't too severe anymore; only his strength would be diminished for a few days.
He returned to that seemingly ordinary little hill again. The space here was still as strange as before—the distance from the foot to the peak, at most a little over a thousand meters, somehow stretched into infinity.
Familiar with the process, Leon summoned the shadow of the semi-plane. The projection of the semi-plane instinctively resisted the altered rules of the surroundings, enveloping Leon in a few meters of normalcy. Within this range, the distorted rules were forcibly restored, and in less than ten minutes, Leon easily reached the summit.
When Leon reached the top, Agalon was lying on a lounge chair, gazing up at the sky. From here, the sky was devoid of clouds—not even blue—a pure starry night stretched overhead.
Nothing here surprised Leon anymore. By slightly altering the space, folding the high-altitude sky onto the space above, all atmospheric interference with starlight vanished, as if he were standing right in the cosmos itself...
When Leon was a few meters from Agalon, he bowed respectfully.
"Thank you for your support, Master Agalon."
That thank you was truly heartfelt. The real Agalon is so different from the figure described in history—far more worthy of respect than any record could capture.
He spent years researching, all to uncover the truth behind Northend’s future destruction. If not for this exhausting pursuit, Agalon might not have fallen so early—surpassing Sky Rank, igniting the divine fire, these things would have been inevitable. Maybe the disaster that befell Astral Academy and Agalon himself is directly linked to the mystery he chased.
Just because he thought I could see the future, he supported me without hesitation—even entrusted Astral Academy to me, helped me grow stronger, guided my understanding of rules, and taught me about the development of the semi-plane. Everything was for the disaster yet to come...
This time, he didn’t hesitate to intervene personally. Agalon is truly someone worthy of respect...
Leon’s feelings were complicated. There were things he simply couldn’t say—because if he did, who knew what might change, what consequences might follow, whether those changes would be for better or worse.
Agalon only sensed that, ten years from now, he was fated to perish in a disaster—a death written in the stars. But Leon knew from history that after the catastrophe, Agalon set out for the Star Battlefield and never returned.
Looking at Agalon’s calm demeanor, it was clear he didn’t think dying in ten years was unacceptable. Nothing he did was for his own survival.
Leon sighed inwardly, saying nothing. He didn’t try to persuade Agalon not to go to the Star Battlefield in ten years—it would be pointless. It might even convince Agalon that the key clue lay there. When disaster strikes Astral Academy in a decade, Agalon will march toward the Star Battlefield with even greater resolve...
It all comes down to strength. Only with enough power is there any hope of changing this tragic ending. I’ll worry about it when the time comes...
After thinking it through, Leon made up his mind: he would do everything he could to grow stronger, develop the natural semi-plane, and, ten years from now, either save Agalon or prevent the disaster altogether.
Agalon looked at Leon, whose expression was a bit complicated, and sighed softly. He had no idea what was running through Leon’s mind—he simply assumed Leon was shaken after witnessing the power of a Sky Rank Level Five mage firsthand.
"Leon, now do you understand the gap between you and a Sky Rank Level Five powerhouse?"
Leon nodded, his expression calm.
"It’s a qualitative gap—one that magic and spells can’t bridge."
Agalon nodded in affirmation.
"In the distant era of gods and demons, among the records left behind, one of the most important battles was between the Ocean Lord and the Volcano Lord.
The Ocean Lord possessed boundless magical power, a sea of mana as vast as the Endless Ocean itself. In terms of raw magic, no other god or demon had more—not even the king seated on the throne of gods and demons could match the Ocean Lord’s might.
The Volcano Lord’s domain was nestled in the southern volcano ranges of the continent, bordering the Ocean Lord’s territory. Their struggle never truly ceased. During the great war of gods and demons, the Volcano Lord and the Ocean Lord clashed in a massive battle, but the outcome was unexpected.
The Volcano Lord ranked only in the sixties among the gods and demons—a weak deity by comparison—while the Ocean Lord was ranked in the twenties.
As for territory, the Volcano Lord’s domain was dozens of times smaller than the Ocean Lord’s.
But in their first true battle, the Ocean Lord’s heart stopped forever. The Volcano Lord’s power pierced through enough magical force to annihilate a plane, killing the Ocean Lord.
Leon was a little surprised. He vaguely remembered reading about this event in his research on gods and demons, but it had only been mentioned in passing—no one seemed to pay it much attention. Was there something special hidden within?
That battle changed the course of Northend’s development. From then on, all living beings stopped focusing solely on raw magical power and began to pay attention to qualitative differences.
The age when massive bodies and attacks like tidal waves ruled had long since passed. Ever since the Nesser Dynasty, this concept became common sense—no one ever doubted it.
And it all began with the fall of a powerful god or demon. From that point on, the gap between each rank became a matter of essence. For example, if a Sword Saint fought a Greatsword Master, the Sword Saint could easily tear the other apart using just a tenth of their strength.
This is the essence of rank suppression. The first three levels of Sky Rank are all about foundational rule mastery. Harnessing the power of rules grants extraordinary strength—tens of times greater than a titled archmage—and this is a qualitative leap, not just a difference in quantity.
At Sky Rank Level Four, you begin to truly utilize the semi-plane. Its ability to carry rules becomes stable and perfect, allowing it to affect the surrounding environment.
In that instant, Leon understood—when he entered the space on the hill where the rules were altered, the semi-plane helped him resist the outside changes. The projection of those rules kept him unaffected.
Sky Rank Level Five is when you can truly wield the power of the semi-plane. It’s the stage where a Sky Rank mage’s strength skyrockets—a plane’s power is far greater than that of any mage.
We both possess natural semi-planes, which means we’re destined to be stronger than any ordinary mage. The rules within a natural semi-plane aren’t just those the mage understands—they’re inherent to the plane itself.
The rules of a natural semi-plane evolve independently, making their power more perfect, comprehensive, and far stronger than an ordinary mage’s—both in essence and in sheer quantity.
This is what you should focus on. With a natural semi-plane, you can comprehend rules a hundred times more easily than an ordinary mage, learn multiple rules, and in battle, wield far greater power.
Right now, you can only use your natural semi-plane for defense. If you could master its development perfectly, you’d have blocked that Rodney Ancestor’s attack without a scratch.
But you’re only at Sky Rank Level Three. Surviving at all is already quite an achievement.
Next, I’ll teach you how to use your natural semi-plane.
For the next full day, Agalon poured a massive amount of knowledge into Leon—his own hard-won experience, the mistakes and triumphs that brought him this far. Looking back, it was easy to see the right paths among all the wrong turns.
Leon honestly wasn’t too clear on most of this. He knew everything Sky Rank powerhouses needed to watch out for, but when it came to developing a natural semi-plane, he was still feeling his way forward.
After all, you could count on one hand the number of people in history who’ve acquired a natural semi-plane. Each one was different, and there’s no clear research on the subject—after all, to study natural semi-planes, you’d need to have one first...
After a day, Leon had gained a clear, intuitive understanding of the natural semi-plane. At least now he knew what to do next. His previous decision to focus on developing the semi-plane was undeniably wise; from the very beginning, he’d pushed its growth, and now, at the same rank, his semi-plane was far more perfect and advanced than Agalon’s.
The next day, thanks to alchemical potions, Leon’s injuries were nearly healed—nothing serious remained. At that moment, Agalon suddenly spoke.
"I'll take you somewhere."
Without giving Leon a chance to reply, Agalon reached out and tapped the air before him. A faint ripple spread outward, and a stable planar path appeared.
The fluctuations from the planar path were so subtle that even standing right beside it, Leon could barely sense any spatial disturbance. It was more stable than anything created by a large alchemical array.
Agalon stepped into the planar path. Leon opened his mouth but said nothing, obediently following behind.
They crossed the planar path and, upon exiting, found themselves in a barren world. There was no blue sky overhead—just endless exposure to the void, with meteors falling unobstructed from above.
The air was thin, filled with toxins and the stench of rust...
A flash of understanding crossed Leon’s eyes—this was the Puppet Plane, just as he’d suspected!
Agalon conjured a protective shield over five meters wide, enveloping Leon as well. After pausing midair, Agalon chose a direction, and the shield concealed their presence and forms, transforming into a streak of light as they sped off into the distance.
A few minutes later, the dazzling colors around them faded away, and they reappeared in the sky not far from a steel city.
This steel city was much larger than any Leon had seen before. At its center stood three massive, square towers, each over a thousand meters tall, arranged like the horns of a rhinoceros. Visible streams of energy flowed between the towers, forming a sphere dozens of meters wide.
The protective range of these three towers extended for at least a hundred kilometers. Whenever a meteor appeared in the sky, the alchemical devices within the towers instantly calculated its trajectory. If it was headed for the city, the energy sphere would be dispatched to intercept and destroy it.
Agalon gazed at the distant steel city and flicked his finger, sending a rune flying into its heart. Moments later, a massive alchemical puppet emerged, bat-like with steel wings spanning over ten meters.
The alchemical puppet soared into the air, roaring like an enraged beast. Shockwaves rippled outward with each roar, scattering the dust in the air. The dust particles were shattered into fragments too small to be seen.
At the same time, Leon felt a gentle, irresistible force push him out of Agalon’s protective shield.
“Mafa, this alchemical puppet is Level 45. Its innate rune is infrasound, so it can only use a limited amount of rule power. It doesn’t have a semi-plane, making it the perfect opponent for you. Go and defeat it.”
Leon’s face turned slightly green. A Level 45 alchemical puppet was comparable to a Sky Rank Level Five human mage. Even if its innate rune wasn’t top-tier, it would still be nearly as strong as a true Sky Rank Level Five opponent!
Having to fight this alchemical puppet could easily get him killed. Now, Leon was painfully aware that the gap between each Sky Rank level kept widening. The first three levels weren’t so bad—mages at that stage were just getting stronger and learning to use rules. But at Sky Rank Level Five, true mastery of rules began, and power increased exponentially—a fundamental leap!
Leon had no time to think about anything else. As soon as he appeared in midair, the furious alchemical puppet spotted him. Whatever Agalon had done, this creature was now like a beast whose lair had been destroyed and family slaughtered—its crystal eyes burned with rage.
Death's Book in his left hand, the Dragon Staff in his right—Leon summoned all his artifacts: the Book of Ten Thousand Spells, the Wheel of Ten Thousand Laws. The purple dragon spirit within the staff instantly manifested as a colossal dragon over a hundred meters tall, hovering behind Leon. Its massive claws gripped the phantom wheel, where countless runes of rule swirled.
At his feet, the shadow of an ancient bronze balance appeared, with the Book of Ten Thousand Spells and the Wheel of Ten Thousand Laws settling on either side. Instantly, a towering elemental gate of wind and fire and a massive phantom wheel appeared on either side of Leon.
The terrifying power of wind and fire, combined with the elemental storm from the Wheel of Ten Thousand Laws, converged into a destructive torrent that surged toward the bat-like alchemical puppet.
Leon raised the Dragon Staff, and from the phantom wheel behind him, a multitude of rule runes shot forth. As he chanted rapid incantations, a rune bomb coalesced and hurtled toward the bat-like puppet.
Facing this assault, the bat-like puppet flapped its wings. The innate rune beneath its throat lit up, and a silent roar burst forth—inaudible to humans, and even Leon, despite his Sky Rank, couldn’t hear the sound empowered by the rune.
Ripples spread outward from the puppet’s mouth, rapidly expanding. These shockwaves penetrated the torrent of wind and fire and the elemental storm, shattering their pure power; wind and fire split apart and crumbled into the tiniest elemental fragments.
Even the storm of pure destruction met the same fate—pierced by the infrasound wave, it instantly collapsed, its power breaking down into the four basic elements.
Even the impact force vanished with the shockwave. The power unleashed by the Book of Ten Thousand Spells and the Wheel of Ten Thousand Laws only managed to thicken the surrounding elemental energy several times over—beyond that, they had no effect at all.
Even the rune bomb Leon unleashed exploded after flying three or four hundred meters, swelling to dozens of meters in size with destructive force—but then it, too, collapsed into a cloud of basic elemental energy.
Seeing this, Leon felt a chill—he’d unleashed his full power, yet with a single roar, the opponent had reduced everything to basic elements. How was he supposed to fight that?
After that single exchange, the bat-like puppet flapped its wings and vanished, leaving only a blur as it crossed a thousand meters in just over a second. Suddenly, it appeared before Leon, its three-clawed talons gleaming coldly as they struck his fusion shield.