Chapter 1156
Damn it, no wonder those things didn't even ignite—they just turned straight to ash. This isn't the power of ordinary flame at all.
It repels all elemental power—light, darkness, everything. Wherever the Divine Flame falls, nothing uncontrolled can exist.
Even air can't exist there...
How could Beast God's Blood possibly conjure Divine Flame? Are you kidding me? It's just a few drops of Beast God's Blood without any rule fragments left! Even if the Beast God's power comes from bloodline, it's impossible for it to be this strong. Absolutely impossible...
Leon couldn't hide his shock. If this really was Divine Flame, there'd be nothing he could do to control it—he could only watch while it drifted around, destroying everything in its path.
Anyone who dares approach would be reduced to ash in an instant...
After probing the Divine Flame for a while, Leon suddenly discovered that runes could influence its drifting direction. Only then did he snap out of it.
"Scared me for a second. Turns out it's not the true Divine Flame—just the embers left after it burns out..."
Back in the apocalypse, Leon had learned plenty about so-called gods and demons. He had a clear understanding of Sky Rank and everything above it.
A Sky Rank powerhouse—if they want to surpass Sky Rank, they have to ignite the Divine Flame. Once the Divine Flame is lit, they break through to the next stage. The Divine Flame is the absolute core, the most important thing for such a being.
The flame before me is just the embers left after the Divine Flame burns out. Compared to the true Divine Flame, it's as weak as a candle about to go out.
But even the faintest ember—its essence still comes from the Divine Flame!
Within the range covered by these embers, even anti-demon materials are reduced to ash. This isn't something Sky Rank power can achieve—no matter how much you have, the difference in essence is like an abyss you can't cross.
Leon let out a quiet sigh.
This thing is terrifyingly strong. For me, it's basically invincible—no, scratch that, it's untouchably invincible. Just one touch and you're dead, not even your soul can escape...
Maybe only when I truly break through to Sky Rank and grasp transcendental power will I be qualified to touch these Divine Flame Embers without dying...
Only then would I have even a sliver of hope to study this thing. And that's just the bare minimum—right now, just watching from a distance is already an achievement. Touching it? Forget it...
Once Leon realized this thing was Divine Flame Embers, he more or less figured out how to stop it from destroying everything here.
He couldn't control it by touching, but driving it away was still possible.
One by one, rule runes flew out, landing within the range of the Divine Flame Embers' power. As soon as they entered, the runes would collapse, but in that instant, a trace of rule power turned into a gentle breeze, brushing past the embers.
The Divine Flame Embers slowly began to rise, and more rule runes kept rushing into the area of its power. Each time a rune collapsed, the embers would move in the direction Leon controlled.
Gradually, the Divine Flame Embers floated up toward the sky, with Leon following, burning through rule runes to drive the embers onward.
After burning through more than three hundred rule runes, he finally drove the Divine Flame Embers to the very top of the natural semi-plane.
Leon kept spitting out rule runes, and it was as if they merged into the semi-plane's space, revealing an invisible pathway.
The Divine Flame Embers followed this path, circling around in the semi-plane's sky.
In an instant, soft light blossomed from the Divine Flame Embers, illuminating the entire natural semi-plane.
Under control, the Divine Flame Embers hung in the sky, serving as the sun for the whole semi-plane. That gentle light was just like sunlight, shining into every corner.
According to the path Leon set, the Divine Flame Embers wouldn't rise or set like a real sun—it just kept circling the sky, creating sunrise and sunset effects everywhere.
When the Divine Flame Embers were far away, the light dimmed, like night. When it came closest, it was like midday.
The moment that light appeared, the plants in the natural semi-plane were the first to benefit.
Countless fresh shoots burst from the ground, quickly growing into saplings. The trees that were already there stretched out their branches, snapping out of their half-dead stupor in an instant.
A surge of vitality swept across the natural semi-plane, and the faint sound of insects began to rise and fall, cycling with the Divine Flame Embers' movement.
But the biggest change came from the magic vines—thick, serpent-like green tendrils that slowly unfurled, shimmering with a layer of light along their surface.
The roots of the magic vines dug even deeper, anchoring themselves to the semi-plane. Each vine split into two or three smaller offshoots, spreading outward.
Those tendrils pierced through the semi-plane's spatial barrier, reaching into the endless void and devouring chaotic energy.
That chaotic energy is the foundation of any plane. For mages, most of it is useless impurity—wild, uncontrollable power.
But for a semi-plane, every bit is useful. Magic is extracted and spread throughout the semi-plane, while the purest magic gathers in the magic pool.
The impurities—worthless to mages—merge into the earth, enriching it with rare elements. Once all the impurities break down and merge into the semi-plane, they reconsolidate as magical ores and precious materials...
Even anti-demon materials can be found here.
Light shimmered everywhere. As the magic vines devoured more and grew larger, Leon could already sense several magic ore veins slowly forming, and in many places, magic-infused stones had started to appear.
Near the magic pool, some low-level magical plants were even beginning to sprout...
A faint smile tugged at Leon's lips. All those hundreds of rule runes spent to control the Divine Flame Embers were finally worth it.
The semi-plane itself hadn't grown directly, but its life force was much stronger, and its complexity kept improving.
For a natural semi-plane, that's more important than sheer size or rank.
Those ores and plants are low-level, not even good enough to count as basic magical materials, but it's a start. With a beginning, things can only get better.
For several days straight, Leon tried to study the Divine Flame Embers, but in the end, he had to give up. Right now, controlling them is completely impossible.
Every time he burned through dozens or even hundreds of rule runes, he could only barely keep control for a short while. And those runes? They're gone for good.
Once shattered, they can't even revert to basic runes—they just vanish. Other mages, unlike Leon with his ridiculous surplus, wouldn't dare try controlling the Divine Flame Embers even if they knew how.
Ordinary mages—even those like Didara, with one foot in Sky Rank—only have a few dozen rule runes at most, sometimes even less.
A newly ascended Sky Rank powerhouse, even one who's fully stabilized, might have a few thousand rule runes at best—and that's already impressive.
Just a single attempt to control the Divine Flame Embers would destroy hundreds of rule runes. No Sky Rank mage would dare risk it—lose all your runes and you're finished.
As soon as the Mage Legion, Xiu Ban, and Reina recovered from their injuries, Leon led everyone out of the natural semi-plane.
Now that the real secret of Beast God's Blood had been uncovered, the demand for it was even greater. There was no way they could give up on that alchemical array.
"Impossible, Lord Merlin! That's a Sky Rank Level 2 magical beast—how could we possibly win? Trying to take back that alchemical array is just a joke!"
When Leon started planning to reclaim the alchemical array, Xiu Ban was the first to throw cold water on the idea—zero confidence whatsoever.
Andefa's three faces all fell, and he shook his heads miserably.
"Merlin, we all know how important that alchemical array is. Who would've thought that once you had enough Beast God's Blood, it could evolve into a mass of Divine Flame Embers through your alchemical device?
Damn, with something like that, anyone would want to snatch back the alchemical array that can produce mana crystals.
But that's a Dark Night Phoenix—even if it only has a trace of true phoenix blood, it's still a phoenix. Aside from Theo, anyone else who tries will just get burned alive.
No, that beast wouldn't even need to unleash Phoenix Flame to wipe us all out...
The Mage Legion fell silent. Kurumu's face was grim and bitter—he didn't say a word.
Faced with something that could shatter their combined array in a single blow, the Mage Legion's power was useless. Their fire spells against a Dark Night Phoenix were nothing more than a warm-up.
Trying to burn a Dark Night Phoenix with anything below Sky Rank flame? Forget it. The phoenix snacks on flames more advanced than anything the Mage Legion can muster...
Leon frowned. Even Theo, who's basically evolved into a Flame Spirit King, shook his head at the idea of taking on a Sky Rank Level 2 Dark Night Phoenix. No confidence at all—not even sure he could injure it, let alone kill it...
Leon kept racking his brain for alternatives, but after a long time, still couldn't think of any way to take down that Dark Night Phoenix.
There are plenty of possible strategies, sure—but they all depend on having enough power. With this gap, every trick is just paper-thin, useless.
"Lord Merlin, how about we try luring that big bird away? Once it's gone, we can set up defenses and snatch the alchemical array..."