Chapter 1416
The rule power he could control now only allowed him to approach the core, but never truly reach it. Only by mastering the complete Law of Water could he get closer to the core itself.
In fact, as long as one displays the complete Law of Water, there’s no need to search—the place it appears is the core itself.
The ability to instantly appear at the core was triggered by the Natural Semi-Plane’s instinctive defense. The projection of rules within the Natural Semi-Plane is essentially the projection of the demi-plane itself.
How far the rules have evolved within the demi-plane determines the strength of the projected rules. This is something Leon still cannot control.
If the complete Law of Water is ten thousand, then Leon has only comprehended two thousand. The rule power he actively controls is just those two thousand; the rest only appear when the Natural Semi-Plane’s instinctive defense projects its shadow.
This is no different from before Leon advanced to Sky Rank Five. The projection of rules in the Natural Semi-Plane depends solely on the evolution of its internal laws, unrelated to Leon’s own comprehension.
There’s no intelligence in this water world—it only follows the corresponding laws and appears in the matching place. Whether it’s Leon’s own insights or the evolution of the Natural Semi-Plane, the results are the same.
After leaving his mark, Leon vanished instantly from this water world.
According to previous guesses, the world inside the Spellbook of Ages should, after earth, fire, water, and wind, contain the worlds of Light and Darkness. Yet after leaving a mark in this lowest water world, Leon found there seemed to be no other worlds below. Whether they simply don’t exist or his power is still too weak to discover them, he couldn’t tell.
Back then, when the original artifact avatar of the Spellbook of Ages was destroyed, Theo became its Relic Spirit. But Theo’s incarnation was incomplete.
At first, he could only control the world of flame. With each world conquered, Theo gained control over another, and the Spellbook of Ages grew even more powerful.
As for how many worlds exist within the Spellbook of Ages, apart from that original Relic Spirit, no one knows. After all, even in the future, the Spellbook of Ages has never advanced to a Transcendent Artifact, and no one has ever collected all the Fate Tablets.
This so-called Spellbook of Ages, said to contain every spell in the world, might have other abilities besides spells, but no one is certain. From beginning to end, the Spellbook of Ages has always remained at the True Spirit Artifact level.
The Spellbook of Ages contains spells for dark magic, yet no dark magic world has been found. This surprised Leon.
Leaving the world of the Spellbook of Ages, its appearance began to change. Flame, frost, hurricane, and earth powers swirled around the massive portal, and the book’s surface was wrapped in the powers of earth, fire, water, and wind.
Slowly, the four powers faded together, replaced by a multicolored radiance that enveloped the surface of the Spellbook of Ages. The powers of earth, fire, water, and wind continued to flow, and the aura from the book rapidly swelled.
When the radiance finally faded from the Spellbook of Ages, Theo emerged from within. His body was no longer just a floating mass of energy, but looked more like a Medusa with four arms, a Medusa’s tail, a humanoid upper body, and an elven face. Each arm was wreathed in a different power.
Earth, fire, water, and wind—but his body was only thirty centimeters tall.
Theo’s face was filled with shock and joy as he examined his new form. Now that he had a physical body, he was no longer just a Relic Spirit.
"Archmage Leon Merlin, I... I think I’ve evolved. I’ve become an Elemental Elf King..."
Theo stammered, his voice shifting from childlike to feminine, then masculine, and finally settling into a steady, elderly tone...
Each sentence seemed to cycle through many voices, yet it all sounded perfectly natural and smooth.
All three faces of Anderson wore expressions of shock, then he muttered sourly under his breath.
"Damn it, every time I hear the Elemental Elf King’s voice, I just want to strangle this bastard. It’s disgusting..."
Hubert and the others looked unsettled, unable to handle the bizarre changes in Theo’s voice—like dozens of people speaking from within his body, every sentence a chorus.
Especially when the sentence was short, the effect was even stranger, with each word shifting through several tones.
Leon wasn’t surprised, though he’d prepared himself mentally, his scalp still tingled.
Flame Elemental Spirit, Hurricane Elemental Spirit, Frost Elemental Spirit, Earth Elemental Spirit...
These are creatures found only in the Elemental Planes—pure embodiments of their elements, representing the essence of each one.
Elemental Spirits are beings that possess all four elemental powers at once. They’re incredibly rare—almost pitifully so. The strongest among them is the Elemental Elf King, ruler of earth, fire, water, and wind.
The Elemental Elf King is innately immune to all elemental spells, untouched by any elemental harm. To them, an elemental storm is just a larger swimming pool. In fact, most Elemental Elf Kings live at the very heart of elemental storms—a deadly zone for all other creatures, but the Elemental Elf King finds it the most comfortable place.
Whenever an Elemental Elf King appears, it’s always a terrifying being beyond Sky Rank...
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Leon had only expected Theo to evolve into an Elemental Spirit, not an Elemental Elf King. This shows that ‘Elemental Elf King’ is a category, not a rank. All recorded Elemental Elf Kings have surpassed Sky Rank—likely because those below simply never appear.
Just think—when that madman from Thorned Crown tried to summon a Demon Lord, the mere hint of an Elemental Elf King’s presence made the Demon Lord flee, even spitting out the souls it had just claimed.
Probably afraid of being hunted by the Elemental Elf King, it severed all connections and clues. Even in the Infernal Realm, if an Elemental Elf King comes for you, nothing can stop its rampage.
Anywhere elements exist, the Elemental Elf King is practically immortal. All elemental power is its source, and even the Infernal Realm has elements. To fight an Elemental Elf King where elements exist—you’d have to be insane...
The most obvious trait of the Elemental Elf King: every word embodies the cycle of life. It begins in a child’s voice and ends in the aged tone of an elder, echoing the ebb and flow of elemental tides.
Though powerful and full of ancient wisdom, these beings are neither evil nor good—like the elements themselves. They won’t destroy proactively, nor will they rescue anyone without reason.
Normally, unless you actively provoke one, there’s no need to worry about such beings. In fact, over ten thousand years later, mages of Northend World sought out the Elemental Elf King, hoping for its help. Unfortunately, it showed no interest; in the end, they only obtained a unique artifact containing a single phrase from the Elemental Elf King.
That artifact was embedded in Sanctuary Tower, and with the Elemental Elf King’s phrase, the elements continually surged and receded, slowing the decline of magic in Northend World.
With this unexpected boon, Leon was naturally pleased. At least now he could begin studying Theo’s new body and perfect the Elemental Elf King Avatar.
The Elemental Elf King Avatar he now possessed wasn’t the real thing, but one created by Northend World’s mages. Without studying a true Elemental Elf King, how could they create the strongest avatar?
Legend has it that the strongest avatar spell allows one to master all four elemental laws. Once you fully grasp the laws of earth, fire, water, and wind, you can cast the perfect Elemental Elf King Avatar—essentially summoning the Elemental Elf King itself, an invincible force.
Now that he had a direction and possibility, Leon wouldn’t let such a chance slip by. After all, under normal circumstances, no one could study the body structure of an Elemental Elf King.
Everything was ready. Ten Arcane Battleships were prepared—nine first-generation models and one second-generation. Each ship was loaded with alchemical golems on standby: most were combat golems or engineering golems, aside from the crew.
The Mage Legion was also on standby within the Natural Semi-Plane. The Law of Flame inside had fully evolved, and Leon had granted the Mage Legion access. Fifty legion mages were nearly enveloped by the Law of Flame, comprehending its rules at an astonishing speed.
Kurum had already reached Ninth-Rank Title Archmage, and even the weakest among them were at Seventh Rank. The gap was rapidly closing. For these legion mages, laying the foundation of rules as a Title Archmage was much faster than accumulating mana as before.
In the Undead Plane, the power of Light harms the undead most, followed by flame. For many undead creatures, flame can sometimes be even more deadly than Light.
The Mage Legion must be brought along, as well as Xuban and Reina, and of course Marianne. But all these people will have to be placed inside the Natural Semi-Plane. After all, having so many living people swaggering through the Undead Plane is anything but pleasant.
Especially someone like Xuban—even the slightly stronger undead, dozens of kilometers away, can sense his beating heart and that terrifying vitality.
There are many people who need to be brought, but they can only stay temporarily in the semi-plane. When exploring the Undead Plane, it’s best to walk alone most of the time; after all, it’s easier to disguise oneself when alone.
As long as you use the power of darkness to disguise yourself, you won’t stand out as much in the Undead Plane. After all, there’s no shortage of dark creatures here.
Once the base was built, Leon returned to the Northend World for a quick tour, only to discover that all the factions heading to the Leviathan Realm had already set out more than ten days ago. Some had even sent magical messages to the Gilded Rose back then, but Leon hadn’t received any.
Leon was a bit surprised—they’d already left more than ten days ago. But to him, this timing felt just about right. He’d originally planned to meet with the people from the Starry Sky Academy, but hadn’t expected such a time gap.
After a moment’s thought, Leon guessed that he’d probably lost track of time inside the Spellbook of Ages. In a place with no light, no reference point, and utter silence, it’s easy to lose sense of time—especially when even your consciousness starts to blur.
Leon didn’t mind missing the main group; he’d never planned to go with them anyway.
After giving Faro a few instructions, Leon returned to the Bone Plane and opened the passage leading to the Undead Plane. On this side of the passage, cave goblins and a horde of alchemical golems began constructing magical buildings and defensive towers, encircling the passage tightly. Anything emerging from this passage without a mark would be torn to shreds instantly.
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Passing through the portal, Leon found the other side empty and desolate—a gray sky, black-gray earth. He cast Eagle Eye to scan the surroundings, spotting only a few mindless, wandering skeleton creatures.
Sensing a disturbance, a few skeleton soldiers with soul flames burning blue in their skulls slowly turned to look this way. Some began to pick up speed, sprinting toward the entrance of the portal.
Leon spat out a dark law rune, shrouding himself in a mist of blackness. The sinister, dark aura spread, and the presence of a transcendent being radiated outward. Instantly, the charging skeleton soldiers froze, their soul flames trembling, then all turned and fled into the distance.
When facing a living person, their instinctive attraction to life and blood leaves these creatures without a shred of fear—whether it’s a commoner or a Heaven-ranked mage, it makes little difference.
But if it’s a powerful dark creature, the undead instinctively keep their distance. After all, in the Undead Plane, the relationship between dark creatures and undead isn’t exactly friendly.
No matter what, most dark creatures are still living beings, while undead are all lifeless, deathless existences.
Leon dropped a few dark law runes, sealing the entrance to the portal and leaving behind a trace of his aura as a mark. This mark would be enough to keep any creature weaker than Leon away. In the Undead Plane, most wars start over territory.
At this point, any creature stronger than Leon wouldn’t be lingering in such a remote corner. Anyone with half a brain would be thinking about how to claim a piece of land in a new plane, especially those who refuse to bow to others—this is their best chance.
After orienting himself, Leon chose to head toward the area where undead creatures were more densely concentrated.
This region belonged to the wild outskirts of the Undead Plane—quite a remote area. Otherwise, even if the Bone Plane was small, some undead powerhouse would’ve taken it as their secret domain by now.
Especially those liches who were transformed from other beings—they love remote planes like this for their experiments. The security is unmatched, perfect for storing phylacteries and spare bodies.
These small planes connected to the Undead Plane, yet not devoured by it, could fetch a high price if sold to liches.
Following the changes in undead distribution, Leon kept moving forward. After flying for several days, he passed a wasteland littered with bones, where undead creatures above level thirty finally appeared.
The ground was covered in bones, including the remains of creatures dozens of meters tall. Those massive bones looked as though they’d weathered countless years, nearly fossilized.
Three ragged mourning birds huddled inside a gigantic, unknown skull, pecking at a ghoul’s corpse. Suddenly, a white streak appeared on the distant ground, and the bones scattered as if struck by some force. In the blink of an eye, a creature resembling a dwarf—with an enormous head, round belly, and thin limbs—burst out, baring its teeth.
The one-and-a-half-meter-tall ghoul roared and leapt up, smashing the massive skull with a single blow. Then, gnashing its teeth, it tore the three mourning birds to pieces and viciously dug out their hearts to swallow.
Even after devouring the birds’ hearts, the ghoul seemed unsatisfied, patiently gathering up the fragments of their bones.
Once it was done, the ghoul finally looked up at Leon with a hint of discontent.
“Hey, Baudi, are you just going to keep watching? Or do I have to beg you again to burn these damned filthy corpses?”
In that instant, the law rune in Leon’s hand dimmed, and he looked at the ghoul with a strange expression. A dwarf undead turned into a ghoul was odd enough, but this one was a transcendent ghoul. Most importantly, after awakening intelligence, it spoke prophecies aloud rather than transmitting them by soul waves.
After a brief hesitation, Leon snapped his fingers, and the remains the dwarf ghoul had gathered were instantly engulfed in flames, reduced to ash.