Chapter 223
"What do you mean, it's done..." At this point in the battle, even Salomon, the strongest among them, had grown numb—casting spells and fighting without end, everything else seeming utterly irrelevant. Even when he heard Leon's excited voice, Salomon could only muster a weak reply.
But after asking, Salomon seemed to realize something was off. He thought it over, then suddenly turned his head: "Done?"
"That's right, it's done."
"That's wonderful..." For a moment, Salomon was truly moved to tears.
As the two spoke, the hundreds of low-grade Alchemical Arrays Leon had left on the trunk finally began to activate. Some were designed to sever mana transmission, some to disrupt mana circuits, some to divert the flow, and others to weaken effects—delicate and complex, like a machine made of countless parts.
The True Spirit Alchemical Array on the ancient tree's trunk, once the low-grade arrays started running, saw its orderly mana flow thrown into chaos. Mana circuits clogged as if something blocked them; in a blink, hundreds of mana nodes were rendered useless. Even the ones that survived were drastically weakened, unable to function as intended. In moments, the entire True Spirit Alchemical Array ground to a halt.
Without the support of the True Spirit Alchemical Array, the thick, almost tangible aura of life in the surroundings began to dissipate rapidly. At first, it only thinned a little, but as the low-grade arrays kept running, the life aura faded faster and faster...
The dense Beast Tide seemed to sense something...
Most of them stayed put, hesitation in their eyes. On one hand, they felt their own strength waning; on the other, they couldn't bear to leave prey so close at hand.
Now freed from writing alchemical arrays, Leon was no longer so easygoing. With a flick of his Soulbound Staff, Saedus shot out from the mana array, and in an instant, a sea of fire swept through the forest.
Just like that, at least a dozen magical beasts were turned to charcoal...
"Why aren't you running yet?"
With Leon's cold snort, the mass of magical beasts retreated like a tide. By the time Salomon and the others came to their senses, not a single living beast remained in the woods—just blood and corpses, the aftermath of their fierce battle.
"Hubert, go collect the mana crystals."
"Sir..." Hubert lay on the ground, gasping for breath. After such a brutal fight, the Dragonblood Orc just wanted to sleep for days. Hearing Leon's order to collect mana crystals, he immediately wore a miserable expression, ready to complain.
"Once you've collected them, you can keep a quarter."
"I'll get right to it, sir!" The Dragonblood Orc, who'd seemed half-dead moments ago, sprang up at the thought of getting a quarter share—no trace of exhaustion left.
As expected, when dealing with Highland Orcs, threats and bribes work best.
"Merlin, what about the camp..." Though the Beast Tide here had retreated, Salomon was still worried about the situation at the camp.
"There's nothing wrong with the camp, but if you're worried, you can go back and check." Leon was certain about this—after he'd cracked that True Spirit Alchemical Array, not only had the life force between the trees vanished, but the entire Four Seasons Gorge seemed to return to normal. The rampant magic and wild vitality were gone.
"What about you?"
"I'm going to study this alchemical array a bit longer." Leon shook his head, clearly not planning to leave just yet.
For a Grandmaster, getting to personally examine a True Spirit Alchemical Array was a rare opportunity.
Especially now, when it was a True Spirit Alchemical Array he'd cracked himself—opportunities like this were even rarer.
It was as if the entire True Spirit Alchemical Array was laid bare before Leon, every detail and secret exposed for him to see.
Honestly, this was the kind of temptation no Grandmaster could ever turn down.
How could Leon possibly walk away from something like this?
About ten minutes later, Hubert finished collecting the Mana Crystals, helping himself to a full quarter of the haul. Leon noticed, of course, that this greedy Dragonblood Orc had picked out the very best quarter from the whole pile...
Fortunately, Salomon and Bardrack both had deep pockets—this batch of Mana Crystals was a nice windfall, but for them, it was just a bonus. So when Hubert skimmed off the top, neither batted an eye. They just took their own quarter and left the blood-soaked clearing behind.
Once they were gone, only Leon and Hubert remained in the clearing...
All around them lay the mangled corpses of magical beasts, blood soaking the ground until it was stained red. But Leon barely noticed—his attention was wholly fixed on the True Spirit Alchemical Array. With his Limit Spell-enhanced analytical ability, he began to dissect, reassemble, and deduce every aspect of the array...
The whole process lasted a full hour...
When the hour was up, the effect of his Limit Spell-enhanced focus finally faded. Leon smiled, satisfied—the insights he'd gained in that hour were immense. Every problem that had plagued him was unraveled, and he could almost feel himself touching the threshold of the Worldshaper realm.
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From this moment on, the Worldshaper realm was no longer out of reach—not just some distant dream. Leon could feel himself truly grasping it. Now, all he needed was time and the right opportunity.
After digesting everything he'd learned in that hour, Leon stood once more before the massive Grand Oak.
It was strange—the Grand Oak looked lush and vigorous, clearly in its prime, but as Leon unraveled the alchemical array, the tangible life force began to dissipate. The tree's vitality seemed to drain away, and it felt like it could collapse at any moment.
"Guess I'll give you a little help, then..." Leon saw the situation and knew the Grand Oak was done for. Once its life force was completely gone, the tree would finally fall.
With a flicker of resolve, Leon cast Wither...