Chapter 674: Breakthrough
Cold sweat streamed down Leon's forehead, far more dangerous than walking a tightrope. If his control over mana slipped even a little, the spell runes would drown him, and the backlash would cause his entire body’s mana to explode within a second...
Time slipped by, second after second...
Only when the mana output was barely a trickle did Leon abruptly cut it off. The mana protecting the rune formula chains vanished instantly...
An endless tide of spell runes crashed headlong into the rune chains formed by the Void Furnace Codex...
Boom—
It was as if a world detonated inside his skull. All Leon could feel was a deafening roar, then his vision was swallowed by blinding light...
In less than a second, Leon lost consciousness.
In midair, the rune chains forged by the Void Furnace Codex were completely engulfed by the spell runes of the Spellbook of Ages...
Then, with Leon's mana gone, the backlash from the Spellbook of Ages faded away as well. Beams of light carried the spell runes back into the Spellbook of Ages.
Within seconds, even Leon's Void Furnace Codex disappeared along with him.
Leon collapsed, and the glow from the Spellbook of Ages slowly gathered, drifting down from midair to the ground.
Seeing the crisis subside, Anderson and the others rushed over. Hubert practically shoved half a bottle of life potion down Leon’s throat, looking ready to jam the whole bottle in if he could...
After a long while, Leon finally opened his eyes, slowly.
He rubbed his head, still groggy, with a flood of new information pouring into his mind—he couldn’t quite process it all yet...
“Merlin, are you alright?”
Anderson asked nervously.
Leon managed a faint smile. With a flick of his wrist, the Spellbook of Ages appeared in his hand. As mana surged, a completely new aura rose from Leon’s body.
Ninth Rank Archmage!
Then, the mana within him began to circulate on its own, and Leon’s presence kept climbing. In just a few seconds, he went from newly advanced Ninth Rank Archmage to fully stabilizing at that level—and he was still rising fast...
Leon immediately forced down the urge to break through, suppressing his surging power for a full minute before he could rein it in.
At this moment, all three Core Meditation Codices had fused together, giving Leon the ability to advance to Title Archmage.
Not only did Leon possess three Core Meditation Codices, but aside from the Balance Codex, the other two each contained sixteen core formulas!
That meant Leon’s foundation had surpassed perfection—he didn’t even need to actively break through!
If he didn’t suppress it, his rank would break past its limits on its own!
With his eyes closed, Leon sensed the Void Furnace Codex running perfectly inside the Spellbook of Ages, and he understood everything about the Spellbook now.
The most urgent task was finally done, and the rewards were far greater than he’d imagined!
Everything had gone flawlessly, every step executed perfectly—Leon couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear.
He got to his feet and glanced around the palace, then pointed toward its inner chambers.
“This palace isn’t an illusion—it’s really Emperor Norlick’s Blazeforge Palace. Everyone, search around! There’s bound to be something good here, and take whatever you can carry. Even a single brick dug up here is a rare magical material...”
At Leon’s words, everyone finally remembered.
Ever since they’d entered, it had been nothing but danger—first monsters, then Leon’s own crisis. Who had time to think about treasure hunting?
Excitement surged through the group. This was Emperor Norlick’s Blazeforge Palace—empty as it looked, there had to be something valuable left to find.
Leon gazed at the Blazeforge Throne atop the staircase, reluctant to look away.
The most valuable thing here was obviously the Blazeforge Throne—the highest-grade Essence Relic, with absolute defense. Too bad it couldn’t be moved...
The Blazeforge Throne was fused to the palace itself. Unless you had Emperor Norlick’s power, don’t even dream of moving it...
Not only the throne—even the palace’s main structure was off-limits. All those precious magical metals could only be admired, not taken...
Emperor Norlick was truly generous—he left behind the palace, the Blazeforge Throne, and even gave Leon the Spellbook of Ages...
Leon could only marvel at Norlick’s carefree nature. Even dressed in rags, that attitude couldn’t be hidden.
Still, it didn’t matter—the palace wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was he...
Having the highest-grade Essence Relic right in front of you, yet unable to take it—there’s nothing more frustrating than that.
Unable to move the Blazeforge Throne, Leon wandered the palace, leaving no corner unchecked. The rear halls were stripped bare—anything that could be carried off was taken.
Even the lampstands here were made from rare magical metals—the luxury was almost obscene...
After two rounds of searching, they’d piled up a mountain of magical materials, all of them rare. Without the Spellbook of Ages, these would have been the biggest haul.
Just the Eternium alone—over twenty pieces, each as large as the ones Leon had used before, plus a good number of elemental gems...
There were even two rare spatial gems—the finest inlay material for spatial artifacts. If word got out, spatial mages would bleed three pounds to get their hands on them.
Rare magical materials of this grade, in both kind and quantity, dazzled even Leon.
And of course, a pile of magic crystals that made Leon’s eyes burn with envy. Magic crystals weren’t usually in short supply, but ever since Lord Shaun and the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf showed up, they’d been running out fast...
(This chapter isn’t over yet ^.^, please click next page to continue reading!)
Lord Shaun’s obsession with magic crystals was legendary—he’d demand payment in crystals for every word he spoke...
And the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf practically ate magic crystals for breakfast. No amount was ever enough, and who knows how long it’s been trapped in the demi-plane—maybe it’s starving by now...
While checking the loot, Leon stumbled across something unexpected—a half-root of Dragonblood Flower. It’s a key auxiliary ingredient for brewing the Dragon Transformation Elixir, but in this era, it’s mostly useless since the main ingredient is the blood of Five-Colored Dragons...
The Five-Colored Dragons have long since left Northend—where would you even find their blood?
Still, the Dragonblood Flower might help Hubert, the Dragonblood Orc. After so many battles, Hubert’s strength had soared—he was now at the peak of Second Rank Sword Saint. If he took this half-root, he might just break through...
“Hubert, swallow this.”
Leon tossed the half-root to Hubert, who stared at it for a long moment, baffled and miserable.
Anderson slapped Hubert on the head, scolding him: “Idiot, this could help you break through!”
Anderson hadn’t even finished speaking before Hubert broke into a grin, not bothered by the slap at all. He swallowed the half-root without hesitation.
“Doesn’t feel like anything happened...”
Hubert smacked his lips and muttered to himself.