Isaac: In Such a Huge Cult, Is There Really Not a Single Wizard Who Dares Challenge a True God?

"Inhale!!!!"

"Exhale..." As the Saint Lord breathed heavily, it rapidly absorbed the essence of the Purgatory Demon God's authority from the magic power entering its body. As for the useless and even harmful portions, the Saint Lord expelled them.

At the same time, the ritual's power cleansed Isaac's body and mind. Combined with the three modified limbs from his second-stage enhancement, it accelerated his soul's ascension.

The Devouring Ritual proceeded exceptionally smoothly, without encountering any interference throughout. After all, no Arcane Secret Master had yet managed to eat the sugar coating and throw the cannonball back, so they were not as wary of this as they were when dealing with Mad Wizards.

Moreover, Dimension Demon Gods possessed enormous reserves of power. They felt practically nothing from the Devouring Ritual's blunt-knife approach of slowly carving away flesh, and naturally would not react to it.

Even so, Isaac decisively stopped when the success rate still stood at five hundred percent. Never being greedy was his most fundamental rule when dealing with Outer Gods!

Besides, this was already enough. If they continued devouring, the Saint Lord might not be able to digest it.

Even with the White Whale's power, the Saint Lord could not simply devour as much of a Dimension Demon God's power as possible.

Of course, that was not entirely accurate. More was indeed better, but that abundance should be reflected in variety, not in relentlessly targeting a single Demon God. Casting a wider net was safer.

First, with more targets, they only needed to take a little from each one. Given a Dimension Demon God's immense reserves, that was no more than a drop in the ocean and would not provoke any reaction. Second, more targets made it easier to maintain a balance between them, preventing them from falling under any one Demon God's control.

This was called using demons to control demons!

After the ritual ended, Isaac first closed his eyes and meditated, inspecting his own condition. Only then did he look at the Saint Lord, who still stood in the center of the ritual with its eyes shut.

Just as Isaac looked over, the Saint Lord opened its eyes as well. Isaac took the opportunity to ask, "How do you feel? How far are you from Tier 3?"

Yes, although the Devouring Ritual had succeeded and greatly increased the Saint Lord's strength, it had not advanced to Tier 3 as Isaac had predicted. It was still Tier 2.

Based on the ritual's process, Isaac guessed that they had devoured too little dimensional power. Although he had stopped at five hundred percent, the Devouring Ritual differed from Isaac's Scavenging Ritual.

The Scavenging Ritual took whatever it saw without being picky in the slightest. Its whole principle was that whoever hesitated lost out!

But the Devouring Ritual was different. The Saint Lord only devoured the essence within the Dimension Magic Power, while all substances bearing the Dimension Demon God's mark and heavy contamination were expelled.

As a result, while the expenditure was roughly the same, the Saint Lord's gains from a single Devouring Ritual were not even enough to condense one authority, not even the weakest kind.

Still, it was not a major problem. They simply needed to perform the ritual a few more times. The Devouring Ritual was merely more complicated to set up; in actual practice, it was far less dangerous than the Scavenging Ritual.

Of course, to Isaac, the two were much the same. As long as he remained steady and did not get greedy, neither ritual posed much danger. If once was not enough, then they could perform it a few more times.

So although Isaac felt a little disappointed that the Saint Lord had failed to break through to Tier 3, he was not too upset.

Hearing Isaac's question, the Saint Lord closed its eyes and pondered for a while before saying, "I will need at least two more Devouring Rituals before I can advance. In other words, I need at least three kinds of Dimension Magic Power before I can begin constructing an authority."

Isaac raised an eyebrow slightly. He noticed the key point in the Saint Lord's words.

At first, it had said two more rituals were needed to advance, but afterward, it said they would only allow it to begin constructing an authority.

No matter the path or race, one could only be considered Tier 3 after possessing an authority. Being in the process of constructing one did not count as Tier 3.

Naturally, Isaac did not believe the Saint Lord could be mistaken about something so basic. That could only mean the Saint Lord was extremely confident about constructing an authority—confident enough to believe that as long as it obtained a Dimension Demon God's power, it could advance immediately!

But after thinking it over, Isaac understood. Although the Saint Lord was currently the weakest among his creations and could not even defeat Little Mouse anymore, it possessed Giant Dragon Bloodline—and it was Pure-Blooded Giant Dragon Bloodline!

At the very least, it was evolving toward a Pure-Blooded Giant Dragon. With such an absurdly high bloodline, advancing to Tier 3 naturally would not be difficult.

Thus, Isaac rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and said to the Saint Lord, "In that case, don't rush your advancement. First, devour as much power from Dimension Demon Gods as possible. Before you advance, strengthen your Giant Dragon Bloodline first."

The Saint Lord's eyes lit up. If anyone else had said that, it would not even have bothered responding. If Giant Dragon Bloodline were so easily purified, this world would have long since become the domain of giant dragons.

But if its master said it, that was different!

The Saint Lord knew that its master possessed an Advanced Magic Spell capable of accelerating bloodline purification, and he could even use an incredibly mysterious method to multiply that spell's power several times over!

It had coveted that spell for a long time. But coveting it was one thing; it also understood the spell's danger. When a bloodline was rapidly purified, it required an immense amount of energy to support it, and the higher the bloodline's rank, the more so.

And once a bloodline began evolving, it could no longer be stopped!

That meant that if it was not properly prepared, the spell would become a death warrant!

So although it looked forward to it, it had never proactively asked its master to cast that spell on it. It had never even entertained the thought. It trusted that its master had not forgotten it; if he had not mentioned it, it was only because the time had not yet come!

And now, evidently, its master believed the time was right!

After giving a few instructions to the somewhat excited Saint Lord, Isaac turned and returned to the laboratory. At the same time, he instructed Lapis Lazuli to gather materials capable of supporting Dragon Blood Purification. He planned to brew some potions for the Saint Lord and prepare a portion for Smith as well.

He had originally been worrying over how to make Smith advance to Tier 3, but the Saint Lord had reminded him that he possessed an Advanced Magic Spell for purifying bloodlines. Like the Saint Lord, Smith also possessed Pure-Blooded Giant Dragon Bloodline, and in terms of purity alone, his was even purer than the Saint Lord's.

That made advancement much simpler. As long as he cast a few more spells on them and raised the level of their bloodlines, breaking through would naturally become easier.

But that only applied to Tier 3. Beyond that, bloodlines alone could not achieve anything—or rather, Isaac did not have enough resources to keep stacking their bloodline purity.

This also made Isaac realize that it was time to organize the powers he possessed. If not for the Saint Lord this time, he probably would not have remembered that he had such an Advanced Magic Spell.

He could not help it. He had slightly too many channels for acquiring power. He could obtain it from Outer Gods, learn and master it himself, gain it through modification surgery, and even draw power from faith through the three Magic Books that were fundamental to Legendary Wizards. What he had learned truly was rather miscellaneous.

"Ugh... what a pain!"

Isaac sighed, walked over to the table, and sat down. He casually pulled over a sheet of parchment and began writing line after line upon it, occasionally pausing to think. It could not be helped. Apart from having too many abilities, some of them had already merged into a whole.

For example, Flesh Lair, the magic originating from the Lord of Myriad Flesh, had now fused with the Dimension World as it grew.

At this point, Isaac also realized that in terms of developing the Dimension World, he should perhaps try seizing the dimensions of other Dimension Demon Gods. He could not keep targeting the Lord of Myriad Flesh alone.

The reason was naturally the same as with Arcane Secret Masters. If he mastered the power of a particular Dimension Demon God too deeply, he might suffer a stronger backlash. In the end, he might even end up making a wedding dress for the Lord of Myriad Flesh!

That would be downright ridiculous.

Although power seized through trading rituals was normally no longer connected to that deity, and the Legendary Gate also safeguarded the process, this had been proven throughout the long history of Mad Wizards. In theory, there was nothing to worry about.

But as a great man from Isaac's previous life had said, science did not believe in authority; science only believed in truth!

So at the very least, there was no harm in taking precautions here.

Besides, constantly targeting the same god was just too pitiful.

And the Lord of Myriad Flesh had more than just the Dimension World. He had plenty of other good things, and Isaac would not waste the fact that his sacrificial offerings were easy to gather!

After leaning over his desk and thinking deeply for a while, Isaac successfully wrote down the powers he possessed. It filled... half a sheet of parchment. Well, there were far fewer than he had imagined.

Lord of Myriad Flesh: Dimension World, Dimension Fruit, Infinite Magic Power, Flesh Creation, Flesh Lair

God of Black Orcs: Fel Energy Refinement Technique, Necromancy

White Whale: White Whale Clone, Devouring Evolution (Saint Lord)

Lord of R'lyeh: Technique to Steal Dimension Magic Power, Dream Origin (already used to strengthen the Dimension World), Create Dimension Familiar: Dream Demon (requires consuming dimensional origin)

Void Worm: Void Wormhole (storage, movement, and defense combined)

Eternal Secret Star Master: Secret Star Heart (construct activation), Authority Analysis

"Cinderella": Transformation Magic, Fairy Elf

"Ugly Duckling": Advanced Magic Spell—Transform into a Noble Swan Like an Ugly Duckling

"God Thief" (Self Legend): God Thief (created familiar—Lapis Lazuli)

Evil Third Eye: God Chosen: Illusion Authority

Spells: Omitted

After roughly organizing his current abilities, Isaac gained some new ideas for his future development. However, his most pressing task right now was still to resolve the Magic Book issue.

Now that the second-stage modification surgery had been fully completed, he could officially write his second Magic Book.

Of the three Magic Books at the Grand Wizard stage, one had already been filled with "Snow White." That left Self Legend and Outer God knowledge, and either could come first.

However, Isaac leaned more toward Self Legend. First, it was the most convenient option, and the things he had done in Itra should have spread widely enough after all this time. It was the perfect time to act!

Leaning over his desk, Isaac opened the Magic Book and pretended to ponder for a while. Then he quickly began writing, inscribing one deep, terrifying word after another into the Magic Book.

Isaac wrote quickly because he was actually copying.

Yes, although it was a Self Legend, Isaac had not written it himself. It could not be helped. In the eyes of the world, his story was certainly exciting and thrilling, but it still had to be written for others to read. The author's prose would directly determine how compelling the story was!

This was unlike those fairy tales that not only had outlines, but also many adapted versions to supplement the details. There were many places Isaac had to fill in himself.

Fortunately, Caesar had considered this long ago. He had specifically arranged for intelligence agents from his territory to secretly follow Isaac and record his words and actions. They then handed the gathered intelligence to a famous author who specialized in writing autobiographies for Legendary Wizards, who "slightly" polished it before finally delivering it to Isaac.

That was why Isaac could now write so rapidly, his brush flowing as if divinely inspired!

Before long, Isaac copied—no, wrote—the latest autobiography into the Magic Book. After performing a simple anchoring ritual, the step was officially complete.

That also meant he could proceed with the third-stage modification surgery!

Before beginning the third-stage modification surgery, Isaac had originally planned to first submit the research project concerning the theft of the God of Credit's divine power. At the very least, he wanted to get the research materials through the approval process. That way, once he completed all the rituals and officially advanced to High Wizard, he could immediately begin researching the project.

Unfortunately, ideals were plump, but reality was skinny.

Even with Dimension Fruits paving the way, progress had been extremely slow. Isaac had overestimated the courage of the cult's wizards. The moment they heard that he wanted to steal a true god's divine power, they rejected him outright without even asking which true god it was!

As a result, he had not even managed to give away his Dimension Fruits yet.

Without High Wizards jointly signing the proposal, he could not get such a major project approved on his own. Although his authority within the cult had increased considerably, some rules could still not be broken.

So for now, he could only continue researching the third-stage modification surgery while continuing to recruit people. If he truly could not find anyone, then he would have no choice but to wait until he advanced to Tier 3 before applying again.

It was the only option he had. After all, that was a true god. Isaac was actually rather cowardly about it too. Without the cult backing him, he truly would not dare conduct such treasonous research on a large scale.

The first-stage modifications had mostly involved external limbs, while the second-stage modifications had involved certain bodily systems. For the third stage, it was finally time for the true interior of the body—its internal organs!