New Memories

After dinner, Anvis dismissed the maids and returned to his room alone.

The faint fragrance of Peaceful Spirit Wood filled the air. On the carved silver lampstand, an ice-like crystal emitted a strong blue-white glow. Passing through the pale yellow lampshade, it cast a hazy, warm light across the room.

Ever since magic crystal lamps had come into use, cheap and dim candles had vanished from the lives of great nobles.

This extravagant form of lighting originated from the Ancient Magic Empire. It was indeed incomparably bright and stable, and its brightness could even be freely adjusted within a certain range.

Yet even at its dimmest setting, it consumed magic crystals worth at least one gold coin per Magic Hour.

One had to know that among commoners in this world, silver coins were still the main currency.

A barony with a population of several thousand and a territory of roughly several hundred square kilometers collected only a few hundred gold coins in taxes each year.

Normally, only transactions involving items above the Second Rank or large-scale deals were settled in gold coins.

Anvis removed the ordinary magic crystal from the magic crystal lamp and replaced it with a perfectly prismatic piece of Super Magic Crystal Ore. Then he sat upon the Peaceful Spirit Wood canopy bed and began circulating his meditation method.

Activated by the array within the lamp base, the translucent crystal prism gave off a pale cyan glow.

A thread of strange primordial mana drifted from the light. As Anvis meditated, it was gradually drawn into his body.

Since his transmigration, countless precious resources had been piled upon him day and night, building his foundation to an utterly outrageous degree.

Although he was still at the Apprentice Rank, his total Spiritual Power and mana had already reached the level of an ordinary First Rank Mage, while his physical condition rivaled that of an ordinary Third Rank Warrior.

With steady breaths, Anvis gradually entered the Deep Meditation State.

The mana in the surrounding environment swirled around his body, flowing into him with every breath and strengthening his body and spirit bit by bit.

The meditation method had been bestowed upon him by the duke half a year ago. Its name was simple: the Carrot Meditation Method.

After his eldest son Raymond was born, the duke had carefully analyzed, compared, and studied both his own meditation method and Elena's.

He spent an entire year creating a meditation method specifically for his descendants and named it after himself.

After several decades of further refinement, the Carrot Meditation Method had firmly entered the ranks of top-tier meditation methods.

For the duke's descendants, its effects were even superior to those of other top-tier meditation methods.

As Anvis meditated, the remaining strange energy in his Sea of Spirit stirred faintly, subtly transforming his spiritual body while gradually being absorbed.

Since his rebirth, he had absorbed most of that strange energy. The final trace would be completely exhausted tonight.

Will there be any changes?

Anvis's consciousness silently enveloped his Sea of Spirit. In his perception, the remaining energy continued to pulse at a certain Specific Frequency, steadily seeping into his consciousness.

Three... two... one. As the countdown in his mind ended, the last thread of energy seeped into his consciousness.

Like the last straw that broke the camel's back, an indescribable sensation emanated from his consciousness.

At the same time, once the energy had completely dissipated, an incomplete orb of light suddenly appeared in its place. Compared to this orb, the fragments from before were like stars compared to the moon.

Anvis discovered with slight surprise that the memory fragments he had absorbed as a child corresponded exactly to the gaps on the orb.

Unlike when he was young, as if it had confirmed that his body could now withstand it, the entire orb directly merged into Anvis's consciousness, and a massive torrent of information flooded into his mind.

The intense swelling pain forced him out of the Deep Meditation State. He collapsed onto the bedding and fell unconscious.

What Anvis did not know was that the instant he lay down, a unique and illusory ripple spread out from his Sea of Spirit, extending far into the distance.

The Ninth Rank duke noticed nothing of it. However, deep within a Secret Chamber in Moonrise Fortress, an old man with a silver-gray eye embedded in his forehead suddenly frowned.

He opened the eye that had been closed in his forehead and carefully investigated, but ultimately found nothing.

The next day, Anvis forced himself through his daily lessons and entered the Library alone as usual.

But today, he did not read anything. He only wanted some peace and quiet.

What the orb contained was Little Anvis's complete memories of the rest of his life—

His eldest brother Raymond failed to suppress the rebellion and was captured by the rebels.

His Second Brother Evan disappeared without explanation and could not be located. The last place he had appeared was the City Lord's Mansion in his territory.

His third sister Aranis and the Rime Wind Knight Order were ambushed by a large army. After paying a tremendous price, they barely broke through the encirclement and retreated to defend Carlras City.

While the duke was held back by an opponent of the same rank, Moonrise Fortress was hit by a surprise attack. His fifth sister Fiona was captured, and her whereabouts became unknown.

The rebels received aid from an unknown force and advanced relentlessly. Duke Carlot activated the emergency Message Array to seek help from the imperial family and the other three great families, but the plea sent to the imperial family vanished without a trace. The replies from the other families were even more shocking—they were in equally dire straits and no longer had the strength to support Olivenndi! Duke Carlot led the remnants of his family and withdrew to his Mage Tower in Night Wind Fortress.

Then, an unknown powerful enemy attacked that place.

Using the monitoring array inside the Mage Tower, Little Anvis briefly "saw" the invading enemy.

It was a humanoid figure completely shrouded in dazzling holy white radiance. When it walked upon the earth, even the sun paled before it.

Holy! Powerful! Unmatched!

With merely a fleeting glimpse through the monitoring array, Little Anvis, then at the Seventh Rank, instinctively trembled. Even his spiritual body felt threads of illusory pain.

Little Anvis had never felt such Mana Fluctuation before. He was certain that the figure's strength had absolutely surpassed the Ninth Rank Limit! Faced with such a powerful foe, Carlot could not hold out alone. Before the main Mage Tower was completely breached, he activated his final measure.

The chaotic, ultra-long-range teleportation scattered every remaining member of the family far away.

After the family had nearly been wiped out, Little Anvis hardened his heart and used a Secret Treasure to strip away his own bloodline.

Then, with the last remnants of the family's resources, he completely altered his appearance and soul aura, hiding under a false identity in a remote small city of the Empire.

In the days that followed, he thought constantly of avenging himself upon his enemies and restoring the glory of the Olyvendi Family.

But reality was cruel. He gradually learned that the Rebel Army was growing ever stronger, and even the Royal Family was beginning to show signs of being unable to hold on.

The only thing that gave him a little comfort was hearing news of Fiona once again.

In order to survive, the remaining forces of the Four Great Families had formed an alliance to fight their hidden enemy together.

Although their situation was still far from optimistic, they had at least escaped the immediate threat of total annihilation.

Fiona had now become one of the alliance's high-level members. After being missing for many years, she had reached the Ninth Rank and was known as the "Star of the Northern Region."

Upon learning of his younger sister's whereabouts, Little Anvis set down the burden in his heart and began carrying out a plan he had long been brewing.