Wizards Pursue Truth, Not Immortality

When it came to the most valuable thing in a Wizard Inheritance, knowledge was undoubtedly one of the answers.

Suppressing his joy, Sunan strode over to the bookshelf and quickly scanned the books on it.

"Composition Studies," "Material Studies," "Life Energy Structure," "Enchantment Runes Basics," "Puppet Mechanics Principles," "Puppet Basic Construction," "Puppets and Golems."

More than eighty percent of the books were related to puppet-making.

It was clear that the owner had loved this craft deeply—one could even call it an obsession.

No wonder he had created a puppet construct like the Iron-Eating Beast.

But where had this Wizard Apprentice gone afterward?

Sunan had a vague suspicion. After some thought, he turned and walked over to the desk.

The solid wooden desk was covered in a thick layer of dust, with nothing on top. Sunan opened the drawers beneath it. The first few were empty, but the last contained two diaries, a ring, and two boxes.

Sunan took out the top diary and opened the cover.

The slightly yellowed first page contained only a single line.

Angus MacLean, recorded in the year 1124 of the Starlight Calendar.

The year 1124 of the Starlight Calendar was roughly 125 years ago.

"The Iron-Eating Beast appeared in the Blackstone Mining Area a little over a century ago."

Sunan pondered this as he continued turning the pages.

He had no idea what material the diary pages were made of, but they had remained intact after all this time.

April 12, 1124, Starlight Calendar

Today, I completed the survey of the Blackstone Iron vein. Just as I suspected, this vein has extremely abundant reserves. Now I have sufficient materials for my puppet experiments. What wonderful news. I have decided to build a laboratory deep within the mine as my future secluded residence.

February 8, 1126, Starlight Calendar

The Blackrock Panther experiment has finally achieved a crucial breakthrough! It will not be long before I successfully refine my own puppet construct!

"So that puppet was called a Blackrock Panther." Sunan raised a brow.

March 15, 1127, Starlight Calendar

Hahaha, success! I have finally refined my first Blackrock Panther! This is my very own puppet construct. I truly am a genius!

However, the Blackrock Panther's combat power is still lacking. It falls far short of a Formal Knight. There is still plenty of room for improvement, and I need to gather more combat data.

There happen to be quite a few knights outside, so I shall let them serve as the Blackrock Panther's opponents. What a fortunate bunch.

June 10, 1128, Starlight Calendar

The improvement experiments are progressing smoothly. The Blackrock Panther now possesses combat power comparable to a Novice Knight. Unfortunately, that cowardly lord has abandoned this mining area. I need to find new targets to provide combat data. Perhaps the Blackscale Lizardmen to the north would make suitable subjects.

Each diary entry was short, only two or three sentences at most.

The gaps between entries were also quite large, with even the shortest interval exceeding half a year.

Most of the later entries recorded the progress of the Blackrock Panther improvement experiments.

Occasionally, they were interspersed with matters concerning meditation, spell study, and trips outside to gather materials.

From the words on the page, it was not difficult to tell that the Wizard Apprentice named Anger was arrogant and solitary, and disliked interacting with the outside world.

It was worth noting that he was also a Level Three Wizard Apprentice.

On the resource-starved Starlight Continent in the Elemental Desert, advancing to a Level Three Wizard Apprentice before the age of one hundred made Anger a genuine genius, with every right to be proud.

However, as he grew older, Anger gradually shifted his focus from puppet research to cultivation. The tone of his diary also became visibly more anxious and confused.

September 20, 1162, Starlight Calendar

My Spirit Power seems to have reached a bottleneck. There has been no noticeable growth for more than half a year. Perhaps I should borrow some external aid.

January 4, 1163, Starlight Calendar

My luck is not bad. I found a formula for Nightmare Potion. If I can produce Nightmare Potion, it will surely solve the problem of my Spirit Power being unable to grow!

May 19, 1165, Starlight Calendar

Damn it! Why can't I gather all the materials in the formula? I clearly found where the materials grew according to the records in the book, so why can't I find them? Could the book's records be wrong?

February 6, 1167, Starlight Calendar

So that is it. The elements are dissipating, and the concentration of Energy Particles has plummeted. The continent we live on has already become a dead land. No wonder I have not encountered any other Wizard Apprentices all these years. No, I will not give up like this. If I cannot gather the materials, then I will try other substitutes. I refuse to believe my wisdom cannot solve this problem!

April 4, 1169, Starlight Calendar

Experiment failed.

February 9, 1170, Starlight Calendar

Experiment failed.

(Repeated records of experimental failure)

March 16, 1192, Starlight Calendar

No. No matter how much low-grade materials are extracted and purified, their effects cannot reach the level of high-grade materials. There is simply no way to successfully produce this potion!

Damn it! I refuse to accept this!

The next dozen or so pages were filled with resentment and curses directed at this world, along with bitterness and despair over the unseen road ahead.

It was not until after the year 1200 of the Starlight Calendar that Anger seemed to come to his senses, and calmness returned to his words.

December 3, 1200, Starlight Calendar

I can feel my vitality gradually fading. It seems I do not have much longer to live.

Biological Modification might allow me to live longer, but it is not my specialty. Nor do I wish to turn myself into some neither-human-nor-ghost abomination just to cling to life. No, perhaps it is only because that method of modification would completely destroy my hope of Wizard Advancement. If I cannot advance to become a wizard, what use is living longer?

Wizards pursue truth, not immortality.

May 5, 1202, Starlight Calendar

Death is drawing ever closer. I seem to be able to smell the stench of decay from my own body.

The good news is that I discovered the legend of the Starry Sky Tower in an ancient tome. It is said to be an inheritance left behind by ancient wizards. Perhaps I can find a way to achieve Wizard Advancement there. It is my only hope now.

I have decided to search for the Starry Sky Tower!

The Starry Sky Tower!

Sunan's expression shifted.

Among his limited memories of the game from his previous life, the Starry Sky Tower seemed to be one of the only three Wizard Inheritances on the Starlight Continent in version 1.0!

It was not a laboratory left behind by a Wizard Apprentice like this one, but an inheritance left behind by a true wizard.

It was the last trace of goodwill that the wizards who had ventured into the multiverse a thousand years ago had left for this continent.

There was no need to think about it—such a place would definitely contain vast amounts of precious knowledge and materials.

If he could find the Starry Sky Tower, becoming a wizard would no longer be a problem!

Sunan's heart raced as he hurriedly turned to the next page, only to find it completely blank.

"That's it?"

Sunan kept flipping through the diary, but every page after that was blank.

Clearly, after Angus MacLean left to search for the Starry Sky Tower, he never returned.

Had he found the Starry Sky Tower in the end?

Sunan guessed that the answer was most likely no.

Otherwise, this laboratory would not have remained untouched for the past fifty years.

The thought made Sunan sigh inwardly.

With Angus MacLean's talent and aptitude, had he lived during the Wizarding Era a thousand years ago, he would certainly have become a powerful wizard.

Unfortunately, he had been born in the wrong era. In the end, he could only waste away his life and die with unwillingness in his heart.

"A dead land for wizards, huh."