Ryze

Upon hearing Qiyana's words, Yuan Chen remained silent for a moment, then nodded with a hint of seriousness in his eyes and said:

"You don't need to worry about this for now... let me handle it."

Upon hearing this, Qiyana didn't press the matter, simply humming in response and then falling silent... Although she didn't appear before Yuan Chen, he was certain that Qiyana was watching from afar within the palace.

The moment Qiyana completed her Elemental Master class advancement, Yuan Chen knew that Ryze's arrival was inevitable. What remained uncertain was Ryze's attitude towards the World Rune Remnant...

However, its attitude towards the World Rune themselves is self-evident.

In reality, things were different from what Yuan Chen had imagined.

Emerging from the deep blue arcane torrent, Ryze gazed at the world before him, his eyes filled with hesitation and uncertainty.

Over the past thousand years, Ryze has traversed every corner of Runeterra, but Ryze is certain that he has never been here before.

But that doesn't make sense... I clearly traversed the entirety of Shurima, even reaching the Miasma Jungle. So why do I have absolutely no recollection of this place?

Without the fluctuations in the World Rune, perhaps I would never have known about the civilization here?

Thinking this, Ryze stood on a mountain peak and gazed into the distance at the Axiom Towers, which was more sublime than the mountain peak and more magnificent than the mountain range.

Along the way, even though he sometimes used Arcane Shift to jump through space, Ryze still saw many similar tower-like structures while walking.

But none of them can compare to the pristine white giant tower before us.

Besides the tower, Ryze also saw migrating crowds... large groups of residents dressed in traditional costumes walked through the dense woodland.

Unique magical theories, Spellcasting methods, and philosophical concepts, along with ethnic costumes, customs, and traditions... these are not things that can be formed in a short period of time.

All of this proves that what he is seeing before him is a secluded kingdom isolated from the outside world, with a long history, and possibly even more ancient than himself.

Ixialia? If I remember correctly, in the past, no one else besides Ixialia has ever established a kingdom here...

Or perhaps, apart from the ancient Yixialian, no one could tame this wild jungle.

Besides that... it seems a major battle has taken place here?

Looking at the huge gap in the tower, the messy land, and the Road Protector who were constantly repairing the tower with magic and their Pack Beast, Ryze lowered his head thoughtfully.

Ryze stretched out his hand, and the surging magic formed an arcane iron sheath in his palm, with a powerful suction force emanating from its center.

In just a moment, it tore apart the space in front of it, forcibly extracted a faint energy that was constantly dissipating, and fixed it in front of its eyes.

If I'm not mistaken... is this the aura of Void?

Was the power of the World Rune activated to counter the Void?

While Ryze was still thinking, he also keenly sensed a large number of gazes coming from the distant giant tower.

He subconsciously looked up, but before he could see Qiyana in the palace, a force that made no attempt to conceal its presence swiftly traveled through the ley lines to his front, accompanied by the pulsation of the earth.

Rising from the soil and gazing at the Smurf before him, Yuan Chen patted the non-existent dust off his shoulders.

Malphite has largely recovered and is now underground, serving as an external computing power source to accelerate the repair and cooling of the Vidalion Loom.

After absorbing a large amount of purified Void Malphite Rock, Malphite's abilities were greatly enhanced.

If given another chance, Malphite would be capable of single-handedly destroying the entire Void Legion... provided the Void Legion doesn't undergo Titan fusion.

In fact, not only his strength, but also Malphite's intelligence has been greatly enhanced. Although he remains silent, conversation no longer requires him to slowly utter each word as before.

Simply put, Malphite learned how to utilize his computing power.

As the bound party, Yuan Chen's trait, "Monolith's Protection (Excellent)," was further enhanced and upgraded to "Unyielding Stone Pact (Epic)."

Effect: The holder gains a deeper connection to the earth, allowing them to pass directly through any soil, rock, or gravel. Earth Element magic costs are reduced, destructive power is increased, there is a high probability of spell critical hits, and the holder can directly manipulate rocks.

Additionally, as Malphite's bound party, upon actively activating the Unyielding Stone Pact, a Malphite Rock Shield can instantly be generated on the body's surface. The shield's strength depends on its distance from Malphite, providing up to 10% of Malphite's resistance and endurance (minimum 1%). It lasts for 30 minutes with a 24-hour cooldown.

As one of the few abilities that allows for active skill activation, the power of the Unyielding Stone Pact is readily apparent.

Putting everything else aside, the shield effect provided by Malphite alone is enough for Yuan Chen to run rampant on the battlefield for thirty minutes without restraint.

Unfortunately, Yuan Chen could no longer cultivate ordinary professions, which meant that the enhancement effects of Earth Element magic were wasted. But even so, the ability to directly manipulate rocks was enough for Yuan Chen to dig out words.

To be honest, while Taliyah possesses unparalleled talent in Earth Element magic, she can only obediently bow her head and call Yuan Chen "Dad" in front of him, who has Malphite's backing and cheat code.

But thinking about it, I decided against it... At least, during his time in Ixialia, Yuan Chen had had enough of the exhaustion of being a teacher.

Teaching itself is fine, but inexplicably, why am I also expected to help others grow?

Thinking about it, Yuan Chen shook his head indifferently, then turned his gaze to the Smurf in front of him.

Ryze doesn't give the impression of being strong; in fact, he seems rather frail.

His skin took on an unusual blue hue due to the magic it possessed. Upon closer inspection, one could even discern faint arcane runes.

He was bald, with a thick beard. But the beard didn't make his facial features look fuller or stronger. On the contrary, it accentuated his gaunt and desolate appearance.

His entire body was covered in numerous scars. However, these scars were even more inconspicuous than arcane incantations...

They all healed under the effect of healing magic. But more often than not, healing magic completely restores the wounds, leaving no trace.

Unless, of course, the damage accumulates to an immeasurable limit, making it impossible for even healing magic to completely remove it.

Yuan Chen could guess how the scar came about... which made him even more respectful of Ryze.

"My dear guest from afar, I know you have many questions. Why don't we walk and talk?"