Chapter 73

Ne'Zuk one of the few Ascended in the League of Legends who has been given a name and is prominently mentioned after the lore update.

Its Ascended form is still unclear, but its intelligence—or rather, its understanding of Elemental Magic —is among the best even for Ascended Celestial Warrior.

Born in Ixialia, when the Void tore open a huge rift in Icathia, causing the Void to begin spreading in the material world, Ixialia, which bordered Icathia and was separated only by mountains and a strait, was the first place to be corrupted by the Void.

So, as one of the Ascended of Shurima, the proud Ne'Zuk petitioned the Emperor to create a powerful weapon capable of countering the Void and eradicating the very source of Void initial eruptions.

It was a floating fortress the size of a giant city, a huge living rock that required a large number of elemental mages for continuous maintenance and power supply just to exist.

This fortress, known as "The Monolith," was used by Ne'Zuk to Monolith Fortress him and dozens of his fellow Ascended Icathia the Icathian wasteland. They cleaned the surface of Icathia, which had been contaminated by the Void, and annihilated almost all the Void Creature that had entered the material world.

Ne'Zuk and his weapon did indeed severely damage the Void. But what followed was a powerful counterattack from the Void.

During the battle, the Monolith Fortress was corrupted by the Void. At the most difficult moment of the battle, Ne'Zuk decided to fight a desperate last stand with his fellow Ascended —they poured all their energy into the fortress and rammed it into the Void- contaminated land of Icathia.

Ultimately, the Monolith Fortress shattered the bedrock of Icathia, exposing the Void hidden beneath to the clear sky.

As a price, all the Celestial Warrior perished, and only Ne'Zuk survived the entire fortress, managing to escape while the Void healed his wounds.

After that, the Great Collapse of Shurima occurred. Without the guidance of the golden bloodline, the Celestial Warrior began to succumb to their tyrannical desires... This is also why Ne'Zuk was later called the "Tyrant" and the "Dark Descendant".

For the vast majority of Ascended, humans are no longer their kind. Ascended are their true compatriots.

Then, the Twilight Spirit Myisha killed and sealed her away.

Yes, it's worth mentioning that there are some misconceptions about the title "Twilight Spirit." Its original meaning was "Trickster Aspects," but it conflicted with LeBlanc when it was released in the Chinese server, so it was changed to "Twilight Spirit."

After weighing the Arcane Gauntlet in his hand—their quality had plummeted to Excellent— Yuan Chen glanced at Ezreal, whose face was etched with embarrassment, and said bluntly, "You can't handle this crystal... it's mine."

As he spoke, the Dark Descendant Crystal fell into the silk pouch at Yuan Chen's waist.

"Ah?"

Hearing Yuan Chen's words, Ezreal's face was filled with resentment. Although he knew he was at Yuan Chen's mercy, Ezreal seemed to have thought of something, and still managed a cautious, awkward smile as he said:

Can't we talk?

"We can talk."

"Real?"

"Of course," Yuan Chen said, "Let's talk about your middle finger first."

"Huh? Middle finger?" Ezreal was taken aback upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, then said somewhat cautiously, "Uh... I'll apologize? Well, if you're still angry, I can give you some of my treasured antiques?"

"A treasured possession? It's probably stolen from some ancient tomb, isn't it?" Hearing this, Yuan Chen curled his lip, then gestured with his chin towards Qiyana, who was examining the inscriptions on the tomb wall.

"This Ixialia, and also an Elemental Master proficient in all kinds of magic. The middle finger you just gave is an unforgivable crime of usurpation under Ixialia law. Hmm... what was the sentence again?"

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's question, Qiyana, who was studying the inscriptions on the wall, glanced at the blond-haired boy. Seeing the embarrassment and helplessness on his face, yet still retaining a hint of his innate frivolity, her eyes also revealed a touch of indifference.

She disliked frivolous people—especially those who were so frivolous in front of her. Was they looking down on her?

Weibo is now in session.

"Ixialia is a civilized nation, but to despise Yuentar, who represent truth and wisdom, and the noble Yuenale, is an unforgivable crime... Death penalty, execute it immediately."

"Okay!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Chen, without a word, drew a Fire Dragon Ember Flying Blades from his waist, and with a burst of intense flames, walked decisively towards Ezreal, saying:

"What you're asking for, we'll continue talking once you survive!"

"No, no, no! I was wrong! Wait, don't! I have a lot of information! I've heard of Ixialia! You can ask me if you need anything! I'll definitely cooperate!"

Brush!

The sharp blade grazed the blond boy's scalp, leaving a trail of scorching heat in the air. Looking back, the blade pierced the stone pillar, which was as thick as two people could hug, as easily as piercing a newspaper.

"Why didn't you cooperate like this from the beginning? Why did you have to force me to make a big deal out of it?"

Yuan Chen nonchalantly sheathed his blade.

"Hey-hey..."

What could Ezreal say? He could only awkwardly agree, not daring to utter a single complaint.

However, at the same time, as an explorer, Ezreal also showed a hint of curiosity, looking at Qiyana's clothing style, and said with a hint of probing in his eyes:

"Speaking of which... you really are from Ixialia?"

Is there a problem?

"Wasn't Ixialia a trace two thousand years ago? This has remained an unsolved mystery in the archaeological world. Who exactly are you...?"

"You can think of it as covering the entire country with a massive Concealment Spell," Yuan Chen said leisurely, "And maintaining it for two thousand years... Got it? You little blondie from Piltover, that nouveau riche city?"

"That's impossible!" Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Ezreal's face was filled with disbelief.

"Even the most accomplished archmages on the Valoran Continent couldn't complete such a massive spell! From the spell's model to the depiction of its truth, a spell of this scale is theoretically impossible! Besides, even if it were possible, how would you supply the energy?"

"We can't burn thousands of elemental mages to death every day, can we?"

Upon hearing Ezreal's words, Yuan Chen's face was filled with disdain.

Having grown accustomed to the Ixialia, Yuan Chen found it rather difficult to adapt to Ezreal's speculations, which were largely based on fantasy.

"They still burn thousands every day, while Warhammer only burns about a thousand for Startorch every day, Ixialia burns a hundred at most."

"It's really burning??"

Ezreal was shocked and uneasy about his future—damn it, his magical talent was pretty good, and now he'd committed an overstepping of his bounds; would he be burned as firewood?

Looking at Ezreal's naivety, a product of his "happy education," Yuan Chen's face showed a hint of disdain. He waved his hand and tossed the Arcane Gauntlet over.

"You can still use it by replacing the charging crystal, but forget about space jumps and stuff. Just be your QDC."

Yuan Chen is truly extravagant now—after the Dragon Corpse arrived in Yishuaoken, Yuan Chen entire set of equipment reached an astonishing epic level. Previously, obtaining a piece of equipment of superior quality would be something Yuan Chen would proudly treasure as a family heirloom. Now...

That's fine then.

Not to mention the Arcane Gauntlet whose Dark Descendant Crystal had already been removed, Yuan Chen even felt that the Spiritwood Bracer he wore was somewhat unworthy of his status.

However, considering that this is a symbol of mastery in Ionia, it was still worn over the leather armor—this special type of accessory is rarer than common swords and armor.

After all, swords and armor provide a very direct boost to attack and defense, while bracelets and rings often offer special effects.

For example, the Heart of the Storm ring that Qiyana is currently wearing allows her to unleash three consecutive master-level full-power Storm Lance. However, it does not directly enhance physical strength or mana.

In this situation... an arcane glove with excellent quality, whose maximum potential depends entirely on the socketed crystals and equipment enchantments?

Yuan Chen really didn't think much of it.

After all, the Arcane Gloves' only function is to convert magic into Arcane Shots, launching magic as projectiles. Arcane Shift, a technology involving spatial manipulation, is entirely due to the Dark Descendant Crystal that Yuan Chen had placed in his pocket.

And this glove will be even more useful in Little Yellow Hair's hands later.

Thinking this, and watching Ezreal carefully put his Arcane Gauntlet back on, Yuan Chen's face revealed a sinister smile.

Ezreal seemed to genuinely believe that Yuan Chen had returned the glove to him...

Meanwhile, after studying the inscriptions on the tomb walls, Qiyana said, "We've pretty much figured it out. This is the tomb of an ancient warlord named Uroa from the Rune Wars era."

"What about the potion?"

Yuan Chen manipulated the Flowing Water to sweep away the potion made of crystal bottle and animal bones from Ezreal's hand, ignoring the sadness and sorrow on the little blond's face, and asked bluntly, "Is there any record on it of what this potion is for?"

"It seems to be the soul of Uroa? I'm not sure, the inscriptions here are too weathered, I'm just guessing."

Qiyana stared somewhat displeased at the dilapidated walls of the ancient tomb. After a moment, she looked at Yuan Chen hesitantly. "Wait... aren't you a master appraiser? Why are you asking me?"

"Let me test you."

Upon hearing Qiyana's words, Yuan Chen simply cast a Scout Skill on the potion.

Name: Uroa's Potion

Quality: Epic? (Hard to define)

Effect: As an ancient warlord during the Rune Wars, Uroa's soul was twisted by the World Rune, transforming him into a unique being residing in the gap between the spiritual and material realms, known as the "Dreadlord".

After being defeated, Uroa was sealed away by the Rune Wanderer using the same power. If you ingest the potion, there is a small chance that you will be strengthened by the World Rune, and a high chance that it will awaken Uroa's remaining consciousness and begin a possession attack.

Note: If you defeat Uroa's remaining consciousness during the possession battle, you will be directly enhanced by runes and have a certain probability of being promoted to "Dreadlord (Epic)".

Note: As a special life form distorted by the World Rune, there is a certain probability that it will attract the attention or be hunted by the Rune Wanderers.