In the Arcane Empire's top-secret laboratory shrouded in countless heavy Space Folding magic circles, Chris Tiu finally made some substantive progress that could be called a breakthrough in his profound research on how to improve "willpower."
However, this project, which is enough to completely subvert the common sense of Wizarding World, has just begun. The research time he has invested is too short, and he has not yet been able to produce outstanding results that can be immediately put into actual combat and put into use by the entire Empire army.
Fortunately, this young man has a remarkable ferocity in his bones, and his will and determination are as firm as ice.
In order to catch up with the progress crazily, he did not hesitate to activate the highest level Time Acceleration Array. In just a few months, in an almost masochistic way, he crazily crammed through the vast magic courses that would take ordinary people several years or even more than ten years to fully master.
There is no doubt that as long as he is given a little more time to settle and comprehend, Chris's academic background will usher in a qualitative leap, and his level will be completely comparable to any peerless genius who came out of the top "Bones Academy of Advanced Magic" in the empire.
With the bottomless huge resources of the Imperial Family as the backing, and giving him full tilt without any bottom line, he will quickly step into the ranks of Seventh Tier Arcanist at a terrifying speed like sitting on Rocket, and completely complete this great study of willpower.
In the grand blueprint of Ian that sweeps across the sea of stars, once this research on "willpower" is announced, Arcane Empire will usher in an unprecedented explosion of combat power!
Empire can completely combine the underlying logic of [Abyssal Mark] and [High Dragon Language], as well as the power of [Artistic Conception] that the reincarnation named 'White' spent countless efforts to develop into a perfect rule Fusion.
By then, Empire will completely break the common sense of the universe and frantically and mass-cultivate those [Legendary Arcanist] that can suppress the planes of the heavens like an assembly line!
"If we have been secretly targeted by some extremely terrifying beings in other dimensions, then when we send personnel to forcibly use Abyssal Mark, we must be cautious and take the most complete anti-reconnaissance precautions." Olivia, who has always run the army with iron blood and has an absolutely keen sense of strategy, gave a serious warning.
"It is indeed a fatal hidden danger. If we Empire have a large number of Arcanist who line up to change jobs and become Abyss lords in order to analyze and study [Authority], this will definitely cause violent shocks at the bottom of Abyss." Hermione nodded in deep agreement.
In a very short period of time, so many Abyss lords suddenly appeared. If this did not cause Abyssal Will to notice and obliterate them, it would be a ridiculous joke.
"Since the risk is so high, is there any possibility... that you can authorize Abyssal Mark in your hand to be analyzed in the form of a 'borrowed' subordinate?" Ian's pair of deep silver pupils flashed an extremely dangerous light, and he proposed an extremely bold idea.
"Well... Judging from the underlying laws and the operating mechanism of the imprint, this is indeed feasible." Hermione was slightly startled, and then his brain was running rapidly like a supercomputer, confirming that this method, which can be called a loophole, is fully operable.
In the cruel world of Abyss that adheres to the absolute law of the jungle and is full of betrayal and killing, no Abyss lord will never allow anyone - not even his closest and most trusted right-hand man - to borrow their mark that symbolizes supreme power.
Because for inferior creatures like Demons, the so-called "loyalty" is simply a ridiculous word that does not exist in their genetic code. The reason why these Abyss scum surrendered to their lords was entirely because of their own weakness and the bone-deep fear of the strong.
Therefore, if a Abyss lord is really out of his mind and dares to lend the mark of the source of power to his subordinates, he will 100% be betrayed mercilessly in the next second, ruthlessly deprived of his position as lord, and reduced to the lowest level of rations.
However, this dead end chain of suspicion that was absolutely unsolvable in Abyss did not hold true here at all in Hermione. From the bottom of her heart, she didn't care at all about the damn "Lord Abyss", let alone whether her group of people would betray her because they had mastered the power.
What's more, Ian, a complete dictator, has already carried out extremely successful ideological brainwashing and cultural reshaping of all Empire's Arcanist. Under the Empire's arrogant education system, things such as the [faith] on which the gods rely for survival, or the [Abyssal Mark] that Demonss regard as treasures, have all been degraded into low-level, crude and dirty "heretic forces", and have been deeply despised and spurned by the entire Arcanist class.
Therefore, even if Empire is really merciful and gives this kind of Abyssal Mark, which is enough to make people reach heaven in one step, to these arrogant masters for nothing, more than 95% of people will only look at it like garbage and treat it as an extremely inferior experimental material.
This group of madmen who are crazy about Truth will definitely tie the mark to the dissecting table immediately and try to use mathematical models to analyze it and copy its underlying power.
Or, do something even more crazy--directly and violently steal Abyss's original Source Force power, refine it and transform it into pure arcane magic power that you can permanently control!
"However, this 'borrowing' plan currently has an extremely fatal loophole in the law, and that is [Soulfire Shield]." Hermione changed the subject, and a deep fear appeared on his beautiful face, "Frequently lending marks through the shield is very likely to alarm the aloof Abyssal Will."
"What? Did that ghost do something secretly while you were refining the mark?" Ian's eyes instantly flashed with a terrifying murderous intent that could freeze the galaxy.
"Yes. At the most critical moment when I was trying to refine the mark, Abyssal Will actually tried extremely insidiously to imprint a secret mark of slavery on my Soulfire!" Hermione was a little bit disappointed. He said fearfully, even thinking about it he felt horrified, "Fortunately, you arranged absolute defense around my soul in advance; otherwise, with my strength at the time, I would never have been able to detect this high-dimensional plot, and I might have become a puppet long ago."
Ian nodded coldly. His almost pathological paranoia of persecution made him extremely wary and hostile towards any so-called [Planar Will] - let alone an evil existence like Abyssal Will, which is notorious, insidious and cunning throughout the universe.
Therefore, he would never let Hermione touch that dangerous Abyss Creation in an unprotected "streaking" state.
"Then is there any way we can set up a strategy and conceptually deceive Abyssal Will?" Olivia immediately put forward a tactical idea.
If a large number of Arcanist borrowed the imprint, and Abyssal Will was horrified to find that it could not put a imprint on these people's Soulfire, this would definitely cause it to be highly vigilant, and even risk a cross-dimensional obliteration at all costs.
Therefore, the safest tactic is to plant Heaven-Deceiving Formation and directly blind Planar Will's perception.
"If you want to conceptually deceive a Planar Will, this is the top technical barrier that we urgently need to overcome when we implement planar expeditions and cross-dimensional conquests in the future. But as far as the current technology tree of the Empire is concerned, we are that far away It is a despairing high-dimensional level, and it is still thousands of miles away." Ian pointed out the current shortcomings of the Empire without hesitation. In the eyes of this rational king, admitting shortcomings is the beginning of progress..
"Then...Ancient Magekind must have this kind of heaven-defying technology in his hands. Do we need to search their ancient ruins?" Olivia suggested, trying to find a shortcut to break the situation.
"What do you think is the probability that we will find this kind of ultimate secret in the vast sea of stars?" Ian asked rhetorically, and then gave his extremely cold decision in a deep voice, "To be honest, from the bottom of my heart, I strongly resist our Empire having too much causal entanglement with that ancient race.
For a terrifying civilization that has been completely Transcendence[Law of Causality], being too deeply involved with them is definitely an unpredictable gamble, and if you are not careful, you will be in jeopardy."
"I really can't tell whether you are extremely cautious and foresighted, or whether you are simply suffering another attack of paranoia. However, in this cruel universe, it is always right to remain reverent and cautious." Olivia sighed helplessly. "But if we can't find the deception technology, this problem will still hang over our heads like a sword of Damocles."
"It doesn't matter, we don't need to rush for success now. Before we truly usher in the 'Legendary Arcanist Era', we still have a lot of time to slowly deduce and lay out." Ian waved his hands, as if he had everything in mind and had all the heavens in mind, "By then, we may have developed a perfect solution with our own strength, or maybe... the situation will not be as bad as we think now."
"Okay." Upon seeing this, Olivia temporarily archived this heavy issue. In the Arcane Empire, an incredibly large state machine, many of the highest strategies related to the survival of civilization must be conducted in extremely detailed sandbox deductions years or even decades in advance to eliminate all potential failures, dangers and backlash of the law, and ensure that Empire can operate at full speed with a crushing attitude.
"You came to me specifically today not just to discuss Abyss's illusory future strategy, right? What happened on the front line?" Ian leaned on the throne and looked at the Empire supreme military commander with burning eyes.
"There are two things that need to be reported to you face to face," Olivia's cold face showed a touch of extreme pride belonging to an iron-blooded handsome man. "The first thing is about this war that has swept across the entire galaxy. Today's Milky Way Galaxy has completely reduced to us and Necromancer Emperor Guznader divides the Chu, He and Han realms into two parts of the world. All other top forces and ancient races in Milky Way Galaxy that were once arrogant have either been completely turned into corpses in Undead Calamity, or they can only kneel down obediently and be completely incorporated into our territory of the Empire."
"Although there are still a few ants trying to hide in some plane gaps and remote star belts, they are not even a speck of dust in terms of the vast general trend of the universe, where those who follow it prosper and those who go against it perish, and they have no bearing on the overall situation."
"So, Clearance Plan went very smoothly?" Ian's eyes flashed with a look of satisfaction.
"Perfectly in line with expectations. As long as we can completely defeat Guznader in the final decisive battle, and use purification magic to reverse those damn undead back to their original living forms as much as possible, we Arcane Empire will be crowned the sole legal overlord of Milky Way Galaxy without any dispute!
Relying on the supreme prestige and illustrious martial arts accumulated in this epic war, even if a few reckless idiots want to jump out and seek independence after the war, they will never be able to cause any waves that can threaten Empire." Olivia confidently and coldly analyzed the post-war situation.
"This is exciting good news. So, what is the progress of the irreversible undead being forcibly integrated into the Empire?" Ian asked. Not all creatures that were transformed into undead in natural disasters can be restored by Holy Magic. Those completely irreversible undead must be forcibly assimilated as Empire's fresh blood.
"Wiz has done a perfect job in this regard. According to Ministry of Internal Affairs's latest opinion poll data, in the past few months, Empire citizens' fear and rejection of the undead race have dropped off a cliff, and their acceptance is soaring - especially those citizens who live in the core territory of the Empire."
Hearing this report, Ian chuckled unsurprisingly. The citizens of the earth and the surrounding core galaxies were almost protected by the Empire. They had never faced the bloody war directly. They could only watch the tragic battles on the front line from above through the 'Skynet' and 'Cosmic Network networks' like watching a holographic movie.
For this group of citizens living in a greenhouse, it is not difficult to accept a few weird-looking undead neighbors. Compared with those races on the border defense line who have witnessed their parents, wives and children being torn apart by the undead, and their civilization being completely crushed by the undead army, the psychological endurance is naturally very different.
"Since the situation is good, do you need me to take immediate action and directly use the highest force to kill that old bone Guznader?" Ian half-squinted his eyes, exuding a terrifying murderous intention that could freeze the galaxy.
"No, it's definitely not the time to close the net yet." Olivia rejected the proposal with extreme Coldblood. Her ruthlessness as a commander was fully revealed at this moment. "This final victory that declares Empire's hegemony must not come too easily or too quickly.
Otherwise, the races we have protected will not be grateful at all, and they will not cherish this hard-won peace. What's more, if we show that we can crush a Necromancer Emperor to death so easily, it will inevitably arouse the suspicion of some smart people - they will ask us, since we have the ability to kill instantly, why did we sit back and watch so many races being Carnage?"
"In addition, Empire has just annexed a large number of new territories at the edge of the galaxy, and we need sufficient time to forcibly digest and brainwash them.
And keeping Guznader, a terrorist threat that can destroy the world, hanging over their heads is undoubtedly the most perfect excuse for us to implement high-pressure rule, gather military morale, and make them absolutely dependent on the Empire!" Olivia added coldly, these methods of cultivating the invaders' self-respect are extremely skilled.
"I'm very pleased that you can still maintain such cold-to-the-bone rationality when victory is within your grasp." Ian nodded approvingly.
"What? From the tone of your voice, is there something wrong with your top-secret plan?" Olivia keenly captured the subtext of Ian's words.
"The [Tenth-Tier Aether Core] used to drive 'Mist Array' has not been completely completed. Before this fog that is enough to block the sight of the gods completely envelopes Milky Way Galaxy, we must not put Guznader is forced into a desperate situation. Otherwise, I highly doubt that the old lunatic will do something crazy like dragging everyone to be buried with him when he is at the end of his rope." Ian's brows wrinkled slightly, and his tone was extremely solemn..
What he is most worried about is that Guznader jumped over the wall before dying. In order to retaliate, he directly removed the protective shield and put all the gods into Milky Way Galaxy! Or he could go even more extreme and forcefully tear open the space door to Abyss, lure the wolf into the room, and let a god-like [Abyssal Prince] directly descend to this plane!
"I was just about to remind you about this." A trace of fear flashed in Olivia's eyes. As the war situation gradually became clearer, she also deduced this horrifying extreme possibility. "Do you have an accurate estimate of the completion time of the core?"
Ian called up several top-secret progress reports transmitted back in real time by high-level Golem, and quickly glanced at them. "If the ratio of [Time Dilation] between different parallel timelines is included... it will take about nine months to complete the project."
"Of course, if I can successfully break through that damn [Aether Mana Network Enchantment] and extract energy directly from the bottom of the universe, this construction period will definitely be greatly shortened!" Ian added through gritted teeth.
"How long will the enchanting project take?" Olivia chased after him.
"Who knows." Ian shook his head irritably, "Theoretically, this set of enchantments should have been running perfectly! I have bought all the underlying architecture data from Akashic Records, but I always feel... I seem to be missing a very critical core closed loop!"
"Forget it, with our current terrifying background, we can afford to wait another year." Olivia made a tactical compromise, "However, during this long tug-of-war period, you'd better be mentally prepared. That old fox Guznader will definitely continue to use the threats of the gods to blackmail you crazily and force you to provide resources."
"It doesn't matter, let him just blackmail you. Just think of it as his last carnival before his death." An extremely cruel and bloodthirsty sneer appeared on the corner of Ian's mouth, as if he had already seen Necromancer Emperor's miserable ending of being crushed to pieces, "Every penny he took from me today, in the near future, I will ask him to spit it out to me ten times or a hundred times at the cost of his soul!"
He coldly retracted the murderous intention that almost pierced the sky, and his eyes fell on Olivia again. "Let's not talk about this dying person. You just said there are two things, what is the second thing?"