In Leo's understanding, survival meant widening the gap between the two sides.
First, continuously weaken your opponents: weaken the strong to the same level as yourself, and weaken the weak to the point of being powerless.
Then continuously strengthen your defenses, stacking the thickest defense possible, ideally to the point where no one can break through.
Finally, continuously enhance your attack power. Having enemies means your attack power is insufficient. If your attack power is strong enough, you can crush any enemy into dust.
This is the combat system that Leo has always wanted, ensuring his invincibility!
The appearance of the rune array group means that Leo's defense system has initially established a standard. Although it is still far from meeting Leo's requirements, there will be no problem as long as it follows the established route.
The next experimental project is about modifying ten shadows.
The Shadow Talent is the ability to bear. When Leo was first promoted to Level One Body Refinement Wizard, he used these ten shadows to bear the rune array.
If ten shadows were superimposed on an opponent of the same level, regardless of who the opponent was, Leo was confident that he could weaken the opponent by at least one level.
In actual combat within the Jeft World, Leo's combat achievements have been perfectly demonstrated—absolutely perfect.
The Ten Shadows is one of the three pillars of Leo's combat system, but in reality, Leo's use of the Ten Shadows is still only superficial.
This time in the Jeft World, Leo, Alice, and Gru, led by Benji, raided the libraries of several major powers.
No matter what world you're in, knowledge is always the most precious treasure, especially books that perfectly match your talents, which Leo had already carefully preserved.
I'm just waiting for the time to absorb the knowledge and nourishment I need from it.
Now that the nuclear fission experiment has reached a dead end and the rune array on his body has been modified, Leo can take some time to see how the Jeft World understands the Shadow Talent.
They may not have the precise experimental results of the wizarding civilization, nor could they see the changes in the rules behind talent, but their records over thousands of years must have some merit.
So, Leo buried himself in the library again!
When you really need to do something, there's never enough time. Leo wished he could tie time to his side or turn himself into ten people to study like crazy.
Entertainment, relaxation...
What is that?
Leo only wanted to learn and thoroughly understand the records about the Shadow Talent in the Jeft World. Even if it only brought him a slight benefit in the end, it would still be good.
"All the recorded cases of Shadow Talent in the Jeft World are innate; there are no cases of it being acquired later in life. Based on their understanding and perception of Shadow Talent, it is actually the manifestation of the rules of Shadow Talent."
"The world operates under rules, and life is also within those rules. The more one is influenced by the rules, the stronger one's talent will naturally be; but the less one is influenced by the rules, the weaker one's talent will naturally be."
"Back then, Benji chased after the Wizard World for the most fundamental Shadow Talent. According to the understanding of the Jeft World, my Shadow Talent should be among the strongest, belonging to the category of those who have been most corrupted by the Power of Laws."
"But here's a problem: what is the Power of Laws, and can it be materialized? Can it be translated into a language I can understand?"
As Leo watched, his thoughts began to wander, no longer confined to how to improve his Shadow Talent, but instead focusing on the most fundamental Power of Laws.
"They all say that Stigmata Wizard is someone who has advanced from Level Three Great Wizard after understanding the rules. So, how did they come to understand them?"
"My Shadow Talent is Bearing, so what is the essence of Bearing?"
"Why did the ascension happen after merging with the Planetary Core?"
What is the relationship between the Planetary Core and the Shadow Talent?
After reading the book about the Shadow Talent records in the Jeft World, Leo not only didn't get any good ideas, but it also left Leo with more doubts.
"If I want to explore the essence of the Power of Bearing the Shadow Talent, then from which aspects do I need to conduct experiments and verifications?"
Compared to the nuclear fission experiment that trapped Leo in place, the experiment concerning his own Shadow Talent was actually more troublesome.
Because Leo had already made many attempts during his apprenticeship, but ultimately none of them yielded any results.
His mutated shadow originates from his own Shadow Talent, but the shadow is unresponsive to almost everything; it is currently known to only react to three things.
First, there's Leo's blood. This is the medium through which Leo inscribed the rune array. Without Leo's blood, it's impossible to inscribe it. This is understandable, since the Shadow Talent comes from Leo himself, and it's no surprise that his blood serves as a communication bridge.
The second type is nuclear material. To this day, Leo still doesn't know why the shadow reacts to nuclear material.
The third type is the Planetary Core, a reward from the Six Academies Apprentice Championship given to Leo by the Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard. The shadow showed an extremely strong reaction, and after fusion, it directly promoted Leo to the Level One Body Refinement Wizard.
Becoming stronger is a good thing, but Leo doesn't like this kind of uncontrollable growth; he needs complete control!
Just like dropping a nuclear bomb can kill enemies and even damage level 3 powerhouses, if any other level 1 life form possessed such terrifying power, they would have been laughing all the way to the bank.
But Leo couldn't do that; he had to have complete control!
The same goes for the Shadow Talent now; it's a power that must be mastered. Leo always had a feeling that when he fully mastered the Shadow Talent, it would bring about earth-shattering changes!
But looking at the shadow that didn't react to anything, Leo could only sigh in despair. It was too difficult. At least nuclear fission experiments had a direction, but this didn't even have one!
Although the records in the Jeft World are extensive, they lack the foundation for thinking about issues from a wizarding perspective.
Often, lengthy accounts praise a hero, recounting his bravery, the hardships he endured, and how he grew into a peerless knight-errant.
Leo didn't want this kind of praise; he wanted concrete data records.
No,
Leo could only understand the abilities contained within these seemingly absurd stories. Whether he could understand the operating rules depended on how detailed the recorder's notes were.
"Lord Leo, there are only 15 years left until your first mandatory expedition. Alice reminded you and asked me to tell you that you should start preparing now."
Leo, who was staring blankly at the sky in the library, had no idea how long he had been in this state until the sound of Benji's voice outside the door snapped Leo out of it.
"Only 15 years left? Time really flies."
He recalled what he had once said: that he could advance to the level of Level One Elemental Wizard in fifty years. Now, almost a hundred years had passed, and the experiment was still stuck.
People shouldn't make grand promises, what if they can't keep them?
"Forget it, let's prepare for the expedition mission first. The equipment the Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard gave us last time was pretty good, but unfortunately the armor is damaged and needs to be remade. I wonder how much the Jeft World has been doing these past few years."
Leo still remembered what Alexander had said: given a few more decades, the profits of the Jeft World could increase tenfold.
Now, 75 years have passed since he said those words. Leo doesn't ask for much; he just wants to collect 2,000 energy crystals for himself.
With this added to the annual subsidy of 20 energy crystals from the Third-Class Wizard Medal, that's 1500 energy crystals over 75 years.
This will bring my total number of energy crystals to over three thousand. That should be enough to customize a suit of armor, right?
Thinking about this, Leo regretted giving all the payment for the medicinal herbs to Benji back then; otherwise, he could have saved more than three hundred energy crystals.
"Forget it, I'm not so low as to steal money from my own comrades."
"If that's still not enough, ask Alice; she has more than enough money."
Leo thought about it and decided that Alice was more reliable. After all, Alice had promised him that he could ask her for help if he needed more money.
Give her this opportunity; let her become her own creditor!
When Leo stepped out of the Wizard Tower again after many years, the first thing he saw was ten Gulu Beast busy among the Fire Essence Flower.
When they saw Leo come out, they all ran over and knelt down before Leo, bowing respectfully, "Greetings, Lord Leo."
Leo sensed that all ten Gulu Beast were at the first level, indicating that the Gulu Clan had recovered a considerable amount of strength in the nearly one hundred years since their formation.
"Lord Leo, last time you allowed me to return to the Jeft World, I brought my first-level descendant with me," said Benji, standing to the side.
"How are the Gulu Clan doing?"
In Leo's plan, the Gulu Clan is a member of his future plans and an indispensable force. If their strength is too weak, Leo will intervene.
"Thank you for your care, sir Gulu Clan now numbers two hundred thousand, including three at the second level of cultivation and thirty at the first level. I only brought ten with me this time; the rest are in the Jeft World taking care of their descendants."
Benji smiled happily, but Leo didn't react much. Instead, he was a little disappointed because the strength of the Gulu Clan was really weak. It took them a hundred years to recover to their original level, which was far from the result Leo wanted.
The Gulu Clan has too weak talent and a low starting point. Compared with those races that can quickly advance one level, the Gulu Clan has almost nothing to offer.
Leo couldn't help but wonder, was there any point in cultivating such a race?
"Good, keep up the good work."
Leo didn't say much. There was still plenty of time. He was only a Level One Lesser Wizard at the moment. If the Gulu Clan was too weak when he really wanted to use them in the future, it wouldn't make much of a difference to replace them.