After conversing with Nocturne for a while, Nocturne eventually took his leave. Lynn watched him go and then turned his attention to Xiao Yu. With a warm and inviting gesture, he said, “Come over here. Do you have any questions for me?”

Lynn’s tone was relaxed. After all, Nocturne had just provided him with a large batch of followers, solving a significant problem for him. While this might not seem like much to others, it had certainly alleviated a major issue for Lynn.

With these Black Crow clan followers, if Lynn were an apprentice with modest ambitions, focused solely on advancing to the rank of an official wizard, he would have already met the fundamental goal of cultivating followers. This would save him a considerable amount of time—time which, for Lynn, was as precious as life itself.

Becoming an official wizard as soon as possible would extend his lifespan and improve other aspects of his existence significantly. It would also ease his sense of urgency.

Suddenly, Lynn had a thought. If he could become an official wizard, perhaps he could secure a spot as a ship-bound wizard, allowing him to return home openly. This thought stirred a small wave of excitement in his otherwise calm heart.

With the continuous understanding of the wizarding world, he found that his perspective had subtly shifted, growing more indifferent to the value of life.

Observing Lynn’s tranquil gaze out the window, Xiao Yu hesitated before speaking up. “Wizard Lynn, I am currently doing a research in mutation studies. I’ve been researching biological transformation recently.”

There was a hint of pride in Xiao Yu’s voice as he mentioned his area of expertise. Lynn listened intently. Biological transformation was indeed a broad subject. Transforming a rabbit was one thing, while transforming a dragon was another. The difficulty of the latter was obviously far greater.

Moreover, there were varying levels of difficulty in transformations. Turning a rabbit into a super-sized, tender, and fast-growing meat rabbit was less challenging compared to creating an ultimate killer rabbit capable of devouring a dragon beast in one bite.

“I want to transform the Riftbone Mountain Goat. After successful transformation, its destructive power will increase significantly. However, no matter how I modify it, each time it only survives for at most half a day,” Xiao Yu said, presenting a transformation blueprint on the table. His gaze was filled with nervousness as he looked at Lynn.

Lynn was taken aback by Xiao Yu’s trust, as he had openly presented the transformation blueprint. If Lynn truly wished to, he could easily “copy” the content from it.

He had initially expected that Xiao Yu would break down the key issues into smaller parts and ask him questions one by one. However, directly reviewing the blueprint turned out to be much more efficient. Lynn quickly identified the problems in the design.

“You want to add numerous bone spurs to the surface of this Riftbone Mountain Goat,” Lynn said, his finger tracing the design on the blueprint. His fingertip tapped lightly on the relevant sections.

After a brief pause, Lynn continued, “But you haven’t considered the supply issue. You’ve added too many external bone structures, but the digestive system and energy supply are inadequate, leading to an excessively fragile body.”

Lynn pointed out, “So, your design concept is flawed from the start.”

“I noticed that too,” Xiao Yu replied with admiration. “I made some reductions and even designed some of the bone spurs to be hollow.”

Lynn’s immediate recognition of the problem surprised Xiao Yu. He had conducted numerous experiments, discovering the critical issues only after many trials. Yet, knowing the problem didn’t necessarily mean solving it. He had been stuck in the experimental phase for nearly three years, reducing the number of bone spurs, but the transformed Riftbone Mountain Goat still failed to survive beyond a day.

“Then the bone spurs of this creature shouldn’t be ordinary bones. If throttling won’t work, we should find a way to increase the energy supply. You can add an energy supply in the design. I remember that in some worlds, magical creatures have something called a ‘magic core’ inside their bodies,” Lynn said.

“Should we add a magic core then?”

“No, adding a magic core is too complex. The knowledge required for that is more advanced than your transformation project,” Lynn explained.

Mainly, since he has not studied this area of knowledge at all, how could he possibly create a magic core inside the Riftbone Mountain Goat?

“My suggestion is to create something similar to a magic core inside it. There are many alternatives to magic cores—artificial energy crystals, blood-flesh hearts, mechanical hearts,” Lynn offered.

Xiao Yu trembled at the thought. The complexity of these alternatives seemed almost as daunting as creating a magic core itself!

“‘Tumor gland’,” Lynn finally mentioned his purpose.

Xiao Yu had never heard of this term before.

“This is a result I stumbled upon during an experiment. It can serve a similar function to a ‘magic core’,” Lynn said, withholding further details.

“However, the tumor gland has a downside. If it undergoes excessive strain, it is prone to glandular rupture,” Lynn pointed out, offering a solution to the problem.

Xiao Yu considered this for a moment and found that Lynn’s suggestion was indeed viable.

“But—” Xiao Yu said, still concerned, “the tumor gland doesn’t seem perfect. Its tendency to rupture means it’s a rather fragile weapon.”

“I have high hopes for you,” Lynn said, placing a reassuring hand on Xiao Yu’s shoulder. “If you find that they are too prone to death, then find ways to increase their reproduction rate. Just produce more cannon fodder. If they die quickly, then let’s just make more of them.” Lynn spoke calmly.

Lynn handed over his research notes on the tumor gland to Xiao Yu. To him, it was not particularly valuable knowledge. The tumor gland was merely a byproduct from an earlier experiment. Initially, Lynn had intended to research creating an additional heart for Lauren, but the experiment failed, leaving him with this misshapen, tumor-like gland.

To Lynn, it had little practical use. The tumor gland was prone to rupture and had limited potential. Simply put, it was a fragile and weak engine. Moreover, he had many other experiments to attend to and lacked the energy to delve deeply into this one.

It was better to let Xiao Yu make use of it; perhaps he might discover something valuable.

“Thank you, Wizard Lynn. I will inform you if there are any new developments in the experiment,” Xiao Yu said gratefully.

“By the way, Wizard Lynn, Korsky1 is preparing to make his final breakthrough in a week. Are you interested in attending the ritual?” Xiao Yu asked.

“Already at the final step?” Lynn was surprised. He had heard of Korsky, though they were not personally acquainted.

As the man closest to becoming an official wizard in the current Demon City, he’d heard from Ido that he came from Mechanist City. However, his philosophy was completely opposite to that of the Mechanist City; it was said that he had been pursuing the concept of immortality through flesh and blood.

“I don’t have any personal connection with him, and he hasn’t invited me,” Lynn replied, shaking his head.

He wasn’t familiar with Korsky, and the latter didn’t invite him to attend the ritual.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu quickly added, “I am quite familiar with Korsky, and he has invited a few friends. I can take one person with me. If you’re interested, I can include you in the invitation.”

“Oh? There’s an extra slot? In that case, I’m interested,” Lynn agreed eagerly.

Watching an apprentice make the transition to an official wizard was indeed a valuable opportunity.

“Alright, I will invite you a day in advance. The event will be at the Abyss Crossing Great Rift Valley. We can apply for the permit to go there a day before,” Xiao Yu said.

After Xiao Yu departed, Lynn discreetly gathered information and confirmed that Korsky was indeed on the verge of his breakthrough to become an official wizard, and the event was to take place at the Abyss Crossing Great Rift Valley. Once Lynn had verified this through various sources, he felt reassured.

A week later, Xiao Yu arrived a day early to extend the invitation to Lynn. They set out for the Abyss Crossing Great Rift Valley, which was located adjacent to Demon City. Xiao Yu led Lynn to the service hall where they registered and applied for a permit to access the Abyss Crossing Great Rift Valley.

Lynn had heard of the Abyss Crossing Great Rift Valley for quite some time, but this was his first visit. In Lynn’s imagination, this place should resemble the vast rift of the East African Rift Valley, an immense fissure that stretches beyond the horizon, with a deep valley floor beneath the feet.

However, upon arriving, Lynn realized his imagination had been flawed. The Abyss Crossing Great Rift Valley resembled a series of tiered “terraces” descending layer by layer, with no end in sight.

Scattered demons wandered across these terraces, but no matter how they moved, they were confined to the uppermost tier, as though an invisible barrier held them within.

Upon arrival, Lynn noticed several apprentices already waiting. Among them was an old acquaintance—Jado.

Recently, Lynn had enlisted Jado’s help to contact an apprentice and exchange information for a special alloy formula, which had been quite beneficial.

The two had met a few times before and shared a cordial relationship. Upon meeting, they exchanged smiles and greeted each other warmly.

As the introductions were made, the surrounding apprentices realized that Lynn was the well-known wizard behind the recently popular Meditation Treasures. A few of them stepped forward to greet him as well.

Everyone was a bunch of introverted homebodies, so after the brief greetings, the atmosphere fell into an awkward silence.

One by one, the apprentices wearing cloaks or with their heads down, busy calculating data, continued to focus on their own tasks.

Fortunately, Lynn was accustomed to such experimental environments.

“Are we all here?” one of the apprentices asked. “Jado invited sixteen people, plus the additional friends, making a total of thirty-two.”

Once everyone had gathered, they set off together. Lynn took the opportunity to survey his surroundings, preparing for any unforeseen events and planning potential escape routes if necessary.

However, Lynn reasoned that there was unlikely to be any real danger. He had brought along his Alchemy Laboratory, which was not only equipped with numerous followers but also heavily packed with them, especially the fifth-level four-armed brute force demon. Lynn felt quite secure in the vicinity of Demon City.

Even a typical first-level wizard, without the support of a wizard tower, would find it challenging to face a fifth-level demon alone.

Yet Lynn was curious about why Korsky had chosen the Abyss Crossing Great Rift Valley as the location for his breakthrough. As they proceeded, they encountered several wandering demons. The further they ventured, the more demons appeared in the surroundings.

Most of these demons were of low-levels, ranging from first to second, consisting mainly of inferior and minor demons. For a group of seasoned wizard apprentices in Demon City, these demons posed little trouble.

After traveling a considerable distance, Lynn finally spotted a towering structure on the horizon—a wizard tower.

He marveled at the sight before him. The structure rose imposingly from the plain, its shape reminiscent of a beehive but entirely blood-red with numerous openings dotting its surface. If it weren’t for the distinctive fluctuations of runes that were characteristic of a wizard tower, Lynn would have had difficulty associating this grotesque edifice with a traditional wizard tower.

——

  1. TL/N: He was first mentioned in chapter 97. ↩︎

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