Chapter 267: Bayen's Decision
The secret mist dispersed from Tal, seeming to follow his gaze and linger on Ace. It seeped into his body and soul, as if someone had splashed him with a certain color, making him abnormally conspicuous.
The magma had already swallowed Tal. Ace pulled out Tal’s heart, his expression incredibly ugly.
After accidentally discovering Tal, he had long since judged Tal’s lies through the Astrological Prevision Spell and seen through Tal’s hidden strength. He had used the Time-Limited Mirror Image and Shadow Raven Blink to trick Tal, then easily killed him with the interference of the Four-Element Ring’s derived spells and the Dream Force Field.
However, Ace still fell into Tal’s trap. The thing on his body was very familiar; it was similar to the 0-Ring Spell Magic Mark, but the marking time was longer and the range of influence was larger.
Feeling the secret mist clinging to his body and soul like maggots on bones, Ace felt uneasy and fled the area rapidly.
On the other side, Karim, the Great Hero whose eyes had erupted with blinding light when Ace encountered him last time, had just destroyed a Fire Stealer Alliance camp.
A purple-haired, iron-masked man named Roon walked up to Karim and said, “My Lord, there are no councilors of the Blasphemers here, only low-level members. They don’t know the location of their headquarters.”
Karim’s expression under the iron mask was unknown, but his voice sounded like cold iron: “So they are useless? Roon, hang them all.”
Just as Roon was about to agree, a disk-shaped object on his chest suddenly became scorching hot. Roon took out the object, his face turning ashen. He whispered:
“Tal is dead. He discovered a new enemy with strength comparable to a Hero. The combat style is completely different from the Fire Stealers. Fortunately, amidst this misfortune, Tal placed a vengeance mark on the enemy before dying.”
Karim’s voice became somewhat hoarse as he chuckled.
“Thanks to our skilled craftsman Ashalu. Praise be to the great God of Craftsmanship. Without these man-made Wonder Items, I’m afraid we couldn’t respond to the endless stream of Blasphemers in time. Now, I order—REVENGE!”
With a wave of the scythe, blood splattered everywhere.
At the same time, in the High Tower Territory, an alchemical potion began to sweep through the entire territory, attracting almost all the women.
Daina, already in her thirties, looked somewhat resentful in her boudoir. Her distance from Ace had grown further with time. Ace spent all day researching in the West Tower, making it almost impossible to see him.
Daina missed the time spent studying with Ace in the countryside manor and their journey to the Northern Border. Looking at herself in the mirror, noticing the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, the resentment in her heart deepened.
At this moment, she took out a bottle of Youth Potion and another bottle of orange-yellow potion. The orange-yellow potion was the outstanding work of Sulu, the newly promoted potion master of the High Tower Territory, which drove the entire territory crazy.
Relying on this potion, Sulu earned a massive amount of Magic Stones and successfully advanced to become an Advanced Wizard Apprentice. This potion was the Beauty Preservation Potion.
As long as one used the Youth Potion to restore youth first, and then took the Beauty Preservation Potion, one could maintain their most beautiful appearance and skin until the moment of death.
Daina activated the Rune Array and drank the potion in one gulp.
It was already the summer of the Magic Calendar Year 10.
After the establishment of the “High Tower” research institution—spells, rune arrays, and various magical creations in the entire High Tower Territory showed an explosive trend.
There were already ninety-two Advanced Wizard Apprentices.
A while ago, the Bayen-Logan Research Institute had achieved great success in the research of Magical Cuisine, inventing a type of Magical Cuisine that could provide extremely powerful vitality—the “Optimal Nutritional Meal.”
This “delicacy” was colorless and tasteless, like chewing wax, but because it could provide a huge amount of vitality, Advanced Wizard Apprentices flocked to it.
Today, Bayen, who was already 77 years old, decided not to wait any longer. His Mental Power scale had finally reached 9 unit.
He had used all means, including meditation methods, blessing rituals, and mental enhancement potions; there was no room left for improvement.
After meeting with Ace’s clone, he resolved to use the Youth Potion to restore his life to the state of about 40 years old, and then use three thousand Academic Points to exchange for a Formal Wizard Promotion Ritual.
Ace, who was on the run, fell silent upon receiving the communication from his clone.
If he hadn’t been marked, Ace would definitely have returned to the High Tower Territory through the Summoning Magic Array to personally preside over Bayen’s promotion experiment and help him succeed as much as possible.
But the current Ace couldn’t go back. He didn’t know how far this mark reached or how long it lasted. Once he led the wolves into the house, the young and prosperous High Tower Territory might be destroyed in an instant.
Ace took the time to briefly descend into his clone.
“Bayen, I know why you’re here. The one in the West Tower isn’t my main body, but my clone. My main body is adventuring far away from the territory seeking opportunities and cannot return in a short time. I wonder if you can wait.”
Bayen was silent for a while before saying, “Lord Ace, I don’t plan to wait any longer. Even using the Youth Potion, I can at most restore myself to the state of a 40-year-old. If I delay for a few more years, my body’s natural vitality will become weaker and weaker. Perhaps I will never have the chance to become Formal Wizard in this life.”
Ace fell silent too. He knew Bayen was speaking the truth. In the territory, not only Bayen, but also Daina, Betty, and others had reached a mental scale of over 9. Betty, in particular, was infinitely close to 10 unit.
However, they chose not to undergo the promotion experiment now. Instead, they continued to research, looking for ways to enhance physical vitality and mental scale, in order to promote more securely.
Bayen was different. He was too old. Even if restored to 40, his body was on a decline. If he delayed a few more years, it might decline rapidly.
If he didn’t become formal wizard, his life wouldn’t exceed a hundred years. Now was Bayen’s best chance. On the path of pursuing truth, Bayen had no room to retreat.
The silent Ace finally let out a sigh. He transmitted some insights from his own promotion to Formal Wizard and knowledge related to the 0-Ring Spell version of the “Bright Moon Meditation Method” to his clone, to be taught to Bayen.
Bayen listened carefully to Ace’s clone recounting the dangers and insights of the promotion process, as well as the knowledge related to the 0-Ring “Bright Moon Meditation Method.”
Tears streamed down his old face.
“Lord Ace, you granted me this knowledge for free. I am truly ashamed…”
Choking with emotion, Bayen couldn’t speak.
Ace’s clone seemed unable to understand this emotion. It spoke in a cold voice—
“This is the will of the main body. Helping you advance to Formal Wizard as much as possible is also in the interest of our High Tower.
“After you go back, prepare yourself. The 0-Ring “Bright Moon Meditation Method” is just a ready-made meditation method developed by the main body. Its essence lies in the understanding of the Astral Body and the Principal Star. If you can proficiently apply the principles within, you can also develop your own unique Astral Meditation Method.
“Of course, for the current you, I think using the 0-Ring “Bright Moon Meditation Method” to improve your mental scale as much as possible is sufficient.”
Just as Bayen nodded, in the northern part of the Saria Forest, a pursuit had arrived.
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