Chapter "384"
This was a choice made out of desperation. The plan had progressed to this point, and success was already within reach. The closer they came to that moment, the more cautious they had to be—to prevent the Martial Saints of the Celestial Realm from panicking and recklessly charging through the Divine Realm passage.
Moreover, whether they chose to self-destruct early or peel away their energy later, the mages were bound to abandon their lifeforce eventually. It was better to do it now, while they still retained control, and contribute something to the battlefield. They all knew this would be a great military merit; once resurrected, the Command would not treat them poorly.
Every formal mage understood this principle. They also knew that the Transcendent Mages still had a final task unknown to them. So there was no need for orders or coercion. Stirred by righteous resolve, they unleashed their full power, abandoning all unnecessary flourishes, and—like madmen laden with explosives—they rushed in swarms toward the Martial Saints of the Celestial Realm.
Terrifying explosions erupted in rapid succession across the relatively small Celestial Realm. Lifeforce was released in the most violent manner possible, pulling the surrounding energy into wave after wave of resonance. In mere moments, the total density of lifeforce in the Celestial Realm multiplied several times over.
The only Martial Saints still alive were the Alliance Lord of the Realm Alliance, and the Sect Master of the Artifact Sect. The Alliance Lord, who commanded the Realm’s energy formations, held no strategic value for the mages. He was directly surrounded and slain by nineteen Transcendent Mages.
The Sect Master of the Artifact Sect, knowing he was doomed, also knew that the rebels coveted the inheritance of his sect. Resolutely, he sought to self-destruct to cut off the mages’ hopes.
At that moment, five Transcendent Mages of the Third Holy Tower acted together, displaying a bizarre martial art. After days of relentless battle, they actually managed to restrain the Sect Master, forcing him to intermittently reveal the secret of how Fourth-Era energy could be transformed into lifeforce.
Beyond the amplifiers—filters crafted through special methods of varying potency—the core mystery was shockingly simple.
The divine beings of the Divine Realm were equivalent to the first chicken or the first egg between heaven and earth. This chicken was both male and female, or this egg naturally contained a fertilized yolk. In short, the very first wisp of lifeforce in the Origin Realm came from a divine being.
“So, the divine beings’ Martial Cores are of paramount importance,” Adam said to the dozen Transcendent Mages beside him.Timothy, a Transcendent Mage, asked:
“Now, can you finally tell us the last step of your plan? Why must the second wave of Transcendents be from the Sixth Holy Tower specifically? And what is the true purpose of killing all the Martial Saints and unleashing lifeforce into the Celestial Realm?”
Adam replied:
“The final step is to poison the divine beings, to make them sick, or even collapse from within. That idea came from Maggie.”
Maggie, now over two thousand meters in length, her snow-white body coiled on the ground in a mix of beauty and terror, twitched when she heard her name. Her massive form shifted, triggering tremors across the land:
“You mean a lifeforce poison? You want to contaminate the Celestial Realm’s lifeforce, then funnel it into the Divine Realm to poison the gods?
But isn’t that far too unrealistic? A creature that has evolved to such heights must possess immense resistance. A lifeforce poison may not even penetrate its defenses.”
The other ten high-ranking Transcendents of the Sixth Holy Tower agreed. They were masters of poison and knew better than anyone: the stronger the creature, the less effect poisons had.
Adam was not so naïve.
“I never intended to kill it. I only need to cause it trouble.”
He tore a piece of flesh from his own body, forcing his Devourer Cells to manifest, then severed his connection with them.
Before everyone’s eyes, the Devourer Cells displayed unimaginable vitality. They split, collapsed, and spread in all directions, autonomously devouring lifeforce and mutating into unknown forms, behaving like independent living organisms.
The crowd’s gazes flickered with deep thought.
Adam did not hold back his reasoning:
“As you can see, every advancement of a being cultivating the Third-Era system strengthens itself. Even our self-derived, half-formed techniques achieve this much. With a complete inheritance, divine beings are far stronger. How powerful is their vitality?
Or perhaps—what if every Devourer Cell, every strand of their body, holds the potential to become life in itself? Even if only mindless monsters.”
“If we can help that along—”
Timothy’s eyes lit up.
“You mean to make its body collapse from within, buying the True Spirits outside a fleeting window of opportunity?”
Adam nodded.
“We can never hope to defeat it outright. All we can do is maximize the odds of capture.”
Timothy grew excited.
“A brilliant thought—no, a genius one! The greatest concern of the True Spirits is that advanced Third-Era remnants will self-destruct the moment they sense the True Spirits, releasing all lifeforce. That could awaken undiscovered Hyper-Void beings! But if we can buy even a single instant, the odds of success increase tenfold!”
As Watchers, the Third Holy Tower bore responsibilities unknown to other mages. More than anyone, they dreaded the destruction of the Mage World, for it would condemn them to a hopeless, directionless drift through eternity. The Hyper-Void beings of the Third Era were the Damocles’ Sword hanging over all mages’ heads. Now, Adam had given them a glimpse of a possible solution.
Adam inclined his head.
“Exactly. But I’m not adept in this field. I must rely on the Sixth Holy Tower’s experts to craft the poison. I believe…”
He handed Garfield to Maggie, then transmitted his design for nanomachines.
“…that Garfield’s form of existence may provide you with inspiration.”
Turning to Timothy, Adam continued:
“As for you all, I have no wish to pry into the Watchers’ secrets. But surely, the Third Holy Tower’s core knowledge is Life Magic, is it not?”
This had been Adam’s strongest suspicion since learning about the Transcendent Reincarnation Spell and the Third Holy Tower’s role. Their true purpose was neither shield nor sword, but continuity.
Thus, the essence of the Reincarnation Spell might well be the creation and bestowal of life.
The five mages did not answer Adam directly. They only said:
“No matter what, we will do everything in our power. But it will take time.”
Ten years passed swiftly.
Adam, Cass, and Locke acted as computational upload units, sacrificing their autonomy to fully support the two Holy Towers in developing the poison.
At last, with only one year remaining before the Great Catastrophe, the poison was painstakingly completed. Thanks to Adam’s concept of molecular machines, its efficacy far surpassed earlier expectations.