Chapter 16 I Don't Know magic
Lin Yi looked at the old mage sitting limply in the muddy water.
"What were you shouting just now?"
Daniel opened his mouth, but before he could speak, a harsh spatial friction sound directly overwhelmed his voice.
That dimensional rift, forcibly torn open by the meat mountain, not only failed to close on its own, but completely lost its balance instead.
At the edge of the dozens-of-meters-wide spatial breach, a dark red light flickered violently.
The spatial barrier began to peel off, and fragments fell into the pure nothingness behind, directly ground into fine powder.
A violent suction swept through the surroundings.
The wreckage of Bleecker Street began to roll backward.
A dozen meters away, an upside-down double-decker bus dragged a harsh metallic scraping sound across the asphalt road, being forcibly pulled toward the rift.
Broken bricks, lampposts, and even the puddles on the ground all rose into the air, sucked into that pitch-black giant mouth.
Daniel's skinny arms tightly hugged a half-broken fire hydrant.
The fierce wind blew his robes flapping loudly, and his legs kicked wildly in the muddy water.
"Seal it!" Daniel shouted at the top of his lungs, "The space has collapsed! If you don't seal it, half of London will be hollowed out!"
Wong was flat on the ground, his fingers dug into the seams of the bluestone slabs.
His chubby face turned bluish-purple, and even breathing became extremely difficult.
"Master! What do you expect me to use to seal it!" Wong shouted back, "I am just a librarian! I haven't even memorized all the spells for spatial repair! This is a dimensional rift tens of meters wide!"
Daniel turned his head to look at Lin Yi.
Lin Yi stood in place, the suction stirring up the sand and stones around him, but unable to shake even the corner of his clothes.
"Kid! Do it now!" Daniel's voice was hoarse.
Lin Yi spread his hands.
"You guys seem to have gotten one thing wrong," Lin Yilooked at the rift, "I don't know magic."
Daniel's eyelids twitched wildly.
"You blew up the lord, and now you are saying you don't know magic?" The old man coughed repeatedly with anger.
Lin Yi curled his lips.
"Yeah, I don't even know how to draw a portal."
He bent down, his hands grasping a reinforced concrete wreckage weighing several tons.
The muscles on his arms bulged, and he lifted the huge wreckage over his head and directly threw it out.
The wreckage smashed into the center of the rift with wind pressure.
The moment the wreckage entered the rift, it was directly cut into countless tiny powders by the space, disappearing cleanly.
Lin Yi patted the dust off his hands.
"See, it's useless."
"Big brother, stop messing around! Quickly think of something you read in the forbidden books! Anything will do, as long as it can plug this opening!" Wong reminded loudly.
Lin Yi frowned.
Three days ago, he did browse countless ancient books recording various deadly spells.
The memories in his mind flipped rapidly.
"Void Sealing Technique".
According to the records, this technique did not require mobilizing external magic.
In the extremely chaotic spatial collapse zone, external magic simply could not gather.
It required the caster to directly sacrifice their own soul origin as an adhesive to forcibly stitch together the spatial fault.
The price was extremely high; the caster's soul would be completely shredded by the spatial turbulence.
"Soul stitching," Lin Yi muttered, "sounds quite straightforward."
Daniel was barely able to hold onto the fire hydrant.
"What are you muttering about! If you still don't act, all of London will be gone!"
"Fine then, I'll give it a try. Don't blame me if it doesn't work!"
Lin Yi strode toward the huge rift.
The fierce wind messed up his hair, and he stopped ten meters directly in front of the rift.
He raised both hands, crossing his ten fingers in front of his chest.
Relying on his photographic memory, Lin Yi started forming hand seals directly according to the diagrams of the "Void Sealing Technique".
Fingers flew, afterimages intersecting.
The moment the hand seals were completed, the air between heaven and earth stagnated and paused.
"Void Sealing Technique" activated.
An invisible, terrifying force counter-recoiled from the rift, directly ignoring defense and drilling into Lin Yi's glabella.
An indescribable tearing sensation erupted deep within his brain, attempting to forcibly extract his soul origin and tear it into pieces to fill the spatial breach before him.
Lin Yi's body swayed slightly.
On his retina, white characters poured down like a waterfall.
[Subjected to S-Rank forbidden spell "Void Sealing Technique" soul-tearing judgment.]
[Triggered "Cost Reversal" rule.]
[Soul-shredding judgment failed, converted to permanent mental power enhancement.]
[Mental Power + 10000!]
[Mental Power + 15000!]
[Obtained passive skill: Spatial Law Affinity (Junior).]
The pain dissipated without a trace.
Replaced by it was an extremely refreshing energy gushing out from deep within the brain, sweeping through all limbs and bones.
Awesome.
So awesome.
Lin Yi comfortably closed his eyes, letting out a low hum from his throat.
The benefits brought by this forbidden spell were even greater than killing those dozens of dimensional beasts just now.
With the completion of the system's reversal, Lin Yi's mental power, which had already broken through the 100,000 mark, completely ushered in a qualitative change at this moment.
The invisible mental power broke through the shackles of the physical body, directly piercing out through the body.
Materialized.
There were no sparks in the air, but golden patterns constructed purely of mental power emerged.
Centered on Lin Yi, the patterns spread rapidly in the void, intertwining and overlapping.
Within just a few seconds.
A huge black circular magic array with a diameter of over fifty meters completely formed above the ruins, entirely composed of void characters.
Wong raised his head, his face covered in muddy water.
He looked at the black magic array that blotted out the sky, his jaw dropping wider and wider.
"Th-This is the Sealing Technique? Inscribing an array directly with pure mental power?" Wong couldn't even speak fluently.
"Who on earth is he…" Daniel muttered.
Lin Yi opened his eyes, dark light swirling in his pupils.
Keeping his hands in the last hand-seal posture, he pushed forward.
The fifty-meter-wide black array carried pressure, colliding head-on with the dimensional rift in front of it.
The black light violently collided with the dark red spatial turbulence.
The void characters on the magic array erupted with dazzling light, forcibly suppressing the violent spatial turbulence into nothingness.
The dark red light at the edge of the rift quickly receded like residual snow encountering the blazing sun.
Under the squeeze of the magic array, the huge spatial breach began to shrink inward.
From dozens of meters wide, it S-Rank to ten meters, then five meters.
Lin Yi flipped his wrists, his ten fingers forcefully clasping together.
"Done."
The black magic array completed its final gathering.
The final dark red rift was forcibly smoothed out, and the light of the array subsequently faded into the air.
A hole broke through the dark clouds above London, and sunlight spilled over the ruins.
Everything returned to peace.
Lin Yi lowered his hands, looked at his palms, and flexibly moved his ten fingers a few times.
"So this is what it feels like to cast magic," Lin Yi muttered to himself, "it's not that hard either, much less tiring than throwing punches."
Not only was it less tiring, but he also got a massive amount of attribute points for free.
He turned around, stepping over the littered ground, and walked toward the two people who were still dazed.
Wong looked at Lin Yi walking over, swallowed hard, and climbed up from the ground.
"Lin... Master Lin Yi, your hidden skills are amazing!" Wong gave a thumbs up.
Daniel leaned on his staff, struggling to straighten his body, his eyes full of complexity.
He was just about to open his mouth.
In mid-air at the center of the ruins, a circle of golden sparks splashed.
The sparks rotated rapidly, tearing open a portal.
Ancient One stepped out from the portal.
Her gaze swept across the devastated street and finally landed on Lin Yi.
"It seems I missed the most exciting part."
Chapter 17 Daniel's Report
On the ruins of Bleecker Street, sunlight poured down through the torn clouds.
Ancient One stopped in front of that pool of stinking, bubbling black rotting flesh.
She lowered her head to take a glance, then turned to look at that spatial node which had been forcibly stitched together without leaving a single gap.
The eye of agamotto emitted a very faint green light on her chest.
Based solely on the concentration of energy remaining at the scene, she could evaluate what had happened here earlier.
"Master, you have to judge this fairly." Lin Yi pointed at his pants, which were reduced to mere rags, and then pointed at the ruins all over the ground.
"I came here with the lofty mission of protecting Earth, and I bought these pants for thirty U.S. dollars. And this building, it collapsed because it wasn't sturdy enough itself; you can't pin the renovation costs on me, right?"
Wang rolled his eyes listening from the side.
Daniel dared not interrupt for a long time; the way he looked at Lin Yi now wasn't much different from how he looked at the Sorcerer Supreme.
Watching Lin Yi's petty appearance, Ancient One not only didn't get angry, but instead nodded slightly in her heart.
This attachment to worldly interests was far too natural.
"I'll mend your pants when we get back." Ancient Onecrossed her hands. "As for this building, Kamar-Taj will fund its reconstruction. Wang, you stay behind to deal with the police and media of the secular world."
Wang resignedly lowered his head.
Ancient One turned around and drew a golden portal.
"Lin Yi, come back with me."
Three days later.
Kamar-Taj, the highest conference room deep within the main hall.
Six people sat before a rectangular agarwood table.
Aside from Ancient One and Mordo, the remaining four were the masters of various Sanctum Sanctorum in Kamar-Taj and senior tutors responsible for barrier maintenance.
The room was very quiet.
Mordo sat on the right side of the long table, his expression not looking very good.
He was holding a mission report in his hand, his fingers gripping it tightly.
Daniel sat at the very end, his left arm wrapped in thick white gauze, the old man's spine held straight.
"Daniel." Mordo slammed that report heavily onto the tabletop.
"You are the Guardian of the London Sanctum. Is this mission briefing you wrote challenging the common sense of all of us?"
"I only wrote what I saw." Daniel looked straight ahead, his voice hoarse yet unusually calm.
The Guardian of the New York Sanctum sitting opposite, a bearded Russian mage, sneered.
"What you saw? Then let me read out what exactly you saw."
The bearded man picked up the copy in front of him and cleared his throat.
"Here. Lin Yi withstood the abyss black flames with his physical body, without relying on any protective magictools; his clothes were damaged, but his skin and flesh were completely unharmed."
"And here. Without mobilizing magic elements and relying purely on his own strength, Lin Yi forcibly dragged a Lord-grade dimensional creature from the Dark Dimension into the present world."
The bearded man pointed at another place.
"Without any spellcasting materials and without chanting spells, Lin Yi forcibly unleashed the S-Rank forbidden technique, Void Sealing Technique, using his soul essence, and his mental state was fine after casting, even... even disclaiming responsibility for destroying the London Sanctum to you?"
After finishing reading, the bearded mage directly crumpled the report into a ball and smashed it onto the table.
"Daniel! Have you stayed in London for too long, and your brain got burned out by Dormammu's whispers?"
"Resisting black flames with a physical body? Go find a god of Asgard and bring them over to see if they can withstand it! Dragging a lord with bare hands? Physical rules don't even count as a joke in your report!"
"And that so-called mental array inscription to release the Void Sealing Technique—that is a supreme forbidden technique that requires sacrificing the essence of life!"
"And you attribute all these great achievements to an apprentice who swept floors in Kamar-Taj for three years and couldn't even draw a round portal!"
The female mage responsible for array maintenance beside them also tapped the table.
"Master Daniel, the damage to the London Sanctumcaused fifteen million U.S. dollars in secular losses, and this matter is indeed very serious."
"But you cannot fabricate such an absurd script just to shirk the responsibility of poor defense."
Facing the accusations of his colleagues, Daniel did not flare up.
If it were three days ago, hearing such words would have definitely made him curse even harsher than this group of people.
But now, he only felt that these old friends sitting around the table were like a group of frogs guarding a well.
The old man grabbed the bandage on his left arm with his right hand and gave it a hard yank.
Rip.
The bandage unraveled, revealing a forearm with wounds deep to the bone, where the bleeding had stopped but black corrosion marks still lingered.
The air in the entire conference room froze. That lingering aura of the pure Dark Dimension could not be faked.
"This was grazed by a wisp of mist released by the vanguard scout of that lord." Daniel glanced around at everyone.
"I almost lost this arm. If I wanted to shirk responsibility, I could easily have said that I desperately beat back the lord, and even if the Sanctum was destroyed, it would just be unavoidable combat damage."
"But the truth is—" Daniel stared at Mordo, "the triple seals I set up were like paper in front of the dimensional invasion."
"If it weren't for Lin Yi, there would be no London left by now."
"If you don't believe me, you can go verify it yourselves, or go to the evidence warehouse of the London policeDepartment; Wang went through a lot of trouble to disguise fragments of that lord creature as a meteorite and hide them there."
No one spoke.
Mordo stared at that report.
Ever since Lin Yi became the personal disciple of the Sorcerer Supreme, Mordo had been keeping his eyes on him, blending all the incidents together.
Mordo arrived at a chilling conclusion in his mind.
Lin Yi was not using magic to fight magic at all; he was devouring the price that ought to be paid.
This is not talent at all! This violates the fundamental philosophy upon which Kamar-Taj was founded!
When mages borrow power, they must pay a price; this is balance.
Something that has no price and can grow stronger solely by devouring disasters is even more terrifying than Dormammu.
"Master." Mordo turned his head to look at Ancient One, who had been sitting in the primary seat without speaking.
"Regardless of whether this report is true or false, Lin Yi's existence itself is a massive out-of-control factor. He has no reverence, no bottom line."
Ancient One put down the white porcelain teacup in her hand.
The conference room fell completely silent.
All gazes converged on the Sorcerer Supreme.
Ancient One swept her gaze over everyone at the long table, her look as calm as an ancient well.
"Just file the report away; no one is allowed to disclose a single bit of it." Ancient One's tone had zero fluctuations.
"As for the reconstruction costs of the London Sanctum, they will be allocated from logistics."
"Daniel, go to the infirmary to collect three bottles of Moon Dew; London still needs you."
"Meeting adjourned."
Ancient One's wide robe sleeves brushed across the tabletop as she walked directly toward the back hall.
Several high-ranking mages looked at each other in dismay.
They had never seen Ancient One act so arbitrarily on such a major event.
But with the Sorcerer Supreme's majesty laid out there, everyone could only stand up and bow, exiting the room with a belly full of doubts.
Mordo did not leave.
He strode to catch up with Ancient One, blocking the doorway.
"Master!" Mordo gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot.
"What on Earth is he? He doesn't even obey the most basic meditation rules! Today he can tear open a lord with bare hands, and tomorrow he can use this brute force against Kamar-Taj!"
Ancient One stopped her footsteps.
Watching Mordo's face deformed by anger and fear, she suddenly sighed.
"Mordo, you value rules very much because rules give you a sense of security." Ancient One's voice was very soft.
"But rules are also meant to protect the weak. For those who do not need protection, the rules in your hands are not even worth a piece of waste paper."
"If you want to see through him, you must first learn to raise your head."
Ancient One bypassed Mordo and pushed open the wooden door of the back hall.
Mordo stood dazed on the spot.
"Raise my head? Look up to a madman with no bottom line?"
Absolutely impossible, this power must be restricted, Kamar-Taj must never fall into the hands of such a monster.
Chapter 18: Lin the Con Artist Online
Kamar-Taj, East Court Apprentice Dormitory Area.
In a single-story house at the farthest corner, Lin Yi sat cross-legged on a hard wooden bed.
On the broken table in front of him lay that fist-sized, black polyhedral crystal.
The lords core—this thing was emanating visible ripples of space outward layer by layer.
[Detectable high-tier law crystal for absorption: lords core.]
[Description: Contains a portion of the Dark Dimension's origin. Forcible absorption will trigger a high-temperature nuclear fusion-level physical burning, lasting for two hours.]
[Cost Reversal Estimate: Upon absorption completion, Constitution will transcend mortal limits.]
Lin Yi rubbed his chin.
He definitely had to absorb it; there was no reason to spit out meat handed to his mouth.
But the prompt given by this damn system was fatal: high-temperature burning at the level of nuclear fusion.
As for the rundown cottage he lived in now, it was all wooden beams and a thatched roof.
If he absorbed it here, in less than five minutes, the entire East Court would be burned to the ground.
When that time came, that old money-grubber Ancient One would probably demand who knows how much money in compensation.
"I need to find a quiet place with good heat insulation," Lin Yi muttered.
He quickly ran through the architectural map of Kamar-Tajin his head.
His eyes suddenly lit up.
Master Mordo's private meditation room.
Supposedly, to test a Fire forbidden spell back in the day, that place was built entirely out of Deep-Sea Obsidianimported from Asgard, with twelve absolute soundproof runes carved into the door.
It was simply a perfect "alchemy furnace."
Lin Yi stuffed the core into his pocket and jumped down from the bed.
"I wonder if Master Mordo is in a meeting right now. He shouldn't mind if I borrow it, right?"
...
Kamar-Taj, west side of the East Court.
Lin Yi strolled over to the door of Mordo's meditation room with his hands in his pockets.
Reaching straight out, he grabbed the brass handle and pulled outward.
Crack.
The door lock, along with half a piece of obsidian, was forcibly torn off, scrapping the defense formation eye on the spot.
Lin Yi pushed the door open, stepped inside, and blocked the stone door back into the doorframe with a backhand movement.
It was dark inside. The floor was cast with mithril forming an energy-gathering magic array, and a quiet atmosphere filled the air.
"Nice environment. The insulation effect should meet the standards."
Lin Yi sat cross-legged in the center and pulled out the black lords core from his pocket.
As soon as the core touched the mithril array, it came to life instantly.
A dark red halo burst out from within the core, and the temperature inside the stone room surged skyward.
On his retina, white text cascaded down like a waterfall.
[Subjected to nuclear fusion-level high-temperature burning.]
[Triggered 'Cost Reversal'.]
[Burning damage converted into permanent Constitution increase.]
[Constitution +1000!]
[Constitution +1000!]
[Constitution +1000!]
Lin Yi yawned.
The surrounding temperature had already reached ridiculous heights.
The hard obsidian walls began to glow red and soften. The mithril magic lines on the floor melted completely, flowing everywhere as silver liquid.
The entire stone room turned into a high-pressure steel furnace.
Sitting in the center, Lin Yi felt like he was soaking in a hot spring, every pore relaxing, thoroughly comfortable.
[Subjected to Abyss Origin assimilation check.]
[Check failed; converted into permanent Strength increase.]
[Strength +5000!]
[Strength +5000!]
Two hours later.
The obsidian walls had turned into flowing dark-red magma, and the twelve defense runes were burned away without even ashes remaining. Half of the stone room's roof had collapsed, revealing the night sky outside.
[lords core absorption completed.]
[Constitution exceeded mortal limit definition; physical restructuring completed.]
[Acquired passive skill: Demigod Body (Basic Level). Absolute immunity to all magic attacks below Rank C; no reversal required.]
Lin Yi stood up and stretched his limbs.
He looked around at the bubbling magma pool and scratched the back of his head.
Rapid footsteps came from outside.
Mordo was furious in the conference room. Too bothered to pay attention to the other sorcerers' gossip, he headed straight for his meditation room, wanting to calm his emotions through meditation.
Just as he turned past the corridor, Mordo stopped.
Ahead, there was no stone room—only a magma pit billowing thick smoke.
That stone door now only had a melted black frame left, lying in the mud.
Veins throbbed wildly on Mordo's forehead as he rushed over in large strides.
A heatwave blew against his face, curling the hem of his sorcerer robes.
Mordo endured the extreme heat and stared wide-eyed inside.
Lin Yi was wading out from knee-deep magma.
The two stared at each other through the heat haze.
"What... what did you do in my meditation room?"
"Don't get mad just yet, okay?"
"If I said I was just passing by and dropped in to smoke a cigarette, and the match fell on the ground... would you believe me?"
"Asgardian obsidian!" Mordo roared hysterically. "Obsidian that can withstand a meteorite impact! You burned it into mush!"
Lin Yi patted the ashes off his trouser legs.
"The materials were definitely fake," Lin Yi said in a sincere tone. "You got scammed, Master Mordo. Next time you go buying building materials, I'll go with you. I definitely won't let you get ripped off."
A yellow light lit up in Mordo's hand.
"I will kill you, you heresy disrupting the balance!"
A wild bolt of lightning blasted straight toward Lin Yi's face.
The lightning struck his chest without leaving even a single spark, merging directly into that Demigod Body.
[Subjected to lightning strike.]
[Rank C magic immunity triggered.]
"We're all from the same order, using weapons damages our harmony," Lin Yi waved his hand. "I won't ask for compensation for this room; consider it a free service helping you test material strength. No need to thank me."
Lin Yi's foot slid, and he instantly flashed ten meters away, so fast that he vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Ahhh—!!"
Mordo looked at the ruined meditation room, screaming like a prairie dog.
...
Lin Yi strolled back to his dormitory.
After his constitution broke through the limit, his body felt light even when walking, and he was just preparing to go back and enjoy a sweet sleep.
A person was standing in the room.
A young woman in sorcerer robes, with short brown hair, a tall build, and a sharp gaze.
Lin Yi whistled and leaned against the doorframe, checking her out.
"Hey beautiful, did you get the wrong room?"
"Hello, Master Lin Yi," the woman said, looking at Lin Yi. "My name is Sophia, array tutor of the New York Sanctum."
Lin Yi uttered an 'oh'.
"Is there something up?"
Sophia took a step forward and pulled up the sleeve of her sorcerer robe on her left arm.
Lin Yi raised an eyebrow.
On that arm, deep purple magic burn scars crawled everywhere, looking like venomous snakes wrapped around her skin—a shocking sight.
"I have recently been practicing High-Tier Element Aggregation," Sophia pulled down her sleeve, speaking stiffly. "But my constitution is too weak. Every time I forcibly mobilize elements, I suffer severe backlash."
"Go find the bald head, why look for me?" Lin Yi stepped into the room.
Sophia froze for a moment, staring into Lin Yi's eyes.
"The Sorcerer Supreme would only tell me to stop practicing and conform to nature."
"But I watched the surviving surveillance footage of your battle in London."
"You didn't use any defensive magic artifacts, yet you were immune to the origin erosion of the Dark Dimension."
Lin Yi put away his lazy expression; this woman was quite sharp.
"I want to know if there is a special path for strengthening constitution, or a technique free from backlash. As long as you are willing to teach me, I can find a way to get you whatever resources the New York Sanctum can offer."
Lin Yi's eyes rolled around; naturally, he wouldn't reveal that he had a system.
But it would be unjustifiable if he didn't grab the benefits handed to him.
"You said it!"
Sophia nodded.
Lin Yi rubbed his chin, pondering how to bluff her.
"Ahem... tell me... if a drunk cockroach meets a heartbroken rat, what happens?"
"Are you mocking me?"
Chapter 19: Sophia's Accidental Success
"No." Lin Yi talked nonsense with a straight face, "This is a conflict between species, but they will give birth to a cockroach mouse."
Sophia was stunned, completely unable to keep up with this jumping logic.
"Magical backlash is essentially a conflict as well." Lin Yibegan fabricating a theory on the spot, "You practice high-tier elements, and your body cannot bear it because you keep trying to suppress the backlash."
"If I don't suppress it, my meridians will snap!"
"Then let them snap." Lin Yi pointed at her arm, "If ice-type backlash frostbites your meridians, you go burn yourself with fire magic. If poison-type magic corrodes your flesh, you go swallow razor blades."
"Are you crazy? This is suicide!"
"This is called the Hedging Cultivation Method." Lin Yistood with his hands behind his back, "Costs are conserved between costs. You use more extreme destruction to offset the original destruction. When the two backlashes fight inside your body, your body can reap the benefits."
Lin Yi pointed at his own chest.
"As for why I'm fine? The previous cost of the Void Sealing Technique was because the Abyss and the void fought a fight in my body, and then they both died, so I became stronger."
Sophia's breathing grew rapid, and she felt this man was pulling her leg.
Moreover, this theory was utterly absurd, completely subverting all magical common sense.
But... the person in front of her had genuinely achieved resisting the Dark Dimension's erosion with his physical body.
Looking at Lin Yi's confident expression, her heart wavered somewhat.
Fight poison with poison? Offset cost with cost?
"Hedging... conservation..." Sophia muttered these two words, her eyes growing brighter and brighter.
She didn't ask any more questions and bowed deeply to Lin Yi.
"Thank you for the guidance. If I survive, I owe you a life."
Sophia turned around and walked out of the bungalow.
Lin Yi looked at her back and touched his chin.
"This woman wouldn't actually go try it, would she?" Lin Yismacked his lips, "Whatever, it's not my hand anyway."
"Right, if it works, don't forget the benefits you mentioned!"
Lin Yi shouted toward the doorway, stretched, and collapsed onto the wooden bed.
An extremely faint throbbing came from deep within his body.
It felt like something was expanding inside, lasting less than half a second before disappearing.
Lin Yi didn't care; he only felt that after absorbing the Lord Core, this body was filled with explosive power.
...
New York Sanctum, underground lava array.
Sophia walked to the center of the array eye.
She stripped off her heavy magic robe, revealing her left arm.
The skin was covered with large patches of purple frost, and the frozen blood vessels bulged beneath the epidermis.
She raised both hands, her ten fingers flipping to form seals.
The Earth's core fire surged from all directions, climbing upwards along her calves.
The flames did not ignite her clothing, heading straight into her body.
Extreme cold and extreme heat collided head-on within her veins.
Sophia gritted her teeth as the two extreme energies treated her physical body as a battlefield, slaughtering each other while the meridians along the way emitted fragile cracking sounds.
Remembering Lin Yi's words, Sophia completely abandoned defense, using all her remaining magic power to guide more of the Earth's core fire.
The flames burned away the aged blood vessels frozen to death by frost, and the remaining magic power lost its original vent channel, beginning to collide blindly at the broken gaps.
Finding survival after being placed in a dead end.
On the verge of complete disintegration, the physical body stimulated its survival instinct.
At the limit of destruction, the ice and fire energies achieved a miraculous neutralization, transforming into a pure, attribute-less, brutal magic power, reopening a new path within this broken body.
The purple patches turned into black blood and were discharged through the pores.
Newborn skin covered the grotesque scars.
Sophia opened her eyes, her right hand gripping empty air.
A transparent high-tier magic orb formed in her palm, without any stagnation or backlash.
Three days later.
Kamar-Taj, East Courtyard bungalow.
Lin Yi sat cross-legged on the hard wooden bed, with three things placed in front of him.
The ceramic bowl held a small half-bowl of black, viscous liquid.
This was the Bone-Corroding Venom he had just swiped from the alchemy room. The formula added Black Widowspider venom and abyss moss, and usually, mages only dared to use it to coat weapons while wearing dragon-skin gloves.
Lin Yi picked up the bowl, raised his neck, and drank the venom in one gulp.
[Suffering from severe poison erosion.]
[C-tier magic immunity activated, damage exempted.]
He felt nothing at all.
Lin Yi threw the bowl on the ground, picked up the dagger in front of him, gripped the hilt in reverse, and forcefully stabbed it into his left thigh.
"Clang."
A crisp metallic snapping sound rang out.
Lin Yi cursed a dirty word.
The Demigod Body granted by the Lord Core was way too hard.
Conventional damage below C-tier was directly judged as immune, failing to enter the Cost Reversal pool.
This meant that his good old days of casually finding a low-tier array to idle and grind stats had come to an end.
Refusing to believe it, he picked up the thunderstorm amulet and crushed it hard.
Blinding blue thunder exploded in his palm, and violent electric arcs spread along his arm, burning away most of his ragged shirt.
[Suffering mid-tier thunder attribute destruction.]
[C-tier magic immunity activated. Damage exempted.]
Lin Yi collapsed completely on the bed.
Even high-tier consumables like these on the market couldn't break his defense, where else could he find wool to fleece? He couldn't possibly run to the entrance of the Dark Dimension to curse people every day, could he?
The door was knocked twice.
Sophia pushed the door open and walked in, wearing a deep blue magic robe.
As soon as she crossed the threshold, her gaze fell on the broken bowl, the snapped dagger, and the scorched lightning marks all over the floor.
Looking again at Lin Yi, who was shirtless with a large hole in his trousers, Sophia took a breath.
Carrying a silver briefcase, she walked up to the table, crossed her hands, and bowed ninety degrees.
"Mage Lin Yi, the Hedging Cultivation Method you proposed has worked. I have survived the danger period and successfully advanced to high-tier."
Lin Yi was scraping his stubble with the barbs of the chain of despair, and hearing these words, his hand paused.
She really didn't die? This woman is an absolute savage.
His expression was calm as he waved his hand casually: "Routine operation, basic physics common sense."
Sophia straightened her body and opened the briefcase.
Inside were neatly arranged twelve rhombus-shaped blue crystals, emitting visible ripples.
"These are Star Energy Secret Diamonds."
"The strategic reserves of the New York Sanctum. Each contains extremely high-frequency mental radiation. Without purification, ordinary people will go insane just by approaching within half a meter. Consider it a token of my appreciation."
High-frequency mental radiation.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yi instantly straightened his body, reached into the box, and pinched out one.
The surface of the crystal was prickly, cold, and hard.
He opened his mouth and tossed the secret diamond into it.
Crunch. Crunch.
Sophia widened her eyes, watching Lin Yi chew the Star Energy Secret Diamond to pieces like candy and swallow it directly.
[Suffering high-frequency mental radiation slicing.]
[Triggered Cost Reversal.]
[Mental power + 1000.]
[Mental power + 1000.]
Lin Yi's eyes lit up; this stuff was useful, breaking through the C-tier threshold.
"Delicious." Lin Yi grabbed two more and stuffed them into his pocket. "I'll accept this token of appreciation."
Sophia forcibly suppressed her surging emotions.
At this moment, she was completely convinced that the person standing before her was definitely not an ordinary human.
Chapter 20: Mordo Looking for Trouble
Early morning.
Kamar-Taj Martial Arts Arena.
The morning mist in the mountains had not yet dispersed, and the air carried a biting chill.
Over a hundred apprentices wearing gray robes were lined up on the square, their hands raised flat, calmly and intently practicing the opening stance of the Rings of Raggadorr.
Lin Yi, with messy hair and also wearing a gray robe, walked along the path at the edge of the training ground.
Ever since he became the Personal Disciple, he didn't have to participate in these anymore.
He was heading to the cafeteria. Today was Thursday, and the cafeteria was serving fresh meat buns; if he went late, only vegetable leaves would be left.
Just as he took two steps, the path ahead was blocked.
Mordo, wearing a dark green robe with his hands behind his back, stood in the middle of the bluestone pavement.
Behind him stood two Enforcement Mages, looking unfriendly.
The apprentices on the training ground didn't stop their movements, but their gazes all shifted toward them in unison.
They had all heard the explosion from the East Courtyardin the middle of the night, and word had already spread in private that Mage Mordo's private meditation room had been burned to ashes by Lin Yi.
Wong stood at the back of the training ground, holding half a roasted sweet potato in his hand.
"Mage Lin Yi, morning," Mordo gritted out through clenched teeth.
Lin Yi yawned and rubbed the corner of his eye.
"Morning, Mage Mordo. Heading to the cafeteria? Let's go together, they have meat buns today."
"Mage Lin Yi," Mordo took a step forward, his leather boots making a dull thud against the stone tiles. "Since the Sorcerer Supreme has taken you as her Personal Disciple, it means you must have some extraordinary qualities. As an Instructor of Kamar-Taj, it is my responsibility to test your progress in cultivation."
"Test?" Lin Yi scratched his belly. "There's no need. My foundation is poor and my talent is low, don't you all know that? Let's just leave it at that, I'm going to eat first."
Mordo did not budge.
He raised his right hand, and a blinding orange-yellow magical light lit up in his palm.
Two three-meter-long magic whips extended from his wrists, their tips lashing against the bluestone tiles, directly tearing open a charred crack an inch deep.
"This is the rule of Kamar-Taj. Mage Lin Yi, please enlighten me."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mordo's figure vanished from where he stood.
The air above the training ground rippled like water, and Mordo appeared out of thin air above Lin Yi's head.
Aided by the gravity of his descent, he swung the magicwhips with both arms, creating a harsh howling wind as they slashed down in a cross toward Lin Yi's shoulders.
The surrounding apprentices let out a gasp.
"The Whip of Seraphim!" an apprentice blurted out. "Mage Mordo is playing for keeps!"
Wong watched with great interest while eating his sweet potato.
Facing the magic whips raining down on him, Lin Yi didn't even raise an eyebrow.
Snap! Snap!
The two whips lashed onto Lin Yi's shoulders.
Sparks from the mana collision flew everywhere, and the Impact spread in all directions, flipping over the stone tiles by Lin Yi's feet.
Not even a red mark was left on Lin Yi's shoulders, and the magic whips shattered directly into a sky full of light specks.
[Subjected to high-tier magic energy whipping.]
[Triggered Cost Reversal.]
[magic Resistance +500.]
[Physique +500.]
Lin Yi cracked his neck and looked at Mordo, who had landed in front of him, curling his lip. "Are you just giving me a massage?"
Mordo's cheek twitched.
"Arrogant."
Mordo quickly formed hand seals, his fingers tracing complex geometric patterns in mid-air.
He spread his feet apart and exerted sudden force from his waist.
With a boom, the gravitational field in the center of the training ground shifted.
The stone tiles beneath Lin Yi's feet shattered inch by inch as immense pressure squeezed in from all directions.
That was Mordo's best composite magic: Spatial Imprisonment combined with the Sword of Vishanti.
A giant magic sword burning with dark-gold light coalesced above Mordo's head, stretching over five meters long.
Ancient runes flowed across the surface of the blade, and the high temperature it radiated baked the surrounding air until it warped and distorted.
"Fall!" Mordo roared.
The giant sword, accompanied by a sharp whistle that tore through the air, slashed straight down toward the crown of Lin Yi's head.
The apprentices retreated one after another, raising their arms to shield themselves from the heatwave.
Wong swallowed hard; this was a lethal strike.
Lin Yi sighed and reached out his hand directly to meet the descending giant sword.
Clang—!
A resonant, bell-like crash echoed throughout the entire Front Courtyard of Kamar-Taj.
The blast of air cleared the space, and Mordo was pushed back three or four meters by the recoil, plowing two deep grooves into the stone tiles.
He looked up, his eyes wide as saucers.
Lin Yi was still standing in the same spot.
[Subjected to high-tier spatial-type weapon slash.]
[Subjected to ultra-high temperature magic burn.]
[Triggered Cost Reversal.]
[Physique +1000.]
[Strength +800.]
Feeling the new strength surging within him, Lin Yi nodded in satisfaction.
This Mordo actually had some skill.
"Anything else?" Lin Yi looked at Mordo. "If not, I'm really going to eat."
Mordo's breathing grew heavy.
His self-esteem had been utterly trampled.
A person he had deemed a useless piece of trash had now caught his all-out ultimate move with just one hand.
"You don't know how to use magic at all, you heretic."
His voice was crystal clear across the training ground.
Lin Yi rubbed his growling stomach, feeling a bit impatient.
He turned his head and looked at Wong, who was watching the show from the back of the crowd.
"Old Wong, do you have any extra?" Lin Yi pointed at the honey-dripping roasted sweet potato in Wong's hand.
Wong froze for a moment, glanced at the sweet potato in his hand, and then looked at Mordo, who was radiating violent magical power.
He quickly stuffed the remaining half of the sweet potato into the wide sleeve of his robe, turning his face away and pretending he hadn't heard.
Lin Yi smacked his lips.
Mordo crossed his hands in front of his chest, palms facing each other.
Blinding orange-red light spilled from between his fingers, flowing backward up his wrists like glowing venomous snakes, slipping into his robe and crawling up his cheeks.
He was engraving spatial spells onto his own flesh and blood.
This was an extreme combat method recorded in the archives of Kamar-Taj.
High-tier mages would give up the safe distance of ranged combat, forcibly compressing the spatial folding arrays originally meant to imprison enemies and attaching them to the surface of their limbs, in exchange for an explosive power that defied common sense.
The cost was that the caster's bones and meridians had to bear the immense load of spatial distortion; with the slightest slip-up, their physical body would be torn to shreds by their own magic.
Crack, crack.
Mordo's joints ground together, and the bluestone tiles beneath his feet, unable to withstand the overflowing gravity, silently caved inward to form a shallow pit.
"You devoured magical artifacts and absorbed the curse from the forbidden book." Mordo raised his head, orange array patterns spreading from the corners of his eyes. "This power isn't magic at all. It violates the Conservation of Cost."
"You are an uncontrollable monster, and one day you will bring about a disaster greater than Dormammu!"
"Are you done talking?" Lin Yi yawned, putting his hands in his pockets. "Seriously, I'm done. Do you have a screw loose or something?"
Mordo's eyelid twitched violently.
He stomped his right foot heavily on the ground, and using the spatial folding power attached to his legs, he instantly closed a distance of ten steps.
His afterimage dragged a long band of light through the air.