Under repeated urging, Sienna finally shares Lord Kong's solution in full.
Silence descends upon the chamber.
Fifty-three pairs of eyes shift at once, settling on a single figure.
Yas.
Among all of them, only Yas had truly abandoned his former human path. The rest still clung—consciously or not—to the cultivation methods they once followed as humans. Sword intent, elemental refinement, faith in divine authority. Only Yas had let all of it go. He had discarded the Way of Molten Fire and immersed himself entirely in understanding Twilight itself.
Yas understands what they are asking of him.
He steps forward without hesitation, walking to the centre of the chamber.
"Let us see," he says calmly, "if Lord Kong's solution works."
No one stops him.
Yas sits down on the cold floor and closes his eyes.
The Twilight power within him stirs.
Inside his spirit space, the twilight sun hanging above his consciousness begins to descend. Its light does not burn or purify—instead, it balances. Dark and light fold together, neither dominant, neither suppressed. The power flows downward like liquid dusk, pooling at the centre of his spirit space.
A shape begins to emerge.
At first, it is only an outline—vague, unstable. The Twilight power condenses again and again, layering upon itself, carving detail through repetition. A massive leonine frame forms, shoulders broad and regal, its mane composed of flickering dusk-fire. Two wings unfurl from its back, not feathered but sculpted from overlapping streams of Twilight flame. Behind it, three tails take shape, each one ending in a slow-burning ember of balanced light and shadow.
The lion's eyes ignite—twin stars of twilight.
The holy spirit is born.
Outside, Yas's brows knit together.
The others notice immediately.
"Something's wrong?"
"Did it fail?"
"Is the visualisation unstable?"
Their voices overlap in hushed tension.
Then—
The lion's wings flare wide.
Twilight fire erupts.
A ring of flame expands outward from Yas's body, sweeping across the chamber. The fire does not consume—it dominates. Twilight fire spirals upward, forming a blazing vortex that roars like a living storm.
Yas's aura surges.
One day passes.
Then two.
Then five.
The chamber becomes an inferno. Twilight fire churns violently, distorting space itself. The pressure becomes unbearable. One by one, the Twilight Race members retreat, forced to evacuate the chamber entirely.
Then—
The chamber explodes.
Not outward, but inward.
A hurricane of Twilight fire collapses upon itself, compressing until only a single vortex remains. From within it, a deafening roar shakes the sky islands.
The fire calms.
At the centre floats the lion.
Majestic. Complete. Real.
The lion lowers its head, gazing down at Yas's physical body below. Then it begins to shrink. The massive form compresses, refining rather than dispersing, until it mirrors Yas's own shape.
The holy spirit steps forward—
—and enters him.
The merge begins.
Twilight power floods Yas's body, spirit, and soul simultaneously. His inner field expands violently, then stabilises.
Then boom.
Yas's aura detonates outward, no longer chaotic but perfectly ordered.
Third stage.
Great Wizard.
The Twilight fire extinguishes itself, leaving only scorched stone and lingering dusk-light in the air.
Cheers erupt.
The chamber fills again as the Twilight Race rushes back inside, voices filled with disbelief, relief, and exultation. For the first time since their creation, their future is clear.
With Yas's breakthrough, the destiny of the Twilight Race becomes irrevocably bound to the Wizard Way.
Far away, within the cultivation chamber of Issac and Nyra, the divine pool trembles.
Both awaken simultaneously.
They exchange a glance.
"What is going on?" Nyra asks.
At the same moment, both of them extend their soul senses into the Divine Pool—and freeze.
The rules within the pool are changing.
Threads of an unfamiliar yet unmistakable order flow inward, weaving themselves into the Divine Pool's core. The ancient runes engraved upon it begin to shift, one by one, reshaping themselves into wizard runes. The liquid within the pool churns violently, its brilliance deepening as streaks of violet magic energy seep through, tinting the once-pure radiance with a new hue.
Surprise flashes in both their eyes.
The Divine Pool is growing stronger.
Their soul senses expand outward—and immediately lock onto a distant aura.
Yas.
The unmistakable presence of a Great Wizard.
Understanding dawns at once.
The Divine Pool is the holy treasure of the Twilight Race, bound directly to their destiny. The moment Yas stepped into the Great Wizard realm, the destiny of the Twilight Race crossed a threshold. It entered the Wizard Way.
And once the Twilight Race's destiny merged with the Wizard Way's destiny, the rules of the Wizard Way naturally flowed into the Divine Pool.
Nyra and Issac look at each other in silence.
A few days ago, they had agreed to let their people join the Wizard Way. At the time, it was a calculated alliance. With the Wizard Way, Isla, and Kong Wuya, their side would command four gods, while the Night Dynasty stood with only one. Victory was already assured. They had expected the returns to come after the war, once the world's rules tilted decisively.
They had not expected the return to arrive immediately.
At that moment, they feel a familiar presence.
Kong Wuya's soul sense reaches them.
They open themselves to the connection.
"Lord Issac. Lord Nyra," Kong Wuya's voice echoes calmly within their minds. "Welcome to the Wizard Way. This is a small gift from me."
Knowledge floods their consciousness.
The cultivation methods of the Great Wizard realm.
And beyond that—the Divine Wizard realm.
Issac exhales slowly. "Thank you for the gift."
Nyra smiles faintly. "We will send you a gift in return."
"I will be waiting," Kong Wuya replies. "Let us speak later. I can sense you are busy—and I have a meeting to attend."
His soul sense withdraws.
Issac and Nyra remain seated, watching as the Divine Pool continues its transformation, even as they begin to study the inheritance he has given them. With their foundations, cultivating the Wizard Way to the divine level would not be difficult.
But not yet.
Their path remains clear.
They will first complete the transformation of the Divine Pool into a true divine treasure. With it, they will step directly into True Godhood.
—
Elsewhere, Kaelan steps into a vast chamber.
The moment he crosses the threshold, all noise vanishes, as if swallowed by the space itself.
He walks forward at an unhurried pace and ascends a short set of steps, taking his seat at the highest platform. From there, he surveys the hall.
The chamber is circular, its ceiling soaring far overhead. Massive chandeliers hang above, each one formed from crystallised magic light, illuminating the room with a steady, dignified glow.
Directly opposite Kaelan's position stands the grand entrance—a single, monumental door aligned perfectly with his seat.
On both sides of the chamber, beginning near the door and extending halfway toward the centre, rise three tiers of elevated platforms.
The lowest platform holds long desks stretching along both sides. Thirty-six chairs line each desk. Seated there are the regional heads of the Magic Association, representing the seventy regions under Wizard Way governance.
Above them, on the middle platform, sit twenty-four officials—men and women responsible for coordination, development, logistics, and the continued expansion of the Wizard Way across the world.
The highest platform lies just one step below Kaelan's own seat. No desks rest there—only chairs. Five on one side. Six on the other.
The eleven Great Wizards.
As Kaelan's gaze settles upon them, every person in the chamber rises as one.
"Welcome, Lord Kong."
All those seated here are of the human race. Although nearly half of the demon race has already joined the Wizard Way, the enmity between humans and demons has not vanished. Demon beasts do not gather as humans do; instead, they remain scattered across the regions, integrated unevenly into the Wizard Way's structure.
Kaelan's eyes move calmly across the chamber.
On the middle platform, he sees Li Xueyao. Nearby sit Lu Chen and Chen Qi. On the lowest platform, Chen Wei, Tang Luyan, and Gu Yun are present among the regional heads.
His gaze then lifts to the highest platform—the eleven Great Wizards, the true backbone of the Wizard Way.
He nods first to Veena, then to Minyu and Lin Zian.
His eyes continue down the line.
Han Moxuan, master of flame refinement and large-scale spell forges.
Qin Shuyin, a water-element Great Wizard whose domain governs healing arrays and ecological restoration.
Wei Jingshu, an earth-path Great Wizard specialising in city-scale defensive formations.
Mu Ranze, a wood-element Great Wizard responsible for magical agriculture and life-support networks.
Jiang Yufei, a lightning-path Great Wizard overseeing long-distance transmission and spell communication.
Xu Yanluo, a shadow-element Great Wizard tasked with intelligence, counter-infiltration, and concealment arrays.
Pei Canglan, an ice-path Great Wizard active on the frozen wasteland front.
Shen Luohan, a metal-path Great Wizard whose authority covers weapons, constructs, and mass-production spellcraft.
This is the first time Kaelan has personally entered such a meeting.
The proceedings begin with reports from the regional heads.
One by one, seventy-two regional leaders stand and present the developments within their territories. The process alone takes more than half a day. Kaelan listens without interruption, his expression unchanged as he silently records each region's strengths, weaknesses, resource flows, and latent potential. Even as they speak, he is already calculating how to refine their structures, redistribute manpower, and correct inefficiencies.
When the regional reports conclude, the middle platform takes over.
New technologies are presented. Experimental spell frameworks. Advances in magic-industrial integration. Research directions that will shape the Wizard Way for decades to come.
The Great Wizards themselves do not report.
They are not here to justify their work, but to listen—to weigh information and determine the future direction of the Wizard Way alongside Kaelan.
Only Pei Canglan rises.
"The Night Dynasty has sharply increased the intensity of its attacks on the frozen wasteland," he reports. "The pressure has returned to the levels seen at the beginning of the war."
Before he can continue—
The rule network of the world trembles violently.