Chapter 264 - 204: Eve of Advancement

Chapter 264: Chapter 204: Eve of Advancement

The third stage of the modification surgery was different from the first two. It involved internal organs, which not only increased the surgical difficulty but also made the choice of organs crucial. After all, these were his vitals; a problem with any one of them would be a major disaster!

This was also a key reason why Isaac chose the third stage to graft the Concept of the Justice Faction into his own body.

After all, it was the Justice Faction, which represented truth, goodness, and beauty. Even if something went wrong, how bad could it really be?

And among these three modification and transplant surgeries, one would inevitably be for his heart. This was the organ transplant procedure Isaac was most proficient in; he knew it so well, he could do it with his eyes closed and not make a mistake.

Of course, there was another reason. For the heart transplant material, he now had the perfect target—one even more suitable than his previous choice, the Divine Heart. It was the Angel’s Heart from the Itra Vault!

Although an Angel was a servant of a God, its heart was of a higher level than a Divine Heart. This was because the full name of a Divine Heart was actually "a culture grown from the heart fragments of a Divine Species"!

While a Divine Species was also valuable, it wasn’t necessarily more powerful than an Angel.

Moreover, what Isaac truly valued was the Concept of [Justice] contained within the Angel’s Heart. This Concept was far purer than that of the Divine Heart.

In the eyes of the world, Gods could be good or evil; a God didn’t necessarily represent truth, goodness, and beauty—and this was indeed the case. Angels, as servants of Gods, could also be good or evil.

But in the eyes of the world, an Angel was the very Incarnation of truth, goodness, and beauty. It was Justice itself!

Therefore, from the perspective of the domain of Concepts, the Angel’s Heart better suited Isaac’s needs.

Not to mention, this Angel’s Heart was whole! It was also only Tier Four, making it an exceedingly rare Low Tier Angel’s Heart.

Besides the heart, the second organ Isaac chose was the liver. This would significantly boost his stamina, which was essential for his research.

As for the third...

Isaac decided to take an unconventional path. Instead of another organ, he chose to modify his bones—specifically, his ribs!

The path of a Legendary Mage seemed convoluted, but it could be summarized in a single sentence: to ascend from a mortal with no innate talent for Magic to a High-level Magic Life!

At the Official Wizard stage, a Wizard trades with other Magical Creatures to obtain a pure Power Seed. They then plant this seed in their spine, forcibly granting themselves the ability to possess and perceive Magic Power.

At the Grand Wizard stage, the spine has already accumulated a vast amount of Magic Power and has been somewhat enhanced. But the spine alone is not enough, which is why nine modification surgeries are required to bring oneself "closer" to Magic Power.

Of course, the nine surgeries are merely part of the process. The ultimate goal is to combine the power of all transplanted and modified Magic Organs to ascend and become a High-level Magic Life!

In this process, the spine is the foundation of everything, making it incredibly important. Therefore, for his final modification surgery, Isaac didn’t choose a more traditional organ, but opted to modify his ribs instead.

Since the ribs connect to the spine, Magic Power transmission would be more efficient, which could, to some extent, increase his chances of advancement.

So, what was the trade-off?

His physical body would naturally be slightly weaker than that of other Wizards of the same tier, and his Magic Power reserves would also be comparatively lower.

However, this wasn’t a major issue for Isaac. After all, as a Wizard, he rarely engaged in close combat. As for the slight deficit in Magic Power...

There were plenty of ways to compensate for that!

The drawbacks were negligible compared to the benefits. Of course, Isaac’s true motive wasn’t just the increased chance of success. The real reason he chose this path was because of his Magic Pet—Harmon.

As Isaac’s Magic Pet, Harmon’s very source of power was linked to Isaac’s spine. This was why, even now, it still emerged from the back of Isaac’s head—because that was its home.

Therefore, if Isaac’s spine was enhanced, Harmon would naturally be enhanced as well. Moreover, this was an enhancement at its very source, different from the strengthening a Magic Pet receives when its master advances in rank.

Isaac had always paid close attention to Harmon, the Magic Pet with whom he shared a profound bond.

It was just that Harmon was a Divine Hand, and most of the powerful enhancement paths for a Divine Hand only truly began at Tier Three. That was why it was no longer Isaac’s greatest asset in battle, as it once had been.

Unfortunately, the Itra Vault didn’t have a rib bone that met Isaac’s requirements. He could only acquire what he needed from the Sect: a small piece of a Golden Dragon’s rib.

However, this "small piece" was only small relative to a Golden Dragon. To Isaac, the thing was massive—taller than he was!

Naturally, something so massive couldn’t be transplanted directly. Like the second-stage modifications, it first needed to be brewed into a Magic Potion, which would then be used for a gradual transformation.

The difference was that this time, it involved not only internal consumption but also external application—he would have to lay his own chest open and smear the Magic Potion, mixed with some of the bone powder, directly onto his ribs!

The risk level for the entire procedure was quite high.

For the current Isaac, however, it was manageable. After all, he had wondrous Magic at his disposal.

And so, Isaac once again plunged into the process of modifying his own body. The first transplant to be completed was, naturally, the Angel’s Heart, which took two months. Afterward, he began researching the modifications for the final two surgeries while waiting for his body to fully integrate with its new heart.