Chapter 368 - 271: Shocking Turn! An Opportunity for the Empire’s Fall?

Chapter 368: Chapter 271: Shocking Turn! An Opportunity for the Empire’s Fall?

Enslaving an Outer God sounds horrifying, and of course, it is. But even though it’s an exaggerated and terrifying idea, in the current, exceptionally prosperous Wizarding World, is it really that unthinkable?

On a smaller scale, many ancient Wizard Organizations have enslaved Outer Gods. For example, the Flesh Sect’s Blood and Bone God. Nominally, it’s a partnership, but in reality, the Dimension World that is the source of its power has been exploited by the Sect to the point it’s worse than a public bus—at least a bus symbolically charges a small fee...

That alone speaks volumes.

In fact, it’s not just Outer Gods that are enslaved—even True Gods are!

Take the God of Credit, for example. It’s just that compared to Outer Gods, True Gods have slightly more rights, that’s all.

On a larger scale, isn’t the Gate of Legends that shelters all Mad Witches also a method of enslaving Outer Gods?

Of course, it’s less like enslavement and more like herding. It raises countless Outer Gods as fodder for cultivating Mad Witches. The only difference is that the Gate of Legends isn’t quite as coercive.

However, that’s only because the Gate of Legends covers such a vast scope. If its range were smaller, its efficacy would be absolutely top-tier.

So, while enslaving an Outer God might sound shocking, it’s not an impossible feat!

In fact, according to Isaac’s Golden Finger, the success rate for this was even higher than his success rate for God Creation!

It was a bit unbelievable, but it was the truth. Because Isaac was a Mad Witch, and some experiments for Mad Witches allowed for shortcuts!

Isaac didn’t want to take a shortcut with God Creation. After all, that kind of thing could easily go off the rails. The God Creation experiment was already dangerous enough; adding a "shortcut" to the mix...

Even with a cheat, Isaac wouldn’t dare to play with fire like that...

But the current situation was obviously different. Enslaving an Outer God...

This was never a "proper" undertaking to begin with, nor was it something that could be accomplished through proper channels. After all, it was something that only a Tier Five Demigod Mage would have the qualifications and ability to do.

For Isaac, who was still only a Tier Three, the only way to achieve this was by taking a shortcut!

Over the past few days, Isaac had come to some conclusions about this. Since he couldn’t accomplish such a great feat with his own power, he just needed to create a medium that could help him suppress an Outer God.

Just like the Gate of Legends.

Of course, its status would definitely be no match for the Gate of Legends, but Isaac didn’t need it to be that lofty. He only needed this thing to help him control a portion of a single Outer God’s power.

In any case, as long as he didn’t die, the status of this thing would eventually be elevated, just like the Gate of Legends. That thing couldn’t suppress all Outer Gods from the very beginning either.

However, the creation of this medium...

Isaac had to think it over carefully. Not just any material could withstand the Outer God Power, let alone the power of multiple Outer Gods.

BOOM!

One day, Isaac was in his lab trying to create the material for a Demon God Pillar when suddenly, an ethereal booming sound echoed in his mind. Isaac’s hand trembled slightly, and the unidentified Demon Beast Hide in his grip, which was enduring the Erosion of an Evil God’s Power, instantly turned into a puff of black smoke and vanished.

But compared to the loss of the Demon Beast Hide in his hand, the boom that had echoed in his mind was what concerned Isaac far more!

First, as a Quasi-Tier Four Mage currently practicing the Path of Miracles, Isaac was already considered a relatively High Level Magic Life form. Theoretically, it was very difficult for ordinary powers to affect a Magic Life form of his level unless Isaac himself willingly lowered his defenses.

But Isaac, who was in the middle of an experiment, had clearly not lowered those defenses. It was no exaggeration to say that in this state, Isaac was almost completely immune to all Tier Three Mind Illusion Techniques!

He could even resist a Tier Four to some extent!

And yet, in the face of that boom just now, his mental defenses had been utterly useless. It was as if... they didn’t even exist!

What was even more terrifying was that, according to Isaac’s initial judgment, this boom had encompassed the entire Wizarding World!

’Something huge is about to happen!’

The next moment, Isaac’s speculation was answered. At the same time, his expression changed dramatically as a stream of information flowed into his mind...

[Endless Tower, the first Great Creation, will forcibly admit all life forms from Tier Four to Tier Six. Tier Three Life forms may choose to enter voluntarily. Completing the Endless Tower’s Trial allows for a direct one-tier promotion, a perfect advancement.]

!!!

"Looking" at the information that had suddenly appeared in his mind, Isaac was dumbfounded. The amount of information in this message was...

Huge!

First of all, it once again shattered his understanding of Great Wizards. He had initially thought Great Wizards were Tier Six. Later, after learning from a Tier Six powerhouse in the Sect that even he was pursuing the path of a Great Wizard, Isaac had assumed they were Tier Seven...

But now it seemed...

Even Tier Seven was probably far from it...

After all, Isaac, who had reached the very end of the path for a High-level Mage, had to admit that he couldn’t just casually promote someone to a High-level Mage, let alone a perfect advancement...

By the same logic, a Tier Seven couldn’t possibly just casually grant a Tier Six a perfect advancement to Tier Seven!

This was a perfect advancement, after all!

Besides his shock at the power of Great Wizards, there was another point. Isaac was beginning to vaguely understand the true reason for the Empire’s fall...

The Emperor’s death was an important factor, but it definitely wasn’t the only reason!

Isaac had been curious about this before. The reason the Empire was an Empire wasn’t just because of the Emperor’s tyrannical individual strength. Though the Emperor was strong, Demigods as strong as him, or even stronger, were not unheard of. For example, the queen of the Witch Country was also a Demigod, but the Witch Country could in no way be called an Empire.

The true foundation of the Empire lay in the powerful Knights hidden behind every Great Lord!

Admittedly, the Power of Faith from each territory could only support a limited number of Knights of Path of the Gods.

But!

That didn’t mean the one who stepped down was now useless. Take his own Solomon family, for example. After his older brother Caesar succeeded the position and their father abdicated, his father’s power as a High-level Knight didn’t vanish. He just could no longer advance on the Path of the Gods.

But that didn’t mean they couldn’t increase their power at all. If the Path of the Gods was blocked, they could simply switch to another, like the path of a Demon Beast Knight.

There were many noble families like the Solomons. And once one reached Tier Three, unless there was external intervention, living for several hundred years was perfectly normal. However...

A Tier Three High-level Knight could normally be trained in just sixty to seventy years...

One could only imagine how many powerful Knights were hidden behind the Empire’s numerous noble families!

These were the true pillars of the Empire!

That was why Isaac had been so curious before. The Emperor was indeed strong, but not so strong that the Empire would collapse the moment he died.

But now he understood. He understood everything!

The Emperor’s death was a certainty, and that day was drawing ever closer as his conflict with the Master of Billions of Flesh intensified. Now, the pillars of the Empire would be disappearing for a period of time because of this Great Creation, or even...

A portion of them would perish!

Yes, perish.

Although the Creations of the Great Wizards were all meant to make the world better, they were not purely handouts. Just as the message said, this was a Trial. Only by passing could one receive a reward!

And a Trial, by its very nature, could not be completely safe.

However...

Isaac’s eyes flickered slightly. He was considering whether or not to participate in this Trial. To him, the reward of a perfect advancement was nothing special, but every Great Creation was incredibly valuable to him.

Tier Four was within his easy grasp, but becoming a Great Wizard...

That was far from certain.

At the same time, this Trial was clearly not something that could be finished in a short period. Because of that, one could predict that the world was about to undergo a massive transformation. If he joined the Trial, he would most likely miss out on this transformation.

Relying solely on the power of his territory and the Wizard Organization Mad Heart, they might not necessarily be able to land safely amidst this great tide.

After all, entry wasn’t mandatory for Tier Threes. For a long time to come, Tier Threes would be the peak combat power in the Real World. If this Great Creation didn’t also pull in newly advanced Tier Four Life forms, their disadvantage would be even more pronounced!

But...

’Should I really let something like this affect my own path?’

In the end, both the territory and the Wizard Organization were things Isaac had created for the convenience of his magic research. Neither was his main focus. The territory, in particular, was just a little toy he had gradually built up to keep Lorna from getting bored.

He wasn’t walking the Path of the Knight, nor was he walking the Wizard’s three-in-one path. To him, a territory was worthless except as something to be sacrificed or to strengthen his Anchor Points.

It was even less useful than his Wizard Organization; after all, he still needed this group of Wizards to operate his Floating City.

But again, should he really let these things affect his own path?

Isaac fell into deep thought.

His territory didn’t hold that much weight for him, but his Wizard Organization did. Or rather, the Floating City held enough weight.

But all of this... compared to the first Great Creation of the first Great Wizard, it seemed to be lacking somehow...

However, before Isaac could make a decision, a paper edict arrived at his Imperial exclave deep in the Wilderness—an Emperor’s Convocation Order!

The Emperor’s Convocation Order. The highest-level order for summoning Nobility within the Empire, it was something all nobles both loved and feared.

They loved it because every time it appeared, it basically signified a major upheaval in the noble class!

Although in this Extraordinary world, the changes in noble titles weren’t as rigid as in Isaac’s previous life, it was still very difficult to rise in rank—and the higher one went, the harder it became.

But with an Emperor’s Convocation Order, anything was possible. History had seen multiple heaven-defying cases of a Baron using this opportunity to become a Duke!

How could the nobles not love it?

But the counterpart to that was the immense risk. The reason the rewards were so high was entirely due to the brutal survival rate. Compared to the noble families that were completely wiped out, the promoted ones were merely a drop in the bucket.

After all, only when many nobles died would the Empire have enough land to ennoble new ones.

However...

Isaac looked at the edict in his hand with surprise. He wasn’t surprised by the timing of its arrival; in fact, this document proved his suspicions were correct. The appearance of this Great Creation was likely one of the reasons for the Empire’s potential collapse!

Issuing an Emperor’s Convocation Order under these circumstances was to be expected. What Isaac was curious about was why this thing had appeared in his hands...

Although Isaac was nominally a noble of the Empire, his status was very special. Setting aside the fact that he was the "main culprit" prophesied to destroy the Empire, and not to mention the messy history between his Solomon family and the Empire Royal Family, his identity as a Mad Witch alone was enough to make him despised by all...