Chapter 438 - 325: The World’s Ascension Trial Ritual

Chapter 438: Chapter 325: The World’s Ascension Trial Ritual

The changes in the world referred, of course, to the rampaging Underground Palace Demons and Order Apostles.

Normally, regardless of its form, the essence of a Great Creation is to supplement or optimize the world’s rules. Even if it ultimately fails to become a Great Creation, it should still be beneficial to the world. There shouldn’t be any kind of backlash.

This didn’t align with their understanding of the path to greatness.

At the same time, it was also unlikely that a Great Wizard was lashing out in anger because a special rule within the Great Creation had been violated. Just as the Silver-robed Mage had directly publicized the results, an existence on the level of a Great Wizard couldn’t possibly be so petty.

’In that case, this all seems rather bizarre...’

Compared to other issues, this was their primary concern. They would all reach this stage one day, and if a backlash truly existed, then they would have to seriously reconsider many things.

After all, a backlash from a Little World and a backlash from the Real World were on completely different levels of difficulty! ℴ

"This isn’t a backlash." The Silver-robed Mage understood the questions in everyone’s hearts, so he first refuted their suspicions. He then continued, "To be precise, this should be called the World’s Ascension Trial Ritual!"

"A ritual?!" All the Legendary Mages present were stunned. Not only had they never heard the name of this ritual, but they hadn’t even sensed the slightest sign of it being activated or about to be activated!

One had to understand that the weakest Legendary Mages present were Tier Four. Among them were even a number of Miracle Mages who specialized in rituals. It was no exaggeration to say that very few surpassed them in terms of ritualistic expertise.

This was especially true with Isaac present. In terms of ritual expertise alone, Isaac could even rival a Tier Five Legendary Wizard who specialized in rituals!

Thus, upon hearing the name of the ritual from the Silver-robed Mage, Olisti, who had no relevant information in his mind, immediately turned to look at Isaac. But the sight that greeted him was Isaac with a deep frown on his face.

"You don’t know either?"

"No." Isaac nodded with a frown. "When the turmoil began, I considered this possibility, but I couldn’t detect any sign of a ritual being activated. Theoretically, even a Tier Five ritual would have a [Concept] flowing through the Magic Veins during its activation. But to this day, I haven’t seen the slightest trace of it."

After a pause, Isaac continued, "As for this ritual... I do know of one with a similar name, a Tier Six ritual: the World Ascension Ritual. It can upgrade a Dimension Space or a Sub-plane into a Little World... Dimensional Demon Gods also use it to advance to a Dimension World, but..."

As he spoke, Isaac looked toward the Silver-robed Mage.

The Silver-robed Mage nodded at Isaac, picking up the thread of conversation. "But its power is insufficient, correct?"

Isaac nodded.

Not many Tier Six rituals were known in the world. Aside from the fact that some contained too much Forbidden Knowledge, it was mainly because they were highly difficult, their materials were hard to gather, and there were simply very few of them.

But the effect of every single Tier Six ritual was incredibly powerful!

The World Ascension Ritual wasn’t overtly powerful, but besides that one, Isaac knew of two other Tier Six rituals whose effects sounded immensely potent—the Apophis Godslaying Demon Sword and the Arthas Ascension Technique.

When the former was activated, it would directly slay a targeted Tier Six Deity and use everything it possessed as materials to forge the Tier Six True Divine Artifact, the Demon Sword Apophis!

Note, it used *everything* the Deity possessed as materials. This "everything" included its Believers!

Because of this, the ritual was forbidden due to its excessive destructive power. Isaac only knew it by name.

Compared to the brutal Apophis Godslaying Demon Sword ritual, the effect of the Arthas Ascension Technique was much gentler. After performing this ritual, the targeted Tier Six Deity would become a clone of the ritual’s caster!

It was said that the ritual’s original effect was to allow the caster to replace the Deity. However, before that research could be completed, several Wizards had already completed their own rituals for Becoming a God and ascended to divinity.

And this Ascension to Divinity...

...exposed the various drawbacks of Deities, greatly dampening the Wizards’ longing for godhood. Of course, in that era, it was merely a blow; it didn’t completely eliminate the Wizards’ desire for Divine Power.

But while they yearned for it, they also hated the restrictions—the drawbacks—that came with being a Deity.

So, was there a way to have their cake and eat it too?

And wouldn’t you know it, there was. The Arthas Ascension Technique perfectly met the Wizards’ needs, allowing them to obtain the great power of a Deity without any of the associated drawbacks.

However, although this ritual was far less destructive than the Apophis Godslaying Demon Sword, it was also banned with the arrival of the honeymoon period between Deities and Wizards.

Most Tier Six rituals were forbidden things like these; only a few were permitted to be activated.

But regardless of which one, none could be activated in the Wilderness Dungeon, a Little World with a power ceiling of Tier Four. It was impossible to even gather all the materials for Isaac’s Thousand Gods Book here, so how could a Tier Six forbidden ritual possibly be activated?

"Strictly speaking, the World’s Ascension Trial Ritual isn’t actually a ritual because it cannot be activated by human hands, which doesn’t meet the Truth Association’s definition."

Hearing this, the Legendary Mages present all frowned slightly but said nothing. This so-called "definition" was a new standard for rituals established by the Truth Association in recent years. However, it currently only had a certain Sense of Presence among Arcanists; the Legendary Mages did not agree with it.

In their view, a ritual was a ritual. The most crucial point should be its extraordinary magical effect. As long as it met that criterion, whether it could be activated by a person was unimportant.

However, they had come this time to hear the Silver-robed Mage share his experience, so no one argued with him on this point. After frowning, they began to ponder the meaning behind his words.

’If it’s a ritual that can’t be activated by people, does that mean it’s a ritual instinctively activated by the world’s consciousness?’

That would explain why they hadn’t sensed a thing.

"However, that is not the main point here. While the Law-Breaking Swordsman doesn’t count as a Great Creation, it does indeed serve as a supplement to the world’s rules—even if this flaw was intentionally left by that Great Wizard."

As he spoke, the Silver-robed Mage paused meaningfully. He couldn’t state the matter plainly, but he believed that having said this much, the others would surely understand.

Sure enough, everyone revealed looks of surprise and contemplation upon hearing his words.

"But, precisely because the Law-Breaking Swordsman is not a complete Great Creation, some flaws appeared during the process of supplementing the world’s rules. The supplementation process had already begun and could not be interrupted, so the world’s foundational rituals autonomously activated the World’s Ascension Trial Ritual. This is the entire sequence of events behind the recent changes."

"..."

"In that case, what benefits can we gain from this process? Since it’s a ritual," a Legendary Mage asked.