Chapter 858: The Saintly Avatar Beach Landing Battle!

Under Locke's orders, the three Illusion School gasification wizards stood on the Exploration Vanguard's launch platform. Then their wizard robes began to flow, resonating with each of their respective permanent defensive fields.

At the same time, their bodies began to blur. Their bodies split apart like shifting illusions, from one person into two, then from two into four, then from four into eight, then from eight into sixteen.

This was a First Circle Illusion School spell model: the Phantom Split.

The characteristic of this spell model was that each clone's precision was very low and could easily be identified by wizards. But the advantage was that a large number of clones could be produced, specifically designed to deal with non-wizard enemies.

Locke had required all three of them to know this First Circle Illusion School spell model when recruiting them, as it was very useful during plane exploration.

At the same time, all three of them were members of a mid-sized wizard organization in the Golden Crown Mountain district called the Corridor of Thought. They had all chosen the Corridor of Thought's standard permanent defensive field, the Reverse Thought Bulwark.

The effect of this permanent defensive field was to provide a baseline of force protection. Its primary defensive power was expressed through a peculiar mechanism: when an intelligent being tried to attack the wizard, their thought logic would be forcibly reversed by the permanent defensive field, halting the attack command.

In other words, a wizard under this permanent defensive field could not be selected as a target.

This was a special magical inheritance from the Corridor of Thought, a fairly distinctive type of magic.

Locke said to the three, "Ready. Enter the Three-Hole Plane now."

After their permanent defensive fields resonated with their wizard robes, they were reinforced. They also put on their wizard masks to filter the planar principles, converting the planar principles they breathed in into those of the wizard world.

Then they activated their Black Great Hummingbird wizard shoes and leaped directly from the void explorer above.

The three of them fell into the Three-Hole World's present world and became forty-eight meteors. In an instant, the Flame Giant's fire arrows shot toward the forty-eight meteors the three had become.

The entire world, because of the Flame Giant's fury, caused the fire principles to tremble. His rage resonated with the world, causing temperatures to surge upward.

On the great land below, tens of thousands of mortal city-states found the intense heat unbearable and collectively prayed to the gods on the mountains.

A fire arrow struck one of the meteors. In an instant, the entire world's fire principles bore down on that phantom clone. The Flame Giant was this world's god of fire, so his every attack was equivalent to the world's entire flame concentrating its energy and attacking one existence.

This was also why he was so tremendously powerful.

Even a phantom clone produced by an Illusion School gasification wizard could not withstand such world-level pressure.

In just an instant, that phantom clone was shattered.

But Locke had known this from the beginning, which was precisely why he had the three Illusion School gasification wizards descend first to create phantom clones and deceive this world's so-called gods.

At that moment, more phantom clones were struck by the sky domain, with one bolt of lightning after another, along with forces of light, falling down.

The forty-eight meteors were being rapidly eliminated.

In the end, only seven meteors successfully landed on the great land.

Fortunately, none of the three wizards was struck before landing successfully, thanks to their permanent defensive fields.

Locke watched all of this and furrowed his brow slightly. 'Light principles, thunder and lightning principles, sky domain principles. The God-King commands the most world principles.'

'Yet he clearly called out to me for help. Why is he now unleashing his domain and attacking my people? Has he been controlled by the existence behind that eye? The existence behind that eye concealed its true form the moment it laid eyes on me.'

But his potion studies level was already very close to that of a Second Circle potion wizard, so he had detected in that first moment that the other party was concealing its true nature.

After all, as a potion wizard, one needed the ability to observe the hidden true form of all things. How could he allow an unknown existence to successfully play tricks in front of him?

'If the God-King became a divine being through the power of a World Tree Leaf, then he should not belong to any of the categories of false gods recognized by the wizard world, nor to the true gods of the star realm recognized by the wizard world. They should be counted as natural gods directly authorized by the World Tree.'

'But does something like that exist? I do not know. Because of the decline of the World Tree lineage, the wizard world may have gone without contact with World Tree lineage forces for a very long time. So this may very well be the first encounter between wizards and natural gods?'

Locke suddenly realized that the giant divine beings here might in a certain sense be his kindred.

After all, the foundation of his own power was also the World Tree Leaf.

But the problem was that in this latest round of probing, he had not found any characteristics of the Nature Guardian or similar forces in them. The Flame Giant's attack method was both primitive and contrary to nature, completely walking the path of substituting one's own will for the world's.

So Locke could not easily judge whether these giants were friend or foe, though they were in all likelihood enemies.

'The problem should lie with the existence behind that eye.'

Locke judged: 'The specific situation will require finding a way into this world before it can be understood clearly.'

'My half-body should also be somewhere in this world.'

'I must enter the world and make contact with my half-body. As long as my main body or my avatar sees my half-body for the first time, I can reclaim this clone.'

'Then I can proceed to construct the second Grand Magic.'

'Because I will possess a dual soul. From a Second Circle wizard's perspective, the soul is merely the outermost shell, corresponding in tier to the physical body.'

At that moment, the seven meteors that had landed on the great land each scattered in seven different directions, darting across the ground. The Flame Giant shot an arrow in one direction and sprinted furiously toward one target.

And on the crater rim, three more giants descended the mountain: the Mountain Peak Giant, the Water Giant, and the Wind Giant.

The purpose of these three giant kings descending was to hunt down the seven meteors that had landed.

With each step the Mountain Peak Giant took, she commanded the world principles to respond to her. So with each step she took, a mountain peak rose from the ground. Her magic pressure was around 12,000.

Locke scanned her briefly. In theory, the Three-Hole Plane's mountain principles should be very powerful, given the crater rims.

But her magic pressure was only 12,000.

This could only mean that unlike the Flame Giant, the Mountain Peak Giant could not fully control the mountain principles.

Locke thought about it briefly and understood. The crater rims were the fundamental structure of the Three-Hole Plane. If she could fully master them, her magic pressure would very likely reach the star ring level, or even the moon ring level.

Because the crater rims, the great land, the world lotus, the great river, and the three caves were all the foundational structures of this world.

If they could be fully mastered by a single living being, it would mean the entire world had completely fallen into one individual's hands.

Obviously, these giants could not achieve this.

And even if they could, the existence behind them would not dare allow it. After all, if something like that happened, whether the existence behind them could control a giant of that strength was truly uncertain.

If something like that actually occurred, a giant of that caliber could, through sheer total magic pressure, be enough to give even Locke himself a headache.

At that moment, the seven landed phantoms had been reduced to only three, and those three were moving rapidly across the Three-Hole Plane's present world, temporarily outrunning all the giants.

But no matter what Illusion School techniques they used, they were being tracked by those giants.

The three Corridor of Thought gasification wizards quickly contacted Locke through their Ganoderma magical plants.

"Lord Augustine, what do we do now? Why are the perfectly executed illusion techniques we used being seen through so easily by these natives?"

Locke replied through the Ganoderma magical plant, "It is not that they have seen through your illusions. Rather, these giants possess the power to directly control certain world principles of this world. Wind principles, mountain principles, earth principles. Whatever you step on corresponds to certain world principles, and these world principles have very likely been mastered by these giants."

"So without needing to see through your illusions, they can locate you. However, your permanent defensive fields are still effective against them."

"If you were Second Circle wizards, you could create true illusions, walking atop the illusions themselves, avoiding direct contact with this world. That should be enough to fool these natives."

Locke said, "Follow my plan. Plant the Scarlet-Earth Holly branches I gave you into the ground."

"Then immediately choose to seal yourselves."

At that moment, the three gasification wizards quickly crouched and thrust the Scarlet-Earth Holly cuttings into the ground. One planted in front of a city-state, one in a mountain valley, and one on a plain.

At that moment, the Flame Giant had caught up to one young gasification wizard. He pulled out his battle axe and swung it toward the small outsider.

"The God Above Gods said that existences that descend into our world are so-called demon gods. I had thought they would be mighty. To think they are only at this level."

The Flame Giant laughed uproariously, raising his flame axe and swinging it toward the young gasification wizard. The entire world's fire principles surged in response to his rising excitement.

He had originally thought this young gasification wizard would die instantly under a single axe blow.

But the Flame Giant let out a light sound of puzzlement, because his attack, aimed directly at the wizard, inexplicably veered off course and struck beside him.

Puzzlement flashed in the Flame Giant's eyes.

"What is going on? You tiny mortal?"

He immediately swung his flame battle axe again and again toward the wizard without stopping.

Because of the Reverse Thought Bulwark, the logic of his attacks targeting this wizard was reversed, and he could not lock on.

The fire principles of an entire world were of incomprehensible vastness. Had they successfully been applied to a First Circle wizard, they would have obliterated that person in an instant with no trace.

But therein lay the problem.

Because the Flame Giant had actually influenced the world will through his own personal intent, it was because he wanted to attack the wizard in front of him that the world principles would attack that wizard.

When his personal will was reversed by the Reverse Thought Bulwark, the fire principles found it difficult to lock on to the wizard.

For a Second Circle wizard, this was unimaginable, that they would be continuously unable to strike a First Circle gasification wizard.

But at that moment, the Flame Giant was like a child wielding a gun who had not quite learned how to use it, merely brandishing it haphazardly.

Even so, the Corridor of Thought gasification wizard was filled with overwhelming dread, like a tiny boat in a violent storm.

The Flame Giant's magic pressure was simply too enormous.

Every strike was the entire world's fire principles slamming toward him.

Although he had dodged the attacks, if any one of them even grazed him with a residual shockwave, he would be instantly reduced to dust.

So after receiving Locke's instructions, this wizard immediately pulled a stone from his star-realm ring. In an instant, his soul and body were sealed within that stone.

The stone fell to the ground.

A vast spell formation erupted from it toward the sky, then automatically contracted back toward the stone on the ground.

This was a First Circle Protection School sealing spell: the Sealing Stone.

Locke had wanted the Protection School wizard to cast exile-type magic as well, but unfortunately he did not know any. And exile-type magic had too long a casting time to necessarily be a better choice anyway.

The Sealing Stone could seal a person inside it. At the same time, the Sealing Stone's own sturdiness was equal to the strength of the seal. So the Sealing Stone itself was made from a crystallization-grade magical artifact and was extraordinarily hard.

At that moment, even the entire world's fire principles hacking against it left it completely unharmed.

It was a magical artifact specifically made by wizards to seal powerful enemies and could not be destroyed by brute force.

The other two Corridor of Thought gasification wizards, facing pursuit from the giants with no other options, also activated their Sealing Stones one by one, sealing themselves voluntarily, their souls and bodies all sealed inside the stones.

At the same time, the three Scarlet-Earth Holly cuttings they had previously thrust into the ground immediately activated the Powerful Growth Acceleration spell. In a brief moment, these three magical plants, which had low resource requirements and were supported by the magical power Locke had infused into the branches, grew at a rapid pace, quickly taking root and sprouting, extending branches and growing into a speed-grown variety of towering trees.

For a Second Circle wizard, rapidly forcing a speed-grown specimen of a First Circle magical plant to grow, without the benefit of suitable resources, was an effortless task.

The Flame Giant, clutching his flame battle axe, turned his head and looked at the trees with puzzlement.

At that moment, the God Above Gods rarely intervened directly in his thoughts, giving him a command: 'Cut down that tree immediately!'

'Now!'

On the crater rim, among the eleven giants, the female giant, the Forest Giant, suddenly rose from within her palace. Her private palace was collapsing in chaos around her. Her divine power was receding.

In just a brief moment, her elegant attire had become worn and faded. The mortals in her palace whom she had blessed with eternal life were, within a very short span, turning white-haired and decrepit.

Those mortal lovers reached out their hands to her.

"Divine being, what have we done wrong? Are you abandoning us, no longer wanting our eternal companionship?"

Those who had once been kings who commanded vast power in the mortal world, or mortal heroes, at that moment once again felt the end of life, as death descended upon them.

But they could not wait for the Forest Giant's response.

Because the Forest Giant's divine power was draining continuously. She herself was shifting from a youthful woman to a mature woman, then to a decrepit elder.

The Forest female giant looked with horror toward the mountain below. She could sense that in a single moment, a certain power had entered this world, making the greatest source of her divine power, the forest avatar and the title of exclusive master of plants, collapse on its own.

This caused her to be the earliest affected among the twelve divine giants.

The Forest female giant cried out in alarm. "No. I do not want to become a mortal again. God-King, God Above Gods, help me."

"The forest principles... no longer respond to me. God Above Gods, if I die, my power will return to the God-King! You must help me."

The next moment, a new world principle descended. It was the Grass Principles, which was somewhat weaker than the Forest Principles. The female giant, receiving the Grass Principles, instantly obtained the identity of Master of Grass in this world. Her magic pressure fell from 12,000 to 10,000, but she still maintained her existence.

The Grass female giant looked with uncertainty and alarm toward the position below the crater rim.

On the other side, on the great land of the Three-Hole World, a full moon appeared behind the three Scarlet-Earth Holly trees the moment Locke's Moon of Evolution descended. A trace of moonlight he had stored within the three branches had emerged when the three plants formally took root and grew in this world, causing his Moon of Evolution to hang within this world as well.

Among the twelve giants, there was no Sun Giant or Moon Giant.

It seemed that because the sun and moon were also fundamental structures of this world, they had not been controlled by those giants.

In the instant his Moon of Evolution appeared in this world, Locke immediately used the Lunar Blessing Curse to illuminate the three speed-grown Scarlet-Earth Holly plants and transform them into first-grade apprentice-level treemen.

Because these were speed-grown specimens and not true Scarlet-Earth Hollies.

Then, Locke attempted to divert the power of his Forest Sanctuary over and, using these three treemen as the foundation, directly descend his saintly avatar here.

But from the upper-tier plane within the crater rim, a beam of divine light suddenly fell. That divine light surged with overwhelming authority, like an arrow, directly striking one Scarlet-Earth Holly treeman and destroying it.

The ritual for Locke's saintly avatar descent was interrupted.

Locke was not surprised. He was simply making an attempt.

There were four ways to achieve a saintly avatar descent. This world itself, a large number of the world's mortal inhabitants, or the world's divine beings, one of these three summoning him, or channeling a massive amount of energy through himself to forcibly summon himself over.

Such as through the Forest Sanctuary.

But regardless, he had not yet obtained the recognition of this world's will. So this process was easily interrupted.

On the Exploration Vanguard, the seven other wizards, along with Hussein and Old Henry, were all focused and watching the results of this first landing battle.

Old Henry said, "Locke, do something. Your treemen only have two left."

Hussein said, "Nothing to be done. Being able to channel power across worlds and rapidly transform three trees into treemen is already quite remarkable. With the crystal wall system blocking, and no planar passage for our power to enter through."

At that moment, on the great land of the Three-Hole World, in the instant Locke's Moon of Evolution descended and the full moon appeared behind the Flame Giant's back, the Flame Giant, although he had his back to the Moon of Evolution, sensed the terrifying magic pressure of over 19,600 that Locke possessed after activating the beast panel.

Along with the aura of the beast.

His pupils contracted sharply. It was as if he had sensed a natural predator behind him. For the first time, he felt the meaning of true terrifying power.

His fearless heart was seized by an irrepressible tide of dread.

He could not allow that... demon god to descend into this world.

Otherwise they would perish.

So he had to cut down that tree.

He absolutely could not allow the demon god to descend.

Fortunately, the demon god's power was far too vast and could not easily enter this world.

The Flame Giant, gripped by fear and unease, raised his flame battle axe, intending to cut down the laughably weak treeman.

Only the treeman spread its branches, and a force of Mist appeared between its finger-branches, actually temporarily resisting the Flame Giant's full-strength strike through the apprentice-level magic pressure of a first-grade wizard apprentice.

The treeman avatar said, "Flame Giant, Akhmad."

"Your world was not meant to be like this. Your God-King seems to have fallen into difficulty. Tell me, what has happened here?"

Hearing these words, the Flame Giant seemed to become even more fearful. His pupils contracted sharply, then he raised his flame great axe and launched a ferocious attack at Locke.

"Demon god, I will absolutely never allow you to descend into this world."

The enormous flame axe swung toward the treeman avatar.

The entire world's fire principles converged and crashed down toward the Scarlet-Earth Holly.

At that moment, a treeman with only apprentice-level magic pressure could absolutely not withstand this.

But at that very moment, Hussein suddenly pressed his palm onto Locke's shoulder and began chanting a spell.

He was going to place a curse on Locke, and Locke's bloodline was connected to the treeman's phytogen through a vital link, because that treeman had been illuminated by Locke in the first place.

So he could, from outside the world, indirectly place a curse on the treeman by cursing Locke's bloodline.

And the blood curse he cast was a Second Circle spell: the Advanced Treant Transformation Curse.

In an instant, the treeman was forcibly demonized, the entire tree becoming eerie and sinister. But the treeman was directly enhanced to the liquid-stage level of a demonized treant.

Hussein had directly seized control of the treeman.

Locke looked at Hussein speechlessly.

"The Advanced Treant Transformation Curse? Is that not specifically a magic targeting botany? Without a specific enemy, you should have no reason to learn such an obscure curse..."

Hussein coughed once.

"I have a habit of anticipatory crisis management. It is not directed at anyone. A person should always consider relying on their own capabilities at any given time. Besides, have I not helped you now?"

"Your Lunar Blessing Curse, combined with my Advanced Treant Transformation Curse, can strengthen that treeman to a level capable of resisting the Flame Giant's power."

Old Henry shook his head. "I am afraid it will be difficult. Look, all the giants are coming down from the mountain."

"They are not giving us any chance to channel power down at all."

Locke looked at the two and said, "It is fine. The three treemen were always a diversion."

Locke looked toward the Three-Hole World.

'The instant I channeled power down, I seemed to have seized a response from the world principles. The Forest Principles, most likely. Does this world's world principles operate in an open state, where anyone who meets the conditions can establish a response?'

'If so, there is a fifth method of descending a saintly avatar: using the power of the Forest Principles to bring down my saintly avatar. Unfortunately, that female giant did not die. It seems the so-called God Above Gods saved her.'

'Had the God Above Gods not intervened, at that moment just now I could have used the Forest Principles' response to me and directly descended my saintly avatar. Then I could have immediately launched a full offensive against them.'