His Spirituality had increased, but compared to his promotion to Death Priest, the boost was far smaller.

’The Mage Profession really does have its limits when it comes to raising Spirituality.’

He gained two Mage Masteries.

"Mage Mastery—Inspector (Exclusive): More easily gain inspiration for magic creation from various flashes of insight."

"Mage Mastery—Secret Technique (Exclusive): All magic has a Core. Able to encrypt magic, making it more difficult to be deciphered and destroyed."

Magic that’s difficult to decipher...

’Heh, Iz.’

’Let’s see if you can still decipher my magic now.’

Leveling up as a Mage didn’t directly teach Lu Cang any new magic. Aside from a significant increase in Magic Power and a new, distinct perception of spatial fluctuations and the flow of Spatial Elements, there were no other improvements.

Level 4 Mage—gained Manipulation Power over Spatial Elements.

Lu Cang could now see the Spatial Elements. Unlike other Elements, which varied in concentration, Spatial Elements filled every corner of the world, presenting a continuous, glass-like structure.

The structure was incredibly complex.

It was like one of those geometry puzzles where you have a shape filled with countless line segments and have to count all the squares and triangles within it.

Now that he could see it...

Lu Cang discovered that space wasn’t perfectly continuous; it had breaks and connections.

"This is a whole new world..."

A different perspective, a different understanding. The closer one got to the High Tiers, the more one transcended the mortal plane.

"Acquired Talent: Lost Sea of Magic (Supreme) >> Divine Level: Complete Method"

’Another Supreme Level Talent.’

’I can’t shake the feeling that upgrading a Supreme Level Talent to Divine Level is less of a win than upgrading an Ordinary Level one.’

’I got short-changed.’

Of course, the thought was fleeting. Lu Cang knew that it didn’t really matter what level of Talent he started with.

In fact...

The first three tiers of Talents, from Ordinary to Extraordinary, tended to be more foundational.

Meanwhile, the Talents from the next two tiers, from Excellent to Supreme, gradually introduced more abstract, rule-adjacent abilities.

But ultimately, they couldn’t actually bend the Rules.

"Divine Level: Complete Method"

"Completes the missing methods of extinguished Root Sources. Allows for the comprehension of all lost magic and the completion of all missing Laws. Allows for the direct comprehension of another’s Root Magic of the same tier. Grants immunity to all knowledge contamination."

’Complete Method.’

As he felt the Talent emerge, a sentence from the most basic textbook he read when he first started learning magic flashed through his mind.

"There is no perfect technique in this world."

Magic was lost with the passing of ages. Ancient Magic was disappearing, and Space Magic in particular had dwindled to just a few remaining spells. Furthermore, the Laws and theories regarding Space Magic were now completely at odds with ancient scriptures.

Magic was a discipline built on reality. If the theory didn’t match reality, the magic naturally couldn’t be manifested.

’Completing the Laws... what kind of Effect does that have?’

’Is the inability to cast those spells due to missing Laws? Or perhaps, are all the spells I’ve learned so far incomplete to some degree?’

’I’ll probably have to spend a good amount of time researching this Talent to figure it out. Maybe now I can learn from those Ancient Magic Scriptures I’ve obtained.’

’And... I can directly comprehend another’s Root Magic.’

’As expected of a Divine Talent. It effortlessly rewrote the uncrossable Rule that Root Magic cannot be learned.’

In addition to the new Talent, every one of his Mage Talents had received a growth-based improvement.

The level cap for all Skills had been raised to Level 401, meaning his magic could now evolve four times.

And because he possessed "Divine Level: Ascension,"...

...any Tier Four magic he learned could now be ascended to Tier Five.

The gap between Tier Four and Tier Five was another massive qualitative leap. The higher the tier, the greater the difference between them. The gap between Tier Eight and Tier Nine magic was likely as vast as heaven and earth.

As for Multiple Casting, it had upgraded from Four-layered Release to Fivefold Release.

Now, Lu Cang could condense five "Cores." Of course, his other two Root Magics could also condense five "Sources" each.

Professional Level: Level 4 Mage/Level 4 Death Priest/Level 4 Decryption Scholar/Level 4 Warrior.

’This "4444" is really unlucky.’

’Good thing "four" and "death" don’t sound the same in this world. This superstition is just a holdover from my past life.’

Everyone stared intently at Lu Cang. Only when he had completely retracted all of his Magic Power did someone finally ask, "Is the... Ascension complete?"

Lu Cang looked up. The hole in the sky had vanished.

"Yes, it’s complete."

Lu Cang looked toward Kumironi.

Kumironi asked, "How is it? Do you feel any contamination?"

Lu Cang shook his head. "I don’t think so."

Lu Cang checked his body and indeed felt no contamination whatsoever.

Kumironi was also scanning him.

Lu Cang had great faith in Kumironi’s abilities... After all, she had even healed the damage inflicted upon him by Divine Authority.

"Yes, I don’t sense any problems either," Kumironi replied with great certainty.

The Mechanician asked, "So, should we decelerate?"

Lu Cang said, "Yes, let’s slow down."

WHOOSH—

They felt a faint inertial pull forward as the Flying Airship gradually slowed down.

Lu Cang glanced behind them.

In the distance, faint black specks were still giving chase, but they were continuously disappearing in the process.

As their speed continued to decrease, Lu Cang waited a little longer.

He watched as the black dots in the distance gradually faded into nothingness.

"They didn’t catch up, and they’ve all disappeared."

Lu Cang broke into a smile of relief.

"Mm... It seems this method is effective."

Hearing this news, the scholars looked at each other in stunned silence.

Their faces were filled with disbelief.

"Just... just like that, it’s solved?"

It all felt so surreal. They had considered researching it from every possible angle, from extracting Spirituality to prevent its descent...

...to finding a more perfect Ritual to stop it from appearing at all.

They had thought about searching for a material that could block the contamination.

They had even considered searching for other powers like Kumironi’s that could perform Purification.

But damn it...

Who could have possibly guessed that all you had to do was run fast enough to win?

Damn!

It made their decades of research seem absurd and laughable.

It was like trying every method imaginable to extract a high-end, cutting-edge material, only to find out you could get it by just sticking some tape on it and ripping it off.

This experiment was conducted on the basis of a plausible theory, but everyone had just been giving it a shot, not holding out much hope.

Maybe the bugs could teleport through space. Maybe their speed would increase to match their target’s. Maybe they were already as fast as the airship. Or maybe, when left free, they wouldn’t dissipate over time.

They had envisioned all sorts of possible mishaps.

But they never expected... to actually outrun them? This was too ridiculous!

But suddenly, the gray-haired Mechanician gave a light cough.

"Ahem..."

"There is one more question regarding this matter."

"What is the exact pursuit speed of these contamination bugs?"

"Are we currently far outpacing them, or was it a very close call?"

"The fuel capable of keeping the Flying Light at this speed is not abundant."

This question pulled everyone from their shock back to reality.

Speed. What minimum speed had to be maintained?

Another important question.

Furthermore, with Lorren’s current national power and lack of a Level 7 Mechanician, they couldn’t build a Flying Airship like the "Flying Light."

In fact, Lorren, having almost no Mechanicians, possessed very few Flying Airships at all.

A scholar asked, "Can magic achieve this speed?"

Lu Cang replied, "Magic is a personal miracle. I think it would be very difficult."

Lu Cang was an expert in magic, so he was qualified to answer such questions.

Even he could only burst out with a comparable top speed for an instant; he couldn’t maintain it for long.

And he certainly couldn’t help someone else reach that speed.

If he were asked to blast an enemy a thousand kilometers away in an instant, Lu Cang could think about how to do it.

But to keep someone else unharmed, continuously maintain a speed above a certain threshold, and carry such a large Ritual Array at the same time?

With Lu Cang’s current understanding of magic, achieving that feat through magic alone would be nigh impossible.

Even if it were possible, the difficulty would likely be no less than finding a Level 7 Mechanician to build a "Flying Light."

However, these were not matters for Lu Cang to consider alone.

The White Tower’s purpose was to handle this sort of work.

But if there were no breakthroughs in the short term, their only option would be to rent the Flying Light.

This Flying Airship was the property of Tengge. If Lorren wanted to rent it, they would probably have to spend a lot of money and even cover the expensive fuel costs.

If calculated purely from a monetary perspective...

...the technical problem of early awakening was indeed solved, but the price to awaken a single person would be painful enough to make Lorren flinch.

And early awakening didn’t even fully guarantee that the Reincarnator would become successful.

’What if we spend tens of millions of gold coins only to awaken a good-for-nothing...’

’Lorren would probably suffer a catastrophic loss.’

...

On the way back to Kernoya, they had the chance to slowly admire the Secret Sea.

The color of the Secret Sea was an azure blue tinged with a faint, iridescent black.

It was said that there were vast numbers of Demons in the depths of the ocean, but because it was difficult for them to leave their aquatic territory, they generally posed no threat to the continent.

Originally, the skies were also frequently filled with circling Sky Demons.

But it seemed that starting from a certain day two thousand years ago, the Sky Demons had gradually died out, and now only a few scattered ones remained.

Looking into the far distance, he could see a fairly distinct continent.

The Mechanician beside him said that was the Tengge Continent.

Flying there at the Flying Light’s normal speed would take about ten days.

’Normal speed is probably about 100 kilometers per second. That’s really far.’

Iz said the range of his Tier Six Root Magic was enough to destroy every continent in the entire Secret Sand Archipelago.

’Heh...’

Lu Cang made no comment.

...

Upon returning to Kernoya, Lu Cang headed straight for the Mage Tower...

"Dusk."

Dusk was teaching a class again today. As a Root Mage giving remedial lessons in the Mage Tower, the price for one class was 100 gold coins.

It wasn’t that he received 100 gold coins, but that each student’s tuition was 100 gold coins.

This was a price that many Adventurers could only dream of affording.

Lu Cang went directly to the classroom where Dusk was teaching.

Hearing a youthful voice, Dusk frowned. "Who is it?"

He turned his head, and his whole body snapped to attention.

"Ch... Chief. Greetings."

The Lu Cang of today was renowned and feared.

He was a far cry from the Lu Cang who had first arrived in Kernoya, whom a great many people had refused to accept.

"Class is dismissed early today. You, come with me."

With a casual pull, Lu Cang yanked Dusk directly to his side.

At the same time, Lu Cang casually tossed out a bag of gold coins.

He said to the students, "This is to compensate for your tuition. Split it amongst yourselves. I have some business with your teacher, Dusk."

The single bag contained twenty thousand gold coins, but Lu Cang couldn’t be bothered to care how much extra he’d given them.

"Chief, wai—wait, wait, wait!"

"What’s going on?!"

Seeing the serious, solemn look in Lu Cang’s eyes, a shiver ran down Dusk’s spine!

As if he’d realized something, he hurriedly knelt and began to wail, "Chief! Everyone does this sort of thing!"

"It’s not just me!"

"Teacher Tino next door, and Teacher Pafa two doors down, they all take them too!"