Inside the black door, Richard stepped forward.
As he looked around, he could see that inside the door was a huge palace, nearly a hundred meters in circumference, covering almost ten thousand square meters—larger than a complete soccer field and over a dozen meters high. Majestic and spectacular, standing there made him feel like nothing more than a speck of dust.
At this moment, the great palace was filled with neatly arranged golden stone tables, etched with intricate magic runes and brightly colored patterns. Looking around, there were thousands of these tables.
On each table lay a thick scroll.
Looking at the scroll on the stone table, Richard raised an eyebrow and without hesitation, strode forward. Approaching one table, he unrolled the scroll on top and saw densely packed text inside, starting with the title: "Detailed Explanation of Energy Storage Methods."
Moving to another nearby table, he opened a new scroll, and the topic changed: "Discussion on the Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Energy Storage Methods."
Approaching a third table, he opened another scroll, and the topic changed again: "Discussion on the Relationship Between Energy Storage and Container Materials."
"It seems that all this knowledge is related to energy storage, which is the technology involved in the black energy storage short wand," Richard muttered to himself, noticing that the patterns on nearby tables all featured a black conch.
Thinking it over, he walked several dozen meters to the right to another table, where the pattern on the table had changed to a red flame. He reached out and opened the scroll on top.
The scroll was still filled with densely packed text, headache-inducing to read, but the title was crystal clear: "Various Methods to Amplify the Power of Fire Magic."
On the table to the left, also bearing a flame pattern, he opened the scroll, titled: "Detailed Explanation of the Principles of Molten Rock Fire Magic."
On the table to the right, still showing a flame pattern, he opened yet another scroll, titled: "Comparison Between Fire Magic and Other Shaping Magic."
Looking up, observing the many tables around, and seeing the various colored patterns on the tables, Richard had a realization and spoke to himself, "It seems all the tables contain similar scrolls, all storing knowledge, categorized by different classes. So, the ultimate treasure of the Black Spirit King is not gold or silver treasure, but the vast magic knowledge left behind? Like... a secret library of an empire?"
"That’s indeed impressive," Richard murmured, his eyes gleaming. He saw this knowledge as far more valuable than any gold or silver treasure.
If he truly mastered all the knowledge here, not only would his power greatly increase, but it would also allow him to further peek into the framework and core of the current world’s magic system, helping him to delve deeper into the true nature of this world.
After all, the actions he had been taking—leaving the Blue Lion Kingdom, suppressing various emotions, forsaking pleasures—were all to clarify the truth of the world and to understand why he had come to this world.
Only by understanding the path he had come by could he determine which direction to take in the future, and how to proceed correctly.
Taking a deep breath, he felt the air passing through the mask’s filter, entering his nostrils, traveling down the trachea to his lungs, and through the capillary network of the alveoli into the blood, circulating throughout his body.
Richard widened his eyes and walked briskly to one side, picking up another scroll and earnestly started reading.
This scroll had a lengthy title: "Discussion on the Principles of Wind Magic, Its Commonalities with Water Fluid, and the Applications of Wind Magic in Speed Amplification and Wide-Range Sensing..."
On the ground, it was afternoon, the sun crossing due south, moving slightly toward the west.
The warm winter sunlight, most conducive to drowsiness and lethargy.
At a time when many felt sleepy and listless, on a hill in the fields, two figures appeared: one was the dean of Deep Blue Castle, Sieg Adolf, and the other was an envoy from the Mysterious Organization, Bayer.
Both narrowed their eyes, looking toward the sun-drenched defense line where a large city stood tall. The city gates were wide open, bustling with people coming and going, a lively scene. There were also figures darting through the sky, either entering or leaving the city – clearly, they were all powerful wizards.
After watching for a while, Bayer turned his head toward Sieg and asked, "Dean Sieg, are your men ready?"
"Heh," Sieg responded sternly, "My men are of course ready; they’re nearly impatient! I want to ask you, though, are your men prepared? Don’t let there be any mistakes at this critical moment."
"Don’t worry, there absolutely won’t be. Just as we discussed before, all the manpower has been assembled, just waiting for the attack order," Bayer replied.
"That’s for the best." Sieg’s expression softened slightly, "Since that’s the case, let’s not dawdle any longer. Attack!"
Following Sieg’s command, the air behind him twisted and distorted, revealing a dense crowd of wizards. Each one was clad in a deep blue Flying Fish Wizard Robe, their faces grim.
"Alright, just as Dean Sieg said, attack," Bayer also stated.
The air behind him similarly twisted and deformed, revealing a large group of wizards dressed in long, dark black robes.
The next moment, without need for directions, the revealed wizards shot forward, swiftly skimming close to the ground toward the distant city.
Inside a house in the city, Wizard Eva frowned as she looked at her subordinate wizard Tifeng and asked, "How is it, any news from Richard yet?"
"This..." Wizard Tifeng hesitated for a moment and shook his head, "Still no, but I think it will be soon."
"Well then," Wizard Eva nodded, "Let’s wait a bit longer for him, there’s no need to rush, we still have time."
"Yes," Wizard Tifeng nodded.
Eva didn’t say anything more, stepped out the door, and blinked, only to see a powerful witch approaching. The witch was enveloped by an invisible, transparent energy, distorting the light around her like an energy black hole. It was none other than the Element Master Russell.
"Master Russell, hello," Eva greeted.
"Wizard Eva, hello," Russell responded casually. "Voodoo Heart Andrew from the Rotten Swamp, Water Spirit Gall from White Mist City, and Curse Origin Triss from Black Evil Castle have all brought people to join the final battle discussion. By the way, how are things on your end, any problems?"
"No," Eva shook her head, answering, "Almost everyone here has gathered. There are a few who haven’t reported back, but it should be mostly resolved by this evening. The decisive battle discussion tomorrow can proceed as normal."
"That’s good, then I can rest assured. It looks time we can successfully concentrate our forces, making Deep Blue Castle understand..." Russell’s voice trailed off as he suddenly stopped speaking and turned his head toward the city’s outskirts.
Eva, puzzled, followed his gaze. Moments later, she sensed something amiss, her complexion drastically changed, and she opened her mouth to signal a warning.
But Russell was quicker, bellowing "Attack!" His voice, amplified by magic, quickly spread throughout the city. Then, Russell shot into the sky like a meteor, speeding toward the city’s periphery.
Just then, there was a sudden brightness outside the city as if the sun had fallen from the sky and then exploded. Accompanied by astonishing light and heat, the sound and shock waves rapidly dispersed in all directions, instantly shattering an entire city wall.
In an instant, everyone understood—the final battle, which hadn’t been discussed, had started prematurely.