Garrick hadn't lied.

  The knowledge he possessed regarding Alchemical Etchings was indeed exceptionally comprehensive.

  After verifying the contents and confirming there were no issues, Pierce left with the memory crystal orb and the 15,000 Merit Points, feeling thoroughly satisfied.

  Making a quick stop at the Exchange along the way, Pierce then headed straight back to his residence.

  He couldn't wait to begin optimizing the Alchemical Etchings.

  Returning to the stone house, Pierce sat down on the living room sofa, took out the memory crystal orb, and immediately began reading the knowledge stored within.

  In the Wizarding World, the higher the tier of a technique, the more vast and encompassing the required knowledge became.

  Alchemical Etchings were naturally no exception.

  The required disciplines alone numbered in the hundreds, far exceeding the gemstone enchantment techniques he had originally obtained from Gwendolyn.

  Even with the Omniscient Eye's scanning capabilities, it still took Pierce over an hour to record all the knowledge.

  Omniscient Eye, optimize Alchemical Etchings.

  [Task Created: Begin optimization of Alchemical Etchings. Estimated requirement: 2984.3 Mental Energy Levels.]

  Pierce nodded inwardly.

  Since it was a high-tier enchantment pattern, it was normal for the optimization to consume a massive amount of energy.

  "If I accelerate the process with all my might, it should take a little over a month to complete."

  Pierce put away the crystal orb and took out the rare metals he had purchased from the Exchange from his spatial ring.

  There were three standard units of metal alloy combinations in total.

  "Once it absorbs these, Silver Star will be able to evolve into a Tier 3 Magic Tool."

  Pierce immediately commanded Silver Star to devour all the metal.

  As the metals gradually melted and fused into the silver liquid, Silver Star instantly began to boil violently, like roaring water.

  Intense energy fluctuations instantly permeated the room.

  Pierce watched the liquid metal with a calm expression, waiting patiently.

  About two minutes later, the silver liquid metal calmed down, coalescing back into a fist-sized sphere.

  Pierce extended his hand, and Silver Star slowly floated down, resting in his palm.

  The moment the liquid metal touched his skin, a massive amount of information flooded frantically into his mind. It was the new abilities and characteristics of the evolved Silver Star.

  "Both offensive and defensive capabilities have been synchronously enhanced by a massive margin."

  "The mental power consumption hasn't decreased; it actually increased. That's normal, considering it's a Tier 3 Magic Tool now."

  "Malleability and mana conductivity have been enhanced. This is excellent."

  The corners of Pierce's mouth curled up slightly.

  Enhanced mana conductivity meant that Silver Star now had a higher affinity and capacity for Elemental Runes, which would undeniably be a huge boost to his combat strength.

  "Oh? What's this!"

  Pierce's eyes lit up. He suddenly clenched his fingers, absorbing Silver Star into his body. A dazzling silver radiance instantly spread across his entire form.

  Then, he opened his hand and extended it forward. A silver spike slowly protruded from his palm, detached itself, and hovered in the void.

  The next moment, Lightning Runes scrambled to emerge, rapidly sinking into the silver spike.

  In the blink of an eye, the number of Lightning Runes fused into the silver spike exceeded forty!

  "Excellent!"

  An incredibly joyous smile broke out on Pierce's face.

  In the past, there was a world of difference between the number of Elemental Runes Silver Star could bear when used independently versus when fused with him.

  Even after fusion, if a piece of Silver Star detached from his body, it behaved no differently than if it were used independently.

  But after evolving into a Tier 3 Magic Tool, this had changed.

  Now, Silver Star was far more thoroughly fused with him. Even a blob of liquid metal separated from his body after fusion acted as if it were a literal extension of his own flesh, capable of bearing just as many Elemental Runes as his main body.

  Pierce tested it out and discovered that after fusing with Silver Star, his normal state capacity had reached a staggering forty-nine Lightning Runes!

  His limit state was fifty-four!

  He then tried activating the Fortitude Magic Tattoo, and the number of Lightning Runes surged again to sixty-one and sixty-six, respectively!

  "Looking at it this way, if I Overcharge the Fortitude Magic Tattoo, the number of Lightning Runes I can bear will probably be close to a hundred!"

  Pierce was overjoyed.

  With nearly a hundred Lightning Runes, he might even be able to put up a fight against a Rank 3 Wizard.

  Of course, it would only be a fight.

  After all, he wouldn't be able to sustain that state for very long.

  Regardless, Silver Star's evolution into a Tier 3 Magic Tool had caused his strength to leap significantly once again.

  Recovering from his joy, Pierce immediately chanted inwardly:

  Omniscient Eye, deduce the optimal metal alloy combination for Silver Star to evolve into a Tier 4 Magic Tool.

  [Task Created: Begin deduction of optimal metal alloy combination for Silver Star's Tier 4 evolution. Estimated requirement: 325.9 Mental Energy Levels.]

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  "A bit over three hundred and twenty energy levels... that's only about four days."

  Pierce wasn't in a hurry.

  Before breaking through to a Rank 2 Wizard, a Tier 3 Magic Tool was more than enough.

  Even if someone gave him a Tier 4 Magic Tool, he wouldn't have the mental capacity to use it.

  In fact, the vast majority of Rank 1 Wizards were still using Tier 1 Magic Tools. Those possessing Tier 2 Magic Tools were few and far between, let alone Tier 3.

  Moreover, having been meticulously nurtured by Pierce, Silver Star undoubtedly stood among the absolute pinnacle of all Tier 3 Magic Tools.

  Centering himself, Pierce put away Silver Star and brought out a massive stack of books, piling them onto the coffee table.

  A single glance revealed they were all tomes on 3rd-Circle Spell Models.

  Dispel Magic, Protection from Energy, Phantom Steed, Sepia Snake Sigil, Clairvoyance, Summon Monster III, Lightning Bolt, Vampiric Touch, Fly, Haste...

  Having broken through to the Rank 1 Crystalline Phase, Pierce could finally begin learning 3rd-Circle spells.

  Although he rarely used spells in combat anymore due to his reliance on Elemental Runes—primarily because the opponents he faced were typically higher-ranked entities against whom normal spells were largely ineffective—he still needed to learn them.

  An outstanding Wizard had to master a vast enough repertoire of spells to have counters and methods for any unexpected situation.

  Moreover, many 3rd-Circle spells boasted incredible utility.

  For example, Protection from Energy, which granted a layer of shielding that absorbed damage from a specific energy type. Clairvoyance, which granted ultra-long-range vision. Fly, which provided a flight speed far superior to Levitate. Haste, which massively enhanced speed. Nondetection, which made the caster immune to divination and scrying spells. And the wide-area group invisibility spell, Invisibility Sphere.

  Pierce didn't care much for offensive spells, but the more utility and buff spells he had, the better.

  "A total of 136 3rd-Circle spells. Every 3rd-Circle spell available at the Exchange is right here."

  The higher the circle of a spell, the rarer it became.

  The number of spells obtainable through normal channels also dwindled.

  Spells of the 6th-Circle and above weren't even sold at the Exchange.

  If one wanted them, they had to trade with other Wizards.

  However, 6th-Circle spells were still a long way off for Pierce—that was a domain only Rank 3 Wizards could touch—so he could still rely on the Exchange for now.

  Taking a step back, even when he advanced to a Rank 3 Wizard and wanted to learn 6th-Circle spells, he could simply obtain them from Master Morven. There was no need to worry.

  Reigning in his stray thoughts, Pierce began analyzing the spells.

  With the Omniscient Eye's current capabilities, analyzing a 3rd-Circle spell consumed less than 0.1 energy levels.

  Pierce mastered all the 3rd-Circle spells in one breath before beginning the optimizations.

  [Task Created: Begin optimization of the Protection from Energy spell model. Estimated requirement: 5.8 Mental Energy Levels.]

  [Task Created: Begin optimization of the Nondetection spell model. Estimated requirement: 5.6 Mental Energy Levels.]

  [Task Created: Begin optimization of the Fly spell model. Estimated requirement: 5.2 Mental Energy Levels.]

  The consumption for optimizing 3rd-Circle spells generally hovered between 5 to 6 energy levels, which wasn't too taxing.

  Pierce calculated that the first batch of 37 highly useful 3rd-Circle spells would take about three days to optimize.

  Then, deducing Silver Star's new metal combination would take roughly four days.

  Once those two tasks were complete, he would proceed with optimizing the Alchemical Etchings.

  "I'm going to be quite busy for a while."

  Pierce let out a long breath.

  "Fortunately, I still have Merit Points to spare. I won't need to go out for a while and can focus entirely on cultivation."

  After purchasing the rare metals and spell models, Pierce still had nearly 20,000 Merit Points left. He didn't need to take on any missions for the time being.

  He could dedicate his energy to meditation and practicing the Omniscient Breathing Technique over the coming period.

  Especially the former.

  He was currently only a dozen or so energy levels away from reaching the absolute limit of the Crystalline Phase.

  With the Energy-Absorbing Motherstones already prepared, all he needed was for his mental energy to meet the standard. Then, he could begin condensing his second Spirit Crystal and break through to a higher realm.

  Stretching his arms, Pierce stood up, planning to return to his bedroom to meditate.

  Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. An unprecedented sense of palpitation violently swept through his entire body.

  His expression changed slightly. He swiftly rushed out of the stone house and looked up into the distance.

  At the exact same time, almost every Wizard in Red Maple City seemed to sense something, gazing toward the distant horizon in unison.

  At the far edge of the sky, a silver-white halo slowly bled outward like spreading ink.

  A heavy, oppressive aura rolled down upon everyone's hearts like a crushing boulder, making it difficult to even breathe.

  All the Wizards were struck with inexplicable terror, staring blankly in the direction of the silver-white halo.

  That was the direction of White Ice City.

  White Ice City was already in utter chaos.

  A swirling halo rapidly expanded above the city, transforming into a hemispherical barrier that enveloped the massive metropolis.

  Through the barrier, one could clearly see the golden morning sky tearing open. A colossal hand, forged entirely of solid ice, thrust out from the rift like a glacial pillar piercing the heavens and the earth.

  From behind the rift in the sky, earth-shattering roars could faintly be heard.

  The sudden catastrophe threw the populace of White Ice City into sheer panic.

  Crowds rushed frantically through the streets, everything descending into chaos.

  Occasionally, heavily armed and grim-faced military units marched past, sprinting toward the city gates.

  "ROAR!"

  A deafening shockwave erupted. The colossal hand in the heavens suddenly clenched into a fist and ruthlessly smashed downward.

  BOOM!

  The defensive barrier visibly shuddered, its light flickering violently.

  Before the barrier could even stabilize, the giant hand of ice smashed down with a second punch.

  Then came the third punch, the fourth...

  Deafening, endless explosions echoed through the sky above White Ice City!

  This apocalyptic scene only intensified the terror of the already panicking crowds.

  Fear spread through the city like a plague.

  Outside a stone house, Gwendolyn stared dumbfounded at the giant ice hand in the sky, her beautiful face filled with sheer shock.

  "Wh-what is that?"

  "The Glacial Giant, Yannick," Enevia said, having appeared beside Gwendolyn at some point, her gaze fixed darkly on the sky. "One of the five Divine Envoys under the Lady of Winter Frost. A Demigod-level powerhouse."

  A Demigod!

  Gwendolyn sharply drew in a breath of cold air.

  She had heard that Councilor Jareth of Red Maple City had slain a Demigod a while back, but this was her first time witnessing a Demigod strike with her own eyes.

  Even though she had already advanced to a formal Wizard, looking at that impossibly massive hand filled her with a profound sense of heart-palpitating powerlessness.

  "So this is the power of a Demigod..."

  Gwendolyn bit her lip, her brow furrowing deeply.

  "Why would a majestic Demigod suddenly attack White Ice City?"

  "And where are the two Councilors stationed in the city? Why aren't they stepping in to stop this?"

  Enevia glanced toward the distance, her expression turning slightly more solemn.

  "I'm afraid they can't even fend for themselves right now."

  Gwendolyn froze. "What do you mean?"

  "The Lady of Winter Frost has descended via a Divine Avatar. Those two are currently engaged in battle with her avatar."

  "What?!"

  Gwendolyn was immensely shocked, but she quickly realized the implications, her face turning deathly pale.

  For a deity to personally dispatch an avatar meant that the Winter Frost Theocracy was formally launching an all-out assault on White Ice City.

  The true Great War had broken out!

  "Let's go."

  Enevia's voice snapped Gwendolyn out of her daze. She asked subconsciously, "Go where?"

  "Leave White Ice City. It's no longer safe here."

  "What do you mean? Do you think White Ice City is going to lose?"

  "Isn't that obvious?" Enevia's lips curled into a smile that was hard to discern as mocking or simply cynical. "Gods are a bunch of cowards who fear death. Even if it's just an avatar, they won't lightly descend to the Material Plane unless doing so yields immense benefits."

  Hearing this, how could Gwendolyn not understand? Her face grew even paler.

  The only "immense benefit" that would make the Lady of Winter Frost risk the backlash of descending an avatar was the complete destruction of White Ice City.

  It seemed that House Monroe had ultimately failed to swallow the Lady of Winter Frost's bait and had instead suffered the backlash of the trap.

  Gwendolyn looked at Enevia, hesitating to speak.

  Enevia saw through her thoughts and said coolly, "Don't expect me to intervene. Ultimately, I am just a passerby. I have no intention of getting mixed up in the war between Wizards and Turins."

  "Besides, if I recall correctly, your family doesn't exactly get along with House Monroe. What benefit is there for you in protecting White Ice City?"

  Gwendolyn fell silent.

  Of course, there was no benefit.

  It was just that there were many Wizards and Knights in White Ice City who didn't belong to House Monroe.

  As fellow members of Aurora City, she couldn't bear to just stand by and watch them die.

  But Gwendolyn also understood that now was not the time for misplaced compassion.

  Gritting her teeth, she looked at Enevia and asked, "Where are we going?"

  Enevia thought for a moment. "Red Maple City."

  The instant her words fell, a thunderous explosion erupted from the sky.

  The massive barrier enveloping White Ice City shattered with a deafening crash.

  The giant hand of ice paused for a fraction of a second before ruthlessly smashing down once more, crashing into White Ice City like a falling meteor.

  RUMBLE!