Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 1423: Chapter 1: Hill the Diligent Miner

The starry sky of Toril is beautiful.

Hill was riding Purwell, flying slowly towards the crystal wall of the celestial realm of Toril, and he could feel those watching gazes.

Some were very gentle.

Even a sliver of sunlight and a wisp of moonlight softly shone on Purwell through countless stars... This was Lansendel and Celene openly declaring that Hill was under their protection.

Hill did not ignore the occasional shadow and blue web marks that flashed under the two beams of light.

Even though Tyr had no actions, Hill discovered that the guardian of the Crystal Wall System, Tom, was standing there, glaring intently around... he had no friendship with Tom.

The only one who could invite him to watch over Hill’s safe departure from these occasionally problematic crystal wall passages could only be Tyr, whom Tom most respected.

Hill laughed from the bottom of his heart... Although this world of Toril had many displeasing aspects, he at least learned a lot of knowledge and made good friends: a few bosom friends, two to three dear ones, and five to six gentlemanly acquaintances with whom he could sincerely exchange a ’Hello, goodbye.’

Then these ten years have not been in vain for him.

Purwell flicked his tail and rushed directly towards the portal leading beyond the Toril Galaxy... This gate was determined by Hill using various means and consulting several powerful divine powers, as one of the most stable portals.

But Hill thought, if he couldn’t be sure, a glance at the huge figure of Tom already standing near the crystal wall gate would confirm which door was safe.

He stood up, respectfully bowed to Tom... Goodwill, no matter where it comes from, should be respected.

Then he turned around, took a final look at the starlit celestial realm of Toril, quietly made the Mage Ceremony, and directly entered the wide portal.

As an Alchemist, Hill couldn’t possibly be unaware of the legends of the Toril Crystal Wall System, so he immediately used the Reading Spell, watching one side of the wall without blinking... He wasn’t greedy, nor did he have the notion of necessarily learning any powerful magic, so this was fine.

Purwell soared with the slowest speed he could maintain, lightly and steadily.

Hill quickly immersed himself in the world of spells... The spells on Nyscroll were human-made, but here they were completely natural magic models.

Though a bit complex.

After all, the Archmages who left marks on Nyscroll were all extraordinary, each using their method to compress these relatively bulky natural runes.

Otherwise, based on the native spells of the crystal wall, even casting a three-ring magic might take half an hour.

Moreover, the power of such spells might not be significant... They’re merely natural runes formed by elemental friction and repulsion.

Indeed, some spells might naturally be a bit stronger, but most spells were just loops within loops.

What Hill wanted to learn was the thought processes of those Archmages.

Why did they choose to adjust the magic runes in such ways?

If he could understand these thoroughly, Hill felt he would certainly become much stronger.

However, that would require relying on time and the so-called flash of inspiration to slowly endure.

With a leap from Purwell, an engrossed Hill, unaware of how much time had passed, finally exhaled... After all, he had enough time and confidence to do this.

Looking back from the desolate universe, Hill felt all the more the grandeur of the crystal wall of the celestial realm of Toril... Endless above and boundless below.

Inside, he could see the wanderers caught and used as fuel by Tom, but outside, he could only sense the cold, rigid barrier.

Hill turned back, smiling at Purwell flying beside his face: ”In the future, it’ll be up to Purwell~ Fly in any direction you like, we’ll first need to find those worlds with broken crystal walls... Of course, the planets inside should at least have not all burned up yet.

This is just to reserve materials for the future’s matter, so Purwell, fly slowly, we have plenty of time.”

The little whale inside the Light Orb cheerfully responded: ”Alright~ Will Hill be staying in the Half-plane?”

”No need.” Hill shook his head, ”I’ll first read in the Magic Tower outside!”

He wanted to say that in case there was something, it would be promptly discovered, but... past lessons made him dare not voice it, swallowing the words back silently.

Whether it was due to the good habit of leaving half a sentence unsaid, Purwell, after floating for about half a year, helped Hill locate a small universe with just the right amount of fracturing... only a fifth of Toril’s thick crystal wall had continuous damage, but it wasn’t yet completely destroyed by the terrible cosmic storm and the so-called ’Burning Element.’

Hill observed outside the crystal wall for a long time, confirming this universe was abandoned... Of course, it might also be because life-sustaining planets were close to the crystal wall, so wiped out entirely.

However, Hill could feel there was no trace of any deities remaining in this universe.

If the God System had relocated entirely, even bringing some mortals, as long as they found a suitable universe before their divine power was exhausted, they wouldn’t immediately become Wild Gods.

Hill looked at this universe somewhat sentimentally... Teraxil’s misfortune lay in its being a newborn universe, its crystal wall unlikely to be as sturdy as Toril’s.

But we are lucky that this is a newborn universe. At least the crystal walls have not fully grown yet. They are in a state where they are invisible to the naked eye but will automatically repair themselves, just like Toril, which relied entirely on the protection of Shaer and Celene back then.

This universe before us, who knows what kind of bad luck it encountered, judging by the thickness of the crystal walls, it should be a universe just beginning to mature.

The crystal walls have just reached a stable phase and will no longer automatically repair themselves. It requires local deities to start managing them... For instance, that Wanderer’s Corridor created by Tom is made by burning those souls to increase the thickness of the crystal walls.

If done well, a crystal barrier wall as sturdy as Toril’s could be created.

Hill seriously glanced at this universe’s crystal walls, pondering Teraxil’s future... Universes managed by the World Tree seem to dislike using the method of burning human souls, even evil souls, to strengthen their foundations.

”What is Sir thinking about? What’s wrong with the crystal wall?” List floated beside him and asked curiously.

”Don’t know how thick the crystal wall of Teraxil will become,” Hill said dreamily, ”Also don’t know if it will have appeared by the time I return.”

”That should still be a long way off, right?” List thought for a moment before speaking, ”Isn’t it said that you need at least ten life planets before you can possibly see the synthesis of crystal walls?

Our Teraxil planet, aren’t we all considered to be fast-tracked?”

”Hmm...” Hill shook his head, ”I think it’s still too early. I want to see a few more worlds to understand how many ways there are to strengthen a crystal wall.

However, one must always remain vigilant and even hold reverence in their hearts.

Otherwise...

No! My Teraxil will definitely not reach this step.”

”Of course.” List couldn’t help but smile, ”Who would bear to see Sir sad in Teraxil?

Fortunate Mr. Bear, can we start looking for the materials you want now?

Even you can’t possibly collect enough materials in just one universe, right?”

Hill pursed his lips: ”My dear butler.

Both physically and mentally, I am already an adult, I don’t need you to coax a child.”

Then he directly flew out of the little crystal cabin on Purwell’s back... These materials, still have to be found by himself.

At most, he’ll find some relatively large mineral deposits and let the puppets come out to mine them.

In this broken-down universe, whoever takes something owns it, even if Hill can make some things himself... But sometimes, not even the wealthiest can resist the temptation of getting something for free.

Purwell swayed his long tail following Hill, and the little whale inside the light orb couldn’t help muttering, ”If that little golden dragon knew what we were doing, he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep, right?”

”Terry is still young, he can’t stay in a pure universe for more than 48 hours yet.” List replied simply, ”Dragons, only when they reach the ancient dragon stage, are truly powerful.

The so-called Dragon Phase actually means they can be chased away by their parents to start living independently.

Haven’t you seen the days of Tasding? Among the young giant dragons, he’s already considered strong, yet even an ancient green dragon can chase and kill him so miserably.”

”Hmm...” Purwell couldn’t help but speak, ”Don’t use your master’s power to compare to dragons, okay?

A mature giant dragon can already kill an otherworldly whale that can’t teleport.”

List blinked and still didn’t speak to hit Purwell’s fragile heart... If an otherworldly whale cannot teleport to escape, even a young dragon can bully them, right?

Yet there’s one thing he’s always been curious about: ”So, is that little otherworldly whale just following you? I thought otherworldly whales liked freedom a lot?”

”You mean Kratos?” Purwell helplessly wagged his tail, ”He’s still young, he really got scared this time, doesn’t dare to go out as a lone whale.

When we pass through the Cloud Universe of otherworldly whales next time, just throw him back there.

After all, the sea in the half-plane is not small, just let him play there!”

”Whatever you want... Ah! Hill needs a puppet again, don’t know what good thing he found.” List laughed, ”Let’s work!”

Hill was full of enthusiasm when he was in the first universe, as long as there were more than three pathways in the universe for him to leave, he would definitely dig to the bottom.

But by the time he reached the second universe, he lost interest and began to belatedly realize: ”How can two consecutive universes be destroyed due to their crystal walls being shattered?

This isn’t normal!

It can’t be from waging a cosmic war and ending up mutually destroyed, right?”

Hill almost thought a Fantasy World had suddenly gotten invaded by the Insect Race!