Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

Priam left the shield behind, mulling over his own thoughts, and activated the *Flow Detector*.

It didn’t even take three seconds. In a forgotten corner of that secret chamber, a massive pulse of Qi resonated through his senses.

A wide, mocking grin spread across his face.

’Since they stole my treasures, I might as well take this freebie with me.’

He walked over to an apparently ordinary stone wall. He stretched out his hand and activated the domain command through the System.

The instant his fingers touched the icy surface, a sea of golden runes emerged from the rock, glowing intensely. However, the light was flickering, revealing a clear flaw in its structure.

’Is this the core of the entire temple formation? If it was left behind by a God, shouldn’t it be something infinitely more terrifying?’

Priam hesitated, bringing a hand to his chin. Something was very wrong here.

’Boy, the Qi Heart is almost out of energy. If you want this trinket so badly, you can take it without worry,’ said the voice of the relic, echoing right behind him with a dry gravity.

Priam turned his head toward the broken shield. It was a bizarre scene, considering the piece of metal had neither eyes nor a face to stare back at him.

”Qi Heart? Is that the energy source of this entire temple?”

The entity let out a disdainful snort. ’Indeed. This temple was built countless eras ago, when this underground region housed a primordial vein of extremely pure Qi. The Qi Heart attracted and refined this energy, making the Temple’s trial a hundred times more brutal and merciless. After all, this entire Realm was created to train Beasts at the Pre-Immortal stage, helping them break through their limits and reach immortality.’

Priam nodded silently. The explanation made sense. Even with the difficulty reduced, this Temple was extremely difficult. At its peak, a trial designed by a deity would have been absolute suicide for any Mage like him.

’At present, the entire Qi vein has been drained—or do you think I would have devoured your treasures if there were another source of energy?’ the shield retorted, sounding slightly defensive. ’Currently, the Qi Heart is only passively absorbing the natural Qi in the air, making the Temple function at less than 1% of its original capacity. If you take it with you, you’ll gain an excellent method for passively absorbing Qi without having to waste time. And if you find a place with a high energy concentration in the future, its usefulness will increase drastically.’

Priam listened to every word with satisfaction. Knowing that the seal had weakened, he didn’t hesitate.

His fists lit up with the dense glow of his energy.

*BANG!*

The weakened runes shattered like glass. A hidden niche was revealed in the center of the rock, looking like a small portal or a sacred chest that had just been opened.

Priam reached inside and pulled out a spherical object the size of a fist. It glowed with a deep, translucent blue, resembling a perfectly cut crystal.

From what he understood, the sphere would automatically absorb Qi from the surroundings, eliminating the need for him to focus in order to recover his strength. It was a shame that its usefulness was limited to worlds with Qi, making it useless for the Ether of his homeworld. But even so, it was a fantastic artifact.

After storing the Qi Heart in his spatial ring, Priam turned toward the shattered shield.

After taking a deep breath, he spoke calmly and firmly: ”I’ll have to take you with me one way or another. I intend to spend my time searching for the other two heroic relics. Will you help me find them?”

Silence.

Priam waited. A dense, heavy silence hung over the chamber for nearly a full minute.

’I want to confirm...’ the broken shield’s voice finally echoed, solemn. ’Do you really intend to destroy the core of my world?’

Priam snorted, shrugging indifferently. ”Not exactly. That’s the objective the Sovereigns of my world gave me and everyone else. But if I get there and find something better... I might reconsider.”

He paused briefly, staring at the worn metal.

”Although the rewards for completing the mission are valuable to me, I know that following their orders will only strengthen the bastards on the other side. If I can get something good for myself that’s more worthwhile, everything is negotiable.”

The shield let out a long, heavy metallic sigh.

’All right. I believe the Will of Heaven is still alive at the center of this realm, although extremely weakened. If you gather the three heroic relics and take them to it, the Will of Heaven may have a plan to restore our world. And surely, it will reward you generously.’

Priam nodded, slightly curious. ”This Will of Heaven... is it a person?”

’Yes and no,’ the entity replied. ’It’s not a person or a biological living being. It’s a consciousness born alongside the world itself, acting as a supervisor of the laws of existence. It can shape and influence them if necessary. Every world has its own unique Will of Heaven... and only it has the authority to manipulate the World Pillar.’

Priam absorbed the information. He wasn’t sure he understood every metaphysical detail, but the general idea was clear.

He went straight to the main point: ”Do you know exactly where the other two heroic relics are?”

The shield explained that, after the catastrophe that ruined the world, only three locations remained in this place that were capable of helping the artifacts recover, at least minimally.

The first was this underground temple. The God of Fists had been absurdly strict when building it, which was why no one had ever completed the challenge. Since the Heavenly Shield was the most damaged relic at the time, it had been sent there.

The second location was an anomalous region that didn’t exist on the original map. Shortly before the world collapsed, a colossal abyss tore through a vast mountain range, covering everything in a dense energy that the Will of Heaven called Miasma.

However, the Will of Heaven sensed an incredibly pure source of energy at the bottom of that abyss. Because of this, it sent the second relic there: the Blood-Drinking Sword.

Finally, during the final battle against the invaders, the three greatest races of the world realized they had been deceived, and that destruction was inevitable. In an act of desperation, they joined forces to build a Heavenly Vessel. They placed their most valuable inheritances and the treasures of their races inside it before dying, sealing the ship for eternity.

This vessel survived the end of the world and continues sailing endlessly through the skies of the kingdom’s three regions, consuming the resources it carries to maintain its defenses.

The final relic, the Exalted Spear, had been sent inside this flying vessel.

Priam listened to the account in silence, deep in thought.

The Miasma abyss sounded deadly, but at least it was a fixed location on the map. But that Heavenly Vessel... a wandering flying fortress? How the hell was he supposed to track down and break into something like that?

’Well... I hope my title, The Mage Who Holds the Plot Armor, isn’t just for show. I’m going to have to rely on luck,’ he mocked inwardly.

Noticing Priam’s hesitation, the shield tried to reassure him. ”I can sense the energy signatures of my two siblings, even if they’re weak. Just take me to the surface, and I’ll guide you to them.”

Priam nodded, satisfied.

With the Heavenly Shield’s living compass and the resources of his System, his chances of collecting all three treasures had increased drastically.