Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

Once he noticed that Mo Lan’s condition had stabilized, Priam breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to Arvid, gave him a quick nod, and, after carefully scanning the surroundings, confidently walked toward the other ancestral corpse.

They stopped before the colossal skeleton of the Arcane Astrapid. Arvid was trembling from head to toe, overwhelmed by solemn reverence. Without needing to say a word, he sensed something and placed a hand over his stomach. Then he spat a mouthful of blood onto his ancestor’s skull.

The process followed the same pattern: the ancestral relic reacted to the blood, and Arvid entered a deep trance, absorbing his bloodline inheritance.

Priam smiled in satisfaction.

About thirty minutes remained.

Without wasting a second, he spun on his heels and marched toward the heart of the vessel.

Ahead of him, the bow stretched out like a floating graveyard. Rows of skeletons and mummified corpses remained standing upright in perfect battle formation.

Moving like a ghost so as not to disturb the residual energies of the dead, Priam took two minutes to reach the center of the ship, where a colossal monument stood.

It was a three-hundred-meter-tall square altar, carved from dark stone and covered in floral engravings with a sinister aura. Priam slowly climbed the rotten wooden steps, counting nine levels in total. At the very top, an imposing sarcophagus rested.

The coffin was covered in pulsating runic markings, each one emanating a unique and bizarre energy. A shiver ran down Priam’s spine. However, when he reached the ninth level, he stopped dead, stunned: the sarcophagus was partially open.

Peering inside, Priam held his breath.

Lying there was a perfectly preserved body. The skin showed absolutely no sign of decomposition, even retaining a slightly rosy hue.

The figure resembled a tall, elegant humanoid male with harmonious features, but it emanated a powerful bestial aura—it was certainly an Impure Beast race similar to the Elven Foxes.

Gathering his courage, Priam decided to inspect the inside of the sarcophagus.

Despite its modest exterior, the interior space had been expanded by spatial energy, resembling a spacious room. Once inside, Priam didn’t feel cramped in the slightest.

He approached the body and examined its energy. There was no life energy or soul; the individual was unquestionably dead. However, the corpse radiated a divine glow and such overwhelming power that it instinctively commanded reverence.

’Is this... the corpse of an Immortal?!’ The thought echoed through his mind, leaving him stunned.

Immortals were called that because their bodies defied entropy, immune to time and decay. The power of their bodies was extreme, and theoretically, they could live forever. But, obviously, they could still be killed by external forces.

Besides, their remains were priceless treasures.

Priam swallowed hard. It was the first time he had come across a ”treasure” of this kind, and a flicker of remorse crossed his mind... lasting exactly two seconds.

”Well... sorry about this,” Priam murmured with fake solemnity.

Without hesitation, he activated his spatial ring and stored the Immortal’s entire corpse inside its storage dimension. After all, who knew when an Immortal corpse might come in handy in the future?

”Since it’s dead, it’s mine now.”

Dusting off his hands, Priam climbed out of the sarcophagus and looked around.

’It’s right below,’ the shield’s voice echoed in his mind, indicating where the Heroic Relic was.

Outside the altar, Priam spotted a trapdoor with wooden stairs leading down into the ship’s basement. He took a deep breath and descended.

The interior was plunged into almost absolute darkness and sepulchral silence. There were no corpses or skeletons down there, but the pressure in the air was ten times more suffocating than on the deck.

Moving down the corridor, Priam found five massive doors made of rotten wood. He approached the first one and slowly pushed it open.

”HOLY SHIT!”

Priam jumped backward, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets as he was blinded by a pulsating, multicolored light.

The compartment was packed from floor to ceiling with millions of shimmering crystals radiating dense, chaotic energy.

”Are these... like the Great Mist Stones?!”

Priam grinned from ear to ear. The description matched perfectly.

Those days he had spent socializing with the Impure Beasts hadn’t been for nothing. He had gathered a lot of knowledge about many things in this world.

’Yes, I confirm,’ the shield’s voice sounded in Priam’s mind, sensing the young man’s heart racing like crazy.

’In the past, these crystals stored pure Qi essence. When the world collapsed, the energy known as the ’Great Mist,’ which is the essence of destroyed universes, accumulated inside them. They’re the ancestral equivalent of Great Mist Stones, except each one of these crystals contains a thousand times more energy.’

Priam didn’t even wait for the shield to finish explaining. He ran around the room, collecting everything into his spatial ring with a huge grin on his face.

’I’m rich! I’m fucking absurdly rich!’ he screamed inwardly, laughing his ass off.

Minutes later, with the first chamber completely cleared out, Priam moved on to inspect the other compartments.

The second door... completely empty.

The third door... empty.

Standing before the fourth door, Priam stopped and took a breath before pushing it open.

”Oh?”

Inside, floating gently in the air, were four glowing energy spheres, each more than a meter in diameter.

’That’s one of the World’s Heavenly Arks,’ the shield explained solemnly. ’The sphere on the right contains Primordial Seeds. The essence of the most valuable herbs and natural treasures from all the universes was gathered and sealed inside before the end. There used to be hundreds of World Heavenly Arks... in the end, only what was sealed inside this vessel survived.’

Priam swallowed hard, his eyes shining with anticipation. ”I... I can plant these things?”

’No. Making these seeds germinate requires a power capable of subtly manipulating the laws of the world—something only an Immortal could manifest. Since there are no living Immortals left in this world, giving these to the Beasts right now would be the same as giving them dust.’

Priam exhaled, a little disappointed. But of course, he wasn’t about to leave a treasure that huge behind.

’The other three spheres contain the Bloodline Runes of more than three thousand level-13 beast races from the past. They were preserved in case of total extinction... which is exactly what happened, since only three of those races remain today,’ the shield lamented. ’Just like the seeds, only an Immortal has the power to recreate these bloodlines. Everything in this Ark is useless to the living beings currently in this world.’

Priam absorbed the explanation and nodded.

”It may be useless to them right now, but it looks damn good in my pocket.”

Without hesitating for even a second, he moved forward and stored all four items in his ring.

Finally, he marched toward the fifth and last door.

When he opened it, he found a single item in the center of the room.

Floating there and exuding a sacred aura was a...

A... spear? Or rather, the lower half of one. The tip and upper shaft had been destroyed; it looked like nothing more than a broken bar of gleaming golden steel.

The broken spear showed no reaction whatsoever to Priam and the shield’s arrival.

’His consciousness is asleep,’ the shield calmly analyzed. ’The ship didn’t have enough energy to restore his soul. But internally, the core still preserves a fraction of his power.’

Priam smiled in satisfaction.

He had just secured two of this world’s Heroic Relics. Only one remained!