Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1427: Section 1428 Seed

When a small spherical ball, flickering with a faint red glow and spinning ceaselessly, melded into the energy sphere, Angel’s heartbeat slightly quickened.

The small spherical ball within the energy sphere was the magic vortex seed condensed by Angel.

Although he had gone through an immense amount of calculations, and Angel had simulated it countless times in his mind, when the magic vortex seed truly entered the energy sphere, he still felt somewhat nervous.

Every step in the transformation into a whirlpool of magical core was crucial; any error at any step could lead to deviation and a spiral of failure.

Countless apprentices had fallen in this step, one after the other.

No one could guarantee that they wouldn’t become one of the failures along this path. Even geniuses were not exempted; a single mistake would lead to them being pushed toward the shallows by the surging tides.

After the magic vortex seed entered the energy sphere, there were three aspects to be scrutinized.

Firstly, whether the magic vortex seed could merge into the spinning rhythm of the energy sphere.

Angel carefully observed the red glow of the small spherical ball, which was not initially in sync with the energy sphere’s spinning rhythm. There was a moment, upon merging with the energy sphere, when the rotation rates of the energy sphere and the small ball were in chaos.

This step was crucial. If the two couldn’t adjust quickly to the same pace, it would lead to the escape of energy.

Once the energy escaped, Angel would expend his mental effort to control that overflowing energy, and it could also destabilize the structure of the energy sphere, ultimately causing more energy to escape.

Generally speaking, some energy escape was expected in the transformation into a whirlpool of magical core, but the later this issue occurred, the less impact it would have on progressing to wizard level.

When Angel perceived the chaos in the rhythm between the energy sphere and the small sphere, his mood tightened even further.

Inwardly, he counted down from five.

Typically, if synchronization wasn’t achieved within five seconds, the energy would start to leak away.

When Angel counted down to two, the small sphere—that is, the magic vortex seed—stalled for an instant before promptly beginning to rotate in sync with the energy sphere’s rhythm.

One circle, two circles, three circles… Several rotations passed without any issues or energy leakage, which allowed Angel to slightly relax.

The step that had thwarted numerous apprentices—he not only stepped through it, but he also achieved it perfectly!

It laid a solid foundation.

The importance of this foundation was that when the magic vortex seed’s pace was in tune with that of the energy sphere, the spinning process itself would generate an energy attraction effect, which could reduce the possibility of energy escape.

This was laying the groundwork for the magic vortex seed’s second step.

The first step was simply assimilation and concurrent rotation, with the magic vortex seed merging into the spinning rhythm of the energy sphere. The second step involved the magic vortex seed entering its rhythm, driving the energy sphere to a new pace, and eventually forming a magic vortex embryo.

This was a step that Angel could not interfere with.

Before the magic vortex seed entered the energy sphere, Angel had to consider the second step and make preparations in advance.

Once the magic vortex seed merged into the energy sphere, it was a case of no regrets.

Everything depended on the outcome.

However, Angel’s inability to correct or interfere didn’t mean he had nothing to do at this stage.

If one considered the progression to official wizard as a novel, the expansion of the spirit sea was the background setting, the transformation into a whirlpool of magical core the main plot; then, the soul land storm and body metamorphosis were like subplots to acquire treasured equipment.

And these subplots were essential to experience; otherwise, if you faced the final antagonist in the last step of the main plot without them, you would certainly fail with just your basic gear.

As the magic vortex seed entered the second stage, finally, the subplot began.

The third battlefield of the breakthrough battle, the land of the soul, had sounded its horn.

…

In the middle realm, beyond the dome.

The sky, initially pitch black, suddenly brightened with a swath of orange light. The cluster of orange light, shining in from outside the dome like flames in the sky, cast an even more profound depth to Angel’s already sharply defined face.

Sanders looked up.

Outside the dome, a flock of fiery molt birds had arrived, unannounced.

Thousands of these birds, gathered together, resembled a cloud of fire. They flapped their fiery red wings, flying around the dome several times, seemingly discovering the two living beings inside.

Unable to penetrate the dome, the fiery molt birds eventually faded away into the twilight in disappointment.

The fiery molt birds were the first guests to arrive; the second batch of visitors quickly followed, albeit just one.

An enormous magical core giant, thirty meters tall, did not leave like the fiery molt birds upon discovering its inability to break the dome. Instead, the giant lay on the dome, like a curious baby, its eyes wide open, observing the only two living beings inside the dome, aside from the garden of living souls.

Sanders’ brow furrowed slightly.

He knew the magical core giant couldn’t break through the dome, but during Angel’s breakthrough, the giant’s blatantly malicious gaze was also an external influence.

Sanders thought for a moment and extended his cane to gently tap it in the air.

A minuscule door was conjured into existence out of thin air.

As the door opened, an exclamation rang out, only to see a tiny figure falling without any defenses from within the door.

This tiny figure was a literal “little” person, with an overall size no larger than a palm. Dressed in silver-white knight armor, their face was obscured by a helmet, rendering their features indiscernible.

At a height of twenty meters in the air, a direct fall to the ground would certainly result in a catastrophic impact.

In this crucial moment, the tiny knight took up a whistle and blew it forcefully. A pink flying piglet burst forth from the opened door, transformed into a streak of pink lightning, and swiftly caught the falling knight.

Upon catching the knight, the flying pig attempted to head back through the door.

However, after flying a short distance, it collided with a barrier.

“Kulakuka Tribesman.” A hoarse voice reached the ears of the flying piglet knight, who turned his head sharply and saw that the speaker was the frightening Wizard he had been secretly watching.

“Honorable Wizard,” the flying piglet knight said weakly, his voice faltering, “I… I didn’t mean to observe you. If, if I say I was just passing by, would you believe me?”

Sanders didn’t reply to the flying piglet knight but instead changed the subject, “I don’t care what you were doing before, but now, go to Black Castle and find Isabel. Tell her to figure out how to drive away the Magical Core giant outside.”

Sanders pointed outside the dome.

Though he too could kill the Magical Core giant, there was no need to. Moreover, doing so would rupture the dome, significantly affecting Black Castle, especially since the dome was there to protect the Garden of Living Souls.

Of course, he could also break through space to get outside the dome. But this would not only waste casting materials but also the disturbances caused by him breaking through space could very well affect Angel’s breakthrough, which would be unwise.

Therefore, Sanders had called this flying piglet knight who had been sneakily observing from the side.

The talent of the flying piglet knight to “open doors” would not cause a significant disturbance, nor would it affect Angel’s breakthrough.

After confirming that the flying piglet knight nodded in agreement, Sanders finally released the restraint and let him go.

When the flying piglet knight had left, a strange fluctuation emanated from Angel. Sanders raised an eyebrow and turned to look.

“The Soul has also begun to enter the surge phase?” Sanders murmured, “It seems that he has moved on to the second step of the Magic Vortex seed – the end is not far away. I wonder how much energy has escaped and whether he can maintain it?”

Sanders naturally understood that Angel had now entered the trials of the Land of the Soul.

That would be followed by the trial of the body.

However, Sanders was not worried about Angel for these two trials. With a Special Soul combined with a body comparable to that of a Bloodline Wizard, if Angel couldn’t pass these two trials, then other wizards might as well not bother.

What truly concerned Sanders was the battlefield of the Mind Space.

Compared to the terrifying energy mass of an ordinary person, if the energy leakage caused a collapse effect without the Ancient Silver Flower, could Angel really hold on?

…

Angel himself did not consider whether he could hold on.

That’s because at least for now, he did not need to ponder upon it – driven by the Magic Vortex seed, there hadn’t been a single trace of energy leakage thus far.

This was actually somewhat surprising to Angel; before the Magic Vortex seed merged with the energy mass, according to his calculations, there was more than a forty percent chance that there would be energy leakage.

Angel himself had already prepared to multitask and control any escaped energy, but the result was unexpectedly smooth.

For now, the energy mass remained intact, rotating around the Magic Vortex seed as its center, steadily progressing towards the final Whirlpool of Magic Source.

What Angel now truly faced was not the battlefield of the Mind Space, but rather, in the Land of the Soul, he was undergoing one wave after another of “Storm” tests.

This was the battlefield of the Land of the Soul – the Soul Land Storm.

To say it was a storm was not quite accurate. It was more like waves of Soul Force surging from the depths of the Land of the Soul.

The Land of the Soul itself is illusory; like the Spirit Sea and the Mind Space, it seems to exist within the body, yet it’s more like an existence beyond dimensions.

The Land of the Soul holds many mysteries, such as the “eternal peace and enduring consciousness” sought by the Soul Sect, which results from the exploration of the mysteries of the Land of the Soul.

Among the many mysteries, there is one that all wizards will come to understand – the Soul Storm encountered during the breakthrough to become an Official Wizard; it is also known as the Soul Metamorphosis.

Wave after wave of Soul Force from an unknown source begins to erode your Soul.

If your Soul is sufficiently resilient and withstands the onslaught, a qualitative transformation occurs. This metamorphosis is difficult to articulate, but the ultimate result of the Soul’s transformation can be termed: a Wizard-Level Soul.

Amid these waves, the Soul undulates like being in the midst of a storm, and might even be dissipated and scattered.

This is the reason why it’s called the “Soul Land Storm”.

It’s a test of the resilience of the Soul.

Wizards are transcendent beings with well-rounded development. If you don’t pay enough attention to your Soul, you would be like a speck of impurity in a torrential sea, swept by the surge into the boundless Abyss.