Chapter 984: The Staff of World Destruction Plan
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 984: The Staff of World Destruction Plan
In the center of the Wizard Academy’s Inner Ring stood the Main Wizard Tower.
The Tuskage Wizard Tower was the name of this primary spire, and its owner was the sole Academy Dean of the Wizard Academy—Tuskage.
In its earliest days, the academy was known as the "Tuskage Main World Garrison Wizard Academy." Later, as the Inner and Outer Rings were demarcated and the Wizard Tower system was established, the prefix was gradually dropped.
Even now, the Wizard Academy maintained a single Academy Dean, unlike the Witch Academy’s model of multiple deans. However, the Wizard Academy did have numerous Vice Deans.
At this moment, Tuskage’s Wizard Tower received an abrupt visitor.
The Wizard Academy had long since settled into a steady rhythm. It was common for a wizard’s experiment to last decades or even a century. There were very few matters in the entire Main World significant enough to disturb the Academy Dean.
"If you don't give me a convincing reason, you can stay and become my next experimental subject. It just so happens my assistant needs a Transcendent Wizard to help collect some data for a sub-project."
The old man, busy with his experiments, was naturally furious at having his inspiration interrupted. If he said he would use a Transcendent for an experiment, he meant it.
After all, within the Wizard Academy of the Main World, Tuskage, a Saint Realm Wizard, was the absolute authority. In this Main World, far from the wizards' native Void territories, his position was unshakable.
He held a firm grip on the very lifeblood of every Wizard Tower in the Main World.
What was a Wizard Tower?
A Wizard Tower was the foundation established by a wizard upon ascending to the Transcendent level. It was the core of their power source, the site of their research, the vessel for their soul essence, and the most critical component of the wizard advancement system.
"Academy Dean Tuskage! A message has arrived from the Spiral Geocentric Observation Tower, which monitors the World Navel. There is an anomaly! It is suspected to be a chain reaction caused by the revival of the Ancient Remnant Ice clan!"
"What is the movement on the Witches' side?" A strange light flickered in Tuskage’s eyes upon hearing the news, but he quickly masked it.
As for the sounds of the Ancient Remnant Ice clan’s revival, he had naturally heard them. He didn't particularly care about that. However, if it involved the World Navel, it was a major event.
"There has been no major movement from the Witches, nor any conflict. If there is any friction... it’s only in the Qunluosen Wasteland, the origin point of the Ancient Remnant Ice clan’s revival. Many wizards have descended there to confirm the situation, but the matter hasn't escalated to the Transcendent level yet."
Tuskage fell silent for a second before speaking again. "Continue monitoring the status of the World Navel."
The so-called Spiral Geocentric Observation Tower was not one of the visible towers standing within the Wizard Academy. Instead, it was a highly specialized and exceptionally hidden underground permanent facility.
The entire structure spiraled downward; in cross-section, it looked like an inverted tower. This tower had no other function but one: observation.
Observation of the World Navel.
The World Navel was not a physical object. Even if one were to flip the entire Wizard Academy and the Core World upside down, it would not be found. Back then, even when that Rebel Witch had forcibly broken into the Wizard Academy, she hadn't found it, which was why she had retreated so decisively.
Thus, the World Navel belonged to no one.
However, just because it had no owner didn't mean the wizards lacked the means to interfere with it.
When the Three Great Transcendent Races first broke through the Main World’s barrier, they tore through the Frontline World—also known as the Void Border Realm—and fought their way into the Expansion Realm. They eventually confirmed the World Navel’s location within the Core World.
At that time, a rift appeared in the tripartite alliance.
It was their first invasion of the Main World. The Three Great Transcendent Races had used every means at their disposal but could not confirm the Main World Consciousness. Naturally, they couldn't find the World Navel to achieve total dominance over the world.
The wizards wanted to follow their usual protocol and continue attacking the Core World to bypass the World Consciousness entirely, seeking to find and dominate the World Navel.
But the Holy Angels and the Afuhemi Forest Elves disagreed. Such methods were the work of madmen! If the world was shattered, repairing it would be incredibly difficult, and it deviated from their original intent for invading the Main World.
Once a rift appeared, it led to a protracted period of territorial division. Before they could reach an agreement, they drew the covetous eyes of the Witches.
They were forced to set aside their disputes and unite to resist the Witches' offensive. The final result was... they didn't win. But after some stubborn posturing... they didn't exactly lose either.
It was during this war with the Witches that the wizards secretly used the conflict as a cover, intending to forcibly push forward their World Destruction Plan to find the World Navel.
If they succeeded, they could locate the World Navel. Even if the world was no longer whole, the core and heritage of the Main World would be enough to cover the costs the wizards had incurred during the invasion.
However, it would only cover the wizards' losses, not those of the Holy Angels or the Forest Elves. If the World Destruction Plan failed, it would at least force the Witches to halt their aggressive stance.
But no one expected the Witches to act according to the script. They were even crazier than the wizards!
Terrified, the wizards immediately moved to execute the World Destruction Plan.
Subsequently, the Saint Realm Witch Mei Lind—the current Academy Dean of the Witch Academy—sacrificed a Great Spellbook to cast a Great Weakening Spell that enveloped the entire Core World. This forcibly interrupted the wizards' World Destruction Plan.
However, the plan had already been set in motion. Even though the Great Weakening Spell suppressed their power to execute it, the wizards still possessed the necessary witchcraft techniques.
In the end, they managed to lock onto the World Navel, but only lock onto it. They had no way to harness it, but if pushed to the brink, the wizards had plenty of ways... to destroy it.
To destroy it, however, they had to bypass a barrier: the Great Weakening Spell.
Rumors at the Transcendent level suggested that the Witches had reached an agreement with the various Transcendent races not to destroy the permanent effect of the Great Weakening Spell.
In reality, that wasn't the case.
From then until now, the wizards had been dedicated to undermining this permanent spell effect, and the Witches tacitly accepted this. Otherwise, Mei Lind wouldn't have sacrificed a Great Spellbook just to buy time; she never believed the wizards' promises from the start.
Even if it couldn't be done openly, the fact that a thousand years of erosion hadn't completely destroyed the spell spoke to the terrifying power of a spell cast at the cost of a Great Spellbook. Furthermore, the Great Weakening Spell could weaken and dissipate attacks directed at it, which was a massive headache for the wizards.
Regardless, the original balance was struck when the three Transcendent races used the World Navel as a bargaining chip to reach a peace agreement with the Transcendent Witches.
And this agreement... was not a Witch Contract, nor was it witnessed by the World Tree, nor was it a Wizard's Equivalent Exchange, nor a Holy Angel's Judgment. This showed just how much of a "scrap of paper" the agreement really was.
Yet, it was precisely because of this scrap of paper that the Core World of the Main World had enjoyed "peace" for so long.
During this peaceful phase, the three Transcendent academies were actually led by the Wizard Academy. While the Witch Academy plotted for the Main World in the shadows, the other three Transcendent races were thinking of how to counter them.
Logically, since the wizards were the ones who discovered the World Navel, the other two races should have been phased out. However, in the beginning, they needed to balance their combat power. Without the Afuhemi Forest Elves and the Holy Angels, the wizards would have faced too much pressure alone against the Witches.
Later, the reason the three top Transcendent academies' positions became so stable was that the Wizard Academy proposed a new initiative.
The "Staff of World Destruction Plan"!
It was a massive and complex undertaking.
The wizards led the project with their witchcraft techniques for observing the World Navel. They had the Forest Elves extend a sub-plant of the Afuhemi World Tree into the Main World, using it in conjunction with wizard observations to anchor the World Navel.
The Holy Angels, meanwhile, spread the Holy Light Faith across the Main World, ensuring it was the only faith in the Core World. This allowed the Holy Angels to use the faith of the humans—the Destined Race of the Main World—to forge a Sword of Faith.
Ultimately...
The three Transcendent races completed this method that could bypass the Great Weakening Spell and strike directly at the World Navel: the Staff of World Destruction Plan.
With this, the three Transcendent races finally had a trump card to rival the Witch Academy!
During the peaceful period of development, they didn't mind the Witches' growing ambitions for the Main World. After all, the more the Witches cared about the Main World, the more valuable the Staff of World Destruction Plan became!
However... even though the plan itself could bypass the Great Weakening Spell, the preparation time for execution was constantly being stretched out by that very spell. Furthermore, the plan required the joint cooperation of all three races.
Still, the existence of the Staff of World Destruction Plan was enough to make the Witches wary of collateral damage.
This explained why the three Transcendent academies, even if they could ignore the effects of the Great Spellbook, were dedicated to eroding the Great Weakening Spell in secret. They weren't eroding the spell effect itself, but rather the preparation time for the Staff of World Destruction Plan!
The plan hadn't gone untouched since its inception.
The most dangerous moment, the closest they ever came to execution, was when the Witches launched the "Great Glacial Throne Plan." It was then that the Witches truly realized the Staff of World Destruction was not just an empty threat.
In the end, the Great Glacial Throne Plan was terminated, and a Great Spellbook was dismantled and scattered. The King of the Ancient Remnant Ice clan was slain, and the race fell into a slumber as their power faded. It was a pity...
And now, the Witches had launched a new plan.
Using the Main World’s Luck Script as a precursor, they intended to use a Child of Luck to ascend to a Child of Destiny, aiming directly for the World Navel.
That result had already ended in a fizzle; countless Children of Luck had dispersed the script's luck. The one behind that move was Afuhemi Academy.
Since the Afuhemi World Tree sub-plant anchored the World Navel, the three Transcendent races could use the World Tree to influence the Main World’s direction to a certain extent. The birth of the Pseudo-Child of Luck plan was a drama orchestrated by wizards skilled in luck techniques and the Luck Elves.
The reason Afuhemi Academy had specially recruited so many Pseudo-Children of Luck in that previous year was that they were the executors of that plan. People like Yao Beijuan, Mona Timothy, and Lin Qinlin had been approached by them for this reason.
Even though everyone knew that no Child of Luck in this generation's World Script would ascend to a Child of Destiny, those blessed with luck would still achieve great things. This was what had created the grand spectacle of the luck competition back then.
It was only with the rise of a certain individual... that the luck competition was turned into a complete joke. After that, the script was left to take its natural course.
As for what impact this would have on the true Child of Destiny or those arrogant Pseudo-Children of Luck, no one cared. To high-level Transcendents, the Main World had no shortage of people, nor of Children of Luck.
Now.
With the anomaly in the World Navel, it seemed to signal that the Transcendent Witches were preparing to test the waters again. It was no wonder this matter was brought directly to Tuskage.
"The Witch Academy’s plans for the World Navel are becoming increasingly subtle," Tuskage remarked.
This incident had come with almost no warning, following right on the heels of the Child of Luck plan before it had even fully settled. It was truly exhausting for the Transcendent academies to keep up.
"Forgive me... Academy Dean Tuskage, I have received a piece of information that I believe is necessary to share with you."
"What information?" Tuskage asked.
"It’s internal news from the Witch Academy... very important. They have quietly established a research project and experimental zone related to 'Qi Observation Art.' The clearance level is very high. The message didn't describe the specific contents of the project, but it noted that Mei Lind is personally involved, and..."
"And what? Speak plainly," Tuskage said impatiently. He hated people who paused for effect; using such a crude way to emphasize the importance of the next sentence was an insult to the listener's intelligence.
"And the prototype for the Qi Observation Art comes from an Honorary Little Witch named Yang Yuehan."
"Is that all?"
"Yes... that's all. Perhaps our source will continue to send important information later. To be able to send this news at such a critical time..."
"Next time, they can come and tell me directly. At the very least, this tells us those Witches are indeed doing something behind our backs."
"Then, Lord Tuskage... are we just going to do nothing?"
"Of course we will act. You all decide on the specifics. I... will personally visit the other two academies," Tuskage said.
His meaning was clear. The Witches' methods were bizarre, so they had to be ready to face mutual destruction at any moment. He didn't believe the Witches had prepared for so long only to walk away empty-handed after a hasty attempt.
He suspected this was another test.
They would re-enact the deterrent of the Staff of World Destruction Plan, hoping to weather this crisis. The Witches' moves were becoming far too frequent lately.
The Witches could afford to fail countless times, but the other races couldn't afford to fail even once.
Not long after, the Academy Dean of the Wizard Academy personally visited Afuhemi Academy and the Holy Angel Academy via Wizard Tower teleportation.
As for the other Vice Deans, they began planning the frontline response to the aftermath of this incident.
And the fuse for this entire event ultimately pointed toward the Qunluosen Wasteland.
Everything—every thread of fate—had drawn the gaze of many powerful figures to this usually desolate place.