Chapter 372 Promotion to Ninth Rank

During those attacks, Shaoke still kept an eye on the other pursuer, another mage—a Ninth‑rank Mage. After Shaoke froze the Eighth‑tier Mage, the enemy’s spell was ready, and the enemy mage sent a slowly rotating windmill flying toward Shaoke. This windmill resembled the windmill blades from mills in remote areas; though it appeared to spin slowly, its flight speed and destructive power made Shaoke extremely cautious.

Before that windmill-shaped spell could reach Shaoke, the mage he had attacked suddenly exploded, his head flying off in shock. Shaoke then blinked there to grab the head and the golden light, thereby temporarily avoiding the rotating windmill.

Shaoke chanted a series of complex incantations. With the enhancement of the Ancient Magic Tongue and hand‑seal techniques, dozens of precious gemstones formed a hexagram pattern that quickly lit up. Then, a black magic construct flew out from his floating spellbook and merged into the hexagram pattern. This spell was thus prepared.

A twisted, burning flame burst forth from the pattern. The flame was black, only as thick as a child's arm, but it was surrounded by countless tiny magical runes. Shaoke blinked again to dodge the opponent's attack, then split the flame into three segments. One segment coiled toward the windmill-shaped spell, another under his control attacked the distant Ninth‑rank Mage. Shaoke's attack on the Ninth‑rank Mage was evaded simply by moving, as the mage was preparing an attack spell and couldn't blink.

The windmill and Shaoke's flame collided, producing a powerful explosion. Below the battlefield, a huge crater formed, with scattered flames burning inside. Over time, the flames burned even larger pits into the ground.

Shaoke directed the other two flame segments toward the mage, who had once again prepared spells to intercept Shaoke's attack. For a time, the two fought wildly in the air. When Shaoke blinked again to dodge an attack and was about to release the spell he had prepared, a figure suddenly appeared there, and the attacks from both Shaoke and the other Ninth‑rank Mage were completely neutralized.

"If such battles occur again, you both will lose your lives," said the figure, also a mage. If not for his robe, Shaoke would hardly have recognized him as a mage. "I hope I won't detect magical fluctuations from your fight here next time."

"Respected mage, we are members of the Orpheus Family. This mage killed my companion in the battle just now; he must be punished," said the mage, glaring fiercely at Shaoke. He had gained no advantage in the fight; if not for Shaoke’s slower spellcasting speed, he wasn’t sure he could have lasted any longer.

"Don't speak for a dead man," the elder mage replied calmly. "If I hadn't arrived, you Orpheus Family members would have already killed this mage. Would you have mentioned the dead mage then?" He waved his hand. "Those without ability deserve death. A Ninth‑rank Mage like you, unable to quickly kill an Eighth‑tier Mage, is worthless." He snorted, then waved his staff. A teleportation array appeared beside the mage, and before he could react, he was teleported away.

Shaoke watched silently, his dark cloak tightly wrapped around him, his black staff twirling quickly in his hand.

"Leave this place. I believe you will no longer encounter such situations in any part of the Empire," said the elder mage before vanishing instantly before Shaoke's eyes. Everything that had happened seemed like an illusion, so unreal to Shaoke. But he didn't care. After lingering in the air for a moment, he collected the items from the dead Eighth‑tier Mage and headed to Storm Academy.

Back at the academy, Shaoke returned to the library. He now spent most of his time in the meditation space. He planned to complete the construction of his meditation space according to the methods of ancient spellcasters, then advance to a Ninth‑rank Professional. He believed that if he were now a Ninth‑rank Professional, he could easily kill that Ninth‑rank Mage, rather than being entangled for a long time without being able to finish him off.

Under Shaoke's mental control, the terrain in the meditation space began to change slowly. Some areas rose, others sank. Over time, a small section of terrain was transformed. A small magic array was carved into the ground, where floating mana and mental energy slowly gathered, forming a dense gray mist. After a short rest, Shaoke continued this work elsewhere. He had to carve enough magic arrays across the entire meditation space to complete the task, which would consume a lot of time.

As the elder mage had said, in the following years, Shaoke searched for Mage Roman and the others several times, but he never encountered any more obstacles. Even when flying over large cities, he didn't sense any subtle detection. He didn't know the reason, nor did he care.

The stars in the sky continuously released mental energy and mana onto the ground, forming pillars that fell into the arrays on the ground, causing the plants in those arrays to grow rapidly, wither, and then grow again in a cycle. A large number of soul fragments, after absorbing mental energy and mana through these plants, slightly increased in size before being ground into fragments and re-entering the plants.

The roars of Giant Beasts constantly sounded from the altar. Each roar caused a slight tremor in the entire meditation space, but this tremor didn't have any adverse effects on Shaoke. Instead, after such tremors, there were some beneficial changes. The rate of transformation increased somewhat, and the meditation space became more stable. Of course, these roars consumed not only a large amount of his mana and mental energy but also a great deal of his vitality. However, Shaoke couldn't control the roars of these Giant Beasts.

During this time, silver light also appeared frequently. It continuously emerged from the sky and exploded into the arrays on the ground. Over time, streams of silvery light began to flow in the ground arrays. During this period, Shaoke felt that his control over spells had become more precise. Of course, to sustain this frenzy of consumption, he had to gather some powerful vitality-replenishing potions.

The academy had a small area for growing magical plants, which Shaoke used to plant vitality-replenishing herbs. The seeds were obtained as rewards from the war. Of course, these herbs were watered with precious elemental water and, under the care of special magical runes and arrays, grew quite quickly. But the herbs alone were far from enough to meet Shaoke's consumption of vitality during this time.

Fortunately, when Blue‑robed Mage and Mage Roman learned of this difficulty, they both prepared a large supply of vitality-replenishing potions for him, which to some extent prevented him from becoming emaciated due to excessive vitality consumption. Even so, his body looked thinner than before.

Shaoke lay in a wide medicinal bath, the milky white liquid slowly clearing over time.

A young servant girl knelt beside the mage, massaging him diligently. Her nimble hands occasionally brushed over the mage's private parts, but he didn't open his eyes to look at her. However, his somewhat thin hand tightly gripped the girl's soft chest, his excessive force causing her to frown slightly. But she dared not say anything, only trying to make the male mage comfortable to avoid punishment. After all, this was her job, and everything she had expected.

When the milky white bath water became clear, Shaoke roughly squeezed the girl's soft body a few times before dismissing her. Before she left, he gave her some gold coins, enough to pay her normal wages for half a month.

After lazily stretching, he left the bath, put on his robe and cloak, and returned to the library. During this time, he had successfully changed the entire shape of his meditation space according to the methods of ancient spellcasters. But since Blue‑robed Mage was unavailable for a while, he had to temporarily postpone his advancement for safety and instead spend a lot of time reading books.

"Stop pursuing me. I've devoted all my energy to studying magic," a crisp female voice rang out in the quiet library, followed by some low arguing. Shaoke had to stop his reading to calm down these impulsive young people.

"No loud talking is allowed here. I expect you to keep quiet," Shaoke said, not taking out his staff but, like a scholar, folding his hands in front of him as he approached the arguing youths. There had been too many arguments here recently, mainly because as the academy grew, more students had arrived, and the crowding was a major cause of conflicts.

"Respected mage, I didn't mean to make noise here," the young girl said timidly to Shaoke. She had only been at the academy for two years and wasn't very talented, but Shaoke often saw her studying various magical knowledge here.

Because this young woman with magical talent was very beautiful, she was often approached by people hoping to win her favor. Of course, when she first arrived, a young and handsome male mage had succeeded in inviting her out, and that male mage visited her every year. In Shaoke’s opinion, she was with that male mage—at least for now.

Shaoke waved his hand to stop the girl's words, then said to the man pestering her, "I think next time you enter the library, you should read the rules at the entrance. They detail everything you should follow here." He then stared at the young mage, who, under Shaoke's gaze, stepped back a few paces and quickly left with several companions. The young woman thanked Shaoke and returned to her reading not far away.

A few months later, Blue‑robed Mage finally finished her affairs there and came to help Shaoke prepare for his advancement to Ninth‑rank Professional. At that time, Mage Roman also sent him some precious potions, which she had set aside during her research. Of course, this behavior was known to others, but she took only a small amount, and it was considered normal, so no one criticized her.

Under Blue‑robed Mage's detailed guidance, Shaoke spent half a month adjusting his mindset and meditation space to an optimal state.

Then he began his advancement, which wouldn't take too much time but was extremely difficult, with a high failure rate.

Shaoke immersed his entire mind in the meditation space and slowly began to dissolve the Eight‑pointed Star Magic Array. As soon as the array was dissolved, the entire meditation space started to tremble violently. This tremor was countless times stronger than during previous advancements, but fortunately, his meditation space was now very solid, and with the aid of silver light, this difficulty was not a problem for him.

After the array was dissolved, Shaoke didn't sketch the new Nine‑pointed Star advancement array. Instead, he began to construct an altar using the techniques of ancient spellcasters.

Building the altar was very difficult. Shaoke had to endure the ongoing spatial instability without an advancement array and also gather the restless mana and mental energy to form the scripts for the altar. He used the methods of ancient spellcasters for this construction, which not only made it safer and faster but also could increase the absorption rate of mana and mental energy. However, the consumption and turmoil during construction were much greater than with other meditation methods, but Shaoke cared little about these costs. Driven by the desire for a safe advancement, he didn't mind the energy and other costs. The altar was completed in just over ten days.

The eight‑tiered altar looked spectacular. Massive amounts of mana and mental energy rapidly merged into the altar, some integrating into the soul fragments within, and a small portion, after refinement, returned to the meditation space. However, most formed a milky substance stored in the pool below the altar. At this time, the Yingluo Tree, stimulated by this, began to grow wildly. Mature fruits continuously fell into the solution, dissolved into a milky liquid, and soul fragments flew out.

After the altar was completed, Shaoke began to outline the Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array. This Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array was several times more complex than the one he had obtained from the military. Many lines required not only mental energy to condense but also a large number of magical runes to be engraved on them, making the overall structure of the array sturdier and speeding up the refinement or increase in mana and mental energy. After failing seven or eight times, he finally succeeded. By then, his meditation space had shrunk considerably due to several failures.

When the Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array was fully formed, Shaoke relaxed a bit, but the advancement was still not over, as the next steps were the most critical steps of reaching Ninth Rank.

Black lightning suddenly appeared in the meditation space, followed by gale‑force winds. Fortunately, the ground had pre‑carved arrays, so they weren't severely damaged. Still, some ground was shattered by lightning and swept away by the wind, turning into dust. Each time this happened, his meditation space shrank a bit. Before long, the ground in the entire meditation space was severely fragmented. Through the cracks, Shaoke even saw some gray space below. When lightning struck these spaces, the entire meditation space trembled.

Following the ancient spellcasters' advancement techniques, Shaoke strived to channel all the mana and mental energy in the meditation space to maintain the intact arrays. He knew that the longer he held out, the greater his chance of successfully advancing to Ninth‑rank Professional after the lightning ended. When the final lightning bolt shattered the mountain carved with defensive arrays where the altar stood, his meditation space returned to its former emptiness, with only an eight‑tiered altar and a Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array floating silently in the air.

Waiting—the mage could only wait silently, for death, or failure, or success. He couldn't be sure of the chance of success, as the odds were too slim. Unlike others who recall past events when facing death, he focused entirely on sensing this emptiness, the rotation of the altar, the operation of the Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array—everything was so clear.

After an unknown time, the Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array in the sky suddenly began to rotate rapidly. Then, all the mist in the meditation space entered the array. Under the influence of the gray mist, the entire Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array rapidly expanded, soon covering an area hundreds of times larger than the altar. Then the array stopped rotating, emitting purple light, and the altar, under the influence of countless magical runes, descended onto the Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array.

As soon as the altar landed on the Nine‑pointed Star Array, the surrounding mist began to gather wildly toward it. Following the ancient spellcasters' techniques, Shaoke repeatedly compressed the gray mist to prevent it from bursting the Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array. If that happened, his advancement would definitely fail.

Unable to feel the passage of time, Shaoke repeatedly compressed the mist into the array until there was no mist left in the entire meditation space. He relaxed a bit, at least for now he had succeeded. But just as he relaxed, the expanded Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array began to tremble violently, and some gray mist started to seep out. No matter how hard Shaoke tried, he couldn't stop the mist from escaping.

Just as Shaoke was about to give up in despair, silver light suddenly appeared again in the empty space. A huge mass of silver light flew from somewhere and merged into the altar covered with countless magical runes. Then, several roars of beasts came from the altar. When the roars ended, countless silver lights flew out of the altar and landed on the Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array.

Under the effects of this silver light, the trembling nine‑pointed star array stabilized, the gray mist stopped escaping, and even the mist that had just escaped returned to the Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array after the roars ended. At this point, Shaoke knew his advancement was successful.

He realized that if he hadn't obtained the higher-level advancement array, the Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array would have been unable to withstand the influx of the gray mist, and he would have failed entirely. If he couldn't exit the meditation space before the gray mist dissipated, he would definitely die from failure. However, if he managed to exit in time, he might still retain his Eighth‑tier power, but he would forever lose the chance to advance.

After relaxing, Shaoke focused on sensing the fluctuations of the gray mist. The amount of gray mist was determined by each spellcaster's talent and other factors. Those who failed in advancement often had too much mist, causing the lower-level Nine‑pointed Star Magic Array to be unable to bear it, leading to the array's collapse or inability to contain the mist's escape, resulting in death.