End of the Magic Era

The ogre carried Wolkrie to its lair while swinging the rod. The cat-headed plant was still speaking…

"That human mage has to chant in order to cast a spell. Just cut off his tongue later. The tongue is the most tender meat, and should be eaten raw. Have you learned how to make barbecue from our last prey?

"Later, cut a piece of meat from his leg and roast it. I remember there's a flower near our lair. After cutting the meat, lay the flower on this man's leg, and he will regrow the meat very soon.

"See? This is a gift of fate. If we eat him slowly, we won't need any food for a long time. Ah, I want meat too. Idiot, prepare a medium rare steak for me. Do you know what medium rare means? Damn it, you're too stupid to know…"

The ogre grinned nonstop. Its smelly saliva was dripping on Wolkrie's head like a waterfall. Hearing what the cat-headed plant said, Wolkrie was dumbfounded and desperate. He wondered why he had struggled to run so far. He should've just let someone kill him.

At this moment, he had to be kept by an ogre and a weird cat-headed plant as livestock. His blood, flesh, and soul power were all their food…

Nobody knew about Wolkrie's misfortune. They all thought that he had disappeared, or escaped to another plane.

On the other hand, the Gilded Rose was still developing. During the incident of the Gilded Rose's rumors, anyone who was powerful or wise knew that it was because the Universal Core was too useful, and even changed the market.

Many people wanted to control the Universal Cores, legally or not, but they didn't take any action, and waited prudently. When the Roosevelt Business Alliance finally took action, some of them helped the Roosevelt Business Alliance too.

However, the result was quite shocking. The Roosevelt Business Alliance's base had been set afire by the Universal Cores. If the desert ethnic group that the Roosevelt Business Alliance belonged to hadn't been vehemently supporting it, it would've gone bankrupt already.

In light of recent events, everyone who had evil plans gave up their ideas. After all, they all had competitors in every market. They might be better than their competitors in some markets, and weaker in some others. In general, they were as powerful as their competitors.

At this moment, if anyone dared to concoct plots against the Gilded Rose, the latter would immediately support their competitors, giving them a great edge to win the competition. If the pressure continued for several years, even a major corporation might fall apart.

The Gilded Rose's development had become a lot easier. It was even closer to its partners because of what happened. With the network, it was very easy to stabilize its position in the Odin Kingdom.

Also, Faleau had recently reached out to several noble families of the Odin Kingdom on behalf of the Gilded Rose, and struck a few unimportant deals. That was a good beginning. It was impossible to suppress the Gilded Rose with business methods anymore.

Returning from the banquet in a noble family, Faleau couldn't help but have a lot of mixed feelings on the carriage.

Sir Merlin was truly thoughtful. The Gilded Rose had encountered so much resistance, even though it only sold the Universal Cores. If it had completely entered the magic tool market with the Universal Cores, it probably would've been surrounded and attacked by everyone else.

In that case, it would've been impossible for the Gilded Rose to continue developing in the Odin Kingdom.

However, by only selling the Universal Cores without completely entering the magic tool market, the Gilded Rose was able to attract everybody to cooperate with it.

According to Sir Merlin, they were only making the market bigger and more profitable, but they didn't join the competition in the market, and only made money at the edge.

The competition in the market had nothing to do with the Gilded Rose, which only needed to provide the Universal Cores. That was even more profitable than entering the magic tool market, and made the Gilded Rose's development easier.

Faleau remembered that everybody was friendly to him at the banquet. They didn't reject him as an outsider, but treated him equally. He struck almost five deals with partners during the banquet.

Thinking about that, Faleau couldn't help but put on a smile.

The Gilded Rose was still developing. The third batch of branches was being prepared, and would open very soon. Their main business was still potions and Universal Cores.

Its potion sales were almost reaching the top in the north of the Odin Kingdom. It ranked second at this moment only because its sales network hadn't been fully established. As soon as all the 38 branches were established, the north of the Odin Kingdom would be entirely covered. Then, the Gilded Rose's market share would definitely be the greatest in the north of the Odin Kingdom.

It had controlled the productivity of Universal Cores so that they would always be in demand. There was enough Black Pattern Silver to make another 3,000,000 Universal Cores, and no Black Pattern Silver could be found in Noscent. It was kept in Lin Yun's Demiplane, and would never be stolen.

There was a Planar Path—or, more precisely, its projection—to Lin Yun's Demiplane in the Gilded Rose's base. Nobody could access the Demiplane unless they were personally authorized by Lin Yun.

If any intruder broke into the Demiplane, Lin Yun would detect them immediately. In the Demiplane, he was confident of killing any level-5 Heaven Rank expert and defeating any level-6 Heaven Rank ones. If he tried his best, he might be able to kill them too.

The Natural Demiplane was growing faster and getting bigger and bigger. The sky was higher and higher, and the land was thicker and thicker. As more and more truth runes were engraved on the pillar, the Demiplane evolved much faster than Lin Yun did.

The law of space had already been born, but not perfected yet. The laws of darkness and light were about to be born. In particular, after the real moon appeared, the law of darkness was developing much faster than the law of light. Very soon, Lin Yun would be able to grasp the law of darkness in the Demiplane.

There was nothing Lin Yun needed to take care of at the Gilded Rose, so he simply went to the hill where Agalon was at.

Thanks to Agalon's training, Lin Yun's control and utilization of the Natural Demiplane was as good as of those on level 4 in the Heaven Rank. He had learned of things that he couldn't grasp yet, and would grasp them when he became strong enough.

The Natural Demiplane had been developing fast. The laws were evolving much faster than Lin Yun, which made it easier for him to grasp them.

As he grasped more and more laws and accumulated more mana, his strength surpassed his current level, and he naturally rose to the peak of level 3 in the Heaven Rank. He might advance to level 4 in the Heaven Rank anytime.

Lin Yun visited Agalon whenever he had time. Agalon was undoubtedly the person who had made the best use of the Natural Demiplane in the history of Noscent. Those who had obtained Natural Demiplanes later might be stronger than him, but they didn't know the Natural Demiplanes as well as Agalon did.

Very few mages who studied Natural Demiplanes later had seen real Natural Demiplanes and been through their development.

Their research could be used as a reference, but not fully trusted. Lin Yun was even more convinced that they were not completely trustworthy after Agalon's training.

The truths that the crazy mages had concluded from their research, if recorded in the decaying library, were believable.

However, their studies on the Natural Demiplanes weren't as reliable. After all, all those studies were theoretical, and they had never seen a real one…

Coming to the hill again, Lin Yun found that the law of space had been even more significantly changed. He had to try his best to climb the mountain.

He found himself in space again. Agalon was lying on a chair, and gazing at the stars in the distance. He carried a mysterious vibe, and his eyes were deep and sophisticated, as if he were actually looking into something else.

Lin Yun walked forward and waited quietly. Although Agalon wasn't related to him, the former had taught him a lot of things as a teacher. He was an honorable man too. Lin Yun respected him very much.

He waited quietly for more than an hour. Then, the mysterious vibe on Agalon was finally gone.

"You must've waited for a long time."

Agalon put on a smile. He was clearly satisfied with Lin Yun's progress.

Lin Yun stood aside respectfully.

"Not really. Just an hour."

Agalon nodded and looked at the stars. He hesitated for a moment, and suddenly asked him, "Have you created coordinates that lead to your Natural Demiplane in Noscent?"

Lin Yun was stunned for a moment, and didn't know what Agalon meant. He was exactly where his Natural Demiplane plane was. After he entered the Natural Demiplane, the Planar Path would be left behind.

Agalon looked at the stars, and mumbled, "The Natural Demiplane is much more useful than you think. The Demiplanes that the Heaven Rank mages create are just secondary planes. Those mages are the coordinates of the secondary planes."

Immediately, Lin Yun understood.

The projection he left in the Gilded Rose was just like a Planar Path. It was coordinates, but not a real Planar Path, even though he could already set up a real Planar Path.

The Demiplanes that normal mages created couldn't be used in such a way. Most Demiplanes that Heaven Rank mages created accommodated the laws they had grasped, and were completely different from Natural Demiplanes.

To create coordinates that linked Noscent to the Natural Demiplane…

There could be only one purpose for that: to avoid getting lost!

The only place where one needed the Natural Demiplane to avoid getting lost was the boundless void!

Lin Yun looked at the stars above his head, and realized what Agalon was getting at.

It was very easy to get lost in the boundless void. In the age of Noscent's colonization, countless explorers would get lost in the boundless void. Some Heaven Rank mages were even missing for thousands of years before someone found the traces they left behind in a new plane.

One of the greatest alchemy products in the age of colonization was the space lighthouses. In their heyday, every major force would build such a lighthouse so that they could navigate with corresponding magic tools in the boundless void even if they got lost.

Still, so many people were lost, and could never get back mainly because of the interferences such as void storms, elemental storms, solar storms, and time turbulences…

If one was unlucky to encounter great interferences between the navigation tool and the space lighthouse, one would be lost for good.

However, things were different with the Natural Demiplane. Lin Yun's Natural Demiplane had been completely stabilized. The laws of earth, fire, water, and wind had almost fully evolved. The laws of space, darkness, and light were evolving.

That was already the prototype of a complete world, and every complete world had complete space coordinates. By creating coordinates that linked the Natural Demiplane to Noscent, it would be possible to construct a Planar Path in the Natural Demiplane with the coordinates, and travel to Noscent directly!

Even if he got lost in the void, he could still go home with his Natural Demiplane as a platform, and he would never get lost in the void!

Wherever he was, he could directly return to his Natural Demiplane, which was why the Natural Demiplane was powerful.

Lin Yun was silent. Although he had always known the matter, he never thought about it that way, because the people who obtained Natural Demiplanes in the future would all be gone in the boundless void.

According to historical records, Agalon would leave for space in 10 years and vanish. If Agalon had said that he would die in 10 years, Lin Yun would've thought that Agalon was lost in space too.

The only explanation why someone who had a Natural Demiplane was permanently gone in the void was that he was dead.

What was in the space battlefield? Why did so many people die there?

Lin Yun raised his head and looked at Agalon, who gazed at the stars casually.

"Merlin, you've always wanted to see the space battlefield. It's the most tranquil moment of the space battlefield right now. I can take you there."

As he talked, Agalon raised his finger and drew a circle, which expanded quickly into a glittering curtain of light. He then crossed it and vanished.

Lin Yun followed Agalon, and crossed the curtain of light.

As if he passed through a layer of water, he found himself in the boundless void after the crossing.

The space was filled with explosive energy and rays. There was no air here, only corrosive power everywhere.

Lin Yun unfolded his shield and floated. Standing in the void, Agalon waved his hand, and an iron warship five kilometers long appeared in front of them. He took Lin Yun aboard the warship. Finally, the loss of gravity was gone.

The iron warship was absolutely dark, and didn't reflect any light. In Noscent, it would've been considered a behemoth, but in the vast space, it was no bigger than a drop of water in the ocean.

The warship quietly sailed in the void. Inside the warship, teams of puppets were controlling the vessel. Agalon took Lin Yun to the capital room. The walls became invisible, and they seemed to be standing in space.

There was a scorching sun floating far in the distance. It looked like a plate. Not far away, a hideous meteoroid that looked like a honeycomb and was actually 100 kilometers in diameter passed by in space quietly. It would destroy a kingdom if it crashed in Noscent, but in space, it simply passed by like a pebble, and didn't cause any sound.

The iron warship sailed quietly for half an hour. More and more huge meteoroids were seen, ranging from several kilometers to hundreds of kilometers in diameter.

After the vessel sailed for eight hours, they even saw a belt of countless meteoroids that were spinning around a meteoroid that was thousands of kilometers in diameter. The big meteoroid had bumps and dents all over its surface, and looked like a rotten apple core.

Amidst the meteoroids in the belt were countless broken bodies. Lin Yun could tell that there had been an enormous planet in this place until it was shattered.

Agalon pointed at the dark space in the distance.

"This is already the edge of the space battlefield, which has been peaceful without any war. But it's still very dangerous for you.

"There are invisible torrents here. Even I may get swallowed if I can't escape in time.

"There are also void beasts that are also very dangerous. To come here, you must take a warship and sail slowly. It's very dangerous to open spatial gates.

"Not only might it trigger unnecessary spatial changes, but it might also attract powerful void beasts.

"I've seen a void beast a hundred kilometers long. It was as strong as the peak of the Heaven Rank, and it was unimaginably sturdy. However, that void beast feasted upon stars. We wouldn't be caught in danger as long as we didn't attack it."