End of the Magic Era

The business opened by the Gilded Rose in the Odin Kingdom was in the most prosperous part of Neverwinter City, where the Starry Sky College was located. They even opened eighteen stores and linked them into one huge shop, and with the battleships being tied to the Gilded Rose, Lin Yun could no longer be said to have no foundation in the Odin Kingdom.

Lin Yun was in a hurry now that he had the materials, because he could finally restore the patched puppet back to the Heaven Rank.

It had been unable to display the power of the Heaven Rank before due to a large number of damaged parts. Not only had the energy system been damaged, its strength fell under the Heaven Rank over time and many systems could no longer display their power.

When he followed Gandaph to the Puppet Plane, he obtained the parts of two Heaven Puppets, many of which were quite good and could directly replace the patched puppet’s components. Furthermore, some of these premium materials could be made into high quality components.

It would definitely let the patched puppet recover its Heaven Rank strength and greatly increase its strength. But that wasn’t what Lin Yun was focused on, he was more interested in the things contained within the puppet.

The words he had heard when he obtained the puppet had almost scared Lin Yun to death. The patched puppet had a secret that Lin Yun had the urge to know. The sentence: “Is there still someone alive?” horrified Lin Yun when he thought about it.

The biggest clue to unveil the truth behind Noscent’s destruction might very well be in the puppet.

How could Lin Yun not feel hurried under such circumstances?

After returning to his laboratory, Lin Yun arranged three layers of defenses and thoroughly sealed the place before entering the Demiplane.

The prosperous transformation of the Demiplane, caused by the truth runes, had already stabilized and the mana consumption already decreased. These days, the mana lake had regained a bit of its depth, but it was still not even at 10% of its peak state.

But there was enough Mana Water to replenish Lin Yun’s mana over ten thousand times!

The Natural Demiplane’s horrifying strength was thoroughly displayed. With Lin Yun’s mana consumption, the wall of Mana Vines spreading over ten kilometers was enough to guarantee that Lin Yun would never lack mana.

After entering the Demiplane, Lin Yun went to check on the hibernating Reina and Xiuban.

Xiuban was in a blood-red cocoon pulsating just like a heart and emitting several kinds of draconic auras. There was even a divine aura at the top of the cocoon.

Once Xiuban awakened and emerged from the cocoon, he would have thoroughly fused with these bloodline powers and would have become a true Heaven Rank powerhouse.

And on the other side, Reina was staying in the northernmost area of the Demiplane, in the depths of the ice field formed from seawater. That was where the Demiplane was at its coldest. Reina had taken her original shape, but unlike an ordinary Frost Dragon, she looked even more graceful and her aura was completely different. She would also advance to the Heaven Rank by the time she woke up.

Lin Yun watched for a bit. The two Beastman Ancestor Souls were obediently taking care of the Three-Eyed Wolf. The small wolf was also growing at a rapid pace, his body had grown a few times bigger.

Recalling the Three-Eyed Wolf’s ability, Lin Yun felt that he could soon take him out and that it wouldn’t be long before he could use the small wolf to implement his next plan.

After checking the Demiplane, Lin Yun entered a huge laboratory. This was his personal laboratory, which he had personally built and equipped. Its specs far exceeded this era’s laboratories. Many of its functions and alchemy devices had yet to appear in this era and it had taken Lin Yun a lot of time and energy to craft them.

After entering the alchemy laboratory, Lin Yun immediately took out the bodies of the two Heaven Puppets… The dismantled bodies of the two Heaven Puppets.

All the materials he had obtained from Faleau had been taken out, and the first time was to complete the preliminary processing of all the materials to form a material that could be used. The following processing would be situational, getting different effects from the same materials required different processing methods.

He first took out all the parts that could be used and remodelled them. Although he could use them directly, he had to alter them if he wanted them to fit perfectly.

The remodelling didn’t take too long, in less than three hours, all the components used had been completely remodelled. All that was left were the parts that needed to be crafted.

With the truth runes’ mysteries he had previously researched, Lin Yun’s train of thought had changed and his crafting speed increased a few times. It took him one day to craft all the components and he only had to fix the patched puppet now.

The energy system replaced the previous heart energy, it was a remodelled version of that Level 43 Puppet’s mana reactor with a new design. The mana produced by that mana reactor absolutely exceeded the patched puppet’s needs. This also meant that the patched puppet’s bursts of mana would be more powerful. Moreover, the puppet could last until level 45 without needing an upgrade.

Furthermore, he had also obtained ability runes before. With the ability rune transplanting method, he transplanted a first-rate Lightning Speed ability rune, an Elemental Strengthening ability rune, and a Defense Strengthening ability rune.

Unfortunately, even if the puppet could support five ability runes, transplanting three was the limit of Lin Yun’s current abilities.

After all, even some of Cybertan race’s first-rate Heaven Rank Puppet Kings could only hold two ability runes.

Even the puppet that could autonomously transplant ability runes never transplanted two runes to himself.

With the Lightning Speed ability rune, the puppet’s mechanical system was altered to let the puppet fight in close quarters. Its weapon was a laser sword Lin Yun had just researched. By relying on a huge burst of mana, he was able to compress and condense a laser with terrifying cutting abilities. When not in use, it could be put away and didn’t take up much space. When using it alongside the Lightning Speed ability rune, common Heaven Mages’ Fusion Shield would be torn apart in an instant.

As for the Elemental Strengthening Rune, it was accompanying new weapons, two Firebolts, two Frostbolts, and a Lightbolt systems.

Finally, the Defense Strengthening ability rune could integrate with the puppet’s armor Lin Yun had just crafted and spread the damage to every part of the puppet’s surface, undoubtedly reinforcing the puppet’s defensive ability.

But Lin Yun frowned after the design was complete. This Heaven Puppet was a human-shaped puppet commonly seen in Noscent, but it wasn’t so common in the Puppet Plane. In terms of fighting abilities, human-shaped puppets were often inferior to other kinds of puppets.

Their flexibility and speed wasn’t comparable to spider-shaped puppets, their defense was inferior to insect-type puppets, and their offensive abilities couldn’t compare to other shapes. This was a natural flaw. The only good part about human-shaped puppets was they were balanced, they weren’t outstanding in any area, but similarly, they didn’t have any specific weakness.

But in a battle between puppets, a powerful advantage could influence the outcome of a battle.

The patched puppet now had a very powerful energy system and a terrifying weapon system, but its defensive abilities was still on the weaker side even after transplanting an ability rune.

Even if the puppet’s weapon system could use spells, it was still stronger in melee battle. After all, while bolt spells were powerful, the farther from the target, the less efficient they would be. In a battle between Heaven Rank powerhouses, a bolt spell flying in a straight line could hardly hit an opponent from a hundred meters.

And to shorten the distance, a strong defense was needed.

Lin Yun was still dissatisfied after crafting a few of his designs, when he suddenly froze and took out the sealed box holding the black substance.

Looking at the box, Lin Yun suddenly had an inspiration. Although that black substance was continuously devouring mana, it didn’t seem picky and would absorb any kind of mana. But Lin Yun remembered that Gandaph had taken it out of a Heaven Puppet.

If that black substance couldn’t completely be controlled and kept absorbing mana, it might cleanly drain all of the puppet’s mana. Even if there was a mana reactor that continuously produced mana without running dry, it would still devour part of the puppet’s energy.

‘I could add this black substance to the puppet’s body by designing a special new system, an absorption system!’

The puppet’s defensive ability rune scattered damage all over its body. That way, even if it received a fatal attack, it could endure it with its entire body.

But if the attack was a large-scale spell attack that could cover the entire puppet’s body, then the effect of this defensive ability rune would be weakened.

But if he manufactured a new absorption system, the puppet would be able to endure spell attacks, redistribute them and lead the power towards the black substance. This would greatly increase the puppet’s defense.

Moreover, the black substance’s devouring power could even be used to attack. It’ll continuously absorb the enemy’s mana in close range. Not only would it weaken the enemy, it would be a huge psychological pressure. All mages would be frightened when facing that.

With that idea in mind, Lin Yun immediately got to work. First, he had to vacate a spot for the black substance. He then used obsidian mixed with a few kinds of mana repelling magic materials to craft a shell to put the black substance into. Then, through another design, a dozen channels were linked to the core of the absorption system.

These channels linked the puppet’s absorption system to the surface of its body and would only open when attacked by a spell or in melee battle.

That black substance couldn’t absorb the puppet’s own mana, it could only devour the mana from an enemy or a spell.

A day later, the designs, production and assembly had been completed. The patched puppet’s appearance had drastically changed, both outside and inside. From the outside, it looked like it was covered in a layer of mercury. That silver layer was constantly moving and circulating due to the power of the ability rune.

Its body looked more like a melee puppet now. The crucial parts were relatively thick, but its body was slender for speed purposes.

And its weapons were hidden, unless they were in use, it was impossible to figure out what weapons the puppet held.

Lin Yun stood in front of the puppet and exhaled as he looked at his masterpiece, before rebooting it.

A second later, the puppet’s dark crystal eyes suddenly gave off a crimson light and mana almost burst out of its body. Its three ability runes activated almost simultaneously and pacified that fierce burst of mana. These three ability runes used a large amount of mana, but if not for them, the puppet wouldn’t be able to withstand this powerful mana reactor with its current power.

The puppet looked at Lin Yun, its scarlet crystal eyes flickering repeatedly. It then knelt and put its right hand on its stomach, like a knight having an audience with its monarch.

“Esteemed Master, Pabiete is yours to command, I am your blade aiming at all your enemies.”

A calm voice came out from Pabiete’s closed mouth, he then calmly waited in his kneeling position, just like a statue.

Pleasant surprise could be seen in Lin Yun’s eyes and he sighed in relief. Since that puppet recalled its own name, this meant that it regained its wisdom and was no longer that cold lump of iron that only knew how to listen to orders, he should have already regained his memory.

“Pabiete, stand up. Do you remember your past?”

Lin Yun asked Pabiete about his past, but Pabiete seemed at a loss as he stood up, as if he had no idea what Lin Yun was asking.

“Pabiete, I’m asking about what happened before you re-awakened your wisdom, how much do you remember?”

Pabiete’s tone was still emotionless as he meticulously answered, “Esteemed Master, your most loyal knight only remembers you bestowing me life and letting me open my eyes to look at this world. Pabiete remembers everything from the time I opened my eyes until now.”

Lin Yun frowned.

“I’m talking about what happened before. Do you remember the Dark Sage? Do you remember the disaster?”

Pabiete shook his head.

“Esteemed Master, Pabiete cannot understand what you are saying.”

Lin Yun was disappointed. Although Pabiete had regained his wisdom, he apparently didn’t remember the past, he only remembered what happened since Lin Yun restored his mana.

Since he remembered his own name, how could he not remember the matters of the past, how could he have not heard of the Dark Sage?

After opening Pabiete’s body and checking his unique memory system, Lin Yun got a flash of understanding.

The unimportant things had been replaced, especially the mana reactor. The memory system was the only thing that Lin Yun hadn’t dared to touch. In order to ensure that it wasn’t damaged, Pabiete’s head had always been protected, and the defenses were the strongest around the memory system.

The puppet’s memories were stored there, but a puppet’s wisdom awakening was like a new life being born. It didn’t seem like a big change, it was very minor, but it birthed the flames of life, this was the source of the puppet’s life. Or it was better to say, the source of the puppet’s wisdom.

Under normal circumstances, the power of a Heaven Puppet’s memory system was linked to the other systems, but it would transform differently, the memory systems of Heaven Puppets and non-Heaven Puppets were different. This was also the reason why Lin Yun couldn’t learn about the unique memories within Pabiete’s memory system, because only through awakening wisdom could the memory system be known as Pabiete’s memory system.

And before he awakened wisdom, the memory system was only the patched puppet’s memory system, and this was very different. But seeing the memory system’s appearance, Lin Yun frowned.

Because 90% of Pabiete’s memory system had regained its original appearance. In other words, Pabiete hadn’t lost his memory, it was just sealed by a strange power.

Continuously transforming runes were roaming over 90% of the memory system, and the memories stored there hadn’t been lost, they were only sealed.

Lin Yun roused the Magic Array to decipher the runic seal, but he discovered that the runes’ transformation speed was too fast. It was unable to fully grasp the information of the runes before they flickered and transformed again.

He couldn’t decipher them even when using the Spell Wheel. The runes covering the entire memory system were far too small and there were several thousand of them. Every single rune would also transform every single second, and when combined together, they made that seal’s combinations almost infinite.

Lin Yun was stunned. That sealing technique was too familiar. It didn’t seem to be very technical. In fact, there wasn’t much technical content behind every transformation. If Lin Yun wasn’t afraid of damaging Pabiete’s memory, he could brute force it and crack it within three minutes.

But this kind of endless combination sealing technique came from the later part of Noscent’s peak era, it was even the most common sealing technique in some areas…