Chapter 518 - 504: After Morning Star, One Cultivates the Dao

Chapter 518: Chapter 504: After Morning Star, One Cultivates the Dao

The Ten Thousand Miles of Sunshine sailed into the Sea of Magical Power.

The Crystal Wall of Hub City shrank rapidly behind the stern, eventually becoming nothing more than a coordinate point on the observation array.

Inside the bridge, absolute silence reigned.

Outside the window lay the bizarre and dazzling Sea of Magical Power, where distorted Laws formed visible color storms. Occasional energy tides swept past, causing the data curves of the twelve sets of Super AT Force Field Generators to instantly spike into blinding peaks.

Allen stood before the massive floor-to-ceiling observation window, his deep blue eyes reflecting the chaos and magnificence outside—a sight beyond mortal comprehension.

The return voyage of over seven hours provided him with a rare opportunity to think. Right now, he was reviewing the five years that had passed since his promotion to the Morning Star stage. During this period, he had burned through nearly two billion Magic Stones to forge two Level 4 Golems and a quasi-Purifier-class battleship. This meant he had acquired three Morning Star Level combatants in just five years. From any perspective, it was a glorious track record.

However, Allen knew very well that his personal cultivation had practically stagnated.

"Jarvis, bring up my Meditation data and compare the efficiency with my pre-promotion metrics," Allen’s voice echoed in the spacious bridge.

"Data comparison model generating... Analysis complete.

"Statistical period: Five years and four months.

"Total Spiritual Power growth: 3.71%.

"Total Magic Power growth: 0.82%.

"Comprehensive combat power improvement assessment: Below 1.3%.

"Conclusion: After advancing to the Morning Star stage, the efficiency at which you acquire Spiritual Power and Magic Power through the Machines Resonance Meditation Method has dropped to 14.3% of its original rate. Continuing to construct new Core Matrices is estimated to yield an increasingly lower return on investment."

Allen sank his consciousness deep into his soul. Within that vast Star Map composed of Runes, seventeen Core Matrices shone as brightly as stars. They resonated with one another, converting Magic Power. Beside them lay a vast, empty space sufficient to construct even more matrices.

Since becoming a Morning Star, he had continued his daily Meditation, and the number of Core Matrices had expanded into a complete set. Yet, his actual strength had barely improved.

There were two reasons for this. First, he had lost his physical body. A Meditation Method was fundamentally designed to synchronously transform the soul, the physical body, and Magic Power. Now that he resided within an Alchemy Puppet, the cycle was incomplete, making a drastic drop in efficiency inevitable.

However, this was not the main issue.

The real bottleneck was that the Wizard path underwent a massive "version update" at the Morning Star stage. Before Morning Star, the rules were simple and brutal: stack Spiritual Power, expand Magic Power, and engrave stronger Witchcraft. Whoever had the largest mana pool, the fiercest skills, and the most creations was the boss.

The Machines Resonance Meditation Method pushed this logic of "stat inflation" to its absolute limit. The Core Matrix increased the maximum mana cap, the Permanent Witchcraft Matrix accelerated spellcasting, and the cognitive enhancement matrix provided multi-threaded processing power. In theory, as long as Allen was willing, he could stack his Core Matrices to a thousand or even ten thousand sets.

It sounded wonderful, but in reality, it was entirely meaningless. He had once believed that the Machines Resonance Meditation Method was a heavenly path leading to infinite power, but the reality was that this path had reached a turning point.

"Magic Power... Spiritual Power..." Allen muttered to himself.

He spread his hands. The durability of this temporary Alchemy Puppet was only about on par with Artificial Human No. 18. His strength depended entirely on the shell he "logged into." A physical body was already dispensable to him.

Inside PX-4 "Xiong Da", he possessed vast Magic Power capable of driving the low-spec version of the "Zero" main cannon. Inside "Thanatos", his Spiritual Power could traverse the Shadow Realm, reaping souls across Planes. His soul was more like a "super administrator account" with limitless permissions. Meanwhile, Magic Power was simply the inherent energy supplied by the different servers—the Golems.

The account itself had virtually zero mana.

He recalled Augustus’s past words: "Before Morning Star, a Wizard strengthens themselves.

"After Morning Star, a Wizard comprehends the world."

Those words finally revealed their true, heavy significance at this moment.

Laws.

This was the core competency of the Morning Star stage. The strength of a Morning Star Wizard was not measured by the size of their mana pool, but by how deeply they understood the rules of the world. Take the Fireball Technique, for instance. An ordinary Wizard would still be obsessing over its temperature and blast radius. But a Morning Star who had touched the Flame Law could directly perceive the essence of "combustion." They could make flames ignite out of thin air, turn Magic Power into fuel, or even make the fire affect only specific targets.

If one could reach the stage of "rewriting Laws," they could even define an entirely new type of "fire."

"All illuminated by light shall burn.

"All who call my true name shall have their souls turned to kindling."

Once that point was reached, the temperature of the flames no longer mattered. The rules themselves became the weapon.

Allen accessed the information regarding Laws from the purchased Association database. Laws had their own hierarchy. Time, Space, Matter, Elements, Magic Power... These primordial Laws that formed the foundational framework of the universe were too grandiose for any single individual to touch. If one could truly validate and master even one of them, they could instantly destroy the entire universe.

Even Elder Wizards who had lived for thousands of years in Witchcraft Schools only dared to claim partial mastery over Spatial Folding, Spatial Anchoring, or Spatial Cutting. No one dared to claim they had mastered Space itself.

As for Time, it was closer to a theoretical concept. In the history of the Association, a Morning Star Wizard once announced that he had mastered the Time Law. Three months later, the Supreme Council deleted his research report and sent him to the Soul Medical Center. The diagnosis was cognitive dislocation caused by long-term Meditation. In layman’s terms, he had gone mad from his enlightenment.

Therefore, the smarter Wizards opted to study secondary Laws. Since Matter was too broad, they studied metal, crystal, or flesh. Since Elements were too broad, they focused on flames, ice, or lightning. Since Space was too broad, they researched distances, portals, or boundaries. Although these paths were narrower, they at least offered a clear "entry point." One could steadily grind their progress step by step through experiments and accumulated knowledge.

And Allen already had an excellent entry point.

The soul.

Artificial souls, natural spirits, fractured souls, Demon Beast Souls, Wizard souls, pseudo-souls... Only after touching the Soul Law did he realize how shallow his previous understanding had been. He was currently still in the first stage. By touching the Law, he could see the structure of a soul, identify the connections between memory and consciousness, and track the traces left behind after a soul was modified. Thanatos’s ability to reap souls from afar was the technological byproduct of this very understanding, but he was still far from truly mastering it.

"Initiate the in-depth Soul Law project."

"Initiating project now," Jarvis replied.

"Phase One: Complete the soul samples of all intelligent races. Add four new research directions: divine creatures, elemental lifeforms, hive-mind entities, and native Plane wills.

"Phase Two: Conduct soul division, recombination, and cross-vessel stability experiments."

Jarvis paused briefly. "Final research objective?"

Allen did not answer immediately. If touching a Law meant seeing the soul clearly, and applying a Law meant changing the soul, then rewriting a Law meant defining the soul. When that time came, he might be able to grant true self-awareness to any creation. He could make a piece of steel birth a soul. He could even bring a completely deceased person back to life... pulling them back from the intangible remnants of information scattered throughout the world.

"The final objective is tentatively set as—resurrection of the dead."

"Project established.

"Estimated completion cycle: Incalculable."

If Laws could be fully validated in a mere few decades, why would Morning Star Wizards need lifespans measured in thousands of years?

Allen switched to the second database. Thousands of alloy formulas appeared on the screen—the culmination of his years of accumulation. Secret Silver Tungsten Steel, Radiant Black Steel, Earth Vein Tempered Steel...

The Metal Law.

This was the second "tech tree" he was determined to conquer. Although he had not yet "touched" it, his accumulation of knowledge was already vast. Golems, battleships, engines—his entire industrial system was built upon metal. Once validated, the entire Cybertron industrial system would undergo a qualitative leap, and he would no longer be restricted by the natural properties of materials. Strength, toughness, Magic Conductivity... all parameters would be completely redefined by him.

By then, the title of Peacekeeper would resound throughout the heavens.

"Initiate the Metal Law touch project."

"Please set the point of entry."

Allen brought up the hull damage records for the Ten Thousand Miles of Sunshine. While traversing the Crystal Wall, the bow armor had suffered Law Erosion, altering the fundamental properties of several sections.

"We start with the damage."

Manufacturing was only a result. Destruction was far more effective at exposing the essence. He intended to record every alteration that different metals underwent amid high temperatures, high pressures, spatial distortions, and Law Erosion. Then, he would reverse-engineer the underlying rules that dictated those metallic properties.

If the samples were insufficient, he would buy more. If the experimental grounds were too small, he would expand them. He had instructed Colin and the others to acquire new material technologies regardless of the cost specifically to pave the way for this project. By analyzing a massive ocean of alloy formulas and reverse-engineering the physical rules behind them, he would eventually touch the thread that governed all metals. If he didn’t have enough time, he would gladly spend a century on it.

"Metal Law touch project established."

Two cultivation projects floated side by side on the screen. This was his path of progression moving forward.

"As for the third Law..." Allen pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

Biting off more than one could chew was unwise. Augustus had once mentioned that a Morning Star could master a maximum of three Laws in their lifetime. Each one could consume hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Soul and Metal. One pertained to the "internal" immortality and essence, while the other governed the "external" strength and foundation. Securing these two steps first was the most rational choice.

"Estimated to exit the Sea of Magical Power and arrive at the outer space of the Great Library Plane in ten minutes."

Jarvis’s voice chimed in at the perfect moment, interrupting his thoughts. The contemplation faded entirely from Allen’s eyes, replaced by his customary profound calmness.

His vacation was over.

"Send a message to the Association in my name.

"Allen Wesren has completed his recuperation."