CHAPTER 75: CHAPTER 75: WHALE, TURTLE, OCTOPUS

"If the Space Rune I acquire is the Barrier, then the fusion choice for the Adaptive Rock Barrier isn’t much of an issue."

Lor shifted his attention to the Adaptive Rock Barrier Rune, thinking to himself, "But if it involves Spatial Voidification, some changes will be necessary."

The fusion of witchcraft has never been unchanging; each improvement direction must be based on the core foundation runes.

For example, now he has decided to treat the Spatial Void Rune as the core foundation rune.

So, the subsequent improvement direction for the Adaptive Rock Barrier should also prioritize compatibility with the Space Void Rune.

"The core function of the Void Rune is to transfer damage, but its own toughness is not remarkable."

Lor contemplated, "The fusion direction of my Witchcraft Runes should focus on enhancing toughness, with increasing the defense limit as secondary."

This approach contrasts entirely with the enhancement route involving the Spatial Barrier Rune.

Because a Spatial Barrier Rune already serves to enhance the toughness of witchcraft, once acquired, you should focus solely on increasing defense limits.

Yet the core of both is similar; both center on the Space Rune, so there’s no concern about compatibility synchronization issues when breaking through to the Third Ring or Fourth Ring.

"It would be great if I could obtain both runes." Lor sighed with some regret.

In truth, the Barrier and Void are indeed two exceptionally compatible runes.

If both runes were acquired together, he might even be confident in creating a witchcraft with a foundational boost not weaker than the Meteor Technique.

However, he’s also aware that even if both runes appeared, he wouldn’t be able to memorize both in such a short time.

The final outcome would still be randomly choosing one rune to memorize.

"I’ll think about the selection for the Defense Witchcraft fusion model during some free time after heading out to sea. For now, let’s proceed with breaking the limits of the Meteor Technique."

With Spiritual Power exiting the Sea of Consciousness, Lor focused on the limit-breaking section behind the Meteor Technique entry on the panel.

"Limit Break!"

[Meteor Technique (2.9+0.3 rings) → Meteor Technique (2.9+0.3 rings) (Limit Break +0.1) (Non-upgradable, but can break limits)]

[Energy points: 63,510,000, 57.63% → 45,800,000, 84.32%]

"Creaking—"

The spherical rune model forming the Meteor Technique in the Sea of Consciousness shivered, starting to perfect itself and becoming more refined.

Seeing that the first limit break consumed only 22 million energy points and that he could break limits again, Lor was delighted. Waiting for the Sea of Consciousness to calm down, he immediately focused once more on the Limit Break.

"Again!"

[Meteor Technique (2.9+0.3 rings) (Limit Break +0.1) → Meteor Technique (2.9+0.3 rings) (Limit Break +0.2) (Non-upgradable)]

[Energy points: 45,800,000, 84.32% → 230,000, 78.41%]

"A 3.4-ring Meteor Technique, the mentor probably couldn’t withstand even a single hit now?" Lor looked at the current rating of the Meteor Technique on the panel, feeling exhilarated.

Having been in this world for six years, in this Wizard World where the Fourth Ring can’t take action recklessly, he finally had a slight ability to protect himself.

"The short rest is over; next, it’s time to call Levan and continue to sea to harvest contribution points." Lor took out the Continent Communication Board, transferred 1.2 million contribution points to Kateya, and then notified Levan to get ready to set out.

...

In the depths of the Endless Sea, within a deep-sea canyon.

Two terrifying sea beasts, their massive forms stretching beyond sight, stared silently at each other.

One sea beast resembled an octopus, while the other seemed akin to a turtle.

"Swish—"

Suddenly, the sound of rushing water came from afar.

"It’s coming soon; now you should tell me why you woke me up." The turtle-like sea beast looked at the octopus and said.

It had been sleeping all along, for more than five thousand years.

Only recently did the octopus awaken it without explaining, insisting on waiting for the whale before discussing reasons, leaving it somewhat exasperated.

"Old Turtle, the divine spirits have been exterminated by the wizards." The octopus waved its eight giant tentacles continuously, appearing very agitated, "And judging by the current situation, they seem to want to kill us too."

"Little Octopus, you woke me just to make this joke?" The giant turtle was somewhat annoyed, "This isn’t funny at all."

It didn’t believe the octopus because five thousand years ago, the strongest of those wizards emerging from humanity were merely so-called Second Ring.

In terms of combat power, they were comparable to Third Tier of the Sea Race.

Moreover, they were scarce and constantly suppressed by the divine spirits, forced to hide among ordinary people, living covertly.

How could it be possible that upon waking, those ant-like existences had exterminated the once-mighty spirits?

"I knew you wouldn’t believe it; let’s wait for the whale to discuss it." The octopus no longer paid attention to the giant turtle, instead focusing its gaze towards where the sound had originated.

Seeing the octopus’s attitude, the giant turtle was suddenly filled with doubt.

Could what it said be true?

It can’t be!

The gods are so strong, and the wizards so weak.

No matter how you look at it, the wizards couldn’t have achieved this in a mere five thousand years, right?

"Splash—"

Soon, with the raging currents stirred by the undersea turbulence, an enormous whale, nearly a thousand miles long, rapidly approached the two giant beasts in the deep-sea canyon.

As it reached them, the turbulent undercurrents that accompanied its movement quietly dissipated, vanishing without a trace.

"Whale, I heard from the little octopus that the divine spirits have been exterminated by human wizards. Is this true?" The giant turtle asked impatiently as soon as the whale arrived.

"It’s true." The whale nodded, its tone tinged with a bit of helplessness.

The turtle suddenly felt a dull thud in its head, becoming somewhat at a loss.

It could choose not to believe the octopus, but it couldn’t ignore the words of the whale.

This being had once signed a pact with the sea gods and had always been a guardian of order in the Endless Sea. Apart from feeding, it never killed arbitrarily and was extremely impartial.

The current abundance of Third Tier creatures in the Endless Sea is, besides excessive accumulation over tens of thousands of years, largely due to the whale curbing the indiscriminate killing by other Fourth Tier Sea Races.

"Whale, what do you think we should do now?" The octopus turned to the giant whale and asked.

"Organize all Fourth Tier Sea Beasts, have them lead the Third Tier Sea Beast groups to launch a massive wave to submerge the Human Race Continent, forcing them to compromise and sign a new pact."

The giant whale spoke decisively, "Hidden in the shadows, as long as we don’t let the wizards discover us, they won’t dare to wantonly slaughter Fourth Tier Sea Beasts."

During the divine spirits era, they used this method of threatening the divine spirits to ensure the survival of the Sea Race.

The current situation seems similar, so they might as well do it again.

After witnessing their methods, the wizards will surely compromise.

"Alright."

"Agreed."

The octopus and the giant turtle both nodded, then separated and left.

This kind of thing, they’ve done it once before, now it’s just a repetition of what’s been done, no need to concretely discuss the method again.

...

In the Endless Sea, in a sea area near the Betula Continent.

"Whoosh—"

Lor navigated the Black Cliff Spaceship, continuing towards the deep-sea region.

"Now that I’ve activated the Meteor Witchcraft, my sensing range has reached 1,435 miles."

Lor extended his perception to the maximum and tested the sensing range, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, "Even in the depths of the Endless Sea, this sensing distance should be sufficient!"

Thinking of his current task ranking of 4,855, he decided to aim for something big.

Not to mention breaking into the top ten, he certainly needs to get into the top one hundred.