Chapter 64: Now, I Lack Nothing

"Good morning, Klisa."

"Good night, Klisa."

"Good morning, Mentor."

"Good night, Mentor."

Greetings every morning, farewells every night before sleep.

Silently, time passed within those simple words.

A day, a month, a year.

While living through it, time felt so slow, yet looking back at the past, decades seemed like but a moment.

In an instant, the witch grew up.

In the blink of an eye, Xu Xi grew old.

At fifty-two, he hadn't truly reached the end of his life, but Xu Xi could already feel the decay and withering buried deep within his body.

"Fortunately, there are still things worth being happy about."

"After so many years of waiting, I have finally reached the limit once again and have the possibility of taking another step forward."

The Realm of a Sanctuary Archmage was within reach.

To achieve a Breakthrough and promotion.

Xu Xi stopped his travels around the world.

Together with Klisa, he stayed in the nearest city, constantly meditating to nurture his Mental Energy, striving to make his Breakthrough in the best possible state.

The city was named Lavush.

It had a strong religious atmosphere; most citizens were believers in the gods, and churches dedicated to various deities could be seen everywhere, with divine emblems engraved in every corner.

Such as the sun pattern of the Sun God, the hammer design of the God of Blacksmiths, and the vine textures of the Goddess of Nature.

The most magnificent wonder was a lofty stone statue dedicated to the God of Light; it embodied the painstaking efforts of craftsmen and carried the prayers of believers, standing upon the earth in a sacred posture.

"Praise the God of Light, praise the Lord of Endless Radiance."

"Great Lord, your humble believer prays for your protection here."

"May the everlasting radiance accompany me into my dreams."

"Ah, light above, the Holy Light is shining upon me!"

With pious voices and humble attitudes, the Mortals knelt before the stone statue, offering hymns to the God of Light in the most fanatical manner they could imagine.

Xu Xi first looked at the many praying believers.

Then he looked up at the sky.

From his perspective, the city of Lavush was constantly gushing with golden dotted lines of faith, stretching continuously into the heavens and converging where the gods resided.

But compared to that pious faith, the presence of the gods was extremely scarce.

This indicated…

…that despite its many believers, Lavush had not received the gaze of the gods.

"Mentor, why do they do this?" Beside Xu Xi, the witch asked in confusion.

"Klisa, some people cannot survive by relying solely on themselves."

"They need a goal, a faith to give their souls a sufficient sense of security. Only then can their godless bodies move forward."

"It's not a matter of right or wrong; it's just different ways of living for different people."

Xu Xi said. As he aged, his voice had grown slightly deeper, carrying the marks of time and reflections on the world.

The witch felt she understood.

Because she was also that kind of person.

However, unlike those poor believers who received no response, Klisa felt she was lucky and valued by fate.

Now, she stood by Xu Xi's side, within the radiance of the "sun."

Able to experience that precious light and heat.

Filling her body and soul with warmth.

"Let's go, Klisa. We have much preparation to do before ascending to the Sanctuary."

"Yes, Mentor."

Klisa followed quickly, her light black dress swaying as she walked. Against the backdrop of light and fire, amidst the resonance of wind and air, the witch closely followed her "god."

…

[You decided to enter seclusion in Lavush for your Breakthrough.]

[This city is located in a remote area and is an insignificant existence in the eyes of the gods. You feel that the commotion caused by your Breakthrough here will be smaller.]

[The Breakthrough to Sanctuary Archmage is an essential sublimation and the seizing of world authority. Within a specific range, you will possess unimaginable control over elements, second only to the gods in the heavens.]

[You maintain 1000% vigilance toward the gods, believing that besides suppressing the Laws, they must have more methods.]

[To this end, before officially ascending to Sanctuary Archmage, you set up many contingencies.]

"Hmm, let me see."

"Large-scale Linked Concealment Magic Generator."

"With the Shadow Orb as the core, paired with a water-attribute Siren Skull, this magic circle for briefly masking my presence is complete."

"Plus the Breath-Concealing Forbidden Curse I conceived beforehand; using it immediately after the Breakthrough should buy some more time."

"Besides these that mask elemental fluctuations, I also left some contingencies in other cities earlier to help create some commotion and distract the gods."

Three days later.

In the outskirts of Lavush.

Xu Xi stood in the boundless wilderness, eyes closed in contemplation, recalling if there were any omissions in his arrangements.

Klisa stood not far away, holding the "grey rekindling" staff, expressionlessly standing guard for Xu Xi, vigilant against anything that might interrupt this ascension.

"…"

Soon, as Xu Xi exhaled a breath of turbid air…

…the ascension to Sanctuary Archmage officially began.

The wind rose, clouds surged, the earth shook, and fire roared.

Water churned, light blazed, darkness fell, and thunder rumbled.

Xu Xi controlled too many elemental attributes; naturally, the Domain he condensed was also of multiple composite attributes.

"Gather!" His surging Mental Energy solidified, following the wave of his staff to become an overwhelming, howling tide that instantly submerged the many elements between heaven and earth.

Forcibly aggregating, forcibly piecing together, he used absolute violence to smash the attributes of different elements into one place.

"Again!"

It was another bombardment of mental tides.

Xu Xi's eyes glowed, and air exploded around him. His Mental Energy overflowed and affected reality; amidst the constant clicking and humming of the air, his Mental Energy forcefully took control of more than ten elements.

Compressing, condensing, and finally exploding at an extremely tiny point.

Instantly, a vast Domain expanded.

"Now, I lack nothing." With more than ten elemental powers surrounding him, Xu Xi lightly raised his hand, and the celestial changes caused by the Domain instantly calmed.

With just a single thought…

…Mental Energy as vast as an ocean restored the violent elements to their original state.

"This is a Sanctuary Archmage, a power second only to the gods." Xu Xi marveled at the strength of his new power, but he did not test it further, instead quickly leading Klisa away from Lavush.

At the same time, the many arrangements he had prepared earlier all unfolded in a brief instant.

Chaos.

Clamor.

Panic.

Disturbances appeared throughout the Magic World. Countless believers begged for the protection of the gods, causing many lines of faith to be interrupted.

Great power from the heavens descended.

It was not one, not two, but all the gods arriving together.

Invisible wills collided in the high heavens, quickly sweeping past the vicinity of Lavush, but despite lingering for a long time, they failed to capture anything.

On the surface.

The citizens of Lavush knelt piously, thinking their day and night prayers had drawn the gods' pity.

They cried out to the gods.

Praying for divine blessings.

But what answered them was endless thunder, terrifying in its momentum, as if it would destroy the world.

It was the wrath of the gods.

"Find him, we must find him!"

"This world will never allow any new god to divide our authority!"