Sovereign of the Ashes

Magic experiments helped Sein forget his mundane worries.

The pursuit of truth usually did not involve much outside interference. It simply presented spellcasters with its raw, fundamental form.

Lately, Sein's magic research had been focused mainly on bloodlines.

Natalya and Reina's strength had gradually hit a plateau in recent years.

For knights, growth came from long-term physical training and discipline.

Unlike mages, who could sometimes leap forward in power through a flash of inspiration, knights improved slowly but steadily.

Even so, Natalya and Reina were progressing pretty quickly compared to other knights.

The reason they felt stuck was mostly because they were unconsciously comparing themselves to Sein.

But at this point, neither Sein's bloodline research nor his body-tempering experiments offered them much more of a boost.

That was because they had followed Sein's meticulously planned passive evolution regimen from the start.

He had monitored their diets, given them potions he personally formulated, and optimized nearly every aspect of their training.

While Natalya had been grumbling about her slow progress lately, Sein had significantly improved Sia and Scarlet's constitutions.

Both of them had barely participated in body-tempering experiments before, so their bloodlines still held a lot of room for enhancement.

At first, Sia was a little hesitant.

Scarlet, on the other hand, jumped in without hesitation. As her strength improved, so did the power of her demonic bloodline.

Seeing this, and after repeated persuasion from Natalya, Sia eventually agreed to join the experiments too.

"There's no need to be shy. To us mages, only truth and knowledge matter. Everything else is superfluous," Sein told her as she lay on the experiment table.

Sia was muttering under her breath. She felt like she must have lost her mind to agree to this.

She began regretting her decision, but she was already strapped onto the experiment table.

As Sein approached, her muscles tensed involuntarily.

"Don't come any closer," she warned.

Sein ignored her and injected a special solution into her shoulder.

"Hmm, your back muscles are more developed than Natalya's. I can probably boost your muscle strength by 1.3 times in the next experiment," he commented.

He ran his fingers over the muscles of her back, like an artist admiring a masterpiece.

Sia let out a muffled groan as the drug kicked in.

The features of the Baator Demon began to appear on her, and her body temperature shot up instantly.

Even the air in the laboratory felt hotter.

***

Time flew as Sein immersed himself in experiments.

Seventy-one years had gone by since Marie became the dean of his divine tower academy.

One day, Sein received news from White Sand World.

The Sandworm Queen had successfully mated with the Void Aphid King. From what the message said, it seemed the Rank Six Void Aphid King thought pretty highly of it.

Among all creatures in the Astral Realm, insects had the highest reproductive capacity.

The pregnant Sandworm Queen was expected to lay at least a hundred eggs this time.

These would be the offspring of a Rank Six and a Rank Four creature.

Not all of the eggs were guaranteed to survive, of course. But thanks to their special bloodline and the law power they had been exposed to in the womb, they were likely destined to eventually reach demigod level.

Most of the eggs would stay in Void Aphid World. At most, only a quarter could be brought back.

Sein had already reserved a few. Whether for observation or eventual sale, they were extremely valuable.

"These are from Sir Mayne," Sein said as he handed five large test tubes filled with Amethyst Aphid Honeydew to Lorianne at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

All of them had been produced by the Rank Six Void Aphid King.

Not only did they have impressive restorative properties, but they also temporarily grant the consumer void disintegration power.

Sein had recently started studying this so-called "void disintegration power"—a subject he had never come across before.

He did not plan to dive too deep into it, but as a spellcaster, it was second nature to him to at least understand the basics of any new power he encountered.

Interestingly, this void disintegration power seemed to align with Sein's Ashen Flame. He was already thinking about whether it could be fused into his existing magic spells.

It was rumored that the main cannon on Magus World's space fortresses could pierce planar barriers so effectively because it incorporated this very power.

Of all people, Lorianne was undoubtedly the best one to make use of the five vials of Aphid King's essence.

Sein kept just a small amount for study and gave the rest to her.

With her expertise in apothecary, Lorianne could maximize its potential.

"There's quite a lot here. Once I finish refining them, I'll send some to your grandmaster too," Lorianne said, holding up one of the large test tubes and examining it with a satisfied look.

"Strange that Mayne did not deliver them himself, especially since he was the one who asked me to consider representing the Magus Alliance on some mission. The guy really has no sense of sincerity," Sein said, shaking his head.

Lorianne burst out laughing. "Maybe it's because Bernice beat him up not long ago."

"She did?" Sein blinked, stunned.

***

During Sein's visit, Lorianne also informed him that she would be "traveling" for a while.

"Where are you going?" Sein asked.

"To Amethyst World. The Geo Elemental Life-Enhancing Elixir I developed has caught the interest of several elemental kings over there," Lorianne said proudly.

"This potion works best when paired with a special magic array. The benefits I gain from this trip will be shared with you too," she added with a smile.

Lorianne's Geo Elemental Life-Enhancing Elixir was created through her research on the guardian of White Sand World. It only worked on geo elemental lifeforms.

Amethyst World was famous for being a wealthy, large-sized allied plane. This trip was a big opportunity for her.

Sein wanted to go with her, but he had several crucial ongoing experiments to complete.

On top of that, the Divine Tower of Ashes was about to take part in the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War for the very first time.

So for now, leaving Magus World was not exactly the best idea.