Chapter 499 Avarice · Primordial – Transcendent Diffusion

Click, click, click......

Footsteps echoed through the great hall that had slumbered in the deepest depths of the earth for untold eons.

The Forbidden Stele that lay dormant here had finally awaited the one it had been calling for.

Click——!

The footsteps halted before the obsidian stele.

Hulim Heyerar slowly lifted her head.

“......”

She gazed silently at the third Forbidden Stele before her.

Hum......

A faint glow emanated from the obsidian stone,

mysterious runes flickering within its surface—and that unshakable pull blazed to its peak in this moment.

After staring at it quietly for a time,

Hulim extended her right hand toward the stele.

Pop~!

The instant her fingertips touched the stone, a ripple spread slowly across its surface.

And then......

a flood of colossal runes surged into Hulim’s mind.

“Ugh......”

Hulim swayed slightly, bearing the brunt of the mental onslaught.

She closed her eyes a moment later.

That world unfolded before her once more.

No up, no down, no left, no right—one could not even discern if space or time existed here.

A realm of pure, empty darkness.

Much like the endless void beyond the Inner World......

Hulim slowly lifted her head, her gaze fixed on what might have been the “upper” reaches of the void.

A cyan star appeared in her vision,

twinkling for a heartbeat before shifting into a single eye.

A surge of cyan light burst forth from the eye, descending straight upon Hulim’s form.

An endless, insatiable emptiness welled up in her heart at once, a primal urge to devour everything in its path rising unbidden.

But in the blink of an eye,

the feeling faded away,

as if it had all been a mere illusion.

Moments later,

a single truth—one that defied all mortal language—rose slowly from the depths of her mind.

Its true name—

[Avarice · Primordial – Transcendent Diffusion].

......

The star-eye vanished, and a sense of weightlessness washed over her.

In a daze,

Hulim opened her eyes.

She found herself back in the great hall,

and the obsidian Forbidden Stele that had stood before her was gone without a trace.

She showed no surprise, standing silently in place as she murmured the name softly.

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“Transcendent Diffusion......”

This was the third Forbidden Ability she had obtained,

the power that embodied the essence of avarice.

After carefully sensing the effects of Transcendent Diffusion, Hulim discovered it shared a certain similarity with her second Ability, Infinite Strike—

it too possessed multiple effects.

Effect One: Psionic Power Limit Breach

Unlocks the innate upper limit of one’s psionic power. From the moment this Ability is gained, psionic power regenerates and grows constantly, every passing moment. This passive growth does not conflict with psionic power gained through cultivation; the two stack cumulatively.

Effect Two: Rapid Psionic Regeneration

Psionic power naturally regenerates with rest and sleep, but the regeneration granted by Transcendent Diffusion is on an entirely different tier. Much like the mana regeneration of Infinite Strike, its speed is drastically enhanced—and it scales exponentially with the amount of psionic power expended. Furthermore—

it grants complete immunity to the negative side effects of psionic exhaustion.

Effect Three: Omni-Magic Mastery & Restriction Nullification, Astral Construction of Magic Circuits.

To be honest, this effect was somewhat cryptic—especially the latter half.

Put simply:

From this day forward, Hulim could cast any spell without being bound by the spell’s inherent tier or casting prerequisites.

As long as her psionic power and mana met the base requirements for the spell, she could master it with ease—and ignore all other casting conditions to unleash it forcefully.

Even if it was one of the Racial-Exclusive Spells of another species......

Beyond that,

as long as her psionic power and mana held out, there was no longer any limit to the number of maximum-tier spells she could cast at once.

This nullification of the quantity limit also came with two hidden effects, which varied based on the spells being cast.

Hidden Effect 1: Casting Multiple Different Spells

The more distinct spell types cast simultaneously, the lower the psionic cost of each individual spell—proportionally.

To put it in numbers: if Hulim’s total psionic power was 100 points, and a Sixth-Tier Spell required 10 points to cast.

Ordinarily, the maximum number of spells she could weave into a Ninefold Magic Circle would theoretically cost 90 points of her total psionic power.

Now, however, when casting multiple different Sixth-Tier Spells:

With two spells, the cost of each would drop below 10 points; with three, it would fall further—and so on, decreasing incrementally with each additional distinct spell.

Hidden Effect 2: Casting Multiple Identical Spells

Each additional casting of the same spell would see its psionic cost plummet drastically, in a cascading effect. Once the number of casts reached a certain threshold, the psionic cost would become negligible.

This effect was even more astounding than the first.

Using the same numerical example:

Casting one spell would still cost the normal 10 points. The second cast would drop to just 2 points, the third to a fraction of a point, the fourth to a tenth of a fraction—and it would keep falling, until the cost neared zero infinitely......

To be frank, these two hidden effects alone made Transcendent Diffusion more than just “powerful”.

They defied all magical common sense.

Under normal circumstances, casting more spells at once would cause the psionic strain to rise steadily due to mutual magical interference.

For example, if the first spell cost 10 points, the second would cost more than 10—and the third, fourth, and beyond would only grow more costly.

For Hulim to cast a Ninefold Magic Circle would theoretically cost 90 points—but in reality, it would likely require all 100 of her points, if not more.

And that was for Hulim herself.

For any other mage, casting a second spell after a 10-point first cast might push the psionic cost to over 100 points outright!

This was why the vast majority of mages could not cast multiple spells at once: the difficulty was insurmountable. Without mastering the true art of multi-casting, one would have to pay a psionic cost far exceeding the spell’s base requirement to unleash even a second cast.

“But......”

Why did Transcendent Diffusion have such counter-intuitive effects?

Hulim pondered the cryptic phrase she could not fully grasp: Astral Construction of Magic Circuits.

Astral construction......?

Could it be that the burden of casting spells—something that should have been borne by one’s own body—was being transferred to some other place, some other existence?

That would explain why her own psionic power was no longer the sole cost.

It made perfect sense, after all. The mortal body was finite, and high-tier magic circuits were infinitely complex. Relying solely on one’s own body to construct them would eventually lead to saturation.

But Effect Three forcefully ignored this limit—and that could only mean the magic circuits for subsequent casts were gradually being shifted outside her body. Otherwise, infinite casting would be impossible, and the psionic cost would never decrease with each additional spell.

Furthermore,

the nullification of all casting prerequisites subtly confirmed this theory.

Though Hulim had been able to mimic the spells of other races before, those were just imitations. Transcendent Diffusion, however, seemed to mean that from now on, when she cast these racial spells, they would be no different in essence from the original caster’s......

“......This is an incredible ability. It seems to complement Infinite Strike in every way.”

Comparing the two Abilities—Infinite Strike and Transcendent Diffusion—

a clear pattern emerged.

Infinite Strike focused on strengthening her lower limits—her mana reserves, regeneration, and baseline power.

Transcendent Diffusion, by contrast, focused on broadening her upper limits—her psionic potential, spell mastery, and multi-casting capability.

One immediate, tangible change came with this synergy—

she had fully mastered the Annihilation Divine Light.

Zzzzt! Zzzzt!

Faint crimson light flickered at the tips of her ten fingers,

yet this time, there was none of the violent surging that had plagued her previous attempts to wield it.

A moment later,

Hum!!!

A small crimson magic circle bloomed at each fingertip.

Whoosh——!

Ten thin crimson beams shot outward from her fingers,

striking the temple’s vault and leaving ten tiny, unassuming holes in the stone.