Chapter 518: The Dying Sun Plane

"Legendary Wizard!"

Jenna let out a startled cry, her innocent face full of disbelief, and hurriedly asked, "Lei Silin, is this true?"

Lei Silin, as always, gave a detached nod, as if to concede.

"Goddess above!"

Several students were all equally stunned.

They still recalled that three years ago when Lei Silin first became a disciple of the teacher, he seemed only a Beginner Wizard, though they didn't know whether it was rank 1 or 2, yet within three years he rose from Beginner to Legendary Wizard, and in the whole Empire's history only two could compare: one was Duke Hong Shi, the other was everyone's teacher.

Moreover, Lei Silin was just twenty‑one, a year earlier than when the teacher and Duke Hong Shi attained Legendary status!

A new legendary record was born!

Da La Ma's mind and spirit trembled, finally understanding why he always failed; a hint of self‑mockery flashed across his face. If he were also a High‑rank Wizard, he could still strive to catch up, but a Legend…

Despair and resentment rose in his heart, his expression growing despondent.

Po La Rui Si's gaze was complicated, her beautiful eyes constantly scrutinizing Lei Silin, as if trying to discern something about the mysterious fellow. Yet, as in previous years, she saw nothing; the Secret Eye of Arcana had no effect at all.

An Wei La wore a curious expression, then quickly averted her gaze, as if it didn't concern her.

The other students also reacted strongly, but mostly they were happy for Lei Silin; each had consulted him on magical knowledge, treating him as half a teacher.

"Teacher, I'm going back to continue my meditation."

Da La Ma's expression returned to calm, yet his inner fire of fierce resolve burned brightly; after bowing to Lei En, he hurried away, unwilling to waste a single minute.

Lei En watched his back and shook his head silently.

The high‑elf was overly proud and overly obsessive; the massive pressure Lei Silin placed on him made him extremely diligent—perhaps a good thing at first, but if he remains suppressed long term and can never fulfill his wishes, his mind may become twisted.

Fortunately Da La Ma is an elf, free of the Blood Soul Curse; otherwise the risk of corruption would be too great.

The other students stayed, gathering around Lei Silin to ask questions, both envious and delighted. Yet Lei Silin wore a look that seemed to invite a beating, replying blandly once or twice, as if the Legend's ascent wasn't his, maintaining his aloof demeanor.

Lei En sat to one side, a faint smile on his face.

In fact, Lei Silin had long surpassed Legend; after three years of meditative cultivation, he had entered the Mid-stage of Legend, advancing to a Level‑14 Mage, his soul's "Lake of the Constellations" meditation expanding twofold, the spell models he constructed resembling countless stars in the sky, totaling over sixty!

Although Lei Silin's physical condition remained very frail, comparable to an ordinary person, thanks to his powerful spells his strength was only slightly below that of his true form.

In some aspects, Lei Silin's abilities even surpassed his true form!

"Alright."

Lei En waved his hand and said, "Everyone, go about your own tasks; don't delay your own affairs."

"Yes, Teacher." The students saluted and departed in succession.

In the top‑floor hall of the tower, he was alone, the space quieting down; Lei En opened his phone interface to continue browsing his personal library, trying to find a solution to the miniaturization of the Titan Engine.

From afternoon to evening, he leafed through hundreds of books with no result.

So he rose, returned to the castle, teleported to Jin Gang Fort on the Sain Plateau, entered the spacious Mechanical Alchemy Chamber, the room piled with massive amounts of magical metal and alchemy materials, and a figure was already busy there—Lei Silin.

Lei Silin stood at the alchemy table, his right hand pressing on a prototype Bolt Gun, waving it in the air; he drew in blocks of new magical alloy, using activated metal to turn it liquid, merging it into the Bolt Gun and constructing rune components inside.

On another alchemy table nearby, several dimensional magazines had already been completed.

Lei En didn't watch Lei Silin's work; he entered a compartment of the Mechanical Alchemy Chamber and began mass‑producing ammunition for the Bolt Gun.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed.

Only one major event occurred that month.

The Mechanical Guild and Weizelan Fu Kong Cheng jointly announced the establishment of a "Gun God Military Factory," dedicated to producing all kinds of firearms, including the countless submachine guns that gunmen follow.

When the news broke, it caused a considerable stir throughout the Empire.

Yet Lei En, the most pivotal figure, did not appear, leaving Akaland to stand on the stage, with the teacher—a Holy Soul Wizard—fronting the new factory. As expected, after the news spread, the Gunwing Knights stationed in the cities of Augustus Duchy were never attacked again.

He traveled daily between Jin Gang Fort, Gra Morgan, and the tower, occasionally visiting Red Dragon Fort to see his son, watching him grow day by day.

That day, Lei En had just finished a private lesson with An Wei La, continued browsing the library in the tower, and received a message from the steward Fabian: a guest had arrived at the castle, the owner of the Blood Kai Ranch, the minotaur Ha Bu*Xue Ti.

"Finally back."

Lei En muttered to himself and instantly teleported back to the castle.

Upon entering the sitting room, he saw the towering minotaur, as massive as a wall, its heavy body creaking the sofa under its weight.

"Lord Master." Ha Bu*Xue Ti quickly rose to salute.

"Hmm, please sit." Lei En nodded in response, getting straight to the point, asking, "Do we have any leads on that batch of goods I requested?"

The goods he referred to were the magic souls for the Gunwing Knights' fusion.

Over twelve hundred Gunwing Knights, over three years, spared no resources; on average each consumed a dozen bottles of Black Soul Elixir, and the exceptionally gifted doubled their magic potion intake. Such massive investment yielded abundant results: aside from recruits with less than a year's service, even the less talented, most Gunwing Knights rose above Level 2, and there were more than two hundred at Level 3.

Lei En, using his Soul Eye, selected the "Secret‑Eye Spirit Monkey" as the third magic soul for the Gunwing Knights.

These beginner magic beasts that dwell in dim, dense forests are not especially powerful, but are agile and extremely fast, possessing a Level‑2 "Swift" Element.

More impressive is their keen perception, mastering "Detection Technique" and the psychic Element "Telepathy," allowing them to see through ordinary disguises and illusions and sense approaching danger in advance.

Level‑3 Gunwing Knights that fuse the "Secret‑Eye Spirit Monkey" magic soul, even with only three Elements, find each highly practical; their personal combat power surges, shooting reaction speed climbs further, far surpassing ordinary Level‑3 Transcendents.

For more than a year thereafter, the thirty‑plus best‑gifted Gunwing Knights successively underwent a second Soul Transformation, becoming Mid-stage Transcendents.

However, the Main Soul choice for Level‑4 Gunwing Knights remains undecided by Lei En to this day.

The Main Soul determines a Transcendent's future path and must be chosen with great caution.

Moreover, the compatibility of fusion must be considered; not just any Mid-stage magic soul will do. Lei En had Ha Bu*Xue Ti send over several batches of magic souls, but none were satisfactory.

Either they were too rare, insufficient in number for the Gunwing Knights; or their Elements were weak, offering little benefit upon fusion; or they conflicted severely, making successful fusion difficult.

It wasn't until two months ago that Lei En discovered an extremely compatible magic soul among those Ha Bu*Xue Ti sent.

This Mid-stage magic soul's wave frequency closely matched that of the Gunwing Knights, with minimal conflict and a huge boost. Surprisingly, the Book of Thousand Souls had no entry; Lei En found its information in the library, named "Holy Beetle"!

The Holy Beetle's magic soul contains three Elements: Level‑3 Power, Restoration Light, and Holy Light Barrier.

Elements are not abundant in Mid-stage magic souls; they're relatively few, yet each is powerful. Even a Level‑3 "Power" is rare; "Restoration Light" is the most popular healing spell, and the final "Holy Light Barrier" is a rare protective magic.

Lei En had previously witnessed this ability when he captured Bo Er Qi.

The Holy Light Barrier is a dual-layer protection that only manifests outside the body when attacked; it does not affect melee, while it blocks both magical energy and physical attacks, and the protection grows stronger as power increases.

If a Gunwing Knight fuses the magical soul of a Holy Beetle, both offense and defense will surge by several times!

The problem is that Ha Bu only has two Holy Beetle magical souls in hand.

Lei En originally thought this kind of magical soul was rare, and while questioning, sensed hidden implications in Ha Bu's words, suggesting a possible turn.

After persistent questioning and a high-price temptation, Ha Bu finally agreed to scout for information and only returned today.

"Sir, I have already found the source of the Holy Beetle," Ha Bu's words made Lei En very pleased, yet the bull-headed man's bell-like eyes were filled with concern as he tentatively asked, "Do you really intend to have the Gunwing Knight fuse the Holy Beetle's magical soul?"

"Of course, what's the problem?" Lei En furrowed his brows.

Ha Bu shook his large head, his long braided mane swinging, and sighed, "Sir, can't you guess? The Holy Beetle is actually one of the Sun Knight's Main Soul."

"Sun Knight..."

Lei En instantly understood Ha Bu's meaning.

The Old Continent is actually divided into two major parts; the area where the Empire lies is the main body of the Old Continent. In the distant southwest lies the "Black‑Afidlan Continent," which occupies one‑third of the entire Old Continent. Its northern part is connected to the main continent by a narrow peninsula, allowing overland travel.

However, the vast majority of the Black‑Afidlan Continent is separated from the main Old Continent by ocean; over seventy percent of it is desert, and at the end of the last epoch it suffered Abyssal contamination, becoming a forbidden zone for humanity.

Only the northern part of the Afidlan Continent hosts several human nations, the largest being the "Lamon Empire," which, together with the Oriense Empire, ranks among the three great human empires.

When the Lamon Empire was first founded it was merely a kingdom, yet it was humanity's first nation, symbolizing the dawn of the New Era.

The New Era Calendar is the Lamon Empire's official calendar, now in its 2,532nd year.

The Lamon Empire is a theocratic state; its people, along with those of many neighboring realms, are followers of the Sun God "Ge Weng," and it forbids other deities from spreading their doctrines.

Ge Weng holds supreme authority in the Lamon Empire; this deity is one of Ai Lun E Si's most powerful beings, and the extraordinary profession He created for humanity is famed as the "Sun Knight"!

Sun Knights wield the power of Holy Light, and during the Dark Millennium between epochal shifts they illuminated humanity's path, ushering in the New Era.

Ge Weng is a domineering and majestic deity, monopolizing the Way of Holy Light as his own prerogative, never allowing any mortal or god to meddle.

The series of magical souls that Sun Knights fuse is among the Sun Church's greatest secrets.

Even when people, using Sun Knights' abilities and spells, study various magical souls and encounter some Holy Light Elements, they suspect these may be one of the Sun Knight's sources, and dare not continue research, let alone fuse.

Mortal non‑followers of Ge Weng, unless they are ancient, powerful species like Golden Dragons that are born with Holy Light power, are deemed blasphemy by the Sun Church if they dare to touch Holy Light.

The Sun Knight's creed also includes the duty to eradicate blasphemers.

However, the Oriense Empire is a Wizard's realm, and Sun Knights are rarely seen there. This is a divinely demarcated follower territory, with no intrusion; Wizards are also absent in the Lamon Empire, even regarded as heretics, and once their identity is exposed they are arrested and tried.

The two empires are far apart, with almost no contact.

Lei En has so far only encountered a counterfeit Sun Knight, namely his own mount, the three‑headed golden dragon Bo Er Qi.

When this fellow takes human form, he spends the whole day "praising the Sun," rambling on about divinity.

A fake Sun Knight is like that; genuine Sun Knights are even more fanatical. The books record them as a band of zealots, hard to deal with, yet possessing vastly superior power, far surpassing ordinary extraordinary professions.

What Ha Bu said has some merit; it truly is a hidden risk.

Lei En pondered for a long while, his expression solemn.

"Wait for me a moment."

He suddenly rose from the sitting room, went upstairs to his bedroom, closed the door, and prayed silently in his mind. After three recitations, a phantom image of the goddess appeared before him, and he asked about the Gunwing Knight and the Holy Beetle, waiting quietly for an answer.

Unexpectedly, the goddess's response came quickly.

"Do whatever you wish, without worrying about Ge Weng and His followers."

A faint, melodious female voice rang in his mind, then fell silent. This was the first response Lei En received since he last saw the goddess incarnate.

From the goddess's reaction, she seemed utterly indifferent to the fact that touching Holy Light might anger the Sun God; whether she is confident her power surpasses Ge Weng's, or the Sun God has some issue, is unknown.

Lei En opened his eyes, now feeling confident.

He returned downstairs and said calmly, "I don't care about the Sun Knight's secret. The Sun Church's hand cannot reach the Empire; if those Sun Knights dare to meddle, the Gunwing Knight will give them a strong retaliation in the future."

The bull-headed Ha Bu was startled; a mortal dared to disdain the Sun Church.

However, Lei En was not joking at all, his expression serious. Ha Bu inhaled deeply and replied, "The Holy Beetle's source is not in the Prime Material Plane, but in a shattered plane my people call 'Shattered Remnant Sun.' That plane was once the divine realm of the God of Scorching Sun, An Se, and is extremely dangerous. I can only tell you the plane's entrance; you must go yourself to hunt the Holy Beetle."

(End of Chapter)