Chapter 76: Clash of Philosophies

"Mo Du's Weizelan Floating City?" Lei En was quite surprised.

The Oriense Empire had seven floating cities, and the master of each floating city was a Holy Soul Wizard, representing the most powerful magical force in the mortal world.

Lei En did know this knowledge; in the Empire it was essentially common sense.

But how had Viola figured out that the elementalist came from Weizelan Floating City?

Viola said unhurriedly, "Didn't you notice this elementalist's spells? They were all fire-type, and very few in number—he kept using the same few spells over and over."

"Wizards of the Law Seal school, below Legendary, can add three Law Seal slots per Soul Transformation ceremony, and two per soul ascension. A sixth-level elementalist, having undergone two Soul Transformations and four ascensions, possesses at least fourteen Law Seal slots."

"If their talent is great and their Soul Transformation degree is high, the number of Law Seal slots will only be greater, not fewer."

"But this elementalist, right up until his death, only ever used six spells—far fewer than fourteen—and every spell's power had been enhanced. This is typical of a Mo Du school wizard."

Lei En nodded slightly; he had in fact noticed this elementalist's characteristics long ago.

The Eye of the Soul had also seen it clearly.

At the time, he had thought this elementalist was simply rather unusual, and had privately dubbed him an artillery wizard.

But what did "Mo Du school wizard" mean?

Lei En was too embarrassed to ask, but Viola guessed he didn't understand and continued explaining, "The Mo Du school is different from the wizard schools we usually speak of. It is a philosophy, a choice in spellcasting."

"What philosophy?" Lei En asked curiously.

"There are thousands upon tens of thousands of spells in the world. Apart from the God of Magic, humans cannot master all spells—they must choose and prioritize. Even for a Holy Soul Wizard, soul power has an upper limit. One must invest limited soul power into a small number of spells, enhancing their power as much as possible, shortening casting time, achieving few but refined, simple yet powerful spells, and attaining the desired result through repeated castings."

Viola's eyes were filled with admiration: "The highest achiever of this philosophy is the Holy Soul Wizard 'Anxiwodasi'—the master of Weizelan Floating City."

"It is said that Master Anxiwodasi is an elementalist specializing in fire-type spells, and the spell he is most skilled at is Fireball, enhanced to the ninth circle. His casting is fast and frequent—every time he strikes, at least five fireballs launch simultaneously, with terrifyingly formidable power."

Lei En's expression froze as he listened.

A ninth-circle Fireball, and five fired at once?

He had just witnessed a Fireball enhanced to the fourth circle, with power comparable to a heavy cannon. What a ninth-circle Fireball would be like was truly beyond imagination.

Viola looked up at Lei En's face: "Because Weizelan Floating City is located in Mo Du, Master Anxiwodasi's students all practice this philosophy as well. It later gradually spread, and a large number of wizards who specialize in a small number of spells emerged—hence they are called Mo Du school wizards."

"Currently, among the Empire's wizards, especially those of the Law Seal school, roughly three-tenths support the Mo Du school philosophy, but only wizards who truly come from Weizelan Floating City dare to practice it fully."

"Many wizards, despite supporting this philosophy, do not dare to fully commit to it and still fill all their Law Seal slots, occupying a portion of their soul power."

Viola casually picked up that silver ring.

She said, "That elementalist was a true Mo Du school wizard. This enchanted ring bears the obvious crafting style of Weizelan Floating City—do you still need to guess his origin?"

"So that's how it is." Lei En suddenly understood.

His understanding of spells was still rather shallow, but he felt that the Mo Du school philosophy suited him quite well. For this philosophy to be so widely practiced, it certainly couldn't be bad.

"If only three-tenths of wizards support the Mo Du school philosophy, then what about the other wizards?"

"Naturally, they support the Nether school," Viola replied.

As soon as Lei En heard the name, he knew its origin.

Nether Floating City was located in the Empire's capital, Nuosiruier. The master of the floating city was Augulevi Master—the oldest human wizard to date, who bore many illustrious titles and legends.

He was the first Holy Soul Wizard in human history, rumored to have been born at the founding of the Empire, with an age exceeding two thousand years.

He invented the Iola Core, which enabled floating cities to fly into the sky.

He established the Kemitis Supreme Council.

No one knew what level wizard Augulevi Master was now. He cultivated both Arcane and Mind spells, was hailed as the "First Wizard," and was called the most powerful spellcaster beneath the gods, his renown spreading across many planes.

Even the Demons in the Abyss would tremble with fear upon hearing his name.

Viola did not introduce Augulevi Master; in the Empire, there was no one who did not know this supreme powerhouse.

She said directly, "The Nether school has always been the mainstream philosophy among wizards, aiming to master more spells, increasing Law Seal slots as much as possible. Spells are many and broad, combat styles are versatile and unpredictable, and they advocate winning through wisdom. There is no need to excessively enhance spell power—even the lowest-level spell, even an insignificant cantrip, as long as the timing is right, can produce an effect comparable to a Legendary spell."

"The Nether school has a famous saying: spellcasting is a contest of intellect, not brute force."

Lei En roughly understood.

In his previous life, he had played many games. If one were to use an analogy, the Mo Du school was like a mana-bar mage pursuing destructive power, while the Nether school was a meticulously calculating all-around mage.

It was hard to say which of the two philosophies was superior—each had its pros and cons.

The Mo Du school was simple and brutal, and cultivation was somewhat easier. If your strength exceeded your opponent's, you could easily crush them, but you had few options for dealing with complex situations. Once your spell power was insufficient, you would fall into a passive position, and it was very difficult to turn the tide.

The Nether school was demanding and laborious, requiring the collection of a large number of Law Seals, with thorough preparation before battle. Every casting required attention to many details. Spellcasting was steady, with many backup options and top-notch survivability, but sometimes over-calculating could backfire—if an accident or mistake occurred, you could lose everything and directly get yourself killed.

Viola continued, "Because the Nether school has a long history and Augulevi Master serves as its exemplar, more wizards support the Nether school philosophy—roughly five-tenths."

"Master Anxiwodasi has also been renowned for nearly a thousand years, and his strength is no inferior to Augulevi Master's. However, as a later comer, his supporters are fewer—only three-tenths."

"The remaining two-tenths are the Balance school, whose representative figure is Tim*Kenan Master."

"The Balance school's spellcasting philosophy is balance: master an appropriate number of spells, enhance an appropriate amount of power—neither learning too many spells nor too few. Select certain spells to enhance to corresponding circles, maintaining a balance of soul power between spells and power."

"These three Masters are the three giants of the Supreme Council, and also the three strongest wizards in the Empire, each leading a spellcasting philosophy."

"Geographically, the Mo Du school is in the southeastern coast, the Nether school is in the northern capital Nuosiruier, and the Balance school is in the western Longpis, forming a stable triangular great plain—exactly the most densely populated and most prosperous core region of the Empire."

"And our Longshande lies outside this triangle."

Lei En nodded slowly.

He recalled a famous saying from his previous life: outside the party there are no parties, that is imperial thinking; within the party there are no factions, that is all kinds of strange.

As expected, these three spellcasting philosophies also determined the factional divisions among the three giants within the Supreme Council. Wizards of the same philosophy would inevitably stand together with like-minded people, becoming allies.

The Oriense Empire had no emperor and no political parties, but as long as people gathered together to rank themselves and divide the spoils, factions would surely form, opposing each other, allying with their own kind and attacking dissenters.

Holy Soul Wizards were also human, holding the Empire's ruling power—it was impossible for them to have no disagreements at all.

The three giants' factions, from top to bottom, influenced the entire Empire's power structure.

But these matters were still too distant for Lei En at present. He had no stake in them, nor was he interested.

He looked at Viola in his arms and asked, "Which faction's philosophy do you support?"

"I am a Ten Thousand Spirits Wizard. I can change my spellcasting strategy at any time by swapping soul card combinations, so I support all three philosophies." Viola's eyes held a trace of pride.

Lei En couldn't help but shake his head. "Isn't that just being a fence-sitter?"

Viola gave his chest a light pat. "What fence-sitter? This is the Ten Thousand Spirits Wizard's greatest advantage. If we must choose, we should lean toward the Balance faction."

She sat up straight and said seriously, "The three specializations of the Soul Mastery school are in fact embodiments of three spellcasting philosophies."

"The Shapeshifter Wizard excels at transfiguration and is skilled in close-quarters brawling, mastering fewer spells — naturally belonging to the Mo Du faction."

"The Thousand Spells Wizard, as the name suggests, masters more spells through summoned creatures, belonging to the Nether faction."

"The Ten Thousand Spirits Wizard possesses both powerful, rare elite soul cards and a large number of weaker common soul cards, with a wide variety and no fixed setup, changing soul card combinations as needed and balancing both — this in itself is a balanced approach, so of course it leans toward the Balance faction."

Lei En nodded repeatedly as he listened; this classification indeed made a lot of sense.

Viola suddenly laughed and asked curiously, "Which philosophy would you support?"

"Me..." Lei En thought seriously for a few seconds, quickly found his answer, and replied, "I'm a combat Wizard and can't master too many spells, so I'd lean toward the Mo Du faction."

"I knew it all along."

Viola looked unsurprised. "With your combat style, you'd definitely like the straightforward and brutal Mo Du faction. Making you be a Nether faction Wizard would be too much for you."

She paused here, then covered her mouth with a laugh. "No, that's wrong — you don't know a single spell right now. What does any spellcasting philosophy have to do with you?"

Lei En smiled bitterly, his weak spot poked, genuinely unable to argue back.

He could only hold the beauty in his arms tightly and silence her words with his lips in protest.

After a long while, the two finally stopped their playful banter. Viola returned to the matter at hand and said in a low voice, "That elementalist came from Mo Du, so he must be connected to my uncle Ga Luo Wei Na."

"He runs a river transport company and often travels by boat to Mo Du via the Na Qu Mo He, so he has extensive connections over in Mo Du. That warlock Helini who set a trap to trick me together with him last time also came from Mo Du."

"There may be a few people who want me dead, but I can't think of anyone besides Ga Luo Wei Na who has a connection to Mo Du."

Viola's eyes grew deep as the sea — clearly, this assassination attempt had truly angered her.

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(End of this chapter)