Chapter 74: Gacha Mayhem, Life & Death Method

"It’s time to do some Gacha."

Rudrean sat down on the couch.

Isalyn stepped out of the artifact dimension, sat beside him, and gently placed his head on her lap.

Her top was gone, and golden liquid slowly dripped from the pink peaks of her full breasts.

"I’m lactating from our last session, so drink this while doing Gacha." Isalyn winked teasingly. "Maybe you’ll get better luck."

Aelira burst into laughter before sitting beside him and pulling his legs onto her lap.

"Yeah. Just lie down and relax. I’ll massage your legs for maximum luck."

Rudrean smiled warmly. "Thanks."

Then he opened the Gacha interface within his mind.

[Love-Bound Gacha]

Level: 2 [0/100]

<Normal Banner | Tier-1 to Tier-10>

— 1 Summon = 1000 L.P | 10 Summons = 10,000 L.P

<Exclusive Banner>

[Dragon Vision Spirit Mirror | Tier-5 to Tier-10]

— 1 Summon = 5000 L.P | 10 Summons = 45,000 L.P

<Exceed Arcane Banner>

[Doom Scaler Banner | Tier-1 to Tier-10]

(Changes every seven days.)

— 1 Summon = 1000 L.P | 10 Summons = 10,000 L.P

’I’ll send whatever I summon outside, so check everything carefully,’ Rudrean relayed to Aelira and Isalyn before opening the Exclusive Banner.

Ten summons.

[Congratulations. You have acquired the following items:]

— 1 x Tier-5 Rykar Fire Pill

— Nothing

— Tier-6 Corval Bloom Chain Scythe

— 130 x Tier-6 Mana Stones

— Nothing

— 15-Star Arcane Martial Art (Tier-10): Voracious Pit Steps

(Requires Prismatic Node Network)

— 7-Star Nether Gloria Robe (Tier-5)

— Nothing

— A Branch of Brilliant Spark Tree (Tier-6)

— Nothing

"Oh?" Rudrean blinked. "We actually got something absurdly powerful."

Aelira and Isalyn had already unfolded the exotic scroll.

Its borders shimmered with strange golden-black patterns that seemed to shift endlessly.

Both of their eyes locked onto the contents instantly, though neither of them could fully understand the techniques written inside.

"Oh my god..." Aelira muttered. "This is crazy."

Her eyes turned toward Rudrean.

"Darling, you said you can instantly learn things obtained from your talent, right?"

Isalyn blinked. "Yeah, he did."

"I just tried learning it, but the scroll says I need something called a Prismatic Node Network."

Aelira frowned thoughtfully.

"You trained us in Shining Nodes, which is considered the absolute peak state of Core Genesis. Do you know what this Prismatic Node Network is?"

Golden Bones represented the extreme peak state of the Foundation stage.

Likewise, Shining Nodes represented the ultimate refinement possible for Core Genesis experts.

Once a person reached 10★ Magic and purified their Core into the Shining State through constant refinement, shining mana trails would permanently circulate through every energy node in the body, strengthening mana flow and drastically increasing the execution precision of Arcane Martial Arts.

And Arcane Martial Arts demanded exactly that: perfect synchronization between body and mana.

"Prismatic Node Network..." Isalyn fell into thought.

"I’ve never heard of it before."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Could it perhaps be a stage beyond Shining Nodes?"

She slowly shook her head.

"Even Master never mentioned anything like this. Either he didn’t know... or he never had the opportunity to reach it."

Suddenly, Isalyn got an idea.

"Elder Tyoga might know something about it. Ask him later."

"Good idea." Aelira nodded immediately.

"Alright." Rudrean smiled faintly. "Then I’ll continue summoning."

He still had a total of 12.4✢ LP remaining.

Over twelve million LP.

And his objective was simple.

Pull the Dragon Vision Spirit Mirror.

...

It took 3.9✢ LP.

A total of 866 summons before the item finally appeared.

"Finally..."

The word escaped Rudrean on a long exhale.

Nearly four million LP had vanished into the Exclusive Banner before the thing he truly wanted finally surfaced.

He slowly sat up from Isalyn’s lap.

Aelira gently lowered his legs and leaned forward alongside Isalyn, both watching his open palm carefully.

Soft light gathered there.

Slowly. Patiently.

Then it solidified.

A mirror rested in Rudrean’s hand.

Not the dead gray relic from the auction.

Not the cracked and lifeless artifact the auction house had practically apologized for selling.

This mirror was whole.

Its frame was deep black, polished like liquid night.

The mirror surface itself did not resemble glass at all. Instead, it looked like a living abyss of clear depth, the kind that felt endless if one stared too long.

A slow pulse moved through it, steady and alive like the heartbeat of some sleeping creature.

The Dragon Vision Spirit Mirror had been restored completely.

"It’s beautiful," Aelira murmured softly.

"It’s awake," Isalyn corrected quietly, genuine respect flickering in her eyes. "Bind it, darling. Let’s see what exactly we bought."

Rudrean pressed his thumb against the frame and allowed mana to flow into it.

The mirror instantly accepted him.

A soft chime echoed within his mind as the artifact fully recognized its owner.

At the same moment, Rudrean became aware of the enormous dimension hidden within the mirror.

"There’s an entire world inside..." he muttered slowly. "Let’s go see it."

The three vanished from the mansion instantly.

...

The moment they entered the internal world of the mirror, silence overtook them.

The sheer scale was overwhelming.

A vast violet sky stretched endlessly overhead, slowly blending into rose-colored hues near the horizon. Two pale suns floated high above, radiating soft light without heat.

Beneath them was not normal land.

Instead, endless silver clouds drifted like an ocean beneath the sky.

And floating above those clouds were islands.

Countless islands.

Some were massive. Others were tiny.

One island contained a lone mountain crowned with eternal blue flames. Another was completely covered in flowers that turned toward the twin suns in perfect synchronization. One island hung upside down with waterfalls flowing upward into the sky itself.

There were crystal forests. Floating stone rings. Entire islands glowing with strange colors too distant to properly identify.

The mana density alone was absurd.

Simply breathing here felt nourishing.

"A hundred thousand kilometers..." Isalyn whispered while slowly turning in place. "Every bit of this belongs to us now."

They stood on the largest island.

A vast green landmass stretching for kilometers in every direction.

And scattered across the grass around them...

Was treasure.

Huge piles of Mana Stones.

Refined ores.

Pill containers. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Exotic materials.

Rare cloths.

Ancient metals.

The accumulated wealth stretched across the fields like the discarded savings of some ancient civilization.

Separated from the resources were eleven artifacts resting atop individual stone pedestals.

Tier-5 to Tier-9.

Rudrean counted twice to make sure.

"Not bad," Isalyn said with a faint smile, though there was obvious amusement in her voice. "Honestly, this feels slightly underwhelming after the ridiculous things we pulled from the Gacha."

Aelira burst into laughter.

"Yeah. Saying ’not bad’ while standing in front of all this treasure is hilarious."

She lightly nudged a pile of Tier-10 Mana Stones with her foot.

"Still... I can’t believe we own six Tier-10 artifacts now."

Rudrean crouched beside one of the pedestals, his eyes resting on a cold silver-blue Tier-9 blade.

A thought had been lingering inside him since the mirror awakened.

"With all of this..." he slowly said, glancing toward the two women, "can we now clash against a major family?"

Isalyn walked over and pinched his cheek gently.

"How adorable."

She smiled fondly.

"Of course not. Not against the Velkar family."

She straightened up and swept her gaze across the floating islands and endless wealth.

"But..."

Her eyes softened slightly.

"With everything we now possess, our wealth should roughly equal that of the lower-end Top-100 families."

"That’s already absurd considering the three of us were nobodies barely a month ago."

"The lower end of the Top-100..." Aelira repeated slowly before grinning.

"Don’t get arrogant," Isalyn warned, though she was smiling as well. "A family at the bottom of the Top-100 could still crush us tomorrow if we were careless."

"What this gives us is time."

"And tools."

"And the ability to grow strong enough to eventually match our wealth."

Her eyes moved toward Rudrean and Aelira warmly.

"So we’ll grow stronger."

"We will." Rudrean nodded firmly.

The mirror pulsed quietly in response.

There were still countless inheritances hidden somewhere across these floating islands.

High-tier spells.

Arcane Martial Arts.

Treasures hidden inside a treasure.

But those could wait for later.

Eventually, Aelira checked the time and sighed.

"The hour’s almost over. Elder Tyoga is waiting."

...

An hour later, the group gathered once again at Elder Tyoga’s tower.

After the greetings settled, Rudrean stepped forward.

"Elder Tyoga," he began respectfully, "before we leave, I want to ask something."

His eyes sharpened slightly.

"Do you know anything about something called a Prismatic Node Network?"

"You already taught us Shining Nodes, the extreme peak state of Core Genesis."

"But this... seems to be something beyond even that."

For the first time, something visibly shifted within Elder Tyoga’s eyes.

He stared at Rudrean quietly for several long moments, as though reevaluating him entirely.

"A Prismatic Node Network..." Elder Tyoga finally spoke slowly.

"I am surprised you know that term."

His expression turned serious.

"But I would strongly advise against pursuing it."

Everyone’s expressions changed.

"It is a life-and-death refinement."

"You either die..."

"Or successfully obtain the Prismatic Node Network."

The room became silent.

"However," Elder Tyoga continued, "this refinement can only be attempted after reaching the Soul Tree stage."

He looked directly at Rudrean.

"When you break through, I will explain the process fully."

"Then you can decide whether you still wish to pursue it."

Rudrean nodded firmly. "Understood. Thank you."

"Good."

Elder Tyoga snapped his fingers.

The teleportation ring beside them instantly activated as a portal bloomed open.

"I assume you earned enough wealth to survive comfortably there." Elder Tyoga smiled faintly. "It is a safe place with strict governance."

"Enjoy yourselves..."

"But don’t neglect your growth."

His eyes swept across all five of them.

"Good luck."