Chapter 76: Chapter 65: The Cheater and the Witch

A moment later, the Tower Spirit delivered two Magic Books and a small box of Magic Materials to Isaac. Carrying the items, he walked out of the Mage Tower. Isaac casually tossed out a pumpkin and transformed it into a carriage. After placing the items inside, he turned to Philo.

"So, which way do we go?"

The glint in Philo’s eyes faded, replaced by her sweet smile. "To my Mage Tower," she said. "It’s a perfect chance to meet our other teammate and get acclimated."

"Acclimated?" Isaac raised an eyebrow. ’It seems this Witch has some very special abilities.’

But in response to Isaac’s unspoken question, Philo simply gave a mysterious smile, offering no explanation.

Isaac didn’t press the matter. He turned the pumpkin carriage back into a pumpkin and stored it away.

"Huh? You can use it for storage?" Philo blinked, watching in bewilderment as Isaac put the pumpkin away. The things they had just placed inside the carriage didn’t fall out. ’Can this Legend be used like that?’ She thought Isaac was actually planning to ride the carriage there.

"It’s a little trick I recently developed. A bit of a hassle, though. Nothing compared to a true spatial storage item," Isaac said with a helpless shrug, glancing at the golden bracelet inlaid with red and green gemstones on Philo’s wrist.

’If I had a spatial storage item, why would I have bothered developing such a troublesome method?’

Besides, it wasn’t without a cost. As long as the items were stored inside the pumpkin, he had to maintain a constant drain of Magic Power, equivalent to what it took to keep the pumpkin transformed into a carriage. The consumption wasn’t massive, but it would be hard to sustain over a long period.

"That’s still incredible," Philo said, her tone full of admiration.

Isaac just smiled, not dwelling on the topic. As they walked toward her Mage Tower, he and Philo resumed their discussion on Totem Refining. He was beginning to realize that Philo genuinely loved talking about it.

’Then again, it’s to be expected. A Divine Species touches upon the Divine Domain, after all. Even a negligible sliver of it is enough to make most Wizards go crazy, especially Wizards who specialized in Alchemy. In the field of Alchemy, one of the ultimate achievements is God Creation, so it was only natural for her to be this curious.’

The unfortunate part was, even though Isaac had taught Philo the entire Divinity Network modification procedure, she still couldn’t master it.

The reason was simple: the procedure was heavily dependent on Isaac’s Golden Finger. Without the ability to infinitely stack Magic Spells and Ritual Effects, it was impossible to perform. Even with the many optimizations Isaac had made, the success rate without his Golden Finger was still abysmally low—he estimated it at a mere one in a thousand.

In fact, many similar techniques existed within Isaac’s current body of research. While his Golden Finger certainly smoothed the path for his studies, the massive number of variables it introduced meant these techniques could no longer be easily shared or taught.

Despite his constant efforts to simplify them, many of his techniques still fell into this category, such as the Dragon Bloodline Awakening for Dragon Lizards and, of course, the Divinity Network modification technique...

This simplification process, while tedious and of little direct benefit to his own research, was nevertheless necessary.

For one, it helped him further organize his own Knowledge, acting as a sort of review process. For another, he eventually had to interact with others. Working in isolation was never a good idea; Knowledge that doesn’t circulate loses much of its value.

Take the current situation, for instance. If the success rate of his Divinity Network modification procedure were just a bit higher, he could use it to trade for more Knowledge from Philo, rather than simply using it to repay the "favor" he owed her for the Outer God Ceremony.

Philo’s Mage Tower wasn’t far from the Royal Mage Tower—only a street away. While a Wizard’s physique couldn’t compare to a Knight’s, it wasn’t far behind when Enhanced by Magic Power. Walking and talking, the two of them soon arrived at Philo’s Mage Tower.

Her Mage Tower wasn’t tall, only five stories, a far cry from the other two towers that soared into the clouds.

For one, she was only an Official Wizard, so there was no need to build it too high. For another, this was the Imperial Capital, right under the Emperor’s nose. As the safest place in the entire Empire, it didn’t require extensive defensive measures, so naturally, the scale of the tower was modest.

Besides, in terms of defensive capabilities, Philo’s Mage Tower wasn’t much different from the other two. The Tower of Truth and the Royal Mage Tower were simply larger because they also handled public functions and rented out laboratories.

But in terms of core performance, they were the same as hers—all of them were stripped-down versions of a true Mage Tower.

The reason was simple enough: this was the Imperial Capital, the safest place in the entire Empire. If you built your defenses up that high, who exactly were you planning on defending against?

Living in the shadow of the throne wasn’t so easy, after all.

When Isaac and Philo arrived at the Mage Tower, Isaac saw his former "second brother," Remington, and his fiancée already waiting at the entrance.

Isaac shot Philo a questioning look. Philo just smiled mischievously. "The more the merrier! It raises the success rate. It’s my own little secret, so don’t tell anyone, okay?"

Isaac leaned back slightly, his expression impassive, but inwardly, he raised his guard even higher.

"Second Brother, long time no see."

"It hasn’t been that long, has it? Only three days," Remington replied with a helpless air, his expression perfectly normal.

Isaac smiled faintly and said nothing. ’Second Brother is still the same as ever. No matter what dirty deeds he’s done, he can always act like nothing happened. He’s shamelessly thick-skinned.’

’A pity he’s not too bright. Otherwise, he’d be perfect for politics.’

"If it’s only been a few days, then let’s skip the pleasantries. Come on, inside we go," Philo said, waving them on. She led the three of them into the Mage Tower and all the way up to the rooftop terrace.

The moment he stepped onto the terrace, Isaac’s heart hammered in his chest, and every hair on his body stood on end!

SHRRRIP!!

CRACK-CRACK!!

Shushu and Harmon reacted in the same instant. On his left and right, two massive, terrifying claws materialized. A pale, bony claw and a purple-black Demon Claw swiftly crossed to shield Isaac between them.

BOOM!

The moment their defense was in place, a terrifying Spiritual Pressure slammed down on Isaac!

Following the source of the Spiritual Pressure with his eyes, Isaac saw the back of a young girl.

The girl wore a white dress, and her lustrous black hair cascaded down her back. There seemed to be something wrong with her legs, as she sat quietly in a wheelchair. The sight of her was enough to make one’s heart ache with pity...

However, that was merely what a normal person would see.

In Isaac’s perception, a completely different scene unfolded. Floating above the girl was an Evil Spirit, seething with a monstrous black aura!

The Evil Spirit hovered over her. One of its fearsome claws, even larger than Harmon’s, was wrapped protectively around the girl. Its other claw was pointed at Isaac, poised to strike at any moment!

And that immense Spiritual Pressure was emanating from the Evil Spirit!