Kaelan stands at the highest platform of the tower and looks over the city that now lies beneath him, fully restored, its streets orderly, its buildings whole, its pulse steady as if the destruction that once tore through it had never existed.
The scars are gone, the broken walls rebuilt, the fractured roads smoothed, and the lives of mortals resumed in quiet rhythm, yet at the very centre where the grand mansion once stood, nothing of the past remains.
In its place rises a wizard tower, tall and absolute, piercing the sky like a declaration of a new era, its structure layered with complex arrays and flowing runic patterns that constantly shift as they operate.
The tower does not merely stand as a symbol; it functions, and its purpose spreads through the entire city.
From its core, streams of energy flow outward, invisible yet present, transforming the very nature of the environment, altering the balance that once belonged purely to spiritual energy.
The tower converts spiritual energy into magic energy.
But not the ordinary form that wizards have relied on for generations.
This is something new.
This is magic energy 2.0.
Kaelan narrows his eyes slightly as he senses its properties, not with curiosity, but with recognition, because this innovation does not belong to him.
It belongs to a new generation.
A wizard named Alan Mu.
Alan Mu is the one who advanced beyond the traditional boundaries of Magic Sun Wizards, not by forcefully breaking limits, but by redefining the very foundation of magic energy itself.
He integrates two powers that were never harmonised before in such a way.
The power of radiation.
And the power of life.
These two opposing yet complementary forces merge within the refined magic energy, creating something that evolves on its own, something that interacts with both the environment and the body of the caster.
Kaelan understands the implications immediately.
This is not a minor improvement.
This is a shift in the path of wizards.
The Wizard Federation, recognising this transformation, restructures their understanding of Law.
They abandon the fragmented interpretations and instead establish a simplified system.
Power.
And Field.
Only two tiers exist within their comprehension.
Not because there are no higher levels, but because no one, except Merin, has reached beyond Field.
Power corresponds to the Dust Tier in the Void's system of Law comprehension.
Field corresponds to the Meteor Tier.
They choose these names deliberately.
When a wizard reaches the Power Tier, their mana undergoes a change without the need for conscious activation.
It evolves.
It gains an inherent superiority.
If two wizards of the same cultivation realm clash using only mana, the one who has reached Power Tier will inevitably dominate, even without actively applying Law.
The advantage exists naturally.
Their mana carries it.
The transformation is silent but absolute.
The next tier, Field, brings something more direct.
At this level, a wizard manifests a field unique to themselves.
It is no longer just an internal evolution, but an external presence.
Their Law shapes the space around them.
Their influence extends outward.
Returning to Alan Mu's contribution, the magic energy he creates does more than enhance spellcasting.
It refines the body.
As a wizard advances in cultivation, their physical body evolves alongside their magical strength.
There is no need for separate physical training.
The improvement is not as extreme as that of those who walk physical cultivation paths, but it is sufficient.
Their bodies no longer lag behind.
They no longer become a weakness.
Kaelan stands there, absorbing all of this without surprise, because change is inevitable, and this world is moving forward without waiting for anyone.
At that moment, a message reaches him.
Yuelan.
Without hesitation, Kaelan's body breaks apart.
It does not vanish, it disassembles, turning into fragments that dissolve into nothingness.
In the next instant, he appears elsewhere.
He sits on a chair inside a small shop.
The transition is seamless, as if space itself simply rearranges to accommodate him.
Across from him sits Yuelan.
A white table separates them.
She looks at him with a faint smile and says, "It always shocks me when you appear like this."
Kaelan says nothing.
He watches her instead.
On the table rests a vase filled with flowers, their colours soft against the starkness of the desert outside, beside it a cake tray and two plates.
One plate is empty.
The other holds a half-eaten slice of cake.
Yuelan cuts a small piece and places it in her mouth, her movements calm, almost deliberate.
Then she gestures toward the tray.
"Have some?"
Kaelan reaches forward, takes a slice, and places it onto his plate.
He takes a bite.
Sweetness spreads first.
Then the sharp hint of apple follows, cutting through the sweetness with a subtle sourness that lingers.
They do not speak.
Silence settles between them, not uncomfortable, but heavy with unspoken thoughts.
They finish the cake quietly.
Yuelan pays for it without hesitation.
Then they leave the shop together.
Outside, the desert city stretches around them, yet it feels no different from any other place where people live their ordinary lives.
They walk side by side along the street.
After some time, Kaelan speaks.
"You don't need to be nervous, you will advance to become a Magic Sun Wizard without any problem."
Yuelan pauses for a fraction of a moment.
Then she continues walking.
"Do you know," she says softly, "before I became your lover, my dreams were ordinary, and I never thought I would become a transcend, and live for more than two hundred years."
Kaelan does not respond.
He walks with her, matching her pace.
She continues.
"Do you know my son died?"
Kaelan's steps do not falter, but his expression shifts slightly.
He did not know.
"Sorry," he says.
Yuelan's voice remains steady.
"If I fail to become a Magic Sun Wizard, take care of our daughter."
She turns her head and looks at him.
Kaelan exhales slowly.
"You don't need to ask me this," he says, "and you are not going to fail."
Yuelan nods.
They continue walking until the wizard tower comes into view once more.
The structure stands as it did before, unchanged, yet now it feels closer, more immediate.
They enter.
Inside, they move toward the lower levels.
Down the stairs.
Into the section where secluded rooms are built specifically for breakthroughs.
The air grows quieter.
Heavier.
Each step echoes faintly.
They stop before one of the rooms.
Yuelan stands at the door.
For a moment, neither of them moves.
Then Kaelan reaches out and pulls her into an embrace.
He holds her firmly, one hand resting on her back, gently caressing as if grounding her in the present.
He lowers his head and kisses her forehead.
A simple gesture.
But it carries everything he does not say.
Then he releases her.
He gives her a light push toward the door.
"Now go."
Yuelan nods.
She does not look back again.
She steps inside.
The door closes behind her.
And silence returns.
Kaelan does not leave, and instead remains outside, leaning against the wall as he faces the closed door behind which Yuelan has begun her advancement.
His thoughts drift as he waits, his mind slipping away from the present and returning to his true form as a Crow.
In the wizard world, demon beasts cannot become wizards until they reach the third stage of magic beasts, and only then do they begin to touch the threshold of intelligence required to comprehend magic.
But after advancing to Stage Four, everything changes.
Not only are his direct descendants blessed by the world, but even ordinary crows begin to undergo a transformation.
Their spirituality becomes complete, even without his bloodline.
Yet something remains lacking.
Their intelligence and wisdom still fall short of humans.
And to become a wizard, intelligence and wisdom are the foundation.
Without them, even possessing spirituality is not enough.
Kaelan understands this clearly.
If he can elevate their intelligence to match that of humans and combine it with the compatibility granted by the world, their potential will double.
Perhaps even more.
The thought lingers in his mind as he begins to ponder possible methods, each idea forming and dissolving as he weighs feasibility against risk.
Time passes unnoticed.
Minutes stretch into hours.
Hours accumulate into days.
A full week goes by before another presence arrives.
Qiumei descends the stairs and walks toward him.
She stops beside him and leans back against the wall in the same manner.
Neither of them speaks.
There is no need.
Kaelan can perceive her state clearly.
She has reached the late stage of Magic Sun Wizard.
Around her, the energies of life, death, and lightning flow in subtle cycles, intertwining yet not fully merging.
She still has not succeeded in combining the energies of life and death.
The lightning energy acts as a bridge, connecting the two opposing forces.
Life and death stand at opposite extremes.
Without sufficient comprehension, they cannot be unified.
If she cannot comprehend both the Law of Life and the Law of Death to the level of forming a complete large path, each containing thirty-six small paths, then true integration will remain out of reach.
There is another path.
She could use lightning as the core, comprehending a large path of the Law of Lightning, and through it, force a balance between life and death.
Kaelan understands both possibilities.
Yet he offers no advice.
He has no intention of interfering with her chosen direction.
Each path carries its own consequences, and guidance at this level can become a form of limitation.
So he remains silent.
Time continues to flow.
Then one day, Kaelan senses it.
A stirring within the room.
The magic energy begins to fluctuate, gathering, compressing, and rising.
It grows steadily until it resembles a sun igniting within the sealed space.
A powerful presence radiates outward, restrained only by the formations of the tower.
He watches, unmoving.
Days pass again.
Then, at a certain moment, Kaelan disperses his clones.
His awareness retracts, converging back into a single point.
At the same time, on the western edge of the land, Kaelan stands in another location.
There, a group of criminal humans lie asleep.
He is the one who has made them fall into this state.
They breathe steadily, unaware of what is about to come.
Kaelan looks at them calmly.
Before he can begin his research on the soul, he must first solve a fundamental problem.
He needs a method to contain souls.
Because once death occurs, the soul no longer belongs to the material world.
It returns to the Great Way of reincarnation.
And unless he finds a way to intercept that process, any further research will be meaningless.
He stands there in silence, contemplating the boundary between life, death, and what lies beyond.