The Wizard: From Zero-Ring Wizard to Almighty Lord.

Almost all the Morning Star Wizards who participated in the meeting knew that the solemnity and grandeur of the day were not simply for routine matters, but because it involved the destruction of the Nightmare Rift Valley, a matter that could shake the Southern Region.

As Elder Singid recounted his story, revealing the long-buried secrets and intricate details one by one, the atmosphere in the council chamber grew increasingly tense.

The Morning Star Wizards, seated atop the circular staircase, were in various states of mind: some were lost in thought, some had furrowed brows, and others exchanged glances and whispered amongst themselves.

Finally, many bewildered wizards finally understood what had happened.

The Meteor Council, a force well-known throughout the southern regions, became a major catalyst for the entire incident.

In fact, the name Meteor Council was familiar to almost every Morning Star Wizard present.

Regardless of whether they originated from the Black Wizarding Territory or the White Wizarding Territory, the Meteor Council once had a relatively bright and positive history.

When a Morning Star wizard was hunting the heavens and conquering planes, he encountered an invincible enemy and had to "shatter" his star to escape.

In that instant, he will lose a portion of the Morning Star's essence, his strength will be greatly diminished, and he will also lose the convenience and freedom to travel through endless planes.

For many, it was not just a weakening of their strength, but more like a brand that signified defeat.

This is why many "Shattered Star Wizards" have fallen into isolation and predicament. They are powerless to regain their former glory and unwilling to return to the protection of the mortal world, so they choose to stick together for warmth.

This is the origin of the Meteor Council: a safe haven for frustrated Morning Star wizards, an organization that could share information and resources.

This idea did not encounter resistance in the Southern Region; on the contrary, it garnered considerable sympathy.

Even the Morning Star Wizards who have not yet shattered their stars rarely harbor hostility towards the Meteor Council.

Because no one can guarantee that during their long lifespan of three, six, or even nine thousand years, they won't one day encounter an invincible enemy and be forced to abandon part of their essence to escape.

"Today I look at them, tomorrow they may look at me."

It was this silent resonance that made the Meteor Council's early development in the Southern Region exceptionally smooth.

Even the branch of the Southern Wizarding Council did not deliberately suppress them. Some cautious and rational Morning Star wizards even secretly maintained contact with the Meteor Council, leaving themselves a way out.

However, as time went on, the organization gradually expanded.

Internal factions began to split, and this was the beginning of the tragedy.

The largest and most stable faction is known as the "peaceful and quiet" faction.

These Shattered Star Wizards had long since come to terms with reality. Since they could not return to their former glory, they simply gave up the adventure and chose to settle down and make a living within the wizarding world.

In the safe wizarding realm, they devoted themselves to the study of alchemy, magic circles, and various profound experiments, or simply immersed themselves in personal cultivation, quietly passing the long years of their lives.

After all, as long as they don't embark on dimensional expeditions, these Shattered Star Wizards are virtually indistinguishable from complete Morning Star Wizards.

These Starshatter Wizards can often be seen in many small councils held every twenty years or so, where they have ample time to devote themselves to politics and governance.

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Meteor Council is not just a group of reclusive wizards who live a life of peace and quiet.

Deep within its vast and complex organizational structure lurks another entirely different kind of existence: the "rogue faction."

The term "rogue faction" is not without reason.

To understand their origins, we must begin with the most fundamental training method of the Morning Star Wizards: Plane Expeditions.

For any Morning Star Wizard, the true accumulation of power cannot be achieved through closed-door meditation.

Only by traversing the endless void, conquering one alien world after another, and plundering nourishment from the remnants and resources of countless civilizations, can one continuously refine oneself and advance towards the radiant moon, the bright sun, and ultimately the legendary supreme realm.

However, the interdimensional expedition is not a solitary journey; it is a complete conquest of the entire world.

Even though the Morning Star Wizards are incredibly powerful, they cannot suppress the entire otherworld on their own. Therefore, every Morning Star Wizard will build their own expeditionary legion.

Some people devote their efforts to building a large and stable personal power, like the Nightshade Wizard's "Nightshade Forge" and the Whiteheart Tower Master's "Whiteheart Tower", each becoming a legendary fortress that dominates its own region;

Other wizards chose to join larger organizations, such as the Grimm wizards of the Forgestone, who participated in conquests by leveraging the power of their alliance.

However, an army is only one of the most basic requirements for an expedition.

To truly embark on an interdimensional expedition, two crucial core foundations are still needed:
First, the Wizard Tower, personally overseen by the Morning Star Wizard and with the Morning Star Wizard at its core, serves as the operational hub for the expedition.
Secondly, it is a stargate that connects all the heavens, traversing countless dimensions, becoming the only passage for hunting and plundering.

The Wizard's Tower is a symbol of wizarding power and an extension of the soul.

Building a wizard tower of the Morning Star Wizard level is not unattainable in the wizarding world today. With enough precious resources and materials, a magnificent tower can be built in a short period of time.

However, the real challenge is not building, but maintaining.

Maintaining a Morningstar Wizard Tower is not merely about preserving the building's structure; it is a vast system comprised of countless wizards, alchemical creations, psionic arrays, and spell nodes.

This requires countless wizards to be stationed there constantly, responsible for adjusting the magic energy circuits day and night, monitoring the stability of the array, and maintaining the tower spirit's calculations.
It also requires a large amount of continuous investment to ensure that the countless magical nodes and runes in the Wizard Tower can unleash devastating power in battle at any time.

The core magic circle of the Wizard Tower can even provide the presiding Morning Star Wizard with a huge boost to mental power, enabling him to mobilize greater power when facing other worlds.

At the same time, the more wizards there are in the Wizard Tower, and the higher their rank, the more terrifying its overall power becomes, even to the point that it can rival the entire plane in the void battlefield.

The establishment of the Stargate is the greatest investment for every Morning Star Wizard on their expedition.

To build a stargate from scratch, capable of tearing apart dimensions and connecting the heavens, requires an immense amount of resources.

The first step alone requires an astronomical amount of materials, energy, and arrays to build a dimensional hub.

This means that every Morningstar wizard who wants to truly forge an expedition must have a large force capable of providing logistical support and maintaining operations.

Wizard Towers, Stargates, Legions, Alchemy Workshops... all of these are the "Achilles' heel" upon which the Expeditionary Wizards depend for survival. Without them, even a force as powerful as Morning Star would find it difficult to truly intimidate the heavens.

However, the "rogue faction" within the Meteor Council is precisely the lone wolf that has abandoned these ties.

They are no longer eligible for interdimensional expeditions, nor do they need to maintain the massive tower complexes and legions;

They had no weaknesses, no scruples, only a thirst for survival and a greed for resources.

Having lost the glory of expeditions, these Shattered Star Wizards, known as "rogues," have become the most formidable enemies.

They no longer cultivate their own power or follow any order, but instead resort to extreme measures, directly plundering.

They raided other wizards' strongholds, plundered major resource channels, and even dared to target Moonlit forces such as the Forgestone and the Seven Sacred Towers.

The wizard tower was destroyed, the star gate was sealed, and the warehouse was looted...

They were like a swarm of predatory ghosts, silently infiltrating and ruthlessly wreaking havoc.

Even so, these Moonlit factions often had no choice but to accept their fate. Because if they were to mobilize a large number of Morning Star wizards to garrison their homeland in order to defend against these unpredictable "rogue factions," the price would be abandoning their expeditions.

Once the Morning Star Wizards are confined to the Wizarding World and unable to travel to the heavens to hunt for resources, the losses far outweigh the damage caused by these rogues.

Thus, the "rogue faction" gradually became a vicious cycle and a troublesome entity:

They plundered wantonly, yet no force was willing to pay a greater price to eradicate them.

As time went by, the reputation of the Meteor Council declined rapidly, but this was not enough to prompt the Southern Council to resort to drastic measures.

What truly convinced the Wizarding Council to make its decision and act swiftly was another, even more terrifying force within the Meteor Council: the radical faction.

Compared to the "Rogue Faction," these radical Starshatter wizards were more like a bunch of lunatics.

They not only refused to acknowledge their own failures, but also blamed all their suffering and injustice on the entire wizarding civilization.

In their eyes, the wizarding world is a lofty shackle, an executioner that pushes them into the abyss.

Thus, these former guardians of the wizarding world began to turn against the mother.

They broke the ban set by the Wizarding Council and spared no effort to gain greater power, even colluding with hostile forces from other planes.

They infiltrated the inner workings of the wizarding world, plotting attacks and rebellions;

They take pride in disrupting order, view wizarding civilization as a prison, and vow to overthrow it.

This internal corruption is more deadly than external invaders; the destruction caused by a single malevolent Morning Star wizard far surpasses that of an invading army from hundreds of other planes.

Finally, the Southern Council realized that this was no longer just a "trouble," but a malignant tumor.

If left unchecked, the conspiracy of these madmen could ignite the very foundations of the Southern Region and tear apart the cornerstone of wizard civilization.

Therefore, the Southern Region Branch made an unprecedented decision to completely eradicate the radical faction of the Meteor Council and uproot this cancer!

It was against this backdrop that the Southern Branch of the Wizarding Council resolutely mobilized a large force and united with three of the most influential forces in the Moonlit Realm that were geographically closest to the Meteor Council: the Furnace Stone, the Seven Saints Tower, and the Nightmare Rift.

These three forces are at the very top of the pyramid in the Southern Region of the Southern Wizarding World. Each of them has a Radiant Moon Lord in charge, wielding immense power and influence, enough to sweep across all the planes of existence.

Although the Meteor Council is known as the largest united organization of Morning Star Wizards in the Southern Region, it is ultimately only a "Morning Star level force," with its strongest members being only Level 6 Morning Star Wizards, which is still worlds apart from the Radiant Moon level.

With the three major Radiant Moon factions personally taking action and recruiting numerous elite Morning Star Wizards from the Southern Region as support, the encirclement and suppression of a mere radical faction should have been a simple and effortless task.

At least, that's what everyone thought at first.

In just a few months, the situation in the Meteor Council took a sharp turn for the worse.

Under the Wizarding Council's thunderous offensive, a large-scale purge first occurred within the Meteor Council.

The "Peaceful Times" faction and the "Rogue Faction" quickly realized that the situation was not good and decisively cut ties with the radicals. They even took the initiative to hand over the coordinates of the radicals' strongholds and hidden intelligence to the Wizard Council, becoming veritable "tainted witnesses".

In an instant, public opinion in the wizarding world was overwhelmingly in favor of the radicals, with all wizards believing that the demise of the radicals was a foregone conclusion.

The top brass of the Southern Region branch also optimistically believed that this annihilation operation was only a matter of time, and the bells of victory seemed to be ringing in their ears.

However, as the saying goes, "a cornered beast will fight," let alone these cornered beasts who are ruthless, cunning, and terrifyingly powerful Morning Star Wizards, who may even be the source of future chaos that betrays the world and civilization.

When radicals are driven to the brink, they launch an unimaginable and frenzied counterattack, completely transforming themselves into a drawn sword.

This counterattack shocked the entire Southern Region and overturned the understanding of countless wizards:

The radical faction not only failed to collapse under the Wizard Council's siege, but also successfully overthrew the Nightmare Rift, a neutral force that had stood for countless years, through a series of surprise attacks.

A legendary place that possesses the legacy of His Majesty the Radiant Moon and once single-handedly quelled the war between black and white wizards!

This battle was like a thunderclap exploding in the sky of the wizarding world, shaking the entire Southern Region.

Elder Singid's voice echoed in the solemn council hall, each word seemingly resonating with the magic circle, vibrating into the eardrums and striking the mind.

As the whole story was recounted, all the Morning Star councilors became solemn. At that moment, even the usually proud and aloof wizards couldn't help but show shock and doubt.

Lynn sat in his seat as a member of parliament, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest, a deep, almost imperceptible thought in his eyes.

Although he was deeply involved in the operation and knew many behind-the-scenes details, new questions still arose in his mind when he listened to Elder Singid recount the whole story from the perspective of an outsider.

Was the Radiant Moon Lord, who once commanded the respect of both the righteous and the wicked in the Southern Region, truly just an innocent victim caught in the crossfire?

"The high-ranking members of the Southern Region Council, knowing full well that His Majesty had left Nightmare Rift Valley years ago, still insisted on dragging Nightmare Rift Valley into this extermination operation..."

Was it a deliberate attempt to use this victory to curry favor with that Lord Radiant Moon?

Lynn narrowed his eyes, a hint of sarcasm flashing in them.

"Unfortunately, this plan was too overconfident, and it backfired, leading to his current predicament..."

The atmosphere in the entire hall was solemn, and every Morning Star Wizard had a glint in their eyes as they pondered the whole story.

But Lynn whispered a question to the wizard Grimm beside him.

"Wizard Grimm, I heard that the Radiant Moon, who is behind the Nightmare Rift, made a special trip to the Forgestone before leaving? I wonder if Wizard Grimm knows anything about this?"

Upon hearing Lynn's question, Wizard Green paused, but after thinking for a moment, he ultimately replied telepathically:
"This matter is somewhat of a secret, and as the Morning Star Wizard of the Forgestone, I shouldn't reveal it. But upon closer examination, it's also related to Wizard Qinglin, so Wizard Qinglin isn't exactly an outsider..."

"That's right, the Radiant Moon Lord behind the Nightmare Rift once went to Forgestone. During that time, our Radiant Moon Lord from Forgestone brought our teacher to meet that Radiant Moon Lord..."

"After a fairly pleasant conversation, His Highness the Radiant Moon departed with satisfaction, leaving the Southern Region and returning to the headquarters of the Wizarding Council..."

Wizard Green stopped there, but Lynn had already keenly grasped the unspoken meaning behind his words.

It's related to myself, and it's also related to Hercules. Doesn't that mean it refers to only one thing?
Is it the body of the chief god from the civilization of gods?

Upon closer reflection, the series of actions against the civilization of the gods that the Nightmare Rift prevented were likely ordered by Her Majesty the Radiant Moon...

"In the mechanical token of the Mechanical City, I once mistakenly entered a room that seemed like a holographic projection..."

Lynn now has some suspicions that the body of the Goddess of the Magic Web that he gave to Hercules might be very important to the Radiant Moon Lord of the Nightmare Rift.

With this body of the Goddess of the Magic Net, perhaps this Lady Radiant Moon will be able to carry out an experiment that changes the Wizard Council and the wizarding civilization?
This wasn't Lynn's imagination; it was exactly what the message he saw when he accidentally entered that space said.

This is why the Wizarding Council of the Southern Region knew something, and thus took the initiative to curry favor with His Majesty the Radiant Moon.

Of course, the current situation is that the Wizarding Council's attempt to curry favor backfired... (End of Chapter)