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

Information about advanced civilizations like the Ancient Gods is highly classified in the wizarding world.

Even the Morning Star Wizards only have the "qualification to review" rather than the "full knowledge" of the information.

For fourth-level Morning Star wizards, much of the core content remains strictly sealed, as is the case with Wizard Ald and Lynn.

Their understanding of the ancient god civilization is mostly limited to "knowing that it exists," while they know almost nothing about its true operating logic, power structure, and deeper secrets.

In contrast, consider Ophiuchus.

Not only is he a fully-fledged fifth-level Morning Star Wizard, but he also has the backing of a behemoth like the Forgestone. The secret information he can access is naturally far beyond what Lynn and Ald can compare to.

Tina's situation is different.

Although both are level four Morning Star wizards, she comes from an ancient wizarding family at the level six Morning Star.

The family already possessed many secrets and channels that were not made public, and their understanding of the ancient god civilization was actually more in-depth than that of Lynn and his companion.

Ultimately, it stems from the unique nature of the ancient god civilization itself.

Unlike the civilizations of gods and wizards, the ancient god civilization is a highly advanced civilization plane that is almost completely closed off.

Only those who stand at the very top level can cross the dimensional barriers and embark on a true dimensional expedition or observe the outside world.

This is why the development trajectory of the ancient god civilization was completely opposite to that of other advanced civilizations.

The civilizations of gods and wizards, though they had both experienced extremely brutal internal wars.

However, since interdimensional expeditions became the mainstream, the two civilizations began to actively restrain their high-level combat forces and try to avoid internal strife.

Civil wars typically last only a short period before quickly turning to external expansion while maintaining relative peace internally.

The ancient god civilization, on the other hand, was exactly the opposite.

The closed dimensional structure made external expeditions nearly impossible; thus, civil war became the norm in the evolution of civilization.

It was a madness that never truly stopped.

The most powerful beings within a civilization confront and fight each other. The Ancient Gods and the Great Old Ones belong to two opposing camps and wage a protracted and terrifying war.

From chaos to a brief period of order; then from that fragile order, plunging back into endless chaos.

This kind of war, from ancient times to the present, has never truly ended.

This time, what corrupted and infected the native god of the Spirit Eye plane was none other than the power of the Old Ones from the ancient god civilization.

More accurately, it is the energy of the King in Yellow.

The King in Yellow is one of Hastur's incarnations.

He symbolizes the element of wind, one of the four fundamental elements, and is an indescribable being, as well as the lord of the deep space and the starry sea.

The mere remnants of His power were enough to cause a god in a rudimentary civilization to completely lose himself.

After hearing Tina's explanation, Ophiuchus couldn't help but glance at her slightly.

For the first time, those cold and deep eyes, like those of a snake, truly looked directly at this fourth-level Morning Star Wizard who existed only as a soul.

Previously, in his eyes, Tina was nothing more than a special existence who depended on Lynn for survival.

A soul entity and a fourth-level morning star—this combination seems like some kind of "parasite" or "subsidiary" relationship.

But at this moment, the knowledge and judgment the other party displayed clearly exceeded this level. It was not hearsay, but an understanding based on systematic cognition.

This means that her background is by no means simple.

Therefore, her relationship with Lynn is probably not one of subservience.

It's more like an equal partnership, or even a collaboration based on shared interests.

Now that Tina had clearly stated the key points, Ophiuchus decided to stop hiding anything and offered a few more words to clarify things for Lynn and the wizard Ald:

"Indeed, it is the power of an Old One."

"Its rank corresponds at least to the high-level Radiant Moon realm in our wizarding civilization... or even higher..."

He paused, then added,
Fortunately, it was just residual energy.

Even so, these words still stirred up ripples in Lynn's heart.

Limited by his authority, his understanding of the ancient god civilization was not in-depth, but he was not completely ignorant of it.

Among the many Great Old Ones, the most renowned and almost universally known is the sleeping god, Lord of R'lyeh, one of the great beings symbolizing "water," Cthulhu.

In comparison, Hastur, the King in Yellow, is indeed not as well-known.

The problem is that both are symbols of the four cornerstone elements, and they are also mortal enemies.

The fact that he could stand against an entity like Cthulhu for so long and survive to this day, even if it's just a glimpse, is enough to reveal a terrifying aspect of the King in Yellow's power.

"Let's go..."

Ophiuchus spoke softly.

"You'll see it in a bit."

As soon as he finished speaking, the scales of the jet-black serpent beneath his feet trembled, and starlight suddenly shone between the layers of scales, like a flowing galaxy, carrying him forward at breakneck speed.

Lynn, Wizard Ald, and Tina followed suit.

However, it is different from when it first arrived.

At that time, they were somewhat confident. With Ophiuchus himself present and a fully-fledged Level 5 Morning Star Wizard in charge, this operation should have been a piece of cake.

But now, the situation has completely changed.

The native deity had been completely corrupted and controlled by the Yellow King's energy; none of the three Level 4 Morning Star Wizards knew exactly how far things had progressed.

However, Ophiuchus's expression remained unchanged throughout, perhaps indicating that the other party was quite confident. As a result, the three level-four wizards were not alarmed.

....................................

Deep within the raging wind lies an endless realm of wind.

There is no earth here, no sky, only layers upon layers of relentless gales.

They tear at each other, overlap, and collide, as if the whole world is reduced to the concept of "flow".

Earth, water, fire, and wind are the four fundamental elements that form the foundation of all dimensional worlds.

Whether it is the civilization of gods, the civilization of ancient gods, the civilization of wizards, or even the Spirit Eye plane itself, none of them are exceptions.

The only difference lies in the different ways that different civilizations understand and control power.

In the wizarding civilization, the formal wizard stage, from level one to three, studies energy factors; while in the Morning Star wizard stage, from level four to six, they begin to truly touch upon the rules themselves.

Whether it's the element of wind or the rules of wind, regardless of the level, it is essentially one of the four fundamental elements.

Therefore, "wind" is not unfamiliar to wizards.

However, when Lynn and the others actually stepped into this whirlwind domain, almost everyone's expression tensed up at the same time.

The wind here is strange.

Colorful gales surged and churned in the air, intertwining and swirling without order or pattern.

They are violent and chaotic, yet they also possess an indescribable "direction."

It is not natural chaos, but a form that has been distorted and forcibly pieced together.

That aura was unsettling, irritating, and even... subtly maddening.

In a daze, everyone had the illusion that these gales were operating according to some predetermined structure.

The structure resembled an incomplete seal.

Just by "noticing" this, Lynn, Wizard Ald, and Tina felt an uncontrollable tremor in their spirits.

My thoughts unconsciously followed the outline of the seal, and the more I thought about it, the more confused I became; the more I looked at it, the more disordered my mental energy became.

Even if they are fourth-level Morning Star Wizards, they cannot avoid this corruption.

Don't even think about it.

The Ophiuchus's voice rang out coldly, like a bucket of ice water being poured over someone's head.

"Activate the permanent magical mark with all your might to seal your mind."

Don't try to understand.

These words suddenly jolted the three of them awake, and they immediately did as instructed.

The power of rules and the mark of witchcraft operated simultaneously, forcibly stabilizing the mental realm. That feeling of being pulled and dragged into the abyss was finally abruptly cut off.

After escaping, Lynn was secretly shocked, his back covered in cold sweat.

"This is the terror of the Old Gods... and the Great Old Ones."

He murmured to himself.

"There is no need to attack directly; the remaining structure alone is enough to catch someone off guard."

If this wasn't the Yellow King himself, but merely a derivative area resulting from energy erosion, he might not have been able to break free so easily.

Just then, Ophiuchus's serpentine pupils suddenly narrowed, their vertical pupils locking onto a certain area in the distance.

There, the density of the gale was noticeably abnormal.

The colorful, layered winds seemed to form a natural barrier, concealing everything and obscuring any real existence.

“There it is.”

Ophiuchus spoke calmly, and Lynn and the other two looked in the direction of the voice.

However, all they could see was howling winds, churning colors, and chaos.

There was no divine aura, no clear outline, and not even a definite "goal".

This is also where the trouble lies after being infected by the ancient god's energy; Lynn and Tina had already experienced it before.

Even a paladin of the third rank under the command of a native god becomes "untouchable," "indescribable," and "easily affected" after being infected by the energy of the ancient god.

Therefore, the solution they came up with was to use a heavyweight strategic weapon like an interdimensional purification device to forcibly change the rules of heaven and earth, thereby expelling the "planetary features altered by the energy of the ancient gods".

But now, the group is no longer in their original Spirit Eye plane, but in the "Wind Domain" mentioned by Ophiuchus.

If this native deity still retains some characteristics of the Yellow-Robed King, then how should the group deal with it?

Just as Lynn and his companions were beginning to have doubts, Ophiuchus suddenly released his grip, his expression calm and his tone indifferent:
"The most effective way to deal with the existence of ancient god civilizations is naturally to suppress them with forces that are of the same origin but hostile to each other."

The Wizarding Council was not entirely unprepared for the ancient god civilization.

The relationships of mutual restraint between different ancient god energies have long been systematically organized.

Previously, the level seven ancient god power that erupted in the Nightmare Rift Valley was essentially the same as that of the infected native god in the Spirit Eye Plane, both originating from the authority of "wind".

Since the enemy is the wind, the countermeasure is naturally something that repels and counters the wind.

water.

In the ancient god civilization, when discussing the element of water, one can hardly avoid mentioning that great being slumbering beneath the deep sea.

Lord of R'lyeh, the Sleeping God, the Great Cthulhu.

Its energy is the purest and easiest to "collect" and utilize.

Even more coincidentally, the wind element here originates from the Yellow King, who is a mortal enemy of Cthulhu.

The opposition between wind and water, and the hatred between those in power, are enough to amplify the effect of restraint.

Ophiuchus was clearly prepared for this long ago.

He gently opened his palm, and a small, ancient sculpture slowly appeared on his palm.

The sculpture wasn't large, but it was so captivating that it was hard to look away.

It has an octopus-like head, with tentacles intertwined to form a bizarre face; its body is covered in scales, with a texture as wet and cold as rubber; its limbs end in huge claws, and it has a pair of long, narrow wings on its back.

Its entire body is dark green, bloated and strange, as if it were not born for the land.

The moment the sculpture appeared, a surge of powerful water elemental energy burst forth.

It was not gentle water, nor orderly tides, but the most primal and chaotic power of the deep sea.

In a daze, Lynn and the others seemed to "see" a scene: beneath the dark, storm-raging sea, an unimaginably enormous figure lay silently dormant.
Low, incoherent murmurs seeped slowly from the depths of the sea.

It's heart-stopping.

Disturbing.

Fortunately, Lynn and his two companions had already taken precautions against the corruption of the ancient gods.

The moment those whispers appeared, the three of them held their breath and focused their minds, their spiritual power spreading out like a barrier to protect themselves and suppress the whispers.

At that very moment, the surrounding gale changed.

Especially the area previously locked by Ophiuchus.

As the water elemental fluctuations of Cthulhu spread outwards, the gale there, as if water droplets poured into boiling oil, instantly exploded.

The originally chaotic and disordered flow of air suddenly became disordered, twisted, and turbulent, emitting a piercing whistling sound.

The multicolored winds collided wildly, repelling each other as if instinctively resisting something they "hated".

Wind and water.

At this moment, two forces originating from the ancient god civilization collided head-on without any buffer.

In an instant, the gale was torn apart, and seawater surged forth out of thin air.

The water elemental power pouring from the Cthulhu sculpture, like the endless source of the deep sea, forcibly submerged this realm of wind.

The entity that was originally concealed by the Yellow King's energy could no longer hide.

scoff!

The wind suddenly split open.

In the area previously marked by Ophiuchus, a figure was forcibly "squeezed" out from the depths of the storm.

It was a being that resembled a human.

The tattered yellow robe hung down on his body, the fabric looking as if it had been torn and corroded countless times;

A soft, fitting mask covered his face, obscuring his features; all that could be felt was the empty, distorted gaze behind the mask.

Behind it, a broken seal slowly rotates.

The seal took on a twisted shape, resembling withered tree roots or tentacles, and was entirely yellowish-brown. Its structure, however, was unusually simple:
Three slender tentacles extend from different directions and eventually converge at a central point.

The aura of the King in Yellow continuously emanated from the seal.

Almost simultaneously, the whispers of the deep sea and the howls of the gale collided violently.

Cthulhu. The King in Yellow.

The authority of the two Great Old Ones was directly shaken at this moment.

"You three, keep moving forward."

The voice of Ophiuchus suddenly rang out, still calm and without the slightest ripple.

Lynn and the other two felt a slight tightening in their hearts, but without hesitation, they immediately did as instructed and took a step forward.

However, the next moment, they both realized something was wrong.

The body is clearly moving forward, but the senses are drifting away.

The space seemed to have undergone a silent transformation.

They weren't approaching the battlefield; they were being "sent away."

When the three realized this, they had already been pushed away from the core of the direct conflict by an invisible force, and could only see the collapsing area from afar.

There...

Under the pitch-black night sky, the vast and boundless sea surged and churned, and in the depths of the sea, an indescribable and terrifying being let out a low roar.
In the center of the raging wind domain, a humanoid creature dressed in yellow and wearing a mask stood motionless, with the incomplete yellow seal on its back slowly rotating.

At the point where the two ancient god auras converge, Ophiuchus stands alone, small in stature, yet unmoved.

Rumble!
The next instant, the power completely spiraled out of control.

Space seemed to be folded, compressed, and flattened, and that area could no longer be observed normally, leaving only intermittent, terrifying fluctuations.

Even though they were forcibly isolated, Lynn and the other two still felt their hearts tremble.

They knew very well that if they were in the center of that battlefield, even a fourth-level Morning Star Wizard would have to exert all his strength to barely block the aftershocks.

As for the actual battles that took place...

That's simply a field they can't get involved in at their current level. (End of Chapter)