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

At the very front of the Pantheon, the most dazzling statue should have stood.

It was a magnificent statue of a goddess, full of vitality and lush greenery, the goddess of nature and life, Saturnia.

She was once the cradle of the civilization of gods, the source of all things, and the original mother of heaven and earth.

Her divine kingdom is like an endless forest, where new stars are born and laws are nurtured with every breath.

But now, all that remains is a pile of withered and rotten remains.

The sculpture's body is cracked like scorched earth; the once flowing green light has long since dried into gray-black cracks; the vines and flowers have turned into twisted, withered bones, emitting a nauseating stench.

The entire statue looks as if it has been gnawed away alive, missing a large chunk of what should have been the heart, leaving only an empty outline, which appears particularly glaring under the eternal light of the Pantheon.

The fall of Shantia was the most devastating blow in the history of the divine civilization, far exceeding the sum of all the wars between civilizations.

The collapse of the natural order caused the entire ecosystem of the divine civilization to instantly spiral out of control.

The seasons no longer cycle in an orderly fashion, forests wither and never grow again, and rivers dry up and never flow again.

If it weren't for the desperate efforts of several minor natural deities, even the most basic alternation of day and night would have completely disappeared.

But what is more devastating than nature is the complete rupture of the right to life.

The gods, who were once an immortal and eternal race, have fallen into a finite and immortal race.

Demigods began to calculate lifespans, intermediate gods began to fear time, and even the supreme gods... finally reached the end of "billions of years".

Although for the supreme god, these billions of years are still a long time, almost eternal, it is still an eternity with an "end".

For the first time, they truly sensed the shadow of death, not by being killed, but by being slowly eroded by time itself.

In the hearts of the pantheon's chief gods, the culprit for all of this was almost undisputed to be another statue at the very front.

That graceful, curvaceous goddess statue, shrouded in pure dark rules, is the Dark Goddess Shar.

Her sculpture stands in stark contrast to the ruins of Santia, one once vibrant yet now withered, the other still dazzling yet exuding a deadly sweetness.

Darkness flowed around her, like the finest velvet, or the deadliest venom.

The gods hated her to the core.

They almost unanimously believed that Sha'er was responsible for the downfall of Sha'er.

No matter how deep the hatred, what can be done?

Shar is among the most elite of the main gods, with unfathomable strength and unbridled behavior.

Moreover, she is cunning and powerful, making her someone that no god dares to easily attack.

However, on this very day, at the very front of the Pantheon, the statue of a woman clad in darkness and with seduction as her essence, suddenly began to sway slightly.

The amplitude is so small that it is almost imperceptible, yet it does exist.

It is important to know that this sculpture represents Shar, one of the most supreme gods of the pantheon, the goddess of darkness.

She wields the power of pure darkness, and unless darkness itself is completely eradicated from the heavens, she shall live forever and be immortal.

Her very existence is the definition of darkness, the embodiment of the most instinctive fear of countless beings in the dead of night.

Now, however, the sculpture is trembling.

This is unusual!

In an instant, the sculptures at the very front of the Pantheon, those symbolizing supreme authority, almost simultaneously lit up with a dazzling light.

Divine thoughts poured down like a tide.

A goddess statue surrounded by countless silver-blue magic net lines slowly opened its deep, cold eyes. This was Mystra, the Goddess of the Magic Net.

She didn't speak, but just watched quietly, her eyes filled with a hint of inquiry and cold schadenfreude.

Adjacent to it, within the pitch-black crystal spire formed from the rules of death, an aura carrying decay and end awakens: Death God Kalanvor.

A slight smile played on his lips, and eerie green flames flickered in his eyes beneath the skull mask, as if to say: You've finally met your match.

Further away, in the ocean of knowledge, countless ancient books turned their pages automatically, and the wise and calm eyes of the goddess Ogmar also turned towards this area.

She showed no emotion, only slightly tilting her head, like a scholar examining the failure of an interesting experiment.

The iron-blooded battle banners around Tempas, the god of war, fluttered in the wind; thunder roared around Talos, the god of storms; and the eternal sun statue of Amanatha, the light of order, radiated a light of judgment…

One after another...

The named deities, almost simultaneously, projected their divine thoughts here.

Enemy, ally, neutral... everyone came.

They didn't speak, but the overwhelming pressure they exuded carried an undisguised mockery and glee.

To get all the main gods to unite against Shar? That's impossible. They are already suspicious of each other, their interests are intertwined, and they are far from being a united front.

But at this moment, all eyes turned to her, to see her misfortune, to see her disheveled state, to see her finally suffer a great loss. This matter became an unspoken understanding among the gods.

The swaying of the Shal statue lasted for a moment before finally subsiding.

A dark power, so profound it nearly devoured light, rose from the sculpture, re-stabilizing the alluring yet deadly figure.

The goddess of darkness, Shar, has descended.

She no longer used that cloyingly sweet tone, nor did she use the playful term "little darling."

This time, her voice was as cold as ice that had been frozen for millions of years, each word carrying a murderous intent:
"The next time we take action against the wizarding civilization... I will personally show myself."

With those words, the will of the Dark Goddess Shar receded like a receding tide.

The dark sculptures at the very front of the Pantheon returned to silence, their graceful outlines gleaming slightly in the eternal light.

But the surrounding gods all understood in that instant why she was in such a sorry state.

It turns out they'd run into a brick wall of wizarding civilization.

Those self-proclaimed madmen who "study everything, embrace reason, and explore all things in the world" are indeed not to be trifled with.

Shar has always been independent and unruly, and no one in the civilization of gods could do anything about her, but she somehow managed to stumble in the wizards' territory.

Not only was it covered in dust and dirt, but it almost shook the sculpture apart.

For a moment, the atmosphere of schadenfreude in the hall almost solidified into a tangible form.

The will-o'-the-wisps of Death Kalanvor leaped with unusual merriment, as if they were silently grinning.
The silver-blue threads of the magic goddess Mystra trembled slightly, as if recording an interesting case.

The goddess of wisdom, Ogmar, turned the pages of her book even faster, and a rare smile even appeared on her lips.

Even the usually solemn Light of Order, Amannatha, seemed to have its Eternal Sun's light shine a little brighter, as if to say: Serves you right.

If it weren't for their status, some of the main gods would probably have burst out laughing on the spot.

However, the dark sculpture ceased to appear, and Shar had already departed. The gods' mockery and pleasure lasted for a moment before gradually subsiding.

Instead, we pondered her last words before she left.

"The next time we take action against the wizarding civilization... I will personally show myself."

A short sentence, yet it carries immense weight.

The civilization of gods has never been without its own ideas about the civilization of wizards.

Both advanced civilizations are highly aggressive and view each other as potential prey and threats.

Neither side ever truly engaged in a large-scale, head-on war, not because they lacked ambition, but because they were both secretly plotting, assessing each other's strengths, and waiting for the opportune moment to deliver a fatal blow.

Knowing yourself and the enemy is the only way to survive a hundred battles.

What we are seeing now is merely the prelude to an intelligence war and an information war.

But once this phase ends, a full-blown clash will be imminent.

In the shadow of this civilization-level war, the "troublesome point" that is the dark goddess Shar has unexpectedly become an advantage.

She is a top combatant of the civilization of gods, but she has always been disobedient and does things her own way.

If a fight really breaks out, who can guarantee she'll intervene? Who can guarantee she won't stand idly by at a crucial moment, or even stab someone in the back?

But things are different now.

She suffered a great loss on the territory of the wizarding civilization, and was thoroughly humiliated and disgraced by those madmen, which must have fueled her deep-seated hatred.

The words she left behind were not a simple promise, but a declaration: she would personally appear when the next civilization war began.

It wasn't for the sake of the divine civilization, but for herself, for revenge, for washing away the shame, and for tearing those "rational" lunatics of the wizarding civilization to shreds one by one.

The gods exchanged glances, their gloating gradually turning into satisfaction. With her around, at least there was one more unstoppable dark blade on the battlefield.

Whether she will follow orders or betray them midway is no longer important.

The war of civilizations is, in essence, a meat grinder without rules.

And Shar has always been the sharpest knife, even if it sometimes turns against its master.

Beneath the dome of the Pantheon, the gods remained silent, the sculptures still shone brightly, but the divine consciousness of the gods slowly dissipated...

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

The Wizarding World, Southern Region, Temple of Life.

Lynn has returned to the Temple of Life and is now in seclusion there for spiritual practice.

The hall still carries that faint fragrance of grass and trees, and the vines on the dome sway gently in the dim light, as if time has never passed here.

The turmoil in the Nightmare Rift Valley exceeded everyone's expectations.

Even the two Radiant Moon Lords, the Golden Brush Calligrapher and the Sky Soaring Demon, could not have foreseen that the plot inside the Nightmare Rift Valley would unfold in this way.

As one of the most central participants in the entire event, Lynn was caught up in a storm far beyond his level and witnessed firsthand the aftermath of the clash between the Supreme God and the Supreme Being.

The shock, even from the perspective of a bystander, nearly crushed his soul; he didn't want to stay in that hellhole for another second.

Instead of using the Golden Scales to forcibly tear open an escape route, he waited until the Wizard Council's reinforcements arrived in large numbers and the outer perimeter of the Rift was sealed off before he took the initiative to show himself and choose to evacuate.

He wasn't the only one.

Many Morning Star wizards made the same decision.

Many Morning Star Wizards made the same choice, after all, they were in the Nightmare Rift Valley and had experienced the full power of the Dark Goddess Shar's attack, their souls were shaken.

Although the Nightmare Rift Valley incident is not completely over, it is nearing its conclusion.

They have all completed their mandatory tasks, and the Wizarding Council will not have any mandatory tasks for some time to come.

Leaving as soon as possible and going back to recuperate quietly is the wisest choice at present.

Lynn didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to Lori, Davin, and the others in person.

He quickly sent a message: If there is any danger or trouble, come to the Temple of Life to find him.

Then, he left without looking back.

I returned to the temple of life a full month ago.

He locked himself in the deepest, quietest room, neither practicing meditation nor seeing anyone.

He simply took various rare magical potions, soul supplements, and secret items to stabilize his mental state day after day, like a sophisticated machine, disassembling himself, cleaning himself, and then piecing himself back together bit by bit.

It took him a month to finally recover from the near-collapse trauma.

The spiritual realm is no longer riddled with holes like a tattered rag, and the cracks in the soul have barely healed.

The headache, dizziness, and the illusion of falling into endless darkness as soon as I closed my eyes gradually faded away.

Until this day.

In the meditation room, Lynn sat cross-legged on a futon, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

He finally regained his ability to think calmly.

Only at this moment did he dare to re-analyze the battle of Nightmare Rift Valley.

Of course, he skipped over the topic of the dark goddess Shar and that... supreme being whom he didn't even dare to think about.

It's not escapism, but an instinctive act of self-preservation.

The moment the thought crosses his mind, the headache returns like a tidal wave. What he needs most right now is to stay alive, not to test his limits.

He brought his thoughts back to a more crucial point.

The sudden decisive battle in the Nightmare Rift Valley seemed to have been triggered by him, or more precisely, by the moment he released the aura of the golden scale fragments.

With this in mind, Lynn slowly opened his palm.

In the center of the palm, the pattern of a golden balance scale quietly emerges, the lines are fine and the luster is faintly flowing.

He looked down, his gaze somewhat blurred.

"My unintentional act... seems to have saved everyone in the entire Nightmare Rift."

Especially the wizards in the mechanical city.

The Morning Star Extremis like Warhammer Master, and the struggling little wizards like Davin and Martha...

If he hadn't activated the golden scales in that instant, drawing Shar to appear and causing that even more terrifying being to make a move, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

The mechanical capital's formation was breached by the dark tide, which poured in like living water, filling the energy layer and the seventh layer with desperate wails.

As formal wizards fell in droves, the Morning Star wizards' domain of rules was being eroded bit by bit, and they would soon be completely wiped out.

But at that very moment, he chose to run away.

My only intention was to protect myself and survive, but I never expected that this escape would become the fuse.

Shar appeared, her power spiraling out of control, alarming a great figure in the wizarding world.

Then, everything came to an abrupt end.

Shar was dragged away, the black tide subsided, and the ruins of the mechanical city survived in the deathly silence.

Whether friend or foe, they all survived because of him.

"I really... don't know how to say it."

Lynn gave a bitter laugh, a laugh tinged with self-mockery and helplessness.

He didn't dare to think too deeply about the second half of the review.

The moment that existence is touched, the headache returns, and my mental energy, like a wild horse, starts to wander uncontrollably into fantasies again.

What he fears most now is falling into that sense of emptiness again, like "seeing flowers through a fog".

"The level of power is too high... To me, that realm is like a mortal looking up at the starry sky, only seeing the light, but never being able to touch the edge."

He shook his head slightly, his voice so low it was almost inaudible.

"I hope the maple tree in the Azure Sky Spirit will wake up soon. With him there, perhaps I can gain even the slightest understanding of that level."

With his thoughts cleared, Lynn let out a long breath and then began to examine his gains.

The trip was fraught with twists and turns, and we narrowly escaped death, but the outcome... can be considered quite satisfactory.

First, the mandatory tasks of the Wizarding Council.

He has completed the periodic recruitment of Morning Star Councilors, and with the addition of the god infected by the Old God in Plane 002, this contribution is substantial enough.

For a long time to come, he will no longer have to be bothered by mandatory tasks from Parliament.

There is plenty of time to dedicate to self-cultivation or to do more important things.

Secondly, there's the old story of the mechanical capital.

Not only did they rescue old friends like Davin and Martha, they also conveniently eliminated two major threats: the mechanical wizard and the Tree of Ilo.

The two enemies were wiped out, leaving no further trouble.

Finally, and most importantly, is the Tree of Ilo itself.

This ancient tree, of a certain life type, has now fallen completely into his hands.

Whether it's personally refining those pure life rules using secret techniques, or directly feeding them to one's own World Tree...

At the fourth level of Morning Star, he had no shortage of resources and could easily advance to the fifth level of Morning Star Wizard in one go.

Thinking of this, Lynn's expression became satisfied.

He then decided to take a few days to deal with worldly affairs before going into seclusion to cultivate and strive to become a Level 5 Morning Star Wizard!

However, only a little over a month had passed, and Lynn had just entered seclusion, having spent only half a month trying to break through to become a Level 5 Morning Star Wizard.

Outside the temple of life, several uninvited guests arrived...

And so, Lynn's seclusion was broken once again... (End of Chapter)