Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Ian stood above the Black Lake, with Emma fast asleep in his arms, her little face still streaked with tears.

His gaze pierced through the dark lake water, through the thick silt at the bottom, and through the barrier built of bones and resentment.

They locked onto something slumbering deep within the lake: a... giant octopus.

It is over a kilometer long, with hundreds of tentacles coiled like a giant python on the lake bottom. Each tentacle is as thick as a house and covered with gray-green scales.

This is Morlock, the Lord of Drowning.

He was a demigod who had ignited the divine fire for 380 years, ruling over a thousand miles around the Black Erosion Lake, and feeding on human sacrifices.

In Ian's perception, four divine fluctuations surged within the monster: depravity, fear, sacrifice, and bloodlust.

Like four twisted chains, wrapped around that deformed divine core.

"Demigod..." Ian muttered to himself, a hint of killing intent flashing in his eyes.

"In the wizarding world, he'd be someone who barely reaches the threshold of Dawnstar."

For him, an enemy of this caliber wasn't even a warm-up.

However... the materials are rare, and the divinity of this world is extremely similar to the rules of the wizarding world.

The four complete divinities, especially the "sacrifice" divinity, may hold the secret to the transformation of divine power through faith.

Ian no longer hesitated, and the two cores of the sun and moon in his mental sea trembled slightly.

hum!

In an instant, the entire world seemed to freeze in place.

The wind stopped, the fog condensed, and even the surging waves on the lake were frozen in mid-air.

Then, the sky cracked open.

A large, golden-red sun slowly rose from nothingness, its diameter exceeding a thousand miles, its surface surrounded by a golden-red corona.

Wherever the light shines, chaos within a thousand miles is quelled, filth is purified, and distortion is smoothed out.

The perpetual gray fog above Black Lake melts away like ice and snow the moment it touches the light.

The sun's light grew ever brighter, swallowing up the starlight, the moonlight, and all other stray lights...

The entire sky was now only a golden-red glow.

"Let the flames...purify everything!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the thermal energy rules transformed into towering flames, pouring down.

The laws of gravity, like an invisible giant hand, firmly "grip" the space within a radius of thousands of miles.

The rules of purification, like golden rain, sprinkled on every inch of land and every drop of lake water.

The time rules make time flow ten times slower in this area than in the outside world.

The Morlock at the bottom of the lake awoke with a start, the oppressive aura emanating from the golden-red sun causing every one of its tentacles to tremble.

Just as ants look up at dragons, mortals face gods.

"This is... a crusade by the Church of Light?!"

Morlock's first thought was that the behemoth had finally given in.

But it soon realized something was wrong; the aura of this great sun was completely different from the fiery, holy, and didactic power of the God of Light.

This is pure violence, a power with a destructive will.

"Escape!" That was the only thought in Morlock's mind.

The divine fire of 380 years was not lit for nothing; it instantly burned with all its divine power, attempting to tear through space and escape into the void.

But it was soon discovered that it could not tear through the void, and the space within a thousand miles was frozen.

It could only watch helplessly as the great sun began to descend, getting closer and closer.

"Ah!" it roared angrily, struggling desperately, but to no avail.

The sun slowly sank into the lake, the dark lake water evaporated, and the lake surface rapidly dropped.

Ten meters, one hundred meters, three hundred meters... the lake bottom is completely... .

Mud, bones, twisted tumors, struggling water ghosts, kneeling cultists...

Everything turned into a wisp of smoke the moment it touched the sun's rays, without even having time to scream.

Three seconds later, the Thousand-Mile Black Erosion Lake disappeared.

All that remained was a giant crater thousands of meters deep, its walls smooth as a mirror, reflecting the sunlight.

At the bottom of the pit, Morlock's massive body was fully exposed.

Its hundreds of tentacles flared wildly, trying to erect a divine shield, but they were incredibly fragile under the sun's rays.

"No...no!!!" Morlock let out a piercing scream.

The screams were mixed with fear, despair, and... a hint of pleading.

It wanted to beg for mercy, to submit, to offer everything.

Ian ignored its pleas and clenched his fists loosely.

The sun's rays suddenly contracted, transforming into a golden pillar that completely enveloped Morlock.

Inside the pillar of light, the laws of gravity were frantically compressing, forcibly squeezing and deforming its three-thousand-meter-long body.

Kilometers, hundreds of meters, ten meters... eventually transforming into a palm-sized miniature octopus covered in eyeballs.

Ian raised his hand and caught the ball of flesh in his palm.

Those eyes all rolled around, staring at him, their eyes filled with resentment and fear.

It didn't understand why such a being had suddenly appeared, or why it wasn't even given a chance to negotiate.

Why... is he so strong?

With a slight thought, Ian intertwined the power of the six rules to form a seal, completely locking the flesh ball in place. Then, with a flash, he disappeared from the spot.

Half an hour later, three figures appeared at the edge of the giant pit almost simultaneously.

The leader, dressed in a white robe with a golden sun pattern and holding a scepter, was Grant, the archbishop of the nearby Church of Light and a sixth-level divine mage.

The second person was clad in animal skins, carried a giant sword, and had a hideous scar on his face.

Onbas, a high-ranking legendary human warrior, was known as "The Slayer" for hunting water monsters around Black Eclipse Lake for thirty years.

The third person was dressed in a long, earth-yellow dress, holding an oak staff, with fresh grass tucked into her hair.

Liana, Archbishop of the Western Diocese of the Cult of the Earth Mother.

The three exchanged glances, and each saw horror in the other's eyes.

"This..." Onbas opened his mouth, his voice dry.

He pointed to the enormous pit below, which was thousands of miles in diameter and thousands of meters deep, his fingers trembling slightly.

"Black Lake... is gone?"

Grant didn't speak. He crouched down and gently stroked the pit wall with his fingertips. It was smooth, warm, and still retained a heart-stirring divine aftertaste.

"Judging from this, it'll only be one strike."

The fifth-level archbishop spoke slowly, his voice filled with disbelief.

"A single strike dried up a thousand miles of lake, annihilating all living things within; even Morlock couldn't escape."

"This kind of power..." He looked up at the sky, where traces of the sun's descent still lingered.

"At least a top-tier demigod wielding a divine artifact."

Liana replied, her oak staff glowing faintly, sensing the mournful cries emanating from the depths of the earth.

"It could even be... the descent of an incarnation of a deity."

The three fell silent.

A divine incarnation—that's an existence capable of easily destroying an entire province.

Why would someone appear in such a remote corner? Just to kill a demigod?

Grant stood up, dusted off his white robe, and said, "This is not something we can handle."

Onbas nodded, and Liana had no objection.

The three of them each took out their communication devices and transmitted the scene, the cola novels, your portable library (more than ten thousand volumes), the remaining aura of the rules, and their own speculations back to their respective forces.

After doing all this, they looked at each other again and then went their separate ways.

Cathedral of Holy Light, Dormitory for Third-Rank Deacons.

Anson pushed open the door and saw Ian sitting on the edge of the bed, with a little girl sleeping soundly in his arms.

"Her name is Emma." Ian gently placed the girl on the bed and covered her with the blanket.

"A survivor from Ash Swamp Village, whose parents were dragged away by water ghosts three years ago, and whose older brother was sacrificed tonight."

Anson remained silent for a moment, then walked to the bedside and looked at the girl's pale face and the tear stains still wet at the corners of her eyes.

"I'll make the arrangements." His voice was calm, but a flicker of emotion flashed in his eyes.

"The church has an orphanage, and the director is a kind old nun."

"I will recommend her in the name of God's grace, and guarantee her a life of comfort and a safe upbringing."

Ian nodded. Although the projection could not be adopted by him personally, given Anson's current status as a third-level deacon, arranging for an orphan to enter the church's orphanage would be a piece of cake.

Ian took the sealed flesh ball out of his arms, a hint of joy in his eyes.

"The trip went relatively smoothly, but it caused quite a stir."

Anson looked at the ball of flesh; its eyes were still moving.

"Morlock contains four divine properties. Study them slowly and see if you can unlock the secret of converting faith into divine power."

Ian nodded: "I'll analyze it with the panel first, and then slowly extract its divinity."

He then went on to explain the follow-up plans, how to continue infiltrating the church, and how to gather more information about the demigods…

Then its form slowly faded and disappeared.

Anson stood by the bed, looking at Emma sleeping soundly, then turned and walked to the desk, picking up a quill pen.

[To Sister Maria, Director of the Orphanage: There is a girl named Emma, ​​a war survivor, orphaned and with her brother martyred.]

[His heart is pure, his will is steadfast; we hope to take him in and nurture him, so that he may bask in the glory of our Lord.]

[Recommended by: Ansen]

After writing, he placed the note beside the girl's pillow, then took out a few silver coins from his pocket and gently placed them in the girl's palm.

The silver coin is engraved with the profile of the God of Light, gleaming faintly in the candlelight.

"Live well," Anson said softly, then blew out the candle and left the room.

Some unnamed valley.

Ian sat cross-legged on a boulder, surrounded by a triple-layered concealment array.

Gravity distorts light, heat interferes with perception, and the subconscious blocks exploration.

From the outside, this place looks like an ordinary mountain forest, so quiet that even the birds flying by wouldn't give it a second glance.

He took out the sealed fleshy ball, placed it in his palm, and the panel vibrated slightly.

[4 Rule Imprints (Divinity) detected; Divinity Core Analysis in progress...]

Ian ignored the venomous looks in their eyes and used his mental energy to form a fine needle that pierced into the fleshy ball.

The first thing perceived was four divine fluctuations, like four threads of different colors, intertwined and woven into Morlock's divine core.

"The rules of sinking correspond to water, suffocation, and sinking..."

Ian muttered to himself, his mental energy extending along the dark blue thread, and he saw countless images.

The drowning victim struggled in the water, his lungs filled with water, his consciousness gradually fading, and darkness surged in from all directions, swallowing up the last glimmer of light.

"The rule of fear corresponds to psychological oppression and mental intimidation."

Then, his mental energy turned to the gray-black thread.

The scene shifts: a child is dragged into the lake, watching helplessly as the water recedes into the distance; believers kneel before the altar, awaiting their chosen fate; a water demon emerges from the darkness, its claws tearing through flesh…

"Ritual rules, corresponding to rituals, sacrifices, and contracts."

He then carefully experienced the remaining two divine visions, and Morlock's soul, after being tormented by him, was on the verge of death.

At this point, the panel has finished analyzing the Divine Core.

First is the Fallen Divinity, with a strength of approximately early level four and a completeness of 87%.

Its characteristic is to give the concept of "drowning" to the waters within the area, emphasizing negative states such as suffocation and sinking.

The strength and completeness of the Divinity of Fear are the highest, at the mid-level of level four, with a completeness of 92%.

Its characteristic is that it amplifies the fear of living beings, which can be transformed into a mental shock, and is extremely effective against those with weak wills.

His primary focus was on the sacrificial divinity, which was also from around the early Morning Star period and was at its least complete, at only 79%.

Almost every evil god possesses a bloodthirsty divinity, which he glanced at casually and then ignored.

After reviewing the information and comparing it with the footage he had just seen, Ian had a sudden realization.

"Morlock collects the fear and despair of believers through sacrificial rituals, using these emotions as fuel to ignite the divine fire and condense divinity."

"Divinity, in turn, strengthens the rules, giving them a will, and the power of faith is the nourishment that allows that will to grow."

He looked at the core of the fleshy ball, where a faint, flickering flame flowed with a regular rhythm.

This is the divine fire; though slightly distorted, it is indeed the genuine divine fire.

"So, the key to transforming faith into divine power..."

Ian's mental energy pierced through again, this time going even deeper, bypassing the four kinds of rule threads, and directly touching that ball of divine fire.

Buzz! The divine fire pulsed violently, erupting with intense repulsion.

But Ian was prepared. The power of the rules wove a net, locking the divine fire firmly, dissecting it bit by bit.

Time passed slowly, and the sun and moon alternated three times outside the valley.

When dawn broke on the fourth day, Ian finally opened his eyes.

"I see."

The essence of divinity is a rule converter. Regardless of the attribute of the believer's faith, it will be transformed into divine power that matches the rules of the deity itself.

For example, the divine nature of the God of Light would transform all faith into divine power of the light attribute.

The tool for transformation is divine fire, which uses the faith of all living beings as fuel to extract fragments of rules and temper and "dye" them into divine power that conforms to the attributes of the gods.

"Divinity... is actually also called a 'personalized container' of rules."

He looked at the fleshy ball in his palm; the divine fire there had dimmed considerably, but it didn't matter anymore.

With this sample and the complete analysis process, he can reverse-engineer and build a transformation system that suits him, thereby enhancing his dual-core growth.

Moreover, he doesn't need to worry about the rules being "personalized," as the purification rules can perfectly filter out these emotional contaminants.

He doesn't need divinity or to ignite a divine fire; he only needs rules and enough pure emotional energy.

"I may lack emotional energy, but..."

In Ian's mind, the image of Kerrigan flashed by, along with the millions of Zerg in the Wizard Tower.

These Zerg possess swarm mentality and are 100% absolutely loyal to Kerrigan, without any ulterior motives.

Isn't their fanatical worship of the Queen Mother the purest and most intense emotion?

These beliefs are ten thousand times purer than those of ordinary people; we could use this to elevate Kerrigan to the status of a true god!

"As for the rules, I also have six, which is enough to build a simple conversion model."

"Let's find a remote place first and have Kerrigan establish a church there."

From now on, he can simply stay behind the scenes and command Kerrigan's Zerg.

He got up, put away the fleshy ball, and removed the concealing formation.

At this moment, the morning light shines down, and the golden sunlight illuminates the valley.

It's a brand new day.