Four-Armed Divine Emperor

Putting an end to the chaos and bringing peace to the country should have been recorded in history books as a "XX Restoration", "XX Reign", or "XX Prosperity". Unfortunately, just like the Qing Dynasty, which had exhausted all means to stand at the pinnacle of the feudal dynasty, it eventually encountered enemies it could not understand - the Western powers. As another major family in the Chang'an era and the protagonist, the Hara shogunate, also encountered enemies it could not understand when the glory of its rule was far from over.

Enemies from beyond this world.

Crossing the barriers of the world, returning to their long-lost homeland, the Witch King, the remnants of the old times—

The Great Old Ones!

The hearts of the ancient gods were filled with hatred for all creatures that did not belong to their divine rule, especially those "usurping" "rulers", whom they unreasonably regarded as thieves.

First, the traitors—the old loyalists—started the rebellion. The slow-witted nobles and military families hadn't reacted yet, but they didn't need to. The Eastern Dynasty's mages and the floating city, the holy land they called "Fairy Island," had already responded immediately:

They moved.

Unable to determine the enemy's specific strength, the rational mages undoubtedly adopted a tactic of fighting and retreating. On the first day of the battle, six of the seven major floating cities on the Eastern Continent were teleported through space and retreated to the "Nine-Ring Heaven" where the Nine-Ring White Tower was located. It is now the main base of the White Tower Order. Large and small floating cities are connected through magic transmission, forming a group of floating magic fortresses, with countless magical weapons, war magic machines and sages in charge.

There was still one that had not been removed, but it unfortunately fell due to the internal and external collaboration of traitors and the targeted attack of the old forces and was captured by the enemy.

Ark warships as big as mountains soared above the sky, bombarding all buildings and places that were marked as not controlled by the "loyalists". Then, with the instigation of the traitors in the mortal world, the threat of surrender spread across the earth, demanding that all mortal beings offer their allegiance to the "true rulers of the world, the masters of everything" which was thousands of years late.

Among the ministers of the Chang'an Dynasty, there were also many spies and lackeys secretly developed by the old gods. They kidnapped the regent Taiko Zhong, who originally wanted to escape with Bai Ta, and greeted their "real master"'s return to the world with an extremely humble attitude.

Chapter 159: The earth-shaking changes begin from now on

In the thousands of years since the Witch King retreated to the Outlands, he has indeed put a lot of effort into Nair, especially on the mortal level. Very few people can resist the temptation of the "Gift of the Gods".

Because the White Tower has adopted an isolated attitude towards the spread of magic, refusing to let most people come into contact with magic. According to them, this is for the stability of the world, considering the upper limit of elemental carrying capacity, and it is "environmentalism" and "far-sightedness" for tens or hundreds of generations.

But on the other hand, the White Tower

Chapter 522

The seat at the table is undoubtedly a rogue behavior of "turning the table over after having eaten one's fill", restricting latecomers from sitting at the table, at the cost of castrating and slowing down the development of the entire world, making Neyir dominated by the White Tower, respected by the White Tower, and the only White Tower for thousands of years.

There was no challenger rising from the people to threaten their authority and order, as they had done in the "Old Law-Bound" when they overthrew the Witch-King.

Moreover, after the separation of demons and mortals, the status of extraordinary people has been greatly enhanced, but correspondingly, their responsibilities have been reduced, even far less than in ancient times, when as "powerful people", they had to fight and make sacrifices for their tribe and country.

In the face of mortals, the status and authority of mages are so high that they don't even have the qualifications or capital to provoke. Mortals are short-lived, powerless, and only care about living a good life. The special elites and geniuses among them either end up working in various industries due to restrictions on magic and may never come into contact with magic in their entire lives, or after showing their talents, they are absorbed by the White Tower and become part of this great order, and from then on "ascend" to become extraordinary people that no mortal princes and nobles can compare to.

Even if the secular monarchy was dissatisfied with this, since they did not have the courage and determination to fight against the White Tower at the beginning and break this new round of "Binding Movement", over time, the power of the two sides became increasingly disproportionate, and they could only allow themselves to be manipulated and slaughtered by the Sky City.

Chapter 106: This is Sparta (V) (39)

......

but!

How wonderful it is for the Witch-Kings!

This is a weakness that the White Tower set for itself. The mages buried a box of explosives under their own throne, and it was open to the public, but the detonator only protects against internal damage and not external damage!

They don't care about the White Tower's so-called "all things return to one" rule, because the starting point and effect of this policy are to safeguard the interests of the "ruling class", that is, the difference between the ruling party and the opposition party.

If the Witch King can win this new world war, they are likely to adopt the same strategy as the White Tower to cut off the emergence of another challenger from the root. However, this does not prevent them from taking advantage of the weakness of "The White Tower is bound, and the people of the world are suffering and cannot escape!" to win supporters for themselves!

After all, these people have been losers for thousands of years. In various fairy tales, fables, and historical documents, the "Witch King" and the old gods undoubtedly appear as villains. The object referred to by the title "Witch King" is a ghost or a demon in the eyes of mortals. Things like eating children's hearts, bathing in young girls' blood, and killing people to take their skins for carpets are all "stereotypes."

If they don't offer the most direct benefits that can directly touch people's hearts and even challenge these "stereotypes", it will be impossible for people to really support them.

After returning from the old days and descending upon the Eastern world, they took the initiative in military offensive, besieging the White Tower forces and encircling and capturing the White Tower wizards who refused to surrender, as if they were ready to take over the entire Eastern continent in one fell swoop and compete with the two families on Tartarus.

On the other hand, as for the "inside", that is, the occupied area - of course, the old forces must think that they are "recovering the past territory". After all, among the twenty-four thrones and the twenty-four "Old Rulers", there are indeed seven who are from the Eastern world. Their names are still worshipped as "gods" or "ancestors" in many places in the Eastern continent to this day.

They adopted a very radical "inclusion" policy.

The Old Ones have opened up channels for detecting magical talents to all mortals in all regions under their rule!

The gods' followers hold special testing instruments and go to cities, towns, and other places with the most traffic. They spare no effort in providing talent testing for anyone who has the courage to try!

Adults are in one column, and young people under the age of eighteen can be in a separate column. The testing process is very quick. They just need to put their hands into a square box and answer what they sensed, such as "what they held". The tester can also sense some general situations. If it is too ordinary, it will be left as it is. If it seems to be extraordinary or outstanding, it will be labeled and can undergo special, detailed and comprehensive testing to determine the talent.

If this is just a means, after all, not everyone has extraordinary dreams. First of all, you have to believe it, and then you have to have the courage to test your talents under a group of "devils". After all, not many people have this ability.

Then the second move can be said to be "igniting" people's desires and hearts!

The White Tower strictly prevents the spread of all magical knowledge in the mortal world, and is even willing to destroy countries and cities for this purpose. In pursuit of all extraordinary things, all magic must come from the White Tower, and all spellcasters must wear white robes and nine rings on their chests. Even if a mortal country secretly hides some magical knowledge, it dare not use it for fear of being exposed and attracting thunder and punishment from heaven.

But the Old Ones didn't care about that, they were mortal enemies.

They directly printed a lot of introductory and advanced knowledge in the field of magic, just like the textbooks for twelve years of compulsory education, and then distributed it everywhere without paying. Even farmers and herders who were herding cattle and dealing with livestock manure and land all their lives might pick up a copy of "Introduction to Common Language" or "Understanding the Elements" from a haystack. If his talent and understanding were sufficient, it would be incredible. The silly boy herding cattle in the David family became a "practitioner"! A master wizard! I saw him chanting the spell with my own eyes.

Chapter 523

He raised his hand and released a fireball as big as a washbasin, blowing up his own warehouse!

Without a doubt, this is the first, biggest, and earth-shaking change brought about by the old days!

A conservative estimate of this behavior is that if the war lasts for a year, that is, the Old Ones are defeated after a year, and the White Tower is still the overlord, then with the current population size of the Eastern Continent, taking into account factors such as external spread, there will be at least tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of "wild spellcasters" among the people.

Cast spells, cast spells, as long as you can control the elements and cast magic, you can be considered to have stepped into the extraordinary realm. The rule of the nine-ring assessment in the White Tower and the advancement of one ring at a time is set by humans, and it is not some "physical law".

From today's perspective, the earliest "mages" were all "unconventional", including the pioneers who founded the White Tower. If you look into it, has any of them ever taken those magic tests?

Considering that Gu Li's actions were completely reckless, and he might not even care how to end it after winning, he was just going to disgust you to death even if he lost.

Didn't you call me "Bound by the Old Ones"? And what did you do yourself? Forget it! Just go full steam ahead, printing and copying every kind of magical tome and spell knowledge for free, then spreading it everywhere. Even if the Old Ones ultimately fail, the consequences of this action will severely damage the "unification of all laws" that the White Tower has painstakingly maintained for thousands of years. It's like hurting the enemy a thousand times first, and then how much you will lose later is a matter for the future.

This action also caused the people of the Eastern Continent to immediately fall into excitement and even madness after a brief fear of the return of the old days.

160: Strategy

Mysterious and powerful magic, extraordinary power, who wouldn’t want to master it if given the chance?

It is not only a step to the top of the world, but also a key to the extraordinary and "heavenly" realm. The simplest and most straightforward point is that it is the magic potion to embrace "immortality"!

In theory, everyone can be that "lucky one".

This is a "gamble" with no cost. You just need to let go of the fear in your heart, temporarily ignore the fear of the future, walk over, stretch out your hand, and wait for the light of the instrument to light up, and you will know whether you are just a complete mortal, or the "majority" buried under the constraints of the White Tower.

The old followers and the servants under their control are distributing magic-related knowledge all over the world. Even if the serfs who have worked the land all their lives don't dare to learn it themselves, or even open it, can't they take it back home, bury it in the cellar, stable, or even the cesspool, and keep it as a treasure that their descendants can rely on to achieve wealth and glory?

In fact, "magical talent" is actually more "extensive" than most people imagine. Il is full of magical elements, or in other words, Il is made up of "elements". All creatures, including humans, contain magic power. In theory, after learning, they can mobilize elements and form "magic power".

Even though most people might never reach the level of a second- or third-ring cultivator under the White Tower's rules in their entire lives, for mortals whose education and experiences over the past few thousand years of the "Bound Law" era have made magic and spellcasters seem supreme and inviolable, simply being able to demonstrate the most basic "Elemental Control," that is, to materialize the elements, would be enough to astound them.

So, I also have a talent for magic?!

It turns out that I can also be a transcendent?!

It turns out! I am actually a hidden magic genius!

Thoughts advance in leaps and bounds.

People who come into contact with it for the first time will not go very deep into it, nor will they understand it particularly well, but as long as they follow the "textbook" and "unconsciously" cast magic, it is enough to subvert their three views and stimulate huge desires and fears. Needless to say, desires are self-evident, and fear is also about "violating the laws of the White Tower". There is also another kind of fear, which is - anger!

The anger of being deceived, fooled, and paralyzed!

Because of the White Tower's suppression, Neyel's view of the identity of a mage is like the ancient view of nobles and priests as royal descendants and messengers of gods. It is a brainwashing-style inherent impression, a powerful, mysterious, noble and at the same time "rare" identity and power, a "talent", just like the identity of a noble lord, which is determined from birth and is even rarer.

Many people may have never dreamed of becoming a wizard. The dream of ordinary young people may be to become a "knight", a rich man, who follows a powerful and wise master as an obedient follower and basks in his glory.

But at this moment I discovered that "everything in the past" was a lie!

I can cast spells, I can become a transcendent, I'm a mage! I'm a genius! — Then, who has delayed me for so long? Who has deceived me for so long?

White Tower!

In a classic film and television work, the poor are first given silver and then guns, which arouses not only "anger" but also "desire".

If I had never seen the light, I could have endured the darkness.

Those who can overcome various psychological obstacles and successfully open the door to a new world from the "selfless gifts" of the old gods will undoubtedly have the three fires of "anger", "fear" and "desire" aroused in their hearts.

Angry at the oppression and deception of the White Tower order, fearful of the consequences of violating the law, and...

Want to keep everything that exists, want the status of the superior that the extraordinary represents, want to gain more power, want to gain more knowledge, want more, and more.

Chapter 524

There is a desire for more!

Even if he understood that "spellcasting talent is common" and that he wasn't a genius who had been buried or wasted, it wouldn't change his anger; instead, it would only make the fire burn even more fiercely.

Since everyone can theoretically become a transcendent and has the talent for spellcasting, why are you the only ones who can be so high and mighty, enter and exit the Nine Rings, and enjoy everything in the world?

Are we going to dig for food from the land, allow ourselves to be bullied, and become the “price” for your high-handedness?

In the final analysis, the so-called great sages and the so-called mortal coalition overthrew tyranny and shattered the old laws. Aren’t they just a rebellion started by you because you are dissatisfied with the rule of the gods and are fighting for power?

Such resounding cries and questions were accompanied by many similar ones in just a few days:

"A sixty-year-old farmer in XX County, XX Land, was diagnosed with a rare magical talent. He was immediately accepted as a disciple by XX (believers, priests, or followers) of a certain god. From then on, he has a bright future ahead of him..."

"A wanderer picked up a few abandoned magic books from a garbage dump. After studying them, he unexpectedly triggered his magical talent and burned down his own home. He became known and it was discovered that he possessed an extraordinary talent for casting spells..."

Chapter 106: This is Sparta (V) (40)

It spread all over the world, and with the opening of the grand "National Magic Era" on the Eastern Continent, it directly caused a serious impact on one of the foundations of the White Tower: "White Tower Law".

Even Al had never imagined that these "dead bones in the grave" in his eyes had been lingering for thousands of years, and suddenly they made such a big move, and their methods were so clever, and their control and utilization of the hearts of the "public" were truly amazing.

This move is tantamount to destroying the pot directly for all classes that want to monopolize their own ruling position (supernatural power), but its cleverness lies in:

The gods were using the cost that they would have to pay after their own victory in the future in exchange for a heavy blow to their opponents now. They directly drilled a big hole under the throne of the White Tower and stuffed an iron rod into it. The person sitting on it must be very uncomfortable - but who made me not the one sitting on the throne now?

Unlike the White Tower, they have no major enemies inside or outside Il. In fact, they have been trapped in the trap of "no foreign enemies and foreign patients" for many years without knowing it. After all, who made the most elite and outstanding group of people who pioneered the White Tower era run away irresponsibly?

The remnants of the old times are in the Outer Realm, where resources are scarce and they fight with each other very frequently. In addition, they cannot fight directly, otherwise if one of them is lost, the table (Outer Realm) will be gone and everyone will be doomed. Therefore, they pay great attention to strategies and tactics, and have a very deep understanding of people's hearts.

During the thousands of years of exile, they had simulated countless times how to "counterattack" Il, and they were always thinking about how to take everything back. However, the White Tower did not always guard against these opponents. Now that the war had broken out, they fell into an extremely passive position while the battlefield confrontation was temporarily suspended.

161: The Battle for People's Hearts

The "lifting of the ban" on supernatural powers initiated by the old forces is undoubtedly a serious blow to the laws at the foundation of the White Tower.

The "Gods" declared arrogantly and generously:

They do not forbid people from having the opportunity to grasp power, because human talents are innate and cannot be taken away or denied. Those who are qualified and have the opportunity should ascend to high positions, even on par with them. The actions of "rebels" are undoubtedly because they are afraid that others will surpass them in the future, or become stronger and squeeze out their resources, so they despicably bully the weak on the road to climbing, blocking the space for progress for those who come later.

The old forces used the events of the past as an example. If the gods were really as the White Tower said, cruel and merciless, and regarded all living things as ants, resulting in the "binding of the old laws", and all living things were enslaved and suffered terribly - how could the White Tower have the ability to gather an alliance to overthrow the order of the gods?

Isn't it because the gods themselves are the strongest and most outstanding "gifted ones", but they don't ban all laws in the world like the wizards?

If the gods were so despicable, they could just do the same as the White Tower, confiscate all magical resources in the world, and prohibit the existence of non-believers in spellcasting. Do mortals still have the qualifications to resist?

This idea is undoubtedly a clear challenge to the White Tower in terms of "legality" and "morality". It can only be said that there were also smart people in the old days. These actions, these words and the ideas they express are incisive and touch people's hearts, which makes people think about the "truth" of the "Ancient War".

What was said in the past may not be correct or true, but it doesn’t matter. As long as their words are logically consistent and can make people think in this direction, that’s enough.

On the one hand, there are the benefits of opening up magical knowledge and providing extraordinary qualifications. At the same time, a direct moral offensive is launched, pointing directly to the biggest flaws of the White Tower laws, and combining them with human desires. Those who have secretly learned magic and are afraid and terrified will naturally think in a way that is beneficial to themselves after obtaining possible recognition and protection. But what is beneficial to people like them who violate the law?

Of course it is to overthrow the White Tower!

The old forces have been dormant for a long time, and now they are launching an offensive, naturally sweeping in like a tidal wave. What:

"The gods primarily rely on people's faith, and secondarily on offerings; but they also protect their believers and bestow blessings upon them; whereas the White Tower only takes everything from you when it asks for it, and as a matter of course, it won't give anything in return!"

"The gift of Mother Earth can make half of the continent produce abundant crops within a few years, with good harvests every year; the mages have done

Chapter 525

What? Their power can build cities in the sky, yet right under their feet, thousands of years later, even the wealthy Apennines are still plowing the fields with tools from a thousand years ago!

"Before the War of the Ancients, the king collected taxes, the nobles enjoyed themselves, and the gods demanded but also protected the people. After the War of the Ancients, the gods were gone, but the king still collected taxes, the nobles still enjoyed themselves, and the white robes enjoyed everything that everyone contributed to them with peace of mind, without having to pay anything for it!"

These words were flying all over the sky, spreading rapidly throughout the world like wildfire. In order to "win the hearts and minds" to the greatest extent, the old forces went all out and even planned many assaults to attack the mortal forces in the continents that were not currently under their control, such as Tartarus, Saha, Atlantis, etc., or the White Tower to confiscate the leaked "forbidden items (magic books)" in the local area, and further spread this knowledge and "thoughts".

Even in places like Atlantis and Tartarus west of the Aegean, where the White Tower has the deepest influence and control over the mortal world, these "dangerous" things are secretly spreading, shaking many people, including representatives of the ruling class and the world's powerful.

The White Tower guarantees their power—but it is a guarantee that pays and takes responsibility in equal measure, not so equal. That is, the powerful people in the world squeeze downwards and then provide resources upwards, and part of the middle is intercepted by them. This part of the resources enables them to do things, such as hiring mages, and mages represent military force. Therefore, it enables them to have an advantage over the lower class, but it does not guarantee that their families will inherit the power.

They still have to face various threats such as old age, sickness and death, and the resources that mortal nobles, including the king, can obtain from the White Tower through trade are limited. A mortal lord who lives too long is not what the White Tower wants to see.

But the channels to avoid these problems... are extraordinary, but the White Tower is not open to them.

The threshold for becoming extraordinary is actually not high. If, out of a thousand people, one-third are actually gifted with the ability to "master magic", then the White Tower has reduced this proportion by a hundred times or even more.

That is to say, out of a thousand people, they will only "select the best from the best", or mainly select according to their own preferences. Even out of ten thousand people, not one may be selected, and all of them will be screened out on the grounds of "lack of talent".

On the other hand, in reality, "magical talent" is not so layered. A genius is a genius, an awesome person is an awesome person, and most people who are qualified to enter are just hard workers who "make up for their shortcomings with hard work."