A Wizard’s Secret
chapter-681

"Rip!"

With a loud growl from Merlin, his Five-Elemental Wizard Heart discharged a formidable power that tore apart the Earth Maxim. Subsequently, the puppet appeared with a stunned look.

"You… You tore apart the Earth Maxim that Master left behind?"

The puppet looked at him in disbelief. This was truly mind-boggling. The puppet had never seen anyone who could tear apart a Maxim before becoming a Legend.

"It wasn't very difficult."

Merlin grinned. He could clearly feel that with the Five-Elemental Wizard Heart, his ability had become even more powerful. Even Merlin himself did not know how strong he was right now, and how strong he would be upon becoming a full-fledged Great Wizard.

One thing he was certain, if he became a Great Wizard, he would become the most powerful Great Wizard in the history of the Spell Caster civilization. Even among the numerous foreign tribe civilizations, he would be the most powerful Great Wizard existence, far surpassing any civilization-level prodigies.

"Amazing. Back then, when Master left these Maxims behind, he probably did not imagine that someone will be able to tear apart his Maxim. However, since you're so powerful, there's a real chance for you to pass the second and third challenge that Master left behind."

At this moment, the puppet turned silver. Merlin could sense a powerful aura emanating from the puppet, much stronger than the peak Great Wizard-level puppets from before.

"Merlin, do you want to accept the second challenge now?"

The silver puppet asked in a deep voice.

"Of course but I still haven't memorized the evolution process of the Ice Maxim."

Despite achieving a massive leap in abilities, Merlin did not forget himself. He was eager to attempt the second and third challenge but he would not forsake an opportunity to become stronger.

"Very well, go in then."

The silver puppet pointed toward the Ice Maxim. Merlin quickly turned around and stepped inside.

Upon setting foot inside, Merlin sensed a faint chill. Strands of Ice Maxim were suspended in mid-air. Then, the Maxim began to evolve, little by little, just like the Earth Maxim.

If Great Wizards who were attempting to consolidate a Maxim watched the evolution of Maxims, it would provide them with great insight and inspiration. Thus, it would greatly increase their chances of consolidating a Maxim.

Merlin was also inspired but he had not reached the level of consolidating a Maxim. Moreover, the evolution process of Maxims was not so easily understood with just a single glance or two. It would require watching it for a long time, and then perhaps there would be a sudden flash of inspiration. Therefore, Merlin would have to forcibly memorize it in the depths of his mind, so that he could "replay" the evolution process again whenever necessary.

This time, compared to the Earth Maxim, Merlin had spent more than ten hours to memorize the entire evolution process. Thereafter, he closed his eyes. The entire evolution process of the Earth Maxim and the Ice Maxim replayed in his mind.

The evolution of these two Maxims, in contrast, seemed to have points of similarity as well as massive differences. In short, the comparison of the two gave Merlin some new ideas.

This was the additional benefit of memorizing the Maxims' evolution process. He would be able to view them as he liked. Perhaps, he would be able to derive some insights and successfully consolidate a Maxim later.

"Swish."

Merlin flew out. The silver puppet perked up and asked hastily, "Have you memorized it?"

"Yes, I've memorized it. Now, we may begin the second challenge!"

A faint smile appeared between the lips of the silver puppet as it said languidly, "Finally, there's someone worthy to attempt the second challenge."

"Am I the first Wizard to attempt the second challenge? Didn't Kleis attempt the second challenge back then?"

Merlin remembered the silver puppet told him that Kleis had also passed the first challenge. However, perhaps he was just like Merlin. He had only memorized the evolution process of the Maxim but did not consolidate a Maxim. Otherwise, Kleis would have become a Great Legend.

"Of course not, his abilities were insufficient. For the second challenge, the bare minimum is to have the ability of a Great Legend. If he was a civilization-level prodigy, perhaps I would've allowed him to try. However, you're different. You're even more formidable than a civilization-level prodigy, so there's hope for you to pass the second challenge."

A crimson glow appeared in the silver puppet's eyes. Soon, the subspace seemed to quake.

"Boom."

An incredibly large passage shimmered into view.

"Another Spatial Passage?"

A look of astonishment appeared on Merlin's face. He did not expect that there could be another subspace within the subspace.

"Yes, how would the extent of Master's powers be fathomable to you? There's subspace within the subspace. In fact, Master can carve out nine layers of subspace. Besides powerful Wizards who became Honored Legends through their spatial accomplishments, Master is the only Wizard who could carve out such a large number of overlapping subspace. However, in this place, Master had only carved out a three-layer subspace. This is the first layer subspace, also the outermost layer. Through here is the second layer subspace. Let's go, the second challenge is in the second layer subspace."

The silver puppet explained briefly and flew ahead into the Spatial Passage.

Merlin hesitated for a moment. This was an eye-opener for him. He was getting more curious about the Origin Lord. It appeared that every Great Lord was not simple.

"Swish swish."

Soon, two figures appeared in an inexplicably open subspace. In this subspace, there were four larger zones with a more breathtaking aura.

"These are the ultimate Maxims left behind by Master. These are the four ultimate Maxims he consolidated in order to become an Honored Legend!"

The silver puppet declared proudly. With four ultimate Maxims, he could already be regarded as a very powerful Lord at this point.

Merlin was also very shocked. Although he had already guessed that the Origin Lord was not at all simple but very powerful, he still did not expect that the Origin Lord had four ultimate Maxims.

It was noteworthy as the Blackfire Lord only had two Ultimate Maxims. Among those who were under Arcane Wizard Setoh's influence, only the Nightmare Lord had consolidated four ultimate Maxims.

The Origin Lord was staggeringly as powerful as the Nightmare Lord. It was not surprising that he was able to carve out multi-layered subspace, and was able to easily defeat an empire-level warship belonging to the Atlan civilization.

"The evolution of an ultimate Maxim?"

Merlin's heart overflowed with enthusiasm. He had been exposed to many ordinary Maxims but had very little insight on ultimate Maxims. Right now, viewing the evolution process of Ultimate Maxims would be immeasurably beneficial for him to consolidate a Maxim or even an ultimate Maxim in the future.

"Yes, these are the evolution of ultimate Maxims! The four ultimate Maxims comprises of the Flame Maxim, Thunder Maxim, Light Maxim, and Water Maxim respectively!"

"Light Maxim?"

Merlin's heart skipped a beat. Even in the Void Zone, Light Wizards were rarely seen, and in fact, did not exist at all. Hence, it was completely startling that Origin Lord was a Light Wizard, and had managed to consolidate the Light Maxim into an ultimate Maxim.

"I know what you're wondering. The Origin Lord has nothing to do with the God of Light. Although I've been here for many years, I still know about the happenings in the outside world. The Glorious Land has fallen, and the God of Light had become a Lord God. However, light is fully controlled by the Lord God of Light. So, even if the Origin Lord were to encounter the Lord God of Light, his Light Maxim would be suppressed entirely and would not be of any use…"

Merlin shook his head in despair. The Light Maxim and Water Maxim were unfamiliar to him, plus he did not construct any Spell Models.

Thus, the only useful ones were the Flame Maxim and Thunder Maxim.

"Can I go in now?"

Merlin was downright eager to enter and learn about the evolution process of ultimate Maxims.

"Go in now? Wait until you've passed the second challenge. Only then, you'd be qualified!"

The silver puppet revealed a mysterious smile. Immediately, four puppets emerged from the four ultimate Maxim zones. They looked hefty. Their height exceeded three meters, and their bodies seemed to reflect a steely metallic glint.

"Puppets again? Then again, something seems different…"

Merlin frowned. He knew that the second challenge would be different from the first challenge. These puppets must be much more powerful, otherwise, the silver puppet would not warn him repeatedly.

"Wizard Merlin, let me remind you. Be careful of these puppets. They're not transfigured by Master but captured directly from that warship! The Atlans on the warship call them martial arts robots but they're basically slight higher-level puppets. Nevertheless, these puppets are really strange. Despite not possessing any consciousness, their intellect is on par with ordinary Wizards. Peculiar, those Atlans are truly peculiar!"

As soon as it finished speaking, the silver puppet pointed toward Merlin. Instantly, the four hefty martial arts puppets directed an icy stare on Merlin. Out of nowhere, Merlin sensed a faint threat.

Considering his current abilities, the fact that he felt threatened meant that these martial arts puppets were comparable to Great Legends!

"Aren't these mere robots? Of course, they don't have any consciousness, they're only controlled by a program. No matter how intelligent they might be, it's still part of the program. They cannot form a consciousness like the puppets!"

Merlin combined the knowledge from his previous life and immediately concluded that these so-called martial arts puppets were actually robots. It appeared that the Atlan civilization was a technological civilization. Nonetheless, they were even more advanced than the world Merlin had been in his previous life.

Whether it was the humongous warship or these robots, all of them were incredibly powerful. If they were able to create robots equivalent to Great Legends, and had enough materials and power source to produce a formidable number, it was not surprising that the Atlan civilization was able to spread the flames of war to the birthplace of Spell Casters, the Glorious Land. In fact, they were able to damage the Glorious Land, to the extent that the once-prosperous Molta Empire collapsed.

"Come on then, battle robots of the Atlan civilization! Let's see how powerful you are."

Merlin's body flashed bright with elemental fluctuations. Behind him, a large illusionary Wizard Heart appeared. This was his newly-consolidated Five-Elemental Wizard Heart. Upon appearing, an invisible pressure seemed to surround these four battle robots.

"Beep. Enemy threat level, Expert! Activating highest combat setting!"

Seemingly recognizing Merlin's powerful abilities, the four battle robots' eyes flashed red and emitted a disconcerting mechanical sound.

"Crack."

A layer of silvery-white armor swiftly appeared and covered the bodies of the four battle robots. Then, they quickly dispersed and surrounded Merlin in the middle.

"Swoosh."

Without warning, the four robots' speed surged and attacked Merlin at the same time. They seemed to be transformed into martial art masters. All kinds of martial arts techniques were unleased with trained ease.

These were real martial arts that were also killing techniques, in regard to Normies. Unexpectedly, once these martial art techniques were exported onto powerful robots, they were able to unleash such a fearsome force.

This was the first time Merlin had encountered someone who could display "martial arts", even if it was only a robot. Nonetheless, it still gave Merlin a familiar feeling.

"Bang bang bang."

These robots were not just agile but also powerful, and each of them was basically a martial art master. Hence, their mastery of techniques was at their peak. From the moment they started attacking, Merlin had found himself at a disadvantage. All around him, he seemed to be surrounded by the battle robots. Within just a short frame of time, Merlin's body had been attacked thousands of times.

"Crack."

Finally, the layer of defensive spells around Merlin gave a faint crack, as though it would break at any time. Ever since Merlin had consolidated the Wizard Heart, this was the first time he felt threatened by a "weak" opponent.

These battle robots' strengths were only equivalent to ordinary Legends at most, yet, coupled with the martial arts, they were able to unleash a terrifying force.

"Hmph!"

Merlin gave a cold snort. The battle robots were truly tough to defeat. In terms of skill, he would not be able to compete with these specialized killing machines. So, he could only crush them with absolute power!

Thus, Merlin activated the power of the Five-Elemental Wizard Heart, and formed a giant palm in the air. Without warning, he slammed the unstoppable palm onto these four battle robots. No matter how fast they were, it was inconsequential.