Strongest Mage with the Lust system

Chapter 861: More Important Than Everything

The traces of Fire Energy in his blood were twice as numerous and though there didn’t seem to have any changes in his body and mana veins, he could tell they were now more attuned to Fire Element.

’No wonder I got a stronger boost.’ He thought. While he didn’t know if others’ also experienced the similar changes in their bodies and mana veins, he was sure their Elemental Energy didn’t merge into their bloodline. And even if it did, it was not at the [ Whisperer of the Law ] Stage.

“Alright. How long have I been in this place now, over ten days? Even if I wasn’t unconscious for long, I should still have around half or maybe a little less than half a month left.’

Counting the time he had left, he closed his eyes and began to sense Rima’s presence. After a while, he sighed in relief because she was still alive.

After resting for a few hours, he dived into the magma, this time going even deeper, and activated his cultivation technique.

Just as expected, thanks to his Law Comprehension, his mana absorption speed was now at least three times as fast.

’Alright. Let’s begin.’ Taking a deep breath, he spread his bloodline sense throughout his mana core and ’grabbed’ all the mana tightly.

Then, he divided his focus and making use of the onslaught of surging Fire Mana into his dantian, he shattered a part of the mana core.

BANG!

Immediately, both his body and mind jolted and his ’grasp’ on the mana inside his core became slack. However, before the mana could seep out from the broken section, he regained control.

Ignoring the ache in the depths of his mind, he took control of the incoming Fire Mana and began to condense a new layer in the place of the empty section.

Seconds trickled into minutes and soon ten minutes had passed but Max only managed to condense less than a tenth of the tiny section he shattered.

Seeing this progress, he realized that even with Law Comprehension, reconstructing the core with Fire Mana was going to be a long and exhausting work.

…

While everyone was either busy surviving in the minor realm or hunting down as many beasts as they could, in the volcano surrounded by hundreds of rocky beasts Max was submerged into the boiling lava, tirelessly reconstructing his mana core.

Time passed and a whole ten days later…

Swoosh!

Max finally jumped out of the magma, his steps unsteady, and headed straight for his cave where he simply… fell onto the ground.

Thud!

Even before his body touched the ground, he had already passed out.

…

In the Beast Emperor City’s plaza, Meredith and the middle-aged Elder simultaneously opened their eyes.

A month had passed since they sent all the participants into the minor realm.

“Please bring them out, Elder.” Meredith respectfully told the Elder, who nodded and took out a Golden Plaque similar in structure to the plaque they handed to everyone.

Then with a wave of his hand, he brought out a formation and placed over a hundred Mana Crystals in the mana nodes before placing the Golden Plaque in the center.

Weng!

As the formation activated, it began draining the mana out of the mana crystals and poured all that mana into the Golden Plaque.

When all the mana crystals had turned into grey powder, completely drained of their mana, the Elder made a hand seal and mana gathered to form a strange symbol which the Elder slammed on top of the Plague.

Buzz!

The Plaque buzzed and the spatial rift in the sky trembled.

Then…

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

One after another, people started appearing on the plaza. Save for a minority, the rest were in bad conditions with many injuries all over their bodies. Some had even lost their limbs.

They looked around as if to make sure they were really out of the minor realm and then relaxed.

“Ahhh! I’m finally out of that hellhole!”

“Yeah, fuck it! I survived!”

“Damn it! I was about to finish that ugly beast. Now I’m short of 10 Merit Points!”

“…”

Countless voices filled the previously silent plaza. Some rejoiced that they were finally out, some felt happy that they didn’t die while some echoed the cries of frustration, having failed the trial even after giving their all. As for the remaining, they remained composed and watched others while waiting for the Elders to announce the result of the trial.

Amongst them, Rima anxiously looked around but didn’t notice Max.

Inside the Minor Realm, after failing to sense him, she had begun wandering aimlessly. When she came across the beasts she could kill without too much difficulty, she would take action, otherwise she would avoid them.

And after every fifty or so miles, she would sit down cross-legged and try to sense Max’s presence. Unfortunately, she was disappointed every time which made her increasingly worried but she kept telling herself that he was in some other corner of the realm and was completely fine. Once the trial was over, she would meet him again.

So, the moment she was pulled out of the minor realm, she began looking for him. When she didn’t spot him nearby, she sat in meditation and began sensing his presence. While the minor realm was huge, the plaza was not and she was confident she could sense him.

However…

A few moments later, her face turned deathly pale because she still couldn’t sense him.

“No, no, no! This shouldn’t be the case. He should be here.” She grew frantic and rushed toward Meredith and the middle-aged Elder.

Arriving before them, she conjured Max’s image with her mana and bowed deeply, “Elders, please help me find him. I’ll be eternally grateful for your help.”

Meredith furrowed her brows, about to shoo her away when the middle-aged Elder stopped her. He recognised Max and immediately swept his Divine Sense throughout the Plaza.

When he was done, he sighed in disappointment, “He is not here. I’m sorry for your loss.”

BOOM!

Rima felt an explosion go off in her mind when she heard his words and stood there, stunned.

Then, her aura began fluctuating and blood seeped out from the corner of her lips, her nose, ears and eyes.

Meredith and the Elder’s expressions changed and they both acted the same.

The Elder knocked her unconscious while Meredith used her Divine Sense to forcibly stabilize her aura and the uncontrolled circulation of her mana.

Once she was done, she cast a dissatisfied glance at unconscious Rima, “Such a weak will! Utterly pathetic! I should have prohibited her from exploiting her elemental advantage during the Trial of Will.”

The middle-aged Elder shook his head and sighed, “You are wrong. Her Will is not weak. It’s just that he was more important to her than everything else. So, she couldn’t endure the blow.”

Meredith frowned hearing his words. She parted her lips to retort but then shook her head and closed her eyes.

Seeing this, the Elder smiled wryly and after hesitating for a moment, he transmitted via his Divine Sense.

[Meredith, once the recruitment is over, you should go and live amongst the mortals for a few months.]

Meredith opened her eyes and looked at him in confusion, [Why?]

[It will… help your cultivation.] The Elder answered.

Meredith thought for a moment and nodded, [Alright.]