Chapter 1186: Chapter 934: Indistinguishable
Elma hurriedly passed through the Teleportation Array inside the Ancient Mage Tower to reach the scene, and from a distance, saw a crowd gathered, with various magic spells continuously bombarding the area.
"Stop! Everyone stop!"
Some who were eager to try their luck on the outskirts immediately lost their enthusiasm when they saw Elma arrive, shrinking their necks and moving aside. However, those who were already locked in combat were beyond caring. In their eyes, Hayden was about to die here, and the enormous power of an Ascender without a master would surely be distributed among them. The closer they were, the greater the share of the power they would receive!
Under the influence of this mindset, even Elma’s commands began to seem insignificant.
At this time, Long Yi knew the moment had come. He had been holding on, just to wait for Elma’s arrival, and now that Elma was here, he could continue with the next steps.
"Lord Elma! Please, quickly get away... I... I can’t control myself much longer!" Hayden exclaimed with the last of his strength.
At this moment, Elma felt an inexplicably powerful force brewing within Hayden’s body, a force that ordinary people couldn’t even sense, but only Powerhouses at Elma’s level could truly feel.
"This is bad! Get out of here!"
Elma was truly angry now, but apart from those nearby who seemed to snap out of their trance, the others continued their assault!
Helpless, Elma sensed the terrible power about to burst forth and could only rapidly pull a few people in front with his mana, retreating quickly. At that moment, the gem on Hayden’s forehead suddenly emitted a terrifying glow!
Woom!
A low Resonance echoed, and a tremendously huge Destruction Ripple spread like a bubble from Hayden as its center. The ripple destroyed all incoming magic spells and pulverized any material it touched, whether it was the metal hulls of ships, wooden furniture, or the screaming flesh and blood.
The ripple kept spreading, and Elma retreated quickly, only after pulling back dozens of meters did the ripple finally dissipate. When Elma looked back, Hayden was floating in the air, surrounded by a sphere of dozens of meters in radius filled with blurry flesh and blood! In that instant, no less than a hundred people were ripped apart while still alive!
Only now did those fanatics come to their senses, realizing that they had been battling such a terrifying opponent!
Suddenly, Hayden fell from the air, and Elma rushed forward, casting magic to catch him.
Hayden, weakly, gave Elma a glance and squeezed out a few words, "Ancestor Lord, is very angry, and very disappointed..." before fainting.
Elma’s eyes quivered, and he looked around. The crowd that had gathered there began to leave one after another. They all knew they had really caused trouble this time. If they didn’t leave now, what awaited them would not be anything good!
Watching those people depart, Elma had no intention of letting them go. He had to investigate this matter thoroughly, with no room for error. Most importantly, he had to appease the wrath of the Ascender!
The Ascender was their hope against Long Yi. If the Ascender left, the Ancient Mage Tower couldn’t bear such a loss.
After handing Hayden over to the medical staff and assigning trusted individuals to watch over him, Elma began a focused investigation into the incident. Leveraging his authority, he quickly unraveled the entire sequence of events, and the ring-leader had already been apprehended. Surprisingly, the young man at the forefront was not a fanatic at all. In front of Elma, a group of Elders, and even those fanatics, the young man admitted he merely saw it as an opportunity to gather a following to become their leader, to bask in their worship and offerings. But the turn of events was entirely beyond his expectations; he had never intended to kill Hayden or to seize the power.
Even though the leader of the fanatics said so, some in the crowd below still believed he was only saying this under Elma’s coercion. They even clamored loudly, demanding Elma release him immediately, to which even that young man seemed helpless.
"Arrest them all!" Elma commanded. The people were arrested, yet they still did not relent, shouting loudly, professing their eternal support for him.
And at that moment, a voice came, "If you support him, then are you willing to die for him?"
A figure approached from afar—it was Hayden!
"Hayden! Are you alright?" Elma hurriedly asked.
"I am not Hayden," Long Yi said.
"You are the Ascender, Lord!" Elma exclaimed joyfully.
"I am also not the Ascender. I am no longer just Hayden, nor am I just the Ascender; our consciousness has merged into one. I am both Hayden and the Ascender. The once timid Hayden no longer exists, and now, I shall become the sole master of this body!"
As he spoke, Hayden raised his hand, and the person in the distance who had been shouting about being willing to die for the young man simply exploded!
The second fanatic began to shout abuses immediately, but in the next moment, that fanatic too exploded on the spot.
"If you were truly worshipping me, I might have spared your lives. Unfortunately, what you worship is neither me nor that young man; you worship the greedy illusion within your own heart. Being so, your lives have completely rotted away, and thus, you no longer have any reason to exist!"
Mana shook violently, and a powerful resonance of mana killed those once fanatical followers one by one. Elma watched, heartbroken, because every single person here had once been a part of his fighting force, and now, they had all died here! Nevertheless, at least one thing consoled her: the Ascender had not left.
"So, it all comes down to you. Do you know your crime?" Long Yi approached the young man.
"Ascender! I—I know I was wrong!" The young man immediately knelt down beside him.
Bang!
The young man’s arm simply exploded, yet he felt no pain whatsoever.
"What is your name?" Long Yi asked.
"I... My name is Simon!" the young man said nervously, staring at his bare shoulder, utterly at a loss for words.
"Then, Simon, I can feel the repentance in your heart, as well as your longing for great power. From now on, you’re my first disciple, and the arm you’ve lost shall serve as penance for your sins," Long Yi said.
As he spoke, Long Yi placed a hand on Simon’s head and—an arm made of pure energy appeared in place of the lost limb in a blink of an eye!
Simon looked at the arm in astonishment; as he grasped it with his other hand, he felt touch! But that wasn’t the most important part. What was truly miraculous was that this pure energy arm significantly enhanced Simon’s mana strength and casting speed by more than several times!
Witnessing Simon’s joy, even Elma, who was standing aside, was astonished. How was it possible to create such a pure and semi-energy arm? It must indeed be a power from the ancient past!
"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!" Simon knelt, repeatedly kowtowing.
"Stand up," Long Yi said.
"Yes, Master!" Simon stood up, positioned below Long Yi. His heart was racing; he had thought he would surely die here like the others. Unimaginable to him, he received an energy arm that brought earth-shattering changes! Could these happenings actually align with the Ascender’s intentions?
No! Of course not!
Long Yi was no fool. How could he possibly enjoy such things? However, Long Yi realized that this young man named Simon had great charisma and stirring power. With Simon, Long Yi could gather a team truly loyal to him right under Elma’s nose!
The matter was more or less settled. Although there were some losses, the fact that the Ascender didn’t leave was a stroke of luck amidst the misfortune.
On the way back to the top floor conference room, Elma and Long Yi walked together.
"So, how should I address you now?" Elma asked.
"Hayden, call me Hayden," Long Yi replied.
"What exactly happened?" asked Elma, confused.
"Ah," Long Yi sighed, "Before this, I thought Hayden had two separate consciousnesses. If I were to appear, I’d have to fully awaken my power, which would be a tremendous waste. Moreover, the child Hayden is too timid, he doesn’t even know how to protect himself. So I chose to merge with Hayden’s consciousness in this way. Now, I am indistinguishable from him, but my consciousness takes the lead. I will separate from him only when I think he can stand on his own."
Elma nodded, finally understanding what had transpired.
"That is to say, you can maintain your current state indefinitely?" Elma said.
"I know what you’re trying to say, Elma. You want to obtain a more powerful force, right?" Long Yi asked.
"Yes, I can’t hide any of my thoughts from you!" Elma said with a smile.
"From now on, I will use my knowledge to strengthen you, much like the original Long Yi did. The process might be tedious and not as quick as you think. But I can guarantee that once successful, your power will only be stronger than that of Long Yi," Long Yi explained.
Stronger!
Elma had even forgotten what Long Yi had said before; only one word echoed in his ears: stronger!
"How long did it take Long Yi originally?" Elma queried.
"Three years," Long Yi bluffed a time.
"It took three years! For me, one year will be enough!" Elma boasted.
"Long Yi is a rare genius, his talent even rivaling mine. As for you, I will watch with interest!" Long Yi declared. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
