As the sun gradually set, Jiang Liu returned to the wizard's tower with heavy steps to inscribe a magic circle, which was extremely taxing on his mental energy.
Seeing this, Soren was certain that Jiang Liu's soul was truly injured.
Three days... seven days...
On the eighteenth day, an extremely complex magic circle solidified on his soul, and Jiang Liu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Give me endless knowledge, and I will use myself as a fulcrum to leverage the endless world.
Jiang Liu possesses exceptional skill in lightning magic, which enabled him to solidify a "Thunder Dragon Formation."
As for the exact increase, Jiang Liu didn't know until it was implemented, but he was certain it would be no less than thirty times.
To be able to leverage thirty times the power is the mark of a genius among Saint Mark Wizards!
Chapter 282 Soul Destroyed and Spirit Scattered
Before a month had even passed, on the morning of the twenty-third day, the cheap teacher, Soren, entered Jiang Liu's room.
At this moment, Jiang Liu was reading a book called [title missing], which talked about the geography, races, and so on of this continent.
The books were written in Elvish, but that posed no challenge for Jiang Liu. This body possessed a vast knowledge base, and every qualified, formal wizard had an exceptional learning ability.
Putting down the book he had only read halfway through, Jiang Liu tried his best to put on his old smile and bowed, saying, "Teacher, you've come!"
"Green, my good student, it seems you've recovered very well. Could you show me your research findings today?"
The cheap teacher lowered his black hood, and Jiang Liu glanced at him, his heart sinking instantly.
The book on the table was open, revealing a lifelike image of a tree-man, and the cheap teacher's skin was extremely similar to that of the tree-man.
"Tree-man bloodline modification? The book records that the tree-men in the Fagong Forest have long lifespans and extremely powerful regenerative abilities... magic resistance, natural control, and even... limb regeneration!" Jiang Liu's mind was filled with corresponding witchcraft spells, but he did not feel despair. No matter how strong the physical body is, it cannot provide much protection for the soul.
Jiang Liu's ultimate, deadly move is an attack on the soul. The "Thunder Dragon Array" solidified on the soul amplifies this attack to a terrifying degree.
"Teacher, now?"
"Yes, now! Right now!" Although the cheap teacher had a smile on his face, Jiang Liu sensed the ferocity behind it. His scarlet pupils were vertical, seemingly the eyes of some kind of snake, with a cold glint in them.
Jiang Liu knew the power of those eyes.
The left eye, the dragon's eye!
A powerful eye cultivated from dragon genes, when gazed upon by this dragon's gaze, is enveloped in an aura akin to dragon's might. Even those below the fourth-ring Saint Mark Wizard level are affected by this pupil. Those with weak willpower will die instantly under its gaze, terrified to death.
The owner of this eye gene, the powerful fire dragon Smaug, was imprisoned at the top of Sauron's Tower as a pet of the third-ringed archmage Sauron.
His right eye, however, belonged to some creature unknown to Jiang Liu, and was an important medium for him to cast the death curse.
"Teacher, it's barely possible to cast the spell now... Please wait a moment, teacher, I'll prepare the necessary materials..."
“No need! I’ve already prepared it for you! Shadow Mushrooms, Soul Fire… these materials are enough for you to construct an external space suitable for your soul to leave your body!” As he spoke, the spatial ring on his finger flashed, and then the casting materials appeared in front of Jiang Liu.
Jiang Liu was quite decisive and began to adjust and fuse a kind of shadow energy suitable for the existence of souls, in order to protect the souls that had left their bodies.
The soul is both strong and weak. Without the protection of a physical body, the soul exists directly in the mortal world, and even a gust of wind can disperse it.
Of course, Jiang Liu had various methods for astral projection, and he could achieve it even without the protection of this shadow energy. However, in order not to attract the attention of his cheap teacher, he still methodically prepared the reagents.
Seeing the shadow aura that Jiang Liu had adjusted, Soren did not relax. Although his strength was enough to crush the student in front of him, in a head-on battle, even a hundred Jiang Lius would not be his match.
However, he knew his own body well; although his strength was formidable, his soul was severely damaged. Even when facing a first-ring soul wizard, he dared not be careless.
It was this caution that allowed him to survive to this day and grow into a great wizard of the Third Ring.
Even though he trained wizards for research and became a dark wizard for over twenty years, no one knew about it.
"Was I too cautious? There's the Soul Shield protecting it, and it's something the little guy can't break through... This is a level-three magical artifact I bought at a great cost, capable of withstanding a soul attack of three thousand degrees. Only a third-ring soul wizard could possibly unleash a three-thousand-degree soul attack. The little guy's mental strength is just over one hundred; even if he has talent in the soul, he can at most leverage five times the normal force. Three thousand degrees, that's thirty times the normal force, haha..."
"Teacher, then I shall begin my performance!" Jiang Liu felt that his acting skills were worthy of an Oscar.
"You drive..."
The cheap teacher immediately swept his mental energy towards Jiang Liu, wanting to see how Jiang Liu would perform soul transfer, so he naturally had to do so.
Jiang Liu had been waiting for this moment. The instant his spiritual power connected with his own, Jiang Liu split off a wisp of his soul and shot it towards his cheap teacher along with his spiritual power.
"...You dare!"
In an instant, Soren felt a soul enter his body. Although he expected Jiang Liu to resist, he did not expect him to be so decisive.
Instantly, Sauron's face contorted into a ferocious expression, which, combined with his hideous skin, made him resemble a vengeful ghost: "Soul Shield! Block for me..."
With a furious shout, his eyes shot out two beams of light, instantly fixing on Jiang Liu.
Despite the dragon's might in his left eye, Jiang Liu was not afraid. What was there to fear from a giant lizard?
The light in his right eye sent chills down Jiang Liu's spine, making his hair stand on end.
"A death curse... This is the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception!!!"
Jiang Liu split off another portion of his soul. This body's talent in souls was truly remarkable; even after splitting his soul twice, he did not suffer much backlash.
Under that crimson ray of light, the split soul was directly destroyed and turned into nothingness.
For an ordinary wizard, this attack would have annihilated their soul.
The soul that had entered Sauron's body was blocked. A four-sided shield stood in front of it, preventing the soul from going any further.
"Haha... Thunder Dragon sets sail, explode!"
Within this split soul, an extremely complex magic circle was immediately revealed. If the cheap teacher were to evaluate it, its complexity would be enough to reach the level that only a Saint Mark Wizard could construct.
A five-clawed thunder dragon emerged from the magic circle, twisting and undulating like a long snake. It had two horns on its head, four legs and five claws, and lifelike scales on its body. The two whiskers at the corners of its mouth were actually made of lightning.
The Thunder Dragon crashed into the shield that guarded the soul. The shield blocked the Thunder Dragon, but it was covered in cracks.
However, Jiang Liu was even more decisive. Before the shield could shatter, he directly detonated his soul, instantly annihilating the extremely complex "Thunder Dragon Formation" and unleashing an even more terrifying power.
Jiang Liu's ultimate weapon was not this thunder dragon, but the self-destruction of his soul and the annihilation of the thunder dragon formation.
Just as he detonated his soul, Sauron's狰狞 face rapidly approached Jiang Liu, his palm only three inches away from Jiang Liu's body. Looking at those large, bony hands, Jiang Liu knew that if his body were grabbed by those hands, it would be torn in two instantly.
I wanted to escape, but I couldn't; my body's reaction speed was just too slow.
But at that moment, the cheap teacher shuddered, and his eyes, which had been filled with murderous intent, darkened.
He staggered and, propelled by inertia, crashed into the river.
Their souls were scattered!
The cheap teacher, Soren, has become an empty shell.
Chapter 283 The "Lord of the Rings" World Troubled by Wizards
Pushing aside the corpse, Jiang Liu immediately noticed that Soren was extremely heavy, which was disproportionate to his small, thin body.
He lifted the black robe and tapped it with his fingers, producing a metallic sound.
"As expected, it's not just the Treant bloodline that's been integrated; there must be multiple powerful bloodlines involved. Aren't they afraid of genetic collapse? Wizards have to be ruthless to themselves to achieve power! To dare to undergo such terrifying modifications to their own bodies, they're truly ruthless!"
Jiang Liu coughed violently a few times; even though the body collided with him due to inertia, he was almost seriously injured.
This life-or-death battle ended in mere seconds, with Sauron's soul being scattered. Therefore, no damage was caused, and no one knew that the powerful third-ring wizard, the master of Sauron's Tower, was truly dead.
Looking at the body of this third-ring wizard, Jiang Liu swallowed hard, then with all his might, he split off another soul and burrowed into the corpse.
The fusion of souls takes time, and the recovery of Jiang Liu's injuries and the recovery of his soul also take time.
The laboratory was closed for three days, and the elves, halflings, dwarves, and human slaves showed no unusual activity. There were far too many such seclusions.
Sauron's terror was already etched into the bodies and souls of everyone. For nearly a decade, no one dared to defy his rule.
At this moment, Jiang Liu was studying Sauron's body, then shook his head and said, "With my mental strength, I really can't control this body. There are at least three bloodlines in this body: the powerful regenerative bloodline of the treant, the strength bloodline of the stone giant, and the wizard bloodline of his original form... This body has already begun to collapse. Unless my current mental strength can increase to over 600, I can reconcile them and suppress the various bloodlines to keep them at peace. Now, in less than three months, the body will definitely collapse."
“Three months!” Soren said, his tone almost identical to Jiang Liu’s. “I can feel his body decaying. Now, these eyes are useless. Be prepared! Without him guarding the Tower of Soren, if those natives discover anything amiss, we’ll be in serious trouble!”
Jiang Liu, holding the book describing "Middle-earth," said, "The world of Lord of the Rings has been wreaked havoc by wizards to such an extent that this must be the so-called War of the Heavens! The invasion of civilizations is not just my plunder; it is almost destruction... Nine third-ring wizards have turned the vast Middle-earth into a colony. It is truly terrifying."
Sauron paused, seemingly searching his memory, then frowned and said, "This world is not simple. According to Sauron's memories, to the west of Middle-earth lies Valinor, the abode of the gods, and to the east lies the Endless Sea. Middle-earth is merely a corner of this Lord of the Rings world. Moreover, the wizarding world's invasion of Valinor has not been successful; it seems several Stigmata wizards have fallen, and only recently, with the intervention of a seventh-ringed True Spirit wizard, has the situation been slightly reversed. You must be careful; it seems the Maiar have begun to descend upon Middle-earth again, leading the natives in rebellion against wizarding rule."
"So, Gandalf, who was killed by the wizard, will reappear? Interesting... That little handmaid must be an elven princess!"
"He might also be an inside man!" Soren said calmly.
Jiang Liu wholeheartedly agreed and said, "Yes! At this stage, improving our strength is the most important thing. It will probably take nine days to solidify the Thunder Dragon Formation. After that, I will slowly digest my cheap teacher's treasure."
Soren looked up at the ceiling and said, "Then you need to hurry. That dragon is restless again, and I'm afraid I won't be able to suppress it. Moreover, I'm certain that as soon as I show the slightest weakness, the dragon will break free."
"Smaug? You go first, teach him a lesson before his power dissipates. Nine days later, I'll subdue him. What Sauron couldn't do, I'll do. We have a soul contract; let's see how it resists!"
With Soren gone, Jiang Liu didn't delay any longer and began to solidify the "Thunder Dragon Formation" once again.
Upon learning of Maya's reappearance, Jiang Liu sensed that danger was once again looming. Maya was a divine messenger, a being similar to a wizard, possessing various powerful abilities.
The second time the "Thunder Dragon Formation" was solidified was much easier, taking a full nine days, and his strength was finally enhanced once again. Moreover, because he continuously used his mental power to solidify the formation, his mental power was also significantly strengthened.
Mental strength: 137
Magic Power: 1089
Stamina: 12
Strength: 11
Cell viability: 19
At this moment, although Jiang Liu's wizarding level was only at the first ring, the power he wielded using the lever of knowledge was no less destructive than that of an ordinary third-ring wizard. However, his current attack methods were relatively limited, consisting only of a lightning-attribute attack, and his defense was extremely weak.
His strengths are very high, but his weaknesses are very low. This is not common among normal wizards, and wizards with such strength do not go very far on the path of cultivation.
For example, the cheap teacher, Soren, had a fatal flaw in his soul. Not only did he struggle to advance to the fourth-circle Saint Mark Wizard level, but he was also utterly destroyed by Jiang Liu.
Jiang Liu knew Soren's specific physical attributes through his corpse. Soren's cell activity level far surpassed Jiang Liu's, reaching a full 138 points, making limb regeneration a piece of cake.
With the "Thunder Dragon Formation," Jiang Liu's strength has increased significantly. However, he is still far inferior to Sauron.
Jiang Liu walked towards the top of the tower, a wizard's tower he had never been to before. This place was forbidden territory of Sauron, and even the cleaning slaves were not allowed to enter. Inside, there were steel guards made by alchemists and a series of constructs that resembled robots.
Soren was dead, so Jiang Liu had free passage. Along the way, he certainly saw a lot to see.