Mage Manual-Chapter 1459 - 1063: Hell’s Void Wings 3

Ash asked, "But what’s with the Soul Faction? Vishi’s Soul Realm hasn’t leveled up either."

Death Mad shrugged, "Vishi gained a lot of soul insight while summoning the Divine Being. At that time, your Soul Realm was temporarily elevated to level 5 because your bond with her rose instantly... Have you forgotten, her Soul-locking God was summoned with your help."

Ash blushed, quickened his pace to overtake Death Mad, not wanting her to see his expression, and awkwardly changed the topic, "You just mentioned that besides demigods, there are also Rain Demons... What exactly are Rain Demons?"

"Demonic creatures from Hell resembling giant bears, they walk upright and are naturally equipped with ’Destructive Claws’, capable of tearing through any defense—once they lock their gaze, even space-time barriers can be torn apart with ease. Under rainy conditions, they can move at supersonic speeds, ignoring any barrier as they move. Coupled with Destructive Claws, an unwary demigod might be ripped apart by a Rain Demon, hence the name."

Death Mad paused, "And the weakness is their slow movement, relying solely on melee combat and the rainy climate. But for a Demigod Mage, altering the weather is a simple task. Thus, the Rain Demon Clan must ally with the Mage Alliance, or else opposing demigods might easily annihilate them."

"However, regardless of whether demigod creatures have weaknesses, if mages wish, they can exterminate them completely. Hence, all creature clans in Hell shelter under mage organizations, only differing in the degree of exploitation. There might be wandering demigod creatures, but never independent clans."

"There’s a sense of native hell inhabitants being invaded by foreign demons..." Ash muttered.

But he also knew such things were normal, like how the Time Continent originally housed an ancient Elf Clan, capable of becoming mages themselves, yet they were eventually exterminated by mages.

Sea of Knowledge, Distant Realm, and even Ruby Mountain likely housed native races, but through the endless fishing of mages, they either went extinct or competed for survival space in reality with mortals. A diverse and fantastical Void Realm was reduced to only mages struggling amongst themselves.

He pushed open the castle gates; inside the hall, despite being in disarray, many treasures were left behind—including several chests full of Source Crystals!

Death Mad chuckled lightly, "You’re lucky; they hadn’t used up the Source Crystals before dying."

"Why are there only over a hundred?" Ash counted and raised an eyebrow, "Isn’t this supposed to be the major power of the first level of Hell? Such little circulation funds?"

Death Mad shrugged, "That’s already quite good. Source Crystals are strategic resources for every demigod. War in Hell is frequent, each battle revolves around Source Crystals, and combined with low production rates, saving this much indicates ’Wind Erosion’ hasn’t been challenged much by other forces for a hundred years."

"By the way, how are Source Crystals produced?" Ash remembered this question, "Is there something like a Source Crystal mine?"

Death Mad glanced at him and thought for a moment before saying, "If you put it that way... it’s not incorrect."

"You know, humans themselves can also produce resources." She suddenly said, "For example, waste can be processed into biogas energy."

Ash was stunned, looking at the Source Crystals in his hand with a face of horror, "You mean—"

"No, it’s not that disgusting." Death Mad laughed, "The birth of Source Crystals is due to the breath of the Prison Wings."

"The breath of the Prison Wings?"

"Ordinary Void Wings restore Magic Power directly from the Void Realm, but Prison Wings can’t restore Source Power that way. Source Power doesn’t exist in the Void Realm; it’s the law energy the Prison Wings extract from knowledge." Death Mad said, "And extraction involves loss, which accumulates into Source Crystals. It’s like the Prison Wings breathing, inhaling knowledge and exhaling Source Crystals, leaving behind Source Power."

"So, demigods themselves are like a Source Crystal mine resource point. If you’re willing to stay in one place for decades, you’d eventually find Source Crystals appearing around you."

"Furthermore, though creature clans can’t produce Source Crystals themselves, when mages cohabitate with them, they can increase the efficiency of mages producing Source Crystals." Death Mad said, "This is why Demigod Mages tend to form small organizations and are willing to shelter creature clans—large organizations have high Source Crystal production rates but leave mages with nothing, while small organizations have stable production rates, allowing them to share."

Ash blinked, "So Technique Spirits really can’t exchange for Source Crystals..."

"Did you really think there’d be such an easy deal?" Death Mad scoffed.

Ash looked at the clusters of plants in the wooden boxes beside him. Though he couldn’t identify them, their glow clearly showed they weren’t mere decorations, "What are these?"

"Wolf Blood Sword Grass, Twin Flowers, Half-Edged Leaf, Dragon Lily..." Death Mad glanced over, "Alchemy materials, they can serve as Divine Beings’ fodder or refine the essence of specific Magic Factions. Put everything into the refining bottles."

Ash sincerely exclaimed, "Alchemy Faction indeed has many uses..."

"Alchemy has been at the top of academic streams since ancient times, until the rise of a Divine Lord focused on alchemy, which caused its decline."

"Ah?" Ash was puzzled, "The rise of an Alchemy Divine Lord caused the Magic Faction to decline?"

Death Mad nodded, "The Divine Lord of Gold inherited the ancient Commercial Divine Lord’s legacy and rose incredibly quickly, holding up the Heavenly Kingdom in thirty years. She summoned a Divine Being that changed the entire world—’Universal Money’."

"Once a Divine Being is born, world rules are altered. Since then, all mysterious elements in reality converged on gold and silver; Technique Spirits could be fed with gold and silver. But the cost was that alchemy materials were no longer produced in reality. The Divine Lord of Gold, possessing the Universal Money Divine Being, could even bribe enemy Divine Beings to rebel."

Ash was curious, "Why haven’t I heard of Her name?"

"Because once She held up the Heavenly Kingdom, She was slaughtered by the Blood Moon, Dazzling Star, and the Inescapable." Death Mad said calmly, "The Divine Lord of Gold rose through commerce but forgot that mage battles are always bloody. A mage lacking combat power can only walk from one hell to another."