Mage Manual-Chapter 1461 - 1064: Mind Transaction (Part 2)

Ash pondered for a moment and raised his right hand, "So, I’m only one tribulation away from reaching the Second Cycle of Hell?"

Death Mad leaned against the door frame, her blood-red long hair fluttering in the wind, "That’s right."

"Then, how do you plan to take back the Aurora’s Mage Manual?"

Ash looked at Death Mad, "If abandoning the Mage’s Handbook can block your threat, I’m very willing to... provided you can convince me of your sincerity."

After expressing her desire to take back Aurora’s Mage Manual, Death Mad continued to lead Ash in ransacking a hell base.

She didn’t continue the conversation, leaving Ash some time to think about his choices.

Honestly, he harbors no desire for the Mage’s Handbook. Or rather, he’s already obtained what he wants; even if the Mage’s Handbook contains the legacy of several civilizations, and possibly items on the level of a refining bottle, Ash feels no attachment.

Even without the Mage’s Handbook, he already has companions who support each other and the power to oppose fate.

Moreover, the Mage’s Handbook never belonged to him; it is the result of Death Mad and her companions’ numerous worldlines. Ash has no qualms about them taking it back.

Death Mad reached the center of the fortress, looking up at the towering Spear Monument, and said leisurely, "Do you think I would propose a trade to you? No, what I offer is merely a choice."

"These Wonders are Upper Wonders, store them away."

Ash nodded, and stored the fortress’s Spear Monument, Eagle Sculpture, and Lightning Inscription into the Heavenly Kingdom of Souls.

The Spear Monument is the Wonder "Warrior Monument," which, when activated, causes earth walls to rise at the edges of the area, and any unit approaching the walls will be pierced by armor-piercing spears;

The Eagle Sculpture is the Wonder "Thunderbird Transformation," which launches a thunder egg, continuously striking all units around until the thunder strikes accumulate to 100 times, then it will rebirth into a Thunderbird to assist in combat.

The most powerful inscription is the Wonder "Rain Demon Nest," which can instantly summon Thunder Rain Demons to participate in battle. Thunder Rain Demons possess Destructive Claws and supersonic speed, and their thunder bodies can endlessly regenerate. However, "Rain Demon Nest" is a consumable Wonder, spawning one Rain Demon every period, and once all Rain Demons within the nest are exhausted, it naturally collapses.

It is apparent that the majority of the "Wind Erosion" members are centered on Thunder Technique, which is why they can construct two Thunder Technique Wonders.

Within the Heavenly Kingdom of Souls, the Technique Spirits watched the Wonders being moved in, curiously bouncing up and down on them. Ash took a closer look and found that the Substitute Technique Spirit had already moved a bed to the tower of the "Overturn" Wonder, embracing the Heart Sword Technique Spirit and sleeping soundly, living more comfortably than him.

Once Ash had stored all the Wonders in the Heavenly Kingdom of Souls, Death Mad suddenly asked, "Wonders can be hidden in the Magic Temple, where do you think Aurora’s Mage Manual is hidden?"

Ash blinked, pondered a bit, and then suddenly realized he truly didn’t know the answer.

It couldn’t be in the body, nor in the soul. Ash had died several times in the Void Realm; if the Mage’s Handbook was hidden in the soul and accidentally got bitten off by Fish Slicing Dragon, wouldn’t the End Five have to cultivate Fish Slicing Dragon to Supreme of Magic?

"Here’s a hint." Death Mad stated, "When Vishi underwent Second Cycle rebirth, exactly what returned to the past?"

Ash froze. Right, what exactly was it that returned for Vishi?

It’s clearly documented in the Ghost Manual that after Vishi’s rebirth she still relied on slaughter to nourish her soul, proving she had indeed abandoned everything from her first cycle, traced back to the upstream of time, and snatched back her childhood’s soul and body, thus needing to start all over again.

"...Memory?" Ash guessed.

"Very close." Death Mad said, "To be precise, it’s the comprehensive information of a person’s entirety. Your body will return to nature, your soul will be buried in the Void Realm, but only your memory, your thoughts, and your ideas, when combined, form a unique ’consciousness.’ The world cannot take it away, the Void Realm cannot carry it away, it always belongs to you."

"The rules, given consciousness, birthed a Divine Being; magic, given consciousness, birthed Technique Spirits; soul flesh, given consciousness, birthed the heart."

"Aurora’s Mage Manual has always been entrusted upon your heart."

Ash felt a sinking feeling, "You want to separate the Mage’s Handbook from my heart?"

"No, we can’t do that." Death Mad shook her head, "To maximize the obstruction of Uroboros’ pursuit, we have merged all the Handbook’s permissions into your heart, making it completely yours, so Uroboros won’t detect anomalies in the worldlines."

"Moreover, we never intended to separate the Mage’s Handbook." She stated calmly, "There’s no need."

Ash: "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we want to take back the Mage’s Handbook, and your shell won’t be relinquished either." Death Mad glanced at him, "When that time comes, what necessity will your heart have to exist?"

Ash almost laughed out loud, "Then why should I return the Mage’s Handbook to you?"

"Because the Mage’s Handbook represents years of our accumulation, without it, we won’t be able to return to our peak in the shortest time." Death Mad said flatly, "This time, Uroboros pursued us and we lost, but if we retrieve all resources, perhaps we could keep fleeing, try once more. If you don’t return it, then there’s truly no hope left."

"However, I don’t intend to morally bind you." Death Mad noted Ash’s steel-blue face, "Because no matter what, you’ll voluntarily hand over your heart to us."

"Why?"

"Because you also want to defeat Uroboros and reverse your fate." Death Mad said, "The issue is, even if you obtain all the hell’s resources and become the strongest Demigod Mage throughout history, how much can you leverage this power?"

This is a crucial point.

Yes, Ash can gather one Prison Wing in just one day, but even if he assembles Six Prison Wings and decks the Heavenly Kingdom of Souls with Heavenly Position Wonders packed with Divine Beings, can he wield this power effectively?

The opposite isn’t trivial; it’s a Supreme of Magic surpassing eight-winged being that devours the World Snake. If just stacking materials could win, the End Five would have long since stacked up and crushed it.

"We’re willing to give you four chances." Death Mad announced, "For each 25% of your heart you sacrifice, we send someone to merge with you, allowing you temporarily to fight at Supreme of Magic’s realm. Each additional 25% sacrifice will increase the fusion degree, naturally enhancing your magic realm."

"Sacrificing your heart won’t impact your combat power; your soul body, Technique Spirits, and Heavenly Kingdom of Souls won’t be consumed. Even sacrificing 75% of your heart won’t affect your life."

"If in the first three chances you’re able to defeat Uroboros, we naturally will stay silent. But if after three attempts you still fail..." Death Mad arched her swan-like neck upwards, exhaling a plume of white smoke, "We give you two options."

"One option is, wait for death, and be buried with this world."

"The other option is, handing over your heart to us, then die, waiting for the world to accompany you to your grave."

Ash also looked upward. There’s no sky here; up and down are inverted, the world suspended above, with a constant sense of impending crush, truly like hell in such an environment.

After a while, he murmured, "This sounds more like just one option."

"Haven’t you gotten used to it?" Death Mad stated calmly, "Sometimes, the world doesn’t offer a happy ending; you can only choose the less bad one between two bad endings."