Within the silent black tower, Kaelan closed his eyes once more.
His consciousness descended into his soul space.
Beneath his soul, faith, spiritual power, and divine power slowly gathered.
Following the method left behind by the Network Saint, he carefully guided the three energies together.
Unlike constructing a spell model or a barrier, the Truth Base required absolute balance.
Too much faith, and the foundation would become unstable.
Too much divine power, and the structure would reject the faith.
Too much spiritual power, and it would collapse under its own weight.
Kaelan adjusted each strand with meticulous precision.
The three energies gradually intertwined.
A faint foundation slowly took shape beneath his soul.
Its appearance resembled a circular platform carved from translucent crystal.
Countless fine lines spread across its surface, weaving together into an intricate network.
As the final strand connected, the entire platform trembled.
The Truth Base was complete.
Almost immediately, the faith power surrounding his soul responded.
Golden streams of pure faith descended like rivers from every direction.
Instead of pressing against his soul as before, they flowed naturally into the Truth Base.
The crystal platform emitted a gentle golden radiance.
The incoming faith gathered there, slowly condensing into a tranquil sea of golden light.
Kaelan carefully observed the process.
The Truth Base did not consume the faith.
Nor did it refine it.
It simply stored it.
At the same time, the condensed faith continuously released a faint, pure aura.
The gentle aura rose from the Truth Base and quietly enveloped his soul.
Kaelan immediately felt the difference.
His soul relaxed.
The subtle pressure that had accompanied the accumulation of faith completely disappeared.
Instead, the pure faith slowly nourished every part of his soul.
Even deeper within...
His fragmented True Spirit, hidden at the very core of his existence, quietly absorbed that pure faith.
The tiny fragments emitted a faint, almost imperceptible glow.
Although the improvement was extremely slow, it was unmistakable.
The faith was repairing his True Spirit.
A faint smile appeared on Kaelan's face.
As expected.
Faith truly possessed the ability to nourish his fragmented True Spirit.
He slowly opened his eyes.
"The more believers..."
"The faster my True Spirit will recover."
As he observed the Truth Base, Kaelan made another discovery.
It didn't merely store faith.
It also refined it.
The refined faith became purer, allowing his soul to absorb it more efficiently.
Under its constant nourishment, he sensed an extremely faint trace of divinity beginning to form within himself.
It was still insignificant.
Barely more than a spark.
Yet it marked the beginning of his path toward the Fourth Extraordinary Stage.
Unfortunately, the speed was painfully slow.
At the current rate, it would take thousands of years before enough divinity accumulated.
Kaelan quickly identified the reason.
At present, only the citizens of Vale Haven and a handful of Scholars who had read his previous research papers were providing him with faith.
The people of Vale Haven believed in him because he had saved the city from the Infernal invasion.
That alone was far from enough.
If he wanted the formation of divinity to accelerate, he needed far more believers.
His thoughts immediately turned to radiation.
Once he published his complete research on the Radiation Law throughout the Human Federation, countless Scholars would study it.
His influence would spread far beyond Vale Haven.
The amount of faith he received would naturally increase.
Of course, a research paper alone was insufficient.
He needed proof.
Something no one could question.
He intended to construct the world's first nuclear power plant.
Only after its successful completion would he publish his research.
With practical results supporting his theories, the paper's authority would become unquestionable.
Without hesitation, Kaelan separated a wisp of his consciousness.
The fragment immediately began designing the structure of the nuclear power plant.
Meanwhile, his main consciousness returned to contemplating the Mystic Fire Wizard Way.
Two years.
That was likely when the Land of Origin would open.
By then, most of humanity's Saints would enter the Land of Origin, whatever it truly was.
To Kaelan, that period presented the perfect opportunity.
While the Saints were occupied elsewhere, he could quietly spread the Wizard Way throughout the Human Federation.
The problem was that the cultivation system remained incomplete.
The Mystic Fire Wizard Way had only reached the First Extraordinary Stage.
That was far from enough.
To attract cultivators, it needed to reach at least the Second Extraordinary Stage.
Ideally, it should reach the Third Extraordinary Stage, placing it on the same level as a Saint.
Only then would people truly recognise its potential.
Kaelan's thoughts shifted toward mana.
The problem remained exactly where it had been before.
Mana naturally improved through the comprehension of Laws.
Yet the same comprehension also strengthened the Mystic Fire.
For Kaelan, this wasn't a problem.
His mastery of the Radiation Law completely suppressed the Mystic Fire.
But ordinary cultivators were different.
For them, a rapidly growing Mystic Fire was a constant threat to their lives.
A cultivation system that killed its practitioners had no future.
Kaelan slowly closed his eyes.
"If Law comprehension isn't the answer..."
"Then what else can refine mana?"
His thoughts sank deeper into deduction.
Searching for another path.
A path capable of strengthening mana...
Without relying on the comprehension of Laws.
Days passed.
Kaelan remained seated within the silent black tower.
His consciousness continuously explored every possibility.
Mana refinement.
Mana compression.
Mana circulation.
Life force.
Spirit.
Even the Knight Way.
One by one, he examined every method he knew.
One by one, he rejected them.
None solved the fundamental problem.
None could strengthen mana without ultimately relying on the comprehension of Laws.
Several more days passed.
Kaelan finally opened his eyes.
For the first time since beginning the deduction, he decided to stop.
Sometimes, forcing an answer only pushed it farther away.
He needed to clear his mind.
His spiritual sense quietly spread outward.
In an instant, it covered the entire Radiation Spiritual Land.
Every mountain.
Every river of magma.
Every field of crimson crystal.
Every trace of radiation entered his perception.
A thought crossed his mind.
Since he was taking a break...
He might as well experiment with the authority he now possessed over the Spiritual Land.
With a single thought, the land responded.
The earth trembled softly.
Rivers of magma slowly receded.
Layer upon layer of rock rose from below, burying the molten currents beneath the surface.
The once barren landscape gradually transformed.
Crimson plains emerged where magma had once flowed.
Jagged cliffs smoothed into rolling hills.
The outer region of the Spiritual Land slowly began resembling the world outside.
Kaelan watched the changes with quiet interest.
Controlling a Spiritual Land felt remarkably similar to shaping a miniature world.
Every alteration happened according to his will.
He continued reshaping the landscape.
Then—
He suddenly stopped.
His expression grew serious.
Deep within the Spiritual Land, he sensed the Origin Core weakening.
Every change he made consumed the land's origin energy.
The reserve had already fallen to a critical level.
If he continued altering the terrain...
The Origin Core would exhaust itself.
And once that happened—
The Radiation Spiritual Land would begin collapsing from the inside.
Kaelan immediately withdrew his authority.
The trembling earth gradually became still.
The half-transformed landscape remained frozen in place.
He silently observed the Spiritual Land.
"It still lacks sufficient origin."
Only then did he truly understand.
Although a Spiritual Land resembled a small world, its foundation was far weaker.
Its 'origin energy' was finite.
Every major change consumed part of that precious reserve.
Without replenishing it, even its owner could not reshape it indefinitely.
Kaelan glanced toward the crimson horizon before slowly withdrawing his spiritual sense.
His thoughts returned to cultivation.
Perhaps...
The answer to strengthening mana did not lie within the Wizard himself.
But perhaps the answer didn't lie within the Wizard.
Perhaps it lay within the world that nurtured the Wizard.
The thought caused Kaelan's eyes to brighten.
He had discovered another direction for advancing mana.
By using the power of a Spiritual Land to refine mana.
Unfortunately, beginner Wizards could not possess a Spiritual Land.
Even if they could, Spiritual Lands were finite.
Most had already been occupied by powerful forces.
Then another thought appeared.
What if...
They built one themselves?
Kaelan's consciousness returned to his soul space.
His spiritual perception extended into the Spiritual Realm.
He carefully drew out strands of spiritual energy.
The energy entered his Mystic Fire.
After being refined, all impurities and influences were removed.
Only pure spiritual energy remained.
Energy composed solely of dreams and emotions, yet completely devoid of external influence.
Kaelan began constructing a Spiritual Land within his soul space.
He spread the refined energy outward.
Slowly, it formed a flat, white layer suspended beneath his soul.
It resembled a sheet of mist more than land.
Clearly, this was only a prototype.
If it was to become a true Spiritual Land, it needed substance.
It needed earth.
With Kaelan's understanding of the Earth Element, transforming it was entirely possible.
But he wasn't creating this cultivation method for himself.
He had to consider ordinary Wizards.
He carefully examined his own body.
Soon, he discovered that the spleen contained the greatest concentration of Earth Element.
Immediately, he adjusted his mana circulation.
A new pathway formed, connecting the spleen to the rest of the circulation system.
As mana flowed through the spleen, it naturally absorbed traces of Earth Element.
The Earth-attributed mana was then guided into the prototype Spiritual Land within his soul space.
Gradually, the pure spiritual particles began transforming.
One after another, they became Earth-attributed particles.
The change was extremely slow.
Even at Kaelan's speed, completing the transformation would take years.
For ordinary cultivators, it would take far longer.
Fortunately, there were ways to accelerate the process.
Greater comprehension of the Earth Element.
Or Earth-attributed resources.
Both could significantly increase the rate of transformation.
Kaelan continued guiding the mana calmly.
Using his understanding of the Earth Element, he steadily transformed the prototype Spiritual Land, one particle at a time.