Successors of the Magic Empire, descendants of the True Sight Eye, bloodline of the Magic Kings, hand over your tokens to me. You have passed the previous trials, and now you must let me inspect your marks."
"Of course, as it should be,"the Old Magician Lapers said, his right hand lightly waving, and the glowing emblem in his hand floated slightly above his palm.
The tall black stone Golem stepped forward, its eight-meter-tall body like a walking small tower. Although this magical construct did not possess a unique aura like ordinary living beings, its massive body naturally carried a powerful presence.
Kalon had no doubt that this giant Golem could also easily twist off the head of an adult Green Dragon.
Golems were also war machines created by Magicians using knowledge, and their combat power was extremely outstanding. Some powerful Golems could even easily withstand the attacks of Ancient Dragons. Their rich varieties and series were generally determined by the Golem's material and core.
Such as common Clay Golems, Flesh Golems, Alchemical Golems, Iron Golems, and Ice Golems, and so on.
Most Golems were automatic devices constructed from seemingly crude materials using magical power. The process of creating Golems involved the use of ultra-high-intensity magic and elemental power.
So, even though many Golems were made only of clay, bone and flesh, iron, or special stone, they possessed astonishing strength and durability.
Moreover, the greatest advantage of Golems was that they had no ambition, required no food, felt no pain, and had no regrets. Their purpose was entirely to follow their creator's instructions, protect their creator, or become an unstoppable crusher for their creator.
And although Golems were designated with a foundational law of eternal loyalty to their creator at the time of their creation, advanced Golems were not rigid.
Many advanced Golems could gain intelligence through animation, because the power for animating these advanced Golems came from various miraculous forces. Some Magicians specifically captured souls from the Elemental Plane of Earth to animate their Golems.
There were also Dragon Bone Golems, Dragon Stone Golems, and Dragon iron Golems, which were infused with the powerful life force and modified souls of giant dragons.
The Golem in front of them was clearly created from an extremely hard, special stone, possessing extremely formidable physical defense, and as a creation of a Magician, it would generally also have excellent magic resistance.
Of course, this powerful magic resistance, in addition to the inherent anti-magic properties of its material and the additional influence of magical power, was more akin to a mechanism that absorbed spell energy to stop the spell's effects on its body.
Kalon could sense that the Golem's core was emitting strong energy fluctuations.
Furthermore, the Golem's core and the entire core area vaguely resonated, which meant that this Golem could borrow and mobilize the immeasurable, immense elemental power within this core space.
Buzz, buzz, buzz
The giant Golem stopped behind the light screen. A magical mark, like the emblem in the Magician's hand, suddenly appeared on its stone head, like an Eye of Magic, radiating a faint light.
A portal opened from the thick light screen under the guidance of the Golem's Eye of Magic, and immediately, a dense, almost tangible elemental force surged towards everyone, submerging them in a sea of elemental power.
Kalon's body spontaneously absorbed the abundant elemental force, replenishing it within his body. In just a blink of an eye, Kalon felt that his magic power was already so full that he could no longer absorb any more.
"This is terrifying. In this place, the power of a Magician's spells would probably increase tenfold, and the magic power that can be mobilized is almost infinite. No wonder there's a saying, 'A Magician's tower is a Magician's divine realm.'"
Kalon felt that if a Magician with ordinary talent were to grow in this environment, he would probably become a 'genius' in the eyes of ordinary people under the nurturing of this terrifying elemental force.
"Magicians, although you are descendants of the Ancient Magic Kings, you are not the successors of the Supreme Council. Therefore, you have the qualification to learn knowledge, but you cannot become the supreme controller with the authority to dispose of all resources here!"
The tall Golem used the Eye of Magic on its forehead to inspect the information stored in the emblem, then spoke to everyone.
"As for other wealth and resources, according to the regulations of the Ancient Magic Empire's Supreme Council, successors of your level can withdraw a certain proportion of resources, one-tenth of each resource. This is what the instructions I left behind tell me."
Although many Magicians were somewhat disappointed, they immediately thought that such a massive amount of wealth, just one-tenth of the countless elemental crystals before them, was already immeasurable. Genuine joy then appeared on their faces.
Although the white-haired Old Magician's face was calm, his eyes were filled with joy, so much so that his voice trembled uncontrollably: "It's enough, it's enough! More importantly, the knowledge from the Magic Supreme Halls."
Kalon did not harbor excessive greed for this wealth. On one hand, he did not want such emotions and desires to affect him, so he controlled his desires.
On the other hand, in the original agreement with the Magicians, the sharing of magic knowledge was included, but the sharing of wealth was not.
"Very well, please come in, descendants of the Ancient Magic Kings," the tall Golem moved aside from the portal, signaling for the Magicians to enter.
However, as Kalon, with his towering dragon horns and formidable scales, stepped through the portal, the Eye of Magic on the Golem's forehead suddenly lit up, and a white light projected from the Eye of Magic, attempting to scan Kalon's body.
"This is not how you treat a guest, big guy."
Kalon's spiky face showed a slight mocking expression. A layer of light appeared on his body, blocking the force projected by the Golem. Although his current body was only about three and a half meters tall, he completely disregarded the seemingly more powerful Golem.
"You are not a descendant of the Ancient Magic Kings. You are… a Dragonborn? You cannot enter. Even dragons are merely specimens in a Magician's laboratory. Lowly Dragonborn, you are not worthy to step into the domain of an Ancient Magician."
The giant Golem emitted a somewhat dull voice, but it did possess its own soul and intelligence, as it actually began to discriminate against Kalon.
"He is our companion, a trustworthy partner. Do not harm our companion, loyal Golem guard," Magician Lapers, who had already stepped through the portal, spoke up.
The tall Golem nodded slightly. It said, "Very well then. As a descendant of the Magic Kings, you have a certain level of authority, which depends on yourself."
Despite saying so, the giant Golem did not stop scanning Kalon. Clearly, Lapers' authority was not enough to dispel the discrimination of this intelligent soul.
Lapers nodded slightly in thanks to the Golem, then said to Kalon, "Come in, Kalon. This is part of our agreement. Now is the time for us to reap the rewards."
Kalon stepped into the portal. Although it seemed he hadn't solved any problems related to Magicians on this exploration journey, it couldn't be counted that way.
He had already shared the risks with the Magicians, so he was also entitled to his reward.
However, after stepping through the portal, as he passed by the tall Golem, Kalon suddenly turned his head and smiled slightly at the tall Golem. A peculiar gleam flickered in Kalon's crimson pupils.
The tall Golem immediately recoiled several large steps, like a mortal who had seen a ghost. A faint power lingered at its soul core, like a predator spreading its web and waiting for its prey.
The Golem felt a fatal threat from its soul core, like the Sword of Damocles hanging over its head, ready to fall at any moment.
Its slightly dull voice actually conveyed a hint of unease and disbelief. It exclaimed, "What kind of power is this? Lowly... Dragonborn!"
"Shh," Kalon gently raised a finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture. He said blandly, "Be polite, big guy. This is the power to teach your prejudiced soul respect."
"Oh, and by the way, big guy, if you can own property, then I suggest you pay the tuition for this lesson. Perhaps I'll teach you more common sense about being a human if I'm in a good mood! Oh, no, you can't even be called a human!"
Kalon was certainly not crazy; appropriately displaying his strength was also a means to gain respect for himself.
And although it seemed that the power disparity between Kalon and this Golem was vast, unfortunately, the real world is not a simple comparison of strength.
There is never such a thing as the weak overcoming the strong in the world. The difference is only whether the strong in a local area overcome the weak, or whether the strong in the overall context overcome the weak. Even in countless worlds and countless histories, examples of the weak overcoming the strong are like this.
Although Kalon was at an overall disadvantage, his local advantage was enough to gain an absolute advantage for victory, which was why he was so fearless.
Kalon cast aside this small friction and walked through the path opened by the Golem.
The glistening elemental crystals covered the entire ground. Kalon's draconic nature even urged him to sweep away all the crystals on the ground.
Several Magicians couldn't help but fall onto the ground covered in elemental crystals, rolling happily. It was imaginable how difficult it was to restrain oneself from such immense wealth.
Squinty-eyed Mage Hsiusir chose to walk towards the several tall towers. These were the power sources of the entire plane's core, and it seemed Hsiusir was very interested in them.
Only Lapers and Kalon walked directly towards the central hall, which was where the Ancient Magician stored his books, and perhaps also the supreme hall of magic knowledge.
This hall looked like an ordinary stone chamber, carved by the Ancient Magician from a single huge block of stone.
The exterior of the hall was also carved with many intricate magic runes. Kalon could only recognize less than one-tenth of the rune knowledge from his own knowledge system, but most of them were runes for inhibition, pacification, and preservation.
Kalon did not get sidetracked by studying this hall. He followed the white-haired Magician Lapers, who was acting as if on a pilgrimage, and watched as Lapers placed his emblem into the slot of the doorway, opening this ordinary door.
Then he stepped into the doorway right after Lapers.
Inside the entire hall, apart from neatly arranged, sparkling crystal display cases and an ordinary sculpture, there was nothing else. But Kalon found that even his own gaze was affected and deceived him.
Because the space inside, when viewed from the outside, even allowed one to see the surrounding walls, but once inside, one would find that the actual space was countless times larger.
These crystal display cases, shimmering with a peaceful magical glow, held countless documents and books. Next to these documents and books, there were also some sample exhibits placed within the crystal display cases.
These crystal display cases, which isolated the outside world, also had bookmarks attached, as if those Ancient Magicians were afraid their successors would be too foolish to find what they wanted from the neatly arranged knowledge.
Kalon hadn't even begun to browse, scan, and inspect the entire space when he heard a shocked exclamation. He turned his head and saw Lapers' slightly trembling body.
"This, this is," the white-haired Old Magician Lapers exclaimed, his usually composed Saint-level Magician's breathing becoming rapid.
"Is it really that big of a deal? What knowledge could be so exciting?" Kalon muttered to himself. He felt that after hearing about those Ancient Magicians' crazy actions, nothing could easily stir his emotions.
He walked to the side, looking at the label on this crystal display case, and his pupils involuntarily widened dramatically.
"Principles and Overview of Golem Manufacturing and Specific Manufacturing Methods for Various Golem Types." Under this large label, there were rows of smaller labels, listing the names and entries of various golems. One of them was "Conception Principles and Experiments of Neutron Star Golems."
"Is this the heritage left by the Magic Empire that once ruled countless planes and worlds?" Kalon couldn't help but exclaim. This was just the first cabinet. His gaze swept over the rows of display cases filled with books and documents, and a thought suddenly arose: the things outside were just trash.
Besides documents and books, there were also magic crystals in the display cases that similarly recorded knowledge, which should be backups prepared by the Ancient Magician in case of emergencies.
Kalon did not choose the magic crystals but followed the bookmark entries to find the documentation about the Neutron Star Golem.
The capabilities of the Neutron Star Golem cannot be adequately described by the word "powerful." It not only possessed special attack methods such as gravity aura, thermal aura, and planetary oscillation.
Moreover, the Neutron Star Golem also possessed various miraculous properties, such as accretion, gravity control, magic immunity, magnetic tracking, and superluminal speed.
Kalon couldn't help but applaud the Magicians' conception, but unfortunately, he couldn't even meet the most basic condition for the Neutron Star Golem, which was the remnant of a neutron star, the material for its creation.
To achieve the creation of this golem, those Ancient Magicians used powerful forces to capture celestial bodies in endless planes for manufacturing experiments. However, Kalon did not know if the Ancient Magicians successfully created the Neutron Star Golem, as the document did not specify.
Kalon temporarily set aside this goal and walked towards the other display cases.
"Essence Analysis of Energy-Absorbing Beasts and Energy-Absorbing Trees," "Conception and Manufacturing Methods of Energy-Absorbing Devices." "Very good, this is very useful," Kalonglanced at it and then moved on to the next target.
"Creation and General Methods of Demi-Planes," "Discussion on Advanced Techniques of Elemental Control," "Expansion of Spellcasting Amplification for Magical Items," "Techniques for Increasing One's Mana Capacity through Mana Exhaustion," "Creation and Types of Magical Constructs Derived from Golems."
The knowledge in the rows of display cases was dazzling. In Kalon's eyes, it was more beautiful than the most precious treasures in the world. The knowledge in almost every display case made him want to stop and immediately delve into deep study and research.
However, the next display case always managed to attract his curiosity and desire for exploration.
As he walked, Kalon felt for the first time that the sensation of knowledge gliding over his cerebral cortex was so wonderful, but he still stopped in front of a display case, a smile gracing his lips.
The labels on this display case were extremely concise, with only a few entries: "Comparison and Usage of the Mythril Cores and the Elemental Pool," "Manufacturing Method of the Ioun Stone."
In the documented records, Kalon learned that those Ancient Magicians had opened pathways to other cosmic crystal walls, exchanging and researching with another powerful magical civilization.
Both sides exchanged a great deal of knowledge and technology related to magic, and these two were among the most important pieces of knowledge.
Kalon also knew of the existence of these two miraculous creations: the Mithral Core, a device whose power could make vast cities float and giant mountains fly into the sky, making it the most important core of a floating city.
And the Ioun Stone, on the other hand, was a miraculous magical treasure that could grant people various different magical abilities, from bestowing night vision to temporarily increasing a person's strength level, with countless functions.
The Elemental Pool, meanwhile, was researched by the many Magic Princes of the Ancient Magic Empire. It utilized wondrous magic circles to gather elements and magic from the world, becoming a giant mana furnace-like existence.
It could not only provide ample power but also generate additional resource income. The elemental crystals covering the ground outside were the result of thousands of years of accumulation by the Elemental Pool.
The Elemental Pool was also the miraculous creation by which the Magicians of this world could raise their towers into the high heavens and move freely.
"Phew, truly astonishing knowledge. Perhaps even gods would covet this knowledge," Kaloneven felt that his consciousness had been numbed by the knowledge left by the Ancient Magician. Now he was just numbly using his sub-brain clusters to record the information of this knowledge.
Lines of knowledge transformed into rows of information, flowing before Kalon's eyes. His sub-brain was operating at full capacity, recording this precious knowledge into his mind.
Although this plane was right here, and he could consult this knowledge with the Magician at any time in the future, for Kalon, what he held in his hand was the most stable.
But Kalon quickly discovered something that bothered him. Although his sub-brain clusters had become powerful enough through long-term evolution, there was too much knowledge here, and his sub-brain capacity was already extremely overloaded.
The excessive intake of knowledge information even made him feel that his sub-brain's operation occasionally became sluggish, like a feverish brain, its reactions slowing down.
"Hmm, although all of it is very valuable knowledge, it seems I'll have to reluctantly prioritize the knowledge most suitable for myself for now. I'll consider strengthening my sub-brain again after I go back."
Kalon recorded the knowledge from this display case into his sub-brain, feeling his brain swell slightly, like the feeling of having completed twenty sets of exam papers in a row.
"Next, I can still persevere," Kalon's will urged him towards the next goal.
"Conception and Experiments of Two Time Devices." The label on this display case was unexpectedly concise, without even any additional sub-entries, but the thickness of the documents in the display case was no less than that of other display cases.
Kalon pinched his somewhat sore and swollen brow but still reached out, took out the document, and began to read it.
"Mortals can also have grand visions no less than those of Magicians, just as I once heard a mortal say, 'Perhaps, among all questions of origin (origin of the universe, origin of life), time is the source from which we understand everything!'"
Kalon continued to flip through the book, patiently reading on.
"In some universes, the beings there believe that time does not exist at all; the essence of time is merely a sequence of events, representing the movement and change of matter."
"Time is just a concept used by those beings to describe this change; there is only space and higher-dimensional space, although I do not agree with this view."
"But the closer one gets to the truth, the more interdisciplinary knowledge is needed to glimpse the origin, or rather, to be more comprehensive to discover the origin of the universe."
"So I decided to conduct two experiments: one based on what is called science in that universe, and one using the Magician's method to explore the essence of time."
Kalon sighed. These Magicians, or perhaps "magic scientists" would be a more fitting term! However, judging from this Magician's document, perhaps Kalon's former home, those Magicians had also visited!