Chapter 239: Starlight Symphony

Chapter 239: Starlight Symphony

Luo En stood at the edge of the School's Temporary Relocation Area, gazing at the Four-Wheeled Carriage just assigned to him, his brow slightly furrowed.

It was an ordinary travel carriage, its wooden frame coated with a basic protective lacquer. The interior was modestly cramped yet functional, but the front of the carriage stood empty—no Beast of Burden awaited to pull it.

"Apologies, Mage Luo En", explained the Enforcement Team Member overseeing the evacuation, offering a slight bow. "All available Beasts of Burden have been deployed for evacuating personnel. Your request arrived a moment too late, so we can only provide the carriage frame for now. However, we will prioritize your request with the highest privileges—we expect to assign a Beast of Burden within half a day."

The messenger bowed again respectfully, fearing the newly ascended Full Mage might take offense.

Since news of Luo En’s ascension had spread, everyone at the School who interacted with him had regarded him with a mix of curiosity and reverence—eager to approach yet instinctively keeping their distance.

Luo En nodded slightly, unsurprised by the arrangement. During the School’s emergency, resources naturally prioritized the mass evacuation of the majority. Even as a Full Mage, he had no intention of disrupting this system. Truthfully, such trivialities never concerned him.

Noticing the Enforcement Team Member’s visible tension, Luo En waved a hand calmly. "No need to worry. The carriage frame alone will suffice."

His voice was as still as a stagnant pond—calm, emotionless, yet oddly imposing.

The Enforcement Team Member visibly relaxed, retreating hastily. After a few steps, he glanced back—Luo En stood motionless before the carriage like a statue, his black robes rippling gently in the breeze. The young mage’s presence exuded quiet menace; though he made no threatening move, his very stillness sent chills down the spine.

As the messenger disappeared, a flicker of inspiration stirred in Luo En’s mind. His thoughts drifted to the Puppet Substitute he carried.

Since there’s no Beast of Burden…

A plan formed—using the Puppet to pull the carriage. It would save mana stones, allow the Puppet to adapt to complex movements in practice, and offer a rare practical test. Even before finalizing the idea, his mind automatically evaluated mana consumption, efficiency comparisons, and potential side effects—such analysis had become second nature.

"You’re not borrowing a Beast of Burden or a driver?" Madame Ellen, who had stayed to see him off, asked with a mix of confusion and curiosity. "How do you intend to move forward?"

Even by mage standards, a carriage without a Beast of Burden was just dead weight. The School typically provided strong Beasts of Burden and guides to departing mages to uphold their dignity. A Full Mage walking? Unthinkable.

Though Luo En was known for his informality, Ellen couldn’t hide her bewilderment.

"You’ll see soon enough", Luo En replied, his lips curving faintly before he offered further explanation.

He withdrew the Puppet from his inner pocket. It had grown increasingly humanoid through multiple evolutions, its surface etched with strange scale-like patterns. Its eyes were emerald-green compound orbs radiating sinister light, with faint blood vessel-like textures lining their edges.

Luo En injected a wisp of spiritual energy into the Puppet, as precise as a surgeon’s scalpel. Instantly, it stirred to life in his hands, expanding to nearly six feet tall.

Now standing at approximately 1.8 meters, the Puppet had a muscular, sinewy frame covered in semi-transparent dark scales. A row of small spines lined its spine, giving it an eerie, hybrid appearance—part human, part beast. Its scales shimmered subtly in the light, resembling ancient biological markings.

"Good", Luo En murmured, issuing a mental command: Pull the carriage.

The Puppet moved silently to the front of the carriage, gripping the crossbar where harnesses would normally attach. Gray-black mana surged from its body, forming a harness-like structure that anchored itself to the carriage frame. This was the Puppet’s newly developed self-adaptation ability—altering its own structure and functions to suit specific needs, vastly improving its practicality.

Nearby, several apprentices setting up a Protective Formation paused mid-task, gaping at the scene. A wooden automaton pulling a Four-Wheeled Carriage—a sight both grotesque and mesmerizing.

The Puppet moved with fluid grace, its motions as smooth as silk. It lacked any mechanical stiffness, appearing nearly alive. Worse, its compound eyes seemed to silently track every onlooker, even when its head didn’t turn. Each glance sent a chill through the observers, as though marked by a predator.

After waving farewell to Madame Ellen, Luo En leapt into the carriage and shut the door. He watched approvingly as the Puppet pulled the carriage forward, consuming far less mana than expected.

As his mana connection strengthened, the Puppet’s responsiveness improved dramatically, increasing mana transmission efficiency and reducing consumption.

"Move out", Luo En ordered. The Puppet strode forward, its steps steady and rhythmic, the wheels humming audibly against the ground. Under Luo En’s skilled control, the carriage soon surpassed the speed of those pulled by ordinary Beasts of Burden.

More importantly, this method required no mana shards and no concerns about feeding or resting the Beast of Burden.

"The applications of Puppet Substitute exceed my expectations", Luo En mused, beginning a systematic evaluation of the method’s metrics.

With a flick of his hand, he opened his Storage Bag, releasing a coiled ball of vines. The emerald-green tendrils writhed, reshaping into the graceful figure of Ai Lan. Daire, while portable, wasn’t as versatile as Ai Lan, especially with the tree spirit’s plant-based senses offering broader environmental awareness.

Ai Lan’s green eyes flickered with concern. "Master, does maintaining control require constant vigilance? That must be tiring." Her vines swayed gently.

"No need", Luo En shook his head. "The spirit link is stable. I can meditate and rest while maintaining basic connection. I only need to inspect the route and surroundings every few hours. Basic commands are already programmed into the Puppet’s memory—it can autonomously avoid simple obstacles."

This was another transformation since his ascension to Full Mage. The qualitative leap in spiritual energy allowed him to multitask without fatigue—what once required full focus now needed only a fraction of his consciousness.

Seeing her confusion, he elaborated: "The Puppet Substitute doesn’t tire and can travel day and night. The only limitation is maintaining the spirit link."

After confirming the Puppet had adapted to the pulling rhythm, Luo En sat cross-legged in the carriage’s center, withdrawing a small vial of Spirit Stabilization Liquid. The pale blue liquid glimmered like pure gemstones, swaying gently with the carriage’s motion.

He took a sip, letting the mana-rich liquid coat his tongue before swallowing slowly. He planned to continue refining his meditation techniques during this journey, especially solidifying and deepening his progress after breaking through to the third stage.

Though the journey was only three days, Luo En had no intention of wasting a single moment.

The "Starlight Symphony" meditation technique required constant absorption of starlight mana to expand his mana capacity. He placed several mana crystals around his meditation mat inside the Storage Bag, their light enhancing starlight convergence and mana absorption efficiency.

At the same time, he set up a simple Isolation Formation to ensure his meditation wouldn't be disturbed by external interference.

His breathing gradually slowed and deepened, each inhalation and exhalation following a specific rhythm—the unique breathing technique of the third stage of The Murmuring of the Star Devourer.

As his consciousness sank inward, external sounds faded into profound silence.

His spirit perception expanded outward, piercing through the carriage roof to sense the drifting clouds in the sky—and beyond them, the vast expanse of Star above.

Though the daytime stars lacked the clarity of night, for Luo En—who had mastered "Star Projection"—their presence remained vivid.

The mana from these stars flowed like delicate threads through the atmosphere, reaching the ground and being captured by his spirit perception.

His consciousness swiftly detached from his physical body, reconstructing the Star in his spiritual vision.

Unlike before, the Star now appeared clearer and more three-dimensional.

Each star radiated its own unique light and rhythm, like individual musical instruments harmonizing into a grand cosmic symphony.

He could sense the mana traits and fluctuation frequencies within the starlight—subtle differences imperceptible to him as an apprentice.

Remarkably, Luo En discovered he could consciously choose which stars to connect with more strongly, allowing him to absorb specific types of mana.

This selective absorption enabled him to adjust his mana structure according to his needs, maximizing its effectiveness.

"The mana from the Annihilation Star Cluster enhances Destructive Spells but brings spirit pressure;
The Hermit Star’s light sharpens spirit perception but weakens physical attack potency;
The Gemini Galactic System provides balanced, gentle mana ideal for long-term accumulation."

Luo En drifted through the Star, his spiritual tendrils—like countless delicate tentacles—gently touching each celestial body, sensing the distinct mana traits.

This mana wasn’t simply "good" or "bad"—each had unique properties suited for different purposes.

He began attempting a new absorption method—blending mana from various stars in precise ratios to create a more balanced and powerful Mana Structure.

This demanded extreme precision in control and calculation; even minor errors could cause mana disruption.

Yet at that moment, he heard the strange Whispering again.

Unlike its initial muffled state, the Whispering now felt clear and complete, as if a radio had tuned into the correct frequency from static.

“Ǎψ…”

These sounds didn’t reach him through his ears but echoed directly in the spirit world, bypassing conventional senses.

Like ancient codes, each syllable carried profound meaning.

Though he couldn’t grasp their exact significance, Luo En sensed the emotions embedded within.

It was a deep, insatiable greed—a hunger so vast that the entire universe’s mana couldn’t satiate it.

This greed wasn’t mere material desire but an existential void, eternally craving more mana and existence.

The Devourer’s essence lived up to its name: a cosmic entity perpetually starved, devouring stars to sustain itself.

It wasn’t malicious—only following its nature, like a hurricane feeling no guilt for destroying cities or floods harboring no remorse for drowning villages.

Luo En analyzed how this emotion might affect him. The Devourer’s essence offered immense power but risked becoming a dangerous source.

If he grew too greedy during mana absorption, his own Mana Structure could destabilize, even triggering unpredictable mutations.

"I must remain vigilant. I cannot let this greed corrupt my essence", Luo En warned himself.

This was a pragmatic choice. Uncontrolled power wasn’t true power; only manageable mana held value.

Meanwhile, the Whispering’s rhythm and cadence inspired him anew.

He recorded these sounds during meditation, attempting to decode their patterns to enrich his Erosion Sonata with fresh elements.

At its core, the Erosion Sonata transformed spiritual interference into music. These cosmic Whisperings contained the rawest, strongest spiritual interference patterns.

They weren’t mere sounds but vibrations acting directly on the soul, bypassing conventional spirit defenses to influence the target’s consciousness structure.

If incorporated into his composition, their power would amplify significantly.

But great risks accompanied this—excessive erosion might backfire on the caster himself, like staring into the Abyss too long, only for the Abyss to stare back.

During breaks in his Starmeditation, Luo En took out paper and pen, meticulously recording his insights with rigorous logic and experimental spirit:

"The third movement should integrate the Devourer’s Whispering rhythm, creating a cyclical, accumulative soundwave structure.
Each cycle amplifies the previous effect, generating exponentially intensifying spiritual shocks.
This structure mirrors mathematical geometric progression—power grows exponentially, not linearly.
In practice, attempt embedding the 'Spirit Shockwave' effect into the finale, creating a black-hole-like collapse in the target’s spirit world to dismantle their defenses from within.
However, this attack method has flaws—its mana cycle is extremely complex. Any minor error margin could trigger mana backlash. Further experiments are needed to verify and optimize the theory."

As his pen glided across the parchment, a novel musical structure took shape in Luo En’s mind.

This wasn’t a fleeting burst of inspiration but an innovation built on rigorous analysis and logical deduction.

He deconstructed observed phenomena into fundamental elements, then reorganized them into a groundbreaking attack technique.

This would surpass the Erosion Sonata—he tentatively named it the Stellar Concerto, a terrifying power capable of directly annihilating a target’s spirit world.

The name reflected his vast ambition.

Beyond the Star, the Devourer wasn’t the only terrifying entity—countless similar horrors existed. Perhaps one day, he’d fuse their Whisperings into a single, ultimate composition…

This concept remained theoretical, requiring extensive experimentation and refinement to realize. Yet its potential was exhilarating.

After recording these insights, Luo En shifted his focus back to reality.

First, he inspected the Puppet Substitute—confirming its stable operation, correct route, and absence of threats.

Then he summoned the Big-Mouthed Parrot perched atop the carriage. This messenger bird had delivered countless letters for him since his Elementary Apprentice days—a trusted old friend.

Specifically borrowed from the School, this Messenger Bird was a formulation product with traits surpassing ordinary birds:

Exceptional objective perception ability to locate targets precisely;
Flight speed and endurance far exceeding normal birds;
Basic defensive spells to resist simple attacks.

He calculated precisely in his mind—Puppet Substitute’s average speed was 1.6 times that of a regular Beast of Burden.

Considering its advantage of requiring no rest, its travel efficiency would reach 2.3 times that of ordinary teams.

A journey taking a week by normal routes could be completed in three days, fitting his schedule perfectly.

On a piece of specially treated parchment, Luo En penned a brief letter:

"Andie,
I’ll arrive at the Royal Capital by noon in three days.
Inform me of your current location for our meeting.
Also, my ascension is complete—I’ve officially become a mage.
Luo En Lalf"

Concise yet containing crucial information, the letter perfectly matched Luo En’s style.

He refrained from elaborating on his ascension process or the School’s crisis, conveying only the core message with utmost brevity.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end