Seeing Anbaixiu's Golden Throne, the guildmaster blinked.
He had never seen such a thing before, yet he could sense that this Golden Throne was anything but ordinary. Seated upon it, Anbaixiu seemed like an entirely different person, radiating an overwhelming aura of authority.
"No wonder you dared to cast World Weaving. Where did you get this artifact?" the guildmaster asked, intrigued.
He considered himself well-informed, able to name every famous artifact in the world one by one, yet he had genuinely never seen Anbaixiu's throne before.
Anbaixiu replied casually, "A perk from the God of Alchemy. Otherwise, why would I have agreed to his deal?"
"And that deal was to banish me, wasn't it?" the guildmaster sneered.
Anbaixiu gave a hearty laugh, unbothered. "Haven't I come looking for you now? I was conning the God of Alchemy all along."
No one could tell whether that was true or false. Things having reached this point, the guildmaster did not press the matter further. A clever partner did not dwell on the past; in the face of mutual profit, forgetting what came before was sometimes the best choice.
The ruins of the City of Alchemy were continuously shrinking, and the converted mana left Anbaixiu feeling somewhat bloated.
He knew his skeletal body could not contain such a colossal volume of mana. It was time to cast the spell; otherwise, his body would burst.
The Golden Throne flared with dazzling golden light. As Anbaixiu chanted the incantation and traced countless lines of magic with both hands, the immense mana surged forth like floodwaters bursting through a breached dam.
World Weaving—a mighty spell capable of altering the environment of an entire world.
The bizarre refraction of the Golden Desert and the perpetual thunderclouds over the Orc Mountains were both "wonders" left behind by World Weaving.
And now, Anbaixiu was about to build a wonder of his own.
Under Anbaixiu's control, a strange pink mist coalesced around the perimeter of the City of Alchemy. The fog writhed and shifted constantly like a living entity, seeping into every brick and stone of the city.
Having nearly fused into one with the City of Alchemy, the guildmaster felt the change immediately.
"What... what are you doing?" The guildmaster's words were merely an inquiry, devoid of panic, as he could tell Anbaixiu's alterations did not harm him.
Anbaixiu did not answer, only continuing to channel mana to make the pink mist denser and more substantial. Soon enough, the guildmaster discovered what the mist was for.
When the guildmaster extended a tentacle, the City of Alchemy shuddered, and a tentacle formed entirely of pink mist stretched out from the edge of the city, reaching toward the sky.
One hundred meters, two hundred meters, five hundred meters... three thousand meters, five thousand meters... The misty pink tentacle extended to an unimaginable length, reaching all the way up to touch the slaad marsh floating overhead.
Only then did Anbaixiu speak: "I once heard a saying in another place: give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Guildmaster, I have woven this chaotic mist for you. You can control it at will with your mind. This chaotic space is your fishing ground, and every floating landmass is a fish waiting to be caught. Now, let's reel in our first catch."
Excited, the guildmaster thrust out all his tentacles. In an instant, the City of Alchemy became a tentacled monstrosity, every appendage grasping toward the marsh, easily capturing the massive landmass.
Under the guildmaster's mental command, the chaotic tentacles retracted, dragging the marsh toward the City of Alchemy.
Such a disturbance naturally terrified the slaadi within the swamp.
As the two landmasses drew closer, Anbaixiu could see slaadi of various colors hopping about in sheer panic. Yet there was nothing they could do except watch helplessly as their world was pulled inexorably toward the City of Alchemy.
In the end, the chaotic tentacles flipped the marsh around and inlaid it along the edge of the City of Alchemy. When the two landmasses collided, a burst of fire flared along the invisible barrier between them, only for the chaotic tentacles to wipe it smooth, fusing them completely.
The barriers of the two landmasses merged into one, like two soap bubbles combining into a single, larger bubble.
The marsh was slightly smaller in area than the City of Alchemy. When two such colossal masses collided, the tremors produced were far gentler than expected—not unlike two train cars latching together.
Anbaixiu said cheerfully, "Done. Looks like my World Weaving worked quite well, wouldn't you say?"
Anbaixiu's spell had essentially reshaped a portion of chaotic energy into tentacles for the City of Alchemy. The power of chaos could erase the barriers around landmasses and move freely through this chaotic world.
This granted the guildmaster limitless possibilities: he could seize other floating realms at will and graft them onto his own body.
And as long as there was enough matter, he, who could cast Wish without limit, could rampage through this divine dumping ground unchecked.
Anbaixiu had only just thought of this solution. The guildmaster was, after all, an ally of immense potential; the stronger he became, the more benefits Anbaixiu stood to reap in the future.
The guildmaster was likewise pleased with the result and couldn't help sighing, "Ah, if only you had been willing to join the Alchemists' Council back then. Perhaps everything would have turned out differently."
"Heh, no need to bring up the past." Anbaixiu harbored no regrets whatsoever. Just look at the fates of those who followed the guildmaster: dead, bankrupted, or on the run. Even the guildmaster himself had ended up banished. Such was the consequence of pursuing truth instead of gold coins.
Anbaixiu urged him, "Let's leave that aside for now. Deal with those slaadi first. I gave you tentacles, and you help me open a portal so I can return. A win-win, isn't it?"
With that, Anbaixiu rode the Golden Throne and flew toward the slaadi.
This time, he intended to play hardball.
The slaadi's spatial ritual was no longer the only solution. With the guildmaster's assistance, even if the Slaad Lord detonated itself on the spot, Anbaixiu could have the guildmaster dismantle the marsh as fuel for Wish and simply wish a spatial portal into existence.
Thus, Anbaixiu went all out this time.
Hovering in midair, he hurled spells downward as if they cost nothing.
Call Lightning, Chain Lightning, Call Lightning again, Chain Lightning again... Slaadi possessed considerable spell resistance, but they were by no means immune to magic. Under Anbaixiu's relentless barrage, the conductive marsh became a hell for the slaadi, one frog-like monster after another convulsing and collapsing.
The gray slaad finally could sit still no longer. Casting Fly, it soared into the air and raised a hand, loosing a Finger of Death straight at Anbaixiu.
Anbaixiu raised a magical Shield, thinking he could block it with ease.
Yet the magical energy of Finger of Death pierced straight through Anbaixiu's Shield and struck toward him!
In the nick of time, with the necromantic glow already practically at his face, he spun his chair around at the critical moment.
The necrotic energy slammed into the Golden Throne, detonating in a brilliant burst of light.
Anbaixiu's heart pounded with lingering dread. *A shield-piercing legendary boon!*
It had to be a legendary ability. Otherwise, how could a Shield empowered by the Golden Throne be so easily breached? Anbaixiu had dared to tank the power of Meteor Swarm with his Shield—that was the confidence the Golden Throne gave him.
Yet he had been overconfident this time, never anticipating that he would run into a slaad whose legendary boon was shield-shattering. That was an outright mage-killer! How many wizards could take a Finger of Death with their bare flesh?
Fortunately, Anbaixiu was not just a legendary wizard; he was also a legendary ranger. His reflexes were razor-sharp in the pinch, allowing him to use the Golden Throne to deflect disaster.
Without hesitation, Anbaixiu widened the distance and unleashed a furious barrage upon the Slaad Lord.
He hurled a volley of fireballs without restraint, utterly submerging the Slaad Lord in explosions.
Only after flying back into the City of Alchemy did Anbaixiu extend his senses to check whether the Slaad Lord was dead or alive.
Perhaps never expecting Anbaixiu to dodge that fatal strike, the Slaad Lord's reaction had been a beat too slow. It had taken Anbaixiu's fireball volley right to the face, blasting half its body charred black as it plummeted toward the ground, trailing smoke.
The Slaad Lord likely had not expected Anbaixiu's spellcasting prowess to be so absurd—as if a hundred wizards were casting simultaneously. The sheer suppressive firepower had left it grievously wounded.
Had it not possessed two decent magic items, Anbaixiu's round of bombardment would have claimed its life.
Seeing that the Slaad Lord was badly wounded, Anbaixiu intended to pursue and finish it off, but the guildmaster reached out with a chaotic tentacle and snagged the falling Slaad Lord from midair.
These chaotic tentacles could drag an entire marsh, possessing a strength far beyond what the Slaad Lord could escape.
Just like that, the powerful legendary slaad was captured alive.
Anbaixiu shot the guildmaster a disdainful look. "You did that on purpose just now, didn't you? You could have acted earlier."
The guildmaster did not mince words. "I was curious. I wanted to see what that gold chair of yours could do. Now I see that it truly is an artifact—so powerful that even I am envious."
It took a master to know a master. Anbaixiu's spellcasting display just now had been terrifying, embodying the concept of an artillery mage to the absolute extreme. A single person acting as an entire mage corps—it was utterly absurd.
The God of Alchemy had given him this? Had the god treated him too generously? Was he really not some god's illegitimate son?
Jealousy stirred in the guildmaster's heart. He had never even heard an oracle from the God of Alchemy, knowing only that the development of alchemy had stagnated for centuries under that deity's interference. He was an alchemist! What reason was there for the God of Alchemy to favor a lich?
Yet it was only a fleeting anger. The guildmaster could control his emotions well, and cooperating with Anbaixiu remained paramount.
Pulling the Slaad Lord into the City of Alchemy, the guildmaster looked down imperiously at the creature—half gray, half charred—and declared in a commanding voice, "Submit to me, and I shall grant you new life."
To achieve godhood, believers were indispensable.
The path to rising as a new god would begin with this repulsive toad before him.
Chapter 213