Within a space of radiant golden light dreamlike and surreal light and shadow intertwined, glorious as though a divine kingdom had descended.
At the very center of this dreamlike realm floated a golden balance scale, shimmering brilliantly. It hung in perfect stillness as if it were the very core of universal order, sacred and untouchable.
Each slight tilt of the scale seemed to stir the rhythm of the entire space solemn, weighty, and filled with gravity.
At this moment, Lynn sat cross-legged not far from the scale.
His entire body remained bathed in a soft, verdant green light like the budding of spring branches, full of vitality and spiritual resonance.
But now, that green glow was beginning to fade, gradually dissipating.
The thick, mist-like spiritual vapor that had been swirling around him was also dispersing, bit by bit, returning to formlessness.
The air seemed to grow clear, and his spiritual senses settled into tranquility.
Lynn slowly opened his eyes.
There was a brief daze in them at first, but clarity quickly replaced it.
His spiritual fluctuations had stabilized his breakthrough and cultivation had reached a successful conclusion.
Qi stood nearby, his expression grim and eyes sharp as blades.
He stared intently at Lynn, his gaze deep, flickering with thoughts and scrutiny.
"What exactly did this kid do?" Qi wondered silently.
He was almost certain that Lynn had done something to the Azure Sky Spirit either initiating some kind of unspeakable "exchange"… or even a fusion.
Otherwise, why would the mysterious Azure Sky Spirit willingly return all of its divine power to Lynn, instead of using it to repair itself?
Such an act was completely against its natural instincts.
"Could it be that…" Qi's brows furrowed. Just as he was about to speak
BOOM!
A terrifying aura suddenly descended as if from the distant cosmos!
Qi's mind reeled, a suffocating pressure slammed directly into the depths of his soul, as though an invisible hand had clutched his heart.
It was a gaze.
A divine eye, peering down from an unknowable height filled with overwhelming pressure and icy indifference.
It blazed like the sun, yet chilled like the moon piercing through space and laws, locking unerringly onto their position!
"A god… is watching us?!"
Qi's face changed dramatically, a rare flicker of fear and unease appearing in his usually composed eyes.
Normally, Qi was the embodiment of calm calculation, always collected and confident but now, for the first time, his expression showed real worry.
Under the weight of this divine pressure, the entire dreamlike space began to tremble and hum like a spiritual vessel about to sink, on the verge of collapse at any moment.
Thunderous rumbling echoed like crashing waves. The fabric of the void seemed to tear apart, the boundaries of the space distorting and crumbling.
Qi's gaze turned cold and sharp, all signs of calm erased.
In the next instant, he flung his sleeve and moved with thunderous speed, thrusting a finger toward the golden balance at the center of the space!
The golden scale shuddered violently, radiating a blinding brilliance like the final shield of divine protection, it stabilized the surrounding illusions and space.
For a brief moment, the tremors eased, and the crumbling space halted its collapse.
But it was only a reprieve.
Just a few heartbeats later, the divine pressure from above surged once more like a tidal wave crashing down, even more intense and overwhelming than before.
Even with the balance guarding them, the space began to creak and groan, fine cracks spreading through its walls!
"Use all of the Azure Sky Spirit's power!"
Qi shouted sharply, his voice like a thunderclap, jolting Lynn's mind into full alertness!
Lynn was slightly taken aback, clearly not yet fully recovered from the calm of his recent breakthrough.
But he could see that Qi wasn't joking there was urgency and seriousness in his voice.
Without hesitation, Lynn immediately activated his connection to the Azure Sky Spirit within him, reaching out to the spirit of the maple tree. His intent pierced straight into the depths of the Azure Sky Spirit!
Buzz!
A low, ancient hum echoed as a translucent cyan crystal suddenly materialized in front of Lynn!
From within it, a dazzling azure light burst forth like a river of stars crashing down, like the first roll of spring thunder!
The dreamlike space began to shift once more.
The golden brilliance continued to radiate from the balance scale, while a wave of azure energy rose like a celestial veil. Countless streaks of cyan light cascaded down, enveloping the entire space.
Gold and Azure dual barriers!
They shimmered together, like two vast heavens overlapping.
"This is... a probing strike from the Goddess of the Weave," Qi exhaled slowly, his voice low and his gaze unusually grave.
He flicked his sleeve, and a subtle glow flowed from his fingertips. In the skies above the dreamscape, the air twisted and shimmered.
The next moment, a strange vision unfolded across the heavens.
At the edge of the void, beyond the Seven-Star Temple, within the churning mist, a pair of eyes slowly emerged.
They were breathtakingly beautiful.
The irises were deep black, yet as vast as a star-filled sea. Long, fluttering lashes trembled like butterfly wings. It felt as if a single blink from her could dim the brilliance of all creation.
Just the appearance of these eyes was enough to make one's soul tremble and spirit waver.
Lynn's heart clenched the gaze seemed to ignore the limits of space, piercing straight into the depths of his soul.
Even more terrifying, he began to drift into vivid visions:
He saw a graceful, ethereal woman walking upon clouds her figure elegant and poised.
She was like a goddess incarnate, dressed in flowing divine robes. Mist swirled around her, obscuring her full appearance, yet she radiated a beauty that defied reality pure as dawnlight, serene as moonlit night.
She looked at him with those irresistible eyes.
A gentle, mysterious emotion spread through Lynn's chest, surging over him like a rising tide.
He wavered.
Unknowingly, his heart and mind had already been drawn in.
But in that instant, Qi's voice exploded in his ears like a thunderclap:
"Stay focused!"
The sharp command hit him like a bucket of ice water, yanking him out of the dreamlike trance.
Lynn's body jolted, his face paling as though he had just awakened from a divine dream.
Only then did he realize his once tranquil mind had been subtly tainted by divine influence.
He hurriedly turned his focus inward. Within his mental realm, a tier-one permanent arcane imprint was already releasing energy particles, slowly repairing the damage done to his "Void Tranquility" state.
At that moment, he understood.
He had been mentally breached completely unaware.
If not for Qi's timely warning, he might have been lost in that illusion, unable to escape… or worse, unknowingly influenced by a god.
"I can't just defend passively..." Lynn took a deep breath, his expression turning extremely serious.
He immediately took control of his spiritual power and fully activated the "Void Tranquility" technique.
Within his mindscape, a faint silver barrier quickly formed like moonlight cascading down, forging an unshakable shield around his soul.
He raised his head again and looked straight into the vision's eyes.
This time, the enchanting allure remained but under the protection of Void Tranquility, he saw more, deeper.
He no longer saw just beauty he saw the immense, unfathomable will behind those eyes, vast as an abyss, beyond mortal comprehension.
It was a power that could not be defied or profaned.
It did not roar, yet commanded the silence of the cosmos.
It did not strike, yet inspired instinctive submission.
It was the majesty of a true divine being.
Lynn drew a sharp breath. Even as a Rank 2 sorcerer, with spiritual strength far above average, under that gaze, he had nearly lost himself like an ant staring up at the stars.
"And this… is only a projection of her divine will…" he thought, shaken to the core.
If her true self had descended he wouldn't have had even the slightest chance to resist.
Only now did he finally understand what the ancient legends meant by gods that were "not to be seen" and "not to be spoken of?"
To Lynn, how was this Goddess of the Weave any different from one of the Great Old Ones?
"This power… it's terrifying…"
Qi stared at the slowly fading illusion, his expression more solemn than ever, and his voice carried a trace of uncontrollable tremor.
"The Goddess of the Weave… may have fully awakened."
He spoke slowly, his gaze piercing through the lingering golden light and fading vision.
"This power... it's already touching the limits of a fifth-level wizard. It might even have crossed into the sixth level."
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly waved his hand. A shimmering protective barrier appeared, fully enveloping Lynn.
Qi's eyes darkened, his brows furrowing tightly.
"She's not giving up. We can't just leave on our own now we'll have to retreat to your war fortress. From here on out, we'll need to rely on the other wizards."
His voice remained calm, but it couldn't hide the unease and urgency within.
The sudden appearance of the Goddess of the Weave was a twist Qi had never anticipated.
According to his calculations, the goddess's Seven-Star Divine Artifacts had only just begun awakening the first star and it should have been quite some time before her true revival.
With six stars still dormant, her divine power shouldn't have been this strong.
But reality had shattered all his predictions.
The Goddess of the Weave had somehow awakened in silence and what's worse, she hadn't tried to hide it at all. She had descended with a divine avatar, actively seeking them out, unleashing her divine will with no disguise aimed squarely at Qi and Lynn.
There was no longer any way for Qi to send Lynn back to the wizard's territories and then return alone to the goddess's domain to hunt his next target.
If he were to show himself there again, he would be instantly discovered by her divine projection and would have to endure the terrifying power of a main god's avatar.
Now, Qi had no choice but to retreat with Lynn to the wizard's domain and seek temporary refuge.
Lynn felt a jolt in his heart.
He understood what Qi intended to use the wizard faction's power to block the divine gaze bearing down on them.
But this also meant...
They were about to draw that terrifying divine intent directly to the battlefield!
"If we do this…" Lynn's eyes flickered with hesitation, "Aren't we essentially… dragging a god's gaze onto the entire warzone?"
Under such a terrifying gaze, Lynn had no doubt the whole battlefield could be plunged into ruin.
Gods existed on another plane of terror beings that not even Morning Star-level wizards had the right to behold directly.
This was about survival. Lynn wasn't about to go soft and try to stop Qi for the sake of some moral high ground.
If they were caught by that divine gaze, one mere thought from a god could erase them from existence without a trace.
Still, he voiced his concern:
"But… can they hold her back? That battlefield only holds a portion of the Eastern Warzone's forces…"
His tone was low, and his brow furrowed deeply.
A mere strand of the goddess's will had nearly torn apart the dream realm if she truly descended, who could stop her?
"Don't underestimate those terrifying wizards."
Qi let out a quiet breath and spoke softly:
"There are those… who will stop her."
Lynn's heart stirred slightly at those words. Could there be an even more powerful presence watching over that battle?
The wind howled. Space trembled.
Golden light blazed like a scorching sun, while the azure glow flowed like the calm of moonlight.
The brilliance of the Balance and the Azure Sky Spirit shimmered together, forming layered ripples of protective wards in the void.
It was as if two heavenly curtains were slowly unfolding, channeling unseen forces that gently carried Lynn and Qi toward the distant battlefield.
And far across the endless void, the goddess's illusory yet all-too-real gaze still pursued them without pause.
Meanwhile, on another distant battlefield
The sky churned, and clouds surged like waves. Two figures stood silently in the high heavens, feet hovering in the void as if standing before heaven's gate.
Amid the shifting storm, they watched from a not-too-distant height, overseeing the raging battle below.
One wore a set of intricate alchemical armor, layered with transforming mechanical parts and exuding a dense aura of machinery the Machine Gearbound Wizard, Angus.
The other wore a deep blue robe etched with countless ancient runes, holding aloft a radiant orb of blue and white crystal none other than the Weave Artifact Master, Mage Linge.
At this moment, the two peak powerhouses remained motionless like silent mountains standing tall in the sky coldly observing the fierce clash between the wizard legions and the goddess's forces below.
On the ground, ten battlefields were scattered like stars in the sky.
Torrents of spells, the roar of divine artifacts, and waves of collapsing elements surged endlessly.
Thanks to the sweeping victory at War Fortress No. 13, large numbers of wizard legions had arrived just in time to reinforce the lines, tipping the balance of the entire front.
Now, among the ten major battlefields, the wizards had gained the upper hand in seven, with only three still being suppressed by the goddess's side.
Angus cast a faint glance at the nearby Mage Linge, his gaze as steely as iron.
A twitch at the corner of his eye betrayed the trace of mockery on his otherwise shrewd face.
That old man… still wearing that calm, unaffected look.
Linge's eyes remained fixed on the blue-and-white orb in his hand, his expression heavy, yet as tranquil as a still lake.
That orb was one of the Seven-Star Divine Artifacts of the Goddess of the Weave, containing immense divine power yet it now lay dormant, only faint ripples of light flickering across its surface.
The overture to the great battle had already begun.
The goddess's army launched their first full-scale assault but it was suppressed by the wizards.
Several ninth-level mages had already fallen, and the goddess's divine artifacts were no longer advancing as expected.
Even more unexpected was the sudden departure of Mage Bede, who was supposed to act in this critical moment.
His only explanation: "The temple has been damaged. I must personally protect the source of the artifact."
Linge looked down at the raging torrents of magical energy clashing below, feeling that things had already slipped beyond his control.
Suddenly, his brow twitched, and he muttered under his breath:
"…Should I…?"
At that moment, the blue-and-white orb in his hand began to shimmer with a strange ripple, flowing like a galaxy its flickering brilliance hinting at an awakening will within.
But just as that thought surfaced
The orb suddenly blazed to life!
Blue and white radiance descended like a falling divine realm, instantly illuminating the space for dozens of meters around Linge. The light was clear and cold, carrying a pressure that felt almost like a god descending upon the world.
In the distance, Angus's gaze sharpened. A moment later, his body trembled, and a shield formed of countless interwoven mechanical arms emerged around him.
An overwhelming surge of magical force erupted from within him as if he were ready to act at any moment.
"He's about to activate the artifact?" Angus's heart sank.
But then, his keen, radar-like eyes caught something unusual.
Linge's expression… was not composed.
On the contrary, at that instant, a flash of shock and disbelief passed across his face.
…He wasn't the one controlling it.
That divine artifact was now completely out of his control!
A deep sense of danger surged through Angus's chest.
The divine power emanating from the orb was intense and distinct, laced with an echo of will that instinctively made every wizard uneasy.
"Who else but Linge could affect the artifact's function?"
The answer was undeniable it rose in his mind like a thunderclap:
The Goddess of the Weave herself.
Angus's brow furrowed sharply, a chill running straight down his spine.
Could she have intervened personally?
But according to all known intelligence… the Goddess of the Weave shouldn't be awakened yet.
And judging from Linge's reaction it was clear that even the top figures on the goddess's side had no idea what was happening with her...
-support me on Patreon for more chapters, 115+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LordoftheReader