886: Parallel History Spell and the Historical Diamond
The Founding Ancestor stepped out from the darkness, his expression somewhat helpless. "At that time, I placed the secret of human creation into the Historical Reproduction spell left to you by your special clone, and I also left the History Stripping Incantation within it. I wanted to compensate you and didn't want to see you again."
"But I didn't expect that you would find me yourself anyway."
At this moment, the Founding Ancestor did not look like a teenager, but rather a young man. His eyes revealed a spirited brilliance, a trait that the melancholic teenage Founding Ancestor of the past did not possess.
"I have two questions for you. First, why didn't you stop those two wizards from entering your Historical Reproduction spell and let them share the secret of human creation with you?"
Locke was stunned for a moment and asked the Founding Ancestor in return.
"Is there any necessity for me to stop them?"
The young Founding Ancestor's expression froze for a moment, and he gave a bitter smile.
"At this point in time, I have just wiped out a major wizard power; those people would never trust others. I truly did not expect you to make this choice. This led me to make an incorrect judgment."
"Even though your Archaeology magic is average, you still came here to see me."
"This point is actually even more rare."
"The second question."
The young Founding Ancestor's face became serious.
"Are you my enemy?"
Surprise flashed in Locke's eyes. He looked at the very serious young Founding Ancestor, not knowing what the problem was.
Because the young Founding Ancestor before him was actually sizing him up with a gaze of vigilance and wariness. That attitude of equality made it seem as if he were not just a Second Ring Wizard, but a High-Ring Wizard.
'Why does it feel like the Founding Ancestor in his youth is even more dangerous?'
Locke frowned. He didn't know where this sense of equality came from; the Founding Ancestor was clearly a wizard of a much higher ring than himself.
At this moment, the Founding Ancestor's eyes flickered as he looked at Locke.
'This person is closely related to the Black Sun Tower. The first time I saw him, I made a mistake in my judgment of him. The second time I see him, I've made another mistake in judgment.'
'Two consecutive errors in judgment, and neither was due to magic.'
'This is a dangerous signal. I originally wanted to avoid meeting him face-to-face a second time, but I didn't expect him to find his way here anyway. Is he a member of the Black Sun Tower, or perhaps a pawn?'
A hint of suspicion was revealed in the young Founding Ancestor's gaze.
Because as a young man now, he had already achieved a state where every calculation was flawless. Almost no information could escape his eyes, and his deduction abilities had reached a peak beyond which nothing could be added.
Anyone who could escape his predictions could trigger his vigilance.
Locke said to the young Founding Ancestor, "Founding Ancestor, you and I are not from the same era. How could I possibly be your enemy?"
The young Founding Ancestor shook his head slightly.
"I'm not saying you harbor ill intentions. Do you know of fish and fishing nets? Some people think they are not in the net, but they have always been in it; some people think they are in the net, but they are actually not in it at all."
"Who is in the net is a question. Sometimes even a Third Ring Wizard or even a Throne Wizard cannot tell the difference. Therefore, whether you are my enemy or not, you yourself might not necessarily be clear on the matter."
Locke frowned. He felt his soul bearing an immense pressure because the Founding Ancestor was speaking to him about something that clearly possessed the characteristics of a High-Ring Wizard.
And for some reason, this also made him think of the academic conflict between the Red Dragon Throne and the Rose Throne.
The young Founding Ancestor suddenly shook his head. "I am overthinking. You cannot be a pawn of the Black Sun Tower."
"Since you can exceed my calculations twice in a row, it's the same for the Black Sun Tower. They are the ancestral court of ancient sacrificial magic."
"They would not choose such an uncontrollable subject as you."
The young Founding Ancestor said, "The world outside has had my intervention since its creation. It was I who summoned the Bannaradja God Clan and brought this place to his attention."
"My fake tomb is hidden at the bottom of this world, and I wanted the Bannaradja God Clan to build the earth at the bottom of this world. But the Bannaradja God Clan itself is also very dangerous, so I spread a piece of false information to him and scared him away."
Locke suddenly realized that indeed, there were no deployments of the Wizard Civilization or the Persepolis God Clan in this nearby void region. He hadn't encountered anything while piloting the exploration vanguard all this way.
What were the Wizard Civilization and the Persepolis God Clan fighting for then?
He hadn't reacted much to this while inside the Historical Reproduction spell, but thinking back carefully now, the news that the Bannaradja God Clan received back then should have been false information deliberately spread by someone.
The Founding Ancestor continued, "The world tree leaf was an accident, but accidents are like decorations. The more such decorations there are, the more they can conceal secrets."
"I summoned the Persepolis God Clan a second time. He only had a divine name left and could not be resurrected no matter what. I watched him in this world, hopelessly trying to resurrect time and again, but ultimately failing every time. Then, he would only have one path left—after repeated failures, choosing to enter the body of the Lava Giant."
"But I had tampered with that Lava Giant. The moment he entered, the Lava Giant would immediately fall to the bottom of the river and turn into creation divine power."
Locke said, "In other words, no matter what choice that Persepolis God Clan made, his final outcome would be no different from what it is now."
The Archaeology Founding Ancestor smiled and said, "You are right. In heaven and on earth, his paths had already been blocked by me. Like a chess piece with all four surrounding points occupied by other pieces, he already had nowhere to go."
"His filling the bottom of the river was an inevitability, but the manner in which he filled it just now was not within my expectations. Because during this inevitable process, you jumped out. So I immediately reacted—you cannot be my enemy. My enemy would not choose a fish that would actively jump out of the fishing net."
"My enemy would not control such a dangerous individual."
The Archaeology Founding Ancestor looked at Locke and said, "Every Archaeology Wizard who meets me can make one wish that the current me is capable of fulfilling. Speak, what do you want?"
Locke said, "Won't the Founding Ancestor ask about what happened last time? I still have many doubts about what occurred during our last meeting."
"For example, the Weaving Princess."
Locke asked, "Founding Ancestor, I want to ask you one thing—is the Weaving Princess the one who was truly expunged?"
The young Founding Ancestor was suddenly startled.
"So that's how it is. You did notice after all."
"Indeed, with your aptitude, you can truly become an Archaeology Wizard."
The young Founding Ancestor placed a finger to his lips and then said, "However, you cannot continue this topic. You must preserve your useful life; if you continue this topic, you will alarm 'Heaven'."
"This matter is of great importance."
Locke looked at the young Founding Ancestor strangely. "Isn't there only one 'Heaven' in the Wizard World?"
The young Founding Ancestor smiled. "That is something from after the Enlightenment Era. Before that, many 'Heavens' existed in the Wizard World."
"But no matter which 'Heaven' it is, none are to be trifled with."
The young Founding Ancestor stood with his hands behind his back and said, "Locke, tell me one wish."
Locke thought for a moment and said, "Founding Ancestor, I want the black and white grimoire."
The young Founding Ancestor looked at Locke in surprise, then seemed to realize something.
"There is a qualitative difference between Second Ring Archaeology and First Ring Archaeology. In the past, I did indeed use someone's hand to create one hundred black and white grimoires as an inheritance. But some of these grimoires have been destroyed in history."
"Currently, there are only sixty-one known grimoires in existence. There might be a few more that exist without my knowledge, considering the special nature of Archaeology Wizards."
"The current me cannot provide you with a black and white grimoire."
"After all, it is an entity of limited quantity. Every book basically has a master behind it."
Locke frowned. He hadn't expected it to be like this.
In that case, obtaining a black and white grimoire would be very troublesome.
Clearly, if he wanted his Archaeology to progress further, he needed a black and white grimoire, and those were all in the hands of well-known wizard organizations.
To think that even the Archaeology Founding Ancestor before him could not help him obtain a black and white grimoire.
Locke asked the question in his heart.
"Why can't the Founding Ancestor directly tell me the contents related to Second Ring Archaeology?"
"With your level, it should be possible to compile this part of the teaching material on the spot, right?"
The young Archaeology Founding Ancestor laughed. "Archaeology magic is different from other magics. This magic has very high requirements for a wizard's aptitude, similar to Potionology at the Second Ring stage, and completely different from Botany. Therefore, from the start, most wizards cannot possibly learn Archaeology."
"Furthermore, the root realm of Archaeology is not something anyone in most Wizard Lands would carefully maintain. So, I used the hand of a descendant to create one hundred black and white grimoires to make it convenient for certain wizards to enter the study of Archaeology magic through external means. Part of the material of the black and white grimoire is the root realm."
Locke nodded. So that was it.
Then the inheritance of Archaeology magic was highly dependent on the grimoires. Moreover, every Second Ring Wizard who wanted to learn Archaeology would likely need to hold a black and white grimoire for a period of time.
This also explained why there were no rubbings or copies of these grimoires.
The Archaeology Founding Ancestor said, "So I cannot give you a grimoire. You can change your wish. Or, you can make a choice now."
"[Historical Spiritual Agility]—this is the key to Second Ring Archaeology. It is also a masterpiece of my Spell Models. The black and white grimoire contains much [Historical Spiritual Agility]. However, there is another way to enhance Historical Spiritual Agility, and I can give that to you right now."
The Archaeology Founding Ancestor raised his palm, and suddenly a diamond the size of a basketball appeared between him and Locke.
"This is the Historical Diamond."
"It is a supreme treasure of our Archaeology magic. By placing the Historical Diamond into your Ultimate Magic, you will possess artificial [Historical Spiritual Agility]."
"These [Historical Spiritual Agility] are made by me, so you won't need to create your own Historical Spiritual Agility through studying Archaeology. You will immediately possess Sun Ring Level Historical Spiritual Agility."
"The power of all the Archaeology Spell Models you cast will be enhanced."
"Your learning of Archaeology spells will progress by leaps and bounds."
"The second choice: I will give you a [Parallel History Spell]. This is a creation incantation."
Locke looked at the Founding Ancestor and asked, "Founding Ancestor, what is the effect of this incantation?"
The Founding Ancestor said, "The Parallel History Spell collects the history of a certain region, creates a negative energy particle field of parallel history, and brings you into that period of parallel history. This is not a Second Ring spell, but a Fourth Ring spell."
"This incantation can be used twice in total. If you discover a region in the future that is suspected to have a black and white grimoire, you can use the Parallel History Spell on that region. Once the incantation is planted, a parallel pseudo-history will be derived. You can then enter it and obtain the black and white grimoire within."
Locke said, "Truly powerful. But Founding Ancestor, doesn't this mean you've used a single spell to derive a grimoire?"
The Archaeology Founding Ancestor said, "Not quite. Because it must be based on the fact that the item on the correct timeline has already been destroyed. Therefore, this incantation can only pull back an item from the past that can no longer exist on the current timeline. At the same time, the magic pressure density of that item cannot be too high or too low. The black and white grimoire happens to fit this characteristic."
"If it's too high, it will cause this Parallel History Spell to be destroyed; if it's too low, the item will crumble when it crosses back to the correct timeline."
The Archaeology Founding Ancestor placed the diamond and a glow of magic light before him.
"You can choose one from between them."
Locke looked at the diamond, then looked at the glow of magic light.
"I choose the Parallel History Spell."
"Although the diamond can immediately grant me Sun Ring Level Historical Spiritual Agility, which seems very good, I still want to possess my own 'Historical Spiritual Agility'."
The Archaeology Founding Ancestor's eyes flickered. He frowned and said, "You really don't want to choose the Historical Diamond? Many Archaeology Wizards have fought many tragic wars in history for the sake of this diamond."
"The value of the diamond is several times that of my Parallel History Spell, and the benefits this Parallel History Spell can bring you are uncertain."
Locke asked, "Can I trade the diamond away?"
The Archaeology Founding Ancestor laughed.
"You fellow, others would fight to the death for this diamond, yet you actually want to trade it away. This diamond is a condensation of mental power. If I give it to you and you leave here, this diamond will be locked to you. Without me, no one can change its master."
Locke was stunned for a moment and instantly realized.
"Founding Ancestor, you still suspect I am your enemy."
The Archaeology Founding Ancestor shook his head slightly.
"I am suspicious by nature; it's normal to suspect you. You are indeed a very strange fellow. Fine, I did indeed want to use a Historical Diamond to sever the karma between us just now."
"That way, I would never have to see you again."
"But you still made the correct choice and passed my final test. That's right, the Historical Spiritual Agility within this Historical Diamond is artificial."
"If you accepted it, it would mean part of your [Agility] would always be artificial. Your upper limit would be locked by me."
"Furthermore, with your abilities, you would be unable to remove this diamond from your spirit. In other words, unless you could find a Third Ring Throne Archaeology Wizard to act on your behalf and expend a massive amount of energy, your path in Archaeology would be considered severed."
Locke frowned. He hadn't expected the Founding Ancestor to be wary of him to such an extent, not hesitating to use such a tempting method to actively hinder his path in Archaeology.
Locke said, "Founding Ancestor, why bother explaining it so clearly to me?"
The Archaeology Founding Ancestor tossed the Parallel History Spell to Locke.