Chapter 490 - 357: Conservative Star Mages

Chapter 490: Chapter 357: Conservative Star Mages

After observing Soron’s goblins, Isaac turned and walked over to Agares’s Demon experimentation area. Compared to Soron’s crude methods, Agares’s experimental approach was a bit more refined. As for the results, well, they were slightly better than Soron’s, but that was about it.

The compatibility between Demons and Star Gods was too low. Isaac had verified this direction himself, and it seemed he had only let Agares experiment for a year before abandoning it. Everything that followed was Agares’s own idea.

And it was obvious that after losing his guidance, Agares’s experimental techniques had grown increasingly crude, making Isaac shake his head in disapproval.

Soron’s crudeness was a matter of style. Creatures like goblins, even without being summoned by that Demon Eye, could be gathered in large numbers with little effort. They were practically worthless, so there was no need to feel bad about using them as consumables.

Thus, Soron’s crudeness was only for the initial phase of collecting massive amounts of data; his subsequent experimental methods were quite refined. In this regard, Agares was far inferior to Soron. He was simply inept.

Still, it was understandable. He was a Wild Sorcerer, after all, with plenty of room for growth.

Leaving the experimentation area, Isaac arrived at the living quarters for the Star Mages. Compared to the previous sections, this was the main event.

Because this third area was being run entirely according to Isaac’s research plan!

It included the completion of the Star Mage system, the construction of the Star Knight system, exploration of the Shadow of the Star God, research into Star Beast diversity, and most importantly—the Shadow of the Star God fusion experiment!

The former projects were all preliminary research for Isaac to further study the Power Traits of the Star God and perfect the power system. The main goals were to accumulate data and, at the same time, build goodwill with the Star Mages to pave the way for the final step: the Shadow of the Star God fusion.

In Isaac’s view, the ultimate path forward for the Star Mage system still lay with the Shadow of the Star God. In fact, after studying the research achievements of this world’s Star Mages, he believed their system should have long ago evolved to that of true Wizards. After all, they had even managed to research something like Laws.

Although the two might seem unrelated, in reality, Anti-Divine Magic like Laws was a product that emerged in the Real World only after the Path of the Wizard had developed to Tier Four. Before that, in the War between Wizards and Deities, Wizards were still far inferior to Deities.

They could only leverage the home-field advantage of Tier Four Mages in the Real World to wage constant guerrilla warfare against the Church. It was only after Laws came into existence and were elevated to the Golden Law that Wizards truly had the confidence to confront Deities and establish their first foothold!

This was the precursor to the Truth Republic—the current headquarters of the Truth Association!

Therefore, technologically, the Star Mages had, to some extent, already reached the level of the Tier Four Mages of that era. With such technical prowess, their current situation shouldn’t be what it is.

And after some analysis, Isaac found the answer—they were too conservative!

The Star Mages generally had two feelings toward the Shadow of the Star God. The first was reverence; they believed that since the specific principles of this power were unknown, it could only be used superficially and not delved into deeply, or else it would bring disaster sooner or later!

This viewpoint gained many supporters after the Star Mages began exploring beyond their world, creating a faction that rivaled the current mainstream opinion.

Isaac agreed with this view. One should indeed be reverent toward any unknown power, but to become timid because of it was taking things too far.

However, this view wasn’t the reason the Star Mages failed to develop further. After all, the Star Mages only began their outward exploration long after the appearance of Laws.

The main reason they were so reluctant to take that next step was the opposition from the mainstream faction—they worshiped the Shadow of the Star God!

They believed the Shadow of the Star God was sublime and that one should not harbor too many blasphemous thoughts toward it!

Comparing the starting points of the Path of the Wizard in both worlds, Isaac discovered the turning point was right here. The reason the Path of the Wizard in the Real World had developed so smoothly and advanced so relentlessly was entirely due to the existence of the Mad Witches!

Although Mad Witches are reviled by all today, back in that dark age, they were the undisputed pioneers and sages of their civilization. It was their bold and insane actions that laid an incredibly solid foundation for the Path of the Wizard!

At the same time, they profoundly influenced the Wizards’ perception of Deities—’They are nothing more than powerful life forms.’

Based on this perception, Wizards had very little reverence for Deities. Thus, even when the era of Mad Witches gradually faded from the mainstream, other Wizards still held no reverence for Deities. In fact, once they were strong enough, they began to directly hunt them!

During the age when Wizards were at their most rampant, they were the absolute masters of the world. A powerful Wizard would venture into the Boundless Void and travel to a Divine Kingdom to imprison or even slay a Deity just to verify some experiment or hypothesis!

But in this world, the Star Mages would never have such a thought. They had done almost no research on the Shadow of the Star God, the very source of their power!

This was why Isaac had initiated so many preliminary research projects—to gain the support of the Star Mages. After all, for the final and most important phase of the experiment, having the heartfelt support of the Star Mages would make things much smoother.

Fortunately, after their defeat in the war, the Star Mages had been greatly influenced, developing a particular fascination with the Wizard Civilization of the Real World.

Under the influence of this new way of thinking, Isaac’s research progressed smoothly. By the time of his arrival, four exceptionally talented Tier One Star Witches and six unranked Star Mage Apprentices had already been selected to prepare for the final phase: the Shadow of the Star God fusion.

Compared to the previous cold-blooded, insane, and gory warehouse of experimental subjects, the atmosphere in this area was markedly different. Wizards from the Real World and the Star Mages of this world lived here in harmony, jointly exploring unknown Knowledge.

Even the ten people about to undergo human experimentation had faces full of anticipation for the unknown, without a trace of fear.

However, when Isaac walked in, the atmosphere underwent a subtle shift. The Star Mages mostly looked at him with curiosity and adoration. They had long yearned to meet the Existence who had been guiding and controlling the experiments from beyond their world. His knowledge, as vast and deep as the Abyss, and his wildly imaginative ideas left them utterly captivated.

The Wizards from the Real World, however, had a faint look of fear in their eyes.

Although they also served a Mad Witch, compared to Isaac, the Eldest Princess was like a pure little lamb...

The two of them weren’t on the same level at all!

So, while they could work calmly under Philo, they still showed a hint of fear when facing Isaac.

Isaac, however, paid no mind to this. He gave a simple greeting to the enthusiastic Star Mages, then walked to a pure white stone pillar in the very center of the area and stopped. He swiped a finger across its surface, and dense lines of data began to appear.

At the same time, one strange item after another was unsealed from within the pillar, flying out to circle it silently.

This was a portable laboratory hub that Soron and Agares had built using materials from this world. It had the ability to store data and experimental items, and could also retract the entire laboratory in a very short amount of time.

It was a product developed by the Truth Association a long time ago but was abandoned due to its excessively high cost.

After all, spending that much just to build a portable laboratory... was completely not worth it.

It would be better to spend a little more for a better Mage Tower and add some Space Teleportation capabilities, or just suck it up for a bit and do the research after returning home.

But while it was expensive, its performance was still quite good. With Isaac’s modifications, he had connected it to the God of Imaginary Numbers Maxu Kant, giving it some preliminary computational power to better guide them in their experiments.

After all, unlike Isaac, they didn’t have the [Analysis] Authority to collect data.

Before the Shadow of the Star God fusion experiment began, Isaac first needed to organize this data to see if any adjustments were necessary.