Early in the morning, the sunlight shined on the ground.
Within a sparse laboratory, Chen Heng stood there by himself, casually waving his hand.
Motes of golden light giving off resplendent light flowed out as the magic power in Chen Heng's body formed a golden sword in front of him.
"I finally succeeded…"
Looking at this golden sword, Chen Heng gave a slight smile.
This golden sword was something he had condensed from magic power; it was the same as the magic skill that Yana had used.
Chen Heng had obtained much information from the Legacy Stone that Yana had given him, including magic skill frameworks.
This was a path completely different to that of the Hunter's House, and it was based on ancient Sorcerers' summoning skills. It was just that what was summoned was not a powerful living creature but powerful weapons of all kinds of shapes.
Using magic power to condense and stabilize shapes was the specialty of this magic skill.
The power that it contained was quite mysterious, and it was completely different to this regions' magic skill system.
After returning to the Hunter's House, Chen Heng had thrown himself into researching those magic skills.
After quite a while, he had finally learned and grasped this magic skill.
It seemed that the effects were quite good.
Faint mental energy spread out.
As Chen Heng's mental energy rippled, the golden sword shot forwards.
Rumble…
Formless ripples appeared ahead, and waves of magic power appeared.
At the critical moment, the barrier that Chen Heng had set up appeared in front of the wooden dummy.
This was the first line of defense that Chen Heng had set up for the wooden dummy.
The wooden dummy was quite special; not only did it use special materials, making it quite sturdy, but it was also wearing Magic Iron Armor that had magic resistance.
Adding on the barrier that Chen Heng had set up, this wooden dummy had great defensive properties.
Even a Third Rank Apprentice would find it very difficult to break through this wooden dummy's defenses.
This became the test subject for Chen Heng's magic skill.
As he watched on, the golden sword shot out and ferociously stabbed forwards.
Bang!
A light sound rang out as the barrier was pierced, revealing the Magic Iron Armor behind it.
The Magic Iron Armor used many magic items and had many runes engraved on it, giving it terrifying defensive power.
This was a high-level magic item and had great magic resistance properties.
The golden sword continued onwards and clashed with the Magic Iron Armor, resulting in shocking sounds.
This lasted for a while before the magic power ripples finally subsided.
Chen Heng walked over to the wooden dummy.
"It pierced the armor."
After closely examining the wooden dummy, Chen Heng nodded.
There was a hole in the black Magic Iron Armor.
Evidently, even Magic Iron Armor was unable to block that attack.
The might of this magic skill could pierce through the defenses of Magic Iron Armor and injure the wooden dummy behind it.
If this was in a real battle, it would definitely be able to injure his enemies.
Of course, after the magic skill passed through the barrier and the Magic Iron Armor, the damage that the wooden dummy sustained was not very great.
If it was a real person who had these defences, they would only receive some light injuries.
Of course, this was under the normal course of things.
If Chen Heng was able to hit important parts such as the eyes or organs, the outcome would be different.
However, doing such a thing in a real battle would be very difficult.
After all, in an intense battle, his mind would be affected by his enemy's mental energy, and his enemy would move about.
"Its piercing power is very strong, but there is still room for improvement…"
Looking at the wooden dummy, Chen Heng's expression was calm as he made notes and continued on with his research.
After testing out his magic skill, it was time to test his magic power.
Over this period of time, Chen Heng had not fallen behind on doing Meditation either.
The Moon God Worship that he had obtained in the Moon Elf King's tomb was something that he had been studying.
Through this high-level Meditation Technique meant for the Moon Elf royal family, Chen Heng had received great benefits.
Just like Yana had said, those who were not Elves would find it almost impossible to use this Meditation Technique.
Over the past few days, Chen Heng had tried out the Moon God Worship but felt that it was incredibly difficult.
Putting aside his lack of comprehension, the incompatibility between his body and the Meditation Technique made things quite difficult.
From how Chen Heng saw it, a Moon Elf royal family member would receive much greater benefits when using the Moon God Worship.
However, for an ordinary Elf, the effects would only be about 10% or 20% as effective as for the Moon Elves.
For a Human like Chen Heng, it was only a miniscule amount.
Even so, the effects from the Moon God Worship were better than the Meditation Technique that Chen Heng had used in the past.
This was an advantage.
Moreover, there was a chance that Chen Heng could modify it.
Recently, apart from learning magic skills, Chen Heng had been seeing if he could modify Moon God Worship.
Based on the knowledge he had, as well as his experience as a True Lord, it might be possible for him to create a Human-friendly version of the Moon God Worship.
However, this was incredibly difficult and ordinary people would have no hope of doing this.
Fortunately, Chen Heng did not lack time, and his requirements were not too high.
He did not want to modify the entire Moon God Worship and only needed to modify certain parts.
He did not expect for Moon God Worship to give Humans the same effects as it gave to Elves; any improvement would be good.
After putting his things away, Chen Heng turned and walked out.
Outside, there were many students walking about, all of them looking worried and serious.
From how it seemed, the war in the northwest region had spread to here, affecting the people here.
"Apparently many students have left recently…"
Looking at the students walking about, Chen Heng's expression was calm as he thought to himself.
Because of the war, many students felt that the academies were no longer safe, so they returned to their hometowns.
Just like Chen Heng, there were many students who came from other regions, and they were not native to this region.
As such, their first reaction upon hearing about the war was to leave this region and return home.
After things settled down here, they would return.
Chen Heng knew exactly what those people were thinking.
After all, even he had considered this, so this would definitely be the case for those ordinary students.
Ordinary students did not have a teacher who was a true Sorcerer, nor were they people the academy would take efforts to protect. They did not have that much money or resources either and could not compare to Chen Heng.
Sorcerers were all rational people, and in the face of danger, very few people would do anything rash.
Most people wanted to avoid the danger and return after it was safe.
Chen Heng did not have this in mind for now.
As the student of a true Sorcerer, he knew more about the war than other ordinary students.
With the information from Charlie, he knew that the war had not reached here yet, so there was no need to leave.
Moreover, as a genius of the academy, even if the war reached here, the academy would take great efforts to protect him. This was different from other students.
This was why Chen Heng's reaction was different to other students and he did not want to leave just yet.
Looking at the anxious and worried-looking students, Chen Heng inwardly shook his head before going elsewhere.
Chen Heng went to the marketplace and exchanged for some things.
The more chaotic the situation became, the easier it was to trade things.
With how tense the atmosphere was, most students chose to sell the things that were not of immediate value to them for magic stones and things that they could use in the short term.
As such, some materials, such as Magic Iron Metal and magic plants, became very cheap.
On the other hand, things like potions and items that could increase one's battle strength had their prices skyrocket.
As a result, Chen Heng was able to benefit from this.
He used half the amount of magic stones he would normally spend to buy many materials.
Moreover, many of the magic items that he made became much more valuable, some even doubling in price.
Just like that, he obtained a large number of materials and magic stones.
Of course, while Chen Heng's magic items became even more popular, there were fewer and fewer people coming to his lessons.
Because many students had left the academy, there were far fewer people coming to his lessons.
However, the extra profit he earned from his magic items made up for the decrease in revenue from his lessons.
If it wasn't for the fact that he was doing these lessons to boost his reputation and make a good impression on people, he would have long since stopped doing those lessons.
As such, even though there were fewer people coming to those lessons, it was not a big deal for Chen Heng.
After standing at the marketplace for a while, Chen Heng left.
Time gradually passed.
Soon, it had been another two months.
During those two months, news about the war in the northwest once again spread.
A lot of news was being spread in this region, making people feel quite shocked.
After some time, the war between Mogow Academy and other academies had once again escalated.
Moreover, it was said that even a few true Sorcerers had fallen.
This news made many people's hair stand on end.
Under such circumstances, many more students began to leave the Hunter's House.
During this period of time, the Sorcerer organizations that facilitated travel would be very busy.
In the previous years, not many Sorcerers left from this region; it was only students coming in from outside.
However, because of this war, things had reversed.
Chen Heng did not change much; no matter what everyone else did, he continued to peacefully stay in the academy and do his experiments.
No matter how chaotic the outside world became, the Hunter's House would not be easily attacked due to the fact that it had quite a few true Sorcerers.
As such, Chen Heng was very safe within the Hunter's House.
Thus, Chen Heng did not plan to leave.
It was just that as time went on, he heard some news that forced him to stop with his research.
"Something happened to my grandfather?" Chen Heng looked at the person in front of him as he frowned and asked.
There was a tall and somewhat chubby middle-aged man half-kneeling there.
Chen Heng had some impressions of this person.
This was someone from the Doyle family, who had some blood connection to Chen Heng.
In the past, he had been one of Griffin's assistants and was often by his side.
Thus, as the Doyle family's future successor, and Griffin's grandson, Chen Heng was quite familiar with him.
It was just that this senior of his had brought him some bad news.
Something had happened to Griffin.
"Y-Yes…"
Meeting Chen Heng's gaze, the middle-aged man's expression was respectful as he said, "Master Griffin's body has been getting worse, and he is currently confined to his bed…"
He spoke softly, telling Chen Heng about Griffin.
From this, Chen Heng knew what Griffin's situation was.
It was not that he had been attacked—after all, in the continent that the Doyle family was in, Griffin was one of the strongest. As such, it would only be him attacking others.
This time, it was that something had happened to his body.
Griffin mainly cultivated with negative energy, and in order to strengthen his power, he had modified his body many times. He had operated on himself many times in order to extend his lifespan.
Sorcerers' lifespans were also limited. Even though they were long compared to the lifespans of ordinary people, a Third Rank Apprentice would only live for a few extra decades.
As such, this was quite normal.
If one used some unorthodox methods, one could greatly extend that lifespan. That was what Griffin had done.
However, that had greatly harmed his body, and if he was careless, it could cause problems in his body.
This was what had happened to Griffin this time.
"So it's like that…"
After hearing about what had happened, Chen Heng could not help but sigh.
In the continent that Chen Heng was from, even though the Doyle family was powerful, it was mainly because of Griffin, a Third Rank Apprentice.
Because of what had happened to Griffin, the Doyle family had been dealt a blow, and something might happen to it.
As such, Chen Heng had to go back and reveal his identity as a true Sorcerer's student to help the Doyle family get through this.
Moreover, for Griffin to have sent someone to tell Chen Heng about this, this meant that he hoped that Chen Heng could go back.
The Doyle family's people were usually quite cold and cruel to outsiders.
However, Griffin adored Chen Heng, the future successor to the Doyle family. Not only did he keep him from his side from when he was young, but he had also paid much of Chen Heng's tuition fees at the start.
Moreover, the Doyle family was a Sorcerer family and was still a source of power to Chen Heng.
Thinking to there, Chen Heng nodded and made a decision.
"Very well."
He looked at the middle-aged man as he said, "I will return soon."
