Death Notice

“Thank you, Master Vima. Please change my summoning magic to the array type!” Qin Lun’s eyes flashed, and he nodded without hesitation to agree with Vima’s suggestion. “What should I do next?”

Cerberus had depended on Qin Lun’s mana supply since birth, so its loyalty was not in question. The only bottleneck was the summoning magic’s tier. As for the summoning magic’s recruitment strength, Qin Lun could think of ways to improve it slowly later.

Besides, with his current mana value, maintaining Cerberus’ existence was already quite draining. It would be difficult to support other summoned creatures.

“Since you’ve made up your mind, let’s begin!” Master Vima seemed to have known all along that Qin Lun would make this decision. She smiled and raised both palms, slowly bringing them together. A huge ball of light gradually appeared between her hands.

The surface of the light ball had a hazy glow, and inside were densely packed star-like grains of sand. Under the alternating starlight, one could faintly see star veins as fine as silk threads between the star grains. These star grains and star veins seemed to have a mysterious connection, forming various constellation patterns like a small universe of stars.

“Master Vima, what… is this?” Qin Lun’s eyes lit up as he marveled at the wondrous sight before him.

“This is the manifestation of the Magic Web. Alright, place your hand on it. Open your mind, and I will help you modify the summoning magic laws!” Vima said seriously. “Quickly! Manifesting the Magic Web consumes a lot of mana. Even I cannot maintain it for long!”

Qin Lun followed her instructions and placed his hand above the light ball. When his palm touched the glow on the surface of the light ball, he felt a resilient elasticity and could not penetrate further into the ball.

However, this seemed to be enough. Qin Lun only felt countless crystal threads extending from the glow, effortlessly probing into his Law Body.

Startled, Qin Lun was about to pull his hand back when he heard a surprised gasp. “Eh, your law sense is truly outstanding. The Magic Web actually broke through the limitations of the physical body so quickly.”

Qin Lun’s eyes darted around as he secretly glanced at his Death Notice. Seeing that there was no warning from Shattered Starry Sky inside, he breathed a sigh of relief.

But what surprised him was yet to come. After a sudden tremor, the crystal threads extending from the Magic Web actually broke through the external manifestation of the Law Body and appeared directly outside the Apostle Soul Mark.

Qin Lun’s Apostle Soul Mark had already merged with the Death Notice, and his soul appeared as a small figure of light. The Magic Web’s crystal threads now resembled countless small snakes, surrounding his light figure from all directions.

“Hmm? Don’t resist. Open your mind. Only by letting the Magic Web connect to your soul can I modify your summoning magic.” Master Vima slightly frowned, as if sensing Qin Lun’s hesitation.

Qin Lun glanced at the Death Notice again. Confirming that there was no warning from Shattered Starry Sky, he finally gritted his teeth and resignedly let go of all his thoughts.

As the Apostle Soul Mark trembled slightly, the Magic Web crystal threads finally touched Qin Lun’s light soul. However, the Magic Web crystal threads paused at this point and did not probe further into the Apostle Soul Mark. Instead, they vibrated slightly, sending summoning ripples into the soul.

Immediately after, Qin Lun “saw” an astonishing scene again. As if sensing the call of the Magic Web, the multifaceted prism that he had originally formed using the “virtual Magic Web” Skill Scroll also trembled slightly. A thin rune tentacle extended from its surface, reached out toward the Magic Web crystal threads, and finally connected with them.

“Boom!” Qin Lun’s whole body shook. Countless mysterious and indescribable rune streams swept past his eyes like a flood, and numerous cosmic nebulae rotated rapidly in his mind. He felt his soul consciousness split into two strands: one remained in the real world, while the other roamed freely in the cosmic starry sky formed by the Magic Web.

“Eh!” Master Vima, who was also connected to the Magic Web, gasped softly as if seeing an unbelievable scene. A glint flashed in her eyes, and she glanced at Qin Lun, who had his eyes closed, with a complicated expression.

Meanwhile, Qin Lun, who was roaming in the starry sky, suddenly felt a clear understanding arise in his heart. He suddenly understood what the Magic Web truly was, how it came into being, and what those constellations and nebulae represented.

The so-called Magic Web was completely different from the computer networks of the real world. It was a truly formless and intangible network of laws. Those constellations and nebulae, and even every star within them, represented a certain power rule or skill of this world. The bands of light between the Magic Web stars were the law connections of these abilities.

Within the Nals Inner World, there were thousands of higher beings, deities, and Legendary Professions. When they used law power, thought about law power, and comprehended law power, they also indirectly influenced the Inner World. This caused their thoughts, power, and abilities to resonate with the Inner World’s own laws, thus giving birth to… the Magic Web.

The Magic Web was actually the manifestation of part of the laws of Nals World. However, due to the thought resonance of numerous higher beings, it formed a law starry sky where souls could roam, and their abilities formed constellation-like ability systems.

Qin Lun had a vague guess: if the sapient races of Nals World ventured beyond Nals and conquered more and more other star systems, and before the destruction of this universe, they could let the Magic Web fully integrate the laws of the entire universe.

Perhaps by that time, this universe would become a High-Magic World, and eventually, the Magic Web of Nals might evolve into a law entity similar to Shattered Starry Sky or Superstring Space.

“Qin Lun, focus your mind. I’m about to begin!” Just as Qin Lun was lost in thought, he heard Master Vima’s reminder.

Qin Lun felt his soul consciousness, which was roaming the Magic Web, instantly retract. The multifaceted crystal formed by the “virtual Magic Web” in his Apostle Soul Mark suddenly appeared in the Magic Web starry sky. A thin crystal thread from the depths of the starry sky carefully wrapped around the multifaceted crystal.

This crystal thread was probably Master Vima’s consciousness. It acted like a pair of tweezers, slowly undoing the Mazer Summoning Art runes engraved on the crystal’s surface, then rearranging them into a different rune pattern.

Surprisingly, the newly formed rune pattern bore some resemblance to the Crystal Mirror Magic Array, as if originating from the same rune language. There were even several extremely fine lines connecting the two rune patterns.

“Apostle 70053, your Mazer Summoning Art has been altered under the influence of the plane’s laws. The new summoning art has been automatically renamed Maze Spirit Channeling Art (C-grade). The original Crystal Mirror Magic Array has been influenced by the new array runes, its tier upgraded to C+ grade. Crystal Mirror Protection and Elemental Burst power have been enhanced. It has been automatically renamed Pentagram Crystal Mirror Magic Array!”

Maze Spirit Channeling Art: This summoning art possesses an independent Summoning Space. While the summoned creature is within the Summoning Space, the Apostle can spend a small amount of Energy Points to maintain its survival. Activating the array summons requires a large one-time expenditure of Energy Points, with the specific amount depending on the summoned creature’s life tier.

Maze Spirit Channeling Art belongs to Pentagram Array summoning. Summoning a fifth-order Inferno Hound requires 385 Energy Points from the maximum Energy Points. Remaining maximum Energy Points can only recruit one more creature with a second-order soul strength. This summoning art can form array connections with creatures of any tier, limited only to those possessing complete souls.

As for the other changed Pentagram Crystal Mirror Magic Array, its description was basically the same as the original array, except the Energy Point consumption increased slightly.

“Alright!” Master Vima withdrew her hand from the Magic Web light ball. Qin Lun trembled slightly, and his Apostle Soul Mark disconnected from the Magic Web crystal threads. His consciousness was fully under his control again. Without Master Vima’s mana input, the Magic Web light ball slowly dispersed and eventually vanished.

“Thank you very much, Master Vima!” With the hidden danger of the Mazer Summoning Art resolved, Qin Lun was in a very good mood.

“Don’t mention it. I didn’t expect you to have already formed an Arcanum Node, which saved me a lot of mana!” Vima looked at Qin Lun with burning eyes. “You truly surprise me. Those who can independently enter the Inner World can all be considered geniuses. However, for someone of your strength to independently form a Magic Network Core in the element-sparse Outer World and possess the properties of an Arcanum Node… even ‘genius’ isn’t enough to describe it.”

“Heh heh!” Qin Lun felt somewhat embarrassed. His Magic Network Core was only the result of a Skill Scroll. Even with his composure, he couldn’t shamelessly claim credit for it and could only respond vaguely.

“Master, since the spell modification is complete, I won’t disturb you any further!” Qin Lun smiled and prepared to take his leave.

“Heh heh, leaving right after getting your reward? So unwilling to chat with this old elf lady?” Master Vima put on a stern face, pretending to be unhappy.

“Ah?” Qin Lun was taken aback.

Ever since Vima brought them back to the Sanctuary Camp, she had kept her distance from them, strictly maintaining neutrality and never actively helping them. Her current behavior seemed somewhat overly enthusiastic, which made Qin Lun momentarily uncomfortable.

However, with Qin Lun’s intelligence, after a moment’s thought, he immediately understood. He sat back down with a smile and said, “How could that be? Being able to receive your guidance is something I usually couldn’t even ask for!”

“Heh heh, don’t blame me for not helping you usually. This has always been the camp’s tradition. You newcomers won’t survive in the Inner World without experiencing storms!” Master Vima pondered for a moment before saying, “In the future, I still won’t help you without reason. Even Casey is the same. Any help requires equivalent exchange. However, since you and Casey are both newcomers, you can help each other!”

Hearing Vima’s words, a barely noticeable cold glint flashed in Qin Lun’s eyes, but his face remained smiling as before. “Master, you needn’t worry. Casey and I are both Elves and newcomers, so we will naturally help each other. Any technique I understand, I will share and verify with Casey in the Arena.”

“Hmm!” A trace of a smile appeared on Master Vima’s face. After a moment’s thought, she turned and walked to a corner of the room. She took out a thumb-sized crystal bottle from an old treasure chest and tossed it to Qin Lun. “Since you already possess an Arcanum Node, the spell modification just now doesn’t count as a complete reward. Consider this an extra gift!”