Chapter 250: The Tide of Mana

The first sliver of fish-belly white appeared on the horizon.

On the Born Plains, the great magic array’s light, though radiant, dispersed the last traces of pre-dawn darkness.

Soft white light flowed from the engravings of every rune.

It rose into the air and converged hundreds of meters high, forming a massive dome of energy that completely isolated the entire area from the outside world.

Eleonora sat cross-legged at the center of the array.

Her eyes were closed, the hem of her plain white dress spread across the shimmering runes.

Her entire being had merged with the vast array, her expression calm and undisturbed.

Soon, she would officially begin her assault on the gate to the Ninth Circle.

A stable spatial gate opened silently on the periphery of the array, and Klein stepped out, with Lia by his side.

Lia’s gaze was immediately captivated by the magnificent array.

It was no longer a static pattern but had come alive.

Tens of thousands of runes flowed slowly across the ground, forming a living river of stars.

A majestic torrent of mana surged within it, emitting a continuous, low hum that vibrated the very air.

Master Horace stood at the edge of the array, his eyes fixed on his wife at the center.

His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, his knuckles turning a deathly white from the excessive force.

His entire mind and spirit were focused on that single person, and he had no intention of looking away.

Sensing Klein and Lia’s arrival, he merely gave a slight nod in acknowledgment. “She is ready.”

Lia nodded.

She could clearly feel the tense atmosphere permeating the air.

It was not just from Master Horace’s worry, but also from the absolute stillness of the elemental energy in the entire space before a violent tremor.

A wind began to blow across the plains.

The wind howled, kicking up dust and withered grass from the ground, swirling madly around the periphery of the array but unable to shake the area under the energy dome in the slightest.

The clouds in the sky gathered at a visible speed, spinning and churning, eventually forming a gigantic vortex that covered the entire plain.

Countless arcs of pure elemental energy appeared and collided within the vortex; it was the silent roar of the thoroughly shaken elements.

The first trial of advancement, the Tide of Mana, had arrived.

The elements between heaven and earth had completely rioted.

They were no longer the docile energies that mages could communicate with and borrow from, but had transformed into a wild, primal torrent of destruction, carrying the will to erase all things.

A seven-colored torrent composed of pure elements plummeted from the center of the celestial vortex, tearing through the atmosphere, its target aimed directly at Eleonora in the center of the array.

The sheer might of that torrent caused even Lia, standing far outside the array, to feel a needle-like sting on her skin.

She had no doubt that any single wisp of energy from that torrent was enough to completely obliterate a mountain from the earth, leaving not a single trace behind.

“Protective array, maximum power!”

Horace roared, simultaneously mobilizing his mana with Klein to drive the array.

The mana shot through the lines on the ground, reaching the various energy towers in an instant.

The dozens of energy towers at the edge of the array erupted with dazzling light at the same time.

Layer upon layer of solidified energy barriers rose upwards, meeting the falling heavenly punishment.

Boom!

The energy torrent crashed into the outermost barrier, creating a deafening roar.

That barrier, strong enough to withstand a legion-level magical bombardment, held for a mere three seconds before it was covered in cracks.

It then shattered, turning into countless scattered points of light.

Then came the second layer, the third…

The protective array frantically diverted the most violent and chaotic energy into the surrounding land.

The earth of the plains was torn open with bottomless chasms, and the soil and rock were instantly burned into scorched, twisted crystals under the scouring of the energy.

Even so, more than seventy percent of the energy penetrated all external defenses and poured straight into Eleonora’s body.

Her body was instantly engulfed by that seven-colored light, and her silhouette became completely invisible.

Master Horace’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently; his breathing stopped completely at that moment.

This was the ultimate test of a mage’s mana pool depth and resilience.

Any Eighth-Circle mage facing such a massive infusion of elements without preparation would have their body and sea of consciousness instantly burst, evaporating without a trace.

Lia subconsciously held her breath.

Witnessing this cataclysmic scene with her own eyes had an unparalleled impact on her.

This was far beyond the scope of what human power could contend with.

Klein stood beside her, his blue eyes reflecting the rainbow pillar of light that pierced heaven and earth.

Within the light, Eleonora’s aura became extremely faint for a moment, like a candle in the wind, almost completely extinguished under the wash of immense energy.

But in the next moment, a completely different power spread out from within the pillar of light.

That power carried a well-ordered rhythm, calm and precise.

The engulfed Eleonora was not passively enduring this immense mana.

Her powerful spiritual sense had transformed into countless, unimaginably fine, invisible force fields.

The instant the elemental torrent surged into her body, she forcibly partitioned, sorted, and categorized the violent energy.

The chaotic was refined; the pure was accepted.

The chaotic fire elements were guided into circulatory orbits; the raging water elements were soothed into mana pathways.

She did not fight against this torrent, but rather guided and converted it into her own power.

This process was fraught with indescribable danger; any slight error in her spiritual control, any miscalculation in any link, could lead to the elements running rampant within her body, triggering a chain reaction of annihilation from the inside out.

But Eleonora succeeded.

Her mana pool was like a bottomless ocean, accepting this massive elemental torrent in an orderly and efficient manner.

Time passed, second by second.

The elemental vortex in the sky continued to shrink, and the pillar of light pouring into Eleonora’s body grew thinner and thinner.

Finally, when the last wisp of elemental light merged into Eleonora’s body, the vortex in the sky slowly dissipated, and the obscured sunlight shone down once more.

The seven-colored light faded, and Eleonora’s figure was revealed again.

She still sat in the same spot, but her face was a little pale, her breathing slightly rapid, and the hair on her forehead was plastered to her skin, soaked with sweat.

She had passed the first trial without any major mishaps.

Horace let out a long, turbid breath, his tense body suddenly relaxing.

His back was completely drenched in a cold sweat.

He looked at Klein, his lips twitching into a pained expression as the stiffness in his facial muscles allowed for nothing better.

“She succeeded in the first step.”

Klein nodded, but his gaze remained fixed on Eleon-ora at the center of the array, not relaxing in the slightest.

The real trial was only just beginning.

The Tide of Mana was merely an appetizer, a threshold to weed out those mediocrities who could not even fully control their own power.

The upcoming Debate of Knowledge and Trial of the Mind were the keys that would determine success or failure, and life or death.

Eleonora did not rest for long.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the sky.

The sky, which had just returned to clarity, darkened without any warning.

It was not the arrival of night, but a purer darkness that swallowed all light and color.

Upon that deep, bottomless dark curtain, countless shimmering points of light began to appear.

Those points of light rapidly elongated, extended, and intertwined, forming one complex rune and magical model after another.

They densely covered the entire sky, from ancient fire totems to the modern four-element theory of earth, water, fire, and wind, and even more complex composite magical structures, representing all the knowledge and theories about the elements from ancient times to the present.

The second trial, the Debate of Knowledge, had begun.

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