After all, the blue dragons are nearly extinct, making their situation quite desperate. If the Aspect of the Blue dragonflight were to find out, Antonidas would definitely be in huge trouble.
Duke nodded earnestly before continuing, "You want to merge the Phoenix Flames and the Crown of Frost, these two top-tier circuits. It's not impossible, but it means you're taking a path a hundred times more difficult than mine. Not only do you need a total of four souls of fire and ice, but you also need to strengthen your own arcane circuit, which means you'll need six rare souls to reach the level of Sunrise."
Duke sneered, not saying anything. He held the head of an artifact staff, Atiesh, the legendary Guardian's weapon, in his hand. If his luck was still as bad as before, he would need to collect 41 shards of the artifact staff...
Compared to such an unreliable collection, elemental souls with a clear direction and even alternatives seemed like nothing at all.
Of course, Duke was still somewhat envious of Medivh. With almost no effort, Medivh became a demigod-level mage and a triple-specialist mage, clearly having a good mother.
Who is Aegwynn? The former Guardian of the World, a powerful being who fought alongside the four-colored dragons to defeat demons. Antonidas was terrified when dealing with the Aspect of the Blue dragonflight , but if Aegwynn were to do it, a single word from her would have a big shot speaking up. The Aspect of the Blue dragonflight would probably commit suicide just to offer his soul.
Anyway, whether he would be appreciated or not was another matter.
Seeing Duke's unmoved expression, Antonidas couldn't help but feel like he was getting old.
One thing at a time.
This time, Duke had helped him clean up the mess, sparing Dalaran a significant loss of reputation. Antonidas needed to repay this favor. He continued, "Perhaps your path is the broadest. Since you've chosen it, I won't say anything more. However, the magical circuit I'm passing on to you will be easily noticed by others. You must make it look convincing."
Duke immediately understood, "Oh, I'll donate 10,000 top-tier magic books to Dalaran."
Antonidas rolled his eyes.
Top-tier? He was clearly trying to fool people with those inferior magic books.
The old councilor was a bit annoyed, "Don't go too far."
"Alright, 100 Morning Star-level books and 10 Radiant Moon," Duke added.
"Announce to the public that there are 1,000 Morning Star and 100 Radiant Moon magic books among the 10,000."
And so, the old and young foxes reached an agreement.
"Alright, I'm giving you this Arcane Light magical circuit model."
When Antonidas transferred the magical model to Duke, Duke wasn't amazed by the model itself, but by the system notification:
"Congratulations, host! Antonidas voluntarily entrusted you with the 82% completed top-tier Arcane Circuit, the Arcane Throne!"
Considering his other circuit was called the Crown of Frost, Duke couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration.
He finally understood why Antonidas had become so stubborn in his later years. It turned out that he saw himself as the king of the magical realm.
Well, it didn't matter since Dalaran was the one getting tricked...
Duke decided to keep quiet and make a fortune.
.
The supreme system of the Arcane Sprite was not adept at creating something out of nothing but was perfect in correcting and rectifying errors. In the Royal Guesthouse of Dalaran, after obtaining a basic model for comparison, the system underwent thousands of simulations, and Duke managed to obtain a perfect version of the Arcane Throne circuit in just one night.
Duke decided to advance in Dalaran, where he had already completed the crucial energy absorption in Karazhan. Now, the various fine-tunings were not a big deal in Dalaran.
The full version of the high-quality product was indeed different.
Almost the moment Duke embedded the Arcane Throne, which was twice as large, into the Phoenix Flame and the Crown of Ice, the circuit combination brought an immediate mental impact to Duke.
There was a brief buzzing in his ears, and his vision blurred momentarily, but Duke was certain that he had sensed the existence of the laws of the universe at that moment.
He didn't even realize what had happened; at the moment he embedded the Arcane Throne, a highly profound and complex magical knowledge was fed back from the three circuits.
In that instant, he seemed to understand the meaning of the Morning Star, but this was a matter of less than a thousandth of a second. It was as if, in that fleeting moment, he had lost his human identity.
He was no longer a human.
Instead, he was a radiant sun emitting a blazing light, a truly dazzling star.
The magic energy radiating from Duke's body burst out and swept through the room like a hurricane from a jet engine. It shattered the windows, blew open the doors, and scared the living daylights out of Gavinrad and Windsor, who were guarding the doorway.
As the arcane storm subsided, they peeked into the room. Duke raised his head, meeting their gaze. They were astonished to find that Duke's eyes were no longer the deep black orbs they once were.
In those tiny black pupils, countless mysterious magical formations were reflected, constantly shifting and combining, as if corresponding to the formal integration of the three magical circuits within his body.
Duke's vision had changed completely as well. He no longer saw the room's decorations, his two powerful paladin bodyguards, or the earth and sky. He saw a world filled with energy, devoid of any substance, only energy.
The Violet Hold, representing a high concentration of energy.
Antonidas's laboratory, representing an even higher level of energy.
And the slightly more diffuse energy of Dalaran's sky.
In the face of Duke, this bright new star, the vast sky and the boundless earth paled in comparison.
Duke gently closed his eyes. Each breath caused marvelous changes in his body. The hot air that entered his lungs was instantly absorbed by the alveoli, and all the oxygen was integrated into his blood vessels, quickly transported to the magical circuits that existed in his body in a two-dimensional manner. It became nourishment, stimulating the rapid fission of magical power within the circuits, providing all the magical power Duke needed for casting spells.
Duke suddenly smiled bitterly. No wonder the Sky Mage and Morning Star Mage represented a significant watershed in the world of mages.
This was no less significant than an ordinary magic apprentice advancing to a full-fledged mage.
If one were to say that the Earth and Sky Mages previously drew energy from the outside world to meet their casting needs,
The Morning Star Mage and above would be a classic example of a hybrid magical power, capable of both absorbing from the outside world and generating it themselves.
To put it simply from the perspective of a traveler, prior to the Morning Star, they were like conventional-powered aircraft carriers, requiring a lot of fuel to drive them. After the Morning Star, they would be upgraded to nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Although they still required many resources, their energy supply would never be a concern.