Chapter Sixty-Four: The Choice of the Elemental Body

“The Elemental Body is a crucial step for an arcanist. Your Arcane Furnace can’t even operate at ten percent of its capacity yet, can it?”
Lando nodded.
“The ultimate goal of the Elemental Body is to perfectly unleash the power of the Arcane Furnace.”
“Our Silver Tower School’s path to the Elemental Body is inherited from the Seventh Arcane Emperor, Lord Edison Cornett. It is called the Titanium Body. Upon completion, the initial load rate can reach one hundred and twenty percent, and there is vast room for further improvement. The system is relatively complete and well-documented, so most arcanists in the Silver Tower choose this path. If anyone makes even the smallest breakthrough on this road that hasn’t been recorded before, the Silver Tower grants heavy rewards.”
“The path I follow, which I call the Void Severing Body, is a spatial elemental body. Heh, personally, I think the best part is that when I travel, I can run faster than most vehicles, saving a fortune on transportation costs. It’s best to have a spatial affinity if you pursue this path, but it’s not strictly necessary. The initial load rate isn’t guaranteed, but it’s typically between one hundred and ten and one hundred and fifteen percent.”
“Lastly, there’s the standard Elemental Body promoted by the Arcane Empire. Its main feature is that it has no distinguishing features. The load rate is one hundred percent—just as standard as it gets.”
After finishing, Odo smiled at Lando, signaling that he could begin his questions.
Lando, who had been holding back a torrent of questions, started with the one he wanted most to understand: “What is load rate?”
“Load rate describes how much power from the Arcane Furnace the Elemental Body can withstand. The Arcane Furnace itself also has a power rating.”
“What does it mean to have a load rate above one hundred percent?”
“The standard Arcane Furnace’s output is one hundred percent, but that doesn’t mean all Arcane Furnaces are capped at that. Through your own knowledge and understanding, you can refine your internal Arcane Furnace to exceed one hundred percent.”
“So, the so-called initial load rate is the level I reach after completing the Elemental Body? But that’s just the beginning, and I’ll need to further improve on that foundation to achieve a higher load rate, right?”
“Exactly! You’re clever.”
Lando thought for a moment and asked, “Mentor, in order to advance to Grand Arcanist, both the Arcane Furnace’s power and the Elemental Body’s load rate need to reach a certain threshold, right?”
Odo smiled, “Correct. Since the standard Arcane Furnace has been constantly improved, your current version requires both power and load rate to exceed one hundred and eighty-five percent to qualify. But it’s worth mentioning that higher isn’t always better—pushing these numbers higher makes breaking through to the legendary realm much harder in the future.”
“There was once a top genius, even called the Second Emperor Caesar in his day. He achieved a feat: as a third-stage arcanist, he defeated a newly advanced legendary arcanist. And it wasn’t a hard-fought battle—it was a casual, one-move victory. Imagine what his furnace power and load rate must have been. Guess what happened to him in the end?”

Lando knew that a question posed like this by Odo meant nothing good, so he played along: “What happened?!”
“Legend has it, he never managed to break through to legendary status before he died of old age.”
“Wow~”
Odo shot Lando a glance—his acting was a bit too much.
“Mentor, you’re a Grand Arcanist. If I follow your path, wouldn’t I easily reach over one hundred and eighty-five percent?”
“How naive! Didn’t I say the most I could guarantee you is one hundred and ten to one hundred and fifteen percent? The rest is all built on my own body, talent, knowledge, understanding, and soul. Even if I handed everything over to you, it wouldn’t help. If that’s your plan, you might as well choose the Titanium Body.”
This answer was pretty much what Lando expected. He followed up, “Mentor, what was your choice back then?”
Odo smiled faintly, “The Titanium Body can’t be switched to another path. Only the standard Elemental Body can be freely changed later.”
Understood. Odo’s meaning was clear: he had chosen the standard Elemental Body so he could modify it as he wished, unbound by restrictions.
The Titanium Body has the easiest start. Though the path is fixed, there are many others on the same road, so mid-stage advancement is not slow. If Lando could match with certain talents, even late-stage progress wouldn’t be difficult.
The Void Severing Body starts off average. Though Odo blazed the trail, he’s the only one, so mid-to-late stage improvement is harder. But considering Lando could choose the [Skywalker (Violet)] talent, this path wasn’t entirely out of reach.
There’s little to say about the standard Elemental Body; after completion, you can freely choose your direction, and it likely offers the highest potential.
After a brief consideration, Lando made up his mind: “I choose the standard Elemental Body!”
“Decided? You can take a few days to think.”
“Yes, I’m certain this is the path best suited for me!”
Seeing the determination in Lando’s eyes, Odo nodded, “Since you’ve made your choice, you must follow it unwaveringly to the end.”

“Yes, Mentor.”
This choice wasn’t surprising. If he didn’t have the system and couldn’t freely select talents, the Titanium Body would be the safest bet. But since he could swap for better talents in the future, the standard Elemental Body offered the greatest prospects.
“Since it’s the standard Elemental Body, there’s no need for further review. I’ll send the materials to your intelligence core directly.”
Lando immediately received Odo’s transmission, thinking how convenient special privileges were.
“Your intelligence core is too basic. For now, focus your efforts here.”
“Yes, Mentor.”
“Good. Let’s talk as we walk.”
Lando was a bit puzzled but followed Odo without question.
“Regarding your control over that world, do you know why so many people covet it?”
“Professor Moritz mentioned it in passing. I think it’s related to third-stage advancement and the World Laboratory.”
“Right. Not every world has a World Heart, and the World Heart is a universal energy source. It’s invaluable for assisting third-stage arcanists in spiritual construction. Mastering the World Heart further allows you to shape the world into a perfect laboratory. This is the simplest method for creating a World Laboratory. That’s why so many third-stage arcanists want you to hand over control, and why legendary arcanists are eager to create new laboratories—hence all the upheaval. In fact, if you hadn’t performed so well this time, even I would have struggled to suppress the incident.”
“Control over the world remains with you, but as for how the World Laboratory will be constructed, you only have the right to make suggestions. Whether those suggestions are adopted will be up to the Silver Tower. Once the Tower issues a plan, you’ll have to cooperate, and even I can’t change that. Do you have any objections?”
“No, Mentor. Thank you for your trust.”
PS: This chapter mainly sets out the rules for the arcanist’s second stage, which is my vision of how arcanists should develop at the height of their craft. Of course, there are many more details and areas to explore, which I’ll reveal gradually in future chapters.