Wizard: My career panel has no upper limit

Chapter 356 Astrological Divination
Ron arrived at a new area of ​​the workshop that he had just set up.

This space, which he meticulously arranged, was completely different from the other areas.

This is his specially created divination space, and the decoration style of the entire room is completely different from other areas.

The obsidian floor is engraved with intricate star charts.

Those ancient runes move slowly according to the changes in the real starry sky, like some kind of living map recording the breath of the universe.

"The King of Illusions' suggestion is definitely worth trying."

He gently stroked the astrolabe on the divination table, feeling the weight of time contained within it:

"Many problems can be solved through divination, especially those related to oneself."

As a newly emerging astrologer, he possesses an accuracy far exceeding that of ordinary people when conducting divinations related to himself.

This ability can not only indicate the direction of development, but also help avoid potential risks in advance.

...provided that he can correctly interpret those obscure and vague images.

The ritual items on the divination table are ready:
The ancient astrolabe borrowed from Yutel is engraved with forbidden runes from the Second Age.

These runes record the painful experiences of astrologers of that era when they came into contact with higher-dimensional beings, most of which did not end well.
The three stellar crystals that have already established a connection with him correspond to the Hermit Star, the Scholar Star, and the Observer Star, respectively.

They floated quietly in specially made crystal pillars, with the light spots inside moving slowly like living things;

A drop of one's own blood serves as the medium connecting one to the thread of fate.

The blood had congealed in the small silver dish, its surface gleaming with an unnatural dark red sheen;

There is also the burning "True Vision Incense," which can dispel the interference of false prophecies, but at the same time it will attract some unfriendly "spectators."

In the corner of the room, Dale nervously huddled at the edge of the crystal pool.

“Master…” Her voice was as light as a feather, but the worry in it was as heavy as a physical presence: “Your heart is beating much faster than usual.”

A wisp of orchid drifted from the depths of the workshop, its verdant branches trembling slightly in the air.

As a plant life form, she was able to keenly sense the dangerous aura contained within the divination instruments.

It is a primal force capable of distorting the very essence of life.

“These things… they’re whispering.”

The tree spirit's voice was filled with fear: "Master, I can hear them talking, in a language I don't understand but that makes me want to run away."

Ron didn't answer immediately, but calmly examined every detail.

His long-term research experience has taught him the ability to maintain rational analysis under any circumstances.

Even when facing forces beyond human comprehension.

"Divination is never a safe activity."

He spoke without looking up, his voice completely flat:

"Any attempt to pry into fate may come at a price."

Ron slowly sat down in front of the divination table, took a deep breath to calm his mind.

Divination requires absolute focus and a clear mind; any distracting thoughts can affect the accuracy of the prediction.

In addition, a diviner must also have sufficient mental strength to withstand the terrifying truth that may emerge.

Activate "The Star Eater's Whispers" and adjust your consciousness frequency to resonate with the stars.

His profession as an astrologer gives him a clearer understanding of the threads of destiny, making previously vague possibilities more clearly visible.

Whenever he delves into the realm of destiny, he senses a gaze that transcends comprehension.

It felt like being scrutinized by countless eyes at the same time, with every cell exposed to indescribable wisdom.

"Use the wisdom of a hermit to observe the principles of a scholar, and borrow the eyes of an observer..."

As the incantation was performed, the astrolabe began to emit a faint silver light.

Those forbidden runes of the Second Age moved slowly like snakes, as if an ancient will was awakening from its slumber.

The elemental crystals in the twelve directions lit up in turn, but the light they emitted all had an unnatural color.

The flames were green, the water was blood red, a faint wail was carried on the breeze, and the earth trembled slightly but continuously.

A sense of the weight of time began to permeate the air, blurring the boundaries between the past, present, and future.

Ron felt his consciousness extending, touching upon aspects of fate that he couldn't normally perceive.

Within those layers, he vaguely saw countless interwoven timelines...

Some timelines are as bright as a galaxy, while others are as dark as an abyss.

At the intersection of all timelines, he vaguely saw his own reflection.

Some victories, some defeats, some even no longer in human form...

Ron gently pricked his fingertip, letting a drop of blood fall into the center of the astrolabe.

The blood is instantly absorbed by the star chart, forming complex patterns on its surface.

These patterns wriggle like living things, searching for the point where fates intersect.

As the blood vessels spread, his consciousness began to receive information.

Deep within consciousness, the point where fire and earth elements meet begins to twist and deform.

Initially, it was just a blurry patch of color, a mixture of crimson heat waves and golden granular matter.

Gradually, these colors began to coalesce into more concrete images:
An endless desert appeared in Ron's "view".

But this is no ordinary desert.

A closer look reveals that those seemingly ordinary grains of sand are actually tiny bone fragments.

The remains of countless creatures were weathered into powder, shimmering with the luster of death under the scorching sun.

The sky was an unnatural orange-red, as if the whole world was on fire.

In the center of this sea of ​​bone sands, a blurry, enormous figure is undergoing a painful transformation.

The figure had the outline of a reptile, but the details were constantly blurred and reconstructed in the illusion, like a mirage distorted by high temperature.

Whenever the figure lets out a silent roar, the surrounding bone sand swirls up, forming various ominous patterns in the air.

Ron could feel the pain; it was a resonance deep within his blood, as if his own body was undergoing the same transformation.

The prophetic imagery flickered, sometimes clear and sometimes blurry.

He must rely on his own knowledge and experience to interpret its meaning.

"The combination of fire and earth... this points to the environment where the elemental opposition is most intense."

Ron analyzed in his mind:

"And the imagery of the Bone Sand Sea... I remember that at the Lans Festival celebrations, the Elemental Dance Troupe from the Land of Shifting Sands once performed a similar scene."

In one scene from that performance, the dancers used sand to simulate the terrain features of quicksand:
The vast desert is dotted with the remains of ancient battlefields, where the bones of countless creatures are buried by the wind and sand and then exposed again.

The fire and earth elements reached a kind of extreme balance there, creating a unique and revitalized environment.

"Franka once mentioned that there is another family of bacteria in the quicksand... They possess a bloodline similar to, but more stable than, that of the Sunfire Dragon."

The figure undergoing a painful transformation in the prophecy is very likely himself.

The pain of the transformation and the bone-sand environment depicted in the prophecy both suggest that this will be an extremely dangerous bloodline evolution.

“Timing…” Ron continued to interpret the other details of the prophecy:

"The color of the sky, the direction of the dust flow... all these point to the special celestial phenomena of the third quarter, a period in the Apocalypse when the elements of fire and earth reach their extreme opposition."

He recalled what his tutor, Yuni, had taught in her element theory class:
When the conflict between opposing elements reaches its extreme, it often produces an unexpected fusion effect.

Pain and danger are inevitable, but the rewards will be enormous.

"There are still about six months until the Apocalypse Season, which is enough time to make detailed preparations."

Ron mentally noted down the key information: "We need to develop a safety plan, prepare emergency medications, and... contact our mentors in the Shifting Sands."

Hayek and Eunice, among others, held teaching positions at the Sand Sea School and could provide him with detailed local information and necessary support.

Before the echoes of the first prophecy had faded, the second anomaly began to appear in the Gemini region.

This time the scene was even more distorted and disgusting.

Countless blood vessel-like threads tangled wildly in the void, each radiating a different light, representing the essence of the bloodline of different creatures.

These vascular threads intertwine, devour, and merge, emitting a heart-pounding pulsating sound.

At the heart of this tangled mass of blood, the vague outline of a head is slowly taking shape.

However, the process of constructing this head was extremely bloody.

The eye sockets are made of fragmented bone pieces and filled with pupils of various colors;
The nasal bone is composed of sharp keratin.

The mouth is a terrifying slit made up of countless tiny teeth.

Most striking are the pair of curved ram horns on its head, which emit an eerie purple glow.

Whenever the light flashes, the surrounding space is slightly distorted, and the boundaries of reality become blurred.

"The prophecy of the construction of the second head of the Chimera..."

While enduring the mental shock brought on by the prophecy, Ron tried to analyze its meaning:

"The Gemini region represents the contradictory unity of division and integration."

The bloodline fusion process shown in the prophecy was more complex and dangerous than he had anticipated.

Among those tangled veins, he could recognize some familiar features:

The dark luster of Franka's Hidden Dragon bloodline;

The chaotic fluctuations unique to abyssal creatures;
There were also some strange bloodlines that he had never seen before, yet felt inexplicably familiar with...

"The source of chaos needs a powerful being at the Apostle level..."

He analyzed the situation based on his knowledge of bloodline studies:

"And through the connection between the stand-in puppet and Nari, it might be possible to obtain blood samples of this level."

The characteristics of those auxiliary bloodlines mentioned in the prophecy are gradually becoming clearer:

The predatory mouthparts of the desert hunter, the adaptive membrane of the ecological raincoat beetle, and some aberrant tissues unique to the fourth layer of the abyss.

These materials are inherently highly toxic and polluting, making the fusion process extremely painful.

But the final part of the prophecy reveals that the successfully constructed second head will possess a sense of danger, resistance to chaos, and powerful mental attacks.

The purple light emanating from those ram's horns hinted at a terrifying force capable of distorting reality.

"The cost is huge, but the benefits are even more tempting."

Ron calmly weighed the pros and cons: "A second head with the ability to sense danger will greatly improve my survival ability and decision-making accuracy."

The emergence of the last prophecy caused the temperature in the entire divination room to drop suddenly.

Ron saw an ancient mirror, but the "surface" of the mirror was a constantly flowing black liquid.

Occasionally, distorted faces would emerge from the liquid, all bearing expressions of fear and despair from their final moments.

A blurry figure with ever-changing illusions appeared in the mirror.

Countless fragments of light and shadow were peeled off from its "body," each containing a fragment of the creator's memory.

Among these fragments of memory, Ron vaguely saw the technology he had been searching for—the contamination isolation method.

However, the price of acquiring this technology is the need to delve into the core of one's most painful memories and endure suffering experiences that were not originally one's own.

The prophetic images are sometimes clear and sometimes blurry, but one thing is certain:
This will be an extremely dangerous psychological exploration.

If he is not careful, his consciousness may be swallowed up by those painful memories, and he may be forever lost in other people's nightmares.

"The creator of 'Thousand-Faced Illusion'... judging from the occasional fragments of memories it reveals, should be an ancient wizard who lived through the Great Cataclysm."

Ron recalled his observations of the prop.

"A necessary risk." He made the decision in his mind:
"Once I master pollution isolation technology, my research scope will be greatly expanded. Those hazardous materials that we currently dare not touch will become usable resources."

Moreover, this technology may also provide Alan and Dyer with additional resistance to pollution, allowing them to assist themselves more safely.

After all three prophecies were completed, Ron slowly awoke from his deep meditation.

The astrolabe on the divination table returned to calm, and the mysterious runes stopped moving, as if they had never moved at all.

The entire divination process lasted nearly two hours, leaving Ron feeling deeply mentally exhausted.

But this fatigue was quickly replaced by excitement and satisfaction.

Through this divination, he obtained three clear paths for development, each pointing to a more powerful force.

"Interestingly..." he wiped the sweat from his brow, a profound realization dawning on him:
"The content of these prophecies is based on my existing knowledge."

The divination did not provide him with entirely new information, but rather recombined the various clues he already knew, presenting possible development paths in a clearer way.

Information about the Land of Shifting Sands comes from festival celebrations and Franca's introduction;

The possibility of bloodline fusion is based on his understanding of abyssal creatures and the bloodlines of the preserved bacteria;

Pollution isolation technology, however, lies hidden deep within the ever-changing memories.

"The true value of divination lies in helping to organize thoughts and determine priorities."

Ron stared thoughtfully at the now-extinguished star chart:
"It doesn't predict the future, but rather reveals the possibilities of choices in the present."

This understanding gave him a deeper appreciation for astrology.

Fate is never predetermined, but rather the result of countless choices.

Divination is merely a tool to help decision-makers see the pros and cons of various possibilities.

He began to formulate a detailed action plan in his mind:
The first step is acquiring pollution isolation technology, which is the foundation for all subsequent plans.

Although the process is dangerous, the risk is the most controllable compared to the other two objectives;

Then comes the exploration of the abyss, while simultaneously collecting the tears of the newborn beasts and acquiring bloodline materials.

We need to discuss the specific exploration plan with Yutel;

Finally, bloodline evolution takes place in the quicksand, requiring the selection of the most suitable time and environment, while ensuring sufficient safety.

"Through the mental link with the substitute puppet, I am also able to upgrade and modify the puppet in real time."

He refined the details of the plan in his mind:
"By incorporating magic amplification crystals and adding soul steel materials, it finally completes its transformation into the form of a magic sword."

It would be a true work of art, a perfect creation that blends alchemy, enchanting, bloodline manipulation, and many other techniques.

This will also become an important cornerstone for him to reach a higher level.

After tidying up his divination tools, Ron did not rest immediately.

The tranquility of the night and the revelation he had just received put his mind in an unprecedentedly active state.

“It’s time to move on to the next step.” He took out the alchemical materials he had prepared long ago from his storage compartment:
"The production of the magic amplification crystal cannot be delayed any longer."

Dale and Ailan exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness in each other's eyes.

They had gotten used to their master's research-obsessed lifestyle, but they still worried about his health.

“Master…” Ailan tried to persuade her:
"You've been working for over ten hours straight, perhaps you should take a break?"

“Time waits for no one,” Ron replied without looking up, already beginning to examine the dangerous abyssal materials.

“Every moment of stagnation is a waste of life, and the current state is perfect for carrying out precise alchemical work.”

The observatory was unusually quiet in the dead of night, with only the faint rustling sounds of the living tissues that made up the main structure in the darkness.

Occasionally, a few unidentified sobs could be heard coming from the depths of the corridor.

(End of this chapter)