Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

On the Isle of Death, Lynn approached Gregor, who was busy in the cathedral.

"Mentor, how much do you know about the Star Observatory?"

Gregor's fingers paused for a moment.

"A star observatory? Why are you asking about that?"

Lynn sat down on the chair next to him.

"When I was an apprentice, didn't an old apprentice at the Star Observatory give me the heart of a cosmic beast?"

"This heart saved my life, and I want to know why they went to such great lengths to help me."

Gregor turned to look at Lynn.

"Those people at the Star Observatory spend all day stargazing and making predictions, spouting nonsensical nonsense and doing inexplicable things."

"They believe that everyone has a destiny line, and that the trajectory of the stars determines the course of all things."

Gregor pulled an old parchment from the drawer and spread it on the table.

A star map was drawn on the paper, marking the positions of several stars, which were the locations of several demiplanes belonging to the Star Observatory.

Lynn nodded thoughtfully.

"Mentor, what do you think their reason was for saving me?"

Gregor's fingers paused for a moment.

"The Star Observatory is divided into two factions: the traditionalists and the defiance faction."

"What's the difference?"

"Traditionalists believe that fate is predetermined." Gregor stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the gray sky outside.

"Every step a person takes from birth to death is written in the long river of destiny."

"You think you're making a choice, but you're just following a predetermined path. Even if you temporarily deviate from the track, the river of fate will pull you back."

He turned around and looked at Lynn.

"So they don't interfere, they just observe and record, watching the tides rise and fall, watching birth, aging, sickness and death. They feel that this is how to respect fate."

Lynn leaned back in her chair.

"What about the rebels?"

"The rebels think the traditionalists are a bunch of cowards." Gregor walked back to the workbench, picked up a rag, and wiped the table.

They believe that since they can glimpse fate, it means that fate can be changed, and must be changed.

"Cultivation itself is about defying fate and fighting for every inch of it. What's the use of having the ability to glimpse destiny if you don't use it?"

Lynn tapped her fingers lightly twice on the armrest. "So they're obsessed with changing other people's destinies?"

"I'm passionate about being the one playing the game." Gregor tossed the rag onto the table.

"Traditionalists say that those who oppose fate do not respect the destinies of others and arbitrarily interfere in the cause and effect of others, and will sooner or later be punished by fate."

"Those who defy fate say they're afraid of this and that, they might as well find a secluded corner to become hermits, why bother entering this world of great strife?"

"Both sides have their own reasons, and neither side is willing to concede to the other."

Lynn remained silent for a few moments. "It seems... the one who gave me the heart of the Starry Sky Beast must be someone from the Fate Reversal Faction."

Gregor nodded.

"Traditionalists wouldn't do that. They'd just watch you die and then at most write in their notebooks, 'Lynn died at Morpheus's hands in such and such a month of such and such a year. Such was his fate.'"

Lynn's lips twitched slightly.

"Then I should thank these so-called rebels. They're willing to invest so much; their ambitions must be considerable."

Gregor turned around and looked at him.

"It's good that you understand. There is no true saint in this world. Wizards are all a bunch of people who won't do anything without a reason. They must have something to ask of you if they help you."

He paused for a moment.

"As for what they want, it's impossible to know. Maybe they want to invest in your potential, maybe they want you to help them in crucial moments, maybe... they want you to repay them with your life."

A glint of light flashed in Lynn's eyes.

Pay back your life? What a joke.

Do I seem like the kind of person who says, "You dah dah me, I hua la hua la you."

If they dare to ask me to pay with my life, I'll just deny it; after all, I didn't beg them to save me.

However... what's disgusting about these guys is that they can see the lines of fate and thus manipulate destiny, so they might trip you up at any time.

Gregor seemed to sense Lynn's concerns and offered words of comfort.

"You are now a stigmata of the academy, representing the entire Bone Spire Academy. They won't do anything to you."

Lynn nodded and stood up.

"I want to go to the Star Observatory to find out their purpose and settle this matter."

"I don't want to be someone else's pawn, nor do I want them to suddenly trip me up one day."

Gregor did not stop him, but took an old parchment from the drawer and spread it on the table.

The paper shows the coordinates of the entrance to a half-plane, marking the location of the star observatory.

"The demiplane of the Star Observatory is not in the void, but in the starlight. Their observatory is built on the core of a dead star."

"Once you get to those coordinates, you'll see the entrance. Since you want to ask about the situation, don't force your way in; wait for them to open the door."

Lynn marked the coordinates and put away the parchment. "Master, I'm leaving."

Gregor waved his hand and continued fiddling with the petri dish.

Lynn turned and walked out of the church, directly using the academy's teleportation array to reach the nearest planet.

When the white light from the teleportation array dissipated, Lynn was standing on an unfamiliar platform.

The platform is small and circular, with the emblem of the Gray Tower engraved on its edge—a tall gray tower with a star at its tip.

It is the symbol of the "Grey Tower".

Since the Star Observatory is in a semi-secluded state and cannot be reached directly via the teleportation array, Lynn will simply use it as a transit point.

The apprentice on duty was a young man, wearing a gray robe with a bronze nameplate pinned to his chest.

He was dozing off behind the control panel when he heard a noise, looked up abruptly, saw the people in the teleportation array, and quickly stood up.

His gaze lingered on Lynn for a moment.

The dark purple wizard's robe had an inconspicuous mark on the right chest: a circle, a yin-yang symbol, and eight golden branches.

It appears to be... the wizard's robe from the Bone Spire.

He had seen many wizards from the Bone Spire while guarding the teleportation array, but he had never seen this style of wizard robe, nor this kind of mark.

But his mentor had said that some wizards didn't like to show off, and the simpler their robes, the higher their rank.

Regardless of their level, they are not people that a small-time Karami like him can afford to offend.

The apprentice bowed his head and gave a salute.

"Sir, this is JK-91, a small world under the Gray Tower. Would you like me to notify the garrison commander to come and receive us?"

Lynn glanced at him.

"No need, I'm just passing by."

After saying that, he stepped off the teleportation array and walked towards the edge of the platform.

The platform is suspended high in the sky above the planet, with gray-white clouds below, through which one can see what is below.

The planet below is predominantly ocean, and its inhabitants dress very lightly, seemingly obsessed with conquering the sea...

Lynn raised his right hand, and a grayish-white light enveloped his body, allowing him to fly into the air.

It was very fast, and in the blink of an eye it broke out of the atmosphere.