Spellcasting Gods

“No! For some reason, he suddenly disappeared, just like the previous times. Nobody knows where he went, and nobody knows when he will come back,” the man standing in the shadows replied quickly.

"Is that so? It seems I won't be able to wait for him to come to me. What a pity! I thought I could change my fate, but in the end it was all just a dream." The old woman sighed with regret.

She originally thought that as long as she told Zhang Cheng the secret, he would definitely come looking for her.

But now it seems that the other party is far more difficult to deal with than she imagined, and is not threatened in the slightest.

“Fate is inherently unpredictable! You should know this better than I do! Besides, there are still three days until your death date. Perhaps he will come knocking on your door within three days?” the man comforted him in a completely emotionless tone.

Camilla smiled and shook her head: "No, you don't understand. Fate is indeed unpredictable, but that doesn't mean it's uncontrollable. You know, I did a divination for myself a while ago, and the result was that I would gain the youth and life I wanted, but at the same time I would lose some precious things."

"Oh? As far as I know, your predictions have always come true." The man looked up, his expression one of utter astonishment.

"Yes! But that's precisely why I'm unsure if the final divination will fail..."

Just as Camilla was trying to move her wheelchair so that the last rays of the sun could shine on her face, a huge shadow suddenly fell from the sky, slowly descending onto the balcony and gradually transforming into the shape of a young man.

He first surveyed his surroundings, then said with a smile, "The sunsets on the Iberian Peninsula are truly spectacular, aren't they?"

"Ah! You've finally come! I thought I wouldn't be able to wait for you before I breathed my last, the fourteenth Child of Destiny, the legendary embodiment of slaughter, destruction and annihilation, the slayer of the gods, the terminator and creator of all things, a monster that surpasses everything..." Camilla excitedly stood up from her wheelchair, her emaciated body trembling uncontrollably.

"Sorry I'm late. But could you explain what this so-called prophecy is all about?"

Clearly, the newcomer was none other than Zhang Cheng, who had just merged with the dragon's body and the Mind Flayer's brain.

In a sense, he is no longer human, but a special intelligent life form that combines the advantages of multiple powerful organisms. In addition, with the special evolution potion "Infinity" specially prepared for him, he exudes an aura that inspires fear.

Just look at the man trembling in the corner to know how strong this intimidation is, like that innate predator's intimidation of herbivores.

But Camilla, caught up in her emotions, didn't notice this and nodded to herself: "Of course! This is the sacred mission that my family has entrusted to me. In fact, this prophecy was left by our ancestor Warrent, who commanded his descendants to guard this secret for generations until you appeared."

"So...you want me to resurrect him?" Zhang Cheng asked tentatively with a half-smile.

“No! Of course not! I’m just a messenger! I intend to exchange my last secret for a bit of the power of destiny.” Camilla slowly knelt down, raising her hands like a devout believer.

"What kind of secret?" Zhang Cheng squinted and continued to press.

“Two sealed keys and locations! One of them is the burial place of our ancestor, Volent.” Camilla revealed her trump card without any hesitation.

She knew very well that she had no time or room to bargain; if she could not obtain enough power of fate before old age caught up with her, then death would come as scheduled.

"Sure!" Zhang Cheng hesitated for a moment before quickly giving an affirmative answer.

To be precise, he also really wanted to figure out what the so-called power of destiny was and why it could so accurately predict future events.

"Thank you so much! I swear, you won't regret the choice you made."

As the last word escaped her lips, Camilla, like someone experiencing withdrawal, trembled and clung tightly to the ground, beginning to inhale deeply along the path Zhang Cheng had trodden.

With each deep breath, his whole body would tremble involuntarily, and his bark-like old face was full of enjoyment.

In just three to five minutes, this woman, who was over a hundred years old, suddenly seemed to have a second spring. Not only did she become younger and younger, but a mysterious energy surrounded her body.

Finally, she returned to her charming appearance of around thirty years old, gently stroking the smooth skin on her face and her long, glossy black hair, squinting her eyes and sighing, "Youth! Life! Vitality! This feels so good!"

"Where are my things?" Zhang Cheng asked directly, while observing the changes that were taking place on the other person with great interest.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he seemed to feel something invisible to the naked eye being sucked away from him, and this thing was probably the so-called "power of destiny".

"Please wait a moment!" Camilla bowed respectfully with one hand on her chest, then turned and went into the room behind the balcony.

Not long after, she came out carrying two well-preserved parchment scrolls and two crosses inlaid with pearls: "The two parchments record the location of the seal, and the two crosses are the keys necessary to open the seal. You just need to put them into the mold."

"That's fantastic! But I still have one small question: how can I make sure you'll continue to keep this a secret?"

As he said this, a dangerous glint flashed in Zhang Cheng's eyes, clearly indicating his intention to kill him to silence him.

According to his philosophy, oaths and contracts are never reliable.

Only the dead, especially the dead whose souls are imprisoned by themselves, can truly keep secrets.

“Don’t worry, great chosen one of destiny, I have prepared a perfect hiding place for myself, and no one will ever find it. Besides, do you think I would still have the courage to be your enemy after knowing that prophecy? No, I have never been a brave person, and I would never risk my life,” Camilla explained sincerely.

"Heh, you're quite the smooth talker. But just to be on the safe side, I'll leave a small mark deep within your soul. If one day I discover you've betrayed me, I will find you and bring you pain, destruction, and death." With that, Zhang Cheng raised his right index finger and pierced through the other man's forehead, making a unique mark in his soul that only he could discern…

Chapter 0802 Adam

In many people's minds, a key is just a tool for unlocking locks, a serrated strip made of metal.

However, for a powerful magical seal, the key itself is merely a resonant object acting on the singularity. The materials and external form are no longer important; what matters is the information stored inside.

Once the two crosses were inserted into the mold, within minutes they each shed their outer disguise, revealing their true nature hidden inside.

One of them is a strange sapphire shaped like an eye. When light passes through it, it emits an incredible brilliance. If it is projected onto a smooth wall or ice surface, it will reflect many scenes of mythical creatures such as giants, monsters, elves, and dwarves fighting each other.

If nothing unexpected happens, this thing is the "Eye of Odin" that has been mentioned many times in Norse mythology, which Odin voluntarily offered as a price to obtain the Well of Wisdom.

Clearly, the key corresponds to a seal in the remote Scandinavian Peninsula of Northern Europe, a place perpetually covered by dense forests, mountains, and snow, with little human activity, making it an ideal place to hide secrets.

However, since the maps on parchment were drawn a long time ago, they lacked a standard scale and precise aerial views, so to modern people they are basically similar to the paintings of the famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso. Unless you seek help from a professional, it is impossible to find them.

The other key is a palm-sized stone slab densely covered with cuneiform script. Judging from its style, it is most likely a product of the early semi-legendary, semi-mythical era in Mesopotamia, but it is not easy to determine whether it is from Surme or Babylon.

The location marked on the map should be in Iraq, which is currently in a state of war, making it quite difficult to find.

Just as Zhang Cheng was stroking his chin, hesitating whether he should go see the "senior" Warrent first, or go open another seal and see how powerful the guardian left behind by the gods was, the supreme authority of the artifact suddenly spoke up and suggested: "Great master, I think that before you make a decision, you should follow the original plan and give X true wisdom and life. This is more important than anything else."

"Oh? What's the reason?" Zhang Cheng asked, frowning.

"It's very simple! You need an assistant who can provide data and analysis reports from an absolutely rational perspective anytime, anywhere. Of course, I'm not saying you're not rational enough, but rather that it's the most suitable for handling details." The supreme authority gave the reason directly.

"And what about you? Don't you want real life?" Zhang Cheng asked again with a half-smile.

It's important to understand that although he used the body and soul of Malhoth, the fusion monster of Nefarian, when creating this powerful artifact, it was not truly a living being in the real sense; at best, it was merely a magical object with independent thought.

But the supreme authority clearly didn't care about that, and scoffed as it replied, "Life? No, I don't want real life. It's far too fragile, both externally and internally. I'm quite content with my current state rather than worrying about such trivial matters. Besides, if I really became a living being, would you still trust me as much as you do now?"

"Hahahaha! Incredible! As a weapon, your intelligence far surpasses that of most humans who consider themselves the pinnacle of creation. Alright, following your suggestion, let's first give X true life. Hopefully, this won't waste too much time..."

Zhang Cheng laughed and shook his head, then raised his hand and snapped his fingers lightly. He left the Iberian Peninsula and arrived at an old three-story brick house on Hatton Island, New York.

This place was once the legacy left by Councilor Miles before his death. It contains a large number of rare magical metals, materials and alchemical tools, making it the perfect place to try to create mechanical life forms, and there is absolutely no need to worry about being disturbed.

To be precise, no one knows he has returned to New York yet, otherwise his phone would have been ringing off the hook.

Without any hesitation, the first thing he did after entering the basement was to activate the electronic devices, allowing X to copy and download its own data and logical algorithms to the mobile device. Then, he would try to build a conversion device that combined magic and technology, inputting all the content into the pure soul.

Although in the Harry Potter world, most of the human souls that died in thermonuclear wars were swallowed up by the golden orb, Zhang Cheng still managed to plunder a portion, about 60 million, which was enough to cover his current needs.

Soon, after accumulating more than thirty failed attempts, the first step, which was also the most important, was finally completed without any major incidents.

"It's time, X, to give yourself a real name." He smiled faintly as he watched X, who was constantly changing the form of his soul like a child.

"Name...name? Isn't the name X good?" The new life undoubtedly still retained a lot of the thinking patterns of artificial intelligence, blinking its eyes in confusion.

Zhang Cheng shook his head and explained, "No, of course not. X is just a code name. It represents the unknown and infinite possibilities, or more precisely, an expectation of you, not a name. Also, tell me what your requirements are for your body? Do you want a male body or a female body?"

"Understood! What do you think of the name Adam? According to the Bible, he was the first human being created by God. As for his body and gender, I don't have any special requirements, as long as he can store enough data and perform complex and massive calculations."

"Adam? That sounds pretty good. Judging from the name, it seems I'll have to prepare a male body for you."

After saying that, Zhang Cheng turned his attention to the large amount of materials he had prepared in advance and began to think about which technologies should be used.

Is it the exquisite golem craftsmanship of the Forgotten Realms?

Or were they magical puppets created by the high elves of Azeroth and the Burning Legion?

Or perhaps we could combine the technologies of both to create a biomimetic transforming robot that frequently appears in science fiction movies?

Most importantly, he must retain Adam's information gathering and processing capabilities as a super artificial intelligence, enabling him to quickly hack into various electronic devices; otherwise, it would be a failed project.

To achieve this, one must either use the already mastered method of cloning Mind Flayer brain cells to construct a biological neural computing network, or employ modern technology, using semiconductor chips or quantum technology, to create a true supercomputer.

The former needs to overcome the challenge of information extraction and conversion between biological nerves and electronic components, while the latter needs to overcome the challenges at the technical and physical levels.

As for the theoretical part, he had already copied it from Tony Stark's brain...

Chapter 0803 Inspiration

For more than half a month, Zhang Cheng stayed in the bottomless basement, constantly trying out all sorts of possibilities.

With the powerful learning ability he gained after the fusion and evolution of divinity and body, he mastered a vast amount of scientific knowledge in less than a week, knowledge that would take ordinary people more than ten years to acquire. He also used alchemy to try to build a "brain" that could replace the massive computing and information processing capabilities of a computer.

This included both direct construction and indirect construction using rare magical materials; the waste from the failures alone piled up into a small mountain.

Fortunately, the basement was built with the possibility of creating large golems such as gargoyles in mind, so it is quite large. Otherwise, the amount of trash generated unintentionally would be enough to cause a headache.

However, through continuous attempts, he eventually managed to create a fully enclosed metal sphere with a diameter of over ten centimeters, thanks to his superb magical skills.

It's important to understand that this thing wasn't created simply using technology or magic; rather, it was a fusion of both, formed through multiple stages using alchemy. Even with the most advanced technology on Earth today, you can't expect to decipher or replicate its extremely complex structure.

Carefully placing the sphere into the constantly flowing liquid shell, Zhang Cheng immediately began to guide magical energy, slowly injecting it into the energy center in his chest—the Core of Mysera.

When the energy absorbed by the device reaches the minimum activation value, the flowing liquid outside suddenly begins to solidify, and the body surface is gradually covered with skin and hair, making it look no different from a normal person from the outside.

But in reality, everything the eyes see is just a disguise created by magic. The solidified liquid is harder and more resilient than any known metal on Earth, and it will not melt even at a temperature of 4,000 degrees Celsius, which is enough to ensure that its delicate internal structure is not destroyed by external attacks.

After another ten seconds or so, Adam, whose soul and body had completely merged, finally opened his eyes, sat up abruptly from the experimental table, looked at his new posture, and quickly knelt on one knee, saying, "Thank you for giving me a body and life, Master."

"No, I should be thanking you," Zhang Cheng said with a smile, admiring his masterpiece.

"Thank me?" Adam looked bewildered, clearly not understanding the meaning of what he had just said.

“Yes! Thank you!” Zhang Cheng nodded seriously. “Because in the process of creating you, I re-examined magic from a scientific perspective and gained a lot of inspiration. You know what? Actually, in the quantum realm, the difference between magic and technology is not as big as I used to think. On the contrary, they have many things in common, such as the relationship between matter and energy. Many times when magic can't find a solution, it can try technological means.”

"I understand! You're having some kind of trouble, aren't you?"

Adam is undoubtedly an expert in technology, and he immediately understood the reason for the so-called "gratitude".

Zhang Cheng didn't try to hide anything and admitted directly, "Yes! Tell me, what equipment would I need to observe a golden orb of light composed of an unknown substance?"

“A lot! But the most important one is definitely the spectrometer. Of course, I'm not referring to an ordinary spectrometer, but a professional, large-scale spectrometer.” Adam closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and quickly gave his answer.

“Yes, a spectrometer—what a simple and intuitive solution. As long as light is visible to the naked eye, it means there are a large number of photons, or high-energy particles, moving in space. The instrument can capture them, and through analysis, I can find out what that thing is.” Zhang Cheng’s eyes shone with excitement and anticipation.

"That's the principle, but considering the special nature of magic, we may not be able to find the answer from spectral analysis; at most, we can only rule out some possibilities."

"It's alright! Narrowing down the scope is a good start! Here's a task for you: go and purchase the best equipment. I need you to study an interesting embryo of a higher life form."

"An embryonic advanced life form?" Adam's usually calm and collected state of mind began to fluctuate, and a faint purple magical light flickered in his pupils.

As a new life that has just gained a complete soul and the ability to think independently, nothing can arouse his subconscious thirst for knowledge more than the research topic of "life".

"It's the golden ball of light I just mentioned! Believe me, the energy it contains far exceeds your imagination," Zhang Cheng hinted meaningfully.