Wizard Lord:I can Extract Anything

The walls of the Crystal Spire were etched with faint, intricate energy pathways, now sparse and broken like tattered spiderwebs.

These pathways intersected before ultimately splitting into two routes. One led to the tower's summit, powering the dense mist shield generator. The other converged at the center of the first-floor hall before vanishing without a trace.

The floor of the Crystal Spire was covered in filth formed by dead Algae. Who could have guessed that beneath this black sludge lay a hidden basement?

Richard swung his staff, and a sudden gust of wind swept through the hall, clearing away the sludge in an instant.

Only after the sludge was removed did Richard notice a door at the center of the hall.

This door had even evaded his psychic detection. Had he not activated his energy vision, he would have missed it entirely.

Approaching the door, Richard frowned slightly at the crystal surface that nearly blended into the floor.

Discovery was one thing—but how was he supposed to open it?

Before he could act, however, the door suddenly dissolved into scattered crystal fragments, revealing a pitch-black opening.

It seemed the door had detected his presence and opened on its own.

"Automatic sensing? There must be screening conditions."

Richard didn't dwell on it and stepped into the basement without hesitation.

He wasn't the least bit worried about potential defensive measures—the tower's fragile energy circulation could no longer sustain any security systems.

The mist barrier generator alone consumed too much power.

In fact, Richard half-hoped there were still some intact defenses left behind—it would make his haul all the more rewarding.

With the sludge on the first floor cleared, faint light seeped into the basement, preventing total darkness.

Still unsatisfied, Richard flicked his staff, and a sphere of light emerged from the Crystal Ball at its tip, illuminating the space.

Under the glow, the basement became fully visible—just as empty as the floor above. Only in his energy vision did Richard see the floor covered in intricate, web-like energy pathways.

These pathways crisscrossed not just in two dimensions but in a complex three-dimensional lattice.

A flicker of excitement crossed Richard's face—an unexpected find indeed.

Though his knowledge of Precursor technology was limited, the complexity of these energy pathways suggested something significant. If he could memorize them, they might even be repurposed into a rune…

But before he could finish his thoughts, the basement's energy pathways suddenly flared to life, glowing brightly.

The next instant, Richard's vision flashed white, followed by an overwhelming sense of vertigo.

It felt like stumbling drunk while peering through a kaleidoscope—as if the entire world had twisted and warped around him.

"What the hell kind of defense is this?!"

Richard was certain this wasn't a mental attack—the disorientation wasn't from cognitive distortion but from his senses struggling to interpret the actual spatial anomalies around him.

"This isn't a defense mechanism!"

Ulysses' voice rang in Richard's ears. Turning, he saw Ulysses emerging as if from a funhouse mirror, his body grotesquely distorted.

"This is a teleportation array! We entered the basement and activated the array embedded in the floor. But its energy supply is unstable, which is why the teleportation effect turned out like this."

"How do we get out of this state?" Richard shouted.

At that moment, an intense wave of nausea nearly overwhelmed his mind, making him feel like vomiting.

Ulysses replied just as loudly, "We can't break free now—we're in the rift between space and time. Forcibly escaping might trigger a spatial storm, and even I won't be able to protect you then..."

As he spoke, the world before Richard's eyes suddenly returned to normal. But Ulysses' figure had vanished from his shoulder.

"Gone?"

Richard stared at his shoulder, his heart sinking.

If a teleportation array malfunctioned, the consequences could be dire.

In the best-case scenario, the teleported might merely fuse with environmental objects like stone walls. With Wizard techniques, it would just mean replacing the body—life could still be preserved. But in the worst cases, one might fall into the space-time rift and be torn apart by spatial storms.

Richard took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Usually, it was Ulysses who worried about his safety—today, the roles were reversed.

Closing his eyes, Richard focused intently, sensing the consumption of his Power of Faith.

According to the Miracle Order's scriptures, the Crow God and the Divine Child were one. To worship the Crow God was to worship the Divine Child, so both Richard and Ulysses drew their Power of Faith from the same pool.

This arrangement primarily maximized the utility of the Power of Faith. Compared to Richard, Ulysses was far more adept at wielding it.

For the same reason, whenever Ulysses used Divine Arts, Richard could sense it.

If Ulysses were trapped in the space-time rift now, he would surely be expending Power of Faith frantically to escape.

But after sensing for a long time, Richard detected no depletion of the Power of Faith.

There were two possibilities: either Ulysses had been instantly obliterated by the spatial turbulence before he could cast any Divine Arts, or he was unharmed and simply teleported elsewhere.

To determine which scenario it was, Richard immediately attempted to open a Mystic Realm Rift.

Both he and Ulysses possessed the spatial coordinates of the Secret Realm. If Ulysses were fine, he would undoubtedly enter the realm to reunite with Richard as soon as possible.

"Huh?"

Richard stared at the collapsing Mystic Realm Rift around him, deep in thought.

The rift wouldn't open. The environment here was plagued by intense energy disturbances, and the spatial structure was highly unstable—factors that severely compromised the rift's stability.

"No wonder the teleportation went wrong."

Richard turned, scanning his surroundings. He appeared to be in a place resembling the basement of a Crystal Spire. But compared to the spire in the Poison Swamp, the energy circuits here were far more blinding, and the contained energy was at least an order of magnitude stronger.

"Let's head out and assess the situation first."

Richard levitated, and the door in the ceiling automatically opened. A dry breeze brushed against his face, warm and gentle.

"Something's wrong."

Richard's heart sank. The environment of the Green Forest World was predominantly vibrant and humid, with air moisture levels perpetually high enough to grow mushrooms on chrysanthemums. Yet the wind outside this basement was dry.

Where had this teleportation array sent him? Had it dumped him into the inner world?

Moreover, as the crystal door opened, an intense wave of energy radiation immediately flooded the basement.

This radiation was equivalent to a 200-energy-level Magic Power impact with penetration specialization. A First Circle Wizard wouldn't last more than a few hours before dissolving into a puddle of foul water.

These energy emissions would drain his Magic Power at an alarming rate, then shatter the Core of Life in every cell of his body.

Fortunately, Richard was a Third Circle Wizard. With his constitution, even without protection, this external radiation would merely accelerate his skin's metabolism slightly.

The biggest inconvenience would be needing extra scrubbing during showers.

Still, exercising caution, Richard activated his Magic Barrier before leaving the basement.

The sight that greeted him outside was utterly unexpected.

The basement opened into the ruined first floor of a tower. Through the crystal walls, Richard could clearly see that outside the Crystal Spire lay an endless desert.

"Seriously? Did it actually send me to the inner world?"

Richard stared dumbfounded at the scenery—deserts were definitely not part of the Green Forest World's surface realm.

After some testing, however, Richard quickly confirmed this wasn't the inner world.

The fundamental rules here remained unchanged.

Had this been the inner world, its laws should have shifted.

Moreover, the inner world should be completely controlled by that World Tree by now. Such energy radiation would be premium nourishment for the World Tree, which wouldn't let it go to waste.

That left only one possibility.

"Is this the ancient battlefield?" Richard murmured to himself.

The Serpent King had mentioned that only the Poison Swamp and ancient battlefield remained beyond the World Tree's seed control in the surface realm. This hellish environment perfectly matched Richard's imagination of the ancient battlefield.

"Well, this teleportation worked out nicely—saved me the trouble of searching," Richard consoled himself.

He had indeed wanted to visit the ancient battlefield. Being teleported here directly saved considerable effort.

Exiting the spire, the intense radiation made Richard's magic shield ripple slightly.

The radiation outside was over twice as strong as inside.

Frowning, Richard muttered, "With radiation this powerful, what could be hidden beneath this desert?"

After roughly orienting himself by the sun, Richard surveyed the endless yellow sands.

Only to the northwest did a faint shadow loom—something massive appeared to stand there.

After brief consideration, Richard decided to head toward that colossal structure.

"I'll investigate there first. Ulysses would probably go that way too."

...

On the other side of the ancient battlefield, Ulysses emerged from a basement wreathed in black flames. Below him, a molten crystal hole gaped in the ground.

Ulysses grumbled irritably, "This is really strange. The door opened when Richard was here, but now it won't budge for me alone? What, is it discriminating against crows?"

After leaving the basement, Ulysses took in the surrounding environment.

"Such intense energy radiation. What kind of godforsaken place is this?"

It attempted to open a Mystic Realm Rift, but the result was the same as Richard's attempt.

"Strange. The spatial structure is so unstable, and the energy radiation is this strong. Could that teleportation array have dumped me into that so-called ancient battlefield the giant serpent mentioned?"

Ulysses flew out of the tower and gazed at the endless sea of sand around it, confirming its suspicions.

"Just my luck, getting teleported to this hellhole. Hopefully, there aren't any—"

Before Ulysses could finish, several glowing blue crystal drones suddenly appeared in the distance.

[Anomalous target detected] [Anomalous #@%#@ detected]

Upon spotting Ulysses, the crystal drone shuddered slightly, as if the erosion of time had caused its systems to malfunction.

Then, it abruptly turned red.

[Engaging eradication protocol]

(End of chapter)