Chapter 898 – The Strongest in Valen

Mo Lan chatted casually with Cecilia and Pushila for a while longer about card-draw probabilities, Card Magic, and the usage of Witch Management Cards. After adding each other as Communication Card friends, she politely excused herself and headed toward her own bookshelf deeper within the hall.

She placed upon the shelf a thick volume titlederta《Cosmic Travel Journal》, which recorded her Starsea exploration experiences, along with a detailed《Starsea Map》annotated with countless otherworld coordinates, safe shipping lanes, and danger zones.

Then she turned around and began diligently transcribing the newly placed exploration materials from the other witches’ shelves.

After a while, Cecilia and Pushila strolled over to Mo Lan’s bookshelf.

When they discovered that this previously empty shelf actually had something on it, both couldn’t help but show expressions of interest.

“Moira has already traveled through the cosmos? That was fast!”

As Cecilia spoke, she exchanged a glance with Pushila. With tacit understanding, they both lifted down the hefty《Cosmic Travel Journal》and began flipping through it with great interest.

At first, their expressions carried the composed curiosity of seniors appreciating a junior’s travelogue.

However, when the pages turned to the sections about the Immortal Realm and its subordinate cultivation worlds and Spirit Realms, the ease on their faces vanished instantly, their expressions gradually becoming grave.

The photographs taken by the Starsea Ark and included in the journal clearly displayed the Immortal Realm’s vast boundary membrane, as well as the dark-gold pillars of light extending outward from it like countless greedy tentacles, plunging into the distant void and connecting to subordinate worlds one after another.

Paired with Mo Lan’s cool, analytical notes written alongside, which explicitly pointed out that these pillars of light were in fact channels for plundering worlds’ source power, and that their numbers were so enormous as to be nearly impossible to count precisely—meaning that a staggering number of cultivation worlds and Spirit Realms were under continuous exploitation, teetering on the brink of annihilation…

“This…” Pushila drew a soft breath, her eyes filled with compassion and immense shock. “This world is simultaneously plundering the source power of so many worlds!”

Cecilia’s fingertip traced over the dense, heart-stopping pillars of light in the photographs, her brow deeply furrowed, her tone grave: “Using the seductive lie of ‘ascension’ as packaging, while in truth plundering source power… This world’s conduct is truly… tyrannical and cruel.”

Her gaze sharpened. “Judging by the density of that boundary membrane and the range of its energy radiation, it’s at least a Fourteenth Rank world! And Moira, on her very first cosmic voyage, ran headlong into a behemoth like that!”

These two well-traveled legendary witches were both stunned by what Mo Lan’s journal contained.

Even knowing that Mo Lan had returned safely, their hearts couldn’t help but clench with lingering fear for the danger this junior had once faced.

That was a Fourteenth Rank world where Ninth Rank powerhouses might exist! And yet, among Valen world’s extraordinary beings—after all their exploration in the Well of the Sky and the cosmos—the most elite had only reached the Seventh Rank.

They continued reading with complicated feelings.

When they reached the part where Mo Lan severed the ascension channel, outmaneuvered and defeated two Dao Ancestors in succession, and then—facing a coordinated siege by three peak Dao Ancestors—not only counter-killed them all but also rescued fifteen cultivation worlds that had been plundered by the Immortal Realm, successfully guiding their transformation into magic worlds… Cecilia and Pushila were no longer merely shocked. They were practically stupefied.

“What… what level of power does she actually have now?”

Cecilia couldn’t help but raise her head, her gaze sweeping among the bookshelves of Starault Hall in search of Mo Lan’s figure, only to find that she had already left at some unknown point.

“It says here that she used a large quantity of Seventh Rank spatial blade Magic Cards to sever the ascension channel,” Pushila pointed to a detail in the journal and analyzed calmly. “Only she can produce Magic Cards once she’s mastered them. To deploy Seventh Rank Magic Cards on such a massive scale, she must be at least at the Seventh Rank herself, right?”

“I’m afraid it’s more than that.” Cecilia shook her head.

“If she were only Seventh Rank, it would theoretically be very difficult to handle a siege by three opponents of the same rank—or possibly even stronger—and still manage to slay them all.”

She lowered her head again, reading even more carefully through the section where Mo Lan described her battles against the three Dao Ancestors.

Soon, her fingertip paused on a particular line, a flash of astonishment and understanding crossing her eyes.

“Psychic Magic? Is it the Psychic Magic of human mages? She’s proficient in that too?”

Pushila immediately leaned in to look as well. The two seniors quickly seized upon the key point.

“The journal mentions that she relied on Psychic Magic to take control of the Dao Ancestors’ primordial spirits, which is how she subdued them… Even though it notes that the Dao Ancestors of this world generally suffer from a deficiency in primordial spirit development, it’s still true that as cultivation level increases, their primordial spirits grow somewhat stronger. To effectively control the primordial spirits of Dao Ancestor realm cultivators—three of them simultaneously, no less—the Psychic Magic she used must be at least Eighth Rank!”

Cecilia seemed to recall something, a hint of comparison creeping into her tone. “That fellow Niklas has always proclaimed himself the foremost Psychic Magic user in all of Valen, hasn’t he? Has his Psychic Magic reached the Eighth Rank?”

Pushila thought for a moment, then gently shook her head, her tone carrying a touch of wryness.

“Him? Last time at the Well of the Sky, when I clashed with him over exploration rights to a Rank Zero world, he couldn’t even control my Sixth Rank primordial spirit that I’d cultivated in an Eleventh Rank cultivation world. His psychic power is Sixth Rank at most.”

“Oh? Here, Moira says she compiled all the cultivation-type knowledge from the Dao Ancestor realm cultivators’ memories and made them into Knowledge Cards. She recommends that witches interested in fire-element magic, lightning magic, wood-element magic, ice magic, primordial spirit cultivation, or swordsmanship and martial techniques can purchase them for viewing.”

Cecilia had found another detail, and she hurriedly searched for the card in the Witch edition of the Card Shop.

In the process, she accidentally spotted the items listed nearby: Knowledge Card – Eighth Rank Mage Lightning Magic, Knowledge Card – Eighth Rank Mage Fire Magic, Knowledge Card – Eighth Rank Mage Ice Magic, Knowledge Card – Eighth Rank Mage Wood Magic, and Knowledge Card – Eighth Rank Mage Psychic Magic.

Pushila saw them too. “This… Mage magic levels are far harder to advance than Witch Magic. If she’s reached the Eighth Rank in all these mage disciplines, her Witch Magic must be at the Eighth Rank as well!”

Cecilia, recalling the Witch Spatial Magic that appeared repeatedly throughout the journal, searched for Magic Card – Eighth Rank Spatial Blade and actually found it.

“Her Spatial Magic has reached the Eighth Rank too.”

Pushila went straight to the Magic Card category and browsed from highest rank to lowest. “Her other elemental Witch Magic disciplines have even reached the Seventh Rank, and her weakest Witch Magic is at the Sixth Rank! Is there… is there anyone in all of Valen stronger than her?”

The two witches fell silent for a moment, each seeing the same shock and disbelief reflected in the other’s eyes.