Playing with the distorted space in his hand, Theodore's eyes revealed satisfaction.
The benefits he had gained from secluding himself to comprehend the Wuzhuang Temple Grand Array were truly beyond words.
The spell he had just created, Heaven and Earth in My Palm, was only the tip of the iceberg.
After all, the Dao of Space was far too lofty. Even with Zhen Yuanzi's explanations in the Wuzhuang Temple Grand Array, the help of the Profound Grotto Heavenly Eye, and the boost from his enlightenment state, Theodore's understanding of the Dao of Space in such a short time was still only the surface of the surface.
Creating Heaven and Earth in My Palm was already fortunate.
For now, using it against enemies was not very practical. It was still too forced.
But Theodore's understanding of the Five Elements Dao had always been extremely high. He possessed the Five-Element Reversal Origin Sea talent, as well as the Quasi-Sage-level wood talent Everlasting Evergreen Immortal. He already held two of the Five-Colored Divine Lights.
In the Dao of the Five Elements, he could be said to move like a fish in water.
And the Five Elements were the foundation of countless divine abilities and arrays. How could the Wuzhuang Temple Grand Array lack them?
Since he had even glimpsed the surface of the Dao of Space, one could imagine how greatly Theodore's understanding of the Five Elements Dao had soared.
Theodore took a deep breath.
On his left hand, a heavy earthy-yellow divine light lit up, as vast as mountains and the earth, carrying majestic force that seemed capable of suppressing everything.
It was the Wutu Divine Light, the strongest of the Five-Colored Divine Lights in suppression and raw power.
On his right hand, a green divine light appeared, like a flourishing forest. It contained boundless vitality, as though it could make all things grow.
It was the Yimu Divine Light, the healing and endlessly life-giving light among the Five-Colored Divine Lights.
Previously, when Theodore controlled these two divine light abilities, although he could operate them, he always felt that they were not entirely smooth.
Now, those awkward and obscure points had all vanished.
The two divine lights gathered and dispersed according to Theodore's will, completely under his control!
Compared with before, their power had naturally risen.
With a thought from Theodore, the Wutu Divine Light and the Yimu Divine Light even merged together for a short time, becoming one orange-yellow divine light.
Surprise appeared in Theodore's eyes.
"As expected. Since these five divine lights were separated from the Five-Colored Divine Light, they naturally have the possibility of fusing back into it."
"The fusion of the Wutu Divine Light and Yimu Divine Light is still far from the true Five-Colored Divine Light, but it is far stronger than a single divine light."
"This power, even if it cannot match Fuxi's Divine Heavenly Sound, is not far behind!"
If Theodore were to face the Great Old One Dagon's projection again—the one that had nearly forced him to exhaust all his methods—he would not even need to use the Cosmic Star Banner.
One strike of divine light would be enough to suppress that projection deep beneath the sea!
And this was without the Wuzhuang Temple Grand Array.
If he could set up the Wuzhuang Temple Grand Array, Theodore's strength within it would be greatly enhanced. The power he could erupt with would be more than ten times stronger.
Even Heaven and Earth in My Palm, which currently lacked much practical value, could, with the spatial Dao that shared the same source as the Wuzhuang Temple Grand Array, truly allow him to control the entire area covered by the array!
At that time, within the coverage of the Wuzhuang Temple Grand Array, no matter what tricks the Great Old Ones attempted, as long as their true bodies did not descend, Theodore was confident he could suppress everything!
"Now that my comprehension is complete, it is time to set up the array."
With this thought, Theodore walked out of the Room of Requirement.
…
At the same time, Voldemort brought Quirrell around searching for the various materials he needed next.
He went straight to Knockturn Alley, to Borgin and Burkes at the deepest part of the street.
The vague premonition in his mind told him that here, he could obtain what he wanted.
But the moment he entered Borgin and Burkes, Quirrell suddenly shuddered for no reason.
A terror that seemed to spread from the depths of his bloodline filled his heart.
It was like an instinctive warning left by his ancestors from ancient times. There was something here that could devour every trace of his existence, an indescribable horror!
Quirrell said in panic within his mind,
"Master, is this place really all right?"
"Why do I feel so creeped out?"
Voldemort said impatiently,
"Quirrell, have you been frightened out of your wits?"
"Where is the arrogant courage you had when you dared to search for me alone?"
"This is only a shop. What could possibly eat you here?"
Then Voldemort arrived at a counter filled with many unknown dark magical items and looked at Borgin, who was hunched behind it with his head lowered.
A trace of reminiscence flashed through Voldemort's eyes.
Back then, after graduating, he had not gone to work at the Ministry of Magic as many people expected. Instead, he had come to this shop as an assistant.
It was also here that he came into contact with dark magical items even Hogwarts did not possess.
His Dark Magic Transformation reached greater and greater heights.
Not to mention, he had also obtained treasures here that were worthy of being made into Horcruxes.
This place had truly helped Voldemort greatly.
However, Voldemort naturally did not want to make Tom Riddle's history public. After he officially rose in the magical world, he never returned to Borgin and Burkes.
He had not expected that after so many years, there would actually be a day when he revisited this old place.
A moment later, the reminiscence in Voldemort's eyes faded.
He told Borgin, who kept his head lowered, the things he needed.
"Everyone says that one can buy anything in the world at Borgin and Burkes. I hope you will not disappoint me."
After a long while, as Quirrell's scalp grew increasingly numb, Borgin spoke in an almost human tone.
"Oh, yes, sir. Of course. Borgin and Burkes will satisfy every demand."
"I will go fetch the things you need right away."
Then Borgin walked from the counter into the deeper warehouse with stiff, strange movements.
The warehouse door slammed shut.
But Quirrell felt as if strange whispers were coming from inside. It was a voice he had never heard before, yet it made his hair stand on end.
Also, he had no idea what Borgin was doing inside. From time to time, sounds of vomiting emerged, mixed with noises like skin and flesh being torn.
Quirrell's voice trembled in his mind.
"Master…"
"Are you really sure there's nothing wrong with Borgin and Burkes?"
"This place feels incredibly evil."
Voldemort frowned.
"Evil? Does it?"
Quirrell said repeatedly,
"I keep hearing strange movements here. It feels like there's something in that warehouse."
Voldemort did not care.
"This is a dark magic shop. Isn't it normal for the warehouse to contain some forbidden items and make some noise?"
"Even if Borgin and Burkes kept werewolves inside, I wouldn't find it strange."
"As for the sounds you're hearing…"
Voldemort paused, then said as if it were obvious,
"Which dark wizard hasn't experienced auditory and visual hallucinations?"
"Having hallucinations and hearing terrifying sounds only proves that you've finally begun entering the door of dark magic."
"Get used to it."
Quirrell asked uncertainly,
"Is this kind of situation normal?"
Perhaps because he was about to obtain the materials he needed and move one step closer to the Philosopher's Stone he longed for, and because he currently had nothing else to do, Voldemort rarely showed patience and explained to Quirrell.
"Of course. Dark magic is power that distorts the soul. Once the soul is distorted, changes in perception naturally follow."
"For example, some dark wizards, after delving deeply into certain dark magic fields, experience distorted taste. They can no longer eat ordinary food, but they find human flesh delicious."
"There are also some powerful dark wizards who see and hear strange things. Some people claimed they could constantly hear rats crawling inside walls."
Then Voldemort sneered at this.
"Those dark wizards all met bad ends. But in my opinion, they were simply too weak. They were frightened by mere hallucinations and sensory distortions. With such courage, how could they call themselves dark wizards?"
"I was different. No matter what I saw, I was never shaken."
"I once saw a giant city buried beneath the sea. Ancient whispers came from within, asking me to enter and worship some thing whose name I could not hear clearly. Hmph. I cursed it harshly. I, Voldemort, worship no hallucination."
"I also once dreamed of a strange thing in yellow clothes, pretending to be mysterious in front of me. I cast a Killing Curse at it, and it disappeared without a trace."
"There was also some bizarre thing, ugly beyond words, claiming it had birthed countless descendants. I rebuked it for being vulgar. Is birthing countless descendants something glorious?"
"After I cursed all these hallucinations, these so-called auditory and visual illusions rarely appeared before me again. They knew they could not shake me."
"Quirrell, hallucinations are hallucinations. You must distinguish clearly."
Hearing Voldemort's words, Quirrell calmed down somewhat.
So they were hallucinations?
Right. Hallucinations. All hallucinations.
At this moment, the sounds in the warehouse finally quieted.
Borgin opened the door and stiffly carried out a large box. It was filled with foul-smelling bones covered in sticky mucus, unknown animal teeth, strange furs, and even writhing tentacles.
The moment he saw these things, the inexplicable terror in Quirrell's heart almost made his courage collapse.
But Voldemort remained expressionless.
After carefully inspecting the items, Voldemort nodded with satisfaction and said excitedly in his mind,
"That's right. These are exactly what I need to build the alchemical array. I thought of these things while sleeping and thinking."
"At that time, hallucinations tried to disturb me again, saying these were gifts from some great being."
"I cursed them harshly again. Nonsense. Did I, Voldemort, get to where I am today by relying on gifts? It was all my own effort!"
"The alchemical array was created by me! As for these rare materials, I must have seen them in some ancient book before and forgotten. This is all part of my astonishing knowledge reserve!"
"See? Borgin and Burkes really does have these things."
"Hmph. Mere hallucinations want to steal my credit? Dream on!"
Then Voldemort tossed down a bulging bag, left behind the words "Keep the change," and hurried away with the box of materials.
After leaving the shop, Quirrell still felt chills down his back.
He seemed to hear roars from some unknown existence coming from inside the shop, as if it were extremely angry.
At that moment, Voldemort quickened his pace.
"Quirrell, walk faster."
Quirrell's heart tightened.
"Master, did you hear it too? That furious roar?"
Voldemort rolled his eyes.
"I told you. Any sound that does not belong to the magical world is a hallucination."
Quirrell asked in confusion,
"Then why are you telling me to walk faster, Master?"
Voldemort sneered.
"Of course it's because the bag I left just now didn't contain Galleons. It contained Knuts."
"That old thing Borgin thinks I don't know? His warehouse is full of junk. A lot of it was collected at cabbage prices."
"For this basket of junk—fur, teeth, and so on—how much could he have spent? If he hadn't met the knowledgeable Lord Voldemort, these things would have rotted in his warehouse. How could they be useful?"
"Building the alchemical array will still require many precious materials. We must save money. Giving him a bag of Knuts to recoup his cost is already generous."
"All right, hurry up. Don't let that old thing catch up and cause trouble."
At this moment, inside the shop, Borgin calmed down.
Then he suddenly shivered, as though waking from a dream.
"Hm?"
"How did I fall asleep just now?"
Then Borgin looked at the state of his shop and froze.
His shop was filled with disgusting, unimaginable traces.
Some looked as if they had been soaked in seawater, soaked and ruined, covered in green mucus that emitted a strong fishy stench.
Others looked like pus and rotten flesh. The texture made Borgin's stomach churn.
But from those traces, Borgin could feel that whatever had left them was furious.
"Merlin above, what on earth happened here?!"
…
At this moment, on the system screen before Theodore, chaotic characters suddenly exploded.
[Duo Bao's avatar intends to set up the Ten Absolute Arrays and has secretly received help from the Saints.]
[The Ten Absolute Arrays now bear Heavenly Mandate and rolling tribulation energy. Their ominous power is far greater than the original.]
[Saint-level power lies hidden within them, ready to descend from the Nine Heavens at any moment.]
[The course of the Investiture Tribulation is changing.]
[The Heavenly Mandate of the Investiture Tribulation is changing.]
[The current Heavenly Mandate is—]
[Yuxu must be destroyed!]
[Host bears the brunt of it!]
Looking at the words on the system screen, Theodore suddenly sneered and raised his head toward the sky.
The Great Old Ones still refused to give up?
Last time, they sent the Harp of the Underworld, intending to use it to kill him.
Now, they wanted to use Voldemort and Quirrell's actions to stir up more trouble?
From the look of it, this move would not be small.
Perhaps this time, he would not just see one Great Old One projection.
It might even be several Great Old Ones cooperating and projecting at the same time!
Theodore gave a cold smile and murmured,
"Heavenly Mandate? Yuxu must be destroyed, and I bear the brunt?"
"In other words, this time, the Old Ones want to wipe out both me and Hogwarts together?"
The corners of Theodore's mouth curved into an unreadable smile.
"If you can do it, then come and try."
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios