Absorbing the Maxim and deriving spells was Merlin's absolute final resort as previously, the Maxims in Merlin's Awareness were under his control. Therefore, its absorption of the power of the Maxim would not cause any unusual changes.

However, this Flame Maxim was outside his Awareness, shaped like a gigantic Flame Subspace. The surging, spitting Flame Maxim could not be controlled by Merlin at all.

This was just like how it was easy to refine one's own Magic Power yet, it was of utmost difficulty to refine someone else's Magic Power to cast a spell, which was like a suicide mission.

However, currently, Merlin had no other choice, and could only make a tentative attempt. He hoped that the Matrix was strong enough to absorb the Maxim by force, just like how it had refined the god's divine energy in the past.

In essence, most Legends were equivalent to an average natural god. Only Legends who had consolidated a Maxim were able to fight against those powerful natural gods.

"Splash."

A splashing sound, reminiscent of a river, came into Merlin's ears. Following the appearance of this odd noise, Merlin acutely sensed that the ferocious Flame Maxim did not seem to cause his body any harm. At the moment, his body seemed to have transformed into a bottomless pit, wildly swallowing the Flame Maxim.

Fortunately, this Flame Maxim was not controlled by anyone. If a Great Legend was controlling it, it would promptly attack Merlin. Even if Merlin was a Sixth-level, Seventh-level or Eighth-level Spell Caster and so on, to say nothing of being a Fifth-level Spell Caster, he would be incapable of withstanding it. This was the power of a completely different league.

However, the Maxim Subspace was purely space which was constructed by the Legend Zado using countless years' time and painstaking effort with Maxims as the base. There was nothing else but Maxims in here.

"It can really absorb and refine the Maxim!"

Merlin was wild with joy. He could distinctly sense that the Matrix was currently like a greedy giant beast, gulping down the Flame Maxim frantically, then transforming it into mystical energy that was stored in the Matrix.

Compared to the god's divine energy which it had swallowed, the Matrix seemed to prefer Maxims.

"The Matrix had crossed over along with me. Surely some unknown change must have taken place. Otherwise, a super calculator would not swallow the Maxim so vigorously."

In the past, Merlin's Matrix was only able to perform simple calculations and optimizations of spells. However, thereafter, the spells became more complex, and when Merlin had needed to derive new spells, he found that the Matrix was able to refine Maxims.

From that point onward, the Matrix had become much more enigmatic. Merlin was unable to know exactly what changes had occurred to the Matrix but luckily it was deeply concealed. Even Maxims which he had hidden in his body could be detected by Great legends but no one had ever noticed the Matrix.

Up until now, the Matrix was Merlin's greatest secret. It was the greatest tool in his journey of becoming a powerful Wizard!

The Flame Maxim was diminishing bit by bit. Although the Matrix appeared just like a black hole that swallowed incessantly, the Flame Maxim in the subspace was far too immense. Despite the fervent swallowing of the Matrix, Merlin could not see any difference. Still, this made it easier for him to conceal and disguise the changes that were happening to him.

In a flash, three days had passed. The Matrix had absorbed much of the Flame Maxim. Although the derivation of new Sixth-level spells would require a lot of power from the Maxim, the amount of Flame Maxim absorbed alone was already sufficient to derive the remaining four Sixth-level spells.

Initially, the Legend Zado had decided to let Merlin, under the surrounding pressure of the Maxim, "force out" a rapid understanding of the Essence of Elements. This would be of great help when he had created Maxims as a Great Legend in the future.

However, the Legend Zado did not expect that Merlin would not have an understanding of the Essence of Elements at all. This was far too difficult, and it was impossible to gain this comprehension in a short time. In addition, Merlin was merely a Fifth-level Spell Caster.

Although he had not understood the Essence of Elements, Merlin had reaped a great profit. The Maxim in the subspace was nearly endless. The Legend Zado had spent huge efforts in accumulating his own Maxims for countless years in order to create a Maxim Subspace of this scope. Now, Merlin had simply taken advantage of this, and the Maxim was absorbed and refined, bit by bit, by the Matrix.

"Huh? Still alive? Not bad, not bad. This Merlin is impressive indeed. It looks like I've made the right call. He's mostly gained an understanding of Fire Element. In that case, it's time for the next one. Hehe, it shall be the Windstorm Subspace this time."

Zado did not notice that Merlin was frantically "siphoning off" his Maxim. Conversely, he was very pleased with Merlin, and transferred him to the Windstorm Subspace.

…

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh…"

A gale whistled. Merlin's surroundings began to transform rapidly. The initial Flame Maxim was gone, and what appeared now were violent wisps of a Wind Maxim.

Merlin was still safe for now. Based on what had happened in the Flame Subspace, Merlin knew that the Legend Zado would give him a grace period of at least ten days. Within this time, he could work hard to understand the Essence of Wind Element and resist the Wind Maxim in that manner.

However, Merlin knew very well that it was impossible to gain an understanding in just ten days. Instead, he seized this time to activate the Matrix, and began to automatically absorb and refine the surrounding Wind Maxim.

Just the Flame Maxim alone was enough to derive all the Sixth-level spells but Seventh-level spells would require much more power of the Maxim.

Therefore, in such a "good place", Merlin was free to "siphon off" the Maxim. Of course, he would not let this opportunity slip by him. He activated the Matrix, and started to wildly "siphon off" the Maxim.

There was no way that the Legend Zado would imagine that a mere Fifth-level Spell Caster would be able to "siphon off" the Maxim. Sending Merlin to the Maxim Subspace was a complete mistake.

Merlin stayed in the Windstorm Subspace for more than ten days. The Matrix had accumulated more Wind Maxim than Flame Maxim. After all, Merlin had used the ten days of "grace period" to begin absorbing and refining the energy of the Maxim.

After going through the Windstorm Subspace, Merlin was sent to the Ice Subspace, which was filled with Ice Maxim. Merlin repeated his set method of using the Matrix to refine a great portion of the Maxim.

Next was the Thunder Subspace. Merlin had Thunder-type spells as well so he was rather surprised because he had not met many Spell Casters who had constructed Thunder-type spells. Thunder-type spells were too wild, and difficult to control. In particular, when he had become a Great Wizard in the future, and wanted to merge the Spell Models, it would pose numerous problems.

For now, Merlin had already experienced four Maxim Subspaces. This meant that the Legend Zado was a formidable Legend who had created a minimum of four Maxims, and was already on par with the Legend Blackcloud.

Most ordinary Legends had consolidated one Maxim. Two Maxims could be considered a relatively powerful Legendary Wizard. Legends with three Maxims were rarer while four Maxims would practically make one an overlord in control of multiple or even dozens of dimensions.

Merlin's breathing quickened. He could dimly sense that the Legend Zado did not just stop at four Maxims.

Indeed, after ten days or so, he was once more transported to a subspace that was full of a "heavy" force. This place was filled with an Earth-type Maxim, which was called the Terra Maxim.

Moreover, Merlin could evidently feel that the Terra Maxim was obviously more powerful than the other Maxims he had come across in the other subspaces. It was undergoing a subtle evolution.

"A Great Legend with five Maxims! The Legend Zado is surely a Great Legend who had formed five Maxims with the Terra Maxim as his primary Maxim… It's not surprising that he could come along with those Great Honored Legends to recruit disciples. In some ways, the Legend Zado had greater potential. Once he becomes an Honored Legend through the Terra Maxim, he would immediately surpass most Honored Legends, becoming a formidable Honored Legend! There's even a high chance that he would become the foremost Honored Legend!"

Merlin was astounded deep inside. Great Legends who had consolidated five Maxims were even fewer in number than Honored Legends. Most Five-Elemental Spell Casters would find it hard to become a Great Wizard, let alone construct five Maxims.

"The stronger the power of the Maxim, the greater the amount of energy obtained after the Matrix had refined it. This Terra Maxim is far stronger than the Maxims in the other subspaces. The Legend Zado must be preparing to use this Terra Maxim as his foundation to take the lead in becoming an Honored Legend using the Terra Maxim… In that case, Matrix, feel free to absorb and refine."

Merlin glanced at the immense Terra Maxim, and his heart was filled with elation. No matter how powerful a Maxim was, it could serve as "nourishment" for the Matrix and be transformed into special energy. This energy could be used to derive new Sixth-level spells, Seventh-level spells, and so on.

…

"Two months. It's almost time… Merlin wasn't at risk in the final Terra Subspace as well. It looks like I got lucky. Merlin is really a Wizard of inconceivable genius. Haha, I really owe Hochi and Jelen a big one – how shall I repay them? It would do no good to fool these two fellows…"

In the castle, the Legend Zado gave a satisfied smirk. Hochi and Jelen, the two Honored Legends, were rare friends of his. As the Legend Zado had formed five Maxims, and the Terra Maxim was about to evolve – ten years if it was quick, a hundred years if slow – the Legend Zado was confident that the Terra Maxim would evolve completely, and he would become a Great Honored Legend with the Terra Maxim as his primary force!

Therefore, the Legend Zado, in fact, enjoyed a high position among Legendary Wizards, and even Honored Legends treated him as a peer. He and the other two Honored Legends – Hochi and Jelen – had come together to select a disciple. In fact, all three of them had taken interest in Merlin but ultimately it was the Legend Zado who had gotten the chance, and Wizard Hochi and Jelen had let Merlin slipped out of their grasp.

Consequently, he owed those two Honored Legends a favor but it now looked like his choice was correct. If Wizard Hochi and Jelen knew that Merlin was able to survive the Legend Zado's Maxim Subspace in two short months, they would surely somewhat regret giving up Merlin to the Legend Zado.

"Alright, it's time to come out."

With a great grasp of his hand, the Legend Zado immediately closed the Maxim Subspace, retrieving Merlin from within in one motion.