"Hm?"

Merlin looked at the huge sphinx statue in surprise. The sphinx statue began to change slowly, possessing a life force, similar to the two stone statues outside the door.

However, this statue's life force was stronger, and its strength was more powerful. Even Merlin felt a sense of danger.

"Come with me. You've passed the first checkpoint. According to the rules left by Master, you can obtain a treasure but you can only choose one!"

With every step the sphinx guardian took, the entire hall shook as if it would collapse at any moment. Anyone would know at a glance that this guardian was a strength-type, but it was unknown how powerful it was.

The sphinx guardian then took Merlin to a secret room. When Merlin entered the room, he was immediately dumbstruck by the sight before him.

Everywhere he could see was full of dazzling alchemy items, and were mostly treasures that ignored Spell Caster levels. There were even some treasures that only required a small amount of Mind Power to use.

They were split into Offensive-type, Defensive-type, and Hallucinatory-type treasures.

However, most of these treasures could only be compared with the purple gold crown. They would not be able to resist the attacks of Great Legends.

"Aren't there any stronger treasures?"

"Of course, there are. In fact, there are some treasures among these that are comparable to Great Legends according to your Spell Caster classification. Furthermore, even the most elementary Spell Caster can use them. However, these treasures are hidden among the numerous treasures here, so you'll have to find them yourself."

The sphinx guardian said with a smile that did not seem like a smile.

"Find them myself?"

Merlin glanced at the dazzling array of treasure in front of him. In the past, perhaps the purple gold crown was finally selected by the Blackmoon Great Wizards after careful selection as it was the most suitable for members of the royal family.

Now that Bhutto XVII was crowned Emperor, the entire royal family had become the target of public criticism. Many Spell Casters were dissatisfied with the royal family. Therefore, what Bhutto XVII needed now should be a Defensive-type treasure, ideally like the purple gold crown.

However, it was almost impossible to choose another identical purple gold grown. Merlin first chose a Defensive-type treasure as his target, so his choices became much wider.

There were armors, cloaks, shields, and other Defensive-type treasures. They came in all sorts of different patterns but they all emitted the same force, just like the original purple gold crown that Merlin saw.

"The force these treasures give out is around the same but you'll only know its true power when you've selected one and when I've personally release the seal. Therefore, you have to choose carefully. Don't worry, you can take your time. There's no time limit."

The sphinx guardian "kindly" reminded Merlin.

Merlin's heart was shocked. He had been deceived by the force of the treasures. He felt that they were all similar to the purple gold crown, so even if he chose wrongly, it would not be worse than the purple gold crown. This was a big mistake.

There were also many good and bad treasures here. Bad treasures were much inferior to the purple gold crown, and might not be of much help to the royal family.

Merlin frowned. This made things difficult. He chose carefully, and finally took a fancy to a piece of armor.

Although it was an armor, it was extremely thin and almost weightless. It was covered with runes and gleamed like liquid gold, appearing very noble.

After losing the purple gold crown, it was not unacceptable to get such a "noble" armor but the armor had to be at least as strong, if not stronger, than the purple gold crown.

"Alright, I'll choose this!"

Merlin said while pointing at the gold armor.

"Are you sure you want this? You can only choose one treasure. If you lose this opportunity, there's no next time."

Merlin nodded and said, "I want this!"

"Well, I don't know what this armor is either. We'll find out when the seal is released."

A mysterious force appeared in the sphinx guardian's hands. Merlin had never heard of a power like that. Perhaps that was the reason why it could contend with Great Legends, just by relying on the strength of its body.

"Bang."

The invisible seal broke with a light noise that echoed in the ears. Then, the gold armor in the sphinx guardian's hands changed. A dazzling golden light lit up the entire secret chamber.

Sharp Elemental fluctuations appeared on the surface of the armor as it emitted a boundless force.

"Congratulations, you're very lucky. This is a treasure comparable to a Great Legend, called the sacred golden armor!"

The sphinx guardian was slightly shocked when it saw this armor. It did not expect that an ordinary piece of armor would be so powerful after the seal was lifted. This was one of the best treasures among the many treasures here.

"It's comparable to a Great Legend?"

Merlin also revealed a smile. The armor did look strong but it was useless to Merlin. He could achieve an effect better than this armor by using spells.

However, to the royal family, this was definitely a better treasure compared to the purple gold crown. With this golden armor, the royal family would be able to exert pressure on all sides and strike fear into many spell casters' organizations, thus maintaining the vast Blackmoon Empire.

Coupled with the royal family's potential and resources, there would be more Great Wizards in the future. As long as there was enough time, even without this sacred golden armor, the royal family would surely be able to occupy the entire empire.

Therefore, this armor was truly important to the current royal family.

"I can only choose one treasure?"

Merlin wanted to choose more treasures for the Dark Magic Region and the Wilson clan. After all, Merlin was not good at alchemy. Treasures like the purple gold crown and the sacred golden armor were too few and far in between.

"Yes, only one! However, if you can defeat me, you can obtain more mystical treasures. Even if you fail, this treasure is yours."

The sphinx guardian seemed to be "tempting" Merlin to continue to break through.

"There are even more mystical treasures?"

"Of course. If you defeat me, you'll get unimaginable benefits. Things that you Spell Casters and even Lords dream about having but fail to obtain, can be found here. It's your fortune to have found this place!"

The sphinx guardian fell silent after finishing, quietly awaiting Merlin's decision.

Merlin had a strong interest in this secret place. Whether it was the transformation between living and non-living beings like the sphinx or the shockingly huge stone carvings or these treasures, Merlin had never seen any of them before.

There were even more legends hidden here, making Merlin unable to resist.

"Please help me pass this sacred golden armor to Great Wizard Byron outside. I'll continue onward."

Merlin made his decision after a long moment.

"Very well. Of course, there won't be a problem to send this sacred golden armor outside but defeating me won't be easy. I can't be compared to those two fools outside."

The sphinx guardian smiled. Then, his body swelled rapidly like blowing up a balloon until it expanded several times.

Immediately, Merlin felt a violent force sweep over. The feeling of danger was much more than before.

Merlin took a deep breath. He knew the sphinx guardian was not ordinary. It was not an ordinary Legend. However, he did not dare to be careless, and a large multi-colored Wizard Heart appeared behind him immediately.

The invisible forces collided with each other, evenly matched.

"Good. It's been a while since I've met such an opponent. Come, defeat me, and you can get unimaginable benefits!"

The sphinx guardian growled. A huge pair of hands frantically crushed downward like a millstone. The air itself seemed to be squashed.

The heavy pressure made Merlin instantly feel like he was suffocating. This was pure strength!

"What a powerful force! Ice Seal!"

Merlin gave a loud roar, and the Wizard Heart trembled slightly. Immediately, cold air appeared and froze the surroundings. Even the sphinx guardian's arm was frozen.

However, even those solid ice crystals seemed to be cracked lightly by the powerful force.

Merlin's Wizard Heart moved slightly again, and a surging wind swept the sphinx guardian away. The terrifying force seemed to be able to strangle everything.

Under the attack of two spells, the sphinx guardian went completely berserk. The violent strength fiercely split open Ice Seal, and his hands ripped apart Merlin's squall.

"It's so powerful!"

Merlin could tell that the sphinx guardian had not reached the strength of an Honored Legend, similar to Merlin. Ordinary spells would not be enough.

"Since it's a living being, it should be affected by Hallucinating spells."

Merlin felt that it would be very challenging to defeat the sphinx guardian just by relying on the Wizard Heart. Therefore, he immediately mobilized the Illusory World. Anything would be affected by Hallucinating spells as long as it had consciousness and had a life force.

"Rumble."

The incorporeal Illusory World immediately enveloped the sphinx guardian. Its fierce and powerful strength was not inferior to Merlin's multi-colored Wizard Heart, but now, as the sphinx guardian had a consciousness, it was dragged into an illusion with the power of the Illusory World.

"Bang."

Merlin used spells to form a large hand, and viciously hit the sphinx guardian that was still trapped inside the illusion. The sphinx guardian was immediately heavily injured.

"What was that?"

The sphinx returned to its senses with a hint of surprise on its face.

"It was a Hallucinating spell. Your strength is enormous, so I could only use a Hallucinating Spell to trap you in an illusion. Fortunately, your will wasn't too firm, so you easily fell into the illusion."

Merlin did not hide anything and directly explained.

"I lost… Please tell me your name."

The sphinx guardian stood up again, seemingly a little desolate.

"My name is Merlin!"

"Wizard Merlin, in so many years, you're the first to defeat me. Congratulations, you can enter the world created by Master. Inside are creatures that Master had created. They're completely different from your Spell Caster civilization but Master wasn't satisfied, so he sealed them. Moreover, there are some of Master's insights that were left behind. If you can obtain them, your accomplishments would be hard to imagine."

What the sphinx guardian said stunned Merlin once again. Although he had been surprised many times since entering this secret place, he was still shocked this time.

Creating a world could be understood as creating a dimension. Ultimate existences could generally accomplish that. For example, the Spell Caster civilization's three great Arcane Cities were created by the Arcane Wizards.

However, creating life from nothing was reversing the natural order. It was not something that Arcane Wizards or ultimate existences from the Void Zone could do.

"Who exactly is your master?"

Merlin asked word by word, staring at the sphinx guardian with a serious expression.