Crossover: With Heaven-Defying Insight, I'm Shaking the Very Aeons

The research into the Great Holy Grail did not last long.

"I have to say, as expected of a limited edition of the Third Magic. This level of soul materialization can't even be considered mastery."

After his research, Su Mo was a little disappointed. Although it wasn't a total loss, the results were far from what he had expected.

Overall, the Winter Saint's grasp of the Third Magic, soul materialization, was likely only at an instinctive level.

And by that, he didn't mean she had mastered it to the point of second nature, but rather that she had no systematic research or knowledge-based understanding of it at all.

She could only wield it instinctively, like a beast brandishing its claws.

Such an instinct wasn't useless, but it could never be improved through experience. No wonder the disciples of the Third Magician had abandoned this rare creation back then.

The Winter Saint was like a completely unanalyzable black box, with no potential for growth and a pitifully low output, equivalent to having no future at all.

Continuing to research down this path, it was difficult to see any hope.

The structure of the Great Holy Grail before him was the same.

After studying it, Su Mo discovered that its structure was merely a product of soul materialization; it did not contain the knowledge of how to create such a product.

Relying on the remnants of the Great Holy Grail was not enough to reverse-engineer the complete Third Magic.

According to Su Mo's speculation, to master the complete Third Magic to his satisfaction, he would most likely have to go to the Root himself.

With key pieces of information missing, even if Su Mo's comprehension was high enough to reverse-engineer and supplement most of it, it was still impossible for him to directly achieve enlightenment and ascend.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to seek out the Holy Grail; he could have just found any Servant, or even just sat and daydreamed his way to understanding the Third Magic.

"However, I did learn quite a bit about interfering with Saint Graphs."

Thinking of this, Su Mo was still somewhat satisfied.

The effect of the Third Magic, soul materialization, could be simply understood as shaping a body that matched the template of an immortal soul.

But in reality, neither the soul nor the body was such a simple concept.

The so-called soul had the concept of "three hun and seven po" in the Far East, "one spirit and four souls" in the extreme East, and while the West generally believed the soul was bestowed by God, within the inner circles of mysticism, it was also divided into different layers.

For example, the seven layers of the human energy field: the etheric body, emotional body, mental body, astral body, etheric template body, celestial body, and causal body.

Therefore, to study soul materialization, one had to study what the soul is, and which part of the soul is being materialized.

Among these, the existence of Servants themselves was a product of a degraded version of the Third Magic.

The reason it was called a degraded version was that Servants still required their Masters to supply magical energy, which clearly didn't fit the definition of infinite magical energy.

And the reason it was related to the Third Magic was that Servants did indeed achieve the feat of materializing Spirit Bodies from the Throne of Heroes into the present world.

Just as a Divinity determined the basic structure and power of a god, a Saint Graph also determined the basic structure and power of a Servant.

As for the core part of the Third Magic—how to package mythological information into a Divinity, or how to package information from the Counter Force into a Servant's Saint Graph—the current Su Mo had not yet obtained enough information.

But in the field of how to interfere with Saint Graphs and even Divinities to change the structure and power of Servants and gods, Su Mo, who already had some research under his belt, had once again made some progress by studying the Great Holy Grail.

For example—

"Saber, come over here. Let me see your Saint Graph."

Having gained sufficient insight, Su Mo decided to do some practical application.

"Huh?"

The ahoge-king froze on the spot. Master wants to see my what?

"Don't worry, just stand still."

Su Mo directly reached out and placed a hand on top of Artoria's head.

"Yes, Master!"

Although she didn't know what Su Mo was doing, out of trust for her Master, Artoria didn't resist. She stood obediently in place, waiting for Su Mo's inspection.

"Not the structure of a traditional Servant... but no matter, this Saint Graph can still be expanded."

After a quick probe, Su Mo finally remembered that the ahoge-king before him was different from those dead Servants; she had become a Heroic Spirit while still alive.

Although this version of Artoria also had a Saint Graph, she wasn't a type whose every aspect was determined by it, unlike other Servants.

An ordinary Servant's structure was similar to that of a Heretic God, but the ahoge-king's structure was more like a Godslayer's, similar to that of an Incarnate God.

Therefore, modifying her Saint Graph was a bit more complex.

Fortunately, Su Mo had experimented on himself many times, personally studying the effects of a Divinity's structure on the physical body. This level of difficulty was nothing to him.

Half a minute later, feeling the power within her body strengthen by several times once again, Artoria's eyes widened in shock.

"Master, why has my body's upper limit increased so much? It's several times stronger than when I was at my peak!"

Possessing the heart of a red dragon, her physique was already stronger than that of an ordinary Servant.

With Su Mo's magical energy reinforcement, her Strength had long since reached A+, and her Agility and Mana were similarly multiplied.

Even among the three Knight classes, this was a very excellent level.

But now, under Su Mo's further enhancement, all aspects of her power had seen another substantial increase.

She even suspected that her current stats had reached the irregular EX rank, and the supply of magical energy from Su Mo was endless.

Just a few dozen seconds of modification could increase her power to this extent? Was this the might of a great god?

Faced with Artoria's shock, Su Mo wasn't surprised.

"You already have the bloodline of a red dragon, so you had the potential to reach this level to begin with. Besides, it's just the constitution of a divine beast. Based on physical ability alone, you might not even be able to beat a wild boar."

Even after Su Mo's adjustment of her Saint Graph, not counting the Sword of the Star, Artoria's power level was still at the Tier 2 Paladin level.

It was just that before, keeping up with a divine beast's physical abilities was a bit of a struggle for her. Now, she herself possessed the physical abilities of an ordinary divine beast.

If she added the power of the Sword of Promised Victory, an ordinary divine beast would no longer pose a threat to her.

She could even face a Heretic God head-on. And this was without Su Mo bestowing any divine protections upon her.

It had to be said, she really had great potential in combat.

After expanding Artoria's Spirit Origin to its current limit, Su Mo remembered that she seemed to be missing another piece of equipment.

"Avalon isn't in your possession right now?"

The scabbard Avalon, which was comparable to the Sword of the Star and could not be interfered with by even the Five Magics, could be said to be another of Artoria's exclusive cheat items.

In the myths, if she hadn't lost the scabbard, the final outcome at Camlann Hill would probably have been her single-handedly slaughtering the entire rebel army.

Among the many mythological armaments, this Noble Phantasm was also one of the most special types. At the very least, an ordinary Conceptual Armament could not replicate its effects completely.

"I apologize, Master. I have already lost the scabbard."

Mentioning this, the ahoge on Artoria's head drooped a little. The loss of the scabbard could be said to be one of the key turning points that led to the end of her life.

"It's fine. If you lost it, we can just find it again."

Su Mo shook his head very calmly. He wouldn't give up on such a crucial item after coming all this way.

As far as he knew, the scabbard Avalon should have been preserved intact into the modern era. With a little searching, it could be found.

Now that Artoria had become his knight, her scabbard was naturally Su Mo's scabbard as well. With this alone, Su Mo could establish a spiritual connection and find Avalon's true form.

And soon, Su Mo confirmed the location of Avalon's main body.

"On the other side of the planet... in a forest in Central Europe, Germany?"