Ten days passed since Zheng entered the Lord of the Rings again. Following the discussion he had with the team, he had to accumulate refined Qi, practice using Tiger’s Soul and the eight flags, search for the magical items and runewords buried under Isengard.

There was one more task that only he knew of... his Heart’s Demon.

He had to overcome his Heart’s Demon in order to grow to the next level. This was what stood between him and his clone. He woke up from the Heart’s Demon under Xuan’s help in Transformers but that did not make the problem go away. Zheng was stuck in between the beginning and intermediate fourth stage. He gained control over his DNA, yet he could not alter them. He could sense the power possessed in the genes, but not be able to use them. This was a terrible feeling.

Zheng sat on top of a tree with his eyes closed. He was feeling the genes inside his body. There was the genes of human and three sets of incomplete genes. The first set were vampire genes. These were modified on the base of human genes and granted him the ability to produce blood energy. The second set were dragon genes. They came from a completely different genetic model. However, a lot of pieces were missing so its effect was only enhancing his physical body and regeneration rate. Zheng had gained very limited control over his genes. He could isolate a portion of his genes then supply them with energy to test their use.

The third set of frightening genes were hidden inside his body. It was frightening because as he supplied these genes with energy, they would spread outward, penetrate through his isolation and consumed other genes. This set of genes were extremely strong in every way, from enhancing his body to using energy. They were the king among the other genes within Zheng’s body.

These genes were perhaps the genes of the ancient demon.

Zheng opened his eyes with a sigh. Several times he had wanted to enter the state of his Heart’s Demon once more. However, he backed off every time. That feeling of freedom was carved deeply in his memory. He could lose himself in the freedom from just recalling it. If he were to enter the state recklessly, he might never be able to return to reality.

Zheng realized he needed an opportunity.

Every time he had reached the next stage of the unlocked mode, or obtained great power, his emotions were under a volatile state. The desire to live and the desire to protect pushed his emotions to its limit. He did not have the confidence to overcome his Heart’s Demon without any aid.

Yet, his position did not allow him to do so. Xuan and HongLu’s analysis predicted they would encounter team Devil again within five movies. It was only a prediction but the chance existed. If they happened to encounter team Devil, was he... prepared?

"Am I really prepared?" Zheng smiled bitterly to himself. Ever since Resident Evil he had been constantly seeking to grow and revive his team. Grow until he reached the point where he could face his clone. Yet, a sense of fear grew along with his strength.

He did not realize the terror that was his clone when they first fought, when he began reviving his team. His clone was merely stronger than him in his mind. Strong. But the key was... how much stronger?

The stronger Zheng grew, the more he realized his clone’s strength and the more he feared... But this fear was a good thing. The moment this fear reached its climax was the moment he could fight his clone! Though Zheng hadn’t realized this point yet. Each time he recalled his clone, he would feel the fear arise from within his DNA. This might be a sign of his growth.

The refined Qi wasn’t the only thing Zheng gained in these ten days. He finally began to head toward Isengard. The travel took a day using the Sky Stick. A market was formed not far away from the excavation site. The number of people there made it seem like a little human town.

Gandalf was the one who stayed in Isengard. He planned to build another tower here as his resident. The best site for the tower was of course on top of the excavation site. The foundation was already laid out underneath. The new tower could gain power equivalent to two towers.

"A tower that extends above and below the ground is going to be the first of its kind." Gandalf said in excitement.

The excavation had long finished. Finished in the sense that the workers reached the top of the tower. Gandalf stopped further excavation. The tower possessed huge power that anyone who overstepped inside should be prepared to get killed.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"A tower without its wizard is still a dangerous domain. Magical restrictions and guardians protect the place." Gandalf entered the tower with his staff in hand. Zheng was the only person to follow.

"Wizards should be seekers only. We research the phenomenons that occur throughout the world, magic, civilizations, history and races. Our responsibility is to seek the truth and organize this knowledge. Magic is a tool in this process." Gandalf said to Zheng.

(Isn’t that a scientist? The wizards in the Lord of the Rings sound similar to scientists.)

Gandalf continued, "Wizard towers are the sites we experiment and come to conclusions of these phenomenons. We either write the findings down or apply them in usage. It’s not realistic to search for treasures in such sites. Wizards are wealthy, but this wealth is in the form of knowledge and magical materials. We do not have much in terms of gold."

Zheng laughed, "I don’t lack gold either. Magical items and materials are the things I am looking for. Oh, knowledge and experience of a wizard also. I also want to see the literature that were written down."

Zheng wanted the runeword combinations more than the energy stones and materials, because Xuan might come up with new items once he got a hold of them.

The two people entered the wizard tower from its top. They carefully descended the tower. Many floors were crumpled during the tower’s collapse. Stones obstructed the path leading down. Zheng easily cleared the paths with Tiger’s Soul. The power displayed by the sword shocked Gandalf.

Tiger’s Soul’s power exceeded many level three magical weapons if one were to disregard the side effect and restrictions that came with it. It was a weapon of Cultivators.

Their pace was fast with the help of Tiger’s Soul. After crossing the crumpled floors, magic restrictions obstructed their path. Gandalf told Zheng these restrictions could be removed with enough time since they had no master anymore. Zheng didn’t get his hopes up and decided to stay in Isengard. He spent his time refining Qi, trying to come up with new abilities, and pondered on overcoming his Heart’s Demon.

Seventy days quickly flew by. Gandalf broke through the first layer of magic restrictions. A pile of research memos was placed in front of Zheng. These memos were written in hieroglyphs like characters.