《Law of the Devil》 Chapter 0 Chapter 0 ¨C The Earl¡¯s Son As we look back upon history, we will often find that under the surging current of history, even the wisest leaders find it hard to keep their heads over water. ¡ª¡ª¡¶Imperial Chronicles, chapter 35, note 7 ¡ª¡ª Pertaining to reflections on the Rnd Era 12¡· £» On this summertime afternoon, the scorching sun hanging in the sky still mercilessly radiated heat. For the sake of a weing ceremony for a triumphant return, countless scarlet armored guards already encircled pier one in the harbor so tightly that not even a drop of water could trickle through. And for a hundred paces around the pier were hard pressed imperial capital public security soldiers exerting all their strength. Arge number of them had ripped clothes, shiny epaulets torn off, impressive hats pulled away, even their boots had been stepped on countless times. What made the one thousand public security soldiers who had been ordered to the harbor to ensure order feel helpless, was that the enemy they confronted was more than fifty thousand enthusiastic imperial capital residents. The crowd of citizens brimming with enthusiasm was armed with flowers, cheers, apuse ¡ª¡ª and of course, a veryrge number of young women ready to offer their own kisses or even chastity. In this kind of uproar, the one thousand public security soldiers felt as if they were in a broken boat at sea, about to capsize at any moment. Right now they were extremely envious of the guardsmen on the dock, who could leisurely arrange themselves into formation, showing of their recently acquired brightly polished weapons and armor, and didn¡¯t have to worry about having their cheeks grabbed by zealous citizens at any time. For the sake of this triumphant return celebration, his majesty the great emperor Augustine VI had ordered for the Azure Grand Canal that lead to the imperial capital river district to be widened to twice its former size! For this reason the Empire had invested ten thousand river workers for half a year, paying close to three million gold pieces. And the reason for this investment was to let the imperial 6th Expeditionary Fleet gship HMS Red Eastern pass unhindered directly to the imperial capital east gate harbor, receiving the acim of the people and demonstrating the might of the imperial military. Nobody cared about whether this unting was worth such a cost. Because the first imperial finance minister who had raised objections had been immediately ¡®retired¡¯ to the countryside by the angry emperor. And the seeding finance minister¡¯s only option had been to rack his brains and search from east to west to squeeze out thest bit of coin from the imperial finances and satisfy that ¡°extravagant old man¡±. Of course, the finance minister could only bury that appetion ¡°extravagant old man¡± deep within his heart, very deep, veeery deep¡­¡­ As the afternoon sun warmed the wide surface of the canal, when the first trace of a sail appeared in the distance, the crowd was unable to restrain their cheers. Along the river an enormous two hundred paces long warship slowly approached the harbor, its awe-inspiring outline shocking everyone in the waiting crowd. The imperial 6th expeditionary fleet gship ¡®HMS Red Eastern¡¯, the pride of the imperial navy, the most enormous warship in history. For the sake of this weing ceremony the warship had already been repainted and overhauled, the hullcquered an intimidating ck. Amidst wave after wave of cheering, HMS Red Eastern slowly approached the harbor like a massive ck beast, the bramble blossom g fluttering on its masts. As the ship dropped anchor, the tens of thousands of people waiting were already boiling, countless hats were thrown into the air, countless shoes were stepped on and lost, countless legs were bruised in the jostling. And those pitiful public security soldiers resisting with the best of their abilities could only watch their cordon shrink, and shrink again¡­¡­ The imperial expeditionary fleetmander, earl Lehman, stood at the prow of the ship, expressionlessly watching the cheering crowd. This thirty nine years old imperial first ss general, imperial earl, wore his grandest attire, a set of full body light armor, a scarlet cape fluttering behind him in the wind, two medals on his chest ¡ª¡ª awarded for the previous two times he had participated in the expeditionary fleets. And no doubt this triumphant return would award him a third imperial medal. The earl¡¯s gaze was somewhat ck, not at all focused on the cheering crowd in the port, and if observed closely one would discover that his brows were slightly wrinkled, seemingly a bit impatient. Damn it, this armor is too heavy, and too ridiculous! As a navy soldier, the earl didn¡¯t believe that wearing such heavy armor was suitable for navalbat. It was all a show on behest of the military. As for wearing these medals, the earl secretly thought the whole idea even more ridiculous. Just like the newly rich unting their wealth ¡ª¡ª true nobility wouldn¡¯t deign to do something like that. He felt such an act was beneath his dignity. Moreover, the cheering crowd below was really too noisy, their acim was like a tsunami hitting the wave breakers, wave after wave eroding the earl¡¯s already worn patience. Subconsciously he looked down at the deck. For the sake of just this weing ceremony the HMS Red Eastern had already been repainted three days ago, the old bloodstains on the deck removed. The deck nts worn in the expeditionary battles had already been rid, and even the bow ram had been reced¡­¡­ Damn it, those bootlicking courtly bastards had actually reced the ram with a figurehead in his majesty¡¯s likeness, and reportedly this statue had been carved by an imperial master sculptor and delivered personally a few days before. For this the imperial navy had paid an extra ten thousand gold coins. Martial grandeur was martial grandeur. But didn¡¯t those idiots know that in navalbat, after warships collided, the first thing destroyed was the bow ram? It seemed to him that this ten thousand gold coin expenditure was a waste. Instead of the work of a master sculptor, a sharpened stake would have a more practical effect. In fact, deep down, earl Lehman secretly thought that even arranging this so-called 6th expeditionary fleet was a preposterous beyond belief strategic error. For several decades the Empire had been repeatedly conducting ¡°expeditions¡± into the south sea region. He couldn¡¯t deny that there were countless inds in the south seas, casually sprinkled like pearls in the ocean, with strange forests, with barbarous stone age level aboriginal tribes, with gold, gems, spices, bounty of the sea. But the earl couldn¡¯t consider ¡®going off with a dozen massive warships to bully aboriginal tribal kayaks¡¯ was anything that could be called an ¡®expedition¡¯. It was plundering, it was massacre, it was robbery, it was invasion, it was bare-faced looting! The earl didn¡¯t believe there was anything wrong with this. The weak would always be eaten by the strong, so the weak had to maintain a servile attitude to the strong. But he believed the mistake in the imperial policy for the south seas was this: these operations called ¡®expeditions¡¯ were conducted far too frequently, and the results obtained became smaller and smaller. In the first two or three expeditions, the mighty imperial navy had been invincible, when ship after ship had returned with gold, gems, spices and marine goods, it had caused a sensation across the Empire. But after all, even an abundant granary couldn¡¯t stand repeated harvest. Excessive plundering had annihted the aboriginal tribes near the coast, and the following expeditionary forces had no choice but to head further and further out, their routes extending, an immense trial for fleet supplies. After all, the south seas didn¡¯t just consist of easily bullied tribals, not just gold and gems, but also stifling hot climate, rapidly changing weather, terrifying giant waves, as well as countless reefs, maelstroms, storms¡­¡­ The interim harvests had turned what was originally the Empire¡¯s granary into a deste and overgrown field. Each time the harvest ofter expeditions grew less. But ironically, each time the triumphant return ceremonies grew more magnificent¡­¡­ Earl Lehman had hadmanded the three expeditions in thest several years, gaining this earl a resounding reputation in the south seas. This imperial navy general had a series of nicknames in the south seas: Robber! Butcher! Executioner! ¡­¡­ His hands were covered in aboriginal blood, in the hearts of the aboriginal ns he was an egregious invader, a demon who burned their homes, enved their people. Of course the earl wouldn¡¯t care about this, but one thing that made him a little uneasy was that the excessive invasions had already provoked some abnormal developments among these aboriginals, especially in a military aspect. Even to the extent that before he returned this time, he had heard of some aboriginal ind nations already forming a so-called coalition in the most distant regions of the south seas, in order to withstand the Empire¡¯s endless plundering. Fortunately, this particr vexation wasn¡¯t anything he had to worry about anymore. He knew full well that this was hisst expedition. From now on he would stay at the imperial capital, and if everything went well, take up an illustrious position at the imperial highmand, spending eight or ten years until the current military affairs chancellor retired, then using his n¡¯s influence to seed him. If he had a bit of luck, perhaps he could even take up a political career in hister years, trying for prime minister. As for expeditions, fuck it. That was the headache of the next expeditionary fleetmander. Even if those aboriginals developed to where they could build magic cannons, it still wasn¡¯t his problem. In a wave of fervent cheering, descended from the deck under the attentive gazes of the entire crowd, and finally he again stood on the soil of the imperial capital! He waved at the crowd¡­¡­ but this motion was more like waving off a fly. First of all an official attired as a courtly attendant read out loud the emperor¡¯smendations from the deck, and instructed him to enter the imperial pce early the next morning to receive his awards. His wishes were fulfilled, his political prospects were bright. But the next grey clothed servant pushing through the crowd, whispering another piece of news by his ear, dropped earl Lehman¡¯s heart to the ground. It was news from home. The expedition had been away for years, on the boundless sea where news travelled with difficulty. Lehman still didn¡¯t know what the circumstances were at home. Most important was his wife and child. Three years ago when he left on the campaign, his wife was already close to giving birth, and he still didn¡¯t even know if it was a boy or a girl! The news from home was: A boy. But, the newborn boy was, apparently, a retard. This one piece of bad news instantly knocked him down from the peak of happiness. One piece of bad news! Practically every bigwig in the imperial capital hade to wee him, and they all saw his expression descend to critical mass of depression. Chapter 1 Chapter 1 - Retard tranted by A013 When Duwei Rnd was just born, no one dared to call him retarded. He was once so far as to be considered a genius of the Rnd family. Three years ago, when Duwei was born into the Earl Rnd family, he gave a scare to the midwives. Because he never cried or make a sound. He never needed an adult to coax him. His life is more normal than a regr adult, waking up at a consistent time, open his mouth when the mealse, and go to bed at night. Aside from opening his mouth to eat, no sound came out from his mouth. The only thing he did everyday is stare into open space. He also rarely wet his bed, because he learned to pull the bell next to his crib. After a while, everytime he pulled the bell, the maids wille to help him. This act convinced the Rnd family that the little master is a genius at such a young age. However, this title onlysted less than half a year... because he never talked. Children his age would have learned to speak simple words, such as ¡°papa, mama¡±. But Duwei¡¯s mouth is like sealed with a curse. No matter how much the Earl¡¯s wife taught him, not a single sound came out of his mouth. Even someone born mute can still hum a few sounds. But this little master is as silent as a rock. When he¡¯s cold, hungry, needs to use the toilet, he will only pull the bell. The Earl¡¯s wife hired many respectable doctors, and even a few magicians to see if he¡¯s cursed. But it was to no avail. In the end, even the optimistic Earl¡¯s wife became sad. It seems her son is indeed retarded. Fortunately, Duwei can walk at age three. Even though it¡¯s half crawling, half walking, this is no different from other children. During a stormy night a month ago, a major event happened in the Earl¡¯s mansion. Duwei crawled out from his room to the courtyard when the maids weren¡¯t looking. He just stood there looking at the sky. Rain was pouring on him, and even thunder did not scare him. He clenched his fists as shouted at to the sky. The little master that hadn¡¯t made a sound in three years finally opened his mouth. He kept on shouting until the servants found him. He was soaking wet. His body was cold and shivering. His face pale. The Earl¡¯s wife came at an instant after hearing it. Then she fainted. When she woke up, she held onto her son and wept. The doctors fed him various medicines. Even two light magicians were hired to use healing spells on him. But the little master¡¯s body got colder and colder. His mother ran to the temple of the Goddess of Light and fetch a priest. The priest casted a blessing on Duwei. And the Earl¡¯s wife kneeled in front of the Goddess statue the whole night praying for her son. It wasn¡¯t until the next day when the boy¡¯s body started to warm up. At least his life is saved. He remained unconscious for another day. The Earl¡¯s wife held onto him this whole time, and barely ate anything herself. After two days, her face had withered. Then Duwei said something on his sleep. It seems to be sleep talk. Nobody can understand what it meant. But since the little master never learned to talk, it may be just nonsense sounds a baby makes. However the Earl¡¯s wife was delighted. After listening to Duwei carefully, she asked the maids, ¡°Is there someone called Mard that took care of Duwei?¡± ¡°Madam, there isn¡¯t a servant by that name.¡± The servants searched through the whole mansion. Then they found a stable hand by that name. The Earl¡¯s wife summoned him immediately. ¡°My son was saying your name in his sleep, Mard. I don¡¯t know why he said it. Perhaps it¡¯s a prophesy from the Goddess of Light. From this day on, you no longer work in the stable. You will serve the little master by his side.¡± Mard was delighted. He suddenly went from a lowly stable hand to the little master¡¯s servant. He can see the light in his future. Though Duwei didn¡¯t know. He was only enraged and shouted against the Gods that day. He got soaked by rain and almost lost his life. He also didn¡¯t know he was simply cursing ¡°Fuck¡± during his sleep, and someone had benefited hugely from it. Duwei¡¯s injurysted a whole month. That little fragile body of his became even weaker. It wasn¡¯t until a month before his face became less pale. But the days became just like before. The little master still doesn¡¯t talk. He even paid no attention to Mard. He stared into empty space every day. However, sometimes the maids talked about how the Earl¡¯s wife held onto him for two days without sleep and rest, and kneeled in front of the Goddess statue for a whole knight... After that when the Earl¡¯s wife came to see her son, there was a hint of emotion in his eyes, a hint of warmth. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 - Won¡¯t Talk, Can¡¯t Fight tranted by A013 The day of triumphant return. The imperial capital was basked in celebration. However the Earl¡¯s mansion was the totally opposite. It was a dead silence. No celebration party, no weing ceremony, not even a simple dinner. The Earl hurried back to his mansion, and rejected to see some guests, with the reason that after three years out in the war, he needed some personal space with his family. Even though this disappointed the guests, no one can refute this reason. Inside the Earl¡¯s mansion, the kingdom¡¯s hero and his son were staring at each other. The look of his eyes were deep, depressing, andplex. If he didn¡¯t firmly believe that his wife never cheated. The moment the Earl see the child, he questioned if this is really his son. The boy¡¯s face and build is vastly different from the Earl. The men in the Rnd family were famous for their image of masculinity. A typical Rnd man will have a big body, a wide chest, bulked arms, squared face, the look of a hero. At least the Earl looked like this. But this little guy... Even though he¡¯s only three years old, he¡¯s too white, and skinny. I heard he had an injury a month ago, perhaps that¡¯s the exnation. The three year old Earl¡¯s heir, Duwei Rnd, looked at his father with indifferent eyes. He didn¡¯t cry like children his age. This disappointed the Earl. ording to customs, the louder a child cries, the stronger they will be. Yet, this boy was a little too quiet. He just sat on his bed, with hands on his knees, and stared at me with a bit of curiosity and inspection. The Earl thought to himself, I must be wrong at judging, how can a child¡¯s eyes have suchplex feelings? While the Earl was a little gloomy, Duwei¡¯s feelings were moreplex. The Earl¡¯s wife had soften Duwei¡¯s heart with the events that happened. But this ¡®father¡¯ that suddenly appeared... ¡°He... really can¡¯t talk?¡± The Earl asked his wife with a stern expression. Tears started filling up her eyes. Seeing this the Earl¡¯s expression softened. He thought to himself, he left for three years, leaving his wife alone. A woman needed her husband the most when she was about to give birth. And he was not able to be by her side. And their son became like this, there¡¯s nothing to me on this poor woman. The Earl said softly, ¡°Honey, we will hire the wisest teacher in the kingdom. He will be able to speak one day. But his body is too weak. The Rnd family built their reputation through battles and victories. And my son will follow my path to be a general. He can¡¯t be this weak. He¡¯s already three, I think it¡¯s time we find him an instructor. After a few years of training his body should bulk up. What do you think about Alpha? He¡¯s my most royal guard. Hisbat skills are high, and he¡¯s royal to the family. I think starting next month, we can have Alpha teach Duwei some basic training techniques.¡± Upon hearing her poor son will have to train at such an early age, tears poured down the mother¡¯s eyes. ¡°But.. he¡¯s still so young.¡± ¡°Due to his body is weaker than most people, he has to take up training at an early age. Otherwise how can he inherit the Rnd family!¡± The Earl took his position firm and that was decided. The second day, after seeing the king and receiving his third rank 1 medal, the king promoted Earl Raymond Rnd as the kingdom¡¯s vice general. Raymond Rnd¡¯s son is retarded, this is not a secret in the imperial city. Everyone can see the gloom on the Earl¡¯s face during the celebration ceremony. In the Mansion, the Earl and his son were staring at each other the second time. However, the Earl¡¯s wife is not here this time around. The only outsider is Alpha. Earl Raymond had an unexinable dislike to his child. He felt that the gaze in the child¡¯s eyes are not nk, there¡¯s a hint of resistance. Then he thought to himself, what can a three year old know? And he was away to war since the child was born. He never even held the boy once. It is only natural for the boy to see himself as a stranger. Alpha stood in front of Duwei¡¯s bed and held him up. He took off the boy¡¯s clothes and touched him from top to body. Duwei resisted but his efforts were futile. The strength of a first rank swordsman isn¡¯t something he can resist. Alpha gave out a sigh and put Duwei down. Then he said to the Earl, ¡°Master Earl, I...¡± ¡°Alpha, you are my most trusted person. Don¡¯t hesitate too much and say whatever¡¯s on your mind.¡± ¡°Master Duwei¡¯s body is very weak, and it seems like he was born.. deficient. A body like this is worse than amoner¡¯s. If he he¡¯s going down the path of a warrior, I am afraid he won¡¯t aplish much.¡± ¡°Then what do you think?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we see if he has talent in other fields.¡± And with that, the Earl¡¯s face darkened. The Earl was disappointed for a few days. But under his wife¡¯sforting words, he cheered up a bit. After all, this is his only son. The Rnd¡¯s reputation were warriors. However, in history, there was one or two known for their intelligence in the battlefield. These ancestors didn¡¯t fare well inbat, but they canmand the army and control the battlefield. If he can¡¯t learn tobat, then let¡¯s educate him in literature. How can a child that didn¡¯t know how to speak learn literature? Even if you hire the wisest schr in the kingdom, you have to at least make the child talk first. Differing from the Earl¡¯s wife, Earl Raymond had a feeling that his son knew how to talk, but he didn¡¯t want to talk. The more he saw his son, the more he felt that the child isn¡¯t retarded, rather someone that rejected this world. The Earl put up huge rewards around the imperial city. No matter anyone¡¯s background, whoever can make his child speak a word will be rewarded 1000 gold. A wide variety of people came to try out. Even a few bards from far away. These people tried everything from ying a flute in front of Duwei for a whole afternoon, to banging next to his ears, to scaring him when he wasn¡¯t cautious, even one wanted to throw the boy into a river, thinking he will ask for help, of course thest one was thrown out of the mansion. The whole event became a hot topic in the imperial city. Yet, this difficult question was identally solved by a servant. And the his name? Mard. Mard was a simple old man. The method he came up with was to bring Duwei to the stable. Normal children would be interested in animals. This method was simple but there¡¯s no risk to a try anyway. So the Earl agreed. Upon entering the stable... The stable hand that took over Mard¡¯s job was beingzy the past few days and hadn¡¯t cleaned it. So when Mard and Duwei walked in, a horrible stink rushed to their nose. They ran out as soon as possible. Duwei muttered in reaction, ¡°That shit stinks.¡± And with that Mard was rewarded 1000 gold, the stable hand got 20 gold for not cleaning. ¡°He is your teacher from this day on.¡± The Earl said to his son while pointing at an old man in white robe. ¡°This is Mr. Rosia. He has the title of Star Reader (people that can tell the future by reading the stars), he¡¯s also proficient in history.¡± In the beginning, Mr. Rosiapleted his job remarkably. After a year¡¯s teaching, Duwei can already write. Even though it¡¯s not too rare for a child to know how to write at four, it¡¯s still umon. For a while, the Earl thought maybe his child is a genius? However, when Duwei reached five. Mr. Rosia encountered a difficult problem. That night he had a conversation with the Earl. ¡°Master Earl, please hire someone else.¡± Mr. Rosia said with a face of defeat. ¡°Your son is a genius. An old man like me doesn¡¯t have the energy to teach such students.¡± Seeing the schr¡¯s face, Earl¡¯s heart dropped a beat. He can guess what the schr meant by genius. Even if the wise schr can¡¯t teach his son, then... ¡°But, Mr. Rosia...¡± ¡°No, no. Master Earl, please don¡¯t ask me to stay. I am not qualified for such a difficult job.¡± The schr said it with a firm voice. The Earl let out a sigh, is it such a difficult task to teach my son? If Mr. Rosia can¡¯t do it then there¡¯s no one else I can rely on. The schr felt unease. Words like ¡°The sun and the moon are two big spheres,¡± can be seen as a child¡¯s thoughts. But then when a five year old said ¡°Centralization of political power is the cause of corruption,¡± scared the schr so much, his heart almost stopped pounding. In fact, after teaching Duwei for a whole year, the schr knew that he isn¡¯t retarded like the rumors said. He was very smart, more so than children on his age. But opinions like political power can¡¯te from a child no matter what. So the schr assumed that those were the words of the Earl, and the child overheard it. The Earl has huge military power and is the second person inmand of the whole army. If such a person is not content with the royal house then... Mr. Rosia is just a schr. He didn¡¯t want to be part of a political war. The Earl finally agreed to let the schr leave. The Earl thought to himself, is my son really hopeless? Duwei was standing by the window in his room when he watched as the schr left. ¡°Little master.¡± ¡°Mard, do you think ignorance is a blessing?¡± Mard didn¡¯t know how to respond. He was not educated in any bit, so when his little master asked, there¡¯s no way for him to know the answer. Ignorance? Is the little master troubling over himself? ¡°Whatever.¡± Duwei turned his head around. His little face with fatigue. Rtive to this world, I know too much. I know why the sun and moon exist, why there are days and nights, why there are four seasons. Perhaps in this world, ignorance is a bless. Chapter 3 Chapter 3 - The Way of Magic tranted by A013 Rumors spread throughout the imperial city. The retarded child of the Rnd family made his teach left. People were happy to talk about unfortunate things happening around such a significant person. Earl Raymond also made a mistake when he offered the quest to find people to make his child talk. That event made Duwei famous throughout the city and became the topic of entertainment. This day, the Earl went to see his son again. And apanying him is a man in gray robe, gray pointed hat, with skinny fingers, and clouded eyes. This man emitted an unpleasant smell of rot and old. ¡°Magician rk, this is my son.¡± The Earl said politely. ¡°Can you see if he has any talent in the path of magic, even a little bit?¡± If magicians are a job, then this job is the one of the most prestigious. In any ce in this world, magicians is a symbol of elitists. They have the privileges of the nobility, they receive the best treatments. A strong magician can rival a small army during a war. Any country will want to recruit magicians, not just for their ability, but they also won¡¯t threaten those in power. A magician spends most of his life in research and meditation to umte mana. Almost all of them has no desires of themon people. Their biggest goal is to seek the truth of magic. But the Earl didn¡¯t want his son to be a magician. Because magicians were feared by everyone, as monsters. They were too logical, solitary, weird, and drown in their research. No woman will like to have a rtionship with a monster that dwells in hisboratory. No nobility will invite a cold magician to parties. And no kings will give a magician political power. Duwei was the heir of the Rnd family. He needed to marry, have his children, participate in social engagements of the nobles. Yet what can he do if he can¡¯t be a warrior or schr? The path of magic is the only one left. The Earl led rk and his son into a concealed room. ¡°Listen kid.¡± rk took out a little bottle and poured out a bit of golden powder into his finger tip. He drew a circle around the room and looked at Duwei. ¡°I casted a seal. No one will be able to hear our conversation here. Now tell me kid, what do you think is magic?¡± What is magic? Duwei hesitated at this question. He¡¯s very curious about the magic in this world. After all, there were so many fancy legends about magic. But his impression of magic revolves around chanting a spell, then magical things happen. Seeing as Duwei remained silent, rkughed at himself and thought this question was probably too deep for a child. ¡°Magic is the power given to humans by God. It¡¯s the path for humans to reach the ultimate power. To understand themselves, understand this world, and reach the biggest gift God gave humans.¡± rk¡¯s voice sounded sacred. However this did not affect Duwei. He remained silent and expressionless. rk took out a crystal ball from under his robe. ¡°Spiritual power is used to measure if a person has the talent for magic, although it¡¯s not the only standard, it¡¯s the most important one. Now, let me measure your talent in mana.¡± ¡°Spiritual power? Mana? Aren¡¯t magicians the only one with mana?¡± Duwei finally opened his mouth. ¡°Who told you such inurate statements? The Rnd mansion doesn¡¯t even have anyone withmon sense? Spiritual power is what normal people says, we magicians call it mana. Magicians can use meditation techniques to increase our mana, then use it to observe this world, observe the secrets of nature, and all kinds of energy in nature. Only people with high enough mana can achieve this. Magic is the use of techniques to control the energy of nature with mana. ¡°I understand. Spiritual power is mana, and mana is a kind of lever. Magicians use this level to borrow the power of nature.¡± ¡°Hard to believe thises out from a five year old. You are smart, why do they call you retarded?¡± Duwei didn¡¯t answer his question and just stared at rk. rk didn¡¯t want to waste his time on such questions either and moved on. ¡°The nature contains many elements. Every one of them is a source of power. Rain, thunder, blizzard, wind, even the movements of the sun and moon, life and death of nts. A great magician can observe all the little elements. Your metaphor with lever is interesting. As you said, when your lever is bigger, you can maneuver a higher amount of energy.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. I thought a magician¡¯s power came from within his body.¡± ¡°I have to question, who taught you such non sense. Even a magic student knows thatmon sense. A human¡¯s power is limited. No matter how strong you are, there¡¯s a limit. But magicians can do what normal people can¡¯t. Yet, that isn¡¯t from their own power. Through magic the borrow power from nature. And in this world, God created us and the world. So when we are using magic, we are using the power of God. Remember, God created human. Human can¡¯t ever possess power equal to God. That is a taboo.¡± ¡°I am curious. Why does the Rnd family has someone like you that doesn¡¯t have anymon sense. I warn you not to say that poweres from a magician¡¯s body again. You will be burned in front of the temple. Because your words questioned God.¡± Duwei remained silent again. Chapter 4 Chapter 4 - Magic Retard tranted by A013 rk was satisfied with the child¡¯s reaction. He took a look at the crystal ball and said, ¡°Come, let me see if you have talent. I agreed to teach you but you must have talent. Otherwise...¡± ¡°What should I do?¡± ¡°Put your hand on the crystal ball and hold it tight. Then think of something, whether it be happiness or anger. Something that can stir up your emotions. Now let me see your talent.¡± Duwei took two steps forward and put his hands on the crystal ball. His hands felt the cold and smoothness. ¡°Concentrate, now, think. Try your best to think of your most profound memory.¡± rk¡¯s voice sounded next to Duwei. Duwei closed his eyes and began searching through his memory. rk saw the crystal ball began to glow. It began with a faint glow but slowly brighten up. The magician looked astounded. He moved his eyes to Duwei and, ¡°Hmm?¡± Duwei wasn¡¯t feeling well at the moment. He¡¯s feeling agitated thinking of his past. He somehow ended up in another world. All the efforts that he made, his dream, his life, his goals, everything was gone. As he spent more time here, and as he adapted to this world, those memories were slowly fading away. A human¡¯s memory will fade, this is a normal phenomenon, yet Duwei still felt a sense of sadness. Duwei¡¯s started to breathe rapidly. The crystal ball has a mysterious power to amplify his emotions. He could feel his heart pounding, as if it is being pressured. Finally, a hand touched his head. A cooling sensation came from the hand and calmed his head. ¡°That¡¯s ok, my child.¡± rk¡¯s voice was indifferent, but he addressed Duwei as my child instead of kid. Which means he¡¯s satisfied with Duwei¡¯s talent. ¡°Not bad.. You are not even six years old, but you have the talent of a magic student. Your mana is almost twice as a normal person. And considering your age, I am quite satisfied.¡± rk put away the crystal ball then pointed Duwei to sit down. ¡°Now we are measuring your second talent. I will teach you the simplest magic. I want you to meditate and feel the power of nature. Then tell me what do you feel.¡± Duwei memorised the chant rk taught him. It had a simple but strange pronunciation. ¡°Meditate with your heart and concentrate. This is a crucial step. Many people more talented than you did not pass this step.¡± ¡°What should I do?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to do anything. Just chant the spell silently, then feel your surrounding. Feel the heat, the cold, or sound, anything will do.¡± rk took out an hourss and waited. After a while, Duwei opened his eyes and said. ¡°Mr. magician¡± ¡°Oh, What did you feel?¡± ¡°I...I am feeling hungry.¡± ¡°...¡± rk was disappointed with this answer. This child has excellent mana talent, but not a delicate heart to observe the world. Mana is of course important but not the only standard. You can also improve mana by meditating. Those born with a more mana only started the path at a higher level. But being able to feel the magical elements in nature was the crucial part. rk taught a few students. Some of their mana talent were not as strong as Duwei. Yet, one of them could hear the sound of wind within half the hourss¡¯s time. Heter became a magician focused on wind magic. Those with real talent will be able to produce something in this step. In other words, Duwei was not suited to be a magician. It was such a pity. When the Earl see rk¡¯s face as he came out, he knew the result. ¡°Earl Raymond, I am sorry your son doesn¡¯t have the talent to be a magician. It seems like God didn¡¯t choose him. You should find him another path.¡± He paused for a moment then said, ¡°During my thirty six years of research, I have never seen someone like your son.¡± rk gave out a sigh then began to leave. After a few steps, he added, ¡°Oh, and if he really wants to be a magician, this is only my suggestion, you can let him choose alchemy. Alchemy is at least considered a branch of magic.¡± rk waved his hand then sprinkled some golden powder. His body disappeared in a ball of fire. The Earl¡¯s face was filled with disappointment when Duwei came out of the room. Never seen someone like him in thirty six years, how untalented is his son for the magician to say this. He was identified as having no warrior talent, then made a schr leave, and now a magician. The result is Duwei once again became the topic of conversation in the city. Where does his future lie? This question troubled everyone of the Rnd family... aside from Duwei himself. Chapter 5 Chapter 5 - Poison Master tranted by A013 Continuous disappointments struck the Earl. Then he started to put in more effort. Not to be mistaken, he had no intention of putting more effort on his son. The Earl put this effort on his wife. If this son had no future, then he wouldn¡¯t be able to inherit the Rnd family and carry forward the legacy of the family. Then he would have to try and have another child. The Earl¡¯s effort on his wife paid off. After a month, The Earl¡¯s wife was pregnant and in the next winter, Earl Raymond got his second son. While the whole mansion was celebrating, Duwei was in his room reading about alchemy. Thank the gods thest sentence rk said to the Earl had an effect. For a few months the Earl didn¡¯te to see Duwei. Even the Earl¡¯s wife didn¡¯te often due to her pregnancy. The day after his little brother was born, the servants led Duwei to see his mother and brother. The Earl seemed pleased. This son was crying loudly like a normal child. Earl Raymond didn¡¯t take an extra look at Duwei, after having him see his brother, he waved him away. The Earl¡¯s wife felt a little bad for Duwei, but the newborn¡¯s crying upied all her attention. Duwei left the room. Behind him was the Earl¡¯sughter and the baby¡¯s crying. Even though his heart was already numb, he still felt a bit of disappointment. He reminded himself: Stop thinking. You do not belong to this world. He¡¯s not your father. And she¡¯s... she¡¯s not... Thinking of that stormy night, when this woman kneeled in front of the statue the whole night. Duwei felt a little sad, but shook his head. He ignored everything and put all his thoughts into studying. Duwei couldn¡¯t deny it, he¡¯s still very interested in magic. Even though that rk disapproved of his talent, he¡¯s not willing to ept it. Maybe there¡¯s still a chance. The Earl¡¯s mansion had arge collection of books, quite a few of them about magic. After reading through all those books, Duwei finally had to ept that rk was not wrong. He didn¡¯t have the talent to be a magician. Even if he sat there and meditate the whole day, he wouldn¡¯t feel a bit of magical elements. And one time, he fell asleep. Then Duwei turned his focus to alchemy. Because alchemy can be considered a branch of magic, and alchemists were barely considered magicians. Yet after inquiring around, he found out what it meant by barely. Even though alchemists were acknowledged as magicians, no one took them seriously because they couldn¡¯t use magic. His analogy of this was, if youpare this to the medical field, real magicians were doctors, and alchemists were nurses. But after researching into alchemy, Duwei¡¯s interest peaked. It was an interesting field. Like when you add a Duoluoge frog¡¯s eye ball, to the Kuai nt, you get something that can make people mute for a while. However, all those nts and animals mentioned in the books were new to Duwei. This seemed like the chemistry of this world. As days pass by, Duwei indulged himself in alchemy. But he was still stuck on theories. After all, the various ingredients were difficult to obtain even for the Rnd family. Only real magicians will have those ingredients in theboratory. And in the field of magic, alchemists were usually assistants to magicians. Furthermore, no one would like a child get in touch with those dangerous ingredients. Six years passed. Duwei¡¯s little brother Jibri grew up to be like a typical Rnd. At six years old he started taking sword lessons from Alpha. And he had received favorablements. Everyone in the mansion thought of him as the Rnd family¡¯s hope. Earl Raymond also decided to teach Jibri qi once he turns eight. Everyone from the servants, to guards, to the father loved Jibri. The Earl also nned to engage him to a girl of nobility at this age. All the while Duwei was forgotten. The Earl rarely met with him every month. Only his mother woulde over. Some nights she would held onto this poor child and sing luby for him to sleep. Only at times like this would Duwei¡¯s heart soften. Sometimes he had to fake sleep to avoid tearing up. Finally when Duwei was thirteen and Jibri seven, the Earl decided to teach Jibri qi starting next year, and he also engaged Jibri to the daughter of the kingdom¡¯s financial advisor, aged 9. Although rumors said this engagement was already decided before Jibri was born. However, the one to marry her was originally Duwei. Yet, due to his disappointments to both families, that person was changed to his little brother, someone more talented. One night, Duwei rode the carriage and left the imperial city. His destination was the Rnd¡¯s feudal territory in the far south of the kingdom. The reason being he¡¯s old enough to manage family business. But Duwei knew that he was banished. Managing the family¡¯s business? What a joke. Every knew their most important business was in the imperial city. Until the Earl summon him, he would likely not evere back to the imperial city again. Chapter 6 Chapter 6 - Restless Heart tranted by A013 In this evening, a fancy horse drawn carriage slowly rode across a road in the Kete province. This carriage was made with first ss materials, with a symbol carved on it, an iris wrapped around two crossing swords, a crown on top of the hilts. Two swords meant that this family once had a marshal served the king, and the crown meant they were blood rted to the royal family. There were ten knights in light armor surrounding the car. Although the armors are of good quality, the knights weren¡¯t high in spirits. Mard sat next to the carriage driver with a straw in his mouth. He looked at the sky then knocked on the carriage¡¯s window. ¡°Master Duwei, should we find a ce to rest? It¡¯s getting dark.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± As Duwei answered, a knight on horse rode towards the carriage from afar and said, ¡°Supervisor, there¡¯s a town ahead, it seems like our only ce to rest tonight.¡± ¡°Master Duwei ordered, we should rest ahead tonight.¡± Mard said. There were only twenty knights that followed Duwei from the imperial city. A vice general could only afford to have twenty knights to apany his eldest son to their family territory. How shabby it is. You have to know those nobility in the imperial city would bring a team of servants and guards to even a pic. Even these twenty knights were specially picked. Everyone knew Duwei lost the right to heir, so no one wanted to follow him and live life in a rural area. These twenty knights were either low inbat skills, or rejected by theirrades, or young and naive. Ever since the group left the imperial city, everyone was feeling down except Duwei. He was the only one staying normal. He had notined once. He just sat in the carriage and read books he brought. Jumu Town was the only town in a hundred miles. There were a few hundred families in this town, but only one tavern, the Jumu Tavern. And since it¡¯s the only tavern, their business was not bad. They had cheap alcohol, cheap roasts, cheap prostitutes... even people of the lower ss needed entertainments too right? When Duwei¡¯s carriage arrived at the tavern, he closed his book, and walked out. This group immediately caught the attention of everyone at the tavern. Duwei came in atst. By the time he¡¯s inside, the knights already did their job and cleaned up a table. The people were examining Duwei. His attire and emblem denoted his nobility. ¡°Oh a noble.¡± ¡°Why would a noblee to our ce.¡± ¡°Owner, I think you should put away the chair he sat on, maybe you can sell it for a good price.¡± After a while of silence, everyone in the tavern started talking about the group. Duwei calmly drank his alcohol. Even when people were gesticting at him, he only frowned a little. At this moment, a group of three men and one girl came into the tavern. They had a weary face, and dressed in inexpensive attires. Obviously not locals. Foreigners just like Duwei. The tavern went silent again. All the men had their eyes fixed on the girl. This girl was about eighteen or neen, has brown hair, and a beautiful face. She¡¯s wearing a leather armor emitting faint blue glow, with special patterns carved on it, a short skirt showing most of her leg, a dagger on her belt, a scimitar hanging from her waist, and carrying a bow and quiver behind her back. The quiver was filled with silver arrows. Duwei could recognize those arrows were made of pure silver. How extravagant! The girl¡¯spanions, one was bulky with heavy armor and carrying arge shield. You could see that he¡¯s the strength type. Another was tall and slender, carried a longbow on his shoulders. He had long fingers and a metal ring. It was obvious that he was an archer. Thest one was who Duwei paid the most attention to. This was a man in gray robe with amon face. Common enough that most people would ignore him. But Duwei noticed him because of a silver leaf emblem on his chest. People in this rural area may not recognize it but Duwei and his knights recognized that emblem. One leaf denotes that he¡¯s a level one magician. Even though he¡¯s only level one, but he¡¯s a real magician that obtained certification from the magician¡¯s guild. Chapter 7 Chapter 7 - Long Legged Hot Chick tranted by A013 All the men were staring at this girl. One drunk got up and started walking toward her. ¡°Hey girl...¡± Before he finished talking, the bulky warrior knocked him out of the tavern. People startedughing at it. Duwei¡¯s eyes were filled with curiosity. A warrior, an archer, this girl was surrounded by herpanions, then she¡¯s probably the leader of the party. Is this an adventure party like those mentioned in stories? After learning about this world, Duwei knew that there exists adventure parties simr to mercenaries. The big parties contain several hundred people while small ones just three to four people. Monsters frequently appeared in the forests to the south of the kingdom. Which attracted adventure parties to try their luck to hunt monsters and trade the loot for reward. Some local governments would also hire these adventurers to do their deeds like as capturing thieves and such. There were no adventurer guild though. The kingdom wouldn¡¯t allow such power to exist. But there¡¯s a magician in this party? This surprised Duwei a lot. After reading so many books, he knew that magicians were very scarce in this world. It not only took talent but also many years of effort to be a magician. ording to what he read, there were only several hundred magicians in this kingdom. Even some nobilities were not able to recruit magicians. That was why magicians were paid very well. Those without a huge financial backing couldn¡¯t afford to recruit one. Yet, a team like this had a magician in them. This was such a rarity. The team found a table at the corner. The tavern started talking about them in low voices. Especially at Duwei¡¯s table. The knights weren¡¯t in their best mood after being banished to this ce. After a few rounds of alcohol, their voices started getting loud. They didn¡¯t seem to respect Duwei much also and started talking without holding back. Finally, one knight said, ¡°Look at those legs, my god, I have never seen prettier legs. This hot girl would probably cost 100 gold if it¡¯s in the imperial city¡¯s brothel!¡± ¡°What? 100 gold? Had you ever been to the imperial city¡¯s brothel. The cheapest girl there costs 300 gold.¡± The knight beside him refuted. Duwei looked at them, thought for a moment and said, ¡°You think she¡¯s pretty? I say she¡¯s average, but those legs though.¡± ¡°...¡± The knights were shocked that their little master, who was quiet throughout the journey, would say something like this. Weren¡¯t rumors said he was retarded? That was why they said those words without avoiding him. ¡°What¡¯s it? Are you guys still men?¡± Duweiughed. ¡°She¡¯s only a girl and you are knights. You can only sit here and talk when you are tempted by her? I will give 10 gold to whoever dare to go up and make a move.¡± The knightsughed. Even though this little master lost his position, he seen like their kind of person. One knight said, ¡°Master, give me those 10 gold then.¡± Then he got up and shouted at the corner. ¡°Hey girl, how about I buy you a drink?¡± The girl seen enraged and wanted to get up. But herpanions held her down and pointed at Duwei. They muttered something to her. Probably because they saw Duwei is a noble and didn¡¯t want any trouble. Seeing as they didn¡¯t respond, the knight prepared to say something. That¡¯s when Duwei got up and whistled to the corner. Then he flicked a middle finger. The knights were shocked again! When had they seen someone of nobility done such vulgar actions. Especially the son of the well respected Earl. While the knights were at a lost staring at their little master. The girl¡¯s reaction was way faster. She threw a cup towards Duwei. The knight in front of Duwei reacted in time and blocked the cup with his arm, but the content inside was poured out. A bit of the alcoholnded on Duwei¡¯s arm. The knights were enraged and pulled their swords. They slowly closed in toward the corner. The girl also pulled out her scimitar and a fight was about to begin. The tavern was in a mess. Some people fled while others stayed far away and watched. The bulky warrior took six knights to himself. Although everyone was a little high, they held back a bit during the fight. Especially those adventurers. The magician shouted to them not to cause any critical injuries. But when the bulky warrior identally took a punch to his nose and started bleeding, he bashed one of the knights. The knight got knocked over to the counter and started spitting out blood. The rest of the knights started hacking harder at the warrior. Soon enough, a few injuries appeared on his body. The archer was at the worst position. Archers were skilled at long ranged attacks. In a little ce like this, his bow was rendered useless. He could only took out his dagger and attack with it. Before long, he was knocked down. The girl seeing her teammates were falling, looked at Duwei. She dodged a knight¡¯s attack and jumped at Duwei. But the knights hadn¡¯t forgotten to protect their master. One knight threw a table over and knocked the girl away. Then another knight shed at her armor. A white light shed then repelled the sword, the armor was obviously enchanted. The magician was hiding in a corner, but when he saw that the girl was attacked, his face got gloomy. He raised his hands and started drawing symbols while chanting a spell. Then a circle emitted from his fingers. The Rnd knights felt their body got heavier and their actions slowed down. Their swords felt many times heavier. Before long, a few knights got injured. Duwei saw it and his eyes shined. Slow magic, this was real magic! The magician¡¯s finger kept on waving, then he casted a fireball toward the knights. One of the knight shed the fireball in half, but the ember still caught on some knights. The magician kept on firing and the knights were soon at a disadvantage. Duwei felt something¡¯s not right. That magician had already casted eight fireballs. He didn¡¯t know how much mana a level one magician has, but it shouldn¡¯t be enough to cast this many spells. Furthermore, as Duwei was paying attention to the magician, he noticed the magician almost didn¡¯t chant anything when he casted the fireballs, and his speed was way too fast. This obviously isn¡¯t something a level one magician can do. Duwei remembered magicians excelled at long ranged battles and weak at closebat. He took a bottle and threw it at the magician. The magician dodged the bottle but Duwei already closed in on him. But then Duwei forgot he¡¯s only a thirteen year old. No matter how weak magicians physically were, they could at least win against a child. As Duwei was losing the brawl, suddenly, bang... the magician was knocked unconscious. Mard was standing there in panic and holding a table leg on his hand. Without the magician¡¯s help, the knights finally took control of the situation. Duwei found an intact chair to sit down. He got a hang of the situation. These were ordinary adventurers, their techniques were basic, and non of them knew any qi. Yet even these people gave such a hard time to his twenty knights. Which went to show his status in the family. They gave him twenty of the worst knights. Duwei walked over to the girl and started studying her armor. After reading numerous books on magic, he recognized there were at least two enchants on the armor, one added agility and one added strength. An armor with two enchants would cost a lot even in the imperial city. How can this girl with such lowbat skills got a hold of such armor? Then he took a look at her scimitar. It was embedded with a jewel. Which seemed to be a magical item that can store mana. And of course the most valuable item she had was the bow and silver arrows. Silver was not great forbat due to its hardness, but it was an anti magic material. It was widely known that some metals resist magic. This bow and arrows had anti magic attributes on it. Duwei took another look at the girl. How did she get to have such valuable equipments? ¡°Take off her leather armor.¡± Duwei causally ordered. He was thinking of studying the magical items in a room. Then the knight answered. ¡°Uh, master, if you want to strip her here...¡± Chapter 8 Chapter 8 - Instant Casting tranted by A013 ¡°Oh, right.¡± Duwei nodded thenughed. ¡°Then find her a room and let her take it off. I don¡¯t have any other intentions. I am just interested in your armor.¡± ¡°If you dare to touch me, I¡¯ll make you...¡± The girl cursed. Duwei walked over with a stern look and poked her face with a finger. ¡°Now I touched you. What are you going to make me?¡± The knights tied up adventurers. They somehow found a chain for the bulky warrior as well. The girl was knocked unconscious and threw into Duwei¡¯s room. It seemed like the little master was interested in this girl, then as his knights... The magician was standing in front of Duwei in just underwears. His hands and legs were also tied up. At first he tried to threaten this little noble. ¡°How can you treat a magician like this, aren¡¯t you afraid of offending the magician¡¯s guild?¡± Duwei answered with a p on the face. This shut the magician up. ¡°If you can answered a few of my questions, I can consider releasing you.¡± Duwei sat down on a chair in front of him. ¡°You were casting fireballs without chant. Did you mastered the instant cast technique?¡± This was what Duwei was most interested in. Magicians must chant when casting a spell. This wasmon sense in all the books he read. However, there were some specially talented magicians who mastered the instant cast technique. They would chant their spells silently in their mind, but it required a huge mana pool and extreme understanding of magic. Another way of casting spells without chants was to use enchanted scrolls. Magicians would create a scroll and store a magic into it in advance. However, magical scrolls were very valuable. The higher level the spell, the lower the chance of sessfully creating it. Some of the highest level spells had never been created into scrolls. Some high level magicians invented techniques to shorten the chant and leave out some sounds to cast a spell faster. However, those techniques were always kept secret. That¡¯s how they would gain an advantage in battles. The technique of instant cast would be something everything magician lust for. Duwei wasn¡¯t stupid, he wouldn¡¯t believe this level one magician could master such technique. He spected this guy must be using some trick to rece casting. Otherwise if he was such a great magician, he wouldn¡¯t be tied up here. Duwei was interested in that secret. The magician¡¯s expression looked horrible. He moved his eyes away from Duwei and kept his mouth shut. Duwei wouldn¡¯t expect him to spit it out so easily. They were in the tavern¡¯s kitchen. He had the time to spend with the magician. Duwei started examining the magician¡¯s items. A regr robe and an enchanted emblem of the magician¡¯s guild. He threw both items into the stove and burned them. That emblem came with anti theft properties. ¡°You see, I meant no harm to you. I am just a boy interested in magic. If you will answer my questions, I can release you.¡± The magician was still silent. Duwei continued to examining. There were a few low quality jewels in the magician¡¯s bag. Two regr scrolls. Some low level spells were recorded on them. Even though he had seen a lot of books rted to magic, due to strictws, no actual spells were allowed to be recorded on books, only theories. So Duwei who knew so much about magic and it¡¯s theories, yet didn¡¯t know a single spell. Simr to gun control in the other world. He thought to himself. Everyone could learn about guns through the inte, but no individual could easily create a gun. ¡°And what is this?¡± He took out a few bottles from the bag. Inside them were powders of various colors. He wouldn¡¯t open the bottles without knowing what¡¯s inside. Magicians often carry dangerous ingredients. ¡°Then my spections are correct. You are not a real talented magician. But from what I saw, you used some tricks. Right? You have two choices, either tell me everything and satisfy my curiosity and I will release you, or you will have a rough time.¡± ¡°You are a noble! Don¡¯t you feel it is out of your nobility to treat a magician like this¡± Duwei remained silent. Noble? So what? When Duwei came to this world he lost his friends, family, goals and everything. The first few years he felt as though he was living in a chaos, without any goals to live. Now the only thing in this unfamiliar world that could still peak his interest was magic. And everything else? He didn¡¯t care. That was why he attacked these strangers in the tavern. To satisfy his curiosity. Were his actions morally justified? He didn¡¯t care. Duwei Rnd was not a good person, and neither was the him in that world. Chapter 9 Chapter 9 - Rolynn¡¯s Seduction n tranted by A013 The magician¡¯s stubbornness was more than he had expected. ¡°Keep your eyes on him, don¡¯t let him escape. Don¡¯t forget he¡¯s a magician. Just don¡¯t let him recover mana. A magician without mana fare worse than a normal person.¡± Duwei told the knights looking over the captive. ¡°Every once in a while, give him a cold bath. Don¡¯t let him have time to sleep or meditate.¡± Duwei got back to his room and closed the door. The girl was tied on a chair. As Duwei stepped closer, Relin got scared. This bastard looked young, perhaps he wouldn¡¯t do those horrible things to me. Relin understood how seductive she was to men. Though the most feared thing on Relin¡¯s mind was the boy¡¯s too young and wouldn¡¯t be interested in her body. Then she would had lost her weapon. It was not easy being an adventurer, especially when her party was weak. She had learned to use her body to deceit, as long as it didn¡¯t go past her limit. That scimitar was a gift from arge adventure team. And the magician joined the team for her. She¡¯s like a fox, cunning everyone yet at the same time protecting herself. Relin¡¯s reason foring to the Kete province was to escape. She seduced a noble in the north and he even gifted her the enchanted leather armor handed down from his family. Yet he got nothing much out of Relin. Before he realized it, Relin was gone. As Duwei walked closer and his hand closing in. Relin gave a sigh and was prepared to sacrifice. She started to consider how to make Duwei release her. Perhaps acting submissive to satisfy him? Or act pity and beg for sympathy? After bncing her options Relin decided to act innocent and naive. Yes, a shy expression, a scared look, and those innocent eyes. This should seduce boys his age. Relin was quite confident in her acting. She believe once Duwei saw it, he would show a bit of sympathy. ¡°Please, don¡¯t...¡± She said as a hand reached behind her back. Her body started shivering at the right time. The hand unbuttoned the leather armor, and then the armor left her body, exposing her body. What will he do? Relin felt nervous. Will he jump on me? Relin¡¯s mind was racing with these thoughts. And then it was too quiet. Relin finally opened her eyes and looked at the noble standing in front of her. He was examining the armor with such concentration. Not even as to spare her the peripheral visions. Stupid kid. Damn him. Couldn¡¯t he see my body? Relin got mad at the sight. Is he even a guy? Or is he blind? Relin gave a discreet cough trying to get his attention. But her efforts were futile. The noble walked away to a chair then sit down and continued examining the armor. Relin continued coughing louder and louder. ¡°Does your throat hurt?¡± Duwei casually asked after a while. Finally taking his eyes off the armor and looked at her with an expression of tease. Chapter 10 Chapter 10 - Who Knows! tranted by A013 Relin bit her lips and continued acting. She said in a soft and low voice, ¡°What...what are you nning to do with me?¡± while looking at him with a pitiful expression. Duweiughed and scanned her teasingly. She could feel that there was no sign of desire. Duwei threw her a nket to cover her body. ¡°I don¡¯t want a half naked girl staring at me when I am concentrating. Your acting was horrible. I still have things to do. If you want to seduce me, think of something else while I work.¡± This tone, those eyes, gosh, what kind of boy is this. Relin thought. He¡¯s seemed more experienced than I am. Duwei found afortable position in the chair and took out a magnifying ss. He scanned the patterns on the armor carefully and even copied them down on paper. All the while Relin didn¡¯t said a word. She just stare at this weird guy. How can a boy act like he had so much experience with women? ¡°I am interested in your three equipments.¡± Duwei said without raising his head. ¡°The leather armor has a magical pattern on it, increasing strength and agility. Looking at the corner of this armor, it seems like this armor had lived through quite some time. In my eyes, it has more value as an antique than an armor. Furthermore, there¡¯s an emblem engraved. If my memories are correct, it belonged to a branch of the Stujiad. Stujiad is an ancient family that prevailed three hundred years ago, but they started declining a hundred years ago. That¡¯s when they were separated into seven or eight middle sized families.¡± ¡°And your scimitar. Girls aren¡¯t suited to using scimitars, because they required exceptional strength on the wrist. Only the foreigners living on the north west use this kind of weapon. And you...¡± Duwei casually took at look at her. ¡°You have brown hair and blue eyes. This denoted you have the blood of the middle south part of the kingdom. I don¡¯t know what yourbat techniques are, but from what I saw earlier, you seem more adept at using swords. Even though you don¡¯t have the strength, the enchant from that armor helped you so you could barely use the scimitar. There¡¯s also a magical crystal embedded on the scimitar that can store mana. And a magic circle carved onto the scimitar that lets you use wind magic. Users with enough technique could cast a Wind de spell using this scimitar. This... I don¡¯t think you could do it with your current level.¡± Relin was astonished. Everything he said was correct. ¡°But that bow is what I am most curious about.¡± Duwei picked up the bow. ¡° The pattern on this bow symbolizes the power of the moon. ording to what I read, there¡¯s an ancient family that used the moon¡¯s power as a totem, the Muen family. They prevailed seven hundred years ago, when half of this continent belonged to them. They believed in the Moon Goddess. But unfortunately, during the continental war a few hundred years back, the Muen family¡¯s kingdom was destroyed. Then the continent was united under the Lun. It was said the Muen family was extinct.¡± ¡°I am curious, how can a low level adventurer like you, with low levelbat techniques, have three valuable enchanted equipments. Oh and one from the north, one from north west, and thest from an extinct family. So who are you?¡± If Mr. Rosia were to hear what was just said, he would feel so proud for this student, and unfair that Duwei was rumored retarded. Even though the exnation seemed simple, they included knowledge of emblems, totems, and the history of the continent. Duwei also said everything without looking up any data. As though he had memorized everything in his head. ¡°How...how did you know all this?¡± ¡°Books.¡± Duwei put down the bow. ¡°Books contained all of human¡¯s knowledge. And knowledge is the lighthouse for human to move forward. I started reading these books at age 6.¡± ¡°Six? Then you must be a genius. Have you read a lot of books?¡± Relin sigh. ¡°I did read quite a bit. But I am no genius. In fact, long ago I didn¡¯t like to read. I didn¡¯t like knowledge.¡± ¡°But you...¡± Relin stopped, realizing this wasn¡¯t the time to have such a conversation. Duwei said as if muttering to himself. ¡°There¡¯s a story. There¡¯s an exquisite porcin shop. The owner spent a lot of time and effort creating a new piece. Unfortunately a foreigner idently ran into the shop and broke the piece. The foreigner felt guilty and decided to create a new piece for the owner topensate. Right... topensate.¡± ¡°Compensate?¡± ¡°You seem to be interested in other people¡¯s stories. But if I am you, I would worry about my situation first.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t seem to mind speaking to me about these things.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you are a beautiful girl.¡± Duwei shrugged. ¡°Most men cannot help but speak more in front of a beautiful girl. That is the nature of men.¡± ¡°What do you want from me.¡± Relin gave up. He¡¯s too unpredictable for her. ¡°Weren¡¯t you trying to seduce me? Now why don¡¯t you try it.¡± What did he really mean by that? Relin thought. Duwei walked over to her and put his hand on her cheeks. Then slided down to her neck. Relin felt as he¡¯s the cat toying with a mouse. Relin started shivering and closed her eyes. Duwei removed the nket covering her then... The rope around her hands were cut off. Duwei was holding a knife on his hand. He took a step back, ¡°Ok, you can leave anytime. My knights wouldn¡¯t refrain you. Yourpanions can also leave with you. But that magician needs to stay here.¡± Relin was shocked and opened her eyes wide, ¡°You said I can go?¡± ¡°Yes. I am only interested in that magicianpanion of yours. As to your equipments, I already studied them so I don¡¯t need them anymore. You can take them with you.¡± Relin just couldn¡¯t understand this noble boy. ¡°But you...you attacked us in the tavern...¡± ¡°I said I was only interested in magic, not interested in you.¡± Duwei said indifferently. ¡°I am very busy and I am tired. You can leave now. Don¡¯t disturb me. I don¡¯t like people staring at me when I sleep.¡± He pointed to the door. His intentions were obvious. Relin felt as if she was dreaming. She took the knife Duwei handed her and cut off the rope around her legs. She walked to the door like she was still confused. ¡°Oh yes, since fate let us meet, I have an advice for you if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Yes please, what..what advice?¡± Relin said with respect. ¡°A girl like you better find a good guy and get married. Live in a peaceful town, marry an honest little nobility and live knowing your ce. It¡¯s difficult for a girl to survive in a world like this. Even if you don¡¯t want to marry, you should find someone to depend on. I believe there are only few remaining of the Muen family.¡± ¡°What did you say? Muen?¡± ¡°Yes, Muen, the family that believed in the Moon Goddess. I took a look at your fingers. Your ring finger is longer than your middle finger. And there¡¯s a bone behind your head that protruded a bit. ording to the books, those are the features of someone from the Muen. These two evidences and that bow of yours, do you want to deny it?¡± Relin felt feeble in front of Duwei, more so than any danger she had faced. Can he see through a person¡¯s secrets? And that smile, that pale face, that indifference towards everything. Just like a devil. After Relin had left, Duwei gave out a sigh and began organizing the books he brought from the city. Mard knocked on the doors and came in, ¡°Master, are you going to rest? Do you need anything? You haven¡¯t eaten much this evening.¡± Duwei knew that Mard was waiting outside his room the whole time, and when he saw Relin left, he was worried. Perhaps besides the Earl¡¯s wife, he was the one that cared most about me. ¡°No, and Mard, how much money do I still have?¡± ¡°1000 gold. Master, your mother gave them to you in private when you left. I have been keeping them safe.¡± ¡°I heard that Kete province produces a type of blue jewel. When we arrive there, buy some and send it back to mother.¡± ¡°She would be so delighted.¡± Mard said, ¡°Master, you are smart, other people doesn¡¯t notices it but I do. If the Earl and your mother knows about everything, they would be so proud of you, but why...¡± ¡°Why do I like to let people call me retarded?¡± Duwei smiled. Mard panicked a bit but continued. ¡°Everyone treat Jibri as a genius, but you, if it¡¯s not you... I knew you often visit Jibri, and I saw you taught him how to write.¡± ¡°Ok Mard, I am tired. Go back to your room. We still have to continue the journey tomorrow.¡± Retarded? Whatever, I don¡¯t belong in this world. The Earl¡¯s wife was a respectable woman, but she didn¡¯t know that I took the body of her first born. Even though I never wished for it. In the end, I owe the Rnd family. Especially that woman. I owe that kind hearted mother a son. I used some methods to give them back a genius son in secret, then quietly leave that ce. That is mypensation to them. And Jibri, I hope he can satisfy them. After I left the imperial city, I couldn¡¯t go and teach him anymore. In order to be a qualified teacher, I read and learned with all my time these years, and then found a chance to secretly teach everything to my little brother. Yes, secretly. The Earl thought of retardedness as a contagious disease and wouldn¡¯t let me get near Jibri often. All the efforts these years, the passion that I never experienced even when I was going to school in the other world. When Jibri was four and could write his name, the delighted Earl probably didn¡¯t know how much effort his elder son spent. And how hard he tried to make world history into stories so kids would listen. In this perspective, I think I am talented as a teacher. Even though I felt indebted to them, I couldn¡¯t ept another couple as my parents. So... under such circumstances, leaving the city after repaying them was the best choice. Being banished... may not be as bad. Jibri, you have to work hard. I can¡¯t tell you stories anymore, nor make those training manuals into songs so you could memorize them. I took away your son. Then I give you back a genius son. Rnd family, that is my littlepensation to you. Chapter 11 Chapter 11 - The Devil Knights tranted by A013 Relin didn¡¯t went too far that night. She wandered around just outside the town, even though herpanions wanted to leave this shitty ce as soon as possible. But Relin had something else on her mind, a hint of hesitation on her face. She sat there and held on her knees staring at the moon the whole night. The next day, Duwei continued on the road. Though this time, a ox drawn cart followed behind his group. Inside the cart was the tied up magician. The poor magician looked exhausted and soaked wet. The knights dutifullypleted Duwei¡¯s order, to give him a cold bath every once in a while. Duwei kept up with his routine and started reading in the carriage once they were on the road. You couldn¡¯t feel much vibrations even on bumpy roads with a high quality carriage. A light knock on the window, followed by Mard¡¯s voice. ¡°Master, there¡¯s something you need to see. Those adventurers from the tavern yesterday are following behind us.¡± Duwei startled for a moment then stuck his head out the window. Indeed, that girl and her twopanions were following them a hundred feet away. The knights saw this and had a weird expression on their face. They were trying their best to hold theirughter. Yesterday, that girl came out of the master¡¯s room, and now she¡¯s following, huh. ¡°Stop the carriage. Go and fetch that girl.¡± Relin had been following Duwei¡¯s carriage the whole morning. Her head was in chaos. She didn¡¯t know why she wanted to follow him. Was it because she¡¯s worried about that magician? Probably not, she wouldn¡¯t care about that magician¡¯s life. Then the carriage stopped and two knights rode their horses over. ¡°Miss, our master wants to see you, pleasee with us.¡± Due to the possibility of this girl having a rtion with the master, the knights said their words politely. Relin was still dazed. She nodded and rode her horse over subconsciously. Herpanions were worried and followed. ¡°Why are you following me?¡± Duwei didn¡¯t get off his carriage. He opened the door and looked at Relin. Relin got off her horse and bit her lips. At that moment, she decided on an answer to the question she was struggling the whole night. Why? Perhaps it was that devilish smile. She took a deep breath and kneeled down on one knee. She lowered her head and said in a serious voice. ¡°I, Relin Muen, pledge loyalty to you. I am willing to be your subordinate. I will use my blood and life to uphold my pledge with the rest of my life! Will you ept my loyalty?¡± Duwei was silent for a while. He inspected the girl and said. ¡°You want to pledge loyalty to me? Why?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Relin said what¡¯s in her heart. ¡°Maybe you are right. I am tired. I am starting to feel I don¡¯t have the ability to maintain my life. Perhaps I need to find someone to depend on.¡± ¡°And you think I am that person?¡± ¡°Yes. Even though I still don¡¯t know your identity, but you give me the feeling of... of someone extraordinary. Or you are destined to be an extraordinary person.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a difficult decision.¡± Duwei sighed and turned to Mard. ¡°Mard, I think I have the eligibility to recruit my honor knights right? How many knights can I recruit?¡± Although Mard was a stable hand, he had done his homework since being promoted to Duwei¡¯s servant. ¡°Yes master, you are the son of the Earl, even if you don¡¯t inherit his title, ording to thew, you can receive the title of Baron. The kingdom allows those with this title to recruit ten honor knights.¡± ¡°Thank you. Only ten, although a little bit low, but knights can recruit squires right? A knight can have a few squires, then ten knights and the squires aren¡¯t too bad.¡± After receiving confirmation from Mard, Duwei turned to Relin. ¡°Ok, I will ept your loyalty. From now on, you are my honor knight. You are the first one that received this title from me, and a female knight too.¡± ¡°Thank you, then since I pledge my loyalty, will you tell me your identity? Master.¡± ¡°Oh my identity, the first son of the Kingdom¡¯s vice general Earl Raymond. Duwei Rnd is my name. And I forgot to tell you, i have a rather famous nickname in the imperial city. They call me retard.¡± ¡°Re... retard?!¡± Relin widened her eyes in shock. Heck, if this kid is a retard then there are no geniuses in this world! If he was a retard then 90% of the world''s poption was mentally defective. Relin wouldn¡¯t dare tough. She stood up and pointed to herpanions. ¡°Master, these are mypanions, their names are...¡± ¡°No, no, no.¡± Duwei interrupted her. ¡°Sorry but I am not interested in their names. And as you heard I am only allowed to have ten honor knights. I am not going to waste those slots. I am saving them for a few high level knights or swordsmen.¡± Duwei didn¡¯t even look at those two. Don¡¯t joke around! That bulky warrior only had higher strength, and that archer... a few hundred gold could recruit four to five. Even this female knight. If she wasn¡¯t a beautiful girl, given her level, Duwei wouldn¡¯t be interested in her. ¡°Knight Relin Muen, now that you are my honor knight, yourpanions can count as your squires. About your knight badge and equipments, I will give them to you when we arrive at the destination. Now lead your people and join our group. If nothing goes wrong we will arrive at my mansion tonight.¡± Relin remained silent. Though herpanions were rather sad that they didn¡¯t be a knight. There were three ways to be a true knight. One was to be high enough level and be evaluated by the Knights Guild. Second was to be a believer of the Light Temple at a young age, these people would be raised and trained then pass a series of assessments to be Temr. Third was to pledge loyalty to a noble and obtain the Honor Knight title. These two guys were low level and not part of the Light Temr, their only chance of bing a knight was to be recruited by a noble. But nobles with the eligibility to recruit knights wouldn¡¯t want these people. Relin could only say a few words tofort them. She¡¯s feelingplicated. Once she pledged loyalty, she¡¯s no longer independent. This group that she spent so much effort to maintain would broke up. She¡¯s no longer a leader but a subordinate. She didn¡¯t know that this day will be remembered in history. Chapter 12 Chapter 12 - Legendary n tranted by A013 Duwei¡¯s group continued to move on. Obviously the addition of a female night caught the attention of the other knights. Of course it¡¯s not only because she¡¯s the only girl in the group, but also her rtionship with the master. She came out from the master¡¯s roomst night. Then the next day she came to pledge loyalty. There¡¯s actually another reason for the attention, a bit of jealousy. Yes, jealousy, because she obtain the title of a true knight. Warding knights that belonged to a family were not real knights. They were just a title that included the word ¡°knight¡±. Then a girl that they met only a day ago, a low level warrior, suddenly became what these men desired. How can they not be jealous? It was already unfortunate that they were picked to follow the little master here. Their only goal was that someday, this master would recruit them as honor knights. Everyone knew, that this master could only be a Baron and be able to recruit only ten knights. Then suddenly this unknown girl took one spot. This left them feeling imbnce. The most reasonable exnation was that a thirteen year old couldn¡¯t understand what knights were. He was treating such valuables as a child¡¯s game. Most importantly, what can you do about a girl with a pretty face? Relin could feel the sights by her newpanions. But she was determined. This new master won¡¯t be a normal person. This wasn¡¯t a wrong decision. By sunset, Duwei¡¯s carriage crossed a river. It had the official name called ¡°Rnd River¡±. This river was named after the Rnd family. The Rnd River spanned across Kete Province and separated it in half. Once you cross this river, you were in the territory of the Rnd family. South of the river was a prairie. This was one of the most fertilend of the kingdom, and an important producer of food. It was the size of half the Kete Province and had an official name ¡°Rnd Prairie¡±. Yes, it was also named after the Rnd family. Two hundred years ago, the Lun kingdom defended a huge invasion. ording to history, the foreigners from the north invaded and put the whole kingdom in war. As the kingdom was declining, rebellions started to take ce. The kingdom was on the verge of copse. During the war, a group of exceptional people surfaced. One of them was a general from the Rnd family. That general umted enough achievements toter be a Marshal. The king also married his sister to this marshal. Before one of the most important battle took ce, the king pointed to the Rnd River and said, ¡°If youe back with a victory, then south of this river, of the Kete Province will be rewarded to you. In addition, this prairie will also be named after your family, to show the contribution your family made to the kingdom.¡± With such encouragement, he won the battle and saved the kingdom. At the same time he won the promise with the king. Since then, this river was named Rnd River and this prairie named Rnd Prairie. After two hundred years had passed, people had forgotten their original names. Even though two hundred years had passed, these knights felt excited as they stepped on thisnd. It was a sense of belonging and pride. Look! This was thend of the Rnds. This was where the great ancestors engraved this name in the kingdoms history and in thisnd. Duwei felt the carriage slowed down. He opened the window and saw the knights cheering, totally different from how they had been the past few days. There faces were filled with happiness, pride, and worship. ¡°We¡¯re home! The Rnds came home! We¡¯re back on ournd!¡± Different from most nobilities, the Rnds had a tradition of recruiting only warriors from their ownnd. They believed this could guarantee loyalty from the knights. Even the Earl¡¯s guard, Alpha, was from thisnd. These knights that apanied Duwei had been living here for generations. Duwei thought for a moment, then understood the reason. ¡°Mard, have we crossed the Rnd River?¡± ¡°Yes master, we arrived home.¡± ¡°Mard, tell me, were you also born in Kete Province?¡± ¡°Yes, even though I grew up in the imperial city, my father was a citizen of the Rnd. He worked as a stable hand under the Rnd family his whole life. And I inherited his job.¡± ¡°Master, I have to remind you something.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°The way you just said things was wrong.¡± Mard had a serious look on his face. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You can point it out.¡± Duwei smiled. ¡°You asked if I was born in Kete Province. That was inappropriate. Even though the Rnd Prairie is located within the Kete Province, but every citizen of the Rnd will not say that they belong to the Kete Province when asked of the origin. A real Rnd citizen will say they were born in the Rnd Prairie. They take pride in their identity. So master, please don¡¯t say it like this next time. Otherwise you will hurt their feelings, especially since you are the elder son of the chief of the family.¡± Duwei was surprised that Mard said this with pride. Perhaps I underestimated this family. Looking at the faces of the knights, only a great family could achieve this. Then by this situation, the Earl must felt a huge burden when his elder son was a retard. He had to continue on the legacy of the family. Even though I didn¡¯t approve of the way that father treated me coldly. But I am starting to understand his feelings. As a father, perhaps he could tolerate his son being useless. Yet as the chief of a huge family, he couldn¡¯t ept his sessor being someone useless. He must be responsible for the future of this family. Then it seems like his decision to give up me on was excusable. For a moment, Duwei seemed lost. Mard was surprised when he saw Duwei¡¯s expression. Ever since he became Duwei¡¯s servant, his master was always indifferent and calm. Never had he showed such expressions. ¡°Master... can we continue going home?¡± Mard asked carefully. ¡°Home..oh yes, go home.¡± Duwei answered subconsciously, then suddenly a thought rushed to his mind uncontrobly. Go home! A light bloomed in his clouded heart. Yes, go home. For the me that doesn¡¯t belong in this world, what I am missing the most was a sense of belonging. For these years I had been indifferent, not expressing my feelings and even suppressing some of them. The root of the cause is I never think of myself as part of this world. That¡¯s why a lot of times I see myself as an observer, a guest. This mentality caused me to feel indifferent. Go home, such a wonderful phrase. The Duwei that was indifferent all these years, suddenly felt a sense of expectation to arriving at the Rnd¡¯s mansion. Looking at those prideful knights. Will I be able to find my sense of belonging here? I hope so! If I can¡¯t go back to my real home. Then maybe I can find a new home that my heart can feel connected to. After all, since I have alreadye to this world, life still goes on. With a bit of afterglow left in the sky, Duwei stepped out of the dim and concealed carriage, out of the shadow, into the beautiful sunset. Sunlight shone on his face as though it had dispersed all the haze. This boy¡¯s face finally showed a smile, and his expression finally had a hint of emotion. That emotion was, expectation! Chapter 13 Chapter 13 - The Mysterious Events Of The Rawling Ancestral Residence tranted by A013 The Rnd family¡¯s mansion inherited from ancestors were located on south west of the Rnd Prairie. A tributary of the Rnd River passed through this ce. Thend was fertile. Several farm viges and even towns were established there. This was the origin of the Rnd family. A few hundred years back when their ancestors were a little noble who owned just a small vige, their bloodline started to spread in thisnd. The carriage crossed a ck tree forest. The trees were lush and the air fresh. Following an even path you could see a little hill on the left, and a high tower on the right. That was the Rnd¡¯s mansion. After several hundred years of glory, the small vige no longer existed. The mansion was also reconstructed countless times and it¡¯s size grew considerably. A red stone wall embracing a castle. The castle was built using white colored stones mined from the hill. It was said that there was once a small mountain to the left, but after several hundred years of mining, that small mountain became a hill. The arrival of the eldest son of the chief of the family received much attention. The Rnd family¡¯s private army, three hundred soldiers, who guarded the castle put on their shiny equipments and waited under the red wall in an array. The arched entrance gave Duwei a feeling of vigor, and he could see this wall could be a solid defense when needed. The three hundred soliders demonstrated qualities of abundant training. They rode on horses with a straight back and showing adept riding skills. Their equipments were also of fine quality. These soldiers were selected from the various private armies throughout the Rnd Prairie. They were well trained and could even rival the local military of the imperial city. The ck forest outside the castle was a natural hunting ground. Hunting events were held annually, which was also a type of training for the soldiers. The castle¡¯s main body consisted of two towers. One taller than the other. It¡¯s even taller than that hill. Duwei knew from learning his family history that there was once a weird chief of the Rnd family. Even though he¡¯s a general, he was especially interested in Star Reading Techniques. He even married a Star Reader. That taller tower was built for his wife so she could better observe the sky. Red carpet span from the door of the castle to Duwei¡¯s carriage. When Duwei was about to get off, a silver haired elderly man came up to him. The old man had a slender build, dressed in a charcoal formal suit, acted old fashioned and serious. As Duwei stepped on the ground, the old man bowed down deeply and said with a deep and slow voice, ¡°Little master, I am the butler Sier Rnd. I received info about youing three days ago. Everyone in this castle had prepared to wee you. Please follow me.¡± Then the old butler led Duwei up the stairs. His ettiquetes were wless, humble yet did not tter. While Duwei was walking on the red carpet, he carefully walked along just outside the carpet to let Duwei experience this honor to himself. The first impression inside the castle was the big g hanging on the wall. The g was about eight by six meters. It almost covered the whole wall. This was a g of the family¡¯s emblem. The g gave this castle a solemnity feel to it. All the servants and maids were standing on the sides of the lobby in uniforms to wee Duwei. Though Duwei wasn¡¯t interested in this weird ¡°inspection¡±. He nodded casually and said to the butler with a low voice, ¡°Mr. Butler, will you lead me to my reading room now? And everyone else, please go back to your work.¡± Butler Sier followed Duwei¡¯s order precisely. Soon, Duwei was led to a reading room. Well, Duwei was more willing to call this ce a library. Because it was huge. The room was circr, even the ceiling was rounded, and carved in decorative designs. On the sides were statues, most of them were ancestors who expressed excellence. Surrounding the room were huge shelves. These shelves were two stories tall and filled with books. Duwei roughly calcted, the number of books were several ten thousands. There were also many metallic cabs used to store important stuff, such as the family tree or important files. As a family that gain their power through war, even the reading room gave off a scent of warrior. A two handed sword and a huge axe hung on the wall across the entrance. One side of the wall had shelves disying various weapons, though most of them archaic. Duwei was attracted by these weapons. He could see these antiques were maintained very well. ¡°These were the weapons of the family¡¯s ancestors.¡± The butler¡¯s voice came from behind. ¡°These weapons were a record of their glory.¡± Duwei touched the desk softly and looked around. He could see everything was carefully cleaned and maintained, yet traces of age were obvious. Even the desk under his hand was probably older than the butler. ¡°This room used to be the center of family politics. This was where the chiefs of the family ruminated and made decisions. Every piece here carried the traces of those glories. Although the decision making room had since moved to the imperial city. ording to family tradition, every cheif that came back to this castle has to spend his first night in this room so he would not forget the family¡¯s glorious history and his responsibility.¡± The butler looked at Duwei then lowered his head, ¡°You are the eldest son of the current chief. You came here for inspection on his behalf, then will you...¡± Duwei nodded his head cooperatively, ¡°Traditions are traditions and must be followed. I am no exception. Even though I am not the chief, but as his eldest son anding here on his behalf, I will follow the tradition and spend the night here.¡± The butler¡¯s expression and voice softened, ¡°I will have the servants prepare. Well then... I know you are here to inspect on the businesses in this territory. Where will you begin your work at? I already have the ie and expenses ounts prepared. When will you start reading these? Or do you want to wait...¡± Duwei interrupted him with a smile. He casually walked passed the desk and sit down behind it and said, ¡°Mr. Butler, I am feeling hungry after the long journey. Please prepare me some food then I will start looking through the things you prepared.¡± Soon enough, Duwei enjoyed a very traditional afternoon tea. Just as he was finishing up a pumpkin pie, butler Sier directed two strong servants into the room. The servants were pushing a cart with a mountain load of books. ¡°These are all this year¡¯s ounts?¡± Duwei frowned, suspicious that the butler is fooling with him. ¡°Little master, these all are.¡± The butler said seriously. ¡°These data included thend size of the family territory, size of farmablend, the ounts of six towns, military expenses of three private armies throughout the territory, harvests, construction budgets, and even some budgeting I done for the next year.¡± Duwei touched his nose and looked at this mountain of books, ¡°... are they all here?¡± ¡°This is only part of them, and the rest...¡± The butler sounded a little less serious for once. ¡°I think you will need a week for the rest. Duwei frowned and silently inspected the butler. This old butler doesn¡¯t seem to be joking. Is he really that naive to think a thirteen year old boy like me can understand all these ounts? Does he think a boy can be responsible for all the family¡¯s businesses? Then he must know I was sent here as a banishment. So what is his purpose for doing this? Is he dissatisfied with me? Afraid that I would take away his authority in this castle? Or did he cheated the from the family¡¯s businesses and wanted to slip away by fooling me? Everything seems like a possibility. Duwei didn¡¯t said anything, nor brought up any of his doubts. He took an ounts book from the top and started looking through. After a while, he raised his head and saw the butler was still at the side. ¡°Oh, Mr. Butler do you still have something to talk to me?¡± Duwei acted carelessly and said with a cold tone, ¡°I don¡¯t like people at my side when I am reading.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± Butler Sier showed a hint of surprise, he opened his mouth as though to say something, but then turned around and left with the servants. After the door to the reading room was shut, Duwei put down the book and took a few steps around the room. Then muttered to himself with a smile, ¡°Perhaps, there¡¯s really something worth expecting here.¡± For the rest of the day, the butler came over twice. Once to refill Duwei¡¯s tea and the second to bring him candles after nightfall. To butler Sier¡¯s surprise, this little master was really reading those ounts. And it¡¯s not acting but for real! After the old butler lit the candles, Duwei casually asked some questions about the ounts, and those questions really got to the points. This proved the little master wasn¡¯t fooling around. Is... is this the retarded little master mentioned in the messages from the imperial city? Even though the butler tried to hide his expression, but Duwei still caught a hint of that surprise. After the butler left the room, he finished thest page on his hand. These ounts were interesting. Duwei spent an whole evening on these ounts, but he didn¡¯t really look at those numbers, and not interested in seeing whether these ounts were real or fake. After all, he¡¯s not a genius and it wasn¡¯t possible for someone who had no knowledge of businesses to see anything wrong. Perhaps no one would know, Duwei¡¯s reading the ounts with a different method. Who said that ounts could only record financial expenditures? At least Duwei learned a lot from them! And these things were not recorded in the family¡¯s history. Duwei got a grasp of how much the Rnd family had control over their territory through the contents in these ounts. The Rnd family had their own ruling system and even a fair amount of freedom from the kingdom. They had the power to decide on the final taxes, and nominate local officials. Even though the kingdom¡¯s tax rate was fixed, they had their means of manipting it. As long as they submit a proportion of their taxes to the kingdom¡¯s financial center annually. And in military power, you could see from the military expenditures in the ounts that the kingdom only had a small army garrisoned in thisnd. Two military reserves were garrisoned on the edge of thend, and more importantly, their supplies and gears were provided by the Rnd family. The Rnd¡¯s private army maintainedw and order in most of thend. Duwei easily got a hold of the family¡¯s current situation in economics, politics, and military through these ounts. Perhaps if the butler were to see that he could understand these ounts, his eyes would widen in disbelief. Duwei confirmed two points: First, through taxation, the family had total control over this ce, second, it was also true in military aspects. From what Duwei learned from the other world, there¡¯s an importantmon sense: a country¡¯s control over it¡¯s territory was reflected upon taxation and military. And these were controlled by the Rnd family! What did this signify? That the kingdom had lost control of the territory, half of the Kete Province. This ce had almost became an independent kingdom itself. Duwei leaned on the sofa and ruminated, he¡¯s surprised by the current situation. Because when a country¡¯s political power was losing authority, it was usually the prelude of war. Duwei just sat their for a while. The room was silent with the asional crackling sound from the candle. Then he stood up abruptly, turned around and stared at the wall behind him. By the wall were shelves filled with books, nothing seemed special. Yet Duwei felt there was something special... that moment of sensation wasn¡¯t wrong. Because Duwei had a higher mana pool and spiritual power than the average person, he¡¯s more sensitive to his surroundings. And just a moment ago, he felt that someone was looking at him. As if a line of vision came from unknown and hidden corner, and silently stared at him. There¡¯s nothing wrong with the shelves. Duwei moved his eyes up higher. Above the shelves were portraits. These portraits lined across the top. Their age varied from many decades ago to recently. They were the portraits of all the chiefs in the Rnd family¡¯s history. The first one on the left seemed to age the most. The person was in an army uniform. He was that marshal that won the war for the kingdom and won the Rnd Prairie. He looked vigorous, and those eyes had the same grimness and firmness simr to Earl Raymond. It seemed as if those eyes were looking at Duwei. Duwei took a few steps backward, then walked left and right while staring at that portrait. Then heughed and sighed and muttered, ¡°Perhaps I am too sensitive... It¡¯s just a portrait.¡± He turned around to pick up another ount when that marshal¡¯s portrait behind him blinked! Yes, a person in a portrait blinked, those eyes that kept staring at Duwei. The still eyes that originally belonged to a portrait acted as they were given life. They looked at Duwei with a sense of curiosity. At the same moment Duwei turned around abruptly staring at the portrait. A person and a portrait crossed sight. ¡°Stop trying to camouge. I know you are looking at me.¡± Duwei raised his hand. He was holding a silver spoon, the one that he used for the pumpkin pie. The spoon shined just like a mirror! ¡°You were looking at me, and I was looking at you through this. You don¡¯t have to camouge anymore. Don¡¯t you know it¡¯s rude to peep behind someone?¡± Chapter 14 Chapter 14 - The Treasure In The Study I tranted by A013 In this old castle during the night, and in this reading room full of antique items, Duwei stood in the candlelights silently, staring at that portrait on the wall. A person and a portrait both fell into a moment of silence. The portrait didn¡¯t answer him. Duwei frowned, ¡°Won¡¯t answer me?¡± That face still looking at his eyes. Duweiughed maliciously. He pushed adder over, climbed up the shelf then tried to take down that portrait. The portrait¡¯s face showed a hint of panic. ¡°Huuu~~!¡± Duwei exhaled and took the portrait off the wall. Obviously something this heavy was difficult for a boy to handle. His arms were feeling sore from it. But to his surprise, there was nothing behind the portrait. There were no tricks nor anyone hiding behind the portrait staring at him. It was the portrait itself! Duwei became a bit more serious. He descended thedder with the portrait in hands. The portrait¡¯s face showed an expression of bitterness and unease. ¡°What exactly are you? A drawing the came to life?¡± Those eyes were avoiding him. ¡°This is the portrait of that ancestor of the Rnd family... You wouldn¡¯t be that ancestoring back to life?¡± Duweiughed then shook his head, ¡°This isn¡¯t right. That ancestor died over two hundred years ago and this portrait was drawn after he died. So my question remains, what are you?¡± There was no answer. Duwei¡¯s face darkened, ¡°Oh you don¡¯t want to say it then? Don¡¯t regret it.¡± He pointed to the candles. ¡°You can see there are a lot of candle fires here, if you aren¡¯t going to talk, then I will burn you. Do you want to dare me?¡± Once said, he turned around to pick up a candle, then slowly approached the painting. Fear and anxiety shown on that face as if begging for mercy as the candle drew near. When the candle fire almost touched the painting, Duwei pulled it away and nodded. ¡°It seems like you really can¡¯t talk? Can you talk?¡± The portrait¡¯s head shook. ¡°Then what are you?¡± Duwei¡¯s eyes were glittering! A talking portrait! Is this a product of magic? The portrait couldn¡¯t answer his questions. After escaping from the danger, it showed a sign of relief then looked at Duwei with interest. Duwei tried to ask a few more questions, but it was just difficult tomunicate. That face could barely nod and shook it¡¯s head. After a while, he got nothing out from the portrait. Then they just stared at each other. At this time, a clock hanging on the wall rang. The time had came to midnight. Then a light shone from the portrait¡¯s eyes and Duwei heard a faint sigh. Even though that voice was elusive, but he could make out that was a person¡¯s sigh. ¡°Listen! A magic was cast on me, I could only talk briefly when midnightes. Once the clock¡¯s ringing is over, I won¡¯t be able to talk again. So I am just going to say this once. There is a hidden room in this reading room, and some treasures in that room. I can help you get those treasures but in return I need your help. One of the treasure can remove the magic cast on me.¡± Duwei¡¯s eyes widen, staring at the portrait, ¡°Is that you talking to me?¡± ¡°Yes. No time to exin.¡± It¡¯s speaking rate became faster. ¡°Start from the third portrait on that wall. There will be directions. Follow them and if you aren¡¯t an idiot, you should be able to find it...¡± Dong Midnight passed along with thest ring of the clock. The light on the portrait¡¯s eyes faded away as with it¡¯s voice. Duwei looked at the portrait again. The face was looking at him also, asking for help. ¡°So you said a magic was cast on you? And there¡¯s a hidden room containing a treasure that could remove that spell. Right?¡± The face nodded with every line he said, with an expression of desire. ¡°Ok then, what good will this do to me? Why should I help you?¡± The face¡¯s expression changed. It wanted to say something but no word came out of it. ¡°Whatever, I am also quite interested. Just treat this as satisfying my curiosity.¡± Then Duwei climbed thedder again and started inspecting the third portrait. This was also a portrait of an ancestor. He was dressed in a navy uniform with a serious face and looking straight at something far away. Duwei carefully checked everywhere but couldn¡¯t find a clue, he even took it off and looked behind the painting. He thought for a moment then patiently started checking every detail again. He did this for three times then noticed the portrait¡¯s eyes again. He followed the direction of the portrait¡¯s eyes. They were looking at a sword hanging on the wall across them. Duwei pushed thedder over the other side of the room. It was rather physically demanding for a boy but his curiosity was driving him. After inspecting the sword, he noticed it was pointing to the shelf by the side. Then he finally found it! There were some uneven traces on the shelf. After feeling it for a while, he found that those traces were words. These words were written in reverse. If someone didn¡¯t identally touch this area, and carefully inspect these carvings, they would probably assume this was normal decorations. He carefully read the words. ¡°The answer lies in the sky at night, the drinking gourd is the key to moving forward.¡± What is this? A riddle? Duwei sighed and descended thedder. He sat on the floor pondering this riddle. ¡°The sky at night... The drinking gourd...¡± Finally, he stood up with light on his face. What is there in the sky at night? The stars! And the gourd? It must be referring to the Big Dipper! After thinking through, Duwei started searching the shelves for books on stars. It must be a book on the subject of Star Reading. Through the catalogue, he found where the subject was located and started flipping through every book on it. Then there was one book that was especially heavy. This book was made of metal! When he pulled it out from the shelf, a crackling sound came from the wall. Atst, the whole shelf began rotating on its own and exposed a dark entrance behind the shelf. Chapter 15 Chapter 15 - The Mightiest Female Astrologer tranted by A013 Duwei picked up a candle, thought for a moment then took a weapon from the wall. Though considering the little body he currently had, he chose a short sword. Then he took a few new candles and put them in his pocket. Duwei stepped into this hidden room. The faint candlelight could only light up two to three steps of space. Luckily Duwei¡¯s higher spirit power allowed him to be better aware of the surrounding. This was a secret path inside the wall, both sides were stone walls. The whole path was covered in dust. Even though tried his best to move softly, he couldn¡¯t help but stir up the dust. He would ocassionally step on some small rocks. Duwei moved forward cautiously under the flickering candlelight. Luckily this ce seemed to be ventted. Even though the candle was flickering, it didn¡¯t go out due to ack of oxygen. After a while, he reached a set of stairs. Narrow spiral stairs leading down. They were also made of stones and appeared crude, but at least they felt solid enough. Following the path down, Duwei reached a small door after thirty steps. The metalic door was rusted. Duwei tried to turn the handle but found out the door was locked. He sighed then remembered that line from the book shelf. ¡°The drinking gourd is the key...¡± Duwei thought for a moment, then looked around with the candle. Finally he found a picture on the ceiling. The picture was carved into the ceiling. He could barely made out that was a sky map. Although he was not well versed in stars, he still found what appeared to be the Big Dipper. The ceiling was a bit too tall for him to reach. He started studying this map witht he candlelight. As a candle was burning out and he was about to light up another one, he suddenly thought of an important question. Key? What a joke! If this secret path are to be discovered, then even if that person doesn¡¯t have a key, couldn¡¯t he just get some tools to brute force open the door? If so then the key wouldn¡¯t be too important. Yet that hint specifically indicated key. There must be a different meaning. In other words, it wasn¡¯t possible to open the door without the key. This key probably wasn¡¯t a literal key. Duwei sat down to think for a while. When he stood up again, he jumped and hit the ceiling with his short sword. Bang! Duwei¡¯s eyes lit up! This sound was a little airy. He bent down and found a crack on the ground. Then stuck his sword in the crack and stood on top the sword. His hands could barely reach the ceiling now. The ceiling was covered in a thickyer of dust. He groped for a while and could feel the Big Dipper felt different from the other ces. He tried some methods like knock, twist, turn, etc. Finally he turned some ce and one of the star moved. Along with a crackling sound, the floor on the corner sank. A path appeared on the ground leading downward. Duwei jumped down from the short sword with a smile. Just as he thought, it was all a trick. Duwei was sure his spection was correct. The rusted door on the side was just a disguise. The real secret was not on this door. If whoever came here didn¡¯t know the hint of the Big Dipper, then he wouldn¡¯t be able to find the real secret. Duwei was sure the real secret lied in that new path. He walked over to the path. The entrance was very narror, it could barely let a person in. The inside was dark, Duwei lit a candle and threw it inside. He could see the stairs weren¡¯t deep, it¡¯s just about two to three meters tall. This was probably a secret room. He waited by the entrance for a while. When there didn¡¯t seem to be anything unusual inside, he cautiously walked down the stairs. This was a concealed room, the sides were stone walls. On the wall were a row of chests, most of them locked and rusted. In the middle of the room was a stone stand. The height of the stand reached Duwei¡¯s waist. There were a lot of decorations carved on the stand. The center was a big circle with stars on the side. Duwei inspected it a little but he couldn¡¯t figure out anything. Then he moved his attention to the chests. Most of these chests were locked and the locks were rusted. After some effort he found one that wasn¡¯t locked! The only one not locked. Inside it was a stone casket with the Rnd emblem carved on it. Duwei took out the casket and opened it up. Inside the casket was a scroll. The scroll was filled with words and a hexagonal jewel fell out from the scroll. Duwei patiently lit his third candle and started reading the scroll. ¡°Dear reader. You must be an descendant of the Rnd family. First you must know one thing. This letter was written by your ancestor. And I am the wife of the Rnd family¡¯s seventh chief, Star Reader Saimer.¡± Duwei was surprised by this opening. Saimer? He knew there was an ancestor that was very interested in Star Reading and even married a Star Reader. The tallest tower in this castle was built by that ancestor for his wife to observe the stars at night. Duwei didn¡¯t expect this letter to be from that Star Reader. He continued with the letter. ¡°When you are reading this letter, I hope you can understand that what you are about to face is something with considerable risk. You will perhaps open a forbidden door, and behind this door is a forbidden domain out of reach by humans. At the same time, this is also the achievement of my research. If you are prepared to take the risk, then take this jewel and search the room for an opening. Insert this jewel in it and you will receive all the information I left behind. To be certain that this inheritance does not go to outsiders, you will need the blood of a Rnd. Drip your blood on the jewel and it will lead you to my message.¡± At the end was an extra line, ¡°Will the great Rnd family prevail. Because of my husband, I fell in love with this family. Your ancestor Saimer K Rnd.¡± Duwei finished reading and was shocked. ording to what he know of the family history, he had a deep impression of Saimer K Rnd. The wife of the seventh chief and a famous Star Reader. She was revered in the field of Star Reading. Duwei¡¯s first teacher Mr. Rosia was also a Star Reader. The few times they mentioned her, he was filled with respect towards her. He also mentioned that Saimer was the greatest Star Reader in the past two hundred years. The more important reason that this name left a deep impression on Duwei was this Star Reader was someone who loved her husband deeply. The ancestor that she married didn¡¯t live long. He passed away at fifty. And she killed herself in that tower he built for her the third day he died. Before she died, she carved a line on the tower. ¡°Because of love, we will live forever.¡± Thesest words made Duwei remembered her. Duwei bent down and started searching for the opening without hesitation. It didn¡¯t take long for him to find it. He cut his finger and dripped a drop of blood on the jewel. Then put the jewel in that opening. Then took two steps backward. Suddenly the decorations on the stone stand lit up. The room became as bright as during the day. To a point that Duwei couldn¡¯t open his eyes. These light gather together and formed a pir of light. Inside the pir was a human figure. This figure had the size of a real person. Though not a real person, an illusion that looked very real. Then he remembered something important! This legendary Star Reader was also a great magician. What just happened in front of him was obviously some magic. As the light began to dim, Duwei could finally look with his eyes. He could make out the figure inside the pir of light. A woman dressed in a red robe, with silvery long hair, a beautiful face, tender eyes, but that pair of ck eyes gave Duwei a feel of strangeness. ¡°The one that opened the message, I am your ancestor Saimer K Rnd.¡± This illusion spoke. ¡°This is a magical message I left before I died. This magic circle will need that jewel and the blood of a Rnd to activate. Since you can see this message, then you are the descendant of the family and you can obtain my secret.¡± Duwei looked at the woman in front of him with shock. She could use a magic circle and passed down a magic for over a hundred year. This kind of magic talent belonged to a great magician. ¡°I don¡¯t know how many years it has passed, or how much mana is left inside that jewel. So listen to every word I say. Because I am afraid there isn¡¯t enough mana to activate this magic circle a second time.¡± The illusion said. Even though Duwei knew this was only an illusion, he still nodded to it. ¡°First I have to exin, what I am about to give you, may bring you unlimited amount of profit or trouble. Because this is the achievement of my whole life¡¯s research, no one knows about it other than my husband. Since you cane to this point, you probably has a fair amount of knowledge on Star Reading, at least on stars. First I have to tell you a crucial fact, all the Star Readers in this world are wrong! Every one of them are wrong! Because Star Reading is not only a method of telling the future based on observing the stars. Even though everyone thinks of it as a divination magic, but I have to tell you it¡¯s a type of powerful and profound magic. Star Readers shouldn¡¯t be just schr with knowledge of the night sky, nor fortune tellers. Real Star Readers should have power that rival a magician. If magicians can borrow power from the nature like wind, and fire, then why couldn¡¯t Star Readers borrow power from the stars? We could even go further than that. Because I discovered a power even magicians couldn¡¯t master, and that is thew of the universe.¡± Chapter 16 016 ¨C Intractable Problem ¡°The celestial bodies in the night sky, the positions of the stars, the boundless mysteries. Their positions will change bizarrely along with the passage of time, and these changes have always been considered some kind of message bestowed on humanity by God. People often believe that astrologers are only people specializing in interpreting these riddles that God set aside for humanity. But all this, is wrong! The stars contain boundless power. This power,pared to what we can see,pared to an immense storm, a rushing deluge, a ze overflowing the sky, it¡¯s even more formidable than this! Even so formidable that in the end¡­¡­ it made me doubt. Could such a vast power really be created by God? In addition, these stars seem to have been suspended in the sky since ancient times! Since long, long ago, even further back than we know about, even to the extent that it might be further back than the creation of our world! Then were these stars still truly created by God? ording to all the books I¡¯ve been able to find as well as religious records, wherever stars are mentioned, the ruling theory is: ¡°When God created this world, the stars were put in ce as decorations to make the night beautiful, and so that God could change their positions whenever there was a message for the world, so that these changes could enlighten humanity.¡± Yes, ording to these theories the stars were created along with our world as essories for the night sky¡­¡­ but, is this really true? Six years ago, when I was thirty four, there was a change in the pattern of the stars, one night a star fell below the horizon. All the astrologers did their utmost to determine just what hint God intended for us with this phenomenon, but I began to choose another path¡­¡­ ording to the direction the star fell in that night, and consulting all possible materials, I decided to search for that fallen star! I spent more than three years, tracking all over the north of the continent, until atst I found it! While speaking, Saimel raised her hand, extending her hand from within her red gown and opening her palm, lightly raising a fist sized piece of dark stone. ¡°This is the ¡®fallen star¡¯ I found. Look, on the surface it seems to basically be a chunk of rock! Of course, this piece in my hand is only a small chunk. What I found was as big as a house. Moreover, the terrain, when it fell it smashed a huge hole in the ground, and I could see where there had been an immense wildfire, the forest was burnt to ashes, and a ravine had been cut in level ground! Such destructive force, perhaps only the most powerful forbidden spells could rival it.¡± Duwei sighed in admiration. With Duwei¡¯s insight, this female master astrologer called Saimel was truly extraordinary! At least she had the courage to raise questions about the lofty words that God created everything¡­¡­ and in some respects she even came close to the facts! ¡°It¡¯s hard to imagine that what is called the stars, are only immense chunks of stone. Even more importantly, this piece of rock ispletely different from any substance known in this world! Its solidity, and it¡¯s even brimming with a kind of magic absorption power¡­¡­ I¡¯ve spent a lot of time inquiring with very many magic alchemists, and even some aged ironworkers, but not one of them recognized this new ¡®substance¡¯! In other words¡­¡­ stars basically aren¡¯t from our world!¡± Saimel¡¯s image began to flicker a bit, clearly a sign that the magic power was running out. Duwei hurriedly roused his spirits, praying that the remaining magic power wouldst a bit longer. ¡°From then on I began to question every document that speaks of God creating the world. If you say that God created this world, gave living things to this world, gave day and night to this world, the four seasons alternating¡­¡­ Then tell me who actually formted all thesews? Was it God? I¡¯ve spent practically my whole life studying the stars, and finally I¡¯ve discovered that what is called ¡®the changes of the stars in the sky are riddles left for humanity by God¡­¡­¡¯ is an absurd theory! I spent ten years recording and studying the positions of a few stars, researching them every night for ten years and recording their positions. And gradually, on some nights when the sky was dark and hidden behind ck clouds, I was unable to see the stars with the naked eye. In times like these I could only search for some other method¡­¡­ I thought of magic¡­¡­ Since magic can be used to respond to even the tiniest changes of everything in nature, then shouldn¡¯t I be able to feel the changes of the stars using magic when I couldn¡¯t see them? Finally I discovered the power of the stars! And if I could use this power, then just like magicians draw power from nature¡­¡­ I could draw strength from the stars! And after discovering I could sense the power of the stars, I found something that made me astounded! That was¡­¡­ The power of the stars couldn¡¯t be sensed just at night! Even when the scorching sun stood right overhead, I could use meditation to expand my spirit sensitivity and feel the existence of the stars! They¡¯re right in the sky! Whether it¡¯s day or night! It¡¯s just that in the daytime their light is obscured by the intensity of the sun! And after ten years, with my recordings of the positions of those stars over ten years I discovered that even though their positions would change a bit, the changes were actually all cyclical! All of it is a like a loop! For example a star that¡¯s in the east in the summer, and in the winter moves to the west, in the next year it will move back to the east¡­¡­ all of it seems to follow orbit to loop repeatedly, a repeating cycle! Consequently, this absolutely isn¡¯t any way for God to enlighten humanity! It¡¯s even less of God¡¯s riddle for humanity! It all repeats ording to certain rules ¡ª¡ª the rules of the stars! Thew of the stars!¡± Saimel¡¯s image gradually weakened, these were thest moments before the spirit power was exhausted. Her voice became iparably grave: ¡°The church tells us that the stars are a riddle and enlightenment that God set aside for humanity, my conclusion is that the stars move ording to fixed rules and have no rtion to any divine riddle; the church tells us that the stars are decorations God left in the night sky, my conclusion is that the they exist not only at night, that even though their light can¡¯t be seen with the naked eye in the daytime, they still exist; the church tells us that God created this world, my conclusion is that the stars are made of a never seen before stone, not any kind of substance that exists in our world.¡± This great female astrologer raised her head, speaking her final conclusion: ¡°I have begun to doubt whether the stars were created by God¡­¡­ and finally, I have begun to doubt what is called¡­¡­ God!¡± Looking at her image, Duwei felt his heart brimming with respect for this woman! Ever sinceing to this world, this was the first person he had encountered with the courage call into question and challengemon sense and authority! Compared to those people who set their mind on the belief that ¡®God created everything¡¯, this woman who dared questionmon sense and challenge authority, and who even spend her life researching it, had earned Duwei¡¯splete admiration and respect. ¡°My life¡¯s work is all hidden in this room, I give all the things in the cabs to you. But that door outside is a diversion I left behind, if the peopleing here didn¡¯t understand the hints about the stars, then all they could find is that door, behind it are just some worldly valuables, while here, is the true legacy of me, Saimel Zh Rawling!¡± Suddenly the light flickered and began to dim, the female astrologer¡¯s image gradually bing vague, her voice also starting to weaken: ¡°For my final advice, in that oil painting in the study is a magic creature of my devising, I sealed it in the painting for it to be your guide in learning all of this. When learning all the things in this room you will require its help and guidance. For security, I haven¡¯t recorded any of the star magic spells I created on paper, but left them with that magic creature. You must unseal it from the painting. My child, even if I don¡¯t know how long it will be until you find this ce, I believe that the great Rawling n will definitely produce a genius in magic. You should understand that all my life¡¯s work and study, by questioning the authority of God, definitely won¡¯t be epted by this world! Especially those in authority, they will even more ardently use any means to eliminate it. Since I am unable to hand down all of this honestly, I can only use ndestine methods like this. I have enchanted that magic creature so that it will onlye to life at night, and will lie dormant in the day¡­¡­ He he, like this it¡¯s just like the stars, invisible to the naked eye in the day. Moreover, only people with strong spirit power will be able to notice its existence. I believe that since your spirit power is strong enough toe here, you will be able to be a remarkable sorcerer. I impart all I have learned about star magic to you¡­¡­ Remember this incantation, you can use it to undo the seal on the painting above. After it has been released it will unconditionally follow your everymand¡­¡­ And the rest, is all up to you.¡± The female astrologer slowly dered herst incantation, each letter pronounced distinctly, at the same time making a few finger seals with her hands¡­¡­ Duwei diligently remembered everything, and afterwards¡­¡­ with a small sound the light abruptly flickered once, and faded away! The room immediately fell into darkness, and Duwei hurriedly lit the candle. After inspecting the room, he decided there was nothing to be done and carefully returned from where he came, crawling through the secret passage. Duwei waspletely covered with dust by the time he came back to the study. Fortunately, in the study was still that pile of dusty ledgers, and so the dust wasn¡¯t at all difficult to exin. Closing the secret bookshelf door, Duwei finally stepped in front of that painting: ¡°I went inside and saw everything. Including herst words.¡± The eyes in the painting seemed to rx, then seemed entreating. Duwei clearly understood what it meant and smiled: ¡°You want me to unseal you? Eh, I already found the incantation she left behind. Only, clearly there was a small mistake¡­¡­¡± Duwei smiled wryly. The first clue that Saimel left behind was the painting! But only a person with strong spirit power could notice it! And people with strong spirit power were almost certainly sorcerers! Even if they weren¡¯t sorcerers, they could still learn magic! A sorcerer was required for Saimel to pass on her star magic. As a result she left behind this kind of game. If people didn¡¯t notice the oil painting it was because their spirit power was insufficient, and they didn¡¯t have the talent for magic. And those who saw it could learn magic¡­¡­ Afterwards, they could learn that incantation from Saimel and use it to undo the seal on the painting! But perhaps even an astute person hadn¡¯t expected that after all these years the Rawling family would produce a freak like Duwei! He clearly possessed surpassing talent for spirit power! But from top to bottom he didn¡¯t have the slightest bit of talent for magic sensitivity! In other words, Duwei had no way of using that unsealing incantation Saimel left behind, no way of undoing the seal on the painting. Without this magic creature Saimel left behind¡­¡­ Perhaps he would be unable to learn Saimel¡¯s star magic! Because all the spells were left with the creature in this painting! It seemed to be an intractable problem, right? Duwei couldn¡¯t help a wry smile. Clearly he had found a vast treasure, he had even opened the door, but he couldn¡¯t step inside. Such a feeling was truly helpless¡­¡­ Suddenly Duwei¡¯s eyes brightened¡­¡­ hadn¡¯t he captured a magician? That fellow who only had the ability to use the lowest level magic could use the top notch ¡®instant casting¡¯, then perhaps¡­¡­ Chapter 17 017 ¨C Three Hundred Gold Coins At dawn, the old butler Hill personally arrived at the study with the breakfast trolley. As he pushed open the door, he found the family¡¯s young master standing on the bookcasedder, entranced by a thick work on astrology in his hands. Apparently the young master hadn¡¯t slept, and even though he looked a little peaked, his spirit was still lively. He just seemed a bit dirty¡­¡­ Don¡¯t tell me he was rolling about in those ledgers allst night? He had also removed a dagger from the wall and ced it on the desk¡­¡­ Oh dear, that was an ancestral antique. The old butler sighed, immediately summoning people for the young master to freshen up. Duwei stretched after eating breakfast: ¡°Did you find a ce for the people that came with me from the capitalst night?¡± ¡°Of course, they¡¯re at the back of the castle. Your guardsmen have all been folded into the castle guard regiment, in ordance with family administration¡­¡­ Excuse my presumptuousness, respected young master, you seem to have recruited a knight on the way, and a female knight at that. Originally I wanted to arrange a ce for the knight within the castle, but she refused¡­¡­ Since you also brought a prisoner. As I didn¡¯t know how that captive had offended you, I arranged for a cell in the dungeon. Last night that female knight and her retinue stayed in the dungeon room.¡± ¡°Very good.¡± Duwei exhaled: ¡°Then is there anything I need to do during the day¡­¡­ Continuing reading these ounts? I think that in order to finish these I would need at least three or four days¡­¡­ That¡¯s just too boring. Hill, I have to find something to do.¡± Three or four days? It would be good if you did it in ten. The old butler swallowed such words and kept his face deferential: ¡°Yes. You are the master here. Everyone in the castle are your servants. Here your will isw. As for the ounts, there is no need to finish them immediately. These are allst year¡¯s ounts anyway. I actually think that if you hereafter can find a bit of time, it would be more effective to choose a couple of ces in the n estates to inspect than to read these musty old ounts.¡± Duwei smiled, raising his eyebrows: ¡±A good suggestion, Hill, a good suggestion! That what do I do today? Here¡­¡­ is there any schedule?¡± ¡°Eh¡­¡­¡± The old butler had a difficult expression: ¡°Here, you see, is a lot less busy than the imperial capital. Even the closest town requires a day for a round trip on horseback. There are no particr activities to pass the time here in the castle, but the surroundings are pretty good. If you¡¯re interested you can take a ride, or bring your cavalrymen to hunt in the woods. Even if there isn¡¯t much prey in this season, just going out is a good option.¡± Duwei nodded and sipped his ck tea, when abruptly his mind stirred: ¡°That captive I brought back¡­¡­ Would there be any problems? I mean, do I have the authority to¡­¡­¡± ¡°The authority ofw enforcement? My heavens¡­¡­ Young master, this is Rawling ins! The whole ins belong to the Rawling n! As long as you don¡¯t rebel against the Empire, the Rawling family¡¯s wishes arew here! And at present, you are the most senior member of the Rawling family in this castle.¡± ¡°Good.¡± As Duwei stood, a maid at the side came forward with a long fur coat to dress him. Duwei nced at this piece of clothing made from the fur of some unknown animal and shook his head: ¡°It¡¯s warm today, no need for this¡­¡­ Oh, Hill, I want two attendants at my side, I like using people I¡¯m familiar with¡­¡­ Let Marde handle it, I like hispany. As for the others, you said the twenty cavalrymen I brought from the capital had been folded into the castle guard? That¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll find some time to go look in on them today, and inspect the castle guard soldiers while I¡¯m there. Eh¡­¡­ Onest thing, as a child I was instructed by a well-known astrologer, mister Lochart, under his tutge I gained some interest in astrology. While I stay at the castle I will use the room at the top floor of the white tower.¡± ¡°White tower¡­¡­ Top floor¡­¡­¡± The old butler mouth fell open, his expression difficult: ¡°This¡­¡­ Young master, I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t know that in the n there has always been a prohibition, besides the n head, nobody is allowed to climb the white tower.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Duwei¡¯s eyes brightened: ¡°Really?¡± He wasn¡¯t the slightest bit rejected, and on the contrary even excited¡­¡­ Yeah, if it was prohibited then presumably there should be something of Saimel¡¯s left inside? Perhaps he could still discover something. As for¡­¡­ not being allowed in? If it wasn¡¯t allowed, then couldn¡¯t he sneak inside? ¡°Good. Then I there are a few things I would like you to dispatch people to get me.¡± Duwei stopped talking and picked up a goose feather pen from the table, swiftly scribbling down a few things on a piece of paper. These were all some things he had determined necessary to study astrology. Didn¡¯t researching the stars require at least a telescope? And the best astronomy telescope at that. But something like that didn¡¯t seem to exist in this world, so he would have to build it himself. This world had things like ss, and the craftsmanship for mirrors was very high. With a bit of research he should be able to construct a crude telescope. Actually¡­¡­ Ai, in this world there was very little use for telescopes, since its main application would be military. But this world had magic! Sorcerers had an ¡®eagle eye spell¡¯ that was far better than binocrs. Ai, magic, magic! It seemed he would have to find a way to learn magic. Thinking about this, Duwei immediately stood up: ¡°I should probably take some time to go visit my prisoner in the dungeon today.¡± Duwei left the study and the old butler swiftly followed his instructions, calling for Marde. This former stable hand¡¯s expression was a bit depressed. After all, on the road he had the pleasurable feeling of ordering twenty cavalrymen as a valet. But at the castle those soldiers had immediately been folded into the castle guard, staying in the small barracks outside the castle on the left, and the valet had immediately be amander without an army. A boss without anyone to order. The old butler here seemed to be a grandee level person in the Rawling n, so how would he dare exert any authority? After a gloomy night in his room, Marde was still a bit worried about his future¡­¡­ The little master didn¡¯t let me wait on himst night, he wouldn¡¯t forget me, right? Therefore, when Marde heard Duwei¡¯s summons early in the morning he immediately dashed over, his hastily arranged appearance left the punctilious old butler Hill somewhat dissatisfied, but Marde didn¡¯t care. Running into the castle hall, as he saw Duwei and promptly walked up to him, he wished he could hug the little master. ¡°Eh, milord, I am your faithful servant Marde. Did you have any instructions?¡± Duwei looked helplessly at Marde. In this ce it was after all only Marde that could be considered trustworthy. Others¡­¡­ Yeah, that Rolynn might be at least halfway trustworthy. Duwei didn¡¯t worry about immediately going to see that magician, rather his first order was: From today onward, without hismand, nobody was to enter the study! The old butlerplied with this strange order without a word. First heading to the barracks where the people he had brought with him were, in the barracks were stationed three hundred Rawling private armsmen of which one hundred was cavalry, twenty to a squad, forming give cavalry squads that took turns to patrol the castle surroundings each day. The twenty cavalrymen Duwei had brought from the castle formed a sixth squad, and having exchanged their equipment in the barracks they weed Duwei warmly. Duwei had talked it over with Marde on the way, and Marde immediately stepped forward, selecting six cavalrymen as Duwei¡¯s private attendants. Marde had observed thee six on the journey and though of them as loyal men who discharged their duties conscientiously. These six cavalrymen exchanged their armor for light equipment without any objections, and left the barracks on horseback. Their colleagues all looked at their departure with envious expressions¡­¡­ Ai, they were after all at the master¡¯s side, perhaps if the master took a liking to them they might have a chance for promotion. It had to be said that leaving the stifling earl¡¯s court in the capital for this Rawling n territory castle was still a very pleasant life. At least here Duwei was senior, and this kind of noble life was rather invigorating. As he was leaving, a servant immediately brought over a docile horse, its saddle and bridle both goods of the most exquisite quality. He had heard that this horse had been personally chosen by Marde in order to curry favor with Duwei. This former stable hand still had a good eye for horses. In the morning Duwei brought the six attendants for twops in the forest, finally he chose a spot. At the edge of the forest some distance from the castle was a brook, a tributary of a tributary of the Emerald River (Rawling River). The stream was gentle and, on inspecting the surroundings, without any traces ofrge animals. Duwei immediately decided to have a log house built here. This would be his first magicboratory ¡ª¡ª even if he wasn¡¯t a magician right now and still didn¡¯t have the talent for learning magic, Duwei wasn¡¯t a bit anxious. There would always be a way. After taking note of the location, Duwai again brought the followers to look in all directions. This young master¡¯s actions certainly seemed entric. In the same morning, besides touring the surrounding forest, he went to talk to some castle servants. And the first people he interviewed were actually the groundskeeper and gardener! Afterwards the young master unfolded a list of items of strange flowers and nts for the groundskeeper and gardener to prepare. This list quickly fell into the hands of the old butler Hill, who immediately followed the instructions without saying anything. It was only in the evening when Duwei finally headed down to the dungeon to meet his captive. After two straight days of torment, presumably that magician had suffered a lot. Should he take a look at whether he wanted to surrender? Duwei very confidently brought his people back to the castle, but the first to find him was nevertheless the old butler Hill. ¡°Young master, regarding those several lists you issued today with things you wanted procured, I have already dispatched people to see to them.¡± ¡°So quickly?¡± Duwei was especially pleased. ¡°Of course, this is Rawling family territory, your wishes are ourmands. After I received the lists I immediately dispatched people on fast horses to procure them in the surrounding towns, the items are being delivered as we speak. But there¡¯s a minor issue¡­¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid you might not have enough money.¡± The butler replied without batting an eyelid. ¡°¡­¡­¡± Duwei hadn¡¯t expected that: ¡°Money?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like this.¡± The old butler¡¯s expression was calm, a calm expression to go with a calm voice, but Duwei couldn¡¯t help be annoyed by that expression. It was because he felt the old butler¡¯s expression clearly concealed mirth at his misfortune: ¡°Young master, since you haven¡¯t yet reached your majority the n head issued a provision, besides the expenses for your everyday food and clothing, each month you may draw three hundred gold coins from the n for your own expenses. Only three hundred gold coins each month, this is the specified amount you may use. But if you exceed this, it must be deducted from next month¡¯s sum.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Duwei was speechless. Money? Duwei hadn¡¯t expected to, as the eldest son of the illustrious earl, actually have problems with money? The old butler swiftly fished out a monocle from his breast pocket and ced it over his left eye, then taking out the lists of items Duwei had handed out today: ¡°Four pieces of top quality crystal, twenty ss mirrors, one smelting furnace, half a cart of stone coal. With the gardener you ordered one batch of golden scale flower seeds, one batch of arrow orchid seeds, and further one bottle of Jarohei rugosa pollen¡­¡­ Besides a set of first rate florist instruments. With the groundskeeper you purchased two tiger striped broad leaf trees, one hundred clovers, further¡­¡­¡± The old butler swiftly recounted the lists, then slowly said: ¡°Purchasing these things will altogether cost you approximately four hundred twenty gold coins. In other words, you have not only spent this month¡¯s quota, you have even withdrawn money from next month¡¯s limit¡­¡­ Moreover, I have also heard that you n to construct a log house by a creek in the forest. I have done the calctions and if you n to construct a simple two floor house, I¡¯m afraid it will require another three hundred gold coins. If you wish for the rooms of the house to be decorated and furnished¡­¡­ it will be another two hundred gold coins. With these figures, I¡¯m afraid you have already used your money for the next four months.¡± Duwei was speechless. He had realized he might have miscalcted! Money! The illustrious earl¡¯s eldest son was unexpectedly penniless! But those nts were all necessary. Those were the most basic raw materials for Duwei¡¯s alchemical studies. Duwei looked at the old butler, lowering his face: ¡°Yes? You¡¯re saying that I, father¡¯s oldest son, the supervisor of the n territories, can only use a trifling three hundred gold coins every month? I didn¡¯t mishear you?¡± The old butler¡¯s manners were still very respectful: ¡°Yes, this was all stipted in a letter in the n head¡¯s own handwriting. Even though it¡¯s true that the n estates each month generate several tens of thousands of gold coins, you must know¡­¡­ that those are public funds. You still haven¡¯t reached your majority, still haven¡¯t obtained your own peerage, still haven¡¯t obtained your own territory, therefore¡­¡­¡± ¡°Therefore I only have an allowance of three hundred gold coins every month, right?¡± Duwei¡¯s tone was cold, waving a hand behind him: ¡°Fine, I get it, for the next few months I can¡¯t casually go shopping, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, these are the earl¡¯smands. You can at most only withdraw three months of funds.¡± As the old butler saw that this little master was unhappy, he immediately took his leave. After the old butler left, Duwei looked at Marde at his side who prudently said: ¡°Young master¡­¡­ I still have with me the one thousand gold coins you gave me for safekeeping, that the countess gave you before leaving the imperial capital.¡± Duwei sighed: ¡°Ai, I thought it was strange that mother would stealthily slip me money¡­¡­ But now I understand¡­¡­ Hehe, it seems that his lordship my father is afraid this retard will mess up the n territories, afraid I will ruin the ancestral estates, so he only nominally made me the supervisor but without letting me use the funds.¡± ¡°This¡­¡­ We can cut down on some expenses. Actually, three hundred gold coins every month is already a lot¡­¡­¡± When Marde had said this he very conscientiously closed his mouth, because the little master was thinking. ¡°¡­¡­ Fine, since it¡¯s like this, we¡¯ll just have to figure out a way to make some money on our own.¡± Duwei immediately got over his brief dissatisfaction¡­¡­ Anyway, wasn¡¯t there a lot of valuables behind that trick door in Saimel¡¯s secret passage? If it came down to it, he could just use the money there. Only¡­¡­ It seemed that the days he would spend here might not be as free as he had imagined. ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ll have a look at the dungeon.¡± Duwei waved his hand, calmly saying: ¡°I hope that magician won¡¯t refuse me again today. I¡¯m already in a bad mood!¡± Chapter 18 Chapter 018 ¨C A Different Path Outside the castle dungeon Duwei saw his first subordinate female knight Rolynn, sinceing to the castle she had spontaneously taken custody of the captive magician. The magician had after all been one of Rolynn¡¯spanions, and even if she had sworn loyalty to Duwei, she still held some nostalgicpassion. Even if the magician had originally only been attracted by her charm, and only been with them for a few days. Even if Rolynn didn¡¯t dare go against Duwei¡¯s orders and release him, by looking after him personally she could at least show this formerpanion some consideration, to the limits of friendship. At least aftering herest night, under Rolynn¡¯s care, he had been able to eat. Even if he still couldn¡¯t be allowed to sleep or meditate. Rolynn¡¯s two retainers, that barbarian warrior and archer, took turns guarding the magician to prevent any opportunity to recover magic power. When Duwei reached the dungeon, this kind of damp and moist dungeon air didn¡¯t agree with him. Actually the sight of Rolynn in knight¡¯s attire made Duwei¡¯s eyes brighten! This long legged girl seemed to have disguised her originally seductive face, cutting her hair a bit shorter, tying a silk headband over her forehead, even trimming her eyebrows to reduce her charm a bit, but tripling her heroic spirit. Especially putting on knight¡¯s clothing made her seem a lot more dignified ¡ª¡ª even if by not wearing a short skirt like before, she no longer exposed those beautiful long legs. Anyway, fitted with a slender sword and a light cavalry breastte, she rather had the attitude of a knight. ¡°My lord.¡± Rolynn immediately greeted Duwei when she saw him: ¡°You are¡­¡­¡± ¡°I will see my captive.¡± Duwei¡¯s expression was cold, his mood a bit bad, ncing at Rolynn: ¡°You¡¯ve kept guard here all night?¡± Rolynn looked a bit awkward: ¡°Lord, that guy is after all my formerpanion, I would¡­¡­¡± ¡°Ask for leniency?¡± Duwei shook his head: ¡°No need, I won¡¯t make things hard for you. As long as he obediently answers my questions I¡¯ll let him go.¡± Duwei walked past Rolynn, leaving behind the words: ¡°I¡¯ll speak with him alone, all of you can wait in the outer room. Don¡¯t let anyone in.¡± The room where the magician was held was originally thergest cell in the castle dungeon, when Duwei entered the magician¡¯splexion was pale, his eyelids fluttering rapidly. Even if the magician had formidable spirit power he had wasted a lot in that fight in the inn, instead he he had been kept from the opportunity to meditate and hadn¡¯t even slept for two days, by now he was unable to endure. Sinceing to this dungeon, each time his eyes had closed he had been doused by a bucket of cold water. Even if Rolynn was a bit polite, her two subordinates were less so. Originally the barbarian warrior and archer had been less than pleased to have the magician in their party since he was only attracted by Rolynn¡¯s charm, and they had always held him in contempt. Their mutual rtionship had never been amicable. This moment, seeing this little noble enter the cell, the magician was already about to copse. He wasn¡¯t chained, a magician without magic power was weaker than even an ordinary person anyway. But in the damp darkness of the dungeon he had been doused with cold water more times than he could remember, and his lips were pale from the cold. When Duwei entered the cell he was sitting on a stone bench hugging his knees, while the barbarian warrior stood next to him still yelling: ¡°Hey, don¡¯t close your eyes! Otherwise it¡¯s the cold water for you again! How many times do you think I¡¯ve had to run for fresh water tonight!¡± Just as he finished he turned his head and saw Duwei, and immediately shut his mouth. Duwei just gestured for him to leave and stepped over to the magician: ¡°How is it? Respected mister magician, is everything to your satisfaction?¡± Satisfaction? Do I look ¡®satisfied¡¯ to you? The mage swallowed his curses, an imploring expression on his face: ¡°Mister, as a member of the nobility, why do you treat me like this? As the eldest son of the Rawling n earl, if it bes known you treated a magician this viciously, then afterwards it might be difficult for the Rawling n to find friends among magicians!¡± Still want to threaten me? Duwei curled his lips: ¡°Eh, what was that? If it bes public knowledge that an insignificant first level magician actually mastered instant casting, then what would the consequences be?¡± The magician paled, showing a terrified expression. Consequences? The consequences would be very simple! If other magicians learned of this, then very quickly he would be themon prey of all magicians on the continent! Any magician wanted to learn a first rate skill like instant casting! And if an insignificant first level mage actually managed to learn something like it¡­¡­ Was there any need to ask about consequences? Just like if a defenseless three year old child carried around millions of gold coins! ¡°Speak.¡± Duwei smiled: ¡°Actually, I know that your so-called instant casting isn¡¯t the real thing. You definitely used some obscure method to aplish it, right? I¡¯m not a magician, so even if you told me it wouldn¡¯t be any skin off your back. I just want to satisfy my curiosity.¡± The magician lowered his head with a struggling expression. ¡°What good will hesitating do?¡± Duwei sighed: ¡°You¡¯re just a first level magician, even if magicians are rare and respected in this world, that only applies to mid level sorcerers or higher. For the lowest level magician like you, I¡¯m afraid nobody would care even if I killed you right now, or maybe locked you up for life. Even the magic association wouldn¡¯t offend a great noble for the sake of a lowest level magician, right?¡± ¡°You¡­¡­¡± The magician¡¯s expression finally rxed as his mental barriers began to crumble, biting his lip: ¡°You¡­¡­ If I tell you, you have to promise never to reveal it. Because¡­¡­ This involves my status as magician!¡± ¡°I can do that, certainly.¡± Duwei immediately raised his hand and recited an oath: ¡°I, Duwei Rawling, hereby swears that everything you tell me today, I will record in my heart and never again repeat to others. Otherwise, let the radiant goddess strike me down!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± The magician¡¯s expression was mixed, showing a guilty consciousness. Finally his lips squirmed: ¡°I¡­¡­ Actually, I¡¯m only a magic apprentice.¡± ¡°¡­¡­ What?¡± Duwei was shocked: ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I¡­¡­¡± The magician spoke as if it cost him a great deal of strength: ¡°I said, I¡¯m actually just a magic apprentice, my true magic strength is only on the level of a magic apprentice. And my first level magician qualifications were only obtained by cheating.¡± ¡°Cheating?¡± Duwei¡¯s heart began to stir! Obtaining magician qualifications by cheating? ording to what Duwei knew, the examinations of the magic association couldn¡¯t be so easily deceived! If magician qualification could be be easily swindled, then wouldn¡¯t they be a joke? ¡°I started studying magic from childhood, my master was a low level magician who believed I had the talent for magic and epted me as an apprentice, and when I was thirteen I acquired the qualifications as a magic apprentice¡­¡­ that wasn¡¯t difficult.¡± The magician¡¯s tone was somewhat bitter: ¡°There are only a few hundred true magicians on the continent, but people with qualifications as magic apprentices number in the thousands. Unfortunately, the road to bing a true magician is too arduous, and the majority of magic apprentices, even with a lifetime of effort, are unable to pass the first level examination and can only spend their whole life on the level of a magic apprentice. And I¡­¡­ Am also one of these pitiful worms.¡± ¡°Every magician will ept several apprentices, but the magician himself clearly understands that none of these apprentices will ever be magicians and will probably spend their lives as as a magician¡¯s follower. But every magician will still ept several apprentices. Because¡­¡­ The position of magician is so sublime and revered, and for someone like that, how can they only have a few attendants? Therefore, each magician will bring along some amount of magic apprentices. These apprentices for the most part dream about magic, but in truth only a small minority are able to realize that dream. Most repulsive is that most magicians know full well that these magic apprentices don¡¯t stand a chance of bing magicians, but they don¡¯t tell them¡­¡­ Because the magicians need obedient disciples, people to assist them with magic research, people to support them, as assistants that seem more like servants¡­¡­ And servants like these won¡¯t even cost them a single gold coin! My story is just like this. I met my master when I was thirteen, he told me I had talent and brought me away from home, promising to teach me to be an outstanding magician. I followed him with boundless longing, but unfortunately¡­¡­ Later I discovered that it was basically impossible for me to achieve my dream. My master had a dozen disciples, each having passed the magic apprentice examination. Our master just exploited us like free servants, free assistants. He would deceive us with lies, but he clearly knew that of these disciples the majority would never be able to be magicians. He knew! But he didn¡¯t say anything! I spent ten years as a magic apprentice before I discovered I didn¡¯t have the gift. It was true that I had a bit more spirit power than the average person, and also a tiny bit of affinity for sensitivity¡­¡­ But that was the limit. My talent was limited. Later, I had no choice but to¡­¡­ to¡­¡­ study magic alchemy.¡± Magic alchemy? Duwei¡¯s eyes brightened! This fellow¡¯s story was a lot like his! Only he didn¡¯t even have the ability to pass the magic apprentice examination¡­¡­ Duweiughed bitterly in his heart. Actually, even Duwei didn¡¯t know that his circumstances weren¡¯t what he thought. Magicians were an odd bunch. For the most part magicians were reclusive and conceited, regarding themselves as above everyone else. They could call the wind and summon the rain, they could draw upon divine power. To the majority of magicians, the mass ofmon people were little more than ants they could casually exploit. A lot of the magic apprentices epted by magicians had even less talent than Duwei! But even if magicians were wealthy, they couldn¡¯t hire servants likemon nobles when they needed attendants ¡ª¡ª what would that look like! As sacred sorcerers, as mysterious magicians, their servants naturally had to have the status of magic apprentices! If they usedmon servants, wouldn¡¯t their status drop? But only a small minority of people possessed talent in magic. Therefore, with the majority of magicians looking to have magic apprentices at their side, they didn¡¯t even hesitate to lower the official recruitment standards for magic apprentices! People whose talent clearly was insufficient, as long as it was a tiny bit more than ordinary people, would still be lured in by magicians saying ¡®I will teach you to be a magician¡¯. Afterwards¡­¡­ These people whocked the talent to be magicians, would spend their lives as cheapbor for their masters! These practices caused a great deal of disorder with the magic apprentice assessments! The standard was also unevenly matched. However, when Duwei was testedst time in the imperial capital, it was done ording to the true and strict standard! Because¡­¡­ That mage rke didn¡¯t dare cheat the eldest son of the second most powerful person in the imperial military! Just because of Duwei¡¯s background, rke didn¡¯t dare cheat him into be cheapbor. Otherwise, if Duwei had been amoner¡­¡­ That day when rke saw his outstanding spirit power he would have already epted Duwei as an apprentice! Even when he knew that Duwei didn¡¯t possess the gift for magic, rke would still have taken him on! Because having a magic apprentice with such outstanding spirit power at his side would have been greatly convenient in future magic experiments. In fact, a lot of magicians did this. If Duwei hadn¡¯t been the earl¡¯s son, perhaps he would have been tricked into leaving with the beautiful dream of bing a magician, serving as a magician¡¯s cheapbor, even squandering his life and dying his future prospects. ¡°It was only by happenstance that I learned the facts: My master had long already known that I couldn¡¯t be a magician.¡± The captive¡¯s voice was bitter: ¡°He even knew it when he brought be away from home! Just that he saw that I had a bit of magic talent and wanted me as a servant by his side, andter somewhat convenient when performing magic experiments. Master had a lot of apprentices like me, some with strong magic power, some with decent magic sensitivity, but all with some major w. But they had been tricked into believing a beautiful dream, leaving at master¡¯s side, wasting their lives! ¡°¡­¡­And then?¡± Duwei exhaled. ¡°Like I said just now¡­¡­ At first after learning the truth I was angry, andter¡­¡­ I decided to change my destiny. Since I couldn¡¯t learn real magic, then¡­¡­ I decided to study magic alchemy.¡± The captive magician sighed: ¡°Because magic alchemists are recognized as a kind of magician by the magic association. Even if¡­¡­ This is considered ridiculous by most people, even if most people don¡¯t consider magic alchemists worthy of being called magicians.¡± ¡°¡­¡­ And then?¡± Duwei felt his heartbeat speed up! Could it be that¡­¡­ This guy¡­¡­ Just like him, neither of them had the talent for magic! But now he had be a magician! And moreover, in that tavern he had used real magic! Since he, without talent, had atst used some unknown method to learn magic¡­¡­ Then as long as he could figure out what method he used¡­¡­ It might be possible for him too! If he could find a way to learn magic, then¡­¡­ Couldn¡¯t he learn the astrological skills Saimel had left behind in that secret room, Saimel¡¯s life¡¯s research into star magic? ¡°You can be a magician with proficiency in magic alchemy?¡± Duwei looked at his captive: ¡°From what I know, the examination for magic alchemists ispletely separate from the examination for magician qualifications.¡± Real magicians were split into ten levels, and the difficulty of the exam would increase a lot with each level! Therefore, the higher level the magician, the more powerful. But ¡®also a kind of magician¡¯ magic alchemists¡¯ exam was a lot simpler. Even to the extent that it felt half hearted! Magic alchemists didn¡¯t have multiple levels of examinations! Just one! As long as you passed the exam you were a magic alchemist! Afterwards the magic association would issue you a badge, officially recognizing you as a magician. Even if most people wouldn¡¯t acknowledge this recognition. Moreover, even the magic association itself discriminated against them with those badges. The magic alchemist emblem was crafted simply in copper, and¡­¡­ It didn¡¯t have any magical counterfeiting protection. Perhaps it was because the magi association itself knew nobody would be interested in faking the identity of a magic alchemist. A magical alchemist, often referred to as a poison master, were even lower in status than amon doctor. And even first level real magicians had badges of silver! A first level magician had a silver leaf badge. Duwei naturally hadn¡¯t forgotten how he had seized a silver leaf badge from the chest of his captive in that tavern! In other words, he hadn¡¯t passed a magic alchemist¡¯s examination, but a real magician¡¯s examination! How had he done it? Learning magic had been a broken dream, but this moment hope once again rose in Duwei¡¯s heart! ¡°My gift in magic power was outstanding, and my talent in spirit power was a bit stronger than most people. For an ordinary person this might just manifest as increased vigor, not growing fatigued as easily and so on¡­¡­ But Icked sensitivity. No matter how I meditated, no matter how hard I tried, at first I was unable to even sense the fluctuations of natural forces.¡± The captive spoke slowly: ¡°Later, after studying magic alchemy for ten years, I began to wonder¡­¡­ What are the so-called natural forces really? My teacher told me they were everything! Everything in this world! They were wind, fire, water, even the tiniest most minute things. But this exnation was still too vague. Deep in my heart I had a thought¡­¡­ Just if, I could understand, just what these ¡®natural forces¡¯ are, then, there might still be hope for me.¡± Duwei calmly listened, carefully engraving these words in his mind. ¡°For instance, fire magic. A magician can use spells to draw support on the natural fire element in this world and use magic to change it into me! But in magic alchemy there¡¯s a dozen different ways to create me with preparations! Like the simplest kind¡­¡­¡± Here the captive magician looked at Duwei: ¡°What I¡¯m saying, are you following?¡± ¡°Please continue, I understand.¡± Duwei smiled faintly: ¡°I¡¯ve also read some books on magic alchemy.¡± ¡°Good.¡± The magician continued: ¡°In magic alchemy there¡¯s a dozen different ways to produce the same basic principle as fire magic¡­¡­ me! For instance, the most basic kind uses a sort of phosphoric grass ground into powder that can ignite on its own! So I thought¡­¡­ phosphoric grass can create fire, and magician can also create fire with magic. Then could it be¡­¡­ That phosphoric grass contains what is called the magic elements of natural forces? In other words, does phosphoric grass contain something that is the same as fire magic elements?¡± Duwei¡¯s heart twitched as if he had thought of something, but for the moment he couldn¡¯t catch it. The captive magician continued: ¡°I discovered something ingenious. All magic spells! I mean all of them! Even if there are small andrge spells. Let¡¯s take another fire magic example, the simplest fireball spell,pared to ¡®city congration¡¯ forbidden spell that can extinguish heaven! Even if the difference in power is manyfold, in fact, the principle is the same! Both use me for ignition! But¡­¡­ What¡¯s ingenious¡­¡­ Everything that can be aplished with fire magic can also be aplished with magic alchemy! For instance fire magic, even if alchemy can¡¯t produce something on the destructive scale of the ¡®city congration¡¯ forbidden spell, the theory of lighting a fire is the same! Other examples with wind magic, water magic, and so on¡­¡­ All magic systems can be replicated with alchemy! Even if only the very simplest fundamental principles, they can still be replicated! Why is this? Perhaps¡­¡­ I think, maybe, those precious alchemical materials actually contain what is called the ¡®magic elements¡¯ of each magic system! What do you think?¡± The prisoner¡¯s face was filled with pride: ¡°Since I¡¯m unable to use meditation to extract the magical elements in nature¡­¡­ then I¡¯ll use alchemical means, extracting magical elements from preparations! !¡± Chapter 19 Chapter 019 ¨C Beginning! The Devil¡¯s Road! Genius! This fellow was absolutely a genius in magic research! Duwei had already made his assessment of his captive magician! If this fellow could continue his research, then one day he might be the great schr of a generation! But right now Duwei was most interested in how he had used alchemy to use magic. As the magician talked about how he had expended immeasurable effort to reach results, he couldn¡¯t help but get a bit excited. Even if was surreptitious and shameful about these results by necessity, he really somewhat regretted not being able to share his life¡¯s greatest discovery with others. Now that he could finally speak without worry, the magician¡¯s eyes were shining, pride stered across his whole face, he couldn¡¯t even help gesticting wildly with excitement: ¡°Someone like me, with sufficient spirit power, that is magic power. But sensitivity a bitcking. Unable to sense the magic elements in the surrounding nature. Then, I thought, like someone with bad hearing, if the voices are too low, he won¡¯t hear anything¡­¡­ But, if the voices are louder, very noisy! He might be able to hear!¡± Duwei interposed with shining eyes: ¡°Therefore¡­¡­ You thought of a way to extract something that increased the magic element content in the surroundings?¡± ¡°Yes! The most basic of basics in fire magic is ¡®fireball¡¯, but not even the highest level magician actually knows what the so-called ¡®fire element¡¯ actually is, since everyone just knows how to use it, they¡¯ve never thought about how it works. But those incendiary preparations, that they can ignite proves they contain ¡®fire element¡¯! I posited a hypothesis: In an equal environment where someone with strong sensitivity could feel the surrounding magic element, and I couldn¡¯t. Then¡­¡­ If I could increase the surrounding magical element, increase it by some amount, then even with my dull sensitivity I should still be able to feel it! In this case, wouldn¡¯t I be able to use magic?¡± ¡°Afterwards¡­¡­ Did you seed?¡± Duwei gasped. ¡°Yes!¡± The magician solemnly said: ¡°I did many, many experiments, mainly researching fire magic. I hypothesized that those incendiary materials contained fire element. But finding a way to extract them cost me a lot of time. I left my master and headed south alone, I built a tiny magicboratory, I filled it with refining tools, and after years of research I finally found it.¡± Duwei couldn¡¯t help be excited: ¡°You found the fire element¡­¡­ Then what is the fire element really?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ I still don¡¯t know.¡± The magician looked a little helpless: ¡°I experimented with more than a hundred forms and more than three hundred methods, until atst¡­¡­ After I finished an experiment extracting a kind of powder from more than ten different kinds of nts, a kind of ck dust. Afterwards¡­¡­ Afterwards I suddenly felt it!¡± ¡°Felt it?¡± Duwei¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°Yes! I felt it! With my dull sensitivity that would usually be unable to sense the magic elements around me! Just when I worked with this powder, using a venttor of my own construction, when this powder rose into the air¡­¡­ I finally felt it! As I tried a fire spell, I discovered I could clearly feel the pulse of fire element around me! I¡­¡­ I had actually seeded!¡± The magician was moved as he spoke: ¡°I started on the path of magic when I was thirteen, and had spent twenty years! I finally used magic¡­¡­ Even if it was only the most insignificant, the very lowest level fireball spell! But, when I saw I had used magic tounch that only fist sized fireball, I was so happy I could die.¡± Looking at this fellow¡¯s face, Duwei couldn¡¯t help sighing: ¡°In other words, when you fought with my people in that tavern, the fireballs were also¡­¡­¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The magician nodded: ¡°I carried some sealed bottles containing the powder I extracted, and when I needed to use magic I would open one in my sleeve, releasing the powder¡­¡­ Afterwards I could feel the existence of the fire elements, I could use magic.¡± It was a strange method¡­¡­ But this fellow really was a genius! However¡­¡­ Duwei suddenly recalled something, his face a little odd: ¡°Then you used this kind of method to get magician¡¯s qualifications?¡± The magician blushed: ¡°I know, this method is the same as fraud. But I really couldn¡¯t control my desire to be called a magician.¡± ¡°This I can understand.¡± Duwei said: ¡°But what baffles me is why you are only the very lowest first level magician? Since you have the talent for magic, and now also solved the problem of magic sensitivity, shouldn¡¯t you be able to pass even higher level exams?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s impossible for me.¡± The captive shook his head: ¡°My methods may have settled the issue of sensitivity, but¡­¡­ I was immediately confronted with a new problem. And that problem, even after long and careful consideration, I was unable to settle.¡± ¡°What problem?¡± Duwei was very concerned¡­¡­ After all, whether he could learn and use magic all depended on this fellow. ¡°After my experiments I managed to extract that yellow powder with fire element, but my sensitivity really is toocking, so even when there is plenty of fire element I¡¯m still unable to use more than the lowest level fireball spell.¡± The magician smiled wryly: ¡°Do you think I wouldn¡¯t want to take higher level exams? I even imagined that since I could use my own methods to raise the fire element density¡­¡­ Then I should be able to increase the fire element density even higher! I might even be able to use the highest level forbidden spell ¡®city congration¡¯! Bing a forbidden spell mage, wouldn¡¯t that be glorious, wouldn¡¯t that be an achievement? Like that I could instantly leap to the summit of magicians on the continent!¡± Unfortunately his excited mood suddenly dimmed: ¡°But, the problem is¡­¡­ My sensitivity iscking. Therefore, if I want to use higher level fire magic I have to use some way to increase the fire element content in my surroundings even more! The higher the concentration, the higher the level of spells I can use. But in fact, that powder I made already contains a very high amount of fire element! I really wanted to increase the fire element content even higher¡­¡­ Moreover, I did some rough calctions¡­¡­ If I can cast the lowest level fireball spell with such a high fire element concentration¡­¡­ Then in order to cast a mid level fire system spell, the fire element density in my surroundings would have to increase by several tenfold! Several tenfold! How could I do that? Only if I threw myself directly into a fire! Only mes would have such a high content of fire element! But if I did that I would burn to death before I could use it.¡± ¡°So¡­¡­ Despite oveing the difficulty of sensitivity, you could only use the lowest level spells.¡± Duwei concluded. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then, your instant casting?¡± Duwei was still interested in how he could continuously throw fireballs without chanting. ¡°That is a quirk of alchemy.¡± The magician seemed somewhat embarrassed: ¡°My magic doesn¡¯t use the natural magic elements, but rather my own¡­¡­ When ordinary magicians cast spells they have to use incantations to summon and find the magic elements in the air¡­¡­ But I don¡¯t need to summon anything, I don¡¯t need to find anything, because my fire element is right there in my sleeve¡­¡­¡± This time Duwei¡¯s expression changed! If it was like this¡­¡­ Then¡­¡­ If¡­¡­ Suppose that! Suppose that he could ovee the present problem, letting him use high level magic¡­¡­ He could do it with instant casting! Imagine a magician that could use high level fire magic¡­¡­ And at the same time do it without even chanting¡­¡­ How formidable that would be! Duwei patiently talked with this magician for a long time, he deliberately shifted the subject to magic alchemy. What astonished the magician was how this half-sized youngster, this respected little noble (Even if at the start the magician didn¡¯t know of Duwei¡¯s status, nobody other than the Rawling n possessed such arge castle in the Rawling in, so this youngster had to be an outstanding scion of the famous Rawling n!) Such a venerable noble had such proficiency in such a disdained field as magic alchemy¡­¡­ this was truly rare. But this little noble had actually done careful research into magic alchemy! His learning made even the magician feel admiring. After their discussion had be a bit amicable, Duwei finally revealed his own story: How he had wanted to be a magician, but had been defeated by theck of ability¡­¡­ Such an experience immediately made the captive sympathetic! Giving birth to a feeling of fellow victims. This little noble actually had a simr experience as him! They had both been brimming with a longing for magic, both discovered theirck of talent, both of them even had outstanding magic power, butcked sensitivity! Under such circumstances, even if their rtionship had been hostile before, and with one of them even a captive, the magician¡¯s dislike for the little noble decreased significantly. The other side also had a heart that thirsted for magic. At least, they resembled each other in their desire to be magicians. ¡°Thorskei.¡± Duwei softly spoke the magician¡¯s name (Duwei had learned the magician¡¯s name in their conversation), he looked at the magician: ¡°I want to ask you something¡­¡­ Why is it you want to be a magician? After learning magic, what do you want to aplish?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ This.¡± Thorskei pondered it: ¡°A magician¡¯s calling should be to investigate the ultimate mysteries of magic, researching magic, being engrossed in the secrets of magic for a lifetime. But fate made me unable to be a high level magician, so what¡¯s the point of magical mysteries, it¡¯s unrted to me¡­¡­ So I just want to obtain the things I want.¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking about the position and treatment of a magician?¡± Duwei smiled: ¡°It¡¯s an honest answer. And you¡¯re right. A magician is treated very well. No matter where it is, a great magician will never want for lords trying to recruit him and can obtain the highest degree of respect and pay¡­¡­ But don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re just a first level magician! There are no lords that would pay greatly to recruit a mere low level magician.¡± Thorskei was silent¡­¡­ He knew what Duwei said was true. Wherever he went, even if he had the recognition of magician¡¯s qualifications, as a lowest ranked first level magician he would discover he wasn¡¯t as popr as he had imagined. At first when people found out he was a magician, they would be filled with astonishment and respect! But afterwards, as they found out he was just a first level magician, the enthusiasm would immediately drop tenfold. This was also a final wronging for Thorskei, and the reason he had joined Rolynn¡¯s little adventuring party! Originally he had wanted to join arge mercenarypany, but they wouldn¡¯t even look at him. Seeing Thorskei¡¯s helpless expression, Duwei knew the moment hade and said with a smile: ¡°Thorskei, since your dream is to obtain the sry and respect of a magician, it would be better to swear loyalty to me! You can be my private magic consultant. I¡¯ll pay you quite well! Respect, status, and anything you want, I can satisfy. I believe you already know Ie from the Rawling n. Surely the Rawling n¡¯s name shouldn¡¯t dishonor you?¡± Thorskei¡¯s heart thumped! Relying on this little lord¡­¡­ It seemed a good option. Even if they had some conflict before, it was just because the other party was interested in magic. And their conversation just now was pleasant, and most importantly, this little noble was like himself, researching magic alchemy after being unable to walk the path of magic¡­¡­ This encounter really engendered a kind of feeling of intimacy in Thorskei! Moreover, being able to be a magic consultant under the banner of the Rawling n, obtaining generous treatment¡­¡­ What was there to hesitate about? ¡°I¡­¡­¡± Thorskei thought a moment: ¡°I would like to ept your offer, but I have to return to the south first. Myboratory is there, and I still have all my tools and a lot of precious materials there, as well as a lot of powders I¡¯ve extracted. They would all have to be moved back here. I¡¯ll have to go myself¡­¡­ You should know that a magician¡¯sboratory can¡¯t be transported by ordinary people. It¡¯s dangerous.¡± Duwei thought about it for a moment: Releasing him to go back south wasn¡¯t a problem¡­¡­ But this fellow wouldn¡¯t be trying to escape? This fellow who had managed to cheat himself to the title of magician was worth more than ten thousand gold to Duwei! He absolutely couldn¡¯t get away! Duwei made a decision on the spot: ¡°Then, since I¡¯m quite interested in yourboratory, I¡¯lle with you to the south!¡± On this day, the future Rnd devil¡¯s road, had begun. Chapter 20 Chapter 020 ¨C Half Horn City¡¯s Magic Beast Incident Thorskei¡¯sboratory was in the south because he was partial to fire magic. In the blistering hot climate of the south, clearly nature must be a bit richer in fire elements. It¡¯s not that fire magic couldn¡¯t be researched in the ice and snow of the north, but it would be more difficult. After Duwei had made his decision, everything moved very quickly. Thorskei was immediately released from the dungeon, his magician¡¯s robe, equipment, those bottles of powder, magic crystals and scrolls were all returned to him. Of course, the magician¡¯s robe was new. That this young master could recruit a magician as his subordinate astonished the old butler. But once he learned Thorskei was just a first level magician he felt at ease¡­¡­ So that¡¯s how it was. The old butler was unable to refuse Duwei¡¯s n for a journey, especially since he¡¯d said that very morning that Duwei might go have a look at some of the n¡¯s estates, and how travelling was more intuitive than reading dusty old ledgers. Carts, horses and luggage very swiftly prepared, and this time the butler arranged things better than the wretched journey from the imperial capital. After all, it would be humiliating if the n¡¯s great young master travelled too poorly within the Rawling n¡¯s own territory. It was still Marde that apanied Duwei as his butler, but this time he had more than ten castle servants under hismand, in charge of looking after the young master on the journey. From the castle guard, two cavalry squads were detailed for Duwei¡¯s protection, and the teams were apanied by the castle guard¡¯s vice captain, a regr knight with outstanding martial skill. This vice captain Robert was also a regr knight! He was a person recognized by the knight¡¯s association, holding the badge of a fourth level knight! One of the two squads of cavalry was Robert¡¯s own squad, and the other was the group that had followed Duwei south from the capital. This fourth level knight called Robert had a tall and powerful appearance, with broad shoulders, imposing build, square jaw, and generally seemed upright and outspoken. To the little lord Duwei, this knight was always quite respectful, apparently an unsophisticated warrior. Duwei had a rather good impression of him. Apart from all these, they were also apanied by a female knight, naturally Duwei¡¯s first subordinate, Rolynn. Setting out from the castle and travelling south, Robert discharged his duties very conscientiously the whole journey, he painstakingly arranged their formation, and worked to take precautions whenever they stopped. On the asions Duwei had a sudden burst of interest and proposed camping out for the night, Robert didn¡¯t voice any objections and just wordlessly nodded his consent. After continuing, he would also very carefully arrange the night vigil and reserves. A model soldier. This was Duwei¡¯s assessment of Robert. Clearly he had spent time in the army. Of the martially aplished Rawling n¡¯s retainers, very many were knights with a history in the army. Compared to that old butler who Duwei disliked, this loyal and conscientious knight was obviously a lot better. Seven days. While travelling and sightseeing, Duwei¡¯s party finally left the C?te province after seven days. To travel further south they would have to leave the C?te province, or in other words, leave the Rawling n¡¯s territory. Generally speaking, Duwei was satisfied with the state of affairs in the Rawling n¡¯s territory. On the road he had seen wide expanses of farnd, plentiful farming viges, leisurely farmers, the had even passed a couple ofrger towns. He could also see that the people here led fairly good lives. As their convoy travelled the roads, frequently when passing a pair of farmsteads there would be farmers standing by the side of the road, and once they saw the knights with the Rawling n¡¯s g, the farmers would wave their hats in greeting in the distance. It seemed that the Rawling n had the good will of the people here. Robert also noticed that this little lord hadn¡¯t gone out to inspect any n estates. He had basically brought people for sightseeing. But this wasn¡¯t strange. Considering the age of this little lord, how would Robert believe a thirteen year old boy would have the ability to manage any n estates? And this wasn¡¯t a matter he should concern himself with, he just discharged his duties and served as the best protector he could. This day when everyone finally reached the southern Rawling territory border town, Duwei suddenly demanded to continue going south. Even if Robert felt a bit baffled by this proposal, he still didn¡¯t object. They were out touring anyways, and if the little lord was interested, they would continue south. Moreover, heading south from C?te province was the imperial Lille province, and Lille province¡¯s lord governor was extremely well disposed towards the Rawling n. The Rawling family¡¯s young mastering over to amuse himself would certainly receive some consideration, without anything to be worried about. Duwei very quickly grew fond of this obedient knight. He also noticed that sir Robert was well liked among the guards. Young cavalrymen would frequently consult him about martial skill at camp. Robert¡¯s martial skill was outstanding ¡ª¡ª at least to Duwei¡¯s point of view. This knight could wield an immense broadsword with astonishing strength! When instructing those young soldiers, even seven or eight of them would be unable to get close to him. Even that barbarian warrior in Rolynn¡¯s retinue admired Robert. Since in a spar, Robert had knocked down the barbarian warrior with just one hand on his sword. A fourth level knight really had umon martial strength. Under such circumstances even Duwei couldn¡¯t help feeling itchy, and proposed asking Robert for advice in martial skill. Robert was a bit surprised at this request. Since, ording to the n supervisors, if the family head¡¯s eldest son wanted to learn martial skills, then he would find those high level knight retainers as teachers, and not an insignificant cavalry captain like him. Robert straightforwardly agreed, his training was the battle qi training methods taught in the army anyway. It wasn¡¯t any extraordinary secret. But just like the evaluation the imperial bodyguard at earl Lehmann¡¯s side made, after a brief period of instruction Robert had no choice but to tell Duwei he really didn¡¯t have the gift for trainingbat skills. Duwei¡¯s present body had since childhood, along with serious illness, been innatelycking. Duwei wasn¡¯t dismayed, he wasn¡¯t hoping to be an expert, he just felt it was necessary to get a bit of exercise. Even if he didn¡¯t be an expert, just being a bit healthier was good enough! Like this Duwei began to learn some of the most basic martial skills, mostly some methods for strengthening the body. But this also led to their travelling speed dropping a bit. On the ninth day of the journey, the party reached a small town in the northeast region of Lille province¡­¡­ Half Horn City. This strange name came from the town being located next to a valley shaped like half a horn. This little town was situated on an important caravan route, and was therefore quite bustling. Even to the extent that in this little town, Duwei¡¯s party even saw a twenty people strong mercenarypany! They were escorting a caravan north, and stayed at the same hotel as Duwei¡¯s party. Lille province wasn¡¯t the territory of any noble, but a province directly subordinate to the Empire. This little town didn¡¯t have any high officials, and Duwei didn¡¯t care to deal with any local officials, and staying at a hotel was more leisurely. So when their party arrived they didn¡¯t disturb the local officials. At lunch, Duwei and the others were in the hotel hall, and on the other side were those caravanners. Outside the inn was suddenly heard urgent hoofbeats, and after a brief mor, the doors were pushed open by three cavalrymen in the local garrison¡¯s uniform and armor. On the chest of the leader hung a knight¡¯s badge, representing his status as a fourth level knight. And judging from that armor and military insignia, clearly he was a senior officer of the local garrison. He stepped in with big strides, nked by a few subordinates, first reaching the side of that caravan group, dering in a loud voice: ¡°Everyone! I am Half Horn City garrison¡¯s second cavalry squad captain, sir Spann! Currently under the imperial ¡®regional military provisionsw¡¯, on behalf of Half Horn City¡¯s garrison I am officially expropriating your guards! Since our current military strength is insufficient, we require your guards to apany us on a mission in Half Horn Valley. By imperialw, you may not refuse.¡± His voice was loud and his manner resolute as he looked at those caravan guards: ¡°I know you are all mercenaries, so the imperial military will reimburse you after the present mission. You have half an hour to arrange your equipment and horses! In half an hour, I want everyone to assemble at the hotel gate.¡± Even if those mercenaries were a bit unwilling, imperialw was like a mountain, and they couldn¡¯t refuse. They would get paid anyway. The caravaners on the other hand were anxious watching the guards they had paid for leave, and one with a pinched face came over, trying to get this officer to be a bit aodating¡­¡­ ¡°Out of the question!¡± The knight refused him quite bluntly: ¡°I¡¯m very sorry for dying your journey, but I guarantee it won¡¯t be for long. Your guards will be back this time tomorrow at thetest. You can choose a ce to stay in the city for one day, and the military will reimburse your expenses! Please don¡¯t say anything else, this is a military assignment and I can¡¯t be flexible, and please withdraw your gold coins, bribing an officer is a criminal offense!¡± Finished speaking, the knight pushed aside the caravan master and turned to walk over towards Duwei¡¯s party. He had originally nned to ask them along as well, but after two steps he suddenly noticed the clothes of the several attendants around Duwei, and Duwei¡¯s own clothes¡­¡­ More importantly, he caught sight of Robert and the others behind Duwei! Robert¡¯s armor clearly wasn¡¯t imperial standard, but rather the equipment of a noble¡¯s private army. The authority to invite a noble¡¯s private armsmen certainly wasn¡¯t something an insignificant local garrison captain could have! Sir Spann looked Duwei over a few times, hesitating, but he really didn¡¯t have the manpower right now, and that assignment was really urgent. He couldn¡¯t dy. Clenching his teeth, he stepped forward with big strides. First he bowed ording to a knight¡¯s etiquette, then said in a low voice: ¡°Sir, I¡­¡­¡± Here his voice choked off. Because right now he saw what he hadn¡¯t noticed before! On the chests of the guardsmen behind Duwei was the grand coat of arms of the Rawling n! Originally he thought there might be some way to borrow the guards, but he couldn¡¯t ask to borrow from someone of the famous imperial military family! Damn it! Rawling n? Why would the Rawling n be in Half Horn City? How hadn¡¯t he heard¡­¡­ Spann sighed helplessly in his heart. ¡°Please continue, sir knight.¡± Duwei smiling raised his wine cup and sipped, this kind of weak ale actually wasn¡¯t bad, somewhat resembling the rice wine he had had in his previous life. ¡°This¡­¡­ Sir. Forgive my impertinence, may I ask if you are from the mighty Rawling n?¡± Spann¡¯s tone was even more deferential, he even unconsciously hunched a bit. ¡°Correct. We¡¯re from Rawling in.¡± This time it was Robert who spoke, taking a step forward. His imposing build was half a head taller than sir Spann: ¡°This is my lord, Rawling n¡¯s earl Lehmann¡¯s eldest son, young master Duwei.¡± Spann saluted again. The Rawling n head¡¯s eldest son, an identity like that would even be on equal footing with the lord governor. ¡°Sir knight, may I ask what the trouble is all about?¡± Duwei asked with a smile. ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡± Spann weighed it for a moment, but still spoke truthfully: ¡°Just now I received an urgent assignment that requires about one hundred soldiers. But since it¡¯s the time of the springtime maneuvers, the majority of Half Horn City¡¯s garrisoned troops have been diverted a hundred kilometers south to participate. At present I only have twenty men under mymand. Therefore, in ordance with the imperial regional military provisionsw, I can only requisition localbatants within the city to temporarily serve in the military.¡± Duwei nodded: ¡°Oh, then are you also nning to requisition my guards?¡± ¡°No no, I wouldn¡¯t dare!¡± Spann jumped with fright. That had been his original intention, but after seeing their status, how would he dare? Who was earl Lehmann? He was the second highest in the imperial military! Requisitioning the guards of his eldest son? If by some terrible chance this little master suffered some ident due to ack of guards at his side, even having his head chopped of a hundred times couldn¡¯t atone for his offense. ¡°Then, what has happened?¡± Duwei was somewhat curious: ¡°After all, if something has happened and you¡¯re here anyway, I would ask you to tell us, so we can prepare as well.¡± Sir Spann thought it over, then spoke with a helpless and somewhat distressed expression: ¡°It¡¯s a strange matter. Half Horn Mountain has always been quiet, the mountain isn¡¯t tall, the woods aren¡¯t deep, there aren¡¯t even anyrge animals. Even if there were, our local garrison troops would go out and hunt it down! But yesterday, somehow, from somewhere appeared a¡­¡­ Magic beast!¡± Duwei¡¯s eyes brightened! Magic beast? ¡°Yes, even if we still can¡¯t be certain it¡¯s a magic beast, we can still be certain this is arge creature, because hunters have spotted its footprints. There¡¯s no doubt. But what¡¯s baffling is that a magic beast shouldn¡¯t live near a human settlement, and even if it did, it would be in the frontier forest on the southern border of the empire. Moreover, there hasn¡¯t been a magic beast sighting in Lille province for decades. I don¡¯t know where this creature came from.¡± Spann smiled wryly: ¡°Me and my men have been ordered to hunt down this creature, but ording to my assessment, as this is arge creature I will need at least twenty soldiers in order to kill it. And with the size of Half Horn Mountain, in order to corner it, it might be no use without a hundred men.¡± Magic beast¡­¡­ It seemed interesting. Duwei couldn¡¯t help being tempted. In fact, since finding out there might be a hope for him of learning magic, he had grown a strong interest in everything rted to magic. In this hintend of the imperial south there had actually appeared a rare magic beast! How couldn¡¯t he join in the fun? ¡°Excellent! I¡¯ve brought forty guards, all Rawling n elite cavalry, and my captain here is a fourth level knight. I want to let them follow you to carry out this assignment on Half Horn Mountain. After all, sitting here and watching a magic beast wreak havoc doesn¡¯t agree with to my ethics.¡± Duwei spoke very righteously. Spann stared nkly: ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­¡­ You want to lend your guardsmen to me¡­¡­¡± ¡°Master, this is out of the question.¡± Robert raised an objection for the first time: ¡°You can¡¯t be without guards. If we must go, it¡¯s fine if I bring twenty men.¡± Robert wanted to help, he was after all a regr knight, with a firm belief in chivalry. ¡°No no, there¡¯s no need to worry about ack of guards.¡± Duwei smiled: ¡°Because I¡¯m going with you. I think staying next to you is the safest ce, no?¡± This time both Robert and Spann objected. Especially Spann! He started to regret telling this Rawling family young master anything! Bringing him along? Catching a magic beast wasn¡¯t trivial! But if this young master faced the slightest mishap on the mountain, then he truly would be out of luck! ¡°There¡¯s no need to object.¡± Duwei very bluntly made a decision: ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry about my safety, don¡¯t forget that I still have an outstandingly powerful magician at my side!¡± He pushed forward Thorskei. Thorskei was helpless. Even though calling his strength outstanding was out of the question, his magician¡¯s identity was genuine. Spann¡¯s eyes brightened! A magician? If he could have the aid of an outstanding magician, then this time¡¯s assignment shouldn¡¯t be a problem! Only¡­¡­ This little master¡¯s safety¡­¡­ Chapter 21 Chapter 021 ¨C Moon n¡¯s Secret Technique ¡°Keep in formation! Don¡¯t panic! Don¡¯t panic!¡± Roberts imposing voice rose in the midst of the confusion, giving some calm to the panic stricken soldiers. Roberts armor was damaged and stained with blood, his hair messy, as he made an effort to organize his subordinates, yelling: ¡°In formation! Protect the master!! Retreat in formation! Don¡¯t run around!¡± The Lion Condor¡¯s in the sky dove down one by one, howling resonantly. These howls indeed had the power to cause dizziness, and several Rawling subordinates felt their heads buzzing, their bodies tottering, and even unable to hold the weapons in their hands. Robert snatched an archer¡¯s bow from the ground, swiftly shooting up at a diving Lion Condor. The arrow covered with battle qi flew out like a streak of light, but such amon arrow apparently couldn¡¯t withstand the knight¡¯s battle qi, and just after the arrow had beenunched it burst into a ball of light. Fortunately, that Lion Condor seemed to be scared off, and Robert quickly retreated, with difficulty arranging a dozen men in a circle, raising their swords and pikes to defend themselves. But like this, even more Lion Condors swooped down from the sky, sometimes injuring someone with their sharp talons and piercing beaks, blood curdling shrieks were heard on all sides, sometimes someone was snatched up by a Lion Condor and thrown into the air, immediately causing several following Lion Condors to swoop in, simultaneously using their beaks and talons to rip their victims apart! This scene made everyone terrified! Only half of sir Spann¡¯s sword remained, he had dodged a Lion by rolling away, but his thigh was still drenched in blood, and even standing still he was unsteady. Whether it was Spann or Robert, in their minds besides rm was iparable shock! In the hintends of the southern Empire, how would such a terrifyingly vicious magic beast like the Lion Condor appear in such great numbers?! Under Robert¡¯s cries of ¡®protect the master¡¯, more and more Rawling family cavalrymen formed up, crowding around Duwei to escort him out. But each time they swept down from the sky, those Lion Condor¡¯s like dreadful killing hands would immediately cause a miserable shriek, each time a Lion Condor attacked they would seize another soldier¡¯s life. The ground was already filled with blood and terrifyingly mangled pieces of corpses. Mass death was terrifying on its own, but before such vicious magic beasts, a lot of the dead didn¡¯t even have intact corpses! Duwei had just now seen a Lion Hawke swooping down at him, and after Rolynn pushed him to the ground he heard a resonant animal call behind him. Even lying on the ground he felt as if he could see a golden halo sh before his eyes¡­¡­ ¡°Master, get up quickly, we have to leave immediately.¡± Rolynn¡¯s anxious voice rose and she dragged Duwei up, pulling him over next to a big tree. By now there were already a lot of Rawling guardsmen around them, and Robert was swiftly dashing over. The Rawling guards held an extremely strong sense of pride and loyalty for the Rawling family, and even confronted with a crisis like this they still didn¡¯t forget their duties to run by themselves. Even though each man was terrified, they still raised their weapons and gathered around their master. ¡°Thorskei! Thorskei!¡± Duwei shouted angrily. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± The answer came from the ground on the side, as Thorskei crawled up with an effort. His robe was already dirty, and even his face was covered with dust. Just now when the Lion Condors had first attacked he had immediately thrown himself into the underbrush. ¡°What the hell are you doing!¡± Duwei furiously rushed over and grabbed the magician by the cor: ¡°My people are bleeding! Why aren¡¯t you using magic! Quick! If you want to live, quickly use magic!¡± The magician¡¯s hat was shaken off by Duwei, and he hastily nodded, afterwards quickly raised his hands andunched several fireballs towards the sky¡­¡­ In any way Thorskei¡¯s ability was limited, his current magic attack was only the lowest level fireball spell. As for slowing spells and other such magic, when confrontingrge groups of Lion Condor¡¯s they might not be very useful. Right now the Lion Condor¡¯s attacks had Spann¡¯s subordinate garrison soldiers running everywhere, this was the difference in quality to the Rawling family people who were instead gradually gathering together, building considerable strength in numbers. Despite the Lion Condors¡¯ constant attacks, each attack was confronted with rows of des and pikes that even the Lion Condors didn¡¯t seem to dare lightly barge into. Circling their formation, making a couple of grabs, the Lion Condors were after all extremely ferocious magic beasts, and the Rawling family soldiers were still quickly dying or being injured! Practically each time the Lion Condors attacked, someone¡¯s life would be taken! As the troops slowly retreated, Thorskei¡¯s fireball spells also blocked and threatened the Lion Condors to some degree, but more and more Lion Condors were circling them ¡ª¡ª Spann¡¯s men and horses had already been thoroughly dealt with. There were corpses everywhere, even sir Spann himselfy motionless on the ground. Robert¡¯s expression was extremely unsightly. Squeezing the sword in his hand tightly, his joints were already pale from the force he exerted, as he spoke in a rough voice: ¡°Master, I¡¯m afraid today¡­¡­¡± This knight shook his head forcefully, pulling over thedy knight Rolynn and speaking in a low voice: ¡°In a moment I¡¯ll bring people to charge out, you immediately bring the young master down the mountain! Be quick! You have to be quick! I¡¯ll attract the attention of as many of the creatures as possible. The master¡­¡­ I¡¯ll leave him to you.¡± Rolynn moved said: ¡°Do you want to die?¡± Robert¡¯s voice was acerbic: ¡°I know these creatures. They like hunting, and right now we¡¯re their prey. We¡¯re too far up the mountain, and with our current condition there¡¯s no way for us to leave. We can only think of something to disrupt the situation and let the master slip away. ¡°But¡­¡­¡± ¡°No buts! Mis Rolynn! Don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re a knight!¡± Robert was suddenly angry, ring and shouting at her: ¡°You aren¡¯t some damn little mercenary like before! If you still can¡¯t understand a knight¡¯s honor, then you¡¯re not fit to be a knight! I¡¯m injured and can¡¯t move fast enough, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t choose you to escort the master! Do you want to be a true knight? Rolynn! Then prove it to me!!¡± Rolynn trembled, startled looking at Robert. This time Rolynn¡¯s eyes showed a trace of rage, raising her longsword she yelled: ¡°I¡¯ll definitely prove it!¡± Robertughed loudly, then he turned to look at his master. Duwei continuously squinting looked at those Lion Condors flying about on all sides looking for the opportunity to attack their formation. He looked at thempletely entranced, as if he hadpletely forgotten everything in his surroundings. He didn¡¯t even seem to have heard Robert and Rolynn¡¯s dialogue just now. This little fellow, who knew what was in his mind right now. Suddenly the shock and rage was swept from Rolynn¡¯s face, and her beautiful face acquired a kind of peculiar serenity! Under Robert¡¯s astonished gaze, thisdy knight suddenly extended her balm and grabbed the edge of her sword tightly, making an effort to pull¡­¡­ Her palm was immediately cut open by the sharp sword, bing drenched with blood! ¡°What are you doing!¡± Robert shouted. Rolynn didn¡¯t answer, only slowly moved forward several steps, lightly parting the Rawling n guards in front. Rolynn stood at the very front of the formation. Watching a Lion Condor pounce, thedy knight opened both hands, making a bizarre finger seal. Immediately afterwards a yellow halo shed out from her body!! Within the ring of light, the wounds on her palms suddenly sprayed out blood! That quickly dissipated in the light! Immediately afterwards a huge pir of light shot up from her chest! The diving Lion Condor was enveloped within this light, and before it could even call out, its body¡­¡­ Exploded! Disappeared! Turning into countless motes of light, this Lion Condor just disappeared! Everyone was stupefied! Not just the Rawling family guards, even Robert and Thorskei, everyone were stupefied! Perhaps the only one still entranced was Duwei. Thisdy knight¡­¡­ Don¡¯t tell me, she used magic? Don¡¯t tell me she is a sorceress?! After Rolynn used this bizarre magic to eliminate a Lion Condor, her body seemed to sway as she loudly recited a difficult to follow sentence, after which the yellow light enveloping her grewrger andrger¡­¡­ At the same time the blood flowed faster and faster from Rolynn¡¯s hand! As this yellow light gradually enveloped everyone, the surrounding Lion Condors howled one after another, but didn¡¯t seem to dare approach the light! With the protection of the ring of light, the Rawling family group was finally safe. Only thedy knight¡¯s body softened, almost falling to the ground. Robert was the first to recover from the shock, and he quickly stepped forward to support thedy knight, shouting: ¡°She¡¯s injured! Who has medicine! We need to staunch the blood!¡± Looking at the wound in Rolynn¡¯s hand, Robert was stunned! What kind of wound was this! The wound had practically doubled in size, and the surrounding flesh was practically nched white! Clearly the signs of excessive blood loss! But how could so much blood flow from such a tiny wound? Rolynn¡¯s blood was even now flowing swiftly! Such a rate of bleeding made Robert feel cold! ¡°No! Don¡¯t stop the blood.¡± Rolynn bit her lip hard, saying in a low voice: ¡°My magic, it needs my blood. Quickly, retreat quickly, use this chance to retreat quickly.¡± Even though he didn¡¯t know what kind of magic this was, Robert immediately understood that this wasn¡¯t the time to ask questions and shouted: ¡°Everyone fall back! We¡¯re leaving!¡± ¡°Make sure nobody leaves the ring of light.¡± Rolynn added. However, when everyone started to withdraw, only Duwei didn¡¯t budge. Robert frowned and pulled at this entranced little master, he believed the little master might be frightened dumb. ¡°Master, we¡¯re leaving! Quickly!¡± ¡°No.¡± Duwei didn¡¯t move, and kept watching those Lion Condors in front with a deeply ponderous expression. Robert was somewhat irritated: ¡°If we don¡¯t leave we¡¯ll die!¡± ¡°No.¡± Duwei still shook his head, it seemed his mind still hadn¡¯t returned. Robert couldn¡¯t help getting angry! His soldiers were bleeding, thedy knight at his side was using her own blood to maintain the magic! If they didn¡¯t quickly stop the bleeding she would die! But at this moment this little master was still acting wilfully!! Just when Robert was resentful, Duwei finally smiled¡­¡­ Damn it! This fellow, he actually smiled! Duwei turned his head to look at Rolynn, saying: ¡°Rolynn, withdraw your magic, even if the Moon n¡¯s ¡®magic breaking field¡¯ is the nemesis of magic it costs blood. I thank you for your self sacrificial spirit, but¡­¡­ It seems we¡¯re being yed with.¡± Robert stared nkly a moment, don¡¯t tell me this little master has gone delirious? Doesn¡¯t he understand what he¡¯s saying? ¡°Robert! Quickly staunch ourdy knight¡¯s blood, do you want to see her bleed to death?¡± Duwei shouted loudly, this time his orders were clear. Robert stared nkly. Duwei stepped forward and raised Rolynn¡¯s hand, pushing it at Robert: ¡°What are you staring at!¡± Duwei then nced at Rolynn, saying in a low voice: ¡°Thank you, your courage today was worthy of respect!¡± Finished speaking, Duwei separated from the guards, loudlyughing at the Lion Hawks in front: ¡°Come! Won¡¯t you let me see what you¡¯re really about?¡± Amidst everyone¡¯s cries of rm, Duwei suddenly moved forward several steps! Robert was scared out of his mind, and hastily moved forward to pull back his master, but at this moment the Lion Condors who were anxiously circling the ring of light looking for opportunities to strike saw Duwei appear, and instantly pounced like lightning! Robert tried to reach Duwei, but as those Lion Condor arrived he could only use his long sword to block one before he waspletely blown away! Under everyone¡¯s dumbstruck gazes, those Lion Condors¡¯ ws easily pierced Duwei¡¯s frail body! As if skewering a sheet of paper! £¡£¡£¡ All the Rawling guards felt their vision go dark, Robert nearly dazed walked forward, and the weakeneddy knight called out loudly, her body going limp. Seeing Duwei thrown away by those Lion Condors like a tree leaf, his body cutting through the air to strike the ground, everyone felt their hearts drop to the ground! Finished! Finished! With the little master dead here, it was all over for them! Even if they could return alive, letting the master under their protection die, with such a sin they would definitely be put to death by the n! Robert stood there dumbly, even unconsciously dropping the sword in his hand to the ground. This moment, the hopes of the cavalrymen all turned to dust¡­¡­ ¡°Haha¡­¡­¡± A grotesqueughter rose, and from the ground, Duwei¡¯s ¡®corpse¡¯ suddenly started to swaying crawl from the ground! This scene made everyone¡¯s eyes practically pop out! Duwei¡¯s body was badly mangled, and in the pit of his stomach was a gaping hole that practically ran through from front to back! Blood flowed continuously, but Duwei only frowned, bowing his head to look at his wounds before smiling: ¡°This feeling, it¡¯s still rather painful. Heh heh¡­¡­ It¡¯s very realistic!¡± He touched a bloody wound, raising his hand to get a closer look, smelling it, muttering to himself: ¡°En, indeed very lifelike, it¡¯s as if the blood is actually real¡­¡­¡± Chapter 22 Chapter 022 ¨C Terror Illusion Goblin This was really a bizarre scene. Duwei just stood there with terrifying injuries, that gaping hole in his chest stretched practically from the front to the back, but it was as if he didn¡¯t even notice the flowing blood! Just like that, as Duwei had staggered a few steps forward, a Lion Condor charged at him again in front of everyone¡¯s stunned gazes. Duwei was bowled over, the shing sharp ws immediately sending out sprays of dark red blood¡­¡­ ¡°Master!¡± Robert recklessly charged forward with reddened eyes, but Duwei¡¯s tiny body was already crawling up, swaying, yet he still seemed to be smiling¡­¡­ That Duwei could actually still smile at a time like this made everyone nearby feel indescribably strange! This tiny youth raised his head andughed loudly at the Lion Condors filling the sky: ¡°If this is your illusion, then I¡¯ve already had enough of dreaming. If you can, let the dream end!¡± Robert charged forward, the longsword in his hand bing a brilliant streak shooting at the Lion Condor thatst attacked Duwei. This loyal knight didn¡¯t hold back any of his battle qi, even to the extent that it exceeded what his body could support. Every muscle on the knight¡¯s imposing frame burst, as if blood was seeping through the surface of his skin! The longsword wearing that battle qi cut the sky, even impaling the solid plumage of the Lion Condor and sending it tumbling from the air! Robert threw himself at Duwei, embracing him with all his strength while showing his own back towards the sky¡­¡­ ¡°Robert.¡± Duwei gasped for breath in his arms, still smiling while blood streamed from his mouth: ¡°Listen, we¡¯re being yed, this is all fake.¡± He pointed to his own wounds: ¡°Look, with wounds like these, an ordinary person would have died long ago. But¡­¡­¡± Robert wasn¡¯t an idiot, and finally caught on to the discrepancy. The feeling Duwei gave him¡­¡­ Such a small and weak youth hadn¡¯t died while suffering such fatal wounds! Such wounds might have long since turned even a powerful warrior into a corpse. ¡°My spirit power is stronger than ordinary peoples¡¯, that¡¯s why the illusion can¡¯tpletely affect me.¡± Duwei gasped for breath: ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know how to break it¡­¡­ This might be a kind of mind magic, or maybe an illusion spell.¡± ¡°Illusion spell¡­¡­¡± Robert thought deeply, then roared in a loud voice: ¡°Thorskei! Mister Thorskei!¡± Thorskei, protected at the very center of the soldiers, heard the call and responded. Robert exerted himself to carry Duwei as the attacks from the Lion Condors fell like hail. His back was injured several times, and even his armor was shredded, mangling the flesh underneath. ¡°Think of something! Master says it¡¯s some kind of illusion magic!¡± Robert roared. Thorskei sweated freely. He wasn¡¯t after all any true magician, and the alchemical tricks he used to emte magic only extended to fire magic. He hadn¡¯t even cursorily dipped into mind magic. Robert had already quicklye running back with Duwei, and Thorskei shouted: ¡°I don¡¯t have any way to break the illusion¡­¡­ Maybe if we could get rid of these creatures. Just like we got rid of that rhinoceros and magic wolf.¡± Robert couldn¡¯t help roaring: ¡°No kidding! If we had the ability for that we¡¯d have already done it!¡± Duwei in his embrace suddenly smiled and said in a low voice: ¡°Robert, let me ask you¡­¡­ Listen, every knight with imperial training in battle qi will have a qi valve weak point, where is your weak point?¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Robert stared nkly, he hadn¡¯t expected his master to ask such a question at this moment. ¡°Tell me quickly.¡± Duwei continued: ¡°I have a n.¡± Each knight training in battle qi would have his own qi valve weak points. When the knights used battle qi their strength could reach several times that of their muscles, or even more. But their weak point was each knight¡¯s most closely guarded secret! How could he speak of it lightly? But Robert¡¯s heart trembled as he bowed his head to look at his master covered in blood, and gritted his teeth: ¡°At¡­¡­ The right side of my stomach, below the fourth rib¡­¡­¡± As he spoke, Duwei¡¯s expression showed a bizarre light! Nobody knew where this weak youth got the strength, but he suddenly rolled, struggling free of Robert¡¯s grasp, swiftly drawing the dagger tied to the knight¡¯s leg and stabbing Robert in the chest! Robert should have been able to dodge, but as a loyal n knight, a steadfast Rawling n retainer, he hesitated a moment too long. After all, this was no enemy attacking, but rather¡­¡­ his own master! His chest armor had already been torn ragged in the fighting, and the ice cold dagger pierced the right side of Robert¡¯s chest, just below the fourth rib! Robert could even feel that peculiar sensation of the cold dagger slipping into his flesh¡­¡­ Everyone saw their master abruptly draw the dagger and stab the knight, and stared nkly! Robert was the most shocked, looking at the little master close by his side with amazement. It had never urred to him that the target of his devoted protection would suddenly turn on him at a moment like this! But Duwei¡¯s expression was serene, and even a bit consoling. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Robert, I wouldn¡¯t harm you. It¡¯s just a nightmare.¡± At Duwei¡¯s muffled voice, Robert made a dull groan, his body going limp, abandoning his resistance¡­¡­ Robert closed his eyes and fell to the ground¡­¡­ Duwei slowly stood up amidst everyone¡¯s cries of rm, the dagger in his hand still dripping with blood. As all the Rawling guards stared at him with shock, Duwei justughed and dropped the dagger, smiling slightly: ¡°Dreand, end!¡± When Duwei¡¯s dagger pierced the knights chest, the Lion Condors filling the sky suddenly issued a mournful howl! The countless Lion Condors immediately diving towards Duwei from all directions at the same time! It seemed like those sharp ws and beaks would tear the young Duwei to shreds! Everyone shut their eyes, all of them believing that this time they were truly screwed! But at this moment something fantastic happened. The first Lion Condor to charge at Duwei suddenly exploded into countless motes of light¡­¡­ All the following Lion Condors stiffened in midair! All of their bodies seemed to show countless cracks, and through the cracks burst an intense light¡­¡­ With a final cry¡­¡­ Everyone couldn¡¯t help but lower their heads in the countless rays of light, not daring to look at it directly. Duwei alone still stood with his back straight, raising his head to look at the extraordinary scene in the sky, still with a cold smile on his face¡­¡­ One by one the Lion Condors were gradually smashed into light, dissolving, bing countless specks of light scattering in the wind¡­¡­ In the brilliant radiance the evening sky seemed to be daytime! Duwei could even feel how the air around him, right, the very space was distorting. The surrounding trees, underbrush,rades, even the corpses and blood on the ground, all of it distorted¡­¡­ Finally, with a bang, everything became quiet¡­¡­ The forest, was still the same forest. The sky, was still the same sky. The distant mountain, was still the same distant mountain. The sunset, was still the same sunset. But the blood on the ground disappeared. Those mangled pieces of corpses disappeared. In their ce were people inplete disorder on the ground. Sir Spann, his subordinates, those Rawling family guardsmen ¡®casualties¡¯, were all lying on the ground with their eyes closed, but they were clearly alive. Only unconscious. Duwei looked at himself, the fatal injuries he had suffered had already disappeared without a trace. Roberty at his feet¡­¡­ Astonishingly, the knight didn¡¯t actually have any injuries! Whether it was the injuries from the recent battle or from when Duwei stabbed him¡­¡­ They were all gone! His armor was intact, with only a scratch on the right side of his breastte, approximately at his fourth rib. That was where Duwei had stabbed him with the dagger just now, but how could a feeble youth without martial skills have pierced the armor? At most he could leave a mark on it. Duwei made an effort to pat Robert¡¯s face, rousing the knight from his sleep. Robert opened his eyes and found his master looking at him. Afterwards Duwei said with a smile: ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t have a choice just now¡­¡­ Because you were the source of that whole situation. All those Lion Condors were based on your memories of the most terrifying time of your life, manufactured from the delusions in your heart¡­¡­ So I could only knock you out in the dreand, and once you were unconscious, the illusion didn¡¯t have a source and naturally disappeared.¡± As for Duwei stabbing Robert just now¡­¡­ He had only stabbed him in the dream. The Rawling family guards still standing also looked down on themselves with astonishment, then at thepanions around them. The couldn¡¯tprehend what kind of strange method this little master had used to make those terrifying magic beasts go away¡­¡­ And the wounds they had just now as well. Those already deadrades, even those whose corpses had been torn apart, ally unharmed on the ground. The only one still injured was thedy knight Rolynn. The wound on Rolynn¡¯s hand was real! What she had used was the Moon n¡¯s secret technique¡­¡­ Magic breaking field. Within her secret technique all magic was eliminated. When she used it she actually already broke out of the illusion, and therefore her injury was ¡°real¡±. There wasn¡¯t enough time to exin, and the only one who understood what had happened was the magician Thorskei. Even though he didn¡¯t have much ability in magic, he was exceptionally erudite in magic lore. He immediately pulled out several medicines and started applying them to the unconsciousdy knight¡¯s hand. Duwei picked up the dagger from the ground and gave it a look: ¡°As expected, not a drop of blood.¡± Holding the dagger he walked forward. At this moment everyone discovered that there seemed to be a small creature squirming through the underbrush in front. It was a creature about the size of a big rat, its light green fur making it really difficult to discover in the underbrush¡­¡­ If you didn¡¯t look carefully. Duwei¡¯s approach made this small creature immediately emit an rmed shriek, but it moved too slowly. When it tried to escape through the underbrush, the dagger in Duwei¡¯s hand shot out, stabbing into the ground in front of it. Duwei ced one foot on it¡­¡­ Everyone clearly saw that this little creature¡¯s plump body, under the green fur, seemed mostly like a sphere of meat, but unexpectedly with a long massive tail¡­¡­ Sort of like a squirrel. In fact, the creature¡¯s appearance was practically just that of a squirrel ¡ª¡ª except for its weird green fur! But what was different was the tiny, sharp horn protruding from its forehead. Unlike other animals this horn wasn¡¯t made of bone, but of bright crystal. Duwei was stepping on its tail, and as the little creature struggled to get free it made tweeting screeches. Baring its teeth to screech at Duwei, the horn on its head suddenly shone with a bright ray of light that struck Duwei¡­¡­ This bright light didn¡¯t cause Duwei the slightest harm, he only felt countless memories float up within his mind, as if he was swiftly recalling all sorts of things¡­¡­ Fear? Yes, it seemed he was recalling the most terrifying moments of his life! He felt as if something was scanning his memories, but those dusty things in his mind weren¡¯t part of this world, and as those terrible memories were brought out one by one, Duwei shook his head hard¡­¡­ He was infuriated! Duwei who sinceing to this world had always worn an apathetic smile now had a furiousplexion, anger bubbling up to his face! Duwei looked coldly at this little thing, then suddenly bent down and used a harsh low voice to say: ¡°What, are you looking for the things I fear¡­¡­ Then I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll be disappointed!¡± Holding out a hand to grab the little creature, Duwei¡¯s fingers wrapped tightly around its neck and pulled it up, pulling it close before saying in a low voice: ¡°If you can understand the fear in peoples¡¯ hearts, then shouldn¡¯t you be able to understand my words? Let me tell you¡­¡­ Don¡¯t think to y that game with me¡­¡­ While there is fear in my heart, the things I fear do not exist in this world! The illusions you can make should be limited to only those things that are within the rules of this world¡­¡­ Then, I¡¯m sorry to say¡­¡­ I don¡¯t belong to this world!¡± The little creature struggled to get free, the horn on its head constantly shooting out light at Duwei, but the expression within its eyes finally showed fear and despair¡­¡­ Because that light was the source of its illusion magic, and to this human across from it¡­¡­ It waspletely ineffective! ¡°Master¡­¡­¡± Just as Duwei¡¯s anger erupted, from behind him came the surprised voice of the magician. Thorskei had swiftly run up to Duwei¡¯s side and carefully studied the little creature held in his hand for a long time before joyously calling out: ¡°My God! This is a ¡®terror illusion goblin¡¯!! ording to historical records, this creature went extinct several centuries ago!! Heaven! Look at its forehead, the horn is already the length of a finger! This little creature is still an infant illusion goblin, it should be less than a century old!¡± Duwei¡¯s voice was very cold: ¡°What, it¡¯s also a magic beast? Illusion goblin? Is it rare?¡± Thorskei¡¯s face couldn¡¯t help showing a greedy expression as he licked his lips: ¡°This terror illusion goblin¡¯ can use the fears in the hearts of men to deal with its enemies. It¡¯s a supetively intelligent magic beast that can¡¯t even bepared to thosemon magic beast creatures! And, and¡­¡­¡± ¡°And what?¡± The magician¡¯s eyes shone: ¡°Several hundred years ago, this creature was a treasure that every magician yearned for. As long as it was captured, killed, and the horn on its forehead ripped out and carried on one¡¯s person, it granted immunity to the majority of mind magic! It¡¯s horn is the material for making a first ss magic defense item.¡± As if the terror illusion goblin could understand the magician, when it heard him talking about killing it to take its horn, its fat body immediately trembled and started struggling more and more violently, as if its life depended on it. The tiny bean-like eyes grew wide and filled with fear. At this moment behind them the majority of the Rawling family guards had all gathered around, the others upied with waking up their unconsciousrades and sir Spann. Duwei looked at the little creatures in his hand and said in a grim voice: ¡°Immunity to the majority of mind magic? So it¡¯s actually such a precious creature¡­¡­ How is it used? Can the horn be pulled out right after it¡¯s killed?¡± The magician was practically drooling: ¡°Yes! That¡¯s right! And not just its horn, even its fur, they¡¯re both precious magic materials, it¡¯s also a precious ingredient for alchemy! With it I can make¡­¡­¡± Before Thorskei could finish speaking there was a sudden whistling sound from the distant mountain, immediately followed by a fireball bursting in midair. That was the signal from one of the other search parties, apparently something had happened. As everyone were stunned, suddenly a flickering light could be seen far away in the woods, precisely from where the other search party¡¯s re had originated! That light flew through the air and immediately shot down directly in front of everyone! On the ground it transformed into a jade green me, and from within the me a person stepped out! ¡°Careful! This could be the high level spell ¡®jade me teleportation¡¯!¡± Thorskei was nervous. The person who stepped from the green me was dressed in an official magician¡¯s robe and a tall pointed hat, and the robe was actually golden! On the chest hung a golden three leafed mugwort badge! Duwei who was already familiar with general knowledge about magicians recognized it with one look: this badge was the emblem of an ¡®archmage¡¯! Magicians on the continent were split into ten levels: Below the fourth level were low level magicians, the fourth rank to the eighth were generally called mid level magicians, but the eighth level and above were people adressed as ¡®archmagi¡¯. And this three leafed mugwort badge clearly stated that this magician¡¯s status was of the topyer of all the magicians on the continent! This fellow was at least an eighth level magician! The somewhat short and thin stature waspletely covered in the golden robe, appearing iparably luxurious in the setting sun, and the magicians face waspletely hidden by the pointed hat, and even the high cor was turned up so that not even a hint of skin could be seen. Even though the face couldn¡¯t be seen, Duwei clearly sensed that the other side¡¯s gaze was fixed on the little terror illusion goblin in his hand! A high level magician suddenly appearing here left both Duwei and Thorskei stunned. Thinking of what Thorskei had just said about the value of the little terror illusion goblin, Duwei naturally thought of what the other side coveted¡­¡­ ¡°Who is it!¡± Duwei calmly shouted. Sir Robert reacted very quickly and waved his hand, and numerous Rawling n guardsmen formed up to protect Duwei. So much had already happened today! A formidable high level magician suddenly showing up left sir Robert somewhat nervous¡­¡­ Whether it was an enemy or a friend, only heaven knew! ¡°I am a knight of the Rawling n, distinguished magician, please tell us your purpose ining!¡± Robert spoke up while covering Duwei behind him. He first made clear their side¡¯s identity before asking the other side, this was the most adequate n. He also hoped that the Rawling n¡¯s name might make them think of the consequences. Before the magician spoke, they first raised their wide sleeves to pull off the pointed hat, expsing their face. Everyone were immediately stupefied!! ¡°I, I, I¡¯m s-s-s-sorry¡­¡­¡± The magician¡¯s voice was tender and pleasant to hear, even a bit nervous and timid¡­¡­ Most importantly, the magician actually stammered ferociously! ¡°I-I-I¡¯vee to l-l-l-l-look for it¡­..¡± Raising a slender finger to point at the terror illusion goblin in Duwei¡¯s hand. This magician didn¡¯t just have a pretty voice, her appearance was pretty as well. After pulling off the hat, this high level magician with the golden three leafed mugwort badge was actually a girl with a shy expression! Her smooth and round cheeks were bright scarlet, as if blushing with shame from all the stares. Her nose and mouth were both small and exquisite, and her eyes wererge and clear. Only, the expression in those eyes was pleading. ¡°I-I-I¡¯m s-sorry¡­¡­ I-i-it¡¯s m-my teacher¡¯s p-p-p-pet, I-I-I¡¯vee to b-b-bring it b-back.¡± It seemed that the more nervous she was, this sorceress¡¯ words stuttered more fiercely, and she looked about to cry: ¡°C-c-can you r-return it? I-i-i¡­¡­ If I don¡¯t b-bring it back, t-teacher will p-p-punish me.¡± Chapter 23 Chapter 023 ¨C Pitiful Vivian Young A magician, an eighth ranked archmage, an apparently at most no more than eighteen young sorceress, a so nervous and tense when speaking it was like a youngdy from a wealthy family going out into the world for the first time-magician. And most importantly, she stuttered. The people around couldn¡¯t help staring wide eyed. Looking at this furiously blushing girl, big eyes close to overflowing with tears, everyone seemed to subconsciously lower the swords in their hands. This girl didn¡¯t appear to be any threat. Even Duwei stared¡­¡­ This stuttering girl, with an expression as timid as a rabbit, was really an eighth level magician? But this robe, and still that badge, neither could be faked! Duwei knew that all such badges issued by the magic guild would have the capability to prevent forgeries. Coughing, Duwei couldn¡¯t refrain from rxing the fingers squeezing that terror illusion goblin somewhat, looking at this delicate timid girl: ¡°Distinguished magician, you¡¯re saying, this creature belongs to you?¡± ¡°Ye¡­¡­ Ah n-n~~no.¡± The girl finally started crying, tears unexpectedly flowing from her eyelids: ¡°This is my m-m-master¡¯s. C-can¡¯t you re-re-return it to me¡­¡­¡± Return it? Duwei really didn¡¯t want to return it! Why? This little creature had ruthlessly attacked his people, leaving everyone battered and exhausted, Duwei was really of a mind to ughter this little thing, and afterwards do like Thorskei said and take out its horn. But, looking at this sorceressing to bring it back¡­¡­ With the kind of person this was, could he really shamelessly do it? If he wanted to act shamelessly¡­¡­ The counterpart was an eighth level magician! Despite this girls apparently very weak appearance. ¡°This¡­¡­ Esteemed magician, please¡­¡­ please don¡¯t worry.¡± Duwei was patient, even so much that his voice was mild, speaking softly like coaxing a little girl: ¡°If this little creature really is yours¡­¡­¡± ¡°O-o-o-of course!¡± The sorceress seemed to hear what she hoped for and made an effort to wipe her tears, looking at Duwei with a hopeful expression. Those two innocent big eyes were iparably clear, that kind of simple pleading expression from such a painfully pitiful girl, really didn¡¯t let people lower their intentions. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Duwei slowly said: ¡°Even if this little creature is yours, as its owner, I think you should take responsibility for the mistakes itmitted, no?¡± The sorceress¡¯ expression turned flustered, and she very timidly looked at Duwei: ¡°M-may I a-a-a-ask¡­¡­.¡± ¡°This little creature, is it a high level magic beast?¡± Duwei lowered his voice: ¡°As this magic beast¡¯s owner, you didn¡¯t properly look after it, letting it run off to the hintends of the imperial south! Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t know how much disorder a magic beast running all over would cause for the people in this region!¡± Looking at his young master so sternly rebuking an eight level magician, Thorskei to the side really wanted tough, but didn¡¯t dare to. Because¡­¡­ That was an archmage! Looking at the badge pinned to the girl¡¯s chest, Thorskei swallowed resolutely. After all, the greatest dream of a low level magician like Thorskei was to one day advance in rank, putting on such a golden badge! ¡°Ah¡­¡­Th-th-th-this¡­¡­¡± The sorceress¡¯ face showed a guilty expression, hanging her head: ¡°M-m-my master went f-far away. I-I-I-I w-was in charge of l-looking after Squeaky, b-b-but it t-took advantage of my older sistering to s-see me to r-r-run away¡­¡­ I-I¡¯ve already been l-looking for it for v-very m-m-many days.¡± ¡°Your mistake cannot be an excuse for the crimesmitted.¡± Duwei spoke righteously and sternly: ¡°Don¡¯t you know how much panic such a high level magic beast running off to this serene little town would cause for the residents here? These brave soldiers all came up to this mountain in order to catch it! Moreover, don¡¯t you know how much harm this little pet of yours just now caused to these brave soldiers!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± The sorceress was speechless, she only looked at Duwei with that guilty and imploring gaze. Duwei¡¯s mind was set, looking at this sorceress who was perhaps a youngdy who had never left home to meet the world, he would properly swindle such a greenhouse flower. ¡°This creature brought panic to the region! The soldiers bled, sweated, to catch it here, in order to protect the peace of this region! But you havee to take it away, may I ask with such a method, is there not a trace of shame in your heart?¡± As Duwei spoke, the sorceress¡¯ head hung practically to her stomach. When Duwei finally was finished, the sorceress roused her courage, cautiously speaking up: ¡°I-I-I-I want to apologize t-t-to you f-for i-it¡¯s actions¡­¡­ I-I-I¡¯m very¡­¡­¡± ¡°Stop your apologies!¡± Duwei was unforgiving: ¡°If apologies were of use, would there still be need for police?¡± ¡°P-police¡­¡­. W-what¡¯s that?¡± Duwei coughed, covering up his awkwardness. That was a slip of the tongue just now, this world didn¡¯t have things like police officers. ¡°What I mean is¡­¡­¡± Duwei stuck out his chest, his voice loud: ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that a simple line of ¡®I¡¯m sorry¡¯ is enough topensate the blood and sweat of our brave soldiers?¡± His words were actually somewhat too bullying towards this little girl. These search parties that entered the mountain actually hadn¡¯t shed any blood, the scene of flesh and blood flying in that battle just now was all an illusion. After eliminating the illusion, everyone were actually just confused, they hadn¡¯t suffered any injuries, at most they would have a few nightmares when sleeping. It wasn¡¯t a big loss. The only injury was that of thedy knight Rolynn. Duwei naturally wouldn¡¯t waste the chance to emphasize this condition and suitably took two steps, exposing thedy knight supported by his subordinates behind him. Rolynn¡¯splexion was somewhat pale, the sign of poor health from sudden blood loss, but overall there wasn¡¯t much of a problem. But looking at this woman, standing there unsteadily, hand still wrapped in white bandages, hair in disorder, still really made this sorceress feel even more guilty. ¡°How can I-I-I cpensate you?¡± The sorceress¡¯ eyes were reddened. Duwei drew a breath, a satisfied light shing in his eyes, then looked at Thorskei to his side. Over this past time spending every day talking about alchemy with Duwei, Thorskei already had some understanding about the temper of this little master, and catching his signal he immediately caught on. Taking two steps forward and slightly saluting, he slowly said: ¡°Respected archmage.¡± When the girl saw Thorskei¡¯s magician¡¯s robe she immediately returned the gesture: ¡°M-Mister m-magician.¡± At this instant, Thorskei couldn¡¯t keep from blushing somewhat¡­¡­ In his entire life he had perhaps never even dreamed of one day having an eighth level magician address him as ¡°Mister magician¡±. ¡°This, I think, this little pet of yours has already caused harm to the region, if was simply released, perhaps these soldiers who have suffered would be unable to ept it, furthermore, my master, the mighty Rawling family¡¯s earl Lehmann¡¯s eldest son, young master Duwei, also received a terrible fright in this matter today, therefore, I think, some punishment for this little creature is in order.¡± ¡°N-n-n¡­¡­. No, i-if when t-t-teacher r-returns he s-s-s-sees it¡¯s s-s-suffered, he w-w-will punish m-me¡­¡­.¡± The sorceress¡¯ forehead was sweating: ¡°If t-t-t-teacher g-g-gets angry, y-y-you¡¯ll also¡­¡­¡± ¡°Respected archmage, may I ask who your teacher is? I really would like to know which magician in the Empire could instruct an archmage level disciple.¡± Thorskei began to case the her background. The sorceress had a difficult expression: ¡°T-t-this¡­¡­ I-I-I-I c-can¡¯t say.¡± Thorskei frowned slightly, then immediately smiled: ¡°Then, you should at least tell us your name?¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡­¡± The sorceress loosed a breath, this was a question she could answer: ¡°M-m-m-my name is Vivian Young. Magic guild e-e-eighth level magician.¡± Saying this, the girl suddenly recalled the minimum level of etiquette her teacher had instructed her in. Blushing, she immediately half bowed, very politely asking: ¡°M-may I also ask for y-y-your name, r-r-respected mister m-magician.¡± This time Thorskei was truly blushing: ¡°I¡­¡­ Thorskei, magic guild¡­¡­ first¡­¡­ En, that, first level magician.¡± As he said thest part, Thorskei wished he could find a hole to hide in. To an eighth level magician, a first level magician was an existence like an ant! Even the disciples at the sides of many of those at the archmage level were second or third level magicians. To the circle of magicians at the upper levels, a first level magician was perhaps no different from a magic apprentice. But this pure girl apparently didn¡¯t understand this, and she still stooped ording to her excessive etiquette. This bit immediately gave Thorskei a very favorable impression. It had never been seen! An eight level magician actually bowing to me, Thorskei! ¡°Then, please show us your sincerity inpensating.¡± Duwei spoke up in a timely manner. ¡°T-this¡­¡­¡± The sorceress was somewhat embarrassed. After thinking, she pulled out a tiny purse from her robe and opened it: ¡°I-I-I-I h-have a w-water orchid diamond, e-e-even though it¡¯s o-o-only m-mid rank, b-but¡­¡­¡± The more she spoke the more she stuttered, and finally she could only helplessly sp the water orchid diamond in her hands, looking at Duwei with a pleading expression. Water orchid diamond?? Thorskei was moved! Water orchid diamond was a top ss water system magic material! This crystal was a top quality material for making scrolls or maybe storing magic! If it was used by a high level alchemist for a magic wand, then when a water system magician used magic it could save at least a third of the magic power! It could even speed up casting! Looking at this water orchid diamond, sparkling and translucent, it was absolutely mid grade or higher quality. If simply considering value, it would be worth at least several thousand gold coins! Any water system magician would be willing to pay this price, or even several times more for this thing! Thorskei¡¯s mouth hung open. Just as he was about to speak, behind him Duwei already ced a hand on his shoulder. Duwei¡¯s face was cold, and he even frowned as he squinted at the sorceress: ¡°Eh, a water orchid crystal like this?¡± The sorceress blushed, her expression fric, and in her heart she couldn¡¯t help feeling a twinge of guilt. Ai, even though this water orchid diamond was mid grade, but¡­¡­ It actually wasn¡¯t a thing she needed, she wasn¡¯t a water system magician, keeping it was useless¡­¡­ Giving something useless aspensation for others, how could Vivian do something so despicable! Omnipotent God forgive me! The sorceress denounced herself inwardly, then hastily pulling out a dark green little thing from the pouch. Dark green radiance moved over this little thing like waves, but at the same time it seemed soft. The sorceress anxiously said: ¡°T-t-this as w-w-w-well¡­¡­¡± Thorskei felt as if his eyeballs would pop out! ¡°G-g-green magic medicine!¡± Endlessly excited, Thorskei seemed infected by the stuttering. Duwei raised his eyebrows. With his schrly knowledge, he also knew what kind of thing green magic medicine was. This was a treasure any magician yearned for even in their dreams! This thing was a kind of medicine a magician could use to replenish magic power! If a mid level magician consumed all their magic power in a fight, if they carried such a small bottle of magic medicine, they could instantly replenish their magic power! But in the big pouch in this sorceress¡¯ hands¡­¡­ There might be more than seven or eight bottles! The creation of such a thing was extremely difficult, and the raw materials were also extremely rare. Even more important, it was a consumable good! Each used was one less! Thorskei felt his throat tighten. But, Duwei still looked unhappy, frowning at the sorceress: ¡°Like this? Don¡¯t tell me the blood and sweat of our soldiers is only worth such a thing?¡± Tears were roaming in the girl¡¯s beautiful big eyes, and she grabbed her hair as she thought, again rummaging around for a small yellow pearl, shyly handing it over. ¡°T-t-this, m-m-my own m-made f-f-fire repelling pearl.¡± Duwei replied: ¡°Then for the injuries of mydy knight?¡± The sorceress also took out a handful of magic beast cores! Brightly colored, more than ten low level or even mid level magic beast cores were extorted by Duwei. ¡°Next, the fright I myself suffered?¡± Duwei appeared to be the incarnation of an extorting bully. The sorceress turned over her traveling bag, fishing out her final treasure¡­¡­ Seven or eight magic scrolls! Furthermore, Thorskei was practically dizzy at just a nce¡­¡­ these were all mid level magic scrolls! Not some low level magic goods! They were all mid level magic scrolls!! These seven or eight items were already enough to cause a duel between two magicians!! Seeing his little master still not nodding agreement, even Thorskei felt a pang of conscience! This innocent and naive, even somewhat foolish sorceress, had handed over pensation¡± worth enough to buy a city! Looking at Duwei still not nodding, the sorceress cried. She turned over her empty bag in the air: ¡°I-I-I-I-I o-only b-b-brought t-t-these.¡± Devil!! At this moment, Thorskei at his side, and sir Robert, as well as all the other Rawling n people, none could keep from sighing. Looking at the pitiful little sorceress weeping, they even felt ashamed. Unfortunately, their little master still didn¡¯t have a forgiving appearance¡­¡­ His appetite, wasn¡¯t it excessivelyrge? Chapter 24 Chapter 24 ¨C Vivian¡¯s Sister Vivian couldn¡¯t find anything else, she looked at Duwei with extremely pitiful eyes, her hands twisting the bag but apperantly it waspletely empty, with nothing inside at all. ¡°Th-th-this is all that I have¡±. She stuttered. She actually couldn¡¯t find anything else. Thorskei who was next to her hated that he couldn¡¯te and strangle Duwei to let him agree already! There was a mid-grade water orchid diamond, a magic medicine bag, a top quality magic beast core¡­in addition with more than ten mid-level magic scrolls. These items are desirable by all magicians on Earth! Although many magicians are very rich but a huge pile of possessions like this is Extremely Rare. By this time, there was no response, if anything happens, what to do? An eighth level magician is not easy to handle! Vivian looked a little stupid in honest manner, but if she were to fight excessively, with the capability of an Eighth level magician, decimating everyone here is probably an easy task. From time to time, this girl doesn¡¯t seem like a profound magician, but if she doesn¡¯t say anything, only one of her magic words can also wipe out my defeated force here. Granted that she was a fool¡­but bullying a magician, there may be some troublesome aftermath. Thank god, while thorskei was about to go crazy, Duwei nodded, he said calmly; ¡°Dear Magician, I am unable to get into your feelings. You proposed these conditions, I think my henchmen will be extraordinarily satisfied.¡± Duwei signalled, Thorskei seemed relieved, he exaled and quickly ran like a ¡°robber¡± to take ¡°thepensation¡± on hand. His eyes scowled, quickly stuffing all the treasures in his bag and tied it tightly. His face looked like a god of treasure¡­.If right now, anyone was to intentionally touch his bad, Thorskei will definitely risk his life for it. ¡°So, you can also d-d-d- drop it¡­¡± Vivian looked at Duwei, the big innocent eyes with pretty face like an angel really makes people not to make things difficult. ¡°My henchmens are satisfied with ¡°thepensation¡± that you offered¡­ but I may have an additional problem¡± Duwei didn¡¯t change his face. ¡°b-b-b-b-but I don¡¯t have¡­¡± Vivan was rattled, she quickly flipped her bad upside down with an innocent face. ¡°No no no, I didn¡¯t ask you forpensation.¡± Duwei finally revealed his tyrannical mind. ¡°You¡¯re an eighth level magician, aren¡¯t you? In this empire, the top magicians are extreamly rare, especially you..I have never heard of a youngdy like you, who could own a great medal for magician. Please do not misunderstand, what I want to say is¡­I am curious and excited about magic. I am looking forward to reaching the light of the great magic, and it takes a lot of force to study it. You see, I even invited a magician to be my advisor.¡± Duwei pointed at Thorskei who was grabbing his bag tightly. Then he deliberately sighed, shakes his head ¡°Unfortunately. You saw, although my advisor tried his best to teach us, but he has a limited capability. So it¡¯s quite difficult for me to search for something more. Today, in this ce, I have coincidently met you, it is my great honor¡­ even though I am threatened by your little pet, but I won¡¯t consider it a pain out of my respect for you¡± Vivian didn¡¯t seem to understand. Just recently, this young nobleman who is a bit scary, robbed all of my treasures¡­but I owe him. Vivian didn¡¯t think of using her magic to regain her items, since she was a little girl, she was educated toply with righteousness and goodness. Because she had good mind with innocence, up until now, she never went outside, so she was quite unfamiliar with evil. Therefore she just meekly dedicated all of her assets, she didn¡¯t knew that, using resilience and magic incarnations can resolve this situation. This guy is really scary indeed, but he was excited when he talked about magic with high spiritual learning¡­his appearance seems honest. His eyes and words are sincere. Moreover, he said ¡°Regardless of him being afraid.¡± He is a good guy at heart¡­ with simple thoughts, she already forgot that she have been robbed of all her treasures. Vivian stammered and said ¡° Th¡­th..Thank you for your tolerance.¡± ¡°No, no, I am not finished yet.¡± Duwei sighed ¡° Unfortunately, I am always looking for a highly capable magician to broaden my magic, teach me something¡­ Now, I by fate, met a kind hearted magician like you. Are you willing to teach magic to a person who is sincere to study like me?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Vivian felt something wrong, but she couldn¡¯t think of anything wrong with Duwei¡¯s sincere eyes. How honest is he! Moreover, the little pet threatened him¡­. This is my mistake. But¡­ ¡°You want to learn ma-magic? But I have to return my master¡¯s ¡°little pet¡±, on-on-only¡­.¡± Vivian was feeling a little awkward. ¡°No, no, you misunderstood me.¡± Duweiughed with a serious face and said ¡°I know that your time is precious. Your time is used for a more intensive study of magic, how can you waste it on me. So, my request is not much, I only want you to teach me something. You see, I have a magic advisor, although his capability is only limited but at least he is able to answer most of my problems. That is all I need now, just a little ¡®profound¡¯ knowledge, such as¡­.¡± Duwei nced, suddenlyughing ¡° For example, some advanced magic words,¡± Thorskei was surprised, he couldn¡¯t think of what Duwei just said! If those treasures are a magician¡¯s property, then those magic incantations are¡­thenguage of their life!! Each magician spends all his life to study those magic incantations, they absolutely will not arbitrarily take their hard research and teach them to anyone! Therefore, the book of magic, recorded some basic knowledge only, no great mantra was ever handed out! No matter what the magic incantations are, a magician only orally transmits the magic to their disciples! A magician is better than other, except for the magic, force, the most critical is.. having profound magic incantations. Magician vary from High level to low level ones, even magic incantations will have a few different types. Some can reduce the form, increase the speed of magic through the study of their achievements! So that when fighting, they could prevail. Also, low level magician is not able to control the power of advanced magic incantations. Like Thorskei for instance, he can only hold a few low level incantations. If he wants to learn advanced magic, he can only study them from a senior. He didn¡¯t think that Duwei was brave enough to ask the magicians for magic incantations. But this is the secret that can¡¯t be revealed. Although this little girl was a bit overly innocent, but she was not a fool¡­. Otherwise, how can an idiot have this level of magic? [TL Note- She¡¯s definitely an idiot, a big one at that.] With Duwei¡¯s request, Vivian was indecisive, she repeatedly shook her little head ¡°No no no¡­ absolutely cannot be done. My master said this kind of magic incantations cannot be shared with anyone!¡± ¡°But, this little pet is you master¡¯s, isn¡¯t it? He also said you cannot lose it right?¡± Duwei seemed to lead a juvenile to guilty. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Vivian was speechless. ¡°Should I tell the truth? Your master wants you to take care of this little pet, but you disobeyed and lost this precious pet, this is only my very small requirement. You saw we had to suffer too much because of this little pet, I was so scared¡­ Now just to make up for your mistake, shouldn¡¯t you do a smallpensation?¡± Vivian is a genius, but it¡¯s only limited in scope of studying magic. And the other aspects, obviously, she really has ¡°shorings¡±. Only some of Duwei¡¯s arguments can make herpletely confused. In her mind, Vivian was bewildered between the responsibility of taking care of the little pet and not revealing the magic words¡­ both of them were fighting throughout the half day, ultimately Vivian started crying. She sobbed violently ¡° Ok fine¡­ but I can only teach you on-on-on-one thing.¡± ¡°You said one thing¡± Duwei said as he quickly pointed out a finger ¡°As I counted, there are a total of four things, right? ¡°No, Not right!¡± Vivian started panicking, she shouted ¡° No, not four, is only on-on-one¡­¡± She said even more feverishly, only word of one was not finished yet, when she said ¡°one¡±, Duwei pointed the finger again. Finally, Vivian was too feverish and wanted to bite her toungue. Duwei showed his ten fingers, if she had continued, he would probably count his toes as well, magician shouted ¡°Stop, stop, stop, stop!!¡± Looking at her red face, Duwei didn¡¯t dare to force her excessively. Finally after negotiation, bteral decision is the magic incantations for ¡°Ten Things.¡± For this type of harmful negotiation, magician had to undergo a very fierce tension¡­ but s, she couldn¡¯t resist Duwei¡¯s words. With that repartee and innocent mind, and the most important stuttering, she couldn¡¯t win the argument with Duwei. There is no way that a magician can only silently stand. Dear revered master, please forgive Vivian to disobey yourmand¡­I just wanted to find your little pet. To execure your firstmand, I have to leave the second one¡­ ¡°I am an aristocrat, you are a magician, we both have status. Making promise cannot be arbitrarily changed, I suggest we should make an oath that indicates thepletion of our words¡­¡± Then, he didn¡¯t wait for the magician¡¯s protest, Duwei immediately raised his voice and made an oath. Vivian had no other way but to oath, Duwei was surprised that when executing the oath, she seriously did the article of magic, indicating that their convention must bepleted. She stuttered but the speed of mantras was just amazingly quick! She recited the difficult incantations like turning over the beans, it was very fast, very clean. It is very difficult to imagine a profound magician in magic incantations talks while stuttering. It¡¯s worth mentioning that Vivian didn¡¯t even argue with Duwei at all. Ultimately, Duwei still didn¡¯t know who is the master to be able to teach this innocent girl! The boss¡¯s treacherous behaviour towards this pitiful girl made most of the guardians dead silent. Because even they suffered a lot of pain, so they didn¡¯t say anything at all, except the knight. The treacherous acts of Duwei towards the little girl were not right, but what could he do? How can he oppose his master? But¡­.the master treated an eighth level magician like this¡­. Won¡¯t everyone be worried? The anxiety of Robert very quickly turned into reality! Magician agreed to teach Duwei six magic incantations, so she had to follow him. After getting an equal agreement, eventually she had to think which magic incantations is she going to teach Duwei, obviously, they cannot be important ones. It shouldn¡¯t be med on Vivian that she was starting to think up such thoughts in her mind. Actually¡­ after being deceived by Duwei, even an angel will learn to be a little sly. In such a way of thinking, Vivian still couldn¡¯t decide, if not, you can only stay with Duwei to wonder. Fortunately, her master wille back after some days, just handle this affair within this duration¡­ Just can¡¯t be found by sister! If I can resolve this issue, then I can return to the master¡¯s ce. The outside world is indeed scary, are there more scary people like this man? Please have mercy god, Vivian doesn¡¯t deliberately speak behind other¡¯s back, please forgive me¡­.but, this man is really scary. This time, I will definitely not go outside again! Sister sister¡­. You won¡¯te here so fast, will you? === The incident was solved without any injury to the young master, Spann was the mostfortable. Although there was a bit of embarrassment, more than 10 equipped soldiers lost their front teeth¡­ Rxing his mind, Spann was enthusiastic to invite Duwei¡¯s butler Marde and other Rawling n members toe and have some rest outside. Duwei did not refuse, he also hoped for a quiet ce to talk about magic incantations with Vivian. And so, the group of people, didn¡¯t go into the camp but stayed outside. That night, Marde wanted to please Duwei so he enthusiastically entertained everyone to eat satiety. Even he decided to take some jars of wine that chief stored. After a long tiring afternoon, eventually everyone can breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy the meal, and get over the entire scenario from today¡¯s afternoon. Duwei formally responded to Marde¡¯s enthusiasm, and quickly found an excuse to return to rest. In fact, he was very much interested in seeing Vivian. Marde knew that having dinner with Duwei was a great regard already, so he didn¡¯t retain him, just got up to see him out¡­ Suddenly, in the meantine, outside the hall, there was a huge bang! In the peaceful night sky, there was a huge bolt of lightning! The thunderps woke up each and every one, even the ones who were heavily drunked. Immediately, in the blink of an eye, the main door outside the hall was hit by a big fire and the doors burned to ashes! While everyone was rolling their eyes in surprise, the sound wasing from every direction! There was sounding from a far, it was an extreamly cold sound of a Women! ¡°Vivian! My dear sister, do you still want to run! Give me the Terror Illusion Goblin!¡± Chapter 25 CHAPTER 25: SISTER¡¯S BATTLE (BEGINNING) The tremendous upheaval made everyone afraid! Fortunately, inside the military camp, there were not that many soldiers, as they were training far from this ce by several hundred miles. Spann was the first person who woke up, his face was full of rage, grabbing the sword on the ground and shouted out: ¡°Who dares to make a raid on the local military camp!!!¡± Spann was angry indeed. Making a raid is the act of rebellion, high treason! If I cannot catch the enemy who burned the g outside the camp in front of me, I will lose my position! In the hall, soldier¡¯s eyes were red, they quickly grabbed the weapons and followed Spann. Then, there was only the sound of weapons that hurt everyone¡¯s ears. The Rawling n soldiers immediately surrounded Duwei. Duwei was ahead of the main gate with anger, and be startled due to the terrible scenes outside. Spann¡¯s soldiers were lying on the ground. Their clothes and hairs were burnt in ck, everyone was moaning, unable to stand up again. Suddenly a silver shadow appeared from the flight of steps and quickly dashed. This shadow moved with lightning speed, even Robert couldn¡¯t clearly see the appearance of the enemy, he shouted: ¡°Stop!¡± Robert absorbed the inner force, his body immediately exuded rays of light. He shed his sword, a bright white light immediately run towards the flight of steps! The shadow seemed to have no intention of stopping, it rushed towards Robert to cross swords with him. In a split second, Robert immediately felt the cold air in his body from the sword! This weapon made the Knight shuddered, each of his finger was frozen, he may not hold it anymore! Immediately a great force hit on the de, Robert sumb, his whole body felt like being hit by electricity, loosing all the senses. The sword fell on the ground, and Robert fainted because of excruciating pain., his clothes and hairs were burnt in ck, he fell over the ground. Obviously he was seriously wounded! In just a split second, the newer defeated a Knight as powerful as Robert. While Rawling n soldiers were still surprised, the shadow ultimately stopped and stood in the central hall! This was the woman who has spoken outside. The girl who called Vivian her young sister, was tall and had beautiful appearance. Her face can bepared with . Her two irises were shining but they were cold eyes. Her face was like made of ice, with murderous air, slightly narrowed eyshes that showed the satirical implication. She wore a strange white armour with ¡°empty pattern¡± ¨C a pattern made of a hollow carving. How strong was this armor? It was thin, although beautiful but seemed useless in battle. Duwei and Thorskei saw them as evil patterns, or even consisting of some magics. On her back, there was also a cold icy Spear with the length touching the ground. This girl with white armour, a long icy spear and beautiful face looked like the person who came out from the ice. But that was not the only readon which startled Duwei! During this time, the aristocrats who used to be calm, were threaten by this girl! She had a long hair as white as snow! A snow-white hair, in addition with her lips and straight nose¡­ Duwei seemed hit by lightning! Because the he can realize her appearance! It seems that a few days ago, in the library of Rawling n, that¡¯s the person who found the Star magic¡­Saimel. Standing in front of this girl ¡­ if Duwei didn¡¯t know that she died hundreds of years ago, he would think that magician was standing in front of him here. From the appearance, this girl¡¯s body was almost 90% simr to Saimel. Duwei rolled his eyes and opened his mouth, in the eyes of others, he seemed be threatened nkly. Everyone revolved around Duwei, some Rawling n soldiers pointed the sword towards the girl and shouted: ¡°Treason! You were audacious to make a raid into military camp!¡± ¡°Ha ha ha ha ¡­¡± The girlughed coldly: ¡°I have already done it, are you just gonna stand there and make idle threats? ¡± She gently lifted a finger, a ice line came out towards everyone. While no one could react, the Rawling n soldier who just shouted, was hit with frozen body down to the ground. She did that all too suddenly, with no signs at all! Duwei ultimately regained consciousness, he nced over Thorskei, they can see the fear in the eyes of each other! ¡°The Rawling n soldiers! Protect Duwei! Risking everything you¡¯ve got! Go!¡± a guardian shouted out, raised the sword and went ahead, then others followed. Immediately a dozen people had gathered around and pointed the sword towards the girl. The girlughed and turned her body then it shined a white light in circle! It just suddenly shed and disappeared, but those people were flying out! Immediately, over ten bodies bumped into every direction, someone hit the wall, someone crashed into the table, even those who were out of the hall¡­ On the ground, there was an abundance of people, It¡¯s unknown what type of magic this girl used. All of them fainted away, there was only Duwei and Thorskei in the hall. ¡°I can not believe it! There is a sorcerer here.¡± This girl saw Thorskei¡¯s robe, her eyes were shining immediately, she smiled coldly: ¡°Sorcerer! Where is your medal? As a magician, why don¡¯t you wear the Association¡¯s medal?! Which level you belong to? ¡± Thorskei immediately flushed, his medal was forced to burn by Duwei. When the enemy questioned, he stuttered without any words. The girl shook her head: ¡°I do not think in a small military camp, there will be a magician. So I will follow the rituals to fight with you.¡± Hello Guys, Sorry for the dy in Update¡­ those all nighters are starting to show their toll¡­ Anyhow, here¡¯s another chapter of Law of the Devil,. Enjoy! Law of the Devil Chapter 26: SISTERS¡¯BATTLE (ENDING) The girl finished speaking, the long white hairs shaking like snowkes in the North. She gently pointed a finger out. Fingertip immediately changed into a medal, then she pinned it on the Armour near the icy Spear, she said: ¡± All right, Sorcerer, you begin first! I don¡¯t like wearing this kind of medal, we should have a fast fight and fast victory! ¡± Thorskei was almost going to faint! Begin?? He just saw her medal which was made from metal, leaf-shaped, exactly same as Vivian¡¯s! They were top level magicians! As a first level magician, how can I have to fight with an eighth level one? Have you seen a little dog fighting with a dragon? Thus, Thorskei reacted directly! His head turned to one side, his eyes closing tightly, he immediately fainted in ce! ¡°¡­.¡± Looking at him, the girl was also a bit shocked, she immediately pouted in contempt: ¡°You are a coward¡± ¡°How about you? A young nobleman? I just heard your henchmen said they are Rawling n members, right? So you are one of them, aren¡¯t you? ¡°Yes.¡± Duwei¡¯s countenance didn¡¯t change: ¡°My name is Duwei. I¡¯m a first-born child of Commanding General, Raymond Earl is my father¡±. ¡°Well, Can the name of Rawling n family scare me?¡± The girl looked up and down carefully Duwei: ¡°You are still child, why did youe here.¡± She seemed to quickly lose the interest on Duwei, shouted:!! ¡°Vivian, if you do note out, I¡¯ll tten this ce! My little sister, give me Terror Illusion Goblin! ¡± Then, the girl¡¯s face showed the impatience, she suddenly opened her arms, her eyes quickly turning empty, she focused on her body, suddenly, in the hall, a whirlwind appeared! Arouse to the roof of the hall! Bang! the whirlwind easily broke the hall roof into pieces, numerous debris thrown in every direction. It started to spread out slowly¡­ ¡°Vivian! Do you think I can not do it! You should know that I dare to do everything in this world!¡± Sheughs loudly, her hands made a strange gesture ¡­¡­ immediately the whirlwind was even more intense! The surrounding air began to have some snowkes falling down! Snow? Damn! But here is the South! Duwei was early on the ground when the whirlwind breaking down the roof. Today, finally he can feel the great power of magician who was easy to instantly kill arge number of soldiers, there were many people in front of her without any resistance. And this girl is too dangerous! It¡¯s said that their capabilities of fighting are very bad, aren¡¯t they? She wore an armor which a magician has never done ¡­¡­ unless she is Mowu alike? ! ¡°Sister ¡­¡­ sister! I be-be-beg you stop!¡± Finally, Vivian¡¯s voice came haltingly, she was wearing the robe which drifted out from the military camp, her body hanging in the air with a small cage in hands. She made it by herself with magic to confine Terror Illusion Goblin. Vivian looked horrified, seemed afraid to face with her sister, but pleaded: ¡°Sister i be-be-beg you ¡­¡­¡± ¡°Poor little Vivian¡±, the girl sneered: ¡°When can you be strong? you must have strong consciousness, you have powerful magic but your courage is less than a rabbit.¡± Then, she suddenly pulled out from her waist¡­¡­ a strange flute! It¡¯s a green flute. The girl pointed at Vivian and sneered: ¡± Drop the Terror Illusion Goblin, I will only get its horn and go immediately, otherwise, my dear sister, you will suffer a lot of pain. ¡± Then, the lightning came from her flute, countless strange photo-sphere immediately shot out from its hole. Duwei lying on the ground suddenly heard the shrill sound! Obviously it¡¯s a magic using sound attack. He was far away but could still feel that sound, it seemed like he was going to faint. He couldn¡¯t imagine how Vivian felt within close distance. Vivian seemed to be very afraid of her sister, her body shaking. She raised her hands quickly to recite a magic words, immediately a magic shield appeared in front, blocking the photosphere, then she shouted: ¡± Terror Illusion Goblin is Master¡¯s little pet, if you kill it, he will¡­ ¡± ¡°People around the world are afraid of him, not me!¡± The girl disdain: ¡°I need its horn, you know I can not make my magic defense weapon without it, don¡¯t you?!! ! Give it to me! ¡± After saying the final word, she suddenly rushed straight to Vivian with a hand reaching out to the cage! ¡°No way!¡± Vivian didn¡¯t stuttered at that time, her body suddenly shed and disappeared, in the blink of an eye, she appeared far, more than ten meters away. ¡°Ha ha ha my dear sister, your Bi Yan mobile magic is actually very skilled! But you are a coward, just using it to escape, aren¡¯t you? ¡± The girl sneered. ¡°Y- you ¡­¡­ ¡­¡­ y-y-you can¡¯t force me!¡± Vivian was almost scared to cry. ¡°I¡¯m going to force you! You are a poor little girl! I want to see you cry!!¡±. The girl suddenly raised a hand and recited a mysterious magic words. Her palms began to appear a mass of white mist! It became more and more intense and spread out¡­¡­ Vivian¡¯s face went white, she shouted: ¡°No, no you cannot do that kind of magic here.¡± ¡°Why not!¡±. The girl finished reciting with a huge iceberg in hands! It seemed have a moving shadow inside ready to break out the iceberg! ! Vivian suddenly turned to Duwei who was lying on the ground eximed: ¡°y-y-y- you have to run away!¡± Duwei was lying on the ground suddenly heard Vivian warning him. Finally he felt the difference on ice fog that the girl was using! Just an ordinary person, how far he can run away? He did not move. The girlughed ¡°Oh, my poor little Vivian, why are you so concerned about this nobleman ¡­¡­ Is he your lover? Rawling n member, you can get marriage with, he looked pretty handsome too, but useless ¡­¡­ ¡± Then, she suddenly led to Duwei linking their fingers, then Duwei felt he can¡¯t control his body, it seemed to be tied by countless rope and quickly lift and dragged to in front of the girl. ¡°Vivian! Give your little pet to me! Or I will take your little sweetheart to refine the soul¡±. Her face expressed the murderous air. ¡°No, no ¡­¡­ not.¡± Vivian hurried shouted. The girl suddenly came to her again, Vivian teleported with magic that the girl seemed have no way to control. Her speed was very fast but she still can not catch Vivian. Finally, she said in anger, ¡°If you don¡¯t listen to me, I will kill you¡±. Vivian startled, eventually she reluctantly decided. She secretly sighed: Master, I¡¯m sorry your poor little Vivian has no other choice. Vivian finally raised her head, looked at iceberg created with consistent eyes: ¡°Do you want to release the Ice Dragon? So just do it!¡± After setting the mind, her appearance was better. The girl said: ¡°Do you really think I cannot do it?¡± Her body suddenly shoved into the sky channeling up, standing higher than twenty meters from Vivian ¡­¡­ The girl was dragging the huge iceberg which was multiple times bigger than her body¡­¡­She swung her arms and suddenly a small silver cone drum appearing on her hands. Sheughed then gripped it and slightly knock on iceberg ¡­ Sting¡­!!! Then, in the iceberg, Suddenly a big roar appeared! The roar like thunder and storm! The sound made Duwei¡¯s body shake, he felt the whole body seemed to limp down! It is unknown where it came from, but from the inner, the instinctive fear has covered his whole body!! Strange! Speechlessly strange !!! Subsequently, numerous small cracks began to spread on the iceberg. Following the cracks were strong sounds which were like thunder, it seemed like something inside the iceberg wants to break out !! ¡°Just wait, Rawling n member, my sister¡¯s sweetheart.¡± The girl sneered, she gently took the drum cone knocking on the iceberg, her face was cold: ¡°It may be the first time you see a dragon!¡± Dragon¡­??? No time to surprise, among the loud roar, the icebergs crashed into small pieces. Immediately, a head with a huge horn on forehead broke the iceberg out to appear! A loud, tough roar resounded through the heaven and earth!! Vivian was too scared to be pale, she hid Terror Illusion Goblin inside the robe, it¡¯s unknown from where she had a small wand. She closed her eyes again, her face was very tensed, then word by word in the ancientnguage came from her mouth ¡­ Suddenly, A huge me of fire erupted behind Vivian, like an overwhelming firewall, it also came with the roar. In this situation, the girl seemed to be dealt with a serious blow! She went pale ¡°Good! Good! I didn¡¯t think that he has taught you Dragon Chi Yan already!! My dear sister, let see today Dragon Chi Yan will melt the Ice Dragon or Dragon Ice will defeat it!¡±. Vivian did not answer, she suddenly lifted her little wand gently pointing out¡­. Suddenly, the space around began twisted up ¡­¡­ Duwei was feeling like standing in front of the trains, with continuous changing scenery¡­¡­ When he could see everything clearly, he was no longer on camp! He was in the mountain now! ¡°Ha ha ha ha ha ha ¡­¡­ My dear sister, you really have some kind of good but silly character. You spent so much magic to get us to this ce, just because you are worried that our fight would hurt the innocent man? ha ha ¡­¡­ how much power you will have to control the Dragon Chi Yan when we start the fight? ¡± After a resoundingughter, her mouth suddenly came out with a roar¡­the iceberg broke down !! The huge head then the whole body covering with ice waspletely exposed! It¡¯s a huge body like a small mountain with a pair of wide wings, the whole body was shrouded in the cold mist, the size of the w was as big as the carriage. This is a ¡°Dragon¡±¡­ Chapter 26 Chapter 26: The Scary Outside World One of the great emperors of the Rnd Empire once said: ¡°Imperial code is sacred and invible! In the Empire¡¯s territory, everyone must strictly obey thew of the Empire. ¡± This Emperorter created one of history¡¯s most brilliant era of Rnd Empires, which is famous for its strictw and steady government. However, this emperor¡­¡­it is said that apart from his famous saying, he also added a word in private. This, of course, was not recorded in any official documents, but this sentence was disclosed through the many channels, so it is also widespread. ¡°¡­¡­ Everyone must follow the code of the Empire, but, with two exceptions. The first one was the emperor himself. Imperial power is always beyond thew! ¡­ ¡­ Another exception is ¡­ ¡­ the magician! ¡± Powerful magicians tend to possess much more incredible abilities than ordinary people, when it really goes to a certain kind of extreme, it may even be able to conquer nature, or change the destiny of a nation. ording to the current documents, when the power is so strong that people cannot even worship, in the eyes of mortals, that is almost a kind of the divine presence! Those strong can easily tten high mountains, fill up the sea. They can summon a storm and snow, and they can turn the in into the arid desert by the firing Sun! They can destroy an army within seconds, or create a disaster that could destroy a small country! For such the strong, secr ¡°code¡± is apparently unable to restrain them. And forcing those strong, who can dominate the nature to abide by secrws, is also apparently realistic. Let alone the strong in the legend who possess the power like gods. ¡­ ¡­ Only a fatal battle between ordinary magicians is enough tounch a small-scale disaster, which would be enough to destroy a city. In recorded history, when this continent was not a unified nation, it was an era of war and darkness. Usually, two magician¡¯s fight can even directly destroy a city! After a unified, powerful andplete empire, Rnd, had founded on this continent,rge-scale conflicts and war disappeared. Battles among magicians had gradually decreased. Even so, in the history of Rnd Empire, there were records that some magicians¡¯ private duels could easily destroy one or two small towns. However, even that being case, there were nows that ¡°public duels are forbidden¡± or simr ones for magicians. For ordinary people, fighting is not allowed in public ces. Yet magicians are not included in this scope. Even the magic union only requires magicians minimize personal conflicts at crowded ces. It is simply a request, not a strict rule or so. What¡¯s more, the agreement reached by the magic union and the empire is that if you want to convict or punish the crime of any over mid-level magician, no matter how heinous, unless he or shemitted a treason felony, the trials must be made together by three disjointed parts, the imperial official, magic union, as well as the bright God temple. Otherwise, the official government of empire has no right to arrest any over mid-level magicians. In hundreds of years of history of the empire, never was an over mid-level magician recorded crimes by the empire because of breaking thews. These undoubtedly show that the magician are superior to ordinary people. It is a group with an outstanding ability, as well as goes beyond thew, and acts almost entirely based on their own preferences, an almost unconstrained group ¡­ ¡­ In the eyes of ordinary people, the magician is such a presence, so whenever magicians are mentioned, people always take an attitude of awe and reverence, inside these, fear may take arger proportion. Almost all Half Horn city¡¯s residents were awakened from sleep by the turmoil. The powerful vibrations made a lot of people awaken from a dream, even fell from the bed. Overhead lights shaking, the wooden door of home generating creaking noise, millions of people wake up in fear, only to discover that they were even unable to stand still in a violent shake. People rushed out of the house in panic, only to discover that, what was supposed to be a dark night turned out to be a bright light shining on the horizon. Therge light was flickering, and people could even hear something in the distance, not knowing what kind of beast. The roar made people genuinely feel fear! Sessive quakes wereing from the outside. All were almost as if some kind of unknown terrible things. The earthquake, with res in the sky, with a chilling roar, made Half Horn city residents begin to panic. The most terrifying thing was that after a wave ¡­ ¡­ Part of the north wall had copsed for a while due to the violent quake! The noise of destruction made people blindly run up in the city! In the distance, as if in the direction of Half Horn mountains outside the city, all could see with the naked eyes that two gigantic light, one is silver, and the other is fire red! The two were colliding fiercely. Collision attacks have be more and more frequent, and the brightness given off by every collision could almost light up the night! Even the moon had lost glory! Apanied by intense light, there is a cry from a dull ROAR! That ROAR was extremely scary, continual like a heavy hammer hit hard on the heart. Equally rattled were the local garrison troops of light infantry left behind in the city. These soldiers patrolled the walls, faced with confusion of Half Horn city residents, but were unable to maintain order ¡­ ¡­ Their hands were too weak and fear inside as well. The most frightening thing is that ¡­ ¡­ the news finally came! Someone went to the garrison barracks outside the city for aid, but horribly found that dozens of cavalry left behind in the camp were injured and copsed to the ground, even Span, a prestigious Knight in the area, was also severely injured. Camp Chaos, and the burning fire looked as if it had just been attacked! Panicked people crowded outside the city. Some climbed higher in fear¡­ ¡­ At that moment, a voice like a p of thunder came from the Half Horn mountain¡¯s direction ¡­ ¡­ Then a series of roar followed as if the sound of summer thunder storm ¡­ ¡­ ¡°Mountains falling down! Half Horn Mountain was falling down!! ¡± Don¡¯t know who first screamed from the high! Immediately, the rming news quickly spread in the crowd. Half Horn Mountain was indeed falling down!! Far away, the hill that could be seen with the naked eye when standing on the walls, the famous Half Horn Mountain peaks, just copsed within sight! The entire mountain seemed to be directly broken apart as if that¡¯s not a mountain but a pile of sand ¡­ ¡­ Just came crashing down! Far away is the fierce re, even dozens of people outside can clearly see! While people with better eyesight could discover that it seems, two strange gigantic shadows were dancing in the strong light¡­ ¡­ For Half Horn city residents, it would be doomed to be a night to remember all his life. Because of that unknown fear, they were dying for the dawn! When finally a glimmer of sunlight shined, the ROAR that terrified everyone, and the ferocious light that shed half the night finally disappeared! Waiting for more than an hour, and assuring the unknown disaster is really over, people were gradually settled down from the fear in their hearts. People including Sir Span, rescued at midnightst night by soldiers going to garrison barracks for help, finally woke up, as well as Robert and others. In front of the powerful magic, they were almost defenseless and wounded, and then under the magic of snow beauty, the entire ground copsed, People who were attacked by snow beauty at that time, several of them injured by copsing houses. The first one to woke up in the rescue, turned out to be a female knight named Rolynn. Rolynn was injured in the fighting during the day, losing too much blood. She was resting in the evening, and rke gave her some sleep-promoting drugs. Yet the result was Rolynn who was not wounded in the evening attack woke up first. She is weak because of excessive bleeding, loss of blood, after all, cannotpensate within a short period of time. Robert then woke up, followed by Span, and then the guards of Rawling. After finding their little master and that dreadful woman attackers were gone, everyone panicked. Knowing about situations from around, Robert, regardless of his body was charred, struggled immediately, took a few slightly wounded men and immediately went to Half Horn Mountain. Sir Span learned that young master of Rawling¡¯s House was gone, he felt as if he suddenly fell from the high cliffs! He had been seriously injured and unable to move, but ordered the garrison troops who still could move immediately followed Robert towards Half Horn Mountain! Because, ording to residents, it is likely that the dreadful woman attackerst night ran to Half Horn Mountain. Meanwhile, Sir Span elerated to leave Half Horn town, going to the location of the garrison troops in spring drills for help. And he immediately reported all that happened in the Half Horn city to the provincial Governor of Lille. Let aside how Span worried his future career. Sir Robert bore the back pain and took carriages to the Half Horn Mountain, which had alreadyy in ruins, together with Rolynn, the female knight. The scene in front, was enough to make even the soberest people astonished!!! All these people came to Half Horn Mountain! Just a day before, here, they also altogether searched monster, stepping even over the entire Half Horn Mountain. Yesterday when they came here, it was a typical hilly peak in the south of Empire, winding three to four miles, covered with a lush and dense forest. The whole mountain was in a ¡°u¡± shape, with the highest mountain in the Middle. Standing on the top of a mountain could overlook the general outline of the distant Half Horn city. But now ¡­ ¡­ Robert and Rawling Guards, taken down the carriage by others, opened big mouth with big round eyes. The cannot believe it was the truth in front of their eyes!! My God! If this is a nightmare, and then let it end!!! Even though an apanied soldier of local garrison swore that this was definitely Half Horn Mountain ¡­ ¡­ Or, the exact location of the mountain in the past. But even this soldier himself was dazed, his eyes filled with horror! In front of them¡­ ¡­ Half Horn Mountain ¡­ ¡­ No, it should be said that there was no ¡°hills¡±! In front of them was a big, round hole with fully three miles wide in diameter from their eyes¡­ ¡­!! Half Horn Mountain? Where is it? The question was on everyone¡¯s mind! Carriage just stopped on the edge of the round crater. Robert felt cold all over, looking at the astonishing scene in front ¡­ ¡­ The circle crater, as if left by some sort of violent explosion! It is likely that ording to Knight¡¯s spection, it seemed that the whole mountain was bombed in the explosion! At the edge of the crater, littered with all kinds of weird, stones of varying sizes, with thick sand on the floor. The original soil had gone. The gigantic circle crater, was shallow at the edge, while deep in the kernel! Even more frightening is what the round hole looks like. Such a huge round hole. It looked as if God used an invisible pen, dividing it into two distinct looks! Bounded at the center of the circle hole, the left half is a thickyer of ice! That hard ice looks as if a perpetual umtion of frost on the ground! That thick and hard ice, as well as frost covering the ground, make everything in the half into a silvery world! Even a stone surface is covered with ice! While the right half is exactly the opposite! If the left side is frozen, then the right half is like a desert! It seems that every drops of water on the ground has be dried! Dry hard ground littered with broken bits of gravel, and some parts without sand-covered floor, are apparently cracked surface because of drought! Here, even a drop of water didn¡¯t exist ¡­ ¡­ Even a stone, it is as if it had been burned to the gaping! Such a huge circle role, the left and the right, with twopletely opposite look, that gave people speechless shock besides panic. After all a stalwart knight, Robert was the first who recover from the shock in the crowd. ¡°I guess ¡­ ¡­ Last night here was a fierce battle, whose level can be hardly imagined ¡­ ¡­ The magician named Vivian were gone, surely there must be a fighting herest night with the woman attacker. ¡± Knights analyzed thoughtfully,¡± these are things we don¡¯t have to concern ¡­ ¡­ Our question is, where our master is now! He was not in the camp, and he had disappeared when we were saved, he was gone! Then he is certainly being captured. ¡­ ¡­ Maybe even ¡­ ¡­ ¡± As for the rest of the words, Robert reserved. After all, even a mountain can be made into a hole! Magician¡¯s force was so powerful ¡­ ¡­ Then, to make a person disappear, isn¡¯t it very simple? Robert¡¯s face was terrible to see to the extreme, but he is still conscious of his duty, after all he is the highest leader at present, and can¡¯t let his men down. His teeth clench together, ¡°things might not be that bad, maybe the master himself escaped, perhaps the owner was captured to the magician. In any case, now the most crucial thing is to get our master back! ¡± Knight immediately issued two orders, first, all that could move searched the surroundings at once. Second, immediately ask someone to send letters to Rawling ins Castle in Scott province! It has been beyond the scope that people like Robert can control. The little master, now where were you? Each of us were wondering this problem. So, What was Duwei now doing? ¡­¡­ Duwei was doing something he never even dreamt of before. He was ¡­ ¡­ riding a dragon! Ridind on the back of a dragon, and flying in the sky! Wind around him preventing him from opening his eyes, he can barely use clothes wrapped in the head. His hands firmly held the raised scales on a dragon¡¯s back, he looking beneath this behemoth moving quickly through the clouds. Under his foot was a vast sea of clouds ¡­ ¡­ This feeling let Duwei could not help but scream out of excitement! ¡°Please, please, please, please don¡¯t hold its scales, okay? ¡± Next to him came the weak voice of Vivian. Female magician was weakly lying on the back of Dragon, her body tightly posting with the back of Dragon. The delicate small face looked pale as paper, bing frail. Seeing Duwei tightly grab hold of the scales of her dragon, female magician can¡¯t help heartbreaking, ¡± it¡­it¡­it will feel unhappy. Dragon is a¡­a¡­a species with pride. Ay m¡­my ¡°Fire Sun¡± is only, only a child. It..it..it doesn¡¯t like others ca¡­catching its sc..scales¡­¡­ ¡± ¡°Except its scales, where else can I get?¡± Duwei frowned. As soon as he spoke, the wind was poured into his mouth, choking him cough, and quickly lowering his head. He turned around and caught a glimpse of the magician, ¡°such a big wind, without a ce to hold on, what if i fall down! ¡± Duwei said angrily: ¡°Not scratching its scales is okay, but we have to break out of the hunt of your terrible sister at first. When we find a safe ce tond, I will make a bridle to it. ¡± Bridle? My God! Please forgive the poor little Vivian ¡­ ¡­ Also forgive this horrible guy. A bridle on the dragon ¡­ ¡­ God, does he think that the dragons can be arbitrarily ridden? At this time, underneath of his whole body suddenly uttered ament for Red Dragon ¡­ ¡­ Duwei was shocked and shouted, ¡°no, your dragon seems to die! ¡± Vivian was ufortable in the mind: ¡°the Fire Sun is on..only a yo¡­young Dragon, i..it..it is just hurt, and had to carry two people..it..it..it ¡­ ¡­¡± There was a gruesome wound on the left wing of this Bloody red dragon. This wound made the Dragon¡¯s wing pping flexible when in flight, and during flight, its body will nt down to one side. ¡°Come on! ¡°Duwei shouted¡± otherwise both of us are going to die. ¡± ¡°My..my..my belongings have been ckmailed by you! I..I..I have no idea ¡­ ¡­ ¡°Vivian was scared to say anything. Tears in her eyes rotated and she suddenly cried in a loud voice: ¡°Woo£¡£¡£¡ The outside world is so horrible! Teacher! Teacher! Come and rescue me! I want Mommy, I want Daddy! Come and save the poor little Vivian!! ¡± Eh? She didn¡¯t stutter in her cry?! Douri was so angry at this little silly girl that he almost fell off the Dragon¡¯s back! At this time, she cried like a little baby calling MOM and dad! His face turned gloomy and he scolded a few times, but at this time, the Dragon under them finally can¡¯t stand anymore. It fought the whole night, expiring almost all of its magic, and finally suffered a severe injury. It had escaped with its master for so long, carrying two people, with wings terribly injured. It is now stretched to its limit. Giving a loud shriek, Duwei felt his body sank! The dragon had fallen down from the air ¡­ ¡­ ¡°God damn it! Do something! Your Dragon is dying! ¡± ¡°Wow ¡­ ¡­ Dad! MOM!! Mom ¡­ ¡­ ¡± ¡°Stop crying! Or we both fell down and died!! ¡± ¡°Wow ¡­ ¡­ MOM ¡­ ¡­ Come and save the poor little Vivian ¡­ ¡­ ¡± Chapter 27 Law Of The Devil Chapter 27 ¡¾Don¡¯t work anymore¡¿ When Duwei woke up, he felt his neck almost broken. Just subconsciously moving his head, his neck felt severe pain. Duwei began to regain consciousness and felt his body posted on the cold dirt floor ¡­¡­ After his awarenesse back little by little, Duwei made sure that he was alive. He did not fiddle, first heid quietly and confirmed whether his hands and feet, as well as the various parts of the body, got injured, then he struggled to sit up a little bit. He still felt a little dizzy, just remembering thest memory before he fainted: dragon couldn¡¯t withstand the injury, finally fell down from the sky, and that silly girl, totally didn¡¯t perform like an eight ss magician, when facing dangerous, she even cried for her mom. At thest minute, that dragon used all efforts to p its wings, trying to maintain bnce, but it was still unable to support, so it just carried the two people on its¡¯ back and dived toward ground at the fastest speed. Later, the rest of the pieces in Duwei¡¯s mind is: falling down, loud voices, woods¡­¡­ Forcibly rubbing his eyes, Duwei looked around and sighed. The giant Dragonid on the other end was too far away from him, there was a huge pit on the ground, which was originally a forest here. When the dragon fell down, it damaged many trees, and now the dragonid on those trees. Dragons indeed have very thick scales. Its¡¯ body didn¡¯t suffer any injuries, but the scar in its wing seems more serious, probably because it was forced to fly such a long time, that made it¡¯s scar more severe. Now, this giant dragon is sleeping, and it¡¯s red skin and scales emit faint light. Looking at the dragon in such a close distance, even if it is sleeping, Duwei could still feel that this giant monster give him a strong pressure ¡­¡­ Perhaps, this is so-called human nature to fear the dangerous creatures. Dragon breathed like a storm, from its mouth and noses there was even a ck smoke smoging. That reminded him the fierce battlest night, Duwei could not help felt a little excited. Witnessing that kind of high-intensity war is a feast for his eyes! That happened in front of his eyes! That¡¯s so much more authentic than those special effects in the movies. Although, unfortunately, the ice beauty was right. Vivian, this little warm-heated silly girl, afraid the war would hurt innocent people, so she cast a lots of magic spells to use Transfer Magic, which shifted the war to the distant semi-angle hill. Even though what she did had saved a lots of people¡¯s life, but after using so much magic power, as expected, she was beat by her sister. At the beginning, the two powerful magicians all used magic spells tomand big giant dragons to fight. The fire dragon and the ice dragon are evenly matched in strength, butter, since Vivian¡¯s magic power decrease, the fire dragon encountered aplete defeat This silly girl is too kind that even when she escaped, she didn¡¯t forget to take me together. She can count as a conscientious girl. Andst night, she also saved many of my soldiers. Considering that I had been so mean to her,I also did something wrong. Sighed, Duwei looked at Vivian, whoid on the nearby ground¡­.. This silly girl, closed her eyes, under long eyshes, her eyelids gently quivering. Fortunately, she didn¡¯t get hurt and breathed smoothly. Duwei went over and patted her face, little magician pout in her dream, and muttered in vague tone: Mom¡­.. and Dad¡­¡­, I was little poor Vivian.¡± This silly girl, she doesn¡¯t stammer when she falls sleep. Duwei smiled ¡­¡­ She is still a child. After surviving the disaster, Duwei felt gratitude towards the little silly girl, and patted her cheek, and then whispered:¡±¡­hey,¡­wake up, wake up quickly.¡± Vivian finally drowsily opened her eyes, and when she first closely saw Duwei¡¯s face, she suddenly screamed out, and her body immediately bounced up, then a pair of little hand tightly caught her cor, leaned back quickly and shrunk back, her big eyes stared at Duwei, as if afraid Duwei would bully her. Duwei saw the silly girl, and he could not help butugh, moving back a little bit, and weirdly smiling:. ¡°Magician Lord, you finally woke up and now our situation is not good.¡± Vivian shook his head, finally calming down, and suddenly cried out: ¡°m..m..my dragon.¡± She saw the nearby sleeping dragon, jumped up, and ran towards it, threw herself on the dragon¡¯s paws. Big drops of tear fell down, and she cried:¡± my burning sun¡­.burning sun¡­teacher¡¯s gift, burning sun.¡± Then, she saw the wound in dragon¡¯s body, Vivian immediately turned up her pocket, and just turned up for a while, only pull an empty bag¡­¡­. remembering that long back Duwei took everything away. Having no magic material at all, Vivian felt hopeless, and she immediately open her arms and cast a series of spells. Then faint milky white light scattered out from her hand, but the light is so faint that even Duwei, who knows nothing about magic found that there was something wrong. Vivian also froze for a moment, she took a deep breath, stern lot, then this time, she spelled words one by one and sang those spell in deep slow voice. The white light in her hands became a little brilliant, and the dragon¡¯s wounds begun to recover. This spell seems like a magic healing technique¡­¡­.but, finally this white light is too weak, and small, that only enveloped small part of Vivian¡¯s hands. Compared to the bulky dragon, such weak healing technique is far from enough. Moreover, this healing technique was just enough to heal a small part of scar which was scarified when the dragon fell down. Vivian dazzled, and sat down with a pale face, she hardly shook her head and looked at the empty hand, she couldn¡¯t believe what she saw. ¡°my ¡­¡­ my magic magic, don¡¯t work.¡± Duwei was shocked:¡±What did you say?!¡± ¡°Magic, magic, not working anymore.¡± Vivian sadly said. Not working? Duwei was surprised, and he still counted on her to heal the dragon, and then we could leave from here.¡± Surrounding is the silent forest, she do not know where the hell it is. When they flew away, they didn¡¯t know what direction they fled, and confusedly fly for a half night. ¡°did u lose magic power because of spiritual power shortage?¡± Duwei cautiously said:¡±you should rest first, and regain some magic power.¡± ¡°No, no, I could feel the magic power, but I just cannot use it.¡± This time, Duwei also stunned. Thought for a moment, Duwei frown: ¡°Since your healing magic isn¡¯t working, what about the other magic spells?.¡± Subsequently, Vivian immediately tried a few times, but the results were disappointing! For some unknown reasons, Vivian¡¯s magic power suddenly fell back countless times She cast a variety of spells, such as fire spells, she tried her best efforts that she could onlye up with a maximum of two small fireball. As for other advanced magic spells, such as moving fires, etc.pletely became invalid! Even those low-level magic, also took lots of energy, And the magic power decreased by half. Vivian was really petrified! Magic is her only gift since she was a kid, what she can count on is her extraordinary magic power. But now, the powerful magical abilities, unexpectedly disappeared 99%! How this change didn¡¯t terrify a girl? She stared for a long time, and couldn¡¯t say a word. Duwei was also a little surprised, but he couldn¡¯t figure out, ultimately he attributed this change to the war, perhaps the ice beauty cast a spell on this little silly girl or perhaps she was hurt. Vivian lost her magic power, suddenly, her little courage became much smaller. She even didn¡¯t dare to say a whole sentence. When she looked at Duwei, her face was full of fear, and she almost cried. Duwei felt hopeless, and he said few words tofort her:¡± you must be hurt¡­. Or your sister cast some spell on you¡­..Don¡¯t worry, your magic power is so strong, you¡¯ll recover sooner orter. And you have a powerful teacher, you teacher must have ways to help you recover your magic power. Referring to the teacher, little Vivian finally calmed down a bit, it seems that in her deep heart, she worshiped her teacher and has great confidence in her teacher. Immediately she stood up: ¡± I¡­I want to go back and visit my teacher!¡± ¡°Good!¡± Duwei said: ¡°I also want to go back, but we have to be careful with your sister, she has chased us all the way. Only when sunrise, we can get rid of her. Now you¡¯ve lost your magic power, and if we encounter her again, we cannot resist her.¡± then Duwei pointed at the dragon:¡±can your dragon flys?¡± Vivian shook his head, then took efforts to exin: ¡°after dragon get injury, even without magic power, it can still recover by its own magic nature. But this speed is rtively slow, and before it recoverspletely, a dragon cannot fly. Since the dragon suffered such a heavy injury, it will take more than half year for the dragon to recover by its¡¯ own magic nature. The idea of riding a dragon to leave became invalid, Duwei only sighed, and he decided to walk around and figured our where they were. It is best toe out this wood, and if they are lucky enough, they may encounter one or two locals, and ask clearly where they are, and then find the nearest town. But this dragon cannot even make a move, it can only lie down in the same ce, and slowly recover. Vivian by no means will leave her pet¡±burning sun¡±, Duwei felt helpless, plus he now felt he owed the silly girl. Thus he treated her with much patience. He only had to work around by himself all alone. Snapping a stick, Duwei chose a direction and moved forwards. But he didn¡¯t dare to walk far, so he just went to scout ahead. However, it is clear that today, Duwei is lucky, and also very unlucky! His n was to get out this wood and then found one or two local people, the best case is to find a vige. Walking out of this wood went smoothly Less than half an hour as he walked out of the wood, and before his eyes is an open sea¡­ When he got out of thest row of trees and saw the beach in front of him, Duwei stunned for a moment. Did we fly to the seaside? He didn¡¯t think much, and immediately he turned around and walked back for a while, the longer he walked, the more strange he felt. Anxiety flooded out from his heart, Duwei quickly ran back to the ce where Vivian and the dragon was resting, regardless of his deep breathe, he shouted the female magician loudly: quickly, can u use the flying magic power? Fly up quickly, and see the surrounding terrains, quickly!¡± Vivian froze for a moment but looked at Duwei¡¯s anxious expression, she followed hismand. Female magician¡¯s magic is not working anymore, the flying spell maximally persists up to about ten seconds But ¡­¡­ ten seconds is enough! Vivian flew up, flew high enough ¡­¡­ But then, she almost fell down from the sky in panic Fortunately, Duwei caught the silly girl, and they fell to the ground together, sorceress even fell on Duwei¡¯s arms. But this time, Vivian did not hurry to push away Duwei, because this time she had no expression in her face, she found a more terrible thing! ¡° w..w..w..w¡­we..we are¡­¡­ on an ind, an ind¡­¡­!!¡± Chapter 28 I am the Third Trantor picking up this series, some of the names can be Different from A013¡¯s and/or Bagelson¡¯s Trantions. I tried to match them as much as possible, but if i missed something then let me know. the next chapter for TNC will be dyed for another 3-4 hrs¡­ Law of the Devil Chapter 28: Political Influence Towards evening, soldiers and people of Half Horn city were trying to repair the wall. At the same time, outside of the town, there was a huge cloud of dust blowing from the streets. In the huge cloud of dust, a group of cavalrymen was speeding towards Half horn city. Every cavalryman wore an armor of kingdom¡¯s regional guards armies. After they arrived at the town, they directly marched into it. ¡°I want your Leader!¡± said the Captain of the group of knights, who is an imperial ss-Five Knight. Immediately, Span was carried out, with half body tied with the bandage. The Knight¡¯s Captain rode on the horseback and looked at Span, he bowed slightly:. ¡°Dear Sir Knight, I am the Captain of the second cavalry, which is directly supervised by the Governor of Lille Province. I follow the governor¡¯smand, from now on, at the center of Half Horn town, and within a radius of three hundred kilometers area will be temporarily designed as military administrative zone! I am here to take over themand!¡± During their speech, The knight captain called Goron threw a scroll ¡°this is signed by the governor.¡± Span was surprised ¡°Mr.governor, Mr.governor ising here?¡± ¡°No, Mr.governor is in the governor¡¯s pce,¡± said Goron with a serious face. He took a look at the bruised Span and signed: ¡±Mr. Knight, I have to remind you that you are in big trouble now. The eldest son of Earl Raymond was attacked in your jurisdiction. The governor was very surprised when he heard this news. And I suggested that you¡¯d better prepared for your serious negligence. This emergent letter of invitation was dered by the governor, and it was directly sent to each branch of the army by transfer magic. ording to this letter, the Lille local thirty thousand garrison soldiers should stop the spring drills, center at the half-horn, and search the little master in all directions. But this time, you have reported incidents where the magician openly attacked the barracks, I think¡­¡­you should also make some preparations. It¡¯s of high possibilities that the governor ask youe to the governor¡¯s pce personally and want you to testify in the court. You know, your report, is likely to cause tension between the imperial military and the magic union. Span¡¯s face turned ashy, he knew that his career in the army has almost ended. The local garrison which he took charge of was attacked by a magician, and little master of Rnd Family disappeared. Logically speaking Span shouldn¡¯t have to take all responsibilities, but when facing the powerful magician, a ss four knight cannot do anything to rectify the situation. But, severe events happened, there must be someone to be med for, right? Span made a salute, trying to erect himself. As half of his body was covered in wounds, erecting his body hurt him so much that cold sweat dripped down from his body. Even though, he still lit up his head and said ¡°Thanks for your reminders, I will follow everymand by the Governor. Right now, I deliver all themanding rights to you, and ¡­.., Sir Knight, what time we set out? ¡±Now,¡± said Goron, looking at Span, a hint of frustration shed in his eyes and he loudly shouted ¡°the second personal order of Mr.governor! Knight Span, the vice-captain of half horn city imperial regional guards, due to serious negligence of duties, Mr.governor has stripped you of your position, and every military officer in half horn regional guards will be demoted. Every soldier atone for your crimes by doing good in the war and using your feats to make up your dereliction.! Sir Span, you must Set off now, Mr.Governor hope you can arrive at the governor¡¯s pce before the sunset. Goron looked at bruised Span, a thought shed in his mind, and he suddenly whispered, ¡°Sir Span,, I know you shouldn¡¯t be med for the whole thing. When I looked at the wounds on your body, I knew you had tried your best. I¡¯ll report everything I saw, I also thought that you were not negligent, it was just that things were far beyond your capacity. ¡°¡­¡­ Thank you.¡± Span sighed, shook his head and said: ¡°I do have the dereliction of duty¡­¡­ Well, sir, Knight Robert from the Rnd family is right there at the garrison barracks outside the city. I think you need to go see his side.¡± Span looked at the bruised soldiers taking off their helmets and empire officer badge, Goron could not help but sigh. Span¡­¡­ Do you have any idea what a big trouble your report has caused! Superficially speaking, it seems to be that the Rnd¡¯s family¡¯s little master was captured by a sorceress¡­..but in facts, even the little master is only of noble status, how can thirty thousand local army garrison stop spring drills to find him? The root of the matter is the contradictions of military and the magical union! Even if the magician is a recognized group that can override thew, but this time, a magician had dared to openly attack the imperial local army garrison! In the Imperial military¡¯s eyes, it¡¯s extremely serious. This is a tant military provocation to the imperial military, also a provocation to the Kingdom! Further, this action can be regarded as a treason, an act of rebellion against the kingdom!! Because of this matter, now the capital of Lille province, and the governor¡¯s sides have been arguing all days! It can be predicted that after the report is submitted to the military highmand, it will cause a huge reaction. Imperialmanders always feel dissatisfied about behaviors that the magic union neglect thew, and they think that Kingdom give magician too many privileges. And this incident, will tense up the rtionship between the military and the magic union¡­. It is heard that even the emperor is also dissatisfied with the magic union, it¡¯s because that in thest naval expedition in the south, the Magic Union did not send enough magicians to support the troops. The emperor has thought to cut the magic union special conditions. When the attack news was leaked out to Lille province¡¯s capital, it immediately caused great indignation among the officers of the army. Even before Knight Goron¡¯s departure, there were already thousands of imperial local garrison army officers joint signature. The governor ordered Magic Union to punish the attackers seriously But ¡­¡­ sentencing a magician, that too a level eight Archmagi? This is the imperial unprecedented historical event. Span went towards the governor pce, even though every part of his body was wounded, and he was totally not suitable for such a rush to take a carriage , but since the governor¡¯s order came down, he only have to reluctantly support. Sir Goron immediately took his own soldiers and took over the city¡¯s defense, then quickly separate some people to repair the wall which copsed in the earthquake yesterday. And then he came to the garrison barracks which was located outside the city and saw the Sir Robert, who was back to change his horse. Robert was also wounded, but he was still trying to insist. He has been riding around whole day, and his body has been exhausted, but his spirit was still tough. Only the horse cannot stand any more, so he came back to change the horse. Goron talked with Robert for a while. After known that the local garrison had assembled for a massive search, Robert slightly relieved. ¡°Besides ¡­¡­ I think the Rnd family¡¯s private military should be reaching shortly, noter than tomorrow afternoon, this private military should be able to enter the Lille province. The will cause a great result ¡­¡­ I¡¯m afraid¡­¡­ ¡± Robert is indeed one of the Rnd family¡¯s retainers, he has stayed in the wealthy family for several years, thus he know some situations by what he constantly sees and hears, and he immediately said: ¡°is this incident going to tense the rtionship between the Magic Union and the Garrison?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Goron slowly said: ¡°I have brought a thousand cavalry, and there arerge forces still gathering, and now, in a radius of three hundred kilometres,mand rights belongs to me, but to be honest, I don¡¯t have much confidence, but the governor gave serious orders that we must find master Duwei at any cost. because¡­¡­¡± Sir Goron looked around and whispered: ¡°the this thing is, the governor personally gave me a confidential letter, which says: Although the event was big, but presumably those Commanders still not dare to break friendship with magic union, at most, they just want to take the opportunity to suppress the magic union, and they won¡¯t take any big actions. I am afraid that even the emperor will not dare to offend the magic union. But, the emperor is just going through with the flow. Of course, the emperor will send some letters to condemn the magic union. It is highly possible that the emperor will reduce the big trouble into a small one and a small one into nothing. Even though the garrison was attacked, but nobody was dead, thus at least on this point, it¡¯s negotiable. But¡­ That little nobility is the key! If¡­in the worst case, if master Duwei had some ident, then I am afraid this matters would be hard to handle. Sir Robert, do you understand what I mean?¡± Robert thought for a while , and nodded. If Master Duwei¡­¡­ if any ident happened, even¡­¡­ Then, if, for Rnd family, their eldest son died, they surely won¡¯t let it go! I have heard that even Lord Earl do not like his eldest son, but, if Rnd family¡¯s young master died, even though Lord Earl don¡¯t like his son, for Rnd family¡¯s name, he will definitely take it to the next level! Otherwise, hundreds of years old Rnd family ! The Great Rnd family, how could they be so arbitrary abused and bullied? If they can bear that their own son being killed, then in outsiders¡¯ eyes, the supremacy of the Rnd family, I am afraid, will be shaky!. Standing on the status of the family, Lord Earl will certainly not let this end! And if Lord Earl didn¡¯t make apromise, then ¡­.considering the status of Rnd family and human resources, the Rnd family leader will be able to drive a considerable number of imperial military forces. At that time, if it caused the confrontation between the imperial military and magical union, things will turn chaotic! Therefore, Finding little master Duwei is the key to calming down this situation. ¡°what about the response of Magic Union ?¡± Robert asked ¡°Magic union? huh!¡± Goron said with contemptuous tone, it¡¯s obvious, after this matter happened, Goron was also very dissatisfied with magic union:¡± what else can they say? Magic union¡¯s respond is: we will handle this matter privately. See! Privately! Openly attacking imperial army is A tant rebellion and treason! The magic union just replied with¡± we¡¯ll handle this matter privately!¡± as we all know that the magic union protects their magician, thus even though they said they¡¯ll handle attackers privately, they usually let it go. And those magicians are very arrogant, they think that without their help, the Emperor can do nothing. Robert thought for a moment, and suddenly said: ¡°Sir Goron, I think, searching within a radius of around three hundred kilometers is not enough, because the power of the strong female magician who attacked the barracks, is far beyond our Imagination, I think she already ran out of the three hundred scope, so I rmend ¡­¡­ ¡± ¡°I know.¡± Goron nodded: ¡°Although the scope written on the governor¡¯s paper is three hundred kilometers, but governor also told me in the confidential letter that, the scope can be appropriately expanded, even out of the Lille province, He has contacted surrounding areas¡¯ local officials and even, three hundred kilometers away is the sea, and the governor has even acquired the Imperial Navy¡¯s support, I think, the Rnd family is deeply rooted in the Navy, so this time getting support from the Imperial Navy was not at all a problem.¡± Robert weirdly smiled: ¡°I wonder what is the condition of Master Duwei¡­.I hope he is ok¡­..¡± Duwei¡¯s Conditions were not as good. Duwei¡¯s shoes have been broken. Aristocratic kind ofmb boots were not suitable to walk in the woods , and his trousers were also teared up by some thorns. He leaned on a stick, a sharpened stick, so not only can be used as a crutch, but can also be used as a weapon. The powerful magician lost her magic, and he is nothing but a teenager, they always have to be careful as the dense trees may have some beasts hiding within. While staying around dragon is the safest, but the two people always need to look around ¡­.at least to find something to eat ! and fresh water to drink! ! After looking at the ind, Duwei can basically determine most of the ind¡¯s terrain¡­.Dense Forest! His mouth was so thirsty that it almost smoked, but what made Duwei most worried was that they were unable to find a drop of fresh water! There is no spring or a small freshwaterke in the ind. This ind is notrge, the overall topography appears to be a slightly t round, from the east to the west, it only takes about half a day. ording to Duwei¡¯s estimation, the diameter of the ind about five miles. A small ind. In this ind, if there is no fresh water, then ¡­¡­ Duwei shook his head, only to sigh. The problem now is that the dragon can¡¯t be counted on, and we can¡¯t even think about riding the dragon to get out of here. And this stupid girl also lost the magic, her flying spells at maximum will onlyst for ten seconds, and then she¡¯ll fall down¡­. But surrounding us is the broad sea! They can not leave the ind! If they are unable to find food and water, then in a maximum of two days, these two people would die here. Vivian, with a pitiful look, followed behind Duwei, this sorceress was terrified, shended on this strange ind and lost magic which she count on, and now she is feeling extreme loss and anxiety. The little nobility who always bully her, following him, can make vivian felt a trace of a strange sense of security. When Duwei proposed to look around, Vivian insists on going along with Duwei ¡­¡­ Although staying with The Dragon is safest option. Even if there is some horrible beast on the ind ¡­¡­ But in this world there is no beasts that dare to approach the dragon. Losing her magic, she walked for a long time, Vivian¡¯s feet hurt, and she might even suspected that their feet have a froth, but looking at the dark face in the little nobility¡­¡­., Vivian did not dare to say a word, she just frowned and followed. Although Duwei was annoyed, but he still saw the stupid girl frown. Walking such a long way, for a delicate girl, that is definitely a bit too much. ¡°Rest a while.¡± Duwei sighed and waved a stick around after making sure that there were no snakes or something else in the ss, and then he escorted Vivian sit down. Vivian was almost shedding tears, she never expected that sitting down would feel so good! Duwei thought for a while, took off his coat, quickly torn his coat to pieces, and handed Vivian: ¡°here! Your boots sole is hard, no wonder that your feet hurt. Cover your feet with those cloth strips, your feet will feel much morefortable. ¡°Tha¡­¡­ thank you.¡± Thinking for a moment, Vivian said: ¡°w¡­ can we, leave from here?¡± ¡°Leaving ¡­¡­¡± Duwei weirdly smile, he could not bear to disappointed the little girl: ¡°first, above all, we have to find food and water, as for other things, we¡¯ll fix it one by one.¡± Duwei pondered a moment and said: ¡°After walking for a day, I can now confirm that first, ording to the wind direction, I am sure that this is the spring monsoon, concurring to this, I believe that this ind is located in the Imperial eastern sea. Then, after checking the vegetation here, we should still be in the southern empire, perhaps even in the sea area of the eastern Lille province. And¡­¡­¡± At this moment, Duwei looked wired: ¡°I am very worried about one problem.¡± ¡°Wh¡­¡­ What?¡± ¡±Don¡¯t you find it odd that, we walked for so long that we almost reached half of the ind¡­¡­ But we haven¡¯t found a single animal yet! Not to mention a big beast, I didn¡¯t see a snake or even a rat! This ind seems to have no animals, and, listen¡­¡± Duwei put up his hand to his ear and made a listening posture, his voice is very strange: ¡°have you noticed that¡­¡­ in such a big ind and dense forest ¡­¡­ there is not even a bird voice¡­.nond animals and birds¡­.! This is too weird!¡± Chapter 29 Law of the Devil Chapter 29: Night of Romance When Sun was about to set, Duwei¡¯s search finally bore fruit. He found a small puddle in the depths of the West Forests of the ind. This is probably the cavity that was left after the rainy season, the ind has no beast, and the puddles are located in a rtively dark side, Duwei cautiously looked around the water and did not find any trace of a beast. After tasting a bit of water, Duwei confirmed that water in the puddle is freshwater, Duwei eased. A thirsty young teen and a thirty youngdy threw themselves to the puddle, regardless of manners. Cool water with a little weird taste poured into the fiery throat, Duwei could not help but uttered a pleasant sigh. That hint of cool feeling slid down the throat, the whole body felt sofortable that it shivered. After drinking enough water, Duwei immediately took off his sheepskin boots and cleaned it up in the puddle. ¡°You, what are you are doing?¡± Vivian looked at Duwei ¡°Washing shoes,¡± Duwei said, and kept showing his shoes. ¡°Then use it to hold water.¡± ¡°ho..hold water? Using Sho¡­shoes?¡± Vivian was revealing a strange expression. ¡°Of course,¡± Duwei said, ¡°In addition to shoes, can you find any other water storage containers? Do you have a bottle or jar? No, you don¡¯t, then you can only use my shoes to hold water. What¡¯s more, my shoes are made up of sheepskin, so it has an excellent waterproof quality, stupid girl.¡± said Duwei and he took a look at Vivian: ¡°Do not frown, this is our only way. Since we don¡¯t know how long we have to stay in this terrible ce. We can not stay in here and just watch this puddle, we must go to the sea coast! If you think my shoes stinks, you can take off your shoes to hold water.¡± Vivian was still stunned, Duwei urged:. ¡°hurry up, unless you want to drink the water from my shoes.¡± Maybe thest sentence stimted the little poor Vivian, she quickly took off her shoes. Vivian¡¯s shoes were made of leather, and her shoes seem much better in quality than Duwei¡¯s. After she had taken off her shoes, the female magician seemed helpless. She wore white socks, but her socks were stained with blood. It seems after walking for a long time, the girl¡¯s feet has been blistered, and all those Blisters revealed. Soon, Viviany on the edge of the puddle like Duwei did, she quickly cleaned up her shoes. She fiercely washed several times, atst Duwei lost his patience: ¡°Twice is enough, why do you wash so many times.¡± ¡°Sh¡­¡­.. shoes, dirty¡­¡­¡± Duwei smiled, looking at the innocent little girl: ¡°Hey, you see, this little puddle, has limited water, you washed your shoes again and again, then although your shoe is clear, but the water became dirty. What¡¯s more, in the end, you have to drink that water. ¡°¡­¡­¡± Vivian stared, then she t mouth, with unlimited grievances, she filled two boots with water and stood up: ¡°But, but, do we really need to drink this water?¡± ¡°Wait until tomorrow, when your throat bes dry, even if the water is ten times more dirty, you would not hesitate to drink it.¡± Duwei lightly said : ¡°Well, now we need to go back.¡± When they got back, Duwei walked in front while holding a long stick, after a while, he found Vivian falls farther behind, and Duwei stopped, frown and looked at her: ¡°You¡¯d better hurry up, the time is gettingte. After the sun goes downpletely, it will bepletely dark, and even walking will be difficult. Walking in the forest at night makes it more tricky to identify the direction.¡± Vivian quickly nodded, picked up her speed and closely followed Duwei, one-foot deep one-foot shallow. After walking a few step, she could not help but shed tears of pain: ¡°my¡­¡­ my feet, hurt so much.¡± Duwei frown and walked beside her, looking down at the girl, her feet have been punctured by several thorns, a fine round ankle, as well as a few small toes are covered with mud and a bit of blood. Sighed, Duwei was a little frustrated. Letting such a fragile girl walk barefoot in the jungle, and that is indeed difficult for her. Duwei said with a cold face, and hang his two shoes on the neck, then turned and slightly bent. ¡°Up!¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Ah?¡± ¡°I said up!¡± Duwei¡¯s back turned towards Vivian, and his voice is still very cold:. ¡°. Hurry up, do not waste time, I will carry you back.¡± ¡°b..bu..but but¡­¡­¡± ¡°Nothing but, listen little girl, we have to seize the time, before it gets dark, we must rush back to the dragon, we are not familiar with the ind, and God knows what this ind has to offer. Right now you and I have no ability to protect ourselves. We have to seize the time! Fast! Now, do not bullshit me, ande on! ¡± Duwei¡¯s stern voice made the poor little Vivian not dare to refute anything, she immediately hanged her shoes on her neck, just like Duwei did, and then obedientlyy on Duwei¡¯s back. Carrying the female magician, after walking for a few steps, Duwei started feeling a little difficult, after all, Although his mind is that of an adult, but his body was still that of a small teenager ¡­¡­ and also of someone who grew with frail deficiencies. ¡°thank ¡­¡­ thank you.¡± Walking for a while, suddenly Vivian whispered and stammered, her voice is low that Duwei almost did not hear her words clearly. But he just grunted, and did not speak a word. Thus, on this uninhabited ind, at nightfall, the poor little Vivian volts in a strange boy¡¯s back, she could see the ck shy leaked from the dense tree leaves. She bowed her head, and could see the teen could hardly move forwards, and also hear his heavy breathing. Vivian suddenly felt that this little nobility who always bully hers, does not seem so terrible ¡­¡­ Back to the ce where they fell, the big dragon is still sleeping. ording to Vivian¡¯s introduction on the road, sleep can increase the dragon¡¯s body recovery speed from injuries, during this time, the dragon does not even have to eat and drink. That relieved Duwei a lot ¡­¡­ fortunately, otherwise, that fresh water is not enough for us to drink, how can it feed the thirst of a dragon? Limping back to the camps, Duwei left the female magician, and he fell on the ground, gasping breathing together. ¡°Dying ¡­¡­ dying ¡­¡­¡± Duwei took a deep breathe, breath like a dying man, his body is numb, and heined: ¡°If it was the past me, let alone carry such a little girl, even if I carry one and hold another,, I can run one thousand meters without taking a breathe, and now my body is so much worse ¡­¡­ ¡± Vivian fell to the ground, and this time she didn¡¯t say she is in pain, but she stood up immediately, looked Duwei pant hard, she suddenly jumped up, take a slices at the tree, then sat quietly beside Duwei, lifting her hand to cool Duwei. Duwei gasped for a moment, looked up at Vivian: ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°I ¡­¡­ I saw that you looked very tired, so..i was just trying to help you.¡± Vivian opened her eyes and said seriously. Duwei could not help butugh, this girl, this silly little girl, but also in some degree, she is really cute: ¡°Thank you ¡­¡­ But, do you know that it is early spring, the weather is still pretty cold ?¡± Duwei gently took therge patch of leaves from the female magician¡¯s hands, with a bit of a smile looking at Vivian¡¯s reddened face, and then said: ¡°Well, we are now going to rise a fire, Otherwise, we can not stand the cold at night. We have nothing now, if we got sick because of cold, then we¡¯ll have big troubles. ¡± In fact, the cold fall night is not difficult to solve, as long as they slept next to the dragon. After all, the other end is a me dragon ¡­¡­ But, sleeping near such a monster, if the sleeping dragon casually turns over, then they may be crushed to death. Moreover, Vivian probably will be the first magician in history who was crushed to death by her own magic pet. Duwei picked up enough leaves and branches so that Vivian can cast a Fire Magic¡­¡­.a little fireball, now Vivian only has such little magic. At night, Vivian while holding a torch, and Duwei holding enough branches, came to the edge of the beach, Duwei lit a fire, and he tried to pile the branches highly, so that the fire can burn more fiercely. In the Darkness, catching the sight of a fire, even from a faraway ce, is possible! Duwei sighed, this is the only hope. I only hope that there is a ship passing by, the sailors can see the campfire, and send someone here, then they may be able to be save us. After setting up everything, Duwei was exhausted, he stretched his body, andid on the beach, took a long sigh. At this time ¡­¡­ goo! Duwei froze for a moment, and then they heard again ¡­¡­ Goo! He sat up, looked at Vivian with a half smile. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, m¡­my¡­my belly.¡± Fire makes Vivian¡¯s face look reddish, Vivian embarrassed clutching her stomach: ¡°I¡­I¡­I¡¯m hungry.¡± ¡°me too,¡± Duwei sighed: ¡°Unfortunately, we are currently locate in a deserted ind where no small animal lives, otherwise, grabbing two small animals and having a good open-air barbecue is also good. ¡°Then ¡­¡­ What about wild berries ?¡± Maybe because she was hungry that the little magician became a bit smarter. ¡°look around, there are no fruit trees, not even mention berry fruit nts. There is only a clump of leaves and weeds?..¡± Duwei sighed: ¡°Otherwise, I would like you to remind me?¡± ¡± Well, then how about fish ¡± Vivian looked at Duwei with pitiful face: ¡°there is sea, and sea have fish?¡± Duwei shrugged his shoulders, and he looked at Vivian: ¡°can you swim?¡± Vivian shook her head. ¡°neither can I.¡± Duwei smiled: ¡°we are the same,ndlubbers, as to go to water and catch fish, I do not have that ability and, during the day, I¡¯ve been looking at the edge of the shore¡­ I only found some empty shells and conch, can your stomach digest the hard shell? ¡± ¡°But I am so¡­..so hungry.¡± Vivian poorly curled her small mouth, blinked her eyes and looked at Duwei. ¡°I can not help, lets for the night, tomorrow morning, I¡¯ll figure out a way to catch fish in shallow water area, but not now, the night is dark, and we cannot swim, if we drown now then everything is over. Vivian sighed, she could only obediently sit down ¡­¡­ inadvertently, she sat beside Duwei. ¡°we should have a talk, chat could make you forget hunger.¡± Duwei smiled: ¡°We do not know much about each other yet, maybe, now we can be considered as friends indeed..¡± ¡°what do you want to talk about?¡± ¡°For example ¡­¡­¡± Duwei thought, looked at the stars in the sky and holding his knee:¡±For example, you are so young, you are younger than me, I want to know how did you be a great magician! ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know¡± Vivian also held her knees like Duwei did and she gently sighed: ¡°I grew up with my teacher, I never left home, and this is my second time leaving home. Duwei looked at this little girl, suddenly he smiled: ¡°In fact, your voice sounds good, it¡¯s soft and sweet, if you do not stutter, then it would be better.¡± ¡± I¡¯m really sorry, I did not mean that.¡± Vivian blushed: ¡°when I was little, I didn¡¯t know how to speak properly. ¡°In fact, the more you stutter, the more you should talk, if you practice again and again, then you¡¯ll know how to do it.¡± Duweiughed: ¡°Well, tell me something about yourself, how did you be eight ss magician! You must be the first person who made such a big achievement at such a young age! ¡± ¡°What?¡± Vivian bewilderingly looked at Duwei. Duwei sighed and smiled:. ¡°Hey, I praised you, ah, you give me at least some feedback?¡± ¡°Ah ¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I, I ¡­¡­¡± Vivian loses in panic again. ¡°Silly girl,¡± Duwei shook his head: ¡°it seems that besides magic, you cannot do anything else?¡± Subsequently, Duwei patiently talked with Vivian for a while, and Vivian struggled to tell Duwei her story. She, Vivian Yang, ever since she can remember, she studied magic with her teacher But, as to her teacher¡¯s identity, despite how Duwei asked her, she refused to disclose anything. even when Duwei tried to cut and dry answers, she still couldn¡¯t say a word. Tentatively thought her teacher was an expert in the world Since Vivian was young, she, and her teacher lived in a secret pce. ording to her words, this pce¡¯s location was in a remote, thickly forested mountains. Over the past decade, Vivian only went out twice. Beside the two journey, she spends most her time on studying magic. All her daily work is learning all kinds of magic knowledge, reciting various weird arcane magic, as well as helping the teacher do¡­¡­ Laundry. ¡°Laundry?¡± Duwei smiled: ¡°you know how to do theundry?¡± He pulled Vivian¡¯s a small hand and looked at her hand: ¡°what a soft little hand, I cannot imagine that you can doundry with this hands .¡± ¡°I¡­.I can,¡± Vivian flushed, maybe because Duwei didn¡¯t believe her words or because Duwei was holding her hands: ¡°I¡­I can use my magic to wash the clothes, as long as I can cast a spell, those clothes can wash themselves. ¡°Oh ¡­¡­then your spell is like washing machine ¡­¡­¡± Duwei said Vivian went out twice, the first time, she was brought by her teacher to the imperial magic union headquarters, where she participated in a secret and undisclosed magic level assessment. Prior to that assessment, her teacher had said, ¡°I¡¯ll surprise all those stupid magician in the magic union, let them know what a great magic genius I have cultivated!¡± The result is that Vivian indeed left those union magic officials a deep impression. Because, from the standpoint of a magician, Vivian is not just a genius! Infact she is the genius of geniuses! A fourteen-year-old eight ss magician! Even go through the history of magicians, you cannot find a second one. ¡°Well, that was a year ago.¡± Vivian is a little embarrassed and said: ¡°Those magician nned to let me stay in capital, but my teacher said that she need someone to wash her clothes, so my teacher took me back home.¡± ¡°Well, your teacher just don¡¯t not want you being taken away by the magic union.¡± Of course Duwei is not as innocent as Vivian: an eight ss magician, at any ce, can be a big man! Even in the magic unions, there are only a few eight ss magicians. And well¡­¡­ you are so young. ¡± ¡°yep,¡± Vivian blinked her eyes, however, she was not able to understand Duwei¡¯s words. Quickly, she is happy together: ¡°I passed that assessment, and my teacher is very happy, so she gave me burning sun as my gift.¡± ¡°burning sun, you mean the Dragon?¡± ¡°yep¡± when Vivian talk about her magic pet, immediately, she is in high spirits: ¡°That is it!¡± Duwei sigh ¡­¡­ ? Who the hell is her teacher? Unexpectedly, She gave Vivian a dragon as a gift. Not a cat or a dog¡­But a Dragon! And Vivian stayed at where her teacher lived in seclusion for a whole year. And everyday, she was still learn magic and do theundry. After that, i.e., the second visit to the outside world is to recapture the Terror Illusion Goblin ¡­¡­ it was her teacher¡¯s pet. ¡°wait! ¡± Duwei suddenly jumped up, he was a little excited, looking at Vivian: ¡°you still have that illusion Goblin, right??¡± Vivian nodded her head, she looked in her robe, the little demon was shut in a small cage, hanging on Vivian¡¯s waist. ¡°oh belly belly, and now I know have to save u,¡± hungry green light shed in Duwei¡¯s eyes, and he swallowed saliva:! ¡°Hey, silly girl, we don¡¯t have to bare hungry now, Look at this little animal, looks very plump ah! Although there are no condiments, but after we skinned and roasted it on a grill, the taste should still be pretty good. ¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Vivian blinks her eyes, quite a while she start to understand Duwei¡¯s words, and then suddenly she screamed: ¡°Oh !! No no, no !! you , you, you can not eat the Terror Illusion Goblin! It is my teacher¡¯s pet if you eat it, I, I, I ¡­¡­ ¡± ¡°I cannot take everything into consideration¡­¡­¡± Duwei loudly said: ¡°We haven¡¯t eaten anything for a whole day, and then if this situation continues, by tomorrow we¡¯ll lose strength, and i am not sure whether we can catch a fish!¡± ¡°No, no, do not eat it.¡± Vivian was struggling to put the small cage in her arms, trying her best to protect it from Duwei:. ¡°Do not eat it, please.¡± ¡°Well, then how about we eat your dragon!!¡± Duwei loudly said: ¡°your dragon is so huge, cutting a piece of meat won¡¯t danger its life, right?.¡± ¡°Eat¡­¡­ e¡­e¡­ea..eat..eat..eat my dragon?¡± Vivian almost passed out. Just before, thinking that the little nobility is quite a good man, but in the blink of an eye, he be a devil again! Eat dragon? Almighty God! Please forgive the little Poor Vivian! All my life, I never have heard a person who dares to keep their eyes on dragon ¡­¡­ Not mention to treated it as food! ¡°No, no, please don¡¯t eat my pet, No, no please don¡¯t eat it¡­. waah ¡­¡­ father, mother¡­¡­¡± looking at Duwei¡¯s ferocious appearance, Vivian started to cry. Duwei felt helpless, watching the little girl cry, he shook his head:!. ¡°This is not OK, that¡¯s not OK ¡­¡­ Well, all right, I¡¯ll follow your call tonight and tomorrow I¡¯ll try to catch a fish, but, if tomorrow i can not catch a fish, then we will not starve to death! If we are dead, then there is no need to talk other things! If we cannot find any food, then we have to eat your teacher¡¯s pet. At this moment, not just Vivian was crying, but even the illusionary Goblin in that small cage was scared stiff as well, the advanced monsters, can understand human speech. A pair of big eyes beams silly looked at Duwei, the little monster, was so scared that it curled and began to shiver. Vivian begins to plead in her mind¡­. Almighty God! please bless the Vivian, let the devil catch few fishes tomorrow¡­¡­ oh no no no, not because the little poor Vivian is greedy, but because the little poor Vivian want to keep the dragon¡¯s life. And if it is possible, Vivian can a little eat fish, uh ¡­¡­ or, just eat one fish ¡­¡­ Almighty God, please bless poor Vivian ¡­¡­ hum hum ¡­¡­ I am also hungry, Vivian really wants to eat fish ¡­¡­ Chapter 30 Law of the Devil Chapter 30 : Roar in the Ind The fire had already quenched somehow when Duwei woke up this morning, smoke flying from the ashes makes him feel kind of cold. Duwei moves his body, but he feels like something is on his chest. He looks down, found out it is Vivian who came into his chest. The little magician is enjoying her sleep, but she wrapped her body together, putting her hands inside Duwei ¡®s shirt, seems like she was feeling too cold and wanted to get some heat from Duwei ¡®s warm body. Maybe she was just too cold and can¡¯t help sneaking into Duwei¡®s chest. Duwei had mixed feeling haunting his mind, but he doesn¡¯t push this little girl to wake her up but in fact, took off his own shirt and put it on her body instead. After doing this, he finally stood up. As soon as he looks up, his face suddenly changes color!!! ¡­¡­ ¡°No!!!! shit!!!! No!!!!!!¡± Duwei screams out an angry voice on this matinal isted ind. The thick fog floats on the sea, and the world seems to have been put on a white veil under this location. The moist air is everywhere, and he could barely see anything because of this damn weather. Under this bad condition, in which nobody can see more than ten meters!! How can Duwei not be anxious? He was trapped in this isted ind with no food and little drinkable water. The eagerness to leave this ce as soon as possible was totally dependent on the fire. Thus, the only hope he holds in the heart is that any boat passing by this ind could pick them up. For achieving this hope, Duwei has already thought out an idea, which was from this morning he would fire the woods constantly on the coast. The smoke from the fire would attract the passing boats, if there is any. However, now, facing such a thick fog, Duwei ¡®s heart turns as cold as ice! Under such a bad weather, in which nobody can barely see anything. Even if Duwei fires the wood, the passing boats will also have almost no possibility to see them!! What¡¯s worse, ording to what Duwei knew before. Once the weather bes foggy on the sea, it willsts a really long time in general. Different from the fog on the continent, which could disappear within a day or two, the fog on the sea couldst for three to five days without anyone feeling odd. Three to five days¡­ Do I still have three to five days left? Duwei wonders. And he has eaten nothing since now. Vivian wakes up by Duwei ¡®s voice, she looks at the unhappy face of Duwei, feeling more or less worried in her mind. Duwei speaks nothing, he picks up the twigs and puts them together, then, he sets the fire. He tries to make the fire more fierce, making it more ze. Then hees to pick up more twigs and throws them in front of Vivian. ¡°you stay here to watch the fire, if there is any sign that the fire is going to fade, then throw the woods into it! What¡¯s more, do not let the fire extinguish at any cost, you understand? And by the same time, i need you to watch the sea carefully, if there is any boat you could see, you should attract their attentions sparing no means, you could make the fire more zing or¡­or you use your magic, shooting the fireball into the sky! You understand?¡± ¡°ye¡­yes¡± Vivian nodded her head. But her face turns interrogatory immediately ¡°can¡­can we see the boat under such a heavy fog? The boat can¡­can see us?¡± Duwei exhales heavily and doesn¡¯t answer the question but says ¡°just do what i told you, this is the only thing we can do¡± instead. After saying that, Duwei picks a long stick and holds it in his hand for a while, then, he walks away along the seaside. ¡°wh¡­.where are you going?¡± ¡°I am going to find some food!¡± Duwei speaks without any emotion in his voice ¡°i think, maybe i could find some mushroom, and some berries also. Perhaps i could find something edible in this big woods. I wish i could, cause it¡¯s easier than fishing! But if i can¡¯t find anything, I think, i have to go to do the god damn fishing.¡± Duwei stops when he says these words ¡°You¡¯d better bless me that i could find food, or we could only eat your pet. Humans must live before that pet!¡± Looking at the cold eyesight from Duwei before he leaves, Vivian can¡¯t help shivering. Duwei has gone for the whole morning. Vivian sits on the beach alone, feeling sacred from her inner heart. There is nobody around, what¡¯s more, she feelspletely lonely! Even though Vivian lives the isted life with her teacher in the past as well, and her teacher left Vivian alone at home most of the times. But during that time, Vivian still had magic. However, now, Vivian has nothing. Working on the fire for the whole morning, Vivian got two cuts by the sharp twigs in her hands, several parts of her face also turned ck because of the smoke. She tried to make the fire zing all the time, just as Duwei told her to do. At noon, Duweies back eventually. Seeing Duwei walk toward Vivian, she could see he wears a happy face, even though, his legs seem to have been injured. There is a vine on his neck has lots of strange things hung on it. It looks like some kind of nt Duwei pawed out from the ground, it still have the ck soil on it. He uses his one hand to support with the stick, the other lifts some twigs, which have lots of orange berries on it. The berries look so appealing, the color is so beautiful, and all are of the same size as grapes. Without any doubts, it must be tasty! Vivian can¡¯t wait to taste these berries. Before this experience of starvation, this female magician has never experienced the feeling of hunger! ¡°foooooooood! Yooooooou finally found it!¡± Vivian cheers and runs toward Duwei with bare feet happily. Duwei smiles a little when he sees the exciting face of Vivian, then his smile fades away quickly ¡°don¡¯t be happy too early, these are all i found through the whole morning¡±, he says with a serious face. Not until Vivian realizes Duwei walks in a weird way that she finds out there are several cuts on his feet. The sharp things on the ground must have cut Duwei ¡®s feet as he walks with bare ones. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s eat first.¡± Duwei puts down his findings, pointing the unknown rhizome hang on the twig ¡°i can figure out these nts, i know some things about pharmaceutics. The nts like this are all wild nts, whose roots have multiple usages and are edible, what¡¯s more, they are not too small.¡± Duwei washes the nts in the sea water as he says, then hands them to Vivian¡¯ these are all yours, you could just eat the raw nts or, if you prefer, you could grill them on the fire.¡¯ Vivian stops for a while, looking down the rhizome, suddenly feels kind of reluctant, she looks at the branch with full of berries on, then pouts ¡°i¡­i¡­i wanna eat the berries, i¡­i¡­¡± ¡°no, you eat this, i ¡®ll eat the berries¡± Duwei speaks with a calm but irresistible voice. The voice scares Vivian, and makes her wanna cry. Vivian feels deadly sad. This guy must be doing it on purpose! He is punishing the poor little Vivian! Yes, it must be, his revenge against Vivian because she doesn¡¯t let him eat her pet! Even though Vivian feels reluctant, she still squats beside the fire, toasts the rhizome on the fire for a little while. Then just put them into the mouth carelessly. The rhizome Duwei picked are all very big and tastes not bad¡­or, you could say that tastes insipid. It ¡®s too hard to chew, and the poor Vivian gets tired chewing that just after two stems. What¡¯s more, these are not tasty at all¡­ They are too insipid, too in. Duwei just sits right in front of Vivian in silence, he pulls the berries down and throw them in the mouth one by one, chews a little while then swallows it. Gradually, Vivian can¡¯t stop staring at it¡­ She swallows the saliva, that berries¡­must be pretty tasty¡­what a mean guy he is! ¡°Why are you looking at me?¡± Duwei smiles coldly ¡°are you ming me for not giving you the berry and letting you eat the rhizome instead?¡± Vivian pouts without saying a word. As Duwei doesn¡¯t notice, Vivian pulls a berry down from then twig¡­ She wears a big magician robe, it¡¯s big enough to hide the berry, and she keeps her action small, so that Duwei doesn¡¯t even find out. Then, as Duwei looks at the other direction, Vivian throws the berry into her mouth quickly and bites heavily¡­ Just as she hopes the sweet taste would explode in her mouth¡­ ew!!!!!! Vivian changes her face quickly, with a wired expression on, them, like she doesn¡¯t even realize, Vivian pukes the berry out within a second! What the hell is this? It¡¯s too sour to eat! The puckery taste could twist and numb the tough!! Vivian can¡¯t stop to vomit just with one bite! Are these berries really edible? Duwei looks at the unpleasant face of Vivian, smiling as he had already guessed so. Then he bites thest one, very slowly, chewing it in the mouth, after that, he stands up ¡°okay, once we finished the lunch, there is lots of work needed to be done.¡± Just at this time, Vivian looks at the bold branch on the ground, then, looks back at the two rhizomes left on her handspared with that sick berries, this insipid roots are more than delicious! ¡°you eat this, i ¡®ll eat the berries¡± the words Duwei said haunts in her head. The scene that Duwei ate all of these awful berries one by one calmly without a words appeared in her mind¡­ Vivian suddenly feels like she could not speak a single word. She pinches the rhizome in her hands forcibly, staring at Duwei. ¡°What are you looking at? Focus on your food, we have a lot of things to doter!¡± Duwei frowns. ¡°okay! okay!¡± Vivian turns around and pushes the rootstocks into her mouth, then bouncing and vivacious towards Duwei. Her eyes and voice are softer even with an emotion of sorry ¡°wh¡­wh¡­what should we do? I ¡®ll follow your words!¡± ¡°We will go fishing, or we have only rhizome to eat! We can¡¯t depend on that for a long time!¡± Duwei smiles ¡°tie this vine on my body, i need you to hold one side, so i could walk into the water and try to catch some fishes with the branch¡­but¡­¡± Not until he finishes his words, they hear a loud screaming in the air! Suddenly, the ground starts to quake heavily! Both Duwei and Vivian lose their stand, and fall on the ground!! The screaming seems like shouts from the hell, dreary and depressing, like a stone smashes on the heart! Duwei have heard the screaming of the huge dragon, which he thought was the scariest sound on earth! But now, this sound is far more horrifying than the one he heard from the huge dragon! It¡¯s louder, and it terrifies you to the bones! The ground was constantly shaking, Duwei feels like he is going through a terrible earthquake!! Right in this shaking, even though the sea water starts roaring¡­ There are strong waves one by one !! ¡®what¡­what is that fucking sound!!¡¯ Duwei¡¯s face changes color, he holds the fallen Vivian in his chest. Vivian was already scared to pale. Right at this moment, the dragon on the other side of the woods, Vivian¡¯s pet, seems to wake up too by this loud screaming! The sleepy dragon has wakened up, but¡­ Apparently, both Vivian and Duwei hears a sad screaming shout from that dragon! And there is obviously the feeling of terror in that scream! Chapter 31 Duwei and Vivian ran toward the woods where the dragon slept, but only to find that in the other end, Vivian¡¯s fire dragon had already woke up, frighteningly looking around. Bursts of roars came from its mouth, obviously, it was terrified. Vivian immediately ran up towards the dragon, raised her hands and held the dragon¡¯s w. She slowly chanted some spells, the slightest trace of light rose from her little hands, though weak, but the dragon finally calmed down. Roar changed into a low hum. Finally, the dragon lowered its head again,id down and then fell into a deep sleep. After Vivian had cast her magic spell, she looked very tired. Duwei went towards the little silly girl, found she could stand firm and held her arm quickly and gently and whispered: ¡± what happened? ¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡­I don¡¯t know, burning sun seemed to be frightened, just..just now¡­¡­¡± ¡°yeah, now have you reassured it ?¡± Duwei asked, seeing Vivian nod, Duwei said in a low tone: ¡°That earthquake and the strange roar, you should have heard it. It¡¯s right in the north of the ind ¡­¡­ I suspect that there may be something on this ind! Something we have not found yet ¡­¡­ Maybe there are some beasts.¡± Vivian¡¯s face looked bad, and although she was innocent, she was still smart. Beast? What kind of beast can make such terrible roars! What kind of beasts¡¯ roars can terrify a dragon!?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to see.¡± Duwei suddenly said. ¡°Uh? Won¡¯t it be dangerous?¡± ¡°Danger¡­¡­¡± Duwei shook his head: ¡°I do not know, but I am sure that this ind is probably not simple ¡­¡­ You see, there are no animals, not even a bird! What does this mean? I guess it is possible that there is a terrible animal on this ind, who has conquered the ind into its territory, so there is no other life. Anyway, we are now on the ind, and we can¡¯t leave this ind in a short time. I have to figure out what kind of beast lives on this ind, otherwise, maybe we will encounter itter¡­¡­ Did you hear the terrible roar just now? We have to check this situation! So even when we encounter that thingter, we can make some preparations and corresponds in advance. ¡± Vivian hardly nodded her head: ¡°i¡­i¡­i will go as well!¡± Duwei looked very serious:! ¡°No, listen, silly girl, you stay here and take care of your pet. If the roaring sound came again, the dragon would be rmed again, then what will you do!? You¡¯d better stay here and take care of that giant dragon now. And if it woke up, and you cate it. And ¡­¡­ you are clumsy, you only bring me troubles. You have no shoes, can you cross to the northern ind barefoot?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Vivian was speechless. She thought, and looked pitiful at Duwei, she bowed her head saying: ¡°Okay.¡± Duwei set off with the stick. He didn¡¯t pass through the woods, but chose a route along the beach, and took a circle route towards the north. It may take some time, but it¡¯s rtively safe. But the weather is foggy, and now Duwei firmly believed that this ind might have some terrifying beasts. Now that he knows, it¡¯s much more dangerous to walk in the jungle. All the way north, when Duwei approached the northern tip of the ind, he suddenly found that beside the woods, there were some low tresses, with some interesting fruits on them. Those fruits were big and round, Duwei felt so happy, he ran to those trees and picked two fruits, but immediately he felt disappointed. Those giant round green fruit were actually all hollow inside. Those fruits looked like the dried up gourd in the Duwei¡¯s past world But Duwei thought for a while, he picked off few suchrge ¡°gourd¡± in a bustle, then tied them to his stick. Then, if Duwei encountered some terrible beasts, he could run to the sea. With those hollow gourd strapped to his stick, those guards can provide buoyancy as swim rings do. If an emergency happened, Duwei could jump into the sea. Finally reaching the most northern side of the ind, Duwei looked around, he was shocked by the surrounding scene. The ind¡¯s northern end was still a forest, but what surprised Duwei was that there was frost everywhere! Along the edge of the beach, there was another small piece of surrounding woods, covered with a thickyer of frost! Just as if it had been gone through a small snowstorm just now. But what frightened Duwei was that the climate here waspletely normal, there was no trace of a snowstorm. And, obviously, frost only covered that area! Other areas were still normal! A thought shed through his mind, Duwei thought about something. He lifted up their eyes, looked around and researched for something, but because of this damn thick fog, visibility was too low. Duwei first searched the nearby forest for a while, then noticed the snow on the ground. He excavated the snow covering the earth arduously until he found something suddenly. Under that frost, dirt is humid and warm. That means that frost was to be covered up in few seconds, for example, magic?¡± Duwei immediately ran to the sea, he stood on the coast, waves gently pping his leg, and Duwei tried hard to look toward the sea. Vaguely, Duwei saw that in the front, there were something fluttering in the sea. And this object is very big. Among the heavy mist, he couldn¡¯t see those details, but only saw a rough outline. ¡°Is it a boat?¡± Duwei¡¯s heart suddenly gave birth to a little hope, he shout loudly and then tried waving. Unfortunately, after shouting for a moment, that thing had no reply, but it seemed that it fluttered away. Not a boat ¡­¡­ Duwei confirmed, because after long time of observation, he barely saw that this stuff has a conical shape. No matter what, Duwei decided to take a look. Now, in this ind, food and water are scarce. If he encountered any situation, he should look into it. Since maybe he could find something. Duwei immediately tied up those big gourds in his body, jumped into the sea, and then swam forward in a hurry. He swam hard, but unfortunately in his past life, he was andlubber, he couldn¡¯t swim at all. Judging from his swimming posture, it looked like a ¡±dog paddle¡± posture. Fortunately, the storm was notrge, otherwise, swimming in the sea is very difficult, because usually you swim out two meters, a wave can let you go backward by three meters! Duwei tried his best, but, fortunately, the buoyancy of those big gourds in his body is quite good, it took a while, Duwei has finally rushed to the vicinity of the big thing¡­¡­ Watching the scene, he was stunned, a ssh ran toward him, he opened his mouth, and almost choked by the sea water. ¡°Damn ¡­¡­ Damn! No! ??¡± In front of Duwei, it¡¯s a small iceberg! An iceberg floating in the sea! Not a boat, nor something useful for Duwei. More importantly, on the ice, there was a woman. White hollow pattern light armor, long white cloak ¡­¡­, hair as was white as snow. Vivian anxiously waits until the evening, the sky was almost ck. She was so hungry that her stomach was rumbling. In her arms, there were some roots, which were digged by Duwei. But she didn¡¯t n to eat them, instead, she rubbed her stomach, signed, and held those roots in her arm. He ¡­¡­ he didn¡¯t eat anything. ¡°Jojo!¡± The magic demon in her waist cage uttered a scream, this little demon¡¯s name was¡±Jojo¡±, and the voice sounded like its name. In the cage, the Illusionary goblin uttered a scream. Vivian patted cage softly:. ¡°. Jojo ¡­¡­ stop screaming, I know you are hungry, I am hungry too. But we can¡¯t eat those things, we have to wait for him toe back. Finally, just when Vivian almost lost hope, Duwei came back. Vivian saw Duwei vigorously moving step by step, every step took all his effort. His back was almost bent down¡­.. because, he carried a person on his back! Vivian stared with her round eyes, she was afraid that she was imagining, so she rubbed her eyes again, and then she confirmed that what she saw was not an illusion! Duwei indeed carried a person on his back . Vivian signed, and then she quickly ran towards Duwei. Duwei was exhausted, and before Vivian arrived his side, he fell down to the ground, and the person on his back was thrown nearby. ¡°Water, give me some water¡­.. My god, I am so exhausted!¡± Duwei wryly smiled, and signed: ¡°this guy is so much heavier than you! My god¡­.I almost died¡­¡­died!¡± Vivian quickly held a loaded water shoes towards Duwei, Duwei shook his head, pointed to those big gourd on his back. Vivian quickly picked up one, but found that these things were heavy, she shook it, and clearly, there are water inside. ¡°I ¡­¡­ I saw these on the trees ¡­¡­ So, I plucked them off. Those things can hold water, when I came back, I went to the puddle and stored some water ¡­¡­ you, you can wear your shoes now.¡± Vivian felt grateful, indeed, during these days, her delicate little feet have tasted enough of the bitterness. ¡°And, you quickly take a look at this guy, ha ha, whether to save her, you decide.¡± Duwei finished his words, and then picked up the gourd. he drunk rashly, and continued to pant. Then Vivian came to the guy. Vivian has good sight! But when Duwei showed up, she seems to have forgotten other things, only paying attention to Duwei. In fact, the features of the person Duwei took back are so obvious! A white light armor, white cloak, and even the hair is white¡­¡­but Vivian didn¡¯t notice at all. However, the moment, Vivian noticed the woman, she suddenly stared with big eyes, and covered her mouth! Then she carefully went over, and struggled to turn over the woman, then she confirmed that She was right. ¡°Sister ¡­¡­ sister ?? !!¡± Chapter 32 Law of the Devil Chapter 32: Monster!! Truly, the person Duwei took back was the cold snow beauty, in order to grab the illusionary goblin, she fought with Vivian in the half-horn town. But at this moment, this woman closed her eyes puckered her lips. As if she was in a trance, her brow wrinkled tightly and panic and terror still didn¡¯t fade from her face. That night, Duwei witnessed the strong power of the cold snow beauty. Looking at the woman in a trance with a panic face. Duwei was lost in deep thought¡­¡­. What kind of horrible things she encountered? Associating the strange roar, and the earthquake¡­¡­ Vivian carefully held a gourd of water and sat beside her sister, then she looked up and stammered: ¡°how did you find her? And what happened to her??¡± Duwei shrugged his shoulder and exined to her what happened. Vivian also felt confused, and she even checked her sister¡¯s body. There were no injury, just shortness of breath and weakness. Vivian tried to give her sister some water, but cold snow beauty still clenched her teethes. Duwei lost his patience. He knelt down, picked up a stick, and brutally opened cold snow beauty¡¯s jaws, then he grabbed Vivian¡¯s gourd and poured a some water into her mouth. ¡°oh, no, no, no you¡¯ll choke her.¡± Vivian quickly pulled Duwei¡¯s arm, and stared at Duwei for a while, and whispered: ¡°you seem troubled?¡± ¡°oh, should i feel d?¡± Duwei shook her head ¡°you should better think twice! When she wakes up, what will you do? Your magic spells don¡¯t work now, when she wakes up, we will be at her mercy.¡± He sighed, in fact, Duwei felt contradictory. When he saw this woman fainted in the sea, he thought of this problem. Save her? But she is our opponent. What if the woman wakes up, and became crazy. Don¡¯t forgot! That day, she said she would grab me to refine my soul. Even though Duwei didn¡¯t know what the really happened, but certainly, that was not a small matter! Or not save her? Leaving this beauty to die on that iceberg? Duwei couldn¡¯t make up his mind.. Few minutester, the snow beauty wakes up by choking She coughed hardly for a few times, then she quickly turned around. After the long trance, she took some time and energy to sit up. Just as she sat up, she fell down again. But finally, she woke up. ¡°Si¡­Sister ¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡± Vivian whispered in a low tone, the silly girl felt terrified, it seemed that she was afraid of her sister. And she quickly stood up, carefully moved up next to Duwei. ¡°Woo ¡­¡­ My head hurts ¡­¡­¡± the beauty on the ground held her head, and looked very in cruciating pain: ¡°what¡¯s going on?¡­.i¡­..you¡­..¡± After a short stupor, she gradually awoke, stared at Vivian and Duwei: ¡°you two? How did youe there? i¡­how did i reach here? Did you save my life?¡± Duwei and Vivian didn¡¯t speak a word, this woman jumped up, and she suddenly remembered something, her face changed greatly, and she screamed!! ¡°My dragon! Oh, my dragon! My ice dragon !! my Orcut !! ¡± Her face looked sad again, and suddenly kneed down on the ground, two hands covered her face, and she burst into tears ¡­¡­ ¡°My dragon ¡­¡­ my Orcutt! My Orcutt ah ¡­¡­¡± Vivian blinked her eyes in astonishment and saw her sister¡¯s distraught look, she could not help but whispered: ¡°¡­¡­ sis¡­sis¡­sister. What happened to your dragon?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ What happened !! ¡­¡­ he is dead! dead¡± The woman cried sadly and, her hands beat the ground heavily, scratching and hitting the ground painfully, as if she had no way to vent her sorrow: ¡°he¡¯s dead! He was eaten by that monster! he saved me, but he was eaten by the monster!! ¡± When Duwei heard this, his eyes gazed up! Eat a dragon? What kind of monster can eat a dragon? Aren¡¯t dragons the most powerful creatures? No matter how Vivian tried tofort her, Vivian¡¯s sister couldn¡¯t stop crying, she cried for such a long time that she even lost her voice. Her eyes were all red, and finally she couldn¡¯t even breathe, and then she gradually stopped crying. Duwei pulled Vivian¡¯s hand, made a gesture to her. And Duwei told to her sister in a serious ent: ¡°Miss, I asked what happened to you. You just said it was a monster, what kind of monster?¡± ¡°Monster ¡­¡­¡± a trace of fear shed in her eyes: ¡°! Monster, yes, there is a monster!¡± She took a look at Duwei and Vivian and angrily said: ¡° It¡¯s all because i chased you guys. I rode my Orcut along the nearby beach, and finally we¡­ found this ind, I thought you were hiding here¡­..but when we approached this ind, Orcutt suddenly became very strange. he kept grumbling, as if there was something he feared. No matter how i directed him, he just didn¡¯t want tond down. Finally, I used magic spells to suppress him. Then he finally settled down. Here, cold snow beauty shed tears again: ¡°I ¡­¡­ i killed my Orcutt, my ice dragon ¡­¡­!¡± Duwei interrupted her with an indifferent look: ¡°stop crying, tell us what happened!!¡± Snow beauty viciously stared at Duwei, suddenly jumped up, pointed at Duwei and Vivian. And shouted !! ¡°all this is because of you guys! Vivian, if you had given me the illusionary goblin, then I shouldn¡¯t have came here to catch up to you.¡± Duwei felt so angry. This is simply a hoodlum logic. But there was no time to argue with this woman. Her eyes revealed a trace of hate. And her hand moved to her waist. ¡°Are you looking for this?¡± from behind his back, Duwei took a green flute, which was the snow beauty¡¯s weapon, but Duwei already took it away when she was in a deep trance. ¡°Well, do you think if you take away my wand, then I can¡¯t beat your guys?¡± Snow Beauty stared for a while, but then she immediately roared: e on! Vivian, even without a dragon, I can still beat you, you can never defeat me.¡± Then, the snow beauty took a deep breath, and she quickly cast spells, at the same time, her body immediately flied up. Oh shit! Duwei really wanted to hit himself! He already thought about this situation! Such an annoying woman, I saved her life, does she have to fight us as soon as he wakes up. Just when Duwei felt angry, something strange happened ¡­¡­ Her body flying up, almost reaching near the height of a branch, snow beauty suddenly changed her face, her body shook a bit in the air, then suddenly she fell down! Fortunately, Vivian ran towards her, trying to grab her. Both of them rolled into grasnd¡­¡­¡­.. Snow beauty screamed, her face turned pale: ¡° you! What have you done to me? My magic! My magic.¡± She forcibly pushed Vivian away and started to loudly chant her spells again. But this time, her fingertips only shot a palm size snow,¡­hitting Duwei¡¯s body, even though it did hurt him, but Duwei suddenly came up with an idea, and ignored the pain, and shouted: ¡° you lost your magic power?¡± ¡°My magic!¡± Snow beauty was stunned, she stared at her hands! Just now, she indeed used a mid-level magic ¡°Frozen Ice Fumes¡±. But she only shot a palm of small ice crystals. Duwei¡¯s face turned extremely weird, and then he couldn¡¯t help butugh: ¡°You can¡¯t use your magic Haha, even she can¡¯t use her magic!!!¡± ¡°Damn!!¡± snow beauty shouted: ¡°what you¡¯ve done to me? What kind of magic you applied on me!!!¡± Duwei coldly watched the furious woman, sneered: ¡°Come on, from my standpoint, we are neither friend nor foe, do we obediently wait for you to wake up and threaten us?¡± ¡°Yes, you did it!¡± Snow beautiful¡¯s face turned pale, and fear shed in her eyes. ¡°No, no, no ¡­¡­ sister.¡± the silly girl said, she gently hugged the snow beauty, and whispered: ¡°Even i can¡¯t use my magic¡­.. sister ¡­¡­¡± ¡°Well, I know you are kind, but why are you telling this to such a hateful woman.¡± Duwei curled his lips, however he lost was in deep thought, then smiled and said: ¡°It seems that we can find the source of the failure of your magic ¡­¡­ Vivian, you lost your magic, and this hateful woman also lost magic¡­.. It seems that it¡¯s not because of you but because of this ce. Maybe this ce have some power to suppress all magic. When he knew that the horrible snow beauty also lost her magic, Duwei suddenly felt relieved. Tiger may be horrible, but when facing a tiger without a pawn, Duwei would not be so scruples. He even went over and deliberately approached the snow beauty, chuckled: ¡°how are you doing? Dear Magician, what do you want to do? Cast your magic spells or refined me into a soul? Hmmm¡­.¡± Watching Duwei moving towards her, snow beauty stunned. And when Duwei almost touches the tip pf her nose, then a hint of anger shed in her eyes. Duwei had a feeling, a bad feeling Immediately, he felt a pain in his stomach! Then his whole body flied out, pounded to the ground! Snow beauty tightly clenched her fists, and hatefully looked at Duwei: ¡°well! If you think that I lost my magic power, then you can easily bully me? I am not only a magician, but also a warrior. And I have passed the six-level swordman examination. Shit¡­¡­ Duwei smiled bitterly andid on the ground. It seems that he got giddy with sess¡­. And he almost forgot, the day they fought, the girl showed her ability. She is not like the silly girl who just know how to cast spells. She is a master at magic and sword Even without her magic, she still has superb martial skills ¡­¡­ enough to safely beat her opponent. Snow Beauty sessfully fought back, and she immediately fetched Duwei a rattling kick. Vivian immediately ran towards Duwei and opened her arm to protected Duwei; ¡° No, No! Sister, please don¡¯t hurt him!!¡± Snow beauty sneered, looking at Vivian: ¡°Ah, poor Vivian, it seems that I am right, this little aristocrat is really your little lover. Ah! you protected him with all your efforts!!!!!¡± ¡°No, no, no¡­¡­¡± when she heard ¡°little lover¡±, Vivian¡¯s face immediately reddened, his eyes shed a trace of shy. She could not help but bow her head, and shyly said: ¡°no, not like that. i ¡­¡­ i ¡­¡­ he¡­ He, we dropped here, and h¡­he¡­he took good care of me. He found water for me, and gave me some food. And he even saved your life. y¡­y¡­you can¡¯t hurt him!¡± After listening to Vivian¡¯s words, snow beauty pondered for a moment, and draw back her fist and coldly said: ¡± Well, this guy saved me, so I¡¯ll give him a chance.¡± ¡°thank¡­.thank you.¡± Vivian relieved. Duweiid on the ground and coldly smiled, he endured the pain in his stomach, climbed up, shook off the dust: ¡°Well, if i knew it, i would not have pulled you from the sea! ¡± ¡°Well.¡± snow beauty sneered:. ¡°Unfortunately, now you can not have the ability to throw me back into the sea.¡± Duwei was not angry at all, and he said: ¡°Yes, unfortunately, I can¡¯t do that, it¡¯s true..¡± ¡°Vivian said, you saved me, and brought me back here? Well, I owed you, but now i have forgiven you, and you better not enraged me.¡± Snow beauty leaned over. Duwei didn¡¯t feel angry butughed, and he even vigorously apuded: ¡°Good, interesting! I have seen many unreasonable women, but I never have seen a beautiful unreasonable woman like you. You really widen my horizon. After listening to those words, snow beauty felt a little embarrassed, and ferociously said: ¡°How! Do you have any opinion? ¡± ¡°No.¡± Duwei was very calm, and peacefully said: ¡°I even think it¡¯s fair ¡­..the person who has the hardest fist is the boss. Whoever has the hardest fist, no matter what he or she said ,he or she is always right. Their rules are always right! Right now you are stronger than me, I am not your opponent. If you bully me, I won¡¯tin. On the contrary, if I was stronger than you, i would have already kicked you into the sea.¡± Beautiful snow froze for a moment, looked at Duwei up and down, and this time she was no longer angry, but her face showing a trace of strange expressions: ¡°the little nobility is actually very interesting, and his speech is very unusual ¡­¡­ Unlike other hypocritical nobles i know. ¡± Duwei rubbed his belly, lightly said: ¡°since you already hit me, then let¡¯s talk about serious things. You lost your magic power, which means we can¡¯t get out of the ind. What¡¯s worse, this ind has no food, and very limited fresh water! Besides, as you just said, there is a monster who can even eat a dragon¡­¡­.right? Now, I think it¡¯s better that we sit down and talk about the whole thing!¡± His tone was serious. Snow beauty froze for a moment, thought of her dragon, her face has exposed a sad expression: ¡°My my Orcutt Orcutt ¡­¡­ ah ¡­¡­¡± ¡°Now is not the right time to be sad, you better tell us what happened.¡± Duwei coldly said: ¡°Since that monster can eat your dragon, so maybe it will eat us, so we can figure out some ns.¡± The snow beauty is much tougher than her little sister. After crying for a while, she stopped crying and calmed down. Although she was still sad, but her mood was much stable. ¡°As I rode Orcutt tond, suddenly, on the edge of the ind in the sea, a monster jumped out ¡­¡­ it¡¯s big, very big ¡­¡­ i do not know how to describe it¡¯s look, it is like a big meatball, has eyes on both sides, I do not know the shape of it¡¯s body, because it only exposed parts of the body outside, the rest of the parts were underwater ¡­¡­ Orcutt was very scared, that Monster roared, then ¡­¡­ itunched an attack on us. It used magic, water magic. its magic power was very strong which was enough to set off a full thirty feet wave, almost washed me and Orcutt down from the sky.¡± Snow beautiful¡¯s voice was quivering. ¡­¡­ ¡°Then, Orcutt fought back against that monster. Orcutt casted a snow magic, but it posed no harm to ¡­¡­ the monster, the monster seemed have a magic barrier, Orcutt showered snow storm, it hit the other side of the monster¡¯s body, but immediately those snow storm was bounced back ¡­¡­ I also used my magic, but it was useless! I have never seen such a powerful monster ¡­¡­ i never even heard of a monster that have such a powerful magic! It¡¯s even impossible for a top ss magician to cast such a powerful magic enchantment to defend themselves against a long-term frontal attack.¡± ¡°And then?¡± Duwei frown. ¡°And then, of course, i thought of escape.¡± snow beauty sullenly said: ¡°Since we couldn¡¯t beat this monster, I immediately thought to run away. But this monster casted some spells, i rode Orcut to fly up. But only after few seconds, we knocked some invisible wall, and bounced back. Even though I tried several times, but all the directions were blocked, and ¡­.finally ¡°Finally, what?¡± Duwei asked ¡°Finally ¡­¡­¡± Snow Beauty forcibly wiped her tears: ¡°Finally that monster summoned the huge waves, the height of those waves¡­¡­ I¡¯ve never seen anything like that before, I think even my teacher can not summon those huge waves. Those waves directly rolled us down from the sky¡­.as i fell from Orcutt¡¯s body, and witnessed that monster opened its big mouth, and swallowed Orcutt! ¡­.My dragon fell from the sky, and then that monster swallowed it in one bite!¡± One bite? Swallow a dragon with one bite? So, how big is that monster? ! Duwei¡¯s face suddenly turned pale. Chapter 33 Law of the Devil Chapter 33 : The World Of Three People The news brought by the Snow Beauty had turned everyone silent. Duwei¡¯s heart felt heavy; He frowned and pondered. A monster that can easily swallow a dragon! A monster that can easily beat a dragon and a level 8 magician! Duwei left the two sisters; went to the seaside himself, tried to use the cool sea breeze to calm the upset thoughts in his mind. Ah, A monster¡­¡­A ce that suppresses the use of magic¡­¡­Cannot use magic¡­¡­no food, no fresh water¡­¡­ Duwei sighed, muttered ¡°Seems like it is the only way¡­¡­¡± Then, he turned around to the woods, back to the side of the two sisters. This time the snow beauty and Vivian were intensively arguing about something. Well, maybe not the word ¡°arguing¡±, because it is only the snow beauty who was speaking. In fact, with Vivian¡¯s stutter problem, it is simply impossible to start a war of word with her. ¡°You should have given me the damned goblin! You know what? That old man doesn¡¯t even know where we are now, and you still expect him toe and rescue you right? Hmph¡­¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± Duwei walked over, took a nce at Vivian; Vivian looked grievance, her eyes are red, cautiously looked at Duwei said ¡°Not¡­..nothing.¡± ¡°I said what¡¯s the problem with you two sisters? One is honest as a young fledge, the other is violent as the mother of a dragon.¡± Duwei sat down, stacking the branches himself, prepare to start a fire. The snow beauty snorted, although she is a bit annoyed about Duwei¡¯s bold thoughtless words, but as Duwei had saved her life once, she promised that she will leave him alone, it is too embarrassing to go back on what she had said, so she pressed her temper and tolerated it. Vivian took a nce at her sister, then took a nce at Duwei, and shifted her body a bit closer towards Duwei. The snow beauty looked, cursed in low voice ¡°A little viin who abduct girls!¡± Duwei shows no weakness, instantly returned said ¡°A female robber who steals people¡¯s goods.¡± This time the snow beauty went mad, pop-eyed staring at Duwei, looks like she is about to rage¡­¡­ But coincidentally, a discord voice has dispersed the snow beauty¡¯s anger and momentum all in a sudden. Goo¡­¡­Goo Goo¡­¡­ Duwei couldn¡¯t hold hisughter; he took a nce at the snow beauty. The snow beauty¡¯s face turned red, this time the anger on her face has reduced a bit, left with 70% of shyness and only 30% of anger, she is no longer scary anymore. ¡°Hmm¡­¡­That¡¯s very strange, did I hear it wrong? What was that noise? Was that a howling from a monster in the ind?¡± Duwei deliberately muttered loudly. The face of the snow beauty had turned even redder, she stared at Duwei and whispered ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡­It¡¯s me!¡± ¡°You?¡± Duwei deliberately widened his eyes. ¡°¡­¡­¡± The snow beauty felt like her lung is about to explode due to anger, finally she shouted ¡°It¡¯s me! It¡¯s my stomach! I¡¯m starving! The sky is almost dark! Don¡¯t you all need to eat?¡± ¡°Eat, of course.¡± Duweizily stretched his body, and said ¡°If there¡¯s food, of course I want to eat.¡± Meanwhile, Vivian on the side touched her pocket and started searching, as the snow beauty popped her eyes, she took out a ck and strange looking nt roots and whispered ¡°Sis, sister¡­¡­if you are hungry, you can eat this first.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± The snow beauty frowned, then she suddenly became angry, she jumped up and stared at Duwei and said ¡°Damn you brat! This is what you let my sister eat! This nt roots??!!¡± Duwei coldly replied ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to eat this, then you can starve.¡± The snow beauty became angrier ¡°Asshole! Can¡¯t you just go and catch a few beasts?¡± Duweiughed ¡°beasts? You can catch it if you want! If you can catch one, I¡¯m sure I will praise your greatness to the almighty God! Go for it!¡± Vivian secretly pulled the snow beauty, whispered ¡°Sister¡­¡­This ind, has nothing at all¡­¡­¡± Duwei had already turned his body, his voice is unconcerned ¡°You can either solve it yourself, or you can eat this thing, or you can starve. Then I can wait until tomorrow when you have no strength, I might take the opportunity to revenge and kick you into the sea.¡± This speech was more effective than anything. The snow beauty immediately grabbed the nt roots Vivian passed her and put it in her month, and started chewing. She frowned and chewed at the same time¡­¡­Thinking it must be the worst thing she has ever eaten! God! Can¡¯t believe a person like me¡­¡­is eating grass? Am I a horse, or a cow!! She got angrier as she eats, and she ate faster and faster. At the end of the day, the feeling of hunger is not good. She couldn¡¯t believe she ate the whole nt and felt a little bit full in her stomach. She looked at Vivian and asked ¡°Anymore?¡± ¡°¡­¡­No more.¡± Vivian looked helpless. ¡°¡­¡­No more?¡± The snow beauty rattled. What has this world be! Forget about fish and meat! I can tolerate to eat this nt roots, but can¡¯t I have more? ¡°Listen.¡± Duwei turned around, his sight is cold, stared at the snow beauty and said ¡°I think you should be cleared about our current situation! We are in an ind, with nothing to eat, nothing to drink! Do you know that the thing you just ate, Vivian had been saving it for today! Do you know in order to get this thing; I¡¯ve been running searching the whole afternoon. And you? You just sat there and ate what you were given. You ate all of your sister¡¯s food, you didn¡¯t even feel guilty. Not even a little bit appreciative. Instead, the only thing you did isin¡­¡­ Let me tell you, if you ever feel hungry, you have to find your own food! I hope you won¡¯t be taking other people¡¯s food tomorrow. In here, no one is noble, not you, me, nor Vivian! No one has to serve you!!¡± Supposedly, Duwei¡¯s impolite expression would make the snow beauty very angry, and his me would make her feel embarrassed. However¡­¡­the snow beauty looked at the serious expression of Duwei, and found herself couldn¡¯t even say a word to refute him. This weak young boy, supposedly she can kick him with one leg, but at this moment, facing his me, the snow beauty suddenly felt a little bit guilty¡­¡­Yes, it¡¯s guilty! So guilty that she couldn¡¯t look him in the eyes. The first time in her life, the snow beauty suddenly felt that she didn¡¯t have a single thought to face this kind of impolite exhortation. The weak young boy standing in front of her, his sight is this calm and indifferent, his body is weak but in this dark night, it looks like a big tree! ¡°I¡­¡­I know, It¡­¡­It wasn¡¯t my intention to eat all of Vivian¡¯s food, I¡­¡­¡± The snow beauty only spoken half of her speech, but suddenly felt that her tone is so weak¡­¡­so weak that she didn¡¯t recognise herself! Why do I have to give in to this kid!? Duwei gently smiled, turned around and looked at the sky. The fog has not yet dispersed, there¡¯s not a single star in the sky¡­¡­ Duwei sighed ¡°Sleep, we still have a lot of thing to do tomorrow.¡± He added a few branches into the fire, and looked at Vivian sitting quietly, felt soft-hearted, and automatically extended his arm to Vivian¡¯s head and hit lightly, softly said ¡°Silly girl, are you hungry?¡± Vivian was shocked, first shaking her head, followed by embarrassedly nodded. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m the only man in here; supposedly I should take care of you.¡± Duwei smiled bitterely ¡°Unfortunately, I am the one who makes you starve. Hum! So be it, let¡¯s sleep, imagine this ind is a huge piece of cake, all the tresses around here is the candles, you are lying on top of a sweet piece of cake¡­¡­Sleep, you can eat in your dream.¡± Cake? Vivian eyes had widen. Duwei had already turned his body, Vivian quietly looked at his back. ¡­¡­ In the morning, Duwei woke up. Precisely, he was woken by his hunger. He only had some awfully tasted fruit, his stomach is empty, those fruits are sour and bitter, on top of the stomach acid, Duwei was tortured the whole night he couldn¡¯t sleep well. He found out the snow beauty had already woken up, wrapping around her belly and just sat there. ¡°Awake? Hungry?¡± Duwei felt sorry about what he saidst night, at the end she is a woman who didn¡¯t know about the situation on an ind, so he tried to be a bit more friendly. ¡°I¡¯m not hungry!¡± The snow beauty shake her head, obviously she is lying, then she said ¡°Where¡¯s the water? I need to wash my face!¡± ¡°You can go out a little further to the sea.¡± ¡°¡­¡­You told me to wash my face with sea water?¡± The snow beauty was shocked. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we only have limited fresh water, just enough for drinking.¡± This time, the snow beauty didn¡¯t argue with him, just sighed, then stood up and walked towards the sea side. In the morning, Duwei searched for food again, this time, he spent more time, it¡¯s because there are one more person in the group means another month to feed. He brought back a bunch of nt roots. This time, the snow beauty didn¡¯t say a word and ate straightaway. Duwei smiled ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°Actually¡­¡­¡± Duwei suddenly felt that the woman was not actually that gitious¡­¡­From what he saw, she is just being childish. Duwei controlled hisughter ¡°Although the food is in¡­¡­at least you can wash away the mud before you eat.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Seeing the woman¡¯s face started to turn dull, Duwei immediately changed the topic ¡°Now we are trapped, we are a team¡­¡­I still don¡¯t know your name.¡± Then, he stood up, acted like a standard nobleman and smiled ¡°I am Duwei Rawling; Son of Earl Raymond, current Patriarch of the Rawling family, Deputy Commander of the Imperial High Command.¡± The snow beauty hesitated, it¡¯s cleared that she is unwilling, but said ¡°My name is Joanna.¡± Joanna¡­¡­What a great name. Vivian on the side looked at Duwei and her sister who are finally not arguing anymore and said ¡°You can ¡­¡­you can also call her JoJo.¡± JoJo¡­¡­What a weird name. ¡°Shut up, Vivian.¡± Joanna shouted, then looked at Duwei ¡°That name, only my parents can call me that name, if you dare to call me that, you are dead.¡± ¡°OK.¡± Duwei didn¡¯t mind ¡°Miss Joanna, now we know each other, next, it¡¯s working time.¡± ¡°Work? What work?¡± Duwei put away his smile and said ¡°We need to find a way to leave here, I have an idea in my mind¡­¡­¡± Chapter 34 Chapter 34 : [Leaving the Magical Ind] ¡°What? You mean we made a raft to leave here?¡± Joanna frowned, and questioned Duwei ¡°So this is your idea? You n to sail on a sea with a small raft, and take us back to the maind? You must be crazy!¡± Duwei smiled, and slowly spoke his n: ¡°I believe we have hope. You and Vivian, both are powerful magicians, you both can use any tools or mounts to fly far away! Am I right? If you still have your power, you would have used your power to leave this damn ind already, right?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Joanna said ¡°If I still can fly, I would have gone already.¡± ¡°The question is¡± Duwei said, ¡°You have lost your magic power. But ording to my guess, the reason is not because of you, it¡¯s the ind itself! I suspected that there must be something in here that suppresses the use of magic, such as some barrier, or magic forbidden area, these kinds of things¡­¡­most likely has something to do with the scary big monster you saw. So¡­¡­I think, the barrier that suppresses magic¡­¡­How big is its reach? Does it cover the whole ind, or including some part of the sea? At least I¡¯m sure is that the field cannot be too big. Joanna finally understood and there was no need for Duwei to carry on exining, she continued ¡°So, you did not n to use the small raft to take us back to the maind. You wanted to use the raft to sail away from the barrier, if Vivian and i can then restore our magic powers, then we don¡¯t need the raft and can fly back to the maind. Right?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Duwei nodded. ¡°What if it doesn¡¯t work?¡± Joanna frowned ¡°What if you were wrong? I mean, even though Vivian and i both got our magic spells, but if we cannot restore our magic power even though we leave the ind? Or if it takes a few days, or even months until we can get it back? Then what? Even if we can sail away from the ind, we cannot fly. Just by the small raft, we are sure to be dead in the sea.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s just a different method of death.¡± Duwei raised his eyebrow ¡°I can clearly tell you that¡­¡­If we don¡¯t leave this ind, by 2-3 days at most, we will starve to death. Although there are a lot of trees in the ind, but there are only a few nts whose roots we can eat. I¡¯ve found that when i was looking for food, i can¡¯t guarantee if i can find any more food tomorrow.¡± ¡°We can fish!¡± ¡°Haha!¡± Duweiughed ¡°What fish? You can try! God¡­¡­Those big waves produced by that monster we saw yesterday, also the earthquake¡­¡­With these huge movements, even if there were any fishes in the sea, they must have been scared and left. Even though the idea sounds a bit risky, after a careful thought, Joanna thinks that what Duwei said makes sense. You either stay here and starve to death, or you go out with the risk. Next is to find out how to make a raft. The hardest thing is¡­¡­There¡¯s no tool! Even if you want to chop woods from trees¡­¡­you¡¯ve got to have an axe right? Even if you don¡¯t have an axe, at least a knife would help! But don¡¯t even talk about the knife, they don¡¯t even have a dagger! Even though Joann is also a warrior, unfortunately, the only weapon she uses is a long flute! Without tools, chopping woods with bare hands? Unfortunately, Duwei can¡¯t do that. Even though Joann is a swordsman, she does not have the power to chop a big tree with her bare hand. Duwei started to turn his focus onto Joanna¡¯s armor. Armor is made of metal, if you can get a piece of iron, sharpen it, reluctantly it can be used as a knife. Unfortunately, Duwei was disappointed. It is not because Joanna was stingy about her magical armor, but because her armor was full of hollow patterns, they couldn¡¯t even find a piece of iron that is the size of a palm! After consider again, Duwei still got another idea! Dragon scale! Not matter how much she loves her pet, Vivian had to agree with Duwei to peel a few pieces of the dragon scales. The scales of dragons are extremely strong and hard, in the past legendary heroes even used dragon scales to make solid shields. Vivian used herst bit of her magic to appease her fire dragon, Duwei bravely peeled off two pieces of dragon scales. They spent another day to find a big piece of rock by the sea side and used the rock to sharpen those palm size dragon scales into sharp knives. Those two girls and the boy had spent two day to work. Duwei and Joanna chopped a few big trees, Vivian was responsible for binding those vines together. Duwei even used those tree trunks to make a few paddles. He then ran and brought back some huge gourds looking things. Those things not only be used to hold some fresh water, but can also bebined with the raft to increase its buoyancy. Lastly, Joanna donated her white cape, and turned it into a sail. When everything was nearly finished, Vivian suddenly remembered a very important question! ¡°My¡­¡­my¡­¡­what about my dragon?¡± Poor little Vivian suddenly remembered a crucial question! A raft cannot take a dragon! Actually, Duwei and Joanna had already thought about this question, it¡¯s just that they found it very hard to exin it to Vivian. It¡¯s Vivian¡¯s pet, originally she could have used her magic power to create a magical seal and summon it when needed. Unfortunately, without her magical powers, she cannot seal the dragon and bring it with her. Duwei and Joanna looked at each other, struggled to answer Vivian¡¯s question. Vivian suddenly understood, the silly girl shed a tear ¡°No! No! I¡­¡­I¡­¡­I will not leave¡­¡­leave my dragon!! My Burning Sun!!¡± She cried and ran to the dragon, thrown herself to the sleeping dragon, tightly holding it. Duwei sighed, looking at this pure little girl, Duwei felt a bit guilty. But what can they do otherwise? They cannot take a big dragon like this! Not to mention, in the bottom of Duwei¡¯s heart¡­¡­he is not like this world¡¯s people, treating a dragon like a strong, superior creature. In Duwei¡¯s mind: talented people are the most important. No matter if it¡¯s a dragon, or a snake¡­¡­they are just ¡°animals¡± to him. Human life is the most important. Sacrificing a human life for an ¡°animal¡±, it is something that Duwei will never understand. Furthermore¡­¡­Hum, if it is not because it¡¯s Vivian¡¯s pet, he would have ughtered that big ¡°animal¡± and ate its meat. Of course if it happens, Vivian will cry and die of sadness on the spot. In spite of Vivian not wanting to leave her darling dragon, Duwei and Joanna had to force their way. What surprised Duwei is, that ferocious woman had rarely shown a tender side of her to her sister. ¡°No need to be surprised.¡± Joanna had already known what Duwei was thinking by looking into his eyes ¡°I¡¯ve also lost my dragon, I can understand this poor girl¡¯s feeling.¡± Duwei could see from Joann¡¯s eyes that show a little bit sadness. Two girls sat on the raft, Duwei was pushing the raft at the back to the sea, then he jumped onto it. Joanna controlled the sail, Duwei picked up the paddles and started to row. Only the poor little Vivian, was forced to the raft, silently tearing looking at the ind on her back¡­¡­as well as her pet dragon. The wave is lowest, this is very lucky. But Duwei and Joanna were nervous. They prayed¡­¡­ They prayed for the following journey, to not meet that monster! That monster could lurk inside the sea and attack a dragon¡­¡­which means if the monster wants them; it can flip this little raft with no difficulty. Duwei only hoped that they can leave the ind quietly to certain distant, and then hope that these magicians can restore their magic and fly. ¡°The Almighty God, bless us¡­¡­¡± Joanna muttered. For a weak young boy like Duwei, he struggled to row the raft continuously, he is determined, to leave this ind, although his arms are tired, he persisted. Visually, it¡¯s been about 200 meter from the seaside. ¡°How do you feel?¡± Duwei asked Joanna loudly. ¡°No, still nothing.¡± Joanna tried to summon a wind magical spell to strengthen the sail. Unfortunately, it still did not work. ¡°Carry on.¡± Duwei gritted his teeth and said. Seem like the God in this world does not protect a heretic like Duwei. As the little raft sailed to about a hundred meters further¡­¡­ Suddenly, a big wave set off from the sea! In an instant, that scary roar appeared again. Soon after, you can see from the eyes of the three scared people, a humongous wave that was about 4-5 meters high suddenly setting off from the peaceful sea. Thud! With the waves hitting in, the vines from the raft fractured, the raft turned into pieces, the three people fell into the sea at the same time¡­¡­ Duwei felt that the moment his body fell into the seawater, it feels like there was a force from the sea bounding him! He could not move his body, the moment he opened his mouth, the sea water gushed into his mouth. Duwei thought he was dead, his sight turned dark, inside the water, a swirl wrapped around him, rapidly pushing him down¡­¡­ Duwei felt that he sank¡­¡­and sank¡­¡­ Chapter 35 Chapter 35: Open Sesame When Duwei woke up, he felt that his head was lying on something soft, his body was sore, he felt like some power tore his body; every muscle and every joint was in pain. Duwei struggled to open his eyes. What relieved him was that the femalepanions were still next to him. Duwei¡¯s head was lying on Joanna¡¯sp, and Vivian was lying in Duwei¡¯s arms, her head was pushing against his chin. When Duwei woke up, his two femalepanions confusedly opened their eyes at the same time. ¡°Where are we¡­¡­were we swallowed by the monster?¡± Joanna rubbed her head slightly, then she immediately noticed that Duwei was lying on herp, suddenly screamed ¡°What are you doing! Scram!¡± Then, Joanna turned over, Duwei immediately rolled down. Duwei spent a lot of effort to stand up, rubbing his thighs muscles like they had been torn¡­¡­That feeling was very ufortable, the same as muscles strain. ¡°Why are you so tense? I didn¡¯t do it intentionally.¡± Duwei looked at Joanna, That woman moved her body and sat up, ignoring Duwei and pulled up Vivian. Poor little Vivian was still looking a bit confused. All three of them were wet, their hair stuck together, Duwei was a little better, but the two girls were embarrassed. Joanna was lucky; she still had that hollow patterned magic armor on her body. But poor little Vivian was quite unlucky. The magic gown that she was wearing got tattered into pieces during the few days they stayed on the ind,ter she just gave Duwei the rest of the gown and tore it into cloth pieces to be used for the raft. Right now, little Vivian was only wearing a tight underclothing. Normally, this underclothing is fine, but because she was soaked by sea water, it became a little inappropriate. Obviously this underclothing is a little too thin¡­¡­And what makes it even worse is, the women in this world had something missingpared to the women from the previous world Duwei used to live in, a very important thing. Bra. After soaked by sea water, the thin piece of underclothing stuck on Vivian¡¯s body, clearly outlined her full body figure¡­¡­Especially the upper body of the female magician¡­¡­ Duwei took a nce, and couldn¡¯t help but get distracted. Obviously, although the manner of this female magician seems a little too pure, and a little too childish¡­¡­but her body figure was already quite matured. Slightly sizeable breasts, the bud shaped of her breasts had been shown clearly under the cloth, and what even worse is, the color of Vivian¡¯s top is in light colour¡­¡­If Duwei stared at it a little longer, he was worried that he could even faintly see those pointed nipples. Even though they are in danger, Duwei couldn¡¯t help but lost in deep thought, he looked at Vivian¡¯s innocent face, and sighed ¡°What a pity!¡± ¡°What are you thinking about!¡± Joanna cautiously noticed where Duwei was looking at, she snorted heavily, grabbed her sister. After all, she is older than Vivian,,then ferociously stared at Duwei and said ¡°Prurience little nobleman! Don¡¯t you dare to look again; I will dig out your eyeballs!¡± Duwei did not argue with her, turned around, and carefully scanned the surroundings. Clearly they are in a cave. Just about two steps from where they woke up there¡¯s sea water¡­¡­From this point, Duwei believes that they could be in a cave undersea. Due to its special topography, there¡¯s no sea water inside the cave. In the walls of the cave, some light was faintly shing, it made Duwei and the group clearly see the surroundings in the cave. Duwei stretched his arm and touched the wall, he found a rough granule, and inside the granule, something that looks like tiny sands are inside that granule and shing naturally. ¡°Night Pearl? No, it¡¯s so small, should be night sands instead.¡± Duwei took his arm back. Common sense gained from Duwei¡¯s previous life tells him that, objects that sh on their own, are in fact harmful radiation. It does no good to human beings. ¡°What did you touch?¡± Joanna asked from the back. ¡°I¡¯m observing the area.¡± Duwei replied ¡°We should be d that we are still alive. We were attacked by that monster¡­¡­But I don¡¯t understand why we ended up in here.¡± ¡°i¡­ i¡­.i think i might know a little bit.¡± Vivian was shy to speak, the silly little girl was so shy her face turned red, she was afraid to look at Duwei¡­¡­Perhaps, even though she is innocent, but as a teenage girl, she can feel that Duwei stared at her breasts before. Duwei looked at Vivian, Joanna deliberately coughs loudly, she didn¡¯t wait for Duwei to speak and asked ¡°What do you know?¡± ¡°Swirl, it¡¯s the swirl.¡± Vivian said ¡°Just¡­just now, i¡­.i can feel that w¡­we were pulled here by a swirl from the bottom of the sea.¡± Duwei frowned ¡°Is that a coincidence? We were pulled by a swirl to here, not anywhere else, but were taken to a cave like this, where we do not drown to death?¡± His expression wasplicated ¡°I don¡¯t believe it¡¯s a coincidence¡­¡­¡± This cave is not big nor small, it¡¯s shape is like an upside down bowl, there is no entrance, it¡¯spletely sealed. I¡¯m afraid the only entrance is the sea water corridor on the side. ¡°I think, I think if we want to go out, I¡¯m afraid we have to jump into that corridor, swim along the sea water in order to escape.¡± Duwei concluded. ¡°We should have stayed on that ind!¡± Joanna observed the surroundings and came out the same conclusion as Duwei. Looking Annoyed she said ¡°At least there was still fresh water to drink; nt roots to eat. What about now? There¡¯s only stones!¡± ¡°Not really, at least we have oxygen, we are not suffocating, it means there must be another entrance, it¡¯s just we still haven¡¯t found it yet.¡± Duwei shake. ¡°Oxygen? What is oxygen?¡± Joanna frowned. Duwei was speechless. After all, it¡¯s too difficult to exin the idea of oxygen to someone who¡¯s from the magical world. Duwei stalled and immediately changed the topic ¡°We need to find a way¡­¡­Can you use your magic power?¡± The two female magician shook their heads, it ended Duwei¡¯sst idea. ¡°Now what?¡± Joanna asked. As if it was by instinct, for thest few days, these two women let the youngest in the group to be the leader. Even Joanna, automatically started to rely on this young guy. After all, Duwei is the calmest person between the three. From working out the escape n, to searching for food and fresh water, all the important decisions were made by him, he had unintentionally taken care of these two women. ¡°What to do?¡± Duwei really had no idea. He is not a supernatural being! Being trapped in a ce where no one can see nor hear, what can he do? Duwei felt that he couldn¡¯t even force a smile. He just wanted to shout out loud to release his emotion, after all he is also feeling cramped. However, those two women looked at him, especially those big eyes of Vivian, he seesplete trust from her¡­¡­Duwei sighed. He forced a smile, Duwei tried his best tofort the two women ¡°No worries¡­¡­Since the God didn¡¯t let us die, took us to a ce like this, then we are not destined to die in here. There must be a solution!¡± Duwei secretly sighed, walked to the side of the cave, lightly touched the wall,ughed ¡°Let¡¯s take some rest, restoring our energy. Then¡­¡­¡± Duwei paused ¡°¡­¡­Then, there¡¯s must be a solution¡­¡­Hey, anyone wants to hear a story?¡± Joanna twisted her mouth, she is not as innocent as Vivian, She knows that even Duwei does not have a solution in a situation like this, but for the sake of the trembling Vivian, Joanna sighed and didn¡¯t say anything. If we die here¡­¡­.then, be it! The tenacity in the heart has been suppressed for too long, maybe it¡¯s time to ease¡­¡­ Joanna didn¡¯t say anything, thinking about her thought; Vivian had already quietly walked a few steps away from her and interestedly asked Duwei ¡°Wh¡­.what story?¡± ¡°A tale¡­..¡± Duwei smiled and said ¡°I¡­¡­heard a story about a robber and treasure. They said, there¡¯s a young guy called Alibaba¡­¡­¡± Duwei slowly told the story about the famous ¡°Forty Robbers¡± from his previous life once andstly pointed at the wall in the cave and said ¡°See, maybe God will make a miracle! Maybe if you touch the top and shouted ¡°Open sesame¡± a door will appear and let us go out!¡± Vivian looked down and didn¡¯t say anything, she looked up, the female magician had tears filled up her eyes and whispered ¡° Duwei, you are,forting, me, right?¡± Duwei didn¡¯t reply, in this situation, he could say nothing and lightly touched Vivian¡¯s hair. Vivian suddenly smiled, she tried very hard to smile, and then muttered ¡°Duwei said there¡¯s a solution, then it must be a solution! w¡­we can, try them one by one! There must be a solution! Let¡¯s, let¡¯s start with the ¡°open sesame¡±!¡± The silly little girl put an adorable smile on her face, although there are tears in her eyes. Then she rose her hand, lightly knocked on the wall and sweetly, crisply said, Op¡­open sesame¡­¡­ Duwei suddenly felt sad¡­¡­Does an adorable girl like her has to be die in here? But¡­¡­maybe the God is ying a trick on him! The moment before Duwei¡¯s tear dropped from his eye¡­¡­ The moment after Vivian had finished saying ¡°Open Sesame¡±¡­¡­ In front of them, the cave suddenly shook a little¡­¡­ Yes, the solid wall in the cave, suddenly turned into water and rippled. A skinny hand suddenly stretched out from the wall in the cave, appeared in front of Duwei and the group! Just before the eyeballs of the three about to fall, an old and weak voice came out from the cave wall said ¡°Finally¡­¡­there are guests¡­..pleasee in¡­¡­¡± Chapter 36 The skin of this hand was inordinately dry and old, just like a skeletal hand covered with ayer of epidermis. Indeed, it was so dry that it resembled a threadbare tree trunk. The index finger was aimed towards Duwei¡¯s group. After the old man gestured the three individuals toe inside, the hand pulled back into the wall. Duwei was the first to recover his mind. After taking a few steps, he raised his arm and ced it on the starting cave wall. The texture of the wall was light and soft; in fact, it felt like touching water. Therefore, Duwei decided to stretch his arm across the cave wall. ¡°Seems like¡­ my hand can go in.¡± Duwei¡¯s voice was a bit hoarse. The two girls at the back held each other¡¯s hand, and stood close together. ¡°Can we go in?¡± Joanna looked at Duwei. She was a bit nervous. ¡°What if the other side has bad intentions?¡± The situation, indeed, was a bit uncanny. ¡°Its a dead end even if we stay in here.¡± Duwei lightly replied. Then, he waved at Vivian, who immediately walked to his side. ¡°Do you trust me?¡± Vivian nodded her head vigorously. Duwei held Vivian¡¯s hand and sincerely looked at her; then, he turned around and walked into the wall. Vivian took a deep breath and muttered, ¡°Oh Almighty God, please bless the poor little Vivian and Duwei¡­ Oh¡­ and my sister as well!¡± Joanna saw the two go into the wall, gritted her teeth, and followed. In retrospect, this is what transpired: Duwei took Vivian, and Vivian took Joanna. The situation was mind boggling because, just then, three humans had actually walked into a wall. The cave walls looked like the surface of the water when those three walked through it. After they had passed through, the wall naturally restored its calm and turned back into a solid cave! For Duwei and the group, it felt like they were walking into a nightmare. On the other side, it was so dark that they couldn¡¯t see any light; it was so quiet that they couldn¡¯t hear any noise. The group could only viscerally walk straight based on intuition. However, Duwei wasn¡¯t even sure if they were walking in the right direction. The other side must be using some kind of magic trick. What if the other side decided to withdraw the magic when they were halfway down the path? Would they be stuck inside the stone forever, then? Duwei pondered, how long do we have to stay in the dark? Suddenly, in front of the group, something was released and became bigger! It was another cave which was a few times bigger than the previous one. Inside that big cave, there was a human standing in the middle. The human was wearing a long ck gown, and a tall pointy hat. He looked extremely dry and thin. To Duwei¡¯s surprise, the human was floating above the ground! ¡°Hey, it¡¯s you, isn¡¯t it? You are the one who led us in here?¡± Duwei asked. That human didn¡¯t reply. Instead, he raised his hand and pointed his finger to signal something. A big cave, dim lighting, cold air, a human floating from the ground while wearing a ck gown¡­ This situation was definitely frightening. Even Duwei couldn¡¯t help but feel dry in his throat. ¡°You are¡­ scared.¡± The same shriveled, dead voicemanded, ¡°Why?¡± Duwei took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. ¡°We should be the one to ask why. Why have you led us here?¡± That human didn¡¯t respond. Duwei braced up and asked ¡°You must be the host here! Our raft got flipped in the sea. Did you do that? Or, does that monster who did that belong to you? At any rate, we fell into the sea, and the whirlpool brought us into the cave. Again, did you do that? Where are we? Who are you? Why did you do this to us?¡± No response. Finally, there was an old ¡°mwahaha¡±ugh. Even God could testify that Duwei had never heard augh that sounded so malevolent and repulsive! ¡°Stupid human¡­¡± That old voice replied. ¡°You should thank me for saving you¡­ If I hadn¡¯t casted the magic, you would have been eaten by it already.¡± The reply stunned Duwei¡¯s group! ¡°You mean¡­ you saved us? What is this ¡®it¡¯ that you speak of?¡± Duwei¡¯s heart was pounding. ¡°And who are you? Where are we?¡± Another set of ¡°mwahaha¡±ugh came from the old man. That human floated towards Duwei until he was only a few steps away from the group. Duwei could finally see his face! It was an inordinately white face! Everyone in Duwei¡¯s group was horrified¡­ The face was so white that it looked transparent! Without exaggeration, the skin on his face was almost semi transparent! You could actually see the bones through the skin on his face! Without any exception, anyone who has seen this face would forever have a nightmare! Duwei bit the bullet and endured; however, the two girls on the back were terrified. Facing someone whose face was covered with dry skin. Indeed, due to the epidermis¡¯ transparency, a skeletal face was revealed. Duwei somehow managed to keep calm, and managed to let out a few squeaks. ¡°Please, who are you? And where we are?¡± Indeed, Duwei¡¯s attitude had made a conspicuous change. He was now servilely polite. ¡°Can¡¯t you ask meaningful questions?¡± The old man had a mocking expression. Under his ck gown, the old man lightly rouse his arms. A swarm of lights like a moving cluster of stars rapidly came out from his hands! The swarm of lights caught the attention of Duwei¡¯s group. In this empty cave, a set of candle lights suddenly appeared on the wall! The candle lights flickered, immediately brightening the cave. Then, at the direction of the light, a stone table, a set of chairs and a stone cab suddenly appeared. These objects which appeared out of thin air were opulently sublime. In the end, a few stone doors appeared on the cave wall as well. ¡°Please take a seat. You are my guests.¡± This old man pointed to the stone chairs ¡°We can talk about it slowly.¡± Then, he thought, ¡°Oh, let me guess what we are missing¡­ Oh, I know.¡± He raised his head and looked up at the ceiling. After slightly raising his finger, a ray of light came out from his fingertip and shot toward the top of the cave. Duwei¡¯s group was shocked because the top of the cave began crumbling! Instantly, the top of the cave stopped falling, turning the dome shaped top into a t ceiling. Moreover, a ray of light slowly illuminated from the ceiling; there seemed to be an exorbitant, gold chandelier. The twelve candles lightly swayed. Duwei¡¯s group was gobsmacked! Especially, Vivian and Joanna- because they were both geniuses in magic, they understood the strength of the old man the best. His magic was marvelous and overwhelming! ¡°My little guests, what else do you want?¡± That man sounded unconcerned. ¡°¡­ Food, and fresh water.¡± Duwei testingly said. ¡°We haven¡¯t eaten for days.¡± ¡°¡­¡± The guyughed. Fortunately, he didn¡¯tugh out loud; it was a silent chuckle. A skeleton¡¯s restrained guffaw clearly does not make observers feelfortable. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I can¡¯t do it.¡± The guy shook his head. Hisugh was helpless. ¡°My magic can create anything in here¡­ food and fresh water excepted. What you see in here are magic illusions: the table, the chairs, and the lights. They can trick your eyes, and your sense of touch. However, I can¡¯t create food and fresh water because I cannot trick your stomach. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t help alleviate your hunger and thirst.¡± He looked apologetic. But Duwei thought that the old man was powerful enough! ¡°Vivian, can you use your magic to create all the objects in the room?¡± Duwei lightly asked the silly little girl next to him. Vivian shook her head immediately ¡°Not even our teach-teacher can!¡± Duwei looked at Joann, who said in reply ¡°Maybe this magician is a God?¡± ¡°Oh, white haired littledy! What did you say?¡± The old man had heard Joanna. ¡°You presumed that I was a god! Ah, if it were as you said¡­¡± He floated closer to Joanna; his tone was serious and deep, ¡°So, can you tell me who you think god is?¡± Joanna was a bit nervous. Her body unconsciously leaned backward. ¡°God¡­ God is God! He created the world and everything¡­¡­¡± Not waiting Joanna to finish her speech, the man was suddenly enraged! As his gown suddenly bloated, he gave out a ferocious roar. ¡°Lie!!!!!!!!!¡± That roar vibrated the cave. It even made Duwei feel a bit dizzy! It was clear that the man in front of them, who not had a ghastly face, had be extremely hostile. In order to cate the old man, Duwei carefully replied, ¡°So mister¡­ what do you know about the ¡®truth¡¯?¡± This question constantly calmed the man. He put away his arm, looked at Duwei and said, ¡°Now is not the time to talk about this.¡± The guy moved back a bit, looked at the three people in front of him, and said ¡°Tell me your names ,my little guests.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Joanna asked. ¡°Because this is the basic thing to do to show respect to the host.¡± That manughed slightly condescendingly. Without any hesitation, Duwei immediately shouted ¡°Duwei Rawling, eldest son of Earl Raymond, Deputy General of the Imperial Kingdom.¡± Vivian then reported her name, followed by Joanna, who hesitatingly yelled, ¡°Joanna!¡± ¡°Ah, good.¡± The host smiled ¡°A nobleman and two magicians. This time the guests are more interesting than the previous ones.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s your name?¡± Duwei smiled at him ¡°As a host, you should show some basic respect to your guests as well.¡± ¡°Me?¡± The guy¡¯s tone deepened. ¡°My name is irrelevant. If you must know, my name is¡­ Chris El Douri Sauniere Ah Bart Chi Ir.¡± He spoke his extremely long name in one go, it made Duwei and the group dizzy. Atst, the man moved to the subject ¡°¡­ Actually, I¡¯m not the host in here. I¡¯m just a servant. I¡¯m the most loyal servant!¡± Servant£¿ A servant who owned these supreme magical powers? Who could afford to own a servant like this?! ¡°So¡­ Your master is¡­¡± Duwei asked carefully, his tone was utterly venerating. After all, even a blind person could see this guy¡¯s strength! ¡°My master¡­¡± The manughed, offering a twisted smile. ¡°You must know his name, although his has many different names from books¡­ But,mon people like calling him¡­¡± He paused and smiled. ¡°The Devil¡£¡± Chapter 37 A devil¡¯s servant?! If there is a man who suddenlye to you and say that he is a devil¡¯s servant, then you will think he is mad. But if he shows you an amazing magic of going through walls, if he can use magic to create a magnificent chandelier, delicate candlesticks and a lot of types of furniture in an empty cave, if he can make a cold cave into a warm room in an instant, then would you still think that the ¡°devil¡¯s servant¡± is nonsense? Duwei wanted tough, but did notugh out loud. Apparently, the two girls around him didn¡¯t look so good. Anyone knows that in front of a super magician, no one could make a joke! ¡°ha¡­haha¡­¡± Duwei felt himself that hisughter had no vigor: ¡° You, the devil¡¯s servant¡­.why did you take us here? ¡± ¡°You can call me Chris .¡± The devil¡¯s servant gave a nce at Duwei. His eyes were cold and only then did Duweie to know that his eyes had different colours! One eye was green and the other was ck! ¡°¡­Well, Mr. Chris.¡± Duwei took a deep breath: ¡° You, the so-called devil¡¯s servant, why did you invite us here, what on earth are you willing to do?¡± Chris did not reply. He gently reached on the other side of the rectangr stone table: ¡°Mr. Young Noble! You tell me, what do you think about the history? ¡± Duwei, with a fast beating heart, remarked casually: ¡°the history¡­ it is not more than a lie written by winners.¡± ¡°Ah¡­.interesting. ¡± Chris smiled: ¡°This lovely young noble, in fact, theses days I kept close eyes on you, I am especially interested in you. You have a very interesting point of view. For example, you and the Sorceress had a dispute on the ind, at that time you said¡­. Ah, right! You said ¡®there is no so-called justice and injustice. Who has a hard fist always has justice and who has a hard fist is always right¡¯ didn¡¯t you say so? ¡± Duwei nodded the head: ¡°Not exactly, but I meant that.¡± ¡°Then I have one request. Can you tell me how do you think of history ording to your point of view ?¡± Duwei thought for a moment¡­How should I say? But he still said carelessly. ¡°Well, in my opinion, the so-called justice and injustice are all different, ording to your standpoint. The victor is justice! The looser is injustice! The history is always written by the winners and the losers have no right to say a word, but only to ept that he is injustice. This is the most simple way of the world.¡± ¡°Very good!¡± Chris, obviously was very satisfied, suddenly folded his arms across his chest and lifted his head with closed eyes to sigh deeply: ¡°The great master, I finally found a believer in you again.¡± ¡°Wait! You say¡­believer? No, no I am not a believer of evil.¡± Duwei refuted. ¡°I am not a believer in anyone! I don¡¯t believe in God, I don¡¯t believe in the devil .¡± ¡°Then what do you believe£¿¡± Chris smiled wicked. ¡°I believe in myself¡­.I only believe in myself!¡± Duwei shouted. At the same time the Joanna and Vivian, behind him, were amazed and covered their mouths with their hand. Joanna even shouted in a low voice: ¡°Oh, my God!¡± Chrisughed more cheerfully: ¡° You see, you said that you don¡¯t believe anyone, but yourself. It is the ssical doctrine of faith in the devil!¡± Duwei was rather confused. ¡°Well, we won¡¯t say about is anymore.¡± Chris came close little by little: ¡°With your interesting viewpoint on the history, as well as, the winner and the loser, you may think about how you can say about the God and devil.¡± ¡°Do I need to say?¡± Duweiughed: ¡°IF two strong warrior fight, the winner is God and the loser is the devil! The winner gains everything, the right to say and write the history, but the loser has to only ept consequences¡­.. Am I wrong? So the God and the devil are not distinguished by whether he is good and evil, but whether he is the winner and the loser.¡± Joanna and Vivian were still uneasy¡­..to their opinion, the viewpoint of Duwei was too audacious! Even heresy and traitorous!! If anybody heard this, he would surely be sentenced to be burnt at the stakes by temple judge! But Duwei could not consider so much at the moment. He muttered: ¡°Winner and loser¡­.ah I said winner and loser¡­.So Mr. Chris, you¡­..¡± ¡°I am a loser.¡± Chris dropped his head: ¡°It is a pity that I have lost my master in thest battle, and I am also a loser¡­.this is, in fact, a prison and I am the prisoner here. ¡± Chris continued slowly: ¡°I have been on the ind for a very long time, so long that I am even beginning to forget some memories.¡± ¡°You said¡­.ind?¡± Duwei asked immediately: ¡°You are prisoned on that ind¡­then are we also on the ind? You took us back to the ind. ¡± ¡°To be exact, we are ¡®inside the ind¡¯.¡± Chrisughed: ¡°Or we are inside its body.¡± Duwei turns ashen. ¡°You don¡¯t understand¡­¡± Chris sighed: ¡°What you are calling the monster is this ind! This is not an ind, but a monster. These days you have lived on the back of the monster! And I am prisoned in its body¡­.it is responsible for guarding me!¡± After having said so, Chris flicked the sleeves to stop Joanna who was about to say something: ¡°No, no, you don¡¯t speak, first listen what I say!¡± ¡°A very long time, so long that I have even forgotten how long I have been here¡­. But so far, you are not the first guests toe here. Once some other humans came to this ind idently, and I saved them by taking into here. Some of them were wise and some were fool. And you, lovely young noble! I think the two sorceress with you are thetter, and you are Wise! ¡± ¡°You said who is a fool!¡± Joanna burst out her anger: ¡°You, the devil¡¯s servant¡­.¡± ¡°Ah, the magician got angry.¡± Chris is still calm, and he nced at the Joanna quietly. His ck and green eyes were as if they could emit light! He gently asked Joanna: ¡°The God, he ims that all power of everythinges from him! All of everything! The power of the nature, the power of magic. So you, magicians are all believer in God, right? But¡­I, the devil¡¯s servant, am not the believer in God! Please tell me, where my magic powere from? Lovely young magician, can you answer me that?¡± Angry Joanna, suddenly, became speechless! Chris sighed and gave a pitying look to the sorceress: ¡°You can¡¯t answer me? Then I will give you the answer¡­¡­The God who you believe in, he¡­.lies! The power of the naturees from him? This is the downright lie!¡± Joanna¡¯s face turned very embarrassed, she felt her belief was overthrown! But she could not utter any words to contradict him! Yes, since she had received the first magic education, she had been taught the most basic belief! The world is created by God, all the power of the nature is from God! The magicians should devote believes to God. Thus they can lend the power of the nature from God! This is the magic! But now¡­¡­this devil¡¯s servant who never believes in God¡­..has so powerful magic¡­.how can I exin this? His magic power is also what God gave him?! If not¡­..how can I exin it?! ¡°Look, what I said is right. Some of you are wise¡­and some fool.¡± Chris said in an old and weak voice, but his words pierced the heart of Joanna like a needle. ¡°You are not the first sorceress toe here, so it is not the first time for me to see such a face expression as yours when faced with this question.¡± Chris looked at Duwei. Looking at Duwei, his voice and eyes became slightly calm: ¡°Lovely young noble, you are wise. So I will use the wise way to talk with you. I have been here too long, waiting for a wise man toe. I am always happy to have a deal with them.¡± ¡°¡­¡­Deal£¿¡± ¡°Right, have a deal.¡± Chris smiled. Then he knocked on his forehead: ¡°Let me see, who was thest man to have a deal with me¡­Ah, right! His name was Aragon Rnd!¡± ¡°Aragon Rnd?!!¡± Two sorceress, who were quite, sent out a scared scream at the same time!!! Just because of this, the name resounded too loudly!! He was known as one of few pdins with top power in the hundreds of years of history! He was also known as one of the super magicians with top power in the hundreds of years of history! Aragon Rnd, his name was a legend! He was the only one in the history, that practised both magic and martial art. He was the only one who had reached top level of martial art and magic to be a master!! Joanna, herself, was one of the Aragon¡¯s admirer¡­. so she had selected to practise both magic and martial art! But more important, the reason that made them so surprised is not just because Aragon Rnd was a legendary top master¡­¡­ The more important reason is that¡­.. He is Aragon Rnd! He is now the first emperor of Rnd empire! A great emperor!! He led army and after decades of war he has unified countless small countries, cities, city unions, kingdoms and principalities to found the empire that covers entire continent!! ¡°Don¡¯t be so nervous, Aragon Rnd was thest human that came here and had a deal with me.¡± Chapter 38 Chapter 38 ¡°Heart of a king¡± ¡°Aragon Rnd drifted here on a wrecked boat. It was a pity that his boat approached the ind. As a result, the whole boat was swallowed up. So I took him here and we had a deal.¡± Chris said rather unclearly. But such hint was enough! Duwei, of course, read about the history of the Rnd empire! When he was a child, his first teacher, Earl Raymond, taught him many things and he also read the emperor¡¯s biography of the founding of the empire. He read it thoroughly. Aragon Rnd, the great founder of the Rnd empire¡­.his life, on Duwei¡¯s opinion, seemed to be the one of the book of legends! This Aragon had the same tough luck and experiences as most of the heroes in a book. The catchphrase of that period: ¡®His luck is so strong that it has almost gone against time! His life is harder than a cockroach to determine!¡¯ His biography has described in details the experiences of the first emperor who founded the empire. Aragorn was born in a declining aristocratic family. He wasn¡¯t even the eldest son of the family, but third, so he had no title in inheritance. Since he was a child, he liked adventurous activities. When he was 16 years old, he left home and traveled alone through adventures. Aragon had the experience of the life of a mercenary, and he was a young man full of adventurous fantasy. And that was the most adventurous era in Middle Kingdom. It was different from now when the entire Middle Kingdom is covered with the Rnd empire banners. At that time, Middle Kingdom was in the age of civil wars between countless small and big countries. Civil wars were never ceased, small and big countries upied, conflicted, plotted, used tricks on each other¡­..we can say that the era was the era of heroes and legends. Sixteen-year-old Aragon spent several years between mercenaries, and then he was attracted by the marine adventure. At that time, Aragon was twenty-one years old and was a good swordsman. And during his several years of mercenary life, he had saved a certain amount of money. He invested all his property to a merchant ship and proceeded the oceanic trade adventure. In his first experience with the sea, Aragon had to suffer difficulties. His ship encountered perils and went down the sea. Only he miraculously escaped the fate and saved his life! So all the historians says that¡­¡­if there had not been this shipwreck, he could have be a great marine merchant, instead of the emperor! However, because of this tragedy, his dream of marine trade went shattered into pieces. Aragon returned home and was inherited a part of the property after father¡¯s death. As his father was an inferior noble with a small title, so his property could not be much. Aragon again did something that the others could think that he was dissipating the fortune¡­.he sold out all his property and organized a small private army. Everyone mocked at his decision because his country was peaceful and far away from war, so any private army was not needed. Aragon was confident! In less than half a year, the war will arrive. This small country will be involved in a war between two powers, and will be swallowed up in a month. And then again two powers will go to the war to take the prey back. Two brothers of Aragon were killed in the chaos of war, and their manors and farms were plundered to ashes. Aragon, with his private army, joined to an army of a great country and was awarded a high military position. After that, Aragon showed his great strength! He showed a very strong military ability. On the battlefield, he killed the enemy generals with one move, and he be the most famous General in Middle Kingdom. Aragon umted innumerable exploits in the war¡­. After the war, he received a title and manor¡­.it was much morerger than the old manor of his father! Later, Aragon refused the summon of that great country and quitted the army. He turned to advance in the magician union¡­.. in less than a month, he got the magician qualification! After three years, the war broke out again, at that time Aragon was already a senior magician! Throughout history, no one could do this! Once a man asked Aragon why he had be a magician, then the answer of this young noble was: My army needs the coboration of magicians in the battle¡­.it is a pity that magicians are rare, I can not muster magicians. So I can only learn the magic. When the war broke out again, the country, where Aragon lived, was in great danger. Enemy besieged it for more than three months. At that time, the king ordered all nobles in his country to lead their private army to fight for the king¡­¡­but Aragon was thest to arrive. At that moment, the friend and foe army fought to bepletely exhausted. There was no doubt that it was high time for Aragon. In the final battle, Aragon killed the enemy general who was a great knight, again! And then Aragon cast a magic spell to nullify the magic of the enemy head magician! The war situation changed¡­..the war was over, but the power of the weakened country was almost in the Aragon¡¯s hands! At that time, the king had to award Aragon the title of Duke. A yearter¡­..the king died of an illness (on this issue, historians have the dispute. Most think that the death of the king is too ¡®coincidental¡¯. In the peak period of Aragon¡¯s prestige, the king died, and he had no immediate descendant. So the throne inheritance issue was in a dilemma. Although there are no clear historical records, but the words are implicitly suggesting us that these events were all rted to the great emperor. ) The final benefited was, with no doubt, Aragon. He married the coteral niece of the ex-king, and made her queen! Three yearster, the queen died of an illness, and Aragon was crowned king! In theter history. Aragon Rnd was known to be an invinciblemander. His army was invincible and upied countless countries. Less than 15 yearster, he unified entire Middle Kingdom, and everywhere was covered with thorns flower gs! He founded the great empire that existed so far£¡ All of these are like a tale in the storybook, aren¡¯t they? Duwei tried to recall all that he could remember about the lives of the first emperor¡­. Apparently, ording to what Chris said¡­.Aragon had seen this devil¡¯s servant in the first marine adventure that was unsessful¡­¡­.. Aragon, suddenly, burst onto the continent under civil wars, and it was after that marine adventure! Obviously, the first emperor must be still in dealing with the devil¡¯s servant and gained some kinds of benefits! He thought about the miraculous life of Aragon and his feats¡­.. Now, when the devil¡¯s servant proposed a¡°deal¡±¡­¡­¡­. his heart, which had been calm for more than ten years, suddenly started beating! ¡°Lovely young noble, your heart is beating fast.¡± Chris just smiled. Duwei took a deep breath: ¡°Dear Mr. Chris¡­.my heart is beating because I am lured by the devil!¡± Chris had a more strange smile on his face, and he suddenly waved his hand gently. Vivian and Joanna who were behind him, softly fainted down at the same time. ¡°No one should know about our deal.¡± Chris smiled: ¡°When they wake up, they will forget everything happened here and even about me.¡± The opportunity is here now! Duwei began to have short breath: ¡°A deal¡­.tell me, what can you give me¡­.what do you want instead?¡± Chris did not reply his question, he slowly said: ¡°Don¡¯t want to know what I gave to Aragon?¡± ¡°I think I can guess a little.¡± Duwei hesitated for a moment and answered slowly. What did Chris give to Aragon? What Duwei could think out first was the great strength of Aragon! His powerful martial art as a pdin! His powerful magic as a senior magician. Both had made Aragon be the top power on the continent! He could kill the most strong enemy warriors in the battlefield, and could defeat the enemy magicians, as well! He was known to be an invinciblemander, and millions of soldiers were ready to fight for him to death! At the same time¡­¡­ Duwei had a doubt of one thing. It was¡­.on the historical records¡­..Aragon always on the countless military expeditions in his life, and seemed to have no injury! When he got old, he had no disease or pain. But he slept to death in one night. His life was almost perfect. ¡°In addition to his powerful martial art and magic, did you give him an almost invulnerable body?¡± Duwei inquired. ¡°Not exactly, but a body without any fatal weak points.¡± Chris smiled: ¡°When Aragon left here, I took his heart out from his body. Even after he left, his heart never left this ce. So he never got hurt! Even a fatal injury or fatal poison was unable to hurt his heart, because his heart was here with me. ¡± There have been convulsions around the mouth and eyes of Duwei! Heart? ¡°You will need my heart?¡± Duwei looked at Chris a little maliciously: ¡°What are you going to do with my heart? Surely you won¡¯t have it for dinner, will you? Fried or grilled?¡± ¡°Neither of them. ¡± Chris did not seem to notice the mock of Duwei, and he just reply calmly: ¡°I still have his heart with me, just for a souvenir. A heart of true king¡­.a heart of King¡­.is there more interesting collection than this?¡± Duwei sighed¡­..it would not be so simple as Chris said, but as he was not telling the truth, he had no way to know the truth. ¡°Then you only took the heart of Aragon?¡± Duwei frowned: ¡°Anything more?¡± The answer of Chris was simple: ¡°No more, only his heart.¡± Looking at the confused eyes of Duwei, Chris added with a smile: ¡°I, personally, made a king and had his heart in my hand¡­.this is the pleasure that you can never imagine, you young noble!¡± Duwei sighed. ¡°Well, what do you want to take from me?¡± Duwei smiled: ¡°If you want my heart, I am not sure I can agree.¡± ¡°No, no, no. One heart of a king as a collection is enough for me. I don¡¯t like to repeat things.¡± Chris smiled: ¡°Besides¡­.such a long time has passed, and my power is now fading and weakening. I am afraid I can¡¯t give you the same strong ability as Aragon. When Aragon left, he took half of my magic power with him. Otherwise, how a knight could be an excellent magician so easily?¡± That was how¡­.Duwei blew a whistle. ¡°Later, Aragon, that guy, broke the agreement. He did not aplish the final use of our agreement. ¡± Chris shook his head: ¡°So Ie to know that having a deal is very risky for me. Even if you do not keep the promise after getting out from here, I can do anything. Because I am a prisoner here, I can¡¯t get out of this ind. So, after the experience of deal with Aragon, I came to a conclusion that I will give you the power not at once, but separately in several times .¡± ¡°For example?¡± ¡°For example, I can let you enjoy a little sweet taste, my dear young noble. After that, you will do what I ask you to do. When aplished, youe back to me, and I give you a new reward!¡± Chris said with a slyugh. ¡°A sweet taste, can you give me a sweet taste?¡± ¡°Whatever you want.¡± Chris had more wicked face then£¡ His voice had a strange temptation! ¡°I can give you everything! Although it can be not so great, but it is enough to make anyone tempted! If you like girls, then I can give you ¡®eyes of enchantment ¡¯! So when you stare at any Girl, and she will fall in love with you madly. For example, if you like these two sorceress, then you stare at them, and they will be even willing to show nude dance in front of you! If the girl you like is a saintess who dedicated herself to the God, you just give a look at her, and she will take off her saint cloth to show her body to you.¡± Uh¡­seems to have perturbation in mind¡­¡­ Duwei sighed¡­.this is indeed a good condition, but not enough to make Duwei agree. ¡°You know I am a noble, and I think I am not inck of girls.¡± Duwei expressed his meaning indirectly: ¡°And I am not so fond of girls.¡± ¡°Wel¡­if you don¡¯t need girls, then I can give you the heart of a dragon. Your current body looks weak¡­..um, if you have the heart of a dragon, your body will be strong at once! You can gain a great physical strength like a dragon! You will be an invincible warrior! I can also give you a small gift¡­for example, what allows you to use a small part of the dragon magic.¡± Duwei imagined himself with strong muscle¡­. Oh, forget it¡­. ¡°I am sorry. I am not interested in the war. The strength does not give me security¡­.in fact, from a historical point of view, a strong warrior ys only the role of subordinate for the true man with power.¡± ¡°Then I will give you power.¡± Chris in deep thought said: ¡°If you like the power, I can give you a heart that can see the mind of others. You can see all disguise of opponent, you can hear the voice from the heart of the opponent! This will let you take superiority in politics¡­.With your clever head, you will be able to be a man of great power soon! ¡± ¡°I am a son of the vicemander of the empire suprememand.¡± Duwei twitched his mouth: ¡°I am the first sessor of the Rawling familiy, and you think I worry about my future position and power? My father will be the empire¡¯s militarymander soon, or even the prime minister. I will surely get all these as an inheritance. I am sorry, your proposal can not move my heart. ¡± Actually, Duwei was lying. But Chris have always been on the ind, so he could not know that Duwei was deprived of the inheritance right within his family! Even the powerful and clever man like Chris, thousands of years old monster, got annoyed. ¡°You young noble! What on earth do you want then!¡± Chapter 39 Chapter 39: Bless of God Shot! Goal in! Inter Mn leads AC Mn by 2-1! Great Grosso, he seeded the glorious tradition of Italian football! Fhetti, Maldini, they are possessed by spirits¡­..they are not human beings! They are not a human beings! ¡°What a mess¡­¡± Duwei frowned watching TV: ¡°What is wrong with this thing, how do i watch my broadcasting of the World Cup series?¡± He went to the television and patted it with force, and then pulled out the a pack of cigarettes from the tea table and lit it up¡­..after some puffs¡­.. So good¡­. I haven¡¯t smoked for a long time, in the Rnd Empire there was no cigarette¡­.. Huh? What am I talking about? Rnd Empire? Duwei felt a little confused in his consciousness¡­.and then a sudden shback came into his memory! After that everything in front of him: living room, sofa, tea table, TV and wardrobe of his house¡­.suddenly all twisted up! Thest thing around him twirled and twirled very fast¡­.became a huge whirlpool, and Duwei himself was standing in this whirlpool. He was immediately sucked in¡­.. Damn it! My Mn Derby game¡­.Let me at least finish watching a Bang! It was as if there have been a p of thunder in his head, immediately as if someone beat drum repeatedly near him¡­. Duwei felt a great headache¡­.Painful! So Painful! His headache almost shattered his head! ¡°Ah¡­¡± Duwei could not help moaning, he held his head with two hands and came to know that his hair was wet! How is that? Duwei opened his eyes¡­.. He finally woke up. Living room, sofa, TV, Mn Derby¡­¡­all was a dream. Duwei was now on a raft. He was all wet with messy hair and it was a bit cold. He rubbed his head hard but still he felt great pain, he thought that in the previous life of he had suffered a severe migraine headache. Duwei began to massage the acupoints on his head to kill the pain¡­¡­.but soon, he felt a lump on his head! Just in the middle of the top forehead! Yes, just in the middle! Gently pushing aside the hair, he could obviously feel the small bump on his head! It was a horn! The stupor daze finally went away, Duwei sighed, and recalled the deal between Chris and him! As I thought¡­..horn¡­..haha now I have a horn on my head. The horn was hard and cold, it was as if joined perfectly with the skin and bone of his head¡­.it did not look like¡­ um, it did not look to be transnted the day before yesterday. Fortunately, the horn was not so big, it was only in a finger node size (about one-third of a finger), like a size of a thumb. Duwei repeatedly touched the horn on the head: ¡°s, I wonder what magic material Chris used for it¡­..it doesn¡¯t look like a bone¡­¡± The sea was calm at the moment, there was boundless sea around him. Obviously he has already escaped far away from that terrible ind! The raft that he was on, was the one he had made on the ind! The same one! Even the rough stitch of cloth was the same! (That was stitched with a small sharp branch as needle and tree bark as thread.) Wasn¡¯t this raft been wrecked and sank into the sea? Chris have incredible powers to recover it, his magic is really great! And¡­. the two girls. Joanna and Vivian, the two sorceress were also on the raft. Two of them, hugging each other with locked eyes, were having a sweet sleep. The eyelids of them quivered, evidently they were to wake up. Duwei touched his hair in a hurry. His hair was jumbled, and he thought for a while, then he tore down a piece from his cloth and made something like a sailor hat. It was Vivian who woke up first. After opening her eyes, she looked at Duwei for a while: ¡°Uh..I¡­how long did I sleep¡­..¡± Duwei smiled: ¡°Not long.¡± Joanna suddenly let out a scream: ¡°Ah!! The waves! The waves! The storm?¡± Duwei blinked his eyes, and looked at her holding back hisughter: ¡°Which strom? Which waves?¡± Joanna looked confused: ¡°I remember we had a huge waves and storms¡­and our raft sank.¡± Duwei looked at Joanna¡¯s face and sighed. He offered his hand to touch her forehead: ¡°Do you have a fever?¡± he pointed the surroundings: ¡°You see, we are on the raft, aren¡¯t we? Jeez¡­you must be tired, so you had a nightmare.¡± Then Vivian opened her mouth: ¡°i¡­.i¡­i also had a dream of storm¡­..our raft, sa¡­sank¡­.¡± Two girls looked each other with eyes full of doubt. Duwei sighed with relief without being noticed. What Chris said was true. They could not remember what happened when they wake up. Not clear what kind of magic did the devil¡¯s servant used, but he really erased the memory of others!! Joanna sprang up and contacted her eyebrows: ¡°Really, there is no strom¡­.but my dream was very awful¡­it was like reality! ¡± With her pretty but serious face and her brows knitted, she tried to think out, but in vain. Vivian, with her wide-opened eyes blinkingly, looked at Duwei, and her face was as if she was fooled. ¡°Well¡­¡± Duweiughed with guilty conscience: ¡°I think you are very tired ¡­..to say about the dream, you probably had the same dream¡­.I also had a dream relevant to you.¡± ¡°What?¡± Two girls opened mouth at the same time. Duwei smiled: ¡°I had a dream about the bigfortable bed in my castle, there Iid down between you, with one hand hugging Vivian and the other hand Joanna¡­. ¡± Duwei, while saying, put naturally puts his hands on their shoulders. Vivian blushed immediately and dropped her head down. And Joanna also blushed not because she was shy, but mostly due to anger! Skelp! She hit his hand down her shoulder, and gave him a kick. Duwei was nearly kicked down to the sea, and smiled bitterly: ¡°It was just a dream, why are you so angry?¡± ¡°Shut up, you don¡¯t need to say about your dream.¡± Joanna¡¯s face flushed a little. Then she looked around and suddenly eximed: ¡°I ¡­.we have escaped? We left that ind!!¡± Looking around the wide sea, three of them cheered loudly¡­.but Duwei was the only one who feigned. ¡°Try your magic.¡± Duwei smiled. Both Vivian and Joanna could use magic¡­..but it seemed to have some problems. Vivian tried to use magic of creating wind to elerate the sail, but only cool breeze came to blow the hair of the beauties tousled up. Joanna, who was impatient, soon flew away from there¡­.unfortunately, she fell into the sea after a while of flight! Duwei bound empty gourd around his body and swam to Joanna. When she was saved, she had drunk a lot of water. Salty and bitter sea water made he sick, so she vomited for a while, after climbing on the raft. ¡°Well, you two sorceress¡­it seems your magic restored a bit, but it is not up to normal level. Just a little restoredpared to when you were on the ind.¡± Duwei held hisugh and saw Joanna: ¡°For example, Joannna¡­.when you were on the ind, you could fly just more than ten meters, but now you can fly just about 20 meters!¡± ¡°You! You are making fun of me! Wow¡­..¡± she just said back the half sentence, suddenly she felt sick again andid there to continue vomit. Duwei smiled with narrowed eyes: ¡°I think, even though we left the ind, the suppression to you magic would go on for some period and will be fading slowly. I guess, you can get back your normal magic about two dayster.¡± ¡°You¡­How do you know that! Humph!¡± Joanna asked coldly. ¡°I guessed. ¡± Duwei shrugged. Actually, it was what Chris told him. Two days were not so tough to wait¡­.only they hoped to be lucky not to run into a storm. And also, they have to suffer hunger for these two days as well. On the ind, three of them had to eat only roots of nts. This time on the raft, Duwei thought many ways to dig out what little food was left. But that was not enough and couldst for one day only. After sunset, they ran out of food. These three were young man and women and their bodies were under growth, so they had a big appetite. But every day they could not eat fully. They could endure till this day, but they have already reached their limit. Duwei couldn¡¯t help to start think of the small cage hanging on the waist of Vivian! That was a magic monster that looked like a fat round meat! Vivian already knew enough about Duwei! She saw that Duwei was more frequently looking the cage on her waist, everyone could know what he was thinking about. She was frightened, held the cage tightly, and kept looking at Duwei with pleading eyes. Oh almighty God¡­. please bless the poor little Vivian¡­and the poor chirp¡­. Finally, after so many days, the Almighty God heard the Vivian¡¯s prayer for the first time in that evening! Away in the distance of the sea, there was a light! That light wasing closer and closer¡­.Duwei saw with his own eyes, that was a boat! Suddenly, their tired bodies were fiiled with energy! Joanna and Vivian jumped up, waved and cheered to the boat direction. Duwei was staring at the boat with calm for a while¡­.. It came closer and closer, it was a ketch. The boat was not so big and was slightly worn out¡­.but something made him startled¡­¡­ On the gpole, there was a ck g! The g of a ck background with the design of a skull, below the skull there were two swords! ¡­..the Jolly Roger? Duwei¡¯s mouth was smiling¡­. the God doesn¡¯t treat me so bad¡­.he actually sent me a pirate ship! Chapter 40 Chapter 40: Duwei¡¯s First Fleet The pirates on the boat could also see the three people on the raft. With the boat getting close, few sailors had already stood along the boat side, they were quite interested in the three individuals on the raft including Duwei. Two female magicians also thought that the boat was crapped¡­It didn¡¯t look like a merchant ship, it¡¯s a little bit old. Though there were few cannons on the boat, the g of the Imperial Navy could not be found. ¡°Hey! Look, there are a few little fellows¡­Oh, also with two women! Hahahaha¡­¡± The sailor on the boat screamed, followed by a burst ofughter. More pirates rushed to the boat side to have a look of Duwei and the two girls on the raft. Duwei sighed loudly and shouted,¡± We had a shipwreck, can you help us?¡± Theyughed louder and louder, obviously, they were full of malicious intentions. Subsequently, a ropedder was put down, Duwei sighed, and nced at Joanna, Joanna understood his meaning and climbed first. Joanna was a very strong woman. Although her magic power was not fully recovered, at least recovered to one-third that was nearly equivalent to the power of a low-level magician, meanwhile, she still had her burst of martial art skill! Though with such level, it¡¯s not enough for fighting against other masters, but it¡¯s more than enough for fighting against dozens of little pirates. Joanna climbed first, Duwei was the next, finally it was Vivian. Those sailors stood around andughed at these three youngsters, it seemed like they were thembs on the fingertips. ¡°Look! Such pretty girls!¡± ¡°Absolutely! Look at the girl on the left, such long legs! Captain must like her much!¡± ¡°Haha. As I said, you are on the right boat!¡± These guys were scruffy, and most of them were with barefoot. Their outfits are shabby with dirty faces. But they grinned at Vivian and Joanna creepily. Vivian was scared, her courage was far from the power she got, she hid behind Duwei. Though Joanna didn¡¯t look good, she was in bad mood already. Even the Imperial Barrack, these violent beauties dared to attack, not to mention the little pirate on this ship. ¡°Silence!¡± A hoarse voice came from inside, then was the sound from the boots, a tall man came out. He wore in a scruffy Imperial Navy uniform without the badges. This uniform was little dirty, but the shoes were well-polished. His waist was also had a long and sharp sword like the Imperial Navy Officer. He wore a captain hat, with one hand on his hips and carrying a pocket watch on his other hand. This man should be the captain. Although he was tall, he was so ugly with triangr eyes, garlic nose, and moustache¡­The first impression came up in Duwei¡¯s mind was obscene. ¡°Keep Quiet! Don¡¯t terrify my guests!¡±: The Captain smiled maliciously, then nced at Duwei and the girls, when he saw the eyebrows of Joanna and Vivian, apparently there was a sense of immorality blooming. But when he saw Joanna¡¯s armor, he was a bit startled. Then Captain released a little bit and thought, ¡°She is only a young girl, her power must be weak? Huh¡­she probablyes from some noble family.¡± He totally ignored Duwei. The clothes on Duwei was already torn, his feet were bare, scruffy, his hair were messy. His body was tied with five to six empty gourds (Those used to remain afloat.). He looked like a wild man. ¡°Wee on board¡­Let me introduce myself, I am the captain on this boat, you can call me Captain Morales or just call me Captain directly. ¡° He talked proudly. ¡° I never expected in this boring weather I can meet such beautifuldies¡­Oh, my room is at the back, I think perhaps these twodies would like to change their clothes¡­then we can have a nice meal! Right?¡± Obviously, they hadn¡¯t eaten for many days, even the two female magicians were very pretty, they looked pale and thin. The captain couldn¡¯t wait to thank God! Having bad luck in recent days. Firstly, the order from the Lille province let the whole Eastern Naval Fleet of the Imperial kingdom patrolled within the sea area nearby without knowing what the Navy was doing! Obviously, this worsened the life of the pirates. Few days ago, this pirate ship met the warship of the Imperial Navy, after a hasty panic fight, the captain immediately ordered to escape. With the light boat, the speed could be slightly faster. The warship had been following the Captain¡¯s ship for two days! One was escaping while the other one was chasing at the back, until this afternoon, they finally escaped from the warship under the mysterious fog. They were very tired in these days. He didn¡¯t expect God actually sent few maidens to them as reward¡­ Oh, look at these two pretty chicks, they are much better than the prostitutes at the Port! If they were in nude and clean, lying on the bed, that should be a wonderful scene! ¡°Come on! Prettydies.¡± Captain was a little bit ck, he even pulled Joanna and said, ¡°Prettydies should have suffered i will take you for some rest on my boat¡­¡± When the captain touched Joanna¡¯s shoulder, Duwei had already sighed, and he closed his eyes¡­. Scream! There was a lighting from Joanna¡¯s body! That is the skills of a warrior who is above the intermediate level! umting Power!! Captain screamed and his body was on the sky, his beautiful hat fell on the deck¡­and he¡­ Did you see the parab in the air? Duwei smiled, with a sound of a ssh, captain had already fallen into the water¡­ Everyone was shocked! Soon, the pirates hade out of their trance! all of them picked their weapons and rushed over! Joanna hummed¡­her anger in these few days finally found a way to be released! Her hands were empty, she didn¡¯t take any weapon, she just readily grasped, and caught up the guy who rushed towards her and treated him as a human weapon! After crying, screaming and banging, the sound of sshing in the sea increased. While Duwei was counting from one to ten in his mind, one-third of the pirates and sailors were fallen into the sea! ¡°Good Job! Joanna, you may stop.¡± Duwei thought that this was enough. Joanna refused to stop, she kicked the guy into the sea until no one was surrounding them¡­Those pirates were scared and ran away. ¡°I said stop!¡± Duwei frowned, he pulled Joanna¡¯s shoulder slightly, Joanna angrily yelled,¡± We are not on the ind, do you think that you still can order me!¡± This woman grabbed the wrist of Duwei, Duwei did not resist, he just looked at Joanna¡¯s eyes and whispered,¡± Look at me!¡± Joanna startled! She could not help to look at Duwei¡¯s eyes¡­ Is¡­.illusion? Joanna just felt that the eyes of this little boy have never¡­.never¡­..never been so gorgeous! His eyes seems were bing ck in color¡­a scary and creepy dark ck color! It felt like there are limitless stars inside his eyes, if she kept on looking¡­..she felt as if everything would be sucked into it¡­ Joanna just nced for one time, she felt rxed suddenly, her hands were loosened too, she even didn¡¯t notice that she could not control her body! She was looking at Duwei¡¯s eyes quietly¡­ As if her soul has already been sucked into his eyes! ¡°I said, stop.¡± Duwei spoke very slowly, word by word, extremely clear! Just like engraving inside Joanna¡¯s heart deeply. ¡°¡­.understand.¡± Joanna agreed involuntarily, her voice was humble and gentle without any taste of domination. ¡°Great.¡± Duwei kept looking at Joanna¡¯s eyes, his voice was so melodious and people could not help to listen to him for doing anything¡­ ¡°Now, stand behind me, don¡¯t do anything without my words.¡± Duwei whispered. Joanna¡¯s eyes showed a little bit hesitation, it seems her stubbornness was still struggling a bit, but she still sumbed to this kind of strange feeling ¡­¡­ she felt toofortable! Joanna stood back behind Duwei honestly¡­escaped from the eyes of Duwei, Joanna felt her mind was rxed a little bit! It seems likeck of ckness, everything became clears, but she still doubted¡­ What¡¯s going on? Why would i listen to what this guy said! She felt angry of herself and wanted to question Duwei, but she can¡¯t resist and felt that if she resisted Duwei¡¯s order, she would feel bad¡­if she stood behind Duwei and listened to his order, she would feel happier. It¡¯s strange. Joanna felt strange and Duwei didn¡¯t give her the time to think, he smiled and said,¡± Joanna, if you keep on fighting¡­i know you are so strong, perhaps, you will kick all the people into the sea¡­it doesn¡¯t matter, but the ship is sorge, only three of us are not able to drive this ship! We too have to keep some people to help us! We still need these pirates.¡± Strange¡­.why we need these pirates¡­one more day, I can fly back. Joanna thought that, but she uncontrobly agreed,¡± Ok.¡± Duwei picked up the captain hat from the floor and put it on his head¡­with this thing, his horn would not be seen by others. ¡°Listen, you filthy trash!¡± Duwei voiced up and looked around these frightened pirates. They were really frightened! Joanna was so strong, they were not able to fight back. ¡°You all are a group of filthy trash! Parasite! A group of ordinary pirates!¡± Duwei was staring at these guys. ¡±You rob, murder, plunder¡­all of you should be hanged by the gallows! Now, you all are my prisoner! Right! Now, this ship, and you, and everyone of you! All are captured by me!¡± Duwei kicked the guy next to him, Joanna kicked him before and his leg was broken. Duwei stepped on him unceremoniously, the guy screamed, Duwei spoke to the pirates words by words, ¡°As prisoners, I have the right to dispose you! I can throw all of you into the sea and let you die now! I can also find a port and send all of you to the local army! Looking at you being hanged till die!¡± Duwei smiled,¡± But I am kind! I can let all of you stay alive! But from now on, you are not the filthy pirates anymore! You are my ves now, my servants! ording to the Imperial Order, I, as a noble, I have the right to do anything to my prisoner! Now, I forgive your sin, and incorporate all of you to be my ves and servants! Understand?¡± All of the pirates,¡±¡­¡­¡± ¡°I ask again! If no one answer, you can jump into the sea and join your captain!¡± Duwei looked around,¡± Understand?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Everyone rushed to answer. Duwei was satisfied,¡± Now, clean the deck! Throw the bodies which lie on the deck into the sea!¡± Without any hesitation, these pirates started! These people are viins who clutched human lives, and now, for saving themselves, they immediately started without hesitation! People were thrown into the sea one by one, Duwei then made his second order,¡± Throw two lifeboats into the sea.¡± There were nearly twenty pirates busy with swimming, when they saw the lifeboats, they swam toward the boats quickly. ¡°Listen! I ought to kill you! But I am kind.¡± Duwei was standing on the deck and looking at the pirated in the sea,¡± Now, I can let you stay alive¡­.these two boats are for you, you will not drown¡­.for the rest, it all depends on your fate!¡± There was a burst of scream, some were scolding and some were begging. In the ocean, there was no food to eat, no water to drink, only got these two crappy boats¡­it was simply not possible to stay alive! ¡°Sure I can be more charitable¡­¡± Duwei pointed to the other way, he was cunning and said,¡± There,on that way, there is an ind, as long as you strive for boating, perhaps, you will arrive there tomorrow afternoon! Go ahead, this is myst kindness!¡± Then, Duwei ignored the pirates and looked at the ¡°servants¡± , he said,¡± Food, and water¡­.sooner the better! Understand my words?¡± All the servants rushed to prepare the food immediately. ¡°Duwei¡­¡­you¡­.you will not¡­.¡± Vivian felt a bit sad and looked at Duwei. ¡°Too Cruel? ¡° Duwei lightly said, ¡°These guys are bad. No need to be charitable to them! They are pirates! My little Vivian, do you know what a pirate is? They sail and attack the merchant ship, kill the sailor, rob the goods, they even rape the women on the boat! They are the locusts on the sea, murderers with bloody hands! Do you think that I need to be charitable to them?¡± ¡°But¡­.¡± Vivian hesitated. Duwei sighed when she looked at this simple girl, he whispered,¡± Do you know¡­if this time they met normal people instead of us¡­you twodies would be raped by them already!!¡± This time, Joanna also nced at her sister and said,¡± He is right.¡± The food on board is not really nice, but since they had not eaten well since thest few days, this food is already nice for them! Smoked meat, dried fish, and some simple dried vegetable, and a barrel of ale. The two girls had already forgotten the manner and ate with Duwei Would they worry that the pirates poisoned the food? Duwei had been learning the pharmacy for many years. After they were full and satisfied, Duwei called out all the salors to the deck and talked. ¡°Now, I announce, you can join into my private fleet. You all are one of my warships of my Duwei Rnd Fleet! Understand? I am a noble, ording to the order, I can have my own army.¡± Duwei thought for a few second,¡± Oh, right, I also have to appoint a new captian¡­¡± Duwei looked around and point to a man who was probably the most delicate among the group. ¡°You! Out! Tell me your name.¡± The man was shocked and walked further and looked at Duwei nervously,¡± I, I am¡­¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Duwei then said,¡± Nevermind, since it is a new start, your name should be changed to a new one!¡± This kid could not stop to show his pleasure. ¡°You, from now on, on this ship, you name will be called¡­.Jack Sparrow! Understand? Captain Jack Sparrow! Well, this boat¡­.from now on, is called ¡°ck Pearl¡±!¡± Looking at the crowd, Duwei could not stopughing in his mind. ck Pearl, Jack Sparrow, famous pirates of the Caribbean, hahaha, that¡¯s the first start of my private fleet. Chapter 41 Chapter 41: Captain Jack Sparrow Whilst Duwei seized the Captain Rooms, the two female magicians did a thing that made the pirates felt envy¡­ They took a shower! How much fresh water could they possibly have in a boat while sailing? Only enough for people to drink! It¡¯s impossible to have any extra water for doing other things. Everyone including the Captain was dirty, no one was excluded. It was very normal that people couldn¡¯t take a shower for at least half a month. Now, these twodies used an entire four barrels of fresh water! Duwei didn¡¯t stop them. His reasoning was very simple. ¡°The amount of freshwater equipped is based on the number of people there were originally¡­now more than twenty people were kicked off the ship. So even if some water was wasted, there was still no need to worry about the shortage in theing days.¡± He also understood why thedies wanted to have a shower so badly. Even Duwei felt itchy as he hadn¡¯t showered for many days, and he had also been swimming in the sea for many days¡­.Sea water was salty, and after swimming in the sea water, the skin would turn dry and ufortable. When the two female magicians were showering, Duwei also had some things to do. Captain Jack Sparrow was standing in front of Duwei¡­.He was such a pathetic guy, not only had his name been changed by Duwei, but his outfit was also changed to a strange set of clothing! His head was wrapped with a red scarf, his beard was tied up by Duwei, and he also had deep eye shadow now (painted with the carbon on the boat). His clothes and boots were changed too, but since there was no gun in this world, Duwei could only do that much. Then, Duwei ordered the guy to do different poses¡­ He had to say, in his previous life, in the famous movie ¡°Pirates of the Caribbean¡±, one of the characteristics of Captain Jack was his¡­Lunacy! A little bit of lunacy in a Captain, was charming indeed! After making him do some silly poses, Duwei was satisfied. During Duwei¡¯s Cosy Reality Show, the two female magicians were enjoying the fun of their bath in the other room. PR/N: I¡¯m crying. This is making meugh so much I¡¯m crying. Author please¡­ The pirates on the boat were in an awkward position. Because as per the request of this little noble¡­.they were now heading to the port! The Captain, First Officer, Second Officer, and the Boatswain of the ship were kicked out by that horribledy. Now, among the rest of the pirates on the ship, the former highest status¡­.was the caterer, which meant the cook. The caterer was also the father of Captain Jack Sparrow, who was chosen by Duwei. The poor pirates were worrying about their future¡­Although that little noble said he would let them stay alive, how could they know if they would or wouldn¡¯t be hanged once they arrived in port? ¡°Perhaps, we should fight against them?¡± One man with golden teeth said,¡±they only got three people! If we locked the door and stoked the fire¡­¡± People were looking at each other¡­and then looked at the guy who made this proposal. ¡°That woman was like a monster! She could break one¡¯s bone by kicking him, she could kick the strongest man out for, like, more than ten miles! Stupid Idiot! Did you think that she can be killed by the fire?¡± ¡°Block them?! Couldn¡¯t she break the wall and escape?¡± All the rooms in this ship¡­.was actually made of simple thing wood! The door opened while the pirates were still discussing. With a brand new appearance, Captain Jack Sparrow came out¡­he was shy. When all the pirates looked at their new captain, they whistled and said,¡± Wow! Look! Our Captain!¡± ¡°Hahaha¡­.Captain Jack¡­you look pretty!¡± ¡°Right! Looks like a cow in estrus! Haha, even prettier than the bitches in Port York, hahaha¡­.¡± Our Captain Jack was a bit shy, and he coughed a bit¡­Now, he was the captain! He straightened his spine and walked to the desk, and said angrily, ¡°Shut up, guys! If anyone continues to voice up, I will put my hat into his mouth! I swear, I will do that!¡± ¡°Wow, look, our captain is getting angry!¡± ¡°hahaha¡­¡± Captain Jack still couldn¡¯t get any respect from the pirates¡­but he was chosen by little Duwei! ¡°Ok! Keep quiet!¡± a hoarse voice shouted. He was the caterer on this ship, and after the death of the captain, first officer and second officer, etc (They were just thrown into the sea, but without any food and water, and only with two crappy boats, could they still stay alive?), he held the highest status among the pirates. The caterer seemed quite willing to protect his son,¡± All of you shut up! Can you get any benefit if you tease my son? Ok,e here son, I know you feel helpless. Now, the fates of everyone rely on you! You are the Captain now!¡± Captain Jack looked at his father and nodded¡­He was still young, and he still didn¡¯t have the issues of the old pirates. Although he was a pirate, he was still a passionate adventurer of the sea. The Caterer picked up a thick roll of cloth from his waist,¡±This is¡­He just drew it.¡± ¡°He? Who? That little noble? That little kid?¡± One of the piratesughed. Jack got a bit angry. He looked at that pirate and whispered,¡±Old Bill, Listen! If you want to die, please keep on calling him like this! But if he throws you into the water, I will not help you!¡± ¡°We are all pirates¡­my father and I included! But, do you want to be a pirate for your whole lives?¡± He chinned up and looked at the pirates, ¡°We all know, someday, we will die in this god damned sea! Some day, it will surely happen! Die by a storm, or attacked by the Imperial Navy. Being caught by the Navy and hanged up at the Port! Our dead body will probably be eaten by those crows and seabirds, also be dried under the sun! Like dried meat being hung for a few months! That¡¯s our pirates¡¯ destinations! My brothers!¡± ¡°I love the sea, and I love the feel of adventure on the sea¡­But I don¡¯t think that being a pirate for my whole life is the best choice¡­not if we have other options! Listen, brothers! Now, our little Mr. Noble, he is a very influential noble! I can see it! Listen, this is our chance! We can get rid of the pirate identities and be one of the members under his fleet proudly! We can keep on sailing on the sea¡­with a new identity! The noble private fleet! No Imperial Navy will chase us! No one will hang us at the port! We just get a makeover, with cleaner and prettier clothes. Then, we can even have a beer and be friends with that goddamn Imperial Navy. We can even ask for their protection¡­look, how amazing will that be?¡± Someone questioned, ¡±But, if we are not pirates anymore, what can we eat and drink? Where will the moneye from?¡± Captain Jack didn¡¯t answer directly ¨C actually, he also didn¡¯t know the answer. But he said,¡± Can you see those girls? Can you guess what I saw just now?¡± ¡°They were bathing? Hahaha, you are so lucky¡­¡±That pirate with golden teethughed. BANG! That pirate was still talking, Captain Jack had already rushed to him and punched him! That poor guy screamed and clutched his nose, ready to pull out his knife and fight with Jack! ¡°Such a stupid guy! As I said, if you dare to say those words again, I will kill you! You are such a bastard! If thosedies heard what you just said, all of us would suffer!¡± Jack was seething. Pirates were looking at this guy¡­but no one felt sorry for him and no one wanted to help him. It was because all of them agreed with Jack. If this stupid guy made that horrible girl angry, all of them would suffer! Perhaps¡­throwing him into the water tonight was a good choice¡­ Captain Jack then hit his face again and the guy was dizzied. Then he turned back, ¡±Right, let¡¯s go on! Can you guess what I saw?¡± No one answered. ¡°Magic!¡± Captain Jack whispered, ¡°It¡¯s MAGIC! Those girls are magicians! Holy shit! We are facing magicians¡­.TWO MAGICIANS!¡± Everybody was surprised! Since a long time ago, people were scared of the magicians, and no one would have dared to aggravate them! ¡°I saw that those girls used magic to create fire, then dried their clothes in their room¡­perhaps they thought we are dirty, so they cleaned their clothes by themselves.¡± Captain Jack whispered,¡±Our little noble let me see that on purpose. And I am very clear that this is a threat, as you all should understand. Magicians are not normal people! They can kill us easily! Especially that horrible woman, as she is not only a magician but also a warrior!¡± ¡°Go back to the question¡­captain, if we follow this noble, what are the benefits? What can we eat and drink? Will he raise us? I don¡¯t understand, apart from being pirates, what can we do?¡± Though this question was harsh, obviously, they started to respect Jack and started calling him Captain. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Captain Jack answered. ¡°But I am sure that first, don¡¯t forget we saved his life! We picked him out of the sea. He owes us, if we listen to him, he won¡¯t make it harsh, and I am sure he will give us some benefits. Second¡­.two magicians! My brothers! Have you ever heard that magicians suffered shortage of money?¡± ¡®Don¡¯t worry!¡¯ Especially the second point. Will a magician suffer in a shortage of money? Since a long time ago, in the view of the normal people, magicians were rich! They are the people who get the best treatment everywhere, as many rich people or nobles were very willing to give them money to please them or ensnare them. A Magician who didn¡¯t have enough money? What a joke! Saying this, Jack released the worry or the objection from all the pirates. He then spread out the cloth,¡±This is what the noble just drew¡­.it¡¯s our new g!¡± PR/N: Insert Link here directly from wikipedia for the g of the ck Pearl. *Crying Laughter continues* Chapter 42 Chapter 42 ¨C Duwei¡¯s n to Wealth Very soon, the ck Pearl would arrive at the nearest port while wearing its new g. After one and a half days, the ship met the Imperial Navy Warship that had chased after the pirates two days ago. After a tense confrontation, the officer on the Imperial Navy Warship was surprised that on the pole of the pirate ship was not hanging a pirate g, but instead¡­. There was a strange g! The junior officer reported, that the standard-bearer of the pirate ship called Semaphore, requested for surrender¡­They were not pirates. PR/N: Standard-bearer is named Semaphore, just to rify. What followed was simple. The Captain of the Navy Warship ordered the alert, and epted the ¡®surrender¡¯ of this pirate ship. Later they learned that the little master of the Rnd Family, who had disappeared for few days, was on this ship¡­ This little master has even captured such a pirate ship! The Captain of this Imperial Navy was shocked! ording to Imperialw any prisoner, pirates captured by a noble could be pardoned by said noble¡­ Of course, treason or other major crimes were excluded! But, this little master disposed of a few pirates¡­So this kind of small thing, the Captain of the Navy Warships preferred to overlook. He was the little master of the Rnd Family! The eldest son of Earl Raymond! Earl Raymond had served as the General of the Imperial Navy Expeditionary Fleet before; he knew many people in the Imperial Navy and held a very high prestige! The Captain of this Navy surely wouldn¡¯t give any difficulty to the son of Earl Raymond. The two ships sailed together side by side. The Navy brought Duwei back by the raft, for safety and sent two troops to the pirate ship to have them monitored. ¡°Master Duwei!¡± The Captain of this Navy warship was a very typical navy officer without any armor. He was of a short body build, wearing a simple uniform. His skin color was very yellow thanks to the sea breeze and waves. He also had big hands. ¡°Our fleet had been split up to search for you! There was an order within the navy, we had to find your boat first, only then can we rest for a month at Port York! Thank God, for letting me have such a big reward! Hahahaha¡­¡± Duwei was shocked¡­ The whole fleet was searching for me? Although his father was the General of the Navy before, now he held second highest status in the Imperial Army¡­He didn¡¯t like Duwei¡­. But¡­. Why did he send so many people to find him? Full of doubt, Duwei and the Captain had a conversation in the Captain¡¯s Quarters. Duwei understood the situation quickly. It seems he became the key person in the negotiation between the Imperial Military and the Magic Union. If they found Duwei, the problem could be solved. If not¡­ The conflict between the military and the Magic Union would worsen. That¡¯s not something people wanted to see! ¡°These two are¡­¡± the Captain looked at Joanna and Vivian. ¡°They are my friends.¡± Duwei briefly answered. He, of course, wouldn¡¯t say directly that they were the two magicians who disturbed the barrack! See thatdy with the armor! She almost killed me! She attacked the local barrack! If he said that¡­ Everything might be ruined! Now, the magic power of Joanna waspletely recovered! If she messed up everything, she could kill all the people in these two ships easily! This Captain was not dumb, so he didn¡¯t ask further. He skipped the topic, ¡°So, please take a rest! I will prepare food and water¡­ If you need any assistance, I will try my best to help you¡­ Please feel free to ask! My brother also served in the Imperial Navy Expeditionary Fleet as an officer under your father before! I respect Earl Raymond very much, he is the pride of our Imperial Navy!¡± Before leaving, the Captain could not help but ask, ¡°Please forgive me¡­ Master Duwei, but how will you handle these pirates? They were criminals, you¡­¡± ¡°They are my prisoners, I have the right over their lives right?¡± Duweiughed, ¡± Such a coincidence, I will include them in my fleet. I need a group of experienced sailors and officers. Also, I quite like their ship.¡± Truthfully, the Captain would have liked to remind Duwei that he still hadn¡¯t gotten his own title, so, he actually could not have his own private fleet. But, in fact, anyone from the noble or big families within the Imperial Kingdom could earn the title. Even if they built a private fleet earlier orter, no one would care. ¡°This ship, I have named it the ¡®ck Pearl¡¯, it will be the gship of my fleet.¡± Duweiughed. ¡°So, your fleet is called¡­. No, I am not curious, but they are pirates. Although they are under you now, aftering ashore I have to document it. I must know these things to report them. To remove their names from our wanted list I need to know the name of your fleet..¡± Duweiughed and he brought the Captain to the deck and pointed at the ¡°ck Pearl¡±. ¡°Can you see the g?¡± Duweiughed happily. ¡°¡­ Yes.¡± the Captain asked, ¡° I have never seen this kind of strange g before¡­What does it mean?¡± If someone who knew Duwei in his previous life saw that g, he might have felt faint! Because, on the g, there was a very big ¡®M¡¯! ¡°McDonald¡¯s!¡± Duwei answered, ¡°My fleet is named ¡®McDonald¡¯s Fleet¡¯! You can record this name on your report.¡± The Captain left confused as Duwei thought evilly¡­ Someday, when there would be several warships with the ¡®McDonald¡¯s¡¯ gs, how hrious would it be? The ships kept on sailing for a couple of days, and finally arrived at Port York. The port was located at the southern part of the Imperial Kingdom and the Eastern coast of the Lille Province. It was a typical coastal port city, with a natural concave coastline. It was the best haven. There were many kinds of ships moored at the pier, different merchant ships from different ces. There were even privately armed merchant ships¡­ And numerous sailors who wanted to have fun here; head officers, tax officers, workers, and porters¡­ Of course, there were plenty of bars and fancy hookers, they would earn everyst coins from the sailors! After the ships stopped, everyone including Duwei finally arrived onnd! Being on the sea for so many days, when Duwei first stepped on thend, he felt a bit petrified. He felt lucky to be still alive, and also¡­ Duweiughed and touched his head. He wore a beautiful hat having now changed into a Navy Officer uniform without a badge. He now looked like a young and handsome Navy Officer¡­ Just too young and too thin. Port York was a public port and not a navy port. There was no stationed Navy. The nearest barracks stationed a thousand infantry. In this prosperous port city, much tax was provided to the Imperial Kingdom, and maritime trade was very profitable. Once Duwei stepped on this port, he could feel the prosperity immediately. This was different from the Majesty of the Imperial Kingdom and the luxurious atmosphere of the upper ss. It was also different from the peaceful cities in the Rnd in. First impressions of this ce was¡­¡¯Crowded!¡¯ The roads were full of all kinds of people! Drunk sailors, fat businessmen, and tax officers on horses. There were also different kinds of stores on the roadsides. It was said that the developed maritime trade brought most of the goods across the globe to Port York! You could find and buy any rare goods here! Duwei also saw the Magicians Party in this port city! Under the protection of the Navy, Duwei didn¡¯t have much time to walk around. He directly went to a hotel that was fully booked by the Navy. So, what next? Duwei was waiting patiently. Two dayster, Knight Robert and Caroline rushed over here after they received the magic message from the Magic Union. Knight Robert looked thinner than before. He looked tired and remorseful. Meanwhile, Caroline looked pale, she had just recovered from her injury. It was hard for them to rush over here in their state. They had brought an impressive group of private troops under the Rnd Family, numbering a thousand men! They also brought bad news. Because of Duwei, Rnd Family was forcefully involved in the conflicts between the Magic Union and Imperial Kingdom! In such a situation, even the Rnd Family didn¡¯t want to be against the Magic Union, but for honor and reputation, Rnd Family had no choice. This made Earl Raymond stand at the edge of awkwardness. From his point of view, this was all caused by his son! Knight Robert not only brought the troops to protect Duwei, but a rebuke from the Earl, amand: Duwei must return to the castle on the Rnd ins immediately, and is to be grounded for one year as his punishment. Also, his allowance is reduced for a year¡­That means he could not receive those monthly 300 goldcoins! Duwei was also ordered not to intervene in any business of the Rnd Family! During the period of being grounded, Duwei could not leave the castle, not even a step! He must listen to the old housekeeper of the castle. If Duwei gave any trouble to the family¡­ Then he would probably receive a harsher punishment! But Duwei didn¡¯t care! He had expected that would happen. Grounded for one year? In theing year, Duwei had nned to stay in the castle¡­ He needed to ¡®digest¡¯ the gift from Chris! Huh¡­ Much time was needed for learning! Pocket money¡­ 300 golden coins every month? Duwei didn¡¯t care too much! ¡°I am grounded, cannot intervene the business of the family¡­ That¡¯s it? Nothing else? So I can do other things, or send someone to do other things, is it excluded?¡± Robert replied, ¡°That should be excluded.¡± ¡°Great.¡± Satisfied, Duweiughed. ¡°Oh, Caroline, how¡¯s your injury? Great, I have something I want you to do.¡± Then, Duwei let everybody leave and invited Joanna toe. ¡°Joanna, look! This is your partner.¡± Duweiughed, ¡±You sure you won¡¯t regret?¡± Joanna was a little frustrated, ¡°Ok, kid, I owe you! But you have to remember, one time only! I will only help you finish this one thing!¡± Duwei invited Joanna because¡­ He wanted her to lead the ¡®ck Pearl¡¯ and set sail! The task was to defeat all the pirates! Duwei¡¯s thinking was very simple, ¡° I cannot do business, I don¡¯t have money and I also don¡¯t have any maritime trade experience¡­ I even don¡¯t have the pocket money. Where can I get the money for magic experience¡­ Also my McDonald fleet?¡± Duwei pondered and pondered. Then he finally came to a conclusion! To plunder! Steal from the Imperial Navy? No, Duwei wouldn¡¯t dare. Rob the merchant ships on the ocean? Duwei didn¡¯t want trouble. So¡­ The only optionleft was to rob from pirates! Attacking pirates was not illegal! Even the Imperial Navy encouraged that! There were rewards too! The Imperial Navy offered heavy rewards for killing infamous pirates. Joanna was powerful, and if the ck Pearl¡¯s crew, which was familiar with the Pirate Groups, sailed on the sea¡­ PR/N: I assume Pirates Group refers to the other bands of pirates/pirate ships. Others could not find those pirates! But Captain Jack Sparrow could! They were pirates before! Then, the next step would be very simple! Rob! Take their money! Those pirates should have savings! They should have piles of stolen loot! This would be a good addition to the pockets of Master Duwei. Capture the Pirates! Duwei could still ¡®capture¡¯ those pirates, if they revolted, then he will sell them to the Imperial Navy for the reward. If they behaved well, he will keep them and let them join the Duwei¡¯s private fleet¡­ Take their ships! Duwei could not tolerate to have only the ¡®ck Pearl¡¯ under his ¡®McDonald¡¯s Fleet¡¯. He doesn¡¯t have the money to buy ships, so he can only steal the pirate ships! The strength of Joanna was a great warranty! This kind of zero-cost trading¡­ No one else could think of that¡­ But, who could find a great magician to help in doing this kind of stupid endeavor? Those magicians were so arrogant! Even the officer in the pce could not buy their service! ¡°Get wealthy legally!¡± That¡¯s the main idea of Duwei! Of course, the usual Joanna would not agree, only that Joanna owed Duwei a favour and would help him for three months! After the three months, she would go away. So¡­ When Duwei was persuading her, he did use a little trick, which involved¡­ Looking into her eyes. Then, Caroline was the best candidate for this business! This female knight had the experience of adventure, robbery, kidnapping, rewarding, etc¡­ She was familiar with those. Also with the name of the Rnd Family, the Navy wouldn¡¯t put any difficulty on her. After settling everything, the female magician and female knight went away. At that time, there was someone who had waited for a long time. When he entered the room, he hugged Duwei immediately. ¡°My lord, I am your loyal servant Mard¡­¡± Duwei looked at him andughed, ¡°Oh, my dearest Mard, long time no see.¡± Mard was originally so very poor, he understood that everything he had came from this little master¡­ If master died, he would return to being a stableman! ¡°Ok, Mard, you made my trousers dirty¡­ Now, pack up the luggage, we¡¯re going back home!¡± Chapter 43 Chapter 43 Goodbye Kiss Duwei was a little bit sad thinking about parting with little Vivian. That innocentdy had run to the Magic Union at Port York toplete her magician application. Her magician gown was missing and even the Magician¡¯s Badge was lost in the sea. Vivian ran to the Magic Union toplete the application procedure. After disying her identity, the staff of the Magic Union immediately checked the Magician name list¡­ And the staff, who were low-level magicians responsible for documents, were shocked. Their attitudes suddenly changed and became very polite. It was because it¡¯s rare to meet a great magician! In the Magic Union, famous and great magicians were all arrogant. Even the slightest careless offense to those magicians, would probably would lead to big trouble! This Magic Union Office at Port York was actually responsible for purchasing materials that the Union needed and other misceneous items, and the people here had almost never admitted any great magicians before. Soon, Vivian was changed into a brand new magician gown and received a new golden badge. ¡°I¡­ I need to go.¡± The littledy sighed, this was the first sentence said to Duwei after returning. Duwei was silent for a while. He understood that no matter how two people depended on each other on a deserted ind, once they went back to the real world, they would have their own ways to go. ¡°I¡­ I really need to go.¡± Vivian¡¯s cheek was a little flushed and her eyes were red too. Rubbing her clothes with her small hands she said, ¡°By my calctions¡­ Teacher will be back soon.¡± Duwei braced himself, looked at thisdy and asked, ¡°How can I find youter?¡± Vivian was silent for a while. She answered carefully, ¡°Teacher doesn¡¯t allow me to expose our location¡­¡± ¡°¡­Not even to me?¡± Duwei asked quietly. Vivian was barely holding back her tears. She suddenly held her mouth and cried. She hugged Duwei tightly. She was shaking and crying heavy tears as she said, ¡°I.. I will miss you so much¡­ I don¡¯t want to go back¡­ My dragon is lost and teacher will scold me¡­¡± Duwei simply listened what she said andughed, ¡°Ok, you can tell me in secret. When I have the time, I will sneak over to see you¡­ Perhaps next time, if your teacher is not there, you can also sneak over to see me! Isn¡¯t that great? We¡¯ve known each other for so many days and I treat you as one of my best friends. You are no longer a little girl, how can your teacher lock you in that secret ce for life? You need to have some friends.¡± Vivian thought for a while, obviously doubtful¡­ But she had already broken many regtions this time already, what was one more?¡­ We regret to announce that our little Vivian, to a certain extent, had been led astray by Duwei. In the past, little Vivian would not have had these kinds of thoughts. ¡°I¡­I live in¡­¡± Vivian whispered and told Duwei where she lived, Duwei remembered it and smiled, ¡°OK! When I have time, I will go to see you!¡± Vivian was a bit reluctant and said, ¡°That ce is hard to find and also hard to enter. My sister spent a full day trying to find her way thest time.¡± Perhaps there were some magic arrays¡­ Duwei thought briefly and smiled, ¡°Ok, I should be able to find the way.¡± Vivian looked at Duwei for a while, then picked up a parchment from her pocket and gave it to Duwei. ¡°This¡­ This is what I promised to give you.¡± Duwei scanned the item. He could only read a few of the lines written in ck ink¡­ The wordings were old-fashioned, but the meaning was hard to understand¡­ Oh, these are spells! ¡°There are a total of six incantations.¡± Vivian was shy and said, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I promised you.¡± Duwei stared at the parchment and said, ¡°You¡­ Should know that from the very beginning, I lied to you, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Vivian bowed her head and didn¡¯t dare to look at Duwei. In a slightly quiet voice she said, ¡°This¡­ These are the most powerful spells that I know¡­ If you don¡¯t have the magic power, please do not use them.¡± Duwei received this parchment and ced it carefully in his pocket. Then he looked at thisdy, looked at her shyness, looked at her dodgy eyes. She was a little bit shy. In this moment, Duwei was inwardly a little bit excited. After receiving the gift, even Duwei thought himself to be slightly evil. He had already lied and gained so many things, yet he still wanted to cheat her heart? She was such an innocent girl. Duwei shook his head, then he asked his people to prepare a horse and let Vivian go. ¡°I¡­ I will leave now.¡± Vivian was sad. Duwei suddenly said, ¡°There is something you need to bear in mind!¡± Deeply inhaling, Duwei said, ¡°I know that your dragon was left on the ind and you are very sad about it. I think that you will want to go back and bring it back, right? But I request that you don¡¯t go! That ind is not just any old ind! Your sister¡¯s magic power is not weaker than you, she brought along her dragon, but still almost died on that ind! That dragon was also eaten by the monster¡­ So if you go back, you will die! Listen to me, don¡¯t have any thoughts about going back to that ind! Understand?¡± Vivian bowed her head, ¡°I, I get it. But, my teacher may go there too.¡± Duwei sighed. But he had heard what the devil servant Chris said, that the giant monster could move. It didn¡¯t always stay in one ce, and after a period of time it would move to other ces. This meant that the location of that ind was not fixed. Perhaps, when Vivian¡¯s teacher went to that ind, they would not find that ind, instead finding nothing but ocean. By the way, Vivian still didn¡¯t mention who her teacher was. But Duwei thought that her teacher must be a very strong master! Otherwise, Vivian could not be such a great magician at her age. ¡°Those¡­ What are those people doing?¡± While Duwei was lost in his thoughts, Vivian pointed at the distant people and asked curiously. Far away, there were many sailors that were preparing to leave. They were saying goodbye to the women. Some of the women were their wives, their lovers, even the hookers whom they had only shared one night with. But, the people who lived on the seas were always facing all kinds of dangers. When men went back to the sea, the women¡­ Even the hookers, were generous in giving their blessings. And far away, there were a few couples kissing goodbyes. ¡°They¡­ Are saying goodbye.¡± Duwei answered. A strange look came over Vivian, and she became shy. She abruptly kissed Duwei on his left cheek¡­ Just a peck. Then, a trembling Vivian quickly got up on her horse and rode away. Duwei was then touching his cheek and looking towards the end of the streets¡­ Protected by the private troops of the Rnd family, Duwei and the soldiers left Port York and headed towards the North, going back to the Rnd ins. While passing by the Lille Province, the Governor of the Lille Province met Duwei in person to give him some words of encouragement and also many presents. Duwei earned something. Since he was under punishment, his allowance had been cut, so he should be the poorest noble within the Imperial Kingdom. Joanna left earlier. She brought Caroline and joined the ship of Captain Jack Sparrow. They restocked on supplies and began Duwei¡¯s Wealth n. Imagining his future McDonald¡¯s Fleet, as well as the futureing events, Duwei could not stopughing while lying inside his carriage. Imagine¡­ In theing days, how that poor pirate captain would introduce himself to others. ¡°I am the Captain of the ck Pearl under the McDonald¡¯s Fleet. Call me Captain Jack Sparrow!¡± In his previous life, this kind of introduction would have no doubt caused people to explode with crazyughter. While he kept thinking, suddenly he sat down. He was excited and interested! This world¡­ He was totally not familiar with it! Like a nk paper, he could draw anything on it! He thought, having already built his ¡®McDonald¡¯s Fleet¡¯, that there could be even more amusing things he could do! At this time, our young main character seemed to have found a few new goals, though his intents were evil. 15 dayster, Duwei was back in the castle of the Rnd Family located near the Jade River of the Rond ins. The scale of the wee ceremony was smaller than usual, and the troop that protected Duwei didn¡¯t enter the castle, instead just leaving afterpleting their task. Duwei met his old housekeeper Bill, who was the one Duwei disliked. This time, when this old man saw Duwei, he seemed happier. It was normal since, if Duwei had run into trouble, this old housekeeper would have been partly responsible! ¡°Master, you finally came back.¡± The old housekeeper was so happy. But Duwei sensed, that beneath his happiness he was gloating a little. ¡°I have received the letter from the Earl¡­¡± ¡°I know! Being grounded for a year and my monthly allowance is cut too, right? Ok, my Mr. Housekeeper, may I ask where you are going to lock me up?¡± The old housekeeper was shocked and said, ¡°This¡­ Master, you scare me! Who dares to lock you up? Within this castle, you can still do anything you want. You only cannot step out of this castle in theing one year. That¡¯s the order from the Earl.¡± ¡°Ok!¡± Duweiughed and he nced at the old housekeeper, ¡°ording to my habit, I just came back. So tonight, I will sleep in the study room. My dear housekeeper, please send someone to go prepare!¡± Chapter 44 chapter 44: A Figure Comes Out of the Oil Painting Not wanting to be dressed by his servants, Duwei stopped them from serving him. He even locked the door when he bathed. He stood in front of the mirror and poked his hair gently; there was a horn on his head. ¡°This Chris¡­ Can¡¯t he make it look better?¡± Duwei sighed. He had to remember to not let others touch his head in the future. Luckily, the horn was small and short. It could be covered by his hair¡­ Duwei¡¯s hair was very long, also¡­ In the future, if suitable, he would wear a hat. While looking at his reflection in his mirror, he had a weird thought¡­ Chris had given him new eyes¡­ Right¡­ These were the Eyes of Enchantment. Duwei thought that this was not a meaningless magic to let thedies love him¡­ It¡¯s a very effective¡­ Instant hypnosis. Duwei recalled how he bargained with his evil servant at the beginning¡­ What did he desire the most from this guy who could be regarded as the Devil¡¯s Representative as a trading condition? At that moment, Duwei really wanted to say: I want to go back! Go home! Return to the world I came from!! In that world, I had my parents, my own friends, the girl I liked, and everything I had! In this world, although it was mysterious and entertaining, a ce that was full of magic¡­ This was not his home. If possible, Duwei would have told him without any hesitation that he would like to go home. So, he carefully asked Chris, ¡°May I ask if you know any magic rted to space?¡± Continuing, he tried his best to ask in a simple way, ¡°I am wondering if Space Magic can send me to another world¡­ I¡¯ve been curious about that for long time.¡± Chris felt shocked. Oops, no no, of course he knew Space Magic actually. As the Devil¡¯s servant that had unlimited life, he was the most knowledgeable existence in the world. Was there anything at all he did not know? But Chris was still curious. Pursuing Space Magic was the dream of many super magicians¡­ But Duwei was still such a young kid, he hadn¡¯t even started enjoying his life¡­ But for him to request this, it really confused Chris. ¡°I know some Space Magic¡­ But, I can¡¯t use it.¡± This was the answer from Chris. Then this Devil¡¯s servant exined a bit and Duwei understood immediately. ¡°I was locked in this ce,¡± Chris smiled, ¡°If I could use Space Magic, I would have escaped a long time ago.¡± It was reasonable. Duwei bowed his head then, his dream of going back now gone. Luckily, he was familiar with this world after many years. With his adaptive ability, Duwei was less disappointed than expected. He was silent for a while and raised another request, ¡°I want to learn magic.¡± Our little noble pointed at his head, ¡°I think, I am talented in the spiritual area. But¡­ My sensitivity is not good. I cannot sense the fluctuation of any magic element nearby.¡± Then¡­ Then, a horn grew out on the head of Duwei! Seems¡­ Duwei touched his head and looked into the mirror¡­ It was like adding an antenna onto a radio with poor reception! This horn was the antenna of Duwei! It allowed him to feel the fluctuation of magic nearby! His sensitivity¡­ It was far greater, even more than other magicians due to this horn. This was the gift from Chris. Perhaps, this request from Duwei was too simple. It was too easy that even this Devil¡¯s servant felt sorry about that. So, Chris said, ¡°Your request is simple, from this trade, I won¡¯t gain benefit from you, my little friend. So, I can give you something a little extra¡­ You can pick any one from the list I told you just now.¡± Oh, the ¡°Eyes of Enchantment¡±, the strong ¡°Dragon¡¯s Heart¡± and also, hearing the thoughts of others, the ability to see through others¡¯ camouge¡­ He made a very normal choice, as a man, a very typical man! Duwei chose the ¡°Eyes of Enchantment¡±. Imagine, by using these eyes, he could attract all the beauties in the world. It¡¯s actually quite evil, right? For the Dragon¡¯s Heart¡­ Duwei didn¡¯t n to be a muscr fighter. Being able to hear the thoughts of others or to see through others¡¯ camouge¡­ Duwei felt these were boring. Only politicians need those. He didn¡¯t have the slightest interest. So¡­ Duwei chose the ¡°Eyes of Enchantment¡±. A high level hypnotism. No one could escape from these eyes; not even strong female magicians, or even holy virgins. But¡­ There was only one weakness and that is¡­ It is only effective on females! Duwei stretched his arms and spread his palms; closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He tried to feel around with his heart. The confusion of the past had disappeared! The feeling of emptiness in the past had also vanished! Duwei could feel his surroundings with rity! He spread his spirit around. It seemed like his spirit could touch everywhere in the room! The water dripping from the tap, the eroded tiles, and even the bubbles from the bath¡­ Such awareness! This feeling was so amazing! Duwei couldn¡¯t help letting out a small moan. He still didn¡¯t know magic, but using his spiritual power, he lightly waved his hand¡­ The vapour on his palm formed a little water ball. The water ball was crystal clear and rolled on Duwei¡¯s palm. ¡°This¡­ It¡¯s magic¡­ Great!¡± Duwei could not help, but to slightly squeeze¡­ The ball lost its shape and the water dropped. He started to sense the magic element. In the bathroom, Duwei could easily sense and control the water element. Now, he only needed to learn a spell! With his vigorous well of magic power and his keen sensitivity, if he learnt some spells¡­ Then, he could be a magician. Duwei stayed in the bathroom for at least two hours. When he went to the study room, he found the old housekeeper Bill had been waiting for him for a long time. ¡°Master, your dinner¡­¡± ¡°I will eat in the study room.¡± Duwei waved his hand, and looking at the silent old housekeeper, he suddenlyughed and said, ¡°Ok, my dear housekeeper, I know father ordered you to monitor me, but don¡¯t worry. During this one year, I will follow my father¡¯s orders, I won¡¯t leave this castle and won¡¯t intervene with any businesses within the territory¡­ For my monthly expenditure, don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t ask you for that.¡± After a while, Duwei looked at the eyes of the old housekeeper, ¡°I don¡¯t hate my father¡­ I understand that, from his standing, he cannot only be a father, but must also be a General! Sometimes, perhaps father doesn¡¯t want to punish his son like this, but being a General, he has to do it, I totally understand.¡± The old housekeeper was shocked¡­ He was going to say something tofort Duwei. Now, he understood that this little master was not any idiot. He was a special person with a different way of thinking. When the old housekeeper prepared to leave, Duwei asked, ¡°Before I left I requested that a wooden house be built¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯spleted.¡± Old housekeeper answers, ¡°It¡¯s exactly based on your request, you will see it tomorrow.¡± ¡°Thanks, I am very satisfied.¡± After Duwei said that, he looked to the other side, which meant he wanted the housekeeper to leave. Duwei closed the main door of the study room. He climbed up thedder, randomly chose an astrology book from the shelves. He started reading it quietly. It was almost midnight. When the bell rang midnight, Duwei stretched a bit, then, he checked if the door was locked. Finally, he moved thedder and removed the oil painting on the wall. It seems that the servant responsible for cleaning his room was very thorough. No dirt could be found on the oil painting. Duwei looked at the eyes on the painting. After midnight, those eyes came to life and looked at Duwei with hope. ¡°Haven¡¯t seen you for a long time, you must have been anxious.¡± Duwei smiled,¡° Last time, I had a look in the basement and saw what the Great Star Reader Teacher Saimel left¡­ Now, I have the spell which can release you from the painting.¡± As this was the first time for Duwei to use magic, he was actually quite worried. He tried imitating the great magicians¡­ Slightly opening his arms with a serious look, he cast the spell in a soft voice¡­ Duwei didn¡¯t notice that his gesture and movement was simr to what little Vivian did. Casting the spell, Duwei suddenly felt a mysterious power fluctuating nearby¡­ Then, Duwei could feel with his strong power, there was a current¡­ It was like an invisible straw drawing on his energy¡­ Then¡­ Small lights burst from his fingertips, which was then sucked into the oil painting! ¡­ Was itpleted? Duwei stepped back a bit and stared quietly at the oil painting. BOOM! mes flew out from the oil painting, and the painting caught on fire instantly¡­ Duwei was shocked! He knew that this painting was the antique of the family! If it was burnt, the old housekeeper may make aint to his father. But the me was so quick that Duwei didn¡¯t have enough time to extinguish it. That was it. The whole painting turned into ashes within a couple of seconds! Then the mes floated down, from the desk to the floor¡­ The ashes scattered and something in the fire moved. Then, Duwei saw a leg appearing from the me¡­ The skin was so white and soft¡­ The toes looked like pearls¡­ These were perfect legs! Long, firm, straight, round¡­ Wearing a red gown, as bright as spring roses! Under the red gown, the white skin was so fine! The long hair was like silvery snow! The light body under the shadow of the red gown¡­ The neck and curvy breasts¡­ A person could not help imagining¡­ Did she wear anything under her clothing? Looking at her face! This was the third time Duwei saw this face! The first time was in the basement, in the magic array by Saimel, when he saw the illusive image of Saimel. The second time was the strong female magician, the frozen beauty, Joanna! And this was the third time! This face didn¡¯t have the arrogance of Joanna, but had a calm, hypnotizing look. The round eyes were rolling but softer than Joanna¡¯s. Duwei was simply speechless! Long white hair, a red gown, she was an absolute beauty¡­ The woman who appeared from the burnt oil painting¡­ There was no question about it¡­ This was the great Star Reader Teacher Saimel!! Chapter 45 Chapter 45 ¨C The Unusual Saimel Duwei did have his suspicions, he had imagined something was sealed in this oil painting. Saimel used magic to leave behind an ¡°illusion¡± to exin that this was the magical creature left by Saimel. Perhaps, it was a ghost? A monster? Even the speaking skeleton left by Saimel, all of those had not shocked Duwei. But this was unforeseen! The thing that came out from the oil painting, was Saimel herself! Looking at thisdy with silver hair and her red gown, Duwei took a deep breath and murmured, ¡°Never expected¡­ Never expected¡­¡± ¡°What did you never expect?¡± Saimel asked. Her voice sounded just like the voice in the magic illusion, very soft and gentle, mature and husky. ¡°I never expected you to seal yourself in the painting.¡± Duwei forced a smile. He had already experienced many amazing things. He recovered quickly from this little shock. He looked at thisdy and asked, ¡°How should I call you? Great Star Reader Saimel? Or¡­ My great great grandmother? Puff!. Saimelughed. When she smiled, her eyes were curved like the crescent moon. ¡°None of them.¡± Thisdy with silver hair looked at Duwei. She spoke to Duwei politely, ¡°I am not Saimel, I am a¡­ Clone.¡± Duwei was confused. ¡°Saimel left the guidance to me¡­ I am the magic creature that inherited part of her knowledge¡­ to be exact, I am a spiritual creature, I don¡¯t have a body. I mean physically¡­ I am a shadow only, an illusion.¡± She looked at Duwei and smiled, she then held out her hand towards Duwei slowly and touched his face. Soon, her small hand ¡®went through¡¯ Duwei¡¯s head. ¡°Look, my body is immaterial but with a solid form¡­ I was cloned with part of the memory of Saimel. My appearance¡­¡± She blinked a bit and said, ¡° I choose this. My memory is the memory of Saimel, the memory ofdy Saimel was the only one I have seen¡­ To a certain extent, I was part of Saimel. So, I finally chose my shape and decided to meet in the appearance of Saimel.¡° Up till now, this ¡®Saimel¡¯ looked at Duwei and whispered, ¡°My¡­ Master.¡± God was witnessing that when this creature was saying ¡®Master¡¯, its eyes were shing with a cunning light. Duwei immediately sensed that this creature was not so simple¡­ It didn¡¯t seem inclined topletely obey! Not the real Saimel¡­ Duwei rxed a bit. He had faced so many things already. If there was one more resurrected granny, it would be troublesome. ¡°Can you change into another appearance?¡± Duwei sighed, ¡°Your current look gives me difort¡­ And if others saw how you look.¡± ¡°No worry, I was released by your spell. That means only you and I have a spiritual connection¡­ No one else can see me.¡± Sheughed. ¡°So, what should I call you? You must have a name, right?¡± ¡°Saimel.¡± She thought for a while, ¡°I like this name, call me Saimel.¡± Duwei felt helpless¡­ Still, my great great grandmother. ¡°Can you teach me Star Magic?¡± Duwei frowned. This Saimel should have been sealed for a very long period of time, now, she was curious about everything. She was sitting on Duwei¡¯s desk and her white legs were showing in Duwei¡¯s eyes, swinging and swinging. My god, didn¡¯t she know that her gown was not long enough? If she kept on swinging her legs like that, she would be exposed. It should be a happy thing¡­ If it was a beautifuldy standing in front of you. But if she looked like your great great grandmother¡­ To say the least, it was rather distressing¡­It¡¯s strange! Though Joanna looked alike too, she was a different person. This made Duwei feel only a bit ufortable. But this Saimel, she not only looked alike, her memory was cloned from the real Saimel! ¡°OK,e!¡± Duwei went to the corner of the study room, threw a nket from the couch, ¡°Wear this.¡± Duwei originally nned to oversleep in the study room, and the servant had prepared this nket. Saimel was slightly shaking. The nket did not cover her, but went through her, and she maliciouslyughed,¡± Oh, boy, why are you so red? Am I not pretty?¡± ¡°No, I just feel a little awkward¡­¡±Duwei said, ¡°You are pretty, but I can¡¯t stop thinking that you are my great great grandmother.¡± ¡°Hahahaha¡­¡± Saimelughed loudly, then squeezing her eyes, ¡°It¡¯s funny!¡± Duwei started to have a headache. Saimel was not a tool without thought, she was almost a live person, the real Saimel with a part of her original memory¡­ But having being sealed for almost two hundred years, she was bored for such a long period of time! This magic creature, perhaps when she was cloned, her personality was nk, but¡­ After two hundred years, undoubtedly, her personality had been ¡®filled in¡¯ by something. ¡°Did you know? My cute, handsome little master.¡± Saimel jumped from the desk, but her body flew towards Duwei like a ghost, her eyes smiling, ¡°I have been living in the study room for almost two hundred years! I have seen many things in this room!¡± Duwei was curious and ask, ¡°What are they?¡± The ancient ancestors of the Rnd Family had made important decisions here! As well as many major decisions rted to the prosperity of the family in this room. Of course¡­ The secret of the family! But¡­ Duwei was disappointed. This Saimel, she was not speaking of any secret or major event of the family¡­ But¡­ Chattering! Right, some idle gossiping! For example¡­ Someone was having sex with a servant in this room. One Patriarch was writing a love letter to his lover¡­ Even Duwei¡¯s grandfather, the father of the Earl, who was a strict and stubborn man. He had brought two noble girls to this room and had sex after a ball in the castle¡­ ¡°These¡­ Are all I have seen before!¡± While Saimel was talking about that, she was excited,¡± I also know that in this room, there are some ¡®prohibited¡¯ books, do you want to see the private collection made by one of the ancestors? My little cute and handsome master?¡± Duweiughed unnaturally. He looked at the malicious Saimel, sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t have an interest in those¡­ Listen! Your little cute and handsome master, the only thing that I have interest in is¡­ Star Magic. I want to learn Star Magic from Saimel, understand?¡± ¡°Star Magic¡­ Always Star Magic¡­¡± Saimel was disappointed, ¡°Why do people want to learn magic¡­ Is Magic fun?¡± The smile on the woman disappeared, she became serious, and said ¡°You want to learn Star Magic, so I have to remind you that you cannot regret in the future! I tell you, if there was no Star Magic¡­ Saimel would not have died so early!¡± Duwei was shocked, ¡°What? Didn¡¯t Saimelmit suicide out of grief after her husband died?¡± ¡°Sorry, this is the only secret I cannot tell.¡± Saimel blinked her eyes, ¡°The order I was given is that: unless you learn thest and most difficult spell of Star Magic, otherwise, before that, I cannot tell you this thing.¡± Duwei was annoyed, ¡°Ok, I don¡¯t have much interest in it, so shall we start?¡± ¡°Sorry, not tonight¡± Saimel was shaking her head, ¡°Star Magic is different from other Magic, we cannot learn here¡­ Saimel left a white tower in this castle. In that tower, you can observe the stars clearly, that¡¯s a good ce for learning¡­ In this room, you cannot see the starry sky, it¡¯s not suitable for learning Star Magic.¡± White tower¡­ Duwei frowned, ¡°Why must it be the white tower?¡± Saimel thought, ¡°If there is no white tower¡­ Better find a spacious and quiet ce where you can observe the stars¡­ The key requirement is that you should be able to see the sky.¡± Duwei checked the time, ¡°So, we can begin from the next night¡­ See you tomorrow.¡± Duwei had no intention to talk much with this Samiel¡­ Since looking at his great great grandmother swinging her legs in front of him was not very pleasant at all. Chapter 46 Chapter 46 The Fire element of Solskjaer The next morning, the sun was rising and Duwei was enjoying his breakfast when someone came to see him. It was¡­. The lying Magician Solskjaer. After all, the people had thought that Duwei was kidnapped, Solskjaer was so stressed¡­He was the only magician staying with Duwei! But he didn¡¯t have a single mark of a fight on him! Everyone was wounded except him! His colleagues caused Solskjaer much stress. To be honest¡­ He also thought that that day was embarrassing, when he was too scared and passed out because of the Grade-8 Magician before the fight even started. That¡¯s reasonable, right? A Grade-1 Magician(He even got his qualification by cheating), fighting against a Grade-8 Magician. It wouldn¡¯t be even a contest¡­ It would have been a suicide! ¡°Oh, my little master, I am so happy to see you again¡­¡± Solskjaer was beaming when the door opened. Bang! Duwei¡¯s reply was to kick him. Duwei just kicked him once and this magician fell down. He looked at him and then closed his eyes, whispering, ¡°My dear Solskjaer¡­ But I am not happy to see you.¡± Solskjaer stood up and fixed his hat awkwardly, ¡°¡­ My little master¡­¡± ¡°When I remember how you acted on that day, I feel embarrassed.¡± Duwei said angrily, ¡°My Mr. Magic Consultant, you passed out directly when the fight just began¡­ You have the heart of a rabbit!¡± On that day, Solskjaer was thest person Duwei had, but this useless guy wasn¡¯t of any help and instead, merely passed out! Duwei was pissed off! ¡°Forgiveness little master! The opponent was a Grade-8 magician! Grade-8! Master Duwei!¡± Solskjaer argued, ¡°My level is only of grade-1, my real ability is even weaker than a magic apprentice! You should understand that¡­ Don¡¯t you agree that I couldn¡¯t defeat that Grade-8 magician?¡± ¡°But you should not have passed out. It¡¯s so shameful!¡± Duwei was shaking his head, ¡°As your employer, I feel totally disappointed in you¡­ Right, where were you in these past few days?¡± ¡°I¡­ Brought several people and went to the south, I relocated my stuff in theboratory to here.¡± Solskjaer¡¯s answer satisfied Duwei¡¯s mood a little. ¡°You relocated yourboratory over here?¡± Duwei was surprised, ¡°Did you expect me to return soon? Was it not for me, you think this family would still hire you?¡± Solskjaer felt awkward, he could only tell the truth¡­ He was informed that master Duwei of Rnd Family was found. So he had rushed back. ¡°Oh, I see¡­ If I didn¡¯te back, then you would have permanently left, right?¡± Duwei looked at the crafty guy, ¡°With the ¡®trophies¡¯ I gave you, right?¡± Solskjaer was in silence. ¡°Ok, bring that stuff to me.¡± Duwei mentioned all the things that Vivian gave him. It was almost by instinct, that Duwei felt that he wanted to keep ¡¯Vivian¡¯s belongings¡¯ all by himself and didn¡¯t want to give any away. Solskjaer hastily said, ¡°Master Duwei¡­ You are not a magician, these things can only show its true value on a magician¡­¡± Didn¡¯t want to give it to Duwei? Huh! The burning candles on either side immediately red up, and the mes flew into the Duwei¡¯s palms to form a fireball in an instant! Solskjaer was shocked, ¡°Magic? Oh My God, you can use magic?!¡± ¡°You think I am performing acrobatics? I learnt this from the Grade-8 magician!¡± Duwei sneered, ¡°Give it to me.¡± ¡°Can I have the magic crystal?¡± Solskjaer was testing Duwei, ¡°Just a small piece¡­ My experiment needs a high quality magic crystal to save the fire element¡­¡± Duwei didn¡¯t say anything but just spread his palms. Solskjaer sighed and gave the bag to Duwei. ¡°Ok, don¡¯t sigh, my Mr. Magic Consultant.¡± Duwei regained Vivian¡¯s items and was feeling happier, ¡°You will get what you want soon. I can guarantee.¡± ¡°A magic crystal with reasonable quality will cost at least several hundreds of gold coins.¡± Obviously, Solskjaer knew the current situation of Duwei. Most of the people in the castle knew about the order of grounding and reduced allowance. ¡°No worry, I will have money soon, very soon.¡± Duwei wasn¡¯t worried. The n of robbing the pirates was still undergoing, but soon, there would be much profits to be had¡­ Also, he remembered, under the study room, there was a secret room. Saimel¡¯s treasures were inside this secret room. ¡°Right, Solskjaer,e, let¡¯s go see your newboratory! It is in the forest outside the castle!¡± When they left the study room, old housekeeper looked at Duwei andughing, Duwei pointed at the ash on the floor, ¡°My dear Mr. Housekeeper¡­ I am so sorry. Last night I was reading books. Don¡¯t know how but the painting on the wall dropped and there was candle stand near it¡­ Then it burnt up. I think you will let the servant clean it up, right?¡± The old housekeeper looked at the ce, where the oil painted once hanged, and then back at the ash on the floor. Oh my god¡­ That was an antique! The word ¡®spendthrift¡¯ was in the old housekeeper¡¯s mind, but he could not speak it out. He just lightly bit his lips and then nodded calmly. Duwei brought along Solskjaer to leave the study room and headed to the forest next to the castle. Within the deep forest, the a wooden tower on the riverside was already built. There were three levels and it was well constructed. Obviously, the construction materials were of high quality. ¡°Satisfied? This is the magicboratory¡­ Our magicboratory!¡± On the first floor, there was a spacious area with basic furniture, for example, therge table to be used as a working bench that was specially requested by Duwei. There were also some ss containers on the cupboard that were requested by Duwei too¡­ All of a different variety, some even made of crystal. The second floor was full of metallic cupboards for storing different kinds of raw material. The third floor was a private space for Duwei. There was a rooftop where Duwei would observe the stars. Duwei had even personally made his telescope and ced it here. ¡°Satisfied?¡± Duwei looked at Solskjaer happily. Solskjaer was overjoyed and said, ¡°Great! This ce is very spacious and good for my experiments!¡± Duwei then brought him to the backyard and gestured towards the nts on the ground. These were the basic ingredients for Magic Alchemy¡­ Of course, there were still many magic materials that Duwei could not buy, not even in town stores. They could only be bought from the asional adventuring teams, or from the Magic Union. But since the Magic Union was not opened to the public, if the person didn¡¯t have the magicians qualification, he could not buy anything from the Magic Union. ¡°The basic nts I have prepared¡­ For the remaining, we can only buy those from the Magic Union. This is something you need to do, you know the rules of the Magic Union. Money¡­ We will have soon, no worry, very soon.¡± Solskjaer was silently contemting everything. He was already very satisfied! From a normal person¡¯s viewpoint, Magic experiments were just like burning money! Those scarce materials might bepletely wasted in a failed experiment. In the past, Solskjaer didn¡¯t have money to buy experimental materials. Most of the materials he acquired hade from his teacher, which he secretly stole. He also needed to work for the adventure team to earn money or to find cores from magic monsters. Now, with the promise of this little noble, he didn¡¯t need to worry about money again, and he could experiment as much as he wished! Duwei had great hopes of Solskjaer. This guy could study the method of simting magic¡­ He was such a genius! If this fake magician were to continue his study, who knew what kind of things he could invent! ¡°Oh, right, let me see what you have brought from the south!¡± Compared with thisboratory, the things that were brought by Solskjaer were rtively shabby. He brought some containers¡­ Half of them were pottery, obviously this poor magician didn¡¯t have the means to buy beautiful ss containers. Inside these containers, there were several magic elements refined by Solskjaer, mainly of the Fire element. Those are what Solskjaer had called, ¡®yellow powder¡¯. Duwei was interested in the ¡®Fire element¡¯ the most. With the consent of Solskjaer, Duwei opened one of the containers, and he saw the ¡®yellow powder¡¯! When he first saw it, with the familiar smell¡­ Duwei was shocked! He could help squeezing some with his fingers and sniffed it¡­ ¡°This is the ¡®fire element¡¯ you made? Duwei seriously asked Solskjaer. ¡°¡­Yes.¡± Duwei tried to calm down and said, ¡°You¡­ Refined this thing, what is the sess rate for refining this?¡± ¡°It depends on the raw material. The main ingredient is powdered Fire-Scale herbs, but have to refine it six times carefully and make sure there is no fire nearby¡­ I nearly died in an ident before.¡± ¡°If I were to give you sufficient material?¡± Solskjaer was thinking and calcting, ¡°I guess if there is sufficient material, perhaps I can refine three bottles per day.¡± Three bottles? Solskjaer pointed at that container. The size was like the beer bottle in Duwei¡¯s previous life. Three bottles per day¡­ Is quite an impressive speed. Duwei tried to stopughing and hugged Solskjaer tightly, ¡°My Mr. Magic Consultant¡­ I am very satisfied with your fire element¡­ I will pay you more! I mean after I get my money! Ha ha ha¡­¡± After a while, Duwei whispered, ¡°Listen, we have to keep the recipie of the fire element secret! Understand?¡± ¡°Sure!¡± Solskjaer answered quickly. Solskjaer temporarily used thisboratory. He he was staying here to store his containers, also some tools including several pots and some refined containers and burning tools, etc. Duwei left alone. The two servants, who were following him, were peering at this little master. He was barely concealing hisughter. Duwei moved far away and finally he could not helpughing out loudly. Hisughter revealed his extreme happiness and surprise, as if unlimited gold was falling from the sky and that money was rolling into his own pocket only! ¡°Hahaha¡­ Fire element! That¡¯s sulphur! Haha, I have sulphur now!!¡± Chapter 47 Chapter 47: Treasures in the Secret Room He obtained sulphur identally, but how useful was it in this world? To make a weapon? To change the trend, to change the era of weaponry immediately? What a joke! Duwei was not stupid. He knew that sulphur alone was not enough for making firearms. Firstly, why make a weapon? A coup to seize power? War? Duwei was not interested in those. Secondly, making firearms was not an easy task. Not to mention guns and cannons¡­ In his previous world, after the development of sulphur in China, people only knew how to use sulphur to create fireworks for a long period of time. Were firearms easy to be developed? Rifles and cannons, not to mention an entire gun, even just the barrel of the gun which should be the simplest one¡­Duwei didn¡¯t know how to make a single piece. Apart from that, this was a Magic World! In this world, even if you were armed with a gun, magic was still a better tool. For example, if a junior magician knew flying magic and simple fireball magic¡­ He could throw the fireball from the sky. Basically, he could be like a human helicopter with a weapon! In this case, only some sulphur, and making the weapon with the rough technique ¡­was there any advantage? How useful was the sulphur? Duwei¡¯s thought was very simple: Profit! Duwei was getting used to this world. He had created the McDonald Fleet and the ck Pearl by a joke, also the Captain Jack Sparrow¡­He started to be interested in this world. He was interested in other things apart from Magic. He knew that he could not go back¡­so he still needed to find something interesting. Even the all-knowing devil servant could not send him back. Duwei had almost given up. Meanwhile, if Duwei was released and started to prank, the result would be hard to estimate. At least, at this moment, Duwei only kept thinking of how to scare his poor old housekeeper. Duwei went back to the castle and he called his favourite servant Mard. In the private coffer of Duwei, where Mard was responsible for maintaining the safety, there were a thousand goldcoins being held by this servant. The countess gave him these coins when he was kicked out from the Empire City. ¡°How much do we have now?¡± Duwei simply asked. Mard quickly answered, ¡°Eight Hundred and Ny-two gold coins.¡± After a while, the loyal servant said, ¡°That is because the cost of the construction of the tower and such have used much money. The pocket money has been overused for several months already, but as since from now your pocket money is cut, we need to pay for the expense with our own money.¡± Mard talked with bitterness, mainly because of the old housekeeper Hill. It seems that this former groom was confined by the old housekeeper a lot. ¡°Also, in theing one year, we cannot get any money from the old housekeeper.¡± Duwei sighed. ¡°Right!¡± Mard was a little depressed, ¡°Master, I think you may need to think of some method¡­the Earl treats you too harsh. You are still a kid, and this time, he shouldn¡¯t me you. You didn¡¯t want to be kidnapped, did you? But I have an idea¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Mard was looking around and whispered, ¡°Two months from now is the birthday of the countess. If you can send a gift to Empire City on time with a pleading letter, and if the countess can help you in ask for a favour¡­perhaps, your order can be removed earlier.¡± Duwei bowed his head and said,¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, my dear Mard. It¡¯s such a good idea, not considering pleading, I still have to do something for mother¡¯s birthday¡­but, only eight hundred something coins, what kind of present can I buy?¡± Mard kept silence. Obviously, this question was out of the thinking scope of Mard. Duwei didn¡¯t n to let this groom continue, he just touched Mard¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°Ok, I have my idea. But thank you for your notification. Now, I need you to help me to do something.¡± Duwei then drafted a list quickly and gave it to Mard. ¡°Help me to buy all the stuff on this list¡­Also, I have written some names of craftsmen on the list, I need them too.¡± After Mard received the list. He had a quick nce and calcted a little bit. He almost cried and said, ¡°Little master¡­If we buy all of these, and include the sry for the craftsmen¡­we won¡¯t have much money left¡­¡± Mard was already a bit conservative. In fact, he would¡¯ve liked to shout, ¡°We won¡¯t have any money left!¡± Duweiughed confidently and said, ¡°Mard, just do what I ask you to do. Don¡¯t worry, we will have a lot of money soon, not only a lot, we will be extremely rich! Just¡­I have a huge amount of money outside, and I am unable to get the money within these two months. But mom¡¯s birthday will be after two months, so I have to think of some methods. Ok, go ahead!¡± How to do it¡­. If Duwei could wait for three months, the Pirate Robbery n of McDonald Fleet would bepleted and he would have a huge amount of ie. But right now, he didn¡¯t have money on hand! But what about the secret room under the study room¡­Duwei had gone therest night. Guess what was inside? Not gold, not jewellery¡­there was something that put Duwei in a tight spot! Those things were undoubtedly worth a lot. But¡­if sold it within a short period of time, that would be hard. For example, a samurai armor made up of more than three hundred pieces of the finest gem and sewn with a golden thread! This thing was not useful during the war, but as an artwork, its value would be extremely high! This thing probably could not be sold in this little city in Rnds in, perhaps it could be sold in Port York or Empire City. Of course, if Duwei needed money, he could disassemble this thing and just sell one piece of the gems. But it would destroy this amazing masterpiece! Duwei surely wouldn¡¯t do this silly thing. Another example, a Miter carved from thepletely finest natural amethyst! That was four hundred years ago, when the Imperial Kingdom was very strong, where the king at the time invited lots of skilful craftsmen to make it, and also embedded it with twenty-nine of the finest magic gems. There were bush flowers made of dissolved silver, and on the petals of the flower, there was a big prismatic diamond! Duwei had seen this Miter in a book before. People said that this luxury Miter was the coronation gift from the king to the new pope of the Continental Bright Pantheon! But it¡¯s a pity that during the war in the northern territory that it was the period of the rise of the Rnd Family. The family won the Rnd in in that war¡­ But this Miter was mysteriously lost by the Bright Pantheon! This was regarded as a shame by the Bright Pantheon during these hundreds of years! The Pope¡¯s coronation Miter was lost! In these hundreds of years, all the popes wanted to find this Miter back and treated this as one of their inherited wishes. So, would Duwei dare to sell this thing? Perhaps, the Knight of the Pantheons would find him immediately after he sold the Miter! In that secret room, Saimel had left a total of neen collections! Each collection was very expensive but could not sell! In fact, when Duwei saw these treasures, he was daydreaming a bit¡­how great was Saimel? How could she get these things?! He had asked the cloned Saimel but could not get any answer. It was because she didn¡¯t have this recollection in her cloned memory. So, even though Duwei got this treasure, he still needed to worry about the money in this short period of time. He was not in a shortage of money, he justcked liquidity. After analysing a bit, he decided to give the remaining eight hundred coins to Mard for purchasing. In theing three months, Duwei, the eldest son of the Earl, the Little Master in the Rnd Family, would not have any money left. But, the future magic experiments, the setting of the magic medicine, the refinement of the nt, all were consumer goods and needed continuous buying and refill. How to get one or two thousand coins for an emergency? During the whole lunchtime, Duwei was thinking of a method to make a profit. Lunch was still good. There were several pieces of foie gras, with that toasted bread, and a yummy seafood soup¡­obviously, the old housekeeper didn¡¯t make any difficulty on this little master except the order from the Earl. He still took care of Duwei¡¯s meal. Duwei¡¯s favourite food was not cheap, but the old housekeeper didn¡¯t dare to treat him bad. After lunch, Duwei drank some tea. In this world, there was no coffee, but tea. The drinking habit here was quite different, the nobles would normally like to add some honey or sugar¡­also for some nobles with special taste, they might add some mustard into the tea. Of course, the taste of the tea in this world was stronger. After drinking some ck tea with honey, Duwei saw the busy old housekeeper. Hill was so unsatisfied with this little master! He destroyed a two hundred years old painting! Oh my god! Didn¡¯t he know that the picture was the portrait of the ancestor of the Rnd Family! Didn¡¯t he know that this oil painting had experienced a lot? He burnt it! Hill, who was responsible for protecting the property of the Rnd family, was angry with this little master! He had prepared to write this down on the letter to Empire City! ¡°Little Master, do you need anything else?¡± The old housekeeper was still in good attitude, but just a little bit cool. ¡°It is such that, if I don¡¯t leave this castle, I can do anything I want here, right?¡± Duwei asked. ¡°¡­Yes.¡± The old housekeeper answered with anxiety¡­what did this little master want to do now? ¡°Great, I need a girl servant who can sew. Also¡­bring my horse to the door.¡± Chapter 48 Chapter 48: Gambling with the Army In the afternoon, Duwei went to the barrack next to the castle. There were more than 300 barracks for the private army now. Ever since Duwei had been kidnaped by the magicians, the Family strengthened the internal safety of the castle. A group of infantry had been mobilized to this barrack already. Now there were almost a thousand private soldiers in this area for guarding the castle. Duwei entered the barrack by riding a horse, Knight Robert immediately brought some people along and met Duwei. Because Duwei was kidnaped, Robert was demoted by half a grade officially, but in fact, he was still leading the Knight Troop. Probably before the end of the year, they would find an excuse to promote Robert again. After Duwei had entered the barrack, everyone paid attention to¡­the horse of this little master! This horse had been carefully picked and was the best horse in this castle¡­even Knight Robert wanted to have it for a long time¡­ But now, the white horse¡­it¡¯s tails was bald! Duwei seemed very happy on this horse¡­but Robert felt creeped out, and doubted; what did this little master wanted to do? ¡°My dear Knight Robert, I just came to have a look and check what these guys are doing,¡± Duwei¡¯sugh looked harmless to both humans and animals.. ¡°Little master, it is still in spring. Therefore the Spring drill just finished. Right now, soldiers are recovering. For the daily patrol, the Knight Troop handles that¡­I don¡¯t know what kind of thing you would like to see?¡± Robert looked at the smile of Duwei with a bit of a shock. He tried to test Duwei and said, ¡°Perhaps, you would like to go hunting? If so, I can instantly call a troop and go along with you.¡± Roberts thought that this little master might be too bored because of his grounding and would like to have some fun. Hunting was just a tiny thing. ¡°No, don¡¯t want to go hunting.¡± Duweiughed happily, ¡°Today, Ie here because I want to show my new game to all of you!¡± Duwei took something from the saddle. Robert saw that it was a small bag. After opening the bag, Duwei took out a ball! Right, Duwei spent lots on this ball. Duwei didn¡¯t have much money to buy the leather, so, he just went to his room and got his leather jacket. Then he just simply described his request to his female servant who knew embroidery¡­ Just sewing something into a ball shape, this job wasn¡¯t difficult. The maidpleted this task very quickly with high quality. What was the stuffing for this ball¡­ In this world, since there was no rubber, he could not make a real intable ball. So, he could only find some some sort of soft materials to fill it up. The best choice would be something hairy¡­.for example, from a horse¡¯s tail! So, he donated his leather jacket and the tail of his horse to make a ball. During the production of the ball, the servants thought that Duwei was using things recklessly. But Duwei didn¡¯t care. This might be a chance for Duwei to get some pocket money. ¡°Robert, look, this is my new game. I call it¡­football.¡± ¡°There will be eleven members on each side and one of them is the goalkeeper. Only the goalkeeper can use hands, whilst the other team members can not use any part of the hands to touch the ball. Otherwise, it is a foul! The aim of this game is to kick the ball into the goal of the opposite side using teamwork! Also, you have to stop the opposite side from kicking the ball into your goal¡­¡± Duwei exined the basic rules of football roughly. Since the rules were notplicated, the soldiers could easily understand. They were using their legs to kick the ball! On the training field, two saddles were used as the goal. Duwei also got involved in the game. He picked Knight Robert, along with several cavalrymen who were out with Duwei before. They formed a team. Meanwhile, the other soldiers formed another team and the game began. In the beginning, there were a lot of funny things that happened. The soldiers of the Rnd family hadn¡¯t y football before, so they always vited the rules. Some people even broke the ball because they wanted to pass the ball further. Luckily, Duwei had predicted that would happen and he had brought some maids that knew sewing, and they sewed the ball immediately¡­the Knights only had to donate the hair from the tail of their horses. There was also one knight rushing forward, and when the opponent tried to stop him¡­they naturally did something vited the rules¡­Duwei had broadened his horizon! Usually, one member led the ball and ran for half of the field, the opponent blocked him and then proceeded to kick him. Right, they kicked the person instead of kicking the ball! Then the two persons would give up the ball and start fighting! Not to mention, these soldiers of the Rnd Family were good at fighting, with excellent physical fitness. But Duwei was so weak that after running for a while, he got exhausted and reced by another soldier directly. He became the judge of the game then. After giving out a tone of red cards, they finally had a qualified match. Duwei also showed them how to lead and kick the ball to them, and tried a random passing. Finally, the soldiers knew the basic football rules after that afternoon. Even the rules of ¡°offside¡±, ¡°foul inside the penalty area¡±, ¡°direct free kick¡± and ¡°indirect free kick¡±, they understood well. In the evening, a smart guy even learned diving in the penalty area! Although this guy was performing very poorly, he got great respect from Duwei along with a Penalty. It was because in his previous life, his favorite football star was Inzaghi, who was the King of Diving. PR/N: This is¡­Just how much other culture has this author brought in?! I¡¯m just scared for the future of where this novel goes >.> This Penalty also won the ¡°ck whistle¡± from the audience. After the afternoon, all the soldiers in the barrack loved this manly sport! As one of the Top Sports of the World in Duwei¡¯s previous life, it deserved the love! In the evening, Duwei found that there were several senior officers who had donated their leather jacket and asked the maid to sew a ball¡­they also donated a few horse tail hairs. The sky was almost dark, but the people didn¡¯t want to leave the field. The winning team was cheering like they had won a war, and the losing team were disappointed and asked for another match tomorrow. Duwei was very satisfied with the result! At night, Duwei went to his own tower. Solskjaer went home and had a rest. Only Duwei was in this tower now. He ordered the guards standing outside to stop others from entering. Duwei climbed up to the third floor and stood at the rooftop, looked at the sky. ¡°What have you done today?¡± Saimel was sitting on the fence and asked. Her white and long legs made Duwei feel a bit dizzy. Duwei tried not to look at her and sighed, ¡°Earn money¡±. ¡°Earn money?¡± Saimelughed loudly. She had been following Duwei for the whole day. But only Duwei could see her. Saimelughed for a while and obviously she didn¡¯t believe him, and said, ¡°You lost a leather jacket, and cut the hair off that horse¡¯s tail. Sweated for the whole day, two outfits were dirtied with dust¡­is that called earning money?¡± Duwei ignored her and said, ¡°You know what? Just wait and watch.¡± It was already midnight, there were no clouds, and the sky was full of stars. Duwei checked the time and asked, ¡°Shall we start?¡± ¡°The training of Star Magic is not hard¡­but the hardest part would probably be at the beginning.¡± When Saimel mentioned Star Magic, she looked serious. At that moment, Duwei thought that she looked like the real Saimel. Duwei sat down in ordance with the guidance of Saimel. ¡°Use your heart to feel it.¡± ¡°What?¡± Duwei opened his eyes. ¡°The Stars!¡± Saimel answered slowly, ¡°Feel the power of the stars.¡± After a while, she exined, ¡°Of course, in the beginning, you cannot feel the whole space, I just request for to you pick one of them, then after you sit down, you have to use all your magic sense to feel it¡­feel the energy of the star¡­it¡¯s hard, and you may not be able to sense it at night.¡± Then after Saimel taught Duwei a magic spell, she requested Duwei to use this spell in his heart, and picked one star as his target. ¡°Which one should I choose?¡± ¡°The biggest and brightest one.¡± Saimel answered. Duwei was shocked, ¡°The Biggest and the Brightest? Gosh. There are so many stars in the sky, which one is the biggest and the brightest?¡± Saimelughed mysteriously at that moment. She lifted her hand slightly and point to the sky¡­at the moonlight, Semel¡¯s smile was very gorgeous, with a little mystery, calmness, which seemed unpredictable! She pointed at¡­.the MOON! Duwei was shocked! Moon! That was the Moon! He was shocked and looked at Saimel¡­the greatest female Star Reader¡­She even knew that? ording to the previous life of Duwei, the sun was a star, and the moon was the Earth¡¯s satellite. They were thergest in the sky, it was because of their volume, as well as the distance from the Earth! Actually, in this world, even the magicians would separate the sun, moon and stars into three categories! But no one should¡¯ve known that¡­ the sun and the moon should be included in the star category*! [TL ¨C Note I think the author is trying rte how moon shines because of the sun at night.] ¡°Feel it, feel all the fluctuation! Even a slight shock. The duration will be long. It can be one day or even a year¡­if you can pass this stage, you will be able to learn Star Magic¡­otherwise¡­that means you don¡¯t have this talent.¡± After Saimel had finished her words, she waszy and sat aside, looking at Duwei who was closing his eyes trying to focus on the sky¡­ With the ¡°horn¡± on his head, the perception of Duwei was very strong, he could even feel the current and the wind in the sky, also the river miles away¡­he could even hear the sound of the river¡­ But, stars and the moon¡­ They were too far away! Too far away! Duwei tried his best to expand his spiritual power, but his power was getting weakened when he reached towards the sky¡­even when Duwei tried using all of his force, he could only feel the wind¡­that was his limit! Moon? Duwei was a reincarnated person, of course he knew the distance from the here to the moon¡­but how far was it actually! With that distance, Duwei won¡¯t believe that his spiritual power alone could allow him to pass this distance! Obviously, Duwei failed in the first night. ¡°I cannot give you the guidance specifically because you have to feel it by yourself.¡± Saimel sighed, ¡°This thing you have to feel yourself; I will not be able to help you perceive this.¡± Luckily, Duwei didn¡¯t feel disappointed. Just as Saimel said, this was not an easy thing. Duwei had plenty of time! He didn¡¯t have anything else, but time. In the morning, although Duwei didn¡¯t sleep for the whole night, he did his meditation for the entire night and he felt very energetic without any tirelessness. Duwei felt that the spell Saimel told him was helping him with the growth of his spiritual power! It was a much better and efficient method than the meditation method of those normal magicians! This type of growth, did not refer to the total increase in the spiritual power,but was the practice of refining the spiritual power! In the morning, Duwei went to the barrack again, and he called more soldiers toe¡­almost all the soldiers except those that were patrolling came to the training field. Yesterday, they only spent half a day and all the soldiers who did participate in the football match, loved this sport. Today, Duwei raised a new method to y. ¡°I will give out one hundred coins¡± Duweiughed, ¡°You all can form your team freely and participate in the game! The match will be grouped by drawing¡­loser will be eliminated and the winning team can continue topete with other teams! The final winner will get the prize.¡± Although Robert thought that this game was a bit worthless¡­but this game is good for the soldier as it can strengthen their physical fitness. Also, the Spring drill just passed and the soldiers were in the recovery period. Training could not be too harsh for them. Additionally, this little master was so interested in it, it¡¯s not good to turn him down¡­ Of course, the main reason was that Knight Robert also loved this game too. The suggestion from this prestiged noble was epted by the officer, surely the soldiers would not reject this suggestion too. Also¡­there was the prize! To ensure the continuity of this ¡°match¡± and maintain the fitness of the soldiers, Duwei shortened the period of thepetition. In his previous life, the regr duration was ny minutes, and now, Duwei had cut it by half. Soon, the many officers who were responsible for back-up, were responsible for the registration of the soldiers, who, ording to their own personal inter-rtionship, formed their teams and entered thepetition. The situation was very busy andsted for the whole morning. Finally, there were 40 teams registered. ording to the rule that Duwei wrote, there would be 15 people in a team; included were 11 participants and 4 substitutes. The total participants were nearly 600! That included more than half of the entire troops in thepetition. Luckily, the size of the training field wasrge, and there was arge area of forest and grasnd. So, location was not an issue. Duwei started to draw the lots for grouping. Thus the first session of Rnd Family football Competition started¡­ Since thepetition was adopting the elimination system, after the first round, there would be 20 teams left. Because of the location, this first round could not be processed simultaneously. So the top twenty were born in the afternoon! At that time, Duwei had already watched most of the matched. With his strong spiritual power and his memory, he got enough information! Which teams had a better fitness, which team members knew diving, which team members were more talented, and which teams were weaker¡­ Duwei remembered these details firmly. Then, before the next round started, Duwei smiled and suggested, ¡°It¡¯s quite meaningless and boring if we just watch others ying¡­perhaps, we can do some betting!¡± Chapter 49 Chapter 49: Bing Sturdy Most of the soldiers immediately supported this suggestion! Being a soldier, there was no fun in the barrack. Sometimes, they might go to the bar and drink some beer nearby, or go to find a prostitute. As a soldier, there was one more thing that was popr among them, and that was Gambling! The football game suggested by Duwei had already gained their pleasure¡­and now, this interesting game could link up with gambling! Many officers seemed illuminated! And most of the people who had lost in the first round, became happier too! This Master Duwei¡­..was f**king interesting! He knew how soldier¡¯s thought too f**king well! Under the cheers of everybody, Knight Robert, who originally nned to stop this idea, hesitated for a while. Then he looked at Duwei and sighed. Finally, he didn¡¯t speak a word. Actually, it wasn¡¯t a big deal¡­and now that they were in the recovery period, it was normal that the soldiers gambled. They usually didn¡¯t care. Duwei had lots of ideas about gambling! Only winning and losing? That was too childish! Duwei immediately exined his ideas¡­ Simple winning and losing?! After modifications, how many score the winning team would get, with how many score the losing team would lose were at stake! Even guessing who would get the goal! How many goals! When! They could even bet if anyone would be sent off¡­there were various options¡­ The soldiers and officers were confused about theseplicated number games. After the exnation by Duwei, they all thought that they had a chance to win money and felt interested. So, they immediately went back and got their money. Duwei was extremely happy about that. He studied mathematics in his previous life, and probably no one in this world would understand this number game. In this world, probably no one could understand the Arithmetic, not even the schrs. But Duwei, by using the calctions and equations, with the imposition of some bet limits, listed out the rates¡­no matter who won or lost at the end¡­ Duwei, as a banker, would win the most! By the way, the sry of the private troops of the Rnd¡¯s Family was really high! Most of the soldiers got a few golden coins as extra money, and those officers were even richer. They could easily get three to five golden coins out of their pocket. The most important was that Duwei had the right timing! After the Spring Drill, the troops just received their sries! Most of the soldiers didn¡¯t understand the betting, they just bet ording to their favorites. For example, the one who they were closer, or the one they disliked¡­ The second round ended in the afternoon. The busiest should be at the registry officer in the barracks, they calcted the betting and the rewards quickly. After Duwei knew the result, he was so happy. Most of the soldiers lost money in the ten matches in the second round, only some lucky one won a bit. Finally, 600 gold coins in total were in Duwei¡¯s pocket! Those rich officers lost the most in betting. Duwei was very satisfied with the result! Oh, one thing had to be mentioned, in thest match, both sides were almost tied and this was out of Duwei¡¯s expectation¡­Even Duwei did some predictions, though it wasn¡¯t exactly urate. If the result of that match were different from the expectations of Duwei, then Duwei would¡¯ve earned less. Luckily, before the match ended, someone saved Duwei! Duwei expected the winning team would get a Kick Request, but a knight ran forward and kicked a curve ball! Directly into the goal! After thepetition, Duwei met that hero in person¡­he saved the pocket of Duwei! This hero was under Robert¡¯s Knight Troop. He was a handsome blonde man with great body shape. He was energetic. ¡°May I ask what your name is?¡± Duwei asked. ¡°Your Majesty, my name is David¡­David Beckham!¡± This little man was a little bit shy and nervous. Duwei was shocked and said, ¡°¡­..%#¡­$#¡­.¡± After earning a huge load of gold coins, thepetition on that day ended. After the second round, there were ten teams left. There was a huge roar for the remaining ten teams from the audience. All the football yers were very tired, but were still very energetic and looked proud of themselves. If the sky were not almost dark, they would¡¯ve liked to continue. Next, since there were ten teams left¡­how would theingpetitions continue? If the elimination systems continued¡­ten teams¡­after the third round, there would be five teams left. But five was an odd number! The game couldn¡¯t continue. There would be one team without any opponent! Duwei had his n already. He showed his crafty smile. ¡°I have an idea! If the elimination system isn¡¯t applicable¡­then use the league system!¡± League system? Duwei exined the league system quickly. That meant every team had topete with the remaining teams! If the team won, then the team would get 3 points. If tied, then the team would get 1 point. If lost, the team wouldn¡¯t get any score! After all thepetitions finish, the team that got the highest score would be the winner. Duwei¡¯s scheme was despicable¡­ The more matches there were, the more the gambling he could offer! ¡°Let me say it again¡­you are really vile.¡± At night, at the rooftop of the third floor, Saimel looked at Duwei and felt bewildered, ¡°How could you think of this idea?¡± PR/N: ¡°Let me say it again¡­you really are an asshole and should die right now¡­so how do we keep doing this? *Evil face* Duwei said, ¡°Hm¡­I can¡¯t tell.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think that I cannot figure out.¡± Saimel stared at Duwei, ¡°I have calcted the Betting market you made many times! I found that no matter how, you, as a banker, always win the bet¡­How could you calcte that? Theseplicated betting markets, a banker, rules. All of these are your idea?¡± Duwei didn¡¯t answer and he closed his eyes and started meditating¡­ Of course, to some extent, he didn¡¯t want to see the secret part of Saimel¡­Why did thisdy likes to sit on the fence so much? Although her legs were very pretty¡­ At that night, Duwei still couldn¡¯t feel the ¡°Energy of the Stars¡±. But after the meditation, with the spell that Saimel taught him, Duwei felt that his spiritual power did improve! If it went on, even if he could not learn the Star Magic, he could greatly increase his Spiritual Power. Duwei could clearly feel the refining of his spiritual power¡­the word ¡°refine¡± is hard to be described. But the details were clear¡­ For example, the vision, the sound, the smell and so on. During the meditation, Duwei could hear the wind. Under the refined spiritual power, Duwei not only could hear the wind, he could determine the virtue of the wind! He could feel even the strength of the wind! These feelings were really detailed, the spiritual power could capture the details clearly¡­this feeling was veryfortable. On the third day, the First Session of the football League of the Rnd Family began. Duwei knew that this was not a long term ie source, and he also knew that the betting of these thousand soldiers could not be too high. Since the soldiers were not rich and the sries were limited. It was too despicable if he kept on winning their money. So, Duwei thought that if he want to earn big money¡­the only way was to extend the scope! After negotiating with the officers in the barrack, they got the agreement. That day, Mard was ordered to go to the towns nearby and publicize the posters. In a little town, Duwei used the status of the Rnd Family to borrow the square in the town for a day. Afterwards, Mard brought two troops and came to the city today¡­they performed football tricks to grab the attention of the people. The three-day football match Competition had sessfully caught the interest the people in this town. Then, under the authorization of Duwei, Mard brought the people before the match and started the betting! ¡°I am the inventor of football in this world..also the organizer of the first gambling group.¡± Duwei evaluated himself. Despicable or noble, he didn¡¯t care. After seven or eight days, Duwei had already earned more than ten thousand gold coins! In this town, there were lots of monopolies. The rich merchants also thought that this gambling way was very interesting. These people bet for more than hundred gold coins usually! The news brought by Mard made Duwei unspeakable. First, there was someone intimidating. This sport spread out quickly, and there were some people starting to y this game, there were even casinos trying to form their own teams and attract more customers. Second¡­which made Duwei more disappointed¡­there were someone trying to control the result of thepetition! Someone tried to bribe the soldiers! Some casino even operated an outside bet. Who dared topete with Duwei? The money from Duwei could not be stolen by others! This was the only ie source for Duwei. He didn¡¯t aim at promoting the Gambling industry. He also didn¡¯t want the Gambling to be strengthened in the territory of the Rnd Family. So, Duwei came up a solution quickly! After two days, there was a notice in the town: Exclusive Operating Right! Within the Rnd Family¡¯s Territory! No one was allowed to operate in the gambling activities rted to football! The right of operation could only belong to Duwei, who was the inventor of this game! If there was anyone operating in this kind of action without permission, he/she would be fined by the executive and tax department strictly! This order was issued by the executive officers nearby! Was the exclusive rightpatible with the Imperial Law? What a Joke! This was the Rnd Family¡¯s territory! All the officers got paid by the Rnd Family! If the little master of the Rnd Family requested, no one would say no. So, Duwei became the monopoly of this game! With plenty of money, Duwei was more generous. He first gave out three thousand gold coins to the one thousand soldiers in the barrack at one time. This was treated as thepensation for winning their money before, and the reward for the physical consumption involved in ying football. He won cheers from the soldiers in the barrack! Although the football game was very fun, this game cost them too much. Which led to some dispute among the soldiers. Now, with the shiny gold coins¡­all the soldiers were satisfied. Most of the soldiers got back the money they lost before. Duwei kept the remaining coins as cash flow, and ced in the magicboratory.. What was Solskjaer researching for? He had two tasks now. Firstly, he had to refine a certain amount of ¡°Fire Element¡± everyday, that¡¯s the Sulphur Duwei mentioned. Secondly, he was now researching a new method to strengthen his magic power. Before, Solskjaer could make some magic element and use those elements for practicing low level magic. Since the sensitivity was limited, he could not use the advanced magic. Now, he had an idea¡­ This idea¡­If this idea could seed, even if he was to go bankrupt, Duwei still thought that this was worth it! Chapter 50 Chapter 50 : ying Big Actually, in this amazing magical world, magic was veryplicated. To be a qualified magician, there were three conditions. First was the spells. This was the simplest task of the three. You just had to find a master and be his student; and then you would be able to learn a simple spell at least. In my point of view, the remaining conditions were the key; which were magic talent and your sensitivity to magic. Magic talent was the same as spiritual power. Duwei and Solskjaer were the same kind of people. They were born with magic talent and their spiritual power was more outstanding than others. But, they both werecking in magic sensitivity and this limited them so that they could not be a real magician. Now, theoretically, Solskjaer had ovee this issue. He created different kinds of man-made magic elements by using Alchemy. This could increase the concentration percentage of the magic element nearby. So, with this method, even people with weak sensibility could use magic¡­though it was limited to the low level magic. But at least, theoretically, he had ovee this issue. Now, the aim of Solskjaer¡¯s research was the other side! Magic Power! That was the same as the Spiritual Power! Duwei and Solskjaer were those who got the magic power but didn¡¯t have the magic sensitivity. Then, that implied in this world, there were some people in the opposite case: whose Magic sensitivity was great, but that didn¡¯t have the magic power! If magic element could be created by humans¡­then, perhaps, magic power could be created manually too. What would be the result¡­ When Duwei and Solskjaer thought of this point, they could not help but be emotional! If the issue of magic sensitivity and magic power could be solved¡­then, that implied that the age of the arrogant magicians would be at an end! If you had the magic power, but not the magic sensitivity, sufficient magic elements could be created for you! Then you would be able to use the low-level magic spells! Be a junior magician! If you had the Magic sensitivity, but no magic power! Then Magic Power could be improved! Then you could also be able to use the low-level magic spells! Be a junior magician! Even a normal person, who didn¡¯t have any magic talent and sensitivity! Without any issue, both could be created for him! So, if Solskjaer¡¯s research could be seeded, then, Duwei thought that this might mark a new turn for this world. Every person could be a magician!! Since Duwei had this great target, he was willing to try his best to satisfy the costly request from Solskjaer even under his tight economic situation! He spent thousands and thousands of coins without any hesitation, and now, if possible, he didn¡¯t mind spending more golden coins on it! If this alchemist form could be developed sessfully in order to enhance the magic power¡­ Duwei could not help but dream of this! Gather three to five thousands soldiers! Give everybody a bottle of Magic medicine with sufficient magic elements¡­then all the soldiers would be magicians! Even though they would be a very junior magician¡­ this was still sufficient enough to change continental history! More than thousands of Magician Troops! Also, if the production was fast enough¡­even the Magician¡¯s Troops with numbers equalling 30,000 to 50,000, it was possible theoretically! He was already emotional about having this idea in his mind! But now, even though Solskjaer was very busy, and spent the whole day in theboratory whilst only sleeping for a few hours¡­there was still zero progress. Duwei did think of doping or something simr¡­since magic power was actually the same as spiritual power. Duwei thought that surely if there was doping or simr drugs, which could be found in his previous life, that could make people felt excitement mentally, was it the same as the strong spiritual power? Solskjaer had seriously thought of the Duwei¡¯s hypothesis, but he immediately turned him down. ¡°There are many things that can make people feel excitement, for example, from what I know, there are some things called ¡°Ice Berries¡± grown in the frozen forest in the north. It has this effect¡­ After eating the ¡°Ice Berry¡±, people will feel excited, and if overdosed, people will have illusions and feel stoned. I heard that many nobles love this ¡°Ice Berry¡± very much, they use it on almost every asion¡­hmm, in private gatherings, they will use this as food to raise the atmosphere. Duwei¡¯s eyes blinked rapidly¡­was that a rave party? Seems no matter how much the world changed, the life of the rich were still very absurd¡­ PR/N: LMAO ¡±But, this effect of mental excitement is limited. It can only make people feel a bit more excited. It cannot make the total spiritual power of the person increase much. The required spiritual power for using magic is much higher than the spiritual power of the normal person! This type of doping cannot meet the need. I have calcted, and if you want to increase the effect of this kind of doping to the extent that would be sufficient for normal people to use magic it isn¡¯t possible, unless¡­¡± ¡°Unless¡­¡± Solskjaer had a wry smile and said, ¡°Unless the person has eaten a hundred buckets of the Ice Berries! But as everybody knows, people can¡¯t eat that many Ice Berries. Not to mention 100 buckets, even a small te is already enough to stop your heart-beat because of the over-excitement! Then immediately die!¡± Solskjaer continued, ¡°Unless you¡¯ve got a very strong heart like the heart of a huge dragon,only then, perhaps can you bear the side effect of these 100 buckets of Ice Berries. But, if we can find that huge dragon¡­the magic power of the dragon is already strong enough, so it is meaningless to use this method to be a magician!¡± Duwei thought for a while, then he patted the sleepy Solskjaer and said, ¡°The Future¡¯s still bright! The road is tough!¡ª I believe in you, work hard!¡± Then, Duwei passed this difficult question to Solskjaer to handle readily. Duwei was not in a hurry. He didn¡¯t get worried about that. Although he had been learning ¡°Star Magic¡± for a period of time, he still couldn¡¯t ovee the first obstacle. He couldn¡¯t feel the power of the star. But with the spell that Semel taught him and the mediation every night, Duwei¡¯s spiritual power had been improved a lot. Now, it seemed, there was no urgent need for him to grasp the issue of this tremendous magical power. He, as a noble, didn¡¯t need to worry about his living state. He always had many servants to take care of him, and now with the football gambling monopoly in the Rnds in Area, Duwei didn¡¯t have a shortage of money. Did he have anything to worry about? Oh¡­perhaps there were still little problems. At the back of the castle, it was farnd originally. This farnd could provide sufficient food including vegetables and fruits; part of the products were consumed in the castle and the remaining would be put up for sale. Duwei utilized the abandoned warehouse next to this farnd, and now, Duwei would spend some time in this ce every day. The sulphur made by Solskjaer was now intensively used in the creative work process¡­ Duwei asked Mard to buy different kind of materials and recruit some craftsmen including carpenters, carvers, cksmiths and even a tailor; and with several servants from the castle, a development team for fireworks was formed for Duwei. After Duwei obtained the sulphur, this was his first idea that he came up with which was that he could use the sulphur to make fireworks and earn money! This world didn¡¯t need sulphur, as no projectile weapons were needed. It was because even a junior magician could use fireball, the power was even the same as an individual rocketuncher. Not just a magician, a warrior who knew aura maniption, could alsounch different kinds of wind sword with his aura. Under this situation, Duwei thought that he could only develop some useless and simple artillery and guns. It was more practical for making fireworks! Thanks to his experiences in his previous life, Duwei grew up in vige. He had seen the production procedure of a firework in the vige. He could even use several newspapers with a little portion of sulphur to make a firecracker! Although it was rough, it worked! Duwei showed how to make it in front of the craftsmen, and all of them felt super amazomg! After verifying this little master was not using magic, Duwei exined the usage of this yellow powder and then mentioned his requirement. Duwei wasn¡¯t interested in those ¡®amazing¡¯ firecrackers. He only wanted to make some beautiful fireworks. This firework was different though. After lighting it, there would be colorful mes spreading out! With the sulphur, there was no difficulty with construction. The workshop in the vige could make it, and Duwei believed that he could make it too. Duwei didn¡¯t know how to create different colored mes, but he was familiar with the alchemy of this world. He knew there were some special materials that would produce different colored mes after burning, It just needed the sulphur to work as aplement. The craftsmen were not silly. After understanding the theory, someone started to make firecrackers which were much prettier than Duwei made. After lighting it, the effect was very loud! Later, fireworks were created. The most interesting thing from Duwei was that he requested a carver to carve a statue of a wooden goddess with a water bottle in her hand. After igniting a lead wire, there would be four different colors of meing out from the bottle. In this age, this thing was undoubtedly a miracle! After this, everybody there was shocked! Even the craftsmen and the carvers, who had been involved in the production, after looking at this amazing scenery, could not help kneeling in tribute to the great bright goddess with the most pious voice. They thought this was a gift from god! Duwei instantly came up with an idea in his mind, and he named the product, ¡°Forgiveness from the Goddess of Dawn.¡± Duwei was still unsatisfied after stealing the name from the ssic trick of the Aquarius Golden Seiya in the Anime Saint Seiya! PR2/N:hehe PR/N:LMAO The bottle of the ¡°Forgiveness from the Goddess of Dawn¡± was too small. The firework could only fly to one person¡¯s height. If you want to make it, then make it bigger! Duwei thought of the fireworks he saw in his previous life. When it was the National Day! That kind of siscon! When it shot towards the sky! Then exploded in the air, mes were radiated out! That scene was very cool! Compared with that, the Goddess of Dawn was just a kid¡¯s toy. But this one was so difficult to make! Duwei had exined for half a day, but still could not exin how to ¡°paint¡± the me on the sky to the craftsmen! After thinking for a while, Duwei understood and he did this and that, after solving the issue about the scene¡­ it was already higher than the level of the firework, it even got the ¡°cannon add-on!¡± It was really hard to exin the explosive power of the sulphur, the injection theory, the recoil and so on to the craftsmen¡­The final result was: there was a brave craftsman who tried once. But since too much sulphur was used, it finally caused a small scale explosion and identally hurt two people¡­ (It was not a serious injury, only two day rest were enough.) But all people thought that this was the warning and punishment from the gods! So, even though Duwei was the master, no one dared involve themselves in this thing. Duwei was speechless, ¡°Religious worshipers are so bad¡­¡± Since it didn¡¯t work if shot towards the sky from the ground. Duwei could only start thinking of a new idea. After thinking of that for a night, Duwei got a more amazing idea: Since it didn¡¯t work if shot from the ground¡­perhaps I could drop it from the sky! But¡­how to fly into the sky¡­use the Flying Magic from the Magician? It¡¯s not cool! Duwei looked down on this idea. Also, any magician who could use Fire Magic should be able to make a scene more morous than a firework. If he recruited a magician to do this, fireworks were not needed! Why not throw a fire spell out that was morous! But, if not relying on a magician¡­how to fly? Duwei suddenly thought that he was hrious¡­he could not do everything from the beginning, like making a ne? ( ?¡ã ?? ?¡ã), he thought bigger and bigger now. The ability of making a ne, Duwei absolutely didn¡¯t have that¡­So, apart from the ne, what else could he do? Duwei¡¯s eyes were shining! Chapter 51 Chapter 51: Mard Is Flying Basically, Duwei had passed the Ser Gambling business to Mard¡­although he was free, he was grounded because of the order from his father. He had no way to manage his business as he was not allowed to leave the castle. But, Mard, who was the former horse groom, had aplete change in his status now! Originally, this follower and the disgraced master were sent to Territory of Rnds Family together but now he became the ¡°General Director¡±, most of the people knew that he was a groom before. The old housekeeper was the highest leader of the servers in this Family. Although to outsider Mard got the highest title, he was just a dummy leader. But now was totally different! He was Duwei¡¯s General Director! He was the person-in-charge for the ser gambling business over the Rnds ins and half of the Cote Province! Now, if Mard had to go out, the bosses of thoserge casinoswould send people to wee this General Director. Wherever Mard went, there would be a group of people, who were engaged in the gambling industry, following him. This group of people were all waiting and hoping that they could gain some benefit from Mard when he was happy. So, if Mard was eating the meat, they would still go and get some soup for him to eat.. Under the authorization of Duwei, Mard has pretended that he identally disclosed the betting oddsof several ser matches, the bosses who operated the illegal ser gambling really earned some great money from that. Duwei understood the human behavior all too well. Although there was the exclusive operation right that officially let Duwei to be the monopoly in this industry, unofficially, there were still many people operating in this. Even in his previous life, the underground ser gambling could not be stopped. Duwei just didn¡¯t wanted to be the first one for promoting the Gambling over the Rnds in. As long as it could not be blocked, then it¡¯s better to guide it! Duwei just thought for a few seconds ande up with this decision! From now on, all the ser gambling in the cities nearby had to be closed! Duwei needed to fix it! Duwei just spoke it out and Mard would execute what Duwei ordered. Duwei had offered an urgent intensive 3-day training for Mard, no matter how much this former groom understood, Duwei continued to give him many materials for study. If there was anything that Mard didn¡¯t understand, he could only self-study on the journey. First, as Duwei said, Ser Gambling, the word ¡°Gambling¡± could not be spoken! The Little master had created a weird thing, which would be sold openly before each match. Although it could predict the same match result, it¡¯s a little bit different. ¡°From now on, we are not the banker of the betting! We are the store selling a product! The things we will sell are called¡­Ser Lottery!¡± Duwei looked serious when he was saying that, it¡¯s kind of a holy feeling. After a while, this little master exined a bit, ¡°From now on, ¡°gambling¡± should not be spoken! We are not a gambling hub, we are¡­.legal betting!¡± How legal is it., Duwei had made a very simple definition: Ten percent of the revenue would be donated to the government authority! OK! No matter how much Mard understood, he now could just sit in the carriage with a few servants heading to different towns over the Rnds in, and ready for the trading of ¡°Ser Lottery¡± as Duwei said. By the way, before departure, Mard could not help to ask one more question, ¡°Little master, if we are nning to open a store for trading¡­so, our store should be named.¡± ¡°Ser Lottery Center!¡± Duwei answered immediately. So, our Mr. General Director Mard, in the foreseeable future, he got a new title in his mind: Director of the Ser Lottery Center! The second thing Duwei wanted Mard to do was¡­Duwei was ready to have a significant amendment on the current ¡°League¡±! Up till now, in the league system, all the teams and team members wereing from the troop of the castle nearby. Now, the recovery period of the soldiers was almost ended. If these soldiers kept on ying ser and stopped the military training, Duwei worried that the old housekeeper would probably report it by writing the letter to the Imperial City. So¡­Duwei was preparing to establish the real league! Now, every troop could only have a team in the system. Duwei requested Mard to go to few cities and establish one team in one city! Now that ser was very popr over the Rnds in, it¡¯s was not difficult to find ten to twenty good ser yers in every town. After that, team from each ce could start their leaguepetition¡­this idea made Mard very excited! Duwei listed out all the thing, seems like this leaguepetition could bring lots of revenue¡­Firstly, ser yers from Rnd ins, they didn¡¯t request for high joining fee and high sry. Most of them were farmers, craftsmen, carpenters, cksmiths, miner, even the barbers. They were happy ying the ser asionally. One to two golden coins as rewards were already sufficient for them to y in thepetition passionately. The expected high revenue from the ser lottery was sufficient to pay for these ser yers. But Duwei didn¡¯t give up the target of getting maximum benefit¡­he even let Mard to go to find the biggest leather merchant in the city nearby¡­That merchant had been providing different kind of leather products to the Rnds Family for a long time. Duwei promised, in the future ¡°Ser League¡±, when the ser yers were in thepetition, they would wear uniform¡­the name of the merchant¡¯s shop would be written on the uniforms! Considering the poprity of this game was still high. Every time when there was a match, there were still many people centralizing in the City Square¡­.this kind of poprity¡­ This merchants had given five hundred golden coins to Duwei generously as the ¡°Naming Right¡± fee for the future one year. So, the team in this city would be named as ¡°Rnds in Jade Town Old Clone Leather Store Ser Team¡±! Duwei sold the naming right for the first ser team in the league in front of Mard. Then next, Mard was responsible for selling the naming right of the twelve teams to the local rich merchants. With all these things¡­Mard almost started to admire this little master who was raised up by himself. Who said our little master was an idiot? Have you seen any idiot who could earn hundreds of thousands of gold coins? Mard was so tired. He was busy with going to different cities and towns, from south to north, east to west in the Rnds in, he had gone to more than ten cities and towns! The twelve ser teams were finally established and all the naming rights had been sold out. Duwei didn¡¯t care how weird the names were¡­He was satisfied with the thousands of gold coins brought by Mard. He earned total five thousand gold coins from these twelve teams. ¡°This is just the first year, my dear Mard. If we organized the leaguepetition well, you wouldn¡¯t be busy with selling the naming right in the future. Those merchants will beg you with the boxes of coins! At that time, I am afraid only few thousand will not be enough for buying the naming right for one team!¡± Duwei looked at this loyal servant, he felt touched. So, he decided to give more rewards to this loyal servant. ¡°My dear Mard¡­are you interested in being the first president of Rnds in Ser Association?¡± So, apart from the title of ¡°General director¡± and ¡°Director of the Ser Lottery centre¡±, Mard got another amazing title: President of the Ser Association! Although he still didn¡¯t understand what this title meant, Mard was impressed as this little master esteemed him most, he epted Duwei¡¯s suggestion happily. Duwei was very happy. It was because the coins brought by Mard could help him enormously. The ser league was not started yet, the revenue from the ser lottery was still zero, these five thousands golden coins from the naming fee was the only liquidity for Duwei. God damn it¡­Solsjaer still didn¡¯t have any progress even after he spent thousand and thousand of gold coins. With the money brought by Mard, Duwei could rx a little bit. With the happiness, Duwei brought our President of the Ser Association to see his new invention. At the ce, where Duwei had his firework research at the back of the castle, Mard admired his little master much again. Although he still didn¡¯t know what this little master invented. The thing in front of him was like a huge basket. Right, this was a huge basket. It was evenrge enough to let three to five people to stand inside. The fringe of the basket was high that was about the human¡¯s waist. When people stood inside, it¡¯s like sitting in the carriage with open-top. Above it¡­.was a gigantic spherical thing that was sewn with a dozen of leather, gently floating above the baskets! Right, it¡¯s was gigantic hot air balloon! Under it was a stove, which was heating up the balloon, heating up the air inside the balloon. The color of the me was very bright. Duwei had used some magic in this step¡­that¡¯s the fire magic he just learnt. Solskjaer made something that could help in strengthening the burning effect of the sulphur. ¡±This thing is called Hot Air Balloon! My dear Mard.¡± Duwei was very happy. This was the result after one month of effort! Although within this period, nearly fifty high-quality leather was destroyed¡­these leather were bought from the merchant, who was the first one to buy the naming right of the ser team, at a very low price. Duwei ignored the nkly Mard and briefly introduced his new invention. Mr. Mard, who was the former groom, the current General Director, the General Director of the Ser Betting Center and the President of the Ser Association, was fainted. He looked at this little master and stammered, ¡°Little master¡­you, you said this thing can fly? You said ¡®Fly¡¯? Right?¡± ¡±Yes, you are right, my dear Mard!¡± Duwei smiled, ¡°So, I offer you an honor! Have a trial flight with me! This is the historical moment! You will be the first human who can fly into the sky without any magic help!¡± After that, it was like a dream for the Old Mard! Duwei cut the rope tied on the basket, the buoyancy of the hot air balloon brought the basket with Duwei and Mard up! When the basket was a little bit off the ground and getting higher and higher¡­every person stopped breathing without making any sound. They stared at Duwei and Mard flying into the sky. They were shocked¡­ There were even some people who forgot to clean up their saliva! For those people, who were living in the age without any flying tools, this scenery was too¡­.magnificent! Until the hot air balloon, where Duwei and Mard were inside, reached the highest point of the castle, the craftsmen on the ground started to scream and cheer! Everyone kneeled down on the floor and praised the great god¡­ Compared with the cheerful people on the ground, Mard felt that he could not stand up with his legs! This was the first time for him to fly into the sky, Mard kept shaking since he was off from the ground. He looked pale and the eyes were getting as big as the bovines, his teeth made some weird sound, he kept on clutching the edge of the basket tightly¡­ ¡±How is it? My dear Mard¡­¡± Duwei looked down¡­the hot air balloon was floating slowly. From this angle, he could see the scenery around the castle, the mountains far away, the forest close by! ¡±Is this scenery unforgettable¡­.¡± Duwei was enjoying. ¡±Little master¡­¡± Mard tried to swallow his saliva and asked carefully, ¡°This¡­I am speechless now¡­this is so amazing¡­but, I would like to ask¡­now that we are flying so high¡­but, how can wend off?¡± ¡±¡­.¡± Duwei looked pale too, he looked at Mard and said, ¡°Shit¡­I only know how to fly¡­but I don¡¯t know how tond off.¡± Matt said, ¡°Little master¡­.you are the most talented genius I have ever seen¡­.. £¥¡ù£¥¡Á£»¡ù¡­¡­¡Á£»£¨¡­¡­¡ù¡± Duwei said, ¡°Mard! You spit on me!¡± The people on the ground started looking at each other after the excitement, ¡°When will theynd off? It¡¯s almost dinner time?¡± Under the sunset, the hot air balloon was floating higher and higher, further and further under the infinite glow¡­ How amazing the world was! Right? Chapter 52 Chapter 52 Visit of the Magic Teacher Mard was staying in his room for two days after the flying trial. After recovering from his illness, he still felt that he could not walk properly with his legs. But Duwei still gave a reward to this loyal servant. It was because that day on the Hot Air balloon, when they were struggling how tond off, the panic Mard suggested an idea, he asked if they could shut off the stove in order tond off. This suggestion inspired Duwei. The energy for the Hot Air Balloon was rted to the temperature of the air inside the balloon. If they shut down the stove, the air inside would be cooled down, the balloon couldnd off then. But after this poor Mardnded off, he almost spitted everything, and finally he needed to be carried back by the cavalry. When everybody in the castle was guessing what kind of new thing this little master would make¡­Duwei simply remained silent.. In these days, Duwei didn¡¯t invent any new things. Duwei knew that he didn¡¯t has any interest to make so many things that would use up his energy. The fireworks, ser betting, these were the idea for solving the liquidity problem he had. Duwei didn¡¯t aim to have the costly Industrial Revolution. His target was earning money for supporting the expensive magic experiments. Now, since he didn¡¯t need to worry about the money, he stopped all the thing. Apart from going to Solskjaer¡¯sboratory to check the progress of this magic alchemist everyday, going to check the research team of the Hot Air Balloon and the Firework afterwards, he spent the remaining time on learning magic. Every night he would go to the rooftop on the third floor of the magicboratory alone and spent a night there. He had a tacit agreement with Solskjaer that Solskjaer would use theboratory in the daytime and he would use theboratory at night. They could not intervene each other. Almost a month, but Duwei still could not ovee the first difficulty of the ¡°Star Magic¡±. The concept of the ¡°Star Energy¡± was still too vague. Without any specific standard and description, even Saimel could not urately exin what ¡°Star Energy¡± was¡­ Since this Saimel was not the real Star Reader, she was only a clone and got a part of the memory. This Saimel was not able to answer most of the difficult questions from Duwei Apart from learning Star Magic at night, Duwei also learned the traditional magic on the ground at daytime¡­Solskjaer did help him a bit, since he was a magician. Duwei still could learn some low level magic from him. In this one month, Duwei had learned some low level spell basically, for example, the simple Fire Magic, Fireball, also the Wind Sword from the Wind Magic. Duwei could use these easily. Among the low level magic, Duwei knew the ¡°Vertigo technique¡± and ¡°eleration technique¡± well. Finally, Solskjaey also admitted that the magic power of Duwei was better than him¡­in terms of the magic power or the magic sensitivity. If Duwei were willing to ept the assessment from the Magic Union, he could easily get the qualification of Grade one Magician easily with his current ability. In fact, Duwei had slightly hidden his real power. Although Duwei still could not learn the Star Magic, with the spell learned from Saimel, his spiritual power had a great improvement. Now, his magic power reached at the Grade three level already. For the magic sensitivity¡­with the ¡°Horn¡± given by Chris, Duwei¡¯s Magic sensitivity was much better than many intermediary magicians! In the afternoon, Mard was given an important task from Duwei! As being the General Director of Duwei, Mard would be responsible for preparing the birthday present and going to Imperial City to celebrate countess¡¯s birthday. Duwei had spent a night to write a letter¡­Duwei had a considerable feeling to this beautiful and gentle countess. Especially when he got sick in childhood, the countess had kneeled for a night, praising and taking care of Duwei¡­Even after the birth of his brother, every family member has neglected him, but countess didn¡¯t and she still kept going to Duwei¡¯s bedroom every night, cuddling her little son and singing a luby for him. Duwei was very touched. He could feel the motherly love from this beautiful and gentle woman. Although Duwei felt guilty about his love¡­as he was not her real son. But because of this love, he always missed this beautiful and gentle mother. The birthday present was the ¡°Forgiveness from the Goddess of Bright¡± that was prepared by Duwei. Duwei was confident that after this unprecedented present arrived the Earl Court, certainly would cause a great shock! Duwei didn¡¯t care about the shock, he just hoped that Countess would feel happy in the birthday party. Mard was heading to the Earl Court by carriage with few servants. The Countess¡¯s birthday would be seven dayster. If everything¡¯s right, they would arrive two days before the Countess¡¯s birthday. After sending Mard away, Duwei was rxed a little bit, he was actually a bit selfish. He felt bad in the grounding period, he could not leave the castle. He felt bored in this one month. He hoped that this birthday present could make his father felt better about him. He didn¡¯t care of the three hundred golden coins. He just wanted his grounding order to be removed if the Earl felt happy about the present. At the night when Mard left, the sky was very clear. Duwei suddenly got an idea at that night. He ordered the servants to prepare a stove and ced it on the rooftop on the Labratory tower, and ordered the chef in the castle to prepare some sirloin,mb chops and some vegetable grown in the farnd behind the castle¡­also a bottle of red wine. Duwei nned to have an open-air barbecue. The steak was ced on the hob of the stove, Duwei used the brush he made and dipped the seasoning, smeared on the steak. He did it very carefully. He tried his best to let every part of the steak was evenly spread with the sauce. The grilled seasoned meat scented, Duwei was enjoying and have a deep breath, he even hummed a ditty. Saimel looked at the pleasant Duwei strangely. ¡±Which song are you humming? It seems like the song from bard¡­but why can i not understand every single word of it?¡± Duwei was toozy to exin, he grunted and flipped the steak by using the folk, then drank some wine. ¡±Red wine with red meat.¡± Duwei was so satisfied and sighed, ¡°The sky is so clear, with the breeze¡­such a good evening. Eat some grilled meat and drink some good wine¡­but it¡¯s a pity that there is no music.¡± ¡±You, little noble, really know how to enjoy life.¡± Saimel sighed and said, ¡°Will you learn Star Magic tonight?¡± ¡±I have learned for more than a month.¡± Duwei wry smiled, ¡°The training of spiritual power is very effective, but the star power, I still cannot get it. Not because I amzy, I just don¡¯t understand it. This can not be solved in one or two days. I am tired in this month, I need to squeeze some time for rxing.¡± Then, he used to fork and lifted the grilled steak and had a bite, it¡¯s so yummy. He smiled and said vaguely, ¡°Yummy! So yummy! Unfortunately, you cannot eat such a yummy food.¡± Saimel rolled her eyes directly. Since she was a magic creature, technically an object with spiritual power¡­without a physical body, she was just an illusion, she didn¡¯t need to eat or drink or sleep. Duwei unlocked her seal, her spirit was deeply engraved on Duwei¡¯s magic mark, she almost became the shadow of Duwei. ¡±You don¡¯t eat, don¡¯t drink, don¡¯t sleep¡­so, is your life boring?¡± Duwei looked at Saimel and sighed. Saimel was still wearing the Red gown. After few reminders from Duwei, she finally learned how to pay attention to her appearance, and not swinging her beautiful legs on the fence. Saimel rolled her eyes again. ¡±Are you eternal¡­hm¡­I didn¡¯t ask you about that before.¡± Duwei blinked his eyes, ¡°How long can you live?¡± ¡±Same as you.¡± Saimel felt helpless when she said that, ¡°I was released by you, the spell of unlocking the seal let my life linked with your spiritual power. So, how long you can live is the same as how long I can live! If you died, your spiritual power would be gone, then I will disappear as well.¡± ¡±So, that means we live and die together?¡± Duwei looked strange. ¡±Be careful with your words, my little noble.¡± Saimel smiled maliciously, ¡°Don¡¯t forget I am your great great grandmother.¡± Duwei let out a Bah cry and stared at Saimel, ¡°you are only the clone, not the real Saimel. Also¡­great great grandmother? Have you seen any grandmother swinging her legs in front of her grandson all the time?¡± Saimel was angry and looked at the sky. Duwei was chilling on the chair. He was eating the grilled sausage, looking at Saimel sitting on the fence. The light of the moon reflected on her face, her red gown was floating, her hair was like the snow. Her face looked soft, but with a confused expression¡­ ¡±What are you thinking?¡± Duwei asked. ¡±I don¡¯t know. So I am thinking.¡± Saimel answered weirdly with a low tone. Then, Saimel looked at Duwei, she was confused, ¡°Actually, I feel that I am weird¡­when I was sealed, I always hoped that someone will unlock me. But after I have been released, I find that I don¡¯t know what I can do¡­I am not human. But¡­Saimel had given me part of her memory, let me think in the human way. In these days, I kept following you, I felt confused¡­I don¡¯t know what I can do. Although I feel rxed when I am spending time with you, it¡¯s much more free than being sealed in the painting. But I am more confused¡­You are human, with your current age, you at least can live for few decades or even hundred years¡­So, is it meant that I have to spend time with you in theing hundred years and only talk to you and be your shadow? Looking at you every day for hundred years till you die?¡± Duwei sat stricter a little bit and he looked serious. He looked at Saimel and sighed, ¡°I am shocked¡­your thinking style is close to the human. To be honest¡­I cannot answer your question. It is because your question is the most difficult question that even the cleverest person in the world cannot answer ¨C Meaning of Life.¡± ¡±Meaning of life¡­¡± Saimel was pondering this sentence. Duwei was looking at the sad Saimel, he suddenly thought of a fairy tale in his previous life: Pinhio. Duwei immediately told this story to Saimel. This magic creature was fascinated, she even didn¡¯t said a word when she was listening. When Duwei said that the puppet ¡°Pinhio¡± told a lie, its nose would get longer, Saimel could not stopughing. Sheughed happily and looked a bit¡­innocent. When Duwei said ¡°Pinhio¡± hoped to be a real human, with the real human body¡­ Saimel bowed her head, very low, even Duwei could not see her expression clearly. Finally, Duwei finished his story, at the end, the puppet could turn into a real human¡­ ¡±I also want to have a real body.¡± Saimel suddenly spoke. Her voice was very soft. But in her voice, Duwei could feel her hope! In the past, Duwei didn¡¯t have any feeling about this story. But tonight, he was looking at this magic creature sitting in front of him, and said her wishes sadly¡­ He suddenly felt thepassion, but he didn¡¯t know how tofort Saimel. ¡±Perhaps¡­¡± Duwei thought, ¡°Perhaps we may try¡­.perhaps the magic can¡­.¡± ¡±It¡¯ste now, I want to have a rest.¡± Saimel interrupted Duwei. Her words were strange because magic creature didn¡¯t need to rest. Obviously, she was escaping, escaping from the impossiblefort from Duwei. BANG, Saimel disappeared. Duwei sighed as he knew that Saimel didn¡¯t want to speak. Although she was the magic creature, when Saimel didn¡¯t want to speak, she could attach to anything next to Duwei. Ring, badge, clothes, even the book. As long as Saimel wanted to, she could even attach on Duwei¡¯s belt. Otherwise, she would be floating around Duwei for the whole day, Duwei also felt that someone was following him. Duwei sighed and he didn¡¯t stop Saimel¡­although he could order Saimel to show up because he was the one that released Saimel and magic creature might listen to all the order from Duwei. But at that moment, Duwei knew that she was sad and didn¡¯t want to talk much. After drinking the wine, extinguishing the fire, Duwei was chillingzily and looked at the sky. The sky was still bright, and Duwei suddenly asked himself, ¡°For me¡­.what¡¯s the meaning of life?¡± He was sitting for a long period of time there. When he started feeling tired and ready to go to bed, Duwei was a bit shocked! He felt there was a strong spiritual power in the air nearby! The slight fluctuation of the current could not be hidden from the spiritual power of Duwei, he sat and looked around! ¡±Seems your sensitivity is strong.¡± In the dark, there was a melodious voice suddenly passed over here! This voice seems old, but the tone was very soft and even with a smile, ¡°ording to what I heard of your situation before, you should not have this level of spiritual power¡­Mr. Duwei Rnd.¡± There was a shadow that suddenly showed up near the balcony! In the darkness, this man was wearing a white gown, it was a magician gown. He had an old face, long beard, his eyebrows were fine, his smile was very calm. But when he looked at Duwei, his eyes were sharp like needles! Duwei was ufortable about that. ¡±Who are you?¡± Duwei puzzled, ¡°A magician? I didn¡¯t have any contact with the Magic Union.¡± This old man flew across the fence andnded next to Duwei. He was still smiling¡­by the way, although he was old, he had very fine skin and shing eyes which didn¡¯t match with his age!¡­Duwei never saw anyone that looked like him! ¡±You made me shocked¡­before, I thought you are just a little noble boy who knows some tricks.¡± This old magician smiled and looked at Duwei, ¡° But now, seems you got outstanding spiritual power¡­oh, you know magic too? You don¡¯t have to be in the position of using fire magic¡­don¡¯t need to be cautious about me¡­Because it¡¯s useless.¡± Duwei looked at this guy intensively, ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡±Who am i¡­..¡± The old magician went to the side of Duwei, he bounced and grabbed the bottle on the table, and drank a little bit and sighed, ¡°Nice wine. The wine from Rnd Family was always good¡­you should feel honored as my little kid, you are the first one who treat me wine from the Rnd Family in these hundred years.¡± ¡±You just¡­.looking at me secretly?!¡± Duwei was worried! The existence of Saimel was a great secret and Duwei didn¡¯t want other to know there was an invisible magic creature following him. ¡±No. I don¡¯t do this kind of meaningless thing.¡± The old magician smiled, ¡°I just arrive¡­.hm, I haven¡¯t been to Rnds in for couple years. I almost got lost. Right¡­it¡¯s sote. You are not at your room but drinking wine in this ce¡­Is it the discipline of the Rnd Family so loosened andx?¡± Duwei was wary, ¡°You seems like you know the Rnd Family well?¡± ¡±No no no¡­¡± The old magician smiled rxingly, ¡°I just know some people from Rnd family when I was young. Hm¡­that happened a long time ago.¡± ¡±ok¡­¡± Duwei spoke carefully and sat slowly. He hid his hands in the sleeves, slightly withheld the magic scroll, ¡°Magician, a night visit, you are not only passing here, right?¡± ¡±I¡­.came to see you.¡± Old Magician thought for a while, and suddenly noticed his reason foring here, ¡°I came to find you to get back a couple of things.¡± ¡±What?¡± ¡±Several things.¡± The old magician sighed, ¡°You had extorted many things from my stupid student¡­although that kid was innocent, as her teacher, I cannot just stand here and see how she was cheated by others.¡± Duwei finally understood, ¡°You¡­.you are Vivian¡¯s teacher?!¡± Chapter 53 Chapter 53: Vivian¡¯s Teacher ¡°Right, I am.¡± Then, as the old magician slightly crooked his finger, Duwei felt his hand suddenly felt light! The Magic Scroll hidden under his sleeve was gone and amazingly was now in the hands of the old magician! ¡°Look, this scroll is made by me.¡± The old magician nced at it then put it away in his gown. ¡°Finally returned to its owner.¡± ¡°You¡­you came here to take back Vivian¡¯s things.¡± Duwei smiled forcefully. ¡°That was my original purpose¡­but, after meeting you, I changed my mind.¡± The old magicianughed¡­ Duwei sensed that something bad would happen, but when he was about to jump up from the chair, he felt very light¡­ The old magician didn¡¯t use any spell. He had merely beckoned his finger towards Duwei and Duwei could not move! He started floating in the air! Having lost control over the rest of his body, he could only roll his eyes. He felt just like a huge lump of meat hanging on a hook! ¡°Listen, kid.¡± The old magician touched Duwei¡¯s head and said, ¡°Oh, seems like I am right¡­you have an interesting object on your head¡­you use magic with this thing?¡± Duwei was too shocked to even roll his eyes this time! How did he know?! ¡°My lovely student was going out for the first time on her own, then was cheated out of all her belongings¡­she even almost died on that ind and lost her pet¡­¡± The old man said in a mocking tone while staring at Duwei. ¡°As I was heading back home, I coincidentally discovered that a part of my poor student¡¯s memory was erased with magic! As a responsible teacher, shouldn¡¯t I do something about it?¡± The old magician waved his hand, and immediately, Duwei was able to talk, ¡°You¡­you think I did that?¡± ¡°Hard to tell. I didn¡¯t think so at the beginning.¡± The old magician¡¯s eyes shed, ¡°But you, a kid from the Rnd Family who was without any talent in magic, can now suddenly can use it? I should think, that ind must be the key right?¡± Duwei carefully examined this magician¡­. He wanted to defend himself, but the old magician put him at a loss with only one spoken sentence! ¡°May I know¡­.Chris, is he good?¡± Duwei was truly astonished this time! Chris! He knew that Devil¡¯s servant, Chris!! ***** The next morning, all of the servants were frightened¡­their little master was missing! On the rooftop that Duwei had rested, there was a letter written by the person himself. ¡°A magician has taken me away.¡± This single line was written by Duwei. He didn¡¯t write ¡°kidnap¡±, but only left behind a vague message of ¡°taken me away¡±. Obviously, Duwei¡¯s note was approved by the magician, who took Duwei away. It was because, on that note, there was not only Duwei¡¯s signature¡­but also a symbol. No one knew what it was, except Solskjaer, the only magician in the castle, who understood. ¡°It seems like the private stamp of a magician.¡± Solskjaer thought for a while. ¡°Some of the older magicians are used to leaving that mark in ce of a signature. We can go to the Magic Union and check it.¡± What made everyone in the castle feel nervous was¡­that Duwei was taken away by a magician! Thest time when a magician kidnapped him was only a month ago! Was it because at that time, the Rnd family and the Magician ran into a dispute? Was this an act of revenge? This urgent matter was immediately reported! But the strangest thing the people felt was, when the symbol stamp was sent to the Magic Union, they unexpectedly maintained silence! Even Earl Raymond, when he came to know that his eldest son was kidnapped by a magician again, his first reaction was anger! No matter how much he hated this son, but to carry out the same act twice, this meant that they were provoking the Rnd Family! But, after seeing that symbol¡­Earl Raymond immediately calmed and kept silent! That¡¯s right, he didn¡¯t say a word to anyone about it! It was all was so different from thest time. After Duwei was kidnapped this time, the Rnd Family and the Magic Union both kept a strange silence, as if there was an unspoken agreement between them. News of this event was suppressed¡­ Solskjaer, who was getting nervous, finally got a piece of information from the Magic Union. It was disclosed by a staff member who was selling magicponents in the Magic Union. ¡°The stamp belongs to a very great magician, who the Magic Union don¡¯t dare to offend! He is not recorded in any documents in the Magic Union¡­that man, don¡¯t mention your little master, for even if he takes the son of the king away, the King would also keep silent!¡± **** Duwei felt terrible! First of all, he didn¡¯t know what kind of magic this man was using on him¡­because Duwei only felt his body was not responding at all! This was a strange ¡°kidnapping¡± event! For the Duwei right now, his head and consciousness were the only things that was still his own, but everything else was controlled by the magician! Just like now! The old magician was rxing on the grass, leaning under a tree and observing Duwei when he suddenly gave an order. Duwei cursed this old man from the bottom of his heart, but he didn¡¯t have any way out of this situation! Because this old man just said, ¡°Set up a fire!¡± And the powerless Duwei could only stand. He got busy with picking up sticks, setting up a fire, no matter how much the ck smoke affected him, no matter how angry he was¡­his body was totally out of control! He was just like a puppet! He looked at the old man, who brought out something from the little pocket of his gown. It was obvious that it was a magic tool, because the old magician retrieved amb shank, a nice bottle of wine, even a set of new clothes and some bottles from that little bag. It seemed as if an unlimited number of things could be stored in that bag. Then, the old magician ordered, ¡°Grill the meat!¡± Duwei then ¡°looked at¡± himself and carried out what the magician¡¯smand! This was torture! As Duwei worked, he spoke angry words of abuse. But the punishment from the old magician was very simple. He just nced at Duwei and said, ¡°p yourself.¡± Duwei could only watch helplessly as his own hands moved to p him! After few ps, Duwei could would only stay silent and did notin¡­although he continued to curse the old magician over and over again in his mind, he didn¡¯t dare to say a word out loud. After the old magician felt full, he looked to Duwei at the side, and suddenlyughed, ¡°Your cooking skill is so nice. I haven¡¯t had such a tasty grilled meat for long time.¡± Duwei directly rolled his eyes. ¡±Now, sleep!¡± Old Magician finished his talk, leaned against the tree and closed his eyes. And what about Duwei? He didn¡¯t want to sleep! But his body was controlled by the old magician! He could do nothing as he stretched his body, lied down and closed his eyes! No matter how hard he tried, he could not open his eyes and remained still! It was because the order of old magician was: Sleep! What¡¯s going on? Duwei felt like he was aputer in his previous life, coding the program, which would then execute its functions without hesitation¡­it didn¡¯t matter whether he was willing to do this or not! In the past five days, the old magician had brought along Duwei while always heading north. From the beginning, the old magician had taken Duwei away from the castle by flying that night, and afterwards continued moving north. After one day, they had passed a town where the old magician let Duwei buy two horses. Duwei didn¡¯t resist, he couldn¡¯t even escape. Right now, he only had the freedom of thought, because the old magician fully controlled his body. Duwei had asked the old magician about the magic that was used on him. He didn¡¯t answer. Duwei had also asked him why he knew about that ind and Chris, and whether he was acquainted with him. He didn¡¯t answer. Duwei asked where they were going to. He didn¡¯t answer. Duwei was going crazy. Busy with traveling in the daytime, especially riding on a horse for long hours. Since Duwei was not a strong person, this was a hard experience for him. His body could not stand the tough journey, but the old magician did not want to let him free. ¡±Why do we need to ride on horseback?¡± Duwei finally asked, ¡°You are such a great magician, you can go everywhere by flying.¡± Finally, the old magician answered this time. ¡±The ce we are going to is a very special. Long hours of flight would use up my magic power. I have to conserve all of my strength before arriving.¡± That was the only question from Duwei that the old magician bothered answering. What made Duwei feel frustrated was that¡­he could not call Saimel out! He knew Saimel was inside his body, but this magic creature wouldn¡¯t show up. Heading to the north day by day, the climate got a bit cooler. The Rnd ins was in the south with a warm climate. Duwei was wearing a very thin shirt. During the next few days, Duwei could feel the cold of the environment, his hands bing stiff. When he was on the horse, he was always shivering. Finally, the old magician showed a bit of sympathy towards Duwei. He taught Duwei some weird gestures, and when Duwei was about to rest, he had to perform these gestures once¡­ It seems like the exercises in Duwei¡¯s previous life, but much more foreign. Also, there were some actions that required bending the body, which were too difficult for Duwei. But under the ¡°orders¡± of the old magician, even though it was painful, he would still do as he was told! But oddly enough, it had a significant effect! Every time Duwei performed the exercise once, he felt a warmth from the inside! This heat overwhelmed the cold! He did this exercise every day, and Duwei could feel his body getting stronger, day by day! On the 20th day, they arrived at the Northern Continent. The weather here was still colder than before. There was no green areas nearby, because everything was covered by ice. When the winds in the North Continent blew over Duwei¡¯s face, it was like being cut across with a knife. The difficulty of the journey was rising even more. They encountered a blizzard! The snow blocked the road, and the horses could not pass through it. When people walked in the snow, the snow was too deep enough to bury a person up to the calf. The old magician finally showed some kindness when they found a small town. In a small pub, the old magician let Duwei stay in the room, and then he went away. Duwei didn¡¯t escape as the magician left orders to make no sounds and only to stay in the room. In the evening, the old magician came back and brought along arge amount of luggage. He opened the things he brought in front of Duwei, and from it came out a coat, leather armor, a sheepskin hat, and a pair of boots. Finally, there was also a long knife. ¡±Get dressed, we are about to go.¡± The old magician gave a simple order. ¡±Where¡­are we going to?¡± Duwei asked again. And atst, the old magician gave the answer, ¡°The Frozen Forest.¡± Chapter 54 Chapter 54: Frozen Forest, the Monster World The thing that made Duwei confused was that the old magician spent Duwei¡¯s money to buy all the things. When Duwei was caught, in his pouch there was more than a hundred gold coins. Duwei wore a fur coat, a sheepskin hat that covered his ears, and he also put on some snow boots with a broadsword hanging on his waist¡­Duwei looked like an adventurer, who had always gone to the Frozen Forest. When they left the hotel, there was a small sleigh outside, and four grey dogs were lying on the floor. The sleigh was really small, Duwei could only squeeze in with the old magician, and the magician was still wearing the white gown¡­.he seemed to not be scared of the cold. When Duwei was sitting next to him, he found out the secret. This old man had used magic. When Duwei was sitting next to him, he felt like he was sitting near a heater. The old magician was emitting warmness from his body. ¡°Huh, knowing magic is not such a big deal.¡± Duwei hummed. But he was curious, as there was no driver for this sleigh. This old magician was really a ¡°Genius¡±, he even knew how to drive a sleigh; he didn¡¯t even need to yell, he just sat in the sleigh and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±. And then the dogs started running! The old magician didn¡¯t need to control the direction, the mmutes would know the way and they kept running. On the white snow, there was a very long track formed from the sleigh. They were heading towards the north. Even though Duwei had worn the coat and the hat, he still felt the biting pain when the freezing wind blew on his face. He couldn¡¯t even open his eyes. He could just sit closer to the warm old magician to get somefort. The wind in the North was like a sharp knife¡­Duwei had lived in the southern area even in his previous life, and he never went to the north before. He had just experienced this freezing climate a few times before. On the way, he had to stay with this evil old magician and this god damn climate! It was still sunny, but there was no warmth. Duwei was frozen like an ice cube. If he had rubbed himself a bit, his skin would burn. Duwei was in so much pain that he thought that he might die. The Frozen Forest was located to the north¡­where people said it was at the most northern part of the continent. There, was also the official ¡°Borderline¡± of the Rnd Empire. Normally, the citizens of the Empire were not allowed to head to the north. As they went further to the north, there was not only the freezing snow storm in the Frozen Forest, nor the unlimited forest area¡­but the most important thing was that it was one of the two ces where there was magic monsters living on the continent. The Empire had troops stationed to the south of the Frozen Forest. Northern ¡°Storm Troopers¡± of the Empire were spreading along the borderline at the south of the Frozen Forest, and there were checkpoints along all the roads to the Frozen Forest. Of course, these were only the observable ones. But secretly, there were many mercenaries, and also some small-scale adventure groups, which headed to the Frozen Forest every year¡­and these people were all talented. There were terrible magic monsters inside the frozen forest, but in their eyes, these were shining gold coins! If they sold the monster¡¯s fur, or the different monster cores of the monsters in the south, much more money could be earned. This ¡°Smuggling¡± was almost an open secret. The Empire actually acquiesced. The troops stationed at the Southern boundary of the Frozen Forest were used to blocking normal people from entering this dangerous area; but for those adventurers with great skill such as magicians, or senior knights, they could hide silently from the patrols of the troops. For thoserge scale teams, they even fought with the troops because of the benefits gained from the smuggling. People in the Rnd Region loved fighting much, and although there were only a few magicians, there were many knights. But due to the benefit gained from adventures, many people had still tried to fight for that. Duwei and the old magician were heading to the north from that town, and after a half day, they arrived at the checkpoint. When the Empire soldiers saw the white gown¡­These soldiers were obviously stronger than Duwei. There were a few senior knights only wearing a leather corset, with their hairy chests were exposed. They were standing at the checkpoints, whilst grabbing some snow and rubbing themselves. They sang very loudly while they were rubbing. This checkpoint was built on the continent without using stones¡­The frozen soil in the North was much harder than the stone. Every summer, when it was warm, they would just grab some softer soil and build it up, water it, and after the freezing night, a wall would be built. Looking at those soldier with a thick white gown, leather hat with icicles, Duwei didn¡¯t know if he should feel shocked or what, so he just huddled tightly. The old magician whistled, and the four Mmutes stopped just before crossing. There were almost a hundred soldiers at this checkpoint. When they saw a little sleigh stopped in front of them in this snowy ce, they immediately gathered around it. These soldiers were intentionally touching their broadsword. The leader stopped showering with the snow and also grabbed a spear whilst he rushed to there. On the snow, this knight¡¯s running speed was very fast. He just ran a bit and then he stood in front of Duwei. By looking at his appearance, he could be called a ¡°barbarian¡±, as the long beard almost obscured one-third of his face, which made him look very rough, but therefore his martial should be very great by looking at him and how he ran on the snow. These soldiers blocked the road, and when there was a person who wanted to speak, he nced at the outfit of the old magician, and he shut his mouth immediately! The soldiers in the North knew many things, such as every year, there were magicians who liked toe to this ce, and catch some rare magic monster in the forest since the magic cores were their favourite magic ingredient. They looked at the outfit of the old magician and they knew his identity¡­Although this old magician didn¡¯t have any badge on the gown. It was normal to have this thing happen in the Frozen Forest¡­the magicians that came to this ce knew the prohibition of the Empire. Although the status of magicians were prestiged, to avoid provoking the Empire, they hid their identity by not showing their magic level badge. So, they could show their identity of being a magician to threaten the soldiers while the could hide their real name and identity. Since there were only a few magicians on the continent, if they hanged the badge, other people would know their level. If people wanted to give them trouble, they could go to the Magic union and check. Based on the level, the appearance of the magicians could be found out. So, in the Frozen Forest, the magician would only wear the gown without the badge. This was not a secret habit¡­It was so called ¡°Doing a bad thing anonymously.¡± Duwei was staring and looked a bit excited. In his point of view, it is impossible for this small troop to block their way. Although Duwei didn¡¯t know how powerful the old magician was¡­by virtue that he could have trained a magic genius like Vivian, and that he could give a dragon to his apprentice as a gift ¡­ the strength of this guy should not be weak. If they really got a fight, Duwei bet that the magician could defeat these hundreds of soldiers in a few seconds. But Duwei was disappointed. The magician stopped the sleigh quietly and got a Parchment from his pocket ¨C in the Magic Union, they didn¡¯t like using the normal paper, all the things were recorded on parchment. ¡°Sir, here is the official document from the Magic Union.¡± The old magician gave the parchment to the Barbarian Knight, ¡°The Magic union give me the authority to enter this Frozen Forest.¡± By looking at this calm old magician, the leader of the knight¡¯s was shocked a bit. Although he looked rough, he actually was a detailed person. In the past few years, he was ordered to be stationed at the checkpoint of the Frozen Forest, and he knew many things. This was not the first time for him to meet a magician. But most of the magicians were arrogant. They could actually use magic and fly over the checkpoint, or act like the wind to enter the forest directly; most of the soldier didn¡¯t even know that. But most of them liked to show off their magic to the soldiers and walked through the checkpoint. Since this was the habit they all knew, if a magician really wanted to insist forcing his way through, no one could block him. So, it was very rare that such a kind magician could bring out the legal document politely and looked like wanting to negotiate. With suspicion, the knight leader received the parchment. The parchment looked old, the words on it were blurred, there was even some scrap. The leader put it on his hand carefully as he was afraid of destroying that. As he read the words on the parchment¡­the leader felt shocked! ¡°The person with this letter can enter the Frozen Forest without condition, any Empire Arm Force or local authority cannot stop him or her! The validity of this letter is for¡­one hundred years!¡± What the f*** was that? One hundred years validity? ¡­¡­ This old man was not joking? The leader could not stop to think about this and that. He did meet some liars before¡­. Everybody knew that in this ce, the army generally didn¡¯t dare to stop the magician, but there were some liars wearing the magicians gown to cheat the army. But, by reading the signature on the document¡­ ¡°King of the Rnd Empire, Austin V, and the Leader of the Rnd Continent Magic Union, Julidia.¡± The King of the Empire and the Leader of the Magic Union countersigned on the document? The most unbelievable thing was¡­ The King of the Empire Austin V had been dead for 60 years already! The Leader of Rnd Continent Magic union had been changed too! The Leader who signed this letter died 40 years ago when he was 119 years old. Signatures from the former king and former leader of the Magic union? Who the hell was he? The leader could recognize the Authenticity of this document surely! The signature could be fake, but the stamp on it could not be fake! The stamp of the King of the Empire and the Leader of the Magic Union both got the magic security marking! When he received the document on hand, the two stamps gradually appeared on the parchment, then faded out¡­ The leader immediately showed serious respect! This old magician in front of him must be at an extremely advanced level! At least he was an old man who was living in the period of the former Empire King and the former President of the Magician Party! This kind of person, the little leader could not take the responsibility of infringing! The leader even could not stop thinking¡­100 years validity¡­so how old was this old man now? He rolled up the parchment respectfully, gave it back to the magician with both hands politely and said, ¡°Dear sir, wee to the Frozen Forest! 27th Patrol Unit of the White Wolf of the Regiment of the North Imperial Storm Legion wees you! Should you have any requirement, we will try our best to help you! ¡± The old magician replied politely, ¡°No, please just get out of the way.¡± In short, soldiers in front moved away, even swept out the snow at the gate immediately, and then lined up to farewell the old magician¡¯s sleigh. They left until they could not see the gate, Duwei could not stop to ask, ¡°Is the document real?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡±The old magician replied, ¡°But, today is thest day of the validity.¡± Duwei said, ¡°Last day?¡± He looked at the side of the old magician and asked, ¡°How¡­old¡­are you?¡± ¡°Little kid, has the Rnd family teacher degenerated to such an extent? You should use an Honorific when asking the age of the senior.¡± The old magicianughed and said, ¡°Hm¡­.my age¡­¡± At this moment, the old magician¡¯s eyes shed a trace of mncholy and said, ¡°I forgot it.¡± Chapter 55 Law of the Devil Chapter 55: Frozen Forest, The Monster World II The sky was getting dark, and the sleigh was moving towards the Frozen forest slowly. In the boundary area of the forest, where trees were scattered, it was hard for the sleigh to go through the gaps in the trees. Duwei was surprised that the magic the old magician had used on the mmutes was so amazing! He didn¡¯t use the whip or slogan like other trainers. He normally just gave some simple orders such as telling them to run or to stop. But sometimes he just whistled or used a simple gesture! The mmutes seemed to understand the humannguage and the gestures, following every order from the old magician as if they did. ¡°You¡­ can also use magic on the dogs like using magic on me?¡± Duwei curiously asked. In these past few days, Duwei liked to ask questions even though he could not get any answers from the old magician for most of them. He knew that as long as he didn¡¯t try to escape, and didn¡¯t make this old man angry, he¡¯d be fine. ¡°What do you think?¡± The Magician replied teasingly, ¡°These dogs are more obedient than you!¡± The sleigh started decreasing in speed; as the forest in front became narrower, it was harder for the sleigh to move further. The magician stopped the sleigh and kicked Duwei gently, ¡°Get off the sleigh, kid, don¡¯t just stay here without moving. Has no one ever taught you before that in freezing snow, if you don¡¯t keep moving, you will be more likely to die because of the cold?¡± After Duwei had stood up, the old magician looked around and said, ¡°Tonight, we¡¯ll stay here.¡± ¡°Stay here?¡± Duwei couldn¡¯t help but mutter, ¡°You¡­it¡¯s better to stay in the town, but you insist on living in this forest¡­I was thinking you nned to travel through the night without stopping! If you don¡¯t have any n, why didn¡¯t we just stay in the town?¡± ¡°Because I like it, does that satisfy your curiosity?¡± The old magicianughed and answered. He looked at Duwei with kindness, ¡°Now, there is a tent in the baggage under your butt, and if you still won¡¯t stand up, I can guarantee your face will hurt again.¡± A painful face¡­this old man wanted to order him to p himself again! Duwei couldn¡¯t stop muttering. Although, Duwei was very smart, while facing this old man¡­this old man was much stronger than him¡­ thousands of times over¡­ so he didn¡¯t have any alternatives. Duwei was pissed off, so he stood up slowly and opened the baggage, then started barring the tent. Duwei was very used to barring the tent these days. The old magician this time didn¡¯t just stop and look at Duwei, he also got busy. Duwei secretly nced at the old magician to see what he was doing. The old man brought out a little bottle from his gown, then spread out some green powder evenly. He spread the powder around and formed a big circle; the tent, the sleigh and both of them were in this circle. Duwei didn¡¯t know what this powder was, but after it was spread on the floor, the snow immediately melted, and there was some greenish light released from the darkness¡­like some sort of ghostly fire. Then Duwei noticed that those Mmutes were scared of the unnatural powder! The calm mmutes became scared. Their bodies hunched, and they kept shaking. They were also making some creepy sounds. The magicianpleted this and felt satisfied. He looked at the green circle, then went tofort the dogs. He just used his thick palm to pet the mmutes, then whispered happily, ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­don¡¯t worry¡­.¡± The dogs then lied down again. After the tent was done, Duwei went to him and asked, ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Something to avoid trouble.¡± The Old Magician took the bottle back. He just had a thin gown, so Duwei really didn¡¯t know how he could carry so many bottles. When he just wanted to use one, immediately he could get it out . ¡°Trouble¡­?¡± The old magicianughed, ¡°Kid, this is the Frozen Forest! There aren¡¯t only plenty of trees, but also numerous Magic Beasts! Most of them you haven¡¯t heard of or seen before. Especially during the night, the magic Beasts love to attack those whose don¡¯t have any defense, and are asleep. There are many adventures who be the dinner for Magic Beasts, when they are sleeping¡­then be feces the next day.¡± ¡°But you are such a great magician, are you really scared of those magic Beasts?¡± Duwei teased. ¡°I am not scared.¡± The magician shook his head, ¡°But just the two of us are like two meat bags being thrown to a group of flies! Do you understand? This will definitely attract many things out there, but those things aren¡¯t a big deal. But if more and more ¡®flies¡¯e, it will be a great disaster. And, as I said¡­before we arrive at our destination, I cannot use much of my magic power. So, light the fire when we are ready to sleep¡­but remember before you sleep to do the exercise which I taught you before. Otherwise, you will be a popsicle by midnight, and I won¡¯t be able to take care of you.¡± Duwei was speechless¡­he didn¡¯t want him to be a robot that was controlled by others, so he just did it himself. Although this kind of stretch was painful, Duwei knew that it was good for him, therefore he had toplete the whole set of exercises, even if it felt painful. The old magician looked at Duwei, who was doing the exercises, and once he was satisfied, he brought out a scroll and gently opened it. This was the wind magic scroll that the old magician had used to form the boundary; suddenly he pointed at the tent, ¡°Okay, now it¡¯s time to sleep.¡± ¡° I still want to ask¡­what is the green powder?¡± ¡°Are you curious? I worry that if you know this, you won¡¯t fall asleep.¡± The old magician maliciously smiled. ¡°¡­Please tell me.¡± Duwei said, ¡°I am very curious, if you don¡¯t tell me, I can¡¯t fall asleep.¡± ¡°Ok! That is¡­the poop of a dragon.¡± The old magician shrugged his shoulders, ¡°You don¡¯t mind sleeping around the poop?¡± Duwei, ¡°¡­¡± Dragon¡¯s poop? That exined it¡­Most of the animals relied on smell and taste of feces and piss to determine the others¡¯ boundaries. Dragons, undoubtedly were the strongest creatures in nature. By spreading the dragon poop here, other Beasts would think that there was a dragon! Which magic Beast dared to cause trouble for a dragon? Although this method was good¡­Duwei shook his head. Luckily, the poop was not smelly. In the middle of the night, Duwei woke up because of the cold. Inside the tent, the old magician had his eyes closed, slept gently, and breathed evenly. There was a crystal ball hanging inside the tent. The old magician was kind enough that he used the Fire Magic Scroll and turned this crystal ball into a heater, so it was getting warmer inside the tent. But in the middle of the night, the heat of the crystal ball had been used up, and Duwei was freezing and got out of the tent to exercise once again. Afterpleting the whole set of the exercises, he felt warm again, and sighed, ¡°If you would have met me earlier and did this exercise twice every year, you would have been stronger.¡± In the tent, the old man suddenly said while his eyes remained shut. Duwei was not surprised¡­this old man could seem fast asleep, but could still hear all the things around him! For this point, Duwei had confirmed a few days ago when he tried to escape. ¡°Never thought that¡­The family of Proud Knights, the next generation of the Rnd family, could have such a weak kid.¡± Old Magician finished his words and then continued sleeping. Duwei sighed, he was standing in the snow and looking at the sky¡­ The moon was in the sky, the moonlight shined on the forest and on the snow; it was actually quite pretty. In the forest, it seemed there were something howling further away, didn¡¯t know which kind of magic Beast was howling. But those Mmutes were sleeping well. Duwei tiptoed to the side. In the midnight, he wanted to pee, so he found a big trunk inside the circle of the dragon poop, dressed off his trousers and pee, and shuddered fiercely. People said that if heading further to the north, the weather would be even colder, and it was dangerous to even pee! Under such cold weather conditions, no one dared to pee in the outside, as their little penis would be frozen! Duwei sighed and looked back to the tent¡­When would this end? This old man kidnapped Duwei and then didn¡¯t answer anything, Duwei had lots of questions already. He didn¡¯t even know where he was going to. Revenge for his apprentice? To be honest, Duwei treated Vivian very good except cheating her for some magic tools. When they suffered on the isted ind, he took care of that littledy. Even he wanted to get back on this old magician. Duwei had suffered lots in the journey, thus the old man should feel much better. So, did he want to ckmail the Rnd Family by kidnapping Duwei? Duweiughed¡­This old man should have a very great background, and even though the Rnd Family was powerful, he might not care, so what else did he want? So¡­.was it because of the prisoner Chris? But this old man should know more than Duwei! It was meaningless to kidnap him. Duwei kept thinking for a while, but still didn¡¯t get any idea, then as he was ready to go back to sleep¡­ Suddenly, in the dark forest, there was a sound that shocked him! Chup! Duwei shook! His spiritual power was very good now, and he was very sensitive to the surrounding! He stayed at the barracks near the castle for many days, and from that sound¡­that was the sound of archery! Then, there were some people screaming far away! Among the screams, there was something howling, then more people screamed¡­ The location should be on the Northeast side. Duwei saw that there was a red light shing in the darkness! It was just like something was on fire! Then, there was a roaring sound, followed by the sound of people running¡­the sound seemed very desperate, like they were escaping¡­ Duwei frowned, then crouched down and listened¡­ 1¡­2¡­3¡­Seems there were five to six people, they were breathing shortly, and running in panic. They were approaching Duwei now! Among the howling¡­seems like there were some animals howling, then there were people screaming again, seems the animal had caught a person¡­ The stepping sound was less than before, one more person should¡¯ve been killed¡­ After just a few seconds, the stepping sound was nearby. Duwei saw there were four people running out from the forest, they were dressed in leather coats, with a corset and a knife¡­but the knife was cut in half! Thest one was the poorest one. Half of his body was in red, and Duwei couldn¡¯t figure out if that was his blood or the others. He was carrying a bow, running and screaming, ¡°Faster! Faster! It¡¯s nearby! It¡¯s close! It killed the leader! Run!!!!!¡± The man at the front had already run through some trees, and when he looked at Duwei he yelled, ¡°Someone¡¯s here!¡± Duwei still didn¡¯t respond, while the four Mmutes had already woke up and started barking at those people¡­ Chapter 56 Chapter 56 Law of the Devil Chapter 56: The Zombie Monster & Golden Eyed Python The man running at the front almost crashed into Du Wei. The other two also entered the circle of dragon¡¯s poop, while the four Mmutes had already rushed up towards the group! ¡°Woah! Friend, can you control your dogs!¡± The running men were scared. One of them had clumsy movements because of receiving an injury, so he was almost knocked down by the dogs, while the other two quickly dodged. The four Mmutes could not recognize their target, and Du Wei had to yell at them loudly in order to stop their attack. Since the dogs recognized Du Wei, no one was attacked anymore. At this moment, thest bloodied man had already run to their location, looking terrible. When he saw Du Wei, without caring for his appearance or age, he still kindly shouted, ¡°Friend! Run! The zombie monster ising! Run!¡± After speaking those words, his body trembled and fell to the ground. From his warning, Du Wei came to have a good impression of him, and he tried to hold him up. He sniffed a strong bloody smell, but the most disgusting part was that there was a piece of bloody flesh stuck to his body! It must have been from one of hispanions. Out of the three people at the front, the first one had run away, but when the other two heard that thest man fell, they only hesitated for a while before they stopped running and went back to help him. Although the bloodied man had fallen, his hands were still holding onto his bow tightly. He was shaking his head as he shouted, ¡°All of you run! If that thing catches up, all of us will die! Leave!! Faster!¡± The twopanions tried to help him to escape, but his legs were hurt too badly because of the vigorous running he did, and his legs could not support him anymore. The other twopanions felt such a strong brotherhood that they didn¡¯t want to escape and leave him there alone to die, instead they tried to lend their shoulders to help him up. ¡°You guys don¡¯t actually have to run.¡± Du Wei sighed. From the beginning when the first man had tried to warn him, that had left on him a good impression of the man. Also, the bloodied man didn¡¯t want to drag hispanions into danger and would rather stay if it meant hispanions could escape safely. This impressed Du Wei by a fair bit. Even those two other men hadn¡¯t wanted to leave their friend behind. Admiring the brotherhood between these men, Du Wei decided he would help them this one time. ¡°All of you just stay here. Don¡¯t worry, nothing bad will happen.¡± At this very moment, with the help of the moonlight they could see how Du Wei looked like. Du Wei looked just like a thirteen year old kid, so they thought Du Wei was crazy. The two men shouldered their woundedpanion and were ready to run, when they suddenly smelled a strong bloody odor followed by a shrill roar¡­ ¡°Shit! We are going to die¡­¡± The three people were so very afraid. But the man with the bow and arrow was decisive. He immediately yelled, ¡°Leave me! Fight against the monster!¡± The twopanions looked serious. One of them was holding onto broken sword with a tight grip, while the other one that was without any weapon just randomly picked up a thick tree branch from the snow, to use as a mace. From within the forest, there was a certain creepy noiseing closer¡­It seemed like there was something passing through the trees, causing the snow on the branches to drop¡­ Because of the moonlight, Du Wei could clearly see what was inside the forest. Just 30 steps away, a monster popped out from the trees! Du Wei only nced once and almost vomited upst night¡¯s meal! These men had called this monster a ¡°zombie¡±¡­that name was really appropriate! The monster had three legs, but with different sizes! One was a horse leg, another was a deer leg, and the remaining one was so hairy that Du Wei could not figure out which beast this leg belonged to¡­All three legs were bloody, and were stuck to the body¡­it was like they were only temporarily attached to the body¡­ Its body was even stranger! Above its waist, there were two upper bodies! One was like a bear, and the other was¡­a human body! This thing was just like a puzzle, made by joining different pieces of different creatures together, its body entirely smeared with blood, covered with ck and white long hair! ¡°What the f**k is this thing!¡± Du Wei felt disgusted. ¡°A zombie.¡± The man sitting on the ground said, ¡°It¡¯s a type of magic monster¡­this thing kills its prey and attaches parts of the victim¡¯s body onto its own¡­Damn! It used the captain¡¯s body as well! He was upset and angry, and the other two were sorrowful too. It was true. The human part of this monster was very bloody, but you could still see the yellow leather coat and the head above the neck, looking just like it was bitten off by some beast! The brain was already missing, only half of the neck was left, and you could even see into the flesh and white bones! The most gruesome part was that the left eye was flopping outside of its socket¡­ The running speed of this monster was quite fast, but when it reached the outer part of the dragon poop circle, it suddenly stopped. Its two heads, the human part and the other bear part with sharp teeth, breathed a little and screamed loudly. It stepped backward and began stalking around the circle¡­ Its roar seemed full of suspicion. It could recognize that dragon poop was harmful and didn¡¯t dare to move forward. But it could see where its prey was and the smell of blood was causing it to be excited¡­ This creature walked around and hesitatingly moved closer. All of them turned pale except Du Wei. The man holding the bow and arrow quickly picked out three arrows from his backpack and shot out each one continuously! Du Wei was impressed! The archery skill of this man was pretty good. Even though he was suffering from a terrible injury, he could still steadily shoot three consecutive arrows! Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh¡­.the three arrows shot towards the two heads and a leg of the monster! Thunk, Thunk, Thunk¡­.The monster was hit by the three arrows, but it merely shook its body and turned around, using its hairy w at the back and plucked out the arrow in its body, then tore off the brain of the bear and shrieked¡­ It was bleeding, but the monster didn¡¯t care. Blood sshed onto the snow, and upon contact, green gas suddenly steamed up! ¡°The blood of this monster is highly toxic. If we happen toe into contact with it, then we will die immediately.¡± The archer had finished shooting, shaking his head. ¡°Don¡¯t care anymore, we are done¡­we are not strong enough to fight against it.¡± He looked at Du Wei and said, ¡°Who are you? You are such a small child, why did youe to this frozen forest¡­sorry, we dragged you into this mess by drawing this monster here. With an angry roar, the man who was holding the tree branch rushed towards the monster. Gripping the thick branch, he brutally smashed against the waist of the monster! Bang! The branch hit the monster, but it didn¡¯t get hurt. Using a hairy w, it grabbed the branch, and flung it away¡­ With a scream, that man was propelled away and crashed onto a tree. As he fell to the ground, he spilt some blood. The man with the broken sword looked pale. His sword was originally usable for fighting, but now only half of it was left. This monster was so strong with toxic fluid in its body. If they approached any closer to the monster, they would definitely die. But seeing hispanions act, how the one who was seriously wounded but still shot arrows and the other was flung away into a tree, he shouted out and got ready to fight with his broken sword! Du Wei closed his eyes¡­.and breathed in deeply This warrior with the sword yelled loudly and swung his sword in an arc! Suddenly, two des of wind appeared that hit the monster and caused a serious wound on the left leg of the Zombie. The warrior quickly dashed towards the monster and used his broken sword to attack the brain of the zombie! The speed and the power of his attack were excellent, but the monster suddenly stepped backward and a bloody sting came out from its body! This warrior had jumped into the air and could not dodge, and his shoulder was pierced! He now hung in the air, impaled on the stinging tail of the monster! There were many hooks on that sting, causing the warrior with the broken sword to loudly scream! He hurled his broken sword to the brain of the monster. Bang! The sword struck the bear head of the monster and was stuck there, but the monster didn¡¯t seem to feel anything from it¡­ The archer sighed. Since the three of them was not strong enough to be the opponent of the monster, he simply closed his eyes and waited for death. In that moment, when Du Wei saw the warrior impaled on the monster¡¯s sting, he suddenly took out a bottle from his pocket and threw it towards the monster! Shatter! Colliding with the monster, the bottle broke immediately, and a yellow powder spread over the monster¡¯s body. Then Du Wei breathed in deeply and quickly casted a spell! His chanting speed was very fast, and in moments, a de of wind shot out! The wind de didn¡¯t strike the monster directly, but urately sliced the stinging tail of the monster! Snap! The tail was cut, and the warrior fell to the ground. Du Wei shouted loudly, ¡°Move fast! Hurry up!¡± The warrior was feeling intense pain, but when he heard that voice, he immediate ran towards the side! Du Wei¡¯s gown was getting bigger as he squeezed his fingers and casted another spell. Several fireballs could be seen sting towards the monster in the dark night! The spiritual power and magic sensitivity of Du Wei was very strong, thus he was able to cast three normal fireballs simultaneously! The three fireballs crashed into the monster body and lit up the yellow powder, which was actually sulphur¡­ Boom! The monster was instantly enshrouded in mes. Within the fire, the monster wailed and it became even more ferocious! Not hesitating a moment, Du Wei used another hasten magic and rushed towards the zombie beast. He began running around it in a circle as he moved his fingers in a specific pattern and cast confusion magic on the zombie beast! The blue light from the confusion spell was continuously shot towards the monster, but it only screamed loudly from inside the fire and tried to catch Du Wei. But Du Wei only sped up even more, and used seven to eight confusion spells. Because of dizziness this caused, the movements of the monster gradually slowed down and after a single roar, it copsed onto the ground.¡­ Without a moment of dy, Du Wei used hisst two sulphur bottles, throwing them towards the zombie beast¡­. When the two bottles of sulphur came into contact with fire, it immediately exploded. The monster instantly exploded into pieces, leaving behind a smell of roasted meat in the air¡­ Looking at the zombie monster lying on the floor, Du Wei rxed a bit, and then went back to lean on a tree¡­ Damn, why didn¡¯t that old mane out¡­he only continued to ignore what happened just now! Going back, Du Wei found that no one was inside the tent! The old man had disappeared! Just as he was about to yell, suddenly he felt like someone passed him an object into his hand, and he heard the voice of the old magician in his head, ¡°I hate trouble and I don¡¯t want to see anybody, I will find youter.¡± The invisibility magic of this old man was too great, that Du Wei could not even feel a thing and couldn¡¯t see a trace of him. He just totally disappeared. Looking at his hands, he saw there was a small bag. He squeezed it and felt some bottle shaped objects inside. Having seen how Du Wei defeated the monster, the three men were shocked and kept on staring at Du Wei. A while passed, and they started cheering! Magician! This little kid was a Magician! Three of them were hurt, so Du Wei brought them back one by one¡­the warrior with the sword was in the worst condition, because he hade into contact with the toxic fluid of the monster, and a certain rotting smell wasing out from his wound¡­ Du Wei immediately checked inside of the bag and found that there were many medicine powders. Luckily, Du Wei had studied Magic Alchemy before. He found two bottles that were specialized for curing wounds. But the rotten flesh on the warrior¡¯s body¡­ When Du Wei sighed, the warrior disyed his bravery. Holding a tree branch in his mouth, he drew out a knife from his boot. Although the pain was intense, he cut off his wound by himself! ¡°This is just to dy the venom from spreading¡­¡± The warrior profusely sweated as he spoke with a shaking voice. ¡°I cannot cut my shoulderpletely¡­for the venom of this monster, we have to go back to find a temple and ask the people there to use light magic in order to expel all of the venom¡­¡± The man who was thrown into a treeughed and said, ¡°Great, we are still alive. This is the best fortune I¡¯ve ever had! You just have to suffer for a couple of days¡­not a big deal.¡± The archer looked at Du Wei, full of gratitude and respect, saying, ¡°Dear Mr. Magician¡­Please kindly forgive what we said before¡­I didn¡¯t know that you are a magician. I¡­appreciate your help very much, thanks for saving our lives! If possible, may I know your name? We will remember it forever!¡± Seeing Du Wei hesitate, the archer realized he was asking for too much andughed, ¡°I know, in such a ce, a magician would not tell his name to others¡­but I can swear on my life, we won¡¯t tell your name to others! Having our lives rescued, if we didn¡¯t know the name of the person who saved us, we would feel terribly ashamed!¡± Then, he stood up and said, ¡°I, Dadaneier, am the vice-captain of this adventure team¡­our captain has died already. This guy carrying the sword is called Frank, and the other one, you can call him Montenegro. We are the personal attendant guards of Marquise Lister. We hade to this ce to find a magic beast¡­¡± Dadaneier hesitated a moment before continuing to talk: ¡°We are searching for a magic beast called ¡®Golden Eyed python¡¯ because our Marquise had incurred a serious illness. People have said that the eyes of the ¡®Golden Eyed python¡¯ could cure the Marquise of her illness, so we came to this Frozen Forest¡­I personally received the honor of knighthood from the Marquise. Upon my knighthood I swear, I won¡¯t tell your name to others. But you saved the people from the Lister Family. We have to remember your name! People from the Lister Family must repay this debt!¡± He took a deep bow and looked forward to getting a response from Du Wei. ¡°My name¡­¡± Du Wei hesitated for few seconds. He would give away his real name. Sighing he said, ¡°Ok¡­I am a magician¡­my name¡­.is Harry Potter.¡± ¡°Harry Potter¡­¡± Dadaneier remembered this name and said, ¡°I will remember this name! Mr. Magician, if in the future, youe into the territory of Lister Family, you only need mention my name to receive a VIP treatment!¡± Du Weiughed. By using the identity of a Magician, he could get special treatment anywhere. But Dadaneier was so sincere; obviously, he really appreciated what Du Wei¡¯s actions. Du Wei felt a bit sorry for telling him a fake name, but he didn¡¯t want anyone to know that Du Wei could use magic. So, he just changed the topic, ¡°Oh, right, you said something about the Golden Eyed Python. What¡¯s that thing? A python?¡± Dadaneier looked a bit confused¡­normally, a magician should understand magic beast well, but why didn¡¯t this young magician know that? But still, he respected this young magician, so he answered immediately, ¡°The Golden Eyed Python¡­is really a type of python, but it is very dangerous. Its eyes can radiate the Petrification Magic. Any creature will be petrified after looking at its eyes directly! In this frozen forest, Golden Eyed Python is regarded as one of the most dangerous magic beasts!¡± Although Dadaneier tried to hide his suspicion, Du Wei still knew his thoughts by looking into his eyes. Du Weiughed and ced some medicine by Dadaneier¡¯ feet, and said, ¡°I am still very young, and just started learning magic. I don¡¯t know much about magic beasts¡­that¡¯s why, I came here to have a look.¡± After a while, Du Wei asked, ¡°But¡­may I ask¡­if this Golden Eyed Python is so dangerous, how can you all be sure to catch it?¡± What Du Wei implied was crystal clear: These few men could not defeat one zombie beast¡­how could they catch the Golden Eye Python, which is regarded as the one of the most dangerous magic beasts in the frozen forest? Its must be much, much stronger than the zombie beast! Dadaneier didn¡¯t care andughed, ¡°Our life always belonged to the Marquise. We work for her and we won¡¯t give considerations for danger¡­but we did our preparation before we arrived here¡­before we started our journey, we made great efforts in obtaining a certain tool. With that tool, we can resist the Petrifaction Magic! Without the Petrifaction Magic, the Golden Eyed Python is just a simple python, not that hard to deal with.¡± Then, Dadaneier looking a bit shy and whispered, ¡°Dear Magician, forgive my insolence. I know my request is very unreasonable¡­but we originally had eight people. After departing, we had been here for three days, walking around. Some of mypanions are now dead, and the remaining men are severely injured¡­I am afraid our strength is not enough to find the Golden Eyed Python in this frozen forest¡­You are such a great magician, I would like to ask¡­if¡­¡± Du Wei pondered, ¡°You want my help?¡± Dadaneier then stood up straight, ¡°This is concerns the life of our Marquise. I know this request is very unreasonable. But if you can help, after seeding, you will be the greatest benefactor of the Lister Family! Anyone of the Lister Family would be willing to impart hospitality to the benefactor of our Marquise!!¡± Chapter 57 Chapter 57: The Richest Widow in the Empire Duwei thought for a while. Duwei had heard of The Marquise Lister before. Her title was not hereditary, but life-long. Such a title was only valid when the person was alive, and their descendants could not inherit it. The Marquise Lister was a widow originally. Her husband was the uncle of the current King of the Empire Austin VI, who was a Duke. But, amazingly, this Duke was much younger than the King Majesty¡­This was not surprising in such a huge royal family. Mrs Lister was born in a famous Sea merchant family in the Empire. She was very beautiful. When she was 15, she married the uncle of the King, who was forty something years old. But, when she was 22, she became a widow. The Duke was very weak, and died when he was fifty. After the Duke died, the king entitled this poor widow a royal title¡­¡¯Marquise¡¯. ording to the Empire Order, this life-long title was not hereditary. Later, there was a rumour that the King of the Empire Austin VI loved this beautiful Marquise. A few years ago, this rumour was spreading over the world. Finally, the Marquise had to move out of the Empire City when she was 30. She moved to the ancestral house in the Northernnd alone in order to get rid of the rumour. The Marquise after bing a widow, used her previousst name, Lister. The Marquise Lister was very rich and famous among the Noble Circle in the Empire! Although she could not inherit the title of the Duke, since the Duke didn¡¯t have any child, all the possessions was left to this young wife. The father of Ms. Lister, the Sea merchant, also left an incredible amount of wealth to his daughter! Even in the Noble Circle, there was an indecent nickname about this woman, called the Richest widow in the Empire. This was all the information of Marquise Lister Duwei had heard before. ¡°Oh, Marquise Lister. I heard of her name before.¡± Duwei tried to act casually, and asked, ¡°May I ask, which disease the dear Marquise has?¡± From this question, Dardanelle and the other people were angry, but Dardanelle still talked about that, ¡°Sigh, this was the most shameful thing of the Lister Family!¡± But, he still told the truth. The Marquise was now 33. Seems like the God of time* loved this woman a lot and offered her incredible beauty. Although Duwei hadn¡¯t meet her before, he heard that she was very beautiful before. TL Note ¨C In the raws, it was actually referred as the Time/Light Lady which can be termed as the God of time/light. People said the Marquise had skin soft as a baby, as smooth as milk. Her eyes were as pretty as gems. Her hair was as shiny as the sunlight reflected by the river¡­you could not find any mark to show her actual age! This woman had captured the hearts of many nobles, even the King. To get rid of the rumour, Marquise moved to her hometown, but she still could not get rid of the trouble because of her beauty. Just two months ago, Marquise was hiking with her retainers when she met a lecher. To be more urate¡­This lecher was an asshole! ording to the description from Dardanelle, that old man was wearing a green gown, with a green flute. When he saw the Marquise, his eyes were blinking and immediately approached her. He not only praised the beauty of Marquise with some frivolous words, he even requested to y music for the Marquise. This behavior made the retainers of Marquise angry. In the hearts of the retainers, the beautiful Marquise was like a goddess to them¡­ ¡°Shall we check the style of the gown of that old man, and if he looks like the magician¡­we will throw this old bastard into the river!¡±Dardanelle said. ¡°Magician?¡±Duwei frowned. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think he was a Magician.¡± Dardanelle shake his head, ¡°That gown was simr. But I have never meet a magician with a green gown. Mr. Potter, you are a magician¡­May I ask, in the Magician level in the Magic Union, what level of magician wears a green gown? Seemed like none!¡± After a while, Dardanelle exined, ¡°We didn¡¯t punish him because he was a magician, it¡¯s because the Marquise was too kind. You should know that on that day, there was a Holy Knight from the Bright Temple protecting Marquise, a real Holy Knight, whom was called Knight Geoffrey! Mr. Geoffrey was a great knight, whose martial art was very famous in the Empire. He came here for appreciating the great donation to Temple from the Mistress. With Mr. Goffey, not to mention the fake magician, even a strong magician, Mr. Goffey was still able to deal with.¡± For this point, Duwei had nothing to say. Great Knight was the top of the Knight unit. He was even the Holy Knight from the Temple of light! From Duwei¡¯s knowledge, the Holy Knight from the Temple of light was much stronger than the normal knight. It was because the weapon of the Holy Knight was supported by the Light Magic, and had a special effect. The senior Holy Knight could even use some magic skills! A Great Knight was also a Senior Holy Knight. He could defeat a normal magician. ¡°Marquise was kind, and didn¡¯t put any difficulty on that guy, but if that guy continued to muddle¡­¡± The result was so simple. That Goffey was obviously an arrogant man. As a knight, when he saw his beautiful Marquise being harassed, he should express his Knight spirit well. So, Mr. Knight ¡°punished¡± that fake magician in green robe. ording to what Dardanelle described, seems the knight didn¡¯t get any benefit as the fake magician escaped fast. But, when the fake magician left, he dropped a word, ¡°You won¡¯t be good because you offended me. Just wait for my curse! You are beautiful, but I will freeze your beauty¡­just like a stone!¡± Dardanelle felt sad, ¡°Although that guy didn¡¯t look like a magician, his curse was real!¡± Three dayster, Marquise got sick. Her skin was bing stiff and petrified! It was just a small part at the beginning, but then it spread over the whole body,,,The Listers were afraid, we had found all the doctors, but they could not help. Finally, with the answer from a Magic Pharmacist, they found hope. It may be the Petrifaction Magic. It¡¯s not a normal petrifaction, even the magicians could not help with that. To lift this curse, unless it was lifted by the person who cursed, or¡­ ¡°Or, go to the Frozen Forest and find a magic monster called Golden Eye Python, and get its eyeball, that can help.¡±Dardanelle looked decisive, ¡°Marquise is the goddess of the Lister Family! Every honor knight working for Marquise is willing to die for Marquise! So, we came to this ce.¡± Duwei sighed, but he was not as calm as he looked like! Curse? Was that the Curse?! Seems Dardanelle really didn¡¯t understand the magic well! That guy in green gown might be a Magician! Also a very powerful magician! Curse was the most difficult magic! Even some senior magicians could not learn this magic in their lives! Duwei thought a bit and looked around, the old magician had gone already. But Duwei believed that if he tried to go home, he would probably be caught again. It was because that old man said he woulde back! So he could not escape¡­ ¡°Ok.¡±Duwei sighed, ¡°I am ready to look around in the Frozen Forest, and perhaps, I can go with you. Maybe I can help a bit.¡± Although he said these, he thought, ¡°This old man must be looking at me. As long as he is here, I won¡¯t get hurt.¡± The medicine Duwei gave Dardanelle was very effective. Under the effect of the Magic medicine, the wound on Dardanelle¡¯s body had been cured. But, the granuloma was quite disgusting. But the warrior was not as lucky as him, the toxic fluid of the zombie monster could only be removed by the Light Magic in the temple. So, after discussion, only Dardanelle and Duwei stayed in the forest and continued to find the golden eye python. The other injured just went back. Then Duwei did something strange on the people of the Lister Family. He got an empty bottle from the back, then went to the burnt dead body of the zombie monster and extracted some toxic fluid and put it into the bottle. The toxic fluid had the effect of being rotten and erosive. Perhaps, it might help in the future. Chapter 58 Chapter 58: Snow Wolf Mercenary Group Looking at this little magician using the bottle to collect the venom from the zombie beast, Dardanelle and the other two Lister family members were shocked. This little magician collected this disgusting stuff as though he thought it was a treasure, and stored it properly. Looking at the repulsive rotten meat, they all sighed and wondered if this unfathomable magician could do what others could not. The gravely injured Sword Warrior and the guy who spit out blood would ride on Duwei¡¯s sleigh and leave the forest. Duwei was tying the four mmutes to the sleigh. Since these dogs belonged to the old magician, Duwei just gave them away generously. In addition¨Cbecause the path became increasingly arduous the deeper one went in the forest¨Cthey would have to walk, thus rendering them unable to use the sleigh. However, before the two injured left, Duwei hesitated. Since both of them were injured, if they met any beasts on the way back, they would not be able to save themselves. Duwei pondered this for a while; then, he gathered up the dragon poop powder that the old magician had spread on the floor the night before and used some paper to pack it well. While ignoring the strange looks from the injured, they applied the remaining powder on their body. ¡°This way, you won¡¯t have to worry about being attacked by magical beats again on the way back.¡± Duwei said rxingly: ¡°You two have wounds and smell bloody, which I am afraid will indubitably attract the magic beasts.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that stuff?¡± Dardanelle looked at the green powder. He made the same face as when Duwei asked the old magician about the powder. ¡°This¡­¡± Duwei smiled mischievously, ¡°This is poop¨CDragon¡¯s poop.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± The three people were rxed; not harboring any feeling of sickness or unease, they only felt shocked. The sword warrior was, in fact, very happy and said, ¡°Great idea! Haha, when we were in the northeast, we also spread Lion¡¯s pee on the tent to repel the wolves on the grasnd. Haha¡­ but this is Dragon¡¯s poop; a magician is really a magician! Can even get this precious thing¡­haha.¡± It seemed like this guy thought that they had not received enough dragon¡¯s poop; seemingly, these preferred wanted more of the substance. After sending away the two injured, Duwei began packing the remaining things. The old magician¡¯s items were too incredible; the bag he left contained many different kinds of magic medicine, even a small magic crystal. Duwei had a deep look: he could tell that these materials were used for setting up magic arrays. As a result, Duwei collected them all. Dardanelle brought Duwei to their previous camp site. It was a disaster after being attacked by the zombie beast. Dardanelle chose two arrow bags and carried them; then, he chose two swords from the dead bodies of hispanions and did the same. Afterwards, he dug a hole and buried hispanions. They originally were an eight people group. Now only three remained. There was a sleigh as well, but the mmutes had escaped during the attackst night. One was even bitten by the Zombie Beast. During the night, the body that remained had frozen. The tent was messy, but Duwei and Dardanelle tried to find something useful in it. Finally, Duwei noticed the overturned sleigh. The sleigh was broken already; in all likelihood, the zombie monster stepped on itst night. Dardanelle was confused as he watched Duwei use a knife to cut the wooden boards from the sleigh. Immediately afterwards, Duwei cut some rope from the tent and tied two wooden boards to the soles of his boots. ¡°What¡¯s that for?¡± Dardanelle asked, confused. ¡°These will help us to walk on the snow. You can try it. They are very useful.¡± Duwei said. Dardanelle respected this unpredictable young magician very much. Although he didn¡¯t understand what the boards were, he mimicked Duwei¡¯s actions. While on their way, he started to admire this young magician who could construct such useful paraphernalia. As they went further into the forest, the umted snow became increasingly thick! When one stepped on it, the umted snow reach one¡¯s knees. However, the width of the boards could resist the sinking force by spreading spreading the pressure over arger area. So when people walked using the boards, their feet would not sink deeply into the snow. Moreover, Duwei even taught Dardanelle how to ski on the snow using the boards! Skiing was one of Duwei¡¯s favorite sports in his previous life. With the simple and rough ¡°skis,¡± it was easier to walk. ¡°Right¡­Dardanelle,st night you said there were five people running. I saw that the person at the front ran away¡­Is he also a person from the Lister Family?¡± Duwei asked randomly on their way. ¡°Hum¡­ the Lister Family doesn¡¯t have such a coward.¡± Dardanelle disdained him and said,¡±That was a leather merchant from the Southern town. We gave him money to guide us in the forest. But that stupid jerk brought us and walked around in the forest for 3 days, but still could not find the thing we wanted. This time, after we return, I will kill him definitely!¡± After a while, Dardanelle whispered, ¡°We are different from the other adventurers. We are from the Lister Family and, thus, cannot force our way past the border patrol team. We cannot make any trouble for the Lister Family. So, using the rtionship with that guy, we bribed off the officer of the patrol team to let us go inside. But now, it seems like that guy most likely pocketed the money.¡± They kept on walking on the snow from early morning to afternoon. Even with the skis made by Duwei, under the freezing and windy climate and the snow, it was a harsh challenge for their physical strength and stamina. Dardanelle was a warrior; he was much stronger than Duwei. But since he was hurtst night, and although the wound was cured by the magic medicine, the lost blood could not be reced by magic. In other words, his body was inexorably weaker than before. Duwei was very tired, too. Although he was stronger than before after doing the exercises that the old magician taught him, since he was only 13 years old, his body was not extremely strong. Without the skis, Duwei probably could not have made it. If he knew flying magic, it would have been better. Duwei murmured a bit, but looking at the freezing wind, he sighed. Even knowing flying magic, with his magic power, it was not sufficient for him to fly a long way under this level of wind. They were heading to the north and went deeper into the forest. Dardanelle knew more about surviving in the wild than Duwei. From their conversation, Duwei surmised that Dardanelle was in a mercenary group when he was young. But he hadn¡¯te to the Frozen Forest before. When he was young, he had been the guard of a leather merchant in the Northeast Grasnd. He was used to living in the wild. Since the title of Marquise Lister was not hereditary, she could not have her own territory and private soldiers. She could not even recruit private warriors and armed forces as other nobles did. Therefore, the people being sent to the forest were the servants of Marquise. Dardanelle was the vice captain; the captain diedst night while protecting hispanions. ¡°We didn¡¯t bring many people here as this ce is too dangerous. People with normal skills would probably die or even be a burden.¡± Dardanelle¡¯s nose was red because of the freezing climate. He stopped and rested for a while. In actuality, he was not tired: he just wanted this little magician to have some rest. Through their conversation, Duwei construed that Dardanelle was a passionate and congenial individual, and he also treated Duwei with much respect. After he came to this world, he hadn¡¯t made many friends. He quite liked this passionate warrior. Dardanelle grabbed some snow and put it in his mouth. After letting his warmth melt the snow, he drank some water. After quenching his thirst, Dardanelle looked at the sun in the sky and said, ¡°Dear Magician¡­¡± ¡°Please use my name.¡± Duwei smiled, ¡°No need to use honorifics, Dardanelle. There are only the two of us and we are traveling together now. Furthermore, I am younger than you.¡± ¡°Ok, Harry.¡± Dardanelle refreshingly smiled, ¡°I guess the afternoon just passed. In this northern area, it gets dark sooner than other ces. We better hurry up and go forward, and hope that we can find a ce to sleep before dark. Also, if I may ask, do you still have any dragon poop remaining?¡± ¡°I may have enough left.¡± Duweiughed. ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± Dardanelle¡¯s eyes had a sh of sadness and whispered, ¡°It¡¯s a pity¡­ if we had met you one day earlier and you had that dragon¡¯s poop, we wouldn¡¯t have been attacked by that monster and the captain would not have died.¡± ¡°He will rest in peace, my dear Dardanelle.¡± Duweiforted him, ¡°We have to continue his mission. As long as we find the golden eye python, the dead¡¯s sacrifices will not have been in vain.¡± Dardanelle cheered up a bit and said, ¡°Right! Harry, your words are reasonable¡­ Magicians are talented and possess quite some knowledge, right? Let¡¯s talk more about you. You are so young. To have be a magician at your age is very impressive! Let me know more about your background, are you from a great family? I ask because only rich families have the chance to meet magicians and learn magic.¡± Duwei remained silent. He was regretting that he¡¯d lied at the very beginning. Being faced with this guy¡¯s smile, Duwei felt sorry and just said few things, then moved to another topic. In the evening, at sunset, they finally found a ce that was in a lower area. In this location, one would not encounter any wind. But when they left the forest, they found that this ce was upied by others already. ¡°Warning!!¡± There was a whistling sound in the forest. Suddenly, two men dressed in white emerged from the top of trees. Duwei looked at them carefully. These two people were wearing white coats, and the people at the back were fully armed! Some of these men were wearing coats whereas others were wearing leather armor. They also had different weapons on hand. Some of them carried knives, some carried swords, and some even carried axes. The people at the back were carrying bows and arrows, targeting Duwei and Dardanelle. They were humans, not beasts. The watchmen rxed a bit. ¡°Great, two humans. Seems we met some interesting fellows.¡± The person who seemed to be the captain came out andughed, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s rare to see people who can get so far into the Frozen Forest!¡± Dardanelle was holding his shank, alert to these people. Duwei smiled and shouted, ¡°Who is the leader of your group?¡± ¡°I am.¡± The leader looked at Duwei with contempt, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a kid¡­oh, I know, you two are looking for a ce to sleep? I am sorry, this ce is upied by us. If you don¡¯t mind, we can allow you to stay in the campsite next to us. But be careful, don¡¯t intrude on our circle.¡± ¡°No no no¡­¡± Duwei shook his head, ¡°encamping in the forest, we don¡¯t want to be dinner for the magic monsters! Let us in please. Can we join you in your campsite? It¡¯s only two of us, we won¡¯t upy much space¡­ and you are a mercenary group catching magic beasts, right? Perhaps, we can help.¡± These people looked around and suddenlyughed loudly. The leader looked at Duwei with contempt and said, ¡°Kid, how can you help us? Are you going to wake up in the middle of the night and help us go urinate? Ha ha¡­go away! Since you are fellow adventurers in this Frozen Forest, I won¡¯t make any difficulty for you as long as you don¡¯t give me trouble.¡± Duwei stepped forward, ¡°No, I insist in my request.¡± The leader got a bit angry, ¡°Oh, do you want to make some trouble? Kid¡­¡± Dardanelle pulled Duwei a bit and whispered, ¡°I know the badge of these men, they are the ¡®Snow Wolf Mercenary Group.¡¯ They have many people here so we better not make any trouble.¡± Dardanelle looked at the badge of the leader and said, ¡°We will move to a different ce.¡± Dardanelle had adventuring experience from when he was young. He knew the famous mercenary groups on the continent well, and he knew that he should stay away from this mercenary group in particr¡­ because all of their members were Ouws! During their adventures, some of these people even fought against one another It wasmon urence! Luckily Duwei and Dardanelle hadn¡¯t brought many things along. These guys knew that Duwei and Dardanelle were not armed, so they didn¡¯t pay much attention to them. If Duwei and Dardanelle had brought many possessions¡­these mercenaries would most likely have wanted to kill them or rob them! It¡¯s not wise to have conflict with them. Although the little magician was quite powerful, these ten people were only the guards on the outeryer; there might even be over a hundred people in the campsite. Just the two of them were not enough to fight against these mercenaries, so it was better to not make any trouble. ¡°Hey, Dardanelle, listen!.¡± Duwei was excited, he was so sure that the old magician was there nearby¡­ Duwei made an expression of pride deliberately and looked at the leader. He was wearing leather armor and had an outstanding weapon. However, he probably he had just a small role, ¡°Oh, you are the Snow Wolf Mercenary group, right? You, should be the little leader, can you possibly represent the whole mercenary group?¡± Duwei was right, this guy was only a little captain who was responsible for the alert nearby. He frowned, ¡°Kid, what are you going to do? If you want to suffer a bit, I don¡¯t mind to stretch my body a bit.¡± Then he held his sword with a weird smile and walked towards Duwei. However, after a few steps, he froze! Duwei was still standing there with a smile. But he lifted his right arm with his palm facing up, and made a burning fireball! The people in the mercenary group were not idiots! They looked at this smiling kid who easily made a fireball! ¡°Snow Wolf mercenary group, are you going to treat a magician in this way?¡± Duwei smiled with contempt, ¡°Ok, I will remember that.¡± After Duweipleted his words, he pulled Dardanelle, ¡°Let¡¯s go, my friend. Seems like these people are very strong and they don¡¯t need a magician. In this dangerous ce, they even don¡¯t understand the rules of mutual help.¡± Magician! This kid was a magician! All the people were shocked including that leader. He looked at Duwei, not with contempt, but respect! ¡°Go away! A bunch of idiots!¡± There was a yelling from the forest and there was a very tall and strong maning out. He was wearing rhino leather armor. His shoulders were exposed in such cold weather. His muscles exined everything. He also had on a white cap, and had a yellowish beard. He seemed very strong. He wasn¡¯t carrying any weapons. But when he walked out, the patrol people moved back, ¡°Commander!¡± Thatmander stepped forward immediately and stared at the leader, ¡°You are such a shame, my bro, move back.¡± Then, themander ignored his men and walked to Duwei and smiled, ¡°Mr. Magician, my subordinates were so rude! I apologize for their rudeness!¡± Duwei smiled, ¡°You are?¡± ¡°This is themander of the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group, Bein Heinrich!¡± A mercenary shouted. His voice was loud and contained a little bit pride. Dardanelle¡¯s eyes were blinking and he whispered, ¡°This guy has a nickname ¨C he¡¯s called ¡®Son of the Storm¡¯. He is a famous person in the circle of mercenary groups in the north continent. He is one of the three heroes of the northern mercenaries. I¡¯ve heard his name before.¡± Bein Heinrichughed a bit and said, ¡°Son of the storm¨Cthis name was only given by others. Ok, the introduction isplete. Dear Magician, may I know your name?¡± ¡°Harry Potter.¡± Duwei answered. ¡°I don¡¯t have a magician gown or badge, but this ismon in this area, I hope you can understand.¡± He looked at the eyes of themander, Duwei said, ¡°I and mypanion don¡¯t have any bad purpose, we have our things to do in this Frozen Forest. I believe, in this area, if there is a magician joining your mercenary group¡­maybe for a couple of days, it¡¯s mutually beneficial, right?¡± ¡°The Snow Wolf Mercenary Group always wees the joining of a magician!¡± Bein Heinrichughed, ¡°I am always preupied whenever Ie to this ce. Those magic monsters are so annoying. If we have the help of a magician, our business will get substantially better!¡± Bein Heinrich looked at Duwei and looked forward to his answer. ¡°I am willing to provide some help.¡± Duwei answered Bein Heinrich happily, ¡°Mr. Commander, as you see, we only have two people. It¡¯s better to have morepanions in this area, right?¡± ¡°Please bring Mr. Magician to our campsite at the front, there are two nice wines in my tent.¡± Bein Heinrichughed and led the way enthusiastically. Dardanelle frowned and Duwei pulled him to the side and whispered, ¡°Dardanelle, stop saying that! This is our first timeing to this Frozen Forest! We don¡¯t know this ce! But these guys are frequent visitors to this ce! They understand thendscape and the environment in this ce well! It¡¯s better than searching aimlessly in this area by ourselves!¡± Chapter 59 Chapter 59: The Fate of the Adventurers The campsite of the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group was above standard. You could see that they were used to living in the wild. The low level terrain effectively yed the role of ¡®windproofing¡¯ them. The stiff slopes at the sides yed the role of protection. If there was any ident, they only had to protect the gap in the middle, and then the safety of the campsite was guaranteed. Duwei and Dardanelle followed Commander Bein Heinrich and entered the campsite. The mercenaries that greeted them looked at them weirdly. Duwei estimated that there were almost hundred people in this campsite. They looked different from the private soldier of the noble or the local garrison of the Empire he saw before. They didn¡¯t have a uniform of armour or weapons. Their outfits were very personalized. Some were wearing a leather coat, some were wearing a leather gown, some were even wearing leather armor. But, since they had to hide in the snow, most of them chose white as the color. Their weapons were even stranger. They had swords, machetes, axes, short spears¡­Duwei even saw one using a mace. These people seemed very defensive and unruly without exception. When Duwei entered the site, there were some shining their weapons and looked at Duwei and Dardanelle coldly. There was someone yelling, ¡°Hey,mander! Why did you bring a kid! Ha ha ha, is he the one you want to recruit as a neer? He seems like he still has his milk bottle!¡± Everybody wasughing at these words. Bein Heinrich was angry and yelled, ¡°Don¡¯t bullshit! Do what you have to do! This is our VIP, behave well!¡± It seemed themander was very prestigious. After his words, everybody shut up although some of them had an objection. ¡°Sorry, Mr. Magician, these are rude men and don¡¯t know about manners.¡± Heinrich invited Duwei to his tent, but Duwei rejected politely. Afterwards themander had his men make some space for them to build a tent. After a while, themander had his men to bring two thick woollen nkets. ¡°These people seem to not like us.¡± Duwei looked at the mercenary who brought the tent to them and looked back at Dardanelle with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s normal.¡± Dardanelle said, ¡°In this kind of team, a neer is always hard to be epted by others. They are more willing to trust an old person who has experienced life and death together before; even in a normal army, it¡¯s the same.¡± At night, the mercenaries lit the fires in the campsite and they would sit around the fire and wait for their dinner. Heinrich invited Duwei to join their dinner in person, and squeezed near the fire together. The mercenaries treated them much better than before. It seemed themander had announced Duwei¡¯s identity as a magician. But still some people looked at Duwei with suspicion¡­because Duwei seemed too young. Not only the mercenaries, Heinrich was also suspicious about Duwei too. Sitting next to the fire, taking off the hat that covered one-third of Duwei¡¯s face, he looked even younger¡­Heinrich could not stop suspecting ¡®Is this little kid really a magician?¡¯ Perhaps¡­even if he was a magician, with his age¡­he was probably a beginner or Level-one magician? Magicians were rare. But if he was just a beginner or a level one magician¡­it was pointless to recruit him. The mercenaries were isting all the other things and focused on doing their things. They used some pans and boiled the snow into water, then the two strong men brought something weird out of the tent. Those were the dead bodies of the animals¡­Duwei looked at those carefully but still could not distinguish if it was a cow or a sheep. But Dardanelle could recognize it, he whispered, ¡° Oh my god! That¡¯s snow camel beast, that¡¯s the drilling cow¡­Oh, there is one Snow wolf beast! God, these are the things you eat tonight?¡± Heinrichughed and said, ¡°No, we! We, including the two of us! We, will eat these for dinner.¡± ¡°The corpse of a magic beast¡­¡± Dardanelle sighed. ¡°Yes, magic beast.¡± Dardanelleughed, ¡°In my point of view, these things are the same as a normal beast¡­at least the taste is simr. They just knew a bit magic before they died. After they die, they be our food.¡± Duwei didn¡¯t say anything. He saw the two men using the sharp knife, easily dissecting the corpse into pieces, and then putting the pieces into a big pan to cook. The leather of the magic beast had already disappeared, Duwei saw the two strong men went back into the tent and got more magic beasts out, he could not stop to whistle and he looked at Heinrich, ¡°Mr. Commander, seems you had a great harvest.¡± Bein replied inly, ¡°Living is not easy. We use our lives to fight. You are right, the harvest this time was great. We have been here for five days, and have gotten more than 20 magic beasts, but at the same time, I lost 7 to 8 men. Three died and three more were permanently disabled.¡± He sighed, ¡°These magic beast¡¯s meat could be sold at a high price in the south, and their magic core¡­the magicians are all willing to buy them at a high price.¡± Duwei looked at those magic beast corpses again¡­ The mercenaries brought out a snow wolf. Duwei recognized it. Last time when he was teased by the demon in the Half-Angle City, he saw that in the illusion. But the one the mercenaries moved out were much smaller than the one in the illusion. The water in the pan was boiling with the tasty meat smell, and many mercenaries could not help but stop to inhale the fragrance. Themander asked someone to bring some wine from his tent. The mercenaries were very happy; they passed the few bottles around and everyone was able to have a sip. In this freezing weather, it was enjoyable to have some wine for warming the body. Heinrich didn¡¯t forget to treat Duwei. He got a silver bottle from his belongings and said, ¡°This is my private collection, the best wine in the north¡­Mr. Magician, do you want to try a bit?¡± Duwei had a sip, and then he choked! ¡°Cough! What is this wine¡­¡± Duwi coughed terribly, and his voice was getting hoarse. He felt like there was fire burning in his mouth! Duwei was quick to grab some snow and it into his mouth! He swallowed a mouthful of snow three times before his throat started getting better. Bienughed and said, ¡°Dear Magician, this¡­is a really good wine! I use the magic nuclei from the ming rhino to make this wine! When you drink it, you will feel the fire in your throat! It¡¯s so awesome! Especially under this weather, just have a sip, you will feel burnt throughout the whole body! You will be very warm during the night!¡± Duwei squeezed his nose, ¡°Thanks! But I cannot seem to stand it.¡± Beinughed and had a sip, then he seemed to feel painful but happy. Then he shook a bit and gasped, whilst at the same time, shouting, ¡°Awesome!¡± Then he gave the bottle to Dardanelle, ¡°Friend, have some!¡± Dardanelle hesitated a bit and then drank some. But since his affordability was stronger than Duwei, after he had a sip, he acted the same as Bein, shake a bit with enjoyment. He praised, ¡°Good stuff! My body is getting warm now! Damn, it¡¯s just like there is a fire in my stomach!¡± Then, Duwi tried the cooked magic beast meat, the meat of the Snow wolf was a little bit stiff, with a sour vour. Duwei was not used to eating these things. But in this freezing ce, it was already a good thing to just have some warm meat. Last night, when he was with the old magician, he only ate some dried food. ¡®Hm¡­don¡¯t know if that old man is watching me nearby¡­I am eating and drinking while that old man was in the windy ce, it¡¯s quite nice.¡¯ After Duwei ate something, he was much more spiritual now. He then tried to drink some Bein¡¯s special wine. Since this time, he got prepared, he felt morefortable for drinking that. Also, this wine was actually quite good. After drinking this, it seemed like there was a fire running over his body inside. The cold had been expelledpletely! ¡°Mr. Magician, you came to this forest probably because of finding some magic beast?¡± Heinrich said, ¡°Most of the magicianse to this ce because of this reason. If so, maybe we can help each other. Perhaps I¡¯ve got the magic beast you want.¡± Dardanelle and Duwei looked at each other, then Duwei nodded his head, Dardanelle replied, ¡°Mr. Commander, have you heard of the Golden Eye Python?¡± Heinrich was shocked and said, ¡°Golden Eye Python? That¡¯s a strong creature. When I was young, I saw some magicians had caught them. But we haven¡¯t caught that thing before¡­and¡­¡± He hesitated and said, ¡°This is only the outeryer of the Frozen Forest. For such a high level magic beast like the Golden Eye Python, you have to go further in, to the inner part. The strong magic beasts are only active in the inner part, you cannot find this thing in the outer part. But if you go further to the inner part, it will be more dangerous.¡± ¡°Inner part?¡±Duweiughed, ¡°Please forgive my liberty. This is my first time toe to the Frozen Forest, you see, I am a young magician and I am not familiar with this ce. You said the inner part¡­We have been here for two days already¡­Still within the outer part?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Heinrich shook his head, ¡°Frozen Forest is sorge¡­we can even say that, no one knows howrge the Frozen Forest really is. I heard that twenty years ago, there was a great magician bringing some knights from the temple along, who stayed in this forest for a month, and still could not arrive the other side of the forest. No one knows what the other side of the forest looks like. Perhaps, it may be the end of the world. Also, we only have that record. That time, a great magician of the Magician Party and a few Senior Holy Knights from the temple entered into the forest together. But people said that¡­only the magician could stay alive. In the inner part of the Frozen Forest, people said that there were many high-level magic beasts; even the great magician couldn¡¯t handle the multiple attacks from the high-level magic beasts. The mercenaries, like us, the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group, are mainly active in the outer part. Our longest travel was only nine days¡­and that happened a few years ago.¡± Duwei was a bit shocked¡­ A magician and few holy knights travelled for a month but still could not reach the end? This forest was so big? Dardanelle felt troubled¡­if this was the truth, how could they find the Golden Eye Python? ¡°Let me give you some advice.¡± Heinich looked serious, ¡°We, the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group have been hunting the magic beasts for many years already. I also met some magicians who were going to find that magic beast. But they don¡¯t dare to go further than ¡°Big Circle Lake¡±. That was the furthest they went, no one dared to go further. The two of you¡­I know you are a magician and I respect the talent of magician. But I really advise you, if not necessary, please give up your n¡­¡± Dardanelle felt bad, he thought a bit and suddenly said, ¡°Mr. Commander. Thanks for your kindness. But I really need to find the Golden Eye Python. Hm¡­also¡­¡±He suddenly had a weird expression, ¡°I know your group is doing the beast hunt business, if possible, I would like to hire you to help me to find¡­¡± ¡°Sorry, we can¡¯t.¡± Heinrich rejected immediately, ¡°Although we are doing this kind of business, we understand that the higher the risk is, the more the profit we can have. But if we know that we will die if we do that, that is not risk, that is lunacy. Our Snow Wolf Mercenary Group is not strong enough to enter to the inner part of the forest. So no matter how high you pay, I am afraid we cannot do that.¡± Dardanelle sighed. He knew that Heinrich was telling the truth. He kept silent and sipped some wine. Heinich came back to Duwei and thought for a while and said, ¡°¡±Mr Magician, I am very curious about you. In my impression, there are only few people can get the magician qualification at your age. I lived for 40 years already and half of these years I was having my adventure. I met quite a lot magicians before, but didn¡¯t meet any genius like you.¡± Duwei forcedlyughed a bit¡­ Genius? That you never met. Duwei was like a level-three magician now. Compared to the normal people, he could be regarded as genius¡­but ifpared with the two girls he met, there was nothing for him to be proud of. To get the level-eight magician qualification at 15 or 16! That was real genius! Duwei even met two at once. Duwei kept silence and Heinrich too. Heinrich took out a paper roll. ¡°Dear Magician, I may have a deal for you, but I need to know if you have interest?¡± Duwei was blinking, ¡°What deal?¡± ¡°As I know, Magicians are very rich, so if I give you any jewelry, you won¡¯t care about that¡­so¡­¡± Heinrich smiled, my men and I would head to the north for 4 to 5 days and we will go to the Big Circle Lake, then head back. I am thinking, if you and yourpany also need to head to the North, in the following days, you can join us. My men and I can be your guide, bring you two to the Big Circle Lake. In this forest, it¡¯s easy to get lost without a guide. What do you think?¡± Heinrich then spread out the paper roll, ¡°This is the map of the Frozen Forest! You cannot find this map in any market! Even if you want to pay much money to buy it, you still cannot buy it! It is because this is made by me based on my 20-years experience with more than 40 times toe to this ce. I can guarantee you cannot find another map as detailed as this one within the whole empire. Duwei was quite interested in it! He took the map and expanded it¡­ On the map¡­there were many symbols. In the southern part was the entrance to the forest. On the map, there were the marks of the few towns near the south of the Frozen Forest, as well as the checkpoints set by the Northern Storm Troop Patrol team. Duwei nced a bit, and he found the route that he and the old magician came from. On the map, you could not determine the area of the whole forest, but after the exnation of Heinrich, Duwei had some concept about it. ¡°Here, this ce is our current location.¡± Heinrich pointed at the map with his finger. On the map, this location was close to the entrance of the southern boundary. Duwei was a bit frustrated¡­he had struggled through what felt like hell in these two days, but just a little bit on the map. Heinrichughed and then pointed at another ce on the map, ¡°Here, this is the ce we are going to, the Big Circle Lake.¡± On the map, it just used a circle symbol to represent toke. Heinrich briefly introduced theke, which was that it was in the forest, making it a forestke. But the area was quite big. ¡°The width of theke is about 5-6 miles¡­at least. I have been there several times, but I didn¡¯t measure it. In fact, I didn¡¯t even reach the opposite side of theke. Big Circleke, is probably the boundary for the adventurers in this Frozen Forest.¡± ¡°Why is this?¡± Duwei was curious about anything rted to this Frozen Forest. ¡°The boundary of strength.¡± Heinrichughed, ¡°basically, in the south of theke, it is not too dangerous. People like us can move around here. But¡­in the northern part of theke; not many people dare to go there. Of the people who are brave enough to pass thiske, ording to what I know, all are among the most famous and strongest in the continent¡­At least myself, Bein Heinrich, is not this type of person. I¡¯ve brought my men here many times, but we never go further to the north.¡± After a while, he had a creepy smile, ¡°By the way, in the summertime, I won¡¯t bring my men to the Big Circle Lake. As you know, any ce with water can attract many dangerous beasts¡­same for the magic beasts. Magic beasts also need to drink water and bath. In the summer time, although it is still very cold, it¡¯s not as cold as now. Now is the beginning of the spring, and the water in theke has not yet melted. Theke surface is still icy. Magic beasts won¡¯t go to thekeside. But it¡¯s a different situation in the summer time. In the summer, that¡¯s a gathering ce for the magic beasts! What the hell¡­I heard that there were some mercenary groups with hundreds and hundreds of people there being attacked by the magic beasts! All of them died there! So, because of the season now, I dare to go there. If it is in summer, I will stay far, far away from theke.¡± Heinrich finished his words and then looked at Duwei, ¡°How is it, Mr. Magician? My deal is very simple: My men and I will bring you to theke and I will give you this map¡­although I didn¡¯t go to the northern part before, but I did my research in these years. This is all the information from the strong people who have gone to the north before. I spent lots of money to gather this information! The icons on the map are enough to describe thendscape for 2-3 days after you pass the Big Circle Lake.¡± Duwei looked at Heinrich and asked, ¡°Dear Mr. Commander¡­I am curious. As long as you don¡¯t n to go to the north, why do you gather information about the north? Heinrich seemed a bit regret but he looked sincere and said seriously, ¡°Mr. Magician, please remember, I am an adventurer! When he said that, his expression was really sincere. ¡°I am an adventurer! Although¡­I am doing this mercenary thing, I get the benefit from adventuring in the Frozen Forest! I am not a greedy merchant! Inside my body is the blood of an adventurer!¡± Heinrich spoke quietly, ¡°I have been in this ce for half of my life. When I was young, I always wanted to go to the northern part of theke in the Frozen Forest because of those rumors. I was always thinking that despite how it looks¡­but I know that my strength is not as strong as those at the peak. Also¡­now I have many people following me and I am responsible for taking care of them! But I have my dream too! My dream is¡­in the future, when I am getting old and at my retirement without any responsibility, I will pass through thiske and go to the North and have a look! My whole life is here! In the future, if I cannot see how the northern part looks like before I die, I will be so regretful! I collected this information for preparing my future! I believe that after I finish my preparation, I will go there alone. I even believe that I will die in the north of theke! Even if I die, at least I can have a look at the legendary north shore¡­To die in that ce, it is like apletion of my adventurer fate!¡± PR/N: -Manly Tears Shine- GENERAL ARMSTRONG SALUTES YOU! At that moment, Heinrich suddenly said something that got a lot of respect from Duwei: ¡°As an adventurer, to die in bed, it¡¯s a huge shame! Being a real adventurer, we should choose to die in the most excited journey!¡± Duwei took a deep breath, he respected him immensely, and said, ¡°Dear Commander, you agreed to be our guide and give us the map¡­so what do you want me to do for you?¡± ¡°Simple.¡± Heinrichughed, ¡°I only want two things. The first one is during our journey, if we have any trouble, like being attacked by someone else or the magic beasts, you, Mr. Magician, please stand on our side and at the right moment, we may need your help.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Duwei replied immediately, ¡°As long as we are on the way together, we are allies, that¡¯s reasonable.¡± ¡°Thanks. My second thing is¡­if you finish the adventure and still can go back¡­touchwood. But I would have you heed my final warning, the north is very dangerous!¡± saying this, themander knew that Duwei would not take his advice, so he sighed, ¡°So¡­if you can go back, I think, you will be the strongest magician I have ever met¡­yet you are so young! Talented is the only word I can think about. I believe in the future, you will be a well-known strong person in the continent. If there is a day, I hope that you can remember our name Snow Wolf Mercenary Group¡­I hope that you can remember we did help you when you were in the Frozen Forest. For this favor, at the right moment, and if you arefortable with it, please help us and that¡¯s enough.¡± This was a smartmander! Duwei began to respect thismander very much! If only referring to the speech of ¡°The fate of adventurer¡±, he looked like a ideologist¡­But after knowing the trading condition, it¡¯s obvious that thismander had a long term vision! In this event, they actually didn¡¯t have any cost¡­they originally nned to go to the Big Circle Lake, as with a team of hundred people, just two members more, didn¡¯t cost much. Now, they had a magicianpany. Apart from that, for the map¡­since themander made it, although he gave it to Duwei, he could easily draw another one. He didn¡¯t have anything lost. But, he could get a favor from the magician! In Rnd Continent, Magicians were more precious than gold! Especially a strong magician. Thismander was very smart. Duwei was so young to be a magician, he might have a bright future¡­as long as he could stay alive. That meant the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group should establish a friendship with this great magician at any cost! Someday in the future, they could get the help of a great magician!¡­An ideologist but with a realistic greed. This was thement from Duwei about Commander Heinrich. They didn¡¯t talk at the night then. In the second morning, when Duwei got out of the tent, Snow Wolf Mercenary Group was ready to go. The warriors weren¡¯t scared of the cold; they used the snow to wash themselves, and some were using their dagger to shave their beard. These guys were used to having an adventure. They were very strong and muscr, they even yelled and called theirpanies to get ready. Dardanelle was a little bit down. Last night, after the Commander introduced the situation about the Frozen forest, Dardanelle understood well that the possibility of catching the golden eye python was very low, almost zero. Even with the Magician Harry Potter, it was still not enough. Duweiforted this loyal warrior from the Lister Family and then followed the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group to continue the journey. There were many people in the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group; and they were divided into two teams and searched around. In the afternoon, Duwei learned how they caught the magic beast. The searching team found a cave of the magic beast. A towering tree had been removed, and there was a giant white bear hibernating inside. This was a ¡°Roaring snow bear¡±, which was muchrger than the normal bear. It looked like a pr bear in Duwei¡¯s previous life, but this roaring snow bear could use magic to attack others. Its roar could make a mini tornado. The Snow Wolf Mercenary Group seemed to have an idea of how to handle this magic beast. Ten of them tied together a rope, then threw a burning pine branch into the bear cave in order to force the bear toe out. Then they used bow and arrow to attack it. The roar of the giant bear made a mini tornado, and blew two guys into the sky! Luckily they were tied with theirpanies, and though it was a great pain to fall down, since the snow was thick, they didn¡¯t get serious injury. The mercenaries used a giant web to catch the bear, and divided into four directions. Each had more than 10 guys pulling. Finally, themander carried a giant axe and moved near the bear, around 15 steps distance, then threw the axes towards the bear quickly! The bear head was cut into two after the attack! Duwei was shocked. The martial art of themander was really impressive! With the title of one of the three heroes among the north mercenaries, his skill was just as was said! Duwei wasparing him with the greatest martial artists he had ever met, including Knight Robert and Swordsmen Alpha; Heinrich was much stronger than them. If there was anyone who wasparable, that would be Joanna. Among the cheer of the mercenaries, they collected the corpse of the giant bear. A leader skillfully cut the bear¡¯s tummy by his dagger. They first got the bear bile, then cut the magic nuclei from its head and stored it. The remaining, three soldiers cut the bear leather off. The meat was cut into several pieces and carried by several people, and afterwards they continued their journey. That day, Duwei saw this kind of scene several times. The Snow Wolf Mercenary Group hunted two Snow Magic Wolves again. But it was so sorry that when they were catching the second magic wolf, one of the mercenaries killed horribly¡­he was scratched by the ws of the wolves and even his intestines spilled out! ¡°This is the life style of an adventurer. Adventure every day, sometimes, someone may sacrifice their life.¡± Dardanelle whispered, ¡°I was living like that before, but I chose to leave.¡± ¡­¡­ Those mercenaries expressed their mourn about the deadpany, then buried the corpse and continued their journey¡­ At dinner, when they were eating the magic wolf meat and drinking wine, Duwei thought of some details. There were some mercenaries sitting around the fire who never touched the wine bag. ¡°Those are the people who are responsible for the safety tonight.¡± Commander noticed the suspicion of Duwei, and said, ¡°The night watchmen should stay awake with 100% alertness at night! Because if there is any error, the whole team will die! So, the night watchmen should not drink any wine! But as a reward, for those night watchmen, after they shifted duty the other night, they were allowed to get a double shot of wine as a reward. Also, they get double the spoils.¡± Commander also said slightly, ¡°Of course, in case they are still alive when they return.¡± After hearing this, Duwei began to look at those night watchmen with a bit more respect. Chapter 60 Chapter 60: Big Circle Lake Duwei had been staying with the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group for five days. During this time, Duwei realized he had begun to like these rough mercenaries. He enjoyed the uninhibited rudeness of these wild men and had started to find himself fond of the alcohol. He even loved talking in a foul manner about who was the best hooker while eating monster meat. In the time he spent with them, he even met a mercenary such as Old Eyed Jacks; a man who was blind in one eye but was responsible for the cooking. He was an old mercenary, but people said that when he was young he was a man of great fortitude. However, he lost one of his eyes as well as his left hand in one of the adventures he undertook. He saved Bein¡¯s life in doing so, but rejected the money offered to him for retirement. In his words, he had missed this exciting life. He would rather stay with the mercenary group and do something for them instead of wither away somewhere. Although he only had one eye and one hand, he was not a detriment to the group in any way. Even with this, he was still able to cook any type of good food for them¡­Old Eyed Jacks had great skill. He could find food anywhere, and recognize if a mushroom was poisonous with just a nce! He could even forecast the weather by just looking at the sky. He would be able to know if it was snowing miles ahead by listening to the sound of the wind. These skills of his came from a lifetime of experience. Among the group, besides themander, Old Eyed Jacks was the most favourable person among the them. There was an archer named Chester, who only had eight fingers. His left little finger and ring finger were bitten off by a monster in an adventure. But no one dared to tease him, because his archery skill was so great that even with only eight fingers, he was still the no.1 archer among the group. Within these five days, Duwei and Dardanelle were also recognized by the group. In thest two days, the further they walked towards the forest, the more risk they faced. There was one time in particr when they were catching the Disillusion Magic Leopard. (This leopard moved very fast, and it could use magic to make illusions to annoy the enemy such as making illusory copies of itself. While the enemy would still be trying to determine the real one, the leopard would probably be next to him about to bite off his neck!) When they were catching that leopard, Duwei really did the job of the magician. He used the Slow magic to slow down the speed of the leopard. The leopard immediately moved slower than a tortoise. Dardanelle then attacked it with a knife. In the past, when the group met this kind of leopard, they usually lost some people. But this time, with the help of the magician, the hunt went so smoothly that there were no casualties. The strong spiritual and sensitivity power of Duwei were useful for many situations. When they were walking, Duwei would suddenly stop the others. Then the group would be able to know the monster¡¯s track far away ording to the judge of the magician. Within these five days, because of the joining of the magician, the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group gained double their normal harvest. Even Commander Heinrich could not stop to think that, if they could recruit a magician to join their group¡­wouldn¡¯t it be perfect? Surely, after this idea shed, Bein Heinrich teased himself immediately. Recruiting a magician? That¡¯s not even something to joke about. Even the nobles or some famous families in the Empire couldn¡¯t recruit a magician. Most of the magicians loved freedom and didn¡¯t want to work for others¡­ His mercenary group was so small, the group didn¡¯t have even close to the money needed for recruiting a magician! Duwei also felt happy. He was bored in the Rollins Family Castle for a long time. But now, he could use magic freely. This was the most important thing. Although mentally, Duwei was not a kid, he had been studying magic all these past few years. In these few months, after learning magic, his ability improved a lot. But in the castle, in order to keep a low profile, he never told others about the fact that he knew magic. Only Solskjaer knew the actual ability of Master Duwei. Apart from Solskjaer, all people including Matt were not allowed to enter the Magic Laboratory. This Magicboratory was given to Solskjaer nominally. For most of the people in the Rollins Family, Duwei was just a noble teenage who was curious about magic¡­perhaps he knew some magic pharmaceutics. But people didn¡¯t think that Magic pharmaceutics was the same as real magic. It¡¯s just like the kid who had a new toy and always wanted to show it off. Duwei was not so na?ve, and so he could not show what he knew¡­¡­now he could use magic. With the admiration from the surroundings, he felt rather awesome. His skill which, until now, could not be exposed, was being used just like a ninja. After five days, the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group finally arrived at their destination: Big Circle Lake. After passing through the forest, the scenery became rather pleasant. By standing next to the tree on the boundary of the forest, looking at the open area towards the front, Duwei could not stop to sigh. So gorgeous! It was a tnd of soft snow, where you couldn¡¯t help but to stop and roll on the snow. About three hundred steps forward, it was the Big Circle Lake! Just like what Bein Heinrich said, it was a veryrgeke. Duwei looked at the two sides, the boundary of theke was so long, you could not see the end of the line. Further away, there was thick ice on theke! In such freezing weather, you could not see theke water. But the ice on theke was just like a big mirror reflecting the light. It was so morous¡­ ¡°If it was summer, theke water would be blue in color. That scenery would be pretty.¡± Commandar Bein Heinrich walked near Duwei, and looked at theke while whispering, ¡°This is my fifth time toe here, but did you know¡­it is the first time for most of my brothers in the group toe to this ce. In the adventuring life of a mercenary, the death rate is high. There are only a few brothers that have followed me for more than a few years, but still it¡¯s the first time toe to this ce.¡± Bein seemed a little bit down, ¡°Unfortunately, there were quite a number of my brothers who were buried here by mest time.¡± Duwei was going to say some words offort, but Bein had cheered up already. He shouldered Duwei andughed, ¡°OK! No need tofort me, Mr. Magician. It is because that¡¯s us! That¡¯s a mercenary! That¡¯s the adventuring life! There are neers, and also death! Someone died, and someone stayed alive!¡± After saying that, Bein had a big step and started shouting andmanding the mercenaries to start working. ¡°Encamp! Chester! You bring some people to walk around, be careful of the surroundings! We will stay here overnight! You! All of you, don¡¯t walk next to theke! Shit! Do you know what¡¯s inside theke! Get away from theke!¡± Bein was yelling. ¡°Commander!¡± There were two men walking along thekeside thatughed, ¡°Commander! We haven¡¯t seen water for many days¡­¡­and, I was nning to break the ice and see if we could catch some fish! We¡¯ve eaten the wolf meat everyday, I am sick of it! Ha haha¡­¡± ¡°Fish? You will probably be eaten by the fish!¡± Bein yelled at them and asked them toe back. But when he was counting the number of people, he frowned, ¡°One is missing¡­Shit! Where¡¯s Bayer?!¡± Bein looked around and he saw someone far away. That boy was already in thekeside area and going to break the ice on theke. ¡°Shit! Bayer! What are you doing! Bastard!¡± Commander was so afraid, he rushed towards that guy and kept yelling, ¡°Stay away from theke! God Damn it!¡± Because of the wind, that guy couldn¡¯t hear the voice of themander. He looked back but couldn¡¯t hear what themander yelled, and it seemed that he yelled or said something too. Duwei found that that guy was smiling. Finally, he dug a hole in the ice, and he shouted happily, ¡°Yeah! There is fish! There is a fish!¡± Duwei finally could hear his voice! But¡­it was toote! That guy was a fishing expert. After he dug a hole on theke, many fish went up and breathed under this freezing winter. He was so speedy that he caught a big fish from the hole and lifted it up. ¡°Commander! Look at what I caught! The Old Cyclops could make a fish soup tonight, ha ha ha!¡± It was windy again and his voice came off. Bein was trying to rush towards that guy. He was yelling at him while running, and also waiving his hands¡­ Suddenly, the fish on that mercenary¡¯s hand struggled and opened its mouth. A silver sh emitted out of the mouth and it hit the eyebrow of the mercenary! Far away, Duwei saw the mercenary fall down and the fish was dropped on the ground. It jumped a bit and made it into the hole to escape. Duwei then immediately ran towards that side! Chapter 61 Chapter 61: Semel¡¯s Presage Bayer died quickly. His body was already turning ck. His eyes were erged but nked when he died. His fingers were still in the position of scratching hardly. His death was very miserable. His forehead got a big hole. Duwei thought that the hole was formed by very strong acid erosion! The skin on his forehead, including the skull were eroded into a hole! The brain was lost too¡­ The soil here was too hard and could not bury the dead body. They had no alternative but to throw the dead body into theke. ¡°This reckless boy¡­¡± Bein Heinrich savagely broke a twig and threw it to the fire with sadness, ¡°He was recruited by me in Fick City. He was a good archer with excellent archery skill, I even taught him martial arts¡­He just wanted to catch some fish for us¡­¡± Duwei kept silent. Bein Heinrich shook his head, ¡°He forgot that this is the Frozen Forest! There are no normal beasts! All of them are magic monsters! Even the fish in theke are dangerous too! This stupid boy! Dumb! Dumb! Dumb! This¡­this is my fault! I should have reminded him earlier. This was the first time for him toe here!¡± Duwei didn¡¯t know how tofort this self-ming Commander. He thought for a while, shouldered the Commander, then repeated what Commander said in the daytime, ¡°This is the adventuring life! There are neers, and also death! Someone died, and someone stayed alive!¡± Bein recovered quickly. He was themander, and there were a hundred people looking at him! He threw away the twig, then stood up and patrolled madly, and kept yelling, ¡°All stay away from theke! Bastard! If someone dares to walk to close to theke, I will break their leg!¡± This interlude didn¡¯t pressure them much ¡­The old mercenaries were used to it, for them, they could only say, ¡°Oh, that boy was unlucky.¡± During dinner, Chester, the archer with eight fingers, was leading the Patrol Team and came back. He looked ufortable, as it seemed he discovered something. But thecautious guy that he was, he didn¡¯t frighten the others, he just went next to Bein silently. ¡°Commander, I discovered something.¡± The archer took out some charred branches out and gave them to themandeer. The branches obviously were cut by people and were used as firewood. They were charred, but notpletely. The notches on the branches were noticeable. ¡°Seems there ispany nearby.¡± Chester whispered, ¡°I found a ce, where there was some ashes from a fire being covered by the branches. But they did not dig deeply. I had a look, and there are around 4-5 ashe piles. By estimation, they should have more than 30 people.¡± Bein was rapidly blinking, ¡°More than 30? Are you sure?¡± ¡°Maximum is 30 something, not exceeding 40. I am sure!¡± Chester replied firmly, ¡°From the color of the ashes, they just left and shouldn¡¯t be too far away from us. And¡­¡± Chester stopped for a while and grinned, then whispered, ¡°Based off the track on the camp, these guys brought lots of things, and the things are heavy!¡± Hein trusted him a lot, because although he only had eight fingers, his archery skill was nigh perfect. He had careful thought, good observation and not many mistakes had been made. Bein smiled strangely¡­and a little gloomily, ¡°Oh, so, should we municate¡¯ with these counterparts?¡± Duwei didn¡¯t understand his words. But Dardanelle¡¯s expression was not natural. At night, in the tent, Dardanelle exined everything to Duwei. ¡°In the Adventure World, to put it simply, it¡¯s thew of the Jungle! Especially in these kind of ces, if they meet a counterpart, normally there are three situations.¡± Dardanelle talked slowly, ¡±First situation, one is strong and one is weak. If the weak side doesn¡¯t have anything expensive, then both of them will be safe. Second situation, both are equally strong, then both of them will be safe too. Third situation, one is strong and one is weak. If the weak side have had many harvests¡­then probably there is only one result¡­¡± Dardanelleughed and whispered, ¡°Stealing from Thieves,¡± Duwei didn¡¯t say anything as he knew that every industry had their own game rules. The next morning, Duwei found that Chester and some old mercenaries were missing. He didn¡¯t ask Bein where they went and Bein also didn¡¯t mention. The mercenaries took a rest for a night, revitalized their spirit, and started working. They took out a big with many sharp hanging hooks on it along with some mps for trapping the monster, and some turpentine torches for burning. Several teams were sent out for searching out the traces of the magic monsters. In the morning, Chester and other people came back. Chester was disappointed and toldmander, ¡°Can¡¯t find them, they may have gone far away already.¡± Bein shrugged andughed, ¡°That¡¯s their luck, and also ours. Friends, ok, as long as we cannot find the counterpart, we have to do our own work. Bring your men to have a rest first.¡± Theoretically, Duwei and Dardanelle nned to help these mercenaries for one more day, help them to catch 2 more magic monsters, then say goodbye and continue their journey to the north. Duwei sat under a tree, whilst looking at Dardanelle who was helping the mercenaries with setting the animal traps. He saw that Chester was back and talked with Commander for a while, before going back to rest. Duwei rxed a bit. He didn¡¯t n to intervene in the game rule among the mercenaries, but he was willing to help the mercenaries catch the magic monsters. He didn¡¯t want them to ¡®steal from thieves¡¯ and was not willing to involve himself. Since it seemed Chester didn¡¯t find his target, Duwei was satisfied with this result. With a slight sigh, he looked at this beautiful mirror-likeke¡­no one could imagine there was risk in theke. ¡°Very pretty, but full of danger.¡± Duwei soliloquized. ¡°You are right.¡± This voice from the back shocked Duwei! Then after a moment, he noticed that the voice was from Semel! This ghostdy suddenly popped up! He looked back. Semel was still wearing in a red gown and standing behind Duwei slightly. Her bare legs were on the soft snownd¡­luckily she was just a shadow. Shadow didn¡¯t get scared of cold. Duwei shrugged, ¡°Oh, you finally show up?¡± ¡°A few days ago, the magician next to you was so powerful.¡± Semel said, ¡°I could sense the horror of his spiritual power, I even felt like I was in danger! That magician has the ability to search other¡¯s spiritual power. Based on his ability, he could even notice me, so I hid.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Duwei frowned, ¡°Not only I can see you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true for normal people.¡± Semel whispered, ¡°I am linked with your spiritual power. But if other can search your spiritual power, then he will be able to see me¡­There are very few strong men with this ability. Butter¡­you were staying with that Dardanelle in that tent. Although he cannot see me, if he always sees that you are talking with the air, he might think that you are crazy.¡± ¡°Oh? That means I should appreciate your kindness?¡±Duei hummed. Semel smiled and sat next to Duwei. She didn¡¯t care how Duwei felt, She just sat down quietly and looked at this beautiful Big Circle Lake. Duwei looked at Semel and found that her expression was weird¡­ Her expression looked weird. She was blinking, the eyebrows were twisted, seems she was thinking something. ¡°I¡­I feel rather strange.¡± Semel looked far away. She nced at the surface of theke, then the forest to the side¡­ ¡±This ce is pretty¡­but, why¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± Semel had a deep breath and looked nkly, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­but I think that I have been to this ce before¡­I feel familiar with this ce. At least the view, it seems I have seen it before.¡± ¡°You? Havee here before?¡± Duwei wanted tough, but he could not. No joking¡­ she, Semel, was the memory from the real Semel, who was sealed inside the oil paint for two hundreds year and didn¡¯t leave the castle before she came to this world! Howe she had been here before? If she were the real Semel, then it wasn¡¯t weird¡­but the woman in front of him¡­ Semel looked at the ce far away. After a long period, she shook her head and smiled. Her voice seemed disappointed, ¡°You should be thinking ¡®bullshit¡¯, right? It¡¯s impossible for me to havee here before, but¡­I don¡¯t how to describe my feelings¡­anyways, it¡¯s weird.¡± She looked down and thought for a while, then looked up to changed the topic, andughed, ¡°Right, in these days, your magic improved a lot. I saw that you had used the Slow magic, seems the practical experience improved your ability a lot. Dardanelle walked towards them and Semel sighed, ¡°Ok, I have to go. Be careful¡­I , I feel the weirdness of thiske.¡± After that, she disappeared in front of Duwi. ¡°Hey, Harry.¡± Dardanelle sweated a bit, he seemed very happy, ¡°Do you know? Bein knows that we are going to leave tomorrow and there will be a farewell party tonight. Old Cyclops will make some special food tonight¡­What do you want? My friend?¡± Duwei stood up and patted the snow off, thenughed, ¡°Nothing¡­ok, we have to start working. Tomorrow we will leave. Today, we should work harder to help our mercenary friends.¡± At night, Old Cyclops made a pot of mushroom soup! Old Cyclops picked these mushrooms on the way. Having this yummy mushroom soup under this cold weather was so nice, especially after they had been eating the nasty meat of the magic wolves for the past couple of days. Bein treated Duwei and Dardanelle very well. he took out hisst alcohol for serving them. Finally, Duwei drank more than two mugs and felt sleepy and dizzy. In the morning, Duwei was woken up by Dardanelle. Dardanelle looked worried and serious, ¡°Harry! Something went wrong! Wake up!¡± Commander Bein¡¯s eyes were red! He was very mad! All the mercenaries had stopped working and all were armed! Seems that there would be a horrible monstering soon! Duwei looked around and found that there were some people missing! Eleven! Elevan people in total! Missing! The eleven mercenaries who were responsible for patrollingst night! All were missing! It was not exinable. They seemed to not be attacked by a magic monster¡­even if there was a magic monster, it was impossible to make 11 people disappear in silence! Even a bit of sound was not make! There was not a footprint of the magic monster around the campsite, not even a human footprint! They didn¡¯t leave a corpse, much less a footprint on the snow! Eleven people were suddenly evaporated collectively and suddenly in a night! Bein sent half of the people to search for half a day, but still didn¡¯t have any news! They didn¡¯t find anything! ¡°Even if they were attacked, they should¡¯ve made some sound!¡± Bein was very angry and was yelling, ¡°They all are experienced mercenaries! It¡¯s impossible for them to be killed in silence! It¡¯s also impossible for them to leave further away! Shit! We haven¡¯t lost many people on our way! But in just one night, I lost eleven!!¡± The Mad Commander ordered, ¡°We have to stay here for one more day! Shit! I will patrol tonight and everybody has to be cautious at night, don¡¯t fall asleep! I have to see what kind of thing evaporated my bros!¡± Duwei went back to the tent and package his stuff, he was ready to stay one more day. No matter how, now that the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group was in trouble, he could not leave them. ¡°Just as I said, there is definitely something weird in thiske.¡± Semel suddenly stood behind Duwei. Chapter 62 Chapter 62: Big Circle Lake Murder The night on thekeside was extremely cold. There were trees blocking the cold wind in the forest, but in this open Big Circle Lake, nothing here could block the freezing wind. Duwei felt quite cold. The freezing wind, and the cold ground, didn¡¯t help Duwei in the least. But Bein had helped Duwei in these days. When Duwei knew his friend was in trouble, he was willing to stay and help; even when it was freezing, he still stayed with them, ¡°Actually, you can stay inside the tent.¡± Bein whispered with gratitude. Everybody knew that magicians were normally weak, and Duwei was such a weak and thin teenager, who still insisted to stay with this strong warrior overnight. Although Bein was very mad that he lost eleven of his bro, he didn¡¯t lose his mind. The experiencedmander understood that the enemy was not easy to handle with as it could make 11 experienced warriors disappear silently. So, he picked the strongest people as vigils. The hypothesis of Hein was very reasonable. If that was done by a magic monster, then it should be very strong and powerful! Since it dared to attack a campsite with a hundred people at midnight and killed 11 people, that meant it was not a coward and it probably would attack again! ¡°Because, in this freezing winter, magic monsters also need food.¡± When Bein said that, his eyes were cruel. He knew that why he stayed here was not because he wanted to find the missing eleven people! Under this critical ce, these eleven living people had already been missing for a day and a night; they probably died already. Bein insisted to stay solely because he felt shameful! If after losing the eleven people, he still didn¡¯t know who attacked them and brought all the people away¡­it would be a great discouragement for the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group! They might have this fear for their entire lives! As themander of the group, he could not let this happen. Even if it was very dangerous, he still needed to try and do something. Duwei didn¡¯t say anything, he was probably the only one who understood the mind of Bein. He just moved his frozen legs a bit, thenughed, ¡°We are friends. Commander Bein. It¡¯s not a big deal to get cold because of friends.¡± The campsite of the mercenary group was in silence. Most of the people were holding their weapons tightly. No one was hiding inside their tent. They fully utilized their skills. They dug some holes in the ground for an ambush. Some of them even wore thick coats and hid themselves under the snow. Chester brought some archers and hid under the big trees nearby. The Old Cyclops voluntarily acted as the Bait. The old guy set the fire and sat next to it. He was drinking alcohol, and cooking arge pot of meat on the fire. Although the smell of alcohol and meat was very nice, no one felt jealous of Old Cyclops as everybody knew that, he was using his life as bait. This night went on and on as everybody was looking forward to finding something. The night was too short, as after time passed, they got nothing and they hadn¡¯t notice that the sun had started to shine. ¡°Obviously, our opponent is smarter than us.¡± Duwei shook his head, ¡°It didn¡¯te. Perhaps, it knows that we have prepared¡­perhaps, it got enough harvest and doesn¡¯t need to attack us anymore.¡± Bein grabbed some snow and cleaned the face. He rubbed his face till it was red, the warmness melting the snow. The water was dripping from his beard. But Bein didn¡¯t care about that. He looked serious, ¡°Perhaps you are right, but it¡¯s just perhaps. But we cannot leave like this. Otherwise, our guys will feel defeated with this setback¡­we aren¡¯t scared of death. As long as we all dare to have this life, no one in the group is scared of death. But we cannot lose our courage, this is the key.¡± In the daytime, mercenaries were shifting for having rest inside the tent, and Bein Henrich decided to stay here. Tonight, there was no harvest too. The well-prepared ambush didn¡¯t have any guests. Three days passed. Even the determinedmander¡¯s determination was shaken. He was tired. He hadn¡¯t slept for 3 nights and only depended on the rest from the daytime shifting. Also, since they had been adventuring in this forest for many days, they were all tired. Even though he was not reconciled to, he understood that if they kept on spending the day there, their hope would be reced by uncertainties. ¡°This is thest day. If we cannot find anything tonight, we will leave this ce tomorrow.¡± Bein didn¡¯t have the choice. But thest night, it was finally not in vain! The mercenaries were so tired after working days and nights in these days. Tonight, although most of the people had tried their best to insist, at thete hour of midnight, they obviously were weary. Bein¡¯s eyes were very red¡­in these three days, other mercenaries could rest in daytime, but thismander could not. In these three days, he only slept for an hour in the midday. In thete hours of midnight, some mercenaries could not help to have a small nap, even the old Cyclops also closed his eyes. Duwei, as a magician, had much stronger spiritual powerpared to normal people. Lack of sleep could only affect his physical strength, but not make him feel tired. He was the most awake one among the hundred people. He took a deep breath. He felt hurt by inhaling the cold air, but this could awaken him! He looked at Bein next to him, and he felt that the spiritual power of themander had reached the maximum limit. His eyes although red, were not dispirited. Dardanelle next to him could not help to close his eyes, his chin was also little bit¡­ Duwei was going to talk to Commander quietly. Suddenly¡­there was something in his mind. A special feeling! Just like he felt something! This feeling was very amazing! Duwei with the strong sensitivity power felt that there was a breeze behind him! He immediately noticed that there was somethinging!! He immediately opened his eyes and looked around! At night, the snow on the ground was still relecting the light. On theke surface far away, the ice sometimes cracked and made some sound, also the windy sound¡­ At that time, Duwei suddenly felt scared! He saw it! Far away, just on the surface of the Big Circleke. There was a sound of ice cracking! Then, in the dark far away, Duwei saw a blurred shadowing up from theke! The acute sensitivity power made it so that Duwei could hear the friction of it¡­even the cracking ice with the water dropping sound¡­ ¡°What¡­is that¡­¡± Duwei couldn¡¯t stop to murmur, he was going to remind Bein Heinrich and Dardanelle. But at that moment, there was a weird sound! A moan, which also seemed like a sigh. Right. The sound was like someone was moaning¡­It sounded sad, but abnormally soft and nice. Duwei suddenly felt the sound was alive, entering his ears and invading his mind! The sound was long and rxing with an unexinable mystery! After the sound invaded the mind, the body and the mind started to rx out of control¡­ The body became softer and softer, the mind was getting blurrier¡­ That sound kept on and on, just like a nice music. It was like the soft and cool moonlight; it was like the breeze at night. It was irresistible; it was like a dancingdy, it was so attractive¡­ Then, the sound changed to be mellowed, it¡¯s like a invisible hand hooking someone and people couldn¡¯t help turning their heads¡­It was like their ears were going to follow the sound¡­then the mind¡­then the body! Since Duwei was a magician and his spiritual power was the strongest, after a short losing moment, he immediately woke up by instinct! Then he surprisingly found that his body had stepped away a bit uncontrobly and he really forgot when it was that it happened! It also shocked him! It was just a few second ago, that he was still sitting there! Then, he looked around. There was something creepy happening! The mercenaries inside the tent, the mercenaries hiding inside the forest, the mercenaries hiding under the snow¡­these people were walking out one by one, then wandering on the snow, like they were having sleepwalk. Everybody¡¯s eyes were veryrge but nk. They only had a dull expression on their face with nkly eyes, wandering towards theke¡­one step, two steps¡­they walked towards theke slowly! No exception! Even Bein Heinrich and Dardanelle were the same! The calmmander with non-focus eyes, his weapon on hand had been left on the snow. He was a little bit clumsy and loose. He was moving further¡­Dardanelle seemed like he was drunk. His hands were like grabbing something at the front with a dull-witted appearance. Half of his eyes were halfly opened¡­ Duwei was trying to stop Dardanelle, but he was pushed by him! He was looking at the mercenaries at the front arriving to thekeside, and one step was already on the iceyer of theke. Duwei shouted loudly! He tried his best to shout, but didn¡¯t get any response from them! Duwei ran towards there and tried to pull one mercenary. Duwei even kicked him on the floor. But that man was trying to climb up, and seemed like a zombie, which Duwei saw in a the movie from his previous life. Their steps were steady and walking towards to theke! ¡°Shit! Oh my god! What¡¯s going on! Wake up! Wake up!¡± Duwei was yelling and jumping, but they seemed deaf and everybody seemed like they were crazy! Duwei could not wake them up, so he immediately ran towards theke and cast a spell. Then a fireball was thrown toward the shadow on theke! Boom! The fireball passes through the darkness and lighted up the scenery! With the fire light, Duwei could see how that thing on theke looked like¡­Although it was blur, Duwei was sure that it was a human! Right! It looked like a human! Also¡­that appearance of that human: It was wearing a wet mercenary coat with wet hair sticking on the forehead¡­its forehead was with a hole! He smiled miserably and mysteriously¡­ Half of his body was under the ice, and half was above the ice¡­Duwei was frightened. The look of that man was the mercenary that had died on the first day of their arrival!! Duwei saw his corpse thrown into theke by others in person! ¡­¡­Was it a ghost? Duwei also thought that his thought was too ridiculous. But, what he saw really frightened him! The tragic death of that mercenary with a miserable face, his face was swelling from soaking in the water. The terrible green colour with a sad grin, was staring at Duwei! The weird, nice and erotic sounds wereing from him! All the mercenaries under this sound lost their minds and became puppets walking towards theke! The fireball shot by Duwei could not reach the target. After falling on the ice, the fireball scattered. The ghost on the ice¡­just calling him that, was staring at Duwei with his vicious eyes! Duwei saw that the eyes of that guy were brimming with a vicious teasing, teasing Duwei ¡®s overconfidence! No matter how much Duwei tried, he still could not stopped the mercenaries from walking onto the iceyer of theke. Then, a big hole appeared on theke! The mercenaries at the front fell into theke and sank into theke! Chapter 63 Chapter 63: Semel¡¯s Appearance ¡°!!¡± Duwei yelled and pushed down the mercenary next to him. He then took out his dagger and stabbed into the thigh of that mercenary without hesitation! He hoped that the pain could wake him up¡­but Duwei was disappointed! That guy had been stabbed, but he didn¡¯t feel anything. He struggled and climbed up, ignoring Duwei while climbing towards theke. His thigh was still bleeding. The blood stained the the ground¡­ Duwei felt hopeless. He used some magic, but a fireball could not be shot too far ¡­the distance between that ghost and the shore was around five to six hundred steps! Duwei was still unable to master the flying magic of the wind element. Otherwise, he would fly into the sky and throw a fireball! Spiritual magic! This was *** spiritual magic!! Duwei hurriedly struggled to remember what he had read about spiritual magic. But he felt helpless because the magic he knew was not rted to spiritual magic. A spiritual magician was at the intermediate level. Based on the current strength of Duwei, he still could not reach that level. What he could do! The second mercenary had already jumped into the ice hole. Duwei pped himself. He ran to the front with his utmost speed. There he knocked down a different mercenary, and used rope to tie his legs. Then he used the same rope to tie down another mercenary¡­¡­ Although Duwei tried his best, he was only one person. After tying up three people, two more mercenaries had dropped down the ice hole! Duwei wheezed and shouted loudly, ¡°What the hell is that thing!!!!¡± ¡°It¡¯s an attack from the ¡®Magic Lake Monster¡¯.¡±Semel said from the back. Duwei looked back and saw Semel in a red gown standing behind him. Thisdy looked overwhelmed with fear and surprise. Duwei saw that even her red gown was shaking; you could tell that she was not calm! ¡°Semel! Shit! Why you are sote!¡± Duwei shouted loudly, ¡°You know that thing? What is that! How to crack that?! Oh man! The mercenaries are going to die!¡± Semel seemed confused. She was stressed and clutching her head tightly. ¡°I¡­I should know that¡­I¡¯ve heard that before. What I am doing! What¡¯s going on? I know what this thing is called! Why¡­there are so many things in my mind¡­ ¡°There is no time for you to figure out these things!¡± If Semel were a real person, Duwei probably would have grabbed her and yelled at her. Unfortunately, Semel was just a shadow; he could only stare at her, ¡°Tell me! How do I defeat this thing!¡± While Duwei was yelling, at the same time, he was busy tying up Bein Heinrich and Dardanelle. To lessen their speed, he even took out his knife and tried his best to stab the thighs of each mercenary in order to slow them down! Even wounding their legs to stop them was better than letting them drop into that ice hole! ¡°Think quickly! Semel! Think of the *** way quickly!!¡± Duwei pushed another mercenary down, then fell to the ground. Duwei was panting. He used the dagger to stab the leg of the mercenary. His hands were bloody and he rubbed his face a bit. Semel looked at Duwei confusedly. But when she saw the bloody Duwei, she saw that Duwei was ferociously staring at her. When his anxious voice began to call out¡­ Inside the beautiful eyes of Semel, there was a sudden sh! Then the panic and pain felt by thisdy suddenly disappeared. She stood up and her eyes were nk! Then, this beautifuldy walked towards theke slowly with her bare feet. The red gown was fluttering slightly. She lifted up her hands behind Duwei¡­ A sharp melodic voice came from Semel! The sound was simr to an array; it pierced straight into Duwei¡¯s mind! This sound was so beautiful¡­but it made people feel a headache, just like something was stabbing into your forehead! This almost stabbed into the bone marrow¡­ No, it¡¯s as painful as stabbing into the soul! Duwei felt fear and was freaking frightened! Semel kept singing. It seemed that there were many difficult and strange words and symbols within the sound! Duwei was very sure that the sound was a magic spell! Semel¡¯s voice overrode the voice of that ghost! The mercenaries stopped at the same time and felt shocked! Then everyone fell down! It was like they had woken up from a nightmare. After everybody fell down, they shouted loudly! Semel¡¯s voice shadowed everybody¡¯s ears and minds, even their souls! Everybody was trying their best to cover their ears instinctively! But the terrible pain could still not be suppressed! But because of that pain, everybody regained their mind and their bodies were no longer numb and stiff! Semel¡¯s voice was getting louder and louder! The song was bing sharper suddenly! That pitch was fluctuating and became sharper and higher¡­ it felt like it was pushed toward the point of the wave, and went down repeatedly! Duwei already felt that the sound vibration would split his brain! He protected his head tightly. He shouted, ¡°Semel! Stop it! Stop!¡± Semel seemingly could not hear him. She was serious and walking on the ice step by step! Her body was light and she kept making the sound. The sound wave kept going¡­ The ghost on the ice suddenly screamed creepily. It made an erotic sound and escaped beneath the ice quickly! ¡°Huh, want to escape!¡± Semel sneered, and that horrible sound wave finally stopped! Duwei was startled! When Semel sneered, the voice was still Semel¡¯s voice¡­but the tone was¡­! It was indifferent with pride, even a bit cold, disgusting and despising! It was not the same as the clone magical creature that had always followed Duwei! Semel floated on the air! She lifted her slim fingers up and her silver long hair cascaded like a waterfall. Within the freezing windy, the red gown was floating around. Then several currents started to swirl! Semel¡¯s fingertip quickly formed a kind light spot. That light spot then became a small light ball. The sparkle of the light ball was shing! ¡°Humble and ugly magic monster¡­¡± Semel who was floating in the sky with arrogance and indifference spoke, ¡° How dare you show your poor spiritual magic in front of me, Semel.¡± Semelughed even colder than before. She just pointed her finger slightly; there was a shing out from that light ball¡­¡­ Snip! There was a creepy sounding out from the iceyer; then a huge crack extended! Far away from Duwei, a faint roar immediately came out from the ice, and it separated towards both sides! Underneath the ice, theke water was churning¡­Soon, there were several mercenariesing out from theke! That distant ghost screamed miserably. Semel then moved her finger a bit; there was an aura enveloping that ghost! It was like an invisible hand, grabbing the ghost. The body was torn away from the ice surface! That ghost was struggling in the air, but it could not make anyplete sound. The miserable scream continuously came. It appeared to be begging for something. ¡° Oh¡­Beg for mercy?¡± Semel sneered. She looked down on her opponent and whispered, ¡°You use your dirty voice to take away other¡¯s soul with such a dirty method? Oh¡­let me see what your dirty face looks like¡­your camouge is too ugly!¡± Her slim hands pulled slightly on the air! Duwei was shocked to see that the body of the ghost was split in two by an invisible force! The body was split into two and dropped into the water, disappearing very quickly. There was a small thing left in the air! That thing looked like meat covered with sticky mucus. The beige body was just like an octopus without tentacles. There was a little crack; it seems that was its mouth. The bottom part was like the tail fin of the fish. It kept struggling¡­¡­ ¡°Oh, that¡¯s really a ¡®Magic Lake Monster¡¯, you¡¯re such an ugly creature. Still not dead yet?¡± Semel was smiling callously. Then she stretched out a fingertip, the sharp nail scratched in the air slightly¡­¡­ Suddenly, that monster got one more wound! There was some green mucusing out from the wound. Then in it screeched, its upper body and bottom body were dissolved! Semel hummed and continued to scratch with her fingers. The monster was disintegrated and fell into the water. After that, she grabbed something; a green gem flew towards her palm. ¡°Huh, an adultke monster.¡± Semel said, ¡°The magic nucleus is quite big.¡± Semel waved her sleeves. There were many bubbles on theke. The wave pulled the mercenaries who had just fallen into the hole, towards the shore! Duwei was shocked! His mind was confused¡­But the one point he was sure of was: Thisdy in front was not Semel! He hadn¡¯t known thisdy before; she must not be the magical creature who liked swinging her pretty legs in front of him! She¡­her tone¡­and¡­Shit, she knew magic! She could use magic! The magic creature, who was an illusion, could use magic?! She¡­¡­ Suddenly, an unbelievable idea popped into Duwei¡¯s mind: She¡­¡­perhaps, based on the tone she spoke with and the attitude¡­¡­how she looked when she was teasing the opponent. She was simr to¡­the real great female astrology teacher! Semel Kira! While Duwei was still thinking, Semel had walked back to the ground and approached Duwei. Thisdy was looking at Duwei who was lying on the ground. There was still some blood on his face¡­¡­ Semel was standing there and looking at Duwei. There were many stars above her head, but her eyes glistened brighter than the stars! She kept looking at Duwei for a long time; there was something in her eyes which was indescribably¡­¡­soft! ¡° Dear¡­the trouble is solved.¡± Semel¡¯s voice was so soft, like the spring breeze. The callous feeling had disappeared. ¡°Right¡­Sorry, I promise you I won¡¯t use magic again. But when I know that you are in danger, I am so worried¡­Zach, you know how much I love you!¡± After that, thedy closed her eyes and fell down in front of Duwei! The first thing came up in Duwei¡¯s mind was: Who was thedy? The second thing was: Who was the mentioned ¡°Zach¡±?! Wait¡­¡­wait! Duwei jumped up suddenly! Zach¡­¡­Zach?!! Shit! I remembered this name! This name was on the Family Genealogy! Zach Rollin!! The Patriarch of the Rollin Family History! That was¡­the husband of the real female astrology teacher! Duwei¡¯s ancestor?! Ok! Now, he knew who Zach was¡­¡­so thatdy was¡­¡­ She¡­¡­Duwei moaned, ¡°Oh my god¡­she is the real Semel¡­she is not the clone?¡± ED notes: Duwei¡¯s so awesome he can speak using only exmation marks!! ¡®Freaking frightened¡¯ is the worst state of being frightened. Semel is totally a diva, she won¡¯t stop singing even if it¡¯s painful. Zach ¡­ seems familiar¡­ where did I hear that name before¡­ *wink wink* Chapter 64 Chapter 64: Charnel on the Snow ¡°Okay, first is the ¡®Magic Lake Monster¡¯. It used magic to make all the mercenaries incoherent and uncontrobly walk towards the middle of the ice tomit suicide. I couldn¡¯t do anything to break that magic, but you, my dear Semel, just show up and break that magic! You showed me your stronger side! Your magic power from then amazed me! Just from moving your finger, you could crack the ice. Then when you move it again, not only do you kill that monster, you even obtained it¡¯s magic nuclei! Finally¡­you seemingly knew me as another person named ¡®Zach¡±, and while standing in front of me, said you loved me.¡± Duwei sat next to the fire talking casually, while breaking tree branches into pieces and throwing them into the fire. . No one sat next to him. All the mercenaries were busy; some of them were bandaging, some were lighting fires, and some were helping the wounded. The unfortunate mercenares who had dropped into theke were being healed by Semel. Since they had fallen into theke in the freezing weather, they had nearly died. ¡°What?¡± Semel stood next to Duwei. Her beautiful face looked confused,¡±I did such an act? Howe I don¡¯t remember anything?¡± Duweiughed and looked at Semelplicatedly, ¡°Look¡­You killed a very strong magic monster and saved a lot of people. Then, after you stood in front of me and fainted¡­you woke up and told me ¡®I didn¡¯t do anything¡¯. So, Semel, don¡¯t look at me this way. If you really don¡¯t know, then we have a problem! We need to figure out what¡¯s happening with you!¡± ¡°¡­¡­What?¡± ¡°Magic!¡± Duwei suddenly jumped up and took a deep breath. He looked at Semel carefully, ¡°You can use magic! And, from my point of view¡­your magic is very strong! Extremely strong! But isn¡¯t that a bit strange? You don¡¯t even have a real body¡­you are only a shadow, an illusion! An illusion that can use magic! How is this possible?¡± ¡®And you also called me ¡°Zach¡±¡­¡¯¡ª¡ª Duwei said in his mind. Only the real Semel, the real female astrology teacher, would use that tone when speaking! ¡°Do you feel anything, perhaps some strange feeling? Or in your memory, is there anything that can exin this? Even a little bit?¡± Duwei looked at Semel seriously. ¡°No.¡±Semel answered quickly and firmly. She shook her head, ¡°I am the cloned memory of Semel. I am a magic creature who was sealed in the oil painting and I am just a visual illusion. I only have part of the memories rted to Semel¡­¡­and I don¡¯t know magic. I really don¡¯t know any at all.¡± Her pretty eyes looked innocent and confused, even a bit helpless. With those eyes, Duwei could not believe she was lying. She seemed to be telling the truth¡­¡­otherwise, she must be frighteningly good at telling lies. Duwei decided he would rather believe the former. ¡°Puff.¡± A purple crystal-like object was thrown by Duwei into the snow. ¡°That¡¯s the magic nuclei of the magicke monster. It shouldn¡¯t be fake. I don¡¯t have the ability to kill an adult magicke monster, and yet you killed it in front of me and got the monster nuclei from it.¡± Semel was confused and she tried her best to remember what happened, ¡°I¡­.I don¡¯t know. I really can¡¯t remember¡­¡­¡± At that moment, Dardanelle and Heinrich were approaching them. Semel looked at Duwei and sighed, then became invisible. ¡°Mr. Magician.¡± Heinrich looked serious. He stood in front of Duwei, then he saluted, ¡°Thank you so much for saving me and my people!¡± Duwei sighed but didn¡¯t say anything. Although this wasn¡¯t done by him, he couldn¡¯t think of anything to say, and he couldn¡¯t tell them the truth¡­so, he just admitted to it. Heinrich took out a leather pocket, and gave it to Duwei: ¡°Mr. Magician. I know this is not enough for a reward, but please ept it. At least it can show our appreciation! From now on, if you ever need anything, the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group will always stand beside you!¡± Then Heinrich opened the pouch, and inside were many colourful stones¡­and all of them were magic nuclei! These were the magic nuclei of many different kinds of magic monsters¡­these were all of the harvests the Snow Wolf Mercenary group made during this trip! Although the leather of a magic monster could be sold at a nice price, the most valuable part of them were their magic nuclei! There were about thirty magic nuclei in the pocket, and the quality was very good too. Heinrich almost gave out every single one they had obtained. This was the result of the hard work put in by the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group in this journey. They worked hard for the magic nuclei, and some even lost their lives in the process. ¡°No,mander.¡± Duwei surely couldn¡¯t ept these things. First, these people were not saved by him. Even if they were saved by him, he still wouldn¡¯t ept this expensive gift. In his heart, Heinrich was his friend and thus: ¡°I cannot such an expensive gift.¡± ¡°But you saved our lives!¡± Heinrich insisted, ¡°Without you, at this moment, the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group would not even exist in this world!¡± Duwei thought for a bit and changed his tone, ¡°Ok, if I¡¯m a magician, even if I think your things are expensive, it¡¯s still not enough to buy a magician, right?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Heinrich felt weird. ¡°That¡¯s true. Although these were the harvests from this journey, for buying a magician, it¡¯s not enough obviously¡­ Everyone knows that magicians have unique identities. If one wanted to hire a magician, this small mercenary group is not able to pay for it!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand.¡± Duweiughed immediately, ¡°I am not saying it¡¯s too few. But¡­Mr. Commander, I mean, out here I am not just a magician! You are not only a mercenary either. Do you know what I mean? Do you remember what we talkedst night behind the snow? I treat you as my friend! Friends must help friends! When one sees his friend in danger, he must help him. This is logical, right? Please, keep your things, otherwise, it will be rude of me to my friend!¡± Heinrich was shocked. This Commander with a beard looked at Duwei. He spread his arms and hugged Duwei tightly. Then he suppressed his passion and whispered, ¡°My friend! Thank you! You are right, my friend! Sorry! My behaviour offended you! I take my words back!¡± But thismander was a bit smart. He grabbed some magic nuclei from the pocket, around seven to eight magic nuclei and gave them to Duwei. He tried to stop Duwei and said, ¡°Ok! This is not a reward! I am giving you this not because you saved our lives, but because my best friend is going to leave! This is a farewell present, a gift, not a reward. So you have to keep it!¡± Duweiughed and loosened his hands, then he hugged Heinrich tightly. Theyughed loudly on the snow. ¡°Anytime, anywhere, the Snow Wolf Mercenary group is willing to do anythings for friends!¡± This was the promise from Heinrich at their farewell. Duwei believed that this man who loved adventure would abide by hismitment. As they left the Snow Wolf Mercenary group, the mercenaries gave their best weapon in appreciation. The old Cyclops made some fried meat for Duwei. And Commander Bein gave thest bottle of wine, which was made from the magic nuclei of a frame rhino, to them. The mercenaries gave their best two sword to Duwei. Chester, the archer with eight fingers, gave his bow to Dardanelle. If they were not worrying about the load, the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group would¡¯ve given them even more things. Walking along thekeside of the Big Circle Lake, there were two series of footprint left upon the snow. Dardanelle carried most of the luggage, and still walked in front of Duwei. ording to what Heinrich said, by bypassing the Big Circle Lake and heading to the north, he had heard that there was someone who caught the golden eye python when he was young. ¡°Dardanelle.¡± Duwei suddenly asked,¡±You seem very calm¡­I am talking aboutst night.¡± Dardanelleughed. He said seriously, ¡°Harry, you have saved my life twice includingst night! This cannot be settled by simply saying ¡®thank you¡¯! If I can stay alive this time after helping mistress, I will leave the Lister family. I, Dardanelle, would like to be the squire of Mr. Harry the Magician.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Duwei was shocked. ¡°I would like to be your squire.¡± Dardanelle replied calmly, ¡°I owe you two lives now, maybe even more¡­you are such a good person, Harry. I like you, and want to be your friend. Also, I think that since you are so great, I am afraid I cannot repay you for the grace. So, why don¡¯t I be your assistant for life? You are a magician. Magicians should always have someone helping them. You need a servant¡­But unfortunately, I am not a magic student, so I could not be your servant¡­ But I am a warrior! I can be your squire! I think I can do it well.¡± In the Rnd Continent, many magicians also hired warriors as their squires. It was because although magicians had great power, their weakness was the close quartersbat! It was the truth that magicians were weak at close battle. So there were many magicians that hired warriors as their squires. When they were in battle, if the opponent stayed close to them, then the warrior could protect them. This was a sort of way of offsetting the weakness of the magicians. Of course, only the famously strong people in the continent had the qualification to do that. This was because hiring great warriors was costly! Also, if they were hired, they won¡¯t hire junior warriors, because if they did, it was useless. But those great warriors were always arrogant! If not working for the famously strong people in the continent, they were not willing to work for them. So, when Dardanelle asked to be the squire of Duwei, Duwei was shocked. Firstly, Duwei thought that he didn¡¯t have the qualification to hire squire. Many magicians, who were above level eight, still didn¡¯t have this qualification! Secondly, he thought that Dardanelle was too kind and he could not ept this kindness. When he looked at Dardanelle¡¯s resolute eyes, Duwei sighed¡­¡­nevermind, when they returned, he could leave alone. As long as he didn¡¯t know his real name, even Dardenelle wanted to repay him, he wouldn¡¯t be able to find him. They had been walking along theke for two days. Thiske was unexpectedlyrge. They still could not bypass thiskepletely after a full two days of walking. In the afternoon on that day, Dardanelle suddenly pulled Duwei. ¡°Wait, Harry!¡± Dardanelle pulled Duwei carefully aside and pointed at the snowdrift aside. Duwei was shocked. Dardanelle had already approached there, and then pulled out his knife and slightly stirred the snowdrift. After stirring the snowdrift, there was a frozen hand! Dardanelle looked serious, he kept on digging the snow aside, then he the found someone¡­or to be more urate, he found a corpse! The corpse was a knight. The badge on his chest had shown his identity. He was a level four knight! He had died miserably. His body was cut in half by some sharp weapon! His face was distorted showing how painfully he had died. The body was frozen, even harder than the ice. The whole body had turned grey, and it was quite creepy. Chapter 65 Gift from the Holy Knight Dardanelle didn¡¯t even seem to care about that; he just crouched down and carefully checked the corpse, even reaching out to pinch it¡¯s wrist. ¡°He died less than 2 days ago.¡± Dardanelle stood up and frowned, ¡°Look at his wound¡­what kind of thing can cut a Level Four knight in half? ¡°Along with this!¡± Duwei frowned and pointed at the thing next to the corpse. It was a long sword which obviously was the weapon of the knight. But this sword was also cut into two pieces! ¡°Perhaps, he was battling with another, and his enemy cut him in half. Could it be like this?¡± Duwei frowned. ¡°Possibly¡­¡± Dardanelle looked at Duwei, ¡°He was buried by the other. Look, this snow pit was his graveyard. If it was a magic monster, it wouldn¡¯t bury his corpse, it would just eat his body. Only humans do that.¡± Duwei thought for a while and looked at Dardanelle, ¡°Dardanelle, which warrior level are you at?¡± ¡°My warrior title is level three. Although my warrior level is not high, I am quite confident in my archery skill.¡± Dardanelle answered. ¡°I know.¡± Duwei said, ¡°Friend, then you should be experienced, have a look at this broken sword¡­it¡¯s incision is so neat. It¡¯s not that strange that the warrior¡¯s sword was split by a strong magic monster. But the incision is so neat. Obviously, this was cut by a sharp weapon! I don¡¯t think that it was done by a magic monster¡­obviously, this warrior was not killed by a magic monster, but a human! Dardanelle listened to what Duwei said, then he immediately became more serious and looked at the incision on the sword carefully. Then, he looked up, ¡°Right, you are right, I was too careless. In this ce, I was just focused on the magic monsters.¡± ¡°Going back to that question¡­¡­Dardanelle. You are a level three warrior. What kind of person can cut a Level Four warrior and his weapon in half in one swing?¡± Dardaneel looked serious, ¡°Level Four warriors have mastered the breathing skill. A warrior who masters the breathing skill is very strong. If cut in one swing¡­¡± Dardanelle thought carefully, and looked at the sword at the same time¡­suddenly, he blinked! ¡°Look! Harry! Look at the chest of the Warrior¡¯s Corset ¡­look here!¡± Dardanelle seemed to have discovered something. He lifted the corpse, then pointed at the little mark on the chest of the warrior¡¯s corset, ¡°Look, here, see it?¡± Duwei looked at it, ¡°Oh, there should be something hanging on there before, seems like a badge¡­but it was taken away.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Dardanelle agreed, ¡°This is the ce where the warrior always wears his badge. But, see, he already has one on his chest. This is the Level Four Warrior badge awarded by the Knight Organization¡­in the continent, which kind of warrior would wear two badges?¡± They looked at each other and shouted practically at the same time, ¡°The Holy knight from the Bright Pantheon!¡± The Religious power in the Rnd Continent was very strong, especially the Bright Pantheon, its power even threatened the rule of the royalty in the empire. The Pantheon had their own tax, and also some military power. This military power was the Holy Knights from the Bright Pantheon. The Bright Pantheon always trained an amount of people since they were young until they grew up, and they would differentiate them by their talents. The people talented at Martial arts would be sent to have martial art training. After adulthood, baptism, and examination, the one who mastered the Martial Arts with the most devout faith would be selected and would join the Holy Knights of the Bright Pantheon. Their duties were to use their lives to protect the honor and the dignity of the Pantheon, and to contribute their whole lives to the Pantheon and to their God. There was only one Holy Knight from the Bright Pantheon throughout the whole continent with two Knight Badges on their chest. One was the Knight level badge awarded by the Knight Association, another one was the honour badge of Holy Knights, because it was the feature and the identity of the Holy Knight. Also, when the Holy Knight died in a battle, hispany would take off the Holy Knight Badge and bring it back to the Pantheon. There was a ce called ¡°Tampler¡± tomemorate the sacrifice of the Knight. Dardanelle blinked, he quickly rolled up the sleeves of the dead knight. His clothes was very stiff because of the cold weather, so it was hard to roll them up. But when the sleeves were rolled up to the elbow, Dardanelle sighed, ¡°My judgment is correct, look at this scar, it was burned by the holy oil. This is the baptism for the Holy Knight in the Bright Pantheon. Every arm of the Holy Knight would have this scar made by the Holy Oil.¡± Duwei approached it, he saw the marks on the arm of the corpse. That mark was very unique, like a dancing me. Dardanelle exined with annotation, ¡°When the young Holy Knight is undergoing the baptism, there is usually hot holy oil in the pot next to them, then, the pope of the Pantheon hosts the ceremony with a special iron sword. At the point of this sword, there is a seal¡­Sword and the seal represent the mission of the Holy Knight, which is to protect the dignity of the God in the world by using ¡®Force and Power¡¯. In the ceremony, the Pope will put the sword with the seal into the boiling Holy oil, then burns the mark on the arm of the Knight who is undergoing the Baptism! This mark is the glory of the Holy Knight and also their honor¡­But, if they do something that betrays their God, that¡¯s a kind of rebellion and revolt against their religion. The Holy Knight who offended will have to be punished by the Pantheon¡­Even before execution, the Pantheon will remove the mark on the arm by scratching it off with a knife! This means that even if you die, your soul still cannot get the forgiveness from god!¡± Actually, Duwei knew what Dardanelle was saying. He bowed his head, ¡°Hm, so, although generally, the Holy Knights have two badges, but it feels like they have three badges. The third badge is the scar on their arms.¡± ¡°So you already knew that, Harry.¡± Dardanelle sighed. They silently buried the dead knight again, and the expressions of the two looked dignified! The one murdered was not only a Holy Knight! But also a Level Four knight with great martial art skill! It was not a simple thing! The status of the Holy Knight in the Empire was unique. They were responsible for protecting the God¡¯s authority in the world, they were a special group. They learnt painstakingly from childhood. Powerful, deeply religious, also¡­ one had to say, most of them were of noble character. The most important thing was¡­..no one dared to murder a Holy Knight! Even if the Holy Knight breached thew, or rebelled against their religion, only the Pantheon could make the judgment and punish them. And not to mention the sinner¡­even a normal Holy Knight, if he murdered one of them, that means someone wanted to challenge the authority of the Bright Pantheon! Challenge the authority of the agent of the god in the world! This meant being the enemy of the entire Bright Pantheon! Bing the enemy of the Bright Pantheon¡­¡­even the Emperor or the Magician Union would not dare to do so! Those who dared to be the enemy of the Holy Knights, who dared to even kill the knights, were all the most notorious and powerful, evil guys. For example, more than a decade ago, there was a powerful and notorious magician. He had killed many thousands of people because of his Undead Magic research, even made a small town turn into a ghost town overnight. This offended the Pantheon and they sent out the Holy Knights. Paying a heavy price to kill the magician. There were many simr events that happened in the history and those were all resolved by the Holy Knights. But only those! Apart from that, the Holy Knight never did any meaningless things! They won¡¯t evene to the Frozen Forest for hunting the magic monsters! Holy Knights were not mercenaries. In this deadly ce, if there was Holy Knight, the only exnation was that they were having a task! They were going to kill some strong evil person! They were going to use their sword to protect the honor of the Pantheon! ¡°I think, our journey will not be very safe at all.¡± Duwei and Dardanelle looked at each other with theirplicated eyes. After resting, they buried the dead Holy Knight and continued their journey. Then, one dayter, they found a grave again! There were three in total! The Holy Knights were buried in these three graves! This time, Dardanelle felt a shock after looking at one of the corpses! ¡°Elder brother¡­. elder brother Mr. Feite! This is Mr. Feite!!¡±[EN: Should be Mr. Fitter] By looking at the man lying on the snow with silver armor¡­under such a terrible weather, he didn¡¯t wear a corset, but a metallic armor. Normal people would think that he was crazy! Metallic things under this freezing weather, it¡¯s easy for people to die in the coldness. Leather corset would be much more useful! But this dead man was wearing a metallic armor¡­if he was not crazy, then he might be very strong, he was strong enough to adapt to this cold weather! He looked clean, with his face without any blood. It was different from thest time Duwei and Dardanelle found a corpse. Obviously, the people who buried him were giving him extra prestige. Even when the corpse was buried, someone shaved his beard and even the hair was neat and tidy. He was just silently lying in the snow pit, his hands on his chest. There was a long shiny silver sword in his hand and was lying on his chest. He looked handsome. The man looked very handsome, although he was frozen ck and blue, but Duwei could still imagined how he looked like when he was still alive. ¡°Elder brother Mr. Feite¡­the Senior Holy Knight of the Pantheon.¡± Dardanelle was surprised at the very beginning, then looked serious, ¡°He was also a ¡­¡­Level Eight Knight! Harry, do you know, the knights with Level Eight or higher are called Great Knights! Murdering a Great Knight¡­it¡¯s already out of my imagination. Who has this kind of power, and even dares to be the enemy of the Pantheon?!¡± Dardanelle stood up and bowed in front of corpse of the Knight ¡®Feite¡¯ sincerely, ¡°Elder Brother Mr. Feite, never thought that I could see you here¡­¡­Last time when I saw you, I was still next to Marquise. Thank you for the day you kicked the guy who cursed our mistress out. Dardanelle¡¯s eyes showed his sadness. Duwei still remembered when he had just met Dardanelle, he told him this name¡­when Marquise Lister was travelling outside that time, she met an evil magician, and that it was lucky that there was a Holy Knight next to her that protected her. That Holy Knight was the dead elder brother Feite. Elder brother Feite was representing the Pantheon to meet Marquise Lister for appreciating her huge donation. Duwei looked further away¡­it was entirely silent except for the sound of the wind. Theke was covered in ice, there was not even a ghost of shadow on the snow. ¡°Can kill a Level Eight Holy Knight, also there were quite a number of hisrades ¡­¡­.¡± Dardanelle whispered, ¡°The one who has this power must be one of the strongest people in this continent! Howe there is such a powerful guy in the Rnd Empire and he even dared to challenge the Pantheon?!¡± Duwei thought a lot and didn¡¯t respond to what Dardanelle said. But he quickly thought of something. He suddenly crouched down, and moved the corpse of elder brother Feite, then made an effort to dig him up! ¡°Harry! What are you doing?¡± Dardanelle didn¡¯t like it, ¡°Please don¡¯t disturb elder brother Mr. Feite!¡± ¡°Dardanelle, don¡¯t you know that¡­¡­when the Holy Knights bury theirpanions, they will also bury them with their relics!¡± Duwei replied and kept digging at the same time, ¡°I heard that the devout Holy Knights had the habit of writing a diary because they needed to pray everyday. When they are outside, they cannot pray in the Pantheon, so they will choose to write their words in a diary.¡± Soon, after digging a hole underneath the corpse, Duwei sighed and dug up a cloth bag from the bottom. When he opened it, there was a small silver pendant, which was a small statue of the Bright Goddess, a dagger, and a small book! ¡°Look, this is the diary of elder brother Knight Feite.¡± Dawei looked at Dardanelle, ¡°I think the answer is inside this book.¡± Dardanelle couldn¡¯t keep silent and frowned, ¡°I don¡¯t think this is a good idea. Elder Brother Mr. Feite would not like someone touching his things¡­Harry, put it back.¡± Duwei didn¡¯t listen to him, he opened the diary. After a while, Duwei shouted, ¡°Look!¡± ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.. EN ¨C Ge Feite was changed to elder brother Feite for better flow. Chapter 66 Chapter 66: The Strongest Knight on the Continent ¡°Look¡­in the diary, he mentioned Marquise Lister.¡± Duwei¡¯s sentence immediately made Dardanelle want to read his big brother Feite¡¯s diary. This loyal Knight from the Lister Family was also very concerned about any news about his mistress. He came and stood beside Duwei, and together they read the diary left behind by the dead Holy Knight. ¡°¨C 6 January. Today, I met Marquise Lister; she was an elegant and charmingdy. I give my thanks to that nobledy, her contribution showed her deep faith in the god, bless her. Today, I punished a man who tried to do something disrespectful to thisdy. It¡¯s hard to believe that there is such a despicable magician; I will report this to the Magician Union. Marquise Lister is a devout follower, she should be protected by the Pantheon; even a magician should not insult such a devout follower. It is not eptable to any of the Knights that such an elegant and prettydy be disrespected by others.¡± Duwei was able to immediately determine that the diary entry was talking about how Ge Feite met Marquise Lister and how coincidentally he helped her kick that evil magician away. But obviously, Ge Feite didn¡¯t know Marquise was cursed by magic as he left quickly. ¡°¨C11 January. Blessed Day. Praise the God Almighty. Praise the Goddess for giving out the light for the whole world. Today, I received an urgent call from the Pantheon and have to go to the North to join the other Knights of the Pantheon. This task wasmanded by the White Pope with approval from the Pantheon. I know that there must be some evildoers who offended the Pantheon. It is because we, the Holy Knights, are given our sacred mission only when we have to punish these people. This time, it seems it is not easy to handle. The Bishop has sent three Level Eight Knights and I was appointed as the leader of this task force. God, I am loyal to you even when there are very strong enemies, Ge Feite is willing to use his life to protect the glory of the Pantheon. The Sword of the Holy Knight will kill all evil without hesitation!¡± Duwei sighed. From the words, you could see that he was an extremely faithful Holy Knight. ¡°¨C14 January. Punishment Day. I am willing to use my blood to destroy the darkness and bring brightness to this world. The searching team was formed. I went to the Frozen Forest with 10 knights. At this moment, I still don¡¯t know who our target is. Themander of this task force is the Presiding Judge Mr. Murray! I know that this task should be very great and influential as themander is a Presiding Judge and there are three Level Eight Knights and a total of 40 Holy Knights involved in this task. The Presiding Judge is very serious, he told me that this is an order from the Pope. The enemy we face is an evil guy, he is a traitor of the Pantheon. He is the former Priest of the Pantheon who betrayed his faith. The Pope is angry about it and gave out his order: a trial is needless, kill on the spot. Anyway, when I read the name on the order from the Pope, I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes¡­God, please forgive me, I do not dare to have any suspicion about the meaning of the Pope. I believe that the Pope is the representative of the God¡­but the content of this order made me unable to fall asleep. Hussein, by the pride of the Holy Knights! One of the strongest Holy Knight, why did you betray your faith!¡± Duwei and Dardanelle looked at each other. ¡°Who¡­is Hussein?¡± Duwei looked at Dardanelle, ¡°I am not familiar with the Holy Knights.¡± Dardanelle swallowed very hard, he seemed very shocked, ¡°Mr. Hussein¡­He betrayed the Pantheon! Oh My God, this is bad!¡± ¡°Bad?¡± Duwei didn¡¯t understand. Dardanelle closed his eyes and shook his head, then took a deep breath and sighed, ¡°You¡­Harry, you really haven¡¯t heard of Hussein before?¡± Duwei shook his head. After he came to this world, he was always withdrawn. After being in disgrace, he almost spent all his time in books and learning. He didn¡¯t care of the outside world. This Hussein was that famous? ¡°Among the Knights of the continent, the Holy Knights of the Bright Pantheon are redited as being the best quality of knights because their faith is the most pious. And, some of them are ascetics who trained themselves hard since childhood. Now, amongst the Holy Knights of the Bright Pantheon, there are three ¡®Strongest Knights¡¯ and they are the current leaders of the knights. Hussein is one of those three.¡± Dardanelle whispered, ¡°Someone said that Hussein is the idol and the aim of all the young knights on the continent.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°In the past one-hundred years, he was the only one that could be a Level Eight Knight before 25 and got the honor of being a ¡°Great Knight¡±; he is a genius! You also know that only Level Eight or above can be honored as a Great Knight and Hussein had this honor before 25. In these hundred years, he is the first one! Then, just after 30, he became one of the three Knight Leaders. Except for Hussein, the other two are already 40 something. Also, the other two Knight leaders are Mr. Luke and Mr. Kale. Luke is a Level Nine Knight, but when he reached Level Nine from Level Eight, he was already 40. Kale also reached Level Nine when he was 40. Dardanelle whispered, ¡°The next step of a Level Nine Knight will be the level of Saint Knight. But in these hundred years, there has never been a Saint Knight on the continent¡­. The three Knight Leaders of the Holy Knight are only Level Nine.¡± ¡°So, this Hussein is also a Level Nine Knight?¡± Duwei asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Dardanelle looked weirder, ¡°As I said, he got to Level Eight when he was 25. So, guess how old was he when he got to Level Nine?¡± ¡°30?¡± Duwei guessed, ¡°But didn¡¯t you say that he became a Leader when he was 30?¡± ¡°No.¡± Dardanelle shook his head with a wry smile, ¡°Much earlier! He got to Level Nine very early, and since he was too young, the Pantheon didn¡¯t allow such a young man to lead the Holy Knights. So, he became the leader when he was 30, and when he got to Level Nine, he was¡­¡± Dardanelle took a deep breath, he lowered his voice with respect: ¡°26!¡± Duwei frowned, ¡°That means, after he got to Level Eight, he gained an entire level within a year?¡± ¡°More than that.¡± Dardanelle¡¯s answer shocked Duwei, ¡°There was a rumor saying that the strength of Hussein is much stronger than Level Nine. But since there has been no Saint Knights on the continent for a hundred years, and Level Nine is already the strongest, Hussein has been recognized as the strongest Level Nine Knight! Some people even think that he is the number one Knight throughout the continent! Even the inner circle of the Holy Knights admits that the strength of Hussein is much stronger than the other two leaders. Also, he was just 26! 26!¡± Duwei was impressed. A 26-year old number one Knight in the continent?! ¡°In these years, although Hussein didn¡¯t really breakthrough to the Saint Knight Level, everybody thinks that he could be a Saint Knight; the first Saint Knight on the continent in the past hundred years! The Inner Circle of the Pantheon is proud of him, since there has been no Saint Knights for many years. If there is even one Holy Knight that reaches the level of a Saint Knight, it would be good for the reputation and the prestige of the Holy Knights. So, the Pantheon was willing to promote Hussein when he was 30. Before that, in the past, every knight who became the leader of the Holy Knights at 30 all became a Saint Knight!¡± The two of them could already guess that something big must have happened if the Holy Knights were sent out. But they just didn¡¯t expect it to be so shocking! The number one recognized Knight on the continent, one of the three leaders of the Holy Knights, betrayed the Pantheon and was ordered to be killed by the Holy Knights of the Pantheon! This seemed to be a secret that no one knew about, otherwise, this would have been the most shocking news on the continent! Duwei and Dardanelle looked at each other and could feel how shocked each other was, of course, they were also filled with questions. Hussein, a genius praised by the crowd. Became the leader of the Holy Knights when he was 30! He had the highest regard from the Pantheon, had the respect of others, was talented, and was also recognized as a future Saint Knight¡­He had a bright future! Why did such a person betray the Pantheon suddenly? Why did he be a traitor that the Pantheon would want to kill immediately? Chapter 67 Melodramatic Duwei flipped the next few pages of the diary, but, near the end, the pages were stained with blood. Obviously, Ge Feite kept his diary even when he was in the war. Duwei continued to read the words Knight Ge Feite had left on the bloody paper. ¡°13th of February, A Bright Day. We have been searching in this forest for a month. I feel like we are close to him. Our teams have met up once at our first meet-up point and we can¡¯t find anything. The Judge said we have to bring the corpse of Hussein back; we cannot leave the frozen forest otherwise. These days, I have a tingling feeling that we are close to him. Perhaps, we can find him in as little as 2 days! Everybody is tired. But since Hussein is in the same situation as us, we believe he should be worse off than us since he is alone. We rest by rotation, guard at night, and have delegated certain people to food collection. But Hussein is alone and, ording to news from the Judge, Hussein has such a bad injury that his chances of escape are nonexistent!¡± ¡°19th of February, A Cloudy Day. We are heading further to the North and, expectedly, the weather is bing increasingly cold. We are still looping in the forest, but, a few days ago, I found some tracks in the snow. From what I saw, they were human¡¯s, and there was only one set of track. I can guarantee that it was Hussein. Excluding him, no one woulde to this area alone under this weather. Yesterday, we found his tracks again. ording to his tracks, he is heading to the North of the Big Circle Lake. I have already informed the other three teams, but they have yet to respond. I am a bit worried, since it has been a few days since I apprised them. Are they in trouble? That should be impossible! The leaders of the other team are level eight knights. Especially Team 3, it is led by the Judge. Even if Hussein is the strongest Knight in the continent, he is now badly injured, and under this environment, he should not be able to fight against the Judge, who is the Top Magician in the Pantheon, But, I am still struggling¡­Is my faith not enough? My heart should not be unstable, even though he was the symbol of our Holy Knights. No. I should kill him! Otherwise, his name is a shame of the Pantheon forever! Knight Luke, also Knight Kale. They used their life to attack this traitor. If we still let him go away, the Holy Knights would feel ashamed!¡± ¡°!!!¡± After reading those words, Duwei and Dardanelle stopped breathing! Dardanelle¡¯s hands were shaking, his eyes was erged, and looked at the diary book on Duwei¡¯s hand surprisingly. After a long period of time, he finally could say something, ¡± This¡­he said¡­.¡± Duwei was more calm than him, but his tone was still not stable, ¡°The sentence ¡®used their lives¡¯, does it mean¡­¡± They looked at each other seriously! It was scary! If a talented top knight in the continent betraying the Pantheon was an unfortunate thing¡­ Then, this sentence might be the disaster! The top three knights among the holy knights of the Pantheon! Hussein betrayed the Pantheon! The other two it seemed¡­died already?! It seemed Hussein had a great battle with the two top knights. The two knight leaders died and Hussein had a serious injury?! But Duwei thought¡­it should be like that! Otherwise, since Hussein was the strongest person in the continent, and one of the top three knight leaders among the Holy Knights, then if the Pantheon wanted to assassinate him, why not send the other leader! Although the Level eight knights were rare, sending level eight knights was worse than sending people who werepatible with Hussein! That was exined! It seemed the other two knight leaders passed away! So, the Pantheon sent the lower level knights! ¡°This¡­this is really a disaster!¡± Dardanelle kept shaking, even his voice! ¡°Three knight leaders, one has betrayed, and two died! The foundation of the Pantheon has been shaken! Oh my god, this is really a disaster! This event probably will lead to a greater event!¡± Dardanelle said and suddenly yelled, ¡°Look! Look at the back!¡± Duwei was thinking of other things: ¡®If he could kill the other two strongest people who were at the same level as him, and he was still alive¡­this Hussein must be a level nine knight¡­or had probably achieved the Saint Knight level! The next page was still bloody. But, what the bloody paper said, was much more tragic! ¡± 28 February Another ten days! We lost contact with the other three teams! This is a dangerous signal. Even the magic stone given by the Judge could not contact them, I feel anxious now! Perhaps, the judge was also killed by the traitor? My goddess of Bright! Please protect us! Today, I finally find something left by Hussein. It was a bloody bandage that proves he is still in bad injury. This is good news for us. ording to the blood on the bandage, we can assure that we are close to him! Even if we pay with our lives, we are still willing toplete the order from the Pope!¡± ¡± 1 March! God! Are you really going to abandon your people? Why?! Why do you give so many beliefs and such luck to that traitor!! Why!!! Why when the Judge was also killed by that traitor after the two knight leaders!! Today, we finally find the team of the Judge! But, what I saw were 10 corpses! TEN CORPSES! I buried the Judge myself! That evil traitor! He cut the Judge¡¯s head off! I must kill him!! Duwei choked! Wow! Even the Judge of the Pantheon was killed! This Hussein was really cruel! Things were getting more serious! The Judge of the Bright Pantheon was a major core person! The great person of the Pantheon died, this Hussein¡­.. While Dardanelle was still stunned, Duwei had already continued digging in the snow quickly. ¡°What are you finding?¡± Dardanelle looked at Duwei surprisingly. ¡°The order from the Pope!¡± Duwei answered quickly, ¡± Didn¡¯t you see that what he wrote in his diary? Ge Feite got the secret order from the Pope! This order must be kept by the team leader, other people may not know the existence of the secret order. When Ge Feite died, his teammates might also have buried his corpse with his secret order.¡± Duwei even used the knife and scratched the snow with bare hands, ¡°Perhaps, we can find the answer from the order! What kind of huge things this Hussein did, to make the Pantheon have to assassinate him?!¡± Dardanelle¡¯s response was very slow, perhaps because he was shocked by what he read from the diary. Now, Dardanelle had gotten a lot of surprises! The Pantheon must be weakened much after this disaster! Three Knight leaders, two dead and one betrayed! The Judge even died in the battle! This must be a shocking news on the Rnd Continent! Duwei was different from Dardanelle. Although he was shocked, he felt more excited. He was not interested in any religion, especially the religion which intervened in the politics of the country. So, he was so excited and curious now, it even seemed like he had heard very great news. He was not worried about the how the Pantheon would be after this disaster. But, there was something disappointing Duwei. He dug as much as he could, but still could not find the order from the Pope. ¡°Perhaps, I can find something else from the other corpses?¡± Duwei changed his attention to the other corpse next to Ge Feite. When Duwei was ready to dig, suddenly, one of the corpses turned over! Rolled over and revealing a hole! Then, under that corpse, there was a big palm reaching out from the bottom! The palm was at the edge of the whole, and as the snow fell down, there was one person sitting there! Duwei and Dardanelle was shocked! Dardanelle instantly pulled out his knife, stepped in front of Duwei and yelled, ¡°Who is it!¡± The hand at the edge was frozen, but obviously, that was a hand from human. When that body stood up from the snow hole, with his upper body exposed, Duwei could see that this person was very young with white skin; this person was quite charming and handsome. In his eyes, it seemed that the pupils exuded a faint glimmer of light! Instinctively, Duwei felt a chill! He felt danger by his sensitivity! That person took a deep breath. He looked at Duwei and Dardanelle and then looked at the sky. He said to himself, ¡°One day already.¡± Then, he looked at Duwei with a mocking smile, ¡°You, little man, I heard what you said. You said you were looking for something, are you looking for this thing?¡± Then, a parchment fell on the ground! Although Duwei didn¡¯t read the details, he could see the signature and the seal on the bottom part! It was the order from the Pope! Looking at that guy sitting on the snowhole¡­he hid under a corpse of a Holy Knight! This man was pale and weak, but his eyes always exuded a faint chill! And he was wearing¡­ Duwei suddenly looked at his arm¡­there was a scar! It seemed like it had been scratched with a knife! This ce, was the ¡°third badge¡± the holy knight left for themselves! Duwei immediately knew who he was! ¡°Are you¡­Hussein? The one who is being hunted?!¡± He nodded and his voice was very calm, seems like he didn¡¯t care about that, ¡°You are smart. I am Hussein and I am badly injured. I am afraid I cannot escape further, but those two level eight knights kept on tracking me. I couldn¡¯t run, so I had to find a ce to hide. They would search the ces nearby, but they would never search the graveyard of their teammates. Unfortunately, you two almost screwed up my n.¡± Then, he smiled a bit. Dardanelle had already lifted up his weapon and pointed to Hussein! Hussein! This was Hussein! The strongest knight on the continent! He looked very weak and with had many bandages. He was pale. Although his tone was calm, it still could not cover his weakness. Hussein looked at the sharpness of Dardanelle¡¯s knife and smiles, ¡°You think that you can kill me with one knife when I am injured? Sorry, since you found my tracks, both of you need to die.¡± His voice was hoarse badly, but with confidence, certainty! He totally ignored the knife in Dardanelle¡¯s hand! Chapter 68 Chapter 68: Battle Between Magic and Sword This guy ignored Dardanelle and suddenly used his three fingers like a de and shed! Whew! Duwei could see a golden lighting from Hussein¡¯s palm, right before he urately hit the tip of Dardanelle¡¯s sword! Dardanelle was shocked and he suddenly jumped back. When hended, his sword was already broken into two, the pieces fallen on the snow, and Dardanelle spit blood and fell down! Level three Warrior Dardanelle surely was notpatible with Hussein¡­even if Hussein was badly injured! Was this the power of the Top Knight on the continent? = Duwei was afraid and angry, and he yelled, ¡°Dardanelle!¡±. He immediately made a gesture without hesitation, then two wind sword were thrown towards Hussein. Duwei knew that the enemy was the top knight on the continent, so after the wind sword, he immediately used Dizziness magic. His spellcasting speed was very fast and this surprised Hussein. But as the strongest knight on the continent was a real man, although he was in bad injury, he was only a little bit shocked about Duwei¡¯s power. He moved his finger a bit, and then air shot out from his finger and easily destroyed the wind knife from Duwei. For the Dizzy Magic, he just sneered a bit, and waved his hand; Duwei immediately felt the sh! The Dizzy Magic was reflected by Hussein back to Duwei, Duwei then fainted. Duwei fell down and scolded himself, ¡°I must be the first magician to get attacked by my own magic on this continent. Dardanelle¡­oh my god. How is he? Will he be killed by that guy?¡± The old magician, that old man, why didn¡¯t he have any response? Was he not nearby? Where was Semel? Even Semel was hiding?! ¡°Little man, are you a magician?¡± Hussein had already stood up from the snow. His bandage was still a little bloody. When he stood up, it seemed he still felt the pain from his wound. Duwei was lying on the floor, the effects from the dizzy magic making Duwei feel dizzy. Luckily, his spiritual power was strong and he just needed to bite his lips a bit, and he felt awake. Further, Dardanelle had also sat down, his lips bloody. He stared at Hussein, and used the arrow, which was given by the Snow Wolf Mercenaries, and as he shot¡­ Buzz! In the echo, Hussein frowned and dodged. Suddenly, the arrow was clipped by his two fingers. ¡°Great shot, but your speed is too slow.¡± Hussein randomly threw the arrow back to Dardanelle. Buzz! It shot through the shoulder of Dardanelle! That terrible power brought Dardanelle away for 5 to 6 metres away and harshly nailed him to a tree! Then, the snow on the tree fell down and Dardanelle screamed! The arrows from the Snow Wolf Mercenary all had hooks! It was terribly painful when this kind of arrow pierced the body! Hussein sneered and stepped on Duwei, he looked mad, ¡°Sorry, although there is no grudge among us, I have to kill both of you¡­and in my life, I hate magicians the most!¡± His hands had been lifted up, like a knife. Duwei knew that this guy could easily kill him by waiving his hands. Duwei tried to push Hussein¡¯s foot away, but his foot was as heavy as the mountain! Hussein watched with mocking eyes as he casually swung down¡­ At that moment, there was some dark gasing out from Duwei! Then Duwei suddenly disappeared in front of Hussein! His voice moved at least 3 metres away! Hussein could feel the surrounding immediately. The air flew faster! His body tensed and felt that his hands and legs were tied up by some air current. Then those air currents suddenly became corporeal and tied him up! Hussein waived his hands harshly, his body shed, and after a deep breath, the surrounding currents were scattered. Since air was unlimited, there were more and more air currents that were surrounding him. It seemed like there were unlimited ropes trying to tie him up¡­ ¡°Oh, tying magic?¡± Hussein looked surprised, but then he sneered, ¡°You really think that such magic can defeat me?¡± Amongst his sneer, he suddenly held his arm tightly, and spread them out¡­ Duwei saw that there was some golden meing out from the Knight! Under the golden me, all the surrounding air was bing a golden color! Numerous amounts of air currents were shocked and spread outward! Hussein looked at Duwei, who was sitting on the floor, and he grabbed something in the air; a sword suddenly showed up on his hand! Obviously that was not a real sword, it was a golden sword made of light! He then swing his hand, and the sword was thrown towards Duwei! The bright light attacked Duwei like lightning, but Duwei had prepared to die and he closed his eyes. But at that moment, silver light suddenly appeared in front of Duwei! That silver light formed into a mirror quickly, and it separated Duwei and the light sword from Hussein! There were some waves on the mirror. The light sword was stopped and trapped on the silver mirror! Then the golden light and the silver light disappeared at the same time, with the sword and the mirror being destroyed. ¡°Oh! Magic shield.¡± Hussein frowned, ¡°I guess I have misjudged. Little man, your magic level is not low!¡± Duwei suddenly brightened! He shouted, ¡°Semel! Is it you?¡± Semel had already shown up behind Hussein. Her silver hair was pping with the wind, she looked cool, ¡°No matter who you are, you cannot hurt Jack!¡± Then, Semel put her hands together, and then silver light appeared on her body. The light turned into numerous meteors and shooting towards Hussein! Hussein yelled and turned around, facing the meteors. This top knight suddenly expanded with the golden me. This time, he grabbed a bit, and the long sword of Ge Feite was already in his hand! Compared with the meteors, his speed was a bit slow. He slowly used his sword and drew a circle¡­ Suddenly, there was a weird twist! Although the meteors were much faster than the speed of Hussein, the meteors still could not attack Hussein before he finished the drawing. The circle suddenly turned into a light orb around him and acted as a shield, protecting him from the meteors attack¡­ Semel was shocked too. Obviously, the power of Hussein was out of her expectation. The female astrology teacher felt gloomy, and she jumped suddenly. Her white pretty legs left the snow too, she spread out her arms like she was going to cuddle the sky. Her fingers moved smoothly and started spelling! At the moment, everything started to change! The sunny sky changed into cloudy! The breeze started roaring, the clouds gathered! The clouds in the sky were getting thicker and darker! The sun was shaded by the cloud, even¡­ Shit! There was lightening among the cloud! Semel seemed like the goddess standing in the air, she pointed at Hussein, ¡°You! Come on! The strongest knight, show me your power!¡± Hussein looked at the clouds in the sky seriously and shouted, ¡°Who are you! A powerful magician, doing some secret attack! Are you afraid of showing up in front of me!¡± Chapter 69 Chapter 69: Chrono Trigger This was a very unfair battle. Hussein looked around quickly, but he could not see Semel. It was because only Duwei could see Semel. The cloud pressure was getting lower, and then there was lightning. It seemed like it was the attack for Hussein. Suddenly, there was a lightning like an axe that attacked Hussein! Hussein didn¡¯t feel any fear even as he was brightened by the lightning. As he lifted up his sword and pointed at the sky, the lightning attacked the tip of the sword instantly, the golden me of Hussein was burning, and as his sword chopped quickly¡­Duwei rubbed his eyes, he thought that he saw it wrong. Hussein had chopped the lightning in two! Half of the lightningnded on the floor. BOOM! The thick snow on the ground was shocked and loosened, and the cknd exposed! The strong air current threw Duwei away directly, he even rolled a bit after hisnding! There was a big hole on the ground because of the lightning! Hussein was standing in the middle of the hole. He was still pointing at the sky with his sword. Although he got had wounds, he was arrogant! ¡± Ha ha ha ha! You really think that I cannot see you!¡± Hussein sneered. He suddenly used his finger to prick his arm. Then used his blood to rub his eyes, holding the sword and started spelling¡­ Soon, Hussein¡¯s eyes turned red, and when he looked at the sky, his sight was on Semel. He sneered, ¡°Huh! I can see you now!¡± After that, Hussein bent a bit, then came forward hardly, just like an arrow. He was targeting Semel in the sky! Semel lifted her arms a bit, and then there were some waves that appeared in front of her and acted like a shield. But Hussein¡¯s sword was just like a hot iron stabbing into snow! The golden me destroyed the waves in but a few seconds, and then the sword stabbed into the left arm of Semel! Duwei could not help but stop to shout, but Semel sneered, ¡°You are strong¡­but I don¡¯t have any physical body for you to hurt!¡± Then, Semel¡¯s hand reached out and touched the chest of the knight¡­there was red meing out from Semel¡¯s palm, and the knight yelled terribly. His sword was dropped from his hands as his body was attacked. He was thrown more than ten miles away before falling down. Hussein was struggling and trying to stand up, his chest burnt ck, his clothes and bandage also burnt, the wound exposed. But the knight sneered, ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have a body? That means you are using an illusion to battle with me?¡± Semel¡¯s smile suddenly solidified! She was shocked that the sword was still stabbing into her arm! Soon, there was some ck smokeing out from the sword. The sword seemed to have the power of swallowing, it tied Semel¡¯s arm up! It was gradually eroding her body! ¡°When you were hiding your body in front of me, I already knew that you may use a magic clone and battle with me!¡± Hussein gasped desperately, as he was badly injured, and as he finally fell down, ¡°This is my first time to show this new magic to another, you are the first one!¡± Semel looked painful, before suddenly she looked decisively. Then she used her right hand to chop at her left arm, which was tied up by the ck smoke! The left arm fell down and disappeared with the ck smoke beforending on the ground! Semel¡¯s body was shaking and then fell on the ground, she had lost her left arm and was climbing towards Duwei and said, ¡°Jack! I am sorry¡­he is very strong¡­I cannot defeat him without my body¡­¡± Then, there was some silver light shing on Semel¡¯s body. Her missing left arm appeared again. But Duwei could see that her light was getting dimmer. ¡°Ha ha¡­.¡± Hussein smiled barely, ¡°Female magician! I don¡¯t know who you are! You are strong, but you choose to use an illusion to battle with me, and you can only use half of the power¡­you disgrace yourself! There is no magician on this continent who can use half of their power to defeat me! None!¡± When he was talking, he could not stand up properly, but he lifted up his hands suddenly and waved! There was golden me on his hands. Then there was a golden giant knife that flew out, and suddenly, there was some wood cracking soundsing out from the forest next to him, before the snow fell down. There were more than ten trees cut! All the cut part was sharpened. Then those trees were shot towards Duwei under Hussein¡¯s sneer! Semel was decisive, and she grabbed Duwei¡¯s clothes and threw him far away! Duwei¡¯s body was thrown far away and he saw that there were more than ten trees targeted on Semel! There was some silver lighting out from Semel¡¯s body, forming a shield to withstand the sharp branches. But Hussein sneered, ¡°How long can your magicst for, Female magician?! There are many more trees!¡± He continued using his me to cut the trees. All the trees were targeting Semel! She finally couldn¡¯t hold, and she yelled, ¡°Let¡¯s die together!¡± Her red gown zed and formed a bright red me! Semel¡¯s body was burning and formed a fireball, flying towards Hussein. Hussein shouted and he used thest of his power to form a shield. In the horrible magical me, Hussein just felt that his whole body was burning; his golden hair turned into ck, and he could feel his me was burning among the magic me. It¡¯s so terrible that Semel could turn her body into fire me! Duwei was far away, but he could feel the hot wave too! The snow on the ground melt into water, then evaporated instantly! The ice of the Big Circle Lake behind Hussein was melted and evaporated. Steam wasing out and formed into fog! Duwei struggled and yelled, ¡°Semel!¡± Duwei suddenly remembered the sixth magic spell Vivian gave him. The honest Vivian left the strongest magic she knew to Duwei. ording to the power of Duwei, he still could not use these magic. If he used it suddenly, he would be in danger as the magic was too strong and his body could not support it. But at this moment, Duwei didn¡¯t have a choice. For him, Semel was not only a magic creature, she was also his friend, who was always swinging her legs in front of Duwei and always pranked him! Duwei tried his best to support his body and stood up. He spread his hands and breathed deeply. He started spelling¡­ When he said the first word of the spell, he already felt like there was a ck hole absorbing his magic power! He almost copsed! But his strong willpower supported him, and he turned his sensitivity power into full mode, as all the magic power was concentrated to support the absorption of the ck hole! After Duwei finished his first spell¡­around hundred meters from Duwei, the dimension was twisted, then everything in the same dimension became slower! The water was evaporating, the me was burning, the snow was melting¡­ Duwei could still use his weak voice to spell, he felt that he would die soon, his skin started aging quickly, also bing pale, his eyes were getting dimmer, he felt like his power and even his blood was detached from his body! But he still kept spelling! It seemed like an invisible hand was changing the flow of time in the dimension, and Duwei could see that everything had been slower down, he knew he did it sessfully, but the magic power was almost detached! No, not enough! Duwei was yelling inside his heart, his power really could not support this top magic! His clothes started being destroyed, he could sense that his body was thrown into a small space, and many invisible hands were squeezing him, tried to squeeze all the things inside out¡­including thest magic power! Duwei felt that he could not spell any more, he was exhausted and he could only make a very soft voice¡­ The time space stopped! It was an amazing moment. Hussein still kept his position, the me from Semel around Hussein¡¯s body was frozen too! Duwei tried his best to step forward and shouted, ¡± Ch¡­..ro¡­.Chro¡­.no Trig¡­ger¡± He still had not yet finished hisst spell, but he passed out. Luckily, the god was still blessing our little noble. Someone helped Duwei to finish his spell! ¡± Chrono Trigger! Return!¡± There was a old and calm voice, then there was a white shadow flying, thin and stable hands spread out like pushing the milestone! The old magician, teacher of Vivian, finally showed up. His face looked serious, and he spelt very fast¡­ he was spelling the same thing as Duwei! The magician could control the time already! Then, the dimension was twisted again! The me turned backward and disappeared atst, formed into one, among this fireball, Semel¡¯s body showed up a little bit¡­ All the me was gone, even the ash from the burnt branches turned back into original look¡­ The dimension was just like rewinding from the movie Duwei watched in his previous life! The old magician looked serious, he turned the time back to the time when Semel was surrounded by the branches. He stopped spelling. Then, he waved his hand. Those branches were thrown away by a strong wind. When the time recovered and run slowly and smoothly again, the old magician immediately ran towards Hussein, he picked up a bottle from his gown and put the things inside the bottle into Hussein¡¯s mouth quickly. The weak Hussein would not speak any word, he looked at the old magician, his hostility from his eyes disappeared, he tried his best to smile, but without saying any word. Next, the old magician flew towards Semel, he looked at Semel seriously with aplicated expression. It seemed there was regret inside his eyes, then he sighed and retrieved a white bottle from his gown. He got a single drop of silver liquid from the bottle and thought a bit, and got one more drip. Two drops were on his finger tips now, and from the spell of the old magician, there was some soft light that surrounded Semel, and the body of Semel gradually be brighter and visible. The old magician rxed and ran towards Duwei. He gave a total of three bottles of magic medicine to Duwei; these were the supplements which many high level magician used for recovery. Duwei¡¯s skin was moisturized again, and he woke up from hisa and coughed. Because of thea, his lungcked oxygen, so he needed to cough a bit in order to breathe normally! The old magician was so angry, he stood up and scolded Hussein like father would scold a son. He pointed at Hussein who was lying on the ground, ¡°You! Stupid kid! When can you get rid of your arrogant and bad temper?¡± Then he looked at Duwei and scolded, ¡°You! You are even more stupid! Do you think that your magic power is enough for using Chrono Trigger? If I was not here, you probably would¡¯ve died already!¡± Finally, he looked at Semel, and there was someplicated feelings¡­like¡­.love? ¡°Semel¡­Oh My god, I knew that you were still alive!¡± The magician was shaking, ¡°Semel¡­are you really Semel¡­.I know it¡¯s you!¡± Chapter 70 The old man¡¯s voice trembled with emotion, even his white beard was gently shaking. Du-Wei had a sudden recollection of what Courtenay Semel said to him the other day. It is true he can see Courtenay Semel! This situation is bing much moreplicated. This old magician actually knows Courtenay Semel, while also an acquaintance of Hussein ¨C the traitor who rebelled against the church and is the strongest knight on the continent. Courtenay Semel have awaken. Even though she still looked very weak, there seems to be no apparent problem. Du-Wei did not know what was in the two silver drops of liquid that the old Mage just poured out, but the effects are surprisingly obvious. Light once again returned to Courtenay Semel¡¯s pair of eyes. Shaking her head a bit, she once again stood up in the snow with a face feeling lost. ¡°Hey¡­¡­ Du-Wei, what really happened¡­¡­ and why do I feel so weak? You¡­¡­ Are you okay?¡± With this one word, Du-Wei soon realized Courtenay Semel has once again ¡°woke up¡±. To begin with, Du-Wei already had a fuzzy feeling this magical creature ¡®Courtenay Semel¡¯ seemed to¡­ maybe¡­ it has a dual personality. One personality is a magical copy of Courtenay Semel¡¯s body, a lonely 200 years old person and likes to pull pranks by dangling a pair of beautiful legs while jumping back and forth in front of Du-Wei. While the other Courtenay Semel¡¯s personality¡­¡­ Du-Wei suspected it may well be the real soul of the female Astrology teacher in history, capable of casting and wielding powerful magic. And also likes to call him ¡°Zach¡±¡­¡­ God damn it! At the present, Courtenay Semel is calling him ¡®Du-Wei¡¯ instead of calling him ¡®Zach¡¯, so obviously, the magical creature is back and the female Astrology teacher went away again. Du-Wei looked at Saddam Hussein, and then at the old magician. He suddenly felt the matter was far tooplicated and it gave him a headache. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Du-Wei gave her a wry smile as he spoke, ¡°Do you feel very weak? It¡¯s because you had a difficult duel against the strongest knight on the continent and almost died¡­¡­ You did it to protect me.¡± Courtenay Semel still seemed bewildered. ¡°Me¡­¡­ Duel? But I am¡­¡­¡± Her face showed a slightly headache like expression. Both hands on her troubled face, ¡°Howe I can¡¯t remember anything?¡± At this time, the old sorcerer have already excitedly walked to the front of Courtenay Semel, his robe was clearly shaking¡­¡­ Of course the shaking was not because of the cold weather. The old sorcerer even let out a hand, as if wanting to touch Courtenay Semel. But as soon as his hands came up, it soon slowly dropped down again. Aplex expression suddenly appeared on her face. After carefully examining the old magician, she pondered. ¡°I¡­.. I do not know you, but why do I feel like I dislike you¡­¡­ I do not want to get close to you!¡±Courtenay Semel looked warily at the old magician in front of her and then took two steps back. ¡°Who are you?!¡± With that, her body flew to Du-Wei¡¯s side in a sh and then hid behind him. In a low voice, she murmured, ¡°Hey Du-Wei, I don¡¯t like this old man, he makes me feel very uneasy and very ufortable.¡± Du-Wei whispered, ¡°Do you know him?¡± ¡°No!¡± Courtenay Semel suddenly let out a loud abrupt shout, ¡°I don¡¯t know this man! I just hate him!¡± With that said, she once again disappeared. Du-Wei knew, Courtenay Semel was currently hiding somewhere on his body without his knowledge. When Courtenay Semel wanted to hide and not see any other people, Du-Wei was incapable of asking her toe out again. The old magician showed a weird facial expression as he stupidly looked at thest ce Courtenay Semel disappeared from. Then suddenly with a wry smile, he whispered. ¡°She¡­¡­ She still hates me. Even though she doesn¡¯t remember me, she still hates me¡­¡­ Haha! ¡± Then the old mage¡¯s eyes shed a bit, slowly focusing his sight to the front of Du-Wei, grinding his teeth as he spoke. ¡°Boy, tell me why would Courtenay Semel stay by your side! Why would she be protecting you? Why is that? Why did she be like this?!¡± ¡°Maybe after this is over.¡± Du-Wei spoke as lifted Dadaneier into aying position, and then pulled out a knife to cut the spiked arrow in Dadaneier. Fortunately the arrow ended up shooting through his body. By just cutting off the exposed section of the arrow, one can pull the shaft out easily. He then took out some medicine for Dadaneier and applied it to his wound. Catching a glimpse of the old magician, he asked, ¡°Hey, you should know some magic treatment spell right? Don¡¯t just stand there, help my friend.¡± Moments ago, Du-Wei kept handling Dadaneier¡¯s wound while at the same time, he exined the things he knew about Courtenay Semel. From the secret tunnel in the study room, to when he found the secret magic message that Courtenay Semel left behind. Then about how he released the magic creature sealed inside a painting¡­.. ¡°So¡­¡­ She is just a biological magic creature, a copy of Courtenay Semel¡¯s memory in a biological body¡­¡­¡± The disappointed expression of the old magician was apparent. He let out a sigh as the light in his eye dimmed down. Seemingly frustrated, he gave Du-Wei a glimpse, then tossed him a bottle of liquid. ¡°Pour that on his wound and he will recover in half a day¡­¡­ So hold back a little Du-Wei took the bottle and poured a few drops on Dadaneier¡¯s wound, then conveniently put the bottle away without any hint of rebelling against the old magician. The old sorcerer seemed not to care anymore. With a dispirited mind, he slowly sat down and muttered in a low voice. ¡°Courtenay¡­ Semei¡­ Ah¡­ Courtenay Semel¡­¡­ I really thought you weren¡¯t dead yet.¡± ¡°Hey, when can he wake up?¡± Du-Wei pointed to the closed eye Dadaneier but the old magician acted as if he couldn¡¯t hear what he said. ¡°Maybe one night.¡± Saddam Hussein answered instead. The strongest knight of the continent continued in a cold manner, ¡°It was done by my hand, I know it the best. This little low-level warrior actually dared to challenge me, My Dou Qi (energy) have already destroyed his muscles around the wound and broke his bones plus blood vessels. Even if you have holy water, it should at the minimum take one night to wake up. Of course, towards a guy that he just fought, Du-Wei wouldn¡¯t show a good face. He grunted then didn¡¯t pay any more attention to the knight. Du-Wei was rather more concerned about his current situation. The old magician kidnapped him from his home, and then left him alone in the frozen forest for so many days. Du-Wei is certain this old magician came to the frozen forests to do something important. But¡­. Why must he take him? The old man also knew Hussein, could it be, he knew Hussein was being hunted by the church? Then came here to save Saddam Hussein? But what does this situation have to do with him? Each person sat for a while as they contemted their internal problems. Then the old magician suddenly stood up frowning as he listened to the wind, then whispered. ¡°Someone¡¯sing¡­¡­ likely the men of the temple.¡± With a flicker of his eyebrow, Hussein stood and grinded his teeth. ¡°They are just like ghosts, refusing to disappear !¡± He then nced at Du-Wei, ¡°It¡¯s because of this guy. If it weren¡¯t for him, we would not have made such a bigmotion and be discovered by the temple!¡± Du-Wei immediately retorted, ¡°If It wasn¡¯t because you wanted to get rid of us, we would not have fought back. Do you expect us to sit down and die likembs?! Humph. ¡°Enough! Just shut up.¡± The old magician stood up and sighed, ¡°Hussein, you need to control your murderous intent! Your internal magic is growing more and more, this is not a good sign. Now, I will go and distract the pursuing troops¡­¡­¡± Old mage turned his head to the side and listened for a moment, then whispered. ¡°Heck, Hussein, the trouble you got yourself into is not small. One¡­¡­ Two¡­¡­ Three¡­¡­ Well, there are more than 20 more Knights and two are eighth-level as well¡­¡­ hold on¡­¡­ Looks like there are a few more mages¡­¡­¡± Hussein reacted coldly, ¡°A few days ago I killed the presiding judgment lord of the temple. These mages must have been sent as reinforcements.¡± ¡°Ridiculous, too Ridiculous! ¡°The old Wizard kept shaking his head as he repeatedly rebuked him.¡± You dare to kill the presiding judgement Lord of the Temple of light? Don¡¯t you know, the temple is like a ho¡¯s nest and you actually dared to poke the ho¡¯s nest? You better be prepared to face a lifetime of pursuit.¡± He waved his hand to stop Hussein from speaking and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m going to distract them, and you get out of here immediately.¡± Hussein frowned, ¡°With both of us here, why do we also need to avoid these people? With both of us working together, even if his majesty the pope were to show up, we wouldn¡¯t need to be afraid. Why must we run around like a mouse?!¡± Old magician sneered, ¡°Huh! Of course you need not be afraid because you have already be a enemy of the temple, but I¡¯m different, I¡¯m not their enemy! You¡¯re right though, with me and you together; we can fight off any of these guys. But then I will be a enemy of the temple and be on the run for a long time! I don¡¯t want my future to be filled with knights and mages of the temple trying to kill me.¡± At this point, the old sorcerer nced at Du-Wei thenughed in a low voice. ¡°What about you? Boy, you don¡¯t want to die right? So you also better leave, otherwise when they overtake you guys, they will kill you as Hussein¡¯s associate. The temple does not require a trial to murder others!¡± Du-Wei immediately answered, ¡°Of course I do! I¡¯m neither a strongest knight of the continent, or a powerful magician, I do not have the strength powerful enough to protect myself. So now, I¡¯m going to leave!¡± ¡°No! You don¡¯t actually want to go because you don¡¯t actually expect to get away! I have already imprinted a magic mark on your body so your whereabouts cannot escape my induction.¡± The old Mage continued speaking, ¡°You must follow him, together with Hussein, he will take you to continue heading north.¡± The old magician kept pointing his finger at Hussein. Du-Wei immediately felt like he swallowed a coptis chinensis (Chinese medicine nt), ¡°Why! What use am I to you?¡± The old mage didn¡¯t answer; he was already up and quickly flew away. Du-Wei wanted to say ¡®what¡¯ but by then, Hussein already had a sullen face. ¡°Don¡¯t incur my wrath, boy. Do you think I like being your babysitter? The old guy is only doing this out of your best interest! This ce here is the ice-covered forest¡­¡­If he lets you go back alone, with your little strength, can you safely leave? I¡¯m afraid that in less than a day, you would be swallowed by the magical beasts!¡± Du-Wei really wanted to retort back with ¡°I am not safe here!¡± But even Du-Wei knew in his heart, he was only able to securely reach this ce because he joined and tagged along with the snow wolf mercenaries. Also the old magician must have also secretly followed them, For example just now, in cases of danger; the old sorcerer woulde out like just now¡­. ¡°Stand up boy.¡± Hussein struggled to stand up so he grabbed a stick to be used as a walking stick. Then he gently kicked Du-Wei, ¡°Time to move.¡± If you like this trantion, you can sponsor for a extra chapter release by donating. Chapter chapter 71 No matter from any point of view, Hussein is definitely not a goodpanion to be traveling with. Du-Wei has already stayed with Hussein for a day and have prepared for everything. After cutting up some branches, Du-Wei made a suggestion of putting the unconscious Dadaneier on a snow sled. It is an impossible event to expect Saddam Hussein pulling the snow sled when the knight himself also carried signs of injury all over his body. Even with a few looks, Du-Wei can¡¯t help but feel a desire to vomit! In many ces, the fleshes are opened and revealing the inner bones! One wound is even giving off a stinky smell as ayer of tightly wrapped cloth binds around it. Those cuts are just too horrible! The worst spot was actually Hussein¡¯s stomach where a darker wound the size of a fist showed. I don¡¯t know what he used to soothe the pain but probably things like magic. Upon closer inspection, a ring of muscle around the wound haspletely turned ck. Even as the ck muscles slowly heal¡­¡­ the muscles continuously give out a bursting crackling sound! If the wound kept healing, then repeatedly bursting open again, one can¡¯t image the degree of pain he must be going through. As Hussein bandages his wound, he exined the reasoning for this injury was due to the presiding judgment Lord of the temple. It is corrosion magic and even holy water cannot cure it. In order to cure this, one would need to find a high ss Mage to expend a considerable amount of power to treat it. The strength of the presiding judgment Lord is not to be taken lightly if he was able to inflict such a wound and almost take Hussein¡¯s life. If it wasn¡¯t because Hussein¡¯s power was so close to a Saint Pdin, he would have probably to a certain degree used his inner energy to close the wound¡­. In this way, it has caused the knight greater suffering. In order to keep the wound under control from the corroding spell damage, he must always constantly use his energy to keep healing. Thus, forming a delicate bnce, but every moment Hussein suffers from the feeling of a ¡°fresh pain¡±. For a single man with such terrible wounds to walk so long in this damn snow, while constantly enduring enough pain to copse a normal person¡­¡­ Other than the asional sh of pain in his eyes, Hussein carried a cold expressionless face that couldn¡¯t even hum a snort. Yet he would still try to straighten his back and waist as he walks. The temperament of this person is definitely not ordinary. In this situation, his bad-temperament is even excusable. Even in his own past life when Du-Wei experiences a toothache, he would also be in an irritable mood. Not to mention the knight¡¯s body is experiencing an enormous level of pain at all times, the fact that Hussein can endure it and not have a nervous breakdown is already considered very good. Du-Wei tried his best not to annoy the guy whom is like a powder keg and quietly pulled the sled through the snow while following behind the knight. They headed in the north direction while walking along the Great Lakes. But the winds became more violent the farther north you go. Du-Wei has already covered most of his face with a leather hood and a fur coat, leaving only his pair of eyes unshielded. Even so, he could barely open his eyes while facing the wind. Other than his eyes, he also couldn¡¯t speak because every time he opened his mouth, a gust of wind and snow would stop him. Almost entirely out of instinct, Du-Wei intentionally walked behind Hussein because his tall body would help shield a bit of the oing wind. The walk through the snow is very exhausting and in-between the journey, the two ended up resting twice. Every time, Du-Wei would run off with a knife to cut down some trees in order to make a fire just to keep warm. During the entire time, Hussein didn¡¯t even say a single word. He just sat in silence with his eyes closed and asionally, some Dou Qi (energy) would appear. Du-Wei knew that the knight is currently using his Dou Qi (energy) to suppress his injury while also keeping himself warm. This action is like drinking poison to quench a thirst. Du-Wei is not a doctor, but he is after all an educated magic pharmacist. He can see the knight¡¯s injury is very bad and his body¡¯s health was almost close to copsing. Using Dou Qi (energy) to forcibly suppress the pain can onlyst for a while, while his injury will continue to deteriorate. But what else could be done? ¡°The old man left behind some holy water; I still have a little bit.¡± Du-Wei sighed, ¡°Why don¡¯t you use the holy water?¡± In a cold manner, Hussein closed his eyes as he held onto the walking stick. ¡°I cannot touch holy water. I¡¯m a traitor to the church and also under a curse cast by them. Holy water is indeed good for healing injuries, but due to the curse, instead of healing my injuries, it would instead corrode my body. This method of punishment ismon practice for the church.¡± Du-Wei thought for a moment as he identified a number of drugs from his bag. Some of these items were left by the old magician, while others were collected on the way when Du-Wei followed along with the Snow Wolf mercenary¡¯s in the frozen forest. Many of these items were crudely processed into medical items. Even though Du-Wei hates this person, they are still considered partners at this point. And in such a dangerous ce where danger may appear at random, Du-Wei may need to rely on this person to protect himself. Du-Wei decided it¡¯s for the best to take out the box of medicine. Hussein¡¯s facial expression may look kinder, but his voice was still very cold. ¡°Thanks, but no thanks.¡± He gave the medicine back to Du-Wei and continued to meditate with his eyes closed. ¡°Why?¡± Du-Wei frowned as he spoke, ¡°This is something that I made. It is healing cream with coating powder and added with ¡®Chiker synthetic grass juice¡¯, capable of healing wounds. Where else would someone find such medicines in this forest?¡± Hussein opened his eyes as he spoke, ¡°I said no, so thank you, but I won¡¯t use it.¡± After pausing for a second, the knight finally added a sentence. ¡°My injury was caused by the Dou Qi (Energy) of a ninth level knight; such injuries would continue to carry the Dou Qi (Energy) of the person that inflicted the injury. Ordinary pharmacy cannot heal such wounds. Unless a mighty and powerful sorcerer cast a spell to lift the foreign Dou Qi (energy) inside me, otherwise normal drugs would only increase my pain. Du-Wei was silenced. One can only imagine the knight¡¯s experience. He killed two of the holy knight leaders, known as two of the strongest knights within the church. On top of that, he also killed the presiding judgment Lord of the temple and an eighth-level holy knight grouped with a number of senior holy knights! This is a scary yet brilliant victorious record. But it¡¯s not hard to imagine what he went through after so much bitter fighting. How serious is his bodily injury? ¡°Maybe this is useful for you then.¡± Du-Wei suddenly reached into his clothing¡¯s for a moment, pulling out something like a white fruit. From a point of view, this thing seemed to be a lump of ice, but the top is covered with thin lines. Holding it in his hand, a cool feeling can be felt through the skin. In addition, there is a faint fragrance¡­¡­ Like an authentic mint leaves in Du-Wei¡¯s past. But this thing is not something of good. For many people, this item is more frightening than the devil itself! The name of this thing is called ¡°Ice Berries.¡± It is this item that could be used to make a drug like ecstasy. (Before this, Gunnar solskjaer (the fake mage) also considered if they could use this stuff as raw materials to stimte the mental minds of a human, but the idea waster dropped.) ¡°Ice berries?¡± Knight leaked out a surprised facial expression. ¡°Yes, it is an ice Berry.¡± Du-Wei spoke with a smile, ¡°This stuff is hard to find. I only inadvertently found this on the road while traveling. You should know this stuff can cause hallucination¡­¡­ However, if one is taking only a little bit at a time, you can reduce the pain even by a bit.¡± Mentally, Du-Wei added another sentence. ¡°Simr to opium¡­.¡± Even in his past life from the other world, opium and morphine were considered drugs, but has also been used as medicine to relieve pain. This item is not good or bad by nature, the key is how one uses it. Saddam Hussein knew his stuff because he didn¡¯t refuse to use it. Perhaps he couldn¡¯t stand it anymore due to the pain from these past few days and nights. He took the ice berry then gently picked a bit with his nail and put it into his mouth¡­.. This miraculous item really is useful. Not even a moment has passed and the constantly frowning knight already looked a bit more relieved. His eyes opened, showing a touch offort and his breathing sounded a lot better. ¡°It really is morefortable¡­. Thank you. This damn pain has tortured me enough to keep me awake for the past few days.¡± After a pause, Hussein nced at Du-Wei. ¡°Have you been studying magic potions? Now, very few magicians would take the time to study magic potions. Most magicians will only focus on magical experiments, while only those that cannot learn magic will go research magic pharmacy.¡± Du-Wei smiled, ¡°You said it right. I¡¯m a magic pharmacist. In fact, I don¡¯t even have the qualification to be a magician.¡± Hussein did not think it was strange as he spoke in a light tone, ¡°Oh? And what¡¯s your rtionship with that undying old fool?¡± Undying old fool? Du-Wei thought it was quite amusing. Due Wei did not answer, instead, he replied with a question. ¡°What about you, what¡¯s your rtionship with him?¡± Hussein was silent, spending a moment in thought. Then he spoke in a light tone, ¡°Nothing much, just that he could be considered my senior. Our powers came from the same teacher.¡± Seniors? Du-Wei could not help but let out a chuckle, ¡°I hear you are only 30 years old, right? While the old fool is probably a few hundred years old¡­¡­ You?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m 31 years old. As for that that old fool¡­¡­ only heaven knows how old he is! Hmm¡­..¡± It seems Saddam Hussein did not really want to talk about this. ¡°In name, we are brothers due to having the same teacher, but in reality, I don¡¯t really like him.¡± After a pause, he no longer continues the subject. ¡°What about you? You look like you are probably not even 15 years old, who are you? Whye here? ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not even 15 years old and even under the age of 14.¡± Du-Wei shrugged, ¡°I¡¯m from the Rowling household. As to why I came here, you would need to ask that old fool that question. I was captured by him¡­.¡± ¡°Rowling household¡­¡­¡± Hussein thought for a moment then suddenlyughed. He reallyughed¡­. While looking at Du-Wei, the once murderous intent on this guy¡¯s face now carried eyes of pleasure. ¡°Ah! I seemed to have heard of you. Even in the Imperial capital, you are very famous. Rowling household¡¯s idiot son, a few years ago, the imperial capital¡¯s circle of aristocratic kept talking about you.¡± ¡°You may have heard,¡± Du-Wei spoke without care of the ¡®idiot¡¯ statement. ¡°Yes,¡± as if Hussein was immersed in his memory. ¡°Holy knight leader Uncle Luke was also a noble. In the past, I was invited to a banquet of his uncle. At the time, Luke told me that recently the biggest news is the idiot son of Earl Raymond (Du-Wei father), and Luke¡¯s uncle was originally going to arrange a marriage between the families. But when he heard of the news, he was so scared that he didn¡¯t dare mention it again. I remember Luke¡­¡­¡± At this point, Hussein suddenly closed his mouth and his eyes slightly shed. Du-Wei also didn¡¯t dare say anything and just kept looking at the knight. ¡°Luke¡­¡­ I killed him.¡± After a long time of silence, Hussein suddenly whispered a sentence. His icy cold voice held a trace of untold sadness and a deep pain shed across the knight¡¯s eyes. He shakes his head as he speaks, ¡°Yes, Luke was killed by me and the other knight leader was also killed by me. They all died under my sword.¡± Du-Wei said nothing. Hussein had already turned his gaze into the distance, his voice seemed to be talking to himself. ¡°Oh¡­¡­ Lord Luke and the other knight leader¡­¡­ There is also Gefeite, oh poor Gefeite. Like me, we were together in the training house and passed the examination to enter the Holy Knights. It was as if he was like my brother¡­¡­ But I personally had to pierce through his heart. Let me think, who else¡­¡­ Oh, there is Ste, the warmed hearted southerner. Whenever he prayed, he always carried a heavy southern ent and we used to alwaysugh at him. With one strike, he was sliced into two segments by me¡­.¡± Du-Wei was suddenly surprised to see a tear slowly roll down from Hussein¡¯s cheek. ¡°They are all my friends, my brother, myrades. We all trained together, learned martial arts together, and rode together¡­¡­ Now they died by my sword¡­¡­¡° Hussein¡¯s eyes started to get frantic and he suddenly shouted, ¡°Why! Why!! You know why?!¡± He suddenly stood up with bloodshot eyes, staring at Du-Wei and in a low growl. ¡°Do you know why!! Do you know!! ¡± ¡°¡­¡­ I do not know.¡± Du-Wei frowned as he realized that some of the knight¡¯s mental state was unstable. He cautiously took a few steps back. ¡°Because¡­¡­ Hahahahahaha¡­¡­¡± Hussein suddenly unconsciously beganughing. Hisughter carried a taste of madness, ¡°Because! Because his Majesty the Pope said, ¡®Oh, it is the will of the gods!¡¯ Then we must bleed and we must die!! All because of this damn Word! That damn ¡®the will of God¡¯!!!¡± ¡°Knight Hussein.¡± Du-Wei speaks in a low voice, ¡°You are too excited, sit down first.¡± Hussein¡¯s deeply looked at Du-Wei; his eyes still carried a look of weirdness, as if with a touch of disorder. But he still sat down; this action slightly relieved Du-Wei a bit. ¡°Hey, young man. You know why I am being pursued by the temple? Why I became a traitor to the temple? Me, Hussein! Since I was 13 years old, everyone considered me the pride of the temple knights! Everyone thought I was the greatest Knight in 100 years! They even think that I am sure to be the headmander of the holy knight¡¯s order! Only a Saint Pdin can be the headmander of the holy knight¡¯s order. The holy knight¡¯s order hasn¡¯t seen a Saint Pdin for over 100 years! But I would definitely be a Saint Pdin! I will be the leader of the Holy Knights of the temple! HA HA! But now, I¡¯m being hunted down like a mouse!¡± Listening to the rising rage of Saddam Hussein and how disorderly his eyes looked. Du-Wei started to feel disturbed in his heart! Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat! This is bad! Seeing the ice berry in the knight¡¯s hand, a bite was taken out of it! Du-Wei understood where the problem isid! Iced berries!! He must have taken too much. The magic nt must be interfering with the knight¡¯s mental state. As if taking drugs, the person¡¯s mind would fall into a confused state! POW!!! A clear and crisp sound, Du-Wei found the walking stick in the knight¡¯s hand has crumbled into pieces! ¡°Did you know¡­¡­? If I can start over, I would never choose to go into that damn sanctuary! Damn¡­.. Sanctuary!!¡± Hussein grinded his teeth. Sanctuary? Du-Wei knew the name. The sanctuary is the house where they ced and store the badges of the already deceased holy knights. All of the deceased holy knights would have their badges stored in this hall, receiving the god¡¯s blessing. ¡°Just two years ago, before I became the third Knight leader¡­¡­ ording to tradition, his Majesty the Pope asked me to be a guardian of the Sanctuary for one year.¡± Hussein¡¯s voice bes even deeper and his mental state drifts entirely into memory. ¡°Holy Guardian of the Sanctuary. Every member of the Holy Knights order must go through this before taking on the position of one of the three leaders. When I was awarded the duty of guarding the sanctuary, everyone knew I would soon be one of the leaders of the holy knights¡­¡­ However, I didn¡¯t think it was the beginning of a nightmare!! Saddam Hussein suddenly burst intoughter, his smile matched with the ice and snow echoing through the wind, sounding like a ghost¡­¡­ ¡°Boy, do you know who is it in the history of the temple is the most powerful and greatest of the Holy Pdins. Do you know?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Well¡­.. Is that you?¡± Du-Wei was careful in his answer, he felt that the Knight has gone insane and his mental state is somewhat unusual. Better not offend him. ¡°Me? Whenpared to that person, I am but an ant!¡± The tone in Hussein suddenly became that of reverence. ¡°Countless number of years¡­. No, even in 1000 of years toe! Countless numbers of powerful people appeared on the continent, number one warrior, number one knight, number one magician and so on and so on. Over hundreds of years, many of these people appeared over and over again. But in a thousand years, only one person manages to obtain this title. ¡°What title?¡± Hussein took a deep breath with his cheeks appearing with a touch of morbid red, ¡°The strongest under the stars!¡± The strongest under the stars? This title is indeed more prestigious than those strongest of the continent titles. ¡°This man is actually a holy Knight and his Holy Knight¡¯s badge is deposited into the sanctuary.¡± Hussein shook his head, ¡°Unfortunately, he has be a nightmare for me.¡± Du-Wei has already been hooked with curiosity. He carefully guided Hussein with soft words in order to make him speak, ¡°This man is¡­¡­¡± ¡°The founding emperor of the Great Rnd Empire¡­¡­ For thousands of years, Aragon Rnd is the only single person eligible to be the strongest under the stars! His strength cannot be copied because he is not only the strongest number one magician; he is also the strongest Knight¡­¡­¡± Pausing for a bit, Hussein added. ¡°Holy Knight! His Majesty the Emperor had once joined the order of holy knights! The holy knight¡¯s badge that he once held is deposited into the sanctuary. That badge has be my nightmare!¡± Chapter 72 Aragon? This matter once again involved his Majesty the emperor? Others may not know, but Du-Wei knew! Holy Knights? What a joke! Holy Knights are the defender of the temple of light and defender of god¡¯s authority on humanity. God damn it! The so-called strongest under the sky Aragon, Du-Wei understood it the most clearly where his strength came from. It was from making an exchange deal with old Chris, the Devil¡¯s servant. The power came from the Devil¡¯s power, but this power allowed him to be a Holy Knight, defender of God? However, Du-Wei also remembered that the great founding emperor did indeed seem to have a close rtionship to the Temple. While he was unifying the continent, he did receive support from the temple. Perhaps he really did join the Holy Knights? It is not difficult to understand when talking about a founding emperor to draw on all forces avable to him. One method of gaining their support is to join the organization and in this case, the holy temple itself. However, his power came from the devil, but hung it on behalf of god¡¯s name. It is truly ironic. Hussein facial expression acted in an elusive way, the Knight¡¯s mental state began floating away¡­¡­ Fortunately, he was not mad. While under the effect of the ice Berry, the already weakened mental powers of the injured will of course be influenced in certain ways. Du-Wei really wanted to continue inquiring. He wanted to know while the knight was in the sanctuary, what it is that he found within the badge of Aragon. What exactly did Hussein mean when he said ¡°nightmare¡±? Could it be whatever was left by Aragon actually came from the Devil? Hussein¡¯s eyes unfocused and his voice grew fainter and vague. Originally, a little bit of the ice berry would not be able to put the knight¡¯s tough nerves into disorder. But when faced with so many days of misfortune and torturous events, the knight¡¯s mental state was already unstable. Like a depressed person drinking, it is particrly easy to get drunk. Hussein sat andy sprawled down in the snow while still muttering, ¡°Nightmare¡­¡­ Nightmare¡­¡­ I. Nightmare¡­¡­¡± With that said, he closed his eyes and slept with a loud snore. gued with unbearable pain, Hussein has gone many days without sleep and tired himself out. Although when one reaches his limit, he can raise his Dou Qi (energy) to reduce his exhaustion. However, this method was like squeezing the life out of one¡¯s potential, after all, this is not a righteous method. After a long time without sleep, Hussein finally rxed his nerves under the effect of the ice berries. That night, he went to bed feeling unusually sweet, not haunted by the pain. With his body fully rxed, he didn¡¯t even dream and just slept all the way to the next day. ¡°Good morning.¡± Du-Wei used one hand to push Hussein awake. After awaking from his deep sleep, the knight felt his whole body be loose andzy. In a confused state, he opened his eyes to see Du-Wei¡¯s face up close. Suddenly startled, Hussein sharply stood up. The knight showed a remorseful face while speaking in a heavy tone, ¡°how long have I been asleep?¡± ¡°Not very long, only one night.¡± Du-Wei curled his mouth, seeing the knight¡¯s body has been stretched to the limit. ¡°If you didn¡¯t sleep, then I¡¯m afraid you wouldn¡¯t havested for long.¡± Too careless! The Knight rebuked himself inside his heart. In such a ce, how could he sleep like a dead pig andpletely lose his senses of the surroundings. To even have someone push him awake, how could he be so rxed? In this situation, it is absolutely not allowed. ¡°Well, don¡¯t me yourself.¡± Looking at Hussein¡¯s expression, Du-Wei understood the other person¡¯s thought. He smiled and said, ¡°You are a man, not a God. Even a God can get tired and besides, you are seriously injured. You also need a good sleep to replenish your strength. You see? Your spirit and body looked much better than yesterday.¡± Hussein took a deep breath and did feel his energy recovered a lot. He clenched his fist and a crunching sound could be heard from his actions, then he stood up to do a few stretching movements. He opened the tent¡¯s curtain and strode out. Once out of the tent, Hussein saw Dadaneier was currently using a stone to sharpen a curved de. The rubbing was making a rustling friction sound and Dadaneier¡¯s face was reflected on the de¡¯s surface. Dadaneier gave an unfriendly look towards the knight. No matter what, this guy did seriously injure Dadaneier the other day. Earlier that morning when Dadaneier awoke, he still seemed somewhat weak, but his injury has already healed. Then Du-Wei immediately exined what happened yesterday to Dadaneier. Once he was informed that the powerful knight from yesterday; has now turned into theirpanion. Dadaneier was somewhat shocked and his emotion was having trouble adapting. After all, this is normal for regarding a man that only yesterday has caused you to vomit blood and nearly killed you. Then the next day you wake up, you are to hug him and be good friends with him. How can that happen! The two nced at each other, making eye contact. After adequate rest and sleep, the knight¡¯s bad temper has gotten a lot better. After all, a person will be in a grumpy mood when they are extremely tired and at this moment, Hussein looked a lot better. He gave Dadaneier a look and hesitated, then gave the other a smile: ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake¡­¡­ Well, that¡¯s a good knife.¡± Dadaneier didn¡¯t speak, but nodded as he continued sharpening his curved de. This was actually Du-Wei¡¯s de; his own de already shattered into pieces by Hussein. Thinking back on it, he wasn¡¯t even able to take on one simple strike by a wounded opponent. This reality has hurt Dadaneier¡¯s pride, that¡¯s the reason why his attitude was so cold. But Dadaneier is after all a candid and good man. After a little bit of embarrassment, he then pointed to the wok (A Chinese pan/pot) on the fire. ¡°There¡¯s soup in the wok, you should drink a little.¡± ¡°Fortunately, the pot wasn¡¯t broken yesterday or we wouldn¡¯t even have ess to water.¡± Du-Weiughed from the side and then he went to the snow field, stretching his body. Facing the wind; he performed the oundish set of routine actions ording to what the old magician taught him. Du-Wei repeated this routine three times, until his body naturally gives off a sense of warmth and the cold wind no longer felt as cold when blew against his body. Du-Wei took a deep breath, ending his movement. Next to him, Hussein was carrying a smile as he looked at Du-Wei¡¯s action. His eyes acted as if Du-Wei didn¡¯t understand something. Waiting until Du-Wei was done. Hussein suddenly picked up his eyebrow. ¡°Undying old fool taught you this? I mean this set of routine.¡± Du-Wei did not shy away from the question. ¡°Yes, using this to fend off the cold is very effective and seems to have good effects on one¡¯s health.¡± ¡°Your practice was good, why not continue?¡± Hussein smiled. ¡°Continue? But he already finished.¡± Du-Wei looked at Saddam Hussein. Then his heart ached at the sudden thought of something. ¡°I just knew it¡­¡­¡± Hussein seemed to whisper a sentence and then with a smile, ¡°Well, listen kid, this set of action you are doing is actually the most basic. I think you practiced pretty well, do you want to learn a new higher level set of actions? The old fool would only teach you the first level of the basic routines and won¡¯t teach you the rest, but I can teach you.¡± With that said the Knight crossed his arms and looked at Du-Wei with a smile. Du-Wei immediately nodded. Du-Wei is increasingly experiencing the benefits of this action, in addition to keeping out the cold; Du-Wei could feel his body getting stronger day by day. Originally with his weak body, he could never have supported himself through so many days in this snow and wind. He probably would have already be ill, but now, Du-Wei¡¯s body seemed to be even slightly better than his peers. The Knight immediately went to Du-Wei¡¯s side and asked him to sit down. Then the Knight reached out his hand to slowly touch several bones in Du-Wei¡¯s body, carefully pinching each spot, then closed his eyes in thought for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, he sighed softly. ¡°How unfortunate, you looked pretty smart, but the potential of your body is too poor. I¡¯m afraid you are not born with the potential to be a good martial artist inside you. Even if you learn this set of actions, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t achieve the expected results. You probably won¡¯t have a chance to be a top fighter. A waste¡­. Such a waste. With that said the knight shook his head and showed a look of pity. Du-Wei did not think it was unfortunate. In fact, he did not have much interest in bing a powerful Warrior. But if it can make his body slightly stronger, he was still very willing to do so. Du-Wei justughed, ¡°I don¡¯t feel it was a pity, I had no intention of bing a powerful Warrior.¡± ¡°What do you know?¡± Saddam Hussein gave Du-Wei a cold nce. ¡°You simply don¡¯t know what you are practicing! On this whole continent, for thousands of years, only three people have had the opportunity to learn this set of action. Humph¡­.. If a qualified person learned it and practiced hard, he would definitely have the potential to be one of the strongest on the continent! Sigh¡­¡­ Unfortunately, your physical condition is far too poor, even though you have the chance to learn it.¡± Du-Wei was interested, ¡°This set of action¡­¡­ What the hell is it?¡± Hussein did not immediately reply. He eyed Dadaneier, whom is currently adding fuel to the fire and politely said, ¡°This person is¡­.¡± ¡°I am called Dadaneier, I know what you mean. I was just going into the woods to find something.¡± With that said Dadaneier put down the things from his hand and walked away in big strides. ¡°Thank you.¡± Hussein spoke while looking at the fading silhouette of Dadaneier. All fighters on the continent are aware of this rule. When others are teaching martial art skills, it is very impolite for others to watch on the sideline. Unless those observers wanted to secretly learn it, at the time of transferring their skills, many masters will not let anyone peek at their martial arts. ¡°Boy, I¡¯m going to first perform a segment and see how much you can remember.¡± The Knight stretched and moved to a snow covered ground, then performed the first move. When Hussein moved to the snow covered ground, Du-Wei opened his eyes, carefully observing Hussein¡¯s actions. His set of actionpared to what the old magician taught him is simr¡­¡­ Only simr. But much, much more difficult! There are several actions; Du-Wei watched on, almost unable to hold in a sigh¡­.. Unless the person¡¯s joints are able to freely rotate 360 degrees, those movements simply cannot be humanly possible, And those ligaments¡­. Du-Wei suspected, even with the gymnasts from his previous world, they would not achieve that level of flexibility! Watching the continent¡¯s number one Knight standing there, capable of freely distorting his body like a noodle, the scene can¡¯t help but give off a creepy feeling. After a set of action is finished, a lot of sweat was apparent on Saddam Hussein¡¯s forehead and of course, this is not due to exhaustion but due to overheating. ¡°These basic exercises are meant to train your body, letting your body increase its flexibility exponentially. In future battles, your strength, agility, speed, and the most importantly is the ability to fight, all will increase exponentially!¡± Hussein exined. Ability to fight¡­¡­ This point caused Du-Wei to feel very touched. If he can really train himself to be like Saddam Hussein, soft and flexible like spaghetti¡­¡­ Then other people¡¯s joint breaking punches will have no effect because his joints are free to bend at will¡­¡­. This is of course a big advantage. But¡­¡­ This can¡¯t be so simple. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t every acrobats and gymnasts from Du-Wei¡¯s past life be a peerless master? ¡°Of course, it¡¯s not so easy to improve.¡± Hussain added. ¡°These are just the basic. When you have mastered the basic sets of actions and your body¡¯s ability have reached a limit, at that time, your body is ready to train in the advanced level contents of Dou Qi. ¡°Dou Qi?¡± Du-Wei smiled: ¡°You mean this set of basic action is in fact the basis of the training method?¡± ¡°Not normal Dou Qi.¡± Hussein spoke in a low voice, ¡°You don¡¯t need to know now, wait till you reached the level I think is passable, and then I¡¯ll consider teaching you. Now, do it again so I can see how much you know.¡± Du-Wei immediately took a few steps forward. While standing in the snow, he recalled the actions Hussein made and started moving his body. Du-Wei remembered this set of movement very quickly. Thanks to what the old magician taught him and the basis he had from days of practice, he was able to perform this new set of action without much difficulty. But Du-Wei wasn¡¯t able to perform a lot of actions with higher requirement; after all, he didn¡¯t have the ability to rotate his joints 360 degrees like twisted noodles. ¡°Very good, you learned very quickly.¡± Although Hussein praised him, his expression grew regretful. Shaking his head as he spoke, ¡°Unfortunate, how unfortunate¡­¡­ ¡± Hussein could see Du-Wei was able to learn quickly and is very clever, but at the thought of his natural physique, he felt it was unfortunate that Du-Wei is unable to develop into a top expert. Du-Wei learned extremely fast, after all, his spiritual power, memory and the ability to imitate are beyond ordinary. Moreover, once one set is finished, Du-Wei would suddenly feel his body having a reaction! Hot! This point was what Du-Wei felt is the strongest at the moment! When hepleted the set taught by the old magician, his body emitted a faint warm feeling, but this time, it was different¡­¡­ When he finished the set of action taught to him by Hussein, Du-Wei felt like a fire is burning inside his body. The me seemed to be very powerful, as if he was actually inside the fire itself! He was constantly sweating and his tight-fitting clothes were soon soaked with sweat. He even felt thirsty and couldn¡¯t help but want to drink water. With a very serious face, Hussein pulled onto Du-Wei and then quickly whispered in his ear a bunch of forms. ¡°Keep in mind, the cultivation of this set of action must coincide with the form in order to have any real effect! The old fool didn¡¯t know this form because he studied only magic, so he hasn¡¯t learned any of this. I personally don¡¯t really understand the meaning of these forms, but you just have to follow the lines. This form is very strange. Under the guidance of Hussein, Du-Wei sat in the snow, closing his eyes to feel the fire in his body. The heat conversed inside his body, like running a high fever. With the guidance of the form, he used his spiritual power to guide the heat inside him. Something strange happened! A stream of hot air seemed endless inside his body, waves after waves of heat hit Du-Wei, almost causing him to pass out. However, while in pain, he also felt a strange sense offort. ¡°I¡¯m afraid in this world, not many people liked to be grilled.¡± Du-Weiughed at himself. With his eyes closed, Du-Wei did not know his sweat has drenched his clothes. Even the snow where his butt sat has melted away. The heat roasted his body, bones, and muscles, while invisibly fixing some of his weaknesses and changing his body. Of course, the naked eye cannot see these changes. After a long time has passed, Du-Wei opened his eyes to see the sun is already on top of his head. In one sitting, he actually sat all the way till noon. Hussein sat beside him, with a faint smile as he looked at him. ¡°Well, the first time is usually the longest. Next time when practicing, you won¡¯t be sitting for such lengths as long as you perform the set of action while chanting the form to guide the heat. Du-Wei stretched out his hands while his body felt warm andfy. When the cold wind blew against his body, he couldn¡¯t feel the slightest chill and broke out in a sweat. ¡°This¡­¡­ Is Dou Qi?¡± ¡°It is still too early to think that!¡± Saddam Hussein mocked him. ¡°It¡¯s just the most basic method of exercise; the distance from practicing Dou Qi is still far, far away! This current training will only improve your fitness a lot, but won¡¯t let you be a master.¡± Then Hussein whispered, ¡°The person whom created this kind of cultivation method left behind these words. (No matter how strong the person is in nature, whether his Dou Qi is good, or whatever is good, it is all just energy. Our body is also energy, but in order to live in this world, we need to breathe the air, drink the water, and eat to supplement the body¡¯s lost energy. However, each body is different as some can only absorb 30 to 40 percent of what they take in, while some can absorb a bit more than others. This method of cultivation makes the person¡¯s body even stronger and purer, lowering the energy consumption and waste. From then on, when you absorb energy from eating, drinking, and even the process of breathing, your body will naturally absorb the energy. If you are a man of cultivation, whether you practice magic or martial skills, your cultivation will be faster than others because your body has been slowly improving. You will also have an easier time producing energy while reducing energy consumption.)¡± I see¡­.. In his heart, Du-Wei gives his own definition of this cultivation method. ¡°It¡¯s like a ¡°single-cylinder engine¡± turning into a more powerful ¡°twin-cylinder engine¡±! ¡°Good, now go take a bath. Your whole body stinks!¡± Saddam Hussein pushed Du-Wei away. In this weather, Du-Wei just took off his clothes, and picked up a handful of snow to physically rub onto his skin. Without any cold sensation, it was like taking a pleasant cold bath in the summer. Du-Wei was very happy and enjoying the change in himself¡­¡­ In his view, this can also satisfy his own hearts vanity (excessive pride). Caught in this snow coverednd using snow to brush one¡¯s own body and not feel even a little bit cold¡­¡­ This feeling is like a very ¡°tough guy¡±, isn¡¯t it? HA HA. Seeing the happy Du-Wei bathing in the snow, Hussein sat next to the tent contemting, and then he sighed softly. That¡¯s still good¡­¡­ He cannot say when he might die. If he did die, then no one would be able to pass this on into the future. No matter how¡­.. Aragon, I have spread out your set of ¡°Stars Dou Qi¡± method. Although you are my nightmares, but being a warrior, I cannot just look at this amazing martial skill being lost. This absolutely cannot happen. Well¡­¡­ Stars Dou Qi, we¡¯ll see if this guy can satisfy me with his progress, maybe I can really pass on the real Stars Dou Qi to him. Du-Wei did not know, the set of actions he is currently cultivating at this moment, was in fact the martial art skills of Aragon Rnd. Nearly a thousand years ago, the founding emperor of the Rnd Empire swept through the continent as the strongest and reached the pinnacle among experts by using the Stars Dou Qi¡­.. The stars¡­ ¡­ A word rted to the gods. Of course, our little noble is only practicing the most basic of the physical method, if he progresses quickly enough, perhaps¡­ ¡°Well then, we should hit the road.¡± After stopping slightly, Hussein stood up and waved his hand. A strong wind from his hand immediately puts out the fire and at the same time, covered it with snow. Dadaneier has alreadye back and began drawing the tent. All the while, Hussein shouted loudly at Du-Wei. ¡°Boy, put on your clothes, I don¡¯t want to see you naked butt!¡± Chapter 73 Continuing along the road near the Great Lakes, the three headed North towards the forest. In front of their eyes, the vastness of the forest seemed endless as they walked along the Lake. Finally, after two days of tough slogging, they have reached the northern shore. Du-Wei took out the gift (map) given to him by Chairman Beinlich of the snow Wolf mercenary. Looking at the fragmented map, the Southern banks of the Great Lake is very detailed. Area¡¯s where it is safe, and locations where more monster is infested is marked down in great lengths. As for the northernke shores, the marks were simple inparison. Big chunks of white space on the map simply read ¡°forest¡±, and the only forward direction mark was left behind by Chairman Beinlich. This was only possible after checking with a lot of previous records from other adventurer¡¯s. ¡°Well, if we continue to head north, then I¡¯d rather go along this road on the map.¡± Du-Wei opened up the map for the two of them to see. ¡°Look, this is probably the only ce in 200 years that someone has traveled along¡­¡­ In this direction is the position we are now to the left¡­¡­ And to the North, we will cross a secured safe zone. The map says this ce has a rtively small amount of magical beasts. Then two dayster, we wille to a Canyon, Oh, and the Canyon has no name, but it says very clearly that there is danger with high possibility of advanced magical beasts appearing. Further north of this area ispletely unknown.¡± Dadaneier looked at the map carefully; while Hussein¡¯s face acted like it does not matter. ¡°Mypanions, where should we go from here?¡± Du-Wei said with a smile. ¡°Based on the map markings, should we take the canyon route or should we just aimless head north?¡± At the time of saying this, Du-Wei kept part of his attention on Hussein. He felt that the old magician must have a purpose traveling through the forest, and this holy night, the traitor of the holy temple must know their destination. Until now, they wouldn¡¯t say where, but at this point, they should tell him. But Du-Wei was disappointed by Hussein¡¯s indifferent facial expression. Speaking lightly, ¡°Whatever, just head North, as to which way to go, you deciding is fine.¡± ¡°Go to the Canyon.¡± Dadaneier pondered the question for a moment, then put forward his own proposal: ¡°No one has been to the other ces, who know what those ces have. Only the Canyon was traveled through before, though the information left behind is not much, but at least we can prepare for it.¡± ¡°All right then, it¡¯s decided.¡± Du-Wei picked up and put away the map. Laughing as he spoke, ¡°We set off towards the Canyon!¡± Du-Wei had a very indifferent look just like the knight, after all, being apanied by the continents strongest knight, as well as the super sorcerer following behind. Even if he encounters any danger, there shouldn¡¯t be any problem. That thought kept his feelings at ease. Across the Great Lakes to the North, the weather¡¯s been so cold that a normal person can no longer withstand it. It can be said, if Du-Wei still had his previous constitution, he would have already frozen to death on the road. But luckily every day, Hussein would teach him a new set of action and this is just enough to withstand the cold. As for Hussein, he had no fear of the cold because he just had to increase his Dou Qi. Instead, it was Dadaneier that seemed to be unable to support himself. Although he was a strong warrior, his strength was only at a third level warrior. As they headed into the forest, the weather was very strange with no wind in the area and only silence weed them. The thick snow under their feet is enough to cause their mind to go numb in this situation. Sometimes, if they take a misstep into a snow pit, the depth of the snow is enough to bury a person up to the waist! Also, the snow is not only very thick, but also very hard! These past two days, when they dig into the ground to set up a tent, it was so thick that they couldn¡¯t see soil. And several times, what they found instead was ayer of thick ice. ¡°Damn it man¡­.. I suspect there is no soil in the ground, but actually a giant piece of ice! Then how do the trees around here grow? Can trees grow on ice?¡± Dadaneier sighed. Du-Wei frowned, then he whispered, ¡°Did you feel it? Ever since we left the Lake and traveled into the Woods, I always felt a strange illusion. It¡¯s too quiet, almost without sound, but I seem to feel like we¡¯re being spied upon at all times¡­¡­ Do you have this feeling?¡± Dadaneier shook his head, implying no. Hussein only smiled for a second before ncing at Du-Wei, ¡°Oh, really, you also feel that?¡± Du-Wei had relied on his huge mental powers and keen senses. As for the Knight, it was because of his transcendent powers. But Dadaneier was only a mid-level warrior; his strength was rtively low and his telepathic abilities aren¡¯t strong either. ¡°Could it be that we are being targeted by a magical beast?¡± Du-Wei frowned. ¡°Maybe not a, but rather a group of.¡± Hussein spoke in a light tone, ¡°What the heck! They better not appear, if they do appear, then we would have a few more dinners.¡± (Noment¡­.) Du-Wei has no doubt in the knight¡¯s word. In fact, along the process of traveling through this road that ran along the big Lake, they have already more than once encountered magical beasts. In this snow coverednd, where food is scarce, high level magical beasts and bloodthirsty monsters would desperately try to prey upon them. Even at night, Du-Wei would sprinkle dragon droppings around the camp, but it showed little effect as a deterrent. The magical beasts here seemed to have higher intelligence because dragon feces are not enough to scare them away. Even though they do not dare to directly attack, some would still attempt to try. On a previous night, three earth dragons dug out from under the tent to attack them. The earth dragons are not really dragons, but rather looked like pangolins from Du-Wei¡¯s past life. Even these kind of problems can cause quite a headache for them! The beasts could freely dig through the frozen ground that was as hard as iron, and their speed is fast! These things are draped in a hardyer of scale and as to how hard is it really? You can ask Dadaneier this question. In the night attack, the third level warrior Dadaneier used his de to hack against the back of the earth dragon, the resulting impact force only caused the body of the earth dragon to shake a bit. As for the de Dadaneier was holding, it broke and shattered into two pieces. The earth dragon has an unusual defense and their ws and teeth are even worse, easily able to bite apart hard metals! They relied heavily on their ws and teeth to tunnel under the frozen soil. Even though they are small creatures, they are capable of astonishing speed and are almost bullet proof. If somehow they are able to catch or bite you, then you might lose your life. If the team didn¡¯t have such a strong person like Hussein, Du-Wei wouldn¡¯t doubt that he and Dadaneier would have been finished. During that event when Dadaneier used his de to hack against the body of the earth dragon, his sword broke while the earth dragon just shrugged it off. Then ittched onto Dadaneier¡¯s body and used its ws to pierce right through the leather armor and even into the shoulder bones. It was at that moment. Hussein, the continents strongest knight made his move. Using a broken sword, his one strike was enshrouded in a subtle Golden me. The Dou Qi of this pale golden light was extremely bright in the night. In such a light, the three earth dragon had their heads severed and dismembered into six pieces! That night, the three enjoyed an earth dragon barbecue. After breaking apart the hard scales of the earth dragon, their meat was also tough and impossible to chew, but their guts were very tasty and delicious. Hussein even stripped down the body scales of the three earth dragons and stored them into a heavy bag. Turning to Du-Wei as he spoke, ¡°Take these things to make armor, they are very light in weight and is better than metal as a material. It should be very good.¡± The Knight even ripped out the tendons of three earth dragon. The tendons are extremely tough and stic, by recing Dadaneier¡¯s bow string with the tendon, it would be several times better than a bow with an iron string. Dadaneier no longer held any hate towards Hussein. Although Hussein almost killed him, the Knight not only saved his life, but also got him a good bow. No matter how you look at it, he owed the knight. Hussein still carried a cold look and didn¡¯t talk too much. When nothing is happening, he would cross his arms and closed his eyes to meditate. Dadaneier was embarrassed and didn¡¯t have the nerve to talk with Hussein. But Du-Wei didn¡¯t care because he was full of questions and only the knight can give him the answers. ¡°Hey,¡± Du-Wei went over to sit beside Hussein. ¡°How¡¯s your wound? I still have a little bit of ice berry.¡± Hussain raised his head to look at Du-Wei. ¡°Thanks, but no thanks. Eating too much of that stuff will get me addicted. Also, thest time I had the ice berries, I said something I shouldn¡¯t have. I can endure it now so I don¡¯t need these things.¡± Du-Wei smiled as he whispered, ¡°I noticed your Dou QI was a golden color. I heard that only the Saint Pdin¡¯s Dou Qi were golden color. You are the strongest knight in a century and the closest to being a Saint Pdin. Now looking at the color of your Dou QI¡­¡­ Could you now be a Saint Pdin?¡± Hussein raised an eyebrow and with a faint smile, ¡°Saint Pdin¡­¡­ If I am already a Saint Pdin, then I wouldn¡¯t have so many injuries.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a Saint Pdin?¡± Du-Wei was surprised. Relying on one¡¯s own power, he killed two of his own peers that were also ninth level knights. On top of that, he also killed a presiding judgment lord of the temple, whom is also a top magician. Though Du-Wei didn¡¯t know what level the presiding judge was at, but thinking about, it has to be at least eighth level and higher. Lastly, there was also the eighth level holy knight and a bunch of intermediate knights¡­. Hussein has such terrifying strength, yet he still couldn¡¯t reach the level of a Saint Pdin? ¡°At this moment, I am still at the ninth level.¡± Hussein sighed, ¡°I feel that I¡¯m about to have a critical break through, but always a step short¡­¡­ This step is clearly in front of me, but even I don¡¯t know how to exceed this barrier. Maybe it will be today; maybe never in this lifetime, only god knows when.¡± Du-Wei took a deep breath before speaking, ¡°Then what is a Saint Pdin?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Hussein shakes his head with confusion in his eyes. ¡°But what I do know is that before reaching Saint ss, there is a great divide between the ordinary levels. Between ordinary knights of eighth and ninth level, even if the strength varies, it is possible to win against a higher level knight by challenging a ninth level knight with a few other eighth level knights. ording to legend, once you get to the Saint ss level, even if you gather a lot of ninth level knights, the group would never be able to ovee the Saint Pdin. The difference is only one level, but thisst level represents a divide so great that most are unable to cross!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Du-Wei did not say what he was thinking. ¡°Sometimes, I feel I¡¯m already very strong.¡± Hussein showed a wry smile, ¡°When battling Lord Luke and the other holy knight leader, my strength was stronger than they were but I can only handle their joint attacks before reaching my limit. If I was a Saint Pdin¡­.¡± Hussein shakes his head before closing his mouth. Seeing Hussein didn¡¯t want to continue the conversation. Du-Wei can only sigh and shake his head before going over to help tend the fire with Dadaneier. The next afternoon, they finally closed in on to thest marked location on the map, ¡°Canyon¡±. In fact, the topography of the ce is very simple. Crossing in front is two slopes; the top revealed a yellowish granite rock covered with ice and snow. Between the two slopes is a fracture indicating to what the map called the ¡°Canyon¡±. The three men went to the entrance of the Canyon, but kept their silence because on both sides, as if deliberately left there, stood two stone sculptures! On the left is a human Knight, approximately the size of an ordinary person. This stone sculpture was finely carved at the grand master level of engraving! The Knight¡¯s sword was still waving with an angry facial expression, almost lifelike! The body armor looked somewhat broken, but even the broken gaps were carved with a high degree of detail. Gently wiping away ayer of snow, exposed the Knight¡¯s armor. Even the patterns are exquisite and clear!! Du-Wei¡¯s face suddenly changed as he observed the overly life like statue. ¡°These¡­¡­ stone statues are not carved! They are real people, only petrified!¡± Very quickly, Du-Wei and Dadaneier looked at each other before uttering a word at the same time! ¡°Golden eye Python!¡± Hussein masked a somber face, then suddenly pulled out a sword. Frowning, he whispered. ¡°Hey! I feel that hateful feeling again! There is something secretly peeking at us! Like¡­¡­ Right here!¡± Chapter 74 Once Hussein finished speaking, he lightly waved his sword through the air in self defense. While in the knight¡¯s hand, a muffled ringing sound could be heard even though the sword was broken. The sound carried a murderous chilling atmosphere and while standing next to Hussein, Du Wei can clearly feel a hair raising chill through his side. Dadaneier was also nervously looking around. ¡°What did you find? Could it be the golden eye Python?¡± ¡°No,¡± Hussein spoke coldly. ¡°Golden eye Pythons are solitary magical beasts, while there are a lot of these things around.¡± In the air, there was a faint voice like that of rustling leaves and branches. Then from a distance, a buckling sound was osciting around the area, causing the snow on top of the trees and rocks to flutter down to the ground. In addition, Du Wei also heard a strange voice like that of a conversation. The buzzes were not like that of a human¡¯s voice, nor a howl like that of magical beast. Among the shaking sounds of rustling leaves, the sounds of swarming bees could be heard¡­. Then all of a sudden, snipping sounds could be heard from numerous ces, like those of wood breaking. What happened after was a real eye opener for Du Wei. About 20 paces from them, a cedar tree suddenly shook as it pulled its roots out from the snow! Shaking a few times to remove the soil and ice clinging to it, the huge roots split into two sections like a person¡¯s leg. Then in a clumsy way, it took two steps forward! Du Wei suddenly breaks out of his shock! That buzzing rustling sound was like some sort of wakeup signal. Soon, in the surrounding forest, countless number of trees started to shake as if awaking from slumber! Pulling out their roots from the snow, the trees started to walk awkwardly towards them. Du Wei and Dadaneier were already frozen in ce as they watched. As for Hussein, his face had a thoughtful look as he peered at the living trees. The ¡°Treants¡± increased in numbers as they gathered. With more than 10 to a couple of dozen of these huge bulking bodies packed towards them from the Canyon entrance, all the while keeping a certain distance from them. These trees didn¡¯t have eyes or mouths, but they did have a lot of arms! Curling their branches up, many of these ¡°Treants¡± picked up something to be used as ¡°weapons¡±. In the mix, there were huge stones, while some were frosted soil from the ground, and some simply grabbed chunks of ice with their vines. ¡°They are¡­¡­ Readying to attack us?!¡± Du Wei shouted, ¡°We need to move back! Head into the Canyon!¡± ¡°Wait a minute, just wait a while!¡± Hussein spoke in a steady voice, ¡°These are Treants, I know they are creatures¡­¡­ However, Treants are docile magical creatures. They never take the initiative to attack something, so don¡¯t move! If they are provoked, they can wake up more trees! Don¡¯t forget, we are in the frozen forest, there are trees everywhere! Suddenly, several Treants standing in the front row lets out a strange ROAR as if stirred by the dialogue between the two. (Du Wei could not understand how these things without a mouth, could let out a roaring sound). While roaring, a few Treants used their ¡°hands¡± to roll up rocks and ice to throw towards the three men! With a cry, Du Wei quickly chanted a spell and shot forth two wind des at the huge mass of ice in the air, shattering it. Facing a dense barrage of rocks facing down upon them, Saddam Hussein suddenly grabbed Du Wei¡¯s the cor with one hand, then with his other hand holding a sword handle, he shoved it against Dadaneier¡¯s chest to push him out of the way. Afterwards, Hussein also jumped away with Du Wei in tow. The collision of dense raining rocks echoed in the Canyon. Therge open area where the three men stood before have been cratered with countlessrge holes. Gripped with horror from the scene, Du Wei stared at Hussein as he spoke. ¡°Dude, what did you just say? Mild temper? Never take the initiative to attack? They clearly wanted and almost mashed us into mud!¡± From a distance, a Treant came towards them in big strides and crushed one of the stone statues, then uttered a roar. Behind it, hundreds ofrge Treants have subsequently issued a flurry of tsunami-like cries. ¡°Hey! They are not very friendly! It¡¯s like they are about to strike at us! Are we going to stand here?¡± Du Wei wore a bitter and wry smile. ¡°Your words are nonsense! There are trees everywhere in this ce, unless you can immediately run out of the frozen forest! Otherwise, all the trees throughout the forest can be awakened to be their allies! So don¡¯t provoke them! ¡°Damn it, I didn¡¯t provoke them.¡± Du Wei scolded with a smile. One Treant suddenly bent down and swept at the three men with its huge branches. Also somewhat annoyed, a pale golden light shed across Hussein¡¯s body. With one swing of his broken sword, a golden light shed across the tree¡¯s ¡°hand¡± and sliced it apart. Once the Knight made his move, he didn¡¯t hold back and went all the way! After setting Du Wei down, the knight leaped towards the front of the enemy. In one move, he bypassed a Treant¡¯srge awl like feet, then with his backhand, he cut the leg in a cross motion. In a snap, the leg of the treant was severed, causing the unstable tree to fall down immediately. The weakness of this huge creature is its slow movement. When a tree falls, it would definitely crush three to fourpanions with it. Like that of a domino, when one falls, the rest goes with it. The Knight simply rushed into the crowd of trees. Physically small, he kept jumping and running to and fro between the trees. While the treants simply couldn¡¯t hit him, his sword has already cut down seven or eight trees. And many of the counter attacks by the Treants ended up hitting their mate¡¯s body, causing a rolling queue¡­. (Note I didn¡¯t really understand this meaning in Chinese, so I had no choice but to leave it be from the trantor -Ò»•rég˜äÈ˵Äê ÁÐÀïÈËÑöñR·­¡­¡­) Just when Du Wei felt reassured, he could hear a distant whirring and buzzing sound picking up pace. It was as if the Treants were beingmanded, suddenly, all the Treants sent out a roar. No longer acting clumsily as they try tond a hit on Hussein, instead, the Treants shed off their leaves and swept towards Hussein in a razor sharp sound! This attack was much more horrifying than the previous, evenparable to countless magicians simultaneously shooting forth numerous wind des! No matter how fast the knight is capable of, he is not immune to the attacks from all directions. After rolling around the ground to dodge, his Dou Qi dispersed and spread around his body. The entirety of the knight and the air around him became like that of a golden ball, blocking off the attacking leaves¡­.. In mere moments, the masses of leaves bouncing off the light have piled up like a haystack and almost covered the knight¡¯s body. It¡¯s not that Du Wei didn¡¯t want to help the knight, in fact, he wanted to help. But just when he peeked his head out from behind a the rock he was hiding behind, two leaves flew and nailed into the rock in front of them. The soft leaves were able to prate deeply into the rocks so they had no choice but be honest to themselves and hide. At this point, the leaves have already covered Hussein entirely, even so, the Knight didn¡¯t give up. Spreading out his arms, the knight took in a deep breath. Suddenly, a vindictive surge of energy erupts from his body and blew the leaves away. Despite being protected by his Dou Qi, he did receive a barrage of attacks over a long period of time, so his body would still be strained. In appearance, Hussein¡¯s eyes now carried a golden glow and the sword he was carrying was shining with a golden light. Hiding behind the rocks, Du Wei could only hear the sound of a loud explosion¡­ Boom!! In one swing, the golden sword instantly cuts down a group of Treants in one area. Even the nearby Treants cracked and broke apart from the impact shock wave of the invincible golden sword Dou Qi (aura). The results were piles of crumbing woods littering the ground. This one skill of Hussein¡¯s was rmingly dangerous. After the golden light dims and dispersed, the surrounding 20 meters ofnd surrounding him was littered with broken pieces of wood. The Treants lucky enough to be further away still ended up lying on the ground. In one sword strike, half of the hundreds of Treants were killed by him! But this one sword strike obviously consumed a lot of energy from the knight. He was already injured to begin with so his strength was far from recovered. After the use of this skill, his breathing became uneven and a whistling sound could be heard from his mouth. No longer able to withstand the strain on his body any longer, sweat could be seen on his forehead as he held his sword tip facing the ground. Du Wei and Dadaneier gave each other one look before jumping out from behind the rocks, then quickly ran to Hussein¡¯s side. Immediately, Dadaneier quickly dragged Hussein with him as he ran back towards the rock they were hiding behind. As for Du Wei, ignoring the consumption of magical energy within himself, he shot forth as many fireballs as he could within one breath and lit the heaps of woods on fire. Turning around as fast as he could, Du Wei followed closely behind the other two. ¡°Run into the Canyon!¡± Du Wei cried. ¡°How are we supposed to run?! The entrance leading into the Canyon was blocked!¡± Dadaneier eximed. The stone throw from the first attack earlier had already blocked off the narrow entrance in the Canyon. ¡°Then let¡¯s first hide behind the rocks!¡± Du Wei cried. The group retreated back to where the two men hid themselves earlier. But behind them, the vibrating rustling and buzzing sound could be heard again from the forest. This time, the sound was traveling even further then before. ¡°They are summoning morepanions.¡± Hussain sighed, ¡°Let me go, I merely over exhausted myself a bit from that one sword strike¡­. If it was the normal me, I would take them all down in one strike. ¡°If it was the normal you, still a Holy Knight, then you wouldn¡¯t have even been chased to this ce.¡± Du Wei showed a wry smile, ¡°You are injured and your strength is only at thirty to forty percent, you can¡¯t cope with the endless amount of monsters. Maybe you can call the old fool out? I think against these things, physical force will be useless against them and the best solution is to userge scale proximity magic.¡± ¡°Wait a moment, something seems wrong¡­¡­¡± Dadaneier peaks his eyes out on top of the rock to see, then suddenly looked down, ¡°They are not attacking, instead, they are retreating to the back as If waiting for something!¡± ¡°What?¡± Du Wei also sticks his head out. Chapter 75 Sure enough, the Treants did not attack. Instead, they slowly retreated backwards by taking heavy individual steps. Instead of relief, something much more terrifying was happening further behind them. The osciting sound in the air was awakening even more trees, turning the gigantic bodies into living creatures¡­. Du-Wei could only shivers from looking at therge tracts of forest in front of him. Within his eyes could see, all the trees are pulling out their roots from the ground and shaking off any clinging snow and ice on them. Like puppets, the dull looking Treants wereing over to surround them¡­¡­ ¡°My God¡­¡­ How many do they have?¡± Dadaneier sighed. ¡°God knows¡­¡­ This is a forest, how big is the frozen forest? How many trees are there? 100,000 trees? 200,000? Hell¡­¡­¡±Du-Wei cursed, ¡°But why didn¡¯t they attack instead of standing there? What are they waiting for¡­¡­¡± Indeed, these Treants are waiting for something. Soon, a heavy tremor like foot step sound wasing closer from further away. Du-Wei could even feel a heavy oscition on the ground. Suddenly, therge group of Treants separated apart and formed an opening like a road. A gigantic being was walking in a low speed towards them within the crowd of trees. Du-Wei¡¯s first impression was ¡°This thing is so fucking BIG!¡± If the other Treants were considered giants¡­.. Then this guy is a giant among giants. From Du-Wei¡¯s visual assessment, this thing is at least seven to eight-stories-high. The whole body torso was dark and hard, covered in dry and old bark, it was like rusty metal. As it walked, the branches produced a rustling sound due to the lush foliage on its body. Du-Wei noticed, this biggest tree in appearance was very close to a ¡°human¡± because its roots has been clearly divided into two branch forks like that of a person¡¯s leg. As for its body¡¯s trunk, it was clearly like that of the English letter ¡°Y¡± shape and the side branches were forked out like a human¡¯s finger. Du-Wei saw the Treants ¡°hand¡±, on the finger hung arge round vine shape thing¡­¡­ As if it was a horn? The most surprising thing was actually on the trunk of the tree; there is a ¡°face¡±! There¡¯s a sharp bump like that of a nose, below it was an opening curving sideways. The bark around that area was very thick, like that of a lip¡­. All other Treants acted as if they are afraid of this big guy, putting themselves up behind it. ¡°Seems like this guy is the leader of the Treants.¡± Du-Wei thought. ¡°Y-o-u¡­.¡± This chief of the Treants sent out a rich and deep voice, although very jerky, Du-Wei still managed to make out the words of the humannguage¡­¡­ Heck, it could actually speak themonnguage of the Rnd continent? ¡°What¡­ Is¡­ Your¡­ Reason¡­ To¡­ Kill¡­ My¡­ Companions¡­¡± The sound of each word echoed in the forest while the deep and rich voice still carried the taste of anger. Du-Wei steeled his nerve and ventured out of the rock cover. Watching the big guy, he shouted. ¡°It was you who attacked us first!¡± ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ Did ¡­ ¡­ Not¡­ ¡­ Follow ¡­ ¡­ The ¡­ ¡­ Agreement!¡± The Treant leader was very angry, even the tree Crown was shaking. Evil ¡­ ¡­ Eye ¡­ ¡­ Tyrant ¡­ ¡­ Promised ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Each ¡­ ¡­ Ten years ¡­ ¡­ Will ¡­ ¡­ Allow ¡­ ¡­ Us ¡­ ¡­ To ¡­ ¡­ Enter ¡­ ¡­ The ¡­ ¡­ Valley ¡­ ¡­ One time ¡­ ¡­ !¡± It sounds as if they are interrogating him. ¡°Today is ¡­ The ¡­ Ten years ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Agreement date, why ¡­ Do ¡­ You want to ¡­ ¡­ Massacre ¡­ ¡­ My ¡­ ¡­ Tribal men ¡­ ¡­. At ¡­ The Canyon ¡­ ¡­ Entrance? Can it be ¡­ ¡­ Evil Eye Tyrant ¡­ ¡­ Again ¡­ Want¡­ To ¡­ Stir up ¡­ ¡­ War ¡­ ¡­ With ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ The ¡­ ¡­ Treants!¡± Ten years? Agreement date? Evil Eye Tyrant? War? Du-Wei immediately understood¡­ ¡­ This is probably a misunderstanding. Seeing the leader of the Treants about to start raging, Du-Wei immediately stood up straight and shouted. ¡°Wait, can I ask a question?¡± The Treant Leader looked at Du-Wei. Du-Wei took a deep breath and thenughed in the mildest tone. ¡°Excuse me, you said the Evil Eye Tyrant, what is it? I¡¯m not familiar with such a thing.¡± Once said, the Treants and the three men were silent. Luckily the Treants had no eyes, or else it would have been a wonderful ¡°wide eyes staring scene. ¡°You ¡­ Are ¡­ Not ¡­ Men¡¯s ¡­ Of ¡­ The ¡­ Evil Eye Tyrant?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ve never heard of this name.¡± Du-Wei replied. ¡°That ¡­ ¡­ You ¡­ ¡­ Is ¡­ ¡­ I¡¯m sorry?¡± Du-Wei jumped out from behind the rock with open arms. Then, with a smile, he tidied his body before speaking. ¡±You have to ask? We¡¯re humans; you¡¯ve never seen a human?¡± The Treant leader was silent for a while before taking a few steps forward with its sturdy and thick legs, then bending its body slightly down to carefully inspect Du-Wei. After a moment, the Treant leader once again stood up straight and spoke with a hint of joy in its voice. ¡°Oh, you ¡­ ¡­ Are ¡­ ¡­ Human! I ¡­ ¡­ Remember ¡­ ¡­ Humans ¡­ ¡­ From a long time ¡­ ¡­ Ago ¡­ ¡­ A ¡­ ¡­ Human ¡­ ¡­ Friend ¡­ ¡­ Taught ¡­ ¡­ Me ¡­ ¡­ Speech¡­¡­¡± The Treant leader may be slow, but from the tone of its voice, Du-Wei could tell it was not stupid. In a quick turnaround, the Treant leader¡¯s voice changed from joy, back to anger as it spoke. ¡°But ¡­ ¡­ You ¡­ ¡­ Hurt ¡­ ¡­ My ¡­ ¡­ Companion!¡± ¡°It was yourpanions who attacked us first.¡± Du-Wei seemed to believe the Treants could be easily bullied, ¡°We were just standing here. Then your allies appeared and started throwing stones at us.¡± ¡°Hmmm ¡­ ¡­¡± The Treant leader muttered some low sounding words, seemingly in thought. Afterwards, it cried out in a loud voice, ¡°Very well ¡­ ¡­ It ¡­ ¡­ was ¡­ My ¡­ Companions ¡­ ¡­ First ¡­ ¡­¡± His slow speaking style caused Du-Wei to feel impatient and annoyed. ¡°In that case, can we go now?¡± ¡°No ¡­ ¡­¡± The Treant leader was inadequate in his word, but soon found the most suitable words to express his meaning. ¡°Compensation!!¡± Compensation? Du-Wei thought and thought¡­ ¡­ Compensation for the seventy to eighty Treants that were blown into pieces by Hussein? How or what can hepensate with? With gold coins? But what would a Treant need gold for? Do we have to pay life with life? Chop down a few trees and we get sentenced to death? Where in the world is there such logic? Anyways, no matter how Du-Wei thought about it, he felt his side was in the right. After all, their group was just standing here before the Treants appeared. Without provocation, the Treants first started throwing huge stones capable of mashing a person to death. They only retaliated in self-defense¡­.. How can they just stand here and let the group of Treants kill them? However, it is clear, the slow and stubborn Treant leader was not speaking logical and fair. Du-Wei spent a moment in thought and recalled the topic from before. Immediately, Du-Wei had an idea. ¡°Dear Treant Sir. Excuse me, did you say Evil Eye Tyrant, could you exin what is going on? I heard you mention war?¡± ¡­¡­ The Treant is not an eligible and qualified speaker. Its slow and deep voice was like the old fashioned folks from Du-Wei¡¯s past life. These kinds of folks could cause a simple and short subject to take so long that the sun would go down before making things clear. Du-Wei spected. From the Treant leader¡¯s word, thisnd and the whole frozen forest territory belonged to the Treant tribe. This knowledge made him think the Treant leader was only bragging because they have already been in the forest for a few days and he has never seen a tree able to survive in this ce. Oh, by the way, the heavy guy introduced himself and it had a name that ismensurate with its status, ¡°Greenwood.¡± In Greenwood¡¯s words, it was born in thisnd, living in thisnd; it is a standard and pure Treant. Du-Wei did not care whether there is any so-called ¡°pedigree¡± in the Treants lineage, but what Greenwood (Treant Leader) said did intrigue him. First of all, therge groups of Treants standing in front of them are not real Treants. The only real Treant is Greenwood and he imed the only real Treant left on thisnd was him. As for thepanions around him, they were all awakened by the horn wrapped around his tree vine hand. Du-Wei spected that the so-calledpanions actually mean subordinates. The horn¡¯s name ¡°natural horn¡±, gave Du-Wei a magical sense of feeling. The heirloom of the Treants, passed on from generation to generation. Once blown, the horns sound will awaken all the surrounding trees and make them into ¡°Companions¡± that will wait formands. And the Treants tribal heritage surprised Du-Wei. They had no gender distinctions, and their heritage was through the ¡°natural horn.¡± The probable case is using the ¡°natural Horn¡± to awaken the ¡°Companions¡± at the beginning with no intelligence or self-awareness. At this stage, they would only act by the orders of the real Treant and perform only simple actions. ¡°But why did they attack us?¡± Du-Wei questioned. Old Greenwood¡¯s answer to Du-Wei¡¯s question made him regret asking. The Evil Eye Tyrant has been destroying the forest, so the trees all hated this guy, and they all thought the three of you stationed at the valley entrance were subordinates of the Evil Eye Tyrant. They are not able to distinguish what is a human¡­.. So forgive these non-consciousness Treants? When first awakened, a Treant wouldn¡¯t have any self-consciousness. In a small chance, with years of growth, they will slowly develop self-consciousness. Such urrences are very rare and only a small number of ¡°Companions¡± would truly be a real ¡°Treant¡±. ording to what he said, there was originally a few real Treant in this forest. The numbers of this tribal race wasn¡¯t much, only around 3 to 5. The saying that Treants are a sparsely popted race, made Du-Wei feel helpless and annoyed. There are clearly trees everywhere, but the numbers that could truly be real Treants are simply too little. Most of these will forever remain in the stage ofcking self-awareness. Originally out of the 3 to 5 Treants, Greenwood was the oldest. ording to his words, they have been happily living in this forest because they had no natural enemies. Whether it was magical beasts, or simply something else entirely, they were no threat to them. Until one day¡­.. A power and evil existence came to this ¡°beautiful, harmonious¡± ce. (Old Greenwood¡¯s words) That guy is called ¡°evil eye tyrant¡±, he robbed the most valuable asset belonging to the Treants and that is this Canyon! Although this forest has an infinite expanse ofnd, this small Canyon is indispensable to the Treant race! Because¡­ ¡­ In this Canyon, there is an heirloom treasure rted to the Treant family, passed on from one generation to the next. It is a pity that this treasure has been confiscated by the Evil Eye Tyrant. What¡¯s more maddening is that when the angry Treants came with their ¡°Companions¡± to find the evil guy and argue with him, the Evil Eye Tyrant used his strong magical powers to kill Old Greenwoods peers. Out of the original 3 to 5 real Treants, only one was left and the rest was killed by the Evil Eye tyrant. What¡¯s even worse was that this guy used the body remains to erect his own pce inside this very Canyon. Angry Old Greenwood blew the ¡°natural Horn¡± and gathered arge number of his ¡°Companions¡± together in an attack on the Canyon, but the Treants weren¡¯t able to win against the powerful Evil Eye Tyrant. The strong presence of this evil used his magic to drive around the magical beasts in the Canyon! Even undead ghouls and spirits would crawl out from the ground! Faced with such monsters, Old Greenwood lost many of his ¡°Companions¡±. Fortunately, this is the forest, and Old Greenwood can call forth an endless number of ¡°Companions¡±. No matter what, the Evil Eye Tyrant still had a doubt of hesitation. Finally, under a stalemate, the two sides managed to reach a truce agreement. Old Greenwood requested the return of the Canyon, but the Evil Eye Tyrant refused. Finally, under the agreement by both sides, the Treants will be allowed to enter the Canyon once each ten years. ¡°What is there at the end of the Canyon?¡± Du-Wei was even more interested in this after listening to the story. ¡°The Fountain of¡­. Life¡± Old Greenwood replied, ¡°Source¡­.. of the Treant race¡¯s continuation!¡± Chapter 76 Chapter 76 ¡°him!¡± To the Treant tribe, ¡°the fountain of life¡± also has another ancient name, ¡°the fountain of youth¡±. This spring is said to be the Treants evesting foundation. From a long time ago, ancient legends of the Treants told a tale of when there were still no Treants in this world. Beside this spring, a gigantic tree grew next to it, over time, its roots absorbed the magical waters and came alive. This being became the first ever Treant and the ancestor of every living Treant in this world. Later on, the only ancestor of the Treants felt very lonely in this world without any peers. With heaven¡¯s mercy, they gave the ancestor the ¡°natural trumpet¡± as a solution. With the sound of the horn, the ancestor was able to awaken other trees. From then on, the Treant specie came into the world. As for the Fountain of youth, the biggest use of it is to extend the life span of the Treant race. You need to understand, the process of awakening a tree into a Treant is a very long time. From the initial awakening call from the horn, each ¡°Companion¡± still had no sense of self awareness. At this point, they are no different then a bunch of walking and moving woods without a will. In order to form self awareness, a long time is required¡­.. Not just years or decades, but hundreds of years or even more. The problem is that most life span of trees generally onlysts a century or so, from a small seedling, growing into a tree, takes a few decades, what¡¯s left of its life span after being awakened into a ¡°Companion¡± is only a few decades. From ¡°Companion¡± sses, to bing a real ¡°Treant¡±, would at a minimum require at least hundreds of years. Most trees would never have this kind of long lifespan. Wouldn¡¯t they be dead from age before forming self consciousness? Therefore, the fountain of youth, is especially important to the Treants. All the Treants tribesman would only need to use their roots to absorb a little bit of the spring water, then they can live forever. Living a life span of 2000 afterwards would not be a problem. Hearing this, Du-Wei can¡¯t help but once again raise some questions. ¡°If you only need to absorb a little bit of the spring¡¯s water in order to live a very long time¡­.. Then why did the Treants only have 3 to 5 members left before the Evil Eye Tyrant appeared? In theory, all the ¡°Companion¡± ss Treants could have a long life span by absorbing the spring water, then they just need to await the slow formation of its self awareness. Thest Treant in this world ¡°Geenwood¡± let out a long sigh as he spoke in a low and helpless tone. ¡°Because¡­¡­ Spring¡­ Water¡­ Very¡­¡­ Scarce¡­¡­¡± After some exnation, Du-Wei finally got it. This fountain is just very small whenpared to therge body of the Treants. Such a spring is simply not enough water for the Treants to enjoy. ording Greenwood¡¯s words, this spring is only as big as a tree branch. No one knows where the spring water flows from and during the spring season, it would sometimes dry up. Once dried, it would be a few years before it started flowing again. Sometimes full, sometimes dry, such an unstable state¡­.. And adding on to that, a single drink for a Treant requires arge amount water. Such a state has effected the Treant species¡¯ ability to produce the next generation and kept the poption of this race really low. ording to Greenwood¡¯s depiction, Du-Wei stumbled a little on one point¡­¡­ Maybe they are simply too kind hearted, or too simple mind. Before the Evil Eye Tyrant appeared, the Canyon waspletely under the control of the Treants, but they never once thought of hogging the fountain all to themselves. They naively thought it was the gift of the Gods, so they happily shared the already scarce spring water with the magical beasts of the forest, making the scarce spring water to be even scarcer! But it is a pity, the longevity granted by this fountain of youth seems to only effect the Treants. As for the magical beasts that drank the spring water, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any significant effects on its life¡­.. Yet, there is another miraculous effect. First of all, no matter how many injuries, even if it is in the dying state, as long as it is able to drink the spring water, then they would immediately be revived! This fact was enough to cause Du-Wei¡¯s eye to sparkle with delight! Secondly, this spring water seemed to be able to increase the magical level in the magical beasts. Once a magical beast takes even a sip, it would go through some sort of change. Simply put, it will go through ¡°advancement¡±. This concept was somewhat vague so Du-Wei pressed on with his inquiries. Unfortunately, Old Greenwood¡¯s words were not clear, but he did refer to an example that raised Du-Wei¡¯s interest. When Old Greenwood was younger (God knows how old he was when referring to the word ¡°young¡±), the kind and gentle Treants had no problems with the surrounding magical beasts at all. It used to have a friend that was a fully grown adult magical ice wolf. After drinking the spring water, this demon wolf immediately went through a advancement event. From a lower middle ss demon wolf, the creature incredibly advanced into a higher ¡°Storm King of wolves¡±. ording to the current knowledge of the magician¡¯s trade union and their rough grading of magical beasts, the ¡°Storm King of wolves¡± is one of the ultimate advanced state of the ice demon wolf. This creature is a truly high ss magical creature, not only does it have all the powers of the ordinary ice demon wolf, it is stronger, more intellectual, and its wisdom is even higher¡­.. At the same time, it also has another ability called ¡°Summoning¡±. A summoning call from the Storm King wolf can be strong or weak based ording to the amount of magic it used and the geographical area covered. From that, it could call forth all the creatures within this area¡­.. Noting ¡°everything within it¡±, without any distinction of its kind or race. As long as the creature is of lower rank than the Storm King wolf, the creature would be its subordinate and obey anymands given! In other words, this is an ¡°ultimate summon spell¡±. In the case of an adult Storm King Wolf using the summoning spell, all lower ranked creatures within the scope of its influence would be its subordinate. ¡°This is practically an army regiment of magical beasts¡­¡­¡± Du-Wei sighed. However, this example did show the miraculous effect of the fountain of youth. Du-Wei¡¯s eye was sparkling even brighter then before! What¡¯s even more surprising to Du-Wei, there is also a case that the spring has a miraculous effect on humans. In his exnation of why he was able to speak the humannguage of the Rnd empire, Old Greenwood said something very shocking. When Old Greenwood was born, he was not naturally capable of speaking the humannguage. Du-Wei did not ask whether the Treants have their ownnguage, but at least a one thing is clear, a new born tree is not capable of speech at birth. Even humans need to start from an infant age when learning anguage. It was a human that taught Old Greenwood the humannguage. A Long time ago¡­¡­ Du-Wei ispletely perplexed at Old Greenwood¡¯s age, but anyways, what it said of being a long time ago should be at least a few hundred years ago. At that time, a strong and powerful human must have stayed in the forest for a long period of time and made the gentle and kind Treants into his friends. Old Greenwood¡¯s ability to speak the humannguage should have been from this human. As a token of their friendship, Old Greenwood must have taken this person to the fountain of youth and let him have a taste of the springs magic. Du-Wei believed that a human capable ofing this deep into the frozen forest has to be an expert found only one in a million. Without sufficient strength, one will definitely not be able to get here. ¡°Then what?¡± Du-Wei¡¯s heart was moving, ¡°This human, is a friend of yours? Who is he and do you know his name?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Let me¡­¡­ Think¡­¡­ ¡°Old Greenwood thought about it for a long time, and then answered with a sense regret in his reply, ¡°Time¡­ Is¡­ Too long¡­¡­ I¡­¡­ Already¡­¡­ Forgot¡­¡­ His¡­¡­ Name¡­¡­ But¡­¡­ I¡­¡­ Know¡­¡­ He¡­¡­ Is¡­¡­ A¡­¡­ Emperor of mankind, Hmmm¡­¡­ That¡¯s right¡­ He¡­ Is¡­¡­ ¡®The Emperor¡¯, this¡­¡­ Word¡­.. I¡­¡­ Remember¡­¡­¡± Don¡¯t even bother mentioning the joy that Old Greenwood felt for not forgetting the term because words cannot be used to describe the inner shock Du-Wei felt at this moment. Once upon a time, an Emperor of mankind with the ability to go this deep into the frozen forests. During the thousand years of history of the Rnd continent, the only one that can be considered extremely powerful, and has the identity of the Emperor, thinking it over and over¡­¡­. The only person thates up was Aragon Rnd! Du-Wei couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Why¡­.. It seems whatever quirky or legendary event that he encountered has a rtionship with this expert of his generation? Deliberating for a second, whatever news that he could get is already out¡­.. At this thought, Du-Wei¡¯s heart felt guilty. The Treant tribe was truly gentle and kind. Old Greenwood was simple-minded and his temperament was also docile. Du-Wei didn¡¯t even need to lead him on much and the Treant already spilled out everything he wanted to know. A part of Du-Wei wanted to sigh at the extremely simple minded nature of the Treants. The existence of the fountain of youth will definitely cause anyone that knows of such a thing to get involved, but at the same time, Du-Wei couldn¡¯t help but have a peculiar and pure emotion towards Old Greenwood. ¡°Dear Greenwood¡­.. Treant friend,¡± Du-Wei bowed his body slightly, then smiled.¡± I¡¯m sorry for hurting your ¡°Companions¡±, of course, we are also willing to makepensation. Well then, me and my partners also have some nice skills and abilities. I¡¯m sympathetic towards the Treants misfortune, I¡¯d like to help you fight against the Evil Eye Tyrant inside the Canyon. In such a way, we can make amends for the conflict from earlier, how do you like my proposal?¡± Now it was Old Greenwood that was not assured and the thing that he said afterwards made Du-Wei feel worried¡­. Chapter 77 77th Chapter ¡°evil eye tyrant¡± ¡°You are not the first human beings toe here!¡± Just more than 20 years ago, there was a group of humans that came to this ce and didn¡¯t have any conflicts with the Treant tribe. Just like now, they met Old Greenwood and decided to enter the Canyon in order to kill the Evil Eye Tyrant. The results¡­¡­.. Old Greenwood very kindly pointed towards the stone sculpture located at the Canyon entrance¡­.. Unfortunately, a Treant ¡°Companion has already stepped on it earlier and caused it to shatter into pieces. Du-Wei immediately recalled what Bienlich (the head of the snow wolf mercenary) said to him. ording to records, the deepest ce in the frozen forest that humanity has reached is this Canyon. About 20 years ago, a Grand Magician apanied by a group of advanced level knights came to this ce and waspletely wiped out except the Grand Magician that escaped alone. Du-Wei even suspected the gift given to him by Bienlich was in fact a map left behind by this wizard. The way the Treants expressed themselves was awkward, but their meaning was very obvious. I have seen how powerful the humans that came to this ce before, but they were all defeated by the Evil Eye Tyrant. So we don¡¯t believe you could defeat the Evil Eye Tyrant¡­.. ¡°Thank you for this reminder, but the Treants have nothing to lose in this, right?¡± Du-Wei smiled, ¡°We will go and kill the evil being. If we lose this battle, it has nothing to do with the Treants, and if we seed, then we can think of it aspensation for earlier.¡± Du-Wei¡¯s remark gave no room for Old Greenwood to critique, but the Treant once again demonstrated its incredibly na?ve and gentle nature. Old Greenwood slowly bent down its body, then plucked off a leaf after searching through its branches¡­¡­ Du-Wei noticed, the leaf was golden colored. ¡°If¡­¡­ You are in danger¡­.. Put it¡­.. In the¡­¡­ Ground, then maybe¡­.. It will protect¡­.You for a little while.¡± Du-Wei was shocked, you need to understand, they are currently still at odds against the Treants. Du-Wei could only sigh at the kindness and innocent nature of the Treants, as well as the speed they forget their hatred¡­¡­ Even if they manage to increase the poption of their race, the likelihood of them surviving is difficult. With a sigh, Du-Wei returned to the back of the rock and looked at his twopanions. ¡°Hey, you clearly heard right? I think we have something to do¡­.. Who knows what kind of freak this Evil Eye Tyrant is.¡± Hussein spoke in a light tone. ¡°Whatever it is, I don¡¯t believe this ce has anything that could be of an opponent for me. I¡¯m only interested in the spring.¡± ¡°Oh, Yes.¡± Du-Wei spoke with a smile, ¡°The spring water should be able to cure you of your wounds.¡± ¡°No!¡± Hussein sneered, ¡°I don¡¯t care about my injury¡­¡­ But I must go and see this ce that Aragon went before!¡± ¡°What about you?¡± Du-Wei gave Dadaneier a look, ¡°What do you have in mind, my friend?¡± With a straight face, he pulled his bow string a little to make a point, then sternly spoke. ¡°Maybe the Canyon has the golden eye Python. Apparently that stone statue was caused by petrification magic, chances are the golden eye Python is in there.¡± ¡°Well then,¡± Du-Wei spoke these words to himself thenughed. ¡°Then let us go in and have a look!¡± Old Greenwood directed his ¡°Companions¡± to move the stones blocking the entrance mouth into the Canyon. These mighty Treant ¡°Companions¡± were able to easily remove the stones, revealing the entrance space. Afterwards, Du-Wei and hispanions waved goodbye to Old Greenwood and headed off into the Canyon. ¡­¡­ Du-Wei and hispanions did not know how big this Canyon was. Although from the introduction of Old Greenwood, the Canyon was supposed to be ¡°not much in size¡±. But when measured against the height and volume of a Treant, Du-Wei felt this ce was not small at all. From entering the entrance to the Canyon, there was a turn about ten meters away that was covered in a thick fog, causing the three men to frown. This is a real ¡°thick¡± fog, Du-Wei can clearly feel the moisture in the air. Even by just freely walking through the fog, the water moisture would cling to the body. Du-Wei has never seen such a thick fog. The visibility was pretty bad and the range is only about five-steps away. This Canyon was inhabited by a powerful evil being and coupled with bad visibility in this area, there is no doubt this ce was very dangerous, so Du-Wei tried a number of different approaches. At first, he tried to magically attract a small gust of wind to blow away the fog, but after the wind passed, the expanse ofnd was still foggy and white. Du-Wei was able to confirm one thing and it was that this fog was created by magic¡­.. Barely lighting up a torch, (This branch was torn off from a Treant by Du-Wei before they went into the Canyon) Hussein, the most powerful of the group led the way in the front. As for Dadaneier, he was in the back and Du-Wei was kept in the middle due to having the worst melee capabilities. Walking for a while in this thick fog, Du-Wei always maintained a high level of alert as he carefully sensed the surrounding movements. But whether it was Du-Wei, or the quick to react Hussein, they were not able to sense any suspicious movements or things around. Rather, it was the experienced adventurer Dadaneier, that raised a question. ¡°Did you notice the ground here has less and less snow as we continue walking?¡± Once said, it reminded both Du-Wei and Hussein of this fact. The two men suddenly noticed there was less snow on their feet. Sniffing the air, Du-Wei frowned as he spoke. ¡°It¡¯s not just the snow getting less, but rather, the Canyon seemed to be warmer than the outside.¡± Du-Wei pointed to the ground and slowed squatted down to dig his hand into the soft and wet earth. ¡°If it was in the frozen forest, even a knife would have a difficult time cutting into the frozen earth.¡± Continuing to walk for a while, almost all of the snow on the ground disappeared. Once the snow on the ground melted away, the soil became very muddy and cause the three men to feel very ufortable from the slippery mud. Fortunately, further in they went, the terrain bes higher and drier. In a quick sh of his eyes, Du-Wei once again stopped. ¡°You guys noticed?¡± Hussein and Dadaneier also stopped and nodded. Du-Wei touched the ground with his hand, then smiled. ¡°The ground is hot, damn, could this Canyon be a giant geothermal area?¡± Dadaneierughed, ¡°So this is why the snow melted.¡± Du-Wei thought for a moment, then suddenly figured out one thing about the thick fog! This fog is due to the cold air outside and the warm air in the Canyon colliding together, then amassing in the Canyon¡¯s mouth. As the snow melts, the water vaporizes into the air and forms the fog¡­. It also seems to be that the other party is determined to use magic to solidify the mist, creating a special zone that doesn¡¯t allow the wind to evaporate the fog. Walking into the Canyon, the ground bes even drier and the temperature in the air also rises. From the beginning till now, sinceing into the Canyon, Du-Wei has been feeling helpless. The group of three has been traveling on a small pathway filled with different turns and curves, simr to that of a maze. This situation continued until the fog started to gradually clear up. Now they could feel the ground below their feet was dry and from observation, they could see some weeds and green mosses on both sides of the mountain rocks! Compared to the outside filled with ice, snow and cold wind, the temperature in the Canyon was much morefortable. ¡°It seems that the Evil Eye Tyrant robbed a good ce.¡± Dadaneier couldn¡¯t help butughed, ¡°For there to be such a ce in this hellish forest, I would definitely be reluctant to return this ce to others. It is freezing out there!¡± Sensing the warmth in this area, Du-Wei already unbuttoned the upper area of his fur coat so that he could stick his neck out for some air. Despite his effort, Du-Wei could feel sweat forming on his body. In the end, he even took off his fur hat and held it in his arms while he carefully surveyed the area. Feeling somewhat better now, Du-Wei could almost ignore the fog entirely because of how thin it was nowpared to before. Earlier, the fog not only affected the eyes visibility, it was also thick with humidity, causing Du-Wei to have coughing fit. There was no doubt in his mind that many terrible moistures were forcibly contained in the misty fog for a long period of time. If a person were to breath this into their very lungs, they would receive pulmonary edema. (Excess water umtes in the lungs). At this moment, there was no fog to hinder their sight, thus allowing the three men to have a good look at this ce. From observation, the road leading into the deeper part of the Canyon was gradually getting wider and the mountain on the side was still exposing a rocky surface. asionally on the blueish and grayish rock crevices, there would sometimes be clusters of unknown little nts. At the same time, Du-Wei could also see on both sides of the Canyon valley, there were countless numbers of rotting woods and the ones with corrupted roots, Du-Wei could not guess how many years it has been since they were like that. ¡°Hey look, there is something interesting.¡± Hussein, the person in the lead suddenly uttered a strange cry after he spoke. Du-Wei and Dadaneier at once ran up to him and saw Hussein standing beside a ¡°stone tablet¡±. Calling it a ¡°stone tablet¡± was somewhat pushing it. From its look, it was clearly a big rock by the roadside, only a part of it was cut off to show a neat section. On the surface was a few words carved into it and the text was clearly that of the Empire! ¡°Kingdom of the Evil Eyes notice: Please note that you have already set foot on the territory of the Kingdom of the Evil Eye. This piece ofnd is under the rule of the great king of the Kingdom of the Evil Eye. ording to the decree promulgated by the great evil eye king himself, any organism, whether magical beast, human, Treant, or anything else, must dedicate and pay taxes to his majesty if they are passing or crossing the territory of the Kingdom. Every living creature in transit is to offer one of their eyes! This notice is the supremew of the kingdom, if any outsider do not abide by this royal decree, they are to be killed on sight!¡± Chapter 78 78th chapter ¡°The Animal Kingdom? Evil Eye kingdom¡­. Evil Eye King? Du-Wei had a wry smile as he spoke, ¡°Could it be that this guy has already built a nation here and proimed himself king? A animal kingdom? Monster Kingdom?¡± Seeing this notice piqued the curiosity Du-Wei had about this ¡°Evil Eye Tyrant¡±. ¡°Offer up an eye¡­.¡± Hussein made a sneering sound, then suddenly took a step backwards. Before Du-Wei and Dadaneier could react, the knight has already cut down with his sword against the giant stone. As the stone split into two halves, a clicking sound could be heard just before the pieces fell down to the ground. Afterwards, there was a trace of golden light in Hussein¡¯s eye as he takes a step forward again. With his feet on the surface of the stone, Hussein easily crushed it into rubble. ¡°I¡¯d like to see this king.¡± At this time, the sound of a couple of crows singing could be heard. From afar, the group could see inside the Canyon was a withered tree and on top of the dead branches were a few crows. These crows kept cracking at at the trio and one of the crows could even speak the human tongue as it cried out. ¡°Outside! Outsider!¡± Once it finished talking, the crow pped its wings and let out a cry of ¡°go and inform¡±. Like a signal, the other few crows flew into the air and headed into the Canyon valley. Hussein coldly sneered before casually kicking a few rocks near its foot. Then two shoop shoop sounds could be heard as the stones shot down two crows from afar. Suddenly, two sets of feathers could be seen from afar because the birds were pulverized from impact. Despite this, one crow was intentionally left alive to bring the news along. ¡°Oh, you should have put them all down.¡± Du-Wei sighed, ¡°It¡¯s not good to let the person get ready.¡± ¡°I deliberately left it.¡± After saying that, Hussein went ahead with big strides as he headed inside the Canyon. Dadaneier pulled against Du-Wei a bit to get his attention, then with a normal face, he pulled out a small bag from his body. Once he finished removing the multipleyers of covering, many ckish items were revealed. ¡°These items are what I personally carried with me to deal with the golden eye python. The most powerful characteristic of the python is its eyes and if you so much as nce at it, you will fall victim to its petrification magic. These several items were created by the Lister family only after spending a huge price and reading through many ancient books. Du-Wei only gave the items a glimpse, yet he couldn¡¯t help himself but say, ¡°Sunsses?¡± ¡°What?¡± Dadaneier asked instead. ¡°Oh, nothing.¡± Du-Wei shook his head at once. From appearance alone, the items that Dadaneier took out was simr to an item in Du-Wei¡¯s past life known as ¡°sunsses¡±. Every piece of the item was very small. The two slices of ck crystal were polished till it was almost translucent and was fastened to a golden frame to secure it in ce. Then on the sides were two leather holsters to keep it fastened to the ears. ¡°These ck Crystals are very rare and only after putting in a lot of effort, were we able to buy them.¡± Dadaneier smiled, ¡°Do not underestimate these things. Just these things alone cost us 80,000 gold pieces to purchase. We came into these woods with eight people and each person carried with them a piece. Now that I have eight of these in my possession to use among the three of us, it should be more than enough for each of us to wear a piece when dealing with the gold eye python. We won¡¯t have to be afraid of the python and also I think that person called the ¡°Evil Eye Tyrant¡± has something strange going on with its eyes. Maybe these items will be useful when the timese.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t thank me, I should be thanking you.¡± Dadaneier looked strange as he whispered, ¡°I know it very well, with the power of my party alone, it wouldn¡¯t have even been enough to protect ourselves. Without your help, it would have been virtually impossible to get here¡­.. Regardless of what kind of people you are, I owe you guys a big favor.¡±¡±Thank you.¡± Du-Wei didn¡¯t refuse and reached out to take a pair of ¡°sunsses¡± to wear. Once these words ¡°Regardless of what kind of people you are¡± is out, Du-Wei can¡¯t help but feel somewhat embarrassed. He originally gave Dadaneier a false name, butter on with Hussein joining the team, he could no longer hide it because the knight knew his real identity. It was inevitable that Hussein would call out his real name, even if he doesn¡¯t call out his name, the asional shouting of ¡°Boy of the Rowling House¡± is enough to reveal his true identity. Even though Dadaneier also heard this, he didn¡¯t say anything. Today, his little facade was shattered like a ss window. Du-Wei can¡¯t help but feel awkward from this situation. Dadaneier has always been very open and honest towards him, but he has been deceiving his fellowpanion for so many days. (And during the first meeting with Hussein, Dadaneier tried to protect Du-Wei despite knowing defeat was inevitable) Du-Wei really cherished this rtionship. With a look of shame, Du-Wei whispered, ¡°OK, Dadaneier¡­ I¡¯m not intentionally trying to fool you¡­¡­ Well then, my real name is Du-Wei and I¡¯m from the Rowling family. My father is Earl Raymond¡­.. I request your understanding because I don¡¯t want the fact that I¡¯m learning magic to be spread among a lot of people.¡± Dadaneierughed, then embraced Du-Wei with open arms. ¡°Whoever you are, you are my friend and benefactor. It doesn¡¯t matter if you are a magician, you are you. I swear that I will help you to keep it a secret.¡± The three men kept moving forward until a loud sound of rocks colliding, shouting, and crying reached them from the front. The trio looked at each other before picking up speed. Du-Wei¡¯s hand-shrank into his sleeve, and Dadaneier readied his bow and arrow, while Hussein strode forward in the front of the group ready to face whatever was awaiting them. Turning the final corner, thend in front of them opened up, but Du-Wei couldn¡¯t help but feel a little surprised at the scene before them. Before them was a field about the size of a football stadium or maybe even bigger. Right here was a city wall currently being built! Yes, no lie¡¯s, it is a city wall!! Some tall giant thing was walking back and forth, carrying big bs of squared stones and piling it up together¡­¡­ Next to it was a group of diminutive gray beings full of body fur, looking something like that of a Groundhog. Whips in hand while running around, it looked like they are acting like overseers! These overseers are slightly shorter than the average human¡­ it seems as though a mouse had evolved into a human being. These things looked like a mouse, but walked upright with each step they took. And on their bodies hung barks or animal skins like that of ¡°clothing¡¯s¡±. With a vine whip in hand, these things would from time to time whip the stone carrying giants, then scold them in a sharp voice. And those giants carrying the stones¡­¡­ Du-Wei was clearly surprised by this. Those poor ¡°ves¡± were actually all Treants! No, to be more precise, it was a group of Treant panions¡±! But soon, Du-Wei detected something strange. The Treant ¡°Companion¡± ss beings no longer had a body of wood! Instead, their body has been turned into stone! As if caused by some petrification magic, they were moving awkwardly back and forth like mechanical machines,boriously working without stop. Moreover, those mice supervisors were very short, but these petrified Treantpanions acted as if they were afraid of those supervisors. Or rather, they were afraid the whip in their hands! These whips in the mouse¡¯s hand seemed to have some kind of magic. Although their heights would only allow their whips to reach the torso of the Treantpanions, but the Treantpanions howled in pain every time they were hit. Du-Wei and hispanions went closer, but was soon noticed by the supervisors. Immediately, there was screaming and crying in the air, ¡°Outsider! Outsider!¡­¡­¡± Unfortunately, before he could finish another word, Hussein snorted and with a golden sh, the mouse¡¯s head was beaten to a pulp. This one action caused the other supervisors to be terrified. As they cried out while fleeing in all directions, the petrified Treantpanions dropped their stones in hand and stood there motionless. In their state of panic, some of the supervisors ended up bumping into the legs of the Treantpanions, knocking themselves out. ¡°Hey, you acted too fast.¡± Du-Wei sighed. ¡°We have to cause a ruckus anyways.¡± Hussein didn¡¯t care. Then suddenly the sound of a horn could be heard behind the halfpleted city wall. From the city gate, a team of soldiers rushed out. Du-Wei felt this trip was truly an eye-opener. The supervising mouses could actually walk upright and spit out criticism from its mouth This was enough to pique the curiosity in Du-Wei regarding this animal kingdom, but the best part was the team of soldiers that came out of the city walls. The scene that followed caused him tough so hard that his stomach almost broke. This is a team of cavalry? Approximately more than 10 soldiers wereing towards them while riding on their ¡°mounts¡±. They looked a lot stronger than the supervising mouse¡¯s from earlier. Every soldier donned a uniform style armor, but the armor was made from animal skins. In the back, there was even someone holding a linen woven g and a giant eyeball patten was clearly drawn on it. And the mount ridden by the cavalry team was of course not a horse¡­¡­ Instead, the whole team was riding on a team of giant trees. Although they were not horses, these giant trees lookedplete and notcking in anyway. From afar, it looked like a mouse was riding a silent tree. But these guys were clearly full of killing intent as they flew out of the gate and quickly surrounded the trio. From the group, arge mouse pointed a sharp spear like stick at the trio, then shouted in a sharp and unpleasant voice. ¡°Outsider, why have youe to the territory belonging to the great evil eye king! State your purpose and pay your taxes!¡± Du-Wei slightly smiled, ¡°evil eye King¡­¡­ I¡¯ve never heard of such a King¡­¡­ Excuse me, what is it that you want?¡± ¡°We are the cavalry under his Majesty the King!¡± The mouse captain pressed out his chest with pride, ¡°Under themand of the kingdoms Prime Minister, we are here to rebuild the wall and is also responsible for the checkpoint here! Outsiders, quickly pay your taxes and dig out one of your eyes. Then we will allow you to get out of here safely!¡± The Prime Minister? Du-Wei didn¡¯t know whether tough or stare¡­¡­ The evil eye tyrant seemed to be very addicted at ying the game of building a nation¡­¡­ For there to be a Prime Minister? However, in any case, having more than 10 mouse¡¯s pointing a stick at three highly strengthened human is hardly a threat¡­. Even though the mouse¡¯s head was veryrge. ¡°We are here to seek an audience with the evil eye King.¡± Du-Wei couldn¡¯t help butugh out in a HAHAHA manner. The Cavalry Captain paused for a bit¡­¡­ In fact, the kingdom in this Canyon valley had very few visitors. As a captain of the Royal Cavalry, there was very little opportunity to show off his power and prestige to outsiders¡­¡­ Everyday ordering the Treants to carry those stones was getting pointless. To see the trio of outsiders, the captain was actually very excited in his heart at wanting to show off. With a loud shout, ¡°Nonsense! Do you think you can see the king just because you say so? Quickly dig your eyes out and then get out!¡± Du-Wei sighed, no longer speaking. Hussein started to make his move. The sword in the knight¡¯s hand made a circle, then with a golden ray, the stick in the mouse¡¯s hand was torn apart. The head of the cavalry captain rolled under and beneath the trees, then everyone jumped and scattered away. Looking at the dead rat, Du-Wei was somewhat nauseated. ¡°Can¡¯t you make this a bit cleaner?¡± Kicking his shoes to remove some of the mouse hair, Du-Wei shook his head and moved on. He shouted a few words towards the petrified trees, but these Treantpanions had little intelligence and couldn¡¯t speak. So Du-Wei gave up his intentions and continued walking with his twopanions through the half built city wall, heading further into the Canyon. Through the city walls, the scene in the Canyon was immediately different. Neatly lined with trees on both sides¡­ ¡­ All were once lively trees but has now been felled and petrified. Now both sides of the road revealed a kind of eerily deathly scent. The flooring below their feet was made of wood, but it seems that all the buildings here were made of rocks. There were actually buildings made out of stones on both sides. All the doors and windows of the buildings were dug out, giving it a clear shape. Du-Wei could see there was something vague looking over their shoulders. Just like this, the trio tantly walked into this strangend of a ¡°kingdom¡±. Chapter 79 The 79th ¡°The Magician that turned into a rat¡± At the end of the stone street came the sounds of hurried steps and murmurs of armor nking. Then they saw countless mice¡¯s running towards them wearing body armor and armed with a real iron weaponpared to the sticks from earlier. Hussein and Dadaneier was about to make their moves but Du-Wei held them back and said, ¡°Wait, don¡¯t you think this is fun?¡± The mice soldiers have already surrounded them but didn¡¯t attack at once. Instead, the group neatly organized into a battle formation in the street square, blocking the roads in from them the trio. Before long, the singing of trumpets could be heard from somewhere. Like a signal, the troop formation separated in the middle, revealing seven to eight strong looking mice¡¯s from behind. The group came forward carrying a singlerge te of stone and a not so healthy looking fat rat was sitting on top of the rock. This being had a fat body like a meatball and full of gray hair. The head had a long pointed mouth with double whiskers on the side and the pair of eyes hinted higher intellect despite the face that the eyeball randomly rolled around. But what was reallyical was the fact it was wearing a white robe and a tall pointy hat like that of a magician! This kind of dressing was very simr to that of a magician from the human world¡­.. Could this rat also be a magician? ¡°O human! You are a human!¡± This rat creature that was carried out jumped up from his chair, then stared down at the trio before shouting. Its voice was like that of surprise and excitement. ¡°You are correct, we are human¡± Du-Wei cried out, ¡°Excuse me, what are you? A mouse wizard, or a mouse General?¡± This meat ball like rat lifted up his stomach as he looked around, then shouted. ¡°I¡¯m the prime minister of this kingdom! You should be bowing to me!¡± Du-Wei sighed, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, the three of us don¡¯t have the habit of saluting a mouse.¡± With that said, the mice soldiers were about to rush forward but was halted by the Prime Minister. With his eyeball randomly looking around, the Prime Minister broke out into a ¡°HAHAHAHA¡±ughter. ¡°Human¡¯s capable ofing here are all powerful experts and you are no exception¡­. But you can¡¯t be too self confident!¡± With that said, the mouse Prime Minister stood up straight with two ws open and it started to spell chant¡­. Yes, it¡¯s a spell! A magic spell! Du-Wei¡¯s jaw dropped as he watched the mouse chant out a spell from its mouth. This mouse Prime Minister is actually a magician¡­ No, or rather ¡°only¡± a magician! Du-Wei immediately sensed the genuine swinging of magic, then suddenly, a me red up on the surface of the stone b in front of the trio. With a roaring sound, the me spread out on both sides and immediately formed a ring of fire, trapping the trio inside. The mouse Prime Minister kept chanting a spell from its mouth, then a halo of light ejected from its w. The light instantly enveloped the trio, causing Du-Wei¡¯s body to feel very tight. ¡°This is binding? Ah, fire magic and binding magic¡­.. ¡°Attack!¡± In onemand from the mouse Prime Minister, a field of mice brigades appeared from both sides of the street and stone houses. These soldiers carried in their hand sticks and bows made of wood. With the sound of shoop shoop, numerous wooden arrows were shot towards their location. Du-Wei was really tied up and restrained, but how can it be possible that this magic is able to stop Hussein? The knight grunted as he shook his arms, then with a swing of his sword in a circle, a golden Dou Qi immediately caused all the arrows to fall downward. The knight easily shook off the magic shackles. From the look in the mouse Prime Minister eyes, one can tell the Prime Minster was surprised by this as he loudly screamed. ¡°Quick, Kill them!¡± With that said, he applied pressure from his hand, causing the circle of fire to shrink around them. Du-Wei gave out a HAHAHAughter before chanting a spell from his mouth, then two gusts of icy cold wind roared toward the mes, blocking the mes from all sides. Hussein lets out a call as he casually patted the shoulder of Du-Wei and Dadaneier. The two immediately felt their body was lighter and capable of movement once again. Free from his bindings, Du-Wei let out both of his hands and chanted a spell from his mouth. Afterwards, multiple fireballs flew out from his fingertips and aimed toward the mouse Prime Minister. The magic power of the Prime Minister was evidently far above that of Du-Wei¡¯s. Seeing the fireball spellmonly used by magicians of the lowest rank, the Prime Minister clearly showed a hint of disdain on his face. In a quick spell chant, he waved his sleeves, letting loose several wind des to deflect the oing fireballs. At the same time, Du-Wei continued to chant the dazing spells that he knew from his mouth. Lifting his hands up, Du-Wei thew out the dazing spell that was capable of enshrouding the mass of soldiers in a halo of dizzying light. As a result, the columns of soldiers became tipsy and dazed from where they stood, the only exception was the Prime Minister. With a sharp and loud shout, the sound of beating drums suddenly rose up, then he started to chant a few spells causing the strongest mice under hismand to let out a sharp squeal the moment they heard the chant. Then the body¡¯s of the mice started to swell up and even the muscles bulked up like lumps, causing the fur and skin to burst open, yet, they themselves acted like the idea of pain did not exist. Then their heads doubled in size while its mouth expanded, exposing the awe inspiring white fanged teethes. With a roar, the group exposed their red eyes and white fangs as they rushed towards Du-Wei¡­ Seeing this, Dadaneier has already let loose an arrow from his bow, revealing his excellent archery. Infused with Dou Qi, the arrow easily shot through three to four mice, just like a skewered fruit candy stick. (If you don¡¯t know tong wue low then just think of kebabs) Watching the transformed mice¡¯s rushing over, Dadaneier stood beside Du-Wei to block their path. Firstly, he sent a kick at one of the mice and a bone breaking sound could clearly be heard by Du-Wei. Despite flying back and rolling on the ground, the mice immediately got up like nothing happened and continued to rush over. Du-Wei had a sudden enlightenment. ¡°Blood lust spell?¡± As the group came drew closer, Dadaneier pulled out his curved de and beheaded a mouse, then shouted. ¡°Hussein! What are you doing! Kill these guys!¡± Hussein snorted and ignored the oing group. Instead, his eyes were fixed upon the mouse Prime Minister. Giving out a loudugh, he ran forward in one step¡­.. Even though there were more than 20 paces in distance, the knight was able to reach the front of the mouse Prime Minister in one step. Despite being so close, the surround mouse soldiers were still unaware of Hussein¡¯s presence. At this moment, Hussein was covered in the flesh and blood of the mice. While giving off an abnormal and nauseating feeling, he reached out his hand towards the Mouse Prime Minister. Out of panic, the Mouse Prime Minister lets out a screeching scream before rolling off the stone te, then he quickly summoned forth a lightning strike. The lightning aimed straight at Hussein but with the knight¡¯s strength, a swing of his sword was enough to easily deflect the bolt. Instead ofnding on the intended target, the lightning ended up striking on the surrounding mice, burning them into charcoal. In one palm strike, Hussein easily blew a hole through the te of stone and picked up the mouse Prime Minister. Those mice¡¯s around wanted toe over and help but with one sword strike from Hussein, a sudden explosion of flesh and meat rained through the air. Due to the eleration spell cast by Du-Wei earlier, Dadaneier and him have almost annihted the mice¡¯s near them. Even though Du-Wei is a magician, he is forced to face the reality of meleebat. Fortunately, he exercised earlier and his body was much stronger than in the past. Du-Wei never practiced martial arts in his childhood but he did tutor under Knight Robert back in the castle. Compared to the human like mice, he did learn the basics of swordsmanship and on top of that, Dadaneier was covering for him. Just that these few enraged mice¡¯s were very troubling. When Dadaneier hacked down two of them to death, his body was wed a few times and even Du-Wei¡¯s leg was bitten once. Mustn¡¯t get infected with a mouse gue! Du-Wei inwardly scolded himself with these words as Hussein caught onto the mouse Prime Minister. Uttering a loud cry, the mouse Prime Minister fainted. No longer under the control of magic, those enraged mice suddenly dropped down due to fatigue. The soldiers apparently didn¡¯t understand the meaning of ¡°courage¡±. Seeing their leader caught, everyone scattered and fled away after hearing a loud shout. Du-Wei knocked down a few more like cutting a melon, then threw away the knife covered in blood and flesh of the mice. ¡°Disgusting, will I be infected with the mouse gue?¡± ¡°First kill the mouse leader¡­¡­¡± Du-Weiined, ¡°Is this not the Evil Eye Kingdom? Why does it feel¡¯s like a rat¡¯s nest? Could the Evil Eye also be a mouse?¡± Hussein lifted the mouse Prime Minister up and was about to chop down with his sword, but the fainted guy suddenly woke up and saw the shining sword. Scared out of his wits, the mouse cried out. ¡°Mercy! Mercy! Hero, please have mercy!¡± Du-Wei smiled, ¡°The reason? Give me a reason. I¡¯ll count to three and if you can¡¯t say it, then we¡¯ll kill you.¡± ¡°I have a 80 year old mother, a under three years old son¡­¡­¡± The mouse Prime Minister shouted. ¡°One,¡± Du-Wei remained unmoved. ¡°I surrender, I will follow you!!!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t need a pet mice, two!¡± ¡°This ¡­ ¡­ I can work for you, I work hard, eat less than a chicken, work more than cow!¡± ¡°I have plenty of servants already, three!¡± Seeing the sword theing down, the mouse Prime Minister shouted. ¡°I¡¯m also a human!¡± ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Du-Wei stopped Hussien¡¯s sword. Staring at the mouse Prime Minister, ¡°What did you just say?¡± ¡°I am also a human ¡­ ¡­ Or used to be.¡± The mouse Prime Minister started to shake, ¡°I used to be a human mage!¡± Chapter 80 80th chapter ¡°Queen Medusa¡± From close inspection of its mouse head with the randomly shifting eyeballs, two mouse whiskers, long pointed mouth, and two fangs sticking out. The phrase ¡°Mouse thief¡± is indeed appropriate when applied to this fellow. ¡°Human being?¡± Du-Wei looked skeptical, ¡°You said that you are human?¡± ¡°I.. I¡­ I¡­ I¡­ I¡­ am in fact a human.¡± The mouse Prime Minister shook so hard that he had to fight to keep his teeth from chattering. With a nce, he swallowed his saliva and fixed his eyes on the sharp edged sword. ¡°I¡­ I¡­. I am really a human. Not¡­ Not¡­ Not¡­ fooling you¡­.. I can¡¯t fool you.¡± ¡°Enough!¡± Du-Wei shouted while staring, ¡°You will just stutter if you keep going.¡± Putting his bow away, Dadaneier had a look of confusion on his face. ¡°You really are a human? Then why do you look like a rat?¡± ¡°Once upon a time¡­. I was truly a human and used to be a magician. I came to this frozen forest more than 20 years ago with others¡­.¡° The mouse Prime Minister had a pathetic look at Hussein¡¯s sword then showed a disgusting subservient like smile on his face. ¡°This knight sir, can you please remove your sword? Even my neck has been cut.¡± Hussein snorted as he put down the sword. With his ability, there is no need to be afraid of this guy ying any tricks. Seeing his neck was no longer under any threat, the mouse Prime Minister let out a long sigh of relief. While straightening his clothes, he once again caught a glimpse of Hussein¡¯s murderous eyes, causing him to shrink his neck away from fear as he whispered. ¡°I have been called Gargamel in the past¡­.¡± Before he could even finish his words, Du-Wei¡¯s eye was already wide in disbelief. ¡°Gargamel?¡± ¡°Holy crap! I fucking called Smurfs!¡± (it¡¯s a ng incase you¡¯re wondering) ¡°Gargamel? You are really called Gargamel?¡± The knight asked with a frown. To think that Hussein actually recognized the name. The mouse Prime Minister shrank his head back like he was very afraid of Hussein. ¡°Correct, that is my former name. I used to be a magician, a human magician, and was even a Grand magician!¡± At first, Du-Wei didn¡¯t believe his words. ¡°Grand magician? Then you should at least be 8th level.¡± But in the fight just now, the magic demonstrated by this guy was at best a little higher than Du-Wei¡¯s and didn¡¯t hold any great strength. Eighth-level magician, but it is the same level as the small stuttering women (Vivian) and the violent Joanna. From a strength¡¯s point of view, the ability of the mouse Prime Minister is far too low inparison. Hussein showed a contemtive expression. ¡°You are really the Grand magician Gargamel? I seem to have heard of your name before. You used to be a council member of the magic union, correct?¡± ¡°Yes! Yes!¡± The mouse Prime Minister¡¯s had a glow in his eye as he recalled the past. ¡°I was indeed a governing council member of the magic union! You know my name? Du-Wei pulled at Hussein¡¯s side. ¡°Do you really know him?¡± ¡°I do not know him but I have heard of his name. If he isn¡¯t lying, then I¡¯m afraid he is really Gargamel, an eighth level magician and a governing council member of the magic union. At the same time, he is also one of the world¡¯s few high leveled magician¡¯s skilled in transformation magic. Over 20 years ago, this person was actually quite famous in the capital. ¡°Is he?¡± Du-Wei and Dadaneierdu couldn¡¯t help but take a look at this person with the characteristics of a mouse thief. Hussein also revealed a bemused smile, ¡°This guy¡¯s fame had a special reason behind it. Back then, he somehow achieved his eighth level qualification by opportunistic means due to the fact that fewer and fewer people are training in transformation magic. In order to protect and encourage others to practice this rare magic so that it could be passed down to future generations, the magic union gave him the title of grand magician. In the past, he had to two resounding nicknames, do you know what they are?¡± ¡°Just say it Hussein, I¡¯m very curious.¡± Du-Wei spoke with a smile. Hussein rubbed his chin, ¡°The first nickname is ¡®The most undeserving grand magician in history¡¯ because it was recognized that if youpared his true power, he is the weakest one among all the eighth level magicians. I even suspect that a sixth-level Magician can defeat this guy but his aplishment in transformation magic is very high. ¡°Transformation magic¡­¡­¡± Du-Wei¡¯s eye shed with an odd look, then asked. ¡°What about the other nickname?¡± Hussein openly spoke out loud. ¡°The most cowardly magician.¡± Fortunately, the mouse¡¯s face was hidden or else his facial expression would be flushed red if seen. ¡°He is considered to be the most cowardly magician and never fight with others. Even when he offends other people, he would be the first to apologize¡­. Oh, but he is actually very skilled at ttering. Even his governing member title was because he had done a good job at serving the vice president of the magic union. Out of all the grand magicians in the imperial capital, he is the most likely to indulge himself in wealth. He was known to have the best rtionship with the nobles and also being the most greedy¡­. Oh, I heard he was also very lustful, allegedly changing his clothes often to hang out in the red light district¡­. And as to where he got his nickname as the ¡°most cowardly magician¡±. Husseinughed in a HAHAHAH manner. ¡°It¡¯s said that once in the streets of the red light district, he got into an argument over some jealousy matter, then a sixth level warrior got so drunk that he fell over his face on a wine jug had pulled out his sword and asked for a duel in front of everyone. But this eighth level magician had dismally ran away and didn¡¯t even dare to roam the streets of the red light district for a month.¡± Gargaemel refuted with a whining sentence. ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m generous and didn¡¯t hold any grudges against these kind of people.¡° ¡°But then why have you always fled whenever you meet the Warrior? For that matter, the reputation of the magic union was disgraced and the warrior also became the first ever in decades to challenge a grand magician alone. It was also for that matter, the governing board of the magic union had unanimously voted to remove you? Gargamel¡¯s retorting voice grew smaller ¡°That¡¯s because¡­¡­ I am a resolute pacifist¡­¡­¡±. ¡°Pacifist¡­¡­¡± Du-Wei held in hisughter. ¡°You are really Gargamel, the magician? Howe a pacifist like you became the prime minister of this animal kingdom and¡­.. Also be a rat?¡± Gargamel grinds his teeth, revealing a trace of hatred in his eyes. ¡°This is all to be med on that hateful bastard. Azrael, let him suffer through a thousand knives!! Du-Weiughed in his heart. First is Gargamel, now Azrael. (The River cats from the Smurfs if you don¡¯t know) Hussein sighed, ¡°Mr. Azrael? Azrael the grand magician? Gargamel curses out. ¡°If it¡¯s not him, who else can it be?! This deceitful, greedy, sly, and cowardly man!¡± ¡°Deceitful, greed, sly, and cowardly¡­¡­¡± Du-Wei smiled while looking at Gargamel, ¡°These descriptions are a better fit to describe yourself.¡± ¡°Oh with respect gentlemen.¡± Gargamel gave a humble smile, ¡°I admit it¡­¡­ However, that Azrael is absolutely many more times deceitful, greedy, sly, and cowardly than me¡­. Even a Hundred times more so!¡± Subsequently, Gargamelins about his tragic history. The Azrael from his words was a grand magician, a very famous mage. It goes without saying that twenty years ago, this person created a sensation by leading a group of senior knights into the frozen forest. By crossing the frozenke and heading into the north shore of the greatke, he went deeper into the frozen forest than any other man before him! The hero of this event is of course his excellency Azrael the grand magician! Then finally at the ending of the tale, his Excellency Azrael the grand magician, faced danger in the Canyon and the apanying senior knights all died, leaving him deeply wounded to flee back alone. But he has had such a legendary experience that he earned the respect of many people because before that, no one would ever travel this deep into the frozen forest! He also left behind some valuable information regarding the road map in northern region. ¡°It was Azrael, that bastard scammed me into the frozen forest.¡± Gargamel sighed. ¡°But why is there no mention of you? And the expedition roster didn¡¯t have your name on the list when they left the capital.¡± Hussein squinted coldly at the big mouse. ¡°That¡¯s because¡­ First of all, in the face of the danger, Azrael dishonorably abandoned me, so he didn¡¯t dare speak my name!¡­ Second, I did not set out together with them in the capital. I came across them while I was in a small town, south of the frozen forest.¡± Gargamel¡¯s eye shifted around randomly, ¡°I¡­ I was about to enter the frozen forest.¡± ¡°With your capability?¡± Hussein¡¯s smile was filled with such disdain that it pierced through Gargamel¡¯s thick hide of lies. ¡°You, who would flee in panic from a duel with a sixth level warrior, would dare enter the frozen forest which is filled with magical beasts? I warn you, I do not like people lying to me, so if you speak one more false word, I will guarantee you neck will kiss my sword!¡± Gargamel immediately surrendered. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll tell you the truth¡­ I didn¡¯t dare toe¡­ Ah¡­ I really regret it; I shouldn¡¯t have met Azrael and those people. With a few gold coins, I came to the town located at the southern edge of the forest. If I could encounter a team of adventurersing back from hunting, I might be able to buy some magical beast cores.¡± Dardaneier frowned, ¡°The magic shops in the capital already have them, why would you go so far north?¡± Gargamel answered honestly, ¡°Because buying these things in the capital is too expensive. From when the adventurers hunt the magical beasts, to selling them to the smugglers and transporting them to the south, then the smugglers selling to a middleman, the cost would increase 4 to 5 folds by the time it reaches the market. ¡°But magicians shouldn¡¯tck money,¡± Du-Wei spoke with a smile. ¡°Of course there¡¯s no shortage.¡± Gargamel told the truth, ¡°But I¡¯m still short on money. I had a fixed sry from the magic union and I could also get bribes from the group of nobility that I knew. But after the conflict with the warrior, my reputation got worse and the nobility no longer respected me, also the bribes got less and less. And¡­ I also like women and gambling¡­. Hey! Don¡¯t look at me like that! Although I¡¯m a coward but I got good gambling habits! I have never skipped out on my debts! If you don¡¯t believe me, go find out from the casino¡¯s in the capital. Who doesn¡¯t know of old Gargamel¡¯s gambling habits!¡± This mouse actually looked proud, as if he were speaking of some glorious deeds. ¡°All right¡­¡­¡± Du-Wei had a wry smile. I have never seen such a mage¡­ I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s the most unusual magician in hundreds of years. ¡°I owed a lot of gambling debts. As the nobles offered less and less in bribes, my sry from the magic union is not enough to pay off my debts¡­. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t study gold refining alchemy. My other colleagues all saw gold refining alchemy as lofty magic and didn¡¯t want to deal with someone like me that had a bad reputation. No other way left, I was forced to find another way to bring in some money. Although a magician can receive respect and reap benefits wherever he goes, but my reputation was too terrible at the time. All the wealthy and powerful nobles ignored me, so I had no choice but to leave the capital and head north. Gargamel¡¯s eyes suddenly shined, ¡°That¡¯s when I thought of a way to get rich. I just had to wait on the edge of the frozen forest, then when the adventurer teams return, I would be able to directly purchase the magic stones at the lowest price. After returning to the empire¡¯s capital, I would make 4 to 5 times the profit by selling to other magicians. Du-Wei sighed while looking at Gargamel, he couldn¡¯t help but reveal a hint of curiosity in his eyes. What a freak¡­ But he was able to understand the business concept of controlling the supply chain of a product and using his own methods to obtain it for the lowest price. In this world, it can be considered somewhat economically mindful. ¡°And that event became my misfortune.¡± Gargamel grimaced, ¡°I met Azrael and he told me they were preparing to enter the frozen forest, that was when he convinced me to join them.¡± Hussein grunted with cold eyes. ¡°Okay, okay!¡± In the face of Hussein¡¯s imposing eyes, Gargamel once again surrendered. ¡°I¡¯ll tell the truth¡­. Azrael simply didn¡¯t put me in his eyes, but seeing these people with superior strength: a grand magician coupled with a group of senior knights; with such a powerful group in the frozen forest, I thought if I could join them, I would be very safe. So why not join them and along the way when they killed a magical beast, I could collect the cores without spending single a gold coin. If I could take this opportunity and make enough, then I could go back to the capital and clear my debts. Being a magician, no matter how little, I could still help him, so after much persistence, I was able to convince Azrael to let me join the team.¡± ¡°So you temporarily joined them and entered the frozen forest?¡± Du-Wei stopped smiling, ¡°But to go past the southern end of theke¡­ You should have known that it was dangerous, why did you continue following? Gargamel seemed to swallow a piece of Rhizoma Coptidis (bitter nt name) and raised his paws to either side of himself, shrugging, and smiled: ¡°They had to continue north, what could I do? Asking me to leave the team and go back alone? Going through the vast forest and go back to town? I was worried that being by myself, I would be eaten by a magical beast. I could only keep going with them, but I did not expect the results which came about from that decision; we came to the entrance of this Canyon valley and met a group of Treants¡­ When we heard about the fountain of youth, Azrael¡¯s smile was so huge that he couldn¡¯t close his mouth and said that we must go in to search for the damn spring! Ugh.¡± ¡°The result? Did you find it?¡± Du-Wei was interested in this issue. ¡°We found it, but who would have ever thought, the evil eye that was guarding the spring is a terrible monster!¡± Speaking of the Evil Eye, Gargamel¡¯s whole body shook and his teeth started to chatter. With a trembling voice, he said. ¡°In a big battle, all of those senior knights lost their lives and Azrael lost an eye when he was almost beaten to death. That was when we had to run away¡­.. But that damn Azrael actually left me behind!¡± Seeing Gargamel ruthlessly grinding his teeth, Du-Wei couldn¡¯t help but say. ¡°When a person don¡¯t have much of a rtionship with you, of course the other party wouldn¡¯t care and escape on their own.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t that simple.¡± Gargamel smiled bitterly, ¡°That bastard, deserving to suffer through a thousand knives, actually lied to me that separating would be safer. And at the time I was thinking, I¡¯ll transform into a mouse and dig myself out a safe spot and he was bigger as a target, so he was more likely to attract the monster¡­. So I agreed but the result was that the bastard pulled a fast one on me. He took advantage of me not paying attention and threw a bottle of glitter powder at me! That bastard! In the middle of the night, my body was covered in glitter powder so I stood out like a beacon! Naturally, the Evil Eye would chase after me! Azrael, that bastard ran away!¡± Du-Wei and Dardaneier both tried to stop themselves fromughing, ¡°And then?¡± Gargamel showed an unlucky looking face, ¡°I cast transformation magic on myself and turned into a mouse. While scurrying around in the darkness, I identally fell into the spring and drank some of the water.¡± The color on Du-Wei¡¯s face slightly changed, ¡°You¡­¡­ Fell into a spring, was it the fountain of youth?¡± Gargamel stared and snapped, ¡°It wasn¡¯t that damn thing!¡± But upon seeing Hussein¡¯s cold stare at his neck, he softened his tone. ¡°Ah, well¡­ Yeah, that¡¯s right, it is the fountain of youth.¡± Du-Wei couldn¡¯t help but give Gargamel another perplexed look. Gargamel failed to notice this and said, ¡°Then, before I could react, the Evil Eye had grabbed me by my neck and pulled me up. I thought I was definitely dead when the few knights that were left looked at her and turned into stone! Azrael, that son of a bitch poked an eye out only to escape! I kept running with my eyes closed until I fell into that damn spring, the Evil Eye, she¡­¡± ¡°Wait a minute!!¡± Du-Wei and Dadaneier both interrupted Gargamel at the same time.¡± Dadaneier had a look of excitement: ¡°You mean¡­ Whatever the Evil Eye looked at will turn into stone? Could it be, this Evil Eye is the golden eye python?¡± Du-Wei had an odd but curious look on his face. ¡°What did you say? You said she? Is the Evil Eye python a woman?¡± Posed with 2 question the same time by two people, Gargamel paused for a moment before replying. ¡°Well, the Evil Eye is not a golden eye python, but she could have been a golden eye python in the past before evolving into her final advanced form¡­ Queen Medusa!¡± Then he nced at Du-Wei and gave a wry smile, ¡°You heard me right and I didn¡¯t say it wrong. I did say ¡®she¡¯, the Evil Eye is the title she used for herself. Her majesty is not merely a simple women, but a terrible and beautiful snake!¡± Chapter 81 The 81st chapter ¡°The side effects of the fountain of youth¡± Medusa Queen? Hearing the name, even Hussein became pale. Originally, Du-Wei didn¡¯t understand the system by which the magical beasts evolved from, but during his conversations with Dadaneier along the way, he gradually learned many of the theories about the magical beasts. After all, when Dadaneier was young, he worked as a mercenary, but this time around, he collected a lot of information about the Golden Eye Python prior to setting out. Queen Medusa is basically the advanced final form in the evolution of the gold eye python. While it could already be considered a high level magical beast, when it evolves into a Medusa, it is regarded as one of the most powerful magical beasts. There are literally thousands of magical beasts that will evolve into their final forms, but the only one capable of transforming its body to that of a human is Medusa! The trio has not actually seen what a Medusa looks like, but legends say this top level magical beast is capable of transforming into a human body and take on the form of a beautiful woman with golden hair and striking eyes¡­ But within her eyes remained the same terrible power of the Golden-Eye Python, capable of petrifying her enemies but only stronger than before. As for her hair¡­ It can be turned into thousands of Golden-Eye Pythons! What is this? Facing a Medusa is equivalent to facing a legion of Golden-Eye Pythons! When Queen Medusa bes angry, she can revert back to a snake¡¯s body¡­ And will transform into a gigantic Boa Constrictor snake! Its enormous body is capable of crushing a city! An immeasurably huge body capable of causing a disaster in the human world! The most frightening thing is that among all the magical beasts in the world, Queen Medusa is the most intelligent!. Queen Medusa does not only have terrifying abilities, but more importantly, a clever mind! When faced with a powerful magical beast, humans can always rely on their intelligence to outwit the beast, but when facing a Medusa, that¡¯s no longer an option! The most terrible thing about Queen Medusa is that besides having intelligenceparable to that of humanity, it can use its intelligence to learn! Learning the achievements of human civilization and even learning other kinds of magic! Great and powerful strength, coupled with high intellect, causes this magical beast to be recognized as one of the most dreadful and powerful. Even some magicians thought it was fortunate that Queen Medusa is a rare urrence because the fertility rate of magical beasts are already low to begin with. On top of that, it requires an untold number of years of cultivation to evolve, so it is exceptionally rare to evolve into a Medusa! Because of this reason, there are rarely any records of Medusa in history¡­. At least 300 years have passed since thest one was sighted. Every time Queen Medusa appears in history, it would bring disaster to humanity! Magicians believed if¡­ Just if the numbers of Medusa¡¯s were to slightly increase, then this top level magical beast would even threaten the position of the dragons, known as the strongest. Seeing that these three humans couldn¡¯t help but reveal a tense and nervous look, Gargamel was very satisfied in his heart. The chips he had to save his own life had once again increased, but the satisfaction he had was quickly dispelled by Hussein. With a cold voice, ¡°Go on, don¡¯t think that a single Medusa can scare me.¡± Indeed, the most horrifying thing about a Medusa is not its ability to petrify others, nor it¡¯s hair turning into countless Golden-Eye Pythons¡­.. Or even its ability to turn into a gigantic python¡­ The most horrifying thing is their ability to learn! Think about it, all magical beasts inherently have magical abilities and senses, but she also has the ability to learn other magics! Let¡¯s say she learns other magic, fire, wind, water, etc¡­ They have a long life span, coupled with high intelligence, if we did let her learn¡­. Then she would be a Queen Medusa and also a horrifying super magician! What is this concept? ¡°Fortunately, this is a small Canyon valley with little contact with the outside world.¡± Du-Wei suddenly frowned while ncing at Gargamel, ¡°She didn¡¯t kill you because she wanted to learn magic from you, right?¡± Gargamel immediately winced and hesitated before speaking: ¡°This¡­ I¡­¡± Du-Wei sighed, ¡°I know, s, I do not me you. In order to save your own life, you were forced to make difficult decisions, I do not me you.¡± Du-Wei was surprisingly understanding so Gargamel quickly exined. ¡°Although over the years, I¡¯ve taught her some magic, but I have limited magical abilities to begin with¡­. Also, she couldn¡¯t learn the transformation magic that I specialized in. So¡­¡± Gargamel paused for a bit, then the cowardly mouse sighed. ¡°On that day¡­ I remember that she used her hand to grab the scruff of my neck, pinching me with two fingers and pulling me up from the spring. My body was not sorge, only the size of a small mouse. I thought I was going to die at that moment, but then she raised me up and stared at me for a long time before asking me. ¡°Did you drink from this spring just now?¡± Du-Wei¡¯s eyes lit up, looking at Gargamel¡¯s mouse body, as if in thought about something. ¡°You answered?¡± ¡°Of course! At the time I waspletely stupefied, only able to admit it. That damn eternal youth water, that damn thing really ruined me!¡± ¡°And then what? She spared you?¡± Du-Wei said. There was an odd look in Gargamel¡¯s eyes, ¡°She said, you are also one of the victims, so I¡¯m not going to kill you because now, there is someone in the same boat as me.¡± Gargamel, he smiled. ¡°Poor you. Over the years, you worked as a mouse.¡± ¡°You guessed what?¡± Hussein looked at Du-Wei. ¡°Might as well let the Prime Minister exin,¡± Du-Wei narrowed his eyes andughed. ¡°There is nothing wrong with the fountain of youth, correct?¡± Gargamel immediately let out his grievance. ¡°It is not only wrong, it¡¯s simply an evil thing! Years ago, when we came, the Treants said it was a fountain of longevity, even I thought it was a good thing. It gave the tree¡¯s longevity, it allows magical beasts to evolve, maybe it would be good for a human too! But after I drank from it, there was so much suffering!¡± ording to Gargamel¡¯s interpretation, this fountain of youth was very useful for trees and magical beasts¡­. But for humans¡­. It¡¯s useless! The spring allows a Treant to live a long life¡­.. In fact, ording to Gargamel¡¯s personal experience, this is simply a thing that slows down the metabolism of the body several times over to where it¡¯s almost frozen. The unfortunate thing is that the people who drink this stuff would receive no benefits regarding their life expectancy or growth, but what does get frozen is their outer appearance. For example, Gargamel, a grand magician specializing in transformation magic, was unlucky that night when he was busy running for his life in the body of a small and agile mouse! The results, after falling into the spring and drinking the water¡­. He will always be frozen in the mouse state! Unable to change back into his human form or any other form¡­. In this life, he can only be a mouse! ¡°This is a frozen state,¡± Gargamel sighed. ¡°For humans, it¡¯s more like being in the same eternal state¡­ I think this spring is of course beneficial to magical beasts and Treants, but will only bring harm to humans! Oh wait¡­ perhaps, there are only two benefits to humans!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°The first is healing, heavy injuries can be healed instantly and automatically close the wound. But this capability isn¡¯t much use because holy water and healing magic are capable of doing the same thing. However, the other advantage is¡­ Protection against corrosion!¡± Gargamel smiled, ¡°Although after drinking the water, their life span will not change but after the person passes away, their body will never dpose after being transformed from the water. The physical body will forever remain in a good state, it is that simple. That truly is the case. Du-Wei let out a bitterugh smile. For a human, it would only have two benefits. It was originally thought to be a very precious thing, but it seems there isn¡¯t much use for it. Treatment of injuries¡­¡­ One can find many alternatives, no reason to challenge a Queen Medusa. Protection against corrosion¡­ After his death, why would Du-Wei care if his body rots or not? If that is the case, wouldn¡¯t I be a mummy? But suddenly¡­ An idea shed in Du-Wei¡¯s mind. With this said, wouldn¡¯t the already dead body of Aragon also be forever preserved? Haha¡­. This idea only shed in Du-Wei¡¯s mind for a bit and he didn¡¯t think much of it. ¡°It seems that is that case.¡± Du-Wei frowned: ¡°But I don¡¯t understand why Queen Medusa would say ¡®we are both victims¡¯? Since she was originally a magical beast, shouldn¡¯t she have been subject to great benefits?¡± ¡°Of course, she was originally a Golden Eye Python. It¡¯s just that from drinking the spring water, she evolved¡­ But the spring has also caused her to lose a precious ability. When she drank the water, she was already in human form, as a result, she can never change back to the body of a snake.¡± Dadaneier frowned, ¡°Is the human form not good? If it can¡¯t turn into a snake, what¡¯s the loss?¡± Du-Wei sighed deeply, then gave a deep look at Dadaneier before murmuring. ¡°Dadaneier, this way of thinking is typical for a human. Of course we would think the human form is the best because we are ¡®human¡¯. However, if I made aparison with the most powerful dragon race against the human race, would you still want to be forever a dragon? You can¡¯t eat human food, never able to make human friends, no longer able to sleep in a soft bed, drink wine, and even bed a woman¡­.. But when the urges require you, would you be willing to mate with a beautiful female dragon while keeping a human conscious, are you willing? Even losing the human style of living, are you willing? An imaginary scene of two dragons mating crept into Dadaneier¡¯s mind and he immediately went pale, repeatedly shaking his head. ¡°Of course not! I don¡¯t want to!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Du-Wei smiled and said. ¡°You and I think being a human is the mostfortable, the same applies to Queen Medusa. Although she turned into a human, her preceding lifetime as a snake must naturally make her feel ufortable.¡± Although Gargamel didn¡¯t say anything, his eyes emitted a sad appreciative feeling and couldn¡¯t help but sigh deeply. ¡°Gargamel, tell me, since you turned into a mouse, how did your body be so big? Your body volume couldn¡¯t have been that different from a normal sized mouse.¡± Du-Wei said it with a smile and his tone was softer. In his heart, a sense of sympathy was growing towards this mouse with a human consciousness. ¡°Yes, but it took me many years to acquire this look.¡± Gargamel sighed, ¡°I certainly don¡¯t want to be a mouse forever. Unfortunately, I drank the water while I was in the form of a mouse, losing the ability to turn back into a human. I experimented a lot, and finally I found out that the most I could do for myself was bing a littlerger. This size of my head is already at its limit and I could freely change to any smaller sized variations, but I¡¯m unable topletely change my look. Queen Medusa originally wanted to learn transformation magic from me, but since she was frozen in her human form, she couldn¡¯t learn it.¡± ¡°So what this Kingdom, what happened?¡± Du-Wei smiled. ¡°This¡­ Gargamel thought for a while before giving a surprising response to Du-Wei, ¡°This was my idea¡­. I was really bored anyways. Queen Medusa spared me and doesn¡¯t control my actions because she understood that I can¡¯t leave¡­ If I escaped to the human world, me, a human shaped giant mouse would be burned as an evil creation and be treated as a monster. This world is so wide but I could only find shelter in this ce. ¡° The tone of Gargamel was so sorrowful, ¡°Even if she let me go, I would have nowhere to go, so I was extremely bored and decided to found a kingdom. Queen Medusa also thought this was interesting, so¡­¡± ¡°But why¡­ all the mice?¡± Du-Wei said it with a smile, ¡°Since I entered this valley, what I¡¯ve seen the most is mice! It can¡¯t be because you¡¯re also mouse, so you are turning this country into a mouse kingdom? ¡°Gargamel rolled his eyes and sighed with exasperation, ¡°Do you think I wanted to? Getting a bunch of magical beasts here? So many magical beasts¡­ maybe one day when I¡¯m not paying attention, I¡¯ll be eaten! Queen Medusa cannot always protect me at every moment! My favorite transformation ability is gone so I¡¯m not brave enough to live among a group of magical beasts with whatever power I have left. After much deliberation, I realized the best way was to not look for magical beasts, but to find ordinary animals! But this is the frozen forest! There are no ordinary animals, even going back a thousand years ago, magical beasts roamed thisnd! With this in mind,mon animals without the ability to protect themselves would have gone extinct a long time ago. However, the mouse is different!¡± Du-Wei immediately nodded, ¡°Yes! Even with the harsher environment of this world, any group of any age, of any species that I have heard of can go extinct, but I have never heard of the mice going extinct! So, in the forest, the only remaining ordinary animal is the very, very weak, but fertile mouse! Right?¡± ¡°Yes, this practice was also approved by Medusa. Then I call together a group of mice and each mouse is fed a small drop of water from the fountain of youth. The spring helps the magical beasts evolve but it¡¯s useless to humans¡­ But the mice that drink a drop of the water would eventually evolve into a strong and intelligent being¡­. Just like that of a human¡­. Just that it¡¯s a pity that after they evolve, they would lose their reproductive capabilities.¡± Du-Wei¡¯s face went dark as he looked at Gargamel, ¡°Fortunately so! Otherwise, you would be the greatest sinner of all of mankind!¡± Gargamel paused in thought for a moment and couldn¡¯t help but cringe. Why is that? They are mice! Although they¡¯re small, weak, and dumb animals, they¡¯re famous for their ability to survive and reproduce! Imagine, if the mice can be about the same size as a human and almost to the same level of intelligence! Coupled with their horrifying reproductive capabilities¡­ This way¡­ the ¡°Mouse Men¡± would jeopardize the survival of the human race! Gargamel¡¯s mouth hung open, ¡°You¡¯re right! I almost caused a terrible disaster!¡± Du-Wei patted Gargamel¡¯s shoulder, but then retracted his hand in disgust and reluctantly smiled. ¡°But your country is looking decent, I can imagine your days as Prime Minister was very good, right?¡± ¡°Do you think I like being a prime minister?¡± Gargamel looked like he wanted to jump up, ¡°Do you think spending more than a decade teaching a bunch of mice to talk, teaching them the rules, teaching them about civilization is very interesting? Moreover, in this damn country, I was simply bored and got a group of mice, then now I¡¯m suddenly the mouse head! That Queen Medusa never cares about anything, she just sleeps all day, regardless of what goes on! Hundreds of mice in this valley, all of them eating and sleeping, I have to manage it all! Do you know how much time I spent potty training them?¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Du-Wei just heard something important in his words. ¡°You¡¯re saying¡­ that Queen Medusa is always sleeping?¡± Gargamel immediately came to his senses, and whispered. ¡°Yes, she¡¯s been sleeping. Her pce was built on top of the fountain of youth, the spring is in her bedroom. She has been sleeping and only wakes up once every ten years. Will wake up once in ten years. Du-Wei and the three looked at each other¡­ It seems that there is still a chance! Chapter 82 Sponsored by: Sanah Ching / Wilson kong The 82nd chapter ¡°Strange Pce¡± ording to the words of the mouse Prime Minister, when Queen Medusa is sleeping, he is the highest leader in the so called ¡°Kingdom of the Evil Eye¡±¡­¡­. Having this hostage with them, or it¡¯s better to say coercedpanion. The group of three along with the ratlike person headed towards the Queen¡¯s Pce. Along the way, all the mice that saw the group turned and ran away, deeply proving the famous ¡°scurrying¡± aphorism usedmonly on these animals. During the chaos that just urred, their Prime Minister was captured, yet the groups of mice showed no signs of courage to rescue their leader¡­.. From ancient times till now, it is very urate to use the phrase ¡°courage of a mouse¡± to describe cowards. Of course, the Animal Kingdon does not only have mice here, there are also some crows. These birds scouts were originally created with magic by Gargamel. The t feathered animals would only hover in mid air croaking ¡°Outsider! Outsider!¡±. Annoyed by this, Hussein let¡¯s loose one Dou Qi (energy) sword strike up into the air, killing seven to eight of these fleeing birds. Seeing this, Gargamel couldn¡¯t help but let out a painful sigh. ¡°Oh lord knight, do you know how much efforts and experiments I did before the crows learned to speak and keep watch? Du-Wei couldn¡¯t help but wonder, ¡°How do you teach these crows to speak?¡± Gargamel smiled, ¡°I¡¯m skilled in transformation magic, so I naturally have a profound understanding of animal biology. Half of my research was on animals¡­ Let alone a crow, even a horse¡­ ¡°I remember I told you if I ever hear you lie again, I¡¯ll cut off your mouse head.¡± Hussein coldly interrupted the self boasting prime minister, then said. ¡°Do you think I cannot see through it? Those crows cannot talk, just that you used magic to transform their voices. Crows don¡¯t have intelligence, but they do have animal instincts, capable of distinguishing between those that belong in the city or not. Whenever they encountered ¡®foreigners¡¯, they will call out with their voice. These crows fundamentally cannot speak the human tongue¡­ It¡¯s just that the pronunciation of their calls was changed into ¡¯Outsider¡¯. Du-Wei, if you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask this mouse tomand the crows to say something else. If they cannot say it, I¡¯ll immediately cut down his mouse head!¡± Once this was said, Gargamel obediently closed his mouth. Du-Wei inwardly stole augh, but he was also quite interested in the wonderful ideas that Gargamel thought up. His method was to modify the crows vocal cords with magic, this was very simr to how the parrot trainers did it in his past life. In order to teach a parrot how to talk, the trainer would use special tools to tten the parrot¡¯s tongue. Even though the practice is different, the principle behind it is the same. (I personally never heard of this method) Du-Wei contemted, thenughed. ¡°Gargamel, I understand your thoughts. You were originally a human, but now that you have been turned into an animal, you are worried that others would only think of you as an animal monster that could speak the human tongue. Although you live in this ce uninhabited by humans, you would involuntarily want to make the other animals around you speak the human tongue. This is to ease the lonely feeling inside you, right?¡± Although Gargamel didn¡¯t say anything after hearing these words, his eyes did reveal a feeling of gratitude when he made eye contact with Du-Wei. The passage leading further into the Canyon still had twopleted city walls. Looking up, these walls looked impressive to the eyes! Albeit they were just big rocks piled up together and looked somewhat crude, but their volume and height was definitely big! ¡°We have a lot of strong ves. A lot of the Treants in the Canyon was fossilized by Queen Medusa. Not only could she turn you into stone¡­ If Queen Medusa is willing, she could even turn you into a stone ve without consciousness, a walking dead only there to obey hermands.¡± After what he said, Gargamel couldn¡¯t help but break out in cold chills. ¡°The most terrifying thing about this was that even after death, one cannot rest in peace.¡± Du-Wei let out a sigh, ¡°This should also be one of the many terrifying magics belonging to Queen Medusa, right? If she wants to, she could create an army of living stones just by taking a look at a person or magical beast.¡± Gargamel sigh, ¡°I never questioned this point. If she is willing, she could change the magical beasts of the whole frozen forest into stone ves.¡± Du-Wei suddenly asked, ¡°Why would an all powerful Queen Medusa stay hidden in this Canyon? The frozen forest is such a big ce, why would she only stay in this small canyon? Du-Wei started thinking about the possible reasons, but after going up a ramp and turning a corner, they could finally see Queen Medusa¡¯s Pce! This pce was fully aligned in height with the surrounding two slops beside it. The building was not made of stones, but rather wood! Du-Wei immediately recalls what Old Greenwood said, this pce was built with the physical bodies of the real Treant tribesman. Du-Wei couldn¡¯t help but sigh from just thinking of how the gentle Old Greenwood would gnash his teeth with anger on the topic. Gargamel stopped walking, then hesitated a second before speaking. ¡°You guys really have to go in?¡± The mouse Prime Minister shifted his eyes around randomly, as if ready to escape if given the chance. ¡°Yes,¡± Hussein grimly gave him a nce. ¡°You too.¡± Gargamel moaned and cried while begging ¡°If you are going to find the Queen of madness, then go, the pce is not big anyways. Why must you also bring me along? If Queen Medusa gets angry, I will also be punished! In the past, I have annoyed her once before and for that, she turned me into stone for a month!¡± ¡°Do you think she will have the opportunity to punish you again?¡± Du-Wei frowned, ¡°Did you already assume that once we go inside, she will kill us?¡± Although Gargamel didn¡¯t say it, but it was clear from his facial expression. However, he quickly saw the anger on the knight¡¯s face, causing him to speak quickly. ¡°I have not seen a human for many years, so I don¡¯t want you to die in vain. Why not just leave now? She never leaves the pce anyways. I¡¯m in charge of all the outside matters so if I don¡¯t say anything and pretend you¡¯ve nevere here, then wouldn¡¯t that be better? If you are here for the fountain of youth, then I can tell you that stupid thing is useless. Look at me, I drank many mouthfuls of that water and what benefits did I get? ¡°We are not here for the spring.¡± Du-Wei spoke in a light tone, ¡°We want Medusa¡¯s eye¡­¡­ In the past, she used to be a gold eye Python, right?¡± ¡°My God¡­..¡± Gargamel lets out a moaning sound again, but this time when he looked into the eyes of Du-Wei and hispanions, he acted as if he was looking at three psychopaths and three already dead people. (This line isn¡¯t as funny in English, but it was so funny when I listened to it in Chinese <(^0^)> ahahahah) No matter how much the mouse Prime Minister refused, Hussein picked him up anyways and forced him into it. Du-Wei and Dadaneier have both put on their ¡°sunsses¡±. As for the normally proud Hussein, his face was still as calm and cold as ever, but he was still wise enough to put on a pair of ¡°sunsses¡±. Against the strength of Medusa, even he would still have a hint of fear in him no matter how he acts. Pushing open the tall pce gates before them, an immediate st of cold air blew out and pressed against them. The group walked into the hall against the pressing cold, then from the surrounding walls of the hall, a row of crystals lit up and brighten up the entire hall. In the spacious Hall, the most striking thing before them was a giant statue. The subject of the statue was a beautiful woman with curling hair. Although it is just stone, the facial features of the woman looked very clear. With a charming look and a pointy chin, it had a seductive charm to it. Just that the expression was too cold and indifferent while having a hint of cold killing intent. Her body was nearly nude with only a fewrge snakes on her body, covering certain key parts of the body. The serpents themselves also looked lifelike with their fangs exposed. Beauty coupled with snakes. The statue apparently carried with it a dangerous, mysterious and seductive feeling. Du-Wei took one look, then turned towards the mouse Prime Minister with a smile. ¡°It must be your masterpiece? Medusa couldn¡¯t have carved this, right? Who would have known that you had such great carving skills.¡± Gargamel put on a wry smile, ¡°I¡¯ve been in this Canyon Valley looking at rocks for 20 years. Even if I knew nothing from the beginning, 20 years is enough to learn a lot of things.¡± Walking around the stone statue in the hall, there was a door in the back. After opening the door, there was a straight descending passageway. Du-Wei stood at the entrance as he looked but what he saw caused him to frown. ¡°Hmm, this is a magic array. You taught her this, right?¡± Looking at it from the door entrance, the passageway was so deep that it was almost bottomless, as if it was seemingly endless in length¡­¡­ But how can it be this deep for single Pce? It¡¯s obviously under the effect of the owners magic, turning it into a useful defense facility if entered. If a person not skilled in magic had entered, they would never be able to reach the end of the passageway. ¡°This is actually using magic to cheat the senses of your eyes and sight. If you were to go in like that, you would think that you had traveled very far, but in reality, you would be just where you started. In order to counter this confusion spell, you just need to close your eyes¡­..¡± Talking up to this point, Du-Wei suddenly had a revtion and revealed a thoughtful expression. ¡°¡±And¡­¡­ Queen Medusa¡¯s most terrifying weapon is the gaze from her eyes, but if she sets up this magic array, wouldn¡¯t that cause everyone to close their eyes? This is like giving up her most powerful weapon.¡± Or maybe, she just didn¡¯t want to identally hurt her own people? Du-Wei thought up this exnation for himself. Subsequently, the three men and the mouse closed their eyes and headed into the passageway. Du-Wei¡¯s senses were very high and Hussein¡¯s power level was very close to that of a Saint Pdin, so it was not much different if he closed his eyes or not with his keen perceptions. As for Dadaneier, there would be no problem if he followed behind the two and Gargamel was already used to this. After entering the channel, this magic array indeed lost its usefulness. Not long after, Hussein could already feel the handle on the second door, but after opening the door, the three men were stunned by what they saw¡­.. After the second door¡­¡­ It was actually all ck! Not even a ray of light!! ¡°There is no light even in the ce behind this.¡± Gargamel whispered, ¡°That is, unless you bring your own torch.¡± ¡°Is it always like this?¡± Du-Wei asked the mouse Prime Minister. After getting an affirmative answer from Gargamel, Du-Wei suddenly smiled andughed meaningfully. ¡°This Medusa Queen is strange¡­¡­ You can still say It was just a coincidence that the magic array is to shut the eyes of others, but this setup ispletely dark, as if she was afraid of someone being mistakenly petrified by her! Could it be that she is not worried about hostile intruders breaking into this ce? Chapter 83 83rd Chapter ¡°Test of Medusa¡± Being a magician, especially a magically talented magician, Du-Wei¡¯s magical powers weren¡¯t very high at this time but it was because of the amount of spells he learned was too little. Despite this, his magic level is doing very well rtively speaking. Despite being in the darkness, Du-Wei expanded his spiritual mental senses like countless antennas. Even if his eyes cannot see, an intangible feeling instantly lit up inside Du-Wei¡¯s mind, allowing him to a have a full grasp of the surroundings like it was in the palm of his hand. Even in this environment, Du-Wei still had a keener sense of the surrounding than Hussein. ¡°Now, hold on.¡± Du-Wei smiled in the darkness, ¡°First, we need to ask the Prime Minister how we should continue proceeding downwards.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Hussein cut in and asked. ¡°This ce has a total of three doors.¡± Du-Wei spoke lightly, ¡°The front, left, and right, each direction has a door.¡± Hussein kept silent. Even though his strength was great, but he didn¡¯t have the same ability to use his spiritual powers to sense the surrounding environments. If he was in a fight where heavy movements was required, he would have no problems knowing where the foe is located. But if the enemy were standing still, then he would not be able to figure out where their location is. ¡°Three doors?¡± Dadaneier whispered, ¡°Three of us and three doors, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s too much of a coincidence?¡± ¡°Then we will have to ask the Prime Minister here.¡± Even in the darkness, Du-Wei still turned his head towards Gargamel and reached out his hand to tap the mouse¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Our lord prime minister, you came to this ce before, was there so many doors in the past?¡± Gargamel originally didn¡¯t want to speak the truth, but Hussein suddenly pinched his neck in the darkness and spoke in a somber voice. ¡°Before you answer, first think clearly. My sword is very close to your neck. If you lie, I can recognize it immediately from your heartbeats and pulse!¡± This level of threat was enough, so Gargamel immediately chose to tell the truth. ¡°This room is also a magic array, In the past when I came here, there was only a one door but the exit could be changed at the owners will. Only one door would lead to Queen Medusa, while the other fake doors are filled with illusions. This will depend entirely on the mood of Queen Medusa, if she is willing, creating 10 doors here won¡¯t be a problem.¡± Gargamel gave a wry smile, ¡°I think Queen Medusa already knows you are here and what she meant is that only one of you can see her.¡± ¡°She¡¯s trying to keep us apart?¡± Dadaneier spoke in a somber voice, ¡°This is obviously a trap. Does she really expect us to fall for it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to say.¡± Du-Wei¡¯s tone was light, ¡°Among the three of us, whoever can see Queen Medusa will depend entirely on her intentions. We can move together and try each door one by one¡­.. But since this is a magic array, she won¡¯t see us even if we walk through every door.¡± ¡°Then lets destroy this magic array, or simply tear down the Pce!¡± Hussein believes in his own strength. Out of everyone¡¯s expectation, Du-Wei raised an objection by saying. ¡°I think splitting up into three groups may be more useful.¡± ¡°Are you crazy?¡± Hussein was somewhat surprised, ¡°Apart from me, I suspect neither of you would have the ability to protect yourselves if one of you were to encounter Medusa alone.¡± This assumption not incorrect. Among the group of three, the one with the strongest fighting strength is of course Hussein, the one with powers nearing a Saint Pdin. The only reason the trio was daring enough to enter the Canyon Valley in order to provoke Medusa was because of such a strong presence in their mix. If it was only Du-Wei and Dadaneier, the two would never have the ability nor courage to provoke Queen Medusa, one of the worlds strongest magical beasts! ¡°We are after all on her te.¡± Du-Wei¡¯s voice carried a hint of enjoyment as he spoke, ¡°Since we are guests, it¡¯s natural for us not to be rude. I believe it would be for the better to respect the wishes of the host.¡± With that said, Du-Wei silently called forth a fire magic spell from his palm and gently lifted the fireball from his hand. From the fire¡¯s light, Dadaneier and Hussein could see Du-Wei¡¯s facial expression. This juvenile with a smiling face and a scheming pair of eyes looked like he had no worries. If they didn¡¯t understand him better from the long travel time, Dadaneier would also think this child was crazy to propose the idea of splitting up to meet the terrifying monster known as Medusa. But due to the cautious and bright ideas proposed by Du-Wei so far, Dadaneier knew that this person must have some kind of idea up his sleeves. ¡°I mean it.¡± Du-Wei spoke with a smile, ¡°Dadaneier, you and Hussein will take one path and I¡¯ll take a path on my own. As for Gargamel¡­¡­ You may take one path on your own.¡± ¡°Me?¡± The mouse Prime Minister froze from the shock. ¡°Yes, you.¡± Du-Wei looked at him with a calm face, then spoke gently. ¡°You were Medusa¡¯s subordinate so she won¡¯t hurt you. I also think she¡¯s not trying to make things difficult for you by putting this magic array down here. As for Dadaneier, if you were to go with Hussein, I believe there won¡¯t even any problems.¡± ¡°What about you, boy? If you face Medusa alone, do you have the ability to protect yourself?¡± Hussein frowned. Du-Wei didn¡¯t reply, instead, he asked Gargamel one sentence. ¡°Queen Medusa is a woman, right?¡± While not understanding the meaning behind Du-Wei¡¯s question, Gargamel decided to answer truthfully. ¡°¡­¡­ Right.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be OK.¡± Du-Wei curled his lips and put on an indifferent smile as if talking to himself: ¡°Since it is a woman, we wouldn¡¯t know who is really in danger until we meet.¡± Medusa¡¯s pretrifying stare.,,, Humph, against the ¡°Charming seductive eyes¡± granted by the demon. It is not guaranteed which is stronger! This time, Du-Wei was very adamant and has made up his decision. ¡°I¡¯ll walk in the middle. As for the left and right sides, you can take your pick.¡± With that said, Du-Wei walked forward without turning. After a few steps, he looked back at Hussein and spoke. ¡°Don¡¯t follow me and just do as I say¡­ Believe in me!¡± Under the brightness of the small fire, Du-Wei had a calm look full of confidence despite his childish and young face. This kind of attitude andposure left Hussein speechless. ¡°All right! If you must go off to meet your death, then so be it.¡± Hussein sneered. Leaving hisrades behind in the back, Du-Wei walked up to the middle door in the dark room by himself. His hands already resting on the cold stone doorknob, he let out a sigh then twisted the handles with ease. With a snap, he opened the door. Upon entering the doorway and into the unknown darkness, he could hear the door gently closing behind him. Du-Weiughed in a low voice¡­. Thenughed to himself, ¡°Did you not want to see me Queen Medusa? I havee.¡± After watching Du-Wei slowly walk through the doorway and seeing the door automatically closed by itself, the light from Du-Wei¡¯s fireball was also cut off from them. With the light gone, Hussein immediately called forth his Dou Qi and a golden aura enshrouded his body, lightning up everything¡­. But at the moment, Dadaneier and Hussein were both surprised to see the door that Du-Wei had entered has¡­. Disappeared! Only a wall was left in the area where the door used to be! ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Dadaneier was acting a little nervous. ¡°Do as he says.¡± Hussein spoke coldly, ¡°It was his own choice. You might as well follow me¡± Then the Knight once again gave the mouse Prime Minister a glimpse, ¡°You go ahead and choose a door! Don¡¯t expect us to leave you here.¡± Under the cold gaze of the knight, the Mouse Prime Ministermented and helplessly picked the left door. All the while saying, ¡°O great Queen, not that Gargamel is not loyal to you, it is just that these mobsters are too strong¡­.¡± With the disappearance of the door that the mouse Prime Minister had entered, the Knight pulled Dadaneier with him and the two also entered the final door. ¡°Queen Medusa, aren¡¯t you going to see me? I havee.¡± At the moment, Du-Wei was in a strangend. There was still no trace of light, just pure darkness, causing others to lose the functions of their eyes. Du-Wei was even more surprised to find that the other party has apparently used some sort of magic in the surroundings to disrupt his spiritual mental senses. Because a strange thing urred when he released his spiritual powers, the direction of his aim was changed every time. As if flowing through a boundless ocean, his spiritual powers would expand without end, unable to return to him. Then there was also another powerful unit of spirit force that would block him at random, sending back his spiritual mental force at every encounter. It was obvious, the other party was preventing him from using spiritual force to explore this ce. ¡°Dear Queen Medusa, since you called me here, why are you hiding?¡± Du-Wei smiled, then retracted his spiritual powers. In the darkness, a hoarse but muffled voice came from all sides. ¡°You hear my call?¡± Du-Wei was smiling, acting like he was not even a little nervous. ¡°That¡¯s correct. In that dark room, I heard someone using sensory magic to speak to me, instructing me to select the Middle door. I sounded out myrades and found out that they couldn¡¯t hear the voice. Only I could hear the voice, so I understood that you only wanted to see me, right?¡± The hoarse and muffled voice was silent for a while, but after a pause, it spoke. ¡°Because you are a magician. Gargamel taught me a lot, but now, I need to learn new things, I hope you can give me this. However, before I meet you, you have to go through my test and yourpanions will also encounter the test. Only those that pass the test could see me.¡± The sound ended, but then Du-Wei felt a blur in front of him¡­¡­ Then suddenly, a strong light struck down, warping the space around as if everything was disappearing¡­.. Chapter 84 84th chapter ¡°I¡¯m lonely¡± Du-Wei found himself standing in the middle of a street. Specifically speaking, he was standing in a bustling city street! On the street corner, there is a Bookstore he used to frequent, opposite to it was a cinema along with a game store that he also frequented. Then behind it was a 24-hour KFC that he often ran to at midnight in order to get ate night snack¡­¡­ (For anyone that knows, its Siu Yea. English don¡¯t have a direct tranted word for thiste night snack phrase) Looking in front of him, cars were moving to and fro, then he looked at the flickering Red and Green lights, and then also the neon lights of the shops on either side of the streets¡­. Du-Wei froze for a moment, then he couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°Still ying this hand. This is a fantasy right?¡± The passing pedestrians looked as if they were in a hurry with an indifferent look. There was even a stumbling child with a balloon in hand at the street corner¡­. As for himself, his Mage robe was gone. Now he was dressed in a jacket that he often wore in his past life and a pair of NIKE sneakers. All of this was extremely like the ¡°world¡± from his previous life. Of course, it is only ¡°like¡±. At this moment, the hoarse and muffled voice rang out from Du-Wei¡¯s heart. ¡°Your heart hides a very strange world¡­¡­¡± Du-Wei grunted as he watched the sky, then coldly said. ¡°Even though you used to be a snake, but you are a person now. You should at least know how to respect other people¡¯s privacy, right?¡± The hoarse voice spoke without any anger, ¡°I¡¯m very curious. Your inner spirit world is very different from your twopanions¡­¡­ Where is this strange ce? Those moving subways and the no horse drawn carriages¡­¡­ Also, there are those tall buildings¡­¡­¡± Du-Wei was fundamentally unable to listen to the noisy voice inside him. His face suddenly showed a trace of happiness as he lifted his leg to cross the road in front of him. Even when he was crossing the road, he carefully looked left and right at the oing cars, then he watched the red light turning to green before calmly walking on the crossing lines to reach the 24 hours KFC. Once there, he actually pulled out his wallet to buy a spicy chicken burger and a cone of ice cream. The familiar feeling at the entrance almost caused his heart to be emotionally moved. Under the extremely realistic sweet taste of the ice cream vor, Du-Wei closed his eyes to savor the moment, thenughed. He sighed, ¡°Thank you. Although you peeked into my inner thoughts, but still need to thank you for giving me the chance to look back on all of this¡­¡­ Originally, I thought I had forgotten all of this, but I did not expect that my heart still remembered all of this so deeply.¡± Neon lights sparkled among the long streets and young teenagers naturally smiled as they walked¡­¡­ While Du-Wei was savoring the ice cream cone in his inner world, Dadaneier and Hussein have both encountered trouble on their side. The two men stood in the middle of a circle like that ofpetitive arena and the surrounding venues were high and empty. Hussein was wearing a bright silver suit of armor and on his chest was a shy badge of the Holy Knights. However, murderous killing intents wereing from all sides! Nearby, holy knights have already surrounded the two in the inner circle of the arena, each of their faces carried wounds with a frosty chill. Holding their sword up, they pointed their sword at Hussein and a murderous killing aura could be seen from the swords in their hands! ¡°Hussein! You betrayed the Temple. From the will of his Majesty, you still won¡¯t surrender? ept gods trial and perhaps by the trial, god will let you stay alive!¡± A tall middle aged Knights shouted in a loud voice, his facial beard was so big that you could no longer make out his original face. But Dadaneier was surprised to find that on the chest of the middle-aged knight, other than the badge of the Holy Knights, he was also wearing a ninth level badge issued only by the cities association of knights! Ninth level Knight? Then wouldn¡¯t it be¡­¡­ As expected, Hussein¡¯s face looked like he was dropped into the ocean. Staring around, he then suddenly let out a goodugh, ¡°HA HA HA HA! What a good Medusa! You are actually capable of using this illusion trick as a weapon! Humph! Did you think that you have found my biggest weakness in my heart? Humph!¡± He looked at the ninth level Knight before him and sneered, ¡°Knight leader ¡°Hoilik¡±, I have killed you once before, now in this is fantasy world, I will kill you a second time!¡± (Hoilik is the third holy knight leader that Hussein killed) These holy knights acted like they didn¡¯t care what Hussein said and this huge bearded middle aged knight was indeed the already dead ninth level Holy knight leader. Then, almost as if they can¡¯t hear what Hussein said, Hoilik raised his hand and the 10 knights behind him held up their sword at the same time. With a sh of brightness, Dou Qi was wrapped around their swords and without pause, they struck down vertically and horizontally aiming at Hussein. At that moment, they couldn¡¯t tell how many Sword Qi was actuallying towards where the two were standing¡­¡­ ¡°Ice cream cone¡­¡­. Thetest Evangelion book¡­¡­ Let me have a look. Now Medusa, from my memories, what else did you find out¡­..¡± Du-Wei hummed a tune with his hand in his pocket and walked through the streets, all the while watching the surrounding pedestrians, vehicles and buildings¡­¡­ Really, very realistic¡­¡­ With a smile on his face, his eyes suddenly lit up as he saw a small roadside shop. Walking over, he bought of a packet of cigarettes and an emotional expression could be seen on his face. With trembling fingers, he opened the packaging and lit one for himself and took a deep puff¡­¡­ At this moment, Du-Wei was almost brought to tears by this familiar vor. God has mercy, I have finally got another whiff of this cigarette smell. That familiar hint of spicy vor as it turns inside your lung, then slowlying out from the nose, Du-Wei could only sigh as he immersed himself in this pleasure. Then the hoarse and muffled voice rang out from his heart, ¡°This kind of thing is harmful to the body, right? Why do you enjoy something harmful to you?¡± ¡°Oh, it looks like you learned a lot.¡± Du-Wei smiled, ¡°Things that are bad for you, but yet a lot of people can¡¯t refuse such things. In this world, there are too many examples like power, beauty, wine, and wealth¡­¡­ Could all of those things bepletely harmless to people? However, most people are drawn to it even though it is harmful to them, but most people still couldn¡¯t give up the pleasure of enjoying them¡­ This is human nature. Medusa, that¡¯s human nature.¡± ¡°Humanity¡­¡­¡± the hoarse voice sighed, ¡°Human nature seems to be veryplicated.¡± ¡°At least the thought pattern is much moreplex than snakes.¡± Du-Wei curled his mouth, ¡°Well, thank you, at least you¡¯ve let me have another taste of this cigarette smell¡­¡­ Next, let us see what else you will help me remember.¡± With that said, Du-Wei readily threw away the cigarettes in his hands onto the ground and stamped it out with his feet. ¡°You don¡¯t enjoy it? Why not enjoy it little longer? You know¡­ Once you leave this is a fantasy, you¡¯re never going to experience it again.¡± Du-Wei smiled with sunken eyes but there was no indecision, ¡°Because I know that these are only fantasies. It took me a long time to let myself to forget these things, so I¡¯m not going to allow myself to indulge in these things.¡± ¡°This is human nature?¡± Medusa questioned. ¡°No, just a kind of self defense.¡± Du-Wei reached out and flicked his fingers and created a ball of me. Standing at the corner of the main street, Du-Wei freely unleashes his magic¡­¡­ A roaring me came forth from his hands and created a giant hole in the middle of the road. The raging mes immediately ignited the trees in the surroundings and even the ss windows from the nearby stores were shattered from the explosion¡­.. ¡°I have to say, your illusion really is like the real thing¡± Du-Wei coldlyughed, ¡°Okay, now that I¡¯ve had enough fun, it¡¯s time to go back.¡± ¡°Why, you¡¯re not enjoying this? As long as you want it, you can stay here for a while longer.¡± A deep grudging atmosphere was starting to cover Du-Wei¡¯s face, then he quickly short forth multiple fireballs from his hand. Soon, half the street was engulfed in the shadows of the raging mes! Without hesitation, he destroyed all the surrounding buildings and spoke in a cold voice, ¡°Because I know all of this is not real! The past is in the past, reality is still reality. If I just indulged myself in this and never leave, don¡¯t you think that is really stupid? This saying does not only apply to humans, this is also applicable to you¡­.. Queen Medusa.¡± The current scene in front of Du-Wei was like a war zone. The sky was stained with the color of mes and a fire hydrant on the side of the street reacted to the mes and exploded. Columns of water gushed out and mixed with the mes, causing burning smoke to fill the air. Squeals of cars mming on their brakes could be heard as vehicles collided into each other, causing pedestrians to scream and scream as they fled for their lives¡­.. ¡°OK, enough, if that is your test then I¡¯m telling you now, human nature is much moreplex than you think, Medusa.¡± Du-Wei¡¯s eye was cold and a ming light could be seen on his fingertips. Without hesitation, he shot it towards the fountain located at the street square, where crowds of onlookers were located¡­.. ¡°Understood, then leave.¡± Medusa finally said, ¡°However, your friends are not as strong as you are¡­.. Their current situation is much more dangerous than you.¡± A whistling sound could be heard as Hussein gasp for a breath. Inside the arena, his body was covered in his golden Dou Qi and even his hair turned into a golden yellow color! The badge and a piece of his chest armor has already been cut apart, revealing his bare chest and a bloody wound. His face was covered in blood, making his face look absolutely hideous! Holy knight leader Hoilik was currently standing in front of him, but his condition looked a lot better than Hussein¡¯s. ¡°Hussein! Could this be all your strength?¡± A look of anger could be seen on Hoilik¡¯s face as he looked down at Hussein and on his own sword dripping with blood! Why¡­¡­ Hussein questioned himself! Why I am not his opponent? Funny! It really is funny! My strength is far better than him! Even while facing two Knight leaders, I, Hussein, could stille out victorious! But why do I feel¡­¡­ Maybe it is because I¡¯m still remorseful in my heart about killing them? Watching the knight leader in front of him, Hussein felt his inner courage and battle intent slowly fade away¡­. In addition, there is a part of him in his heart that wanted to condemn himself! Kill him? I can¡¯t! How can I point my sword at this respectful master that taught me so much? How can I point my sword at my brothers andpanions that has lived by my side? The tearing pain in his chest has already caused Hussein to lose his focus. From thebined attacks of the knight leader and the 10 senior knights, Hussein could no longer fend off the group, even with his tyrannical powers. But why can¡¯t I lift up the killing intent inside my heart? It cannot be¡­¡­ It cannot be! I can¡¯t kill my brothers! How can I lift my sword against my senior elders? But¡­¡­ I must survive. I want to live on and bring forth the truth to the public! The Temple lies and all the hypocrisy of the so called gods! I¡¯ll tell the world everything!! I cannot die here until I finished my quest! So I will have to kill the people before me¡­.. Oh, but they¡¯re already dead! This is all but a fantasy¡­¡­ But facing them, how can I raise my sword and butcher them a second time? Facing all these familiar faces¡­.. Dadaneier has already copsed on the ground. In a weak breath, he suddenly shouted. ¡°Hussein! What are you waiting for! They are phantoms! All fake! Fake!! Why don¡¯t you fight back!!¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± Hussein lets out a thundering shout. Without waiting, knight leader Hoilik once again raised his sword and shed down with his Sword Qi against Hussein. With a snort, Hussein blocked off the attack but was pushed back a series of steps by the repeated burst of attacks by the other knights. Looking at the ground, you could see cracks appearing on the ground from each of the steps he took. Maybe I¡¯ll die in here. I shouldn¡¯t be alive today! In order to live, I had to kill so many of my brothers andpanions¡­.. Am I so noble? HA HA! HA HA HA!!! Du-Wei opened his eyes and found himself lying on top of a table. This ce was a big room, exactly like a meeting hall. In the air, there was a faint aroma. This type of scent smelled veryfortable, as if there was a warmth in one¡¯s stomach. Du-Wei rolled over and sat up. Stretching his body, he looked out into the empty Hall and smiled. ¡°Thank you, I had a very good dream.¡± In the empty room, the sound produced by Du-Wei was gently echoing back towards him. With a sigh, Du-Wei looked around and saw that there was only a stone bed in the middle¡­. Or to be more urate, it was just arge stone table. Cold and lifeless. ¡°You should at least get some lights on.¡± Du-Weiughed, then spoke as if he was talking to himself. ¡°On the bright side, this is at least warm¡­. So it won¡¯t be so lonely.¡± ¡°Lonely¡­¡­ What the hell is that?¡± While still in the hoarse and muffled voice¡­. Medusa finally asked another question. What is loneliness? Du-Wei lowered in his head in thought for a moment, then smiled. ¡°Loneliness is when your heart feels empty and no one can share your feelings with you, whether it is anger, happiness, sadness, or joy¡­.. Everything in this world doesn¡¯t have a rtionship with you and no one cares about you¡­. You don¡¯t know why you are living in this world, you don¡¯t know what to do and you don¡¯t know what to think¡­.. When you have these kind of feelings, this is known as loneliness!¡± Medusa sighed, her voice carried a trace of weariness and a hint of weakness. ¡°If you say these things are what makes up ¡®loneliness¡¯¡­¡­¡± Then the color of the world must be painted in horror, the quiet voice sighed. ¡°I am lonely.¡± Chapter 85 85th chapter ¡°Hussein¡¯s metamorphosis¡± Hussein felt his strength continue to leave him as the blood drained from his body. Now, he could no longer distinguish exactly how many injuries he was carrying. The heaviest wound on his left leg was dripping fresh droplets of blood, staining his pants. In an attempt to lean his forehead against his sword, Hussein nearly sliced off half his head. Luckily he was able to quickly dodge the weapon in time. Above his left eye, a deep wound, revealing the skull bone could be seen. Blood was seeping out and dyeing the knight¡¯s vision in a blood red coloration. With an unbnced body, Hussein could only hold onto the wooden crutch (walking stick) that he made before to support himself. ¡°Hussein, how long will you continue to struggle?¡± Hussein reluctantly opened his eyes as the sound of Hoilik¡¯s voice achoed against his ear, but the only thing he saw was sh of Sword Qi flying towards him. Lifting his sword with his numbed arms, Hussein managed to block the attack but what followed was the crisp sound of shattering fragments. No longer able to bear the strain, the broken sword in Hussein¡¯s hand finally shattered into multiple pieces and he was also sent flying from this one strike. Unable to stop, Husseinnded across the arena andid on the floor. ¡°Give it up Hussein.¡± Knight leader Hoilik came up to where Hussein was and looked down at the already near death traitor. His voice was just like how Hussein remembered in his memory, ¡°Hussein, God¡¯s will must not be defied. It may not be toote to repent now!¡± Hussein startedughing as hey on the floor. His face was already buried in the fine chips of stone covering the ground so it sounded like a muffledughter. Subsequently, the Knight looked up and gently blew away the blood soaked hair on his forehead. With eyes like someone that has given up, he spoke. ¡°Knight leader Hoilik¡­.. I really want to give up. I¡¯m tired of this lifestyle where I have to point my sword against mypanions¡­. I¡¯m tired of it! Even though I know you are only a phantom of my heart¡­. But I¡¯m really tired. I want to be free, I really want to escape all of this. Perhaps, I wasn¡¯t meant to shoulder this heavy burden.¡± With that said, the knight lifted himself up in a crawl. Without a sword in his hand, he could barely keep his upper body upright and his breathing was so heavy that it was like a hole was pierced into his throat. Afterwards, the knight pointed to his throat with a finger and smiled: ¡°It is here, here¡­¡­ Stab at this point. I remembered master taught me if a sword was to pierce through this point, it would be a fatal blow, and then¡­.. I would no longer be burdened with anything.¡± The smile on the knight was very odd and his eyes were getting more and more sullen as he stared at knight leader Hoilik. From his eyes, you can see that Hussein has already given up as he looked up to towards the oing sword on top of his head. But yet at this time, the prideful Knight once again had a hint of struggle in his eyes¡­. This hint of struggle was almost instinctive and no one knew where thisst remnant of struggle came from. ¡°I¡­¡­ Can I ask onest question?¡± Hussein gasped and his eyes showed good faith without any doubt in them. In a soft and sincere voice, ¡°Lord Hoilik, you have taught me a lot in the past, so before I die, can you please answer myst question?¡± The sword in Hoilik¡¯s hand slowed down, ¡°Hussein, go ahead and ask.¡± ¡°Tell me¡­¡­ What exactly is God?¡± Facing the moment of death, as if unable to give up the faith in his own heart, the Knight puts forth his own life. Until now, this was the biggest doubt in him¡­¡­ Or perhaps, this question is not a problem for the Knight because in his mind, he already knew the answer¡­. The reason he proposed this was because of an unyielding and unwilling cry in his heart! What is God? Humph! What is God!!! What exactly is God!!! The pious and faithful Holy Knight replied, ¡°God is everything.¡± Hoilik puts on a reverence expression, ¡°Everything! All things, life, sky, Sun and moon, stars, and all the creatures. The will of everything in this world is determined by God! Each of us are living ording to the will of God! So¡­¡­ God is everything!¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡­ All¡­¡­ HA HA HA HA¡­¡­¡± There was disappointment in Hussein¡¯s eyes, but there was also something more and that was disdain! His head was shaking and hisugh grew from small to a loud roar. His voice was also somewhat crazy and provocative, a little unruly, a little haughty, and a little rebellious! ¡°Oh¡­¡­ Haha¡­¡­ HA HA HA HA!! Everything! All!! You say?¡± Hussein suddenly raised his head with an unyielding anger on his face and then in a near shouting voice, he shouted out his inner thoughts. ¡°Why!!!¡± Seemingly, a breath of life infused into the knight¡¯s heart and cracked apart the yoke of despair inside him. Light once again returned to his eyes and an indomitable fighting spirit was burning in him! ¡°Why!¡± He grunted with a painful expression on his face. Struggling to stand up, he no longer allowed Hoilik to continue looking down at him in a condescending way¡­¡­ Instead, with pride, dignity, and equal to the person in front of him, he spoke: ¡°Why! Why must God be so high and mighty! Why must all things live ording to its will in order to survive? Why can it represent the will of all things? Is it the Sun? Even the sun would have a time where it would set! Is it the stars? But even the stars would have a time when it would fall! Is it time itself? But time marches on!! Why must it alone be perpetual and without change!¡± Hussein¡¯s entire body was already covered in bloodied wounds but then at this moment, the wounds suddenly healed! The wounds squirmed and frantically bumped up as it tries to close up the wounds with each ticking moment. Suddenly, a deep golden light burst forth from his eyes and chest! Then¡­ a rumbling sound could be heard! A brilliant golden light suddenly erupted from Hussein¡¯s already dying body! Not the pale golden light from before! But instead, real deep gold like that of the sun! Bright and brilliant! Bathed in the burning energy, Hussein closed his eyes and clenched his fist. A glimmer of peace could be seen on his face as the roaring golden mes engulfed his body, cleansing his soul, bones, and muscles in his body¡­. This feeling is very¡­.. Comfortable. As if reverting back into a fetus inside a womb and soaking in the amniotic fluid. His whole body had a warm feeling corsing through him as if the liquid was moistening his withered soul and reincarnating his entire being! As Hoilik¡¯s sword made contact with the golden Dou Qi, the sword immediately melted away! Hoilik looked at Hussein, then shouted in a roar. ¡°Obstinate traitor, die!¡± With a howling sound, the sword struck down like a falling meteor as it aimed at Hussein¡¯s head! But¡­¡­ Gently opening his eyes, Hussein casually reached out his hand and gripped the oing de¡­.. Easily gripping the de with his powerful hand, no matter how much Hoilik struggled, the ninth level knight was unable to budge the sword even an inch. Drops of blood were dripping down the palm of his hand holding the de. Each droplet of blood seemed to turn into a golden color as it touched the ground! Enshrouded inside the golden Dou QI, the wound on the palm immediately healed and the sword was slowly melting away as it burned under the light! At that moment, the rebellion Hussein finally changed! Opening his eyes, the pupil haspletely turned into a golden color. With an indifferent face, he looked at Hoilik and spoke in a gentle but understating tone, as if pledging, he said: ¡°Even if you say God represents the will of everything in this world¡­¡­ However, I¡¯m an exception! My will is free and will not be enved by anything! Even if the other person is the so called God!¡± Gently lifting one hand, then gently falling down like leaves in the wind. Hoilik was easily beheaded and blood sprayed out into the air! Hussein slowly puts down his hand and quietly looked at it. His eyes were almost motionless as he spoke, ¡°This¡­. Is the power of a Saint Pdin? ¡°You see, my friends can solve it by themselves.¡± Du-Wei smiled confidently, calmly sitting down on the floor. In front of him was a stone wall and on the wall was a surface like rippling waters. Appearing on this surface was a picture: Hussein was enshrouded in a golden Dou Qi, then with a wave of a single hand, the powerful knight leader was easily beheaded by Hussein. ¡°Thank you, this thing is like a movie¡­¡­ Well, even if you don¡¯t know what movies are.¡± Du-Wei said it with a smile. Medusa¡¯s hoarse and deep voice sounded puzzled: ¡°Didn¡¯t he give up already earlier? Why all of a sudden he would¡­¡± ¡°This is the human faith.¡± Du-Wei replied in a solemn tone, ¡°Remember, this is the human ¡®faith¡¯. This power may be present in every person¡¯s heart. You can¡¯t really see it when it¡¯s weak, but you will see it when it explodes¡­. You saw it, this faith¡­¡­. Is a part of human nature.¡± Chapter 86 86th chapter ¡°The second spring! ¡°Faith¡­¡­¡± Medusa whispered in a low voice, and then she asked again: ¡°However, didn¡¯t the Knight forsake his faith already? He should¡¯ve been a man without faith.¡± ¡°This is different.¡± Du-Wei calmly spoke: ¡°There is faith in every person¡¯s heart. Hussein may have forsaken his previous faith and beliefs, but that doesn¡¯t mean he had lost faith! However, when he abandoned one kind of faith, he has already adopted a new kind of faith! This ismon among everyone. Whether this belief is just, or evil, every living person must have their own belief and faith. A person could only gain strength and courage when he has faith in his heart. The stronger the faith, the more powerful the person bes!¡± Talking up to this point, Du-Wei smiled and asked: ¡°With all that said, how much do you understand?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Medusa¡¯s voice was low: ¡°Greed¡­¡­ Nostalgia¡­¡­ Weak¡­¡­ Coldness¡­¡­ Loneliness¡­¡­ Also, faith¡­¡­ These are what you call ¡®human nature¡¯. This human nature stuff is tooplicated.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alwaysplicated.¡± Du-Wei quickly spoke: ¡°Humanity is the mostplex creature in this world. Among all the living creatures, humanity has the most abundant emotions. We Know how to love, show affection, create friendship, but at the same time, we can be the most cruel. Specialized in killing, infighting, and killing of our own kind! Throughout human history, it has always been humanity fighting against each other. You kill me, I kill you. This has always been the cycle¡­¡­ Medusa, if you think seeing inside the three of us is enough for you so to understand and grasp human nature, then you are wrong.¡± Talking up to this point, Du-Wei asked her, ¡°Now tell me, did I pass the test?¡± After a long moment of silence, ¡°Yes, you have passed. ¡± In moments, Du-Wei could finally see the legendary Medusa. From the wall in front him, a rustling sound could be heard as a humanlike figure slowly stepped forth¡­. Her whole body seemingly made of stone, or urately speaking, her entire being seemed like to be merged into the stone itself. Of course, Queen Medusa is a woman. The moment her body stepped forth from the wall, the stone like texture of her body started to fade away. Changing from the cold and grayish color, her delicate looking body transformed into a marvelous shade of white with smooth and soft skins. From the head, her strands of hair started to soften and smooth out, revealing a glossy shine. The contour of her face was also bing clear¡­. And it was extremely beautiful. Even Du-Wei had to admit it. Whether it was this life or the previous, the Queen Medusa in front of him was the most beautiful women he had ever seen! Every skin, every curve, it was like a piece of art work carefully and rigorously calcted by the creator. Her legs, her hips, her arms, her chest, all of their ratios seemed to have reached a perfect state. On top of all this, snakes are inherently charming. Without any effort, every movement she makes are seductively charming. However, all of this didn¡¯t matter¡­¡­ What really stunned Du-Wei was her face! It can be said that this face would drive any man crazy! Du-Wei could not even find the right words to describe such a beautiful face¡­¡­ Du-Wei knew he had been frozen in shock, as if a blind person had just regained his sight and was awestruck by what appeared in front of him! Du-Wei was willing to bet that such a beauty absolutely cannot exist in the world of humanity! If word of this were to spread, it would no doubt cause a disaster in the making! Oh heaven¡­¡­ Just by looking at those pairs of red, delicate lips, he couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Du-Wei has seen many beautiful women, but to be so beautiful that it reaches a disastrous level, then, Queen Medusa is definitely the first one! And¡­¡­ Her eyes were still closed! Du-Wei can guarantee that if she opened her eyes and if it was even one-third of the word ¡®glorious¡¯¡­. Oh heavens, what would Queen Medusa¡¯s eye be like? With an absolutely beautiful face, if you could also embellish a pair of star like gems into her eyes¡­.. Then her face alone is enough to murder the hearts of almost every man in this world! This Medusa Queen is really beautiful¡­¡­ Too beautiful¡­¡­ An inhumane beauty! And a terrifyingly beauty!! After a good while, Du-Wei finally regained hisposure. The first thing he did was to take in a deep and long breath, letting oxygen into his deprived lungs from being awestruck earlier. ¡°It was fortunate that you have always lived here and not let others meet you.¡° Du-Wei made an assessment, ¡°Otherwise, with your beauty, there will be people going crazy over you even if you are the horrible Medusa. In some cases, they may even wage war against each other to control you!¡± Medusa asked gently, ¡°This is human nature?¡± Standing in front of Du-Wei, Medusa¡¯s voice was no longer the hoarse and deep voice like before. Apparently, her voice was issued forth by osciting the sound off the wall¡­.. Of course, her true voice was very nice to the ears. Du-Wei was very pleased with this fact¡­¡­ This way of thinking is of course very natural. If one were to meet a woman capable of murdering the hearts of men, but the voiceing out of her mouth is hard on the ears, then this is a sin! Thank heavens, her voice sounded like the gently flowing water in a spring creek. ¡°Sort of¡­¡­¡± Du-Wei smiles: ¡°However you like it. If put into the world of humans, this will absolutely cause men to war against each other.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not human.¡± Medusa replied with a trace of sadness. Then she gently came close to Du-Wei: ¡°Gargamel said that most humans would be afraid of me. To humanity, Medusa is considered to be a terrible monster, frightening even¡­¡­ Why are you not afraid of me? I can feel your strength¡­¡­ Is not powerful.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not ¡®strong¡¯pared to you. It can even be said that I am very weak in front of you.¡± Du-Wei smiled, ¡°But why would I be afraid of you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but Gargamel said humans are very much afraid of Medusa.¡± Shaking her head with her eyes closed, she then flicked her slender fingers through the air. Slowly, the stone surface beside her rolled forth like dough and formed a stone chair. Calmly sitting down, Medusa turned her face towards Du-Wei and spoke: ¡°You came to see me and now you could see.¡± ¡°Yes, I could see.¡± Du-Wei sighed: ¡°What I see is not something that strikes fear into humanity. Nor a being that indiscriminately kills and turns others into stones¡­.. What I see is a misfortunate woman living in seclusion, with a lonely heart, and currently seeking her own form of faith¡­.. Oh, by the way, on top of that, a snake that don¡¯t like to be turned into a human beauty.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really funny and an interesting human.¡± Medusa thought for a moment and then smiled: ¡°Although I didn¡¯t have much exposure to humans, you are the second person to speak with me besides Gargamel. Originally, I was going to kill you and yourpanions. I may not be human and don¡¯t fully grasp human nature, but at least I know I do not like to be disturbed.¡± Du-Wei kept his silence, unable to speak. Indeed, the other party used to be a golden eye python. No matter what, her nature resembles that of a ¡®beast¡¯ more than a human. ¡°I know, so that¡¯s why I have the courage toe see you.¡± Du-Wei spoke frankly: ¡°Because I know you are not simply an evil monster only capable of killing like they say in the legends¡­. You are just¡­.. Please forgive me for using the word ¡®ignorant¡¯.¡± Medusa doesn¡¯t look like she cared in the slightest: ¡°you¡¯re right, I was ¡®ignorant¡¯. At the very least, my understanding of humans is close to nothing.¡± Just as humans have always described a fierce animal as fierce, a cruel Wolf, a cunning Fox, and a terrifying magical beast¡­¡­ In fact, all these sayings are based upon human standards to measure other biological creatures. No matter whether it is a wolf, a fox, or a terrifying magical beast¡­.. Can they really be ¡®bad¡¯? Really ¡®evil¡¯ and ¡®terrifying¡¯? Of course not¡­. Because they are living their life based on their own species¡¯ standard. A wolf was born to eat meat, Lions and tigers are born to kill, and this is thew of the world. It cannot be just because of this that we couldbel them as evil and murderous beings. Medusa is the same. One arm against her cheek as she sat on the stone chair, Medusa gently raises a question: ¡°Well then, human, tell me your reason foring.¡± ¡°Originally, I was only here for the fountain of youth.¡± Du-Wei said, ¡°But now, it seems the fountain doesn¡¯t actually have much use. In addition to solidifying the outer appearance of the person, this thing doesn¡¯t seem to have much benefit for humans¡­.. Oh, you wouldn¡¯t kill me because of this reason now would you? I heard from Gargarmel that years ago, the group that came with him waspletely wiped out by you.¡± Medusa truly smiled, with curving lips, her outer appearance had more of a human taste to it: ¡°That was when¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t understand. Back then, I was just a humanoid snake without anyone to teach me human nature. I simply knew that outsiders came into my territory, so I had to kill them. It was that simple¡­. You can thank Gargamel for teaching me at least some habits of humanity, or else, when you guys stepped into the Canyon valley the other day, I would have already killed you.¡± ¡°My purpose foring here is no longer important because after talking to Gargamel, I have already lost interest in this spring. But my twopanions still had other purposes foring.¡° Standing in front of Medusa, Du-Wei felt it was better to be honest than to tell a lie. Maybe he might even gain some benefits from this. ¡°The lord and master of one of mypanions is under the spell of a petrification curse, and must have the eyes of a golden eyed python to save her. The reason we came to the frozen forest is to search for this important item.¡± Du-Wei discreetly nced at Medusa to see her reaction. ¡°So originally you had set your eyes on me?¡± Medusa¡¯s face remained unchanged, not revealing any hint of anger or joy. ¡°Used to be, but not anymore.¡± Du-Wei spoke with a smile: ¡°I think, as the final evolution of the golden eyed Python, you should be able to cure this kind of petrification curse without the use of your eyes.¡± ¡°Why should I help you?¡± Medusa¡¯s voice remained as calm as ever as she spoke: ¡°Gargamel has taught me one point and that is often in human ¡®deals¡¯, there is always a price when making a request.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a good teacher.¡± Du-Wei smiled: ¡°You are a snake that doesn¡¯t want to be human, but now you have no choice. So, I¡¯d like to teach you a lot about human habits. Of course, the most important is human nature.¡± ¡°Everything?¡± ¡°Everything.¡± Du-Wei firmly replied, ¡°But I can¡¯t guarantee that you will feel very happy because human life has never been pure pleasure. Human nature is both sweet and painful. If you want to experience this, I can teach you even more. For example, right now, I can start teaching you the first lesson.¡± Medusa was silent for a moment, ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Loneliness.¡± Du-Wei muttered: ¡°You are lonely. Your face, your voice, your words, and you living in this ce¡­. All of it points to this.¡± ¡°I am very lonely.¡± Medusa nodded, ¡°If loneliness is what you said before, then what you said is correct.¡± ¡°Do you like that feeling?¡± Du-Wei smiles. Medusa thought for a long time and shook her head slowly. ¡°It¡¯s simple. I can let you get rid of loneliness.¡± Du-Wei spoke: ¡°Humanity is a social animal, if you don¡¯t want to be lonely, then you need tomunicate with other humans. For example, find your friends orpanions. Then, Du-Wei raised a second question: ¡°Do you have faith in your heart?¡± ¡°No.¡± Medusa answered this very quickly. For one that has only been sleeping, only to awaken once every ten years, she would of course not have any beliefs and faith. ¡°Humanity needs faith and purpose in life¡­¡­ Even if it¡¯s just a bit, the small, subtle things can cause you great interest.¡± Du-Weiughed more pleasantly: ¡°Trust me. When ites to fun things, no one is more skilled than me in this world. ¡± In the wake of the two issues, Du-Wei puts forward a third problem: ¡°Do we have a deal?¡± The answer¡­¡­ Is self-evident. ? When Hussein woke up, he was lying on the floor in the hall just like Du-Wei was. As for Dadaneier, he was also lying beside Hussein, slowing regaining consciousness. Also, the poor mouse Prime Minister Gargamel was sitting next to him with a nervous expression. From his eye¡¯s reflection, Hussein could see Du-Wei is walking towards them with a smirking smile. And behind Du-Wei, stood a woman. Hussein immediately jumped up from, but before the knight could make his move, Du-Wei called out to him: ¡°Well then Hussein,e and meet out new partners.¡± No introduction needed because Gargamel has already fallen over on the ground with his body trembling. Looking at the woman, his body twisted into something like that of a meat roll. ¡°This is our new partner, Queen Medusa.¡± Once Du-Wei finished talking, he pulled Dadaneier up and gave him something like a small stone bottle. ¡°Here, this is one strand of Queen Medusa¡¯s hair. After taking this back, take it out from the bottle and it will be a sleeping golden eye python. Use it to save the Marquise of Lister.¡± Du-Wei said this while smiling. While Dadaneier was still in shock as he received the bottle, Du-Wei has already walked over to where Hussein stood. Patting the knight¡¯s shoulder, Du-Wei spoke: ¡°My friends, don¡¯t be so stunned. Right now, the Queen is going to take us to see the fountain of youth. Didn¡¯t say you wanted to go see the ce where Aragon has gone before? Now,e on.¡± The strikingly beautiful Queen Medusa has also shaken Hussein¡¯s heart. His hand was on the hilt of his sword, but put down involuntarily as he looked upon the woman. What¡¯s more is that after hearing Du-Wei¡¯s words, his mind was somewhat at a loss on to do next. ¡°Okay, now is not the time to draw my sword.¡± Du-Wei tapped Hussein¡¯s shoulder andughed in a low voice: ¡°I saw that in your dreams, you were able to advance to the level of Saint Pdin¡­.. Speaking of this, I believe you to thank her Majesty the Queen.¡± Seeing Du-Wei drag Hussein with him as they walked towards the door behind them, Medusa wordlessly walked in front like a ghost. Dadaneier broke out of his stupor state when Gargamel sighed. The mouse Prime Minister moaned: ¡°What¡­.. Is this teen doing? Oh the gods¡­¡­ He seemed to be getting along very well with the Queen, or am I dreaming? Could the legend be true?! Oh my god! He will not¡­ He will not¡­..¡± ¡°What are you muttering to yourself?¡± Dadaneier frowned. ¡°You never heard of the legend?¡± Gargamel stared at dadaneier, ¡°Queen Medusa¡¯s legend.¡± Dadaneier shook his head. ¡°The Legend¡­¡­¡± Gargamel sighed, eyes looking at Du-Wei¡¯s back as he whispered: ¡°From the records of the oldest documents, other than the terrible powers that Medusa wielded, there is also a special point¡­.. It is that if she cried for any being¡­. Whether it was a man, women, or even a monster. If they could make Medusa cry out the first tear of her life, then Medusa would forever love that person. Your teenagepanion couldn¡¯t be ying at this idea, right?¡± Dadaneier didn¡¯t bother listening to Gargamel¡¯s words. Rubbing his eyes, he muttered: ¡°Strange, Howe when I wake up again, this teenager has already solved the entire problem. Touching the stone bottle that Du-Wei handed him¡­¡­ There was a hair belonging to Medusa that can be turned into a sleeping golden eye python¡­¡­ Dadaneier was finallypletely awake! There is hope for the Marquise of Lister!! ¡°The Spring is here,¡± Medusa points to the front. Medusa casually chants a few words in a spell. Then in a corner of the hall, the stone b in front of them quietly opens up. Immediately from below, an exquisite fountain carved out of stone revealed itself. ¡°This is the fountain of youth that you are looking for.¡± Once Medusa finished her introduction, Du-Wei was somewhat disappointed. It seems¡­¡­ There is nothing special. But then one word from Medusa surprised Du-Wei! ¡°This is the first spring; do you also want to look at the other spring in this Canyon?¡± ¡°This Canyon has another spring? What the hell is it?¡± Du-Wei looked at Medusa in surprise. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is.¡± Medusa answered coldly: ¡°However, this fountain is the exact opposite of the fountain of youth, so I gave it a name, called¡­¡­ As time goes by.¡± Chapter 87 87th chapter ¡°Poison of time¡± As time goes by? Whether it was Du Wei or Hussein, they could never have expected there would be the existence of another fountain near the fountain of youth. Medusa still had a cold appearance as she led the two men¡¯s out of the hall and into the depths of the pce. ¡°This pce of yours, is itpletely built out of the bodies of the Treants tribesman? Du Wei casually asked this question as they moved. ¡°It is.¡± Medusa suddenly stopped and questioned Du Wei instead: ¡°Is there a problem?¡± This time to speak up was Hussein: ¡°Don¡¯t you think it was a little bit too harsh? While you and the trees are both enemies to each other, but you should at least respect their corpses.¡± ¡°Respect for the body¡­¡­¡± Medusa spent a moment in thought as she carefully savored this word, and then asked Du Wei: ¡°Is this also human nature?¡± Du Wei smiled, ¡°Sort of.¡± ¡°But, I don¡¯t understand.¡± The words from Medusa seemed sincere and truthful: ¡°I don¡¯t understand this ¡®human nature¡¯. I¡¯ve heard many things about human from Gargamel. You humans would kill different beasts to eat their flesh, strip off their skins, and turn them into clothing or ornaments¡­. Why do you humans act this way, but still spout such words as to respect the corpses of others? I¡¯m using the bodies of the Treant¡¯s tribesman to build my home, while you humans are killing animals to eat their meat and turn them into clothing. Essentially, there isn¡¯t any difference between the two scenarios, correct?¡± Medusa probably doesn¡¯t understand human nature, and perhaps she doesn¡¯t even understand anything. But for such a simple question, her words have left both the schrly Du Wei and the experienced knight in a stump for words. Well¡­.. Is there any difference? Medusa carefully thought for a moment, and then gently smiled: ¡°Looks like I¡¯ve summarized another characteristic of human nature, which is¡­¡­ Hypocrisy. Are humans always saying one thing and doing another?¡± Du Wei puts on a wry smile, unsure of how to respond to Medusa¡¯s question. Letting out a sigh, he responded: ¡°sometimes¡­¡­ It is.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like this characteristic of human nature, nor do I don¡¯t like humans.¡± Medusa summarized this and ended the conversation, continuing to move forward with the two in tow. Outside the Hall and through a corridor, Medusa opened a door leading into a ck room. Upon entering, Du Wei could feel a sudden chill in the air¡­. This icy chill was different from the snow outside as if the air was wet, capable of prating through the clothing and into the human skin, bones, and gut! Having this chill covering his body, Du Wei immediately felt numbingly cold as if his body was being pierced by numerous sharp needles. For a time, even his fingers felt like it was freezing into ice! ¡°It¡¯s here.¡± In the darkness, Medusa walked forward as usual as if she was born without eyes. ¡°This is my bedroom. I usually sleep here.¡± Medusa points to a stone b on the surface, ¡°¡¯As time goes by¡¯ is right there.¡± ¡°Sleep here¡­¡­ Aren¡¯t you cold¡­..¡± Du Wei stopped speaking when he reached this point, suddenly realizing that snakes are cold blooded animals. Lifting up the stone te, Du Wei saw that below the ground was an opening hole for the spring. From the opening, the spring¡¯s water was shing in the darkness, almost like it was glowing with light. After removing the te of stone, Du Wei could feel the chill in the air increase 10 folds! ¡°What is this water¡­. Why is it so cold! Yet, it does not freeze?¡± Unable to stop himself, Du Wei started trembling from the cold and even his teeth¡¯s were making a chattering noise. Worried he might freeze to death if he continued ignoring the cold, Du Wei quickly performed the Stars Dou Qi set of movements. Once finished, the heat swelled up inside his body and drove out a bit of the cold air. But Du Wei found that even for the knight, his face was covered in a thinyer of white frost! The moment the sweat on Hussein¡¯s face came into contact with the air, it would freeze instantly! ¡°This spring was only discovered by me after I came to this ce, not even the Treants knew this spring existed.¡± Medusa muttered. ¡°The Treant Tribesman doesn¡¯t know¡­..¡± Du Wei sighed, ¡°Just from looking, this spring is weird¡­¡­ Is there anything special about it?¡± Medusa didn¡¯t say anything, but then she smiled and spoke in a light tone: ¡°The ck object you brought along with you was meant to be used against my eyes, right? It would be better if you were to wear it now.¡± Du Wei smiled guiltily and pulled against Hussein¡¯s shirt so that he will also put on his sunsses. Medusa gently pulled out a strand of her hair and ced it into her palm. Muttering a few chanting words, the hair twisted twice on her raised and t palm, then quickly turned into a snake roughly the size of her thumb! The snake waspletely gold in coloration as if each scale on its body was made out of pure gold. After twisting around a few times, the snake rapidly lifted its head up and made a hissing sound with its eyes closed. ¡°This is a golden eyed Python. In order for the golden eyed python to grow into the size of a human waist, it would require decade¡¯s worth of time to mature¡­..¡± As Medusa says this, she slowly reached out to carefully scoop up a handful of the spring¡¯s water and fed it into the mouth of the golden eyed python¡­.. Then a miracle happened at this moment! Medusa gently puts the snake down, then took a step back¡­. Under the careful observation of Du Wei and Hussein¡¯s naked eyes, the snake¡¯s body suddenly swelled up! Its scales constantly expanding and its body changed from the size of a thumb, into the size of a trunk! Not only was it getting bigger, the snake was also growing in length! Also, the previously closed eyes of the python were wide open. Open! Even under the protection of the ck crystal sunsses, Du Wei was still able to clearly see the snake¡¯s eyes emitting a strange golden light! Upon eye contact with the python¡¯s eye, Du Wei immediately felt a pain in his eyes, causing him to turn his head away! Fortunately, they had the protection of the ck crystal sunsses, or else they would have most likely been turned into stone. Next, the snake started rolling around on the floor as though it was in pain. It twisted around, then twisted a second time, and finally issued a subtle ¡®Chee Chee¡¯ sound¡­¡­ It was actually in the process of molting!!!! On the surface of where it molted, a nearlyplete shing golden colored snakeskin was left behind near Du Wei¡¯s feet. As for the snake, it was still continuing to grow in size! Finally, the size of its body was so big that it could cover more than half the size of the ck room, forcing Du Wei and his group to stand in a corner! Later on, Du Wei silentlyputed in his mind that the snake has molted three more times in just a few minutes¡¯ worth of time! And then¡­¡­ It began to age! The huge body of the snake started to be weak and frail. The normally stic body was bing dry and even the normally shiny scales were dimming down. Bit by bit, its strength faded away and eventually its head justy there helplessly, unable to move¡­¡­ Under the snake¡¯s skin, its flesh-and-blood began withering away. Finally¡­¡­ The snake died and its body rapidly dried up like a jerky! Then the snake¡¯s skin ruptured as if it was dried leather¡­.. ¡°ording to your human calction, a golden eye python should have the life span of 40 years.¡± Medusa¡¯s voice resounded inside the room: ¡°From birth to death, the golden eyed python will molt four times during this period. After the fourth molt, its power and magic will reach its prime.¡± Du Wei felt his heart racing! More than 40 years? But just now, how long was that experience? At most only ten minutes? No, probably only five or six minutes! Within five or six minutes, a young golden eye Python has gone through its early age to its adult form. Then molting four times to reach its old age¡­¡­ And then to death¡­¡­ Within five minutes, the snake has covered its 40-year life span!? ¡°So, this is why I said this spring is the exact ¡®opposite of the fountain of youth.¡± Medusa smiled, ¡°I named it ¡®As time goes by.''¡± After a pause, the beautiful snake womanughed loudly: ¡°Gargamel said that if this spring was used as a poison, then it will be the most terrifying poison in the world!¡± Du Wei and Hussein both looked stunned and shocked in their eyes! Indeed, this really is the most terrifying poison in this world! Time! What poison can be more terrifying than the passage of time?! Du Wei was thinking more¡­¡­ Why is that? Why is this ¡°As time goes by¡± not somewhere else, but instead, it is located near the fountain of youth? Just like nature, everything vaguely reinforces each other in the natural order of the world! One will forever solidify a form; the other causes time to pass quickly! So, if the two springs are mixed together, what kind of miraculous effect woulde of it? Or instead, if a person drank the water of the ¡®fountain of youth¡¯ ended up drinking the water of ¡®As time goes by¡¯¡­¡­ What will happen then? Of course, Du Wei hid these questions in his heart. He would never say these things in front of others¡­. Spending a moment in thought, he asked: ¡°The spring¡¯s water, can I take some with me?¡± After getting the consent of the Medusa, Du Wei unceremoniously removed all the bottles on his body, and then dumped all the drugs inside to make room for the water¡­.. All of these drugs could be found again once they leave this ce, but once they leave, he would never be able to get his hand on the spring¡¯s water again, even if he searched the entire world! Du Wei brought out all of the bottles on him and filled up a few of the bottles with the waters of ¡®As time goes by¡¯, then filled thest remaining bottle with the water from ¡®The fountain of Youth¡¯. ¡°Why did you bring with you this terrifying ¡®As time goes by¡¯? Hussein frowned as he spoke, ¡°This kind of thing can only poison people and doesn¡¯t have any other use.¡± ¡°You forget, I am a magic pharmacist, a poison pharmacist!¡± Du Wei vaguely muttered thest part. His heart had another intention. ¡®As time goes by¡¯¡­¡­ What if it was cleverly used? Feeding the golden eye python just a handful of water is enough to poison it to death in five minutes. But¡­¡­ What if you just drink less? Cleverly diluting the spring¡¯s water to a certain extent? Would it be possible to just let the person grow older and not die of old age? So¡­¡­ What if we let the Treant tribesman outside drink it? Maybe we could make a seedling grow into a towering tree within a short period of time? If too much, then drink a drop! If a drop is too much¡­¡­ Then add a drop of this spring¡¯s water into a bucket of water for dilution! Du Wei was just far too curious regarding this thing! Even after filling a few bottles, he still felt it was far too little and sheepishly looked at Medusa: ¡°Do you still have other containers around here?¡± Instead, it was Hussein that took out his personal belongings¡­¡­ A leather bottle used to carry his wine, only after filling it up with the spring¡¯s water did Du Wei finally felt satisfied. Once I bring this back with me, I will have the opportunity to slowly study it! ¡°I was very surprised¡­.. You are a golden eyed python that evolved by drinking the waters of the fountain of youth.¡± Du Wei spoke slowly, ¡°But why did you not let other golden eyed Python drink the spring¡¯s water?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m selfish.¡± Medusa answered without batting an eye: ¡°There¡¯s only one Medusa, my words arew! If there is more than one¡­.. Then without a doubt, there will be a war. If there was a group of my kind, then maybe I will die.¡± ¡°Very good, you at least have a little bit of human nature.¡± Du Weiughed: ¡°Because generally speaking, humans are the most selfish creatures in this world.¡± After a pause, Du Wei spoke with a smile: ¡°Well then¡­ Dear Majesty, what¡¯s next?¡± We have reached a deal. I¡¯m willing to teach you everything about human nature¡­. So are you ready to join us and hit the road? Or stay here and wait till we finish our business ande back to get you?¡± Medusa¡¯s decision was quite surprising for everyone. ¡°I¡¯m leaving with you,¡± The Queen did not hesitate to answer. Du Wei was stunned, ¡°You¡­¡­ Are you saying that you will join our team?¡± ¡°No, not joining your team, just following you to leave.¡± Medusa spoke in a light tone: ¡°I do not like human beings, nor do I believe humans. From Gargamel, I heard that the behavior of humans is to not keep their promises. So I¡¯m going to follow you.¡± Then¡­ This indifferent and peerless beauty suddenly smiled while speaking: ¡°And I have been here far too long! You should have seen it when you came in¡­. There are mice everywhere! And when I was a snake, I hated mouse¡¯s the most!¡± Du Wei smiled. Yes, in the food chain, snakes are the natural enemies of mice! Without a doubt, hispanions have doubts and fears toward this Queen. Even Du Wei wasn¡¯t certain if this move wouldn¡¯t bring catastrophe to mankind. This is not some random person! It is the most horrifying monsters known as Queen Medusa! As soon as shees into contact with the human world, she could just open her eyes and look around¡­. Then there would be a bloodbath! ¡°Your majesty¡­¡­¡± The mouse Prime Minister suddenly threw himself at her feet, ¡°If you left, what am I supposed to do! Of those trees were to intrude, how can I possibly stop them!¡± ¡°Then just don¡¯t stop them.¡± Medusa talked as if she held no lingering feelings towards this ¡®kingdom¡¯. ¡°This Canyon is theirnd, return it to them.¡± Old Greenwood has already been impatiently waiting outside the Canyon with his panions¡¯. Each step that Old Greenwood took was enough to shake the ground from time to time. Seeing Du Wei and his grouping out, Old greenwood suddenly cheered and his panions¡¯ suddenly let out a whistling ROAR. ¡°Mr Old greenwood.¡± Du Wei pleasantly walked in front of the Treants: ¡°We have persuaded the evil eye, starting today, she will return the Canyon to the Treants¡­¡­ However, on one condition. I just need the Treant Tribesman tomit to one simple condition. I believe the good and gentle Treant¡¯s race would never break their promises.¡± What else could be said? Old Greenwood readily agreed at once. ¡°The Canyon is returned to you and the fountain of youth is inside¡­¡­. But¡± Du Wei spoke slowly: ¡°Inside the deepest part of the Pce, there is a ck room; this ce is banned to all parties. I request you to promise that the Treant¡¯s race will guard this ce and not allow anyone to get in! Or allow any creature to get near, whether it is magical beasts, humans, or anything else! You must stop them with all your strength! Other than this request, I have nothing else to ask.¡± Beforeing out, the powerful Knight had used his golden Dou Qi to split apart the pce with a few swings of his sword. With the pce gone, what was revealed is the original grounds and the ¡®fountain of youth¡¯, while the ¡®As time goes by¡¯ is quietly buried inside the intact ck room. The treant leader couldn¡¯t adequately express his gratitude. Despite the grievance of a century¡¯s worth of fighting, the kind and generous Treant¡¯s tribesman didn¡¯t hold any grudge against the evil eye. As long as they could take back the heritage of their race: The fountain of youth, they had no other requests. Old Greenwood promised on the spot that they would kill any intruders that attempts to enter. ¡°Dear¡­¡­ Guests¡­¡­ Is the piece¡­.. Of leaf¡­. I gave you¡­. Still here?¡± Du Wei hesitated as he goes through his body in search of the gold leaf presented to him by Old Greenwood before they entered the Canyon. Originally, he thought after entering, they would be in a big battle with Medusa. The results were that it was useless. ¡°Oh, I almost forgot, I¡¯ll return this to you.¡± Du Wei said this with a smile. ¡°No! You¡­¡­ Keep.¡± Old Greenwood¡¯s honest voice trembled with an emotion of gratitude. Then he held out a branch and gently twisted up the leaf. Afterwards, several branches twisted and folded the golden leaf several times back and forth. Once finished, what became of the leaf was a golden colored horn! Old Greenwood then told Du Wei an amazing secret! This piece of gold leaf is produced by the Treant¡¯s treasure, the ¡°natural horn¡±!! Once you fold this pure gold leaf into a small horn and blow into it¡­. As long as you are surrounded by trees, you could awaken the trees into Treant ¡®Companions¡¯. (Even though Du Wei felt these things were just ves to the real Treants.) ¡°You¡­¡­ Can¡­¡­ Drive¡­¡­ Them to¡­¡­ Do¡­¡­ Anything¡­.. For you.¡± Old Greenwood exined, ¡°But¡­ There is¡­.. A¡­ Time¡­¡­ Limit.¡± The so called time limit was that when the sun goes down, they would return to being normal trees. ¡°In other words, the limit of awakening is only one day.¡± Du Wei smiled. He was so happy!!! If¡­¡­ If I could dilute the water of ¡®As time goes by¡¯ to a certain extent¡­¡­ Then what would it mean? As long as I carried a seed! I would be like carrying around a swarm of giant bodyguards with me no matter where I go!!! Chapter 88 88th chapter ¡°Close to the answer¡± Clear skies like flowing waters. Surprising Du Wei and his group, the weather was actually clearing up. In thisnd of ice and snow, the wind actually stopped blowing and snow stopped pouring down. Although the weather was still very cold, but at least it was a lot brighter with the sun hanging in the sky. ¡°Are we going to continue heading north?¡± Du Wei took a look at Hussein. From his heart, he really didn¡¯t want to go because he was forcibly brought here by the old magician and ended up going through so much suffering. The most depressing thing was that he didn¡¯t even know when these types of days wille to an end. Hussein coldly replied, ¡°Yes, to the North.¡± ¡°But, you should at least tell me where on earth are we heading to?¡± Du Wei suffocated for many days under these conditions and at this moment, his temper is finally about to explode, ¡°I think I have a right to know where we are going! Otherwise, why should I continue traveling in this god forsaken ce just to continue on a journey?¡± Hussein was silent for a while, pondering for a moment and slowly said: ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to tell you, but¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know either.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± If he wasn¡¯t facing a Saint Pdin, Du Wei would ruthlessly walk over and give the other party a major kick with his foot! What is this ce? The ice-covered forest famed across the whole continent! If we were to continue heading north, we wouldn¡¯t know what else lies beyond this ce at all! ¡°Undying old fool only told me to go north. Specifically, he is the only person who knows the exact location of where we are going.¡± Hussein was telling the truth. Du Wei was upset over this fact, but he had no doubt regarding the knight¡¯s words¡­¡­ Because in the past several days, Du Wei already has a deep understanding of Hussein¡¯s character. The prideful person would absolutely disdain any form of lies. ¡°But what if he didn¡¯t keep up with us? What if he can¡¯t find us? Didn¡¯t he go help you by distracting the soldiers following behind us? What if he was killed by the people from the temple?¡± Du Wei cursed, ¡°Are we just going to keep heading all the way to the north? Further north, wouldn¡¯t we end up in the Arctic Circle?¡± ¡°The Arctic Circle? What is the Arctic Circle?¡± Du Wei doesn¡¯t bother exining, instead, he just rolled his eyes back. Dadaneier has been standing on the sideline the entire time watching the dispute between the two. Then suddenly, in a whisper, he asked: ¡°Excuse me you two, can I say a word?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± My friend, if you have something to say, then feels free to tell me. ¡°Facing Dadaneier, Du Wei was acting very kindly. A trace of shame could be seen on Dadaneier¡¯s face, as if he was afraid to look Du Wei in the eyes: ¡°I¡­¡­ I¡¯m so ashamed, but I have to say it¡­¡­ My friends, I have to go back. I cannot go further north with everyone.¡± Du Wei thought and thought, then he immediately got it! Dadaneier¡¯s purpose was to look for the Python¡¯s eye so that he could save his mistress¡¯s life, save the Marquise of Lister¡¯s life! Moreover, the Marquise only has three months¡¯ worth of time left. He has already spent quite a long period of time in his quest, now that he has achieved his goal, Dadaneier must hurry back before the time limit runs out. Du Wei had no doubt that this friend isn¡¯t a coward in front of death, nor does he believe that the friendship they had built between the two is false. But Dadaneier has no choice but to head back because he bears the burden of saving his mistress¡¯s life! ¡°I feel so ashamed, my friend. I¡¯m willing to apany you on this adventure, even if I die, I would never regret it. ¡°This warrior of the Lister family bowed his head:¡± But, I have no choice but to leave you because the life of the Marquise is on the line. Since I have found the item to save her life, I must return. My friends¡­. I feel really disgusted at myself. I¡­¡­¡± Du Wei sighed as he held onto Dadaneier to stop him from bowing. Then, with his hand, he patted Dadaneier¡¯s back a few times as he spoke in a loud voice: ¡°No need to say anymore, my friend! I understand and can rte. I believe you are a brave and a person loyal to your friends!¡± ¡°However, to be able to find the golden eye python was because of you¡­. Now, I¡¯m leaving you right after we found what I came for¡­.¡± Dadaneier looked at Du Wei with a painful expression. ¡°No need to say anymore!¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°Friends are in the heart! I know you¡¯re a good man. At the very least, you almost died trying to save me the other day. I understand your difficulties.¡± But then, Du Wei thought of another question: ¡°But¡­¡­ How will you get back?¡± Not that Du Wei looked down on Dadaneier, it is just that with Dadaneier¡¯s strength, it would too dangerous to let him travel alone through the frozen forest and return to the human world! Along the way, he was luckily able to meet Du Wei, and besides them was the invisible old magician secretly protecting them. Thenter on, they were only able to reach the big roundkes by joining the snow Wolf mercenary group. If it weren¡¯t for Du Wei and Hussein apanying him¡­¡­ Of course, it was mainly because the powerful presence of Hussein that Dadaneier was able to get here in the first ce! And now, you want to let Dadaneier go back alone¡­¡­ Du Wei is worried that Dadaneier wouldn¡¯t even be able to cope with an intermediate magical beast along the way! So, find someone to send him out? There is no chance in expecting Hussein to help because he has already made up his mind to head north. Also, Du Wei can¡¯t expect himself to help because he had no confidence he could escort Dadaneier out safely. So¡­¡­ Du Wei turned his gaze towards Medusa. Queen Medusa still had her eyes closed as she lifted her head up towards the sun. As her hair flutter against the wind, her pale and white face revealed a strange expression. Under the lights of the sun, the contour of her face seemed to be shining and her expression looked like she was enjoying the warm feeling under the sunlight. Well¡­¡­ If it was Queen Medusa, then she would naturally have the ability to escort Dadaneier back¡­¡­ However, the Queen is also a time bomb! What if she identally opened her eyes and took a look around her¡­.. Then everything is finished! So Du Wei immediately dismissed the idea. As if aware of Du Wei¡¯s difficulty, Dadaneier immediately said: ¡°Well, my friend, you don¡¯t have to worry about me, I believe I can get out of here by myself! You still have your own objective and I already owe you a lot! I cannot add to your problems!¡± He patted the bow on his back, and thenughed loudly: ¡°No matter what you say, I am still a third level warrior; I believe I should be able to make it out of here!¡± ¡°Dadaneier.¡± Du Wei sighed with a sincere voice: ¡°I never wanted to look down on you. I have no doubt of your courage and you will of being afraid of death¡­¡­ However, I hope you understand that this ce is the frozen forest! Also, I want you to understand that we only managed to reach this ce due to sheer coincidence and a lot of special conditions. You are not afraid of death, but¡­.. You have to understand that you are now carrying the burden of saving the Marquise of Lister¡¯s life. It¡¯s not the problem of whether you are afraid of death or not¡­.. If somehow you were to be killed while returning, then the only hope of saving Mrs.Lister is gone!¡± With a sullen face, Dadaneier whispered: ¡°Yes! My death means nothing, but if it was because of me that causes the mistress¡¯s life, then¡­..¡± Just as the three struggled with this problem, Old Greenwood seeded in solving the problem. ¡°I think¡­¡­ I have an idea¡­¡­¡± Old Greenwood sounded very adamant: ¡°My¡­¡­ Friends¡­¡­ You have¡­ Already¡­ Helped¡­¡­ The Treants¡­¡­ Do a lot¡­.. Now give¡­¡­ Us¡­¡­ A¡­¡­ Opportunity¡­.. To repay¡­¡­ You!! I will¡­.. Safely¡­¡­ Send your¡­.. Friend out¡­ Of¡­ The¡­. Forest!¡± ¡°You?¡± Du Wei was still somewhat unsure of this solution, but the next word from Old Greenwood managed to relieve him of any worries. ¡°This ce is the forest!¡± There are a lot of magical beasts in the forest, but what else is more here? It is trees! As long as they are under the protection of Old Greenwood, then every tree in this ce would be Treant ¡®Companions¡¯. Having an endless supply of Treant ¡®Companions¡¯ to protect you, of course Dadaneier would have no problem leaving the frozen forest. After resolving the problem, Dadaneier did not dare to dy any longer. He immediately bid his farewell to Du Wei and the group. After giving Du Wei a big hug, he spoke in a sincere tone, ¡°My friend, I owe all of you way too much! I will await your visit to the Lister family household¡­. If I get a chance, I¡¯ll also go to the Rnd ins to see you!¡± (Note: Du Wei¡¯s family name is Rawling, so as to why the author used Rnd is something even I don¡¯t get. I¡¯ll try to make glossary in the future for all of this because even I¡¯m getting a bit confused.) After a pause, he spoke in a solemn tone: ¡°I bid you all farewells!¡± After his words, Dadaneier and Hussein looked at each other and nodded to each other: ¡°And thank you! As for your situation, I will not reveal even a word about you once I return!¡± With that said Dadaneier turned around and strode away in big steps, leaving behind only long strides of footprints in the snow. Old Greenwood walked in a slow and heavy pace as he followed behind with a group of Treant ¡®Companions¡¯. ¡°Well then now, shall we talk about our business?¡± Du Wei looked at Hussein: ¡°I hate being pushed around and have my life be manipted by someone else. I¡¯m willing to continue on our journey, but at least I must know exactly what am I doing!¡± Hussein hesitated before sighing, ¡°Very well, I can tell you something.¡± The Knight picked out a rock and sat down. Looking directly up at the sun, he had veryplex expression like he was indulging himself in his memories. After a long pause, the knight whispered: ¡°I told you, I had once served as the guardian of the sanctuary. All holy knights that are about to advance into the holy knight leader position must spend some time as the guardian of the sanctuary. I¡¯ve told you this before, right?¡± ¡°Yes, you also told me that you inadvertently found the holy knight¡¯s badge of Aragon within the Sanctuary.¡± Du Wei puts on a deadpan face. ¡°Unfortunately¡­¡­ Things are not so simple. It¡¯s not a simple badge.¡± That is not a simple badge. ording to Hussein¡¯s words, there is a hidden magic array on the badge. And the magic array has left behind a phantom message of Aragon! All of this has been just like how Du Wei found out about the message left behind by Saimei the female astrologer. It¡¯s just that the message in the magic array left behind by Aragon was much more shocking! ¡°Do you know how Aragon was killed?¡± At this point, Hussein lets out a somewhat psychoticugh¡­¡­. Chapter 89 89th Chapter ¡°Saint-Rnd¡± Aragon Rnd, founder of the Rnd Empire, the first emperor of the Empire. He is considered to be the most powerful expert in a thousand years and the first legendary figure to be titled ¡°Strongest under the stars¡±. Fluent in both magic and martial skills, his magic powers have reached extreme heights. (Du Wei knows that when Aragon left the Devil¡¯s Ind, he took with him half the strength of Chris¡¯s magic) And on martial skills, he also achieved the level of Saint Pdin. Moreover, he is different whenpared to the estranged powerful experts in history. Aragon also had considerable intelligence and political savvy. By fully taking advantage of his personal powers, he had built a vast and sprawling empire that hassted even to this present day! He was the Emperor, the founding emperor! Such a legendary person¡­¡­. How did he die? History records are quite blurred on this point. Even in the official history records of the Rnd Empire, the exploits of Aragon would of course be magnificently recorded, but everything about his majesty¡¯s death can be easily described in a short sentence. ¡°XXX years, founding emperor Aragon-Rnd passes away, XX King crowned as 2nd Emperor of the Empire¡­¡­¡± Simr historical records for the past hundred years have all stated thus. ¡°The temple¡¯s Sanctuary stores away the badges of every Holy knight¡­. Whether they are a devoted and faithful knight in their lifetime, or a traitorous heretic that has fallen from grace.¡± Hussein¡¯s voice sounded mysterious, ¡°Do you understand when I say it like this?¡± You understand? Of course I understand. ¡°Yes.¡± Hussein nods. The Sanctuary is one of the several mysterious ces in the Temple and outsiders are not allowed to enter this ce. The only ones eligible to enter are his Majesty the Pope, a few of the elders and the temple¡¯s presiding judgement lord. Adding all of these key figures together, the only other people allowed to go in are the holy knights that are about to advance into the three leadership positions¡­.. At any time, there would be no more than five people that would be allowed to enter the Sanctuary. Moreover, once the sanctuary guardian retires, he would not be allowed to re-enter this ce. The rules of the temple are heavily enforced. ¡°I originally thought the Sanctuary is where we pay homage to those that has specifically sacrificed themselves or swore allegiance to the temple their entire life. But then I found out I was wrong.¡± Hussein sneered: ¡°It¡¯s all a big cover. Outsiders only know that the Sanctuary is heavily protected by a powerful guardian, this way intruders could not disturb the souls of the dead¡­.. But in fact, these are all acts to cover up the truth! The real secret is that the Sanctuary holds many unknown secrets¡­.. Especially those like me that have betrayed the temple!¡± The Sanctuary is divided into the outer sanctum and the inner sanctum. The outer section is where they store the badges of those that have served the temple all their lives. And the inner sanctum is where the real important things are kept! Any valuable things that had once belonged to the traitors of the temple are all stored in there. ¡°Thousands of badges are ced in the outer sanctum, enjoying generations of worship¡­.. And within the inner sanctum, is in fact a dark room without light. The atmosphere inside is ghastly and the room is enshrouded in an imprisoning spell. ced inside are thirteen objects.¡± Hussein smiled: ¡°Historically, there are thirteen saint Pdins that have betrayed the temple and their badges have been stored inside the inner sanctum. Not only that, the temple has forever ced a cursed onto these badges, locking them under an imprisonment spell! Is this the so called ¡®mercy¡¯ the temple has been spouting through the ages?!¡± ¡°Thirteen?¡± Du Wei was somewhat curious: ¡°Thirteen badges? In a thousand years, the temple has only faced thirteen traitors among its ranks?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Hussein shook his head: ¡°Perhaps there are more than thirteen traitors in a thousand years, but not all traitors are entitled to ¡®enjoy¡¯ being forever cursed. Only those that has caused the temple to suffer a major loss or shamed to a certain extent can they be qualified to ¡®enjoy¡¯ such a curse.¡± Du Wei nodded, feeling relieved. (He must have thought the temple would curse him too, lol) That is urate. Not just anybody would be able to cause the temple to hate them to such an extent. ¡°Maybe your badge will also be ced inside the inner sanctum.¡± Du Weiughed: ¡°With your level of strength, you are definitely qualified to ¡®enjoy¡¯ the curse, right?¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Hussein put on a deadpan expression: ¡°Once they killed me, they will put my badge within the inner sanctum because such a curse can only be cast by the Pope himself. Even if the person is dead, they will never rest in peace. Under the effect of such supreme magic, their souls will forever be tortured under the effects of the curse! Every holy knight must take on a blood oath with their badge before joining the temples rank. This method allows the temple to punish the souls of any traitors¡­.. Otherwise, why do you think I would go to such lengths to evade the pursuers? Do you think I am afraid of death? I am not afraid of death, but even I do not wish for my soul to be subjected to such eternal torture!¡± Listening to the bone chilling words of the knight, Du Wei suddenly felt a shudder through his spine. Even death will not release one¡¯s soul¡­¡­ This kind of punishment is too terrifying. ¡°Originally, even the sanctuary guardian cannot enter the inner sanctum. Only his Majesty the Pope is able open the door that leads into the inner sanctuary. Hussein¡¯s tone of voice had a mysterious feeling to it: ¡°But that night, while I was meditating in the Sanctuary, I heard a sounding from the inner sanctum¡­. The sound was like someone crying, almost like someone calling out for me. With my level of cultivation, I knew it wasn¡¯t an illusion, so I immediately stood up and searched around. At first, I was worried an outsider was able to sneak inside the Sanctuary¡­¡­ But then, what I found was something surprising.¡± ¡°The door leading into the inner sanctum?¡± Du Wei guessed. ¡°Yes, it is the inner sanctum door. The door that was supposed to be locked with magic and only his Majesty the Pope is able to open.¡± Hussein shook his head with aplex expression, unsure of whether to feel regret or gratitude. Or¡­ Maybe both. ¡°Did you go in?¡± Du Wei sighed and shook his head as he whispered, ¡°No need to say anymore, you must have gone inside.¡± Du Wei was speechless. Wouldn¡¯t you? Of course! For a young Knight in his most glorious time of age, he will no doubt be full of curiosity towards life. Matched this with his superior strength and abilities¡­. It would be strange for him not to go see what has happened! ¡°Even now, I¡¯m still wondering what would have happened if I didn¡¯t go look that night. Then wouldn¡¯t the oue have been much better? If I didn¡¯t figure out everything that was happening inside, then I would have be a holy knight leader, admired and respected by all the people.¡± Hussein Sighed. ¡°No.¡± Du Wei shook his head at Hussein with a face showing how level headed he was: ¡°If that door really was covering all the temples dark secrets¡­.. So even if you didn¡¯t go inside and reported to the Pope on the spot,,, My guess is that in all likelihood, they would stille up with some reason and method to kill you!¡± There is no doubt that Du Wei¡¯s spection madeplete sense, so Hussein didn¡¯t argue with this. ¡°Thirteen badges are ced inside the inner sanctum and not any random badge, but high leveled holy knight badges. From just one look, you can tell these badges were very ancient and old.¡± Squinting his eyes, Hussein thought back to that life changing night: ¡°At the time, I was shocked and confused. Even though I am not a magician¡­. But I could still feel the magic in the atmosphere is not any sort of blessing! Just being in the presence of such magic would cause difort and despair!¡± Then with a strange smile on his face, Hussein continued speaking: ¡°Engraved onto the thirteen badges that was ced on top of a stone table is the names of the original owners¡­. A total of thirteen names. Can you guess who is the first name that I saw?¡± Du Wei had already guessed. Feeling a bitter taste in his mouth, he muttered: ¡°Aragon Rnd?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s him.¡± Aragon Rnd. Since encountering all these strange experiences, it seems all of the events somehow gets dragged into a rtionship with this legendary name! Strongest under the star! Founder of the Empire! The founding emperor! History¡¯s most powerful holy knight! And an expert that has made a deal with the Devils¡­¡­ Wait, wait! And now, to this name, we may once again add to it with a prestigious title: The temple¡¯s biggest traitor in the history! (Lol, I¡¯ll definitely need to make a glossary for all his titles at this rate) ¡°It is not finished.¡± It seems today Hussein will share with Du Wei a very big ¡®surprise¡¯. A trace of malice could be seen on the knight¡¯s face: ¡°You are a noble child of the Rowling household, so you must have received a good education and learned about history, especially the history regarding the founding of the empire. I believe you must have learned from those history textbooks that Aragon Rnd had an invincible toon of knights under him. In some historical records, every member of this toon is considered to be distinguished experts and showed absolute allegiance to Aragon himself!! This group of experts could be considered his own personal fighting force and every member are all fanatically loyal to Aragon.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard of it, it¡¯s called ¡®Rnd¡¯s Saint Knight toon¡¯. This toon is the shadow of Aragon and his most effective fighting force. Powerful yet mysterious, all documents rted to this knight toon are non-existing. Nor is there any detailed information regarding the members of this toon, not even their names were written down! We only know that there was an unbeatable toon of knights under Aragon, but we do not know where they came from or who they were. It wasn¡¯t untilter on after their contributions in unifying the continent that others started adding the word ¡®Saint¡¯ to their title. In the history of Rnd, there have been many powerful toons emerging. This includes the Temples holy knights toon, but only Rnd¡¯s Saint Knight toon was ever given the title ¡®Saint¡¯ in front of their name.¡± Du Wei is indeed educated. When he was young, he has read all the history books and even those few precious rare documents, His answers did not show any dy, like it wasmon knowledge in his mind, readied to be spoken at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡°Well then, I think I can tell you the details about this knight toon.¡± Husseinughs in a low voice, but hisughter was so disturbing that it was hair raising. ¡°In fact, that mysterious knight toon did not have many members. Altogether, including Aragon, this team only has thirteen members! Thirteen!¡± In a muffled voice, Hussein cursed: ¡°But¡­. Let me tell you, each of those thirteen members wielded enough strength to match me! Some of the members strength may not be at the Saint Pdin level, but they are most certainly close! Thirteen top level experts, thirteen fanatic loyalists to Aragon!¡± Du Wei felt he could no longer say another word. The inner sanctum of the Sanctuary uses evil curse and magic to suppress these thirteen souls, this included Aragon himself! Taking in a deep breath, Du Wei felt his tone was a little stiff: ¡°You mean¡­¡­¡± ¡°It is.¡± The Knight nodded quietly. ¡°The soul of his majesty the founding emperor is being suppressed¡­.¡± ¡°It is.¡± The Knight nodded. ¡°Even the highly credited heroes of the ¡®Rnd Saint Knight toon¡¯ is¡­.¡± ¡°It is.¡± The Knight continues nodding his head. Daring enough to take the soul of the founding emperor and put it in the Sanctuary so that it can be eternally damned! Daring enough to put the souls of the thirteen founding heroes into the Sanctuary so that they could be eternally damned! The Temple would dare to perform such an immense act?! Fucking bastards! Those temple bastards would dare! Are they not afraid of the royal family of the Rnd Empire taking them head on? Are they not afraid of the riots from the citizens once they find out about their founding hero?! Fucking! Goddamn! Goddamn!! Damn!! Du Wei repeatedly took in deep breaths, but he could note up with the right words to describe his current mood. So he had to use the most direct and simple words to express his emotions at the moment. Du Wei difficultly said, ¡°Very good! Very powerful!¡± Chapter 90 The 90th chapter ¡°Rejected transaction¡± ¡°I understand now why the temple would send out such a powerful force to kill you.¡± Du Wei puts on a wry smile. Two holy knight leaders, arge number of senior holy knights, as well as the presiding judgement lord¡­.. Such a lineup hasn¡¯t been seen for at least a century. And the reason is because the secret that Hussein discovered is just that amazing! Who in the Rnd Empire doesn¡¯t respect such a great Emperor? Who doesn¡¯t respect the founding hero in history? Even now, within the imperial pce¡¯s living room, there hung a portrait of his Majesty Aragon Rnd and a giant portrait of his mysterious group of Saint Knights toon. Even back in the age when the Rowling family was on the rise, the Rnd Empire was currently facing a crisis and the Emperor himself had publicly issued these words: ¡°If only I could have had the support of a fighting force like our ancestors ¡®Saint Rnd Knight toon¡¯, then I would never have allowed the Empire to sink into such a state!¡± If it was spread to the public that the Temple of light was doing such awful deeds of cursing his Majesty and the founding heroes of the empire! Then without a doubt, this event would wipe away any prestige the temple has gained over the centuries and rouse the anger of the royal family and the public citizens. Under such circumstances, how can Hussein not to die? He must die! This is the so called dead man tells no tales. ¡°But now, I told you this secret.¡± Hussein sneered. Du Wei was speechless. He could only sigh at his own curiosity because at this rate, it would end up getting him killed. Even for a holy knight that the temple has spent countless years cultivating can be easily discarded and killed¡­. Just so they could hide this secret? Then what about himself? Du Wei is only a small nobility, even if his family is heavily entrenched in the Empire¡¯s structure¡­ The temple would without a doubt also try to kill him! Knowing such a secret is like seeking one¡¯s own death. ¡°Now, do you want to continue listening?¡± Hussein¡¯s voice held a hint of mockery because he could see the facial color changing in Du Wei¡¯s face. Du Weiughed bitterly: ¡°Do I even still have a chance to go back? Oh please, I¡¯ve been with you in this forest for so many days already. If the temple were to find out about this, I would definitely be ranked among the top three in their hit list! Whether you tell me now or not is the same. Since you have already revealed the opening segment, you may as well continue on.¡± Hussein¡¯s face looked somewhat appreciative, albeit he still looked cold: ¡°You love looking for trouble, so it¡¯s not me trying to harm you.¡± Subsequently, Hussein sighed and looked up at the sky: ¡°Aragon¡¯s badge¡­..¡± Aragon is not only a powerful Knight, but a great magician as well. His badge left behind a magic array, and this magic array left behind a residual message. That night when Hussein went inside, he not only saw the cursed badges, but also the personal message left behind by Aragon. How did the first emperor of the Rnd Empire meet his death? Hussein cannot answer this question because the message left behind by Aragon didn¡¯t mention this¡­.. The reason is very simple: When Aragon left the message behind, he was still alive, so how could he possibly know when he would be dead? But¡­ The message left behind by Aragon had implied a very important message, that is, while the founding emperor was in power, the rtionship between Aragon and the Temple has already reached an unstable state¡­. Almost like fire and ice mixing together. This is very easy to understand. No doubt about it, Aragon is a broad minded hero. Such an amazing person is always very intelligent and has a strong ambition for power. He was able to start from a declining noble family and fight in the divided continent, the results of his efforts was the unification of all the kingdoms on the continent. In history, there has never been such a vast empire¡­. You can say such a person like Aragon appearing is unprecedented. When such a powerful person has just unified the continent and brought peace to thends, then from his back, he realized there was still the Temple of Light that could challenge his authority! For a character like him, how could he allow such a thing to happen?! The Temple is what? The Temple is a religion and the organization advocating the supreme deity in this world! It represents the god¡¯s will; it represents the god¡¯s intention! It is equivalent to another Emperor with its wide influence and authority! Moreover, such influence and authority is not a fantasy, but reality! In the war to unify the continent, Aragon joined the Temple of Light in order to win over their support. By using the Temple to unify the continent, the temple also used Aragon to scatter their influence across the continent! Finally, ording to the first agreement between both parties: the temple not only has its own armed forces (Holy Knights) but also has the right to collect taxes! Having armed forces, having the right to collect taxes, this is no different from having a state within the Rnd Empire! Children¡¯s of the Empire would inevitably be torn between the two powers. On one hand, they are subjects of the Rnd Empire, on the other; they are devotees of the Temple of Light. With this backing, it is enough for the temple to challenge the Empires authority for control. (On this point, Du Wei reminiscent the history of his past life. In order to unify the empire, the Roman Emperor was forced to cooperate with the Christian church. The results were that the Emperor gained a firm grasp on power and the Church also fully developed and spread across the empire. Aragon is a smart man and soon saw the danger in such a situation, or it¡¯s better to say that he had long foreseen such a situation. Maybe it was because he needed the support of the church in order to establish the Empire, so he kept his temper inside. But once the Empire was established, he could no longer turn a blind eye to a power capable of challenging his authority! Thus, the contradictions between the Royal family and the Temple started to erupt! ¡°How can I let someone else sleep in my bed?!¡± Du Wei thought for a moment and felt the first emperor must have also thought this was the case. What¡¯s more, Du Wei knows that his Majesty Aragon is in fact a believer of the devil! All those years of struggle must have been very bloody, very dark, and very intense¡­¡­ But the process could no longer be known. What we could authenticate is that Aragon clearly failed because the Temple still exists today and still challenges imperial authority. And as for Aragon himself, he¡¯s been secretly punished by the Temple. For nearly a thousand years, the Temple has been cursing his soul, unable to rest. How did Aragon meet his death? Du Wei does not know, but he spectes that the way he died is not so glorious¡­.. Or even somewhat shady. In order for the Temple to kill such a powerful figure of the continent, it would definitely be an extremely difficult task. Poison? Assassination? Murder? Only heavens knows. And killing such a highly skilled expert¡­¡­ Du Wei does not believe there is anyone in this world capable ofpleting such a task! ¡®The Strongest Under The Stars¡¯, who else can be more powerful than him? Unless¡­¡­ Du Wei got a chill! Could it be that god himself? Aragon was killed by God?! Nothing is impossible¡­ For someone like Du Wei, who has been on the Devils Ind. In fact, this kind of spection is very likely. ¡°The person that left behind this magic array also left behind three important messages.¡± Hussein said: ¡°First, he told me that only those with blood rtions to the Saint Rnd Knight toon can trigger this magic array. As for me, my bloodline is descended from a member of the Saint Rnd Knight toon.¡± This is surprising news indeed. Hussein carries with him the Saint Rnd Knight toon bloodline and is a direct descendant of one of the members. ¡°Even I never knew of this.¡± Hussein smiled bitterly: ¡°I heard my ancestors are part of a declining nobility lineage. It was said that our family did have a brilliant past during the war to establish the Empire and our family did prosper for a while. But it¡¯s been many generations since our family went into decline and upon my generation, our family tree has nearly dried up¡­.. You should be aware that when the Temple selects the candidates for a Holy Knight, they would only select the poor and low statured members of society. This is to avoid the off chance of bringing in a person of high nobility and allowing imperial power to infiltrate the Temple¡¯s control. As long as I can remember, my family has been poor. Never once have I ever thought¡­. My ancestors actually had such a brilliant achievement in the past¡­.. Oh, Knights of the Saint Rnd toon¡­¡­ The most mysterious and powerful fighting force in the founding of the Empire. You can¡¯t even begin to imagine how shocked my heart was that night when I found the magic array!¡± ¡°I can only imagine.¡± Du Wei smiled wryly, interrupting the knight as he recalled his memories. In a cautious voice, he asked: ¡°Well then, this is the first message, what is the following two?¡± ¡°Now the second message also has something to do with you.¡± Hussein smiled maliciously: ¡°Do you remember the movement routine I taught you? As I said before, this is the basis for practicing some kind of amazing Dou Qi (Energy),, And this amazing Dou Qi is the second message left behind by Aragon¡­.. When Aragon swept through the continent and became the strongest of the strong, he relied on this special skill known as ¡®Stars Dou Qi¡¯!¡± Du Wei took in a hard swallow of saliva, ¡°He taught you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Hussein blinked his eyes: ¡°Now, you have learned the basic segment. After you have trained to a certain degree, I can consider teaching you the rest.¡± Du Wei was silent for a moment in order to digest the news. After sighing, he asked: ¡°And what is thest piece of the message he left behind?¡± ¡°Thest one¡­. Is to lead me in my search for mypanions.¡± Speaking up to this point, Hussein suddenly showed a hateful expression: Finding the other descendants that have inherited Aragon¡¯s will.¡± Other descendants? Du Wei can only imagine the reason behind Aragon leaving his dominating martial skills inside his badge just so he could pass it onto Hussein, a descendant of the Saint Rnd Knight toon. Even so¡­¡­ Don¡¯t forget Aragon also wielded an unmatched level of magic powers! Du Wei¡¯s lip kept opening and closing: ¡°Could it be¡­¡­¡± It was at this moment, a sigh could be heard from the nearby woods. From behind a giant tree, a figure leisurely walks out onto the snow, but left no trace of any footprints in his wake. His beard was gray with a pointed hat on top of his head, and his white magician¡¯s robe was full of stains. Upon closer inspection, you could even notice hints of burn and two gaping holes near the bottom of his robe. It was clear that this person has experienced a bitter battle. Vivian¡¯s teacher, the old magician that has kidnapped Du Wei up till now was slowly walking out of the woods. God knows how long he¡¯s been there or how much he heard of their conversation. His face looked calm, but from his eyes, you could see a hint of bitterness as he continued walking over with a bitterugh. ¡°It is I that have inherited the magic portion of Aragon¡¯s power.¡± ¡°Yes, it is that undying old fool.¡± Hussein nced at the old magician, as if he wasn¡¯t surprised in the least at the sudden appearance of the old magician. In a cold manner, Hussein said: ¡°He was mypanion. If it wasn¡¯t for him, I wouldn¡¯t be in such a sorry state!¡± The old magician looked somewhat haggard. Silently walking over to the two and took a look at the currently sun bathing Medusa in the distance. Then shaking his head, he said: ¡°You are going too far with the insults¡­ s, Queen Medusa! It is as everything predicted!¡± Du Wei immediately caught on to what the old magician said: ¡°Prophecy?¡± The old magician ignored Du Wei¡¯s questioning; instead, he went over to Medusa¡¯s side and carefully inspected the beautiful snake women. Then in a respectful manner, he said: ¡°Dear Queen Medusa, hello to you.¡± The calm expression on Medusa¡¯s face showed no hint of breaking: ¡°You¡¯ve been here a long time and ease dropped for a long time¡­ Do people like doing such things? Or could this also be a part of human nature?¡± The old magician stumbled at the sudden question, but soon returned to normal: ¡°Humanity is much moreplex than your imagination.¡± Du Wei frowned: ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be surprised at seeing Medusa, could it be that you¡¯ve been spying on us this whole time?¡± ¡°My dear child, I¡¯m not as evil as you say.¡± The old magician spoke bitterly: ¡°If not for my own luck, I¡¯m afraid I wouldn¡¯t be alive right now to see you. Oh, and the things regarding you guys, I met your friend Dadaneier in the woods, so he was able to tell me everything that has happened.¡± Hussein seemed to have little patience for such pleasantries. He red at the old Magician and said: ¡°Undying old fool, you¡¯rete ining here. What has happened to you these days? Could it be that several senior Knights and magicians were too much for you to cope with?¡± The old magician didn¡¯t care at all about the Knights rude behavior; his tone was serious as he spoke: ¡°Yes, I almost didn¡¯t manage toe back¡­¡­ You should understand that the Temple intends to have you killed at all costs¡­. They have already dispatched their men¡¯s from their toon of Elders! Along the way, I met up with several senior knights and tried to lead them away from you guys. But very soon, we bumped into some very high ss magicians from the Elder toon. If it wasn¡¯t because of how well hidden I was at the time, they would have found out about my location and identity.¡± ¡°The Elder toon has also been dispatched¡­.¡± Hussein wasughing coldly as he said this, but it was clear hisughter wasn¡¯t natural from the twitching in his eyes. ¡°Your life now is very valuable.¡± The old magician said this with a smile: ¡°I overheard their conversation that two days ago; the Temple has officially unveiled the traitor¡¯s identity. Your charges are attempted assignation of the Pope, and the killing of the two other holy knight leaders. The warrant has already been issued by the Pope himself. Now you are the number one most wanted criminal in the entire continent.¡± The Knight coldly snorted at this knowledge. ¡°Hussein. I know you are a prideful person and not afraid of bing the most wanted criminal on the continent. But you must understand that the old fellows in the Elder toon are not to be taken lightly! ¡°As he said this, the old magician gently shook his robe, ¡°You see this? When I met those three elders, I was nearly killed by them when they joined hands.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just unwilling to reveal your true identity to them.¡± Hussein spoke coldly: ¡°I don¡¯t believe it, just three guys from the Elder toon is enough to kill you. If you had gone at them fully from the start, even if you cannot win, escaping wouldn¡¯t be an issue for you.¡± ¡°My identity is still useful to us. I cannot openly go against the temple, or else, I¡¯ll face endless pursuit by the Temple.¡± The old magician shook his head, ¡°You also need apanion hiding in the shadows to assist you.¡± Du Wei was unhappy. He suddenly coughed a few times, arousing everyone¡¯s attention. Du Wei looked unhappy, and eyed the two in front of him: ¡°All right! The two of you are both supreme experts of the continent! One of you is the number one knight on the continent! Another is a top leveled almighty magician! Both of you are descendants of Aragon¡¯s Saint Knight toon¡­.. Both of you intend to make an enemy of the Temple! You guys intend to carry on Aragon¡¯s legacy¡­. Both of you intend to do great thing! But¡­.¡± With wide eyes, Du Wei shouted: ¡°But what the fuck do I have to do with this!! Whatever it is that you wanted to do; you can go ahead and do it! I am neither a strong and powerful knight, nor an almighty powerful magician! I¡¯m just a loafing noble that likes to pull pranks! Why did you drag me into this? Especially you, old¡­..¡± Speaking up to this point, Du Wei suddenly remembered the spells used by the old magician to control what he says. From the original words of ¡®old fool¡¯, he changed it to only: ¡°old Gramps¡­ Why are you kidnapping me to this forsaken ce? Now you want me to continue heading even further north¡­.. What other use am I to you?!¡± Silence¡­¡­ A momentter, Hussein coughed to break the silence. Calmly looking at the old magician, he asked: ¡°This is something I wanted to ask you too. Why is it that you wanted me to take this little guy with me and bring him so far?!¡± The old magician¡¯s eye shed with a thought, and then he gently took off his pointed hat, revealing a somewhat messy looking straightened white hair. After fixing up his hair, he sighed: ¡°All right, I think it is time for some answers.¡± As he said this, the old magician looked at Hussein, then at Du Wei: ¡°Kid, even Hussein doesn¡¯t know of this matter. It is regarding the origin of Aragon¡¯s power. Others may not know this but you do, right? Because you¡¯ve been on the Devils Ind and met old Chris, right?¡± With that said the old magician raised a hand and shot forth a wind de. The speed of the wind de was very fast. Before Du Wei could even react, the de has already cut off the hat from Du Wei¡¯s head and not only that; it has also cut apart the rope tying his hair! With his hair disheveled, the devil¡¯s horn that he was hiding was revealed to everyone¡¯s eyes! Hussein had a look and couldn¡¯t help but ask: ¡°What is that thing¡­¡­ Your head actually has such an incredibly long horn?! Could it be that you aren¡¯t human?¡± Du Wei glowered at the old magician, and then snapped: ¡°Of course I am human! As for this thing¡­.. Hmm, it is nothing. It is only a thing to strengthen my sensory of magic. Only with this, can I use magic.¡± The old magician put on a smile, not caring about the angry eyes showing on Du Wei¡¯s face: ¡°Well, my child, why don¡¯t let Hussein in on the things you heard about Aragon and the Devils Ind. Regarding this matter, I have not said anything to him.¡± The events that happened on the Devils Ind are nothing tooplicated. Simply speaking, it is where a powerful servant of the Devil, old Chris is currently imprisoned and he loved making deals with those that find their way onto the ind. And Aragon is one of the traders. The powerful skills and powers belonging to Aragon can almost all be traced back to the deal he made with the devil¡¯s servant. Du Wei was always a good speaker and since he experienced it first hand, so of course he would naturally make it a thrilling and moving story. Hussein was almost gawking with awe as he listened! For the knight, this information would of course be absolutely shocking! The old magician has long guessed the reaction Hussein would make. After Du Wei finished his story, he immediately said: ¡°In fact, I have also gone to search out old Chris in the past¡­.¡± ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Du Wei frowned, his eyes shing with suspicion: ¡°Old Gramps¡­.. You¡¯re lying! When I met Chris, he told me that before I arrived, thest human to visit him was Aragorn!! Other than Aragon, no other person has made a deal with him!!¡± ¡°Yes, what he said is all correct.¡± The old magician said this with a smile: ¡°I did in fact go to the ind and met up with that asshole old Chris¡­. He is indeed an asshole, but he is also an adorable asshole. I submitted a trade with him¡­. But he refused me.¡± ¡°Why?¡± In a deep voice, Du Wei asked, ¡°He was even willing to trade with the lowly me, why would he refuse a trade with an all-powerful magician?¡± ¡°Because¡­¡­¡± The old magician smiled: ¡°He refused to give me the thing that I asked for.¡± ¡°What is it that you wanted?¡± Du Wei suddenly felt his heart racing! He already guessed what it was! ¡°I asked him¡­¡­¡± The old magician¡¯s smile was very strange, almost unable to be described¡­.. ¡°¡­¡­ I asked him to return his Majesty Aragon¡¯s heart! Return the ¡®Kings heart¡¯!¡± Chapter 91 The 91st chapter ¡°Enemies¡± What use is there for returning the ¡®King¡¯s heart¡¯? The old magician didn¡¯t answer this question and his story only reached up to this point before refusing to continue, this was very depressing for Du Wei. Whether it was his past life or present life, he has always been a person with a high level of curiosity. To only reveal half a story enshrouded in mystery and still note up with an answer, this fact was causing his heart much difort. However, the old magician at the very least gave him enough information to answer one question he had: ¡°Our destination is all the way to the North¡­. And of course, will have a use for you by bringing you along.¡± All right! Du Wei clenched his teethes in frustration, but since he has already boarded this dark ship, he may as well go all the way. Moreover, being in the presence of such two powerful experts, Du Wei had no other options. Even though Queen Medusa is following behind him, Du Wei is not foolish enough to think that someone like her will listen to him and be at his disposal. The near disaster ss beauty is only following him to ¡®observe human nature¡¯¡­. So, he can¡¯t expect help from the other parties. All the way to the North¡­. What is there in the North? The old magician lets out a mysteriousugh, ¡°Once we get there, you will know.¡± If he didn¡¯t take into ount the huge difference between both group¡¯s strength, Du Wei would have really wanted to take off his boots and throw it at the old magician¡¯s nose. Maybe after smashing in his nose, the old magician would think twice aboutughing! In this way, the team has now lost one Dadaneier, but gained an old magician. ¡°We should step upon our journey.¡± The old magician deres: ¡°Right now, I¡¯ve trapped the temple pursuers inside a magic array near thergekes. ording to my estimation, it would take those men¡¯s two days to break free from the illusions. On top of that, I¡¯ve disguised myself and escaped in the opposite direction before I came here. Let¡¯s hope they will head in the other direction.¡± Well then¡­ Let¡¯s be on our way! Du Wei sighed. From his sleeves, the old magician took out a pouch that never seems to run out of magical items. Moving his hand around inside the bag, he took out a whistle and blew into it¡­¡­ Despite blowing into the whistle, Du Wei couldn¡¯t hear any sounds, but Hussein and Medusa were both frowning from his action. This is obviously a magic tool. Not even for a moment, a running sound could be heard from a distance. Then with amazed eyes, Du Wei could see four strong looking wolves running towards the group from the woods. Ice Demon Wolves!! ¡°Oh! No, no, don¡¯t touch; don¡¯t scare these little kids!¡± The old magician waved his hand to stop Du Wei and Hussein¡¯s attempt at attacking. Slowly walking over to the wolves, the old magician murmured a set of unknown spell words into their ears. As if domesticating a dog, the four wolves obedientlyy down onto the snow and made a ¡®woo woo¡¯ sound as the old magician rubbed his hand against their back furs. Then, with a smile, the old sorcerer said: ¡°Well then, with four people, we can have one wolf for each of us. This will be better than walking with our legs through this forsaken ce.¡± Ride¡­ A¡­ Wolf? And an Ice Demon Wolf at that Du Wei didn¡¯t know whether to sigh or feel appreciative of how this yed out. ¡°Come here, little kid.¡± The old magician said this with a very nice looking smile: ¡°You¡¯re the smallest and the lightest here¡­¡­ So, you ride it.¡± With that said, one of the gray furred demon wolves suddenly stood up and eyed the oing Du Wei. As if sensing his fear, all of the animal¡¯s fur stood straight up as it lets out an intimidating growl. ¡°Are you sure I should ride it?¡± Seeing the demon wolf, Du Wei questioned himself that if he were to take another step closer, this beast would definitely open its jaw and swallow him whole. ¡°Come here! Do not be afraid!¡± The old magician beckoned Du Wei toe while clinging to the Wolf¡¯s head. Forcing it to lower its head down, he muttered a few words in a low voice besides its ears to get it to quiet down. Seeing this, Du Wei meekly walked over to the old magician¡¯s side. Though ice demon wolves are only intermediate leveled magical beasts, their heights can¡¯t be considered very tall, but it is still double of that of an ordinary wolf. As the demon wolf meeklyid there in front of Du Wei, he reached out his hand to touch the back of the ice demon wolf under the guidance of the old magician. Instead of resisting Du Wei¡¯s advance, the wolf lowered its head and quietly lets out a ¡®hmmmhmm¡¯ sound a few times. ¡°Good, it likes you.¡± The old magician smiled, ¡°Now, get on it. You don¡¯t need to panic; I¡¯ll control it as we go.¡± Before even entering the frozen forest with the old magician, Du Wei was already showing admiration towards the old magician¡¯s ability tomunicate with animals. Looking back to the time of the snow hounds, the old magician was able to manipte the dogs easily with his will. Even the well-educated Du Wei had no way of identifying what kind of magic the old Gramps used tomunicate with the animals. Both Hussein and Medusa didn¡¯t need the help of the old magician. With his huge Dou Qi (energy) pressure, Hussein easily suppressed the demonic wolf under him. Seeing the discontent his demon wolf had as it lets out a small cry; Hussein flicked one of his fingers on the wolf¡¯s forehead, causing it to franticly jump up and down in pain. As for Medusa, she was even more terrifying. High leveled magical beasts are inherently capable of calling forth lower leveled beasts. Acting as docile as it could be, her wolf lowered its head in silence as it sat in the snow awaiting Medusa to walk over and climb on top. However, Medusa coincidentally took an extra nce at the old magician. Even though her eyes are still shut tight, it was clear from her face that she came across something unexpected. ¡°Your ability tomunicate with other creatures is very good.¡± Medusa spoke in a gentle voice: ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen a pure bred Dru¡­.¡± Speaking up to here, Medusa suddenly smiled and kept her mouth shut. The old magician nodded in gratitude at her, then coughed loudly: ¡°All right, let¡¯s be on our way!¡± It was at this moment, a sharp cry came from behind the Canyon: ¡°Your Majesty! My Queen! Wait for me!!¡± Then a gray ball of flesh came rushing out from the Canyon entrance. This person was none other than the mouse prime minister, Gargamel. No longer wearing the ridiculous looking robe of the prime minister, his grayish colored fur was now donning a leather jacket made out from some unknown animal. On top of his head, he wore a funny looking hat and burdened on his back, there was a small baggage. As he came up to everyone, he dashed up to Medusa and started crying: ¡°Your majesty! You can¡¯t just leave poor Gargamel behind! If you leave, how am I supposed to live here alone! You know, I¡¯m a mouse; I can¡¯t go back to the human world¡­. As for this ce, it belongs to the Treant¡¯s tribe¡­. I¡­.¡± Although Medusa is a magical beast and not a human, Gargamel did after all spend 20 years with her and taught her much knowledge regarding humans. Now hearing Gargamel begging, Medusa couldn¡¯t help but give out a slight sigh as she thought for a moment: ¡°Very well, you can follow us then.¡± Gargamel was exalted at this news. Even before this, he already had the motive of clinging along with Medusa. His baggage was already stuffed with everything he wanted to bring along for this journey. As for the mice people left behind in the Canyon, they will just have to fend for themselves! Now that he has gained their agreement, Gargamel immediately wiped away the tears in his eyes. Even then, he still looked somewhat puzzled at the scene in front of him. A total of four demon wolves. His stature is very small and he doesn¡¯t weigh very much, so even if he were to ride along with someone else, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem¡­.. But looking at the inhuman beauty of Queen Medusa, coupled with years of umted respect, how could Gargamel possibly dare to ride with her? As for the cold faced knight that would randomly aim his sword at his neck, Gargamel feared that his own head would be a goner if he were to choose such a person! As for the strange old magician¡­¡­ You know what, forget it. After a long time of picking, Du Wei still seemed to be the best choice. Gargamel masked the most sincere smile on his face and walked over to where Du Wei was located. Seeing the smiling Gargamel standing in front of him, Du Wei understood his meaning. Letting out a sigh, Du Wei said: ¡°Very well, you can get on, but¡­¡­ You should be able to shrink a bit more, right?¡± Gargamel hurriedly nodded. Although he is stuck in the form of a mouse because of the fountain of youth, but changing his size and shape a bit is still within his capabilities despite losing 90% of his powers due to the water. As Gargamel shook his body several times, he simultaneously chanted a few spells from his mouth. With this, his body immediately shrank to the size of a regr mouse. Despite shrinking his body size, his shape was still fat like a meatball. The only change is that Gargamel was much more pleasing to Du Wei¡¯s eyes. Thinking back on his previous life, Du Wei could somewhatpare this mouse to a famous anime movie featuring a character called ¡®Totoro¡¯. Du Wei scooped him up with his hand and put Gargamel¡¯s baggage behind him. Afterwards, Du Wei opened his chest pocket and slid the mouse into it. As he does this, he warned: ¡°You better be careful not to move around, if you dare to get into my clothes and move around my body, I¡¯ll roast you!¡± With a loud shout from the old magician, the four demon wolves immediately dashed forward and ran furiously through the snow! In the boundless snowy forests, the four powerful demon wolves left behind a clear trail in the snow. Despite their carelessness, the snowkes falling from the sky quickly removed any trace of their presence. Comparing the movement speed of these demon wolves to ordinary horses, their movement speed is several times faster! On top of this, demon wolves are naturally more agile, capable of jumping up and down through the woods and dodging any branches that blocks their path. The only demerit for these wolves and their way of traveling is that they are several times more ufortable than horses. The speed of their travel may be faster, but their level of bumpiness is enough to shatter Du Wei¡¯s body. Luckily during their rest at night, Du Wei is able to stretch his body and perform several sets of the movement routine. (Star Dou Qi routine) Only thanks to this, was he able to ovee this level of burden. During Du Wei¡¯s practice session, the old magician was observing him. Then after he was done, the old magician sighed and asked: ¡°This set of movement routines was taught to you by Hussein, right?¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t bother making an excuse and directly admitted it. The old magician had a somewhatplicated looking expression as soon as he heard Du Wei¡¯s answer. After staring at Du Wei for a long time, he sighed and walked away while muttering something to himself. ¡°Destined¡­¡­ Everything is destined. I taught him the first set, and then Hussein teaches him the second set¡­.. All these coincidences are all predestined.¡± For four days, they continued to ride through the forest in this fashion. During the day, they would run without rest and during the night, they would rest. Naturally, these demon wolves are much stronger than ordinary wolves, but even so, there is a limit to their endurance. After four days of running without rest, the four demon wolves started showing signs of exhaustion. Seeing the apathetic looks on them, the old magician decided to let them go on the fifth day. Without waiting, he took out the whistle again and blew into it. After blowing into the whistle, what came to them were not demon wolves, but the sound of rustling movement. From the snowy ground in front of them, a giant spider the size of a bed came out of a big giant hole! Seeing the giant spider standing in from of him, Du Wei could see it gently shaking its body to remove the ice and snow clinging to its yellowish colored fur on its eight limbs. As he looked closer, he could see rings of ck striped patterns on the spider¡¯s belly. And for its face¡­. Du Wei could only force himself to have one look before turning away. This giant spider actually had a face like that of a human, but just somewhat distorted! Some features on the face were dislocated and when the spider opened its mouth, what came out are two giant pincers instead of teethes. The old magicians jumped on top of the spider like it was normal, and then closing his eyes, he pressed his hand against the spider¡¯s head. A momentter, he gently wiped away his sweat and smiled at everyone: ¡°Okay, get on¡­. Come on, get up.¡± Inside Du Wei¡¯s chest pocket, Gargamel was shivering so much from fear that his teethes was making a chattering noise: ¡°Evil Faced Spider Queen! My god! This is an ¡°Evil Faced Spider Queen!¡± Evil Faced Spider Queen? Du Wei frowned and couldn¡¯t stop his body from getting goose bumps! Along his travels, Du Wei has already learned quite a lot regarding the different kinds of magical beasts. While traveling with the Snow Wolf mercenary group, Beinlich (leader) mentioned a few species of high leveled magical beasts. Among the list was the Evil Faced Spider Queen. This thing is a horrible and sickening creature¡­ Such words are an urate description of this spider. Their specie is naturally prone to live underground in the ice and snow. Whenever the male mates with the female, the female gender would feed on the male¡­. So, the ones that manage to grow into such sizes are always the female gender. This is where their name ¡®Evil Faced Spider Queen¡¯ came from. By living underground in the snow and ice, these magical creatures are capable of tearing through the ice that is as hard as metal. Their physical appearance is covered in a thickyer of hard shell! If you want to understand how hard it is¡­. Historic documents recorded an event where several fifth leveled warriors attacked this being in a barrage of shes. The result of this endeavor was that the spider withstood their attempt and not even a scratch could be seen on its shell. On top of this, they also have the natural ability of the spider race and that is spinning webs! The spider silk of this magical beast is extra tough, even when constantly hacked away with a sword, it would not break apart. Stronger than steel chains, the silk also has another characteristic and that is the ability to dissolve away any material with its acidic properties! Once a prey is entangled in the web of the spider queen, the venom would immediately enter the body and the prey¡¯s innards would be quickly dissolved! This isn¡¯t everything in the spider¡¯s arsenal. Their specie also has another weapon and that is to spread a venomous fog! This ability is just like a charged up version of weakening magic. Once the spider faces an enemy, they can diffuse the venomous fog and causes the enemy to weaken several times. Whether they have strong magical abilities, or unparalleled martial skills, all will be weakened a lot by this venomous fog! Not only is the fog capable of weakening the enemy, it also has a strong invasive characteristic¡­.. Even if you were to hold your breath, the venom would invade into your body through your skin and pores. The most disgusting point of this creature is its eating habits. When a prey is captured, they would not immediately kill their food. Instead, they would paralyze the prey with its venom, keeping it alive during the spider¡¯s feasting¡­.. It would neither bite nor eat the unlucky beast; instead, the spider queen would pierce into the prey¡¯s flesh with a straw like appendage from its mouth. By doing this, it would allow the spider to suck up the fluid inside the prey while it was still alive! It does not only suck up the blood, but also the brain and bone marrow, or any form of liquid within its prey! (Now I wonder does it suck up the piss and poop too?) The more terrifying point was that through all of this, the prey is fully aware of what was happening. As the prey watches on from being paralyzed by the venom, it is still fully conscious and awake. Slowly watching its life being drained away by a monster is one excruciating experience! Moreover, this monster spider is the kind of creature to ¡®store¡¯ away its prey. If they are unable to finish their prey in one sitting and only manages half¡­. Half! After draining arge portion of its prey¡¯s bodily fluid, it would keep it alive by wrapping it inside a cocoon of silk to store away forter consumption¡­ Even if the prey is stored away for a period of time, the animal inside would still be alive! (This is a gross way to feed, but real life spiders does this anyways) Unable to fathom where the old magician managed to get such a high leveled monster, but it was clear that this spider is not as easy to control as the demon wolves from before. From Du Wei¡¯s somewhat dazed attitude, the old magician looked at him and smiled: ¡°What¡¯s the matter kid? You¡¯re not afraid of it now are you? Don¡¯t worry, this guy is verypliant, soe on up.¡± Du Wei endured the nauseating feeling inside and climbed up the spider¡¯s back. As he sat on top of the spiders back, the prickling feeling of the yellowish hair on the spider¡¯s body was causing him to feel even more disgusted and nauseating. Unable to settle down, Du Wei puts on a wry smile and asked: ¡°I say, next time could you not call forth such a disgusting being? Couldn¡¯t you just summon another four demon wolf?¡± ¡°Demon Wolf?¡± The old magician smiled: ¡°Son, look around! This ce is already the northern most part of the frozen forest! Anything capable of surviving around here is all monsters and to be able to find such a big guy like him is already considered very lucky.¡± Hussein said nothing and sat beside Du Wei, while Medusa hesitated a bit before sitting down¡­¡­ It would seem snakes don¡¯t have a liking towards spiders either. Gargamel was still shivering inside Du Wei¡¯s chest pocket and this action somehow caused him to break out into a shiver too: ¡°What means did this old Gramps used to bend all these monsters to his will¡­.¡± Even before Du Wei could finish his thought, a familiar voice suddenly echoed in his heart: ¡°You don¡¯t know? I can¡¯t believe you can¡¯t guess it.¡± ¡°Courtenay Semel?¡± Du Wei almost shouted these words! After so many days of absence, there was finally a reaction! Courtenay Semel relies on Du Wei¡¯s spirit to survive. Even without voice dialogue, Semel¡¯s meaning and words would echo inside Du Wei¡¯s mind. ¡°Such a waste of all those books and you actually dare to im to be the most knowledgeable and educated of the Rowling household. Why do you always assume it was magic, couldn¡¯t you think outside the box? I¡¯m telling you now; this is a biological maniption skill, not magic at all, and this skill is famous across thends¡­ Could you guess what it is?¡± Biological maniption¡­¡­ Manipting creatures¡­¡­ Du Wei¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up! That¡¯s right¡­ This is not some sort of magic! But rather¡­¡­ Du Wei stole a nce at the old magician, suddenly remembering the word that Medusa almost spilled out the other day! Dru¡­. Dru what? Druid!! Only the amazing Druid race has the innate natural ability tomunicate with all living creatures! However, in the historical literatures read by Du Wei, the Druid name has long since faded into history. This amazing race has long since gone extinct a very long time ago. But there are no absolutes in life. Thinking up to this point, Du Wei suddenlyughed: ¡°Hey, old Gramps¡­ I suddenly thought of something. You are a Druid, right? I had no idea you are a Druid! Hasn¡¯t the Druid race gone extinct already?¡± There was no surprise on the old magician¡¯s face as he listened to this. Instead, his face was cold as he nced back at Du Wei and whispered: ¡°You guessed? Humph, it was Semel that told you right? Otherwise, how could a kid like you possibly guess it? I¡¯m willing to bet that you don¡¯t even know what a Druid really is. Except you, everyone here already knew what I was!¡± Sure enough, Medusa already recognized this fact a few days earlier. As for Hussein, his face was as calm as ever, clearly indicating that he knew this long before. The only one to realize now is probably Du Wei¡­. Well, maybe not if you include the mouse in his chest pocket. The old magician¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up with some sort of excitement on his face: ¡°Semelmunicated with you? Could you ask her toe out¡­¡­ Oh, why is she refusing to see me?¡± Du Wei has been thinking about the rtionship between the old magician and Semel. Asking in his heart, Semel gave out a somewhat confused answer: ¡°I don¡¯t know who this person is¡­ I shouldn¡¯t know him¡­ But I don¡¯t know why my heart is having a negative feeling towards him, as if not wanting to get anywhere near this person!¡± Du Wei shrugged his shoulders, not saying a word. Seeing this, the old magician guessed the answer from Du Wei¡¯s face. Letting out a sigh, the old magician said: ¡°Very well¡­ It¡¯s not surprising if she doesn¡¯t want to see me. I just wanted her toe out to have a look at this ce. Years ago, both of us came to this ce together!¡± As soon as the voice fell, Du Wei suddenly felt a chill from behind him and Semel¡¯s hand is already on his shoulder. Taking a look over his shoulder, he could already see Semel materializing behind his back. Her silver colored hair seemed even more elegant when matched with the ice and snow of the surrounding terrain. With bare feet and a red dress, her body was floating in midair as she looked into the distance. Seeing Semel, the old magician lets out an excited expression as he takes in a deep breath: ¡°You¡­¡­ You are finally willing to reveal yourself!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know you.¡± Semel looked into the distance; her faced looked like it was at a loss as she shook her head: ¡°I¡¯m not the Semel that you know. Furthermore, I have never been here before¡­.. But, why does this ce seem so familiar inside my heart and this feeling is growing more intense as time passes.¡± Hussein snorted, holding his sword with his eyes shut. While Medusa said nothing, but she was frowning with her head facing the direction of where Semel stood. (Though ordinary people cannot see Semel, but Medusa didn¡¯t need to see because her eyes were always shut. From her actions, it was obvious she could sense someone was there.) ¡°While this kid says you aren¡¯t Semel, but a magical creature¡­.. Yet, I have a feeling this is not necessarily true.¡± The old magician profoundly stared at Semel: ¡°You have a familiar feeling towards this ce¡­. Really? What does it feel like?¡± Semel¡¯s beautiful face suddenly leaked out a hateful feeling. Her hateful feeling shed across her eyes as she shouted: ¡°I have no idea! But I only know that by standing here, I suddenly hate you! My heart suddenly hates you to the limit¡­. I can¡¯t help but want to kill you!¡± With that said, she raised her slender fingers aiming at the handsome face of the old magician. Now the once handsome face of the old magician is covered in ayer of frost and her fingers still had shes of cold electricity zapping out! ¡°HA HA HA HA HA HA!!¡± The old magician lets out a burst ofughter, then looked the Semel¡¯s fingertips: ¡°You see! Look at your own fingers! Can you still say you are just a magical creature? It would be impossible for a magical creature to use magic! Look at your own fingers! What is it! Isn¡¯t that the Stars Magic!!?¡± Semel was awestruck as she looked down at her own fingers. Lost for words, her eyes showed confusion as her body quivered: ¡°I¡­¡­ What¡¯s going on¡­¡­ Me, how can I use magic?¡± Du Wei sighed Use magic? Along the way, this woman has used magic more than once or twice already and thest time, she and Hussein were about tomit mutual suicide in their fight. The reason she can¡¯t remember was because the first two times, her consciousness wasn¡¯t awake, but now, she is wide awake. (Semel has dual personalities) ¡°Semel¡­¡­¡± The old magician¡¯s voice was soft and gentle as he whispered: ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly what happened to you, but I¡¯m sure I could figure it out, so let me help you remember, okay?¡± ¡°No!¡± Semel¡¯s attitude suddenly changed: ¡°I do not want to recover whatever memories! I¡¯m not the Astrology teacher Courtenay Semel that you speak of! I am what I am, I am a magical creature! Old Gramps! Don¡¯t bother me!¡± With that said, Semel was gone with a wave of her hand. Du Wei and everyone else fell silent, all had a weird look on their face. The only exception was Gargamel inside Du Wei¡¯s pocket. Suddenly popping his mouse head out of the pocket, he asked in a curious voice: ¡°What did you just say? Who did you speak with? Courtenay Semel? Howe I can¡¯t see?¡± But it seems that no one will care about the curiosity of the mouse Prime Minister. Du Wei carelessly stuffed the mouse back into the pocket and looked at the old magician: ¡°I say, what other things you not told us yet, old Gramps?¡± ¡°When you need to know, I¡¯ll let you know.¡± The old magician¡¯s face seemed somber and even somewhat painful in his eyes. ¡°So, what about Semel? She is now linked together with my spirit! I don¡¯t care if she is truly Semel, or a magical creature. I think I need to know something more about her.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± The old magicians thought for a moment. His eyes seemed painful and his gaunt face looks like it was ten years older as he sat on the spiders back. ¡°Courtenay Semel¡­¡­¡± The old magician spoke in a low voice: ¡°I knew her a long, long time ago¡­.. Yes, that was more than two hundred years ago. At the time, she was an infamous astrology teacher in the capital.¡± ¡°And then what?¡± The old magician suddenly smiled, hisughter went from low to high as he looked at Du Wei¡¯s eyes weirdly: ¡°Boy, you are such a clever man, could you not have guessed?¡± He gently patted his own mage robe andughed coldly: ¡°Semel was merely an astrology master without a hint of magic¡­. Then suddenly, she was able to perceive the secret of ¡®Star Magic¡¯! Do you not wonder why? Humph, you have already learned a bit of the Stars Dou Qi. When you hear the name of Stars Magic, don¡¯t you find it strange? Could it be that you don¡¯t even have a hint of questioning?¡± ¡°It was because I thought of this, so that is why I need to find you for proof.¡± Du Wei said this coldly. ¡°Courtenay Semel¡­¡­ She was a simple woman, a genius addicted to astrology. A person bent on spreading the knowledge of astrology. Then she suddenly developed the Star Magic¡­. In fact¡­.¡± The old magician pointed to his own nose: ¡°In fact, the truth is very simple! She, like me, is also an inheritor of Aragon¡¯s will! We were supposed to be partners, butter on¡­.. We became enemies!¡± Chapter 92 The 92nd chapter ¡°Origin¡± The old magician spoke with a deep voice and eyes staring far into the distance. ¡°Courtenay Semel has always been a genius.¡± As the cold wind blew against the old magician¡¯s beard, a spark of light shed in his eyes at the mention of the topic¡­.. ¡°The first time I met Courtenay Semel was at the celebration of the yearly blessing ceremony. Every person with status would attend the ceremony at the invitation of the Emperor and the Pope. During the ritual, these two leading figures would pray to God, asking for the blessing and prosperity of the Rnd Empire. It was on that fateful year, I firstid eyes on Courtenay Semel. At the time, she was only turning 20 years old, but she was already recognized as a highly gifted Astrology teacher. And the previous year, she was even invited by his Majesty to be the Pce¡¯s Astrology master. At that time, I have already inherited Aragon¡¯s magic and my position within the Magician¡¯s Association was very high up in thedder. No one would have guessed this, but an elder of the magician¡¯s association was the sworn enemy of the Temple of Light. Half the time, I was practicing the knowledge left behind by Aragon; the other half is spent looking for a future heir to Aragon¡¯s magic. Due to the difficulty of Aragon¡¯s magic, by that time, I was already nearing 50 years of age. In order to pass on Aragon¡¯s will and knowledge, I must find more sessors and spread the seeds in this world. Otherwise, if I were to be exposed one day, or pass away, then everything would be over. In the end, the person I selected is Courtenay Semel. I learned in many ways that she is naturally a genius. I¡¯ve quietly gotten closer to her and tested her a few times on her magical talents. The results were very pleasing and good. Most importantly, her family background was very simple and clean, or you can even say it was a nk sheet of paper. The profession of an Astrology teacher has always been respected by the mass, but that was all there is to it. Not many people of the empire would go to great lengths and effort to gain the help of an Astrology teacher. On top of that, the temple also didn¡¯t pay much attention to this group. Combining all of these factors together, she was the perfect candidate. Finally, I went to meet her and befriended Semel. After teaching her some magic¡­ Did you know at the time, Semel already had many interesting hypotheses regarding astrology? The only thing keeping her ideas back was the fact that her theories would be considered whimsical in the minds of others¡­ Ha Ha, it just so happens that my ideas matched with hers, so the both of us had a very good rtionship and the days we spent together were very joyful. Finally, inspired by my proposal, she brought forth a new idea: ¡°Why can¡¯t the powers of the stars be a source for a new kind of magical power?¡± Listening up to this point, Du Wei sighed. So that¡¯s it. The suggestion made by Semel to use the powers of the stars in magic¡­ was inspired by this old magician. In order to satisfy her desire to study, I apanied her across the continent in order to search for precious materials. For example, we would travel to locations recorded in historic documents where a star has fallen from the sky. Carefully examining the area, we finally found a few shards of the precious stone left behind by the fallen star. ¡°The several years I spent traveling with her across the continent was the happiest years of my life. Semel was a smart and savvy woman. Together with her, each day of my life was refreshing!¡± The old magician¡¯s voice showed great affection¡­. Perhaps even he himself didn¡¯t notice this. ¡°And then what?¡± Du Wei whispered. ¡°And then¡­¡­ One step at a time, we improved upon Semel¡¯s idea. Finally, we created the so called Stars Magic.¡± There was a hint of self-mockery in the old magician¡¯s voice: ¡°In fact, everything was me deceiving her. The so called ¡®creation¡¯, was in many details, I, consciously implying her towards certain results. I took advantage of our meetings and during her studies; I slowly imparted certain key points of Aragon¡¯s magic into her. You may not know, but his Majesty Aragon¡¯s magic is different in many wayspared to the magic system usedmonly across the continent. This is all because its source could be traced back to the lineage of the devils. With all these inspirations, Semel finally made a breakthrough and came up with the so called ¡®Stars Magic¡¯¡­¡­ Oh, the naming was also named by me because her so called ¡®creation¡¯ of a new magic system was actually the exact copy of Aragon¡¯s magic system. So, I didn¡¯t even change the name and just directly named it Stars Magic. Stars Dou Qi, plus Stars Magic, all of these originated from Aragon. Luckily, Semel never heard of these names before and thought it was very fitting, so she epted the names.¡± Speaking up to this point, the old magician paused for a moment. With a smile on his face and gentle eyes, the old magician¡¯s consciousness looked like it was sinking back into some happy and fond memories¡­¡­ ¡°At that time¡­¡­ We got along very well. She is my good friend, but at the same time, she was like my disciple. Together with her, I also felt like I became somewhat younger.¡± The old magician then shook his head and closed his eyes: ¡°Butter on, I started thinking that I would eventually have to tell her everything¡­.. Revealing all the secrets of Aragon to her because she is the one I chose to be my suitable heir. ¡°Did you tell her?¡± Du Wei asked. ¡°I¡­ Was¡­ Very hesitant.¡± From the old magician¡¯splexion, he looked like he was struggling to speak: ¡°She was so happy¡­¡­ So simple. She liked simple things and liked living a free life in peace¡­¡­ I felt regretful. Pulling such a carefree and happy woman into thisplex and historical grievance is aplete sin. So, I¡¯ve been dying in telling her. That is until¡­. We returned to the Imperial Capital¡­¡­¡± As if struck by an idea, Du Wei thought of something. ¡°After traveling for three years outside of the capital, we returned that year when a shooting star passed by the Imperial Capital¡¯s sky. This strange phenomenon caused his Majesty to call forth the best Astrologer in the empire to give a divination. It was after the pce banquet that Semel met your ancestor, Zach. Humph, this boy is your great-great-grandfather, Zach Rowling. During that time, he was the youngest highmanding general of his age.¡± ¡°And then what?¡± Du Wei gave a wry smile. ¡°Then?¡± The gaze from the old magician caused Du Wei to feel a sense of chill down his spine. With a sneer, he continued: ¡°Then I don¡¯t know what means your great-great-grandfather used, but he managed to deceive Semel and the two couples fell in love!¡± It is clear from the old magician¡¯s gaze; there is a strong mixture of jealousy and resentment! What else can be certain is that other than the feeling of friendship and apprentice rtionship, the old magician developed a special sort of feeling in his heart! What happened afterwards is easy to exin: Seeing his talented female apprentice fall in love and marry off to the head of the noble Rowling family, Zach Rowling, highest militarymander of the Empire. On one hand, the old fellow couldn¡¯t just tolerate his beloved woman falling into another man¡¯s arm. On the other hand, he is about to lose his future heir after spending the past few years cultivating. Wouldn¡¯t this mean that he ended up wasting all those times? So, just before Semel married Zach, the old magician searched her out and had a deep conversation. The old magician didn¡¯t exin the details of the conversation, but from his words and phrases so far, Du Wei could deduce two conclusions. Firstly, the old magician must have confessed his love towards his beloved friend and unofficial genius disciple. What can be certain from this action is that Semel refused him. The truth was that Semel never considered this much older person to be a possible love candidate. (ording to their age calction, the gap is far too big) Her way of thinking was very simple; he was a good friend and yed the role of a teacher in her heart. Mainly because of this reason, it caused the old magician great sadness. Unfortunately, once their conversation reached this point, the strong willed Semel also rejected all of this!Then, the saddened old magician finally revealed his original purpose of cultivating her and all the secrets surrounding Aragon. ¡°Her tone at the time was so simr to you, boy.¡± With a gaunt expression, the old magician whispered, ¡°Still remember two days ago when we had that talk? You said ¡®you are not a powerful expert of the continent, nor a Saint Knight, nor a magician, so what does all of this have to do with me?!¡¯ At the time, Semel said something very simr. At that time, Semel was also very keen to put forward her own rage and anger. ¡°Whatever Aragon, god, or Devil¡­¡­ What rtionship does all of this have to do with me? If the Gods and the Devils want to fight it out, then let them fight! It don¡¯t matter whether it is the Temple or Imperial power, I don¡¯t have any interest! I just want to live my own life! What right do they have to burden me with these already rotting and foul smelling historical problems? I¡¯m not willing! I will not be a part of this rivalry! I just want to live my life, the life of Semel and not someone else¡¯s life!¡± The end result is that the old magician left in sorrow and Courtenay Semel married into the Rowling Household, living a happy life for the next few years. But a few yearster, the old magician once again sought out Semel and secretly met up with her in private. During those few years after leaving Semel, the old magician traveled in search of different hidden documents. In his search, the old fe even sneaked into the royal pce in order to search through the manuscripts left by the founding emperor himself. Even bolder, he dared to break into the Holy Temple multiple times!! Finally, from a variety of information gathered, the old magician pieced together a startling message. The startling message required a powerful partner toplete, so in his desperation, the old magician sought out Semel once again. Although they haven¡¯t seen each other for many years, Semel reluctantly agreed to lend a hand based solely on their years of friendship. However, because of this one time, trouble soon followed. Chapter 93 part 1 The 93rd chapter ¡°Great Prophecy Skill¡± (part one) The Evil Faced Spider Queen was currently crawling through the forest with all its strength. Unlike the demon wolves, this giant spider has been like a bulldozer going through the forest. Somerge trees that are unlucky enough to block its path would be chopped down with its sickle like de arms. After a clicking sound in the air, a path would immediately open up for the group. This specie of giant spider is naturally adapted to live underground in the ice and snow. If they are capable of freely moving through ice that is as hard as steel, how could mere pieces of wood stop the Evil Faced Spider Queen? Indulging himself in fond memories, the old magician looked like he was experiencing great sadness in his mind as he sat on the spiders back. After a period of silence, someone else finally questioned the old magician in Du Wei¡¯s stead. ¡°Then what? What happened afterwards?¡± The one to bring up the question is actually Queen Medusa. Up until now, she has been quietly sitting on the side as she listened to the story.. A hint of curiosity could be seen on this indifferent woman¡¯s face. With a quiet tone, she asked: ¡°Excuse me, how did the events unfold?¡± Du Wei was somewhat surprised and couldn¡¯t help but nce at Medusa. Noticing the attention she was getting, Medusa spoke in a very calm voice: ¡°I¡¯m just curious. Isn¡¯t this peculiar trait only found in humans? And isn¡¯t this also a part of human nature?¡± ¡°You also want to continue listening to the story?¡± The old magician wasughing very weirdly: ¡°Oh Queen Medusa, with your level of intelligence, you should understand that it may not be in your best interest to listen to these stories.¡± ¡°I was born and raised by the heavens.¡± Medusa coldly spoke: ¡°The so called Gods and Temples you speak of, all of them are not important to me.¡± ¡°Alright then.¡± The old magician bursts out into a ¡®HA HA¡¯ and then his tone became serious: ¡°It might as well be since you are also a part of the prophecy.¡± Shaking his head, the old sorcerer straightened his pointed hat and then pointed into the distance: ¡°There, in front of us. In about a day¡¯s time, we will get out of the frozen forest! Since ancient times, there haven¡¯t been many that have managed to cross through the frozen forest and reach the northern end. On the whole continent, you could count them all with one hand!¡± Surprised by his words, Du Wei spoke in a light tone: ¡°ording to my knowledge, the farthest someone has managed to travel was about twenty years ago. A magician by the name of Azreal and his group of knights managed to get to Canyon Valley that we just came from.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s right. ording to the records, it was Azreal, that sly boy.¡± The old magicianughed coldly: ¡°But two hundred years ago, I have already crossed through the frozen forest and came to the northern end of the forest! Traveling with me was Semel. We entered the frozen forest and crossed the Large Lakes. Afterwards, we came all the way to where we are now and continued heading even further north. In the end, we finally reached our goal¡­ That was thest time I saw Semel and it was thest time she agreed to help me!¡± ¡°What exactly is awaiting us after the frozen forest?¡± Du Weiughed: ¡°It couldn¡¯t be a prison, right?¡± The old magician didn¡¯tugh at the joke. Instead, he stared at Du Wei for a bit and then sat down. Rummaging through his clothing, the old magician pulled out a piece of parchment. Not hurrying to open the parchment, the old magician first worked out a wind blocking spell, then cing the parchment on his knees, he slowly opened the scroll. The state of the parchment was so old, it was practically near ruin as if the slightest touch would cause the paper to crumble. After soaking the material in some unknown protective syrup, the original color of the parchment could no longer be distinguished. Also, on the edge of one corner, there is clear indication of the scroll being nibbled on by rats. As for the contents of the scroll, there are letters written in an odd fashion with a scarlet red coloration. The weird thing about all this was that the paint didn¡¯t have any indication of fading; this strange phenomenon raised some question in Du Wei¡¯s mind. As if seeing through his suspicion, the old magicianughed softly: ¡°This was written with blood¡­. Written with the blood of Aragon and imbued with magic on its markings. Even if a thousand years were to pass, the markings would not fade away. I was only able to locate this precious item after gathering multiple clues from different sources. Some of these ces included a secret room of the Imperial pce and secret documents from the Holy Temple of Light. Piecing together all the information, I was finally able to locate this valuable parchment from a declining lesser noble¡¯s family tomb. This item is thest will left behind by Aragon¡­.¡° ¡°Declining lesser noble?¡± The one to raise this question was Hussein. This knight was from a humble origin and growing up under the careful tutge of the Temple, he would of course have a good understanding of the Royal family linage. ¡°Aragon¡¯s will? How could Aragon¡¯s letter of will be hidden in a lesser noble¡¯s tomb?¡± The old magician nced at Du Wei. Sighing, Du Wei understood the reasoning behind why Aragon¡¯s will was left behind in the tomb. Since he was an aristocrat, he has always received the best form of education. On top of this, he was always treated coldly since small, so he had spent most of his times reading books. His level of knowledge isparable to any famous schr in the Empire. Spending a moment in thought, he exined the reasoning to the knight. The founding of the Rnd Empire has nearly been a thousand years. After the passing of the first founding emperor Aragon, his second son ascended to the throne. Then after fourteen years of rule, the second emperor passed away, allowing his eldest son to ascend to the throne¡­.. After a thousand years of ascension by all these emperors, or to be urately speaking, after four hundred years of ascension, the one to sit on the throne cannot be considered a direct descendant of Aragon anymore. Approximately four hundred years after the founding of the Rnd Empire, the direct descendant to be crowned at the time passed away early in his life. This led to one major problem for the empire because he had no children to inherit his position. To make matters worse, the Rnd royal family actually couldn¡¯t find a suitable heir in their ranks to ascend to the throne! Strictly speaking, the emperors to sit on the throne from then on cannot be considered a direct descendant of Aragon. Instead, they are the descendants of Aragon¡¯s siblings. From a historical point of view, historians believed this is the point where Aragon¡¯s direct descendant is severed. Historical documents named this event the end of the ¡°Thorned flower dynasty¡±. (This dynasty was considered to be ruled under the true descendants of Aragon) Another known name for this was the ¡°Withering Lineage Era¡±. Afterwards, the descendant of Aragon¡¯s siblings has been in control of the throne. This period was called the ¡®Glory dynasty¡¯, but this dynasty only prospered for two hundred years before declining. It was at this time, the empire faced its biggest crisis since its founding. (It was mentioned before; this was the time when Du Wei¡¯s family, the Rowling household gained its status and authority) The northwestern tribal ns rebelled against the empire and proimed self-sovereignty. Even though the empire didn¡¯t copse from this rebellion, but it was nearly enough to cause the empire to perish. Luckily, it was at this time, an outstanding Emperor emerged after the royal family weathered through this disturbance. Unlike the rest of the royal family that could trace their lineage to Aragon¡¯s brothers, this emperor imed that he was instead a direct descendant of Aragon. If we were to trace the lineage of the royal family members, every descendant from Aragon¡¯s male offspring should have perished in the ¡®Lineage Withering Era¡¯. As for his im of being a direct descendant of Aragon, he could trace his lineage to one of the several surviving daughters with a direct bloodline to Aragon. Even during the secession of the throne, there was a heated struggle between who should take the crown. At the same time, the empire was facing a crisis never before seen. On the other hand, many members of the royal household refused to seed the throne, thinking this position was like a thundering volcanic mouth. In the end, the person to take the crown and be the emperor was someone that was forced into the position. Looking into the lineage book, this person cannot even be considered a real descendant of Aragon. The only rtionship he had was that his great-great-great-grandmother was a direct descendant of Aragon¡¯s bloodline. Before bing the emperor¡­ This person was not even a prince of the empire; his position was only at best a Duke! But surprisingly, this emperor was an outstanding individual. Not only did he elevate the Rowling family (Du Wei¡¯s family), he paved the road for the prosperity of the Rowling household. This section of history is veryplex, but then again, members of the royal family have always been very scattered. Du Wei could make aparison to an example of his previous life. In the history of China, the Han dynasty faced a simr situation. The Western Han dynasty and the Eastern Han dynasty were both considered Han Dynasty¡¯s. But after the fall of the Western Han dynasty, founded by Liu Bang, the royal family of the following Eastern Han dynasty could no longer be traced back to Liu Bang. The history of the Rnd Empire is very simr to the Western and Eastern Han dynasty of China. It¡¯s just that this certain emperor that managed to revive the Rnd Empire seemed to worship Aragon. Not only does he proim himself a direct descendant of Aragon, but he also named his dynasty the ¡®Thorned Flower Dynasty¡¯. Although historians do not agree with this naming and even his descendants do not follow through with this after his death. Now, everyone calls this era the ¡®Augustine dynasty¡¯ because before this outstanding person became the emperor, his title was called Duke Augustine. The ironic thing was that even though this emperor was a firm worshiper of Aragon and even calls himself a direct descendant, but his very own offspring¡¯s do not wish this. Using the current emperor for example, his title is called Augustine the sixth! Returning to the question raised by Hussein: ¡°Why is a handwritten letter by Aragon found in a tomb of a declining noble family?¡± The reason is simple. The true descendants of Aragon have already perished a few hundred years ago! The royal family that came afterwards can only be considered his rtives and not actually his own bloodline. ¡°Simply speaking, the first four hundred years since the founding of the empire was to be known as the ¡®Thorned Flower Dynasty¡¯. Then the two hundred years that followed was to be known as the ¡®Glory Dynasty¡¯. After six hundred years have passed since the founding of the Rnd Empire, the one to ascend to the throne cannot be considered a descendant of Aragon anymore. This era is to be known as the ¡®Augustine Dynasty¡¯, which is the current dynasty we are living in. Do you understand now?¡± Du Weiughed sadly as he finished speaking. Time line: 0-400 years (Thorned Flower) / 400-600 years (Glory) / 600-present day (Augustine) After finishing his exnation to the knight, Du Wei immediately turned his head towards the old magician: ¡°Well then, why don¡¯t you tell us what was it in the tomb and what the content in Aragon¡¯s will was?¡± ¡°Specifically speaking, it is a prophecy!¡± The old magician wasughing in a scary manner, as if deliberately lowering his voice: ¡°You know that Aragon was unmatched in his age. His strength was considered invincible, but no one knew exactly how powerful he truly was. Some said his strength could even be nearing the level of a God! Although absurd¡­. But I personally don¡¯t think so! I believe this saying is possible and his strength is already nearing the level of a God! So¡­. It is likely that he had in his possession an ability called the ¡®Great Prophecy Skill¡¯!¡± Chapter 93 Part 2 The 93rd chapter ¡°Great Prophecy Skill¡± (part two) Great Prophecy Skill Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but shrink his neck back. He had heard of the term, but it wasn¡¯t from any magic literature. In fact, on the whole continent, every follower of the temple of light would know of this word! The Great Prophecy Skill is not any sort of magic or spell, and so far, no one is able to have a firm grasp on this ability¡­.. It is impossible! Because every temple follower would have at least read a book called the ¡®Genesis record¡¯. This book is not any sort of historical book or historic data, but an entire book volume dedicated to praising the Gods. This book is simr to the bible in Du Wei¡¯s previous life. And God said, let there be light. So, the world got light. God said to have a sky and it must be big. Then there is the sky and thergest in the world. ¨CThis is the ¡°Great Prophecy Skill¡±! Whatever God says, it bes true! It¡¯s not magic! But the ability to create the world and give life! Aragon has already mastered the ¡°Great Prophecy Skill¡±? Even if Du Wei considers Aragon to be very strong and powerful, but he still wouldn¡¯t be foolish enough to believe this is true; mainly because he absolutely doesn¡¯t believe in the existence of the so called ¡°Great Prophecy Skill¡±! In his own belief, these things are only religious games thought up by the Temple to fool ignorant believers! The old magician was smiling at Du Wei; he could see Du Wei¡¯s dismissive expression at his words. Shaking his head, the old magician said: ¡°Not just you, I actually don¡¯t believe in the so called ¡®Great Prophecy Skill¡¯ or that it even exists. But assuming it does exist, the description of this ability is far too exaggerated. So I think Aragon did master a simr form of the ¡®Great Prophecy Skill¡¯ and is able to see many years into the future!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡± Du Wei calls this into question: ¡°Prophecy? Let¡¯s be honest. I studied astrology; my first teacher was a famous Astrology of the empire! Now all Astrology teachers imed to have the ability to predict into the future by using the stars, but it seems a vast majority of them are only exaggerating.¡± Du Wei doesn¡¯t believe it! He really doesn¡¯t! Astrology is said to be able to predict the future from the changes in the stars, but to Du Wei, all of this stuff is bullshit. From his past knowledge, he of course knew the truth of what a star is. Stars are celestial bodies in the universe! Predict the future? Bullshit! ¡°Aragon¡¯s prophecy and the so called astrological prediction don¡¯t have any rtionship! I can prove that he has a skill to predict the future!¡± The old magician looked stern in his words: ¡°Here, this is the proof! This thing in my hand is thest will left behind by Aragon before his death! The words are written with his own blood! I know you don¡¯t believe me at this moment! Before I found this item, I didn¡¯t believe it either! But after seeing it with my own eyes, I¡­¡­ Anyways, this thing is useless for me now. Once you have a look, you will understand!¡± Speaking up to this point, the old magician handed the item to Du Wei. Then added another sentence: ¡°My whole life, I¡¯ve been studying Aragon! I can absolutely confirm this thing was made by Aragon¡¯s own hands! Whether it is the writing, or the age of the parchment, I did a lot of confirmation!¡± With a ridiculous and totally unbelieving attitude, Du Wei opened the scroll¡­¡­ And then¡­ A minute¡­¡­ No, just half a minuteter. Du Wei waspletely shocked! The way he sat on the spider¡¯s back was like a stature petrified by Medusa. His face was filled with shock and even¡­.. Fear! Really! All this¡­¡­ Is true!! This personal letter of prophecy left behind by Aragon seemed to be written in a sloppy fashion. The letters looked like it was dipped in blood to write the message. The content is divided into two paragraphs. After reading the first paragraph, Du Wei¡¯s heart was in turmoil! ¡°My blood will wither and my brothers will rece my blood. Although they are stupid and foolish enough to think they have gained glory, but the ending is not such. A boy from the eastern in will rise, inheriting my glory and my glorious heritage. This person will protect the empire, but he is not thest of the destined one.¡± This¡­¡­ Du Wei had wide eyes and an open mouth, but he couldn¡¯t even cough up a single word! This¡­¡­ This is actually¡­¡­ Is true! It¡¯s really a prophecy! A real prophecy!!! Aragon Rnd, before his death, actually left behind a prophecy of events a millennium into the future?! Aragon¡¯s blood would wither. The Thorned Flower Dynasty would end. His brother¡¯s children will take the throne, but the so called Glorious Dynasty would face the fate of decline! After a long time, Du Wei finally regained hisposure. Taking a deep breath, he looked over at the smiling old magician: ¡°Your reaction is just like mine when I first read this thing; our expressions are exactly the same.¡± Then he reached over to point at certain key words on the paper: ¡°Look at ¡®A boy from the eastern in will rise, protecting the empire¡¯. Du Wei, I know your knowledge of history is not bad. You should know that the first emperor of the current Augustine dynasty used to be called the Duke of Augustine, right? Duke of Augustine, isn¡¯t that not exactly in the eastern ins of the Empire? Now, you have to believe this really is true, isn¡¯t it?¡± Du Wei somehow managed to swallow a spit. Looking at the neighboring Hussein, he also found that the usually proud knight was also in shock! ¡°Look at the second paragraph, boy!¡± The old magician had a smile on his face, but his eyes had a depth to it, as if able to see through Du Wei¡¯s very heart! ¡°The second paragraph¡­¡­¡± Du Wei took a deep breath and read on. If the first paragraph was so shocking, then the second paragraph is enough to instill fear into him! ¡°¡­¡­ The real inheritor of my life¡¯s mission is the boy that will escape from a giant turtle. Gifted with the horn of the demons, he will receive the protection of the continent number one knight. He is lucky and will follow in my footsteps and head north. In the northernnds, he will receive the allegiance of Medusa and receive the help of a heavenly beast. Finally, he will receive my inheritance and pull out the King¡¯s sword that I left behind. Then¡­..¡± Du Wei¡¯s heartbeat and breathing rapidly increased. Seeing the written words on the parchment is only up to this part, he couldn¡¯t stop the anxious feeling his heart: ¡°Then what is after?¡± He held the parchment in his hand and looked it over from back to front, only to find that a part of the writing was missing. It was clear the bottom part of the scroll had more to the prophecy, but that area looked like it was bitten offpletely. ¡°There isn¡¯t a bottom part.¡± The old magician¡¯s expression looked suspicious: ¡°Don¡¯t forget, I found this in a grave! When I first located this parchment, this was all that was left.¡± ¡°The bottom part?¡± Du Wei asked in a whispering voice. ¡°Wait, what do you mean by left?¡± Du Wei was focusing his eyes at him now. The old magician¡¯s face also looked somewhat frustrated. Spreading out his hands, he lets out a bitterugh: ¡°Originally, there was a wooden box in the grave, but when I found it; there was already a hole on the corner of the box. As I looked inside, I idently found a dead mouse inside the wooden box, clearly that part was bitten off.¡± Mouse? Du Wei suddenly wanted to curse at the heavens! Mouse? For such an important thing to be eaten by a mouse?! ¡°Damn mouse! Let heaven incarcerate all mice!!¡± Du Wei couldn¡¯t stop himself from swearing out loud! From his clothing, the human turned mouse Gargamel suddenly poked his head out from Du Wei¡¯s chest pocket. Staring nkly at everyone, the mouse asked in a timid little voice: ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What happened?¡± But the moment his mouse head poked out from Du Wei¡¯s chest pocket, he could feel the murderous gaze from both Du Wei and Hussein at the same time. Scared out of his wits, Gargamel immediately hid himself back inside the chest pocket. Du Weiughed¡­¡­ Mouse? For it to be eaten by a mouse¡­.. The old magician was very calm; after all, he had already looked over this thing countless times. Watching Du Wei, he continued speaking with a serious voice: ¡°Now you understand why I insist on bringing you to this ce? Now you know why I won¡¯t let you go, right?¡± Du Wei couldn¡¯t speak. ¡°In the North.¡± The old magician firmly pointed towards the front. Facing the wind, the gaze from his eyes was firm: ¡°In front of us, all the way towards the north. Didn¡¯t you ask me what¡¯s there? I can tell you now. That is where Aragon¡¯s legacy is located and also the location where he left the King¡¯s sword! If the prophecy and everything is true, then only you can pull out this sword!¡± Receive Aragon¡¯s inheritance? Pull out the King¡¯s sword? The destined one in Aragon¡¯s prophecy? Du Wei suddenly wanted to pinch himself: ¡°Could I be dreaming?¡± Chapter 94 part 1 The 94th chapter ¡°Forgotten Ice Field: thest barrier¡± (part one) Du Wei felt uneasy about all this, it was like his mood was getting heavier and heavier like a rock. With things continuing like this, the seed of panic will start to sprout in his heart. Without any doubt, Du Wei didn¡¯t like any of this! He didn¡¯t like this so called prophecy, or the so called mission of Aragon. And most of all, he didn¡¯t have any intention to inherit whatever legacy left behind by the already deceased! In this regard, Du Wei¡¯s thought matched the already deceased Semel from two hundred years ago: I am what I am, I want to have my own life, my own freedom! What right do others have to push their legacy on to me? Even if he is a legendary figure from history and is also a all mighty powerful expert, but even so, what does all of that have to do with me? I don¡¯t care! Sinceing to this strange world, there was never any ¡®Grand¡¯ scheme in his heart. Bless the Gods that he was able to reincarnate into a powerful noble family. His expectation towards life is very simple: give up his right to inherit, give up the family burden, be a rxing rich person that only knows to eat, do a few things he fancied, tinkering around with magic, y some football games, and so on and so on with all these pointless things. As long as he doesn¡¯t need to worry about food and clothing, that is enough for him¡­¡­ Du Wei had always intentionally kept a low profile, deliberately be misunderstood by others, intentionally be the family idiot, and intentionally be kicked out of the capital by his father. He was actually really happy inside when that happened because he would be able to leave the heavy political spectrum of the capital behind. He was very happy to relocate his home to the Rnd ins¡­. Every day was joyful and interesting. But now, everything may end! me it on the god damn¡­¡­ Prophecy!! What mission! What inheritor of the already deceased Aragon! Fuck it! I don¡¯t want that kind of life! Inherit Aragon¡¯s legacy and be at odds with the Temple of Light? Where do I get such a backing? What is the Temple of Light? It is a thousand years old entity with enormous power! Even the emperor cannot offend such a religious faction! The Temple is rich, powerful, and high in prestige throughout the entire continent! Inherit the legacy of Aragon and have a big fight with this entity? I fear even my bones would not be left after everything is over! Hussein is strong, right? The continent¡¯s number one Knight! But yet, he is a fugitive forced to flee and be driven into hiding by the temple. Aragon is strong, right? But even he failed to bring down the temple. What can I possibly do? I¡¯m what? I just a young nobleman! Eat and die, an unambitious little aristocratic! Used to living a calm and carefree life! Give all of this away for what? A guy that¡¯s already dead a thousand years in the past? To top it all off, I need to offer the rest of my life for his so called legacy? What nonsense! No way! As they continued their journey, Du Wei didn¡¯t say anything else. Everyone in the group could see the somber mood he had from the changes in his face. Clearly not pleased with all the information he was given. When fortune falls from the sky, everyone in the world would like it. But if all the fortune fell at once, wouldn¡¯t it crush the person in question? If that¡¯s the case, it would be a different story. Yes, another story!! (Sorry guys, but even in Chinese, I couldn¡¯t really understand this part) The old magician was still controlling the Evil Faced Spider, but even for a Druid capable ofmunicating with all manners of creatures, it would still put a strain on him after a long period of time. This night, the group didn¡¯t make camp; instead, they continued traveling on the spiders back. Surprisingly, Hussein offered to be on the night watch¡­.. But throughout the night, Hussein kept the focus of his eyespletely on Du Wei, as if able to see something in him. There weren¡¯t any strong winds to disturb him thanks to the wind barrier projected by the old magician. Even so, Du Wei couldn¡¯t sleep throughout the night while lying on the spider¡¯s back. Despite being wrapped in a thick coating of leather clothing and performing a few sets of Stars Dou Qi routine, Du Wei still couldn¡¯t fall asleep. He really wanted to get out of here and leave behind this heavy burden and mission! But with the Knight keeping a close eye on him, Du Wei couldn¡¯t do anything. Looking back on this, he was the weakest among this strange group of three men, one mouse, and a snake. If a fight were to really break out, Du Wei feared that he wouldn¡¯t even be able to take on Gargamel. Run? Du Wei believed he had no chance of seeding. ¡°Good then¡­¡­¡± At dawn, the old magician quietly came over to Hussein¡¯s back and looked down at the slumbering Du Wei. With a smallugh, he whispered to the neighboring Hussein: ¡°This is a huge change for him. It is only normal for his emotions to fluctuate after learning something so important, but I believe he will eventually understand. After all, he is the chosen one mentioned in the prophecy.¡± Dawn is here! Du Wei still had his eyes closed, but Gargamel had alreadye out from his chest pocket. Standing upright on Du Wei¡¯s leg, his pair of beady eyes stared ahead, uttering a shrill cheer: ¡°We got away! We are out!¡± As the mouse continued to jump in celebration, Du Wei rolled over and sat up. Opening his sleepy eyes, Du Wei looked at the scene in front¡­.. The edge of the forest was already in front of them. No longer filled with dense cropping¡¯s of silvery trees, instead, the terrain only contained a sparse collection of trees in their general area. Further in front of the group was a vast expanse of white snow! t and endless snow, god knows how many years did it take topletely submerge thend in thisyer of frost. Look into the distance, asional ciers of ice with a green coloration could be seen protruding from the ground¡­.. Under the rays of the morning sun, the sun¡¯s light prated through the ice, causing ripples of round light circles to arc into the sky, creating a magnificent scene to one¡¯s eyes. After running through the frozen forest and carrying the group for two days, the Evil Faced Spider Queen was looking somewhat exhausted. Now that it has stopped at the edge of the forest, the spider was making a squeezing noise from its mouth, simr to how someone was gasping for breath. Seeing this, the old magician once again blew into his whistle and called for the spider toe in front of him. As he gently stroked one of the spider¡¯s legs, a rippling aura of soft light shot forth from the old magician¡¯s palm. This action seemed to bring greatfort to the spider because its condition was suddenly looking a lot better. ¡°Well then,e down, my friends.¡± The old magician¡¯s spirit seemed to be quite excited. With his robe fluttering in the wind, he turned around with his back facing everyone and pointed towards the endless snowyndscape: ¡°Wee to the ¡®Forgotten Ice Field¡¯, we are the first humans to arrive here after two hundred years!¡± After what he said, the old magician seemed to sigh at his own words. In a whispering voice; ¡°Semel, do you still remember the image of the two of us crossing over thisnd?¡± After freeing the Evil Face Spider Queen, the old magician dered: ¡°Whatever is beyond this ce, we will need to rely on our legs to get through this. There are hardly any living creatures in this vast expanse of cialnd. It will definitely leave asting impression on your minds¡­¡­ By the way, in this strange ce, expect a torrent of tearing winds to strike at us during the night. If you don¡¯t want to freeze to death, make sure you don¡¯t wander off alone and get yourself lost.¡± Du Wei was unwilling to move his legs. As if sensing this, Medusa suddenly whispered from behind him: ¡°You seem troubled.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Du Wei did not try to evade the question. Medusa was silent for a few seconds and then spoke in a low voice: ¡°I remember back in my Pce, the first lesson you taught me was that humans need to face reality, isn¡¯t that correct?¡± With that said, her highness didn¡¯t say anything else. Like the wind, she gently drifted pass Du Wei and walked in front of him. Face reality¡­¡­ Du Wei carefully savored this sentence, then lets out a bitterugh. It¡¯s easy to preach, but it¡¯s not so easy to put it into real practice. ? Traveling through the ice field ispletely different from traveling through the frozen forest. Continuing forward, the surface of thend had less snow buildup, but at the same time, the snow wasn¡¯t soft like that in the Frozen Forest. The snow was hard and smooth, resembling ice more than snow. If not careful, it would be normal for one to slip and fall over more than ten times. Moreover, there are countless pitfalls hidden in the seemingly smooth looking surface of the ice field. If you were to idently step on one, the ice sheet on top would shatter and send you falling deep below the surface! Once below, you can forget abouting back up! ¡°Why aren¡¯t we flying across this ce?¡± Du Wei frowned. For someone like the old magician, a flying spell shouldn¡¯t be a problem for someone of his level. A wind element flying spell should be simple for him and besides, Medusa strength is also very powerful. Conjuring up a flying spell shouldn¡¯t be a problem. As for Hussein¡­¡­ His strength is at the level of a Saint Knight, so he should be able to rely on his Dou Qi (evergy/mana) to soar across the sky. ¡°Because this ce, the ¡®Forgotten Ice Field¡¯ is under a curse from the gods. There is a natural barrier in the air, so flying will not work here.¡± The old magician was smiling after his exnation. But fearing Du Wei wouldn¡¯t believe him, the old magician pulled out a pouch from his clothing and took out a piece of paper. Folding the paper several times, the paper quickly took on the shape of a butterfly. With a gentle touch of his finger, it was as if the paper butterfly was suddenly infused with life. Vibrating the paper wings, it gently flew into the air¡­¡­ Very soon, when it flew into the distance of around seven to eight meters in height, the wind flow in the sky suddenly picked up speed! Then suddenly, the area erupted into big gusts of wind and shot towards where the paper butterfly was flying! Not waiting for Du Wei to speak again; a scraping sound could be heard from the distance and the paper butterfly was already shredded into multiple pieces! The old magician continued in a light voice: ¡°See that? This is a forbidden zone set by the gods. Even if you are a top expert of the continent, you can only walk on the surface.¡± Du Wei got it. Even if one is a powerful magician, they cannot constantly shield themselves against the endless razor sharp wind des. Even if your magical defensive ability is strong, the power consumption is enough to kill you! Chapter 94 part 2 The 94th Chapter ¡°The Forgotten Ice Field: thest barrier¡± (part two) Incapable of flight and can only rely on one¡¯s legs to walk on the cial surface. Thus, even if one has abnormally high strength, they aren¡¯t much different from ordinary people when faced with these limitations. Taking out a short wand with a transparent silver colored crystal embedded into it, the old magician raised it up into the air and started to spell chant from his mouth. A soft light soon emanated from the crystal and formed a four meter wide magic barrier. This magic barrier was able to effectively block off the fierce cial winds! On top of this endless t icy surface, the whistling wind was abnormally scary. Without the forest trees to shield them, the force of the wind is strong enough to blow away a person of Du Wei¡¯s stature into midair with ease! With the old magician constantly keeping the wind barrier active, the group is able to move forward while keeping a close proximity to each other. The physical exertion of walking on ice is high, but without the constant battering of the wind, the difficulty was reduced by a margin. In order to avoid the many crevasses hidden on top of the ice surface, Du Wei tapped into the knowledge of his previous life and tied the group together with a single rope. Of course, Hussein continued to remain in front because he is physically stronger. As for Medusa, she didn¡¯t speak a single word during this period and was looking somewhat fatigued. No matter what, snakes are after all cold blooded creatures, such cold temperatures would of course have some sort of impact on her. The difficult condition of their travels continued like this for two days, and the group¡¯s movement speed was beginning to slow down. Even Hussein¡¯s breathing was starting to show how much his fatigue was affecting him. Although the knight¡¯s eyes were still strong, but Du Wei could tell this method of using pure physical strength to walk is too much of a burden. Plus, the old magician couldn¡¯t always keep the wind barrier erected because the wind in this ce has been just too terrifying. Especially at night, the roaring sound of the sting wind was enough to deafen one¡¯s ears, as if a beast is constantly roaring inside someone¡¯s ears. To make matters worse, Du Wei almost couldn¡¯t fight off the biting cold. Even the effects of the basic Stars Dou Qi movement routine were greatly weakened. In one night, he had to wake up multiple times to perform the routine, or else he would freeze to death. It was at this time; Hussein performed a much appreciated act of kindness. Without a word, the knight pulled Du Wei next to him and pulled off his cloak to cover Du Wei. Then, using his immense Dou Qi, the knight shielded Du Wei from the cold. The old magician was already doing his best, but being surrounded by the endless freezing winds, his energy was almostpletely drained from maintaining the barrier. Du Wei finally understood why the old magician had to reduce his energy consumption to the utmost till now. The further north you go, the stronger the wind gets! Even with his naked eyes, Du Wei could see raging tornados forming down onto the ice from the sky! With winds like a roaring dragon, the clearly visible columns raged back and forth near the group. If not for the old magician spending sleepless days and nights maintaining the barrier¡­.. ording to Du Wei¡¯s estimates¡­. This degree of attack is equal to the old magician spending countless sleepless days and nights to fend off numerous mid leveled wind spells! Thus, the circle of light on his wand would inevitably be dimmed down. Also, in order to conserve his magic reserve, the scope of the barrier was almost narrowed down, forcing the group to walk even closer together like one big mass. By the fourth day, the old magician couldn¡¯t keep it up any longer. Maintaining the barrier over the duration of four days while being battered by intermediate wind attacks haspletely drained the old magician. ¡°Thest time when I came here¡­¡­ The wind was not so strong!¡± There was a hint of weakness in the old magician¡¯s voice.¡± ¡°How much further?¡± Du Wei shouted through the wind¡­. But under the roaring sound of the winds, there was no way for hispanions to hear his voice. ¡°There are approximately one and a half days left.¡± The old magician spoke in a helpless way: ¡°Just another one and a half days left, then we can out of this ice field! Once we are out of this ice field, there will no more winds like this!¡± ¡°How much longer can you hold up?¡± Du Wei sighed. ¡°I need a break.¡± The old magician no longer forced himself to hold out: ¡°I need a rest to restore my magic, but¡­..¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°Let me rece you for a bit!¡± Fortunately, the old magician¡¯s magic barrier has been just like that in the scrolls. Nothingplicated, only requiring the caster to constantly inject energy into the barrier. Du Wei took hold of the old magician¡¯s wand. At first he thought he would somehow manage for a while, but soon found out he could barely hold up! Only after experiencing first hand of maintaining the barrier did Du Wei realize the old magician didn¡¯t have it easy! The fierce wind in the surrounding is just too terrifying. The razor sharp winds are like a flood of a densely packed wave of attacks, constantly battering away at the barrier. Du Wei felt his body tremble the moment he touched the wand. The speed of the energy drain is just absolutely terrifying! Even so, he somehow managed to hold out for a moment, but the energy reserve he was usually so proud of was nearly depleted! Less than a cup of tea¡¯s worth of time, Du Wei was already feeling his mental strength fading away! Drain! Drain! And drain! The magic wand in Du Wei¡¯s hand was frantically draining away his energy. On top of that, the constant battering of the wind des in the surrounding increased the speed even faster. Even though Du Wei did his best to hang on, the range of the barrier inevitable narrowed down in size once again. With his eyes closed in silence, the old magician continued to meditate after drinking two bottles of magic potion. Due to therge energy consumption, simply drinking magic potions cannot restore all the energy he had expended. Seeing Du Wei¡¯s pale colored face, Gargamel called out with his shrill like voice. Somehow, the usually hateful and annoying mouse seemed more lovable by ten times! Gargamel timidly spoke: ¡°Why not let me give it a try? No matter what, I am at least an eighth level magician.¡± His saying may be eighth level, but in fact, the real strength of Gargamel, whom specializes in transformation spells, are only at the fifth level. Even so, his powers are still slightly stronger than Du Wei and he was also more experienced than him. Taking the wand off his hand, Du Wei is about to receive a lesson in ss. Gargamel didn¡¯t blindly inject magic into the barrier; instead, he carefully judged the strength of each oing wind attack. By increasing and decreasing the defense of the barrier depending on the strength of the oing attack, he was able to conserve his energy level, thus, prolonging the length of time he could keep the barrier up. So, despite the fact that Gargamel¡¯s magic is only slightly better than Du Wei¡¯s, the length of time the mouse couldst was three times of his. This is not any extremely difficult spell, but by simply observing this efficient maniption of magical energy, Du Wei was able to benefit greatly! Originally, the maniption of magical energy is also a form of strength for a magician, but often more than not, the young magician of the same level would lose in a duel against a more senior peer. This difference is usually based on the effective use of magical energy! The practice of using energy effectively and avoiding wasting even a drop of energy is enough to make Du Wei¡¯s eyes lit up! As soon as Gargamel couldn¡¯t continue maintaining the barrier, Du Wei immediately stepped up to rece him. Despite only restoring a third of his energy level, his performance was able to surprise everyone! Using only a third of his original energy, Du Wei managed tost the same length of time as Gargamel! This is all thanks to the devil¡¯s horn on top of his head. The horn dramatically increases his magical senses, thus, allowing him to urately pinpoint the location and strength of each wind attack! Being forced to perform in this real life condition, Du Wei quickly mastered his ability to manipte the output of his magical energy! ¡°Every young magician would unwittingly waste their magic energy. Only with age, will these youngsters gradually improve their skills, in just two days, this kid managed to improve so much that he could match even a regr magician!¡± This is Gargamel¡¯s evaluation of Du Wei. With the help of Gargamel and Du Wei alternately maintaining the barrier, the old magicians had enough time to rest and recover his magic reserve. Thus, after a day and a half, the group was able to make it out of the ice field¡­¡­ As soon as they stepped out of the ice field, a miraculous thing happened! Far away in their line of sight, a mountain with the shape of a giant hand was protruding from the ground! Tickle! Du Wei¡¯s heart nearly skipped a beat the moment his boots touched the soft snow! The boundless storm in the sky instantly disappeared! Taking onest look behind him, Du Wei discovered that the wind behind them has stopped! Bending down, he forced both his arms into the snow below his boots. Then, with a cry of joy, Du Wei looked up and smiled: ¡°We finally came out! There is soil under the snow!¡± The old magician was so relieved that he nearly copsed. With his butt against the snow, he wiped his wand a few times then stored it away. ¡°We¡¯re out, we are finally out!¡± Pulling out his sword, Hussein plunged his sword into the ground, leaving only the hilt to be seen! After confirming their words, the knight pulled out the sword and saw that it was covered in soil! With a satisfied smile: ¡°It is! It appears that we have indeed made it out of the ice field! Damn, the winds there were awful!¡± ¡°If not terrible, then how can it be called ¡®the forgotten ice field¡¯? From legend, this ice field was said to be set by the Gods, specifically aimed at blocking the route leading to the human world. This is just like a natural barrier! In fact, this ice field is actually a magic array left behind from ancient times! Although this magic array is a barrier, but in some ways, this barrier acts as a shield to separate the human world from other worlds.¡± The old magician gasped. ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± Du Wei shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ll understand soon.¡± The old magician had a smile on his face as he pointed at the horizon towards the mountain: ¡°See that mountain? That mountain is our goal! I heard that it has a name from ancient legend. It was called the Holy Mountain.¡± ¡°Holy Mountain?¡± Du Wei frowned: ¡°Could that be the residence of gods?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± The old magicianughed out loud: ¡°Why would God live in the mortal world! But on top of the mountain, lived other powerful beings.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Du Wei along with Hussein asked at the same time. But as soon as they began to ask, a sudden sound caught their attention. Far into the distance, a ROAR like sound echoed from the mountain! There a supreme dignity that one feels from the ROAR could prate straight into the very core of someone¡¯s heart. Words could not describe the feeling that one would feel after listening to it! Both Du Wei and Hussein turned pale; it was obvious from their facial expression that both men have guessed what the cause of the sound was! ¡°The residence on top of the Holy Mountain is not God, but rather the most powerful legendary creature left behind by God. This higher tiered organism is even more intelligent and powerful than humans¡­.¡± The old magician smiled: ¡°Dragons! On top of the mountain lived the Dragon Tribe! ording to the ancient legends, the Dragon tribe¡¯s life mission is to guard the border of the human world! With the presence of the powerful dragon tribe there, it would prevent humans to cross over¡­ And on the hand, it would not allow any other powerful species to cross over into the human world. Thus, protecting the human world and keeping the human apart from the other worlds! These dragons are thest barrier!¡± The echoing roar far into the distance refused to stop, and very soon, several ck dots in the sky could be spotted over the horizon on top of the mountain. These ck dots gracefully hovered on top of the mountain¡­¡­ That¡¯s a dragon! Du Wei focused his sight to see not one, but a group of dragons! A group! Chapter 95 The 95th Chapter ¡°Mountain¡± Holy Mountain? The Dragon n? Guard? The barrier stopping the human world and the other worlds from crossing? He was full of questions, but the old magician has already gone ahead and stepped in front of the group. This time, he pulled out arge piece of fabric from his miraculous pouch. Just from looking at how tattered it was, there was no way to know for certain what material it was made from, but it did seem to resemble a g. Holding the g up into the air, the old magician stepped into the forefront of the group. They continued to walk around in the snow like this for a while, and very soon, the group of dragons hovering atop of the Holy Mountain became aware of the intruders closing in on them. After a series of conversation in the dragon¡¯snguage, a group of the ck dots in the sky started leaving the mountain and headed towards them. As the ck dots closed in on them, their shape became even clearer! They really are dragons! Du Wei had seen dragons before and it wasn¡¯t even that long ago. But from his initial observation, it was clear that this group of dragons is very different from the two pet dragons kept by Vivian and Joanna. These dragons are much more massive inparison!! The group heading towards them contained a total of ten dragons in their mix. From heads to tails, their body waspletely ck and the length of their body could easily reach ten meters, but if you were to also include the tail; their length could easily reach 20 meters. This must be the so called ¡°Dragons Prestige¡± because the pressure they were giving off only increased as they drew closer. The extended wings on their back seemed to be able to cover the entire sky as they drew closer and each p of their wings caused enough wind force to create giant bursts of wind in the air. This situation was just like standing beneath a helicopter in Du Wei¡¯s past life because even the simple effort of keeping his eyes open became aborious task. Ten dragons have already flown over to their location, while the rest of the dragons that was left behind continued to hover in the sky atop of the mountain. As if to support theirrades, the dragons were letting out threatening ROARS the entire time. Suspended in midair, the biggest dragon in their mix lowered its body to gaze down at the intruders with itsmanding and terrifying eyes. Raising the g in his hand, the old magician cried out: ¡°Oh great respected dragon n! We are friends from the human world! The thing in my hand is a contract signed by the dragon n with a human! We are here to seek an audience with the great dragon chieftain!¡± Bang!! After a tremendous Shockwave, thergest dragon has alreadynded in front of the group. Due to its massive size and weight, several cracks have appeared in the ground below its body. Folding its wings away, the dragon gave a cold look towards the old magician, and then shifted its focus towards the g in his hand. ¡°Human!¡± This gigantic creature was speaking the human tongue: ¡°Humans are not allowed to be here!¡± Its voice was tremendous, shocking Du Wei to the point of causing dizziness. On top of that, its mouth was sending out a horrible and indescribable smell¡­.. Oh heavens, such a gigantic foul breathed dragon! ¡°We know that.¡± The old magician¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change: ¡°But ording to the contract in my hand, the holder of this contract is allowed toe here and retrieve the things stored away in the Holy Mountain!¡± On the g, symbols were scrawled onto it as if someone was in a hurry. But after a moment of observation, the massive ck dragon finally nodded in approval: ¡°Alright, the writing is indeed thenguage of the dragons. You can pass! But do not cross over the mountain and head into the north!¡± With that said, its huge head drew closer to the group and even its nostrils were brushing against them as it sniffed each individual. Once finished, its head shrank back as it gave out a sigh: ¡°Humans¡­. Hateful humans, I¡¯m going to inform the dragon elder that humans have arrived¡­..¡± Lifting its massive body up into the air, the huge dragon uttered out two longughs before taking the group of dragons back with it towards the mountain. Finally relieved at the final oue, the old magician carefully put the g away. ¡°What is this, a contract?¡± Du Wei asked. ¡°Yes, a contract.¡± The old magician said this with a smile: ¡°This is a contract signed by both the Dragon ns Chieftain and Aragon himself. The Holy Mountain in front of us is where Aragon stored his legacy. On the whole continent, what other ce is more secure than thends of the Dragon n?¡± Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, the feeling they were getting feltpletely different than before. The mountain was exceptionally strange, with huge ck rocks extruding a metallic sheen and carrying a frosty cold around it. Among the t surroundingnds, this mountain was the only thing standing out as if piercing straight out of the ground and reaching all the way into the sky. And circling atop of the mountain is a couple of dragons constantly letting out booming roars, causing anyone unlucky enough to listen to it to be befuddled at the sound. ¡°What is north of the Holy Mountain?¡± Du Wei was very curious. This barrier leading the human world to the outside world¡­ What is there in the outside world? ¡°You are curious?¡± The old magician turned around and looked at Du Wei: ¡°You will know soon, but it¡¯s for the best not to ask this question now because it would enrage those big things in the sky.¡± Climbing the Holy Mountains was a serious test for Du Wei¡¯s physical body. Because the mountain is simply too high! There are no stairs leading to the top of the mountain, but fortunately, there is a winding mountain road circling around the side. Even though you can call it a road, the width is not very wide, only capable of allowing three people to travel on it at the same time. Facing one side of the road is the wall of the mountain, and the other side is the steep cliff leading to the bottom of the mountain! The mountain road they were trudging up waspletely bare, only filled with dark ck rocks. And the entire time they were walking, they could constantly hear the roaring voice of dragons from above their heads. Letting out a sigh, Du Wei spoke: ¡°If anyone lived in this ce, they would most definitely get nightmares every night!¡± The old magician walking in the front gave the huffing and wheezing Du Wei a nce, and then suddenly smiled as he spoke: ¡°You¡¯re wrong, there was once a person that stayed here for a long period of time and that person was Aragon! His majesty came to the Holy Mountain and stayed here for a full year before leaving!¡± Du Wei frowned: ¡°For a year?¡± ¡°Do you see the mountain road below your feet?¡± The old magician sneered: ¡°Can you see the oddity of this mountain? Touch and feel the side of the mountain wall. It¡¯s neither stone, nor soil¡­. Can you tell what this mountain is made of?¡± Du Wei touched the mountain walls and felt it was cold to the touch. Then drawing his face closer, he sniffed the mountain wall to see if there is any scent: ¡°This smell¡­..¡± ¡°Like iron.¡± Hussein cut in. Using his sword, he pounded it against the wall of the mountain and a buzzing sound echoed off the impact. Then, using one of his fingers, he flicked it against the mountain wall, causing a deep echoing sound to vibrate back towards everyone. After confirming this, the knight spoke with a solemn face: ¡°This is a mountain of metal and the purity is extremely high!¡± ¡°ording to the legends that I know of, this is a mountainpletely made out of metal.¡± Turning his head towards Du Wei, the old magician looked like he had a shortness of breath as he spoke: ¡°When this ce was first created, it was just a mountain but the appearance was not like this.¡± ¡°Then what did it look like?¡± ¡°In the past, this was only a mountain when Aragon passed through the ¡®frozen forest¡¯, the ¡®forgotten ice field¡¯, and finally reached this Holy Mountain by himself¡­. So how can there be a winding road on this mountain! Don¡¯t you find it strange? The residences of this ce are dragons, so why would they require a road for people to walk on?¡± Du Wei was indeed puzzled. Such a narrow winding road is obviously of no use to dragons¡­¡­ They can fly, so why would they need a road for? And the road is so narrow; the dragons can¡¯t possibly use it with their massive body. ¡°In the past when Aragon came here, he used his tyrannical power against the whole dragon n. Despite being outnumbered, none could defeat Aragon.¡± The old magician was so engrossed in the content of the legend; a trace of pride could be heard from his voice: ¡°Therefore, the dragon n was unable to do anything to him. Seeing the dragon n¡¯s resignation, Aragon made a request, asking them to do him a favor. At first, the proud dragons refused, but none of the n members could defeat Aragon. In the end, both sides decided to set up a wager.¡± Wager?¡± ¡°It is the contract that I was holding earlier.¡± The old magician smiled: ¡°The dragon n¡¯s most powerful warriors and chieftain lost to Aragon in a duel, thus, they presented him with a challenge. If Aragon could somehow seed in climbing to the top of the mountain, they would be willing to help him, but there were other conditions involved. First, he cannot fly. Second, he can only walk with his feet!¡± ¡°What kind of condition is this?!¡± Du Wei frowned. ¡°So the original Holy Mountain was not like this in appearance. The Holy Mountain at the time was like a towering peak without any gaps in between its cliffs! The smoothness would leave little to no room for someone to gain a foothold!¡± ¡°But it is not too difficult.¡± Du Wei said: ¡°With Aragon¡¯s tyrannical powers, it shouldn¡¯t be too hard even if he climbed the mountain bare handed.¡± ¡°More than that¡­¡­ ording to the contract, the dragon tribe is allowed to interfere from the sidelines. If he really did climb the mountain bare handed, do you think he would have seeded while receiving attacks from an endless supply of dragons?¡± The old magician smiled: ¡°Finally, Aragon came up with this dumb idea. Even though this idea was dumb, but it was able to impress every member of the dragon n. Since then, the dragon n obediently followed through on their promise andpleted the task left behind for them.¡± Speaking up this point, the old magician pointed at the mountain under his feet: ¡°Using his King¡¯s sword, Aragon relied on his supreme power and started from the foot of the mountain and opened up a road leading to the top of the mountain. By spending a year¡¯s worth of time, Aragon was able to single handedly carve out a road to the top!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± Du Wei was speechless. His heart was so shocked that he had unconsciously reached out with his hands to touch the mountain walls! As he moved his hands across the iron surface, Du Wei could still feel the faint hacking marks left behind by Aragon! Imagining the scene of such a legendary character, one man, one sword, Aragon was able to single handedly carve out a road to the top of the mountain! Then subduing the entire Dragon n! Such courage! Such skill! Hussein didn¡¯t speak, but the knight¡¯s eyes suddenly emitted a strange glow as he looked at the hacking marks left by Aragon. The knight was so absorbed in his thought that it took him a good while before he regained his senses¡­.. Chapter 96 The 96th chapter ¡°Du Wei¡¯s spection¡± Less than half way up the mountain, Du Wei already felt exhausted. He feared that unless they spend another day or two, they wouldn¡¯t reach the top. Because flying in this ce is a patented right of the dragons, so even Aragon had to rely on his own two feet when he wanted to climb the mountain. In addition to cold weather in the environment, Du Wei was also tormented by another painful problem. Sunburn! This problem seemed very contradictory, but is a real issue. In his past life, Du Wei often saw TV programs simr to authentic national magazines. In those shows, the expedition team members would often receive sunburns while traveling through the Arctic and Antarctic circles. Most people would often think this is incredible; however, this is the truth in reality! The ice and snow have been just like a giant spotlight mirror because it was focusing all the gathered UV lights from the sun. And thinking about it, the far north and south had very thin atmospheres, so the harmful rays of the sun are even more likely to prate through. Du Wei felt his body is covered in sunburn. His face, hands, and any exposed skin looked like it had been steamed through with its pink and red coloration. Now, even the slightest touch is enough to give him a severe burning pain. To make matters worse, during the night when the temperature drops, the pain from the blowing wind was like having a knife constantly cutting at his body! As for hisrades, both Hussein and the old magician seemed to have the same problem, but the two were more tolerant to the pain than he was. In addition to the sunburns, Du Wei was also suffering from pain in his eyes. Even during the night, the blue lights reflecting off the snow were very strong and will damage a person¡¯s eye if exposed for a long period of time. In his past life, those that traveled through the Arctic and Antarctic Circle would always wear protection sses against the reflecting lights. Unfortunately, there isn¡¯t any equipment like that in this world. Left with no choice, Du Wei could only put on the sunsses left behind by Dadaneier, this way, it would be better than having nothing on. Among the group, the one that was the least affected by this situation was surprisingly Medusa because her skin was that of a snake. Her delicate skin was still as pale as ever, and since her eyes are always closed, she waspletely indifferent to all the changes around them. The next afternoon, the group was finally able to bypass the winding mountain road and reach the halfway point of the mountain. Using the backside of the mountain as a shield against the sun, Du Wei could finally take a breather and attempt at lighting a fire. ¡°Let¡¯s take a break for now and continue walking at night.¡± Du Wei¡¯s was gasping for breath as he spoke. From his appearance, the skin on his face was beginning to peel off and the slightest sensation of the wind blowing would cause him excruciating pain. The only remedy he had was to wrap his face inyers of torn clothing, this way only his eye would be exposed to the environment. The old magician nodded at his suggestion. Working his magic, the old magician gave birth to a bonfire that ran entirely on magic and not an ounce of wood. This method expended a lot of energy, but without any other option, this was the only way to gain some warmth. Moving closer to the mes, Du Wei stretched opens his arms to bask the front of his body in warmth¡­.. Then turned around to do the same with his backside. He had to do this because his body was stiff cold by now. With his back against the mes, Du Wei sat at the edge of the mountain with only the cliffs in front of him¡­. Moreover, the direction he was facing is exactly to the north! North of the Holy Mountain! As he looked into the distance, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what was further into the north, so he once again asked: ¡°North of the Holy Mountain, what exactly is there?¡± ¡°No one knows for sure.¡± The old magician shook his head: ¡°But ording to legends, the Holy Mountain is the barrier guarding the human world, and continuing north is the ce where certain races forsaken by god lived! These races betrayed god, so they were exiled from the Rnd continent. It is said that an evil world lies beyond the north. This world is believed to be just like the Rnd continent, but the inhabitants are races that believed in the Devil during ancient times, so after the defeat of the devil, they were thrown out of the human world. Left without a ce to live, these races headed north and went through the north to another world.¡± ¡°Another world.¡± Hussein frowned: ¡°What could there possibly be? This ce is cold enough to freeze a person alive! If it wasn¡¯t us, ordinary people would have long fallen victim to this weather! Further north? I can¡¯t even begin to image how much colder it would get if one were to continue heading north! How could any race live in such horrid conditions?¡± The old magician smiled wryly: ¡°That¡¯s why this is the punishment given to them by God¡­. I don¡¯t really know, but that¡¯s what¡¯s written in the legends.¡± ¡°I think that may not necessarily be so.¡± Du Wei suddenly cries out augh, but then quickly closed his mouth in silence after noticing the odd look he was getting from both Hussein and the old magician. Not necessarily¡­¡­ Du Wei could not help but give out a sigh in his heart. The further north you go, the colder? These people will certainly think so in this world and age. But who is he? Du Wei¡¯s past is that of someone from a technologically more advanced civilization than this world! The further north you go, the colder. This saying seems correct from a contextual point of view. However, once we take into ount the geographical location¡­.. Let¡¯s assume the shape of this world and his previous are the same, both are in the shape of a ball. No, Du Wei was almost certain of this¡­ Assuming the Rnd Continent is located on a with the shape of a ball. Then, assuming the sun, moon, and even the Big Dipper is all the same! He even suspects this ce is a in a different space! In any case, at least he can be certain that this world is a! ording to the geological location of the Rnd Continent: the north is cold and the south is hot. What did that prove? It proved that the location of the Rnd Continent is located on thes northern hemisphere! Continents in the northern hemisphere would be colder as you head north because you would be closer to the North Pole! But if you head south, it would get hotter because the area is closer to the equator! This is the simplest exnation. However, because the ball is round (of course, in this world, we should say ¡°this is round¡±), it will be colder as you will draw closer to the ¡®Arctic¡¯. But then, what would happen if you continue going forward once you reached the North Pole? Scientifically speaking, this shouldn¡¯t be considered north any longer. In fact, once you crossed over the arctic, you are actually heading south! If that is the case, it will be warmer instead of getting colder!! This logic is something even a middle school student would understand back in his previous life. Of course, he feared no one in this world would know about this. So¡­¡­ In his heart, he kept wondering what kind of world lies beyond the Holy Mountain? There is no way the weather would be cold, so the possibility of anothernd mass like that of the Rnd Continent is possible! So, to the North¡­¡­ No, I should say what is there in ¡°front¡± of us? Losing himself in his thoughts, his legs were already dangling off the edge of the cliff and his eyes were staring far into the distance¡­¡­ North of the Holy Mountain, thend was still a vast sheet of ice, but it wasn¡¯t as t and vast as its southern counterpart. From the tnd lines visible to the eyes, one could faintly make out the shapes of multiple snowy mountains¡­. And starting from the foot of the Holy Mountain, there are strangely shaped ck rocks protruding out of the ground¡­.. Within his view, Du Wei suddenly noticed something sticking out at the bottom of the Holy Mountain. Some unknown item with a silvery white color was hanging off a protruding ck rock¡­.. Du Wei is after all a magician, so it was natural that he would have keener senses and longer eye sights than the average person. Struck with a thought, he immediately removed a strip of cloth from his face. Ignoring the fact that it was frozen from the weather, he rolled it up like a cone and peered into the distance¡­. In ordance with the basic principles of the pinhole, this method allows further sight with the naked eyes. The moment he could make out the true identity of the item hanging off the rock, Du Wei was so shocked that his heart missed a beat! That¡¯s a pair of bones! Who knows how many years it¡¯s been there, but the body muscles have long been dried by the ice crystals. Now, the only thing left was the husk of a mummy hanging off the protruding rock. From the shape of its body, the arms were exceptionally long, far longer than that of any humans. As for its legs, it was exceptionally stout, but short at the same time. Looking over the body, there was still armor hanging off its rib cage, but the strangest thing of all was that it was missing a head! Du Wei looked even further into the distance, only to find even more simr cases like the one he saw. There were other dead bodies, each and every one of them hanging off a protruding rock. Under careful examination, he could see all of these bodies were very different and strange whenpared to a human! The bodies are not human! Some of the leg ratios were far too long, and some only hand three fingers on their hands¡­.. It was like some kind of animal exhibit? The more he looked, the more he frowned. Finally, after carefully looking around, he noticed two bones with simr shapes to that of a human¡­. These may have simrities to that of humans, but they were far too thin! Even a slender woman may not have such slenderness. Other than only having slimmer bones, the residual body clothing¡¯s and armor were unusually gorgeous¡­.. The onlymon thing was that their backs were always facing him! And, without exception, there were no heads! Chapter 97 part 1 The 97th ¡°Dragon n¡¯s Cave¡± (part one) ¡°Do you see that?¡± The old magician was standing behind Du Wei for who knows how long, but his tone was very bitter as he spoke: ¡°I saw those things two hundred years ago, at this exact spot.¡± ¡°You and Semel came here?¡± Du Wei bitterly asked: ¡°two hundred years ago?¡± ¡°Yes, in search of Aragon¡¯s inheritance two hundred years ago. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have the prophecy with me at the time. In the end, I couldn¡¯t open Aragon¡¯s treasure and had to go back empty handed.¡± The old magician whispered, ¡°Two hundred years ago, I already saw those bones at the northern foot of the mountain.¡± ¡°They are¡­¡­ What?¡± Du Wei puts forward his question. ¡°They are the legendary races exiled by God during the ancient periods. Originally, they lived alongside the human race on the Rnd Continent, butter on, they betrayed god and was exiled to the north. Once they left the Rnd Continent, these races traveled to the northernnds, passed the Holy Mountain, and continued onwards to the unknownnds past this point. No one really knows what lies beyond the Holy Mountain, but one thing is certain, that ce is where the exiled races dwelled. As for the dragon n, they are here to guard against those in thend of the exiled. Since ancient times, members of the exiled races will try to return, but none were able to make it past the Holy Mountain. If by the odd chance, one of these beings does make it past the Holy Mountain, they wouldn¡¯t make it far¡­.. Awaiting them afterwards is the terrifying snow storms of the ¡®Forgotten Ice Field¡¯, as well as the freezing cold, ice covered forest filled with magical beasts! Based on these obstacles, the exiled races can never return to the Rnd Continent!¡± The old magician spoke as he pointed towards the bottom of the mountain: ¡°Those bones, all of them belonged to powerful individuals of the exiled races. By relying on their immense strength, these individuals tried to bypass the barriers set by God, but all of them failed. In the end, they were killed by the dragons stationed here on the Holy Mountain.¡± Du Wei¡¯s eyes gleamed with wonder, ¡°How do you know all of this?¡± ¡°The dragon chieftain told me.¡± The old magician smiled: ¡°I¡¯ve been here once two hundred years ago¡­. The chieftain is a veryplex being. Once you meet him, you will understand why.¡± On the third day of their climb, the group finally reached the top of the mountain. On top of the Holy Mountain was an enormous cave. From Du Wei¡¯s perspective, this cave was just like a hive with seven to eight openings. From inside the cave, a faint dragon¡¯s roar could be heard while a group of dragons flew over their heads like sentinels. The sight and hearing of Dragon¡¯s are far superior to other organisms. So on top of this tlyid out ice field; they could clearly view any sudden movements as far as 10 miles away! The gigantic ck dragon and supposed sentinel leader has already been impatiently awaiting the group. With a low growl: ¡°You¡¯re too slow! The Chieftain is already waiting for you!¡± Once finished, the dragon pointed one of his paws towards the biggest cave entrance: ¡°Go! But don¡¯t go anywhere you are not supposed to!¡± The cave was very big, or it¡¯s better to say it¡¯s super big! Seeing such a scene seemed to have a strong impact on Du Wei. The metallic mountain of high purity seemed to be hollowed out and faint bursts of wind could be felting from the inside. Upon entering the cave, the insides weren¡¯t even dark. On the contrary, there is even a ring of light! Even more surprising, the walls were embedded with all kinds of valuable treasures: gold, gemstones, and a variety of shiny objects reflecting a brilliant light! Du Wei thought this was strange, but the old magician ignored all of this and pulled against him tightly to lead the group further into the cave. Aftering all the way to the deeper sections of the cave, what weed them was a huge iron gate with a cross shaped winch in the front and a chain dangling above the door! Although unsure of the chains use, it had an obvious faint ck coloration to it. Soundly asleep next to the huge Iron Gate was an enormous ck dragon lying on the ground. Each snore it made wasparable to a loud thunder strike and each puff of air it breathed out to create fierce sts of wind in the air! Coughing once to clear his throat, the old magician shouted: ¡°We, human friends,e looking to seek an audience with the dragon chieftain!¡± The Dragon did not respond. This time, the old magician¡¯s cough was much louder: ¡°Oh great dragon chieftain, this old human friend came to see you!¡± The Dragon still did not respond. The old magician was somewhat angry now. Despite being the same height as the dragon¡¯s head, the old magician walked over in big strides and stood at the edge of the dragon¡¯s mouth. Taking out his wand, he lightly pointed it at the dragon¡¯s nose and spoke: ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you for two hundred years, yet a guy like you is still such a heavy sleeper?¡± Wiggling his nose a bit, the dragon took in a deep breath of ck smog and suddenly sneezed with its jaws wide open! ROAR!! This one giant ROAR nearly deafened Du Wei¡¯s eardrum and under the intense hurricane like winds, the hat on top of the old magician¡¯s head was sent flying into the air! ¡°Who is it that woke me?!¡± The Dragon shook his head in annoyance and opened its big yellow eyes. Staring at the old magician, its eyes turned a few times before finally releasing some of the tension in its voice: ¡°You, you are¡­.¡± ¡°I am a human being and your friend. I am here to seek an audience with the great dragon chieftain.¡± Finally,pletely awake, the dragon stood up with its massive body and looked down at the insignificantly small person in front of it. Puffing out a cloud of gas from its nostrils, the dragon suddenly cried out: ¡°I remember now! You came here thest time!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Carefully reorganizing his hair, the old magician continued speaking: ¡°Honored guard, please open the door and allow us passage to meet your chieftain.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like you.¡± The Dragon Roared: ¡°I hate being woken up from my slumber!¡± ¡°But I¡¯m in a hurry.¡± The old magician shrugged: ¡°Also, I have a contract with the dragons. So I have the right to seek an audience with your chieftain.¡± ¡°Fine then¡­.. ording to tradition, you must first make it past me!¡± With that said, the dragon stood up with its wings spread open and a grin on its face. Can it be that we need to first start a fight? If they must start a fight inside the cave, a magician is not suitable for fighting in an enclosed space. Already quietly standing behind the old magician, Hussein was ready at a moment¡¯s notice. Out of everyone in the group, he was the strongest in close meleebat, so it is only natural that he is the first one to deal with this dragon. But the old magician only turned his head to smile back at Hussein. Waving his hand, the old magician indicated with his hand movement that force was not necessary. Then, looking back at the dragon, he asked: ¡°So, old rules?¡± ¡°Yes! As long as you can use your wisdom to defeat me, I will open the door!¡± The dragon growled: ¡°Those who win can pass, but those that lose must stay outside the door!¡± Du Wei was stunned. Both Du Wei and the old magician gave each other a glimpse at the same time: ¡°You get it now? This is a fight of intellect! This individual dragon is the dragon chieftain¡¯s leading dragon guard. Over seven hundred years ago, he was already the dragon n¡¯s number warrior! But instead of seeking power and strength, he is seeking wisdom¡­¡­¡± Talking up to this point, the old magician suddenly blinked at Du Wei. Sure enough, the Dragon immediately roared proudly at the statement: ¡°Yes! I am already the dragon n¡¯s number one warrior! Now I want to pursue the title of being the dragon n¡¯s ¡®number one wisest dragon¡¯! State your question! Unless you beat me, don¡¯t ever think of getting inside!¡± Compete with the Dragon¡­¡­ On intellect?! Du Wei was stunned. The old magician has already turned around and pulled Du Wei over. Pushing him a bit, the old magician smiled: ¡°I know you are very smart, so you¡¯re on your own now! The game is set by two wins out of three sets. As long as we beat him twice, we may enter¡­. Otherwise, don¡¯t even think of getting inside.¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°So it muste to this?¡± The dragon beats him to the punch. Holding up its massive head, the dragon roared with pride: ¡°This is my rule!!¡± ¡°Fine then.¡± Du Wei thought for a moment, then nodded. Competing with a dragon on intellect¡­. Dragons are widely recognized as higher organisms and even more advanced than humanity, but humanity thought otherwise. The Dragon race had a longer life span, higher intellect, and wielded powerful strength. With higher intellect and longer life span, dragons had more time to learn new things than a human does in a lifetime¡­. Theoretically speaking, all these points give dragons a better advantage over humans. But, all of this is just a theory. ¡°So, what are the rules in thispetition?¡± Du Wei walked to the front of the dragon and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s easy, as long as the question you raised can stump me.¡± The Dragon proudly smiled: ¡°But I need to remind you, do not underestimate my intelligence! I have fully mastered your so called human intelligence! Lord Chieftain has gone to the human world before and learned a lot of things about your human civilization. He taught me a lot! Human, don¡¯t think of deceiving me with your human trickery!¡± ¡°Any questions?¡± Du Wei blinked. ¡°Any questions!¡± The Dragon nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± Du Wei was smiling maliciously: ¡°Then I¡¯ll start the question.¡± Gently coughing, Du Wei lightlyughed: ¡°My topic is this, a very simple mathematical problem: Assuming, there is a row of houses. The first house had one person; the second had two people, the third had three people, and the fourth had four people¡­.. Continuing like this, the next house would always have one more than the previous house! My problem is this, how many people in total are there after the one thousandth house? 1 house = 1 Person 2 houses = 2 Person 3 house = 3 Person 4 house = 4 Person Combining everything, how many in total is there by the 1000th house? Chapter 97 part 2 The 97th chapter ¡°Dragon n¡¯s Cave¡± (part two) The Dragon was stupefied! Then it started to count its fingers, and when it wasn¡¯t enough, the dragon started to count its toes. But very soon, even that wasn¡¯t enough. Turning its big yellow eyes towards Du Wei, the dragon looked like it wanted to ask if he could borrow Du Wei¡¯s fingers¡­.. (I had a goodugh at this point.) Du Wei had trouble holding in hisughter as he watched the painful expression of the Dragon clumsily counting his fingers and toes: ¡°Well then, can you figure out the answer?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± The dragon was suddenly enraged: ¡°This is a lie! Impossible! This topic, how can anyone figure out the answer! And¡­¡­ And¡­¡­ Once you count up to the thousandth house, there will be a thousand people packed inside! Where in the world would you find such a house?¡± ¡°Ch, our human pce can. Let alone one thousand people, even with ten thousand people, it is not a problem.¡± Du Wei Smirked: ¡°Oh honored dragon guard, can you answer it or not?¡± ¡°This¡­¡­ Is not a problem! This is a lie! No one can work this out! You would need at least one year to count it all!¡± The dragon¡¯s confusion was turning into rage: ¡°Not even you can answer the question, what right do you have to ask me of this!¡± Du Wei did not bother quarreling with him. Laughing in a ¡®HeHe¡¯ manner: ¡°Really now?¡± Crouching down on the floor, he quickly drew something onto the surface of the ground. Once finished, he looked up towards the dragon and answered: ¡°The total is five hundred thousand and five hundred people.¡± ¡°Five hundred thousand and five hundred people?¡± Sweating profusely, the dragon desperately tried to confirm the answer in his mind: ¡°I don¡¯t believe it, how can you possibly work out the answer! You must be making this up!¡± With a straight face, Du Wei continued: ¡°The topic was raised by me and I also managed to answer it. Now only you can¡¯t answer the question¡­. Do you want to go back on your words? Is this the dragons so called pride?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Tongue tied at the insult, the dragon angrily screamed out loud, then growled unwilling: ¡°Fine! Cunning man, consider it your win! You win! You may enter!!¡± Angrily staring at the old magician, the dragon spoke: ¡°Now¡­ Your turn! You cheated me thest time, but don¡¯t think you will be able to fool me this time!¡± Watching the dragon with a sinister smile, the old magician said: ¡°Okay, you ready? Then here Ie¡­. This time, my problem is very simple. Humanity¡¯s simplest game: Rock, paper, scissors.¡± Subsequently, the old magician gestured out his hand to point out the rules. He thenughed dismissively: ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t think you can possibly beat me. So in order to reduce the level of difficulty, you only need to beat me once out of ten tries. Can you? Otherwise, you¡¯ll have to let us pass.¡± The results¡­¡­ In the end was obvious. Du Wei thought he was evil by using his previous life¡¯s mathematical knowledge to bully the creature, but the old guy was even more devious! Rock, paper, scissors? Du Wei wasughing so hard, his belly nearly turned inside out. Dragon ws only had two fingers! Two fingers! In other words, no matter what the dragon used, he could only put out rock with a clenched fist and a scissor with an open hand¡­. No matter what, it wasn¡¯t possible for the dragon to use paper! The old magician also didn¡¯t want to win, so he churned out rock ten straight times. This action enraged the dragon so much that he was shouting with anger. ¡°Hey, we won twice now! You should open the door and let us in.¡± Du Wei said. Sighing helplessly, the dragon moved his huge body towards the Iron Gate and rotated the cross shaped winch on the door. Hearing a ¡®clickety¡¯ sound as the chains rotated, the iron gate was slowly pulled up¡­¡­ ¡°Go on then!¡± Finally giving up, the dragon glimpsed at the two: ¡°Next time! Next time I won¡¯t lose to you! I will ask the Chieftain for permission to travel the human world and learn of their wisdom!¡± After the group passed through the iron gate, Du Wei could still asionally hear the angry sounds of the dragon shouting in the back. ¡°That guy is the number one warrior of the dragon n, but his personality just likes to mess around.¡± The old magician faintly smiled: ¡°Thest time I came, I yed him for a fool¡­. But it was kind of fun.¡± ¡°I just think he¡¯s adorable.¡± Du Wei shrugged: ¡°Butparing the wisdom of dragons and humans, their kind simply doesn¡¯t work out very well.¡± ¡°This is all just a joke.¡± The old magician said it with a smile: ¡°Even if he did mess around and held us back, the chieftain would have summoned us in the end. However, it is in your best interest to humor the guy because his strength is the real deal. If you want to have any future dealings with the dragon n, you best remember this point.¡± ¡°In the future?¡± Du Wei frowned. But the old magician didn¡¯t go on. After passing through the iron gate, the direction of the passage headed straight downwards. On both sides of the cave, the walls had countless little cracks with shing jewels embedded inside. Sighing at the unknown amount of treasure in front of him, it seems the legend of dragons favoring shiny objects is true. The cave passageway continued to narrow down more and more as they walked deeper inside. Aftering out of an ending, the group found themselves standing in front of a domed shaped Hall. Compared to human constructions, this Hall seemed much more simple and crude inparison to Medusa¡¯s pce. The only redeeming feature was the colorful gemstones embedded into the surrounding walls, most likely used as a decoration. What surprised Du Wei was that a chair was kept in the middle of the Hall and the size was simr to that of a human¡¯s body!! Sitting on the chair was a male adult with a body no different from an ordinary human. Looking up, his face was covered with a beard and the only thing he had on was a set of robes. The only thing that could possibly highlight the fact that he was part of the dragon n was the horns on top of his head¡­. But to his surprise¡­ The horn on the left side seemed to be cut off by something. ¡°This gown was originally gifted by me.¡± The old magician whispered these words into Du Wei¡¯s ears, and then the old magician suddenly burst outughing as he marched forward with open arms: ¡°Old friend, it¡¯s been two hundred years, but we finally meet again!¡± This dragon chieftain didn¡¯t look as happy as the old magician. Only letting out a ¡®hum¡¯ sound from its mouth, the dragon chieftain yawned as he stood up from the chair: ¡°s, I see you again. It has been really boring these days, so seeing you again is also a good thing. What interesting news did you bring me this time?¡± This human formed dragon came up to everyone¡­ but Du Wei couldn¡¯t sense any of the oppressive nature of the dragon race! It is as if this guy had no power whatsoever. But if you were to use your senses to explore around, you will notice the endless void like that of a deep ocean! Even his facial features looked ordinary. If not for the set of horn on the head¡­ One would easily mistake this fe as a normal human being that couldn¡¯t garnish the slightest bit of attention. Even his set of eyes looked droopy and weak. Du Wei didn¡¯t have the habit of judging a person on their appearance, but this old fe just looked so ordinary and trivial. For this person to be the dragon chieftain, Du Wei couldn¡¯t stop himself from showing a hint of surprise. ¡°Old friend.¡± The old magician coughed loudly: ¡°The reason we are here is toplete the contract with the dragon n¡­. I have brought the one to open the secret chamber!¡± Upon hearing these words, the eyes of the dragon chieftain had a strange glimmer of light in them! Gazing around, the old fe looked at Du Wei and the others beside him. Then heughed in an odd way: ¡°Oh, really? You found him? Is it one of thesepanions you brought along with you? Could it be this beautiful Queen Medusa, or this proud Saint Knight? Oh, let me see¡­ Could it be this young boy?¡± With only these verymon words, Du Wei no longer dared to belittle this Dragon Chieftain! It seems that with only a simple nce, this guy was able to see through Medusa¡¯s true identity and the true power of Hussein! The old magician ponders for a moment, and then looked at Du Wei: ¡°Youe over here.¡± Du Wei took a few steps forward and stood there while the dragon chieftain examined him. After a moment, his eyes had a hint of surprise: ¡°Oh, this young noble is the one you found? His body does indeed have the presence of the devil, but his strength is too weak¡­. You are certain he is able to pull out the thing left by Aragon?¡± When the dragon chieftain was examining him, the gaze he was getting made him feel very ufortable. This guy may look ordinary; bur Du Wei feltpletely naked standing in front of this guy¡­.. With just a nce, it seems like this person is able topletely see through him! ¡°All right, I¡¯ll go get the key, but if you can¡¯t open the door this time, you should know the end result.¡± The dragon chieftain quietly spoke these words before ignoring everyone and turned around into one of the many passageways behind the hall. After waiting for the dragon chieftain topletely leave them, the old magician turned around and gave a serious nce at Du Wei: ¡°What has happened to you? You look like you¡¯re upied by something.¡° Du Wei said nothing. The old magicians took in a deep breath: ¡°Is it because you are disappointed with the dragon chieftain¡¯s appearance?¡± Du Wei thought for a bit: ¡°I¡¯m just surprised.¡± ¡°Put away your surprise!¡± The old magician spoke in a solemn tone: ¡°Du Wei, I hope you will¡­. No, not hope, but required! I require you to show a certain level of respect when facing this guy! I¡¯m not joking because this guy is not someone you want to mess with!¡± Du Wei immediately nodded: ¡°Of course, the chieftain of the dragon n, how can a guy like that be a good person to mess with. I understand.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good if you understand.¡± The old magician then nced at the passageway the dragon chieftain took, and then whispered: ¡°I must tell you, this guy is a madman. Don¡¯t think his temper is good. If he gets enraged, no one can suppress him, at least no-one here! Also, this guy hates humans, so it is for the best not to provoke him.¡± After a pause, the old magician continued speaking: ¡°You all see the horn on top of his head? One of the horns is cut off.¡± Du Wei and Hussein both nodded. ¡°That is cut was made by Aragon!¡± The old magician spoke in a cold manner: ¡°But I must tell you, this guy is probably the only person alive still that had fought with Aragon! Moreover, even with Aragon¡¯s strength, he wasn¡¯t able to kill this person! This person has a weird personality, if his attitude changes, no one present here can stop him, at least none of us here!¡± Chapter 98 The 98th chapter ¡°The Dragon Patriarch¡¯s hatred¡± ¡°Even you can¡¯t?¡± Du Wei gasped. ¡°Me?¡± The old magician smiled: ¡°I can¡¯t. At least in this world, I think there are only two people with enough magic and strength to stand up to him. The first is his Majesty the Pope, the second is the President of the Magician¡¯s Union.¡± Du Wei did not understand the old magician¡¯s meaning. But then the old magician smiled wryly: ¡°The two people I just named ¡®may¡¯ have strength higher than the chieftain of the dragon n, but that was only my opinion because two hundred years ago, I had a fight with him. Using only half his power, the dragon patriarch nearly took my life then and there. I still believe I would have perished two hundred years ago if I wasn¡¯t carrying the contract between Aragon and the dragon n!¡± Just when the old guy finished speaking, the words of the dragon chieftain had reached their ears from the deeper parts of the cave. ¡°You¡¯re too modest, my friend.¡± The dragon patriarch had already returned with a narrow looking box in hand as he walked slowly towards them while slightly smiling: ¡°I would like to correct two errors. First, the others I don¡¯t know, but I think your strength is above the President of the Magician¡¯s Union. Second, the strength of his Majesty the Pope is not ¡®maybe¡¯ above you, but definitely above you.¡± ¡°How did you know?¡± Du Wei questioned. ¡°Because I¡¯ve been to your human world¡­¡­ Transforming into this appearance, I visited the human world and learned of your culture and civilization¡­.. Because I¡¯m curious, what exactly is the human world to be able to produce such a strong person like Aragon! I would travel to the human world every one hundred years, but in the end, I¡¯m always disappointed! Why? Because it seems that even the race with thergest poption in the world could not produce another powerful expert of Aragon¡¯s standard.¡± The dragon patriarch spoke with a light voice: ¡°I have secretly challenged both the President of the Magician¡¯s Union and the Pope of the Temple of Light before. So my friend, you do not have to be so modest, I think among the human mages in the world, your strength can easily take first ce in the rankings¡­.. That is if the Pope never leaves the temple.¡± With that said, he readily threw the box down and his tone gradually cooled down: ¡°Well then, take the key and go! My old friend, you know where the secret chamber is! Open it and take away the things stored inside, then leave my territory! You did get one thing right; I still hate humans, especially that scumbag Aragon!¡± With that said, the dragon patriarch snorted and turned around to walk away. Just when he was making the ¡®humph¡¯ sound, Du Wei suddenly felt a sound piercing into his ears, as if an invisible hand was mercilessly clutching his heart. Then he could feel the blood pressure in his entire body boiling up! The sound was like a heavy hammer! Du Wei¡¯s expression immediately turned white, and the view in front of him suddenly turned ck as he was fainting! Fortunately, the old magician pulled against Du Wei with his palm pressing against his chest. After a shining light from a magic spell, Du Wei was able to take in a deep breath and slowly return to normal. But then, Hussein¡¯s face suddenly changed as he stood behind the two. The proud Knight opened his mouth and spit out a mouthful of blood from his mouth! The knight looked shocked. Watching the dragon patriarch slowly disappearing behind one of the cave passageways, Hussein, then asked with clenched teeth¡¯s: This¡­. What is this.¡± ¡°This is Draconian magic.¡± The old magician sighed: ¡°He already restrained himself.¡± ¡°Why is she all right then?¡± Du Wei pointed towards the quietly standing Medusa. ¡°Because this chief only hates humans.¡± The old magician smiled wryly. He took one look at the angered face of Hussein: ¡°Hussein, don¡¯t expect that you can challenge him right now! Believe me; even if you¡¯re a Saint Knight, there is still arge gap between your powers!¡± The little bit of draconian magic cast out by the dragon patriarch sure is powerful. Under the light affinity spell of the old magician, Du Wei¡¯s disturbed spirit and boiling blood inside his body had finally started to gradually calm down. As for Hussein, the knight had suffered a huge humiliation after spitting out a mouthful of blood. If not for the old magician¡¯s warning, the proud knight would have probably gone the dragon patriarch to demand a duel. ¡°It seems the dragon n¡¯s tolerance is not so good.¡± Du Wei smiled wryly: ¡°It is all because Aragon suppressed the dragon n in the past, causing them to lose face. So by hating Aragon, he ended up hating all of us too?¡± The old magician frowned and then whispered, ¡°I told you so before, the chief is aplicated guy, From his mouth, he may say he hated Aragon the most, but in fact, he may not only have hatred towards Aragon. From his actions so far, there may be a subtle feeling of respect towards Aragon, after all, he was the only person able to defeat this dragon patriarch. Maybe it is due to thisplex feeling that caused him to quietly sneak into the human world.¡± After these words, the old magician cried out: ¡°Well then, don¡¯t waste time; finishing our business is more important! Follow me; we will leave this spot and go see Aragon¡¯s secret chamber!¡± Then everyone walked out of the Hall while following the old magician. The old guy seems to remember the route very well, and after walking through a passageway, they were faced with numerous forks in the road. Despite theck of information, he didn¡¯t hesitate for even a moment and he led the group through many left and right turns. Along the way, Du Wei was surprised by some strange ¡°things¡± he saw. Just after passing through the caves main passageway, (to tell the truth, Du Wei wondered if this was not actually a mouse cave. The cave of the dragons extended in all directions, with forks everywhere in the roads.) There are some tall and short rocky tforms and all of these rocks are made out of the unique ck metal found only in the Holy Mountain. Lunged on top of the tforms sharp metal tips are skulls of different sizes!! These skulls came in all manners of different shapes, but what was the most puzzling of all was that none of the skulls seemed to be that of a human! Every skull ced on top of these tforms varied and some were still wearing helmets of a peculiar style, but they did have one simrity: Du Wei could see all of these skulls were screwed down onto the rocks! It is not certain how many years have passed, but luckily the temperature in the cave was cold and dry enough that the skulls weren¡¯t decaying from moisture. If one were to pay even closer attention, you could just barely make out their original facial appearance! So, the things that Du Wei saw: The skulls are three to four timesrger than the average person, from their facial features and shape of their bones, their appearance seems to be like that of a cat, and the residual skin texture could still be seen from the dried skins¡­.. It was scary enough to be looking at the t mouth, nose, and ears on top of their skulls¡­.. But what was even more terrifying are the tforms sharp tipped edges piercing right through the skulls necks anding out of their mouths, this scene was especially scary! While some of the other skulls had a very long mouth with two nearly unnoticeable holes above the mouth, presumably the nostrils. As for the ears, they were very small¡­. From the shape alone, it is likely these beings had a simr appearance to that of cattle¡¯s, such as a horse. Some skulls even had long jaws like that of a crocodile. upying two thirds of the skull, the teeth were distributed on the upper and lower jaw. No matter what, it is not possible for a human to have teeth¡¯s like that/ Seeing the skulls, Du Wei suddenly recalled the vision of those mummies at the bottom of the mountain. This caused his heart to skip a beat! Not knowing how many years of weathering these skulls had endured, it was obvious their skins have dried up. Although there was no evidence of decay, their looks were abnormal. This was especially true for the unclosed eye lids because it was revealing the empty eye sockets¡­¡­ Of course, there are a few that looked very simr to humans. These skulls were slightly smaller and even more slender than a normal human. From the skull size, Du Wei spected the body size of this race was much smaller and thinner than the ordinary person, but ¡®they¡¯ were the most pleasing to the eyes among all the skulls. Even though the weather has caused the heads to dry up, the skulls still looked vividly alive. From the contours of their face, their features were clearly refined and well-proportioned. Then there were the long pointed ears¡­¡­ ¡°These are the Elves.¡± The old magician appropriately reminded him in a low voice: ¡°Those big guys over there are the Orcs.¡± ¡°You knew?¡± Du Wei turned his head to look back at the old magician. ¡°Yes, these are the exiled races.¡± The old magician whispered. The races that were exiled, Du Wei repeated this sentence in his heart with some emotion. Walking slowly through the sharp rocks, what weed them aftering out of the passageway was a bottomless abyss! The abyss was located on the hillside of the Holy Mountain and the surrounding area was very narrow. But from where Du Wei was positioned, he could see a very big cave entrance and a protruding rock extending above the abyss, thus forming arge tform. Below the abyss, there was a faint howling wind that was mixed with a haunting aura. Listening closely, one could hear the shrill cries of sadness mixed in the wind. This is enough to send chills into anyone listening! ¡°This ce is the sacrificial altar.¡± The old magician pointed across the abyss at the protruding rocks: ¡°That thing there is the altar. The dragon n would deposit the skulls of those they killed around the abyss and lunge them on top of these rocks. Then, once every one hundred years, a sacrificial ceremony would take ce. By taking one of the skulls around the abyss, they would then hold a ceremony to throw the skull into the bottomless abyss. And then¡­. Looking forward to the next century, they will continue killing the powerful expertsing in from the north and repeating this process for eons toe.¡± ¡°What meaning is there in doing all of this?¡± Du Wei was puzzled. ¡°The mission of the dragons is to guard this ce, but this mission was already in ce for who knows how many years! Even before the age of Aragon, the dragons were already here! Think about it. On the surface, the saying is to guard, but in fact, isn¡¯t the dragons also being imprisoned by such a mission? Isn¡¯t this mission equal to forever limiting the dragons to this ce? What difference is there between this and a prisoner? So, when the dragons received the mission from God, they were not willing. So God gave them a glimmer of hope, a hope topletely rid them of such a mission. That hope was a condition.¡± ¡°What condition?¡± The old magician had a weird look in his eyes as he nced at the bottomless abyss below his feet. In a whispering voice: ¡°God and the dragons agreed that if one day they were able to fill this abyss with enough skulls of the evil races, then their mission would be consideredplete! Once that happens, the dragon n would be free to live their lives without being bound by the mission!¡± Fill this abyss with skulls¡­¡­ Du Wei took a look at the bottomless darkness in front of him¡­. How many skulls would that take?! Chapter 99 part 1 The 99th chapter ¡°Despicable Aragon¡± (part one) After finally bypassing the terrifying abyss, the group now stood in front of a cave entrance. Unlike all the other locations, this entrance was vaguely different. The first difference was that it was sealed with a rock and at the same time, a symbol was vaguely inscribed onto the surface. Du Wei only needed to take one look before immediately recognizing the ¡®Thorned Flower¡¯ symbol. Du Wei had only seen this badge symbol in some old literature because in the current Rnd Empire, the Thorned Flower symbol that was used is very different from the one in front of him. The reason behind this was because the Royal family had been reced several times over the course of a millennium. From the Thorned Flower symbol of Aragon¡¯s true descendants, to the Thorned Flower symbol of Aragon¡¯s brothers, to the current Thorned Flower symbol of the Augustine, all of these symbols underwent several changes and modifications. And from Du Wei¡¯s vast collection of knowledge, he could easily distinguish the symbol in front of him belonged to the earliest version of Aragon¡¯s time. Opening the long wooden box given to them by the dragon patriarch, the old magician removed the contents inside and held out the ¡®key¡¯ for the secret chamber. Unexpected to all, the so-called ¡°key¡± was actually a horn! Recalling the broken horn on top of the dragon patriarch¡¯s head, Du Wei immediately understood what was going on. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that; I didn¡¯t know the key was such a thing either.¡± The old magician touched his nose with one hand, while his other is holding the so called key: ¡°No wonder¡­¡­ It is no wonder that¡­¡­¡± Two hundred years ago, the old magician once came looking for Aragon¡¯s legacy, but the dragon patriarch standing guard here would of course refuse him passage into the secret chamber, nor would he hand him the key because at the time, the old magician still didn¡¯t find the one from the prophecy. For this reason, the two ended up fighting over this matter. The result ended with the old magician leaving in regret. ¡°In order to make the Dragon patriarch hand over the key, there are two conditions. One is the contract with the dragon n and thest time I came here, I only had the contract. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t meet the second condition because I am not the prophesied person in Aragon¡¯s prophecy.¡° The old magician smiles and handed Du Wei the Dragon Horn: ¡°Take it, only you can go into this secret chamber. None of us can do this.¡± Under the encouragement of the old magician, Du Wei took the half broken horn and stood in front of the cave door. In front of him, the stone carved Thorned Flower symbol was nearly the size of a basin. Examining the half broken horn in his hand, Du Wei had no idea how to use this so called ¡®key¡¯. If it is a key, then there should at least be a Keyhole? Du Wei couldn¡¯t stop hisints. But where on this rock surface is there a Keyhole? ¡°How do you use this?¡± Du Wei looked back and questioned. The old magician opened his hands and answered very simply: ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know.¡± Don¡¯t know? Du Wei rolled his eyes. ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t know.¡± The words of the old magician annoyed Du Wei to no ends: ¡°You are the prophesied person, so only you can open this door. It is destined by the prophecy. You will definitely be able to open the door. As for how to open it, I believe there must be a way.¡± What kind of answer is that? Du Wei endured his temper and carefully examined the rock surface with his hand. From the touch, this block of rock was rugged and irregr. The only smooth surface was the Thorned Flower symbol, but that was only smoothed out by someone using a sword. Hold on¡­¡­ Carefully touching the rock surface, there seems to be a small bump in the middle of the Thorned Flower badge symbol. Du Wei gently pressed against the bump to see the bump get sucked into the wall and only to reveal¡­. Two little holes! Two? Du Wei hesitated, for he only had one ¡°key¡±. Moreover, whenparing the dragon horn in his hand to the two little holes, the size doesn¡¯t seem to fit. But Du Wei is not someone to be tied down by the normal way of thinking. Spending a moment in thought, his mind had a faint suspicion the cement and spacing of these two holes in the wall were just like that of a person¡¯s eyes¡­.. Then under the curious gaze of the people behind him, Du Wei moved his head over to where the two small holes were and peered into them¡­.. Then the next moment, a miracle happened. Two bright rays of powerful light shot directly into his eyes. Normally, when the eyes are exposed to such an intense beam of light, that person would be momentarily blinded! But right now, Du Wei felt absolutely nothing and the only sensation he noticed was that his eyes were being exposed to a high concentration of light. Despite the intensity of the light, there wasn¡¯t any sense of pain or irritation in his eyes, instead, there was only a very soft yetfortable feeling passing through him. As if something ignited inside his body, the oncefortable feeling was reced with some kind of mysterious power surging through his body. Looking through the two holes, Du Wei felt like his eyes could literally see through all of the underlying rocks. Focusing his eyes, what he saw the next moment was a¡­. Illusion? In front of him, different figures were shing past his sight, but all of them are of women he had seen and known before¡­. There was the cute little stuttering Vivian, the violent ice beauty Joanna, the barefooted long robed Semel, and the long legged honorary knight Rolynn¡­. One by one, beautiful women continued to sh past in front of him¡­ But why were they all females? Just when Du Wei was starting to feel surprised, a tiny voice gently pierced into his heart: Aha, mour eyes¡­¡­ So Chris gave you such a thing. Without waiting for Du Wei to regain hisposure, he suddenly felt empty¡­.. Now, the several people standing behind Du Wei were shocked with wide eyes (of course, not including Medusa). Du Wei¡¯s body was like a ball of melting snow and ice, slowly ¡°melting¡± into the rock and very soon, disappearingpletely. Du Wei found himself in the darkness, Yes,pletely dark without any light. But it was very strange because he could clearly see everything around him! The feeling was wonderful, as if he was naturally born with night vision! Du Wei doesn¡¯t know how this happened, but he¡¯s certain this probably had something to do with that beam of light shooting into his eyes. The ce he was in now is a very narrow passageway, and behind him was a big piece of rock. But as to how he got past the rock, even he didn¡¯t know. Looking in front, there was a strange mist of fog blocking his point of view. Keep moving forward? Du Wei instinctively felt the mist had a very strong risk of danger. Thinking for a moment, he gently took off his hat and threw it into the mists¡­.. Zap A subtle but clear noise could be heard. As soon as the hat was exposed to the fog, countless sparks of light appeared and shredded his hat into multiple smaller pieces! This was no different from a mixer! Du Wei drew in a gasp of air. What am I supposed to do? Keep moving? Du Wei didn¡¯t want the fog to shred him into multiple pieces! It was at this moment, the voice came again: (You have the key?) Key? Du Wei could not help but looked around himself, but there was nothing near him, only the ck Mountain. He eximed: ¡°Who! Who is talking to me? ¡± (You have the key?) Du Wei looked warily at the fog: ¡°key? I have it!¡± With that, he raised his hands while waving the half broken horn in the air. What followed wasplete silence. Du Wei waited for a while¡­ But no reply came and the strange voice was gone. Key? The key¡­¡­ Looking at the horn in his hand, Du Wei clenched his teeth¡¯s and walked a few steps forward¡­. As soon as his feet touched the edge of the fog, Du Wei immediately felt a powerful force emerging from the fog! Then there was the sound of the boot¡¯s tip being cut off! Fortunately, his boots were big, so his toes were fine. The problem now was that they were exposed and barefooted. Quickly retracting his feet, he scolded: ¡°What the fuck! I have the key! But what fucking good is the key doing me!¡± Du Wei quickly regretted his swearing! As if he had enraged the fog in front of him, the originally unmoving fog suddenly dispersed towards him! Du Wei lets out a frightful cry and quickly retreated backward, but in this narrow passageway, where could he possibly run to? Soon, he ran out of space to retreat! Is this actually the ce of Aragon¡¯s legacy, or is it some kind of murderous trap! Seeing the fog sweeping up to him, Du Wei sighed. Steeling his heart, he closed his eyes for the inevitable¡­. Let the heavens decide my fate! Who knows how long has passed, but when Du Wei opened his eyes, he found himself still in one piece despite being enshrouded in the fog. Looking at the horn in his hand, the object was projecting a soft light enveloping his entire body. No matter how much the fog tried, it could not invade into the area covered by the illuminating light. Relying on light to illuminate the path, Du Wei breathed out a sigh of relief as he looked at the torch like horn in his hand. With a rxed expression, he continued walking forward into the unknown¡­. Chapter 99 part 2 The 99th chapter, ¡°Despicable Aragon ¨C open or not to open¡± (part two) Through the fog, Du Wei finally manages to see the so-called ¡°secret chamber¡±. It¡¯s neither as magical nor as expected of a ce storing a ¡®king¡¯s sword¡±. What it really was is a boring and somewhat cold cave. The only difference is that this cave is holding a veryrge and bulky stone coffin¡­¡­ Well, at least from a modeling point of view, this thing was very much like a coffin! ¡°You are finally here? A lot slower than I thought.¡± As he carefully studied the ce, what he saw was very difficult for him to stomach. Just the size alone was very small. Comparing it to the bedroom in his home, this cave was even smaller by a few inches. Looking around, it doesn¡¯t seem like there is any ce to hide anything. All it takes is a nce to see the entire cave. But Du Wei waspletely shocked at suddenly having a voice sneaking up on him! ¡°Who the hell is it?¡± Du Wei bitterly asked as he looked around: ¡°Think it¡¯s funny taking in the darkness?¡± ¡°Very funny.¡± This voice sounded a little odd, but the most important thing is that the voice sounded somewhat familiar: ¡°Because seeing your face like that is very interesting¡­. Are you scared?¡± Then a shadow started to emerge from the walls of the cave, and bit by bit, the figure slowly walked out from the mountain rocks. ¡°It¡¯s you?¡± Du Wei frowns, surprised at seeing the person in front of him. In a low voice: ¡°Your kind was always so prideful, but to see the patriarch of the dragons to break his own oath.¡± The one toe out of the mountain walls did in fact look like the dragon patriarch with a broken horn! ¡°I broke the oath?¡± The Dragon patriarch sneered as he came out, and then just sat on top of the stone coffin in the middle of the room. Acting all carefree, he even waved his hand at Du Wei toe forward: ¡°Come over here. I have been waiting a long time for this day!¡± Carefully controlling his emotions, Du Wei knew very well he had no ability to provoke the might of this dragon chief. Even the old magician standing outside is no match for this guy, so Du Wei thought it was for the best to show some respect towards him as well. ¡°Well then¡­.. You should at least tell me why you¡¯re here.¡± Du Wei¡¯s tone was much milder now. The Dragon chief raised his head with a hint of slyness in his eyes: ¡°Aragon, I promised him I would help keep this thing safe until someone with the aura of the deviles along. Other than such a person, no others are allowed to open the thing that he left behind!¡± ¡°I see, so why did youe in?¡± Du Wei sighed. ¡°Because this ce is mynd. This whole mountain is my territory and I cane and go as I please, including this secret room. Also, it states in our agreement that other than his inheritor, no one else are allowed open this thing, this includes me. Although I¡¯ve been dying of curiosity all these years, I have never once sneaked a look at what he left behind, but¡­.¡± With an open grin, the chief startedughing: ¡°But in the agreement, there are no prohibitions stating I cannot stand beside you to observe, right?¡± Spending a moment in thought, Du Wei smiled wryly: ¡°You mean you can¡¯t touch his things, but you can watch from the sidelines as I open this and see what¡¯s inside? Strictly speaking, you did not break your vow then.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The Dragon Chief answered very simply ¡°This guy is gifted with the talent of being a politician.¡± Du Wei stomached this thought. But as it stands, he was in the other party¡¯s ce and also the other party can easily destroy him with a flick of a finger. It would be wise to yield when he didn¡¯t have any strength to stand up for himself. ¡°If you want to see, then so be it.¡± Du Wei curled his lips. And besides, in his heart, he really didn¡¯t give a shit about this so called destiny and life mission¡­ Also, there is some psychological resistance inside him. ¡°Are you really the inheritor of Aragon¡¯s legacy?¡± The Dragons Chief looked at Du Wei with great interest: ¡°There is a big difference between you and the guy outside.¡± ¡°Who, the old magician? The undying old fool?¡± Anyways, since that guy is not around, Du We didn¡¯t need to continue being so polite. After enduring his anger for such a long time, he could finally release all his pent of steam. ¡°Yes, he respected Aragon like a God.¡± The Dragon Chief smiled: ¡°But you, it¡¯s like you do not take any of this to heart.¡± ¡°What you said is not wrong.¡± Du Wei nodded, making no effort to hide the thoughts in his heart: ¡°Aragon being great is his thing. No matter how great a person is, I wouldn¡¯t want to suddenly one day have some random guy show up at my doorsteps, and then force me to give up my own life at great risk and danger. All this just toplete some life mission, not to mention it has been a millennium since Aragon¡¯s death.¡± Dragon Chief paused for a moment, and thenughed loudly: ¡°Good words! But I have to correct you on one point. Aragon is not some really great person, he is a despicable viin!¡± Du Wei said nothing, although he was reluctant to inherit Aragon¡¯s legacy, but to say Aragon is a lowlife¡­¡­ Du Wei thought it was probably the dragon chief¡¯s heart still feeling sour over losing to Aragon. ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡± A hint of anger could be seen in the dragon chief as heughed coldly: ¡°Then look at me right now, strange right? Don¡¯t you think so? For a great dragon patriarch, why must I look like a human?¡± ¡°This¡­¡­ You didn¡¯t turn out like this because you transformed?¡± Du Wei carefully asked. ¡°You think this is funny?¡± The Dragon chief spoke coldly: ¡°Do you think I like looking like a human¡­¡­ Well, I do like to do so now and then because I can then slide into the human world unnoticed to travel, but that doesn¡¯t mean I like to let my body turn into a mere human! I am of the Dragon race, a Dragon!¡± This guy suddenly blew up in rage as he continued speaking. Standing up, he lets out a loud Growl, jarring Du Wei to the point of losing his stability: ¡°I¡¯m telling you, since Aragonid his poisonous hands on me, I have only been able to stay in this form!! Now, I can no longer restore my body to its original form! This is the only form I can take on now!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Du Wei was speechless. Spending a moment in thought, he suddenly thought of something! Could it be¡­¡­ The fountain of youth? The water will permanently solidify any transformed form. That fountain of youth?¡± After poor Gargamel drank from the fountain of youth, he is forever stuck in his mouse form. The dragon patriarch¡­¡­ After all, Du Wei knew that Aragorn did in fact locate the fountain of youth! ¡°In those days, when that despicable person found his way here, I was still in my dragon form! He never could have beaten me! When he first came here, he said he is only here to challenge me! He started lying to me, saying he is only here for the challenge and to prove his status as the continents strongest expert! In the end, I epted his challenge and we fought for three days and three nights. Humph, what strongest under the stars! These are all titles given by you humans. Even Aragon, the strongest of your kind cannot defeat me! After three days and three nights, we came to a draw¡­.. But that was when he started to enact his trickery!¡± Listening to the roars of anger from the dragon chief, Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but sigh: ¡°And then what? When he took advantage of you in your human form, did he trick you into drinking some kind of spring water?¡± ¡°That guy, he couldn¡¯t beat me, so he used words to offend me, saying, I am a Dragon and that we had God¡¯s gift. The body of the dragon race was originally stronger than that of humans, so even if we fought to a draw, it was because I took advantage of the difference between our bodies¡­. So out of anger, I transformed into that of a human and continued to fight with him!¡± ¡°What was the result?¡± Du Wei asked using a pitying tone. Result, no question need because from the look on the dragon patriarch¡¯s face, it was obvious he lost. ¡°I did in fact lose to him after taking on the form of a human.¡± The dragon chief clenched his teeth: ¡°But he lied to me into drinking this spring water! In this way, I can no longer restore my body to its original form! In the end, I couldn¡¯t match his power! He threatened me if I refused his request, he will wipe out all of my dragon kind! He is indeed very strong, and after I took on this form, I could no longerpete with him¡­.. For my people, I can only reluctantly ept a contract with that bastard!! If I didn¡¯t drink that water, the proud dragon n would never tolerate being used by a human for a thousand years just to guard some secret room!¡± The dragon patriarch¡¯s voice was definitely angry now as he looked at Du Wei with an expression ready to swallow him whole: ¡°And clearly knowing he is a believer in the devil, how can our dragon n help him do something like that when we are so faithful to God! He used trickery to weaken my strength, and then he threatened me by force, leaving me no choice but to ept such a contract! This despicable person!¡± For such a thing to happen¡­. While not willing to believe, but reality is spread out in front of him!! Also, watching the dragon chief in front of him with his murderous aura, Du Wei suddenly thought of something horrifying!! Sure enough. ¡°And now, thank you foring, the matter can finally be finished.¡± Without hiding his intent, the dragon chief stared at Du Wei with his cruel and murderous smile: ¡°The contract that I signed was a promise that I would help keep his stuff safe until one day the qualified person shows up to take it away¡­. But¡­..¡± The dragon patriarch gently pinches his fingers as he smiled: ¡°However, as long as you open this thing here, my contract is finished!! Aragon no longer has anything to restrain me! I¡¯ll kill you and yourpanions! All the guys outside the door, I¡¯ll kill them all! And¡­. This is not a breach of the contract!¡± Looking at the dragon patriarch¡¯s grin, Du Wei realized that he had encountered a seriously big problem! Forcing himself to smile, his mind was thinking up strategies at lightning speed: ¡°So, you have to watch me open this thing here and then kill me, this includes mypanions outside?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Nodding, the dragon chief is definitely not kidding: ¡°There is nothing stated in the contract that after it is finished, I cannot kill you. After everything Aragon has done to me, it is time for retribution!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Du Wei suddenly felt very wronged! He even wanted to join the dragon chief in his swearing and say: ¡°Fucking Aragon!¡± In order to threaten the dragon n to sign the contract you insulted these prideful beings! Now, they want me dead to vent their anger?¡± Aragon, oh Aragon, you thought of everything but one, now you are going to get me killed! ¡°Come on, poor kid.¡± The dragon chiefughed in a cruelly cold manner: ¡°Hurry and open this thing, I¡¯m getting impatient.¡± With that said, he lifted a finger. From it, a cold and frosty air surrounded the tip of the finger and gently formed into an icy cold de. From the looks alone, it was reflecting a razor sharp aura¡­. Du Wei is certain, if he was to be cut by that ice de, it would be very painful¡­. Already standing beside Du Wei, the look from the dragon chief was just like a predator looking a lost littlemb, ready to be ughtered: ¡°Come on, do it.¡± Du Wei was in chaos, desperately trying to think up strategies, but in the face of such an immense strength and foreign ce, what other idea could he possiblye up with?¡± Under the killing eyes of the Dragon Chief, Du Wei wanted to regret ever meeting the old magician, regret evering to this ce, regret why he ever ckmailed Vivian, and regret going south instead of staying in the castle! Back then if he didn¡¯t take the others south to y, then he would never have met Vivian. If he had never met Vivian, then he would never have met Joanna, then he would never have met the old magician. If all of this never happened, there was no chance he would have received the devil¡¯s horn and be kidnapped to the Frozen Forest¡­.. Finally, he wouldn¡¯t be in this secret room and be at the mercy of this dragon patriarch that wants to butcher him with a knife! But is it not toote to regret now? His hands already resting on top of the stone coffin, it should easily be open with a little push. But Du Wei was struggling inside, as if Hamlet¡¯s ssic question is reverberating inside his heart. Open, or not to open¡­. This is a problem. In addition, there is a very serious request that he wanted to ask his majesty. If there is a chance to meet Aragon face to face, Du Wei really wanted to ask him one thing: Can I fuck your mother? (Not what I expected from the author) Chapter 100 part 1 The 100th chapter ¡°Aragon¡¯s heavenly beast¡± (part one) Open or not to open? Du Wei¡¯s hands are already ced on top of the sarcophagus, and the dragon chief stood beside him with awe inspiring eyes. Suddenly sighing, Du Wei then retracts his hands and even took a step backwards. With a straight back, he turned his head towards the dragon patriarch and smiled: ¡°I suddenly changed my mind.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± The Patriarch looked gloomy. ¡°I said I had changed my mind.¡± Referring to himself by pointing at his own nose: ¡°I am a human and no more than 14 years old at that. The life span of a human has always been shorter than a dragon. The most I would probably live is at best a hundred years. With such a short amount of time, I still have many things I want to do, many things I need toplete, and many things to achieve in my life¡­ So I don¡¯t want to die yet ¨C I haven¡¯t lived long enough yet.¡± ¡°HA!¡± The Dragon chiefughed coldly: ¡°If everyone can live by simply not wanting to die, then in this world, there wouldn¡¯t be dead people¡­. Boy, just resign yourself to your fate. Aragon¡¯s debt must be repaid by someone.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not stupid.¡± Du Wei¡¯s tone was tougher: ¡°At least for now, before the unfinished business isplete, I am still under the protection of the contract signed by Aragon and the dragon n! You can¡¯t kill me! Just like two hundred years ago, you can¡¯t kill that undying old foolish magician, right?! Until the unfinished business ispleted, you can¡¯t kill me¡­ Otherwise; it is a breach of the contract! This way of doing things doesn¡¯t match your usual proud way of doing things, right?¡± Speaking up to this point, Du Wei swirled his eyeball around, intentionally catching a glimpse of the dragon patriarch and deliberately stalling for time: ¡°I heard the Dragons are a race that values their tradition very highly.¡± Still holding the frosty knife in hand, the Dragon chief was shocked with amazement and doesn¡¯t seem to know what to do. ¡°This problem is simple.¡± Pointing to the sarcophagus, ¡°I open it and I die immediately. If I don¡¯t open it, I won¡¯t die immediately. Even an idiot knows how to choose.¡± ¡°But you will eventually have to open it.¡± ¡°Just wait then.¡± Du Wei casually perched himself on top of the coffin: ¡°I¡¯m in no hurry, not in a hurry at all.¡± The Dragon chief looked like he was about to rage, but then a sh of thought crossed his eyes. In a sneering tone: ¡°Then am I in a hurry? I have been waiting for nearly a millennium; giving it a bit more time doesn¡¯t matter. Listen up, now that you are in this secret chamber, don¡¯t even think about getting out unless you open this thing! You are merely a human and your strength is so pitifully weak. How long do you expect tost without food and water? For two days? Three days? The taste of starving to death is not a weing experience.¡± Not conceding even an inch: ¡°Then I could at least live a few more days. For a dying person, even a few extra moments are good enough, not to mention two or three extra days!¡± With an amiable smile on his face, Du Wei spoke in a subtle manner: ¡°But what if I ended up starving to death here¡­.. Oh respected chieftain, think about it. The destined person ended up starving to death because of you, although this isn¡¯t a breach of the contract, but¡­¡­ In the future, no one would be able to open this thing anymore! Unless you are willing to forgo your pride and break the contract¡­. Otherwise, the contract can never bepleted! Even if you were to wait another thousand years, or even ten thousand years! Your dragon n will forever be burdened with this contract¡­. Don¡¯t you think this choice is very wonderful?¡± Du Wei sneered with cold eyes at the dragon chief. Not opening it, then so be it, piss you off to the death! Want my life? All right! After this little master passes away, there will never be the day for your dragon n toplete this contract!! ¡°You¡­¡­¡± Du Wei has truly incurred the patriarch¡¯s wrath, a burning light shined in the dragon chief¡¯s eyes: ¡°You opening it or what! If you don¡¯t open it now, I¡¯ll kill you now!¡± ¡°You will then vite the contract and throw away the Dragon n¡¯s tradition, pride and dignity!¡± Du Wei held his head high. ¡°YOU!¡± The dragon chief was absolutely enraged. Suddenly palm striking the wall beside him, the noise osciting back towards them was so powerful that it reached the entire mountain. From the single palm strike, the terrifying force it released was enough to create several small cracks in the mountain walls. Just the echoing noise vibrating back towards Du Wei is enough to make him dizzy. ¡°You¡¯ll starve to death here!¡± The Patriarch continued to intimidate him. ¡°Then your Dragon race will carry this burden forever!¡± Clenching his teeth, Du Wei hanged on. ¡°£¡£¡ ¡± Cornered, the dragon chief suddenly yelled out loud in somenguage he couldn¡¯t understand¡ªpresumably some kind of swearing word in Draconic tongue, Du Wei maliciously spected The chief¡¯s face changed colors a few times, then stretching out his hands; he aimed his fingers at Du Wei and gently shed at him a few times. After hearing a few sharp sounds in the air, all of the clothing on Du Wei¡¯s body burst apart, leaving only his skin exposed. Du Wei barely managed to keep his calm as heughed in a ¡®Ha Ha manner: ¡°What are you doing? I¡¯m not even a woman, what good will it do by taking off my clothes? Could it be the dragon chief likes the tune of it?¡± Seeing all of the clothes on Du Wei¡¯s body getting shredded into fragments, the dragon chief lets out a humph sound before waving his sleeves at Du Wei¡¯s naked body. From the small gust of wind created by the dragon chief, Du Wei could immediately felt a biting cold invading his body. Not even a moment had passed before a subtle ¡®Ka Ka¡¯ noise could be heard from under him. Starting from under his feet, countless ice crystals started to appear and very soon, everything below his knee was enveloped in ice! ¡°Are you going to open it or not! Your human body is fragile, if you continue to insist, then after a little while; your leg below your knee will be lost forever. Even after it is defrosted, you can only amputate it!¡± The dragon chief clenched his teeth. ¡°One can still live without a leg, it is still better than not living at all.¡± Du Wei clenched his teeth. While his legs are frozen in ice, the sensation he was getting is just like having numerous thorns subtly piercing into him. The numbness and pain alone are enough to cause the muscles on his face to stiffen. ¡°See how long you canst!¡± Coldly smiling, the Dragon chief then gently lifts his hand into the air. From the movement of his hand, the ice under Du Wei¡¯s knee once again started to spread, reaching all the way up to his waist: ¡°If you still don¡¯t yield, then you will freeze! Not only will you lose your legs, I fear you won¡¯t even be able to perform the duty of a man!¡± Du Wei finally opened his mouth. He did not yield¡­. Instead, he began to curse!! ¡°You¡¯re a lizard with horns on his head and a face like a rat, bitch! Your ancestor curses your pimples to rot and fester! You are a narrow minded, perverted old lizard! Fuck, you are nothing more than a big footed snake! Youcked motherly and fatherly love when you are a child. Psychopath!! Even when you are small, you like to peek at your mother bathing, and peek at your father masturbating! (Oh man I had a strong urge to change this part, but in the end I didn¡¯t. Not sure if it was wise or not.) The sequence of continuous insults sent the old dragon hitting the ceiling in anger, even the veins on his face popped! The dragon chief did indeed travel through the human world before, but never once did he hear of such nasty cursing words? You need to know, in this world, the street cursing ngs usually revolves around something simple like ¡®jerk¡¯ ¡®shit¡¯ ¡®bitch¡¯ and stuff, but who is Du Wei? He is someone that has inherited five thousand years of swearing knowledge from his previous world. When ites to the diversity of swearing, thenguage of the east can easily take first ce in the world! None of this can possibly be imagined by the people of this world. Du Wei was cursing all the way from ¡°spicy block mother¡± to ¡°you are a turtle¡¯s son¡± and even brought out ¡°bang your godmother¡± to ¡°kick your ass¡±¡­¡­. From ancient times to modern to china, the ¡®essence¡¯ of every dialect was extracted into his curses. From when the old dragon was still in his egg, to how he peeked at his own bathing daughter at five hundred years old¡­¡­ Du Wei was almost frozen to death as half his body was already submerged in ice. Due to the poor blood flow, his breathing was bing weaker and his body was so numb, he could barely feel any pain. Even his face was starting to turn pale green, but the more he swore, the more he was mentally awake. As he continued to talk, his spit was flying all over the ce and some even hit the old dragon in the face. ¡°You are an old dragon with rotten sores and a pus butt! If you dare then kill me, then for the exchange of my one life, your dragon n will never shake off this burden! It¡¯s worth it! Come on! Come on! Come on!!¡± What kind of status is this dragon chief? Every person he encountered in his life would either be respectful or revere him. Anyone capable of meeting him would either be extremely powerful or of status, there is no way they would act in such a manner like what Du Wei is doing right now. Du Wei was also on hisst straw. The only reason he dared to spew such insults was because he knew the dragon elder can¡¯t kill him. With this certainty, he would rather enrage the old dragon with the hope of him dying of anger. ¡°You! Boy, I¡¯m dying of anger!!!¡± Finally, a raging howl came rumbling out of the Holy Mountain. This noise pierced straight into the sky, and even the osciting echoes were enough to cause the mountain to tremble in shock. Back inside the mountain caves, cracks along the walls were copsing like caving hills. Even the old magician and the others standing outside the secret chamber turned pale at the sudden noise, unsure of what is happening¡­.. Being in such close proximity to the dragon chief, Du Wei immediately sprayed out a mouthful of blood upon listening to the raging howl. Within moments, his organs fell victim to extreme pain, causing him to ck outpletely. Unsure of how long the time has passed, Du Wei faintly woke up to his surroundings. The only thing he could keep his mind focused on was the haunting pain of his upper and lower body. No longer encased in ice, he quickly came to the realization that he was currently lying on top of the stone coffin. Turning his body around, he somehow managed to get up before spitting out another mouthful of blood. Standing beside him, the Dragon chief was breathing very heavily and eyeing him like a predator wanting to skin him alive and swallow him whole. ¡°You old¡­¡­ Fuck, you are not a Dragon! You old bastard! You coward! If you have the ability, then go look for Aragon and duke it out to the death with him, why unt your shit down here! **, Fuck you¡­¡­¡± Du Wei regained hisposure in one single breath. Seeing the other party didn¡¯t dare kill him and even went as far as to remove the ice encasing his lower body, he now even more certain the other party didn¡¯t dare to harm him in any way. He must continue cursing while he can. You! Haven¡¯t you cursed enough yet?!¡± The old dragon was breathing so heavily who knows if he had heart problems. If he did, then he would be the first dragon in a thousand years to die of a heart attack. ¡°Enough? Of course, it¡¯s not enough!¡± Du Wei was also very tired, but his blood continued to boil inside his chest despite shivering in the cold: ¡°Too bad little master here can¡¯t beat you, otherwise, I¡¯ll skin your mother and rip out your veins!¡± Seeing the tenacious will of Du Wei, the elder dragon helplessly shouted: ¡°You can keep swearing in this ce alone! Let¡¯s see how long your lips willst before giving in!¡± With that said he turned into the wind and disappeared, leaving only Du Wei alone in the secret chamber. Stiff from the cold, Du Wei sat there in the middle of the room wanting to scream out in agony at his own suffering. It was at this time, a gust of wind swept past his nk and the red robed Semel appeared in front of him. With a horrified expression, she looked at Du Wei¡¯s stuttering mouth: ¡°The¡­¡­.. The dragon n¡¯s strength is so overwhelming!¡± Du Wei grunted a nce at Semel: ¡°Of course they are strong, otherwise, how can he be Aragon¡¯s opponent? Crap, I¡¯m going to freeze to death, hurry and lend me a hand.¡± Semel nodded and with a flick of her fingers, all of his clothing was restored to its original state. Although Du Wei was currently naked as he hurried to redress, but life was at stake here so he didn¡¯t care how he looked in front of Semel. After he is finished putting on his clothes, he spoke in a whispering tone: ¡°We don¡¯t know when that old bastard will return, hurry and go warn the old fool outside. Make sure they leave this ce immediately!¡± Semel paused for a moment and Du Wei was somber as he spoke: ¡°What are you looking at! That old bastard is not someone we can deal with! If they don¡¯t go, then everyone will die here! Although I¡¯m not a good man, but I¡¯m stuck in here already! There¡¯s no need to let them die in vain here with me! Go, go!¡± Semel is after all a smart person, spending only a moment in thought, she immediately saw through Du Wei¡¯s intent: ¡°Ah! You did it on purpose! You intentionally trashed the old dragon away, knowing I wille out afterwards! Isn¡¯t it?¡± Du Wei smiled grimly: ¡°Waste of words!! If I didn¡¯t get him to leave, how can I possibly talk to you under his surveince! Quickly now, go out and tell the others! The old dragon is not a fool, once his temper cools down, he wille looking for me! Now is the only chance to escape! Go, go!¡± Semel lets out a long sighing sound before stealthily leaving him in the secret chamber. Not knowing how the situation was proceeding, Du Wei simply knew his body was far too cold and he could barely put up with the chest and abdominal pain. Struggling to stand upright, Du Wei carefully performed a couple of the Star Dou Qi movement routines to warm up his body. Empty from all four walls, the only thing of notice was the stone coffin under him. Just by looking at it, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from wanting to get a peek¡­.. It was at this moment, a sudden small voice quietly whispered into his heart. (Open it! I have a way to deal with him!) Surprised by the sudden voice, he cried out: ¡°What stuff! AHA, you old dragon, you want to scare me into opening this thing eh?! Puff, like hell I would fall for such thing!¡± The voice echoed in his heart again. (I¡¯m not that old bastard. I am right under your butt!) These words fell into the very core of his heart. Du Wei was really scared now! Jumping right off the sarcophagus, he looked at the thing in front of him with utter shock! The thing inside is talking and not the old dragon messing around to fool him! At least with all his pride, the old dragon would never call himself ¡®old bastard¡¯; he was certain of this at least!¡± In the sarcophagus¡­¡­ What the hell!? Chapter 100 part 2 The 100th chapter ¡°Aragon¡¯s heavenly beast¡± (part two) Du Wei felt frightened. From appearance, this may seem like a coffin, but Du Wei did not think the stuff inside would be a-¡°living creature¡±. Since the era of Aragon, this thing had already been ced here for nearly a Millennium. Even if there is something inside, Du Wei thought it would most likely be something like a legendary artifact, a powerful magical item, or even the king¡¯s sword of legend. But now, there was suddenly a voice from the coffin! After a pause, Du Wei clenched his teeth: ¡°Are you a human or a ghost!¡± The answer was (non-human, non-ghost). Du Wei started to leak cold sweat: ¡°What are you then?¡± (Not a thing.) HA HA! Du Wei wanted to simplyugh, but he could neverugh it out. Just think, in this mysteriousnd of the dragon n, you are stuck in a cold and dark secret chamber next to a coffin hidden away for a millennium¡­.. With all these elements, can you stillugh? Calming down, Du Wei began recalling the contents of the prophecy¡­.. I¡¯ll be left with Aragon¡¯s heritage and pull out the king¡¯s sword¡­¡­ What else? Ah, Yes¡­ The prophecy says I will get the help of his heavenly beast! The heavenly beast left behind by Aragon? Du Wei was a little nervous looking at the sarcophagus in front of him. Heavenly beast? What could it be? Dragon? Most likely since this ce is thend of the dragons¡­.. However, Aragorn won¡¯t leave behind a dragon for him, would he? Seems unlikely. So, a Phoenix? A behemoth? A snake hydra? But this thing is so small, they can¡¯t possibly fit into this sarcophagus. Coughing to clear his throat, Du Wei spoke with a somber voice: ¡°Are you sure I can open this sarcophagus? The old dragon said once I open this, I¡¯ll be dead.¡± (I told you I can handle it, so¡­ Please let me out of it.) Let it out¡­¡­ Du Wei hesitated for a moment, but thinking about it, Aragon¡¯s ¡°heavenly beast¡± shouldn¡¯t y him, right? Moreover, he¡¯s already at a dead end by now. Other than this, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any alternative. Silently praying for a moment, Du Wei secretly sighed: Oh Aragon, Oh Aragon, I¡¯ll trust in you for once! With that, Du Wei rolled up his sleeves and walked over to the sarcophagus with his hands holding the lid. Taking a deep breath, he pushed it to the side¡­.. Originally, Du Wei didn¡¯t have much strength left from his ordeals, and just then he spewed out a few mouthfuls of blood. It was inevitable that his effort would fail. Even with his all strength, the best he could do was move the coffins lid half way¡­. Looking inside, the weak rays of light revealed what the insides of the coffin looked like. Stacked inside are some pell-mell debris, bottles, and some unknown materials stored inside a box. In addition, there was also a ¡®creature¡¯ about the length of a meter clumsily struggling to straighten its posture. Unfortunately, the opening of the coffin cover was still too small for its obese like body to move properly. Looking at Du Wei, the two beans like eyes of the creature kept blinking at him anding out of its pointed mouth, an elegant and polite voice started talking. ¡°Excuse me please, could you move this part a bit more?¡± Getting a clearer look at this thing¡¯s appearance, Du Wei wanted to go crazy! Enduring the panicking feeling inside his heart, his fingers were trembling as he pointed towards the thing that came out of the coffin: ¡°You! You are what Aragon left behind¡­¡­¡± This thing is what Aragon left behind¡­. This heavenly beast? Heavenly beast? This guy is about a meter in length with a body full of fat, its back hairs are colored in ck while the bulging fat belly in the front was white. Its sharp beak was red-orange in color and below its neck had a faint orange appearance¡­¡­ Perhaps the people in this world would be very surprised to see this beast¡­¡­ But to Du Wei¡­ It was all too familiar! Gracefully pping its wings, what emerged from the sarcophagus was a creature with an appearance of a noble gentleman¡­.. This¡­¡­ This fucking thing is, actually, actually¡­.. A Penguin!! A Penguin!!! ¡°Thank you, thank you for letting me out.¡± The attitude of this Penguin was very polite. Facing Du Wei, the creature nodded his head slowly and sighed: ¡°I¡¯ve been asleep in there for far too long¡­. But no matter what I did, I couldn¡¯t get out.¡± Widening his eyes, Du Wei stared at this heavenly beast in front of him and then shot out these words: ¡°You¡¯re a Penguin.¡± The heavenly beast seemed to be very happy and excited at his words. Looking at Du Wei with much surprise, it vigorously waved its two ridiculously short wings: ¡°Yes! That¡¯s right! Thank the heavens, you know my name! Other than Aragon, others have always called me ¡®the ugly bird¡¯, but don¡¯t they know? Penguins are the most elegant of birds!¡± All right! Inwardly, Du Wei added another name: A talking Penguin. Even so, it is nothing but a Penguin! Du Wei really felt like he was wrong Really wrong! Wrong at trusting the bastard Aragon! To even think that whatever he left behind would be enough to deal with that old dragon! Right now, he does not know whether tough or to cry. Can you count on a Penguin (well, a talking Penguin), to deal with the thousand year old enraged dragon? ¡°You look very disappointed at seeing me?¡± The Penguin¡¯s elegant voice brought Du Wei back from his wandering thoughts: ¡°I can see your face; you seem to be very disappointed at seeing me.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not disappointed.¡± Du Wei spoke with a straight face: ¡°I am despairing, despairing!¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why?¡± Waving his arms around, Du Wei suddenly shouted: ¡°Why! You ask me why? All right! That bullshit prophecy said I am the one prophesied. I will inherit Aragon¡¯s legacy! Awaken the heavenly beast he left behind! Pull out the king¡¯s sword! But now? I¡¯m trapped here by that terrifying and powerful dragon! As soon as I open this coffin, he will immediately kill me! If I didn¡¯t do as you asked, I would still have a few days to think ande up with strategies. But I listened to you and opened it! I thought Aragon would at least leave me with something useful! Maybe a mighty sword? Or a powerful magic item? At the very least a heavenly beast of great strength to help me! But now? My God! What do I get? Near the end of his words, his voice was almost a groan: ¡°I am about to face the butchering knife of the dragon n¡¯s strongest member¡­. And my help is only a talking penguin?!! What the fuck is this!¡± ¡°I see.¡± This elegant bird jumped down from the coffin and walked two circles around Du Wei before tapping one of his funny looking wings on top of Du Wei¡¯s head: ¡°Please first calm down, anger is not good for one¡¯s heart. Before you get a heart attack, can you first listen to what I have to say?¡± ¡°Go ahead, then.¡± Du Wei spoke bitterly: ¡°At least I¡¯ve never seen a talking Penguin.¡± ¡°First of all, my original owner is Aragon, but he left me in there. Before locking me up, he asked me to have a good night¡¯s rest and left me these words. He will die after he leaves, so wait here for your new owner toe. Whoever can let you out, will be your new owner.¡± The penguin looked at Du Wei before spitting these words out: ¡°Even though you may not look very graceful and can¡¯t be called an elegant gentleman, but at least you brought me out¡­. So you will be my master from now on.¡± ¡°Thank you¡­¡­¡± Du Wei weakly curled his lips: ¡°Well then, wait a moment and both servant and master can go meet Aragon.¡± ¡°Rashly interrupting others when they are speaking is an impolite behavior. No one ever teaches you what good manners are?¡± Showing some dissatisfaction, the penguin clears its throat with a cough before continuing to speak in a leisurely manner: ¡°I can assure you, what you say won¡¯t happen. The old dragon¡­¡­ I think I have a way to deal with him.¡± Du Wei was silent, only giving this guy a suspicious nce. Perhaps¡­¡­ There is a glimmer of hope, right? Although only a Penguin, but at the very least it is something left behind by Aragon¡­. To be able to speak, and can live for thousands of years¡­¡­ Maybe it has some umon ability? ¡°Could it be that you have some very powerful magic?¡± Du Wei carefully asked. ¡°No.¡± The Penguin lets out a sigh: ¡°I¡¯m a bird, though an elegant talking bird, but do you think a bird can wield a lot of power? I like art, music and all lofty things. Magic¡­¡­ I have never learned such boring and useless stuff.¡± (Someone get me a roast pit and I¡¯ll make myself a roast penguin!!) Du Wei patiently continued to ask: ¡°So, your martial art is very strong? Like, whatever Stars Dou Qi technique and stuff? No? Holy Dou Qi? No? Are you a Saint Knight? No! What can you do? 18 Dragon Palm strike? Nine Yang martial arts? Flower God manual? ck Dragon wave? Kamehameha? ¡­¡­ You are nothing!?¡± Du Wei did not say a word as the penguins proudly shakes his head. In the end, Du Wei lost his temper, but the penguin continued to speak in a slow and bleak tone: ¡°All the stuff you said or what rough people use. Holding a sword and swinging it around with a sweaty body is not my style! I¡¯m a graceful animal, how can I possibly learn those stuff?!¡± Du Wei: ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± As he and the Penguin looked at each other speechlessly, a terrible sound like you would hear in a hopeless situation echoed into their ears! Filled with pride and murderous intent, theughter of the old dragon chief echoed through the cave walls: ¡°HA! Boy, you finally opened it! You finally opened it! YOU OPENED IT!¡± The moment the sound reached them, the dragon Patriarch was already slowly emerging from the walls with a delighted smile on his face. Eyes shing with excitement, the sneering lip of his carried a very thickyer of murderous intent! Subsequently, the dragon patriarch then too noticed the penguin. Even for an ancient and powerful dragon like him, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from being stunned by what he saw: ¡°What is it¡­¡­¡± Immediately after his initial stumble, he burst outughing: ¡°HA HA HA! Aragon! The so-called treasure he left behind is an ugly bird?¡± Dissatisfied by hisment, Penguin protested with his weak voice: ¡°Please allow me to correct you, Honorable patriarch of the dragon n. What I am is not an ¡®ugly bird¡¯, I am a Penguin! This world¡¯s most graceful animal!¡± Already lost his patient, the dragon chief ignored all of his words. Already raising a hand, he smiled as he spoke: ¡°OK! Youngster, since it came to this, the contract is done! The chains holding my body back is finally gone! Now it¡¯s time we got even! Aragon used trickery to restrain me for a thousand years! Now use your life to pay it for this! Oh, although yourpanions had already ran away. Hmm, what method did you use to notify them? It seems I can¡¯t look down on you, kid! But it doesn¡¯t matter, I¡¯ll kill you here! And then I¡¯ll go out and kill them! Rest assured, it won¡¯t take much time! However, I would consider leaving the old mage with his life, after all, though he is a part of the annoying human race, but at least he is considered half a friend.¡± Du Wei is already sighing. Since it had reached this point, his biggest ying chips are already gone. In the face of such a powerful entity, what other chance does he have against this dragon chief? Already raising his hand, every nail on his fingers instantly grew longer and sharper! ¡°I¡¯ll throw your head into the abyss! Then dig out your heart and hang it on my body as jewelry!¡± The razor sharp knife like nails was already next to his neck. Letting out a sigh, Du Wei averted his eyes in resignation as he waited for death. ¡°Wait a minute!¡± The penguin suddenly screamed: ¡°Lord Chief, allow me to say a few words?¡± A spark of light shed across the Dragon Chief¡¯s eyes. Thinking perhaps what other value does this thing has, he took one look at this ¡°ugly bird¡± left behind by Aragon,¡­. ¡°First¡­¡­¡± Penguin sighed: ¡°From an aesthetic standpoint, I feel regretful towards your taste of using someone¡¯s heart as jewelry¡­..¡± Speaking up to this point, Du Wei felt the killing intent from the Dragon patriarch flew up a few levels. ¡°And then¡­¡­¡± Penguin issued out a strange smile: ¡°My previous master told me before I went to sleep; the dragon chief will most likely want to kill my new master¡­.. So if I do encounter such a situation, I am to use this solution.¡± ¡°Solution?¡± The Dragon chief smiles: ¡°Could Aragorn climb out of his grave to duel?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Laughing lightly, Penguin then spoke in a calm voice as he threw out a condition capable of changing the dragon chief¡¯s mind! At this moment, even the steady hands of the dragon chief were trembling! ¡°You want to get back into dragon form? So¡­¡­ I think we can negotiate.¡± The penguin said this calmly. Chapter 101 part 1 The 101th chapter ¡°the killing game¡± (part one) This one sentence really was more useful than any threat. Upon hearing those words, the hands of the dragon chief trembled so much that it nearly pierced right through Du Wei¡¯s neck. Considering how sharp those nails were, it really didn¡¯t take much effort; even the slightest prick would have sufficed. Struggling between hope and suspicion, his facial expression changed over and over, but in the end, the dragon chief couldn¡¯t resist the temptation of regaining his dragon form. The shame of being trapped in a human body for nearly a thousand years has long been his greatest shame. Part of his anger at being fooled by Aragon can still be understood, but never regaining his former form is nothing but torture! ¡°Fine then!!¡± The Dragon chief yelled out a cry, withdrawing his hand from Du Wei¡¯s neck: ¡°Let¡¯s see what trickery you cane up with this time! Get on with it; tell me how to regain my dragon form!¡± Du Wei was much faster in his reaction this time, fearing the thousand year old penguin would decide to go nuts on him and carelessly reveal the method without any afterthought. Taking the lead, he quickly stepped in and cut off the conversation: ¡°How can we possibly tell you so easily! What is there to say that after we tell you, you won¡¯t kill us the next moment? We might as well not say anything, then that would be even better for us!¡± ¡°Humph!¡± The Dragon chief angrily red at Du Wei. In his heart now, this youngster was no less hateful than Aragon¡­ No need to say now, just the previous insolent attitude he received is enough to make him want to skin this youngster alive at this very spot! Never once in his life did he ever get so disrespected! Regaining his dragon form is extremely tempting, but he is still unwilling to let Du Wei go so easily. Kill, or not to kill. This question was floating in the old dragon¡¯s mind. For the arrogant and prideful dragon n, getting revenge is a must. Seeing the sudden change on the chief¡¯s face, Du Wei quickly spoke up: ¡°I know you want to kill me, but don¡¯t forget, you are the Patriarch of the dragon n. If you continue to stay in this human form, how will you maintain your leadership? Could it be you want to continue this farce?¡± ¡°You just want to stay alive by saying all of this.¡± Struck with a thought, the old dragon immediately came up with an idea to solve all of this: what difference will it make in letting this youngster go first? If anything, he can just go out into the human world and seek out his revenge after regaining his dragon form. How much power can one measly kid possiblye up with? In the human world, there is hardly anyone that could stand up to him. Unless Aragon revives, none in this world can resist him! Even if the boy were to retreat to the very edge of the world, he is certain in his capability as the dragon chief. Resolve the problem at hand, and then settle the scoreter! Unfortunately for the dragon chief, his ns won¡¯t go as smoothly as he wishes. Du Wei is not a fool. Seeing the murderous intent in the old dragon¡¯s eyes, Du Wei naturally understood what the other party was thinking. Even if Du Wei is to somehow escape today, he wouldn¡¯t be able to stop the other party from seeking revenge at ater date. If that were to happen, Du Wei would not be able to resist such a troublesome fe like this old dragon. ¡°Don¡¯t get any ideas, you old thing. If you were ying the idea ofing to kill meter on, then you might as well make it quick and kill me today! I¡¯ll die today; I¡¯ll die tomorrow, then why bother dragging it out!¡± Du Wu clenched his teeth in anticipation. ¡°Boy, do you think a few words can erase the hatred I have for you?¡± Spending a long moment in thought, the dragon chief finally came up with a good solution: ¡°Let¡¯s do this then. I can¡¯t possibly let you go so easily, but I must have the method to regain my dragon form so I¡¯ll make apromise. We can y a game¡­. If you win, then afterwards, I won¡¯t bother you! If you lose, sorry then¡­ You and yourpanions all must die!¡± Might as well listen first, Du Wei nodded: ¡°You go first, if I find it to be unfair, then I won¡¯t agree.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I yed a hunting game!¡± His face grinning: ¡°I can first let you out of here and give you and yourpanions a day¡¯s head start! Afterwards, I will set out to catch you guys. If you guys let me catch up to you, then the result will be self-evident! But if I fail, then consider it your win and the vendetta between us is over. Upon my name as the chief of the dragon n, I guarantee that as long as you can run away, I won¡¯t bother you again¡­. How is that?¡± Du Wei thought for a moment¡­.. One day? He could probably flee up to the forgotten ice field, but who is this dragon? Du Wei feared this chief wouldn¡¯t have much difficulty catching up to him in one day. ¡°No, no! This condition is too unfair.¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°You are the dragon chief, the most powerful being in today¡¯s world. I am just a little magician, the distance between our abilities are far too different. One day¡¯s worth of time, I fear you will easily catch up to me if you flew. I have to rely on my legs, how far can I possibly run?¡± ¡°Two days.¡± The Dragon chief spoke coldly: ¡°Cannot be anymore. I give you two days to run, this is enough.¡± Two days¡­¡­ Looking at the unwavering eyes of the Dragon chief, Du Wei feared that if did not agree now, this guy would immediately move to kill. ¡°There is another problem.¡± Du Wei said: ¡°When youe chasing after two days, we need to have a limit! Otherwise, you will just endlessly hunt us down.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s use the frozen forest as the boundary.¡± The old dragon said this with a smile: ¡°I¡¯ll let you run for two days, and then in two days, I¡¯ll begin my chase! As long as you can make it into the frozen forest, then I¡¯ll consider it your win! From then on, I¡¯ll immediately head back to the Holy Mountain and never trouble you again.¡± ¡°Within the two days, you, and all of your n members are forbidden to attack me and mypanions. This includes stopping us from fleeing!¡± ¡°Fine!¡± The Dragon chief proudly nodded. Contemting, Du Wei estimated that in two days, he and hispanions would be able to make it as far as the half-way point in the forgotten ice field. (When he wasing, it took them four days to make it through) Even if the strength of the old dragon is tough, he would most likely need one day to catch up to them. Adding the days up, that would be three days. In other words, the time left for them to flee is around three days. Three days to cross the terrifying ice field. Du Wei wasn¡¯t certain of this, but at least there is a glimmer of hope. ¡°Dear honorable chief, shall we set up a contract again?¡± From the penguin¡¯s word, the old dragon¡¯s facial expression instantly changed. It was obvious he did not want to have another contract with a human again! Just one single contract with Aragon was enough to make him suffer. ¡°Humph, I¡¯m the chieftain of the dragon n. There¡¯s no need to form any contract, I¡¯m not someone without credit. If I¡¯m not someone that keeps his promise, then I wouldn¡¯t have been chained by Aragon for a thousand years!¡± With that said the dragon patriarch used a low voice and vowed in the Draconguage. Du Wei may not understand the words, but from the dignified face he was seeing, he knew the old dragon would not repeal his oath. It did help that he repeated the vow in the humannguage afterwards. ¡°Now, quickly tell me the method of returning to my former body, then you can start running!¡± Raising a hand, the dragon chief instantly conjured up a huge hourss about the size of a person. With a smile: ¡°When the sand in this hourss finishes pouring, it will be the end of two days! After that, I will begin my chase towards you.¡± ncing at Penguin, the bird nods his head and says: ¡°In the past you were able to change your form from an adult dragon to a human, then obviously you should have mastered the transformation spell, correct?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The Dragon chief proudly spoke: ¡°I am the dragon chief, so of course I have reached the highest level in the art of transformation. I can easily take on the shape of anything in this world, including humans.¡± ¡°Very good then.¡± Penguin nods: ¡°The message Aragon asked me to pass on to you is this: The water he made you drink is essentially a magical substance that permanently solidifies someone¡¯s form. In this world, there are no antidotes. Unless God intervenes, there is no other way to lift the magic of the water.¡± The old dragon¡¯splexion changed: ¡°Then what is your solution?¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple.¡± Penguin smiled: ¡°Aren¡¯t you capable of transforming, don¡¯t tell me you forgot your own body¡¯s form? You can transform into a body of dragon¡­.¡± ¡°Nonsense!!!¡± The Dragons Chief flew into a rage: ¡°You think using such a thing will stall me?! If transformation magic can return me to my dragon form, then I would have done it a thousand years ago!!! ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- (Authors exnation) The art of transformation in the human world has long been considered useless. It may seem strong from an onlooker¡¯s point of view, but it was very impractical. Reason behind this was that this kind of magic is too difficult to practice and understand! Considering the effort required to achieve any noticeable result, most people thought it was just not worth it. Transformation magic, as the name suggests, is to be able to transform into other species of animal. Also, the magic does not only allow the caster to change his form, but also to take on the abilities of the creature they transformed into! In other words, if a person were to transform into a bird, then that person can fly into the air! If they changed into a fish, then they can swim in the water! As for what animal the caster can take on depended highly on the magician¡¯s power level. For a magician that could only use a low level transformation spell, they could only take on the form of a small fish or rabbit¡­. Even If they can learn this magic, there isn¡¯t much use for it. Just like that mouse Prime Minister Gargamel, this person had once upon a time cultivated his transformation magic to an intermediate standard. Even so, the most he could do was to take on the form of a low leveled magical beast and wield the limited abilities of such creatures. Due to this, others paid little attention to him in the past. But Transformation magic is absolutely not a useless spell! If you can practice it to the advanced stage, you can be a much more powerful creature! Some grand magicians in history that had specialized in transformation magic can even transform into high leveled magical beasts. Only when the art of transformation magic reaches such a height can its powers truly be manifested! Even in the legends, if one can reach the peak of transformation magic, the person can directly transform into a dragon! Not just in appearance, they will wield all the powers and strength of the dragons. This would of course include Draconic magic! A powerful dragon is definitely a horrifying existence! Thus, transformation magic is definitely not useless. The problem was that the method to cultivate this kind of magic is way too difficult and hard to understand. Historically, very few people can practice this magic to such a profound level. The best example on record was at best a high leveled magical beast, but the energy and time required is several times than that of other spells of the same ss. As for the level of being able to transform into a dragon, no one in history had ever done it. Moreover, the spell of transformation requires the input of magic, so there are time limits to how long they canst. Once the energy is depleted, they will return to their original body. Theoretically speaking, those with higher magic reserves willst longer, and those with lower reserves would have a shorter time limit. But if one can turn into a dragon, even for a small period, thebat strength is definitely enough to deal with any problem. But¡­¡­ ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- ¡°Relying on transformation magic to turn into a dragon?¡± The old dragon felt like he¡¯s been fooled. Angrily growling, he continued: ¡°Do you not know there¡¯s a time limit! Even if I could transform back into a dragon, that is only for a short period! After the time limit, I¡¯ll return to this human form!¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Penguin gently knocked on the head, and then began his exnation: The fundamental use of the fountain of youth is to permanently solidify ones form. Look at it this way. Since your normal form is that of a human, even if you were to take the form of a dragon, there will be a time limit. But the fountain of youth disrupts this rule. A good example is Gargamel. When he first drank the spring¡¯s water, he was in the form of a mouse, so he is stuck in the form of a mouse. Flipping this around, if he were to transform into a human from his current mouse form, the water would solidify his human transformation. Chapter 101 part 2 The 101th chapter ¡°the killing game¡± (part two) The old dragon too is like this. Under the effect of the spring¡¯s water, his body was permanently changed to that of a human. Even if he were to use transformation magic to modify his body, it would onlyst up to the time limit. Ignoring the old dragon¡¯s rage, Penguin continued asking: ¡°I¡¯ll just ask you this one thing. With your current ability, can you take on the form a dragon even if it¡¯s just for a little while?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The Dragon patriarch endured his wrath and answered, ¡°But only for a short period!¡± ¡°Then that would be easy to work with.¡± Penguin was relieved to hear this. Despite being under the effect of the spring¡¯s water, the old fe is still able to transform into a dragon due to his transformation magic reaching its peak level. But in Gargamel¡¯s case, he could only keep the form of a mouse. Even at his best, this mouse could only change his body size and not fully take on the form of a human¡­.. This is due to Gargamel¡¯s transformation magic being only at the sixth level, far below that of this old dragon. ¡°My approach is very simple.¡± Penguin reveals his answer: ¡°You transform back into the body of a dragon, then drink a little bit of the solidifying water! With that, your body will return to its original form! Wouldn¡¯t that work?¡± The old dragon was stunned. Over all these years, he has been looking for a solution to this problem in many ways. But because of his overwhelming strength, his way of thought has long been restricted to using powerful magic or miraculous cures to counteract the spring¡¯s water¡­ This was one of the reasons he would often travel into the human world. Although the solution thought up by the penguin is simple, but the thought pattern toe up with this idea is already out of the norm. The old dragon may be smart, but he had never gone down this route in thought. Drink the spring¡¯s water? It¡¯s like eating a poisonous food, then asking you to eat it againter on. Would you want to eat it again? Of course not! Pausing for a long moment, the dragon patriarch¡¯splexion changed colors several times before breaking out into augh! Within his voice, there was excitement and a hint of unwillingness mixed into it! ¡°For it to be possible like this!¡± After his initial excitement, the old dragon suddenly stared at Penguin: ¡°However, what is that water! Where can I find some more?!¡± Struck with a thought, Du Wei took the initiative: ¡°I have the water and I can give it to you!¡± Du Wei was worried about penguin revealing the canyon valley in the frozen forest¡ªOut of personal interest, Du Wei didn¡¯t want the old dragon to know about the spring¡¯s existence in the Canyon! The events that took ce afterwards became much simpler. On his body, Du Wei carried with him a lot of the spring¡¯s water¡­¡­ Of course, this not includes the fountain of youth, but also the water from ¡°As time goes by.¡± Fortunately when the older Dragon used his magic to cut apart his clothing earlier, the bottles of water weren¡¯t damaged in the process because they were kept inside his baggage. Under the careful gaze of the old dragon, Du Wei took out a bottle of the spring water to give the old fe. It was at this moment when he was taking out the bottle, a sudden thought hit him: if he were to take out a bottle of the ¡°As time goes by¡± instead of the ¡°fountain of youth¡±, then wouldn¡¯t he have a chance to kill this old dragon if he could trick this him into drinking the aging water? Du Wei absolutely believed the water of ¡°As time goes by¡± can kill this old dragon because this water is a poison of time, there is definitely no cure to save him. But in the end, Du Wei gave up on the n to kill this old dragon because the sess rate of this going smoothly is far too low. This would work if the old dragon drank a mouthful, but if he only drank a sip? Even then¡­¡­ If he did seed, there would be trouble following closely behind him at every turn! This matter is not only about killing the dragon chief. The dragon n as a whole would chase him down if they ever learned of this. Wouldn¡¯t that be a disaster in the making? Moreover, what if in his dying moments, this powerful dragon figured out what has happened? Du Wei would never know if this old fe could muster enough strength to rip him apart just before his death. Best not to invite anymore trouble. Du Wei sighed and then dutifully pulled out a small bottle of the ¡®fountain of youth¡¯: ¡°This is it. Once you change your form into a dragon and drink this, it will be done.¡± Du Wei looked at the water with a heart wrenching pain. He may not like this because the amount of water he had on him was limited, but in order to save his life, he had no other choice. If anything, he could go get some moreter on after getting out of here. Once the deal is done, the Dragon Patriarch waved his hand and shouted: ¡°Now you can go!¡± ¡°Hold on.¡± The Penguin reminded Du Wei: ¡°Within the sarcophagus, there still remained some other stuff from my previous owner.¡± This old Dragon may be ferocious, but luckily he was someone that kept his promises. Standing there as he watched him coldly, Du Wei carefully removed each and every item from the coffin. These things were very messy: eight badly looking pots, a box with tattered clothing inside, and a strange looking bag made out of cloth. Fortunately the penguin appears to be very familiar with the contents inside. Under the guidance of the penguin, Du Wei found that this strange looking bag had a function simr to the bag of the old magician¡¯s. Even after he stuffed everything into the bag, it still seemed like it wasn¡¯t even close to being full. Before he could investigate, Du Wei took everything he had and stuffed it into the strange looking bag. This of course includes the bottles of waters he had on him. But as he was doing this, the penguin strongly objected to what he was doing. In his mind, Du Wei actually wanted to also throw this penguin into the bag. Finally solving all his problems at hand, Du Wei hitched the bag onto his back and took one look at the old dragon. Letting out a grunt, the old dragon asked: ¡°Good now? You can be off then!¡± With that said, the dragon gently raised a finger towards a rock in the back of the secret chamber. As if beingmanded, the rock wall quickly dissolved to reveal arge hole with rays of sunshine shooting in. ¡°Remember from now on; run as far as you can! Two dayster, I¡¯ll start from here and chase after you!¡± Snapping a finger, the grains of sand inside the giant hourss started to gently pour down¡­¡­¡­ ¡°Quick! We have to hurry!¡± Du Wei anxiously shouted at the Penguin next to him: ¡°Can¡¯t you run any faster?¡± The Penguin¡¯s tone was calm: ¡°I¡¯m an elegant animal. Even when running, I cannot give up my style.¡± With that said, penguin gently twisted his ass and short tail as he walked. Twist, twist¡­¡­ Du Wei could no longer stand it. With one fell swoop, he lifted the penguin up and stationed the bird onto his shoulder. Ignoring the screams beside his ears, Du Wei ran towards the exit like the wind itself¡­¡­ (AHHHHH run for it!! Man this part reminded me of ying tag in grade school.) This god forsaken Holy Mountain simply had too many passageways! Extending in all directions, this ce was more like a maze than anything else. Luckily his memory was super strong, so along the way, he was able to barely remember the way he came from. After many turns, he was finally able to make it out. As he came out, he came across the so called strongest warrior of the dragon n. Seeing the huge dragon lying there with his huge ws scratching the floor, it was pretty obvious the guy was still trying to calcte the math question set up by Du Wei¡­¡­.. In a single breathe he came of the Holy Mountain. Upon reaching the entrance, Du Wei saw that the old magician and Hussein were still standing outside the dragon cave in order to wait for him. Panting from his run, he could not help but give in to his worries as he shouted: ¡°Howe you are still here! Quick, run!¡± Seeing him running out, the old magician had a shock of surprise in his eyes. Stopping Du Wei in his track, the old magician excitedly eximed: ¡°The things from the secret room¡­¡­¡± ¡°Got it! I got it all!¡± Du Wei quickly answered. However, when they all saw the penguin on Du Wei¡¯s shoulder, every one of them couldn¡¯t help but be surprised for a moment. Du Wei sighed at their reaction because there was no time to exin: ¡°Alright! This is no time for questions! These fellows are mypanions, Wizard, Knight, a rat and a snake! This here¡­¡­ Is an animal Aragon left behind for me! A Penguin!¡± Both the Old Magician and Hussein looked at each other: ¡°What¡¯s a peng, penguin¡­¡­ An ugly bird?¡± The penguin immediately protested: ¡°I am not an ugly bird! I am a penguin! Penguin! Are the most elegant animal in the world!¡± ¡°Good then! Now is not the time to argue on this subject. If you don¡¯t shut up then wait till you be the dragon¡¯s dinner! They will roast you and then let¡¯s see how elegant you are afterwards!¡± Du Wei harshly patted the penguin once. ¡°It can talk?¡± The old magician¡¯s facial expression changed: ¡°A talking bird¡­¡­ Can it be, this bird is the heavenly beast left behind by Aragon?¡± In-between his words, his attitude and tone took on a more respectful tone. Heavenly Beast? At this point, Du Wei has already be very impatient to this word and immediately yelled out: ¡°What nonsense heavenly beast! From this point onward this is my pet¡­. Hmmm, you will be called QQ then. (This is not a mistake, the author really named this penguin QQ.) Before others could even speak, QQ already raised an objection: ¡°I do not want QQ for my name! I am a graceful animal and should be matched with a graceful name¡­..¡± ¡°Off the mountain, off the mountain! That old dragon promised to give us two days to run away! You guys can ask me other questions as we move. The most important thing right now is to escape!¡± Du Wei shouted this to stop them from asking anymore question. But seeing Hussein and the others heading towards the mountain road, he stepped up to stop them: ¡°Hey! Have you guys lost it?! Taking the mountain road? In order to climb the mountain, we spent a total of two days! Why do we need to take the road down? The old dragon promised that within the two days, no dragon can stop us! Of course we will fly down! By the time we get down there, a day would have already passed if we relied on the road!¡± Subsequently, the old magician performed a wind based flying spell to carry everyone down the mountain. In their attempt, everyone ended up like a sugar coated haw just so they won¡¯t break up apart in midair: Hussein held onto the old magician¡¯s leg, Du Wei held onto the knights leg, Medusa held onto Du Wei¡¯s leg, and Gargamel along with QQ hid inside Du Wei¡¯s clothing. Enduring the hard winds, the group desperately flew towards the south where the forgotten ice field was¡­¡­ Now they only had two days left before the hunt begins. Chapter 102 The 102th chapter ¡°Stronger and stronger¡± (Up and Down) Using the fastest speed to fly out of the surrounding snow coverednds near the Holy Mountain, the old magician once again took out his wand as they came up to the ¡°forgotten ice field¡±. Thend in between the ¡°forgotten Ice field¡± and the ¡°Holy Mountain¡± had a very clear line to distinguish its borders. On one end was covered in cold hard ice, while the other side was covered in soft snow. As they stood there, everything seemed calm inside the forgotten ice field. But from prior experience, they knew in their heart that once they took their first step inside the ancient magic array, the weather would immediately change! Taking the lead, as soon as the old magician stepped into ice field, the sky immediately darkened and the once quiet wind started to rage in bursts. In order to fend off the brewing weather, the silvery gem on his wand was again releasing a softforting light. ¡°Quick! Don¡¯t waste time!¡± The old Magician grabbed Du Wei because right now in his mind, Du Wei was the most important person in their mix. Firmly grasping onto his side, the old magician raised the wand like a torch into the air and led the way forward¡­. The howling wind of the ice field was gradually starting to release a stirring noise like that of sharp de ravaging against something. Standing next to the old magician, Du Wei could clearly hear the creaking sound that came from the wind des hammering against the small barrier set up around the group. From his appearance, beads of sweat were already starting to form around the old magician¡¯s nose. It was obvious that the old fe¡¯s magic reserve weren¡¯t full recovered from their initial crossing of the ice field¡­¡­ Harsh winds soared through the air and misty dark clouds blocked out the very sun in the sky! Thanks to the old magician¡¯s endurance and support, they barely managed to make it through their first day of escape. During the second day, Du Wei could clearly feel the old magician overexerting himself. As soon as beads of sweat started to form around his forehead, they were frozen instantly due to the freezing weather. Not long after, the frozen beads had formed ayer of ice on the old magician¡¯s face. If not for the puffs of white airing out of his nostrils, one would really mistake him for a frozen Popsicle. In order to cut down on the magic consumption of the old magician, Hussein had already lifted the old magician onto his back. Step by step, the knight walked through the icy surface as he released his golden Dou Qi. Thanks to his effort, the group was able to enjoy a hint of warmth from this endeavor. ¡°This won¡¯t do¡­¡­¡± Once again, the magical light in the old magician¡¯s hands dimmed down a notch. In a whispering voice, he called out at Du Wei: ¡°I can¡¯t hold on. Du Wei, youe here and hold the wand for a while. I need to refill some of my magic reserve while I meditate.¡± Passing the wand over to Du Wei, the old magician quickly chugged down thest bottle of magic potion he had on him. Within moments, the look on his face was slightly better, but his eyes were still showing a look of tiredness. Not long after, Gargamel took over the job of sustaining the barrier and relived Du Wei. ¡°This storm is a little odd.¡± Slightly regaining his spirit, the old magician frowned at once: ¡°The storm of this ice field is fierce, but it shouldn¡¯t be this fierce! Don¡¯t you think that the storm now is much stronger than when we first came through?¡± Du Wei nodded and whispered, ¡°Do you mean that the dragons can control the storm?¡± ¡°No.¡± The Old magician shook his head, looking somewhat weak. Moving forward, Du Wei ignored everything and supported the old magician¡¯s body as they continued walking. In a weak voice, the old magician whispered into Du Wei¡¯s ears: ¡°ording to the legends, the reason God set up this magic array here is to block humanity from continuing into the north and stop the exiled races from heading south¡­.. In addition to these two reasons, there is also another important reason and that is to limit the dragon n.¡± ¡°Limiting the Dragons?¡± Du Wei was struck with a thought. ¡°That¡¯s right. The dragon n¡¯s purpose is to guard this ce, but that is only on the surface. To spend so many years in this boring ce, some will eventually feel disgusted here. In name they are guarding this ce, but in truth, they are also imprisoned on top of the Holy Mountain because they are not allowed to leave until their mission ispleted. Although the dragon n has kept to their mission over the millenniums, but there is also the asional individual that enters the human world to travel just like that old dragon. This is fine if it was only one or two dragons on the asion because it they won¡¯t have much impact on the human world as a whole. But what if the entire dragon n were to migrate into the human world? Their presence would definitely change the bnce of the world. So, fearing the dragon n would get tired of their mission, God set this magic array here in order to block the mass migration of the dragons down to the south.¡± Carefully looking around, the winds were sweeping back and forth and countless tornadoes were hanging upside down from the sky. Intertwined by of all of this, the barrier was constantly being squeezed by their pressure¡­.. ¡°From a general perspective, the dragon n is a race of flight, but yet this ice field is an area of no flight. Any race traveling through this ce must only walk on their feet; otherwise, they would also need to fend off the onught of wind des in midair. Even for the powerful dragon n, I suspect only a minority of one or two powerful individuals can possibly make it through this ce. Thus, with this ice field here, the dragon n is forced to stay put on the Holy Mountain and continue acting as the guardian of this ce. In this case, I do not believe this crisis is the doing of the dragon n. I think that within this storm, there is some other mystery behind it.¡± Du Wei paid close attention to his analysis. Taking in a deep breath, the old magician continued: ¡°The first time I came to this ice field, it was only by myself. Two hundred years ago, Semel didn¡¯t continue with me through the ice field because once we reached the frozen forest, we had already separated. Also back then my powers weren¡¯t as powerful as the present, yet I was able to make it through this ce. Although it was difficult and harsh, I was able to do it, but now? Think about it, this time my powers were much stronger than two hundred years ago, but in the end¡­. I almost drank my entire reserve of magic potion and still couldn¡¯t sustain myself through the entire trip. If not for you and Gargamel¡¯s presence, there was no chance for me to make it through to the dragon mountain! What exactly is hidden here to make the storm more powerful than 200 years ago? In ordance with the normal logic of magic, a magic array would weaken with the passage of use. Yet this ce is the exact opposite, it did not weaken but instead intensified. After a pause, the old magician continued speaking: ¡°When we wereing through, it was already so hard¡­¡­ But on the way back, I found that the storms here are even worse! To be honest, I didn¡¯t expect that in just one day, I could not hold on! Do you remember? When we wereing, I alone stood up for two and a half days! What exactly is making this storm increasing in strength each and every time?¡± Du Wei had taken one look around the ever increasing air pressure of the clouds, and then his face slightly changed from what he saw: ¡°No matter what, we should be able to get out, right? Even if you and I or Gargamel depleted our magic reserve, don¡¯t forget that we also have a powerful Medusa in our team! When we wereing, she never expended any of her strength!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t hope to depend on Medusa.¡± The Old magician sighed, looking at Du Wei with a pitiful and emotional look: ¡°Such a pity! You are really smart and quick on the uptake of magic concepts when you¡¯re only 14 years. So young and under no guidance from any real magician, you were able to reach the strength of a third level magician. A true genius! But it is a pity¡­ I see that although you read a lot of books regarding magical knowledge, but all the things you learned are all from texts and have no system to them at all. You need to understand the knowledge of magic is profound is deep. There is no way you could have understand some of the difficult concepts from the recorded books in this world! You did not even receive the most basic education of magical systems, so it is no wonder that you do not understand that we cannot rely on Medusa¡¯s magic because she is a magical beast! You understand? Although she is humanoid in appearance but she is still a magical beast. In ordance with the natural barrier of the magical field, human magic and beast magic cannot work together. This is because our magic is from our own unique magic system, and magical beasts have their own unique nucleus stone inside their body, so their method of using magic and training ispletely different from that of us humans. Although Medusa is powerful, but she is unable to help us host this magic barrier.¡± Speaking up to here, the old magician smiled wryly: ¡°Are you not surprised? Along the way we were having such a hard time, but even then I did not request Medusa for help despite Medusa¡¯s strength being much higher than you and Gargamel.¡± At this point, a sh of sadness crossed the old magician¡¯s eyes as he suddenly spoke loudly: ¡°Hussein! Stop here! I have something to say.¡± The Knight was currently moving forward while holding Gargamel, but Hussein immediately stopped in his track because he could feel something was amiss. Turning his head around, he looked at Du Wei and the old magician: ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go.¡± The Old magician¡¯s look was extremely stern: ¡°I made the calctions. To this day, the distance we walked whenpared to when we first came here is about twice as slow! But already our magic could no longer support us¡­.. Such a situation, I think you feel it too, right?¡± Hussein did not speak, but the somber color of his face was alreadying out. ¡°I have carefully calcted this many times. If we continue like this, we would run out of magic by tomorrow noon and would no longer be able to keep going¡­. But by tomorrow noon, we would only have traveled one fourth of the distance required¡­. If we continue consuming our strength like this, we would soon meet our death under the assaults of the wind des!¡± After revealing this shocking news to everyone, none in the group seemed surprised by this piece of information. Whether it was Du Wei or Medusa, it seems everyone was expecting something along those lines. Even Gargamel, that was supporting the barrier didn¡¯t say anything and kept his mouth shut, although the mouse was timid and wretched, but he was after all an experience rich magician. When it came to the estimation of energy consumption, he wasn¡¯t much different from what the old magician was thinking. The one to raise a voice was actually the newest member MR. QQ. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, why not keep moving forward?¡± Despite being in this snow covered ce, QQ seemed to really enjoy this trip and was even lying asleep on Du Wei¡¯s back with his eyes closed. Jumping down, he stomped and stomped around a bit as he wiggled his fat body. Lifting his head, he asked: ¡°What is the reason we are not moving?¡± ¡°Because we are afraid we won¡¯t be able to get out.¡± Du Wei sighed. His sentence sounded a little helpless, but at the same time unwilling to yield. The only one still looking calm was Medusa as if everything in the world had nothing to do with her. ¡°We have to find a way.¡± A corner of his mouth revealed a saddening smile and then the Old magician solemnly looked at Du Wei: ¡°Du Wei, you have to understand that you are the most important one here! The burden you are carrying is Aragon¡¯s mission; therefore, in any case, I will not let you die here¡­¡­ So, I came up with an idea that might be able to give you the opportunity to get out.¡± Du Wei did not speak, biting his lip as he watched the old magician. ¡°Hussein is a Saint Knight and the golden Dou Qi of a Saint Knight is not to be underestimated. Also the strong body of a Saint Knight can even rival that of a dragon, even without the protection of magic; Hussein should be able to go a day¡¯s walk in this storm.¡± With that said, the old magician turned to take a look at Hussein: ¡°My Knightpanion, after tomorrow at noon, if we lose the protection of magic, there will be no way to escape. The only one that canst an extra day is you with your golden Dou Qi, so I want you to promise me one thing.¡± The Old magician pointed at Du Wei: ¡°Your golden Dou Qi can protect the space around you. If you carry a person on your back, you can protect that single person. I want you to carry this kid Du Wei and proceed forward without us! Proceeding at full strength, your walking speed should be a lot faster than it is now¡­¡­¡± ¡°But I can onlyst a day or so.¡± Hussein spoke in a cold way: ¡°One day¡¯s worth of time is still not enough to get out of this ice field.¡± ¡°Then leave it up to fate.¡± The Old magician sighed: ¡°This is the only way, though the hope is slim, but maybe a miracle can happen and let you walk out of the ice field. I did the math, if you run at full speed throughout the day, even if you do not get out, it won¡¯t be too far from the edge. Maybe¡­¡­ A miracle can ur.¡± Everyone did not speak, their faces showed aplex emotion. Du Wei took one look at each and everypanion, and then suddenly said: ¡°Perhaps I can summon Semel?¡± ¡°It¡¯s useless.¡± The old magician whispered bitterly: ¡°I already included all of our forces in my calction¡­. Although I still don¡¯t know for sure what happened to her, but I can be certain of one point. The Semel by your side is much lower in strength than the Semel that I knew. Before you forget that she and Hussein had a duel? Also at the time, Hussein did not advance into a Saint Knight yet and even then, the two were evenly matched. From my estimation, Semel¡¯s magic is at best the eighth level or a little bit above that but not much. Even if we add an eighth level magician to our mix, we won¡¯t be able to get out. So calling Semel out here won¡¯t mean much¡­¡­¡± The Old magician looked at Hussein as he spoke: ¡°I¡¯m afraid that when necessary, even you have to be sacrificed.¡± Hussein did not speak, continuing the indifferent and prideful look on his face. ¡°I will give my wand to Du Wei, then Hussein, you will take Du Wei and move forward with your golden Dou Qi. If you end up using all of your Dou Qi and still couldn¡¯t get out of the frozen ice field, then Du Wei, you must give up on Hussein and move forward by yourself with the wand! By your side there is still Semel. With her strength, you should be able to protect yourself for a little while and the consumption of magic is not a lot. I think that if you are by yourself, you should be able to make it out.¡± Du Wei¡¯s expression turned cold. Looking at the old magician, then at the Hussein, to Medusa and to Gargamel, finally to QQ. ¡°You mean after sacrificing everyone, I¡¯ll be the only one that could make it out?¡± Du Wei immediately refused: ¡°Although I can¡¯t be considered a good person, but to do something as to sacrifice mypanion¡¯s life in order to protect mine, I cannot ept it. Don¡¯t forget that by tomorrow, that old dragon will start his chase from the Holy Mountain. I may not even make it out of the ice field. If that old fe catches up to me, do you think I would have a chance if none of you were near me? After regaining his dragon form, that old guy is evenparable to Aragon in person!¡± All were silent. Indeed, a restored Dragon form chieftain isparable in strength to Aragon in person! Nobody thought for even a moment that Du Wei can deal with such a powerful enemy. Of course, there was still room to object. Just when everyone was silent¡­ A sudden shrill voice grabbed everyone¡¯s attention! The always graceful looking Penguin QQ suddenly flew into a rage! Letting out a sharp cry, the penguin angrily jumped up with his whole body and nearly bit him with his mouth! ¡°Who said it?! Who says the old dragon¡¯s power wasparable to Aragon! Nonsense! In this world, none is more powerful than Master Aragon! Absolutely not! If master were to resurrect, then that old dragon would easily be chopped into seventeen-Eight pieces!¡± Fortunately, the Penguincked ws and teethes. Otherwise, looking at his angry face, Du Wei feared that this bird would really jump up and bite him. Even so, this bird was already jumping at him with its obese body to show his indignation for what they said. ¡°Enough.¡± Looking at this beast that came out of the coffin, Du Wei frowned. Other than being able to speak, this guy is simply a burden: ¡°I can understand your mood of wanting to defend Aragon, but facts are facts. If Aragon had not tricked that old dragon into drinking the water from the fountain of youth, he couldn¡¯t have won the battle in the past.¡± ¡°Bullshit!!¡± QQ was fast to react, quickly covering his mouth. Stroking his chest, he sighed: ¡°Oh, graceful, graceful, need to keep up my gracefulness¡­.¡± Afterwards, he gave Du Wei a look: ¡°Who said Aragon can¡¯te out on top of the old dragon!¡± Angrily staring at everyone, the penguin loudly asked, ¡°Have you never thought of this before when Aragorn walked through the field of ice? After enduring such a powerful storm, his strength was only left with ten to twenty percent! Under the condition of nearing exhaustion and depleting all of his strength, Aragon was able to challenge the old dragon ande out with a tie! If not for this ice storm weakening Aragon, he would have chopped that old fe into pieces!¡± ¡°What did you say?!¡± Both the eyes of Du Wei and the old magician lit up, staring at QQ. QQ lifted his head without a hint of relenting: I said that when Aragon passed through this ice field, his strength was only at ten or twenty percent! That is why he was forced into a draw with that old dragon; this is the truth that he told me!¡± Du Wei and the old magician met each in the eyes and came up with the same key question! By crossing the ice field, Aragon consumed around eighty to ny percent of his power? Of course, to be able toe out with a draw with the all-powerful dragon patriarch after losing eighty to ny percent of his strength, it seems everyone had misunderstood Aragon¡¯s strength¡­¡­ Now it appears that Aragon really deserves the title of strongest under the stars. To think that the old dragon could match up to Aragon in his dragon form, now everyone here knew their guesses werepletely wrong¡­¡­ However, what QQ said contained information even more important than this. Leaving only ten or twenty percent in strengths and can stille out with a draw with the Dragon chieftain. One can¡¯t imagine how powerful Aragon really is when he is in his prime! For such great strength, this spell was still able to consume eighty to ny percent? Then isn¡¯t this magic array far too powerful to the point of being horrifying? ¡°Wrong! Completely wrong!¡± Du Wei immediately shouted: ¡°Wrong!¡± Scratching his head, Du Wei was trying to catch hold of the inspiration shing through his mind: ¡°If even for someone of Aragon¡¯s strength, he had to consume eighty to ny percent of his strength? Then wouldn¡¯t the storm¡¯s intensity be even stronger back a thousand years ago? But like you said, two hundred years ago when you came here, the storm was much weaker than it was now. If Aragon had to consume eighty to ny percent of his strength just to pass through, then shouldn¡¯t you have been killed two hundred years ago! This storm doesn¡¯t seem to be getting stronger, but seems to be¡­¡­..¡± ¡°Adjusting its strength based upon those that venture into this ice field. It¡¯s almost like a self-responding mechanism is set into the very function of this magic array.¡± The old magician urately summarized his theory. When Aragon came here, the storms intensity was enough to consume eighty to ny percent of his strength. Two hundred years ago when the Old magician came here alone, the storm caused him to burn up most of his strength. Ifpared to when Aragon came here, the storms intensity should have weakened. But now, the people here are seeing the storm increasing in strength. ¡°It is clear that this magic array can detect the intruder¡¯s strength. The stronger they are, the stronger it gets.¡± Du Wei quickly added, ¡°Maybe we can take advantage of this weakness.¡± ¡°How do we take advantage of this? Are we now going to turn off this magic barrier?¡± Gargamel uttered a cry, and then his voice became weaker: ¡°You guys been talking back and forth, but do you have a solution? Also, I¡¯m unable to continue maintaining this barrier! Better have one of you swap out with me for a while; otherwise, this magic barrier will be ruined!¡± Raising an eyebrow, the Old magician immediately took the wand off Gargamel¡¯s hands and injected his own magic into the barrier. Then in a whispering voice, he continued speaking: ¡°Du Wei¡¯s spection makes sense¡­.. However, if we were to remove this magic barrier now, I fear we would be shredded into pieces immediately by the wind.¡± Du Wei suddenly grabbed QQ: ¡°After leaving the Holy Mountain, how did he go back?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± The Old magician¡¯s eyes lit up in realization! How did Aragon go back? After losing eighty to ny percent of his strength, Aragon then fought with the dragon chief and also carved out such a huge road project in the Holy Mountain! Logically speaking, Aragon should have consumed arge amount of his strength. So how did he go back in the end? ¡°How would I know.¡± QQ shook his head, patting Du Wei¡¯s hand and spoke slowly: ¡°Don¡¯t you know that grabbing other people¡¯s neck is very rude! Back then, Master locked me in a sarcophagus. So of course I wouldn¡¯t know how he went back.¡± But before master left, he did quote these words: ¡°There is something odd about this ice field, so he left something in the coffin.¡± Without a word, Du Wei immediately dropped QQ and removed the baggage on his back. Opening it up, he quickly turned everything out. ¡°What is it?¡± In one breath, Du Wei poured all of his belongings out into the open and looked at QQ ¡°I slept for too long. There are some things that I can¡¯t remember very clearly.¡± QQ looked at Du Wei: ¡°I seem to remember what the master said is that the thing is a tall, pointy object that can shrink and stab into the ground¡­.. Oh, let me think¡­¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Du Wei waited patiently. ¡°That thing had a weird name. I should remember¡­¡­¡± QQ cocked his head: ¡°Think it was¡­ Dodging¡­ Wind¡­.. Ah yes, it is called Wind dodging needle!¡± Chapter 103 The 103rd chapter ¡°observation of the Stars¡± Let us not care what is happening in the ice field for a moment¡­¡­ Three dayster, on the eve of the Rnd Empires founding, 960 yearster in the capital. Located along the Lancang Grand Canal, this city was by far one of the biggest in the Rnd Empire. After experiencing repeated development by multiple generations of emperors, the function of this river has changed from a mere moat and into a trans-Imperial territorial river: this river could reach into the very heart of the northwesternnds of the empire, or go as high as the Empires Austin Asian Mountains in the west, it could even go far into the East into the open sea. Not only that, this river also acted as a divide between the South and Northern line of the Empire, so you can imagine the importance of this river in the present Rnd Empire. It was on this fateful day on top of the city¡¯s wall, the sunset in the evening sky was ever so majestic as it slowly took its course over the northern Lancang Grand Canal. On average, the northern and southern walls of the city could reach as high as 20 meters and the highest tower could even reach 30 meters in height. These defenses were all built hundreds of years in the past when the Empire was facing a civil war. That era was also the time period when the Augustine dynasty rose into power. In order to go against the Northwest rebellion and the separatist warlords, the Empire spent huge efforts and costs to strengthen the defenses on the northwestern side. If one were to stand on top of the 30 meter towers, they could even see far into the distance of the northern banks of the Lancang Grand Canal. The distance between the two was no less than ten miles. ording to tradition, tonight on the eve of the national day, the president of the magic union and the imperial court astrologist will make a divination on top of the highest northern tower. Facing the stars, they will predict the future destiny of the empire in theing year¡­.. Naturally, there will be no less than several famous schrs around the event to scroll a few flowery articles to match the current Augustine Emperor. Right now on top of the city wall, two teams of Royal Guards were standing watch instead of the city army guards. Under the protection of these special soldiers, several prominent elite figures were standing on the highest point of the northern tower, anxiously awaiting the results from the court astrologist ¨C Although the results were the same every year, but every noble that participated in this event would assume a face of worry and care, otherwise, how can they show their patriotic self? The only person that looked a bit ufortable among this group was a certain indifferent looking old man donning a ck robe. Originating from the southern part of the empire, this ck robe was made from the silk of a certain pure ck silkworm. Due to its rarity, the annual production of this fabric was no more than 200 pounds per year, thus the price of this material was even higher than gold. Named ¡®Golden Silk¡¯, this fabric is mainly only used as a tribute in the Pce. As for the small minority that manages to leak into the open market, only individuals of great wealth or power could possibly afford to wear clothing¡¯s made out of this silk. This old man may look very old, but his hair and beard was still ck as the night. This was especially true for his eyes when most Rnd citizens had blue or green eyes. Thanks to this distinct feature, this old man had an extra hint of mystery surrounding him. About two steps behind this old man stood four to five tall, short, fat and thin people. Each of these individuals had drooping eyelids but their eyes carried a serious intent to them. Standing quietly behind this certain old man, all of these people were wore a standardized white magician¡¯s styled robe. Shockingly enough, every one of these individuals had a magician¡¯s badge on their chest¡­. Not only that, they were all wearing gold colored clover badges, symbolizing their status of a Grand Magician of the eighth level! As for that old man, he had patterns of circles sewn on the edges of his robe like that of burning mes. And looking at his chest, the badge he was wearing was that of a small olive leaf. Although this badge wasn¡¯t made of gold, but the pattern was very simple and rustic. Under the darkness of night, the badge had a subtle lustering shine to it. Continent-wide, this badge was one of a kind! From a certain perspective, this badge was even more prestigious than the token of the emperor. Yage Dorgan, president of the magician¡¯s union. Wearing the expensive ck silken robe with an olive leaf badge on his chest, Dorgan was looking boringly at the astrologist in front of him. With closed eyes and muttering a heap of nonsense, this astrologist was looking towards the nightly sky trying to perform a divination. From deep inside his heart, Dorgan had a strong dismissive feeling towards these so called astrologists. He is a traditional magician and traditionally, magicians had always looked down on two types of professions. One kind is a magic pharmacist. As the president of the magician¡¯s union, Dorgan had in the past proposed to expel this profession from the magician¡¯s union. The second kind is a divination astrologist. In his view, the idea of looking at the sky and stars to figure out the will of god is all nonsense and trickery. Only those that could delve into magic and the forces of this world will be able to understand god¡¯s will, this is his belief. As thest of the Sun¡¯s light disappears over the horizon, the sky finally darkens to reveal the glimmering stars and the hovering moon of the night. Wearing a magnificent robe, the stern looking court Astrologist continued his ridiculous act¡­.. What really bored Dorgan is that regardless of the divinations result, no one actually believes it. But this event is a must because this divination is a way to look good in front of the Emperor. Although Dorgan hated these kinds of gatherings, but as the president of the magician¡¯s union, he had already exposed himself to these fields of politics. Bying to this asion and participating in this ceremony, he is showing a form of respect towards the imperial court. Moreover, each year the magician¡¯s union needed to acquire arge amount of donations from the Royal family as funding. To make matters worse, the night was also very cold. Unfortunately, in order to highlight their respect towards God, none of these powerful magicians could muster up a small spell to fight off the chill. By forcing all these old bones to stand there all night in the cold, Dorgan would sometimes maliciously guess that this boring ceremony is actually a way for the Emperor to carry out an evil vengeance against them. Frowning, Dorgan nced down towards the bottom of the tower. The Temples delegate was already waiting below for the divination results. Traditionally, the temple delegate would send the results to the Royal Pce and the Temple. Then, having both ¡°Majesty¡¯s¡±, the emperor and the Pope pray at the Pce and the Temple of respectively¡­.. Thanking God for guidance. But the situation this year is somewhat different. The Temple¡¯s elder group did note and only sent one of the pope¡¯s direct delegates. As for the Holy knight leaders that represented the templest year, not a single one showed up. In order to fill up the numbers, the temple only sent an eighth level Holy knight. Three of the Holy Knight leaders, one mutinied, two were killed. This news had already spread across the entire continent. It appears the Temple is facing a huge crisis. Rumor has it that even the Temple¡¯s elder squadron was sent out to hunt down the renegade knight leader Hussein. The rtionship between the Magician¡¯s union and the temple had always been cold in some ways, so Dorgan was inwardly gloating. Most likely, his Majesty the Pope must be in a very bad mood right now. With such bad feelings contained inside his heart and still forced to preside over such a Grand praying ceremony¡­¡­ Dorgan was actually chuckling at these thoughts when it crossed his mind and didn¡¯t even notice he wasughing out loud while doing so. As a rule, in these kinds of divination ceremonies, no one is allowed to make a sound. But considering Dorgan¡¯s identity, who can reprimand him? On behalf of the emperor¡­ A Royal Cab carefully looks at this president of the magician¡¯s union. (Now if a star suddenly shoots through the sky, then it really would be hrious.) Dorgan randomlyes up with these thoughts. It was nearly 100 years ago on the eve of the national day, a shooting star trailed across the sky as if falling down! That shocking scene terrified everyone and as a result, everyone took it as an ominous sign from god. The word spread and rumors popped up everywhere saying that evil spirits have descended on the empire. Seeing such an opportunity, different important figures in the capital attacked their opposition using this as an excuse. Eventually, the Emperor was also dragged into this and as a result, many were executed in order to calm the masses. That event was 100 years ago. Now in the present, the Temple was facing such a big crisis. So if the same event was to ur tonight like 100 years ago, wouldn¡¯t it cause the Royal family trouble again? Wrapped in these malicious thoughts, Dorgan idly waited for the ceremony to end. Finally, at the peak of midnight, the court astrologist in front of him seemed to look like he had run ten kilometers and waspletely out of breath. Panting and slumping down as if his body was weak beyond reason, his face was covered in sweat as he prepared a parchment to write down whatever he came up with. Looking at the unknown symbols scrawled onto the parchment, it was most likely that only this certain individual would understand what he really wrote. ¡°Good! Thank God for his blessing, the Empire¡¯s fate is good.¡± Rolling up the parchment, the court Astrologist solemnly handed the paper over to the court delegate. It must be really hard for him¡­¡­ To be forced to annually perform this silly act each year. Dorgan secretly sneered, but his face was still pretending to be very happy. Seeing the court delegateing over to him with the double parchment, Dorgan solemnly raised a finger to cast a permanent solidification spell. By using this spell, the parchment would be safe from damage and the ink wouldn¡¯t fade away for at least the next 100 years. Afterwards, this parchment with the funny looking scrawls would even be saved and put into storage within the pce¡­.. Actually, this kind of permanent solidification spell can be casually pulled off by a fifth level magician. There was no reason to require Dorgan to personally do this, but in order to keep up appearances, this process was still needed. Finally finishing his work for the night, Dorgan lets out a sigh at being able to go back to his tower. This night really was cold. As if it was meant to be, it seems inevitable that tonight will not be calm! Just when everyone was preparing to leave, a whistling sound could be heard next to their earsing from over the horizon. As everyone looked over at the northeastern direction, a shining light was currently trailing across the sky. With a red body and a long tail, this object was getting bigger and bigger in appearance as it drew closer. Like a broom, the object cuts right through the air like it was scarring the very sky itself. In mere moments, this object flew past everyone¡¯s gaze andnded far into the west horizon¡­. Everyone was stunned at this point, as if dully looking at the scene that just appeared in front of them¡­¡­ After a long moment of pause, the court delegates face suddenly changed colors with an rming expression. With arge open mouth, this person suddenly yelled: ¡°Falling Star! Star fall!!! Shooting Star!!¡± This call immediately resonated among the crowd as if a stone was thrown into a calm pond of water. After the initial call, the expression on these people changed to all sorts of manners: some were panicking or worried, but a small portion was simply deep in thought, and certain individuals were secretly pleased¡­¡­ All in all¡­.. Every person came up with different ideas concerning this terrible event. There was the small portion of people that could recall the event from a century ago and has secretly plotted to use the oing momentum to plot their course of action¡­. The only ones not speaking was this president Dorgan and the court divination astrologist. What was different between them is that Dorgan felt all of this was a little ridiculous. He is a magician, but he doesn¡¯t believe this astrological phenomenon is god¡¯s guidance. It¡¯s just that earlier he had a moment of thought about all of this, so he felt it was absurd to put himself into the same as the court astrologist. As for that Court Divination astrologist, he was already scared silly from the shock! Appearance of a shooting star! This is obviously a great ominous sign! He had personally performed a ¡°divination¡± and the results he made were supposed to be good, but a shooting star immediately appeared right afterwards. Wouldn¡¯t this mean he had violently pped himself in the face? Loss of face is small, but if this incurs his Majesty¡¯s wrath, then it was mostly he will face some tough luck in theing future. After making a bump noise, the court Astrologist fellpletely backwards on his ass, but no one around him dared lend him a hand. The only thing they did give him was a pitying look¡­.. A century ago when the shooting star appeared over the sky, the Emperor at the time immediately executed the court divination astrologist! From the looks of it¡­.. This person seems to be another unlucky fool. Whether it is a shooting star or anything else, Dorgan doesn¡¯t want to be dragged into this conflict of the imperial court. Thinking up to this point, Dorgan turned to face the already pale looking cab member and nodded before leaving. It was just then, a man wearing a magician¡¯s robes racing up the towers pushed over a bunch of nobles in his way. If not for the high leveled badge he was wearing and the fame this person had in the capital, the royal guards would have most likely stopped him long ago. Ignoring any manners of etiquette, this magician rushed up to Dorgan and whispered a few words into his ears. Originally Dorgan was still somewhat discontent at this person¡¯s action, believing the way this magician was acting in poor manners. But after listening to the words whispered into his ears, Dorgan¡¯s face suddenly turned pale! Trembling from shock, everyone standing near this president of the magician¡¯s union was wondering what was so shocking that could cause this person to be so pale. ¡°He¡¯s¡­¡­ Really dead?¡± Dorgan¡¯s face was as somber as it can get: ¡°Certain?¡± ¡°Certain.¡± This intruder¡¯s forehead was covered in a cold sweat: ¡°The life stone he left behind have already shattered¡­..¡± Several of the closer bystanders that heard thest word couldn¡¯t help but wonder at what was going on. In the magician¡¯s union, those that reach a certain level and status would definitely be honored and even directly receive help from the guild. The reason is because any powerful magician is an important power and a valuable asset to the guild. Unfortunately, all of these powerful individuals are matched with odd personalities that like to roam freely in the continent. In order tobat this situation, every important figure would leave behind a ¡®life stone¡¯ in the magician¡¯s union. This stone is specially imprinted with the life signature of each individual and would sense the life force of that person no matter where he is. This way, no matter where they are, the union would be able to at least know if that person is still alive or have already departed to the afterlife. ¡°You certain it is that person¡¯s?¡± This leader of the magician¡¯s union had deep eyes as he spoke, and if those that was closer paid more attention, they would notice Dorgan¡¯s fingers were even trembling. ¡°Absolutely certain.¡± This informer whispered in a low voice, ¡°It is the oldest stone te in storage¡­. It really shattered.¡± After all, he is the magician¡¯s union¡¯s president; Dorgan quickly realized this wasn¡¯t the ce to look emotion. Regaining hisposure, he quickly issued out amand in a rxed manner: ¡°Immediately go investigate! Exactly where did he die and how did he die. I don¡¯t believe on this continent there is any powerful individual capable of killing him! My God, he is dead¡­¡­ Be sure to investigate everything! Also, that female disciple he brought with him for the examination, make sure we are able to locate that little eighth level magician! Be sure to find her! Yes, most importantly, you remember?!¡± Dorgan takes in a deep breath: ¡°Last month, ording to the reports, didn¡¯t he take with him that little master of the Rowling family? Find him! We need to at least know what happened! What is the reason that caused such a powerful magician to perish! Maybe when he was killed, that little master of the Rowling family was beside him! Go investigate! Find out! GO!!!¡± With that said, the informant quickly moves away to pass on the order. Forcing himself to face the bystanders, Dorgan smiled, then sighed before exining: ¡°It¡¯s nothing much, no need to wonder. It seems today is destined to be a bad day¡­ The magician¡¯s union has painfully lost a legendary grand magician! I and the previous president¡¯s mentor, the great and legendary magician¡­ Gandalf, have passed away.¡± As soon as his words ended, all the bystanders erupted into an uproar¡­.. On this night after the scene of the shooting star and the spreading of the news brought forth by Dorgan, the entire capital was up in alert. At the same time, in the northern reaches of the Rnd continent, past the Lancang Grand Canal, crossing thousands of miles towards the Northern ins, and all the way into the vast ice-covered frozen forest. There was a group of people struggling to walk through the woods. Recing Hussein in the lead, Du Wei walked in front of the group while holding the knight¡¯s long sword to clear a path. From its appearance, the steel long sword was now covered in terrible fractures as if it would shatter from another blow. Du Wei¡¯s condition was very bad as he walked with a limp. Other than using the sword to clear a path, he would also asionally use it as a crutch. And behind Du Wei, the knight Hussein was even more miserable. Wrapping his head and left eye in an article of cloths, one could asionally see the seeping of blood on the surface. He knight looked extremely weak, his breathing was heaving and the coughing of blood would mix with his saliva as it dripped from a corner of his mouth. Not only that, his chest and back was also hurt and one arm was hanging from his chest. In an unstable manner, the knight was barely able to trail behind Du Wei. And farther behind, an unreal beauty was following them. Naturally, this woman is Queen Medusa. But at the moment, her face was pale bordering the line of transparency. Still eyes closed and an indifferent looking expression, what was surprising is the fact that she couldn¡¯t even walk by herself. Leaning against the big mouse Gargamel, Medusa¡¯s body looked so soft and frail as if she didn¡¯t have any bones. Poor Gargamel, not only did he have to walk in his weakened state, but he had let Medusa lean half of her body against this mouse. God have mercy on this mouse, nearly all of his gray hair was scorched ck. The long tail he had was missing half of its portion and even his ears were almost cut off. Within this group, the only one that looked intact was the graceful looking penguin QQ. Du Wei, Hussein, Medusa, Gargamel, and OQ This small team, whether human, snake, mouse, or penguin, all of them looked somber and saddened. But¡­ There was one person missing. The Old magician, the undying old fool was no longer within the group. Traveling through the frozen forest is extremely difficult. Du Wei and everyone had cuts and bruises all over their body. This team of powerful experts was nearly crippled at this point, even the act of walking was very difficult. Du Wei that was walking in the front suddenly shouted these words, ¡°The Canyon! Look! Canyon! We are at Treant¡¯s territory.¡± In the distance, dense trees and crevices can be seen on both sides of the low mountain terrain. This ce was originally the Canyon upied by Medusa. ¡°Hussein, the Fountain of Youth inside can treat your injuries.¡± Du Wei sighed. The Knight looked gloomy and didn¡¯t say anything other than snorted in a low voice. He suddenly puffed out his chest and marched past Du Wei. The knight was staggering as he walked, but the feeling he was giving off was that of an indomitable spirit. Sighing, Du Wei looked at Hussein¡¯s back as if the knight wanted to say something. The Knight suddenly turned and with only one eye looking at Du Wei: ¡°Remember that one day, sooner orter, I will fight my way back there! With that old dragon¡¯s head, I will pay homage to that undying old fool!¡± ¡°I believe you.¡± Du Wei nodded; his face no longer had any hint of joking. His eyes glinted with determination: ¡°Although I also don¡¯t really like the old guy, but we¡¯ll definitely seek vengeance against the dragon n!¡± ¡°Du Wei.¡± Hussein¡¯s body suddenly copsed. The knight was already at his limit to begin with and only held on with only his will. Now, Hussein could no longer hold out and leaned against a nearby tree. Using his remaining eye, Hussein stared at Du Wei: ¡°Listen up, that old dragon already killed him. Now you and I are the only inheritors of Aragon¡¯s will. I don¡¯t care whether you are willing or not, but both of us must carry on this burden from now on! Especially you! So, I wish you¡¯d stop seeking for ways out! If we are to seek vengeance against that old dragon, you have to grow and be as strong as Aragon in his prime! Otherwise, we are no match for that dragon! What exactly happened in these three days? A few yearster, Du Wei would sometimes bring up the story of his first adventure into the frozen forest with his subordinates. From the frozen forest to the Holy Mountain, his words always carried a trace of hatred whenever he referenced the old dragon and the hunting game that urred. ¡°At the time we already found a way to deal with the magic array in the ice field, but who would have thought that old dragon would catch up so fast? I originally thought that after two days of fleeing, that chief would take one day to catch up to us. But after two and a half day, that damn dragon already caught up to us. If not for Gandolf¡­..¡± Well then, let us rewind the time back three days to the point of the forgotten ice field. The Time is three days before the celebration of the Rnd Empires founding. The horrifying storm was currently blowing and several tornadoes had formed near the group. The possibility of the group¡¯s barrier being blown away could happen at any time¡­. ¡°Wind dodging needle? This is the wind dodging needle?¡± Du Wei looked at the thing in QQ¡¯s hand because as soon as he opened it, what was revealed is an ancient looking sword! Encrusted in the scabbard were seven colored gems and strange patterns were carved onto the handle. Who knows how long this sword was made, but It was obvious this is a sword! ¡°This is the wind dodging needle. I won¡¯t be wrong.¡± Behind him, the old magician has been transfixing his eyes at this thing. Then suddenly this old fe shouted out loud: ¡°This¡­ This is Aragon¡¯s sword!¡± ¡°What?¡± Du Wei turned to take a look at the old fe. ¡°The colored gems on the scabbard are actually magic nucleus that Aragorn collected from seven high tiered magical beasts he slew while crossing the continent. This weapon is documented to be a powerful magical weapon, sharp and matchless!¡± The old magician suddenly became all excited: ¡°This is the king¡¯s sword! Sword of Aragon!¡± Is this actually the wind dodging needle or the King¡¯s sword?! ¡°Fine then!¡± Du Wei shouted: ¡°Stop pping your gums! No matter if this thing is the king¡¯s sword or whatever wind dodging needle! As long as it can protect us from this shit storm then its good! Otherwise, we will all be dead! Now, QQ quickly tell me how to use this thing! Quick!¡± ¡°Quick!¡± Du Wei no longer had any patience left to argue with this penguin. ¡°Okay.¡± QQ sighed. Aragon told me as long as the destined person can pull out this sword from the sheet¡­..¡± Chapter 104 The 104th chapter ¡°fierce battle!¡± Pull it out? That¡¯s it? With 10,000-points of wonder, Du Wei hesitantly took hold of the sword, one hand on the scabbard and the other on the handle¡­¡­ With force. It wouldn¡¯t budge. Again with more force. Still unmoving. With a stern face and steady feet, Du Wei took in a deep breath to muster up his strength before shouting: ¡°tie!!¡± Under the pressure of his forceful pull, a clear and crisp sound could be heard from his efforts: Snip!! Then, the world was quiet¡­¡­ As if the sounds in the world werepletely cut off from Du Wei¡¯s ears. Focusing their eyes on what was in Du Wei¡¯s hand, even the old magician and Hussein werepletely absorbed in what they were seeing¡­¡­ In his past life, Du Wei had seen countless fantasy novels but they always had one blood puking segment: The protagonist would always receive a legendary ancient sword. If the authors were a bit more adventurous, the sword would even be from the age of the gods. Also, the sword would always be matchlessly sharp, capable slicing through anything like vegetable! But Du Wei understood now all of this was bullshit! Bullshit! With the advancement of time, the art of metal smelting will also progress. Even if those so called legendary swords and des from the past were to survive till now, they absolutely cannot be considered any form of treasure! Du Wei was really mad this time. How can someone that has gone through the modern educational system be so easily deceived by such silly legends¡­.. How could he have really believed an ancient sword can still be a peerless treasure? How can he believe it would still be razor sharp? A simple example would be the sword from Emperor Qin Shi. (The guy that built the great wall of china) If one were to take a regr house knife of the 21st century andpare it that ancient sword, the regr knife would be even sharper! Waste of words topare¡­ One is bronze, the other is steel! Which is sharper? It would seem this principle also applies to this world. No matter how garbage the art of metal smelting is on the continent, it should still advance a bit over a thousand years, right? So whether a sword from a thousand years ago can still be considered a treasure is up for debate. Regarding that sarcophagus hidden in the Holy Mountain: first it wasn¡¯t vacuum sealed to kill bacteria, second it wasn¡¯t corrosion and rust proofed. If not for luck, the oxidation effect alone is enough toy waste to the metal! So now, Du Wei was truly speechless as he held onto the so called king¡¯s sword in his hand. A sword is a sword¡­¡­ At least you can see the shape of it, just that it may not be a treasured sword and the sharpness is not even worth mentioning. This thing looked more like an archaeological artifact than a sword. From appearance wise: the sword was filled with yellow and green rust, the edge was so blunt that it was unlikely to even slice through a tree¡¯s bark, and there were so many cracks on the surface of the de that it looked like it would break at any moment. For such a thing, the only value that it would most like have is to ce it in a museum and honor it in the name of the founding emperor. This way the future generations would have a chance to see such a historic item. As for taking this thing as a weapon and going into battle to kill the enemy? Don¡¯t even think about it. Du Wei felt cheated and miserably deceived. Damn Aragon. Said he will leave behind a heavenly beast? But what he did leave behind is a penguin that could only spout nonsense without any practical skills. Said he will leave behind a king¡¯s sword, but it turned out to be an old rusted artifact! ¡°HA HA! HA HA! HA HA HA!¡± Du Wei¡¯sughter was so hard on the ear it was like a baby¡¯s scream. Shaking the thing in his hand, he turned to look at everyone but was shocked to find them all in a sluggish state. Brimming with anger, Du Wei forced a few words out his mouth: ¡°Are you certain this thing is the so called King¡¯s sword?¡± The old magician was wiping away his sweat at this point. The only one happy here seemed to be QQ¡­ ¡°It is not a sword, but a wind dodging needle! Master Aragon said it is a wind dodging needle¡­ But why do you have to say it is some kind of sword!¡± Inside his heart, Du Wei haspletely lost it. The only feeling he had now was a new and growing sensation of wanting to survive: ¡°I don¡¯t care what it is, sword or not, needle or not! In short, can this thing save our lives or not?¡± As long as you pull it¡­¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ve pulled it out.¡± Du Wei clenched his teeth: ¡°And then what?¡± After a long pause, the one that was nearly drained of all his energy earlier Gargamel, carefully eyed Du Wei¡¯s hand and couldn¡¯t resist reminding him in a low voice: ¡°Hey, your hands bleeding¡­¡­¡± ¡°Huh? ¡± Du Wei looked down and sure enough, the hand that was holding the hilt is bleeding. Heated with anger and the numbing caused by the cold weather, his sensation wasn¡¯t as keen as it should be so he didn¡¯t notice it until now. This ¡°antique¡± really couldn¡¯t keep up with Du Wei¡¯s strength. Even though he managed to pull the sword out with brute force, the hilt¡­. God knows what this handle is made of. ording to tradition on the Rnd Continent, the sword handles are usually made from wood. But this sword hilt has clearly been eroded over time. When he forcefully gripped the handle earlier to unsheathe the sword, it was obvious his strength had cracked the hilt. But from the inside, it seems as though something was hidden in the middle and that object had somehow punctured his hand. Twisting his eyebrows into a frown, he held the artifact between his arms and ripped off a piece of his clothing to wrap up his bloodied palm¡­.. It was at this moment, his eyes met up with the broken sword hilt and saw that there was something hidden inside. The cracks seemed to be uniformed and don¡¯t appear to bepletely caused by his grip. Carefully stripping away the already rotting pieces of wood, what was left afterwards is a thin, long object hidden away in the middle. This thing was cold to the touch and translucent like ss, but the material was much harder. If anything, the material looked like it was made out of a diamond like crystal. While the outeryer was translucent like a diamond, the middle segment looked like a long thin translucent ruby. Not knowing why, Du Wei could vaguely feel some kind of sensation that he couldn¡¯t describe with words as he held onto this object. Hidden inside this gemstone, there seems to be some kind of subtle energy flowing into his hand the moment he touched it¡­.. The shape of this gemstone is just like an elongated diamond and it just so happens that the sharp edges ended up piercing through his palm. From the drops of blood dripping out of his hand, a clearly visible stream of the liquid was slowly flowing into the crystal through some kind of hole in the crystal. The appearance was just like a gemstone pir with a line of blood in the middle. A simr example would be a mercury thermometer from his previous life. ¡°What is this thing?¡± Du Wei looked at the old magician, but it was obvious even this old fe had no idea regarding this this. Throwing the sword down onto the surface, Du Wei held out the diamond crystal and carefully examined it for a long time. After a moment, he finally noticed a small gap from the top of the crystal. Twisting it in his hand, he heard a tiny sound simr to that of a tin can being opened¡­.. Within seconds, the crystal divided into two halves, allowing him to retrieve the long object from within. This thing is obviously a thinly rolled up piece of parchment¡­. But for unknown reasons, this piece of parchment only turned slightly yellow after being locked inside for a millennium. Unlike the pieces of rotting wood that made up the sword handle, it is presumed the paper was preserved due to being kept in an air tight environment. In a gentle motion, Du Wei carefully opened the thinly rolled up parchment. From the stains of blood on the paper, he was surprised to see that fuzzy lines of handwritten text were formed from his blood. Fortunately, his sight was very good, otherwise the tiny texts on this p of paper the size of his palm would be very hard to identify. ¡°If your blood can get these words to appear, then congrattions, you have found the things I left behind.¡± This is the first sentence; seeing this caused a strange sensation to run down Du Wei¡¯s spine. ¡°I know you must be very confused and have a lot of questions right now, but all will be revealed in the future.¡± Nonsense, Du Wei inwardly thought this but it was obvious these words were handwritten by Aragon. With his nerves running wild, Du Wei continued reading the texts, hoping to find even the faintest clues or methods in solving the challenges they are facing now. ¡°The stuff I left you is not much because the matters toe will require you to finish it yourself. Be kind to the pet I left you, he will aid you in many ways. Also keep this crystal safe, it will give you strength in the future¡­¡­ Lastly, retrieve my heart that is in Chris¡¯s hand! Believe me, it is also to help yourself.¡± Du Wei could only sigh at these mindless words because they were not helpful to the current situation at all. But thankfully, the final passage was still very useful. ¡°Remember this regarding the ice field¡¯s magic array. In this world, there is no magic array that has an endless power source. There will eventually be a time when the power runs out. The biggest strength of this magic array is its ability to recycle energy! Whenever someone steps into the ice field, it will trigger its effect and provide energy to the magic array. I believe you should be able to understand the hidden meaning behind these words.¡± That was it. A piece of paper the size of a little palm could hardly be much. With limited space, the texts were so densely packed that it was extremely difficult to read. In total, Aragorn left behind four sets of message for Du Wei. First is to treat QQ well. Du Wei had some doubts because everything Aragon left him so far had caused him nothing but trouble. The third is requesting him to retrieve his heart from old Chris¡­.. Curling one side of his mouth up, Du Wei wasn¡¯t going to let this matter fall onto him. Fourth is information regarding the magic array. This was the part that is worth thinking over. Recycling¡­. Once triggered, it will also provide it with energy. Du Wei carefully thought for a moment and quickly realized the meaning. It is clear that in theory¡­ Any magic array cannot exist without limit! There is bound to be a time when the energy is depleted. A magic array is not a living magician. A mage can rest and meditate to replenish his energy, but a magic array is not a living being. Once it has depleted all of its energy, it will lose its purpose. The problem is the strength of this magic array and the seemingly endless supply of energy it has. (Think about it. This magic array was able to nearly deplete all of the energy from experts like the old magician and Aragon.) Du Wei is unaware of any magic array capable of existing in this world for thousands of years and still has such powerful magic reserve. Then the only suspicious part is the ¡°recycling¡±! Whenever someone enters this ce it¡¯ll activate the magic array, but at the same time, it will also provide it with energy. Then wouldn¡¯t it be that the power source of these endless storm assaults be from the person itself? Like now, Du Wei and others are relying on the defensive barrier to protect themselves from the storm. By constantly inserting energy into the barrier, they are also being drained of energy by the magic array to be used against them! Desperately fighting with all of one¡¯s strength, but in fact, they were fighting against themselves! The miraculous feature of this ancient magic array lies not in how strong it is, but in the fact that it could convert the energy of those inside and use it against them. The principle behind this is no different than ¡®redirecting¡¯ one¡¯s strength. The stronger you resist, the stronger the attacks be. This will continue until the person ispletely exhausted. Conversely, if the person in question didn¡¯t have any magic, they wouldn¡¯t be affected because if their fighting strength is zero, then the counter force would also be zero. Thinking this through, Du Wei immediately called out to the old magician: ¡°We need to change our approach, I thought of a way!¡± Du Wei wanted the old magician to first reduce the size of the barrier one step at a time, then slowly narrow down the energy input he was putting into it. When they first started, everyone was somewhat skeptical because by reducing the strength of the barrier, there was the possibility of the storm overwhelming them at any time! However, after enduring this for a while, Du Wei was acutely aware of the storm gradually weakening around them! Once Du Wei judged that his idea is correct, he once again asked the old magician to further reduce his energy input into the barrier. Step by step, they continued reducing the barrier to the tipping point. This way, the storm would gradually weaken over time¡­¡­ Just like that, they waited for the storm to weaken. Although they wasted half a day¡¯s worth of time for this, but the whistling wind around them was no longer at the dangerous level. Thus, the group was no longer facing the dire situation of constantly being struck by the des of wind caused by the raging storm. ¡°This is the best situation already.¡± Du Wei sighed. ¡°Why can¡¯t we continue doing this?¡± Hussein asked,¡± If we continue to decrease the energy level, wouldn¡¯t we make this damn wind stoppletely?¡± Du Wei smiled bitterly: ¡°This is after all a magic array; it should at least have its own reserve of energy. It¡¯s not possible for there to be no wind. Such a storm is actually here to cheat anyone that enters this ce so that they would use magic to fend off the wind. But once they use their magic, it will only lead to the storm bing stronger. The best approach is to withstand the storm as it is now. Compared to being torn to pieces by the wind, this is much better!¡± Sweating from fatigue, the old magician not only had to maintain the barrier around everyone, but he also had to subtly reduce the degree of energy input to the barrier so that the storm would weaken. Other than the old magician, it was likely no one else here is capable of performing such a feat. ¡°What Du Wei said is right.¡± The Old magician had already removed all of their magic defenses, letting the harsh wind blow against their unprotected bodies. Although the weather is a bit cold and walking through this ce is a bit difficult, but it was already the best situation they can hope for: ¡°Let¡¯s get moving! The distance from the agreed time with the dragon chief is only half a day!¡± Gusts of powerful winds constantly blew through the surface of the ice field. If one is not careful, a person can easily tip over from the asional shift in the winds. In Du Wei case, he had already made several somersaults. Fortunately he was wearing a thickyer of clothing so he wasn¡¯t injured, but he did suffer from the dizziness caused by the spinning. Hussein nced at Du Wei. Currently the knight is leading in the forefront of the group because none of them dares to use any form of magic or Dou Qi to deal with the storm. Due to this reason, Hussein became the strongest one in their group. Using his physical strength, the knight led the way by using his tall body as a shield in the front. For such a prideful guy like Hussein, the knight naturally stepped up and took responsibility for the group. This move by Hussein caused Du Wei to feel somewhat grateful and a form of respect towards the knight grew inside his heart. In terms of pure physical force, Hussein is also one of a kind on the continent. Forcibly pushing forward, his tall body was just like an unbreakable wall in the front of the group. Fortunately this time, the pace they were going at was incredibly faster than the previous days. By noon, the old magician said that ording to his calction, they had already covered half the distance needed. ¡°But now¡­¡­¡± Du Wei looked at the sky and smiled wryly: ¡°I estimate the old dragon is also starting now from the mountain.¡± ¡°The time he would catch up to us should be one day from now.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Right now, there is no longer any magic attack aiming at us. I think in one day¡¯s worth of time we should be able to get to the frozen forests, so we can¡¯t rest now. We must continue our efforts and move forward.¡± Originally the most powerful person in the group is the old magician, but he has now be the most vulnerable andgged behind everyone¡­. For a feeble old man like him to walk through the ice field and without aid from magic, is simply too severe. Without a word, Hussein simply lifted the old magician and carried him on his back. Hussein was also very tired, but without hesitation, he stood up and took responsibility. This prideful guy understood that he is currently the main pir supporting the group. Du Wei deeply admired this point.. The third day¡­¡­ For Du Wei and the others, the third day was the hardest. Putting all their effort into following behind Hussein, they also had to constantly and nervously look behind themselves for any disturbances. Du Wei suddenly spoke up: ¡°You notice? The wind is weakening.¡± Indeed, everyone also perceived this. Hussein could also slightly feel it was easier to walk through the ice field than before. Though it was still cold, the strong wind that could blow someone away was nowhere to be seen. ¡°Maybe we¡¯re about to get out.¡± Gargamel popped his head out from Du Wei¡¯s chest pocket. This person was the mostfortable because he could shrink his body down. Even if the mouse hid in Du Wei¡¯s pocket, it didn¡¯t increase the burden on him. ¡°It¡¯s true that we¡¯re getting close.¡± The Old magician looked gloomy: ¡°But that is not the reason the wind is weakening¡­.. Look behind you!¡± With the old magician¡¯s reminder, everyone looked behind. In the northern part of the sky, an endless expanse of dark cloud could be seen over the horizon. Thunder rained down like rain and if one were to look closely, they could even notice a giant vortex forming in the middle of the storm¡­¡­ ¡°Because the wind over here is all being attracted to that end.¡± The old Mage suddenly cried: ¡°Quick! We need to increase our speed! Come on! The old dragon hase! It is causing all the winds to focus on his position! This is a golden opportunity! Come on!¡± From the old magician¡¯s yell, the already tired crowd had no choice but to raise their spirit and push forward. The old magician didn¡¯t say this out loud, but inwardly everyone knew that if the old dragon caught up, they would all be in big trouble. Right now the weather in the ice field is a dead calm, but everyone was quite upset at this and desperately tried to run forward. It is at this moment a strange event urred in the sky! Over in the northern horizon, a thundering noise could be hearding from the area where the endless mass of dark clouds was located. And to the southern side of the sky, the sun was high in the sky without a hint of clouds blocking the light. The air was so quiet that it was bordering the line of abnormal¡­. But the more the group ran, the more scared they were! About an hourter. The group could already see the contour lines of the frozen forest ahead of them! Seeing that they were about to get out of the ice field, the hope inside their hearts lit up. But it was at this moment, a thundering howl came from behind their backs. Like a tangible object, the wave of sound quickly fanned out in all directions. In mere seconds, the storming dark clouds in the sky dispersed from the shockwave! A momentarily silence followed because the terrifying shock wave actually pierced right through the storm. Then immediately, a loud howling roar reached everyone¡¯s ears from the north! This sound was the angry roar of a dragon and the shockwave from it seemed like it would even shake the entire sky! That horrifying dragon patriarch actually used his tyrannical powers to temporarily scatter the storm! Then with the sound of his ROAR, a golden light quickly darted over from the north! Despite all their efforts to run, it was to no avail as a big shadow quickly overtook them. Then, with a great ROAR¡­¡­.. The old dragon caught up! Its body was far bigger than any dragon Du Wei had ever seen! Brimming with a gold light, it was as if each scale on its body waspletely made of gold! The immense body had no hint of clumsiness; instead, it had an indescribable noble look to it! A Golden Dragon! The Dragon n¡¯s Patriarch is clearly the world¡¯s highest ranked creature of legend! Themon dragon families are divided into ck Dragon, Red Dragon, White Dragon, Green Dragon, and Yellow Dragon. Each of these types of dragons are born with a unique power: ck Dragon specializes in dark magic, Red Dragon represents fire magic, White Dragon represents wind magic, Green Dragon symbolizes water, and Yellow dragon is good at earth magic. But the Gold Dragons are the most powerful among all the Dragons! Its physical body is not only gigantic, but also beyondpare to the other species. ording to legend¡­. Unlike its peers, the gold dragon could utilize every element! With a pale face, the old magician screamed: ¡°This old guy went all out! He actually dared to do that!¡± The old magician knew clearly this insane Dragon had used his tyrannical magic to clear away the violent storm, but this method can onlyst temporarily! By using such immense power to break apart the storm, it is the same as inserting that much force into the magic array! After the storm reforms, the strength of the ice storm would be even more frightening! It is only a matter of time before the clear skies above their heads turn into a raging storm! Ignoring all consequences, the old dragon seemed determined in killing everyone. The frozen forest may look like it was right in front of them, but in fact; the distance between it and the group was still quite far. This situation was just like dangling an apple in front of a starving animal, but no matter what the animal did, it couldn¡¯t reach it. Seeing that they cannot outrun the old dragon, the old magician steeled his heart and yelled: ¡°You guys run! I¡¯ll block him for a while!¡± With that said, the old magician brought out his wand and quickly chanted a spell to increase its size to that of a person¡¯s height. Gripping it in his hand, he began conjuring up another spell and then stabbed the staff into the icy ground. From it, massive pieces of iceyer on the ground started to crack and split apart as it floated into the air¡­¡­ Spreading apart his arms as if to embrace the sky, the old magician lets out a loud yell as a sh of light crossed his eyes! Instantly, the ice that was floating in the sky shot towards the old dragon! Mixed in with the whistling sound are the howling roar of a Dragon and the sounds of ice shattering upon impact, but it was clear the old dragon¡¯s body wasn¡¯t harmed in the slightest! Seeing this, the old magician started to chant even louder in a dignified manner. Rising out of the ground, ice pieces of all sizes started floating into the air. As ifmanded by his finger, the pieces that he pointed to immediately started to rotate. Mixed with the cold air, the ice shards quickly picked up pace to form a whirling hurricane like that in the storms. Using the momentum, the ice shards quickly transformed into des of ice and were propelled towards the old dragon at a frightening speed. Forced tond by the oing attack, the old Dragon howled unwillingly. Spreading his wings out, the dragon formed a ming wall around himself by shooting out mes from its mouth. Due to the intense heat from the mes, the ice des were melted away even before they had a chance to make contact. The old magician never intended to defeat the old dragon this way, he simply wanted to draw its attention and stall for as much time as he could. It was at this moment, dark clouds once again formed in the northern horizon! By using his immense strength to temporarily clear the storm, the resulting side effect has created an even more terrifying storm than before! ¡°Don¡¯t think you can run away!¡± The gigantic dragon lets out a long howl. Under the intense vibration caused by the old dragon¡¯s howling roar, the old magician¡¯s face quickly turned ugly. Raising a hand, he quickly erected a transparent shield to block the oing st of sounding his way. If he didn¡¯t do at least this much, the force alone would be enough to kill a person! Despite blocking the attack with the barrier, the Draconic magic was still able to cause great damage to the old magician because he was in the forefront of the attack. Before the noise could even die down, the old magician already spat out a mouthful of blood. With unquestioning eyes, he grabbed hold of his wand and raised it towards the distant sky as he quickly chanted the phrases for the next spell. In a sh, the sun¡¯s light was suppressed and the sky darkened to reveal the stars in space. Under the stars light, the old magician¡¯s spirit suddenly spiked. Waving his wand around, multiple stars quickly flew across the sky and a light from the sky suddenly pressed down against the old dragon! As if an invisible mountain suddenly pressed against his body, the old dragon yelled out a cry to resist, but was surprised to find his body stiffening up. The pressure made him feel very ufortable and when he tried to spread his wings, the old dragon found that he could no longer take a single step forward. The old magician¡¯s face was almost transparent in how pale he was. The magic he used is a move called the ¡°chains of the stars¡± and the idea behind it is to use the force of the stars to lock down the enemy. Despite his efforts, the old magician felt like his strength waspletely drained because this dragon patriarch was simply too strong and the resistance this guy was giving off continued to grow with each passing second. Not long after, the old magician could hear a crisp cracking sound from his wand. Looking over, the gemstone on top had a clear line of crack going through it! Then the cracks started to spread like a spider¡¯s web. Beads of sweat started to form on his forehead, but he couldn¡¯t relent because the pressure from the dragon wasing at him like waves! The Dragon chief yelled: ¡°You think you can trap me? Oh please! Old friend, 200 years ago you weren¡¯t my opponent. Now that my body is restored, you are definitely no match for me! This move you used is called the chains of the stars and in the past, Aragon was able to trap me with this spell, but your skills are still too far off from him!¡± With that said, the old dragon suddenly uttered a sound and its body glowed so bright that even the light from the stars were dimmed. Then a series of ¡°bobobobo¡± sounds could be heard throughout the dragon¡¯s whole body. The ¡°chain of the stars¡± has been broken! Pooof! Suffering from the energy rebound of having his spell broken, the old magician sprayed out another mouthful of blood. Not only that, the magic gemstone on top of his wand also shattered into multiple pieces! Grinning at the sight, the golden dragon flew towards the old magician! It was at this moment, a sharp sword Dou Qi shot towards him from his nk. Carrying a murderous aura, the sword Dou Qi had already pierced through his golden body¡­¡­.. Letting out a howling roar of pain, the lower left side of his neck was struck with so much force that even the golden scales were broken through, allowing the attack to prate into his flesh! The golden Dou Qi of a Saint Knight has been fully utilized. Taking advantage of the small distraction caused by the old magician, Hussein quietly sneaked up from the dragons behind and vindictively stabbed the dragon¡¯s neck with his sword Dou Qi! But the toughness of the gold Dragon still left the Saint Knight feeling helpless because that one strike was enough to split an entire mountain, yet it had only caused some minor injuries! Seeing the golden colored blood on his de, Hussein¡¯s eyes became like that of a real sword. Without pause, he flipped the sword in his hand and aimed it towards the dragon¡¯s eyes! The old dragon couldn¡¯t underestimate the knight¡¯s attack because even he understood this energy was enough to harm his powerful body. In order to dodge the oing attack, he had to quickly twist his body to avoid making contact with the knight¡¯s sword. Despite having a massive body, the golden dragon wasn¡¯t clumsy in his movements because their kind was naturally gifted with a unique body. Under the dragon¡¯s roar, Hussein¡¯s sword couldn¡¯t make contact and even exposed himself to the dragon¡¯s mouth. Opening its jaw, the dragon immediately sted out a breath of fire at the knight. In order to block the oing mes, Hussein had to raise his sword in front of his body and wrap his Dou Qi into his sword to form a barrier. Despite his efforts, Hussein¡¯s body was sent flying as deep as 10 meters into the ground! Boom!! With an explosive release of his Dou Qi, Hussein broke out from under the ice and floated into the air. Holding his sword, the knight released all of his Dou Qi as he stared at the enemy! He may look carefree at the moment, but only Hussein knew that the previous strike he used was already infused with everything he had. Yet even after taking a direct hit from his sword, the dragon¡¯s powerful body only received minor injuries. With only half his strength left, Hussein knew it was impossible for him toe out on top. But Hussein¡¯s personality had always been prideful and tenacious. Instead of cowering away in the face of such a powerful enemy, the knight¡¯s spirit suddenly grew infinitely stronger. Not holding back, Hussein unreservedly released all of his Dou QI and grew into a mass of burning me in the sky. Under the dimming of the sun¡¯s light, he had already be the most dazzling point in the sky! Letting out a loud shout, the knight changed the handling of his sword to two hands and immediately began performing a move from the stars Dou Qi martial set. Focusing his energy, the Dou Qi that is wrapped around his body started to crowd around the long sword in his hand and from it, an intense light was glowing so bright that one couldn¡¯t look directly at it without hurting their eyes! In one big shout, the sword was already flying out! With sound breaking speed, the sword wrapped in the Stars Dou QI flew towards the gold dragon! In a violent vortex of light, this attack Hussein was using was just like aet shooting down to earth! This move is a skill that he had been practicing from the Stars Dou QI martial set left behind by Aragon. By spending years observing the stars, Aragon was able toe up with this destructive skill by simting aet! If this move was performed by Aragon himself, this ability would have been so powerful that it could have split the very sky! Although Hussein¡¯s attempt is good, but it was stillcking inparison. Seeing the dazzlinget already in front of him, the gold dragon lets out a roar and wraps his entire body in a beaming light. Raising his two ws, the old dragon attempts to intercept the attack¡­¡­ With a loud and explosive rumble, Du Wei and the others could barely stand from the earthquake like tremors on the ground. The ice surface in the field quickly copsed to expose countless dreadful abysses. Even the gigantic dragon was letting out an unending roar in the face of the explosion of light! After performing his strongest move, Hussein had already reached his limit. No longer able to fly, he could only fall onto the surface of the ice field. Holding onto his sword like a crutch, the knight was panting hard¡­.. But what scared the knight right now is that the dragon didn¡¯t seem the least bit diminished from his attack¡­¡­ The shockwave from the explosion shot out into the sky and once again shattered the forming dark clouds over in the northern horizon. So one can imagine the terrifying strength of this move performed by Hussein! But after the explosive lights faded away, the dragon still stood! Covered in ayer of light, the normally golden scales on the dragon had turned into a set of armor and extruding a surreal aura as if it was not of this world! ¡°Dragon Lord Armor!¡± The old magician smiled wryly: ¡°He must be really desperate to summon the Dragon Lord Armor!¡± The dragon specie is the most favored creatures of god and the dragon patriarch is even gifted with a unique skill only he could use. When fighting an enemy, the individual can call forth a legendary armor blessed by the Dragon God! The only drawback this skill had was that it can only be called upon once in battle and the time between the next use is extremely long. Who could have thought that this dragon patriarch would even summon the Dragon Lord Armor in order to kill them! ¡°Dragon Lord Armor! Humph!¡± The usually resolved face of Hussein suddenly showed a hint of ruthlessness: ¡°I don¡¯t believe there is something like an absolute defense in this world!¡± With that said the Knight took in a deep breath and once again released his Dou Qi. Aiming his sword, Hussein jumped towards the gold dragon and sent countless sparks of Dou Qi flying out towards the old dragon! This skill is another move from the Stars Dou Qi martial set. Its strong point is to divide the Dou Qi into multiple points to attack the enemy from different angles. Hails of meteor rained down on the dragon¡¯s body, but it was to no avail. Not only did it not damage the enemy¡¯s armor, the attacks were deflected even before they made contact. Seeing this, Hussein held onto his sword without any hint of retreating and shot straight towards the dragon! ¡°Come back Hussein!!¡± The old magician cried out loud in a panicking tone. Sure enough, before Hussein could even get close enough tond a hit, the old dragon already retaliated with a beam of light from one of its ws and a st of mes from its mouth¡­.. Originally, Hussein was a spent bullet to begin with. For him to take another hit in his weakened state is enough to send him flying backwards and hurt him so badly that he felt like his entire body had shattered. Afternding on the ground, the knight was enshrouded in a dragon¡¯s breath as if he was being burned alive. Despite what it may look like, the dragon¡¯s breath is not actually a me, but it sure hurt like one! Letting out a painful cry, the knight rolled around in the ice and snow in hopes of putting out the dragon¡¯s breath. Despite his efforts, the ice and snow were easily incinerated and the dragon¡¯s breath showed no sign of weakening in the least! Seeing the knights golden Dou Qi and some of his flesh being being melted away by the dragon¡¯s breath, the old magician quickly rushed over to his side and pulled out a bottle of silvery liquid. Only after pouring the liquid onto the knight did the dragon¡¯s breath go out. But by then, Hussein already had signs of severe burns all over his body! This injury is not normal because the body of a Saint Knight is extremely tough and has the capacity to self-regenerate, but the breath of a golden dragon is very hard to dispel. With a terrifying scar across his face and a deformed looking right eye due to severe burn, Hussein could barely stand up at this point! After a severe battle, two of the strongest individuals from Du Wei¡¯s side is now defeated. The old magician was still fine, but Hussein has been temporarily disabled and could no longer retaliate. It is not clear what the old magician was thinking. Dropping his wand, the old fe sat crossed legged onto the icy floor and stared straight at the dragon patriarch. ¡°Surrendering now?¡± The golden dragonughed and pointed one of his ws towards the south: ¡°Give it up; I will not let you have the chance to run!¡± It was at this moment, a soft voice suddenly reached him from the front. Unknown to everyone, Medusa that was originally standing beside Du Wei had quietly walked up to the dragon. With her thin body and beautiful face, Medusa stood in front of the dragon and gently furrowed her brows. ¡°Although¡­.. This matter doesn¡¯t concern me¡­ But I don¡¯t know why, I hate you.¡± Medusa spoke coldly: ¡°Maybe it is because I have learned the meaning behind the word ¡®Companion¡¯? Anyways, it doesn¡¯t please me knowing you¡¯re hurting mypanions¡­ I hate you¡­¡­ So¡­..¡± ¡°So¡­¡­ Look at me!¡± This beautiful snake spoke in a cold way. With that said, Medusa was already facing the gigantic dragon with open eyes! Chapter 105 The 105th chapter ¡°The continent¡¯sst Magister.¡± Medusa¡¯s gaze! ording to legends, this is the strongest form of petrification magic. Not even the Dragons are immune to this! When the beautiful Medusa opened her eyes, it was like her gaze had already locked onto the old Dragon¡¯s body! Bewitchingly beautiful! Almost impossible to grasp, the allure in her eyes was enough to bind the souls of any man to her will. Like a bottomless chasm, once someoneys their eyes on her, they would be unable to resist and be fully attracted to her¡­¡­ Despite being the king of the Dragon¡¯s and sitting on top of the world¡¯s creature ranking, this prideful and proud Dragon with unimaginable strength still couldn¡¯t help but be attracted to Medusa after looking into her demonic eyes. When he looked into her eyes, what did he see? No one knows, but the Gold Dragon immediately changed from his wild looking state of mind to a very quiet manner¡­.. Slowly but surely, his eyes began to look hollow and empty as if his very soul is being sucked out by Medusa¡¯s beauty. Yes, it is beautiful. With ck eyes different from the rest of her appearance, they weren¡¯t bright to look upon and even had a hint of mncholy mixed into them. Human schrs or poets would normally describe a woman¡¯s eyes as a beautiful shining gem, but in Medusa¡¯s case, her pupils carried a depth so deep that one wouldn¡¯t be able to see the end. Where in the world would one see such a beautiful gem? In front of her eyes, even the luster of ck jewels and pearls would pale inparison. No matter what, a Gold Dragon is after all an organism of higher stature. Instinctively aware of something wrong with the situation, the Gold Dragon wanted to turn away but an irresistible force inside his heart prevented him from doing so¡­. And then a subtle ¡®kakakka¡¯ noise could be heard¡­¡­ Starting from his legs, a strange color of gray started to appear on his usually yellowish scales covering his body. Very quickly, the grayish spots started to spread upward and took on a hard stone like texture¡­.. Soon, the petrification effect had already reached the torso area¡­.. At this time, the Gold Dragon finally broke free from his daze, but it was already toote! Unable to resist the stoning effect, the old Dragon couldn¡¯t budge his wing even an inch when he tried to spread his wings open. With an unwilling ROAR, the stoning effect had already reached the Dragon¡¯s neck! The Gold Dragon angrily cried out: ¡°Medusa! Insignificant snake kind! Lowly reptilian creature! How dare you use your eyes on me, the high and mighty Dragon race!¡± Angered by Medusa, the old Dragon was furious! With a loud shout, the Gold Dragon¡¯s roar carried with it some kind of strange magic. This is Draconic magic belonging only to the Dragon race. With a sudden spike in the Dragon¡¯s aura, some mysterious force started to push outward from the Dragon¡¯s body to resist the spreading petrification effect! The resistance seems very effective because the stoning effect can¡¯t seem to spread past the neck no matter what. As for the rest of the body, the two forces of magic collided against each other, vying for supremacy and control. Medusa continued to remain silent in front of the Gold Dragon as she stood there. Compared to the huge bulking body of the Gold Dragon, Medusa looked tiny and delicate inparison. But those pairs of ck eyes were sending out a terrifying gaze of infinite ck, as if to swallow everything into their darkness¡­¡­ The Gold Dragon desperately tried to resist with his Draconic magic, but eventually the battle tipped in Medusa¡¯s favor. For him tost so long under the legendary gaze of Medusa is truly unbelievable¡­¡­ With an unwilling roar, the petrifaction effect had spread to its head. When the Dragon opened his mouth, he looked like he wanted to spit out some kind of angry words before finally solidifying¡­¡­ This Gold Dragon as big as a mountain finally turned into a stone statue! Everyone seemed relieved, and Medusa continued to silently stand there in front of the Gold Dragon. Seeing the enemy finally sumbing to her powers, Medusa¡¯s body suddenly shook for a second before slowly falling down like a flower bouquet! The strength of the Gold Dragon is indeed terrifying. In this one use of her iconic ability, Medusa nearly depleted all of her magical energy! ¡°The gaze of Medusa¡± is not unbeatable. At the very least if the opponent¡¯s magical strength is high enough, they would then have the ability to resist her. Seeing her frail body dropping to the floor, Du Wei rushed forward and lifted her body from the ground. Despite her weakened state, the first words she uttered when Du Wei came up to her were: ¡°Quick! Cover my eyes, can¡¯t let my eyes see the light¡­¡­¡± Her beautiful face now was pale and even had a deathly scent surrounding her! Du Wei was scared at what he saw, but without hesitation, he immediately tore off a piece of his clothing andyered it on top of Medusa¡¯s eyes. Du Wei ran up to the old magician¡¯s side while holding Medusa, ¡°She¡¯s okay, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right¡­¡­ However, Medusa¡¯s iconic gaze consumed a lot of her magic. And magical beasts are inherently different from humans. Relying only on their magic nucleus, their speed of recovery is much slower than a magician¡¯s. Who knows how long it would take her to recover the energy she consumed to petrify a Gold Dragon¡­..¡° Sitting on the ground, the old magician squinted his eyes and stared at the stone statue: ¡°Now, quick! Together with Hussein, leave! Quick! This is thest chance!¡± Du Wei frowned at the Old magician¡¯s serious tone: ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Hasn¡¯t he already been¡­¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not so easy.¡± The old magicianughed bitterly:¡± Do you think a Gold Dragon, the most powerful of their kind and God¡¯s favorite pet is so easy to kill?¡± With that said, the old magician stared at Du Wei: ¡°Quickly run! I can¡¯t believe you didn¡¯t run away during the battle just now! You expect me to praise your courage! You are such an idiot! Hussein and I are trying to dy things to give you a chance to escape! But you just stood there! Do you want us to die in vain! Go on, go! Don¡¯t hesitate!¡± Du Wei puts Medusa down to go help Hussein, but instead, the knight gently pushed him away: ¡°I don¡¯t need you to lift me. Old fool is right, now get out of here!¡± With only a single eye left and an unstable body, Hussein still held his head high as he tried to straighten his body. Using his remaining left eye, the knight gave the old magician a deep nce as he spoke: ¡°You really have to use that method?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The old magician smiled: ¡°My friend, I leave the rest to you!¡± This sentence was more like a will than anything else. The Old Mage didn¡¯t say anything more, but it seems the deep look he gave was enough to convey his meaning. Hussein paused for a moment and took in a deep breath. Though his body was in pain due to the injury, the knight clenched his teethes and said: ¡°I understand!¡± Du Wei could already feel something was wrong. With a dark face, he looked at the old magician¡¯s face: ¡°What are you trying to do, could it be that you don¡¯t want to go?¡± It was at this moment, circles of light suddenly floated out from the Gold Dragon¡¯s petrified body. On top of the light, strange illusionary symbols could be seen¡­¡­ The once lifeless body of the Gold Dragon suddenly soared to life again! Although it¡¯s still just a statue, the already diminished aura from the Dragon once again emanated out from the inside! ¡°Why are you hesitating?!¡± The Old magician¡¯s face looked dark as he loudly yelled at Du Wei: ¡°You are a smart person, so stop doing stupid things! Don¡¯t let my sacrifice be in vain!¡± With that said, the old magician raised his hand into the air and something suddenly flew into Du Wei¡¯s hands. The thing was the magic bag the old magician usually carries with him. ¡°All my stuff is in there, now I gift them to you! If you appreciate our rtion, then take care of my poor apprentice!¡± With thosest words, the Old magician gently lifted his finger and pointed at him. Before Du Wei could say anything else, a scene of when they first entered the frozen forest started to rey in front of him again! Once again, Du Wei lost control of his body and became a puppet under the old magician¡¯s magic. Letting out a sigh, Hussein mustered up thest remnant of his Dou Qi and carried Du Wei. Gargamel had no other choice but to also change into his humanoid form because he was responsible for holding Medusa. ¡°Goodbye, undying old fool!¡± Finishing his word, Hussein walked away in big stride towards the south while carrying Du Wei. Although seriously injured, the strength of a Saint Knight could not be underestimated. While carrying Du Wei with one hand, the knight easily caught the penguin with his other as he passed by. While carrying Medusa on his shoulders, Gargamel took onest glimpse at the old magician and asked this before departing: ¡°Even though you didn¡¯t say this, but I had already guessed this. Lord Gandalf, Magister¡­. I¡­..¡± (Magister is a title given to only those that have trained multiple high leveled wizards in their lifetime.) ¡°Say no more master Gargamel. Since you know my identity, then I¡¯ll ask you for this one thing.¡± ¡°Please say it.¡± ¡°If you want to restore your body into that of a human, you will need to train your transformation magic up to the tenth level. So it¡¯s for the best that you stay close to Du Wei.¡± The Old magician continued speaking in a calm tone: ¡°You cannot go back to the magicians union. Only by Du Wei¡¯s side will you survive in the human world. The magician¡¯s union will not ept a magician that has disappeared from the records for so many years. Also, master Azrael won¡¯t allow you to go back in order to avoid exposing the truth of what happened in the frozen forest!¡± Gargamel had aplex look in his eyes, but then the mouse bent his body and performed a standard etiquette of the Rnd continent. ¡°I am much honored. In my lifetime, I was able to travel so many days with the continent¡¯s legendary Lord Magister Gandalf.¡± With that, the mouse actually showed a near reverence look in his eyes. Bending down as he moved backwards to show his respect, Gargamel quickly left with the weakened state Medusa on his shoulders. The circles of light with the strange symbols have already faded away from the stone statue. In its ce, a violent surge of aura once against filled the Dragon and bursts of wind blew outward from its body! Into the distance, dark clouds started to reform around the northern sky. But this time, it was even more violent and terrifying than the previous two times. The thickness of the clouds and pressure in the air was so violent and strong that it nearly touched the ground. After being forcefully dispersed by brute force from the moves of several powerful experts, the magical storm that has gathered now was so fierce, it was unstoppable! The wise eyes of the Old magician remained calm as he watched the petrified skin of the Gold Dragon return to normal. Instead of fear, he had a smile on his face when he saw the dark clouds in the horizon: ¡°Oh old friend, although you can call upon the ¡®Dragon God¡¯s blessing¡¯ to ward off any abnormal state, but ording to my knowledge, the Dragon God¡¯s blessing can only be used once every 100 years and consumes half of your strength! Even if you could recover from the petrified state, how much of your strength will you be left with after facing the oing storm and escaping back to the Holy Mountain?¡± With that said, the number one ranked magician andst remaining Magister of the continent stood up. Patting away the bloodied dust off his robe, he started tough as he watched the raging storm over the horizon as it drew closer. As a reply to the old magician¡¯s mocking question, the Gold Dragon lets out a great ROAR. In one booming rumble, all of the petrified skin fell off his body and what was left is a fully reformed looking Gold Dragon! Not only were all the scales and injuries healed, the Gold Dragon¡¯s body was also revitalized back into his peak state! Dragon God¡¯s blessing is indeed the Gold Dragon¡¯s life insurance. Even in a state of near death, the Dragon god¡¯s blessing will still take effect! Holding his head high, the prideful Old Dragon didn¡¯t seem the least bit caring about the oing storming their way. Shouting in an arrogant manner: ¡°I don¡¯t care about anything else; killing you now is my biggest wish! My old friend, I thought I can spare your life, but now I¡¯ve changed my mind! You¡¯re still going to block me? Human magic is naturally suppressed by Draconic magic! Thisw was set by the Gods! Unless you¡¯re stronger than I am, your magic cannot go against me! Your strength is lower than mine, so you will only lose by using your human magic against me!¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± The old magician slightly stooped his back to nod: ¡°What you said is not wrong. The properties of human magic are naturally suppressed by Draconic magic, thisw set by the gods is indeed correct. But I think I still have a way to dy you for a while! At least long enough to not let you catch up with mypanions!¡± With those words, the old magician began chanting some sort of strangenguage! This is not of the humannguage, or any kind of knownnguage for that matter. His words were more like a call or a cry¡­¡­ ¡°You, I can¡¯t believe you came up with this idea!¡± The tone of the Gold Dragon¡¯s voice changed at these words, but he was grinning as he spoke the next sentence: ¡°You¡¯re seeking death!¡± ¡°I am seeking death, but I¡¯m sure I can dy you till the storm descends upon us!¡± With that statement, Gandalf¡¯s body suddenly expanded like a balloon. Inch by inch his skins started to tear apart and his bones started to undergo a quick but strange and dramatic change¡­¡­ With a loud cry, the robe wearing mage known as Gandalf was nowhere to be seen! In its ce was another Dragon facing the Gold Dragon in a standoff¡­¡­ Although his size was much smaller than the Gold Dragon, but its ws, body, wings, and thick torso¡­. Was all red ¨C This is a fire Dragon! This is not some kind of human transformation magic, but rather another form of magic that has already disappeared from the Rnd Continent for hundreds of years¡­.. Within the magic tier set by the Gods, this is the closest form of magic to the natural forces of nature¡­.. Druid transformation! ¡°I know¡­¡­¡± Red Dragon raises his head, looking at the Gold Dragon: ¡°My magic can¡¯t stand against you because of the magic tier set by the Gods. But if I transformed into a Dragon, I can at least dy you!¡± Then in thenguage of the Dragons, Gandalf in his Red Dragon form actually started to use Draconic magic to form a series of notes around himself. Once dissipated by the wind, the notes turned into a mark and fell upon his body! ¡°The Golden rule!¡± The Gold Dragon was infuriated: ¡°Why are you able to use the Dragons Golden rule!!! All you did was take on the form of a Dragon!¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re wrong!¡± Red Dragon Growls: ¡°My friend, I am a Druid! ording to the Druid transformation spell, any specie a Druid takes on can enjoy all of the speciesw and their powers in life! This is also the specie tier level set by the Gods, did you forget?!!¡± After a pause, Red Dragon continues slowly in a low voice: ¡°ording to the Golden rule set by the Dragon God, when facing the challenge of the same species, both parties are not allowed to use magic! The only weapon they can use is their natural Dragon strength to fight! What I said is not wrong is it? Oh respected Dragon chieftain!¡± The Gold Dragon was speechless. The Old magician lets out a roar: ¡°Do you regret it now my friend?! You can¡¯t disobey the Golden rule because if you did, your Dragon Lord Armor and Dragon God blessing will be recovered by the great Dragon God! This is the iron d rule passed on for eons!¡± With a roar, the old magician turned Red Dragon opens his wings and attacked the Gold Dragon! With a terrible collision sound, the two high ss animals ruthlessly mangled together. Abandoning all use of their Draconic magic, the two relied on their fearsome strength and ws to attack each other! A Gold Dragon is indeed superior to all other kinds of Dragons. The old magician in his Red Dragon form was at aplete disadvantage the entire time. The red scales covering his body were already bloodied and broken in many ces; even his wings were brutally damaged by the Gold Dragon! Despite everything, Gandalf desperately bit into the Gold Dragon¡¯s neck, but it was no use. The sharp teethes of a Red Dragon was simply not enough to prate into the flesh of the Gold Dragon. In an attempt to remove Gandalf from his body, the Gold Dragon violently writhed around hoping to fling him off. Despite the Gold Dragon¡¯s effort, the big body of the Red Dragon was just like sticky candy, refusing to budge! Finally, after a bloody and fierce battle in the cold, the Gold Dragon seeded in suppressing the Red Dragon under his feet. Under the deadly biting force of the Gold Dragon on his neck, the life in Gandalf¡¯s eyes started fading away. ¡°Die, foolish thing!!¡± With a twist of Gandalf¡¯s neck, the Gold Dragon finished the deed and the body of the Red Dragony limp on the ground¡­¡­ But Du Wei and the rest were already long gone, disappearing into the cover of the frozen forest¡­¡­. ¡°Damn it! Damn you guys! Despicable humans!!! I will always remember this day!!!¡± The Dragon Chief angrily growled, but the magical storm behind him was already closing in! His raging howl did not travel far because the noise from the unstoppable storming his way had masked every other form of sound nearby¡­¡­. 960 years after the founding of the Rnd Empire, on the eve of the national day. A shooting star appeared in the sky and was considered by everyone as a bad sign. What followed afterwards is the shattering of an important life stone in the Magician¡¯s Union. The news of this individual¡¯s death caused great grief among their ranks because thest great Magister, Lord Gandalf has sadly passed away. This chain of news wasn¡¯t widely spread yet. At the very least, a group in the north didn¡¯t know this. Two human, one snake, and one mouse was currently struggling to walk through the frozen forest. Their orientation is towards the South! On the same day, the magicians union sent out an urgent order to every branch location on the continent using a teleportation circle. On the bottom of every order was a gold olive leaf symbol representing the authority of the president! ¡°Use everything in our power to search for the missing young master of the Rowling Household!¡± Chapter 106 The 106th chapter (Gandalf¡¯s belonging) Coming out of the Frozen Forest, Du Wei and his party are currently taking a rest in the Canyon that was recently returned to the Treant¡¯s. Originallyprised of several of the continents number one experts, this small team nearly met its end after a bloody and fierce battle on the forgotten ice field. The Dragon chieftain, stationed at the highest point of the creature ranking roster set up by God is truly extraordinary. The team didn¡¯t fare well even afterbining the forces of a Saint Knight, a Magister mage, and a Medusa. They may have caused the dragon chieftain to use both of his trump cards in the end, but the price was a nearly disabled Saint Knight and an energy deprived Medusa. The biggest loss in the party is undoubtedly the old fool known as the Continents number one mage and titled a legendary Magister. (Magister is a title given only to those that have trained several high leveled magicians in their lifetime) Under such an oue, the position of being the strongest within the party has now befallen Du Wei. By relying on such a meager level of strength to transverse the Frozen Forest is undoubtedly very dangerous. If the party was unlucky enough to encounter another high leveled magical beast in these conditions, the group would have likely been killed. Fortunately, the Canyon provided a chance to breathe. The Fountain of youth can treat any injuries. Although the side effect is the solidification of the person¡¯s form, but Hussein is not someone that is cultivating any kind of transformation magic, so naturally he didn¡¯t care. The main problem lies in the fact that certain areas burned by the Gold Dragon were stubbornly resisting the healing effect of the Fountain of Youth. Most of Hussein¡¯s injuries have already healed, but certain areas injured by the dragon¡¯s breath weren¡¯t so lucky¡­. Mainly his blinded left eye. Originally, Hussein¡¯s personality is that of extraordinary perseverance and patience. Despite such setbacks, the knight became even more resolute. Wrapping a cloth around his left eye, the knight seemed as though nothing was lost and continued to stay silent. Just like Hussein, there was also Medusa. If not for Medusaing out at thest moment and performing her iconic gaze to petrify the Gold Dragon, it was likely everyone here would not have made it thus far. If not for the waters from the Fountain of Youth, the energy depleted Medusa would have most likely degenerated into her snake form by now. Unlike humans, a magical beast can only rely on their magic nucleus to slowly recover their energy. Simrly, the knight¡¯s physical body may have been mostly healed, but his Dou Qi is not so easily recovered. Without other options, the group stayed in the Canyon Valley for ten days. And in those ten days¡¯ worth of time, Du Wei had not been idle. After returning the Canyon to the Treant¡¯s, the trees had nearly demolished the entire humble looking pce that had once belonged to Medusa. Luckily, a few of the rooms did survive the demolition. After picking out a few rooms for the others to rest, Du Wei locked himself inside the secret room where the ¡°As time goes by¡± was located. Gandalf has perished. This reality had shocked him greatly. On one hand, Du Wei was still inwardly resisting the so-called Aragon mission. However, in order to cover their escape, the old magician sacrificed his life. Knowing the old fool died for him, Du Wei couldn¡¯t keep his heart calm. Although he wasn¡¯t too fond of the old guy, but in the end, he did gain a lot of benefit. Most of all, the old fool met his end because of him. No matter how he tried, Du Wei couldn¡¯t hide the guilt in his heart. These ten days, Du Wei locked himself in the dark room, but most of the time was used to carefully examine the belongings left to him by the old magician. The bag left behind by Gandalf was in itself a magic item capable of mass storage. Searching inside, Du Wei found some metal or ss containers with different magic pharmacy ingredients. He is fully aware that the stuff from someone as amazing as Gandalf is far too valuable for him to fully grasp at this moment. But with the passing of time, Du Wei is confident he will be able to figure out the uses for all these ingredients: More than 10 intermediate magic scrolls, but all of them were the things he cheated from Vivian. After all that has happened, they were back in his hands once again. For someone with a life span of over 200 years old and titled as the strongest magician on the continent, there is no doubt the things stored inside the bag are special beyondpare. With a quick assessment, Du Wei could easily identify several useful magical equipment¡¯s for him to use. A wind cloak blessed with an intermediate wind spell and capable of free flight through the skies. For someone of Du Wei¡¯s level, conjuring up a wind spell is not a problem for him, but the energy consumption is simply too high. Now that he has got his hands on this cloak, flying through the air is a much more convenient task from now on. The cloak may be amazing but it could only withstand the weight of a single person. So for someone of Gandalf¡¯s level, it was simply easier to use his own magic to fly. It was likely this thing was more like a toy than a real tool to him. A stealth hat. Du Wei has yet to learn any invisibility spells, but wearing this hat will allow him to be hidden for a certain amount of time. A bag containingrge and small magical crystals of remarkable quality. These things are good materials for setting up magic arrays and circles. And in the end, what surprised Du Wei the most was in fact a piece of parchment he pulled out. On it was actually the secrets to the natural art of Druid maniption! The other identity of Gandalf is in fact a Druid capable of manipting other living creatures. Du Wei had already seen the old guy drive the snow dogs, call in a team of ice wolves, and even control an evil faced spider queen to be used as their mount. Du Wei couldn¡¯t deny the fact that he was really interested in the Druids magic, but now that he is able to see the secret learning method in front of him¡­¡­ A sudden sour feeling filled his heart. Instead of feeling excited, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from remembering the time he spent with the old magician. Admittedly, the old magician was somewhat harsh towards Du Wei and even going as far as to manipte his body like a doll. But once they entered the frozen forest, the old magician had been wittingly or unwittingly helping him at every turn. The first was the set of stars Dou Qi movement routine and the warmth spell during their camping nights. You need to understand, the old magician wasn¡¯t willing to waste any of his energy in order to prepare for the trip through the forgotten ice field. Then there was also the time when Du Wei tried to step in to stop the fight between Semel and Hussein. If not for the intervention by the old magician, Du Wei would have turned himself into a dried husk by rashly attempting the wheel of time magic. Carefully putting away the parchment containing the learning method of the Druid maniption spell, Du Wei then dug up the piece of artifact containing the words of Aragon¡­. But this time, Du Wei had an exceptionally nasty feeling towards the thing. With just one look, he wanted to shred the thing to pieces! In the end, he lets out a sigh after hesitating for a moment and carefully put the thing away. It was when he was rolling the prophecy paper up, he noticed a remnant of the paper was falling down to the floor. Picking it up, Du Wei realized the paper was in fact a part of the prophecy parchment! Could it be that he identally used too much force and broke the thing? But with one look at the handwritten text, Du Wei was absolutely shocked inside his heart! Because the line of text is something he had never seen! ¡°He¡¯s going to get Medusa to swear allegiance to him and receive the help of the heavenly beast. In the end, he would find my legacy and pull out the king¡¯s sword, then¡­¡­¡± Thest time he looked at the prophecy, the contents only reached up to this point. ording to Gandalf¡¯s word, the rest of the prophecy was already gone thanks to the nibbling of a mouse inside the tomb. He did not tell lies. However, he kept one sentence hidden away and didn¡¯t let Du Wei see it! ¡°And then¡­.. He will get the belongings of thest Magister on the continent¡­¡­¡± These are the words of the residual paper. Whatever that came after is presumably eaten away by the mice, But when Gandalf showed him the prophecy before, he tore off this sentence and hid it away! Belongings¡­¡­ His heart was surging with emotions right now¡­.. Can it be that the old magician already knew he would perish?! The continentsst Magister¡­¡­ Who else can it be other than Gandalf? Thinking about this, Du Wei could not help but think back to all thenguage and details regarding the old guy. No matter how hard he tried to remember, he couldn¡¯t recall the slightest hint of sorrow or exception in the way the old guy acted. Just thinking of the easygoing manner the old magician acted is enough to leave a sour taste in his heart. He knew he was going to meet his death!? Du Wei didn¡¯t know how long he was in his stunned state, but he was quite upset afterwards. Putting away everything, he came across a letter in the mix! ¡°Dear Du Wei¡± Thinking it over, Du Wei noticed there wasn¡¯t any seal on the envelope. Also, the ink was quite fresh, indicating it wasn¡¯t written all that long ago. With mixed feelings and a frown, he tore open the envelope and saw that it was a will inside. Yes, that¡¯s right, a will. ¡°Dear Du Wei: By the time when you open this letter, I should not be in this world¡­¡­ Actually, right now I¡¯m also very curious. I¡¯ve guessed that this trip will be my final adventure of my life. However, the manner in which I would die is something I¡¯m looking forward to¡­¡­¡± Chapter 107 The 107th chapter, ¡°return to the human world¡± ¡°Dear Du Wei: By the time you open this letter, I¡¯m no longer in this world¡­¡­ Right now, I¡¯m actually quite curious because I have already guessed this trip will be the final adventure of my life. As to what manner will I meet my end is something I¡¯m looking forward to¡­. When I first found you, I already knew you were the destined person in the prophecy. You must understand, when we first met, I wasn¡¯t very satisfied with you. Although you may be smart, but I found that your charactercked determination. You may not understand what burden you must carry in the future, but I am convinced that in order to aplish great things, you must have a strong personality. So along the way, I did not hold back and was even willing to discipline you. Maybe because of that, you must hate me now. I may be dead now, but fortunately there is still Hussein by your side. He may have a bad temper, but patience and perseverance is what youcked the most. While your ability right now is not so great, but there is one point about you I do like. You are fully aware that in this world, respect is for the strong. Also, you must be wondering why I didn¡¯t leave behind any profound magic learning method or magic spells for you? Believe me, after my assessment of you during our travels, I found that you are tricky enough to hide some of your powers, but I have already seen through your weaknesses. Magic is not a game; it is profoundly deep and hard to learn. Your biggest weakness is that when you were little, you didn¡¯t have an excellent teacher to guide you. As such, all of your knowledge regarding magic is solely based on your own groping of its meaning. Your knowledge may be rich, but you have never learned the basic theories in its entirety. No matter how gifted you may be, you won¡¯t be able to appreciate the meaning behind the art of magic if your foundation is shaky. With your family background, you shouldn¡¯t have a problem asking someone in the magician¡¯s union to be your teacher. Those individuals may have some skills and capabilities, but due to their opinions of those around them, they wouldn¡¯t make good teachers. I¡¯ve thought this over and over. Who would be best suited to be your teacher after I pass away? I fear that there is only one person in this world, but that person¡¯s behavior cannot be considered good and they also have some unwanted connections with you. Using my rtion with him, I believe that person wouldn¡¯t refuse. Remember this, after I die, on the month of June of this year during the night of the full moon, there is a small town called ¡°Flying Horse¡±, 100 miles northwest of the capital. Outside the town, there is a mountain stream. Head there at midnight by yourself and make sure you don¡¯t bring anyone with you! Then, using the green bottle I left you, light it up to create a green signal smoke. After that, there will be someoneing to meet you. The one toe meet you shall be your new teacher. His magic level is superb and not under me. The only problem is that he has an entric personality, so you must be careful. Behind this letter, I used a stealth potion to write down the location of my mountain seclusion. The Stars Magic cultivation method is hidden there and the exact spot is also written down on the letter. Other than that, there is also the countless magic equipment¡¯s I collected over my lifetime. Once you memorized what I wrote down, immediately burn this letter. You must always keep this in mind, unless you have reached the eighth level in magic, do not get the delusion that you can learn Stars Magic. It is profoundly deep and powerful. If your magic level iscking, it will rebound against you. If you are unlucky, it will kill you. If you are lucky then your foundation will only be shaky, but then it will be difficult for you to achieve anything in the future. My little disciple is still at the straw house on my mountain seclusion. Vivian¡¯s background story is a sad one; I only hope that you can treat her well in the future. Sincerely: Gandalf¡± Flipping the letter around, Du Wei conjured up a small spell to reveal the contents. Dealing with the invisible ink wasn¡¯t a difficult task for him because he was also very proficient in the art of magic pharmacy. After memorizing the content, Du Wei burned the letter like he was told. It wasn¡¯t known what was going through his mind after reading the letter, but Du Wei ended up spending another day in the dark room to collect more of the fountain water. Once that was done, he came out to meet hispanions. When hispanion saw him this time around, the air on him has changed somewhat. He still had a babyish face, but the deep look on his expressions and the cold eyes he had were not suitable for his age. Even Hussein also noticed the difference, so he couldn¡¯t help but take a few extra nces at him. ¡°Is everybody¡¯s injury mostly healed?¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°If we are ready, we should hit the road.¡± Even though Medusa had her eyes closed, but it was her that understood him the most. The beautiful yet cold snake said: ¡°Human nature¡­¡­ When one needs to face it, he will face it.¡± Saying their farewells to the treant leader, the group crossed the Great Lakes and continued heading south. Hussein¡¯s Dou Qi has already recovered around forty to fifty percent and Medusa¡¯s energy reserve has also recovered seventy to eighty percent. Adding in Gargamel and Du Wei to the mix, the group no longer had to fear any attacks from magical beasts. It¡¯s just that they still didn¡¯t know what ability the heavenly beast left by Aragon has¡­. On their travels, the fighting capacity of the penguin is almost zero. Before leaving, Du Wei proposed his determination: ¡°Since we have returned to the human world, there are several things to note. First is Hussein, although your strength is high, but you are now the most wanted criminal on the continent. If you don¡¯t want to be endlessly pursued, it is for the best that you take on a new identity. The reason is because the temple has so many strong individuals; just the fatigue of beating all of them off is enough to knock us down.¡± On this point, Hussein only snorted and didn¡¯t raise any objections. Though the knight is extremely arrogant, but after his defeat at the hands of dragon chief, his temper has been quite calmtely. With one of his eyes injured by the gold dragon, it is likely that it wouldn¡¯t heal anytime soon. To make things simple, Hussein decided to put a leather patchwork over his injured eye and be a single eyed knight. Mixing this with his newly grown beard, the knight looked nothing like the handsome young man he once was. As a disguise, the knight left his armor behind in the Canyon and donned a new set of leather jackets with the sleeves torn off to show his muscles. The main reason he wanted to show his muscr arms off is because of the new northwestern tribal tattoos he got, this way it would be more convincing. As a final measure, Du Wei went out into the frozen forest and found some ck dye for the knight and shaved off both sides of his hair. To match his disguise, Du Wei braided the middle section of Hussein¡¯s hair to turn him into a genuine domestic warrior. ¡°And you¡­¡­ Queen Medusa.¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°Now that you¡¯ve decided to follow us into the human world, then I am afraid that your name has to change.¡± This is obvious because otherwise, the public would be in a state of panic the moment someone calls out ¡°Queen Medusa¡±. ¡°I¡¯ve thought it through.¡± Medusa is truly worthy of being a monster of high intellect: ¡°From Gargamel, I¡¯ve heard of some ancient legends and stories in the past. Within them, there are some beautiful names I would like to use. So from now on, you may call me by the name of Nicole.¡± ¡°Very well then, Miss Nicole.¡± Du Wei smiles. Strangely enough, after arranging everything, all of hispanions agreed with his idea as if he was the most important person in the group. Not even the usually arrogant and prideful Hussein opposed. Coming out of the frozen forest, the party headed South and came up to the Northern Storm Corps patrol defense line. It was also here where the old magician and he first entered the Frozen Forest. But this time it was different, the numbers of defenders were three times than before and above the walls, hung a warrant with the portrait of the traitor Hussein! The news of Hussein¡¯s betrayal has already spread throughout the continent and the information on the Temple¡¯s forces chasing him all the way into the Frozen Forest has caused great concern for the government. As a symbolic gesture, the officials had no choice but to reluctantly intervene and send out warrants to important location throughout the empire. As you can see, the forces at any stationed posts along the frozen forest were also heavily increased like the Northern Storm Corps. Although the average person can easily discern all of this as nothing but an act, but it was still necessary ¨C You really can¡¯t expect a mere hundred soldiers to be able to seize the number one knight on the continent, do you? Within Gandalf¡¯s possessions, there was still the letter of free passage that was signed by the previous emperor and magician¡¯s union president. Though the order onlysts 100 years and has already expired, but luckily the soldiers managed to recognize Du Wei from before. So when he and his party came up to the soldiers, they naturally let him through! Just like the previous time, after Du Wei left with his party, the soldiers immediately sent out a message to the higher ups informing them the person with the letter of free passage has been located. Afterwards, the group continued traveling south and came up to a town located on the edge of the frozen forest. This little detour was necessary because the funny thing right now is that none of them had any money. Du Wei did in fact brought along a bag of gold coins when he was first kidnapped, but the old magician had already used them all because of his bad spending habits. Originally, the amount of magic nucleus he could use for exchanging wasn¡¯t much. This was due to the fact that he gave away most of the spoils he earned during the trip with the snow wolf mercenary. Also in his mind, Du Wei thought it was too much of a waste to exchange some of the higher leveled goods in his possession. In the end, the amount of gold coins he managed to acquire wasn¡¯t much. After acquiring a machete for himself and four horses from a traveling mercenary, his pocket was already cleaned out. Letting out a sigh, Du Wei wondered how he came to be in such a state. Back in his home, he had managed to start up his own business and can even be considered a rich man. But now, he has fallen into such a poor state. So far they have been heading in the general south direction, but Du Wei has been leading them towards the Rnd in. In his heart, he missed his business greatly and there was also the violent Joanna he had asked to apany his fleet. Counting up the days, the timing should be around now when they returned from sea. If he cannot get back in time, who knows what kind of trouble that violent Joanna would stir up. Due to the winter weather of the North, the roads are slippery and unfit for carriage travel. The earliest they can expect to ride in a carriage is after traveling further south into warmer terrain. Leaving the town on horseback, the group managed to travel half a day before they encountered the sounds of hoof beatsing from behind. Stopping his horse, Hussein turned around to have a look. In the distance, more than a hundred riders wereing their way and kicking up snow and debris along their path. Unsettled by the fact that so many were traveling on this usually unused road, Du Wei frowned: ¡°Could it be that Hussein¡¯s whereabouts have been seen through?¡± Sure enough, more than hundreds of riders are approaching them at a rapid pace. Both Du Wei and Hussein have keen senses, so they immediately saw that the two knights riding in the front were wearing a set of armor specially made for a Holy knight! And farther behind in the air, several white robed mages were giving chase with a wind attribute spell. It was obvious from the roaring winds caused by these certain individuals that they are extremely skilled! Without waiting, Hussein had already put one of his hands on top of his scimitar hilt. With murderous eyes, the knight intends to wipe them all out if he were to be discovered! Sharing four horses with several people and low priced horses at that, it was certain that they would be overtaken by the pursuers if they tried to flee. Du Wei exchanged a nce with Hussein and gave him a wink. Realizing his intent, the knight immediately got off his horse and readied himself for the imminent battle. With a Saint Knight and a legendary Medusa in their group, Du Wei wasn¡¯t worried because he and Gargamel aren¡¯t all that weak either. But when the line of riders finally reached them, they didn¡¯t stop and flew past Du Wei and Hussein like they weren¡¯t even there. It would seem they are not here for them. Also, the people flying overhead weren¡¯t genuine mages from the magician¡¯s union. The white robes they wore were in fact the white clergy robes of the temple. With white hair, the fluctuating magic around each of these individuals indicated they are all very powerful people. As for the team of cavalry that was following closely behind, they were all low ssed Holy knights except for the leading two that gave them a nce as they passed. As soon as their party was left behind, Du Wei breathed a sigh of relief. He does not fear these people, but he is worried this will bring trouble to his family if his identity is revealed. Seems like Hussein¡¯s disguise has not been exposed, this is for the best. Walking in front, Hussein whispered into his ear: ¡°Those people are from the Saint Knight toon¡­. And the few that were flying above are from the temples Elder toon. From my assessment, they are not so tough.¡± But when they got on their horses again and was about to leave, they could hear the galloping beat of horse running again! And this time around, the beats were dense and thunderously loud. Listening closely, it was likely this time around there are thousands of ridersing their way! Du Wei¡¯s face turned pale the moment he turned to have a look. On the road, a band of Calvary was charging towards them with immense speed. Even at the pace they were moving at, the formation of the Calvary band was neat and tidy. The aura they were giving off is that of a well-trained army of the empire ready for war! Even from a distance, Du Wei could hear someone shouting towards them with magic: ¡°The people in front please hold! Is the young master of the Rowling family here?!¡± Chapter 108 108th chapter ¡°On the way to the South¡± Of this thousand strong Calvary, each and every one of these riders rode a magnificent breed of horse from the Northern region. What¡¯s more, the qualities of their armors were much more sophisticated and totally different from the local garrisons. With bright armors and a long white plume hanging from their helmets, each of these riders had a long sword and bow strapped to the side of their horse. No matter what, Du Wei is after all from a long family line of military officials. With a simple nce at the fluttering gray cloaks on each of the riders back, he could discern the Calvary brigadeing their way was the elites of the Northern Storm Corps Army. A chorus of calls came from the pursuing Calvary: ¡°The people in front, is the young master Du Wei of the Rowling family there?¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart jumped at his words, but after thinking it over for a moment, he decided not to reply right away. It didn¡¯t take long for the Calvary brigade to arrive before them. Clearly, these troops were well trained. Even with a thousand men and horses, they managed to easily stop in front of Du Wei with a single haltingmand. Their formations were neat and quiet; an obvious sign the riders had a firm grasping control on their mount. ¡°Who is young master Du Wei?¡± With this inquiry, the leader of the thousand strong Calvary brigade stepped forward while still on his mount. Donning a bright silver armor, this bearded person was clearly different from the rest of the riders behind him. As his red cloak flutter in the cold frigid wind, the knight looked ever more so awe inspiring than he should be. And from the corner of Du Wei¡¯s eyes, he managed to notice a genuine sixth level knight badge that could only be obtained from the knight¡¯s association. For someone of such caliber in the military, this person must be a senior military officer. With a sword hanging from his side, the knight slowly rode his horse up to Du Wei in a polite manner. In a soft tone: ¡°Excuse me, which of you here is master Du Wei?¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t know whether these pursuing troops came with good will or ill intent. Just when he is hesitating in his reply, another person came out from behind. Unlike the rest, this person wasn¡¯t wearing any armor. Instead, he waspletely gray in color from top to bottom. Not only was his robe and pointed hat, gray, even his beard and eyes were also gray in color. With a sixth level magician¡¯s badge hanging from his chest, this old fe was someone that Du Wei has met before. Sure enough, with a sweeping nce, his sight fell on Du Wei the moment he saw him. With a cold smile, he got off his horse and said: ¡°Long time no see Du Wei.¡± ¡°Thest time I saw you, you were only this tall.¡± Thinking it over, Du Wei immediately recognized who this magician is. This guy is none other than mage rk, the famous magician that his father requested toe take him on as his apprentice when he was still a child. It was also mage rk that informed him of the fact that he was unfit to be a magician. After testing him, Du Wei was told that his magical talent was good, but his senses were extremely bad. For that, Du Wei would never forget this odd looking guy. So after recognizing this weird person, Du Wei was somewhat surprised at the situation: ¡°You are mage rk? I know who you are, but¡­¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s good that I found you.¡± rk wasughing with satisfaction: ¡°You know, the magician¡¯s union and imperial army has been searching for you ever since you left home!¡± Others may not know this, but the magician¡¯s union did. The reason they were able to locate Du Wei is because of the order of free passage given to him by Gandalf. When the Northern Storm Corps sent news of someone crossing into the frozen forest with the order of free passage, the magician¡¯s union naturally knew it could be none other than Gandalf himself. Gandalf¡¯s status in the magicmunity is beyondpare. Even when the old fool kidnapped Du Wei, the Rowling family and the military were too afraid to raise a fuss; this of course included the magician¡¯s union. Thus, when the news of their whereabouts spread back to the capital, everyone had the general idea that the two had entered the frozen forest. So when Gandalf¡¯s life stone shattered on the eve of the founding day, the magician¡¯s union was absolutely shocked and mobilized all their forces to search for thest person to have been by his side. And as to why Mage rk is here of all ces, it was due to the fact that he was the only one that has met Du Wei personally in the magician¡¯s union. Of course, the Rowling family wouldn¡¯t just sit on the sideline either after seeing the magician¡¯s union taking the initiative to help. Using their influence within the military, the Rowling family tasked the Northern Storm Corps army to lend a helping hand. So when Mage rk arrived in the north, the first thing he did was make contact with the Northern Storm Corps army. As such, when news spread of Du Wei leaving the frozen forest, the leader of the northern army deliberately sent his personal guards so that he can gain the favor of the Rowling family. This way, the pursuers were able to catch up to them in time. With such an oue, rk was inwardly overjoyed because the president made it explicitly clear that it is absolutely crucial to locate the kid. With a task force of three level six mages and two level four mages, he was given leadership due to the fact that he was the only one capable of recognizing Du Wei. If he were to somehow fail in his task, it would leave a great ck mark on his future prospect. But with the taskplete, rk can expect to be rewarded the moment he returns. If he was lucky, he may even get a promotion on his magic rank! Seeing the other party had malicious intent and was also not a part of the temple, Du Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief because it seems like they really are only here to search for him. Understanding the situation, Hussein also rxed and moved his hands away from his scimitar. As a saint knight, Hussein is capable of hiding his true strength and unless someone of simr strength is nearby, no one would be able to see through him. Without a hint of his powers leaking, the knight turned slightly and backed away. With a smile, Du Wei said: ¡°For it to be master rk, never would I have imagined my leaving would alert both the magician¡¯s union and the military.¡± At this moment, rk¡¯s mood was very good and even his usually dull gray eyes seemed to gleam with light. Pointing towards the red cloaked senior officer, rk spoke with a smile: ¡°This is general Andrei, titled number one warrior of the Nortnds. He is also a part of the elite Calvary of general Rostock, leader of the Northern Storm Corps Army. Without his help, I fear that I would not be able to find you so easily.¡± With a bearded and mighty looking face, General Andrei lets out a ¡°hahaha¡±ugh at thisment. Still sitting on top of his mount, Andrei nodded and spoke in a loud voice: ¡°Mage rk is too polite! General Raymond and our army leader are old friends. In order to find young master Du Wei, our northern storm army would naturally lend a helping hand. Master Du Wei, forgive me for not dismounting to pay my respect because army rules forbid me from dismounting outside of camp!¡± Hearing this Du Wei smiled and spoke a few kind words in return. Afterwards, Andrei spoke in a loud voice again: ¡°To be able to locate Master Du Wei, I believe my orders have beenpleted. Master rk, I will escort you people another hundred miles down south, but that is our limit. Unless we receive an imperial highmand, our northern storm army cannot make our way to the south!¡± Before rk came to the north, the President of the magicians union tasked him with many questions that needed to be answered. But seeing the situation, he believed this wasn¡¯t the right ce to do this. Nodding, rk did not raise any objection. With rk¡¯s agreement, General Andrei ordered several horses to be surrendered to them so they can be escorted. Along with the several mages rk brought with him, everyone headed south. The Northern Storm corps truly deserves its reputation of being one of the strongest armies in the empire. In a short period of time, the promised hundred miles were easily crossed and now they stood in front of the city of Kolo. After exchanging a few words with the local garrison, the job of escorting Du Wei and his party now fell on the local forces. Seeing his job is now finished, General Andrei bid his farewell and headed back towards the north. As the eldest son of Earl Raymond, they would naturally receive high level reception from the local garrison. Add to this, Mage rk is the envoy sent out by the magician¡¯s union, there is absolutely no way the local government wouldn¡¯t take notice. Upon entry into the city, the local forces immediately organized 300 soldiers to escort and guard these important guests. Under the request of Du Wei, they were not stationed in the city keep; instead, they were guided to a local inn. As a precaution, the local forces ordered the inn to close its doors to future customers in order to avoid having these important guests harassed by random people. For this reason, the boss of the inn secretly cried tears of blood. On their travels, rk secretly assessed Du Wei and hispanions. In his observation, Du Wei seemed to have grown a lot. Although Du Wei¡¯s age is not even 14, the atmosphere of a child could no longer be seen on his face. The reason for this is because Du Wei spent a good deal of time in the frozen forest and the people surrounding him so far have all been abnormally powerful experts of the continent. With all these experiences, Du Wei would naturally be moreposed and create an aura of mystery around himself. Although rk knows about the idiotic title given to Du Wei by those in the imperial capital, but rk did after all almost be Du Wei¡¯s teacher, so he naturally knew he wasn¡¯t an idiot. Now that rk has seen Du Wei again, he could not help but feel this youngster was not as simple as he may seem. Also, there are the people around him. In rk¡¯s eyes, Hussein is only a third or fourth level knight based on the strength he is giving off. Even though Hussein didn¡¯t speak a word, the killing intent extruding from his body could not be hidden. And to rk¡¯s surprise, there is also the stunningly beautiful Medusa. The feeling rk was getting from these two men and woman is that they are looking towards Du Wei as the backbone of their group. This idea was staggering to him. So along the way, he asked Du Wei what was the origin of Hussein and Medusa, but Du Wei only told him some nonsense that they are his mercenary friends. In rk¡¯s mind, he can put up with the idea of Hussein being a mercenary, but Medusa¡­. In order to survive in the frozen forest, every individual must have a certain level of strength. So how can such a surprising beauty with a frail looking body be a mercenary? Not to mention this woman always had her eyes closed! After his inquiry, rk got even more questions he wanted answers to. It wasn¡¯t until the evening that rk manages to reorganize his thoughts. Readying himself, he was waiting for a good opportunity to question Du Wei regarding the death of Lord Magister Gandalf. Just when everyone finished resting and was about to have dinner, a loud ruckus could be heard from outside the inn. These intruders clearly had strong backing because the local garrison had already sealed the inn with 300 soldiers standing guard outside. Yet, they sounded like they are going to force their way in no matter what. Outside the inn, Du Wei could hear angry shouts: ¡°How dare you! You have the nerve to block even the knights of the temple? This city only has this single good inn, so do you dare make the envoys of the temple sleep in the wilderness? Even if your city governor is here, he wouldn¡¯t dare! Now quick, step aside, we are on an important task from the temple! Once we have dinner here, we will continue our journey through the night!¡± These words piqued Du Wei¡¯s interest. Looking out, he immutably heard a loud thud and a local soldier was sent flying through the entrance door. Afterwards, the trampling sound of boots followed suit. From the entrance, several holy knights strode through the door and had a scanned the surroundings. ¡°This is the best inn in the town? From the looks of it, this inn isn¡¯t much. If it was just you and me, spending the night in the wilderness isn¡¯t much since we have already given ourselves to God. But the elders are people of great importance, so how can we live in such a ce¡­¡± The other Knight whispered, ¡°Enough. Look at the local garrison forces, some important character must be living here. You and I are followers of God, we mustn¡¯t cause trouble. When will you change your hot headed temper? The elders are all people of intensive training, so why would they care about such things. Quickly go get some people to clean out a few rooms, we are staying here tonight.¡± Du Wei and rk is just sitting there and apanying them was a local officer. This officer was just a third level knight, so to be able to receive such prestigious guests; he was feeling ecstatic at the moment. The entire time, this person tried his best to make their stay asfortable as possible. Now that he¡¯s seeing someone suddenly barging in, the officer banged the table hard with his fist and shouted: ¡°Who dare barge in here! This ce is already expropriated by the local garrison.¡± With one look, Du Wei immediately recognized these Holy Pdins were part of the same group he met earlier. He never did have any good feelings towards the temple and because of his rtionship with Hussein; his opinion regarding the temple went even lower. Seeing that a conflict is about to break out, he didn¡¯t say anything and was rather happy at the knight¡¯s misfortune. With a nce next to himself, Du Wei noticed Master rk had a sneer on his face too! EH? Somewhat shocked, it would seem the magician¡¯s union wasn¡¯t on good terms with the temple either¡­¡­ Chapter 109 part 1 The 109th chapter ¡°knocked out teeth swallowed into the belly¡± (part one) On this evening, only Du Wei, rk and the mages he brought along came out for dinner. Fearing others would recognize his identity, Hussein decided to pretend he was too tired and hid himself in his own room. This also applied to Medusa. Right now in the main hall, the garrison officer was angered by the fact that someone had disregarded hismand and rushed inside the inn. In a moment of rage, he banged his hand on the table and stood up, heading towards where the intruders were. This officer must have bad luck because the Holy Knights are the temple¡¯s main fighting force. Throughout the continent, the status of the temple is beyondpare. Even for nobles of the empire, they would still have to watch what they say in front of the Temple¡¯s people. ¡°Who are you? You dare disregard imperial decree and trespass onto restrictednd! Not to mention the fact that you actually wounded my soldiers!¡± The garrison officer stopped in front of the two Holy Knights and stared at the two intruders¡­¡­. Only heavens would know if this guy truly never saw the gears of a Holy Knight, or that he is naturally born a fool: Can it be that he has never seen a Holy Knight? Actually this not that strange, the people of the Holy Knight¡¯s usually stay within the Capital¡¯s Temple. It is quite rare for them toe out and roam the continent. Not to mention there isn¡¯t any TV or inte in this world. As to how a Holy Knight is supposed to look, only those that have actually met one in person would know. It¡¯s not that this officer is reckless, but that he truly never saw a Holy Knight till now. Also, he is given a rare chance to present himself in front of the eldest son of the Military¡¯s second inmand. If he does it right, Du Wei may even look kindly upon him and his future prospect would grow exponentially. But now seeing someone interrupting his prestigious guests, he would of course be the first to jump out. The two Holy Knights that has barged in are both fifth level knights, so they have never seen a lowly third level knight act so arrogantly in front of them. Both were somewhat stunned by the officer in front of them, but the taller of the two was still keeping his heads together. With a frown, the taller looking knight said: ¡°Imperial Decree? This is such a small town and only has this inn; do you know how important the elders are? Yet you still tell us to spend the night in the wilderness. I don¡¯t want to waste words with you, go call your city governor toe here, then you would know.¡± ¡°Why are you saying so much to him?!¡± Inwardly, the ill-tempered Holy Knight was looking down on this lowly third level knight. Reaching out, the ill-tempered Holy Knight pushed the officer. Losing his bnce, the garrison officer fell backwards and crashed into a table behind him, breaking it in the process. In this small little ce, he is considered a high ranking individual. In addition, he is currently in front of someone as important as Du Wei, so how can he lose face so easily? With an angry shout: ¡°Guards! Guards! Someone dare attack an officer of the empire! Arrest them!¡± With that single cry, the 300 soldiers outside rushed in after realizing the situation had turned sour. With the sight of theirmander lying on the floor and instructed to apprehend the intruders, what other hesitation would they have? Swish, swish, everyone immediately pulled out their weapons and rushed towards the two Holy Knights. Because the north is near the frozen forest, there are a lot of mercenaries moving to and fro. Due to this reason, the soldiers are used to picking a fight with the mercenaries. Moreover, what other reason do they need now after seeing theirmander getting a beating? These two fifth level Holy Knights are people with a bit of status in the capital; even the average noble would show their respect while in their presence. Moreover, they were previously fooled by Gandalf¡¯s magic array within the frozen forest. Only after spending a few days in the cold, were they finally able toe out. Their mood wasn¡¯t good to begin with because some of theirrades lost their lives and they have experienced way too much suffering thus far. Now that they are seeing such a scene, the grievance they have suppressed till now is about to be vented out. In mere moments, a brawl broke out in the hall. In the beginning, the two still had a sense of propriety and didn¡¯t harm anyone. After all, the enemies are genuine soldiers of the empire. In contrast, these garrison troops are used to brawling with the mercenaries on a daily basis. Once a fight breaks out, they would pull out their knives and attack without hesitation, so they are dangerous to the extreme. With more people and without mercy, the local garrison soldiers eventuallynded a few hits on the two knights. Furthermore, the taller Knight with a slightly better temper even took a full sword strike on his shoulder. Although the attack onlynded on his armor and didn¡¯t cause any serious injury, but this one strike is enough to make him go into a fitted rage! If not for the excellent armors of the Temple, the knight feared his arm would have been cleanly sliced off! From then on, the two Holy Knights no longer showed any mercy. A fifth level knight is naturally above the norm. Without dy, a burst of Dou Qi immediately came forth from their swords. Once the knight¡¯s weapon collided with those of the garrisons, a metal breaking noise filled the hall. Seeing an opportunity, the ill-tempered knight kicked the officer in the chest and sent him flying through the hall and smashing into the wall behind him. Spurting out blood, the officer yelled: ¡°Kill! Kill them all! You dare attempt murder on an imperial officer! That¡¯s a capital offense! Kill them now!¡± The two Holy Knight may be highly skilled, but the other party is after all 300 men strong. More importantly, these soldiers are seasoned warriors of the north, much stronger than their counterparts in the south. Secondly, the area around the doorway was narrow and hard to move in, so the knight¡¯s had trouble fighting at their full capacity. After a short brawl, the situation became a mess. As hard as they tried, the garrison forces could not ovee the two fifth level knights. Before long, more than 10 soldiersy on the floor. No matter how angry the knights were, they are after all from the temple, so they didn¡¯t dare go into a random killing spree. For this reason, the people on the floor were only injured and not dead. Outside the inn, there were still around 80 soldiers trying to get in. But due to the size of the door, they weren¡¯t able toe inside and could only cheer the others on from a distance. Then immediately, a thudding sound could be heard and the seven to eight soldiers surrounding the knights were sent flying. As a result, their weapons were broken and their armors were split apart. In addition, two of these soldiers were so heavily injured; they could no longer stand up. ¡°Kill! Kill them both!¡± Still sitting, the garrison officer continued to vomit blood. Nheless, seeing how tough the two enemies were, the officer pulled aside one of the soldiers and ordered: ¡°Go quick! Call for reinforcements from the camp!¡± The knights may be tough, but they are not invincible. Once the fight dragged on, the attacks on their body started to build up and eventually, one of the knight¡¯s arms started to bleed from the injury he received. Facing back to back, the two formed a defensive circle to increase their odds. ording to their level of martial skills, it wouldn¡¯t be a difficult feat for the two to flee this ce at once. That¡¯s why, even if the soldiers here wanted to stop them, they naturally wouldn¡¯t have the skills to do so. However, the two were always taught by the temple to push forward and never back down since their childhood. For that reason, the idea of escaping never even crossed their minds. Du Wei and the other magicians were just sitting inside the hall. Even though the brawl was happening just outside the dining hall, none of them said anything. On the contrary, Master rk and the mages he brought along had a faint smile on their faces, as if they were inwardly happy at the misfortune that had befallen the Knights. Just when he was in the middle of wondering what kind of grudge the two parties had against each other, Du Wei secretly noticed what rk was doing under the table. Raising a finger to draw a small symbol, rk muttered some kind of spell chant in an almost silent tone. As soon as rk finished casting his spell, Du Wei could feel a slight disturbance in the air around him. From where they sat, a faint light drifted towards the group of brawling fighters outside. Almost immediately, the two Holy Knights could feel their bodies be much heavier. From this, they knew someone was ying a trick on them and immediately shouted in a scolding manner: ¡°Magic Union bastards, sneaking an attack from the back!¡± With a sneer, this time Master rk didn¡¯t even bother hiding his intent and stood up to form a binding spell. From his magic, a silk like web appeared in the air and started to fly towards where the knights were. Hindered by the binding spell, the movements of the two knights became much slower. In the end, they ended up sustaining even more hits from a couple of sword strikes and even took on a few fist blows. Seeing the results, rk did not stop and even the mages behind him joined the party and threw in a couple of dazing spells. To begin with, rk¡¯s magic level is not low. When so many mages joined him in his effort, the two Holy Knight¡¯s didn¡¯t stand a chance. Unable to resist the onught of spells, the two fell to the floor without any ways to get back up. Realizing the chance, two of the soldiers wanted to strike at the currently unconscious knights with their sword. If this attack had seeded, it was likely the knights would have been beheaded! Du Wei was frightened when he looked at rk because he realized the guy had no intention of preventing the soldiers. Instead, the guy had a sneering smile on his face. From that, Du Wei knew the situation wasn¡¯t good! By simply beating the knights up, it is neither a small matter nor a big matter. But once they are killed, it would be totally different! rk and hispanions are trying to kill the knights through the hands of the garrison troops. Once the deed is done, they can just push the me onto the city defenders and they alone would be free to walk away. However, the city has been kind and respectful to him thus far. If he let this slide, it was likely the garrison officer would be facing big trouble in the future. Unable to bear it, Du Wei sighed and raised his hand to shoot out two fireballs! Without a need to chant any spells, his attack blew the two soldiers backward without injuring them. ¡°Enough! Don¡¯t indiscriminately kill people.¡± Du Wei yelled this in a calm voice. The garrison officer was surprised at this, but thinking it over, he realized his guests still needed to eat. It wouldn¡¯t look good for him if he ruined the guest¡¯s mood. With a wave of his hand, the officer ordered his men to tie the two knights up. Once they were tied, the two knights soon woke up and flew into a rage. The ill-tempered knight even started to curse and shout: ¡°Despicable bastards from the magician¡¯s union! You dare sneak attack!¡± Unlike the shouting knight, the calmer looking one suddenly pushed aside one of the soldiers while they weren¡¯t paying attention and broke apart his rope. Then from his bosom, he pulled out something and hit it hard! With a loud bang, everyone could see a golden light shooting out in all directions from the object. Then from the shes of light, a magic mark shot out from the scroll. ¡°Humph, calling for help from hispanions eh?¡± rk frowned; he didn¡¯t know where these two holy knights are from. Unlike Du Wei, rk only thought these two were alone and didn¡¯te in such a big force. Seeing the opportunity presented at the time, rk simply wanted to punish them a bit. But now, he realized the situation was bad when he saw the magic scroll because it was the Holy Knight¡¯s way of calling for help. These two Holy Knights only came into town first to organize things for the main force. Following closely behind, the main force wouldn¡¯t be far away and should be arriving soon. Thinking up to this point, rk could not help but privately me Du Wei for being a busy body. If that sword had killed the two Knights, the matter would have ended then and there. Once the deed was done, he could just push all the me onto the garrison troops. But now that they are alive, he wouldn¡¯t have any excuses if the other party were to seek revenge. However, rk suddenly recalled how Du Wei managed to cast magic. Narrowing his eyes, he aimed his sight at Du Wei. This kid, I have already assessed him in the past. He is destined not to be a wizard! But the two fireballs he cast earlier was so quick! Could it be that Lord Magister Gandalf taught him? Ignoring rk, Du Wei had already stood up and was walking towards the mess. This time around, the two knights werepletely bundled up and even their mouths were plugged up. Taking a look at the crumpled garrison officer, he couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Du Wei feared that this guy will be facing some rough times after this. Technically speaking, these soldiers were sent to protect him, so he can¡¯t just leave them be and let the temple punish them. Thinking things through, Du Wei called over the officer and whispered: ¡°You¡¯ve got trouble on your hands.¡± Chapter 109 part 2 The 109th ¡°knocked out teeth swallowed in the belly¡± (part two) Still unaware, the officer pleaded in a loud voice: ¡°Master Du Wei, you don¡¯t have to worry about these kinds of reckless behavior. Every month we would beat up a few of these mercenaries because they always go on a rampage, so it¡¯s not a big deal.¡± Du Wei sighed and then smiled: ¡°I was sitting too far earlier and didn¡¯t notice, but now that I took a closer look, they are indeed people from the Temple!¡± When this was known, the officer immediately went stupid. With eyes of disbelief, the colors in his eyes revealed the panic he was in. In addition, all the soldiers by his side turned pale! Beating up Holy Knights, what are we going to do? Smiling a bit, Du Wei gently patted the officer¡¯s shoulder: ¡°Alright, technically speaking, you are the ones responsible for protecting us. For that, I can¡¯t just watch you suffer. Now listen to my words, I can help you with this.¡± After a pause, Du Wei spoke the next words with a smile: ¡°These two are only subordinates used to scout ahead. Following soon behind, there must be a high leveled knight. Now that you have injured their men, the senior Holy Knight wille seeking revenge and you won¡¯t be able to resist. I have an idea that will force them to back off quietly.¡± With that said, Du Wei took a look at the soldiers and continued, ¡°I want a person, that individual must have a bit of courage and intellect. I fear this matter may be dangerous and the person may even suffer some pain. But don¡¯t worry, it won¡¯t be something serious. So who dares toe forth?¡± The garrison officer immediately puffed up his chest and cried out: ¡°I¡¯ll go!¡± Taking one look at his eyes, Du Wei could tell this person is someone with courage. For that, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of admiration towards the officer: ¡°Alright, it¡¯s settled then.¡± With a slight smile, Du Wei continued speaking: ¡°This issue may seem resolved on the surface, but someone will inevitablye seeking trouble. So after you¡¯re done, return to the barracks and tell yourmanding officer that I want you. Once you are released from the military ranks, you cane to me, I¡¯ll put you into the Rowling Calvary unit.¡± After listening to his words, the officer immediately became overjoyed! In these Northernnds, themanding department only considers the Northern Storm Regiment to be their dearest fighting force. Therefore, the Northern Storm Regiment always gets priority on whatever goods that is avable. So even if the garrison troops here want anything, they must first yield to the other party before they can get their share. In conclusion, this ce doesn¡¯t have any future. If he can somehow stay by Du Wei¡¯s side, then of course it would be much better than being a small little officer at this ce! Seeing Du Wei give out such instructions, rk squinted his eyes and looked at him from behind with aplex expression. The child¡­¡­ Is not simple. Later, outside the town of Kolo, apany of 80 riders was slowly closing in on the city gates. Suddenly, two of the Temple elders in theirpany frowned at what they saw. Pointing their fingers, the two whispered to those nearby, ¡°look!¡± From within the city, a golden light shot towards the sky. This light was exactly the distress signal sent out by the two Holy Knights earlier. Leading thepany, the eighth level Holy Knight suddenly turned pale on his face: ¡°This ce actually has people daring enough to attack those from the Temple?! Pausing for a moment in thought, he suddenly shouted: ¡°Did they meet Hussein?! Fast! We must go into town! If it is Hussein, we must not let him get away!¡± With that said, the eighth level knight looked towards the two elders seeking confirmation. Contrary to what he was expecting, the two elders shook their heads instead: ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be. If it is Hussein, the two wouldn¡¯t even survive a single sword strike. So where would they get an opportunity to call for help?¡± These two individuals wearing priest robes of high rank looked proper and dignified due to the long white hair and staff in their hands. Not even the eighth level knight dared to go against them. In a respectful tone, he whispered: ¡°No matter what, we should go and see.¡± Picking up their pace, thepany of riders rode into town. It was then; they saw someone heading towards them with three horses and it just so happens, the one riding in the front is the garrison officer. Behind him, the two Holy Knights rode on the remaining two horses, but unlike him these two were heavily tied up with ropes and even their mouths were gagged. Watching so many Holy Knightsing his way, the garrison officer was in fact really scared: Geez, so many people. If they all came looking for trouble, I wouldn¡¯t be able to swallow it all! Jumping down from his horse, the officer stood in the middle of the road to block their way. Seeing someone blocking their way, thepany of riders had to quickly slow down their horses and the knight in the forefront yelled: ¡°Why are you blocking the way!¡± Following Du Wei¡¯s instruction, the garrison officer stood tall and adopted an unyielding expression as he performed a standard knight salute. Seeing the foe in front of him acting in such a manner, the Holy Knight did not neglect and returned a proper knight salute. ¡°I am a garrison officer belonging to the fourth battalion of the City of Colo.!¡± Following Du Wei¡¯s instruction, the officer deliberately used the loudest voice he can to speak these words. Seeing such arge force of Holy Knights in the middle of the road and an officer suddenly shouting, the people in the surroundings started to gather to watch the show. Encouraged by the Knight¡¯s reaction, the garrison officer felt relieved and continued to speak loudly: ¡°Excuse me, are you Holy Knights?¡± The eighth level knight leading thepany had long seen his own subordinates restrained on the two horses behind the officer. With a darkened face, the Holy Knight rode forward and looked angrily at the lowly third level rider in front of him: ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Your honor.¡± The garrison officer bowed slightly in respect and continued to speak in a loud voice: ¡°Garrison army orders! 600 steps ahead have been temporarily closed off as a military zone! Earlier, these two men posing as Knights of divine identity had trespassed onto the restricted area. Also, they injured 36 people from the garrison army and 15 of them are in serious condition! Under orders, I have arrested these two. Now that your honor is present, I will hand over the two culprits to you! My lord said the Holy Knights toon is the symbol of the glory of the temple. Thus, they are the continents subject of admiration! These despicable criminals actually dare defy the imperial decree and intrude onto a military zone. In addition, they openly attacked the imperial officers and wounded the soldiers of the Empire! Such people are definitely not members of the Holy Knights toon. Now that I have brought them here, I¡¯ll hand them over to you! With that said, the garrison officer performed another Knight salute and then walked backwards to where the two captured knights were. Using his hands, he pushed them off their horses and caused the two to drop heavily onto the ground. Seeing the suffering of theirpanions, all of the Holy Knights had the mes of anger in their eyes. If not for the eighth level knight making a grunting sound to signal them not to move, it was certain they would have rushed forward and chopped the garrison officer into pieces. Unknown to everyone, the garrison officer was also in cold sweat. With one big movement, he got onto his horse and big his farewell with a nod. However, just when he was about to leave, the eighth level knight suddenly shouted ¡°Wait!¡± ¡°Your honor, do you have other instructions?¡± ¡°Humph!¡± The eyes of the eighth level Knight were filled with hate. Jumping off his horse, he walked forward and picked up one of his tied up subordinate with one hand. Afterwards, he gave the officer a deep look as he clenched his teeth: ¡°Give my regards to your master! Tell him I¡¯ll remember this event!¡± With that, the knight lets out a ¡°humph¡± sound that was filled with his Dou QI. From just the sound, the officer felt like he was struck by lightning. Thus, his whole body was quivering and his chest felt especially painful. Not certain of the reason, his horse suddenly ran forward, causing him to lose his bnce. With a loud scream, the officer from his horse.. In this one fall, the officer felt like all his bones were broken. Stumbling in his attempt to get back up, he didn¡¯t dare show any form of emotion on his face. Secretly in his heart, he was actually thinking this isn¡¯t bad at all. After beating up two of their people and then causing their entirepany to lose face in front of all these people, this isn¡¯t bad at all! It¡¯s a good trade! Now daring to say anything, the officer hurriedly snapped up onto his horse again and rushed away. ¡°My Lord, are we just going to leave it like this?!¡± A Holy Knight rode forward, his face full of anger. The 80 Calvary riders behind the leader were waiting. With one order from him, all of them would rush forward to get their revenge! ¡°Just shut up!¡± The leaders face was cold. Using his gloomy eyes, his gaze swept across all his men. Then in a hushed tone: ¡°Think we are not shamed enough yet?!¡± The two Temple elders also let out a sigh and gave each other a look. The other party got good methods! First, make their side to be in the right, and then deliberately announce this in public to force us to eat this humiliation. If we seek revenge now and the news spreads, the reputation of the Holy Knights will be damaged. The leader got back onto his mount and shouted: ¡°Hurry and pull both of these idiots onto the horse! Let¡¯s go! We won¡¯t stay here anymore tonight. Instead, we will journey through the night!¡± Seeing the scowl on their leaders face, all the knights dare not disobey. Unlike the rest, the two elders showed a look of appreciation towards the eighth level knight. Seems like a person of high talent; able to endure and someone of high discretion. Now that the three leaders of the Holy Knight toon are gone, the temple is currently seeking new talent to promote. This guy is promising. Chapter 110 110th chapter ¡°Rights from ying dumb¡± Within the closely guarded inn of the City of Colo, one of the rooms inside were closely guarded by several magicians that hade from the capital¡¯s magician¡¯s union. Moreover, the several magicians standing outside the doorway even put up a noise cancetion spell. This way, no trace of the conversation happening inside could be heard from the outside. Inside the room, Du Wei sat on the opposite end of rk because the gray bearded magician is currently staring at him with eyes full of suspicion. Despite this, Du Wei¡¯s face looked rxed and even picked up a cup of ck tea to sip. In the northern region, tea can be considered rare and hard toe by. So without a doubt, these tea leaves must have been transported here through trading caravans from the south. The only problem is that after air drying and long periods of travel time, the taste of the tea would inevitably degrade once it got here. Du Wei was feeling good right now, but rk on the other hand is feeling somewhat difficult after hearing the story from Du Wei¡¯s mouth: ¡°What you say is true?¡± Du Wei immediately stiffened his face and spoke sternly: ¡°Master rk, you are a man of great capacity. Even though you are gifted with the title of a mage, but you cannot unjustly question the honest character of a gentleman! Every word I said is to be true, I¡¯ll swear to the great Goddess of light!¡± rk is somewhat fidgety, but after seeing Du Wei¡¯s stern expression¡­¡­ He can¡¯t simply be angry at a little child now can he? After all, he is a famous Grand Mage. However, what Du Wei said may be too¡­¡­ For thest great Magister and famed as the strongest magician on the continent, to be killed after being besieged by several magical beasts from the frozen forest? Who would believe such a thing? Is there even a magical beast on the continent capable of killing Master Gandalf? Unless it is a dragon or a heavenly beast, then that¡¯s more like it! ¡°It is what it is.¡± Du Wei looked emotional: ¡°He promised to take me traveling through the frozen forest, hoping I could grow a little more insight and hone myself a bit. But who would have thought the frozen forest is so menacing. In the end, we were ambushed by a pack of wolf kings! Cornered, teacher released his mighty powers and finally managed to kill them all. Unfortunately, we ended up encountering another evil faced spider queen in the north. With all of his energy depleted, teacher used thest option he had left, and that was using his life to take out his foe¡­¡­.¡± ¡°You say ¡®teacher¡¯?¡± rk noticed something wrong in the way Du Wei was speaking! ¡°Yes.¡± Du Wei continued to knit bad lies: ¡°A month ago when he came to the Rnd ins, teacher and I hit it off right away. He said I¡¯m talented and epted me as his closed door disciple. This is absolutely not a fake!¡± ¡°epted¡­¡­ Disciple?¡± rk has begun to sweat. Who is Gandalf? He is the continentsst Magister! A Magister is not a magician ranking within the ten magic rankings. Even if one were to reach the tenth level in magic, they can¡¯t be called a Magister. In a sense, the title of Magister is not a standard to measure someone¡¯s magical strength. But rather, it is an honor or qualification. ording to the Rnd Continent¡¯s magic system, only those that have taught over two disciples at the eighth level can be considered qualified to be called a Magister. However, only those that have tutored their disciples up to the ninth level can they be called a Magister. This is equivalent to a university professor. Of course, if one can tutor a disciple up to the ninth level, then it goes without saying that the teacher¡¯s true strength is above them all. To be epted as a disciple of Master Gandalf. What kind of concept is that? In fact, based on Gandalf¡¯s status and seniority, he did not ept many disciples in his 260 year life span. However, if you were to randomly pick one out the group, they would always eventually be famed and distinctly powerful individuals of the continent! Even the former and current president of the Magician¡¯s Union is Gandalf¡¯s apprentice! This way, Du Wei and their seniority are the same¡­¡­ Now what is that? Thinking this through, wouldn¡¯t Du Wei and the President be from the same generation? And let¡¯s not forget the monstrous old magicians within the magician¡¯s union. All of those monsters are also students of Gandalf. With the sudden turn of events, Du Wei had suddenly be their little junior¡­¡­ Swallowing his saliva, rk unconsciously straightened his back as he spoke: ¡°So¡­.. You¡­¡­ Hmm, Sir, has been epted by Master Gandalf as his inner disciple?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Du Wei¡¯s calm tone is truly like eating Bok Choy when it came to lying. From the information he managed to piece together after being questioned by rk, Du Wei somehow figured out the rtionship between the magician¡¯s Union and Gandalf. If his conclusion came out to be negative, Du Wei would have pushed his rtion clean with Gandalf. However, the information he got so far has been quite positive. The numbers of Gandalf¡¯s disciple still living in the magician¡¯s union are about three. Each and every one of these old monsters is around 200 years old. Also, their true strength is no less than the ninth level in magic. Even the current president of the union must show some face in their present. And the most recent news of Gandalf epting a new disciple was a few years ago. That year, Gandalf brought with him a little stuttering girl (Vivian) to participate in the magic assessment. As a result, the bunch of old guys there nearly mopped the floor with their jaws because they were so shocked that a little girl of her age is already at the eighth level! However, this matter was ssified as a secret. If not for the rtionship between the mission and Master Gandalf, rk would never have been cleared for this information. rk is after all someone from the capital; he wouldn¡¯t so easily believe everything Du Wei said. Continuing, rk questioned Du Wei a bit more. ¡°Dear Du Wei.¡± rk coughs once and his manner of speaking was much more polite. With his status as a magician, rk would never have shown such courtesy towards a regr person, even if that person is someone from a prestigious family like Du Wei. However, it is another matter now that Du Wei has somehow connected himself with the famed Master Gandalf: ¡°Just so you know this matter is very serious. I have to find out the details and then report it back to the Union. Once that isplete, we can then rify your identity and a formal recognition will be granted by the union¡­¡­ Ugh, first of all, when you first saw Master Gandalf, how did he ept you as his apprentice?¡± Du Wei grabbed an apple on the table before him and ruthlessly took a bite before speaking in a normal expression: ¡°Ah, this is how. The first time teacher saw me; he shouted towards me and said ¡®boy, I see your bone structure is excellent and can only be found once in a million individuals. You are perfect in practicing magic! As a present for our meeting, here are a few basic magic books for you. From now on, the burden of maintaining world peace and fighting off viins will be handed to you.¡± rk: ¡°¡­¡­¡± Looking at the big mouthed chewing an Apple Du Wei; rk suddenly had a feeling of wanting tough and cry because he is currently faced with a child not even at the age of 14 and listening to his oundish and childish stories. However, the big problem lies in whether Du Wei is truly Gandalf¡¯s disciple. Continuing, rk carefully questioned Du Wei a few more times. Unfortunately for rk, this time Du Wei only vaguely addressed the questions and started to act like a foolish child. The answers he got were either he did not know, or he can¡¯t remember. Anyways, Gandalf is after all a legendary figure. For such an amazing person to want such a young child to be his disciple, then they would of course have their own ways of thinking. So how could a small child understand the reasoning behind this? ¨C This is a perfect excuse. Du Wei found that his age was a very good defense because a child is born with the right to y the fool; after all, who can anyone take a young child seriously? After spending half a day like this, rk may have been befuddled by what he learned so far, but the old guy still believed Du Wei¡¯s story up to ny to eighty percent. rk had long known about Du Wei and had personally tested his talent at an early age. Despite the fact that his innate magic is superior to others, but his poor sense of the elements in the surrounding hindered him from learning magic. Also, from the recorded feedbacks, Du Wei is only a young master capable of pulling off pranks before he was taken away by Master Gandalf. But now, rk could clearly see the power of magic in Du Wei! When dealing with the two Holy Knights, Du Wei promptly shot out two fireballs in one breath. That cannot be questioned! And the way he released those fireballs, his movements looked well-honed and not something he learned recently. Firing off two fireballs in one breath, rk can also do it himself. But the ability for instant incantation, he couldn¡¯t do it. To be able to train such an untalented boy to such an extent within the short period of time, it was likely on this continent, only Lord Gandalf is capable of such a feat! You need to know, when Vivian passed through the eighth level assessment that year, a live sample was set in front of everyone! If not Gandalf, who else would have the ability to turn a rock into a diamond? Certain of the point that Du Wei is really Gandalf¡¯s disciple, rk no longer dared to say anything else. After all, if this fact is verified, just considering the status and not his strength, Du Wei would still be two or three generations above him. Chapter 111 111th chapter ¡°good¡± With his suspicion cleared, rk quickly went outside and tasked another mage to courier a letter to a nearby city. This way, he could take advantage of the teleportation circle in one of the branches and deliver the message to the capital at the fastest speed possible. Even though the issue of how Master Gandalf perished still needs to be pursued, but no matter what, the person is already dead. To be able to find one of his sessor and a ¡®genius¡¯ to boot, this can be considered a great achievement already. The next morning, Du Wei headed out while being surrounded by all of the great magicians. (This time around, their attitude would naturally be different.) But Unlike before, the numbers of people in the group once again increased by one. The garrison army officer knows that he have sinned greatly by going against the Holy Knights, but luckily for him, Du Wei is willing to take him in. For the young master of the great military family to want someone, the garrison army wouldn¡¯t dare disobey. Not to mention it is only a lowly third level warrior. Paperwork and procedure may take some time, but everything can be followed upter. This third level Knight can be said to have hit the jackpot, even themander of the garrison army came to bid his farewell. Of course, there is a reason for his appearance. When the officer reaches the Rnd ins, the garrisonmander hopes his former subordinate would put in a few words to the Rowling household. This way, there might be a chance for themanding department to be a bit more lenient when it came to issuing supplies and equipment in the future. Speaking of the officer, he only told Du Wei his name is called George when asked. As to what hisst name was, the officer actually said he didn¡¯t know. The reasoning behind this is because he was always an orphan. A few years ago, he secretly faked his age when the army was conscripting soldiers. Fortunately, his talent was good. By practicing only the martial Dou Qi techniques taught by the army, he was able to advance into the third level. However, due to the fact that he was never truly tutored by anyone with skills, he was never able to advance any further. Even his current name was given to him by an old senior officer at the time. ¡°I have no surname. Since I¡¯m following Master Du Wei from now, I might as well go with the surname Rowling.¡± George thought the idea was beautiful, but Du Wei shook his head: ¡°I don¡¯t have any problem with this, but the Rowling family tree is closely guarded. To let an outsider into the family, it wouldn¡¯t be proper.¡± Just when George seemed disappointed, the several officers that came to show their goodwill made some mocking remarks: ¡°This kid always eats a lot and randomly bursts out farts. For that, you might as well call him ¡®George bursts¡¯!¡± George was infuriated. Staring at some of his former colleagues, he scolded: ¡°Nonsense! You still dare talk bullshit in front of Master Du Wei!¡± The garrisonmander also inwardly hated the vulgarity of his subordinates because their actions have shamed him somewhat in front of the other party. In order to save face, themander quickly followed up and said: ¡°I think in this case, the word ¡®bursts¡¯ is indecent as well¡­¡­ To make it simple, we can use the same note and call him Bush instead.¡± As such, the poor pitiful name of this knight is set and done. George Bush. (I know, I know. The author loves doing this¡­¡­) Upon hearing this name, Du Wei was stunned beyond reason. Looking up and down at his new men, he realized this person really does look simr to the world famous George Bush from his previous world. The more he looked, the more his body itched because evil thoughts were quickly building up in his mind. The officer is after all clever person. Noticing the look he was receiving from his new master, George feared the meaning behind those eyes. As a way of self-preservation, he quickly issued the next sentence: ¡°Since young master dislike this name, it would be better to change it.¡± ¡°No need, do not change!¡± Du Wei immediatelyughed: ¡°From now on, you will be called George Bush! If you give birth to a son, you should just call him Bush Junior!¡± Thinking about his past, Du Wei always disliked George Bush and wanted to give him a pleasant beating. Who would have thought in the present, he would get a subordinate like that? From now he would have plenty of opportunity. Yes, that¡¯s right, plenty of chances¡­¡­ The more he thought about it, the more satisfied he was. For that reason, Du Wei started to pat his new subordinate on the shoulder. Originally, George was inwardly worried, but after seeing how happy his new master was, he could finally let out a sigh of relief. Furthermore, after being patted on the shoulder, even his bones felt lighter as he smiled. After listening to a series of good words from those that came to bid them farewell, Du Wei and hispanions were escorted down south with a handpicked team of Calvary riders. Furthermore, in order to curry even more favor from Du Wei, the garrisonmander even gifted them with a good carriage for them to use. Du Wei would of course ept the gifts. However, he did not ride in the carriage alone. Sitting inside the carriage with him were Hussein and Nicole (Medusa). From public opinion, this Rowling young master is obviously more affectionate towards this mercenary. With a simple nce at Hussein¡¯s eyes, all of them could tell this person was different from the rest. As for Nicole¡­ A woman so beautiful, yet delicate and graceful ¨C she is most likely Du Wei¡¯s woman. Although Master Du Wei is only at the tender age of 14, but it is not umon for the children of the rich nobilities to have a few women¡¯s at this age. Du Wei did not care much about what others thought of this, and just like that, he headed south while being under the protection of the several mages and Calvary riders. Traveling down south in this manner, the scenery was much morefortablepared to how he was dragged away from his home and into the north. After several days on the road, the weather changed from a bitter cold to a warmer climate. Looking back and forth, he could see all of those around him treated him with respect and care. Thinking on this, he couldn¡¯t help but recall the miserable times when he was first kidnapped by Gandalf and the part about how the old fool died for him. Outwardly, Du Wei may say that he disliked the old fool, but he did miss the guy in his heart. With the passing of five nights, a group of cavalry riders could be seening towards them from afar. This group of soldiers is in fact the private army of the Rowling household and leading them was none other than Knight Robert. Once Robert received his orders, he immediately took charge of 300 light cavalry and headed north. Now that he has finally met up with the young master, he would of course be overjoyed. In this manner, they spent another half a month on the road to finally reach the Emerald River. Once they have passed the Emerald River, then they can truly say they have reached home. It is here, the several wizards that have apanied Du Wei so far said their farewells. As parting words, rk made it clear that in a few days, the president of the magician¡¯s union will definitely make a visit. Originally, the magicians from the union intended to bring Du Wei back to the capital with them. But at the present, Du Wei¡¯s identity is now a closed door disciple of Gandalf. With this, the situation is different, even the president has to revere him¡­¡­ Otherwise, if they somehow offended Du Wei, the old disciples of Gandalf still alive inside the union will not let the matter slide so easily. Therefore, a temporary order came in at thest minute to leave Du Wei alone and not bring him back to the capital. However, a secret order came in from the president that rk and his peers must keep the young master safe at all costs. Left with only people he trusted, Du Wei could finally let out a breath of relief. This of course applied to Hussein also because he could finally leave the carriage. Robert is person of not many words. While loyal to Du Wei, he did not ask anything unnecessary. With the crossing of the Emerald River (that is the Rnd River); they havee to the Rnd ins. Seeing the cheering soldiers that havee to wee him home, this kind of reception is truly differentpared to when he was first banished to this ce. Continuing like this, they headed back to the Rowling castle in his hometown. Upon arrival, the attitude of old butler Sier was much more polite than before. Bowing in his greeting, the old butler did not dare say anything unnecessary. Just like that, Du Wei headed into his room to take a bath and had several servants¡¯ help him put on a new set of clothing. With a fresh face, Du Wei now looked quite handsome and young. Once that was finished, he sent down orders to make arrangements for Hussein to live in the manor behind the castle. (This was the manor where he researched the hot air balloon.) This area was off limits to everyone. As for Nicole, he made special arrangements in the castle for her and specifically ordered ayer of drape to shield her as insurance. If by the odd chance she opened her eyes and petrified someone by mistake, then that would be a big mess. As soon as Du Wei was out of his room, he could see Marde rushing towards him and plopping himself onto the floor as he cried against his leg: ¡°My young master! I am your loyal servant, Marde! These days, I missed you every day, I was afraid you might have met with an ident outside¡­¡­ ¡± Seeing the funny looking act of the crying Marde, Du Weiughed loudly and gently kicked him: ¡°How are you these days? I have eaten a lot of suffering in the North. While you were at home, you must have passed your days really well, right?¡± Marde is after all the person that has watched Du Wei grow up, so their rtionship is of course not normal. Without hiding feelings, he wiped away his tears and smiled: ¡°I have carefully watched over the business young master left behind. While you were gone, I was somewhat discouraged and cked off a bit, but the money it earned really is a lot! The league you came up with managed to earn tens of thousands of gold within just a month. Moreover, when I was instructed to send the fireworks to her mistress¡¯s birthday, it was able to steal the spotlight really fast! It is just that thedy misses you a lot. After I exined how you spent tremendous effort toe up with the fireworks, thedy was overjoyed, but that night she ended up crying for a long time¡­¡± After listening, Du Wei¡¯s face darkened because his feelings toward the Earls wife are not shallow. In this world, the first person to treat him with true kindness is this mother. Thinking it over a bit, Du Wei said: ¡°Very well, let¡¯s leave this topic for now. However, the days of us staying here won¡¯t be long. The ruckus caused by my leaving this time is not small; I fear that father would soon call me back to the capital. Once I see mother again, we can make her happy then.¡± After finishing his words, Du Wei returned to the study room was about to have Marde give him a report about all the finance that urred this month. Yet, it was at this moment old butler Sier came rushing in. ¡°Young Master, someone came to offer gifts and they said it is only meant for you!¡± Struck with a thought, Du Wei immediately ordered others to follow him outside. When he came out of the castle, he could already see a line of carriages waiting and his servants unloading the cargo. Looking to the front, the carriage leading all of them was made of gold and the symbol of the Lister family household was imprinted on it! From there, a well-dressed middle aged man saw Du Wei and hurriedly walked over to salute him. Then, with a respectful tone, this middle aged man said: ¡°This must be Master Du Wei! From the orders of Marquise of Lister, I havee to bring gifts. Mistress said, the debt of saving her life must be repaid eventually. Since the summer Memorial Day is fast approaching, we have brought along these small tokens of thanks for now. Please do ept them young master!¡± With that said, the middle aged man passed over a list of all the gifts to Du Wei. With just a nce, he could not help but be startled by the content! This Marquise of Lister really is wealthy. With only these small tokens of thanks, it was able to move the hearts of the old butler beside Du Wei! 100 war horses and are all stallions! Two cars full of furs produced from the magical beasts of the frozen forest! In addition, there are plenty of products from overseas because the mother¡¯s side of the Lister family is a famous wealthy merchant family. In the past couple of generations, all of their members have specialized in overseas trading, As such, within the gifts there are plenty of pearls and corals from the high sea! Let¡¯s not mention the fact that there are over four pairs of the highest quality coral, just one pair is worth over tens of thousands of gold in the open market. Somehow, they even heard of the fact that Du Wei delved deeply into magical nts, so they included some rare and valuable seedlings! Also, there was a magic infused ted armor bought at a high price within the gifts. In the open market, the value is worth at least fifty to sixty thousand gold! With just a nce, Du Wei immediately sent it to the manor behind the castle. Du Wei could only consider this to be Hussein¡¯s luck. Lastly, the dagger they brought out is only half a meter long, but he could tell with one look that it was crafted with high quality steel. Most importantly, the edges of the de were extruding a silvery air. The discoloration is a clear sign that the de had added in the extremely rare ore, Mithril! Mithril is a material that even mages coveted because it was so hard toe by. Unlike all other natural metals, Mithril is the only metal ore in the world that is capable of being blessed with magic! Generally, a magic weapon is created by iying a magical gemstone somewhere onto the weapon and blessing the stone with magic. Compared to a true magic infused Mithril weapon, the strength is higher by a hundredfold. Mithril is not something money can buy on the market. Even with a 100,000 gold coins, the most you can buy is something the size of an egg. So a dagger mixed with Mithril is something Du Wei naturally matched. Once he learned a bit more magic, he can start infusing magic energy in his dagger! Such a precious gift, Du Wei felt somewhat ashamed in his heart. But just when he was about to speak, the man from the Lister household said: ¡°The Marquise said Master Du Wei must not refuse her gifts. If I go back after you refuse, I cannot exin such a thing. Also, herdy-ship will be sad if you do. While the Marquise is still unwell right now, but herdy-ship said she muste visit young master once she is able to.¡± After a pause, this man continued speaking: ¡°Lady also said, young master is still young, so you must be interested in new and interesting things. If the young master has any requests from now on, you can seek out any of our branches in the south. As long as you let them know of your name, the Lister household will do everything in their power to help you!¡± With that, the man bowed and left with his men and empty carts. The face of old butler Sier has already turned pale as he stood next to Du Wei. The reason is because the gifts from the Lister household could easily match the entire ie of the whole Rowling household for half a year. God knows what the young master did to be able to have so much face in front of the famed Marquise of Lister. Just when Du Wei was about to turn around and go back into the castle, another subordinate came to report that someone from the magician¡¯s union havee bearing gifts. It is no small matter in how surprised the old butler was. It¡¯s one thing for nobles give gifts to each other, but a gift from a wizard is totally different! Usually nobilities have to offer immense gifts to win the favor a wizard, but even then, it is not certain the other party would be willing to help. So where in the world would someone see a wizard turn around and offer gifts instead? Once the branch office in the Rowling in received themand from the imperial capital and found out Du Wei is a disciple of Master Gandalf, they immediately sent over a batch of high quality magic materials. Ten Hawkweed jewel is the best thing for wind attribute magicians. 100 Fine Ruby are valuable fire magic tools. ck Crystal, 20 pieces. Fine magic crystal, 100 shards. Other colored Crystal were also numerous. In addition, there is also a small amount of other things used for tools or props. Finally, there is also a good century year¡¯s old Hickory wood, but most importantly, it was the first sprout when it was picked. Also, there were plenty of alchemic materials used for wand making! Du Wei was beaming with joy in his eyes and epted them all. Ordering his servants, he had them all sent to the small wooden building he built behind the castle. The mage the union sent was a fourth level magician. Once he said a few kind words, he left right away. Old Butler Sier was shocked in his heart because he did not know what kind of big event this young master has done to be able to cause the mages union and the Lister household toe currying favor! Ignoring Sier, Du Wei only brought Marde with him as he headed to where Hussein was. Du Wei¡¯s wealth now may be quite lucrative, but he also has quite a lot of secrets he cannot let others know like ¨C Hussein, Gargamel, Nicole, and the penguin QQ. No matter what, the castle has too many eyes. He must find a quiet ce in the Rnd ins and build a home of his own. Only by doing this will he have his own foundation. At the very least, his wealth is quite lucrative nowpared to the time when he was only allowed 300 gold coins a month. Maybe he should also buy a castle or manor and enjoy himself? The future is bright and the situation is excellent¡­¡­ Chapter 112 part 1 112th chapter ¡°air supremacy¡± (part one) Speaking of which, after Du Wei brought back the garrison officer from the city of Colo ¨C A third level knight ¨C George Bush felt his choice ofing to the Rowling Household was absolutely correct. Originally an officer of a small northern city, his pay wasn¡¯t all that bad; unfortunately, he was stuck in a ce with little prospect for his future. But most importantly, the amount of supplies and equipment¡¯s the garrison army was given is much lower whenpared to the formal battle legions. Day in and day out, he watched on with envious eyes at the people from the Storm Corps traveling to and fro in the city. Now that he has arrived at Du Wei¡¯s old home, he was formally fused into the castle guards. Luckily for George, Knight Robert found out he was epted by Du Wei so George was easily promoted to the position of a Captain, with a hundred soldiers under him. The Rowling family is an imperial military family of the Empire. For this reason, their private army is better equipped than soldiers from the regr garrison by several times. Even whenpared to the empire¡¯s regr legions like the Northern Storm Corps, the Rowling household¡¯s private army isn¡¯t any inferior. Rejoicing at the high quality armor and weapon he was given, his new mount was also a solid steed that he could not find any fault with it! Most importantly, Du Wei was also looking favorably upon him because Du Wei¡¯s situation is very different than before. Despite being very wealthy, Du Wei didn¡¯t have any confidants that he can send out to handle his private matters. Other than Marde, the rest of his people like Hussein cannot be known to the public. This way, George became the best candidate: no background, no father or mother,es from a humble beginning, and most importantly, he offended the Holy Knights toon. With him wholeheartedly following Du Wei ¨C Hussein secretly observed this kid¡¯s martial arts talent is quite good ¨C So of course he would vigorously promote George. ording to Du Wei¡¯s instruction, Robert was ordered to teach him some intermediate Dou QI practicing methods that were usually only taught to themanding officers of the Rowling army. George is not a fool. In order to prove his worth, he would train every day to not disappoint his new master. Originally the Rowling army has a tendency to exclude outsiders. For this reason, George would have had a hard time gaining a foothold inside the army. Luckily for him, Du Wei invented ser. Although the game has beenrgely transferred to the public populous, but the camp would still organize a few games here and there. This George could surely be considered a ser genius. Within a few days, he actually yed like a veteran and quickly built a good rtionship with the regr troops. Even some of the soldiers that disliked him at first were gradually changing their opinions of him after a few games. Du Wei had big ns for George in the future. Going the extra length, he specifically asked George and Robert to secretly observe the 100 soldiers under George¡¯smand and pick out the ones that not only has brains, but also a smart mouth. George knew this was his new master¡¯s way of cultivating him. So without neglect, he spent the next few days secretly observing his subordinates and wrote down the names of certain outstanding individuals to report back to Robert. With the backing of Du Wei, Robert gave the green light and allowed George to freely pick out 100 soldiers to act as Du Wei¡¯s personal guard. The only problem lies in the fact that George¡¯s marital skill is toomon. As a solution, Robert deliberately spent some time to tutor George and even passed on his own martial skills to him. In a blink of an eye, it has already been a month since Du Wei returned home. During this time, he had his people expand the small building in the back of the castle by three folds. In addition, he also had his workers clear out a patch ofnd in the woods to construct a small manor facing the Rowling River, away from prying eyes because of the three wooden walls. (Emerald River). Stored inside the manor is all the gifts from the Marquise of Lister and magician¡¯s union. Not only that, he had Marde move all of the Ser Association¡¯s so called service point records inside for safe keeping. Of course, Du Wei himself had also moved in. As a form of security, he tasked George and his 100 subordinates to act as guards around the perimeter. Unless Du Wei gave themand, not even the old Butler Sier is allowed inside. After Du Wei got into trouble the previous time, he was grounded by his father; however, that order has already been revoked with the arrival of the Earl¡¯s newest message. It¡¯s just that the order to call him back to the capital still hasn¡¯t arrived like he expected. At any rate, Du Wei didn¡¯t care anyways because his home in the Rnd ins is promising and free, so he¡¯s in no rush to return to the capital. Every day, Du Wei would study magic with the genius Solskjaer; but now, the mouse Prime Minister Gargamel has joined the group. Gargamel¡¯s magic level may be way inferior to Gandalf by a hundred fold, but the mouse is still after all a fifth level mage. Compared to Du Wei and Solskjaer, his knowledge is still superior to the two. Since Solskjaer have already decided to whole heartedly join Du Wei¡¯s camp, he had no choice but to put up with the mouse. At first the guy still had his suspicions towards Gargamel, but after listening to his exnation of how he was stuck in his form due to being hit with the rebounding transformation magic, Solskjaer¡¯s worry was somehow reduced. Subsequently, Gargamel was absolutely surprised at Solskjaer¡¯s effort to carve out a new road in magic. If his research seeds, it would be a ground breaking event! As a demonstration, Solskjaer pulled out his ¡®gunpowder¡¯ invention and easily gained the respect of the fifth level mage. Fortunately Du Wei¡¯s wealth is quite deep. Even though magic experiments burn a lot of money, but he could still afford it. The only worrying matter for him right now is the female knight he sent out to sea to hunt pirates with the violent Joanna. Counting the days, it should have been three months since they departed. The fact that they still haven¡¯t returned is making Du Wei feel quite anxious. However, there is also good news. The development team Du Wei had left behind for the hot air balloon has sessfully produced a working product after many days of trial and error. Of course, they were only able to achieve this thanks to Du Wei indirectly guiding them. Once they have flight tested the balloon a few times, (Of course, Marde would rather be killed before he goes up again) the directional controls have beenvishly installed. And with further development, this senior magician Gargamel was able to effectively upgrade the burning materials for the hot air balloon by adding in a few species of magical herbs into the mix. With all these improvements, the current version of the hot air balloon not only could rise higher with less effort, it could also carry a heavier payload. Struck with a thought, Du Wei started to think. In this world, there is no such thing as an air force. The sky is almost undefended. With a thing like the hot air balloon, it would be equivalent to having total air control! If this was a war torn era, the hot air balloon could be used to quietly transportrge amounts of supplies and troops behind enemy lines¡­.. Such a use is no small matter! And let¡¯s not forget air assault and so on¡­. The only problem is that the continent is in an age of peace right now. Therefore, the hot air balloon has no military purpose or use. Changing his way of thought, Du Wei started toe up with different concepts: No use in a war, but he still can¡¯t just waste it. With so much gold already invested into such a device, he can¡¯t just use it as an ornament and throw the gold into the water! A p across his head, Du Wei made up his mind: Home use! Transportation! The newer version of the hot air balloon may have raised its payload limit by a lot, but it still can¡¯t match up to the amount of a horse drawn carriage. Then again, the speed of air travel is still much faster than the speed of a carriage by many times. In addition to that, air travel is much safer and doesn¡¯t have the issue of having its previous cargo breaking due to bumpy roads on the ground. More importantly, the cost of a carriage is much higher due to the fact that the owner has to pay for: the horse, the groom, and the feed. Making up his mind, he decided to follow through on this path. On the continent of Rnd, there is a transportation industry; however, it is all horse drawn carriage based. Not only is it slow, the cost is also quite high. To make it fast, there are methods one can use in some big cities where a branch of the magician¡¯s union is located. By inviting a mage toy out a magic circle, one can take advantage of the power of magic to send out important letters in an instant. Essentially, this method is no different from the webmail service in Du Wei¡¯s previous life. Unfortunately, such an important magic circle can only be found in the branches of the magician¡¯s union or in some important military base! Ordinary people, or even wealthy individuals, can only rely on fast running horses to deliver anything they wished to transport in a hurry. In this way, the usefulness of the hot air balloon is born. This day, Du Wei tasked Marde to gather the wealthy merchants in the small city located south of the Rowling castle. After tasting the sweet nectar known as the ser league, these individuals would of course show up without hesitation. This small city is just less than 30 miles south of the Rowling Castle and the daily necessities are all bought from this ce. Because it is so close to the Rowling castle, this little city was given a unique name: Rowlingplex. ording to the Rnd continent¡¯s wording, the meaning of the name is the Rowling Households ce. On this day, all of the wealthy merchants of the province came rushing to the city after receiving a request by the young master of the Rowling House. Even the ones that couldn¡¯t make it have sent a representative just in case. Of course, the one with the best rtionship with Du Wei at the moment is the leather merchant that has supported his ser league in the past. In order to prepare for his presentation of the hot air balloon, Du Wei has carefully prepared a sample. Using ten high quality cowhides to braid the air balloon, he also acquired a set of sturdy vines to weave the huge bowl shaped chassis. And as a safety measure, the guardrails are at least half a person high. After calcting it in his head, Du Wei believed the hot air balloon can bear the weight of 15 adult me, which is about a ton in weight. Moreover, under the chassis, he specially invited Gargamel to cast a few low leveled wind spells to dampen the wind resistance when they go into the air. This way, it would also increase the buoyancy of the hot air balloon and increase its carrying capacity. ¡°I have invited everyone today because I am about to open a new industry.¡± In front of these businessmen, Du Wei did not bother saying any useless kind words. Once they see what he has in store, their hearts will definitely be tempted: ¡°The transportation business in the Rnd ins have always been monopolized by a few caravan troupes. Although everyone has their own caravans, but the blockades in different areas make it very inconvenient. The new thing I came up with will be able to help you ship any urgent or precious cargo to anywhere at a fast pace. North, south, east, and west, as long as the weather is good, we can deliver it anywhere within a maximum time of two days!¡± As soon as his words came out, the people below burst into an uproar. Chapter 112 part 2 112th chapter ¡°air supremacy¡± (part two) Two days? Starting from the Rowling River at the northern end of the Rnd ins, it would at the very least take seven to eight days to reach the southern end and out of the Rnd ins on horseback! Because of Du Wei¡¯s status and identity, none of the merchants dare argue with him. Nheless, everyone had an unbelieving expression stered onto their face. Du Wei also didn¡¯t waste time spouting-nonsense and directly announced the time for setting sail. Then, with a smile, he continued speaking: ¡°If you don¡¯t believe, then why not try it. May I ask who here in the crowd is willing toe forward and experience it?¡± The animal fur merchant did after all coborate with Du Wei over a longer period of time, so his view and admiration towards this little young master of the Rowling Household is much stronger than the rest. Seeing the silent crowd around him, the merchant realized this was good timing to curry more favor and immediately shouted in a loud voice: ¡°The things that young master Du Weies up with is definitely extraordinary. Just the ser thing allowed us to earn quite a bit. For that reason, I¡¯m willing to be the first to try!¡± Smiling, Du Wei nced at the supportive guy and was secretly satisfied in his heart: ¡°The distance will be too far if we really gone from the North to the South. I¡¯m sure none us can sit and wait here for a few days, right? So let¡¯s do this then. From here, the ¡®Rowlingplex city¡¯, you guys can pick a nearby town that is within two days of carriage travel time¡­.¡± The fur merchant immediately followed up as he smiled: ¡°City of Kaka to the South is only a day¡¯s worth of time on horseback from here. Also, some of my businesses are located in the city.¡± ¡°Good, then city of Kaka it is!¡± Du Wei immediately cried out: ¡°Since this is the case, it would be good that I write a letter for you to give to the lord of the city. Riding my contraption, you can ask the Lord to sign his name on my letter as a witness! Flying from here to the city of Kaka should take less than half a day. Once all of you witness this, you will know I¡¯m not lying.¡± With that, Du Wei raised his hands to signal his servants to ready the preparations and very quickly, the craftsmen¡¯s began filling the hot air balloons. Within moments, the balloon slowly floated into the air. If not for the fact that the balloon is tethered to the ground, it was likely it would have already flown away. Du Wei personally pulled the fur merchant onto the hot-air balloon, and then handed over his handwritten letter: ¡°There are still so many friends here that I must attend to, so it¡¯s for the best I stay behind. Once you reach the city of Kaka, ask the lord of the city to sign the document. Do not dy.¡± Along with the fur merchant, there would naturally be a servant of the Rowling household on board to control the hot air balloon. With the loosening of the ropes by those on the ground, the balloon flew into the air within moments. In his lifetime, this is the first time the fur trader is flying in the sky. Simr to how Marde reacted, the fur trader tried his best to control his emotions, but in the end, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from screaming. While the onlookers on the ground saw that the monstrous thing really took off into the air, everyone could not help but create a ruckus. For a moment, all the people in the city square were shocked inexplicably¡­¡­ Du Wei had expected this so he did not say anything. Ordering his servants, he had them serverge quantities of tea, food, and wine. After everything was settled, he turned around and asked George: ¡°You surprised?¡± George shook his head: ¡°Master, of course not. No need to mention flight, even if it suddenly jumped into the water, I would not be surprised.¡± A spark of light shed into his eyes: ¡°Into the water¡­¡­¡± Du Wei whispered to himself: ¡°If I have the time and conditions, making a submarine is not impossible.¡± Flying far away, the hot air balloon eventually disappeared into the clouds and away from everyone¡¯s view. Seeing the people below him in the square still seething with surprise, Du Wei did not say much and simply sat quietly in his own chair to sip his tea because he knows Marde would handle the rest. Sure enough, half a day¡¯s worth of time passed by quickly and the food and wine he prepared was hardly touched due to the fact that everyone had their necks craned towards the horizon. Sure enough, by the time of noon, a shadow could be seen in the horizon. As the object drew closer, the contour of the hot air balloon gradually cleared up. ¡°It¡¯s here, it¡¯s here!¡± Someone below started yelling. Despite all themotion, Du Wei sat firmly in his chair and slowly sipped his tea. Under themotion of all those on the ground, the hot air balloon slowlynded in the square. Then, with a paled looking face, the fur trader got off the balloon. Compared to when he first set off, the merchant already looked way better than before. Instead of dropping onto the ground, the merchant puffed out his chest and walked around with a proud looking expression. (Later on, Du Wei listened to the report of the apanying servant that went with the merchant and found out the guy actually vomited the entire trip to the city of Kaka. To top it off, the moment theynded, the trader couldn¡¯t even walk because his legs were so numb. However, the merchant seemed a lot better in the round trip.) Seeing the fur tradere down from the contraption and publicly disy the signed document, the entire audience was in amazement! From here to the city of Kaka, it would take two days of riding on horseback. But on the hot air balloon, it only took half a day¡­¡­ And a round trip at that! This speed is simply too fast! Du Wei then kindly pulled the fur trader up to the stand and loudly announced the speed and load limit of the hot air balloon. Following this announcement, all those wealthy merchants in the audience had different expressions on their face. Without a doubt, the emergence of the hot air balloon will have a certain impact on their industry! At this point, Du Wei¡¯s public disy of the hot air balloon has been sessfullypleted. In his belief, the news of his hot air balloon would spread throughout thends by the mouths of all these businessmen. Du Wei then announces the first shipping line under his name to be finally open! From now on, if these businessmen here want to deliver some goods ¨C important documents, letters, or valuables ¨C they can entrust them to Du Wei¡¯s transport line. Firstly, air travel is much faster. Secondly, there won¡¯t be any security risk of thieves robbing the cargo. As long as the weather permits, there won¡¯t be any obstacles. Putting in some thought, Du Wei organized a ribbon-cutting ceremony to make it even grander for his big opening. And to win the fur trader over, Du Wei pulled the merchant onto the stage so that both of them could cut the ribbon at the same time. The merchant may be trembling, but inwardly, he was so proud of himself because he felt from now on, he is another step closer to Du Wei. By relying on this young master of the Rowling household, he can expect his future to prosper from now on. Du Wei then released the subsequent transport prices, which are a lot cheaper than ordinary carriage transport fees. This way, he would naturally be even more popr. And the merchants that were invited to this event were all given a special discount voucher. Valid for one year, they can use the voucher to reduce their transport fee on Du Wei¡¯s transport line by 20%. You need to understand, the most import thing in the freight logistics industry is the transportationwork. Du Wei had plenty of hot air balloons, but hecked service points in different locations. Compared to those carriage businesses that had a strongwork throughout the continent, he was severelycking. As a solution, Du Wei intends to expand hiswork by taking advantage of the business location belonging to these merchants present to today. Dayster, the hot-air balloon under his name has truly gained a reputation. In less than a month, the profit of those caravan transportation businesses got instantly reduced by 30%. On a side note, when Du Wei founded his transport line, Marde asked him what name they should use for this new industry. Du Wei¡¯s only smiled and wrote this down: FedEx! In a blink of an eye, another month passed. The number of FedEx hot air balloon has already increased by 20 frames; yet, the daily demand for the service is still beyond what they could supply. And recently, the service has already expanded past the borders of the Rnd in. From the southern province of Lille, to the ¡®half width city¡¯, Du Wei has established his own transport branch. Every day, his money bag continues to grow. On this day, seeing spring has passed and summer fast approaching, Du Wei calcted in his head that the day specified by Gandalf is only 20 days away. Though Du Wei spected that after all that has happened, his father will definitely summon him back to the capital, but the news has been slow ining. Because of this, Du Wei also had some spections: could it be that this dad just didn¡¯t like him? But Du Wei was not focused on this issue. Even if the message of summoning him back to the capital doesn¡¯te, he can just take a trip to the capital himself and quietly go meet the person specified in Gandalf¡¯s will. To be endorsed by someone like Gandalf, the person in question cannot be ordinary. Munching on a peeled grape, Du Wei was lying on top of a watch tower daydreaming. It was then the sound of horse stomping reached his ear. Already used to such a sound, Du Wei knew it was his new subordinate George Bush. Letting out augh, he shouted out loud: ¡°George, what is the matter?¡± Dressed in leather, George marched into the study room and performed a standard Knight salute before continuing to speak in a respectful manner: ¡°Master, somebody wants to see you¡­.. Just that the person is dressed very strangely and doesn¡¯t seem like a good person.¡± Du Wei frowned: ¡°who?¡± George¡¯s face was very odd: ¡°What did he say¡­.. Hmm, he said his name was Jack Sparrow, the captain of the ck Pearl of some fleet.¡± Inwardly pleased, Du Wei immediately jumped up from his chair andughed in a ha-ha fashion: ¡°They are finally here.¡± Then he frowns: ¡°Howe it¡¯s this guy here. What about Rolynn and Joanna?¡± Chapter 113 The 113th chapter ¡°hard headed¡± Poor Captain Jack standing outside the Castle; surrounded by several Cavalry horseman, their spears were already pointed at him. Not because of anything. It¡¯s just that this guy¡¯s outfit is too tant and arrogant¡­. With one look, the word ¡°I¡¯m a pirate¡± is engraved onto his face! It must be said that all this is Du Wei¡¯s credit. The design he gave this Captain Jack ispletely in ordance with the previous charmingly famous pirate movie. This is especially true with the Red bandana on his head, small chin beard, and dark eye circles¡­¡­ For such an oddly dressed man toe near the Rowling castle, the patrol units would of course lock onto such a target. Ever since Du Wei was abducted twice in the past, the size of the Rowling personal guard forces was increased several folds. If Jack didn¡¯t have Rolynn¡¯s personal token, the Calvary unit would have probably bounded the guy up with ropes by now. ¡°Ah-ha! My captain, you are finally here!¡± With a bigugh, Du Wei hurriedly ran out from the Castle to see the cavalry soldiers pointing their spears at the pirate captain. Pausing at the sight, one of the riders below him immediately dismounted and came up to DU Wei in salute: ¡°Young Master, this guy¡¯s clothing is strange and looks to be up to no good. But in his hand is the keepsake token of knight Roylnn, we suspect he¡­¡­¡± ¡°No need to be suspicious, he is my men. Let go of him.¡± Waving his hand, the group of knights withdrew. Du Wei looked at the somewhat nervous looking Jack and walked up to him to give him a pat him on the shoulder: ¡°You¡¯re finally here. Did you finish the tasks I entrusted to you?¡± The Pirate captain has long seen how dangerous Du Wei can be. Quickly bending over his waist to show his respect, he started to speak: ¡°Master, the tasks you instructed was very sessful. Although there were some bumps along the way, but with the help of Miss Joanna, everything worked out well and the results were even better than previously expected.¡± Du Wei took one look around: ¡°This is not the ce to talk.¡± Then he had his people take Captain Jack to his study room. For such a vulgar pirate, where would he have the chance to see such riches from an imperial family of the empire? Just those pure silver candlesticks are enough to make his eyes pop. And to top it off, the southern ck tea matched with the sterling silver tea set he was served next rattled him to no ends. Sending the servants away and closing the door behind them, Du Wei calmly worked up a noise silencing spell. With this, they can talk without worrying about their conversation spreading. Sitting in his chair, Du Wei spoke with a straight face: ¡°You can speak now.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Putting down his cup, Captain Jack quickly stationed himself up and whispered: ¡°Altogether, this voyage out at seasted three months. We raided 19 Inds in the Eastern waters and with Miss Joanna¡¯s help; those recalcitrant guys were thrown into the sea to feed sharks. The ones that were left alive and folded into our forces equaled a total of 421. The total amount of vessels we managed to take in is 32 ships and among them, one is of the Sea King ss war ship!¡± ¡°Sea King ss?¡± Du Wei was slightly surprised. In the Rnd Empire, sea vessels are divided into four different sses, fromrge to small: Sea God. Sea King, Sea Salt, and Sea Soul ss as the smallest. Among them, the Sea God ss is thergest and is considered the biggest strength behind the Empire¡¯s navy. Let¡¯s use Du Wei¡¯s father for example. Back when Earl Raymond returned from his expedition to the south, the gship ¡°Dandong¡± he was on is in fact a Sea God ss naval vessel. Considered to be without equal, the deck is 300 feet high and the body length can reach up to 150 meters. At any time, the Sea God ss is capable of hosting over 800 personnel¡¯s on board. And slightly smaller is the Sea King ss. With a body length capable of reaching 100 meters ¨C generally only 80 meters ¨C it is capable of carrying up to 500 personnel¡¯s at one time. Of course, it is usually outfitted with a certain number of ranged weapons such as a cannon. Because there is no gunpowder or heated weapons in this era, there aren¡¯t actually any artillery¡¯s. The so called cannons are in fact just some giant crossbow relying on a wheel mechanism to pull the bowstring. With a range of approximately 1-kilometer in distance, the high prating force of the Ballista¡¯s can pierce through even sheets of metal. Often in sea battles, once these weapons are utilized against the enemy vessels, the damage they would cause is direct and threatening. In an era without long ranged artillery weapons, only the Sea God ss battleship is capable of equipping itself with a few Magic Cannons ¨C based on the principles of magic. This weapon isparable to regr gunpowder cannons in Du Wei¡¯s previous life, but the cost of producing one is quite expensive and some of the manufacturing process is said to be already lost. Due to these reasons, the naval warfare in this world is basically still undeveloped. Relying on Ballista and on board personnel to fight, the main strategy is to ram the ship¡¯s hull against the enemy vessels. Once the enemy ship is immobilized, the sailors would then engage in a melee brawl to overtake the enemy. In such a case, the ship¡¯s capacity to carry more fighters became the main focal point of naval warfare. Although pirates exist in the eastern coast of the Rnd Continent, but most of the ships fell into the medium and small bracket. More often than not, pirates are incapable of facing off against the regr naval fleets, and even somerger size armed merchant ships can fend for themselves. For a pirate crew to own a Sea King ss ship is extremely rare! Seeing the doubt in Du Wei¡¯s eyes, Captain Jack quickly exined: ¡°The ship seems to have many years on it already, and the hull is quite old and needs much repairing. The batch of captives we captured on the east belonged to arger group of pirates. From what they told us, this vessel supposedly belonged to the imperial navy, but once it was retired, a wealthy merchant purchased it to be used as a trading vessel. But as fate would have it, the ship waster snatched up by pirates.¡± Hearing the exnation, Du Wei finally nods. If pirates can so easily get their hands on a Sea King ss ship, then what good is the imperial Navy?! ¡°Within the 32 ships, there is one Sea King ss and six Sea Salt ss. As for the rest of the fleet, they are all small ships in the Sea Soul ss category capable of only carrying a hundred sailors. Looking at it this way, the fleet right now isparable to a second tier naval force of the empire in the eastern waters. Although itcked ships of therger size, but they could make up for it with the superior numbers.¡± Hearing Jack¡¯s words, Du Wei didn¡¯t say much and only smiled. This guy is after all from a pirate origin ¨C his insight is still a bitcking. Comparable to the Imperial Navy? That is wishful thinking. Du Wei¡¯s old man is after all from the Navy. It was only by relying on the merits and promotions he gained from the southern expedition were he able to get where he is today. Like thest expedition, the fleet Earl Raymond brought with him only had 35 ships, but 5 of them are of the Sea God ss and the rest are all Sea King ss! The amount of ships under Du Wei may be a lot, but if he really had topare it to the imperial navy, it is still not enough. Luckily for Du Wei, he didn¡¯t have any sort of ambition to raise a rebellion. As long as he doesn¡¯t go agitating the imperial navy and focuses his attention only on maritime trade, his fleet would be a force to be reckoned with. After saying all of this, Jack¡¯s face looked somewhat pale as he whispered: ¡°However, the way things have developed so far is beyond what we expected. As such, there are certain problems we are unable to solve. At the moment, the entire fleet is docked at the ¡®Fertile Haven Port¡¯ located in the southern Lille province. Miss Rolynn is staying behind to keep matters in check and has sent me back here to you¡­..¡± ¡°Speak directly; tell me exactly what is wrong?¡± Du Wei frowned as he said this. ¡°Money.¡± Jack lets out a sigh: ¡°We originally intended to incorporate the stolen loots and wealth amassed by the pirates. This way, we can maintain the expenses of the fleet, but the problem is¡­..¡± Speaking up to here, Jack could not help but sigh: ¡°The problem is that they are too poor.¡± Seeing the frown on Du Wei¡¯s face, Jack quickly exined: ¡°The Empire¡¯s naval strength has always been powerful, and in the past decade, the empire had organized numerous expeditions to the southern waters. Although these efforts are aplete waste of resource and without any real obvious benefits, it did in fact expand the empires southern water borders and increase trading activity. Seeing the opportunity, numerous pirate crews started to appear. But in the past, these criminals have never caused any major issues thanks to the overwhelming strength of the imperial navy. If by the odd chance they caused too muchmotion, they will incur the wrath of the navy and face annihtion. More importantly, trading in the eastern coast was greatly reduced in recent years and has concentrated their efforts in the southern waters. For this reason, the pirates in the eastern coast were already having a difficult time surviving, so of course they didn¡¯t have much chance to gain any wealth.¡± Looking at the serious faced Captain Jack and the way he spouted out all these big points, Du Wei could not help but smile: ¡°All of these points¡­. Did you figure it out?¡± Jack shook his head and honestly answered: ¡°No, I never went to school, so where would Ie up with these thoughts? These things are all what Knight Rolynn told me.¡± Du Wei¡¯s eyes lit up. Rolynn? This leggy chick has a good mind. Jack continues to speak: ¡°Three months on this voyage has gained us mostly materials that isn¡¯t worth much like food and rusted iron. So even if we did sell them in the market, it wouldn¡¯t be much. As for the things that are worth a bit, a portion of it has already been sold in the ¡®Fertile Haven Port¡¯ the moment wended. Also, a certain amount of rtionship was needed with the port naval officers because it was inevitable that we would be criticized by suddenly taking in so many new members that are on the wanted list. Under Miss Rolynn¡¯s judgment, we spent a certain amount of money to bribe the officials and remove the bounty on some of the crew members. In the end, the amount of gold we managed to suck out of the pirates only amounted to 10,000 gold coins. After repairs and maintenance on the ships we gained, especially on the Sea King ss vessel ¨C let¡¯s not forget the daily food and drinking expense ¨C we could barely bnce the expense with the ie we gained.¡± With his forehead going numb upon hearing all of this, Du Wei waved his hand: ¡°Speak directly, how much in total do we need!¡± Hearing this, Jack immediately pulled out a small book given to him by Miss Rolynn beforeing here. Opening it, Jack began reciting the content: ¡°Among the 32 ships, almost every one of them is damaged to a certain degree. Given the current financial problem, Miss Rolynn has selected nine of the most severely damaged ships and estimated the cost of repair to be around 3,000 gold. Whening up with this estimate, it was already based on the fact that we used your name to purchase discounted materials from the port. Although the other ships still need to be repaired, we can temporarily leave them as is and continue using them. Once the financial situation loosens up in the future, we can then decide which to repair. And the daily expenditure for 400 sailors over three months has been tallied up to 600 gold. This number is already considered very frugal. If Miss Rolynn dares to reduce the personal expenditures anymore, she feared that the new crew members would defect and leave. On a side note, Miss Rolynn said that since the men¡¯s are no longer pirates and is working under your name; all of them need to be outfitted with a new uniform because it would be an embarrassment for you if they wore tattered rags. As such, every member was tailored two new uniforms with the captains getting a slightly better quality¡­¡­ This cost us another 200 gold. But most importantly, the weapons in everyone¡¯s hand are too poor in quality. They were all pirates in the past, so once they swarmed a ship, they would go into a random brawl. Such an act is just too shameful. Since they are now part of the Rowling fleet, every Ballista, crossbow, and de needs to be reced. I have already checked, some of the former pirates were so poor that they don¡¯t even have a weapon. In the past when they encountered a target, they would grab whatever tool they could find like a hammer or rake to fight. Such a method can no longer be used¡­.. In addition to the expenses of building a rtionship with the port officials, the costs of removing the bounty on the pirates ended up costing us nearly a thousand gold coins.¡± Chapter 114 The 114th chapter ¡°Road to the capital¡± By the end, Sparrow sighs: ¡°Miss Rolynn is currently keeping everything together in the ¡®Fertile Haven Port¡¯. Overall, she only has 1000 gold coins left in hand. ording to the consumption scale of 32 ships ¨C maintenance, personnel expense, and weapons ¨C the expected expense is close to a thousand gold per month. Of course, this number is alreadypressed to the lowest limit. Once we set sail, we can expect the expense to be even bigger¡­.¡± Du Wei took in a deep breath: ¡°So, not only did you not bring me back a penny, you are asking me to fork over money instead?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Sparrow also had a bitter face. The guy originally swore his allegiance to Du Wei with the intent of leading a fleet, but now it seems only the leader would know how expensive things really are. Before the fleet even gets out to sea, it would seem they are about to go bankrupt. ¡°If there is no new funding within a month, then would the fleet go bankrupt?¡± Du Wei questioned. ¡°In fact, there are a lot of peopleining already. When they were still pirates, they could eat meat and drink wine; but now, they can only eat cereal and drink the cheapest ale. Everyone is so poor that they cannot even seek out the cheapest whore for relief. If not for Miss Rolynn and Miss Joanna suppressing them, I fear that the sailors would have already rioted a few times.¡± Sparrow reluctantly said this. Du Wei rubbed his brow and admitted to himself that he was a bit whimsical in the past. Although there is a powerful master like Joanna and an experienced pirate like Sparrow to keep things running smoothly, he did not expect the rate of consumption to be so big for such a fleet. If not for the small fortune hended himself with, Du Wei feared that he really couldn¡¯t afford to keep such a fleet running! ¡°Okay.¡± Du Wei taps his fingers on the table: ¡°The fleet may consume a little bit more, but the current problem lies in the fact that things aren¡¯t up and running yet. With no ie, of course they can¡¯t afford to meet their expenses. First thing now is to figure out a way to make it into a money making machine.¡± Du Wei then sent captain Sparrow to find Marde, this way he can take out 10,000 gold coins from the ount as funding for theing months. General speaking, he actually still earned a profit. Although the fleets expense is quite high, but it was still acquired without spending a single penny. Since there are so many ships, the option of going back to being pirates is out of the question. The only solution is to rely on ocean trading. Du Wei immediately recalled Beinlich from the snow wolf mercenary that he met in the frozen forest. ording to his memory, Beinlichined to him that those unscrupulous merchants that came to do trading with them would always suppress the trading price despite the fact that they risked their life to procure the materials. For example: a low leveled monster nucleus can be sold for one to two gold in a town at the forest edge, but once it reaches the south, the price would increase by 10 times! Although the empiresw cannot stop everyone from entering the frozen forest, but it can definitely stop the flow of trade. For this reason, the mercenaries that risked their life often could not openly sell their spoils. The only option left for them is to reluctantly sell their goods at a cheap price to those with strong backings or a well-connected businessman. Usually, those merchants are backed by some powerful northern nobles. Once they obtained the goods at a low price, they would go through some legal formalities and sell it off to the south as legalized goods at 10, or sometimes even 100 times the profit. If others can do this, he can naturally do it too! And now that he has a fleet, he can just send it to a port in the north. Once he does, he would of course earn a lot. Even though he may have the halo of the Rowling Household, but the problem lies in the fact that he is still not an adult yet. With no proper title, how can he so hastily step into the northern business circle. If he doesn¡¯t do it right, he may even offend those elites in the north. And smuggling such arge amount of materials is no easy matter. First he must build up some connections with the local officials, and then he must find a way to legalize his goods. For a kid like him, it¡¯s fine to make a ruckus here and there at home, but if he really wants to start a business like this, it won¡¯t seed unless someone of great importance in his family steps forward. Thinking it through, a strange idea suddenly popped into his head. If¡ªif I was really the heir to the family, then it would have been good. When this idea came up, even Du Wei was surprise. How could he think like this? Hadn¡¯t he hated the life of bearing so much responsible and deliberately kept his silence? This way he would be misunderstood by everyone and be able to live a carefree life in the Rnd ins. If he really did be the heir to the family, then problems and trouble woulde looking for him. Once that happens, he can no longer have the life he wanted. Thinking it over, Du Wei sighed and dropped the subject. The main priority is to solve the problem at hand. Du Wei hesitated for a moment and then finally decided to assign the task to his new subordinate George Bush because he really had no other effective confidant under him right now. Calling George Bush over, Du Wei confessed his n and asked him to find Beinlich of the Snow Wolf Mercenary and pass on a handwritten letter by Du Wei. Regardless of how, Du Wei first want to pull in the Snow Wolf Mercenary Corps because the scale of this troupe is not small. Their activity in the frozen forest is above average, so the amount of spoils they have would not be small. If he can get this done, then his maritime trade would finally be realized. The profit may be small at first, but it is still better than leaving the ships in the ports. Just like this, Captain Jack Sparrow and Mr. George Bush became closerades as they prepared themselves to head up north in search of the mercenary corps. Three dayster, Du Wei finally received the news from the capital. Raymond Earl wrote a letter and sent if over on horseback. The letter didn¡¯t say much, the only message was an invitation to attend the annual summer festival. It may just be words, but it is still a message asking Du Wei to return to the capital. Marde naturally rejoiced at the news, but Du Wei looked rxed without any hint of anger or joy. Go to the Capital? Hmm, but the waters of the Capital are so deep! In the present, he is hiding in the Rnd ins and living a carefree life. While in the capital, there are so many powerful and rich nobles. And lets not forget the Temple and the Magic Union¡­¡­ Hussein is strong, right? The number one Saint Knight on the continent! Yet, he is being chased like a lost dog by the temple. Right now, he has too many secrets and each one will end in catastrophe if known. If the Temple found out, not even his bones would remain! The night before heading out, Du Wei had a long chat with Hussein in the small little vi he built. From their conversation, they came to a decision that Hussein is to stay behind from this trip to the capital. The reason is because there are simply too many people there that would recognize the knight. As for Nicole (Medusa), Du Wei hesitated repeatedly but in the end, he decided to not bring her with him. Although Medusa¡¯s strength is superior and could easily be considered a bodyguard with her by his side, but he still couldn¡¯t get a clear understanding of her. If by the odd chance she loses her patience and goes on a rampage, at least there is Hussein to control her because he wouldn¡¯t have the strength to stop her. As for the rest, Du Wei decided to take Gargamel with him. After all, he is only a mouse. Even if he does talk in front of others, he can just say he is a talking pet. Thest one is QQ. Other than talking and going on and on about being elegant, this bird is not in the least bit useful and is purely a waste of food. Contemting the problem for a long time, Du Wei somehow decided to bring the bird with him as if he was suddenly controlled by a ghost. Just like this, Du Wei packed his luggage. With a mouse, a penguin, 50 cavalry guards, and a bunch of carriages filled with his things, he set out mightily towards the capital. Originally, riding the Hot-air balloon would have been faster¡­¡­ But he had too many stuff with him and he also didn¡¯t have that many hot air balloons to use. In any case, Du Wei wanted to leisurely walk for a while. Traveling in this fashion, it wasn¡¯t until they came up to the Rowling River that they saw someone standing on top of the river bridge. Still riding on top of his horse, Du Wei took a closer look and saw that the person waspletely grey from top to bottom. This person was none other than Mage rk. Seeing Du Wei and his escortsing closer, rk immediately mounted his horse andughed out loud: ¡°Master Du Wei, the Magic Union received news that you are heading to the capital. So, under the order of the president, I¡¯ve been waiting here for you!¡± A few ideas popped into his mind, and then Du Wei jumped off the horse and walked up to the mage with a smile: ¡°Mage rk Sir, could there be some sort of request the president needs me to do?¡± Jumping off his horse, rk came up to Du Wei and gingerly fished out a ck wooden box. Opening it to reveal a golden badge, rk handed it over to Du Wei and said: ¡°This is what the president tasked me to give you! You are already recognized as Master Gandalf¡¯s apprentice. Although you did not participate in any magic grading exam yet, but a disciple of Master Gandalf must have some umon magic knowledge. This gold badge does not represent any magic grade; instead, it is an honorary symbol that identifies your identity. If you wear this to any branch of the magic union, you will receive preferential treatment. Wait till you are in the capital, the president will then personally check your magic power and give you a ranking badge.¡± His heart was slightly moved by the gold badge. As he held it in his hand, Du Wei could vaguely feel the waves of magicing from it. This is a good item. Du Wei of course knew what this badge represented. While not a symbol of a magician, but the person wearing this basically means he is a magician! The so called Magic Schr is equivalent to a College ¡°visiting Professor¡±. Not governed, it is an honor, but also status symbol. ¡°And one other thing.¡± rk immediately took a burden from on top of his horse. After opening it, he carefully took out a folded robe inside. The style is simr to that of a Mage¡¯s robes, but is neither gray nor white. Instead, it was a in ck robe. From above, there were some markings of the magic union and some fine patterns. Du Wei didn¡¯t know what they were, but rk exined: ¡°This is the robe of a Magic Schr and its cost is not low. The patterns above have some supportive properties when you are using magic and can even fend off some simple physical attacks. Within the magic union, only members of the executive office have such a robe. This robe is a status symbol in the Capital! And in the magic union, there are no more than 15 with this robe throughout the continent!¡± After a pause, rk took a step back and reverently bent down on his waist to perform a salute from a lower level mage towards a higher level mage. Then with a smile, he said: ¡°The status of a Magic Schr is transcendental in the Union. Any level six or lower magician must pay their respect to you in the capital.¡± Du Wei was bing serious inside. Before he can even leave his familynd, the magic union has more than once tried to win him over¡­. Du Wei does not believe in this world there is something like a free lunch, the other party must have some kind of plot. Now is not the time to refuse. epted everything, Du Wei wore the ck magic robe and pinned on the badge. Immediately, he could feel the fluctuation of magic caused by the robe and a silver arc of light surrounded his body. From the looks of it, the magic is some sort of blessing spell that increases his speed or agility. Also, it would seem this robe had another function that could adjust the temperature. Normally his body would feel slightly feverish from all that galloping, but with the robe, his body began to cool. Delighted, Du Wei thanked rk and allowed the mage to join his group as they headed to the capital. Du Wei, finally returned to the capital, returned to the circle of power he tried to so hard to escape. Stay tune for future development! Chapter 115 The 115th chapter ¡°secret¡± The moons light are like water. Darkness came much earlier than expected. With the moon hanging in the sky, its gentle light embraces all that is there throughout thend, making everything look serene and clean. Slowly traveling on top of the highway leading to the capital is Du Wei and his carriages. On this returning trip back to the capital, Du Wei specifically mentioned not to hurry and spend their time leisurely enjoying the scenery. As long as they can arrive in the capital by the deadline, then it is good. Touring along the way, Du Wei was extra friendly towards Mage rk and rode side by side with the old fe when they were on horseback. And if they were tired, Du Wei would even invite rk to ride inside his carriage. The cargo carriages of the Rowling household would of course be high quality. Made from a wide array of expensive materials and pulled by the most excellent breed of horses, the expense shouldn¡¯t need borating. To top it off, Du Wei made a series of modification like the velvet nketid on top of the seating¡¯s, this way, the riders wouldn¡¯t feel any sort of jolting motion. Inside the carriage, there would certainly be good food and fine wine ready for consumption. Like this, rk was able to experience quite a lot of good things along the way. (I¡¯m sorry guys, but this part sounded so homo to me lol) On the trip, rk didn¡¯t dally around and did his utmost to make their travel go smoother. Conjuring up several wind based attribute spell circles under the carriages, rk¡¯s effort has consumed arge amount of effort and magic material. Without objecting to rk¡¯s meddling, Du Wei is in fact quite pleased. Stored inside the carriages are in fact magic materials like gems and crystals gifted to him by the magic union. If rk can somehow aid him in making the coaches¡¯ move faster and more stable, he was not one to object. Seeing the spell circle, Du Wei was secretly turning ideas in his head: ¡°If such a small wind based spell circle can reduce the weight of a heavy carriage, then wouldn¡¯t a high tiered spell circlepletely lift the horse up into the air?¡± After listening to his words, rk paused for a moment in thought before replying: ¡°In theory it can, but fundamentally, wind based spells still have to rely on the power of the wind. To lift an entire carriage up into the air with just the wind, the amount of energy consumption is too high. Not only will such a spell waste the magic crystal involved, the amount of cost outweighs the benefit by arge margin.¡± Du Wei nodded with his mouth not saying anything, but he was secretly thinking this through: If a carriage can simply be lifted into the air by a simple magic spell, then it would be for the best. Unfortunately, rk exined the astronomical cost involved would make this non practical for universal use. But if he can turn this around and find a way to make it viable for universal use, then even if he can¡¯t make an aircraft, he can still use this method to create an ¡°air force¡±. Of course, in reality, it can only be a dream. rk was also slightly smiling because in his mind, he was secretly thinking: ¡°Children are children, so whimsical. To make a horse fly in the air, does he know how much magic material he would need to waste? If not for his rich family background and the fact that he recentlynded himself with arge number of gifts from the magic union, where would such a kid have the money? Just the material cost for this little endeavor is nearing 10,000 gold coins. If he really did make a horse fly in the air, the cost would no doubt be around 100,000 gold coins, and this doesn¡¯t even include the man power involved. For such an advanced magicyout, it would require a group of mages constantly injecting energy into the spell. In their idol chatters, Du Wei mainly focused his attention on drawing as much information out of rk as he can. After all, the magic union has shown so much effort in their approach on him, he must get a clear grasp on the situation before entering the capital. No need to mention the ¡°Magic Schr¡± title; Du Wei thought the more benefit he got; the harder it will be for him to reject them in the future. Unfortunately, rk is after all a sly old fox that have mingled in the capital for many years. His speech and actions may have been happy and joyous, but no matter how much Du Wei tried, he could get a single word out of him. That night under the moons light, the convoy was slowly moving on the road while Du Wei and rk discussed some topics on magic. It was then from the front, Marde came running to the back and gently knocked on his carriage window. Using a whispering voice, Marde said: ¡°Master, in front of us is Timber Town.¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart shook at the name. Timber town? This ce holds some strong memories. Back when he was kicked out of the imperial capital and sent to the Rnd ins, it was in this ce that he met Rolynn and Solskjaer. Now that he is returning to the capital, he once again revisited this ce. Du Wei looked at the sky and smiled: ¡°Very well, we will stay here for the night.¡± After entering Timber town with the convoy, Marde would of course remember theyout and directly lead the party to the inn they lived in before. It¡¯s Just that when they came up to the ce, the former Timber inn could no longer be found. With a fresh paint job and a brand new sign to rece the old rotting one, the name on the sign board no longer spelled Timber Inn. Instead, the name was changed to ¡°Home of the adventurer.¡± Marde was surprised, thinking how long it could have been and did it change owners? The door was long open by then and a short, fatty guy ¨C likely the boss ¨C came running out. Seeing a chance for big business, the guy bowed his head in respect and called out several workers from inside the inn to help settle the horses. Du Wei and rk walked into the hotel and saw that this time around, the inn was much cleaner than thest visit he made here. It¡¯s just that the business doesn¡¯t seem to be doing good with so little customer inside the spacious hall. Those chairs, desks, and counters all looked new. Even some of the paint doesn¡¯t seem to be fully dried yet like it was hardly ever used. The pudgy looking boss was already in front of them so Marde sent him to go feed the horses and clear out a couple of clean rooms for them. Du Wei was surprised when he took a look at the passing waiters and horse groomers ¨C each and every one of them were strong looking. Frowning slightly, he nced at Marde so that he would call over the pudgy looking boss. ¡°I remember this ce used to be called Timber Inn and I¡¯ve even lived here once. Did this ce change hands?¡± The pudgy looking boss nodded and said: ¡°Sir, the previous owner thought the business here wasn¡¯t good, so he simply sold it away.¡± Du Wei took one look at him: ¡°Your ent, you don¡¯t seem to be a native.¡± The pudgy looking boss smiled: ¡°Sir, I am also a timber town native, but in the past, I have been doing business in the north. It wasn¡¯t until a few months ago that I have returned. Du Wei nodded, but when he nced at the waiters, he frowned: ¡°Your little inn actually keeps so many employees. These people look so strong, could it be that they were all soldiers?¡± The boss nodded, his face revealed a trace of helplessness: ¡°Originally in the North, I was part of a garrison army for a while. It¡¯s just that one day when I was rounding up some smuggling mercenary; they managed to injure me so badly that I had to retire from the army. Once I received my retirement fee, I intended to return home. All of the staff you see around us are my friends. Like me, they also suffered some sort of injury and were forced to retire. Although the retirement fee is not small, but there will be a day when it runs out. Thinking it over, I figured it was for the best that we start a business. Recruiting some of the retired veterans like me, I had theme back here with me so we will have something to eat in the future.¡± Du Wei gave out a loudugh and nodded. Seeing the boss walk away, Du Wei could tell that the owner was clearly slightly limping. Although the other waiters are strong and sturdy, but if looked carefully, all of them had some kind of defect on their body. Du Wei sighed and instructed Marde to tip a few extra gold coins before he headed to his room. During the night, Du Weiid on the bed awake, unsure of why he felt so unease by all this. Thinking it over for a long time, he couldn¡¯t figure it out and decided to stare at ceiling with his eyes wide open. Silence filled the room. The only sound he could hear was his own heartbeat and breathing. Just like this, he kept his eyes open until after midnight when a faint weariness finally overtook him. Turning his body over, Du Wei was about to go to sleep, but then all of a sudden¡­.. He is a magician with exceptional talent, so his hearing and induction are 10 times better than the average person. From out of nowhere, he could hear a strangely faint noise: Creek! As if some decaying old wood was subtly breaking. Freighted by the sound, a sense of dread suddenly filled his heart as he raised his vignce. Du Wei listened for a moment longer, but the noise was already gone. Just when he thought it was only a mouse, something changed! From above his head, the beam in the ceiling suddenly broke off and a sharp sword instantly came flying down towards him! The sword was quick and ruthless, obviously wielded by a powerful expert! Luckily for him, his body was no longer the weak and frail body it once was after practicing the Stars Dou Qi basic martial movement set. In the chaotic mess, he uttered a cry of distress and pushed his body to the side. Just that the other side was ready for a long time and the sword was issued by a master, so how can hepletely evade it? Rolling over, he could feel his back was in pain and blood could be seen flowing out. Covered in cold swear, Du Wei hurriedly crawled under the bed. Unfortunately for him, after a rumbling sound from behind, the bed was easily split in two by the assassin¡¯s sword! From above his head, a shadow could be seen jumping down on him. From top to bottom, the assassin¡¯s feature was all ck, only the sword in his hand glistened with a cold light. Lying on his back, Du Wei nearly fainted from the pain caused by his wound, but in a life threatening situation, his hidden potential for survival awakened. Without looking back, he conjured up multiple balls of me in his hand and shot it backward. With this barrage of fire magic, the assassin didn¡¯t dare to recklessly push forward; instead, the assant performed a somersault to dodge the oing fireballs. With a detonating sound, the entire room was lit a bright. From this, Du Wei could finally get a clear look at the enemy. With ck clothes and a cast on the face, the eyes of the attacker shed with murderous intent. With his sword still pointing at Du Wei, the assant didn¡¯t say anything and once again came rushing forward! Still lying on the floor, Du Wei rolled over in fear and crashed into the room¡¯s wardrobe closet. With the assassin¡¯s sword drawing near his face, Du Wei couldn¡¯t care anymore. Fumbling with his hand, he grabbed onto a clothing corner and threw it out. Previously when the Lister household gifted him with the precious mithril dagger, he had been carrying it on his body since then. Therefore, since he received the mage robe from the magic union, he had the dagger tucked in the belt that he wore with the mage robe. Then the assant made a grunting sound and leaned down towards him, At that moment, even his body¡¯s sweat solidified. With the foes body leaning against his body, Du Wei could feel a prickling sensation on his body. In such a case, a person would immediately go into a panic. Inside his head, millions of thought started to gush out from his mind. I¡¯m going to die today?! It was this little distraction that made him realize the person on top of him wasn¡¯t moving. Instead, Du Wei could feel some hot liquid dripping onto his neck and body. From his nose, he could smell a strong pungent bloody scent. Regaining hisposure after being stimted by the bloody smell, Du Wei pushed against the assant¡¯s body and found that he was already dead. From the killer¡¯s chest, Du Wei could see the handle of his dagger sticking out of the area where the heart should be. Realizing what he had done, Du Wei must have unintentionally threw the dagger out with the clothing earlier! At the same time, loud banging and fighting could be heard from the outside. asionally, Du Wei could even hear the frightful screams of people dying. Unsure of what is happening outside, Du Wei clenched his teeth and pushed aside the corpse. Then turning his hand around, he pulled the dagger out from the body and noticed a hint of magic still lingering on the handle. It was then the door burst open with a bang and rk rushed inside while still in disarray. Seeing Du Wei covered in blood, rk was taken aback at the sight. However, when he saw that Du Wei had a dagger in hand, the mage seemed a bit more at ease: ¡°There are assassins, I¡¯ll protect you and get you out of here!¡± With that, rk grabbed hold of him and was about to leave before Du Wei whispered in his ears: ¡°We cannot go outside! The enemy must have contingency ns ready!¡± Just when he said this, they could hear the screaming cries of the Rowling personal guards dying outside: ¡°Back in! They have crossbows!¡± What followed next is the continuous sound of arrows firing through the air. Straining his face muscle, rk¡¯s enveloped himself in a murderous aura as he began chanting a spell. Surging with power, he lifted a finger and sliced through the fabric of reality and created a gash in the middle of space. From the distortion he made, a ck smog floated out from the vortex and started to quickly take on a humanoid appearance. Fully ck and shrouded in a deathly aura, it was a spirit warrior of death! Du Wei¡¯s heart missed a beat. It turned out that rk is practicing dark magic! This intermediate dark summoning spell managed to summon a spirit warrior of death! rk snorted. With a wave of his hand, the undead warrior rushed out of the room through the door. From the corridor, seven to eight assassins were already closing in on them while hiding in the darkness. Even though most of the Rowling Household guards were living downstairs, they were already killed by the assants. With the assants guarding the staircase, the killers had their crossbows aimed and ready as they rushed towards Du Wei¡¯s room. Just when they were about to reach the door, a dark shadow suddenly rushed out from inside. These killers indeed receive strict training. Although they were scared, their hands did not stop moving and had already started shooting at the spirit warrior. As much as they tried, a body of a spirit warrior is after all not physical, so their arrows could not harm it in the least. Like this, the spirit warrior held onto its short sword and rushed towards the assassins. Every time its weapon stabs into one of the attackers, a dark aura would burst forth and spread throughout the body, leaving no trace behind. Within moments, screams of death echoed in the hallway. The rest of the assassins recognized the attack and shouted: ¡°This undead creature can use Dou Qi!¡± With that, a burst of Dou Qi could be seening off from the assassins weapons! To be able to muster up the strength of wielding Dou Qi, a warrior must have at least reached the third level! A spirit warrior of death has no consciousness; their sole motivation for fighting is their residual fighting instinct. With no fear, the undead creature rushed forward and quickly dispatched two more foes with its ck mes. But in the end, the assassins managed to pierce through its body with their sword. Uttering a scream, the ck mes on the spirit warrior¡¯s body began to dim down. Then with another scream, the spirit warrior managed to dispatch one more assant before the ck mes on its body dispersed. With that, the creature finally disappeared from existence. Just like this, almost half of the assassins were wiped out or injured in the corridor. No longer able to block off the stairs, the remaining Rowling Household guards began rushing up against them. Seeing the situation, the leader of the group called out: ¡°Retreat!¡± Immediately, the group headed towards the end of the corridor. Seeing a window there, the one in the lead raised his fist and smashed the ss apart so that he could jump outside. rk had already rushed out from behind. Seeing this, the mage grinned and said: ¡°Think you can run?!¡± Before his words even ended, rk had already raised his finger and created another gash in the air. From the vortex, another two spirit warrior came forth and pursued the escaping attackers that were heading towards the window. The two assassins that were too slow to escape were quickly engulfed in mes. Only the leader had managed to jump out the window. rk¡¯s magic may be bizarre, but to summon three warriors in one breath, his energy reserve is already drained. With a shaky body, rk quickly retreated to the back because once his magic is depleted; he would be almost defenseless at that point. Several of the guards from the Rowling Household had already rushed up and immediately headed towards the end of the corridor. But as soon as one of the soldiers looked out the window, the soldier led out a scream and an arrow could be seen protruding from his head. It was obvious that the enemy still had more reinforcements waiting. Seeing this, the remaining soldiers no long dared to give chase. Retreating to where Du Wei was located, they created a defensive circle around him. Du Wei¡¯s injury is not light. The assassin may have missed his vital point, but the foes Dou Qi wasn¡¯t weak either. From where the wound was located, Du Wei could not move any of the muscles that had been effect. Without dy, Du Wei¡¯s subordinate had already brought out the med kit to clean his wound. As for rk, the mage forcefully refocused his spirit and started to cast a healing spell on his wound. It was only after seeing Du Wei¡¯s wound beginning to mend itself that rk rxed a bit. With a pale face and heavy breathing, it was obvious rk has reached his limit. Combing through the inn, the soldiers could not find a trace of the owner or the staff. Sitting in a chair with a pale face, Du Wei recalled the scenes from earlier. It truly is a life and death situation, so his heart is secretly scared right now. Humph! A very ruthless method! The boss and staffs are indeed killers in disguise! In order to not raise any suspicion, they were even willing to mutte their own bodies! Such a method is a real eye opener!! Recovering from their panicking state, the soldiers searched the inn from top to bottom. It was in the cer that they were able to locate the corpses of the previous owner and waiters. Du Wei lets out a sigh, his face sullen. It seems that the other side had already expected him toe through this ce. Killing the previous owner and staff so that they could take over their identity, the assants had set this trap so that they could assassinate him! To go so far as to mutte their bodies to fit their disguise¡­¡­.. Who exactly are they? He himself is only a minor noble. Even if he is Gandalf¡¯s apprentice, it shouldn¡¯t amount to being targeted for assassination. The temple? Shouldn¡¯t be. Although he made a contract with the devil and even took in Hussein, but none of this is exposed to the public. Moreover, if the temple wanted to deal with him, they could just reveal his secrets. Once that happens, the temple could openly kill him. Then, who did he offend? It was at this moment; his men came into the room and carefully examined the first assassin. Removing all the clothing, they could not find any clue. But one of the veteran soldiers raised a doubt: The enemy used crossbows. This handheld contraption may be convenient and highly lethal, but the cost is very high. Even for the mercenaries in the north, it is hard toe by. Normally, only someone with the status of a leader would be equipped with one. And in a noble¡¯s private army, the amount is very little. ¡°Only¡­¡­¡± This seasoned veteran seemed to hesitate at this point, seems like he is afraid to say the next part. Du Wei grunted: ¡°Only what? You say it!¡± Working up his courage, the soldier clenched his teeth and said: ¡°In the Rnd continent, only the military¡¯s main army is uniformed with such weapons.¡± After a pause, the soldier¡¯s face turned ugly as he whispered, ¡°Master, just now, some of the assassins we killed left behind their crossbows. I have already inspected them, and the stamps on them are indeed the army¡¯s logo! I do not know where these people are from, but the weapon they used definitely originated from the army!¡± Du Wei showed no emotion: ¡°Can that stamp be a fake? You¡¯re not wrong?¡± The soldier nodded: ¡°I won¡¯t be! Following the Earl, I was in the army. Then I returned to the Rnd ins and joined the family¡¯s private army. I have seen this type of crossbow before, I definitely won¡¯t be wrong.¡± Du Wei was lost in thought with one word from this veteran soldier¡­¡­ Army¡­¡­ Military?! Chapter 116 part 1 The 116th chapter ¡°Capital¡± (part one) At the moment only Du Wei, rk, and the veteran soldier -the soldier is one of the minor guard leaders that Du Wei brought with him from home ¨C remained in the room. For a time, the room was filled with silence. The only noise that could be heard is the cleaning sound created outside by the remaining guards tending to the bodies of the deceased or the injured. In this assassination attempt, the casualties amounted to 6 dead, and 4 injured. Seeing the young master still hasn¡¯t spoken a word yet, the guard leader dared not walk away or say anything unnecessary. The only thing he could do was to keep his silence while standing in front of Du Wei. After a long time, Du Wei finally looked up. Then, ignoring the guard leader, he walked in front of rk and respectfully saluted. With a slight smile on his face, Du Wei said: ¡°Mage rk, thank you. If not for you, I¡¯m afraid I would have be a corpse by now.¡± Despite having a paleplexion due to overexerting himself, rk quickly stood up and addressed a few good words. Waving his hands, Du Wei sternly said: ¡°No need to be polite, what I said is from the heart. If you didn¡¯t save me earlier, I would¡¯ve been killed by those people already. It¡¯s just that the matter is not so simple¡­.¡± At this point, Du Wei deliberately paused and didn¡¯t continue. There is no doubt rk is also a quick witted person. With a nce at Du Wei, rk casually said: ¡°Right now you are already a magic schr of the union. If you have anything to say, feel free to say it.¡± Du Weiughed a bit. Eyes still gloomy, he turned around to look at the minor guard leader and pointed at the crossbows on the ground: ¡°Immediately take these things somewhere and burn them. Do not leave any trace behind. Once you are out the door, do not ever again mention the things you said today. Keep them hidden inside your heart! From what I see, these are nothing but imitations of the military¡¯s arms, do you understand? The guard leader looked up to meet Du Wei in the eyes, but saw how cold they were. While Du Wei may be young, but he is still after all the eldest son of the Earl. In addition, they have just experienced so many things, so of course he wouldn¡¯t dare to say anything else. Nodding immediately, the guard replied: ¡°Yes!¡± Young Master is right; maybe I was wrong, I already left the Imperial forces for many years. It is possible for me to be mistaken, forgive me!¡± Du Wei waved his hand and spoke in a light voice: ¡°Good then. Go outside and have everyone clean this ce up, and then send a person on horseback to a bigger town nearby to inform the officials of our situation. You don¡¯t need to say more, just inform them bandits coveted our goods and attacked us. Do you understand? If you say even half a word you aren¡¯t supposed to¡­..¡± Speaking up to here, Du Wei gently made a humph sound before pressing his hand against the chairs handrail. Immediately, the handrail was covered in ayer of ice and extruding a frosty air. Using his hand, Du Wei squeezed against the wooden handrail and a crisp sound of wood breaking could be heard. From appearances, the wood may have looked fine, but the insides were already crushed due to what Du Wei did earlier. So afterpletely crushing the handrail to dust, Du Wei glimpsed at the guard leader to get his point through. Feeling his body go numb, the guard leader could not help but find his young master to be frightfully scary despite Du Wei¡¯s young age. In his mind, he was thinking how could a 14 year old have such cold eyes? Comparing Du Wei to his superiors, the guard leader feared that even the generals in the army would not have the kind of eyes he was seeing now! Without dying, the guy hurriedly nodded. Seeing this, Du Wei smiled: ¡°You may go then¡­¡­ Go find manager Marde to get 100 gold coins; it¡¯s my reward to you.¡± Afraid to say anything else, the guard soldier quickly bowed in salute and then picked up the crossbows on the floor before turning away. Du Wei then turned to rk and spoke with a smiling face: ¡± Mage rk, from what you have seen, do you think I handled this matter well?¡± rk was also secretly surprised: This young master of the Rowling Household is nothing like a juvenile adult should be acting. Just the method and the way he handles the situation is above the norm. It could even match up to most of the nobles in the capital he have met before. Just moments ago, he was nearly killed. Then in such a short amount of time since then, he managed to calm himself down without losing his head. But most importantly, in such aplicated situation, he knows not to make things public and keep a tight lid on the event. Such mindset¡­.. Thinking up to here, rk smiled at once: ¡°Master Du Wei, you handled the situation quite well. I¡¯m afraid this matter is not so simple, now is not the time to make a scene.¡± Both individuals may have their own respective calctions in mind, but their smiling faces were truly warm. After experiencing such a big event in Timber town, Du Wei no longer dared to travel overnight. To begin with, he didn¡¯t bring a lot of people with him on this trip back to the capital. Now that some of them are assassinated by the enemy, it is even more worrisome if they were ambushed on the road at night. After sending someone to call for help from arger nearby town, Du Wei and his personal guards barricaded themselves inside the hotel till the next day. By the second day, the several soldiers they sent out finally returned, bringing with them 300 soldiers. After hearing the eldest son of the military¡¯s second inmand was nearly assassinated, the executive officer in charge of this region immediately shouted in fright. Fortunately Du Wei did not die because if he did, the guy would have been forced to bear a certain amount of responsibility. Without dy, the executive officer gathered 300 elite cavalry riders under him and came rushing over. Although rk already performed a healing spell on Du Wei, but the wound could not be fully healed because rk is someone that specializes in the dark arts. So when the executive officer arrived and saw how pale Du Wei is, the guy was scared out of his mind. Immediately, he ordered his subordinates to scour the area for the bandits. Luckily the guy still had a good mind. Before heading over here, the officer has been smart enough to invite a priest from the nearby temple just in case. The influence of the Temple is huge throughout the continent. Just about every town of considerable size would be stationed with a Temple. On one hand, they are responsible for collecting levies from their followers. On the other hand, they are also there to promote the temple¡¯s influence and offer a ce for the followers to stay. As such, no matter how weak the priests are in these temples, they are always skilled in the art of healing. Originally, Du Wei carried with him the magic bag that old Gandalf left behind for him. Stored inside is the water from the fountain of youth that he brought with him from the north. Due to its solidifying properties, the water is exceptionally good at treating wounds. However, Du Wei didn¡¯t want to waste the water because he had a desire to examine the water in the future in hopes of learning something new. As such, Du Wei was exceptionally polite towards the priest that the garrison officer brought with him. As for rk, the guy showed an indifferent looking face without saying much. It is obvious the rtionship between the magic union and the temple is not very good. With the help of the priest, Du Wei¡¯s injury was quickly healed. Without dying any longer, they continued to head towards the capital under the protection of the elite troops from the local garrison. £» Along the way, Du Wei was finally able to feel at ease because he was under the protection of so many soldiers. It¡¯s just that when he saw rk ¨C currently sitting in the same carriage as him ¨C he began to secretly think: This guy is also weird¡­¡­ The magic union sent him to give me gifts, but why not earlier orter? He just has toe in the middle of my journey¡­.. Could it be that the Magic Union knew someone woulde assassinate me? I¡¯m willing to bet this guy was actually sent here to protect me. Since someone came to assassinate me, then it¡¯s clear that someone doesn¡¯t wish for me to return to the capital! Meanwhile the Magic Union requires me to return to the capital¡­¡­ What effect does a little boy like me have for these people? Pressing these questions to the back of his mind, Du Wei didn¡¯t say anything and continued like this towards the north. On this day, they finally came to the outer reaches of the capital city. £» 960 years after the founding of the empire by his majesty Aragon, the imperial capital has been expanded considerably by multiple reigning emperors. Nowadays, the capital city has truly be the number one city on the continent in terms of size or wealth! Chapter 116 part 2 116th chapter ¡°Capital¡± (part two) With spectacr terrain and an all-epassing river running next to the city, the imperial capital was teeming with energy from the streams of merchants making their way through the city. In addition, with hundreds of years of expansion and reparation, the roads leading out of the capital has gained a famed saying known as ¡°All roads lead to the capital¡±. Such a phrase is not blown out of proportion. After many generations of heavy financial investment, the capital has be the epicenter of a huge trafficwork covering the entire continent. As long as one stays on the main road, they can reach all of the following locations: the provinces leading out to sea in the east, the great swamp in the south, the frozen forest in the north, andstly is the great fortress city in the northwest. Just like a nt, the capital has all of its root (roads) tapped into practically every nook and cranny of the continent, gaining itself the title of being the number one city on the Rnd continent! And because of its convenient channels, all of those elite regiments guarding the border can easily rush back to the capital at the fastest amount of time if unrest or rebellion ever urs! As the number one city on the continent, it is surrounded by four fortress city nearby in the: east, south, west, and north. But since the empire have been at peace for hundreds of years, the military use for these fortress city gradually faded away with time. Currently, the king¡¯s guard responsible for protecting the capital is the smallest in terms of numbers among the top five regiments in the empire. For example: the northern storm regiment numbers around 200,000 soldiers, while the king¡¯s guard only has around 100,000 people. Yet, this regiment is widely recognized as the most elite and glorious fighting force within the empire. This is because the king¡¯s guard was previously known as the ¡°Thorn flower regiment¡±. In the unification war, the regiment managed to achieve countless exploits while being directly led by his majesty Aragon. It wasn¡¯t until a few hundred years ago when the Augustine dynasty began that the name was changed to the ¡°King¡¯s guard¡±. No matter what, the reigning emperor at the time isn¡¯t actually from Aragon¡¯s bloodline. In order to hide this shameful truth, the name of the ¡°Thorn flower regiment¡± was changed to the ¡°King¡¯s Guard¡±. Nowadays, the military force of the King¡¯s guard is stationed into five different locations. In the surrounding fortress cities, each are equipped with 10,000 soldiers. As for the remaining 60,000 soldier, they are responsible for the city defense in the capital. Also, there are specially selected elites among the army responsible for guarding the pce. In addition to the King¡¯s guard of 100,000 soldiers, there are also the 10,000 police force responsible for the citiesw and order. And let¡¯s forget the small naval fleet parked in the capital¡¯s port. After hundreds of years of peace, even the surrounding fortress cities around the capital have expanded to the scale of arge metropolis city. Other than housing the garrison soldiers, the number of residents that have taken up residence exceeded 100,000. All in all, the total poption of the capital and the four fortress city is already more than 2 million people. This is not even including the influx of merchants that travels through the capital on a daily basis! The day before, Du Wei and his convoy have reached the Southeastern fortress city in charge of that area. Due to imperial decree, any armed forces are forbidden to go any further than this ce. As such, the role of guarding Du Wei was passed onto the king¡¯s guard stationed in the city. After resting the night in the city, Du Wei have finally arrived at the capital¡¯s southeastern wall. Under the rays of the morning sun, the majestic walls of the capital were revealed to everyone¡¯s eyes. With a height of a fully grown adult, each of the boulders used to construct the city defense wall was not only sturdy, it is intimidating. And aligned along the city defense wall are guard towers that are nearly twice the height of the wall itself. With a 200 meter interval in between each of them, they could easily be converted into a battle station for long range weapons such as: ballista¡¯s, catapults, and magic propelled cannons. Although the blueprints of terrible weapons like the magic cannon has long been lost, these surviving relics from the past can still unleash devastating powers. At the same time, the capital is the only magical city on the continent. The tallest building in the capital is in fact a hundred meter high tower located inside the pce¡¯s inner sanctum! Fully white from top to bottom, the tower is constructed out of the finest white jade on the continent. And after centuries of fortification spells imprinted onto the structure itself, the tower has be nearly imprable! At the very top of the tower is an earth based magic crystal nearly the size of three meters and weighing nearly a ton! Known as the biggest crystal on the continent, it is shelved safely on top of a horseshoe shaped bend that is made out of a mysterious ck stone and infused withrge quantities of mithril to increase its magic power! Using this tower as the heart and center, a giant magic circle is ingrained underneath the pce itself. In its earliest state, it was still very rudimentary when Aragon first led a group of the continents strongest mage to conceive the idea. It was only after many generations of improvement by countless mages that the magic circle manages to achieve such force. If the era of war ever befalls the empire, it is said that the pce still has a team of powerful magicians not controlled by the magic union. This special team of mages was first created in the era of Aragon and has been passed down through each generation by blood. Though their numbers arecking, but their allegiances are only to the royal court magician toon. By having this toon activate the magic circle and activating the crystal inside the white tower, it would cause a chain effect around the crystals embedded inside every guard tower surrounding the capital. Once that happens, it would form a nearly indestructible barrier around the city defense wall! In the past when Aragon was still alive, it is said that he boasted that even the continent¡¯s strongest race dragons, would not be able to break through this magic array! And with the activation of the magic circle, those magic cannons stationed inside the main guard towers would have sufficient energy to fire! As a precaution, only the most elite of the elites would be stationed to guard the white tower. Other than the emperor himself, none is permitted to evene close to the towers proximity inside the pce. So no need to even mention going up to the tower to have look! With such an elite army force to guard the magic array left behind by Aragon, the capital has long been considered an impregnable city! But in truth, future generations have long since considered such an effort by Aragon to be wasteful and foolish because at the time, the continent was already unified. There was no threat or opponent left to oppose him, but Aragon persistently insisted the construction of such a thing. None at the time really knew the reason why. For thousands of years, many historians couldn¡¯t understand why historical documents never exined the reason why. The only information recorded was always about how powerful the magic array was. But the most mysterious thing was that no matter how many years have passed since Aragon¡¯s death. Generations of emperors that followed suit would always expend costly efforts to maintain and enhance the magic array he left behind. If the saying goes that Aragon was brain damaged by investing so much resource and money into constructing the magic array, then does that mean all of the emperors in the entire history of the empire is brain damaged too? Of course not! ording to legend, the founding emperor left behind a dying note when he passed away indicating that every emperor that follows afterwards must expend every effort to maintain this magic array! No matter what dynasty it was and how things changed over the centuries, the note left behind by Aragon practically became an iron dw that every reigning emperor would follow. What exactly is the reason? No one knows. The truth lies in the preserved note locked inside the pce and could even be considered a big secret handed down through the royal family! Nowadays, these anecdotes have mostly been lost to the public. If Du Wei didn¡¯t spend so much time reading those ancient textbooks as a child inside his room, these secrets would never have been known to him. However, ironically, this famous founding emperor is not without faults. Historically, the so called impregnable city by Aragon was nearly felled twice. And in those two times, the magic array wasn¡¯t even activated yet before the enemy reached their doorstep! The first time was when thest direct bloodline of Aragon passed away and the royal familypeted for the throne. In that event, the capital changed hands multiple times when some powerful nobles led their forces against each other. The second time was when the Augustine dynasty rose to power several hundreds of years ago. At the time, the northwestern tribes rebelled. Then some powerful nobles in the northwest called for a separatist movement and raised a rebellion against the capital. (It was mentioned the Rowling household first rose to power during this rebellion.) In that unrest, the empire nearly copsed with all hopes lost. It was to the point that nobody wanted to even sit on the throne. Everyone at the time feared they would be the emperor of a fallen state. In the end, it was Duke Augustine that stepped forward. At the time, the outer walls were already breached before the magic array could even be activated. With the rebels inside the capital, they could directly attack the city. Under such urgency, Duke Augustine hurriedly ascended the throne and led his forces against the rebel coalition. With a much small fighting force, he managed to turn the tide after a fierce and bloody battle in the capital. With the rebels pushed back and the arrival of reinforcement from the south, Augustine was able to retake the capital. Then with the support of the Rowling Household, he was soon able to reunite the entire continent. Facing the Sun, Du Wei stood outside the capital from afar looking at the white tower in the center of the pce. Glistening off the sun¡¯s ray, the crystal on the top the tower vaguely revealed a divine and majesty air around it¡­¡­ Du Wei sighed, recalling all those allusions and historical anecdotes he knew about the capital. Then he raised his head to look at those mightily equipped soldiers on top of the city wall. Pausing for a moment, he then looked at the thorn flower g flying high above the wall¡­¡­. ¡°A very good magic city.¡± Du Wei said this with a smile: ¡°But Aragon never would have thought that such a city would be breached! No matter how powerful the magic may be, it is useless¡­.. More often than not, the most solid of fortresses are usually breached from within. This is such a simple logic¡­. Sigh¡­.¡± Because of Gandalf¡¯s death, Du Wei didn¡¯t bear much good feelings toward this Aragon. As such, his words held nothing back. But he still kept it to a mutter because he dare not let others hear him. With that said, Du Wei smiled. Then with one nce at the side of the carriage to look at his servant Marde: ¡°well then, what time is it now? Is the gates open yet? Can we go into town now?¡± Before Marde could answer, one of the king¡¯s guards responsible for protecting Du Wei had already rode up to him and answered: ¡°Sir, the gates have already opened. I have sent some people to race ahead to clear the road for us. Around this time, pedestrians waiting at the entrance to enter the city are too high. Wait till my people return from clearing the road, then we can lead you into the city.¡± Du Wei is the young master of the Rowling household and the eldest son of the military¡¯s second inmand. So of course this officer would be extremely polite to him. Du Wei smiled at him and nodded, then took a look at Marde: ¡°Did anyone from the Earle pick us up?¡± Justst night when they spent the night at the fortress city, some of the Rowling personal guards raced ahead to inform the Earl of the news. Marde¡¯s face slightly changed as he tried to whisper: ¡°Master¡­¡­ Likely, no.¡± Du Wei smiled a bit andughed at himself: ¡°This dad of mine, so heartless.¡± With that, he waved a hand: ¡°Don¡¯t wait, directly head into the city.¡± With that, he returned to the carriage and shut the windows. Capital, no matter if you¡¯re a dragon or an evil den, in short, little Lord is back!! Regardless of whoever wants me, I want him dead first! Du Wei sat inside the carriage with an icy cold smile on his face. Chapter 117 The 117th chapter ¡°returning home¡± ¨C The 118th chapter ¡°father and son¡± (part one) The prosperity of the capital is the same as ever. Despite being born and raised in the city till the age of 13, Du Wei rarely went outside because of his bad reputation. But his return to the capital this time ispletely different than before. With the status of being the disciple of the continent¡¯s number one mage Gandalf, he is also being courted by the magic union. Also, let¡¯s not forget his newly built rtionship with the famously wealthy Lister household¡­¡­ Despite the fact that his father is currently residing in the capital, Du Wei believed that his father should have received the news regarding all of this by now. Sitting in the carriage, Du Wei did not bother opening the window to watch the hustling and bustling streets outside. The reason is because it was not needed. The noise from the day to day activities of such a prosperous city cannot be denied by such a thin window p. After entering the capital, Mage rk said his farewell and began heading back to the Magic Union. But just before leaving, the old fe left a few words with hidden meanings behind them. Thinking it over, Du Wei figured it was his way of saying that he should go visit the Magic Union as soon as possible. At the moment, despite how rowdy it is outside, Du Wei appeared uninterested and sat quietly in the carriage. Passing through a busy street intersection, Du Wei¡¯s convoy finally arrived at the west end not far from the main Pce. And to the north of this location is a man-made river connected to the Lancang Canal. Not only does this river flow through the very heart of the city, it even surrounds the outer perimeters of the pce. Because of this uniqueyout, the pce is practically a second city within the capital. Once war breaks out, it could even act as a military barricade in times of need. This was especially true in the past when the capital nearly fell due to rebellion. And facing just south of the Pce¡¯s main entrance is a square the size of two football fields. But more importantly is the statue at the very center of this square. Riding on top of a majestic horse with a sword raised towards the sky, this is none other than Aragon the founding emperor¡­. With a history of a thousand years, this statue has weathered through numerous dynastic histories of the imperial pce. Of course, this cannot be achieved without the support of the royals. By spending a constant flow of money and effort to maintain and repair the statue, its condition to date remains vivid without any trace of damage. Now moving further down the square is a straight, t road about ten meters wide. Looking from the air, the shape of this road was just like a long straight sword piercing into the capital city. Using this road as a sort of borderline, the southern area outside the pce was practically cut into two sides. To the east lies the mansions¡¯ belonging to the most powerful elite nobles of the empire like the Rowling Household. And the west side contains the mansions belonging to the royal rtives of the emperor that doesn¡¯t hold any power. Of course, the capital still had two very important ces and that is the magic union and the temple. ced on opposite ends of each other, these two factions faces off against each other constantly like two powers striving for control. Once Du Wei¡¯s convoy made it to the southern region outside the pce, he had his carriage move onto a smaller and quieter road before entering the Earls mansion on the east bend. As the coach paused to a stop, Marde gently knocked on the door and whispered from the outside: ¡°Master, we are here.¡± Taking in a deep breath, Du Wei adjusted his emotions. Then, with a deep smile on his face, he made a ¡°hmm¡± sound as a reply. Hearing Du Wei¡¯s reply, Marde quickly opens the door to allow him to walk off the coach. After nearly a year, Du Wei has finally returned to the ce where he was born in this world. The Earl¡¯s mansion cannot be considered luxurious inparison to the other noble families; however, this just so happens to be the norm among the military families in the empire. Looking at the main entrance, Du Wei recognized the familiar Rowling household crest made up of an Iris flower wearing a crown and two swords wrapping around the body¡­.. Not daring to disturb him, the others watched on from the side as Du Wei continued to stare at the crest in front of the carriage. From the beginning, servants and guards belonging to the Earl had long been waiting at the entrance to wee the young master home. So, under the guidance of Marde, a few of the servants were instructed to bring some of the carriages to the back¡­.. Regaining hisposure, Du Wei finally walked through the main gate to catch sight of his father¡¯s most trusted subordinate ¡°Alpha¡±. When he was little, the Earl still had high hopes for him and intended for Alpha to tutor him in martial arts. It was only untilter on when they figured out Du Wei had no talents for fighting that the idea was dismissed. But Du Wei knew, this Alpha character¡¯s level of martial strength is superbly high. As the most trusted subordinate of Earl Raymond, this person had followed his father through fire and hell in all these years of service. Not only did he apany the Earl on his expeditions down south and achieved countless exploits, this Alpha character was also a famed warrior in the capital. With a tall body and broad shoulders, this person had even held him when he was still young. So after a year of not meeting Alpha, Du Wei could still see how fit this guy was in how straight his waist looked while wearing his warrior robe. If one had to describe this guy, he would be like amon knife hidden away from prying eyes. But once the de is drawn from the scabbard, he would be a treasured sword unmatched in his sharpness! Other than his ability, Alpha was also a famously handsome gentleman in the capital. Because of his blonde hair and good looks, he had many noble women¡¯s flocking to him when he was young. But despite all these temptations, Alpha chose the path of a faithful follower to his father. Oddly enough, Alpha still didn¡¯t marry or have any child yet. With an age of over 40 years old, Alpha looked like he was still in his 30¡¯s. This is all due to his years of intensive Dou Qi training to keep his body in shape. It is only by looking at his pair of blue eyes would one notice the years of life experience he has endured. Even though Alpha may be the most trusted subordinate under the Earl, the guy didn¡¯t put on any air and quickly came over to Du Wei. Bowing on one knee, Alpha quickly performed a standard family subordinate salute towards him and as such, the 10 elite guards behind him quickly followed suit. Smiling, Du Wei hurriedly used his hands to pull this faithful subordinate of his father up. Du Wei may be his father¡¯s son, but in their eyes, he is nothing but trash. So inwardly, Du Wei feared that his status wouldn¡¯t even match up to this Alpha character. ¡°Young Master, you have returned.¡± Alpha stood up and smiled: ¡°The trip must have been hard. At the moment, the Earl is already waiting for you in the study room. Please go meet him immediately.¡± Du Wei nodded. From the looks of it, this father of his has changed somewhat after what has taken ce up till now. If it was before, it was likely only a few servants woulde out to greet him in such a situation. But this time around, he actually sent Alpha to receive him. Guess this is his father¡¯s way of showing him some face, right? ¡°Uncle Alpha.¡± Du Wei deliberately coughed a few times, and then made an innocent looking face as he spoke: ¡°Your skills seem to have be even more sophisticated after not seeing you for a year. In theing Rowling Household contest, you will definitely steal the show.¡± Alpha just smiled and said nothing. He followed the Earl for 30 years, so what kind of big waves did he not experience yet? Even when Alpha saw the magic schr¡¯s robe Du Wei was wearing, he did not show any sort of surprise or change in his expression. The only thing the guy did was make a gesture and led Du Wei towards the mansion. Along the way, they did not speak because Du Wei knew this Alpha character is not a person of many words. As such, Du Wei only paid attention to the furnishing inside his home while they walked. After one year away, the mansion seemed even more luxurious. Once they went down a hallway and into the garden, he noticed something strange happening in the garden. From the looks of it, some of the housemaids were busy picking flowers for bouquets and cing them on the side. Thinking it over, Du Wei realized what they were preparing must be for the important uing summer festival. As the day approaches, the joyous atmosphere and faces among the house servants could clearly be seen. So when the servants looked behind Alpha and saw that the young master has returned, they quickly bent over in salute with a smile stered onto their faces. ¡°My family has changed a lot.¡± Du Wei freely said this. Unexpectedly, the usually silent Alpha suddenly replied to his words: ¡°You are correct. In the past year, the Earl has gained the trust of his majesty. As such, the entire mansion has been renovated.¡± Du Wei smiled and nced at Alpha. But to his surprise, the guy was also ncing at him with strange eyes. Realizing Du Wei had noticed his prying; Alpha quickly turned his eyes away and continued walking. It¡¯s just that when they reached the inner court, Alpha seemed to deliberately increase his pace so that he was walking beside him. Then, using a whispering tone, Alpha said: ¡°Young Master, recently, the situation in the capital isn¡¯t very good. For security reasons, it would be for the best that you don¡¯t go out often.¡± Du Wei was slightly surprised, but when he looks up at Alpha, the guy was looking forward with a calm face as if he had said nothing. Inwardly, Du Wei could not understand why this Alpha character suddenly reminded him of this. It was as if the guy wanted to warn him out of good will. From his memory, this guard captain had always been cool and calm. Other than his father, this guy would never bother to give another person a second nce or say any extra kind words. Once they were in front of the study room, Alpha stopped and gave Du Wei a deep nce as he smiled. Then the guard captain turned around and walked away without looking back. Taking a deep breath, Du Wei opened the study room¡¯s door and went inside. Inparison, the Earl¡¯s mansion cannot be a match to the Rowling castle back in the Rnd ins. This was the same for the study room. The book collection was also far less whenpared to the collection back in the Rowling castle. But in truth, this study room had long been converted to an important conference room by the Earl. His father is a general, so naturally there would be fewer books in the room. In his father¡¯s study room, only military documents are stored on top of the shelves. As for therge desk inside, only important highmand documents could be seen. The study room may seem quiet from appearance, but Du Wei knew that this room was the most heavily secured ces in the mansion. For an old noble family of power, their methods of doing things are naturally different. Unlike those that would showcase all their cards up front, the Rowling family would always leave their strongest cards in the shadow. Following this rule, the study room looked like there isn¡¯t a single guard around, but Du Wei knows that his father must be hiding some shameful dark forces in the shadow. It was exactly because of this dark force under the Earl that Alpha is so trusted ¨C Alpha is in charge of this dark fighting force. Normally, none would be allowed into this study room without the Earl¡¯s permission. If someone dares to intrude onto thepound, they would pay the price! Du Wei did not understand any of this in the past, but as he gradually grew older, he finally saw through it all. Hidden inside the surrounding yards, walls, and decorations are magic induced energy waves. If one were to touch any of the things without permission, it would immediately send out warnings to the owner. This is obviously a high leveled magic circle! For instance, if not for Alpha leading him here, Du Wei would not have been able to reach this ce alone. ¡°Alpha must have some magic tool hidden on his body to not trigger a response from the magic circle.¡± Du Wei suspected. Putting these distractions behind his mind, Du Wei went inside and saw that his father was currently sitting behind the big desk in the room. With a quill in hand, the dignified and cold face of his father was frowning as he looked at some unknown document in his hand. Walking in quietly, Du Wei didn¡¯t say anything and simply stood in front of his father with an honest looking face. It was only after a long time had passed that the Earl finally regained his thoughts. Still frowning, the Earl wrote something onto the document before looking up at Du Wei with a calm face. After a few moments, the Earl slowly said: ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re back.¡± Du Wei took a deep breath before replying: ¡°Yes, I¡¯m back¡­¡­ Father.¡± As soon as Du Wei said this, the Earl¡¯s brow slightly picked up and a sh of light fluctuated across his eyes. Then, opening his mouth slightly, his lips formed into a faint smile as he spoke his next words with a hint of mockery: ¡°Oh¡­¡­ You call me father¡­¡­ Ha, Ha! If I remember correctly, for more than 10 years, this is the first time you took the initiative to call me ¡®father¡¯, right? ¡± Originally Du Wei had prepared himself for whatever is toe, but as soon as his father said these words, he could not help but feel a hint of sourness in his heart. Quietly looking at this father of his, a stream of emotion forced its way out of him. He¡­¡­ Seems to have aged. At 49 years of age, the Earl wasn¡¯t all that much older than Alpha, but it was clear the Earl looked much older inparison. You need to understand that as the head of the Rowling n and household, his responsibility and burden is beyond ordinary. Not only does he have to be exceptionally skilled in the art of fighting, his ability to cope with other powers must stand above everyone. But still, this father of his has aged, too old and too tired. The previous tall and triumphant looking general has changed. Even though the Earl¡¯smanding aura still remained, but the wrinkles around his eyes and age cannot be hidden. Even when sitting there, his body looked like it wasn¡¯t as straight as before. Realizing the gaze of his son was wandering around, Raymond gave out a loud cough as a way to refocus Du Wei¡¯s attention. Slowly rising from his chair, the Earl was wearing a white cotton robe. Unlike the rest of the nobles in the empire, this general preferred this type of simple and clean clothing. This habit of the Earl was from when he was serving in the military ¨C simple yetfortable. Slowly circling around the table, the Earl walked up to Du Wei and quietly looked down at Du Wei. Caught off guard, Du Wei felt confused at not knowing what his father would do. Under such a majestic gaze for such a long time, Du Wei carefully straightened his body and stood there without even trying to look up at his father¡¯s eyes. ¡°You¡­¡­ Grow up some.¡± Suddenly, the Earl slowly sighed. The majestic voice mellowed somewhat: ¡°When you were away from homest year, your head was only to my chest. But and, you are up to my shoulders!¡± Upon hearing these words, Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but quiver¡­¡­ To stand so close to me, is it just to look at me? At this moment, this Earl haspletely ridden himself the status of a general and chief. Right now, he is only a father! But when Du Wei¡¯s emotions almost reached the surface, a sudden idea bubbled up into his mind¡­.. Those crossbows that leaked out of the military! The military! Taking a deep breath, Du Wei looked up. His face revealed an awkward looking smile: ¡°Yes father¡­¡­ But my body is still weak. From appearance, I do not have any of the mighty features that you and brother has. I fear that in a few years, even little brother would grow taller than me.¡± Watching the smile on his son¡¯s face, a sudden emotional urgepelled the father to want to hug his son. Holding out his hands ready to embrace his son, the Earl suddenly lets out a sigh before turning it into a couple of taps on Du Wei¡¯s shoulder. Subsequently, Earl Raymond lets out a wryugh: ¡°You¡­¡­ Very well, I don¡¯t me you. You actually still hate me don¡¯t you?¡± Du Wei said nothing and just stood there. Shaking his head, Earl Raymond sighed and slowly walked back to the desk. Calmly sitting down, the Earl pointed to a chair in the study and said: ¡°You sit down. Starting today, you¡¯re back in the capital. Your every action will be on behalf of the Rowling Household¡­.. I¡­.. I was wrong.¡± Frankly admitting his mistake? Du Wei secretly frowned, not sure what his father wanted to say. Seeing the expression on Du Wei¡¯s face, the Earl lets out a humph sound before turning around to reach out at a cupboard under the desk. From it, the Earl pulled out a delicate looking crystal bottle and gently twisted it open. The content of the bottle is clearly a wine of superior quality. With a smiling face, the Earl said: ¡°Well then, no matter what your opinion of me was in the past, I just want to have a talk with you today. Because as of today, everything that is to happen in the future will be unavoidable! Do you understand?¡± £» With two fine crystal sses filled with red wine. Du Wei and his father were busy immersing themselves in the taste of the wine while unwilling to be the first to speak. After a long time, a flickered of thought crossed the Earl¡¯s eyes. Then, with a smile, he said: ¡°I really did not expect my son to be so good! Ah, my good son! I really missed out all these years¡­.. No need to say much, just your patience and calm is enough to surprise me.¡± ¡°From when I forced you out of the capital and sent you to the Rnd ins, I have actually been constantly informed of your doings.¡± The Earl slowly said this. This is actually not all that surprising. As the chief of the Rowling Household, it would actually be weird if he didn¡¯t know. ¡°It was only one year, but you manage to create so many things to amaze me. My son¡­. Humph, that whatever ser. You managed to turn that small little game into a money making machine and into a business. Also, there is that hot air balloon contraption¡­.. I know that in the previous birthday of your mother, the whatever ¡®forgiveness of the Goddess of dawn¡¯, that is called¡­¡­ Fireworks, right? Not bad, it is very surprising. Although the family has ie from other channels, but the Rnd ins can produce around a few hundred thousand gold coins in tax every year. But you only spent a year there, yet you managed to¡­.. Oh, let me see¡­¡­ There are more than 140,000 coins, right?¡± Chapter 118 The 118th ¡°father and son¡± (part two) Du Wei was faintly surprised. He did not think his father would investigate so clearly! The only people that have aplete grasp on his private properties is only himself and Marde. In his mind, Du Wei believes Marde is absolutely faithful to him and would never disclose any of this. For his father to know all of this, it would seem he spent quite the effort! ¡°This is the first year, if another two years pass by, your annual personal ie¡­. I¡¯m afraid it will be more than the tax ie of the Rowling Household! I never thought my son was actually a business genius.¡± Since his father is showing all his cards, Du Wei had no intention to keep hiding this. With augh, he said: ¡°Those are just some stupid things I came up with. Though they can make money, but they are just small time things. At the moment, the family is notcking in money, so I don¡¯t believe it would be any use to the family.¡± ¡°So then, what about your fleet?¡± Earl Raymond smiles. Du Wei was not surprised that his father knew about the fleet. Shrugging, Du Wei continued to speak: ¡°it was just an ident. I happened to meet a very good puncher. Without her help, I would never have been able to get a fleet¡­¡­¡± Earl Raymond sighed. He stared at the Du Wei with a frown, then slowly said: ¡°I¡¯m very perplexed¡­.. Why?¡± ¡°£¿¡± Du Wei nced at his father¡¯s eyes. ¡°You¡¯re smart.¡± Earl Raymond¡¯s tone was deep. Slowly, he said each word clearly: ¡°I think your cleverness is rare even among our family history! When I was a teenager, I never had your level of mind and skill! So why? When you were in the capital, why did you keep such a low profile and allow others to misunderstand you as an idiot? Now thinking about it, even though you didn¡¯t deliberately act like an idiot, but it seems like you never intended to confront such a misconception. In fact, I feel you were very happy that such a situation developed! So, I want to ask you¡­¡­ Why!¡± Earl Raymond looked at his son; his voice was firm as he waited for Du Wei¡¯s answer. Why? Du Wei was silent for a long time; this problem was really difficult to answer¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s not hard, but instead, it cannot be answered! Although it was not on purpose, but he did relish in the fact that he unintentionally led everyone to misunderstand him as an idiot. Because he is not of this world and only wants tozily and freely live in this world¡­.. How can he possibly exin this to others? Yes, Du Wei just wants to live in freedom and peace. But in the Imperial capital, he cannot aplish this point! For these reasons, he cannot tell his father. Watching the silent Du Wei, Earl Raymond could not wait for the answer. Again, he sighed as he shook his head: ¡°If you don¡¯t want to say, then I won¡¯t force you. But I know¡­¡­ You¡­ Don¡¯t seem to like me even from an early age¡­ Right?¡± Du Wei was not talking. Earl Raymond did not wait for Du Wei¡¯s reply this time either; instead, he continued to selfishly talk. ¡°When you were born, I was not by your side. As the chief of the n, I had to assume the entire honor and responsibility of the family! As general of the empire, I have to carry the burden of expanding the frontier in the empire. Even when I met you at the age of three¡­. In my heart, I felt deeply guilty towards you and your mother¡­. ¡± Earl Raymond slowly took a sip from his ss of wine. Then, with a self-deprecating chuckle, he continued to speak: ¡°But you should be able to understand that being a man, there are many times that these thoughts cannot be easily expressed.¡± Du Wei continued to say nothing. ¡°You don¡¯t like me. When I first came home and picked you, I can already see this point from your eyes. From the beginning, you never talked. If not for Mardeter on¡­.. Ha-ha! You don¡¯t even want to make contact with me¡­ Though I don¡¯t know why you are able to have such thoughts when you are still so young. Maybe it¡¯s because you are a rare genius among the Rowling family¡­¡­ Or maybe because when you were younger, I wasn¡¯t around. For not being there for you, you dislike me. If it was for these reasons, I can still understand.¡± For a while, Earl Raymond suddenly asked, ¡°Do you know why I wanted to take you out of the Capital?¡± ¡°I¡­¡­ Know.¡± Du Wei finally answered. Then he whispered, ¡°Because you are disappointed in me, that I am not a qualified heir.¡± Earl Raymond nodded: ¡°You hate me?¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°No, what I have to say is¡­¡­ I don¡¯t hate you.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± Earl Raymond was slightly surprised. ¡°Yes.¡± Du Wei sat up straighter, his tone solemn: ¡°You¡¯re a father, but more importantly, you are the family¡¯s chief. For this reason, you cannot treat your sons like an ordinary father! You need to consider the future of the family. As such, you cannot ce the prosperity of the family in the hands of such a worthless son. I understand this kind of behavior¡­.. So, I don¡¯t bear a grudge.¡± ¡°You really understand.¡± Earl Raymond did not seem too surprised: ¡°But your spection is only half right.¡± He stood up, gently holding his ss as he came up to Du Wei: ¡°The other half you don¡¯t know. The real reason is¡­¡­ I have to protect you! My son! You¡­¡­ Are after all, my son! I did it to protect you!¡± Du Wei broke out into a quiver. ¡°The capital is the center of power on the Rnd Continent! The most prosperous city on the continent, but at the same time, it is the ce most likely to eat a person! Humph¡­¡­ You have a look: his Imperial Majesty, the royalty Group, the nobles groups, the military groups, the Temple¡¯s power, the force of the Magic Union¡­¡­ For hundreds of years, you eat me, I bite you¡­¡­ Humph, for hundreds of years, how many of those once-proud families have disappeared into the vortex of time! In the past, I misjudged you, thinking you are a¡­¡­ Hmm, although I¡¯m disappointed in you, but you are still my son! I can¡¯t watch on and continue to let you to grow up in this man eating capital! I thought you weren¡¯t smart enough and mediocre at best, so, I was afraid that at any time, you will be eaten by others without any remains left to salvage! So, I threw you back into the Rnd ins. This is designed to protect you!¡± Earl Raymond looked at his son, at this moment; his facial expression was that of a father. ¡°My idea was simple: Although you did not have the gift to inherit the family, but after all, you are my son! I decided to let you stay away from thisplex and dangerous side of the imperial pce. This way, you can be secured and live a free and happy life. Even if you¡¯re mediocre, you can at least safely live infort as long as the family in the capital does not fall! And even if¡­¡­¡± ¡°Even if what?¡± Du Wei could not stop himself in asking. ¡°Even if the family faces a disaster in the capital and follow the same road as those long forgotten noble families in history, you will at least have some time to escape! At that time, you can hide your identity and help the family leave a seed!¡± This imperial court general spoke slowly: ¡°All noble families does this! In the worst case that the family falls in the capital, there would at least be a seed left in the world!¡± Du Wei looked solemn. ¡°You are my son.¡± Earl Raymond sternly continued: ¡°Once upon a time I thought you were not as smart as your brother Gabri. But in my heart, I still love with you.¡± Du Wei suddenly felt moved inside. Despite his tough demeanor, but the emotions inside him was pushing out like waves unable to be controlled! ¡°I told you these things today not because I have to¡­. But because these things have been misunderstood for far too long! And now I see you are much smarter than I thought! So, I don¡¯t want to waste any more time. The words inside my heart have all been said, because right now, there is another matter I must tell you¡­¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You must be very perplexed¡­..¡± Earl Raymond looked gloomy: ¡°Arguably, after you were recognized as the disciple of Gandalf, I should have summoned you back to the capital. But yet I stalled for so long! Do you not wonder why?¡± Du Wei bitterly said: ¡°I¡­.. Thought that you don¡¯t like me.¡± Earl Raymond shook his head, ¡°No, what I want to tell you is even now, I don¡¯t want you back! Calling you back to capital now is after I dragged it and pushed it off to my limit. Under the pressure of multiple powers, I had no choice but be forced to call you back to the capital! This was not my intention!¡± Du Wei frowned: ¡°I may have the identity of Gandalf¡¯s disciple, but why is it so important? Why would it cause so much trouble to follow?? Other than me, there are still other living disciples of Gandalf, so why must it be me that causes such troubles?¡± Earl Raymond suddenly sneered, pointing towards the mage robe on Du Wei: ¡°It is because of your robe!!¡± Chapter 119 The 119th chapter ¡°little crack¡± The Magician¡¯s robe? Looking at his father¡¯s eyes, though still vague, but he seems to have caught a trace of something. ¡°But it¡¯s just a status of a magician, is it so important?¡± Du Wei smiles bitterly. ¡°If it was only a magician, no one would care even if you are directly given a high leveled magician badge of rank¡­¡­. The Mage robe on your body is not ordinary! Magic Schr, Ha-ha¡­..¡± Earl Raymond sneered. Du Wei asked again, but this time around, the Earl suddenly closed his mouth. Looking a bit unsettled, the Earl pondered the question for a moment before replying slowly: ¡°Well then, you just came back, you¡¯ll soon understand theseplicated matters anyways¡­ There¡¯s no need to rush¡­.. Oh, that¡¯s right; you still haven¡¯t met your mother yet. She misses you every day. Those Fireworks you sent on herst birthday made her miss you dearly for a few days. Since I called you to the study room the moment you returned, she must be getting very anxious waiting.¡± Figuring his father still has some matters he doesn¡¯t want to say yet, Du Wei did not pursue. Putting down the cup of wine, he bowed and faintly smiled: ¡°Well then father, I¡¯ll first go see mother.¡± ¡°Go on then¡­¡­¡± Earl Raymond waved his hand, but when Du Wei came to the door, he suddenly stopped him. ¡°Wait.¡± Hearing these words, Du Wei was slightly moved when he stopped. Turning around, he looked this father of his and said: ¡°Do you have anything to say?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Earl Raymond¡¯s pair of eyes reveals aplex emotion as he peered at him for a long time. Then in a low voice, the Earl said: ¡°You¡­.. Got nothing to tell me?¡± The Earl¡¯s voice was slightly sharp and touching, but when he looked at Du Wei, his eyes weren¡¯t as bright or sharp as it should be. In fact, it was even somewhat hazy. ¡°¡­¡­ No.¡± Du Wei doesn¡¯t know why, but the images of those military crossbows shed across his mind once again. Although his father dismissed some of the doubts in his heart with all these fond words, but inwardly, he still had some concerns he could quite figure out. Hearing his reply, Earl Raymond lets out a wry smile. Then, with a sigh, he looked straight into Du Wei¡¯s eyes: ¡°I hear that on the way you encountered some¡­¡­ ident?¡± Although unsettled by those words, Du Wei¡¯s face didn¡¯t show the slightest hint of it. Nodding, he replied in a calm tone: ¡°Yes, but it was only some encounter with some Bandits. Bandits? In truth, both of them fully understood this is just a perfunctory excuse. Du Wei believed that even if he ordered the guard leader from before not to tell the military about the crossbows, but this most definitely cannot be concealed from his father! Earl Raymond is after all the chief of the Rowling Household. The allegiance of the family lies with him, not with someone like Du Wei ¨C who is powerless and considered an idiot. Even if the guard leader dare hide this from his father, the other guards present that night would definitely not do it. So this matter is actually Du Wei¡¯sst ¡°question mark¡± for the day. Why did his father show such emotional affection in the conversation earlier? Although impressive, but Du Wei is not a young teenager¡­¡­ With two lifetimes in him, his mentality has already matured to the point that it is much much more deeper than anyone imagined! Even in the face of his Lord father, Du Wei dare not topletely trust each other. ¡°Bandits¡­¡­¡± Earl Raymond¡¯s eyes calmed down and his face returned to the dignified family chief that it once was. But in Du Wei¡¯s case, his heart was pounding¡­.. He is waiting, and hoping for his father to take the initiative to mention the crossbows. If he mentioned it first, then Du Wei would be more willing to believe this is all true. He would believe those caressing words his father spouted earlier is not for show, it was something a father would say from the very core of his heart! However, bit by bit, the hope in his heart faded away under the pondering moments of his father¡­.. Sure enough, Raymond Earlughed. Hisugh was just like how he called him ¡°son¡± earlier in the generally mild tone: ¡°The matter is not simple, I¡¯ll order the garrison to investigate and see if there have been any bandits near the capital.¡± Speaking up to here, Earl Raymond coldly snorted and his face reverted back to the majestic expression he had in the beginning. Raising a fist, he mmed it on top of the table: ¡°I¡¯d like to see who is so bold to make a move on my son while under my nose! I fear this matter is not just about some bandits. It is likely some kind of conspiracy!¡± Once he finished, he looked at Du Wei and said: ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s for the best that you don¡¯t mention the ambush to your mother. This way we can avoid having her worry.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart sank to the very bottom. Forcing out a ttering smile on his face, he bowed to his father and then carefully turned out of the room. Once out the door, Du Wei looked at the sky. Though the Sun¡¯s harsh rays of light were shining on his body in the middle of summer, but he was still feeling icy cold inside! He¡­¡­ Said nothing. He did not say it! He did not mention a single word about the military¡¯s Crossbow! Shrouded in the sun¡¯s light, his body was finally starting to feel a bit warm, but his mouth felt slightly bitter. He did not mention a single word! Though still smiling on his face, the light in his eyes started to dim down. Regarding the issue with the military crossbow, Du Wei intentionally intimidated the guard leader that day so that he could test his father! Du Wei is not foolish enough to think that his little intimidation is enough to hide the event from his father. At the moment, Earl Raymond definitely knows all the details! He was in fact waiting to see if his father woulde clean and tell him the truth! If he said it, then Du Wei would have further believed this father of his that made aplete change in attitude towards him. But if he didn¡¯t say it¡­. In this case, both of them understood it was just a way to avoid the problem. Standing outside the courtyard, Captain Alpha waved his hand towards him while smiling. Du Wei coughed once, and then marched towards Alpha. Seeing him, Alpha¡¯s expression was very mild when he spoke: ¡°Did the Earl scold you?¡± Du Wei shook his head and smiled faintly: ¡°No. Father seems to have be nicer to me, so I was a little surprise and lost track of time.¡± He disguised it very well. Even though others understood now this young master is no idiot, but a genius, but how can anyone think a 14 year old would have such a mind. Captain Alphaughed, and then suddenly patted Du Wei: ¡°Young master, let¡¯s go see herdy-ship¡­ When you were in the study room, herdy-ship was really anxious and sent someone over here multiple times.¡± It was only after listening to Alpha that Du Wei looked a bit more pleasing. With joyful eyes, he bid his farewell to Alpha and directly headed to where the Countess was. When Du Wei was gone, Alphafortably walked through the yard and opened the study room¡¯s door. In the entire Earl¡¯s mansion, only this captain has this privilege of directly entering the study room without knocking. In the study room, Earl Raymond was already sitting in his chair behind the desk with contemting expression. ¡°How is he?¡± Looking into the eyes of Alpha, Earl Raymond sighed. ¡°Young master went to meet herdy-ship.¡± Alpha stood at the door and closed it behind him. ¡°When he first walked outside, did he act unnatural?¡± Thinking it over, Alpha shook his head. Earl Raymond eyes were thinking even more. After a long pause, he smiled. Then with a hint of mockery and a trace of anger, he spoke coldly: ¡°This son of mine, although his age is still small, but his mind has a lot on it¡­¡­ After experiencing the assassination, it is as if he can¡¯t trust anyone, even me! The guard captain around him was warned by him not to say anything¡­ Alpha, do you think he¡¯s going to be suspicious of me?¡± Thinking it over, Alpha firmly said: ¡°My Lord, there are those military stamps on the crossbow, it is only normal for the young master to doubt¡­¡­ Plus, your rtionship with him is not that great¡­ Just now, did you?¡± ¡°I said nothing earlier¡­.. I just pretend not to know.¡± Earl Raymond sneered: ¡°The little thing has grown up is very smart. Not only is he wise enough to endure after eating such a loss, he is capable of warning those around him to keep it a secret. But no matter what, he is still too young and his experience is too shallow. In the family, who would dare lie to me? However, I simply took advantage of this point and pretended not to know. If he pursued the matter and asked me, I would be hard for me to answer!¡± At the moment the Earl¡¯s face was resolute and bleak, nowhere could one see the fatherly face from before. Pausing for a bit, the spirit in his eyes faded away: ¡°This matter is still because of that captain having a big mouth! If not for his big mouth talking about the military¡¯s crossbow, how could a child like him understand these kinds of things? After today, I fear my son would from now on not be open with me¡­.. That big mouth fool, help me go deal with him.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Alpha nodded. Then, as if hesitating: ¡°Your lordship¡­¡­¡± Earl Raymond took one look at his eyes, his face slightly loose: ¡°Well then, Alpha, it¡¯s just the two of us here, between us, you don¡¯t have to scruple.¡± Alpha sighed: ¡°My Lord, Master Du Wei is so clever. And it could be seen that he has his own means in handling this matter. For the family to have such a talent, isn¡¯t it not something you been yearning for all these years? From what I¡¯ve seen, the young master will definitely soar in the future¡­..¡± ¡°It also depends on the future.¡± Earl Raymond shook his head helplessly: ¡°Right now, both sides are pressuring me to the point where I can¡¯t breathe¡­. Whether I can make it pass this hurdle¡­.. Even I¡¯m not certain. As for this son of mine, we will see if the goddess is looking down on him!¡± In the end, his eyes became even more decisive! Chapter 120 The 120th chapter ¡°Discord in the Earl¡¯s mansion¡± Though by the time he left the Earl¡¯s study room, his thoughts were still unsettled; nheless, he pushed all of this to the back of his mind to go meet his mother. Speaking of the Rowling Household, his feelings towards it is special andplex. As a mature young man, he was inexplicably thrown into this world without any forewarning. To make things worse, his body reverted to that of a baby and was forced to face the odd circumstance of calling some strangers his parents. For this reason, he just couldn¡¯t truly think of the countess as his real mother. This is actually pretty normal. Imagine, a young man is suddenly forced to forget their parents and asked to go recognize some irrelevant person to take their ce. In real life, no one could truly ept such a thing in their heart. But with the passing of time in the Earl¡¯s mansion, his feelings towards this beautiful and kind hearted countess gradually grew. In particr, the major changing point for him was when the countess kneeled in the temple all night praying for his wellbeing. Not only did she spend countless sleepless nights caring for him, she never expected anything in return for all her sacrifice. How can Du Wei not possibly be emotionally ¡°moved¡± by her actions? Also, by the time he was three years old, Du Wei deliberately acted low-key without any talent to escape his responsibilities. For this, he was even ridiculed by others as an idiot. By the time his father expressed his dissatisfaction with him; the countess still loved him and remained by his side despite everyone else¡¯s cold treatment. Day by day, the countess would alwayse to his room at night and coax him to sleep¡­.. Bit by bit, her motherly love gradually melted away the barrier in his heart to form the bond only a parent would have with their child. It can be said that Du Wei really didn¡¯t hold much emotion towards his so called ¡°father¡±¡­.. But towards this countess, he really did develop some sort of filial love towards her. After a year away from home, Du Wei returned to the inner court to see herdy-ship already waiting for him in front of the doorway. Donning a purple dress, she smiled the moment her eyes caught sight of him. Taken aback by the heartwarming wee from the countess, Du Wei fell into a sort of trance about his time with her when he was still young. Every night, she would embrace him in her arms and lull him to sleep. Eventually, he would even habitually hold onto her hair to sleep every night. The soft and smooth feeling¡­. From appearances, the countess still looked as beautiful as ever with her pair of gentle caring eyes. Although the passing of time has left traces on her face, but she is still as bright and caring as ever. Right now, Du Wei really felt emotionally moved inside his heart. Picking up his pace, he used both of his hands to hold onto hers and knelt down on one knee. Then using a soft voice, he said: ¡°I¡¯m back¡­¡­ Dear mother!¡± The way he cried out ¡°mother¡± was so natural that it cannot bepared to the way he called to his ¡°father¡±. With glossy looking eyes, the Countess used both of her warm hands to slowly lift him from the ground. Then, with a gentle hug, she whispered into his ear: ¡°After this time, I will never let him get rid of you again!¡± Her voice wasn¡¯t loud, but it was filled with unwavering determination! Apanying the countess into the room, they spent some much needed quality time between mother and son. While inside, the countess looked at her eldest son that has lost the favor of her husband and was treated cruelly by all in the household. In her mind, the countess knew that beside her, none in this home truly cared for Du Wei. For a moment, pain filled her heart at the mere thought of Du Wei spending the year in the Rowling castle. In a spur of the moment, she asked him about the situation back in the Rowling ins. Although she knew that Du Wei would never be mistreated even if he fell out of favor, but as a mother, how can she not worry? Emotionally moved by her concern, Du Wei raised his spirit and exined all the fun things that had happened in the Rowling ins. In the end, Du Wei finally managed to close thest trace of sadness and concern in her. Lost in their conversation, the two nearly forgot to have lunch even after the day have crossed noon. Du Wei may be fine even if he didn¡¯t eat, but he was worried about the countess¡¯s hunger. As such, he intentionally touched his belly andughed: ¡°Mother, I came out early today and still didn¡¯t have anything in my stomach yet.¡± At this, the Countess finally regained her thought and quicklyughed: ¡°s¡­¡­ I forgot. After not seeing you for one year, I only remembered to talk to you¡­¡­. I¡¯ll call the servants to bring food immediately.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, let me arrange this meal¡­. When I was at the old home, I figured out a new way to eat, it is very interesting.¡± With that, Du Wei had someone summon Marde to him and instructed this trusted aid of his to bring out the metal grills and charcoal he brought along in the carriage¡­. Then he had some of the kitchen staffs bring out several dishes of: raw meat, internal organs, and some fresh vegetables. With everything in order, he pulled the countess out of the room with him and had Marde set up the grill in the middle of the yard. Then cutting up the food into thin slices, he skewered the meat and vegetable onto the forks. With that set and done, he pulled out the special barbecue sauce he made before and began cooking the feast. He had always been a bachelor in his previous life, so all his meals were prepared specifically by him. For this reason, his cooking isn¡¯t all that bad. Although he has servants to cater to him in this life, he would still sometimes out of boredom try to tinker with some cooking methods to mimic the foods in his previous world. Let¡¯s take this roastmb for example. Using the waist from a calf, he seasoned it with a bottle of spice that is simr to seasoning salt in his previous world. By grinding up a nt in this world notmonly used, he was able to mix the powder from it with salt to produce the vor somonly found in the street food stands back in China. Once the first piece of meat is done, he handed it to his mother and smiled: ¡°Taste this mother, the vor is quite unique!¡± The Countess is a woman, so she doesn¡¯t eat much meat to begin with; however, after separating from her beloved son for a year, how can she refuse? Seeing the barbeque smoke still sticking to Du Wei¡¯s face, the Countess nearly fell into tears at how emotionally moved she was feeling. So under the watchful gaze of her beloved son, the Countess finished every bite of the tender broiledmb¡­.. This astonishing amount of intake has been beyond her normal consumption already. Seeing how joyful his mother was, Du Wei grilled up even more to present to everyone. In the end, even the servant maids around them managed to savor the delicious meat prepared by the young lord. After Du Wei apanied the countess for half a day, she was radiating with joy. So when Du Wei saw that the sun was beginning to set, he smiled and said: ¡°On mother¡¯sst birthday, I wasn¡¯t able to make it and could only have Marde bring you the Firework present I made. But this time, I brought a lot more with me. Once the sky is dark, I¡¯ll show you!¡± With a soft smile, the Countess replied, ¡°No need¡­¡­ Let¡¯s first keep it for now. The summer festival is only a few days away, we can show it then and make it livelier.¡± After listening to her words, Du Wei conversed with his mother for a while longer until the sky was finally dark. Returning to the room with her, Du Wei suddenly realized something and asked: ¡°I haven¡¯t seen brother Gabri all day, where did he go? Could it be that he made a mistake and father grounded him inside his room?¡± When the subject of his brother came up, the Countess could not help but sigh: ¡°Your brother went out this morning, I am afraid he won¡¯t be back until veryte¡­¡­ s. Your father¡¯s expectation of him is very high. It¡¯s fine to have Alpha teach him martial arts on a regr basis, but your father actually went out of his way to ask the famous schr Mr. Blue Ocean to be your brother¡¯s teacher. Because of Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s identity, we can¡¯t have hime to our ce to teach your brother. As such, Gabri needs to go visit him every other day to learn from him. Today is supposed to the first day for your brother, but Mr. Blue Ocean is already giving him a test. I¡¯m afraid he won¡¯t be back so early¡­¡­¡± Du Wei could not help but sigh. The difference is too big! Since small, Gabri had always been exceptionally clever, but this dad of mine really is holding nothing back! As for this Mr. Blue Ocean, even Du Wei had heard about his fame. Known as the leading schr in the capital¡¯s university, this Blue Ocean¡¯s status would be even higher than the Mr. Rosia schr his dad first invited to teach him! From rumors, it is said that even some of the royal family members could not invite him to be their teacher. By night time, Du Wei returned to his original living quarters in the mansion before he was forced out of the capital. This ce is very far from where the Earl and the Countess lived, so thinking about, it could be said that the Earl didn¡¯t want to see this son of his that didn¡¯t live up to expectation. Upon seeing the familiar yard outside his room, Du Wei noticed how fresh and clean everything looked from appearance. It was obvious his mother had the servants tend to the ce daily. But even more surprising was the fact that when he entered his room, he could see the book he carelessly threw on the table before he left was still unmoved. Carefully inspecting everything, Du Wei couldn¡¯t even find a speck of dust anywhere! Prior toing here, he had already made sure every servant knew not to disturb him in this ce. So closing the door behind him, he conjured up a noise silencing spell around the room and walked towards the mirror in the room. First, he tidied his clothing in front of the mirror, and then he loosened his hair bun on top of his head. Seeing the horn, he couldn¡¯t help but sigh¡­.. ¡°This horn is a real hassle. When I met mother today, she almost touched it when she reached out her hands to embrace me.¡± Fortunately Du Wei was smart and quietly avoided her attempt. ¡°No matter what, this horn is not convenient¡­. I need to find a solution.¡± Subsequently, Du Wei opened a specially made box he had Marde bring into his room ¨C under his order; Marde had already carried all of his belonging into his room earlier today. Then from inside the box came the grievance cry of QQ: ¡°My god, you finally came! Spending a day like this nearly bored me to death!¡± With that, penguin jumped out alone and began stretching his body. Following close behind, Gargamel quickly jumped out while panting. Then, with a discontent re, the mouse said: ¡°I say, can you prepare a different ce for us? Staying in such a small little box is way too boring!¡± ¡°Bored?¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be a few air holes instead?¡± Infuriated, Gargamel said: ¡°Do you really think of me as a pet! Don¡¯t forget, I Gargamel is a magician! To be locked in this box for the day¡­. Aiya¡­¡­ Don¡¯t you know, even if you give us something to eat¡­¡­ We still need to go to the washroom!¡± With that, Gargamel was already looking around in all directions, and then he quickly ran towards the general direction of the washroom. Once QQ isfortable enough, the birdpletely disregarded Du Wei and jumped in front of the mirror to fix up his feathers. After a long time, the bird finally breathed out a sigh of relief: ¡°Dashing! So dashing! From now on, you mustn¡¯t put me and that mouse together! Such beautiful plumage of mine is stained with that ugly gray fur of his! It is so embarrassing!¡± Du Wei gave this heavenly beast a look and then sneered: ¡°Looks bad eh? Although he is a mouse, but at the very least he still capable of teaching me magic¡­.. What about you? Other than talking, you are just wasting my food. I really don¡¯t know why Aragon left you to me¡­. What the hell!¡± QQ immediately protested: Nonsense! I am the world¡¯s most¡­¡­ ¡°Most elegant creature, right?¡± Du Wei curled his lip: ¡°Can gracefulness be used to fill the belly? Even if you be even more graceful, you are still nothing but a bird. Other than alwaysining to me, what else can you help me with?¡± With that, Du Wei ignored this silly bird and turned around to go organize his luggage. It¡¯s not that Du Wei hated QQ, but after the passing of the old magician, his outlook towards this Aragon fe has dropped a few points. Even if he didn¡¯t try, anything rted to this founding emperor would unconditionally be looked upon by him in a negative light¡­.. Taking out his magic bag, he pulled out the things Aragon left him. These things really didn¡¯t have much value. Other than that ancient King¡¯s sword ¨C already broken ¨C Aragon really didn¡¯t leave anything of value. Just looking at the things in front of him is starting to depress Du Wei. A ragged and dirty piece of cloth is actually enchanted by some magic to make it unbreakable after a thousand years. But when Du Wei opened the thing, all he saw was some gibberish looking markings that he could not understand. After carefully looking it over, he confirmed in his mind that it is a picture. The main problem is that it was drawn in such a vague manner that he couldn¡¯t figure out what it was exactly. No indication of text, the only thing written on the thing was some messed up patterns. So how can he figure it out? In addition, there is a book¡­¡­ And this booklet was even more of a headache. Originally stored inside an iron box, the moment he opened it, he saw that the booklet was covered in ayer of rust. Fortunately, the entire book was made out of thin sheets of gold! After Du clearing away the rust, he looked through every page of the booklet and saw that they were all inscribed with some square and circle patterns with some texts on top of it¡­.. Studying the pages for a long time, Du Wei was frustrated by the fact that he couldn¡¯t figure out what the texts above the diagrams meant. Since small, he had spent his childhood reading all those ancient and difficult to understand books in the library. As such, there wouldn¡¯t be that many things on the continent that he wouldn¡¯t know. But yet, he had no clue regarding this text. For this reason, this gold booklet is yet another useless garbage in his possession. Prior to leaving the Rowling ins, he had already copied the symbols onto another piece of paper and asked around to see if there is anyone capable of deciphering the diagram. Unfortunately, every craftsman he asked could not make out what the pictures were. Except for that damn picture and the strange Gold Booklet, Aragon also left him a few bottles of strange powder. Despite being quite knowledgeable in magic pharmacy, Du Wei could not figure out what exactly this powder is. No matter what, these things are all left by Aragon, so even the bottle used to hold the powder was made from high quality materials. As such, he didn¡¯t throw any of the things in the trash and kept them hidden away. Point one: A scroll of Aragon¡¯s most powerful martial skill set is not included. Point two: A scroll of Aragon¡¯s most powerful magic skill set is not included. Point three: a ragged looking picture, a gold booklet he couldn¡¯t figure out, and bottles of powder he couldn¡¯t identify¡­.. Humph This is all what Aragon left him. Of course¡­¡­ There are the ragged looking king¡¯s sword and the noisy talking penguin. As for the King¡¯s sword in his possession ¨C though tattered ¨C but the seven gemstones embedded onto the scabbard is still not ordinary. Despite being drained of energy already, these gemstones are still from high leveled magical beasts, so there still many uses for them. Taking these things out often to study and research them, Du Wei didn¡¯t make much progress after reading Aragon¡¯s will again. But Du Wei did follow what was written on the will and treated penguin kindly as instructed. To him, he just thought of it as keeping an extra pet around. As for that oddly shaped crystal inside the sword handle, he spent a few days looking it over to find nothing special¡­. Generally speaking, everything in his possession at the moment has no value. Letting out a sigh, Du Wei ultimately could not bear to throw these things away. Finding a secretive location in his room, he tucked them carefully away. It didn¡¯t matter to him if someone in the household found the things because if he couldn¡¯t figure out what they were, others definitely won¡¯t understand either. As for what Gandalf left him, they were all precious things with immeasurable value! In the past two months, Du Wei had managed to make some progress after following the Druid learning manual. By night time, Du Wei had managed to organize everything in his possession; but in the end, he couldn¡¯t sleep. Opening the window, he gazed up into the sky and pondered at the stars glittering in the nightly sky. Then closing his eyes, he began meditating to practice his magic. Stars magic, even to this day, Du Wei wasn¡¯t able to get a good understanding of it. Though his energy pool and control over magic have increased significantly, but¨Cbut¡­.. Semel¡­.. Since Gandalf¡¯s death, Du Wei couldn¡¯t get her toe out no matter how much he called for her! Without guidance from someone, Du Wei would of course be unable to proceed any further in Stars Magic. By dawn, Du Wei opened his eyes and felt his spirit was bursting with strength. Not only was his perception extra sensitive, he could perceive the subtle movements of everything within his radius. Inwardly, he knew that if he tried, he could easily expand this sensory radius to hundreds of meters around him to the point of hearing even the vibration of insect wings! Looking back at his bedroom, he could see both the mouse and the bird QQ had already invaded his bed. Such a scene is truly funny. Du Wei was already used to this so he didn¡¯t bother to care about these minor details. By morning, he drove the two off the bed and hid them away. Then he ordered several servants to serve breakfast. Recalling his brother Gabri that he still haven¡¯t seen yet, he couldn¡¯t help but ask the servant serving him. Without dy, the servant said: ¡°Herdy-ship knew the young master would definitely ask so she instructed me to tell you this. After taking the testst night, his teacher was exalted and asked him to stay the night. So, he still didn¡¯te back yet.¡± Du Wei nodded, and asked his servant to go out: This little kid really is smart. It seems his effort back then is not in vain. To be able to win the favor of the number one schr in the capital, this Mr. Blue Ocean will definitely teach him a lot. With a bright future, this kid will carry the family burden¡­ In his mind, Du Wei would of course be pleased to see such a sight. Without incident in the morning, Du Wei went to see his mother again. After spending some time with her, he quickly found realized he was beginning to feel somewhat bored again. Back on the Rowling ins, he was so busy delegating between: his subordinate, his business, and the magic testing with Solskjaer. But when he returned to the capital, he found himself with nothing to do. After contentedly grabbing a book to read, he found himself to be a bit bored. Then suddenly, he remembered the words from rk before the guy left. ¡°Maybe a trip to magic union?¡± No matter what, the title of Gandalf¡¯s disciple is hanging over his head. Although he is still not a genuine magician, but when he was in the capital before, he had never been to the magic union. Maybe it would be good to go have a look. And in the present, he is facing all theseplicated matters. Perhaps he can get some news in the magic Union! Du Wei is someone that does something the moment he thinks of it. Immediately, he put on his clothing and donned the ck mage robe on top. Then closing the door shut, he left behind his two pets in the room and ordered the servants that none is allowed near his room. After ordering Marde to ready the carriage, he walked towards the front gate. But to his surprise, this Captain Alpha character suddenly came out of nowhere! Didn¡¯t this guy go with his father to the military highmand? With a slight frown, Du Wei looked at this loyal follower of his family. Then, with a smile, he greeted Alpha. Alpha remained calm as he came up to Du Wei. Then, with a whispering voice, he said: ¡°Young master, I advised you yesterday to stay inside, but it appears you may not have heard. What, you are going out today already?¡± Du Wei smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to take a trip to the magic Union.¡± Upon hearing this, Alpha had a strange light in his eyes. Then, with a sigh, he said: ¡°In that case¡­¡­ Since the assassination situation is still not cleared yet, I¡¯ll apany you on this trip.¡± Once he heard this, Du Wei¡¯s heart sank. Although he didn¡¯t give any of this away on his face, but a hint of dissatisfaction is unavoidable! What is this? Is he under house arrest? Du Wei may be thinking this, but he didn¡¯t show any of this. With a smile, he said: ¡°No need right? I¡¯m only a child; it should be fine if I bring a few bodyguards with me. You are the guard captain of the family, how can I have you follow a kid like me around?¡± Alpha shook his head: ¡°No, it is for the best that I follow along. I do not feel at ease with you going out alone.¡± Du Wei knew he can¡¯t refuse this, so he nodded. Then Alpha summoned several bodyguards to them and it just so happens that these guards were the same group he brought along from the Rowling ins. But after having a quick look, Du Wei noticed the minor guard leader that had reminded him about the crossbow is missing. Somewhat shocked, he pretended to inadvertently look at one of the soldiers. Then, with augh, he asked: ¡°Your Captain?¡± Once Du Wei questioned him, the soldier paused for a moment, then immediately answered: ¡°He was sent back to the Rowling in by Captain Alpha¡­..¡± Chapter 121 The 121th chapter ¡°tradition¡± Not waiting for him to finish his words, Du Wei patted the soldier on the shoulder and smiled: ¡°its fine then, I¡¯m just asking. Damn, if I knew he would be going back, then I would have asked him to help bring a message for me.¡± Although Alpha frowned with dissatisfaction, but the guy didn¡¯t stop him. The only thing Alpha did was nce at the soldier a bit before calling someone to bring the carriage over. With Du Wei safely inside his coach, Alpha saddled onto his horse and led the way in the front. Located on the west side of the capital, the main branch of the magic union is surrounded by a gigantic circr za. Unlike what Du Wei had originally expected, the mysterious and legendary atmosphere he was looking forward to could not be found anywhere in this ce. With circr white columns erected throughout the entire za, the overall shape rendered into a diamond form magic array on the ground. Using this array as an energy source, all the mes inside this magic array would never die out. Even at night, thend around the magic union would be lit a bright. It is said that the mes in this ce had never been extinguished since 960 years ago. The representation behind this is to show the world that magic will continue to flourish endlessly! At the same time, because of their unique status, no party would dare mess with the magic union. This was especially true during the two times when the empire fell into turmoil. Once Du Wei¡¯s carriage came into the vicinity of the za, their pace quickly slowed down; like this, they took one of the six paths avable to them and headed towards the six pointed tall building in the middle of the za. If one were to look at the ce from a bird¡¯s eye view, they would find that the different magic themed buildings around the za would just be in the right spot and form a six hexagon magic pattern. Getting off his carriage upon arrival, Du Wei took a long look at the building. Though the structure only has three floors, but the shape is simr to that of a well with a hexagon shaped tower in the middle. ording to the records Du Wei read when he was a child, this magnificent tower should be exactly 88 meters in length and only slightly lower than the one in the pce. Then from his side, Alpha suddenly spoke up: ¡°Young master, this ce should be very secure. You should go alone, I¡¯ll wait here.¡± Du Wei took one look at Alpha: ¡°You are noting with me?¡± With eyes filled with pride, Alpha smiled: ¡°Young master, you forget, I am a knight!¡± On the Rnd continent, both magic and martial arts may have a long history, but because of how prosperous magic has been in the past millennium, martial arts have long been suppressed by magic through the ages. Typically speaking, when a Mage is in actualbat, their fighting strength is usually higher than a warrior of the same rank. For example: a single Mage rk was enough to fend off multiple assassins by summoning a single undead warrior. Although in general theory, a Mage specialized in long range remote attacks while a warrior specializes in melee attacks. But with the passing of time, it would seem the trend is leaning towards long range more than melee. While the public believed a Mages biggest weakness is closebat, but as magic developed over the ages, the profession has developed certain methods to counter this weakness. Like the spirit warrior of death from before. This undead creature is capable of providing closebat protection for the magician. Other examples include defensive barriers and etc. Adding all of these points up, a Mage should have a huge advantage over a warrior of the same rank. If not for the fact that training a Mage is much more difficult than a warrior, the ¡°Society of Knights¡± would be in an even more embarrassing situation. After all, even if a personcked talent, they could make up for it with hard work to be a low ranking warrior. But magic is different. If the person has no talent, they could never be a Mage no matter how hard they tried! As a tradeoff for being extremely difficult to increase their numbers, a Mage is capable of wielding destructive and powerful magic. It is precisely because of this bottleneck situation with the Mages that the ¡°Society of Knights¡± is capable ofpeting with the magic union. But no matter what, the status of these two associations is different. For example: the magic Union isparable to the Temple and is considered one of the major power factions on the continent. In contrast, the reputation of the so-called ¡°Society of Knights¡± is so low that they can¡¯t breathe under the repression of magic union. However, warriors still have their pride. For someone like Alpha ¨C a high leveled warrior ¨C he would strictly adhere to the dignity and integrity of a warrior¡­. Also, high leveled warriors on the continent have a motto that has been passed down from some long bygone age. ¡°Warriors do not go into the magic union!¡± Of course, with the decline of the Society of Knight, there is hardly anyone that still follows this rule in this day and age. Only warriors that have managed to reach a superbly high level would still adhere to this motto. For example: in order to make up for theirck of closebat capabilities, a Mage would hire warriors to act as their bodyguards. This can be considered a method for Mages to make up for their profession¡¯s weakness. And those that were recruited as Squires by a Mage would always be looked down by people like Alpha. Of course, Du Wei is aware of these allusions too, so he didn¡¯t say anymore regarding Alpha¡¯s refusal to enter. Subsequently, Du Wei organized his garments a bit before entering the six pointed star shaped building. But what surprised him somewhat is that the magic union actually¡­. Has no doors! From where the door should be on the wall, only the contour of the shape is there. Then from his surroundings, he could sense a fluctuation of magic scanning over his body. It is at this moment, the badge on his chest reacted to the energy in the area. With a pulse from his badge, the energy faded away. Inwardly, Du Wei knew this was probably a security measure put in ce by the magic union. While there may be no door in ce, but the magic union is not somewhere a person can so casually enter! Only a Mage wearing the official badge granted by the magic union can enter the magic gate! Of course, because of the scarcity of the number of Mages ¨C the number of Mages on the continent only numbered in the hundreds ¨C a new profession emerged to take care of the daily chores required to run such a ce like the magic union. The name of this profession is called ¡°magic apprentice¡±. Such people tend to only have talents slightly above the average person. Because of this, they are stuck in a limbo situation where they cannot even be a first leveled Mage. So, these unfortunate people would normally be recruited by a full fledges Mage to be their assistants and apprentices. But in reality, they are no different from servants in status. Other than private recruitments by Mages for personal use, officials at different magic union branches would also recruit people to be apprentices ¨C these people are like handyman¡¯s and filing personals. The moment Du Wei went into the main building, he could immediately feel something was different. Here, the head on the ceiling is devoid of any sort of construction material. In its ce, he could vaguely see: some clouds, a sun, a moon, and twinkling stars floating above his head. Together, they formed a strange and magnificent spectacle. Of course, such a scene is only possible by using magic. Looking around, Du Wei could see the vast majority of the people walking around all wore a Mage styled robe. And of course, the colors varied from certain individuals. Lower and middle ranked Mages wore a gray colored robe. Only those of high rank are allowed to wear a white robe. As for the silver robed individuals, their status is that of a magic apprentice. Walking into the main hall, the first sight he saw was the vast majority of silver robed individuals walking back and forth minding their own business. Only on asion would Du Wei see a gray robed Mage appear in his sight. As for Du Wei, the moment he walked into the hall, he garnered the attention of everyone around him due to the ck Mage robe he wore. Chapter 122 The 122th chapter ¡°A little interlude of change¡± Walking into the main hall, Du Wei could instantly feel this ce was different from his imagination¡­. Unlike the mysterious and majestic image he had in mind, this ce had a trace of worldly vor instead! Everywhere he looked, people were busy carrying stacks of scrolls from one ce to the other like a work office. And in some ces, certain individuals are even busy cleaning the floors with mops; of course, they weren¡¯t really cleaning. What they were doing is maintaining their focus on the magic tools so that the mop and brooms would do the hardbor. Extending out from both directions of the main hall is spacious channels used formercial use. Filled with odd looking shops, these businesses specialized in trading magic materials and tools. But unlike the rest of the continent, these shops inside the magic unions headquarter do not use any currency for trading; instead, they only allow bartering! Yes, the most ancient form of trading, bartering! On this point, Du Wei was very curious and interested. Different from the other magic shops spread among the other branches, this was the only ce left on the whole continent that still adheres to this old domestic practice. Taking a few casual steps forward, all of the silver robed magic apprentices that he encountered hastily stopped what they were doing and bowed to show their respect. However, unlike the silver robed magic apprentices, the gray robed mages that he saw would instead show a face of surprise at first. Then, with a smile, they would nod and perform a ritualistic bow to him. It seems that rk did not lie about the part where every Mage of the sixth rank and lower has to pay their respect to him. Since he is not in any hurry to see the president of the magic union anyways, Du Wei thought he might as well take a look around the ce. In truth, he actually didn¡¯t know how he was going to meet the president. Once he was up close and personal in front of these shops, he realized they weren¡¯t all that big. Like sealed rooms inside a giant apartment building, they were all constructed out of strange materials next to each other. For example: one of the shops closest to him was made out of some strange ck stone exuding some weird smoke into the air. Even stranger, the smoke would dissipate when it reaches the artificial sky in the ceiling! Looking over the disy window, Du Wei could see densely packed disys of crystal balls ranging from a variety of qualities. This weird shop clearly specializes in selling magic crystal balls for magicians. Unable to hold his curiosity, Du Wei decided to head inside to have a closer look. The moment he walked in, what weed him was the sight of an old man with a beard so long that it nearly reached his chest. From appearance alone, this silver robed old fe could even be qualified to be his grandfather. Looking up, the store clerk had a somewhat surprised look on his face before hastily bowing. Then in a respectful tone, the old fe said: ¡°Oh respected magician, may I ask what you need?¡± With a kind face, Du Wei spoke in a polite tone towards this senior magic apprentice: ¡°I need a crystal ball¡­ ¡­ Hmm.¡± ¡°Oh, let me see¡­¡­¡± The eyes of the senior looked somewhat muddy already, but he pulled out a form and handed it to Du Wei. Then, with a face full of wrinkles, the senior smiled: ¡°May I know what kind you need? A crystal ball to test the level of magic? Oh, a Mage like you must be getting ready to ept disciples, right? I have a good magic testing crystal ball here. With it, you can clearly test the kid¡¯s magic talent¡­ ¡­ Oh. I also have a detection crystal ball here. If you are preparing to go on an adventure, you might as well buy one then. Once you inject some magic energy into the crystal, the image of the nearby surroundings would appear inside the crystal¡­ ¡­ Of course, if you need something more advanced, I also have a maic ck crystal ball. With it, everything within a 10 mile radius would be disyed in front of you. But in exchange, the prices are slightly more expensive¡­¡­ ¡± Du Wei was getting more curious: ¡°What else do you have?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± The senior apprentice had a look of pride when he said this: ¡°This ce here is the oldest crystal ball shop in the magic union headquarters. You need to know, the current president of the magic union got his first crystal ball from us when he was still ad. The one to sell it to him was my father at the time! We have all sorts of styles¡­. May I know which one you need?¡± Although his magic isn¡¯t bad, but Du Wei after all never learned from a proper teacher, so his knowledge is iplete at the moment. Regarding a magic tool like a crystal ball, he really didn¡¯t have much knowledge. Thinking it over, Du Wei smiled and said: ¡°Dear sir, I just became a magician and is readying myself to buy my first crystal ball. Do you have any advice?¡± The senior apprentice paused for a moment as he stared at Du Wei¡¯s ck robe. Then moving his old mouth: ¡°Oh¡­ ¡­ Can it be that a Magic Schr like you never used a crystal ball before?¡± Du Wei smiles: ¡°I just became magician.¡± Realizing how rude his remark was, the old apprentice immediately tried to control himself again. But in his mind¡­ ¡­ The old fe was thinking how strange it was for a Magic Schr to have just be a Mage. ¡°¡­¡­¡± Hesitating, the old apprentice spoke his next words carefully in a polite tone: ¡°May I ask which kind of magic you are practicing?¡± ¡°There is a difference?¡± Du Wei questioned. ¡°Certainly, if you majored in the fire department, I have here a crystal ball capable of enhancing the power of fire auxiliary magic. And if you majored in the water department, I have here a water summoning crystal. Even if you are in a dessert, this tool would allow you to summon a certain amount of water and boost your control¡­.. Hmm, let me think¡­.. s, my age is getting old and my brain doesn¡¯t work as well as before. Oh yes, I almost forgot. Here, I still have some wind based magic crystals. Unfortunately, these things are only of low quality and could only predict the wind direction.¡± Du Wei thought for a moment before smiling: ¡°What if is dark magic?¡± The corner of the senior¡¯s eye suddenly jumped a bit. From his wrinkly face, Du Wei could clearly see a trace of fear in the old fe. Examining Du Wei a bit, the old senior sighed before speaking: ¡°Ah¡­ ¡­ Dark magic¡­ ¡­ Right now, the numbers of Mages practicing dark magic is not much¡­ Let me think for a bit¡­¡­¡± After a long pause, a spark of light crossed the senior¡¯s eyes. Then, with augh, the guy said: ¡°I remember now. I still have something here dedicated to people specializing in dark magic. It¡¯s just that the thing has been here collecting dust for decades without anyone to buy. This thing is called a ¡°Dead spirit detection crystal ball¡±. If you are in need of dead spirits to practice dark magic, you can use this tool to locate spirits that refused to pass on.¡± Du Wei could not help but twitch a bit! Collecting dead spirits to refine them into undead creatures?¡¯ Then wouldn¡¯t that undead creature Mage rk summoned is something he personally refined? To do something so evil¡­.. Can it be that the magic unions also permit such thing? Seeing the difference in colors on Du Wei¡¯s face, the old apprentice quickly added: ¡°But I have to remind you that if you want to buy this crystal ball¡­ You must first sign a contract with me.¡± ¡°Contract?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± The old apprentice looked even more confused¡­ ¡­ Despite wearing a high ranking mage robe, this little guy seems like he ispletely ignorant of these basic facts? If not for the magic array set around the headquarters, this old fe really would have thought Du Wei was an imposter! ¡°Although the method of refining spirits into undead creatures is sanctioned by the magic union, but there are many restrictions in ce that limits the user. For example: in order to collect spirits, the dark mage can only collect spirits that refuses to pass on into the afterlife. Under no circumstance can the person in question go on a killing spree to collect dead spirits. So if you want to purchase this crystal ball from me, you must first sign a contract stating that if you vite any of these rules, our store bares no responsibility!¡± After he finishes his speech, the old apprentice stole a nce at Du Wei. Du Wei can¡¯t be med for not know any of this because he really never was taught any of this from a proper teacher. Within the union, dark magic has always been a topic that causes people to feel embarrassed and hard to face. In particr, there is a ss of magician that the union strictly prohibits. If such a Mage is found, the Union would expend every effort within their powers to exterminate! Dark Necromancer. Although dark magic allows for the Mage in question to use spirits to create undead creatures, but they are absolutely not allowed to use living people to refine their arts! Historically, there are evil dark Mages that would be willing to go on a random killing spree in order to selfishly pursue their goal for power. In some severe cases, even towns or cities would be annihted in order for the Dark Necromancer to refine his undead creature! So, the difference between a dark Mage and a Dark Necromancer is only on this thin line. If on asion a mage captures a dead spirit refusing to pass on and haunts the mortal world, this would even be considered a good deed. As for going on a ughtering fest to refine undead creatures, this would be considered evil. After the old apprentice¡¯s introduction, Du Wei could somehow grasp the logic behind it. But just when he was about to leave, some weird thought popped into his mind and he unconsciously said: ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll buy this dark crystal ball.¡± This action of his could be considered a spur of the moment because if he didn¡¯t buy anything from the clerk after wasting so much time, he would feel somewhat embarrassed Although at the present he couldn¡¯t perform any dark magic, but it would still be good to take it back to study. Overjoyed, this old apprentice immediately ran to the back of his shop and came back out with some ck box. Putting it in front of Du Wei, this store clerk smiled: ¡°I¡¯ve waited decades to sell this thing and still couldn¡¯t sell it. Since you want it today, I¡¯ll lower the price for you¡­.¡± After bargaining, Du Wei used two blocks of fine Hawkweed drill, plus a pound of magic crystals used for magic circles to trade. Since he gained quite the fortely, he didn¡¯t mind because all of these were from others. Once the contract was signed, the old apprentice was very happy as he picked up the rusted colored bell behind the counter. With a few shakes, a vague wave of magic infused music wafted out. Momentster, another silver robed apprentice rushed in; but this time, the person was much younger with a six pointed star badge on his chest. Still sweating from his forehead, this youngster spoke with a slight smile: ¡°Old father Hans, you called me?¡± ¡°This¡­ ¡­ I sold a dark attribute magic tool. This is the contract. Take it and bring it back to the records.¡± The old apprentice faintly smiles. This young apprentice is clearly a worker of the magic union. With only a nce at Du Wei, the youngster bowed in respect and careful put the contract away, then turning around, the guy left. Du Wei was also quite curious regarding this status system in the magic union, but without reason to ask, he turned and left. Holding onto the ck box with the crystal ball inside, he threw it into his magic bag like the rest of his belongings. This event has been just a little episode of what Du Wei did that day¡­.. But often in history, these little episodes are what create big changes in trends¡­¡­ This little crystal ball may not seem like much now, but in the future, it will be the key in a world changing event. Chapter 123 The 123th chapter ¡°Big headed genius¡± Aftering out from the magic shop, it wasn¡¯t long before another strangely built building caught his eye. From appearance, this thing was just an ordinary tree! No matter where he looked, every building in the hall had a grotesque and strange look to it. The only exception was this tree. From his observation, Du Wei feared that even if 7 to 8 strong men came around and tried to move this thing, it wouldn¡¯t even budge an inch. Looking up, the branches were so high that it reached the very sky in the ceiling. And looking down, the roots looked like it was melding straight into the very floor like it was one and the same. But more strangely is the fact that the tree looked so vibrant and alive despite the fact that it¡¯spletely hollow inside! Walking through the rectangr door etched into the tree barks, the first thing he saw was the wooden pole the height of an average man next to the doorway. This ce obviously specializes in selling wands. Scanning the whole room, the next thing he noticed was the tall wooden counter in the back, but his attention was quickly drawn away by the various wands hanging off the walls! A wand is an essential tool for any Mage. In order to create a wand of high quality, the materials must meet certain requirements. For this reason, wood is a must because metal tends to repel magic. But that¡¯s not all. Only specific types of wood can be used like a branch from the walnut tree he received back in the Rowling ins ¨C courtesy of the Magic union branch there. Regarding wands, Du Wei actually knew a bit about this subject. Generally, Mages are physically weak because they are constantly focused on magic research; thus, their body alwayscked exercises. In order to ovee this shoring, their wands have to be light weighted. But that¡¯s not everything. A wand must also be sturdy enough to be able to withstand the fluctuation of magic during a spell cast. Thirdly is the natural level of magic induction the wood has. Although wood doesn¡¯t repel magic like metal does, but wood varies. All in all, a wood used for wand making needs to be: light, strong and highly conductive towards magic. Generally speaking, the types of wood used in the market nowadays are divided into three different grades. The lowest grade is called ¡°Purple family tree¡±. Normally grown in the southern regions of the empire where it is easy to collect, this wood is also sturdy and light. By using this wood as the base material, any wands created would be very suitable for fire attribute mages due to the high concentration of sunlight it received during its growth. But the weakness of the purple family tree is very clear: other than fire magic, the effects of other magical elements would be greatly diminished when casting a spell with such a wand. This is especially true for water based magic because fire is naturally weak against water. However, because the collection and manufacturing process is so easy, low leveled Mages on the continent tend to choose this material to make their wands. As for the middle grade materials, there are a lot of options avable on the continent, but the most widely used one is called ¡°Laura Tung Tree¡±. This wood is naturally conductive towards magic and is sturdy enough to withstand the fluctuation of magic energy. The only downside to this wood is that it is somewhat heavypared to other materials, but more importantly, this breed of tree is hard to cultivate. Only found in the southern marshes of the empire, not every tree of this breed is qualified to be made into wands. Even if a person manages to find 100 ¡°Laura Tung Trees¡±, there might not be a single one in the batch that is light enough to be used in wand production. In some cases, the weight is so heavy that it is evenparable to metal! Only certain rare varieties of this breed will be light enough. Now, moving on to the current top grade material. Surprisingly, it is actually the walnut tree branch Du Wei received as a gift back when he was in the Rowling ins. Althoughmonly found in his previous world, the walnut tree is actually extremely difficult to cultivate in this world! Not only is the wand making method for this wood very special, the branch itself must meet very specific requirements. Number one: the branch must be exactly 50 years of age. Number two: it must be the first newly grown spring branch of the same year. Only by meeting these two rigorous requirements that the wand in question can be considered the best among wands! But because of how rare and difficult it is to cultivate the tree to 50 years of age, it is notmonly found in the open market. Unless a professional Mage expand years of effort and expensive potions to nurture the nt, the likelihood of it actually being a top grade branch of a walnut tree is slim. ncing around the shop, Du Wei found that most of the wands inside were only semi-finished products, only on asion would he find one or two top grade walnut tree branches. ording to his own experience in magic pharmacy, he can tell the nts here did not meet the age requirement. ¡°Excuse me, do you need help?¡± Just when Du Wei was freely having a look around, a head popped up from the tall wooden counter in the back of the store. This person looked to be about 30 years of age with a giant looking head; however, it is a shame that his neck was so small because it made him looked disproportioned. With the sparse amount of hair on his head, the guy looked dazed as if he just awoke from slumber. But what really made Du Wei wants tough is the eyes! On one side, the guy wore something akin to a magnifying ss, so the person had a very small looking eye on one side and a giant looking eye on the other! Just seeing this scene nearly made Du Wei burst out intoughter. Crawling on top of the counter, this person actually wiped the drool off the side of his mouth with a hand. Apparently, the guy was secretly sleeping before. Once the guy finally broke out of his drowsy state and realized Du Wei¡¯s status, this big headed person hastily ran out from behind the counter and bowed down in respect towards Du Wei: ¡°Hello, dear magician, do you need a magic wand?¡± Taking a closer look at the guy, Du Wei was slightly surprised by the color of the guy¡¯s Mage robe. Instead of the usual silver robe he is somonly seen around, this big headed person actually donned a gray robe! It¡¯s just that the badge the guy was wearing is a little odd. Thinking it over, Du Wei finally recognized the badge. This big headed fe may be wearing a Mage robe, but his true identity is that of a Magic Pharmacist. Among the ranks within the Magic Union, a Magic Pharmacist is even lower in rank than a Magic Apprentice. This fact is widely recognized among the magic circle. But Du Wei owed his origin from Magic Pharmacy, so of course he won¡¯t look down on such a guy. With a very polite smile, Du Wei asked: ¡°I¡¯m just looking, Hmm¡­ I¡¯m wondering why all of your wands are semi-finished products?¡± The big headed guy opened his mouth wide andughed: ¡°You must be kidding me¡­ ¡­ Where would you find a wand shop selling finished products? My shop here only provides timber for manufacturing. If you want to get your hands on a magic crystal for the wand tip, you will need to go elsewhere. Just outside my shop, there are a few stores further in front that will sell it. You need to understand, the manufacturing process for wood is different from magic stones, so you won¡¯t find me knowing how to handle a magic crystal.¡± Du Wei nodded. Then he randomly picked up a ck branch from a Walnut Tree and said: ¡°This walnut tree handle, it seems the age is not enough, right?¡± ¡°Of course, this branch in your hand is made with a piece around 20 years of age. Just 20 years is already hard toe by¡­ To actually find one around 50 years of age, I fear that you will only find a few on the whole continent! Moreover, a grand Mage would have already made it off limits to the public if there is one around, so how could someone so freely find one for sale?¡± This person looked at Du Wei and smiled: ¡°However, a walnut tree around 20 years of age is already considered really rare and is good in every aspect. Even mid leveled Mages are willing to use such a wand, you¡­¡­¡± Du Wei smiled and put the branch down: ¡°I¡¯m just curious about the wand manufacturing process. I want to ask. If I have a proper Walnut Tree branch and a superb magic gemstone, how can I manufacture it into a finished product?¡± Despite seeing Du Wei had no intention of making any purchases, this big headed fe continued to remain polite in his words: ¡°For this purpose, you can head into a magic shop around the corner in the front. There, you can task them with various orders as long as you provide the appropriate materials.¡± ¡°Then what about the magic patterns on the wands, can they do it too?¡± Du Wei frowned. He had seen Gandalf¡¯s wand back then. From appearances, the wand looked insignificant and wasn¡¯t even made from a walnut tree branch. But more importantly, the wand had a lot of magic patterns iid into the surface. He may not be certain of their uses, but he knows it is some kind of supplementary blessing magic. Upon hearing Du Wei¡¯s question, the eyes of the big headed fe sparked with interest as if he had just touched andmine: ¡°It appears that you are a very experienced grand Mage! Generally speaking, it is possible to add magic patterns to a wand. But because of the difference in materials, it can only be done on the highest quality of the top graded materials. As for the Purple family tree and Laura Tung tree wood, they arepletely out of the question. If you want to try, it is possible to use a walnut tree branch¡­. But you need to know, the best material for inscribing a magic pattern is crystal wood. Even if you get something better, it can only inscribe some low leveled light magic to increase your magic efficiency. If you were thinking of doing some high leveled magic, then you should rethink it now because it¡¯s not possible.¡± Du Wei smiled and casually said, ¡°In this case, why not just use magic crystals to make a wand?¡± Hearing these words, the big headed fe can¡¯t help but rejoice. pping his thighs, the guy¡¯s face showed surprise and delight: ¡°Eh? You also think so? Ah ha! I think so, too! From a magic point of view, no material can match up to a magic crystal! Even the widely recognized walnut tree cannot bepared! I calcted, if we use a crystal to cast the same spell, the effectiveness would increase by 1.5 times! However¡­.¡± Du Wei¡¯s interest was also piqued: ¡°But what?¡± The big headed fe sighed with a helpless expression on his face: ¡°But when I brought this idea to the open in the past, my teacher scolded me horribly¡­ ¡­ s, after all, this way of thinking is nothing but a pipe dream.¡± Du Wei frowned. Thinking it over a bit, he quickly understood why. A wand made out of pure crystal? Normally, the length of a wand is approximately one meter in height and a staff can even reach the height of a full grown adult. If by simple estimation, the weight of a staff would be no less than two-three hundred kilograms! If a staff was so heavy, even a giant axe or sword from a barbarian cannot match it in weight! So how can one expect a frail bodied Mage hold such a staff inbat? If there is such an amazing staff, it is likely there would not be a single Mage on the entire continent capable of wielding it. Even if the size is that of a small wand, the added weight outweighs any benefit it gained. This is indeed a fantasy. This big headed fe is indeed someone thatcks control in their personality. Once he meets someone that shares his interest, he would immediately forget everything and delve deep into the topic. ¡°Although using only crystal is impossible, but there are methods to improve the wood.¡± His eyes gleaming with light. From a logical point of view, a wand is a tool to increase the efficiency of a spell. If the material is good and reduces the unnecessary consumption of energy, the power of the spell would of course be better. ¡°After many years of research, I did find some materials that could be of interest; however, all of them have specific defects. For example: the purple family tree is good for fire based magic, but is bad for other elements. This is especially true for water based magic. So, for many years¡­¡­ I¡¯ve been studying nts to see if I cane up with a hybrid¡­.¡± The more this big headed fe spoke, the more carried away he got. Eventually, the guy even grasped both of Du Wei¡¯s hands as he spoke: ¡°For example: I used this purple family tree to crossbreed with a ¡°morning glory vine¡±. Normally, this type of vine isn¡¯t afraid of water, so if I could crossbreed these two nts, the water weakness of the purple family tree¡­.¡± Du Wei¡¯s face remained poised, but the shock and surprise in his heart was hitting him like waves! This big headed guy may look unfocused and careless, but he is actually a genius! Grafted trees? Hybrid? Du Wei would of course understand all of this. In his previous world, this kind of technology has been widely used and is proven to be very effective¡­.. But in this world, other than the advancement in magic, everything else is still stuck in the medieval ages! Hybrid nts? It is likely that if this knowledge is made to the public, it would create a revolution! As he watched the big headed fe, Du Wei¡¯s eyes caught sight of the guy¡¯s stubby looking hand. Though stubby and stocky, the guy¡¯s palm was thick and full of calluses. In some areas, he could clearly see cracks on the surface! Layer uponyer around the guy¡¯s hand, it looked nothing like that of a fat man. If anything, it looked more like a hand of a gardener that spends most of his time with the soils and nts. ¡°¡­¡­ Unfortunately, the strange things I cultivated were seen by my teacher. After being scolded as being unfocused, my stuff was burned by my teacher. Then I was sent down here to make wands¡­.. Teacher told me that I still had good eyes for wood, sigh¡­..¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart was beating like a hurricane at this point¡­. This guy was sent down here to work in a shop? This is no different from using a treasure to mop the floor! Inwardly, Du Wei didn¡¯t know whether to kiss this teacher or kick the teacher! To be wasting such a talent¡­ The teacher deserves to be kicked¡­.. But if not for this reason, how can Du Wei have the chance to meet this big headed fe? Making up his mind, Du Wei involuntarily leaked out a peculiar smile on his face. If there were any Rowling Household guards around, they would immediately recognize this smile of his is the same as when Du Wei extorted the poor little Vivian! ¡°My friend, don¡¯t be too discouraged¡­¡­¡± Du Wei threw out a few consoling words and then immediately asked: ¡°I¡¯m very interested in these ideas of yours. I actually did some research of my own regarding nts. If there¡¯s any chance, why not sit down and we can have a few talks¡­. Oh yes, we talked for so long and I still don¡¯t know who you are. May I know your name?¡± ¡°Me?¡± The big headed fe smiled without any hint of scheming: ¡°My name is Cosette, a disciple of master Azreal in the magic union¡­¡­. Oh, I have already been following my master for 20 odd years, but among my fe apprentices, I am the most useless one¡­.¡± Cosette? Du Wei memorized this name. But¡­ ¡­ Azrael? Du Wei thought the name was familiar! Gargamel? Azrael? Du Wei remembered now. This Azrael is the most hated Mage of Gargamel! In the past, the two entered the frozen forest together, but when they encountered Medusa, Azrael fled and left Gargamel behind! Can it be the same person??? Turning his thoughts, Du Wei¡¯s face remained calm as he smiled: ¡°My name is Du Wei, from the Rowling Household.¡± ¡°Ah, you must be the new Magic Schr.¡± Cosette smiled: ¡°I have heard of your name. Right now, everyone in the magic union is talking about you. Dear Sir, Du Wei, the magic unions hasn¡¯t appointed a new magic schr for decades! Just¡­¡­¡± Cosette nced at Du Wei, his face somewhat embarrassed: ¡°I just didn¡¯t think you could be so young.¡± Du Wei just smiled. Continuing on the subject, the two discussed different topics till the point where Cosettepletely forgot to keep his manners now. Just when the two were engrossed in their conversation, someone suddenly interrupted them from the outside: ¡°Ah!¡± Du Wei, Sir, you are here. I¡¯ve been looking for you for a long time.¡± Coming in, this person is none other than Master rk. Looking rk over, Du Wei noticed this guy was different from yesterday. With a fresh and healthy face, rk had some weirdly proud look in his eyes. But more importantly, the badge on his newly minted gray robe was not the same either. Beside his usual Mage identity badge, there was another glowing badge in a six pointed star shape. Cosette stumbled when he met rk¡¯s eyes. His face clearly showed a touch of fear. Realizing what he was doing, Cosette hastily pulled his iling hands down from the air and fearfully whispered: ¡°Ah!¡± Master rk¡­ ¡­¡± Pausing for a moment when he saw the badges on rk¡¯s chest, Cosette quickly changed his words: ¡°Oh no, it should be Deacon rk!¡± Deacon? Du Wei was secretly thinking this Deacon position is probably really senior and high up there in the magic union, but he was even more certain when he saw the fearful look on Cosette. What Du Wei guessed is right. Within the magic union, all those Grand Mages are all too busy studying magic, so how can they waste their time running the ce? In this case, the day to day affairs are handed to the people in the Deacon position. This position is equivalent to someone that has truly grasped onto real power! Because of his merit for escorting Du Wei to the capital, rk was promoted personally by the president to the level of Deacon¡­. This also shows how important Du Wei is currently in the eyes of the Magic Union! ¡°Du Wei, Sir, when I came out, I immediately heard from others that you have arrived. I already spent a lot of time searching for you, let¡¯s go. I¡¯m certain the president is very eager to meet you.¡± rk would of course not show any goodwill towards some low leveled mage ¨C this is especially true for someone only at the rank of a magic pharmacist ¨C without any sort of kindness, his eyes swept over Cosette and pulled Du Wei out of there. But instead, Du Wei paused for a second and faced Cosette: ¡°When I have time, I¡¯lle find you again.¡± Leaving the jaw dropping Cosette behind, Du Wei and the puzzled looking rk headed towards the main hall. Du Wei is not a fool. Once he saw the extra badge on rk¡¯s chest and the fact that he got promoted the moment they returned to the capital, Du Wei deduced this matter has a rtion to him. ¡°I forget to congratte you, rk Deacon.¡± Du Wei smiled. In front of him, rk wasn¡¯t arrogant in his smile: ¡°You are too polite. Du Wei¡­ ¡­ Your status as a Magic Schr is much higher than my title. A mere Deacon title is not even worth mentioning. Not worth it? I say it¡¯s not so simple! Whenever the two met anyone along the hall, they would always respectful bow towards them; however, their eyes always had a hint of fear mixed into them when they saw rk. Chapter 124 The 124th chapter ¡°The Magesw enforcement team¡± Casually walking through the hall, Du Wei managed to get enough information out of their conversation to confirm his thoughts. In terms of strength, this rk character is definitely not at the forefront of the rankings. However, all of those grand Mages in the eighth level and higher are all old monsters that disliked the mundane lifestyle. Majority wise, these old beings are always immersing themselves in their research and would hardly take part in the daily functioning of the Magic Union. So, the management of the entire union is usually handed down to people in the lower level. Currently, there are six Deacons in headquarters¡¯ managing the day to day activities. Usually, these individuals are students belonging to some senior old monster that holds immense status within the magicmunity, even the president would have a hard time controlling these guys. Can you imagine howplex the internal structure of the magic union is? Not only does the union have branches located in just about every ce on the continent, there are only 6 Deacons overseeing the entire operation! And let¡¯s not even begin to discuss the management of the Mages legendaryw enforcement team inside the union¡­.. So other than matters of great importance that requires the president¡¯s personal decision, the 6 Deacons inside the Union are given enough authority that they are people with true power! As for rk¡¯s origin, he is a student of some ninth level Mage inside the union. Majoring in dark magic, the guy isn¡¯t all that bad in terms of talent because he was able to reach the sixth level by the time he reached mid age. It¡¯s just that unlike his peers, rk had a craving for worldly possessions so his rtionship with a lot of nobles is really good. All in all, the guy is someone that is well bnced in all aspects of his life. If by the odd chance that rk had just focused on magic research instead of trying to climb thedder, he would have been only average in terms of talent. Even so, he still had a ninth level master in the union¡¯s top brass backing him. If he had just waited, sooner orter, he would have been promoted to the position of Deacons anyways. But as fate would have it, rk¡¯s master passed away a few years ago due to illness. So his political backing was weakened by arge margin. If he didn¡¯t take extra measures to raise his status like he did, his ability topete for the Deacon position would have probably been lost to him. After all, the status of a Deacon is a position of true authority and power, so there would of course be a lineup of Mages craving to take it. Luckily for rk, the appearance of Du Wei gave him a big chance! Not only was the president extremely mindful of Du Wei¡¯s whereabouts, the rest of the old monsters still alive inside the magic union was also painstakingly turning the entire continent upside down to locate him. Since rk almost became Du Wei¡¯s teacher in the past, the job naturally fell into rk¡¯sp. So the fact that rk managed to be a Deacon can be all thanks to Du Wei. For this reason, rk is very grateful towards Du Wei. Du Wei is not foolish enough to not notice the goodwill rk is sending his way. As they conversed during their walk through the halls, the friendlier they got as time pass. (I swear, every time rk shows up, there is always some kind of homo line.) ¡°This six pointed star building in the outer perimeter is the main building where the different departments work, but it¡¯s not the core area. The true core of the magic union¡¯s headquarter is the tower in the center. However, Du Wei, Sir, did you notice? There is no pathway leading into the core area.¡± rk faintly smiles. Indeed, this six-pointed star-shaped building only has doors leading to the outside. Looking around, Du Wei could not see any door leading into inner area, not even a window fan! ¡°The reason is because there are a lot of restrictions set on anyone entering the core area inside the main tower. Of course, you and I are not under such restrictions. In order to enter the inner area, the only option is to use a teleportation circle connected to the inside. If by the odd chance someone wanted to enter by flying through the sky, they would not be able to because a restriction spell is set up in ce.¡± While rk exined all this, he was also leading Du Wei pass a long hall he had never seen before. Once they came out, the two were standing in front of an arched concave looking wall. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me we have to break through this wall in order enter the inner area?¡± Du Wei questioned. rk chuckled as he looked at the wall: ¡°Of course not! Though the wall cannot stop the might of a great warrior, but even if someone manages to break it apart, they wouldn¡¯t be able to get inside. Why? Because in-between the wall, there is a dimensional space barrier.¡± Scanning the wall carefully, Du Wei could clearly see a line of crystals embedded onto the surface. He wasn¡¯t sure what they were for at first, but when they came up to the wall, rk reached out his hand and touched one of the round crystals in the middle. Turning to face him, rk smiled wickedly and twisted the crystal like a dial. Immediately, everything in front of Du Wei¡¯s sight started to glow and a wave of magic energy started to wrap around his body. Then, as if they never existed in the world, the two were gone, disappearing without a trace. Momentster, Du Wei opened his eyes to the unfamiliar sight of a brightly lit spacious channel. Without a single soul nearby, all he could see are decorative statues standing on both sides of the passageway. ¡°A moment ago, we were still down in the main hall of the lower level. Now, we are in the upper floor where the teleportation circle is located.¡± rkughed a bit and gently patted Du Wei on the shoulder. Once they were both out of the arched transfer array, rk continued to speak: ¡°This spot here does not need any guards for security because the magic array can automatically recognize anyone that works here. Only by having these specially crafted badges like ours can theye here through the transfer array from the lower level to the upper level. If anyone dares to force their way through¡­..¡± When rk reached this point, his voice became cold as he chuckled. Du Wei sighed. ¡°This ce is the main stronghold of some of the strongest Mages on the continent, who would daree mess with this ce and provoke their wrath?!¡± Once the two crossed a corridor, they finally came across two others in this eerily silent ce. From appearance, they were still wearing themonly worn silver robe of a magic apprentice, but their badges werepletely different. With a stern and serious looking face, the two were busy carrying stacks of thicklyid scrolls as they came up to Du Wei and rk. Even when the two strangers saluted them as they passed by, the air around them cannot bepared to those down below. ¡°These people are all workers in this ce.¡± rk lightly chuckles: ¡°But only after a variety of tests to measure their loyalty will they be allowed to enter this ce¡­. s, just the management of the resources under the union is tedious enough. As it so happens, those higher in thedder are all lords of spending. Never once would they bother spending their time managing any of this. I myself am currently in charge of a department that is solely dedicated to managing those resources used in magic research. More often than not, whenever one of those old monsters sends out a list of items to us, the people outside here would be breaking our legs just searching for it. Also, we have to bnce the books whenever we take a loss¡­. For this reason, even the simple position of a secretary must be stationed by a magic apprentice.¡± Continuing through to the end of the corridor, they came up to a dominating ck door that sent chills down Du Wei¡¯s back! With a dark looking face, rk whispered: ¡°Du Wei sir, when we go through this door, you must not say anything unnecessary or look in ces you should not be looking. The ce behind this door is where the only teleportation circle into the core area is located. As such, it is routinely guarded by the magic union¡¯s one and onlyw enforcement unit. Just about every one of these individuals is inhumane monsters that kill without emotion. Because they are charted by the union itself, it¡¯s for that you do not provoke them.¡± With that said, rk pushed the door open and he could immediately feel the chill around his body increase several folds. Walking in, the first thing he saw was the gorgeous crystal chandelier up in the ceiling. The air in this ce may not feel very good, but the decoration definitely had its style. Looking down, Du Wei could finally see the infamous teleportation circle. With dark red crystals mounted on all six corners, this magic array felt overwhelming whenever the bursts of energy fluctuated off the center. But that¡¯s not all. Different from the average magic circle setup, there was also a two meter tall column embedded onto each corner. Analyzing the thing, he is certain this magic circle is not simply only used for teleporting someone into the core tower! As he was thinking all of this, a ¡°humming¡± sound reached his ears. Vibrating with energy, the noise was piercing straight into his heart. Agitated and unwell, Du Wei immediately looked around to see two special looking Mages standing next to the magic circle. With a base material of white and patterns of steel ck mes etched along the surface, their style of clothing was something he had never before seen. But what really put him off was where they were standing. No matter where he looked, the entire room was bright and alive; the only exception was the two shaded areas where the two stood. It was as if they were intentionally trying to hide their presence. As Du Wei tried to take a closer look at their faces, some mysterious chill suddenly started to creep along his spine. Maybe it was just his imagination, but despite his efforts, Du Wei couldn¡¯t see through the shadows created by the tall pointed hats on their heads. Instead, what he got in return are murderous sparks of light from their eyes that sent him back a step! Those eyes¡­ they truly intend to kill! It was at this moment, the two terrifying Mages sent out an extremely dense aura of spiritual energy around the room. Like waves, Du Wei could feel his own mental force being pushed back every time his made contact with theirs. Never once in his life did he feel so overwhelmed in such a manner. Dripping with cold sweat, he couldn¡¯t understand why his mental force is losing. He knew the other two foes mental force isn¡¯t in any way superior to his, but yet, his mental force is being peeled apart like a fruit skin. Du Wei began to feel the pressure more and more heavy, even had they felt, pimple on the tip of a drop of sweat! ¡°Both of you, stop this at once. This special guest is someone the president must see, do not overstep yourselves!¡± Noticing the painful expression on Du Wei¡¯s face, rk immediately intervened with a shout. Only after rk¡¯s intervention did these two creepy looking beings stop their oppressive aura. Catching a breath, Du Wei wanted to secretly have a look at the two enforcement officer¡¯s face, but when he tried, two beams of light focused on him from their eyes. Realizing things were turning for the worse, he instinctively retracted his eyes and stepped back a few steps behind rk. Too powerful! Where in the hell did such monsterse from?! But what really depressed Du Wei was the fact that his prided mental force was beaten so easily! In his mind, he knew their mental force wasn¡¯t all that much higher than his, but he couldn¡¯t resist their advancement at all. Something is not right about these beings! Chapter 125 The 125th chapter ¡°Old monster¡± Letting out a sigh of relief at the dampened tension, rk feared saying anything more. With due haste, he moved his hands quickly to drag Du Wei away with him into the magic circle. Then touching one of the crystal dials on one of the stone pirs, he turned it to activate the spell. Instantly, the scenes in front of the duo changed and now they were outside the room. Standing in the middle of a square the size of the two football fields, a tower stood further a bit further away from there. Du Wei understood now they were already in the core area of the magic union! Still specting about the two wacky Mage from before¡­. Du Wei suddenly recalled their chests didn¡¯t have an identification badge! Now there is no way for him to even guess their level of rank¡­.. ¡°Don¡¯t dwell too hard on it. Sir Du Wei.¡± rk nced at Du Wei, his mouth curved into a smile: ¡°When I first met those guys, I was the same and suffered at their hands a bit. Those guys are all abnormal monsters and cannot bepared to normal people. If you must know, they are the Magesw enforcement team.¡± ¡°What exactly is the Magesw enforcement team?¡± Despite the fact that this problem is somewhat abrupt, but Du Wei pretended it was to be expected of him ¨C after all, he is still a young child, it¡¯s not umon for kids to ask inappropriate questions. This is also an advantage for him because of his age. rk ponders for a moment and said, ¡°Since you are also a person of the inner department, I guess it¡¯s time you were told¡­.. The Mages enforcement teams are an internal fighting force that has been around for Millenniums. This team is directly under themand of the president himself and it could be said they are the Union¡¯s defense force. If you need a better idea, they are more or less simr to the Holy Knights of the Temple of Light¡­. However, they are also somewhat different.¡± With rk¡¯s exnation, Du Wei finally got a clearer understanding of this mysterious fighting force. Under the Magic Union¡¯s rule, the Mage enforcement team is not allowed to attack any non-Magic personnel¡¯s! Their entire reason for existence is to eliminate evil Mages because in the past, there had been many powerful, yet vile mages running rampant on the continent! Due to the scarcity of the numbers of Mages, it would be a great loss if a grand and powerful mage fell victim to one of these viins during their suppression; as such, this special unit of Mage hunters were born. Even till this day no one actually knows how powerful this team really is. However, it seems that other than magic personnel¡¯s, this mysterious team had never actually fought with another faction or group. The only time this special fighting force is ever mobilized is when an evil Mage runs rampant on the main continent! But what is even more terrifying is the fact that this special unit is the nemesis of Mages! No one knows how they are trained or raised, but even a powerful Mage will suffer in their presence as if they had some special restraint over the rest of the popce. Recalling his earlier test with his mental force, Du Wei could not stop his facing from turning pale white¡­.. Special restraint magic? ording to profession system on the Rnd Continent, a Mage has the advantage over a warrior¡­. Then wouldn¡¯t these monsters be unbeatable? But Du Wei then immediately thought of a possibility: maybe the special abilities of these monsters are only valid for magicians and are useless against others like a Warrior. One force to counter another force, this is the natural order of things. Seeing theplex face on Du Wei, rk quickly reminded: ¡°You must not carelessly inquire about the secrets of these monsters. It¡¯s fine as long as you remember some of the taboos and precautions around them. Just make sure you don¡¯t go searching for them to make trouble.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Du Wei immediately raised his face, revealing a young and innocent smile: ¡°Why would I go provoke such monsters?¡± rk felt somewhat relieved. Although he was sure that innocent smile was ny percent fake, but as long as Du Wei understood this much, he is fine with it. ¡°This tower is the second highest building in the imperial capital. At 88 meters tall, this building is at the epicenter of the magic array protecting the main headquarters¡­. But personally, I don¡¯t believe there is a need for any defense at this ce¡­ In this world, I don¡¯t think there is anyone crazy enough to try to break into this ce!¡± rk faintly smiled: ¡°Because living in this tower are all those eighth level grand Mages inside theirboratories! With a total of 18 floors, eachyer belongs to at least one grand Mage, particrly the top floor where the ninth level masters reside!¡± Du Wei immediately understood. With all of the continents strongest magicians living inside this tower, who would daree mess with this ce! Even the mighty dragon patriarch would have to think twice if he wants to face 10 master Mages at once! As the two were busying conversing, the door further in front of them suddenly burst open and a white robed old man came rushing out. With a senile looking face, who knows how old this senior really was. To make it even weirder, the guy¡¯s beard was so long that it was dragging down to his waist and he even braided it into a bow!! (Finally, I love this old fart!!) With a quick look, Du Wei was pondering how long it has been since the old man washed his stained cover robe! But before Du Wei could finish his thought, rk hastily grabbed him to one side and bowed in salute?! Good thing Du Wei had sharp eyes because he immediately noticed the badge on this dirty old man was a ninth level Mage badge! However, what Du Wei saw next surprised him somewhat. Walking out as if the old man didn¡¯t even see the two, this senior had a face full of excitement as he held onto a ragged looking broom! Bouncing around like a kid, the guy looked up into the sky and suddenly shouted with excitement: ¡°HA HA HA HA! I finally seeded! I finally made it! I am a genius! Genius!! HA HA HA HA!!¡± Under his maddeningugh, the old guy¡¯s voice was filled with pride and excitement. Then suddenly, the senile old man grabbed his hair and dropped the broom onto the floor. Turning around in anger, the guy suddenly shouted again: ¡°What are you dawdling for! Come out now! Do you expect me to ask you toe out?!¡± Immerging from behind the shadows of the door in front of them, two gray robed Mages around forty to fifty years old hesitantly walked out. From the badge on their chest, it was clear they were both sixth level Mages in their rank. But unlike the dignified faces you would expect of them, their faces were trembling with fear like a scene of cat preying on a mouse. Once the old nutcase saw the two, he started tough even harder: ¡°Well then,e on! I promise this time it will not fail! Who wants to try it, teacher here has a reward for him!¡± The two mid-leveled Mages looked at each other once and understood what the other was thinking immediately: Reward? More like heavy injury! Among their six brothers, four of them were used as guinea pigs by this entric teacher of theirs. In the end, the four that came before them either broke a leg or arm thanks to this test. Fortunately, the healing magic managed to heal the injuries. But because of this experience, the four used their injury as an excuse and ran away! Now, only the two of them were left to ¡°taste¡± this invention! As if they were in agreement, the two took a step back at the same time¡­. Although healing magic will mend any wounds as long as they don¡¯t die, but it is after all their body, so of course they don¡¯t want to experience such bodily harm and pain. This white-bearded old Wizard immediately understood when he saw the reaction of his two apprentices. Screaming in a fit of rage, he said: ¡°You bloody things! Do you actually doubt your master¡¯s genius idea! Could it be that you dare doubt my invention will fail!¡± The two Mage faltered, but one was bold enough to reply: ¡°Teacher, you know that I¡¯m not good with wind magic. Also, I have a big fear of heights, really, I do¡­..¡± Then the other quickly followed up, ¡°Teacher, I¡¯m too clumsy. I¡¯m not afraid of physical pain, but it won¡¯t be good if I break master¡¯s genius invention. Ah! What¡¯s more, both of us are already more than 50 years old, this kind of thing¡­¡­¡± The White-bearded old geezer paused for a moment to nce at his two disciples. Then, with a sigh, he shook his head: ¡°Oh, I¡¯m too foolish. The both of you are already more than 50 years old, this kind of thing at your age does not seem to fit¡­ ¡­ Hmm, unfortunately I do not have any young disciples under me¡­.¡± Just as the old geezer said this, he noticed Du Wei standing next to rk. With beaming eyes of joy, heughed: ¡°Ah! There¡¯s a kid! Comeee! Youe here!¡± After he finished his words, the old geezer started to wave his hand at Du Wei toe closer with an unmatchable face of kindness. Seeing their teacher¡¯s focus move away from them, the two gray robed Mage had a chilling aura seep off their body. With a sympathetic expression, the two looked at Du Wei with eyes saying ¡°Sorry, better you than us!¡± Chapter 126 The 126th chapter ¡°Disruptive breakthrough!¡± Still standing on the side, rk was already so scared that his soul nearly flew out of his body! It wasn¡¯t hard for him to recognize who this old guy was because in the Magic Union, this old geezer is not only infamous; his status is beyondpare as one of the top three monsters living inside the tower! At more than 160 years old, not even the president would directly cross him! Why? Because when the president was still young, this old geezer directly mentored him. Oddly enough, despite reaching a terrifying level in magic, this guy still prefers to immerse himself in researching and creating odd magic tools. But what¡¯s even more horrifying is that whenever he makes one of his inventions, this old geezer would pull anyone nearby to test his new magic tool! For this reason, all of those unlucky enough to be forced into bing his guinea pig would always suffer major injuries. Eventually, every person inside the Magic Union would be weak kneed the moment their sight catches wind of this old geezer. And now, he himself is currently escorting this important guest to go meet the president. If Du Wei suffered any injury, rk feared he will not be able to bear the responsibility! But the status of this old guy is just too high. Not even the president would take a stand against this person, so how can he, a little Deacon dare refuse a request from such an important person? However, efforts still need to be made. With a quick jerk on Du Wei¡¯s back, rk smiled wryly and said: ¡°Master Alley, this person is the newly appointed Magic Schr by the president¡­.. I was just about to take him to meet the president¡­.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Master Alley paused for a second, eyes blinking as he looked at Du Wei. Then suddenly, his eyes looked like they were burning with curiosity: ¡°Eh, so you are the disciple of Master Gandalf? So young? s, you are too young. I fear your ability is very limited¡­ ¡­ But don¡¯t mind it, you can alwayse find me in the future, I will give you a lot of guidance.¡± rk continued to remain quiet without interrupting, but in his mind, he was thinking: If he goes see you often, who knows when he will lose his life! Think up to here, rk quickly said: ¡°The ¡­ ¡­ President is still waiting to see him¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about Dorgan¡¯s side¡­.¡± Master Alley nced at rk. Seeing the questioning looking his way, rk hastily introduced himself: ¡°My name is rk, I¡¯m the newly appointed Deacon.¡± ¡°Oh. rk ¡­ ¡­ Hmm, you go tell Dorgan this kid is doing me a favor first. After we are done, I¡¯ll have someone send the kid to him!¡± Alley waved his hand at rk without care. Its over! rk was pouring cold sweat now. After Master Alley decides this, how could he possibly refuse? Alley didn¡¯t care how rk looked. Turning to look at Du Wei, the old geezer waved at him with the brightest smile: ¡°Come,e! Little one,e here, I¡¯ll show you some good things. You help me test this and I¡¯ll be sure to give you a lot of benefits.¡± Seeing the odd scene in front of him, it wasn¡¯t hard for Du Wei to realize the situation wasn¡¯t right. Letting out a cough, Du Wei faced the old geezer in the eyes without any hint of fear: ¡°Dear Master Alley, you want me to help you test your experiment?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Alleyughed: ¡°You are so young, so you shouldn¡¯t fear heights, right?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not afraid.¡± Du Wei squinted his eyes as he chuckled: ¡°But I¡¯m not your disciple. If you want me to test your experiment, I like to know what benefit I will be getting.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Slightly angered, Alley knitted his brow. Within the Magic union, his status is beyondpare, so why should he discuss conditions with a kid? Without any hint of fear in his words, Du Wei continued: ¡°Although this is the first time I came to the Magic Union¡¯s headquarter, but at the very least I know some rules. No matter how high a Mage¡¯s status is inside the Union, other than a magic apprentice or a disciple under one¡¯smand, they cannot ask for a favor without offering something in return. You know I¡¯m neither your disciple nor a magic apprentice, right?¡± Alley was angered now. Although there is such a rule, but who is he? If he has a demand, who would dare defy him? If he want to take someone to use, all he has to do is go have a word with that teacher, so who wouldn¡¯t show him some face? ¡°Humph!¡± The old guy angrily spoke the next words: ¡°You are not willing, then I¡¯ll just go have a word with your teacher¡­. Ah! No!¡± He suddenly frowned. ncing at Du Wei, the old geezer smiled wryly: ¡°Your teacher is Master Gandalf¡­. Aigh, I almost forgot. I can¡¯t just take you¡­¡­¡± Indeed, Gandalf is still a generation higher than himself and the kid¡¯s seniors are all old monsters inside the Magic Union. This old geezer may be arrogant, but even he wouldn¡¯t dare go bulling one of the Master Gandalf¡¯s apprentices! ¡°This¡­¡­¡± Right now, Alley is just like a child that couldn¡¯t y with a toy even though he has it in his hand. Impatiently scratching his head, the old geezer frowned as he spoke: ¡°Tell me then, what do you want for helping me test this experiment of mine? Aigh, I don¡¯t even have a single young student under my care. Now, whenever I go outside, those magic apprentices look at me like they had seen a ghost every time they encounter me. And I feel too embarrassed to publicly kidnap someone¡­.¡± Seeing the smile on Du Wei¡¯s face, the senile old geezer gritted his teeth and pulled out a small little box. Opening it, what was revealed is a brilliant looking gemstone! In the past, Du Wei had seen many different types of gemstones, but they were all of one shade¡­. However, the color on this gemstone was exuding all kinds of colors from afar. It is obvious this thing is not so ordinary! ¡°You help me finish this test and I¡¯ll gift this to you.¡± Master Alley smiled faintly. ¡°No!¡± Before Alley could even finish hisst word, the two disciples behind him screamed with disbelief! ¡°Who would have ever thought teacher was so senile to actually give such a precious thing away! If I had known we get something so nice, I would do it even if I suffer some injuries!¡± Both of the gray robed mage was thinking this. Du Wei is clever enough, although he doesn¡¯t know what the thing is right now, but he can tell the multi colored gemstone is something good. If it wasn¡¯t, the two mage behind this old geezer wouldn¡¯t have lost themselves in such a way! ¡°Shut up, useless things! Just a simple test and you make so many excuses! Now you even want ruin my business! Get the fuck away! If you two dare say another word, I¡¯ll break your legs!!¡± Turning around, Alley stared down at his two disciples with wrathful eyes. With that, the two Mage no longer dared to even make a sound. As a students of this estranged teacher, the two Mage knew very well how weird their teacher¡¯s temper is. Once he says something, he will absolutely go through with it! Even if their rtionship is that of master and student, if he says he will break a leg, he will definitely do it! There is no lie in his words! Though Du Wei was shocked inside his mind, but his face remained calm. Shaking his head, Du Wei said: ¡°This ¡­ ¡­ thing in your hand, I can¡¯t even recognize it so I don¡¯t know whether it will be useful to me¡­. And in my family, there is an abundance of precious stones¡­¡­ ¡± After hearing Du Wei¡¯s insulting words, this Alley wanted to jump up in rage. If not for the fact that the kid in front of him is Master Gandalf¡¯s student, he would have already summoned a thunder god lightning strike at Du Wei. ¡°What! You say this thing is useless! Blind kid! This thing is something I spent 10 years collecting in the sea, and I had to spend another 3 years to refining it so that it would be like this! I¡¯m willing to bet the entire continent wouldn¡¯t have another better gemstone than this thing! Humph! How could a kid like you possibly understand the way to use this thing?!¡± Du Wei¡¯s still remained calm as he shook his head: ¡°Well then, even if this thing is good, but that doesn¡¯t mean I will like it or even have a use for it.¡± Seeing the old geezer was about to put the thing away because of how angered he was, Du Wei quickly added in his next words: ¡°Well then, this thing does look interesting, so I¡¯ll reluctantly ept it. But if you want me to help test your invention, there must be a condition.¡± ¡°What condition!¡± This old geezer actually started tough instead of being angry: ¡°Say it kid so we know!¡± Du Wei stared at the broom lying on the floor. Then with a frown, he asked: ¡°You should first tell me what kind of test you want me to help you do. This way I will have an idea to make my decision.¡± ¡°Humph!¡± The moment the topic of his invention was brought up, the arrogant attitude of this old geezer once again emerged. Raising one of his hands out in the air, the broom automatically floated into his grasp. Then with both hands, he lifted the broom above his head like an emperor holding his gorgeous token. With a face full of pride, the old geezer eximed: ¡°This is my greatest master piece that I invented! Once this thing isplete, the entire world will be shocked by how great it is! Boy, listen up! The name of my greatest invention is¡­ ¡­ Uh¡­¡­¡± His voice seemed to be dyed. Apparently, the thought of naming his invention never even crossed his mind and now he is trying toe up with one on the spot. After a momentary pause, the old geezer immediately cried out in joy: ¡°Flying broomstick!!¡± Flying broomstick? Du Wei hesitated for a moment before turning to have a look at the two Mage behind this old geezer. After a brief moment of being dumbfounded, Du Wei burst out into a hardugh. ¡°What else is new about this?¡± Du Wei knit his brow with a puzzled look on his face: ¡°Isn¡¯t it just adding some miniature wind spell onto the broom?¡± ¡°What are you talking about? What else is new?¡± Old Alley had a serious and angry look on his face. For the past few years, this guy had beenpletely focused on creating this thing and could even be his life¡¯s masterpiece. For his greatest work to be looked down upon like this, the old geezer nearly jumped into the air at that very moment. In his fit of rage, he nearly ripped his beard off as he shouted: ¡°You say this is nothing new! Then show me something capable of flight!¡± Du Wei curled his mouth into a smile. From the magic bag left behind by Gandalf, Du Wei pulled out the magic cloak he had stored inside. ¡°This is a flying cloak my teacher left me.¡± Du Wei walked up to the old geezer and handed it over: ¡°It¡¯s only a flying tool, what is so strange.¡± Upon seeing the cloak, the old geezer suddenly turned silent. Using both of his hands to grab the cloak, the anger on his face disappeared to be reced by a faint sadness! Silent for a long time, his fingers caressed the cloak for a long time. With a sigh, the old geezer asked: ¡°Aigh ¡­ ¡­ It really is this cloak ¡­ ¡­ Did Master Gandalf leave you this? Did he always keep it by his side?¡± With that, the old guy¡¯s eyes suddenly turned a dull red and even his beard was gently shaking. Apparently his emotion was very agitated inside. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Du Wei nods: ¡°This is indeed something teacher always carried with him.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡­¡± Alley sighed. Giving the cloak back to Du Wei, his eyes were calm as he spoke: ¡°You think my flying tool is that simple? Humph!¡± Then the next things he saidpletely stunned Du Wei. What he said is: ¡°This cloak is the first flying tool he made when he was young! At the time, Master Gandalf gave him a lot of advice, so afterpleting his first cloak, he gave it to Gandalf as a souvenir!¡± ¡°This ¡­ ¡­ you made it?¡± Du Wei hesitated, but then he saw the look in the old guy¡¯s eyes and understood he wasn¡¯t lying. ¡°Yes!¡± Alley waved his hand: ¡°This thing, you keep it.¡± After a pause, his face looked gloomy as heughed coldly: ¡°You think my flying tool is the same as thing in your hand? Humph, if I want, I can make a hundred of these flying cloaks if want! But this broom ispletely different!¡± With that, he pointed towards Du Wei and said, ¡°Look at my broom and see what is different!¡± Finishing his word, he threw the broom to Du Wei. Scanning over the broom carefully, Du Wei was shocked! ¡°This ¡­ ¡­ above¡­¡­¡± He looked up, his face serious as he carefully looked at the old Mage: ¡°Are you sure ¡­ ¡­ This thing can fly?¡± ¡°Ha Ha Ha! See it now!¡± Alleyughed three times and proudly spoke his next words: ¡°Now you know the secret!¡± What shocked Du Wei is the earth shattering difference between the flying cloak and broom. This difference is as Alley says, it is enough to shake the entire world! Because ¡­ ¡­ That cloak of flight is not bad, but the principle behind it is to use magic crystals to create a magic spell on the cloak. Although this method works, but the fist sized crystal is far too expensive and it requires a Mage to first charge it up with energy before it can fly! This method of charging a crystal with energy before use is a mandatory requirement in any magic tool. It is exactly because of this reason that this cloak cannot be universally used. To top it off, the cost of a crystal can cost tens of thousands of gold coins, so not everyone can afford it. As for this broom¡­ ¡­ After carefully checking it over, he found that there isn¡¯t a single magic crystal anywhere! It¡¯s true! Without any expensive magic crystals or precious stones ¡­ ¡­ it can still carry an ordinary person into the air¡­.. Let¡¯s assume it¡¯s not a broom, but something else. For example¡­..A cart? Without magic or magic crystals gemstone ¡­ ¡­ What does this represent? Universal flight is possible!!! The age of flight ising! Right now, the inner shock inside his mind is not little! This old chap ¡­ ¡­ How did he do it? No magic crystals or magic stone ¡­ ¡­ Where would the magic energye from even if he blessed it with a magic array? No insertion of magic energy, how can the magic array function? This is just like a shlight without battery. If you don¡¯t supply it with energy, how can it light up? No energy! But ¡­ ¡­ But looking at the cocky face of this old guy and his own identity, Du Wei believed this person wouldn¡¯t lie so easily! So then, it¡¯s true?! This is overthrowing allws!!! It is a revolution! However, why do the two students behind this old chap have a look of disapproval? Logically speaking, if a person is capable of bing a magician, their IQ cannot be that of an idiot! For such an innovative product, even a kid like him could see the value, so why does those two have such an expression? There must be a catch behind this! Forcibly suppressing his inner doubts, there no way he would let such an opportunity slide him by. In a much milder and respectful tone, Du Wei said: ¡°Master Mage¡­.. I would like to help you¡­. But I also have an additional condition.¡± ¡°Say it!¡± Alley looked somewhat impatient. ¡°I want to learn how you made this flying broom!¡± Du Wei¡¯s tone is beyond doubt. Chapter 127 The 127th chapter ¡°Cheating deception¡± Such a request waspletely out of what Alley expected. Stumbling at first, the old geezer immediately turned ecstatic when he regained his thoughts. Ignoring his disciples behind him, the old man directly stepped forward and grabbed hold of Du Wei¡¯s wrist: ¡°You want to learn? You believe in my invention?¡± Since Alley is so excited, it can¡¯t be helped that he may have overexerted himself. So when Du Wei felt the force on his wrist, he found that this guy may be old, but his strength is still there: ¡°Of course I want to learn! If it is as amazing as you say, then your invention would be the greatest masterpiece of this age!¡± ¡°You hear that?!!!¡± Overjoyed, Alley suddenly turned around to face his two apprentices and angrily scolded them: ¡°You hear that! You two idiots! Although you have been submissive to me, but I always knew you two never believed me! You thought I was senile didn¡¯t you, huh! Do you hear it now! This young boy believed me! Humph!¡± Overly excited at his words, this Alley broke out into a giantugh: ¡°OK, OK! If you want to learn, then I¡¯ll teach you! Ha-ha, isn¡¯t it only a flying broom! What else do you want to learn! Ah¡­ ¡­ Why not just let me take you as my disciple¡­ ¡­ Oh no, no, you are already Master Gandalf¡¯s disciples¡­ Hmm, this can be troublesome¡­ ¡­ ¡± Despite spending a moment in thought, this old geezer still couldn¡¯te up with a solution; so instead, this guy simply forced the broom into Du Wei¡¯s hand: ¡°Let¡¯s not mind so much for now! We will first have a test flight!¡± Before Du Wei could even speak, Mage rk was already panicking at the terrifying scene unraveling in front of him because he managed to recall the pieces of information regarding all of the test subjects prior to this. Inside rk¡¯s mind: Hmmm¡­.. Didn¡¯t this old guy¡¯s apprentices suffer from multiple injuries? So the reason was because of this flying broom¡­. Unlike Du Wei, rk is well trained in the foundation of magic, so to him, the very concept of a magic tool without any energy crystal to power it is nothing but whimsical nonsense. If this old guy wants to be crazy, no one will stop him! But if he somehow ended up hurting Du Wei in the process¡­.. rk feared his own position as a Deacon would be in jeopardy! No way! This absolutely cannot be allowed! No longer caring if he will offend this old monster at this point, rk called out: ¡°Master Alley! Master Alley! The¡­.¡± But when Alley stared at him, rk¡¯s voice quickly weakened to the point of murmuring. Despite his fear, rk pushed on and said: ¡°The¡­ ¡­ President said he has important matters with him¡­ ¡­ Oh no, no, no! I of course do not dare hinder your magic experimentation. It¡¯s just¡­¡­¡± rk suddenly had an inspiration: ¡°But now is not the right time. Would it be possible for Du Wei to meet the president first, thene back and apany you?¡± In rk¡¯s mind: as long as Du Wei finishes meeting with the president, then he would be off the hook even if Du Wei breaks a leg or two afterwards. Just when Alley wanted to refuse, Du Wei realized which matter is more important at the moment. Although he was still very curious about the broom, but even he is not so blind to not notice the danger surrounding this situation. As such, he interrupted: ¡° ¡°Yes, Master Alley, let¡¯s do this. First, I¡¯ll go meet the president and then I¡¯lle back and find you.¡± The itch inside Alley was reaching an intolerable level. Originally, he didn¡¯t want to wait and was about to drag Du Wei away with him. However, after listening to Du Wei¡¯s words, his mind changed because right now the more he looked at the kid, the more pleasing he became in his eyes. As the sole person capable of understanding his inventions, this old geezer didn¡¯t want to offend Du Wei in any way because he feared he might lose thisst guinea pig. Since it came to this, he might as well wait. Thinking of this, Alley sighed and nodded. But just when everyone thought it was over, this old guy suddenly had an inspiration and stuffed the multicolored gemstone into Du Wei¡¯s hand: ¡°Consider this a deposit! Now that you have received it, you cannot go back on your word!¡± With that said, the old guyughed several more times before heading away with his two disciples following close behind. It¡¯s just that when the two drifted pass Du Wei, they gave him a pitying look as if someone was on a death road. Oh¡­ Poor boy, to be so unfortunate to meet our teacher. There will be much sufferinging your way in the future. However, when the two caught sight of the rainbow colored gemstone in Du Wei¡¯s hand, they couldn¡¯t help but drool at the thing. On the other hand, the reason old Alley first stuffed the thing into Du Wei¡¯s hand is because he had alternative motives. ¡°Humph, this kid. Now that he has epted my thing, he can¡¯t go back on his words. Even if he wants to return it, there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll let him! And considering my status, there¡¯s no way he would dare try to cheat me! Humph!¡± After seeing Alley and his group leave, rk was finally able to feel a bit relieved inside. Turning to face Du Wei, rk smiled wryly as he spoke: ¡°From now on, you had better avoid this old fellow¡­ ¡­ Aigh, he is not to be trifled with.¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°I think he is very interesting. I¡¯m really curious about that flying broom.¡± rk took a look at Du Wei and inwardly thought: It can¡¯t be helped then. His days of learning magic theories are simply too short. From the looks of it, this new student of Master Gandalf never managed to learn the foundation of magic in its entirety¡­.. Humph, how can it be possible to work a magic circle without energy crystals? With that thought, rk did not say anything else because it is after all none of his business. Walking through the door, rk and Du Wei stepped into another magic transfer circle simr to the one outside. Then, with a few turns of the crystal te by rk, the two finally came up to the highest floor in the tower. Unlike the previous scenes from before, the two were weed by a very thick oak door in front of them. Pushing it open, the first thing Du Wei saw was how nd the room looked. Different from what he expected of a room belonging to the president of the Magic Union, this room is nothing but an ordinary looking office. Looking around, the first thing Du Wei noticed was the big circr door in the back of the room. It is then that he realized theboratory is probably hidden behind that door. Standing in the middle of the room, Du Wei felt something was not quite right¡­. This ce seems¡­. Too be too big? That¡¯s right! This ce is at the peak of the tower. ording to his visual observation from the outside, this room should be no more than a dozen meters in space¡­. But this office room alone is more than 100 square meters in length! As for how big theb in the back is¡­ ¡­ Du Wei didn¡¯t want to imagine. rk smiled faintly: ¡°Every floor here is aboratory belonging to some Grand Wizard, but because of the limited space avable, we would use some kind of space rearrangement spell to expand the rooms!¡± Just as he exined this, the circr door in the back slowly opened and amanding voice reached out: ¡°rk, you brought our new magic schr?¡± Hearing the voice, rk hastily changed his expression and bowed: ¡°Yes, Lord president. I brought Mr. Du Wei here.¡± The Magic Union¡¯s President, Supreme Leader of all mages on the continent, Dorgan slowly came forth from behind the circr door. The moment Du Wei caught sight of this person; a positive and pleased feeling arose inside his heart. No need to say anything else, just the ck hair and eyes is enough to please him. But to top it all off, the facial features of this president is just too familiar. Yes, this person is simr in appearance to his own ethnic background in his previous life. So of course Du Wei would instantly feel a bit more intimate regarding this president. Instead of wearing the expensive ck robe like he did during the empires founding festival, Dorgan only wore a white Mage robe. It¡¯s nothing out of the ordinary, but just that if one were to look a bit closer; they would notice the stains in some areas. ¡°Well then rk, you can go out¡­ ¡­ Oh¡­ Yes, I already know about the events downstairs. Alley notified me using a magic array earlier. Regarding this situation, you don¡¯t have to care anymore. You can go out; it¡¯ll be fine if you wait for us down below.¡± Dorgan waved his hand. Seeing he is dismissed for now, rk bowed again and hastily turned around to leave. Still standing there in silence, Du Wei and Dorgan were both currently analyzing each other. After a while, Dorgan finally smiled to break the silence, ¡°Hi, we finally meet atst, our new Magic Schr.¡± Du Wei had to admit that this president of the Magic Union is a very attractive and his smile looked very nice. ¡°Sit down.¡± Dorgan¡¯s hand pointed towards some strange arch shaped blocks in the room. At first, he thought they were only wood, but he quickly realized they were not when he came up close to check. Dorgan looked at Du Wei and faintly smiled: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but very few people woulde visit me in my room, so there aren¡¯t anyfy couches here¡­ ¡­ Oh, just sit on top of it. This is a chair made out of a skull from a ¡®Mara giant elephant¡¯.¡± Du Wei can¡¯t help but secretly take in a breath. Mara giant elephant? This huge creature is not actually a magic creature, but a normal giant animal of this world. In the past, he had seen pictures of this animal and the reason it was so memorable is because ording to the records, this animal is evenparable in strength to a magic creature. ¡°I think you must also be looking forward to our meeting.¡± As Dorgan continued to speak, he was able to figure out Du Wei felt a bit ufortable with all this: ¡°Well then, no need to be so reserved, I just wanted to ask you a few questions.¡± With that said, Dorgan walked slowly around the table and even personally handed Du Wei a cup of tea. Looking at the white ss cup in front of him, Du Wei thought: This thing can¡¯t be made from some animal bones too, right? ¡°This is ¡®Kheir El-Din tea leaves.¡± Dorgan smiles faintly: ¡°I know you are very proficient in magic potions, so you should know that Kheir El-Din has a very good vor and is good for keeping someone feel refreshed. As someone ages, it can¡¯t be helped that they would becking in energy, so this has be my main drinking solution.¡± Under the gaze of the president, Du Wei took a sip and his eyes quickly lit up in amazement. Then squinting his eyes as he savored the vor: ¡°You added Northern Orange leaf grass in it.¡± A glimmer of appreciation wafted out from Dorgan¡¯s eyes when he heard Du Wei¡¯s words: ¡°Nice. It would seem you really are good at medicinal herbs. Let me test you. You know why I want to add the Northern Orange leaf grass? ¡± ¡°By only using Kheir El-Din, there will be a certain degree of bitterness in the taste. If you add the Northern Orange leaf grass to it, the vor of the two will neutralize the bitterness. But more importantly, I¡¯ve read in some records that a few indigenous tribes in the southeast have a habit of chewing the northern Orange leaf grass. By doing this when they were young, these people tend to grow up with stronger bones.¡± Even though Du Wei said all this, but inwardly, he was thinking: Humph, all this about strengthening one¡¯s bone structure is no different from having a little vitamin boost¡­¡­ (The part about the vitamin is something I made up because the Chinese word has no true English trantion but the meaning is the same) ¡°Very good.¡± It seems this president is satisfied with the answer: ¡°You really do have an extensive knowledge regarding medicinal herbs. This makes me very happy because you may be able to help me solve a very difficult problem.¡± Du Wei slightly knitted his brow: ¡°Excuse me, what is the reason you came looking for me? I think it can¡¯t just be because of my rtionship with my teacher, right?¡± Dorgan gently smiled: ¡°First of all, I need to ask you a few questions. I need your honest answers. I¡¯m not rk, you do not need to tell me what you already told him, you understand?¡± Du Wei¡¯s expression darkened under the watchful eyes of Dorgan. Although his face still had the kind and gentle smile he always had, but the feeling Du Wei felt was that he was beingpletely seen through. ¡°Okay.¡± Du Wei nodded. ¡°Well then, the first question¡­ I need to know, master Gandalf¡­ ¡­ Is he really dead?¡± Du Wei immediately nodded and whispered, ¡°Yes.¡± Dorgan sighed¡­ ¡­ ¡°Sure enough, it is like this; even the life stone is shattered. From the looks of it, myst hope is gone.¡± ¡°So can you tell me¡­ ¡­ How on earth did he die?¡± Du Wei knew that in the presence of this President, his story from before is not a feasible solution. Thinking for a moment, Du Wei purposely made himself look a bit embarrassed: ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°Is there some kind of issue?¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°Teacher told me that if I say it, there would be trouble following me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, you tell me.¡± Dorgan smiled slightly: ¡°I think, even if there is any trouble, the Magic Union will stand by your side.¡± Du Wei he looked a bit dejected, but his mind immediately had an idea! You want to try? Hmm¡­ ¡­ ¡°It¡¯s like this.¡± Du Wei raised his head and peered into Dorgan¡¯s eyes: ¡°Teacher took me all the way to the north and then we went into the frozen forest.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know specifically, but he seemed to be looking for some kind of rare magical beast.¡± Dorgan nodded his head in agreement with this interpretation because Mages have a tendency to seek out magical beasts in order to procure the right materials. Moreover, he knew Gandalf had a pass for the frozen forest. ¡°Then we continued to head north inside the frozen forest and came up to the Big circrke.¡± ¡°Big circrke?¡± Dorgan was surprised because everyone knew this ce is andmark of the frozen forest! Anyone entering the frozen forest knew not to cross thiske. Gandalf is indeed a legendary magician of unparalleled strength. ¡°In the Northern side of theke, teacher managed to catch a lot of magical beast. But after a while, we encountered an ice demon wolf¡­. Hmm, but the thing didn¡¯t seem to be an ordinary demon wolf. If you ask me, I say it was a Wolf King. Thenter on, we encountered another evil faced spider queen.¡± Speaking up to this part, Du Wei sighed. Dorgan¡¯s face also turned pale: ¡°So many mighty magical beasts? Could it be that Master Gandalf also captured them all?¡± ¡°Yes, but teacher expended quite a bit of energy in order to catch these beasts.¡± Du Wei sighed. ¡°And then what?¡± ¡°Then we nned toe back, but because of an ident, teacher took me along and continued further into the north.¡± Du Wei intentionally revealed a trace of fear on his face. This little emotion was enough to capture Dorgan¡¯s attention. In a whispering voice, Du Wei continued to speak: ¡°We¡­ ¡­ Met someone.¡± ¡°Someone?¡± ¡°A wounded Knight.¡± Du Wei did not pretend to be calm; instead, he deliberately showed a trace of fear in his eyes as he looked at the old guy: ¡°We thought it was strange because teacher said that no one dares to go pass theke.¡± ¡°The Knight we met was just as surprised as we were. I¡¯m not sure why, but the knight suddenly attacked us! Never in my life did I¡¯ve ever seen such a powerful knight before!¡± ¡°He attacked you guys?¡± Dorgan immediately guessed: ¡°Could it be that the wounded knight is actually Hussein from the temple?¡± Inside Dorgan¡¯s mind: Yeah, that¡¯s right. ording to the news, Hussein fled to the North and disappeared into the frozen forest. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s right. That guy¡¯s name is Hussein.¡± Du Wei nodded in affirmation, then clenched his fist and whispered, ¡°Teacher said that the guy¡¯s strength had already reached the level of Saint Knight.¡± ¡°Saint Knight?!¡± Dorgan was surprised, this is important news! Saint Knight? The continent hasn¡¯t seen someone of that level for a hundred years! Could that traitor really have reached the Saint level? Hmm, but¡­ ¡­ From the information, Hussein was able to the murder two of the knight leaders, so this information is not beyond expectation. ¡°Why did Hussein raise his weapon against you guys?¡± Dorgan knitted his brow and asked. Even if Hussein became a Saint Knight, he wouldn¡¯t just randomly take the initiative to attack Master Gandalf, would he? For someone of Gandalf¡¯s level, even a Saint Pdin wouldn¡¯t be able to have the upper hand without suffering something in return! ¡°When Hussein met up with us, he seemed to be very surprised and probably wanted to get rid of us to erase any tracks leading to him.¡± Du Wei reply was very reasonable. A fleeing traitor of the temple wanted to murder someone to get rid of his tracks? This is also fair and reasonable. ¡°Didn¡¯t Hussein know of your identity prior to making his move?¡± Dorgan puts forth hisst trace of doubt. ¡°He didn¡¯t know.¡± Then that¡¯s right! If Hussein had known he was facing one of the strongest Mage on the continent, would he have so carelessly challenged them in such a situation? ¡°What was the result?¡± Dorgan sighed. ¡°The result is that teacher threw me far, far away from the battle. Once they engaged each other, the entirendscaped in that area got destroyed. In the end, Hussein was felled by teacher¡¯s hand.¡± Speaking up to here, Du Wei rubbed his eyes with something. Prior toing here, he had already guessed the fact that he would be questioned¡­.. What he hid in his hand wasn¡¯t any form of powder¡­ ¡­ Because Du Wei is certain any form of magic material he came up with would not make it pass the eyes of a Grand Mage! So, Du Wei used¡­. Sand! Hidden in his sleeves, he had stored away a few grains of sand the entire time. Now that he rubbed it into his eyes, the tears started to flow uncontrobly! With tears in his eyes, Du Wei continued to exin in a choppy manner: ¡°Not only was their battle fierce, the fightsted for an extremely long time¡­. In the end, teacher even used his ¡®wheel of time¡¯ magic¡­..¡± Wheel of time? Hmm, it certainly is Master Gandalf¡¯s top tiered magic spell. ¡°In the end, that Knight was killed by teacher, but teacher¡­¡­¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°That Knight really is too strong, before he died; the knight threw out his sword pierced through teacher¡¯s body.¡± ¡°And then what?¡± Dorgan¡¯s voice was somber as he spoke. ¡°¡­¡­ Then, teacher was heavily wounded; even healing magic could not mend his wounds¡­. After teacher left behind a few words to me, he¡­¡­ died.¡± Dorgan looked gloomy as he carefully thought for a moment with his eyes closed. This child¡­ ¡­ His words are fair and reasonable. For someone to be able to kill Gandalf, that person must be at least the level of a Saint Knight to pull it off. It¡¯s no wonder he can¡¯t be honest with rk before. Any matters regarding Hussein are simply tooplicated! With the involvement of the Temple¡­ ¡­ Hmm, the reason he didn¡¯t dare speak the truth must be because of Gandalf¡¯sst words. Aigh, it¡¯s too much of a pity for Master Gandalf to die with a Saint Knight¡­. This is too big of a loss for the union. Dorgan pondered for a moment: ¡°What about you? After your master died, how did you get out? With your magic level, I¡¯m afraid that you won¡¯t even be able to make it past theke!¡± Du Wei felt his heart tightened¡­ ¡­ This old guy is not easy to fool. However, Du Wei was still able to reply: ¡°Before teacher passed away, he gave me something to avoid the magical beasts along the way.¡± Touched the magic bag on his waist, he carefully pulled out a bottle from it. Then gently popping the lid, Du Wei poured some greenish looking powder out¡­. ¡°Oh, this is Dragon dung.¡± It is only natural that Dorgan can recognize this stuff. With that, thest hint of doubt in his mind vanished. With this kind of thing, it¡¯s no wonder that such a boy is able to freely walk through the frozen forest unhindered. ¡°Later on, I came across a few mercenaries further to the south and followed them out of the frozen forest.¡± Du Wei added onest sentence for the finishing blow. Dorgan carefully thought for a moment, and then brought back up the gentle smile on his face: ¡°Very good! You are a good boy. Master Gandalf¡¯s soul will definitely bless you.¡± He then again pointed at the cup in front of Du Wei and smiled: ¡°You drink a little more. I think that while in the frozen forest, you must have suffered a lot of trials. Aigh, I heard your body is not so good¡­. It is already very fortunate for you to be able to make it out of the frozen forest.¡± Everything so far seems to be very reasonable. Dorgan removed his inner doubts and began thinking about the following questions. He did not think too much about Gandalf¡¯s death¡­ ¡­ After all, the person is already dead and that will not change. Although Hussein was involved, but it is the Temple¡¯s business and the Magic Union has no obligation to care. Humph! But with the death of Gandalf, his own ns will have to befall on this teenager! ¡°Dear sir Du Wei.¡± Dorgan¡¯s tone turned slightly serious: ¡°I would also like to remind you that your teacher¡¯s advice is the correct move! If you had revealed this matter prior to this, I fear that the temple would have already taken you back with them for interrogation because the matter about Hussein is veryplicated¡­. But now¡­.. Humph, you are already part of the Magic Union so the temple can¡¯t just take you away. No matter what, the union will negotiate with the temple on your behalf! You don¡¯t have to worry anymore, so just let the matter regarding your teacher¡¯s death go! You have to understand that the highest pursuit in life for us magicians is in the study of magic. For someone as great as Master Gandalf, he would have already seen through this meaning.¡± Pausing a moment to let the idea set in, Dorgan continued: ¡°Since you are a disciple of master Gandalf, the magic union will naturally give you some special care¡­. Hmm, you still didn¡¯t take part in any magic evaluation test, right? Although your time together as student and teacher was short, but as a student of Gandalf, I believe your talent must be above the ordinary¡­. Hmm, as a show of respect towards Master Gandalf¡­.¡± Du Wei nervously looked at this President. ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s do this then. A few days after the summer festival, myself and a few grand Mages will personally host your magic evaluation test!¡± Dorgan made up his decision and carefully stared at Du Wei: ¡°You have to understand the problem: since you are masters Gandalf¡¯s disciple, then your life is bound to and associated with magic from now on! You are doomed to be a magician by trade and will stand above all sentient beings of this world! Free from the mundane lifestyle! From here on out, you are no longer the young master of the Rowling household, nor will you have anything to do with the nobility¡¯s¡­.. Your identity in the future will be very simple. From this moment on, you are a Mage of the magic union¡­ Do you understand?¡± Everything this president said so far had been revolving around him and the magic union, so how can Du Wei not connect the dots that this person wanted to tie him together with the union? Standing outside of the mundane lifestyle? Isn¡¯t that saying just to make him understand that his identity is mainly a magician and he must side with the Magic Union side? Then wouldn¡¯t that also mean he can¡¯t see himself as a member of nobility? This¡­ ¡­ Is like a method of pulling him in, but also serves as a warning! In front of the other party, Du Wei of course wouldn¡¯t contradict him. Although nodding, he was secretlyughing in his heart: This old guy is bullying him by taking advantage of his own ignorance! Humph, Gandalf¡¯s disciple must be loyal to the union? Not so! When Gandalf was alive, he didn¡¯t really associate too much with the union either! Even his baby girl apprentice was hidden away at home and refused to let her into the magic Union! But these words cannot be said out loud. Dorgan was very satisfied with the silent agreement from the teenager in front of him. Again revealing his gentle expression on his face: ¡°Other than your rank examination¡­ ¡­ I will also give you a big surprise. Hmm, I know your status in your family is not high¡­ ¡­ Oh, please forgive me for being so direct. But we magicians don¡¯t have much care for such mundane things. As long as you can be an excellent grand magician, those nobles will insteade pandering to you. So, in the future, you won¡¯t have a need to consider whatever family status. And once you finish taking your assessment test, I will also give you another surprise¡­. It is a special identity status. With this special status, even your old man wouldn¡¯t dare to look down on you!¡± Surprise? Du Wei leaked out a surprised expression on his face, but secretly, he was on full alert! This is probably not some kind of surprise¡­ But a problem! The Magic Union is expending so many costs to bribe him¡­.. It is likely to do with this surprise then! Coming out of the Dorgan¡¯s room, Du Wei was then led back to the bottom level of the tower and guided back outside. As for that old Alley, when Du Wei was just about to leave, Dorgan told him he had already talked to the old geezer and decided to postpone it to another day. The next time Du Wei came to visit, he can just directly go meet Alley in his ce. From the time ofing out of the president¡¯s room, to outside the magic union, he has been constantly thinking about the meaning of the word ¡®surprise¡¯ Dorgan had mentioned. The magic union wants to draw him to their side¡­. Along the way to capital, he was nearly assassinated¡­. Then when he was home again, his father suddenly became kinder to him. What exactly is this ¡°surprise¡±? Captain Alpha remained cold as ever and didn¡¯t talk much during their return home. Once Du Wei reached the mansion, he immediately went to his room and called Gargamel toe out. ¡°Gargamel¡­¡­¡± Du Wei then exined the main events of today¡¯s encounter to the mouse in hopes of gaining some kind of assistance. Although this mouse is timid and somewhat obscene, but after all, this guy used to be a member of the magic union. Maybe he will be able to give him some clue. ¡°You encountered Alley? You promised to help him do the magic test? Do not need an energy crystal toy a magic circle?¡± Gargamel asked all of these questions in one single breath. Although his tone was bitter, but mixed into it was a touch of pity and sympathy: ¡°Boy. I have to remind you that you should beg for more luck! This old Alley is one of the few old and dangerous monsters of magic union!¡± ¡°Dangerous? He is not dangerous, right? I think that his words were very friendly.¡± Gargamel sighed: ¡°This old guy¡¯s ¡®danger¡¯ is not so ordinary! This crazy old geezer oftenes up with some weird and terrible trials¡­ ¡­ Do you know how miserable his apprentices are?! When I was in the magic union, his apprentices would be seriously injured after every other day! All of this was to help him do those tests! As for the broom¡­ ¡­ I need to remind you with my magician identity. This is perhaps another whimsical nonsense of this crazy old geezer again! In the past, his crazy ideas were numerous, but none of them were sessful! Every one of them failed in the end! And those that ended up in the trial tests always suffered a lot!¡± Gargamel jumped up onto the table and nearly pointed his ws right into Du Wei¡¯s nose: ¡°In short, this old guy is definitely a dangerous madman!¡± ¡°I feel it¡¯s okay.¡± Du Wei did not believe: ¡°If the broom is sessful¡­¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it! This is against thews of magic!¡± Gargamel bluntly refuted. ¡°Oh, yes, he gave me a thing.¡± Du Wei pulled out the rainbow colored gem from his pocket. The second the thing was pulled out, the mouse suddenly froze in mid movement! His bean sized eyes suddenly froze and his jaws dropped in amazement as he stared at the gemstone in Du Wei¡¯s hand. Then out of nowhere, Gargamel freakishly screamed: ¡°Five colored magic nucleus!! My God! Oh universal god! That old madman really is mad! He really gave such a thing to you!!!¡± Du Wei looked at the mouse: ¡°This thing¡­ ¡­ Is very precious?¡± ¡°Precious??¡± Gargamel jumped up as if his tail had just been stepped on: ¡°You say precious?! HA HA HA HA! Boy, you really don¡¯t know what it is! I¡¯ll tell you, if you take this thing out, I fear every Mage on this continent would break their heads to get their hands on a piece of it!! Precious? Let me tell you, Once upon a time in history, there was a ninth-level magician that offered a forbidden spell to get a piece of this five colored gemstone. But in the end, he was still rejected!! Many Mages would trade everything under their possession to get a piece of this thing!! Do you understand?!¡± After saying this, Gargamel eyes were beaming with greed as if he would cling to the stone at any moment. While drooling like he had seen a tasty prey, the mouse eximed: ¡°It¡¯s worth it, it¡¯s worth it! It¡¯s definitely worth it! Whatever magic test he wants you do, just go! Even if you encounter any danger and break your hand or feet¡­ ¡­ Oh no, even if you break your neck, as long as you can get this thing, it is absolutely a bargain!¡± Chapter 128 The 128th chapter ¡°crazy stone¡± Du Wei was also shocked about how great the mouse described this stone. Taking a swallow, he indivertibly asked: ¡°This stuff really is that valuable?¡± Gargamel sighed, his small little bean sized eyes fluctuating in emotions. Unlike before, his wretched looking face was reced by a knowledgeable and expert like expression: ¡°Humph¡­¡­ This thing is a treasure in the eyes of someone that knows their stuff, but in the eyes of someonecking, this is nothing but a stone¡­ ¡­ I think in this day and age, the numbers of people that still knows about this thing is very few in between.¡± Du Wei ponders for a moment: From his observation, those two disciples of old Alley still don¡¯t fully understand the value of this gemstone. Although they opposed against the idea of giving him the stone, but in the end, they still relented. If this thing really is as Gargamel says, those two would have already robbed him in the morning. Also, there was rk. From the beginning till the end, he didn¡¯t show the slightest hint of interest. So, it would seem he doesn¡¯t know either. Du Wei was interested now as he slowly stroked the stone in his hand. Then peeling a nut, he handed it to Gargamel in hopes of pleasing the mouse. Noticing the change in attitude, Gargamel happily epted the nut and sneered as he chewed: ¡°For such a good thing to fall into your hands, you can consider it your luck, but do you know how to use it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I thought you should know.¡± Du Wei replied. In a very cool manner, Gargamel threw the rest of the nut into his mouth and raised one of his ws towards Du Wei: ¡°Take out the stuff you gotst time from the magic union, I have a use for them.¡± Subsequently, Du Wei obediently handed the magic bag to the mouse. With his head in the bag, Gargamel fiddled around to pull out a leather pouch. The contents of this bag contain tools used for crafting magic tools and carving magic gemstones. ¡°A five-colored gemstone is the greatest gift a Mage can have from heaven. If a magician manages to obtain a piece of this thing, they can muster up several times the amount of power while inbat!¡± While Gargamel selected the appropriate tools, he nced at Du Wei standing from the side: ¡°Your magic reserve at the moment is only at an intermediate level at best, but if you have this precious thing to aid you¡­. Then even if you encounter a Grand Mage, you wouldn¡¯t lose out in terms of energy reserve!¡± Then Gargamel started to spit out information after information, only then did Du Wei finally have a firm grasping of the stone¡¯s use. When a Mage is inbat, it is unavoidable their energy usage would be huge after casting profoundly high level magic spells. And when a Mage loses the capability of casting any more spells, they are no different than amb waiting to be ughtered in battle. In order to avoid such a situation, a typical Mage would carry with them a variety of magic items to quickly recuperate their magic reserves. One of the essential items for a Mage on the Rnd continent is a magic potion *** among these are multitudes of different forms that requires different materials to produce various degrees of results. But even the best potion¡­ ¡­ My point is that only by using magical nts to stimte one¡¯s body, it is only temporary and cannot be ovepped. Though it may have some effect, but Du Wei knew that by using a drug over a long period of time, it would be more harmful than good. If one did not want to use potions, a Mage could also rely on magic crystals to store a certain amount of energy inside forter use. By collecting some high quality energy crystal, a Mage could craft it into some decorative trinket ¨C like a ring ¨C to carry on their body. When they are in a real fight, that person can then consume whatever energy they had previously stored inside to replenish their own magic reserve, thus, allowing them to keep fighting. This method is just like a battery. The only problem to this was¡­ ¡­ That even the finest magic crystal has a very small storage capacity. For example: an energy crystal the size of a finger ring could only store enough magic to power one or two intermediate spells. As for those Grand Mages, they would often be in possession of some forbidden spells! Though these spells are terrifying in their destructive force, but the consumption is horribly high¡­. Even for those ninth level Grand Mages, they could only use it once before their energy reserve be depleted. So even if one were to have an energy crystal on every finger, it would not be nearly enough to channel another forbidden spell. ¡°In theory, the more energy storage tools you have, the more advantage you would gain in battle.¡± Gargamel faintly smiles. ¡°Then wouldn¡¯t a magic bag be even better because it would let someone bring as many magic crystals as they want?¡± Du Wei smiled wryly. ¡°Ignorant little boy!¡± The mouse bluntly denounced Du Wei: ¡°You think magic crystals aren¡¯t expensive to procure? Even the richest of Mages can only collect so many! And¡­. Even if you have a ton of crystals inside your bag, the enemy would have already killed you a hundred times before you could take another out!¡± That¡¯s right. Du Wei nodded in agreement. ¡°A five colored gemstone is different¡­ ¡­ If used to store energy, the capacity is so astonishing that it is beyond your imagination!¡± Gargamel had a mysterious smile on his face before he pulled a silver crafting tool from the leather bag. With it, the mouse started to hack away at the gemstone to remove a piece about the size of Du Wei¡¯s pinky finger. Handing it over to him, the mouse started tough coldly in a menacing tone: ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, you can try it out yourself.¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t quite believe it, so he asked: ¡°It¡¯s so small though?¡± After all, Du Wei had carried out numerous magic experiments with Solskjaer prior to this. Some of them did include crystals used for storing magic energy. Recalling from his memories, those high grade crystals the size of his fist would be fully charged by the time half his reserve is injected into them. So can something so small that it can even bepared to a mouse dropping be useful? Gargamel stared at Du Wei coldly: ¡°How would you know?¡± But very soon, about a meal¡¯s worth of time, Du Wei¡¯s face turned pale from exhaustion! Not only was he tired, his brain was also very dizzy. Although he suffered no physical damage, but his mind had an empty feeling as if his spirit¡¯s been pulled out of his body! In this one attempt, just about every drop of his energy was injected into this small tiny crystal pebble. ¡°The five colored crystal has one very unique characteristic. When the gemstone reaches its saturation point, the multicolored lights on the gemstone will disappear and its appearance would be no different than a regrmon rock.¡± Gargamel said this very coldly as he focused his sight on the tiny pebble in Du Wei¡¯s hand¡­. Right now, the pebble still radiated with multicolored lights! Du Wei turned pale: ¡°its capacity is so big?¡± Right now, his energy capacity is basicallyparable to a fifth level Mage! No need to bring up the magic output, just a pure magicpetition is enough to ce Du Wei on pretty good ranking among all the mages on the whole continent! But this little thing seems to have undergone no change at all even after he injected all of his mental energy! ¡°It¡¯s still too early!¡± Gargamelughed coldly: ¡°With your level of magic, it would take you another 10 days of constantly doing this to fill this small tiny thing.¡± If it¡¯s like this, then this little pebble is capable of storing enough magic energy to rival even 10 fifth level Mages?! ¡°I can help you turn this little pebble into a ring. If you ever get into a fight where your opponent is much stronger than you, you can instantly replenish your reserve with it. As long as your opponent isn¡¯t capable of casting a forbidden spell, they would have a hard time striking you down because they would be facing the equivalent of a hundred assaults from you! A super battery?! Du Wei¡¯s jaw dropped with his tongue sticking out in shock! How refreshing can this get, smashing one high tiered spell after another other! Justpeting in the amount energy consumption is enough to make the other party flee in fright! HA HA HA HA! Gargamel was able to easily guess Du Wei¡¯s thought pattern from the proud expression stered onto his face. With a cold sneer, the mouse interrupted him in order to knock some reality back into him: ¡°You think this thing is that simple? If it was so, then all those mages wouldn¡¯t be coveting it so highly! Let me tell you then. The greatest use for this thing is that in all these millenniums, this is the only unique material suited for making forbidden spell scrolls!¡± Du Wei fell into shock, even his heart was pumping like it was being pounded by a hammer! Forbidden spell scrolls?! Du Wei of course knew what a magic scroll is. The thing is nothing but a Mage sealing a spell inside a scroll so that it could be instantly activated in battle. Of course, the main benefit of such a thing lies in the fact that the person using the scroll need not use any of their own magic energy! However, the vast majority of these magic scrolls are only capable of storing low leveled intermediate spells! Only on asion would a high tiered spell scroll surface in the market! The reason for this is that the method of sealing a spell inside a scroll is just too difficult¡­. The main barrier lies in the level of magic! When there is an insufficient amount of magic energy, it would be impossible to create an even greater magic spell! But¡­ ¡­ ¡°The storage capacity of this tiny pebble is just too amazing! With only a tiny piece of this size is enough to power a forbidden spell! Now look at the giant piece in front of you¡­¡­ If we turn it all into forbidden spell scrolls¡­. How many do you think we can create?¡± When Gargamel said this, his eyes had a light of madness shooting out from them! Even a top level Mage can only afford to cast a forbidden spell once! A forbidden spell is ranked the highest in terms of spell ranking. Although Du Wei has never seen a forbidden spell before, but from the information he heard, there is a Grand Mage currently capable of using one called the ¡°Burning City me¡±. Once this spell is cast, the offensive power released will be enough to turn a 100,000 popted city into ashes! In the aftermath of such destruction, the only evidence of a once popted city will be the scorching me marks caused by the fire! But such a terrifying magic is enough to suck all the energy out of the caster till they are a dried husk. Unless the caster is a ninth level Mage, they would never be able to pull it off. Even then, the caster would only be able to do it once before they lose theirbative ability. But then, if one can bind a forbidden spell into a scroll?! My God! Du Wei gulped in disbelief! If he can carry around 80 such scrolls at all times, then he can just casually throw a few out when he encounters an enemy¡­.. No need to say a Saint Knight or a ninth level Mage, even if he encounters the dragon patriarch again, he would be able to kill the guy off till there is nothing left!! It is indeed a treasure! (I was much tempted to write ¡°My Precious¡­.¡±) Du Wei grabbed onto the pebbles again, but this time around, he had no intention of ever letting go! My God, this is equal to carrying around 80 nukes! If I have such a thing, even if Aragon crawls out of his grave, I can send him right back! ¡°We don¡¯t even need any kind of forbidden spell.¡± Gargamel smiled: ¡°As long as we can make more than 10 advanced spell scrolls for you, the destructive power of it all is enough to put you on the list of one of the strongest people on the continent.¡± Du Wei nodded, although a forbidden spell is terrifying in power, but at the moment, he did not know any. And even if he wanted to learn, he can¡¯t just go up to some super powerful Mage and ask them to willingly teach him, can he? As for some advanced level spells, he did in fact know a few. Back when Du Wei first met Vivian, he managed to extort some of her most powerful spells and the six spells he currently know is from her. With his current level, he may not be able to fully make use of them, but with the five colored gemstone, he should be able to manage it! Hmm. To be able to keep a hundred of these advanced spell scrolls¡­ ¡­ He could dominate the entire continent with little resistance if he wanted to. Although Gargamel was also envious of the stone, but he knew that he didn¡¯t have much hope in his current state. As such, the mouse steeled his resolve and decided to wholeheartedly help Du Wei. In a whispering tone, Gargamel said: ¡°This thing is too valuable. Even if we turn it all into scrolls, it wouldn¡¯t do us much good. I¡¯ll first use that piece I knocked off earlier to make you a ring so that even if you encounter any danger, you would be able to protect yourself.¡± Gargamel may not be a master smith, but a simple task of making a mere magic essory is still within his capability. Exhausted from his little attempt, Du Wei decided to sit down in order to rest. Closing his eyes, he went into a meditative state. Like this, Du Wei sat there for a day and even missed his evening meal because the feeling of having his entire energy reserve depleted is just too straining on his body. Finally opening his eyes after his meditation ended, Du Wei felt a bit strange! Unlike before, he noticed his mental spirit was spreading out like a spider web wrapping around everything in his surroundings. Not only was he feeling better, he could feel the spiritual growth in his mind! Although it¡¯s not significant, but he can tell it was definitely more concise than before! Still sitting in his room with his eyes close, Du Wei decided to expand his reach even further to test his limit. Now, everything in his room was as clear as if he was looking at it with his eyes open! Like this, his senses have already gone past his room and the scenery outside quickly appears in his mind! The corridors carpet dust¡­ ¡­ The carefully walking maid¡­ ¡­ Then past the yard outside his room is the drifting leaves falling off the tree,,, Even the texture is perfectly clear in his mind! Gradually, his mental scope has covered more than a hundred radiuses around his body! Out of curiosity, Du Wei decided to try to push his limit to see where he could reach¡­.. Like little tentacles, his consciousness drifted slowly past the corridors and eventually he came up to the yard in front of his father¡¯s study room! EH? Du Wei hesitated for a moment and was preparing to return, then suddenly, he heard a cold ¡°Humph¡± sound! This Humph was filled with murderous intent! The voice was obviously subtle, but in his ears, it was like a thunderous p! Du Wei was taken aback, then he started to feel a killing intent ruthlessly knocking him over! With a rumbling sound, Du Wei jerked back in immense pain that instantly made him feel dizzy. ¡°You have a lot of nerve to dare spy on the Earls mansion!¡± A cold voice pierced straight into Du Wei¡¯s heart. Already dizzy, Du Wei¡¯s mental focus immediately came crashing down under the sudden ROAR of this voice. While still sitting inside his room, Du Wei forcefully opened his eyes with his back covered in cold sweat. Gasping for air, Du Wei slowly calmed down only to notice that his mental fatigue, he spent one day recovering was once again drained by half. Father appears to have a master guarding his study! Only after confirming his breathing has calmed down did he put his mind at ease. Back in the courtyard outside the Earls study room stood Captain Alpha. Looking up into the sky, one of his arms was holding onto the handle of his sword. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Alpha?¡± Earl Raymond¡¯s mellow voice was heard from inside the study. ¡°My lord¡­ ¡­¡± Alpha turned to face the study room as whispered, ¡°There are magicians probing the mansion with their senses! Humph, they got some nerve! In the capital, there are actually mages that dare break the rule!¡± Silent for a while, the door to the study room slowly opened. From inside, the count walked out while still wearing his white cotton robe. Facing Alpha, the count smiled: ¡°Humph, it¡¯s a Mage probing us¡­¡­ Aigh, regarding this matter, they still have the upper hand¡­.. And this time I am caught in the middle¡­¡± He frowned slightly: ¡°However, for a Mage to so tantly spy on this ce. Could this demonstration be intentional? Those guys at the magic union are bing more and more aggressive!¡± ¡°Earl.¡± Alpha¡¯s shed a hint of killing intent: ¡°Do you want me to¡­ ¡­ The foe spied on us here, so they can¡¯t be too far!¡± ¡°No.¡± Earl Raymond sneered loudly: ¡°Let them go! There¡¯s only two to three days left anyways. Once the summer festival is over and the situation is set and done, then we can talk about it. His majesty still didn¡¯t have any orders recently as if waiting for the magic union¡¯s decision. So it would be best if we stay low for now too.¡± Right now, Du Wei remained unaware that his little endeavor has caused his father to be suspicious. Normally in the capital, if a Mage spies on a nobleman¡¯s home, it would be considered a hostile move against that person. Du Wei remained in his room by himself as Gargamel dedicated himself in the back of the bedroom. As for QQ, if that guy doesn¡¯t cause any trouble then its good. In a trance like state, Du Wei continued to specte about the situation earlier: Did father have such a powerful expert guarding his study before? And how can someone see through his probing! If there is someone like that, he must be skilled in martial arts and magic. But so far, he had never seen a Mage around. ¡­ ¡­ Could captain Alpha be skilled in magic and martial skills? As he was thinking, the sound footsteps could be hearding from the hallway, although light, but it was very clear in his ears. Subsequently, someone started to knock on the door, but the sound seems different than that of a servant. ¡°Brother! Du Wei brother! Are you in there? It¡¯s me, I¡¯m Gabri!¡± A child like voice rang out from behind the door. This person is none other than Du Wei¡¯s little brother and genius of the Rowling family. Chapter 129 The 129th chapter ¡°brothers¡± Gabri? That kid. Du Wei¡¯s face immediately turned into a genuine joyful expression as he went to open the door. Standing in front of the door is the emotionally excited eight year old Gabri. Though the kid is considered to be the family¡¯s future hope and pride, but right now, Gabri stood there without any hint of the so called ¡°genius¡± style everyone expected of him. Wearing a set of blue colored suit, the style of Gabri¡¯s clothing seemed a bit entric by the standard of the Rnd continent. Unlike the usual dresses of the noble ss, the suit was sewn with a lot of pockets that made it look weird inparison¡­ All it took was a nce for Du Wei to recognize the style because it was something he mentioned to his brother in their private meetings at night. Only in Du Wei¡¯s past life would there be such clothing¡¯s with so many pockets. It is clear to him that this kid was inspired by his ideas and actually ordered some servants to produce such a weird thing¡­.. To be honest, this suit had the same clothing style as those ¡°movie directors¡± in his past life. Gabri looked just as handsome as Du Wei and inherited all the good points of their parents. However, the eight year old Gabri looked a little more robust than he did. Now that the kid is practicing martial skills at such an early age, it is more than likely the Rowling household would produce another outstanding militarymander. As Gabri looked at his older brother, the innocent smile on his childish face immediately caused Du Wei¡¯s heart to overflow with warmth. After all, this kid did cause him to spend two years in a row climbing windows at night! ¡°Brother! You are finally back! I knew you would eventually return.¡± Gabri cheered. When the kid walked came up to Du Wei, he immediately embraced him with all his might. Inwardly, Du Wei felt really touched¡­. After returning to the capital, he was disappointed by the act his father put on for him. Now that he has seen his little brother again, this feeling he is getting should be real and sincere, right? Du Wei smiled as he patted Gabri on the head, but then he started to frown as he looked down at his clothing: ¡°So you actually made such a suit¡­ ¡­ My God, why is your body full of dirt! I heard you went to Schr Blue Ocean¡¯s ce, did you go y in the dirt halfway there?¡± Gabriughed: ¡°My brother, this suit I made is pretty good, right? What said is true, this really is convenient! My book, snacks, coins, and some small things can all be put in the Pocket¡­ ¡­ Ah yes, there is also the dagger Captain Alpha gave me, I can put them all in there!¡± Finishing his words, Gabri suddenly turned around and shouted loudly: ¡°EH? Why aren¡¯t youing in?¡± Du Wei was surprised! There are still people out there? Subsequently, someone slowly walked out from the darkest corner of the corridor. This man really caused Du Wei to be taken aback! Du Wei was born with far better spiritual senses than the average person. And after practicing magic for such a long time, whether it is his hearing or sight, it has reached an rming level! Yet, he could only hear the footsteps of his little brother when he approached! So where did this second persone from? Du Wei carefully assessed the eyes of this person and quickly became alert! This person is not so simple! Perhaps no more than 20 years of age, this person was wearing the servant uniform of the Rowling household. Yet, despite his unexciting attitude, Du Wei could clearly feel the icy cold personality extruding from his eyes! Not only that, this person was also really strange¡­.. The posture of his body has been just like that of cheetahs, and those eyes¡­. They were cold as if they were filled with fear of identally stepping on an Ant! Du Wei didn¡¯t know who this guy is, but the first impression he got from this person is that he is a true martial arts master! Moreover, this person¡­ ¡­ Probably seen blood! The indifference in his eyes is the kind that ignores life when they are taken! Such qualities cannot be imitated and can only be achieved by personally experiencing it. More importantly, this person is likely well experienced in life¡­.. While in the hallway ¨C likely out of instinct ¨C he identified the spot that would draw the least amount of attention and stood in the darkest corner he could find¡­.. Even though he was just standing there, Du Wei couldn¡¯t figure out what bizarre methods he used to avoid his own detection! ¡°Brother.¡± Gabri smiled fondly as he watched the weird expression on Du Wei¡¯s face: ¡°This person is my personal servant given to me by father¡­. Aigh, he is just like this, cold like a wood. I do not like him, but father gave strict orders that I must bring him along to any ce I go,¡­. Today is the first day he is with me¡­. Aigh, I tried many ideas, but he refuses to even smile.¡± Oh, really? Du Wei could not help but sigh inside: this guy is obviously a personal bodyguard. On top of that, this guy¡¯s ability is not weak! Du Wei changed his examining eyes and casually asked: ¡°Oh, what¡¯s your name?¡± Acting like he didn¡¯t hear Du Wei¡¯s question, he just stood there. Gabri was not happy as he stared at his personal bodyguard: ¡°Hey, my brother is asking you something! Look, this is my brother! His words are my words! You understand!¡± This silent and mysterious master nced at Gabri, his eyes didn¡¯t show any hint displeasure as if he didn¡¯t care one way or the other. Finally, he nodded slightly and turned to face Du Wei. In a low and husky voice, the guy answered: ¡°My name is yer.¡± A reunion of two brothers should be a pleasant asion, especially for Gabri. This eight year old kid has always been hailed as a genius¡­ ¡­ And he is indeed very clever. But Gabri understood a secret from an early age: this brother of his ¨C disliked by his father and looked down by everyone ¨C is actually a far more intelligent person than he is by 10 times! For a period of two years, this older brother of his would sneak into his room every day at midnight to y interesting games with him. Of course, Gabri knew now they weren¡¯t games, but actually uniquely devised teaching methods. If not for the knowledge he gained from his older brother, the title of a genius would never have been awarded to him. So all along, Gabri had wondered why his older brother would allow others to misunderstand him so despite being a true genius¡­. After Du Wei left the Imperial capital, Gabri became puzzled at his own mother¡¯s saddening tears and the indifferent attitude of his father. But Gabri always believed one thing: This wise older brother of his would sooner orter return to the capital! Because his brother is a person that stands above the ordinary! Though everyone is misunderstanding him, but eventually the truth will be revealed! Du Wei was very pleased at the sincerity shown by Gabri¡­. Inwardly, Du Wei was fully aware of the infighting between siblings for session among noble houses. Fortunately, this younger brother of his didn¡¯t show any form of gap between their rtionships. ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my question yet¡­ ¡­ Didn¡¯t you go to Schr Blue Ocean¡¯s ce? And what¡¯s with the soil?¡± Du Wei pointing at the clothing andughed. ¡°Ah¡­ ¡­ These stains are from the task teacher gave me.¡± Gabri face showed a hint of helplessness. After all, children of the nobility have already been taught to pay attention to their appearances from childhood. Now that he is so dirty, he would of course be somewhat unhappy. Subsequently, Gabri exined what happened before and piqued the interest of Du Wei. As the capital¡¯s foremost schr, this Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s educational method caused him to feel quite a bit of admiration. Unlike those traditional teachers that forces the student to memorize the content of a book, this guy intentionally changed some of the content inside to mislead his student. Then he handed it to Gabri and asked him to go into the yard to observe the nts and creatures there. Through actual observation, it would allow Gabri to find the intentional errors he made in the book¡­. Such practices are far more impressive than reading a book! As for the soil on Gabri¡¯s clothing, it is believed to be from digging earthworms in the yard. It is no wonder this Mr. Blue Ocean is considered the greatest schr in the capital! Such teaching method is a step above the norm. Du Wei smiles as he looked at theining Gabri: ¡°Gabri, listen to me. Your teacher is right. While I cannot exin in detail, but trust me! You must respect your teacher¡­ ¡­ You will be able to learn many things in the future under his tutorage!¡± ¡°I still think¡­¡­¡± Gabri hesitated, then he sincerely smiled: ¡°Brother, I think if you taught me, it would be even better than this person! Brother will not lose out to any schr!¡± Du Weiughed, easily diverging from the issue. Thinking for a moment, Du Wei headed over to the cab and took out something. Then handing it into Gabri¡¯s hand, Du Wei smiled: ¡°While I was at the old home, I didn¡¯t make anything good, but I believe this gift will interest you.¡± This is a singr tube shape telescope, created by Du Wei while he was bored. Though the technology is a bit rough, but the basic functionality is still very good. On the Rnd continent, the use for such a thing is still not obvious because a low leveled Mage is perfectly capable of using a far seeing spell called the ¡°Eagles eye¡±. However, it is still very good as children¡¯s toys. The smart little Gabri only needed to fiddle around a bit to figure out the use for such a contraption. In an excited manner, the kid rushed to open the window p and peered out with the telescope. Amazed by what he saw, Gabri startedughing loudly: ¡°Awesome! Brother, I¡¯m afraid this thing is even more useful than the Eagles eye spell from the Mages! Are you really giving this to me?¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°I knew it; my brother is a very smart person!¡± Gabri happily stuffed the telescope into his pocket, but then, his expression started to look very dim: ¡°Unfortunately, tomorrow I have to go to teacher¡¯s ce¡­ ¡­ Aigh, I will have to stay at teachers ce till after the summer festival.¡± It was at this moment, the martial master called ¡°yer¡± suddenly spoke up from outside the hallway: ¡°Young master Gabri, we have a change of n. The Earl said that after you return, you are to immediately go meet him.¡± ¡°I know!¡± Gabri looked impatient: ¡°You can go back first, I want to spend some more time with my brother.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± yer simply refused: ¡°The Earl said I must go wherever you go. No matter the circumstance, you cannot be out of my sight.¡± Though his face remained calm, but Du Wei¡¯s mind started to work overtime: why is he protecting Gabri so tightly? Why is that? On second thought, Du Wei spoke up: ¡°It¡¯s fine Gabri, you go back first¡­ ¡­ I think you better not break father¡¯s order. Anyways, I have returned, there¡¯s no need to worry about not seeing me again.¡± With that, Du Wei gently pulled his little brother next to his side. Then in a very serious voice, he said: ¡°Always remember my words!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°This yer¡­ ¡­ You have to be polite to him, and what he said is correct. You must never leave his sight, you understand?!¡± While facing Du Wei, Gabri seemed to be very obedient. Without hesitation, he immediately nodded: ¡°Okay, I trust you!¡± With that, Gabri turned to face yer, but this time, his attitude was much kinder: ¡°Mr. yer, let us go back.¡± Before this yer fe left, he slightly nced at Du Wei with eyes of surprise because he never expected that someone like Du Wei could possibly convince this kid to be so obedient. Once the door was closed, Du Wei rubbed his temple and said to himself, ¡°I¡¯m afraid the situation of the capital really isn¡¯t very good¡­ ¡­ Otherwise, why would father bother sending a master to be his little brother¡¯s bodyguard?¡± Chapter 130 The 130th chapter ¡°old Monster¡¯s new invention¡± Early the next morning, Gargamel dragged his exhausted body before Du Wei and presented him with a clumsily crafted ring¡­ ¡­ Well, you could call it a ring of some sort. It¡¯s not that Du Wei doesn¡¯t appreciate what the mouse did, but the craftsmanship is just so bad. No matter how he looked at the ring, it is nothing but a metal rod looped into a circle shape. ¡°This thing is the ring you made?¡± Du Wei looked at the thing with a wry smile¡­ ¡­ Instead of a ring, it¡¯s better to call it a finger thimble used by tailors to push needles¡­ ¡­ Du Wei literally cried out in astonishment: ¡°Dear Gargamel, fortunately you¡¯re not a jewelry businessman, or else you will definitely face bankruptcy.¡± Gargamel felt somewhat dissatisfied as he coldly retorted: ¡°Cut the crap! It took a lot of effort to craft this! In this ring, I added a bit of Mithril to make it stronger. But since it is a secret weapon, I covered it with ayer of ordinary iron to hide this fact. Anyways, it¡¯s a weapon and not a real ornament, so why bother making it so beautiful? If your foe pays attention to this thing during battle, the first idea they would have is to cut it off your finger! Get it?¡± Du Wei nodded in agreement: ¡°I was only kidding.¡± But when Du Wei checked his inventory next, he froze! For this little ring, the mouse actually used up arge portion of his precious Mithril! Not only is it hard toe by, it is extremely expensive! ¡°It is very much worth it.¡± Gargamel spoke in a serious manner: ¡°Metal usually has a excluding effect on magic, but Mithril doesn¡¯t. This means that you will be able to hide this thing from your opponent in battle. All the while, Mithril can also increase your absorption rate, understand?¡± ¡°All right.¡± Du Wei sighed, but he is already thinking how he could get his hands on more of this good stuff! Magic union? Du Wei pondered for a moment before deciding to make a trip back to the union¡¯s headquarter. After all, there is still that old Alley waiting for him from yesterday! Packing his things away, Du Wei puts on his newly forged ring and thought: The design of this ring really is subtle¡­ Even the grain sized gemstone is sandwiched between twoyers of metal; thus, making it invisible to the naked eye! Coming out of his room, he had some of the servants ready a coach for him so that he can ride to the magic union. But out of his expectation, Captain Alpha still tagged along with him. Unable to do anything about it, Du Wei decided to let it be and not say anything. Upon arriving at the magic union, there was already one of Alley¡¯s disciples waiting for him at the entrance. Probably the doing of the old monster, this person had a sympathetic expression on his face as he came up to Du Wei¡­. ¡°Aigh, poor guy, it seems like you don¡¯t recognize teacher¡¯s true face yet!¡± This was probably what the guy was thinking. Despite being looked at with a sympathetic gaze, Du Wei still didn¡¯t feel any change in his emotions. Struck with a thought, he gingerly asked: ¡°Oh yes, yesterday, master Alley gifted me with that stone. Do you know what it is used for?¡± The guy stumbled on his question. Letting out a sigh, the guy looked at Du Wei with frustration: ¡°I¡¯m not too sure either, but teacher said it is a magic crystal with high energy storage capacity. Compared to an ordinary magic crystal, it is at least 10 times better! Aigh, we already asked teacher several times before, but he always denied us¡­.. Now, consider it your fortune to get your hands on it.¡± Hmm, Du Wei nodded. It seems that this guy does not know the real use of this five colored gemstone either. Du Wei felt relieved. Entering the building with his guide, Du Wei didn¡¯t dare to provoke those two mage enforcement monsters again. As such, the trip this time around went much smoother than his previous and it wasn¡¯t until he came into the inner tower that his guide decided to part ways. Standing there, the person said: ¡°Well then, you can continue on inside by yourself. As long as you position the crystal dial to the number ¡®nine¡¯, you will be able to get into teacher¡¯s ce¡­.. I must remind you though, don¡¯t try to dial any other number! Eachyer here lives a grand magician, without the owner¡¯s permission, you won¡¯t be able to enter the floor even if you dial the other numbers!¡± Du Wei nodded and memorized the info. As he was doing this, the other guy ran away as if he was afraid to meet his own teacher. Du Wei went into the Tower alone and came up to the ninth floor. The moment he came out of the magic transfer circle, the scene in front of him immediately shocked him! Such a big ce! The room is the size of a basketball court, but it was filled to the brim with piles of various materials! Even for someone as knowledgeable as Du Wei, he ispletely stunned by the multitude of stuff in front of him! Ranging from the bones of magical beasts to magic cores, there were even precious magical nts in¡­¡­. No matter how he thought about it, all these amazing things were piled up like garbage everywhere! ¡°Hmm¡­ ¡­ This is the roots of an ¡®Abakalie Cannibal vine¡¯. EH, didn¡¯t rumor say this stuff is already nearing extinction? Ah, this is Noyigaloe grass! Oh god, this is a top grade material capable of refining gold!¡± The more he looked, the more surprised Du Wei became! His title of being an old monster of the magic union is not for show! To be collecting so many good things! Continuing to walk inside, Du Wei came out of the crowded room and into a narrow channel. Not only could he hear a thumping sound further inside, smoke started to waft out towards him¡­. Du Wei knitted his brow as he went inside. What he saw next was an image like that of a typical magicboratory. However, the metal tform in the middle of the room nearly caused him to faint when he nced over at it! Holy mackerel, this metal tform is definitely infused with a lot of Mithril! No need to do any tests to verify, just the glossy luster of the outside is enough to confirm his guess! For the sole reason of avoiding magic exclusion by metal, this old guy actually wasted such valuable Mithrils for his magic experiments! Currently, Alley is busily working away at his experiment on top of the metal tform. From appearances, his white robe is already stained with blotches of ck ash and his whole body was currently ying with a weird instrument. From a quick observation, Du Wei can tell the instrument is something used for refining magic ingredients because further below, he can see a transparent container filled with some kind of gooey substance boiling away from a green colored me under it. Despite being tightly sealed, the container actually had a tube inserted on top to allow the smoke produced inside to escape. But what really surprised Du Wei is the way Alley filtered the impurities out of the smoke! By using the stomach skin of a ¡°crystal lynx¡±, Alley was able to filter out the impurities out of the rising smoke. The idea may be ingenious, but the Crystal Lynx is an animal that spends most of their time underground, thus, making it extremely rare and hard to hunt. With nervous looking eyes, the old geezer stared at the smoke running through the tubes leading into another container. As the green smoke subtlety pass through theyers of filter, it would gradually condense into grain sized particles at the second container! Despite watching from the side for a while, Old Alley remained oblivious to his presence. After seeing the forming of the crystal particles, Alley started to mumble to himself: ¡°No, no¡­ ¡­ It would still condense¡­ ¡­ It won¡¯t do¡­ ¡­ It won¡¯t do¡­¡­¡± Du Wei couldn¡¯t take it anymore and decided to say something: ¡°Could it be that you want to avoid having the smoke impurities condense in crystals?¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± Old Alley didn¡¯t turn back to face him as he answered back: ¡°If it crystallizes, that means the smoke has too much impurity! Unfortunately¡­¡­ A ¡®crystal Lynx¡¯s¡¯ stomach skin is still not good enough for a filter¡­ ¡­ I need something even better for filters! I need the smoke to be even purer so that it will be a liquid and not form into crystals! God damn it! ¡± ¡°Liquid? Why not try ¡®Ke flowers¡¯, it is the best for dissolving substances and may be able to bring the crystals into a liquid state.¡± ¡°No!¡± Old Alley shook his head: ¡°If I try to dissolve these crystals again once it solidifies, its properties will change and lose its use. Ah¡­ ¡­ How can I make the smoke directly form from smoke to liquid?¡± After a pause, Old Alley finally regained his thoughts. Turning around to see Du Wei, the old geezer beats his palm against his forehead: ¡°Oh! Boy, you are here! Hmm, what you said about using ¡®Ke flowers¡¯ is not a bad idea. At least more useful than those stupid apprentices of mine! Hmm, not bad, not bad! It¡¯s a pity none of my apprentices are interested in magic pharmacy, so none of them can be my assistant.¡± Du Wei stared at the greenish colored substance inside the crystal bottle: ¡°What are you doing?¡± Old Alley revealed a mysterious, yet smug smile on his face: ¡°Something absolutely good! That¡¯s if I can make it work¡­.. Humph!¡± Acting like he hardly ever see another Mage interested in magic pharmacy, the old geezer pulled out a scroll with a joyous expression and handed it to Du Wei: ¡°Look!¡± Du Wei nced over the content and was amazed! This is clearly a form, but¡­ ¡­ Isn¡¯t it tooplicated? Listed on the scroll are nearly all magic nts! But as he took a closer look, he noticed several of the items are either extinct or extremely hard to locate! ¡°What is this form?¡± Du Wei frowned: ¡°It¡¯s tooplex. With more than 30 kinds of magical nts, you also need to consider if they will be in conflict if mixed together.¡± ¡°Humph! This is my genius invention!¡± Old Alley opened his mouth and started tough a few times: ¡°Let me tell you, I¡¯m trying to refine all of this stuff into a liquid state. I intend to call it the ¡®blood of Alley¡¯! Ha-ha, nice name, right?!¡± Du Wei threw up his tongue¡­ ¡­ Such a strange old geezer to use his own name. ¡°What use does this liquid have?¡± ¡°I intend to use it to rece Mithril!¡± This one sentence from Alley is enough to stun Du Wei! Rece Mithril?! ¡°Ha-ha! You should know, almost all metals are exclusive against magic! So, it is very difficult to infuse magic into a weapon. As such, the only option is to use Mithril, but the ore is simply too rare to be used in mass production.¡± Alley smiled. ¡°But if this liquid experiment of mine seeds, then from now on, any weapon can be infused with magic¡­.. HA HA!¡± Any weapon can be infused with magic? Wouldn¡¯t that mean a magic weapon would be the norm in the future? Du Wei was stunned by this amazing idea! Right now on the continent, any magic weapon found is currently considered to be a rare treasure! If it can be mainstreamed¡­. Then¡­¡­ But very soon, he nced at the form in his hand and sighed: ¡°But I have a question.¡± ¡°What? Boy, what question do you have?¡± Old Alley spoke in an impatient tone. ¡°This¡­ ¡­ This form contains a lot of magical nts, many either extinct or extremely rare to find! If it requires such ingredients, wouldn¡¯t it be less expensive if one just uses some Mithril?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ ¡­¡± Realizing the issue, Old Alley went into a dull like state with his jaw stuck open. Taking the chance while the old geezer is upied, Du Wei focused his mind and quickly memorized every ingredient on the scroll. Rare magical nts? As long as I have the water from ¡°As time goes by¡±, I can get them easily! Chapter 131 The 131th chapter ¡°Son¡¯s debut¡± While Alley remained preupied from his daze, Du Wei took the chance to memorize the list in his mind. After a short time frame, he saw that the old geezer wasing back to himself, so he quietly put the scroll down on top of the metal rig as if nothing had happened. This time around, Alley had a very ugly expression on his face. With droopy eyes, the once prideful expression of the old man was nowhere to be seen. Then suddenly moving his lips, Alley started whispering to himself: ¡°Can it¡­. Can it be that I¡¯ve been wasting my time all these years? Ah¡­ ¡­ It is! It is! I always proimed myself wise and stood above the rest in this field¡­. s, I¡¯ve been overconfident in my thinking. It¡¯s no wonder everyone looks down on my inventions, even my disciples aren¡¯t optimistic about me. Hmm¡­ ¡­ Widespread,mon use! If the things I invent are higher in cost than the original, then what is the point?! It¡¯s just a waste of time!¡± With that, a flicker of despair crossed his eyes. Immediately, the old geezer waved his sleeves and shot forth a ming ball of green at the scroll sitting on top of the metal rig. Oddly though, despite the scroll burning to a crisp from the mes, not a single char mark could be found on the metal tform. Seeing how adrift the old geezer was from his words. Du Wei felt a bit guilty. What he said isn¡¯t wrong because unless that person had the waters from ¡°As time goes by¡±, the cost of these ingredients is indeed much higher than the original! The only problem is that he cannot tell anyone about this secret. ¡°Master Alley.¡± Du Wei hesitated for a second before speaking slowly: ¡°I don¡¯t think you should be so disappointed. In fact, you are the best magic inventor I¡¯ve ever met! That flying broom and Blood of Alley are things I¡¯ve never even heard of prior to this. Simply the creativity behind your ideas is unprecedented.¡± ¡°So what! Humph! Though I managed to create these things, but they don¡¯t have any actual value! The cost of making this Alley Blood is probably more than double that of Mithril! Such costs are a total joke.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t say it like that.¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°At least when you have a new idea, you used concrete actions to prove it is feasible! Prior to this, no one ever thought of finding a substitute for Mithril, but you found it! Even if the end result isn¡¯t very sessful, at least your result will inspire others to look for other possibilities! I can guarantee that your effort now will pave the road for others in the future! It may not be now, but maybe long after we¡¯re gone; someone will tinker with your recipe and significantly improve your product! Just the fact that you seeded in creating something capable of recing Mithril is a great deed!¡± Feeling much better from his words, Old Alley scanned Du Wei¡¯s body from top to bottom. The more Alley looked at the boy in front of him, the more pleasing Du Wei was to the eyes. Letting out a sigh, Alleyined: ¡°Oh! Such a shame! You are the most gifted kid I ever met in life. Compared to my idiot apprentices, none of them canpare to you. If I had met you earlier, I would have definitely found a way to make you my apprentice. I can¡¯t say I achieved anything great in my life, but I do have these magic tools I made. Once I¡¯m dead, I fear that there wouldn¡¯t be anyone around to inherit them. Aigh, such a shame you are already a disciple of Master Gandalf. Now I can¡¯t even teach you any of this.¡± Du Wei rolled his eyes as he smiled: ¡°Why can¡¯t you teach me? Do you have to be my teacher to teach me these things? Is the rtionship between master and student so important?¡± Common practice on the Rnd continent is that any knowledge in magic must be passed on from master to student only. After thousands of years, this practice nearly became an iron d rule among Mages. But who is the Old Geezer? He is an estranged old man that likes to break away from the norm. After listening to Du Wei¡¯s word, the old geezer started to think the idea was feasible. ¡°Hmm! I won¡¯t teach him any magic spells and will only teach him about my tools. If I do this, then I wouldn¡¯t be breaking the rules¡­. Also, the matter with the president and the royal family is about toe to an end in a few days. Once the resultse out, who would care about the student and master rule anymore?¡± Thinking of this, Alley racked his brains out and decided: ¡°Okay! Starting today, as long as you¡¯re willing to learn, you cane here every day and I¡¯ll teach you!¡± With his spirit uplifted again, Alley spent some more time chatting away with Du Wei. Among the Mages on the continent, this old geezer can be considered the number one expert among the arts of magic tool creation. And as fate would have it, Du Wei is also a freak. Knowledgeable in all sorts of topic, the more they chatted, the better along they got. Eventually, Du Wei finally brought up the reason for his visit today. Once the topic of the flying broom is brought up, Alley showed a reddish looking face like he was embarrassed. After muttering to himself for a bit, the old geezer sighed and finally told the truth. Originally, the flying broom is another failed product like the Alley blood. Though it is shy and innovative, but the cost of producing one broom is three to four times that of a regr wind spell! Under normal circumstances, the magic crystal used in Du Wei¡¯s flying cloak is around 20,000 gold coins. On the other hand, in order to produce a single flying broom, it would cost more than 80,000 gold coins! ¡°For that flying broom, the key actually lies in the material used for the manufacturing process. Although it does not rely on a crystal to function¡­ ¡­ But¡­¡­¡± Alley brought out the broom again and exined the details on top of the metal tform. Du Wei is a smart man, so after a quick rundown, he immediately understood. Amon broom is normally made with dry twigs from a tree, this broom is no exception. However, in order to achieve the idea of not using any magic crystal, these ¡°branches¡± are special! ¡°Magic crystals are considered crucial in nning a magicyout because most people simply cannot find a better recement for it. However, after decades of research, I found that wood not only isn¡¯t exclusive against magic, but it is also capable of storing energy like magic crystals. The only problem is that wood is a far worse inparison to crystals in terms of capacity. So, I thought, can it be possible to rece crystals with wood¡­..¡± Du Wei was struck with a thought. This idea of Alley¡¯s was so simr to that big headed genius back at the wand shop¡­.. Sure enough, Old Alley continued: ¡°I studied magic crystals for decades and spent countless efforts factoring out theponents inside a Crystal. It is then I came to a conclusion: Crystals are able to store magic because there is a specialponent inside, which I call ¡®magic essence¡¯. After breaking and dissolving a crystal several times, I finally manage to see the matter by using a special contraption I created. This invention of mine is capable of magnifying an object by a thousand times!¡± With that, Alley pulled a metal instrument out from under the metal tform. From appearances, this thing is no more than half a meter in height, but it was enough to stun Du Wei¡­¡­ Looking past the clumsily made design of the thing, Du Wei can tell this invention is no different than the microscope from his previous life! ¡°Once I figured out that it is because of this ¡®magic essence¡¯ that a crystal can store magic, it got me thinking. Can other substances contain this matter also?¡± Alley smiled: ¡°I¡¯ve tried a lot of things in my tests, but I did exclude any material simr to crystals because they would have no research value. You can¡¯t even begin to image the kind of things I tested. From nts to ordinary ores, I even examined the bones from magical beasts. Finally, I figured that nts are the best choice. You know, the best wood for crafting tools is the walnut tree, and it has to be more than 50 years old.¡± Alleyughed a bit and continued: ¡°Later on, I found out wood also carries this ¡®magic essence¡¯ inside their makeup. The only problem is that wood carries only 1/10 of the magic essence found in a crystal. Without any other choice left, I could only take wood as my primary testing subject¡­..¡± What Alley said next is a real eye opener for Du Wei. Using a variety of methods to cultivate the seeds of a Walnut tree, this old geezer finally managed to cultivate a variety of strange nts from the original seeds. In the end, Alley created a walnut tree capable of producing small amounts of mineral like substances in its body, this is the so called ¡®magic essence¡¯. ¡°I put a lot of thought into this, but these specially cultivated seedlings are very difficult to keep alive! After spending a few years tending to them, only a few managed to survive¡­.. Aigh, originally, a walnut tree needs to age up to 50 years to be proper, but how could I wait 50 years for it to grow? As for those remaining seedlings, I fear they wouldn¡¯t evenst a year before withering away. Also, these new seedlings I produced have some fatal weaknesses. Not only is their rate of reusability very low, they are also extremely unstable! In order to put it to the test, I had some of my disciples fly into the air with my broom. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard about it by now, each and every test nearly cost my apprentices their lives from the falls they endured!¡± ¡°Almost died from falling?¡± Du Wei popped his eyes out in surprise: ¡°But all of your apprentices are at least mid-leveled magicians! Even if the broom fails, can¡¯t they just use some wind based flying spell to cushion their fall?¡± ¡°Humph!¡± Alley focused his eyes: ¡°All of those guys thought I was senile! Whenever I ask them to help test my inventions, they would make excuses left and right! The first guy I forced to help me thought I wouldn¡¯t notice and clipped the broom under his crotch. Then using a flying spell, he flew into the air and acted like my invention actually worked! Humph, he thought I wouldn¡¯t notice eh? Before he coulde back down, I sealed away his magic while he was in midflight, causing him toe tumbling down from the sky!¡± Du Wei¡¯s forehead went numb! On a second thought, Du Wei asked: ¡°You still have those seedlings you cultivated? Can you give me one?¡± Alley waved his hand: ¡°Help yourself! My soul is already cold now¡­ ¡­ Aigh, if not for your reminder, I would still be dwelling on it.¡± With that said, Alley turned around and went into the storage room in the back. After a minute of rummaging through all the things, Alley pulled out several pots of metallic looking seedlings. However, unlike what Alley said earlier, these little nts looked so withered that it was unlikely they would live past three months! ¡°There is also this, which is the production blueprint for the flying broomstick.¡± Alley handed over a roll of parchment paper: ¡°On it is a specially designed wind based magic circle I created. It¡¯s nothing hard to do, just the materials needed to produce such a broom is far too precious.¡± One by one, Du Wei carefully puts them all away ¨C this includes the several pots of seedling ¨C into his magic storage bag. Old Alley frowned when he saw the magic bag: ¡°That is your magic storage bag? From the looks of it, doesn¡¯t it seem a bit too old?¡± But after saying this, the old geezer started to smile, ¡°Hmm, this bag is something Master Gandalf left for you, right? It¡¯s no wonder then, Master Gandalf specializes only in magic cultivation. As such, it¡¯s not surprising that his magic tools are a bitcking. Let me give you something nice.¡± With that, he turned towards a row of shelves against the wall and removed a wooden box. Opening it, what was revealed is a neatly organized set of decorations ranging from: nes, rings, bracelets, and more. ¡°Everything here is all dimensional storage tools. I only made them during my times of boredom, so you can have them all!¡± Du Wei is overjoyed! He¡¯d always felt like hecked a good storage tool. Not only is this bag of his ugly, it is very inconvenient. After all, who would like to be carrying around a bag on their waist everywhere they went? Without holding back, Du Wei revealed his inner greed and pulled the box into his pocket. Under normal circumstances, Alley would never have been so generous. But because of the emotional ride he experienced today, his image of Du Wei was skyrocketing. Letting out a sigh, Alley said: ¡°I¡¯m already more than 150 years old, I don¡¯t know how many more years I have left to live. It¡¯s unlikely I will have the chance to improve on the inventions I made, so if you have time,e and find me so that I can pass them on to you¡­¡± Turning into a serious face, Du Wei took a deep breath and whispered, ¡°Master Alley¡­ ¡­ I will definitely make your inventions flourish!¡± £» Since his mood of testing the broom is gone, Du Wei decided to take this opportunity to learn about magic theories from Alley. For someone like Alley whom had spent their entire lifetime delving in magic, Du Wei cannot evene close to this old geezer¡¯s level of knowledge. Just like Du Wei, Old Alley¡¯s interest was also piqued. Moving a bunch of treasures from the warehouse in the back, Alley carefully exined the uses of each instrument and their properties¡­.. But that¡¯s not all, the best part of this was that after every lesson, Alley would gift Du Wei a copy of the treasure! In less than half a day, Du Wei¡¯s magic bag was nearly filled to the brim with magic tools! If not for the fact that some of the items inside cannot be seen by the public, Du Wei would have on the spot poured them out for organizing. Immersing themselves in their chit chat, the two of them ended up missing lunch all together as the time reached afternoon. It is at this time that Alley sighed and nced out towards the window: ¡°The time is gettingte; we should call it a day. I still have business I need to attend to with another old monsters a few floors below us.¡± Right now, Du Wei was already full of respect towards this old geezer. No matter how he looked at this person, this old geezer is an absolute genius! If he continues toe here every day, Du Wei is certain he will gain even more benefits and knowledge¡­.. No need to say anything else, just the magic tools here is a real eye opener! Du Wei was just about to leave when Old Alley asked him something: ¡°¡­.. I hear the president intends to test you on your magic level after the summer festival, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Du Wei nodded. ¡°Hmm¡­¡­¡± Alley rubbed his nose and nodded: ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right, you cannot shame master Gandalf. No matter what, just wearing a magic schr¡¯s robe is not enough¡­. I ask you, how prepared are you for the magic assessment? What magic department did you major in?¡± Major in? Which Department? Du Wei was stunned. Seeing the difficult expression on Du Wei, Alley frowned: ¡°When you helped me do some of the test this afternoon, I saw that your magic level is only around the fifth rank or so. Taking into ount of your age, this level is already considered quite rare among geniuses. Unfortunately, the assessment not only tests the level of magic, so what department do you specialize in?¡± Du Wei is in a bind right now From the looks of it, his level of magic is not bad, but his reservoir of spells is simplycking. Although he knew some very high level spells, but at the moment, most of them cannot be used by him. Recalling his actions up till now, it would seem the most often used spell he cast was the fireball spell he learned from Solskjaer. Other than that, the only other spell he normally used was the low leveled wind based spell¡­¡­ Let¡¯s not mention any high leveled magic, even an intermediate spell could not be found! As for the Star magic¡­ ¡­ That thing cannot be shown to the public, besides, he haven¡¯t learned it yet. Thinking up to here, Du Wei smiled bitterly: ¡°I think I only have a few low ranked fire and wind based spells, so I can¡¯t say I specialize in any department yet. Oh yes, I also know a bit of high leveled transformation spell, does that count?¡± ¡°What?¡± Alley widened his eyes in disbelief: ¡°You said you¡­ ¡­ Only learned this tad bit of magic?¡± Du Weiughed bitterly: ¡°The time I spent with teacher is just too short, so he wasn¡¯t able to teach me much.¡± ¡°It seems that your situation is moreplicated than I thought.¡± Alley mused for a while: ¡°Boy, I want to remind you of one thing. You must first define your ambition because even if you are clever, you cannot be proficient in all elements! Magic is more profound than you can possibly imagine! To be able to be an ordinary mage, that person is definitely not stupid! You may be smart, but should at least understand the meaning of biting off more than you could chew. You should pick a major and focus your development in that direction, only then will you achieve anything in this life¡­. s, it is a shame I cannot take you as my student.¡± Finishing his words, Alley pulled out a small red crystallized pendant from his neck. ¡°This is the key to this ce. Once you have it, you can freely walk in and out of myb without any interference from the security. From now on, you are free to use myb and anything in it.¡± After Du Wei gratefully received the pendant, Alley waved his hand: ¡°Go now.¡± Once Du Wei is out of the room, Alley waved his hand and shot forth a chilling breath of air to extinguish the burning me on top of the metal tform. Frowning, he started muttering to himself in wonder: ¡°Strange¡­ ¡­ This guy¡¯s magic talent is not bad, but he iscking too much in terms of spell count. Dorgan is a smart person, so why wouldn¡¯t he pre assess the kid first before deciding so hastily? If the kid does fail the assessment, wouldn¡¯t that mean Gandalf would lose some face? God, I don¡¯t know what the president is thinking.¡± As Du Wei headed out of the Tower, his heart was still feeling excited. Once upon a time, he really thought he knew a lot about magic. Yet, after spending a day talking with the old geezer, he learned so many new things that he never thought possible. It seems that in the future, he really has to steel his resolve and spend some more time doing a lot of research. Just when he was thinking this, a murmuring sound echoed from behind his back. After a sh of lighting off from the magic transfer array, a person came waltzing out. Stunned by what he saw, Du Wei stood there in silence. The person in question looked no more than 20 years old, but his outfit seemed strangely out of ce because it wasn¡¯t the silver robe of a magic apprentice. Instead, this guy donned an exquisite looking suit normally only worn by the nobility of the capital. With luxurious looking linings, even the sleeves were sewn with golden coloredces. After a moment of thought, Du Wei can tell this style of outfit is in fact the most popr set among the wealthy ss this year. Slowly walking over, Du Wei began to make out the exact features of this handsome looking man. With a slim facial contour and a high nose, this guy looking bewitchingly handsome when matched with his blonde hair. No matter how Du Wei looked, this person is simply too handsome when he made eye contact with those sapphire blue eyes. Just like Du Wei, this person quickly took notice of him and started to smile. Unlike the regr greeting smile one would expect, this person¡¯s smile looked so warm like it could melt the very snow off the winter grounds. ¡°Ah, the Mage in front, please hold! From your appearance, I¡¯m guessing you must be the recently rumored magic schr Du Wei!¡± As he said this, a hard to refuse aura extruded from the young man¡¯s eyes: ¡°Let me introduce myself, my name is Son Augustine. Nice to meet you.¡± With that, the young man nodded with so much grace that even Du Wei could not find a single fault in his standard of etiquette. Hold on¡­ ¡­ Augustine? Du Wei hesitated in thought as he looked at the young noble in front of him: ¡°You¡­ ¡­ Are royalty?¡± The young man named Son Augustine smiled: ¡°Yes, the current emperor is my father.¡± Prince? A Prince¡­. Why would someone like him appear inside the magic union? Chapter 132 The 132th chapter ¡°The Prince¡¯s striking request!¡± Due to his nomadic lifestyle in the past few years, Du Wei barely had any encounters with the children¡¯s of the other noble houses. For this reason, he did not even have a single close friend around his age, which is very strange because every child like him would have at least one close friend they can confide in. Ignoring theck of association with the nobility of the capital, isn¡¯t the prince in front of Du Wei a bit too young considering the age of the current emperor? At 75 years of age, the reign of the current emperor can even be considered glorious by current standards. In the past decades, the empire had more than once set out on expeditions throughout the maritime sea. Though at first the conquest against the nomadic tribes hailedrge amounts of riches, but as time went by, the amount of loot started to thin and the army expenses far exceeded the profits. Standing in front of Du Wei right now is in fact the younger of the two princes of the empire. Other than the Prince Son in front of him, the emperor also had another older son. At age 52, this older prince was originally designated as the Crown Prince because he was the eldest amongst all of the emperor¡¯s children. However, after giving birth to nine daughters in a row without any other male heir, the current emperor actually sent some of his concubines to death. It was only at age 50 did the emperor finally conceives another male prince, thus, creating an odd age gap among the two princes. Unlike the rest of the royal household, this Prince Son refused to learn the unique Dou Qi martial skill of the Augustine Royal Household; instead, this youngster is more interested in magic than anything else. As the beloved son of the emperor, he was givenplete freedom in his choice and even had a Grand court Mage act as his teacher! From rumors, it was even said that the old emperor had the intent of changing the Crown prince title to Son a couple of years ago on his 70th birthday. Of course, this proposition was quickly knocked down by the opposition of the ministers¡­.. Without knowing any of this information, Du Wei remained blind to the origin of this young prince. Luckily, Du Wei is a person of fast response. After listening to the introduction of the person in front of him, Du Wei immediately bowed slightly and performed a standard nobility style salute. However, this prince did something out of his expectation. With a slight smile, this person reached out a hand and caught him before he could make aplete bow: ¡°You don¡¯t need to be so courteous, Sir Du Wei¡­.. Don¡¯t forget, you are a magic schr. Mages don¡¯t need to salute a noble, this includes the royalty.¡± To be able to see a prince inside the magic union has caused some doubt inside Du Wei. Within the empire, the three main forces of power is the Royal Household, Temple, and the Magic Union. Unless something extraordinary happens, these three forces normally wouldn¡¯te in contact. Seemingly unaware of Du Wei¡¯s doubt, this Prince Son gently smiled at him and even grasped onto his shoulder: ¡°Sir Du Wei, I¡¯ve been very curious about you for a while. Originally, I only heard about Gabri of the Rowling Household being a genius. Yet now people are constantly mentioning your name around me. To be able to meet you here today is my pleasure. I don¡¯t know if you would honor me by having dinner with me?¡± EH? Du Wei carefully eyed the stranger in front of him. ¡°Oh, please forgive me for such a sudden invite.¡± Prince Son¡¯s smile remained as gentle as before as he said this. In truth, such a manner of inviting someone face to face among the noble ss is quite unheard of. Normally, it would require at least one day of notice for a simple tea party. Without losing any of his grace, the prince continued to apologize in his spring warming smile: ¡°Since little, I only had an interest in the field of magic and you are the only mage from noble birth inside the capital.¡± Such a persistent invitation from a prince is hard to refuse. Thinking it over for a moment, Du Wei smiled and said: ¡°It¡¯s my honor.¡± Side by side, the two walked out of the Magic Union and came up to the already waiting Captain Alpha. With only one look, this Alpha character¡¯s face turned extremely ugly, but that was only for a second before he recovered from his initial shock. ¡°Oh, Sir Alpha.¡± Prince Son seemed a bit surprised: ¡°To be seeing you here¡­. Could it be that you personally escorted Du Wei when he came here? Recently, I seldom see youe out.¡± After a pause, Prince Sonughed softly: ¡°I¡¯m going to spend some more time talking with Du Wei, so I would like to ask you to go back and tell the count.¡± Unable to say anything, Alpha just nodded. Although Du Wei didn¡¯t have a firm grasp of the capital¡¯s situation, but from Alpha¡¯s expression, he can tell the captain was very afraid of this Prince next to him. Practically without any noise, two extremely well adorned carriages slowly came up to the two. From appearances, the carriages actually had ayer of gold painted on top of the regr materials. To top it off, there are even precious jewels inserted on top of the Thorn Flower Symbol imprinted onto the door. With a quick assessment, Du Wei noticed the horses used to draw the carriages were top breeds that won¡¯t even lose out to the war horses of the Rowling Household. Isn¡¯t it a bit too wasteful to have such valuable horses drawing carriages? But what really left Du Wei bewildered is the magic crystals imbedded onto the sides of the carriages. From his observation, these magic crystals are infused with some type of miniature wind spell! The miraculous thing about this wind spell lies in the way it is designed. With it, the carriage will not only move faster, it will also feel less rough when moving. At the same time, the design of the carriage is the most popr style in recent months. Ignoring all the valuable essories, just the design of the carriage should be enough to overwhelm all of Du Wei¡¯s assets! Luxurious! Just too luxurious! Of course, Du Wei didn¡¯t know this. The carriages in front of him are actually personally made by some famous sculptor inside the capital. Just themission fee is in the tens of thousands of gold coins! Unknown to Du Wei when this happened, around four men suddenly appeared near the area around the prince. Wearing red colored robes like that of a mage, each of these individuals had the Thorn Flower symbol etched onto the back of their robe. Court Mages? Du Wei immediately thought of the rumored team of Mages only under the control of the royal household. From the era of Aragon, this special team of Mages only answers to the royal family and will only pass on their knowledge down their bloodline. There¡¯s no doubt, these four men are Court Mages! With very cold eyes, their sights were randomly sweeping the area for any form of danger. ¡°Your highness, please enter the carriage.¡± With a deep voice, these words came from the carriage driver sitting in the front. With a tall build, this guy had a pair of unwavering eyes that extruded power! As much as this person tried to hide his strong presence, Du Wei is certain this guy is not your average person from his demeanor. If he had to take a guess, this driver must be a martial art expert from the court! Sure enough, Alpha suddenly smiled when he saw the driver¡¯s face: ¡°Sir Chick, when did you be a driver?¡± This driver is obviously an old acquaintance of Alpha. With a cold nce at Alpha, this Chick spoke in a light tone: ¡°I made a mistake and his highness is punishing me by making me his driver for a month. It¡¯s been a long time Sir Alpha; thinking about it, the time since thest big tournament is already two years ago, wasn¡¯t it?¡± As the eyes of the two crossed each other, it seemed like a series of sparks flew in the air! It would seem the two warriors hold some kind of grudge against each other. Du Wei inwardly thought all of this. The atmosphere right now seemed to be frozen, but Prince Son stepped in at just the right time: ¡°Well then, the time is gettingte. Sir Du Wei, please get on the carriage.¡± It is then that Chick fe retracted his gaze as he lowered his head without saying another word. Du Wei secretly frowned. With Prince Son inside the carriage, Du Wei took a look back at Captain Alpha and saw a hint of fear shed across his eyes! Back at the Earls mansion. Inside Earl Raymond¡¯s study room. ¡°His highness Son really appeared at the magic union? And he took Du Wei away with him?¡± The Earl frowned, his eyes filled with gloom. ¡°Yes.¡± Alpha nods: ¡°I suspect this meeting is not by ident¡­.. And I also saw that Chick fe actually acted as his highness¡¯s horse driver.¡± ¡°Chick? Horse driver?¡± The count smiled: ¡°That Court fighter that fought you to a standstill at thepetition two years ago? Ha-ha¡­¡­ His highnessid dormant for so many years, now he is finally showing his fangs eh?¡± Alpha shook his head: ¡°Lord Earl, I am worried about one thing¡­ ¡­ Chick is a Warrior of the court and a part of the inner Pce! The inner court is a mysterious force of the Royal family! Now it seems Chick is actually serving Prince Son¡­ ¡­ I¡¯m afraid, I¡¯m afraid his majesty is foolish enough to hand over the control of the inner court to Prince Son.,,,,,,¡± ¡°This matter is of course bad for us.¡± Earl Raymond sighed. For a moment, he seemed to have aged even more. With a shook of his head, he bitterly said: ¡°Prince Son had always been wiser than the Crown Prince¡­¡­ Growing up under the court Magicians, he already had a good rtionship with that group. Now, he even want to pull in the magic union to his side¡­. If he even has the inner court under his wing, the situation with the Crown Prince is reaching a critical point¡­.¡± ¡°I think this situation is bad for us.¡± Alpha shook his head: ¡°The key is¡­ ¡­ Prince Son took Master Du Wei away¡­. If his highness finds out about this, what would he think? Before Master Du Wei could even make it back to the capital, he had already tied himself up with the Magic Union¡­. Now he even matched up with his highness Son¡­. I fear this situation will be difficult for you.¡± Earl Raymond stood up. Straightening his back, his stalwart figure seemed to have renewed back to the time when he was the hero leading the fleet out into battle! ¡°Humph! It does not matter what his highness thinks. Although he has a lot of chips under his hand right now, but there are only a few that can y a key role in the end! If not for the support of the Rowling Household, what force does he have to go against Prince Son? Now, the only ones willing to stand by his side is us, the rest is only watching from the sideline. Without us, he can¡¯t even mobilize a single soldier!¡± Alpha nodded, his face also revealed a slightly relieved face. But then, this faithful bodyguard whispered: ¡°I¡¯m not worried about the Crown Prince side now, but the thing that causes the most headaches is his majesties side! Recently, his majesty continued to remain quiet and continued to allow his two sons openly go at it. My lord, you need to be careful. I fear that his majesty will do something¡­.. After all, traditionally, each generation of emperor will suppress certain ministers to pave the road for the next emperor so that he will have a smooth time.¡± Earl Raymond¡¯s hand remained on the table as he listened to Alpha¡¯s word: ¡°So be it, this is an ancient practice. As long as we can through this hurdle, the Crown Prince will have to rely on us! Humph¡­. Moreover, if his majesty really wants to make an example of the Rowling Household, he will have to see if he can handle it!¡± With that, Raymond suddenly beat his fist on the table. With a faint sh of golden light, the table suddenly broke into two pieces and came crashing down to the floor! Outside the capital, two carriages were gradually moving through the paved roads. Facing Du Wei¡¯s wonderment, Prince Sonughed as he spoke: ¡°What fun is left in the capital? With all those spies from different powers watching us¡­. What fun is there? Sir Du Wei, I¡¯ll take you to a very interesting ce. I think you will like it.¡± Following the policy of saying less to avoid mistakes, Du Wei only nodded without answering. ¡°Oh, right.¡± Prince Son suddenly seemed to think of something. Seeing Du Wei, Prince Son smiled: ¡°I hear back in your Rowling ins, you came up with something called the Hot air Balloon, right?¡± With that said, the prince looked thoughtful for a moment as he started at Du Wei. With a gentle tone, he continued: ¡°That¡¯s a good thing! If you used it to transport troops, not only is it quiet and fast, the enemy would not even detect it till it¡¯s toote! No matter how good the army defense is, it cannot guard against the sky!¡± Du Wei¡¯s went numb! Secretly transport troops into the capital? Such suppressing words! This Prince is punishing him with such words, why is that? Du Wei thought for a moment and smiled: ¡°Your highness, it¡¯s only a small y thing. The number of hot air balloons in my hand only numbers around 10, and the production method is very troubling. It¡¯s fine if used to transport some small things, but to transport a couple of thousand troops? That¡¯s out of the question considering the weight of the soldier¡¯s armor and weapons. The limit is just too high to use it for such a thing.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡­¡± Prince Son seemed to have inadvertently nodded, and then turning away, he started to look out the window at the moving scenery. The capital is located on the central ins of the continent. Now that the day is nearing the evening, the setting sun has dyed thendscape in a thickyer of red¡­.. Suddenly, Prince Son turned around and peered at Du Wei: ¡°If¡­ ¡­ I want you to help me ship something? For example¡­ ¡­ A person?¡± Du Wei¡®s heart was in overdrive from fear¡­ ¡­ Chapter 133 part 1 The 133th chapter ¡°Du Wei took in some Magic Apprentices¡± (Part one) Facing the vignt eyes of Du Wei, Prince Son mysteriously smiled. Despite the awkward silence, the two remained quiet as the carriage rolled pass a fork on the road. On this path, the road became highly decorated with carefully designed greenery¡¯s on both sides. ¡°Have a look at the front.¡± Guided by Prince Son¡¯s finger, Du Wei saw that there is a quiet looking Manor under the mountain in the front. From the architectural style, he could feel a hint of the northern regions in the building, but what really made it stand out is the granite walls surrounding it like a ring. Heavily fortified with iron bars along the surface, this wall not only looked dominating, but also expensive. If he had to take a guess, this building probably belonged to some wealthy aristocrat because if he had topare it to his family¡¯s mansion, this vi would beat it by a mile with the three-story building. Coming up to the front gate, he could even see a carefully cultivated bed of Bavaria roses. Under the summer season, the flowers are perfectly in full bloom, thus, giving this imposing building a sense of glimmering warmth from the setting sun. Overall, theyout of this is just right to stimte the inner sense of one¡¯s curiosity. Seeing all these oddities, Du Wei vaguely guessed this ce is one of those infamously rumored ces around the capital city¡­¡­ Sure enough, as the carriage drew up to the building, finely dressed waiters came out to receive them. Despite the cold yet well-mannered attitudes of these people, their body figures were so muscr and sturdy that they looked more like military soldiers than regr service boys. Looking around the courtyard, Du Wei saw that the entire area was already packed full of different luxurious carriages of multiple noble families. Even for someone like him that had a well memorization of different family crests, the amount here is enough to give him a headache. Like apetition of wealth, each carriage became more dazzling and luxurious as he looked over to the next. In some cases, a few could even rival the Prince¡¯s carriage at cost. But the one that truly stood apart from the rest is the carriage in the middle. Not only is the size double that of everyone else¡¯s, the entire carriage is pained in a special gold solution called ¡°Golden River¡±. This paint is not only expensive, it is extremely hard to produce because of the rare alchemic solution required to turn the gold into a liquid state. Unlike the wind based magic crystals on the Prince¡¯s carriage, this especiallyrge carriage is instead equipped with fire based gemstones. Radiating a glimmering glow, the light acted like antern showering the darkness with light. To be using something so valuable as a simple candle stick is simply too luxurious! Du Wei sighed. This carriage may look like it is the most luxurious among them all, but is exactly because of this reason that itcked the grace thates from a noble family. Coming off the carriage, Du Wei can already vaguely hear the musical noiseing out from the house. ¡°Prince Son¡± A leading waiter bowed deeply towards the prince as a greeting and gently whispered: ¡°May I know what ns you have for tonight?¡± Son smiles, random pointed towards the Hall ***: ¡°It looks to be very lively today.¡± ¡°Oh yes, it¡¯s because Sir Biliaibuer is holding a dinner party here tonight.¡± The waiterughed: ¡°Do you want me to inform them of youring? With your Royal Highness here, I believe Sir Biliaibuer will be very happy.¡± With Son¡¯s agreeing nod, this waiter immediately winked at one of his subordinates. From his simple gesture, Du Wei can already guess these guys aren¡¯t bad in their martial skills. ¡°Dear Du Wei, now you understand what this ce is, right?¡± Before they walked into the vi, Prince Son suddenly stopped and faced Du Wei. Du Wei nodded: ¡°I have an idea.¡± ¡°Hmm, this ce is the capital¡¯s infamous Ecstasy cave. If anything, it can be considered to be a man¡¯s heaven and the best gaming site of high society.¡± Prince Son sighed. Even with a door in-between them and the inside, Du Wei can already feel the party atmosphere extruding out from those enjoying themselves¡­¡­ ¡°Around the entire capital city, there are ces like this hidden everywhere, but this is the most famous of them all. No matter the needs or desires¡­ If you have the money, they will meet them all!¡± Prince Son lightlyughs: ¡°This ce may be the gaming site of the upper-ss, but it is also the ce where one can see the ugly side of the aristocrats! Humph¡­ ¡­ So, this ce naturally cannot be ced inside the capital city. Come on, my friend, go in with me. I think even till this day, you¡¯ve nevere to such a ce yet, right?¡± Du Wei said nothing, only smiling as he nodded. Before the two can even go inside, the main door burst opened in front of them. Apanied by several waiters, a group of finely dressed nobles came stumbling out to greet them. Although all of these men were middle aged, but only the one in the middle marched forward the moment his eyesid on the prince. With a smile on his old face, this person may look perverted and a bit drunk, but his eyes carried much respect. ¡°Oh, my dear little Highness is here.¡± This old aristocrat is clearly the highest in stature among the group. Not only did he not show any formalities in front of the prince, the old guy even pulled his arms across the Prince¡¯s shoulder andughed: ¡°You see, I knew there would be a mystery visitor tonight! My hunch is even better than those useless fortune tellers.¡± ¡°Marquis Solomon, you seem to be in a good mood today!¡± Prince Son had a very affectionate smile on his face: ¡°It seems this dinner hosted by Sir Biliaibuer is making you very happy, right? Let me guess, he must have specially prepared something good for you, right? What is it? Is it a southern ¡®Snake girl¡¯, or a princess of a fallen tribe? HA HA HA HA ¡­ ¡­¡± The old guy remained smiling without caring for the Prince¡¯s joke: ¡°What you guessed isn¡¯t bad. That Biliaibuer actually managed to get two good ¡®Snake girls! I was worried that my old bones wouldn¡¯t be able to handle so much in one night, but now that you are here¡­ ¡­ HA HA!¡± Marquis Solomon? Du Wei thought for a moment and immediately recalled the story behind this family name. With a long history, this family is even older than the empire itself! Despite having a veryrge n, their members are very loose across the continent and they don¡¯t even have a proper n leader. From a sense, this family is like a dandelion. Without settling down in one point, this family does its utmost to spread its seed far and wide¡­.. This is probably the main reason this family is able to survive more than a thousand years of hurdle and change. For someone as reclusive as Du Wei, he wouldn¡¯t normally know about this kind of information regarding another family background. However, because of his time learning about family crests, his interest was piqued when he came across the unique structure of the Solomon family. Chatting away on the side, the Prince and the old marquise were already at the point of calling out jokes only men¡¯s would understand. Seeing this, the other nobles decided to join in on the fun and it just so happens that one of these people is the host ¨C Sir Biliaibuer ¨C of tonight¡¯s banquet. Biliaibuer¡­ ¡­ From the sounds alone, it feels like it is thest name of a noble family from the southwestern part of the empire. Du Wei spected this in his mind. At this moment, everyone had their eyes turned towards Du Wei. After all, he was still wearing the robe of a Mage. For a magician, and such a young one at that toe to such a ce, is truly a rare sight. Moreover, how often would one see a mage that is also a noble? These old aristocrats aren¡¯t fools. With years of experience behind them, each of them is already old hands in the art of politics so of course they could guess Du Wei¡¯s identify with ease! ¡°Allow me to introduce.¡± Prince smiled as he said this, then he kindly pulled Du Wei over. With an attitude like that of a close friend, he lightly tapped his hand on Du Wei¡¯s shoulder during his speech: ¡°This is Du Wei¡­.. The eldest son of Count Raymond. You see how great he is? Not only is he a noble, but also an excellent mage! Oh, let¡¯s not forget, he also dons the robe and badge of a Magic Schr¡­..¡± Eldest son of count Raymond? The people present immediately recalled the old rumors that had spread across the capital¡­. Especially the famous saying about how idiotic Du Wei was. But now, none of them believed any of that. After all, if an idiot can be a magician, then wouldn¡¯t all Mages be idiots? Masking a smile on his face, Du Wei was about to salute them in the fashion of a noble. However, just when he was about to do it, Prince Son stopped him and pulled him up from his bow: ¡°It¡¯s good my friend, don¡¯t be so formal. You need to understand, every noble inside is older than you. If you were to greet them like this every time you meet one, then you would not have any time to enjoy yourself. Now that we are here, let¡¯s put aside these formalities and enjoy ourselves.¡± Surrounded by everyone, Prince Son strode into the Ballroom with Du Wei by his side. What weed them next is avishing room filled with bright crystal lights on the wall and hand embossed art works across the ceiling. Just seeing all the decorations in the room is enough to make a person¡¯s heart jump. With the arrival of the Prince, everyone inside created a ruckus upon seeing him. Apparently his Highness is a regr of this pleasure house. Moreover, Du Wei found that the moment his highness walked into the Banquet Hall, his graceful and warm smile disappeared. In its ce is the lusting smile like that of an old veteran fighting in a battlefield. Inside the whole Hall, the ratio of men and women is simply too unbnced. With no more than 20 nobles, there are at least over a hundreddies servicing them. For such a heavy scented ce, Du Wei was really tempted to take a sneeze when he took the first whiff of the air. Losing their own noble demeanors, these old men¡¯s are embracing women¡¯s left and right without care in this ce¡­.. Taking a closer look at this hall, Du Wei can vaguely make out the circr shaped design of this hall; however, the one odd thing that stood out in this ce is the box like rooms in this gigantic hall. Using curtains of pearls to act like a makeshift wall, Du Wei was intrigued by this unique design and decided to take a closer look up front. Out of his expectation, he was surprised to find that behind these bead curtains are the shadowy shapes of a men and women¡¯s twisting together in ecstasy. Albeit not very clear to his sight in the dimming of the lights, but he is certain from the faint gasping sound extruding from those inside¡­ ¡­ No longer the Princely person he was before entering, his royal highness had already joined the rest of the crowd and pulled two very alluringdies into his arms. With a loudugh, he shouted towards Du Wei: ¡°Du Wei my friend, why are you still alone? My god, if you are still alone by the end of the night, everyone here will break out intoughter!¡± Du Wei smiled bitterly. He knew everyone¡¯s eyes were on him because after all, his Mage robe simply garnishes too much attention. No matter where he looked, beautiful and alluring women¡¯s of all fashion littered the ce¡­.. Du Wei even spected all of the beauties in the capital have gathered here for tonight! With various styles and looks, each of thesedies is by all rights beauties in their own ss. Taking a few steps, his attention was quickly drawn towards a girl sitting on top of a cushioned bed. Wearing a very thinyer of silk over her body, her sensitive parts were clearly outlined whenever she moved. This form of outfitting just so happens to intensifies a man¡¯s imagination, thus, increasing the lust inside Du Wei¡¯s eyes¡­.. Just when he thought he had seen it all, a long legged beauty caught his sight from the right. With nothing on her body to mask her sexual appealing body, this woman had a very healthy shade of tan to her skin. Not only did her breast bounce with every step she took, the slim waist and long legs are enough to mesmerize any normal man. Worst of all, she is clearly trying to seduce Du Wei with the way she licked the grape with her red juicy looking lips. Meeting her gaze, Du Wei could feel a fiercely provocative airing out from her eyes. But what really surprised Du Wei is the one piece of garment this woman donned¡­¡­ With a very thin piece of veil covering most of her face, Du Wei can tell she was aiming to intensify the look of her perfectly shaped body. It¡¯s not something he never heard about before, but to be faced with it in real life, Du Wei¡¯s desire is starting to boil! ¡°Look! They like you, my friend!¡± Prince Son affectionately tapped on Du Wei¡¯s shoulder and whispered beside his ears: ¡°Go my friend, have a little fun. I believe someone like you will be a big hit here!¡± Before he could evene around, soft hands had already entangled around his body. Wearing a exposing red robe, a tall woman already had her hands moving along his belly. Sweeping his eyes onto the woman, Du Wei could see that other than the piece of clothing on her body, she had nothing else below her belly button! ¡°Oh, such a handsome young magician.¡± This hot woman had such erotic eyes. Matched with her bold lips, even Du Wei would have lost it when she licked him on his ear. Of course, that is only if Du Wei wasn¡¯t on guard. ¡°Which noble family are you from? Coming here to y while dressed up like a Mage, this idea is magnificent.¡± After her words, a pair of delicate arms is already wrapped around his neck. As she moved around to caress him, Du Wei could feel her soft breasts rubbing against his back¡­.. ¡°Come on, my little Mage¡­¡­¡± This woman smiled and her erotic eyes turned to aim at a currently raised curtain of beads. Then, with a gentle whisper, she said: ¡°My little magician, let us go there¡­ ¡­ I believe I can bring you some happiness! Oh¡­ ¡­ I¡¯ve never done it with a Mage before¡­ ¡­ HA HA HA HA ¡­ ¡­¡± Du Wei felt this woman had a lot of skills. From her simple attempt, Du Wei can already feel his body starting to give in¡­¡­. Chapter 133 part 2 The 133th chapter ¡°Du Wei took in some Magic Apprentices¡± (part two) As much as his manhood wanted it, Du Wei¡¯s self-esteem kicked in. With a subtleugh, he gently pushes the bold and erotic woman away: ¡°No need, you¡¯re not my type.¡± Hell¡­ ¡­ I don¡¯t want to bury away my virginity in such a ce. Without any care, the woman lets out a Hee heeugh and moved towards another noble on the side. The entire banquet hall is simply a dissolute paradise. As he breathed in the air, the alcoholic scent became stronger and stronger to the point that even he started to feel a little dizzy. Then it finally hit him. Moving his hand, he grabbed one of the crystal ssed drinks from a passing waiter and took a sip of the amber colored wine¡­.. There is no doubt; this wine of the finest quality had an extra vor mixed into it. Like he spected¡­ ¡­ There are iced berries in this! Du Wei lets out a sigh. Iced berries, a magical nt that can cause the user to experience hallucinations. While he was stuck in the frozen forest, he used this drug to reduce Hussein¡¯s pain, so of course he is familiar with this substance. ¡°Well then my friend, your standard is very high.¡± Prince Son Smiled as he came over with a girl in his arm. This time around, the girl wore a silken dress like those worn by the tribes living in the dessert. With unbelievably smooth looking skin, her tanned skin looked like it had ayer of oil applied to it. In his heart, Du Wei feared that if he so much as gripped this girl¡¯s waist, her slender body would break from how frail she looked; of course, this is also a boon for her because it is her defining attraction. ¡°Everyone!¡± Suddenly, from within the big Hall, a thunderous loud voice echoed through everyone¡¯s ears. Following the source of the noise, Du Wei looked to his left and saw a mountain sized lump of meat. This overweight person is without a doubt at least 50 years old, but by his side sat no less than four petite looking young girls. With their small, delicate looking hands, these girls were caressing him in every part imaginable. In one case, Du Wei can even see one of the girls using her tongue to lick the furry fat chest of this beast! Despite all this, this fat man showed a hint of impatience in his eyes as he looked around. In that single shout, he managed to immediately interrupt the atmosphere of this ce. Finally losing his patient, this person suddenly pushed the girls aside and stood up to reveal all the dark furrowing hair on his chest. With a loud boom, he started to speak: ¡°Dear friends!¡± Shouting again, this person finally attracted the attention of everyone in the hall, including those currently enjoying themselves behind the beaded curtains. ¡°Oh look, our ¡®Magical beast of Tanshan¡¯ seems to have another fun idea!¡± One of the guests shouted with joy. As the scene quieted down, Prince Son came over to Du Wei¡¯s side and whispered into his ears, ¡°Do you know who this person is?¡± Seeing Du Wei shake his head, the prince¡¯s lip curved into a smile: ¡°That gigantic coach outside belongs to this person. It¡¯s not surprising that you don¡¯t recognize him because his title is the lowest here. Not only is he a lowly Baron, but he is also the first noble within his family history¡­.. Despite all this, he is the richest person around here. Simply speaking, if we had topare his wealth with those around, even if webined half of the nobles here, he would stille out on top.¡± Oh, really? Du Wei¡¯s eyes sparkled. ¡±This guy is not so simple. As the biggest arms merchant within the empire, this person owns a weapons store within every city across the continent. Not only that, he also provides the military with weapons¡­.. Ha-ha, so how can you not say he¡¯s rich? Also, this guy may be cheesy, but he is not stingy at all. Did you hear his nickname? Magical beast of Tanshan is what everyone calls him to make fun of his body shape. His family originated from Tanshan, so his huge body image naturally earned him this nickname.¡± Just as they were saying this, the fat man already called out in dissatisfaction: ¡°I say count Biliaibuer, this party of yours is too boring¡­. Every time is the same thing without any bit of new attraction¡­..¡± Count Biliabuer faintlyughed: ¡°My dear Tanshan, don¡¯t rush. I know you yed with all sorts of things before this, but today, I prepared something new that may be of interest to you!¡± With that, he whispered a word to an attendant on his side. After listening to the count¡¯s word, this attendant immediately trotted out with some kind of order. Momentster, the door to the ballroom suddenly opened. What appeared next is a wheeled tform radiating a magical glow as it was slowly pushed inside. Normally, Du Wei wouldn¡¯t be all that surprised to see such entertainment, but this glow is without a doubt created by real magic! From under the wooden boards making up the tform, several small magic crystals were arranged around the thing to create a lighting spell. It is due to this reason that the entire tform is enveloped in an almost pure holy glow! But what is even more shocking is the people standing on top of this specially designed tform. Shoulder to shoulder, four girls were standing there while wearing Mage robes! Outfitted in the white robed fashion of a grand Mage, these four girls each held a Mage staff in their hands. However, Du Wei only needed one look to tell these staffs were a fake. Though these four girls were tall and well-shaped, none of their bodies were sticking out because of their Mage robe and pointed hat. Nheless, as the music echoed from within the ballroom¡­¡­ The four girls started to slowly pull off their dress piece by piece to match the choir like choruses. First was the hat. When the four girls revealed their faces, everyone lets out a gasp of astonished. Not only are their faces stunningly beautiful, but they are quadruplets! With identical faces, their smile looked saintly holy despite being in such a raunchy ce. But then the next moment¡­ ¡­ These four girls that looked no more than 18 years of age suddenly started to dance to the music. Moving one of their hands, they gently pulled against something on their mage robe and most of their dresses came undone. With no more than the bare minimum of clothing left on their chest, their delicate and plump breasts were free for all to see. Although their upper body wasn¡¯tpletely naked, but just the contour of their breasts has been enough to tempt every man in the hall! It is clear now their robes were specially designed toe off with a simple tug. Following quickly behind their first act, the four pulled against another string on their skirt. Immediately the hem on their remaining skirts opened up on the side to reveal a pearly white thigh! Dancing on top of the tform, these four girls performed so many different seductive yet shameful moves that it was unreal. Surprisingly though, despite their acts of shame to attract the audience, their faces remained as saintly as ever with their smile! This strong contrast between their body movement and their face somehow made every man in the hall be even more stimted! With a body like a devil and a face like a saintly angel, how can any man hold themselves back? Despite having his eyes light up in excitement, that Tanshan guy actually hesitated before pping his hand: ¡°Good, Good, good Biliabuer! You actually managed toe up with such a great idea! Ha-ha, I conquered a lot of women¡¯s in my time, but I¡¯ve never tasted a female Mage before! HA HA HA HA ¡­ ¡­¡± Du Wei could only sigh¡­ ¡­ Isn¡¯t this no different from cosying in his previous life? Instead of wearing a nurse uniform, these girls are wearing a Mage robe. This really is fucked up! Biliabuer had a proud face as heughed: ¡°These four female ¡®Mages¡¯ is something I spent a lot of effort to train. Though they cannot bepared to a real Mage, but they at least know a few spells. I guarantee they will not lose out to those magic apprentices in the union. When you are having a taste of thesedies, they can even bless you with some body enhancement spells. Now, wouldn¡¯t that be quite the experience to be so fit down below! Ha-ha¡­. I also want to mention, every one of them has never been touched before and are still virgins!¡± Biliabuer suddenlyughs: ¡°For those present today, the prince naturally must have one, the same applies to Marquise Solomon¡­. As for you Tanshan, I fear you may have to spill some blood to get your hands on one tonight!¡± Tanshanughs out with joy: ¡°What then, same old rules? Highest bidder wins I presume!¡± As soon as his voice faded, another noble on the side muttered: ¡°Then another one goes to this Fatso!¡± As the cries started toe out, another suddenly shouted: ¡°You better not rob me Tanshan, I want one! Hmm¡­ ¡­ 10,000 coins!¡± Tanshan took one look at the brave fool: ¡°Only 10,000? Such splendid specimens cannot be held down by 10,000! I¡¯ll give you 100,000! I want the remaining two!¡± When his word came out, discontent spread among everyone in the ballroom. Some nobles with some wealth immediately cried out: ¡°200,000, I want them!¡± ¡°300,000! ¡± ¡°350,000! ¡± Very soon, the price went as high as 500,000 coins. That Tanshan coldly looked at everyone and coughed once before shouting: ¡°1million coins, this old guy here wants them!¡± With that said, the rest of the nobles became silent¡­ ¡­ After all, they may all be wealthy, but money doesn¡¯t fall out of the sky. Though thesedies are rare beauties that can make a person itch¡­.. But 1million gold coins is simply too much to fool with a woman. Seeing Tanshan is about to get what he wants, Biliabuerughs in a scolding manner: ¡°Well then you Fatso, it seems it¡¯s you sess again. For 1 million gold coins, the remaining two belongs to you!¡± Laughing out in a ha-ha manner, Tanshan pulls out a roundish looking badge and threw it towards the closest waiter: ¡°Take this and go to my ce to collect the money tomorrow. Count this as your reward!¡± Calmly nodding, the waiter showed no signs of change in his emotion. Just as Tanshan was about tough, Prince Son suddenly spoke up. Taking forward a few steps to look at this Tanshan, Son smiled: ¡°I say, my dear lord magical beast¡­¡­¡± His joking words seemed to have caused everyone around tough, but Tanshan thought otherwise. Without dy, Tanshan asked: ¡°Your Highness, do you have anything to say?¡± ¡°There isn¡¯t anymand, but I do have a favor to ask you.¡± Prince Son suddenly pulled Du Wei to his side and said: ¡°You see? My good friend here is a real magician, but he couldn¡¯t get a single woman he desires. Aigh, when I saw these fourdies, I felt they were very suitable for my friend. Therefore, I ask you if you could gift my friend with one of thesedies for tonight.¡± Tanshan nced at Du Wei once beforeughing out three times: ¡°Your Highness, you are joking! If you ask, how can I Tanshan refuse? Don¡¯t mention just one; I¡¯ll even gift the kid with both of the girls I bought! Magician matched with Magician, this really is interesting!¡± Prince Sonughed: ¡°Fine! Since you are so generous, I cannot be such a cheapskate¡­ ¡­ I will also gift Du Wei with mine!¡± Seeing this, Marquise Solomon also jumped in: ¡°Since it is so fun, why not count me in too! I am already so old, I fear my body cannot digest so much in one night. Just those snake girls are enough to give me a headache. I¡¯ll also give my share to Du Wei!¡± Prince Son started tough as he winked at Du Wei, ¡°My friend, this arrangement, are you satisfied with it?¡± When Du Wei wanted to protest, Prince Son secretly pinched him on the side. This is obviously a setup so Du Wei could only nod and smile: ¡°This is perfect, I ept. As a Mage, Icked magic apprentices. Now that I have those four, I won¡¯t have to go looking for others in the future¡­. Ha-ha.¡± In a flurry of ambiguousughter, Du Wei formally stepped up to the tform. With a simple nce, he instantly understood how this magic array worked. Twisting one of the crystals, the glow from below started to dim away. Then from the side, Count Biliabuer came up to him and whispered: ¡°Upstairs is a VIP room, I¡¯ll have them ready it for you.¡± Unable to refuse, Du Wei could only nod. As the dinner continued into the night, Prince Son seemed to have no intention of letting Du Wei leave. Luckily, Du Wei wasn¡¯t in any rush to leave either. As for that Tanshan, he had long left the party to enjoy himself in the back with those four girls. ¡°Du Wei, are you pleased with my arrangements?¡± Prince Son asked. With a smile, Du Wei replied: ¡°Of course I¡¯m satisfied¡­ ¡­ However, this gift is a bit overly expensive.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ ¡­¡± Prince Son flickered a hint of disappointment in his eyes: ¡°If you say it like this, it seems that you don¡¯t really care for those four girls. Hmm, your standard is really high¡­ ¡­. In this case, I¡¯ll also give you the snake girl that Biliabuer gave me.¡± Du Wei shook his head sternly: ¡°Your Highness, my interest in the opposite sex is not so high¡­ ¡­ But you have been so good to me, so I won¡¯t beat around the bush. I know you have something to say, so why not make it clear?¡± Prince smiles faintly: ¡°Very good, I appreciate the fact that you¡¯re not easily tempted by the opposite sex. Let us go out to the terrace where it is quieter. Once we are there, we can talk.¡± With that, the two slowly walked to the side of the Ballroom. Immediately a waiter marched over and pushed open the terrace door for them. At this time, Du Wei¡¯s eye inadvertently swept across the waiter¡¯s hand. This guy is missing a thumb on his hand!! With an air of sturdiness only found in the army¡­.. Yet he is missing a thumb¡­.. Du Wei¡¯s face suddenly revealed a murderous aura around himself. Noticing this, the waiter hastily hid his hand inside his sleeves¡­.. Chapter 134 part 1 The 134th ¡°The Empires suffering¡± (part one) The same crippling appendages, the same waiter dress up, the same militaristic air, all of this instantly reminded Du Wei of the assassination attempt he faced whileing to the capital! As Du Wei¡¯s intent emerged, the waiter immediately noticed something was wrong and fixed his gaze on Du Wei. However, unlike the previous rock solid face, the waiter hinted a sh of wariness in his eyes! With his hand already touching a magic scroll hidden in his sleeve, Du Wei was ready for anything. Since the assassination attempt that nearly took his life, Du Wei had built up a very good habit of always carrying around some magic scrolls under a hidden pocket in his sleeves. This way, he would at least be able to protect himself in the worst case scenario. Right now, the scroll he readied is petrifying scroll. With his gaze focused on the waiter, Du Wei is ready to pull out his the moment the guy made a move. ¡°My dear friend, what¡¯s wrong? From your appearance, you look like you are a bit unwell.¡± With that gentle question, Prince Son slowly stepped forward. Unsure if it was intentional, but the cement of the Prince just so happens to be in the middle of the two, which caused the tense atmosphere to scatter like the wind. Du Wei forced a smile and took a deep look at his Highness: ¡°Nothing, I just had a little headache.¡± Then, looking beyond where the Prince stood, his gaze fell on the waiter¡¯s hand: ¡°I was just wondering why the waiter¡¯s hand¡­¡­¡± Hearing his word, the waiter seems to let out a sigh of relief. Silently bending forward to give Du Wei a bow, the guy couldn¡¯t hide the stiffness in his movement as if readying to make a run for it. Once the waiter raised his head, the guy didn¡¯t turn and simply walked away while still facing Du Wei. ¡°This is not the right ce to speak.¡± Prince Son¡¯s word quietly whispered into Du Wei¡¯s ear. Instantly, Du Wei could see a deep andpelling look from the prince¡¯s eyes. With a fake cough, Du Wei said: ¡°I¡¯m just a little curious.¡± Afterwards, Prince Son already came out of the door and out into the terrace. The terrace is not only big; the dark blue stone gave the entire ce a mystifying vibe. Deliberately looking at the ancient warrior statue in front of him, Du Wei was surprised to see that the eyes of this statue are made out of a precious gemstone. After staring at the statue for a long time, Du Wei suddenly said this, ¡°The back of this ce should be the military.¡± Without replying right away, Prince Son leaned against the railing and took a sip from his ss. Taking in a deep breath, he waited for a moment before speaking: ¡°Look at how beautiful the roses are below the terrace¡­. If one were to bring their beloved and propose under the moonlight, wouldn¡¯t it be a wonderful experience?¡± With that, Prince Son turned to nce at Du Wei: ¡°My friend, tell me, do you have a girl you love?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Du Wei silently looked at his Highness and carefully thought for a moment¡­ ¡­ A girl I love? Not knowing why, the scene of his separation with the stuttering Vivian shed across his mind. On that day, the charming yet timid girl gave him a kiss on the cheek before leaving and he couldn¡¯t stop remembering it right now. ¡°There are perhaps¡± Du Wei could not help but smile as he replied. Prince Son quietly nced at Du Wei, a faint sense of sadness crossed his handsome face: ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t.¡± With that, he shakes his head and gulped down thest bit of wine from his cup. Setting the ss down, the prince came closer to Du Wei and smiled: ¡°Your guess just now is good. The back of this is indeed a part of the military.¡± Du Wei¡¯s face showed no change as he heard this. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with you earlier.¡± Prince Son frowned slightly, ¡°But I need to remind you, in this ce, you¡¯d better not make any moves out of the ordinary. The level of depth in this ce is beyond your imagination. At this point, Prince Son nced at Du Wei: ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Du Wei replied in a mild manner: ¡°Just that I feel it is incredible that such a ce is run by the military¡­..¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Prince Son had a helpless look in his eyes: ¡°It is very sad¡­.. But perhaps this is the first indication of oing storm.¡± Sighing, he then stood shoulder to shoulder next to Du Wei: ¡°It is no secret within the circle of nobles in the capital. Everyone knows, but no one would point that out. Even my father knows about the existence of this ce and that the military is the ones behind such a ce¡­. Hey, Hey! For the great imperial forces, guardians of the empire, to create such a ce, do you think my father would be very happy? Every time this ce is brought up, my father would get so angry that he would start throwing things¡­.. Yet, what other choice is there? Even those bosses in the military ¨C including your father ¨C cannot do anything about it despite their dislike for it.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°For money!¡± Prince Son bitterlyughed: ¡°Because the militarycked it!¡± With that, Prince Son raised his head to look at the Moon. Softly sighing, he continued to exin: ¡°My father, his Majesty the Emperor, ruler of the continent for 44-years¡­ ¡­ Let me say a word of truth, if he was born during a time of war¡­ ¡­ Let¡¯s say the era of Aragon, or the time our Augustine family uplifted the empire, he would be a great king with his personality! Unfortunately, he is born in a time of great peace and prosperity¡­.. In his heart, he likes to fight and conquer, so a peaceful era can never fill up his desire.¡± Du Wei did not speak¨Cthe other party is the current emperor. Speaking ill of the monarch from the back is aplete sin. Even though the Prince is talking ill of his father, but the guy is the apple in his father¡¯s eye, so even if Du Wei agrees, he cannot say anything in reply! ¡°My father reigned for 44 years, but the continent had long united, so there is nothing that can fill the conquering desire in his heart. The only ce left is the area after the northwestern dessert. There, the tribes living in that region would sometimes cause a small rebellion here and there, but never anything serious. Yet, 20 years ago, my father organized an expedition and ughtered 100,000 tribal members. With blood staining the sand, this one act sets in stone a hateful blood feud between the empire and the peoples living there¡­ Ah, long before my father took the throne, my grandfather used a appeasing policy to calm down that area, but with my father¡¯s single act, the 30 years of effort by my grandfather went up in smoke.¡± At this point, Prince Son nced at Du Wei: ¡°Do you know about that war in the desert?¡± Du Wei nodded. Although the war took ce 20 years ago, long before Du Wei was born, he had learned of it through historic books in the library. In the northwestern part of the continent lies a vast desert, and in the center of this ce is a prairie. Facing a snowy mountain in the back, thisnd is home to numerous nomadic tribes. Due to the environmental conditions, the people of this ce are all untamed by nature and abnormally healthy and sturdy. For hundreds of years, the control of the empire had always been weak on this ce because of the barrier created by the desert. As always, whenever a rebellion breaks out, the financial loss always outweighs the benefit. Chapter 134 part 2 The 134th ¡°The Empires suffering¡± (part two) Prince Son¡¯s exnation: When the previous emperor was still alive, he ruled the empire with a kind heart. Instead of blindly pressuring the people of the prairies, he allowed the empire to conduct a policy of appeasement by removing the garrison stationed there. The results of 30 years of effort were very good. Within that time, the tribes living there did not conduct a single rebellion. But once Augustine the 6th (the current emperor) seeded the throne, he modified the policy and took on a high pressuring approach towards the nomad tribes. Finally, the already disorganized nomadic tribes reunited into a single banner to rebel against the empire. In order to quell this sudden rebellion, the empire was forced to organize a 100,000 army to cross the desert. In the end, the empire lost about half of the army in this war just to calm the rebellion. Also, the expense of supporting this crusade cost the empire millions of gold. To demonstrate the seriousness of their actions, the emperor ordered the ughter of nearly 100,000 nomadic people in the prairie, many included civilians. After the bloodbath, the empire and the nomad tribes of the prairie is forever locked in a deep blood feud that cannot be wiped away. But what did the empire gain from all this? Nothing! It was all to meet my father¡¯s desire for conquest! Once the war was over, the empire had no choice but to station 20,000 troops in the prairie. In order to supply this small little garrison army, the expense is at least 10 times that of a normal force because of the vast desert! Can you imagine? The military cost is so high it cannot even be imagined! Hearing this, Du Wei suddenly blurts out a sentence: ¡°It¡¯s too unfortunate, if they had finished it once and for all back then¡­.¡± Prince Son sparked a strange color in his eyes as he looked at Du Wei deeply: ¡°What did you say?¡± Du Wei¡¯s face looked really cold as he spoke: ¡°The war 20 years ago already killed more than 100,000 people of the prairie. Since we already did the first by setting this deep grudge in ce, why not finish it off by taking the second step?¡± Du Wei raised a hand and made a single chop gesture with his hand: ¡°That strip of prairie in the desert is no more than a single province in size, so how big can the poption be? I estimate that it is no more than a million people. Once you remove the elderly and children from these numbers, there is probably no more than 300,000 strong men¡¯s capable of fighting! For such a force, why not just eradicate them to end this cancer? Humph¡­.. Since we already killed 100,000 people, killing another 900,000 isn¡¯t something out of our reach!¡± Prince Son was inwardly surprised¡­ ¡­ How can the methods of this boy in front of him be so ruthless?! ¡°What you said is not bad.¡± Prince Son sounded really bitter in his words: ¡°Back then, my father also had that intention¡­. Humph, father is not so foolish to not understand the meaning behind this. However, when father wanted to go ahead with his n, the temple intervened! Humph, those damn fakes believing in superstitions. I¡¯m not sure what happened, but one night, the pope went to meet my father and somehow convinced him to change his n¡­. If not for their sinister intentions, we could have already achieved a permanent peace in the northwestern region!¡± Du Wei nodded as he thought in his mind: How can the temple possibly allow the empire to have a peace of mind? If the Northwest continues to be a threat, the empire will be forced to pay attention to a possible rebellion while paying less attention to what the temple is doing! ¡°The threat of the Northwest is thus buried away! In the span of 20 years, the cost of maintaining a 20,000 garrison in the desert has been a fatal drain on the treasury. If the nomadic tribes really wanted to rebel, that small army would likely be destroyed with ease after 10 days! This is not a guess, but a fact! Those nomadic tribes will sooner orter rebel after their numbers are restored!¡± Prince sneered loudly: ¡°Luckily, this matter can still be put aside for now because there is no ignition lit yet¡­. The biggest problem present lies in the southeast!¡± Once the topic referred to the southeast, Du Wei¡¯s spirit felt like he got a shock because his father gained all his promotions through the southeast expeditions. ¡°The act of expanding the trade routes into the Southeast Sea and the frequent expeditions of conquest, it was all been a mistake! Humph, the southeast may be full of riches, but even the most fertile ofnds cannot withstand such aggressive expansion! ording to my calction, the aggressive behavior against the southeast is doable, but only in the interval of 7-8 years between each expedition! But now? Just about every 2-3 years, the empire would send out another expedition¡­. The result of this is the reliance on the armed forces to pige those indigenous peoples living on those inds out at sea¡­. I have already worked it out. 20 years ago, back when your father first led the fleet out into the sea, they did indeede back with riches far exceeding the costs. However, the following expeditions only managed to break even. To make matters worse, the spoils from those recent expeditions could not even cover the military costs of the ships! s, to counter the empire¡¯s constant invasion, those indigenous people have moved even further into southern seas that even the empire has a difficult time reaching. From rumors, it is said that they even united to form a United Kingdom to fend off the aggression from our fleet! If only father would listen to my advice. In order to meet his desire, father had recently ordered the financial department to grant another 3 million gold for constructing a giant ship.¡± Prince Son knitted his brows tightly: ¡°Again and again, the empire sends out such fruitless expedition. Currently, the financial situation of the empire has reached a critical level! You may not know this, but those bosses in the military are growing white hairs trying to bnce the books!¡± Du Wei remained silent as he recalled back to the time when he was at home. It is indeed true, his father did look much older than before. ¡°Now, part of the local garrison forces within the empire has begun to self-sustain themselves, I know for a fact that several ces in the south have failed to rece their weapons for the past three years already! Even the elite northern storm corps can only receive 60% of their military funding! The only military force left in the empire still receiving their full funding is the garrison stationed in the capital. As for the other army corps stationed throughout the empire, their funding is only around fifty to sixty percent at best. As for missing funds, the bosses in charge will have to figure it out on their own¡­.¡± Prince Son smiled bitterly as he pointed at the ballroom behind him: ¡°This ce is backed by the northern storm corps! They don¡¯t like it any better, but it only by doing this will they be able to raise enough military fund!¡± Du Wei sighed. He had long felt the state of the empire is bad, but never did he think the situation was this severe! Seeing the partying atmosphere behind him and recalling the bustling daily life of the capital, Du Wei could not but help feel sad at the slowly corroding state of the empire! ¡°So, I suggest you don¡¯t make any sort of ruckus here.¡± Prince bitterlyughed: ¡°This ce is used to raise military funds. If anything bad happens here, it would be the same as making an enemy of those main battle corps in the empire! Right now, money is their lifeblood. If you mess with their livelihood, it would be the same as trying to kill them! Even for someone like me, I wouldn¡¯t dare to make any ruckus here.¡± Du Wei gave a shallow bow: ¡°Your Highness, thank you for the advice, I will remember your words¡­ ¡­ But I have a few questions.¡± He raised his head and looked straight at this prince: ¡°The things you just told, I fear a lot of it involved some secrets, right? I just don¡¯t understand why your highness is looking so highly of me, what is it about me to cause you to act this way?¡± ¡°Du Wei.¡± Prince Son peered straight into Du Wei¡¯s eyes and suddenly spoke in a very serious tone: ¡°Are you willing to pledge your allegiance to me?¡± Chapter 135 The 135th chapter ¡°A yboy¡¯s debt¡± ¡°You are not only clever, but also bold. Although your business in the Rowling ins is still small in scale, but from the data I have in my hands, I keep getting the idea that your methods of doing things are beyond our times! Despite being so capable, your family continues to look down at you, why? I know you kept a low profile for the past 10 years. It is for this reason that I became even more infatuated with you! This time around when you came back to the capital, you managed to achieve the status of an invaluable Magician. As for how you managed such a thing is beyond my imagination!¡± Prince Son chuckles before continuing: ¡°I¡¯m already 24 years old. I intend to achieve great things in theing years, but I cannot do that without an effective partner by my side! It is regrettable. From my years of observation, those descendants of once dominating families have all grown to be slouches in these times of peace, thus, leaving the capital without any talent among the noble circles. Now that I have met you, I cannot bear to lose such a talent as you!¡± Du Wei faintly smiled: ¡°But I¡¯m only 14 years old, your Highness.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t your ancestor also very young when he went to war for Augustine the first? At 18 years old, your ancestor led his first army across thends and revived the crumbling empire during its darkest hours. For his glorious achievements, your family was rewarded with the Rowling ins.¡± Prince Son faintly smiled. Hmm, it seems this Prince wants to be the Emperor. Du Wei deliberately remained silent because such a proposal cannot be so hastily answered due to its severity. Left with no choice, the only option is to use a ¡°stall¡± tactic. Du Wei is confused at the moment. From his observation, the prince doesn¡¯t seem to be an idiot, so why would he show all his cards when they just met? Suddenly struck with a thought, the scene of when he came out of the magic union started to appear in his mind. From the ugly expression Alpha showed when he noticed the Prince, Du Wei finally made up his mind. Without saying anything, he only smiled in silence. It would seem the prince wasn¡¯t in any hurry to get a reply from Du Wei because he intentionally pulled the conversation away from the topic. As the son of the emperor, the prince obviously received a special education that allowed him to be fluent in a wide field of knowledge. As the two chatted away, the prince became even more delighted when Du Wei not only matched him in his understandings, but also brought up different thought patterns towards their talks. It wasn¡¯t only the prince that was surprised; Du Wei also felt the same way. No matter what they talked about, the prince¡¯s showed no signs of arrogance in his tone and could even bepared to something simr to an old friend. As the two indulged themselves in their talk, the people inside simply refused to leave them alone and came out to pull them back in. What followed afterwards is the normal drunken party scene you would expect from such an event. Large amounts of wine, matched with fine beauties, the banquet somehowsted far into the night; yet, everythinges to an end. As the guests slowly began to leave, some took to the VIP rooms with their partner for the night, while others left on their luxurious coaches parked outside. In Du Wei¡¯s case, he had long been invited upstairs by Sir Biliaibuer. Under the guidance of two gorgeous young waitresses, Du Wei was led into a magnificent room prepared specifically for him. When he entered the room, he could not help but sigh. Not only was the room different, the entire thing was built in a circr shape. With a dimly lit reddish light, the exotic fragrance in the air stimted his sense the moment he walked in. Before he could even notice, the two maids behind him had long left him alone to deal with whatever is inside. But unknown to him, the two maids were grinning with delight as they walked away. Taking a few steps, his attention was immediately focused on the circr bed in the middle of the room. With drapes of silk, the bed had a crystal ornament radiating light from the ceiling to create a mosaic silhouette of whoeverid on top. Without spending much effort, Du Wei can easily figure out the quadruplets were waiting for him on the bed. Turning slightly to get a better view of the girls, he was somehow taken aback by their expressions. No longer the saintly maidens, these four girls had long discarded their innocent face and donned a lustful lover awaiting their partner. Du Wei could only sigh because he knew his debts as a yboy won¡¯t be ending so soon. But most importantly, he knew if he epted this gift from the prince, he would have a difficult time trying to repay this favor in the future. Hesitating for a moment, Du Wei freely walked over to a chair in the corner and sat down. Facing the four girls, he asked: ¡°The four of you, what¡¯s on your mind right now?¡± The girls had been collected by Biliaibuer through various means since they were young. Not only are they beauties in their own rights, their inherent magic talent puts them above the norm. For this reason, they are extremely rare toe by, especially when they are all virgins still. The girls knew that a day like this woulde, but it cannot be helped that they would be somewhat nervous in their hearts when the day finally arrives. Prior to Du Wei¡¯s arrival, the girls had been discussing what would happen tonight. In their hearts, they were quite satisfied with their new master because Du Wei is not only a mage, but also a handsomely young noble. For such an oue to befall on them, they cannot ask for more because it beats being sold to those perverted old nobles. Out of their expectation, Du Wei¡¯s sudden question on their first meeting had left them speechless. Since little, these girls were specially trained to identify the eyes of different kinds of men¡¯s. Whether they are lustful, or uninterested, the girls can easily figure it out with a few looks. Yet, their new master right now seemed to have no desire to bed them, nor any hint of lust. For this reason, the girls seemed bewildered. Could it be that the master is still too young and hasn¡¯t blossomed yet? This spection was quickly shot down in their minds because the girls knew the children¡¯s of the noble ss tends to ripen at an early age. In fact, it¡¯s quitemon to hear stories of noble kids bedding multiple women¡¯s at this age. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you talking? My question should be very simple. I¡¯m just asking what is on your mind right now.¡± Du Wei smiles as he spoke. Hesitating for a moment, the second youngest of the quadruplet was the first to regain herposure. With her delicate voice, she whispers a reply: ¡°We aren¡¯t thinking of anything right now. You are our new master from now on, whatever your wish is ourmand.¡± ¡°If you say it like that, then does it mean you will do everything I say?¡± Du Wei questions again. Turning red on their cheeks, the quadruplets reply at the same time: ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Good.¡± Du Wei stood up and pointed at one of the girls sitting on the bed: ¡°You, help mix a drink. I¡¯m only thirsty, so don¡¯t make any alcohol drink.¡± Then he points to the girl next to the first one: ¡°As for you, help me prepare a set of clothes for tonight. I drank too much alcohol tonight and the smell from my robe is making me ufortable¡­..¡± Then he orders thest two: ¡°And you two can go help me prepare the bath. I want to wash myself.¡± With his order, the quadruplets didn¡¯t dally around and hastily get off the bed to do as they were told. From a cab, the one ordered to make a drink concocted a sweet and sour beverage that is simr to a fruit juice mixed with honey. After a few minutes of savoring the drink, the second girl came over to him with a set of new robes for him. Carrying his new set of robe, Du Wei went into the bathroom with the intent of washing himself. As he took his first step inside, he was blown away by how marvelous the tub was. Carved out of pure white jade, the middle of the tube had a giant pearl spewing hot water out of it. Just thinking about the cost is sending chills down his spine. As he was about to shed his robe, the girls suddenly came up from behind and formed a circle around his body. With nothing on their body, their naked body was free for him to see. Maybe it was due to the hot vapor of the bathroom, but Du Wei can see how flushed their cheeks were. Hesitating for a second, Du Wei sighed before speaking up: ¡°I forgot to mention, I don¡¯t like others by my side when I take a bath.¡± ¡°?¡± Unable toprehend his words, the quadruplets took a second before asking: ¡°Master, could it be you don¡¯t want us to serve you?¡± Smiling with a rxed look, Du Wei quickly replied: ¡°You¡¯re beautiful, but I don¡¯t need you girls to offer me your bodies just yet.¡± Pausing for a second to let his words sink in, ¡°As you can see, I¡¯m a mage. Right now, I¡¯m currently practicing a form of magic that prevents me from sleeping with the opposite sex.¡± With suspicious looking faces, the girls headed back out, not daring to ask any more questions. As soon as they left, Du Wei stood in front of a gorgeous looking mirror to look at his own reflection: ¡°I¡¯m not a gentleman¡­ ¡­ But why is it that I just don¡¯t want to touch these four girls?¡± In his mind, an image of Vivian¡¯s childish smile suddenly popped up. Freaked out by this, Du Wei shook his head before frowning: ¡°Can it be that I like that silly girl? It cannot be¡­..¡± Taking a quick bath, Du Wei puts on a fresh set of robes beforeing out to see the four gorgeous looking girls lying on the bed with their naked bodies. Without even trying to cover themselves, Du Wei couldn¡¯t stop himself from looking at their exquisite body curves¡­. Du Wei sighed beforeing up in front of the bed: ¡°I said you girls don¡¯t need to serve me tonight. From what I know, there should be a resting room next to this ce. Can it be that you don¡¯t have a ce to sleep tonight?¡± The quadruplets quickly flushed red before one of them built up the courage to reply to his question: ¡°We¡­.. Are warming master¡¯s bed with our body.¡± Warming bed? Warming a bed with a human body? Du Wei could do nothing but sigh in his heart¡­.. To be doing something like this where one uses a woman¡¯s naked body to warm a bed is simply too luxurious even for him in this life! But most importantly, isn¡¯t this situation no different from pushing him into making a mistake? Du Wei hesitated for a moment, trying to decide what to do. He wanted to tell them to get up from the bed, but he knew he can¡¯t overdo it, especially when they are going to such lengths. Taking in a deep breath, he made up his mind and decided to endure it once. With that, he crawled up the bed. As he tried to make it to the middle, his arms and legs ended up touching many ces no normal situation would allow. It¡¯s not like he intended to take advantage of it, but in a limited space with so many naked bodies to get over, it can¡¯t be helped his hands would grab onto certain sensitive areas. Holding in his urges, Du Wei suddenly felt a bit of a temper pent up inside him. These girls are gifts others gave me, so why am I making myself suffer so? From this day forward, their life and honor belongs to me, so why am I still pretending to be a gentleman? In that moment, his inner demon emerged and his biological needs burst forth. Just as he was about to give in to his temptation and move his hands, a voice in his mind suddenly came out: ¡°Eh? I guessed you wouldn¡¯t be able to hold yourself back tonight.¡± Startled by the voice, his biological urge immediately disappeared like it was drowned in the very bottom of the ocean. Semel? God damn it! Chapter 136 The 136th chapter ¡°night attack¡± Why would Semel suddenly speak up after disappearing for so long! Maybe it was due to the shock of knowing Gandalf¡¯s death, but Semel hasn¡¯t shown herself to him in months. Whatever¡­ Du Wei sighed and rxed his mind. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why aren¡¯t you making your move? Aren¡¯t you a man?¡± The tone in Semel¡¯s voice was mixed with endless ridicule. Du Wei grunted in his mind before going on: ¡°You¡¯ve been following me every day, so you should know very clearly if I am a man or not. Although I¡¯m a man, but I don¡¯t have the habit of bing a beast in front of others!¡± This time around, Semel¡¯s voice sounded even more gloating than before: ¡°If you really want me to, I can take a walk outside for a while. As long as I don¡¯t go too far, it will be fine.¡± ¡°Forget it!¡± Du Wei lets out a frostyugh: ¡°You are living under my spirit, so even if you move far away, it would be the same as seeing the scene in person. In such a situation, how can you expect me to avoid you?¡± No matter what, it would be quite disturbing if there is someone watching you as you screwed around! And if the person in question is your great ancestor¡­.. Well, I believe there wouldn¡¯t be a single man in this world capable of not falling t. The quadruplets had originally seen through the change in Du Wei¡¯s breathing and perceived their new master was about to make a move; yet, the sudden calm that followed the very next moment had left the four girls in a daze of wonderment. When Du Wei felt helpless to get out of this situation, someone finally came to rescue him. With the subtle sound of the door opening, a respectful voice floated into his ears: ¡°Mage Du Wei, sorry to bother at this moment¡­. His highness had some urgent matter that requires him to head back to the capital, thus he tasked me to ask you if you would like to go back with him or stay here for the night¡­..¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask if.¡± Du Wei immediately jumped out of the bed and donned his Mage robe: ¡°His highness and I will go back together right now.¡± Without dy, Du Wei and the prince got on the coach and started to head back to the capital with their possessions. While on the road, the prince kept looking at Du Wei with an amusing smile: ¡°My friend, I never would have thought you could be so strong willed. In such a case, you actually left as soon as you decided to. Could it be that you don¡¯t like my gift?¡± Du Wei replied in a mild tone: ¡°With my status, it would be easy for me to get any woman I want in the future. I¡¯m still young; I don¡¯t wish to be so overly indulgent in the opposite sex at such an early age¡­. What about you? Your highness, didn¡¯t you leave as soon as you decided too? Don¡¯t you have any lustful feelings also? I know that Sir Bibuer gifted you with a Snake girl!¡± Snake girls are women¡¯s from a special minority tribe that used to live in the remote areas of the southernnds. Due to their scarcity and the low poption of their tribes, this group of people had long been conquered by the empire a few hundred years ago. Due to their tribe¡¯s special trait of having otherworldly flexibility, every female of this tribe is capable of pleasuring the opposite sex in so many ways that any man would die for a night with them. It is precisely because of this characteristic that their people were faced with misfortune. Due to popr demand from the empire, poachers began capturing any female members of this tribe to sell in the ve market. In no time at all, this tribe finally faced destruction around 200 years ago. In modern times, the only ce one would find any surviving members of this tribe would be in the arms and homes of some wealthy noble. And what is even more abhorrent is the fact that once these girls are old enough to bear children, they would be forcefully impregnated to conceive the next generation. This is to ensure the owner will be able to continue to own a snake girl for future use. From being a human being to a sex ve, such is the tragic fate of this tribe. Back when he read the documents pertaining to this tribe, he could only sigh with grief: the terrifying part about humanity lies in how cruel we can be! Du Wei really had to give it to this prince. Even when faced with such a tempting snake girl, the guy didn¡¯t even flinch at the mention of the topic. As the night drew closer to morning, the sky remained pitch ck as the two coach road along the road. Leading in the front is of course the prince and Du Wei, but the other coach following close behind actually contained the quadruplets belonging to Du Wei. Because the prince had to enter the pce for some urgent matter, the snake girl was left behind at the vi to be picked up at another time. As Du Wei sat inside the coach, his mind kept thinking about the time when he met that partially crippled waiter back at the vi¡­.. Simrly crippled and carried the air of a military soldier¡­.. All of this is just too simr to those assassins that tried to take his life! This question must be made clear one way or the other. The other party wants to take his life, so he must figure out the identity of the other party if he wants to protect himself! Could his father really not know even though they are from the military? Just thinking of this is sending chills down his spine! While in thought, Du Wei suddenly heard a subtle sounding from far into the distance. Thanks to his superhuman mental senses, he could immediately deduce the noise is from the lever of a crossbow! Going on full alert, Du Wei dived towards the prince sitting across from him. Once they were on the floorboard of the carriage, he could hear a took took took took noiseing from the outside¡­¡­ Right now, several powerful crossbow bolts had already struck the horses in the front! Fortunately for the two, these arrows weren¡¯t able to prate their carriage despite being made out of pure steel! In this situation, the first to react is the master warrior acting as their driver. With a loud cry, Sir Chick (the driver) had enwrapped his horse whip in a highly dense form of Dou Qi. Like a vindictive snake, the second wave of cross bolts was easily deflected in a single swing of his whip. It is well known the striking force of a crossbow is enormouspared to a regr bow, but to be able to deflect a shower of these bolts in a single wave, one can imagine how amazing this Chick fellow is! After seeing the waves of arrows having no effect, the other side will definitely make another move. Knowing this, Chick moved with haste to grab his sword hidden away at the side of the carriage. In mere seconds, his entire body was enshrouded in a silvery aura of Dou Qi. It wasn¡¯t only Sir Chick that was getting ready forbat, the four court magicians had also dismounted from their horses and flew into the air. With a serious face, each of these highly powerful Mages was spreading a faint light powder substance in their vicinity. As if reacting to their spell chanting voices, the moment these lights touched the ground, it immediately created a defensive barrier around the carriage. Just when the situation started to quiet down, a wind breaking sound came gushing out of the forest woods. Dressed in light armor, a couple of dozen warriors with masks covering their faces were rushing towards them. And even more shocking, around 10 Calvary knights further behind the first group were charging towards them with force! With a very serious face, Chick felt pushed back because he knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to guarantee the safety of the prince in this situation by himself. And it is certain the other party has a master hidden away if they dared to attack the prince so openly in the night¡­.. Just when Chick was thinking this, he suddenly noticed a strange light shing across the sky! Enveloped in a sharp Dou Qi, this arrow was aiming straight for him! With a loud cry, Chick raised his sword readying to deflect the oing attack! Just when he shed down against the arrow, something out of his expectation happened. Instead of shattering apart from his attack, the arrow only had its metal head break away. As for the rest of the arrow, it actually raised its speed and shot right through his shoulder and into the trunk of a huge tree behind him! With blood profusely bursting out of his wound, Chick stabbed his sword onto the ground to lean against it. Letting out a grunt, he bit his lips and shouted in contempt. As retaliation, he forcefully pulled out his horse whip and pumped his own Dou Qi into it. Within moments, the whip shattered into numerous pieces and shot forth in all direction. Surprisingly though, this attack of his actually shot out even faster than the crossbow arrows from before! Seeing Chick injured, the attackers saw it as a chance to attack and came rushing forward. However, when their allies suddenly dropped down without any chance to retaliate to the whip shards, their enthusiasm for fighting was suddenly lowered. At this moment, another ray of light was flying across the night sky! Instead of aiming for Chick like before, the target this time around was the court Mages in the sky. Despite being highly skilled, these Mage were no match for the arrow fired from a master. As if the arrow had some kind of power to dominate over a spell caster, the court magicians were helpless against this attack. With a loud popping sound, one of the four court magicians was easily killed. But the court mage didn¡¯t die in vain. Just before he died; he managed to shoot out an extremely high leveled fire based spell at the source of the attack. With thatst attack from a dying man, the master bowmen on the other side could no longer hide his presence! Just when Du Wei managed to rpose himself, he mustered up his mental force to pinpoint the exact location of the enemy. It is then, a realization dawned on him. Despite the magnificent attack shot out by the dying court Mage, the high leveled fire based spell was countered with an umbre of water! The enemy has a magician hidden away too! Chapter 137 part 1 The 137th chapter ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡± (part one) With one of theirrades dead, the remaining three court magicians weren¡¯t just idly standing by either. Combining their might, they managed to erect a powerful shield in front of them as they flew towards the wood where the hidden bowmen were located. As for Sir Chick on the ground, he was already forced into a bitter battle of survival. Surrounded on all sides, he had no choice but to slowly retreat backwards. However, behind him is the prince¡¯s carriage, so there is no way he could possibly move back any more! Mustering every ounce of his strength, Sir Chick¡¯s swordsmanship has reached a legendary level as he repelled strike after strike around him. Thanks to his effort, the enemy could not break through his front blockade no matter what. Back in the carriage, Du Wei had stuck his head from the carriage window to check the situation. Seeing Sir Chick could not hold the line much longer and the fact that the enemy wasing around from the side, he could only think of one solution in his mind. Rushing over to the horrified Prince on the floorboard, Du Wei whispered into his ears: ¡°Get on the horse and escape!¡± Pulling out a magic scroll from his sleeves, Du Wei did not falter in the slightest as he threw the precious scroll out towards the oing riders. Immediately, an intermediate fire based spell erupted from it and incinerated the riders to ashes. Without missing the opportunity, Du Wei and the prince both jumped out of the carriage and mounted the remaining two uninjured horses in front of the carriage. Then taking out a dagger, Du Wei sliced apart the hindering reins and poked both of their mounts in the butt to make them get moving! It didn¡¯t take long for the enemy to notice their movements. As soon as Du Wei and the prince tried to make a run for it, a set of enemy riders quickly headed towards them to intercept. Thankfully, Du Wei is well prepared for them. Pulling out another scroll, he threw it out towards the enemy riders again. Unlike the previous fire spell, the magic that erupted from his scroll this time was a petrification spell! Caught off guard, the enemy riders were defenseless against the spell and immediately turned to stone. As a finishing blow, both of them intentionally allowed their mounts to collide against the petrified riders to shatter them into pieces! Even if a mage were to dispel the petrification spellter on, these poor enemy riders would not have any chance of surviving. Despite being freed from the encirclement, Du Wei suddenly felt a sudden sense of impending danger! From the side of the road, a dark shadowy character carrying a giant crescent shaped bow came rushing out of the woods. Even more shocking though, this mysterious person was able to fire a shot at them even while jumping in midair! Letting out a tense cry, Du Wei dare not hold back for risk of his life! Mustering up every drop of magic in his body, he conjured up a volley of fireballs at the mysterious enemy! Although a fireball spell cannot be considered lethal to even the average Dou Qi warrior, but it is Du Wei¡¯s most highly practiced spell. Matched with the gun powder from Solskjaer, he not only could cast a storm of fireballs in a blink of an eye, but it is also chant less spell cast! Like this, the level of power is increased significantly, especially when the enemy is caught off guard! The other party obviously did not expect Du Wei to still have something like this up his sleeves! Facing against a storm of fireballs, this shadowy figure only spent a second in shock before twisting his body in midair to dodge the fireballs. But how can Du Wei so easily let the enemy have his way? Without dy, Du Wei saw through the enemy¡¯s intent and immediately threw out another magic scroll in his sleeves! This mysterious enemy is really out of luck! Normally, a high leveled mage would only at best carry one or two magic scrolls on their body for in case of emergencies, but who would have thought Du Wei to have so many hidden away? From the magic scroll he just threw out, a yellowish light erupted from the parchment and covered the entire area. This spell is none other than a paralyzing spell specifically intended for dealing with foes that focuses on speed and movements! Once the enemy is enshrouded in this light, Du Wei¡¯s volley of fireball naturally had an easy timending on the target. Upon impact, scattering sparks of mes and smoke rippled across the road, creating a small crater on the ground! It truly is a shame for this powerful master. Due to his carelessness against Du Wei¡¯s sneak again, his whole body was bombarded into a charcoaled mess! Figuring it was a chance to earn a quick fortune; Du Wei forcefully turned around and headed towards the fallen foe. Thanks to his sharp eyes, he immediately deduced the strangely crescent shaped bow was a magic weapon due to the faint glow emanating from it. As he passed by the already near dead warrior, he used one of his free hands to rip the bow out of the enemy¡¯s grasp. And to make matters worse, the guy was already nearing death¡¯s door, but as Du Wei made a second run on him, the horse ended up trampling over his body and finishing the deed¡­.. This poor guy is in fact the master bowmen that killed the court magician earlier and injured the mighty Sir Chick. Yet, thanks to Du Wei¡¯s sneak attack, this famous warrior ended up losing his life in such a shameful situation and to a kid no less¡­. Once Du Wei snatched up the precious bow, he didn¡¯t waste any time and quickly rushed up to the prince¡¯s side in front because around 10 enemy riders were pursuing them from behind. The mounts belonging to Du Wei and the prince may be breeds of extraordinary quality, but their riding skills were toocking to take advantage of this. Knowing this, the experienced soldiers pursuing the two didn¡¯t overly force their mounts and kept their distance within range of sight. As time passed, the two horses did exactly what the enemy expected and began slowing down. Seeing the enemy riders closing in on them, Du Wei began cursing at the horses in his mind! For someone like Du Wei that has never been taught the art of horse riding, he would of course not understand the reason for theirck of speed lies on him! Normally, a mere dozen riders wouldn¡¯t be much of a threat to someone like Du Wei. However, his reserve of gunpowder is already used up and the only magic scroll left in his sleeve is the ¡°Heart Piercing Spell¡±. This spell may be powerful, but the effect is only useful in a duel against another magician and is useless against a mob of enemies! It would be another story if he could have a moment to get some more scrolls out of his storage ring, but it is impossible right now due to the constant rattling from his horse. Then suddenly, he could hear a clicking sound from behind him. Turning around to take a look, the images of a dozen crossbow bolts fell into his view! The riders pursuing them are clearly trying to shoot them down! Just when the barrage of cross bolts is about to hit them, Du Wei lets out a cry of fright before the air behind them twisted into a barrier screen! Appearing behind Du Wei, a white haired beauty with a reddish blood colored robe floated in midair. Without waiting for Du Wei to ask for help, Semel began pointing her finger at the pursuing riders. Every time her finger fell upon one of the riders, a cobweb spell was shot to each of the targets. Once caught in the spell, the rider easily fell off their horses and rolled onto the ground. Once off, there is no way they could possibly catch up again. Just when Du Wei wanted to say thank you, Semel interrupted and spoke with a sullen face: ¡°There is still a powerful Mage in front of you, be careful!¡± Just as her words finished, a melodious whistling sound floated into their ears. This sound didn¡¯t cause any pain to Du Wei or the prince, but the horses began to cry in pain. Within seconds, their horses began bleeding in their eyes and mouth before falling to the ground in pain! Caught off guard, Du Wei and Prince Son naturally suffered quite a bit as they too fell to the ground with their mounts! That whistling sound just now is obviously infused with some kind of magic, what kind?! Chapter 137 part 2 The 137th chapter ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡± (part two) Further up the road, a ck robed Mage was drifting in the sky. With his face hidden away by his pointed hat, Du Wei was shocked to see the staff this mysterious mage was holding. Unlike the regr wooden staffs somonly seen on the continent, his staff was madepletely out of bones! On the entire continent, the only people that would use a staff made out of bones are the Death Mages! It is widely agreed upon that ck magic is not only formidable; it is also above the other elements in terms of lethalness! The only problem with this magic is that it is very difficult to cultivate and that the user always carried around him an aura of evil. Right now, this death mage floating in the sky gave off quite the spooky vibe to Du Wei! What is even more distressing for Du Wei right now is that other than the death mage, there is also reinforcement waiting for them in the front. Parked in the middle of the road in front of them are two horses. On the left, the horse had no rider, obviously belonging to the death mage. As for the horse on the right, a knight wearing a glimmering silver armor was sitting on top of it. From the decorations and carving on the armor, Du Wei can immediately tell this armor is not ordinary in the least! And as Du Wei took a closer look at the knight, his sight was quickly drawn towards the slender sword in the knight¡¯s hand. Normally, such a sword is not suitable for mountedbat due to its length, but Du Wei quickly threw away this thought. Without any need to physically touch the sword, just the sight of the icy aura radiating from the de has been enough to send chills down his spine like he had been dunked in a bath of ice water! That magic weapon is simply too amazing! Du Wei had seen many magic weapons prior to this, but this sword simply puts everything he had seen till now to shame! Even for someone like Du Wei with abnormally high mental senses, he could not see through the fluctuating aura radiating off the de. That is how amazing this de is! As Du Wei did his best to figure out why this sword is so dominating, his attention was drawn towards the intricate line carvings on the de edge. Like a pulsing beat, particles of ice crystals were bursting forth into the air; therefore, creating ayer of ice around the de! What is even more surprising is that this guy had no intention of hiding his identity, clearly this person has too much pride in himself to do such a thing! With an emotionless face, this guy looked to be around 40 years old due to his heavy beard. If anything, this person can even be considered handsomepared to the average person, however, his killing intent is too heavy for an averagedy to get close. Facing Du Wei and the Prince, this prideful knight spoke in a gentle voice: ¡°Your highness, it¡¯s been a long time.¡± Calming down after being greeted by the knight, Prince Son patted away the dirt off his robe and replied with a smile: ¡°I didn¡¯t think my brother would be so impatient to actually call upon you, oh respected Sir Rodriguez! Must you also involve yourself in the struggle between us brothers?¡± The silver armored Knight named Rodriguez remained calm like water as he slowly nodded in reply: ¡°I promised his royal highness the crown prince toplete three tasks in my lifetime¡­. This task tonight is the second one. I¡¯m sorry, but I cannot refuse his request.¡± When Du Wei heard Prince Son call out the name ¡°Rodriguez¡±, his heart sank to the very bottom of the ocean! While he was back on the Rowling ins, he had spent countless days in thepany of Hussein. It was during that time when he asked the curious question regarding Hussein¡¯s status of whether he was really the number one knight on the continent¡­ At the time of his questioning, Hussein mused for quite a bit before answering his question. In his answer, Du Wei came to know that on the continent, there is another guy named Rodriguez that would have a chance of defeating him! Right now, Du Wei¡¯s mind started to recall all the information regarding this Rodriguez person. Rodriguez, 46 years old, ninth level Knight ¨C but that was six years ago. When talking about this guy, even Hussein could not stop sighing because this person really is too weird and unpredictable. Solitary by nature, this Rodriguez had always been a loner because no one had ever seen him with any close friends. As for his past, it can be also considered very strange. Originating from a ruined aristocratic family, this person started to train in martial arts since he was 10 years old, yet, it wasn¡¯t until he was 35 years of age that he barely managed to achieve the title of a third level knight! Normally, it wouldn¡¯t be too difficult for even an ordinary person to advance to this level if they trained hard enough, but it took him 25 years to do it! If this information is true, the talent of this Rodriguez should be even lower than the average person! Yet, after a while, this person started to rise in the ranking like he was out of control! In a mere three years, his ranking went from a lowly third level knight up to the sixth level knight. Finally, at the age of 40, he achieved the title of a ninth level knight! If not for the existence of Hussein, it is likely that the title of the strongest knight on the continent would have befallen onto this person! Such a mysterious pace of advancement is simply too hard for an outsider to understand. From a third level to a ninth level, it only took him 5 years¡­. But what is even harder to swallow is that Rodriguez currently possesses one of the three legendary weapons of the continent! Beauty under the Moonlight! This artifact is said to be a legendary weapon left behind during the ancient war of the gods! With an unparalleled sharpness, this sacred sword of the gods has the unique characteristic of producing an icy Dou Qi capable of activating a special skill called ¡°sighs of the frosty moon¡±! Back then, Hussein stated this clearly to him: ¡°When Rodriguezst appeared six years ago, his level was already at the ninth level. Now that so many years have passed, I¡¯m willing to bet he has already advanced to a higher level! Hidden on this continent, there are many masters not known to the public, especially peerless masters like Rodriguez. Don¡¯t expect people like him to go wagging his tails to the knight association just so he can be tested for his rank, got it? As for all those sayings about me being the strongest and wanting to be a Saint Knight, it was all gibberish made up by the temple¡­. After all, they needed someone to be their gship icon, so they had no choice but to boost me up to the peak.¡± Most importantly, Hussein added onest sentence in the end: ¡°Even if Rodriguez did not make a breakthrough in thest six years and is still a ninth level Knight, he still possesses the sacred sword known as ¡°Beauty under the moonlight¡±. If he were to meet me and we ended up fighting, it is likely he would be able to put up a fight against me¡­¡­ And if he did advance to a Saint Knight, I fear even I would not be his match.¡± Remembering back to when Hussein mentioned the ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡±, he seemed to have said it with an ironic tone in his words: ¡°That thing really is an ancient god sword, a genuine artifact! Compared to your poorly crafted ¡®king¡¯s sword¡¯ it is in apletely different realm!¡± Right now, a peerless masterparable to Hussein stands in front of him! On top of that, a death mage is flying in the sky above him¡­¡­ With a bitter smile, Du Wei nced at Prince Son to see that he wasn¡¯t the only one thinking how bad the situation has be. ¡°Your highness, can you stillugh at this moment?¡± Du Wei sighs with sadness: ¡°I believe you should have a backup n, right? If you don¡¯t, I fear that both of us will die tonight.¡± Du Wei obviously knew his highness had something saved up because his expression at the moment is not someone that is about to face death. Prince Son turns to face Du Wei before sighing: ¡°Leave Rodriguez to me. As for that death mage, I will leave him up to you! If we can hold out just a little longer, the city guards will soon take notice ande to our aid.¡± With the battle starting, Du Wei dare not dally around with his life at stake! Though he cannot make out the face of the enemy mage due to the robe covering him, but Du Wei can clearly feel the murderous gazeing at him! ¡°Such a good magic presence¡± Originating from the deathly looking Mage in the sky, the voice is not only dry and hoarse, it sounded like someone wanted to cough but can¡¯t. ¡°Oh, you are wearing a magic schr¡¯s robe! I can sense your magic level is not bad. If I kill you, I can turn your remains into a very good undead familiar! HA HA HA HA ¡­ ¡­¡± Once he finished saying this, the bone staff in his hand suddenly blew out a cloud of white smoke into the sky. From it, skeleton features of a bone dragon appeared before everyone! Du Wei was left speechless. To be able to summon a bone dragon, this death mage should be at least an eighth level grand mage! Relishing in his creation, this dark mage flew up onto the head of his pet dragon. As if it was encouraged by having his head sat on, the bone dragon uttered out a thunderous roar towards Du Wei! While the other party was busy summoning the bone Dragon, Du Wei wasn¡¯t doing nothing either. With his stock of magic scrolls refilled, he even pulled out the multicolored gemstone ring created by Gargamel. ording to the old mouse, even if he cannote out on top in terms of spell count, at least his magic reserve will be a match for his opponent if he wears the ring! Not to mention, behind him still lies the secret weapon known as Semel! There¡¯s no way she would just watch him be killed, right? Chapter 138 The 138th chapter ¡°You can bully others if you have more people?¡± Not wanting to waste any of his own magic reserve, Du Wei donned the flying cloak left behind by Gandalf. Then flying up into the sky across from the dark mage, he carefully eyed the other guy in case he did anything out of his expectation. ¡°Come on then, let us have a duel between magicians!¡± Du Wei cried out in a loud voice to raise his spirit! After his words, the other party didn¡¯t look like seem to be in any rush and simply lets out a sinisterly ¡°Jie Jie Jie Jie¡±ugh: ¡°Dear Boy, you really interest me.¡± With that, the dark mage lightly tapped the bone dragon on the head. As if it was given amand from that simple hand movement, the bone dragon roars open its jaws and sted out a st of dragon breath towards Du Wei! Fortunately, Du Wei had experience facing the dragon race and came well prepared. Raising both of his hands upward, he threw out another magic scroll to block the oing attack. Just like he intended, a bright silvery light spilled out from the scroll the moment it made contact with the ck mes, creating a transparent ball of energy around Du Wei. Contained in this scroll was originally the ¡°Guardian spirit barrier¡± that Du Wei oh so favored. Unfortunately, this valuable spell left behind by Gandalf can only be maintained for about half an hour before it disappearspletely. Able to defend against all kinds of magic attacks, Du Wei believes this trump card of his is the perfect defense against his current enemy. Seeing his pet¡¯s attack being deflected so easily, the death mage sneered in contempt. Then raising his staff to give the nextmand, the bone dragon pped its wings to hone in on Du Wei and started to rush towards him with bursting speed through the air! Understanding the mithril dagger in his possession is not enough to block off this charge, Du Wei hastily pushed himself aside due to the fact that the guardian spirit barrier ispletely useless against any physical impact! Once he was in the clear, Du Wei immediately propelled himself forward to gain some distance between him and the enemy. Seeing this cowardly act, the death mage sneered loudly from behind: ¡°So you wish to run eh?¡± With a few ps of the bone dragon¡¯s wings, the death mage was quickly able to catch up to Du Wei. Pushing his flying cloak to the limit, the speed of the bone dragon is simply too much for him to outpace. After a few twists and turns through the air, the death mage finally caught up to him. Tired of this game of tags, the death mage raised his bone staff and began chanting a dark magic spell. Immediately, the air around the two started to be unbearably heavy as if gravity¡¯s been intensified to another level. Then in the middle of the sky, the very fabric of reality started to sway and a couple ofrge crack appeared in the air. Seeping with a deathly aura, this cracks quickly shattered and a swirl of ck fog started to gush out from the vortexes of darkness. As Du Wei watched on while trying to resist the pressuring air on his body, he noticed the light from his guardian spirit barrier was starting to fade away at a frightening speed! Devouring darkness? (This is the name of the dark magic spell) When he realized what the death mage was trying to do, Du Wei¡¯s blood turned cold because he knew this spell is one of the most iconic offensive spell within the dark magic element! Just when he was trying to think of a way out, the death mage caught on to his schemes and immediately pointed the bone staff at him before shouting: ¡°Go!¡± Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Du Wei had no choice but to hope for the best andpletely rely on the guardian spirit barrier to save him. As the silver arrow like spell made contact with his defensive barrier, the attack only got weakened by 90% and wasn¡¯tpletely deflected. As for the remaining 10%, it was able to prate through the barrier and stab right into his body! It was almost instantaneous when the pain set in. Like his mental force was being pricked with rose thorns, this pain was so severe that even his heart skipped a beat due to his paralyzed body! Heart mantra spell? Du Wei knew he had to get out of this area or else he will be killed. Bypassing the couple of dark vortexes nearby, he flew towards a dense thicket of forest nearby because he knew it was his best chance. As he did this, the guardian spirit barrier around him became even dimmer like it would break anytime soon. A top tiered heart mantra spell is the most favored spell when a mage is dueling with another mage. By focusing its power into a single point, this spell is capable of directing all of its force on a single point like a nail hammering away at a piece of wood. Even the most power of barriers would not be able to fully deflect this because the defensive power is spread in a wide area, while the heart mantra is focused on one point! Du Wei felt awful right now after taking that hit. Once his feet touched the ground, his leg went numb on the waist down and his soul felt like it was being frozen from the inside out! Fortunately this heart mantra spell is a very energy consuming magic. Seeing Du Wei is still alive after taking a hit, this death mage decided it was in his best interest not to continue attempting the same attack in a row. If he did, Du Wei would have likely been killed after two or three hits in his current condition. Afternding in the forest, the death mage followed suit and order his bone dragon tond down on a more open clearing inside the forest. As itnded, the hulking mass of the bone dragon easily crushed the surrounding trees and created a giant mess! ¡°Kid, do you think you can avoid me by running into the forest?¡± The death mage sneered. Raising his bone wand, a dense aura of deathly air roared out from a crack in the fabrics of reality! From the darkness, a death knight riding on a undead steed came bursting forth at the beckoning of the death mage! With hellish mes coursing through the veins of both animal and person, the undead creature looked ever so imposing to one¡¯s eyes. He summoned a death Knight? This guy is obviously more powerful than Mage rk. Not only did this person summon a death knight, he actually summoned five in total! Just when Du Wei thought things was bad enough; the death mage began summoning even more undead creatures. From the very core of the earthly ground of the forest, dozens or so rotting hands began to sprout out from the dirt like newly grown shoots! In mere moments, skeleton soldiers of superior standard began to align the field with their unholy presence! ¡°You may be able to defend against my magic with your barrier.¡± The death Mage smiled in a very sinister way: ¡°But can you defend against the swords and des of these undead creatures?¡± Five high ranked undead knights, matched with a dozen or so skeleton solders of superior standards! Du Wei sighed and began mumbling to himself, ¡°It¡¯s no wonder a Mage can instill so much fear into the public. With such force, even a small army would need to take a detour to avoid so many undead creatures!¡± Then with a serious face, he turned to look at the mocking death mage: ¡°What you said is not bad. I can¡¯t beat you in terms of speed, nor can I beat you head on in a fight. The best course of action left for me is to summon a magic creature to fight for me; unfortunately, I don¡¯t have any in my arsenal to call upon.¡± ¡°Then you should quietly give out your soul to me.¡± The death mage sneered: ¡°Let me turn you into a high ranking undead creature! Oh, maybe with your magic talent, I might be able to turn you into a lich!¡± ¡°Hmm ¡­ ¡­ A bone Dragon, five Death Knight, One, Two, three. Four¡­¡­ 26 skeleton soldiers.¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°This really is bullying with sheer numbers! Oh, is this your fighting style, with numbers?¡± Death Magician cries out a chillingugh: ¡°I can¡¯t believe you have top tiered guardian spirit barrier! Otherwise, my one Heart Mantra spell would have been enough to take your life!¡± Du Wei nods: ¡°Hmm, then what you are saying is that numbers can decide who can bully who? All right then!¡± With that, Du Wei stuffs one of his hands into his bosom and gingerly pulls out a golden colored horn! This horn is indeed the gift he received from the treant leader back in the frozen forest. Holding this valuable treasure up to his lips, Du Wei blew into it¡­.. A deep and vigorous horn sound sprayed out in all directions throughout the forest! In this single attempt, Du Wei can feel 90% of his energy being burned up! This is the first time he ever used this treasure, so he wasn¡¯t quite prepared for the hefty energy consumption that urred from his one blow. To remedy this, he quickly pulled out the rainbow colored ring to refill his own magic reserve. Only after doing this did his pale expression regain some face color. After the short rustling sound of leavesing from the forest, a booming noise of roots uplifting from the firm soil echoed from all directions! One by one, these ancient trees awoke from their slumber and transformed into treantpanions! Unintentionally, one of the panions¡¯ heading over to Du Wei idently crushed a couple of skeleton soldiers into pieces without notice! Looking around to see all these huge hulking trees to back him up, Du Wei lets out a mocking smirk towards his foe: ¡°If you have more people, then you can bully others, right?¡± Moving back to where the Prince is right now. The enemy knight named Rodriguez had already dismounted and started to slowly approach the unprotected son of the emperor. ¡°Your highness, I¡¯m sorry but I must take your life today.¡± Raising his glimmering ice de, Rodriguez aimed the ice covered sword at the prince. While under the radiating moonlight, this legendary artifact became ever so beautiful under the moons light¡­¡­ ¡°Such a beautiful sword.¡± Prince Son sighed as if he was reluctant to pull his sight away from the enemy weapon: ¡°This sword really does deserve the name Beauty under the Moonlight!¡± Rodriguez lets out a soft sigh before replying: ¡°You are of royal blood, so I¡¯ll make sure you meet your end with dignity. When I behead you, I¡¯ll make sure to freeze your body instantly to allow it to be preserved in a full state. I assure you, there won¡¯t be a single drop of blooding out the wound.¡± With that, a highly pressurized sword aura pushed out from this icy cold de. If Rodriguez were to sh down towards the prince at this moment, the expelled strike force would be enough to dismember the prince in half. ¡°To be able to die without bleeding is indeed a very dignified way of passing.¡± Prince Son suddenly smiled: ¡°But what am I going to do? I still have a lot of things I didn¡¯t get done yet, so I don¡¯t want to die here tonight yet.¡± With that, he pulled open the shirt on his chest and under it was a strange pendant that was hidden away from sight! With a shape of a cross like sword, the design is extremely simplest. Despite this, the blemishes of age cannot be hidden away. If one were to look closely, traces of rust could be found on the edges of the pendant and the yellowish discoloration is obvious enough to the naked eyes. The original calm face of Rodriguez suddenly turned pale as soon as he caught of a glimpse of the pendant: ¡°Guardian of the Saint Rnd¡¯s?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right; it is Guardian of the Saint Rnd¡¯s!¡± Without hesitation, Prince Son ripped the pendant off his neck and ruthlessly stabbed it into the ground! With a loud rumbling sound, a sh of searing red mes exploded from the ground! Filled with murderous screams, a figure of a ming warrior steadily strode out from the transparent mes of the pendant. From appearances, this majestic being donned a tattered looking armor from a bygone era, but the imposing air could not be hidden no matter what! ¡°The great guardian of the Saint Rnd Knights! The twelve mysterious Saint Knights under Aragon had each gave up a drop of their blood to create this divine being! By mixing their blood with a special metal, this pendant was created after being enchanted with a powerful magic ritual! Throughout the ages, this magical creature had acted as the patron god of the reigning royal family!¡± Prince Son may look pale, but his eyes were filled with a feverish admiration towards the very creature he had summoned! Not only is this ancient warrior shrouded in mes, even its eyes were filled with radiating mes! Although the distance between Rodriguez and this creature is still ten meters in length, but the overwhelming pressure from its gaze is enough to force the Saint level Rodriguez back a step! His eyes may look dejected, but his hands still moved with unrelenting speed. Holding his weapon with both hands, Rodriguez covered the distance in a single breath and shed down with enough force to create a mini abyss on the ground¡­. Keng! Shuddering from the impact, Rodriguez unwillingly stepped back due to the imprable force that had resisted his attack. From a mere step backwards, even the ground began to give way and cracks started to appear behind Rodriguez! The legendary sword ¡®Beauty under the Moonlight¡¯ was easily deflected by the long sword of the ming warrior in front of the prince! Rodriguez grunted, his whole body was suddenly enshrouded in a golden me of Dou Qi! What he did now symbolizes the highest level a knight could reach on the Rnd continent, Saint ranked Dou Qi! Following after Hussein, the golden glow of a Saint ss fighter once again walks among the Rnd continent! Not only is Rodriguez covered in a golden me representing his Saint ss Dou Qi, the legendary sword ¡®Beauty under the Moonlight¡¯ was radiating an endless sheen of silvery light! From the air around the sword, tiny particles of ice crystal were glistening off the light, making it ever more so majestic in the darkness! ¡°Sir Rodriguez, I was correct in my spection, you did in fact advance to a Saint Knight!¡± Prince Son dropped down to the ground with a very weak looking face: ¡°However, this magic creature created from the bloods of the Saint Rnd Knights toon is also all SAINT¡ªKNIGHTS!¡± With that, the ming warrior seems to have sensed how powerful his current opponent is. With a loud imposing roar, the reddish mes covering the creature¡¯s body instantly became a golden color! Rodriguez was shocked beyond measure: ¡°It can¡¯t be, how can a magic creature also be at the saint level?!¡± Under such intense light from the two mighty warriors, even the luster from the night sky was lost¡­.. Chapter 139 The 139th chapter ¡°asymmetric battle¡± The battle between Du Wei and the death mage is already at its peak. Under themand of Du Wei, more than 10 huge treant panions¡¯ came mming down on top of the bone dragon, thus, pinning it to the ground. Struggle as it might, the undead creature could not break free from the clutches of the massive swarm. Seeing the situation is turning for the worse, the furious bone dragon opens its hulking jaw and breathed out its signature mes against its enemy. Unfortunately for the bone dragon, before it could take the next breath to get another kill, one of the nearby treants already raised its fist and punched the dragon across the face! Bang!! Under the immense striking power of this single punch, even the dragon¡¯s skull nearly shattered. Now, a long crack ran from one end of the jaw to the neck! After a wave of angry roars, the treants managed topletely dismember the bone dragon from top to bottom after losing four of its numbers. As for the death mage, he had long flew into the night sky and watched on with burning pain in his heart. Even for someone like him, he was only able to acquire such a high quality bone dragon after paying a hefty price to acquire the needed materials to build it. To see it being decimated in such a fashion on the ground, the death mage would obviously feel the pain. Normally, the bone dragon would not be so easily defeated if it was flying in the air. Even if it couldn¡¯tpletely defeat the entire army of treants roaming the woods, the bone dragon could just continue fighting in the air without receiving any major damage. As for those death knights and skeleton soldiers, they were easily wiped out under the constant barrage by the treants. But the death knights did fare a bit better than the skeleton soldiers. With the deathly mes produced by their swords, the death knight was able to deal some serious injuries to the treants. However, due to being vastly outnumbered, the knights were quickly obliterated after taking a few swings on their mounts. With his heart spilling blood from this major loss, the death mage wanted tomit suicide with Du Wei. You need to understand, in order to create so many undead creatures and a bone dragon at that, it would require no less than decades to gather the needed souls! To see his only mini army destroyed in a blink of an eye, no mage can possibly shrug it off! Nearly losing his mind, the death mage couldn¡¯t take it anymore when he saw the unscathed Du Wei sitting safely inside the barrier. Opening both of his arms against the sky, the death mage began to cast another spell. With deathly ck fog pouring out of his body, even the sky was nearly blocked off by this ghostly fog! Du Wei couldn¡¯t quite put his fingers on it, but when the fog swirled above his head, the movement felt alive like a creature. Then from this creepy fog, a purplish lightning started to spark out of the thing¡­.. He may not have a firm grasp of what this magic is, but he could feel a sense of impending danger. Watching the dangerous cloud pressing down towards him, several feelers suddenly stretched out in all directions. Like life sucking monsters, several treants on the ground immediately dried up like they were deprived life when the feelers made contact with them. Withering away like dried husks, the poor treants crumbled apart before their massive trunks could even touch the ground! Such a terrifying magic! He is scared now! Du Wei still didn¡¯t know it yet, but the death mage actually summoned forth a top tiered ck magic called ¡°Space Devourer¡± due to losing his mind from rage! This spell is arge scale attack exclusive to the ck magic department. Once used, all life within its range would be devoid of life! For this reason, this spell is strictly forbidden by the magic union. In history, many disasters were created due to evil death mages using this spell to kill offrge amounts of living creatures just so they can harvest the souls for cultivation. Although this death mage has been secretly practicing this spell, but he didn¡¯t dare use it out in the open due to the fear of being hunted down by the magic union. If it wasn¡¯t due to Du Wei so tantly destroying his life¡¯s work, the death mage would never have resorted to such a method! Moving back to the other fight. With a calm face, Prince Son is safely sitting on the ground while under the protection of the barrier created by the pendant. Surprisingly though, this magic barrier created by the pendant is even stronger than the guardian spirit barrier under Du Wei¡¯s possession! Without moving an inch, he quietly watched on as Rodriguez fought with the Saint Rnd magic creature! Right now, the road is already aplete mess due to the blows sent out by both Saint ss fighters. Not only did potholes litter the road, the nearby trees were either blown away or smashed into pieces! Rodriguez looked somber as he held onto his dazzling weapon. Not only is his body covered in a golden glow, the sword called ¡°Moonlight under the Moon¡± was reflecting a gorgeous glow from the iceyer, thus, causing his silvery armor to look ever so majestic. However, Rodriguez was feeling pressured in his heart. What he is facing now is the strongest artifact left behind by the founding emperor of the empire ¨C A saint ss magic creature! Before he could even catch his breath, the magic creature was already making the second move. In a single block by Rodriguez, the shockwave produced by the two opposing force had sent everything within their radius flying far into the horizon, destroying everything in its wake! Now, the spot where their weapons made contact is a massive pit! Although the undead creature carrying the spirit of the Saint Rnd Knights is powerful, but to be able to fend off a true Saint ss warrior like Rodriguez is truly frustrating for him. Not only is he furious at this oue, his pride as a warrior is hurt¡­. The frosty air of the ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡± may be powerful and is capable of causing the surrounding terrain to freeze, but the mes extruding from this undead creature would instantly melt the ice apart. Making up his mind, Rodriguez not only didn¡¯t push forward, but retreated back ten meters. In one fell spinning motion of his sword, a vortex of icy air shot forth from his weapon and aimed straight for the magic creature. Facing the oing attack, the guardian spirit of the royal family only uttered a rant and stood its ground with both swords crossed on his chest! Under the binding force of the frosty vortex, the magic creature didn¡¯t take a single step backwards! Then after a minute of enduring the onught of ice and wind, the golden Dou Qi extruding from the magic creature suddenly bursts forth and dissipated the attack by Rodriguez. The knight knew his attack wouldn¡¯t be enough to finish the enemy, but it was good enough to stall the enemy for a moment. During the time he gained, he had been injecting his own Dou Qi in the legendary sword ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡±. Vibrating with a buzzing sound, the sword gave off the image of absolute power! Bursting with a cold aura, even the air around Rodriguez turned into beads of ice! Prince Son is a well-educated person. With a single nce, he can tell this mighty warrior intends to go all out without holding back! There is no doubt; the famed Rodriguez intends to use his trump card ¡°Frosted sighs of the Moon¡±! Prince Son may look calm on the surface, but his heart was in a total panic! As the most powerful move of this famed warrior, who knows how many powerful warriors fell at the hands of this attack. The magic creature created from his family heirloom may be powerful, but it is after all only a magic creature. If he cannot kill Rodriguez tonight, then his elder brother be even more wary of him from now on! Rodriguez¡¯s Dou Qi is already at its peak, ready to release his most powerful attack! Just when he was about to make his move, he suddenly sensed a vague yet powerful dark energy from afar. Rodriguez immediately recognized this is from his death magepanion! ¡°Stupid!¡± He loudly scolded in his mind! This ce is the capital, is he not afraid of the magic union taking notice by using such powerful dark magic?! Chapter 140 The 140th chapter ¡°dual identity¡± Though he is unwilling, Rodriguez dare not dy himself. If the magic union gets wind of their movements, then the trouble down the road is no small matter! With grudging eyes, he gave the Saint ss magic creature onest look: ¡°Humph! It is a warrior¡¯s greatest wish to be able to face off against another foe of the same caliber! Unfortunately today, it seems that Magepanion of mine is far too reckless!¡± Letting out a sigh, he suddenly retracted his Dou Qi back into his body. Then facing the currently sitting Prince Son from afar, he loudly said: ¡°Your highness, let¡¯s call it for today. You are already under the protection of the Saint Rnd Guardian Spirit; therefore, I have already failed. But since I couldn¡¯tplete the task from the crown prince, I¡¯m certain there will be other cases where I¡¯m asked toe after you!¡± With that, Rodriguez turned and walked away. In a single leapt through the air, the contour of his body disappeared into the sky and a silver streak headed towards the location of the neighboring battle. Prince Son finally lets out a sigh of relief. The Saint Rnd Guardian Spirit may be powerful, but it has some fatal weaknesses. When the pendant is triggered, the spirit will only defend against attacks and is unable to pursue the enemy if they flee. Moreover, the magic creature will onlyst for 30 minutes. Once the time limit is reached, the pendant will lose its power and the time gap between the next summoning is excruciating long. Standing up from the ground, he could vaguely sense the frightening fluctuation of ck magic in the air. Letting out a sigh, he mumbled to himself: ¡°Du Wei¡­. I fear he might be in trouble.¡± £» Du Wei is indeed facing trouble now! Sitting in the middle of his guardian spirit barrier, all of the surrounding treants were withering away due to having their life force sucked right out of their bodies. With deathly ck smoke pressing against him, even light from his barrier started to lose its brilliance! ¡°Boy, I¡¯ll have you pay with your life for ruining so many of my familiars! Ah, that horn is not bad; I¡¯ll take it to make up for my losses!¡± The death mage¡¯sughter could be heard from behind the shroud of fog. Humph, want to take my horn of life? His anger may be swelling up from the inside, but he simply couldn¡¯t do anything against his foe right now. Although his magic is not bad, but his reservoir of spells is simply toockingpared to a properly trained Mage. Moreover, he had literally no idea how to fend off against a death mage of such high caliber. Just when Du Wei is facing imminent danger, a golden light shed across the ck fog. Surprisingly, the person in question waspletely unharmed despite being in the presence of such deadly magic! Ignoring all consequences, Rodriguez desperately rushed into the magic fog and came up to hispanion¡¯s side: ¡°Are you out of your mind, this is the capital! If we somehow alert thew enforcement team of the magic union, both you and I would have an endless amount of trouble following us!¡± Rodriguez eximed in a loud cry. Just as the death mage was about to refute, a very high pitched eerie voice floated into their ears! This bizarre sound is indeeding from the capital city. Alerted, the death mage immediately turned to gaze at the general direction of the capital city with an eagle eyes spell. Under the effect of having improved eye sight, he saw four Mage robed individuals flying towards their location. With ck outfits from top to bottom, these neers are indeed thew enforcement team of the magic union! The Death Mage cried out in horror: ¡°Shit, we alerted those monsters! We must leave now!¡± With that said, he quickly began to recover the ck fog into his storage. Unfortunately for the death mage, Rodriguez forcefully stopped him before he could finish retrieving all of it. Then within moments, thew enforcement team was already here. Their flight speed is truly inhuman, covering several miles of distance between the capital and their location in mere seconds. Still sitting on the ground, Du Wei looked up at where the four shadows were hovering in the sky. Mentally, Du Wei could feel their senses probing him, but because of his own fatigue, he didn¡¯t try to resist. Weirdly though, even though he was under the protection of the guardian spirit barrier, the four ghostly shadows were able to bypass his defense with ease! It wasn¡¯t the first time Du Wei suffered at the hands of these monsters, so he didn¡¯t dare do anything out of the ordinary! Sitting obediently inside his barrier, he closed his eyes and began to meditate. Once they finished examining Du Wei, the four ghostly shadows roared out a grunt and began to chase down the other two far in the distance. Still looking pale, Du Wei finally rested only long enough to pull himself off the ground. Taking out the magic ring created by the mouse, he immediately recharged his entire energy reserve. Only by doing this and taking a big gulp of water did the dizziness in his head die down a bit. Right now, the ce is peacefully quiet and a faint glow of the rising sun could be seen over the horizon. Patting away the dust on his robe, Du Wei could hardly believe what he had just experienced. If not for the fact that the death mage had to flee at the right moment, it was likely he would have met his end by now. Secretly in his mind, he made a rule for himself to never be so reckless when facing such a powerful foe in the future again. As he looked around at his surroundings, the air still lingered with the dark fog and the ground was littered with lifeless barbs of tree remnants. If he had topare what he was seeing now, it would be a scene simr to an apocalyptic movie scene. With the sun¡¯s light slowly rising over from the high mountains, the residual ck fog scattered upon contact as if they were scared of the light. But for some unknown reason, thest of the remaining ck fog started to huddle around Du Wei as if being attracted by something! At first, Du Wei was a bit startled by what he saw, but his worries were dismissed. Still sitting inside his barrier, the ck fog only tried to cling to his body without causing any harm to him. With his curiosity piqued, Du Wei wanted to know more. Not only did the fog fluctuate strangely in the air, he would sometimes hear a vague shrill like screaming out of the fog¡­. This magic fog also has a consciousness too? The truth is, this ck fog doesn¡¯t actually have a consciousness. Because of tonight¡¯s mass destruction, the life force from the entire surrounding environment fused with the fog; therefore, the screams and cries are actually from the life energy of those killed by this ck fog. It¡¯s not just animals that hold life; everything in the world contains life energy, so it¡¯s just a matter of how much. As he continued to observe the strange fog around him, his mind was suddenly struck with a thought. Maybe it was out of instinct, but he eventually drew out the ck crystal ball he had bought from the magic union earlier. Without even trying to manipte the ck crystal ball ¨C he actually had no idea how to use ck magic, so this is pure guesswork on his part ¨C the ck fog started to dive towards the gemstone he had brought out. Without leaving a single trace, all of the dark energy was sucked right into his orb! Facing such a strange thing, Du Wei spent a moment to think it over. Then facing the crystal ball in hand, he could see some kind of dark cloud swirling inside the orb. Moving back and forth, this strangely weird cloud of dark energy fluctuated inside before finally fusingpletely with the crystal. Unlike the dull mirror like surface, the orb took on a darker ck sheen that gave off a weird vibe. Since Du Wei did not understand what is going, he might as well wait till he¡¯s back at home and ask the mouse about this. Perhaps Gargamel knows something. Just like this, a good amount of time passed by that even Prince Son came looking for him. With a hundred or so soldiers, coupled with the injured Sir Chick, all of them followed closely behind the Prince. Oh yes, let¡¯s not forget the extra carriage in the back carrying the four apprentices belonging to Du Wei. It would seem the injury on Sir Chick is quite severe. From the blood stained bandages covering him from head to toe like a mummy, it was most certain that he would require healing magic from the temple¡¯s priest to be fully healed. Although Prince Son still looked pale on his face, but he looked delighted when his sight fell upon Du Wei. With a broad smile, the prince held out both of his arms and gave Du Wei a giant hug of joy: ¡°My spection is indeed correct! As a direct disciple of Master Gandalf, how can you possibly be killed by a mere death mage?!¡± It was at this brief moment of happiness that Sir Chick interrupted. Upon seeing the giant bow hanging from Du Wei¡¯s back, the master ss warrior cried out shock: ¡°Nirvana¡¯s bow! You killed Daneilou?¡± Nirvana¡¯s bow? Du Wei immediately thought of the master fromst night. Thanks to his sneak attack, Du Wei was able to kill the poor guy. Nodding his head, Du Wei replied: ¡°That¡¯s right. I acquired this from a foest night.¡± Prince Son gave a serious look at Sir Chick and questioned: ¡°You¡¯re certain? It is truly Deneiluo?¡± ¡°Humph! Who else can injure me with a bow if it¡¯s not Deneiluo? Humph!¡± Sir Chick had aplicated expression when he nced at the bow behind Du Wei: ¡°And I recognize that Nirvana¡¯s bow. If the crown prince didn¡¯t gift such a treasure to Deneiluo, how else can he possibly convince the continent¡¯s top archer to work for him?¡± Prince Son began tough with pping hands: ¡°This big brother of mine sure lost a lotst night. To lose such a treasure and the service of such a highly skilled archer, he must be pulsing in rage!¡± Then with delightful eyes, he turned to face Du Wei: ¡°Since this bow was acquired by you, then you should have it.¡± When the prince dered this, Sir Chick showed an unwilling expression as he looked towards Du Wei: ¡°It¡¯s such a shame. This bow is famed throughout history as a weapon for killing Mages. For it to fall into the hands of a Mage today,¡­.¡± A weapon specializing in killing Mages? With sparkling eyes, Du Wei asked with a smiling face: ¡°I can¡¯t see through this thing¡­. There¡¯s only a bow and no arrows¡­..¡± ¡°What do you know?¡± Sir Chick shook his head in disappointment: ¡°This bow doesn¡¯t require arrows.¡± Prince Son lets out a bigugh: ¡°its fine. Sir Chick, you don¡¯t need to say more. The sun¡¯s already up, we should hurry and return to the capital.¡± £» Under the protection of the capital¡¯s defense garrison, the group returned to the capital city without any hurdle. And during the trip back, Prince Son was especially kind towards him. Apparently, because Du Wei was able to fend off a death mage of such caliber, his status in the prince¡¯s eyes went up a notch once again. Yet, Du Wei only wanted to go home as soon as possible to clear up some important questions. Once again, Du Wei recognized his greatest weakness from hiding away at home. His understanding of the capital¡¯s situation is obviously toocking for him to stay safe. After being escorted back to his home, Prince Son bid his farewell without making any scene. Opening the door, the first person that Du Wei saw is in fact captain Alpha of the personal guards. Standing beside the doorway, this faithful attendant of the Rowling family had a very ugly expression as he faced Du Wei. In a whispering voice, Alpha said: ¡°Master Du Wei, the Earl wants to see you right now!¡± Then his eyes floated to the Nirvana¡¯s bow behind Du Wei¡¯s back. Turning pale at the sight, even the posture of this alwaysposed captain suddenly felt very ufortable as he stood there. Lowering his head, Alpha didn¡¯t say anything else and turned around to walk ahead. Once again, the Du Wei entered into his father¡¯s study room. Though the Earl seems to have not slept at allst night, but his face showed no signs of fatigue. The only indication of his sleepless night is the bloodshot eyes only found in someone thatcked rest. Holding onto his sword, the Earl was gently rubbing a cloth against it. In that one nce, Du Wei recognized that specific sword is the favorite weapon of his father. Back when his father was out at sea, this sword was always by his side through good and bad times. When Du Wei entered, the Earl gave his son one look before sheathing the sword back into the scabbard. Then turning around, his attention waspletely focused on Du Wei. The Earl¡¯s eyes looked like it was deep in thought. Although his sight caught hold of the Nirvana¡¯s bow, but the Earl only showed a glimmer of surprise before returning to normal like it was no big deal. Grabbing a parchment from the table, he handed it over to Du Wei. ¡°I received this thingst night, but you didn¡¯te home so I couldn¡¯t give it to you. Now that you are here, here it is!¡± Du Wei received the parchment and had a quick look over it. This parchment is in fact a document. Signed by the current emperor and issued jointly by the Imperial Financial Chancellor and the military highmand! Also, the content of this document will be made public today. ¡°Once this news is made public, you will be the center of attention.¡± The Earl sighs: ¡°You were together with Prince Sonst night, right? Humph, did he want to pull you to his side? I have long heard aboutst night¡¯s situation¡­. The royal guards are already on high alert after hearing about the prince¡¯s assassination attempt¡­.. Aigh, Du Wei did you know? I stayed up all night when I heard you were with the prince all night. In my heart, I was so worried!¡± Du Wei was left with no words so he decided to keep his silence. His face may be emotionless, but his heart was stirring like waves! Because the content on this document is written very clearly! ¡°Preparatory order for the Empire¡¯s Magic Academy.¡± The top part of the documents was nothing but nice sounding words about nonsense like improving the army and etc¡­. But it was thetter half that is shocking! When he read the names of the first 15 members of the academy¡¯smittee, Du Wei¡¯s name is clearly a part of it! ¡°Of these 15 names: 7 are from the magic union, 4 are Mages loyal to the army, and 3 are court mages loyal to the royal family! Divided with 7 to 7 between the magic union and the royal court, this seems to be evenly bnced¡­. But then your name is suddenly added to the list, making you the 15th member! Whichever side you lean towards, it will have a decisive role in the future!¡± The Earl carefully stared down at his son: ¡°Now do you understand why all of this is happening? When you came to the capital, why you were almost assassinated and why the magic union wants to pull you to their side?¡± Du Wei took in a deep breath, putting down the document: ¡°The appointment includes me, why? I¡¯m so young with no qualifications. If talking about my abilities, it¡¯s quite limited! So why did I get included in thismittee?¡± ¡°Because of your teacher.¡± The Earl gave a wry smile: ¡°You may not know this¡­ ¡­ But the first one to propose this idea of a magic academy is your master Gandalf! After brining up this topic years ago, he left the magic union for a long time, thus, leaving the proposal in a halted state. Then suddenly, he showed up out of nowhere and personally went to the pce and convinced his majesty to push forward with this idea! Unfortunately, because of the forces involved with creating this magic academy, the matter became extremelyplicated¡­.¡± ¡°That¡¯s obvious!¡± Du Weiughs: ¡°If the creation of the magic academy seeds, then it would mean the end of the magic union¡¯s monopoly on magic! There¡¯s no doubt the magic union would oppose this idea¡­. Moreover, Mages have always taught their arts through student and master rtionship. If this suddenly changes andrge numbers of students can be produced in a short amount of time, then where would their loyalty lie? This is the key factor in all of this!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, the effects of this matter is too big. That¡¯s why after arguing for many years, they finally agreed on one thing¡± The Earl had wry smile on his face: ¡°Although there are arguments on both sides, but they did have a unified view on this one issue, and that is the first Dean of the magic academy must be headed by master Gandalf!¡± For the legendary Magister Gandalf to head this position is truly the most appropriate choice. ¡°Regrettably, Gandalf passed away before the announcement could be made¡­ Therefore, as his direct disciple, who else could we appoint?!¡± Du Wei puts down the document: ¡°I don¡¯t understand something. There are other disciples under Gandalf, so why must it be me and not someone else?¡± Earl faintly smiles: ¡°Because you are the youngest one! Because you are my son! We and the magic Union struggled too much. Evenly bnced with 7 to 7, none would agree on the other side gaining a lead on the head count. Then you suddenly appeared! After discussing it, both sides agreed it would be for the best that you take on the position. You are my son, but at the same time a disciple of Gandalf¡­. Equal on both sides, there are no better candidate than you!¡± ¡°But why tell me now? Did you not want to tell me this after the summer festival?¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice sounded really cold as he spoke these words. Chapter 141 part 1 The 141th chapter ¡°The heart¡¯s like an abyss¡± (part 1) Disciple of the legendary Gandalf, youngest magic schr of the magic union, eldest son of the military¡¯s second inmand, and heir to the Rowling Household (although looked down by the family, but there has never been an official announcement to abolish his position). In this series of dazzling titles, there is about to be another added to the bunch: ¡°A member of the first council within the magic academy!¡± If nothing else happens from now until his appointment, he would y out the critical role of having thest say regarding future decisions made the academy. One vote to pass, or one vote to revoke! Once the Magic Academy establishes, there will be a great change over the Mage monopoly of the magic union. Without a doubt, it would improve the culture of the Mage society and push him to the forefront of all this! ¡°I just want to know why you¡¯re telling me this news now.¡± Du Wei looked at his father in silence: ¡°I already knew you wanted to tell me this information after the summer festival, right? Oh, no, no, let me take a guess, you may not want to tell me in person. Instead, you wanted to get the Emperor to make the announcement during the ceremonies, wouldn¡¯t that have enough impact? My father!¡± ¡°Yes indeed.¡± Earl Raymond nodded. Taking in a deep breath, he took a deep nce at this son of his and saw a trace of cold indifference in Du Wei¡¯s eyes. Back when the Earl first returned from his expedition out in sea, he had seen this kind of cold indifference during their first meeting. But when he summoned Du Wei back to the capital from the Rowling ins, Raymond realized Du Wei had hid this coldness away very deeply inside and only now did these indifferent cold eyes resurface again! Earl Raymond sighed: ¡°I won¡¯t answer your question right away. My son, we first need to have a honest conversation before that!¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± Du Wei shrugged his shoulders with a mocking smile. Earl Raymond properly ¡°ignores¡± the mocking tone in Du Wei¡¯s voice. With a serious face, he faced Du Wei and suddenly uttered these words out: ¡°You are my son; this fact cannot change no matter what¡­. Nor can anyone else change this. You are a child of the Rowling Household!¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Yes. ¡± Du Wei quietly nodded. ¡°The establishment of this magic academy involves arge weighing force in the future. What you need to understand right now is that you are not the only one being pushed to the forefront of this matter, there is also me!¡± Earl Raymond¡¯s tone became very serious: ¡°The emperor and the president of the magic union both recognize you as the best candidate to buffer the tension between the two parties. Because your identity is not only a Mage, but also a child of an influential noble household, you are deemed as the best middleman that represents the interest of both sides. Even a genius politician would not want to so recklessly flip the table this early on because neither party can afford to suffer through the losses that would ensue! Under such a situation, everyone is looking towards you to keep the bnce in check for now. In the short term, no one would want to meddle with your status and it can even be considered a good thing for you, but¡­..¡± Du Wei is a clever person so he immediately understood his father¡¯s meaning. Without waiting for his father to finish his speech, Du Wei is already sighing: ¡°But the situation is very bad for the Rowling Household. This is what you mean right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Earl Raymond looked gloomy: ¡°Because of your existence, you have already dragged the family into a dangerous situation!¡± Du Wei is speechless. ¡°You are my son. No matter what happens, you are still a family member of the Rowling Household! You should remember now. When you first returned to the capital, what did I say to you in this room?¡± To his father¡¯s question, Du Wei immediately replied without hesitation: ¡°I remember. When I was in here, you said to me, ¡®Now that you are back in the capital, every movement you make represents the Rowling family.¡¯ The feeling behind your words that day is something I never experienced in 14 years of my life.¡± Speaking up to the end, Du Wei deeply looked over at his father. Though his gaze wasn¡¯t sharp like a knife, but it was enough to make the Earl turn slightly to dodge eye contact with his son. Hesitating for a moment, the Earl finally relents and sighs: ¡°It is precisely for this reason! The Rowling family is loyal to the Royal family, no matter the situation; the Rowling Household must side with them. All of our authority and even the family¡¯s foundation is closely tied to the Thorn Flower g of the Empire! And now, in our family, a marginal figure like you suddenly appeared¡­. indeed, the president of the magic union and the emperor both recognizes you, but under such circumstances, do you think the emperor would still trust in me like before? Would he still trust in the Rowling household?¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t think too much on this question and quickly shook his head. The answer is obviously in the negative! The Rowling household is suddenly infected with a person with such close ties to the ¡°enemy camp¡±, so of course the current headstrong emperor would have traces of suspicion, or even disgust towards us. What does a leader want? A leader wants his subordinates to have absolute loyalty towards himself! Only such people would gain the highest trust of their leader! But now, the Rowling Household suddenly produced someone like Du Wei. Although he was forced into such a two sided position, but Du Wei¡¯s presence will undoubtedly produce some doubt in the Emperor¡¯s heart. No matter how much the Emperor trusted the Earl before, a person cannot stop themselves when facing a subordinate harboring a member that tilts towards the enemy camp. For your son to be a member of the magic union, do you think you can still gain myplete trust? This question would obviously be raised in everyone¡¯s mind! Maybe if the leader in question is a person of great fortitude and holds immense wisdom; unfortunately, the current emperor isn¡¯t such a man! ¡°And there is also something you don¡¯t know¡­. The emperor¡¯s body has been waning away the past few years and his temper became so senile that it cannot be predicted. In recent years, no one in the royal court dares to cross him, fearing that his temper may be triggered at any moment.¡± Among the Earl¡¯s words, there are traces of worries mixed in: ¡°And the most unfortunately thing is, presuming you read a lot of history books, you should understand the tactics used by each generation of emperors before their deaths. When passing the throne to the next generation, the current emperor would always suppress some high ranking officers controlling major military authorities. This tactic is mainly used as a deterrence to block off any ministers wielding too much power that could threaten the next reigning emperor. Unfortunately, in the aftermath of this incident, his Majesty is already having different opinions regarding our Rowling Household. Think about it. When the emperor wants to suppress a military official, who would he choose in this situation?¡± Du Wei replied with a somber voice: ¡°It¡¯s most likely us.¡± ¡°It¡¯s correct, and also not correct.¡± Earl Raymondughed bitterly: ¡°Under the present situation, precisely speaking, you will be pulled in by his Majesty and even promoted¡­. As for the Rowling Household, we will be slowly suppressed. But this is not what I¡¯m worried about because as long as you hold the position inside the magic academy, his Majesty would not overdo it to avoid pushing you towards the magic union¡¯s side. However, what I¡¯m worried about is the long term!¡± Du Wei understands his father¡¯s worry is correct. The image of the Rowling Household always revolved around the royal family. As a core member of the nobles circle swearing fealty to the empire, the family is only able to gain its current status as a supporting pir for the empire after hundreds of years of tradition. But now, a ¡°half traitor¡± like Du Wei appeared and is even hindered into such an important incident. This is enough to tarnish the absolute loyal image of the Rowling Household and send it down a notch. ¡°The emperor actually doesn¡¯t have to do anything, as long as the magic academy thing is over¡­¡­ After all, you can¡¯t always stay in such a position. Once you leave this post, the Rowling family would really be in trouble. Even without the Emperor deliberately oppressing us, as long as the Royal Family holds a grudge and never trust us again¡­. Then the day of our family¡¯s downfall is not far away!¡± Earl Raymondughs bitterly: ¡°This is what I worry about the most.¡± Du Wei faced his father: ¡°Since you have thought this far, then you should have already came up with a countermeasure, right?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± Earl Raymond expression turned ugly: ¡°To gain the confidence of the royal family back¡­. Or rather, regain the trust of the ¡®Emperor¡¯, there is only one way and that is to earn merits! But in this era, there is no war for our family to exploit, so there is only one option left¡­..¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Enthronement.¡± Du Wei sighs again. He finally understands it all. For an emperor, what merit are the most valuable and what men he would most favor? The biggest merit is enthronement! The most favored ministers are those that supported him during his enthronement! Chapter 141 part 2 The 141th chapter ¡°The heart¡¯s like an abyss¡± (Part 2) ¡°I don¡¯t hold any hope for the current emperor. My greatest hope is to support one of the prince¡¯s and help him champion onto the throne. Once the throne is seized and the new emperor steps in, there is no doubt the Rowling Household would receive immense gratitude and trust for our efforts! If this can work out, the future of the family is insured and the development of the household will not face any obstacles!¡± Earl Raymond looked profoundly deep as he faced his son. Du Wei already lost track of how many times he sighed today, but he still cannot stop himself from giving his father an impotent look: ¡°Enthronement is indeed the best solution at the present moment. Though it is a gamble, but if it seeds, then the payout would be huge¡­. May I know which prince did you bet on?¡± ¡°The Crown Prince.¡± Although Du Wei had already guessed the answer, but he still can¡¯t help but feel somewhat dejected after hearing his father¡¯s answer. The Crown Prince should be the one behind the assassination attempt on Prince Sonst night. Yet, as fate would have it, he was with Prince Sonst night. Looking at it like this, it would seem he really is ¡°wrong¡±. For just him alone, his family is facing immense trouble brought on solely by his actions. Du Wei¡¯s heart is prickling with guilt. If he didn¡¯t exist, then the Rowling Family wouldn¡¯t be stuck in the middle of this issue and be forced to resort to something like enthronement to protect its future¡­.. So it would seem he really is a scourge for the Rowling Household. ¡°Father, in your opinion, do you believe the Crown Prince holds the advantage over Prince Son? During my time with the young princest night, I think this person¡­..¡± Before Du Wei can finish his sentence, the Earl had already interrupted: ¡°Prince Son is young and smart beyond his years. Not only that, he had a great affinity with different social sses and admired by all! I know all of this, but unfortunately, he is too young. If he had been born 10 years earlier, I would have ced my bet on him¡­.¡± Earl Raymond shook his head: ¡°The Crown Prince is the son produced by his Majesty during his earlier age of 20 years old. By now, the crown prince is already 50 years of age. Before Prince Son was born, his majesty had always raised the crown prince as the heir to the throne and intended for him to seed. It was only recently that Prince Son made his scene into the political field, so how can hepete with the crown prince that is highly entrenched in all levels of the empire? For decades, the crown prince has been setting his influence through thends, readying for the day that he would take the crown. Also, many people like I have been with the Crown Prince since we were young. Growing up together, many of us stepped up the ranks by following closely behind the Crown Prince, so there is no way these people would turn on him. This is especially true after the war 20 years ago in the Northwest. During that war, the Crown Prince not only took part in the preparation, but also personally led the battles in the war. For this, his influence over many of the veteran soldiers is immense and the respect he gained cannot be calcted among the military! For example, the capital defense garrison is alreadypletely under the Crown Prince¡¯s control! For nearly 30 years, the Crown Prince has been preparing for this day, so his efforts are not in vain. Sure, Prince Son has the support of the court Mages and the protection of the inner court, but all of this is still meagerpared to what the Crown Prince has in store!¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t speak up. While he appreciated the talent behind Prince Son¡¯s ability, but he believes his father¡¯s insight over the capital¡¯s situation is far beyond what he can imagine. Du Wei thought for a moment, and then nced at his father calmly: ¡°Father, I think I understand what you mean.¡± ¡°If you understand, then its good.¡± Earl Raymond sighed: ¡°The day you came back, I had Alpha tell you not to go out¡­.. But unfortunately, you didn¡¯t listen. I should have told you it in personst time¡­.¡± Speaking up to here, a highlyplex emotion could be seen in the Earl¡¯s eyes. Du Wei looked at his father again; although the Earl¡¯s eyes were calm, but it somehow gave off a stronger sense of unease instead. After a long pause, Du Wei whispered, ¡°Father, can I ask you a question? Regarding this question, I hope you can answer me honestly. No matter what the answer is, I¡¯m ready to ept it!¡± ¡°¡­¡­ You ask then.¡± Earl Raymond¡¯s voice seemed a bit bitter. ¡°During my trip towards the capital.¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice was even as if he was talking about matters regarding others: ¡°Those people that wanted to take my life¡­..¡± Not waiting for Du Wei to finish, Earl Raymond unquestionably answered: ¡°No need to ask, it was I who sent them.¡± Du Wei had already guessed the answer long ago, but he was surprised to find at the moment, his heart had no anger or resentment. Facing this father of his in front of him, there is only emptiness inside. No matter how he tried, he could not inspire himself to produce a hint of resentment. In the end, he did not even ask ¡°why¡±. Humph¡­¡­ Is there even a reason to ask anymore? Back in the day when he returned, the Earl had clearly illustrated his answer. At the time, Earl Raymond said: ¡°Because of this gown on your body!¡± This gown¡­. A Magic Schr¡¯s gown! Because you became a Mage! With your presence, the family will be dragged into a fierce whirlpool! So in order to avoid this difficult oue, the family has to sacrifice this boy in order to keep the household safe! As long as Du Wei is no longer a part of the Rowling Household, then he cannot be cramped in the struggle between the royal family and the magic union. For the future of the entire family, the choice is obvious when it¡¯s only a single child. Watching the deadly silence in his eldest son, Earl Raymond suddenly quivered in his heart¡­.. The child before him with a calm that resembles a dead person is his own son?! How can it be? Despite knowing his own father wanted to kill him, how can he be so calm? Is it hate? Or is his hatred already at the extreme of being numb? ¡°Du Wei.¡± Earl Raymond suddenly bounced back in full strength: ¡°There are two things I am not deceiving you¡­¡­ The first is, I was fully against calling you back to the capital. At first, I was trying to dy your return, hoping to let the matter pass before calling you back. But ultimately, I was forced to recall you back from the pressure sent out by the royal family and the magic union! The second thing is¡­¡­ Let me tell you. When I banished you back to the Rowling ins, I was really trying to protect you. Initially, I thought you were mediocre ipetent, so I wanted you to have a safe and good life back at the old home! These words are the truth!¡± After a long pause, like a century has passed, Du Wei slowly raised his head and faced his father. At this moment, the influential military giant before him really seems to be old. Du Wei suddenly smiled; his smile is so calm that it was eerie. Looking at his father, he began to speak in an emotionless voice: ¡°Father, let me tell you something. On the day of my return, I told you that I didn¡¯t hate you. This sentence remains unchanged and I still don¡¯t hate you.¡± Once he finished his words, Du Wei took a deep bow towards his father. Then turning around, he prepared to leave the study room. On his way out after pushing the door open, he suddenly halted midway and turned to say something: ¡°There is also something I want to tell you, although you may learn about it eventually, but Prince Son seems to have an enchanted treasure that can summon a mighty magic creature¡­.. This is what I learnedst night.¡± These words caused a slight change in Earl Raymond¡¯s face! After saying what he wanted, Du Wei really left without turning back. Once he left the gloomy courtyard of the study, Du Wei¡¯s chest felt like it was being blocked by something that even breathing became difficult. Slowly but surely, he looked up at the sky and thought: ¡°This life truly is lonely like snow¡­. Hey, but it¡¯s summer, if I want to see snow, I might have to go back to the frozen forest.¡± At that moment, Du Wei suddenly felt nostalgic for scenes of the frozen forest! At the very least, there are murderous magic beasts everywhere. If he thought about it, it really is the time he lived life to the fullest since he came to this world. Regardless of the old magician Gandalf, Hussein, Dadaneier of the Lister family, or the snow wolf mercenaries¡­. He at least had these life trusting friends by his side!! But here in the capital, he had no one like that! Perhaps human nature is filled with hints of wanting an escape from their life. As he felt deserted, Du Wei had unknowingly wandered into the inner part of the mansion. In front of him, tall girls wearing a maid outfit came walking up towards him ¨C this person is in fact a maid of his mother¡¯s. Seeing Du Wei, the girl bent forward to give a saluting bow and: ¡°Madam tasked me to look for you. I heardst night you didn¡¯t return, so herdyship didn¡¯t sleep either.¡± Du Wei smiled and simply walked in. The countess came from a noble household. From word of mouth, it is said that when she was young, the countess had received the typical education of an aristocraticdy. Painting, flowers, gardening, all of these are things the countess is interested in. After marrying the Earl, her rtionship with her husband has been known to be really good and on many asions, the inner part of the mansion has been specially renovated to suit the countess¡¯s hobby of gardening. When Du Wei first came into the yard, he saw his mother standing beside a batch of flowers. Although her age is not young anymore, but her beauty is still as brilliant as ever. Standing there with her purple dress, even the luster of the flowers cannot match her glow. Right now, the Countess is quietly looking at the flowers in front of her as if in a trance. Without slowing down, Du Wei walked over and let out gentleugh: ¡°Mother, are you watching the flowers or are you conceiving how to paint the image? Since the flowers are blooming so gorgeously, why not preserve the flowers into a record and enjoy itter on? When winteres around, wouldn¡¯t it be even more enjoyable?¡± The Countess turned around with haste and looked at her son with traces of anxiety on her beautiful face: ¡°Du Wei, youe over here. I heard when you returned, you were immediately called into the study room by your father¡­.. I know he was very upsetst night, so did he punish you again?¡± Du Wei shook his head with a quiet smile. The Countess gently sighed. Moving away from the flower bed, she came up to her son and hugged Du Wei on the shoulders: ¡°Your father is in a bad moodtely¡­ ¡­ I know the family burden have always been on his shoulder for the past decades. Although I rarely ask him about the family issues, but I would still sometimes get wind of what¡¯s going on. From what I can tell, the family is facing some kind of trouble recently¡­..¡± With that, beautiful Countess quietly looked over her son. Gently moving her frail looking hands, she brushed against the dust on Du Wei¡¯s forehead: ¡°Where were youst night? Even your clothes are dirty.¡± Du Wei of course wouldn¡¯t tell the truth about how he battled it out with a mighty death mage and almost met his end in the process. Putting on a fake smile, he replied: ¡°Nothing much, I was only messing around with my friends.¡± ¡°Hmm, you finally have some friends, I¡¯m relieved.¡± The Countess caringly smiled and then gently caressed Du Wei on the face. Upon her touch, Du Wei can feel the warmth from her delicate fingers; as a result, he couldn¡¯t stop his heart from softening up. Just when he wanted to embrace her, Du Wei suddenly heard the countess whispering into his ears: ¡°You are my first son. Although this may seem unfair to Gabri, but during your father¡¯s expedition out to sea, there was only you by my side during those 3 years. In truth, I always loved you more a bit inside my heart.¡± Du Wei was silent and kept his gaze fixed on his mother. ¡°Du Wei, can I ask you one thing?¡± The Countess gave a light sigh. Although the sigh wasn¡¯t mixed with negative emotions, but when the sound reached Du Wei¡¯s ears, he could not stop himself from going numb as the anxiety in his heart swelled over the apparent distress in his mother¡¯s voice. ¡°Say it mother.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Any wish of yours is the same as God¡¯s highest will!¡± ¡°Shh¡­¡­¡± The Countess¡¯s facial expression turned pale. Hurrying, she hastily stretched out her palms to cover his mouth with her soft delicate hands. Then, with tender ming eyes, she whispered: ¡°You are not young anymore, so you must not say such offensive words to the gods, do you understand?¡± Oh¡­¡­ Almost forgot, mother is a devout believer in the goddess of light. Du Wei sighs in his heart. During the brief period where he was seriously ill, his mother had spent the entire night praying for his recovery in front of the goddess statue. After a pause, the Countess looked at his son. Her voice full of emotional requests: ¡°Du Wei, I know you are not what people say. You are my son, I care for you and love you, so I know you are actually a very smart man and are capable of things beyond what others can imagine¡­.. But now, your father is always agonizing over work. I may not know why, but he is still your father, so I¡¯m asking you to help him. Right now, Gabri is only a young child, so the only one in the family capable of helping your father is you. I know that the rtionship between you and your father had always been cold, but my blood and your father¡¯s blood still runs in your veins, this will never change¡­.. So please, can you help him?¡± When it reached the end, the Countesses¡¯ voice was really soft like it was begging him to agree. Seeing the mother in front of him, Du Wei suddenly remembers the scene of when she would alwayse to his side barefooted and lull him to sleep at night. ¡°Mother¡­¡­¡± Du Wei takes in a deep breath before slowly speaking: ¡°For you, I¡¯m willing to do anything, even challenge a god! You can rest assured that as long as I am here, the Rowling household will never fall!¡± Just like this, he stood in front of his mother said this with an unshakable resolve in his voice! The beautiful countess only faintly smiled and thought his words were only said to please her, but the truth was very different from what she had imagined. The turmoil and heavy pain in Du Wei was not something imaginable to an ordinary person. In fact, this may seem like ttery, but his words are more akin to a lifelong vow that can never be broken no matter what! In this summer day, Du Wei¡¯s heart felt as deep as an abyss! Chapter 142 The 142th chapter ¡°The strange fleet¡± Although it is still early in the summer season, but the suns light is already showing hints of zing heat as it glistened off the waters of the Lancang Grand Canal outside the capital. Further down from this life vein of the empire ¨C approximately 30 miles from the capital ¨C a strange ship is already docked in the port of Enke. Due to the heavy tax burden when unloading directly inside the capital city, a lot of smaller trading ships would dock in the ports of the surrounding auxiliary towns to reduce their expenses. Right now, two merchant like people have already jumped off this strange ship and conversing with the local tax official. After a few minutes of chit chat, one of the merchants quietly fished out some coins wrapped in a cloth and secretly sneaked it into the hands of the official. Seeing the other party¡¯s intent, the tax official smiled so hard that he didn¡¯t even bother to check the cargo and directly signed the necessary documents. Further behind this shady transaction, arge mob of heavy lifters is already buzzing in the background and waiting for the chance tond a job. ¡°Mr.¨CMr. Hire me! Hire me! My strength is high but my hands are light! If you have any valuable goods, it¡¯ll never be damaged!¡± ¡°Respectful Sir, hire me! I have 20 people under me, only two copper per person! Two copper!¡± In the midst of this ruckus, the strange ship had already put down a nk to allow those on board toe ashore. Two finedies were the first to get off. One dressed like a knight, this beauty had a pair of intoxicating legs that could drive a man crazy. Strikingly enough, the seconddy toe ashore actually wore a supposed white Mage robe. After many alterations, this mage robe didn¡¯t look nd in anyway; moreover, there was a sense of sexiness in its design due to certain areas being cut off to reveal more skin! Drawing the attention of everyone down below, the fact that the duo is a rarebination of a female knight and a sorceress is too hard to miss in this crowded port. However, Joanna only needed to give out a cold snort to shatter the trance like moment and instill fear into everyone nearby with her icy coldness. Retracting their eyes, none dared to face their general direction. ¡°Joanna, everyone is afraid of you now¡± Rolynn snickered augh. Then looking down at the busy street, she sighed and summoned one of the sailors onboard to her: ¡°Go get someone to check the stuff, and then quickly unload all of the cargo before tonight because there will be new goods by then. If you dawdle and we can¡¯t make it by the evening, then be careful of your legs!¡± A while back, Du Wei sent the two girls with Captain Jack Sparrow and his new right hand man George Bush to find the Snow Wolf Mercenaries in the north. In a short period of time, the group was able to meet Du Wei¡¯s expectation and located Beinlich. Handing over the handwritten letter, Beinlich, leader of the snow wolf mercenaries was so happy that he immediately sold everything to Du Wei. Normally things would not have went so smoothly, but at the time of their meeting, Beinlich was worrying over the price of the goods because the dirty merchants he was selling the goods to wanted to lower his price by an additional 20%. Therefore, when he read the letter and found out about Du Wei¡¯s intent, he felt like he was being given a lifesaving hand in a critical situation. At the same time, Beinlich also contacted several other friendly groups like them and discussed the matter. As long as Du Wei can keep buying their goods at the same price now, all of their goods will from now on be sold exclusively to Du Wei. Just like this, the pirate ship came back with fruitful results. Since there are ports in the north anyways, Rolynn contacted three other pirate ships under Du Wei¡¯s banner and had them go make another run while her group returned home to make a report. No matter what, trafficking goods of magic beasts is illegal, so having three ships full of elicit goods on its way back is starting to pull on her nerves. Unfortunately for her, Du Wei had already left the Rowling ins by the time of her return and moved to the capital. For this reason, she hade to find Du Wei in the capital and get hold of a legal permit so she can transport the goods legally. This woman was once an adventurer and a party leader, so she of course had the brain to match her previous status. After thinking it through, Rolynn thought it wouldn¡¯t be hard to get hold of the permit considering the status of the Rowling family name. And since she is going to the capital, why not just bring the first shipment directly to the capital and make a small fortune in the process?! The only problem in her n is that the goods are still illegal without the permit. In order to deceive the inspecting officials in the checkpoints, Rolynn made a deal with the fur trader back in the Rowling ins ¨C This fur trader is the one that supported Du Wei in his first venture ¨C and had him transport his furs and leather on top of her goods. This way, both parties can cut down on costs and help hide the elicit goods on the surface. The only thing out of her expectation was that the fur trader went beyond his agreement and had his people settle the matters along any of the clearance points on their journey. As the two beauties finally got off the ship, the clearance matter was already settled by the people of the fur trader. The only worrisome matter left is the sailors onboard. Originally pirates, where in the world would these thugs ever get the chance to see such a bustling scene? Although the town where Enke port is located is still 30 miles from the capital, but the dizzying amount of finely dressed prostitutes below is already causing the sailors to itch with restlessness. It¡¯s already been a while since she led this bunch of hooligans out in sea, so she naturally had a good understanding of these pirates. Usually under strict management by her, Rolynn still understood the importance of bncing the mood of her subordinates. So after seeing the impatient eyes of those leaning over the ship¡¯s side, Rolynn couldn¡¯t stop herself fromughing. Giving out her orders from a distance, she instructed her subordinates to disembark in batches and not to stir up any trouble. Upon hearing the graceful words of their leader, the eyes of this vulgar pirate crew were brimming with gratitude. Hurrying to grab their wallets, those not on duty only spent a moment to change their garments before jumping overboard without any intent to hide their eagerness for the brothel! As for those stuck behind to work, they were brimming with envy as they watched their peers disappear into the crowded streets¡­. ¡°Humph!¡± Seeing the pirates act like a bunch of predators, Joanna is obviously displeased because she knew very well what they were intending to do in town. If not for the long period of time spent with the vulgar bunch, she would have already summoned a raging ¡®ice storm¡¯ and tossed it towards the group. In a angry whisper, she muttered to herself: ¡°What a bunch of dirty men!¡± As for Rolynn standing beside Joanna, she was already used to it because of her adventuring days prior to bing Du Wei¡¯s knight. Facing Joanna, she smiled: ¡°Miss Joanna, now that we have arrived here, let¡¯s go meet master Du Wei after the carriage is prepared.¡± ¡°Pehhh!¡± A strange expression emerges from Joanna¡¯s face. With disdain in her mouth: ¡°Why would I want to go meet that little bastard! Humph, you go by yourself! I only came to the capital because I wanted to help you protect the ship. Secondly, I also have business in the capital! Hmm¡­. Oh yes, help me transfer a message to that little jerk. The promise I made to him, consider it done! From this point on, I do not owe him any favor! If meet him next time, I¡¯ll be sure to make him suffer a bit!¡± At this point, Joanna nced at Rolynn: ¡°Rolynn, in the days we spent together, I noticed your talent in magic is not bad. Although I taught you a few spells during our time together, but I know I¡¯m not a very good teacher, so leave with me. My teacher is an amazing person that cannot be matched by many in this world, so why should you follow that little jerk? I¡¯ll ask my teacher to take you as his disciple¡­.¡± Before she can even finish her words, Joanna already saw the smile on Rolynn¡¯s face. Letting out a sigh, she continued: ¡°Very well then, I know you¡¯re going to refuse me again. In this case, see you again in the future!¡± Having said that, Joanna gave her a deep look before speaking in a whisper: ¡°Although I have a sister, but she and I have never been on good terms. Every time I see her, I would get angry. If only I had a sister like you, then the situation would have been really good.¡± Giving a big hug to Rolynn, Joanna bid her farewell. As a mage, Joanna¡¯s proud personality tends push her into ignoring those around her. Without caring for the eyes of the crowd nearby, Joanna flew into the sky aand headed towards the general direction of the capital. Like a passing breeze, the shape of her body disappeared into the horizon. In this one move, the crowd below started to cry out in surprise. On the Rnd continent, Mages are revered like treasures. To see one flying up into the sky and disappearing far into the horizon, the crowd would of course be shocked. Frowning, Rolynn looked up at the sky where Joanna disappeared and sighed. Then turning to face the sailors onboard of the ship still, she yelled: ¡°Why you are idling there! Haven¡¯t you seen Miss Joanna use magic before? Get to work!¡± Then Rolynn spent another minute talking with the subordinates of the fur trader. From what she can tell, the fur trader intends totch onto this big tree known as Du Wei. Her idea was confirmed when she found out from their chat that one of the people sent by the fur trader was in fact his brother. Around 40 years old, this man is called Herbon. During their journey in the canal, this person was always one step ahead of her and prepared everything in advance. Take the Enke port for example: Not only did he resolve the tax official¡¯s inspection, Herbon even rented a warehouse to store the elicit goods away nearby. (Because of therge amount of traffic that goes through the port cities near the capital, cheap warehouses have popped up everywhere inside the town) After arranging the needed man power to transport the goods, the only left to do now for Rolynn is find a carriage willing to take her to the capital. Rolynn was very grateful towards him so her attitude is naturally good: ¡°When we wereing, my brother already gave me clear instructions. Miss Rolynn is a knight, as such, I must be the one to do these work to not tarnish your status.¡± Once she thanked him, Herbon asked again: ¡°Now that the cargo is taken care of, is Miss Rolynn going to head to the capital immediately? It just so happens that I need to make some purchases from some firms in the capital, why not make the trip with me since I already have a carriage ready?¡± ¡°Perfect, I also need to meet our master. Once the master gives the order, the goods should be shipped out because the goods can¡¯t just be left in the warehouse.¡± Just as the two was about to leave the pier, a loud horn sound reached their ears! Turning around to look, she could see a team of 10 merchant ships dominating the main channel. From appearances alone, she can tell this mighty fleet is different from the regr trading ships parked in the port. Embezzled with a green oak leaf logo, all of the nearby ships immediately navigated away when they drew near. Even more shocking, there is even formal capital guard soldiers standing watch on the deck of these ships. ¡°Clearly a private merchant ship, so why would imperial soldiers escort them? For such arge river, why should they get to hog it all to themselves?¡± She frowns. ¡°This is Miss Rolynn¡¯s first time in the capital, right?¡± Herbon took one look and whispered, ¡°No need to say more! The origin of this fleet is not simple!¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± Herbon secretly pointed to the oak leaf g on the ship and whispered, ¡°See it? It is the banner of the Solomon family. These are the Solomon family merchant ships. These people are backed by the Royal family. Each year, they need to help the royal family earnrge sums of gold and even manage some assets under certain members of the royal household! With such background, who canpete?!¡± Herbon concentrated for a moment and said ¡°The ship is very deep in the water, so I¡¯m guessing the ship is carrying some heavy cargo used for the summer festival. If anything, it should be some tribute to the royal family by the Solomon family¡­..¡± Rolynn shook his head: ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be. If it is, then it should have been transported months ago.¡± Herbonughed: ¡°Who cares what they are carrying, it¡¯s none of our business.¡± Rolynn nodded in agreement but she couldn¡¯t stop herself from taking a few more nces. As a warrior, her sight is naturally sharper than a regr person. Ignoring the guards standing watch, even the sailors on board of the fleet were muscr and full of life, definitely not what you would expect from a regr merchant ship. As such, a sense of unease and suspicion lingered in her mind over this bizarre scene¡­¡­. By the time they got to the capital on the rented coach, the time was alreadyte into the afternoon. No doubt about it, the coach cannot match up to the luxurious coach of the Rowling Family¡¯s; therefore, the trip wasn¡¯t asfy as she had expected. Fortunately for Rolynn, her background is that of an adventurer, so she was able to cope with this easily. But what she couldn¡¯t cope with is the smell¡­ Drenched in the smell of a foul fishy scent, Rolynn felt ever so ufortable crammed in such a small vehicle with the smell. As for the merchant Herbon, he wasn¡¯t so well off. As the brother of the wealthy fur merchant, he wasn¡¯t ustomed to the ride and felt sick to the stomach. Once they were in front of the East Gate, Rolynn sighs when she saw the long line up: ¡°There are so many people lining up, when will we ever get in?¡± ¡°This is already considered to be good.¡± Herbon pinched his nose as he smiled wryly: ¡°I heard the gate tax was raised again¡­. Aigh, for people like us that transport goods to the capital, we cannot directly ship it into the capital. Only by disembarking in ces like the Enke port can we save ourselves from the immense shipping tax. But now that the gate tax is raised again, we will lose even more from our already dismal profit share.¡± By the time they were inside the capital, Roylnn no longer wanted to stay in the carriage. Without waiting till they were at the Rowling Manor, she and two of her old subordinates ¨C a archer and a bulky warrior from before ¨C had already went off to purchase some steeds to ride. After fixing up their appearances a bit, the trio rode infort to the Earl¡¯s manor. Usually the servants outside the manor wouldn¡¯t be surprised to see visitorsing to the Manor, but the trio was wearing the Rowling Households private army outfits. Not recognizing Rolynn and her subordinates, the servants were wondering who they were. Not deterred, Rolynn strode forward and identified herself as a direct subordinate of master Du Wei. Once the people inside were informed of her arrival, Marde quickly ran outside to receive the trio. Presently, Du Wei was hiding in his room studying the bone structure of some magic beasts. After he returned home from that event, he had been confining himself inside his room and fiddling with the stuff he had in his possession. When he was at Old Alley¡¯s ce, he had received a lot of good things from that crazy guy. For example: That form to rece ¡°Mithril¡±. After searching through his possession, Du Wei already had 20 of the needed ingredients and onlycked around seven to eight items. Guessing he couldn¡¯t get the rest from Old Alley, he needed toe up with an idea to get his hands on the remaining ingredients. Du Wei wasn¡¯t worried if he could them because as long as has the water from¡°As time goes by¡±, he can sessfully cultivate the ingredient every time. Just as he was carefully studying the secrets of the recipe, Marde had already brought Rolynn inside. Packing up the things and closing the door behind him, he then walked out to the meeting room met with the long awaited Rolynn.. Not seeing her for months, the fear and trepidation when they first met was already long gone. In its ce, a mature and proud youthful aura filled her face. Not to mention the womanly charm of her body curves became even more defined as her plump breast grew ever more so than before! Life on the sea had tanned her skin to a light bronzy shade and although her body was slightly thinner than before, she looked even livelier than their previous meeting. ¡°Sit down.¡± Du Wei rubbed his chin and lounged onto a chair. Watching Rolynn, he smiled as he faced her: ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard; I will remember the merits you earned. Say it then. Why did youe all the way to the capital to look for me?¡± Rolynn sat down on the chair further back from where Du Wei was and calmly reported what happened. By the time she exined up to the idea of how Beinlich wanted to gather other mercenary groups to sell exclusively to him, Du Wei immediately jumped in: ¡°ept it! Why hesitate? Now that we have the boats, we onlycked the goods. Beinlich is not only a good friend but someone I trust with my life. I not only respect him but also saved a hundred of hispanions, so he can be trusted.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Rolynn nodded: ¡°That¡¯s what I thought too before returning. A draft of the agreement is already made. Please have a look and see if there is anything you don¡¯t like. If there is no problem, I¡¯ll have it sent back to the north. Also, there is one more thing¡­..¡± After listening to her exin how she brought a ship full of cargo to the capital, Du Wei frowned slightly: ¡°This is a problem, but it should not be difficult to solve. Wait two days and I¡¯ll try to get this thing done.¡± ¡°There is also the question of money.¡± Rolynn smiled bitterly: ¡°The amount you gave Jack Sparrow back then wasn¡¯t much, so when we headed north, we didn¡¯t have enough money. In this one purchase, we bought a lot and didn¡¯t have enough to pay for it all. Luckily, the snow wolf mercenaries trusted you a lot so they allowed us to pay a deposit of only ten thousand gold. The other reason why I came to seek you out is to ask for more money¡­.¡± Without waiting, Du Wei immediately called for Marde and instructed Rolynn to follow the butler to draw out some funds. On second thought, Du Wei added in: ¡°All the goods this time are to be paid 10% higher than normal. If not for Beinlich¡¯s help, this would not have worked out so well. For such a big favor, it must be paid!¡± Rolynn immediately nodded. Then spending a moment in thought, this female Knight suddenly spoke up: ¡°Master Du Wei, when I was at the Enke port, I saw the Solomon family fleet on the Canal¡­¡­ But the fleet, it seems a little odd¡­¡­¡± Chapter 143 The 143th chapter ¡°Day before the ceremony¡± After listening to Rolynn¡¯s exnation of what she saw at Enke port, Du Wei¡¯s expression remained calm and collect. Giving a light nod, he said: ¡°I understand.¡± Moving about, he acted like nothing major has happened and diverted the topic to something else: ¡°Rolynn, first leave the goods at the warehouse. Wait till the summer festival is over then we can move them. No matter what, we still don¡¯t have the legal permit required to sell them properly. If we somehow get caught during this busy time, it will be an embarrassment for the household. It will be good enough to first send some of your people and safeguard the goods back at the Enke port.¡± Rolynn is a smart woman so she was quickly able to pick up on the true meaning behind Du Wei¡¯s unusual words: ¡°You mean¡­.. When the summer festival starts, there will be trouble afoot?¡± Du Wei cries out augh: ¡°I didn¡¯t say that so don¡¯t go making spections. Also, even if there is trouble, it doesn¡¯t rte to us. It will be fine as long as you keep those pirates in check. During the summer festival, the security around the capital is much higher than normal, so make sure those guys don¡¯t go provoking for trouble. Once things are ready, I¡¯ll send someone for you, do you understand?¡± Without reason to pursue the topic, Rolynn had no choice but to give a bow and leave. Once Rolynn is gone, Du Wei finally revealed a darkplexion on his face as he closed his eyes in thought. Puffing out a soft breath of air: ¡°Heh¡­¡­ Fleet eh? This father of mine is truly restless, does he intend to do something on the summer festival?¡± Whatever stuff on that fleet is definitely not your ordinary cargo, and to use soldiers as an escort? Other than people like his father, whom is a high ranking military official, can never reassign the army around the capital. So then, does this mean they want to start making their move on Prince Son? Upon this thought, he suddenly recalled the kind attitude from Prince Son. Unfortunately for Du Wei, he also remembers the begging cries his mother requested of him¡­¡­. Shaking his head, he sighs and mutters to himself: I¡¯m sorry Prince Son, you are my friend but also my enemy. With the family burden over my shoulder, I cannot help you.¡± Pushing the problem aside, Du Wei sat around for the next while drinking tea and studying some magic recipes. All was smooth and nice right up till the evening. BOOM!! A thunderous explosion rocked his room In that st, even the small building in which he resides shook a few times. Then from below the stairs, Du Wei can see someone knocking down a door from where he stood. Coming out from the billowing smoked room, the man sized mouse Gargamel came rushing out as he coughed violently. ¡°Cough, cough¡­¡­ That almost choked me to death¡­¡­¡° In one single breath, the mouse rushed into Du Wei¡¯s bedroom and grabbed a drink from the teapot, all the whilepletely disregarding Du Wei¡¯s displeasure. Then letting out a sigh of relief, the mouse finally calms down. From top to bottom, the man sized mouse was covered in ash and even some of the whiskers looked like they were burned in the explosion! Du Wei frowns: ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°What else can it be? I figured out what that Nirvana¡¯s bow is. I tried to use a magic crystal to exam the magic circle on that bow, and the result is the explosion you just heard! Kid, that bow is not ordinary in the least! Prior to my experiment, I set up a two tiered barrier system around the room, but even that was easily dispelled in that explosion! If not for the safety measure I took, I fear this building would not have survived the st!¡± Smiling at what he just heard, Du Wei first went outside to dismiss the arriving that came due to the explosion. Saying it was all a part of his magic experiments, the people that came to see what was going on all left with an awe expression when they faced Du Wei. As a Mage, his identity is obviously above the idiotic son of the Earl from back then. Once he finished driving away the guards, Du Wei had Marde watch the courtyard gate to keep others from returning. Maybe it was due to what the mouse said about safety, he had Gargamel set up another magic barrier around his entire residence. With everything ready to go, he and the mouse went into theboratory downstairs. With the smoke mostly dissipated, Du Wei summoned forth a low leveled wind based magic and blew away the rest of the lingering smoke. Right in the middle of the room, the ¡°Nirvana¡¯s Bow¡± quietlyy there on top of a table tform as if the fact that an explosion never took ce in this room. Unlike the Mithril tform used by that crazy old Alley, Du Wei couldn¡¯t afford such luxury so his was only made out of stone. Carefully look over the bow, he can immediately sense something was different! Still glowing with light, the bow had no obvious damage from the ground shaking explosion earlier. In fact, the bow looked brand new without so much as a dust on it! From the seamless structure of the thing to the transparent crystal embedded in the middle, everything about it gave off the feeling like it was not of this world. Also, the one thing Du Wei still couldn¡¯t quite understand is the curved barbs on the two ends of the bow. What are they for? It¡¯s obvious the barbs are intended for the user to fight in closebat, but how effective can it be? For that question, Gargamel has the answer. After a test, the mouse managed to poke a whopping whole in the middle of a thick chest te with the barb! ¡°The material for this thing is not simple. I can only guess it is some specially processed crystal or a synthetic material. As for what it is exactly, I can¡¯t say.¡± Gargamel pointed his finger to the bow. After spending one day and night examining the bow, the mouse is obviously very excited at what it is: ¡°The bow¡¯s shape ispletely different from those currently on the continent. Right now no master archer is capable of mastering meleebat at the same time, but the design of this bow is an exception¡­. However, I can only guess that in order to fully utilize the bow, there is probably a set of martial skills that came with it.¡± A martial skill set that supports this bow¡­.. Du Wei thought for a moment and shook his head: ¡°I don¡¯t know about that then¡­ The guy that fell by my hands looked strong, but he should not be fluent in the set of skills you mentioned. If he was, then he wouldn¡¯t have been so easily killed by me.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then that guy is definitely not the original owner.¡± Gargamel moved his mouth while thinking: ¡°From the age of the material, I can tell the bow is at least a few hundred years old!¡± Then Gargamel picked up the Nirvana¡¯s bow and pulled it in front of Du Wei: ¡°You see the patterns? This is a strange magic array that I can¡¯t even begin toprehend, but I am sure of one thing. This thing is imbued with a type of wind spell along with some kind of strength and agility speed magic¡­¡­ To be able to meld so many spells together and create such an amazing magic array, and such a small size at that¡­.. There¡¯s no doubt the creator is at least a grand master in his field!¡± Du Wei wasn¡¯t really concerned about all this: ¡°What I want to know is how to use it.¡± When it came to this issue, Gargamel suddenly burst out into aughing fit. Unlike how he normallyughs, the mouse looked so wretched this time around because he couldn¡¯t hide his greed: ¡°This is what is the most fascinating about it! Let me tell you little Du Wei, you really hit the jackpot! The power of this bow is absolutely amazing! In fact, it is more than you can possibly imagine!¡± After finishing his words, the mouse started to speak in an unstoppable rant: ¡°The poor guy that you killed is a warrior, right? For this bow, warriors can still make this bow work by infusing it with their Dou Qi. Once the Dou Qi is inserted into the bow, the energy would form a dense arrow for the user to use. Regardless of theunch speed, uracy, and power, the results would be top notch on the continent by doing that. However, the previous owner obviously didn¡¯t know how to truly tap into the full power of this thing! Humph¡­..¡± After saying that, the mouse suddenly reached out and gently touched the bow. Once he injected some magic into the bow, the thing immediately began to glow brilliantly like it was alive! Then, with a clicking sound from the bow, a small gap suddenly appeared at where the arrow slit should be and a magic crystal suddenly rolled out of the hole! ¡°Let me reveal the true face of this amazing magic weapon!¡± The mouseughs with pride: ¡°This bow is in fact not designed for a warrior to use; instead, it is specially designed for a Mage to use!¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Magician? ¡± Du Wei really didn¡¯t expect something like that. A Mage equipped with a bow and arrow? Why would a Mage need to use a bow and arrow? The image one would always have for a Mage is a wand in hand and casting some kind of powerful magic. So using a bow inbat is something only warriors would use! If Mages were to start using bows, then wouldn¡¯t it be the norm for them to carry around giant broadswords too? ¡°Stop doubting me! This is indeed a magic bow specifically designed for Mages!¡± Gargamel saw through the doubt in Du Wei¡¯s eyes so his voice became serious: ¡°You are lucky no one knows the true use behind this bow little Du Wei. If anyone finds out and it spreads around, I guarantee you others will start knocking heads toe grab it off you!¡± With that said, Gargamel gently pinched the tiny magic crystal that came out of the bow. This magic crystal is a high quality gemstone, but after many years of aging, the color seems washed out and deprived of any energy. If one were to look closely, they would notice some traces of cracks running across the stone. Gargamel gripped onto the crystal and began to slowly insert his magic into the crystal. Like a miracle, the one pale and washed out color of the magic crystal suddenly began to glow like it was revitalized with life! Then putting the crystal back into the arrow hole in the bow, a soft wave of magic fluctuated in the air and the small arrow suddenly closed without a single trace of it ever being there. ¡°Hold it!¡± Gargamel gives the bow to Du Wei and smiles: ¡°Go to the roof and test out your new toy.¡± Like this, the two came up to the roof on this small building. On top of this three story small building; Du Wei held onto the bow with both hands and looked out into the setting sun. Without saying anything, he pulled against the bow string only to find that it was more flexible than he had thought, although it was still hard on him, but it was workable. Then inserting his magic into the bow, he could immediately feel an immense fluctuation on the bow as the energy gushes out to form multiple wind des¡­¡­ There¡¯s no doubt about it. Clear to his eyes, the unusual wind des flowing out of the bow started to condense into the shape of a small arrow¡­¡­ Letting go of the pulled string, a shooting sound was all he could hear¡­. That¡¯s no arrow! No¡­. The thing that shot out is clearly a shooting star! Like a shooting star, the shot roared out from his hands and soared through the sky! Swift like thunder, the shining ball of brilliance was quickly gone from their line of sight! He was left speechless Although he cannot see the impact sight, but just the way it moved through the sky is enough to tell him that the force behind the attack is not something to be trifled with! Compared to what he saw from the previous owner, his one shot is notably many times stronger! More importantly, he was able to fire out such a terrifying shot despite the fact that his body is only slightly better than the average person and he couldn¡¯t use Dou Qi! ¡°Just like I expected¡­¡­ Very strong!¡± Gargamel tiptoes to the side, he squinted his eyes as he looks in the general direction of where the shooting star went. With aplex emotion in his eyes, he said: ¡°If this bow can be mass produced, then the day of Mages overtaking the archer profession would be upon us!¡± Forcing the shock in his heart down, Du Wei slowly sat down and began stroking the Nirvana¡¯s bow back and forth. Magic weapon! A real long ranged magic weapon! Without needing any energy from the user, it only requires magic to fuel its projectiles! ¡°Little Du Wei, you guessed it too, right?¡± Gargamel¡¯s eyes were shing with excitement: ¡°Can you see? If you erge the bow several times and change the appearances slightly, then would it be the same as those magic cannons on top of the capital¡¯s city wall!¡± ¡°Magic cannon!¡± Du Wei replied without losing his cool, but his eyes clearly had a weird look in them: ¡°If this thing is erged several times, then it would the same as a Magic Cannon! Or to be more urate¡­.. The manufacturing principle behind this thing is the same as the long lost methods of the magic cannon!!¡± While he was saying this, Du Wei didn¡¯t know about a certain interlude happening elsewhere: On the day of his first test run of the Nirvana¡¯s bow, a small garrison force from a nearby town reported a certain event. Year 960 of the Empire, June 10. During the evening of this day up in the southeastern sky, a shooting star made contact on the ground and caused the sky to burn a crimson red! Luckily, there were no casualties in this event and only the mountain roads were blocked after the meteorite destroyed half of the nearby mountain. Please send help for repairs¡­.. No one knows the truth behind this event, not even Du Wei knew the true strength of what he did! The days before the summer festival, Marde was spending his time roaming the streets of the capital. No matter the ce, his footprints could be easily found. The reason is very simple because Du Wei instructed him with these words: ¡°Go out and enjoy yourself in every business you can find. It doesn¡¯t matter how much it cost, just bring the bill back after for reimbursement. What I want you to do during that time is to document every activity you see, whether it is the people or shows, record every noticeable thing you see.¡± As such, Marde didn¡¯t question the order and simply walked around the streets and enjoyed himself with the big bag of money. Prior to the day of the summer festival, the main streets running through the capital were jammed packed with tourists and merchants. No matter the ce, the mood of celebration ran rampant because the Emperor specifically instructed this year¡¯s celebration to be extra big. Due to the ominous shooting star that flew by on the national founding day a while back, the emperor became enraged and had the court astrologist executed; thus, this is the result of trying to dampen the jinx in the sky. Once the word was spread throughout the continent, an abnormal amount of visitors came flocking to the capital. Overcrowded, just about every hotel was charging extra rates for their rooms; despite this, some tourists still couldn¡¯t find proper lodging. It wasn¡¯t just the emperor endorsing the festival, even his Majesty the Pope gave the word out that the Temple of Light would perform God¡¯s magic in the city square. Of course, if there is the Temple of Light, there is the Magic Union. In order to not lose face, the president of the magic union will also bring in some grand Mages to showcase their magic! But more importantly, his majesty the emperor already gave the word out to power up the magic barrier in the capital!! Created during the era of Aragon, this thousand year old magic array wasst powered up during the first triumphant return of the navy in the south eastern sea. Anyone that was present during that event would always deeply remember the grand scenic spectacle of it all! Shining brilliantly, a multitude of colors shrouded the capital¡¯s sky in an immense barrier! And just dimly, the onlookers would somehow be able to make out strange flying monsters floating across the sky! Of course, whether those beasts are real or not is up for debate! For such a big event, a person may not ever have the chance to encounter it once in their lifetime. To miss it would be such a pity! As such, the amount of visitors this year grew to several times that of a regr year. And in order to keep up with the security issues, the police force in the capital was on full alert. Despite their efforts, reports of robbery and fighting were endless. Anyone that had originally nned to take the day off were brought back into the office and in some cases, the officer would not even be able to go home for a few days to meet their wife! It wasn¡¯t just the police force; even the city defense garrison was working overtime despite the fact that extra forces were assigned to the city gates. Pressured by the extra security measures handed out by the imperial court, every person entering the gates was searched thoroughly. And because of how packed the capital was, the army organized a separate security force to keep the residential areas of the noble ss safe. It wasn¡¯t just the nobles that were under heavy protection, the Temple of Light was also on high alert. After all, the temple has a lot of believers, so it can¡¯t be helped that extra measures must be taken. As for the Magic union, it was business as usual. In the mind of the normal populous, the status of a mage is something to be feared and revered, so of course no one would want to go cause trouble at their headquarters! Like this, Marde spent the previous few days roaming the crowded streets. During his time, Marde had his pockets picked by a thief and in some cases, some passerby ended up trampling over his feet¡­. Reporting all of this to his young master, Du Wei showed no signs of displeasure or happiness. The only thing Marde heard from him was this: ¡°I understand, go reimburse yourself for the past few days.¡± Once Marde was gone, Du Wei tapped his forehead as he sat down for a moment. Then out of nowhere, a weird little smile appeared on his face as he muttered to himself: ¡°Hmm, the city gate is stationed with extra soldiers¡­¡­ And the noble residential area is also stationed with soldiers. That¡¯s right, even the temple is stationed with soldiers¡­. It looks like this really will be a big fight!¡± Chapter 144 part 1 The 144th chapter ¡°day of the celebration¡± (part one) Year 960 of the Rnd Empire, on June 12, the day of the summer festivals. From early in the morning, the capital¡¯s police officers had long gone out in full force to patrol the streets. However, what is worrying police chief Sack is the amount of city defense garrison forces inside the capital. These guards are obviously mobilized from the four nearby supporting cities. With bright armors that showed off their sheen, every soldier was heavily armed like they were heading off to face an enemy. It¡¯s true in recent days that the amount of people in the capital had increased exponentially for the festival, but did those military soldiers really need to look so formidable? With a quick observation, police chief Sack saw that something was not right. Instead of the celebratory clothing¡¯s for the summer festival, these military soldiers all wore the newly mintedbat style clothing¡¯s that was recently rationed out during the spring season of this year! And what were more disturbing are the weapons they carried. With swords strapped to their waists, all of the soldiers he saw carried the typical war shields you would see on a real battlefield! Filled with doubt as he watched the newest team of passing military soldiers, police chief Sack frowns as he stood at one of the main street corners. Because of aching in his heart, chief Sack decided to turn back and get someone from the office to inquire about the situation from the military highmand. But soon, the bad news came popping up one after another. Earlier in the morning, he sent out four teams of police officers to patrol the streets, but each of the teams sent someone back to report they were being blockaded by the city defense forces. Just as Sack was full of anger from the bad news, a deputymander of the defense garrison army came barging in. Wearing the outfit of the garrison defense forces, a fifth level knight badge was pinned to this person¡¯s chest. ¡°Chief Sack!¡± This guy looked unconcerned with his action and quickly broke into the office with his two attendants. Then with a formal voice, the guy read out amand: ¡°Highmands special order. In order to keep the peace of the capital city, all deployment of the police forces will be temporarily under themand of the defense garrison forces. The one that shall be overseeing the police force is the second division¡¯s General Jean ude!¡± With that said, this guy puts the military order document on top of Sack¡¯s table. Second Division¡¯s General Jean-ude? That Jean-ude is responsible for the city defense! What right does he have to order our department! 39 years old Sack saw that on the militarymand document, the name that was signed on it was the highmand¡¯s deputymander Earl Raymond of the Rowling family, as well as the highmander seal of approval. Seeing this, Sack suddenly felt a chill run down his spine¡­ Is something about to happen? From ages past, the police force had always been responsible for the security inside the city, and the city defense garrison forces are responsible for the outer perimeters beyond the city walls. This is the rule¡­. But now, the military highmand suddenly wants to take over the police force? In his heart, chief Sack knew that even if themand was real, the legal formality is not right! In order to fully take over the police force, only his majesty the emperor can give out such amand. But as Sack faced the murderous cold person in front of him, he noticed the military officer already had one of his hands above his sword hilt. In his mind, Sack feared that if he refused, the guy in front of him would no doubt kill him on the spot! Sack was fully aware of his strength. Although he held the title of a fourth level knight, but his true strength can¡¯t even be a match for a third level knight. It was only thanks to his family ties that he was able to sit on such a high position inside the security department¡­. As such, he could not stop himself from scorning the guards outside his office for letting these people in so easily! ¡°Fine then¡­¡­¡± Hesitating for a moment, Sack didn¡¯t dare deny the order because of his own weakness: ¡°May I know how we can cooperate with the military department?¡± ¡°It¡¯s very simple.¡± This unfamiliar officer pulled his hand away from his sword handle: ¡°From now on, you are only responsible for the area around the magic union. As for the other areas, they will be handled by the city defense garrison forces¡­..¡± A little grin appeared on the officer¡¯s face: ¡°General Jean ude¡¯s order. In order to keep the peace in the capital and keep the security department safe during this important time, a team of military soldiers will be ced in the police headquarters to make sure you guys are safe until the festival is over¡­.¡± Sack was enraged now: ¡°What! You are openly encircling the police department!!! How dare you! I want to see that baster Jean ude right now!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, this is military order!¡± The unknown officer sneers loudly: ¡°Chief Sack, please cooperate!¡± Just when he said this, another couple of heavily armed soldiers came barging in. With a peek, Sack saw that the guards outside were already knocked out. Although he was outraged by all this, he was also scared because he can tell the outside was already surrounding by groups of garrison soldiers! As for the other police officers inside the police department, they were all smart enough to obediently go into their rooms because if they didn¡¯t, swords would be pointed at their necks. ¡°Are you going to rebel?!¡± Sack feebly sits down on his chair. ¡°It¡¯s to protect¡± The official spoke in a light tone: ¡°As long as you don¡¯t cause trouble, I will ensure that you are safe!¡± Sack is already regretting his move of deploying all of the police forces out early in the morning. With the police headquarter empty of officers, they had nothing left to retaliate with. ¡°Fine then.¡± Sack yields to fate and nodded: ¡°You said earlier to have my people patrol the area around the magic union, but now my people is stuck in here. How do you expect me to give the order out?¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple.¡± From his bosom, the officer pulled a couple of nkmand parchments and ced it in front of Sack: ¡°You just need to ce themand and my people will deliver it to your people.¡± With a stunned faced, his hand trembled as he picked up the ink quill¡­.. Most people did not of this event. When the sun finally came up, the civilians living nearby only thought it was odd when they saw the police department being surrounded by heavily armed military soldiers. With cold and murderous faces, any civilians that came too close would flinch and run away when their eyes made contact with these soldiers. Unlike the festive moods of everyone around them, these soldiers looked like they were readying to go to war! Then the word started to spread in the capital. All city gates are to be locked and traveling in and out of the capital is temporarily prohibited. This was out of the norm, but most were just specting that this was all in preparation for the activation of the barrier around the capital city. After all, the continent had already enjoyed hundreds of years of peace since thest major coup, so how can an ordinary citizen possibly think of this as a coup? Therefore, no panic or riot ever urred during this day. Untilte into the morning, around 3,000 garrison Calvary soldiers suddenly appeared outside the capital and nked each of the city gates. After meditating for one night, Du Wei hadpletely filled the five colored gemstone ring in his possession. Then with the help of Marde, he wore the most luxurious dress robe he can find. Afterwards, the countess sent someone to give him a new pair of boots for him to wear for the ceremony. When Du Wei came out of his own building, he was already aware of the tension building up inside his home. Armed and ready to go, 300 of the most elite guards of the Rowling Household was already awaiting their arrival outside the Earl¡¯s mansion. As for his father, Earl Raymond wore his usual high militarymander uniform; yet, after ironing it out, the neckline and sleeves made him look extra sharp despite his old age. Escorted by captain Alpha, the Earl led the way in the front of the pack as the two got on their pure ck steeds. Unlike the regr horses in the capital, each of the mounts ridden by the Rowling Household are specially bred war horses of the Rowling ins. Not only are they stronger than the average horse, their size were exceptionally bigger. Once the Earl began to put on his white riding gloves, hen suddenly turned around and nced at Du Wei: ¡°Let¡¯s go then, we will depart for the central square. Since the ceremony is today, the ce must be quite lively. We must hurry or we will bete.¡± Instead of bringing the countess along, the Earl used the excuse of sickness to keep his wife at home and only brought Du Wei. Traditionally, men¡¯s of the Rowling Household never ride in a carriage for these ceremonies. As such, Alpha had prepared a top ss white horse for Du Wei. But once Du Wei was on top of his mount, he noticed something as he looked around: ¡°Is brother also not going?¡± ¡°Gabri¡­¡­ I¡¯m keeping him at Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s home.¡± The Earl dismissively replied this to his question. Then just as he was about to head out, the Earl suddenly looked at Du Wei again: ¡°I¡­¡­ The things I said to you a couple of days ago, did you think it through?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve thought it through.¡± Du Wei¡¯s tone was very t as he replied. Then he asked: ¡°Father, do you feel certain?¡± ¡°Nothing is a certainty in this world. As long as it is at least 70%, then it is a very high chance.¡± Earl lets out a weakugh. Chapter 144 part 2 The 144th chapter ¡°day of the celebration¡± (part two) Following the cue of the Earl, the 300 Rowling Household elite guards also mounted. But unlike the regr Calvary of the empire, each of the horses hung a gold bell that gave out a sweet chime on every galloping step. Finally, under the protection of the elite guards, Du Wei and his father came to the central square outside the walls of the royal pce. The central square is thergest square in the capital city. With its back facing the royal pce, this enormous square can amodate tens of thousands of troops. Not only that, the wide roads running on the sides is enough to allow five to six carriages to move side by side next to each other. During the annual summer festival, this ce would always be as lively as now. Not only will his majesty the emperor make a rare appearance on top of the pce walls, other powerful figures will also participate like the president of the magic union and the pope of the temple. Of course, that is not enough to catch the attention of so many people. Down below the central square, there will be parades to showcase the might of the empire¡¯s army and prop shows performed by the general populous. Calm like granite, Du Wei¡¯s face didn¡¯t show any emotional change along the way no matter how many military soldiers he saw on the streets. Thus, by the time Du Wei reached to the central square, the day was already nearing noon. Packed with crowds of people, many nobles were already sitting inside the square awaiting the start of the ceremony. As for the thousands of regr civilians that came to attend the event, they were forced to stand on the sides behind the roads running along the central square to make room for the expected parades. As the Earl dismounted, this usually cold faced father of his actually pulled against Du Wei¡¯s hand and personally led him onto the tall tform specially reserved for the noble sses in the central square. But what surprised Du Wei the most is not the action of his father, but the looks on the other nobles present. With unease and worry, most of the people he came across didn¡¯t dare face them. Ordinary people may not understand the oddity of today, but the rich and noble sses all have a clear picture of what¡¯s going on! For the past two days, the residential areas of the noble sses were ced under heavy security by the military. Some were dissatisfied by this so they went into the pce to seek his majesty the emperor to protest, but the emperor refused to meet any of them! Listening to the ruckus down below, Du Wei sat down on top of the tall tform and watched the regr civilians still immersing themselves in the celebratory atmosphere. Seeing the joyous faces on these people, Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but sigh in his heart for what is toe of them¡­. Finally, when the time struck noon and the sun hung in the middle of the sky, the golden gate of the royal pce slowly opened. Riding out first were the golden colored pce guards on their white horses, followed by the honor guards with their rions. With a single blow, the traditional trumpet sound of a Calvary charge is as clear as day. Then following close behind, the pce maids, court officials, and schrs walked out in groups once by one. In the end, two half naked muscr wrestlers came out with a golden drum. With muscles like rock, these two eye popping individuals singlehandedly managed to lift the thing like it was nothing. With the horns stopped, the two wrestlers picked up the drum sticks¡­. Then Dong! Dong! Dong¡­¡­ This heavy drum beat is just like knocking on the very minds of an individual¡¯s soul! As the beat spread far into the distance, the noise in the crowds began to die down because everyone knew that ording to tradition, this sound is the prelude to theing of the emperor! Once the 12 drum beats finished, the current ruler of this piece ofnd, Augustine the 6th will finally make his appearance! With a clear rion call, all the nobles present on the tall tform stood up and performed a proper salute towards the general direction of the pce gate. As for the army generals, they instead performed a regr standard knight salute. Unlike the others looking over at the pce gate, Du Wei nced at his father only to find that his expression waspletely calm. Even though Earl Raymond was facing the giant gates of the imperial pce, his body was still bent over in salute without standing straight! Others were already giving them the gaze of questioning, but right now, none dares to openly question the weird actions of the Earl. For the first time, Du Wei was finally able to see the image of the emperor¡­. And his first impression was ¡°old¡±! Though the emperor¡¯s may lookvishing in his well adorned clothing, but this 70 years old guy is already a dying old man! As Du Wei observed the emperor carefully, he could not stop himself from gasping¡­. On top of the diamond encrusted crown, he can see the main jewel adorning it was a five colored gemstone like the one in his possession! The pace of Augustine the 6th was very slow like his reaction could not keep up. Although it¡¯s a day of celebration, but the half closed eyes of this old man looked very serious like it was devoid of happiness. From appearances, Du Wei can somehow make out the resemnce with Prince Son, but unlike the friendly aura of the prince, this emperor looked dignified in hisposure and had a warlike atmosphereing out of him. Despite all this, Du Wei can still make out the years of aging in the emperor¡¯s movements. And what is even more shocking for Du Wei is that in his careful observation, the emperor¡¯s hand was secretly shaking when he passed by Du Wei and his father! Walking onto his own tform, the emperor stood alone with at least 20 meters of distance between everyone nearby. But there are always exceptions. Two people were following closely behind the emperor on each side. On the left, the guy wore a red robe simr to that of the magic union, but it¡¯s obvious he was a court mage and not of the magic union. And on the right, a thin man wearing a grey robe stood there with vignt eyes. Though his chest didn¡¯t have a badge to showcase his warrior level, but his arm still held a sword of undeniable quality. Only these two men are allowed to follow behind the emperor, this includes the prince that is standing 20 meters away like the rest of the people present. When Du Wei saw Prince Son nearby, his face still looked rx like everything happening today is none of his concern. And to top it off, when the prince noticed Du Wei was looking over at him, the prince even gave him a friendly smile. As for that crown prince, he still didn¡¯t show up yet. Sweeping through the audience with his eyes, Augustine the 6th¡¯s was just like that of an old lion, while old, but still full of vigor! ¡°So then¡­¡­ Let it begin!¡± Though his voice was hoarse, but he didn¡¯t waste time uttering crap and simply said this one sentence before sitting down. With a gentle wave of the emperor¡¯s hand, the two wrestlers below once again began beating the giant drum. With rapid beats, the sound of drum rolling echoed into the distance¡­.. Nearby at the end of the main street, a loud horn reached the ears of everyone in the square. Then Du Wei immediately sensed a strong war like atmosphere drawing near from the distance! Donning armors colored in gold, the 3,000 infantry soldiers sparkled under the sunlight as they marched through the main streets in a neat formation! With neat trampling pace, the shaking on the ground sounded very rhythmic like it was singing! Swish! Swish! Swish¡­.. Hearing this, the crowds on the street started cheering and those on the side began throwing flower pedals into the air as the soldiers passed by. ¡°Father.¡± Du Wei looked at the oing soldiers before turning to his father to whisper in a low voice: ¡°When will the show you prepared begin?¡± Earl Raymond still looked calm as he reply: ¡°Soon¡± When Earl Raymond¡¯s voice died down, the infantry formation was already through the central square and stood neatly under the nose of the emperor. In one swift motion, all 3,000 soldiers pulled their swords out and pointed it up into the sky! Augustine the 6th smiles faintly as he nodded, and then as a tribute to the soldiers, he lifted his hand to show his gratitude¡­¡­ Right then, the sound of horse hooves galloping could be heard in the nearby streets! Like thunder, the beating was filled with strength and power! Under the screams and cries of surprise in the distance, apany of heavy cavalry galloped into view! Clearly the elite of the elites, each of these knights wore a badge of third level or more! With pure ck steel as the main material in the forging of their armor, each of these knights rode a ck horse that matched their status. And to make it even more mind blowing, their capes were all uniformly red, indicating their status of ¡°iron blood riders¡±! Despite the fact that there are a thousand riders on horseback, their beats were in sync and orderly. This clearly shows how skilled they are in their horse riding techniques. When they neared the central square, the troopers suddenly slowed down without losing formation. Then like two teams of waves, thepany slowly split apart in the middle and rode a golden knight different from the rest! Just like the other riders, this knight rode on a ck war horse. The only exception was the golden yellow armor. There¡¯s no way to figure out what it was made out of, but if Du Wei had to guess, it was likely produced from some special magic material. The reason for his guess is simple. When the person made his appearance, Du Wei immediately sensed a fluctuation in the air! Riding to the front of the pack, the knight slowly removed his helmet as the cape on his back fluttered in the wind. Du Wei immediately recognized the face and was certain that the person is the crown prince! At least 70% in simrity to the emperor, the crown princecked the friendly attitude of Prince Son. However, this person is as dignified as the emperor himself, except that he had a cold ruthlessness in his eyes! ¡°My lord.¡± As Du Wei was watching the Crown Prince, the sound of footsteps and a low voice reached his ears from the behind. Middle aged, a shrewd looking 40 year old with light armor came up to the earl and said: ¡°Everything in the outer city is already arranged.¡± Earl Raymond nodded and then nce at Du Wei before saying: ¡°Du Wei,e, I¡¯ll introduce you. This is the second division¡¯s General Jean-ude. He is not only my subordinate, but also my friend.¡± Du Wei had no time to say anything to this general because a scream came from the square! Still on horseback, the Crown Prince suddenly pulled out his sword and aimed it at the emperor in the distant. ¡°Your Majesty¡­¡­ Father!¡± The Prince¡¯s voice came out steady. Even though the ce was noisy, but the voice clearly fell into the ears of everyone present! Apparently, the strength of this Crown Prince is not bad! ¡°My dear father.¡± The Prince¡¯s voice was filled with traces of awe-inspiring will: ¡°I like to ask you is the sword in my hand sharp?!¡± When his voice died down, the knights nearby all shouted in unison to create a majestic cry: ¡°Sharp!!¡± This aligned shout almost scared the nearby people to the ground! ¡°My father! My warriors here, are they mighty?!¡± Just like the first time, all the knights shouted loudly: ¡°Mighty!!¡± Flicking his sharp de, the Crown Prince used his sharp eyes to peer at Augustine the 6th: ¡°Such sharp des, such mighty warriors! Is it enough to inherent this great empire?!¡± Everyone in the audience was shocked! Still sitting in his chair Augustine the 6th had a deep depressing face as his palm trembled¡­.. With their swords in hand, the thousand heavy cavalry knights all pointed their swords at the emperor. Backed by this gesture, the Crown Prince had a cold and determined gaze in his eyes as he said the next words: ¡°Father, you stalled your decision for 20 years. Now on this day, I demand a answer!!!¡± At this moment, the sky had a dark cloud drift pass and blocked out the afternoon sun. In a sh, darkness enveloped the capital¡­¡­ Chapter 145 part 1 The 145th chapter ¡°day of bloodshed¡± (part 1) Looking up at the thick floating clouds in the sky, ¡°Old Smoke¡± squinted his eyes as he raised his hand to shield the reflecting lights from his eyes: ¡°Oh, looks like the weather is changing.¡± Then he nced at the subordinates by his side because the inspecting officer was very pleased by the time he left their group. ¡°Right now¡­¡­ The central square should be very lively.¡± Thinking this, Old Smoke couldn¡¯t keep his excitement down and tiptoed himself to see the end of the street. It was then the faint cries and screams of the citizens reached his ears¡­.. Old Smoke and his men¡¯s are all part of the empire¡¯s most elite ¡°capital defense army¡±. Formerly known as the ¡°Thorn Flower Regiment¡± before their names were changed, this unique group is not under themand of the military ranks despite being a part of the capital¡¯s defense force. The reason is simple. ording to tradition, their special regiment will only ept people of utmost quality with impable background into their ranks. Because they are handpicked by special officers, these men¡¯s will only obey the directmand of the emperor and no one else! Compared to the other pce guards, the members of this special corps is paid double the amount of those regr soldiers and will always be the first to receive new supplies from the armory! What isughable is that not only is the human treated well, even the horses in this corps receives special treatment. For example: the fodder used to feed the horses is always of the finest quality to insure the horses are kept at their best. All this is to insure their loyalty to the emperor! Because they are the so called ¡°King¡¯s Guard¡±, dedicated to only protecting the pce and no one else. In the main street behind Old Smoke¡¯s group, there arerge amounts of capital defense forces. Though Old Smoke find this a little strange because early in the morning, the police force was suddenly reced by the military soldiers, but he is not one to overstep his boundaries. Once the day is over, they can kick back and rx because every year after the ceremony, his majesty would always wantonly reward the King¡¯s guard. If one is lucky, they might even be promoted to the status of a noble! Old Smoke measured his qualifications: born from a declining noble family, but because he is not the eldest son, he didn¡¯t receive a peerage title. After serving in the king¡¯s guard for 12 years, he finally climbed to the position of a captain. If all goes well and his luck is good, he might even be gifted with the title of ¡°Sir¡±. ¡°Sir¡±, such a beautiful title. Old Smoke rubbed his numb legs after standing there all morning. Luckily the sun is covered by the clouds because the hot weather today is killing him¡­.. Butpared to the guys behind him, Old Smoke thought he was already getting the better end of the stick¡­.. Covered from top to bottom in heavy armor, the poor saps must be boiling inside. Seeing this, even he felt pity for them. But strangely enough, none of those guys looked dissatisfied; instead, all of them had a strong conviction on their faces. Seeing this, Old Smoke couldn¡¯t help but wonder at the strange sight: When did the city defense force ever be so good? Unless these people are those recently moved from the Northern Storm army, then there¡¯s no way they could show such endurance and conviction. Only after experiencing real danger will such atmospheres appear on one¡¯s face. ¡°These poor guys.¡± Old Smoke showed disdain on his mouth. Although their identity are supposedly the same, but the ¡°King¡¯s Guard¡± always looked down at the regr soldiers from the city defense forces. After all, they are the ones protecting the pce and the other party is stuck patrolling the grounds outside the capital walls. With such a huge gap in their work location, the glory of their job is simply too huge. To showcase this unbnced treatment, their outfits are vastly different for this special asion: Still wearing the usual gear, Old Smoke¡¯s light armor had a special metallic paint added onto it to give it a silver sheen. And that¡¯s not all, on each of their helmets; a golden feather was hanging on the top to give off an invigorating look. As the breeze blew against their specially crafted cloaks, the fabric fluttered in the wind like a true knight¡­. Old Smoke is not oblivious to his status. When he skimmed through the onlookers, he can see many blushing girls eying him over many times. Although this specially crafted armor was nice in appearance, but in Old Smoke¡¯s standard, he felt it was toovish and unpractical. In his mind, he even suspected that if an enemy were to use a standard sword in the military, they would be able to easily pierce through this set of armor! But what the hell, it¡¯s not like they are going off to fight!! As long as it looks good for today, then it¡¯s fine. Yeah, that¡¯s right! In order to look good! Old Smoke raised his spirit. Behind him, there are four squads of King¡¯s Guard awaiting theirmand today just like his squad. In their case, they are supposed to be the anchor for the parade. Where they are located now is a small square around 2 kilometers from the central square outside the pce. Despite it being called small, but its size only falls slightly short of the central square. Known as victory square, this is one of the three biggest squares in the capital. ording to the festival arrangements, all of the parade members are to gather in this ce before they are called for. And in front of Old Smoke, there is a formation consisting of a thousand infantry troops belonging to the capital¡¯s defense force. To be stationed in front of Old Smoke¡¯s squad, their status is already considered good because in the eyes of everyone, they are considered second in the ranking of importance, only one rank below Old Smoke. As Old Smoke looked at the war like equipment¡¯s of the city defense forces, he couldn¡¯t help but sigh: ¡°Aigh, no matter what they wore, they are all fully equipped for battle¡­. Eh, they are even equipped with crossbows? My god, so many things and that heavy armor¡­.. Aren¡¯t they tired? It¡¯s not like we¡¯re going to war¡­..¡± And even further behind Old Smoke are the parade floats prepared mostly by the general populous. ording to tradition, the 18 biggestmerce union¡¯s will join together to produce the most extravagant parade floats for this celebratory event. Hmm, if he remembers correctly, the float of the Solomon family definitely won first ce in the previous year! In a stroke of genius, their float was not only eye catching; the thing was practically a moving opera house! Of course, that is not enough to win the hearts of the emperor so easily. It¡¯s actually the ys that took ce on that special stage that captivated the ruler of thisnd. Ranging from the founding of the empire, to the rising of the Augustine Family, all of this was carefully panned out in their show. But the show that truly shined is the retelling of the war that happened 20 years ago in the Northwest. When the emperor saw this, he was so happy that every actor was awarded 100 gold coins! So who knows what new trick does the Solomon family have in store? Marquis of Solomon is a old friend of his Majesty, and takes care of the Royal Assets. Within the Chamber of Commerce in the capital, he is definitely in the forefront of the rankings¡­.. EH????? Old Smoke was in the middle of the looking for the Solomon Family¡¯s float, but he didn¡¯t have much difficulty finding it! This is strange already¡­ Because ording to the status of the Solomon family in the Chamber of Commerce, they should be at the end to act as the anchor for the civilian part. To be ced right in the front of their segment and directly behind the King¡¯s Guard, isn¡¯t that a bit too shameful considering their identity? Old Smoke sighs at the sight. And what is really odd is the how weird the float looked. Holy mackerel! How can you call that a parade float?! The size is definitely there, but the stage ispletely bare without so much as a flower bouquet. If he had to make aparison, Old Smoke would think he was looking at a coffin in a magnified state! Bare, bleak colors, without any expensive decorations! This is the Solomon family¡¯s float this year? Old Smoke widened his eyes. That thing is nothing but a wooden box with wheels¡­.. Do they really intend to push something like that to meet his Majesty? What the hell¡­.. When he was in the middle of his ranting thought, a great scream echoed into his ears from the central square! Like bees flying through the ear, this noise is just like a humming song of terror! No happiness or joy, the only feeling it had was surprise and fear! What¡¯s going on? Old Smoke consciously straightened his body as he and his subordinates try to guess what was happening at the central square. At this time, the sound of loud trumpets ying floated into their ears. When Old Smoke listened to the sound, his face turned slightly pale because he was somewhat familiar with the call patterns. Two long and one short one¡­¡­ God damn it! This is the cavalry charge call! Why the hell are they blowing such a call in the middle of the festival?!! Just as he was in the middle of his dumbfounded thought, a great ROAR of anger came from the infantry troops of the capital¡¯s defense forces! In mere seconds, the scene became chaotic! ¡°Murder! Murder!!¡± ¡°The Capital Defense army is revolting!¡± ¡°These people have gone mad!!¡± Chapter 145 part 2 The 145th chapter ¡°day of bloodshed¡± (part two) Before Old Smoke could get a hold of himself, the capital defense formation further away in front of their group suddenly turned around in unison after hearing the charging call! Heavily armed with blood thirst, the capital defense army is just like a poisonous snake bearing its fang at the ill prepared king¡¯s guard!! Out numbering the enemy 3 to 1, their group should have had the upper hand. However, when the two formations shed in the victory square, the King¡¯s Guard easily copsed at the sudden attack¡­. It¡¯s not like they were inferior in terms of skills, but rather they were simply caught off guard. As the anchor for the parade, their group was supposed to be thest military squad to head out onto the streets, therefore, their bodies were already tired from tedious task of idle standing. In some cases, certain individuals would even nap with their eyes closed as they waited for the expected call. To be attacked so suddenly by their formerrades, some of the soldiers from the King¡¯s Guard formation didn¡¯t even have time to respond before they were beheaded! The worst part of it all is that in order to look good, the swords they were equipped with is only a short sword that only noblemen¡¯s would carry. Slender and short, their weapons were nothing but decorationspared to the long sword carried by the traitorous soldiers of the capital defense army¡­.. And to add salt to a wound, the shiny armors worn by the entire King¡¯s Guard army could not fend off a single hit. No matter where the enemy¡¯s swordnded, their armor would easily be pierced without resistance! As panic spread through the crowded streets, the numerous onlookers fled for their lives as they scattered to look for shelter! Seeing this, the military soldiers in charge of security reacted with swiftness and gathered into two groups. While one acted like a shepherd herding the fleeing citizens away, the second group began forming a blockade to seal in the soon to be trapped King¡¯s Guard. The way they reacted was just like a well concocted battle n! It didn¡¯t take long for bodies to begin piling up on the ground. The once beautiful silver armor is now stained with blood as their wearer¡¯s bodyy limp on the floor¡­.. Without choice, Old Smoke was at first forced to retreat with his peers in order to avoid the first wave of onught. Nheless, after a moment of panic and confusion, many of the more senior officers in their camp started to rpose themselves and began forming smaller groups to repel the enemy formation. After all, this 3,000 men strong army isprised of the most loyal and elite members of the King¡¯s Guard, so of course they wouldn¡¯t be so easily taken down without so much as a fight! Unfortunately for the King¡¯s Guard, the crossbows used by the traitors are too much to deal with in their current handicapped state. In order to rectify this, the more experienced of the bunch began ordering their groups to hide behind the long lines of parade floats in order to block off the numerous arrows aimed at their bodies. Since they are all at a disadvantage ¨C equipment wise ¨C their only hope is to take advantage of the terrain. As soon as the main group of King¡¯s Guard hid themselves behind the long line of parade floats, the city defense forces began dispersing themselves in an organized manner and started to exterminate any residual survivors that weren¡¯t able to flee with their peers in time behind the floats! In Old Smoke¡¯s case, he was lucky enough to gather around 10 people under him by the time he hid behind a parade float. Just moments ago, he had seen his superior officer ¨C a fourth level warrior ¨C be killed by an arrow through the throat. As his superior officery dead on the floor, Old Smoke could still see the guy¡¯s eyes wide open staring at his general direction. Already losing his mind, he could only rely on his own survival instinct as the enemy pressed in on them. Unfortunately for him, his frail short sword was easily broken after he managed to block one of the enemy attacks. If not for his fast reflexes, he would have already been hacked to death by the enemy! Just as the hundred or so remaining King¡¯s Guard fought behind the parade floats, theirst remaining hope was finally blown out. All of the coffin like parade floats from the Solomon family suddenly popped open numerous window holes on the side. From it, a metal light was revealed¡­. It was arrow heads! Shoop Shoop Shoop Shoop! In mere moments, all of the floats suddenly turned into harvesters of life! Thus, thest remaining resistance of the King¡¯s Guard was crushed. In the first wave of arrows, almost half the King¡¯s Guard was killed and the remaining either surrendered or went out with bloodshot eyes of rage at the enemy. For those that knelt down on the floor to surrender, they were quickly beheaded by the capital defense army because prisoners were not epted. Screams! Everywhere was full of despairing screams! Even in thest minute of their lives, many still didn¡¯t understand what the hell was going! What the hell is this!!! Right now, old Smoke was fighting for his life with blood shot eyes. Under him, only 3 people were left from the original 10. If not for the long sword he had picked up from a dead enemy soldier, he would not havested this far. Once he managed to kill another two enemy soldier, Old Smoke suddenly shouted in a loud voice to his remainingrades nearby: ¡°RUN! SCATTER AWAY! GET AS MANY AS WE CAN OUT OF HERE! WE MUST INFORM THE KING! THE CAPITAL DEFENSE ARMY IS REBELLING!¡± He is after all a military officer and a third level warrior. In the face of death, his sword suddenly erupted a dull delicate light ¨C indicating he was about to make a breakthrough! Dou Qi! Out of desperation for survival, his body broke through a bottleneck and propelled his strength to a new level! However, this sudden breakthrough is also his misfortune because the enemy forces quickly perceived this and sent over two powerful warriors. After a quick skirmish, Old Smoke was pressed down by the two foes and was even stabbed twice where one of the wound almost pieced through his shoulderpletely! Letting out a beast like roar, Old Smoke rushed towards the foe that seriously injured him with blood shot eyes and aimed his sword straight for the enemy¡¯s throat¡­.. But it was also at this moment he suddenly felt his heart re up! Looking down, he noticed an arrow was already pierced through his heart. Spewing out a mouthful of blood, Old Smoke made a few crackling noise in an attempt to say something. Then reaching hand upward like he wanted to catch something, he finally fell down with a resentful expression. Before he closed his eyes, an idea suddenly popped inside his mind: ¡°His Excellency Sir¡­¡­ It would be such a nice honorific¡­¡­.¡± ?£» From the coffin like Solomon parade floats, a couple of dozen soldiers with crossbows rippled apart the top boardyers and filed out inrge numbers. Merging with the currently capital defense army, these traitorous soldiers began hunting down hest of the reaming King¡¯s Guard still on the loose. With infantry soldiers in the front and long ranged archers in the back¡­.. The victory square became a killing field! A yearter when officials began estimating the toll number for this incident: 3,000 hand-picked King¡¯s Guard waspletely wiped out after being ambushed with inferior weapons and armors. In this battle, the capital defense army only suffered around 400 people. 400 for 3,000¡­¡­ What a terrifying ratio! On this day, the river of blood from the victory square stained the ground so badly that even the water wells nearby would be red for the next few days! ¡°¡­¡­ Today, I must have an answer. It must be today!!!¡± The Crown Prince sat on his mount with the sword aimed at Augustine the 6th. Though his face remained as handsome as ever, the Crown Prince did not spend any effort to hide his murderous aura! With a somber face, Augustine the 6th was trembling in his hands. The once dark and half open eyes were wide open as he tried to stand up. In a sh, the once calm lion suddenly erupted into a furious rage! Even from afar, Du Wei can feel the fury of the emperor! With the sun still obscured by the clouds, a frantic cry could be heard from the far end of the main street near the victory square. The massacre at the Victory Square has already spread over. People didn¡¯t believe this at first, but when they saw therge amount of fleeing citizens from the general direction of the victory square¡­.. Bursts of power and prestige, brings a strong bloody smell! Fear, this kind of thing rapidly spread across the crowd! First person started to run ¡­ ¡­ Then the second, the third¡­¡­ And then the 1000th¡­¡­ The capital defense soldiers patrolling the streets suddenly left their posts and ignored the chaotic fleeing citizens. With purpose and order, these soldiers quickly grouped and began marching towards the general direction of the central square. Anyone unfortunate enough to get in the way of these so called ¡°protectors of the city¡± was immediately dealt with! Whether it was ordinary members of the public, businessmen, or tourists, all became victims of these sword wielding butchers! In the central square, the Crown Prince was already surrounded by numerous soldiers ranging from heavy cavalry riders, infantry, to crossbowmen¡¯s. These people were gathered around the two sides of the pce. As long as the fleeing citizens didn¡¯t try to head into the central square, these soldiers won¡¯t care. In their mind, they only had one objective: The Royal Pce! And the crossbowman¡¯s from the Solomon family floats didn¡¯t take long to arrive at the central square either. Once they were a the central square, a thousand arrows were aimed at the emperor standing on top of the tform! No one knows when, but an explosive tension quickly formed in the atmosphere! Chapter 146 part 1 The 146th chapter ¡°betrayal¡± (part one) Seeing such a scene erupt in front of their eyes so suddenly without even the slightest indication, the noble families on both sides of the tform were left speechless with shock! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince¡­¡­ Is really such a rebel! To be able to sit on top of this tform under the pce are some of the most influential people in high society, so naturally they would bring their own bodyguards to such an asion. Despite this, the guards can only securely guard their masters at the moment. In the face of the overwhelming rebel army down below the tforms, especially the thousand archers, they would easily be human target boards if shot were to be fired. In fact, if the rebel army were to fire a volley of arrows now, it is likely the ranking board for high society would need to be remade forever! Quiet! It was too quiet! Although there are still the screams and cries of people escaping in the background, the central square fell into a numbing silence under this stressful situation. But other than these noises, none from the Prince¡¯s side or the Emperor¡¯s side said anything for a long time¡­.! Finally, after a long, long time, the angry male lion known as Augustine the 6th suddenly swayed a bit and a sense of deep sorrow appeared in his eyes. In a sh, this person no longer looked like an emperor that controls the world, but merely a weak old man. ¡°Tell me¡­¡­ Why, my son.¡± Augustine the 6th tried to forcefully push himself up from his chair, but fell back down when his arms gave out. Seeing this, the two mysterious masters behind the emperor wantede up and help but was stopped by the gaze from the emperor. Focusing his eyes¡­. Augustine the 6th looked at the gleaming sword in his son¡¯s hand as it pointed up at him. Seeing this, he suddenly wanted tough¡­¡­ Hmm¡­¡­ His swordsmanship was taught by him in the past wasn¡¯t it? What a beautifully crafted irony! What a fearful mockery! The Emperor suddenly strode forward and step by step, he came to the edge of the tall tform and looked down at besieging son down below. ¡°Your swordsmanship was taught by me, your riding skill was taught by me¡­. My son, even the way you fight and n was taught by me. Everything was taught by me!¡± His eyes showed a deep hurt: ¡°By why! Why are you doing such a thing!¡± Not avoiding his father¡¯s gaze, the Crown Prince revealed a sweeping temperament that overshadowed the original gloominess! Even Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but give this son of the Emperor a pping hand at his tolerance! ¡°Do you want to know why?¡± The Crown Prince cried out: ¡°Because you taught me everything but didn¡¯t give me the status which I deserve!¡± Speaking up to here, the crown prince suddenly jumped down from his mount in one spinning motion! Then using his own sword, he knocked off his own helmet. ¡°My father, I¡¯m already 50 years old!¡± The Crown Prince points at his hair: ¡°Fromst year starting, I would always look in the mirror every morning to see if I grew another gray hair!¡± Raising his sword high into the air, he had a hint ofplex bitterness in his smile: ¡°Yes, what you say is correct! My swordsmanship is taught by you, my horse riding skill was also taught by you! But did you forget something? When I was younger during our lessons, you always told me one thing!¡± At this point, the Crown Prince held up his head and cried out: ¡°Perhaps you forgot, or maybe you intentionally forgot! However, I clearly remember!! You said to me, ¡®you have to learn all of this because in the future, this empire needs you to rule it!¡¯ Yes, that¡¯s right, it¡¯s this sentence! Starting from five years old to thirty five years old, I tried my utmost to learn everything and show it to you! I tried my best to be a good heir, but what about you?!¡± Swish! In a little swing, the sword moved to the other side where Prince Son is residing on the tform. Biting his lips, the Crown Prince began speaking in a deep voice: ¡°But because of him¡­ When he was only five years old, you suddenly changed your mind! For a mere child that can¡¯t even walk properly, you decided to blot out my 30 years of effort out of a whim! Just because you ¡¯like¡¯ it, you can just ignore my 30 years of effort! Just because you ¡®like¡¯ it, you can follow your feelings and rece my position with a pesky kid!¡± Speaking up to here, the Crown Prince stopped to catch his breath beforeughing wildly with sharp eyes. In this oneugh, his voice rang through the entire central square: ¡°Haha¡­.. Father! My father! Do you want to know when I wanted to rebel against you? It was 20 years ago during the 5th birthday of that boy! On that day, you said you wanted to change my Crown Prince position! After that day, I was thoroughly disappointed in you! And¡­¡­ On that day, you used your action to showcase one important lesson to me¡­. And that is power! POWER!!¡± He suddenly lifted his left hand and clenched it in the air. Then with a loud cry, he began to speak: ¡°Why you can so freely ignore my 30 years of effort! Because you are the emperor! Why can you so casually choose a kid to be the main pir! Because you have power so you can do whatever you want! Because of power! On that day, I hated you, but I also saw through the benefits of ¡®power¡¯!!¡± Augustine the 6th continued to look at his furious son, his eyes filled with unfamiliarity and disappointment as he shook his head helplessly. Still holding his sword, the Crown Prince suddenly plopped down on one knee and stabbed it into the ground: ¡°Father! Today, I only have one objective for the things I¡¯m doing today!¡± The moment he finished his words, the army of knights around him shouted in unison and their voices soared into the sky like a explosion! ¡°Your Majesty, please abdicate!!¡± Tens of thousands of City defense forces also cried out: ¡°Your Majesty, please abdicate!!¡± Wave after waves of shouting, the rows of high ss nobles on top of the tform all turned pale white without any hint of red left on their faces Still standing, Augustine the 6th no longer faced his son and turned around to look at the lower tforms on the side: ¡°What about you? To be able to mobilize such an army on this day, it seems¡­.. Raymond, you betrayed me, right?¡± Using a mild tone, Earl Raymond replied: ¡°Your Majesty, it¡¯s not I that betrayed you; it¡¯s you whom betrayed me.¡± At this moment, Du Wei suddenly sensed a strong wave of magic originating from inside the pce! This strong fluctuation in the air is so powerful that it was enough to send someone of Du Wei¡¯s level into a panic! Like a swirling vortex, his grasp on his own mental strength immediately went of whack! But then after the first wave of magical vortex, an even more powerfulyer of magic slowly drifted over. Du Wei can sense that numerous magical tentacles were fanning out from the ¡®number one tower in the capital¡¯! In mere moments, the white jaded Tower in the distance suddenly issued a flowery light! Just like lightning striking down at the peak of the tower, the giant magic crystal inside the thing activated! Although the Sun was blocked off by the clouds, but the brilliant light from the tower was even more eye catching that it was able to overshadow the sun! Then like an endless amount of halos, this arc of light spread across the sky and enveloped the entire capital city! Finally, after numerous streams of light spanned out across the sky, the halo and the river of lights fused together and formed a gigantic screen! Like a curtain, the magic markings in the light could clearly be seen with the naked eye. One by one, these patterns shed across just like a roaring dragon! Seeing this, Du Wei pushed his awareness to the limit and sensed the magic barrier was about to be fully activated inside the white jaded tower! Meanwhile, the walls around the entire capital city were also enveloped in a mass of light. Everywhere along the walls, including the gates, countless magic symbols started to appear on the surface! The strongest barrier ever created is about to reveal its true face! Chapter 146 part 2 The 146th chapter ¡°betrayal¡± (part two) Seeing the scene in front of him Earl Raymond sighs softly as he whispered to himself: ¡°I haven¡¯t seen this scenario for 20 years¡­¡­¡± With that, he raised his head and looked at Augustine the 6th standing at a distance. Using a clear voice, he said: ¡°Sire, the magic array is already activated¡­¡­ As far as I know, the magic array would require the full strength of the entire court magician team to activate it. Not only does it require an hour to fully power it up, but once powered, it cannot be stopped! Also, once it is fully running, the barrier cannot be shut down for at least three full days. During that time, those court magicians presiding over the magic array cannot move from their posts!¡± After Earl Raymond said all of this in a gentle voice, the eyes of Augustine the 6th became very somber: ¡°Raymond, you even found out about this¡­. For my son to rebel at such a time, did you also help him n all of this?¡± ¡°You¡¯re still so wise.¡± Earl Raymond bows slightly before speaking in a light calm voice: ¡°Presently, 3,000 of the most elite of the King¡¯s Guard have already perished in the victory square. With only 7,000 of the 10,000 soldiers left, there is no way you can protect the huge pce behind you. Also, the power of the court Mages cannot be mobilized for three days. Not to mention, even if you can hold out for that duration and wait for the court mage to help you, what can they do after exhausting all their energy.¡± Speaking up to here, Earl Raymond sighs: ¡°Of course, under normal circumstances, you can just fortify yourself inside the pce and wait for reinforcements from the other armies. But unfortunately for you, the magic barrier was activated. Within the next three days, no one can enter or leave the capital. Even if you manage to mobilize an army to reinforce you, they are forced to wait outside until the ordeal ends! Three days is enough for us to finish everything, am I right? In other words, the pce doesn¡¯t have enough forces for you to rely on at this time.¡± Earl Raymond suddenly bowed deeply in front of everyone and performed a respectable salute towards the emperor: ¡°Your majesty, please abdicate!¡± ¡°Please step down!¡± The several surrounding high ranking nobles belonging to the Crown prince¡¯s side also spoke up in unison to form a vocal ball¡­.. Augustine the 6th¡¯s finger started to tremble, his eyes filled with poison as he looked through the people around Earl Raymond. Then when his sight caught onto an old man, he stopped. ¡°Marquis of Solomon!¡± Augustine the 6th suddenly became infuriated with a deep bitterness in his eyes: ¡°You! You white eyed wolf! I always trusted you and even let you manage the wealth of the royal family! Now you are also betraying me with them?!¡± Under the staring gaze of the emperor, Marquis of Solomon calmly lifted his head and nodded: ¡°That¡¯s right your majesty, it was I and the others that orchestrated this whole thing. You see those archers down below? They were all quietly shipped here on the royalmerce fleet under my name. Thanks to your special seal, no inspector on the river even dared to check the inventory.¡± ¡°What about you Jean ude! ¡°All of a sudden, Augustine the 6th¡¯ pointed to the general standing not so far behind Earl Raymond. In a low growl, he began to speak: ¡°Jean ude, I trusted you so much and even made you the second division¡¯smander! Not only that, the entire defense of the capital was given to you!¡± Jean ude¡¯s face remained cold, even his body cannot stand straight as he replied: ¡°Your majesty, you did indeed left me with the capital¡¯s defense¡­.. But if I¡¯m guessing it right, you would have reced me in theing months! You are already old and paving the way for Prince Son¡¯s session. For old generals like me that still control a certain amount of military power, I fear we would be soon suppressed by you and reassigned to some far off ces! I know it very well, in order for the young prince to properly inherit the throne, he needs some new trusted people to serve as his top officials¡­. Unfortunately for me, my rtionship with Prince Son over the years has never been good.¡± The old emperor¡¯s body trembled so violently that he even bit his lips. With drops of blood running down the corner of his mouth, this aging old man looked like he is about to fall apart. ¡°Traitors! Traitors! All of you are traitors!!¡± Augustine the 6th¡¯s voice roared in fury. Looking at the aging old emperor in front of him, Earl Raymond sighs in disappointment: ¡°Sire, I said it before; it is you whom betrayed us and not us betraying you!¡± ¡°You¡­¡­ You! Spouting nonsense!!¡±The Emperor suddenly limped backward and sat back into the Chair, When he went down, the people around eximed in disbelief. With his breathing intensifying, the old emperor stared at Raymond: ¡°You people say I betrayed you?! Nonsense! Nonsense!!¡± ¡°On the contrary, what we say is true.¡± Earl Raymond calmly looked at Augustine the 6th: ¡°Your Majesty, every word I say are the facts!¡± With that, Earl Raymond raised his hand to point at the people behind him¡­. Most of the people present are from rich and influential noble families belonging to the Crown Prince¡¯s side. ¡°Dear sire.¡± Earl Raymond spoke slowly: ¡°Did you notice? The people that support the Crown Prince are all around his age! I believe you didn¡¯t forge the words from the Crown Prince earlier, right?¡± Watching the indifferent attitude from his father as he stood in the back, Du Wei suddenly developed a hard to describe feeling in his heart. ¡°Your Majesty, it was when the Crown Prince was still young. During that time, you said that everything he is learning then is to inherit and rule the empire! When you said these words, you also said it to many of us at the time!¡± Earl Raymond raised his finger and pointed at the Crown Prince: ¡°Back when the young Prince Son wasn¡¯t born¡­ No, to be precise, it was when the Crown Prince was still a young adult. For 20 years long, you treated him like the future heir to the throne! For the rest of us around his age group, we were already dumped into the Crown Prince¡¯s circle and cultivate as so! I can still clearly remember it. 20 years ago before the war broke out in the Northwest. I apanied his highness to the battle front in the dessert! At that time, you even summoned me to the pce alone and said ¡®Raymond, you are the best candidate in future! You represent the empire¡¯s future!¡¯ This sentence was never forgotten by me! Starting from that morning, you unintentionally put me and many others into a unbreakable link with the Crown Prince! From the moment we entered into the political circle, we were already branded as the ¡®Crown Prince¡¯s party¡¯! That mark was not of our choice, but yours! Because you wanted to groom a sessor, because you wanted to groom assistants for the prince, you started all of this long before Prince Son was born!¡± Subsequently, Earl Raymond¡¯s tone took aplete turn: ¡°30 yearsing¡­¡­ The young adults back then are already full grown adults with white hair. We grew up together with the Prince, we are friends, we are partners, all this was due to your words! You said back then the Crown Prince will be the future ruler, he will be the future emperor of our generation and that we must swear our loyalty to him! Like you asked, I think I managed to do that¡­. There are many people like I standing behind me¡­. All of us are doing what you said! But¡­¡­¡± He smiled wryly: ¡°Suddenly, you changed your mind one day! Just because of your ridiculous decision without reason! People like us that followed the Crown Prince for 30 years, where will we go in the future? Back then, you told us the Crown Prince will be the emperor and that we need support him. Fine, we did it like you tasked us to! But 30 yearster, you suddenly say that you want the younger prince to take the throne! Then let me ask you¡­ Those of us that are here today, where will we go? Because of your decision on a whim, the 30 years of effort by us became pointless! Prince Son is young and smart, but unfortunately, he is not the master I swore my allegiance to! Say I¡¯m treasonous, but if the young prince takes the throne, he will have his own group of people to support him. If that happens, where will we be stationed?? So¡­..¡± This Rowling family patriarch finally sighed. Then looking at Augustine the 6th, he continued: ¡°So, it¡¯s not us betraying you, but you betraying us! You gave us a goal to strive for. Then after 30 years of struggle, you can so easily cancel our target! 30 years of effort and struggle, all became nothing! Excuse me, but if this is not heresy, then what is?!¡± This round of words from Earl Raymond was so moving that Du Wei wanted to cheer loudly at his father! ¡± Earl Raymond.¡± Suddenly, a sweet to voice slowly floated into the ears of those present. Prince Son that was quiet up till now suddenly opened his mouth and showed his iconic warm smile: ¡°Earl Raymond, I want to ask you a question. If it as you say, then would you and the people behind you swear your allegiance to me if father had asked you to do so in the beginning?¡± Chapter 147 The 147th chapter ¡°A fighter¡¯s spirit¡± The words may seem simple, but Du Wei could not help but sigh when he heard it. Earl Raymond suddenlyughed: ¡°Your highness, you may be young, but you really are smart. Let me tell you, whatever provocation you are trying to do will not affect my rtionship with the Crown Prince. In fact, I can openly tell you: Yes! If his majesty had started off by tasking us to support you¡­. Then we would have done it! The problem lies in the fact that we were tasked with supporting the Crown Prince. After 30 years, he suddenly changed his mind and forced us into a corner. After wasting 30 years of our life, he didn¡¯t even leave us an escape route.¡± ¡°At this rate, it would seem father really is in the wrong.¡± When this line came out of Prince Son, everyone became shocked with surprise! Even Augustine the 6th was so surprised that he gave his little son a nce too. ¡°Father.¡± Prince Son stood up and gave a bow to the emperor: ¡°Why don¡¯t you go back to the pce and leave this matter to me. Is that fine?¡± ¡°Delusional!¡± The Crown Prince became enraged: ¡°SON! Do you think the situation is so simple?! If father do no abdicate today, I will not give up!¡± When Augustine the 6th raised an eyebrow after hearing this, the grey robed warrior that was always standing behind the emperor suddenly emerged with piercing cold eyes: ¡°Impudent! I want to see who would dare block our path if his majesty wishes to return!¡± With that, this usually ordinary looking warrior suddenly stepped forward. From a silent shadow, this person made aplete change as a bone chilling aura emitted from his body! No doubt about it, this is blood thirst! Du Wei¡¯s senses are the keenest among the audiences. When he watched the scene unfold from the distance, his senses were easily blown away by the sharp pain caused by the murderous aura. In fact, Du Wei felt a little scared to stare! ¡°Humph!¡± The Crown Prince sneered: ¡°Oh respected Rosie. I certainly can¡¯t forget you the infamous ¡®Grey robed sword saint¡¯. Although you are mighty, but not even you can fend off tens of thousands of elite soldiers¡­..¡± With that said, the Crown Prince coldly looked at this grey robed martial artist: ¡°And for years you have remained by my father¡¯s side, so how can I ever forget you! In response, I have prepared the most suitable opponent for you!¡± After saying that, the Crown Prince turned away to whisper at a full bodied armor knight: ¡°I¡¯m requesting you now to do the third favor. Help me kill this Grey Robed sword Saint!¡± Letting out a soft sigh in response: ¡°As you wish.¡± This familiar icy cold voice easily reached Du Wei¡¯s ears. Unable to stop his body, Du Wei started to tremble because he knew exactly who the owner of this voice was! Sure enough, the Knight slowly took off his helmet to expose a face full of loneliness in his eyes. When he took out his sword, the long de gave off a vague cold that is akin to a terrifying storm¡­.. Beauty under the Moonlight! After Hussein, the continent¡¯s second Saint ss Knight Rodriguez finally appeared!!! Slowly taking off his armor, Rodriguez walked out from the crowd of soldiers and silently looked up at the tform where the grey robed warrior resided. ¡°Sir Rosie, I have heard of your great name.¡±Rodriguez seems to smile a bit when he said this: ¡°However, I¡¯m not too fond of you¡­¡­ For a long time now, you are called the ¡®Grey robed sword Saint¡¯. But I¡¯m quite curious, for someone of your level, how can your title include the word Saint?¡± Speaking up to here, Rodriguez sighed softly and his whole body suddenly surged with a flow of golden light. Immediately, the brilliant color of the Saint ss Dou Qi burned with the intensity of a searing me! The brilliant glow seems to stun the eyes of every person in the audience! After a long time of silence, someone suddenly eximed: ¡°Golden Dou Qi! Gold Dou Qi! Oh almighty god! It¡¯s actually a Saint Knight!!¡± Burning with light, his whole body seems to shine like the very sun in the sky. In fact, every part of his body was gold in color, including his hair and eyes. The only thing that wasn¡¯t a golden shade is the sword held in his hand ¡®Beauty under the Moonlight¡¯. Still silvery and cold, this ancient sword looked all the more mysterious when wrapped around with the pale golden aura. No longer calm and arrogant, Rosie instinctively reached one of his hands out to grab the sword on his waist! Rosie had long heard of Rodriguez and his ¡°beauty in the Moonlight¡±, but until now, he had never thought he would lose even if he encountered this person! Because¡­¡­ Never in his wildest dreams did he think someone would advance to the Saint level!! With his heart sinking to the bottom, Rosie knew very well his own strength is only at the ninth level!! Perhaps¡­¡­ Such a saying is too demeaning for someone like him with the title of a sword saint.. On this whole continent, ninth level Knights are few in numbers! For example: prior to Hussein¡¯s appearance, the temple¡¯s strongest knights are only at the ninth level. Known as the Grey Robed Sword Saint, Rosie only earned his title because of his trademark grey robe. As for the Saint title, it was due to his amazing swordsmanship. In terms of fame, Rosie would not lose out to Rodriguez in any way. However, because of the countless years he spent secluding himself inside the pce, his name is not as prominent in the present day. Looking at Rodriguez¡¯s legendary sword and the golden Dou Qi, Rosie suddenly swept away the darkness in his eyes. In its ce, a form of devotion akin to a religious look appeared in his eyes. Indeed, it is the light of a Saint Knight! A level he could never reach in this life! ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Suddenly turning around, this sword master gave Augustine the 6th a deep and painful look. His voice was not of apathy; instead, it was full of kindness and warmth: ¡°How long have I been by your side?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ In total for 26 years.¡± From the eyes of Rosie, Augustine the 6th can see something that made him restless with worry. Unable to resist, this ruler of a nation asked: ¡°Rosie, you¡­..¡± ¡°Your Majesty, how many years have we known each other?¡± On his face, a smile actually appeared. ¡°¡­¡­ More than 54 years!¡± Augustine the 6th suddenly understood the meaning behind his words. His once trembling body jerked upright with force: ¡°54 years! ¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, a total of 54 years¡­.¡± Rosie looked up at the sky as if talking to himself: ¡°At the time, we were still young when we first met inside the frozen forest. In my heart, you are still the same young and fit prince from back then. My good friend, for you, I was willing to stay by your side for 26 years of my life.¡± ¡°Ro-Rosie!¡± ¡°No, your Majesty, in this world, you are the only person that understands me the best.¡± Rosie continues to speak in a low voice: ¡°When I was young, I mentioned that my greatest dream is to advance to the level of Sainthood. It¡¯s a shame. This year, I¡¯m already 68 years of age and still couldn¡¯t reach the realm of Sainthood. But God has mercy! Although I couldn¡¯t reach my goal, but at least I have the opportunity to face a real Saint Knight.¡± Speaking up to here, Rosie got down on one knee and gave a deep bow with his head: ¡°My lord, in my life, I am very lucky to have been yourpanion¡­. But from today onwards, Roxie can no longer apany you!¡± With those words finished, Rosie stood up and turned his back against the emperor. No longer looking back, this person with a warrior¡¯s pride and attitude floated down from the tall tform like a cloud in the air and stood before Rodriguez! ¡°Saint level expert!¡± Rosie sounded very serious in his words. Nodding to Rodrigues, he continued speaking: ¡°Thank you for satisfying my life¡¯s desire! For this battle, I waited my entire life!¡± With that, he gently pulled out his sword. Made out of the finest steel, this high quality sword wasn¡¯t embedded with any magic gemstone or enchantment. But that¡¯s not all; the hilt had thin marking lines running through the handle, obviously designed for the user to have a better grip during a fight. Releasing all of his Dou QI, this ¡°Grey robed Sword Saint¡± was covered in a silvery aura with a faint golden glow¡­. Unfortunately for him, this faint golden light was far from the true golden Dou Qi of a Saint level master. It¡¯s obvious this 68-year old warrior is standing at the border of advancing! It¡¯s a shame; this person could never make a break through. In terms of color, Du Wei can tell that this person¡¯s Dou Qi could not even match up to the level of Hussein when they first met in the frozen forest. However, despite his obvious weakness, this warrior still raised his sword to make a challenge: ¡°Make your move! In the name of a warrior¡¯s dignity, I ask you not to hold back!¡± Hearing this, Rodriguez¡¯s face became serious. Despite the obvious gap in their strength, Rodriguez showed no sign of mockery; instead, his eyes were filled with respect. ¡°As you say and as you wish!¡± A golden Dou Qi and a silvery Dou Qi collided together on this day. No matter where one looked, as long as this mix of gold and silver light was present, the souls of bygone warriors echoed with life! Chapter 148 The 148th chapter ¡°Gap¡± As the two top warriors fought each other, their Dou Qi is neither kind nor forgiving. Under such violent conditions, even the towering pce walls seem to shake with agony under their oppressive rule¡­¡­ In the imperial capital¡¯s sky, Rosie unreservedly pressed out every drop of his Dou Qi to form a grand light around his body. Under such might, even the sword in his hand hummed with stress at its owner¡¯s power. At this time, every martial expert present can tell this great knight is already pushing his strength to the utmost extreme limit! A ninth-level knight¡¯s full power erupting at a single moment is not to be trifled with; in fact, it is a terrifying experience for most of the people present. To put it into perspective, the humming sound of Rosie¡¯s sword is in fact the signal that the sword is already at its limit and if pushed any harder, it would shatter like ss. Unlike the rest of the audience, Rodriguez remained calm in his expression because after their initial sh, he had already grasped the true strength of his opponent. Letting out a soft sigh, he thought: The other side is courting death. It is clear to Rodriguez that the strength of this grey robed sword saint is far inferior to him. As a Saint level knight, Rodriguez felt like he is currently a humongous giant facing a tiny ant¡­¡­ This isn¡¯t just Rodriguez being overconfident because after the initial sh of their Dou Qi, Rosie was already injured by the impact. If not for Rosie forcefully keeping it down, he would have already spit out a mouthful of blood due to the injury in his throat! Beauty under the Moonlight truly deserves to be a called a legendary weapon. Even with the protection of his Dou Qi, Rosie could barely fend off the creeping frost that invaded his body. Like an infection, the terrifying cold air crept along his de and quickly tried to invade into his body through his arms. If Rosie didn¡¯t resist with everything he had, he would not have survived the chill! Is¡­ This is true strength of a Saint Knight? Rosie felt humiliated because he felt the other party didn¡¯t show his real powers yet. Unable to bare it in his heart, this Grey robed sword saint screams out: ¡°Take out all your strength!¡± Before his voice died down, Rosie was already dashing forward with his sword in hand. In this one move, he didn¡¯t make any shy Dou Qi kills because he finally realized. In the face of a foe thatpletely exceeds him, those fancy skills arepletely useless; the only real way to deal any damage is by brute swordsmanship! Under the cover of his silvery Dou Qi, Rosie shot out like a beam of light. However, his body suddenly disappeared from the eyes of everyone while still in mid jump! Like an act of mercy, Rodriguez lets out a sigh. Swish! Almost without warning, the image of Rosie striking down with his sword suddenly appeared besides Rodriguez. For all those present, they could not help but feel a sense of emotional respect towards the amazing speed shown before them. Earlier, the act of disappearing from everyone¡¯s naked eyes is a form of deception created by the high velocity he was going at. But ¡­ Rodriguez reacted like he had seen through it all. With one hand tucked behind his back, Rodriguez casually raised his ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡± with the other hand and ¡®Keng¡¯, he easily blocked the attack! Instead of making an impact with his strike, Rosie was sent flying backwards through the air! And because of the severity of his injury earlier, he was no longer able to keep his new injury suppressed after taking this second blow. Spitting out a mouthful of blood like a splurging fountain, even his robe was stained with dots of red! Without dy, Rosie got up and shouted: ¡°Again!¡± Showing a strong conviction in his eyes, this ¡°Grey robed sword Saint¡± once again disappeared in midair. As soon as Rosie¡¯s voice died down, four images of him attacking Rodriguez at the same time appeared before everyone¡¯s eyes! Known as the ¡°clone strike¡±, this attack is Rosie¡¯s signature move! To witness such a grand battle between top martial experts, Du Wei couldn¡¯t keep his eyes away for even a second because it was so enticing! As a ninth level knight, Rosie¡¯s greatest strength is his speed. By controlling his Dou Qi, he is able to bypass the physical limit imposed by his body! So although it may look like there is four Rosie¡¯s attacking at the same time, but it is only an after image created by the unbelievable speed he was moving at! ¡°EH¡­¡­ Change of tactics?¡± Rodriguez shakes his head in disappointment: ¡°It¡¯s no use!¡± The next moment following Rodriguez word is not only weird, but unbelievable! Especially in Du Wei¡¯s eyes, even his heart skipped a beat as if he was enlightened by what he saw! In terms of knowledge about a Saint level fighter, Du Wei can easily take first ce on the continent. Hussein, Gandalf, and the dragon chieftain, these are all Saint level people in his list! This is especially true for that dragon chieftain because the strength of that four legged lizard is already at a grisly level. After witnessing so many battles between Saint level fighters, Du Wei could never fully grasp the secret behind their strength. Maybe it was because the battles were always fought between Saint level foes? However, in the Battle between Rodriguez and Rosie, Du Wei can clearly see the difference between an ordinary person and a Saint level warrior! For this is the ¡°rule¡±! In terms of speed, Rosie is definitely unmatched throughout the continent. But a freaky and strange scene unfolded before everyone¡¯s eyes: Rodriguez sighs: ¡°Change of moves? It¡¯s no use¡± After saying this, everything in the close vicinity of Rodriguez seems to slow to a crawl! Although it was obvious the Grey Robed swordsman was attacking at a dashing speed, but the moment his sword was about to make contact, space and time seems to distort¡­¡­. In that moment, Du Wei felt very ufortable as he watched on. As a matter of fact, his heart was suffering from so much pain that he wanted to vomit blood! At the time, Du Wei didn¡¯t know, but Rodriguez had distorted the very fabric of space near himself. That¡¯s why he felt so ufortable because his mental spirit that was probing Rodriguez was also distorted under the might of the Saint level warrior! For a Saint level warrior to create a distortion in space, how can he so easily allow others to probe him?! Du Wei was so entranced by all this that he didn¡¯t even realize his face was turning pale at an rming pace. Before long, his eyes nked out due to the stress of overusing his mental spirit. Copsing to the floor, Du Wei¡¯s sudden movement quickly rmed his father that was standing by his side. Turning around, Earl Raymond saw his son lying motionless on the floor. Shocked by this, he quickly reached out his hands to pull Du Wei up. After being pulled from the floor, Du Wei opened his eyes to see the worried face of his father. Knowing something was not right, Du Wei secretly poured some energy out of the five colored ring on his finger to replenish his energy. It was at this moment, the battle finally ceded a winner! Rodriguez finally makes his move! He didn¡¯t know why, but Rosie¡¯s long ¡°clone strike¡± looked like it was stuck in a never ending vortex of time. It was obvious to everyone present that the distance between the two was very short, but it somehow felt like Rosie could never reach his foe even after 10,000 years! The audience may not know why, but Du Wei understood the secret. Different from Rosie¡¯s dashing speed; Rodriguez movement was so slow that it was clear to the naked eye! Slowly but surely, Rodriguez raised his legendary sword and stabbed into the first clones left arm, then the right arm of the second clone, then the left leg for the third, and finally the right leg for thest clone. Then a golden light shed and the Grey robed sword Saint was sent flying backwards again! When Rosie fell on the floor, his arms and legs were already broken with blood spraying out like a fountain! It was obvious Rosie is suffering from a fatal injury, but his face looked so calm unlike the usual painful expression you would expect from a dying person¡­. ¡°I¡­¡­ Seem to understand.¡± With a faint smile, this dying grey robed swordsman used thest of his strength to utter these words before swallowing hisst breath. The audience fell into a deathly silence! The gap! It is a gap that is so widely divided that one would think it is impossible to cross! Known as the Grey robed Sword Saint Rosie, this ninth level knight is practically at the very peak of his field. However, in front of a true Saint level Knight, his outstanding swordsmanship and strength could not even resist a single attack! Facing the already dead Rosie, Rodriguez resheathed his legendary sword and walked up to his former foe. In a whispering voice: ¡°I granted your wish, may you rest in peace.¡± Afterwards, this Saint level expert turned around to catch a glimpse at the crown prince: ¡°I have finished your request. From today onwards, I do not owe you anything.¡± With that, this Saint level Knight left with a faint smile on his face. Shrouded in a golden light, Rodriguez flew into the air without looking back. Chapter 149 The 149th chapter ¡°very suddenly¡± This is wrong! This is very wrong! Feeling a weird aching pull in his heart, Du Wei felt all of this didn¡¯t quite match up to the situation. Turning his head, he finally understood why when he caught a glimpse of Prince Son! After witnessing the duel between Rodriguez and the suicidal attempt by the Grey robed sword saint, his reaction is too calm! And during the entire fight, he just sat quietly on the side line. Long before this day, Du Wei and Prince Son had already known about Rodriguez strength, so why didn¡¯t he do anything to stop this fight from happening? In fact, his eyes looked like he was all the more d that the event unfolded in such a manner! ¡­¡­ Can it be that Prince Son also wanted Rosie to die in battle? Illogical! This is too illogical!! When Du Wei peered over at Prince Son, he was somewhat caught off guard when he realized his gaze was being met by the other party. From their brief contact, Du Wei can see a little¡­.. There¡¯s no doubt about it, it¡¯s a smile! Sighing in his heart, Du Wei believes his father¡¯s n won¡¯t go so smoothly. The Crown Prince takes in a deep breath and looked up at Augustine the 6th: ¡°Father!¡± The old Emperor showed a deep pain on his face when the red robed Mage behind him whispered: ¡°Your Majesty, it¡¯s for the best that you return.¡± Subsequently, this red robed wizard slowly stepped forward and faced the Crown Prince: ¡°Your highness, am I amazed that you can make a Saint level warrior fight for you¡­. However, I still want to give it a try. Do you have anyone under you that can also kill a Mage?!¡± The Crown Prince sighs in disappointment: ¡°I¡¯ve also received your tutge when I was young Mr.Gelunxiaer, will you really give me a hard time too?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± The red robed Wizard Gelunxiaer shakes his head: ¡°I¡¯m a Court magician. My loyalty lies solely to his Majesty. You can either watch on as I send his majesty back to the pce, or¡­.. You can send out a subordinate to kill me.¡± It was in this moment, the silent Prince Son finally spoke up. This handsome Prince gave a bow to this red robed wizard, his attitude clearly polite and gracious: ¡°Teacher, may I say a few words?¡± Teacher? Du Wei immediately recalled the stories about this Prince. Under the approval of his majesty, this prince never liked to learn martial arts since he was young; instead, he likes to learn magic. From the looks of it, this red robed court magician is Prince Son¡¯s teacher. ¡°Your Highness, do you have anything to say?¡± Prince Son gave a faint smile: ¡°Teacher, in terms of martial experts, my brother has a mighty warrior like Rodriguez, but when ites to the problem of mages, please let me handle it.¡± With the status of a prince and to so openly make such a request, Gelunxiaer had no other choice but to ept it under such circumstances. Also, when he looked over at the old emperor, his majesty didn¡¯t object. Nodding in agreement without saying anything, Gelunxiaer knew that his student wouldn¡¯t propose something like this without some kind of backup n in ce already. After all, Gelunxiaer did watch over Prince Son since he was a child, so he naturally understood his student¡¯s personality very well. Getting the go ahead, Prince Son turned around to face his entourage. Nodding, he began to speak in a respectful tone: ¡°Now is the time for you sirs to show your mystical powers.¡± Behind his highness originally stood a bunch of courtly waiters, but when his voice died down, the front row stepped aside to reveal two old geezers. Coming to the front, these two old gramps gently removed their outer robe to reveal their inner dress robes: Mage robe! But¡­¡­ White! ¡°Grand Wizards!¡± The surrounding people began to gasp with excitement and shock! White Mage robes are only worn by eighth level or higher magicians! Even the Red robed Wizard Gelunxiaer was a bit surprised when he made out the faces of the two mysterious allies. Giving a approving nod, this leader of the court mages gave a respectful salute: ¡°So it is Mage Rafael and Mage Leonard.¡± On the chest of these two white robed Mages hung a badge symbolizes their eighth level status, obviously issued from the magic union headquarters! Struck with a thought, Du Wei recalled the day when he met Prince Son outside the magic union headquarters. ¡­¡­ Can the magic union with their transcendental status also want to be involved in this royal coup?? Prince Son is now supported by the magic union? Watching the enigmatic smile from Prince Son, Du Wei became a little worried about his father. Although their rtionship may not be at peace, but Du Wei understood full well what the consequences would be if they were to fail. By openly revel, his father is clearly betting the future of their family on the Crown Prince. If they seeded, then they would receive glory and honor unmatched in theing years. But if they failed¡­¡­ Then that is the end! But now Prince Son is openly supported by the magic union¡­¡­ Thus, the heavily tilted scale towards the crown prince seems to be losing weight. With the two grand mages from the magic union, Gelunxiaer still had some doubts, but his face clearly looked better. Their numbers may not have grown by much, but under the right conditions, a grand wizard can hold off tens of thousands of elite soldiers! ¡°HA HA HA HA HA HA!¡± Although the Crown Prince was somewhat surprised by the sudden appearance of the two Grand Wizard, but there was no hint of horror on his face. After giving out a goodugh, this Crown Prince pinned his sight on the two white robed Mage and sneered: ¡°Who would have ever thought this! I thought the magic union never intervenes in any political struggle! Can it be that president Dorgan suddenly wants to give up the thousand year old tradition in the magic union?¡± The two white-haired Mage gave each other a look first before Mage Rafael spoke up: ¡°Your highness, you should understand very well why the president is supporting the young prince.¡± The way this old man talked and looked really made him stand out, in fact, the swaying white hair made him seem beyond the constraints of the mortal realm. ¡°Of course I understand.¡± The Crown Princeughed coldly: ¡°This little brother of mine had always liked magic, so the magic union would naturally support him. If he somehow ascends the throne, the future of the magic union would of course also rise under his influence! Humph¡­.. For the magic union to so openly get involved, isn¡¯t the president worried there would be negative effects in the future?¡± Master Raphael was about to speak up in response, but master Leonard on the side cut in before he could. This person looked extremely thin with a pair of triangle shaped eyes that gave off an extremely disturbing sensation. In an extremely arrogant and cold tone, this master Leonard began to speak: Ha, aren¡¯t you afraid of the negative effects when you set off this coup? Humph, any more words is meaningless. If you have any mages under you, why not ask them toe out?!¡± When he finished his words, this ill-tempered master Leonard raised his hand to summon his wand. Made out of a walnut tree branch, this specially crafted wand was embedded with a deep blue magic gemstone at the end, clearly for water based magic. Stimting his energy, a wave of sparkling blue aura wrapped around his body: ¡°Come on then your highness! Let me see if there is any mage left on this continent that can still challenge the status of the magic union!¡± The Crown Prince didn¡¯t care much about these words, but the red robed Gelunxiaer on the other hand showed quite a bit of dissatisfaction on his face. After all, although the magic union is universally recognized as the De facto leader in the field of magic, but the court mages is not under the magic union. In the thousand year history of the court mages, they have always been able to somewhat stand on par with the magic union. Therefore, when Leonard made such ament to pressure the Crown Prince, he had inadvertently offended this leader of the court mages. The Crown Prince quietly looked at the two mages from the magic union, his face showing some frustration as if he was struggling to make a decision. After a moment, he finally sighed: ¡°In that case, I have no other choice then.¡± With that, the Crown Prince suddenly raised his head to look up at the sky. As if bowing to thin air, his tone and body movement looked extremely respectful: ¡°Sir, it seems I will need to ask for your aid.¡± After a moment of silence, a gentleugh floated into the ears of the audience. Though the voice seemed old, but the tone in the voice cannot be hidden,,,, And that is PRIDE! ¡°Well then, let it be as you like!¡± Who knows where this voice came from because it wasing from every direction of the square! After the sound died down, a mysterious green me burst forth in the middle of the sky above the pce. As of the mes cracked the very fabric of reality, a green shadowy figure came forth! Donning a green mage robe, the color had a hint of sadness in its shade as if reflecting the person¡¯s personality. But that¡¯s not all, this person was green from top to bottom, including his pointy hat, that even the flute on his waist was green! Du Wei was stunned because he felt like he had heard of this getup from somewhere before. However, after waiting for the mage toe down from the sky, Du Wei¡¯splexion immediately changed to that of a crazed man! ¡°Gan, Gandalf?!?¡± This low mutter of his did not attract the attention of those near him, but the shock in his heart is not something words can describe! This mage that suddenly fell from the sky looked exactly like the already deceased legendary mage Gandalf!!!!! After watching this mysterious wizarde down from the sky, even the ill-tempered grand mage Leonard became stunned with shock after recognizing who this person is. Letting out a ¡®WAHHING cry as he dropped his wand, this old timer flopped to the floor with his knees and prostrated himself on the floor. Using the most respectful tone he could muster, this person tried to speak despite stumbling in his words: ¡°Gan-dalf-tea-cher-you are still alive!¡± The moment his words came out, the audience soared into a uproar! Gandalf? The number one most powerful Mage on the continent Gandalf?! Chapter 150 The 150th chapter ¡°green robed Gandalf¡± When Master Leonard fell to the ground and shouted out the mind blowing name, Du Wei was in turmoil. Gazing at the green robed Mage standing before everyone, he tried his best to look for any unfamiliarity. But all was in vain! The facial features on this Green-robed Mage are virtually the same as the Gandalf from his memory! Twins, or someone pretending? In a sh, countless ideas popped into his mind. ¡°Leonard.¡± The Green-robed Mage squinted his eyes and looked at the prostrating mage in front of him. With a smile, his voice carried a strange dryness: ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you for many years, but you aged a lot.¡± The arrogant Leonard no longer had any of the haughty air around himself; instead, he is just like a little schoolboy in front of his teacher. ¡°For you to be here, it must be because of that Dorgan, right? Hmm, if it¡¯s like this, then that means you wish to fight me, right?¡± Theugh from this green robed mage was even more eerie than before. Hearing this, Leonard cried out with his hands waving left and right in panic: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare! Student would never dare! Where in the world would I find the nerve to fight with teacher!¡± ¡°What about you then?¡± Turning his gaze, this green robed magician faced Master Raphael standing nearby: ¡°I remember you. You are called Raphael, right? Hmm, back when I was still in the magic union, you were still only a sixth level mage. After 20 years, even you are donning a white robe now.¡± Raphael¡¯s forehead was already covered in sweat. He may not be a disciple of Gandalf, but as a genuine mage from the magic union, how can he not know of Gandalf¡¯s great name? As the universally recognized number one Mage on the continent, Gandalf doesn¡¯t even need to be number one in terms of magical strength. Just measuring the influence he has, Gandalf is definitely number one that transcends everyone in this generation! Currently in the magic union, Dorgan is considered to be the head of the magic union, but if one were to count prestige and influence, then Gandalf is absolutely far beyond this so called president! For example, all those weird monsters living in the core tower of the magic union may be loyal to the president on the surface, but that doesn¡¯t necessarily mean they will obey the president¡¯s order when asked! In fact, whenever president Dorgan meets with one of those truly powerful old monsters, he would always show his respect without any intent of offending them! And let¡¯s not forget some of those old monsters are direct disciples of Gandalf! That¡¯s why even if the president were to issue a call to everyone inside the tower; those old monsters may not necessarily answer depending on their mood. But if Gandalf made the call, they would definitely answer! In fact, it¡¯s no exaggeration to say that if Gandalf were to call upon the aid of all those old monsters, every one of them would side with the Crown Prince immediately! Just imagining this terrifying scene is enough to make Raphael sweat uncontrobly. After all, he is a direct subordinate of the president, so of course he will obey the president¡¯s order. But who in the world would think such a legendary figure would suddenly show up at such a bad timing¡­¡­ Suddenly, Raphael¡¯s eyes inadvertently swept across the tform to where Du Wei and his father is located. Seeing the ck robe on him, Raphael had his senses knocked back into him! There is no doubt Master Gandalf has already passed away because even the life stone stored inside the magic union has shattered! As a close disciple of Gandalf, that little kid from the Rowling Household even confirmed this¡­.. Fake! This must be fake! He may be thinking this, but in the early years of his life, Raphael had also seen Gandalf in person. That¡¯s why after being left with a deep impression, he is also familiar with the outer appearance of Gandalf. Now that he is facing this green robed mage in front of him, how can he possibly utter the word ¡°fake¡±? ¡°Rafael, why aren¡¯t you speaking?¡± The green robed wizard squinted his eyes: ¡°Can it be that after not seeing me for so many years, the Mages from the magic union have all be mutes?¡± ¡°No.¡± Rafael wipes away his sweat. Looking up, he suddenly cried out: ¡°But I heard Master Gandalf you have already¡­¡­ Passed away¡­.. Your direct disciple from the Rowling Household even confirmed this point. Also, the thing that was stored in the magic union¡­..¡± ¡°The life stone, right?¡± The Green-robed Gandalf sneered: ¡°It¡¯s just a damn rock with my marking so how can it possibly control me! Humph¡­.. Since you are saying this, then you must also be suspecting I¡¯m a fake, right?¡± Rafael naturally can¡¯t say anything to refute this; instead, it was the chief of the court mages that showed a cold indifference towards this ¡°Gandalf¡± that suddenly showed up. For Gelunxiaer, his thought was much simpler because he is not of the magic union. Even if this self-proimed Gandalf is real, he is the chief of the court mages, so there is no reason for him to yield especially during this coup! The only problem is that with the appearance of this Gandalf, his heart is really in shock! Scouring the entire continent, there shouldn¡¯t be many others that can match him here today in terms of strength because he should at least be a ninth level mage if measured by the grading status of the magic union. In his mind, Gelunxiaer is not surprised that he couldn¡¯t detect the presence of the two white robed mages hiding under Prince Son because they weren¡¯t using magic at the time, but it¡¯s entirely different for this Green robed Mage! For this Gandalf, he was clearly hiding in the sky while using his magic! To be fooled so heavily, Gelunxiaer is certain this person¡¯s level can only be higher or equal to him. Thinking up to here, Gelunxiaer made up his mind and coldly looked at the green robed mage: ¡°Sir, regardless of whether or not you are truly the already deceased Gandalf, it does not matter to me in such an asion. The only thing that matters is your stance on the situation. If you must support the traitorous Crown Prince, then I will not step down even if you are the president of the magic union!¡± At this point, this chief of the court mages was suddenly struck with an idea. Turning his head, he looked towards the tform where the people from the Rowling Household were located: ¡°Earl Raymond! Your son imed to be the disciple of Gandalf and even lied about the death of his master! For such a crime of cheating the magic union, I like to see how you will deal with the trouble that is certain to follow in the future!¡± Du Wei sighed because he knew the other side would never let him off so easily. Once these words were uttered, even Earl Raymond¡¯s expression changed at the realization. After all, if this Gandalf is real, then it would be great for the Crown Prince, but that doesn¡¯t mean it would be good for the Rowling Household. Once the matter is over, the magic union would no doubt pursue the matter and the Crown Prince wouldn¡¯t infuriate the magic union just for his son¡¯s sake even if they are part of the same side. ¡°Du Wei, what the hell is going on?¡± Earl Raymond¡¯s expression looked dark as he faced his son. Du Wei didn¡¯t say anything in return because he instantly knew the meaning behind his father¡¯s words: Admitting to the identity of this Gandalf would without a doubt help the Crown Prince in his coup, but that would mean screwing himself over! Can it be that his father wishes to give him up? It wasn¡¯t just Du Wei that had a change of emotion. The always calm and rxed Prince Son is clearly showing a hint of agitation in his voice when this mysterious Gandalf suddenly showed up. For him, it wasn¡¯t easy to use his influence to get the support of the magic union! Without hesitating, he cried out in a loud voice: ¡°Du Wei you are thest person to see Master Gandalf! Now that such a person appeared before us, aren¡¯t you going to exin?¡± With those few words, the attention of everyone in the square is focused on Du Wei. As the scene turned into an embarrassing atmosphere, the green robed mage suddenlyughed out loudly. His once squinting eyes opened wide to show an overwhelming presence. Then from his body, an undeniable wave of power burst forth and covered the entire square. No matter the level, any mage present would without a doubt recognize the magnitude of this move. ¡°Hahaha! This is too funny! Just because I don¡¯t show up for a few years, I can¡¯t even prove my own identity now? That¡¯s fine! Fine! I am I; I don¡¯t need others to prove it!¡± With that, he raised one of his hands into the air to summon a staff embedded with an emerald green crystal. Facing Master Leonard on the ground, this green robed mage said: ¡°Leonard, stand up!¡± Hearing this, Leonard began to tremble as he obediently stood up. He may have gotten up, but this white haired old mage couldn¡¯t even straighten his body. ¡°Pick up your staff! Humph, that Dorgan instructed you to go against the Crown Prince today, right? Very well, pick up your wand and have a fight with me then!¡± Chapter 151 part 1 The 151th chapter ¡°magician¡¯s battle¡± (part one) ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare!¡± Leonard shook his head again and again. Watching the Gandalf in front of him, he would of course reserve some doubt. After all, the shattering of his teacher¡¯s life stone is already confirmed. Maybe teacher has some kind of ability to avoid the detection of the life stone, but¡­.. ¡°Teacher.¡± Leonard hesitated for a second: ¡°If you must help the Crown Prince, then disciple wouldn¡¯t dare raise a fist against you.¡± After saying that, this person clearly intends to stay neutral to both sides. ¡°Very good.¡± Green-robed Gandalf looked a little kinder in his expression. Then taking another look at Leonard, he said: ¡°Though you still retain some doubts about my identity, but you did go against Dorgan¡¯s wishes. For that, I won¡¯t me you.¡± Turning his head around, he faced Raphael, ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a shame, the president gave clear orders. Even if you are Master Gandalf, I¡¯ll still have to¡­.¡± Raphael hesitated for a moment before taking out his wand. Moving next to Prince Son, this white robed grand mage stood firmly in his ce. The Royal Court magician Gelunxiaer and the white robed grand mage Raphael each took to a corner to face off against this Gandalf. Despite being outnumbered, this green robed mage didn¡¯t show any form of fear, instead, there was only a hint of disdain on his face. ¡°Du Wei, can it be that you really don¡¯t have any words?¡± Earl Raymond whispers this to his son. Du Wei looked cold as he lifted his face to look at his father: ¡°Father, what do you want me to say? Prove that he is the real deal? Or prove that he is a fake?¡± Earl Raymond was stumped. Facing his eldest son, he could not evene up with a single fitting word in this situation. Clearly left without a choice, he has no other option but to make this Gandalf the real deal because for the family, they can only hope for the Crown Prince to seed. It would seem the future troubleing out of the magic union will likely befall on this son of his. The impending battle between three mighty mages is about to unfold. A chief of the court mages and an eighth level grand mage teaming up against the legendary magister of the continent! Everyone present is fully aware of the terror that could unfold between a Mages battles; for that, all those noble aristocrats are slowly retreating behind their bodyguards out of fear. In mere moments, the entire central square waspletely bare to be used in the uing fight between the three. Without waiting, a rapid and short spell began to be chanted out of Rafael¡¯s mouth. No matter what, he is a genuine grand mage from the magic union, so he would of course show some self-restraint before making his move. Creating a barrier around the entire central square, he was especially careful when constructing the barrier around the area of both the old emperor and the young prince. The green robed Gandalf didn¡¯t bother to disturb him in his spell chant and simply looked on with cold eyes as if he was bored. As for the court mage Gelunxiaer, he had already jumped down from the main tform and pulled out a powerful magic scroll. Burning with light, a dazzling brightness immediately emerged to enshroud the general area around the old emperor. This is a high leveled barrier scroll that is simr to the one Du Wei had in his possession. Unfortunately for him, he had already used his in the battle between the death mage. First one to make a move is Gelunxiaer! This Court mage is indeed different from the regr mages that is somonly seen on this continent. Without any need for a staff, this person wore a full set of different colored rings on his ten fingers as his main weapon. In a sh, an arc of light quickly swept towards the carefree looking green robed Gandalf. Despite this impressive disy of magic, Gandalf only needed to casually lift his staff in hand to conjure forth a pack of golden birds. Circling back and forth around his body, these things acted like a magic barrier. This movement slowing spell of Gelunxiaer was only an extra measure on his end to avoid the off chance of being attacked by the enemy in his spell casting. Despite his extra efforts, Gandalf only gave a leisurely expression for all of this and didn¡¯t even attempt to attack him at this important time. In his heart, he was frightened and surprised at how muchck of enthusiasm the other side was showing. Moving his fingers at the fastest possible speed he could muster, Gelunxiaer created an arc of light around his hand and shot forth three rays of beam into the ground. In mere moments, the ground ruptured like something was crawling out of it. Out of the three respective holes in the ground, a giant earth, fire, and water elemental came forth! Crawling out of the ground, these three magical creatures roared into the sky as a form of intimidation. Then facing the still unmoving Gandalf, these three beings took on a hostile stance. Seeing this, the rxed looking Gandalf smiled with delight: ¡°So you specialize in summoning elementals eh¡­¡­ To be able to summon forth three elementals at the same time, that is already very good.¡± Still looking calm, he waved his staff a little. As if reacting to his action, the golden birds immediately gave out a sharp call before condensing into a golden beam of light. Like deathly swirls of light, these beams shot towards the giant earth elemental! With a dignified face, Gelunxiaer began chanting a set of incantations not understandable by the audience. Immediately, a glow of green light wrapped around the body of the earth elemental as it desperately absorbed the topyer of soil underneath its body. When the light made contact with this magical creature, the attack showed no clear signs of having any damaging effect; instead, it began to wrap itself like a rope onto the hulking mass of earth. Binding? Gelunxiaer became startled as he watched on, uncertain of what the other party intended. Struggling to control both the fire and water element, he instructed these creatures to attack the unmoving Gandalf. Opening its giant mouth to spit out a st of me, the heat from the fire elemental could even be felt by the audience that was watching from the distance. Still smiling, Gandalf lifted his staff to shoot out a ray of light in front of himself. When it made contact, the st of me was easily cut in half and deflected to the side: ¡°Let me think a bit. Going up against a fire elemental, what should I use¡­.. Oh yes, let me show you my fire creatures!¡± With that, he pped his hand and began whistling with his mouth. As if unable to withstand the shockwave of his p, a crack appeared in the air. Without waiting, a high pitched chirping sound reached the ears of everyone and a giant red ming bird flew out from the distortion! Spanning three meters, this sharp wed giant bird quickly swooped towards the fire elemental and became entangled together. Then Gandalf cleverly flicked his staff at the water elemental. Immediately, silvery sh of light swept towards the water elemental. Without waiting, the movement of the magic elemental slowed to a crawl and gradually began to freeze over. Carrying a faint smile, Gandalf began to whistle again and actually called forth a ice demon wolf! This magical beast is not a creature that is normally capable of handling a water elemental, but it is a different story under such circumstances. Letting out a howl, this ice demon wolf dashed forward and began chipping away at the partially frozen water elemental. Using everything within his arsenal, Gelunxiaer is already at his limits by controlling the three elementals at once. For those on the side, it was obvious with a nce which of the two masters is more power. Rafael originally refused to get involved due to his status, but after seeing theplete disadvantage faced by the chief of the court mages, he had no other choice but to step in. Picking up his staff, he began to draw a six cornered star on the floor. shing with lightning towards the sky, several streams of different offensive spells sprouted out at the same time and aimed straight for the enemy. Gandalf faintlyughs: ¡°You are also making your move?¡± He suddenly tossed aside the control over his previous spells and summons. Without needing to chant any form of spell, this green robed Gandalf actually summoned forth countless forms of barriers in front of himself. Green, white, and various other colored barriers quickly stacked against each other. Du Wei cannot see very clearly because of the ovepping colors, but even he can tell the barriers are not in any way weaker than the guardian spirit barrier that was in his possession. Upon impact with the array of attacks from Raphael, the numerous barriers was easily able to defend its user from any harm because when one broke, the next one behind will take its ce without dy. Rafael didn¡¯t give up. Raising his staff into the air, he began to shoot out another round of attacks. Under the violent bombardment, Gandalf still remained unharmed under the protection of the numerous barriers protecting him. After a gorgeous light show of countless explosions, Gandalf finally made his move and started shoot out a multitude of beams at Rafael. As much as he tried, this white robed grand mage could not resist even after drying out his tongue from over chanting! Chapter 151 part 2 The 151th chapter ¡°magician¡¯s battle¡± (part two) Seeing that Gandalf was already in front of him with a conniving smile, Rafael eximed with freight. In a sh, he had already teleported himself 10 meters away into the air. But it was at this moment the games finally ended. Feeling it was time to wrap things up, Gandalf no longer showed the smile of a cat chasing a mouse on his face. Raising his palm into the air, five beams of greenish light suddenly shot forth towards Rafael. Try as he may like, this white robed grand mage could not escape from these beams no matter how many dimensional escape spells he used! When he was finally cornered, Raphael hastily summoned a magic barrier to fend off the attack; unfortunately for him, the barrier had no effect and was easily broken through. Turning pale as the beams came into contact with his body, Raphael was surprised to find that he was not injured in any ways. Between disbelief and shock, Raphael touched his clothes and hair before looking up at the strange smile on Gandalf. Subsequently, Gandalf started to make some strange hand gestures aimed straight at Raphael. Suddenly bursting out a plume of light from his white robed body, even the very eyes of Rafael seem to turn green. ¡°Go!¡± Gandalf only needed to point his fingers at the three giant elementals to instill a sense of extreme fear into Rafael! His body¡­ waspletely out of control! Forced to watch his own actions like a puppet, Rafael summoned up his staff from the ground and aimed it straight at Gelunxiaer. Mingled with lightning, me, poison, and a torrent of spells, a powerful attack shot forth from his wand aimed straight at his former ally. As for Gelunxiaer, he had no idea what was going on to be so suddenly attacked by someone he thought to be on his side. Scared beyond his wits, Raphael lost all forms of courage when he cried out: ¡°Fast, get out of the way! He is controlling my body!¡± Streams of deadly spells began to rain down at the elementals. In this bombardment, the water elemental finally perished due to having its body frozen from the earlier spell by Gandalf. But that was not the end. Coming down to the ground, Raphael had an expression of a mad man and came rushing straight towards Gelunxiaer! A white robed grand mage is not to be trifled with. Despite being controlled by some unknown magic from Gandalf, Rafael did not show any signs of losing his touch. In quick session, he began drawing countless symbols in the air to form a brilliant giant seal of light. Seeing the light was about to m right on top of his head, Gelunxiaer cried out in shock before teleporting himself away in the nick of time. Setting up a barrier the moment he regained his bnce, Gelunxiaer was dumbfounded by the scene that followed. Unlike the stone bs that made up the central square, only dust remained at where he once stood! Coming down from the sky, Gandalf had the face of a kid that waspletely bored with his toys when he looked at the elementals. In a single sneeze, the very fabric of reality cracked under his might. Then as if following hismand, countless magical beasts ranging from Ice Demon Wolves, ming Rhinos, Earth Dragons (Pangolin), Undead Carrions, and others came storming out of the dimensional rift! To see such arge group suddenly appear before everyone, the audience became pale stiff with fear! Although the giant elementals summoned by Gelunxiaer are of the highest quality, but their numbers are simply toockingpared to the magical beasts from the rift. After burning a couple of the earth dragons to cinder, the life of the fire elemental was easily squashed under the horde of ming rhinos that came rushing at it. As for the earth elemental that had only just broke free from its binding, it had sadly met the same demise as its peers. The moment it could move, some of the earth dragons simr to pangolins was already clinging to its metallic body and began wing their way through. In seconds, the once hulking mass of earth became inanimate rubbles under the ws and fangs of the earth dweller. Although Gelunxiaer was seething with rage at the loss of his summons, he couldn¡¯t do anything while being bombarded by Rafael¡¯s constant attacks. After resisting for a short period, he finally realized that unless he retaliated, both he and Rafael would without a doubt perish. Left with no other choice, Gelunxiaer called forth a set of condensed magic spears. Controlling them with his hand, he threw it straight towards the oing attacks aimed at his body. Boom!! As the two attacks collided, smoke and dust covered the sight of both parties. Not letting the chance slide, Gelunxiaer hastily finished his second series of incantation and sent a grey bloom of light at Rafael. This is not an offensive spell; instead, it is a seal. As soon as the seal seeded, Rafael had a look of relief and gratitude towards Gelunxiaer because by doing this, it is showing the court mage had no intention of harming him. Still wearing the strange smile like before, Gandalf watched the entire scene unfold from the side. However, when the sealpletely immobilized Rafael, Gandalf suddenly pointed one of his fingers¡­. Almost immediately, Rafael regained control of his body as the green light faded away. Giving out a cry: ¡°Ehh¡­. I¡¯m fine again¡­¡­¡± Unfortunately for Raphael, he was still under the effect of the seal from his ally. As soon as he said these words, his face quickly turned ghastly white as the magic in his body disappeared under the pressing weight of the seal. Realizing the issue, Gelunxiaer hastily retracted the seal into his arm. As the silk like threads of magic circled around his fingers, Gelunxiaer finally lets out a sigh of relief. Yet, it was at this moment something terrifying happened! Like a virus infecting its prey, the leftover green lights that were lingering on Rafael¡¯s body suddenly acted in unison and flowed through the silk of energy connecting Rafael with Gelunxiaer. Before he could even react, Gelunxiaer found himself shrouded in this mysterious green light! Crying out in horror, Gelunxiaer found that this strange energy that had invaded his body was creeping through his spiritual energy. Before long, he hadpletely lost control of his body! Afterwards, something even more grisly unfolded before his eyes. The seal he had originally set up around Rafael started to regain its power and started to sweep towards his exact location¡­.. A few momentster, the green robed Gandalf lets out a lightugh as he slowly walked up to the two wizard. Like zombies, these two could not even blink. Just like this, Gandalf stood in between the two poor victims as he swept his gaze across the tform: ¡°Who else wants to try?¡± Like this, the audience became overwhelmed with shock! This is the power of the legendary number one Magister of the continent? At this point, no one dares to suspect the identity of this person. To be able to defeat a white robed grand Mage and the chief of the court Mages, it would be stranger for him to be a fake! If this person is not the real deal, who else on the continent would have such power! Those that are present in the square today are all part of high society. To witness the might of such an amazing person like Gandalf, all of these influential nobles are drenched in their own sweat! This master Gandalf¡­.. When he was casting his spells, he did not pronounce any of his incantations, nor did he wait in his moves. The only thing everyone saw was him popping one spell after another! This is instant spell casting! And not some lowly fireball either! After witnessing the overwhelming might of this legendary figure, some of those nobles that was supposed to be in support of his majesty the emperor, began feeling pessimistic about their own stance. s. The Crown Prince has a Saint level warrior fighting under him. And to top it off, he even managed to gain the support of such a legendary figure. Also, let¡¯s not forget he currently controls the entire capital defense forces with the support of Earl Raymond¡­.. Knowing this, quite a few people began looking over at Earl Raymond with eyes of mixed emotions. On one hand, everyone can tell he is basking in his glory at the impeding victory of the Crown Prince. But on the second hand, his son cheated the magic union, so there is no way trouble would not ensue. It wasn¡¯t just the others thinking this. Earl Raymond¡¯s emotion was also inplete turmoil. He is of course delighted that the green robed mage is able to prove his status with overwhelming might, but that would mean his son is now stuck in an awkward situation¡­.. Does this mean he really have to give up on his son? ¡°Father¡± Silent up till now, Du Wei suddenly spoke up before firmly fixing his eyes on the ¡°Gandalf¡± standing in the square. Watching his son¡¯s back, Earl Raymond asked: ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Make a decision now.¡± Right now, Du Wei¡¯s voice carried with it a touch of faint bleakness: ¡°You have already hesitated for a few days. At this moment, it should be the right time.¡± ¡°You¡­¡­ What are you saying?¡± ¡°I¡¯m talking about me.¡± Du Wei finally turned his face around. Unintentionally, his face was just in the right position that it was shrouded in the shadow: ¡°About my problem, you need to make a decision now. In fact, you have already made up your mind back when we had the conversation a few days ago, am I right?¡± Chapter 152 The 152th chapter ¡°Completely Shatter¡± Quivering in his mind, Earl Raymond couldn¡¯t even bring himself to look Du Wei in the eyes. Unable to bear it, the Earl tilted his head to the side as he whispered: ¡°You¡­ Also thought of this?¡± ¡°Yes, I did, and I feel the situation now is the best timing.¡± Still with a smile on his face, Du Wei then lifted up his mage robe to pull out a knife from his bosom! Holding the dagger with both of his hands, the young teen pointed it at his father and spoke with a gentle smile: ¡°You see father? Since you are unable to make the decision, then let me give you a hand!¡± Finishing his words, Du Wei suddenly tried to stab the dagger at the Earl without effort! Earl Raymond closed his eyes as he painfully sighed. When he did this, he also seems to hear the same sounding from captain Alpha from his side. When the Earl opened his eyes, Alpha was already in front of him with his sword drawn. As for his son, he could see a series of blood droplets trickling down from Du Wei¡¯s shoulder. Writhing in pain, even the wrinkles on Du Wei¡¯s forehead could be seen. Still, Du Wei kept the same gentle smile on his face as looked straight into the Earl¡¯s eyes: ¡°You see? How simple was that? The matter is not thatplicated, right?¡± With that, he turned around and walked far, far away¡­ Jumping down from the tform, hended right on top of the blue ted floor of the central square. Subsequently, Du Wei took in a deep breath before uttering a loud cry: ¡°You!!!¡± This shout was aimed directly at the green robed Gandalf in the middle of the central square. After sweeping through the audience with his gaze earlier, no one in the audience dared to challenge this Green robed Gandalf anymore. But when Du Wei cried out at this moment, he managed to catch the attention of everyone present. ¡°You!¡± Du Wei pointed his finger towards Gandalf before speaking his next words: ¡°I can prove it! You are a fake!¡± This one sentence rumbled through the ears of the entire audience! Just when everyone was in the middle of being awestruck by this green robed Gandalf, this thin and weak looking teenage suddenly came out into the square. With countless eyes of surprise, shock, fear, or disdain, everyone had their eyes fixed right on Du Wei as he slowly walked forward. ¡°You.¡± Without any effort to camouge the disdain on his face, Du Wei kept pointing his finger at this green robed Gandalf: ¡°I can prove it, you are a fake! Moreover, you said earlier who else wants to try, right?¡± The smile on Du Wei¡¯s face showed no signs of fear as he pointed at his own nose: ¡°I want to give it a shot!¡± ¡°Earl Raymond!¡± The Crown Prince abruptly turned around and fixed his gaze right up towards the chief of the Rowling Household, his eyes full of questioning and anger. Barely keeping his body straight, the Earl sighed softly before taking a deep breath. In a loud but clear voice, he began speaking: ¡°Your highness¡­.. This is my son, also my eldest son.¡± ¡°Of course I know he is your son!¡± The eyes of the Crown Prince burned with rage: ¡°But why is your son doing this?!¡± Not replying immediately, the Earl showed traces of pain in his eyes as he spoke in a slow monotone voice: ¡°When he was born, I was still serving the empire in the southeastern ocean. For the empire, I ughtered all those indigenous tribes living on the inds. For the empire, I wasn¡¯t present in his younger years. By the time I returned, he was already all grown up. Sadly, I never favored this son of mine and even went as far as to kick him out of the capital. But fate would not let it be. In the end, he returned¡­¡­¡± Speaking up to the word ¡°Returned¡±, Earl Raymond gave the Crown Prince a deep and piercing gaze. Under this impressive gaze, even the Crown Prince was stirring in his heart. Yes, he returned¡­¡­ Also not by my choice but yours! If you did not force me to call him back, he would still be my son even if he is not favored by me! But by calling him back¡­.. I ended up pushing him to this point! Although his face remained calm, the Earl was secretly crying in his heart. ¡°It is this son of mine that sabotaged your big ns two days ago.¡± His voice took on a more serious tone: ¡°For this event, my son went against my will and became good friends with his highness Son¡­. Also, he became a member of the magic union¡­.. So¡­..¡± The audience may not see it, but the Earl was squeezing his hand so tightly behind his back that even the veins were popping up on his arm! One word at a time, he slowly spit out his next words with absolute rity: ¡°From today onwards, Du Wei Rowling is no longer my son! I repeat! From here on out, he is formally evicted from Rowling Household! All his sins, errors, and all his misgivings will be shouldered solely by him!¡± Finally, Earl Raymond¡¯s expression suddenly took on a shaky color. Nheless, this Rowling Household patriarch pushed on and met the Crown Prince with decisive eyes: ¡°If he dare go against your highness today, I will not say anything even if you kill him on the spot!¡± When Earl Raymond finished thest of his words, Du Wei already had his eyes closed with the sun shining on his face because he suddenly felt the light was unbearable harsh on him today. (The following paragraphs are Du Wei¡¯s thoughts) Yes, that¡¯s right¡­¡­ This is the right course of action father. HA-HA¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t it really simple?! With his back facing his father, Du Wei no longer looked back. Yes, that¡¯s right father. For the good of the entire family, I must be sacrificed! How can I possiblypete with your grand n of supporting the Crown Prince? In fact, I personally prevented the assassination attempt on the young prince. If in the future the Crown Prince does take the crown, there is no way he would fully trust you as long as I live! Such a situation cannot be allowed¡­. Father, back when we had the talk in the study room, you already had this in mind¡­. This is point one! Also¡­ What is my identity? A Magician and a member of the Magic Unions! This is a joke¡­¡­ What a cruel joke! When I enter this new magic school in the future, wouldn¡¯t I have to help the new emperor pursue his interest? If I do that, wouldn¡¯t the family be stuck in the crossfire between the royal family and the magic union? With both sides aiming at the family, the Rowling Household will not survive even if this coup seeds! This is the second point! And now today this Gandalf suddenly jumped out of nowhere. Regardless of the oue, the magic union will not let it slide! The crime of pretending to be the disciple of Gandalf and faking the death of the number one Magister of the continent! HA-HA! With all these charges, how can I possibly stay in the family? For all these crimes, the right thing to do is to bear it alone! Moreover, if the Crown Prince seeds in his coup, he will definitely believe this Gandalf is the real deal! What irony! If this green robed Gandalf is real, then what about me? This is the third point! Also, the most appropriate move in this situation is to openly break apart from your own son. Once you have disowned me, the Crown Prince will see it as your way of showing absolute devotion! For this loyalty, the Rowling Household will be forever favored as long as the Crown Prince sits on the throne! In thest conversation they had, Du Wei is certain his father already had the intention of doing this¡­. But to stall it up till this point, Du Wei believes his father still holds some feelings for him, right? Well, a little bit, just a little bit¡­¡­ Thinking about this, Du Wei opened his eyes to face the harsh sunlight. The light may be harsh, but once it is endured long enough, wouldn¡¯t it be the norm again? Hehe¡­¡­ Looking at the green robed Gandalf standing in front of him from a distance, he noticed the other side was also looking at him with eyes of curiosity. Just like this, onerge and one small wizard inspected each other for a good while. Suddenly, this green robed Gandalf started give out a very oddugh. ¡°You are myst disciple?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, I am.¡± Du Wei spoke with a light voice: ¡°To be urate, I am not your ¡®disciple¡¯ but Gandalf¡¯s disciple.¡± After a long pause, this green robed wizard suddenly sighed in a very odd way: ¡°It seems like I took on a really good apprentice¡­. Hmm, that thing on your head, Chris gave it to you, right?¡± Raising an eyebrow Du Wei was somewhat surprised: ¡°Oh, you also know about Chris¡­¡­ Humph, it seems like all of the continent¡¯s top experts know about that old guy and his identity. For someone like that, wouldn¡¯t it be wiser to keep a low profile?!¡± With strangeness in his eyes, this green robed wizard continued to speak: ¡°I know him because I am really Gandalf.¡± ¡°Ludicrous!¡± Du Wei suddenly cried out a hardugh. Then in front of thousands of onlookers, he raised a finger and pointed straight at this green robed mage: ¡°Nonsense! If you are Gandalf, then I am Aragon!¡± If you are Gandalf, then I am Aragon¡­¡­ These words reverberated in the sky as the young teenager brazenlyughed without restraint. Unknown to him, he didn¡¯t know the significance of his words at the time of saying this¡­.. Listening to the mockery of this juvenile, this green robed wizard showed no sign of anger. Instead, he simply shook his head back and forth as if disappointed: ¡°You really want to fight with me? For what? You can just get out of here like this. On the count of you being my apprentice, I won¡¯t make it difficult for you. Also, I promise you none here will either. If the Crown prince changes his mind, I¡¯m certain I can change his mind.¡± ¡°No need.¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave this ce.¡± Completely break apart from his family. His own existence for the family was a mistake, a baggage, a burden! Only by totally leaving the family will they gain the greatest interest. Mother, I use this method to follow through on my oath is not a mistake, right? Du Wei suddenly turned around and looked up at Prince Son standing there with his signature smile. In a loud voice, he cried out augh: ¡°Prince Son, you still have room on your side? I think that despite my low level of strength, I can still be of value to you, right?¡± Still donning his gentle smile, Prince Son replied in a delightful voice: ¡°You are most weed here.¡± Nodding, Du Wei had a face of self-mockery: ¡°Well then, if you manage to take the crown, what title can you give me?¡± The young prince suddenly broke out into a fittingugh. Then turning to give his father Augustine the 6th a nce, he cried out: ¡°Du Wei, if you help me take the crown, I will bestow upon you the title of a Duke! In my life, I have always liked the Tulip flower¡­. I knight thee Grand Duke of Tulip! As long as my g flies in the sky, I swear to you that the Tulip name will never face a time of decline on this continent!¡± Chapter 153 part 1 The 153rd Chapter ¡°fear of Gandalf¡± (Part one) Watching his younger brother act so calm without any hint of worry, the Crown Prince became suspicious because he knew Son always kept an extra hand hidden away in his pocket. Nevertheless, after calcting his own assets over in his head, the Crown Prince shoved the thought away. With the city defense forces under hismand, the magic union will be easily dealt with by this legendary Magister. Now all that is left is the Temple, but from ancient times till now, the Temple had always stood firm in its policy of neutrality. So who else can Son count on? As he kept watching his younger brother, the feeling of unease grew ever more so. ¡°Fine then.¡± This Green Robed Gandalf had an odd smile on his face as he watched Du Wei and the young prince discuss the matter of reward. Although he wasn¡¯t angered in any way, but his curiosity was piqued at the teenager in front of him: ¡°Child, even if you are to be some kind of duke in the future, you must wait till that young prince up there bes the king first.¡± Rubbing his fingers under his chin, he gave Du Wei a nce with one eye closed: ¡°Earlier you said that you wish to fight me, does that still count?¡± ¡°You are very strong.¡± Du Wei suddenly sighed. Looking at the guy before him, his tone was very calm as he spoke his next words: ¡°Although I hate you because you are posing as someone I respected, but I do have to admit that your strength is unmatched. In fact, I fear that even if master Gandalf were to appear before us today, you would not lose. Therefore, I understand very well in my heart that I am not your opponent.¡± The Green-robed Gandalf began tough with a hint of mockery: ¡°Since you know you can¡¯t defeat me, then why do you still want to fight me?¡± ¡°HA-HA!¡± Du Wei cried out: ¡°First off, if people living in this world were to only fight with others that are below them, then that wouldn¡¯t be a fight, but bullying! Second, the reason I¡¯m fighting with you is not to defeat you, but to prove that you are a fake!¡± With that, Du Wei swiped one of his arms out and summoned the staff inside his storage ring. When he first called it out, everyone felt his movement still seems proper for a real mage, but when everyone had a closer look; they all broke out into aughing fit¡­¡­ Not surprisingly, this staff is only a bare walnut branch without any kind of magic crystal embedded on the top. Without any reinforcement from a magic crystal, this staff is no different from a blunt de that cannot pierce through a enemies armor. Gently gripping the staff in his hand, Du Wei solemnly tapped the bottom end of the staff to the ground and said: ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Unable to bare it, Green robed Gandalf began to rub his nose in disbelief: ¡°This,,,,,,, Is your wand?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Du Wei nods. ¡°Aigh¡­¡­¡± Green robed Gandalf repeatedly shake his head in disappointment: ¡°From the looks of it, it seems your apprentice isn¡¯t doing too well.¡¯ How can I not even gift you with a proper staff or wand? Look at your staff; it¡¯s not even cured yet! How ridiculous, you didn¡¯t even shave the barks off the wood yet. Please don¡¯t tell me that you are too poor to even afford some magic jewelry? Ok fine, even if you can¡¯t afford some high ss magic jewelry, at least imbed it with some low grade magic crystal to keep up with appearances¡­.. Without any ornaments¡­. You are making the Mages profession lose face!¡± With that, Green robed Gandalf shakes his head with his eyes closed: ¡°This is too shameful, too shameful! Your taste is too shameful!¡± Unrelenting, Du Wei bluntly fought back without holding back: ¡°I have bad taste? What a joke! From top to bottom, you are fully clothed in green. Ahhh, I see, you must have been a Mage for far too long and forgot what it means for one to wear a green hat?¡± How sharp is his mouth? Back when Du Wei met that old dragon, he nearly made this ancient overlord die of a heart stroke! Stumped, Green-robed Gandalf flew into a rage: ¡°What an evil child!¡± With that, he lifted a finger and shot a ray of green light at Du Wei. Du Wei had already seen through it all. Not daring to evoke his magic, he knew very well this green light will ignore any form of magic defense. Using Rafael as guidance, he did somethingpletely out of what everyone expected of a Mage. In a several somersault, he dodged the attack like an antelope. He may not have mastered the Stars Dou Qi, but such agile movement is a cake walk for him at this point after practicing the basic movement set for half a year. As for the audiences watching from the sidelines, they were all stunned because where in the world would they find a Mage jumping around the field like a kid ying in the yground? Normally, a battle between Mages is carried out between two unmoving figures. Even when the spells are life threatening, they would never move¡­¡­ So is this kid is a warrior or a Mage?! Surprised by this, Green-robed Gandalf pressed on with several more attacks from his finger; unfortunately for him, his attacks were easily dodged in the same way as before. In a annoyed sneer, he spoke up: ¡°What is this? Can it be that you are skilled in both magic and martial arts? Ah-ha¡­ From the looks of it, you are quite skilled in those somersaults; why not pick up a sword ande at me?¡± ¡°Are you blind?! Don¡¯t tell me you can¡¯t even make out whether this thing in my hand is a wand or sword?¡± Du Wei spoke this in a very cold way. ¡°Ah-ha! OK, OK, I really want to see how you will use your staff! Child, go ahead and chant your spells. No matter what you do, this grandpa here will not interrupt.¡± ¡°Humph, who said I can¡¯t use a staff?! Look here then!¡± Du Wei suddenly cried out. Raising his staff high into the air, he began to utter out a spell. What he is chanting now is a spell that he managed to extort out of Gargamel after a long struggle the other day. ssified as a mid-tiered fire based magic, this fire vortex is something just about every Mage on the continent would have learned by the time they reach a certain level. Caring about his own status, Green-robed Gandalf didn¡¯t do anything like he said and only showed a strange smile like that of a cat chasing a mouse. In his mind, he was thinking: Humph, this kid is so young, how much power can he possibly have? Even if he started to learn magic the moment he was born, it shouldn¡¯t be much. Compared to his female disciple, a genius among geniuses, this kid is still a notch below her. Even for someone as great as him, he was only able to elevate her to the eighth level after sacrificing an enormous amount of effort and materials. Listening to Du Wei¡¯s long and slow chant of this insignificant fire based spell, green robed Gandalf almost broke out into aughing fit¡­¡­ Chapter 153 part 2 The 153rd Chapter ¡°fear of Gandalf¡± (Part 2) How can you call this magic? How can ¡®my¡¯ apprentice be so shit? For spell chanting, the key is the ¡®speed¡¯ of your words! For many advanced level Mages, they would spend countless efforts training themselves just so they could omit a few words in their spells. The reason behind this is that when fighting, even a second could mean victory or defeat! This kid¡­¡­ Does he think we are performing an opera here? Such slow pace¡­. If it was a real battle, the enemy would have already sliced him up into multiple pieces by now! Finally, after spending five times the amount of time of an average person, Du Wei shot out a low tiered fire vortex. Ironically, his attack is not only slower but also smaller than it should have been by three times! Seeing this pitiful ¡°fire Vortex¡± rolling over at him, this Green robed Gandalf felt like he was in a middle of a y session with a kid. But how can he possibly go back on his words considering his status? Seeing such a frail looking fire vortex, he feared that if he simply blew at it, the mes would go out. Sighing, he even returned his staff back into storage before waving his hand in a careless motion. Immediately, a screen of water erupted from the ground and diffused the fire vortex. Acting like he wasn¡¯t finished with his ¡°performance¡±, Du Wei jumped and kicked at the floor like an upset kid with his toys broken. Then using the same speed as before, he started to conjure up several low-tiered wind des and shot it towards the old gramps. Seeing how much effort it took Du Wei to ¡°shoot¡± these crookedly aimed wind des, Green robed Gandalf became sozy this time that he didn¡¯t even bother to raise his hands in defense. Just like this, he stood there and took in a deep breath. In single blow, these wind des were dispersed with ease¡­.. ¡°You finished with your show yet?¡± Green robed Gandalf showed a hint of helplessness on his face, but this kid in front of him acted like he only had one thought in mind. Incredibly ignorant, Du Wei began waving his staff like a child poking a stick in the sand box. Then just like before, he began conjuring a water based spell¡­.. It¡¯s not just this Green robed Gandalf; even the onlookers in the surroundings were shaking their heads. To everyone present, this kid¡¯s magic power is simply too poor¡­. No matter how they thought about it, Du Wei¡¯s strength is nothing more than a junior magician and the lowest level at that! But this is not that surprising. Based on his age, to be able to learn magic at the tender age of 14 is already not bad and understandable. ¡°I say kid; I don¡¯t have the free time to y with you!¡± Green robed Gandalf seems a bit impatient: ¡°If this is all the skills you have, then stop staying here to embarrass yourself!¡± Du Wei ignored the guy and continued to chant his own spells. Green-robed Gandalf was angered inside but he couldn¡¯t vent it because of his big mouth¡­. Annoyed, he was about to open his mouth to stop him: ¡°Enough, you¡­..Ah!¡± In an instant, Du Wei¡¯s turtle speed spell casting suddenly halted to a stop. It was obviously a water based spell, but in a sh, numerous explosive lights bloomed before this Green robed Mage¡¯s eyes! Like heavy rain, intensive balls of mes came flying out of Du Wei¡¯s body: shoes, sleeves, cor, wrist, fingers¡­.. And even the ne on his neck! Dozens¡­¡­ No, hundreds of fireballs without any symptoms appeared. And on top of this, he didn¡¯t even need to spell chant¡­¡­ In an explosive rumbling, this hail of meteor struck down upon this green robed mage! When Du Wei deliberately made a fool of himself, he did too fine of a job. For a magician, their dignity and fame is the most important part, so where in the world would one find a real mage intentionally making a fool of themselves? With his staff back in storage and one of his hands was scratching his hair while the other held behind his back, Green robed Gandalf waspletely caught off guard by this sudden assault¡­.. Earlier when Du Wei was jumping around like a spoiled brat in anger, his feet was secretly moving forward step by step. It¡¯s just that his acting was so good that no one paid any attention to his movements. But more importantly¡­¡­ All of these fireballs were invoked with instant spell casting!!! No need to chant or cast, these hundreds of fireballs came raining down like a wild beast. No matter who it is, they would definitely be in a panic to be attacked so suddenly. Like a mad man, Du Wei¡¯s body whirled around like a tornado while shooting out an endless supply of fireballs at Gandalf! A fireball spell is only the basic of the basics. Normally if hit by this low leveled spell, that person would at most get a burn and would never be lethal¡­. But quantity does matter! For a single grain of rice, one could easily swallow it, but if there is a ton, then even a potbellied person would have a tough time! In an instant, this Green robed Gandalf was engulfed in a torrent of explosions. To the audience watching on the sidelines, this scene was so terrifying that even their eardrums were ringing in pain due to the chains of explosive banging! But this Gandalf truly lives up to his name! After seeing his attack sessfullynded on the target, Du Wei was about to sigh in relief. But after the initial burst of ring light cleared a bit, a blurry haze of blue aqua light quickly overtook the scene. Without waiting, a flurry of water curtains spiraled in the air and dissipated the mes like it was ck hole sucking everything up! With the Du Wei¡¯s attack countered, a st of foggy mist covered the entire square. Angered and mad, Gandalf was angry at the kid¡¯s cunningness, but also mad at himself for being so careless! Nheless, this grandpa¡¯s magic is truly terrifying. Under his water magic, the endless supply of fireballs was quickly put out and even the mists filling up around him were blown away by a wind spell he called up! He may be angered, but this Green robed Gandalf did not lose his wits. Understanding the cunningness of Du Wei¡¯s tactics, he carefully summons his staff to relieve any sense of fear left in his heart. Shrouding himself in a magic barrier, the angry voice of Gandalf echoed out into the nearby fog: ¡°Damn kid! I can¡¯t believe you¡­.. You disregarded the dignity of being a magician!¡± ¡°Humph.¡± Du Wei sneered: ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that I can y my best? My specialty is to pull a fast one on others!¡± (Sneak attack) With that, Gandalf suddenly heard a clear and crisp sound from within the nearby fog¡­¡­ This¡­. Sounds like a bow? This is exactly the perfect moment of when the fog is about to disperse but notpletely yet. Aiming for this timing, Du Wei had long pulled out his favorite pair of ¡°Nirvana¡¯s bow¡± and aimed it straight at Gandalf! In mere moments, a sh of light quickly coursed through the bow and the small amount of magic was sucked out of the magic gemstone stored inside. In an instant, the miraculous and powerful magic circle was triggered on this thing! A short momentter, a condensed arrow made out of pure energy formed and shot out like a meteor aimed straight at the Gandalf standing ten meters away! Back when Du Wei first pulled on the bow¡¯s string, Green-robed Gandalf had already sensed the powerful source of magic! Seeing the unbelievable amount of magic fluctuation, even this legendary figure turned pale! This kid¡­¡­ How could he have such strong magic? Something¡¯s not right! He must have some kind of powerful magic artifact blessed a powerful magic array! The arrow came too quickly! Unable to properly respond in time, the magic in his body exploded in an instant and shrouded his entire body like a protective armor! Unlike the barriers he used earlier against Rafael that only covers the front, this time around, the energy was covering every inch of his green robed body¡­.. For the origin of this bow in Du Wei¡¯s hand, even that mouse Gargaeml didn¡¯t know where it came from. In terms of power, this bow will definitely not lose out to those legendary and sacred artifacts on this continent! And to sneak in this single shot at such a close range, how can anyone deal with it so easily? Seeing this translucent silver arrow pierce through his defenses so easily, the pupils of this Green robed Gandalf instantaneously shrank. Suddenly, an eerily ck light shed across his eyes¡­.. Whoosh! Like a powerful gust of wind, this arrow looked like it was suddenly hit with something in midair. In a subtle moment, Du Wei felt like he was stuck in an illusionary trance as if time itself had paused. Then before him, this Green robed Gandalf began to move while everyone else stopped to a halt! Clear to his eyes, Du Wei can see that this old gramps was trying to lift his staff. Although it was only a staff, this guy looked like he was trying to lift a million pounds at that moment. Then with a dignified face, this green robed fe gripped onto the staff with immense strength and released a dazzling ck light out of the crystal tip of his staff. Moving it closer, he knocked it against the arrow¡­.. With that knock, the stoppage in time immediately returned to normal¡­¡­ In a clear and crisp sound, Du Wei saw that the magic arrow he had shot out had already dissipated into numerous golden dusts. As for that Green robed Gandalf, his expression didn¡¯t look so good. With heavy breathing, even the crystal on top of his staff showed clear signs of cracking. Then spreading downward, the crystal instantly shattered into numerous pieces. And continuing on, the walnut tree staff crumbled under the grip of this Green robed Mage! The audience broke out into a uproar!! Green-robed Gandalf raised his head with bloodshot eyes staring at Du Wei. Unlike the rxed expression he had earlier, this old fe lookedpletely serious and even leaked a hint of death in his breathing! ¡°Kid! Answer me one thing!¡± Green-robed Gandalf suddenly shed a bit of fear in his eyes. This fear is certainly not for Du Wei, but instead, it is towards the magic bow in Du Wei¡¯s possession! ¡°This, this thing in your hand¡­¡­ Bow of Gaido¡¯s Transient Law¡­¡­ Where did you get it from?!¡± His voice is clearly trembling as he said this! Chapter 154 part 1 The 154th Chapter ¡°Win? (part one) Du Wei didn¡¯t say anything on the surface, but he had forcefully imprinted the name Bow of Gaido¡¯s Transient Law into his mind. Can it be that this is the bow¡¯s true name? Even Gargamel doesn¡¯t know about the thing¡¯s origin, yet, this bogus Gandalf seems to know! But at this moment, Green robed Gandalf no longer had the leisurely look from before. Through gritted teeth and ring eyes, this old fe focused all of his attentions at the Bow in Du Wei¡¯s hand. Surprisingly enough, Du Wei caught wind of the subtle ounce of fear in his eyes. EH? This old guy seems to be afraid of the bow in my hand¡­. Just like this, one small and one old pair of eyes stared down upon each other. As for the crowds of people in the area, they were all left in a shock! To see Master Gandalf be embarrassed so badly, everyone present felt it was a real eye opener when Du Wei ripped out that insane shower of ming meteors! So magic can still be used in such a manner?! Those meteors were only fireballs of the lowest level, but to release such an intensive hail of them in such a short range, the move can even be considered a certain kill! Nheless, Master Gandalf was able to summon forth a protected screen of water in the nick of time without the use of his staff. On this continent, to be able to wield their magic in such a fashion, that person must be standing at the very peak of the magic profession! But it is precisely because of this level of skill that made every Mage present feel ufortable on the inside¡­¡­ Speaking of this topic, everyone was drenched in cold sweat. If the battle took ce in a wide open area, all of the mage presents can dodge it by summoning a wind based flying spell. But that¡¯s the problem! The scene below unfolded within a distance of only 10 meters between the two¡­. In such a short range and crammed inside the central square with limited space, it would be extremely difficult for any of them to avoid the attack when the hail of fireballs came down¡­.. The only viable option of defense is to erect a magic barrier, but the time frame is simply too short to conjure one up in that attack. If one had an advanced level magic scroll, they could call one up easily, but where would one find such a precious item? No matter how they thought about it, these mages felt that if they were in Gandalf¡¯s shoes, they would eithere out seriously injured, or worse, death! Master Gandalf is a legendary figure on the continent, so it¡¯s not surprising he would be able to defend against such a weird attack. But the most terrifying thing is this kid from the Rowling Household¡­¡­ For someone of such age, where the hell did he get such capabilities? In an instant, hundreds of fireballs exploded out¡­. What a powerful thing! Recognition Moreover, all of them were instant! Although these mages present today are all of a certain level, but they all knew the difficulty behind this amazing feet. Normally, any intermediate ranked mage would be able to pull off a few instant spell casting, but that is only for some low ranking spells like the wind des and etc. As for the high tiered spells, this thought is of course out of the question. If in the off chance someone is able to do it, then their name would without a doubt be a legend passed on through the ages! Therefore, when they witnessed the astronomical feet of Du Wei¡¯s meteor shower, they only had one thought¡­¡­ Is he still human? How can a regr person do something so unnatural? By whirling out a vast number of fireballs in a single instant, he is able to make up for theck of destructive force a single fireball held! This may not match up to a high tiered magic spell in terms of destructive force, but the difficulty of this is without a doubt not below that of a high tiered spell! So then, if this kid can instantly pump out hundreds of low tiered fireballs, then why doesn¡¯t he just summon out a single high tiered magic spell? For in battle, if the enemy can instantly shoot out an advanced level spell, it would be a nightmare for any master! Of course, the gunpowder Du Wei had secretly hidden away in his magic storage essories are all used up by now. Everyone may not know this, but prior to this day, he had predicted things would be turbulent. In order to prepare for this, Du Wei pulled out the secret form and handed it over to Gargamel. Day and night, he had the mouse continuously making the powder without rest. Only by working the poor guy to the bone did Du Wei manage to secure enough of this stuff to fill his storage tools. And we can¡¯t forget that that crazy Alley. If not for his gifts, none of this is possible! With his trump card already used up in this single attempt, Du Wei cannot rely on this move anymore¡­. But of course, there is also that shocking arrow he issued out! In the mindset of everyone, they were thinking: What the hell is that bow? Though it looks quirky, but it still radiates the air of luxury¡­.. £» ¡°I¡¯m asking you again, where did you get that bow?!¡± Green robed Gandalf¡¯s voice is clearly trembling as he spoke, but it wasn¡¯t certain if this is excitement or fear. No matter, all Du Wei knew is that he got a very weird vibe from the gaze he was getting. Seeing Du Wei is not talking, Green robed Gandalf suddenly lowered his voice. Probably due to magic, but a sharp voice directly reached into Du Wei¡¯s eardrum and out of the audiences notice: ¡°Tell the truth! This bow is from that old guy Chris, isn¡¯t it?! My God, what did you offer to make him gift you with such a terrifying magic weapon?!¡± Struck with a idea, Du Wei began scheming: Since this old guy is so fearful of this thing, why not just go with the flow and scare him a good one? Unfortunately, before he could put his idea into action, the Crown Prince had already cut into their conversation. With a negative expression, he cried out: ¡°Master Gandalf¡­.. The kid¡¯s bow is something he took from me.¡± ¡°You?¡± Gandalf turned around to face the Crown Prince, his face showing a strange kind of curiosity. With hate in his eyes, the Crown Prince gritted his teeth as he spoke: ¡°That¡¯s correct. Originally, I went through a lot of trouble to recruit the famous Shadow Assassin Mr. Chuck¡­.. However, a few days ago, Mr. Chuck was killed in an encounter when I sent him out at night. This bow is Mr. Chuck¡¯s weapon. It would seem this kid is the one that stole it.¡± With a straight face, Gandalf listened till the end before shaking his head over again and again: ¡°There¡¯s no way that¡¯s possible! Absolutely impossible¡­¡­ I have also heard of this shadow assassin that you mentioned. Humph, this gutless coward of an assassin cannot be more than an eighth level or ninth level warrior! For such a weak person, how do you expect me to believe he can wield this bow? What a joke! Even if that person practices for another hundred years, he would not even be qualified to touch this treasure!¡± Without holding back, this old guy sted out his words without mercy and bluntly refuted the Crown Prince¡¯s words. Practically a direct insult, the Crown Prince was left without any way to talk back and simply swallowed his pride: ¡°What I said is the truth. Sir, if you don¡¯t believe me, then I can¡¯t do anything about it. If you are so interested in the bow, I can gift it to you after retrieving it back from the kid. After all, this thing was originally my subordinates weapon.¡± ¡°HA HA!!!¡± Green-robed Gandalf suddenly started tough in a crazed fashion as he looked at the Crown Prince with disdain. This old guy¡¯s temper is seriously weird. In the face of the possible future ruler of the continent, he is leaving no room for the Crown Prince to save any face. Raising a finger, he pointed at the upset looking Crown Prince: ¡°You gift me? Your highness, you must be kidding me! This thing is not something someone of your status is capable of gifting! Not to mention you don¡¯t even have the slightest clue of the bow¡¯s history and its origin¡­¡­¡± These words are making the Crown Prince roll his eyes in anger, but due to the old guy¡¯s status and fame, he has no choice but to swallow this insult. Under normal circumstances, someone of his high stature would never allow this, but he needs the old man to suppress the magic union. Old monster suddenly had a change of attitude towards Du Wei. Politely, he asked: ¡°Boy, you really don¡¯t know the origin of this bow?¡± At this point, the old guy¡¯s suddenly emitted a spark of light in his old eyes. Patting his robe, the old monster started to walk towards him. Before Du Wei can even react, this Green robed Gandalf had already transverse the 10 meter distance between them. Standing in front of Du Wei, he tapped his shoulder with one hand and spoke in a much more intimate voice, his eyes clearly showing signs of lust and greed: ¡°Hmm, since you got your hands on the Bow of Gaido¡¯s Transient Law, you must also know about the other items that are rted to it. Or is it that you already possessed them too?¡± Du Wei frowns. Stepping sideways to avoid the fake Gandalf, he lifts his bow and aims it straight at the old monster: ¡°What are you asking!¡± ¡°Fine then, just put your bow down.¡± Gandalf spreads his arms out andughs in a He he manner: ¡°You don¡¯t know? This bow can only be shot once! If you want to make another shot, you need to rece the magic crystal inside. Well then, why not put that thing down and first listen to what I have to say.¡± Sighing, Green robed Gandalf began to speak in a hushed tone: ¡°Regarding the other things, you really don¡¯t know about their whereabouts? What about¡­¡­ Token of glory? Crystal of falling tears? Ammut¡¯s shield? Spear of Drac? Missing Moon of Five Lights? Robe of the Divine Wind? Saint¡¯s Ring? Bracelet of the darkness? Nine colored Rainbow ribbons? Eternal wheel?¡± During this long rant of a speech, a barrier of silencing was erected around them by Gandalf. In Du Wei¡¯s eyes, he can clearly see the yearning in the old guy¡¯s face. In fact, Du Wei feel like if he tries to take another step back, the old mad man might just jump him this instant and begin shaking him for answers. But after seeing the dazed like expression on Du Wei¡¯s face, the eagerness on the old guy¡¯s started to fade away. Letting out a deep sigh, he shake his head is disappointment: ¡°Aigh, I was too excited. For someone of your age, there¡¯s no way you would have heard of these things¡­.. I fear that on this continent, only a handful of people would still remember these things. However, regarding that bow in your hand, I want you to exin what that is all about.¡± Not assured if Du Wei will speak the truth, the old guy¡¯s expression changed a few more times before he spoke up again: ¡°Kid, you can¡¯t be ying me, right? Why don¡¯t we do this then? If you tell me where the other items are and give me the bow in your hand today, I will satisfy any condition you have!¡± With that, he casually pointed at the crows behind him in the square: ¡°Did you not want to support the young prince? Regarding the matters today, I can still leave it as is based on your actions. If you make me happy and tell me the whereabouts of the other items, I might even help you deal with the Crown Prince, how about it?¡± Chapter 154 part 2 The 154th Chapter ¡°Win? (part two) After hearing these words, Du Wei¡¯s heart began to jump like a ping pong ball. With surprised eyes, he faced the old guy and thought¡­.. Is he crazy? Or rather¡­ This bow in my hand is really so valuable that he is willing to offer such a price? Or should I trick him again? But then Du Wei secretly sighed inside, if this old guy really listened to him and changed sides to help Prince Son¡­ Then the fate of father and the family would¡­¡­ ¡°I had never heard of any of the things you mentioned before.¡±Du Wei shakes his head to give a clean denial: ¡°Regarding this bow in my hand. I only know its name is called ¡®Nirvana¡¯s bow.¡¯ What the Crown Prince said is true. I killed an assassin and took it from his subordinate.¡± Gandalf¡¯s eyes widened up in a surprising way: ¡°What? Bow of Gaido¡¯s Transient Law was in the hands of an assassin? My god, you are too lucky¡­.. For such a thing to befall on you.¡± Then his old facial expression suddenly became ferocious: ¡°If so, boy, consider your fate to be good! People like you should never have had the chance to get such a thing¡­. Quickly and obediently give me it. If you do as I say, I might even cut you some ck!¡± With that, he held out his hands and coldly looked at Du Wei: ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it, I know you can¡¯t use the bow again right now. Also, you don¡¯t even know how to properly use this bow. If you did, you would have already killed me in that shot earlier. To leave this amazing thing in your hands is simply a travesty to the heavens!¡± Retreating a few steps back, Du Wei sneers: ¡°Ah-ha! So this is the so called murder to take the treasure eh?¡± ¡°So what?¡± Green-robed Gandalf had an evil air on his face: ¡°I have always done things to my liking. If you are stronger than me, then of course I couldn¡¯t do anything to you, but you are weak and useless. Quickly hand it over, otherwise, I will take your life!¡± Unlike the carefree and yful attitude from before, the old guy had an air of murderous intent in his eyes this time around. Compared to before, the person now ispletely different. Flicking his finger at a fast pace, a greenish light formed around it and started to make a slight crackling sound. ¡°Come on then boy, you can¡¯t resist me.¡± Green-robed Gandalf suddenly reached out to grab Du Wei: ¡°Aren¡¯t you skilled in that fireball move? Try it again!¡± Du Wei grunted and quickly stepped back. It¡¯s not like he doesn¡¯t want to use that fireball move, but it requires arge amount of gunpowder to work. With that single attack earlier, his supply is already drained. Not to mention the attack is only effective in close range when the enemy is unprepared. ¡°Eh? You¡¯re very agile!¡± Gandalf smiles: ¡°From the looks of it, you must have practiced some kind of martial arts too, right? For such a young age, you are too greedy. Why go listening to others and aim to master both? I warn you to be careful of ruining yourself. With your talents, you might achieve some level of sess if you focus on one field.¡± With his robe fluttering from the surge of power extruding out of his body, Gandalf sneered when he saw how Du Wei kept dodging his wind binding attacks left and right. Nheless, Du Wei quickly ran out of room to evade and was eventually trapped under a constricting spell. Seeing the imposter¡¯s hand is already in front of his face, Du Wei panicked as he struggled to break free. Then suddenly, a crimson me the color of blood erupted in front of Du Wei and interjected between the old mage and him! Surprised by this anomaly, Gandalf lets out a low sounding pain before pulling his hand back. Taking a few steps backward, he had the look of surprise and shock: ¡°Eh? This is¡­..¡± Like a bag, the mes that broke out in front of Du Wei instantly grew in size and wrapped around his body. But unlike what he had expected, the scorching mes caused no pain for him; instead, it felt warm to the touch as if cleansing him of all ill effects¡­.. Then forming a wall of mes in front of him, a delicate looking figure stepped out of it¡­.. Very soon, the figure inside the fire became clear to the naked eyes and stood between Du Wei and the Green robed Gandalf! With silvery hair like the winter snow, the shade on her dress is like blood! This is indeed the mysterious Semel! With her stunning and frosty looking face, Semel gently lifted her slender fingers and pointed it straight at the Green robed Gandalf. Despite her voice being clear and sweet, it somehow felt cold like ice: ¡°Gandalf, you promised me that you will never hurt a member of my Rowling family. Are you going to break your vow?!¡± After seeing the ming Semel in front of Du Wei, the expression on Green robed Gandalf¡¯s face changed drastically. With eyes that looked like they were about to fall out, even his breathing became erratic as if he had gone crazy with shock¡­.. After a long time had passed, he suddenly raised a finger and pointed it straight at Semel. In an almost screaming voice, he loudly shouted: ¡°You! You! You¡­¡­ You¡­¡­¡± And then as if he had seen a ghost, Gandalf suddenly screamed like a person is scared out of his wits. Teleporting at least ten meters away, he looked like he is about to copse due to extreme stress. Staring at the Semel in front of Du Wei, he shouted disbelieving voice: ¡°Impossible! It¡¯s impossible!¡± With that, this person that had dominated the arena in this coup d¡¯¨¦tat suddenly flew into the sky. Then in a shrill voice, he screamed in horror before flying far into the horizon¡­¡­ £» ¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­ One minute¡­¡­ Two minutes¡­¡­ Ten minutes psed. In this time frame, the central square was so quiet that even a pin dropping to the ground could be heard. With wide eyes, everyone in the audience was gazing at the general direction of where this Green robed Gandalf had fled. He¡­¡­ Master Gandalf actually ran away> What the hell is going on? What kind of horrifying situation is this? Or did the kid from the Rowling Household really defeat the great Magister with some kind of strange magic? It can¡¯t be! It must be an illusion! Must have been an illusion! The continent¡¯s number one legendary Mage cannot be so easily defeated by some unknown kid! Just now under the eyes of tens of thousands of people, they only saw that Gandalf was about to reach out to grab Du Wei before a burst of me suddenly erupted in front of him. Can it be fire magic? But why would Gandalf flee from just seeing some kind of fire magic? Even Prince Son at this moment is clearly showing a face of shock¡­.. Although he is very appreciative of what Du Wei is doing for him, but he is not obscene enough to believe a kid can really defeat the continent¡¯s most powerful mage¡­¡­ But what really is a shame is that no one present is able to see this magical creature known as Semel. In that brief exchange between Du Wei and Gandalf, no one could hear their conversation due to the noise silencing spell set up by Gandalf. The result of this is the mighty and powerful Gandalf fled like a mouse from a cat. All the while Du Wei just stood there in a daze, still unable to believe what just unfolded in front of him. shing with realization in his eyes, Prince Son immediately stepped forward and shouted in the greatest voice he can muster: ¡°Du Wei won! Du Wei defeated the continent¡¯s number one Mage Gandalf! Du Wei won!!¡± At this time, the people on the Crown Prince¡¯s side all turned pale, even Du Wei¡¯s father is no exception¡­. It wasn¡¯t easy for their side to recruit the help of someone so powerful. Just like this, that person ran away?! As for Du Wei, he finally regained his thoughts at this moment. But when he looked around to search for Semel, this magical creature was gone without any traces left behind¡­. Chapter 155 part 1 The 155th chapter ¡°The Prince¡¯s hidden card¡± part one ¡°He! He really defeated Gandalf?¡± ¡°Oh almighty Goddess of Light¡­¡­ This kid really defeated Master Gandalf¡­..¡± After a moment of silence, wave after waves ofmotion broke out around the square. Aristocrats, rebels, royalists, and royal family members were all staring at the kid with amazement in their minds. With his mouth gaped open, the old emperor Augustine the 6th had a face full of excitement. Try as he may like, this aging ruler of the empire could not utter a single word. As for Prince Son, he was clearly more stable than his father. With a surprising smile on his handsome face, his eyes were glowing with delight and surprise. Who would have ever thought that this teenager he had attempted to pull into his camp on impulse would create such a miracle? Although Prince Son didn¡¯t know what method Du Wei used to make the mighty Gandalf flee in such a strange way, but he can only me it on his ownck of insight. After all, just that unexpected shower of fireballs is enough to prove to everyone present in the audience that Du Wei is someone of great power. That part is undeniable! Seeing the opportunity, Prince Son cried out to make an announcement; thus silencing themotion around the square: ¡°My dear brother, do you have anything more to say?!¡± Although you may have tens of thousands of elite troops with the tide on your side ¨C and even the support of certain noble factions ¨C but with a powerful and mighty magician like Du Wei on my side, it is enough to chip the scale of victory to my end! Right now, none in the square knew what Du Wei is thinking and why the kid is looking so dazed¡­.. In their minds, they just thought Du Wei is probably too surprised at his own capabilities. To defeat the number one Magister of the continent, how can he possibly ept the glory of it all in a calm fashion? But after waiting till Du Wei finished searching for traces of Semel in his near vicinity, he finally realized this is not the right time to be in a daze due to the excessive gaze from the audiences. This really is messed up¡­.. Whether it is the real Gandalf or the imposter, everyone seems to be rted to Semel. ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Du Wei raised both hands into the air to make a silencing gesture. Immediately, his tender and young voice easily suppressed the soundsing out of the surrounding people. With eager anticipation, everyone is waiting for this newly recognized top expert of the continent to speak. ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Facing the royal family¡¯s side, Du Wei bowed in salute before smiling at the young prince: ¡°Your Highness, I must rify one thing.¡± ¡°Du Wei, my friend! My future Grand Duke of Tulip! Whatever you have to say, feel free to say it now!¡± If his personality wasn¡¯t so reserved and controlled, Prince Son would have likely jumped down from the tall tform now and give this kid Du Wei a firm kiss on the cheek to celebrate. So what does he have to say? Does he wantnd? I¡¯ll give him! Even if he wants gold or silver, I¡¯ll dly give him! As long as someone like Du Wei stays inside his camp ¨C a peerless young genius ¨C then his big brother¡¯s rebellion is nothing! ¡°What I want to say is¡­. It seems everyone is wrong about one thing.¡± Du Wei sighs. With clear eyes, he then began to speak his next words in extreme rity: ¡°Once again, I must rify this one point. That guy is not Master Gandalf! He is not the number one mage Master Gandalf ¨C he is nothing but a fake! So, I did not defeat master Gandalf¡­¡­ I just¡­..¡± At this point, Du Wei hesitated for a moment trying to decide what to say. Beat him? Du Wei isn¡¯t so shameless yet. That imposter may be a fake, but that guy¡¯s strength is the real deal. If they really traded blows fair and square, Du Wei knows very well the enemy would have destroyed him with a single finger. Then what is he supposed to say? Forced him to leave? Du Wei smiles wryly, the more urate saying should be ¡°Scared off¡±. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Du Wei can only be vague: ¡°The one that just left is nothing more than an imposter. While his magic is truly powerful, but he is not Master Gandalf, on this point, I will use my name as guarantee!¡± Hearing this, Prince Son¡¯s face became stumped¡­¡­ Du Wei of course understands the intention of his Highness: If this Green-robed Mage is the real Gandalf, then it would mean a great boost to the morals of the royalist faction supporting the emperor. ¡°Your Highness!¡± Du Wei speaks in a strong voice: ¡°The reason I want to rify on this point is because Master Gandalf is someone I respected a lot. After he passed away, I do not wish to see his name be tarnished with the crime of a treasonous traitor.¡± Prince Son ponders for a moment before deciding to temporarily change the topic¡­¡­ Hell, it doesn¡¯t matter at this point if the guy is real or an imposter. To be able to defeat a grand mage and the chief of the court mages with ease, this is undeniable after everyone witnessed it with their eyes. And now, Du Wei defeated that person! Right now, the one that should be showing the most displeasure on his face is the Crown Prince. With poisonous eyes, this treasonous prince stared down at Du Wei for a good while before suddenly turning his head to look up at the chieftain of the Rowling Household. The meaning from his eyes is very clear: Earl Raymond, your son ruined my big n!! Earl Raymond is also caught off guard by all this¡­ How could he possibly imagine his son¡¯s strength would grow to such an incredible state? Let the earth and sky bear witness. A year ago when he expelled his eldest son out of the capital, he was nothing but a kid that doesn¡¯t excel in either magic or fighting, but now¡­¡­ If he had known earlier his son had such talent, then today¡­.. Just earlier, he would not have expelled Du Wei out of the family! Du Wei also sensed his father looking at him. But unlike theplex emotion he is feeling from his father, Du Wei can also feel the poisonous gaze shooting out at him from the Crown Prince. Of course, there is also the delightful gaze from Prince Son and the mixture of emotions from the audience. Unable to cope with all this, he suddenly felt ill to the stomach. Subsequently, Du Wei walked towards the direction of the pce. Step by step, he came up to the tform where the young prince is. But just when Prince Son opened his arms to give him a friendly hug, Du Wei silently bowed to dodge this. ¡°Your Highness.¡± Du Wei thought for a long time before finallying up with a reasonable excuse: ¡°I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to help you any more with the things that are toe next.¡± You¡¯re kidding¡­¡­ Du Wei doesn¡¯t think he can really stop an army! Maybe the real Gandalf or the imposter can pull it off, but he absolutely do not have the skills to do it! The Crown Prince¡¯s coup d¡¯¨¦tat is something he can resist. Moreover, even if he does have the ability, he cannot fight now! In essence, Du Wei is only hoping to preserve the Rowling family! Now that his father is participating in the coup d¡¯¨¦tat, then he absolutely cannot block his father¡¯s path¡­.. Speaking on this point, Du Wei actually hopes for the Crown Prince to seed. Because if the coup fails, then the Rowling Household will be ruined! Earlier, he had actually never thought that he would be able to make the imposter flee. On that move, it would seem he over did it. Also, who would have ever thought that Semel could be used in such a fashion? As the thought of the Crown Prince failing and the future that lies ahead for his family, Du Wei immediately turned pale with fear at what would be of his beautiful mother and clever baby brother. ¡°No way! I must not fight anymore!¡± Du Wei reprimanded himself in his mind. ¡°Du Wei, what¡¯s wrong with you?!¡± Seeing the awfulplexion on his face, Prince Son moved fast and secretly supported Du Wei with one hand in a spot where others cannot see. To everyone present, it only looks like the young prince is simply giving Du Wei a congrattory embrace, but when he got closer, Prince Son started to speak in a whisper: ¡°What did you just say? You fight anymore? What¡¯s the matter with you? Did you injure yourself in the fight just now? Ah, it must be because you overexerted yourself in that battle, right?¡± After witnessing the gracious actions of the young prince, Du Wei suddenly felt somewhat emotionally moved inside. Feeling somewhat ashamed, Du Wei didn¡¯t want to make eye contact and simply lowered his head: ¡°Nothing much, it¡¯s just¡­..¡± Du Wei sighs inside. He knows this Prince Son is also using him, but as a member of insubordination, this person really is good to him. From the looks of it today, it would seems the Crown Prince is still sure to win this battle. After all, that side still has tens of thousands of elite troops ready to storm the castle at any time¡­.. At the critical time, it would be fair to the young prince if he makes a run for it with him, thus, saving his life in the process. Making up his mind on this n, Du Wei was even more ashamed of himself. Not wanting to make any more eye contact with the young prince, he slowly stepped back a few steps and stood right behind his highness. Sighing softly, Du Wei didn¡¯t know whether to rx or feel sadness inside. Aftering to this world, he had always lived under the pretense of being the Earl¡¯s idiotic son. Now that he ispletely cut off from the Rowling Household, he would likely need to flee from everyone after this is all over. He didn¡¯t mind losing the business he built up in the Rowling ins because it was only there to give him some spending money. As for where to go next, he wasn¡¯t sure. But he still has a pirate fleet at his disposal. If pushes to shove, he can just take Hussein and Nicole with him and be pirates. A endless sea with a bright future. No matter how he thought about it, spending one¡¯s life in leisure is way better than being caught up in this maelstrom. The Crown Prince may be unsettled by the miracle produced by Du Wei, but there is no turning back at this point. Humph, it¡¯ either you live or I die! Thinking up to here, the Crown Prince pulls out his sword and points it up into the sky. The battle of outstanding experts is over now. From this point forward, the fight will be carried out by real swords and soldiers! With his sword in hand, he suddenly extruded a bit of heroism when looked around to see the roles of heavily armed soldiers under hismand!! In his mind: The capital is still under mymand! The defense garrison is still with me! And besides me are tens of thousands of troops ready to fight at mymand! It is still a mystery who wille out on top! My little brother, don¡¯t get too happy so early! 20 years ago, had already participated in the war in the Northwest¡­. Regarding war tactics, you are not a match for me! Not a match for me! Seeing the Crown Prince pointing his sword up to the sky, the rows of well-trained Calvary knights also follows suit with great motivation. ¡°Gentlemen¡¯s, in such a state today, there is no turning back! Death awaits us if we retreat, but survival is waiting for us if we push forward! Everyone heed mymand!¡± Chapter 155 part 2 The 155th chapter ¡°The Prince¡¯s hidden card¡± part one Under the escort of 300 elite Rowling Household guards, Earl Raymond had alreadye down from the tall tform and melded into the army formation belonging to the Crown Prince¡¯s side. ¡°Earl Raymond.¡± The Crown Prince only gave a single nce at this high ranking military officer before crying out: ¡°We will put your son¡¯s matter aside for now! I know you intend to support me, for that, I will never forget it! I will give you my word. On the day I ascend to the throne, I will also raise you to a Duke!¡± When the Crown Prince finishes his words, Earl Raymond nods beforeughing out loud: ¡°Thank you your Majesty!¡± With that, Earl Raymond also pulls out his sword and invokes his Dou Qi. Immediately, a pale golden light erupted around his entire body. His strength is not actually at the ninth level, but because of the Rowling Households unique training method, his Dou Qi is always normally a pale golden shade. Suddenly, Earl Raymond tore off his robe to reveal the light armor hidden underneath. This is in fact the very same armor the Rowling Household ancestor wore to conquer the entire continent back at the beginning of the Augustine dynasty. Embedded on the chest is a red magic crystal enchanted with both a speed and strength enhancement spell. And if one were to take a closer loook, they would be able to make out some easily noticeable knife marks all over the armor, clearly left behind by the ancestor of the Rowling Household in his campaign of conquest. Of course, the family chiefs of the Rowling Household wouldn¡¯t just leave this armor to rust through the ages. Over numerous generations of repair and improvement, the armor is not only higher qualitypared to its original state, the shoulder pads were also enchanted with a brightness spell. Whenever Raymond invokes his Dou Qi and trigger the brightness spells, his entire body would look like it was envelope in a cloud of divine glory. At this moment, Earl Raymond is radiating a brilliant light around his entire being. Compared to the light of the Saint level warriors like Hussein and Rodriguez, his image is even more fitting of a Saint Knight. As a senior military general, his debut onto the scene is naturally different from those prior to this. Shouting with motivation: ¡°Long live his Majesty! Prosperity to martial arts!¡± This change of naming from ¡°His highness¡± to ¡°His Majesty¡± immediately caused the 300 elite guards behind him to follow suit. Shouting in unison: ¡°Long live his Majesty! Long live his Majesty!¡± Suddenly, a forest of swords was raised high into the air! And then the tens of thousands of troops surrounding the square heard of this and also responded. In an instant, the loud chanting sound of ¡°long live his Majesty¡± dominated the entire capital city! Under the support of the surround Calvary knights, the Crown Prince looked like a heroic knight riding to battle. Seeing this, the rebellious nobles supporting him also knew it was time. Moving with haste, groups of nobles along with their personal guards began merging with the soldiers on the Crown Prince¡¯s side. In no time at all, an outbreak of various colors of Dou Qi began erupting within the ranks of the Crown Prince¡¯s army. Also, the archer brought in by the Marquise of Solomon also raised their bows and aimed it straight at the tall tform where the royalists were standing. ¡°Heed mymand!¡± Earl Raymond turns around to jump onto a horse: ¡°Archers shoot in volley! Infantries forward!¡± After saying all this, he then gave the Crown Prince a nce: ¡°Your Majesty, please maneuver your Calvary troops. The other side doesn¡¯t have any Calvary troops under theirmand, therefore, forcing them to retreat within the pce walls. Taking this advantage, let¡¯s first have the cavalry troops outnk them and put the outer perimeter under our control!¡± The Crown Prince nods: ¡°Leading a battle is your specialty Raymond; I¡¯ll leave it to yourmand!¡± Earl Raymond takes a deep breath and looks at the second divisions general Jean-ude: ¡°Jean-ude, I¡¯ll leave the frontal assault to your city defense forces! Although the pce walls are high, but the other side isn¡¯t prepared, not to mention 3,000 of the royal guards are also gone. As long as you can break through the first gate, then the big picture is set in stone!¡± Jean-ude nods in confirmation. Then suddenly, the eyes of these general suddenly changed colors before speaking up: ¡°Your Majesty¡­. After we break into the pce, what do you wish for us to do with the others inside the pce?¡± ¡°Kill!¡± The Crown Prince did not hesitate when he made a chopping gesture with one of his hands. Jean-ude was stunned for a second beforeing to his senses. Years ago, the Crown Prince¡¯s birth mother had already passed away due to illness. The only ones left inside the pce are people unrted to him. For the Crown Prince to raise the butchering knife against his father and siblings, what else would he care for at this point?! The front lines of the city defense guards are already in ce. Unlike the original sloppy soldiers that made up this garrison, Earl Raymond had secretly redeployed every member of this group to some other location and brought in the elite troops from the empire¡¯s border. Now with a single whistle, the thousand strong groups of archers began letting loose their first volley of arrows aimed straight at the royalists! Immediately, the soldiers beside the young prince took up their shields and formed a blockade. At this moment, the old emperor Augustine the 6th was already retreating backwards towards the pce while under the protection of his bodyguards. But unlike his father, Prince Son only sneered before stepping forward. Floating into the air, the young prince began showing his outstanding level of magic when he took out two magic scrolls. After being invoked by the young prince, the scrolls immediately turned out a ray of blinding light before forming into globe around his vicinity. And then the young prince¡¯s fingers began moving at an amazing speed. Before long, the air around him began spinning at a rapid pace to form a mini tornado. Shooting this wind based spell out, his efforts paid off and a good amount of arrows aiming at their side was deflected by the fierce winds. No matter what, his powers are limited. After significantly reducing the amount arrows in the air, there were still quite a bit of arrows flying towards the royalists¡¯ faction. Fortunately these nobles also brought with them their own personal guards. Not waiting for themand, those powerful guards began bursting out their Dou QI and raised the nearby chairs, tables to be used as a temporary shield. Of course, we can¡¯t forget the royal guards on top of the pce walls. Without any need for orders, the royal guards that were lucky enough to carry a mini crossbow on them were already retaliating. But their numbers were outmatched to begin with. After a few rounds of volley from the enmy, these poor soldiers couldn¡¯t even raise their heads anymore. In this way, two teams of loyal royal guards stormed out of the pce gates and retrieved the old emperor back in the pce. Of course, this is only possible after leaving behind hundreds of dead body in its wake. ¡°Du Wei!¡± After continuously shooting out a chain of spells, this handsome and young Prince finally ran out magic reserve. Leaving behind a trail of ck smoke in the square for his deeds, Sonnds on top of the tform. Pulling onto Du Wei¡¯s sleeve, he began instructing the bodyguards that came up to them: ¡°You guys first take Duke Tulip into the pce!¡± Stumbling to react, the several soldiers that came over finally realized who it was. ¡°Your highness¡­¡­¡± When the captain of the guards spoke up, Prince Son is already saying the next sentence: ¡°Never mind me; I have my ways¡­.. Just go!¡± Du Wei grew a bit of gratitude in his heart so how can he just go to the pce first? Also, he still needs to apany the young prince so that he can escape with him when the time is right: ¡°No need, I¡¯m not important. You guys first go back.¡± Then ncing at the royal guards moving hastily towards the pce: ¡°The royal guards won¡¯t be able to hold the gate for much longer. Go back now before they close the gate!¡± Prince Son smiles faintly as he nced at Du Wei: ¡°Du Wei, I will forever remember your kindness today.¡± With the two rounds of volley finished, Earl Raymond raised his sword and shouted loudly: ¡®Jean use, tell your people to charge¡± That General Jean-ude immediately shouted: ¡°Troops listen to my order! The Target is the pce. Break through the walls and burst into the pce!¡± Seeing the marching armying at the pce, the royal guards fighting on top of the pce wall quickly formed a thousand strong squad and did their best to shoot down the invades. Unfortunately for them, the enemy troops on the ground were too heavily armored. No matter how much they shot their crossbows, the enemy was hardly injured. Only on asion a very unlucky soldier would fall victim to a stray arrow that somehownded between the cracks. Right now, most of the royalist nobles had already retreated behind the pce walls and only a minority of these people suffered any form of injury due to being hit with a stray arrow while fleeing. After seeing the advancing infantry formation, Prince Son finally pulls himself and Du Wei back into pce and unquestionably ordered: ¡°close the gates!¡¯ Although there are still a lot of screaming people outside begging for help, but Prince Son is clearly showing the determination in his personality right now! With the gates closed, the people inside the thick pce walls finally heave out a breather. Prince Son¡¯s face looked a little loose as he smiled: ¡°Du Wei, let¡¯s go, I¡¯ll take you to see a good show.¡± Stunned at his words, Du Wei looked up at the sneering face of his Highness and thought: Does he still have some hidden cards? Du Wei was pulled up to the pce walls by the young prince. Looking out, he can see the infantry troops had already begun their sieging of the pce. Luckily there wasn¡¯t any proper siege weapons, thus, forcing the rebellion troops to pige timber from the nearby areas. Seeing the rebels banging at the pce gate with a giant timber pole, even royal guards were a little stunned by all this. To them, this ganging was just like an attack straight into their minds¡­.. These royal guards may be equipped with superior equipment, but they arecking in experience. To the inexperienced eyes of Du Wei, even he can see that the enemy had nodder to climb the wall. The enemy¡¯s only option is to pige anything they can find in the nearby houses and use it as a makeshiftdder. If they can find some stone or hot oil and throw it down at the climbing invaders, it would create huge damage to the enemy.. However, where would they find such things inside the pce? ¡°Your Highness.¡± Du Wei sighed, although the Pce gates are very thick, but it would still eventually break under the constant banging. And if the enemycked adder, they can just build one themselves because they are outside the pce. For such elite troops, it wouldn¡¯t take them long to figure out a solution. ¡°Your highness, please have your people go look for tables, chairs, and cabs. Whatever they can find, have them all thrown it down at the enemy immediately.¡± The 10 guards standing in front of the young prince held their shields up in order to protect him. But after listening to Du Wei¡¯s suggestion, he actually smiled: ¡°Du Wei, I understand the meaning behind your words¡­.. But if we break the things now, we will have to figure out a way to rece them afterwards. For that, it¡¯s too much trouble¡­. Look, after a while, my brother won¡¯t be flying so high anymore!¡± With that, he suddenly frowns at the several bodyguards in front of him: ¡°Take off the shield. Aigh, their archers won¡¯t be shooting at this point with so many of their people down there¡­. After today¡¯s situation is resolved, I will have to send you people out into the northwest to get some proper training!¡± Looking at the calm and unmoving expression of the young prince, Du Wei is not only startled, but also uncertain of what is toe next. Then Prince Son looked at the sky before suddenly whispering to himself, ¡°It¡¯s almost time¡­¡­¡± It was at this moment Du Wei suddenly saw a bright light break out into the sky at the western direction of the capital. This magnificent and sacred looking light instantly lights up the general area of where it wasing from. Then from his ears, he could hear numerous vague voices singing a chorus¡­. Subsequently, the ground began to shake with vibration. Du Wei had good hearing because he can easily make out the noise was that of a horse galloping! Then from the west side of the city, numerous clouds of dust could be seen in the air. Before long, the rebel troops further out of the central square began to shout out: ¡°Cavalry! Cavalry attack!!!¡± At the end of the streets, everyone can only see a few mighty steeds galloping at a lightning pace. These certain individuals had pulled themselves far away from the main body and charged right through the defending soldiers in the back of the rebel army. Whenever they passed by an enemy, a streak of silvery light would sh across the air and the heads of those unfortunate enough to face them would be rolling on the floor! Bursting with a silvery Dou Qi, these several knights charged into the rebel army with such overwhelming force that they easily crippled the rear guards protecting the rebel army! Du Wei looked shocked. Standing on top of the wall, he propelled himself to the edge and focused his sight. Although their numbers weren¡¯t very high ¨C only around a hundred knights or so ¨C but what is more frightening is that every one of these knights was capable of using Dou QI! If they are capable of wielding Dou QI, then that means this hundred or so knight is all of the fourth level or higher! For a normal infantry formation like those of the rebel army, there¡¯s no way they can resist against such a scary charge from such powerful fighters. And all of a sudden, Du Wei¡¯s eyes lit up because he saw something important. On the chest of the leading knight that made the first contact with the rebels, Du Wei can see that other than the badge from the knight union, he can also see another badge! Yes, there¡¯s no doubt. This second badge is something Du Wei had seen before! The holy knights of the temple?! Chapter 156 part 1 The 156th chapter ¡°each with their own thoughts¡± (part one) It didn¡¯t take long for these hundred or so knights to break through the ranks of the rebel forces. Under normal circumstances, such a fighting force wouldn¡¯t be so frightening even if it isprised of martial experts. Unfortunately for the rebels, these people aren¡¯t your average fighters. Raised since small inside the temple, these holy knights are not only high skilled, they are also well trained in the arts of military formations. Compared to the martial experts employed by the nobles supporting the Crown Prince, the holy knight¡¯s moves and acts like a single enormous entity that would exterminate the enemy without mercy! As such, the defenders of the temple¡¯s glory and fame are truly extraordinary. Seething with anger on his face, the Crown Prince could stop himself from yelling when he saw how his forces were being pushed back: ¡°Block them! Block them!¡± Earl Raymond is after all an old general full ofbat experiences. Without dy, he ordered Captain Alpha and the 300 elite guards to rush up to block off the enemy¡¯s advance. As the elite knights belonging to the Rowling Household, the skills of these people are definitely above your average soldier. Even if they cannot defeat the Holy Knights, the Earl is certain they will be able to hold on for a moment before being forced to retreat again. But in this situation, his n will not work! Originally the rear forces of the rebel army weren¡¯t prepared for an enemy assault to begin with because the entire capital was already under their control, so why would they expect an enemy assault from the rear? After the first squad of infantry unit was defeated by the Holy Knights, these fleeing soldiers started flood the ones charging forwards, thus, creating a jam that neither end could get through. As a loyal follower of the Earl, captain Alpha is also a man of great experience. When he saw how the situation is worsening for their side, he immediately made a decision and cut down the nearest deserter. Invoking his Dou Qi to increase the reach of his voice, he yelled: ¡°Whoever dares to flee will be killed! Forward! Death to those that retreat!¡± Following suit, the 300 elite Rowling Household guards also showed no mercy and waved their swords against the fleeing soldiers. Sure enough, the ruthless actions made by this small group of madmen¡¯s immediately halted the retreating soldiers in their steps. With no other choice left ¨C die by fleeing or die by their own allies ¨C the ones that wanted to flee in the first ce hesitated for a moment before turning around and charging back at the Holy Knights. Before long, the entire square was filled with so much blood that it was like walking on puddles of sticky glue. Try as he might, Alpha and his 300 elite Rowling guards just couldn¡¯t stop the cavalry knights in their charge. When the first rebel soldier pushed out to face off against the enemy, this poor guy was immediately beheaded by the leading opponent. Keng! In a single loud bang, one of the charging Holy Knights was able to send captain Alpha back seven to eight feet¡¯s. Although this Holy knight is also a regiment leader within the holy knight¡¯s order, but his strength is at best on equal terms with Alpha. If not for the momentum created by the galloping horse, the attack from him would never have been enough to push Alpha back so much. Not willing to allow himself to fall down, Alpha stabbed his sword into the ground to stop his body from flying back any further. When he finally regained his footing, Alpha realized the bone in his right hand hands thumb was already splintered. Trembling in pain over his broken thumb, this eighth level warrior immediately switched his sword to his left hand to ready himself for the impending assault from the enemy. Not willing to let this chance go, the Holy Knight Regiment leader volleyed himself off his mount to aim straight at Alpha¡¯s neck. Seeing the enemy intends to finish him off with the next blow, captain Alpha didn¡¯t have the time to think about all this. Relying on his instinct, he kicked himself into the air and dodged the lethal strike by the enemy. Landing back onto the ground a few feet¡¯s away, Alpha didn¡¯t even have time to breath before the other enemy riders came charging up to him. Just like this, Alpha and his 300 subordinates onlysted about ten minutes before being forced to turn back. In fact, about a quarter of them didn¡¯t even get a chance to meet up with the holy knights before being dispersed by the wave of fleeing allies. And the ones that did somehow make it through, they were easily out numbered 3 to 1. Under such conditions, Alpha continued to fight with a look of a madman while having his hair in disarray. Facing off a single eighth level knight and two level seven holy knights is no easy task. Before long, his entire body was covered in wound with blood dripping down his face. He may be famed for his looks, but Alpha¡¯s fighting style sure doesn¡¯t match up to his name. Ignoring the safety of his body, he kept attacking like he doesn¡¯t even care for his life, thus, forcing the three Holy Knights to take a defensive stance despite outnumbering him. Before long, Alpha finally became desperate. Invoking everything he has, he wrapped his sword with arge amount of Dou Qi and charged right into the Regiment leader while blocking off the non-fatal attacks with his very flesh. The enemy Holy Knight may be a eight level knight, but this finishing move of Alpha¡¯s is simply too powerful. When the sword made contact with the knight¡¯s flesh, the Dou Qi immediately began to swirl like a vortex, sending bone and organs spraying out like blood through the air. When the two remaining knights saw how theirrade was cruelly murdered before them, their very eyes turn red with rage. Not missing the cue, the two noticed how Alpha is suffering from a leg wound that is hindering his movement. Raising their swords, they began attacking Alpha on the ground in a unrelenting assault. Unfortunately for Alpha, the enemy¡¯s effort paid off. After rolling around the ground in an attempt to avoid the lethal attacks, one of the enemy Holy Knights finally managed tond a severe blow to his shoulder. When the de pierced through his flesh, the enemy¡¯s Dou Qi was so powerful that even his flesh was blown away to reveal his shoulder bones! Just as the two knights was about to finish him off, some of the faithful Rowling Household guards saw the situation and came rushing up. Covered in blood, these loyal subordinates began clinging to the two Holy Knights: ¡°My lord, go!!¡± Angered by the hindrance, these two level seven Holy Knights invoked their Dou Qi to blow away the clinging enemies. When the several elite guards were blown away, they didn¡¯t even have a chance tond on the ground before passing away. Like sacks of rice bags, their bodyid limp on the ground after making a cracking sound. Fuming over his subordinates sacrifice, Alpha wanted to die with the enemy, but he knew he can¡¯t throw his life away like this. Letting out a loud cry, he raised his sword into the air to form a vortex of Dou Qi. Taking the chance he created, he retreated at incredible speed. This skill did indeed stall the enemy for a moment. shing their sword against the vortex, the two Holy Knight¡¯s felt their hands go numb from the impact. After dispersing Alpha¡¯s attack, the two knights actually sighed inside: the opponent is already so hurt, but he still managed to release such a strong Dou Qi? Looking around for traces Alpha, the two knights couldn¡¯t find him at all because this captain had already disappeared in the midst of the chaotic battle. ¡°You highness! Fast, have the Cavalry charge!¡± After seeing his elite guards suffer immense causality just to stall for a few minutes, Earl Raymond began to bleed blood in his heart. Normally, the Earl would not be in so much pain over a few subordinates, but these people are all part of his inner circle and a major fighting force he created after years of training and efforts. Especially after seeing Alpha retreat from battle, the Earl no longer dares to wait: ¡°Your highness, we still have a chance if we counter charge now!¡± His worry and need to rush caused the Earl to forget his wording. Only earlier did he call the Crown Prince his ¡°Majesty¡±, but now he is calling him ¡°highness¡± again. With a gloomy looking face, the Crown Prince nced at the knights by his side before whispering to the Earl: ¡°Humph¡­.. Have Jean ude¡¯s people go up and block for a minute!¡± When these words came out, Earl Raymond¡¯s body shivered with disbelief as he stared at the prince¡­.. At this time, you are still afraid of losing strength? Earl Raymond was so angry inside that even his face turned pale: Humph, I even sent out Alpha to fight for you, yet you still ache over a measly cavalry unit? The old earl stamped his feet and turned the horse around. Galloping through the square for a bit, he roared out his words with resentment: ¡°Jean ude!¡± Hearing the calling from the Earl, General Jean ude had already came back to where the Earl was. After mobilizing his main forces to besiege the pce walls, Jean ude was having trouble organizing his people to go face off against the Temple¡¯s forces: ¡°Your lordship, my men¡¯s won¡¯tst very long. Fast, have the Crown Prince¡¯s people charge!¡± Seeing the Holy Knights are already less than 500 meters away from where he stood, Earl Raymond shouted: ¡°The Crown Prince¡¯s order, have your people block them off!¡± Jean ude was so angry that he started to curse: ¡°Have you gone mad Raymond? The enemies are all cavalry¡¯s! How do you expect me to block them off with my people? They are all infantry soldiers!!¡± Earl Raymond looked white to the bone as he waved his hand. Biting his lips, he gave his old friend Jean ude a deep look: ¡°Just go give the orders, quick!¡± Jean ude began to frantically yell out as he pulled off his cloak. Then taking a spear from a guard, he his face looked twisted as he cried out: ¡°Personal guardse with me! We will kick those religious bastards back to where they came!¡± Like this, Jean ude brought with him a hundred or so infantry units and came charging through the chaotic crowd that has be of the rebel army. Remarkably, this sixth level warrior didn¡¯t need to expend much effort. When he charged through, the other soldiers inherently stepped aside for him and his people to pass without hindrance. But when he finally came to the forefront of the battle, he was immediately greeted by the Holy Knights and a harsh battle ensued. At this point, the Holy Knights have already pushed into a corner of the central square. Exactly then, the Earl Raymond noticed his highly favored captain Alpha breaking out of the crowds and limping straight towards him while covered in blood. Once the captain is beside the Earl, this faithful subordinate looked heavy in the eyes as he spoke: ¡°My lord, let me escort you away from here¡­.. When I wasing here, I saw that there are still peopleing further behind the Holy Knights!¡± Earl Raymond had already jumped off his mount to support Alpha during this time. So when he heard that there are still peopleing, the color of his face changed many fold: ¡°Someone? Could it be¡­¡­¡± ¡°All in white robes! From what I can tell, the temple even called out the Elder¡¯s toon for this fight!¡± Alpha had tears in his eyes: ¡°My lord, we don¡¯t have many people left¡­. Please, you must leave behind a seed for the Rowling House!¡± Chapter 156 part 2 The 156th chapter ¡°each with their own thoughts¡± (part two) With a gloomy look right now, the Crown Prince was only somewhat relieved when he saw Jean ude¡¯s people rush up. The temple¡¯s Holy Knights toon? Humph¡­¡­. Gritting his teeth, the Crown Prince began to swear at the religious hypocrites in front of him despite the fact that the thousand men strong Calvary unit behind him is ready for battle. In his mind, he had other ns in mind¡­.. For a Coup d¡¯¨¦tat, what is the greatest asset one can have? The answer to that is of course the main fighting force under one¡¯s directmand! In terms of closeness, the people in this thousand Calvary unit are far closer to him than any support these nobles are willing to give him! For years, he had slowly and carefully trained them, so he is certain their loyalty is absolute! Although both Earl Raymond and General Jean ude are on his side¡­.. But a person¡¯s heart is unpredictable! If he ends up losing his main leveraging chip in this fight, then wouldn¡¯t he be a puppet king after this is all over with his subordinates calling the shots? Humph, examples of Generals with enormous military power staging a coup d¡¯¨¦tat is countless in the canals of history! As such, this Calvary unit of his must not be lost! Fight! Fight! Knights of the Holy Knights toon, hurry and fight with the Jean ude¡¯s men! It would be even better if you take each other out! ¡°Your Highness¡­¡­ General Jean ude¡¯s side looks like they won¡¯t be able to hold out much longer.¡± A knight sitting on horseback next to him suddenly whispered after watching the unfolding battle scene: ¡°Would you like us to¡­¡­¡± ¡°Wait a bit more!¡± The Crown Prince spoke in a cold tone: ¡°Rest assured, Jean ude is a well experienced General; he will be able to hold out for a while longer.¡± When the nearby people saw how cold the Crown Prince smiled, they suddenly felt a throbbing in their hearts. Shutting their mouths, they knew it would be wiser to keep their thoughts to themselves. At this point, Earl Raymond is already running towards the Crown Prince¡¯s location while carrying Alpha on the back of his horse. And behind the Earl, there is less than 50 Rowling Household guards left from the 300 people they started off with. As such, when he saw how the Crown Prince and his direct subordinates are standing there with a rxed posture, he wanted to puke blood at how aggravated he felt because Jean ude¡¯s people are dying left and right behind him,. With his long experience in life, it wasn¡¯t hard for him to guess what the Prince was thinking at this moment. Giving the Crown Prince a nce, he began to swear inside: ¡°Goddammit! Even if you want to conserve your powers, you still need to first be the emperor! If the Holy Knights really make it through the square, then what good are these horsemen! What, use it to flee for your life?¡± As such, when the Earl finally returns to the Crown Prince¡¯s side, his face, of course wouldn¡¯t look very good. Knowing he over did it with the scheming, the Crown Prince only said some consoling words tofort him: ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard Raymond¡­. When I ascend the throne, I will give every man that died today a prominent title!¡± Hearing these insulting words, Earl Raymond wanted to let out a heavy ¡°Humph¡± from his mouth. But just when he was about to do it, he forcefully pressed it down knowing it would bacsh against him in the future. In a whisper: ¡°your highness, Jean ude won¡¯t be able to hold for much longer¡­.¡± ¡°Rest assured, Raymond.¡± The Crown Prince spoke slowly: ¡°How many people can the Temple have in the capital? I know the temple is limited to 500 knights, so how much impact can they pose? You see! Isn¡¯t Jean ude¡¯s people already controlling the scene right now¡­¡­¡± With that, he raised his hand and pointed. Sure enough, the fierce Jean ude sure lives up to his reputation as an old military General. For him to be given the responsibility of leading the capital¡¯s defense forces, he is naturally more skilled than an averagemander. In terms ofbat strength, his personal guards may not be as effective as the Holy Knights, but they are after all old veterans of the army. Adding in Jean ude¡¯s sharp observation of the situation, the rebel army quickly reformed their ranks and withstood the advances of the Holy Knights. Like this, the people on both sides battled it out in one corner of the square without any advances on either side. In the end, the rebel army suffered catastrophic losses to their numbers just to take down no more than half of the Holy Knights. For this battle, at least 2000 bodiesid dead. But for the Marquis of Solomon, he was actually the angriest of everyone present. During the initial charge of the Holy Knights, it just so happens that his private army of archers were the first ones to face off against the attackers. As such, the amount of people belonging to him is now less than half of what it used to be. ¡°It seems this elder brother of mine is still too cheap in his personality¡­¡­¡± Sighing, Prince Son immediately guessed his brother¡¯s intention when he stared down from the pce walls and saw how the horseman unit wasn¡¯t moving: ¡°Does he not know that personality of his would eventually kill him? Humph, if he didn¡¯t care so much about conserving his own strength and had his Calvary¡¯s counter charge, then the Holy Knight¡¯s may not have been able to make it this far.¡± Prince Son smiles before looking at DU Wei: ¡°Du Wei, did you know? This brother of mine always felt he was inferior to me in every way. For this reason, he hated me to the bones all these years. However, the one exception to this is his military leadership. Because he had participated in the war 20 years ago, he always felt that I cannot match up to him in his military ys. Ha-ha, just because he went to do some military inspection in ce of father, he really thought he could out maneuver me? What a joke, that type of thinking will get himself killed soon enough.¡± At this point, Du Wei is feeling a sense of dread in his heart. From the start till now, other than the fake Gandalf that appeared, Prince Son seems to act like everything is within his grasp. And right now this guy¡¯s eyes seem to be shing with certainty¡­.. Does it have another card to y? Calcting in his heart over the stalemate that is happening below him, Du Wei suddenly felt a sense of agitation growing! This won¡¯t do! Not like this! Du Wei originally intended to let the Crown Prince seed in his coup. Although he had good intentions towards the young prince, but he intended to save Son when the timees. But now¡­. If the Crown Prince really fails, then the Rowling Household will be ruined¡­.. Mother. Brother¡­¡­ The Crown Prince can¡¯t die! Looking at the young prince before him, Du Wei surprised himself when an idea suddenly birthed inside his head. Prince Son is only two steps away from him, and because of the trust he gained from this person, all the guards were dismissed by the young prince. If he were to draw his dagger and swipe Son across the neck¡­. Then this whole situation would end¡­.. The Crown Prince would seed in this coup and the family will be preserved¡­.. Once this idea came out, Du Wei could not ignore it anymore. With a drooping face, his eyes kept eyeing the exposed throat on the prince¡¯s neck¡­.. ¡°Du Wei.¡± Prince Son suddenly turned around to nce at Du Wei, frowning: ¡°Your face don¡¯t look too good¡­.. Can it be that your magic still isn¡¯t restored?¡± His voice was filled with warmth as he said this. Suddenly turning around with his back against Du Wei, this person seems to be trying to get something out of his chest. In this single movement, the young prince had unreservedly left himself open him. Not willing to give up the chance, Du Wei is just about to reach for his dagger when¡­.. His heart started beat uncontrobly. At this instant, Du Wei felt like his whole body¡¯s blood was rushing up to his head. With dry lips, his hand was already holding the Mithril dagger gifted to him by the Lister family! ¡°Ah, got it!¡± Just when Du Wei couldn¡¯t make up his mind in hesitation, Prince Son had already turned around with his iconic smile. Holding a small little bottle in his hand, the young prince pushed it to Du Wei before he can say anything: ¡°Take it and quickly drink it!¡± This bottle is actually made out of a fine crystal. With one look, Du Wei can tell the price on this thing is definitely priceless. ¡°Drink it.¡± Prince smiles faintly and said, ¡°This is good stuff. Compared to those regr magic potions out on the streets, this ¡°magic source¡± potion is 10 times more effective. Although it cannot fully rejuvenate someone at the level of a Magister, but it won¡¯t be too far off. Also, the recipe for this potion was lost a long time ago; therefore, every time a bottle is consumed, there won¡¯t be another!¡± With that, this precious bottle is already crammed into Du Wei¡¯s left hand by the prince. Watching the gentle face of the Prince, Du Wei can still slightly feel the body warmth from the guy through the bottle in his hand. Suddenly, Du Wei felt an extremelyplex emotion swirling around inside his heart like two opposing forces. At this moment under the warm gentle gaze of the young prince, the dagger in his hand suddenly became so heavy that he couldn¡¯t make it budge. Chapter 157 part 1 The 157th chapter ¡°Hook line and sinker¡± (part one) Note: Title isn¡¯t actually that but the meaning in the original phrase is the same. ¡°Son¡­¡­ Your Highness.¡± Probably because of his inner agitation, Du Wei¡¯s husky voice is a little dry at this moment: ¡°You should still have some kind of backup n, right?¡± Prince Son smiles, his expression seems to show no reservation when ites to the amount of trust he has in Du Wei: ¡°I won¡¯t keep it hidden from you, of course I have a backup n. No matter what, the temple¡¯s power is limited in the capital. After all, the capital is the core of the empire. In order to insure the absolute dominance of the imperial court, the Temple must abide by an ancient pack that they cannot station more than 500 Holy Knights in the city. Though I managed to persuade the temple to act for me, but in the end, they only have 500 people. To turn the tide in my favor, 500 knights are not enough!¡± Du Wei couldn¡¯t figure out the solution. Other than the magic union and the temple, is there another faction in the capital? With the opportunity fleeing away, this moment of hesitation costed him the only chance to kill the young prince. The two bodyguards from behind the young prince ¨C obviously the pce guard leaders ¨C had already stepped up beside Prince Son. Then in a low voice, one of them said: ¡°Your highness, look!¡± At this time, the tide of the battle in the central square finally started to change. After both sides suffered from immense casualties, a ssical trumpet sound suddenly came out from behind the Holy Knight¡¯s. Unlike the sounds produced by the brass horns used by the empire¡¯s army, the sound from this had more of an ancient vibe to it¡­.. In the aftermath of some serious losses to their numbers, the Holy Knight¡¯s suddenly retreated like a tidal wave in the ocean. And due to their immense individual strength and long periods of training, their formation showed no opening for Jean ude¡¯s people to pursue. In truth, Jean ude and his men¡¯s were already exhausted to the point of fainting. As the general of the capital¡¯s defense forces, Jean ude is naturally a skilled warrior of the 6th level, but even for him, his hands were already at the point where he can barely hold onto his spear. Covered in blood, this great general feared that with the current condition of him and his subordinates, their line would easily crumble from two more Calvary charge¡­. No, in fact, it wouldn¡¯t even take one! After all, the immense individualbat powers and unity of the temple¡¯s knights are enough to make this small contingent of the warriors a force to be reckoned with. And¡­¡­ The opposing force is the Temples Holy Knights! In the military, many of the soldiers are devoted followers of the Temple. They may have raised their swords against the icon of their beliefs, but their morals must be at an all-time low now that their blood is calmed! Seeing the Holy Knights deliberate retreat, Jean ude suddenly felt a sense of dread in his heart. Sure enough, the Holy Knights only retreated for 20 meters before their ranks suddenly split into two groups. From the middle opening created by the formation, two solemnly looking old gents suddenly floated out. Donning white robes, the identity of these two mysterious figures wasn¡¯t hard to figure out when their eyes radiated a sense of divine. Members of the elder¡¯s toon! From legend, the elders of the Temple of light are all devoted cultivators that live an ascetic life. On top of this, it is said that each individual is capable of one unique set of Divine spells! So unlike regr magic, this form of power is consideredpletely different from those used by a Mage in the present age. This may be a bit over the top, but there is no denying that no Mage outside the Temple had been able to use this mysterious power! As its name implies, the so-called Divine Magic is the kind of magic used by the Gods. But from word of mouth, these priests are after all not the true representatives of God. For that, they can only grasp some low tiered divine spells within the known list within the Temple. Of course, it¡¯s not just in name that they are different. Unlike the raw power produced by a high level spell from a mage in the magic union, the spells used by the temple elders are usually supportive and recovery type magic¡¯s. In a direct fight, their effectiveness is greatly diminishedpared to a real offensive spell. But then again, there are exceptions. Among the list of known Divine spells, there is one notably famous destructive spell that even Du Wei knew about. This is the so called ¡°Grand Prophecy¡± spell! Of course, this is the type of power only God can wield. As such, if one is lucky enough to meet an elder capable of using some lifesaving magic, then it would be no different from meeting a real life angel! But if one is unlucky enough to face off against an elder that can call forth a divine spell capable of raining down mass destruction, then it would be akin to facing off a DEVIL! To be stuck in such a terrifying situation, even a grand mage would be careful to provoke such a person! Therefore, the elder toon is a veryplicated existence because one would never know if they are facing an angel on earth, or a devil hiding in a sheep skin! Poor Jean ude and his subordinates¡­. After seeing the Holy Knights retreat, he thought he could finally get a moment to rx, but who in the world would have ever imagined the nightmarish event would befall on him. Drifting off the ground, these two legendary figures in their divinely looking white robes slowly drifted over to them¡­¡­.. That¡¯s right, it is floating! With only a feet worth of distance off the ground, their movements looked like they were just hanging there like ghosts from the afterlife! Compared to the flying spells used by Mages, these two elderly priests seems way more natural! Also, Jean ude is not a fool. Right now, they are in a life and death battle. For the temple to send out two elders, he is certain the two in front of him is not a angel, but a devil in human skins. As the two old gents slowly floated over from the main street, the Holy Knight¡¯s standing in formation suddenly beamed with a light in their eyes akin to that of a fanatical believer! Just like this, the two elder showed no sign of life on their faces as they floated ten meters away from Jean ude. Just recalling the terrifying stories from his memory, this great general couldn¡¯t stop himself from sweating under his skin! In a sense, the deterrence wielded by divine magic is no different from the regr magic on the continent. While the epted saying goes that a knight can be dealt with a knight, but a Mage must be dealt with a Mage! This is themonly epted method of fighting among everyone. From Jean ude¡¯s point of view, a Divine magic user is no different from a regr Mage. As such, he knows he needs a mage in this situation because he is not so foolish to think that he alone can take on two all-powerful elders of the Temple! What¡¯s more, these two elders can wield their powers unhindered under the protection of the Holy Knights present in the square! Further away, the Crown Prince can also see that the elders were called out for this battle. But since the Holy Knights are already here fighting, it wasn¡¯t that much of a surprise to him if this mysterious force is also involved. His face looked unsightly at the moment, but it was to be expected. Turning to his side, he whispered to a full bodied knight near him: ¡°Sir, I will have to rely on you to deal with the Divine Mages.¡± The ¡°Knight¡± gave out a low harsh and dry voice: ¡°I also want to take this chance to see the power of this legendary toon¡­.. Humph, these fakes can only put on a show and fool others!¡± With that, the armor on this knight suddenly scattered apart and fell off from the horse. From the inside, a dark ck smog flew out towards the general direction of where Jean ude was. Standing on top of the pce walls, Prince Son was beaming with delight when he peered over at Du Wei: ¡°Look! That brother of mine is making another move! The biggest w with my brother is that hecks a good Mage by his side. From what I can tell, that ck smoke is the same guy you faced off against that night two days ago¡­.. Humph, this guy is the only powerful Mage my brother managed to get on his side, but to be foolish enough to bring him out on this asion, he is simply asking for trouble!¡± Chapter 157 part 2 The 157th chapter ¡°Hook line and sinker¡± (part two) Sure enough, after the ck smoke floated to a corner of the square, it started to condense into the shape of a human. From top to bottom, this person is shrouded in an unexinable shadow that hides his face and body that leaves no traces for any onlookers to see past the outer exterior. In Du Wei¡¯s eyes, he is certain this Mage is the same person that he fought against the other night. But in the eyes of the onlookers, mainly the Mages in the audience, they were all focused on the ck smoke still extruding out of this dark and mysterious person that appeared so suddenly. To them, this smoke is the iconic dark energy trapping the souls of the deceased in this world! For that, their eyes are clearly radiating a sense of doubt and suspicion at this person. The reason for this sudden hostility is because in order to cultivate oneself to a higher level in dark magic, that person in question must need a vast amount of spirits to fuel his magic ¨C meaning they would have had to kill countless living beings. So, when everyone saw how much pressure this mysterious person could wield, they inherently began to think of the vile existence known as a death mage due to the numerous limitations imposed by the magic union. At this level of dark magic, the likely scenario is that this personmitted some sort of mass murder to support his level of cultivation. By then, the magic union would no longer recognize this person as a dark mage, but a death mage instead! For a death and dark mage, it is only a one word difference! To the Mages in the magic union, every single one of them has an obligation to destroy any death mage theye across! This is an absolute contract every Mage must sign before they are fully recognized by the magic union in the examinations. After seeing the sinister looking person appear before them, the two elders from the temple remained unmoved. With the same divine expression, their mouths began to move and a chorus song started ¡°God said, believe in me, and you will get light. Leave me, and you will receive my wrath. As a rule, I will allow the existence of darkness, but darkness can never be above the light. Otherwise, it will certainly receive my purification!¡± This section of the God¡¯sw is a religious statement that every follower must memorize and read because ording to legend, this phrase was left behind by the goddess herself. Using a slow and holy voice, the two elders recited these words in a way that words cannot describe how saintly they looked¡­.. Seeing this, the Crown Prince gritted his teethes: ¡°What a bunch of religious fakes that only knows how to make some parlor tricks. Yet, they had to show up now to ruin my ns!¡± Earl Raymond stood silently behind the Crown Prince as a sense of anxiety ate away at his mind! To this old veteran, this anxiety actually didn¡¯te from the appearance of the Holy Knights or the Elders. ¡­¡­ But instead from¡­¡­ Suddenly, Earl Raymond subconsciously sweeps over at the people in their own camps and saw how all of the Mages from the different noble houses were staring intently at the Crown Prince with the exact same eyes filled with suspicion andplexity! From their gazes, there is actually a hint of hostility! Instantly, Earl Raymond understood everything! Not good! His voice filled with arrogance and recklessness: ¡°Fakes are fakes!¡± The Dark Mageughs in a ¡®kie kie¡¯ manner. Originally, Mages never looked kindly towards the people of the Temple. To them, the true power of the gods stems from the art of magic and that the temple is nothing but a ploy by these people to fool others ¨C this is especially true for the elder¡¯s toon that could use divine magic. Stretching out his hands, two balls of ck mes silently appeared in the palm of the Dark Mage. To the eyes of the audience, this dreadful flickering me is no different from the physical embodiment of a painful cry of a haunting spirit. Seeing this iconic me of a dark mages, the two elders stepped back a few steps in unison. Still the same emotionless face, both of them sighed softly. This sigh may be light in volume, but it was filled with amazing strength because it was ringing inside everyone¡¯s heart like they were right beside the source. The bizarre movement of the elders actually surprised the ck Mage. Increasing the intensity of the mes in his palms, the Dark Mage shouted: ¡°Come on then, let me witness the power of the so called ¡®Divine Magic¡¯!¡± ¡°God said, killing is one of the 12 sins because life is free. For darkness to kill is a unforgivable crimes, I will cleanse him of all darkness so that light bes eternal.¡± Once this phrase was finished, the two elders suddenly pulled back at a rapid pace. Then rummaging through their robe, both of them each pulled out some kind of metallic object that looked like it was only half of aplete object. Moving up close, the two raised their hands andbined both of the two item together to form an extremely ancient looking mirror! Originally, the middle of the mirror is nothing but a copper te, but when it wasbined together, the surface started to swirl around like water. Then from the very depths of this mirror, light poured out from within at an uncontroble rate as if it was flooding the entire sky with the light. Immediately, the Dark Mage in the sky was enveloped in this radiance! Despite how overwhelming this light was, it didn¡¯t cause any harm to the eyes of everyone present. Instead, it was rather confortable like that of a mother¡¯s embrace. Seeing this magnificent scene, the Holy Knights in the back all raised their sword and signed reverently: ¡°Divine mirror of Seendaly!¡± Divine mirror of Seendaly? ording to ancient records, this mirror is one of the few divine artifacts left behind by the Goddess of Light herself. From the myths of old, it is said that the light from this mirror was created to purify the darkness that she so mistakenly created. Due to the intensity of the sun¡¯s light and the coldness of the moon¡¯s ray, shebined the two lights to from a third light that can neutralize the darkness in its true form. Then in order to contain this brilliant light, the Goddess scoured the world for a possible container. Finally, she chose water as the perfect material to contain it. But because of how fragile water is, the Goddess had no choice but to shed one of her armor pieces to forge the mirror to act as a catalyst. In the end, the Divine mirror of Seendaly was born! Of course, this is just all folklore and none of this can actually be proven, but it is true that there is at least three pieces of artifacts said to be left behind by the Goddess for the Temple of Light! When Du Wei was five, he had already read of this so called fairytale. To him, this tale is no different from the bible used by the churches in his previous life. It¡¯s just that this Divine mirror of Seendaly was actually pulled out of storage by the temple on this day! This mirror may be the absolute treasure to disperse darkness, but the user must also wield a supreme level of divine power to be able to use it. It is said that other than the pope, not many others in the temple is capable of cultivating their powers to a level of wielding one of the three artifacts. But today, this mirror is actually brought out from storage and used before everyone. While it may not have the true ¡°cleansing¡± effect on the Dark Mage as it imed, but it did reveal his true appearance! Unable to stop the dissipating aura of ck smoke from leaving him, the disgusting sight of the Death mage was revealed for all to see! Chapter 158 The 158th chapter ¡°Viciously¡­¡­ Merciless¡­..¡± The ck air around the dark mage is already at the level of where it is drawing close to the point of having a physical body. For such a thing to happen, a regr dark mage would never be able to achieve such a feat. If the Mages in the audience was only ¡°suspecting¡± his identity before, then now, they are certain of his true face after being exposed to the light of the divine mirror! The Dark Mage naturally also heard of the powers of the Divine mirror, but at such close distances, he didn¡¯t have times to evade. After a brief moment of silence, a series of fierce shouts erupted through the square! ¡°Death Mage! This guy is a Death Mage!!¡± ¡°A wicked and evil Death Mage! Hurry and go summon the Magic Enforcement team!¡± ¡°Evil Dark Mage, purify him!¡± ¡°Kill him! Kill him! Release those poor souls imprisoned by him!¡± ¡°Kill! Kill¡­¡­ ¡± Wave after waves of shouting came out from the Crown Prince¡¯s side. More specifically, the voices wereing out of all the Mages! Just like this, the Mages colluding with the Crown Prince up till now all turned sides. Flying out from their respected camps, around seven to eight intermediate level Mages stood out in the square with chilling eyes staring straight at the Death Mage still hovering in the air. Not hiding their intents, their hostility and genuine hate is unabashedly showing through their eyes and faces! The Crown Prince immediately became shocked; after all, he is not a fool. Churning his brain, he also thought up the reason for this. But in his mind, he never could have imagined they would turn on him so easily after he spent so much effort and time endorsing them up till now. Truly, how can a single Death mage cause so much hate that every single one of them would oppose him?! This titanic change in an instant is enough to make the Crown Prince turnpletely white. In a scolding voice, he yelled: ¡°You¡­¡­ What are you doing?!¡± These Mages employed by the nobles under the Crown Prince are mostly intermediate level Mages. Whether it is food or money, these people only took and never gave anything in return¡­¡­ And now that it hase to this critical moment, they didn¡¯t even bash an eye brow when turning¡­. WHAT BEASTS!!! Furthermore, master Leonard that has been quiet up till now from the sudden appearance of Gandalf is finally breaking his silence. Slowly but surely, he walked forward and stood out in the square. ¡°Magic Union S-ss rule! As long as you are a Magician of the Magic Union, then you have an unconditional obligation to exterminate any evil Death Mage youe across! This iron d rule will always take priority no matter the time or ce of the event!! If there is any Mage that breaches this oath, then¡­¡­¡± Hearing the stern announcement from Leonard, those intermediate Mages that was once part of the Crown Prince¡¯s side suddenly chorused out in unison for the next part. Once finished, the Crown Prince really felt like someone had just poured a bucket of cold water over his head!! Because the next sentence is: ¡°If there is any Mage that breaches this oath, then that person will forever lose their qualification from the Magic Union. Also, the person will be branded as a traitor and be hunted down by the Magic enforcement team for 109 days!¡± With this sentence being uttered out in unison by the seven or eight Mages, the Crown Prince had his heart sink down to the bottom. Unable to restrain his emotions, he yelled out in disbelief: ¡°What is this rule, why didn¡¯t I know about this!!!?¡± What¡¯s this rule? I know every rule andw in the Magic Union, so howe I didn¡¯t know about this? The number one iron d rule? Priority over any other act? Overrides any other rule? In other words, a Mage must drop everything they are doing at the time to defeat any Death Mage theye across at the expense of their own safety and life! If any dare break their oath, then their qualification as a Mage will be revoked?! For a Mage, this status is more precious to them than any other thing in this world! And also¡­¡­ That Mage will be hunted down by the Magic enforcement team for 109 days? If that is true, then that means the Magic enforcement team will hunt down the person in question as a traitor for a limited time of 109 days. If one can survive for this duration, then their life would be spared¡­. But if not, then its death that awaits them! Magic enforcement team is practically the only fighting force on the continent that could strike fear into the minds of a Magician. Unless the person in question is a legendary and mighty person like Gandalf, then there is no way they would make it out of this ordeal unscathed¡­.. Moreover, 109 days? If they can somehow make it for 10 days, then the power of the traitor would already be a force to be reckoned with! This no doubt this would be equivalent of a death sentence! Facing such a frightening rule, how can those Mages not jump out? Standing from afar on top of the pce walls, Prince Son had long enchanted himself with an eagles eye spell to allow himself to see every detail of his elder brother¡¯s expression. Seeing the anger and surprise on his elder brother, Prince Son broke out into a ¡®hehe¡¯ughter. Then raising a wind based spell, he oscted his words right up to the ears of the Crown Prince: ¡°Oh my dear brother¡­¡­ This iron d rule is the highest taboo in the Magic Union! Before every Mage is given their ranking badge, they must first use their own blood to smear it and form an oath at that moment. Once bind with magic, this oath can never be broken. Even if one is at the very edge of the world, the Magic Union would know immediately if they vited this oath.¡± Prince Son¡¯s voice was so happy now that hisugh didn¡¯t even need magic to reach the Crown Prince¡¯s ears: ¡°My dear old brother, this taboo of the highest level also has another feature. In my opinion, this feature is both useless and boring because every Mage must swear that no matter what happens, they must keep this oath a secret. Unless they are facing an evil Death Mage, they can never reveal this information! For that, a ordinary person would never know about this! HA HA HA HA HA¡­¡­¡± The Crown Prince was so angry that he immediately wanted to cough out a mouthful of blood as he watched his younger brother up at the wall. ¡°Dear brother¡­¡­ I¡¯m not skilled in martial arts and can only do magic. So, I have long passed the Mage assessment test! As such, I also know about this oath¡­.. And, I also have something to tell you today!¡± As if deliberately pausing for a bit, a voice filled with mockery and contempt soon reached out from Prince Son¡¯s mouth: ¡°Sometimes, when murdering someone, one doesn¡¯t have to do it yourself! If properly utilized, even a rule can help you kill!¡± Poof! With anger reaching into his very core, the Crown Prince couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore. Immediately, a mouthful of blood came bursting out of his mouth in a spraying fashion. shing a sense of coldness in his eyes, Prince Son then turns to face Du Wei. Sighing with a wry smile, he then said: ¡°Well then, this ploy is also one of my cards. But now, the troublesome part begins. Since I am also a magician of the magic union, I¡¯m also obliged to fight with that Death Mage. If I don¡¯t, then I fear even the president of the magic union won¡¯t be able to hold back the magic enforcement team from killing me because this rule was handed down from the time of Aragon himself.¡± Seeing the fake wry smile from Prince Son, Du Wei suddenly felt like a foolish child in his heart! Skillfully using a not so secretive secret, he based his ns solely on the fact that the Crown Prince didn¡¯t know about this rule. In specific conditions, he led the Crown Prince to send out the Death Mage to trigger a collective mutiny! Such intelligence¡­¡­ Does the young Prince have another hidden card?! Du Wei suddenly shakes his head before speaking in a whispering voice: ¡°Prince Son¡­.. What about the two members of the elders toon¡­.?¡± ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re very smart and your guess is correct!¡± Prince Son instantly admits everything: ¡°Both elders are not capable of any destructive Divine Magic. One specializes in recovery magic and the other specializes in enhancement magic. Truthfully, I was only nning to use the two as bait to lure out the Death Mage in my brother¡¯s mix! Thankfully you were here. In my ns, I never took into ount of my brother having the support of a Mage at the level of the great Gandalf. Good thing you managed to scare him away. If not, then this card of mine would have been useless if the Death Mage didn¡¯t reveal himself¡­.¡± With that, Prince Son whispers, ¡°The Temple isn¡¯t made of fools. For me, they would never reveal the true strength of the Elders toon¡­.. But then again, I don¡¯t need them to. As long as the two elders over there make an appearance, then that would be enough to make my brother fall into my trap¡­..¡± Afterwards, Prince Son pats his robe before flying into the sky. Facing the Death Mage, he then flew towards where the enemy was located¡­.. There is no doubt that this battle would be very easy because this Death Mage is not Gandalf. Regardless of whether this Green Robed Gandalf is real or not, there is no way this Death Mage could match up to the power that was exhibited here today. And facing a level eight Mage and several intermediate level Mages, plus Prince Son¡­¡­. With a deadpan face, Du Wei looked on at the one sided matchup. Sighing, he then smiled wryly as he thought to himself: ¡°The Crown Prince is too na?ve and Prince Son is far too powerful. Without a doubt, the battle that will soon happen is certain to be even more violent and bloody¡­..¡± Chapter 159 part 1 The 159th ¡°Deep Undercover¡± (part one) There really isn¡¯t much to say regarding the battle between the Death Mage and the others from the magic union. After all, the evil death mage may be powerful, but he is not at the level where he can take on so many powerful experts like the Green robed Gandalf that showed up earlier.was previously present. What¡¯s more, the amount of souls in his arsenal may be strong, but he did suffer at the hands of Du Wei a couple of days ago. With his skeletal dragon destroyed and the loss of numerous undead knights, his main pir of support is gone. In truth, he really is unlucky. Originally, a death mage and a dark mage is only a one word difference, so he naturally also knew of the iron d rule. But if he just kept his powers within a certain limit, others would never be able to tell the difference even if they suspected him at the time. If not for the young prince and the Temple colluding together to orchestrate this y, then he would never have been so openly caught like this. In this battle, Master Leonard ¨C an eighth level grand mage and also a disciple of Gandalf ¨C showed off his immense powers in order to subdue his enemy. Adding in the other intermediate level Mages present, the sky soon became lit with all kinds of great and destructive spells regardless of their elements. In no time at all, the defensive barrier surrounding the death mage was prated by the onught of attacks. Above all else, Leonard also brought out his trump card, a water based magic crystal ball containing immense powers to duke it out with the Death Mage¡¯s evil aura. Finally cornered without escape, the Death Mage perished at the hands of these great and powerful Mages. Not only was his body incinerated to dust, even his bone staff was blown apart, leaving no physical trace behind. But what was not expected was how cruel and evil this person was. Even after death, his possessions would not disappear without causing havoc to the living. After the initial explosion of his bone staff, a thick and foggy white mist came bursting forth, and anyone unlucky enough to get smeared bythis substance would lose their life like a dehydrated mummy. Just like that, two of the intermediate Mages in the battle lost their lives due to their careless action of touching the white must. After thest unwilling cries of the Death Mage, the massive amount of dead souls trapped by this evil person suddenly exploded out in all direction. With the loss of a master to direct them, these deceased souls began to aimlessly wander across the square. Anyone present at this time would instantly feel a bone chilling cold run down their spines when they heard the screaming howls of the spirits as if they could actually feel the dread of death in their bodies¡­¡­ Luckily these souls can only bring fear to the living and can¡¯t actually bring any actual harm. So after more than half of these spirits floated into the sky by flowing with the wind, the gigantic barrier in the sky suddenly sparked a sh of light. In mere seconds, these poor souls dissipated from reality as if it was being sucked right into the force field covering the entire capital. During the whole process, Prince Son only worked out a set of conveniently low-leveled wind based spells to prove he did not vite the oath. Now with the results set in stone, he didn¡¯t wait at all before returning to the pce. After the Crown Prince vomited blood and watched the scene unfold before his very eyes, he became even more pale like that of a ghost when he saw how easily his uninjured younger brother returned to the pce walls. It¡¯s not just him. Behind the Crown Prince, Earl Raymond looked even gloomier than before after witnessing the young prince pull off trick after tricks. It seems¡­¡­ Those Mages that jumped out of the Crown Prince¡¯s camp wouldn¡¯t be returning after killing his most important subordinate. Giving each other a few looks, the Mages all gathered at another part of the square after getting the silent agreement from Master Leonard. Not only is the Crown Prince vomiting blood, even the nobles that is in his camp is bleeding in their hearts. After all, these people spent enormous wealth and effort to hire these Mages for this day. But when the time came, these bastards decided to turn their backs without any hesitation, so of course cursing would be the least of what they wanted to do right now. Fortunately for the Crown Prince, the Holy Knights from the Temple is no longer making any more efforts to charge through and is only standing put at one corner of the square. Under the protection of these loyal knights of the Temple, the two elders are also hiding behind the cover of these people without making any movements. Just like this, they faced off against Jean ude¡¯s subordinates at a distant without retreat or confrontation. ¡°Your Highness.¡± At this point, Earl Raymond is already feeling a strong sense of dissatisfaction in his heart. Unfortunately for this military general, he knows this is not the right time to be arguing. Pressing his feelings down, he suggested: ¡°Our advantage in the square right now is already weakened. Thankfully General Jean ude still has a lot of people up at the city walls. If we send someone out for reinforcements, we can still take the pce!¡± The Crown Prince lets out a long sigh: ¡°Give the orders out!¡± As for the Police Department¡¯s 10,000 security officers, they had long been deployed to the Eastern part of the capital where the Magic Union is located. Why? The reason is because the police headquarter is already upied by the people of the rebel army. With one order after another, these traitors forced the police chief to issue out numerous illogical orders that left these people still loyal to the Emperor with no other option. In the end, this 10,000 strong army is now being hurdled as if they were animals in a cage by merely 3,000 highly equipped infantry soldiers. In Jean ude¡¯s 2nd division, there are a total of 20,000 military soldiers under hismand. While this force is muchrger than the police forces, but of this army, only 3,000 was left behind to guard the police officers while he took 10,000 men¡¯s to besiege the pce. As for the rest the remaining city defense forces under Jean ude, he had them widely spread across the capital walls as insurance for anyone attempting to flee. As such, the burden on the 3,000 soldiers left behind to guard the police forces are quite heavy. After all, 10,000 people isn¡¯t a small number. Fortunately, General Raymond came up with a good n for the Crown Prince. First put the police force under control, then subdue police chief Sack so that he can put these people under strict orders to wait. Right now at the east end of the capital, those police officers would no doubt hear of themotionsing out of the central square at this point. Of course, they aren¡¯t fools so it wasn¡¯t hard for them to figure out the reason for this. The only problem for them is that their chief is giving out such weird orders to stay put, and there is also the 3,000 highly equipped soldiers from the city defense garrison. Compared to the city defense garrison forces, these police officers is still a notch lower in quality. If Du Wei had to make aparison, it would be the same as the police in his previous lifepared to the army. But then again, this 10,000 decently armed fighting force is not be looked down upon without restraint. Just like this, all of the police forces in the capital re gathered in the outer vicinity of the magic union and is currently nervously facing off against 3,000 of the city defense garrison. Although the Crown Prince originally intended to hijack the chief of the police forces and make them surrender to the city defense force, but General Raymond strongly opposed this decision. In his argument, this old general saw the danger in this idea and suggested that they only needed to be directed away. As long as this army doesn¡¯t make any sort of trouble, then it would be fine just to leave them be because if they go too far, these people might riot and cause even more trouble. Turns out, Earl Raymond was right. The soldiers in the police department aren¡¯t made up of fools. Once themotion reached their ears from the central square, the squad leaders could already guess what was really happening. To them, they can still obey chief Sack¡¯s order of staying put, but if they were ordered to drop their weapons and surrender, then they would have rebelled! A coup d¡¯¨¦tat! This is a coup! In these type of events, who knows what would happen if they surrendered their lives to the enemy. If anything, the enemy could just ughter them all immediately after they drop their weapons. Therefore, the idea of disarming ispletely uneptable! Receiving the affirmative nod from the Crown Prince, Earl Raymond immediately sent multiple messengers to gather up the widely spread city defense forces around the city. To him, this is not the time to worry about the small details. If the city is going to fall into chaos, then so be it! First rally up their strength¡¯s, then break into the pce! With the order given, numerous messengers started to rush out to gather people. Like a snowballing effect, these sparsely scattered rebels across the capital started to huddle together in mass and came rushing towards the square. In the end, around 2,000 soldiers arrived. ¡°Chaos¡­¡­Everything is falling into chaos¡­¡­..¡± Letting out a deep sigh, General Sack closed his window in the office room. After being held hostage by the rebels, he was imprisoned in a room on the second floor of the police headquarter. To make it even more humiliating, his hands are cuffed with the very same restraints he would normally use for criminals in prison. The horrifying stories of how the celebratory event in the central square bing a grizzly ughter fest had long been spread across the capital. Hearing this, the entire capital has sunk into a chaotic mess. Also, there are plenty of looting and robbery going on caused by ruffians across the streets. Fearing for their lives, just about every home is now locked. To General Sack, the sounds of utter disorder and mayhem are akin to having someone strike a blow into his heart. As the head of the police department in charge of security, how can he not be grieving? But what can he do now? The main forces of the police department had long been dispatched in the morning, leaving only a handful of fighting soldiers behind. If not for his seniority, Sack feared he might have been thrown in the jail cell like the rest of his subordinates. Sitting across from him, the leader of the rebels that had captured him is currently ying with a sharp dagger while showing a face of indifference. And outside the room, there are two heavily armed guards just in case anything happens. ¡°Commander, you might as well sit down.¡± The rebel leader had cold eyes when he looked at the anxious looking Sack. Sack may have hailed from nobility, but his air of supremacy had long dissipated tot he air like water. In a whispering voice: ¡°I can only sit here, if not, what else can I do! Humph!¡± The rebel leader smiled at his reply: ¡°Commander Sack. I remember your Baron title was even granted by his Majesty himself, right? At this moment, his highness should have seeded in forcing the emperor to abdicating the throne. For that, are you sad?¡± Sack¡¯s face suddenly changed as if a surge of shame crossed his face. Though he is angry and embarrassed by his own situation, he could not help but cry out: ¡°Are you trying to humiliate me by saying this?! Not bad, I do feel ashamed! His majesty trusted me with the important task of keeping the capital¡¯s security in check, but now, I can only sit here and watch you bastards press in against his Majesty. I¡­¡­. I¡­¡­. I am unworthy of his Majesty¡¯s trust! I know I have sinned, so you don¡¯t have so use such words to aggravate my emotions!¡± This rebel leader spent a moment to look over Sack. Then suddenly, his expression changed from that of mockery to that of understanding and care: ¡°Actually, you don¡¯t need to act like this. In this world, most people fear death. Such a feeling is normal because this is human nature. Not to mention you also have a family waiting for you at home. On this point, I fully understand where you areing from.¡± Sack was stunned, unable to believe what he was hearing. Chapter 159 part 2 The 159th ¡°Deep Undercover¡± (part two) It was at this time the sound of rapid movements came from outside the window. The two are after all people with plenty of life experience, so they immediately figured out this ruckus is the kind of noiserge groups of soldiers would make while marching. Theplexion on both Sack and this rebel leader changed instantly when they looked outside. From high above, they saw around 200 rebel soldiers came rushing from one end of the street towards the general direction of the central square. These people are indeed part of the forces called back by the Earl¡¯s summon. Sack didn¡¯t know the reason for this so he can only sigh: ¡°Aigh, another squad eh¡­.. In all likelihood, the Crown Prince should have gotten what he wants by now¡­. Humph, I fear that in less than three days, he will officially step up to the throne.¡± The rebel leader gazes at the squad far in the distance, his face remained calm but there is an obviousplexity in the way he looked. After a while, the rebel leader suddenly revealed a strange smile on his face as if though he was talking to himself: ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s about right. From the looks of it, his highnesses n seeded.¡± With that, his face suddenly carried a coldness in his expressionpletely different from the calm and quiet attitude he had prior to this. Lifting his head to look straight at Sack, this rebel leader spoke in a strange tone: ¡°Commander Sack and Baron of the empire! I ask you now, are you faithful to the Emperor?!¡± ¡°¡­¡­ What did you say?¡± The enigmatic rebel leader suddenly started give out augh of unimaginable depth. Then strolling over to Sack¡¯s side, this person pulled out a set of keys from his bosom and removed the cuffs on themander¡¯s hand before whispering: ¡°I¡¯ll ask you again, are you loyal to his majesty?! Are you willing to fight for his Majesty and quell this rebellion?!¡± ¡°You¡­¡­ You¡­¡­ You¡­¡­¡± Sack fell into shock, his hand started to tremble after being released. Pointing with a finger at the rebel leader in front of him, his wanted to speak but couldn¡¯t! ¡°My name is Kami Siro, feel free to call me Kami.¡± The rebel leader smiles: ¡°I¡¯m Prince Son¡¯s people. From the age of 16, I was sent into the Crown Prince¡¯s side for this day. Now that ten years had passed, today is the day for us to achieve greatness in our life¡­.. Commander Sack, the opportunity for us to climb up in the world is upon us!¡± The surprise in Sack is so high that words cannot begin to describe how he is feeling right now. With his tongued tied, he just kept staring at the guy in front of him. ¡°I know you are nervous, and I know you cannot fullyprehend all of this right now.¡± Kami grips the dagger in his hand: ¡°Everything in his highnesses calction right now, so I will only ask you this one question. Are you willing to fight for his majesty and quell this rebellion?!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Sack looks at the rebel leader in the eyes before his sight fell on the dagger in the Kami¡¯s hand. Finally, he took in a deep breath and answered: ¡°I will!¡± West of the city, 3,000 of the rebel¡¯s army remain at a 100 meter distance away from the main forces of the capital police forces. Like this, both armies faced off against each other, ready to do battle at a moment¡¯s notice if any strange movement were to happen. Andmanding this small contingent of the Crown Prince¡¯s army is amander known as Norris. Being a lieutenant of Jean ude group, this person is also a person in the Crown Prince¡¯s camp. His instructions are very clear for today; keep the police forces at bay without shing directly with them. But this prideful Norris had different thoughts from his higher ups. In his mind, he always looked down at the police forces and feels that if he simply made a charge with his men¡¯s now; he could easily overwhelm the other side despite the fact that the police forces out number them many folds. Beside Norris, there is another high ranking officer named Dicko. This person is also a trusted officer of the Crown Prince, but his style ispletely opposite to how Norris acts. Careful and cautious, this person may be a rank below Norris, but his way of doing things is definitely a step above his counterpart. Since the standoff has been going on for quite a while, Norris was already bing inpatient. Therefore, when he saw a ridering towards them from a distance, Norris wanted to inquire his partner about it. But before he could say anything, Dicko had alreadye up beside him and said: ¡°Norris, someone ising¡­.. It looks like our people.¡± Norris eyes lights up: ¡°Can it be someone sent by the Crown Prince? Great! I¡¯m willing to its instruction for us to sh with those bastards from the police department, Ha Ha!¡± With that said, this guy already went forward with some of his subordinates to greet the newly arriving people. As for the garrison forces still waiting behind, they didn¡¯t rx and readied their shields and weapons incase anything happens with the new arrivals. ¡°Make way!¡± Norris stepping forward, this person shouted in a loud voice before noticing the one leading the squad of riders is actually Kami. Frowning, Norris cried out: ¡°Kami? What are you doing here? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be watching the police department¡­..¡± Behind Kami, the hundred or so riders are all direct subordinates of his. After riding in front of Norris, every single one of them dismounted except for Kami. As the only one still riding on his mount, Kami gripped the reins on his horse before crying out his next words: ¡°Norris, the Crown Prince tasked to takemand for this ce. As of this moment, you are under mymand!¡± ¡°What?¡± Norris became infuriated. In a loud voice, he shouted: ¡°Kami, what did you say?! Your status is four ranks below me, why should I listen to you!¡± Norris is already bing suspicious in his heart: ¡°When the Crown Prince gave the orders, I was also present. How dare you leave your post at the police department toe here!¡± Then Norris began to shout. Seeing this, the soldiers brought along by this arrogantmander unsheathed their swords and began to surround Kami and his people. Standing behind Norris, Dicko started to whisper into his partner¡¯s ears, ¡°Everything about this is fishy¡­.. The people behind Kami all looked so unfamiliar!¡± Hearing these words from Dicko, Norris suddenly pricked an eyebrow: ¡°Dicko, you mean¡­¡­¡± ¡°Subdue them first! The Crown Prince would never give out such disorderlymands. This guy was obviously sent to the police headquarters, yet he is here. I fear the situation must have changed.¡± After Dicko finished whispering his words, Norris was already nodding in agreement. In a loud voice, he shouted: ¡°How dare you try give out a fakemand! This betrayal! Don¡¯t think you can deceive me so easily!¡± Finished, Norris already waved his hand to give themand to his subordinates. In seconds, Kami and his people are now under the immediate threat of numerous crossbows. Kami continues to speak without worry: ¡°Norris, you dare doubt his highnesses order? If the n gets ruined by you, are you going to take responsibility?¡± Dicko¡¯s voice immediately pressed his voice around Norris: ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him, subdue them first then we can sort this out!¡± Norrisughed before calling out: ¡°Quit bullshitting me! Catch them first, then interrogate!¡± Following the order, the rebel soldiers began to move forward with their crossbow¡¯s aimed straight at Kami. Despite being cornered, Kami still showed no signs of fear as he sneered: ¡°How dare you Norris, disobeying his highnesses order is the death penalty. Men, kill him!¡± Norris started to break out into a bigugh: ¡°nonsense, what skills do you to be able to kill me?!¡± Just as Norris finishes his arrogant speech, this person suddenly hears a cold voiceing from his side: ¡°I can!¡± As the voice came to a close, Norris suddenly felt his heart turn cold. Looking down, he can see the bright metallic sheen of a de piercing out of where his heart should be. Drop by drop; he can feel his life seeping out of his body. Still unable to believe what he was seeing, Norris raises his head with wide eyes to look over at the cold indifferent expression of Dicko. Shoot The Dicko pulls the de out of his former partner. Despite how much Norris wanted to struggle, his strength was already gone when he was so suddenly attacked. Letting out a gurgling sound of blood choking in his throat, this once arrogantmander slowly drops to the ground. Once Norris was on the ground, Dicko raises one of his feet and leans it right on top of the dying man. Then in a whispering voice, Dicko said something right next to his former partner¡¯s ear: ¡°I¡¯m Prince Son¡¯s man.¡± Just like this, Norris still couldn¡¯t understand what was going and died a pitiful death. From the early years of when he joined the army, he and Dicko were both handed picked when they were still junior officers, as such, he just couldn¡¯tprehend how someone that spent so many years together with him would so suddenly change sides. Kami remained indifferent as if this oue was obvious. After Norris died, the rebel army nearby immediately became confused and a uproar immediately broke out in the ranks. Seeing this, Dicko raised his sword and shouted: ¡°Silence!!¡± With Norris dead, Dicko is now highest ranked official present. With blood still staining his sword, he shouted: ¡°Norris refuses to obey and betrayed his highness. Anyone that doesn¡¯t follow order will be court martialed immediately!¡± A rider next to Kami is in fact Commander Sack of the police department. After witnessing this miraculous y unfold before him, he became even more surprised. Seeing the surprised look in Sack, Kami only smiles as he speaks in a whispering voice: ¡°Ten years undercover¡­.. You didn¡¯t think it would only be me, right? Now you understand?¡± ¡­¡­ Ten-year undercover? More than one person? However, ten years ago, Prince Son is only a child of 14 years old. For such a young child, how can he have such long term foresight¡­¡­ Sack turned cold in his heart, not daring to say a word. Now that he has witnessed the amazing feats set up by the young prince, how can he not surge with confidence? After Dicko kills Norris, this second inmand issues out a fake order on behalf of the Crown Prince and had the 3,000 rebel soldiers open up a passage for the police forces to bypass. Just like this, the 10,000 strong police army peacefully marched through the barricade set up to pen them in the western part of the capital. Because Sack is personally present, the squad leaders in the police forces didn¡¯t need any form of persuasion. Immediately, every single police officer began to march in unison towards the general direction of the pce. Before you leaving, Kami rode up next to Dicko with eyes full of respect and unwilling¡­¡­ With the police forces all gone, Dicko suddenly shed a strange light in his eyes. In a loud voice, he shouted: ¡°Commander Kami brought with him an order from the higher ups¡­.. All forces present are to blockade in the magic union! Until further orders are given, no personal is allowed to leave the Magic Union!¡± Once the rebel soldiers hear thismand, every single one of them turned pale¡­.. Magic Union? Surround and barricade the Magic Union headquarters? Isn¡¯t that akin tomitting suicide? No matter how much these people feared a Mage, they are still military soldiers so orders are absolute, especially after witnessing the ruthless killing of their formermander Norris. This is indeed the result of Prince Son¡¯s scheming n. Although there are only 3,000 soldiers, but it is still more than what the young prince can handle at the present time. Therefore, the only option is to take advantage of the Magic Union to help him vanquish these people! Soon, the 3,000 strong rebel army came up to the six pointed star shaped park making up the outer perimeter of the magic union. With resolve on his face, Dicko gave out the order and had these deceived soldiers spread out among the park before pressing in. This action would of course provoke the anger of the great and all powerful Mages inside. Although the president of the Magic Union didn¡¯t give the order, but numerous Magicians flew out of the main building when it became apparent what the soldiers were intending. Immediately, some of Dicko¡¯s subordinate came for instruction. Instead of retreating, Dicko showed the kind of resolve only those heading off for death would have: ¡°Kill and leave none alive!¡± Later on in historical records: 980 years after the founding of the Rnd Empire, on the day of the summer festival, these 3,000 soldiers of the rebel army waspletely wiped out by the Mages from the Magic Union! No survivors were ever recorded! In this battle, the Mages that came out to fight showed no hint of mercy and ughtered every single soldier. Once it was all over, the blood that stained the ground could not be washed away even after three days¡¯ worth of cleaning! This event was considered by historians as the most foolish practice by the Crown Prince. By sending merely 3,000 soldiers, he intended to take on the continent¡¯s most powerful fighting force? This is not only crazy butpletely stupid to anyone that read up on this event. Of course, none survived, including Dicko. As such, no one knew the truth behind why this small contingent would suddenly attack the Magic Union. Chapter 160 The 160th chapter ¡°Martial Dragon Spear¡± {The title isn¡¯t actually that but if I used the full name, then it would be gibberish} When 10,000 police soldiers came marching towards the central square from the right, the Crown Prince¡¯s expression became ashen grey when some of his scout troops came running to report. Immediately, the tide changed and the rebel¡¯s army is now surrounded on all sides. On the left is the Holy Knights, and on the right are the police forces. But more importantly, this massive influx of police soldiers are all loyal to the royalists factions, thus, changing the tide in one fell swoop. Naturally, the Crown Prince couldn¡¯t figure out why this is happening even if he breaks his head because all the people he sent to handle these matters are all trusted subordinates of his¡­. Earl Raymond is already giving out a long sigh as he looked up at the young prince up at the pce walls. To this old military official, his confidence in winning this battle is already gone. Suddenly, he looked over at captain Alpha and whispered: ¡°Alpha, we have lost.¡± With that, Earl Raymond came around to the Crown Prince and looked up at the deadpan expression of this instigator. Seeing this, a sense of disdain grew inside of him as he spoke: ¡°Your highness, we must concentrate our forces now and storm out of here. Only by getting out of the capital now will we have a chance to make aeback!¡± The Crown Prince looked hollow in his eyes as if he couldn¡¯t hear the Earl¡¯s words. Only nodding, his eyes suddenly changed to that of horror as he cried out: ¡°There¡¯s no way! I won¡¯t believe this! How did I lose?!¡± With that said, he cried out: ¡°I still have 1000 elite riders! Humph, how can the police forcespete with me?!¡± The Crown Prince seemed to have lost his marbles. Among his 1000 elite riders, there are numerous genuinely skilled knights from the association. In a loud voice, he dered: ¡°Raymond, I¡¯ll give you 500 riders to stop the police forces in their tracks! As for me, I¡¯ll attack the pce! I will not admit defeat!¡± Earl Raymond didn¡¯t say anymore and only sighed in return¡­.. Will not fail? Jean ude¡¯s 10,000 rebel forces had already suffered major casualties. With only a couple of thousand troops left including the elite riders of the Crown Prince, how can they take the pce so easily when they are being pressed on all sides? It was at this moment, the main gate of the pce suddenly swung open and out came Prince Son. Slowly, he stepped forward alone while holding onto something really long. Wrapped in a broad ck cloth, the outline of this thing seems to vaguely resemble that of a long spear. This abrupt interruption dumbfounded everyone because the young prince was only a hundred meters from Jean ude¡¯s forces. Despite the inherent danger, Prince Son continued to show his charismatic smile without a hint of fear on his face. Slowly but surely, he stopped and stabbed the long thing onto the ground. For a second, everyone didn¡¯t know how to react against this person that so suddenly came out of the Pce. Just as the rebel forces hesitated over whether or not they should run up and kill this important figure, the young prince interjected: ¡°Knights Deration, article 1¡­¡­¡± Prince Son¡¯s calm voice suddenly reached out to every corner of the square, his voice clearly oscted by a wind based magic spell to reach everyone¡¯s ears. ¡°Knights Deration, article 1: In the name of my soul, I swear to be forever ¡®loyal¡¯ as my lifelong personality so that I will never regret in this life! If I ever go against this, let my soul be abandoned by the Knights Spear!¡± ¡°Knights Deration, article 2: In the name of my soul, I swear that honor is more important than my life! Without regret, I will defend the honor of a knight for life! If I ever go against this, let my soul be abandoned by the Knights Spear!¡± ¡°Knights Deration, article 3: In the name of my soul, I will bear in mind the ¡®sacrifice¡¯ my life makes! Without regret, I will not break. If I do, let the Knights Spear abandon my soul!¡± ¡°Knights Deration, article 4: In the name of my soul, I will live with ¡®courage¡¯ in my heart. I will brand my chest with courage without regret! If I break this oath, let the Knights Spear abandon my soul!¡± ¡°Knights Deration, article 5: In the name of my soul, I will have mercy on the weak and be the enemy of brutality! Tolerance is my friend, and ¡®mercy¡¯ is my heart. If I break this oath, let the Knights Spear abandon my soul!¡± ¡°Knights Deration, article 6: In the name of my soul, I will maintain the fusion of spirit and soul. Spirit is my soul, and soul is my life. If I ever go against this, let my soul be abandoned by the Knights Spear!¡± ¡°Knights Deration, article 7: In the name of my soul, I will always be ¡®true and honest¡¯. My heart will always be white, and my biggest enemy is the darkness in my heart. If I ever go against this, let the Knights Spear abandon my soul!¡± ¡°Knights Deration, article 8: In the name of my soul, I always aim to be ¡®fair¡¯. My heart is the embodiment of righteousness and equality. If I break this oath, let the Knights Spear abandon my soul!¡± This long list of derations is something every genuine knight would remember because during their assessment test, every person is required to recite this before they are recognized as a true knight. To a knight, these verses are the eight qualities that they should always keep in mind: loyalty, honor, sacrifice, courage,passion, spirituality, honesty, and fairness. Although magic is prospering on the Rnd continent now, but the era of Knights is still much longer than magic prior till now. During the height of that era, Knight is thergest power! From legend, the Knights Association from that era is said to be even higher in status than the current Magic Union! To the people back then, the association is the shining beacon of righteousness and respect. Only problem is the passage of time. In the present day and age, the status of a warrior is far inferior to that of a Mage in the eyes of the general populous. As such, the importance of these verses gradually became forgotten in the hearts of everyone¡­¡­ Although a knight must still recite the oaths before they are recognized as a true knight, but it is quite rare nowadays for one to find a knight still adhering to such chivalrous actions. In general, a normal knight is only someone of brute strength, but weak in their mental cultivation. But the real reason for the downfall of the knight¡¯s era is not only the prosperity of magic, but a more important reason. Unlike back then, the sworn oaths taken by every knight in the current age no longer have any binding effects on their actions! For a Magician, they must automatically leave behind their mark whenever they make an oath. As such, if they ever go back on their words, they will then be punished ordingly! But now, those derations by the knights are more often than not different from what the swearer is actually thinking. The moment, they leave the doorstep of the knights association, some of these people would go off and cause havoc in the world. As such, this is the true reason for the downfall of chivalry in the current age! No power to restrict ones action, so the oaths would naturally be ignored! Regardless of whether they are rebel or royalists, Prince Son¡¯s face looked very serious as he swept his gaze across the square. To the knights of different ranks in the field, many of them didn¡¯t understand why this prince would suddenlye down to the square and recite these verses. To a small portion, some of these knights even grew a bit of disdain on their faces¡­.. ¡°If I break this oath, let the Knights Spear abandon my soul!!¡± Prince Son gently whispers these words out before suddenly repeating it in a loud voice: ¡°let the Knights Spear abandon my soul!!¡± His eyes slowly scan the field back and forth before letting out a gentleugh: ¡°Who here today still adheres to the eight codes of chivalry?¡± The Knights Spear¡­¡­ ording to legend in the age of chivalry, the greatest artifact of the knight¡¯s profession is a legendary spear left behind during the age of gods. This spear held immense power and is the object of worship for every knight! During their oath swearing, every knight must use their own blood to imprint their souls into the spear! If the oath bearer were to ever break their words, the person in question will be punished by the power of the spear and have their soul be forever locked out of the afterlife, thus, forcing their spirit to roam the world. With the idea of the spears punishment hanging over their heads, practically no knight would go against their vows! Unfortunately, not knowing when, where, or even the reason, this miraculous spear disappeared from the annals of history. To some, the idea of the spear disappearing is the sign of god reiming it from the world of mortals. From then on, the chivalry vows no longer had any punishing effect on the oath bearer. As time went on, the downfall of the knight profession finally reached the present day situation. Currently, Prince Son stood in the middle of the square under the smell of blood and gore as he recited the knight¡¯s chivalry code. Though a little weird at first, he subsequently tore apart the ck silken cloth reveal the true face of the long object in his hand¡­¡­. Shining with brilliance is a spear radiating a golden light. This cross shaped spear is not only a head taller than the prince in height, but the body of the spear seems to be missing a section at the head like it was broken somehow. And that¡¯s not all, the body of the spear seems be full of scratch marks that if it was a bit deeper, it would have likely caused the body to break apart! The moment this golden crossed shaped spear made its appearance to the world, not a single sound could be heard. At that instant, none in the square dared to make a single move, not even breathing! Also without any hint or sign, people of different warrior ranks from both camps began to run forward towards the spear. Kneeling on one knee, these people all had the look of a devoted believer that could even put the followers of the temple to shame¡­..! Even captain Alpha that was riding behind the Earl fell off the horse. Crawling on the ground, this heavily injured knight forced himself into a prostrating position with eyes full of tears akin to that of someone showing intense emotions. ¡°Alpha!¡± Earl Raymond turned pale: ¡°you¡­¡­¡± ¡°My lord.¡± Alpha raised his head as his body trembled. Taking in a deep breath, he replied: ¡°That is the Holy Spear! The real Holy Spear! The Knights Spear!¡± Knights Spear, Golden Cross Spear, Holy Spear¡­. It also has a name that is beyond sacred in the hearts of every knight: Martial Dragon Spear! Standing atop the pce walls, Du Wei sighs as he saw the spreading scene of knights kneeling¡­¡­ The Crown Prince is already defeated now. Chapter 161 part 1 The 161th chapter ¡°glory!¡± (part 1) 960 year of the Rnd Empire: during the summer festival day, the capital fell into chaos and Prince Long (Crown Prince) rebelled against the imperial court. Gathering his forces, he and his supporters besieged the pce. In order to fend off the traitors, Sonmissioned the Temple to aid in the defense of the royal family. With the help of the temple and the police department, Son turned the tide with minimal reinforcements and created a miracle with the showcasing of the Martial Dragon Spear. Prince Long loudly shouts out: ¡°I lost because fate did not choose me.¡± Pausing, he points at Prince Son before continuing: ¡°Even so, I request that I be buried under the g!¡± With these words, he sheathed his sword and gently slit it across his neck. Following their master, dozens of his most loyal subordinates followed suit and ended their life as a sign of loyalty. As for the remaining rebel forces: Marquise Solomon surrendered and Earl Raymond of the Rowling Household was captured in battle. While 4,000 of the rebel forces were killed in the ensuing fight, only 6,000 remained alive to be sent to the dungeons. In 3 days, the rebellion was squashed and the peace restored. Volume 15 of the Empire¡¯s Chronicle record, 6th chapter: The Regent life tale. Regarding this coup on the official record of the empire, there wasn¡¯t any mention of the eldest son of the Rowling Household. In fact, there wasn¡¯t a single word that could rte to Du Wei or anything involving his role in the battle that took ce. Just like that, historians had no choice but to remove all of his deeds from this event due to being pressured from the higher ups. Bucket after buckets of water, the stains marking the great battle that took ce in the central square was finally washed away after 3 days. Now, the pce guards and the police forces patrolling the city streets are all walking around with faces of immediately threat. Previously when Prince Son revealed the Dragon Martial Spear, both Du Wei and the Crown Prince knew there was no chance of victory left for the rebellion. The reason is that the kneeling knights in the central square was just like a piercing needle that shot right through the Crown Prince¡¯s heart. Suddenly, different from his prior mistakes, the Crown Prince made one correct decision that day. Should he continue the fight? Watching the kneeling Knight in the square, the Crown suddenly raised his sword with an icy feeling in his heart. Trembling, he actually turned around to give Earl Raymond a nce and said, ¡°Raymond, we lost.¡± Having said that, this Prince suddenly puffed up his chest and cried out: ¡°I am royalty, I will die before surrendering!¡± Then pointing his sword at Prince Son, he shouted: ¡°It¡¯s not that I am not your match, it¡¯s just your fate is better than mine!¡± With that, his sword moved and gently swiped across his neck. With blood dripping, his body softly fell off his horse and onto the ground. Despite the fact that Earl Raymond was close enough to stop this, he didn¡¯t because in his mind, he knew their time is over. Subsequently, the scene fell into chaos. With the morale of the rebel forces in tatters, Prince Son took the chance and ordered the remaining soldiers in the pce to charge out. Not missing the opportunity, the police forces all pressed in. With Marquis Solomon surrendering, Earl Raymond nearly escaped after a path was opened up by Captain Alpha. But this great general gave up in thest minute. In one fell push, he forced his guards aside while covered in blood. Throwing down his sword, his expression changed to that of a true aristocrat as he spoke his next words: ¡°Members of the Rowling Household will not run like ragged dogs!¡± With that said, this great noblemen did not move even when he saw how the pursuing troops came rushing towards him. Still standing there with pride despite being restrained with ropes, he looked up at a ck figure standing on top of the pce walls. Then with a cold smile, he lowered his head and turned back to look where the Crown Prince died. With eyes full of difficult emotions, he sighed before saying: ¡°A branch doesn¡¯tpare to a seedling.¡± And the Coup d¡¯¨¦tat finally came to a certain end with the capture of Earl Raymond. ¡°He in fact shouldn¡¯t havemitted suicide.¡± Du Wei looked over at where the body of the Crown Princeid. Below, the corpse of the Crown Prince is covered in a g of the Thorn Flower symbol. ording to tradition, no matter the offense, a member of the royal family must be buried with this royal symbol. Even if the person in question orchestrated a rebellion, this practice cannot be changed until they are formally charged. Right now, Prince Son is standing beside Du Wei, his expression so in that none could read his mind. But when he heard Du Wei¡¯s words, this young Prince suddenly turned to face Du Wei and said: ¡°Oh, what did you just say?¡± ¡°I said, he in fact shouldn¡¯t havemitted suicide.¡± Du Wei smiles wryly: ¡°Unfortunately for him, he doesn¡¯t truly understand the spirit behind chivalry¡­¡­ As he saw how so many knights kneeled before you when you held up the Knights Spear, he got cold feet.¡± After a pause, Du Wei continues: ¡°Knights care about loyalty above all else. The spear in your hand may have been a sacred relic, but they did not surrender to you when they kneeled. On the contrary, when you pulled out the sacred spear, the spirit a knight should have been fully invoked in his subordinates. If so, they would have fought even harder for him if he didn¡¯t give up. Although they no longer had the advantage, but if they put their life on the line and pressed on, the chance of theming out on top is not small¡­¡­ What a pity, because he didn¡¯t understand why, he thought everyone was kneeling to you, but in truth, they were only kneeling to the sacred spear.¡± Du Wei looked deeply Prince Son: ¡°I really starting wonder how your brain managed to calcte all of this, especially the part where your brother would give up when you pull out the spear.¡± Prince Son dodges Du Wei¡¯s gaze. With a smile, this young prince replied: ¡°In the end, nobody in this world can be certain of the oue. But I do know my brother¡¯s personality, so I can be certain of his reaction at the very least.¡± Du Wei keeps his silence. Lowering his head, he recounts everything in his brain before speaking again: ¡°First you drag the Temple into the water with you, then the Magic Union. Thinking it over, I still can¡¯t understand. Why didn¡¯t you stop your brother before the rebellion started? You are clearly more capable than your brother.¡± As Du Wei said these words, his gaze was so strong that it was like shooting lighting out of them. Without saying a word, Prince Son turned around and slowly walked away. ¡°Since you already know the answer to your question, why ask me?¡± Du Wei stood there speechless. Watching the backside of the young prince as he slowly walked away, Du Wei inwardly felt that the person in front of him was more scheming and devious than any other person he met up till now. Sighing, Du Wei then mutters to himself in a low voice: ¡°You didn¡¯t stop him and intentionally allowed the coup to take ce. If he didn¡¯t jump out like this, how can you get rid of him fairly and take control justifiably¡­.¡± Once he said these words, his mind started to think: ¡°It seems I should stay away from politics.¡± After Prince Son walked a few steps in front of him, this guy suddenly paused to turn around. With a faint smile, he said: ¡°You¡¯re noting?¡± Smiling in return, the two men looked at each other with different thoughts in mind. Within the pce, the king¡¯s guards had long reced their elegant looking armors used for the celebration. Swords, axe, and shield, all kinds of weapons were being pulled out of the armory, fully ready for battle. As Prince Son and Du Wei walked through the halls, this young prince started to issue out numerous orders to his subordinates one after another. Du Wei spected at this time that the police forces outside should have taken over the defense of the capital by now. Following Prince Son around for a short while, the two finally came up to a tall standing structure with gold ted guards standing outside. Stopping in their steps, Prince Son faced the guards and said: ¡°I want to see my father.¡± The chief of these gold ted warriors hurriedly saluted upon contact: ¡°Your highness, his majesty has been waiting for you. He left words that you are free to go in the moment you arrive.¡± Prince Son faintly smiles as he gave Du Wei a nce: e on then, let¡¯s go.¡± The Gold ted Warrior leader steps forward to stop them. With a pained look on his face, he said: ¡°This¡­.. His Majesty only called for only one person and that¡¯s you.¡± Prince Son¡¯s expression immediately changed. Unlike his usual gentle features, his face now showed a glimmer of dominance and dignitary only seen in those of great power. Feeling his body being pierced by this overbearing gaze, the leader of these guards involuntarily took a step back and quickly lowered his head, too afraid to even make eye contact. Retracting his gaze, Prince Son did not speak or look at the guards anymore. Pulling Du Wei with one hand, the two openly walked into the building. Filled with cold sweat, this guard leader had no will to resist or stop the young Prince. He may be a senior officer in the pce guards, but even he is not dense enough to not catch on that after this meeting, the ruler of this ce will change! In that case, why should he go against the future ruler¡¯s will? And who else wouldn¡¯t be aware of this fact? Backing away as the two walked by, themander of security further behind them quickly followed up and took over the job of guarding the building. Unable to do anything, the gold ted warriors could only back off and watch their jobs be taken over by the new soldiers. Despite being surrounding by tall columns on both sides and richly decorated walls, this luxurious building seemed lifelesspared to the rest of the pce. Taking in a deep breath, Du Wei could somehow catch a whiff of decaying smell in the air. Hmm, this must be the heart ying tricks on him. Yes¡­.. This is nothing but his imagination! Du Wei kept reminding himself this important point as he picked up his pace behind Prince Son. Continuing forward, some servants had already pushed open arge door at the end of the hallway awaiting their entrance. Coming in, Du Wei can see the emperor half lying on top of a square shaped giant bed. Unlike the previous demeanor he had before the battle, this once mighty rule now looked powerless and short of breath. ¡°Son, you havee¡­¡­¡± After these clear words, his pace quickly picked up and a rapid cough ensued. Struggling to pull himself up, he waved his hand to dismiss the servant nearby. ¡°Father.¡± Prince Son kneeled down on one knee without making eye contact: ¡°Brother has passed away.¡± ¡°You¡­¡­ Did very well.¡± Old emperor¡¯s expression turned yellow as if his spirit had run dry of energy. It¡¯s just that after this simple dialogue, the parent and son couple seems to havee to an understanding and no longer spoke. For a long time, the only soundsing out of the room was the rapid gasps and bellowsing out of the old emperor. Quietly kneeling behind Prince Son, Du Wei secretly lifts his eyes to sneak a peek at the old emperor. Surprising him, Du Wei can only see the face of an old dying man spending hisst days in bed. No longer the fierce lion in his glory days, the old emperor before him only had the look of someone facing defeat and shame¡­.. But something is not quite right¡­ EH? But that posture is clearly that of someone on ALERT! Yes¡­ The looking out of the old emperor right now is not of someone celebrating in joy; instead, it is of someone on high alert. As if time itself had frozen in ce, the two seems to be testing the other¡¯s patient. In Du Wei¡¯s case, his eyes were much sharper. Try as he like to hide the weapon under his robe, Du Wei still managed to see how tightly the old man was gripping onto the sword hilt. Finally, after a long long time, the old emperor suddenly sighed. His voice had a hint of difficultplexity in his tone: ¡°Did youe here to request for my abdication also?¡± Prince Son did not reply. Chapter 161 part 2 The 161th Chapter ¡°glory!¡± (part 2) Flushing, the old emperor suddenly showed a hint of sickness on his face. Then forcing himself to sit upwards, this person carefully scanned his own son¡¯s body up and down: ¡°This event was single handedly handled by you. Now, even the entire capital is within your grasp. Such boldness and far sight¡­. If my spection is right, this is the moment where I abdicate the throne and pass it on to you, right?¡± Prince Son still didn¡¯t answer. Du Wei inwardly sighed because royalty holds no family bonds! Although this Old Emperor favored this son of his and even went as far as to educate him for the throne¡­.. But there is one problem If I were to abdicate the throne, then it must be under my own free will! Facing the throne, who would be willing to give it up? If things had gone ording to the old emperor¡¯s n, then he would have kept staying on the throne till the day he is dead. Only then would the throne be up for grabs. Even if this person is his own son or heir, they must still wait till I die! At this moment, Du Wei fully grasped onto what Augustine the 6th was thinking in his mind. Prince Son still didn¡¯t speak, thus, agitating the Old Emperor even more. Gasping as if he was short of breath, this old man gritted his teeth: ¡°You¡­. Are you going to be like him and have me step down right now?¡± Finally, Prince Son raises his head. At this moment, Prince Son showed his iconic gentle and charismatic smile: ¡°Father, you are over worrying yourself.¡± With that said, this Prince care freely stood up and walked up to the edge of the bed. At this moment, this old lion acted like he was being cornered by an enemy on the battlefield. Gripping his dagger under his robe, he was ready to fight for his dear life. But unlike what his father expected, the only action Prince Son did was gently reach out his arms to straighten out his father¡¯s disorganized robe. With a gentle smile, he only said this: ¡°Father, brother and I are different.¡± The downfall of Augustine the 6th all fell into Du Wei¡¯s eyes. At this moment, only one word came up mind inside Du Wei¡¯s head: ¡°Politics!¡± ¡°Father, you still remain the Emperor. The one to rebel is brother, not me.¡± Prince Son faintly smiles, his eyes brimming with confidence and coldness: ¡°But father, you are old now. State matters are far tooplex. If you keep tending to them, you will over exhaust yourself. Take this event for example. When Earl Raymond helped brother organize this rebellion, you didn¡¯t even notice¡­. From my perspective, it would seem father needs to work on this in the future. I may have been able to solve this matter this time, but that doesn¡¯t mean I will always be around to solve it every time.¡± His voice may be soft, but the meaning his words is clearly hard! After he finished, Prince Son takes a step back and bows to leave: ¡°You still haven¡¯t recovered from your illness; as such, you can leave the matters outside to me.¡± After these words, Prince Son came up to Du Wei and gently pulled him up. Like this, the two left the room, leaving only the old emperor behind. Before he left, Du Wei took one look backwards and saw how muddy and empty the old emperor¡¯s eyes were¡­¡­ Once out of the building, Prince Son didn¡¯t immediately leave. Instead, he stood next to the gate as if expecting something. Sure enough, after a brief moment, the chambein inside came rushing out with a terrified face as he held something in his hands. Quickly, his person came up to Prince Son and kneeled on the ground. Then raising his arms above his head, he offered the item to the prince. Gently but surely, Prince Son receives the item and opens it. ¡°Appoint Prince Son to Regent of the state. From this moment on, the matters of the state will be handled by the Regent!¡± Apparently, these words were scrawled out onto this white cloth in a hurry. Clearly, the old emperor had to expend great efforts just to write these words based on how messy and faint they were written. Seemingly pleased, Prince Son actually revealed his true emotions at this moment. Then summoning a imperial guard to him, he handed the cloth over. ¡°Spread the word to every department.¡± Du Wei faces Prince Son and smiled: ¡°Should I be calling you Majesty now, or Highness?¡± ¡°Highness.¡± Prince looks over at Du Wei: ¡°I am the Regent, not the Emperor. There must not be any confusion on this point.¡± The news of Prince Son being appointed to Regent of the state wasn¡¯t all that surprising to everyone. With the death of the Crown Prince in the rebellion, it is only natural the winner would take everything. But what did surprise everyone is the fact that Prince Son didn¡¯t actually take up the crown. Instead, he only received the title of Regent. Prince Son¡¯s actions are truly decisive and clear. Immediately after his appointment, he deployed a thousand of his own people to rece the guards surrounding the Old Emperor¡¯s chamber. In this single move, hepletely removed all members of the old security team around the former ruler. And because the King¡¯s guard lost 3,000 of their most capable personals, Prince Son transferred 5,000 people from the police department into the pce to help relief the much needed man power. Subsequently,mands from the Regent started to flow downward to his subordinates like a river. Removes Marquis Solomon¡¯s title and confiscate all territories under his banner. Also, any private armies supported by this house are to be disbanded immediately. The Baron ship of General jean ude (dead) is henceforth eliminated. As for his body, he will be buried with the formality of an ordinary citizen. Regarding the rest of the nobles and officials that participated in the coup d¡¯¨¦tat, they will be confined in the dungeons until further notice. During this time, only the police forces may supervise them and none may enter or leave. For any knights involved in the rebellion, their title will be revoked and their punishment carried out as if they were ordinary citizens. But what gave everyone a sense of relief was that this new Regent seems to have no intentions of going on a killing spree. Even for someone of high status like Jean ude, his body was allowed to be buried like an ordinary citizen without restriction¡­.. This fact is already exceptionally lenient. From prior cases, the winner would always wave their killing hands just so they can destroy any traces of the opposition! And like this, three days had passed and the barrier around the capital finally came down. Calling in from the nearby cities, Prince Son mobilized two different divisions loyal to the royal family and had them upy the capital. As for the mutinous second division that was previously in charge of the capital defense, they werepletely disbanded and any personnel that was once part of this group is currently imprisoned in camps outside the city walls. Again, Prince Son once again handed down a chain ofmands, but this time around, it was to reward those around him. After all, this coup d¡¯¨¦tat is nothing but an assembly of bandits. With it over, the time of the victor taking their share of the spoil will naturally ur. But to everyone¡¯s surprise, the person ranked on top of the list is actually the eldest son of the Rowling Household! Du Wei: bestowed upon thee the name of ¡°Rudolph¡± (During the age of Aragon, this name was said to be thest name of a certain member of the Saint Rnd squad). Granted the title of: Duke, knighthood, Royal magic consultant, Imperial schr, Royal Astrologist of the pce, and magic mentor of the prince. But what made every noble pop their eyes is the other line of text beside the word ¡°Duke¡±¡­¡­ Hereditary!!! This message almost immediately caused a major ruckus like a fierce gust of wind in the aristocratic circles! On that day when Prince Son swore to make Du Wei a duke, just about everyone present heard it clearly. But in their minds, they only thought Prince Son intended grant a title simr to a court official in the pce. The peerage in the Rnd Empire is divided into two kinds, hereditary and lifelong title ship. Lifelong status is only granted to the person in question and cannot be inherited by their offspring¡¯s. Other than that, these people do not own any territory under their banner and cannot form their own private armies. Once they die, the title will be cancelled upon death. Generally speaking, this form of title ship is something the royal family would dly often give out because it would cost them very little. It may be glorious in name, but these people wouldn¡¯t actually hold any real powers. However, hereditary peerage is something that cannot be easily handed out. Once bestowed, the person can own his own territory and collect tax in his domain. If that happens, it would be akin to having a state within a state. Every generation of emperors are not idiots. They all understand what it means to be handing outnd so carelessly. If they can keep as muchnd under the royal family¡¯s control, then it would be more beneficial to the well-being of the empire! Otherwise, if they start handing out hereditary titles left and right, then thends of the empire would eventually run dry! Back in the age of the Rowling Household ancestors, this person not only fought long and hard for the Augustine household, he even yed a big part in unifying the entire empire! Yet, the Rowling Household was only granted a hereditary Earl ship. Although Du Wei¡¯s role in this coup cannot be considered small, nor can it be considered big, but to be given a hereditary Duke ship? Such a grand reward would definitely send shockwaves to every person of status! And the even more shocking scene that is taking ce out of everyone eyes is currently happening in the residence of the Regent. In front of Prince Son¡¯s select few confidants, including Kami that went undercover for over a decade, also the chief of the police department, as well as some of the cronies belonging to Prince Son¡¯s faction. The Regents took out a map of the entire empire and threw it in front of Du Wei. With the iconic charismatic smile on his face, he actually said: ¡°My dear Duke, have a look! From this map, you can choose any territory you wish!¡± With this single sentence, everyoneplexion immediately changed!! Chapter 162 part 1 The 162th chapter ¡±General 250¡± (part 1) The imperial Inspectorate prison ismonly known as the ¡°nursing home of death¡° among the circles of nobilities. In ordance with thews of the Empire, the inspectorate department has the right to monitor and collect evidence of any wrongdoings made by any nobles or officials of the empire, but other than that, this department does not have the right to give the final judgment. Known to all, the inspectorate department is actually divided into two sections ¨C inner and outer. For the outer section, they are responsible for epting various and anonymous reports made by the public. Also, there is a mysterious and secretive task force specializing in espionage and supervision of various officials throughout the empire. Despite all of these burdens, the real core of this department is actually the inner section because whenever some important figure in the capital falls to ruin, they would always be sent to the inner section to be processed. In other words¡­. If you are just some unimportant official within the empire, even if you are found guilty of treason, you would still not be qualified to enter the inner section. Whenever someone gets sent to this ¡°nursing home of death¡±, the person in question has to be either a prime minister or senior military official. Fate is never certain, who knows when tomorrow one would fall into ruins and the next they would walk out of prison with full honors restored? So, in order to not offend any of these once influential individuals, the bosses in control of the inspectorate department would always treat their inner section prisoners exceptionally good. This not only applies to their living quarters, but also the food and daily health care they use. So more often than not, the prisoners held inside never have to worry about theirfort of living. In fact, if they are willing to spend some extra money, they can even have some of the guards bring them women from the outside to enjoy! In truth, everyone in capital already knew of this practice inside the inspectorate department. But since the bosses in charge of this ce are turning a blind eye anyways, then why should someone from the outside bother going around poking at other people¡¯s business? If by the off chance they offend the wrong person, who knows what kind of enemy they might make in the process. Therefore, the conditions at this ce is extremely good for a prison and that is also where its ¡®nursing home of death¡± nickname came from. Nheless, every single of these individuals is being charged with a serious offense, whether they can make it out alive and regain their status or die a pitiful death will all depend on their own doings. Beforeing to this prison, Du Wei also caught wind of these hearsays. But when he actually saw it in person, he discovered it wasn¡¯t actually as extravagant as what everyone outside made it out to be. Located at the southern end of the capital, the main office of the inspectorate department is only a building with three to four floors. Maybe it was because the surrounding area is filled with exceptionallyrge and tall buildings, the road and size of this structure seems rather dull and small to the naked eyes. In fact, the atmosphere this ce gave off was even somewhat gloomy and had a hint of decaying vor in the air. This was especially true for the main gate in the front door due to the chilling sensation one would feel when looking at it. Normally, any imperial institution within the capital would always try to keep their outer appearance look as magnificent and majestic as possible. Yet, the parking lot of this nation ss level institute could only house 3 to 5 carriage at one time. Then again, it is quite understandable for this to be happening. Under any circumstances, who would want to get involved with this ce? After the coup d¡¯¨¦tat, the inspectorate department is currently housing a number of nobles and ministerster found to be a part of the Crown Prince¡¯s faction. Though these people didn¡¯t actually step forward at the time, but it didn¡¯t take much for the evidence to spew out with a little digging. Faced with a sudden influx of prisoners, this ce somehow felt a bit livelierpared to before. Maybe it was due to his newly appointed status and titles, but when Du Wei came to this ce, the department head was somehow not present at the time. In his stead, only a steward came out to wee him. Riding a white horse and followed by two Red robed court Mages ¨C these two are special entourages lent to him as bodyguards for the time being ¨C Du Wei came up to the person weing him and said: ¡°it must have been hard for Mr. Luobosiji¡± ¡°Your lordship, you came today for¡­¡­¡± Being a member of the inspectorate department for so many years, this Luobosiji is already a master of reading the situation. In his mind, he is already specting what could be the reason for such a heavy weight to appear so suddenly: ¡°Could it be that the Regent requires something?¡± ¡°No.¡± Du Wei shakes his head first to reassure the other party: ¡°This is private matter. I want to see Earl Raymond>¡± Luobosiji¡¯s face immediately showed signs of clear understanding because right now, everyone with a grasp of the political situation would know of this newly appointed Duke¡¯s origin. For a child toe meet his father is quite understandable. Hurrying to dismiss the entourages, Luobosiji personally led the way inside for Du Wei. From afar, the hall within the prison looked just like a narrowly built boulder castle with three floors. From what is known about this structure, the castle has quite an interesting history. Prior to the unification of the Rnd Empire, the imperial capital is only the capital of a small nation in the central region of the continent. Furthermore, this miniature structure of the inspectorate department just so happens to be the pce of this now ruined country. It was only after Aragon established the empire and appointed this ce as the imperial capital that this already abandoned castle was reused. On top of this, when Aragon needed to construct the city walls, he had most of the pce stones removed for his project. Seeing such a dramatic change really does cause quite a stir in one¡¯s emotion. Walking in, the first impression Du Wei felt was a damp and spooky castle. Despite this, just about every corner was being patrolled by heavily armed soldiers; clearly this ce is still heavily guarded by its keepers. As he made his way through the big iron gate, the first thing he noticed as he walked inside was the doors. Each any every one of the holding rooms had small mouth, most likely used to pass on a small amount of daily rations to the prisoners. ¡°Earl Raymond¡¯s identity is abnormal; therefore, I had already made special arrangements for him to be held in an extra spacious room.¡± Luobosiji is smart and didn¡¯t miss the chance to suck up to the newly appointed Duke: ¡°In the past, I was also acquainted with Lord Raymond, so his daily necessities are well taken care of. The only problem is that the Earl¡¯s mood doesn¡¯t seem to be very good these past few days. Other than drinking tea and reading a book called the ¡°Continent¡¯s History¡±, he doesn¡¯t speak much otherwise. Right now, it should just be the right time where he is drinking tea and reading a book¡­¡­¡± Du Wei sighs and looked over at the steward. Smiling, he said: ¡°Thank you inspector.¡± Turning down a corridor, Du Wei suddenly stopped. From around his shoulder, he could vaguely hear the voice of a woman chuckling from behind a door, clearly that of a prostitutes. Immediately, Luobosiji face changed and looked somewhat ugly. Although these kind of activities in this ce are alreadymon knowledge among the high ss society, but Du Wei is still a newly appointed Duke. If by the off chance he decides to go back and report this to the Regent¡­¡­.. Thinking of this, Luobosiji immediately started to pour cold sweat out of his back because it was he who took the 500 gold coins from this prisoner. Now, he is secretly regretting everything. *** Normally, it would only cost a prisoner 300 gold coins to get the prisoner warden to arrange a hooker from the red light district toe. Needless to say, the extra 200 gold coins Luobosiji got ended up in his pocket. Du Wei just lightly smiles, leisurely asking: ¡°It seems that the rumors were true. ¡®Nursing home of death¡¯ really does fit this ce. Casually, Du Wei points to where the womanugh wasing from: ¡°Which Lord is imprisoned in this room?¡± ¡°Yes ¡­¡­¡± Luobosiji wipes the sweat off his forehead as he spoke: ¡°It is General Longbottom.¡± Du Wei originally asked without any ulterior motive, but the answer he got piqued his interest quite a bit: ¡°General Longbottom, he is actually still in here?¡± He may not have a wide understanding of the capital¡¯s noble circle, but even Du Wei has heard of General Longbottom¡¯s name. Speaking of this, the guy can even be considered a special. Chapter 162 part 2 The 162th chapter ¡±General 250¡± (part 2) Originally, the cross desert war 20 years ago between the empire and the native tribes of the Northwest Territory is only a ¡°Pyrrhic victory¡±. After expending enormous resources and manpower, not only was the root of the problem not solved, but because of the Temple¡¯s interference, this cancerous curse remains till this day. From then on, the Empire would station a battalion of 20,000 Calvary soldiers inside the prairie throughout the year. However, due to the annual expenses required to supply this army with equipment and food, the finances of the empire is nearly depleted. As for this General Longbottom, he just so happens to be themanding general of this unique 20,000 strong army seven to eight years ago. Concerning this guy¡¯s weird past, it is somewhat regretful. Hailing from a lower end noble family (There¡¯s no way some high ss noble would allow their offspring¡¯s to be sent to such a far off ce), this person truly relied on his own skills and abilities to get to such a position. Unfortunately for him, the empirecked anyone truly capable. In the end, he was sent to the northwest tomand this 20,000 strong ¡°sky-high Cavalry¡± battalion. From then on, this guy gained a series of nicknames: butcher, executioner, Madman, General of lust, and so much more. Nheless, when it came to skills, this person really has it. Whether it is fighting on horseback or leading others in battle, he is no slouch. On the other hand, his personality left something to be of desired: greedy, lustful, and extremely irritable. Looking at it from a positive view, you can say his personality is decisive, but you can also say he is arbitrarily rash from a negative standpoint. In short, a certain military big shot made an evaluation on him and gave him the surprisingly relevant nickname: General 250. (This is some kind of ng in Chinese people use to describe people like this) Regarding the great exploits of this General Longbottom, even Du Wei has heard of them. Originally stationed there to deter the native tribes in the prairie, so of course there will be some friction between two opposing forces. But shockingly enough, this General Longbottom actually epted a bribe from a certain tribe to go annihte another tribe! In one night, he gathered 3,000 subordinates and finished the deed. Catching wind of this, three of the nearby tribes united and ventured out to demand justice from the involved parties. Unbelievably, this General Longbottom not only didn¡¯t hesitate in turning the gun on those whom bribed him in the first ce, but he also joined the neers and exterminated his former partners in crime. In the end, he not only gained 300 gold coins from the first bribery, he also received numerous benefits from the other three tribes that came afterwards. After this incident, just about every soldier in this 20,000 garrison ended up with an extra set of leather boots and coat! Finally, this shameful incident couldn¡¯t be bottled up and caused quite a stir for the Empire¡¯s diplomatic rtionship. As for the bosses in the highmand, they really hated this 250. If not for the fact that theycked someone capable of recing him in the Northwest, they would have immediately jailed him and sent someone else out there. Also, there is one more thing: because there is a desert in between the empire¡¯s main territory and the prairie, the supplies meant for this 20,000 battalion is always dyed and fails to arrive on time. In a certain year when 500 of the battalion¡¯s war horses needed to be changed, the imperial highmand stalled for three months without any news. Out of anger, this General Longbottom immediately gathered up 5,000 of his subordinates and disguised themselves as thieves. Overnight, two tribes on the outskirts of the prairie falls victim to their brutality: 2,000 horses robbed, livestock taken or burned if not, and any residents present was ughtered without mercy! ¡°Never leave a hair to these barbarians.¡± (This was his exact words). Nicknamed ¡°Mass Murderer¡±, these despicable activities of his is not just once or twice. But what really made the gentlemen¡¯s back at the capital despise him is the fact that he condones the act of prostitution among his subordinates. (Nickname is not exactly that but a ng in chinese, there is no actual word in English that evenes close to the real name.) Normally the act of soldiers venting their desires on prostitutes is not umon at all, but that is usually done under the table during the weekend. Yet, this fellow not only didn¡¯t care but also openly does it himself. One of his more famous deeds is the time when he brought along a thousand subordinates and went into a brothel of a nearby vige. For three days, these people not only hogged all the woman they can find, but they also turned the town upside down and even brawled with the local garrison! Words of this General 250: ¡°soldiers are real mans. Once dead, we are nothing but birds in the sky! FUCK IT!! We¡¯ve been stuck in the prairies for all these years without any chance to go home, do they expect us to stay virgins?! If the highmand won¡¯t care about our manhood, then old Mr here will take matters into my own hands!¡± For this, the 20,000 soldier¡¯s practically treated him like a god. Half bandits and part soldiers, if he were to point his spear and hand down the orders, these people might really walk through fire for him. And one of his most ridiculous exploits is just that. When a daughter of a major tribal chief was getting married, this lustful General actually brought his people to intercept the group in mid road. Disregarding the local customs, this guy actually pulled out his sword and demanded to have a look at the brides face. Local customs of the prairie is that marrying girls must not be looked at by any other man unless the person is the groom. Just like that, this lecherous General refused to leave and forcefully pulled off the veil covering the brides head. With one look, this bastard only said these words before leaving: ¡°Dammit, this face isn¡¯t even weaned yet!¡± Afterwards, the marriage between the two tribes fell apart and the bride was hence forth unable to get any marriage proposals. Also, because of this incident, the two tribes nearly went to war against each other. Unable to hold down their fury, the bride¡¯s tribe then gathered their warriors and went to find this lecherous General to demand justice. In the face of tens of thousands of enemies, this General not only didn¡¯t yield, he actually had his subordinates take up formation and faced off against the enemy for one day and night. Finally, the tribe sent someone to negotiate. Without beating around the bush, the negotiator shot out word after words of condemnation at this general 250. Instead of apologizing, this person actually said: ¡°Hmm, it was only a peek at the face. If others don¡¯t want her, then I¡¯ll just marry her!¡± At that time, this 250 actually said this in front of the negotiator: ¡°Dammit, from now on I¡¯ll look at her face during the day, and then I¡¯ll look at her body at night! If I ever get bored, I¡¯ll even use her to vent my urge! I¡¯ll bang her in the morning once, then lunch, then another after dinner! Humph, so what¡¯s the big deal?!¡± In this way, he took in a concubine. When it came to the great exploits of this General 250, there are still many others. Back in the days, Du Wei actually read them like bed time stories. Sighing, Du Wei thought: This guy is no 250. In fact, he is simply a genius! Killing and robbing in the prairie? Ha!! Only an idiot would think like that. This is clearly a divide and conquer tactic! Rob the bride to destroy the possible alliance between the two biggest tribes, and then marry the girl for himself! What a deep move¡­¡­. Ignoring his talent in leading an army, just his ability toe up with such an amazing tactic is exemry! Such a talent, Yes! But in the end, this 250 General still met his misfortune. Not only did he pitch from the tribes, he eventually stole from an imperial caravan. About eight years ago, a famous caravan was making its way through the prairie. Due to some circumstances, this 250 actually raided the caravan and killed more than 200 people of the empire. After this, no one was willing to stand up for him. But afterwards, Du Weiter on learned that this caravan was trafficking metal ores! Prairie has no mountains and no minerals! When it came to Cattle and sheep for clothing, they had more than enough to be self-sufficient. But when it came to the metals used by their warrior¡¯s weapons, they had none because metal cannot be grown out of the grass. As a result, the resource that is mostcking in the prairie is iron! For their own personal gains, some influential noble family actually dares to sell these prairie coyote¡¯s metal ores! From word of mouth, it wasn¡¯t the first time this General 250 robbed a caravan like this. Finally, some nobles in the capital couldn¡¯t put up with it anymore and summoned him back. After some time, it was said this general died an unjustly death somewhere. Yet, who could have ever thought this guy was still alive and kicking inside this ce. Most importantly, this guy actually still has money to fuck a whore¡­¡­. This detective Luobosiji immediately noticed the changes on Du Wei¡¯s face when he introduced the prisoner. As one of the jailors of this ce, he would of course know about the history of this general 250. Can it be that one of the peoples offended by this 250 includes the Rowling Household? ¡°This¡­¡­ Your Dukeship?¡± Finally, Du Wei reveals a faint smile on his face, eliminating detective Luobosiji¡¯s concerns: ¡°Oh, it¡¯s OK.¡± Du Wei shakes his head. Taking two steps forward, he suddenly stopped and gave another nce back at the iron door behind him: ¡°That¡¯s right, what does this General Longbottom usually like?¡± ¡°Like?¡± Detective Luobosiji paused for a second, thinking what else can this guy like? Other than drinking and fucking whores, there is none¡­¡­ Du Wei is a smart person. With one look at the other guy¡¯s expression, he can already guess the answer. Spending a moment in thought, Du Wei suddenly said: ¡°Oh yes, I¡¯m not familiar with these types of things. If I were to find a woman like the one currently with General Longbottom, how much would it cost me for one night?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Detective Luobosiji almost popped his eyes out¡­¡­ Can it be that this Duke had his urges pick up after hearing a little hum from that bitch inside? Oh grandma, if that is true, I¡¯ll have my daughter go to the Duke¡¯s House and hum hum all day! If I can get near the Duke, the road in the future will be endlessly promising! Moving his brain, he quickly said: ¡°It¡¯s not much¡­¡­ 500¡­¡­ Wait no, 300! 300 gold coins and you can have a chick like that spend a day with you.¡± 300? Du Wei picked his eyebrows. Although 300 gold coins is arge sum for ordinary citizens, but to Du Wei, this is considered extremely cheap. Back when Prince Son brought him to the vi to see how aristocrats spend their time in pleasure, the expenses ranged from no less than tens of thousands of gold coins easy. Byparison, 300 gold coins is nothing. Du Wei smiles: ¡°What about something better?¡± Since were already giving out a favor, then why not give something better? Detective Luobosiji started to poor cold sweat. Never in his mind did he think this young Duke would discuss such matters with him *** with a stern face, he said: ¡°This¡­ My lord, the southern end of the city can¡¯tpare to the other parts of the capital because it is where ordinary citizens gather. Among the famed brothels there, even the prized red card prostitutes would only cost around a thousand gold coins per night. After a pause, Luobosiji makes a swallow motion before continueing. ¡°But this General Longbottom really is odd. When it came to those really expensive and tender prostitutes, he said he didn¡¯t care much for them. ording to him, those overly high prostitutes are far too demanding. Just a simple touch of the hand requires thousands of gold, and if he wanted to bed them, he will need to spend even more¡­¡­ Also, he said those women¡¯s aren¡¯t even good in bed if he forces himself on them¡­.. For this reason, he rather fuck an average whore because it¡¯s not like he¡¯s trying to bed a Saint¡­¡­¡± Du Wei wasughing so hard that he nearly clutched his stomach: ¡°Wonderful! Wonderful!¡± After his striking statement, Du Wei tones down his voice and points straight at the iron door: ¡° ¡°Luobosiji, from today onwards, you are to make sure this person lives infort. As for women¡¯s, you are to select a dozen girls ording to his taste and send one to him every other day.¡± Pausing, Du Wei then continues: ¡°Tomorrow, you can send someone to my ce and take out 20,000 gold coins for use. Once you finish this amount, you cane get some more.¡± Luobosiji¡¯s became so shocked that his eyes didn¡¯t even blink. Unable to stop himself despite being the presence of Du Wei, he turns around and stares over at the iron door. Inwardly, he thought: ¡°This 250 really is hitting the jackpot. What the hell did he do to incur such goodwill from the Duke?¡± Just as he was wondering about how he can return the 200 gold coins he pocketed from before, Du Wei interjected and said: ¡°Lets go, bring me to my father.¡± Chapter 163 part 1 The 163rd chapter ¡°Du Wei¡¯s decision¡± (Part 1) Earl Raymond¡¯s cell room is located in the deepest part of this floor. Indeed, Luobosiji did tell the truth. Clean and tidy, it was apparent Earl Raymond¡¯s resident received special care. After the iron door was open, Du Wei came in to see his father busily reading behind a desk. This is no act. The way he gently held onto the book called ¡°continent¡¯s history¡± is clearly that of someone immersing themselves inside the text. Even when Du Wei came in, this former Earl only casually looked up and made a rxed greeting: ¡°Oh, there you are.¡± This tone, this demeanor, is exactly like the time when he walked into his father¡¯s study room back at the mansion. Luobosiji was well-advised to back out, leaving this father and son pair alone. Earl Raymond was still holding the book with no intention of putting it down. In the meantime, Du Wei began looking over the cell room. Objectively speaking, this room is still a very clean. Whether it is the floor, walls, or ceilings, they are allprised up of sturdy boulders. Moreover, it is said that in order to prevent the prisoners from escaping (many of the detainees are generals with great martial skills), these ordinary walls are in fact embedded with ayer of steel. Other than rocks, this room only had one single window ced far above the ground. As the sun¡¯s subtle light shined through the opening, the rust on the window¡¯s metal cage could clearly be seen. But that was all. Other than how clean it was, there is nothing else, only a bed and a desk. In fact, just this extra table in the room is already considered a grand treatment in this special cell. Oh yes, let¡¯s not forget the bucket used for excretal matters hiding in one of the room¡¯s corner. Primitive, rough, and cold. This is the poor state this once influential general is in now. Du Wei is in no rush to talk and neither is his father. Calmly, this former Earl slowly flipped through thest pages before finally closing the book. Then climbing out of the chair, he actually made a few stretches before turning to Du Wei: ¡°I already guessed you woulde, but I didn¡¯t think it would be so fast. Originally, I thought there would still be a few more days before you woulde.¡± Then he pointed to his bed: ¡°Sit, the only ce you can sit is that bed.¡± Once Du Wei sat down, Earl Raymond quietly watched his son and asked: ¡°How is home?¡± ¡°Not bad.¡± Du Wei hesitated: ¡°The deployed nearby city garrisons already have the capital surrounded. As for the family mansion, there are guards stationed there restricting ess. Luckily, because of our rtionship, the soldiers there don¡¯t dare to pull anything yet. Besides the inconvenience of moving in and out of the ce, everyone is doing fairly well.¡± Earl Raymond nods: ¡°What about your mother and brother?¡± Du Wei sighs: ¡°Mother¡¯s mood and body is not that great, but I already had someone from the temple look at her. As for brother, his emotion recently is not very stable, but I¡¯ll protect him.¡± Earl Raymond ponders for a moment¡­ Then looking up, his eyes were shining as he faced Du Wei: ¡°So then, what should I call you now? Should I greet you like everyone else, Duke?¡± His tone made Du Wei fee like his heart was being stabbed with a needle. Unable to look his father in the eyes, Du Wei replied: ¡°Is there any meaning in these words.¡± Father and son were both silent. After a long time, Earl Raymond started tough, his voice showing a hint of self-deprecation: ¡°Not bad, what you said isn¡¯t wrong, these words have no meaning. The truth is, my heart still couldn¡¯t quite put this down¡­. Even though I spent thest few days in here already, but reality is still hard to ept. My entire life, I worked hard to climb up, but now, look at this spectacle¡­..¡± With that, Earl Raymond stares at Du Wei, his eyes quivering as if there is too much emotion inside him that he couldn¡¯t get out. After attempting several times to speak, he finally spits out what he wanted: ¡°You¡¯re very good, very good¡­¡­ Son, you are stronger than me.¡± Seeing how Du Wei wanted to speak up, Earl Raymond waves his hand to stop him: ¡°Listen to me first. These past few days in here, I was at first unwilling, but after a while, I finally calmed down. As i read through this ¡°continent¡¯s history¡±, I finally came to an understanding. Those of us living in the struggle for power, some shine, some fall, but in the end¡­..¡± He casually points to a book next to him: ¡°A centuryter, everyone that shined before is nothing but a text in this book now.¡± Du Wei did not speak, the only thing he did was savor the meaning behind his father¡¯s words. The Earl quietly watches his son, his eyes showing a bit of eagerness. Then closing his eyes, he whispered: ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking, what was my biggest mistake. Over and over, this thought lingered in my mind, then I finally figured it out¡­¡­ My mistake is not that I supported the Crown Prince, nor the fact that I chose the wrong faction. In politics, there will always be winner and losers, this is nothing new. But what really pains me is the fact that I couldn¡¯t see through you, my son.¡± ¡°You are very brilliant, even more so than what I expected.¡± Earl Raymond smiles sincerely as he watched his son: ¡°On that day when you publicly broke off all ties with the family, both of us actually knew what was going on. Du Wei, it was only at that moment did I truly regret. At the time, I was finally able to see through you, see through the responsibility you hold towards the family. You hoped to preserve the family, which is why you broke off all ties with the family¡­. Such a sacrifice really moved me. I¡¯ll tell you now, back when you wereing back to the capital, I didn¡¯t regret my actions to send assassins to kill you. Although I hurt your heart, but in my mind, I felt it was the right thing to do in order to protect the family. But then, on that day, you actually took the initiative¡­..¡± Earl Raymond sighs, staring straight into Du Wei¡¯s eyes: ¡°From that moment on, I finally regret it! Du Wei, you are brilliant, far beyond what I could have expected! Suddenly at that moment, I finally understand that I not only lost a son, but also the heir I dreamed for from the beginning. Unfortunately, the crack between us can no longer be repaired.¡± Du Wei says nothing. ¡°I¡¯ve lost regarding this Coup d¡¯¨¦tat, but I do not resent you. After going over the events carefully in my mind these past few days, I realized Prince Son far exceeds the Crown Prince in everything. Such is the way of the strong eating the weak. If I had to make a guess, I¡¯m willing to bet even you didn¡¯t think the young prince would have won that day, right?¡± Du Wei admittingly nodded: ¡°Indeed, I also didn¡¯t expect such an oue. In my mind, I was only hoping to get him out of there after the Crown Prince breaks through.¡± Earl Raymond smiles: ¡°On that day, with or without you, we were still doomed to failure. Therefore, the fact that I became like this is not because of you.¡± Du Wei takes a breath before looking up at his father¡¯s pale face. In a calm voice, he slowly asked: ¡°Then father, what should I do in order to save the family?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Earl Raymond became stumped for a moment. Never in his mind did he think Du Wei would ask such a question. ¡°I promised mother.¡± Du Wei speaks in a light tone: ¡°As long as I¡¯m around, I will not allow the family to be destroyed.¡± Raymond Earl was silent for a moment, sighing: ¡°You¡¯ve already done it.¡± He smiles wryly: ¡°You not have any rtionship with the Rowling household on the surface, but who in the noble circle would actually think that? I may have fallen to ruin, but everyone from now on will look to you as the inheritor of the Rowling Household. Your sir name may have changed to Rudolf, but who would really take it seriously? Let me tell you, when I was taken prisoner in the square back then, I wasn¡¯t in despair because the family still has you, thest seed remaining.¡± ¡°What should I do then?¡± Du Wei solemnly asked, his eyes firmly fixed on his father¡¯s. The reason he came today is to ask for genuine advice. The coup may have ended with him being promoted to a Duke, but even he understood his skills in politics iscking despite the fact that he has the experience of two life times. No matter how smart he is, the gap of not experiencing the thing first hand far exceeds his capabilities. He may be highly favored at the moment, but Du Wei can already vaguely sense a glimmer of danger. Since the day when Prince Son rolled out the map of the Empire and allowed him to pick out any territory he wished, Du Wei can clearly feel the hostility and envy from his colleagues! Although Du Wei had a variety of strangepanion like Hussein, Medusa, and Gargamel, but none of them could take on the role of an advisor for him. The reason for this is because prior to this, he always felt the people of this world were below him in their way of thinking. Eventually, his mind unconsciously made himself feel superior and disregarded the thoughts of others. Yet instead, the one to smash away his superior mentality is none other than Prince Son! When Prince Son kept everything within his grasp and forced the Crown Prince to death, Du Wei started to grow a sense of dread deep inside his mind! Saying it as a joke, Du Wei even thought of something so outrageous: who is really a dimensional traveller? If hepared himself to Prince Son, this guy is even more like a dimensional traveller! Later on, Du Wei finally thought it through. When it came to things like politics, it doesn¡¯t matter if one is from another world. Unless a person honed his skills in such an environment, they can never achieve such amazing skills. For him, Du Wei lived his child hood trying to escape the life of a noble heir. As for Prince Son, he had to navigate his life since he was little in this scheming and dangerous lifestyle. Thinking it over, perhaps it was only this now ruined father of his that can give him some advice. It can be said that this pair of strange father and son never really had a heart to hear conversation. In the Earl¡¯s mind, since he has already fallen, his only hope now is on this son of his. ¡°If you really want to preserve the family¡­¡­¡± Earl Raymond smiles wryly: ¡°Then the first thing you should do now is to keep your distance from the family, keep your distance from the Rowling Household!¡± The Earl started to nock his fingers against the table surface: ¡°The moment I fall, Prince Son will definitely make a big purge! This fact is certain¡­. Even if he values you, he still won¡¯t let the Rowling Household off the hook because of you! So, short term thinking, the Rowling Household is already a vortex of ruin. Whoever touches it will also fall to ruin¡­ And now that you¡¯re the family¡¯s only hope, you must preserve yourself in order to save the family! Over the next while, you should detach yourself from us, this is the best method I can think of. Remember, you¡¯ve already broken off from the Rowling Household!¡± Pausing for a bit, Earl Raymond smiles: ¡°Do you know why Prince Son is still keeping us here and not killing us off right away?¡± Du Wei nods: ¡°I know. Sighing: ¡°Whether it is the Rowling or Solomon household, each one of us has our own territory. Most importantly, they also have their own private army. Prince Son is a smart person, so of course he can see through this point. Killing uster on makes no difference to him because it¡¯s not like we¡¯re going anywhere. But if we were to be killed now, then the territories we own will immediately fall into chaos. If that happens, civil will definitely erupt¡­¡­¡° Chapter 163 part 2 The 163rd chapter ¡°Du Wei¡¯s decision¡± (Part 2) ¡°Very good.¡± Earl Raymond gives his son a satisfying look: ¡°Your view on this is very thorough. It¡¯s true, the reason I¡¯m still alive is because Prince Son needs to make sure his next move is in ce. Once our private armies are disbanded and our territories are reimed, he will definitelye and clean us out. It¡¯s not like we¡¯re going anywhere, executing us a few dayster won¡¯t make a difference anyways. If anything, he can use this as a way to boost his reputation.¡± Du Wei frowns: ¡°Do you think he¡¯s going to kill you?¡± ¡°Hard to say.¡± Earl Raymondughs bitterly: ¡°This is not left to me to decide¡­¡­¡± At this point, he suddenly changed his expression and sternly looked at Du Wei: ¡°You must promise me two things!¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± Du Wei sighed because he can already guess what his father is going to ask. Sure enough, Earl Raymond turned serious: ¡°Firstly, if some day in the future, Prince Son orders my execution me, you must never try to dissuade him! You must understand, a king is still a King. He may be favoring you now, but there is a line that cannot be crossed between servant and master. If you do, he will not hold back no matter how much he favored you before. So, I ask you now, save yourself at that time. If you do, then that would be akin to saving the Rowling Household!¡± Du Wei did not try to rebuke: ¡°And the second?¡± ¡°Second¡­¡­¡± Earl Raymond reveals a trace of solitude in his eyes: ¡°When I die, take good care of your mother and brother. If you still hold a hint of kindred ship, then in the future, have one of your kids change his sir name to Rowling.¡± Du Wei kept his silence. With the downfall of Earl Raymond, the domino effect will definitely implicate Gabri. Though the orders haven¡¯t been issued out yet, but when the timees, it is certain Raymond¡¯s blood line will never set foot inside the political arena again. A single sentence of never being knighted is enough to spiral the family into oblivion, never to recover again. In other words, Gabri will never be able to make aeback; this includes Gabri¡¯s future bloodline. In the aftermath of this coup, there is no doubt that Prince Son himself is the final winner. In fact, this coup had an effect of bringing stability to the royal family and solidifying their grasp across the empire even more. The Rnd empire may control the entire continent in name, but since the founding a millennium ago, there has been many annexation ofnds to different nobilities. As a hereditary title, these families not only could recruit their own private armies, they can also collect their own taxes. Looking at it from this perspective, it would be the same as having a country within a country. Such a scene is clearly bing cancerous to the empire. And now, many of these nobilities lost theirnd and armies in this coup¡­¡­ If it¡¯s like this, you can even say the harvest is rather fruitful. Land, wealth, and people, all of it now belongs to the royal family. Indeed, Prince Son does have the potential to be an outstanding emperor. In one single sweep, he not only alleviated the already highly stretched finances of the empire with the great influx of wealth. In addition, his follow up works is also extremely thorough. Apparently premeditated, when he mobilized the city garrisons back and forth across the empire, he had special agents closely monitoring thends belonging to the nobles that participated in the coup. Any movement of trouble, he will know immediately. Every move he did is not only clear and precise; it is also easy to follow up. In less than half a month, the once tense atmosphere in the capital was swept away, resuming the hustle and bustle of this great city. If one didn¡¯t know better, they could never tell a coup had taken ce. Immediately following suit, a group of nobles loyal to the royal family soon circled around the Prince, thus, securing the current state of affairs even more. Finishing the preliminary works needed, Prince Son finally turned his sight at the mutinous leaders locked inside the jail¡­¡­ Most of the assets belonging to the Solomon Household are now confiscated. As for the Rowling ins, it is being cornered from all sides by the local garrison forces from the nearby provinces. Under such conditions, the private armies of the Rowling household finally disbanded under the supervision of a central delegate. Luckily for the empire, these people didn¡¯t resist because of Earl Raymond¡¯s request. Knowing his time has ended, this old Earl felt it was better to conserve the vitality of his people for a futureeback. By the end of it all, the Rowling ins is now under the control of a delegate sent by the capital. As for the troops stationed there, these people were all transferred from other garrison forces across the empire. However by mercy, mostly due to Du Wei, the Rowling Household still retains the old family castle and 10 square miles ofnd around it. Riding high in his luck recently, Prince Son still remains calm and showed no signs of being arrogant. Such a disy of leadership and intelligence is already putting him in a very favorable light among the old veterans of the imperial court. Back when Augustine the 6th was up in the throne, this old arrogant ruler had already tossed the financials of the empire into a giant mess. Numerous financial ministers tried to persuade him, but most of them ended up being kicked out of the capital and sent back to their old homes. As a result, any wise men at the time could clearly see the decline of the empire already in effect. But with the appearance of this new Regent, his overwhelming aura immediately swept away the stale atmosphere in the air and revitalized everything around him. From word of mouth, it is said that the always gloomy looking financial chancellor Exchequer actually had a change of face. When he went home one day, he actually cried out to everyone under the influence of alcohol: ¡°The Empire has hope! The Empire has hope!¡± At this point, it¡¯s not hard to guess how popr Prince Son is. Finally, on this day, both the Regent and the financial chancellor had a look at the financial report and saw how the numbers weren¡¯t in the negative. In addition, the report actually shows that there was additional revenue. The next moment, this newly appointed Regent smiled and said: ¡°Everything is set in stones now.¡± As for the financial chancellor, he became so moved that he nearly cried out in tears. For ten years, he took on the position of a financial chancellor. No matter how hard he tried, the budget of the empire always came out in the negative. That¡¯s not all. Not only did he have toe up with the funds needed to keep things running all these years, he also had to endure the constant collection lettersing out from the military chiefs from all sides. To see the yearly budgete out in the positive for the first time in his life, how can he not be happy? As for what came next is a meeting of Prince Son and his most trusted followers. This is also the time when Du Wei had to give his response to the territorial matter. Back then when Prince Son threw down the map in front of Du Wei and told him to pick, Du Wei already knew the matter was very serious and cannot be made rashly. Because of all the envious and zealous looks he was getting from his colleagues, Du Wei can only smile and say needed time to think it over at home. In these past few days, Du Wei went to visit the jail 3-5 times. It wasn¡¯t all just for his father¡¯s sake, he also needed to pass on some spending money to Luobosiji so that he can entertain that General 250. Finally, in the front of Prince Son and his followers, Du Wei points his finger at the map and said: ¡°Your highness, I¡¯ve decided.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Prince faces smile: ¡°Well then, I¡¯m guessing you must have chosen quite the ce.¡± Envious eyes gathered around as Du Wei slowly unfolded the map. From around him, everyone is already certain Du Wei will pick a territory in the Southeast! On top of being fertile and pleasant, the favorable weather makes it one of the most prosperous regions of the continent. Aside from this, this region is also the core of the maritime trades in the empire. With Du Wei¡¯s title of a Duke, it¡¯s not overly ambitious to ask for a coastal province in this situation. If he does, the expected ie from trade will be endless for the foreseeable future.! After Du Wei slowly unfolded the map, he reached out and pointed on the map. With a smile on his face: ¡°This here is my choice.¡± When everyone saw where he pointed, they were all dumbfounded! The once warm smile on Prince Son¡¯s face also faded away at this moment. Giving Du Wei a deep nce, Prince Son spoke his next words with a hint of dryness in his voice: ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ Really thought it through? This is your final decision? ¡± With a stern face, Du Wei turns to face the Regent: ¡°I¡¯ve thought it through, this is what I want.¡± Now, everyone nearby is showing a face of disbelief and thinking this newly appointed Duke has gone crazy. ¡°You will not regret it?¡± Prince Son stood up and stared at Du Wei. ¡°No regrets.¡± Du Wei shook his head. With a smile, he gently bowed down: ¡°I implore Lord Regent to grant me this!¡± This time around, any trace of Prince Son¡¯s iconic gentleness is gone from his face. With no emotion, he curled his lips and stared at Du Wei for a long time before exhausting a long breath. Then without a single word, he turned away from everyone and headed for the exiting gate. ¡°Granted¡± Year 960 of the Rnd Empire, summer, June 10. On this special day, it marked the ending of the matters pertaining to the coup made by the Crown Prince. In one single move, all highly influential nobles participating in this coup were swept away. All assets confiscated and any family members involved were removed from the capital and left to find their own path to survival. Later, a series of murderousmands were passed down! Any family members from the Solomon family are to be executed. Only exception to this is Earl Raymond of the Rowling Household: ¡°All titles removed and never to be knighted.¡± Just this small amount of words is enough to waive the death sentence on Earl Raymond. It¡¯s just that all assets they owned in the capital were confiscated and the only option left for him is to retreat back to the Rowling castle in the ins for the rest of his retired life. In addition to all this, there was one mind blowing episode. In the past 100 years, the empire has never titled another Duke. Yet, this newly appointed Duke not only didn¡¯t pick any of the treasured territories across the empire, thend he actually picked was stunningly shocking¡­.. Northwest, ¡°Desa Province¡± of the Kilimanjaro Mountain side. A poor, ignorant, and even savage area. If looking at it from a revenue perspective, the annual ie of the entire territory cannot even match up to a median sized rich city in the Southeast. And even more unknown to everyone because this little episode will never be recorded by anyone. After Du Wei finished picking out his territory, Prince Son returned to his room and threw a raging fit. In minutes, this usually calm and kind looking prince destroyed every piece of furniture inside his chamber. Seeing such a strange and unbelievable scene, the guards outside the door became stunned. ¡°He still won¡¯t swear his loyalty to me! He is still refusing me!!¡± Prince Son destroyed a cupboard with a single kick: ¡°I gave him everything the Rowling Household could give him, and more!! Yet he forfeited everything just to exchange it for Earl Raymond¡¯s life! Why! Why won¡¯t he lean towards me? Is family that important to him? All of them! Every single one of them puts their family before me! Oh Du Wei, you¡¯ve let me down! I¡¯m so disappointed in you!!!!!!¡± Du Wei: Father, what you said is correct. If I want to protect my own skin, the right thing to do is not to save your life¡­.. However, I am Du Wei! If I don¡¯t do this¡­¡­ Then am I still me? As Du Wei walked out of the pce, he was genuinely smiling. I will go the way I choose! Chapter 164 part 1 The 164th chapter ¡°Gandalf¡¯s date of agreement¡± (part 1) ¡°Left, on the left! A little slower! Idiot, if you tie it like that, the things above will fall apart before we even make it past 100li!¡± (Li is the popr way for Chinese to say meters.) As Marde continued to get on with his business of directing the servants to load up the boxes on top of the carriage, the entrance to the Earl¡¯s mansion is filled with items awaiting transport. Not only was their territory repossessed and their private armies dismissed, this mansion that had once belonged to the Earl is also now going to someone else. After experiencing the failure of the coup d¡¯¨¦tat, the powers of the Rowling Household hadpletely copsed and anyone with the same surname in the government is either dismissed or jailed for their involvement in this event. However, thanks to the existence of Du Wei, no one with the surname of Rowling was executed. Cold and heart broken, Earl Raymond already sold off his mansion and decided to return to his old home with his son and wife. In a way, this exit from the capital is also a way for him to publicly express his standing that he only wishes to go home and be a rich old man. After years of dwelling in the political arena, Earl Raymond could not be without enemies; therefore, actions must be taken to ensure their safety. Regarding the house servants and bodyguard that had followed him thus far, they were mostly disbanded by now because without his lordship title, there is no longer a need for so many people. Now, the only people left in the family are a dozen faithful servants and the 60 elite guards led by captain Alpha. Since the day Du Wei exchanged his reward for his father¡¯s life and kept Raymond from being executed like his peers, the beautiful and kind hearted countess was already beyond happy. Now, only after spending a good amount of time hugging Du Wei and crying in his arms did this she finally relent and got into the carriage outside the mansion. Looking at the saddening state of the yard full of broken vases and people busily moving about, Earl Raymond remained calm and indifferent. As for Gabri¡­¡­ Du Wei can only sigh at the thought of his little brother because it would seem Gabri¡¯s attitude towards him is a little strange at the moment. Justst night, the young Gabri sought Du Wei out and asked: ¡°Can I stay in the capital with you, please?¡± Looking at the childlike Gabri, Du Wei can only sigh: ¡°¡­¡­No.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Gabri clenches his fist while his facial expressions and tone became very excited: ¡°I¡¯m a member of the Rowling Household. I must stay in the capital. I need to achieve great things so that I can restore the honor of the family! I don¡¯t want to go back to the country where there is no hope!¡± Du Wei taps his younger brother on the shoulder: ¡°Wait two years. Once you are older, I will send someone to pick you up¡­.. This is not the right time.¡± Once Gabri heard these words, his face showed signs of deep disappointment. First giving his elder brother aplex and difficult look, Gabri silently turned around and walked away. Starting this morning, not only did Gabri intentionally avoided Du Wei, he also made no attempts to say a single word with him. A child¡¯s temperament ¨C Du Wei smiles wryly. Watching the servants finishing up their job of packing away all the luggage, Du Wei felt his emotions stir at the empty sight of the Earl¡¯s mansion. Since he was born, he had spent his entire younger years at this ce. Now to see everythinging an end, a sense of nostalgia started to bloom inside. Coming up from behind him, Earl Raymond gave him a tap on the back. Turning around, DU Wei can see his father was wearing a spotlessly clean white robe. ¡°Ready?¡± Du Wei faces his father and smiles wryly. ¡°Yes¡­ I¡¯m ready.¡± Earl Raymond raises his hand and pointed over at a corner where two tattered looking boxes were standing: ¡°Sit down with me for a minute. Since the day I was released and came home, we never really had a good talk yet.¡± Du Wei nods. Just like that, this father and son duo sits down on top of the two broken boxes in the corner of the yard. ¡°You didn¡¯t listen to my words.¡± Earl Raymond speaks up clearly, ¡°It would seem from my memories you¡¯ve never headed my words¨Cincluding this time. I told you not to save my life, but you still did it.¡± Du Wei looks at his father in the eyes: ¡°Firstly, you¡¯re my father. Although objectively speaking, our rtionship isn¡¯t too good, but you are still my father and raised me for more than 10 years. Secondly¡­¡­ If you die, mother and brother will be very sad. As regards to the third¡­¡­ I am me; I still can¡¯t do what is required of a real politician.¡± Earl Raymond nods: ¡°Then I should be thanking to you. At the very least I can return and be with your mother and brother.¡± Once again, father and sonpsed into silence because the two never did have much topic to discuss with from the start. Including the time when Du Wei visited his father in jail, the duo mostly spent their time discussing over heavy matters regarding the coup and the family¡¯s future. Finally, Earl Raymond broke the silence: ¡°I heard the territory you requested is Desa Province.¡± ¡°It is.¡± Du Wei smiles bitterly: ¡°I can¡¯t think of any ce more appropriate.¡± ¡°Well then, you must know of the local situation.¡± Earl Raymond sighed: ¡°I myself am very familiar with the ce. More than 20 years ago, Desa province was used as a strategic base in the Northwest expedition¡­¡­..¡± ¡°What are you trying to say? Wild? Barren? Or run down?¡± Du Wei lets out a bitterugh. ¡°Specifically speaking it is very wild and barren, but also very run-down.¡± Earl Raymond suddenly pulled off a really rare joke: ¡°In fact, we were even prepared to lead the enemy¡¯s army into this ce and use it as a battlefield. Even if the ce bes a mess afterwards, centralmand wouldn¡¯t even feel bad about it.¡± ¡°I well aware of everything you mentioned.¡± Du Wei also gives off a rareugh: ¡°I¡¯ve turned over many data and maps already. Desa province is a barren and impoverishednd. In addition, this ce has no mineral deposit to be tapped. If there is anything worth mentioning is the fact that it is located beside the northwest corridor inside the Kilimanjaro Mountain side. If once day war does break out between the Northwest native tribes again, then this ce will be the first point of attack.¡± Earl Raymond gives a relieved nod over the fact that his son has such a good understanding of his territory. ¡°Then what I want to remind you is¡­¡­¡± Earl Raymond takes in a deep breath: ¡°With my years of military experience, I estimate that the vitality of the northwest native tribes has already recovered by now from the war 20 years ago. From what I can tell, those savages will not forget the blood feud from before. Heed my warning; war will definitely break out within 10 years of time. At that time, your territory will definitely be the first¡­¡­¡± Du Wei knits his brows. How could he not know of these things? But in order to exchange his reward for his father¡¯s life, he had no other choice. Originally Du Wei wanted to pick the Frozen Forest, but it was still full of riches despite being cover in ice all year round! What does Desa Province have? Vast expanses of desertnd along with lots of salt grounds! Then what about food? It is so low that anyone would be frightened! If there is anything that would likely be nted in this destend is probably a cactus! But then there is something that could be considered good and that is the Kilimanjaro Mountain. This ce doesn¡¯t produce any mineral, but it does have plenty of rocks and trees for lumbering¡­¡­ Also, there is plenty of Caravans moving back and fro from this ce. As such, there is plenty of bandits too! ¡°Since you know about these things, then I won¡¯t have waste my energy exining this to you.¡± Earl Raymond turned solemn, and slowly said, ¡°My advice to you is: arms! ording to my point of view, war will definitely break out within a decade! By that time, it can be considered a challenge, or perhaps a chance depending on how you look at it. Normal people will definitely be cannon fodder in times of war, but outstanding figures will definitely climb high with it! Now that the Northwest is your territory, you can consider it an opportunity for you. Although I can¡¯t help you much now that I have fallen, but there are still some useful favors I can pull from some old colleagues.¡± Finishing his words, Earl Raymond pulls out a thin booklet from his pocket and handed it over to Du Wei. Sighing: ¡°This book is full of information regarding some of my old colleagues stationed in the Northwest Sand Fox Regiment. From what I know, factions y a big role over there. Although I don¡¯t know if they will lend a hand if you ask with my current situation, but there is still a glimmer of hope that one or two still have some conscience and open some doors for you.¡± Chapter 164 part 2 The 164th chapter ¡°Gandalf¡¯s date of agreement¡± (part 2) Du Wei puts away the booklet and gives his father a grateful look. ¡°And I would like to remind you one thing!¡± Earl Raymond speaks in a solemn voice: ¡°The Northwest ispletely different from this ce! Because of the harsh conditions, those guys over there at the Northwest army will not hesitate in the least to pull their knives at every turn! Remember my words, although you are a Duke in name, but don¡¯t get go thinking you can put on the air of a superior in front of those old warlords.¡­..¡± At this point, Earl Raymond looks straight into Du Wei¡¯s eyes: ¡°From the surface, those people may be soldiers, but in truth, they are already bordering on the line of robbers. Just like you, two Earls were also sent out to govern the ce in the past decade, but every time they were, humph¨Chump. You must remember, those two that was assigned the task weren¡¯t weaklings in anyway, but still¡­..¡± Du Wei pays close attention: ¡°What happen?¡± ¡°The first person is someone that relied on his family¡¯smercial sess to climb thedder. Eventually he was granted Desa Province as his territory after achieving some sesses. But then after moving to that ce, this person started to give off attitude toward the bosses inside the Northwest army. Within half a year, the guy met his end after being yed for a fool. From word of mouth, his family was even eradicated by some bandits on the road. As to the truth behind this matter, everyone inside the highmand understood it very well. It¡¯s just that the backing behind this family wasn¡¯t all that strong and the fact that the Northwest Army is heavily armed. In the end, the bosses over at the highmand didn¡¯t want to offend these people too hard and only penalized a few months¡¯ worth of wage.¡± Pausing for a moment, Earl Raymond continues: ¡°As for the second person, he can be considered someone with some background. Hailing from a military family, his distant uncle is even the deputy army chief inside the Southwest Regiment. And because of his rtionship, he was eventually granted a hereditary title. Unfortunately for him, his luck wasn¡¯t all that good and thend he was bestowed upon was the Desa Province. When he first arrived there, he was also like the first person and showed no signs of giving in to those old warlords. As retaliation, his cargo was continuously robbed while in transit; eventually, forcing him to go begging those assholes in the Northwest army to take pity on him. After two years of struggling to support himself, the second guy gave up and withdrew himself from the ce and headed back south¡­..¡± Du Wei threw up a breather. After all, his knowledge is only from those old maps and data in storage, so how can he match up to his old pops? From Du Wei¡¯s view, those guys in the Northwest army are the same as bandits by now and particrly xenophobic at that. IF he wants to take root in the Northwest, Du Wei is afraid it won¡¯t be so easy. Earl Raymond stood up after leaving behind these words: ¡°This is all I can help you with. Although the Northwest is full of lions and wolves, but i still look well upon this situation with you in it. If you are smart and skilled, taking root there wouldn¡¯t be too difficult in my view. What is truly hard is how you will build up your influence and power. In this world, those without influence and power will never seed. Look, the war in the Northwest is already in front of you. Grab onto this opportunity and elevate your power. Consider this your test¡­. If you can¡¯t achieve an ideal oue in the end, it just means you were never meant to.¡± The father and son duo gave each other a hug before bidding each other farewell. Du Wei escorted his father out the door and into the carriage. Then facing his mother, Du Wei smiled and waved his hand: ¡°Mother, I¡¯lle visit you in the Rowling ins after a period had passed.¡± With that said, he noticed the unhappy face on Gabri¡¯s face through the carriage window. Struck with a thought, Du Wei moved over while letting out augh: ¡°Brother, I left behind some fun things in the old castle back at home. Once you are there, you can go to the little manor that I built behind the castle and take a look. All the information and blueprints rted to the things I created in the Rowling ins are kept there. If you think are interested, feel free to have a look.¡± With another fewforting words, the young Gabri finally loosened up and firmly looked over at Du Wei: ¡°Brother, once I grow up, I will definitelye find you!¡± On this day, the once glorious Rowling Household finally took their leave from the imperial capital and headed back to their old home in the Rowling ins. However, what is out of Du Wei¡¯s expectation is the fact that Alpha did not go with Earl Raymond. ¡°Lord Earl¡¯s order.¡± Alpha watches his master in the front: ¡°From today onward, I am no longer a member of the Rowling family. Duke Rudolph, I will be following you from now on.¡± After sending off his parent and brother, Du Wei had no time right now to be sad. In his hand, there are still many things he needs to deal with, including the matters of forming a team to manage his new territory because once the royal decree is handed down, those officials there would be relocated. No matter how barren or deste the ce is, it is still a province! Whether it is the local officials, or even a little clerk¡­. All of these positions need to be filled! But what does Du Wei have right now? A warrior wielding enough power to stand at the very summit of the continent, but other than that, he has nothing else¡­¡­ Thinking it over and over, he just can¡¯t bring himself to appoint those pirates to govern the province¡­. In fact, just the image of that happening is enough to send cold sweat down his back. Lack of manpower! A seriousck of manpower! In ordance with regr practices, the date of the territory being handed over to him is three months, but still, where the hell will Du Wei find so many capable people? The truth is Du Wei really wanted to reappoint the old officials from the Rowling ins, but it turns out that won¡¯t work! After his family was convicted, every single official inside the Rowling ins was dismissed and relegated to the status of a regr civilian. In addition, these people were hence forth banished from government postings for the rest of their lives! Du Wei can pull a little weight to preserve his father¡¯s life, but if he goes any further than this not even Prince Son would overlook his tant disregard for authority. Thinking the matter back and forth, Du Wei caught sight of his old housekeeper in a daze ¨C the former horse groomer Mr. Marde. ¡°Ahh¡­¡­ Marde.¡± Du Wei blinks a few times as he looked over his faithful servant: ¡°From the looks of it, you won¡¯t be able to stay in your chairman position for much longer¡­. Even so, are you interested in being a governor of a province>¡± Governor? Old Marde was so scared that his legs nearly gave out. Seeing this, Du Wei affectionately came over and lent a helping hand in keeping the old guy up. Crying out, Marde said: ¡°Young master¡­.. Look at me, do you think I look like someone capable of being a governor?¡± Du Wei firmly rubs his temples: ¡°Aigh, what am I going to do? Three months only¡­. Three months!¡± After casually lifting Marde up, Du Wei looks up into the sky before suddenly asking one thing: ¡°Marde, what¡¯s the date today?¡± ¡°June 15.¡± Marde finally breathes out a sigh of relief after seeing his young master had dropped the topic. Old Marde is an honest person that draws close to the simple minded thinking of a farmer. In his mind, he is fully aware of his own capabilities and recognized that he is not someone capable of carrying the burden of being a governor! Don¡¯t bite off more than what you can chew, Marde understood this saying very well in his heart. The 15th of June? Du Wei eyes lit up when thought came up in his mind. Raiding his voice, he immediately shouted out: ¡°Marde, bring me my horse, I need to go out!¡± After a pause, he asked: ¡°Is there a Flying Horse town northwest of the capital city?¡± Before the sun had set for the day, Du Wei had already left the capital on horseback and headed straight for the Flying Horse town in the northwest. Before he made it out of the city gates, some of the soldiers in charge had recognized Du Wei and immediately opened up a path. As the newly appointed Duke, there is no way these people would dare block his path. Carrying the green magic tool on his body, Du Wei recounted the words left to him by Gandalf: As long as he bring the item with him to the Yamaha Hill next to the Flying House Town and ignite the thing under the moonlight, the person that will be his future teacher will definitely appear! That Flying Horse town isn¡¯t hard to locate, but the Yamaha Hill wasn¡¯t so easy. After expending much effort, Du Wei finally figure out the Yamaha Hill is actually the field slope outside the town after having it exined to him by an old local living in town: The name of the two slopes was stemmed from an old tale where horse spirits from the heaven had jumped across these two slopes. But Due to how old this legend was, not many people nowadays would call the slope this name.¡± ¡°Oh, then what is this ce called now?¡± ¡°Brokeback Mountain.¡± Du Wei: ¡°¡­¡­¡­..Bloody hell.¡± (Cowboy movie!!! HEEEE HAAAAA) Stampeding out of town at the fastest pace he can go, Du Wei finally arrived at his destination just before the sun was down. Seeing the darkness of night is already upon him, Du Wei slowly rode into the woods. In his heart, he really wanted to go faster, but just the fact that he was going uphill is hard enough, not to mention its night time with lots of shrubbery blocking his sight. To save the trouble, Du Wei decided to abandon his horse and continue his journey on foot. After walking through the ravine, Du Wei can finally see from afar the open space indicated on the map left behind by Gandalf. It¡¯s just that Du Wei didn¡¯t expect what he was seeing right now. In the middle of the open space, a bonfire was lit and the Silhouette of a lonely looking person was tucked right beside the fire. As he drew closer, Du Wei can somehow hear the faint sound of sighinging from this mysterious person. ¡°Oh God¡­¡­ Please-please, bless this pitifully small little Vivian¡­¡­ Little Vivian is very cold-cold, and very hungry¡­..¡± Chapter 165 The 165th chapter ¡°Vivian on Brokeback Mountain¡± Although it is already summer season, but the temperatures at night is still pretty cold in the mountains. The truth is Vivian may not necessarily be cold with her body beside the fire, but she was all alone in the middle of the woods. Aside from that, there would asionally be the calling of prowling owls in the night, so of course she would feel unsettled. Just as she was gripping her robe tightly, there suddenly came a sound of stones rolling on the ground behind her. Startled by all this, Vivian quickly turned around and saw a thin shadow slowing moving towards her like a ghost. Vivian immediately became nervous at sight of the intruder. Jumping up without hesitation, Vivian lets out a stammering scream: ¡°Who-who is it!¡± The other party¡¯s footstep was very light, but once she got a clearer look thanks to the mes, Vivian instantly became stunned at the familiar face. ¡°Poor silly girl.¡± Du Wei takes in a deep breath before smiling at Vivian: ¡°Why are you here?¡± Recognizing it was Du Wei, Vivian¡¯s face made several changes to her expression before finally letting out high pitched scream. Moving her legs at a rapid pace, she dived towards Du Wei while stumbling a few times. Unfortunately for Du Wei, the moment the silly girl mmed into him, her body was just in the right position to head-butt him in the chin. Knocked to the ground, Du Wei nearly bit his tongue in the process. Smiling, Du Wei said: ¡°Just as expected, you are still as silly and clumsy as before.¡± As if met with a savior, Vivian raised her pair of innocent eyes and blinked several times at Du Wei before crying out like a baby. Helping the crying Vivian up from the ground, Du Wei then sat her down next to him before pulling out a bag from his bosom. Earlier when he was in town, Du Wei had bought some roughly made t bread before making his journey up here. The moment Vivian took sight of what was inside his bag, sparks of light radiated from her eyes. Like a wild animal, she quickly snatched the bread from his bag and furiously chewed away at it. Looking at the cute sillyss in front of him as she suffered between choking and starvation, Du Wei didn¡¯t know whether tough or help her by passing a water pouch. ¡°Why do you look like you didn¡¯t eat for several days?¡± Du Wei helpless sighed. Vivian carefully raised her head. Still covered with bread crumbs on the corners of her mouth, Vivian puts down the bread and began to speak with stuttering voice: ¡°I, I, I really didn¡¯t, didn¡¯t eat for two days¡­¡­¡± Such a pathetic answer really stunned Du Wei. Carefully looking over this Loli looking Vivian, he started to interrogate her over the reason of why she was here. So after they returned from the sea half a year ago, Vivian retreated back to the secluded hiding ce where she and Gandalf lived. Once Gandalf returned and asked what she experienced in the outside world, Gandalf once again headed out. At this point, it wasn¡¯t hard for Du Wei to guess the reason behind Gandalf¡¯s abruptly departure ¨C search him out and take him to the frozen forest¡­¡­ Thetter end is something Vivian didn¡¯t know. Despite the fact that Vivian was being left alone by herself at home, Gandalf only left behind a bag of coins and a few words for her. Under normal circumstances, a normal person would be worried, but since the old had a tendency to make trips at a moment¡¯s notice, Vivian was already used to it. Only this time around when the old fart talked to her, Vivian noticed her master¡¯s tone was particrly mild and detailed in his exnation. The most important detail was: ¡°If I don¡¯te back in a month, you are to go to the Flying Horse town outside the imperial capital. From there, you must make your way up to the Yamaha Hill top on the June of 15th¡­¡­¡± Vivian was already used to her teacher¡¯s entric personality. More often than not, teacher would do all sorts of strange things in front of her without any exnation. Since this time was the same, Vivian didn¡¯t feel a need to pry any further and decided to do as she was told. However, although Vivian is simple minded, but she was not stupid. From her teacher¡¯s out of ordinary speech before he left, she vaguely perceived something was not quite right. rmed in her heart, she became more and more afraid as the days went by. Counting down the days, soon three months had passed and teacher still didn¡¯t return. At this point, Vivian was already feeling jumpy and restless inside. From three months-fourth months, Vivian finally left home out of desperation. She is only a little girl. After thest adventure she had in the outside world, she should be staying at home where it was safe considering her timid and clumsy personality. Yet fate is not so, since her master never returned, she can only bite the bullet and head out. So from then, a simple minded girl left home and came all the way out to the imperial capital by herself. Luckily for these sillyss, none on the road dared to provoke her due to her wizardry robe. From the capital, she eventually made her way to the Flying Horse town and had been living there up till now. Naturally, there will always be some malicious guys eyeing such a beautifully simple minded girl. Fortunately Vivian still had considerable strength. Aftering across a few thugs, she only needed to exercise a bit of her powers to make the other side running in shame. Just like that, she lived in town for quite a while without any trouble. However, she eventually came across a big problem. She ran out of money. Mages are also people, they need to eat, they need to sleep, and they also need a ce to stay. Though the boss of the local inn took pity on her and reduced the rent, but she had already depleted her savings. Unable to feed herself, she was left with no other option but to move out and spend the past three days and night up on this ¡°Brokeback Mountain¡±. Seeing how ragged Vivian¡¯s robe was now, Du Wei couldn¡¯t help himself and sighed: ¡°How could you be out of money?¡± Vivian blinked a few times before squinting them: ¡°Teacher left a bit of money at home, but I already used it up.¡± So Gandalf would actually leave behind a bag of gold coins whenever he departed from their secret hideout in the mountains. Though their home was deep in the mountains, but Vivian would often go out to buy some groceries. Nheless, old Gandalf isn¡¯t some rich old man. After not returning for a few months, the money he left behind was already spent by Vivian. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that the gems and crystals on you are very valuable?¡± Reluctantly, Du Wei smiled bitterly: ¡°There should have been some shops in the town where you can sell the magic materials. If you simply sold one of your crystals, you should have had enough money tost for months.¡± But looking at the dazed appearance of Vivian, Du Wei finally realized this sillyss would not understand all of that. Inwardly, Du Wei can already imagine what that old geezer was thinking when he left Vivian behind. The reason for this girl to be here is so that from this day onward, Du Wei can take care of her, that is the meaning behind the old geezers will. Spending a moment in thought, Du Wei pulls out the magic tool from his pocket: ¡°Do you know what this is?¡± Vivian shakes his head. Inside Du Wei¡¯s mind: ¡°Hmm, Vivian is here to defect to him, but what about the person that is supposed to be his teacher? It can¡¯t be this little girl, right? No, not her, otherwise, Gandalf would not have mentioned the person has a cranky personality.¡± Faced with this big problem¡­¡­ Du Wei suddenly didn¡¯t know what to do. In his mind, he was sort of afraid of the possibility that Vivian didn¡¯t even know about his teacher¡¯s death! Looking at the little girl in front him desperately eating away at the t bread, Du Wei felt very ufortable in his heart, unsure of how to break the news. Until finally the moon was hanging in the middle of the sky, Du Wei tapped Vivian on the shoulder and smiled: I¡¯ll show you something interesting.¡± Stabbing Gandalf¡¯s magic tool on the ground, Du Wei then unscrewed the end cover. Simr to a firework, this thing is clearly a magic item made from magic alchemy. Shooting out from the inside, a green light suddenly sprayed out and shot into the sky. Liking a shooting star, the re suddenly lit up the whole forest. Though it was a little spooky, but just like a real firework, the fireball eventually started toe down¡­¡­ Looking at the green light, faint idea suddenly came up in his mind! Green¡­¡­ Could it be¡­¡­ Looking up at the sky, the green ball of light wasing down at an extremely slow pace. For several minutes, Du Wei quietly waited. Finally, when the green light disappearedpletely, a faint flute sound could be hearding from behind the hillside¡­¡­ The flute sound very weird. Though it sharp to the ear, but it was not harsh as if some melodious voice was gently moving back and forth one¡¯s mind. If Du Wei had to describe the feeling he was getting, it would be sadness¡­¡­ When Vivian heard the sound, her face already exposed a strange expression. Looking at Du Wei, she suddenly jumped up and shouted: ¡°Sister??¡± At this time, borrowing the moon¡¯s light, a figure slowly came forth from the woods like a spirit. Under the Moon¡¯s light, Du Wei can finally see who the other party is. Green robe, Green Hat, green flute¡­¡­ And that face is clearly ¡­¡­ Green-robed Gandalf? Chapter 166 part 1 The 166th chapter ¡°Gandalf¡± (part 1) ¡°Howe it¡¯s you?¡± Both young and old ended up spitting out these words at the same time. But what differentiated Du Wei from the other guy is that his voice carried a genuine surprise. As for this Green robed guy, his words sounded like he had already expected this without any hint of surprise in his voice. However, the small bodily movements made by this green robed Gandalf still gave away the nervous mindset inside him. Carefully looking around the surroundings behind Du Wei, this person was acting like he was searching for something. Looking at the imposter in front of him, Du Wei said: ¡°You¡¯re the person Gandalf tasked me to search out?¡± What kind of arrangement did Gandalf make? It is clear now that Gandalf already knew of this Green robed guy¡­. ¡°I¡¯ll remind you once again boy.¡± Green robed Gandalf spoke coldly: ¡°I am Gandalf.¡± Du Wei sneered before taking notice of how this old man was constantly searching for something: ¡°What are you looking for? Are you looking for Semel?¡± The second the word ¡°Semel¡± fell into his ears, Green-robed Gandalf had a deep fear on his face, or more precise, concern: ¡°Where is she? Did she also follow you here?¡± Before Du Wei can even reply, Vivian had already spoke up with her timidly voice: ¡°Mr¡­. Mr. Green Hat.¡± Mr. Green Hat? Although this naming is a bit bizarre, but Du Wei didn¡¯t think too much over it and turned around to face Vivian: ¡°You know of this person.¡± ¡°He is sister¡¯s teacher.¡± The sillyss replied. Du Wei finally understands everything. This Green-robed guy is actually Joanna¡¯s master. So then¡­¡­ What is his rtionship with Gandalf? This is all tooplicated. ¡°Where is Semel?¡± Green-robed Gandalf continues to look around warily. ¡°Stop looking.¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°She would have already shown herself if she wanted to. Anyhow, I can confirm she is close by though.¡± Green robed Gandalf suddenly stared at Du Wei with a ferocious intent: ¡°Rowling KID, what the hell are you ying at! Hmm! Also, why did the old guy arrange for you to be here? Ah, there is also Semel! How is she still alive and with you?¡± ncing back over at Vivian, Du Wei can tell that she is very familiar with this Green robed guy from the respectful tone and expression of this silly girl. ¡°Vivian.¡± Pointing his finger over at the trees, Du Wei said: ¡°First stay over there for a while, I need to have a chat with this Green Hat guy.¡± Vivian is still very obedient. Not hesitating, she gave both parties a nce before nodding her head and walking away. ¡°That old guy even put his female apprentice in your hands?¡± After watching Vivian take her leave, Green-robed Gandalf started tough: ¡°It seems like he gave everything to you.¡± Subsequently, Green-robed Gandalf sat himself down in front of the bonfire. Not hesitating, Du Wei also followed suit. Then pulling out the letter left behind by Gandalf, Du Wei hesitated for a moment before handing it over to this Green Robed guy: ¡°This is master Gandalf¡¯s will. Before he passed away, he told me toe here tonight and give this letter to that person. By doing this, that person is supposed to be my future teacher, yet, I never expected it to be you.¡± Green-robed Gandalf took hold of the letter and swept his eyes across the content without much care on his face. Sneering loudly, he then said: ¡°Humph, it really does match my ¡®style¡¯, always trying to arrange everything like a fool!¡± With that, he actually tossed the letter into the fire. Seeing this, Du Wei felt a bit unhappy inside. ¡°Who exactly are you?¡± Du Wei looked straight at this person: ¡°Stop saying ¡®you are Gandalf¡¯. What I want to hear are the specific details!¡± ¡°Humph¡­¡­ Kid, your curiosity sure is heavy.¡± Green Robed man casually picks up a stick and gently snapped it in two before throwing it into the fire. From the mes, his face looked especially eerie and spooky as if a shade of green was part of his skin: ¡°The horn on your head is something that Old Chris gave you, right?¡± ¡°Why are you able to see my horn?¡± Du Wei sighed, pushing his hair aside: ¡°I thought I hid it really well.¡± ¡°Because you have the devil¡¯s air around you.¡± Green-robed Gandalf had a really weird smile on his face: ¡°Ordinary people would never be able to distinguish this sort of air, but I am someone that entered the Devil¡¯s Ind before; therefore, you cannot conceal it from me.¡± Standing on the edge of the Woods, Vivian nervously watched on as Du Wei and this Green-robed guy chatted away beside the fire, unsure of what they are talking about. Suddenly, a soft sighing voice came from behind her. Alerted by this, she turned around to see her sister standing next to a tree inside the woods. ¡°Have you been welltely, my poor sister?¡± As usual, Joanna looked at Vivian with an apathetic look: ¡°Looking at your appearance, it seems like you haven¡¯t been too happy. Humph, why is it that whenever I see your weak self, I would feel very angry?!¡± ¡°Sis-sister.¡± Vivian timidly looked at this sister of hers that she had always feared since she was a child. With aplex emotion in her eyes, Joanna slowly walked over and surprised Vivian by gently tapping her shoulders. Such a loving gesture is something Vivian had not felt for many years from her sister ¡°Oh, you are stronger than I thought.¡± Joanna sighed gently: ¡°I thought that once the news of your master¡¯s death reached you, you would cry out to the point of being a annoyance.¡± ¡°You!¡± Vivian became scared: ¡°You! What did you say?! Teacher, he¡­¡­ ¡± Joanna frowned: ¡°You still didn¡¯t know? So that¡¯s why¡­¡­¡± ¡°Wah¡­¡­¡­¡± From nearby, the loud crying voice of Vivian quickly caught the attention of Du Wei. Looking over, he can already see Vivian sitting on the ground with Joanna standing beside her. Seeing how painful Vivian was in, Joanna slightly frowned. Hesitating for a moment, she finally leaned over and gently hugged her little sister in a warm embrace. This unexpected move somewhat surprised Du Wei. ¡°It appears that Vivian just found out about the old guy¡¯s death. Didn¡¯t you tell her before?¡± Green Robed Gandalf spoke in a soft tone. ¡°No.¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°I just met up with her here today.¡± Seeing the unfocused reply from Du Wei, this Green Robed Gandalf looked over at the currently sitting Vivian. Grunting, he then said: ¡°Enough, stop looking at this little girl. Since small, she had always been weak. Seriously, I don¡¯t even know why I would take her as my pupil.¡± ¡°Then answer my question.¡± Du Wei refocuses his attention: ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± Green-robed Gandalf quiets down. Smiling, he looked around the area: ¡°This ce is very good. Ha-ha, do you know what this ce is?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°This is my old home.¡± Green-robed Gandalf smiles: ¡°I was born in this small Flying Horse town. My father was the owner of a local grocery store and my mother was the daughter of a tailor. When I was young, these two slopes were still called ¡°Yamaha Hill¡±. Du Wei said nothing. ¡°When I was seven years old, a passing Mage valued my talents and epted me as his apprentice. From then on, I left this ce and spent the next 20 years in the capital to earn my qualification. Then¡­..¡± Green-robed Gandalf smiled: ¡°I was hailed as a genius by all! Whenever someone sees me at that time, they would say, ¡®look! He is Mage Gandalf, he is that genius!¡¯.¡± Du Wei started to feel bitter in his mouth: ¡°You really are Gandalf? Then who is the one that I knew?¡± ¡°He is also Gandalf. More urately, both of us are Gandalf.¡± Green Robed guy suddenly lets out a weird and spookyugh. After his outburst, he then faces Du Wei: ¡°Would you at times feel confused?¡± ¡°Confused?¡± ¡°Yes, confused.¡± Old man shakes his head: ¡°I would, especially after every adventure I took. As I slowly unearthed the so called mission from Aragon, a sick and distasteful feeling grew inside my heart. For someone that was already dead for a millennium, I had to offer my entire life and body to make his wish seed. FUCK THAT!! I¡¯m just me, a son of a grocer and a seamstress; I don¡¯t want to be a part of some nonsense mission! Finally, theplex mindset caused a change in my personality¡­..¡± Du Wei was not talking. ¡°At that time, my body felt like it was suddenly torn into two souls.¡± Green Robed Gandalf points to his head: ¡°As if someone used a knife to split me in two, the current I and the one that you knew were born. The one you knew is the selfless version of me and I am the opposite, very selfish!¡± ¡°The Gandalf at the time was in a lot of inner pain. You should understand right? For someone with two mindsets to dwell inside a single body, it is like having two opposing forces constantly trying to take hold of the other. Take for example of the woman we loved. I wanted to take Semel as my woman, but the other part of me wanted to keep up the appearance of a good teacher and pretend nothing was going on. Such turmoil inside me was like a living hell!¡± Chapter 166 part 2 The 166th chapter ¡°Gandalf¡± (part 2) When their conversation reached up to this point, Du Wei can see that the old green hat in front of him was a little upset over the worry of Semel jumping out at any time. ¡°The biggest divide between the two of usid in the bullshit Aragon mission.¡± Green robe lets out a devilishugh: ¡°We searched out numerous clues; eventually, it led us to the Devil¡¯s Ind where we found Chris. I really didn¡¯t want to go, but the other part of me was much stronger. If I had to make aparison, it would be like the good soul inside me at the time dominated the evil part of me.¡± Green robe points a finger to his nose. ¡°Originally we wanted to make an exchange with him for Aragon¡¯s heart, but he refused. He felt that whatever we had on us wasn¡¯t of enough value¡­ Of course, we fought with him and lost because he was much stronger than us. In the end, we couldn¡¯t retrieve Aragon¡¯s heart and decided to leave.¡± At this point, Green robe suddenly gave out a strange smile: ¡°But before we left, Chris suddenly stopped us. He said to us, ¡®I have a way to relieve your pain¡­.. Having two souls embodying a single body must be very hard, right?¡¯ At the time, we hesitated for a bit before falling for his temptation. The reason is simple; both of us were tired of our daily struggle for dominance. Day and night, we fought and fought, but there was no end in sight. The other part of me wanted to follow through with Aragon¡¯s bullshit mission, while I only wanted to live a carefree life¡­¡­¡± Du Wei finally opens his mouth: ¡°And then what?¡± ¡°Then?¡± Green-robed Gandalf lets out an evillyugh: ¡°Then Chris gave us what we wanted. He said he could give each of us a body, but in exchange, we had to do him a favor.¡± Speaking up to here, Green-robed Gandalf nces over at Du Wei: ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to ask me what favor Chris asked us to do?¡± ¡°Why do I need to ask?¡± ¡°Because this favor is greatly rted to you.¡± Green-robed Gandalf smiles maliciously. At this point, he lets out a long sigh followed by a serious demeanor. ¡°Using my soul to sign the following contract: In my lifetime, if I ever meet up with anyone that had made a trade from the Devil¡¯s Ind, I will expend all efforts to help this individual. If I ever go back on my words, then let my soul never find peace after my death!¡± With that, green-robed old fellow looks at Du Wei: ¡°Someone that traded with the Devil¡¯s Ind, isn¡¯t that you?¡± Du Wei suddenly felt all of his bodily hair rising! What is this? Destiny? Or absurdity? ¡°From then on I am me and he is he, both of us are Gandalf. Thanks to Chris¡¯s miraculous magic, our souls were split simply split apart and contained in our respective bodies. Other than that, there is nothing different between the person that you knew and me.¡± Old Green-robed frowns before continuing: ¡°Unfortunately, I underestimated my other half¡¯s sense of responsibility. The moment we came out of the Devil¡¯s Ind, he challenged me to a fight!¡± ¡°Why?¡± Du Wei asked. ¡°I also asked the same question at the time.¡± Old Green robe guy lets out a dryugh: ¡°But his answer to me left me feeling helpless. His reason was that he needed the ¡®Gandalf name¡¯ to achieve many, many things in the future. Can you imagine how much trouble there will be if there was suddenly an extra Gandalf roaming the continent?¡± ¡°However, I¡¯m also not willing to give up my identity! I am Gandalf, so why should I give him my identity? Though each of us had a new body, we still had topete for our name. In the end, I lost because I wasn¡¯t his opponent. When our bodies split, his soul was able to take arger chunk of our powers. Thus, I was forced to give in to his will.¡± ¡°And then what?¡± Du Wei¡¯s curiosity has beenpletely aroused. ¡°Then? We made a deal.¡± Green robe Gandalf speaks in a light voice: ¡°After a certain period of time pses, we willpete against each other. Whoever wins the duel at the time will get to use the Gandalf identity until the next battle. For 200 years, we¡¯ve done this over and over again. Frustratingly for me, he won more times than I did so he was able to stay in the open more than me. But it¡¯s not all that bad since whenever he won, I would hide my identity and go wondering everywhere¡­..¡± He then lets out a small chuckle: ¡°When he died, my soul immediately sensed out bond breaking, so I knew my days of dominance has finally arrive!¡± Du Wei lets out a long sigh because he finally figured out the mystery behind this ¡°Gandalf¡± problem and why the one he knew would tell him toe look for this one. There is absolutely no doubt regarding the power of this Green-robed guy! He is Gandalf¡¯s doppelganger; therefore, his strength cannot be too far apart. Most importantly, Du Wei have already confirmed this in the coup d¡¯¨¦tat! Though their character ispletely different, but this guy is still the same Gandalf he knew! Whether it is his skill or intellect, it is the exact same except in an evil version! Also, his ability in tutoring a pupil is also excellent! The good version Gandalf produced the small little Vivian while the evil version produced the ill-tempered Joanna. Regardless of their attitude, both girls are geniuses! Such a powerful person that is skilled in tutoring is without a doubt the best candidate to be his own teacher. Watching the guy before him, Du Wei takes in a deep breath before speaking in a solemn voice: ¡°Excuse me, will you be my teacher?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Green robed Gandalf faced Du Wei before falling into aughing fit: ¡°Back in the square, you caused me to lose a lot of face. On top of that, you also ruined my n, yet you are begging me to be your teacher now, why?¡± ¡°Because I need be stronger, much stronger.¡± Du Wei¡¯s tone became very serious without any hint of joking around in his voice: ¡°In the face of the unknown in theing future, I need to be much stronger! My strength is still not sufficient to face the perils of the world! That¡¯s why I need a good teacher!¡± After a pause, Du Wei faces Old Green Robe and said: ¡°Also, this is Gandalf¡¯s wish. You already read his will, so I don¡¯t believe you will deny your own request would you?¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Old Green Robe did not hesitate in his reply and quickly nodded, but before his voice died down, he followed up with another sentence: ¡°I¡¯m fine with you being my student, but I¡¯ll make one point clear: do not expect me to help you with Aragon¡¯s mission!¡± Du Wei smiled as he faces the man that is about to be his teacher: ¡°That¡¯s fine; we have the same view regarding this matter.¡± £» Green-robed Gandalf had already left, but before he go, he said this: ¡°I¡¯lle find you after three months because I got something to deal with. At that time, I will teach you magic.¡± This request from the old guy just so happens to fit in with Du Wei¡¯s current situation because he needed to organize everything before heading to his territory. When Old Green Robe left, he didn¡¯t dally around because all he did was call for Joana and the two quickly floated away into the nightly sky. As Du Wei turned back to face the crying mess known as Vivian, Du Wei found it difficult to talk. In a soft voice: ¡°Do you know of your teacher¡¯s passing?¡± Vivian nods her head. ¡°Your teacher gave you to me, did you know?¡± Vivian nods her head again. ¡°You will stick with me from now on, okay?¡± Unlike the previous two times, Vivian hesitating for a second before nodding. After a pause, Vivian started to sob as she faced Du Wei: ¡°Bu-but¡­¡­¡± ¡°But what?¡± ¡°You¡­¡­¡± Vivian timidly looked at Du Wei. Blinking her innocent eyes, she then said: ¡°You-you-¨Ccan-cannot bully me¡­..¡± Oh, this problem eh¡­¡­ Would Du Wei ¡°bully¡± little Vivian that? Oh heavens, please protect poor little Vivian¡­¡­ Chapter 167 part 1 The 167th chapter ¡°Filled to the brim¡± (part 1) Since early this morning, Baron Sack had long awoken because he had already resigned from his post. After experiencing the storm known as the coup d¡¯¨¦tat, this former police chief realized in his mind that with his meager abilities, he is not someone capable ofmanding a force of 10,000. More importantly, he is aware of the fact that he is not a part of the Regent¡¯s inner circle. In order to keep himself secure from the impending conflicts, he took the initiative to resign. However, unlike what he expected, this move of his caught the Regent¡¯s favor. Then before long, he was awarded a senior position within the Finance Ministry. Satisfied with this post, Baron Sack was able to willingly give up his military power. Moreover, what pleased him the most was that on his first day of work, he was able to befriend the highly favored Grand Duke Du Wei. When Du Wei personally visited Sack¡¯s office in the finance ministry that day, the two spent quite the ordeal chatting away while sipping tea. Of course, their topics only focused around some gossips rted to certain noble individuals; nheless, this was enough to establish a sense of goodwill between the two. Feeling the ground work was done; Du Wei casually mentioned the need for a special permit in approving prohibited products. For such a small favor, Baron Sack would naturally not refuse. Then three dayster, Baron Sack received an invitation. Located in the central area of the capital where the Arc de Triomphe is ced, a store specializing in rare and exotic materials was about to have its grand opening. (The word by word trantion for Arc de Triomphe is actually ¡®Victory Gate¡¯, but I felt it would be easier for others to remember it if I just used Arc de Triomphe instead.) Needless to say, the owner¡¯s name may be ¡°Marde¡± on the surface, but everyone is already aware of the fact that this person is a trusted servant belonging to the newly appointed Grand Duke. Other than Baron Sack, numerous others were also invited: newly appointed police chief Kami Siro (the undercover agent that yed a key role in Prince Son¡¯s n), several senior officials in the finance department, and even the president of the magic union. So on this morning, the grand opening of a special store near the Arc de Triomphe had attracted the current big bosses in the political arena. Aside from the ones he invited, Du Wei was surprised to find that the so called ¡°Magical beast of Tanshan¡± (Big fat weapons merchant that gifted Du Wei with the four magic apprentice) was also here to congratte him. Though the Regent himself wasn¡¯t present, but he did send over a cab member of the court in his stead. As for the Magic Union, the President would naturally not attend such a secr asion, nheless, the union did send over mage rk to congratte him. Regarding the other second and third rate nobles in the capital, they had all saw this as an opportunity to draw closer to Du Wei for their own interest because this so called ¡°luxury¡± lineup can be considered the most extravagant gathering since the coup. This time around, Du Wei bought a three story building for his shop. Located in the middle of a busymercial street, the amount of peopleing and going is endless. More importantly, this area is considered to be a special zone where people of status liked to spend their wealth. If not for this reason, the average person would never be able to afford any of the expensivemodities sold in the shops around here. Aside from the building, what satisfied Du Wei the most is that his property also included a yard of considerable size in the back along with a workshop. With the Lancang Canal not far into the distance, this purchase of his is amazing even if he looked at it from a business or practical standpoint. The only surprising thing was the pricing. When Du Wei first looked up the property, he spected that he would have to pay no less than thousands of gold coins; yet, the final transaction price only came up to 200,000 coins! Such a ridiculously low price caused Du Wei keep a key note of it in his heart because it was obvious that someone wanted to suck up to him. After all, his current standing is blowing harder than anyone else in the capital, so it¡¯s to be expected. Finally, after having Marde investigates the former owner of the shop, Du Wei came to the conclusion that it was the fat merchant called ¡°Magical beast of Tanshan¡± that wanted to send him this favor¡­.. Sure enough, this noticeably rich merchant came to congratte him on the opening day. In his mind, Du Wei understands full well today is definitely the perfect chance for him to salvage as much money as he can. (In order to not blemish their title, nobles with his status would normally task some lower ss servants to perform such tasks.) But Du Wei didn¡¯t care about any of this. Coming out to the front, he personally greeted every eager guest that came up to talk to him. In this three story building, every floor was the size of a basketball court, so there was no way he can cover every location. To solve this problem, Du Wei had Marde spend quite a bit of money to purchase several beautiful ves from the market in order to help soothe his burden. In his previous life he had seen how effective it was to have beautiful girls wearing flowery dresses greet customers, so he wasn¡¯t worried about this little expense. While the first floor was mainly set formercial use, the warehouse in the back was reserved as a storage unit for the rare goods Rolynn had brought in from the frozen forest. At Du Wei¡¯s behest, the main star of today¡¯s event is without a doubt the female knight, Miss Rolynn. On such a asion, Rolynn originally wanted to dress herself up fancily to match everyone, but Du Wei quickly rejected the idea. Instead, Du Wei had her wear a gorgeous looking light armor that bordered on the line of ridiculous. In order to prepare such a morous armor, poor mouse Gargamel had to work overnight in order to enchant it with shards of magic gemstones. With a heart shaped crystal in the chest, this jewelry is also blessed with a light enchantment spell. Other than to make the armor look good, this is aplete waste of materials because if the wearer were to use this in the battlefield, it is the same asmitting suicide ¨C archers will have a st shooting at the shining target board! But Du Wei didn¡¯t care about any of this. After blessing it with the light spell, the entire armor looked like it was covered in a subtleyer of silvery light. As the streaks of light circted around Rolynn¡¯s body, she looked so extravagant and gorgeous that nothing prior to this was ever replicated. Aside from the light enchantment spell, the shoulder pads were also embedded with shards of wind crystals. The uses for the wind crystals aren¡¯t hard to guess. When a warrior stands in battle, the best scenes always had the hero stand tall with their cape fluttering in the wind, and this is exactly what Du Wei achieved here. No matter where Rolynn stood, her red cape would always be fluttering due to the wind currents flowing down her back! In addition, Du Wei also had his smiths embroider the armor with an array of fine looking patterns that he found in some ancient textbooks. Oh, and let¡¯s not forget the boots¡­ Ha-ha¡­¡­ With Roylnn¡¯s outstanding beautiful legs, Du Wei had to spend some extra efforts to prepare something special that can match her level of sexiness. Bringing out from storage, Du Wei specially picked out the best looking ice demon wolf leather and had it made into a pair of long skin tight boots that didn¡¯t cover up any of her legs sex appeal. In total the cost of this outfit went as high as 30,000 gold coins Luckily, the expense wasn¡¯t wasted. The moment Rolynn walked out, everyone¡¯s attention immediately fell onto her. Though her face wasn¡¯t at the level of making a kingdom drop to its feet, but it was still that of a young woman with eight-nine points of beauty. In the eyes of these noblemen¡¯s that had seen all sorts of beauty in their time, such a fresh looking face matched with a pair of mouth drooling legs is enough to entice their appetitive to a whole new level. ¡°Gentlemen, let me introduce.¡± Du Weiughs and had Rolynn stand beside him. As she did so, Rolynn maintained a cold smile like they had rehearsed before. ¡°This is a member of my personal knights unit, Miss Rolynn. Not only is her strength extremely high, but everything you see here today are goods that were brought back from the North by her!¡± Chapter 167 part 2 The 167th chapter ¡°Filled to the brim¡± (part 2) This saying may have been a bit farfetched, but the oue is exactly what Du Wei wanted. Sure enough, everyone¡¯s attention was immediately focused on Rolynn¡¯s body after his speech ¨C this included Sir Biliaibuer and the fat merchant Tanshan that was formerly looking at some red fox fur. Stunned by what he saw, Tanshan couldn¡¯t keep his eyes off of Rolynn¡¯s valiant stature and wheat colored tanned skin. After a moment of silence, Sir Biliaibuer was the first to speak up. This charming middle-aged man faced Rolynn and spoke with genuine smile: ¡°Knight Rolynn, his excellency said you brought all of these exotic goods from the frozen forest? Oh heavens! Despite having such beauty, you are still capable of going into such a terrifying ce!¡± Rolynn understood full well what Du Wei¡¯s intentions were, but since he is the master, she can only amodate him with her acting. Though these goods were brought back from the North by her¡­¡­ But she certainly didn¡¯t ¡°hunt¡± down the monsters. If she had to measure her own strength, Rolynn feared that she would not even be able to cope with a single ice demon wolf, let alone go hunting for all these materials. Fortunately, Rolynn has been leading a small team of adventurers since she was little, so she naturally has her own unique style of responding to these noble lords. Putting on a smile, her expression didn¡¯t carry any form of forced affection; instead, she intentionally restrained herself and put on sense of heroism in her demeanor. Just like that, Rolynn quickly became the spotlight of today¡¯s event after being repackaged by Du Wei! Before long, many of the visiting noblemen¡¯s were huddling around Rolynn on all sides. Though Rolynn wasn¡¯t a highly skilled knight, but she was able to exin all of the important details of each product to the audience. ¡°Gentlemen, this shield is made from an Earth Dragon scale; although it looks very small, but the defense is exceptionally good. Many of you may not know this, but the earth dragon is a magical beast that lives underground in the frozen forest. Their head may be small, but their scales are extremely durable and hard to prate. Even a fourth level warrior would have a hard time splitting their scales apart! Back when we first encountered these beasts, we had to expend quite a bit effort to subdue them¡­.. Compared to a regr shield, this shield made from the scales of a earth dragon is extremely light!¡± With each introduction of a product by Rolynn, some of the noble lords that were enchanted by her would quickly open up their wallets. Very quickly, in just one morning, any product reviewed by her would be sold out! By the end of this single morning, the ¡°sales¡± record reached a total of 300,000 gold coins! From the first floor of the shop, about half of the merchandise was sold out! As Du Wei looked at how Rolynn was being worshipped like a rock star by these young nobleds, he became very satisfied. In addition, when Marde quietly passed over the sales list from the morning, his smile was so big that it almost reached his ears. Well, not everyone present fell into Du Wei¡¯s scheme. Those with status like Sir Biliaibuer and Tanshan was able to clue in into his scheme early on in the show thanks to their years of experience. After spending half a day eyeing Rolynn, Tanshan finally gave up and quietly came over to Du Wei. In a murmuring voice, this fat merchant dared to say: ¡°I really have to hand it to your methods, your excellency! This female knight Rolynn¡­.. Ha-ha, to tell you the truth, the goods here aren¡¯t that amazing. But Miss Rolynn on the other hand¡­. If you are willing to part with her, I¡¯m willing to offer you 1 million gold coins¡­¡­¡± Just as his words reached this point, this fat merchant took notice of Du Wei¡¯s dissatisfaction. Letting out augh, Tanshan quickly tried to salvage the conversation: ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand me your Excellency; I wouldn¡¯t dare make a move on your personal knight. With such a talent like Miss Rolynn, I was hoping you would lend her to me for a month so that I can use her as a mascot for my shops¡­. Ha-ha! What do you say? 1 million Gold coins for a month of service. Also, I¡¯ll be sure to treat your knight as a grand VIP while she is in my care.¡± Sir Biliaibuer seems to be on good terms with this fatso. Smiling, he pped his hands to interject: ¡°Alright you fatso, stop making it hard on his Excellency! Didn¡¯t you notice the way this female knight looks at our Duke here? He-he, who knows, maybe one she will be our future Duchess! Yet you want her to be your shopkeeper, hahaha!¡± As for that Kami Siro ¨C newly appointed police chief ¨C he seems to not have much feeling for the opposite sex; instead, he was more interested in the gorgeous armor worn by Rolynn. In a low voice, he asked: ¡°Your Dukeship, may I know where you got such a armor from?¡­..¡± Du Wei was stunned by Kami Siro¡¯s question. Prior to today¡¯s event, he already had some interaction with this loyal subordinate of Prince Son. For someone that spent 10 years as an undercover agent, there¡¯s no way he wouldn¡¯t be able to see through the secret behind this useless armor. Sure it may be easy on the eyes, but that was all¡­..¡± ¡°Duke.¡± Kami Siro¡¯s voice became a little hoarse as he whispered: ¡°I know the armor isn¡¯t very practical and my reason may confuse you, but after spending 10 years in hiding, I finally realized I came down with a strange habit!¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± Du Wei gave this guy in front of him a curious look. ¡°¡­¡­ I found that I increasingly liked to be noticed by others around me.¡± Kami Siro spent no effort in trying to hide his strange illness: ¡°Of course, I know you¡¯ll neverugh at me¡­. Perhaps this is my own way ofpensating myself! In the old days, I would never dare wear something so eye catching, but now, I can¡¯t stop myself.¡± Du Wei understands his reason. After being deprived of his existence for so many years due to his spy career, Kami is finally able to fill the hole in his heart. ¡°That¡¯s easy.¡± Du Wei began to deliberate inside: ¡°I can make a set of this armor for you. Just consider it a gift from me!¡± ¡°How can I ept it?¡± Kami Siro immediately rejected: ¡°I appreciate your Excellency¡¯s kindness, but such an armor is still within my price range. If word spread today of how I epted your kindness when I was supposed to be the one congratting you, then how will I ever continue to mingle in the capital?¡± Du Wei smiles before Kami Siro offers up ¡°100,000 gold coins¡± for a set of the magnificent armor. Of course, there is also the dear Master rk who almost became Du Wei¡¯s magic teacher in his younger years. As a person of power within the magic union, rk was instructed by the president of the magic union to deliver a gift to Du Wei! ¡°Mage Du Wei.¡± Mage rk pulls Du Wei to a corner of the floor: ¡°I heard you set up a trade route that can transportrge amounts of magical beast materials throughout the year, is that true?¡± Du Wei brow pricked at the question. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong.¡± rk smiles: ¡°You know it too. In order to satisfy the demand of those old monsters and the lower ss mages, the magic union has to procure vast amounts of magic ingredients throughout the year. It just so happens that some of the ingredients on the list is from the frozen forest!¡± Du Wei¡¯s eye immediately lit up with excitement. The next moment on, the intimacy of their conversation grew exponentially. As the representative of the Magic Union, Mage rk ended up signing a contract to ensure the purchase of a 800,000 gold coins worth of good from Du Wei each year. As a trade, Du Wei also added in a line where he is allowed to purchase a certain number of minerals like magic crystals and etc. After the contract was signed, rk gave Du Wei a satisfied look and prepared to bid his farewell. But before leaving, he added another meaningfully sentence: ¡°Mage Du Wei, the president wants to remind you that you are a Mage, therefore, the magic union will always be your home!¡± With that, this Mage rk said his goodbye with a smile. After sending away the magic union¡¯s messenger, a thought finally hit him! Can it be¡­ the establishment of the magic academy is finally starting? Chapter 168 The 168th chapter ¡°The means of the Magic Union¡± ¡°Master, master! Our ie today is so much!¡± With a flushed face, Marde excitedly held onto the thin booklet of transactions they made so far. ¡°Oh, how much?¡± Du Wei leaned back against the chair andzily asked. Right now the sun is just at the angle where it is starting to settle down for the evening night. Originally the nobles that came to congratte him for the grand opening still wanted to take him out for a hospitable dinner, but Du Wei had to refuse their offer due to his mood being ruined by Mage rk¡¯s message. ¡°Altogether 684,600 gold coins!¡± When old Marde cried out these numbers, even his voice was trembling. Du Wei didn¡¯t show much reaction. Humph, It¡¯s to be expected¡­¡­ After spending so much effort and time, if he didn¡¯t make this much at least then wouldn¡¯t he have failed too hard? Seeing how the young master wasn¡¯t showing much interest, old Marde thought it was because of his manner of speech that displeased Du Wei. Turning the pages quickly, he continued to report the details: ¡°Today¡¯s biggest contributor is without a doubt Miss Rolynn. Just counting the things that crossed her hand amounted to 380,000 gold coins master. If we can somehow find a few more people like Miss Rolynn, then¡­¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± Du Wei waved a hand to interrupt Marde¡¯s speech. A few more people like Rolynn? That is not realistic. The so called value in rarity is the perfect saying for Rolynn. If not for the ¡®novelty¡¯ surrounding her status as a female knight, then she would not have the same impact towards those lustful nobles. By adding in a few more people like Rolynn, then the freshnessing out of her existence would diminish immensely. Aside from these points, he also believes Rolynn¡¯s loyalty is absolute towards him, so where would he find a few more people like that so fast? However, the fact that their ie reached a whopping figure of 880,000 gold coins is still something that Du Wei finds great pleasure in knowing. Then again, this number is only possible right now due to those nobles attending his opening ceremony. If those prideful people left without buying a single item, then wouldn¡¯t they be disregarding his status too much? More importantly, a portion of that number is actually gifts from certain individuals. For example, just that Biliaibuer alone gifted him with 100,000 gold coins. As for that Tanshan, he may not have gave him any gifts outright today, but thend Du Wei purchased for his store is without a doubt the biggest benefit he received by far! ¡°Go make some preparations and have someone craft another set of armor like Rolynn¡¯s. The piece doesn¡¯t need to be sturdy, but be certain to make it as luxurious as you can. Oh yes¡­..¡± Du Wei hesitated for a moment as he looked at Marde: ¡°Marde, I want to ask you a question.¡± ¡°Master, please say it.¡± Du Wei pondered the question for a moment: ¡°In a few months, I will have to go to the Northwest. Would you rather stay here in the capital and help me manage my real estate, or would you rathere with me to the Northwest?¡± Old Marde did not hesitate in his reply: ¡°Master, I am your faithful servant; of course I will follow you.¡± His eyes began to turn red at this point: ¡°I¡¯ve held you since you were little, now that I am getting old, are you going to leave Old Marde behind?¡± Du Wei smiled as he looked at the tearing eyed Marde: ¡°Enough Marde, don¡¯t cry, I will not leave you behind. Hmm, what you said is true. Since I was small, it was you whom raised me. Even if I leave everything behind, I will never leave my dear uncle Marde.¡± This word ¡°Uncle¡± scared Marde so much that his face turned pale as he waved his hand back and forth in panic. Marde jumped up and said: ¡°Master, you mustn¡¯t call Old Marde that, I am not worthy! I¡¯ve always been your servant, your horse groomer, and your housekeeper¡­..¡± Du Wei was already up on his feet walking towards Marde¡¯s side. Raising a hand, Du Wei gently tapped Marde¡¯s shoulder and said: ¡°It¡¯s fine Marde. Right now, there is only the two of us here. Of the Rowling Household, only the two of us remain in the capital¡­.. Oh yes, there is still Captain Alpha. Anyways, between us, there is no need for civility.¡± Just now, everyone would have known what was at stake in the choices they were offered. Go to the wind sted sand dunes of the Northwest, or stay in the bustling capital of the empire. Anyone that was offered such a choice would have known which is better; yet, Marde didn¡¯t even hesitate a second in his choice of following Du Wei. Seeing how faithful Marde was towards him made Du Wei feel touched inside. ¡°Since you are going to apany me to the Northwest, then the matters of the capital¡­¡­.¡± Du Wei pondered over the problem and in the end, he couldn¡¯t think of anyone more suitable than Rolynn. But then¡­¡­ If he ced Rolynn here, then who will take charge of the pirates? Aigh, what a headache. Theck of manpower is not something he can solve in one or two days. ¡°Go and called Rolynn over.¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°I have something to tell her.¡± After Marde went out, Du Wei picked up a cup of herbal tea from the table and gulped it down with a frown. The appearance of Mage rk today is obviously due to the order of the President. Not only did they give him face for today¡¯s event, they are also willing to procurerge amounts of ingredients from him each year. But in this world, there will never be a free lunch! Humph¡­¡­ Keep in mind his Wizardry status? The Magic Unions will always be his home? Needless to say, the matter rted to the magic academy must have been pushed forward again after the political situation stabilized! For Du Wei, he certainly didn¡¯t want to be thrown around by the Regent and the Magic Union. From history, those that tries to y both side never meets a good ending! For now, Du Wei feels his best option is to hurry to his new territory and never return! At that time, even if both powers were to go all out in their struggle, it still wouldn¡¯t matter to him! But who would have ever thought that it would be pushed forward so quickly when the coup only ended recently? Even if he if he wished to leave now, he wouldn¡¯t be able to because until the officials there hand over the power to him, he wouldn¡¯t be able to find an excuse. Also, he still didn¡¯t have the right people to take up the positions yet. Magic Academy¡­¡­ Oh Magic Academy! Humph! Suddenly, a bit of a temper started to seep out of his mind. A few years from now, the magic academy will without a doubt produce a number of talented trainees, but none of them will fall in his pocket! For the benefit of others, why should he stick his neck out for them? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to leave early?! However, when his mind brought up the idea of talented individuals, another thought popped into his head. The next day, Du Wei took the carriage met up with the Regent inside the pce. After experiencing the storm ofnd bestowment, the mood around Prince Son seems to be much calmer than before. At least on the surface, this new ruler acted like he forgot what Du Wei did in order to save his father¡¯s life and even pulled him to the back pce for a sumptuous lunch. No one knows what topic the two talked about that morning, but after Du Wei left, the Regent¡¯s mood was especially good and even made a few jokes with his personal guard. As for Du Wei¡¯s side, the sweat on his back waspletely dry by the time he left which left him feeling very ufortable. Aigh, this Prince Son really intends to use him as the gun to deal with the Magic Union! Back in the morning, Du Wei was baiting Prince Son on the subject of the Magic Academy; yet, contrary to what Du Wei expected, this future emperor openly spilled the beans on everything he was nning. The establishment of the Magic Academy will enter its first stage of implementation in one month! In this first round of student selection, the magic union and the royal court will be engaging in all sorts of infighting so that their sides receive the most benefit. However, Prince Son did receive the support of the magic union in the coup, so he will certainly give in on certain demands if needed. In the list of recruitment, the Magic Academy is expected to recruit around 100 students. Do not underestimate this hundred people. Though the number appears to be a small¡­ but you need to understand, on the whole continent, there is only around a few hundred Magicians! And now¡­¡­ ording to the current negotiations between the two parties, the magic union is demanding half of the enrollment spots! Such a number is something Prince Son cannot promise. What a joke! The establishment of the magic academy is primarily meant to break the magic union¡¯s monopoly over Mages. If the union upies half of the quota on the recruitment list, then how is Prince Son going to allocate the rest? For the royal family, they needed a certain number of spots to enroll into the academy. In addition, several of the more influential families below also want to upy a certain number of spots. In such ayering effect, the number of people Son can truly control is simply too little. He is the true ruler of the empire, such a situation is something he absolutely will not allow. In the morning, Son divulged his bottom line to Du Wei and that is half of the spots must be selected by the royal household. As for the remaining half, the Magic Union, the military, and the aristocrats can fight for it! Out of their conversation, Du Wei only got one meaning from the Regent: ¡°You go negotiate with the magic union president. When the unionpetes with the military and nobles for their spots, the royal household will back the union in their standing. Nheless, half of the spots must be chosen by the royal household!¡± Originally Du Wei wanted to ask Prince Son about letting him choose some of the students in the academy, but in the end, Prince Son gave him a clear and simple answer: ¡°You can, but you must negotiate with the magic union. After all, you are a recognized member of the magic union.¡± This afternoon, Du Wei was nning to go to magic union and meet with the president. Yet, Du Wei had a change of heart in thest moment! Why not wait for the other party to seek him out? Humph, the establishment of the Magic Academy is so important, yet they only sent Mage rk with a few goods hoping to bribe me? Humph, aren¡¯t they too stingy?! Du Wei became venomous inside! Even if he can¡¯t gain any benefit from the establishment of the magic Academy, Du Wei feels he must at least extort a good sum from the magic union! With this little bit of determination, Du Wei came out of the pce. Seeing the dark expression on the grand Duke¡¯s face, the pce guards following behind didn¡¯t dare say a word. By the time he walked out of the pce and into the central square, Du Wei suddenly saw a group of peopleing his way. A closed surface carriage that was almostpletely iyed with silvery chips and a snowy white g flying on top! White g? Du Wei hesitated for a moment because a banner like that is the trade mark of a funeral! When the carriage slowly came up the pce, the guards not only didn¡¯t intervene, they actually split apart into two roles and kneeled down in salute. When Du Wei took a closer look, he actually saw that the knights leading the carriage were in fact holy knights of the temple! Not only did the carriage don the banner of the royal household, Du Wei was even more shocked to find the temples insignia flying next to the Thorn Flower crest on the g. In this brief moment of shock, the carriage was already drawing up to Du Wei¡¯s location. Seeing the dazed expression in the grand Duke, the nearby pce guards hastily came up to him and gently tapped his shoulder so that he could make way. After waiting till the carriage enter the pce, Du Wei then frowned as he looked at the nearby guards: ¡°What kind of person was in the carriage? And how can the temple¡¯s people freely ess the pce?¡± The pce guard hesitated in his response, but in the end, he answered in a hush tone: ¡°Your dukeship¡­.. Didn¡¯t you know? Inside the carriage is Wilona, known as the flower of the royal household, she is also the holy maiden of the temple¡­..¡± Holy maiden? Du Wei is only vaguely aware of these so-called holy maidens; in fact, this practice is only a gimmick of religious organizations where they pick out some beautiful and pious maidens to act as their tributes to the gods¡­.. But this Wilona is also a flower of the royal household? ¡°You really don¡¯t know?¡± the pce guard was acting a bit unnatural towards the Duke¡¯sck of awareness: ¡°Holy maiden Wilona¡¯s father is thete crown prince¡­..¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡­¡± Du Wei took a step back to give a meaningfully gaze at the leaving carriage. The crown prince¡¯s daughter and holy maiden? Hehe¡­¡­ Then it¡¯s no wonder the carriage hanged a white g. Though the crown princemitted suicide after the coup d¡¯¨¦tat, but Prince Son handled the matter very nicely. Not only did Son not deprive his elder brother of his royal status, Son also allowed his brother¡¯s body to be buried in the manner of the royal family, indicating he is forever a member of the royal family despite organizing a coup. This holy maiden is the daughter of the crown prince. Humph-humph, it seems the crown prince did try to win over the temple. It¡¯s just that in the end, the temple still chose to side with Prince Son! Haha¡­¡­ Just when Du Wei wanted to retract his gaze, he suddenly felt a faint presenceing out from the carriage as if someone slid open thepartment window and peeked over at him¡­¡­ After the brief encounter, Du Wei returned to his own residence. The ce may be his residence, but it wasn¡¯t actually Du Wei¡¯s official manor despite his status as a Duke. The reason is very simple, he didn¡¯t actually hold any official position within the capital and that he intended to leave for the Northwest very soon. Currently, his ce of residence is only a small house within the wealthy district. Originally a property of thete Crown Prince, this estate was in fact gifted to him by the Regent. When he returned to his home, Old Marde was already awaiting for him at the gate. Seeing the master¡¯s return, Marde quickly rushed up and personally helped Du Wei off the coach. Then the next sentence was: ¡°Master, a member of the magic union came looking for you today. Because you weren¡¯t present, that person had no choice but to go back after waiting the whole morning.¡± They seriously came so early to beg me? Du Wei sneered. But the next sentence surprised Du Wei. It was clear the magic union wasn¡¯t going to openly suck up to him; in fact, the other party was wiser than he expected! ¡°The person from the magic union wanted me to inform master that your magic assessment test will be carried out in three days, and the president will personally test you.¡± Rank examination? Du Wei was stunned. Chapter 169 The 169th chapter ¡°cheating is difficult, more difficult than climbing the heavens¡± Ever since he returned to his room and discussed it over with Gargamel, Du Wei kept feeling this y by the Magic Union is very clever! Just thinking of the magic assessment in three days, he can already see the cunning smile on the president¡¯s face right around the corner. What a move! Not only is this a way to test where he stand on the issue, it also carries a heavy intent! Back in the square that day, Du Wei managed to scare away Green Robed Gandalf with the help of Semel. In the end, everyone recognized him as a young genius magician with immeasurable strength! No doubt about it, his halo title of a Duke and powerful mage did bring him numerous benefits up to this point. As such, his standing in Prince Son¡¯s camp is very impressive. But others may not know this, but the president of the magic union definitely had a vague idea of his true abilities! Perhaps Dorgan is second guessing himself over Du Wei¡¯s true strength right now, but that¡¯s okay! Once the magic assessment is in session, all will be revealed! On one hand, this rating assessment can test his power, but it can also burst Du Wei¡¯s bubble! If the truth is revealed around him, then the momentum around Prince Son¡¯s camp will definitely take a hit. At that time, the Magic Union can just take this excuse and suppress the royal household! Thirdly, there is also a message the magic union wanted to convey to everyone in the capital: if the union does not recognize your strength, then you are nothing no matter how powerful you are! Fourthly, the announcement result to the public will all depend on the president¡¯s single word. If you, Du Wei, wants to be the young genius grand mage, then you better cooperate with the magic union. If not, humph, humph, then I will expose you for what you are! £» ¡°In General, the magic assessment is divided into three parts when starting.¡± Gargamel carefully exined the details to Du Wei: ¡°Evaluation of magic level, maniption, and mastery of spells.¡± ¡°Is there any ways to fake it?¡± Du Wei furrows his brow. ¡°Fake it?¡± Gargamel shakes his head and sighed: ¡°Do you think the magic union¡¯s thousand year history is for show? If it was so easy to cheat, then there would have already beenrge numbers of fraudulent wizards roaming the continent! I¡¯ll tell you now, the magic assessment is very strict, so don¡¯t even think you can cheat!¡± Then Gargamel began to introduce the three-part assessment. The magic power test is the simplest hurdle. For the examinee, they must pass through an absolute standard set up by the magic union. Inside the main headquarter; there is a special crystal ball that can measure the user¡¯s magic level if injected with their energy. When activated, the crystal will disy a range of colors indicating the level the user is at. As for the magic maniption test, it is a little moreplex. In a single room, the union will arrange a number of magic circles which the participant must either solve or deal with during the test. During the entire process, there will be several grand mages outside watching the test to determine the person¡¯s standard of control. ¡°This segment is simr to the time when we were bombarded with attacks in the forgotten ice field. Though the process is simr, but the attacks are much weaker and you can pick and choose which magic circle to take on. After all, the second test is in a controlled environment, so the level of danger shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± ¡°Now for the hardest part where you can¡¯t cheat!¡± Gargamel opens up a broad smile: ¡°First you must pick the most powerful spell you are familiar with. Then with the grand mages presiding over your test, they will observe how well your spell incantation is and the result from it. Whether you can pass this part will depend entirely on how impressed the judges are. However, with my current assessment of you right now, your most powerful spell that you can muster is nowhere close to being enough!¡± ¡°If you say it like this, then as long as I can produce an overwhelming spell to impress the judge, then I can pass?¡± Du Wei frowns. ¡°Not exactly.¡± Gargamel shakes his head: ¡°Spell chanting is a very important knowledge every mage must master. It¡¯s not surprising if one can read the entire spell out because as long as you aren¡¯t an idiot, then anyone can do it. On the contrary, to chant the entire spell out well is a very hard thing to do. Speed and rity are equally important, but that doesn¡¯t mean you can just shirk off your understanding of the important bits. In a spell, there are always certain words that can be omitted. If you can master this, then you can grab hold of the advantage in battle.¡± Du Wei can already feel his hope flying away after listening to Gargamel¡¯s exnation. In the end, Gargamel sent another blow to finish off Du Wei: ¡°Of course, the first three parts I talked about so far is only the first process of the entire procedure. After you pass all three, whates next is in fact the most critical!¡± ¡°There is also actualbat?¡± Du Wei wanted to find a hole and hide in it. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Gargamel nods, his voice serious: ¡°This is the tradition passed down through the ages in the magic union. More importantly, this practice is the real secret behind the prosperity of the field of magic in the past millennium!¡± The mouse pans out his fingers to emphasize his next point: ¡°Prior to yourbat assessment, your body must be removed of all magic item and tools. Remember, the ones to judge you are all grand mages with immeasurable strength, so don¡¯t go getting any funny ideas.¡± After that, you will be ced into a magic enforcedbat arena. At this time, they will assign an opponent fit for your rank based on the rank you are aiming to go for. Generally speaking, they will send in two opponents one level lower than what you are trying to achieve. For example: if you are aiming for 7th rank, they will send in two 6th level mages to test you. These kinds of tests normally won¡¯t get lethal, but there are some exemptions where both sides end up going over board and someone dies in the process. But rest assured, for the battle, there will be medical healers standing by for emergencies. Regardless of who your opponent is, both sides cannot carry in their own weapon or tools. When the fight starts, you will be provided with a staff to make things equal. The reason or this is to showcase your real ability without any sort of enhancement from outside forces.¡± Despair is finally overtaking Du Wei¡¯s heart. If the mouse says it like this, then there is absolutely no way for him to fuddle through! Du Wei understands full well what his real strength is. Probably no higher than a 5th level mage, his arsenal of spells is also aplete mess. No matter what, everything he knows so far is only through a mix of self-study and supplemented by a range of magic tools he picked up along his travels. This was especially true when he fought with that Green Robed Gandalf in the square! If he didn¡¯t have his weapons and tools like the, gunpowder, five colored gemstone ring, and Nirvana¡¯s bow, then that Green Robed Gandalf could have sent him flying in a single p! So, viewing from any standpoint, Du Wei has no chance to cheat! Of course, if Du Wei disregards his reputation and self-esteem, he can still make it through a 5th level ranking test. Anyways, it is up to the participant to choose what level he wishes to take. However, he did create the impressive record of defeating that fake Gandalf in the central square, whom also defeated a 8th and 9th level mage. If Du Wei only achieves the rank of a 5th level mage, wouldn¡¯t it be too shameful?!¡± ording to Gargamal¡¯s saying, the minimum expectation of Du Wei right now is at least a eighth level magician! If he can¡¯t even bring back a white mage robe, then it would be a total embarrassment because he is also known as the newest addition to Gandalf¡¯s line of disciples! 8th rank? Du Wei gasps for air. In three days, he needs to propel his powers to the level of a grand mage? The answer to this predicament is clearly impossible. When the mouse and human looked at each other at this moment, the third creature present (penguin) suddenly turned around. Penguin lets out a elegant sigh. Randomly ying with his smooth feathers, he nced over at Du Wei and said: ¡°Is it really so difficult? Maybe I have a solution.¡± ¡°You do?¡± Du Wei took a look at this heavenly beast that did nothing so far other than waste his food. Widening his eyes, Du Wei asked: ¡°You¡­. What method do you have?¡± Chapter 170 The 170th chapter ¡°the off beaten path¡± To deal with the highly popr Duke Du Wei, the magic union apparently pulled off all the strings. Well, that¡¯s a given considering his level of fame right now in the capital. The magic union may not necessarily care about these ¡°secr¡±ponents, but Du Wei is still the direct disciple of Gandalf. Aside from that, he also managed to scared away the fake Gandalf in the central square the previous day. Even if the union didn¡¯t intentionally blow things out of proportion today, they still couldn¡¯t leave it alone like it didn¡¯t matter considering his great status. Bringing out the so called luxurious lineup, the president himself and two of the most senior old monsters inside the tower will be acting as the three man judge panel for his test. Surprisingly though, old crazy Alley actually volunteered and interjected himself into the judge panel. For this deeply experienced yet estranged powerful monster, president Dorgan had no excuse to refuse such a request. In order to show their respect to the newly appointed Grand Duke, Mage rk and several other mages of the union are already standing by outside the main building this morning. In addition, there were also a dozen magic apprentices standing in the back to boost the numbers count. From outside the square in front of the magic union, crowds of people were already spread far and wide just so they can witness the uing event. Prior to today, the news of Du Wei¡¯s assessment test have already leaked out through various channels. As the most famous celebrity in the capital recently, this young boy genius is the focal point of everyone¡¯s curiosity. With the morning sun hanging in the sky, the breeze blowing through the air gave today¡¯s morning a taste of summer that felt not only refreshing, but also exhrating. As Du Wei arrived in the square, this magic schr, court astrologist, and youngest Duke in history didn¡¯t ride inside a carriage like everyone expected; instead, he openly and care freely walked on his own two feet through the crowds without a single attendant or guard. Somewhat surprised by Du Wei¡¯s openness, Mage rk takes in a long breathe before making a respectful bow only used between Mages: ¡°Master Du Wei, pleasee with me. The president is already waiting for you inside.¡± Once again he has stepped foot into the magic union¡¯s headquarter, but unlike before, this time around is different. Not only is he apanied by several mages with status, his rarely seen magic schr robe is something that tends to attract the eyes of many even within the inner sanctum. Since his grand showcase in the coup, who wouldn¡¯t know of the boy genius magician Du Wei? Under the pretext of leading, Mage rk and hisckeys intentionally took the long route inside the hexagon shaped building just so they can attract the attention of everyone. Inside Du Wei¡¯s mind, he understands full well why the other party is doing this. If the momentum around him picks up at this time, the union will undoubtedly be in a even better position to force him to cooperate if he can¡¯t meet everyone¡¯s expectation. Nheless, Du Wei¡¯s low key entrance today through the square is a miscalction on their end. After crossing through the outer section, the core tower of the union is now before his eyes. With several gray robed personals awaiting him, Du Wei can only recognize two of them in the group ¨C two of Old Alley¡¯s disciple. ¡°Humph, came to see how I will embarrass myself?¡± Du Wei sneered. This is actually Du Wei¡¯s misunderstanding. With his recent fame and seniority status, just about every one present at the trance is here to meet him based on his future prospect. After all, only those close to president Dorgan are clued into the n. At the very least, Du Wei can tell the smile on the two disciples from Old Alley is sincere. ¡°Mage Du Wei, don¡¯t be nervous.¡± One of the Alley¡¯s disciple whispers from the side: ¡°The assessment test isn¡¯t as terrifying as everyone makes it out to be, so rest assured. ¡­.. Also, teacher is personally taking part in the examination, so he¡¯ll take care of you.¡± Du Wei nods before giving a grateful nce back him. With that, he then climbed the tower. Even till now, Du Wei is still trying to figure the amount of floors inside this magical tower. Shockingly, Du Wei¡¯s examination site is taking ce inside the top level where Dorgan¡¯s office is located! Humph, they sure ¡°value¡± me! Once he was up there, Du Wei remained calm as he smiled despite being in the face of president. Staring each other down, this pair of young and old fox faced off against each other for the first round. Smiling at the same time, it was Dorgan whom broke the silence as he dismissed Mage rk on the side. Then referring to the all-white old masters on his side, Dorgan lets out a fakeugh as he introduced everyone: ¡°Mage Du Wei, these three will be the acting judges for your assessment today. First up is Master Alley, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re well acquainted so I won¡¯t say anymore. As for the other two¡­¡­¡± Dorgan then refers to a pale white old man on his left. This person not only looked pale, he looked absolutely deathly ill as if his skin never seen the sun¡¯s light. Nheless, when Du Wei nced over at the badge rank hanging on this near death fe, he immediately marked this person as someone not to be underestimated ¨C ninth level, he¡¯s a ninth level magician! ¡°This is Grand Master Leonidas.¡± Dorgan¡¯s smile broadened: ¡°He is famed for his strict and fair attitude inside the union. With him presiding over your assessment test, I believe none could question your results. Also, among the grand mages inside the tower, he has thergest number counts when ites to these events. Therefore, he is the most suitable candidate¡­..¡± Humph, then that is nothing more than a very harsh ¡°examiner.¡± Du Wei sneers inside. The more severe the examiner is, the slimmer the chance of him cheating. Pausing for a second to let the information sink in, Dorgan then points to another old guy standing next to Old Alley: ¡°This is¡­¡­¡± Rtive to the previous guy with a creditors face, the following guy is aplete pleasure to meet. Like the sun itself, every aspect of this person gave off a warm sensation that could draw someone in if not careful. Matched this with a kind and gentle smile, the aura around the guy gave off a bearing normally found only in a caring elderly grandpa. If such a person were to discard their white mage robe, no one could possibly mistake him for a magician! If anything, he looked more like a well cultured aristocrat than a Mage. ¡°This is Grand Master Yierneisi.¡± Dorgan¡¯s voice suddenly swelled up a few notches: With his qualification, he is currently the oldest senior within the magic union. By the way, I need to let you know he is also from the same school as you. Just like you, he is also a disciple of Master Gandalf!¡± Oh, really? Du Wei eyebrow twitched. Sure enough, the eyes from this Grand Master Yierneisi were filled with kindness. ¡°Greetings, oh respected Master Yierneisi respectfully.¡± Du Wei hurriedly bent down and cast a salute befitting his junior status. Yierneisi expression remained kind and gentle, but unlike his outer appearance, his voice was monstrously disquieting when he spoke: ¡°HA HA!!! You are Du Wei Ah! At ease!! I¡¯ll take care of you!!!¡± This unexpected ¡°lion¡¯s roar¡± scared the wits out of Du Wei. President Dorgan sighed before speaking in a whispering voice, ¡°master Yierneisi¡­¡­ His ears aren¡¯t very good. A few years ago in a magical experiment, his ears¡­¡­¡± Du Wei immediately understood. Giving a look at this senior of his, he quickly said: ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°HA HA!! You are Du Wei Ah! At ease!! I¡¯ll take care of you!!! ¡± Du Wei: ¡°¡­ .. Thank you very much.¡± ¡°You are Du Wei Ah! At ease!! I¡¯ll take care of you!!! ¡± Du Wei: ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± At this point, Dorgan looked a bit embarrassed. Turing to Yierneisi, he cried out: ¡°Well then Master Yierneisi, let¡¯s start shall we?¡± ¡°You are Du Wei Ah! At ease!! I¡¯ll take care of you!!! ¡± Old Alley started to wipe away his sweat as he tugged at Master Yierneisi¡¯s sleeve. Displeased by this, Master Yierneisi frowned and said: ¡°Why are you pulling me! Ah, well, Du Wei! Rest assured! I¡¯ll take care of you!! ¡± Du Wei: ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± £» Once seated, one of Dorgan¡¯s magic apprentices brought in a few cups of tea concocted by mixing a set of special magic herbs: ¡°Mage Du Wei, prior to the examination, please tell us what level of ranking you wish to aim for? Ha-ha¡­..¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t even need to speak yet before the President started his talk of suppression: ¡°With your glorious battle records recently, surely you must be preparing to take away a white mage today, right?¡± A white Mage robe is something only a eighth level Mage or higher can wear. Eighth ranking¡­¡­ Du Wei snickers inside: Little master here wouldn¡¯t be here ying with you if I had the strength of an eighth level grand mage. ¡°Sir Du Wei.¡± The voice from this creditors faced Leonidas seems to be tinged with ill intent: ¡°Considering your age and the fact that it¡¯s your first assessment, it is already quite miraculous that you are challenging the eighth rank¡­. Ha-ha, thest time something like this happened was when Master Gandalf brought in that little girl for her test. I still remember it. It was only a year ago when that little child received her white mage robe from my hands.¡± Unlike the rest of the people present, Old Alley only showed an odd expression as he carefully eyed Du Weipared to his peers, Alley definitely has a firm grasp on Du Wei¡¯s true strength: ¡°Du Wei, I think there is a need to exin the process to you since it¡¯s your first time taking the assessment test. Hmm. Firstly, we will assess your magic power, control, and finally spells¡­.. After all that, we will continue on to the most important part, which is real lifebat! If you wish to tackle the rank of an eighth level grand mage, then you must challenge two seventh ranked mages without outside interference.¡± Pausing for a moment, Old Alley slightly frowns before making a deliberate smile: ¡°Of course, I know you are a direct disciple of Master Gandalf. Just like that little girl, I have no doubt about your abilities toplete the test. However, your time with your master isn¡¯t long. To be challenging such heights so quickly may not necessarily be a good thing¡­. If I may suggest, why not start a little bit lower and gradually grow with time?¡± Immediately recognizing the true intent behind Alley¡¯s word, Du Wei turns to face the old crazed fool and cast a nce of gratitude. Nevertheless, President Dorgan immediately shook his head and cried out augh: ¡°Although his age may be young, but everyone in the square that day had already witnessed his brilliant battle records. If such a person were to talk out of here today with a mediocre status, I fear the world will think there was some kind ofplications between us! Ha-ha-ha¡­¡­¡± Once again, these harsh yet soft words are pushing Du Wei against the cliff. As for that elder senior of Du Wei¡¯s, he was still spouting: ¡°Du Wei! I¡¯ll take care of you¡­¡­¡± After listening to everyone¡¯s words, he got up and made a respectful bow. With a calm face, he then said: ¡°I thank everyone for their suggestions. However, I do not intent to challenge the rank of an eighth level grand mage today.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡­¡± Old Alley nods with a relieved expression. In his mind, Alley really didn¡¯t want this little guy to embarass himself before everyone here. Dorgan¡¯sugh was sounding a bit weird as if he had seeded: ¡°Well then, Sir Du Wei, what level would you be aiming for? Six or seven? Hmm¡­. It can¡¯t be that you are only going for a fifth rank, right? Don¡¯t forget, you Gandalf¡¯s disciple. If we send you off today with such a meager rank, not only you, but also the union will lose face.¡± The subtext is: (It is even more shameful for you!) ¡°No!¡± Du Wei¡¯s answer took everyone by surprise: ¡°I have an even higher objective!¡± Once this statement came out, everyone flew into an uproar! ¡°Can¡­¡­ It be that you are challenging the ninth rank?¡± Even the deathly pale Leonidas had a change of tone! Ninth level? Challenging the ninth level on the first try? Du Wei is still shaking his head: ¡°No! Though the ninth rank is challenging in my opinion, but the path I chose is even more challenging!¡± At his words, president Dorgan even had trouble holding up his tea cup. ¡°You! You can¡¯t be aiming for tenth level, right?¡± Dorgan fumbles a little in his speech: ¡°It¡¯s a shame, but the union cannot perform such a test. The tenth level is the symbol of a ¡°Saint Magician¡±! Such strength is not something the secr world can possibly measure!¡± ¡°No!¡± Du Wei face remained strong as he turned to look out the window. With a deep sigh, he then said: ¡°Eight-ninth-rank, or even the Saint rank, in my opinion, they are nothing but passing winds¡­..¡± Then he firmly said: ¡°Teacher Gandalf taught me to choose my own path! Different front others, I must forge a path unique to myself! Therefore, I choose an even more challenging path¡­..¡± With that, Du Wei turned to face the four amazed old gramps before him. Slowly and firmly, he righteously announced: ¡°I came today to challenge the qualification for¡­¡­. Magic alchemy!¡± ¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡°Poof!¡± At his word, crazy Alley directly sprayed the tea in his mouth. As for that generous Yierneisi, he was stillughing as he spoke: ¡°HA-HA-HA! Rest assured! I will take care of you!!¡± It¡¯s just that a unusual intent was mixed in with hisugh at this point¡­. Du Wei looked rxed as he faced the self-smacking Dorgan: ¡°Mr. President, I believe a Magic Alchemist is also a recognized member of the magic union, right?¡± ¡°That¡­¡­ That¡¯s right!¡± Chapter 171 part 1 The 171th chapter ¡°The continent¡¯s number one magic alchemist¡± (part 1) Compared to a genuine magician, the qualification test for a magic alchemist is rtively simple. Though their qualification is still recognized under the magic union, but a magic alchemist had always been stuck in a limbo where they are looked down upon by their peers *** in the field of magic, alchemy ys a vital foundation role in the theory of magic. Du Wei¡¯s first contact with magic started off when he studied magic alchemy in his younger years. After years of research, his insight led him to one single conclusion regarding the prejudice against the field of alchemy! In his view, the biggest mistake the magic union did was to treat magic alchemists as an independent profession. Alchemy may be the foundation of a magic, but the practical use of it alone is meniscal at best. For example: It¡¯s like all financial experts must be proficient in mathematics, but that doesn¡¯t mean the basic of adding and subtracting can be considered an independent career! Du Wei understands this very well, but with the way things are turning out today, it appears he must exploit this loophole! Moreover, unlike the different ranks out there for a genuine magician, a magic alchemist only has one title. What this mean is that once you are admitted, then you are officially recognized with the qualification of a magician. Most importantly, since magic alchemists had long been neglected an inferior profession, their examination is worlds apart from a regr Mage. ¡°You¡­¡­ Du Wei, do you really want to take the test for a magic alchemy?¡± Dorgan was acting like he couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing with his ears: ¡°But¡­¡­¡± ¡°There is nothing to be ¡®but¡¯ about.¡± Du Wei justly interrupted the President. Right now his face is just like that of a devotee on a sacred mission. ¡°Magic Alchemist is also recognized as a type of magician, to me, this is already enough. Also, teacher taught me to carve my own path. In my view, the seniors before me have already made outstanding achievements in their own respected aspects. As such, I don¡¯t want to hide in their glory. As a disciple of Gandalf, I want to achieve great things never before seen. As for those rank eight-nine titles, I don¡¯t care¡­¡­ I need none of that, what I need is a challenge and my own recognition!¡± Such word can onlye out of an expert standing at the summit of the continent! That¡¯s right. ording to his glorious battle record so far, he does seem to be in the position to say such crazy things. After all, those so called rankings may be of great importance to an ordinary master, but for those standing of the summit, they are nothing! Have you ever seen a Saint level warrior foolishly running off to the knight¡¯s association just to ask for a ¡°Saint Knight¡± title? Of course not, such people naturally have their only style and way of doing things! Such as Hussein or Rodriguez, these masters don¡¯t need a badge to prove their abilities. Yet, whenever someone meets up with them, they naturally understands that they are a Saint knight! The only difference between him and them is that they are really qualified to do such things. For Du Wei, he is only boasting the ¡°master¡± brand name for his bluff. Weren¡¯t you going force out my real level? Didn¡¯t you want to expose my ¡°Super expert¡± act? Humph, fine then. I¡¯ll give you the opposite! of what you want! Whether it is rank eight or nine, I won¡¯t go for any of them! Instead, I¡¯ll go for the magic alchemist rank that is inferior to a level one rank! In this way, people really won¡¯t be able to see through Du Wei¡¯s true strength! The subtext of Du Wei Deration is: I won¡¯t take any of it. Whatever ninth or eighth rank, none of these things can catch my eye. As long as I have the magician¡¯s qualification, then that¡¯s enough for me because I don¡¯t need my rank announce to the world. Even if a person is even more stupid, they still wouldn¡¯t be that silly to believe his strength is that ordinary after his amazing showcase of strength in the coup. To the average citizen, his choice would only be seen as a peculiar style of doing things unique to a expert! This move by Du Wei haspletely tied president Dorgan¡¯s hand. Earlier when Dorgan calcted the possible oues of today¡¯s event, he just couldn¡¯t think of any way out except for Du Wei yielding to the union and be at his mercy. Yet now, the greatest regret in the president¡¯s mind is: Why did I not use my authority to remove the magic alchemist profession earlier! ¡°I¡¯m against it.¡± This creditor faced Leonidas spoke up when he saw how stumped the president was acting. Clearly, this person is aware of Dorgan¡¯s n and the reason behind it. Upon his pale face, a hint of gloominess fell upon his eyes: ¡°Mage Du Wei, as a ninth level mage and the chief elder for the assessmentmittee, I personally object to your request.¡± Du Wei did not speak, only quietly watching the guy as he waited for the next lines. In Du Wei¡¯s mind, he had already dumped this person into president Dorgan¡¯s camp. ¡°Please do not forget your identity.¡± The excuse of Leonidas is well within Du Wei¡¯s expectation: ¡°You are Master Gandalf¡¯sst disciple. Not only is he the greatest magician of this era, he is also a Magister! More importantly, he is also the spiritual leader of the magic union. Although he isn¡¯t present, but the union had always took pride in the fact that this outstanding individual is a part of us. If his prestige were to take a hit, it would be equivalent of damaging the union¡¯s prestige!¡± Du Wei remained silent. Seeing the young Duke not refuting his words, Leonidas continued to press in with his words: ¡°Take his other disciples for example. Without exception, every member of your school wouldter be a peerless expert in the world of magic ¨C like the currently present grand master Yierneisi here and the young little girl a year ago. It can be said that Master Gandalf¡¯s contribution to the field of magic is enormous by producing so many amazing individuals. Now that it is your turn¡­. Sir Du Wei, you need to be aware that as a disciple of Gandalf, many things are already out of your hand. Every move you make, every decision you make, will be closely watched by the people. If you insist on bing a Magic Alchemist, the citizens might get the wrong image and think the union is treating you badly, or worse, they might think Master Gandalf¡¯s skill in teaching his student is very bad!¡± Humph! Du Wei was sneering inside. Just as I expected! Since their underhanded move isn¡¯t working, they are ying the high and mighty card eh? Humph-humph¡­¡­ But for Du Wei that has memories spanning two life times, how can he be tied by this little trick? When ites to being underhanded, Du Wei cannot be contested. His repertoire is very simple: If others are ying underhanded, then he will retaliate with the high and mighty card. If others are ying high and mighty, then he will retaliate by being underhanded! ¡°Master Leonidas¡±. Du Wei rudely strikes back: ¡°I have to say¡­¡­ As someone who is a known veteran in the Magic Union, I find your words thus far very disconcerting! In my opinion, I feel your words have seriously damaged the prestige of the union!¡± ¡°¡­¡­ What did you say?!¡± Leonidas revealed a trace of anger on his face. With his identity inside the union, who would ever dare openly use him like this? Du Wei did not care since he had already decided this guy is going to oppose him. Therefore, he didn¡¯t care about hisnguage either. ¡°Firstly, master Leonidas! I have to remind you that your speech is seriously undervaluing the magic alchemist profession in the field of magic! I think this is a very unjust and unfair argument! Oh all mighty God, I really can¡¯t imagine such words areing out of an elder famed for his ¡®fair and just¡¯ attitude!¡± Du Wei puts on a melodramatic and surprised expression on his face. Mixed with a little deploring tone, he stares down at Leonidas: ¡°As an elder of the magic union, how can you just ignore the magic union¡¯sw?! Or do I need to remind you that thew expressly indicates that a magic alchemist also have the same qualification as a magician! This point is something widely known and recognized by the union! You being an elder of the union can¡¯t just so casually deny this fact because of your own opinion! It¡¯s regrettable, but I personally feel your words thus far is an open discrimination against the profession! On behalf of the entire magic alchemist profession, I am protesting against you!¡± Watching how Du Wei is arguing with his justifiable yet harsh words, the once polite young junior from earlier is nowhere to be found. In its stead, a new face appeared. Seeing the face pped Leonidas, Du Wei inwardlyughed: Didn¡¯t you want to y the high and mighty card? Humph, who couldn¡¯t? Anyone can, but it takes a lot more than skills to do it well. Compared to me, you are league apart! With only a few words of job discrimination, Leonidas became chained by Du Wei¡¯s usation. For this elderly old man, he became so angry that even his white beard was trembling with rage. If not for the president, he really wanted to teacher this youngster a lesion on the spot! ¡°There is also!¡± Du Wei was not finish! It seems that unless he makes this creditor faced Leonidas die of anger, he won¡¯t give up. Du Wei turns away from Leonidas and faces the president instead: ¡°Mr. President, I want to be clear of something, Just now, the opinion from master Leonidas is the official stance of the magic union, or just his own?¡± Dorgan hesitated before look over at hisrade in arms: ¡°This is¡­¡­¡± ¡°Freedom!¡± Du Wei suddenly threw out this solid word. Unquestionably, his strong tone somehow moved these old gramps a bit. ¡°Please keep in mind that even if the magic union is the core organization of the maind, it still can¡¯t vite the personal wishes of a magician! If I remember correctly, there isn¡¯t a single mandatory rule in the magic union that forces a magician to take a certain test, right? Every magician can choose what tests they like to take, every magician can choose what field they like to pursue. This is freedom! Or did the union devolve into an organization where it doesn¡¯t allow their members the freedom of choice anymore?¡± Thest word caused Dorgan¡¯s brow to twitch: ¡°Please pay attention to your words, Sir Du Wei!¡± ¡°Very well.¡± Du Wei understands when he should hold back. Immediately, he bows his head slightly to match his words: ¡°I take back myst word, I was somewhat excited¡± Alley gave everyone a nce, but by the time he looked over at this old senior Yierneisi beside him, this person remained the save as ever like he didn¡¯t hear the argument between the two sides just now. As such, Alley made a coughing sound to interject: ¡°Du Wei, you don¡¯t need to be so excited. I believe his the words from Leonidas had good intentions. Of course, his words are only his personal opinion. The magic union will never override the personal choices of a magician, on this point, you can be assured.¡± Although Dorgan gave Alley aplex yet thoughtful look after his speech, the president didn¡¯t speak up to refute it. ¡°Well then¡­ since it is only a ¡®personal opinion¡¯.¡± Du Wei lets augh, but it was clear there was disdain in his voice. Looking over at Leonidas, his voice slightly lowered: ¡°Master Leonidas, are you also a disciple of Gandalf?¡± ¡°¡­¡­No.¡± ¡°Oh, then are you teacher¡¯s peer? Did you study magic with him?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ No!¡± No matter how conceited this Leonidas is, he still wouldn¡¯t dare put himself against someone as great as the continents number one Magister! Regardless of age or seniority, this person can only be considered someone from the younger generation. Yet, he still quickly followed up with a point: ¡°Back when I was learning magic, I also received some advice from Master Gandalf.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡­¡± Du Wei expression seems a bit kinder, but his next word nearly sent Leonidas flying in rage. ¡°The is the so called ¡®don¡¯t meddle in affairs that are not part of your position¡¯. Master Leonidas, since you are not a member of our school, then I also need to remind you something from my standpoint¡­..¡± Du Wei¡¯s mocking tone was neither cold or angry: ¡°You don¡¯t need to bother with the matters regarding the disciples of our school!¡± That¡¯s to say: who the hell are you toe dictating what us disciples can or can¡¯t do! Leonidas cannot endure this anymore, when has ever received such attitude? The old man flew into a rage and jumped up on the spot. Just as he was about to shout in anger, president Dorgan¡¯s deep voice suddenly interjected: ¡°enough is enough!!¡± This fierce shout immediately silenced everyone in the room. He is after all the president of the magic union. When his face bes serious, he still has some level of deterrence. With a somber face, Dorgan puts his hand on Leonidas¡¯s shoulder to sit him back down. Then facing Du Wei with his dark face, he suddenlyughed after a little while. The smile is clearly filled with some kind of plot. ¡°Master Du Wei sure is young and promising. For master Gandalf¡¯s school, there will be another marvel! Ha-ha¡­¡­¡± Du Wei said nothing. ¡°First of all, I must dere: the Union will not allow the existence of discrimination in any form. Every person must show their upmost respect for the union¡¯s rule, this fact is indisputable.¡± Dorgan then turns to look at Leonidas with dissatisfaction because of his recklessness. Although discrimination against Magic Alchemists are a widely known fact, but it is apletely different matter if you say it in public! ¡°Second point I like to make clear is that the union respects the wishes of all mages. For this point, I absolutely assure you. Unlike the government of the empire, the union is an organization that exists to unite all mages! Therefore, we will never impose our will upon you like a master does on its subordinate.¡± After rifying these two points, president Dorgan slowly spoke his next words: ¡°Master Du Wei, with my status as the president of the union, I ept your request for the magic alchemist assesement.¡± A sh of satisfaction crossed Du Wei¡¯s eyes. However, Dorgan followed up with another sentence beyond his expectation: ¡°But given your identity with thete Master Gandalf, I must act carefully. I¡¯ve decided that aside from your regr assessment tests, I will also add in a special examination test in the end. Certainly, if you unwilling, you can always refuse this. After all, everything must be done ording to your personally wish.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡± ¡°For you, I will set up an additional standard. As long as you can meet the criteria, the magic union will grant you the honor of ¡°the continent¡¯s number one Magic Alchemist!!¡± One word from Dorgan made Du Wei inwardly sigh. Counter checked! (In chess, you must say ¡¯check¡¯ before taking the king) A President is after all a president. Without some scheming mindset, a person can¡¯t sit in this position. Chapter 171 part 2 The 171th chapter ¡°The continent¡¯s number one magic alchemist¡± (part 2) Didn¡¯t you want to challenge Magic Alchemy? Fine then, I¡¯ll let you challenge it! At the same time, I¡¯ll add in an additional problem on top of your exam. If you canplete it, then you will receive the title of continent¡¯s number one. Regardless of the result, you will still be a Magic Alchemist. It may seem fair on the surface¡­ but how can Du Wei not understand the hidden meaning behind this? Originally, the reason behind his refusal to take the rank appraisal test is so that he can hide his true strength from prying eyes. Therefore, Magic Alchemy is the ideal choice for him due to itsx requirement. But since an ¡°extra¡± problem is added in, Du Wei can neither retreat nor escape anymore! Didn¡¯t your words sound great?! Didn¡¯t you say you want to ¡°carve out your own road¡±? Didn¡¯t you say you want to walk a path different from the rest? In that case, I¡¯ll fulfill your wish and even give you an opportunity to be the continent¡¯s number one! If you still don¡¯t take this chance, then you are admitting everything you said so far is a bluff! If Du Wei retreats now after spouting all those words of ¡°I want a challenge¡±, then he would be a hypocrite in everyone¡¯s eyes. The title of continent number one would tempt even the strongest willed among masters. If you are still not tempted, then the only exnation left is that you are bluffing ¡°You want to y with me?¡± Du Wei sneers inside before crying out a reply: ¡°I ept!¡± ¡°Very good.¡± President Dorgan¡¯s eyes were also decisive in his reply. To tell you the truth, this so-called ¡°continent¡¯s number one magic alchemist¡± is ast ditch move. Though the magic alchemist profession is a tasteless career, but it is still a bit reckless to add in the title of number one like this. To be able to be the president in the magic union, this person is naturally quitepetent. In his mind, Dorgan understands that magic alchemy ys a vital role in the foundation of many magic theories. Throwing out such a grand title so carelessly, even Dorgan felt he wastoo reckless. However, in order to make Du Wei yield, he had no other choice but to take this risk. ¡°So then Master Leonidas, will you exin the process for the assessment since you are the most experienced among us.¡± Although Leonidas wants to strangle Du Wei right now, he could not disobey the president¡¯s order. Giving out a vague humph, he was just about to speak with his darkened face when Old Alley interjected: ¡°Why not let me do the honors. Among everyone here, I believe I am the most experienced when ites to magic alchemy.¡± No one objected to this statement because among the old monsters in the union, this crazy Alley is definitely leagues ahead of everyone. Compared to a real assessment test for a magician, the test for a magic alchemist is simply too shocking that one must stare. First of all, you just have to be able to recite the 20 potion recipes mentioned by the examiner and clearly state the difference between somemonly used nts in alchemy. Then under the supervision of the examiner, you must concoct a potion in itsplete procedure. As for the recipe, it will be up to your own choice. As soon as you can pass these tests, then congrattions, you are fully recognized as a magic alchemist. It¡¯s as simple as that. Considering Du Wei¡¯s intelligence and that he¡¯s been studying the subject since he was little, it would be more ridiculous if he can¡¯t pass it. In fact, it wouldn¡¯t be hard for him to recite over 300 or more recipes out of his mind right now if he wanted to! As for identifying and distinguishing some nts and potions, it is quite simple. And controlling the brewing process can¡¯t stump him either. If anything is going to be hard, it would the extra ¡°problem¡± that was added in. President Dorgan was openly smiling now as if certain Du Wei would fail. If word spread of Du Wei¡¯s inability to pass the extra test, then his reputation that he so painstakingly built up would be damaged. ¡°Du Wei, this additional problem is not that difficult.¡± Dorgan¡¯s faint smile left Du Wei feeling uncertain. Not difficult? It would be strange if it was not difficult! ¡°Everyone here is well versed in magic, so everyone knows that once someone delves deep into magic alchemy, they can emte some spells without actually using magic to aid them. However, it is widely known that such practices are limited to some low tiered spells. Though rare, there are some cases where some alchemic products can yield results simrly close to an intermediate spell. Of course, none of them made the grade. Hmmm, if I remember correctly, master Alley here developed a magic potion years ago that tried to emte the effects of an intermediate support spell.¡± Dorgan lets out a devilish chuckle: ¡°Since it¡¯s like this, the problem I¡¯m proposing to you will be to concoct a product that can emte the effects of an intermediate or higher spell.¡± ¡­¡­ Despicable old Fox! After listening to everything, Du Wei bitterly sneered inside. Use magic potions to simte an intermediate spell? What a joke! In Du Wei¡¯s view, it is already a revolution that Solskjaer can use gunpowder to simte the effect of a low tiered fireball. Even then, the revolution of the decade can only simte a low-level fireball! When ites to emting an intermediate spell¡­¡­ Looking far and wide, there is still no one capable of doing it! It is impossible! The difficulty of this problem proposed by Dorgan is really at the peak. Even for someone like Alley, this crazy inventor now believes Du Wei is a goner because such a feat is out of his ability too! In his entire life, he spent all his time researching and performing magic experiments. Even so, this crazy inventor still couldn¡¯t create anything truly capable of emting an intermediate spell. Though there are potions capable of recovering expended energy for a mage, but those can¡¯t really be considered magic. It¡¯s easier said than done to emte a spell with magic materials! ¡°I ept!¡± The clear and proud answer from Du Wei caused all of these old gramps to turn pale! Du Wei was full of confidence: ¡°In that case, let us begin. Starting from the basic alchemic recipes, may I know which of the masters present will do me the honor?¡± ¡°Cough cough¡­¡­¡± Master Alley coughed repeatedly at the incredible attitude from Du Wei: ¡°President, I want to make a suggestion. Du Wei no longer needs to do the basic assessment. Prior to today, I¡¯ve already done some experiments with him. In fact, I¡¯m willing to guarantee that he is more than capable of passing the test. Therefore, why don¡¯t we just skip to the extra test?¡± Even for someone like Alley that spent his entire lifetime researching and experimenting, his curiosity is hooked. Du Wei is very determined as heughed: ¡°Since this is my chosen path, I think emting an intermediate spell is too simple. Hmmm¡­. It just so happens I achieved some resultstely. I¡¯ll simte the effects of a high tiered spell!¡± This single word sent everyone flying in shock! ¡°As we all know, myte teacher master Gandalf is skilled in a high tiered spell called ¡°Wheel of time¡±, right? This spell is capable of wielding the users enormous power to reverse time and space.¡± All of the old gramps nodded as soon as Du Wei finished his sentence. Gandalf¡¯s ¡°Wheel of time¡± is well known among these old masters. ¡°Well then, I figured out a recipe that allows me to control time!¡± What Du Wei said left the audience speechless! Fortunately I came prepared¡­¡­ QQ (penguin¡¯s name) With that, Du Wei pulled out something from his storage ring. This thing is tightly wrapped in a ck cloth; although it is obviously a nt pot, but for some reason it was tightly covered as if the contents are afraid of the light. ¡°This flower is the ¡®Queen of the night¡¯.¡± Du Wei puts the pot in his hand onto the ground. Then grinning, he continued to speak: ¡°Everyone knows that this flower has the shortest blooming time. Once it reacts with the morning sun, it will immediately bloom for a short period before wilting away. That¡¯s why, I want to use this flower to showcase my research results.¡± With that, Du Wei then took out another bottle. After gently unscrewing the cap, a strange exotic smell came flying out of the bottle. Everyone present is people of great capabilities. With a single sniff, all of them recognized the smell is filled with all kinds of strange vors. Even for Alley ¨C considering his knowledge and experience ¨C he still had trouble recognizing the smell of each individual ingredient due to theplexity. What came next, including: Alley, Dorgan, Leonidas, and Yierneisi, is something the four can never forget for the rest of their lives! Until Alley met his death, this crazy inventor still couldn¡¯t figure out how Du Wei achieved such a feat! Du Wei casually unwrapped the ck cloth on the ground to reveal the flower hidden underneath. With the light¡¯s shining on the bud, the flower soon blossomed out! But then, Du Wei took the bottle and gently tilted it on top of the flower pot. Drop by drop, the content of the bottle fell into the soil¡­¡­ The flower that should have been withering away remained as it was like it was stuck in an eternal time spell! No matter how much time passed, the flower looked like it was filled with life! A minute ¡­ ¡­ Five minutes ¡­ ¡­ Ten minutes ¡­ ¡­ Not sure how much time had passed; Dorgan with his widened eyes subconsciously touched the cup on the table only to be surprised by the cold touch against his fingers. The once hot tea is now cold due to the passing of time! Yet the flower remained blooming as if it was a fake! Leonidas couldn¡¯t endure it anymore. Standing up, this old gramps walked up to the edge of the pot and was carefully examining the flower for any oddities. Despite his efforts, he couldn¡¯t find any problems with it. No matter how he thought about it, it was just a regr flower! ¡°How did you do it?!¡± Leonidas expression became agitated as he stared at Du Wei: ¡°Let me have a look at the potion inside that bottle!¡± Instead ofplying, Du Wei sneers. Drawing the bottle back, he hid it away back into his pocket: ¡°Master Leonidas, don¡¯t you think your request is a bit out of line!¡± Leonidas instantly became speechless. That¡¯s right, despite the situation being an assessment test, such a request is still too outrageous! In the field of magic, every magician considers their research the same as their life! If changing to Leonidas, would he so casually reveal the secret behind the spell he so painstakingly created? Of course not! Under the supervision of a few grand masters, it is confirmed Du Wei did not y any tricks to achieve such a result! If he so much as invoked a hint of magic, these old monsters would definitely pick up on it and not let it slide. Yet, he still did it. Using only a bottle of potion, he managed to put the flower in stasis! Facing the group of stunned old geezer, Du Wei subconsciously patted his pocket¡­¡­ Humph, luckily I got the ¡°Fountain of youth¡±! Of course, in order to cover up the spring¡¯s original form, Du Wei intentionally mixed it up with countless ingredients to create a messy concoction. On one hand it can stump the other side in copying him; on the other, it can also help hide the water¡¯s true appearance. After a long time, Du Wei impatiently yawned before looking at president Dorgan: ¡°Sir, may I ask, did I can pass the examination?¡± Dorgan: ¡°¡­¡­¡± Chapter 172 part 1 The 172th chapter ¡°very easy¡± (part 1) Speaking from president Dorgan¡¯s standpoint, he is now faced with a difficult predicament. Without any room to retreat from, Du Wei sessfully imitated the effects of a high tiered spell with only a single magic potion despite being under the scrutinous eyes of these old grand masters. Even so, none could find fault within his work. Dorgan suddenly felt he miscalcted. Like a rock had fallen from the sky, he could feel his feet being mmed with it because of his own misjudgment. He was absolutely sure the kid couldn¡¯t pass through the extra problem because even Alley couldn¡¯t do it ¨C even for Dorgan, he had to yield to Alley when it came to this subject. What is supposed to impossible was effortlessly achieved by Du Wei, and the way he did it was impable too. So what¡¯s next? Does he really have to grant the title of ¡°continent¡¯s number one magic alchemist¡± to this little Du Wei? This is not your ordinary title damn it! Although the alchemist profession is thought to be of little value in the field of magic, but if it was added with the title of ¡°number one¡±, then the meaning would bepletely different! If dumped with a title like this, wouldn¡¯t Du Wei be officially recognized as the number one in this field by both the government and the union? A phenomenon like that is something Dorgan absolutely does not want to see, let alone being the number one magic alchemist. Hypothetically speaking, this would be like a craftsman, a cksmith, a tailor, or Forger. All of these various professions aren¡¯t amazing by itself, but if added with the title of number one, then that would be something of remarkable nature! Regardless of the industry, if one can achieve the title of number one, then they would be a grand master!!! Du Wei¡¯s qualification as a magic alchemist is unquestionable ¨C others wouldn¡¯t be so stupid to really think this youngest duke in history is only at the level of a magic alchemist, right? The continent¡¯s number one! This is the ¡°continent¡¯s number one¡± were talking about! But the words were spoken by himself. As the president of the magic union, how can he go back on his words? In desperation, Dorgan summoned up his courage and faced Du Wei: ¡°Mage Du Wei, your showcase of magic alchemy is a real eye opener for us. Since it¡¯s like this¡­¡­¡± The President then turned around and walked back into his room. After a while, he took out a pale yellow parchment. This is an official document of the magic union pertaining to the recognition of Du Wei¡¯s magic abilities. In addition to his name, Du Wei¡¯s title is also written there: Magic Alchemist. Then Dorgan handed the parchment over to couple of old geezers present: ¡°Dear fellow mages please sign your names here.¡± Surprising Du Wei, the first one to stretch out their hands to receive the document is not Alley. Instead, it was that Yierneisi. With a beaming smile, the old guy pulled out a quill from his pocket and slightly wet the tip with his mouth before signing his name. The second to sign is Alley. Master Alley gave Du Wei a deep meaningful gaze before heaving a long sigh. Tapping on Du Wei¡¯s shoulder, he said: ¡°Nicely done kid! What I couldn¡¯t do, you managed to do it. For that, I am very pleased but also envious of you. If you are willing, I would love to know the form. From the smell alone, I could distinguish six types of ingredients, but no matter how much I thought about it, I fail to see how you achieved such a result¡­.. Oh, you don¡¯t have to worry. I won¡¯t force you to surrender form. If you are willing, I like to use anything within my inventory to exchange!¡± With that, Alley also signed his name on the paper. Facing this crazy old Alley, Du Wei felt somewhat unwell in his heart. Exchange recipes? The amount of benefits Du Wei gained from this crazy old Alley is absolutely tremendous. For example: the five colored gemstone, the manufacturing process for the flying broom, and the mithril recement recipe¡­. All of these amazing things are from this crazy old guy. Also, there is the stuff Du Wei learned by visiting Alley¡¯sboratory. Lastly, there is also the vast amounts of magic ingredients Du Wei received like the magical nt hybrids. Bluntly said, if Du Wei really had such a recipe, the right thing to do is to freely share it with this crazy old guy. Unfortunately Du Wei knows it himself that this is not some kind of potion. Rather, it is wholly relied on the magical abilities of the ¡°Fountain of youth¡±. It¡¯s just that he is in no position to tell the old guy. The third to sign is Leonidas. Although he finds Du Wei very displeasing to the eye, but the facts are facts. No matter how much he disliked the oue, he acted out his role of being a viin and simply signed the paper. Finally, Dorgan retrieved the parchment and wrote down his name. After confirming the signature of everyone present, he lifted a finger into the air and made a swirling motion. From his movement, several magical sparks shot out and softlynded on top of the paper. ¡°I¡¯ll have someone store the document inside the magic union. From this moment on, Du Wei, you are a full-fledged member of the union.¡± The president suddenly paused in his words, his face looking somewhat difficult: ¡°However, your badge¡­..¡± By right, what happens after the signing process is the issuing of the magician¡¯s badge. No matter the rank, every ranking badge would be imprinted with the user¡¯s blood and bind with magic. This is to prevent frauds from impersonating a magician¡¯s identity. But for a However, the badge of a magic alchemist is much moremon and simple. But the most embarrassing part was that in Dorgan¡¯s possession, he did not have a magic alchemist badge! It is expected. As the president of the magic union, there¡¯s no way someone of his status would preside over the examination process of a magic alchemist, nor would he carry a lowly magic alchemist badge. Therefore, within the president¡¯s office, such a thing was never prepared. In addition¡­¡­ As the ¡°continent¡¯s number one magic alchemist¡±, how can Du Wei be given such an ordinary item? Dorgan was hesitating over not knowing what kind of badge he should give Du Wei. While at this moment, Du Wei came down with a idea. Of course, the ¡°continent¡¯s number one¡± title is very tempting. Even for a profession like the magic alchemist, which is looked down upon in the magic field, it would be quite the deal if stered with such a grand name. But after Du Wei calmed down, he realized such a title may not necessarily be a good thing. Not for anything¡­¡­ it¡¯s just that the title is too dramatic! No matter how he yed it, he is only a 14 year old kid. If he is suddenlybeled with such a grand title, it may be a bit overdone. Too far is as bad as not enough, Du Wei understands such a saying very well. Instead of gaining some benefit, he feared the amount of trouble that is to follow will greatly outweigh the good. Firstly, it would put the magic union in an awkward situation. Aside from that, Dorgan is definitely not pleased with this. It¡¯s one thing to vent his anger a bit, but offending the union is absolutely out of the question. If he really went overboard, the amount of trouble in the future would be endless. Secondly¡­¡­ Humph-humph, continent¡¯s number one, who knows how many people would be envious of such a title?! There¡¯s no way it would be okay for a 14 year old kid to wear such a big name. If he somehow getsnded with such a gimmick, who knows how many people out there would shoot hostility at him. In Du Wei¡¯s mind, he understands full well howcking he truly is. Sure, his knowledge may be abnormally high, but it is simply too far away from being worthy of number one. The world is big, who knows how many hidden talents there really are. If he suddenly getsnded with a challenging title like ¡°number one¡±, there will definitely be those that want to challenge it. If that happens, wouldn¡¯t he have someone knocking at his door every few days? If all he is going to get is a catchy title, why not exchange it for something more practical and valuable? Thinking of this, Du Wei immediately puts on a smile. Watching the president, his tone became earnestly kind: ¡°Sir, before issuing a badge, I have something to say.¡± ¡°£¿¡± Dorgan looked at Du Wei and thought: what else do you have to say? Are you going to take the opportunity to use words to ridicule me? ¡°President and the several mages present.¡± Du Wei pondered for a moment before smiling: ¡°Although president sir is fond of me and is willing to bestow upon me the title of continents number one, but I think it is wrong to do this¡­.. After all, I¡¯m only a 14 year kid. And¡­.. to tell the truth, it was through teacher¡¯s advice that came up with this recipe. With my cultivation in magic alchemy, I feel my ability is still far from deserving of the title ¡®number one¡¯. Therefore, I request the president to retract the title!¡± EH? The kid does business like this? Both Dorgan and Leonidas looked at each other. Chapter 172 part 2 The 172th chapter ¡°very easy¡± (part 2) With his goals achieved, Du Wei understands he should quit before he gets ahead of himself. By saving some face for the other side, he should still have some room to maneuver and make future deals. Dorgan is obviously relieved because if he really went through with his words, then everyone out there would ridicule him as a foolish president. However, he still had to make it look like he insisted on the surface. Together, the two pushed the issue back and forth until Dorgan finally gave out a meaningful smile: ¡°Sir Du Wei, since you are refusing such a title, then we won¡¯t force it upon you. Nheless, you did make it past the extra examination. To showcase the magnitude of how much the union values your talent, we are willing to provide a room for you inside the tower, what do you think?¡± Move into the most sacred ces inside the tower and to be able to have his very ownboratory? This treatment is already very good! In order to be eligible for the Tower, one must be a grand mage of immeasurable talent. While Du Wei was chatting away with rk the other day, he came to know about how every member living inside the ce is provided with free study materials! Free eating, free plundering, and the scenery is not bad too! Despite this, Du Wei still shook his head after a moment in thought: ¡°Mr. President, you should know that I have a ducal title now. After a few months, I will be leaving the capital for my territory in the Northwest. I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have much time left in the capital to research magic¡­. I appreciate your kindness, but¡­¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s of no importance.¡± Dorgan faintly smiles: ¡°Since Sir Du Wei cannot stay in the capital, we can just station yourboratory over at the northwest. Before you leave today, I¡¯ll make a note of it with the deacons. From then on, the union will provide any materials you need for your experiments if you have a need of it¡­¡­¡± The president originally wanted to follow up with the word ¡°free¡±, but he thought better of it. Such a kid is not easy to deal with! If he had actually said such a thing, who knows how much the union will lose in theing future. Pausing a second, his mouth quickly changed it to ¡°Of course, you can discuss it over with the deacons when the timees. I assure you, the union will give you the lowest price possible for anything you want.¡± Du Wei smiled. Then narrowing his eyes, he looked straight in the old president¡¯s eyes: ¡°Sir, I also have a little favor I like to ask.¡± ¡°Please speak.¡± Dorgan knows that a price must be paid since Du Wei gave up on making things difficult for him. Though his heart still felt sour inside, but this is something that must be done. ¡°I¡¯m a magician already, but by my side, Ick some proper assistants. Sure, I have plenty of staffs at home, but considering my status, I believe it is a bit degrading if I employed some regr mortals for my work.¡± ¡°That¡¯s easy.¡± With a wave of his hand, Dorgan said: ¡°I will allow you to pick five magic apprentices from the union. As long as they are to your liking, you can take them with you.¡± ¡°Just apprentices won¡¯t do.¡± Du Wei slyly smiled: ¡°For my experiments, I need some proper assistants.¡± Can it be this kid still wants to take away a few Mages? Right away, Dorgan¡¯s facial expression change! Every Magician is a valuable asset and talent of the union! For those rich snobby nobles, they would still need to expend immense wealth just to hire a second rate magician. Though the mages can¡¯t be physically possessed, but if a noble can put one under their payroll, it would already be considered a great honor! Yet, this kid wants to take several wizards with him to the northwest? Such a scenario ispletely out of the question! Du Wei immediately guessed what the President was thinking: ¡°Of course I wouldn¡¯t have any thoughts for those respected seniors of mine. With my qualification, there is no way I can ask all those famed mages to be my assistants. But¡­. I believe one or two low ranking mages wouldn¡¯t be a problem, right?¡± ¡°No! Magicians are valuable assets of the union. As such, I¡¯m not at liberty to send them out to the border. Aside from that, there are still many important jobs inside the union that requires a mage toplete.¡± ¡°So then¡­¡­ What about Magic Alchemists?¡± Du Wei is finally showed his true colors: ¡°Since magicians won¡¯t work, then I will need some magic alchemists.¡± That¡¯s the lowest he will go. Fortunately, the bias inside Dorgan and Leonidas remain unchanged. In their minds, this fruitless profession is of little value to the union. After a bit of bargaining, Dorgan promised Du Wei he can take with him three magic apprentices and three magic alchemists to the northwest. Among the candidates, one of Du Wei¡¯s choices dumbfounded these old guys. ¡°In the Union¡¯s main Hall, there is a young man named Cosette that is charged with the management of the wand shop. When I was previously here, I had a discussion with him over different views. In the end, I find that he is quite to my taste, so I wish to take him with me.¡± Someone from the wand shop outside? The President didn¡¯t even think it over and immediately answered: ¡°Not a problem. If you want to, you can even bring him with you before you leave today.¡± For someone that is already ced in the outer ward, and to sell wands at that, Dorgan is certain the person in question is without a future. However, many yearster, the Magic Union found that they made a terrible deal!! Exchanging such an important title for only several magic apprentices and magic alchemists, even Dorgan felt sorry for Du Wei. In the old guy¡¯s mind, he knows that such deal is not without strings attached. Taking the initiative, Dorgan asked: ¡°Du Wei, why don¡¯t youe clean and tell us what other request you want.¡± ¡°Oh, then the next thing is about the soon to be established Magic Academy!¡± Once the subject was brought up, every face inside the room darkened. The development of this magic academy carries great significance for the magic union. Aside from that, it will also dictate the future of the magic field. This is something everyone present today understands full well. Dorgan frowned and thought: Isn¡¯t the kid¡¯s appetite too big? Does he really want to take a share in this? Du Wei slowly opened up: ¡°As a magic schr and soon to be member of the school¡¯s councilmittee, I don¡¯t wish to be someone that is only looked at as someone of high statute. I want more; I want to input myself into thisndmark event.¡± EH? Dorgan was stunned: ¡°Can it be that you wish to attend the academy and be a student?¡± This might be difficult. This request is not difficult in nature, but what about Du Wei¡¯s status? His title is a court magician! If such a person were to attend the academy, who could dare teach him? Aside from that, who the hell is even qualified to teach him? ¡°No, you are mistaken.¡± Du Wei firmly shakes his head: ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a student.¡± ¡°Oh, Then what you really mean is¡­¡­¡± ¡°I want to be a teacher.¡± Du Wei spoke with a stern expression: ¡°I wish to be able to spread the knowledge handed down to me by my teacher. In doing so, I want master¡¯s legacy to spread far and wide and allow more people to be bathed in the light of magic!¡± Tea¡­¡­ Teacher? This boy wants to be a teacher in the magic academy?! But¡­¡­ If you put his age aside and not put it into the equation, then considering his past record and status, his qualification is more than enough. In fact, he beyond qualified! Master Gandalf¡¯sst disciple, court magician, and nearly became the continent¡¯s number one magic alchemist! If such a man were to go teach in the magic academy, it would be very good. But still¡­¡­ He is only a 14 year old kid! And, to tell the truth, President Dorgan is still skeptical of Du Wei¡¯s true power. ¡°But¡­.. Sir Du Wei, may I ask what subject you prepared to teach?¡± Du Wei response is still as stunning. ¡°Magic Alchemy!¡± As expected ¡­¡­ President Dorgan was sweating all over now. Once out of the magic union under the apaniment of Mage rk, Du Wei couldn¡¯t conceal his smug face anymore. In the Deacon¡¯s mind, he just couldn¡¯t figure out what benefit Du Wei got from the president. However, in the face of this future star of the magic field, Mage rk¡¯s can only quietly lead the way in the front. But prior toing out, rk led Du Wei to the wand shop in the main hall and passed the word to the big headed Cossette: ¡°Cossette, president¡¯s order. From today onward, you are to follow Mage Du Wei and be his assistant.¡± The big head Cossette had to spend a minute in thought before finally recognizing Du Wei is the youngster from a while back. Seeing the dazed appearance on Cossette, Du Wei was ecstasy inside! Talent! This is a real talent! Although he only spent a short amount of time conversing with the guy, but Du Wei is certain this big headed fe wouldn¡¯t lose out to the genius Solskjaer! Just you wait Magic Union, you will regret this! And also¡­¡­ Magic Academy¡¯s teacher! HA-HA-HA-HA ¡­ ¡­ Thinking of this, Du Wei really want to go find an empty space without anyone tough it out! Humph, master here may not be able to plug his own people into the student list, but I can still plug myself into it! By then, it would be easy to grab a few students into my pocket! Chapter 173 The 173th chapter ¡°ve¡± After bringing Cosette back to his residence, this big headed guy was still full of curiosity towards Du Wei. However, before Cosette left the union, Deacon rk clearly warned him to treat Du Wei as his real master from today onwards. ¡°Just like your teacher.¡± That was how rk described it. Turns out Cosette had a teacher to begin with and his position inside the union is quite good as well. The person is in fact the very same Mage Azrael whom tricked Gargamel in the frozen forest years ago. Fortunately Cosette¡¯s status among his peers is of no importance, or else why would he be stationed outside as a supervisor for the wand shop? Also, Azrael has plenty of magic apprentices under him already, so missing one or two people like Cosette won¡¯t raise any eyebrows at all. As of today onwards, Cossette can be considered officially switched into Du Wei¡¯s banner.. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Cosette?¡± Du Wei saw that the big headed guy was looking a little oddpared to before, so he kindly asked: ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡± ¡°No, no, it¡¯s nothing much, teacher Du Wei.¡± Cosette answered honestly in ordance with the union¡¯s tradition. Contrary to what he intended, Cosette¡¯s respectful words actually made Du Wei frown in displeasure. ¡°Cosette.¡± Du Wei stopped in his step and looked at his abducted genius: ¡°I don¡¯t need you to call me teacher.¡± ¡°But this is tradition¡­¡­¡± Cosette whispered back in reply: ¡°In the union, all magic apprentices are to call the magician whom they swore their allegiance to ¡®teacher¡¯.¡± ¡°But I am not your teacher.¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°You are not my student and more importantly, I have nothing to teach you. The reason I brought you back with me is for your brain. If I were to exaggerate my words, I will even need you to teach me things¡­.¡± Fear filled Cosette¡¯s face. Du Wei tapped the stiff guy on the shoulder before looking at this big headed genius. With a smile, he then said: ¡°Enough, you will understand in the future. What I value is your gift, so I hope you can help me do many great things in theing days, okay?¡± Then Du Wei no longer cared about the expressions Cosette was making. Pointing a finger to the end of the street in front of them, he continued to speak: ¡°look, my residence is just over there.¡± Further in front is Du Wei¡¯s temporary residence. The ce originally belonged to the Crown Prince and was rumored to be a ce for his highness to hide his mistress. Whether this rumor is true or not is of no importance now. Above all else, Du Wei was leaving the capital anyways. It may not be grand like a mansion, but the house was still considerably big by normal standards. When Du Wei first moved into the ce, the original servants and guards had long left the ce to its own demise after the fall of the Crown Prince. Now living in the house is only the old housekeeper Marde and a couple of servants from the Rowling Household. These people did not want to go back to the Rowling ins, so their only option was to temporarily stay with Du Wei at the time. In addition, there is also Vivian, Gargamel, and the heavenly beast QQ in the house. However, Gargamel and QQ¡¯s existence is still a secret to the rest and only Du Wei is aware of their existence. Upon reaching the entrance, Du Wei was surprised to find Vivian sitting quietly at the doorway. With her chin cupper against her hands, the girl was in a daze as she pathetically looked at the street corner. Even when Du Wei came up to her, the silly girl is still unaware of his presence. ¡°Why are you here?¡± Du Weiughed as he watched the dazed Vivian sitting on the footsteps. The truth is Du Wei was quite happy over Vivian¡¯s willingness toe out. Since the day he brought Vivian back from ¡°Brokeback Mountain¡±, the usually weak willed girl had locked herself up inside a room and refused toe out. Every day he would go see her a few times, but every time Vivian was silent with grief. Du Wei did try to tease her to get her talking, but the result would always end with the poor girl dripping in tears around the corner of her eyes. Left with no other way, he can only leave her alone in the room toe to terms by herself. As the pain dissipates day by day, the scar will eventually heal with time. Sure enough, Vivian is finally willing toe out and is even sitting outside the doorway. Delighted by this, Du Wei came up to her and lightly knocked the poor girl on the head. Squinting a smile, he then asked: ¡°Hey! Are you in a trance? Do you not hear my words?¡± Vivian lifted her eyes only to blink a couple of times as she looked at Du Wei. When she gradually regained her thoughts, she finally stood up only to find her knees sourly numb. Rubbing them to sooth her legs, Vivian then asked in a whispering voice: ¡°You, you, pass the test?¡± The little maiden still looked hurt and weak on the surface, but her voice showed a clear sign of concern for Du Wei. Smiling, Du Wei¡¯s voice also became softer: ¡°Did you intentionally sit here just to wait for me?¡± ¡°I ¡­ ¡­ I was worried about you.¡± Vivian¡¯s small cheek began to blush. Lowering her head to hide her embarrassment, she then said: ¡°The ma-magic assessment is very difficult. I¡¯m worried¡­.¡± Du Wei patted his chest heavily to show the magic alchemist badge pinned to his shirt: ¡°Rest assured. You see? This is my badge. Now standing before you is a genuinely qualified magician.¡± Vivian widened her eyes to stare at the badge. However, before the girl can say a word, Du Wei was already pulling Vivian through the doorway. As the two walked a few steps, Du Wei suddenly turned around to face Cosette: ¡°Why are freezing up? Come in!¡± Marde was also quick toe meet them as he furiously ran out from the inside. Upon seeing his faithful servant, Du Wei instructed old Marde to pick a good room for Cosette: ¡°Let him pick a room since there is so many anyways. Aigh, whenever night rolls around, the ce bes deserted ghost house.¡± Marde nods in understanding. Just when he was about to back away to carry out his orders, Marde suddenly recalled something: ¡°Master, Miss Rolynn came around today. She said there are some matters about the shop she needs to discuss with you. Although business is good, but she made it clear there is ack of staff. If possible, she would like you to make an appearance at the shop. From the way she sounded, it would seem she is not satisfied with the two craftsmen in the store¡­. Also, there is the matter of the quadruplets you sent to help her. It is quite obvious she is not happy with them.¡± Du Wei only nodded: ¡°Marde, I understand¡­ ¡­ Hmm, you also need to remember one thing. Do not call her Miss Rolynn anymore. Remember, she is a knight. No matter what the asion is, you are to call her knight Rolynn, remember that? This point is very important.¡± Rolynn does indeed have some annoying problems at hand. Although her boss is on a roll without any signs of declining, and the fact that Du Wei left his entire business operation to her, there is still one major problem: she does not like her work. In essence, she prefers the job of managing the pirate fleet. At least with the fleet out in sea, there will be adventure and excitement. Even if she couldn¡¯t wear a set of gorgeous gowns every day, she would still rather do that than spend her days handling the hypocritical nobles in the capital. At the moment, she is still willing to submit to Du Wei¡¯s arrangement. With her intelligence, it wasn¡¯t hard for Rolynn to see through Du Wei¡¯s difficulty of finding more people. Although this little master of hers is rising through the ranks at an immense pace, but too fast may not necessarily be a good thing. Without enough people at hand, this weakness could be a fatal weakness in the future if not solved. As such, Rolynn is still willing to obey and dedicated herself to managing the business for Du Wei. As a result of her loyalty, she was able to demonstrate her full capabilities. Though every day she was forced to be beside all those snobby nobles, but unlike before in her adventuring days, she did not have to sacrifice her sex appeal¡­.. Thanks to Du Wei¡¯s image change on her, all Rolynn has to do now is maintain her cold appearance and the nobles would flock to her side like flies. Very soon, she found herself unable to cope with the ever increasing workload. Though she knew Du Wei was going to the union today for his assessment test, but this clever female knight was confident in her young lord¡­. It¡¯s a joke actually. She is far too familiar with Du Wei¡¯s method of doing things, so she wasn¡¯t worried in the least. Instead of asking about Du Wei¡¯s test result this morning, she would rather stay in the shop and address some of the issues at hand. Business is very good currently. In just a few days, the sales haveted 500,000 gold coins for Du Wei. Deducting the expenses upfront, Du Wei¡¯s worth right now is already in the millions. Without any middle man to exploit his profit margin, Du Wei can continue to directly import all those goods from the mercenaries in the northern forest. With the freshest of goods and a slightly lower price point, about half of the original shipment brought in by Rolynn was already sold. To solve this, she had already sent someone to deliver a message to the ships parked at the Enke Port this morning. The reason is to instruct the pirate crews to immediately head back into the north and import more supplies. After that, Du Wei finally arrived with little Vivian. Since the little maiden is willing to step out of the room, then he cannot let her be stuck at home anymore because walking around is also a good way to calm the heart. Luckily, Vivian showed great interest in the goods Du Wei was selling. In her view, the goods imported from the northern forest had many uses rted to the magic field. Leaving Vivian behind so that she can slowly pick out what she liked, Du Wei and Rolynn went into a room upstairs to discuss the matters at hand. Once inside, Rolynn started to exin the more pressing matters at hand. Firstly, there is ack of manpower. Since the business is orientated towards the noble and wealthy ss, then we must have some well-trained waiters standing by. A nobleman is not your average customer. We can¡¯t just go purchase some ves from the market and have them work here. If they are not trained properly, then gossip wills naturally spread, or even worse, you might even lose face. Secondly, there is also the problem with the craftsman¡¯s. All the goods we imported from the north are mostly raw materials that need to be processed. We may have hired extra artisans, cksmiths, tailors, carpenters, and several engravers to help with the issue, but it is still far from enough. In order to turn a monster hide into a dress or suit, it requires a highly skilled hand to do it. You can¡¯t just randomly sew some leathers together and call it a day. Also, there is the problem of style. The noble ss is very particr about this, and it is very clear we are still insufficient in this department. There is also the precious monster nucleus in our hand. Although most have been ordered by the union, but there are still some asional nobles that woulde seeking one or two in order to recruit a mage. Besides all this, there are the weapons too. This subject is what¡¯s giving Rolynn the biggest headache. At the moment, the current materials reserved in the warehouse are all first ss goods. However, the two cksmiths under us is too average. Aside from theck of staff, the two mediocre cksmith actually damaged some of the earth dragon scales while they were processing it. Not only is the heat insufficient during their forging process, It was utterly shameful when I tested one of the des. When I knocked one of slender des against the anvil to test its sturdiness, the de actually broke apart! The truth is the two cksmiths has been very hard at work, but their talent is simply toocking. In their time, they came in contact with numerous weapons, but never once in their life did theye across so many good things. All these points are just the icing on the cake. What really upset Rolynn the most is in fact the quadruplets! Once valued in the millions, the quadruplets should be serving Du Wei after being gifted to him. However, the moment he brought the girls home, he immediately tossed them into Rolynn¡¯s hand. Du Wei¡¯s thinking is very simple. He hopes to continue the development of his business and if possible, start producing some magic tools in the future! Mages are never short on money. No matter the rank or level,rge numbers of nobles would dly line up to shower these people with gifts and money. As such, this special grouping of people in society is the best type of consumer. Not only are his goods from the north very suitable for crafting magic items, Du Wei also understands that just selling raw materials is far inferior to selling finished products! Sometime, the profits will double or even triple! Unfortunately for him though, a magic tool is not something ordinary craftsmen¡¯s can produce. On the Rnd continent, there is a profession called ¡°magic craftsman¡± specializing in making magic tools like wands, crystal balls, and in rare cases, magic scrolls! The number of people in this grouping isn¡¯t veryrge, in fact, it¡¯s miniscule. Despite their small numbers, their upation is rather unique and hard toe by. Well, Du Wei did know where to find some of these people, but most of them already belonged to the magic union. In the magic craftsmen profession, a small portion of these people are in fact themselves magicians. In order to supply themselves with enough items for self-consumption, they will only create small batches at a time. In rare asions, one or two of these items would end up circting through the market. As for the rest of the people in this profession, most of them are of magic apprentice origin. Due to theirck of talent, many of them are forever unable to be a true mage, thus, forcing them to seek out a path for survival in the world of magic. Hence the quadruplets. Du Wei¡¯s hope is that these girls will use their knowledge in the magic field to be his money making machine. It is obvious Du Wei¡¯s value outlook on these girls arepletely different from most men¡¯s. If changed to any other noble, those lustful beasts would have already locked these rare beauties inside a room and refused to let them out. ¡°To be perfectly blunt your lordship, I ask you to take these four away with you!¡± Rolynn is very blunt in her words: ¡°They are not here to help me! Every day I would even need to break up some of my people to serve them! Humph¡­¡­¡± Du Wei frowns: ¡°There is such a thing?¡± What came next is Rolynn narratively exining her encounters in the past few days. It turns out it wasn¡¯t just Rolynn being depressed, the quadruplets were also depressed. Since little, the four girls were already considered rare beauties. After being bought by Sir Biliaibuer, the guy spared no expense to train and give the girls ample knowledge in magic. His expectation is simple, ¡°design the girls from the grounds up so they can entertain men in the future.¡± Even back in the years under Sir Biliaibuer, the standard of living for the quadruplets could even rival ady from a small noble household. At the first the girls were still pleased over the fact that they were given to Du Wei. After all, he is young, handsome, and with a powerful background. To top it all off, Du Wei even became a Duke! The girls originally thought that if they can use their sex appeals and obtain Du Wei¡¯s love, then they would be able to transform from a peacock to phoenix. Unfortunately, Du Wei never evenid a finger on them before throwing the girls into Rolynn¡¯s hand! To the girls, the most annoying thing is Rolynn! This rude, cold hearted woman is daring enough to tell them to work! ¡­¡­ Listening to Rolynn¡¯s story, Du Wei became gloomy. He took one look at Rolynn¡¯s eyes before speaking: ¡°So you can¡¯t take them on? Knight Rolynn, I am very disappointed in you! You managed to pack a bunch of unruly pirates away before, but now, you can¡¯t even handle four little girls?¡± She started to look a bit awkward: ¡°¡­ ¡­ Thesedies are after all sent from your side, I¡­..¡± Du Wei immediately understands Rolynn¡¯s worry. With a smile, he then said: ¡°You can rest assured that they are not my woman; I also don¡¯t intent to let them be my woman! Now are you assured? Since I sent them to you, they are under your control! If they still won¡¯t listen, then you can handle them as you please!¡± Rolynn lets out a long sigh because she is finally relieved. Looking at the female Knight¡¯s face, Du Wei secretlyughed inside: and with that, it is expected the quadruplets will be suffering quite the bitter experience in theing days. After a moment of hesitation, Du Wei then said: ¡°The problem of manpower cannot be fixed quickly. The only solution we have before us to slowly find one from afar. In the capital, no one is going to impart their skilled craftsman to us willingly. We could go rob them, but that would mean offending the other party. Though they wouldn¡¯t openly retaliate considering my status, but it would be a whole different matter after I leave. Therefore, its best not try any offending things!¡± ¡°But all good craftsmen¡¯s are already with a Lord, where are we going to find one then?¡± Rolynn sighed in frustration. ¡°Its true things aren¡¯t working out. The only dumb option left for us is to produce one.¡± Du Wei also shakes his head: ¡°But the cost is too much and long with a slow effect. Let¡¯s first put the Craftsmen issue aside for now, and then I will slowlye up with a solution¡­. Hmm, it¡¯s still early, lets first head over to the ve market in the city. Maybe we can get lucky and find some proper manpower.¡± Rnd continent¡¯s very policy had long been opposed by the temple for the past millennium. Of course, in Du Wei¡¯s view, this is not the Temple being noble. Instead, it was because the temple had no way of cutting a share in the huge profit margin. Although the continent may seem peaceful on the surface for hundreds of years, but the expeditions into the southeastern sea and small outbreak of rebellions had produced tons of prisoners¡­. This was especially true in the recent expeditions out in sea. Originally, the booty was stillrge and grand to make it profitable, but as time pressed on, the amount of goods started to dwindle down to nothing. As such, the only thing left to pige is the indigenous tribes themselves. Southeast Asia, there are often small outbreaks of rebellion in the Northwest, after the military conquest of the Empire, always appears as a lot of prisoners ¡­ ¡­ Especially the South Pacific Expedition fleet, expedition came back at a time, will bring back arge number of booty ¡­ ¡­ Much of which was captured on therge inds from Southeast Asia to the indigenous. With that, it became the trend for the ve market to be flooded with the indigenous tribes from the southeast. ording to a recent census, it is estimated there is more than 8,000 ves from the southeastern ind. Some of which has been living in the capital for many years and in some cases, they are even second generations. Of course, there are many ves that is of freemen origin. Due to being improvised and unable to survive on their own, some of these men and women would sell themselves to a willing master. In addition, there are the prisoners of war from the several outbreaks of rebellions in the empire. Aside from all the previous cases, there is a special ssification of ves called ¡°official ves¡±. These people are usually from some ruined noble household. For example: in the recent coup of the crown prince, many people that partook in the event was convicted and was revoked of their free citizen status. Thus is their fate of being sold as salves in the market. Funny thing is, the biggest vepany in the capital did not belong to any random person; rather, it was a direct department of the imperial government! It just so happens that the ce is located in the west side of the ve market where arge portion of the ¡°official ves¡± is being sold. As such, the yearly ie from this business is bringing in quite therge sum for the imperial court. And the reason the Temple is so discontented is because they couldn¡¯t take a slice of this big cake! The capital¡¯s ve trade is mostly concentrated on the South Western part of the city. Inhabited by more than 900,000 citizens, this area ounted for almost half of the poption in the imperial capital. This thousand meter long street wasn¡¯t just for ve trading, it is also a ce for people to seek work. In other words, this is simr to the bor market¡± in Du Wei¡¯s past life. At the end of the street, a square was connected to it. Originally, a fountain with a luxurious statue is centered in the middle, but due to popr demand, the ce was revamped for business many decades ago. In its stead, multiple tforms were built to be used for ve trading. Above the square, several tall tforms were used as the center to gather crowds and onlookers. In its mix, many were merchants that came from afar with hopes of hitting it big when they go back. Of course, there are some servants from certain noble houses that came to buy in fresh blood for their masters. Standing on the tforms are some vers with whips in hand. Just about every one of these people is protected with strongly built guards for their security. Behind these heartless people are cages. Chained and kept against their will, many men and woman are bound behind bars, ready to be sold to the highest bidder. These poor souls are the recent batch of ves brought in from elsewhere. Because they are still unwilling to ept their fate of being ves for the rest of their lives, the vers are forced to keep them behind cages. While the other ves on the high tform remained still, their faces were already pale and their eyes hollow without life. These people had long surrendered to fate and epted their life of chain and servitude. Therefore, the only thing needed to bind them is a thin rope around the neck. Even the vers were daring enough to constantly move over to the ves just to squeeze the face and mouths of their product. The reason is prove to the customers that their products had no problems or disease. Like beasts, these poor souls did nothing and fully heartedly epted their destiny. Disguising themselves inmon wear, Du Wei and Rolynn mixed into the crowd without arousing the attention of others. Through the efforts of Rolynn leading the way, the two finally managed to squeeze through the crowd. In addition to the ve stands on the sides of the road, there are also many people of all ages and sex with ulterior motive. Though they had different reasons for being there, they all had one thing inmon and that is a cloth draping over their arms. These people are not ves, but free citizens of the empire. However, in order to survive through the harsh condition in their life, these people are revolt their freedom. If a ck cloth is hanging off their arm, then it means they are willing to be a ve. Of course, there are some reluctant to be ves. Standing there, their arms are draped with a white cloth, meaning they are willing to follow a master under the status of a free citizen. There are actually quite a lot of these people. Mainlyprised of artisans and horse groomers, there are also many lowly skilled warriors. Du Wei found that several of the people iming to be warriors were already in rags. Though their face remained stern like that of a real warrior, but their swords were already rusting. Such a sight was unusually obstructive. A warrior¡¯s survival in the capital is not easy. As the epicenter of the empire, the ce is swarming with experts. Basically, an intermediate ranked warrior can only live the life of a bodyguard for a noble. As for a lower ranked warrior, it would be much more difficult. For those unlucky ones, they would only be able to find a job as aborer for a noble household while the luckier ones work as a bodyguard for a transport caravan. Only the bottom dwellers like the rank one or two warriors cannot find a livable job. The growth of magic and the decline of warriors is the trend of the entire continent. ¡°Master, look!¡± Du Wei was just in the process of evaluating some warriors when he suddenly heard the call from Rolynn. Looking in front, he saw the crowds of people were starting to move towards the site of where most of the ¡°official ves¡± are located! In terms of quality or price, an ¡°official¡¯s ve¡± is generally much higher than an ordinary ve. The reason is because such a ve is usually read to go the moment you buy them; therefore, many people are still willing to spend the extra expense to purchase these ves. ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look.¡± Du Wei nods. It looks like he came at the right time because it seems a new batch of goods is about to go on sale. Chapter 174 part 1 The 174th chapter ¡°clever little boy¡± (part 1) Sandia is a 13 year old boy with a typical southerner¡¯sst name. Due to his clever mind set, those around him would always address him with an affectionate name ¡°Sandy¡±. Of course, those that hated him would call him ¡°Sandy lttle liar ¡°. Born in the capital, Sandy would of course not be able to afford a teacher like those wealthy kids around him. Nevertheless, he still managed to receive a form of education in the temple¡¯s welfare program. In merely half a year, he had already learned to write and read. More so than his peers, his ability to write his name andpletely recite the first volume of the God¡¯s Genesis book is exceedingly good. Unfortunately, three months ago he could no longer continue his study. Though the temple ims to be offering ¡°free¡± education for those children in need, but it came at a price. Once the children reached adulthood, these individuals must offer three years of their life to performbor in the temple. In some cases, these people would directly be clergy¡¯s ¨C forever unable to marry and have children. As a typical southerner, Sandy¡¯s parent didn¡¯t want their family¡¯s lineage to be broken. In addition to this, Sandy also had no interest in the faith. By the age of 13, his interests in man and women matters were already in full swing. As such, he will often peek at his next door neighbor Ellie. Maybe in two months, he could use his writing and mathematics to either be a bookkeeping apprentice in the nearby grocery store, or follow an old tailor at the street corner. But these things are all in the future. In Sandy¡¯s view, he already has a method to get rich. Everyday he would wander around in the ve market. Unlike his older brother ¨C a local gang boss- he is a real little bully. Because his older brother stole a purse from a housekeeper of a noble family, his brother was sent to the northwestst year to perform hardbor in a mine. Different from his brother, Sandy is not a thief, nor will he do such bad things. Despite this, he would still manage to bring back a few copper coins each night. The capital¡¯s ve market is the gathering ce of merchants from all over the empire. Many of these foreigners is a first timer in the capital¡¯s ve market; therefore, they didn¡¯t know anyone. Here¡¯s where Sandyes in. Acting as a guide, he will show the way for these people and help bargain with the ve traders. Of course, he will first exin some explicit ¡°rules¡± of the trade before the customer makes a mistake. Because of this situation, coupled with Sandy¡¯s clever mindset, he would almost alwayse home with a few copper coins each day. If he gets lucky and the customer is a wealthy individual, his revenue would increase even more if he spent some extra effort in currying up his favors. His biggest wish right now is to save enough so that he can buy an old boot. The brother of his next door neighbor Ellie (girl) is currently serving in the local garrison. Often when facing the kids of Sandy¡¯s age, the brother would always brag about his military boots. For this reason, Sandy became very envious. Sandy is not only smart; his strongest point is his ability to judge a person from the crowd with a single nce. Which one is a fat sheep or a veteran, all he needs is one look. Today, Sandy was finally able to locate a target after crossing his arms in a corner for half a day. In the crowd, there is an odd duo. Though the two isprised of a man and a woman, but they didn¡¯t look like a couple because the man was much younger than the girl. As for the girl, she was around 20 years old and was way prettier than Ellie from next door. The two may be wearing casual wear, but Sandy immediately recognized several features that wasn¡¯t quite right: The way the guy¡¯s eyes looked around acted like it was his first time in the ve market ¨C full of curiosity towards everything around him. This feature was very important to Sandy. While the male is a good target, but the woman was the one that piqued Sandy¡¯s curiosity the most: despite her feministic charms and her boiling hot legs, the woman seems to be a knight or warrior by trade in her movements. Though the two are clearly part of the same group, but the girl seems to be intentionally keeping a distance of half a step behind the male. Also, the girl was always jerk blocking anyone in the crowd that came too close to the male. Like that, a protective barrier was constantly maintained around the boy as if he was a young master of a wealthy family. Yes, there¡¯s no doubt! After affirming his own spection, Sandy then tugged his ragged cap against his head before pushing his way over. ¡°Sir! Sir!¡± Du Wei is currently looking around because he really is curious about the ve markets. The ves he previously bought for his shop wasn¡¯t handled by him, rather, it was done by Marde. Now that he hase to the ve market for the first time, he would of course not le the chance slide by. In his previous life, the presence of a ve market is already near extinction. As he was looking around, a childish voice reached his ears. Like a loach, a emaciated boy slithered out from the crowd and stood before him. The boy may look thin, but then again, it is quite normal for a child of a poor family. Surprisingly though, the boy in front of him was very clean unlike the dirty children¡¯s he seen so far. Clean and tidy, the kid¡¯s big eye carried a light that gave others the indication of his clever mind. ¡°Mr.¡± Sandy easily recited his well thought out lines, all the while not forgetting to put on his childish smile that could strike into the hearts of any adult: ¡°Sir, would you like to buy ves? Then I think you need someone like me.¡± With only one look, Rolynn could already see through the kid¡¯s purpose. With years of experience in his pocket, how could she not? However, just when she wanted to speak, Du Wei had already expressed his interest: ¡°Oh, really? You? What can you do for me?¡± ¡°I can do a lot of things for you. Most importantly, I can save you a lot of trouble¡­.. I can also save you a lot of time ¨C for a distinguished person like you, time is very precious. You see all the people here? They are all here to buy ves. And the many ve traders here want to sell ves. You seem to being here for the first time, right? I can help you by introducing the situation here! Everything here is very familiar to me. I also know the vers here: which one is kinder, which one is more cunning, which one is ck hearted, which one is the fairest, I know all about it. You see? Am I not very useful to you?¡± Seeing Du Wei was smiling at him, Sandy natural impulse is to push a bit harder. With the fish already in his mouth, there is no way he can let it go. Hurrying, he followed up with these words: ¡°This ce is very crowded with many thieves mixed in with the people. Don¡¯t worry though. With me here, I can help you avoid a lot of these trouble¡­..¡± At this point, Sandy¡¯s voice dropped to a whisper as he looked around like a ghost was nearby: ¡°you see that man in a grey suit? He is a cheat, you have to be careful not to go near that guy; otherwise, the guy will steal your wallet.¡± Du Wei blinked with understanding before smiling. First impression, he liked the clean faced sly kid. ¡°How do you know my identity is high statute? The clothes I¡¯m wearing are not expensive.¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°maybe you made a mistake, I¡¯m just a guy that came here to take a look. I don¡¯t need a guide.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to bully a child like me.¡± Sandy very tactfully smiles, not showing too much only the forefront four teeth ¨C and unlike other poor children, Sandy¡¯s teeth are white. He is very attentive to his appearance because he understands that his targets are all people that liked a clean face. ¡°Your clothing may not be expensive, but the crop is not made from an ordinary tailor. You know, I¡¯m almost became a tailor apprentice myself. My eye will not be mistaken¡­ ¡­ There is also this youngdy by your side, Oh, please forgive me for the liberty. Although she is such a beautiful youngdy, but her attitude towards you is so respectful, if she¡¯s not your wife, then she is your follower. Also, your hair is clean with a good shade. With one look, I can already see your posture is different from a poor person¡­.. It¡¯s like those nobles living in the northern district!¡± Du Wei carefully looked over the kid before smiling: ¡°Your observation is very detailed.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Sandy quickly followed up: ¡°I can save you a lot of valuable time, I can be your guide here, even when you buy a ve, I can save you a lot of money! Of course, if you can give you a few coppers in the end to buy a piece of ck bread, then that¡¯s enough.¡± Du Wei showed a pleasing smile as he gave Rolynn a nce: ¡°I like this guy, let him do it.¡± Chapter 174 part 2 The 174th chapter ¡°clever little boy¡± (part 2) With that said, Du Wei went forward without looking back. As for Rolynn, she only gave the kid a look before fishing a coin from her pocket and tossing it over. With his swift reflexes, Sandy immediately caught it in midair ¨C his hand gesture indicated he was extremely skilled at such a motion like it was routine practice for him. However, unlike his usual reaction, Sandy¡¯s eye widen in disbelief the moment he opened his palm and took a look at the heavy coin! Unable to believe his eyes, Sandy quickly coughed up a spit and tried rubbing it against the coin. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, the color remained the same. Then an idea hit him. Holding the coin against his teeth, he bit as hard as he can¡­. OWW!!!!!! Is this actually gold?! Then it finally dawned on him, the figure before him today is definitely of great importance! Usually, the people he serviced around this ce would at best throw him a couple of copper coins after the job was done. And if the customer is a bit bolder, then he might even receive a silver coin like that time a while back. But this is actually a gold! A gold coin is enough for his family of three to live for more than a month! In addition, he can also afford to let his father drink a ss of cheap ale every night. More importantly, he can also buy himself a pair of old boots like he always wanted! Rushing to put the coin away into his pocket, Sandy struggled a bit before finally catching up to Du Wei¡¯s side, thus, starting his work day. ¡°You are familiar with this ce? Then I ask you, if I¡¯m going to buy a few ves today, where should I go?¡± Du Wei questioned. ¡°It depends on what you want for the individual.¡± Now that Sandy has received his payment, the kid would absolutely not withhold anything back. As he moved around in the crowd, his thin body was extremely flexible like there was no indication he could possibly bump into anyone ¨C if anything, the kid was like a loach constantly slithering around. As he moved his mouth, his voice was fast and clear: ¡°If you are intending to buy several maids, then my rmendation is for you to take a look at the ¡®official¡¯s ve¡¯ shop. Those ves are all from big households before ending up here ¨C well trained and familiar with proper etiquette. If you bring such people home, then you won¡¯t have to worry about losing face. However, if you only want someone to do hardbor, then I got a few ces. From your ent, you¡¯re not a local right?¡± As he mentioned thest point, Sandy sounded very cunning. But this time, the clever little boy was wrong. Du Wei¡¯s ent is indeed a little different from the capital. The reason for this is because he came from Rowling Household. ording to tradition, anyone inside the mansion must only speak with the ent of the Rowling ins ¨C this included Earl Raymond. On top of this, Du Wei also spent a year in the Rowling ins, so his ent will naturally carry more weight in his speech. Seeing Du Wei is only smiling without saying a word, Sandy immediately lowered his voice: ¡°What I want to remind you is this. Though all sales here are protected by imperial decree, but you¡¯re still an outsider, so there are some rules you must pay attention to. This is especially true for those with influence¡­¡­ Justst month, there were several foreign merchants that wanted to purchase two beautiful ves for themselves. In the process of bidding, those people had a falling out with a steward belonging to some noble house. In the end, the foreigners were taught a lesson and thrown into a moat outside the city!¡± Despite his effort, Sandy was beginning to doubt his abilities when the little fortune god in front of him remained indifferent as ever. Pushing on, he raised his tempo to work even harder: ¡°In General, the ves here are divided into several types. The first type is the ¡®official ves¡¯, of course, they are also the most expensive. Due to their family¡¯s fall into ruin and their citizenship revoked for some reason, these ves are usually the most sought after. Only just recently, I heard the daughters of some convicted noblemen¡¯s in the previous coup were auctioned off. At the bidding day, the amount of people fighting for these girls were hitting the roof! Aigh, who wouldn¡¯t want a nobleman¡¯s daughter in their home to be used as a ve? Just the prestige of owning such a girl would make the owner look good.¡± Du Wei¡¯s brow slightly wrinkled because he is very well aware of what this little boy is going on about. To be more urate, his Rowling Household had also recently fallen into ruin. If not for his existence, then the tragic fate of bing a ve would definitely have befallen on his family. Sandy continues to speak, ¡°aside from the ¡®official ves¡¯, the secondary type are the barbarians from the Northwest. Those guys are strong, very strong. When working, they are definitely not slouches. However, if you buy such a guy back to only do menial work, then it would be a total waste.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± Du Wei finally opens up to question. Relieved by this, Sandy quickly follows up, ¡°because the value in those barbarians lies not in their physicalbor, rather, it is their ability to care for horses. If you have a pasture, then buy a couple of these Northwestern barbarians home. I assure you, once you¡¯ve done that, the harvest in the following year will increase exponentially!¡± Du Wei nods in understanding. ¡°However, you do need to pay special attention to them. Though these barbarians are good ves, but their temper is particrly wild and difficult to discipline. This is especially true in their habit of constantly wanting to escape. If you do not send guards to monitor their actions, then the likelihood of them fleeing is a likely chance. After all, their life is that of an ouw, fighting to death are not umon in their culture.¡± ¡°And what else?¡± ¡°There is also the third type of ves. These people are originally the citizens of the empire. Due to being impoverished and unable to support themselves, such people would sell themselves to a good master. As long as you are willing to feed them and house them, these honest individuals would always be loyal to their master. Most importantly, they would never run way.¡± Upon touching this point, Sandy actually whispered something inconsistent with his age group: ¡°Aigh, in such times, who would want to sell themselves into very if not for the fact that they couldn¡¯t make it through.¡± When Du Wei heard thest part, he was somewhat surprised and gave the kid an extra nce. ¡°Thest is the guys from the Southeastern Sea. Those indigenous people are the cheapest and the most numerous around here. If you intend to go for these ves, then you must be careful in your choice because good and bad are always mixed together. In order to maximize profit, those ck hearted vers would always put several weak and old souls together with the strong and sell them in groups. Aside from this, this bracket of ves is also separated into two groups. The former is the type that has lived in the empire for many years or is even a second generation ve. Even if they can¡¯t speak ournguage, they can at least understand us. Such a person is called a ¡®mature ve¡¯. Thetter is the freshly caught ves brought in by the army in the recent expeditions. These people are called ¡®raw ves¡¯ due to their unwillingness to ept their fate. Normally, these people like to flee and are unable tomunicate with us. As such, their pricing is the lowest. Of course, there are exceptions if the ve is a natural beauty.¡± Exining up to here, Sandy suddenly turned around to face the three dirty looking boys drawing close to Du Wei: ¡°get lost, Dick! This is my guest! Can¡¯t you see me here! If you want to do business, go somewhere else!¡± The shifty looking boys were only 3-5 feet from Du Wei when Sandy shouted. Seeing things weren¡¯t going to y out, the leader of the group stepped forward and uttered some scolding words: ¡°Sandy little liar! You¡¯re always bad for my business!¡± With that, the dirty kid gave both Du Wei and Rolynn an unwilling gaze before turning around to mix back into the crowd. Sandy lets out a sigh before smiling: ¡°don¡¯t worry about those guys. They are the gold fingers roaming this street. But don¡¯t worry, since I¡¯m here, they won¡¯t bother you. Nheless, you still have to be careful because their numbers are quite numerous here.¡± Du Wei gave Rolynn a look because he was never worried about these little thieves. Though Roylnn¡¯s strength isn¡¯t that of someone standing at the summit of the martial world, but with her abilities, dealing with a few thieves is not a problem. Rather, he was more interested in the kids: ¡°Just now, all those guys were thieves?¡± ¡°Hush!¡± Sandy facial expression change, quickly whispering: ¡°You mustn¡¯t ever say so! If those guys heard you saying the word ¡®Thieves¡¯, then they wille seeking trouble for you. This is the rule of the road, you understand?¡± Du Wei inwardlyughed as he said, ¡°But you ruined their n. Wouldn¡¯t they bother you instead?¡± ¡°Humph.¡± Sandy curls his mouth: ¡°all of us grew up together in this street, brawling here and there is normal for us. Even we bullies would only bully those from the outside, never against our own. Also, my brother was once a boss in this ce. Considering my brother¡¯s name, those guys won¡¯t make trouble for me. Sure, we might brawl once a while if things don¡¯t work out, but wouldn¡¯t really hate each other¡­. And have a look around us, there are so many outsiders, business is everywhere.¡± The truth is his words were only half true. When doing this business, its unavoidable that he would incur the wrath of some gold fingers. Nheless, all of them did grow up on the same street, so they won¡¯t really have a falling out over something like this. Though a few bruises is bound to happen, but it¡¯s all worth it if he can take home a few copper coins by the end of the day. And today he earned a gold coin. Even if takes a few punches when he goes back tonight, it is still more than worth it! Chapter 175 The 175th chapter ¡°strange ve¡± After apanying Du Wei for a while, Sandy finally brought them to a tform in the northwestern corner of the ce. ¡°The ve shop here is one of the busiest in this ce.¡± Sandy¡¯s statute was quite smallpared everyone else¡¯s, thus, forcing him to tiptoe through the crowded street in order to converse with Du Wei. Though Du Wei¡¯s age wasn¡¯t very old either, but the Rowling household¡¯s lineage really did give him the edge in such a situation when it came to heights. ¡°It has thergest business among all the shops here. In addition, the boss has the most influence in this ce due to his ability to find the most ves. And above all else, their location is extremely good!¡± ¡°What difference does it make?¡± Du Wei curiously asked. ¡°There certainly is a difference!¡± Sandy tirelessly exined: ¡°their stand is right here where it¡¯s opposite to the sun. Because of the strong light shining on the ves during the auctioning process, even the scrawniest of the ves would look like their spirit is lifted! In this ce, there are rules regarding what site a shop can take. Take a look over there. That shop may be big in appearance, but it is located near a hidden corner over at the entrance where the shade is always lurking. Think about it¡­. By the time buyers get to that ce, they are already nning to leave for home by then.¡± Then at this time, a colorfully dressed clown came waltzing out onto the high stage in front of the crowd. This oddly dressed mate may seem a bit weird on the surface, but the volume in his voice wasn¡¯t to be taken lightly. With a single smack of his whip onto the ground, a dozen or so people tied together with a single string on their necks came walking out from the back. Apparently, these are what they called the ¡°mature ves¡±. ¡°Deardies and gents, look! These ves are all useful! Take a look at these heads and muscles! If you buy them home for manualbor, all you need to do is give them a little bit of food to keep them going like an animal! Also, every one of them is capable of basic farm work! Though their courage is smaller than a rabbit, but their strength can rival even a cows! Such a ve would be more than a match for three workers!¡± With that, this clown like guy ran around to a male ve next to his side. Despite the fact that the ve is a bit skinny on the side, but his bone structure was extremely sturdy with a good height to match! Moving his hand, the ver started to pull against the guy¡¯s lips to showcase his mouth: ¡°look at it! There is nothing wrong with it! Look at the mouth! Look at his eyes! Three silver coins! With only three silver coins, you can take back with you a honest and hardworking ve! They can eat anything, so all you have to do is throw them a little bit of oatmeal or porridge every day and they will work like a horse!¡± Du Wei talked it over with Rolynn because they really did need people like that back at the shop. Just as Rolynn was about to raise her hand to bid, Sandly quietly pulled against Du Wei¡¯s sleeve to mouth off a word: ¡°Wait a bit more.¡± The dozen or more so ves were very soon purchased by several more merchants in the crowd. While they paid in the front, their followers were quick to go pick up their merchandise in the back. Du Wei gave Sandy a puzzled look. Seeing this, Sandy quietly hid behind Du Wei and spoke in a hushed tone: ¡°The guys just now won¡¯t do! The guy standing in the front isn¡¯t bad, but didn¡¯t you notice it? The two behind him looked like they couldn¡¯t even stand anymore. Also, one of the guy¡¯s shoulders was titled. I¡¯m sure of it, the guy has some leg problem. Just wait; there will be even better stuff to follow.¡± Sure enough, the next batch was must stronger than before. Sandy was too afraid to start bber mouthing all the details to Du Wei. The reason is because he still needs to make a living on this street. As such, he can only quietly stand behind Du Wei and whisper a few rods to advise him: ¡°It¡¯s good now.¡± On the fourth batch of ves, every individual are fully dark skinned indigenous natives of the Southeastern Sea. Though they were all well muscled and strong, but Du Wei was surprised to find three old bones in the group. In fact, these people looked so deathly ill that he was afraid they might move on into the afterlife if they experienced some hard shock at the moment. When such a group of ves came out, the following people in the crowds seemed reluctant to put up a bid. Although most of the ves in the group was good, but how can they take those old bones back with them just to waste food? Du Wei nced at Sandy, but the only reaction he got was a sigh. Murmuring his words, Sandy exined: ¡°Oh distinguished young master, you won¡¯t be wrong if you listen to me. Just buy this batch. These natives from the southeastern sea are very strong. Disregarding other reasons, just the fact that these ves can match up to two regr ves of the empire is more than good enough topel you to buy! Especially those old timers up there; although they don¡¯t look like much, but their role is not something you imagine!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard that these Southeastern natives are particrly respectful towards their elders. More often than not, the identity of those old bones up there is either a chief or an elder of some tribe! Therefore, all the young bloods would inherently be more respectful towards them and would unwilling to leave them behind¡­.. You see, as long as you keep those elderly gramps alive at home, then those wild natured ves won¡¯t attempt to run away. Even by the odd chance they do make a run for it, how far do you think they will get by dragging such old people with them? Sure, it may take a bit more food to feed the three deadweights, but their value lies not in theirbor, but their anchoring power against the others!¡± Du Wei¡¯s eyes sparked with light. In his mind, he was getting more infatuated by this little kid before him. ¡°But¡­ Why are their hands shackled?¡± Du Wei asked: ¡°A string is for the ¡®mature ves¡¯, and a cage is for the ¡®raw ves¡¯, then what is the purpose of a shackle?¡± ¡°This¡­¡­¡± Sandy scratched his head as he spoke: ¡°As a general rule, there are raw and mature ves. However, there are exceptions. If a raw ve isn¡¯t locked in a cage, then that means their personality isn¡¯t very fierce and they have no records of trying to escape. In such a situation, they are rtively easy to tame. To tell you the truth, I feel the raw ves are better than matured ones¡­¡­ You know, anyone can buy a ve in the empire, but once that happens, starvation and malnourishment is unavoidable. After a year or two, even the strongest and sturdiest of men would be weak and old.¡± Du Wei nods in understanding. Giving Rolynn a wink in confirmation, they finally started to bid. ¡°30 pieces of silver.¡± Rolynn¡¯s crisp female voice really stood out in this ce. Originally, there were already people in the crowd secretly looking over at this young beauty, but when she finally called out a bid; it really attracted the attention of everyone present. When the ver heard someone call out a bid, he immediately shouted: ¡°Oh! 30 silver coins! This beautiful and noble Lady really knows her stuff! Look, look, 30 silver coins! Dear honorable guests, all of these ves are good stuff! 30 silver coins is a very fair price, so is there anyone willing to do more?¡± ¡°35 silver coins.¡± A somewhat hoarse voice came out from the crowd. Du Wei started to smile. Looking over at Sandy, he joked: ¡°Oh, looks like someone has the same taste as you.¡± Sandy smiled, somewhat embarrassed: ¡°Oh young master, you are embarrassing me! My little bit of experience is gained by listening to others. There are a lot of peopleing in and out of this ce, and many of them are old hands at this. The only ones that don¡¯t know this are the dumb sheep¡¯s from afar that doesn¡¯t understand the market.¡± Seeing Du Wei nodded to her, Rolynn understood and began raising the price again: ¡°40 silver coins.¡± ¡°45 silver coins,¡± the hoarse voice from the crowd continues to raise the offer. This time around, Du Wei finally had the chance to take a clearer look at the person bidding against him as the curious onlookers in the crowd started to move away. A middle-aged mustached man dressed in Lavender robes, though a little fat, but he was clearly quite healthy looking. And gathering around him were 3-5 young men¡¯s in servant clothes that acted like a barricade against the surround people. ¡°50 silver coins.¡± Rolynn called out the offer in a light voice. The fat man frowned with a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes. After looking over at Rolynn, the guy sounded like he gave out a coldugh before calling out his next bid in a loud voice: ¡°60 silver coins, that all.¡± At this time, Sandy finally recognized who the opposition was. Rushing to stop Rolynn, he pulled against the female knight¡¯s wrist and whispered: ¡°let it pass, stop calling.¡± Chapter 176 The 176th chapter ¡°breaking in halfway through¡± Seeing how Du Wei was looking at him, Sandy quickly lowered his voice and said, ¡°You are from out of town, so you may not have known this. As a regr here, that guy gained quite the fame from his purchasing habits. But that¡¯s not all. His background is that of a steward for arge aristocratic family, so he is not to be trifled with.¡± Du Wei lets out a faint chuckle at what he just learned. Then before Rolynn could open her mouth again to raise the bid, Du Wei had already spoken: ¡°Ten¡­¡­ Gold coins!¡± Although ¡°10¡± wasn¡¯t all that big in the numerical scale, but 10 gold coins is equal to 100 silver coins. Therefore, when the crowd heard the young kid calling out such an offer, the entire area fell into an uproar! It¡¯s wasn¡¯t that umon to hear stories of wealthy individuals paying high sums of money for ves with unique features, but this time around it, was for 10 ves mixed with 3 elderly gramps in the batch. Such a scene really piqued the interest of everyone present. Moreover, there are many people in the crowd that recognized the middle-aged fat man, so they knew it was bad news to mess with him. Inwardly, all of them were thinking: This kid is out of luck. The fat guy called Guro is not reckless, in fact, his eyes were razor sharp. As he peered over at Du Wei, his initial assessment is telling him the kid before him is not mundane. Hesitating for a moment, he finally decided let up to avoid offending the opposition. This ce is after all the imperial capital, thend under the emperor¡¯s feet, who knows if this kid is some family member of another major aristocratic family? Although Guro likes to be arrogant, but he is not foolish enough to be making trouble everywhere he went. If anything, the only people that he could in fact bully around this ce are those foreigners without background. Spending a moment in thought, he turned towards Du Wei and gave a friendly smile in greeting. To Guro, this is already the most he is willing to give up. However, Du Wei simply ignored him and didn¡¯t even bat an eysh as he focused his attention on the stage. After Rolynn finished paying, a ver from above immediately jumped down to hand them a token. This token is so they can retrieve their ves from the back. Luckily Sandy¡¯s assessment of others are very urate, so the following group of ves that came out also fell into the category of what Du Wei wanted to buy. However, something about this batch didn¡¯t quite seem right in his view: Altogether, there are 15-13 young men in the batch ¨C all tanned skin with muscr bodies. Even though these people are standing in a straight file across the stage, their eyes were filled with vigor and life, just like that of a wild animal. With the red gs raised in his mind, so was his curiosity. Taking a better look at the ves, his sight instinctively fell towards the two ck sheep¡¯s hiding in the back. One old and one young. No matter how much the white haired old grandpa tries to hide it, his prideful aura was clearly oozing out of his eyes. As for the little boy grasping onto the elder¡¯s hand, his upper body may be naked, but he was clean and appeared to be in good health. Like this, the young men on stage somehow turned into a defensive formation trying to shield the duo from the audience¡¯s gaze. When Sandy firstid eyes on the group, a spark of light was lit. Hurrying to whisper into Du Wei¡¯s ear: ¡°Oh honorable Sir, this group is the best! In fact, they are the best I¡¯ve seen in the past few days! Do you see that old man? I¡¯m certain the old guy wields great influence among his people! You see those tattoos? I heard these natives would only allow their most prestigious members to branded with such symbols! If you buy such a guy back home, I guarantee those youngsters would never attempt an escape!¡± But this time around, the middle aged fat guy already called out an offer before Du Wei can even say a word. ¡°80 silver coins.¡± Guro¡¯s offer immediately caused the crowd to gasp in surprise. There were many other sharp eyed buyers in the crowd, but all of them were too afraid topete with this Guro fe. As such, their only option left was to reluctantly give up. ¡°Ten¡­¡­ Gold coins.¡± Du Wei still spoke in his calm and unwavering voice again. This time around, Guro became somewhat unhappy. In his mind, he was thinking: Why is this kid always fighting with him? Didn¡¯t he already give the kid some face earlier? Guro gave Du Wei a look before letting out a coldugh. Then turning to a servant on his side, he passed on a few words in a low voice to instruct his subordinate. Nodding in understanding, the servant began to head over to where Du Wei was. As for the people in the crowd, they intentionally spread apart to open up a road for him. As the servant came near to performing a standard greeting, his face remained polite on the surface. Clearly, the servants from a big noble household is much better trained in their manners. ¡°This young master.¡± The servant murmurs: ¡°Our master Guro said he already gave you some face earlier, so why not let this one go? This way, there won¡¯t be any hard feelings between us. Also, I want to mention it is our lord Count Biliaibuer that is seeking a new gardener.¡± His words were spoken really well, neither soft nor hard, just right with enough subtle points to indicate their identity. Count Biliaibuer? Du Wei made a small chucklingugh. So it is Count Biliaibuer¡¯s house! After the coup, this person¡¯s status also soared into the sky like Du Wei. From rumors, it is said that after Marquis Solomon fell into ruin, the one to take over the management of the Royal Household¡¯s asset is Biliaibuer. The servant thought that after he revealed their identity, the other side would act ordingly to past practices and retreat. But who is Du Wei? After finishing hisugh, Du Wei didn¡¯t say much and only gave Rolynn a nod. Rolynn didn¡¯t do much, only grabbing a token from her pocket and handing it over to the servant. Then waving her hand, she dismissed the guy. Seeing his subordinate returning with something in hand, Guro felt something wasn¡¯t quite right. Hurrying, he hastily grabbed the item and had a look. It is then when his face immediately went pale! This is only a small wooden token engraved with several simple patterns ¨C this token is not Du Wei¡¯s house symbol, instead, it is the symbol for his business. The more Guro looked at the damn thing, the more frightened he became. As he lifted his head to look over at Du Wei, a realization finally donned on him! Although Du Wei was dressed in amoner¡¯s outfit, but Guro had sharp eyes. Earlier when Du Wei moved his hands, Guro vaguely caught a glimpse of the gold bracelet hidden underneath Du Wei¡¯s sleeve. Forged out of pure gold and engraved with a green gemstone, this is clearly a magic braceletmonly used by a magician. This exined a lot! As a steward in Count Biliaibuer¡¯s house, he would of course be equipped with enough a certain level of knowledge regarding the major powers in the capital. Looking at the token in his hand and recalling the magic bracelet from before, Guro is almost certain of Du Wei¡¯s identity now! Losing every bit of his pride, a fountain¡¯s worth of sweat came pouring out of his forehead as he came stumbling over to Du Wei¡¯s side. After forcefully pushing through the crowd, Guro was just about to drop to his knees to beg for forgiveness when a thought stopped him at midpoint. Du Wei¡¯s outfit! It was obvious the kid didn¡¯t want others to know of his identity, so Guro immediately halted his falling legs with every ounce of his strength. Then in an awkward stance, he greeted Du Wei with a slight bow of his head before finally speaking in a humble voice: ¡°Du¡­¡­ Distinguished young man, I apologize for not recognizing you immediately! I¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t think your distinguished self woulde to this humble ce to¡­¡­ I deserve to die! I deserve to die!¡± After his speech, Guro didn¡¯t wait for Du Wei to say anything else when he shouted up at the stage: ¡°20 gold coins! 20!¡± After finishing his words, he took a step back before speaking in a polite voice: ¡°Oh noble young lord, please ept these ves from me. Consider it a present on my behalf!¡± Sandy was already frozen with shock¡­. And the crowds around them had a lot of people whom recognized Guro¡¯s identity; yet, this arrogant guy was acting like a dog in front of a teenage kid¡­. This child ¡­ ¡­ What is his identity?! Du Wei faintly smiles as he nced at Guro: ¡°Hmm, seems Count Biliaibuer¡¯s men knows how to do things. In this case, Rolynn, ept it.¡± ¡°Thank you, thank you my lord!¡± Guro was so relieved that almost kneeled to the ground without intending for it. Guro is only a lowly steward in his household, so how can he expect Count Biliaibuer to stand up for him, especially when the opposition is a Duke! The ver that was dressed like a clown on the stage also recognized Guro. So when he saw how Guro was acting, how can this ver not know when to advance or retreat? Generally, when someone calls out an offer, he is supposed to cry out a few times to lure in more people to bid. But after seeing what just happened below, where would he find the guts to keep to the norm? Just when he was about to announce the sess of the sale¡­¡­. But unlikely today, there seems to be a lot of things brought together by fate. On the furthest end of the crowd, an indifferent male voice echoed out: ¡°25 gold coins. All of these ves, we want them.¡± The audience fell into a uproar! Chapter 177 The 177th chapter ¡°you can sweep the altar¡± There¡¯s still someone here that wants to pick a fight? Even Guro dares not offend these people, so who is so daring that he is willing to court death by making an offer? Aren¡¯t they too tant in their provocation? The crowds of people automatically separated to reveal the instigators true face in the back. A tall, thin middle aged man with a cold face akin to a rock. Seemingly devoid of attachment to everything around him, his eyes were an incredible shade of grey that is extremely rare. However, when everyone saw the kind of outfit this person was wearing, the crowd all gasped a breath of cold air! The guy was wearing a style of robe that ismonly worn by those of a servant, but the important thing is not the robe, it was the embroidered logo on his chest! This logo is very familiar to everyone! The reason is because this is the symbol of the Temple of Light! A clergy? When Guro heard someone wanted to make trouble at this time, this fat guy became enraged with fury. Turning around with his murderous gaze, he was just about to mouth off at the mysterious person when his voice croaked in the middle of his words! The Temple¡¯s?? He can¡¯t afford to mess with such a power! More importantly, this guy donning a garment of the Temple is obviously only a servant. While further behind the servant, the space behind the guy was already vacated of people before anyone could take notice. A carriage pulled by two snow white horses is currently parked in the furthest end of the crowd. With several waiters standing in wait, these people not only looked refine in their gestures, but they are also dressed in the outfits reserved for the royal pce. That¡¯s not all though. On their chest, each of these individuals hanged an emblem of the Temple! As for the carriage window, a windowsill was hanged there to mask the true face of whoever was riding inside. The only thing showing was a delicate set of hands resting on the window¡¯s edge. Guro worked in the capital, so of course he would recognize the carriage and the person inside. With only a nce, his already dried sweat on his forehead was bubbling out again as he looked back and forth between Du Wei and the carriage. Revealing a difficult expression, this steward didn¡¯t know what to do anymore because any side he took now would mean certain death. As for Du Wei, he was currently squinting his eyes as he sized up the carriage. The reason is because he had seen this carriage before, and it was not that long ago too in front of the pce! Daughter of thete rebellious crown prince, her duty is the role of a Holy Maiden in the temple. As a member of the royal household, this princess willingly offered herself to serve god in this lifetime! Likest time, Du Wei only stood there, but he can obviously feel the other side was peeking at him through the windowsill. Considering both now and then, it is clear the opposition recognizes him, yet¡­. Du Wei smiles as he turns to look at Sandy: ¡°Can the Temple¡¯s people also buy ves?¡± The once clever little kid is now dumbfounded. Stuttering in his words, he replied with great effort: ¡°It seems they can.¡± Frankly said, Du Wei did not want to hold a grudge with anyone, but the other side is clearly targeting him. If it was only for a few ves, Du Wei might have justughed it off and walked away. But since this is a deliberate provocation, then why should he endure it? ¡°100 gold coins.¡± Du Wei continues to raise the offer without batting an eysh. After hearing such a number, the servant went to the carriage¡¯s side and whispered a few words against the window. After getting amand from his master, the servant looked a bit stunned and coughed once before speaking again: ¡°101 gold coins.¡± Du Wei started tough now, but it was a very coldugh! ¡°200!¡± ¡°201.¡± The servant also seem to think this method of doing things is a bit temperamental. Du Wei narrowed his eyes: ¡°300.¡± ¡°301 gold coins.¡± The vers on top of the stage are already sweating like a rainstorm had blown over their head. Under normal circumstances, they would of course be overjoyed to hear someone raising the bid, but it seems the money this around would burn their hands if they take it! Du Wei is already offering up to 500 gold coins now. He is not purely doing this out of grudge, but rather it was for his name. Otherwise, if word spread of the newly appointed Duke being pressured under the Temple¡¯s will, then he can forget about ever making it big in the capital! No matter how stupid a person is, the people in the crowd now can see something is terribly wrong. Spreading apart to make space for them, the two parties now became very eye catching, especially Du Wei and Guro¡¯s side. In such a situation, Du Wei is unwilling to back off. No¡­. the right word is he ¡®can¡¯t¡¯ back off. If he did do such a disgraceful thing, then he might as well mop the floor with his name! It¡¯s not that Du Wei is reckless. When someone is deliberately pushing against you, then the only option is to fight back! Otherwise, even if he did back off today, the other side will just continue to make trouble for him in the future! If that¡¯s the case, then why not just go all out and snip the bud before it grows! When the price is raised to 1000 gold coins, the other party suddenly went silent. Then the one to break the eerie silence in the square was a charming small female voice. Though the voice sounded soothing, but Du Wei can vaguely pick up a cold intent in the words: ¡°Since your dukeship is unwilling to relent, then let¡¯s forget it¡­¡­ Originally, I only fancied the young boy on stage because I felt he would be a good fit to help me sweep the alter.¡± Duke? The moment these words came out, many of the people present understood Du Wei¡¯s identity! The capital recently produced a young teenage Duke that shined in the recent coup. Considering his age and the fact that Du Wei is a genius magician, who wouldn¡¯t know of his exploits? Like this, many of the gazes shooting over Du Wei were filled awe and fear. As for the person inside the carriage, herugh was calm, but at the same time cold: ¡°Your dukeship, since you are so insistent, then I have no choice but to back down.¡± With that said, the other side apparently wanted to leave. But who is Du Wei? There is no way he is going to let thing slide so easily. In a loud voice, he shouted: ¡°Your Royal Saintess.¡± His way of addressing her is a bit farfetched, but since she is both a Holy Maiden and a Princess, then it¡¯s technically correct. ¡°May I ask your dukeship if there is anything you need?¡± The voice of the Saintess inside was very calm and anti-climactic. ¡°Since you need someone sweep the alter, then I¡¯ll send a few people over in a couple of days. As for this young kid, I also have great uses for him.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± This Saintess originally thought she made this young Duke eat a bad one so was inwardly pleased inside. Now that such words were spoken out, her curiosity was piqued: ¡°Can it be that you intend to make that child your magic apprentice?¡± ¡°No.¡± Du Weiughed, and then he deliberately cried out: ¡°My home just so happens to becking a servant to clean the toilets.¡± The people that can clean a alter for you is only qualified to be a toilet ve! Du Wei¡¯s meaning is obvious to everyone. Many of the people present wanted tough, but who would dare at a time like this?¡± Only after a long period of silence did the Saintess break the silence: ¡°let¡¯s go!¡± Her voice is clearly filled with anger. Looking at carriage riding away, Rolynn couldn¡¯t stop herself from whispering into Du Wei¡¯s ear: ¡°master, don¡¯t you think this is too much? It¡¯s 1000 gold coins¡­..¡± Du Wei shakes his head before speaking a serious manner: ¡°1000 gold coins to make a Saintess eat a bad one in public, I think this is a very good deal. If possible, I rather spend 1000 gold coins every day to make her eat a bad one in front me. It¡¯s not like master here can¡¯t afford it.¡± After a pause, his tail is sticking out now as he smiled wickedly: ¡°Besides, do you really think I want to spend 1000 gold? Humph, as if these ves are worth 1000 gold coins. Just now even a fool would be able to figure out we were bidding against each other. Now that my identity is known, do you think these vers would dare ask me for money? Humph, even if I¡¯m willing to pay, do you think these people would want to take it?¡± Sure enough, the next thing that happens is just like Du Wei said. With one of his subordinates, the boss of this shop personally came down to hand over the purchase token. Trembling in every gesture he made, the leader spoke in the most honest tone he could muster: ¡°This is a little gift to your Dukeship. If we had known your lordship iscking some hands at home, we would have sent someone over. Please forgive us for not recognizing you; we will be sure to send over the best ves tomorrow!¡± Guro standing nearby was popping his eyes at the sight. Sighing: ¡°Who says this Duke is reckless? Look! He was able to make the Saintess embarrass herself in public without spending a dime!¡± Since his identity is already known, Du Wei felt there is no meaning in staying here anymore. Just as he was leaving the market with Rolynn by his side, he came across the ¡°official ve¡± shop that he was intending to visit from the start. However, because his mood for this ce is already ruined, he didn¡¯t pay much attention to the details. Then suddenly from on top of the stage, a sharp sound reached his ears. ¡°Du Wei! Master Du Wei! Your Lordship! Please! I beg you to buy me!¡± Previous Chapter Chapter 178 The 178th chapters ¡°not offending anyone¡± When Du Wei heard the cry for help, he feltpelled to look over at the source. From high above the stage where the ¡®official ves¡¯ were located, he saw rows of neatly dressed men and women standing there. Unlike the barbarians, these ves were all different because they were all once part of a noble household that fell into ruin. As for where the noise wasing from, it was originating from a guy standing in the furthest row of ves. Sharp beaked with a cheek like that of a monkey, the guy¡¯s wardrobe was already in tatters despite being made of high quality material. The guy knew his previous outburst had already made him a target for the vers. As he shivered in fear, the nearby vers immediately came up from behind and violentlyshed out at him with the whip. Disregarding the painfulshes on his back, this person stared intently at Du Wei while shouting in the loudest voice he can muster: ¡°Young master Du Wei, please buy me! Buy me please!¡± Du Wei can only feel a vague familiarity as he took one look at the guy. No matter what he did, he just couldn¡¯t pinpoint who this person was in his memories. Stopping his footsteps, he turned to walk towards the stage. Immediately, the people on the street moved aside to make way for him. As for the vers on top of the stage, they would of course be able to recognize Du Wei by now. Stopping their whips, they knew better to do anything rash in front of a Duke. Raising a finger, Du Wei pointed it at the guy up on the stage: ¡°Who are you? Do I know you?¡± ¡°Young master Du Wei.¡± The guy¡¯s face looked like he was in a panic. Turning left and right with a difficult face, he gritted his teeth and cried out: ¡°I am of Marquis Solomon.¡± Du Wei eyes lit up with excitement. Seeing how nervous the tattered looking guy was, Du Wei cut him short and said: ¡°I understand!¡± With that, Du Wei gave Rolynn a look and said: ¡°Buy him! No matter how much money, bring this guy back to see me.¡± After his words, Du Wei walked away without looking back: ¡°Sandy,e take a walk with me outside.¡± Sandy hesitated for a moment before a light crossed his eyes. Then with a happy face, he followed up jollily like a kid given a treat. Using the fastest speed to get out of the ve market, Du Wei took a look at the puffing kid behind him. Then in a quick whispering voice, he said: ¡°I ask you, what do I have to do if I want to buy some official ves? It has to be picked by me and at the same time, I do not want to offend the other noble parties here.¡± ¡°This¡± Sandy looked like he was in a predicament: ¡°Master Duke¡± He sucks in a breath of air before whispering: ¡°I know you identity is distinguished, but the official ve shop is opened by the royal household. Unlike the regr ve dealers, that ce has its own rule. Who can buy, and what can be sold are all pre-decided. For example: the daughters of those ruined nobles are highly sought after. Before they are even put up for auction, these once nobledies would have already been preordered.¡± ¡°Beat it!¡± Du Wei sent a foot at the kid¡¯s ass. With a smile, spoke in a yful tone: ¡°I don¡¯t want women. What I want are men¡¯s¡± ¡°A man? This will be easy then.¡± Sandy lets out a relived sigh. In the official ve shop, the most sought after are those rare aristocratic daughters of a ruined household, especially the beautiful ones. Think about it. The once high and mighty nobility is suddenly thrust into very and if one has the connection and money, you can take such a girl home and ravage her to your heart¡¯s content. What man wouldn¡¯t like such a thing? And the male servants along with the male children would consequently be ves. Although these people are also in high demand, but considering his Dukeship title, Du Wei believes it wouldn¡¯t be too difficult for him to get such a group under his wing. ¡°As long you are willing to spend some money then it won¡¯t be a problem.¡± Sandy contemtes the idea: ¡°But you are also aware of the situation in the official ve shop. I¡¯m just a kid trying to make a living on the street, so I don¡¯t know how to do this. However, I do know someone that does.¡± Du Wei took one look at the kid: ¡°Let¡¯s do this then. I think you are quite clever soe with me. If you are willing, you can work for me from now on. I can¡¯te here every day, so you can take my ce. If you do the job well, I¡¯ll reward you heavily.¡± Why did Du Wei buy that guy from the Solomon family? Because he could see that the ve up there lives within the boundary of his own status! Subtlety, Du Wei is starting to remember where he saw the guy. It was when he met Marquis Solomon back at the vi. That¡¯s right; the guy is a personal attendant of the Marquis. And what kind of people is Du Wei missing? It¡¯s the kind that can help him manage his business! And kind of person is Solomon? He is the royal merchant of the emperor that specializes in the management of the royal household¡¯s asset! Such a person is bound to be surrounded by people that are capable in doing business! After that Guro guy went back home, he immediately made a report about the encounter he made with Du Wei. Surprising Guro, Count Biliaibuer actually summoned him for questioning. Guro is just one of the many stewards under Count Biliaibuer, so it was very rare to find him being personally question by his master. Exining every small details of the event, Guro found himself being questioned for the entire night. Only until morning did Biliaibuer relent with a satisfied smile: ¡°Guro, I now have one more thing i need you to do, but it will cause you to feel a little bit aggrieved. Rest assured. After this is over, I will send you to the north and have you take full responsibility of the business there. What do you say?¡± Upon hearing this, Guro sshed down on his knee: ¡°My lord, you?¡± Fully responsible for the North¡¯s business? This is a big fat meat! Although staying the capital isn¡¯t bad, but the Count already have so many stewards under hismand. However, if he gets assigned to the north, then he will no longer be one of the many stewards here. Rather than staying here, why not change the scenery and be the leading figure somewhere else? And the business is so big over there, it is certain there will be many chances to benefit! ¡°Very good!¡± Count Biliaibuer nodded: ¡°If so, then today I will have to wrong you a bit.¡± With that, Biliaibuer suddenly stood up. With a deep voice, he cried out: ¡°Come!¡± From outside the door, two bodyguards quickly came into the room. Then pointing at the kneeling Guro, Count Biliaibuer sternly said: ¡°Drag him out and break his legs! Once done, have someone bring him over to the Duke Du Wei¡¯s residence! Have him stationed outside on the street near the entrance! After putting him there for the morning, have someone else bring him back to see me!¡± Looking at the deathly pale Guro, Count Biliaibuer mildly smiled: ¡°Rest assured Guro, I will find someone to give you the best treatment for you wound.¡± Watching the horror faced Guro being dragged out by the guards; Biliaibuer can hear the loud screams of pain echoing into his study room a minuteter. ¡°Someonee!¡± Count Biliaibuer sighed before whispering a few words. Very soon, two servants appeared at the doorway. ¡°Go to the vi outside the city and pick out a few young training girls around the age of 13 or 14. Also, make sure they look clean and decent on the surface. Then send them over to her royal highness over at the Temple. Tell her I found out she wanted someone to clean the alter and these girls are my gift to her.¡± Finishing all of this, Count Biliaibuer conveniently grabbed for the ss of red wine in front of him. Then finishing the drink in a single gulp, he spoke his next words in a low voice: ¡°Humph, one is the currently popr Grand Duke; the other is her highness the Saintess. I can¡¯t offend anyone.¡± The light bouncing off the wine¡¯s red shade is causing the pale faced Biliaibuer to look a bit red. Putting down the cup, he began tough in a low voice. ¡°I can¡¯t offend anyone. Aigh, it¡¯s entirely the Regent¡¯s fault. He killed the Crown prince, but he is still giving preferential treatment to the princess. God knows what the Regent is thinking in his heart. I can¡¯t act rashly. Until I clear up the Regent¡¯s intention, I can¡¯t take a side! Otherwise, its no joke If I join the wrong team!¡± Almost at the same time. Du Wei has already returned to his residence. Bringing Sandy back with him, he dumped the kid into Marde¡¯s care: Find him a room. From this point on, he is my personal attendant. As for the rules, you are to teach him.¡± After a pause, Du Wei was just about to go back to his room when he suddenly stopped in his track. Thinking it over for a moment, Du Wei then left some words with Marde: ¡°I¡¯m afraid our front door will get a little lively tomorrow morning, but no matter what happens, you are to keep the door locked. No matter what type of strange things that happens outside, you are to make sure none of the family members go out. You hear me?¡± Chapter 179 The 179th chapter ¡°reasonable lies¡± That evening, Rolynn brought all of the purchased ves back to the warehouse behind the shop. In addition, after Du Wei¡¯s identity was learned, the vers also threw in several beautiful young ve girls to please the young Duke. These indigenous ves from Southeastern Sea seem to be very honest, but something in her mind is telling her something is wrong. Just what is wrong is something Rolynn couldn¡¯t pinpoint still. These ves ¡­ ¡­ Seems to be too obedient. Contrary to Du Wei¡¯s hermit style of living, Rolynn has traveled the continent since she was little and seen many ves in her time. These types of savage and untamed barbarians will only be obedient under the force of the whip. Otherwise, they are the type that is already tamed to the point where their eyes be hollow as their scrawny thin bodies shouldered the burden of heavybor. But this group of ves ¡­ ¡­ From the time she received them from the hand of the ve dealers, the introduction she got was that these people are ¡°raw ves¡±. Yet, they are acting way too obedient. Rather than calling the expression on these 20 bustling young man ¡®numb¡¯, it is better to say they are mechanical. That¡¯s right, it is mechanical! They seem to beplying with every order given to them, but there was no joy or anger on their faces, much less the sorrow and agony of being ripped from their home. But what¡¯s even more funny, Rolynn seems have sensed the air of a soldier from these 20 male ves! Yes, soldiers! Their action is very neat, quick, and efficient. Even after they¡¯ve been arranged into the workshop, the servant that was supposed to be there with the whip has be a decoration. That¡¯s not all! When it was dinner time, these people even knew how to stand in line! The only exception to this was the young and old duo. Sitting at the end of the table, the two acted like it was the most natural thing when the young men¡¯s brought them their food. When Rolynn secretly observed the group, she found the other ves didn¡¯t even dare to eat until the two finished their food. After a whole night of spying, she finally made up her mind and decided to immediately report this to the young master. By the time Du Wei caught wind of the news, he was already wearing his sleeping gown and ready for bed. If not for his previous order to the people down below to always pass on Rolynn¡¯s report, Marde would never have interrupted his rest. At this moment, Du Wei was in his study room having an audience with Rolynn: ¡°You mean the young and old duo is the head of this group of ves?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that simple.¡± Rolynn slowly exined herself: ¡°I don¡¯t know how to describe it, but it¡¯s mainly towards the senior there. His air and temperament seems to indicate he¡¯s already used to such treatment. If I had to make aparison, I could vaguely sense the same type of attitude only found in those great noble families of the imperial capital. Aside from this, there are also the other ves in the group. Those men are young, strong, and well trained in their actions. In fact, I¡¯m suspecting they were even put through a training course simr to that of soldiers. Though their abilities are still a notch below the imperial army, but it¡¯s already not that far behind¡­. Remember, these indigenous tribes are originally a group of savages, so where in the world did they learn to behave like this?¡± Du Wei eyes lit up. Returning to his bedroom to change his clothing, he and Rolynn immediately headed back towards the shop in the middle of the night. Then inside an empty room that they prepared, Du Wei had someone bring over the young and old duo because he wanted to personally meet the two. Like this, he observed the two as he sat quietly on a chair inside the room. Very soon, he made the decision that this senior won¡¯t be easy to deal with due to theck of panic in the elder¡¯s eyes. As for the kid, he also showed a bit of calmness in his appearance. Though the kid¡¯s fa?ade was good, but Du Wei was able to catch hold of the timidity in the kid¡¯s roaming eyes when he first enter. ¡°State your name.¡± Du Wei spoke lightly as he sat in the chair: ¡°I know you¡¯re capable of speaking ournguage. The people that sold you to me exined your situation and that you are the most intelligent among your peers.¡± ¡°Ben Carson.¡± The old ve briefly spit out these words: ¡°Ben Carson is my name.¡± His ability to speak thenguage is not bad, but his pronunciation is still not very urate. ¡°Your original identity.¡± Du Wei smiles. Old senior went silent without answering. ¡°You have to understand one thing.¡± Du Wei speaks in a slow deep tone: ¡°I don¡¯t care what your previous identity was back in your old ce, but you are a ve here. Your life from now on is mine! Do you get it?¡± Old senior¡¯s face leaked out a hint of struggle, then as if feeling helpless, he whispered: ¡°I used to be a tribal prophet.¡± Du Wei nods. His old man relied on the merits of the southeastern sea¡¯s conquest to climb the ranks, so Du Wei naturally had some insight into these indigenous tribes. When it came to these tribal prophets, their status is even more distinguished than those tribal chiefs. ¡°Well then, what about him?¡± Du Wei took one look at the child next to him: ¡°What is his status?¡± Old Ben Carson hesitated in his words: ¡°He is our tribal chief¡¯s son¡­ ¡­ Our tribe was destroyed by your army and most of our people have already died in the process. The remaining survivors have been caught and brought back here.¡± Oh ¡­ ¡­ The son of an destroyed tribe? Du Wei smiled: ¡°If you say it like this, then those young ves with you two are also from the same tribe?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Ben Carson nods: ¡°All them are. They are very respectful to me and to our chief¡¯s son, this is our tradition.¡± Hmm, this exnation seems very reasonable. Du Wei smiles as he stood up to say his next words: ¡°Your answer is very good, but I need you to know one thing, no matter what your prior identity is, you are now my ve.¡± ¡°I understand that.¡± Old Ben Carson¡¯s face looked obedient without any bit of resistance. Du Wei nods: ¡°I¡¯m a kind person so I will not abuse you, nor will I treat you like cattle. I¡¯ll also feed you well and clothe you to keep you warm. If you listen to me, I can even allow you guys to have some free time at night to perform your rituals towards your God!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Old Ben Carson looked up at Du Wei in surprise. This teenager is actually familiar with our tribal practices? The Southeastern Sea is vast and filled with numerous inds. Among thesends are many different cultures and beliefs that had sprung up depending on the tribe¡¯s location. Completely different from the main continent¡¯s religion, Du Wei only learned of this because he studied this out of curiosity when he was young. His father is after all from the Navy, so it¡¯s no surprise his home would be in possession of some knowledge regarding the southeastern sea. In addition, there are those old veteran soldiers that had retired from the navy after serving with his father, so these people didn¡¯t find it strange when Du Wei asked about this. A kid is a kid; their curiosity can lead them anywhere. Different from the Rnd Continent¡¯s single belief towards the Goddess of light, the system of worship for these tribes in the southeastern seems to be far more prosperous and developed. (For anyone confused about the god stuff, there is only one Goddess of light for the temple. Due to cultural difference in wording, previous trantions didn¡¯t catch on to this until the author made it clearter on.) ording to the tribal legends of the southeastern sea, an ancient god created the world before giving birth to many sons and daughters. Later on, these beings are then charged with the management of the world and the elements that dwells within it. Compared to the Temple¡¯s teaching, their version is far better. For example: the goddess of harvest, the goddess of the rain season, the Sun God ¡­ ¡­ (The tribes lives in the tropical ocean, so they would naturally never see snow in theirnds. Therefore, an ice god or snow god wouldn¡¯t exist.) And every tribe in the southeastern sea would choose of these gods as their guardian spirit to worship. They allply with the samemon legend of how God created the world and recognizes all other tribal gods. On this point, Du Wei found it very interesting because unlike the Temple, the continent only has one faith and that is the Goddess of Light. Aside from this, any other cult or belief is considered evil and will be excluded with everything the Temple can throw at it. Of course, the only rtively enlightened point of the Temple is that you can choose to believe in them or not. However, even if you don¡¯t believe in the faith, you still can¡¯t insult the Goddess or believe in another religion. Either you believe in God or you don¡¯t, otherwise, the temple will treat you as a heretic and burn you to death. And the southeastern tribes never seem to be in conflict over such matters. Respecting each other¡¯s belief, they admit the world is ruled by many gods. Most of the tribes in Southeastern Sea will perform a praying ceremony in the evening, and this ritual is headed by the tribal prophet. ¡°You know a lot about our customs.¡± Ben Carson tightens his mouth after saying this much. ¡°Yes, I know a bit.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°I can give you this freedom, of course, only if you are obedient.¡± ¡°Thank you, you are a kind master.¡± Old Ben Carson bends slightly: ¡°I will have them be good.¡± As if casually walking to Ben Carson¡¯s side, Du Wei¡¯s eye inadvertently floated to the tattoo¡¯s showing on the senior¡¯s body. ¡°What is this?¡± Du Wei said this with smile: ¡°This is your tribe¡¯s Totem?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Ben Carson nods: ¡°Our belief is the Sun God and this symbol is the sun¡¯s wheel. Our former tribe is called the Sun tribe.¡± Du Wei nods in understand before ordering Rolynn to take the young and odl duo away. Just when Old Ben Carson and the young kid was about to go out, Du Wei suddenly asked from behind: ¡°Why does kid not have a tattoo? I heard every important figure must be tattooed, right?¡± Old Ben Carson turned around, his expression was very calm: ¡°Yes, what you said is not wrong my lord. But from where we were from, only those of 14 years of age or older can be considered an adult. Only after going through the rite of passage can he be qualified for a tattoo. Right now, he is only 12 years old.¡± ¡°Oh, well then, just one more question.¡± Du Wei was still smiling as he walked up to the kid: ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± He said this in a very gentle voice. The kid¡¯s eye started to show some fear: ¡°Lufei¡­¡­¡± Du Wei lets out a smallugh. ncing over at the old senior, his smile that he had kept up till now was gradually bing cold. ¡°Lufei, that¡¯s a good name.¡± Du Weiughed coldly: ¡°Rolynn, bring Lufei to the next room and have him have a taste of something interesting!¡± With that said, Du Wei turned around and went back to his chair. Rolynn is already up and two ferocious looking thugs wereing up to drag the poor kid away. Like this, the group of three went over to the room next door. The two subordinate under Rolynn are all pirates from the fleet, so their faces are totally sinister from top to bottom. Seeing this oue, Ben Carson¡¯s face immediately darkened. Turning around to face Du Wei, he anxiously eximed: ¡°Noble master, this is¡­..¡± ¡°This is punishment for lying.¡± Du Wei sat in the chair and coldly looked at the old man. Old Ben Carson sshed down to his knees and cried out: ¡°I ¡­ ¡­ I¡¯m not lying! Everything I said was true¡­¡­¡± ¡°Humph!¡± Du Wei sneered: ¡°Sun tribe? Prophet? The son of the chief? Lufei? Do you really think I¡¯m so easily fooled like those dumb nobles?!¡± It was in this moment, the screaming cries of panic and fear came from the room next door. After the initial outcry, the sound of whipsshes came next! PA!!! That is the sound of the whip hitting flesh, Loud and crisp, mixed with the screaming cries of the kid, Old Ben Carson immediately jumped and tried to run over to the room. Unfortunately for him, Rolynn immediately pushed him back down with one hand. ¡°Rolynn, first have the kid take 20shes.¡± Du Wei expression was cold, very cold¡­¡­ ¡°Ben Carson, humph, I don¡¯t even care now if that is your real name. However, you must know a child¡¯s body may not be able take such punishment. If you are not going to tell me the truth after 20shes, I¡¯m going to increase it to 40. Then if you still won¡¯t tell me by then, I¡¯m going to increase it to 60, 80, and so on! Until you tell me the truth, I won¡¯t stop!¡± Ben Carson began to sweat uncontrobly on his forehead: ¡°¡­ ¡­ All I said is the truth! The Truth!!¡± ¡°The truth?¡± Du Wei sneered: ¡°All you did was made up a usible lie to deceive me!¡± Suddenly standing up, Du Wei threw the cup in his right hand and smashed it into Old Ben Carson¡¯s feet. With a loud thud, the cup shattered and the water sshed all over the senior¡¯s face in the process. ¡°You think I don¡¯t know?¡± Du Wei sneered: ¡°Sun tribe? What a joke! It¡¯s not wrong, the southeastern sea does have a Sun¡¯s tribe, but that was 14 years ago! On the ninth expedition of the empire, this tribe was sixth group to be exterminated. You say this kid¡¯s name is Lufei? I¡¯ll tell you now. I also know some of your people¡¯s words and Lufei mean¡¯s ¡®wind¡¯! Do you expect me to believe a Sun¡¯s god¡¯s believer would name their child ¡®wind¡¯? Do you think I¡¯m stupid? Or do you think I like those other nobles knows nothing about the Southeast?¡± Du Wei icy gaze finally fell upon the tattoo on Ben Carson¡¯s arm: ¡°Lastly, your tattoo! Dear Mr. Prophet! Indeed, from legend, the prophets do have tattoos, but is your tattoo of the Sun tribe? Is it the Sun God? What a joke! You are taking advantage of myck of knowledge regarding your culture!¡± Du Wei suddenly lifted his hand and dipped a finger into the spilled tea on the floor. Then quickly moving his finger, he drew a pattern on the floor. ¡°This is the real Sun Totem! Sun God¡¯s totem!¡± Seeing how Du Wei casually drew the pattern in front of him, old Ben Carson sensed a chill rise straight from his heel up to his brain! His reaction now is like someone seeing a ghost when facing this young aristocrat. He ¡­ ¡­ How does he know! How can he have such clear understanding of us?! Ben Carson would of course recognize the pattern Du Wei created! Without missing a single stroke, the symbol is exactly the real sun god¡¯s totem! The knowledge of this young aristocrat is beyond what Ben Carson expected! ¡°Do I need to keep going?¡± Du Wei coldlyughs at the Ben Carson: ¡°You still won¡¯t give up? Then I¡¯ll tell you, your tattoo is not even a totem, but a fire symbol! What a joke! Do you think I can¡¯t even distinguish the difference between a regr me symbol from a totem symbol? In your culture, a fire symbol only carries an auspicious meaning and not a representation of a god!¡± Old Ben Cason¡¯s whole body is already sweating profusely. ¡°What now?¡± After saying all of this in a single breath, Du Wei¡¯s tone gradually calmed down: ¡°Are you surprised? Then tell me your true identity! Humph, you can be considered clever and cunning already. Making a entire lie to fool me. If not for the fact that I studied your culture, then I might have really been cheated by you!¡± Ben Carson was still in a daze when Du Wei reminded him: ¡°The poor little Lufei is still enduring the whipshes, so are you still going to waste more time thinking it over?¡± At this point, Ben Carson suddenly cried out in freight from the chilling reminder: ¡°No! Don¡¯t! Don¡¯t hit him! I¡¯ll speak! I¡¯ll say everything!!¡± Previous Chapter Chapter 180 part 1 The 180th chapter ¡°The potential threat from the Southeastern Sea¡± (part 1) ¡°Speak.¡± Du Wei narrowed his eyes: ¡°You better hurry and tell the truth. Don¡¯t expect me to be fooled! Otherwise, that little Lufei wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand anymoreshes!¡± Old Ben Carson regretfully sighed before looking at Du Wei: ¡°Who exactly are you and why are you so familiar with the southeast!¡± Du Wei faintly smiles: ¡°You still don¡¯t know my identity? My name is Du Wei! Oh, of course, you may not know my name, but you surely must know of my father¡¯s name¡­¡­ His name is Raymond! Earl Raymond was once upon a time themander of the southeastern fleet!¡± Raymond? When this name was revealed, Old Ben Carson¡¯s face immediately revealed horror and despair!! The reason is because this name is just too famous among the natives! A bandit! Butcher! Executioner! ¡­¡­ His hand is stained with the blood and lives of those living in the southeastern sea. As the most infamous person among the invaders, the name Earl Raymond can make even a child cry like they had seen the devil. How can this little young noble teenager be the son of that devilish murderer?! Old Ben Carson didn¡¯t have any more time to think this over because Lufei¡¯s existence is something the people of the Southeastern Sea cannot lose! No one knows this better than him and no one understands how profoundly important Lufei is to their survival! ¡°I¡¯ll say it! I can tell you everything! The only thing I ask of you is to make your people stop first!¡± Ben Caron¡¯s body trembled slightly as if he had aged all of a sudden. ¡°Alright.¡± Du Wei made eye contact with Rolynn to have her leave the room. Very soon, the screaming and crying from the room next to them stopped. Only after hearing this did he finally breath out a sigh of relief. Nheless, his muscles were still constantly shaking. ¡°I did not lie; my real name is called Ben Carson. In the Southeastern Sea, this name is verymon among my people. Aside from this, my real identity is not a prophet of the Sun tribe¡­¡­ I ¡­¡­¡­¡± Gritting his teeth reluctantly: ¡°My true identity is the grand prophet of the United Kingdom!¡± The United Kingdom? Du Wei¡¯s face did not show much emotion, but his heart was secretly sighing at the answer. Sure enough, there will be resistance when oppression is made. The truth is back when Du Wei¡¯s father led the empire¡¯s fleet against those indigenous tribes; there had already been some forms of retaliations from those savages. Unwilling to ept their fate of genocide from the invaders, some of therger tribes along the closer inds gathered together and orchestrated a massive battle. If not for the massive difference in their weaponry and equipment, the losses wouldn¡¯t have been so low for the imperial fleet. But due to the excessive pige of resources on the Southeast, those already conceding tribes living on those inds had their survival instinct knocked awake. In merely a few decades, their level of progress in the art of war was bordering on the line of absurdity. Even for Du Wei¡¯s father, a trace of worry had sprouted. And this so-called United Kingdom is something Du Wei came across before. Back in the early days of Earl Raymond¡¯s naval days, some of the bigger and more civilized tribes in the farthest end of the Southeastern Sea had already united together to create the so called ¡°United Kingdom¡±. Comprised of hundreds of inds, it is said that the mass of some of the bigger inds is on the same level of a province inside the empire! Of course, since the imperial fleet still couldn¡¯t travel that far out in sea, all of this is just rumor gathered from word of mouth. Ever since the rumor of the ¡°United Kingdom¡± was known, the pressure on the imperial fleet naturally increased as well. When it first started, the pressure was still miniscule due to the vast difference in weaponry. However, as time and years went by, the efforts made by this so called United Kingdom is starting to show some results. Using their familiarity with the natural terrain and the crude warships they created by stealing the technique from god knows where, these savages managed to inflict a certain level of damage on the imperial fleet by utilizing guerri tactics. And the biggest change was three years ago. In that sh, the battle sent a very clear danger signal to the empire. The reason is because the imperial fleet¡¯s glorious record of having zero injury was broken at this point! Over the years, the imperial forces had always won without any losses. No matter how many shes they had prior to this, the warships of the empire have never been sunk! The vast gap in technology and weaponry between the two forces meant the indigenous tribes posed no threat. In fact, rather than worrying about those simplistic barbarians, it would be better to put their focus on avoiding hurricanes and water vortexes out at sea. Some General even proudly proimed once: When we go to the Southeast, we are not fighting people, we are fighting the weather. As long as the weather permits, there is no obstacle the fleet cannot cross!¡± But three years ago, the bloody battle that day finally destroyed the glorious record of the fleet! Under the leadership and influence of this rumored ¡°United Kingdom¡±, these people from the native tribes constructed a fleet of an enormous scale. Although in the imperial standard, these warships can only be considered a regr ship in size, but the numbers were truly terrifying! On that day, the imperial fleet may have won the battle in the end, but their losses weren¡¯t low: losing two Sea Cloud ss warships, the fleet also had one of their Sea King ss warships heavily damaged. This change should have without a doubt raised the rm for the military. Despite this, the higher ups seem to show no interest at their setback. This is to be expected because after all, their past record is simply too glorious that their sense of urgency became blindsided. Even an elephant would asionally be bitten if they were facing a thousand ants at one time. But Du Wei managed to learn the truth through some other ¡°channel¡±. Just a few days ago, after Earl Raymond left the Imperial capital, Du Wei looked up some of the documents left behind by his father in the closet¡­¡­ These documents should have been confiscated when Raymond left, but Du Wei guessed the military thought it wasn¡¯t important enough to destroy. Indeed, the southeast is still a sheep that could be freely harvested in the eyes of the military. But when Du Wei read up on the data regarding the event three years ago, he found that many of the information from the official known version is different from the one he had in hand! Firstly, the ¡°United Kingdom¡± seems to have mastered some basic form of military tactics. Although it is still simple, but it has already stepped into the boundary of being called ¡®tactics¡¯. The other party lured the imperial fleet into favorable waters and held a decisive battle between two inds. With the fleet facingnd on both sides, all of the ships were stuck in a narrow channel that made their size an unfavorable asset. Like this, the fighters from the native tribes bombarded the fleet with rocks fromnd. Those makeshift slings may have extremely low range and uracy, but the target isn¡¯t moving and stuck in a narrow channel. Therefore, theck of range meant nothing when the target can¡¯t move! As for theck of uracy, it wasn¡¯t a problem either. Those fighting in this battle were already putting their lives on the line, so some friendly casualties are bearable losses. And on the data, the other party utilized a basic form of ¡°outnking¡± the enemy in theirbat! With this, these people are no longer those that will only use homemade canoe and spears to fend off enemies! After nearly a century of oppression, these desperate people have created their own distinguished culture and military nature! Chapter 180 part 2 The 180th chapter ¡°The potential threat from the Southeastern Sea¡± (part 2) From the data, it was even said that in the face of defeat, the other side did not easily flee for their lives. Instead, they tried their best to snatch away a small warship in a shocking assault just so they can bring the ship back for research!! After Du Wei finished reading that copy of data, even he was sighing in sorrow because this is clearly a sign of advancement in a civilization. Despite this dangerous warning, the higher ups in the military showed no sign of urgency or care for this¡ªthe reason is because after that tragic and bloody battle, the United Kingdom seems to have weakened significantly. It¡¯s to be expected. With their fleet destroyed, the injury must have caused the United Kingdom to copse. In the final part of this data, Earl Raymond ¨C the former militarymander of the fleet ¨C wrote down his own opinion regarding this situation. In Du Wei¡¯s view, his father¡¯s assessment is very urate! ¡°Rmending the Empire to focus all energy to organize anotherrge scale expedition, but this time around, the fleet must be three times the size of the existing fleet and be loaded with enough soldiers for and invasion. No matter the sacrifice, the fleet must prate deep into the heart of the Southeastern inds and locate the rumored United Kingdom. In this maneuver, the empire must once and for all destroy this future threat! After this ispleted, the approach taken so far towards this frontier must be changed from simply a military standpoint and into a conquest version. Using whatever means avable like stationing troops there all year round and appointing officials there for governing, the empire must turn this ce into a true province of the empire within the next 30 years!¡± Regarding these ideas, Du Wei believes it is absolutely correct. It¡¯s a shame though because despite how far sighted Earl Raymond is, the empire¡¯s central highmand didn¡¯t put much emphasis on this matter. After all, the Rowling Household¡¯s control is temporarily confined to the military. Matched with the growing absurdity of the old emperor and the tension of the empire¡¯s finances, such arge scale n is unrealistic. With all of this information crossing through Du Wei¡¯s mind in a sh, his gaze finally fell upon Old Ben Carson: ¡°United Kingdom? Grand Phophet?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Yes.¡± Ben Carson seems to havepletely caved in: ¡°In the United Kingdom, the Grand Prophet is almost equivalent to the Temple¡¯s¡­¡­ Pope. At his words, Du Wei was really impressed! His Majesty the Pope is almost on equal footing to the Emperor of the Empire! At least from the way they are addressed, only these two individuals may be referred to as ¡°his Majesty¡±! However, inparison to the unlimited authority of the Pope in the empire¡­.. Ignoring the fact that the United Kingdom is a clumsy backwater in this world, isn¡¯t this Grand Prophet in front of him a bit too shabby? How does he expect people to believe his story? ¡°Exactly just a few years ago ¡­ ¡­ There was a civil strife within the United Kingdom.¡± Ben Carson reluctantly exined: ¡°A few years ago, the battle with your imperial fleet was a wrong decision. The reason behind this is because the zealous faction was in control ¨C add in the eagerness among our people to repel the invaders ¨C our tribesman ended up being too optimistic towards the situation. ¡­.. After everything finished unfolding, the unity binding the United Kingdom nearly copsed. At the time, questioning voices were very strong because most of our forces were concentrated in that massive battle. Despite the enormous numbers on our side, we couldn¡¯t even defeat a single fleet of yours. Many of the tribes gave up their hopes for resistance on that day and decided to lift up their homes and move to some distant inds in the southern waters. This was all done just so they can escape from the clutches of your empire. Aside from this, the biggest tribe in our kingdom ¨C it is also the home of our previous king ¨C lost most of their powers due to the heavy causalities they faced. Left with no other option, the king at the was forced to step down after losing most of his influence among the other tribes.¡± Speaking up to here, Ben Carson gave Du Wei a nce: ¡°Different from your Empire, our Emperor is not hereditary and is elected by the numerous tribes in our union. After our king abdicated due to defeat, most of our people lost confidence and simply went back to their homes to prepare for migration. By then, we even had trouble finding someone willing to step into the post. Later, with several Grand Prophets¡­..¡± ¡°Several?¡± Du Wei smiled. ¡°Yes, the religious authority from where we are from is not concentrated in the hands of a single person. Here, you only have one Pope, but we have four.¡± Ben Carson exined this before continuing: ¡°Discussing it over, the four of us together finally elected a new king. This person is also a powerful tribal chieftain, but his influence, prestige, and intellect isn¡¯t enough to lead us against the invaders¡­¡­. On this point, we all understand this. Therefore, the new king agreed to hold down the fort for us for the next few years until the four grand prophets can find the right person.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Oh, and then what?¡± ¡°Then¡­¡­¡± When Ben Carson exined up to here, he hesitated for a moment before finally relenting after seeing the chilling gaze from Du Wei: ¡°The four of us grand prophets decided to go seek out the ¡®lost tribe¡¯. Only by finding this legendary tribe that is said to be the family of god will we be able to call upon the tribes that have already given up.¡± ¡°The family of god? Lost tribe?¡± Du Wei felt a vague familiarity towards this because overheard the veteran soldiers under his father speak of this. Unfortunately, Du Wei did not know the details, nor does he know if this is true. It¡¯s just that in front of this old man, Du Wei intentionally gave off an airprehension and all knowing: ¡°This is indeed a good idea. By taking advantage of the prestige this legendary tribe yields, you can once again breathe life back into the United Kingdom.¡± Sure enough, the act put on by Du Wei is enough to deceive Old Ben Carson. Nodding in agreement, the old man continued his story: ¡°Unfortunately, I ended up encountering one of your forces patrolling our waters. After a quick struggle, I was finally caught and dragged back here.¡± ¡°And you¡¯ve been carefully hiding your identity?¡± Du Wei smiled. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ben Carson nods: ¡°My identity is the Grand Prophet, so I¡¯m concerned for my safety if the people here learn of my status¡­¡­ I¡¯m not afraid to die, but my body is shouldering a heavy burden, so I can¡¯t throw away my life meaninglessly!¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Then what about those youngsters with you? They don¡¯t seem like a regr people.¡± You see, they are my followers. In order to protect me, every single one of them received some form of training.¡± Ben Carson shed a trace of sorrow on his face: ¡°Unfortunately, at the time when I was captured, many of them died protecting me.¡± After a pause, Ben Carson added in another sentence: ¡°they were our bravest warriors in the United Kingdom. In order to follow me, they abandoned their homes and apanied me in my journey across the Southern waters¡­¡­¡± ¡°There¡¯s no time for grief.¡± Du Wei said calmly: ¡°Both sides are hostile to each other so killing is a verymon urrence.¡± Old Ben Carson remains silent at Du Wei¡¯s speech. ¡°So then, what about Lufei¡¯s identity¡­..¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Is he from that legendary tribe?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ No.¡± Ben Carson shook his head with a hint of frustration in his eyes: ¡°He¡­¡­ Is my son.¡± Son? Du Wei lets out a smirk: ¡°Ben Carson, don¡¯t you think this lie is a little too deceptive?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± Ben Carson exins: ¡°Different from the temple on the continent, our Grand Prophets can marry and have children. In addition to this, this title is hereditary. In order to prepare our children to take up our mantle after the current generation passes away, our children will be given a special set of education and training¡­.. Therefore, Lufei is really my son. Please don¡¯t harm him. If I must, I¡¯m willing to swear to God!!¡± Seeing the sincere expression on Ben Caron, Du Wei was having a hard time telling lies from truth. ¡°Fine then, I¡¯m going to keep an eye on you Mr. Grand Prophet.¡± Du Wei as smiled: ¡°However, in light of your identity, I¡¯m willing to give you certain privileges, but definitely don¡¯t think of running away, you get it?¡± ¡°Rolynn! Bring that child over here!¡± After Du Wei¡¯s harshmand, Rolynn quickly went out and brought the kid into the room. But surprising Ben Caron, Lufei¡¯s body showed no signs of injury! Then what about those whipshes and fearful screams? Du Wei started chuckling: ¡°I used your ear to fool you.¡± The truth is the two pirates¡¯ next room only took out something to scare the kid. As for the whipping sound, it was made by hitting it against leather. Chapter 181 The 181th chapter ¡±I want to jump into a river!¡± ¡°Now then, first take these two away and give the little kid some sweets since he¡¯s been through some fright tonight.¡± Du Wei may be smiling still but there was something about his tone that sent chills down everyone¡¯s spine. Waiting till Rolynn tasked someone to bring them away, Du Wei immediately returned to his serious manner: ¡°Rolynn, you have no time to rest. Go immediately and get some ves from the market. I don¡¯t care if you have to rob them or buy them, just get them back here! They must be natives from the southeast and above all else, they must be able to speak ournguage. Preferably some elderly vers because only people like that would be versed in their old myths and legends! Go now! I¡¯ll wait for you here!¡± Rolynn did not disappoint. Moving out immediately, she and several of her subordinates went to the ve market in the middle of the night and unlike before, all she had to do was proim her origin and the ve dealers dly offered up three old ves to her. With the ves back at the manor, Du Wei then began his interrogation regarding the legend around the ¡°lost tribe¡±. Out of worry for these people making up lies, Du Wei had to separate every single one of them and ask them the questions individually. Luckily, after much effort and time, Du Wei is certain the story is true because their versions were all about the same. God¡¯s tribe? Du Wei was alone in the room thinking over details. After a good while, his heart had a faint itching that something was off. The Southeast native tribes all worshipped different gods, but all these gods are all recognized as the children of the creators. But oddly enough, Du Wei never noticed a tribe that used the creator as their patron god! All these tribes only worshipped the children¡¯s of the creator like the god of harvest, the rain god, the sun god, and etc¡­.. Such a phenomenon is very strange. But tonight, Du Wei finally figured out the reason. God¡¯s tribe, the lost tribe¡­¡­ Is in fact the highest and central point of all the myths and legends in the southeastern sea! The reason is because this mysterious tribe is the only tribe that used the creator as their patron god! Only them, and only they can have such qualifications to do this!! If any other tribes dare to do this, their actions will immediately be recognized as an offense to god and they will be treated as heretics! If that happens, the sinners will be exterminated without remorse! The reason for this is because in everyone¡¯s eyes, the creator is too extraordinary, so no one is qualified to use such an extraordinary god as their object of worship! But the only exception to this is this god¡¯s tribe¡­¡­ In the legends, the ancestor of this mysterious tribe is said to be the youngest son of the creator. Because this son was overly loved by his father, the other sibling gods became jealous with envy. As such, this son was sent to the mortal realm to suffer through hurdles in life. Once all the suffering is over, it is said this son will be able to return to the heavens and inherit his father¡¯s position! And even in the mortal world, this tribe is said to be blessed by the creator so they can protect the native tribes in the southeastern sea. This mythical legend left Du Wei wondering if he should cry orugh at how dumb it was. Able to directlymunicate with the creator? Blessed by the creator? The Southeast is about to be exterminated by the empire, so where is this so called protection from the creator? Myth is a myth after all. Du Wei thought it was like this. The key to this myth is that no one knows where exactly this mysterious tribe is located. Unlike the stationary tribes living on the inds, the God¡¯s tribe doesn¡¯t have their ownnd and is constantly migrating from one ce to another. Drifting through the ocean, their identity is a secret to everyone with only one feature to recognize them. Different from the rest of the native tribes, this mysterious tribe will never have any tattoos on their main body! The reason is simple: their patron god is the creator; therefore they have no need for worship tattoos. ¡°Ah, that right.¡± Du Wei began to smile: ¡°There¡¯s no need to worship their own sister and brothers is there?¡± But they do have one unique tattoo and that is on the sole of their feet! The meaning behind this feature is to indicate the representative of the creator is walking in this world! In Southeastern Sea, there is a widespread saying among multiple tribes: If you see a man without a tattoo. Then would you please bow down to him. If you see his feet when you are bowing. Then please kiss it. If you do, you will be bathed in the creator¡¯s light. Du Wei thought about this for a long time, and then he began tough like a demon. ¡°Rolynn, I¡¯ll have to trouble you to bring his honor the Grand Prophet and his son over.¡± Ben Carson was jumpy to begin with after the first meeting with Du Wei. In his mind, he thought he already managed to pass through this hurdle, but then the little noble suddenly called him and Lufei back for a second meeting. Lufei received quite a bit of shock tonight, so his eye was wide open when he was called upon again. As for Ben Carson, this old sly fox could already guess the reason for the second summoning, so his body was trembling nonstop. Du Wei pointed a finger at Lufei: ¡°Rolynn! Undress the kid¡¯s clothing! Take everything off!¡± Rolynn faithfullypleted Du Wei¡¯smand, and very soon, the 12 year old boy was standing nakedly in front of Du Wei. Sure enough, this child¡¯s body did not have any tattoos. ¡°Next¡­¡­ Show me the child feet!¡± Pok!! Old Ben Carson¡¯s face was full of despair. With his eyes closed, this old man is already fainted on the ground! The most terrifying thing really happened! This little noble really found out!!! The room fell into total silence. Lufei Didn¡¯t dare resist and quietly obeyed Rolynn¡¯s request to lift up his feet. Sure enough, the sole of his feet is etched with a¡­¡­¡­ symbol! Hmm, guess you can all it a symbol! Rolynn was looking at with confusion because she didn¡¯t understand what the design was. But when Du Wei saw the pattern, his face suddenly made a giant change! His expression was just like a person had seen a ghost in the middle of the day! No, no, can¡¯t say it like that. To be more urate: Du Wei¡¯s expression right now is like someone had seen a hundred ghost in the middle of the day. And to top it off, the ghosts even ran up to him and started making scary faces in front of him. Enough with these weird analogies, you just need to know our little noble here is scared out of his wits! Suddenly flopping over his chair, Du Wei was trembling uncontrobly as he fell backwards to the floor!! The people in the room were all shocked! Seeing this, Rolynn immediately ran over to pick Du Wei up. Contrary to what Rolynn expected, Du Wei suddenly shook her off and crawled over to little Lufei¡¯s side like a spider. Then ring at the kid¡¯s feet, Du Wei rubbed his eyes in disbelief. It¡¯s¡­¡­ It¡¯s not a mistake! I¡¯m not seeing things! I¡¯m not fucking hallucinating!!! The thing depicted on Lufei¡¯s feet is neither a pattern nor symbol. But rather¡­ ¡­ A line of words! The left foot is a message, and the right is a signature. Two feet together reads as the following: ¡°Du Wei, how are you? Surprised? Name: Aragon. The so-called creator¡¯s-Totem is nothing more than such a dumb line! So what else can possibly be more ridiculous, be enough to make someone feel like they had seen hell in broad daylight? The answer is: yes, there is! The thing that surprised Du Wei more than the content is the writing it was penned in! Not from this continent, nor the text of the Rnd Empire. But rather¡­ ¡­ Du Wei suddenly wanted to cry andugh at the same time. Then after a few seconds, he suddenly want to punch someone! Because the text above is likely only recognizable by Du Wei alone in this world! It Is¡­ ¡­ Chinese characters!! ¡°Young master¡­ ¡­ My lord, Duke!¡± After much effort, Rolynn finally brought the stunned Du Wei back to his senses. Rolynn worriedly watched over DU Wei: ¡°My Lord, what¡¯s going on with you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing¡­¡­¡± Du Wei struggled to gulp down his saliva. Then looking at Rolynn, he asked with a nervous smile: Rolynn, nearby¡­. Is there a river?¡± ¡°Eh? My lord, why do you ask this?¡± ¡°Because I really want to jump.¡± Du Wei then seriously repeated his words: ¡° ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear me? I really want to jump into a river!!!!!!!¡± (This is a chinese way of saying he want sotmit suicide) Chapter 182 The 182th chapter ¡°Sure enough ¡± God damn it! God damn it! God ****** dammit!! Kicking over the table in front of him, Du Wei was so furious that even his ears were ringing due to the blood rush. This sensation was something he never felt before and it was making him very ufortable, especially in his heart. Rolynn wanted to catch up to her master, but Du Wei was already shouting at her: ¡°Don¡¯t follow me!¡± Even though she has never seen Du Wei lose his cool in such a rage, Rolynn still obeyed her previousmand. Ordering someone to take the already fainted Ben Carson and kid away, she did as instructed and gave the poor little boy some sweet pudding¡ªpoor little boy, he must have faced quite the shock tonight. In one single breath, Du Wei rushed out of the workshop and ran aimlessly through the nightly streets of the capital. He ran and ran, refusing to stop for even an instant because only by doing this did it soothe his heart. Aragon¡­¡­ God damn Aragon! Aragon! He ¡­ ¡­ He¡­¡­***£¡ He can actually write Chinese characters! He actually knows about me! He even knows my name! And he even knew that I would look at that kid¡¯s feet! He knew everything! Everything! Just the thought of this idea left him in fears! An old fart that died millennia¡¯s ago is actually spying on him and is even watching his every step! From that fucking shit ¡°prophecy¡±¡­ ¡­ Humph, the kid with a horn that escaped from the Devil¡¯s Ind? Bullshit! ¡°Du Wei, how are you? Surprised?¡± Bullshit! Total bullshit!! He did not know how long he ran for but even his lung was feeling like it would tear from theck of oxygen. Unable to keep going, he finally stopped and leaned against a tree on the roadside and began gasping for air. Because of how hard he was wheezing, his body couldn¡¯t resist anymore and he began to vomit violently. Despite this, nothing came out, the only thing that did were tears seeping out of his nose and eyes due to the excessive force. Surprisingly, this painful experience ended up easing his heart slightly and the blood rush he was having quietly calmed down too. After standing for a long time, Du Wei suddenly looked up at the star lit sky and roared aloud with his fist raised: ¡°You think strongest under the star is all that! You think just because of that you can mess with me? You think you can decide my fate? Bullshit!¡± Du Wei¡¯s scream ended up alerting one of the passing patrol teams at night. Following the sound, the policing soldiers came running and the one leading the pack was a young officer on horseback. For this young officer, he would of course be displeased to find someone screaming in the middle of the night: ¡°Who¡¯s out there! How dare you ignore the curfew regtion! Someonee arrest this person!!¡± Several soldiers immediately ran past the officer and were about to grab Du Wei when he turned around: ¡°Go away! Don¡¯t bother me!¡± With that, Du Wei didn¡¯t look back and turned away to leave. Hearing this, the young officer was so furious that he almost screamed. How can there be such an insolent person? He¡¯s viting the curfew yet he still dares to yell at a police officer? In one push, the young officer immediately gave chase on his horse. Hearing the hoof beat behind him, Du Wei felt annoyed and pulled out his wand from the storage ring: ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear my words?¡± He coldly snapped. The police officer was just about to get angry when the moon¡¯s light revealed the object in Du Wei¡¯s hand. Instantly, cold sweat came pouring out of his forehead! Magician? After his realization, Du Wei¡¯s face finally became clear under the moon¡¯s light. Not only was he sweating now, he actually came tumbling down from his horse. Because Du Wei and the new police chief is on good terms, this young officer had seen Du Wei¡¯s face before so it wasn¡¯t hard for him recognize who he was: ¡°Your lo-lordship, I didn¡¯t see you¡­.¡± Du Wei mercilessly looked the guy. His gaze was so intense that it terrified the young officer. Only after a while did Du Wei finally eased up a bit: ¡°It¡¯s all right, I have something at hand so don¡¯t bother me.¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡­ Yes, Yes!¡± As if the officer would dare say anything else? Although the capital has a curfew, but it¡¯s something that could be used on someone like Du Wei that stands on top of the pyramid scheme. ¡°And also.¡± Du Wei took a look behind the officer: ¡°I came out in a hurry so I didn¡¯t prepare a mount. Give me your horse first and I¡¯ll have someone return it tomorrow.¡± As if the officer would dare refuse? In the most obedient fashion he could act, the officer handed the rein into Du Wei¡¯s hand. Watching the Duke ride away on his horse, the officer finally breathed out a sigh of relief. Then noticing his subordinates looking at him with a stunned look, he angrily shouted: ¡°What are you looking at! Back to work!¡± While Du Wei rode on the horse, his mind gradually calmed down and a thought suddenly hit him. Immediately, he turned around and rushed back to his residence. When the servants saw how the Duke was seeping with anger when he returned, none dared to say anything and simply opened the door. Dismounting from the horse, Du Wei immediately dashed in, but after a few steps, he suddenly turned around and pointed at the horse: ¡°Have someone bring the horse back to the police department tomorrow.¡± Du Wei went back to his room in a single breath and kicked open the door. When he entered, the first thing he saw was Gargamel ying with a magic crystal. With a silver knife in hand, it looked like the mouse was in the middle of a carving session. ¡°Where¡¯s QQ!¡± Du Wei asked in a hard tone. ¡°¡­¡­.. Sleeping inside.¡± The mouse also noticed something was wrong from Du Wei¡¯s face. Du Wei grunted and rushed into the room. Like a baby cradle, the elegant QQ was asleep on the small bed specifically made for him. Seeing this, Du Wei grabbed hold of the poor bird¡¯s beak and gently dumped him onto the ground. ¡°You¡­¡­.¡± To be so suddenly knocked awake, even penguin seemed to have forgotten his elegant style. Jumping up from the ground, he cried out: ¡°What are you doing! God, this floor is so dirty, it will smudged my feathers!!¡± ¡°Humph!¡± Du Wei coldly stared at the heavenly beast: ¡°I have a few questions and you better be able to answer the, otherwise, we will be having barbecue penguin for lunch tomorrow.¡± These words, coupled with the cold eyes and anger on Du Wei¡¯s face, penguin immediately calmed down. With such a clever mind, this Mr. Heavenly Beast knew this young master was not joking around. Du Wei went to the table and casually grabbed a piece of paper. Then using a quill brush, he wrote a few lines before tossing the paper in front of penguin: ¡°Read!¡± Penguin read the content and began to fidget for a while. Seeing this, Du Wei sneered: ¡°Read now!¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± QQ sighed in resignation. Then following the content on the paper, he coughed a few times before reading out the words in a gentle voice: (Everything QQ says is some famous Chinese poetry) ¡°The moon is shining bright before my bed and i am remembering the frost upon the ground¡­..¡± ¡°Enough!¡± Not waiting for QQ to finish, Du Wei waved his hand and wrote another set of lines: ¡°Again, read!¡± ¡°¡­¡­. From the beginning of life, people have always been good natured¡­.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough¡­¡­¡­¡± Du Wei suddenly became like that of a deted leather ball as he crashed heavily into the chair. QQ blinked a few times as he stared his little eyes at Du Wei. Watching his words, he cautiously said: ¡°Du Wei master¡­¡­¡± ¡°What!¡± Du Wei angrily stared at penguin: ¡°What do you want to say? Are you going to fool me again!!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not it¡­¡­¡± Penguin raised one of his wings and muttered in a low voice: ¡°I want to let you know that you made a mistake¡­¡­ One of the words is missing a stroke.¡± Du Wei: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He remained stunned for a while before suddenly jumping up. Rubbing his hands together in front of penguin, Du Wei¡¯s looked murderously at the bird in front of him as he recited another poem: ¡°Since ages past, all will eventually die!¡± (NOTE: From this point on, it¡¯s a dirty poem battle with shits and sex and etc. Anyone that gets disturbed by this is to skip this part) The penguins replied: ¡°Who shits without paper?!¡± Du Wei: ¡°Lofty towers are built from the grounds up!¡± Penguins followed up: ¡°An affair!!¡± Du Wei face became ferocious: ¡°Just use less money bills at that time then.¡± Penguin sigh: ¡°Too much gossip in front of the widow¡¯s window¡­.¡± Du Wei asked again: ¡°Oh the poor will get stronger with hardships¡­¡­¡± ¡°If rich, there will be dozens of concubines.¡± Penguin sighs. ¡°Come again!¡± Du Wei rolled up his sleeve before shouting, ¡°Beasts with long hooves are fertile!¡± (Wink, wink, long and hard hooves that is also fertile!!! Burn that into your minds people!!!WHAHAHAHA) ¡°A son stealing from his dad is not a thief¡± QQ is still easily followed up. (Now this is falling into mother and son incest mode) Du Wei was desperate when he finally said: ¡°Harem with 3,000 women?¡± Penguins again did not hesitate in his answer: ¡°Grind an iron rod into a needle¡­¡­¡± (That¡¯s right; cultivate that needle so it can pierce it in right in) This one person and one bird duo stared at each for a long time, suddenly, Du Wei smiled again. He was reallyughing and the anger inside him had fully dissipated. The only exception was that his smile had a vor of helplessness: ¡°Dear QQ, can you tell me, from where did you and your master Aragon pass through from?¡± QQ sincerely answered: ¡°Master Du Wei, although I don¡¯t quite understand what you mean, but these things were all taught to me by Aragon¡­. I don¡¯t understand what you mean by ¡®pass through¡¯, but if I recall, Master Aragon also mentioned this word before.¡± Du Wei lets out a long sigh before sitting back down. I understand then¡­¡­ Chapter 183 The 183th chapter ¡°subordinate¡± Du Wei thought things over that night, but no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn¡¯tprehend everything. All right then¡­¡­ that damn bastard Aragon obviously had the same experience as his own ¨C arade that ¡°crossed¡± over into this world. But why does he have such a firm grasp of himself and there is also the matter of that hoax on that kid¡¯s feet. Who is he really and for what purpose did he do all this? Also, there is the legend from the Southeastern Sea. Heck. How did Aragon be rted to that myth? Everything is a question. And the answer to all of these questions is still unknown to Du Wei. Because QQ already made a vow swearing he didn¡¯t know. ¡°You need to understand, I¡¯m just a poor pet. Other than writing and reading thatnguage, I really don¡¯t know anything else.¡± But when QQ said this, his eyes were blinking pathetically at Du Wei: ¡°So no matter what, please don¡¯t do any sort of barbecue Penguin, I swear, my flesh is not tasty at all.¡± Du Wei of course wouldn¡¯t really grill this heavenly beast, but he still had doubts in his heart that this penguin was hiding something from him. As for how he should made this Penguin spill the beans, Du Wei intends to slowly grinding it out of him. Aragon is actually a world traveler like him¡­. Humph, this world is bing more interesting. It¡¯s really hard to described Du Wei¡¯s mood right now. After his initial despairing outburst, his mind was filled with anger, sadness, and somehow, happiness. The reason for his anger is mainly because he felt like he had been yed. The halo once surrounding the existence known as Aragon has long faded away¡­.. In his mind, Du Wei felt it is only normal for a world traveler to achieve such a grand feet like Aragon¡¯s. But on the other hand, Du Wei also found himself feeling a sense of joy that even he couldn¡¯t exin. Yes, that¡¯s right, it¡¯s happiness. After living for ten years in istion, you suddenly found out you had a kin next to you. The only difference is that he came to this world a thousand years earlier. Humph, just because of this reason, you think you can ride on top of me? Dream on!! Du Wei malicious made up his mind. Isn¡¯t he just a world travelor? If you were really some sort of god or legendary figure, then I might have been afraid. However, since I already know your true face, then why should I fear you? At this moment, Du Wei was suddenly rxed. When it was early next morning, Marde was already here to deliver breakfast because he knew the young master threw quite the tantrumst night. When something like this happens, none of the other servants dare approach Du Wei, the only exception is Marde. Only in front of this dedicated old servant will Du Wei quiet down and quell his anger. However, contrary to what Marde expected, Du Wei¡¯s mood was abnormally happy during breakfast and he even ate an extra mint candy. Seeing the good mood on his young master, Marde hesitated a moment before deciding it was better to speak: ¡°Master¡­. Outside seems to be¡­¡­¡± ¡°Oh, something happen?¡± Du Wei said this with smile. ¡°Yes ¡­¡­ hmm, technically no.¡± Marde exined: ¡°Before sun rise, some people brought over a guy with a set of broken legs and left him outside out door. Oddly though, there are people watching over this poor soul and making sure he stays put. Due to his constant moaning and screaming, quite a crowd has been attracted outside.¡± ¡°Ignore them.¡± Du Wei started to chew on his mint candy: ¡°A guy that likes to bully others deserves a little suffering.¡± After a pause, Du Wei muses to himself: ¡°However, Biliaibuer sure is a smart person¡­. Haha.¡± Du Wei then casually asked, ¡°What day is today? I mean how many days has it been since I wrote the letter>¡± ¡°The fifth day.¡± Marde replied: ¡°I think it should be soon.¡± Since Earl Raymond is returning back to the Rowling castle, it¡¯s only natural Hussein and Nicole needed to move and this letter is his way of informing the pair to meet him in the capital. This morning, a crowd of onlookers had already amassed outside the Duke¡¯s residence. Because there were so much peopleing around to see what themotion was about, the road actually became a traffic jam. Fortunately, the people from the police department came over to disperse the crowd, or else who knows when it would end. The poor steward Guro from Biliaibuer¡¯s house wasid atop a wooden board outside the street. With both legs broken, his swollen muscles looked like that of a fat pig¡¯s ready to be chopped off at any moment. Lying there half dead, his howling screams of pain and tears echoed throughout the morning. Eventually, he became so weak that even his weak uttering cries were gone. Even so, the bodyguards ced next to him refused to let him pass out. Every time Guro was about to pass out, the two guards would poor cold water onto his face to keep him front fainting. After a full morning, this ¡°show¡± finally came to an end. Poor Guro was finally taken away and a servant from Sir Biliaibuer household came to deliver a letter. Du Wei got the letter from Marde¡¯s hand. After sweeping through the content, he then smiled and said: ¡°the count sure knows how to do things.¡± Passing the letter back over to Marde: Tell that servant from Sir Biliaibuer¡¯s house that I am very grateful for his kindness.¡± Subsequently, Du Wei was originally going to go take a stroll through his shop again. Other than the several native ves from yesterday, Rolynn also brought back several convicted ves from the former Solomon family ¨C this included the one that cried out for Du Wei in the ve market. Regarding these people, Du Wei intends to hand them all over to Rolynn in order to mitigate theck of manpower. All of these ves were once members of the Solomon household, so it¡¯s only natural they are veterans when it came to handling a business. However, before he can even step out the doorway, Luobosiji of the imperial inspectorate department had alreadye running to seeking an audience. ¡± General Longbottom wants to see you.¡± Longbottom? That General 250? Du Wei mouth curled into a giant smile. Thinking it over, Du Wei realized he had already given Luobosiji quite the sum so far just so he can shower the general with women and fine wine. It was so ridiculous that even Luobosiji himself started toin about the situation. As an imperial official of the empire, how did he be a pimp? Front and back, Du Wei already threw out more than 40,000 gold coins. And Du Wei was very patient in this so he didn¡¯t take the initiative to meet this person of extraordinary talent. He knows very well these entrics tend to have weird personalities. Although his fame and status is quite high, but that doesn¡¯t mean this General Longbottom will give him face. If one wants to attract such a talent, then they can only oblige to everything they ask. In most cases, even if you shower these entrics with gold and silver, they still wouldn¡¯t bat an eysh. However, if their mood was good that day, they may even sell you their heads without frowning. Waiting until today, it finally seems like this General 250 is finally tempted by him. Without dy, Du Wei immediately made preparation and head over to the inspectorate department. Inside the jail, Du Wei finally entered the cell of the infamous General Longbottom. After so much effort, he finally has the chance toe face to face with this great legend that had once caused countless headaches to the military highmand. From Du Wei¡¯s imagination, this bandit general that won the hearts of 20,000 soldiers should have been a wildly bearded man with an attitude to match his ruggedness. However, what he saw surprised him somewhat when he first entered the cell. Sitting there, a fat guy with a well-defined face was currently ying with a sandbox. This General 250 was tall, so tall that his head nearly touched the ceiling when he stood up to greet Du Wei. Even after years of prison life, this guy still looked very strong despite the fat around his body. More importantly, his face was ridiculously handsome that it didn¡¯t correspond to the misconceptions Du Wei had. Du Wei can honestly say this. If this person can lose some of that fat, then this General Longbottom can definitely be a model. ¡°What? Surprised?¡± Longbottom voice sounded slightly hoarse, his eyes filled with warmth: ¡°You must be thinking that legendary General 250 can¡¯t be this fat sissy boy, right?¡± Du Wei was a little embarrassed because his mind really was thinking this. Longbottom sighed before pointing to the only unique ce where one can sit inside the room¡ªthe bed: ¡°sit.¡± Following with regret in his voice: ¡°Such a shame, if you were able to see me back then, you would never have had such a thought. But none can escape such a fate. In this little room for so many years, all you can do is eat and sleep. Like that, even the thinnest of people would get fat.¡± He then patted his fat thighs and a sh of frustration crossed his eyes: ¡°With my body figure now, I fear I wouldn¡¯t even be able to ride a horse.¡± Du Wei did not speak, only silently watching this strange man from the side. ¡°Right then.¡± Longbottom took one look at Du Wei: ¡°After you walked into the room, you still haven¡¯t said a word. Now that I know your name and your background¡­ ¡­ Oh, the Empire¡¯s youngest Duke in history, the former young master of the Rowling Household, and an aplished magician ¡­ ¡­ You are really intriguing.¡± He then stretched out a hand to Du Wei: ¡°Did you bring it?¡± ¡°What?¡± Du Wei was somewhat at a loss. The fat man slyly smiled: ¡°My dear Duke, didn¡¯t you want to recruit me by bringing me me good food and fine woman? Since you are trying to recruit me, you aren¡¯t going to let me stay in this ce now are you? What I¡¯m saying is did you bring my release order?¡± Du Wei smiled. This General 250 sure is direct. Without hesitation, Du Wei pulled out a nk document from his pocket. This is a release order that Du Wei got a hold of without spending much effort. On it is the signature of the supreme chancellor, and the part where the prisoner¡¯s name should be is nk. Once the name Longbottom is written on it, the document will immediately take effect. Chapter 184 The 184th chapter ¡±spirit of sharing¡± The matter of the empire¡¯s magic academy has been formally put on the agenda and the site of thepound has already been decided months ahead of time. Located not far from the southern fortress city of the capital, thispound that is soon to be the magic academy was constructed decades ago for the military. Other than the annual spring drill, this stronghold is practically in an idle state of abandonment due to neglect. During the picking phase for the location there were a lot of variables considered, but more importantly, it was to save money for the empire. Considering the current finances of the empire, creating apound from the grounds up is not practical and a heavy burden even pushed forward. Therefore, this stronghold near the southern fortress city became the perfect scapegoat for the royal court. Far away from the capital and the magic union¡¯s grasp of control, this ce is located right next to a city with 20,000 soldiers stationed there ¨C this idea is clearlying from Prince Son. That¡¯s not all though. Outside the military stronghold that is now used for the school, there arerge tracts of green space and gardens nted in the field, perfect for training purposes. And inside, the rows of barracks that once housed thousands of soldiers during the spring season is now transformed into a school for educational purposes. As a school of magic, the base for the empire¡¯s future magical talents, another 1000 soldiers were stationed in the nearby vicinity using the excuse of secrecy. Like this, no more than a hundred students became enrolled in this ce during the beginning. Here¡¯s the breakdown of the entry list: Magic Union 30%, Royal household 40%, and 30% from other forces. Through many negations and deals, this ratio will continue to be used in the foreseeable future while the court and magic union went through another fierce battle behind the scenes to achieve their goals. On the Magic Unions side, they wanted to turn this school into a breeding ground for ¡°traditional¡± Mages. You might be asking, what is a traditional mage? Simply put: high in status, mighty, honorable, and old fashioned. Of course, this evaluation was said through Prince Son¡¯s mouth. In the regent¡¯s view, such a oue can never be allowed to happen. The reason he established the magic academy is so the empire could breed a new generation of mages that do not follow the old ways and could help serve the army and its people! From the past till now, all those noble giants would always expend enormous wealth just to attract one or two mages under their wing. Even then, this does not necessarily mean the Magician in question would help. For Prince Son, this cannot be allowed to continue! ¡°What I want is not a bunch of lords! What I want is a batch of people that could serve the Empire and its people!¡± But Prince Son¡¯s view was strongly opposed by the magic union because in these old Mages mind, their profession should naturally be held in high esteem. Under the collision of these two opposing ideology, Du Wei suddenly went into the pce on a particr day and provided a solution. ¡°Why are magicians held in such high esteem? Why are they superior? The answer is simple: they are far too few in numbers. If their numbers grew to the size simr to the knight¡¯s profession, then¡­..¡± Du Wei said it like this: ¡°When I was in the ve market the other day, I noticed many warriors seeking jobs on the street. They are neither farmers nor beggars. Each of them is equipped with the status of a low ranking knight, so why are they living with the dignity of a beggar? Don¡¯t you see? The reason is because there are too many warriors on thisnd! If the numbers of magicians reached a certain level, then their existence wouldn¡¯t be so unusual in everyone¡¯s eyes.¡± ¡°The establishment of the magic academy should be able to significantly alleviate this problem. Once the institute is up and running, the number should naturally increase with time.¡± Prince Son answers. ¡°This is far from enough.¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°In my view, there lies a great issue with the current state of how a magician is trained.¡± What came next is Du Wei exining a couple of points and this was greatly agreed upon by Prince Son. ¡°Over the years, the transference of knowledge between apprentice and master is through a one on one session. This portal of learning is very strict and doesn¡¯t necessarily mean the new generation would be able to absorb all the secrets of the previous generation. More importantly, there is a bigger problem at hand. In the field of magic, there is no distinction between a ¡®user¡¯ and a ¡®researcher¡¯.¡± ¡°Every magician spends most of their lifetime exploring the mysteries of magic, but this is where the problem lies¡­.. Because each of these individuals hoards their research like it was their own life, there is littlemunication in the magicmunity, hence the ridiculous phenomenon where we see multiple magesing out with the same result in their life¡¯s work. What we need is a bunch of people that knows how to use magic and not a bunch of researchers.¡± This is a very simple reasoning. In Du Wei¡¯s past life, students from a university may not necessarily understand the theory behind a science topic, but as long as they know how to put it into practice, then that¡¯s good enough. Everybody knows that one plus one equals two, but there is no need for everyone to study the ¡°Goldbach Conjecture¡±, right? But that¡¯s just how it is right now. Even for a low leveled magician, these fledglings have to work out the mysteries behind the most basic of the basics ¨C this included the omitting of words in a long spell chant and so on¡­.. This technique might have been mastered by their mentor from the start, but because they are so stingy with their knowledge, they won¡¯t even tell their own disciple and would rather take it to the coffin with them! Spending an entire afternoon, Du Wei exined all of this to Prince Son and used the simplest of words to point out the method of teaching from his previous life. Upon understanding his points, Prince Son¡¯s eyes lit up with enlightenment and when he stood up due to being overly excited, this regent nearly grabbed hold of Du Wei and gave the poor guy a kiss. Luckily, Du Wei dodged in the nick of time, or else he might have really fallen into the guy¡¯s grasp. The next problem is: how to get the current magicians to contribute their research results? What followed afterward is Prince Son and Du Wei studying the problem anding up with a solution. For a magician, what do they value the most? Money? No, each magician is equipped with considerable wealth. Just the jewelry and magic crystals in their hands is enough to be considered treasures in the eyes of amon citizen. But for a magician, these items is nothing but magic materials. Woman? That is even more not so¡­¡­ Magicians are always focused on their study of magic, so they naturally won¡¯t have time to waste on these sorts of things. Power? That¡¯s still not it. Finally, Du Wei came to one conclusion: status and fame! Mages are very conscious of their status. In many cases, they would deliberately make it hard for the nobilities when being recruited. The reason is because they believe that if they were so easily drafted by others, then then it would be beneath their status. And reputation is held even higher. Du Wei even followed up with a vicious argument. In his view, most of the world¡¯s magicians are ¡°pretentious pricks¡±. And it¡¯s true, most are like so. When he said these words, he even forgot that he himself and Prince Son are Mages too! Magicians like to be high and mighty, putting on air, and make themselves look unapproachable. Their temper is entric (maybe it is all pretend), yet they still aspire to achieve great fame while looking indifferent. If this is not pretentious then what is? ¡°Therefore, if they want fame, then we can give them fame. If they want status, then we can give them status!¡± Du Wei began to smile sinisterly: ¡°If we do that, it might be able to attract some of the Mages and have them contribute their research. Once that happens, we can then integrate the findings into a set of fixed study materials for the students. By then, the students won¡¯t have to study from the beginning.¡± As such, on the opening ceremony day, Prince Son ¨C the de facto rule of the empire ¨C personally inscribed the schools name ¡°Imperial Academy of magic¡± onto the school wall. This is also Du Wei¡¯s proposal. Then in front of the audience consisting of the first batch of students, dozens of court mages, and numerous guests from the magic union, Prince Son suddenly announced a matter outside everyone¡¯s knowledge. ¡°Besides the establishment of the Academy of magic, I¡¯m happy to announce the establishment of another organization within the empire: ¡®the magic society of learning¡¯!¡± In nominal terms, the magic society of learning belongs to the magic academy. The difference between this organization and the magic union is that the society doesn¡¯t have any enforcing power. Whether it is the legal or administrative aspect, the organization is very loose without constraints. The so-called ¡°learning society¡± is primarily for the discussion of research results between magicians. And the society will give out rewards based on the achievements of the individual. Of course, the reward is not calcted in the form of money or wealth. After the main square inside the magic academy, there is a very eye catching long hallway with a striking description of a jade statue along the walls. This statue is a sculpture of an old magician. With lifelike features, even the wrinkles along the face could be clearly made out. In the solid gold te on the bottom is the following lines: ¡°In honor of Master Gandalf¡¯s contribution to the magic field. Sicilian-Jacques-Gandalf (Empire year-710-960), known far and wide as the Magister of the era, his main contributions consisted of: found 6 different methods to hatch a Dragon egg, discovered 13 new species of rare magical nts, improved upon 7 mid tiered spells and created a new high level ranked magic spell and so on.¡± Aside from this, some of the major stories surrounding Gandalf¡¯s life is etched into a stone tablet along the stone corridors entrance. Behind this 300 long corridor, there is still plenty of empty space! ¡°¡­¡­ The establishment of the society is not to constrain a magician; this is purely an academic organization for discussion and exchanging of knowledge.¡± Prince stood atop the tall stage with his signature and unique smile: ¡°Any magician can apply for this society without needing to pay a contribution fee. Of course, there is no obligations attached either. Then again, that is not a certainty. As long as you are a member of the society, you can go through our library of research results contributed by your peers under certain conditions. For instance, as a show of gratitude to Mage Du Wei and Mage Vivian for their contribution to the academies early stage, the two have offered up certain research results from their reservoir of spells. Both of them are direct disciples of the now deceased Master Gandalf, so their research is invaluable¡­. This is the spirit behind the learning society ¨C the spirit or sharing!¡± The audience went into an uproar! Especially the magicians in the audience! Able to check the research results of Master Gandalf? This is an extremely attractive condition! Subsequently, Prince Son announced some of the rules behind the ¡®sharing¡¯ concept of the society. Back when Du Wei and Vivian contributed their part of Gandalf¡¯s research, the spells have already been divided into among the five different grades ranging from 1 star to 5 stars. From now on, if any new member that wishes to contribute their research result to us, the society will invite renowned senior magicians to assess your findings and give you a star. For example, if your contributions resulted in a three star assessment, you will be rewarded with three chances of ¡®sharing¡¯ opportunity. This means you will be able to check out three different findings within the society¡¯s library, of course, this is only three times. Of course, if you received four stars, then you will have four opportunities, and if you have one star, then you have one chance. However, if you want to read more, then you must contribute more of your own research results. The only exception to this is if your research evaluation is rated at five stars, at that time, you will be eligible for a lifetime membership to freely scan through the society¡¯s entire collection! Chapter 185 part 1 The 185th chapter ¡°concentrate on the task at hand¡± (part 1) Within the magic academy¡¯spound, the formermand station has now beenpletely converted to a three story building and the academy¡¯s signboard just so happens to be hanging outside the main entrance. In recent days, a team consisting of four court magicians, two Imperial schrs, Du Wei, Vivian, and two disciples under Alley have been busy ving away trying to integrate the newly acquired research results into an organized format. By the end, the team managed topile a set of basic teaching materials used in magic, including basic theories and various incantations. Looking over the materials, Du Wei found the text to be suitable for those in the entry level. In the first batch of students, 30% of the students were selected from the magic union¡¯s side. Most of these teenagers are born under the care of those old fashioned magicians, so their foundations are excellentpared to the rest. However, their education thus far is very backward. In truth, the early stages of teaching in the academy are still carried out in the traditional fashion. First is the testing of their talents. Then ording to their results, these students will be sent to different faculties to be tutored by several teachersing from different sources (Court Mages and the Magic Union). To Du Wei, this approach is no different from changing the soup name without changing the ingredients. His original n was to revise the basic teaching materials so all students can learn it. After that ispleted, he intended to have several teachers focus on certain subjects so students can pick what they wanted to learn¡­.. His image is exactly like the school model from his previous life. But his proposal waspletely revoked by the magic union. Their excuse was that this format of teaching is contrary to the traditional style of teaching in the magic field. The establishment of ¡®The magic society of learning¡¯ has already angered Dorgan to no ends. If there are any new suggestions from Du Wei¡¯s side from now on, it can expected the union will strongly resist. However, there¡¯s no need to worry. ¡°Just let the students from the magic union continue their old fashioned training methods.¡± Du Wei smiles wickedly: ¡°They can do what they like and we can do what we like.¡± Subsequently, a new resolution was brought up in the controllingmittee of the academy. With Du Wei¡¯s vote and seven court mages backing, the bill was easily passed with only seven against it from the magic union side. Magic Academy¡¯s decision: several branches will be established inside the school and each house will be sorted in ordance to their study. For example: fire element branch, wind element branch, and so on. At any rate, while a student is studying at their main branch, they can also take on electives within other branches. All courses are open, meaning any student can partake without restriction. Note: when any student graduates from the academy, they must have at least passed three elective courses as well to meet eligibility. After the sorting ceremony and the initial talent testing phase, the fire department became the most popr branch like he expected. As the mainstreambat element, it¡¯s no wonder the student body wanted to join. Du Wei even made some ns and if possible in the future, he might even pull Joanna and Green robed Gandalf into the school. Hmm, if really did pull the Green hat in, then he must change the old guy¡¯s identity first. For Du Wei¡¯s branch, his main topic is primarily about magic pharmacy. Of course, his branch title cannot be named ¡°branch of Pharmacy¡± because in most peoples eye *** the discrimination towards this field is still very strong. If he really did it without minding others, then Du Wei feared there won¡¯t be anyone signing up. So after thinking it over for a whole afternoon, he personally made a name change: Hogwarts Hogwarts special feature is that it doesn¡¯t have a main topic of study. Any student thates over to study is only able to take the courses as electives! In other words, this branch doesn¡¯t have a fixed group of students. Surprising thing is that after the establishment of the Hogwarts branch, the student count taking courses in Du Wei¡¯s ss quickly leapfrogged over the fire branch after three days! Over 40 students! 30 of them are from the military side. The reason for their enrollment is mainly because of Du Wei¡¯s background. Within the military, the Rowling household still had great influence among their peers. Also, Du Wei¡¯s reputation is another deciding factor because his fame is propelling the branch to a dizzying height. As for the remaining 10 students, they are from the royal household¡¯s camp without a single entry from the magic union¡¯s side. This point needs some rification. These students from the military camp were only picked after going through rigorous testing phases. From among all the armies throughout the empire, they are the elites among their peers without a hint of defect that could mark them for blemish. Meanwhile, the students from the royal household¡¯s side are all sons of noble families that have no session rights. Without a future, their only hope is to seed in the path of a magician. After all, no person would want to be an odd ball magician if they inherit their family¡¯s vast fortune and title. When Du Wei did a quick background check on these kids, he found that most of them had already served in the army and even had some martial training in their bodies. This came as no surprise to him because the spirit of learning martial arts is still quite heavy on the continent. What did surprise him though is how these kids from the military distinguished themselves apart from the rest of the student body. In Du Wei¡¯s view, these 30 kids from the military is deserving of him to win over. They have no influential family behind them, only the military because they are from poor families. (Who would want to risk their life in the army if they were rich to begin with, right?) As a youngster hitting the golden age of 18, these kids are just in the right moment of their life where they are highly malleable from outside influences. With a little push from him, Du Wei believes he can incite the blood flowing through his students and make them his! Chapter 185 part 2 The 185th chapter ¡°concentrate on the task at hand¡± (part 2) On the opening day of his Hogwart¡¯s branch, Du Wei did not pull everyone into ss like the other houses; instead, he stood outside his ssroom building in his wizardry robe to address the trainees. ¡°Quiet down, quiet down.¡± He cried these words out as he looked down at the curious eyes poking his way. Although his age is younger than everyone present, Du Wei felt no pressure in this situation. Let¡¯s face it. His body may be young, but his mind is already drawing close to that of a middle aged man. Seeing the innocent and curious faces below, Du Wei is very satisfied: ¡°Before you walk through these doors, I, as the principle of this branch, have something to say to you people! My words won¡¯t be gentle. If any of you are not satisfied, you can leave after my speech!¡± Du Wei intentionally used a slow tone to say this and it left everyone perplexed at what he meant. ¡°I know that most of you down below are from the military.¡± When Du Wei finished this sentence, those youngsters from the military consciously straightened their bodies, ¡°And I know the majority of you have no knowledge in the arts of magic. Humph¡­.. I even know all of you are from poor families. If not, then you are some bastard son without any inheritance right, am I correct?¡± What followed isplete silence from the audience. ¡°If you continued on with your route in life, then you would have lived a life without hope! None you hear me! If things continue to y out like it was supposed to in your life, you might have only be amon soldier, a worker, or an apprentice¡­. For those without session right, you of noble blood will not see any of your family¡¯s wealth. Instead, you will live out your life in the capital as a simple business owner filled with the stench of money!¡± ¡°But now, the establishment of the magic academy will change your life! In a single night, your talent was discovered and now here you are! Those that had once looked down upon you are seeing you with envious eyes! That¡¯s right; you will be a magician in the future and rise through the world! A being that is awed by the popce and feared for their might, am I right? You are thinking it will be easy to achieve this goal and live a life of glory and wealth, am I right?¡± The audience remained silent even after his speech. However, Du Wei is already certain the trainees from the military camp are thinking this from the traces of embarrassment on their face. ¡°But you are all wrong!¡± Du Wei suddenly yelled with everything he had: ¡°I can tell you now, all of you are wrong!!¡± Subsequently, Du Wei¡¯s smile became very cold, ¡°I am telling you, don¡¯t expect me to help you realize such a dream! I will personally shatter your illusion and smash apart your ludicrous expectations! Also, I will also shatter your pitiful self-esteem, you get it!! From here, you will be subjected to rigorous training. Your body will bleed, and there will be danger that can harm you!¡± The audiences went dark and some of the students below even revealed traces of hesitation in their eyes. ¡°However!¡± Du Wei raised his voice: ¡°However, as long as you can make it out of my ce¡­. Make it out with passing grade. Then I promise you this, you will be different from the other students in this academy!!¡± ¡°I can be very blunt; I will not raise you into those arrogant pricks that you somonly see in the union! What I can teach you is the real thing! How to fight, how to effectively use magic, and how to ovee your enemies! Unlike the other branches out there that can only teach you how to ve away in yourbs, I¡¯ll give you the real thing! In the future, you will stand in the front lines! You will bleed for your country! You will fight for your home! And above all else, you stand proud above all others!¡± Stopping his words to let it sink in, Du Wei looked down at the audience with a piercing gaze: ¡°Now then, I¡¯ll give you a minute of time. If you are disappointed, you can go back. I¡¯m not going to hold you ountable. This is the freedom of choice I¡¯m giving you.¡± Sure enough, in a minute or two, some among the crowd quietly walked away. These people are all noble children¡¯s chosen from the royal household¡¯s camp. In their minds, they only wanted to get rich by bing a magician. What¡¯s left are the youngsters from the military side and two addition boys wearing rag tag clothes. Prior to this meeting, Du Wei already memorized everyone¡¯s profile, so he immediately recognized who they were. Bebe and Tokar is a pair of brothers. Originating from a noble household loyal to the royal family, the two are the love child of the baron and a maid inside the house. Simply put, they don¡¯t even have the status of a bastard. ¡°Very good.¡± Du Wei looked at the remaining 32 participants with satisfaction: ¡°Someday in the future, you will rejoice over today¡¯s decision. My ce doesn¡¯t need those that only know how to climb thedder. What I need are those that genuinely want to learn. Only people like you, and only you, can learn what I need to teach! I will show you everything without reservation and give you the most practical skills in life! I¡¯m certain in the near future; the people that left today will regret their decision! By the time you are able to hunt down an ice demon wolf; those people will still be studying inside theirbs!¡± Letting his words sink in, Du Wei slowly made eye contact with each individual from above: ¡°When those guys are still shing their titles in front of the nobility, you will be capable of beating down seven-eight of them!! GOT IT!!¡± Subsequently, Du Wei then pulled out his wand from under his robe. Walking over to the main doorway to his building, Du Wei used magic and wrote down two sets of words on the door! ¡°Those that seek sess and wealth are to take another road! Those that cowar in fear of death, leave!¡± Glittering on the surface of the doorway, the students below revealed a blood lusting excitement on their eyes that can only be found in the younger generation. The meaning may vary among person to person, but there is onemon feature: all of them is showing respect towards Du Wei. ¡°Now!¡± Du Wei suddenly eximed: ¡°I know most of you here are from the military. Tell me, which of you here is the boss?!¡± ¡°¡­. It¡¯s me, your dukeship.¡± The tallest among the crowd stepped forward: ¡°I am the captain, my lord.¡± He involuntarily did a salute in ordance with military protocols. Clenching one of his fists, this 18 year old youngster pounded it against his chest. ¡°You will lead. Everyone line up and run around the grass field ten times! Once all of you have finished, then we will begin our ss!¡± ¡°Run¨Crunning drill?? This young captain became stunned along with everyone. Running drill?? The cadets from the military are very familiar with this exercise, but who in the world would expect a magician to perform drills? ¡°Is there a problem?¡± Du Wei¡¯s expression showed no room for negotiation. ¡°We need a rational exnation.¡± The one to speak up is the brothers standing furthest behind the crowd. Du Wei took one look at the two little guys: ¡°Exin? Fine then, this is the first time and thest! Since you haven¡¯t walked through my doors yet, I can make this an exception. However, once you are a part of my branch, you are to never question my decision or any of the teachers here!¡± ¡°¡­.. Understood!¡± The two brothers seemed to sumb to Du Wei¡¯s intense gaze because their heads were hung low when they responded. ¡°Among you here, I¡¯m certain most of you must have seen those old fashioned magicians, right?¡± Du Weiughs coldly: ¡°In addition to being powerful, mysterious and entric, what other feature did you notice? What, no one can answer? Well then, I¡¯ll tell you! Their body is frail!!! Their body is so frail that it is bordering on the line of uselessness!!! I don¡¯t want to see my students gasp for breath after only chanting a few spells in battle! Now go!!¡± After he finished his words, Du Wei would not give a single nce back at the people behind him and simply walked into the building. The captain in the back is already shouting outmands and the 30 cadets quickly got into formation. Seeing this, the two brothers hesitated for a moment before finally making up their minds to join in. ¡°We could have had 40 trainees.¡± When Du Wei walked into the building, Master Alley was already standing at the stairway waiting for him: ¡°You intentionally scared off 8 students.¡± Alley points at the general direction of where the 8 students were. Du Wei nodded: ¡°What you said is not wrong, but I have always believed quality matters over quantity. Those left is the people that I truly need.¡± Master Alley¡¯s smile seemed a little odd as he tiptoed his feet to have a better look at the jogging students in the distance: ¡°Du Wei, I really don¡¯t understand. Are you going to make them learn magic and martial arts?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°What I just said is true, the magicians today are all frail to the bones. Their bodies are already weak to begin with, but because of all the drugs and magic crystals theye in contact with, it¡¯s no different from being poisoned by their own possessions¡­¡­ Even if a mage is equipped with the most power of abilities, it bes zero if they can¡¯t use it! I¡¯ve even heard that many Mages nowadays are so weak that they have to be carried out of their homes and that they can¡¯t even wield their wand¡­¡­ This is not a lie, but a fact.¡± At this point, Du Wei suddenly realized he was standing in front of a standard ¡°traditional¡± magician. Quickly closing his mouth, he looked with at Master Alley with a disturbed expression. Old Alley did not show a shred of resentment, instead, he only lets out a sigh: ¡°What you say is not wrong. The majority of our peers have been pampered for far too long. Many may not be physically disabled yet, but their minds are already abolished.¡± With that, master Alley came to the door and carefully look over the words written by Du Wei. ¡°Those that seek sess and wealth are to take another road! Those that cowar in fear of death, leave! Hahmmm, very good!¡± Chapter 186 part 1 The 186th chapter ¡°talents all around¡± (part 1) ¡°Well then, this conclude today¡¯s lesson.¡± Du Wei lifted his robe and walked down from the podium ¨C his ssroom is exactly like the lecturing auditoriums from his previous life. In response to his departure, 32 students uniformly stood up and saluted him. ¡°Thank you all.¡± Du Wei halted in his step and smiled wickedly: ¡°When you go back today, I request all of you to review the dozens of methods I taught you today in dealing with the petrification skill. Tomorrow morning, there will be a surprise waiting for you all ~ ~ ~ ~ I will bring in a real magical beast, a baby golden eye python. Though the adult version can turn a person into stone and kill them with ease, but its baby counterpart is different. I will give you all real lifebat experience with this creature! The losers will be petrified for the day and as punishment, their bodies will be ce in front of the building! As for the winners, I¡¯ll have a reward waiting for them if they do well!¡± The audience stared nkly for a moment before erupting into loud cheer. Six day of learning under Du Wei was a real eye opener for these youngsters. While the other branches were still busy teaching the basic theories to their students, Du Wei is already pouring his knowledge down these young minds like a waterfall. From the uses of the most basic ofbats and defensive spells, Du Wei taught it all, and more!! ¡°I don¡¯t need you to study the principles behind these things because you will not be researches in the future. As long as you know how to use it in real lifebat then that¡¯s good enough!¡± Therefore, while the students in the other branch were still busy studying magical gems in their ssrooms, Du Wei¡¯s ss is already well into the physicalbat phase! People that drive a car only needs to learn how to drive, they don¡¯t need to be an expert in the automotive field. This is Du Wei¡¯s view on things. Because of this reason, the students from the Hogwarts house would always hold their heads high with pride whenever they met with their peers from the other branches! Have you guys ever seen a real ice demon Wolf? How about a ming rhino? Humph, you people are still stuck in yourboratories looking at pictures! While you people are still studying how to conjure up a spell, we on the other hand can already recite it and use it! Du Wei¡¯s ¡°alternative¡± educational approach was warmly embraced by the student body. Let¡¯s face it; no one likes to stuff their heads in those old stuffy books day and night. Whenever there was realbat training, Du Wei would always take extra precautions. Take thest practice session for example: He brought in a ¡®wind mouse¡¯ that is only capable of high speed movement. When his students went in to deal with the little thing, only two students ended up losing a finger because they weren¡¯t careful enough to have it bitten off. Fortunately, after some recovery therapy with a healer, the students were brand spanking new again. Du Wei can say for certain that if there was an official investigation into the matter, he is certain the loyalty from his students would be able to ovee any hurdles. Food for thought: Hogwarts courses are all elective in the academy, meaning the Hogwarts branch didn¡¯t actually have its own student body! Strangely enough though, the 32 participants in Du Wei¡¯s care would always say this in their introduction: ¡°I¡¯m from Hogwarts!¡± Of course, this move was quiteughable in the eyes of others, especially those running drills his students did every morning. ¡°Vivian, wrap up your things, I¡¯m taking you out.¡± Returning to his office, Du Wei changed out of his mage robe and into casual wear. Then opening the window, he looked up at the sky and said: ¡°We have some matters we need to attend.¡± Vivian is currently wearing a huge sunss on her face because Du Wei had tasked her to make this for him in preparation for tomorrow¡¯s event. This thing is made out of some stained quartz ss, though it looked ridiculous to the eyes, but it is the perfect protection against the golden eye python. The quarts ss may be expensive, but Du Wei still had a lot in reserve stashed away. Seeing how half of Vivian¡¯s cute face was covered in the ck sunss, Du Wei couldn¡¯t stop himself from chuckling augh. Still, Du Wei ignored the blushing face on Vivian and grabbed hold of her hand: ¡°Quick, it¡¯s gettingte already.¡± Like this, the pair walked out of the officer hand in hand. In recent days, this stuttering and shy girl has been formally pushed to the forefront of the student body by Du Wei. Though Vivian didn¡¯t actually teach any courses in the academy, but her existence is already an undeniable existence in everyone¡¯s heart. Beautiful, young, and powerful, such abination is a rarity that usually onlyes around every century! Moreover, this beauty is the disciple of Gandalf! Du Wei knows it himself, this lovely young girl holds a lot of love admirers in the academy that he was starting to get upset¡­.. The reason is because in recent days, some of the more daring students from the nobility faction actually started to send passionate love letters to the Hogwarts branch. Nheless, Du Wei didn¡¯t just sit idly by and watch it unfold. In secret, he gave this audacious bunch a big lesson that they won¡¯t ever forget. Humph! Du Wei is not in the habit of letting someone sneaking a hand under his table. Although his thought pattern is a bit overbearing, but in his mind, he already considers this silly girl his own private property. ¡°Whe-where are we going??¡± After being pulled out of the building by Du Wei, little Vivian is finally starting to regain herposure. Earlier in front of everyone through the hallway, she was blushing so hard from the peering eyes of the students that her cheeks looked like it was about to bleed. Du Wei couldn¡¯t care less about all this: ¡°A trip. The horse is ready for us outside the academy.¡± At the insistence of Du Wei, the academy has this one rule: any horses or carriage must not be allowed to enter the school perimeter. Outside the academy grounds, a white pristine horse is already awaiting the pair for a good while. Not hesitating for even a second, Du Wei took hold of the reins and swung his entire body atop of the saddle. Like the gentlemen that he is, Du Wei didn¡¯t say anything and simply held out a hand towards Vivian. In her short lifespan, this silly little girl has never experienced anything like this. So, when he reached out for her, VIvian was at a lost in how to react to the situation. Nevertheless, she finally relented her delicate hands into his embrace after blushing uncontrobly. Unlike how she imagined the scene would y out, VIvian was quickly caught off guard by Du Wei¡¯s flirtatious gesture when he pulled her off the mount in one tug. EEAAHHH!! Vivian shrieked in freight. (If anyone still didn¡¯t get the image yet, the author is going for a prince charming effect here) Unlike the cheekiness Du Wei is feeling now, poor little Vivian can only sense her heart beating uncontrobly. In her mind, Vivian thought that if she didn¡¯t get her emotions in check, her heart might fail under the intense stress. Like this, Du Wei had both of his arms around Vivian¡¯s thin little waist in front of him as they rode away. Not sure if it¡¯s intentional or unintentional, Du Wei¡¯s arm was constantly bumping against Vivian¡¯s plump little breast during the ride. This beautiful young girl thought it was wrong too, but there was nothing she could do while being trapped in Du Wei¡¯s arms. Moreover, her panting breathes and red cheeks aren¡¯t exactly a sign of rejection and she knows it! Like her, Du Wei also started to get funny ideas in his mind¨Cthis little girl seems to have matured¡­¡­ Chapter 186 part 2 The 186th chapter ¡°talents all around¡± (part 2) Spending nearly an hour on horseback, the pair bypassed the main roads only to reach a town south of the capital. The town may be small, but its street is abnormally busy because it functioned as a resting stop for trade caravans on the way to the imperial capital. Once inside, the pair immediately came to the doorstep of the town¡¯s biggest inn. Jumping off his mount, Du Wei then turned around to help Vivian off their steed. However, when he reached out his hand to her, this blushing girl was already despondent to him from their journey. Maybe he went a little overboard¡­¡­ Unknown to others, little Vivian¡¯s body was already numb to the bones, so there was no way she can get off with her own effort. Smiling wickedly, Du Wei came up with an idea as heughed sinisterly. Mustering up his strength, Du Wei used both his arms and lifted this frail girl down from the horse. When Vivian finally came to and realized she was being carried around in a princess¡¯s embrace, this silly girl actually cried out in surprise that caught the eyes of the surrounding crowd. Embarrassed from all the attention she was getting, Vivian immediately stuffed her head into Du Wei¡¯s chest and tightly wrapped her arms around his head. Unfortunately for Du Wei, he was seriously choking now because he never expected the strangle hold from Vivian to be so strong. ¡°Okay, okay, please let go, otherwise, I¡¯m really going to faint.¡± Du Wei smiled teasingly as he looked at Vivian. Like a frightened rabbit, Vivian struggled to stand on her own two feet after being let down to the ground. Back in the magic academy, Du Wei strongly insisted Vivian put on casual wear like him beforeing out. Because of this reason, this alluring young girl wearing a white skirted dress was constantly shrinking her legs back and forth as if she was afraid of other people looking at her. Anyways, Du Wei soon regretted his decision due to the enormous amount of attention drawn by Vivian. Like a jealous husband, he didn¡¯t want others gazing at his wife. Just as long as he can enjoy it, then that¡¯s good enough for him. There¡¯s just no other way, a male¡¯s desire is just that strong sometimes. Du Wei is no exception. The inn they came up to is an ordinary establishment named, ¡°Old Zack¡¯s Inn¡±. Though the iron sign board above the entrance may have rusted with age, but it was obvious once inside that the business is booming from the crowd of customers. The reason he brought Vivian with him to this specific location today is because he is expecting someone. Today, Hussein and Nicole is expected to arrive from the Rowling ins to meet him in this establishment. Hussein, this highly wanted criminal, can no longer stay in the small little vi after his family moved back to their old family castle. Out of fear of someone recognizing him, Du Wei doesn¡¯t intend to let Hussein return to the imperial capital with him. After all, this highly wanted criminal is renowned throughout the nobility circle during his time as a Holy Knight, so Du Wei cannot take the chance. Originally, Du Wei intended to let Hussein stay at the Magic Academy until he left for his territory, but he quickly rejected the idea because the school is often visited by members of the royal family. Essentially, this suburban town is the solution Du Wei came up with. Though the inn¡¯s business is good, but it is still off-season, so the amount of traffic going through this ce should be on the down side. Most importantly, the likelihood of someone recognizing Hussein in this backwater is unlikely. When Du Wei and Vivian first came into the inn¡¯s lobby, the pair immediately caught the attention of the other diners. It¡¯s to be expected, Vivian is just too beautiful in her getup. ¡°Dear Guests¡± When Du Wei was just in the middle of looking for seats, a thin¡­.. Good heavens, this guy is just like a monkey without hair! Dressed in a very orderly fashion, this guy quickly ran in front of Du Wei and made a greeting bow: ¡°Dear guests, I am the owner of this inn, please call me Zack. May I have the pleasure of knowing what you need?¡± Instead of giving a direct answer, Du Wei nces over at the Vivian only to find this shy girl trying to hide behind his back. ¡°We did not eat yet. Find us a quiet ce.¡± Du Wei spoke in a light tone, ¡°and I got a horse in need of care.¡± ¡°Please rest assured!¡± The innkeeper quickly summoned two workers and had them run outside. As for him, this incarnation of an ape personally led Du Wei to a corner with a window¡¯s view: ¡°Please sit down, Sir, do you need something?¡± ¡°Anything will do.¡± Du Wei rummaged through his pocket and fished out a gold coin: ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as it¡¯s clean.¡± ¡°You can be assured!¡± The innkeeper¡¯s sleeve only brushed against the tabletop, but the gold coin was already gone without a trace. Instead of leaving right away, the guy suddenly revealed a sly smile as he whispered into Du Wei¡¯s ear: ¡°Honored guest, would you step aside with me, I would like to say a few word.¡± Du Wei curiously looked at this monkey, ¡°What?¡± ¡°This one¡­¡­¡± The bosses eyes flickered over to Vivian: ¡°The beautifuldy is your partner? If so, then I believe you would be interested in the special services offered by our store.¡± ¡°Special services?¡± Du Wei smiled with intrigue. ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± The boss lowered his voice to speak next to Du Wei¡¯s ear: ¡°Weunched a ¡®Goldenbination package¡¯. Whenever you dine with us, you can add a silver coin to your tab and have our staff act as a rogue trying to flirt with yourdy. At that time, you can then showcase your heroic side and get rid of the ruffian¡­.. Rest assured, our people is well trained and discretion is our top priority. We won¡¯t let any harme to you, or yourdy. This way, you can easily win the adoring eyes of your women¡­¡­¡± Then this guy didn¡¯t stop and kept going: ¡°As long as you keep adding onto the basic package, we can even have a dedicated person act out as a poor little singing girl. When the timees, you can publicly gift her with a copper or two to showcase yourpassionate side¡­.. If you again add a third silver coin, you will get the ¡®extreme customer package service¡¯. While you are preparing to stay the night here, we will pretend the inn is full and say there is only a single room left.¡± When the boss exined up to this point, he deliberately squeezed both eyes: ¡°Of course, the room only has one bed¡­¡­.¡± As Du Wei listened to all this, beads of sweat came dripping down his side. Forcefully gulping down his saliva, Du Wei carefully looked over this monkey incarnate: ¡°Dude¡­. Where did you cross through from?¡± ¡°Through?¡± The boss stared nkly for a moment: ¡°Through what?¡± ¡°My name is Zack.¡± Boss faintly smiles as he bowed: ¡°please call me Zack junior. This inn belonged to my father, but he is already not with us¡­.. As you can see, I¡¯m a good person. For the happiness of our male customers, I would dly offer up these services because isn¡¯t this exactly what we need?¡± With that said, this talented boss winked at Du Wei. Chapter 187 The 187th chapter ¡°panning for gold in the sand¡± Rolynn was a bit astonished by the guy brought in by Du Wei. Her first impression was: is this guy born from a monkey? Or rather, he is the legendary beast men of the Monkey tribe? That¡¯s right; this person is just like a humanoid monkey without the hair. ¡°This is Mr. Zack.¡± Du Wei¡¯s tone in his introduction was very polite, so she immediately retracted her eyes because she knew her expression is very rude. ¡°Hello, beautiful female Knight.¡± Zack is dressed in a very orderly fashion, but his head was donning the typical small cap uniquely found on those of a merchant. Taking it off, he bent down and politely made a bowing motion: ¡°I am very pleased to meet you, please call me Zack, or if you like, you can call me Zack junior like my friends do. Oh yes, this is to distinguish me from myte father.¡± ¡°Zack is a genius I met today. I believe he will be very talented in managing a business.¡± Du Wei winked at Rolynn beforeing up to the female knight. In a lowered voice, he said: ¡°Roylnn, I know you don¡¯t like your job, right? Well then, from today onward, Zack will be under yourmand. In the shortest amount of time possible, you will teach him the in¡¯s and out of the business. Once I feel he is suitable to take over your position, you can then go back to managing the fleet.¡± Rolynn¡¯s eyes lit up immediately as she looked at the friendly monkey in front of her. Unlike her previous image of Zack, Rolynn suddenly found herself feeling this person to be quite lovable. ¡°So then, is heing with me now?¡± Rolynn nced at Du Wei. Zack replied himself, ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡­ Oh heavens, today is such a magical day. When his lordship came into my store, I never expected to encounter the famed Duke Tulip. Instead of selling my Golden package deal, his lordship actually bought out my store and even brought me back here.¡± Very soon, Rolynn guided Zack around the store and showcased everything inside. Immediately after the tour ended, Zack beganing up with ideas like he was a natural in this field. As long as the topic is rted to running a business, his eyes would light up. ¡°How is it, Zack?¡± Du Wei is eagerly looking forward to what the guy has to say. In his mind, Du Wei believes his sight isn¡¯t wrong because in this world, even if Zack isn¡¯t a genius, he will still be a mega geek. ¡°Forgive me for my bluntness, I think¡­¡­. There is a big problem.¡± Zack exined his words in a mncholy voice: ¡°When I skimmed my eyes through the store, I only noticed weapons¡­.. Weapons here¡­.. Weapons there¡­¡­ My god, is there nothing else besides weapons in our life?¡± Rolynn is somewhat discontent with his words because she is after all the person in charge of this ce: ¡°Mr. Zack, we also have some armor pieces like the knight¡¯s tabard, and¡­..¡± ¡°This can still be considered within the range of the weapons category.¡± Zack curled his lips. Then this guy actually turned around and freely sat down on a chair. When a passing ve girl walked by with a tray full of wine, this monkey bluntly grabbed a cup and gulped it down. After finishing the cup, hefortably sighed and said: ¡°GOOD WINE! God be my witness, I have never tasted such a fine wine before, perhaps a silver coin per cup?¡± ¡°It¡¯s gold coin¡­¡­ A gold coin per cup.¡± Rolynn corrected him in a light voice. Widening his eyes in shock, he stared at the cup in his hand before quickly putting it down. Without waiting for anyone to say another word, Zack continued: ¡°Well then, where did I left off? Oh, that¡¯s right, weapons¡­¡­ My lord, although I am a lowly merchant, but I can see that this ce caters only to the wealthy and noble lords. Well then, may I ask, what reason do those lords have to bring a weapon home?¡± His one question was already enough to stump Rolynn. And the words that came out of Zack afterward left Du Wei feeling very satisfied. ¡°Those nobles are people of status, so they wouldn¡¯t really go adventuring like those real warriors and adventurers. From my view, these people would spend more time showing off their possession than to actually take it intobat¡­.. Just like a peacock when it spread their tail feathers.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, we also thought of this point.¡± Rolynn replied: ¡°That¡¯s why; the products you see here are all focused on being extravagant and beautiful.¡± ¡°I can see that.¡± Zack nodded: ¡°from my point of view, your decision is not wrong.¡± Rolynn immediately followed up: ¡°These ideas are all from his lordship, I¡¯m only carrying it out.¡± ¡°But!¡± Zack bluntly interrupted Rolynn¡¯s words: ¡°Your method is correct, but your direction is wrong.¡± ¡°Keep going!¡± Du We immediately cried out when he noticed Rolynn wanted to interrupt again: ¡°Zack, please continue.¡± Zackughed as he sheepishly rubbed his hand together. Then licking his lips, he then shyly smiled as he asked: ¡°That¡­.. ss of wine, can I get another cup?¡± ¡°Call someone over and give our Mr. Zack here a bottle.¡± Du Wei immediatelymanded. Subsequently, Zack received a bottle of wine from a beautiful ve. Pouring a cup for himself, he then continued to exin his words after taking a sip: ¡° Well then, your lordship, please don¡¯t take it to heart on what I¡¯m about to say.¡± ¡°Of course, I like your ideas.¡± This sentence sent the confidence meter in Zack¡¯s mind through the roof: ¡°Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have brought you back here.¡± ¡°I believe the business is operating correctly, but the problem lies in the direction you are taking.¡± Zack puts down the wine bottle: ¡°Those wealthy lords do indeed spend a lot of time trying to court a pretty girl¡­.. However, this is only a small part of their life. After all, a perverted devil only makes up the minority of the noble ss. In their lives, there are many more things they like to do¡­ And that is enjoyment and entertainment.¡± Enjoyment and entertainment? Zackughed: ¡°In my opinion, the saying that human are pigs is a very interestingparison¡­.. Hmm, what is a pig¡¯s life? Eat, sleep and eat. What about a person? Eat, sleep, work and enjoying life.¡± After a pause, Zack made a concise summary: ¡°If so then, if a person doesn¡¯t know how to enjoy life, then they are no different from a working pig.¡± ¡°The majority of the nobility certainly knows how to indulge themselves in pleasure. In fact, their life is far more exciting than that of a pig, yet, we never tapped into their biggest needs and that is their basic necessities! See the things here? Weapons¡­.. Weapons are only a small part of their life.¡± ¡°From what I can see, all of your products here are made out of precious materials that are not easily obtained through normal means-¡­.. If so, then why can¡¯t we use it on something else?¡± Du Wei eyes lit up with excitement when he made eye contact with Rolynn. ¡°An ordinary sword can only be sold for a few silver coins in the market while a small ne can be sold for more than 20 silver pieces to a nobledy. That¡¯s not all. A knights armor can only be sold for 5 silver coins in the market while a finely tailored dress can fork us more than I can even predict. Either way, it¡¯s still more than an armor piece.¡± ¡°Just now, I noticed an armor here, my god, I have to say it is too beautiful! The glowing light wrapping around the suit is just like the time went into temple for prayer! Too beautiful, just too beautiful¡­. I say, what if we use all of those materials in the jewelry made for thedies? In addition, I also noticed something else. Hmm, it should be a mage staff, right? This is the first time I¡¯ve ever seen a mage staff in my life. From what Knight Rolynn said, that thing is specially designed for water mages and can control¡­.. What¡¯s that thing called again?¡± ¡°The water element.¡± Rolynn answers. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right, water element!¡± Zack sly smiles: ¡°Let¡¯s say we put these things into ady¡¯s essory. Think about it. What does ady alwaysin about? They will say ¡®my god, the weather is too dry. My skin will get damaged at this rate.¡¯ At that time, we can tell them that if they wear our products, the moisture around their body will always be maintained¡­. Can you imagine how attractive this would be? I already saw the sapphire crystal on thatrge piece over there. If you cut it up, you can make several essories out of it!¡± ¡°Also¡­¡­ Oh, this is my own thinking. If I am wrong, please don¡¯t mind me.¡± Zack continues: ¡°Every winter, I would hear those rich merchantsin about how heavy their leather clothing¡¯s are and how inconvenient it is to walk outside. Aside from that, every person would dress like a giant meat beat with thick scarfs, leather boots, and fur coats wrapped around their bodies¡­.. My god, can you imagine how heavy that is? If we¡­¡­ Oh, please forgive me, I¡¯m not a mage, but I believe we can do this if we utilize the amazing powers of magic. If we cane up with a light material capable of warding off the cold, we can have thosedies walk around like how they would in the summer during the winter seasons. This way around, they don¡¯t have to carry around those heavy coats and still showcase their graceful body lines and beautiful leg! Hmm, what you think? I¡¯m certain those nobilities would spent enormous sums just to get their hands on a piece.¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°You¡¯re right¡­¡­ And these can all be done¡­¡­ Oh god and it¡¯s very simple. As long as we take a cheap fire ruby and cut it into multiple pieces, we can then make them into multiple clothing¡¯s¡­..¡± Zack seems to be still full of ideas in his stomach! However, Du Wei already called him out: ¡°Enough Zack! My dear Zack! I find your ideas all very interesting. Later on, you can talk it over with Rolynn.¡± Rolynn is also starting to be convinced by this monkey¡­.. Although his appearance is a bit ugly and rude. But it can¡¯t be denied, this guy really is talented. In her mind, Rolynn can already see the vast oceans in her sight and the waving hands of her fleet! Zack¡¯s small little inn was already bought out on the spot by Du Wei before. Then calling in two members of Rolynn¡¯s pirate crew, they quickly kicked all the guests out and announced the shop is no longer in business. Not long after Du Wei did this, Hussein and Nicole arrived and is now living in the back of this little inn. There isn¡¯t much to talk about regarding the first meeting of Rolynn, Nicole, and Hussein. Like usual, this Saint Knight is as cold as ever, but Du Wei did catch wind of the care in Hussein¡¯s words. ¡°Your skills slipped a lot recently. Did you not practice the martial exercise I left you?¡± This is true; Du Wei did in fact ck off quite a bit regarding his physical training. The reason is because he spent most of his time on his magic research. Thanks to that Magic Society of Learning. Du Wei ¨C this ¡°unworthy¡± super magician ¨C is the one that benefited the most after countless mages contributed their research results. Never in their wildest dreams would the other members of the society expect this disciple of the great and mighty Gandalf to secretly steal their spells! Of course, after having meeting up with Hussein and Nicole, Du Wei did not forget to ask Medusa for a strand of hair because he still needs to teach his students the method of dealing with a golden eye python tomorrow. As for Nicole¡­¡­ Du Wei had to determine this demoness did not idently petrify anyone by mistake beforeing here. Only by making sure there wasn¡¯t anything he needs to be worried about did Du Wei finally leave in peace. Hussein and Nicole are both boring mutes to begin with, so he might as well leave this depressing pair alone to bore themselves out. After all, the distance between the capital and this small little town is simply too close. If he is not careful, trouble might arise before he can make it to the Northwest. Once he¡¯s gone from this dark ce, he can fly as high as he like the birds in the sky. The only thing worth mentioning from this encounter is that Vivian did not go back with Du Wei. This is Queen Medusa¡¯s request. When she was facing him with her eyes closed, Du Wei felt a sudden chill running through his body¡­. ¡°Did Nicole¡¯s power grow again?¡± This thought was the first thing that came up in Du Wei¡¯s head. ¡°This female disciple of Gandalf will stay with me.¡± Though Nicole said this in a very light voice, but her tone was unwavering: ¡°You promised to teach me the nature of humanity and their lifestyle, yet I¡¯ve been stuck inside a room this entire time, unable to take a single step outside¡­..¡± Du Wei immediately became speechless because he can clearly feel the discontent in Medusa¡¯s voice. Right now, he did not have the strength to force his will on her and let¡¯s not forget, this terrifying Queen Medusa can even force the Dragon Patriarch into a corner. If not for the life saving skill ¡®Dragon God¡¯s Blessing¡¯, she might have really petrified the old dragon.¡± No room to argue, Du Wei can only leave behind the small little Vivian with the snake beauty. ¡°Honey, be careful to not look her in the eye at any time¡­.. Hmm, other than her boring nature, she is still easy to get along with.¡± But Du Wei made a mistake. A big, big mistake. His preconceived notions regarding Medusa is that she is an apex predator that stands at the peak of this world¡­.. But the truth is, other than her iconic petrifying skill, Nicole didn¡¯t have any other offensive ability in her reservoir. Sure enough, within five seconds of being left alone with little Vivian, Nicole made this request¡­¡­ ¡°Can you teach me magic?¡± Would the pure and innocent little Vivian reject this request? Only heaven would know¡­.. Like this, Du Wei made his way home in satisfaction because he never expected his harvest to be so huge today. In his mind, he can already see the piles of gold coins flying into his pocket because of that monkey fe¡¯s appearance. As he came up to his temporary residence, Du Wei can already see the enormously fat General 250 awaiting his return atop of a mount¡­.. Poor horse. Unlike Du Wei¡¯s lively white horse, the steed under this General 250 looked like it was about to fall apart soon from the weight looming over its back! And next to him, the clever little boy Sandia was also riding a brown mare. Clearly, the duo was nning to head out at this moment. It looks like this is the first time little Sandia rode a horse. Though his expression was very excited, this clever boy did not forget to jump down to greet Du Wei upon seeing him. ¡°Are you two going out?¡± Seeing General 250¡¯s face, Du Wei suddenly recalled the guy had a very ¡®lewd¡¯ personality¡­.. Ah, he couldn¡¯t be going out to fool around, right? But that¡¯s the type of ce to be bringing a kid along. ¡°That¡¯s right, my boss.¡± General Longbottom cocked his hat, his expression full of discontent: ¡°Your dukeship, I find that your home is simply toocking in man power¡­. My god, you don¡¯t even have a decent guard around. Therefore, I decided to go out and recruit a few Knights for us.¡± Du Wei nods in understanding. Indeed, after the dissolution of the Rowling household, most of the guards went back to the Rowling ins with the old Earl. As for Du Wei, he seems to have been ignorant of his lordship title because of his magician status. Whenever he goes out, he never had any guards escorting him. And at home, there is only the couple of servants brought along by Marde. The only thing that seems to be in order is this General 250 and Captain Alpha that had stayed behind with him under his father¡¯s request. However, due to his injury and the fact that captain Alpha was a leading figure in the battle back then, this person did not go out very often in order to avoid gossip. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m bringing little Sandia with me to the ve market today. If our luck is good, the two of us might be able to find some gold within the sand pile.¡± General Longbottom sighed as he nced at Du Wei, ¡°Do you want toe along, boss?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ All right.¡± Du Wei had some doubts. Go to the ve market? He then came to the street where the ve market is located. From a corner, there stood lines of warriors trying to seek a job¡­.. But all of these people are only a low lever knight, so can they really be useful? Chapter 188 The 188th chapter ¡°special talents¡± Once againing into the ve market, Du Wei took extra care this time around to hide his identity under a new getup. Covered from head to toe with a hooded cloak, Du Wei made sure to stay closely behind General Longbottom. From the initial assessment, the ce seems to be less packpared to hisst visit. As the trio made their way through the street, the only one in their group that had trouble during their walk is little Sandia. No matter how much the kid tries to make the chestnut colored mare listen to him, the damn horse just won¡¯t listen and would constantly resist her master¡¯smand. ¡°You should give it a few whip.¡± General Longbottom took one look at this kid and muttered: ¡°These beasts are like this. The weaker you are, the more they will bully you.¡± Unfortunately, little Sandia is somewhat reluctant to make such a move. After all, this is the first horse in the kid¡¯s life. On top of this reason, sweet old Marde even promised him he could keep the horse for his sole use. Therefore, how can he whip his precious horse? ¡°Right here.¡± Longbottom parked the horses at the far end of the street. Away from the epicenter of the ve shops, the spot they were at now were aligned with men and women on both sides of the street. Draping a white cloth over their arms, these people are all low leveled warriors seeking a job. Sometimes, Du Wei really didn¡¯t understand the mindset of these run down warriors. Even if their level is very low, but with their capabilities, they should still be able to make a decent living without living a life of hardship like this. Their martial skills should still be better than an average person, right? If they are willing to join the army, they should be able to get in easily considering the numerous recruitment notices handed out each year. So what, are they so bad that they can¡¯t even be eligible for the army? However, Du Weiter learned that this is probably the so-called Warrior¡¯s pride or dignity. In a Warrior¡¯s view, even if it¡¯s just a very, very low level Warrior, if not cornered, they would still not be willing to join the army and take up a lowly soldier post. They are warriors with the formal rank of a real knight. In their heart, these people cannot tolerate the indignity of being ordered around like a lowly servant. Unless they can take up a leadership role the moment they join, they would rather work as a bodyguard for some merchant caravan than to join the military. In the time of peace and calm, there isn¡¯t much chance to rise through the rank. Unless they spend countless years or decades working hard, it is unlikely they can be an officer. ¡°It¡¯s like the university students from his past life. Instead of taking a waiting job at a restaurant, these people would rather stay at home and wait for better job opportunities.¡± Du Wei secretly sighed inside at the thought. Looking at the grim faced warriors standing against the street corners, Du Wei suddenly had mixed feelings regarding this venture. Crash! Judging from the shape and impact it made, the baggage Longbottom pulled down from his steed sounded like metal. That¡¯s right, it¡¯s metal. Untying the cloth, what is revealed inside are numerous long, hard rods made of iron. From its rusty appearance, Du Wei had trouble pinpointing where he managed to procure these items from. ¡°It can¡¯t be from his house, right? Did the guy dismantle the rods from the supporting beams?¡± Du Wei started to make some frightening spections in his head. Subsequently, Longbottom acted like he was very familiar with the rules of this ce. Not needing Sandia to remind him on what to do, this chubby general casually took hold of a rod and stabbed it into the ground. It looks like the years of imprisonment did not deteriorate his ability in the least. In a single move without expending much effort, this infamous general easily pierced the stone hard ground with the rod before tying a ck cloth to the top. The meaning for this gesture is very simple: Recruitment. Very soon, the nearby crowd standing put on the street began to gather around them with hope and expectation on their faces. Nevertheless, some of their hopes were quickly shot down when Sandia began crying out their intentions. ¡°Warriors! We need warriors! True Warriors!¡± His sharp childish voice echoed across the street, very soon, the deadpan eyes from the warriors idling in the back began to flicker with fire! As if a dying man was suddenly given hope, all those holding a sword had their spirit revitalized. Consciously, their backs straightened up as they strode toward the trio. All the while, those that are simply here to seek a job had a look of disappointment on their faces as they shook their heads before walking away. ¡°Mister, what kind of people are you looking for?¡± A man wearing shabby looking wears pushed over. From his age, the guy is already qualified to be someone¡¯s grandfather. In Du Wei¡¯s mind, he was seriously wondering whether the guy can even unsheathe his sword because the hilt was already stained with yellowish brown rust. ¡°Is it an adventuring group recruiting?¡± ¡°Is it a guard post?¡± Do you need bodyguards? I am a warrior!! Momentarily,rge numbers of people surrounded them. Most of their faces were all the same, unshaved and dull. Above all else, they had one thing exactly the same. They will not greet you as ¡°Sir¡±, instead, they will only call you ¡°Mister¡±. This is their way of saying they are not like those ordinary people, they are warriors! ¡°Move it, move it!¡± Longbottom looked impatient as he swept his eyes across the crowd. Then muttering in a low voice: ¡°How did the quality of these guys get so low! Hey, I¡¯m talking about you! Move it! Make room for me!¡± Longbottom¡¯s massive body is just like that of a monster. Not looking like he expended much effort, he managed to clear the people that came too close. Then in a booming voice: ¡°Be quiet! Silence!¡± He lifted hisrge fan like hand and pointed to the crowd in front of him: ¡°I need people, but I don¡¯t need garbage! I need special people with unique skills! You all understand? As long as you have a unique skill that can satisfy me, then I don¡¯t care what rankings you are! Get it? Let me see what you¡¯ve got now! Who¡¯s first?¡± Unique skill? Many of the crowd quieted down. ¡°No one wants to try?¡± Longbottom¡¯s eyes seem to be disappointment. Looking back at Du Wei, he sighed: ¡°Damn it, it¡¯s getting worse with each generation. Long ago, I was still able to dig up a couple of useful people here, yet, now? Look at all these garbage! They obviously don¡¯t have much skill, yet they¡¯re still clinging onto their bullshit perseverance! Gold will always eventually shine, but if it¡¯s not gold, then what¡¯s the point of retaining their act here. Such people is simply not worth wasting one¡¯s sympathy.¡± Seeing no one is willing to step forward, Longbottom impatiently yelled: ¡°You people really don¡¯t even have some kind of unique skill? God damn it! You are warriors! Show me your most capable martial skills then! If you don¡¯t even have that, then get out of the way! Don¡¯t take up the space and get back to your corner so you can die!¡± He said it without holding back, but from Du Wei¡¯s perspective, his words are very true! This world is very realistic! If you do not have the skill, then you are an idiot by clinging on to some stupid pride! Why not just get a job and work hard to live a better life?! A garbage that daydreams all day is not worthy of sympathy. ¡°Excuse me, mister, what do you mean unique skill?¡± A skinny person struggled to break out of the crowd: ¡°Can you exin it better?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care who you are.¡± Longbottom began to grin: ¡°What are you good at? Bring it out so I can have a look.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good at fencing, Mister.¡± This skinny guy raises his sword: ¡°My Warrior¡¯s ranking is.¡± ¡°Enough, I don¡¯t care about your rank.¡± Longbottom impatiently waved his hand: ¡°If you were fifth or sixth rank, then you wouldn¡¯t be here. Come on, hurry and show me your skill.¡± The skinny warrior¡¯s face turned red at the put down. Then casually picking up a stone, he began to inscribe the outline of a person at a nearby wall. Taking a few step back, he then took in a deep breath before pulling out his long sword. Tsk-Tsk-Tsk!! The sword flew out effortlessly and rammed into the person outline against the wall. After the skinny guy retracted his sword, Longbottom squinted his eyes to catch a better glimpse at the outline. Immediately, his eyes lit up! On the human outline, the eyes, throat, rib, and crotch area were all stabbed with pinpoint uracy! Fast and urate! Each of the strikended by this swordsman were all devilishly aimed at a person¡¯s vital spot! His swordsmanship may be a bit dirty like that of a poisonous snake, but his badge rank is only¡­. A level one?! ¡°Good, you can stay, I want you!!¡± Longbottom lets out a boomingugh: ¡°Who else!!!!¡± The second guy to be recruited by Longbottom is a left-hander. The short guy must have been malnourished during his childhood because his head size isparable to little Sandia¡¯s! However, when he showcased several of his swordsmanship, Longbottom immediately recruited him. ¡°He¡¯s a lefty, so his moves are alling from an opposite angle. For an ordinary person, they will find it very ufortable to be fighting someone like him.¡± Longbottom quickly exined. The third person is a fat guy that isparable Longbottom¡¯s size. Like a melon, the unique skill of this guy is something Du Wei would never have imagined. ¡°I can take a beating, and not afraid of pain.¡± The fat man opened his mouth and smiled like a fatso: ¡°I¡¯m unable to feel pain since birth.¡± With that, he pulled apart his clothes to reveal his naked chest filled with ck hair. Then pulling out a sword, he used it to cut his body twice and from the wounds initial appearance, it looked quite deep! Bloodied with flesh showing, this fat guy remained calm without an inch of change; ¡°Mister, I have no talent for martial arts, so my level is only that of a level one warrior. However, in realbat, I¡¯m willing to bet that I can take down at least three guys of the same rank. As long as their strikes aren¡¯t lethal, I won¡¯t be affected in the least while they can only take a hit from me before dying by my hands!¡± Therefore, this guy is also epted. What came next are some weird guys that were also epted. Among these people, even Du Wei was surprised at their performance. Heck, is this the so called ¡®QuingGong¡¯? Watching a super skinny guy jump up to the roof without much effort, the guy was able to freely maneuver across the air like a cat. There is also a guy that is incredibly good at imitating. His voice was truly astonishing, whether it was animal or objects, he could reproduce it without a speck of difference from the real thing. ¡°I¡¯ll be an excellent scout, mister!¡± ¡°There¡¯s also me!¡± A guy came out from the crowd: ¡°I was once a Hunter. My specialty is setting and disabling traps in the mountains. With only my nose, I can distinguish if there¡¯s water nearby!¡± After recruiting these people, Longbottom¡¯s expression was still filled with hope of more talents showing up. Unfortunately, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any more willing to step forward after his next shout: ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Who else wants to try?¡± ¡°This is not fair, Mister!¡± Someone in the crowd shouted, ¡°They are not real warriors!! They are nothing but small tricks! True warriors will only talk with their sword! We will not learn the cries of an animal, nor will we climb up to someone¡¯s roof like a thief!¡± Longbottom sneers. In a single sweep, he snatched the bundle of rods and plugged each of them intot he ground. In a cold voice: ¡°You garbages think it¡¯s not fair? Fine! Then I¡¯ll let you speak with the sword! I¡¯ll take in whoever can use their sword to cut down an iron rod!¡± A sword cut down an iron rod? Although these iron rods aren¡¯t too thick, but it is still the size of a child¡¯s arm! He wants us to cut it apart with one strike? Unless one can use Dou Qi or a treasured sword, it is impossible! But if they could use Dou QI to begin with, why would they be here in the first ce? A warrior capable of using Dou Qi would have to worry about not finding a job. This y by Longbottom left everyone speechless. ¡°Aigh.¡± Longbottom sighed, seemingly disappointed by this oue. After spending so many hours trying to push these people, he only managed to recruit a couple of strange talents. At the same time, a steady voice rang out from the crowd. ¡°Let me try?¡± Then the crowd separated to make way for a tall that was guy no more than 30 years old. Though his clothing was rough to the touch, but his posture was steady and face filled with pressure. In one nce, Longbottom¡¯s eye was already brimming with light. Base on his experience, he can tell the guy appeared before him is someone that went through a life or death battle. ¡°Your name.¡± Longbottom squinted his eyes. ¡°Please call me old smoke; my friends all call me that.¡± The warrior seems to hesitate for a second because that is only a nickname. And from his ent, he seems to be a local¡­¡­. Though the guy was puffing out his chest, but Du Wei can faintly smell a powerful herbal scenting from him, seems like he is injured. Longbottom also discovered this. Under his clothing, this self-proimed ¡°old smoke¡± seems to be wrapped in bandage and the location is obviously near the heart. ¡°Are you hurt?¡± Longbottom frowned. ¡°Yes, right here.¡± Old smoke pointed to his heart: ¡°But I was lucky, my heart was born slightly out of cepared to an ordinary person.¡± With that, he pulled out a sword and took in a deep breath Tsk! A clear spark of light shed across and the brilliant Dou Qi that appeared left the onlookers in amazement! This is a warrior capable of Dou QI! That shows his warrior ranking is at least of the forth rank! How can a fourth level warrior be so poor like this? That¡¯s right; this Old Smoke is precisely the guy from the Coup ¨C the guy that was still thinking about his title before dying. Snap! One rod is now cut in two. From this, Old Smoke seems to be slightly out of breath due to the wound acting up. Taking another breath, he turned around and looked over at Du Wei that was standing behind Longbottom. He is after from the pce guards, so it only took him one look to figure out who is really in charge. ¡°Did I pass?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± The one to speak up is Du Wei: ¡°Please tell me your conditions, Mister Knight.¡± ¡°¡± Old smoke was silent for a moment. Chapter 189 The 189th chapter ¡±Old Smoke¡¯s decision¡± Within the barn of the Duke¡¯s temporary residence, Longbottom arranged the newly conscripted men¡¯s into single files. The somewhat crude residence of the Duke only upied a modest amount ofnd. Compared to the mansions littered throughout the capital, this ce can only be considered middle-lower tier, truly unfit for Du Wei¡¯s status. Nheless, the Duke¡¯s manor is by no meanscking in horses. When the Rowling Household withdrew from the imperial capital, they had sold all their assets including their original manor; the only exception to this was the horses because Du Wei wanted them for himself. ¡°You can freely choose your own mount.¡± Once Longbottom gave the order, those run down warrior¡¯s all had a look of surprise. Everyone already knew from the beginning who the true lord of this ce was the moment they entered the premise. Just yesterday, they were still trying to make a living at the ve market in their pathetic attire, and now, they are in the residence of the famed Duke Tulip! On top of this, they are allowed to retain a horse for their own use?! But Longbottom was already secretly shaking his head when he looked at the way these guys were trying to mount their rides. Whispering to Du Wei in a low voice: ¡°Aigh, these guys are only warriors, not Knights. The ce we are heading to is the Northwest where even a child knows how to ride.¡± Basically, any warrior of the continent can attain a rank from the knight¡¯s association as long as they can pass the assessment. As such, they are can only be considered ¡°warriors¡± and not ¡°knights¡±. At the bare minimum, the so-called Knights must be at least capable of riding a horse! However, for these lower ss warriors, they can¡¯t even keep themselves alive; much less support a mount for their personal use! The decline of warriors is the current trend floating across the continent. Once recognized as an organization that could stand on par with the magic union, the current Knight¡¯s association has been reduced to the point where they can¡¯t even be put on the table anymore. ¡°Huh?¡± Longbottom eyes suddenly lit up because his attentions were quickly focused on Old Smoke. Unlike the rest that could only hang on for their dear lives against their mount, Old Smoke had no trouble whatsoever. In a single swing, his entire body fell neatly into the saddle. With the perfect posture found only among a veteran rider, his body looked very rx without any hint of panic. ¡°This guy is a ¡®Knight¡¯.¡± Longbottom became intrigued by this Old Smoke: ¡°His martial skills aren¡¯t bad, and his riding skill appears to be quite good. With such skills, why is he reduced to such a state of looking for a job at the ve market?¡± This question is also what Du Wei wanted to ask too. This temporary residence may be small in size, but the typical facilities of a noble¡¯s mansion is still there. For example: a race track. Leaving behind those happy fledglings to practice their riding skills, Longbottom called Old Smoke over to a lone room. Aside from the two, Du Wei was already inside waiting. Old Smoke¡¯s expression looked a bit stiff as if he knew what the reason for his summoning is. Sure enough¡­¡­ Longbottom didn¡¯t wait for Old Smoke to get a proper footing before shouting at him in a loud voice: ¡°Report your service station, knight!¡± Almost like a knee-jerking reaction due to years of training, Old Smoke instinctively straightened his legs and arms together before crying out: ¡°Squadron leader of the sixth unit of Royal guards¡­..¡± When he reached thest part, Old Smoke finally realized he is no longer a part of the royal guards. But both Longbottom and Du Wei were very happy at the results. Looking at the unnatural expression of this guy called Old Smoke, Du Wei started to smile: ¡°You used to be an officer within the royal guards?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Longbottom smiled with relief: ¡°No wonder, I see you like to tuck your trousers into your boots¡­¡­ Only the royal guards like to beautify themselves like this.¡± Old Smoke somewhat blushed. That¡¯s right,pared to the regr army, the royal guards are different in many aspects. This is especially true when ites to their visual appearance, in fact, it can be called exemry. Their uniforms are always ironed to the teeth and their trousers are always tucked into their boots to make themselves look tall and straight. But this saying of ¡°liking to beautify¡± themselves is still deeply hurting Old Smoke. In his mind, the images of that nightmarish moment in the coup is starting to flood back into his head again. 3,000 of the most elite royal guards were ughtered on that fateful day like defenseless rabbits all because they were ill equipped with these so called ¡°beautiful equipment¡±. Soldiers are supposed to pay attention to their appearances, but if this part bes excessive¡­. Then they can only be regarded as honor guards. ¡°Enough, my General.¡± Du Wei waved at Longbottom with a smile. Turning to face Old Smoke, he then said: ¡°I think you already know what I want to ask without me saying it, right?¡± Old Smoke nods before sighing: ¡°My Lord, are you going to tie me up like a deserter?¡± Indeed, this is what Old Smoke is most worried about. Within the empire, the punishments for deserters are all the same without exception¡­. Kill!! ¡°Tell us about your experience first Old Smoke.¡± Du Wei smiles. ¡°I¡­.. Used to be a royal guard.¡± Old Smoke grits his teeth: ¡°Before the ceremony on that summer day, I¡¯ve been serving in the royal guards for 12 years full¡­..¡± Subsequently, Old Smoke went over all the details of his experience in the coup. ¡°¡­¡­ I was hit by an arrow, right here.¡± Old Smoke points to the wound on his chest: ¡°I fainted, but did not die. When the battlefield is being cleaned, I was treated like a dead body and transported outside the city. In the middle of the night, I woke up and found myself within a mound of dead bodies and the burning smell of carcasses. I didn¡¯t know which side had won at the time, so I didn¡¯t dare call out. Instead, I secretly slipped out of the ce by myself¡­¡­ There were undermanned. With thousands of bodies to deal with, there were only around a hundred guards to keep watch, so I wasn¡¯t discovered.¡± ¡°And then what?¡± Du Wei nods. ¡°Then I slipped away to a nearby town. In a farmer¡¯s barn house, I spent the night sleeping in the haystacks. By the noon, I woke up and stole a set of clothes to disguise myself. Fortunately, there was a river nearby so I was able to clean my wounds. After that, I waster saved by a traveling merchant team. I exined to them what has transpired in the capital and that I was a normal citizen that got caught in the crossfire. My statement did not arouse and suspicion from them because a lot of innocent people got hurt just like me. After they helped bandage me up, I was given some food and water before being left alone. A few dayster, I finally returned to the capital.¡± ¡°You¡¯re back.¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°Well then, you should already know which side had won in the midst of the coup, right? Since the royalty side won, why didn¡¯t you go back to your post? For someone like you, whom offered their life to fight the enemy, should be heavily rewarded if you returned.¡± Old Smoke was silent, but Du Wei can tell, this 30 or so old man is burning with fire in his eyes! ¡°My Lord, we have a total of 3,000 people, most of them are dead now. Especially my team, my brothers, they all died. There¡¯s also my squadron, our captain is dead too. Among my squadron, I fear I¡¯m the only one left alive.¡± Old Smoke¡¯s voice became intense: ¡°I¡¯ve been there for 12 years, always loyal to the court. Whenever we get off our shift, me and my brothers would always go out. We would drink, we would gamble, and we would even go find woman together. I remember, I once fell off my mount and broke my leg. At that time, my squad captain personally brought me back from the race trace! But now¡­.. They¡¯re all dead.¡± When ites to thest part, Old Smoke¡¯s voice sounded a little dry: ¡°They¡¯re all dead now¡­.¡± Du Wei could not say anything while Longbottom only bit his lips in hesitation. ¡°I remember their names. They are all my brothers, my officers. Knight Hank, he is a good captain. He may be strict, but he would treat us to drinks once we were off duty. There¡¯s also Ignazio, I still owe him money from gambling. And Russa, I even fought with him the day before over women. I wanted to apologize after the end of the day too, but now¡­.¡± Old Smoke¡¯s voice suddenly started to tremble clumsily as he repeated this phrase: ¡°But they¡¯re all dead now, they¡¯re all dead¡­¡­.¡± ¡°But their death is not your fault.¡± Du Wei looked at Old Smoke in the eye: ¡°They were killed by the rebels. You are very lucky not to die, so why did you not go back?¡± Old Smoke did not answer Du Wei¡¯s question, instead, he raised a question in reply. ¡°Your dukeship, the details of the coup d¡¯¨¦tat waster spread around, so everyone knew what was going on.¡± Old Smoke¡¯s eye suddenly became murky like that of a dying man: ¡°My lord, Prince Son became the Regent. On that day, he knew about the revolt, and he made preparations ahead of time! With his npleted, he will eventually be the emperor, right?¡± Du Wei suddenly feels like he understood the inner thoughts of this middle aged man! ¡°Since Prince Son already knew, why didn¡¯t he stop it?¡± ¡°If Prince Son already knew, then why did we ¨C the 3,000 royal guards ¨C have to die?¡± ¡°If Prince Son already knew, then why didn¡¯t he do something before the coup took ce?¡± Regarding these questions, Du Wei couldn¡¯t answer it, or rather; he cannot say it out loud. ¡°Your excellency, do you find it impossible to answer?¡± Old Smoke smiles wryly: ¡°I myself actually know.¡± He sucks in a deep breath: ¡°Because Prince Son never intended to block off that coup. He needed the coup to remove the crown prince. Therefore, the 3,000 of us needed to die. From the start, we were the bait, the bait to lure the crown prince into making the gigantic mistake. With his npleted, Prince Son can now smoothly step up to the throne¡­. From the beginning till now, we were already abandoned!¡± At the end, Old Smoke concluded: ¡°I understand all of this.¡± Du Wei only sighed but the fat chubby Longbottom standing next to him suddenly gave the table a heavy punch. ¡°I am a member of the royal guards.¡± Old Smoke¡¯s voice sounded heavy: ¡°I was once loyal to the royal household. As long as the royal g points to a ce, I¡¯m willing to use my blood to fight for their dignity! Yet, I suddenly found out the people I swore my loyalty to all these years didn¡¯t actually deserve my loyalty!¡± ¡°I¡¯m a soldier, I am willing to die! But¡­¡­ I¡¯m definitely not willing to die for someone that abandoned me! Since I survived that battle, I refuse to ever go back to serve the royal family!¡± Chapter 190 The 190th chapter ¡°Blue Ocean¡¯s request¡± ¡°Well?¡± Once Old Smoke went out of the room, Du Wei nces over at Longbottom. Longbottom shakes his head: ¡°A nice guy¡­¡­ Unfortunately, he chose the wrong person to swear his allegiance to. At the very least, I will never betray my subordinates and use them in a y. After a pause, Longbottom made a demand on Du Wei: ¡°Boss, I like this Old Smoke, why not let him be my subordinate.¡± Surprisingly, Du Wei refused Longbottom¡¯s request: ¡°My general, I also like this guy because he will make a fine officer. Let him stay by my side, I¡¯m short on people that¡¯s familiar with royal etiquette.¡± Longbottom agreed to his proposal with any sort of objection. Atst, the fate of Old Smoke was decided just like this. In Du Wei¡¯s mind, he decided to form a squad of personal guards before he left the capital. With the appearance of Old Smoke, it is only natural this former royal guard would take up the leading post. Before you know it, the thinking of a ¡°climber¡± is already sprouting in Du Wei¡¯s heart. In his subconscious, Du Wei did not want all of his troops to be imprinted by this 250. Though he greatly admires this General, but he simply cannot let all of his people bemanded by a single person. The key to control lies in bnce, this is the important part. And Old Smoke is a very suitable candidate in Du Wei¡¯s view. Within his mind, Du Wei already has a preliminary idea of how he wants to organize the army within his territory. As a General familiar with the Northwest, Longbottom¡¯s skill is perfect for the leadership role in his cavalry brigade. However, that is all; he cannot give Longbottom any more than that. In Du Wei¡¯s grand n, there is someone more suitable to take full control. The person in question is someone he dealt with many times, Knight Robert. Strict and sound, he is the perfect person with total loyalty towards him. Hussein and Nicole have already went ahead and met up with him in the capital, but Knight Robert is still on the road. The reason for such dys is because Du Wei had put him in charge of escorting Solskjaer and the contents within hisboratory. Due to the vast amounts of research materials and blueprints left behind, it is only normal to wait a bit longer. And for this Old Smoke¡­¡­ Du Wei believes he will make a fine captain. Of course, there is still captain Alpha within his home. In terms of qualification and experience, Alpha is undoubtedly the more suitable candidate to be the captain of Du Wei¡¯s personal guard. However, Alpha had followed his father Raymond for far too long. With this in mind, Du Wei is certain Alpha is destined to not be a part of his crew. For uncle Alpha, Du Wei had other ns in mind. Those weird talents Longbottom recruited from the ve market have all been thrown into Du Wei¡¯s personal guard¡­.. This is a very enviable position and it can be said the road ahead is bright and well. As for Old Smoke, he will temporarily be appointed as the leader of these people until Knight Robert arrives. The group had noment; after all, the strength of this old guy is above everyone else¡¯s. This is alreadymon knowledge. Within this period of time, Du Wei focused most of his energy with the school academy. Every day, he would hide himself within the schoolpound and study the research results collected from those Mages in the society. Meanwhile, the sentence written outside the main doorway by Du Wei has almost be the motto among the students learning within the Hogwarts branch. ¡°Those that seek sess and wealth are to take another road! Those that cowar in fear of death, leave!¡± Young blood is always easily provoked. So long as the slogan is filled with emotion, these simple minded kids will certainly have a strong sense of respect and loyalty towards Du Wei. What¡¯s more, the stuff taught by Du Wei is way more exciting than all the other branchesbined. Even for the two unlucky saps that were petrified in the golden eye practice session, the pair did not only be inspired to work harder, they didn¡¯t even hold a grudge towards him for humiliating them in front of the school. ¡°Today will be thest lesson I teach you.¡± On this day, Du Wei finally made his announcement in his auditorium: ¡°Because everyone already knows that I¡¯m about to go to my domain ¨C Desa Province. So, I¡¯m afraid there will be some time before I meet you guys again¡­¡­¡± The expressions on the 32 participants were looks of disappointment. ¡°But everyone doesn¡¯t need to be too sad because if all things go well, we will meet again soon.¡± Du Wei began tough cunningly like a fox: ¡°I already made a proposal to the school board as a member of the council. I think that in order to train a qualified magician, the person needs to go out and experience it firsthand instead of hiding in the academy. Therefore, we decided to send you guys out in batches to some of the famed adventuring locations. As a field test, you will umte experience! In my proposal, the only ces safe for you fledglings are only three ¨C the frozen forest, the southern marshes, and the¡­.. Northwest.¡± Du Wei smiles slyly. ¡°Of course, with your current strength, the school believes it¡¯s suicidal to send you guys to the frozen forest, or the southern marshes. Therefore, the only ce fitting for your strength is the Northwest. There are plenty of deserts with many hidden magical beasts lurking around. Like the ck scorpion that can emit toxic fluids from its tail, or the sand snake that can swallow you whole, all of these beasts will provide you with plenty of experience. What I¡¯m suggesting is that in the next few months, you will be heading to the Northwest for your¡­. Hmm, I call it ¡®field practice¡¯.¡± Cheers erupted from below. In three months, these students under Du Wei¡¯s teaching have already built up sufficient confidence! In the magic academy, all students are young hot heads, so its unavoidable that there be conflicts happening behind the scenes. These battles between individuals are what they call ¡°sorcerer duels¡±. From iplete statistical data, the students from the Hogwarts branch have an overwhelming winning streak in these underground duels! ¡°Of course, not each one of you can be qualified to take part in this field test. Only those that pass a test will be allowed.¡± Du Wei began to smile: ¡°Only a qualified individual can take this opportunity to go out and practice. Of course, this is for the sake of your safety. As for the content of the test¡­..¡± Du Wei touches his nose: ¡°The academy will put you into several groups to form a several units. Without the protection of a teacher, you must ovee a adult ice demon wolf!¡± Watching the young men under him without a hint of fear on their faces, Du Wei was very satisfied. Tapping the table, he then cried out: ¡°We;; then! Pray for your future rookies! Be thankful! In theing period, you will be free from my torment! Goodbye my students!¡± With that, Du Wei went towards the door. Suddenly from behind, a neat standing ovation reached his ears. With a beat against their chests, the 32 participants performed a standard army salute. ¡°Thank you, I¡¯m waiting for you in the Northwest.¡± Regarding the current oue, he is very pleased with it. The days before leaving the capital went into countdown. Du Wei¡¯s biggest headache right now is still the problem of manpower. The Desa Province is an entire region, an entire province! It will requirerge amounts of low level administration officials, yet his pocket is empty still. Does he really need to stall till he¡¯s at the Northwest before recruiting? Du Wei sighed. He has already been through a variety of channels in the capital to recruit people for this eggless ce, but sure enough, the moment someone hears it¡¯s for Desa Province, they fled like a gue wasing. It¡¯s to be expected, the other party may respect you, but that doesn¡¯t mean they will endure hardship by your side¡­. Very few are crazy enough to be willing to give up all this wealth in the capital to follow a Duke to the northwest. Du Wei is not short on money. Within three months, his business have already tripled in size and his wealth has already reached a whopping 4 million gold coins!!! However, gold may be able to buy ves, but it cannot buy real talent. The only good news: Zack junior is flourishing the business world, so female knight Rolynn is finally freed from the burden of being surrounded by those nasty young aristocrats. And now, the police Chief Kami Siro is always wearing a set of the fancy armor set made by Du Wei¡¯s shop during his street patrols. ¡°I need people! Just 300 is enough.¡± Du Wei sat inside his ce as he frowned: ¡°If there isn¡¯t enough, then 200¡­. No, even 100 will do¡­..¡± Maybe the gods really listened to Du Wei¡¯s prayer. After his pitiful cry for help, Marde suddenly showed up to deliver a message. ¡°Master, someone sent from Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s ce sent a message. If you are not busy tonight, he wishes for you to visit him tonight¡­..¡± Du Wei was stupefied. Schr Blue Ocean? The capital¡¯s most famous and greatest schr? At the same time his brother Gabri¡¯s teacher?! From his memory, he doesn¡¯t remember having any dealing with such a person, so why is he inviting him over to his ce? This schr¡¯s attitude is very big, even Du Wei knew this. No matter who it is in the capital, they have been impressed by this person¡¯s wisdom. As such, this Mr. Blue Ocean has received numerous requests from many influential individuals to take in their own child. Nheless, this unyielding old man would never give in to the demands of those in power. Unless you can catch his eye, you can forget about joining his school. In the past, this schr was willing to take Gabri as a student was because Earl Raymond made multiple visits to this person¡¯s home, begging him to take Du Wei¡¯s younger brother. Indeed, Gabri did in fact be exceptionally smartpared to his peers after a few years of learning. However, after the coup, both parties haven¡¯t had much interaction after his parent went back to the Rowling ins. What is he looking for me for? Du Wei may respect this kind of schr, but he really didn¡¯t have much time right now. When he is just about to refuse the invitation, Marde quickly added: ¡°Mr. Blue Ocean left this message for you, ¡®perhaps he can solve the problem at hand.¡¯¡± Du Wei eyes lit up: ¡°Ready the horse, I¡¯ll go now!¡± As the number on schr in the capital, Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s home is very inconsistent with his position. Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s home is located in the southern end of the capital ¨C the southern part is where civilians live. Though his home is already quite big, but the decoration is simple and in without looking tacky. Pass the ck bricked walls; he finallyid his eyes on the famous Blue Ocean sitting under arge tree. Sitting in a cane chair, his robe was so in that he didn¡¯t have any sort of decoration on his body, nor did he have a shoe! Barefooted, this old man just quietly sat in his rattle chair like all the world is at peace around him. Seeing Du Weiing in, he smiled: ¡°Pleasee in. I didn¡¯t know you woulde so early, so I only prepared a pot of tea at the moment.¡± Du Wei smiled somewhat embarrassingly. He is indeed too impatient because the invitation indicated the evening. Yet, the sun didn¡¯t even set yet and he is already bursting into the other parties home. ¡°It¡¯s very quiet here.¡± Du Wei covers up his embarrassment with a scan of the surrounding: ¡°Is it always this quiet around here?¡± ¡°No, during the day, the children¡¯s will be here,¡± Blue Ocean smiles: ¡°But they are at home now. Please sit down. Don¡¯t mind myck of etiquette, in my house, there is only one old servant. He should be busy in the kitchen right now, so I¡¯ll have to trouble you to get a chair for yourself from inside the room.¡± Taking a closer look at this famous schr, Du Wei noticed this person looked very gentle with his erected silver hair. Without any form of beard, his white skin really didn¡¯t match up with his age¡­ In his mind, Du Wei really wondered what this person would look like if he dyed his hair. Maybe he would turn into a 40 year old man? But Du Wei knows, the true age of his old gramps is at least past the 80s! Du Wei really isn¡¯t into the habit of making an 80 year old grandpa move a chair for him. Moving hastily, he ran inside and pulled out a chair and sat down in front of Mr. Blue Ocean. This blue eyes old schr didn¡¯t seem to be the tantalizing type: ¡°Your dukeship, I know why you came in such a rush. You are facing a difficult problem, right?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± Du Wei did not hesitate: ¡°You sent me message saying you can help me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Blue Ocean nods: ¡°You need a people, lots and lots of people to help build up your province¡¯s administration.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, I need at least¡­¡­ No, I need 300 people! 300 candidates to take charge of the administration posts.¡± Du Wei smiles. ¡°Your lordship, I don¡¯t have 300 people, but under the current circumstances, I think that if there were 80 people, then it would just barely be enough.¡± Blue Ocean¡¯s follow up easily saw through Du Wei¡¯s lie. Indeed, Du Wei exaggerated. Du Wei continues to smile: ¡°So then, can you rmend me some people?¡± This old man leaning against a tree lets out a helpless sigh under the setting sun: ¡°You know, I have a group of students, though some of them are from the nobility, but the majority of them are of themon ss. From here, they managed to learn all sorts of things, but the opportunity for a civilization is simply too little. So I thought, since you are going to the northwest to create a new picture, then maybe I cannd my students some opportunities.¡± Du Wei knits his brow: ¡°But what I need is a group of people who can assume the posts within the local administration, not some schr. Blue Ocean smiles: ¡°Your lordship, I¡¯m certain my students will satisfy you. I¡¯m not the sort of schr that likes to study astrology and divination. The stuff my students learn is the way of governing. I guarantee you they¡¯ll be qualified. What they need is experience and a bit of confidence¡­.¡± Subsequently, Du Wei carefully inquired about some other questions. Atst, he determined this Mr. Blue Ocean does indeed have some real skill. Many of the so-called schrs of the Empire are in fact the type of people that gained their fame through the nobility circle by studying astrology and divination. For example: Du Wei¡¯s former teacher Mr. Rosia is a famous astrologist. While the students under Mr. Blue Ocean are focused on: architecture, mathematics, history, and moral character. ¡°I will not let my students turn into those kind of people that can only please their lords, each of them have their own area of expertise.¡± At the end of his words, Blue Ocean made a guaranteeing gesture. Du Wei nods before standing up. Then taking a walk around the yard, he turns around to look at the still smiling schr. ¡°Mr.¡± Du Wei speaks in a deep voice: ¡°I¡¯m sorry to ask this question¡­¡­ But, what is your reason for doing this?¡± Du Wei is not the type of person to believe the sky would just drop a pie in front of him. ¡°You gave me such a big favor; I would like to know what kind of special request you have of me.¡± Blue Ocean nods before standing up straight. Suddenly, the eyes of this old schr suddenly showed a glimmer of light! ¡°Your lordship, you are a smart man, so I think you should already be aware of the following stuff I¡¯m about to say¡­..¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart felt heavy as he silently waited. ¡°In the not so distant future, unrest is about to take ce in the Northwest!¡± Du Wei was at awe for this old schr. There is no doubt about hid point because Du Wei also agrees with his view. ¡°My request for you¡­¡­ No, it should be regarded as an old man¡¯s request to you, the grand duke in charge of the empire¡¯s defense in the frontier.¡± Blue Ocean softly sighed before suddenly raising his voice: ¡°In the future, no matter the circumstances, please be certain to never let the enemy cross over the Kilimanjaro Mountain!¡± Du Wei trembled from shock! Blue Ocean¡¯s face was very serious: ¡°Perhaps my word is a bit presumptuous, but I think you and I both know how deep the scar is between the empire and the people of the northwest! If those natives in the heart of the grasnd make it through the mountain, then the empire will certainly face an unimaginable catastrophe. This is my request to you!¡± Chapter 191 The 191th chapter ¡°Du Wei¡¯s scheme¡± Late into the night, the weather of the imperial capital is already starting to heat up due to the hot season. Only when the sun is finally set for the day will the weather finally cool down in this time of the year. While everyone is sound asleep, the Duke¡¯s manor is busily scurrying about because by this morning, they will finally be leaving for the Northwest. No longer the horse groomer of old, Marde¡¯s getup now is truly fitting of a housekeeper. Dressed in a set of luxurious robes, the only trace of his former origin is the ent he retained from his time in the Rowling ins. Like this, little Sandia remained by old Marde¡¯s side all day like a little helper that he is. Regarding this clever little boy, Du Wei gave a lot of preferential treatment towards him. For example: prior to departure, he gave the kid¡¯s family arge sum of money to make sure they are well taken care of. Other than Hussein and Nicole, the only people under Du Wei that cannot be seen, just about every other subordinate under him is now gathered in the Duke¡¯s residence at this moment. Aftering to this world for so many years, he can finally say he has gathered a decent looking team under him. As for Rolynn and Zack junior, these two will be staying behind in the capital for the time being. As Zack continues to mature, Rolynn will eventually be able to return to the fleet out at sea. Once that happens, George Bush, the one overseeing the fleet at the moment, will remain in the north and act as the middle man between Du Wei¡¯s business and the mercenary groups. With his business end covered, this leaves Solskjaer and the big headed Seth to handle his personal matters. Regarded highly in Du Wei¡¯s heart, he intends to have this pair of geniuses finish up some of the unfinished experiments he started. Besides this, Du Wei is also hoping he could get these two toe up with some amazing ideas that he can utilize in the future. Normally, he would have left the magic experiments to Gargamel, but this mouse has been locking himself away in recent days to cultivate his transformation magic. It seems the idea of regaining his former body like the dragon patriarch is too tempting that he is willing to ignore everything else¡­.. QQ¡¯s status remains that of Du Wei¡¯s pet. As long as this odd bird doesn¡¯t speak in front of the public, no one will notice this strange thing. The only ones remaining are General Longbottom, Knight Robert and Old Smoke. From here on out, this trio will be taking up the post of leading Du Wei¡¯sbat forces. Side note: the group of odd ball talents recruited in the market will be thrown into Du Wei¡¯s personal guard for the time being. Of course, there is also Uncle Alpha, but this loyal retainer of the Rowling Household will have to wait till they are in the Northwest before Du Wei can utilize him. This concludes Du Wei¡¯s current team. Apanied by several servants and a number of ves, the road ahead should not be a bumpy one. After all, there are plenty of frighteningly powerfulpanions by his side. If anyone should be afraid, it would be the bandits on the road. Aside from this, Prince Son also ordered 500 royal guards to escort him on this journey. While everyone is busy packing away the crates and luggage¡¯s, Du Wei himself is upstairs looking out the window at the nightly scene. Once again, I¡¯m going to leave the capital¡­¡­. In the Northwest, Du Wei has a lot of confidence he can fully stretch his wings without the constraints of the capital. ¡°My lord.¡± Preupied with his thoughts, a gentle female voice suddenly came from behind him. Turning around, the first thing Du Wei saw is Rolynn standing at the doorway, her face full of uncertainty. ¡°What¡¯s up, my female Knight?¡± Du Wei smiled. ¡°My Lord, there¡¯s something¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know if I should report it to you, but I think it may be very important.¡± Du Wei raises an eyebrow: ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°The two special guests¡­.. They seem to be restless.¡± The one Rolynn refers to is the grand prophet of the United Kingdom and the small little Lufei. ¡°Oh, really?¡± Du Wei frowns, these days, he has been contemting about what to do with these two guys. Problem is whenever he recalls the messages on Lufei¡¯s feet, he would always get depressed. Besides restricting their ability to move about, Du Wei hasn¡¯t done anything to them. In fact, he even made sure they are well fed and taken care of. ¡°Ben Carson said he wants to meet you.¡± ¡°See me?¡± Du Wei made a smirk: ¡°Then let¡¯s meet then!¡± Meeting ce is Du Wei¡¯s study room. When Ben Carson and little Lufei were brought in, Du Wei found that the old man had a very serious look. Well, Du Wei never did abuse them, so it was to be expected. Aside from the change on the elder, the little kid seems to have put on some weight¡­.. ¡°Oh, grand prophet, I heard you wanted to see me?¡± Du Wei smiles at Ben Carson. ¡°Yes, dear Duke.¡± Ben Carson took a few steps forward before suddenly kneeling down on the floor. His posture now is just like a monk from his previous life giving a full blown kowtow against the ground. Though this is not something he likes, Du Wei did not bother stopping him because this person did in fact try to cheat him: ¡°From the way things look, you have something to ask of me?¡± ¡°Duke, I know you are about to leave for the Northwest.¡± Ben Carson grits his teeth: ¡°What do you intend to do with us¡­¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ve set aside two spots in the carriage for you two.¡± Du Wei inly replied, ¡°You wille with me to the Northwest.¡± Turning ghastly pale, Ben Carson seems to be so horrified that he cannot even lift his head to look at the teenager in front of him. Keeping his head down as he whispered, ¡°My Lord, what value do we have to you by keeping us by your side?¡± ¡°Oh, what suggestion do you have then?¡± Du Wei smiles wickedly. ¡°Yes.¡± Ben Carson immediately spoke up: ¡°My Lord, we hold no value to you while we¡¯re here. I¡¯m only a frail old man and little Lufei is nothing but a child right now.¡± ¡°Your meaning?¡± Du Wei stares down at Ben Carson. ¡°I request for a ransom.¡± Ben Carson grits his teeth even more: ¡°My lord, I do not want to go to the Northwest. You know this already but the countless tribes in the United Kingdom are all waiting for us¡­¡­¡± ¡°Your United Kingdom is the enemy of the Empire.¡± Du Wei coldly interrupted him: ¡°You want to go back then use this child of god to reunite the scattered tribes of the United Kingdom?¡± Du Wei leaned forward, his eyes piercing straight into Ben Carson: ¡°Do you think I would allow such a situation to happen? Don¡¯t forget, I¡¯m a Duke of the Empire!¡± ¡°But-but¡­ The Empire just abandoned your family; your whole family is¡­¡­¡± Ben Carson¡¯s word surprsied Du Wei. From the remark, Du Wei¡¯s face wentpletely dark as he turned to give Rolynn a nce at the doorway. Noticing the look she was receiving, Rolynn suddenly felt a chill running down her spine due to the murderous nce she got from Du Wei: ¡°Rolynn, go find the bbermouth that leaked the news to our guests! I remember my order was very clear, lock them up and not let anyone contact them!¡± Startled, this female knight could only bow her head in shame as she nervously replied, ¡°My lord, I¡­¡­¡± ¡°Go investigate now!!!¡± Du Wei suddenly growled with rage, his face unusually terrifying due to the scarlet red mes bursting out of his body! This scene actually caused Rolynn to skip a beat! These days, Du Wei spent a lot of efforts in studying the knowledge he stole from the academy; hence, his abilities have increased exponentially. In his fit of rage just now, he deliberately shrouded his entire body in mes to showcase his might. If he wished it, Du Wei could easily swallow Ben Carson in fire if he as so much as flicked a finger! Not wanting to test his nerve, Rolynn had already ran away. ¡°It seems¡­¡­ You know quite a bit.¡± Though Du Wei¡¯s smile was an icy chill, but his eyes were clearly dyed red by the mes. Not daring to move an inch, old Ben Carson¡¯s whole body was shivering uncontrobly. As for the little Lufei, this little kid was already so scared that you can see tears swelling up in his eyes due to fear. After almost a whole hour of silence, the only thing noticeable was the trembling body of Ben Carson pinned to the ground. When Rolynn returned, this female knight did not disappoint and brought back the result Du Wei wanted. ¡°My-my lord, it is¡­..¡± ¡°Who is it?¡± Du Wei¡¯s expression looked gloomy. It is a servant in the shop that was responsible for delivering food to Ben Carson. Though everyone knows the story, but there will always be people gossiping in the background. This old guy isn¡¯t stupid; he knows he needed to do something, thus, his sights fell on intel gathering. The root of the problem isn¡¯t actually on that servant that leaked the information. Under the supervision of Rolynn, most of the people in the shop are well behaved; the only exception to this actually caused Du Wei to frown a little. The instigator is in fact the quadruplets that Du Wei brought back with him. Taking advantage of the fact that they were once under his care, these four girls held resentment towards Du Wei that they did not get the doting affection that they expected¡­.. As such, the gossips were first spread from their mouths. ¡°Alright.¡± Not waiting for Rolynn to finish her report, Du Wei is already nodding his head: ¡°No need to go on.¡± Du Wei then quickly made his decision: ¡°The servant in charge of delivering food¡­.. And our fourdies, have someone round them all up! Afterwards, reward them with tenshes each! When you are carrying out the punishment, make sure everyone is present to witness it. This way around, they will know the result of not heeding mymands! Rolynn, I need you to remember that once I give you someone to manage, they are your people from hence forth. If you can¡¯t manage your people properly, I will be very disappointed in you! Got it?¡± Rolynn¡¯s face looked grim as she nodded. Then turning around, she walked away. Du Wei¡¯s ruthlessness surprised Rolynn because the quadruplets only had a slip of mouth¡­. Compared to the time when she first met the young master in the inn, this young Duke has finally grown up. Du Wei quietly sat down in his chair for a moment. When he finally looked up again, his face has already returned to the calm attitude that he had before. Looking at the jittering Ben Carson: ¡°Now then, let¡¯s continue our conversation.¡± Old Ben Carson is already too afraid to say anything anymore. Du Wei¡¯s gaze loomed over his body: ¡°Because of my family¡¯s experience, you think I will let you go back and build up your United Kingdom?¡± The old guy¡¯s body started to tremble even more. After a long time, Du Wei suddenly began tough with an eerie tone to his voice. Going around his desk, he gently raised a hand and gently tapped it against Ben Carson¡¯s shoulder before whispering into his ear: ¡°You guessed right.¡± Old Ben Carson could hardly believe his ears! What did this little devil say? ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry?¡± From the outrage that just took ce, Ben Carson really thought he is done for and death is inevitable! Raising his head with a stunned look, he looked at Du Wei that was standing next to him. Still donning a smile, Du Wei only needed to wave his sleeve a bit close the room¡¯s door with a gust of wind. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s talk about the conditions of the ransom.¡± Only after a long moment of disbelief did old Ben regain his thoughts. Fumbling his mouth in an effort to speak, he finally managed to stammer out his words. He hopes that Du Wei would first let him go back, leaving only little Lufei behind for now until he can gather the necessary wealth. ¡°You go back first?¡± Du Wei knits his brow: ¡°You think I¡¯m going to believe you?¡± ¡°This is the only way, Duke.¡± Ben Carson quickly exins: ¡°If I simply send a letter back, no one will believe it. Only by personally being there will they¡­..¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°Fine then, keep going.¡± ¡°Only by going back will I be able to persuade the other grand prophets and the king. As for the ransom number¡­.¡± Old Ben Carson bites his lip: ¡°I think with my influence, I should be able to give you a satisfying amount.¡± Du Wei softly taps the table: ¡°Specifics.¡± ¡°You can send a ship. When the ship returns, there will be gold, spices, and gemstones aboard!¡± Du Wei did no reply. Ben Carson can see this little Duke is not temped. Biting his lips even harder, he followed up, ¡°Two ships!¡± ¡°Ben Carson.¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°You know, if I let you go back, this is treason in a sense. You think two ships worth of wealth can buy my treason?¡± Ben Carson¡¯s voice begins to shake: ¡°Then your meaning is?¡± ¡°I have a fleet.¡± Du Wei smiled and said: ¡°I¡¯ll let the whole fleet go back with you back. What you have to do then is to fill the entire fleet! Once the fleet returns, I will have little Lufei sent to the Southeast.¡± Gulp¡­.. The whole¡­ The entire fleet¡­¡­ Ben Carson hesitated for a long time, but the United Kingdom needs little Lufei, the bloodline of the creator. Finally giving in, he nodded as he squeezed the next words out of his mouth: ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take it!¡± As the pair was escorted out of his study room, Du Wei sighed inside: ¡°These southeastern natives really are rich!¡± With only Du Wei left in the room, a voice came from behind. ¡°You¡¯re really going to do this?¡± The one talking is Du Wei¡¯s pet, heavenly beast QQ. As a pet bird, the existence of QQ is no secret. As long as this penguin refrains from speaking out at the improper time, then no one will find it suspicious. QQ has been present in the room the entire time, but those that saw him only thought of QQ as a strange bird. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°You¡¯re really going through with it?¡± QQ¡¯s voice sounded worried: ¡°Treason?¡± ¡°Do you think I will?¡± Du Wei smiles. QQ thought for a moment: ¡°I think you are ckmailing the old guy. Once the ransom money is in your hand, you won¡¯t release the hostage.¡± ¡°No, you are wrong this time my Mr. heavenly beast. Once I get the ransom, I will definitely let the hostage go.¡± Du Wei smiles: ¡°I will give the United Kingdom a ¡®King¡¯.¡± Then he counter questioned QQ: ¡°I heard the dark arts have a spell that can control ones soul. I just so happens to be studying this field recently.¡± QQ is frightened by Du Wei¡¯s word. Blinking his little eyes, this penguin waited a bit before finally sighing: ¡°You really are a little devil.¡± ¡°You are in no position to judge me.¡± Du Wei looks over at QQ: ¡°Don¡¯t forget where your former master got his strength from, it¡¯s from the devil.¡± ¡°So, you really are going to¡­¡­ Punish those poor girls?¡± QQ shakes his head: ¡°Being so cruel to a girl is not the way of a gentleman¡­.¡± ¡°So what do you think I should do, democracy? Oh, that bastard Aragon must have mentioned the word to you, right? Don¡¯t make meugh QQ!¡± Du Wei expression turned cold: ¡°Open the window and have a look outside. You see those ves and servants? This ce is an empire! As a climber, one may die without even knowing what happened if they can¡¯t manage the people below! You say I¡¯m cruel and an authoritarian¡­ But in order to survive in this world, you have to be like this.¡± Du Wei finishes off his speech with this: ¡°You¡¯ve probably seen those familiar members of the ruined aristocrats, right? One day they are standing at the top of the pyramid, the next they are sold as ves to be tortured and used in a brothel. As long as a man can offer up a few silver coins, they can vent their desires on them! This is how this world works!¡± With that, Du Wei turned around and walked away. QQ was silent in the study room for a long time before mumbling something to himself: ¡°No wonder Aragon said he could end it all¡­..¡± Chapter 192 The 192th chapter ¡°Sin City¡± Shortly after midnight, all the people in the shop were woken up for what is about to transpire. In front of everyone, Rolynn personally took hold of the whip and executed the punishment against the servant and the four beauties. No matter how loud their cries were, nothing could stop her. In the end, traces of 10 solidshes were imprinted on the delicate skins of these girls. ¡°I hope that every order of mine will beplied by all from now on.¡± Rolynn puts down the whip as she eyed the four girls: ¡°Stop trying to challenge the rules here. I don¡¯t care how it was for you girls prior toing here, but while you are here, you must ept your fate! Don¡¯t put on the air of ady, otherwise¡­..¡± Slowly walking up to one of the girls, Rolynn lightly pinched her in the chin as she whispered, ¡°I know what you¡¯re all thinking¡­¡­ You want to hook onto the Duke. Then all of a sudden, you will transform from a peacock to a phoenix in a single day. Once that happens, you will be thedy of the house, right? I¡¯m telling you now, you can discard the idea immediately¡­¡­ Continuing to hold onto such thoughts are useless. I will look down upon you! We are all woman, yet you girls can only think of using your bodies to serve the male counterpart! If you want something, then use your own strength to fight for it. Only by doing this will you earn my respect! Now stop wasting your time daydreaming all day!¡± Finishing up thest sentence, Rolynn untied the four girls and had them carried into the room. Then facing the crowd, she announced: ¡°Anyone beaten just now will not get food today.¡± With that, she dropped the whip and left because she still had important matters to attend for tonight due to themand Du Wei gave her. Within a month¡¯s worth of time, she is to gather as many ships as possible¡­¡­ Then with Ben Carson by her side, she is to travel to the Southeastern Sea! And her mission for this trip is¡­.. ¡°Your only responsibility is to suck the United Kingdom¡¯s treasury dry! I¡¯m sorry? You said we don¡¯t have enough ships? Then go find more! Borrow, buy, or even rob! Rolynn, a chance tond such a big fortune doesn¡¯te often¡­. Also, when youe back, I want you to scribe me a map of the geography. This is very important, remember this!¡± These are Du Wei¡¯s exact words! While Rolynn is showcasing her might inside, Du Wei was already inside his carriage. This luxurious coach was gifted to him by Prince Son. Spacious and stylish, the g flying on the roof is already reced with Du Wei¡¯s house insignia ¨C a ming tulip. Not only is the inside big enough to maneuver with ease, the thick velvet nkets covering the seats and floor is exemrily soft. With such a grand lineup, one can already imagine thefort it would bring during the journey. Aside from this, Du Wei also made some modifications to the coach that lightened the burden. Right under the main body, he imbued the structure with a magic array that reduced the rocking motion. Of course, a luxury cannot be called luxury if there isn¡¯t fine wine and food. Hidden in the secretpartments under the seats, Du Wei stashed away all sorts of fine consumables for the road ahead. As for the coachman, it is undoubtedly old Marde. Du Wei didn¡¯t want to do this, but under the repeated of this old man, he finally gave in. Marde¡¯s argument is this: ¡°Master, I¡¯m already getting old, so I don¡¯t know how long it will be until I can¡¯t do this anymore. Perhaps this is thest trip where I can be your coachman, so let me take this opportunity to serve you.¡± Riding in thefort of this luxurious carriage is not only Du Wei. Looking at the cowering little Lufei in the corner, this kid doesn¡¯t seem to very confortable riding with Du Wei. Knotholes, Du Wei only smiled as he pulled out a bottle of wine from under his seat: ¡°Want a drink? Our journey is very long.¡± Lufei didn¡¯t say anything in return. Though the kid is only two years younger than Du Wei, but the way he was reacting is like that of a horrified kid trying to get away from some frightening object. ¡°Well then, my poor little Lufei.¡± Du Wei first poured himself a ss before pouring another for the kid: ¡°don¡¯t panic so much. You are like a cowardly rabbit right now. Oh heavens¡­. You remember this!¡± Du Wei suddenly reached out and grabbed he kid¡¯s cor ¨C this new set of wear was prepared by Du Wei: ¡°Listen kid! You will soon be the king of a whole nation! Do you understand this? A king! As a king, you can¡¯t be such a coward. Now show some courage!¡± Under the steady gaze of Du Wei, Lufei¡¯s face became deathly pale. ¡°Now, pick up the ss and drink it.¡± Du Wei coollymanded. Lufei¡¯s body was still shivering, but did as Du Wei ordered. In a single motion, he quickly gulped down the wine. Unfortunately, since the kid never had much contact with alcohol, he was choking profusely trying to cough up the content. Du Wei only smiled as he patted the boy on the shoulder: ¡°Look, it¡¯s good, right? Very simple, right? You¡¯ll get used to it. Now child, take another cup and carefully taste drink it. Take care not to choke¡­. Being a king in the future means you will have a lot to learn, but rest assured, I will teach you.¡± Humph, the feeling of tutoring a king is not bad. With the shout of Knight Robert leading in the front of this 60 wagon long convoy, the long queue started to maneuver. Consisting of 500 royal cavalry troops, the escort team separated into two groups with one leading in the front to open up the road. Before the sun could even rise, Du Wei and his entourage is already on the path to the Northwest¡­. Many, many yearster, Du Wei¡¯s most sincere servant Marde inadvertently quoted these words under the effect of alcohol: ¡°What are you talking about? Did I have any fear when i followed the master to the Northwest? Oh heavens, you¡¯ve got to be kidding me! The bandits in the Northwest? The warlords? Those savage natives? Humph¡­. I in fact did pray during the trip, but it wasn¡¯t for us. I prayed for those guys! I don¡¯t see anyone in this world could possibly take advantage of our young master. Subsequent events did in fact prove I was right¡­ Those guys in the Northwest really do need to pray¡­. HA-HA-HA-HA¡­¡­¡± The enormously sized convoy has already traveled for three days, and the coachman for Du Wei¡¯s ride have already changed hand. Under the heating sun of this weather, Du Wei would never allow old Marde to endure such conditions. If he really did permit such a thing, he feared those old bones in Marde would have already copsed before they can even get to the Northwest. Contrary to Du Wei¡¯s goodwill, old Marde really wished he could continue to be the coachman. Compared to the heat exposure outside, the current circumstance is way more ufortable for him because he felt like he is in an icebox right now. Indeed. Although Marde is sitting in an extremelyfortable carriage, but the passenger with him is not. Along the way, Hussein was always cold faced that old Marde thought this person is made like this from birth. Yet, this wasn¡¯t the worst part. Other than the cold natured Hussein, there sat a blonde beauty that always kept her eyes closed beside him. Nicole¡¯s eyes may be closed the entire time, but Marde had the instinctive feeling that if he angered this woman, his fate would be a hundred times worsepared to offending the knight in front of him. Sure, the indifference from the one eyed knight(Hussein) is hard to put up with, but this blonde beauty¡­.. Ever since he got into the coach, the first interaction he had with her was this: First question: ¡°You are a human, right?¡± Old Marde replied: ¡°¡­¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± The second question: ¡°How many bones does a human body have? I am told there are a total of 206, is it not?¡± Old Marde: ¡°¡­¡­¡± The third question: ¡°Do you know where I can find aplete human skeleton? I¡¯d like to look at one.¡± Old Madeleine: ¡°¡­¡­¡± Just three questions and old Marde is already convinced that under any circumstances, he cannot ever offend this strange woman, even if she is a kingdom ruining beauty. Compared to poor Marde, little Lufei is having a way easier time in his life right now. Of course, the most important reason is that in Du Wei¡¯s carriage, there is finally another person present. Along with Hussein and Nicole, little Vivian also joined the convoy and is riding along with Du Wei. With little Vivian by his side, Du Wei¡¯s attention finally moved away from this ¡®future king¡¯ of the United Kingdom. Ever since the ordeal of having his body stripped naked and the time when Du Wei enshrouded his entire body in mes, Lufei was already imnted with a seed of fear that he could not discard. Now that Ben Carson is not by his side, the emotion is only growing stronger with each passing day. Therefore, the appearance of this beautiful yet simple girl is like a beam of sunshine in the chilly morning ¨C warm and weing. Lufei may be trying his earnest in shrinking his body against the corner, but once in a while, he would inherently peek over at Vivian. Everyugh, every smile, he would memorize e her charm. This is especially true when Vivian handed him the peppermint candy. Swear to god, it is the best thing he ever ate in his life. ¡°Du-Du Wei¡­¡­¡± Vivian looks over at the pathetic looking Lufei as she whispered into Du Wei¡¯s ear, ¡°He-he seems to be very-very afraid of you.¡± Du Wei squint his eyes as he chuckled augh: ¡°This lifetime, he will forever live in fear of me.¡± There is no doubt that this sentence just pronounced Lufei¡¯s destiny. By the seventh day of their journey, Knight Robert rode over from the front that evening and made a report. They will soon be entering the Nuling Province of the Northwest. The Nuling Province is considered to be the most prosperous region of the northwest. After bypassing this ce, whates next is Du Wei¡¯s Desa Pronvince, the barren and untamed wilderness. Knight Robert¡¯s rmendation is that they should call it a day and rest in the small town nearby¡­. When tomorrowes around, they should head west and try to make it into the capital of the Nuling Province within two days. But after hearing the report, Du Wei instantly rejected it. ¡°Change the n and head north. I want to be at Big Ear city by tomorrow afternoon.¡± Change direction for Big Ear city? After obtaining Du Wei¡¯s order, the messenger immediately went forward to carry out themand. As for Vivian, she gave him a strange look because she had already seen the map around the Northwest. Big Ear city may be close by, but it is definitely not a part of their pre-determined route. In fact, if they did go there, they would have to make a long detour before making their way into the Nuling Province. Also, Big Ear city is not a safe ce either. In the empire, this city has a special nickname: Sin City. The reason for this is because various criminals across the continent are sent to this city before being routed to their pre-arranged destinations. Like criminals, rebels, and traitors, all of these people will eventually be ves to be sent to the frontier or some hardbor camp. A world full of thieves, robbers, insurgents, and other criminals, the security there have always been problematic. As a city filled with tens of thousands of exiled criminals all through the year, no merchant or adventurer would want to pass through this dangerous ce. ¡°We-we¡¯re going to Big Ear city?¡± Vivian nervously asked. After all, she is still young so it is to be expected that she would instinctively resist the idea. ¡°Of course.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°I spend tens of thousands of gold coins there, you know? My dear Vivian, there is an intact infantry regiment waiting for me there to incorporate!¡± Vivian would of course not know this. After Du Wei chose the Northwest as his territory, he was already making preparations for this day. After bribing some officials with tens of thousands of gold coins, Du Wei managed to get the results he wanted: ¡°changing some of the orders in several documents.¡± The city defense guards that participated in the coup were only partially annihted. In fact, the majority of the second division, around 10,000 soldiers, immediatelyid down their arms after the Crown Princemitted suicide; therefore, these people managed escape their deaths by surrendering. Originally, these prisoners were either supposed to be sent to the southern border for naval construction, or work in the marshes, but thanks to Du Wei¡¯s intervention, a few of them will have their fates changed. Scratching their names from the original file, he had a small portion of the original 10,000 sent to this Sin City. 4,000 people! Aplete Regiment! Each one is a thoroughly trained veterans! ¡°These people may be rebels, but they were only following the orders from the above. Deep down they never really sinned, so why not let them stay by his side so he can use them? This way, Du Wei only needed to spend some gold for bribery and here it is, a highly trained regiment of infantries! Such a deal is totally worth it. If it wasn¡¯t for the fear of upsetting Prince Son by going too far, he might have really pocketed the entire group of 10,000 rebels! However, 4,000 people is still a pleasant number. Whether it is their abilities or experience, these people will not lose out to those stationed in the capital! Chapter 193 The 193rd Chapter ¡°The provisional decree from 20 years ago¡± Contrary to the city¡¯s infamous title as a Sin City, the history of this fortress isn¡¯t all that long. Exactly 20 years ago, this ce is nothing more than wilderness without a whiff of civilization. Nevertheless, after the war between the empire and the natives in the Northwest, this region ofnd saw drastic changes. In the name of protection and self-preservation, number military forts were constructed along the border. However, with the passage of time and the rising tension in the empire¡¯s finances, many of these military forts were eventually wasted due to neglect. In the eyes of the former emperor, the Northwest is already conquered, thus the old man¡¯s focus shifted to that of the riches hidden away in the Southeastern Sea. Nowadays, these giant structures have already lost their former glory, and Big Ear City is no exception to this trend. Once known merely as Ear Mountain ¨C the contours of the mountain looked like an ear from above ¨C a town was erected in the mountain base to be used as a hub for transit in the battlefield. Later after the war, it gradually evolved into what you see today, a ce where all criminals are sent before being moved to their assigned locations. In the entirety of Big Ear city, there are no citizens present, only the 2000 garrison soldiers stationed here to oversee the vast numbers of detainees. The majority of these people are expected at some heavybor camp, but most of these poor souls will never make it through their sentence because the expected survival duration is only two years. The cruelty against criminals is easy to see in this ce. As such, there is a saying among the people: ¡°It is better to meet your death as a rebel than to go to Big Ear city.¡± The reason for this is because death is instant, but if you are stuck in Big Ear city, then that means you will still have two more years of suffering before meeting your maker. Themanding officer of this deathly city is named Biaideluo . Though his rank may be that of amander, but his situation is a bit exceptional. Under normal circumstances, a regr infantry regiment would have 4,000 soldiers, but Biaideluo ¡¯s regiment is only half of this number. Aside from the reduced numbers, there is a perennialck of equipment among the guards. To put it into perspective, there is not a single soldier in this regiment with aplete set of armor. Well, it¡¯s to be expected since the higher ups only needed them to guard the prisoners. Early this morning, Biaideluo had long woken up in preparation for today¡¯s special guest ¨C the highmand issued him the news days ahead. This asion is in fact a great relief for him. Some days ago, a total of 4,000 prisoners were sent to him from the capital. With his sharp eyes, he could tell these prisoners were not ordinary criminals¡­. Well trained and seasoned veterans, such a vast number has left him on edge for the past weeks already¡­.. Whether it is the quality or quantity, these rebels far exceeded that of his own motley crew. No¡­. To be precise, this motley crew of his can¡¯t even called armed guards. If his worst nightmarees true now, Biaideluo fears he won¡¯t be able to quell the riot. Therefore, when the orders from above came, he was totally relieved that he will soon be rid of these unwanted burdens. Yet, even after waiting a whole day since yesterday, the special guest that was mention still hasn¡¯t arrived yet. Biaideluo mutteres to himself: ¡°Did the people from above send the wrong order?¡± Inwardly, he really wanted to ditch these people as soon as possible. When the sun finally broke through the morning clouds today, Biaideluo could finally see the distant images of a cavalry team approaching at a rapid pace. As the image became clearer, Biaideluo actually skipped a beat when he saw the other party¡¯s g¡­. Oh god, it¡¯s the Thorn Flower insignia of the royal guards!! Royalty? A member of the royal family? Biaideluo dare not neglect. Hurriedly, he ordered the gates to be open before personally leading his own entourage to wee the other side. This group of royal cavalry knights consisting of 300 personals did not show any signs of slowing down. Only bying up to the city gates did they finally stop in their track. At the head of the group is a middle aged knight with a short headed beard. Using a very rich voice: ¡°Call out yourmanding officer!¡± Biaideluo quickly took a few steps forward: ¡°I¡¯m Big Ear city¡¯smanding officer Biaideluo , Sir, please report your identity.¡± ¡°I¡¯m called Robert.¡± The middle aged rider spoke in a light voice: ¡°Commanding officer of House Tulip¡¯s private army. Commander Biaideluo , please ready your people in preparation for his Duke¡¯s arrival!¡± Duke? House Tulip? Only after scratching his head for a long time did Biaideluo recall a recent rumor. In the aftermath of the recent coup, a young teenager was appointed to the position of Duke¡­¡­ Although the event took ce several months ago, but the news of has only just begun to spread because after all, this world doesn¡¯t have any kind of inte or newswork to broadcast the event. Not to mention this is Big Ear city, the so called Sin City of the continent where only criminal and vese to meet their maker. Nheless, the status of a Duke is not someone Biaideluo can offend. Moving quickly, he ordered his people to stand in formation. Very soon, a carriage guarded by dozens of cavalry riders was slowlying over. When Biaideluo came up to the coach to wee the Duke, he was quickly shocked at what he saw.¡­. Why it¡¯s a teenage boy! But this idea only slightly skimped through his mind. Without dy, Biaideluo kneeled down on one leg and made a proper salute: ¡°My lord, wee to Big Ear city.¡± Du Wei was frowning over the scene before him because this Big Ear city is simply too run down. ording to the records, the city was built against the mountain side to increase its fortitude. As one can see, many parts of the stone walls were already falling apart, and in some ces of the rampart, huge cracks are easily noticeable. Above all, the patrolling soldiers from above looked like slouches. Gently taking off his gloves, Du Wei used it fan himself a few times before sighing: ¡°Alrightmander. Hurry and take me to my people, I don¡¯t have much time¡­. This damn weather is really unpleasant.¡± Seeing Du Wei was already entering the gate of his own ord, Biaideluo hurriedly followed up. Only bying into Big Ear city did Du Wei find out how much worse this ce really is! Broken in all sorts of ces, he can hardly see any of the walking streets still intact. ¡°Where¡¯s my people?¡± ¡°All of them are waiting in the training field.¡± Biaideluo was careful in his words: ¡°I thought you would be herest night ording to the order, so I had them all lined up sincest night¡­.¡± Du Wei¡¯s pace slowed down a bit before turning back at this exhausted looking guy: ¡°Oh, my apologies. The road here was more difficult than I imagined, so we missed the schedule.¡± Where in the world would he dare ept an apology from a Duke? Hurrying in his words, Biaideluo repeatedly replied with ¡®I wouldn¡¯t dare¡¯. Like this, he led Du Wei and his escorts inside. Even inside, Du Wei was frowning because with every gust of wind, the dirt on the stone paved roads would roll up like clouds: ¡°It seems your finances are very tight.¡± Biaideluo immediately cried out: ¡°Isn¡¯t it? My lord¡­¡­ I¡¯ve already racked my brains for money. All year round, this ce is holding tens of thousands of people along with my subordinates. Yet, the delivery of supplies would often be dyed. Look around, its barrens hills around here, I cannot let my people ear sand, right? There is also equipment¡­.¡± His voice lowered at this mention: ¡°My lord, it¡¯s not meining, but I have to tell you the truth. I may have only 2000 subordinates, but the number of equipment in my hand is only equal to that of 800 sets! Every year, my people have to take turns using the gear when going out on patrol. 800 armed soldiers to oversee 10,000 prisoners¡­¡­¡± Du Wei smiled as he looked at the wry faced guy in front of him: ¡°You¡¯ve beenmanding this ce for many years, right?¡± This question immediately hit a sore spot in Biaideluo¡¯s heart¡­. Indeed, who would want to stay in this eggless hatchery? For eight years, he¡¯s been stuck here despite the fact that personal changes usually happen every three years. Watching the grimace faced Biaideluo, Du Wei suddenly showed a smile in his face. Lowering his voice, he asked: ¡°Do you know why you never got promoted?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ My lord, please advise me!¡± Biaideluo¡¯s eyes sparkled with light. ¡°Because of the words you just said to me!¡± Du Wei smirked. This guy is too easy toin. Without any restraint, he would burst out all his weaknesses to any superior thates to visit¡­. So who will like it? Hence, a negative guy like him would of course be at the bottom. ¡°If you want to get promoted, then I¡¯ll show you a way.¡± Du Wei said this with smile: ¡°Next time when a superiores to visit, you better lift your spirit and tidy up this ce. No matter the difficulty, pretend everything is running smoothly¡­.. If you can do that, I guarantee you will go up within two years.¡± Listening to these words, he became so touched that he was lost in thought for a second. When he came to, Biaideluo realized Du Wei was already long gone. Panicking, he quickly ran forward to catch up. Though the training ground is quite big, but the floor is just like the rest, broken and rugged. Even for Du Wei that was wearing a sturdily made boot; he could still feel quite the difort on his feet. Then he finally had his first look at the crowd in the field. A total of 4,000 prisoners. All donning the same type of prison uniforms, their expression were cold and lifeless as if their spirit were sucked dry. Is this his future infantry unit? Du Wei frowns: ¡°How can they be so dull?¡± ¡°This¡­ ..¡± Biaideluo scratched his hair: ¡°Your honor, I got word that you will arrivest night, so I had them all wait here sincest night. But¡­..¡± Biaideluo sighed: ¡°Because of the recent supply shortages, the prisoners here can only eat one meal per day.¡± Du Wei immediately became angry! One meal a day? These people are his future soldiers!! This fucking guy dare starve his people? But looking at Biaideluo¡¯s sour expression, Du Wei simply couldn¡¯t throw a tantrum because he can tell the guy had no other way. Sure enough¡­¡­ ¡°¡­¡­ Even I can only eat two meals a day. The only people that can ensure three meals a day are the guard chiefs.¡± Biaideluo sighed in sadness: ¡°If supplies are ten dayster, even the guard chiefs will have their food rations cut.¡± Du Wei flipped around in disbelief: ¡°Is the situation this tight?¡± Who is in charge of your supply?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Northwestern army.¡± Biaideluo smiled wryly: ¡°My Lord, this is the Northwest. All supplies in the Northwest is issued through the highmand of the Northwestern army¡­. And the problem is¡­..¡± Having said that, Biaideluo hesitated as if he didn¡¯t know whether if he should keep going. Du Wei can see the guy was hesitating: ¡°Speak, I won¡¯t me you!¡± Through the years, he has reported this problem countless times to those above, but in the end, there was never any news in return! Now that the chance has arrived¡­¡­ ¡°My Lord, the 2000 soldiers in Big Ear city belongs to the city garrison department, but because of the provisional decree from 20 years ago, our supplies are decided by the Northwestern army. So¡­..¡± ¡°So what? ¡± Looking up at Du Wei¡¯s eyes, Biaideluo suddenly had a surge of courage coursing through his vein: ¡°So we are like a child facing a stepmother! Even though we are only 50 miles from the supply camp, our supplies would always bete. Even when it arrives, those in charge would secretly deduct our share for their own pocket¡­¡­¡± Du Wei frowned in thought for a while: ¡°Why is this happening? ording to imperial decree, local supply for the garrison should be supported by the local government. Why is this ce controlled by the Northwestern army?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Biaideluo smiled bitterly: ¡°During the war in the Northwest more than 20 years ago, there was a interim order set in ce. ording to the situation at the time, this decree was very reasonable. The problem lies in the fact that after 20 years, this interim order still hasn¡¯t been cancelled. Those guy¡¯s in the Northwestern army can fill their bellies while we can only starve¡­..¡± Du Wei¡¯s expression went dark. Never in his mind did he think the situation in the Northwest would fall to such a state! War doctrine? If the decree still isn¡¯t cancelled¡­. Then his own Desa Province¡­.. Every year he will need to give out a portion of his revenue to the Northwestern army??? Du Wei thought for a while but knew this problem is not something he can solve right now. shoving the problem in a corner of his mind, he turned his focus back at the prisoners in front of him. ¡°Find someone to push a cart here. I want to address them.¡± Du Wei orders. Soon, a rickety cart was pushed over and ced in the middle of the crowd. Jumping up onto the cart, Du Wei takes in a deep breath before speaking out: ¡°All attention!¡± His booming shout ripped off his cloak that was concealing the ck mage robe below! With a simple spell, Du Wei made sure his voice could cover the entirety of the field. With that, the attention of the 4,000 prisoners quickly focused on Du Wei¡¯s body. To them, the image of this child mage seems all too familiar. ¡°Humph!¡± Du Wei gave out a loudugh: ¡°I am sure that most of you guys here still remember me!!¡± Voices of discussion began bellowing out from those down below. Their eyes filled withplicated emotions as they looked at Du Wei. That¡¯s right; many of them did recognized Du Wei because his achievement that day left asting impression in their mind! ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I can see from your eyes that you still remember me!¡± Du Weiughed, cried:¡± Yes, I am Du Wei: former member of the Rowling Household, Duke of the Empire, as well as a magician of the magic union. From the way it looks, I will be your future master!!¡± Du Wei said this all in one single breath. As he carefully watched the expression of the 4,000 prisoners, he was very satisfied because he can no longer see the numb expressions on these people. ¡°All attention! Second Division of the Royal Guards! Formation!!!¡± With that shout of Du Wei, Knight Robert that was on standby had already taken out a horn. In the effect of the loud horn call, Du Wei yelled out: ¡°All officers stand up front! I request you guys get in formation at the shortest amount of time. If by the end of the horn call and you still can¡¯t get in line, then be prepared to face military punishment!¡± Boom! The crowd erupted. The once lost fierceness in their eyes finally came alive again. Though their freedom and glory is gone, but their instincts are not. Very soon, the crowd surged up like ants and started to line up in ordance with their original station. By the end of the horn sound, they are no longer the 4,000 scattered prisoners. In its stead is a real formation befitting of an army! The formation may have been formed within the specified time, but when the time for the leading officer toe forward to make it report, there was a halt in movement. The reason is because their leading officer has been killed in the coup. Some of the officers hesitated for a second until one cleverer of the bunch stepped forward to announce thepletion of the lineup. With this first example, the other officers can only learn from this and step forward to make their report. Du Wei was pleased with this result and even gave an encouraging look at the guy that first came forward. ¡°Very good!¡± Du Wei coughed once to clear his throat: ¡°I am very pleased because after four months, you people still maintained your military instincts!¡± ¡°I know you are both very hungry and very tired because you¡¯ve sat here all night. Ever since you guys were ced here in this Sin City, you¡¯ve been uneasy and fearful for your future!¡± Du Wei cried out: ¡°I believe the majority of you already know the rumor for this ce and the fate that awaits you!¡± At this point, Du Wei pointed at the people down below before shouting out loud: ¡°That¡¯s right! You are now prisoners, criminals! You should be sent to Northwest deserts to eat sand. to build walls, to move stones, and to take theshes of the overseer! Every day, you can only drink diluted vegetable soup! I promise you, in less than a year, most of you will die!¡± Du Wei, points to his nose: ¡°If not for me, your fate will be like that¡­. If not for meing to save you guys, then!¡± Chapter 194 The 194th chapter ¡°bleed for me!¡± ¡°If not for me, every one of you will be struggling to survive under the overseer¡¯s whip. With every drop of sweat and blood drained, you will die! Even in death, you are sinners, prisoners, and even ves! Your fates are set to be full of wailing sorrows in the darkness.¡± Standing on top of the cart, Du Wei mercilessly trampled onto their dignity! ¡°Your name will be forever engraved on the pir of shame! Whenever someone brings up the mention of the second division, they will spit on it and scold at you. Traitors! Yes, that¡¯s what you are!¡± At this point, Du Wei paused for a breath, his eyes full of oppression. Slowly, he swept through the crowd and saw that many of them were full of sorrow and fear. ¡°Of course!¡± His tone suddenly changed, ¡°Some of you may think you are very capable¡­.. Yeah, that¡¯s right; many of you will choose this path like so many others before you in the Northwest¡­.. You will run!¡± Du Wei coldlyughed: ¡°But is there any point to running? Where will you run to? When you were deprived of your liberty, stripped of your honor, all of your families would have already received the news of your crime! Your parents, wife, brother, sons, they all know about your shame! Even if you do make it back after losing the pursuers, you can only hide in a hole! Yes, that¡¯s right, a hole! Like a dog, you can only hide in there for the rest of your life without seeing the light of day! If you evere forward, the only thing waiting for you is the execution stage. Even in the dead of night, you will wake up from the slightest footstep sound! And ording to imperialw, your family will be punished if you flee!¡± Some of their eyes have already revealed despair, but more of them can already see his words held a deeper meaning. With eager eyes, they are looking forward to Du Wei¡¯s next words. ¡°The change in your destiny will begin from this day forward.¡± Du Wei points to the ground under his feet: ¡°Because I came today, I will change your tragic fate in the darkness. I can make you and let you escape from a pitiful death! Right now you are prisoners, a worthless prisoner! But because of my arrival¡­¡­. Listen up, I will give you a chance to regain your freedom and hope¡­. A opportunity to regain your honor and dignity!¡± Thest word lit up all their hope inside. Holding their heads high, every single of these people focused their gaze on Du Wei. ¡°I.¡± Du Wei yelled: ¡°Du Wei-Rudolph. Duke Tulip of the Empire, I grant you hope and give you a chance to take up arms again. All you have to do is take this opportunity and do your best to prove to me that I was right to do this for you! From today forward, you are to bleed for me! Where I point my sword to, you are to fight for me! Charge for me! What is waiting for you at the end is freedom! Glory! Land! And wealth!¡± When it came to thest part, Du Wei deliberately pause his speech to reveal a devil¡¯s smile: ¡°Rejoice! A bunch of prisoners like you, beings that should have been ravaged under the soil, have just had your fates changed! Now, swear your allegiance to me. Then I will give you your freedom!¡± The crowd was quiet at first, but after a brief silence, a standing ovation erupted through the audience. Some were so excited that they instantly tore off their prison uniforms and cried out with open arms. Then from Knight Robert¡¯s hand, Du Wei took hold of a sword and pointed it to the front of the crowd, his face full of dignity. Quieting down, the crowd began to kneel down in session¡­. One¡­.. Two¡­¡­ Ten¡­. Hundreds¡­¡­ When all 4,000 members went to the ground, Du Wei gave a satisfying nod: ¡°Good, your allegiance will be greatly rewarded by me. For now, on the honor of my name, I restore your freedom to that of a citizen. In addition, I bestow upon you guys a title. From here on out, you are dubbed the first infantry division of my Tulip Household.¡± ¡°Long live the Duke!¡± God knows who it was the first to call this out, but once the opening was made, the rest followed up. Numerous explosive cries bellowed out one after another to showcase their gratitude. ¡°Gentlemen.¡± Du Weiughed: ¡°Now, Imand, in a orderly fashion, you guys are to head five miles out of the city. Waiting for you there is your new uniforms¡­. And also¡­. Hot food.¡± Thest word ¡°hot meals¡± created and even crazier outbreak of cheers. Sincest night, these people have been starving ever since. Now that Du Wei is offering them food, the enthusiasm in their steps was heated to a whole new level. Nevertheless, they did as instructed and went out in single files like a well-trained oil machine befitting that of an army regiment. Du Wei¡¯s throat is a little sore now after that little charade. Jumping down with a little fatigue showing, he looked at Knight Robert: ¡°Well then Knight Robert, hurry and go catch up with your regiment. From today forward, you will be leading these people.¡± Robert gave a surprise look at Du Wei. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Du Wei smiled, and then aggravated his tone: ¡°Commander Robert?¡± Looking at the oppressive crowd filing out of the training field, Biaideluo started to panic: ¡°¡­.. Sir, shouldn¡¯t we send some people to oversee them? If they run now¡­¡­¡± Du Wei gave him a nce: ¡°They won¡¯t because i gave them what they needed the most right now, hope!¡± Du Wei did not stay long in this Big Ear city. After recruiting this 4,000 strong regiment, he immediately made haste in leaving the ce. It¡¯s just that before leaving, Biaideluo¡¯s emotion became somewhat unstable. On one hand, he wished Duke would hurry up and leave¡­. After all, he was still a bit calctive inside. Noon is about to arrive. If the Duke decides to stay for lunch, he really didn¡¯t know what to serve him with his meager rations!!! But on the other hand, Biaideluo seems a bit¡­.. How should he say this? Perhaps he can he can also change his destiny if he creates some ties with this Duke. As he made his way out of this ce, Du Wei did not say anything, only spending his time to observe the scenery of this Sin City. Right before he departed on his carriage, Du Wei suddenly jumped off and turned tomander Biaideluo. At this moment, his face suddenly showed a faint smile. ¡°Commander Biaideluo¡­¡­ Do you want a chance to change your fate?¡± Biaideluo suddenly felt a thrill of excitement. Plopping himself to the floor, he fumbled his way towards Du Wei: ¡°My lord!¡± Du Wei pointed to the Sin City behind the guy: ¡°You ce here is always detaining thousands of cirminals, right?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Biaideluo nodded. ¡°All of this is a treasure.¡± Du Wei faintly smiled: ¡°Take care of the prisoners here, don¡¯t starve them. Help me raise them well. I will send someone for you.¡± Biaideluo looked a little odd ¡­ ¡­ Take good care of the prisoner and ves? But what about the food¡­¡­ At once, Du Wei could already guess what themander was thinking: ¡°I¡¯ll have someone send over the necessary supplies, but¡­.¡± He waved at Biaideluo, implying for themander toe closer. ¡°This secret is between you and me.¡± Du Wei then left with a smile without looking back. This Sin City each year¡­¡­ No, every month, there will be arge number of criminals and vesing through! These people are from all over the continent. They have no hope, no future! If I can offer them thest ray of light¡­. They will definitely reach out for this false hope. For that, they will shed theirst drop of blood for me! Bleed for me! Chapter 195 The 195th chapter ¡°eroded situation¡± Du Wei would of course never bring the newly incorporated soldiers with him. After all, this matter isn¡¯t very glorious ¨C and certainly, he doesn¡¯t expect this move of his to fool anyone, especially the regent back in the capital. Even though Du Wei is well aware of the fact that Prince Son already knows this, but in order to survive in the tiger¡¯s den known as the Northwest, he must at least have some chips to y with. 4,000 soldiers, this number can¡¯t be calledrge or small, so it is within Prince Son¡¯s tolerance level. Not to mention Prince Son have been demoting every member of the Rowling Household, so the guy can¡¯t expect him, a grand duke, to go to the Northwest empty handed, right? Special circumstances call for special solutions, Du Wei believes the regent should have at least this much generosity. But this matter still isn¡¯t something that can be openly put on the table, so as long as they both have an understanding then that¡¯s good enough. Like this Knight Robert along with 200 royal guards went ahead with the 4,000 soldiers. Ignoring the big roads, they intentionally took to the smallnes to avoid attention. And along the way, they never have to worry about supplies because Du Wei already provided them with a document to procure supplies from the local governments. As for Du Wei, he still needs to slowly move forward because he intends to thoroughly survey the region. Reading the reports is one thing, but experiencing it is another. The capital of the Nuling province is called Mn City. If this city was ced in the bustling southern or central part of the continent, this ce can only be regarded as second rate with a poption of 100,000 citizens. However, this city is already considered to be quite prosperous in the Northwest. Acting as a key location in the trade routes of the Northwest, this city is thest stop for any caravan trade group before going off into the desert. That¡¯s why, whether they are merchants from the south, or native fur traders of the Northwest, all these people would converge at this location for a short period of time to rest and resupply. Once the carriage and his escorts drew close to the suburbs of Mn City, Du Wei had already opened up his window to peer at the view before him. Leading the way with 4,000 light infantry, Knight Robert¡¯s job of escorting Du Wei have now fallen upon the 500 royal guards that was previously in charge of clearing the way.. Northwest, because of the geography, there will always be two months in each year whererge volumes of dust gets blown through the air ¨C this is after the fact that the hill surrounding this city is a natural barrier. Strong winds with lots of sand; this is the unique characteristic of the Northwest. For this reason, there is absolutely no building over 10 meters high ¨C the only exception to this is the city walls standing at 12 meters tall. And due to height limit imposed on the structures, the amount ofnd used by this medium sized city of 100,000 citizens is exceptionally vast. At the Southern part of the city is thergest market avable in the area. Originally a town outside the city, this area has evolved into thergest trading venue for those passing through. When Du Wei¡¯s convoy passed by, he could immediately feel the boisterous atmosphere created by the crowds. Going through the main street, Du Wei can already see all sorts of things in the bazaar: those sticking their heads out of the balcony, those rubbing shoulders against each other, those ethnic minorities of the Northwest, and the assortment of leather goods cluttering the shops here¡­.. Even though there are so many things to see, the only thing that really caught Du Wei¡¯s eye is the money bags hanging off the merchant traders. ¡°My Lord, this here is thergest trading site of the Northwest. Mn City¡¯s poption may not be veryrge, but the tax revenue each year from themodities sold here is very impressive. This barrennd is not suited for farming; hence, the main source of revenue is from trading.¡± The one saying this is a delicate looking young man sitting across from Du Wei inside the carriage. This guy¡¯sst name is called Philip, one of the leading figures in the 80 schrs rmended by Mr. Blue Ocean. Though he is already 28 years of age, his facial feature is too young that it didn¡¯t quite match up together. Once recognized as a prosperous family a thousand years ago, the ¡®Philip¡¯ name is an old noble family that once held great influences before the continent¡¯s unification. But with the passage of time, this once glorious family has declined to the point where it is no longer recognized as a noble household in modern days. This Philip¡¯s origin is ofmon birth, a son of a schr in the capital. Through Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s endorsement and several meetings, Du Wei¡¯s attention was quickly caught by this guy. Quick witted and knowledgeable, Du Wei expects great things from this promising schr, especially when Philip already had prior experience ining to the Northwest. Mr. Blue Ocean is someone that favors practical experience over conventional teachings; as such, most of his students would head out into the world for a short period of under the encouragement of their teacher. Years ago, Philip worked as an ountant for a trade caravan that went to all sorts of ces in the Northwest, thus, his knowledge in the local customs and political situation is top notch. Du Wei did not expect the situation to erode to such a point in the Northwest, but after his experience in the so called Sin City, he can finally feel a sense of absurdity towards the so called provisional decree! War is over for 20 years already, yet the wartime order still hasn¡¯t been abolished? Because of this, the Northwestern army still maintains the overall controlling right in the region? And even rece the resource distribution right of the empire? This is absolutely ridiculous. Isn¡¯t this an outright annexation ofnd? No wonder the empire didn¡¯t interfere with the situation of the Northwest, they can¡¯t! After the war in the Northwest is won, the emperor never actually took any effective measures to clean up the mess he created. Instead, he focused all of his attention on his grandiose projects and the wealth that was hidden away in the Southeastern Sea! After so many years, the Northwest army has finally developed into a ruling entity within the state. Self-sufficient and not bound by the central highmand back at the capital, the Northwestern Army willingness to obey is growing smaller and smaller with each passing year! If nothing else, just the story of how the previous two lords were sent packing is a good example ¨C one of them even lost their life! Such arrogance! Then again, the military power is already in their hands, so who is the Northwestern army going to fear? After finding out all these details, Du Wei immediately called for Philip. Along the way, Philip was always in the carriage to give him an in-depth exnation of the Northwest. Worst of all, the more Du Wei learned, the more scared he became! Truly, he regretted not speaking with this Philip early. From Philip¡¯s mouth: ¡°The current governor of the Nuling Province is called Baron Bohan, southerner, and it just so happens that his mansion is stationed in this Mn City. This guy does indeed has some background. Serving as the financial chief officer of a province, he climbed the ranks with the merits he achieved over the years back in the south. I don¡¯t doubt this guy¡¯s skill because just the fact that he was sent here by those in capital is a clear indication that the highmand is on alert towards the Northwestern Army. Therefore, this Baron Bohan is the tool chosen to restore the empire¡¯s authority in this ce. Even though in the past few years Bohan is doing well financially, but this ce is after all not the south, so his military efforts are at a standstill. This can¡¯t be med entirely on him. Those bastards in the Northwestern Army kept throwing forward the decree from twenty years ago. Not only is the Northwestern Army allowed to take a portion of the yearly tax revenue for themselves, they can even delegate their own military officers tomand the city garrison forces as they see fit. For this reason, many governing bodies in smaller towns have already been skeletonized by this maneuver; this is the so called military governing.¡± Du Wei¡¯s brow curls: ¡°If so, then is there no one that can suppress these warlords in the Northwestern Army?¡± ¡°There are.¡± Philip slowed down his words at this moment. Clearly, he is still hesitant when talking about matters regarding these powerful bosses: ¡°When I came to the Northwest year ago, I felt the situation had already eroded to the extreme. Privately¡­. I even thought that if the central didn¡¯t take action soon, then within five years, the Northwest will develop into a country within a country. Here, the administrative documents of the empire are far inferior to the orders handed down by the Northwestern army. Such a thing is quite terrifying. Yet in recent years, the situation in the Northwest seems to have fallen t. Such an achievement can all be credited to this Baron Bohan.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Though he didn¡¯t show it, Du Wei was desperate to learn more about this Baron: ¡°Tell me more about this Baron Bohan.¡± ¡°Speaking from an outsider¡¯s perspective, I say your honor, I really respect him.¡± Philip¡¯s young face made no secret of his admiration towards the Baron: ¡°I even think that this Baron Bohan is the best talent toe forward in the past 20 years! While I was here in the Northwest before, the situation was far worse than what you see now!¡± With that said, Philip suddenly pulled out a thin booklet from his baggage: ¡°When teacher had us follow your lordship, I already made preparations and wrote down all that I know about the Northwest, this includes my view and some interesting facts. I believe you will find them quite interesting.¡± Northwestern Army may dominate the Northwest, but they also have one major weakness and that is: Food! The region is not suited for grain production. Every year, the majority of the food supply consumed by the army is procured from elsewhere because the demand far exceeds the supply in the region. That¡¯s why most of the grains are from the South¡­¡­ Not missing this, the central highmand used this mean as a constraint for the Northwestern Army. Of course, Baron Bohan also caught on to this! The provisional decree back then allows the Northwestern Army to directly intercept the tax revenue from the local government to replenish their military supplies, but¡­. This is only limited to agricultural ie! ¡°This decree is very era defined. When it was first announced, the region was embroiled in war with the natives of the desert ins. That¡¯s why; no merchant would willingly risk their lives to transverse the long dangerous roads needed to reach the trading hubs. Also, the cattle¡¯s, sheep¡¯s, and horses at the time were scarce goods to begin with, so the annual revenue was already low. The only revenue that could be tapped would be the agriculture and it is precisely because of this foundation that the provisional decree was created on. Anything outside of this boundary, the Northwestern Army is not allowed to touch it, this is the key.¡± With that said, Philip flipped open his booklet and smiles: ¡°My Lord, behold, this here is my calction. ording to the official statistics of the Imperial Treasury, oh, the data may be watered down, but it¡¯s still good for reference.¡± ¡°Before Baron Bohan took the office, the annual provincial ie is 3.8 million, with 2.4 million of iting from agriculture. Look further down. After the first year, the agricultural ie began to go down to 2.2 million, then 1.8 in the second. Finally, in the third year, it went all the way down to 1.2 million, more than half of the original number! So what does this mean?¡± Du Wei eyes gleamed with light: ¡°Baron Bohan wants to ¡®starve¡¯ the Northwest army.¡± Philip smiled: ¡°My Lord, the term ¡®starve¡¯ is very urate. In fact, after Baron Bohan took hold of the office, the entire Nuling province began to cut down on their food production as a whole! Through a series of policies¡­. These orders are very amazing because he was able to fool those bosses in the Northwestern Army. It may seem harmless from the surface, but once it takes root, the damage is astronomical! Like this, the Northwestern Army¡¯s reliance on the central highmand for food increases, meaning the empire¡¯s grip grows. Although this method is a bit underhanded, but it is very effective.¡± ¡°Of course, lowering the food production isn¡¯t the perfect solution. Abandoning the farming industry in the Nuling Province can indeed weaken the Northwestern Army, but this also means the standard of living for the citizens also deteriorates. Regarding this problem, Baron Bohan did a good job in finding a solution. Commercially developing the local businesses, he managed to increase the tax revenue for the province to apletely new height!¡± ¡°Then again, the Northwestern Army also has its own approach in dealing with this. At least in terms of military power, these warlords still maintain a firm grasp on the region. Take for example the local garrison forces in the western region. Though Bohan is the governor, but the material supply¡­¡­. Under the wartime provisional decree, the allocation of supplies is all controlled by the Northwestern Army. As such, the level of equipment in the entire western region ispletelycking. Aside from theck of weapons and armor, those bastards would always dy the shipment of supplies like food and clothing. Even though the local garrison¡¯s fighting capacity is low, but there is simply nothing Bohan can do on this point. While there is plenty of money to supplement his forces, but if he tried to procure his own equipment, the Northwestern Army can use this excuse to say he is going against imperial decree. This move is smartly yed by those in the Northwester Army because it¡¯s obvious Bohan doesn¡¯t dare act rashly in this department. However, I have reason to believe Bohan did some things under the table. At the very least, I know some local garrison forces are well equipped in this Mn City and are regrly trained.¡± ¡°Generally speaking, only Governor Bohan is putting up a stand against the Northwester Army. After years of confrontation, the Northwestern Army still looked like they have the upper hand due to that provisional decree.¡± When ites to the end, Phillip¡¯s couldn¡¯t help butin: ¡°My Lord, this decree is the Northwestern Army¡¯s biggest reliance. After 20 years, this temporary decree is still being used even after the war is over; such a thing is ridiculous to the extreme.¡± ¡°But centralmand still hasn¡¯t been able to cancel this order, right?¡± Du Wei sighed in sadness. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Philip nodded as he turned to another page: ¡°Look here, this is my record. The Northwestern army¡¯s spring drill is very strict every year. This is clearly a show of force. From my point of view, Baron Bohan¡¯s weakening policy will have a very difficult time of finishing off these bastards because even if they are weakened, the military power is still in the other side¡¯s hand. That is unless¡­.¡± Speaking up to here, Phillip stopped his words. Du Wei did not avoid the taboo and said it in a light voice: ¡°Unless the Empire is willing to fight a civil war!¡± Philip¡¯s body began to shake. Watching this young Duke with the chilling eyes before him, a thought crept into his head: ¡°Such coldness¡­. There¡¯s not a shred of a child¡¯s innocence in those eyes.¡± ¡°My-my Lord¡­¡­¡± Philip forced a smile: ¡°Such words cannot be loosely said.¡± ¡°Humph.¡± Du Wei smiled as he shook his head: ¡°I can only say it. With the Empire¡¯s current strength, do you think we can go through a civil war?!¡± Phillip¡¯s eye went dark because he understood what Du Wei said just now is the truth! In order topletely eradicate the mess in the Northwest, a weakening policy will not do. Unless a heavy price is paid, the situation can never be resolved! But the price¡­ Can the Empire afford it? Thinking of this, Philip could not help but take a look at the Duke. Frankly speaking, Philip was still holding a skeptical attitude when his teacher first rmended him and his peers to this Duke. After all, Du Wei¡¯s reputation may be booming, but his age is way too small. Less than 15 years of age, a young boy is supposed to step into this tiger¡¯s den and not get swallowed whole? Even if he is a powerful magician, but a single individual can¡¯t control everything! But after conversing with Du Wei these days, Philip can already feel the amazingness from this Duke. Without doing much, Du Wei managed to take in aplete regiment, fully trained and experience to boot! With that single showcase of far sight and ability, Philip is certain this Duke is more than qualified for him and his peers to swear their loyalty! However, Du Wei¡¯s asional cold eyes and determination caused him to hold some worries inside. Such a boying to the Northwest, will it bring prosperity or cmity? ¡°Philip.¡± Du Wei¡¯s face carried a smile as he knocked him out of his stupor: ¡°Look, we are nearing the gate. Surely, the Governor would have already sent someone to greet us. I really want to meet that Bohan.¡± Chapter 196 part 1 The 196th chapter ¡°This is what you call mighty!¡± (part 1) Different from Du Wei¡¯s expectation, his reception in Mn is actually a rarely seen cold shoulder. Ignoring his status of a Duke and the fact that he is highly favored by the regent, Du Wei is still a member of an old noble household. In the noble circle where tradition is highly valued, Du Wei is still considered to be one of their own, so his reception along the way has been great thus far. However, after his convoy arrived at the gates of Mn City, not even a single person from the governor¡¯s officer came to receive them. Such a thing greatly angered the leading officer from the royal guards. Who are they? The royal guards of the emperor! Along the way, the magistrates they met on the road did not only give Du Wei deferential treatment, they also revered these royal guards. So where in the world did they ever get a cold shoulder? It wasn¡¯t just theck of reception from the governor¡¯s office, the soldiers stationed at the gate even had the nerve to halt them and ask for documentations¡­.. Such a huge convoy with hundreds of soldiers from the army, it¡¯s only to be expected that they can¡¯t just Du Wei and his people in so easily. Just when the leading officer was about to lose it, Philip interjected and handed over a document after jumping off the carriage. ¡°Do you not see the insignia on my armor?!¡± The leading royal guard officer arrogantly shouted. Instead of getting angry too, the garrison soldiers gave an unyielding look in return and coldly answered: ¡°It¡¯s precisely because you are the royal guards that we have to check! If you don¡¯t have the documentation, then you are leaving your post without reason! If true, then you are to be treated as a deserter, humph!¡± Unable to counter, the royal officer can only angrily wait for the city guard to verify the documentation. Once done, the guy used his horse as an outlet for his anger and harshly whipped the poor animal on the back to make it head into the city. Watching such a scene the city guard coldly mocked: ¡°Humph, the people from the south are all like this. How can someone that harms their own mount be qualified to be a cavalry knight?¡± These words just so happen to befall on Du Wei¡¯s ear when his carriage passed by. Sighing, Du Wei was silent for a long time over this. The royal guards really are unusable. Maybe their equipment and treatment is one of the best, but an army built up by money is a bit too fluttery for Du Wei¡¯s taste. Originally, he intended to use some method to have these royal guards stay behind with him in the Northwest after they reach their destination. However, after seeing the disy just now, the idea was quickly shot down. Du Wei then turned around to Philip: ¡°It appears this governor Bohan is not very friendly towards us.¡± Philip was also puzzled. He may be someone that is highly valued by Du Wei, but when it came to matters of politics, this young man is still inexperienced. As for Du Wei, he is already in the clear as to why this is happening. If he didn¡¯te to the Northwest to begin with then Bohan would be the one in overall control against the Northwestern Army. Now with his appearance, what would Bohan think? The central highmand didn¡¯t trust him and sent someone to take his power?! You need to understand. Bohan may only be the governor of Nuling province on the surface, but after what happened to the two lords in Du Wei¡¯s territory, the only one left to stabilize the chaotic situation is Bohan. As such, it would be odd for Bohan to be kind to him ¨C the one that came to steal a piece of his pie. Along the way into the city, Du Wei was always peering out at the streets. In his mind, he really is impressed. Not only is the atmosphere boosting with life, the amount of merchants flowing through the crowd is abnormally high. Going straight through the main streets, his convoy directly headed for the governor¡¯s mansion without side stopping. When they were about to reach their destination, a group of officials came up to them and halted Du Wei¡¯s convoy once again. Unlike thest time, these people riding on their mounts were in fact officials from the governor¡¯s mansion. Seeing the manner they came out to receive him, Du Wei really is starting to believe even a child in the Northwest is capable of riding a horse at this point. The ones that came out to greet him were respectful in their words, but the meaning in theirnguage definitely had a deeper provoking intent. ¡°Your dukeship, our governor sent us to receive you today. Unfortunately, because of theplexity of the autumn procurement matters, we were dyed. Please forgive us. Further in front is the governor¡¯s office and we have already made arrangement for your dukeship to stay in the executive mansion¡­.¡± His words did not even finish and Du Wei was already frowning. Executive Mansion? In the Empire, the Executive Mansion is specifically used for the reception of government officials that came to visit¡­.. This type of residence is the equivalent of a inn, but the problem is¡­.. These ces are usually only used for low level officials. For someone like Du Wei, a person of high stature, where in the world would these local magistrates have the nerve to receive him in such a ce? Along the way, the local officials would always pick the best location for Du Wei to rest. Inwardly, these people even wished Du Wei would stay in their own homes than to find another ce for him to stay! But this governor Bohan sure is amazing. Not only did he not personallye out to receive him, he even dares to throw him into the executive mansion! What really made Du Wei frown is not the fact that he was thrown into the executive mansion, but the fact that Bohan is so ill willed towards him that even kind word are not worth his time. This way around, the people around Du Wei all became somewhat displeased at such a showcase. For the political rookie Philip, even he is thinking this is a little overboard. Contemting, Du Wei suddenly smiled as he walked out of his carriage and came before the two officials: ¡°Do you know where the governor is right now?¡± One of the guys was just about to reply when his partner quietly tugged at his side. Realizing the meaning, the one that was about to speak up went silent and the perpetrator answered instead: ¡°Your dukeship, it¡¯s a shame. Since early this morning, our governor has already left the city to deal with some matters. Yesterday, the Northwestern Army sent someone over asking for the autumn material procurement matter, and there are also the caravans from the northwest native tribes¡­.. So many things require our lord¡¯s attention, so he really can¡¯t open any time.¡± Du Wei may be nodding his head but his heart was sneering. Went out early this morning? What a joke! Along the way, my people would always move ahead to announce mying. If it¡¯s like this, the governor should have known about me since yesterday ¨C this is ignoring the fact that all of the previous officials would send someone out long before he did to give their neighbors a quick heads up. Considering his own identity, this governor still picks today to head out. Isn¡¯t this a bit too tant? Thinking of this, Du Wei then gave birth to an idea. You want to avoid me? But I insist on seeing you! Governor Bohan, you may have earned some merits after being active in the Northwest for so many years, but such attitude is a bit ridiculous, right? Du Wei then simply ordered the people around him: ¡°Everyone other than these two sirs here is to head to the resident for rest¡­. General Longbottom, Philip, let¡¯s have a look at the governor¡¯s office. Old Smoke, bring your people ande with me!¡± Chapter 196 part 2 The 196th chapter ¡°This is what you call mighty!¡± (part 2) Even though the two officials had a major change in their expressions, Du Wei gave no room for discussions. He is a Duke after all, who would dare stop him? With no other options left, the two split apart ¨C one leading the main body away for the executive mansion and the other officer leading Du Wei and his people into the Governor¡¯s office. Located at the heart of the city, the governor¡¯s mansion is designed like any typical structure you would find in the Northwest, with one exception ¨C it¡¯s very sturdy. From afar, Du Wei can already feel the busy atmosphere of the ce. One after another, officials came and went from the building and to top it off, a long queue was standing by at the side door. Seeing this, he was intrigued by this oddity. These people standing in line are all different: some wearing fur coats of the local tribes, some dressed in silk gowns of the south. Though they may differ in appearances, the air they gave off is certainly that of businessmen. The only question here is why are they standing in line? Turning around to look at the official leading them, Du Wei didn¡¯t even need to say a word for the guy to turn pale. Panicking, the poor guy hastily exined: ¡°My lord, these people are all members of the caravans that came here on trade missions. The reason for theiring is to pick up the next quarter¡¯s trade documents.¡± ¡°Trade documents?¡± Du Wei gave Philip a puzzling gaze, but the only response he got was the same as his ¨C he didn¡¯t know either. It can¡¯t be helped; this young schr only came to the Northwest for a short period a few years ago. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡° The official faintly smiled with pride: ¡°This is the Governor¡¯s idea. Different departments in the Nuling province would always have to procurerge amounts of materials and supplies each year, this includes the portion for the Northwester Army. Whether it is food grain or supplementary supplies, all of these things must be brought in from civil sources. It wasn¡¯t untilter did our governore up with this approach to distribute the burden onto different trade groups. At the beginning of each year, these traders would send over a representative to Mn City in order topete for a spot. Then our lord would pick the most reputable and lowest priced among them. Like this, we not only get the best goods at the lowest price, we can also rid ourselves a lot of the problems that was guing us before. The traders you see over there are those too small topete with the wealthier trade enterprises in the bidding war. Knowing this, our lord deliberately set aside some spots for these scattered small groups at a certain price¡­.. Seeing summer is about to pass, these businessmen¡¯s are here to fight for a spot in the fall season. Because of them, our financial department is so busy in recent days that the heavens itself were nearly flipped.¡± One wouldn¡¯t mind if they didn¡¯t know, but upon hearing this, Du Wei immediately got mmed with a mind blowing shock! This Bohan¡¯s way of doing things is just like the advanced financial instruments from Du Wei¡¯s past life: Tender bidding! Upon entering the governor¡¯s office, the first thing the leading official did was send someone ahead to inform the others of hising. Knowing this, Du Wei did not interfere; instead, he only looked around the ce leisurely like he didn¡¯t care. It¡¯s quite clear; this Governor Bohan had a really good habit: save! As the highest administrative body of a province, this Governor¡¯s office can¡¯t even match up to the city offices Du Wei had seen along his journey. Without a single spec of garnish along the walls, the only noticeable scene is the officials busily moving about in the hallway. Knowing this, the official leading Du Wei and his party showed a face full of embarrassment as he slowly led them around the manor. Du Wei already knew the guy was stalling for time, but he didn¡¯t bother exposing him. Finally, an official wearing a low level uniform rushed over and whispered something into the guy¡¯s ear. After a few words, the expression on the higher ranked official turned very ugly. Turning around, he gave Du Wei an apologetic bow: ¡°Your lordship¡­. Our Governor just came back, but he¡¯s mixed up in a discussion with some native traders of the Northwest. You see, why don¡¯t we go have a seat in the lounge? Oh yes, you shouldn¡¯t have tried our specialty product desert bee honey yet, right? I¡¯ll have someone send some over immediately.¡± This desert honey is something he never tried before, but as a magic pharmacist, Du Wei would of course know the stuff is nothing more than honey produced from bees unique to the Northwest. As the bug suck up the special nectar of the desert cacti, the bee will produce a special vor in the honey, smooth and aromatic, it¡¯s to die for. ¡°No need, I¡¯ll directly go meet with the Governor. Hmm, he is in the middle of a meeting with those native leaders, right? I will soon be taking over the Desa Province and it is right beside the desert ins. Very good, it¡¯s a good opportunity to personally meet with them.¡± ¡°Can¡­¡­¡± This official was just about to say something but Du Wei¡¯s face was already cold and heavy. Seeing this, the guy no longer dared to say anything else. Tasking the lower ranked official to go inform the people inside, he only coughed a few times before continuing his job of guiding Du Wei and his party. Coming into the inner most section of the ce is a reception hall, the only issue is that the door is closed with soldiers standing guard. When Du Wei went up to them, the soldiers were just about to block him. Fortunately, the quick witted official rushed up and stopped them before they offended Du Wei. The higher ranked official was already sweating profusely to begin with, but when he saw the guy he had sent ahead to announce Du Weiing was still standing outside anxiously, he couldn¡¯t help but be stunned. Seeing the situation, the lower ranked official came running over with a bitter face: ¡°The governor left word before he went inside that none is to disturb him. I¡¯ve been here for a long time, yet the guards still won¡¯t let me go inside to make the announcement.¡± Du Wei ignored these people and continued to head for the doorway, The soldiers standing guard was hesitant at first from Du Wei¡¯s demeanor, but in the end, they still decided toe over to block him. However, before they can do anything, Longbottom had already ran up and coldly pushed the two poor fes aside: ¡°Make way! How dare you block the Duke!¡± This Duke address made the two bodyguards cowar back a bit, after all, no matter how you look at it, anyone that can be called a ¡°Duke¡± are all powerful men and not someone a lowly guard can offend. Du Wei was just about to push the door open when he suddenly heard a loud roar from inside. ¡°You crafty Rnd people think our prairie people can be so easily fooled?! I tell you Governor, if you do not agree to our transaction today, then we will bring our own people to take it!¡± Other than the voice, the inside also came a crashing sound like that of a weapon striking over a table. Understanding the situation, Du Wei gave Longbottom a signal. Nodding in return, Longbottom opened up his voice and shouted: ¡°Damn it! Which tribe is the son of a bitch that¡¯s making a fuss here! Master here only left a few years ago and you bunch of bastards are getting more and more daring!¡± With that, Longbottom raised a foot and kick the door wide open before entering the hall tantly. Following suit, the first thing Du Wei saw was a handsome middle age man sitting behind a desk in the middle of the room. Wearing the uniform of a governor, the guy had a document ced on his left and a double edged sword on his right. Other than this, there is also three other guys in the room, clearly people from the desert prairie based on their style of dressing. The tallest among them had a very aggressive look. Angry and arrogant, he held onto the cuss in one hand with the table cut in two before him. Full of untamed air, all three of them stood there with their chins held high as they intimidated the guy behind the desk with their ferocious gaze. The man seated behind the desk is obviously the legendary governor Bohan. Even in the face of this unruly bunch, he remained calm as he faced off against the guy pointing a de at him. Obviously before Longbottom¡¯s intrusion, the negotiation had broken down and the other side had pulled out their weapon for intimidation. But with Longbottom¡¯s disruption, everything went up in smoke. Still seated behind the desk, governor Bohan¡¯s face immediately went dark: ¡°Who are you!¡± Du Wei took two steps forward: ¡°Lord Governor, it sure wasn;t easy to get an audience with your Excellency. I am Du Wei, Rudolph.¡± Bohan eyebrows pricked slightly and his eyes gleamed with a hint of surprise. All the while, Longbottom was staring at the native guy holding the de: ¡°Which tribe are you from?¡± The unruly native was just about to let out another tantrum, but after essing Longbottom a few times, his aggressive stance suddenly broke apart. Like seeing a ghost, he drops his de to ground and stuttered his next words: ¡°You-you-you¡­¡­ Mossad! Mossad is back! ¡± The two behind the guy looked older in age, but when they had a closer look at Longbottom, their reaction was even more entertaining. Longbottom coldly grunted: ¡°Do you recognize me!¡± Forced by his eyes, the insolent man involuntarily took a step back: ¡°Lord Mossad¡­¡­ I-I-I¡¯m from the Bithron tribe¡­.. I¡­¡­¡± Not letting him finish his words, Longbottom already went forward and sent him flying to the ground with a kick to the stomach. Once on the floor, Longbottom went forward again and nipped the guy on the neck and tossed him out the window. Like this, a fully grown burly man was tossed out into the yard with ease. ¡°Just what were you guys doing here? Damn it! I only left for a few years and you bunch already forgot my rules? You dare pull your swords?¡± Longbottom coldly pressed down at the remaining two guys with his gaze. One of them was already shaking so hard that he can barely stand. The one that could still speak quickly jumped in to exin: ¡°Lord Mossad¡­. We-we wouldn¡¯t dare. It¡¯s just- just¡­..¡± ¡°What ass?! If you can¡¯t talk then cut off your tongue and go back to find someone that can!¡± Though the guy went numb like his partner, his words became smoother: ¡°No, no¡­. Respected Mossad, we are not convinced! The Governor would annually purchase horses from our tribe, but the prices this year is too unreasonable! 3,000 well groomed horses for only 20,000 gold coins! Can our tribe¡¯s top steeds not even be worth 10 gold each?¡± Longbottom sneered: ¡°How much would you like?¡± ¡°4¡­. 40,000.¡± ¡°Fuck off!¡± Longbottom swore at the poor fe and viciously said: ¡°Go back and tell your chief 10,000 gold coins for 4,000 horses! I give you four days to bring them over and you better make sure not even a hair is missing from their bodies!¡± The native barely held back his tears. 10,000 gold coins? 4,000 steeds? Wouldn¡¯t this be a big loss for them?! He did not even have time to object when Longbottom started frowning: ¡°I finished my words already so why are you still here! Do you expect me to treat you to dinner? Scram!¡± The final word ¡°Scram¡± is already mercy in their ears, so where is the world would they dare say another word? Agreeing repeatedly, the two scurried away like rats fleeing from a cat. Du Wei was sighing inside from what he just saw. Damn it¡­¡­ This is what you call mighty! The infamous General 250 is not just for show! Chapter 197 part 1 The 197th chapter ¡°How do you expect me to swallow this!¡± (part 1) Pa Pa Pa Pa ¡­¡­ A pping apuse resonated in the room. Still expressionless, governor Bohan only gave Longbottom a meaningful gaze as he stood up: ¡°This must be the infamous General Longbottom of the Northwest, right? I¡¯ve heard your name before. Your reputation precedes you.¡± Longbottom flicked a look at the Governor without answering; instead, he took a few steps backward and stood behind Du Wei: ¡°This is our house¡¯s master, the Duke.¡± Governor Bohan acted like he only just noticed Du Wei, his courteous smile unique to those in the political circle: ¡°Turns out to be Duke Tulip. I¡¯ve been gued with work that I couldn¡¯t find time to receive your lordship, please forgive myck of manners.¡± With that, his face suddenly went dark as he turned to speak with those standing: ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to entertain his lordship, what were you guys doing?¡± ¡°Governor Bohan.¡± Du Wei spoke in a rxed way: ¡°Do not me them for it is I that insisted toe meet you.¡± Then with a faint smile, he peered straight into the governor¡¯s eye: ¡°I will soon enter my domain, Desa Province, so of course I will need to personally thank the one that had spent so much time looking after mynd till now.¡± Bohan repeatedly replied with idle words but Du Wei did not beat around the bush: ¡°Also, since I¡¯m about to take over the Desa Province, there are many administrative things that needs to be done. That¡¯s why, I must at least make this trip.¡± Though the two shared augh but inwardly, both are dishonest to the core. Bohan had his people bring up some tea and the broken table in the room is already cleared up by the servants. Inviting both Du Wei and Longbottom to sit down, he openlyughed as he spoke his next words: ¡°I received word of your lordshipsing two months ago, so I¡¯ve already made preparation. Since the Desa Province is now yournd, i made adjustments and pulled out all the garrison soldiers. This way around, your private army can easily take over. Aside from this, all documents and procedures have already been handled. All you have to do is send your people to take over and they can immediatelye back to my ce.¡± Du Wei was smiling when he suddenly said this, ¡°Then the finances?¡± Bohan¡¯s eyelids made a little jump, but his smile remains unchanged: ¡°the financial aspect is all ounted for and the treasury has been sealed. You can have a check at any time.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Du Wei quietly picked up the tea cup in front of him and took a sip. With an orange and yellow shade, the liquid carried a nectary sweetness that left one at ease: ¡°This must be the Northwest¡¯s specialty, desert honey, right? The taste is not bad.¡± Then he put the cup, his tone sounded casual: ¡°Your excellency, how much supplies and money does my Desa Province retain?¡± Governor Bohan started to frown, but Du Wei didn¡¯t give him a chance to speak: ¡°I¡¯ve long heard your lordship is a financial genius. Instead of taking a look at those boring books myself, why don¡¯t you just give me a summary? This is kind of embarrassing, but I hate reading books the most.¡± The moment his words came out, Longbottom nearly spurted the tea out of his mouth. Giving Du Wei an odd nce, this chubby general inwardly thought: ¡°You are afraid of reading?¡± In god¡¯s name, Longbottom have never seen anyone in this world that liked to read books more than this young master. Back when they were still living in the temporary Duke¡¯s manor, the majority of the Duke¡¯s time was spent reading books. Seeing the mountains worth of books, even Longbottom was spinning with dizziness by the scene. Also, on one asion, the old housekeeper Marde secretly revealed to him that the longest record Du Wei spent reading books was a full month. Without taking a single step out of the door, this inhuman being could devour three rooms worth of books in one sitting. Governor Bohan clearly doesn¡¯t want such an oue. What he wants is to send this Duke along the way as quickly as possible so that Du Wei can rummage through the records himself. However, Du Wei clearly isn¡¯t taking the bait and he even forced a ¡°financial genius¡± title onto him: ¡°Your Dukeship is making fun of me.¡± Pondering for a moment, Governor Bohan finally gave in with a sigh: ¡°From the summer fiscal statistics, the Desa Province should have the equivalent of 210,000 Gold coins ¨C this includes the money in the treasury and food supplies.¡± Du Wei was furious inside but his facial expression became even more pleasant. Summer quarter only amounts to 210,000 gold? It¡¯s a province! 210,000 in the first quarter? Perhaps in year the revenue won¡¯t even amount to 1 million! Who is he trying to cheat?! This Bohan must have emptied the coffers before handing the ce to him! However, Du Wei is not surprised at this kind of thing¡­¡­ If he was in their shoes, he would probably do the same. ¡°Governor Bohan, then what is the total number within the treasury? I want to first understand how much funding I can call upon for my territory.¡± ¡°This¡­¡­¡± Governor Bohan hesitated. In the face of the young Duke, he was starting to wonder if he went a bit too far. Du Wei guessed right because Bohan did in fact empty the warehouses before he arrived. In his view, this money was all managed by him, so why should he give it away to this kid? In addition, he deliberately avoided Du Wei when he arrived, but who would have ever thought this kid would directly force his way in. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, Desa Province¡¯s warehouse should still have¡­¡­¡± At this point, he suddenly turned around and walked behind the desk. Pretending to pull out a book, he opened it and made a smallugh: ¡°Hmm, here: Weapons, armor, and cavalry armor ¨C 140 sets, infantry equipment-1000, crossbows ¨C 300 arrows ¨C 8,000. Food supply is about three months, and¡­¡­ The treasury should have 190,000 gold coins that can be used¡­¡­¡± Though Du Wei is already prepared for this, but such figures really made him want to swear at people! This Governor Bohan sure is ruthless! These figures may seem a lot from the surface¡­¡­ But don¡¯t forget, were talking about a whole province! He only left him this little bit?! Du Wei face looked a little ugly. Frowning, he looked at Governor Bohan: ¡°Did you make a mistake?¡± ¡°This¡­¡­ Can¡¯t be wrong.¡± Governor Bohan closed the book, his face looking earnestly helpless as he walked over to Du Wei¡¯s side: ¡°Desa Province is too barren. It¡¯s hard enough to make ends meet, so it¡¯s normal that there is so little in the treasury.¡± Du Wei questioned: ¡°I don¡¯t think it makes sense. A single summer season brings in more than 200,000 gold coins, so a year should be around a million gold coins. After so many years, there should be hundreds of thousands of hold coins in the treasury.¡± Bohan face turned somewhat ugly: ¡°Your lordship, are you suspecting I embezzled the funds?¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Of course not, I heard so much about the Governor¡¯s reputation. In the Northwest, you save and cut costs anywhere you can. Just seeing your ce here is the proof that you are a governor with high integrity, so how can I doubt you?¡± After a pause, Du Wei continues: ¡°However, I¡¯ve heard that before I came here, Desa Province¡¯s revenue was not delivered to the capital, but rather, it was sent over to Mn City under yourmand. Am I right?¡± Bohan knew it was useless to say any more polite words. With a cold snort, he stopped dodging the problem and came up front: ¡°Oh! So the Duke is here for money today!¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°This saying is incorrect. It should be ¡®collecting¡¯ what is mine.¡± ¡°As a member of Imperial officials, I have the order to supervise the treasury of the Desa Province.¡± Governor Bohan said this coldly without a shred of holding back. ¡°Supervise does not amount to annexation.¡± Du Weiughed coldly: ¡°You used the revenue of both provinces to support one province. You nearly emptied my Desa Province, so how do you expect me to keep it in order? Governor Bohan, you should at least give me this much face.¡± Chapter 197 part 2 The 197th chapter ¡°How do you expect me to swallow this!¡±(part 2) Bohan shakes his head: ¡°Your Excellency likes to joke, the treasury still has reserves and food supply can easilyst more than three months.¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°Since it¡¯s like this then I won¡¯t pursue the past. However, why is it that my coffer only has 190,000 gold coins when the summer report stated there were 210,000 in revenue?¡± Bohan¡¯s tone became sharp: ¡°There is always a cost in daily functions!¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± Du Wei suddenly erupted in anger: ¡°Bohan Governor! Do you really take me for a clueless child? The empire¡¯s financial management should always have a budget in ce for the uing season. Summer didn¡¯t even end yet and you already depleted the quarter¡¯s ie? Humph, is your Nuling Province also governed in such a way?!!¡± Bohan is stunned Du Wei then pulled out something form his pocket and tossed it in front of Bohan: ¡°Whileing here, I passed by four of your cities and found out these ces didn¡¯t even hand in their financial reports yet! Governor Bohan! Your own summer ie isn¡¯t even spent yet so why is the ie from my Desa Province all spent?!¡± Bohan turned red. Du Wei¡¯s usation really is humiliating but Bohan really didn¡¯t have an answer to reply with. It was months ago when the capital came with news that the Desa Province is to be ssified as Du Wei¡¯snd. He may be a financial genius and the empire¡¯s tool to deal with the Northwest, but that doesn¡¯t mean he is a nice guy without ambitions. In his mind, the two territories already belonged to him, yet, with a singlemand, he lost half of his asset. Such an oue would naturally irritate him to no ends. Since it¡¯se to this, he might as well go all the way and squeeze as much as he can with the remaining time. As his own coffer fills up with wealth, he used the revenue from the Desa Province to feed his own Nuling Province. Once Du Wei arrives, the only thing awaiting the kid is an empty casket known as the Desa Province! At that time, let¡¯s see what the kid can do without money or food in this barrenndscape! If he can¡¯t ovee this hurdle, Bohan knows it is only a matter of time before the Desa Province falls back into his palm! Since Du Wei is peaking like this already, Bohan no longer wished to continue his act: ¡°Duke, what is that you want?¡± Du Wei suddenly sucked in all his temper and smiled instead: ¡°Not much. Since you already spent my summer revenue, then I¡¯ll let it go. However, the fact that my provincial treasury is empty¡­. Governor Bohan, since you can¡¯t give me a reasonable exnation, then I will just have to report this incident up to the empire¡¯s financial department and inspectorate department.¡± With that, Du Wei stood up and headed for the outside. Just before he walked through the door, Du Wei suddenly stopped and gave Bohan onest nce: ¡°Oh yes governor Bohan, incidentally, I also visited the cell in the inspectorate department. The conditions are really good.¡± These words caused Bohan to gopletely dark. Even though he was really annoyed by this, but he did not pay any head to Du Wei¡¯s threat. Du Wei may be grand in the capital, but this ce is the Northwest! After so many years, Bohan would naturally hold some authority over this ce. Moreover, the very fact that he can survive here for so long means he has a strong backing too! In any case, he¡¯s been away for so long that he doesn¡¯t actually have a firm grasp on the capital¡¯s situation. Because of hisck of detail, he only know that this young duke yed a vital role in the coup incident and gained Prince Son¡¯s appreciation. In his mind, his evaluation of Du Wei is that he is only someone being favored by Prince Son! He wants to climb up to the leader¡¯s level? Dream on! Out of Bohan¡¯s room, Philip that was waiting at the door quickly followed from behind: ¡°Your honor, having a falling out with Bohan right now¡­.. I¡¯m afraid¡­.¡± Instead of Du Wei replying, it was this General Longbottom that replied: ¡°Boy, you don¡¯t understand. The North is different from the South. The hypocrisy style is feasible in the South, but it won¡¯t work here. If you take a step backward, they will take two steps forward! And if you show any form of weakness, the enemy will trample all over you! If the Duke was a little softer in there, I fear the governor would have been even more thorough. By then, don¡¯t even mention 190,000 gold coins, there won¡¯t even be a hair left!¡± Philip nodded in understanding after thinking it over. Du Wei casually spoke, ¡°I¡¯m not angry, that was just a show for the guy to see. But after seeing this Bohan today¡­¡­ s, I¡¯m a bit disappointed. This guy does have some skill, but he¡¯s too narrow-minded. I didn¡¯t arrive at the Northwest yet and he already made me out to be an enemy. Humph, he wants to give me a show of strength eh? Let¡¯s see who will get thestugh then.¡± Du Wei then smiled wryly: ¡°I didn¡¯t expect when Ie to the Northwest the first one to head-butt with me is this governor and not the Northwestern Army.¡± ¡°This ¡­ ¡­ Sir, are you really going to report this to the financial Department and the Inspectorate of the Empire?¡± Phillip asked cautiously, after all, in the heart of the young man, he still retains his admiration towards this Bohan of the Northwest. ¡°Report! Of course I will report him.¡± Du Wei spoke in a light tone: ¡°if I don¡¯t do anything, he will really think I¡¯m afraid of him. But I also know that the report is not very useful, the Regent is not a fool so he won¡¯t take any actions just for me. Bohan¡¯s personality may not be very good, but his skills are there and the empire still needs him to deal with the Northwestern Army. Nheless, it¡¯s still good to give him some trouble.¡± Philip was stunned: ¡°that¡¯s it?¡± Although he is still a novice in the political world, Philip¡¯s take on Du Wei¡¯s move is childish and immature. Why hurt someone when you are not benefitting? ¡°This is only the first step.¡± Du Wei patiently exins to the promising young man: ¡°I¡¯m just making a gesture so Bohan understands that we cannot be bullied. I have some other methods to make Bohan yield ¡­ ¡­ Humph, you dare swallow my entire coffer eh?! Whatever way you swallowed it will be whatever way you will spit it back out!¡± Since he¡¯s not seeing eye to eye with Bohan anyways, there¡¯s no long any reason to stay. Once resupplied, Du Wei and his party immediately left for the Desa Province that very day. After a few days of travel on the road, the team finally entered the premise of the Desa Province¡¯s territory. Seeing the destend around, Philip could only shake his head in disappointment: ¡°Aigh, it¡¯s no wonder this ce is known as the empire¡¯s most barren region.¡± As for as the eye can see, the only memorable feature was the yellowish dirt on the ground and even the viges they came across were lifeless without people. Continuing like this for two days, they finally came across their very first city. Though small in size, it should have been a joyous asion, but Du Wei was soon infuriated by the situation! This Governor Bohan sure is thorough because there wasn¡¯t even a penny left in the city¡¯s coffer! On the surface, these city officials were extremely respectful and polite, but after handing over their position, these bastards didn¡¯t even waste a second to take their leave. He was still angry, but Du Wei didn¡¯t want to waste any more energy on these guys. Bringing in the 80 schrs from Mr. Blue Ocean, they quickly began their job of taking over the posts in the local government. This way around, Du Wei¡¯s speed of moving forward was significantly hindered. However, there was an upside to it all. Because of Bohan¡¯s method of having his people emptying the coffer prior to their departure, the whole process of taking over became a whole lot easier without the involvement of money. Going about this for 15 days, Du Wei finally arrived at the capital of the Desa Province, Anglia City. Anglia City is located at the Northwestern part of the province. Backed by the Kilimanjaro mountain range, one didn¡¯t need to look far to see the endless dragon spine (Mountain) running through from the north to the south. When his convoy entered the city, the remaining officials also came out to receive them like all the rest. However, Du Wei simply ignored them and went straight for the city coffer to confirm the contents inside. Sure enough, the capital¡¯s treasury still had the reserve mentioned in Bohan¡¯s report. A provincial treasury with only a thousand weapons and enough food for one season¡­.. And a total gold count of the saddening number of 190,000. Fortunate enough, Du Wei is not short on money. His business in the capital is earning him quite the wealth, and¡­¡­ There¡¯s also the fortuneing in from the United Kingdom. Looking at Anglia¡¯s city¡¯s decrepit condition created a sharp contrasting effect whenpared to Bohan¡¯s Mn City. For a capital of a province, the city only numbers around 80,000 citizens and the wall was so ragged that Du Wei suspected it was never renovated since the war from 20 years ago! The truth is, it is exactly like Du Wei spected. Also, the city premise was very small. Measuring at an overall length of 10 li, the city wall really didn¡¯t match up to a province¡¯s capital. (1 li = 500 meter) ¡°Your honor, I feel we ought to give the wall a good repair.¡± Longbottom only needed one look to make him frown: ¡°This sort of beaten wall really won¡¯t be much of a defense if arge band of thieveses charging.¡± Indeed, a southern section of the wall had already copsed. As long as there is an enemy attack, they only need to give a single charge to give the final push before the remaining rubble falls apart. ¡°Fix?¡± Du Wei contemted the idea as he moved his lips left and right: ¡°Such a bad wall has no maintenance value. Rather than fixing it up, why not build a grander city!¡± Chapter 198 The 198th chapter ¡°The one who create miracles¡± As a man and a lord of a province, Du Wei would of course be filled with pride and want to achieve many great things with what he have; after all, he is still young and the blood inside of him is easily incited. Nheless, the number of problems he is faced with is also numerous. On the financial side, he is currently notcking in money, but looking at it from a future perspective, there are too many things that needs funding! If not for the sum he extorted from the natives in the southeast, he feared his current wealth won¡¯tst him very long at this rate. Desa Province¡¯s location can be considered the closest territory to the Northwest. To the west is the Kilimanjaro Mountain side, a natural barrier stretching for thousands of miles to the north and south. This is the Empire¡¯s natural western barrier. Yet it just so happens that in this Kilimanjaro Mountain range is a ¡°gap¡± inside his territory. As the only passage into the desert prairie for the empire, this ce is known to many as the ¡°Northwest Corridor¡±. Unlike what Du Wei wished, this corridor is not some tiny mule¡¯s path; instead, it is a big giant gap cutting across the entire mountain. Running for dozens of kilometers in length, thergest section can reach as wide as ten kilometers and two kilometers at the end near the desert opening. It can be said that the Kilimanjaro Mountains is what is blocking the desert winds and the natives living in the prairie. And this gap is a strategic stand point! When Du Wei first came to this world, he had read some geographic information about this ce and thought it wasn¡¯t hard to solve this problem. His solution at the time was to construct arge military fortress at the corridor. With hundreds of troops stationed at this ce throughout the year, what else is there fear? Butter on, Du Wei found that his idea was too na?ve! Whether it is building a defense wall or a fortress, there is one fatal problem to it all¡­. And that is water! People need water, and horses need water! Not going to specte on a grand scale, just the 20,000 troops stationed inside a military fortress is enough to shoot the idea down because where would they find the needed water supply in a mountain corridor? This world has no running water pipes and the Northwest is a dry barrennd with scarce supplies of rivers! Throughout the year, most of thend is dry with only the brief rainy season to sooth thend. To counteract this problem, the majority of the poption can only dig wells for their water supply. Unfortunately because of the geographicyout of the corridor, most of the underside soil is pure bed rock! So not only is tapping into a river out of the question, even digging for a well is impossible! If they really forced a military fortress onto this ce, then the water supply for tens of thousands of troops can only be brought in by horseback everyday! A person can¡¯t be without water, especially in this arid region! Just thinking of the amount of water needed is terrifying! This is simply impossible! That¡¯s why establishing a defensive fortress in the Northwest Corridor is nothing but empty words. The Empire¡¯s solution to this is to set up numerous small outposts along the corridor. Once something happens, these outposts will be acting as a warning beacon to inform the main body back in the main cities. On a side note, all of these checkpoints belong to the Northwestern Army. Outside the Northwest Corridor, whates next is a vast desert followed by prairie grasnds. And towards the inside¡­¡­ Is the Du Wei¡¯s Desa Province! Du Wei is very clear that with the current rtionship between the Northwestern Army and the Empire, he can never rely on these outposts to protect himself! In fact, he even suspects that the Northwestern Army, the bandits, and the prairie natives are all in cahoots together! This way around, Desa Province is practically entrapped in the jaws of many hostile forces! Although nothing major happened prior to his arrival due to the poor conditions of the ce, but with his arrival, the first thing he needs to solve is how to defend himself and his people! In Du Wei¡¯s view, the location of his capital Anglia City is not up to his standard. Far away from the corridor and backed against the mountains, the ce is definitely safe. However, whether it is traffic or the ability to cover the entire Desa Province, it is not ideal for a capital. Since Du Wei have already abandoned the idea of repairing the city, he spent a long time looking over the map for an ideal location for his new capital. In the end, he finally settled on a spot. Lon! In his previous life, this word was the name of an ancient legendary city in the desert, but in this life, this world is a name of ake. Lon Lake. Walking down from the corridor and continuing further ind on the main road, there is a very hard toe byke. Not only is thekerge, the ice water flowing down from the mountain slopes would constantly replenish the water supply. Many caravans heading to and from the Northwest desert will choose to pass by this location in order to restock on their water supplies before moving on. If there is a spring source, then they no longer need to drink that bitter underground waters. ording to his knowledge from his past life, these bitter underground water would often contain harmful substances. ¡°We will build the new capital here!¡± After Du Wei referred to the location on the map, just about every member of his team was frowning. ¡°My lord.¡± The first one to open his mouth was Philip. After spending some time with Du Wei, this favored schr of his have started be more confident: ¡°My lord, to be perfectly blunt, if we were to establish a new city here, I fear the cost would be Astronomical¡­¡­ ¡± ¡°You need not worry about the finances.¡± Du Wei lightly spoke his words: ¡°Fortunately, weck everything here but rocks. I made some calctions, if we follow the South¡¯s standard; we would need about 4 million gold coins to construct a city ¨C this includes immigration and moving cost. This is the Northwest, just about everything here is cheap. This is a good ce, if not for the financial constraints of the Northwest, the previous lords would have already built a city here.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t doubt your wealth.¡± Philip shakes his head: ¡°Millions of gold coins, I believe your lordship can still afford it, but my worry is the series of problems that wille afterward¡­¡­¡± With that, Phillip stood up and walked next to the map. Using a finger, he then pointed at some spots: ¡°My concerns have three points. Firstly, if you can figure out this point is a transportation hub, then others will also know that. The natives and the Northwestern Army aren¡¯t stupid! Once you build a new city here, they will feel threatened by your monopoly on theke and begin a series of oppression against us¡­.. Secondly, there is also the problem of migrating citizens to the city. The job will requirerge numbers of manpower to achieve and that is exactly what weck. Lastly¡­..¡± Philip carefully watched his words: ¡°There is the question ofbor, your Excellency!¡± He sighed with pain: ¡°The Northwest¡¯s poption is scarce to begin with and the Desa Province is no different with only 800,000 people. In my opinion, the construction of a city would need at least tens of thousands of workers! As for the time frame, it would take at least two years from an optimistic standpoint. I don¡¯t believe we can recruit that many people and if we force it¡­¡­. I¡¯m afraid such a thing would cause a revolt among the people. We only have a few thousand soldiers on our side; trying to control the entire province will be difficult¡­ Neither do we have the food needed to feed such arge number of workers, you mustn¡¯t forget the Northwest is a food production region.¡± Du Wei quietly waited till Philip finished his speech. He was not angry because Philip is his advisor and a good advisor must look at things from many different standpoints toe up with a solution. He does not need a ttering sidekick! ¡°There are many problems and Philip, you are very right.¡± Du Wei gently knocks his fingers on the map: ¡°But what if I tell you I¡¯m going to create a mircle?¡± Du Wei waited for a moment to let his words sink in to his team. ¡°Three months!¡± Du Wei said this with smile: ¡°I calcted. I need about 5,000 people, that¡¯s enough. After three months, you will see a new city appear in this ce!¡± Everyone became so frightened that they were speechless. Three months to build a new city? Is this a joke! ¡°Did you forget my other identity?¡± Du Wei smiles wickedly: ¡°I am a magician, and mages are usually the type of people that created miracles.¡± Chapter 199 The 199th chapter ¡°city of miracles¡± Du Wei¡¯s decision bordering on the line of insanity sent shockwaves to his people. However, everyone is very clear on one point, he is not joking. He may be crazy, but he¡¯s definitely not joking. In the days that followed, Du Wei mobilized almost all of his forces. The 4,000 infantry originally led by Robert have already been stationed at a military camp outside Anglia City. The problem at hand is the armory. Damn Governor Bohan. When his people withdrew from here, they took almost everything with them that not even the basic equipment are left. At best, Du Wei can only properly equip 1000 soldiers forbat while the remaining 3000 people are left unarmed¡­¡­ Fortunately before Du Wei came to the Northwest he had already made some preparations ahead of time. Sending his people in all directions, they scoured nearly the entire region and purchased every building material they can get their hands on. It wasn¡¯t all bad news though. In Anglia city¡¯s stock reserve, Du Wei was pleasantly surprised to find that there were still many building materials he can use in storage. Apparently, the former government was well aware of the fact that this city needed major repairs, but due to theck of funding, this n was put on hold indefinitely. And Du Wei would of course be happy to ept it all. After assigning the series of tasks to his men, he himself hid inside the old governor¡¯s manor and locked the doors. No one knows exactly what is going on inside, but Du Wei would asionally summon some craftsman to inside. As for the content of their conversation, no one knows because he gave strict orders to keep it confidential. Time flies and half a month have gone by. Nearly breaking his leg, Old Marde and a group of servants brought backrge amounts of materials like: wood, y tiles, and so on¡­.. But to everyone¡¯s surprise, there is no food on the list. In the meantime, General Longbottom wrote a letter and had several people copy it god knows how many times. Then like a flock of bees, he sent them out continuously. The truth is the content of each letter is the same: ¡°I¡¯m back! Anyone willing to work for me again is to report to Anglia City immediately!¡± Rather than his name, the following signature is some odd pattern on the letter. What General Longbottom is doing is summoning his old subordinates. Very soon, not even a month¡¯s time, the military camp outside the city is filled with an extra thousand soldiers. These people are all elite Calvary knights that dominated the Northwest alongside Longbottom. After their retirement, most of these people went home and became farmers, tailors, cksmiths, and some even took on small jobs. Then a monthter after the new blood, 5,000 sets of infantry equipment along with 2,000 Calvary equipment arrived. All this have to be credited to that famous millionaire Tanshan because if not for this wealthy arms dealer, this stuff would never have been so easily delivered. Whether it is the weapon or armor, all of these things were crafted using the empire¡¯s highest military standard. In addition, there are also the deadly crossbows so often used by the military. With this little move, Du Wei already expended hundreds of thousands of gold. When it came to troops, it really is a bottomless pit. Then relying on Longbottom¡¯s connection within the Northwest, they brought in another few thousand war horses. Like this, Du Wei has under hismand 4,000 infantry troops and 1,000 cavalry knights ¨C all fully armed in the standard of the strongest military corp of the empire. It didn¡¯t take Longbottom long to wash away the rust that gued his former subordinates. With a few days¡¯ worth of intense training, every one of their military presence was revitalized. ¡°Wake up everyone! Put on your equipment and get on your horses. It¡¯s time for training! If anyone falls behind today then I will punish him by making wash our boots!¡± These words of Longbottom resounded every morning with the rising sun. No one knows how the general drilled his unit, they only know that they would wake up early in the morning and stay out till nightfall. Sometimes, they would train for two to three days without returning. The only certainty is that whenever they return, these guys would all be dead tired like they were just pulled from the mud. As for Phillip and his peers, they used the shortest amount of time needed to take over the administration body in Desa Province. It wasn¡¯t that hard anyways since the ce was so poor and there wasn¡¯t any work to do to begin with in a day to day basis. Everyone was busy going about their business that even Hussein, this highly wanted criminal of the temple, had no time to rest. Du Wei used a special dye and changed his hair to blue. With an eye patch covering one of his eyes, this former Holy Knight is unlikely to be recognized by anyone at this point in this god forsakennd known as the Northwest. And the part that Du Wei thought was lucky is that even the temple didn¡¯t want to take roots in this barrennd. Through the entire province, there is only two churches and they are all near the borders of Nuling Province. Knight Robert¡¯s burden is very heavy because not only did Du Wei toss the 4,000 rebels in his hand, he also put him in charge of recruiting new bloods ¨C it can¡¯t be helped, Du Wei simply didn¡¯t have enough manpower he can trust. The Northwest is a harsh ce so the conditions are ideal in producing strong soldiers. Unfortunately, the poption is simply too low. In a whole month, they only managed to recruit 3,000 people. In order to quickly bring them up to par, Knight Robert organized a reserve infantry regiment and mobilized his staff to drill these people day in and day out. Hussein is the one Du Wei sent over to help Knight Robert train these new recruits. As a former Holy Knight leader, he is the perfect fit for the job. Aside from this powerful figure, every one out two children in the Northwest is capable of riding a horse, so it shouldn¡¯t be hard. Very soon, the perimeter outside the city walls became a war zone. When the second month finally came, everyone started to really doubt if this Duke really went insane. He said three months to build a new city, but a month have already passed, yet he is still locked inside his manor without taking a single step outside. Large amounts of selected building materials have already been transported to the designated spot beside the Lon Lake. This ce originally only had a small little town nearby consisting of a thousand vigers, but because of Du Wei¡¯s stuff, this ce looked extremely crowded due to the mountainous piles of materials. The ones in charge of watching over all of this are the 500 Royal Guards tasked with escorting Du Wei. Inwardly, they weren¡¯t willing to stay and wanted to leave for the capital as soon as possible, but due to Du Wei¡¯s persistence, they had no choice in the matter. Fortunately, their ordeal will soone to a close. On the fifth day of the second month, Du Wei finally came out of the Governor¡¯s mansion. To everyone¡¯s surprise, this already thin statured Duke became even scrawnier. Though his face was pale and his eyes red, Du Wei¡¯s spirit seems to be in good shape. ¡°Gentlemen, remember today because from today onward, you will personally witness a miracle!¡± Early this morning, the residence of this small town beside theke have been gathered up in one ce- the farmnd outside the town. The Northwest is and with poor soil, but due to the Lake nearby, the area around the town is not bad. Du Wei released amand to the thousand residents; he needs people who can work on a farm, the more the merrier! You only need to help me nt and help me harvest! It was that simple: ¡°And your wage¡­.. For the people who worked, you can take one-tenth of whatever you harvested.¡± This strangemand left everyone bewildered. Who couldn¡¯t farm? This is a farm vige, so even a woman can work. ording to Du Wei¡¯s orders, everyone nted the seed they were distributed ¨C this alone consumed two days¡¯ worth of time. At the beginning, everyone was still waiting to see aedy¡­¡­ What, can this noble lord be an idiot? Or is there too much food around that he is wasting it for fun? But very soon, none of them couldugh anymore. In the third morning, Du Wei in his wizardry robe had some of the servants carry out 10 barrels of water. After carefully assessing the amount, he pulled out a bottle from his pocket and dripped a few drops of liquid into the water. It is then Du Wei began his magic. What he did is notplicated; just about every magic user out there can pull off this mid-level spell. After his spellspletion, everyone present can see that above this noble lord¡¯s head is a swirling vortex of air. Like an infinite force, the water inside the barrels were quickly sucked into the air and the wind began to grow ever fiercer. Finally, after Du Wei muttered another set of spells, the water vortex gradually rose into the sky and became rain clouds, ready to release its content. Then with a singlemand, a series of rain droplets began showering down against the farmnd from all directions. Once over, numerous nt shoots began to furiously soar out of the once barrenndscape. In less than half a cup¡¯s tea time, the once barren field is now fully popted with crops! All of this happened in a pace that the naked eye can discern! Witnessing a miracle, many of the ignorant farmers began to pray aloud while many more were kneeling on the ground shouting Du Wei¡¯s name. ¡°What are you waiting for? Harvest time is here! No matter how much you harvest, you can still receive one tenth of your amount.¡± Du Wei¡¯s singlemand caused the farmers to rush towards the field like fanatics, swinging their sickles like no tomorrow¡­¡­. Such a scenested for over 15 days and Du Wei can repeatedly force the field to yield two to three harvests each day! Once time ran longer, even these enthusiastic farmers could no longer digest the volume! Like madness itself, the crops just won¡¯t stop growing. In the end, Du Wei had to bring in the 1000 new recruits to help soothe the pressure on these farmers. Subsequently, the problem that arose next is even weirder. Because there wasn¡¯t enough sickles to go around, the new recruits can only harvest the crops with their own swords, eventually, even the granary were filled to brim and the crop harvested can only be piled up like a mountain outside the town. Looking at the growing pile of food supplies before them, everyone really wondered if they were dreaming, but the ache in their back left no room for doubts. Since then, the way these people look at Du Wei is akin to a divine god! The 15 days¡¯ worth of grain harvest even caused Du Wei¡¯s gigantic fleet of cargo wagons to work overtime. One after another, newly built barns continued to pop out of the ground until finally every single personal was left exhausted by this endeavor. One with everyone aching on the ground did Du Wei¡¯s crazy evente to an end. And the result is¡­¡­ Du Wei estimated that in the next yearing, the food prices in the northwest will see a steep detion! Subsequently, a grand celebration was held inside this quaint little town. Crazed with joy, everyone were binge drinking over the amazing harvest this year. Lasting over several days, everyst drop of alcohol was consumed in this festival¡­. In any case, no will feel pity for the loss of these wines because it¡¯s not like they arecking in grain to make more! After the party was over, Du Wei gave everyone a day¡¯s rest before announcing: ¡°Construction of the city begins!¡± In this one month, Phillip racked his brains out to round up thousands of workers from across the province. In addition, he also hired as many craftsmen as he can up to this point. Even though the Duke is finally announcing the start of the construction project¡­.. The time from the deadline is already halfway in! He was really questioning the whole ordeal, but after witnessing the Duke¡¯s miraculous ability, his own belief is starting to shake¡­¡­. Maybe it¡¯s not madness; it¡¯s really possible topletely build a new city in one month! ¡°You just need to work at night.¡± Du Wei gave this simplemand to the recruited workers and craftsmen¡¯s: ¡°you do not need to do too much heavy lifting. In fact, I only need you do some ticketing jobs here and there.¡± Subsequently, Du Wei once again demonstrated his miracles! Like the creation of the good harvest, Du Wei had Marde gather up some people to nt some saplings at certain locations. Then using the ¡°As time goes by¡± spring water, he created another artificial rainfall. Then around a thousand saplings grew into towering big trees in a single day! After the blowing into the ¡°Life Horn¡± (the gift he got from the treants), the thousand giant trees were awakened¡­.. What awaited these treantpanions is the already piling supply of building materials. These mindless treantpanions are without a doubt the bestborers. Not only are they immune to fatigue, they are very obedient! Unlike before, the huge stone boulders that once required dozens of strong men to lift can now be easily handled by a single treantpanion. At the beginning, these artisans were all frightened by these gigantic monsters. Fleeing in all direction, it was only due to the pressure from Du Wei¡¯s army that they finally settled down. Once determined these giants were harmless, the thousand workers finally began working! It is as Du Wei predicted. The majority of the heavybor was handled by the treants and the workers only need to do some patch work and hammering. For example: when building the walls, the craftsmen¡¯s only need to jump in to fill in the gaps with mud after the treantpanions casuallyid the stones together¡­¡­ In less than 10 days, the Northern side of the walls was already taking shape! Such a pace was so fast that it was scaring people! Philip and a number of Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s disciple acted as the supervisors, each busy with their assigned tasks. Reality as proven Du Wei did not talk big. With the powerful giants as thebor force, the majority of the city walls werepleted when there was still 5 days left from Du Wei¡¯s promised date. Constructed in a diamond shape for the corner towers, the rest of the wall is towering at 15 meters high, this standard is already within the empire¡¯s standard. Under the protection of a wall stretching for up to 20 li¡¯s (10,000 meters), this Lon city will be Du Wei¡¯s new capital in the Northwest. (Li is an old form of measurement in Chinese. One Li = 500 meters) But privately, everyone gave the city a new name: City of miracles! Of course, this ¡°city of miracles¡± is only an empty shell, other than the city walls in the outer perimeter, the inside is nk. With nothing but the main roads designated by Du Wei inside, there is only a castle. This will be Du Wei¡¯s future manor. The basis for Du Wei¡¯s new capital is already set in ce. The remaining problem is to popte the city with structures and people from other areas. All of this cannot be done in a short period. ording to Philip¡¯s estimate, turning this new capital into a fully functioning city still requires a one year time frame. Prior to this, Du Wei is to remain in Anglia city. The residents of the small town near theke are to be the first settlers of this new capital. Under a series of promises, they gave up their homes and began construction of their new home inside the city walls¡­..¡± With the passing of several months, those willing to move to the new capital have reached 30,000 and the northwest district is starting toe together. For those that are willing to take the risk, Du Wei promised to exempt them from all taxes for one year. And these farmers don¡¯t have to worry about losing their source of ie bying to the city. Not only is thererge number of opportunities to find work, Du Wei also allowed them to retain their originalnd, thus assuring their mindset once and for all. Most of the immigrants are from Anglia City. When Du Wei announced the tax exception bill for those that immigrated, he also sent a message across the city that in theing future, Anglia City is to lose its status of a city in the Desa Province. Also, he does not intend to station anymore troops here afterwards. Without the protection of a wall ¨C if this rundown wall can still be regarded as a ¡®wall¡¯ ¨C then this ce will be an ideal spot for bandits to pige. Without the sense of security, these people can only choose to migrate to Lon City. The relocation of 80,000 citizens is not something that can happen overnight. However, Du Wei doesn¡¯t have to worry about this because Philip and his peers are handling all of the administrative work rted to this problem. Along with Knight Robert, this trusted knight of Du Wei¡¯s will be responsible for escorting the immigrants along the way to Lon City. And Du Wei? Like a hermit, he once again began his mysterious life inside the governor¡¯s manor back at Anglia city. And Hussein wasn¡¯t left alone either. This mighty and powerful Saint Knight has been tasked by Du Wei to go retrieve some more spring water from the valley inside the frozen forest. The reason for this sudden journey is because Du Wei¡¯s reserve of ¡°As time goes by¡± spring water is almost exhausted! The only one capable of safely entering the frozen forest and not have to worry about being attacked by magical beasts is only Hussein. That is why Du Wei chose him. Chapter 200 Chapter 200 ¡°usual practices¡± Although we all know this already, but when the Duke refuses to meet anyone and hides himself inside the manor, it is for the best that none disturbs him. After all, he is a magician and mages doesn¡¯t like to be disturbed when they are indulging themselves in magic. What¡¯s more, even Marde ¨C the one closest to Du Wei ¨C can vaguely feel the young master is grumpier in recent days. Indeed, Du Wei is upset! The construction for the new city is going well and he never needed to worry about the administration side; nevertheless, his mood continues to worsen day by day because he is waiting for someone. That Green-robed Gandalf promised toe find him after three months! Yet, half a year had already psed and not a shred of news was heard from him. Seeing autumn is already drawing to a close and winter is about to be here, Du Wei is starting to think the old guy was ying him. At this point, Du Wei thinks his strength hase to a bottleneck. Considering his current level of power and control, he can confidently say that he is at the sixth rank in magic. With a wide range of magical spells at his disposal, Du Wei¡¯s strength is not to be taken lightly. If he were to be re-assessed right now, Du Wei is certain he can achieve a sixth rank badge from the union without any underhanded moves. And now, if it was purely apetition of magical strength, Gargamel is no longer a match for Du Wei. However, Du Wei has found that this is all that he can do. After all, secretly learning the spells donated by the mages in the academy can only get him so far. He needed a real mentor, a mentor that can guide further along the path of magic. At the very least, this person needs to be an old fe that is versed in the theories behind magic. Gargamel should have been the one to take up this post, but fate likes to mess with people because this mouse is only an expert in transformation magic. As for poor little Vivian, this girl with the qualification of an eighth level magician can¡¯t even speak properly without stuttering, so she is also out of the question. In desperation, Du Wei focused more of his time in magic experiments. For example: he studied the mithril recement form gifted to him by Old Alley over and over again, but the only reward he got was a giant headache. In the end, it was Seth the big headed wand guy that ended making some progress. When Du Wei pulled out the ¡®flying broom¡¯ blue print, this big headed Seth was extremely interested. Using the same amount of time as Du Wei, Seth nearly seeded in his experiment. But after two test runs, poor Seth ended up breaking a leg. Du Wei knows that the establishment of a new city is just the beginning. He needed to urgently strengthen his own power. Those without power in the Northwest cannot survive and others will eventuallye to make trouble for him. Du Wei¡¯s thinking is not wrong because the troublesome person has finally arrived. Under normal circumstances, none would dare disturb Du Wei, especially when Du Wei¡¯s mood is terrible. But on the noon of this day, Marde still went into Du Wei¡¯s study room and interrupted the young master¡¯s reading session ¨C he was memorizing all of recipes gifted to him by Alley. ¡°young master.¡± Marde blinked his eyes in anticipation. Although Du Wei is already a Duke, this old servant of his still calls him young master unlike everyone else that uses ¡°lord¡±. ¡°Young Master, there¡¯s someone here to see you.¡± Du Wei frowned as he looked up: ¡°Did a problem arise in the immigration process? Did those guys raise another strange condition likest time?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that.¡± Marde shakes his head: ¡°The one that came is someone from the Northwestern army.¡± Du Wei became stunned for a bit as he put the stuff down. A member of the Northwestern Army? He himself has already arrived in the Northwest for many months, but they have never actively sought him out and neither will he be making deals with these warlords. So what is going on with today? In the greeting hall, Du Wei met up with the member of the Northwestern Army. The person is a middle-aged officer. From his appearances, this person should be a general. Under the Empire¡¯s military system, those in the position tomand are already touching the senior military level. For an infantry regiment, the standard is 4,000 people while the cavalry regiment is 3,000 people. Generally speaking, four regiments put together equal a whole division and the leader of a division ismanded by a General. Back in the coup at the capital, themander of the second division is General Jean ude. Army ranks: Lowest ¨C Brigadier General Second lowest ¨C Major General Third highest ¨C Lieutenant General Highest ¨C General The empire¡¯s general ranking is divided into four types. For someone like Jean ude, his ranking is only that of the first rank, brigadier general. Even so, this is already considered very high despite being at the bottom of the barrel. Longbottom himself is also a general of a Calvary division consisting of 20,000 riders, but his status is worlds apart from Jean ude¡¯s. After all, the Northwest is far away from civilized society, so it can never bepared to those in the capital where powerful figures resided. The official name for these generals like Longbottom is ¡°Major Generals.¡± Du Wei is not unfamiliar with these terms, especially when he found out the founding emperor is just like him from another world. Further up is the head of the army that actually stands in the front line. For this group of generals, they are usually with the title of Lieutenant General. There are exceptions such as Du Wei¡¯s father. Though Raymond have never actuallymanded an entire army, but his experience in leading a expeditionary fleet makes him qualified to be called a Lieutenant General. Going even further up is the top generals. Generally speaking, these people are not directly responsible for themanding a army division or corp. Basically, they are the old veterans that did not wish to stay in the front lines. By hanging the title of General on their names, they will stay in the capital and be one of themanding figures in the highmand. Such as Du Wei¡¯s father, Earl Raymond became a General right after his time inmanding the expedition fleet as a Lieutenant General. The highest of them all is naturally a Marshal, but this title is nothing but an empty shell. However, the empire did not have a Marshal at the moment. This title is only reserved for those that achieve great military merits. Considering the fact that the continent is at peace right now, the likelihood of an event urring that could warrant such an honor is unlikely. And the war in the Northwest back then is only a local conflict. As for the battles out at sea in the Southeast, it is nothing but bullying so what merit is there to earn? Though in history, there did appear some real Marshal¡¯s like the ancestor of the Rowling Household. While now, this Marshal position sought after by every army soldier is still up for grabs. ¡°Dear Duke.¡± This General of the Northwestern Army standing before Du Wei politely introduced himself: ¡°I am themanding officer of the thirteenth division in the Northwestern Army, Totoro.¡± First impression Du Wei had towards this self-proimed Totoro is not very good. Even though he wore a military uniform and was equipped with a sword, the guy¡¯s body didn¡¯t carry the temperament of a military personal . What¡¯s more, the uniform on this guy looked like it was about to rip apart at any time due to his sheer size. It would be better to call him an obese rich man than to call him a military officer based off of the fat hanging on his face and the excessive paleness from his skin. How can this person actually be a General? But after Du Wei finished listening to the guy¡¯s introduction, he finally understood. This so-called ¡°Northwest Army¡¯s 13 Division¡± is not a regr army. He already had some intel on the opposition, so he knew the 13th division is merely a front for the logistic department in the Northwestern Army. Simply put, this Totoro in front of him is nothing but a logistic officer. Du Wei immediately paid attention because he can vaguely guess what the guy¡¯s intentions are foring. ¡°General Totoro, please sit.¡± Du Wei points towards a chair in the room. What came next is series of roundabout words and through this, Du Wei is certain this Totoro is an old veteran at this stuff. Thepliments included: Du Wei is a boy genius, the speed he built the city is beyond amazing, and his power as a magician is unparalleled. Regarding his ass kissing, Du Wei would of course take it all in. After drinking a few cups of tea, Totoro finally got to the main point for his visit. ¡°Your dukeship, other than bringing the Army head¡¯s greeting, I am also here today to ask you for a little help.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°General Totoro, please speak.¡± The fat man ponders for a moment before smiling: ¡°autumn has already passed, in ordance with the decree, when can our Northwestern Armye extract our military supplies?¡± They are here for money. Du Wei sneered a bit inside. ¡°Your dukeship, you should be aware that in ordance with the Decree, the Northwestern Army¡¯s supplies are redeployed from the local governments revenue. In ordance with established practices, after each quarter¡¯s revenue is reported, our Northwestern Army will ept our share¡­. Haha, you should know already that being a soldier is not easy. In order to protect the empire¡¯s frontier, we also need to eat. I¡¯m sure you would understand this since you are from a military family yourself.¡± Du Wei quietly nodded: ¡°Oh, then i like to know how much are you taking?¡± The truth is Du Wei is very familiar with this decree by now, so his question is intentional. ¡°40%.¡± Totoro smiled as he puts up four fingers: ¡°In ordance with long-standing practices, our Northwest army needs to extract 40% of the tax revenues.¡± Du Wei picked his eyebrows: ¡°40%? General Totoro, you are kidding me. The Interim order only stated that the Northwestern army can take 20%.¡± Totoro smiled so hard that his fat was hanging off his cheeks: ¡°My lord, you only just came to the northwest so you didn¡¯t know this. Normally, 20% is the right amount, but when falles around, the Northwestern Army would take 40%, this is already a long time practice.¡± After a pause, Totoro exined without waiting for Du Wei¡¯s question: ¡°Once fall is over is when the yeares to an end. As a reward for the soldiers effort each year, the military would give them a bonus as a way to raise their spirit. Therefore, the annual autumn budget is doubled.¡± The truth is Du Wei is well aware of all this, he is simply ying dumb. After a moment in though, he showed a generous face: ¡° ¡°In that case, I naturally cannot break the rules here. The boys are fighting for us at the border; so of course we can¡¯t treat them badly. General Toroto, wait here while I have my deputies report the revenue to me.¡± Bullshit, you want to give bonuses and want me to pay? Hell no! Though Du Wei was sneering inside, he still sent for Philip. In the meantime while they waited for Philip¡¯s arrival, Du Wei casually asked a few things about the Northwestern army. It turns out that extracting the military funds wasn¡¯t always this difficult. If it was before, Totoro only needed to send someone over to say a few words, but Du Wei is after all a Duke, so it was for the best that he personally came instead. Even if this is the Northwest, a duke is still a duke, not someone he wanted to offend if he can avoid it. He thought this new lord would be an idiot like the previous two, but after hearing Du Wei¡¯s quick eptance, his nerve became rxed. Humph, after all, a teenager is only a kid, so what if he¡¯s a duke? This is the Northwest, even if the emperor himself came, he would still need to give the Northwestern Army some face! Chapter 201 Chapter 201 ¡°Acting¡± These days, Philip, the most promising student of Mr. Blue Ocean has earned a great deal of trust from him. In Du Wei¡¯s view, Philip is not only young; he is also steady in his actions. More importantly, he is well aware of the situation in the Northwest and would never look down at himself for his young age. If Philip wasn¡¯t really so young and inexperienced, Du Wei really would have appointed him the governor of the Desa Province by now. Even so, Du Wei didn¡¯t care either way and handed Philip all the authority he would have gotten if he really was titled. Whether it is the new city constructing project or the financial management, Philip pretty much covers the entire picture. Phillip is after all the student of the famed Mr. Blue Ocean. Once he received word of Du Wei¡¯s summoning, he didn¡¯t just dismiss the guy; instead, he questioned the person that ryed the message and found out it was someone from the Northwestern Army. Knowing this information, Philip sneered. Autumn just ended and the Northwestern Army ising for money already? Fortunately, this scenario is well within Du Wei and Philip¡¯s expectation, thus a n was agreed upon long before the asion. Once everything was in order, Philip finally headed off to see Du Wei. Because Philip¡¯s work ce is in the Governor¡¯s Manor, it didn¡¯t take long for him to arrive at Du Wei¡¯s study room. Opening the door, the first thing he saw after walking in is Du Wei having an idle conversation with Totoro. Not forgetting his manners, Philip quickly made a salute to Du Wei so that the Duke can make the introduction. Regarding this newly arrived youngster, Totoro was also very polite without any intentions of making light of Philip. After all, in the months since Du Wei¡¯s arrival, the Northwestern Army was always carefully observing their movements. This young man named Philip may only be Du Wei¡¯s aide on the surface, but in truth, they know this little guy was the one giving out all the orders till now. If anything, this Philip is already half a governor without actually being one. ¡°Phillip, the reason for General Totoro visit today is to collect the autumn funding. Hmm, this quarter¡¯s revenue should have already been reported, right?¡± Du Wei smile was exceptionally kind. ¡°Yes your honor.¡± Philip immediately opened up one of the booklets he brought along and passed forward the ledger: ¡°My lord, this is the fall revenue for the Desa Province.¡± Du Wei pretended like he was actually looking over the booklet he hot from Philip¡¯s hand. Then with a look of disbelief, he said: ¡°This¡­. Philip, the number must be wrong, right?¡± Philip looked all serious: ¡°My Lord, the number there is correct.¡± Coughing a few times like he was embarrassed, Du Wei slowly pushed the ledger to the table in front of Totoro: ¡°General Totoro, this is the autumn tax revenue of the Desa Province. Totaling 71,000 gold coins, 46,000 of which are from agriculture. ording to the usual practices, 40% of this should be.¡± Totoro¡¯s face changed a shade: ¡°How much?!¡± ¡°18,400 gold.¡± Philip repeated again with a deadpan face. Du Wei was forcing down hisugh so he was only smiling as he sighed: ¡°Isn¡¯t this figure a little too low? For the empire, the Northwestern Army is toiling away at the border so their merit is undeniable. Fine then, I¡¯ll privately add in some more and make it an even number of 20,000 gold coins!¡± Though Du Wei managed to pack in a generous appearance, but the nose of the one standing beside him was already crooked. The thin air of hesitation from before is nowhere to be seen as Totoro questioned in a low voice: ¡°Your lordship, did I hear it wrong? You¡¯re certain of this number?¡± ¡°Yes of course.¡± Philip is the first to reply, ¡°The Governor office just finished checking the revenue we collected.¡± Though Totoro¡¯s face was beet red, he still had the sense of suppressing his anger. Instead of continuing the question on Philip, this fat man turned to face Du Wei: ¡°Duke! The Desa Province may be barren, but the poption is still in the millions! To say the tax revenue is only 70,000, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a bit ridiculous?¡± Pausing for a second, his eyes showed a trace of anger: ¡°This year¡¯s spring and summer quarter is already more than 200,000 gold coins in tax revenue. Now that we are in the autumn quarter where the harvest is the highest, it should be more than 300,000 ording to previous year¡¯s calction! For a whole province to only have 70,000 gold coins in tax revenue, don¡¯t you think this joke is going a little too far?¡± ¡°General Totoro!¡± Philip¡¯s suddenly got cold and serious: ¡°Please watch your tongue! The one before you is a Duke of the empire!!¡± Philip harshly said: ¡°Presuming you know this, but we are building a new city. To build a city, the expenses are huge. Other than paying the craftsman for their work, there are also plenty of overhead costs! Also, in order to get the citizen to migrate to the new city, we took measures to exempt these individuals from taxes for a whole year; all of this was announced long before the city¡¯spletion. Desa Province¡¯s ie isn¡¯t high to begin with. Now that there is all these spending¡¯s and tax cuts, it¡¯s not strange to see such low numbers.¡± Totoro¡¯s original intention today is to test Du Wei¡¯s attitude. Aftering to the Northwest, this little duke never had any dealings with the Northwestern Army, so he really thought Du Wei would cooperate from his earlier words, yet it seems they are only toying with him¡­.. Thinking of this, Totoro can¡¯t help but be infuriated. He is a general of the Northwestern Army and the one in charge of the logistic department. Even that old fox Bohan needs to be polite and watchful in front of him, so how can he swallow such humiliation? Duke? So what if he¡¯s a Duke? What is there to be afraid of when we¡¯re the Northwestern Army? ¡°Your Dukeship!¡± Totoro stood up: ¡°I¡¯m afraid your subordinate here isn¡¯t very clear on the interim decree. ording to the Empire¡¯s decree, the Northwestern Army has the right to intercept the agricultural tax revenue for military purposes! What¡¯s more, the military has first priority and the local government cannot use the fund until the military takes their share! And now, your aide is telling me he already spend all the revenue on the new city before we can even take our share? Is this what you mean?!¡± Looking at this angry fat ass, Du Wei slowly answered: ¡°General Totoro, please sit down, your anger won¡¯t help in remedying the situation. Let us discuss this to find a solution, what do you think?¡± Totoro made a loud ¡°humph¡± in reply. Du Wei smiled as he faced Philip: ¡°Philip, although the ount calctions are correct, but we can¡¯t drag out the military funding! The ie for this season is only numbers on a paper. Now then, tell me the ie for this quarter before the expenses are added in.¡± Philip then pretended to be reluctant in his words: ¡°If you follow the normal count, the earning should be about 250,000 Gold coins, less than the previous years. Your excellency did after all exempt a lot of people from paying their taxes for the migration project.¡± Only by hearing this did Totoro¡¯s anger subside a little. Though 250,000 is still a little low, but it¡¯s still way more than before! 40% of 250,000 is 100,000 gold coins. ¡°That¡¯s easy then.¡± Du Wei immediately made a forthright expression: ¡°ording to the 250,000 ie, 40% should be 100,000. Take this sum from the treasury.¡± Philip sighed, looking like he was ashamed in his whispering voice: ¡°But my lord, the treasury doesn¡¯t have that much money.¡± ¡°What!!!¡± This single shout carried with it boundless anger disbelief! The problem is with this is that the one releasing this anger is not Totoro, it was DU Wei! Jumping off his chair, the young duke mercilessly stared at Philip without restraint: ¡°What did you say/!!¡± His excessive action caused even the cup in front of him to fall to the ground. With an angry look, he questioned: ¡°Sir Philip! Please exin to me at once why my Desa Province can¡¯t even take out 100,000 gold coins from the treasury? Desa may be a barrennd, but after so many years of saving, there should be more than enough to cover this sum!¡± Du Wei ming initiative actually caused Totoro to jump a little inside. ¡°Give me an exnation!¡± Du Wei¡¯s anger looked like he was about to swallow someone: ¡°Philip! Is this really mynd? Is this really my Desa Province?! Or did you use your authority to embezzle the funds inside the coffer??? If you can¡¯t exin this, I will immediately arrest you on charges of corruption!¡± Phillips immediately showed a face of injustice as he argued back: ¡°My Lord, I never embezzle a single copper!¡± Then this Philip spoke like he was full of grievance: ¡°Sir, you never cared about the finances the moment you stepped into the Northwest. You want to build a city, I tried to dissuade you, but you refused to listen. As such, I can only try my best to maintain everything for you, but I also have my difficulties!¡± At this point, he seemed to be determined: ¡°Do you remember when I first came in here I gave you a report?¡± Du Wei seemed stunned for a moment, then impatiently replied: ¡°I¡¯m not interested in these things, its fine with you looking after them.¡± Philip smiled bitterly: ¡°My Lord, you are a magician, so of course you aren¡¯t interested in this stuff. However, I have already exined everything in the report I gave you. It¡¯s just that you didn¡¯t look it over.¡± Du Wei then acted like he just recalled something. With a frown, he asked: ¡°The report, what happened?¡± ¡°My lord¡± Philip sighed: ¡°When we took over the Desa Province, the coffer only retained 190,000 gold coins! After so many years, the revenue is only that much!¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible!!¡± Once again, Totoro lost the chance to speak again because Du Wei jumped the gun again. With a shameful face, he stared at Philip: ¡°A whole province and you are telling me the reserve only has that much??!¡± ¡°But this is all true my Lord. My report has all the details.¡± Philip face looked bitter: ¡°You put all your energy into the great divine of magic research, so you ignored all this. Although I have repeatedly told you this, but you never noticed.¡± Then, Phillips seemed cautious and hesitant in his words; ¡°This number would of course make others question it. For a whole province, how can there be so little wealth in the reserve. But¡­.¡± ¡°But what.¡± Du Wei quickly asked. Coughing once, Philip bit his teeth: ¡°But, prior to your arrival, the Desa Province was always under Governor Bohan.¡± This sentence is already very obvious! Even for Totoro, he had to secretly ept this argument after listening to this exnation. It seems before Bohan surrendered the ce to this Duke, he had scraped every inch of valuable from thend. This interpretation is very reasonable. Like this, Du Wei and Philip both stared at each other, one with a face of anger and the other with a face of injustice. After a long while of standoff, Du Wei gritted his teeth and spoke: ¡°What a good governor Bohan! Humph! No wonder his attitude was so weird towards me while I was at Mn City. That crazy bastard left me an empty shell!¡± Du Wei then looked Philip with dissatisfaction: ¡°Why didn¡¯t you speak up about these things before?¡± Philip frowned with annoyance as he crossed his arms: ¡°I¡¯ve told you several times already, but you never listen. Your focus was always spent on your divine magic research.¡± After a long time, Du Wei lets out a long sigh as he gave a sincere and apologetic look: ¡°General Totoro¡­. I¡¯ve let you seen a joke. I never would have thought such a thing could happen under my own eyes.¡± After witnessing the show that just transpired before him, Totoro is also at a loss, not sure whether if the two were really going at it or just putting up a show. One thing is for sure though; he has a whole boatload of words he wanted to say but cannot. However, the fact that Magicians doesn¡¯t like to deal with mortal matters is also true. This was very unusual but also very reasonable. Aside from this, these types of young nobles lords are usually spoiled brats, so why would they know about financial management? Looking at it this way¡­. It seems the me really shouldn¡¯t be on this young Duke. It¡¯s all on that Bohan¡­¡­ ¡°General Totoro, please rest assured.¡± Du Wei immediately showcased a pair of obligatory appearance: ¡°I will immediately send someone to negotiate with that Bohan! No matter what, I will have him throw up whatever money he swallowed! When the timeses, I will definitely have the military funds in your hand!¡± Totoro can only feel his stomach churning¡­. Throw up? He¡¯s been in the Northwest for years and it¡¯s not the first time he¡¯s had dealings with this Bohan, so he¡¯s well aware of how powerful this guy is. The moment money falls in his hand, you can damn well expect it to disappear! And you are merely kid, what can you do? Wait till you get your money back then pay, wouldn¡¯t that be the same as never? Totoro immediately cut in: ¡°But your Dukeship, the military funds cannot be dyed¡­¡­¡± Not waiting for the general to finish, Du Wei already cut in: ¡°General, you see it too, we¡¯ve been yed by Bohan. All my money was swallowed up by him. I may be more than willing to help you, but my men already said it. Right now, the Desa Province really cannot afford to pay this military fund.¡± ¡°But your city¡­¡­¡± Totoro is still skeptical, after all, to be able to finance the construction of a whole city then what is the measly sum he is asking? ¡°I know what you want to say.¡± Du Wei spoke in a light tone: ¡°I won¡¯t hide it. The majority of the expenditure is from my private fund. My aide tried to dissuade me at the time, but I really didn¡¯t want to stay on that tattered looking Anglia City. As a result, I took out my own wealth to build the new city.¡± What else can he say? Even if he is here to retrieve the military fund, he¡¯s not shameless enough to request the military funds to be financed by Du Wei¡¯s personal wealth. In this case, whether it is publicly or privately, it is not reasonable. In private¡­¡­ When a powerful figure takes up a post like this, themon urrence is to stuff their own pockets as much as possible. Never once would you hear a story of someone losing money! Totoro is also a general, so it¡¯s not like he doesn¡¯t understand these types of political rules. In this case, he is just too embarrassed to say it aloud. In public¡­¡­ Using private money to pay the military, what are you trying to do? Going about it lightly, you are trying to bribe the military! Going about it heavily, you have treasonous heart! ¡°From the looks of it, i seem to be powerless.¡± Du Wei followed up: ¡°In my ce, please inform Army Head Rugaard of my deepest regret. But this matter is something I will try to make up. In a moment, I will send someone to meet governor Bohan in Mn City. No matter what, I will recover the money and find justice for the Northwestern Army!¡± Looking at the sincere appearance of this juvenile teenager, Totoro had a difficult time telling if this is fake or real. As for whether Bohan really swallowed everything before leaving the Desa Province, Totoro can easily find out. After all, the Northwestern Army has taken roots in this ce for decades, so they would of course have their own sources to verify the news. Thinking of this, Totoro has already stood up, his face looking a lot colder: ¡°In this case, I¡¯ll take my leave. I have to report back to the General Rugaard of what happened today¡­¡­ As to what happens next is not up to me.¡± Du Wei showed no attitude as he personally stood up to send the guy off. Even before the guy left, Du Wei added in a few words: ¡°General, this move of Bohan¡¯s really annoyed me, but¡­¡­. I¡¯m after all a new arrival in the Northwest and he is a veteran in these parts. I think he won¡¯t yield over this matter so easily. So¡­.. I fear it won¡¯t be enough with just my pressure. If necessary, I hope the Northwestern Army can also lend a hand and put some pressure on him. After all¡­.. You funds are also in there, is it not?¡± Totoro ponders for a moment. Not daring to be rash in his promise, he only said that he had to report it first before making a decision. Thus, Du Wei temporarily fooled the Northwestern army. Sending off the head of logistic department in the Northwestern army, Du Wei and Phillip both shut the door and had a goodugh in the background. Once Philip finished enjoying the moment, he frowned and said: ¡°My Lord, while we managed to make him go away for now, but he will definitelye back. Then¡­¡­¡± ¡°Then what.¡± Du Wei grunted: ¡°Bohan emptied my coffer and this is the fact. The Northwestern Army only needs to check and they will know we weren¡¯t lying. It¡¯s not like they can do anything because our finances are really tight. Plus, even if the Army Head Rugaardes in person, he won¡¯t have the face to ask me to pay out of pocket. The political circle has its own way of doing things. The ideal oue from this is to have the Northwestern Army go after that old guy Bohan¡­.. Hump! He swallowed such a big sum from me, if I don¡¯t give him some trouble, I won¡¯t feelfortable!¡± But then Du Wei also started to smile as he nced at Phillip: ¡°I¡¯m just venting. The Northwestern Army was always fighting with Bohan anyways, so it won¡¯t make a difference even if I added this tiny bit of fuel to the fire.¡± Philip frowned: ¡°It¡¯s just that this excuse will work for this quarter, but what about the next?¡± Du Wei is also frustrated inside. Smiling wryly, he answered: ¡°We can only stall as theye.¡± The god damn ¡°temporary regtion¡± sure is troublesome, but Du Wei also knows that the centralmand has no courage to repeal this legition! Prince Son just took power, so the main issue at hand is to stabilize the situation. Instead of hoping for the capital to send help, he be better off relying on himself. Philip thinks for a while before suddenly crying out: ¡°¡­¡­ Sir, I have an idea! After this, the Northwestern Army can start dreaming if they ever want to take another coin from us!¡± Chapter 202 chapter 202 ¡°preferential use¡± ¡°Let¡¯s talk first¡± Du Weies down with interest. From now on they won¡¯t get a single copper? ¡°It¡¯s what I came up with in recent days and it will certainly keep these warlords from poking around in our pockets! But¡­.. Such an approach might thoroughly infuriate the Northwestern army. Our present strength is not enough, and if we have a falling out with them¡­¡­¡± Philip hesitated in his next words: ¡°I suddenly came down with this idea when I saw how you demonstrated your great magical powers¡­.. This idea can work around the damn provisional decree!¡± The young man¡¯s eye gleamed with light as he chuckled: ¡°However, this idea of mine is only a legal loophole.¡± Legal loophole? Du Wei¡¯s eyes sparkled with admiration because he liked the style! ¡°My Lord, did you forget your other identity? You are a mage!¡± Phillip¡¯s lip curled into a sly smile. Du Wei was slightly stunned because he suddenly recalled a decree that held no importance to him! Rnd Empire, the preferential treatment use for mages! Due to the enormous powers wielded by a magician and their limited numbers, these individuals would always receive the best treatment and respect no matter where they went. To showcase this point, the Empire even set up a preferential use in the empire¡¯sw! It was mentioned before, a great emperor of old privately said: Other than the emperor himself, none is above thew; the only exception is a magician! Among the special treatments granted to a magician, the first one is that they are not legally bound by ordinaryws! Even when a mage performs a horrendous act, only the magic union can punish these people. For example: the asion where Du Wei was abducted by Gandalf. The military and magic union had a lot of word battles, but eventually, the issue was tossed aside and forgotten. In addition, another special treatment is the exception of taxes! The Empire¡¯sw expressly stated: all subjects of the Empire are to pay taxes; this is a citizen¡¯s duty! For someone like Du Wei that is familiar with thew book, he is surprised to find that even the noble ss is forced to pay taxes. Regarding this strange urrence, Du Wei felt a hint of civilized culture. While the only exceptions are the Mages! Thew code expressly points out that magicians are the empire¡¯s most valuable asset and has the privilege to not pay tax. No person shall impose tax on a magician; this includes the army and government! Being a noble and someone that only recently became a magician, Du Wei¡¯s brain had almost forgotten this rule existed. If not for Philip¡¯s reminder just now, he may never have remembered it. ¡°The regretful part is your honor, you cannot enjoy this use.¡± Philip smiled with pity: ¡°You may be a magician, but you are a nobleman first with the title of a Duke! Thew expressly states that your Duke status takes precedence. That is to say, you are a noble lord first before a magician, meaning you still have to pay taxes. That¡¯s why even though Desa Province is your territory; you would still have to yield under that damn provisional decree.¡± Du Wei began tough: ¡°Continue to speak your mind Philip.¡± ¡°My Lord.¡± Phillipsughs in return: ¡°Besides you, there are also other mages around us like Miss Vivian and Solskjaer, they are both qualified mages!¡± ¡°You mean¡­¡­¡± Phillips immediately exined his approach in detail: ¡°My lord, looking at it from the view of the imperialw, the Desa Province as a whole is your private property. This point is protected under the empire¡¯sw, but because of your noble status, you cannot enjoy the benefits of a magician. In fact, if you look through history itself, there has never been a noble lord with a double identity of a magician, you are the only special case. My approach to this is: If you trust Miss Vivian and Solskjaer, I can draw up a document dering the transfer of some agricultural properties to the two. Of course, this transfer is a gift with no strings attached. This way around, the future revenue from thesends will no longer be taxed. When the Northwestern Armyes around to ask for money, you can just say they are owned by magicians and the revenue you received is minuscule.¡± This really is an excellent solution! Du Wei¡¯s mind was immediately swayed by this loophole. Towards Vivian and Solskjaer, he would of course trust them, this is especially true towards little Vivian¡­¡­ Inwardly, Du Wei already considers Vivian his! My personal inclination leans toward Miss Vivian.¡± Phillip¡¯sugh was a little odd because everyone already knew of Du Wei¡¯s love affair with the littledy. Nevertheless, Philip still presented a point that can draw attention: ¡°My idea is not wless because once the property is transferred; thend then belongs to the beneficiary. If by then someone wants to go against you and send someone for assasination¡­.. In other words, if the person holding the property dies and there are no heirs to seed the property, then thend would naturally revert back to the empire. Miss Vivian is an eighth rank magician; I believe no one would be crazy enough to go after her head¡­.. My lord, once you marry thedy, then the property can then be transferred back to your name in the future.¡± Thest sentence caused Du Wei to unintentionally leak out a small smile. Marriage¡­¡­ Hmm, the matter still needs to wait, after all, their age is still too young at the moment. However, the littless seems to growing up a lottely, especially in the middle¡­¡­.. Pressing down his dirty thoughts, Du Wei quickly made a coughing sound to get back on track: ¡°This method may be an exploit on a loophole, but it¡¯s too obvious. Those guys over at the Northwestern Army aren¡¯t idiots. Even though they can¡¯t nominally fault us for doing it, but this is akin to showing them our real intent.¡± Philip slightly bowed: ¡°My Lord, I am your aide, so I can only offer advice. In the end, the final decision still falls on you.¡± Taking in a deep breath, Du Wei stood up and walked back and forth in the room. Only by making up his mind did he shake his head: ¡°The idea is good but we simply don¡¯t have the strength to have a falling out with the Northwestern Army. However, once we our foot is firmly rooted in this ce, it won¡¯t be toote to use this method.¡± Du Wei then smiled bitterly: ¡°Until we can stand up to the Northwestern Army, we must drag it out as long as possible when theye for money. If we can¡¯t, then just pay them.¡± Speaking up to here, Du Wei couldn¡¯t stop himself from swearing: ¡°Fuck it, just consider it protection money.¡± His words may sound pretty, but Du Wei understands full well how firmly rooted the Northwestern Army is. Not going to cover it up with pretty words, but did that General Totoro reallye here today to ask for money? For a vast army like the Northwestern Corp, their wealth should be vastly superior to Du Wei¡¯s Desa Province, so why would they care about a single term¡¯s revenue? If he had to guess their true intent, these people are here today to test Du Wei¡¯s attitude! If Du Wei acted submissively, then everything is good. If Du Wei¡¯s was acting tough and refuses to cooperate, then what awaits Du Wei is the vengeance from the Northwestern Army! Don¡¯t forget, both of the previous lords put up a strong front and suffered miserably at the hands of these warlords! Right now he still doesn¡¯t have the asset to put up a challenge. In the short term, the best way to go about it is to y a fool and bide for time. Understanding this principle, Du Wei soon came up with an idea. Penning a thank you letter, he had someone rushed it to the Northwestern Army¡¯s camp stationed at the border of the Nuling Province. The letter was addressed to the head of the Army, General Rugaard. Using the tone of noblemen, he wrote some humble greeting words to start it off before saying a neer like him still needed the Northwestern Army¡¯s helping hand if he wished to stay here. Aside from this, Du Wei also deliberately presented a request in the letter: he hoped the Northwestern Army would help him pressure Governor Bohan in returning the stolen funds. Du Wei clearly stated he is notcking money and that he only wanted to defend his dignity. Finally, thest part stated that if the Northwestern Army would help him, he would be willing to donate it all as a tribute to the troops stationed at the border. Using this letter, Du Wei tried his best to portray himself as a clueless and rash lord. He doesn¡¯t expect a single letter is enough to blind the bosses in the Northwestern Army, but if it can deflect their focus away from him or a good while then his goal is achieved. Once the letter was sent out, not a single news came back for a long time like it waspletely ignored. As for that army head General Rugaard, he seems to have no interest in Du Wei. Although it is not unusual for the main head of a battle corp to distance themselves from the local officials, the fact that he never even met Du Wei has left many to specte what was going on. Can it be that he looked down on Du Wei and is intentionally putting on airs? Doesn¡¯t seem to be it¡­¡­ The winter season of the year 960 of the Rnd Empire is finally here. The Northwest¡¯s winter is much colder than the south, but after stockpiling enough food for winter, the cold no longer seemed so terrifying. And within several months, Longbottom used his old connections to purchaserge amounts of cattle and winter wears from the local native prairie tribes. Like this, every soldier is able to stay warm in the winter this year. Construction of the new capital city is mostlyplete with many of the urban areas fully operational. Unlike before, there are always tens of thousands of citizens staying here and to achieve all this, Du Wei already expended 6 million gold coins. Even if there is a continuous flow of ie from his business in the capital, Du Wei is starting to feel a bit of financial pressure. After all, Desa Province still doesn¡¯t look like it can be self-sufficient in its current state. For now, he can only use his own private fund to do all this, but this is not a long term solution. How to make money in this barren Province is the main problem Du Wei needs to solve. When it came to business, Du Wei would never invest in something that only takes without giving back! Just as the New Year was about to arrive, a surprise guest came to visit. Lister Household¡¯s warrior, Dadaneier led a massive cargo fleet with him and came to Anglia City. To be able to reunite with this friend of his, Du Wei would of course happy. Running out to meet him, the two gave each other a warm greeting hug. ¡°God, Dadaneier, you finally came!¡± Du Weiughed as he looked at this old friend: ¡°I thought you forgotten about me!¡± Chapter 203 part 1 Chapter 203 ¡°Marquise of Lister¡¯s request¡± (part 1) Facing Du Wei¡¯s enthusiasm, Dardaneier is somewhat apologetic: ¡°Du Wei¡­¡­ Oh, should be Duke. Haha, how could I ever forget your kindness? I have long wanted toe see you; it¡¯s just that herdyship sent me out on a trip with the fleet, that¡¯s why I was sote ining. This time, I¡¯ve brought along some new year¡¯s gift from the marquise!¡± Seeing the gifts sent over by the Lister family, even Du Wei had to gasp for a breath of cold air! Compared to thest batch of gifts, this time around can be considered luxurious to the extreme! Beyond the countless number of precious treasures, Marquise of Lister sent over something Du Weicked the most: Enough high quality equipment to outfit 5,000 soldiers and 1000 war horses. Lastly, there are 4,000 young ves! ¡°Outside of these gifts, there is also me.¡± Dadaneier smiled at Du Wei: ¡°My Lord, remember the words I said to you in the frozen forest? I vowed that for the rest of life, I will closely stay by your side! The marquise already agreed to my request. Now that I¡¯m here, I won¡¯t have to go back!¡± Du Wei is surprised to no end because the number of staff he can rely on is simply too little. Though his skill isn¡¯t the best, but Dadaneier¡¯s origin is of the Lister household and a close associate of the marquise. More importantly, he had plenty of experience from his adventuring days and is truly faithful towards Du Wei! ¡°My Lord, I also brought along a letter from the Marquise.¡± Dadaneier then removed a sealed letter from his bosom and carefully handed it over: ¡°Herdyship asked me to convey to you. Once you finish the letter, even if you¡¯re unable to decide, you can take your time to consider. However, no matter what your decision is, please be sure to give her a reply.¡± Du Wei was stunned: ¡°Oh, do you know what request the Marquise has for me?¡± Dardanelle shrugged his shoulders in reply: ¡°This¡­ I don¡¯t know, herdy wrote everything in the letter.¡± Du Wei did not bother asking for more; instead, he enthusiastically brought Dadaneier into the governor¡¯s castle. That night, Du Wei he held a banquet and invited all of his subordinates to attend. From his point of view, Dadaneier¡¯s loyalty is unquestionable because he did not leak Hussein¡¯s secret even after all this time. During the party, Du Wei publicly appointed Dadaneier as themander in chief of the new city¡¯s defense garrison. On top of this, he is also officially awarded him the title of being a guardian knight of the Tulip Household. Knowing Dadaneier is a friend that once weathered true hardship alongside the Duke; everyone was very warm in their wee. It wasn¡¯t untilte into the night did the celebratione to a stop, but once it did, Du Wei had Marde arrange a room for Dadaneier in the governor¡¯s manor. With everything settled, Du Wei returned to his own room and opened the Marquise letter. Towards the current female head of the Lister family, Du Wei greatly admires her. As the richest family on the maind, their wealth even rivals that Tanshan weapons dealer. In addition, thisdy also holds a nobility title, so she is definitely a force to be reckoned with. Though he managed to conveniently help the Lister Household in the frozen forest, but the other party already gave him loads of gifts when he returned to the Rowling ins. Then there was also his business with the mercenary groups in the North. If not for the Lister family¡¯s care, things wouldn¡¯t have gone so smoothly¡­¡­ Arguably, even if the Lister family owed him a favor, the other party should have already repaid him by now., yet now, they are sending such gifts again¡­¡­ Du Wei only briefly nced at the gifts today and he could already estimate the worth at roughly more than a million gold coins. If the other is so kind then it¡¯s not a simple favor. More than likely, it¡¯s a request for him¡­. Sure enough, this letter is clearly personally penned by the Marquise. Delicate and modest, the style is fitting that of noble women. The first part is just some congrattory words of how he became a Duke and was awarded the Desa Province. Then what came next are a few New Year greetings and how Dadaneier is hence forth ssified as Du Wei¡¯s subordinate. The majority of the letter may contain only praising words, but everything was carefully phrased and nned out. Clearly, this marquise is a well-educateddy because of thecking ass kissing feeling one would normally get from such letters, instead, he could only feel a sense offort after reading it. Then at the end of the letter, the focused changed to that of how Du Wei is an acquaintance of Mr. Blue Ocean from the capital. One of the key points here is her expression of admiration towards this famous schr and that she also has a younger brother and sister. Due to their young age, she is worried over theirck of discipline. That¡¯s why, she sent someone over to Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s ce with the hope of having him or one of his student be their teacher. Unfortunately, the other party outright rejected her request. The marquise exined that she did not dare force the famous schr, but since Du Wei has so many of Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s students under him, she is hoping he could put in a few words¡­¡­ Dear Du Wei, for the sake of both household¡¯s rtionship, please lend a helping hand. The Lister Household will definitely return the kindness and so on¡­¡­ After Du Wei puts the letter down, he started to contemte the idea for a while. The matter is neither big nor small, but such a request from the Marquise is really intriguing. Schr Blue Ocean¡¯s fame may be far and wide, but based on the Lister Household¡¯s status, it wouldn¡¯t be hard to invite some other famous schr, so why? Even if they can¡¯t get Mr. Blue Ocean, they still want his student to do the job? Du Wei may have 80 student of Blue Ocean, but even like this he is stillcking in man power, especially when it¡¯s been so busy recently. It can be said that every one of these schr is carrying a wide range of duties, and now he is supposed to send one of these guy¡¯s to act as a tutor in the Lister Household? Du Wei really is somewhat reluctant to do it. Although it¡¯s a bit difficult, but the Lister Household really have been good to him and even sent Dadaneier to his side. If he didn¡¯t return such a big favor, how can he possibly make it slide? Just as he was about to make a reply, Du Wei suddenly had a thought and called for Philip. Philip still wasn¡¯t asleep yet because in recent days, he was always working till dawn over the migration matter. After Du Wei sent for Philip, he simply asked if he knew about the asion when the Lister Family asked Blue Ocean to be their teacher. Philip thinks for a moment and said, ¡°There is indeed such an asion. However teacher thoroughly rejected the request that day. From rumors, the young master of the Lister family is really smart and his personally is also very good. All of us originally thought teacher would agree, but who would have thought teacher would reject it so thoroughly without any leeway left¡­.. Of course, as his student, we did not dare ask about the details.¡± Philip may say it like this, but Du Wei saw through Philip and knew the guy was hiding something. This is after all a private matter so it¡¯s not his ce to pry any further. Letting Philip go, Du Wei then called for Dadaneier to his room and exined the request from the marquise; ¡°Dadaneier, I also didn¡¯t want to make it difficult, but I can¡¯t call the shots in this matter either. From what I heard, the Marquise¡¯s younger brother is quite smart, so why did schr Blue Ocean refuse the request? If it was just some general thing, then I can grant herdyship¡¯s wish with a few words, but I fear there is some hidden story behind this. It may not be good for an outsider like me to speak. You know it too, most of the people supporting my ce here is from Mr. Blue Ocean.¡± Dardanelle hesitated for a little before speaking: ¡°My Lord, I didn¡¯t know the letter was such a request¡­. Hmm, I shouldn¡¯t be saying this before, but I¡¯m no longer part of the Lister Household. Since you are my master now, I can¡¯t hide anything from you if you ask. From what I heard, herdyship¡¯s father, the previous family head, is good friends with Mr. Blue Ocean when they were young! Butter¡­. It seems there was some friction between the two¡­..¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei was interested: ¡°The Marquise¡¯s father had such a rtionship with Mr. Blue Ocean?¡± Dadaneier thought for a moment: ¡°Not many people know this, but from what I hear, the previous head of the family was very good with Mr. Blue Ocean. It wasn¡¯t untilter that they had a falling out due to their ideology. Mr. Blue Ocean spends most of his effort caring for the people while the Lister head only cares for his family business. Days gone by, Mr. Blue Ocean felt he was too profit orientated¡­..¡± Dadaneier smiled wryly at this point: ¡°Everyone knows that the Lister Household only started to grow at the hands of the former head. Back then, there was indeed some shady business¡­. So¡­..¡± Chapter 203 part 2 Chapter 203 ¡°Marquise of Lister¡¯s request¡± (part 2) Du Wei nodded because he is vaguely starting to grasp the whole story. Although he started off without much knowledge of the Lister family¡¯s background, things have changed over time as he increased his interaction with the noble circle ¨C this included the less glorious deeds of the previous head of the Lister household. For the development of the family, the previous head had his beautiful daughter marry a much older aristocrat, only to cling onto the other party¡¯s prominent status. Only by doing this did the Lister Household prosper all the way till now. Also, from rumors¡­.. The Lister Household had their hands in some prohibited things such as smuggling from the frozen forest, maritime trades, and even some illegal activities. When he first learned of this, Du Wei actually wasn¡¯t all that surprised. After all, whether it is this world or his previous, which wealthy family didn¡¯t have something to hide? This isn¡¯t all that unusual. Besides, after the Marquise inherited the family wealth, their fame gradually reversed for the good after changing their method of doing things. ¡°From rumors, this is what caused the rift between Mr. Blue Ocean and the Lister head. Even in death, they will not cross each other¡¯s path. However, the Lister headter visited Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s residence, but he was shut out behind closed doors.¡± Du Wei knit his brows in frustration: ¡°If you say it like this, how am I supposed to help if Mr. Blue Ocean is so firmly against it. I fear every student of Mr. Blue Ocean already knew of this and when I exined this to Philip just now, he seemed to be hiding something¡­.. Since it¡¯s a rule set by Mr. Blue Ocean himself, I dare not force them to break it¡­¡­ Also, from the way Philip was trying to dodge the topic when I mentioned the letter, it¡¯s obvious he is not willing to do it either.¡± Aside from this, Du Wei also has another idea: from hearsay, the Marquise is said to be a very clever person that does things extremely carefully. Since she already knew the details and still presented such a thorny problem¡­.. Then I fear the meaning in this is not so simply. Du Wei thought for a moment before sighing, ¡°I¡¯ll reply to thedy then. For this matter, I¡¯ll do my best to be the middle man and spin it in her favor, but I can¡¯t make the decision on this.¡± After delivering his letter on horseback, Mrs. Lister¡¯s reply was really fast. The letter expressly stated she understood his difficulties and dared not ask for too much. However, she presented another proposal to him and that is whether or not her younger siblings can stay at the Northwest with him at his house. This way, as time grows long, they might be able to learn something from observing these elites from Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s school. Maybe, just maybe, these apprentices might change their minds after getting to know her siblings better. This letter of the Marquise was written very sincerely and she even mentioned how her father had a misunderstanding with Mr. Blue Ocean. After his father grew old, he mentioned this is his greatest lifelong regret. If they can solve this split between the two family, then it will greatly sooth his father¡¯s grievance. This specific point did in fact eliminate some doubts in Du Wei. Considering the Lister Family¡¯s wealth, what other famous schr can¡¯t they invite? As it is understood that this matter is to heal the grievances between their elders, then it¡¯s quite understandable that they are so persistent. Send them then! It¡¯s not like Du Wei¡¯s governor castle can¡¯t amodate them. Let¡¯s not mention two people; even if they send a hundred, it¡¯s still not a problem. On the spot, Du Wei sent back a formal reply to Mrs. Lister¡¯s request. Du Wei also didn¡¯t conceal it from Phillip and his peers, after all, he only promised to be the middle man. Although he could technically force them, but he won¡¯t based on his own principles. After Philip learned of this, he didn¡¯t object, instead, he only sighed like Du Wei made a mistake: ¡°My Lord, this matter doesn¡¯t seem so simply¡­.¡± Du Wei slightly frowned: ¡°Your take on this?¡± Phillips seems to be somewhat concerned. Noticing this, Du Wei only smiled as he poured the young schr a cup of tea: ¡°Philip, you know it too, my hope is that we can speak freely by my side. We¡¯ve only just began our effort and only by uniting together will we be able to carve out a new picture in the Northwest. Regardless of the nature of the topic, you can tell me. Fear not and don¡¯t concern yourself, I will not me you.¡± Philip also started to smile: ¡°This matter, if carefully looked at, is your personal business and isn¡¯t much rted to us.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Philip faintly smiled as his eyes sparked a sh of light: ¡°My Lord, in another two months, it should be your 15th birthday.¡± Seeing how Du Wei still didn¡¯t get it yet, Phillip slowly added in thest sentence: ¡°Imperial decree, men of 15 years of age is officially considered an adult. At that time, you can get married. I heard The Marquise¡¯s sister is only 16 years of age, highly intelligent and extremely beautiful. From rumors, it is said this girl is even more beautiful than the Marquise when she was young! Since she was 14 years ago, the number of nobilities proposing for marriage nearly broke the door of the Lister Family¡­¡­ Your honor, she is sending such a prized sister to your side at this time¡­. As time gets longer¡­. Hey-hey!¡± Du Wei¡¯s jaw dropped and he couldn¡¯t stop himself from being stunned. Phillip continues: ¡°My Lord, the type of marriage alliance is all toomon in the noble circle. The Lister Family may be wealthy right now, but their head is after all a woman and a widow at that. Though she may be titled a Marquise, but her title is not hereditary. After she is gone, then what? Even if they are more wealthy at the time, they are still only a merchant family at that time. Without a strong backing, it¡¯s certain people wille bulling through the door. For the family¡¯s future, this sort of thing is normal!¡± Du Wei couldn¡¯t help narrow his eyes. Seeing how Du Wei showed no signs of impatience, Philip decided to bring everything out: ¡°Then there¡¯s also your lordship. Scouring the entire empire, is there a better match than you? At such a young age, you are already a duke and the regent holds in high esteem. When Prince Son takes the throne, it¡¯s certain you will be the leading figure within the elite circle! But more importantly, you are alreadying to the marriageable age, yet you¡¯re still not engaged! Generally speaking, the children¡¯s of the nobility would set their marriage matters long before theiring of age ceremony¡­ If they can tie themselves against a huge tree like you, then the Lister Family¡¯s future is secured for theing decades!¡± Philip words immediately woke Du Wei up¡­.. Who would have thought he would be a perfect bachelor?! Now that he thought about, Du Wei suddenly recalled how the nobles in the capital would always invite him to their home and intentionally bring their daughters up to him ¨C this included minors. Back then, he never thought about it like this and would usually decline the invitation using the excuse of magic experimentation. It wasn¡¯t until he moved the magic academy did these invitations slowly decline. Now that he thought about it, most of the nobles were probably hitting up on this idea! Philip continues to smile: ¡°My Lord, you will soon be going through theing of age ceremony. The majority of the noble men¡¯s would marry not long after. Since it¡¯s such a rare chance and the Lister family is not a bad candidate, why not ept it? The Marquise has great influence in the noble circles so it will be a great boon to your career.¡± Du Wei suddenly sighed as he nced at Philip: ¡°Philip, you¡¯ve only been here for half a year, yet your personality has changed quite a lot from when you were in the capital. If it was back then, you never would have thought of something like a marriage alliance.¡± Philip was stunned because he thought Du Wei was angry: ¡°My Lord, I¡¯m just being considerate for you.¡± ¡°Enough, I don¡¯t me you.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°It¡¯s just that the political rookie back then is now a veteran that can discuss such heavy deeds with me. Although I¡¯m pleased with your progress and understands your loyalty to me¡­. But s, power can really change someone.¡± Not waiting for Philip to speak, Du Wei is already shaking his head: ¡°I don¡¯t intend to marry so early, but¡­. Hey-hey, even if I marry, I don¡¯t want to associated with those marriage deals among the nobility circle. I believe you should be aware of what I want.¡± Philip suddenly had a revtion and recalled how the Duke is on very good terms with Vivian. Thinking of this, Philip could not help but let out a long sigh¡­.. My lord, although you are a mage, but you are also a Duke. To be part of thismunity, there are a lot of times where one cannot call the shots¡­.. Chapter 204 Chapter 204 ¡°secret city¡± As time goes by, two months have already gone by in a blink of an eye. Although the winter snow has already receded, the chilling wind still lingers in this barrenndscape. Nheless, there are already evidence of spring in certain locations. The Northwest may be and of bitter cold, though a bit short, but the spring season can be considered the best here. The immigration process of Lon City has mostly beenpletely. At the moment, the number of upancies in the city numbers around 100,000, this included almost of the poption in Anglia City. The New capital city is located next to the Lon Lake. Equipped a rarely seen fertilendscape in the Northwest, plus a well maintained road set, the general area around this miracle city is starting to show some life. As for the migration department, they would always be swamped with long lines of people from around the province. Even if these individuals did not really want to move, they would stille around just to have a look at this miracle city in the warm season! (1 li = 500 meter) Just 10 li outside the Lon City, a new military barrack have already been constructed and Du Wei¡¯s first Tulip infantry division is formallypleted. This 20,000 strong division is established around the 4,000 rebel soldiers as the backbone and a lot of new recruits. Later on, in order to solve the recruitment problem, Du Wei once again sent his people to Big Ear city and bribed that Biaideluo. Over the span of several months, more than 2,000 prisoners were sent over again. Though Biaideluo wasn¡¯t very good in the political circle, but in this Sin City, he holds absolute authority. With only a few strokes of his pen, he could easily say they died or illness or exhaustion along their journey. Eventually, such a whopping figure is a little too big, so Biaideluo outright reported a gue and anyone he sent to Du Wei is presumed dead from the gue. The uppermand could care less for a ce like Big Ear city, much less when there¡¯s a gue running rampant. As he grew bolder, Biaideluo even had all the prisonersing in for this spring sent over to Du Wei while they were still in transport. Toward these prisoners, Du Wei promised they only needed to serve for three years before they are given their freedom. After the duration, he will even reward those with merit a piece ofnd that they can call their own! Since the Desa Province is sparsely popted anyways, it¡¯s not like the reward will effect anything. Now, the number of soldiers in Du Wei¡¯s first Tulip division consisted of 4,000 rebel soldiers, 2,000 prisoners, and more than 10,000 recruits. If he really measured the quality of the troops, the ones that stood out the most other than the 4,000 elite regr troops are the 2,000 prisoners. During training sessions, more often than not, the capacity of these prisoners are much higher than the regr recruit! Well, this is to be expected. When Du Wei spent his money to buy these prisoners, he only picked the youngest and strongest among them. He also did some background checks, but then again, there wasn¡¯t much to verify to begin with. To be stuck in such a ce like Sin City, their background can¡¯t be all that big, or else their family would have already rescued them. Just like Du Wei said, when these already desperate prisoners saw the ray of hope given to them, their willingness to endure hardship is much higher. In only a short period of time, quite a few of these individuals were alreadying into shape. From Knight Robert¡¯s view, he believed their fighting capability is only slightly lowered than the regr soldiers in the Northern Corp. In recent months, General Totoro of the Northwestern Army sent someone over twice for money. In the first time, Du Wei once again used the ¡®dragging¡¯ method to fool the other party. Then for the second time, the other side¡¯s attitude was much tougher. Du Wei thought it over and decided he still wasn¡¯t willing to have a falling out with the Northwestern Army just yet. On top of this, the annual spring drill was drawing near, so this was definitely not the time to make any mistake. In the end, he finally gave in and paid the sum. In his mind, he considered the payment a fee to buy a safeguard. Compared to the fully outfitted first infantry division, the cavalry division could use some work. After all, the training process of a cavalry is much more difficult. While the people of the Northwest is all weathered individuals, but Longbottom¡¯s selection criteria is exceptionally strict. So far, the number of cavalry troops in Du Wei¡¯s hand only numbered around 3,000 strong, half of which consisted of Longbottom¡¯s old unit and the remaining half of new recruits. Even though Longbottom¡¯s level of abuse towards these new recruit could make anyone sigh with regret, but Longbottom assured Du Wei each of these cavalry kngihts can match up to any cavalry unit of the empire. The truth is Longbottom originally recruited 5,000 people under him, but due to the harshness of his training, a lot of these people could not take it and left. Also, some were not meeting Longbottom¡¯s requirement and were eventually kicked out also. Thenter on, Longbottom even brought with him the remaining recruits and went out on a mysterious tour. No one knows what they did, but after they returned, their numbers dwindled once again. It wasn¡¯t until Du Wei asked him that he learned the truth. During that trip, Longbottom actually brought these people out for real life bat¡±! ording to Longbottom¡¯s im, a soldier cannot be a real soldier if they never seen blood! The reason for this is because sometimes the bravest of souls during a training session would instead be a useless deadweight, and some normally weak bodied individuals could be the fiercest of fighters when ced in a battlefield. For this reason, he had these people outfitted with light armor and a few days of provision to go out to face off against multiple groups of bandits hiding in the desert. Sure enough, when they came back, the temperaments of these new recruits all had a significant difference. Gone is the air of inexperience and what came out of it the sense of bloodshed from their eyes! Longbottom may be harsh when leading, but he is definitely kind to his subordinates. After returning to the city of miracles, Longbottom immediately brought everyone to the brothel. In that single night, they managed to create so much trouble that Dadaneier had quite the headache in cleaning up the mess because he is after all the city defense chief. If not for Du Wei¡¯s instruction that as long as they didn¡¯t step out of bound too much, Dadaneier would have really tossed them all into jail cells. Early in the morning hours, a carriage was carefully heading towards the governor castle at Lon City. With more than 10 cavalry knights as escort, these individuals all looked vignt as if they are ready for anything. The passenger of this carriage is in fact Du Wei. When he received wordst night, he immediately got ready and started to head for Lon City. In reality, Du Wei¡¯s residence had long been moved to the new capital. This immense castle imitating the Rowling family castle in the Rowling ins will hence forth act as his home and work office. It¡¯s just that Du Wei had remained behind during this time in the already abandoned Anglia City. After Anglia City was emptied of its residence, Du Wei not only didn¡¯t abandon it, he even had took some manpower and materials to repair the copsed part of the wall. Anglia City may not be eligible for a capital, but because of its remoteness and the fact that it is backed against the Kilimanjaro Mountain, Du Wei had other ns for it. As early as a month ago, after thest of its residents moved out, Du Wei ordered the city to be sealed off before beginning a wide arrange of constructions! Because in Du Wei¡¯s n, this geographically isted city would be the most ideal location for his backup production base! Of course, the stuff produced here is not some ordinary weapon. There are no minerals in this barrenndscape, so Du Wei cannot create conventional weapons. Nheless,¡­.. Du Wei had a lot of things that he needed to manufacture! For example, things he¡¯s not willing to expose yet and some secret weapon! Besides, what other ce is more fitting to be a production nt than an abandoned city? No matter how tattered Anglia City was, it is still a city. Once the external wall is repaired and stationed with guards, no spy or undercover agent can expect to leave or get in! And the people in the city have no need to leave because it is more than enough to be self-sufficient. With numerous living facilities like houses and well, Du Wei even set aside arge plot ofnd for farming! Using a closed off environment, this ce will absolutely keep his secrets away from prying eyes! For this abandoned city, Du Wei havepletely handed over the management of the ce to the two geniuses Solskjaer and the big headed Seth. Afterwards, he bought about a thousand ves from the Sin City and had them ced in this Anglia City ¨C the group consisted of women, kids, and old gramps. Towards them, DU Wei promised that after give years ofbor, he will grant them their freedom again! On top of this, they will even be given their ownnd! As for these people, they suddenly went from being a ve to Du Wei¡¯s production nt worker. What caused these workers to both fear and be surprised is that prisoner ves usually die off from a couple of years in harshbor. However, in this production nt, the work was far from what they had imagined! They even had a veryfortab0le homes to live in (originally belonged to the moved residents, these homes were left with ample food supplies) Du Wei even gave the order that they not only get to take a break during noon; they can even go back and rest in the evening. And the work is not too heavy, just a little odd¡­ .. Putting up several workshops in the city, these prisoners were then started their mass production cycle under Solskjaer¡¯s guidance¡­¡­ These people would of course not know this, but the stuff they were producing was the fire element (gunpowder) created by Solskjaer. And the work done by Seth¡¯s people was even more bizarre. In therge stretches ofnd set aside for farming inside the city, Seth had his ves graft all kinds of trees. For those with talent, he set these individuals aside and had them learn how to engrave! In the production base, the rules aren¡¯t that strict. Dinner and break is garunteed, but Du Wei did have one rule and that is none can leave the city! During this period, there was only one guy that tried to secretly flee, but before he could even get to the gate, he was already snatched up by the guards. Learning of this, Du Wei ruthlessly had his soldiers break the guy¡¯s leg in front of everyone. ¡°I can give you hope¡­ ¡­ But I can also take your life at any time!¡± Du Wei announced this to everyone: ¡°So within the next five years, you better keep this in mind!¡± Early today, Du Wei had no choice but to leave his production base because he received news that the Lister siblings are about to arrive at Lon City. In view of the good rtions between him and the Lister Household, Du Wei would of course have to personally go receive them as the master of the Desa Province. In particr, he is quite curious towards the little sister of the marquise¡­¡­ Chapter 205 part 1 Chapter 205 ¡°stunning¡± (part one) When Du Wei¡¯s carriages sped into Lon City, the day was already getting dark. Though the visibility was slowly deteriorating, the castle guards outside dare not ck off. The moment they saw the Tulip g flying in the air, they already knew who wasing so they quickly got into position and cleared the road for his arrival. Regarding this newly constructed castle, Du Wei is very satisfied with it. Back in his previous life, he had the chance to travel the west and managed to witness some of the most glorious castles used in the middle ages. Yearning for the something simr, he would of course go all the way since the opportunity presented itself. Compared to the Rowling Castle, this one is evenrger by a few margins and equipped with several water wells to boot! And to increase the defense capability of the ce, Du Wei specifically had his people introduce groundwater to the moat dug around the castle walls. Even if war does ur in the future and the outer perimeter ispromised, they can easily hide behind the inner castle for a year or so. By imitating the style of the Buckingham Pce in the United Kingdom, what came after the wooden bridge on top of the moat is the castle¡¯s gate. With brightly outfitted guards standing on each side, none of them made any movement even when Du Wei¡¯s carriage approached. The only noticeable gesture was how much livelier they looked when they saluted with their right hand besides their head. Once inside the Castle, the first one to wee Du Wei is naturally Marde and from this loyal servant¡¯s mouth, he was made aware the preparations for the dinner banquet is well underway. These past days, Lon city has been bustling with celebration. Everywhere you looked, one would see a festive scene and even the usually stern looking patrol guards had a new set of uniforms on just for this asion. Besides this, something unique and out of ordinary urred. It is far toomon to see the faithful praying in temples towards their worshipped gods, but in Lon City, the faithful only prays to the Duke¡¯s Castle. Every day,rge batches of citizens would stand outside the castle wall and openly and loudly say their prayers before going about their business. After Du Wei came to the Northwest, time and time again he would create miracle in front of everyone. From the grain harvest to the construction of the greatest city the Northwest have ever seen, everyone witnessed these events first hand so let¡¯s not even mention the tax exception he gave these poor farmers. Aside from these points, there is also one more thing. Though he didn¡¯t actually give the order, Longbottom had more than on one asion brought his subordinates out into the wilderness and decimated the bandit groups which gued the Northwest for so many years. Not knowing the ins and outs of this, everyone had mistakenly credited Du Wei for Longbottom¡¯s effort. Hence the batches of peopleing in front of the castle walls to pray for Du Wei¡¯s longevity and wellbeing. In their minds, as long as Du Wei is lord of the Northwest, their lives will continue to prosper. That¡¯s why, when word got out the Duke is about to go through his 15th birthday in two days, the residence of the city were boiling with anticipation that it even overshadowed the joyous mood usually reserved for the summer celebration. For Du Wei¡¯s birthday, the castle would of course not lose out to the general populous. Every day, the staffs were breaking their legs running around organizing everything that none could even rest. Du Wei actually didn¡¯t want to make it tooplicated because he isn¡¯t very used to such big events, but Philip quickly shot down his idea when he caught wind of Duke¡¯s intent. His argument was: If the Duke doesn¡¯t make it a big event, then it will make him look shrewd and hurt his prestige. ¡°Young Master, dinner is ready. Following your orders, I asked around and heard the Lister family is from the south so I purposely made the food with a southern taste¡­..¡± Just as Marde was reporting the details, several cavalry knights suddenly came up to them from behind. Jumping off their mounts, they immediately kneeled and saluted Du Wei: ¡°My lord, the Lister household¡¯s carriage is already at our doorstep!¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°Hmm, they¡¯re finally here.¡± No longer able to change his wear, Du Wei simply stood at the doorway to greet his guests. Late in the evening, the Castle guards aligned in two roles across the bridge sounded the Horn and hung two giant gs across the castle walls; one being the golden tulip g and the other of the Lister Household. Du Wei originally didn¡¯t n to y it so thick; after all, it is only 2 children that areing to meet him. However, when he thought it over, he changed his mind. They are the Marquise¡¯s sibling and the boy is the only heir to the Lister fortune so its certain he will be the future lord of his Household. For his own interest, it¡¯s better to show some goodwill. It¡¯s just a pity that the Dadaneier- this former Lister subordinate0 is out of town. Three days ago, he went to the Northwest corridor to meet up with some natives to purchase some horse and cattle¡¯s. Under the honoring sound of the horn, a team of white horsed cavalry unit slowly came up to the gate. Uniformly dressed in a standard silvery armor, each of them looked like they were selected based on their handsome looks and young age. Not only was that, even the white steeds under their crotch arepletely outfitted with a matching silvery armor¡­¡­ With one look, Du Wei can already tell the bunch is the Lister Household¡¯s personal cavalry unit known as the ¡°White Feather Knights¡±. Within the Lister Household, only the marquise is with a non-hereditary noble title, so they are technically not allowed to own a private army. But who are they kidding? For such a famed and wealthy family, there¡¯s no way they can go about without protection. Using the excuse of a mercenary group, the Lister Household created a phantompany outside the family name and bypassed the limitation ced upon them, thus creating a private fighting force they can rely upon. Imperial Decree: apart from the hereditary nobles, none can wield a private army! However the empire does allow the wealthy to hire mercenaries. The truth is, everyone already knew what the Lister Household was doing, but why would they go make trouble for such a wealthy family without reason? It¡¯s just that due to imperial decree, the number of mercenaries hired cannot exceed 500 people, so the roster of this white feather knight unit always had the odd number of 499. Regarding this 499 number, Du Wei also know there is more to it inside. There¡¯s a saying, ¡°for every policy, there will always be a countermeasure¡±. The age of chivalry may have long passed, but it did have a glorious past, so the empire¡¯s attitude towards the knight profession is still quite tolerable. The biggest trick here is: In addition to the knight themselves, they are allowed to be apanied by four squires. Though on a regr basis, they would normally be responsible for cleaning and repairing weapons, but when a actually battle begins, they can also partner up to fend off the enemy¡­.. And the amazing party is that¡­. The Squire¡¯s name is not required to be on the official roster list! In other words, the white feather knights may only number at 499 in the official list, but if you include the squires, they are in actual fact well over 2,000! Unlike Du Wei that has a territory to defend, this unit of 2,000 is more than enough to secure the safety of a merchant family like the Lister Household. Looking at this a team of silver armored knights and their white steeds, Du Wei could not help but sigh in disappointment. Though the current head of the Lister house is a woman, but the fact that even the guards are fancily outfitted to bring out their most beautiful side is too wasteful. Piling up unnecessary gears just for appearance sake, Du Wei can already imagine how powerless they would be in actualbat. Although he was shaking his head inside, but Du Wei¡¯s appearance said otherwise. Masked with a weing smile, no one would ever guess how disappointed he really was. Well, at least this team of white knights still had their dismounting posture right. Coming down in unison, they quickly lined up on either side of the bridge. Then from behind, several horse drawn carriages slowly came up to the gateway. The carriages may seem average from the surface, but that was not true. With Du Wei¡¯s eagle eye, he can already specte the price to produce it far exceeded the one gifted to him by Prince Son. Matched with numerous perks hidden under the surface, the carriages were neither overly arrogant norcking, truly fitting that of someone from the upper ss. When the carriage came to a stop before the castle¡¯s gate, the ground had long been covered with red carpets to wee their arrival. As if he was already used to such scenes, the leader of these white knights casually walked up to his master¡¯s carriage and opened the door. Subsequently, a slender and dainty foot stepped off the carriage and the delicate figure began to draw closer with each walking step. God as my witness, even the way this woman bent her waist to get off the carriage was beautiful! It was as if each of her movement she made was naturally like this, elegant and refined¡­¡­ When she first looked up at him, even Du Wei¡¯s heart began to mercilessly pound against his chest he saw the girl¡¯s face! What a face¡­. What a beauty!!! Chapter 205 part 2 Chapter 205 of ¡°stunning¡± (part two) Considering the number of beauties Du Wei had encountered in this world, it should be quite a lot already! Vivian ¨C a sweet innocent beauty that would cause those around her to not only want to bully her but also protect her at the same time. Rolynn ¨C a female knight with a seductively hot body. Due to her devilish body and experience, Rolynn is able to fully take advantage of her natural assets to maximize her charm. Joanna ¨C the kind of icy beauty with a cool and aloof expression. Even though you know she is dangerous, one can¡¯t help but be attracted to her just like the snowkes in the winter months. Among everyone, the one that stood out the most in terms of facial feature is without a doubt Queen Medusa, or better known as Nicole in her human form. In Du Wei¡¯s opinion, this snake beauty is already at the pinnacle of humanity. Just from her face alone, there is not a spec of fault he can pick out from it! In fact, she so beautiful that it¡¯s frightening! If Du Wei really had topare everyone to Nicole, all of the other girls are still slightly inferior to Medusa by half a mark. But today¡­ Today! Du Wei has finally met up with another woman that wouldn¡¯t lose out to Queen Medusa in any way! This girl in front of him should be the Marquise¡¯s little sister. No matter what he did, Du Wei simply can¡¯t find the precise words to describe the girl in front of him. Yet, just when he thought to give up, Du Wei suddenly remembered a poem from his previous life that was sometimes used by the ancients to describe a peerless beauty: With a spirit as memorizing as the moon, her face is as alluring as a flower. With a body like ice, her bones are cut from jade and her skin is as white as snow! This girl before him is without a doubt a true reincarnation of this saying! On top of this, the air around her seems to radiate with charm like an elegant swan in ake. Even the way she smiles seems to brighten up the atmosphere around her! Just that¡­¡­ From what is known, the Marquise¡¯s sister should only be 16 years of age. Yet the girl in front of him is so attractive and beautiful¡­. Not only is her face blossoming with a sense of maturity, even her figure is exploding with a seductive charm due to her tight fitted dress, so where in the world is the fresh bud of a 16 year old? From her looks, this girl should be at least 18-19 years old, right? Could it be that she is the maid of the Marquise¡¯s sister? But from her elegant temperament, he can tell she¡¯s not because a maid wouldn¡¯t have such character. However, Du Wei quickly changed his mind because thinking it over; he realized the majority of the beauties in this world are known to ripen quickly. Du Wei¡¯s little moment of awkwardness was imprinted in everyone¡¯s eyes, but unlike everyone else, the white feather knights seemed oblivious to this and even acted like they were ustomed to such reactions. Realizing his manor, Du Wei loudly coughed once to knock everyone back to their senses. Then slightly bending his waist, he performed a highly formal greeting and reached out his arm: ¡°Miss Lister, wee.¡± In reply to his greeting, this stunning beauty sweetly smiled before passing one of her hands in Du Wei¡¯s hand. Beyond his imagination, the first sensation Du Wei felt from her frail fingers were a soft creamy texture unlike anything he felt before. Maybe it was his demon working, but he subconsciously gave the hand in his possession a slight pinch. This was purely a knee jerking response and even Du Wei had no idea why he did it, but luckily none around them knew of this. Instead of pulling her hand back like most girls would have done, Miss Lister¡¯s face began to flush red and her eyes even began to show signs of shyness as if she was too embarrassed to face Du Wei. Seeing this, Du Wei coughed his throat to chock up some courage. Then bring the girl¡¯s hand to his lip, he gave the snow white hand a kiss: ¡°It must have been hard along the road.¡± ¡°Your dukeship is too kind.¡± Though her flush was gone, the girl¡¯s voice still sent shockwaves into Du Wei¡¯s mind! Like she was born with such a voice, her soft tone sounded like it was naturally melded with a power to hook onto one¡¯s very soul. As he was still thinking this, his focus was quickly brought back to reality when she made a smallugh: ¡°Your Dukeship, from what I¡¯ve seen along the road, the Desa Province is very different from the rumors. At such a young age, you¡¯ve already achieved quite the remarkable result.¡± After a pause, she seemed to remember something: ¡°Oh, my brother and sister are quite tired from the journey and even caught a little cold yesterday. I¡¯m afraid that they won¡¯t be able to greet you at the moment, I hope you won¡¯t take it to heart.¡± Du Wei originally didn¡¯t pay much attention to it, but when he heard thest words, he suddenly went nk. This girl is not Miss Lister?! Hearing her say, ¡°My little sister and brother¡±, could she be? Du Wei was suddenly staring wide eyes at the ¡°Miss Lister¡± in front of him: ¡°Ah! You are¡­¡­¡± This stunning beauty in front covered her smiling mouth and gently said: ¡°I was rude and forgot to introduce myself. Your Dukeship, I am Lan Lister, titled Marquise by the emperor.¡± (Lan is the marquise¡¯s real name and if I remember correctly, ¡°Lan¡± is the Magnolia flower because China like¡¯s to use this flower during the chinese valentines day) This surprise of Du Wei¡¯s is quite serious! Marquise of Lister? The Empire¡¯s richest widow?! The most famous beauty within the aristocratic circle? But¡­¡­ Why didn¡¯t anyone inform him of the Marquise¡¯s presence along the way? And¡­¡­ From rumors, the Marquise¡¯s age is at least 30 this year, yet why does she look so young? ording to Du Wei¡¯s view, the woman in front of him, no matter what, should not be more than 20 years of age! Du Wei was a little embarrassed, but this onlyst for a moment: ¡°I made a fool of myself; I did not expect the Marquise to be so young and beautiful. Forgive me in mistaking you for your little sister.¡± But this Marquise is exceptionally intelligent and considerate. Giving out a gentleugh, she then slowly said: ¡°Your Dukeship sure knows how topliment someone. How can a smart person like you make such a mistake? This is clearly your way ofplimenting Lan. I don¡¯t even know how manypliments I have received in my life, but your peculiar ways really left me ashamed. At my age, I can still be praised by the Duke is really¡­..¡± Speaking up to here, her face once again blushed red. Du Wei dared not say anything else so he quickly weed everyone into the castle. While the younger siblings are said to be sick, he had them routed to another courtyard so they can rest and freshen up. Knowing he started off with such a mistake, Du Wei secretly cursed the people down below as garbage. What Du Wei didn¡¯t know is that along the way, the Marquise made sure to block off any information pertaining to her visit! And along the way, she never once showed up in public so it¡¯s only natural his people wouldn¡¯t catch wind of her presence. Aftering into the lounge, Du Wei understands full well the Marquise isn¡¯t just here to escort her younger siblings. To make it easier for them to speak, he waved his wand to dismiss all of his servants. After hand-pouring a cup of desert honey for thedy, Du Wei has already regained hisposure despite sitting so close to the Marquise. It¡¯s not like he is still wet behind his ears, so forcing his youthful urges isn¡¯t that hard for him: ¡°Madam Lister, your sudden visit really is ttering. Is there an important matter for you to be personally present?¡± The Marquise gave out heart throbbing smile: ¡°Your Dukeship, looking back from when you first met Dadaneier and saved my life, it should be almost a year already.¡± Then she gently sighed: ¡°In one year¡¯s worth of time, things have changed a lot. In one year, you have already be a magician famed throughout the continent and is even titled a Duke by the regent. Along the way, I witnessed your exemry skills in governing the Desa Province. Such extrodinary skills really is admirable.¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t say anything and simply took in all the praises. ¡°Your Dukeship ¡­¡± The Marquise suddenly smiled: ¡°There isn¡¯t much reason for my visit to the Northwest. Since young, my sister and brother haven¡¯t had our parents around, so their dependence on me naturally increased after our mother¡¯s death. Not only is our bond really good, but they have never been apart from me since young, so of course I wouldn¡¯t feel at ease to be apart from them so easily. While there isn¡¯t anything going on at the moment, I decided to apany them on this trip. Besides¡­..¡± After a pause, the Marquise spoke the next words like it¡¯s to be expected: ¡°Your 15th birthday is only around the corner, how can I miss youring of age ceremony?¡± Du Wei braced himself: Here ites! Sure enough, the Marquise gently sipped the tea before speaking the next part like it was just idle chatter: ¡°I heard your lordship has been reclusive since young and rarely makes contact with the other noble children, and then youter you only focused in the ult. But now that your lordship is famed through the world, I fear the young girls in the capital will be eyeing your lordship. May I know if your lordship has anyone in mind?¡± Du Wei really didn¡¯t think the Marquise would be so straightforward. Without trying to cover up her intent, she went straight to the point. He hesitated a second before replying: ¡°Madam, you jest, I¡¯m only a teenage boy. I still don¡¯t have any need to consider such a thing. And you know this, I¡¯m a magician. Being a magician, my lifelong goal is to explore the meaning of magic so I don¡¯t have much time to worry about these things. I¡¯m just an amorous clumsy man.¡± Marquise gave out an amorousugh as she eyed Du Wei¡¯s face: ¡°I heard your little brother Gabri is already engaged to the financial chancellor¡¯s granddaughter, but you being the big brother is still without any arrangements. Such a thing really is surprising.¡± Having said that, she paused to let her words sink in beforeughing softly, ¡°Duke, I¡¯ve heard the majority of the noble girls in the capital are imprinted with your name in their hearts. Who knows where she heard your mor and exploits, even my prideful little sister suddenly wanted to join the magic academy on a whim! This child may be young, but I understand what she was thinking.¡± Du Wei was bitterly crying inside already because he can¡¯t take it anymore. No matter what this woman says, the focus always revolves around her sister. Though she is straightforward, but her skill in leading the conversation left him no room to wiggle at all¡­.. In that case, rather than let the little sister be the maindy, it be more appropriate to take this elder sister. For a moment, Du Wei didn¡¯t know how to respond: ¡°The Marquise, you can stop making fun of me. My teacher Gandalf once said pursuing the meaning in magic should be my life¡¯s goal. I also don¡¯t have much intent to think about these things. Moreover, others may not know this, but I know. I¡¯m always wrapped up in myb experimenting with potions and stuff. If a girles near me, I fear they would be frightened off in merely two days.¡± With that, heughs: ¡°If you sister Miss Lister is interested in magic, I can help since the academy is about to recruit next year¡¯s batch of student. I do have a say in the academy, so if I put in a few words, it shouldn¡¯t be hard to get her a position. My rtionship with Master Alley is not bad either. If I ask him for a favor, it might even be possible to get Master Alley to take her as a disciple.¡± Knowing Du Wei is intentionally pulling the topic away, the Marquise made no effort to force it. She¡¯s in no rush and the key is to find the right timing. Following Du Wei¡¯s lead, she brought up some other topics and made a few jokes. What came next is just some idle chit chat about some gossip and business dealings. As the two sat there chatting away, their conversation was only broken when a knocking sound came from behind. Walking in, Marde gave a slight bow and informed them dinner is ready and the Lister siblings is already at the banquet hall waiting to greet the Duke. Finally, Du Wei has his first chance to meet the Marquise¡¯s sibling during the dinner banquet. Although Miss Lister¡¯s beauty is said to supersede even the madam in her younger years, but Du Wei already experienced one shock today. With one stunning beauty to lean upon, the impact from this young beauty seemed a littlecking. Just like they say, this young girl is just as stunning as the Marquise with eighty percent simrity, but unlike the elder sister, shecked the seductive scent of the Marquise. It¡¯s to be expected, this girl is only 16 years of age, still wet behind the ears, so her body is not yet fully grown. She may be less elegant, but this just so happens to highlight the pure innocent feature of her youth like a fresh strawberry. Moreover, the Marquise wasn¡¯t lying. When the girl first met up with Du Wei, she immediately shied away like she was embarrassed. Though she kept her face down, Du Wei can easily see that beside the red blushing cheeks, there is also joy in her eyes. After making the initial contact with him, she only made a small greeting with her delicate voice before turning away. But unlike before, she would constantly peek at him whenever she thought he wasn¡¯t looking. As for that Lister family¡¯s master, he wasn¡¯t so friendly. Aged 15, this young man is the same age as Du Wei. Probably because he inherited the genes from his family lineage, this teen is extremely handsome. Like his sisters, he has delicate skins with a straight nose and the only part that discerned him from a girl is the thick eye brow that gave him a manlier feel. If by the odd chance he plucked some of that off and put on a woman¡¯s gown, he might really turn into a kingdom ruining beauty that wouldn¡¯t lose out to even his sisters due to his diamond blue eyes! It¡¯s just that the way this young man looked at Du Wei wasn¡¯t very enthusiastic. In fact, he can feel a hint of hostility. Even when he greeted him, his voice was nd, neither haughty nor humble, there was even a hint of arrogance in his tone. Over dinner, there was little to say, but the Marquise seems intent on always bringing the subject back up that made Du Wei feeling awkward at times. However, after seeing Du Wei¡¯s constant change of topic, the Marquise could only relent and drop it. As for the young Miss Lister, her peachy red face was nearly drooping below the table at this point. Matched with her stunning watery eyes and youthful charm, she still looked dazzling despite the weird posture she was in due to shame. But this Master Lister on the other hand is a different story. Whenever the Marquise and Du Wei stepped on the subject, this young boy that didn¡¯t even puberty would deliberately knock his knives and forks around like they were musical instruments. Du Wei didn¡¯t lose sight of this. Laughing inside, he was thinking: Is he afraid I will steal his sister? Sure enough, after Du Wei sent the guests back to their resting quarters, this Master Lister suddenly made a request to Du Wei that he wanted to tour the castle. Being the master, Du Wei was not in the position to reject. After getting the consent of the Marquise, Du Wei can only take this unfriendly guy around. It¡¯s just that after Du Wei and her brother left, the Marquise slightly frowned with a glimmer of concern in her eyes. Then turning around, she chuckled as she looked at the shy little sister of hers: ¡°Angel, what you think of him?¡± (Angel is the younger sister¡¯s name) The girl¡¯s eye showed a trace of confusion followed by a blush. In a whispering voice: ¡°Very¡­. Very good.¡± Du Wei and the boy went around the castle until they finally arrived at a race course. Seeing no one was around, this master of the Lister Household suddenly spoke in a cold voice: ¡°Du Wei, you better not have any idea¡¯s toward my sister!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei was stunned. Then smiling, he looked at the boy in front of him like he was thinking of something. Seeing how the other party was smiling so weirdly, this teenager instantly took a step back with a trace of panic on his face. Biting his lips, he stuttered: ¡°I¡¯m warning you, don¡¯t get any funny ideas about Angel! She won¡¯t marry a noble like you!!¡± Du Wei nodded before suddenly reaching out his arm and putting it on the kid¡¯s shoulder. His action made the kid jump in surprise but Du Wei already closed the distance between them and was right up against the kid¡¯s face: ¡°Don¡¯t worry; I have no such intent right now. By the way¡­. Your sister is really kind to you; everything she does, she does for you. If you want her to be happy, then we might as well cooperate. But, my temper isn¡¯t all that good. From now on, you will be following me around in the Northwest, so you better be kinder to me. Otherwise¡­¡­ I don¡¯t care if you are the Marquise¡¯s brother, if you don¡¯t listen to me, I¡¯ll take off your pants and give you a few whips, you understand?¡± With that, Du Wei lets out a ha-ha loudugh. Turning around, he left the boy and walked away. ¡°What a headache¡­¡­ Inviting a god is easy but sending one away is hard. Didn¡¯t this kid want to be a student of Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s school? Better leave him in a town or city where one of Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s students is located. This way, I won¡¯t have to deal with him. But Miss Angel¡­. I can¡¯t throw such a little girl to some random ce and not care¡­¡­¡± Du Wei was thinking this as he walked. Chapter 206 part 1 Chapter 206 ¡°A young maiden¡¯s heart¡± (part one) It only took two days after the arrival of the Lister household for Du Wei to lose his patient. Inwardly, he really wanted to go back to Anglia City because news has it that Solskjaer had once again conjured up something new and fascinating. Not only that, but from the reports he¡¯s been getting, Seth and his group of helpers areing close to a breakthrough in bringing Old Alley¡¯s flying broom to fruition. He can already imagine it. Once the flying broom bes a reality, a new unit of flying soldiers would soon be a fighting force he can rely on. Just knowing all this is causing our little Duke here itching with anticipation. If he could, Du Wei would immediately fly back to Anglia City and personally take part in these grand and wonderful experiments. Unfortunately, if he takes his status into ount and the fact that the Lister Household has helped him time and times again, it would be totally improper for him to leave them alone like this. Fortunately, the Marquise expressed she is only staying until hising of age ceremony and that is only a few days away. Once that is over, there shouldn¡¯t be any more reason for her to stay, right? Never once did he ever felt so eager for his birthday to arrive. It can¡¯t be helped because the previous two days really has been torturous for him. Who knows what the Marquise said, but the very next morning, this little girl called Angel immediately sought an audience with him and requested someone escort her around while she had a look through the City of Miracles¡­¡­. Send someone? Du Wei was already sighing when he heard the request. Other than Philip, just about every subordinate he has is a rough shot that knew nothing of manners and etiquette, of course, Philip would be too busy to go. What does this mean then? Since he¡¯s the only idler around, it¡¯s quite obvious: If you won¡¯t apany me, who will?! Objectively speaking, this Angel really was pleasing to the eyes and the best part of all was that her eyes held an undisguised admiration towards him¡­.. For a beauty like Angel, it¡¯s certain nine out of ten men would be swept off their feet. Although Du Wei did not actually fall heads over heels for her, but to say he found her bothersome is too unfaithful to his conscience. Pity thing is that wherever this Angel went, the sour faced little boy would always tag along. Towards this male heir of the Lister Household, Du Wei cannot be too rude to him (at least not before the Marquise leaves, but afterwards¡­¡­ Humph-humph!) First stop in their tour is the castle. Making a few rounds around the castle grounds, Angel took an immediate liking to the greenhouse conservatory in the back. Following the knowledge from his previous life, Du Wei nted somemon magical nts normally used in medicines and alchemy, of course, there are some dangerous things in there too but he made sure normal people wouldn¡¯t encounter them unless they intended to. Maybe it¡¯s because girls are naturally into fluttery and flowery stuff. With only one nce, she was already in love with the ce. Towards the carefree and cheerful attitude of Angel, Du Wei found her endearing, especially when she goes around excitedly asking the gardeners about this and that. In his view, she is like a butterfly, free and beautiful. Despite being a young mistress of a giant noble household likes the Lister Family; Angel showcased a rare virtue that held no feeling of superiority over others. Even for the gardeners and servants in the greenhouse, they took close liking to this charming young girl within no time. Du Wei can tell, this youngdy is not putting on an appearance just for him. Too many times have Du Wei witnessed those noble children back in the capital iming to have a modest nature, but he can tell, their so called modesty is not something natural. These types of people may be very kind to you on the outside, but their type of ¡®kindness¡¯ is only that of a master to a servant. As for this Angel, she is totally different that you could hardly tell she was of high birth. Surprising even Du Wei, Angel would even personally go y with the flowers and dirt, thus, dirtying even her clothing and face. For a little girl like this, coupled with a beautiful face, who wouldn¡¯t like her? When Du Wei asked without alternative motive of why she liked magical nts, this little Angel actually blushed and whispered this: ¡°Because you are an excellent Magic Pharmacist¡­¡­¡± Her voice was so small that it was like a mosquito¡¯s buzz. Hearing this, aplex feeling was fixed in his heart. Unfortunately, Du Wei¡¯s moment was somewhat ruined when the snotty little boy nearby made a loud ¡°humph¡± as if he was ready to swing a sword at him. This kid¡­¡­ He wouldn¡¯t have a sister¡¯s loveplex, right? If not, why would he be so negative towards me? Back on the first day, this kid was already stepping on his shoes and worst of all; Du Wei¡¯s warning fromst time had the opposite effect. Raising the kid¡¯s rebellious nature, this is what the Lister boy was thinking: You want to scare me? Fine! I will go against you no matter what just to snub you! Luckily Du Wei is one of the few well learned individuals on the continent. No matter what kind of question this innocent and harmless girl asked, he was able to answer it with ease. The only annoying part was no matter what he said, the brat would always contradict him or start nitpicking him on certain areas. Like this, the two kept going back and forth over whatever topic Angel brought fourth. Anyhow, Du Wei did verify one thing from their little bout; the knowledge of this Lister boy is indeed profound. At the beginning Du Wei was toozy to bother, but nearing the end it him that was asking the questions after having his interest piqued. From the farming method of Orchids to the history of the continent, their conversation eventually led them to the discussion of the current state of affairs in the empire! In the end, Du Wei realized this boy may be annoyingly hateful, but he is certainly not an airhead! A kid is after all kid, how can someone so youngpare with the Du Wei¡¯s cunningness built up from two lifetimes? Eventually, Du Wei outwitted the kid: ¡°humph! What do you know! My sister¡¯s knowledge far exceeds mine by 10 times and everything I know is from her!¡± Du Wei was shocked: The Marquise sure is extraordinary¡­¡­.. The kid¡¯s only 15 years old and he¡¯s already at this degree of education. What¡¯s the point of being in Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s school? If Du Wei had to be rude, this kid far exceeds the majority of those schrs! Since he¡¯s made aware of the kid now, Du Wei held nothing back andpletely started to provoke the poor boy. As his questions intensified, the Lister boy¡¯s answer started to show signs of weakening. Though the Lister Household did everything they could to cultivate the boy¡¯s growth, it cannot bepared to Du Wei¡¯s wealth of knowledge. Flushed red on the cheeks, the boy could onlye up with an answer after a long period of thought in the final bout. Oddly enough, besides the kid¡¯s knowledge, Du Wei also discovered another weakness in the boy: he¡¯s a neat freak! During the afternoon, Du Wei took the two to see his own race track. Horse riding is a hobby that cannot be missed in a noble¡¯s lifestyle. Since Du Wei came to the Northwest, he has been blessed by the heavens and managed to collect a couple of fine steeds through Longbottom¡¯s effort. Among his collection, one of the horses is a white stallion with only its hooves being a yellow shade. From what he knew, if he brought such a horse into the heart of the empire, he can sell it several dozen times more than the couple of thousand hold coins he used to procure it! When the kid first saw the horse, the Lister boy froze there on the spot, unable to budge an inch. Du Wei originally wanted to see a show so he had him go for a ride, but beyond what he expected, the kid actually did it! Oddly though, before he got on, the boy had one of the servants give the saddle a full scrub as he put on a white glove before he got on. The result is just like Du Wei expected. Untamed and wild, this white stallion easily knocked the poor boy down to the ground. Fortunately there were guards standing by to protect him so he didn¡¯t get hurt and only dirtied himself. Despite falling so hard, the kid didn¡¯t cry out in pain; instead, he jumped up like he¡¯s seen a ghost. Pulling out a handkerchief, he hastily wiped down all the dust like it was some kind deadly poison. Finally, not even bothering to say goodbye, he turned and ran back to the castle for a bath! ¡°Brother has to bath at least three times a day, once in the morning, noon, and night. Then there are the clothes. Every day he would throw the old one away and wear a new one the next. Also, he would never touch anything of others.¡± Angel¡¯s tone sounded somewhat sheepish as she exined: ¡°He¡¯s been like this since little.¡± A neat freak? Du Wei wasughing inside: very good! Once your sister leaves the Northwest I¡¯ll have you sweep the toilet every day if you don¡¯t behave!! Though he was thinking along these lines, Du Wei did a fine job hiding it and only gave a look of indifference like he didn¡¯t mind. Chapter 206 part 2 Chapter 206 ¡°A young maiden¡¯s heart¡± (part two) Originally today they started off with the boy causing trouble between the two, but now that he¡¯s gone, the little Miss suddenly went mute as if overwhelmed by their situation. Gently biting her lips, Angel suddenly whispered her words: ¡°Your Dukeship, before I came here, I heard you showcased a miracle in the Northwest and this city is the result of that. When news spread of your great deed, the majority of my people didn¡¯t believe it but I do. With your skills, it must be true¡­.. Right?¡± With that, she looked directly at Du Wei with anticipation. Sighing, Du Wei avoided her gaze: ¡°It¡¯s true that the city was built in three months, but that¡¯s not a miracle. You¡¯re aware that I¡¯m a magician and mages will always have some skills themon peopleck.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡± Angel shakes her head with a smile: ¡°I also know several mages, but when I asked them they said they absolutely cannot do it.¡± Then after a pause, her face suddenly blushed red as she lowered her head, ¡°Duke, with talent like yours and a distinguished title, I think you must¡­.. Must¡­¡­¡± Not sure where she got such courage from, but she looked up at him with eagers and said: ¡°Must have a lot of beautiful girls¡­¡­¡± ¡°You are wrong.¡± Du Wei immediately shook his head and then pondered the question for a moment, ¡°My experience is no different from the average noble lord. Before the age of 13, I have always been hiding at home and have rarely gone out. I fear I don¡¯t have a single friend around my age in the noble circle. Even back when Iter moved to the Rowling ins, I barely went out that year¡­¡­.¡± Angel suddenly blinked with a hint of yfulness on her face: ¡°Oh, you must be pulling my legs!¡± Then sheughs: ¡°Who doesn¡¯t know. You may not like the limelight, but you went adventuring alone inside the frozen forest¡­¡­ Aigh, I just can¡¯t believe such a young person like you would have such admirable courage! Going to dangerous ces to seek out thrilling adventures¡­.. Hmm, I think such a life would be quite fun, right?¡± Adventurous life? Du Wei was left wordless because it¡¯s not like he can exin the truth of how he was one day kidnapped by Gandalf and tossed into the Frozen Forest. But when ites to the life of an adventurer, he suddenly remembered a man, the Snow Wolf mercenary leader Bienlich. Among the people he knew, this person is without a doubt the closest to that of an adventurer! As the fond memories slowly flowed out from his mind, Du Wei unintentionally leaked out a hint of reminiscent in his eyes. In a gentle voice, he slowly said: ¡°As a true adventurer, it¡¯s a true shame to die in one¡¯s bed! As a true adventurer, one should choose to die in his most exciting journey!¡± This sentence is exactly what Beinlich said when he exined his life¡¯s wish. Looking back at that moment, Du Wei can practically see the brave man standing before him giving out orders to move forward into the mysterious unknown using his foul loudnguage¡­¡­ Unaware of his surroundings because of how lost in thought he was, Angel was in factpletely mesmerized by his appearance right now. In this little maiden¡¯s view, Du Wei¡¯s charming smile and deep eyes is something beyond what those noble children in the capital can show¡­.. Filled with endless heart wrenching stories, everything about him is beyond what she could have imagined! For example: the son of the Baron she knew would always boast about his great deed of hunting a fox. Then there is the young son of a count. That guy is always showing off his experience of how he injured himself from a duel, yet, these are nothing but childish stories. Even adding up all those people, they cannot match up to the rich and varied experiences of the Duke before her¡­¡­ ¡°Is it possible to tell me your stories in the Frozen Forest?¡± Before anyone even realized, Angel was already sitting up close to Du Wei. Freely lying on the grass, her slender legs naturally curled and even her body was faintly leaning against him. Du Wei wasn¡¯t aware of this either: ¡°There isn¡¯t that much point in talking about those things.¡± ¡°But I really want to listen.¡± Angel¡¯s voice sounded like she was begging him: ¡°Uncle Dadaneier once said you are the bravest and most talented young person he ever met. In the frozen forest you not only saved his life, but you also saved my sister¡¯s life with the golden eye python!¡± Du Wei is now alerted to the love and admiration unique to a young girl. Sitting up straight, he quickly put some distance between the two: ¡°There really is nothing to say. You know I¡¯m a magician. To an ordinary person, these things may be somewhat difficult, but every magician can do it.¡± The more Du Wei refused, the more Angel found him fascinating. Not only is he mysterious, she also noticed a rare trait in him, humility! Compared to the children of the noble circle, this created a strong contrast in her mind. ¡°Well then, why not talk about how you saved Uncle Dadaneier, alright? Just once¡­¡­¡± The maiden¡¯s eyes became hazy with water. Du Wei feared that if he refused again, this girl might really burst into tears on the spot. Du Wei sighed with helplessness as he said: ¡°Fine then¡­¡­ It happened a few days before I entered the frozen forest. That night, I heard the barking of the sleigh dogs like they were frightened of something. Coincidently, I was also awake and couldn¡¯t really fall asleep, so I went around to take a look. Suddenly, that¡¯s when I heard the screamsing from the woods¡­¡­¡± Although this story was heard countless times already, but because it wasing from Du Wei¡¯s mouth, Angel was immediately immersed in the details. Especially when the word ¡°screams¡± came up, she actually trembled slightly and pushed herself against Du Wei¡¯s body. Then when Du Wei got to the point of Dadaneier and his group being hunted down by the corpse eating monster, Angel closed her eyes and cried out in freight as if the beast would really jump out from the story¡­¡­ ¡°I think you are lying!¡± Just when Du Wei got to the point where the corpse eating monster was too afraid to approach his camp, a loud shrilled voice came from behind. Looking back, the person in question is in fact the evil kid that ran away before. Still wet on the head with drips of water falling off his hair, it¡¯s quite clear he ran here right after taking a bath. ¡°Oh? How do I lie?¡± Du Wei isn¡¯t angry and was even amused. ¡°Once it smells blood, the Corpse Eating Monster will go on a rampage, yet, even when it stood before you guys, it still hesitated to charge!!¡± The guy questioned ruthlessly because he thought he found a weak point in Du Wei¡¯s story. Du Wei was smirking now: ¡°It¡¯s because we had something it was afraid of. At the time, I already scattered the stuff around my camp and most monsters wouldn¡¯t dare approach if they smell it.¡± ¡°And it is?¡± ¡°Droppings.¡± Du Wei smiled malicious as he looked at the kid: ¡°Dragon¡¯s dropping.¡± Sure enough, this guy with OCD immediately turned paled. Turning around like he waspletely sick to the core, he dare not ask any more details. (OCD=Obsessivepulsive disorder. From now on I¡¯ll be using OCD to describe this kid because its simply easier) ¡°Muse!!¡± Angel is bit angry. Although she is patient and mild manner, but after witnessing how her little brother kept interrupting the Duke¡¯s dialogue, she finally became annoyed: ¡°Did you forget your basic manners? If you continue to be like this, then you are to go back to your room!¡± This guy is obviously afraid of Angel. Not daring to say anything, he bit his lips and looked downward. Contrary to how the girl felt, Du Wei actually thought this boy was gift from heaven. If not for his constant interruption, how else can he keep dodging Angel¡¯s lovey dovey eyes? ¡°No, no it¡¯s fine, your brother is very cute¡­. We¡¯ve already sat here for too long. If you do not feel tire yet¡­..¡± At this point, Du Wei stopped for a moment because he really hoped they would say ¡°tired¡±. However, it just wasn¡¯t meant to be because Angel looked like she waspletely full of energy. Du Wei could only sigh: ¡°Alright, I can take you to have a look around the city. Not only is this city the biggest one on the Empire¡¯s border, the bazaar here also have many people and thingsing in from all sorts of ces.¡± Muse smirked as he whispered, ¡°Humph, what exotic things is there that our Lister Family doesn¡¯t have?¡± But before he could even finish, Angel already gave him a dirty look, thus causing him to obediently close his mouth. However, before the group could even make it out of the castle, Vivian was already rushing over excitedly with a face full of joy. This littless is certainly a genius in magic, but when it came to other things, that¡¯s hard to say¡­¡­ God knows what could have caused her to be so happy, but because of how hard she was running, she easily tripped over her robe and fell right in front of Du Wei. ¡°AHHH¡± Vivian screams out. Hurriedly moving forward, Du Wei manages to catch her right before she made contact with the ground. Luckily she was so close to Du Wei, if not, who knows how much tears she be leaking out again. Flustered by the sudden shock, she only managed to regain herposure after seeing the person was in fact Du Wei: ¡°I-I¡­..¡± ¡°I what!¡± Du Wei gave a scolding smile: ¡°How could you be in such a hurry? Did you forget your tumbling the other day? Or is it because you are hungry and in a rush to steal some food?¡± ¡°N-n!! NO¡­¡­¡± Once Vivian gets flustered, her stuttering bes even worse. Shyly staring at Du Wei, she looked like she didn¡¯t know how to defend against his words. In Du Wei¡¯s head, he loves it whenever the girl acts like this. ¡°Alright.¡± Du Weiughs as he helped her stand up. Out of habit, his hand was still softly holding onto hers as he softly said: I¡¯m just teasing you¡­¡­ What exactly caused you to be in such a hurry/¡± With that, he gently reached out a hand and gently pinched Vivian¡¯s cute little nose. Shocked, Vivian quickly turned away because just a few days ago Du Wei tricked her into thinking a person¡¯s nose would go t if someone pinches it a lot. Due to his little stunt, the first thing this innocent girl does in the morning now is to look in the mirror trying to make sure her nose is straight! Dodging away from Du Wei¡¯s evil hand, Vivian then patted her chest before smiling sweetly at him: ¡°guess!¡± From behind, Muse¡¯s gently coughs to get their attention. Turning around, Du Wei then realized the Lister siblings were still nearby. Pulling Vivian to his side, he then smiled: ¡°I didn¡¯t introduce herst night¡­. This is my¡­¡­¡± When he spoke up to this point, he paused to ponder over what to say: ¡°This is Mage Vivian, eighth level Mage and also a student of Gandalf.¡± Du Wei then briefly introduces the Lister siblings. Angel was shocked the moment she firstid eyes on Vivian because it¡¯s not umon for beautiful girls to pay special attention to other females simr to their own level beauty. If one had to describe the two, Angel is a freshly blooming flower while Vivian is a translucent crystal with an innocent aura even Angelcked. Also, seeing how Du Wei was tightly holding the girl¡¯s hand and standing so close to him, Angel¡¯s eyes immediately showed a hint of mncholy. Even when Vivian greeted her in a stuttering manner, Angel was in such a deep trance that she even forgot to answer. For a high ssdy like her that¡¯s constantly learning etiquette and manners is simply unthinkable. How can her thoughts be hidden from her little brother Muse? Seeing how close Du Wei and Vivian was, he immediately understood everything. Coughing once to break the awkward atmosphere: Your lordship, since your friend is looking for you then you must have some business. No need to worry about us, we¡¯re tired anyways. I¡¯ll bring my sister back with me to rest.¡± With that said, he pulled at Angel to bring her back into reality. As the two walked away through the stairs, Angel would constantly look back at the pure innocent Vivian. She may not have shown it, but every did turned, her heart would sink to the bottom of the ocean which eventually caused her to nearly trip on the staircase. ¡°Enough.¡± Seeing how the Lister siblings were gone, Du Wei then breathed a sigh of relief: ¡°What exactly happened?¡± ¡°He-they¡¯re- they¡¯reing.¡± Vivianughs excitedly: ¡°Hogwart¡­¡­ Students areing!¡± Chapter 207 part 1 Chapter 207 ¡°The so-called¡± traditional¡± (part one) The Magic Academy finally went ahead with Du Wei¡¯s ¡°internship program¡± and the first group to pass the eligibility exam is all from Hogwarts! Despite knowing Du Wei¡¯s training method is specialpared to the other branches, this result was still quite the shock to the school! Especially in the final phase of the assessment where each student have to go through twenty rounds of magic duels, each member of the Hogwarts branch came out with a mind-blowing record of a perfect score, twenty out of twenty wins!! Out of Du Wei¡¯s thirty two students, a total of twenty eight managed toe. As for the remaining four that as left behind, these unlucky ones lost their chance due to injuries incurred in the assessment tests. Poor guys, because of this, they locked themselves in their room and cried for a good number of days before finallying out. As for those that passed the examination, they packed their bags at lightning speed almost like they were unable to hold back their urges anymore! Just like how a novice driver will have the addiction to drive a lot in the beginning, these fledglings in the magical arts will naturally have the urge to put their efforts to the test¡­.. Like them, Du Wei personally brought with him some servants to wait at the Lon City¡¯s southern main road. Though hecked the financial resources to construct a wide t road like the one in the capital, but in the past six months, this road had been a vital aspect in bringing fresh blood and resources to his new capital. On this evening where the setting sun is scarlet red like the mes itself, Du Wei could finally hear the rushing horse beatsing from afar as he sat on top of his mount. Du Wei is somewhat surprised right now because he didn¡¯t expect his students to pick such a method of transportation. Normally, a magician would fly if the distance was short and if it was far, they would choose to ride a coach. Yet these guys¡­¡­ Actually each rode a horse like the military army! It¡¯s quite clear even after their time apart; these fledglings did not forget Du Wei¡¯s lesson. Like a long line of Mercedes Benz, each of these young mages held their pace without being too far apart or too close together. Also, aside from the mount they were riding, each brought along a backup horse to change along the road. Once they were finally before him and saw it was Du Wei himself, everyone started to cheer loudly. Despite being from the military, the majority of these people were already so tired that even the simple task of dismounting caused them to be sluggish¡­¡­ But what more can Du Wei ask of them? Don¡¯t forget they¡¯re magicians, famed for their weak bodies! Yet now they managed to pull off a feat of riding for hundreds of miles without a break! ¡°Teacher! We havee!!¡± Twenty eight boys shouted this in unison as they formed a line in front of Du Wei. Du Wei sighed before jumping off his mount to assess the kids before him. Inwardly, he already knew the people before him have already been fully imprinted with his mark. Even if they don¡¯t be his subordinates in the future, they will forever be doomed to respect him! ¡°Very good!¡± Du Wei suddenly yelled with all his might: ¡°I¡¯m very satisfied with you!¡± Turning around, he points at the servants and carriages behind him: ¡°I thought I was going to see a bunch of exhausted panting dogs before me¡­¡­ But you have surprised me!¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice sounds very excited: ¡°Your performance is beyond my expectation! You didn¡¯t be a deathly ale magician like those in the union¡­. What I see before me is a group of elite warriors! For that I am very satisfied!¡± With that, Du Wei walked over to them and patted each of their shoulders: ¡°As a reward for you guys¡­¡­ I will announce that starting today; you will have two days off! During this period, drill and training are to be suspended¡­¡­¡± The moment his voice died down is when the cheers bellowed out from everyone! ¡°Dear children.¡± Du Wei¡¯s big voice sounded very happy: ¡°I said it before; we will reunite in the Northwest! And now, you are standing outside this city of miracle! For your excellent performance, I will give you the greatest reward! Now then, follow me into the city! I¡¯ve prepared the greatest food and wine the Northwest has to offer! Whoever doesn¡¯t get drunk tonight will be a fucking bastard! Also, for those that get drunk and drop down, a soft bed will be ready for you! I guarantee this. The experience you gain here in the Northwest will make those that stayed behind look at you with envious eyes when you get back!¡± Among the crowd, some of the more daring students immediately cried out augh: ¡°We have no doubt of that principle!¡± Laughing in return, Du Wei then takes in a deep breath before speaking in a loud booming voice: ¡°I allow¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s not allowed! It¡¯s an order! Imand you, revel to your heart¡¯s content tonight!!!¡± In the biggest Ballroom of the Duke¡¯s Castle, buckets and buckets of the finest wines are being brought out. And through the efforts of several chefs¡¯, some of the greatest delicacies the Northwest has to offer are being served up one after the other. Du Wei had already forgotten about his own status and donned on a ck mage robe for tonight¡¯s asion. Stained with grease and wine all over, he kept chugging down sses after sses with the students without a care in the world. The atmosphere in the Ballroom is already starting to reach the apex. Among those that drank too much, some even tore off their mage robes and started to sing and dance with only their pants on. For those too excited, they even jumped atop of the tables to dance!! Among this group, Vivian was the one that drew most attention. God knows who it was that first pulled Vivian to dance atop of the table, but this soon became a trend for everyone because it was considered a great pleasure to get the chance to dance with her. Poor little Vivian had long been a little tipsy because she identally drank a sip of wine in one of her mishaps. Burning red on her cheeks as if she was running a fever, this usually shy and reserved girl became more and more excited. Eventually, it was Vivian that was dancing the hardest and partying the wildest inside the ballroom. From the expensive hand tailored carpets to the snowy white drapes, everything seems to be sprinkled with liquids ranging from: alcohol, gravy, soups, and some you can¡¯t even identify anymore. For our little drunk here, Vivian no longer needs to move to see the walls spinning ¡­. In her mind, she actually thought it was the effect of magic so she ran over to Du Wei¡¯s side to inquire the reason behind this. Seeing how misty eyed Vivian was from being so drunk, Du Wei could only find it funny as he pinched her nose: ¡°That¡¯s enough, I don¡¯t want you to be a little drunk.¡± He said this in a scolding tone. Blushing at his words, Vivian¡¯s only reaction was curling her arms around Du Wei¡¯s neck like a cat. Suddenly, she opened her rosy red lips and started to vaguely mutter out some words: ¡°Du Wei¡­¡­¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You¡­¡­ You like me?¡± Seeing how bold this shy little girl became, Du Wei actually became startled for a second. Nheless, he subconsciously tightened his grip around her waist and asked: ¡°Are you sure you know what ¡®like¡¯ means?¡± Maybe Vivian really is fully drunk because unlike her usual timid tone, her voice actually became smooth and loud without a hint of stuttering: ¡°Who says I don¡¯t know!¡± Not waiting for Du Wei to respond, this silly little girl suddenly broke away from Du Wei and grabbed a cup of wine from a nearby student. Who knows where she got such courage from but she climbed on top of the dining table and started to call out: ¡°Notice! Notice! I have something to say!¡± With staggering legs, she lifted the cup high above her head as she giggled a few times to get everyone¡¯s attention: ¡°I-I have something to announce¡­¡­. I¡­¡­ I¡­¡­¡± Taking in a deep breath and puffing it back out, Vivian¡¯s delicate voice actually covered the entire audience at this moment! ¡°Du Wei!¡± she points to Du Wei¡¯s nose¡­¡­ With her height atop of the table, it looked like she was arrogantly looking down at him the way she was going about it! ¡°Du Wei! You listen up!¡± Vivian suddenly stuck-up her voice: ¡°I love you! I want to be your wife!¡± The audience suddenly went mute! Whether it is the drunken students or the catering servants, everyone had a look of astonishment in their eyes as they focused on Vivian. Watching this girl that was barely able to stand, Du Wei didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry as he sat there in his chair: ¡°Silly girl, are you sure you know what a ¡®wife¡¯ is?¡± Vivian suddenly went nk at his question. With dark eyes and a silly face, she said: ¡°I¡­. Don¡¯t know.¡± Regardless, Vivian still held up her ss and made a cheers motion. In this wave of hers, more than half the wine inside sshed across the air and even Du Wei became a victim of her actions. After gulping everything down, Vivian cried out: ¡°long live the wife!¡± Then she finally ended her deration by dropping the ss to the ground and falling into Du Wei¡¯s embrace, all the while giggling nonstop with her beat red face. After being silent for so long, the students all raised their sses after witnessing all this: ¡°Bless our most distinguished dean Duke and our esteemed madam Mage Vivian!¡± Immediately, more than 20 people made a toast in response: ¡°Bless our Mr. and Mrs. Dean!¡± With that, both the music and atmosphere began to rise again¡­¡­ Outside the Ballroom, Marde was in the process of pushing somerge dining carts along with several servants -the content inside is thest dish of the night, an entire roastmb. As Marde came near the ballroom¡¯s doorway, his eyes caught sight of a beautiful figure hiding behind the main door. From the back, this person seems to be shaking¡­. Coming closer, Marde realized the girl is in fact Miss Angel of the Lister family. Dressed in a white nightgown and barefooted, her posture looked like she wanted to push the door open but did not. And if he looked even closer, Marde can see the girl¡¯s hand was squeezing harder and harder on the doorknob. If it wasn¡¯t for this, she might have already fallen on the ground without this support. ¡°uhumph¡­¡­¡± Marde intentionally coughed a few times to catch the other side¡¯s attention. Turning around quickly, Angel quickly realized Marde was not far from where she stood. Despite her beauty, her face was unusually pale and her eyes looked like they were full of water with faint traces of tears running down her cheeks. Panicking, she could only utter these words: ¡°Housekeeper Marde¡­¡­ I¡­¡­¡± After her words, she quickly raised a sleeve to wipe her face. ¡°This¡­¡­ Miss Angel, now that you¡¯re down here, why not go in? I¡¯m sure the young master won¡¯t deny such a beauty like you into their happy hour.¡± Marde squinted his eyes as he smiled: ¡°The truth is the young master wanted to invite you to participate this evening, but because of his concerns towards how crazy these boys can get, he decided to perish those thoughts. Now that you are here, why not go in¡­¡­¡± Not waiting for Marde to finish, Angel quickly cut in: ¡°No¡­.. I-I was only walking around because I couldn¡¯t sleep¡­¡­ Yes, I¡¯m sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have walked around so randomly.¡± With that, she ran away like she was fleeing from something. Stumbling a few times, her body quickly disappeared behind one of the corridors.. Marde could only sigh before turning back to his original task. Pushing the door open, loud cheers of joy immediately burst out of the ballroom. ¡°Bless the Dean and his wife!!¡± Hearing these words, how could Marde not understand why the beautiful girl ran away? Very soon, the hangover effects of such a frenzied party became apparent. This silly girl, because it was her first time drinking in her life, Vivian didn¡¯t wake up even when the sun hit noon the following day. Unlike our happy girl that¡¯s currently asleep, Du Wei is looking forward to Vivian¡¯s awakening. He wanted to know how this usually shy girl will react after recalling how bold she became the previous night. Just thinking of her reaction is enough to make Du Weiugh. But thinking it over carefully, this silly girl really seems to have grown up. So cute¡­ It¡¯s enough to make the heart ache! Like her, those crazy guys are also sound asleep. After running all day and partying all night, it¡¯s likely they are still drooling in their sleep right now. Oh well, why not? Let them enjoy the two days then. However, unlike everyone else, Du Wei did not have time to rest because it is hising of age ceremony today! Du Wei did not know about the event with Angel outside the ballroomst night Angel because he too like the rest of his students drank till their heads went dizzy. For too long have he not rxed sost night he really did let go. However, once he was awake, he quickly went to his bedroom to freshen up. With him inside his private chamber is surprisingly the sleeping Vivian. Why was she in his bed has something to do with a funny scene fromst night. When Du Wei carried her into bed, our drunken girl here under the state of confusion asked this: ¡°Wife means sleeping with you, right?¡± This degree of boldness was too overwhelming that even Du Wei did not know how to respond. Chapter 207 part 2 Chapter 207 ¡°The so-called tradition¡± (part two) Fortunately, Vivian¡¯s innocence once again solved the sore subject. Before she fell into a real snooze, she actually followed up with another sentence using a hard tone: ¡°If you sleep¡­.. You-you¡¯re not allowed to hog the nket¡­..¡± With that, this girl seemingly drained of energy finally fell asleep. ¡°Hmm, I guess in this little girls¡¯ world, the meaning of wife should be nothing more than just ¡®going to sleep¡¯.¡± After waking up that morning, Du Wei did not leave right away. Watching over our curled up sleeping beauty, Du Wei could only sigh at her revealing shoulders and alluring body because it was he who undressed our heroine¡¯s outer coating¡­¡­ But just when he was having these thoughts, Vivian started to drool on the corner of mouth. Seeing how soundly she was sleeping, he could not help but feel humorous at the situation. Moving his hand, he used a finger to wipe away the drooling saliva: ¡°Silly girl¡­¡­ You know, a little red riding hood like you were nearly gobbled up by a big bad wolf like me¡­.. Haha.¡± Indeed, after witnessing the girl¡¯s thin lingeriest night, he really had trouble not taking our heroine¡¯s most precious treasure. For a normal man, such a reaction would be impossible, but Du Wei already made up his mind. He wants to truly and seriously love this girl, not tarnish it with a mistake during their drunken state. Maybe the almighty God really did bless our poor little Vivian. Before he left the room, Du Wei suddenly came down with a mischievous thought. While Vivian is sound asleep, he gave our cutedy here a peck on the lips¡­¡­ Little girl, consider this a little punishment for not really eating you up¡­.. HAHA. ¡°From now on you are not allowed to drink or I¡¯ll give you a spanking.¡± Du Wei gently smiles at the sleeping beauty before quietly leaving. The woes of a leader is that while others can sleep soundly in bed after being drunk, he alone must get up under any circumstances to work. It can¡¯t be helped since it is his birthday today. He is the main leading role, so how can the event proceed without him? Seeing the obvious fatigue on Du Wei¡¯s face, Marde can only task the people down below in preparing a soup of refreshment. Of course, a simple soup isn¡¯t enough to wake him up. Concocting a few drugs himself, Du Wei finally livened up after eating his own creations. Through the efforts of dozens of servants, Du Wei finally managed to don on his luxurious suit that was prepared days ahead of time. He himself actually found the getup a bit overbearing like a peacock showcasing its feather, but¡­. This is tradition! Being a Duke of the Empire, hising of age ceremony is no longer his own business! Even for him, he can only look down and yield to everyone¡¯s expectation. Covered with decorations from top to bottom, it took nearly half an hour for two handy maids to put everything in order. Nevertheless, the part that drew his attention the most is thece cor. Tightly wound around his neck, he thought he was going to suffocate if he didn¡¯t loosen it¡­¡­ And the most depressing part of it all is how eye catching his gorgeous suit was. Laced with flowery patterns and exaggerated sleeves and waistbands¡­. Du Wei felt like an actor in a stage opera. In the end, Du Wei vehemently denied a servant¡¯s request to wear a wig. Is he kidding? He didn¡¯t want to wear something so oundish! Then there¡¯s the guy after him. The prosperous dumbass wants to powder his face! Not even bother to deny him, Du Wei simply sent him flying out the door with a kick. The traditions of the noble circle tended to lean towards the kind of pale and slightly sickplexion for a gentleman. As for Du Wei¡¯s face right now, after being in the Northwest for over half a year, his skin is already wheat yellow due to exposure in the sun. ording to the standard of nobility, his face is not qualified like this. After putting on his boots, Du Wei tried to take a few steps only to be depressed by the constant tinkling sound he made with each step. Losing it, he simply ripped apart the cumbersome ornaments across his body. But through the insistence of the clothing experts he brought in, he retained the family insignia on his chest ¨C a golden tulip shrouded in mes. After removing so many pieces from his body, Du Wei was keen enough to notice the difference in the looksing his way from the beautifuldies in the room. Fifteen year old Du Wei is after all from hail from a good family lineage. Though his body cannot be considered strong, but his height is already taller than his peers. Matched with a good face due to his Rowling genes, a handsome face is already starting to show after being polished by the Northwest¡­.. He may hate his current getup, but he had to admit, the famous clothing expert he brought in really did have skills. Tightening parts where it counts, the overall outfit adequately brings out his body outline to the point where he looked somewhat princely! The Du Wei right now can truly be called a handsome noble boy! ¡°Young master, are you ready?¡± Mardees in after knocking. With a glimpse of Du Wei, his old eyes began to water with praise: ¡°Young master¡­. You¡¯ve finally grown up.¡± Du Wei smiled at the remark. Turning around he hugged this faithful old servant that has been looking after him since small: ¡°That¡¯s enough with the tears. Marde, I have a request for you.¡± ¡°What?¡± Marde became startled. ¡°In a bit, I want you to apany into the hall.¡± Du Wei softly says this. From startled to stunned, Marde¡¯s eyes quickly turned red as he shook his head again and again: ¡°Young master, this won¡¯t do. I¡­¡­.¡± ¡°My parents aren¡¯t around. Marde, you are my only love one here.¡± Du Wei took hold of the retreating old servant: ¡°Really Marde, the number of times you held me far exceeds my own father.¡± ording to the tradition of the Rnd continent, every nobleman organizing theiring of age ceremony needs to be apanied by an elder (usually the father). This is a symbol of gratitude and respect for one¡¯s elders. The ballroom today, just about every subordinate under him is gathered, this includes: Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s student across the province, the two disciple of Old Alley, and even some delegates representing a few people he knew in the capital. Shockingly enough, even General Totoro of the Northwestern Army came to congratte. There¡¯s also a delegate for governor Bohan in the Nuling Province, but his gifts was much stingier with only a handwritten letter. In addition, the three siblings of the Lister family would naturally participate as guests. Not knowing the Marquise herself was present, the people across the province that came to congratte Du Wei was surprised and was eagerly trying to get a look at the famed number one widow of the empire. When stern music began ying, the first one to step through the main ballroom¡¯s door was not Du Wei but Marde. With a face full of proud excitement, he walked in front to help lead Du Wei into the room. Under the gaze of all the guests, the two came to the forefront of the crowd. ording to the tradition, there should be another clergyman to conduct prayers to god. However, Du Wei is not a man of god. It doesn¡¯t matter anyways. The empire¡¯s states that its fine as long as you don¡¯t believe in another god beside the Goddess of Light. Standing alone atop of the main stage, Du Wei looked down at the audience. Some are his subordinates, some are scheming enemies, and the remaining are his allies¡­¡­. Du Wei gave a loud cough before beginning his speech. ¡°I think everyone must be quite curious towards what I¡¯m about to say.¡± This is Du Wei¡¯s opening words. Some of the people below began giggle. ¡°What I really want to say right now is¡­¡­.¡± Du Wei suddenlyughs: ¡°What I really want to say is that this dress really is ufortable because it¡¯s too tight.¡± This time around there was even moreughter. ¡°I first want to thank all the guests today. Thank you all foring here.¡± Du Wei ponders for a moment before speaking: ¡°I don¡¯t want to say too much crap because for a magician, life is too precious to waste. So¡­¡­¡± Du Wei took a deep breath in before deeply bowing: ¡°God bless Rnd!¡± Every member of the audience also repeated what he said: ¡°God bless Rnd!!¡± However, Du Wei added in an extra sentence in his mind: Sir here doesn¡¯t believe in God. Just when Du Wei thought the ceremony was over, the music band below suddenly started to y a melodious song. Following suit, the crowd seems to be expecting something because everyone began to very consciously scatter apart to give out a big open space in the middle. Then like a routine gesture, all the male in the room took a step back to elevate thedies to the forefront! Seeing how Du Wei froze, Marde quietly reminded him: ¡°Young master, let¡¯s start.¡± Confused, Du Wei can only utter one word: ¡°What?¡± Marde wanted to p his head but could not: ¡°ceremonial traditions!¡± ¡°Ceremonial¡­¡­ Tradition?¡± The clueless face on Du Wei is not some act, its real! Marde was also shocked. Never once did he think the young master before him would be so clueless on such traditional rites! Hurrying around, he lowered his voice and whispered into Du Wei¡¯s ear: ¡°This part¡­.. Young Master! You must invite ady in the room to do the first dance of the night. Remember though, the girl must be single! This dance is represents your growth into adulthood and your pursuit for love. Also, if the girl epts your invitation, then she can ask you for a promise in return after the dance. For many great love stories, this dance in theing of age ceremony is where it all begins!¡± Seeing the nk look on Du Wei, Marde smiles wryly: ¡°It can¡¯t be¡­ You really didn¡¯t know?¡± Du Wei can only feel his head going numb. Biting his lips, he whispered: ¡°I really didn¡¯t know! God damn it, who was it that set such a rule?¡± ¡°The first emperor, his majesty Aragon.¡± Marde quickly steps back to push him: ¡°Come on young master, you mustn¡¯t be rude!¡± Du Wei was a bit nervous. Among the singledies below, there is no doubt the ones to shine the most is the strikingly beautiful Lister sisters! Especially Angel, her dress tonight obviously had a lot of work put into it. Like a flower that¡¯s ready to bloom, every part of her female asset was emphasized with the designs. And there are those eyes. Filled with anticipation, Angel clearly wanted Du Wei to look her way. However, Du Wei knew that he can never ask this Angel to dance! Marde may have exined it very simply, but Du Wei already got some understanding for this. Very often, the first dance is usually a man¡¯s excuse to invite his most beloved woman! Hell¡­¡­ Du Wei suddenly thought the move of leaving the drunken Vivian behind was his biggest blunder tonight! If he knew, he would have pulled Vivian along. Angel¡¯s eyes no longer tried to hide her excitement. Starting intently at Du Wei, even her shoulders were gently trembling. Finally, Du Wei took in a deep breath to make his resolve. Slowly but surely, he walked over. He¡¯sing!? Angle can only feel her blood rushing to the head and a constant thumping in her heart. Seeing how Du Wei is heading in her direction with a smile on his face, Angel really wanted to faint with happiness. Although she heard Vivian¡¯s outburst behind the banquet doors, but she is still quite confident in her beauty! That¡¯s why she won¡¯t give up so easily! When Du Wei was almost in front Angel, she was already fully prepared to answer, but just as he was two steps away, he suddenly changed direction¡­¡­. ¡°Dear Madam, can I invite you to apany me for the first dance of the night?¡± Du Wei came up to a beautiful woman and elegantly stretched out his hand. Marquise of the Lister was stunned. Looking at the youngster in front of her and the ashen faced sister around the corner of her eyes, she quickly regained herposure. She is after all ady that went through many ordeals in life, as such, most people never even noticed her moment of shock. Wearing a silver dress that showcased her ivory skinned shoulders, the Marquise¡¯s beauty was elevated even further by her slender body and delicate face. Blooming a graceful smile on her face, her hand was already in Du Wei¡¯s palm as they walked to the middle of the room. cing his hand on the Marquise¡¯s waist, the two started to dance under the guidance of the music¡­¡­. Seeing how Du Wei started the rite with her sister, Angel¡¯s heart felt like it was about to burst! Since small she was praised for her beauty and who knows how many boys have been intoxicated by her, but this boy! This guys! Even before she met him, Angel already felt like she was intoxicated by his legendary tales. While at home, she would again and again run to uncle Dadaneier to listen to the stories in the frozen forest. Then After seeing him in person, Angel truly believed it. She believed she has finally found the shadow of love! Yet now¡­¡­ her pride has been torn off. Deprived of a soul in her body, she can only watch on as the boy she so daringly yearned for danced away with her sister¡­¡­. Why?! Is he really not tempted by me?! ¡°Your lordship ¡­¡± Following the music, the Marquise¡¯s body spun around like a spirit sprite, soft and flexible. Then in a low voice, she moved her face up closer to his and whispered: ¡°Someone will be very sad at your ways.¡± Du Wei carried a faint smile on face: ¡°It¡¯s better to make the pain short than to prolong it.¡± At this moment, the Marquise finally realized her sister had no chance to begin with. If Angel is to hook onto the Duke¡¯s heart, they must think of another solution¡­¡­. Chapter 208 part 1 Chapter 208 ¡°Rather jump off a bridge than to dance¡± (Part one) ording to the so-called ¡°tradition¡±, the first dance is solely reserved for Du Wei and his femalepanion. Thus, everyone in the crowd began to consciously spread apart to give them space in the middle. Gently putting his arm around the Marquise, Du Wei and our famed beauty began dancing to the music. Although he wasn¡¯t favored since childhood, Du Wei still received the education befitting that of an aristocrat. From dancing to the proper manners used in a banquet, he is well versed in everything. But to his surprise, the Marquise¡¯s skill in dancing left him in awe. At first, our beauty here was still somewhat reserved, but after following the tempo of the music, her body became light as a feather. Swinging and rotating without resistance, she as a whole looked like a blooming flower. And there was the odor her body gave off¡­ Apparently, it¡¯s a rare perfume that gave off an elegant and refreshing smell that could get others to be drunk with its scent. Like this, two danced away. But very soon, Du Wei found himself unable to keep pace with his partner. Fortunately this experienceddy was very clever. Slighting changing her body¡¯s tempo, she quietly reced Du Wei¡¯s leading role without any apparent indication to the crowd. Before he knew it, the two became closer and closer that they began talking in their dance. ¡°Duke, why did you not invite the other singledies? Using me as a shield is not something a gentleman should do.¡± Du Wei smiles as he whispered, ¡°Marquise, you misunderstood me. Among the manydies here, who canpare to your beauty? To be able to invite a noble and beautifuldy like you to dance with me tonight is a memory I will never forget.¡± Who knows how many times she heard suchpliments already. Regardless, she didn¡¯t care and only gave a shallow smile in return as she moved into whisper next to his ear: ¡°I have to say, you can be really sneaky.¡± Curling his lips, Du Wei decided to admit it with silence. He really didn¡¯t have any other way. Just now when he heard the so called tradition from Marde, he quickly understood that this first dance is a way for him to express his love. One must know, though the nobility will only officially recognize a child as an adult at the tender age of 15, but it¡¯s not unheard of for a young lord to be well experienced the matters of bodily functions. Of course, for safety sake, there are some that would choose not to propose their love to their intended recipient if theycked the confidence. When this happens, most men would choose to invite a sister or family friend to dance. This way, they won¡¯t lose face or offend the tradition. In this case, Du Wei¡¯s move of inviting the Lister Marquise just so happens to coincide with thetter option. Even if he invited such a beautifuldy, no one would really think there would be any chance for sparks to ignite between the two. One is a famed widow double his age and another is a fresh youngster, the age gap is simply too far apart. Aside from this, it¡¯s well known the Marquise is a dedicated woman to her deceased husband. After the old guy died and left our beloveddy behind, there were many that sought after her for her beauty and wealth, yet every single one of these men were pushed away. It¡¯s rumored even the emperor himself was one of her pursuers and because of this reason, she had no other option but to leave the capital and go back to her old home in order to avoid arouse gossip. For many guests present, they were only smiling in good faith at the pair. Inwardly, they only believed this Duke still hadn¡¯t decided on a lover yet, so as a solution, he temporarily invited the Marquise. For some, they were even thinking of going back to report that this young Duke is still single and is a definite good choice in marriage for the misses. As for our Angel, she was quietly backing up to the furthest corner of the banquet hall. Leaning against the wall with her paleplexion, her nails were deeply gripped into her palm from how tight she was squeezing her skirt. Seeing this, Muse that was standing by took hold of his sister hand and whispered: ¡°Sister, let me take you back.¡± Biting her lips, Angel¡¯s tears that was held in by sheer will up to this point finally began to rain down. Fortunately she was stationed at a remote spot so others didn¡¯t notice her. However, Muse can see this and he was taking it all to heart. Pulling out a handkerchief, he handed it over: ¡°Sister, from yesturdays meeting, I believe this guy already has a lover. Also, I don¡¯t see what¡¯s so good about him? Humph¡­¡­.¡± Angel¡¯s face sank as she sighed: ¡°Muse¡­.. Bring me back.¡± As the atmosphere in the lobby grew thicker, the pair quietly went through the crowd and used the excuse of being unwell to exit the room from the side. When thest note died down, the Marquise¡¯s body made one final rotation before suddenly falling into Du Wei¡¯s arms. Despite how curved her back was, this amazing woman was still able to keep her bnce. Puffing out her chest with those ivory skinned breasts, her dazzling posture now is like a goddess that would drag anyone into her beauty. Then without any indication, a glimmer of tease shed across the Marquise¡¯s eyes¡­¡­ Apuse began to break out at the wondering performance. Using this as a signal, Du Wei pulled ourdy up and helped her stand upright. Mrs. Lister is after a woman. Under such intense physical exertion, even the beauty powders could no longer hide the blush on her face. Then there is also the thin wheezing sounding from her, it¡¯s exceptionally attractive like that of woman¡¯s moan at night. Suddenly, under the eyes of everyone present, our most esteemed beauty here stepped up and made a surprising move! Reaching out her hands to grasp at Du Wei¡¯s cheeks, she then spoke in a whispering voice like that of a girl speak talking to her beloved: ¡°Duke, you know, I¡¯ve never danced again after my husband¡¯s death. In order to thank you for the invitation and¡­¡­ To keep up with the norm of the event, I want to make an ¡®adult¡¯s request¡¯. This is the tradition.¡± With that, the Marquise suddenly moved closer without waiting for Du Wei to respond. Then in a mere split second, her sweet sumptuous lips were already matched up against his! The apuse from the audience seemed to have been snipped by an invisible scissor! For some of the gawking onlookers, they didn¡¯t even have the wits to put down their hands at the scene. It¡¯s¡­¡­ It¡¯s a ¡°Kiss of love¡±! Everyone became startled! ording to tradition, the first dance is a dance of love. If the inviteddy epts the proposal, she can then respond by giving a kiss to ept each other! If they¡¯re not a couple, then a simple peck on the cheek is enough. But¡­¡­ This nation turning widow actually publicly gave Du Wei a kiss of love!!!?? Those that were just thinking Du Wei was using the Marquise as a substitute were starting to have severe doubts in their minds because this fameddy is now wrapped around Du Wei¡¯s body and even gave him a kiss on the lips! What should have been just a second in that kiss is now an eternity for Du Wei. And before he could even push her away, the other party was already backing up. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you in the garden.¡± The Marquise whispers this in Du Wei¡¯s ear. In Du Wei¡¯s n, he never expected such a kiss and itpletely turned his n upside down. For the next part of the party, our Mrs. Lister used the excuse of being unwell to excuse herself. As for Du Wei, he was pinned between everyone¡¯s admiration and surprised look that left him feeling very ufortable. Everyone knows that this Marquise is the dream lover of who knows how many noblemen in the empire, yet this widowed beauty never responded to any of them. But today, this usually restraineddy actually made such an amazing scene¡­. Such skills from our young Duke really left everyone in awe! Unlike how everyone felt, Du Wei was bitter at his inability to speak up. In the future, it¡¯s certain his name and the Lister family will soon be inseparable¡­.. Perhaps this is the result ourdy wanted? For the remainder of the ball, Du Wei did not take part. Instead, this master of the house quietly slipped away and left the guests behind. Du Wei was not very sure about his emotions. In addition to being surprised, he was vaguely irritated because he felt like he was being yed by the Marquise. After slipping out of the banquet hall, his body seems to be naturally drawn to the garden indicated by the Marquise. Through some changes made by him, there is now a transparent greenhouse filled with flower beds in the middle of the field. Due to Du Wei¡¯s dislike of overpowering smells, the garden only contains certain varieties of flowers like the family symbol: The tulip. Swaying under the gentle breeze, a beautifully dressed figure with soft swaying hair stood there at the epicenter. This shadow is none other than our famed Marquise of the Lister house. Walking slowly over, Du Wei lightly coughed once. Turning around at his voice, the Marquise¡¯s showed a graceful smile. ¡°Marquise.¡± Du Wei frowns, his voice a little deep: ¡°I think I need an exnation.¡± ¡°What?¡± the Marquise began tough beguilingly. ¡°Just now.¡± Du Wei did not get angry, instead, he quietly walked up to her. The Marquise seems to deliberately tilt her head like she was in thought: ¡°Duke, I only remember you openly invited me to dance your very first dance of love in life. While epting your invitation, I also followed as per the tradition demanded and returned my intent¡­.. Is it not like so?¡± Chapter 208 part 2 Chapter 208 ¡°Rather jump off a bridge than to dance¡± (Part two) Du Wei was left wordless at the oundish lie, but seeing the foxy look in her eyes, a trace of anger started to develope inside of him: ¡°Madam Marquise, I believe the truth would be better in this situation¡­.. We both know what that was about.¡± Under the moon¡¯s radiant glow, the Marquise showed a hint of yfulness in her eyes as she fiddled with her hair: ¡°Your dukeship¡­. Can it be that in your eyes I¡¯m a woman without appeal? Or, do you thinking a woman of my age is not good enough for your noble status?¡± Finally unable to keep a straight face, Du Wei smiled bitterly: ¡°You jest. With your stunning looks, how can you not be appealing? Though I am young, but even for I when I first met you, I was awed by your radiating beauty. It just that I feel your move earlier is beyond my expectations¡­. For a goddess like entity like yourself, I really need to ask myself what part of me is good enough to make you tend to me.¡± ¡°Duke, you are underestimating yourself.¡± The Marquise suddenly took a step back, her eyes staring intently at Du Wei¡¯s: ¡°At the tender age of 14, you are already titled a Duke, an esteemed magician, and a council member of the magic academy. Looking back a hundred years in the empire¡¯s history, there is none in the nobility that could match up to your amazing feats! Besides, you are still young, so there are plenty of great things you are yet to do in theing future.¡± Du Wei kept up hisposure to utterugh: ¡°Madam, your exaggeratedpliments are making me feel a little ashamed.¡± ¡°Oh contraire, i feel this is still far from enough.¡± Madam Marquise charmingly smiles as her hand gently brushes against the flowers. Slowly, she came so close that Du Wei could faintly feel her breath: ¡°In my opinion, your achievements will be far more than what I can possible foresee.¡± Du Wei was somewhat perplexed at herment. Carefully, he then took a step backward: ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Du Wei.¡± The Marquise suddenly changed her formal manner of greeting to a more personal form. Whispering her words beside his ear: ¡°From a year ago where you saved my life, it only took you half a year to soar from a unvored child of a noble family. Isn¡¯t these points enough to exin the problem?¡± After a pause, she whispers, ¡°Also¡­ The sort of moves I did tonight is already different from my usual ways¡­. But at the time, i had to do something.¡± Du Wei chuckles augh as he stared intently at the Mrs. Lister. ¡°You are a very smart person so I think you should understand the meaning of why I sent my sister to the Northwest.¡± A hint of sadness crossed her eyes: ¡°Though my sister appears to be patient and gentle on the surface, but she is a very persistent person at heart. Since small she has been arrogant and despised the young lords of the capital. However, as a woman born under the Lister household, it¡¯s never up to us to choose our own fate. When I was young, I had no way to resist when my father forced me to marry, and now¡­..¡± Her tone mellows out pieces of sadness in her voice: ¡°I can¡¯t bear to let her make the same mistake as I did. Although for the family, she will still have to marry the best candidate that could bring the greatest benefit to the family. However, I never forced her. Luckily you appeared and solved one of my biggest dilemmas. Whether it is your status or identity, it can be said you are the most ideal candidate. More importantly, Angel is very fond of you. While at home, she would always mention the tales of your adventures, hence the reason the reason I brought her to the Northwest¡­.. I originally thought with Angel¡¯s charm, there would be few in this world that could resist her¡­. But unexpectedly, you¡­¡­¡± At this point, Mrs. Lister wryly shakes her head. Unlike her, Du Wei¡¯s face became at ease: ¡°This kind of thing cannot be forced¡­¡­ And besides, when did it be the norm for the older one to kiss me when the younger one fails?¡± After a while of silence between the two, it was the Marquise whom broke the awkwardness: ¡°Du Wei, what do you of me?¡± Du Wei became stunned. Instead of stopping, the Madam continues to speak without stopping: ¡°I¡¯ve been under strict education since I was small from my father, therefore, I could never rx my guard for even a second. Though I could not im to have extraordinary talents, but in my eyes, these so called reputable schrs really can¡¯t catch my interest. Also, I may have married early on in my life, but I never loved my husband despite the wealth and prominent status he brought me. Through my hands, I¡¯ve expanded the family business to the point where it¡¯s already double the size of my father¡¯s times¡­¡­¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t really understand the meaning of her exnation, so he just shut up and listened. ¡°I¡¯m already 31 years old now.¡± At this point, the marquise¡¯s face shed a hint of worry, but that was quickly cracked away with a smile that surpassed even the flowers in the garden in terms of beauty. With a touch of self-pity in her tone, this truly indescribable beauty softly said: ¡° ¡°Fortunately the Gods favored my family lineage and gave my people an excellent face. And despite my age, the god of time has been merciful enough to not take my youth. Although I¡¯m already nearing 30 years old, I¡¯m still certain I won¡¯t lose out to any of woman of this world.¡± Du Wei instinctively gasped a breath: ¡°Indeed, you are truly a rare beauty that could not be matched.¡± What he said just now is all true. No matter the angel he looked at it from, every gestureing out of this impable beauty carries with it a boundless charm that superseded every woman he¡¯s met (excluding Nicole). It¡¯s true Angel would not lose out to her elder sister in terms of beauty, but she is still too wet behind the ears to be a match for the Madam¡¯s elegance and sophisticated style. What¡¯s more, despite her age being already over 30, there isn¡¯t a single trace of time on her face. Back when Du Wei first met this woman, he really did mistake her for a young girl only. Truly worthy of being the dream lover of numerous nobleman¡¯s in the empire. Hearing Du Wei¡¯s admittance, she gently turns her head sideways with a bit of fluster on her cheeks as he looked at him: ¡°So, Du Wei, would a man like you be tempted by me?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Du Wei subconsciously replied despite being frozen with shock: ¡°what?¡± ¡°I said, would a man like you be tempted by me?¡± After she asked with those soothing soft words, the Marquise¡¯s body was already slowly swinging towards Du Wei. Managing a smile, he said: ¡°Madam, you jest.¡± ¡°What if I¡¯m not kidding?¡± The distance between the two were already close enough to the point where their nose can be called touching. Not sure why, while looking at this stunning beauty before him where his hands can already caress, a part of his mind was beginning to fall into temptation. This side of his mind was realized when his hand won¡¯t listen to him when he wanted to push her away. Now, at such close distance, he can finally get a clear look at all her features. From the eyes to the vague female scent, he was absorbing everything¡­¡­ ¡°I can guarantee I¡¯ll be any man¡¯s perfect wife.¡± The Marquise¡¯s soft gentle voice wafted around his ear like a reverberating echo: ¡°I understand what should be known and what should not be known¡­. And if a man wants me to not know something, I¡¯ll pretend not to know¡­..¡± Du Wei can only feel his throat going dry and his heart beat elerating. Fortunately, his mind remains intact. Taking a deep breath, he only managed to rpose himself by secretly pinching his body: ¡°Madam, what are you trying to say to me?¡± ¡°Marriage.¡± The word that came out of her mouth nearly made him jump from freight! ¡°I, Lan Lister, am proposing to your Dukeship.¡± This is clearly not a joke because despite herugh being so charming, her eyes were clear and her voice was very serious! ¡°I want to be your wife, Du Wei.¡± This time around, the pause in dialoguested for a very long time. Panting like how a cat had its tail stepped on, he could no longer hide the shock on his face. To tell you the truth, even if she told Du Wei she was a world traveler like him, it is unlikely he would be reacting in such an extreme manner! ¡°Ma-marriage?!¡± Du Wei felt like he was dreaming: ¡°You¡¯re asking me to marry you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Mrs. Lister nods: ¡°I am asking you to marry me.¡± Du Wei wanted tough, but looking at her serious eyes, a sense of dread appeared in his heart: ¡°are you serious?¡± ¡°In the 30 years of my life, I¡¯ve never been so serious.¡± This beauty gently nods her head. He could no longerugh because he is fully aware of how serious the problem at hand is now! Reject? Are you fucking kidding? The most sought after beauty of the nobility circle is asking him for marriage. If he dare refuse, the amount of spit flying his way from her followers would likely be enough to drown him! Say their age is too different? But Du Wei is well aware that while she is already 30 years old, he is in fact much older if he put into ount of his true age! Say she is too old? But no matter how he looked at her, she is simply a stunning beauty that looked no more than 18 years old! Say her origin is not good enough? Are you kidding? The amount of wealth she has is enough to bury him alive ten folds and more! Say she already married once? If he really did say such a thing, even he will look down at himself for unting the chastity excuse. Also, the other party is apparently very serious in their attitude andmitment. From any standpoint, Du Wei must use the upmost respect in his answer. That is the very bottom line! In addition, this Marquise is not some ordinary person! Hesitating for a moment, Du Wei¡¯s attitude also became serious. Coughing loudly to clear his voice, his eyes became steady as he faced the woman before him: ¡°Frankly, I¡¯m really surprised¡­¡­ And, to be able to get such favor from a nobledy like yourself is a great honor!¡± ¡°So, are epting? Or deny?¡± This problem should not be answered with ¡°Yes¡± or ¡°no¡±, so Du Wei thought for a moment before politely saying: ¡°Madam¡­¡­ I already have a woman I like.¡± Out of Du Wei¡¯s expectation, the Marquise gave a light smile in return: ¡°I know, it¡¯s that beautiful magician girl, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s her.¡± Du Wei lets out a breather: ¡°She is my favored girl.¡± ¡°But what if I tell you I don¡¯t mind?¡± the Marquise blinks her eyes: ¡°With your position and identity, I cannot expect you to be bound by only one wife. Although the imperialw only permits one formal wife, but I don¡¯t think you should be bound by this act. In fact¡­. If you agree to my proposal, I won¡¯t mind if you continue to pursue your love life¡­. You see? I said that I¡¯m an intelligent woman. If there are some things you a man don¡¯t want me to know, I¡¯ll cleverly pretend I don¡¯t know.¡± After say all that, this woman cleverly backed up because she knew this is not the time to force an answer out of Du Wei. With some space between the two, Du Wei is finally able to breath. ¡°Please consider my request.¡± Her tone sounds nothing like someone talking about marriage, instead, it sounded more like some business deal: ¡°I¡¯ll be the best wife out there. Besides that¡­¡­ I will also give up myst name for you and marry into your household. In the future, the Lister family will hence forth support you without reservation and be your most loyal supporter!¡± With that, this beauty elegantly made a parting gesture and quietly floated away. Leaving behind her is the tulip garden and our Du Wei in his preupied state¡­.. Damn it, it was just a dance¡­¡­ If I had known, I would have rather jumped a river than to dance! (Note: thest line is supposed to rhyme because the word jump and dance in chinese sounds very simr. Wished I could have done better because this chapter was so poetic but once tranted, all the poetic words be scrambled.) Chapter 209 part 1 Chapter 209 ¡°Afraid of change!¡± (part one) Undeniable, Du Wei is somewhat annoyed. And what caused him to be so angry is that he himself realized his ¡°heart¡± was moved! Speaking from heart, with the Marquise¡¯s beauty, it¡¯s unlikely to find a man that wouldn¡¯t be physically and psychological tempted by this woman! If he had to say a rude word, then it¡¯s: she is so fucking beautiful, so beautiful that no man can refuse her! Don¡¯t mention anything else; just thinking of that body and face favored by even the gods is enough¡­.. A goddess yearned by every man in the empire¡­ And now he is able to embrace such a goddess in his arms! More importantly, not only is she a stunning beauty with immeasurable wealth, she is also usually wise. Du Wei is certain if he marries her, she will be the most loyal person to him¡­.. For Such a woman, who wouldn¡¯t be excited? Du Wei may not be a lecherous scum, but he is still a man with normal bodily functions. Most importantly, it¡¯s thest word spoken by the Marquise. ¡°In the future, the Lister family will support you without reservation and be your most loyal supporter!¡± Such a promise¡­¡­ Or ¡°deal¡±, holds a very special meaning for Du Wei! Du Wei knows that if he wants to gain a proper foothold in Northwest and prepare for theing crisis in the next few years¡­. He will needrge amounts of money! Lots and lots of money! He needs dorge amounts of construction projects in the Northwest because the City of Miracles is only the beginning. Being the closest frontier to the prairie natives of the desert puts his Desa province at the greatest risk! With only a single fortress city like his Lon City is not enough! In his n, he intends to establish a batch of cities across the province to deal with the native Calvary! Just imagine it, back in Governor Bohan¡¯s Mansion, even a whimsical small tribe scared off their wits by Longbottom could so easily bring out tens of thousands of the finest warhorses¡­.. So then, how much warhorses and fighters would the entire prairie desert have? Although he managed to establish his city if miracle with the help of the spring¡¯s water and horn of life from the treants, but he spent millions of gold in the process! And what¡¯s more, the water from the spring is not unlimited! That damn spring is in the Northwest part of the frozen forest. Each run is troublesome and only someone like Hussein could possibly make the trip sessfully¡­¡­ Don¡¯t forget, that damn spring is not always there! ording to the treants, it¡¯s not umon to find it in a dry state for decades! So, Du Wei can¡¯tpletely rely on the spring to help me through the Northwest¡¯s construction projects. With each drop of water consumed, it would mean one drop less for him. Thinking up to here, Du Wei began to sigh because Hussein is still not back yet from his mission. Let¡¯s hope he can bring back some water from that sted spring. Nevertheless, even if Hussein does indeed bring back what he wanted, Du Wei already made up his mind to never use the water again unless he absolutely must. Who knows when it will be that the spring fills up again¡­.. Back when he used the water to create a big harvest and build the city of miracle is because he had ulterior motives. Achieving all of that within three month is to showcase his ¡°power¡±! This is the quickest and most direct method for him to get everyone to yield! Looking at the oue, he got what he wanted. Throughout the entire Northwest region, the story of his City of Miracle runs so rampant that even the other parts of the maind is rumoring with his story. However, such ¡°miracles¡± can only asionally happen once or twice, anymore is beyond his capability. Therefore, after deterring all those who doubted him thus far with the two miracles, Du Wei will hence forth need to look for alternative methods to reinforce his strength! The answer is: Money! Lots and lots of money! Millions of and even tens of millions of gold coins! Whether it is the prisoners from Sin City, buying warhorses through Longbottom, or procuring ves for his factory, everything thus far is only small stuff¡­.. If he wants to gain a firm foothold in the Northwest and have enough capital to go up against the warlords of the Northwest, he needs to build up his private army first! And it just so happens that the army is the most expensive thing there is! The Northwestern Corps is nearly 200,000 strong with an additional 30,000 personnel in the back for logistic¡­. This is one of the more elite Corps within the empire! To be able to go up against such a powerful force, Du Wei needs to have at least 100,000 elite soldiers under his banner to put up a front! Then there are the prairie natives with a deep seated hatred outside the Northwest Corridor! Despite their poption being only at a million, just about every citizen can be a soldier with a little training! If Du Wei wants to fend off such an awfully strong enemy, how much troops would he really need? Even more so, how many sturdy walls will he need to construct? Then there are the weapons and fodders needed for the horses¡­¡­ Just relying on the ie of his business in the capital is absolutely not enough. Even if he did n to thoroughly ckmail the United Kingdom, the small fortune that came his way is likely far from enough in his squandering. Without tens of millions of gold coins, he can forget about truly building up in the Northwest! Du Wei¡¯s biggest issue is¡­¡­ If it is anywhere else, a family would have decades or even centuries to develop¡­. But Du Wei doesn¡¯t. At most, he will only have around a few years¡­ Or even short if thingses to push! The only way to speed up the process is money. Just now, Du Wei can faintly hear thest words spoken by our wealthydy again. After dinner, the majority of the guests were mostly dispersed, especially that Totoro of the Northwestern Army. His departure was very urgent, but before he left, his attitude was exceptionally polite. Confused by the odd behavior, Du Weiter learned from the other guests that the Northwestern Army Head Rugaard is also an admirer of our fine Marquise. The Rnd Empire¡¯s custom can still be considered open. Whether it is from the legal or religious standpoint, it does not prohibit a woman to remarry, and within the noble circle, this is even moremon. The reason why there was such an outpour of surprise is because of our Madam¡¯s sudden intimacy with our Duke. Also, for many of the people that was originally aiming to bond their families with our young duke can only sigh at this point. Du Wei¡¯s upsetting heart can never be overlooked by our guests. In their eyes, they only thought the young Duke is simply too eager to ditch them for thedy. It wasn¡¯t until midnight did the partye to the end. While the majority of the guests were already gone, some remained and was escorted to the guest rooms by a servant. Unlike how his guests were being apanied by a servant, Du Wei dispersed his people so that he quietly go back up to his room to think the matter over: ept or not to ept? Thinking about it reasonably, binding the Lister family with him is indeed a good choice. The wealth from their family is something he needs urgently and there are also the connections they have. While others may revere him as Duke, but his standing is still too shallow in other peoples opinion. Turning around, they might not actually pay him any heed! The empire is waning day by day and even the emperor himself cannot bepared to before, so let¡¯s not mention a young Duke like him. For example: even a governor like Bohan is not taking him seriously! However, the Marquise is different. She¡¯s been in this circle for a very long time and her methods are very skilled; otherwise, her family wouldn¡¯t be so well off right now. But does he really have to ept such a disgusting thing like a political marriage? Don¡¯t joke¡­¡­ This is not my personality! As Du Wei moved down the hallway, he suddenly heard a hurried stepping sounding from the door in front of him. Taking a closer look, this is the room Vivian is asleep in. After the girl got drunkst night, he carried her into one of his bedrooms, that¡¯s why she¡¯s been asleep all day and night. If she was present in tonight¡¯s ball, then just maybe he wouldn¡¯t have encountered such a dilemma. Apparently, Vivian is already awake and when she heard the fast footstepsing from the door, she took a peek outside to realize it was the person she least wanted to meet. Hurrying to close the door behind her with a flustered face, a foot was already interlocked between the doors. She may be awake, but her head was still having a major migraine from the hangover. Nheless, shes of what transpiredst night would asionally sh across her mind. Ah!!¡­¡­ I did something very boldst night! After a series of scenes pieced together in her mind, everything became clear. With her heart beating uncontrobly at the fear and regret of what she did, Vivian would even use the advance spell ¡°Wheel of Time¡± to undo all that has happenedst night. Just as she was freaking out at what to do, Du Wei had already forced the door open and was standing before her with a smile on his face: ¡°You awake?¡± Bouncing between red and white on her face, Vivian can only nod and make an ¡®umm¡¯ sound to reply. ¡°How did you sleep? Looking at your face, it seems your full of spirit.¡± Walking in, he backhandedly closed the door behind him like he had just closed off thest escape route. Vivian jumped in surprise and her body instinctively recoiled backward¡­. Right now, her body was already leaning against the wall: ¡°You-you¡­ What are you doing?¡± ¡°Do what?¡± Du Wei smiles joyously: ¡°Who was itst night that said she wanted to be my wife? Who was it that said she wanted to sleep with me?¡± Not only did Vivian¡¯s face turn blood red, her head was so low that her chin nearly touched her chest. Then disregarding the girl¡¯s reaction, Du Wei took two steps forward andpletely picked her up. With him sitting on the bed and her on top of his leg, he then told her not to move. ¡°Vivian, don¡¯t move.¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice suddenly showed a trace of weariness: ¡°Let me hold you for a while. Aigh, I¡¯m really stumped right now.¡± Chapter 209 part 2 Chapter 209 ¡°Afraid of change!¡± (part two) Just when Vivian was about to struggle, something about Du Wei¡¯s tone of speech changed her mind. Squinting her eyes, Vivian¡¯s small hands cautiously reached for Du Wei¡¯s forehead: ¡°You-you have a fever?¡± She asked timidly with a spec of worry in her voice. Without hesitating, Du Wei grabbed hold of our girl¡¯s hand and gave it a peck with his lips: ¡°Nonsense, I don¡¯t get sick.¡± Knowing she was kissed, Vivian¡¯s face blushed with embarrassment. It would seems no matter how problematic his issues are, all would be flushed away when facing our frightened little rabbit: ¡°I ask you, was the words fromst night in your drunken state true?¡± Trembling, the first reaction she had was to shake her head; however, she quickly finished it off with a small nod after hesitating for a bit. ¡°Really?¡± This time, she finally gave a full nod. Du Wei cried out augh. Holding her in his arms, Du Wei softly says: ¡°My sweetheart, you¡¯re finally grown up.¡± Vivian grievously objected: ¡°You¡­.. I¡¯m bigger than you¡­¡­ ¡± Surprised at her words, Du Wei lets out a longugh as he shook his head: ¡°Vivian, you¡¯re wrong, I¡¯m much older than you.¡± Then hey down on the bed. Sighing, he then said: ¡°I¡¯m a little depressed today, so please, stay here for the evening and have a chat with me, alright?¡± Vivian instinctively wanted to answer with a yes because it had already be a habit. However, seeing howte it was already and the fact that it is only him and her inside the room¡­. She¡¯s not stupid! A man and a woman on a bed in the middle of the night, even she knows such a thing is inappropriate. Picking up on the girl¡¯s worry, Du Wei couldn¡¯t stop himself from teasing: ¡°Did you not say you wanted to sleep with mest night?¡± ¡°No¡­¡­ No¡­¡­¡± Vivian started to panic. In the end, she can only choke out a few words: ¡°Not¡­.. Not now¡­..¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry; I won¡¯t really eat you up now.¡± Pulling Vivian to him, Du Wei had the little maiden wrapped in his arms with her head against his chest. Though she wasn¡¯t as breathtakingly beautiful as the Marquise sisters, but there¡¯s a strangefort to be had in her existence. Like¡­¡­ He had no other needs in this world. Oddly enough, a person¡¯s mind is funny like this. The onceplicated problem guing him earlier just became moot and it was unnecessary to overthink the issue! Embracing Vivian, he suddenly muttered these words without even thinking it over: this is the kind of woman I want! Sometimes, things are just that simple. Losing himself for a moment, Du Wei suddenly found himself being knocked back to reality due to the itch on his nose ¨C this is caused by Vivian¡¯s hair. Sneezing, he shook head out of habit and instinctively reached out for something to wipe his nose. In seconds, his hand fell upon something small and soft while being infused with a faint aroma. Giving his face a good wipe, he opened his eyes to have a clear look at the unfamiliar object in his hand¡­¡­ Both Du Wei And Vivian became dumbfounded. This thing is obviously a little girl¡¯s panty, pink and cute! Needless to say, this obviously our heroin¡¯s undergarment. Unlike the hesitating expression on Du Wei, our panicking girl was already trying to take back what is hers like someone catching a thief. Nevertheless, as much as she tried, Du Wei already pocketed the booty before she can get her hands on it. Flushing a beat red face, Vivian begs: ¡°Give-give it back.¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°Finders keepers.¡± ¡°Give-give me¡­¡­ I beg of you. I-I was just taking a shower and left it here¡­¡­¡± Vivian¡¯s eye bes watery. Du Wei smiles with great enjoyment: ¡°I¡¯ll keep it for now. When you be my wife, I¡¯ll give you ten instead.¡± With that, Du Wei suddenly leaped up from the bed and sneaked a kiss on Vivian¡¯s lip. With a happy smile on his face, he ran off without stopping. By next morning, Du Wei¡¯s mood was much more rxed. Humph, who am I? I am Du Wei! Madam Lister, don¡¯t think you can catch a big fish like me so easily! You want to y with me? Fine, let¡¯s see if you are capable enough! Making up his mind, Du Wei knows he cannot so openly reject them, thus, a ¡°stalling¡± tactic must be used. Anyways, his age is still young; he¡¯s in no hurry to marry. The beauty of this Marquise is indeed very exciting to the point where she is considered a disaster to those around them, but¡­¡­. Isn¡¯t she just a woman? That¡¯s still not enough to make our little devil here fall heads over heel for her. After two days of rest, the nice times for our Hogwart students have finallye to an end. Waking up early that day, he immediately went to meet the two teachers sent along to oversee the kids ¨C they are Old Alley¡¯s disciple. Since they are old acquaintances anyways, Du Wei did not bother hiding his intent, likewise, the two seniors made it clear they intend to follow through with Du Wei¡¯s arrangements. ¡°In that case, I won¡¯t be so formal.¡± Du Wei said this with a genuine smile: ¡°My ns are very simple. I¡¯ll first take the students with me while both of you rest at the castle. If you are interested, you can freely look around. After a few days, I will bring them back.¡± Du Wei¡¯s style may be a bit bossy, but these two seniors¡¯ disciples of Old Alley happily agreed to his arrangement. To them, it just means a baggage is lifted off their shoulders and they can finally do what they want. Without stalling, Du Wei immediately sent for General Longbottom and the twenty eight students. Together, he had them all moved into the military camp outside the city. In addition, he also had someone prepare a change of clothing for him while he himself picked up some magic items in preparation of joining the others in the camp. Thinking it over, he thought it was for the best if he met with the Marquise family before going. Only problem is that when he went to the sisters ce, he was told by the servants that Miss Angel and the Marquise was unwell and could not meet him. Unfortunately, it was the hateful boy Muse that came out to greet him. With a dark and unwilling face, Muse said: ¡°Why did youe? Because of you, my sisters not only cried all night, they also argued! I¡¯ve never once seen them so heated. It¡¯s all because of you that they fought!¡± Just knowing this is giving him a headache because one is love struck teenage girl and the other is a strong willed woman. Being stuck in-between the two is something he does not wish for and not something he can solve. Whatever, it¡¯s better not to meet. If he did, it would be more bothersome. To make it quick, he made up an excuse of having urgent matters outside the city. Not knowing when he will return, he gave his parting message that he is sorry for not being able to personally send her Ladyship off. However, just when he was about to leave with his back turn already, the snobby brat cut him off by running in front of him: ¡°Wait!!¡± Frowning, Du Wei eyes the kid. ¡°You need to go out?¡± An idea shifts across Muse¡¯s childish blue eyes: ¡°Perfect, since I don¡¯t know how to solve my sister¡¯s argument anyways, I might as well go out since I¡¯m here to learn from you!¡± Du Wei smile became somewhat crooked: ¡°But the things I have not only poses a certain level of risk, it also requires long periods of travel on horseback. I fear you might not be able to endure such pains.¡± Muse immediately became angry: ¡°How do you know I can¡¯t endure it! I¡¯m telling you now; I can already wield the sword at the tender age of eight! Then I was able to ride at ten! Don¡¯t look down at me. In terms of riding skills, you may not be above me!¡± Du Wei sighs as he gave the kid a look: ¡°Fine then. It¡¯s not like its anything even if you tag along, but¡­.. If you can¡¯t keep up and get kicked back here, don¡¯t me me.¡± With that, he nced at the room upstairs: ¡°Go back and pack some clothing for yourself. On this trip, we will be out for at least ten days or more!¡± ¡°Humph! Though you look like a man, but your attitude is too naggy. What is there to pack? With the clothing on me and my trusty sword, I can go anywhere! Don¡¯t take my for those fragile rich kids!¡± Muse taps the sword on his waist. Inwardly, Du Wei was thinking: you make it sound nice now, but if you fall behind on the road, I¡¯ll simply send you back with someone. With more than 10 guards and Old Smoke by his side ¨C they are the odd talents recruited by Longbottom ¨C Du Wei was just about to announce their departure when this snobby Muse went ahead without his permission. ¡°Humph, kid.¡± Du Wei curls his lips in dissatisfaction. He did not know this but when he rode out of the gate, two eyes were gazing down at him from the castle¡¯s window. Pale and full of sadness in her eyes, Angel stayed like this until Du Wei¡¯s back could no longer be seen. Biting her lips, she then turns to face the Marquise standing at her side. Like her, the Marquise look tired as she sighed: ¡°Angel, you still can¡¯te to terms with it?¡± ¡°Sister!!¡± Angel suddenly eximed: ¡°I just don¡¯t get it!¡± She raised her hand to point at the Marquise: ¡°You know I like him! So why, why did you do such a thing like proposing to him!!¡± ¡°Angel¡­..¡± The Marquise eyed her sister a sense of determination: ¡°You think I¡¯m stealing your lover? My sister! I originally wanted you to be with him too¡­.. Our family may appear to be thriving right now, but even you should be able to figure out our family¡¯s biggest weakness. And he, this man, is the key to our family¡¯s future! This is precisely the reason why I sent you to the Northwest¡­.. My sister, you must understand. Men likes the opposite sex, but that doesn¡¯t mean all men will be hypnotized by the beauties before their eyes!¡± Angel was silent, but she was still hatefully staring at her sister. ¡°Angel¡­¡­¡± The Marquise sighs as she slowly walked over to gently hug her beloved sister: ¡°Although I did not have much interaction with him, but I can tell you cannot tie his heart down, you understand? You must believe me, I¡¯ve never been wrong in judging people. I¡¯ve always to taught you that you must learn what a man wants. Some likes women, some likes power, and this guy¡­. Even I don¡¯t know what he wants. This guy is not right for you¡­. From his words alone, I can see he is not the type to be soft hearted against a woman¡­¡­¡± After a pause, she whispers, ¡°You know what? I heard he was gifted a group of quadruplet, trained and skilled in the art of seduction. Despite their many merits, this guy simply tossed the girls into his store and never bothered with them¡­. And I even heard because the girls disobeyed him, he mercilessly whipped the sisters. He¡¯s dangerous ¡­.. So please understand me, I did this to protect you!¡± ¡°All you ever think about is the family, always for the family!¡± Angel suddenly shouted. PACKKK! A resounding pnded on our delicate Angel¡¯s face. With a pained expression, the Marquise looked at her foolish sister: ¡°Don¡¯t forget, both you and I are a member of this family! You may hate me now, but let me ask you¡­.. Since you have no way to get him to like you, then what other choice do I have other than sacrificing myself?¡± After a pause, the Marquise whispers, ¡°Don¡¯t forget, Muse is already 15 years old! How long do you think we can hide the matter? There are many people eyeing our family¡¯s wealth! Some would be more than happy to swallow even our bones if they can¡­.. We don¡¯t have much time left!¡± Just as Du Wei arrived with his students at the military base camp outside Lon City, a lone knight on horseback slowly came before the city gates. From top to bottom, he had battle scars all over the ce like he just experienced some kind of unimaginable storm! Even from afar, the garrison soldiers can smell the scent of blood permeating from this mysterious knight. Subconsciously, every soldier at the gate had their alerts raised at this blue haired one eyed knight. Despite the determination on the knight¡¯s face, it could not hide the fatigue caused by the injuries on the body. In fact, the wobbly fashion he sat there atop of his mount looked like he would fall at any moment. Just as the soldiers were about to stop the knight in his tract, this mysterious person took the lead and pulled out a badge from his clothing. Surprising everyone, it was the symbol of the Duke¡¯s manor! Not only did they not dare block the road, the soldiers even sent a messenger ahead to bring the news to the Duke¡¯s castle. The mysterious knight is in fact Hussein! Who knows what happened to be able to dy our Saint Knight from returning, but not only was he injured all over the ce, even his armor was near the breaking point with cracks everywhere. If not for his Saint Dou Qi suppressing his wounds, it¡¯s likely Hussein would never have been able to make the long journey back! For example: the most serious wound was on his right shoulder! From the way the wound appears, it¡¯s likely pierced by a violent force. Even under the protection of the Saint Dou Qi, this opponent was able to deal such a devastating blow; clearly this enemy was exceptionally strong. If not for such a powerful interface lingering inside his body, Hussein would have already mended his wounds. Like Hussein, his horse is also exhausted from the long trek back. Only by reaching the vicinity of Lon City did he breathe out a sigh of relief. Nevertheless, despite his perseverance, Hussein could no longer keep his body upright after reaching the castle¡¯s bridge. nting on one side, he fell down from his mount, thus, causing quite the stir among the pce guards. The security forces originally thought it was an enemy attack so their awareness were suddenly raised to the maximum. However, when they realized it was Hussein, they quickly brought our Saint Knight inside without hesitation. Soon after Hussein was carried into the Castle, Marde was quickly called upon because our Duke was not present at the moment. With just a nce, Marde began to exim in shock: Oh god! How did he get so seriously injured! Fast! Send for the Duke in the military camp and have the temple¡¯s clericse over now! We need their healing abilities!¡± Originally in aa already, Hussein suddenly woke up and grabbed hold of Marde¡¯s arm. In a husky voice, he said: ¡°Don¡¯t call the temple.¡± Stunned at the request, Marde nevertheless agrees to the request because he¡¯s already used to the odd balls working under the young master. ¡°Have someone¡­¡­ Carry me to the greenhouse, fast!¡± Hussein¡¯s breathe rapidly increases as the veins on his forehead pops up. Hurrying two servants over, Marde had Hussein carried over to the Greenhouse and ordered some people to stand guard outside. Du Wei had secretly ced a bunch of magic potions and ingredients in a location within the greenhouse. Among the many things there, one of the stuff is the ice berries. This narcotic like fruit may have been abused by the wealthy ss, but there¡¯s no denying it¡¯s a great anesthetic for pain. Barely able to support himself, Hussein forced down a bit of the ice berry along with some other medical potions. Through the relieving and rejuvenating effects of the magical nts and potions, his body finally regained some of the golden luster unique to that of a Saint level warrior like Hussein. Enduring the pain, Hussein suddenly did something no normal man could possibly do on their own. Towards his right shoulder bones where the severe wound was located, he once again fractured it with his bare hands. Under the fierce burning light of his golden Dou Qi, the gruesome sight of his reopened wound sealed itself off at a rapid pace. Normally, not even Hussein should be able to endure such excruciating pain, but thanks to the numbing ice berry he partook, the pain became a lot easier to bear. Right now, our Saint Knight is a ragged and tattered as one can be. His side still had a sword hanging there, but the de had long been shattered with mostly only the hilt left. Then there is his hair. Stained red, the usually glossy blue hair is now clustered into bands of lumps due to the viscious blood. Waiting till his bones were regrown, Hussein slightly sighs out in relief as he sat up. With his legs crossed, he then reached for his bag and opened it up¡­.. Inside, there is a sword radiating an awe-inspiring chill like that of the winter chill! If Du Wei were here to see this sword, he will most certainly be surprised! The reason is because this sword in Hussein¡¯s hand is none other than the famed sword wielded by Rodriguez ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡±!!! However, why is this legendary weapon possessed by Hussein? Chapter 210 part 1 Chapter 210 ¡°Fuck!¡± (part one) Within the military camp outside Lon City, Du Wei and his 28 students are getting ready to set off for their training session along with Longbottom and his 1000 Calvary knights. Du Wei¡¯s intention is very simple: He needs these mages to be capable of cooperating with his forces and this trip is the perfect opportunity for him to find the most efficient engagement style. After going through the strict physical training set out by Du Wei, these kids can no longer be called weak. To match their development, he specially designed a set of equipment that subverted the image an ordinary person would have had towards a magician. Ditching the representative robe unique to that of the mage profession, each of the students are now wearing leather armor with a short sword strapped to their waist like that of a light infantry. Above all else, Du Wei even gifted these fledglings with their own wands made of decent quality walnut branches; of course, the walnut tree was produced by using the spring¡¯s water to fast forward its growth. Though the wands were only of average standard for a walnut tree, but for these fledging¡¯s, it is already a gift of immeasurable value! One must understand, a wand made out of a walnut tree¡¯s branch is not something a neer can so easily afford ore by because even in the union, only those in the mid-level range can possibly afford one. Having such a valuable treasure in their hands, some of these students were so memorized by it that they were wiping it back and forth with their sleeves like fanatics. ¡°Everyone listen up.¡± Du Wei sternly cries out his word atop of his mount: ¡°I will give you the best! The best wand, the best equipment! But whether or not you are worthy of these things will depend entirely on your efforts! I hope that after your internship in the Northwest, you will be a match for this stuff! I can tell you now, as long as you can satisfy me¡­. I will provide you with some extra things as a reward at the end!¡± Watching the eager eyes down below, Du Wei then announced a decision that left everyone bewildered: His request is that in theing days, all of them are to cooperate with the army! ¡°What you have to do is match their movements, support their operations, and follow General Longbottom¡¯smand! Even if the orders are unreasonable in your view, you still must do everything in your ability to meet his requests, do you all understand?¡± Magicians are going to support the soldiers?¡± Thismand really is surprising because of how prosperous magic have been developing on the Rnd Continent. Historically, the limited number of magicians in the Union would still y a part in military campaigns, but that doesn¡¯t mean they will coordinate their attacks with the main army. During a battle, these highly temperamental individuals would only fight the enemy by themselves. In Du Wei¡¯s view, this is highly unreliable and inefficient. And let¡¯s not forget their attitudes¡­.. If their mood is nice, they might lend you a hand at a critical moment, but if their day is bad, they might just pack up and leave you to your own fate. Du Wei¡¯s intention is to make these young magicians change this habit. Although it doesn¡¯t make much sense to force these students to always bend to the army¡¯s will, but this method is very effective in correcting the bad behavior somonly found in the mage profession. Even for our famed General Longbottom, he wasn¡¯t very ustomed to Du Wei¡¯s mind-blowing suggestion. Sure, he may have been a senior officer inmand of thousands of soldiers at one time, but these are magicians were talking about! Overwhelmed by such a task, Longbottom can only smile bitterly as he epted the assignment. Coughing once to clear his throat, he began to cry out his words: ¡°Fine then! From today onwards, I will not look at you as wizards; instead, I will hence forth treat you like one of my subordinates! Don¡¯t expect preferential treatment! If I hear anyone ever going against my orders, I will punish you with the whip! Do you people understand!¡± This speech can be considered extremely ambitious. If it was anyone else, these overlords known as magicians would have either turned tailed and walked away without so much as a nce. As for those with a bad temper, you can damn well expect some payback. Fortunately through the art of brainwashing, Du Wei is quite prestigious in their hearts. Also, these kids are from the military to begin with, so taking orders from the military is quite normal for them. ¡°Well then, get up and let¡¯s go!¡± Longbottom ordered with his booming voice: ¡°Get into marching formation! Magicians unit stay in the back¡­.. We must get to Cow Tongue vige located at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro before dark. We will resupply there, but don¡¯t expect any breaks because we will be making our way up the mountain throughout the night! Kids¡­. What will be awaiting you there is the fur and the cores of the magical beasts living there!¡± Once they were on the road, Longbottom rode side by side with Du Wei just so he canin: ¡°Boss¡­. You really gave me a problem¡­.. With so many mages listening to me¡­¡­ Even I don¡¯t know what to do. Oh god, I fear I¡¯m the onlymander throughout the empire to be given so many mages as underlings.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it.¡± Du Wei smiles like it wasn¡¯t such a big deal: ¡°Everything is just the beginning, we still need to slowly develop it.¡± After a day of forced marching, even Longbottom was surprised at the endurance showcased by the young mages. Like many generals in the empire, they love and hated mages. What makes a magician so lovable is their immense strength, and what makes them so hateful is the inability to control them. Seeing how much suffering these young mages are willing endure and their willingness to take his orders, what more can Longbottom ask for? Unlike the fit youngsters that impressed Longbottom, the young master of the Lister Household was different. When Du Wei peered over to look at Muse, this brat was clearly showing a face of fatigue. However, when he noticed Du Wei¡¯s gaze, this stubborn child immediately straightened his back to hide his weakness. ¡°Humph, what a proud kid.¡± Du Weiughed inside. Cow Tongue vige is located at the southern base of Mount Kilimanjaro and what makes this ce ideal for going up the mountain is its unique topography. Unlike the steep slopes across the mountain range, this area is rtively t. ¡°ording to our information, the area approximately 100 miles from here is likely to be infested with magical beasts.¡± Longbottom exins: ¡°When we came herest time, the locals said that whenever springes around, a thing they called a ¡®monster¡¯ woulde down from the mountain to harass the cattle¡¯s in the vige. ording to the viger¡¯s description, the monster¡¯s body is rtively small with fast reflexes. Some hunters tried to kill it before, but every attempt they did was unsessful¡­. It is said the thin can spit fire and when it needs to flee, it can even burrow into the ground.¡± ¡°General, we need more information to figure out what this magical beast is.¡± A sorcerer apprentice boldly speaks up: ¡°This thing is clearly a fire based magical beast, but these features are too vague. Small in size, fast, capable of breathing fire, and able to burrow into the ground, I can think of at least seven creatures that matches these characteristics. In order to properly deal with this beast, we need more information toe up with a n.¡± Like this bold kid, the other students were also nodding in agreement while some even beganing up with possible suspects. Seeing this, Du Wei is very pleases because under his influence, these kids have learned the most important thing he wanted: efficiency! It was at this moment, a sharp voice suddenly broke their mood: ¡°Why are you people so worried about a magical beast when there are so many mages like you around¡­¡­ Humph, can it be our famed Duke is afraid of some measly magical beast¡­¡­¡± Muse¡¯s tone is evidently full of disdain and mockery over Du Wei and his studentsck of courage. After Muse¡¯s reckless outburst, this kid immediately regretted his words inside. He doesn¡¯t know why either, but his heart would ache with displeasure whenever his eyes fall upon Du Wei. Du Wei didn¡¯t say anything, but the students were another matter. Every single one of them were ring at this little boy and one even cried out to retort him: ¡°Who the hell are you to use the dean!¡± Muse originally regretted his words too, but hearing the rude words shooting his way, this proud young master of the Lister Household wasn¡¯t going to back down: ¡°Humph, a great and mighty wizard is afraid of a little magical beast¡­. If word spread¡­.. Hey-hey, don¡¯t think of me looking down at anyone, but others will definitelyugh¡­. Humph, it¡¯s to be expected; whatever people will have whatever students¡­..¡± While everyone was already fuming at this inexperienced kid, Du Wei only coughed once to shut everyone up. ring at the kid before him, Du Wei said: Mr. Muse.¡± Du Wei ponders for a moment, his face seemingly devoid of any anger: ¡°Courage or cowardice is nothing more than someone else¡¯s evaluation. When acting, it¡¯s good enough when your conscience is clear, so why should one care about others gossip. Since you are so brave, then I can¡¯t suppress your great virtue¡­. So be it then, we just so happens to need a scout when climbing the mountain. Since you are so willing to show your bravery, I believe you won¡¯t miss this opportunity, right?¡± Other than the snowy mountain peak being stained with snow, the mountain forest was already beginning to look creepily dark as the sun sets across the horizon. Muse¡¯s voice may sound firm, but his heart was already beginning to shake: ¡°Fine then, a scout it is, what is there for me to be scared of!¡± With that, this kid immediately gripped his reins readying to dash off. However, Du Wei immediately stopped him: ¡°Duke, did you have something else to say?!¡± Muse eximed. ¡°Mr. Muse, the road is rugged; you aren¡¯t expecting to ride up the mountain, right?¡± Du Wei smiles wickedly. ¡°Humph!¡± Muse¡¯s face was red with anger, but through the cover of darkness, his flush onlysted for a second: ¡°Who said I was going to ride up the mountain. I¡¯m just riding ahead for a stroll.¡± Du Wei also didn¡¯t want to be too hard on the kid; after all, his rtionship with the Lister household is not worth ruining over some argument. Subsequently, he ordered several of his men to lead the kid and his horse away to rest. Chapter 210 part 2 Chapter 210 ¡°Fuck!¡± (part two) Those magic apprentices had long forgotten about the kid. Dismounting, these students beganbing through the town in search of clues rted to the magical beast. Unlike the soldiers that came before, these young mages are much more knowledgeable so their questions for the vigers had left the regr soldiers baffled. For some of the students, they even wanted to look at the livestock bodies attacked by the so called monster. Luckily, the weather in the Northwest is cold, so many of the bodies haven¡¯t dposed yet. Seeing how these prestigious mages aren¡¯t afraid of dirtying their clothes and is even willing to personally inspect the body, many of the soldiers nearby were having strange thoughts in their minds. Very soon, the students came to a conclusion. ¡°Dean.¡± A leader of the student came over to report: ¡°We found a clue; any livestock bitten all have the same characteristics of having a lot of their blood drained¡­¡­ Apparently, the monster loves blood but only blood of living creatures. When the victim is dead, the assant would stop and move on to the next victim. We¡¯ve cut open several bodies toe to such a conclusion.¡± Du Wei was pleased: ¡°What else?¡± ¡°And¡­¡­¡± The students spent a moment in though: ¡°The brothers do have a split in opinions, umm, but the possibility of that idea is unlikely.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei recalled the brothers are different from the rest. Unlike the rest of the ss that was from the military, only these two siblings hailed from a declining noble family. Among his students in his Hogwarts branch, this pair of brothers is the youngest because the people sent over from the military are mostly around 18 years of age. They may be young, but their talent is in fact the highest! ¡°Yes, they presented an idea, but we doubted it. However, we cannote to a conclusion, so we thought it was for the best that you inquired the theory from them yourself.¡± This leader of his student spoke in an objective manner. Du Wei is also very pleased with their rational towards the question. Unlike the traditional megalomaniac mages he¡¯s seen so far, he wants his student to be fair and objective when tackling an issue. ¡°All right, have both of theme over.¡± Du Wei gave the order, but before the guy left, he called out again: ¡°Wait a minute, Ziggy.¡± Ziggy is the name of the guy. Though he is only a cadet in the army, but because of his rigorous nature and fair personality, the students all recognized him as their leader. ¡°Dean, is there something else?¡± ¡°Ziggy.¡± Du Wei ponders a bit as he slowly said: ¡°I noticed in your words that you used the word ¡®brothers¡¯, right?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Ziggy seems to understand the Du Wei¡¯s meaning. Du Wei looked him in the eye and sternly dered: ¡°I think that whenever you are talking about the two, you will address them as such, right? The brothers¡­¡­ Hmm, I know the 30 of you are from the army, but this form of unity will make others have a hard time joining. What I want to say is that perhaps in the future, you guys will go your separate ways to do various things. This kind of unity has its good points and bad points, but as a whole, all of you are from the Hogwarts branch, do you understand what I¡¯m trying to say?¡± Ziggy solemnly replied: ¡°Dean, I get it! I wasn¡¯t diligent enough, I will do better!¡± ¡°Very well, from now on, I don¡¯t want to hear ¡®brothers¡¯. In my opinion, all of you are the same and those two are a part of your group.¡± ¡°Yes, Dean!¡± Straightening his back, he was about to leave when something else came into his mind. ¡°Dean¡­¡­¡± Ziggy¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t high, but was very adamant: ¡°I feel¡­.. All of us don¡¯t want to go our separate ways, we wish to follow the dean; this is not just my own thoughts.¡± While Ziggy turns and walks away, Du Wei can only sigh because he believes this young man will grasp his meaning Very soon, the brothers were called before him, both somewhat nervous; ¡°Enough, I don¡¯t eat people and besides, it¡¯s not like you two held back during the party.¡± The two immediately smiled at his remark. ¡°I remember you are the older one, right?¡± Du Wei looks at the chubbier one. ¡°Yes Dean, my name is Bebe and this is my brother Tokar.¡± Du Wei pleasingly smiles: ¡°Alright, no need for the introductions, you think I can¡¯t remember my own students? Now then, tell me the results of your discussion. I heard you came up a different theory, right?¡± ¡°Yes Dean.¡± Bebe exins: ¡°We believe the number of magical beasts roaming here is not one¡­. but two working together. However, the majority of our ssmates disagrees with us.¡± Du Wei nods with understanding because he can already imagine the reason why their idea was shot down. In this world, majority of the magical beasts are solidary animals with only a small number of species living in social groups. For example: griffons like to live in packs. ¡°And, we even suspect¡­¡­ the two are of different species, one being a ice type and the other being a fire type.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei was interested now. Its hard enough to find magical beasts living in packs, and now they are telling him the two are of different species? What¡¯s more, a fire type is working with an ice type? This is like saying cat and a mouse just joined up to form a team. Have you ever seen a cat and mouse living together? ¡°Exin your reasoning.¡± Du Wei ponders the issue for a moment. ¡°Dean, this idea was proposed by my brother, so let¡¯s have him exin.¡± Bebe pushes the problem to his little brother. Tall, thin, white skinned, Tokar is a shy guy almost like Du Wei in his previous life. However, his way of speaking was very different from his shy appearance: ¡°Dean, this idea was indeed proposed by me¡­¡­ After dissecting some of the bodies, especially the ones that had their bloods drained, I became confused. From my knowledge, a fire type beast rarely sucks blood from their victims. Of course, there are exceptions, but ording to what I know, those that do suck blood for nutrients are small in stature¡­¡­ But from what I saw in the victims bite wound, the assant should at least be the size of an ice demon wolf. This point is very different from how the vigers described the ¡®monsters¡¯ head as being small. Also, from the number of dead cattle¡¯s, I fear the appetite of the ¡®monster¡¯ is very big, which is a sign that the beast is not small in size at all! There¡¯s also the coagte blood piece I extracted from the body of a carcass. After carefully examining it, I found that the sample I took is not naturally formed, instead, it was the result of a cold element inserted from the outside¡­. This leads me to conclude that other than the big guy, there is also a small one! The big one is responsible for using fire to kill the livestock, while the small one is responsible for draining blood.¡± ¡°cooperation?¡± Du Wei asks. ¡°I don¡¯t feel like cooperation¡­¡­ Hmm, more like¡­¡­ very.¡± Tokar carefully exined: ¡° I suspect the ice type is a high ss magical beast. He captured a low ss fire type and drove into servitude.¡± Tokar smiles wryly: ¡°But even I feel this is unlikely. The Kilimanjaro Mountain may have magical beasts, but it¡¯s not a ce frequented by high ss beasts that could enve other species.¡± ¡°In this world, there is nothing impossible.¡± Du Wei curls his mouth. Even that fucking Aragon, a guy dead for a millennium, can still leave him a message in Chinese¡­. After that incident, is there anything else is out of the question? Tokar¡¯s theory really is incredible. A highly advanced magical beast does indeed have the ability to subjugate lower ss beasts. Such as the ice demon wolf, once evolved, it will be an Ice Wolf Demon King. With a single howl, the epitome of this specie can call upon every beast within a certain radius into serving him. However, Du Wei quickly ruled out the possibility of an Ice Wolf Demon King because this beast did not have the habit of sucking blood. Besides, if it did howl, it wouldn¡¯t just enve a single creature in its radius. Just¡­¡­ If there really is a guy who only enve another magical beast, then this beast is definitely a high ss monster. His students may be able to handle an ordinary beast, but when facing such a foe, their only option is to flee. Even for Du Wei himself, considering his real strength, he would also need to retreat if he encounters such a foe. ¡°Cancel the original order. We will stay in town for a night and not go into the mountains.¡± Du Wei immediately sent out the order. Hearing Du Wei¡¯smand, Longbottom immediately came over to ask why. He tried to exin the theory from the brothers, but clearly, Longbottom underestimated the threat of a advanced magical beast. It can¡¯t be helped; Longbottom is only a fighter, you can¡¯t expect someone like him to grasp the danger posed by a creature he¡¯s not familiar with. ¡°We have a thousand cavalry, then there¡¯s the mages you brought along. With so many people, are we really not able to deal with a monster or two?¡± Du Wei was very serious when he lowered his voice: ¡°General, I have to tell you, these students are not true magicians. Moreover, they are all my precious assets¡­¡­ I¡¯m not going to let them lose their life here, even if it¡¯s just one, it¡¯s not something I can afford! You understand? Secondly, the power of an advanced magical beast is not something you can imagine. I can tell you now, an advanced magical beast may not be terrifying by itself, but through its ability to summon other beasts nearby, it can call forth an army at any time¡­.. Moreover, the hardest part in dealing with an advanced magical beast is that it finished its evolution cycle. Not only is it capable of defending itself, it also has wisdom like you and I. We came to train, not to go to war. Sacrificing my people for no reason is a stupid option in my opinion.¡± However, Du Wei added an extra sentence inside: advanced magic beasts don¡¯t have powerful inherent strength¡­.. The only exception is Medusa! Obeying Du Wei¡¯smand, Longbottom cancelled the journey up the mountain. However, because of this, it gave Muse another opportunity to mock Du Wei. ¡°Well then, we have to ask a fine warrior like you to be our night¡¯s watch for tonight.¡± Du Wei utters these words to shove this bothersome kid away. In addition, he also instructed the other watchman to pay close attention to Muse so he doesn¡¯t do anything reckless. ¡°Let him suffer a little, but make sure he doesn¡¯t really get hurt.¡± Du Wei also ordered that his 28 students be split into four groups. Escorted by 200 soldiers each, they are to search the mountain in rotation after dawn breaks. If they find anything, they are not to engage, instead, they are to inform the others immediately. This operation must be carried out while the sun is up because in the midst of night, its no different from suicide when going up against a advanced ice magical beast. Although this may be overreacting, but Du Wei feels this is necessary if his concerns are true. Unlike his agitated state, the 28 students are in fact very excited. To be able to see a legendary advanced magical beast is not something they cane across easily. Normally, they will only read about it from a book at best. While the Sky is still dark, Du Wei was already up. As he was readying to go outside, Old Smoke beat him to the punch and came knocking: ¡°My Lord, the Duke¡¯s castle sent word that something major happened at home and needs your presence immediately.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei was startled¡­.. Can it be that something happened to the Marquise? The oneing to bring the message is none other than our little Sandia. Marde is a very smart housekeeper. From Hussein¡¯s request of not calling the Temple¡¯s healers, he can already smell something was amiss. To be on the safe side, he didn¡¯t pick some random person to bring the message, but rather, he only picked the most trusted among Du Wei¡¯s people, which is little Sandia. Poor Sandia, though our clever boy is not bad in riding a horse after half a year of practice, but this trip is something out of his league. Riding through the night without rest, his butt is burning with pain at all the bouncing his butt did. In addition to a message, he also brought along something. The message is directly from Hussein, and the thing that Sandia passed on caused Du Wei¡¯s face to change the moment his eyesid upon it! ¡°The giant lizard in the frozen forest ising for revenge, return immediately!¡± This was Hussein¡¯s direct words. And the thing brought along is a golden scale! This is clearly a broken scale, though broken; it is still the size of a big bowl! As he held it in his hand, Du Wei found it heavy and stained with blood! Du Wei immediately recognized it¡­¡­ This is a Dragon scale! And this scales was pulled from Hussein¡¯s back wound! Du Wei¡¯s face was ghastly pale! That old dragon ising for revenge? Is going back on his oath? Getting up quickly, he was just about to go out when Longbottom suddenly barged in from the door. ¡°Boss, we¡¯ve got a problem ¡­¡­ The kid you brought along sneaked into the mountain by himselfst night¡­¡­¡± Not waiting for Longbottom to finish his words, Du Wei flew into a rage: ¡°FUCK!!!!¡± Chapter 211 part 1 Chapter 211 ¡°p¡± (part one) Du Wei did not say ming words at Longbottom, but even a fool can see the Duke¡¯s anger. Facing Du Wei¡¯s gloomy face, even General Longbottom is starting to regret. The truth is Muse¡¯s action of sneaking into the mountain at the dead of night was partly his fault because he secretly told his men to let our troublemaker suffer a bit. These guys may not really dare do anything to our Duke¡¯s guest, but during the night¡¯s watch, they had Muse stay up during thetter half because it¡¯s the hardest. Aside from this, they were also mocking him left and right in revenge for the rude remark from before. Who is Muse and how can a little lord like him put up with such insults? Before dawn, he made an excuse and quietly sneaked away while the others weren¡¯t looking. Seeing the troublemaker didn¡¯t return after a long time, the other guards on night¡¯s watch finally realized what has happened when they go searching and found Muse¡¯s footprint. ¡°What did your people say to him?¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice map appears calm, but was apparently at the edge of losing it already. Longbottom smiles wryly: ¡°They said to the boy: If you dareugh at the Duke for being cowardly, then you must be very brave. Our lord is brave enough to go into the frozen forest, what about you? The kid probably couldn¡¯t take such insult and ran into the mountain in search of the demon beast.¡± Du Wei suppresses his anger down: ¡°immediately call everyone and search the mountain!¡± Du Wei also hates the kid, but he had to face a fact: Muse cannot get hurt under his watch! During this period, he still needs the Lister Family to help him expand his business. And this hateful Muse is the only heir to the Lister family!! If something happens to this brat, even if their rtionship is even closer, there¡¯s no other oue other than bing enemies! No need to mention the resources under the Lister Family, Du Wei can already tell the Marquise is not an easy opponent to deal with. With her intellect and extensive connections, he can already imagine the headaches she would bring¡­.. Everyone has been called upon and sent up the mountain ording to the n set out by himst night. The only difference is the radius of their search has been expanded several folds and the target has been changed to that hateful kid. ¡°No matter the case, everyone must guarantee the safety of the boy! This is the highest priority!¡± In addition, Du Wei also assigned his personal bodyguards into the search teams. This included the weird talents he recruited and the former hunter under him. Du Wei also intended to personally go into the mountain, but his people stopped him. He is after all duke, he can¡¯t always personally do everything, if he did, what¡¯s the point of having subordinates? Moreover, even if he went into the mountain, it¡¯s not like he can make a difference. He may be a magician, but with his abilities right now, burning an entire mountain forest is out of his league. He would call for the treantpanions to help him search, but his miniature version of the horn of life can only bring forth mindless beings. These blundering giants would listen to his everymand, but something asplicated as finding a lost kid is out of the question. Besides, after slightly weighing in the matters, he still felt Hussein was more important. He decided to stay in Cow Tongue vige for another half a day. If by then there¡¯s still no news, he¡¯s going to ditch the matter here and rush back to Lon City. That bloody Muse¡­¡­ If they bring him back, he¡¯s going to violently beat the kid once and for all! Du Wei gnashes his teeth as he thought this. The Lister family is certainly an ally he did not want to abandon, but Hussein is even more important! For a guy he hates, Du Wei is not so stupid to abandon a guy that went through hell with him. The truth is Du Wei did not even have the patience to wait until noon. By morning when the sun just rose, he was already having trouble suppressing his anxious state! Though Sandia made it clear Hussein did not have any significant problem and is already resting in the castle, but Du Wei is still shocked by the news. The piece of Dragon scale¡­¡­ From that old lizard, is he really going to get even with him? Back in the bloody battle at the frozen waste, Hussein became blind in one eye, Medusa had to use her iconic petrification eyes, and Gandalf sacrificed himself to cover their escape¡­¡­ Despite their narrow, the hatred on both sides is practically set in stone. Even now, Du Wei suspects the old lizard is not the type to go back on his words¡­. When Aragon tricked him into keeping his promise for a millennium, this guy may be a nasty bastard, but he still kept to the deal. On this point, Du Wei really admired him. Yet now¡­¡­ Du Wei is so upset that he went numb. The Dragon patriarch is not an easy opponent he can take lightly! Let¡¯s not mention the extremely powerful body of a dragon, Du Wei almost certain the strongest being on the continent now is this dragon that could stand even with Aragon! Back then he had Gandalf, Hussein, and Medusa by his side; even with so many powerful allies, his side only broke even¡­. And now, his side is down one person. Let¡¯s not forget the lizardmands an entire dragon n too! Du Wei may have vowed to get revenge for Gandalf, but this is not the right time! With his abilities, he feared he won¡¯t even have a corpse left after they¡¯re done with him. With the sun hitting noon, Du Wei can¡¯t wait any longer. Tightening his grip on the whip, he sternly said: ¡°We¡¯re not waiting anymore, let¡¯s go!¡± Du Wei is now only left with two guards, Old Smoke, and little Sandia by his side. Hearing his words, Old Smoke knitted his brow because he is originally from the royal guards, so he did have some insight: ¡°My Lord¡­¡­ I don¡¯t think this is a good idea. Muse is after all the heir to the Lister Household. If the Marquise asks and you can¡¯t exin why you returned without her brother, it will be a difficult situation.¡± Du Wei of course knows Old Smoke¡¯s words are right, but he is simply too anxious¡­. Regarding Hussein¡¯s matter, Old Smoke is not in the loops. Then there¡¯s the matter of the dragon patriarch, how is he going to exin that part? His expression became gloomy as he gritted his teeth: ¡°That reckless kid¡­. Humph, if we can¡¯t find him, then he deserves it¡­. There¡¯s no reason or us to waste our time here waiting for him!¡± His words may be harsh, but he followed up with another sentence that gave away his true thoughts: ¡°Humph, if we find that brat¡­. I guarantee I will give him a special treatment so he can¡¯t get out of bed for ten days. If he can get up before then, I will write my name backwards!¡± With that, Du Wei mounted his horse with a hateful face. Sighing, Old Smoke did not have anything else to say after knowing the Duke made his decisions already. However, just when they were about to set off, Duke widened his eyes to star at the southern road in town¡­¡­. Completely opposite from where Kilimanjaro Mountain is, a horse was casually strolling towards them with a kid leisurely sitting on top. With azy smile, this somewhat womanly faced person is none other than the person Du Wei wanted to hurt the most. Muse!!!! For this boy, everyone went up the mountain to search for him, yet, he daree from back from the opposite direction?! Just seeing the carefree face on this kid is making his anger boil over! The first thought that came up is to rush forward to strangle this bastard! The second thought was to violent beat the idiot that said they found Muse¡¯s footprint headed into the mountain! Of course, Du Wei wanted to do the first option the most right now. Even for someone like Old Smoke that was standing nearby, he could clearly feel the frightening chill extruding from the Duke¡¯s body! While the young duke is usually very pleasant to those down below, but he is well aware that once this person really bes angry, the result would be devastating¡­.. Du Wei¡¯s face was livid as he narrowed his eyes to re at the kid. Muse seems to also feel something was not quite right with Du Wei, but he was toocent at the moment. Even when he finally came up to Du Wei, this brat dismounted like he was flying through air from how smug he looked. Old Smoke was sighing already¡­.. This boy really doesn¡¯t know when he¡¯s screwed. ¡°Mr. Muse, please exin where you wentst night.¡± Du Wei did not be angry right away like Old Smoke imagined. Instead, he was too calm, so m that it was scary! Muse seems oblivious to the danger befalling him with the proud mocking smile: ¡°Oh, are you concerned about my whereabouts? Humph, are you scared that I lost?¡± But his arrogance onlysted up to here. PA!!! A resounding crisp sound came out. Du Wei did not wait for the kid to finish when he sent his hand flying across the left cheek! Chapter 211 part 2 Chapter 211 ¡°p¡± (part two) Regarding this p, Du Wei did not hold back his strength because there Muse was dumbfounded by what just transpired! What was usually a handsome face is not covered in five clear fingerprints! What was acent and derisive look is now solidified. Like a knee jerking reaction, he clutched his face as he stared at Du Wei, unsure if this was really happening because never once in his life did he get beaten, not even by his sister! Very soon, the kid woke up from his stupor and a anger began burning his eyes. Using his sharp voice, he growled: ¡°You dare to hit me!!!¡± Since when did Muse ever suffer from such humiliation? Blinded by rage, he had long forgotten about Du Wei¡¯s identity and reached for his sword. In a single push, he thrust his sword right at Du Wei¡¯s chest! Although Du Wei is a magician with weak martial skills, but after practicing the Stars Dou Qi martial steps, his body is no longer as weak as it once was. Besides, Muse is not some kind of martial prodigy, so how can he harm our little devil. With a little effort, Du Wei easily dodged the thrust by stepping sideways. At the same time, his hand did a back swinging motion andnded another hit across Muse¡¯s face! PA!!! This hit was even harder than thest, thus, causing Muse¡¯s right face to swell up instantly. Even on the corner of the kid¡¯s mouth, there is a spec of blood leaking out. Under such brutality, Muse faltered and dropped his weapon. Despite how weak his body felt, Muse was too angry to give up. Seeing how the brat was trying to pick up the sword again, Du Wei became even more irritated. With a flick of his finger, Du Wei sent a ball of light flying at Muse. After being hit with this spell, Muse found his body weakening like his strength was being drained. Instantly, his body copsed to the ground. Even after all this, this stubborn kid still didn¡¯t give up and reached for the sword hilt again. Seeing this, Du Wei came forward and stepped on the sword to crush thest remnant of hope/ Muse had a face full of anger as he tried to budge the sword: ¡°Du Wei, how dare you be rude to me! My sister won¡¯t let you off for this!!¡± ¡°Sister?¡± Du Wei spent no effort in hiding his contempt: ¡°Oh, you can only take your sister out to threaten me? Humph, a kid that didn¡¯t grow all his pubic hair yet dare put on air in other¡¯s territory?¡± Though Muse was flushing with shame and anger, he could not talk back because Du Wei¡¯s words were all hitting the target. ¡°If a person wants to be arrogant, they must have the ability to back it up!¡± Du Wei continues to merciless crush the boy: ¡°What about? What skill do you have? You are nothing but an idiot that can only rely on your sister! I can pick any one of my bodyguards to beat eight to ten of you! Without your sister, you are nothing but trash!¡± Muse couldn¡¯t retort at all from the lethal insults: ¡°Du Wei, you dare!¡± POW! Replying to his words is another p across the face! This strike was very hard that even Muse¡¯s head was turned sideways from the force. ¡°I dare!¡± Du Wei¡¯s face did nothing to hide his grin: ¡°I dare, so what! It¡¯s because I¡¯m stronger than you! A hundred times stronger than you! If I want to go against you, I can ravage you however I want! And what about you? Other than putting on some air, what else can you do?¡± ¡°I¡­¡­¡± Just as Muse began speak, Du Wei immediately sent another p across his face! POW! The four loud ps is like a sharp knife cutting apart the arrogant pride in Muse¡¯s personality. Now, there is not a spec of the former attitude. He did not know when, but his hand had long given up the sword. Instead, his hand was now covering his fear filled face. ¡°Speak!¡± Du Wei¡¯s outcry caused Muse to cringe backward. Then just when he wanted to open up his mouth to speak, Du Wei suddenly raised a hand in an intimidating fashion: ¡°Do-Don¡¯t hit me anymore¡­..¡± ¡°Humph!¡± Du Wei heavily grunted as he lowered his hand: ¡°Do you know why I hit you?¡± Muse quickly shook his head. ¡°Boy, you better listen up.¡± Du Wei angrily said: ¡°Now that you are following me, you better be good¡­.. Especially when you address me, you are to call me ¡®lord¡¯, you understand!¡± Muse finally showed no signs of resistance like he had caved into Du Wei¡¯s power: ¡°Al-alright.¡± ¡°What did you say!¡± Du Wei¡¯s eye gleamed with fury which cause. Muse to jump with freight: ¡°Yes¡­. My lord.¡± With that, Muse¡¯s watery red eyes finally began to cry out. Seeing this, Du Wei frowned with contempt because he couldn¡¯t believe how weak willed this Lister kid is. What was usually a arrogant kid is now crying like a woman. ¡°What are you crying for?!¡± Du Wei cried out: ¡°Get up now and tell me where you wentst night!¡± Muse covered his face as he fearfully dodged Du Wei¡¯s gaze: ¡°I¡­¡­ I only sneaked out because I didn¡¯t want those guys to underestimate me¡­¡­¡± ¡°So why did youe back from the South?¡± Du Wei frowned. ¡°I¡­ .. I do not know.¡± Muse suddenly looked somewhat embarrassed: ¡°Last night was too dark that I couldn¡¯t see the way. After a while, I fell asleep¡­. By the time I woke up, I already found myself on the southern side. It was by asking some locals did I find my way back¡­..¡± Du Wei coldlyughs: ¡°From your appearance, you looked very carefree! Is it because you thought I would be in a panic because I couldn¡¯t find you so you intentionally came back slowly?¡± Muse really is terrified by Du Wei¡¯s somber look. Without even trying, an indescribable fearpelled him to answer: ¡°Ye-yes¡­!¡± ¡°HAHA!¡± Du Weiughs coldly: ¡°Your thinking is right. I was in a panic when I couldn¡¯t find you and even sent all my people into the mountain to find you. But do you know why I was in such a panic? I bet you didn¡¯t think it through on the consequences of your little stunt!¡± Muse was unable to speak. ¡°If you really met with an ident under my watch¡­¡­¡± Du Wei voice was clear and serious: ¡°Then your family and I will forever be sworn enemies¡­. And I will destroy your family at any cost! Don¡¯t doubt my willingness to do it! I will not let the Lister Family continue its existence in this world! Think about, because of an idiot like you, your sister and nsman will all die because of you! Now, do you still think your little stunt is interesting?¡± Muse can obviously feel that this horrifying little devil is definitely not lying to him! From the oppressive eyes, he really believes Du Wei will do it and will achieve it! In the face of such intimidation, Muse¡¯s heart began to bud a seed of fear! ¡°Why are you still like that, do you expect me to lift you up?!¡± Du Wei¡¯s single order caused Muse to franticly get up and move back a few steps. ¡°Humph, just a useless sissy boy.¡± Du Wei grunts a sigh of contempt: ¡°There¡¯s de for you to practice, yet you choose to practice the sword. There¡¯s a gold sword for you to take yet you take the silver sword, what a kinky bitch!¡± Slightly venting his anger, Du Wei then turns around to face the entric Old Smoke and the slightly frightened Sandia. With a wave of his hand, he orders: ¡°Call everyone back from the mountain by burning the wolf dung!¡± The two guards immediately turned to obey his orders, but before they can take two steps forward, a earth shattering ROAR came from behind the farmhouse nearby!! Then the contour of a long red shadow suddenly popped out from behind the house and quickly rolled around the dazed Muse¡­. Du Wei is having a clear look at this thing now¡­ It¡¯s a really long, long tongue! Poor Muse did not even have time to recover from his fear before his body was swept inside the farmhouse¡­.. Du Wei¡¯s moment of stupor was enough to let the creature pull Muse into the farmhouse! Greatly shocked, he quickly ran towards the farmhouse as his first response, but before he can take a step inside the farmhouse, a wave of me sprayed out at him from the inside¡­.. Chapter 212 part 1 Chapter 212 ¡°Blood Skull g¡± (part one) Watching the mesing right at him with incredible speed, Du Wei instinctively ducked his head only to find a part of his hair singed by the st. Just as Old Smoke and his men started to scream at the situation, Du Wei then found himself being attack by a ck shadow. Pouncing at his left shoulder, the sharp teethes of this creature easily pierced through his skin to cause great pain on his body. Like a beast¡¯s growl running through his ear, Du Wei then found his body being flung into the farmhouse like an object. Enduring the pain scorching through his shoulder, Du Wei then opens his eyes to look up from the ground. It is then that he saw it. What should have been nothing but haystacks inside this unlit farmhouse is now upied by a strange monster lying in the middle. Standing a meter in height, this oddity stood upright like a human with some clear differences. Its arm was much longer while its leg were shorter, if Du Wei had to make a reference, this guy can even be called a monkey from therge volumes of bodily hair. However, its fingers were webbed like a ducks with only three appendage fingers. If anything, it¡¯s better to call it a fan from how wide those webs are. Covered in its ming red hair, this monster just stood there in the middle staring right at him. Du Wei really was taken aback by this creature¡¯s appearance because the first picture that came to mind was a haunting ghost from those scary moves with its long tongue sticking out of its mouth all the way to the ground. That¡¯s not all though. In addition to the strange growl it was making, Du Wei also noticed the tongue was covered in small fleshy spikes; this made it increasingly scary because it gave off the image of something really nasty in his memory. (In case anyone didn¡¯t understand the reference, the author is referring to the freaky tentacles in Japanese porn) Never once in his life did Du Wei hear or read about such a monster. Poor Muse. Maybe the kid fainted or something because he was just lying there under the monster without moving an inch. As for Du Wei, he wasn¡¯t any better because a grey haired creature with green eyes was busily eyeing him down. This time around, Du Wei immediately recognized this creature with a nce. A fire Fox: This creature is a medium sized demon beast with fire properties as its base. Not only is it fast with good reflexes, it¡¯s also like a dog with canine like teethes and a good sense of smell. In addition to being able to emit fire to fend off an enemy, it can also burrow away to escape from more powerful foes. After getting a clear look at the two beasts, Du Wei immediatelyposed himself. (Seems the theory from the brothers were correct after all!) As Du Wei got up from the ground, the Fire Fox continues to bare its bloodied fangs at him, ready to pounce again with a moment¡¯s notice. Seems the creature that attacked him earlier was this damn mutt. Stuck between two monsters in a small space, Du Wei knows he¡¯s in no position to put up a fight especially when he¡¯s not good in meleebat. Inwardly, he¡¯s praying Old Smoke would rush in at any moment with help. It is then the unknown monster that Du Wei cannot identity made some purring calls which caused the Fire fox to timidly step back. Taking all this in, Du Wei¡¯s heart sank because he knew only an advanced demon beast can drive another low ranked demon beast into servitude. With one leg stepping on Muse, this monster then made several purring roars at Du Wei as it pointed at Muse with a grin. Surprised by its actions, Du Wei suspect is starting to suspect the thing is trying tomunicate with him. But he can¡¯t speak the beast¡¯snguage. It was at this moment, a loud bang can be heard from the outside and in seconds, Old Smoke was already running in after slicing apart the door apart. As for the two guards that were with him, the one that was bigger and couldn¡¯t feel pain came crashing through the wall. The farmhouse was made out of wood to begin with so it wasn¡¯t that hard to crash right through the structural wall. In a triangle formation, the trio surrounded both Du Wei and the Fire Fox. Du Wei immediately cried out at Old Smoke: ¡°Don¡¯te! Stay over there!¡± The Fire Fox had already given up on Du Wei. Facing one of the guards, this fox slowly stepped backward until it was by the other monster¡¯s side. Relieved, Du Wei finally got up from the ground and looked at the monster stepping on Muse¡¯s body: ¡°You¡­. What are you trying to tell me?¡± Although Du Wei knew that any demon beast capable of evolving into its advanced form is equipped with a certain level of intelligence, but he wasn¡¯t so sure if the thing can understand his words. Sure enough, the creature seemed to understand his meaning. Reaching out its paw to point at Old Smoke and his two subordinates, it then points back at Muse and made a throat slicing gesture. ¡°Okay! Okay!¡± Du Wei immediately threw up his hands: ¡°I get it! You are warning them not to go over, right?! I will have my people move back, all right?¡± Du Wei then made several gestures to have Old Smoke and the two guards move back a few steps to where the entrance was. ¡°Sir, are you okay?¡± Old Smoke asks with worry: ¡°The signal smoke is already lit so General Longbottom will be back soon.¡± Du Wei nods: ¡°I¡¯m fine.0¡­. You guys stay back and don¡¯t get too close¡­ ¡­ This guy doesn¡¯t seem to be very hostile.¡± This monster seemed to understand Du Wei¡¯s words as it nodded several times. Then pointing at Du Wei¡¯s shoulder, it made several woo woo purs like it was apologizing. ¡°All right, Mr. Demon Beast¡­¡­ Sir.¡± Du Wei smiles wryly because he never a time woulde where he would end up talking to an animal: ¡°It seems you can understand my words¡­. If so, what do I have to do to make you let my friend go?¡± This red haired Monster then shakes his head back and forth. Jumping a few times on the spot, it hands looked like it was holding something. After a few times of this demonstration, Du Wei finally realized the thing was trying to imitate the posture of someone riding a horse. Noticing Du Wei¡¯s understanding, the monster then points one of its webbed fingers towards the outside and made the same posture again. Du Wei frowns as he made a guess: ¡°Are you saying ¡­ ¡­ there are horse ridersing from the outside?¡± Red hair Monster nodded as it pointed to itself. Letting out a few pitiful cries, it then made a posture like it was being tied up. ¡°Hmm, they areing to catch you?¡± Du Wei smiles bitterly. The Monster nods again as it showed a miserable looking posture. Du Wei lets out a breath of relief: ¡°You don¡¯t want to be captured?¡± Then with a gloomy face, he continues: ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you mean ¡­ ¡­ I can let you off and not hurt you, but you have to let my friend go.¡± It was at this moment the monster suddenly started to bow at Du Wei, its whining cries carried a begging tone. ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ are asking me to let you go? That¡¯s fine¡­ ¡­ Ah no, you¡¯re asking me to help?¡± Du Wei struggles to guess the monster¡¯s meaning. Finally, after the Monster repeated the riding posture, Du Wei now understands: ¡°You¡¯re asking me to help you drive away those who are here to catch you?¡± ¡°My Lord, can it be talking about our Calvary riders?¡± Old Smoke asks from behind. Du Wei thought for a moment only to shake his head in the end: ¡°This should not be it.¡± His expression became serious as it stared at the monster;¡± You¡¯re able to understand mynguage, why is that? Did you live with humans before?¡± The reaction from the Red hair Monster was a look of freight as its body trembled in fear. ¡°Okay! Okay!¡± Du Wei quickly cries out: ¡°Don¡¯t hurt my friend and I will drive away the people outside.¡± It was then he heard the sound of someone blowing a whistle ¨C this is the warning signal used by Longbottom and his men that they encountered an enemy! What came next is the banging and panging sound of fighting mingled with Longbottom¡¯s call to assemble¡­¡­ Du Wei expression changed immediately: ¡°Someone¡¯sing? Old Smoke, hurry outside and take a look!¡± Old Smoke¡¯s face was also dark as he ran outside without another word. As for Du Wei, he can see monster was already trembling, it¡¯s face extremely nervous. Du Wei spreads his hand out: ¡°Alright, I can protect you¡­. But first, you must let my friend go!¡± Despite Du Wei¡¯s words, the Monster shakes his head again and again as it stepped firmly on Muse¡¯s body. This gesture is pretty obvious already, even so, it made it crystal clear when it pointed at Du Wei and then at the outside. Fate likes to y on people because it is exactly at this moment Muse woke up from his slumber. Finding himself under the foot of a monster the moment he woke up, Muse immediately uttered a loud shrill cry of horror. From his ghastly paleplexion, Du Wei really wished the kid would just faint again to make it easier: ¡°Muse, don¡¯t move if you want to live! Listen to me and be obedient! Stay quiet right now!¡± Chapter 212 part 2 Chapter 212 ¡°Blood Skull g¡± (part two) Momentster, Old Smoke and Longbottom both ran in. From our General¡¯s appearance, his armor was already stained red with blood: ¡°Boss, we encountered the enemy! It¡¯s the prairie natives! About 3,000 people, all cavalries¡­ ¡­ Bloody hell, why did such a groupe into our ce? And there¡¯s the people standing post at the corridor, why didn¡¯t they send word!¡± With that, Longbottom then frowns as he eximed at the sight of the monster: ¡°MAMA, what the hell is that thing!?!¡± ¡°Silence Longbottom!¡± Du Wei said at once. He didn¡¯t want to annoy the monster and harm Muse in the process. This monster is clearly is high ss demon beast. With Muse in its hand, the defenseless brat will definitely die if the wished to pluck his heart out!¡± Nevertheless, Du Wei was also surprised at the news. 3,000 horsemen from the prairie? Both shocked and angry, he grits his teeth as he looked at the monster: ¡°I have a look outside first¡­. But you must promise me that you won¡¯t hurt my friend, got it?!¡± After getting the monster¡¯s agreeing nod, Du Wei can only leave Old Smoke in charge: ¡°You keep watch here.¡± He Then pull Longbottom out of the farmhouse with him and had 100 guards surround the ce without anyone space to leave or enter. ¡°All four rescue team has returned from the mountain.¡± Longbottom inly reports. When he saw the smoke signal sent out by Old Smoke, everyone was already rushing back down the mountain. However, when they were outside the vige, they ran into the prairie natives. These people were very rude. The moment they got close, the two sides were already shing with their des drawn, hence the bloodied appearance of Longbottom. Fortunately, Longbottom¡¯s men were strong, so most of the deaths were on the enemy¡¯s side, with a dozen wounded too! Well, it¡¯s impossiblee out unscathed in a battle. For Longbottom¡¯s side, they also had around twenty injuries with a few seriously wounded, but thanks to their armor, there were no fatalities. After the first skirmish, the other party retreated back outside the vige and even they seem to be surprised by the number of imperial soldiers present. Looking at the perimeter outside the town, Du Wei estimates there are at least a couple of hundred horsemen. This is actually the first time Du Wei came across such arge number of prairie warriors. Unlike the cavalry knights of the empire, every single one of these prairie natives looked exceptionally strong with their wild nature. In a lot of cases, these people even had beards growing on their faces; this made them even more intimidating than normal. Covered with a headscarf on their heads, these people didn¡¯t wear armor like the empire¡¯s cavalries. Instead, they all wore leather clothes in all shapes and colors. The reason for this is because the prairiecked iron, so their ability to produce armor is hampered by their surroundings. No matter how he looked at it, Du Wei can only see hundreds of wolves with eyes filled with the desire to hunt! Under the cover of several cavalry knights and academy students, Du Wei went forward with Longbottom behind him. Squinting his eyes, Longbottom peered over at the enemy only to have his attention caught by something pinned to a spear. The thing atop of the spear is actually an entire sheep skin, but it¡¯s the mark on it that¡¯s important! This symbol is clearly a skull drawn up by blood. Who knows how this skull was drawn, just a few strokes was enough to make it so lifelike, especially those eyes. It was like it was alive and would give off the illusion of staring right at you if you face it! Longbottom immediately had his expression changed the moment his eyesy on the thing: ¡°AH!! It¡¯s the blood skull g!¡± How can Du Wei not be surprised when even this General 250 was showing such an expression: ¡°What is a blood skull g?¡± Longbottom expression was very strange: ¡°Damn it¡­ ¡­ In all the years I¡¯ve been in the Northwest, I only seen the blood skull g once.¡± He then exined: ¡°Boss, the barbarians in the Prairie have a lot of tribes and thergest one is the royal tribe. This tribe is chosen through an election made by all the other tribes. When they gain the title of being royalty, the tribe at the time is given the right to control the royal court and give orders to the other smaller tribes. However, even the g of the royal tribe is not as influential as this blood skull g. In the prairie, there is a ironw rule that every person mustply and that is when they meet up with this blood skull g, they must stop whatever they are doing and kneel down to the ground and worship this g. This even applies to the prairie king himself! No matter how power the royal tribe at the time is, if they offend the blood skull g, they can forget about keeping their royal status!¡± Du Wei frowns: ¡°It¡¯s that great?¡± ¡°Our empire has magicians¡­.. While these prairie natives have their shamans. We believe in god, but they believe in their ancestors. To them, a shaman is the medium inmunicating with the spirits¡­.. Also, more often than not, shamans are very powerful people that are highly respected. Even for the chief of arge tribe, they must pay their respects to even the lowest of shamans. In addition to the prairie king, there is also the ¡®shaman king¡¯ in the prairie. Because of the legends passed down through the natives, the shaman king is supposed to be the descendant of the most powerful ancestor. For this reason, the status of the shaman far exceeds even the prairie king. From some of the rumors I¡¯ve been told, this entity has an extremely long life span and his powers are is one of a kind!¡± Du Wei also narrowed his eyes: ¡°Let¡¯s hear it.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s say it like this. Even if a regr shaman runs off to a tribe and say their ancestor wishes for them to offer their life, the herdsmen will without hesitation kill his family beforemitting suicide!¡± Longbottom¡¯s bitter smile looked like even he couldn¡¯t believe it: ¡°The way these prairie natives worship their ancestor is already at the level of being a fanatic. If you never lived there, it will be very difficult for you to understand this. Then there is the war 20 years ago. Did you know the empire couldn¡¯t gain the upper hand at the beginning of the war? With the support of the shamans, even the empire¡¯s magicians couldn¡¯t break through, and that was without the Shaman King making an appearance! But then a strange thing happenedter¡­¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Towards the end of the war, rumor has it that the Shaman King suddenly issued an order for all shamans to leave the battle. ording to what I know, the Shaman King imed the souls of their ancestor gave him a signal that they are bound to lose the war. But the royal tribe at the time wouldn¡¯t give up. Without the support of the shamans, these natives were no match for the empire¡¯s magicians and were finally defeated. As you know, the empire forged a blood feud with the prairie natives in that war! But instead of pushing their hate on the Shaman King that gave such an odd order, these fanatics turned their focus on the prairie king instead! After the war, the guy was ripped apart by his very own people!¡± Du Wei can¡¯t help but whisper a word: ¡°That crazy?!¡± Longbottom sighs: ¡°When I was in the Northwest, I also had the chance to see the blood skull g. At the time, I deliberately provoked two tribes to fight each other. In that battle, more than 20,000 people were going at with blood shot eyes¡­.. In the end, someone came over with that g and announced the Shaman King forbids the battle. Even in the midst of battle, these blood crazed people abandoned their weapons and just bowed there on the ground like they were enchanted or something. After retreating, these two tribes never once provoked each other!¡± It was at this moment, the other sides horsemen parted aside to let three peoplee out on horseback. The one leading in front was holding the blood skull g and the two old timers behind had long braided beards¡­¡­. The weird shape was very interesting in Du Wei¡¯s eyes, but Longbottom¡¯s expression immediately went dark when he saw them: ¡°These guys are shamans!¡± Shaman? Du Wei came down with interest as he carefully observed the two bald grandpas¡¯. Other than the colorful fur coat and long beard, he really can¡¯t see anything special about the two. Coming up to Du Wei with 20 meters between them, the fighter holding the g was very rude in his words: ¡°The other side is to listen up! While in front of the Blood Skull g, none is to block its path! Anyone daring enough to defy the Shaman King will face disaster, you people understand!¡± Longbottom sneers loudly: ¡°Who the hell are you and what tribe are you from?!¡± The Prairie man puffed his chest and said: ¡°I am the royal courts golden sword fighter!¡± ¡°Royal tribe?¡± Longbottom sneers: ¡°Royal tribe? Which tribe is the Royal family now? Humph, you people are getting too arrogant! Back in the days, even the prairie king has to be polite to me when speaking! Get someone with status over here then talk!¡± The Prairie warrior was furious: ¡°Who are you? How dare you insult me!¡± Longbottom sneers again. Turning around, he gave one of his subordinates an eye: ¡°Do you see? They have the Blood Skull g so fly my banner!¡± One of the guy behind Longbottomughed out as he took off his helmet. From it, this guy took out a g with a sword and helmet embroidered on it. Then picking up a spear, he raised the g into the air. Sure enough, the prairie warrior immediately turned pale the moment he saw it. Unlike before, his tone became much more respectful: ¡°You¡­ You are lord Mossad?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s I!¡± Longbottom grins menacingly: ¡°Go find someone who is qualified to talk!¡± No longer daring to say anything else, this guy gave Longbottom a deep nce: ¡°Since lord Mossad is back in the Northwest, I¡¯ll go back to ask the shamans toe forward.¡± With that, he raised the g and turned back. Longbottom smiles as he looked at Du Wei: ¡°Boss, my banner is not bad, right? A sword on the left and a helmet on the right. In the prairie, a helmet represents friendship and a sword represents an enemy. The meaning behind it is to tell the foe that they to choose, be my friend or be my enemy!¡± Du Wei nods with a pleasingugh, ¡°A very good choice.¡± At this time, the Prairie is already talking with the shamans in the back. Giving each other a look, the two shamans began riding over. ¡°I like to ask which is lord Mossad?¡± The bald old guy on the left spoke first. In the face of a Shaman, Longbottom¡¯s attitude became much better that he even made a greeting bow: ¡°I¡¯m Longbottom. Respected shaman, please state your purpose here. I need an exnation for why your army is in the empire¡¯s territory.¡± ¡°Lord Mossad, first of all, I like to express my respect for you. Even in the prairie, you are a famous character.¡± The shaman faintly smiles: ¡°As for why we are here is because we gained general Rugaard¡¯s permission to enter thesends. All these brave warriors you see behind me are here to protect us in our mission to carry out the Shaman King¡¯s order.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Longbottom flinched: ¡°The Shaman King¡¯s direct order?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The attitude of this shaman may seem amiable, but his tone was firm: ¡°Our great Shaman King¡¯s favorite pet had wandered off and is currently hiding in this vige. It¡¯s a very precious demon beast so I¡¯ve been given order to get it back at any cost. After scouring for clues, we are certain its hiding somewhere around here. So please, move aside and let us conduct a search.¡± The Shaman King¡¯s pets? Du Wei immediately thought of the strange red haired Monster in the farmhouse. But¡­ ¡­ Make way and let them search? Though this shaman was very polite in his attitude, but Du Wei¡¯s temper said otherwise! This is my fuckingnd! You say you want to search then you can search? Where¡¯s thew in that? Shaman King? Is the Shaman King really that great?!! Chapter 213 part 1 Chapter 213 ¡°The world!¡± (part one) Move, or not to move, this is the question put before him. The shaman¡¯s tone of voice may sound polite, but from their words, he can smell a faint scent of arrogance. Move aside so they can search? This is mynd, my territory! You want to search mynd by just flinging your Shaman King¡¯smand? Based on what? Logically, it would be wiser to not sh with the Shaman King and his followers, but things isn¡¯t that simple. He¡¯s only just arrived in the Northwest and they expect him to yield in front of all his men? That¡¯s nothing but humiliation! If word spread of this incident, he can expect his fame to be swept under the rug for being the lord of thisnd. This ce is the Northwest, and of predators where only the strong survives. If you take a step back, your foes will take two steps forward. Thinking of this, Du Wei suddenly came down with a thought. The Northwestern Army! What a good Northwestern army! What a good warlord! Charged with the task of guarding the empire¡¯s frontier, they have the nerve to so casually let hostile forces enter their own territory! And damn those checkpoint soldiers in the corridor! They didn¡¯t even send him a message! The doings of the Northwestern army made Du Wei exceptionally angry. What use is there for such an army!! Looking at how gloomy Du Wei¡¯s face became, Longbottom can already guess the young Duke was thinking: ¡°Boss¡­¡­¡± ¡°General Longbottom, what¡¯d you have in mind?¡± Du Wei narrows his eyes. ¡°Boss, as long as you give the order, we will charge out. Though they outnumbers us, but my men are no pushovers!¡± Of course, Longbottom isn¡¯t always so reckless: ¡°The situation may not look very good, but this is ournd. At the very least, we can push them back.¡± Du Wei nods in understanding. Thinking it over for a second, he then cried out at the two shamans: ¡°Dear shamans, I would like to ask you two a question.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± The two shamans nced at each other. The one that spoke earlier slightly frowned as he looked at Longbottom: ¡°Lord Mossad, I like to ask who this is?¡± Longbottom was about to speak when Du Wei interrupted him: ¡°I¡¯m the aid of Duke Tulip, the lord of this Desa Province.¡± Both shaman nods in understanding. Du Wei¡¯s word did not arouse suspicion because he never did like wearing the gorgeous looking clothes of an aristocrat. ¡°If so, I like to ask.¡± His words were aimed at both shamans. ¡°I like to ask. ¡°Du Wei straightens his back and raised his voice: ¡°At this moment, the soil you are stepping on, is it thend of the Rnd Empire or the prairies?!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± The two were silent. ¡°I like to ask!¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice became even louder: ¡°At this moment, is the master of thisnd your Shaman King, or Duke Tulip!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°I like to ask! Is the g waving on thisnd the Blood Skull banner, or is it our ming Tulip!?!¡± Du Wei¡¯s booming voice echoed through the air, and the knights that came with him instinctively straightened their body. Both frowning, the two shamans looked at each other for a moment until one of them spoke in a serious voice: ¡°Young man, i like to know why you would refuse the mighty Shaman King¡¯smand.¡± Du Wei smiles coldly: ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You mentioned the word mand¡¯. I¡¯m a citizen of the empire! I don¡¯t believe the Shaman King has any right to give me anymand!¡± The Shaman that asked turned someone green on his face. Just as he was about to get angry, the less impulsive guy came forward: ¡°Young man, I think you are taking this matter too seriously. This is just a request proposed by the great Shaman King¡­.. If you ept, you will receive the Shaman King¡¯s friendship, isn¡¯t that enough?¡± ¡°Friendship?¡± Du Wei raises his voice again: ¡°May I ask, if one day our Duke loses his pet and runs off to demand a search in yournd, would you consider it an act of friendship?¡± The more ill-tempered shaman shouts out in anger: ¡°Ignorant boy! How can your Duke bepared to the great Shaman King!¡± ¡°Is it?!¡± Du Weiughs. Then turning to point at the knights behind Longbottom, he shouts: ¡°I ask you, whose warriors are you!¡± A thousand people shouted in unison: ¡°Tulip!!!!¡± ¡°Tell me, who do you swear your allegiance!¡± ¡°Tulip!!!¡± Du Wei nods as he sneered at the watching shaman: ¡°Mr. Shaman, I heard that even in the prairies, the act of respect is also considered a virtue! I¡¯ll tell you now; our Duke will never make such impolite words like you so did.¡± The calm Shaman smiles he took over: ¡°Young man, please forgive my partner¡¯s tongue. I of course heard of Duke Tulip¡¯s prestige. He is your country¡¯s youngest genius and also an outstanding magician. Even in the prairie, the tales of his miracles are far and wide, especially the story of him building a city in three months. We mean no disrespect, but we¡¯ve been given explicit orders to find the Shaman king¡¯s pet. So please, we can¡¯t go back empty handed.¡± ¡°If So, let¡¯s have his lordshipe make the decision.¡± Du Wei slowly speaks his next words for all to hear: ¡°The only master of thisnd, Duke Tulip! Luckily, his lordship is also present here today. I must go ask for his decision.¡± With that, Du Wei gave no second nce at the two shamans as he turned back to his people. Watching how the kid before them was moving away, the two shamans can only frown because they never expected to encounter such arge force in this remote little town. Above all else, this force is led by the infamous General Longbottom and the Duke himself! Longbottom and his people may not know what the hell Du Wei was up to, but they all knew the young Duke likes to scheme, so they naturally kept their mouths shut. While Longbottom and his men faced off against the enemy, Du Wei was running back into the vige. Outside the farmhouse where a hundred of his guards were located, the first person Du Wei looked for was Sandia: ¡°Hurry Sandia, take off your clothes! Fast!¡± Sandia was stunned by the request, but Du Wei didn¡¯t care. In his impatient state, he reached out and began unbuttoning the kid¡¯s cloth without permission. It was at this moment that Sandia came back to reality, ¡°My lord!¡­¡­..¡± He cries out in shock. ¡°Quick! There¡¯s no time to exin. Listen to me while you take them off.¡± Rummaging through his storage ring, Du Wei took out a set of clothes and some decorations befitting a aristocrat. Aside from making Sandia wear all this, he also tidied up the kid¡¯s hair to make him look totally like a noble. Carefully looking over Sandia, he then took out another ck cape ¨C this is a reformed version of his ck mage robe. Aside from this, Du Wei also called over Ziggy, the leader of the students, and asked him to hand over his staff to Sandia. (Note: Staff and wand in chinese is the exact same word, there¡¯s no distinction for it so you will see me changing it up depending on the situation) As he fiddled around to help Sandia put everything on, the poor kid was dumbfounded by Du Wei¡¯s hyper fast exnation. He was reluctant to wear such luxurious things, but he didn¡¯t have the nerve to refuse. Sandia¡¯s true age is slightly smaller than Du Wei¡¯s actual age, but after dressing up he didn¡¯t look too far off. Besides, the kid has already been in the Northwest for quite some time so his body is much stronger than before. Though Du Wei had plenty of students to help him, but they are all from the military. Their age is certainly more of a match for Du Wei, but after so many days of training, the air around these people is too soldier like. This leaves Sandia. Not only is his age passable, the kid also knows etiquette, something very muchcking in everyone else present. ¡°In a bit, you only need to follow through with my instructions.¡± After Du Wei finished giving his orders, he swiftly ran into the farmhouse. Inside the farmhouse, the red hair monster is still guarding by Muse¡¯s side. The kid didn¡¯t look as scared as before, but he definitely looked more pitiful with strands of straws mixed in with his hair. Du Wei didn¡¯t have any more patient to spend on the kid, instead, he directly went for the monster: ¡°Listen up, I know you are the Shaman King¡¯s pet, right?¡± The Monster nodded. ¡°They came for you and are just outside. But you don¡¯t want to go back to them, right?¡± The Monster immediately shook his head very hard, seemingly full of determination. ¡°If you want to get away today then you can only choose to believe in me.¡± Du Wei quickly said, ¡°I¡¯ll give you two choices: either you kill my friend now and you break out of here, Even if you could get past me, I know you won¡¯t be able to get past the shamans outside! The second choice is you release my friend right now and I help you hide.¡± Momentster, the two shamans from the Prairie finally gets their chance to meet the famed Duke Tulip. This ¡°Duke¡± is exactly like the rumors. Rather than calling him a teenager, its better to call him a kid. As the two Shamans nced at each other, both of them can see the disdain in each other¡¯s eyes. Nevertheless, the demeanor of this young Duke is befitting that of someone in great power, especially the ck cloak and walnut tree staff in his hand. Seeing the symbol of a grand magician, even the two shamans didn¡¯t dare act arrogantly. After all, the destructive powers of the Rnd Empire¡¯s magicians are something very much ingrained in the prairie shamans. Whether in respect to a magician, or the identity of this distinguished nobility, the two still reluctantly dismounted to perform a greeting bow to the neer. ¡°Duke¡± The two were quite nonchnt in their smiles. ¡°Dear guests.¡± This Duke spoke in a smooth and calm tone: ¡°I¡¯m very surprised by your sudden visit. However, through my tolerance and mercy, I will forgive yourck of etiquette. Aside from this, I also want your guarantee that such rude behavior will not happen again. You know, even if a noble lord wants to visit a friend, they must still first gain the person¡¯s permission. Personally, I hold great respect towards your Shaman King, but under imperial decree, I cannot allow your army into the vige. However, as a gesture of friendship to the Shaman King, I can make an exception for this one time¡­..¡± Under Du Wei¡¯s order, counterfeit Sandia did not give any room for the other side to speak: ¡°I will permit you two to bring your personal attendants to look around town for your lost pet. But ording to imperial decree, your attendants cannot exceed ten people. Also, after you finish your search, I must ask you to immediately return to the prairies! Otherwise, I must consider your move as a provocation to the empire.¡± With that, Sandia also didn¡¯t give any chance for more words as he turned and walked back into town. Du Wei was standing on the side the entire time. Sneering inside, he looked at the gloomy faced shamans before him: ¡°Please, this way.¡± This is the best and only solution Du Wei cane up with at the moment. No too hard or too soft, just enough so both sidese out without losing. Du Wei¡¯s decision seems to be right because the other side also doesn¡¯t intend to have a falling out with the empire just yet. Though the two Shamans were somewhat displeased, but they can only quietly ept the Duke¡¯s decision. Chapter 213 part 2 Chapter 213 ¡°The world!¡± (part two) Very quickly, they chose ten elite warriors to apany them into the vige. Without any suspense or thrill, their efforts naturally yielded nothing in this quaint little vige. The reason is because Du Wei already hid the two monsters inside his storage ring. Despite the extensive search made by the shamans, they simply couldn¡¯t find any traces of their target. In their endeavor, the two even brought out something that drew great interest from Du Wei. It is a a tortoise shell. Like a divination, they threw several irregrly shaped bones inside and chanted a few words he couldn¡¯t understand. At the time Du Wei was quite nervous, but from their disappointed eyes, it would seem the divination failed. Like this, the disgruntled party and the 3,000 horsemen withdrew from the vige. In addition, Du Wei also instructed Longbottom to send out 100 men to ¡°escort¡± these barbarians out of his territory. Naturally, the escort party kept a hundred meters in distance from their guests. Regarding this move, the prairie wolves were very upset, but under the direct order of their shamans, they had no choice but to swallow this indignation. After leaving Cow Tongue Vige, the two shamans were riding steadily on their mounts when they halted their group. Turning back to peer over at the distant vige, one of the guy said to his partner: ¡°What do you think of this Duke Tulip?¡± ¡°Humph, just a child.¡± The ill-tempered Shaman said this with disdain in his voice. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The calm Shaman smiles: ¡°Indeed, while the rumors are strong, he¡¯s really not much after meeting him today¡­..¡± He then paused before sighing: ¡°But that aid of his¡­. Strong willed and thorough, quite an outstanding guy!¡± Watching these prairie wolves leave, Du Wei¡¯s face showed no signs of easing down. Instead, his expression became even gloomier as he ordered: ¡°We¡¯re going back to Lon City!¡± Aside from hiding the two monsters inside his storage ring, he also thoroughly taught the brat a good lesson. Right now, Muse can only stand from afar, too afraid to say a single word. Once they were on the road, Du Wei gestured for Muse toe next to him: ¡°Come here!¡± The kid seems to be afraid of him from the careful manner he moved: ¡°You¡­.. What do you want?¡± ¡°Humph! Did you forget my words? You should be calling me ¡®Lord¡¯!¡± Du Wei lightly spoke: ¡°While you¡¯re here, you are no longer the young master of the Lister Household! You are merely one of my subjects! If you can¡¯t remember this, you can expect more suffering in the future.¡± With his face flustered, Muse grits his teeth to squeeze out these words, ¡°Yes¡­¡­ Lord!¡± ¡°Better.¡± Du Wei lets out a deep breath: ¡°Mount your horse, we¡¯re going back.¡± At this moment, Du Wei¡¯s face was suddenly full of fatigue. Watching Du Wei¡¯s expression, Muse couldn¡¯t help but wonder: is there anything else that could possibly annoy this wicked person? A evil guy like him¡­¡­ Without words, Du Wei mounted his horse and kept his head down like he was lost in thought. Though Muse hated the guts out of him, he simply found himself unable to resist peeking at Du Wei¡¯s back. After a long time like this, about 10 miles of travel, Du Wei suddenly turned to nce at Muse: ¡°You¡¯ve been watching me?¡± Caught off guard, Muse quickly shook in his in a startled manner. Seeing this, Du Wei lets out a slight smirk: ¡°Don¡¯t deny it; I can already guess you were secretly cursing me. You must have thought: ¡®If I could grab a dagger and stab him in the back while he¡¯s not paying attention¡¯, right?¡± Muse wentpletely white on his face because he really did have such thoughts a while back. However, that crazy idea was quickly dismissed by him after getting his head together. This guy¡­¡­ Is certainly a devil! Otherwise, how could he have read my mind? Du Wei gently smiles, his face with a hint of calm: ¡°Muses, do you hate me because I gave you a beating earlier? But then, do you know why I beat you?¡± Muse kept his mouth shut and didn¡¯t reply. ¡°Because you¡¯re stupid.¡± Du Wei held nothing back in his words: ¡°Because of your foolish behavior. If you were toe into harm while under my care, not only will your family be faced with tones of trouble, there will also be lots of people dying because of you. So then, are you not stupid or what?¡± Muse once again blushed but didn¡¯t speak. ¡°You can hate or do whatever you like.¡± Du Wei sneers: ¡°It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t understand why you hate me so much? It seems from the beginning when we first met, you were already very unfriendly towards me.¡± While Muse shrinks his head down in shame, Du Wei paused for a while before speaking up again: ¡°is it because of your sisters?¡± Muse answers in a low resenting voice. ¡°¡­¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± After a while, he suddenly looked up at Du Wei: ¡°I hate you because I know big sis wants you to marry Angel! I hate aristocrats like you. In the past, big sis was forced to marry that old geezer for the sake of the family, but I know she was never happy at all! Luckily the bastard died early! But now you¡¯ve shown up¡­. I think you are also a jerk! I don¡¯t want Angel to follow in my sister¡¯s footstep and marry a hypocritical noble like you! You bastards only know how to covet my family¡¯s wealth and use us for you own gains!¡± ¡°But you are also using me.¡± Du Wei slowly speaks: ¡°Doesn¡¯t your sister also want to use my position?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Muse grits his teeth. ¡°So like I said, you are very stupid.¡± Du Wei lightly spoke: ¡°Fortunately you¡¯re still young, even god will sometimes forgive the misgivings of a young person.¡± ¡°God?¡± Muse was startled. Du Wei realized he made a mistake so he quickly covered it up: ¡°Oh, he¡¯s just an old bastard, don¡¯t think too much of it.¡± (The human of this world only believes in the goddess of light, so what Du Wei just said here is like calling out Jesus in front of someone that¡¯s never heard of it.) He then looks at the muse to speak in a stern voice: ¡°Your stupidity lies in your action. Despite the fact that your little stunts can¡¯t make a single difference, you kept going at it and caused things to worsen¡­.. Tell me; is this not stupidity or what? A smart person will think of ways to send the matter down a direction they want. Yet you¡­.. Haha.¡± Muse grunted: ¡°What about you? Why did you refuse Angel? Did you really set your eyes on my big sis?¡± ¡°HA HA HA HA ¡­ ¡­¡± Du Weiughs out at the sky. Only after a good while did he stop to face Muse: ¡°Pitiful boy, you really are pitiful. Do you really think I am like everyone else that can only eye your family¡¯s wealth? In fact, do you think everyone is like you imagined¡± Muse seems to have been holding his thoughts in, but now, he finally couldn¡¯t keep a lid on it: ¡°You¡­. What do you want? You refused Angel, but then at the party you invited my big sis! My big sis¡­. What do you want with her, you devil!!¡± Du Wei¡¯s eyes turned cold again: ¡°You probably forgot my orders again, right?¡± Muse seems to be afraid of Du Wei¡¯s eyes. Shrinking his body, his head bowed down again. Instead of getting angry, Du Wei lets out a small breath: ¡°Yes¡­. What is it that I really want?¡± When he first crossed over to this world, his mind was still confused. Regarding this kind of confusion, one couldn¡¯t rte to it unless they experienced it themselves. Before he came into this world, he did have some idea of these matters from the novels he read. However, experiencing it and reading about it ispletely different. The third-rate novels would always write how the MC would ept reality after a brief period and how beautiful their life would be¡­.. What Bullshit! An adult¡­¡­ No, even if it¡¯s just a person who just turned 18, that person would still have many ties left in that world like: careers, life¡¯s goal, or love rtionships! Ok, even if they don¡¯t have a lover, then there¡¯s still their parents. Mother and father, the important people that cared and raised them from infancy! What does crossing over represents? It stands for a hand that wiped away all that you¡¯ve earned without a chance for you to resist! All that you have struggled for, all the sweat and tears you gave, everything that you earned from the grounds up is taken from you. What kind of sick jokes is that! The emotions you once held is nothing but an illusion, an empty casket if you will! Those shitty third rate novels, the moment the MC crossed over, they will cling to their parents andpletely forget their former¡­¡­¡­ To say it bluntly¡­ ¡­ Bull shit! They have no conscious and are heartless fucks! What is it that Du Wei wants? Truthfully speaking: If! If he can! If the heavens suddenly said you can go back, he will without hesitation give up everything in this world and go back! Screw the bullshit prophecy! And if he can¡¯t go back? Then Du Wei¡¯s can only take his second option: He wants to live a life infort where he can be free to do what he liked. Thinking of this, Du Wei suddenly began tough. The smile on his face was truly sincere when he uttered this single word: ¡°Freedom.¡± ¡°What?¡± Muse seems to have trouble hearing Du Wei¡¯s word. ¡°It¡¯s freedom.¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice is very calm: ¡°What I want is freedom. I want to live a peaceful life of freedom where there isn¡¯t too much stress.¡± ¡°¡­¡­ So ¡­ ¡­ Simple?¡± Muse shocking watched this highly favored Duke of the empire. Even an idiot knows the future of this guy is limitless¡­. Yet, he only wants freedom? ¡°Are you still not free enough?¡± Muse mockingly asks. ¡°You don¡¯t understand. ¡± Du Wei shakes his head. Free? Can this world really let him be free? The reason he yed the fool back then is because he didn¡¯t want to bare the family burdens. (In Du Wei¡¯s view, what does the family burden have to do with him?) Hence the reason why he would rather be sent to the Rowling ins. In the capital, he would rather offend Prince Son in order to save Raymond¡¯s life. He could have chosen to sit idly by to gain more benefits, but that isn¡¯t what his heart wanted! He only wants to do things he liked¡­¡­ It¡¯s that simple. And now, he also rejected the marriage proposal of the Lister household. ¡°It seems to me my definition of freedom is: allowing me to dominate my decisions in life.¡± Muse couldn¡¯t say anything. Perhaps because of his age, he is still too young to understand the meanings behind his word. ¡°But this goal really is hard to reach.¡± Du Wei sighs wryly: ¡°This world is like this. Once you are a part of a circle, you will involuntarily be pushed into things you didn¡¯t intend for¡­¡­¡± ¡°As you are now with your status, is there anyone that could possibly force you into things you didn¡¯t wish for?¡± Muse puzzlingly asked. ¡°Is it?¡± Du Wei smiles: ¡°Here in the Northwest¡­ ¡­ How many people are watching my every move? That governor Bohan couldn¡¯t wait to see me kicked out of the Northwest. Then there¡¯s the prairie wolves! While in this ce, I can¡¯t do anything ording to my will! My first priority is survival, then I can think of others.¡± If I had the strength, would Bohan pick my pocket the moment I arrive? If I had the strength, would the Northwest army daree again and again for money? Also, would they have secretly let the prairie wolves into mynd? If I had enough strength, then today I wouldn¡¯t have been bullied right at my doorstep! I would have already gathered my troops and knocked the socks off their asses!!!! Inwardly, he felt a sense of sadness and mockery at himself. The reason is because his yearning for freedom and his goals had caused a seed of ¡°ambition¡± to bud inside his heart! Don¡¯t you think this is a hrious joke? In this life, anyone that attempts to block my path will hence forth be my enemy!! Perhaps the prairie natives should regret now because their actions today had just woken up a confused young man. Du Wei suddenly came down with interest. Straightening his back, he held his horse whip up and pointed it out into the distant wilderness: ¡°Muse, what do you see?¡± Muses paused for a second as he looked at the far off distance: ¡°Wastnd? Mount Kilimanjaro? Roads? Woods ¡­ ¡­ What the hell is it?¡± Du Wei suddenly smiled as he gently dropped a word before whipping his horse to fly off into the horizon. ¡°The World!¡± Chapter 214 Chapter 214 ¡°good news and bad news¡± Leaving behind Longbottom and the magic apprentices in the base camp, the day was already dark for the evening when he made his way into Lon City. In the courtyard behind the Duke¡¯s castle, Du Wei finally met up with the heavily injured Hussein. From his appearance, this Saint Knight no longer had any apparent injuries on his body. Though Hussein¡¯s Saint level Dou Qi had the property of healing physical wounds, but that doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s omnipotent. In order to recoup the blood lost during this ordeal, our saint knight will need to use some indirect means like herbs and medicine. Watching Hussein¡¯s expression, Du Wei became serious as he gave Old Smoke the order: ¡°Keep watch outside and made sure none is allowed in.¡± After saying this, Du Wei ran to Hussein¡¯s side and sat down: ¡°You really brought back some bad news.¡± ¡°It is indeed some bad news.¡± Hussein¡¯s expression was very apathetic. ¡°Now then, tell me what the hell happened.¡± Hussein gently sighs instead of answering directly. From his clothing, he brought out the bag he brought with him to reveal the legendary sword ¡°beauty under the moonlight¡±. Du Wei only needed one look to be shocked with surprise: ¡°Why is Rodriguez¡¯s sword in your hand? Can it be you met with that person in the frozen forest?¡± Hussein nods: ¡°If not for this guy¡­ ¡­ I¡¯m afraid I wouldn¡¯t have been able toe back alive!¡± Afterwards, Hussein began recounting his experience. A month ago, Hussein was entrusted with a mission to visit the frozen forest by Du Wei. With his great strength, there should have been no need to fear the hostile environment of that ce But as fate would have it, Hussein found some unusual marks when he had just bypassed the circrke. ¡°In the beginning, I found the carcass of a dead monster pinned to a tree. It was an ice demon wolf, and from its size, I can specte it was already nearing its evolution point. I was surprised by this because I was already past theke, which even the brave mercenaries wouldn¡¯t dare cross. Then after another day, I came across several more monster carcasses, it was earth dragons. (pangolin) You know it too, the scales of an earth dragon is extremely rugged, but from what I saw, the scales were shredded into multiple pieces. This is obviously the work of a powerful warrior. If I had topare the guy¡¯s skill to my own, I can only at best match him. Then on the third day, I saw something more interesting: while traveling along theke¡¯s shore towards the North side, I came across an iceberg in the middle of theke. Looking through the transparent ice crystal, I was able to see an ice bear frozen inside. From this, I came to the conclusion that the guy responsible for all these killings is very capable in ice attacks.¡± ¡°The one responsible is Rodriguez?¡± Du Wei asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Hussein nods, confirmation Du Wei¡¯s spection. ¡°How could that guy have ran all the way to the frozen forest?¡± Du Wei frowned. Hussein hesitated for a second before slowly speaking his next words: ¡°He went there for us.¡± After Rodriguez assisted the crown prince in the coup, he was never seen again. Despite this, his status as a Saint level warrior is forever recognized in this world. Even for our former Holy Knight Hussein, this most wanted man on the continent, he was only rumored to be a Saint Level warrior, but Rodriguez is different. Once he defeated the Grey Robed Sword Saint in front of everyone with his golden Dou Qi, he had since then reced Hussein¡¯s position as the ¡°number one knight¡± in everyone¡¯s mind. As a man that should be standing at the epitome of a warrior¡¯s path, Rodriguez¡¯s appearance in the frozen forest should be for Hussein because what he needs now is a worthy opponent to further his skills. ording to the Temple¡¯s information, Hussein¡¯sst known location is within the frozen forest. ¡°You two met?¡± Du Wei¡¯s tone sounded serious. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Hussein nods. ¡°And the result?¡± Du Wei hurriedly asks. Hussein appears to go silent like an elusive fox, but afterwards, our usually stern looking knight actually smiled: ¡°You want to ask who won, right?¡± Du Wei did not deny this: ¡°Of course I wanted to know. You two are now the most powerful warriors on this continent.¡± ¡°All right.¡± Nodding, Hussein then seems to downy his story: ¡°I won, but he also didn¡¯t lose.¡± Du Wei became startled. ¡°Wepeted for two rounds.¡± Hussein spoke in a light tone: ¡°He gained the advantage in the first round because he had his ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡±. Though I was at a disadvantage, but even then he could not break through my Star Dou Qi. We didn¡¯t have the intent to put our life on the line, so we decided to temporarily halt the fight. Then during the second battle, he gave up his advantage of using his ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡±, in the end, I beat him.¡± That¡¯s it? Du Wei would course know that a battle between two Saint Knights aren¡¯t as simple as he imed! The confrontation between the two most powerful warriors standing at the peak of this continent should have been an exciting and intense battle. It¡¯s truly a shame he couldn¡¯t witness it in person. ¡°My shoulder¡¯s injury is what he left behind on me.¡± Hussein snorted like it wasn¡¯t much of a deal: ¡°But he can forget about fighting anyone in theing year!¡± ¡°Then what about that ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight?¡± Du Wei frowns. Hussein did not directly answer the question; instead, he seems to be grinning: ¡°Did you know? You almost lost your life.¡± Du Wei became somewhat confused: ¡°What does it have to do with me?¡± ¡°After we finished duking it out, we both stepped back because we didn¡¯t want to put our life on the line. To be able to find a rival in this world is a very rare thing. Guess what? He then asked me where he could find me in the future, and I told him I might be in the Northwest¡­.. When he heard this, he looked very surprised. He then exined to me that he was entrusted with a mission by someone toe to the Northwest¡­.. His job is toe help you.¡± Du Wei gasped with shock, followed by a look of surprise: ¡°He¡¯s¡­¡­ing to help me?¡± ¡°I was also quite surprised by this¡­.. He told me he resented you for causing the Crown Prince¡¯s death. Although he already repaid the debt he owed to the Crown Prince, but you did y a key role in the coup, so consider yourself lucky that he didn¡¯te looking for you afterwards¡­. Du Wei, remember I wasn¡¯t by your side at the time. With his strength, you wouldn¡¯t have lived even if you had several lives in your pocket.¡± Du Wei became speechless. ¡°Fortunately, he was persuaded by someone to leave you alone. At first, he intended to seek me out in the frozen forest beforeing to find you in the Northwest.¡± Hussein sighs at this point: ¡°The situation deviated a little from target; although our duel didn¡¯t cause any life threatening wounds, but we did get injured from over exhausting ourselves. Fortunately, the treants home isn¡¯t too far away, so I took him to the valley to recover¡­.. It is there where we met the dragon.¡± Du Wei¡¯s face sank like was in the deepest part of the ocean: ¡°Could it be that the old dragon went back on his oath and came to settle the old scores?¡± Hussein shakes his head: ¡°It wasn¡¯t the old dragon¡­.. But, the dragon that came is not someone I can deal with by myself. Though the guy¡¯s magic power is only average, but his physical body and strength is recognized as the strongest in the dragon n. I¡¯m sure you remember the stupid dragon standing guard in the mountain, right?¡± The stupid Dragon? The guy that was stumped by his silly math problem? ¡°Indeed, the dragon that came is the very same guy.¡± Listening to this, Du Wei was somewhat relieved: ¡°Turns out to be that stupid thing¡­¡­ Had the Dragon Chief gone crazy? Sending out such a fool!¡± Hussein coldly spoke: ¡°He¡¯s not just a simple idiot¡­¡­ The guy¡¯s magic power may be mediocre, but the sturdiness of his body is not to be taken lightly¡­¡­ Du Wei, by my estimation, I fear even the old dragon¡¯s body is only so-so inparison. I even heard that the silly dragon can even rival the dragon chief if they onlypeted with their physical body.¡± ¡°Also¡­¡­¡± Hussein¡¯s face turned very ugly: ¡°The guy told me that the Dragon Chief already made the decision. If anyone manages to take your head, the old lizard will hand over his position to that dragon! For this reason, the three sons of that old snake are already on their way here to seek you out.¡± Du Wei started to go numb like the very life is being sucked out of him. Three Dragon Prince wants toe find him? The strength of that old dragon is terrifying enough, now there¡¯s three more like him? Oh god¡­¡­ ¡°Hold on¡­ ¡­ You said the idiot told you this¡­ ¡­ What purpose does he have in doing so?¡± Du Wei frowns with suspicion. ¡°¡­¡­¡± Hussein looked gloomy: ¡°This is the most dangerous part in this matter. The idiot told me he came to seek you out in order to protect you¡­. The dragon chief¡¯s decision caused quite the stir in the inner workings of the dragon n. Everyone wanted to take the dragon chief¡¯s position, so they didn¡¯t want you to die at the hands of the three dragon prince! Aside from bringing some information about the dragon princes¡­. I was told that it would be for the best that the three prince don¡¯te back alive!¡± Du Wei¡¯s eye lit up with hope! ¡°ording to the agreement, each prince will meet you separately with a time limit of one month to achieve their goal. If the first guy fails, then the second one can take over. Not surprisingly, the first toe looking for you is the eldest son of the dragon chief. ording to the information, the guy is very skilled in draconic magic while being average in martial arts.¡± Du Wei mind started to work overtime: ¡°Oh¡­¡­ Since someone wants to work together¡­¡­ ha-ha, then they must have provided the guy¡¯s weakness too, right?¡± Hussein suddenly burst out augh: ¡°Indeed, he told me the weakness of this dragon prince is¡­¡­¡± At this moment from within the frozen forest, a tall lean figure stood at the mouth of the treants canyon. With his pale face, he looked towards the south where the vast stretches of snow covered the horizon. ¡°Teacher Blue Ocean¡­ ¡­ I hope you made the right choice. That Du Wei, can he really change the Northwest?¡± Rodriguez gently mutters this to himself. Chapter 215 part 1 Chapter 215 ¡°history¡± (part one) Exactly 35 years ago, 925 year of the Imperial calendar, a lot of people might have already forgotten the things that took ce in that spring. In their mindsets, the only memorable aspect would have likely been howte the spring season arrived. In order to prevent the soldiers from freezing to death during the annual spring drill, the military specially rushed an order of thick coats for the soldiers. After a short period of hardbor, the military workshops barely managed to get the coats to the soldiers in time for the drill. However, that year¡¯s spring is not as simple as that. Towards the people of the capital, there were many things that took ce which would eventually have a great impact on the continent¡¯s future. Exactly in the spring of that year, his Majesty the Emperor Augustine the 6th officially recognized his eldest son as the Crown Prince. In addition to this, the former chief of the Rowling Household passed away and his son Raymond ends up inheriting his title as Count. In the midst of the young nobles of the Empire, this 20-year old Raymond is of course a rising star. Whether it is his outstanding martial art skills or foresight in military tactics, everyone that believed in him only had this in their minds: military family Rowling Household once again produced an outstanding chief. At the same time, this young Raymond¡¯s best friend has just been established as the Crown Prince. One is a promising general of the empire and the other is the future emperor of the empire. Together, who would have ever thought the two would face defeat and one would eventually face death in shame? During this period, they are still young and full of hope for their future. Like them that are standing in their golden years is the Lister Household¡¯s chief. By using his wits and charm, this famed handsome gentlemen managed to conquer the entire noble circle within one year. Whether it is: music, art, astronomy, divination, history, or dancing¡­ ¡­ It looked like there was nothing this Lister chief could not do because even his majesty the Emperor ended up bestowing a knighthood on him. Though this title cannot be inherited and is of low stature, but since it was from the emperor himself, the status of this Lister chief rose immensely in thedder. At the same time, this Mr. Lister is a billionaire with a rich family background. With just these two points, most of the young noble girls were falling heads over heels for this man. Above all else, the most memorable thing in that year¡¯s spring is the rising of Mr. Blue Ocean. In everyone¡¯s mind, about a few years ago, a middle-aged man called Blue Ocean came to the capital. No one knows where this person came from, but he was always in his iconic attire: in cotton robe with unkempt long hair. Living in the southern sector where civilians liked to gather, he would always walk through the busy streets with a smile. No matter who you are, even if you¡¯re just a bakery owner or a carriage driver, as long as you greet him, he will smile at you and nod. In the eyes of these civilians, this Mr. Blue Ocean is a well learned man! The reason is because since his arrival in their lives, he had solved many difficult problems for them. If you are ill and unable to seek a physician, you can find this Mr. Blue Ocean for help. He will concoct a remedy for you using herbs that even professional doctors cannot understand to heal your injuries. At the beginning, everyone thought this Mr. Blue Ocean was a physician. Later on when the owner of a neighboring failing grocery store decided to sell their business in order to return to their old home in the countryside, this Blue Ocean only needed one afternoon to go through all the ounts to clear up six years of book keeping. This time around, everyone thought this Mr. Blue Ocean is an excellent ounting clerk. Thenter on again, a fur businessman decided to bring his entire inventory out for sun tanning in the yard. Seeing this, Mr. Blue Ocean immediately ran to the guy to warn him about the heavy rain in theing month; of course, the businessman didn¡¯t take the advice because the weather just so happens to be the hottest season of the year. The result is as Mr. Blue Ocean said. Two dayster, the weather turned worse and heavy rain swamped the capital for a whole month without stopping even a day. As such, the fur trader suffered a huge loss in his business. This time around, everyone thought this Mr. Blue Ocean is probably a forteller. Subsequently, a seamstress came to him for help after losing the fabric she was supposed to use in an order for a noble lord. Without any difficulty, Mr. Blue Ocean randomly pulled down a curtain and easily created a new gown in a single afternoon. Anyone that saw the robe would instantlypliment how pretty and stylish the robe was. This time, the citizens were finally shocked with surprise¡­¡­ Is there anything this Blue Ocean can¡¯t do? Hence his fame started to spread. A noblemen¡¯s gardener identally caused his lord¡¯s favorite flower to wilt and die. To help the poor guy, Blue Ocean only taught the gardener a few methods. Like a miracle, the wilted flower suddenly resurrected and even bloomed more brightly then before. A businessman in trafficking animals was cheated by his opponent and ended up buying a thousand bad horses. In the face of a huge loss, he went to ask Blue Ocean for help. There wasn¡¯t any immediately solution this time around, but Mr. Blue Ocean picked out two pregnant horses and told the merchant what to do in the future. As a result, the two pregnant mares actually produced two fine horses! Two yearster, the two horses were trained to be first ss colts and were then sold for more than what the merchant lost in the first ce. The most amazing event was the story of the thief sneaking into Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s home. Who knows what happened that night, but by daybreak, this thief had already changed into a servant¡¯s attire and was then on a faithful servant by Blue Ocean¡¯s side till this day. Blue Ocean¡¯s fame began to spread across the capital which caused some of the civilians to ask him to be their children¡¯s teacher. After three years ofing to the capital, this Blue Ocean had already be a well-known schr. Even though he only lived in themoner sector and only atemon bread, everyone still respected him and would always greet him as ¡°Sir¡±. Of course, some of the other schrs in the capital didn¡¯t take this kindly and thought Blue Ocean¡¯s existence is an offense to their own. Being a schr, how can they mingle in themon sector? From rumors, this Blue Ocean would just walk out barefooted¡­.. This is just too shameless! Therefore, a number of schrs began to knock on his door to challenge him in a discussion of knowledge¡­¡­ But without exception, every troublemaker would leave in shame. Despite this morous record, Blue Ocean would always lug around in a rocking chair under the tree in his yard to sun tan. At this point, his fame began to spread to the ears of some nobles. In the beginning, these nobles believed this Blue Ocean is like those traditional schrs that would suck up to them, but they were wrong! Whenever he received an invitation from these noblemen¡¯s, Blue Ocean would always turn them down. The move made of his made him out to be called a ¡°country bumpkin¡± in the eyes of the nobility. As fate would have it, in the imperial year 925, this Blue Ocean surprised everyone by participating in the annual schr conference. This is a gathering of the capital¡¯s most famous schrs because it is the perfect opportunity to spread ones fame across the empire. But this time around, everyone¡¯s mor was overshadowed by Blue Ocean. In the midst of arge group of schrs dressed in luxurious clothes, Blue Ocean waltz in barefooted without shame. Under the crowd of mocking eyes, he raised three questions. First question: when a person is first born and is a baby, why aren¡¯t they ashamed of themselves? Yet, after growing up, why should they be ashamed of being naked? The second question, he asked: For a beast¡¯s life and a human¡¯s life, they only know how to mate, fight, and hunt. If so, what is the difference between the two? The third problem is even more interesting. He invited the most famous schr at the time to hold a flower. Then disregarding everyone¡¯s surprised look, he picked up the excrement of a cattle and took the flower from the famed schr¡¯s hand and stabbed the flower into the excrement. Letting out augh, he asked: ¡°May I know what your thoughts were while the flower was in his hand and in mine?¡± This single crazy action caused everyone to be shocked. Despite gathering nearly every named schr in the empire, no one present couldpletely answer Blue Ocean¡¯s question. After a heated discussion, Blue Ocean casually announced his own answer: First question: He told them the clothing you are wearing is not to hide your body, but your own shame. The reason a baby isn¡¯t ashamed of its own naked body is because a baby has no shame. For the second question, none in the audience can answer it either: the biggest difference between man and beast is the ability to think. We are able to think about this issue here while a beast can¡¯t. For thest question, it was even more interesting. Holding the cow dung in his hand, Blue Ocean then asked the famed schr what was in his hand. Using a mocking tone, the famed schr replied: ¡°I see a cow¡¯s dung.¡± Blue Ocean didn¡¯t get angry, instead, he very elegantly said: ¡°I only see the flower that was in your hand.¡± Just when the famed schr thought Blue Ocean was about to yield to him, the next words that came out of Blue Ocean left him speechless. ¡°The reason your eyes can only see a cow¡¯s dung is because your heart is thinking of something dirty. I can see a flower is because my heart is thinking of a flower¡­.. Sir, this is the difference between us.¡± Blue Ocean ingeniously used these three issues to deride these hypocritical schrs. The first question is to mock their sense of shame, the second question is to mock their inability to think¡­. And thest question is to mock their dirty hearts. After finishing all his words, Blue Ocean left the party with a faint victorious smile. After only a day, Blue Ocean¡¯s fame became rock solid after leaving a hundred famed schrs speechless. In some cases, those with enough shame even left the capital to never return again. Chapter 215 part 2 Chapter 215 ¡°history¡± (part two) Exactly on the evening of this year 925 of the imperial calendar, Mr. Blue Ocean was sitting under the tree in his yard sipping tea with his servant (former thief). At this time, a youngster around ten years old had already stood outside his entrance for the entire afternoon that day. Though the teenager was very handsome, but his thin stature and dirty clothes showed he was from a poor family. Nheless, those eyes of his gave off a sense of pride that could not be covered up by the ragged state he was in. From noon till night, he never once moved a step, that is until the door leading into the yard opened up for him. ¡°Mr. Blue Ocean.¡± The child just stood there at the doorway with his delicate yet firm face: ¡°I request for you to ept me as an apprentice.¡± Mr. Blue Ocean only smiled without getting up from his chair. With a cup of tea in his hand, he then noticed the kid¡¯s shoe was already worn out from long use. ¡°You came from a faraway ce?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Northwest.¡± The teenager replied: ¡°I traveled for over a month in order to reach the capital. Three days ago when I heard of your name, I feel you can untie the knots in my heart.¡± ¡°What is it that you want to get from me?¡± Blue Ocean became intrigued by the kid¡¯s word. ¡°Answers.¡± The teenager¡¯s voice became very low and somber: ¡°Sir, I hear people say you are the most intelligent person in the capital. My family hails from the Desa Province of the Northwest and my great-grandfather was a nobleman there. Both my grandfather and father worked as a cksmith for the military and from their mouths, they told me the army will protect us. However, my sister and family all died three years ago from an attack made by the prairie natives living there. They disguised themselves as bandits and killed everyone. During the ordeal, my mother hid me inside the cer and from there; I heard the pleading cries of my sister. They raped her and insulted her before ending her life. What¡¯s more, those beasts even beheaded her and hanged my sister¡¯s head against a fence post outside my home. After that, my mother wept for three days and three nights and also died from sadness. Then a year ago, my father also passed away. His parting words were¡­¡­ ¡®live on¡¯. Dear sir, for people like me that lives in the Desa Province, is there no way to change our sad fate?¡± The voice of the youth became somewhat harsh that even Blue Ocean could not ignore. From the kid¡¯s baggage, he noticed something poking out of it; it looked like a sword¡­¡­ After a long time, Blue Ocean lets out a long apologetic sigh: ¡°Boy, I¡¯m very sorry, but towards your question, I¡¯m unable to answer it.¡± From the kid¡¯s childish yet determined face, a trace of deep disappointment appeared for a second. As he was about to turn away, Blue Ocean suddenly called out to him: ¡°Hold on.¡± As the teenager stopped his footstep, Blue Ocean was already up from his chair. Walking over to the kid¡¯s side, he looked straight into the youngster¡¯s eye and whispered: ¡°There are some things out there that we cannot answer by just thinking about it¡­¡­ But that doesn¡¯t mean we always have to have an answer before taking action¡­.. In many cases, it¡¯s wiser to do first then go back to look at the results. Even if the attempt resulted in a failure, but at the very least we will know it¡¯s a method that doesn¡¯t work. If everyone is always sitting around thinking about this and that without acting, then we will never have any answers in our lifetime.¡± After a pause, he slowly says: ¡°I can¡¯t give you the answer, but I can help you along the way¡­ ¡­ Child, what do you want to learn?¡± ¡°Martial arts!¡± the teenager¡¯s response was very firm without any spec of hesitation. Blue Ocean smiles: ¡°Martial arts? You know I am a schr right?¡± The teenager was silent like he was somewhat embarrassed and disappointed. However, Blue Ocean only stared at the kid for a while before speaking up again, ¡°Very well,e with me.¡± Just as Blue Ocean wanted to turn to go inside, he suddenly asked: ¡°I almost forgot¡­ ¡­ What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Rodriguez.¡± The teenager replied: ¡°You can also call me Rodney.¡± ¡°Very well Rodriguez.¡± Blue Ocean gently recites this name in his mind: ¡°I ept you as my first disciples ¡­ ¡­ Also, if nothing else happen, you will also be the only one that inherits my martial skills.¡± Following Blue Ocean, Rodriguez went into the house and inside there is another small room. ¡°This door is never locked.¡± Blue Oceanughs: ¡°But, I think you may be the only person to ever go inside other than me.¡± Despite how small the room appeared from the outside, the inside didn¡¯t actually look so narrow ¨C clearly Blue Ocean is someone that is very capable in utilizing ones space. More importantly, Rodriguez was surprised to find a drape hanging in there because the letters and symbols inscribed on it is something he would never forget! ¡°This is ¡­ ¡­¡± The teenager¡¯s face suddenly became very strange: ¡°Those are the words of the Prairie barbarians¡­.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Blue Ocean stood in front of the kid as he replied in a very calm manner. ¡°Why do you have this stuff?¡± ¡°Because¡­¡­¡± Blue Oceanughs: ¡°Because I¡¯m a member of the so called ¡®prairie barbarians¡¯, if you don¡¯t mind me saying so. I¡¯m not from the empire; I grew up in the prairie.¡± Rodriguez¡¯s face quickly darkened as he instinctively took a step back. Carefully observing Blue Ocean, Rodriguez became perplexed by the appearance of the old man before him. Blue eyed and light skinned, not a single characteristic of this old man gave off the sign that he carried the blood of the prairie natives. ¡°Feel surprised?¡± Blue Ocean smiles: ¡°Maybe in your heart, the so called prairie barbarians are all ruggedly looking people that rides through thend on horseback, right? Then again, how many people really understand what is beyond that piece of grasnd?¡± Finishing his words, Blue Ocean gently removes the drape to reveal a long box. ¡°I was born in the Prairie but I¡¯m not a part of the nomadic tribes. At the northern end of that piece of grasnd, there is a Snowy Mountain that reaches all the way into the heavens. Standing up there, one can even touch the clouds. It is there and only there where you can find the holynd of all shamans because that is where the ruins of a civilizationpletely different from the Rnd Empire lie. We of the people living up on that mountain is the remnants of that once great civilization.¡± Rodriguez became somewhat surprised: ¡°You ¡­ ¡­¡± ¡°No need to show such a face.¡± Blue Ocean lets out a pityingugh: ¡°Since the day I left that Snowy Mountain, I was no longer a part of that group. Since long ago, I¡¯ve alreadye to a conclusion that those on the mountain are all crazy¡­. Or to be precise, the residual remnants of that crazy blood line. Since the day I left that mountain, I refuse to continue that crazy tradition with those people.¡± Finishing his words, Blue Ocean gently opens the blue box to reveal a long slender sword! After opening the box, a stream of cold air immediately enveloped the entire room! In the face of such intense cold, Rodriguez could not stop his body from shivering. Despite how delicate and beautiful the crystal like sword was, one can see it was extremely sharp! ¡°The name of this sword is called ¡®Beauty under the Moonlight¡¯.¡± Blue Ocean gently sighs: ¡°Though I don¡¯t believe you are a fit for this sword, but I will temporarily lend it to you. The sword may be powerful, but once you reach a certain level, this sword will be a barrier. The reason is because the sword doesn¡¯t belong to you. It may be able to give you a boost right now, but when you have truly be strong, you will find that you are unable to release its full power. At that time, it will be a constraint against your growth.¡± After a pause, Blue Ocean asked: ¡°Didn¡¯t your father leave you a sword? You can put it in the box here. When the dayes where you can no longer grow, you cane here and reim your father¡¯s sword. Once that dayes, I will teach you how to create a sword that binds with your soul to be a sword that truly belongs to you.¡± Rodriguez stares intently at the legendary sword before him. Even though he was still young, but he can still sense how extraordinary the sword was: ¡°Sir, whose sword is this? Is it yours?¡± ¡°It is mine.¡± Blue Ocean lets out slight smile: ¡°But I can no longer use it.¡± Rodriguez became astonished: ¡°Sir ¡­ ¡­ Can it that you were also once a warrior?¡± Revealing a strange expression, Blue Ocean did not immediately answer Rodriguez¡¯s question; instead, he reached out to gently stroke the legendary sword: ¡°I am no longer one now.¡± Then he seems to smile but did not: ¡°Anyone that leaves the Snowy Mountain must be willing to give up a part of them¡­¡­.. And what I left behind is my ¡®warrior¡¯s soul¡¯.¡± Rodriguez became somewhat confused because a youngster like him couldn¡¯t possibly understand something soplex right now. All his attention right now can only be focused on the Beauty under the Moonlight. The sword is just too beautiful because Rodriguez had never seen such a beautiful sword in his life! Despite its inherent dangerous vibe, the mesmerizing chill it gave off seems to make one involuntary be entranced in all its glory¡­¡­ While the kid was still in a stupor over what he was seeing, Blue Ocean had already brought the sword out of the box and handed it over the Rodriguez. ¡°Using this sword, I¡¯ll teach you a special martial art¡­ ¡­ This martial skill is not easy to learn, especially in the beginning. At first your growth will be exceptionally slow, but as you continue to practice it, you will find it to be extraordinarily powerful¡­. So are you willing?¡± With the kid¡¯s little reply of ¡®yes¡¯, the continent will hence forth gain another powerful expert! An idiot that took twenty five years to go from level one to three, he willter be known as a genius that reached the height of eighth rank in merely five years after that! In the spring of the year 925, the emperor Augustine the 6th finally recognized his eldest son as the crown prince and was thought to be the future emperor. Then after Raymond became the new patriarch of the Rowling Household, our new earl held a party at his new manor. And outside the backdoor of this new found lord is our infamous horse coach Marde dozing off for the night. Still young at this time, Marde was muttering in his sleep: ¡°Damn weather is cold tonight¡­. Humph, that housekeeper isn¡¯t so great¡­.. Watch, one day I will also be a housekeeper¡­¡­¡± At the same time in this night, to everyone¡¯s surprise, our Mr. Lister that is worshiped by numerous girls suddenly married a beautiful girl that came from a poor family: ¡°Honey, if we have children in the future, I hope that it will be a beautiful daughter ¡­ ¡­ In memory of our love, I want to name her for your sake¡­ ¡­ Lan Lister.¡± (Lan in chinese is actually the Magnolia flower.) Meanwhile at the same time, Augustine the 6th already turned his sight of conquest towards the Northwest. Hanging in the emperor¡¯s room is a huge map and the Northwestern corner had a circle drawn around it like a target¡­¡­ When all these matters that would affect the future happened all at the same night, our little boy known as Rodriguez finally picked up his sword to behind his life¡¯s struggle inside Blue Ocean¡¯s home. ¡°My child, since you have now be my student, then I¡¯m going to tell you my real name.¡± Blue Ocean turns to face this somewhat obsessed kid before him: ¡°Remember this; my real name is Blue Ocean¡¯s Moon.¡± Rodriguez was stunned: ¡± Blue Ocean¡¯s Moon? A very strange name.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not the strangest.¡± Blue Ocean chuckles for a moment until face turns serious: ¡°I would also like to remind you of one thing. No matter the circumstance, you must firmly bear this in mind!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Remember a name, and you have to swear to me that no matter the circumstance, you may not be his enemy! The reason is because if there really is a devil in this world, then he will no doubt be the closest thing to it!¡± Blue Ocean¡¯s expression became exceptionally grim. ¡°Understood, teacher, please say it.¡± ¡°That man is my brother, my real brother. However, I have always felt he should not have been born in this world. God must have made a mistake in making him a human because he is the devil¡­.. The truth is, when I left the Snowy Mountain, he was already designated as the next Shaman King!¡± Blue Ocean¡¯s eyes showed a strange sh of light: ¡°Perhaps it was a coincident, or perhaps it was fate, but his name just so happens to form a strange contrast with mine.¡± Having said that, this schr gently sighs: ¡°His name is called¡­¡­ White River¡¯s Sorrow!¡± Following his sigh, Blue Ocean gently dipped his finger into a cup of water. Using the liquid in his hand, our schr quickly wrote several unknown letters on the box. Looking at the unknown text, Rodriguez became surprised: ¡°This is¡­¡­¡± ¡°This is the text on the Snowy Mountain. Compared to the Rnd Empire¡¯s text, it ispletely different. What I wrote here is his name ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯. Perhaps within the entire empire, only I would recognize this text.¡± Although Blue Ocean is an educated man, but in the end, even he was wrong about the meaning of what he wrote. Because 35 yearster, another person appeared on this continent that could recognize this text. This is of course ¡­ ¡­ Du Wei! Chapter 216 part 1 Chapter 216 ¡°Disregard!¡± (part one) Though this red hair monster before Du Wei is ugly, but at the very least it could understand the humannguage which is notmon among demon beasts. Aside from this, the most important aspect is its ability to control other creatures like this fire fox. At this moment, Du Wei is facing off against this monster in a secret underground room behind the Duke¡¯s castle. This guy seems to be quite afraid of him because the moment Du Wei released the monster from his storage ring, the first reaction it had was to retreat into the safest corner of the room with the fire fox standing guard next to it. The reason for its reaction is due to fear. It instinctively sensed danger around himself like that of a creature being in the presence of a more advanced foe. Very soon, our mysterious creature found the source of its fear from a woman standing in the room. Despite having her eyes closed with a gentle appearance of a young blonddy, our red hair monster instinctively sensed a simr aura like his own extruding out of Nicole¡­.. ¡°It is peaking at me.¡± Nicole suddenly speaks up: ¡°I can sense this mental strength snooping around my body. Hmm¡­.. His mental strength is very strange.¡± ¡°I think he is an high ss demon beast.¡± Du Wei slowly speaks: ¡°It can drive this fire fox to defend him which is a ability usually only found on advance demon beasts. However, I couldn¡¯t find any information on this guy¡­. So what exactly is he?¡± Nicole also shakes her head: ¡°I don¡¯t know ¡­ ¡­ But I am sure of this though ¡­ ¡­ He is afraid of us. This kind of self-awareness is a feature only found in those that had evolved to a very high level.¡± Du Wei nods in agreement. Slowly walking up to the creature, he was halted by the fire fox¡¯s intervention. With its tense re, the fire fox stares at Du Wei like he was an enemy. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to hurt you.¡± Du Wei smiles innocently at the red hair creature: ¡°You understand what I¡¯m saying right? Don¡¯t forget it was I who saved you. If not for me, you would have been caught by the Shaman king¡¯s henchmen.¡± Red hair Monster hesitated for a second before nodding. His barbed tongue somehow gave off a picture that could cause anyone to feel nauseated. Fortunately it was being honest and kept its timid self-huddled to a corner of the room. ¡°Since I saved you, I think you should show some kind of gratitude right?¡± Du Wei began to sneer because he still hasn¡¯t forgotten how this guy threatened him ¨C Du Wei is not the type that forgets something so easily. ¡°Can you tell me what exactly you are? Hmm, though you can¡¯t speak, but can you at least show me what you are good at?¡± Du Wei stares intently at this thing: ¡°To be able to make the Shaman King go so far for you, you must not be an ordinary monster.¡± Nicole seems to match Du Wei¡¯s word as she took two steps forward. The fire fox originally had its teeth barred at Du Wei, but with Nicole¡¯s approach, the little guy suddenly reacted like a frightened rabbit. mping its tail between its legs, the fox huddled its body together and began to shiver uncontrobly. ¡°His aura is giving me a strange feeling.¡± Standing in front of Du Wei, Nicole gave off a rarely seen frown: ¡°The atmosphere around this thing is making me very ufortable¡­.. It¡¯s almost like it could harm me¡­. I don¡¯t know what it is, but my instincts can¡¯t be wrong.¡± Du Wei¡¯s expression went dark: ¡°Something that can hurt you?¡± Queen Medusa could already be called one of the strongest demon beasts in this world, yet this guy is giving off the danger signal to a being that can even petrify a dragon?!?! The more he learns the more intrigued Du Wei bes: ¡°What exactly are capable of?¡± Red hair Monster nervously stares at Du Wei, its quiet sobbing sounded like it was both warning him and begging for mercy. ¡°Miss Nicole, are you able tomunicate with it?¡± Du Wei sighs. ¡°Du Wei, although I am also a demon beast, but I¡¯m just a snake in the end.¡± Medusa bluntly lectures him: ¡°I don¡¯t know how tomunicate with other demon beasts.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡­¡± Du Wei thinks for a second: ¡°Maybe you can try attacking it ¡­ ¡­ When it tries to protect itself, it might show off its skill.¡± Medusa coldly responds to Du Wei: ¡°You want me to open my eyes? If so, there will only be two results. He will die, or he will resist me and live.¡± Du Wei scratches hid head annoyingly: ¡°Whatever then ¡­ ¡­ Let¡¯s get someone else here, maybe they will be of some use here.¡± His curiosity towards this guy is starting to rise byrge margins at this point. To be able to make the Shaman King go through such trouble, this thing is definitely not ordinary¡­.. What¡¯s more, Du Wei couldn¡¯t find any information of this red hair monster even after flipping through all his books. Can it be a never before seen demon beast? Aside from inviting Hussein over, Du Wei even brought out our Mouse Prime Minister from his closed door training. Sadly though, both mouse and man couldn¡¯t pinpoint what this creature really is. Finally, against all expectations, the one to recognize this Red Hair Monster is actually our heavenly beast Mr. QQ¡­¡­.. Talk about leaving someone speechless! Wriggling his fat body, QQ immediately cried out the moment he enters the room: ¡°Oh god! Du Wei, what did you do!¡± This bird that had always poised itself as the most graceful penguin in this world suddenly had his eyes light up like a star. Without thinking twice, QQ dashed towards the red hair monster like how a scrooge just came across a mountain of gold! As a loyal follower of the red hair monster, the Fire Fox immediately opened its jaw to spew out a st of me at the sudden intruder. Fortunately Du Wei was quick witted enough to snatch our feathered friend away in time, or else, there would be a roast bird for dinner tonight. ¡°QQ, you recognize this thing?¡± Du Wei¡¯s once dark expression turned into delight. QQ danced around with excitement: ¡°Recognize? Oh heavens, you really don¡¯t know what this thing is? Oh god! In Aragon¡¯s era, this baby is something every wizard dreams of finding! Unfortunately, even back then this creature was thought to be nearly instinct¡­. So where did you get your hands on one?¡± Not waiting for Du Wei to reply, QQ quickly rolled his tiny pair of eyes around and began making a ¡°purring¡± sound from his beak. This whimpering sounding out of QQ left Du Wei somewhat dumbfounded. Nevertheless, the red hair monster seems to suddenly have its spirit lifted because it also began to make a purring noise like QQ. The way the two went at it looked like they were both very excited. What came next is a bizarre scene of a Penguin and a red-hair monster purring back and forth. Before Du Wei knew it, QQ was already drawing up to the red hair monster like they werepanions¡­.. In the end, this red hair creature finally let¡¯s down its wariness and even allowed QQ to pet him with those ppy wings. ¡°QQ¡­¡­ You ¡­ ¡­ ¡± Du Wei almost couldn¡¯t get his words out: ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ You canmunicate with it? Why didn¡¯t you tell me you are fluent in othernguages?¡± QQ turns around to sigh at him: ¡°My dear master ¡­ ¡­ This is because you never ask.¡± Du Wei suddenly became enraged as he angrily stared at this deceitful penguin: ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you? You sly thing, you eat mine and drink mine, yet you dare hide a card!!!¡± QQ gracefully sighs again like he was speaking to an inferior being: ¡°Dear master, let my conscience be my witness, I never once lie to you. Since you never ask me, what else can I do?¡± Du Wei mercilessly stomped his feet with his veins popped: ¡°Okay! Then you tell me now, what othernguage do you know? Humph, aside from the words left by Aragon and this monster¡¯snguage, what else can you do?¡± ¡°This one¡­¡­¡± QQ seemed somewhat embarrassed: ¡°Master, the truth is I canmunicate with every animal in this world.¡± Before Du Wei even had a chance to speak again, Hussein already cut in: ¡°You mean. You are an ¡®animal Whisperer¡¯?¡± Du Wei can¡¯t even get angry anymore. The only thing he can do now is look at this penguin with eyes full of disbelief and surprise: ¡°Really?¡± Animal Whisperers are a legendary entity. From the stories, it is said these people canmunicate with any animal regardless of their origin or living environment. But the problem is ¡­ ¡­ There had never been cases of creatures other than a human being capable of doing this¡­. Let alone a penguin. ¡°Enough!¡± Du Wei waved impatiently: ¡°We will discuss your other secretster. Right now, tell me exactly what the hell this thing is!¡± ¡°This one¡­¡­¡± Noticing Du Wei¡¯s anger, QQ¡¯s voice quickly changed to that of a pleasing tone: ¡°Dear master, I think I need to congratte you ¡­ ¡­ Before you is a very valuable demon beast. From a certain standpoint, it can be said that this thing is the most valuable demon beast in this world! To be more specific, its ability is unmatched by any other!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei was interested now. ¡°But ¡­¡­¡± QQ suddenly changed his words: ¡°it also has another name called ¡®the most useless monster¡¯ because other than that one ability, it does not have any other capability. Even as an advanced ss demon beast, this thing can only summon one follower to its side. Look, even now it can only summon that single fire fox. For our beautiful Medusa here, she can easily summon a group with ease. The reason for this odd circumstance is because the summoning ability of this red hair creature is the strangest among all demon beasts.¡± ¡°Hurry and exin why it is so strange!¡± Du Wei is starting to get impatient. ¡°Don¡¯t be in such a hurry, my Lord.¡± QQ doesn¡¯t dare beat around the bush: ¡°It is exactly this strange summoning ability that makes it so terrifying. Its summoning ability has several characteristics: Firstly, it can only summon one creature to be its follower. Secondly, the summoning is for life! That is, unless the fire fox dies, it will always be this red hair creatures most loyal subordinate. Thirdly, unless its current subordinate dies, it can never use its summoning ability¡­.. Also, it cannot kill its own subordinate!¡± Du Wei nods in understanding: ¡°Hmm, in short, while the other high ss demon beasts can summon more than one creature to their aid, this red hair creature can only summon a single subordinate with absolute loyalty?¡± Du Wei wasn¡¯t very satisfied with this result. ¡°Of course it¡¯s not so simple!¡± QQ¡¯s voice started to be excited: ¡°If it was only these three points, then it can¡¯t be called the most valuable demon beast in this world! The important factor here is its fourth quality!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Disregarding all ss differences!¡± QQ used an almost reverent tone when he said this sentence: ¡°Whether it is Queen Medusa or a Wolf King, they can only summon a handful of lower rank demon beast to their side, right?¡± Medusa nods in affirmation. ¡°Then this thing is different! Its summoning ability is able to disregard all ss differences!¡± QQ¡¯s voice became emotional: ¡°In other words, even if it was a dragon¡­.. It must still obediently be this red hair creature¡¯s subordinate!¡± Du Wei, Hussein, Gargamel, and even Medusa all had the color of their face change multiple times!! A summoning capable of disregarding all ss differences?! And faithful to death? This is simply too horrifying! This isn¡¯t a summoning skill, it¡¯s outright very! Chapter 216 part 2 Chapter 216 ¡°Disregard!¡± (part two) Queen Medusa suddenly took several steps backward like she was very afraid of the thing before her. QQ gently smiles: ¡°It¡¯s alright Miss Nicole; you don¡¯t have to worry about being called upon. As long as this Fire Fox remains alive, this guy can¡¯t summon another subordinate.¡± Afterwards, QQ¡¯s tone began to get serious: ¡°It is precisely because of this strange ability that every magician in our era would so painstakingly seek them out! For a powerful magician, they can form a soul contract with it and once that happens, the individual can even call upon a dragon to do its bidding if the conditions are met¡­..¡± While Du Wei had his jaw drop with disbelief, QQ was slowly sighing: ¡°Master Du Wei, if you are willing, you can immediately sign a soul contract with this guy and make him your pet. At that time, you can tell it to summon a dragon¡­¡­ Then ording to the contract, you will have a dragon at your disposal!¡± Hussein suddenly cuts in: ¡°Magicians with Dragon pets isn¡¯t that rare, right?¡± Du Wei also nodded in agreement. Let¡¯s not forget, even our little Vivian and her sister Joanna are outfitted with dragons. ¡°If it was just the average dragon then it wouldn¡¯t be much.¡± QQ shows a look of disdain: ¡°However, ording to my knowledge, those mages that is known to have tamed a dragon is only capable of ordering some water or fire dragon¡­.. But then, what about the higher ranked dragons? Back in Aragon¡¯s era, there¡¯s been a rumor that a powerful magician was able to use this guy to summon a mighty gold dragon! Some even said this guy is even capable of calling a divine dragon, of course, this is all based on the assumption that you can even approach a divine dragon.¡± Looking at all the shocked expression etched into the faces of everyone in this room, QQ made a lovely smile: ¡°Now then, wouldn¡¯t you consider this guy to be invaluable? The only pitying part is that even back in Aragon¡¯s era, this red hair guy is already rumored to have died out¡­¡­¡± Du Wei suddenly gasped for a deep breath like he was having trouble breathing: ¡°No wonder ¡­ ¡­ That Shaman King would go through so much trouble to find this guy!¡± Gargamel suddenly began tough out loud: ¡°It seems you really are in luck this time by having this precious demon beast fall into your hands. Once you sign a soul contract with this guy, you can kill this Fire Fox and go call a dragon to your side!¡± Du Wei never was the type to be good, but this time around, his cunning smile looked absolutely insidious. ¡°You mean ¡­ ¡­ Dragon? Isn¡¯t there a great opportunity just around the corner?!¡± Capital of Desa province, lon City, also known as the City of Miracles. Spring of the year 961 is finally here and it is also precisely in this season that this newly built city became vitalized with energy. Through the spreading of its fame, more and more outsiders are beginning to visit this ce. Aside from its location being closer to the frontier and the continuous growth of its poption, Lon city has now be a major focal point in the Northwest trading route between the empire and the prairies. In particr, the one year tax free benefit set out by Duke Tulip was exceptionally attractive to the passing trade caravans. As the market grew due to therge influx of merchants, the businesses around the city also flourished, especially the pubs around the area. Adding in Du Wei¡¯s own business, Lon City soon became an importantmercial hub for the frontier. ording to Philip¡¯s calctions, if not for Du Wei tax exception, just a quarter¡¯s tax revenue alone could have brought in 100,000 gold coins. On this morning in the biggest hotel of Lon City, an unusual guest made an unexpected appearance. With a hat far higher than that of a magician, the guy¡¯s robe was so long that it was dragging along the floor. For the passersby¡¯s that saw this strange phenomenon, they wouldn¡¯t be able stop themselves from worrying over whether the guy would trip over his own robe. ¡°Good afternoon Sir.¡± One of the waiters in the hotel immediately walked up to greet the strange person. Although the guest was wearing strange attires, but this is the frontier of the Northwest, what kind of strange people have he not seen yet? With a polite and professional smile, the waiter said: ¡°How may I help you?¡± The strange visitor had strange yellow eyes and if one were to take a closer look, the onlooker would undoubtedly gasp a deep breath¡­. The reason is because unlike an ordinary humans round pupil, this person¡¯s pupil was vertical like that of a snake or a reptile. ¡°I need some wine, the best wine in your cer.¡± The person¡¯s voice sounded a little dry and it was clear he wasn¡¯t very familiar with the officialnguage of the empire. However, the Northwest is a ce where a lot of people carry a strong ent gather, so it wasn¡¯t much of a shock to the waiter. What did surprise the waiter though is the pieces of gold the new guest threw out! Yes, it¡¯s real gold! And not the universally used coins of the Empire, but real gold chunks! Our waiter could hardly believe his eyes as he tightly squeezed the chunks of heavyweight metal in his hand. Just from the weight alone, the waiter can already tell there is at least 10 gold coins worth of gold in his hand!: ¡°Dear guest¡­¡­ You¡­¡­.¡± This strange guest didn¡¯t seem to mind at all. What is usually an ordinary face highlighted a peculiar charm when he smiled: ¡°The extra will be your reward¡­¡­ I¡¯m an outsider and the reason I came here is because of the rumors surrounding this so called city of miracles. Think you can help me resolve some of my curiosity?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± the waiter readily agreed, and his enthusiasm quickly went up 10 fold: ¡°Honored guest, you are not the first foreigner to be interested in this Lon city. You know, this city was a the result of our lords amazing abilities¡­.. In merely three months, this city was raised from the grounds up. I truly can¡¯t think of a proper word to describe how great the Duke is.¡± The guest only smiled without any signs to give away his thoughts: ¡°Oh, if so¡­ ¡­ I¡¯ve heard that the Duke conjured up a lot of green giants to help build this city, right?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Can you give me a bit more detail?¡± The guest seems to be even more interested. The waiter was somewhat embarrassed. Regarding this topic, he had already boasted about it multiples times over and over again in front of previous guests, yet, in front of this mysterious customer, he had the instinctive feeling that he shouldn¡¯t be exaggerating like before. ¡°This ¡­ ¡­ Dear customer, the event is absolutely true. When the Duke showcased his miraculous powers, he didn¡¯t simply just build this city; he also created a harvest miracle. Through that unbelievable harvest, everyone in the Desa Province wouldn¡¯t have to worry about their food supply for the entire year. Then there is the magnificent feat of raising this city. The Duke managed to call forth an entire group of green giants to help in the construction. Did you know? A boulder that would usually take 10 hulking strong men to carry can easily be lifted by a single green giant¡­.. My god can you imagine the scene at the time?! From the mouth of a craftsman present that day, he told me he was like in a trance every day because he could hardly believe his eyes!¡± The guests nodded: ¡°Those Green Giant, can you exin their features?¡± ¡°This ¡­ ¡­ I don¡¯t know, after all, I wasn¡¯t present there that day. You see, I didn¡¯t lie¡­. But from what others say, these green giants were originally trees in the surrounding environment. Perhaps only the gods would know what kind of magical spell the Duke used to turn those trees into living creatures.¡± After a pause, the waiter suddenly lowered his voice to a whisper,¡± I almost forgot to tell you ¡­ ¡­ I¡¯ve also heard that during the construction project, the Duke not only raised some Green Giants, I heard the ¡­ ¡­ Duke also conjured up something even more amazing to help.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± This guest seemed to be even more intrigued: ¡°What are you implying?¡± ¡°I heard it was ¡­ ¡­ Dragons!¡± The waiter gave a mysterious look. Upon hearing this word, the guest sparked a subtle anger across his eyes like he was full of disdain towards what the waiter just said: ¡°All right, thank you for your time, but I still have a problem. While I was in town today, I saw a notice at the gate. Can you tell me what is written on it? I¡¯m still not very familiar with your texts yet.¡± ¡°Oh! You mean that notice?¡± The waiter¡¯s spirit suddenly light up again: ¡°That is the current hottest news making the rounds because that is amand issued by the Duke himself. Since three days ago, no vessel is allowed through theke in theing month. I heard that the Duke intends to create another miracle! Although we don¡¯t know what it is, but we all know the Duke is not an ordinary person! Right now, everyone is quite eager to see what surprise he will bring us next.¡± The guest seemed to sneer at the exnation: ¡°If so, the Duke isn¡¯t in the city at the moment, right?¡± ¡°Oh, I heard his lordship left a few days ago and is heading for theke.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± The guest stood up and threw several pieces of gold into the waiter¡¯s hand again: ¡°Thank you for your time. From what you told me, I¡¯m even more interest in this Duke of yours.¡± Once out of the hotel, the guest turned into a small alleyway to only disappear into thin air without any trace of his existence. Father warned me to be careful of the powerful people surrounding this Du Wei, especially that Queen Medusa. But now that I¡¯m prepared¡­. Humph-humph! Du Wei, your head is mine! I¡¯ll use your head in exchange for the chief¡¯s position! Chapter 217 part 1 Chapter 217 ¡°A pretentious prick¡± (part one) Wide and vast, even the light reflecting off the surface is as smooth as satin. No matter where you search in the Desa province, only at this Lon Lake will one find such attractive greens. Filled with Por trees on top and lush shallow grass on the bottom, only here will one not be gued by the piercing winds of the Northwest. It was supposed to be nothing but wilderness, yet on this spot; a taste of the southern fertilends can be felt. Best of all, thergeke isprised entirely of freshwater and abundant with fish, both a raremodity in this barrenndscape. However, just a few days ago, an order came down from the Duke himself that none is to fish or sail on thiske in theing month. Normally what would be a bustling scene of boats moving about is now reced by a serene and peaceful image that could calm even the hardest of hearts. Under this blue sky filled with the zing red evening clouds due to the setting sun, Du Wei is the only person that could be found here. Floating atop of theke water, he used ice magic to create a circr ice disk covered in thick leather pads so he could rx on it with ease. Considering Du Wei¡¯s magic ability at the moment, he would normally be unable to pull off such a feat due to hisck of magic powers. Nevertheless, his ability to manipte magic far exceeds those of his level because of the magic research he stole from the academy. In addition, Alley taught him a magic array that allows him to continuously infuse energy in his spells. ced under this ice disk of his is a six pointed star diagram with a magic crystal at each star point. By doing this, a constant stream of magic energy will continuously flow into his little ice ind and keep it from melting. With his ck robe fluttering in the wind and the reddish hue of the setting sun, Du Wei looked like someone out of this world. Apanied by a bottle of fine wine next to his body, anyone seeing this would certainly be envious. Letting a relieving sigh, Du Wei reached out a hand for the bottle and lets out a satisfying tone as he sipped away at the wine: ¡°Amazing¡­. Aigh, why didn¡¯t I think of this sooner aftering to the Northwest for so long?¡± With that, he suddenly started to rummage through his gown as if searching for something. The reason for this is because he redesigned the storage bag given to him by Gandalf into a pocket for his wizardry robe¡­.. ¡°Hmm, just like Doraemon.¡± Du Weiughs at himself for what he has done. (Anyone that doesn¡¯t know what Doraemon is can just look at the blue cat picture on my main page) What he pulled out is an instrument. Spanning a meter in length with 18 strings, the entire body is a dark red shade. Even if he gathered all the musicians across the continent, it is likely not a single one of them would recognize this thing because the object in his hand is a zither! This instrument is something Du Wei made by having several luthiers craft it for him. Originally, the Rnd continent never had something like this because the majority of the string instruments are onlyprised of harps and etc. Through his continuous effort in exining the features of a zither, he finally managed to create three to five models. Out of the batch, he only took the timbre model because he thought it was the most beautiful. At this moment, Du Wei straightened his back and started to gently caress the strings. Through the movement of his fingers, a series of long notes began to break out into the world¡­¡­. In order to exin why he would know how to y this stuff, we would have to go back. In his previous life, the entrance exams for the educational institutes¡¯ could literally leave anyone speechless. It should have been only a paper exam to test one¡¯s knowledge, but by hiding behind the hollow slogan of ¡°quality education¡±, the higher ups came up with something called a beauty specialist. If one manages tond such a title, the person in question is rewarded with extra points in the examination process for universities. (For anyone that doesn¡¯t know, entrance exams for universities are done nationwide in china and the points you get decides what grade of universities you are allowed to apply.) Under this fine-sounding name of ¡°overall development¡±, the threshold was thus raised even further. For something like music, unless you are ced in the regionals toppetition, you can absolutely forget about getting bonus points in your examination results. Yet, Du Wei just so happens to be an oddity in his past life. Since he was little he was forced to learn the zither by his parents, nheless, he inexplicablynded a spot on the top three and was thus awarded bonus points in his overall university entrance scores. Through the extra boost, he even managed to get into a very good university. It¡¯s just that zither¡¯s are something too time consuming. Unless you put in the effort, it¡¯s impossible to y it well. Despite the elegance of this instrument, there really isn¡¯t that many around even in his past life that could truly understand its beauty. After being forced to learn it since he was small, Du Wei never really went back to it after his university years¡­¡­ The reason for this is due to the reception from the girls. Unlike the zither, the yboys in his ss only need to learn the guitar for a few days before running off to impress the girls in his dorm. Worst of all, these guys would even be rewarded with a ¡®flirtatious schr¡¯ name, so how can Du Wei put up with such humiliation? Have you ever seen someone standing outside a girl¡¯s dorm ying a zither? Of course not! If he really did such an oundish move, others might really call him an idiot. Its true Du Wei held some hate towards the zither, but even so, during New Year and other festivals, he would still bring it out to practice once in a while. He may have been forced to learn it, but this habit has already be an undeniable part of his life. So why did Du Wei suddenly revisit this part of his life and go through so much trouble? The answer is simple: the first dragon that¡¯s supposed to being for him is on its way! ording to the news brought back by Hussein, this eldest son of the dragon patriarch is equipped with immense magical talents and is well versed in draconic magic. However, his weakness is actually very easy to spot and that is: He¡¯s pretentious. Pretending to be something you are not is fine if you can pull it off, but if you don¡¯t do it well, then you are nothing but a pretentious prick. Despite his many merits and great lineage, this dragon prince seems to be extremely obsessed with music. From rumor, he even copied his father and quietly sneaked into the human world. Visiting every famed musician he can find, this dragon became fluent in just about every instrument there is in existence. In particr, he is exceptionally skilled with the strings. The Prince¡¯s fascination with music can be regarded as an anecdote within the dragon tribe and is even said that music is his life. Humans and dragons are biologically different because humans are born with five fingers while ordinary dragons like the green and red variants, only have two ws at best. Even for the dragon king known as the gold specie, they only have four ws! Yet fate likes to y games. In music, four fingers just so happens to be the perfect number to y the harp. From what is known, the dragon tribe is stuck guarding the north from the exiled races because they are being punished by god. Whenever a member of the exiled races attempt to cross over into the south, the oue would always result in bloodshed. In the midst all the death and cold, this dragon prince somehow perceived a glimmer of understanding that only he can grasp. Due to this, he would often sit on top of the iron mountain and look towards the south as he yed the harp. Entranced by his music, his peers eventually gave him a nickname ¡°King of the harp¡±. Among the Dragon race, this eight-fingered harp king is not an entity that would make every dragon yield, but he most certain can earn their respect. Chapter 217 part 2 Chapter 217 ¡°A pretentious prick¡± (part two) Under the setting sun, Du Wei closed his eyes like he was in deep thought for a good while. Then without any sign, his hands began to move to create a fluttering flurry of melodies¡­¡­ After years of not ying, he would of course be a little rusty. Even so, it didn¡¯t take long for him to pick it all up again. With each pluck, pinch, glide, hook, and roll, the stirring sounds of the instrument in his hand began to waft out into the whistling wind. Neither too harsh nor too soft, anyone that listens to this unique melody would secretly begin to get excited! This song ¡°Fighting Typhoon¡± is one of the top ten ssics and is also one of Du Wei¡¯s favorite tunes. Unlike most songs yed on the zither, this tune is more befitting the harshndscape in the Northwest. Continuing at this momentum, Du Wei only stopped when he finally finished thest note with a hooking motion of his finger. Like a general at war, Du Wei lets out a powerfulugh as he gulped down a mouthful of wine: ¡°Since a guest is here, why not speak up? Or is it because my music is too hard on the ears that you won¡¯t talk?¡± This small little question seemed like an understatement, but it is at this moment about 10 meters away, the space in front of Du Wei began to twist apart. Slowly, a figure emerged from the distortion. With a faint surprise on this visitor¡¯s face, this neer¡¯s voice sounded like he couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing: ¡°Eh? To be able to see through my draconic stealth spell, your dukeship sure is amazing.¡± Du Wei¡¯s face remains unchanged at the sudden remark, but his eyes gave off a strange subtleplexion. The hell ¡­ ¡­ You really thought I could see through your stealth spell? Du Wei began tough inside at the oue. The truth is he never had such abilities; he¡¯s only putting on an act. Unlike the artistic and elegantly cool look he gave off, Du Wei had already sat here on this ice block for three full days and night. Inwardly, Du Wei was screaming torture! By now, the frost chilly under his butt had long numbed his lower half. If this dragon continues to dy his arrival¡­. Du Wei fears his anus will really grow some boils at this rate! As for how he saw through the dragon¡¯s stealth, it¡¯s all nonsense! The truth is Du Wei would sit on this ice block and y the zither numerous times. Every time he did, he would recite the same enigmatic speech. If he had to count the number of times he did this little show, it would already be in the hundreds. Sure enough, Du Wei finally seeded! ¡°This young Duke ¡­ ¡­ Is not so simple!¡± This is the first impression Du Wei gave the dragon prince. ¡°What is the instrument in your hand and howe I¡¯ve never seen it before?¡± The Dragon Prince earnestly eyes the zither in Du Wei¡¯s hand. Du Wei makes a charismatic smile like he was a true artist: ¡°Just a little toy I made to amuse myself. What do you think, is it eptable for the ears?¡± The Dragon Prince¡¯s face became startled. He made it?¡± With his interest in music, this dragon prince can¡¯t be fooled. Whether is it the movement of the fingers or the melody of Du Wei¡¯s music, everything about it has already matured to the point of being a unique entity. And everything was created by this kid? Even for a music genius like him, known as the most talented dragon musician, he could hardly bepared to this youngster!! Du Wei¡¯s ass is already frozen, but his face remains unchanged and kept up with that fake smile of his. Then out of nowhere, he gentlyughs and made one powerful stroke on the strings to create a short but warlike hum: ¡°Oh respectful guest¡¯s movement is hard to catch, but your murderous gaze cannot be concealed from the melody¡­¡­¡± With that, Du Wei suddenly jumped up and pulled out a long sword from his magic pouch. Dragon Prince grimly smiles. Despite seeing the sword in Du Wei¡¯s hand, this dragon prince did not take it to heart because even if an army shows up, it is nothing but a blimp in this dragon¡¯s eyes. Yet, this music addict couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly disappointed¡­¡­ Dragon Prince: Aigh, such tolerance and temperament. When he unintentionally heard this ¡°Fighting Typhoon¡± song while secretly lurking nearby, he couldn¡¯t stop his heart from aching with a sense of loss. Although Du Wei¡¯s skill with the zither is already quite rusty, but the song he yed just now is considered a masterpiece of the ssics, more importantly, the zither is something this world has never seen before. Therefore, even this music crazed dragon can be so easily mesmerized by his performance. ¡°This youngster may be an enemy, but such character and style¡­.¡± Even for a dragon like him that has lived for over 300 years, he couldn¡¯t help but loosen his hostility by a few notches. Yet, after only a few words, this Duke can so easily ruin the mood with that sword. Inwardly, this dragon prince was frowning with disappointment: ¡°And here I thought he was better than this. No matter. This way around, I won¡¯t feel so guilty about taking his life.¡± His facial expression changed to show a faint spec of killing intent. However, just when he wanted to speak, Du Wei suddenly raised that sword of his¡­.. Click!!!! After a cold swift sh, the once beautiful zither is now broken into two pieces. Letting out a sigh, Du Wei then threw the broken instrument into the Lake¡­.. Seeing this, Dragon Prince became surprised and anxiously asked: ¡°What are you doing, how can you so crudely destroy such a magical musical instrument?!¡± Instead of rushing his answer, Du Wei turned around and responded in a cool manner: ¡°Music is like the heart. If tainted with a stain, it will lose its rity¡­.. Aigh, my instrument may be good, but it was dirtied by your murderous aura, so how can it ever make a good sound again?!¡± Once he heard the youngster¡¯s word, Dragon Prince turned ghastly pale like he hadmitted the greatest sin in history. With shame in his eyes, all his senses of wanting to kill this young Duke is nowpletely evaporated¡­. Compared to him ¡­ ¡­ What am I? Unlike the miserable thoughts running through the Dragon Prince, Du Wei was in factughing through the roof: ¡°Oh Dragon prince, i got you now! HAHA?¡± Chapter 218 Chapter 218 ¡°Take a guess.¡± With his hands pped around his back, Du Wei got up without facing the Dragon Prince. Like this, he was wide open for an attack from the behind because the distance between the two is only 10 meters. With the strength of this dragon, it would undoubtedly only require a single strike to take his life. But facing Du Wei¡¯s charm and artistic style, Dragon Prince couldn¡¯t help but feel too humbled to do such a despicable act. Compared to the elegance of this young Duke, his own action thus far is too murky. Then thinking about how he caused the destruction of such a fine instrument, the Dragon Prince¡¯s heart began to ache uncontrobly. Unable to bare it, Dragon Prince made a deep apologetic bow: ¡°Duke, because of my arrival, I¡¯ve ruined your precious instrument. I am truly and deeply sorry¡­.. Please excuse me.¡± Well, this Dragon Prince really is someone of fine taste. After being fooled by Du Wei, all his will ofpleting this mission is now all but dead. Aigh, what¡¯s so great about being the chief ¡­ ¡­ I don¡¯t care. It¡¯s such a shame this person is the enemy of our dragon n. Even if I don¡¯t harm him, he will still die by my brothers hands¡­. What a shame! Thinking of this, Dragon Prince wanted to leave with a dismal expression on his face. Despite being the eldest among the dragon princes, the character of this dragon is that of a free soul, a mere title of chief cannot shackle his will. Just as he was about to leave, Du Wei suddenly stopped him with a shout: ¡°Honorable guest, hold on.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Dragon Prince turns around to face Du Wei. With the same pretentious smile: ¡°You think you can just walk away like that after ruining such a fine instrument?¡± His sentence truly is ridiculous to the core. It was he who took the sword out, it was he who smashed the instrument into pieces, so how can he so shamelessly me it on the dragon prince? Yet, it is exactly this type of personality that the Dragon Prince epts! (Talk about it nonsense much?) Once he heard this, the Dragon Prince became utterly ashamed: ¡°This¡­..¡± ¡°Humph¡± Du Wei seems to smile but did not: ¡°You intentionally hid yourself to observe me, and there¡¯s the killing intenting off your body¡­. I¡¯m guessing you came here with ulterior motives today, right?!¡± Unable to retort, Dragon Prince could only mutter his next reply: ¡°Then what should I do? I have some treasures on me right now, why don¡¯t I give them to you aspensation?¡± Finishing his words, Dragon Prince then pulls out a ¡°longan¡± sized jewel that extruded a slight fluctuation of energy. Note: Longban is a fruitmonly found in china. ¡°This is a water repent bead.¡± Dragon Prince whispers, ¡°I got this after ying a giant turtle 200 years ago in the Eastern Sea. This type of giant turtle is one of thergest creatures in the sea and in order to produce such a bead inside its body, the creature must have lived over 3,000 years. While you are in the water, you can forcefully push the water aside to create a space devoid of liquid. If your magic is strong enough, you can even have tens of thousands of people travel with you under the sea. As for the value of this thing, even I don¡¯t know. However, while I was traveling around the world 300 years ago, one of the humans I had dealings with offered me millions of gold coins to purchase it off me. Of course, I refused him¡­..¡± Not waiting for the Dragon Prince to finish his words, Du Wei already cut in with a cold mockingugh: ¡°Are you here to insult me, or to insult yourself?! Whatever, although you were eavesdropping on me with ill intent, but I thought you were better than this since you were able to understand my music¡­.. Yet you actually brought out something like this to measure my music? Humph!¡± The way Du Wei spoke sounded like there were infinite regrets in his words: ¡°To an average person, I wouldn¡¯t trade my music even if they offered me immense wealth. But to the right person, I wouldn¡¯t mind gifting it for nothing. Never mind, you can leave! It was my folly to think you are not one of those mundane creatures of this world!¡± Despite being used by Du Wei¡¯s oundish words, Dragon Prince not only didn¡¯t get angry, he actually felt guilty about his own actions. That¡¯s right! Such an amazing instrument, how could he have possibly have been so foolish to put a value on it? Thinking back to the times of how he only had the chance to y his music in front of those dragon warriors up at the mountain, a sense of loneliness began to fill the Dragon Prince¡¯s heart. And now seeing this human before him, a strong sense of goodwill began to sprout inside at a rapid pace. Suddenly, Dragon Prince chuckles aloud before speaking in a sincere tone: Duke, you¡¯re right, I¡¯ve offended you!¡± With that, Dragon Prince casually tossed the priceless bead into theke like he was throwing away a piece of trash. Subsequently, Dragon Prince deeply bows again: ¡°Duke, I won¡¯t hide it from you. I originally came here today with ill intent against you, but now, I no longer have such thoughts. Your character and charisma has deeply impressed me and I¡¯m deeply regretting my actions of ruining your great instrument. In order to show my sincerity, I will do one specific task you ask of me!¡± Only like this did Du Wei finally show signs of happiness. Facing the Dragon Prince, he chuckles once and began to pat the leather pads covering the ice block: ¡°It¡¯s rare to find a friend that understands my music. Fortunately there is wine here and with such nice scenery, why don¡¯t you sit down and share a cup with me¡­. Consider this thepensation to me!¡± Hearing this, Dragon Prince began to greatly admire the person in front of him. Gently flying over, he sat down without hesitation and began to dig into the fine wine: ¡°Good wine! From where I¡¯m from, there isn¡¯t a wineparable to this.¡± Then facing Du Wei, he asked with curiosity: ¡°If you knew I wanted to harm you, then why didn¡¯t you use that promise to ask me where I¡¯m from? Aren¡¯t you worried about these things?¡± Du Wei was inwardly snickering: I already knew your origin, so why should I ask you dumbass? Unlike his true thoughts, Du Wei slowly sat down with his head facing the sky: ¡°Look around, a person in this world is like the cloud in the sky. All its actions are beyond its control. Whether it idols or move will depend entirely on the wind. Humph, you kill me; I kill you, all of this is for the mundane, so what is there to ask?¡± With that, Du Wei suddenly turns around with open arms to look at the Dragon Prince, face donning a strange smile: ¡°Look at me, I am a Duke. Not only is the scenery you see around us belongs to me, the entire Northwest is mine! I¡¯m a lord of thousands with absolute authority here, but no matter how morous I am right now, none can escape death! Once I¡¯m gone, the vast stretches ofnd here cannot be taken with me to the coffin! If it¡¯s like this, why don¡¯t I just focus on the immediate gratifications before me?¡± At this point, Du Wei lets out a loud HAHAugh. From the Dragon Prince¡¯s hand, he grabbed hold of the wine bottle and took a sip of the liquid inside: ¡°I don¡¯t care whether you are here to kill me today or not, nor do I care where you are from. I only know you are a bosom friend right now! After drinking this wine, we will go our separate ways. If you want to kill me in the future, then go ahead. Whether you kill me or I kill you, that is for then to decide. I just know right now you are sitting beside me here to share in this bottle of fine wine.¡± Impressed by Du Wei¡¯s frank words, the Dragon Prince¡¯s heart began to shake with so much uncertainty that thoughts of aiding Du Wei surfaced in his mind. Dragons are extremely proud creatures to begin with, so the fact that he can sit next to Du Wei and share in a drink is a miracle in itself. Seeing how the wine in the bottle ising to an end, a sh of conviction crossed the lizard¡¯s eyes. Without dy, he stood up and slowly spoke: ¡°Duke, even if you don¡¯t ask me, I must say this. After today, you still have a month of security before another enemy shows up. I¡¯m afraid the next one toe see you won¡¯t be so easy to mingle with!¡± Du Weiughs out loud: ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry, I Du Wei, is not someone so easily bullied. Regarding your goodwill, I have already epted it!¡± Dragon Prince repeatedly shakes his head: ¡°The next one toe find you are certain to be my brother. This brother of mine only cares about the objective when he does things. Hence, the reason why I hate him the most because he doesn¡¯t care what means he use. Since I hit it off with you so well, I cannot watch you die like this¡­¡­ Let¡¯s do this then, I will stay in the Northwest for theing days¡­..¡± Regardless of whether Du Wei will ept his gift or not, he pulls out a crystal ball and ces it in front of Du Wei: ¡°Duke, you may be a genius among your peers, but my brother isn¡¯t so easy to deal with. He¡¯s well educated in the art of martial skills and is a fierce warrior¡­. In addition, due to our lineage, he has an advantage over everyone on this continent. As long as you smash this crystal ball to the ground when you meet him, I will know immediately. At that time, it will only take me a short time to get to your side to save your life.¡± With that, Dragon Prince stood up and sighed: ¡°I¡¯ve spent most of life up on that mountain and never knew there would be such an amazing person like you. It¡¯s truly a shame I cannote out often, otherwise, I can share a joyous drink with you more often! Nevertheless, the harvest from this trip is enough to sooth my heart. Even if I return to the mountains, I won¡¯t feel so lonely like before.¡± After that statement, Dragon Prince floated up into the sky and transformed into a gigantic gold dragon! pping his enormous wings, he began to soar through the sky in the general direction of the North¡­¡­ Quietly watching the Dragon Prince disappear before his eyes, Du Wei slowly began to reveal an expression of pity. It was at this moment, not far from the Lake, several figures slowly emerged from the bushes. Of course, these people are Vivian, Hussein, and Queen Medusa because they are the most powerful people Du Wei had ess to right now. This move of his may be tricky, but there is a risk to it and more importantly, he¡¯s not entirely confident the dragon won¡¯t just outright attack him. As insurance, he secretly had these three lie in wait to ambush the enemy if anything happens. Based on their powers, the dragon shouldn¡¯t be able to sense their presence as long as the three didn¡¯t move. Hussein looked confused as he frowned at Du Wei: ¡°Why didn¡¯t you make your move? I think the dragon already lost his hostility towards you at that moment. If you brought out that pet of yours, there would have been at least seven to eight chances to pick up this dragon.¡± Sighing, Du Wei only shakes his head as he raised his head to look up at the sky: ¡°I was only putting on an act, but he is truly a man of fine taste. I may have scammed him into admiring me, but the truth is I admire him even more! Compared to him, it is I who is truly a man of low standing. Anyways, he already left me such a big gift, so let¡¯s save the move for the next dragon.¡± After a pause, Du Wei began to mock himself: ¡°I may not be a good person, but I still have a bottom line.¡± Hussein also began to admire Du Wei for his words, but after a second, Du Wei¡¯s fox tail began to leak out. Grinning, Du Wei squinted his eyes as he spoke to Hussein: ¡°I say my Saint Knight, you can swim right? I¡¯ve firmly memorized the spot where the water repent bead was tossed, if you don¡¯t mind, can you go grab it? That baby is worth several millions of gold coins easy!!!!¡± Once his words came out, Hussein could not help but roll his eyes back in disbelief. Unlike Hussein, Vivian still had a pair of innocent eyes as he looked at Du Wei. To her, every move of his is the right one and should be taken for granted. As for Medusa, even she was sighing in pity. Under the setting sun, this snake woman remains as beautiful as ever even when she shakes her head: ¡°Is this the so called human nature¡­..¡± Giving Medusa a nce, he didn¡¯t care as heughed: ¡°Miss Nicole, I promised to teach you human nature when I brought you out of the valley, but due one reason after another, I didn¡¯t have much chance till now. Since there¡¯s time today, I will teach you a lesson in human wisdom!¡± ¡°What?¡± As expected, Medusa began to ask. Du Weiughs in a he-he manner as he exined: ¡°Don¡¯t pretend to be good or pure, if you do, you will either be hit by lightning or be yed by others. Then he paused to let his words sink in: ¡°These words may sound crude and vulgar, but at the same time it¡¯s not. The good and pure never have good endings, remember this.¡± Medusa was expressionless. Who knows if Du Wei¡¯s word left her speechless with anger or is it because she really grasped onto something. As for Vivian, she suddenly asked with a question mark on her head: ¡°Zhuang ¡­ ¡­ Zhuang¡­ ¡­ What does it mean?¡± This girl is still young, so she is still too embarrassed to truly utter a vulgar word like ¡°zhuangbi¡± from her mouth. Note: zhuangbi is the actual word that is used for pretentious in the previous chapter and this one. Unfortunately, English doesn¡¯t have a direct trantion for this ng so I can only use the closest word to it. Du Wei smiles Hey-Heyly as he stroke his chin back and forth. Like a wolf watching little ride riding hood, his eyes circled around Vivian like a prey has just appeared: ¡°My baby, you don¡¯t need to know this kind of stuff for now¡­. If you want to know, I can slowly teach youter on in private.¡± How can our na?vely innocent Vivian pick up on Du Wei¡¯s perverted thoughts? As a reply, she only sweetly smiles with a nod. Hussein coldly cuts in: ¡°Enough with the nonsense. You have only one month left to prepare for the next one. Do you have any ns?¡± Du Weiughs Hey-Heyly again: ¡°Take a guess.¡± Chapter 219 Chapter 219 ¡°provocation¡± Despite repeated dys, spring is finally upon the Northwest which signals the start of another busy season drill for the soldiers. Since the Rnd Empire was founded through military strength, it¡¯s no surprise that the first emperor Aragon would establish such a rule of enforcing an annual spring drill. In order to ensure that the Empire¡¯s army does not fall into disuse, the imperial army would all go through this each year. Though this iron d rule was gradually abandoned after the end of Aragon¡¯s era to the point where there are points in history that the imperial army had never done a single exercise in over 10 years, this quickly changed after Augustine the 6th took the throne. Since then, this once long forgotten rule was hence forth strictly enforced. After all, the Augustine dynasty is only 200 years old and through this period, there had been a number of small scale regional conflicts. In particr, one really has to thank the current emperor for this. Though Augustine the 6th is more of tyrant than a wise ruler, but at least in his reign, the military showed an unprecedented focus on improving the soldiers¡¯bat capabilities. Although Augustine the 6th did quite a lot of ridiculous things in his reign like: wasting the empire¡¯s resource on a civil war in the Northwest, building a massive fleet to conquer the Southeastern Sea, but it¡¯s undeniable that thanks to his effort, the average fighting strength of the army is by far the strongest in the past hundred years. With the first gust of spring breeze, the great army of the imperial empire begins to march! Through the provincial decree set out by the wartime period, the two provinces in the Northwest naturally falls under the rule of the Northwestern Army. Despite the fact that they no longer takes order from centralmand, the Northwestern Army never once abandoned the tedious task of going through the spring drill. What¡¯s more, this annual spring drill is a perfect opportunity for the Northwestern Army to showcase their might. By putting up a tough stance, not only can they deter the centralmand from making any rash decisions, it can also act as a political chip when negotiating. As such, the Northwestern Army would always send out their most powerful and highly trained units during this mobilization. Of course, this is also to guard against the centralmand in case there are any worrying movements. Worth mentioning is that during this exercise, the centralmand would also pay particrly more attention to the Northwestern army¡¯s movement. Who wouldn¡¯t be worried when a 200,000 strong army marches at your doorstep?! Hence the reason why the imperial highmand would mobilizerge numbers of royal elite guards to the bordering province in the west ¨C this acts as insurance in case the Northwestern Army truly rebels. Likewise, the Northwestern Army would also do the same and station their strongest unit in the Nuling Province. On the surface, they are training, but in reality, they are there to confront the royal guards in case the highmand takes this opportunity to enter the Northwest. For the Northwestern army, the annual spring drill may be a worrisome matter, but over the years, things have always been at a stalemate due to the indecision of the highmand. Over the years, the aggressive and non-aggressive parties in the capital have been arguing about this matter over and over again. Those in the aggressive camp are usually the newly appointed generals. In order to protect the authoritarian rule of the empire, these young generals would always advocate that the answer to solving the crisis in the Northwest is through the use of force. Although the non-aggressive party can be quite hateful at times, one can¡¯t me them. Among these people, there are many that truly cared for the wellbeing of the empire. In their argument, they analyzed the current financial situation of the empire and came to several conclusions: One being the empire barely manages to subdue the Northwestern Army. If that doese to past, the natives living in the prairie will take this chance to invade the empire. At that time, where will the empire get more troops to fend off those hundreds of thousands of prairie wolves? Another scenario is that the prairie natives don¡¯t take this chance to invade¡­.. Then the problem left is the troops, where are they going to get so many soldiers? The best choice would naturally fall upon the capital defense garrison stationed in the capital. In theory, the capital¡¯s regiment, formerly known as the ¡®Thorn Flower Regiment¡¯, should be more than adequate in going up against the Northwestern army in terms of equipment, but what about after the war? After solving the problem in the Northwest, the military might of the emperor would be unstable. At that time, there¡¯s no guarantee the other army corps like the Northern Army stationed at the frozen forest wouldn¡¯t rebel? Even if that doesn¡¯t happen, what about the powerful lords scattered across the empire? There¡¯s no such thing as a gun in this world, but the people of this world at least knows a regime is only as good as their biggest weapon. If the central highmand bes weak due to the civil war, the situation may be lethal when another problem arises, hence the reason why the soft stance against the Northwestern Army. Unlike the problem faced by the lords in the capital, this asion is actually a great opportunity for Northwestern Army to reap more benefits: The iron d rule of the Empire states: during the annual spring drill, the resources used can be directly taken from the local government. Afterwards, the local cities will bepensated through the yearly funding allocation. Regarding this issue, Governor Bohan did have quite the headache whening up with a solution. Nevertheless, after thinking it through, he came up with the perfect n of emptying all the warehouses several months prior to the spring drill. This way, the locusts known as the Northwestern Army wouldn¡¯t be able to tap into this resource. Over the years, theical act of one hiding and one robbing would always y out several times in the Northwest. But this year, Du Wei would break this routine! Under the afternoon sun, the defense garrison of Lon City is already standing by for orders. Since yesterday, his lordship the Duke had already handed down the order to limit ess to the city by closing the gatespletely. Seeing this, the traveling caravans would all make a detour to the nearby towns to replenish their supplies before moving on. But for those unwilling to take the detour, they would take refuge in some of the nearby viges. When an overcasting shadow slowly appeared over the horizon, the soldiers standing guard on top of the wall was soon hit by an intense thundering sound of galloping horses. For those veteran soldiers atop of the wall, it didn¡¯t take much for them to estimate the number of ridersing their way. With no less than 20,000, the other party is like a tidal wave charging towards the city like an unstoppable force. Forget the overbearing atmosphere the enemy gave off, just the dust alone is enough to block off the entire sky behind them! In merely a short period of time, therge number of cavalry riders was already at the city front with only a mile ofnd between Du Wei¡¯s forces. Unlike the regr soldiers of the empire, these riders were all outfitted with ck armors etched with a insignia representing the Northwestern Army. Looking at the banner, this 20,000 strong force should be aplete cavalry unit. Despite being in such close vicinity to the city, these soldiers showed no signs of relenting; instead, they were tantly organizing themselves into attack formation! Within this unit, the blowing of horns were endless with no end in sight. Then under the instruction of the waving gs, the soldier columns split apart to reform into a siege formation! Knowing this, someone had already ran into the castle to report this to Du Wei. Despite the urgency outside, Du Wei only replied with ¡°I know¡±. The truth is Du Wei¡¯s wrath was boiling over, but he didn¡¯t show it because his anger was being suppressed inside. As early as three days ago, the Northwestern army had already sent someone over to inform him that they will be using the area around his city to do their spring drill. To top it all off, the messenger uttered this sly remark before he left: ¡°The army will be here in three days.¡± Such a move almost made him flip out on the spot, but through sheer will, he managed to suppress it. Why the third day? The meaning behind the message is that before he even received the news, the army was already on their way! The alleged messenger is nothing but a farce. Before the owner even knew, you are alreadying. The meaning behind this is simple: you better agree to this, even if you don¡¯t, you still have it agree!! After listening to the report right now, Du Wei immediately dressed himself to go outside. When he was choosing his outfit, he actually hesitated for a second. The reason is because the outfit he chose is not the magicians robe he usually worn, nor is it the nobles attire he had in his wardrobe, it is a set of armor. Like the overly exaggerated armor worn by Rolynn in the capital, this set of armor can be called luxurious to the extreme, but here¡¯s the important part, it was much more practical for real lifebat after making some improvements. Du Wei is tall to begin with, but due to illness in his childhood, his body looked much frailerpared to other kids. Nevertheless, after practicing the Stars Dou Qi martial movement set, his body has already started to improve a lot over this period. And now under the effect of this fierce looking armor, our Du Wei here is finally starting to look like a handsome young general like his father once was. With one order, Du Wei along with Old Smoke and his bodyguards all headed out of the castle for the city gates. Chapter 220 part 1 Chapter 220 ¡°bottom line¡± (part one) Standing atop of the city gate, Du Wei peers down at the 20,000 strong enemy regiment. With gs flying everywhere, his hand inherently squeezed tighter against the wall despite having a poker face. This is provocation, a tant provocation!! Since the day he stepped into the Northwest, he already knew he had to grow and one of the things he learned is the different formations used by the army. With only one look, he can already tell the enemy is tantly putting up an attack formations for a city siege! ¡°Dadaneier.¡± Du Wei suddenly utters this name out. Dadaneier is standing just behind Du Wei because he is themander in chief of the city defense garrison. As a former warrior of the Lister Household, how can he restrain the anger swelling up inside his heart? With a face full of anger, he immediately replied with a whisper when he heard Du Wei¡¯s call: ¡°Your honor.¡± ¡°Have someone raise the g and see what they want!¡± Du Wei coldly snickers. Not long after the signal was raised, one of the deputymanders under Dadaneier was already back to make a report: ¡°My Lord, they want us to open the gate and hand over a part of the city wall so they can use it for their training exercise¡­..¡± Without even finishing his words, the messenger found himself unable to speak after seeing how livid Du Wei was. Du Wei sneers in a ¡°Hey Hey¡± manner: ¡°Hand over a part of my wall for their exercise? Humph, good! They must want to tear down my wall in the process. What a good army!¡± ¡°My Lord ¡­ ¡­ How should we reply?¡± The Deputy Commander quietly asks. With a deadpan face, Du Wei coldly said: ¡°Don¡¯t bother with any crap, just raise the g and tell them: NO!¡± With that, Du Wei left his attendants behind to climb the wall tower. Northwest Army, do you really think master here is so easily bullied? Du Wei sneers inside. You wanted money and food before, fine, I pay. Yet these bastards dare poor salt on my back! If the Northwest Army didn¡¯t let those prairie wolves in, how can a thousand strong cavalry unit reach Cow Tongue vige? Testing my bottom line? Fine, I will show you what is called a ¡°bottom line¡±! Once inside the defense tower, Du Wei did not show any humility and sat directly in the middle of this quiet meeting room: ¡°Dadaneiers, how much soldiers do we have inside the city?¡± Du Wei asks Dadaneiers that was sitting across from him. ¡°A regiment of 4,000 people ¡­ ¡­ Theirbat capabilities? The majority of this regiment is made up of the people you freed from Sin City so their capabilities aren¡¯t a problem. As for cavalry¡¯s¡­¡­ General Longbottom¡¯s regiment is well trained but their numbers were never filled with only 2,000 people. But¡­¡­.¡± Dadaneier seems to see through Du Wei¡¯s inner temper, so he inherently whispered his next words: ¡°Your honor, if you really want to start a battle, cavalry riders aren¡¯t any use in a siege battle. Also, the enemy riders vastly outnumber our own. Even though General Longbottom¡¯s warriors are strong, but 2,000 people cannot fend off such numbers¡­..¡± These words may be a bit disrespectful to Longbottom, but this general 250 isn¡¯t unreasonable. Despite being in the room the entire time, he managed to keep his silence up till now: ¡°The Northwestern Army may be strong and hard to deal with¡­. Unfortunately, their numbers aren¡¯t little either, but if you give me 2,000 more people, I can bring my people out to raid them before they gain a proper foothold outside. After such a long trip from their stronghold, theirbat strength is still unstable, so now is the perfect time to strike¡­.. Sir, if you we wait any longer, the battle ahead will be even harder.¡± Du Wei suddenly smiles as he looked at Longbottom: ¡°My General ¡­ ¡­ I¡¯m just asking. Who said we must fight? They are after all an army of the empire. From what I see, they can¡¯t afford to actually fight and are only here to threaten us. Other than giving us a hard time, I¡¯m certain they are using this chance to test my bottom line.¡± Longbottom bellows out augh at Du Wei¡¯s exnation: ¡°This is only natural ¡­ ¡­ But this time around the Northwest army really went all in. From what I can tell, this 20,000 strong regiment is likely the elite units inside their ranks¡­¡­ With no reason to be here, they must have another objective!¡± This time, Du Wei¡¯s current Chief of staff, Philip spoke up instead from the side. After a year of baptism in this barrenndscape, this youngster has now shed away his juvenile temperament from his handsome face and became steadier in his appearance: ¡°My Lord, I¡¯ve thought up a possibility.¡± ¡°Say it!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard the Northwestern Army¡¯s general Rugaard is a loyal admirer of Marquise Lister¡­¡­ Just a few days ago, our rtionship with the them is still fine, but after your honor¡¯sing of age ceremony, their attitude immediately changed towards us.¡± The moment this came out, everyone in the room went dead silent. Even though they mayugh and joke during their meetings, but this subject is after all Du Wei¡¯s personal matter. Narrowing his eyes, Du Wei sighs: ¡°Philip, there¡¯s a point in what you said. Heh heh ¡­ ¡­ Marquise Lister, you really brought my quite the trouble!¡± ¡°This is just one reason.¡± Philip rolls up his sleeves: ¡°My lord, I may not be fluent in military tactics, but even I can see the other party is trying to encircle the city. I¡¯m afraid they won¡¯t actually fight. After all, the Northwest Army has no intention of really rebelling against the empire for now, but¡­.. If they can keep us here for a certain amount of time, then it will be a great embarrassment for us! If word spread you were locked inside your own city for ten days, everyone will call you a coward that can only hide like a turtle!¡± The moment his words ended, Dadaneier suddenly cried out in anger: ¡°Philip! Who is a coward?! As a aid to his excellency, you dare verbally insult his lordship!¡± Instead of getting angry like Dadaneier, Du We only waived a hand to settle his friend down: ¡°Dadaneier, Philip is only making a metaphor, but he does have a point. I highly doubt the Northwestern Army will really besiege us, but if they really do lock us inside our own home for ten days, then I really will lose a lot of face if word spread!¡± Pausing, he looked at Philip: ¡°Dadaneier is not aiming at you so both of you shouldn¡¯t take things to heart.¡± Calm and steady, Philip took one step back and politely replied: ¡°Yes.¡± After waving the refusal g to the Northwester Army, the enemy showed no movements for the next hour. Nevertheless, their ill intent was obvious to everyone. Although the other party did not directly attack, but soldiers under the Tulip House did not show the slightest sign of letting up! Despite the Northwest army¡¯s arrogance, all rational indicates they won¡¯t actually rebel. After all, they¡¯ve been good for all these years, so why would they suddenly change out of nowhere? Moreover, the timing isn¡¯t right. However, the enemy is still outside their gates, so they can¡¯t just overlook such arge force at their doorstep. As time pass by, all Tulip soldiers were standing by ready for order atop of the city wall. Surprisingly, the only one not keeping busy is Du Wei. Sitting atop of the city gate, he coldly stared down at the enemy army not far outside his capital. This Cavalry Regiment truly deserves their reputation of being elites. Despite theirrge numbers, they showed no signs of being disorderly as they quietly confronted Du Wei¡¯s force outside the city grounds. As the sun reached over the western part of the sky, Old Smoke that was behind Du Wei suddenly turned pale. When this loyal follower wanted to warn his lord, Du Wei was already up from his chair looking out at the far offndscape¡­¡­. Over the horizon, a thin continuous ck line was dominating the scene. With a thick ¡°cking¡± sound, it is the noise of armor scraping against each other. Withrge shieldmen in front, Pikemon¡¯s in the back, the main infantry soldiers of the Northwestern Army are following further behind. Then at the very end of thisrge force is a unit of long bow archers numbering around a thousand strong¡­¡­. As the old saying goes, once an army is over ten thousand strong, even the sky will be covered in their might. This lineup is literally the main five elite regiments under the General Ruugard of the Northwestern Army!! Seeing the arrival of the vast numbers of infantry soldiers, the already arrived cavalry riders standing put outside Lon City suddenly bellowed out an earth rumbling cheer. Waiving their gs andnces in the air, their voices continuously chanted the slogan: ¡°Long live the Northwestern Army!¡± Chapter 220 part 2 Chapter 220 ¡°bottom line¡± (part two) Despite the ruckus made by the new arrivals, thisrge force suddenly went silent upon reaching the outer perimeter of Lon City. Like this, the tension between the two opposing forces created a suffocating atmosphere that easily muted the average soldier. And the side to shatter this awkward silence was indeed the Northwestern Army. Splitting apart in the middle, the archers furthest in the back stepped forward and began drawing their longbows aimed straight at the city wall! Seeing this, the Tulip defenders standing atop of the ramparts all had their faces turn pale. Regardless of their reaction, they all took haste to man their shields at the order of theirmander. The only one to remain indifferent to all this was Du Wei as he continues to sneer down at the enemy. Sure enough, these archers lowered their aim away from the main city. Instead, their volley ended upnding around 20 meters away from the city wall. Like a barricade, the ground was thickly dotted with arrows. Subsequently, as if on purpose, the entirety of the Northwestern Army began to let out an unbridledugh at Du Wei and his forces up on the wall. Hearing this, everyone except Du Wei became infuriated with anger at the mockery. Many of these soldiers under Du Wei were supposedly at the top of the pyramid stack, so it¡¯s no wonder their pride wouldn¡¯t ept such insult especially when they consider the enemy an entity below themselves. Once the first round of volleynded, the archers retreated to only leave behind a forest of arrows. Then in front of the Tulip defenders, the Northwestern Army began to brazenly dig out trenches and chop down trees to build their camp! It is also at this moment the Northwestern Army sent out an infuriating g signal. When the Deputy Commander under Dadaneier got this message, the guy seemed quite adamant about reporting the message based on how flushed his face was. ¡°Tell me.¡± Du Wei waived his hand to indicate it was fine. Taking a deep breath, this deputymander grits his teeth: ¡°My lord, they said¡­¡­¡± His voice seems to be mixed with some fury from how hoarse it sounded: ¡°They said¡­. The third Calvary division and the five infantry regiment of the Northwestern Army are hereby iming thend outside Lon City for their annualbat drill. This order shall prevail over any other regtions based upon wartime regtions, and if any local dignitaries or residence of the empire were to disobey this order and impeach upon this area, they will have every right to y the offender based upon royal decree¡­.¡± After hearing this, Du Wei not only didn¡¯t get angry, he evenughed out loud as he pointed at the forest of arrows on the ground: ¡°So they are saying the line of arrows over there is the border for the restricted area¡­.. And unless we quietly stay inside the city, they will kill any one of us if we tried to break out, right?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right my Lord.¡± The face of this deputymander looked like he was about to bleed blood from how red it looked: ¡°When did we ever take such insults! Your lordship, you only need to give the order and I¡¯ll take my men and charge out!!¡± Du Wei only smiled as he patted the shoulder of this officer: ¡°No need to be inpatient. They may have the empire¡¯sw on their side, but that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t retaliate. Humph, always ying the wartime regtion hand, do they think I will just put up with it?¡± After a pause, Du Wei lets out a slightugh: ¡°Alright, send the orders out that none are to leave their post and to keep the gates closed. Didn¡¯t they want to keep us inside? Humph, 20,000 Calvary riders and 20,000 infantry soldiers, fine, they can torture themselves out there if they want!¡± Once he said this, Du Wei waved his hand to dismiss the officer. The others inside the room didn¡¯t quite understand the Duke¡¯s meaning. In their mind, they were all thinking: ¡°Are we really going to endure this?¡± Then again, right after the officer left, Du Wei called for someone to summon the magic apprentices. As per his instruction, all 28 magic apprentices came before him: ¡°I¡¯m guessing none among you can use a flying spell yet right?¡± Du Wei casually asks this. The magic apprentices all looked at each other in confusion. Indeed, they are unable to conjure up a flying spell in their present state. Du Wei contemted: ¡°If so, I want you guys to immediately put on your magicians robe¡­. Once done, go stand atop of the rampart and remember, look as lively as possible, the more striking the better!¡± Subsequently, Du Wei called over the leading figures of this internship course ¨C Old Alley¡¯s two disciples. Unlike the bootleg magic apprentices, these two are genuine grey robed magicians of the seventh rank. Aside from the two, he also called for little Vivian. ¡°In a little bit, you three don¡¯t need to do anything other than hover above the city sky with a flying spell.¡± Du Wei lets out a sinisterugh: ¡°While you¡¯re up there, I would ask the two of you good sirs to cast a little light magic. It doesn¡¯t need to be anything amazing like an offensive spell, just try to make it as extravagant as possible in order to have a strong impact.¡± The rtionship between Du Wei and these two disciples of Old Alley isn¡¯t bad, so it didn¡¯t take long for them to agree. ¡°Vivian.¡± Du Wei took one look at this silly little girl: ¡°Do you know any kind of spell that would lookpelling but is in fact harmless? For instance: a bright ball of light or something to scare someone off?¡± Vivian nodded, not sure whether if she really understood his meaning: ¡°I ¡­ ¡­ I know a bright blessing spell that can increase the courage of our men while they are within its range, is that ok?¡± Du Wei satisfyingly smiles: ¡°Very good!¡± Subsequently, three figures began to rise into the sky upon Du Wei¡¯s order ¨C Vivian in the Middle while Old Alley¡¯s two disciples flew by her side. Under the eyes of tens of thousands of soldiers, the trio gently hovered above the enemy¡¯s head while each wearing their respective robe of grey or white. Despite her age, Vivian is truly a genuine white-robed Grand Mage, a representation of absolute power that must never be trespassed! Floating in the air, Vivian gently swirls her hand around in a circle and began to chant her spell. Before long, a golden six pointed star symbol appeared below her feet and from it, the brilliant light it gave off soon enshrouded everything in the near vicinity. Old Alley¡¯s disciples may be old, but anyone with a brain would get the hint by now. Like Du Wei instructed, the two also began to chant their spells aloud in cooperation with Vivian¡¯s maneuver. It¡¯s one thing to have a single mage, but to have a few dozen? Standing atop of the rampart is a full lineup of white robed magic apprentices. Of course, the average soldier in the Northwestern Army doesn¡¯t know they are just there for show, so the presence of these fledglings is like a fierce beast staring down at their miniscule self. Seeing this scene, the eyes of the generals in the Northwestern Army all showcased a strong sense of surprise! So many wizards? Ignoring the three in the air, why is there so many over at the rampart¡­.. One, two, three ¡­ ¡­ ! Why is there so many?!! At this time, Du Wei already took advantage of this time to call over the soldier in charge of waving the signal g: ¡°I have something to say to the other side, but the meaning is a bitplicated. I like to know if the g can help me convey it.¡± Watching the Duke, this soldier excitingly replied with a wide grin: ¡°My lord, there¡¯s absolutely no problem!¡± ¡°Good!¡± I say, you convey!¡± Du Wei turns around. ¡°To the Northwestern Army: In the name of the imperial magic academy, I hereby im thisnd on the basis of the imperial code for the training purposes of the magic apprentices in our custody! Three hours from now, we will be testing arge scale offensive experiment! Anyone nearby is advised to step back in order to avoid the st! Indicated by the special imperial code for magicians, we are not responsible for any fatalities or injuries caught by this test!!¡± Once this message was sent out through the g, the people over at the Northwestern Army numb with shock! Large scale magic experiment? What the hell is this? From the way it sounds, it seems to be something very dangerous thing. Looking up at the three soul reapers hovering in the sky, and then ncing up at the line of mages standing atop of the rampart, anyone not mentally challenged would be sweating down to their knees! Looking down at the enemy, Du Wei coldlyughs inside: ¡°Oh Northwestern Army, didn¡¯t you want to test my bottom line? I fear it¡¯s you that cannot afford to try! Humph, let¡¯s see if you really have the guts to rebel!¡± Chapter 221 part 2 Chapter 221 ¡°The length of a arrow¡¯s throw!¡± (Part two) After both parties came to an agreement, Du Wei suddenly chuckles sinisterly. Then with a single swing of his body, he jumped up to the ledge with ease! His martial skills may be only average, but he did in fact train his body with the Star Dou Qi martial set for a long time now. Whether it is his flexibility or bodily strength, it is already very good evenpared to a skilled master. d in a suit of silver armor and a fluttering red cape etched with the ming Tulip insignia, it¡¯s truly difficult for anyone to find any fault with Du Wei¡¯s current appearance. Like a knight in shining armor, he only needed to move his hand a little to awe the onlookers. Under the guise of a brilliant light from his hand, the form of a peculiar shaped longbow appeared out of thin air! Looking at the contour of the bow itself, it was simr to that of a crescent moon in the sky. With two transparent crystals embedded on both side, this strange bow even had a set of sharp dagger like barbs at the two corner ends! This is obviously the Nirvana¡¯s bow that nearly defeated the infamous Green Robed Gandalf back in the coup! Let¡¯s not mention how gorgeous looking this bow is, just the height of it alone is enough to match Du Wei¡¯s if he stood it upright. For all the onlookers, whether it be friend or foe, they were all astonished by Du Wei¡¯s grand gesture. Above all else, Guhuaduoluo had his heart sink like something bad is about to happen. Du Wei wasn¡¯t skilled in archery before, but ever since he got his hand on this amazing bow, even a fool would do everything they can to master it. What¡¯s more, this Nirvana¡¯s bow is no ordinary weapon. When ites to archery, the main trait needed to master this skill is sharpness of the eye and arm strength. Yet it just so happens that this bow is a weapon tailored made for magicians. Without any need to rely on arm strength, the user only needs to control their magic to drive the arrow¡­¡­.. This being the case, it¡¯s perfect for Du Wei since his magic level is already well above the norm!!! As for sharpness of the eye, it¡¯s even easier¡­. Mages can use ¡°eagle eye¡± to sharpen their eyesight to the level of a hawk, thus making him a better shooter than any mundane marksman out there. During this one year in the Northwest, Du Wei had been secretly training with the Nirvana¡¯s bow, and now, he finally gets the chance to use it!! With the bow in hand; Du Wei only needed to lightly tap against the string to stir up the power inside the energy crystals. In a blink of an eye, a subtle silvery arrow appeared on the spot where his hands were. Just as Du Wei was about to draw the bow, he suddenly lowered it again. Turning his head around, he faced Old Smoke: ¡°Old Smoke!¡± ¡°Yes my Lord!¡± Old Smoke immediately stepped forward. ¡°Are you brave enough?¡± Du Wei lightly asks this. Puffing out his chest, Old Smoke replied without the slightest sign of hesitating: ¡°I am!¡± He¡¯s someone that already had half his feet in the underworld, what else is there to be afraid of?¡± ¡°Good!¡± Du Weiughs out loud with delight. Without any indication, he raised a hand and tore off his cape and tossed it over a spear held by one of his defenders: ¡°Old Smoke, in a little bit, I will make a shot. When I do, you are to take that spear with my cape on it and use it as a marker for where my arrownds!!¡± Old Smoke loudly acknowledges themand. Swiftly moving his legs, he took the spear off the soldier¡¯s hand and solemnly stood behind Du Wei. ¡°General Guhuaduoluo, watch carefully!¡± Du Wei lets out a cold sneer. Gently lifting one foot up, he suddenly made a 360 degree spin tond atop of the pster. Pushing his body backward as he drew the bow, he looked like he was about to lose his bnce at any moment. This move of his is truly difficult to the extreme! With two fingers hooking onto the string, Du Wei takes in a deep breath¡­¡­ Yunnn£¡£¡£¡£¡ In one loud yunnn, a blinding light from the bow dazzled everyone¡¯s sight. Without any chance for others to adapt to the piercing light, a meteoric arrow came flying out of Du Wei¡¯s location and into the sky! With a trailing light tail, this mysterious ball of energy easily bypassed the soldiers down below and into the far off distance¡­.. Stunned beyond reason, the 40,000 thousand strong army all stood there speechless, unable to believe what they were seeing¡­¡­ As for Guhuaduoluo, he can only feel the beads of sweat slowly dripping down his forehead! This ¡­ ¡­ What kind of bow is this?! How far did that arrow go? Just thinking of this, Guhuaduoluo realized he didn¡¯t even want to go down that path. Getting off the pster with a simple jump, Du Wei casually returned the bow to his storage ring with a simplemand. With that done, he turned towards Old Smoke and said: ¡°Old Smoke, go now. Mount your stead and go make my mark!¡± Pausing to let his words set in, Du Wei suddenlyughs maliciously:: ¡°My shot is a bit far¡­.. But don¡¯t worry. Old Smoke, I will wait for your return before having dinner.¡± Unlike the happy attitude up top, Guhuaduoluo was in aplete mess when he heard Du Wei¡¯s antics¡­.. Wait for him toe back for dinner? How fucking far did his shot go?!!! Subsequently, Du Wei turns around to face Guhuaduoluo that was standing down below. Unlike before, Du Wei¡¯s expression this time around wasn¡¯t so friendly: ¡°General, a promise is a promise. Please have your men retreat back to a arrow¡¯s length of space!¡± Pausing, Du Wei suddenly gave a loud order: ¡°Pass on my order as Dean of the magic academy! In one hour¡¯s time, thend ranging from below the city wall to my arrow is marked for indiscriminate assault!!¡± When his words went out, it resounded through everyone¡¯s ear, especially thest phrase ¡°indiscriminate assault¡±. Bellowing out two boomingughs, Du Wei walked away without turning back. Oh Northwest Army, you want to y hard ball with me? Fine, I¡¯ll be even more ruthless! Chapter 222 part 1 Chapter 222 ¡°Alpha¡¯s heart¡± (part one) After drinking a cup of tea, Du Wei gently puffs out a sigh. Seeing how unhappy Du Wei looked, Philip whispered by his side: ¡°My Lord, are you worried about the Northwestern Army not retreating?¡± ¡°Worry?¡± Du Wei raises an eyebrow at the question: ¡°What is there to worry about? Don¡¯t fret, they are certain to retreat.¡± Sure enough, when his words just ended, Dadaneier burst into the room after mming the door open: ¡°Duke, the enemy is retreating!¡± Du Wei nods in acknowledgement: ¡°I understand.¡± Subsequently, the guards outside followed in to inform Du Wei that Madam Lister is requesting an audience. Du Wei was startled. In coboration with his expression, Philip quickly dodged his head away from Du Wei¡¯s line of sight to leave only him and Dadaneier to the matter. What¡¯s she doing here? Du Wei frowned with displeasure because this Marquise truly is a hassle. Since his birthday, this women somehow managed tofortably settle down in his home without his agreement. So troublesome¡­.. It¡¯s not like he can just kick them out when the other party didn¡¯t say they want to leave yet. During the Northwestern Army¡¯s encirclement, Du Wei was even worried that things will get dangerous so he specifically ordered a unit of soldier to standby at the castle for their safety. Thinking it over, Du Wei can only cave in with a sigh: ¡°Let the Marquise in then.¡± Upon hearing this, Philip quickly made himself busy and left the room. While Du Wei had a depressed look on his face, Dadaneier was delightfully smiling the entire time. It can¡¯t be helped. Dadaneier is after all a former retainer of the Lister Household, it¡¯s only natural he would root for his former lord and master. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s a bad marriage arrangement if things does work out, right? Moreover, the Marquise is the definition of a goddess in this warrior¡¯s heart, so everything the Marquise does is the right thing to him. When the Marquise walked into the room, her eyes showed a tant concern for Du Wei¡¯s wellbeing. From her in wardrobe alone, it¡¯s obvious she came in haste after learning of his return. Despite theck of essory and makeup, her face was still as stunning as ever that even Du Wei¡¯s heart skipped a beat upon her entry. And in the back, Angel and muse was following closely behind their elder sister. Angel¡¯s face may be showing a hint of apathy, but through Du Wei¡¯s sharp sense of observation, he can tell she was forcefully putting up the act due to the constant nces she was giving him. As for Muse ¡­ ¡­ This kid is now much more honestpared to before after experiencing Du Wei¡¯s brutality. With his little head always lowered to the ground, it looked like Muse didn¡¯t want to make any eye contact with him. ¡°Your dukeship¡­¡­ ¡± Madam Lister gently smiles to show her goodwill: ¡°I¡¯ve just heard the Northwest Army was trying to besiege the wall and that you even made a personal appearance at the tower. I was so worried about you¡­. But seeing how good you are now, I¡¯m relieved.¡± Letting out a Hahaugh, Du Wei replies with haste: ¡°The Marquise is too humorous! The Northwest Army is still a Corp of the empire so why would they make things difficult for me? This is merely the annual spring drill.¡± Hearing these deceiving words, Madam Lister¡¯s face went dark. From her beautiful face, a hint of resentment exuded out of her watery eyes as she whispered her next words: ¡°Dadaneier, could you leave us alone for a minute, I have something to say to the Duke in private.¡± As a former retainer of the Lister Household, Dadaneier naturallyplied and made a slight bow before leaving. With the exit of Dadaneier, the marquise slowly let¡¯s out a faint sigh. Anyone that can have the luxury of listening to this delicate yearning voice would no doubt think of a maiden¡¯s cry that could melt a person¡¯s heart. Leisurely, she came up to the Du Wei¡¯s side and whispered this into his ear: ¡°Duke, are you still putting up a guard against me?¡± Du Wei hastily shakes his head in denial: ¡°Don¡¯t be silly madam, how can you think like that?¡± ¡°Excellency.¡± The Marquise made the resentment in her eyes very clear now: ¡°Do I really need to say it? This asion of encircling the city is already excessive; in fact, it¡¯s only one step away from open rebellion. Anyone that¡¯s not blind can easily see you and the Northwest Corp is not of the same mind. So, is this stuff you¡¯re spouting a way for you to ease my worry? Or¡­.. Is it to fool me?¡± Being stared at by such a stunning beauty is really making Du Wei ufortable. If he said he¡¯s not tempted right now then he be lying. Let¡¯s say if, if the location and his identity were to be changed, then he would no doubt want to have a go at this ambiguous love game. Indeed, such a rare creature is not something a regr man can resist. Let¡¯s say a one night stand for example; he would undoubtedly break his heads out if that¡¯s what it takes to get a chance at her. However, being captivated by her outer beauty is one thing, but falling in love to the point of marriage is another! Hesitating slightly, Du Wei sternly spoke his words to build up some courage: ¡°Madam, you¡¯re overthinking it. The stuff I said just now is to ease your worry. A mere force like that is not enough to intimidate me. Let¡¯s not mention rebellion, they won¡¯t even¡­¡­.¡± At this point, Du Wei smiles with full confidence in his eyes as he timely tapped the table before him: ¡°Even if it¡¯s true they are rebelling, this City of Miracle won¡¯t be taken down by merely 40,000 troops. I already have ns in ce so Madam, you shouldn¡¯t worry.¡± Compared to his previous unfamiliar tone, his words right now sure is different. Hearing Du Wei¡¯s exnation, Madam Lister immediately went from worry to joy: ¡°Since your lordship have ns in ce, then I won¡¯t ask for more. It¡¯s just that today there were so many startling stories floating around¡­.. If you don¡¯t mind¡­¡­¡± Suddenly taking out a strange translucent object from her bosom, Madam Lister gently puts it on his desk: ¡°This thing is an heirloom of my household, but it¡¯s nothing extraordinary. I know the night in the Northwest is bitterly cold, so I ask you to always keep it by your side. When you go on patrol around the wall tonight, this will keep the sand and cold from reaching you.¡± Just as he was about to speak up in protest, Mrs. Lister suddenly cuts in: This is a token of my appreciation, please ept it.¡± Du Wei originally wanted to push the object back with his hand, but when he did; his hands felt something soft under it. Looking down, he quickly realized it was Mrs. Lister¡¯s delicate slender fingers. Creamy and soft, Du Wei involuntary shook his hands backwards at the sensation. What was supposed to be a gesture of rejection has now turned into a motion of eptance as he pocketed the object: ¡°I will definitely wear it.¡± Unbeknownst to Mrs. Lister, when she does smile, her face somehow changes to that of a young maiden instead of middle aged woman. Therefore, when she shyly smiled at Du Wei¡¯s willingness to take her gift, a halo of girlish charm was oozing out of her pinkish cheeks at that moment. As for Angel that was standing in the back, she somehow managed to keep her silence through it all by biting her lips. However, she did turn back to give him another nce before leaving. ¡°Du Wei ¡­ ¡­ Your excellency.¡± Muse was thest to leave, but when he did, he left these words: ¡°Sister and I were watching you from behind when you were up at the rampart.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei picks his brow up. ¡°You ¡­ ¡­¡± Muse hesitated for a tad bit before whispering his words: ¡°You¡­.. The way you shoot is really cool!¡± At this point, Muse¡¯s eyes suddenly rattled with panic as he hurriedly added in another sentence: ¡°Ah, hmmm ¡­ ¡­ Angel told me to tell you this.¡± With that, he hastily ran out to chase after Angel. Du Wei sighs heavily ¡­¡­ Women¡¯s are hard to swallow, but beauties are even harder to digest¡­¡­. At his own thought, he pulls out the translucent crystal from his pocket and sps it in his hands. From it, a slight warmth was slowly flowing through his palms. Chapter 222 part 2 Chapter 222 ¡°Alpha¡¯s heart¡± (part two) By nightfall, those down below finally came back with a report that the Northwest Army has retreated to a distance of 10 Li. (1 Li = 500meters) The truth of the matter is that the arrow fired by Du Wei is exactly 10 Li¡¯s out, no more no less. Lucky Old Smoke, he was exhrated by the experience of being pursued by tens of thousands of soldiers. Prior to this, he truly thought he was dulled to anything that could possibly happen in his life, but this experience has invigorated his pride that he once lost! Following this young Duke really is sweet! Now, Du Wei can be certain he has figured out the limit of the Northwest Army. However, he still doesn¡¯t know what the Northwest Army want. There¡¯s no way they are here just for dinner after traveling so far. The matter of patrolling the city is not something he¡¯s going to get involved, so his destination for the night is the castle, or to be more precise, the yard in the back of the castle grounds. This is something Du Wei arranged. Exactly like his father¡¯s study room, this ce was specifically made to replicate his old home using the same furniture¡¯s. For this reason, Du Wei made it clear to all personal in the castle that none is to enter this ce unless they were explicitly allowed to. Going into the study room, he lightly closed the door behind him to enter this empty coldness known as his father¡¯s room. Like he wanted, there are no servants here to cater to his needs. Lighting up amp, he then pulled out a bottle of wine from the cab and began pouring himself a cup on his father¡¯s desk. One cup after another, it didn¡¯t take long for him to finish half the bottle. By now, he can faintly feel his eyes getting heavy as he puts the cup down. Almost as if it was timed, a gentle knock came from outside the door. ¡°Come in.¡± Du Wei said this in a low and tired voice. With the door pushed open, a warrior disguised in ck came in. What should have been a handsome gentlemen¡¯s face is now marred by several small scars. Despite the blemish, this person not only didn¡¯t lose his charms, he looked manlier than ever. Of course, the new entry is none other than Alpha. When he first came into the room, the first thing Alpha noticed is where Du Wei was sitting and the bottle of wine sitting on the desk. To this loyal retainer of the Rowling Household, this image is like a tidal wave of memories blowing through his mind. Whenever he would finish a mission back in the old days, Raymond would always smile at him like what Du Wei is doing now in the study room and say: ¡°Well done Alpha,e and have a cup with me.¡± Although the person before him today is even higher in status than Raymond ¡­.. Although the teenager before him is the flesh and blood of Raymond¡­.. But Alpha still can¡¯t help but feel a glimmer of sadness from all this. In fact, ever since he did as Raymond instructed and stayed by Du Wei¡¯s side; he just can¡¯t stop the wavering feeling spinning in his heart. Du Wei¡¯s Tulip Household may be recognized as the inheritor of the now perished Rowling Household, but to him, a forever loyal retainer of the family, it¡¯s just not the same! He had sworn allegiance to Raymond, and now that even his lord and master have fallen, his soul just feels¡­.. Empty! ¡°Uncle Alpha.¡± Du Wei¡¯s smile on his face truly is genuine: ¡°I was just thinking you should be back around this time.¡± Alpha¡¯s face was showing signs of fatigue due to the mission he was secretly given. Prior to today¡¯s event, Alpha snuck away several days ago and traveled for thousands of miles to scout the terrain. Even with his immense strength, such mileage is enough to even strain an eighth level warrior like him. ¡°Young master.¡± Alpha nodded: ¡°I brought back the information you wanted.¡± Du Wei¡¯s focus turned serious as he straightened himself. This uncle Alpha definitely has the skills! Unfortunately, because he is father¡¯s confident for way too long, Alpha wouldn¡¯t be able to be his for real. Therefore, Du Wei can only use him for intelligence gathering in the background. Besides being extremely tough and strong, his means of doing things are secure and clean like that of a well experienced master. While Alpha was working under his father, this person was in charge of a powerful force in the darkness. For this reason, Du Wei can rest assured whenever he hands a mission over to him. ¡°Say it.¡± Du Wei takes in a deep breath. ¡°I was 300 miles out from the city. From East to West, I made a full circle to assess their movement and noticed they had a secret group mixed in with their main body! Around five to six thousand, these people may have hidden themselves well, but there¡¯s no mistake, the mysterious group is from the prairie.¡± Alpha exins this seriously. Du Wei became shocked. People from the Prairie? What the hell is the Northwest Army trying to do?!! ¡°Long before they reached the city, the group separated and into lots of smaller teams. Since I wasn¡¯t able to observe all of them, I only tagged one of their teams and determined they are looking for something!¡± Du Wei¡¯s eyes lit up with realization! ¡°While I was stalking them, I overheard them talking. I may not be very fluent in theirnguage, but I was able to make this much out, their numbers are no less than 10,000! What¡¯s more, one of the guy said as long as the Northwest Army is trapping us in the city, they can freely search thend!¡± Du Wei impatiently asked for more: ¡°Do you know what they are looking for?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Alpha shook his head: ¡°But I vaguely heard them saying something like¡­¡­ The Shaman King¡¯smand or something.¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t want to talk anymore. The Shaman King¡¯s order? What, it can¡¯t be they are here to look for that red hair monster, right? Then again, that thing really is invaluable; no wonder the Shaman King is so persistent! Hey-hey! What a good Northwest Army! Not only did they help outsiders, they even brought them to my doorstep and let them search my ce?! Oh Rugaard ah Rugaard, what benefit did you get to let the enemy the enemy into our border? Damn traitorous rebels! If you were to just be your traitorous rebel, I sir here wouldn¡¯t get involved, but you just had to go and do it, you just had to get me involved! As Du Wei was getting all upset over this, Alpha suddenly whispered, ¡°Young master, if there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ll see myself out.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Du Wei looked up at this veteran that had carried him in his infant years. Pointing to the wine bottle on the table, he smiled and said: ¡°Well done uncle Alpha,e and have a drink with me.¡± With those words, Alpha suddenly shook a bit! From his numbing eyes, a wave of emotions finally flowed out. Chapter 223 part 1 Chapter 223 ¡°Knights of the white feather¡± (part one) Carrying the ss of wine personally poured by Du Wei, Alpha became a little lost in thought as he watched it. ¡­¡­ Hmm, have a drink with me¡­¡­ Have a drink with me¡­¡­ The one that used to pat his shoulder and say these words¡­. Where is that person now? Likely back in the Rowling Castle and slowly withering away¡­¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right. In the midst of mediocrity, he¡¯s withering away like a old man. When thinking of this, Alpha suddenly had the urge to smash this ss of wine into the ground! He wanted tough,ugh out loud,ugh like a madman! The mission that he once vowed to protect¡­. Is no longer around! The family that he would even sacrifice his life for¡­.. Is also gone! The one that he offered up his life to serve¡­. Is also no more! Also ¡­ ¡­ The one that could once upon a time order him to die with a singlemand¡­¡­ He is also not of this world!! Earl!! Raymond¡­ ¡­ The you now is probably sitting in the Rowling Castle¡¯s study room. With your knees curled up in a nket and a fire stove in front to keep you warm, the biggest decision toe your way in a day is likely what is for dinner that night or if It will rain tomorrow¡­¡­ Hrious!!! (Alpha¡¯s words) But the most hrious part is not just you, but I, Alpha!! More than 40 years of my life, more than half of my life was contributed to this mission! But in the end ¡­¡­ I¡¯m still climbing through this mountain ¡­.. But what about you Earl Raymond? You¡¯ve left!! What a joke! What a hrious joke!! If so, then what am I? What is I, Alpha worth? What happened to the young passionate hope you had? Yes, you failed, so you left. But what about me? Am I able to leave? At this moment, Alpha¡¯s heart felt unusually tired. Softly sighing, he retracted his staring gaze at the wine cup and jugged it down in one single gulp. ¡­¡­¡­ So¡­¡­ Be it. At his own words, Alpha suddenly raised a smile of self-mockery and fatigue. I already lost my life¡¯s goal, so even I don¡¯t truly know what I¡¯m supposed to be doing right now. The only thing I can do now is continue to carry out thest words given to me by that person before he left, that is until¡­¡­. I meet my death. Gently putting the ss down, Alpha nods at Du Wei before trying to take his leave. ¡°Please wait, uncle Alpha.¡± Du Wei suddenly calls out to the old captain. Stopped in his steps, Alpha faces Du Wei: ¡°Is there anything else, young master?¡± Du Wei takes in a deep breath as he looked at this handsome middle-aged knight. Inwardly, his heart was gued with unease because from the man¡¯s eye, he can see there was an unshakable hollowness¡­¡­ In fact, there was a hint of death in the corner!! ¡°Uncle Alpha.¡± Coming out from behind the desk, Du Wei walked up to the captain: ¡°I believe we never had a proper chance to have a good talk since we left the capital. I remember back when I still young, you held me¡­. At that time, you were by far the most powerful warrior that i knew of and the most trusted guardian of the family.¡± Somewhat smiling, Alpha replied in a low voice: ¡°Young master¡­¡­ It was my duty.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t be that simple.¡± Du Wei shakes his head, his voice deep as he spoke: ¡°I know that ever since father disgracefully retired, you¡¯ve been very depressed ¡­ ¡­ Have you already lost all hope in the family?¡± At his question, Alpha remained quiet without saying a word. Seeing this, Du Wei slowly continued his speech: ¡°Everyone right now calls me ¡®Duke Tulip¡¯ to the point where even my name has been changed to ¡®Rudolph¡¯ on the official records of the Empire. However¡­.. I there¡¯s one thing I want you to understand, myst name is Rowling! Not ¡®Rudolph¡¯!!¡± Despite his clear stance, Alpha still didn¡¯t speak. ¡°Uncle Alpha, I know you¡¯re very disappointed in the family.¡± Du Wei uses his most sincere voice as he said his next words, ¡°But did you know? I promised my mother that as long as I¡¯m around; I won¡¯t let the Rowling Family line end! Although everyone calls me by ¡®Tulip¡¯ or ¡®Rudolph¡¯, but I promise you this, one day, I will have the Rowling name stand on top of this continent once again!¡± Despite seeing Du Wei¡¯s determination, Alpha¡¯s eyes showed no signs of vtility. Hesitating for a moment, this middle aged knight asked: ¡°Young master, when you first returned to the Rowling ins, what scene did you see?¡± Du Wei became startled at his question. Right then and there, images from two years ago began to sh across his mind: from how he was casted out of the capital to the celebratory cheers of the family retainers and the escorting Calvary riders. Remember back then, all the cheering troops had already tossed away their discipline while galloping back and forth between his carriage. It wasn¡¯t just the underlings that were like this because even the leading figures only watched it all happen with a genuine smile on their faces! Everyone was filled with heartfelt pride on their smiling faces, everyone were throwing their hats in the air while they shouted: ¡°Home!! Rowling men are back in their ownnd!!¡± This feeling is a sense of belonging to the family. An honor, a genuine sense of pride burned deep into their blood! It was to the point that even Marde, this normally low keyed caretaker, would use a seriously stern tone to speak with him: ¡°While we are back at home, you must call yourself a person of the Rowling ins and not some citizen of the Kurt Province!¡± That asion is the first time Du Wei was shocked in this world and also the first time he was infected by the cheering cries of his homing. Listening to the joyous voices from outside the carriage, even his once long dormant emotions began to surge out of his heart at the thing called ¡°home¡±. All of it, all the glory, all the gathering, all the love, all of ites from one name: Rowling! Think back to that scene, Du Wei suddenly felt like he can rte to Alpha¡¯s thought pattern. ¡°Young master.¡± Alpha whispered, ¡°Maybe you are too young and could not understand the meaning of the Rowling name for our age group. Back when the family first copsed, the entire in was filled with cries of weeping and sorrow. Then when the time came for the forceful disbanding of the Rowling army, some of the most loyal of knights went as far asmitting suicide, just so they can apany the family into the coffin.¡± Du Wei had his jaws dropped because he could not say anything in return. Alpha gave Du Wei a deep bow, his face full of emotion: ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s somewhat absurd for me to say this with my status ¡­¡­ But my heart is like this. In the deepest part of me, I already feel I am a part of the Rowling family¡­.. My father, my grandfather, my great-great grandfather are all loyal members of the Rowling family!! For people like me, I¡¯ve always been taught to be loyal to the family. My mission is to always defend the family honor, even if it means i have to offer up my life and blood! When necessary, I won¡¯t hesitate for a moment when challenging a enemy! My life and family are all intertwined with the family, so much so that even my children and their children will always continue down this path¡­. But then one day, everything changed! The tie that has kept my life going is suddenly cut apart with a knife! My mission, my glory, my loyalty, everything is wiped away. Young master, my life may have been saved, but my heart is already dead.¡± Du Wei only quietly looked at Alpha. ¡°Though¡­¡­¡± Alpha slowly lets out a long breath: ¡°Although, young master you are aspiring to revive the family ¡­ ¡­ Though you are a person of the Rowling family, but¡­¡­. This may be difficult for you to understand. Your title may be higher than that of your forefathers and your influence may supersede them, but¡­.. Forgive my words, in my opinion; you cannot represent the people of the Rowling ins as you are now.¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Why not?!¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice became a little hoarse. ¡°Because your current title is ¡®Duke Tulip¡¯ and not ¡®Earl Rowling¡¯! Because your territory is the Desa Province and not the Rowling ins! Because your capital is established next to this Lon Lake and not next to the Rowling River!¡± At this part, Alpha held nothing back to deal the final blow: ¡°For an old aristocratic family like the Rowling Household¡­.. Tradition is above all else!¡± ¡°But I will do my best to recover it all!¡± Du Wei clenched his fist tightly: ¡°Someday, I will take back the Rowling ins! Retake the Rowling River! Re-established the Rowling Army! Uncle Alpha¡­ ¡­ If you fall now, who am I going to look at to help me rebuild? While I may have a lot of men under me now, but the only one that is truly from the Rowling Family is only you!!¡± Looking at how Alpha was keeping his silence, Du Wei followed up with another sentence: ¡°¡­ ¡­ Didn¡¯t father task you to stay by my side just so you can help me one day?¡± ¡°Young master!!¡± Alpha¡¯s eye seem to suddenly burst out in mes¡­¡­ Is that anger?! ¡°Young master!¡± Alpha¡¯s voice seem to suddenly turn cold: ¡°Don¡¯t refer to your father and I because in my mind, the real count Raymond of the Rowling House is dead! The one alive back in the castle is nothing but a husk that has lost its soul!¡± Du Wei was astonished. Never in his mind would he think Alpha would hold such resentment towards his father! He ¡­ ¡­ Isn¡¯t he absolutely faithful to old Raymond? ¡°¡­ ¡­ Why?¡± Asked Du Wei. ¡°Because he¡¯s not brave enough to die, instead, he cowardly survived.¡± Alpha slowly spoke his words: ¡°With the fall of the family ¡­ ¡­ I rather have the Earl apany the family into the grave! At that time, I will also follow him into the afterlife. This way, i won¡¯t have to see him slowly wither away into a mediocre old man like he is doing now! When the coup failed, I could have risked my life to escort him out of the capital! Once back in the Rowling ins, we can reorganize the army and fight another day! But he chose to surrender! He thought he can preserve the family this way and avoid any more bloodshed. Let me tell you, he¡¯s wrong! Raymond is wrong!!¡± Alpha¡¯s powerful anger seems to have caused his emotions to run loose because a powerfulyer of Dou Qi has emerged around his body: ¡°When we Rowling people lost our soul, lost our honor and dignity¡­.. This humiliation was worst then death!! Raymond was mistaken, he was wrong!!¡± Seeing Du Wei¡¯s look of surprise, Alpha reacted like he was stabbed with a deep sense of pain. Converging his body¡¯s focus, the Dou Qi that had leaked out slowly dispersed: ¡°Young master, please forgive my behavior¡­.. I believe in your determination and sincerity, but right now, I just can¡¯t see a single ray of hope!¡± ¡°What ¡­ why ¡­ Why no hope?¡± Du Wei frowned. ¡°You!¡± Alpha suddenly sneered: ¡°You¡¯re already a Duke with a province as your territory¡­ ¡­ If so, what excuse are you going to use to take back the Rowling ins? Whether it is a regent or an emperor, none will allow their subjects to rule over two territories at once! What is a family? Itsnd and people! For hundreds of years, how many generations of people have lived in the Rowling ins? How many of us have grown up drinking the water of the Rowling River? Even if one day you did truly raise the Rowling g on top of the Desa Province¡­¡­ I will still not recognize it as the true Rowling House!! The reason is no other, thisnd here is not the Rowling ins, and above all else, the people here is not from the Rowling ins!!!¡± Du Wei was finally defeated. Giving Du Wei a nce, Alpha suddenly bends down on knee with a hand across his chest: ¡°Young master, I fully understand your ambition, but I really don¡¯t see a glimmer of hope. Maybe your achievements will be far higher than your ancestors and that your name will forever be etched into the history books, but no matter how glorious your deeds are; it cannot hide one fact and that is: the real Rowling Family no longer exists.¡± After saying all this, Alpha no longer spoke as he turned around to leave the study room. Chapter 223 part 2 Chapter 223 ¡°Knights of the white feather¡± (part two) After a long period of silence, Du Wei finally lets out a deep sigh because he knew the wordsing out of Alpha were true. Even if he did in the future raise the g in the Northwest¡­.. But can it really be regarded as the Rowling House? What truly made up the Rowling House is the hundreds of thousands of people living in the Rowling ins, that is the true Rowling House! Not the Desa Province¡­¡­. The two cannot be intertwined! It would appear he had taken his promise of restoring the family honor too lightly¡­ ¡­ If he wants to truly restore the Rowling House, then he needs to take back the Rowling ins, take back the hundreds of thousands of real Rowling citizens! ¡­ ¡­ Ha, as if Prince Son would agree to such arrangements? For this night is a long one for Du Wei¡­ ¡­ Despite the setback, Du Wei did not let himself fall into depression because by dawn, he had already livened up his spirit to walk out of the study room. No matter what the future holds, the problems ced before him now should be his main concern. 40,000 Northwest soldiers are only ten miles away from his city. Then there are the 10,000 Prairie wolves creeping through his territory. Being a Lord, the Lord of thisnd, Du Wei cannot allow such a thing to take course! Convening everyone to the city wall, Du Wei looked out into distant and could easily survey the entire enemy camp with his Eagle eye. In a single night, the Northwest army managed to finish setting up camp ten miles out. ¡°Taking advantage of the darkness, I sent some brothers outst night to gather intel on the enemy.¡± Longbottom curls his lips downward: ¡°Those bastards got even more soldiers again. Last night,rge amount of supplies were delivered to the main body along with reinforcements. ording to my calction, the amount should be enough to let 40,000 people eat and drink for a whole month. In other words ¡­ ¡­ These guys want to trap us inside the city for a whole month.¡± Du Weiughs coldly at this: ¡°They sure ced a big bet!¡± Then he dered: ¡°Gentlemen, I have some bad news to announce. I got reliable information that these people are here with ill intent! They want to lock us in here in order to cover up the prairie spies lurking in ournd! There are at least 10,000 of them running wild!¡± The moment his words rang out, everyone had their face change! The one to react the quickest is Philip: ¡°My lord! We have to send our troops out as soon as possible! Everyone knows how terrifying the prairie people are. They are a bunch of bloodthirsty wolves! If left unchecked, a pack of wolves like this entering our territory will bring great suffering and losses to the people of Desa Province! Burning, killing, looting, there¡¯s nothing they won¡¯t do!¡± ¡°But we don¡¯t have enough forces.¡± Dadaneier frowned: ¡°Your excellency, are you sure those prairie natives have decentralized their forces? If so, how are we going to find all those bastards when we only have a few thousand men¡¯s here?¡± Philip immediately became angry: ¡°Dadaneier! Should we just watch these wolves run wild in ournd? The ones to bleed will only be our citizens!!¡± Dardanelle immediately argued back: ¡°Sir Philip, that¡¯s not what I meant! It¡¯s just that I¡¯m looking at it from a purely military standpoint. We simply don¡¯t have enough forces to deal with the prairie natives because cavalry riders can only be dealt with cavalry riders, and our cavalry riders¡­¡­.¡± At this point, he nced over to Longbottom. The meaning behind his eyes was obvious to everyone: we don¡¯t have a lot of cavalry riders! For the first time ever, Du Wei started to question Longbottom¡¯s recruiting methods. The reason is no other, due to his overly high standards, Du Wei only has around one cavalry regiment for mobilization. 3,000 cavalry riders. How is that number going to deal with 10,000 prairie wolves? Aside from being outnumbered, the enemy is moving independently in small groups! Although Du Wei also supported Longbottom¡¯s recruitment method before, but¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t the numbers too small? He¡¯s already been in the Northwest for over a year, yet, his cavalry regiment only numbers around 3,000 people while his infantry forces is at 16,000¡­¡­ ¡°Ahem!!¡± Longbottom finally coughed up to talk. The moment his cough came out, everyone nearby went quiet. After all, Longbottom is the only person that truly enrolled in the army. Whether it is Philip or Dadaneier, these two never actually had any real military experience. ¡°Gentlemen, I think the situation is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be.¡± Longbottom eyes showed a glimmer of hope: ¡°Don¡¯t forget, Knight Robert still has two infantry regiments outside!¡± Knight Robert is in fact not within Lon City right now. Being Du Wei¡¯s leading general of his infantry forces, Knight Robert nominally has a total of four regiments ¨C 16,000 soldiers ¨C under hismand with the strongest standing by in Lon City. Then another regiment stationed at the former capital, Anglia City. The remaining 8,000 people are scattered across the Desa Province to act as the local garrison forces. Philip knit his brow as he brought his own worries forward: ¡°That is right, but Knight Robert¡¯s two infantry regiments are scattered across thend. And ¡­ ¡­ Both regiments are a mix of veterans and recruits, therefore, their fighting capabilities aren¡¯t guaranteed. If they were to encounter the enemy without any preparations, they are likely prone to be swallowed up.¡± ¡°But don¡¯t forget ¡­ ¡­ The prairie riders are also separated in their movements.¡± Longbottom cries out: ¡°Although they have over 10,000 people, but as long as they are broken up, then they aren¡¯t as terrifying as they can be. Moreover, our troops are stationed across different towns. Based on Knight Robert¡¯s cautionary personality, he would have ordered his men to be extra careful during this period due to Du Wei¡¯s prior warning over the spring drill. Even if the prairie wolves want to attack, I highly doubt they will find much opportunity to sneak a blow to our forces if our men stay within bounds¡­.. Of course, we can¡¯t just sit back over this incident; nevertheless, I also don¡¯t want everyone start assuming the situation is as pessimistic as everyone makes it to be.¡± Du Wei pondered for a moment, as the Supreme Leader, he needs to make the final decision: ¡°I trust Knight Robert, he is a trustworthy person. Under his leadership, I believe the prairie wolves won¡¯t be able to get any advantage over him¡­¡­ Our main concern right now is in finding a way to send our cavalry riders out! Otherwise, the situation will be even more worrisome if time continues to tick.¡± Since the Duke made his decision, the following people had nothing else to argue about as they looked towards their lord and master. ¡°We need a way to get out.¡± Dadaneier spoke up: ¡°It¡¯s clear the Northwest Army is encircling us! Since they are colluding with the prairie natives, then they aren¡¯t going to let our troops out of their circle. When Longbottom went out to scoutst night with his men, the enemy countered with several parties of a thousand strong to keep a wary eye on them. If we were to break out of this, we might have to fight the Northwest Army for once!!!¡± Du Wei took one look at the Dadaneier, then at the Longbottom, then at the other leading military officers present. One thing he noticed was their determination and eagerness that was stered on his men¡¯s faces. ¡°Fight head on?¡± Contemting the idea for a moment, Du Wei was just about to give the order when Philip interjected: ¡°Your excellency, maybe there¡¯s another way.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Phillips smiled calmly as he spoke: ¡°My Lord, you forget the Marquise is currently inside the city. I¡¯ve heard that General Rugaard is also a faithful admirer of herdyship! Since this is so, I¡¯m certain the army outside will be quite reluctant in blocking the Lister household¡¯s men.¡± After a pause, Philip grinned wildly: ¡°When herdyship came to visit this time, she brought with her the ¡®Knights of the White Feather¡¯!¡± Du Wei¡¯s eyes lights up with enlightenment. Philip continues to chuckle: ¡°Considering your friendship with the Marquise, I believe it won¡¯t be difficult to borrow the White Feather name from her. The only difficult part of this n is likely outfitting our forces. As you know, the Knights of the White Feather are famed for their silver armor and white horses. It wouldn¡¯t be too hard to find the necessary armors from the warehouse, but the horses will have to be disguised with paint because we simply don¡¯t have that many white horses around¡­.. Lastly, we just need you to go borrow the White Feather banner from herdyship and the n is a go.¡± ¡°But ¡­¡­ The Knights of the White Feather only came with a total of 200 people ¡­¡­ And, as we all know, their roster only numbers up to 500 people. If we rush out with 3,000 cavalry riders in one go, anyone would know it¡¯s a fake.¡± Dadaneier frowned with displeasure. While Philip only smiled without speaking, Du Wei finished the answer for him: ¡°This is not difficult to ovee! Every knight is allowed to have four squires to apany him. As long as we keep the number at 800, the enemy won¡¯t know if it¡¯s true or not even if they investigate. Splitting our 3,000 soldier¡¯s apart into four groups, we can then head out in four directions. Humph, even if one group encounters an enemy unit, they won¡¯t be able to see through us¡­¡­.¡± It¡¯s not like this world have telephones or mobile texting! Even if all four groups encountered the enemy, the other party won¡¯t be able to reach their allies to realize something was up. By the time they do realize, Du Wei and his forces would be long gone by then. The only problem is ¡­ ¡­ He¡¯s going to owe the Marquise another favor! As expected, the Marquise easily agreed to Du Wei¡¯s request without hesitation. In fact, she even offered to lend him the real 200 Knights of the White Feather so that he can divide them into four teams. This way around, the chance of them being found out would be even lower. In addition to this, Mrs. Lister puts forward a little request and that is to let Muse tag along on this trip. ¡°Muse is after the family heir. With him by your side, even if the army does intercept your group, Muse can step in to help defuse the situation.,,,,,,¡± At this part, Mrs. Lister curls her lip into a smile: ¡°Even if General Rugaard were to be present, he would still have to give my family some face.¡± Thinking over the request, Du Wei knows that it will be slightly inconvenient with the kid tagging along, but whatever¡­..! As a Mage with the strength of a sixth rank, how can he not handle a kid during a fight? Philip is truly a capable guy. In the shortest period of time, he managed to gather enough silver armor and amassed enough painted horses for all 3,000 men. Not even noon yet, the city gates to Lon City all opened at the same time and from it, four forces of horsemen all rushed out of the capital in different directions. ording to the distribution order, Du Wei, Longbottom, Hussein each led their own respective group, but thest groupcked a proper leader. Although thest group had a captain of the cavalry regiment to lead it, but the guy¡¯s strength is limited. If they somehow encountered the prairie wolves¡­.. There¡¯s no guarantee the enemy won¡¯t have a shaman in their mist! Thinking it over, Du Wei called over captain Alpha to join thest group. This way, all four groups will have their own powerhouse to standby for emergency. His strength may be only at the sixth rank, but Du Wei is confident that in the key moment, the dormant Semei will step forth to save him. As for Longbottom¡¯s team, he may be strong, but he¡¯s not someone that could one man an army. As insurance, he specifically asked Old Alley¡¯s two disciple to join Longbottom and his men for this trip. In Hussein¡¯s case, is there anything else he needs to say? As long as that old dragons doesn¡¯t show up, then there won¡¯t be anyone in this world that can possibly harm our Saint Knight. Even if a shaman shows up, they better think twice to engage! Captain Alpha¡¯s strength doesn¡¯t need to be questioned. As a eighth rank knight, there shouldn¡¯t be any reason he would be overwhelmed by a shaman without putting up a fight. Then the only thing left to ount for is the people left behind in Lon City! Dadaneier being the city defense chief, he will naturally be staying behind. As a precaution, Du Wei even called for Vivian and Nicole. ¡°Dadaneier, you already know about Queen Medusa.¡± Du Wei shows a slightly awkward smile: ¡°You should also know it¡¯s for the best not to expose her identity, otherwise, there will be big trouble! Unless you have no other choice like the Northwest Armyying siege, you must under no circumstances ask her to make a move, understand?¡± Dadaneier is someone that experienced the frozen forest with Du Wei, so he is fully aware of the consequences. Inwardly, he was quite relieved to have this snake beauty standing by. ¡°What if the other side really attacked?¡± The one to raise the issue is Medusa herself. ¡°Then¡­¡­¡± Du Wei coldlyughs aloud: ¡°Then don¡¯t hesitate ¡­ ¡­ Kill!!¡± Du Wei sighs: ¡°Regrettable, Miss Nicole, your petrification ability may be powerful, but it¡¯s unable to deal damage on a massive scale¡­.. When facing a powerful army, this part is not your specialty.¡± Beyond his expectation, Queen Medusa¡¯s usually indifferent face suddenly formed a smile. With her eyes still closed, she looked up towards the sky. ¡°Du Wei, you don¡¯t have to worry, I still have ¡­ ¡­ My hair. If necessary, I wouldn¡¯t mind turning the next ten miles around the city into a living hell.¡± Chapter 224 part 1 Chapter 224 ¡°First victory¡± (part one) Under the disguise of the morning dawn, more than 800 riders made their way out of Lon City, each had their horse hooves wrapped in cotton cloth to minimize their noise. Though the time of day is already considered dawn, the sun still hasn¡¯t risen yet, thus, making it the darkest part of the night. While everyone is busy with their own matter, the overly tense Muse was riding right behind Du Wei. And further behind this kid are his 50 knights of the white feather, each firmly standing by to protect their lord at a moment¡¯s notice. Everywhere Du Wei looked, all he can see is the endless t wilderness shrouded in darkness. Seeing this, he inherently made a sigh. It¡¯s no wonder the Northwest Natives can be a scourge for the empire. With an entire regionprised of t terrain, perfect for horseback fighting, how can they not be a threat when every member of their people can be a soldier at a single call? After their group traveled for about seven-eight Li¡¯s, Du Wei turned around to look at the general direction of Lon City. Seeing how the darkness remained as quiet as ever, he can finally let his heart settle. The reason for this is because he made a deal with the others. If by chance one of their groups were to encounter the enemy, the first priority is to ignite a signal re into the sky. This way, even if they were caught, the unfortunate team can draw more attention to themselves to buy time for the other three to get away. Prior to setting out on this mission, everyone had alreadye to a secret agreement to have Du Wei head for the safest direction they thought possible, which is to the South-East. Du Wei of course knew of their intent, but because he is the backbone of their operation, he can only silently ept their suggestion. ¡°My Lord, we should be out of the Northwest Army¡¯s encirclement now.¡± An officer rode up to his side and said this to him. This thirty something year old veteran of the army is supposedly a trusted drinking buddy of General Longbottom (also known as general 250). Back when Longbottom was demoted and jailed inside the capital, this guy was living a leisurely life as andlord of a farm after retiring. However, with a single letter from his formermander, this veteran soldier immediately packed his bags and came running. Prior to this asion, Du Wei did have some interactions with this guy. Known as Guptad, he¡¯s a fourth level knight that¡¯s not known to talk too much. Oddly enough, the guy¡¯s personality is very much like Longbottom and was even given the title of ¡°mini 250¡±. Du Wei hmm once before looking over at this mini 250. ¡°My lord, are we going to continue heading south?¡± Snorting, Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°We are looking for the prairie wolves, so why should we continue to head south; you want to find air instead? You are just like everyone else; thinking old sir here is a spoiled brat that needs protecting. Pass my orders down, we will all head north after the break of dawn, our destination will the small town of Norrington where a infantry battalion of Knight Robert is currently standing by! And maybe along the way, we can hunt some prairie wolves¡­..¡± Curling up his lips into a smile, Guptad only gave a single nce at Du Wei before quietly turning away to carry out his orders. Following Du Wei¡¯smand, the group turned around towards the North only to leave behind the somewhat greyish horizon that was soon to be enlightened by the sun¡¯s ray. When the first light sprinkled onto the ground, the leading scout that was slightly further ahead suddenly held in his reins to impressively stop his horse on the spot. As the elite riders trained by Longbottom, this scout clearly had a good grip on his mount: ¡°My lord, in front!¡± Not waiting for Du Wei¡¯s reply, Guptad immediately ordered the group into full alert. At this time, the knights of the white feather also got into formation and firmly circled around Muse with the kid staying in the middle where it¡¯s the safest. Still on his horse, Du Wei can see that not far into the distance, a dust of cloud was being kicked up and the faint sound of intensive horse beats was reverberating into his ears. Guptad only needed to look once before calling out: ¡°My Lord, it¡¯s the prairie wolves! There¡¯s no banner flying so there¡¯s no mistake about it!¡± Du Wei¡¯s face sank a little. Narrowing his eyes, he readily cast eagle¡¯s eye onto himself and peered over at the hundreds or so prairie riders. Without any obstruction, he is able to get a very clear look at the enemy. Unlike the orderly fashioned cavalry knights of the empire, these people were all riding in a disorganized fashion with a scarf wrapped around their heads. Swinging their machetes in the air, these barbarians can¡¯t get any more threatening. Like them, the other side seems to have also noticed Du Wei and his men. With a whistle, the prairie riders all stopped in their tracks while keeping a certain amount of distance. Seeing this, Du Wei came down with a realization: ¡°They must have mistaken us for the Northwest Army!¡± Thinking of this, Du Wei immediately got an idea as he peered over at the Guptad. Just as luck would have it, this mini 250 here is donning a ck cape like the Northwest Army. Stretching out a hand, he ripped it off and said: ¡°Quick, tie this to the tip of your spear!¡± As expected of a veteran soldier like Guptad. With only this little cue, he immediately understood Du Wei¡¯s intent as he yelled out his order with the spear raised into the air: ¡±Disperse formation, let¡¯s not scare the prey away too quickly!¡± From initial estimation, the other group should be numbering around 300-500 strong; As such, Du Wei¡¯s current force should be more than adequate in dealing with this party. Leading with the ck caped spear, Guptad rode in front to do his part in this little scheme. Fortunately, the prairie natives did as Du Wei expected and was easily fooled into thinking the cape was the banner of the Northwest Army. By the time the enemy realized things weren¡¯t looking right, Du Wei and his party were already 300 meters away from them, thus making it way toote to flee! It can¡¯t be helped; Du Wei and his forces are all wearing silvery white armors, which is too different from the usual ck gears donned by the Northwest Army. Without hesitation, the toughly built prairie natives all let out a wolf like howl and began making their effort to flee. Using their amazing natural riding skills, they truly deserved the description of ¡°going like the wind¡± from how fast they made the turn! Seeing how easily the prairie natives fled with a single howl, Du Wei became infuriated: ¡°God damn it! Aren¡¯t these guys famed for being brave and strong, why are they running at the first sight of us?!¡± Guptad grunted: ¡°My Lord, the blood running through these barbarians is as cunning as a wolf! They will only engage when the enemy is weak and retreat when the opposition is fiercer!¡± This time around, Guptad no longer waited for Du Wei¡¯s order as he blew out a whistle. At hismand, the 800 cavalry knights that came out with Du Wei all pulled out their scimitars and began charging forward at full speed. Flying through the terrain, thend was soon marred with prints of horses galloping at full speed while dusts of clouds followed in their wake. Out of Du Wei¡¯s expectation, the dozen or so enemy riders that were soon to be caught by his pursuing forces suddenly showcased a spectacr scene of horseback archery! These prairie people truly are a tribe that grew up behind the backs of a horse. With only a slight move of their body, they were easily able to draw their bow to begin their retaliation despite riding at high speed. ¡°Spread!!!¡± Guptad is the most experienced so he knew exactly what ising. Clutching the spear in his hand, he charged forward and forcefully threw it at the enemy! From the immense force of the throw, the spear looked like that of a shooting star by the friction created by the metal and air scraping together. Not even letting the prairie rider that was furthest in the back of the pack to react, the spear easily pierced through the leather coating and went straight through the poor guy¡¯s body. Sadly for the first victim, his death meant nothing in stopping the raw propelling force of Guptad¡¯s spear because within seconds, a second victim was soon killed and impaled to the ground by the spear! Yunn ~~~ In retaliation, a round of arrows came raining down from the air at the Tulip troops. Du Wei¡¯s forces did in fact try their best in dispersing to dodge the oing attack, but the prairie natives were truly skilled because each one of the arrows was aimed true to their target. Watching how the hundred or so spiked arrows were about to inflict heavy damage upon his men, Du Wei only led out a coldugh in response. Then without any indication, he flew out of the saddle and began chanting some sort of magic spell with his arms opened wide. Immediately, an invisible web rapidly spread out from his arm. Comprised of light and air, this web constructed out of Du Wei¡¯s own energy easily warded off the volley of arrows while in midair. Laughing aloud at his own doing, Du Wei only needed to slightly flick his arm to toss aside the hundred or so arrows to the ground. Watching how amazing their lord was, the Tulip troops were invigorated with fighting spirit while they cheered on with joy. In contrast to the heavy boost to Du Wei¡®s men, the prairie wolves were clearly shocked by this oue. Like a scared pack of animals, all of them tightly gripped their reins and began fleeing at rapid pace without any will to stay. Chapter 224 part 2 Chapter 224 ¡°First victory¡± (part two) ¡°Ziggy!!¡± While in the air, Du Wei suddenly bellowed out a cry: ¡°All Hogwarts students are to heed mymand! The target is in front, everyone, FIRE!¡± All 28 magic apprentices were originallygging behind everyone else, but when they heard the order from Du Wei, all 28 of them had their spirits livened up as they began their spell chant. Although these students still can¡¯t be considered a fully qualified magician, but a simple fireball is still within their means. With a single ¡°phoo¡± sound, countless ming balls of light appeared out of thin air. The spells evoked by these students can¡¯t be called magnificent by any means, but having suchrge numbers is still quite magnificent to behold! For reasons rted to Du Wei, this simplest form of a fire element spell is certainly the most practiced incantation within these students arsenal because even the ones that¡¯s not majoring in the fire element can easily conjure one up with ease. Like a dazzling firecracker, volley after volleys of fireballs descended upon the enemy without mercy! Seeing how disorganized the enemy is now, Guptad lets out a bellowingugh as he raised his sword: ¡°Separate into two wings and make sure none gets away!¡± As expected of a cavalry unit personally trained by Longbottom. Without any signs of misalignment, Du Wei¡¯s forces easily split into two groups and charged towards the opposition in a pincer attack. Knowing they could no longer escape, the 300 or so remaining prairie wolves revealed their ferocious side when they realized they were finally cornered. With a tugging turn of their horse, they were no longer fleeing; instead, they made a counter charge right at their pursuers for a final sh! Under the overwhelming battle cries of both forces, the leading riders in front were already colliding against each other with Du Wei¡¯s mening out on top! The prairie fighters may have been fierce in their final struggle, but the oue was decided from the beginning due to the sturdier metallic equipment worn by the soldiers of the empire. With a single charge by Du Wei¡¯s wave of cavalry troops, dozens or so of the prairie wolves were already knocked off their mounts from the impact. Despite already making the first sh, the leading Tulip troops showed no signs of slowing down; instead, they only called out for more as they charged forward even harder into the next wave of enemies. They knew they had the advantage, so with a few swings of their swords, countless enemy heads were flying across the air, which made the scene ever more gruesome!! Through it all, this mini 250 Guptad was always leading the way in the front; as a result, his sight quickly fell upon the corpse impaled with his spear. Letting out a joyousugh, he rushed over and pulled it out before charging right back into the heart of the enemy forces! This guy really deserves to be called a fierce warrior because even an ordinary spear can be a terrifying weapon in his hands. With each enemy pierced by his spear shrouded i Dou Qi, the unfortunate victim would always have their flesh vindictively explode upon impact. With blood staining his face and body, Guptad unsightly face is no different from a raging war god that strikes fear into his foes! Both wings of cavalry riders have now surrounded the prairie fighters in a tight encirclement. Like sharp knives, every swing of their des would always shred away a piece of the wolves flesh, leaving no room for retaliation. Approximately a tea pot¡¯s worth of time, the fighting finally came to an end to leave behind a mound of carcasses and the overwhelming scent of blood in the air. Right now, many of the Tulip cavalry knights have already dismounted, and one by one, they began to check the bodies of the enemy. For those that didn¡¯t die from their initial wound, these soldiers would quickly follow up with another stab to the vital spots to finish the deal. Covered in blood, Guptad had fought so hard even his spear had snapped in half, leaving only his nearly crippled scimitar in usable condition. Despite his gruesome appearance, his spirit was very good. He may have been the fiercest among all his peers, but that came at a price and that is a wound to his shoulder. Fortunately, Du Wei brought along the 28 magic apprentices. In no time at all, his wound was healed by a simple healing spell. Going over a simple head count, all 300 or so prairie riders have been finished off. While Du Wei had 4 seriously injured and 10 deaths on his side (These numbers excluded the ones that received minor injuries and was quickly healed up by the magic apprentices), but such results were already brilliant by any normal standard when it came to warfare. After Guptad made a victory report, he then ordered everyone to reorganize themselves. And all the while, our little Muse from the Lister Household was always in the back where he was well protected by the White Feather Knights. What is usually a handsome face on Muse is now reced with a ghastly paleplexion without any shades of blood. If not for his excessive pride, it¡¯s likely he would have already thrown up by now. Seeing this kid¡¯s reaction, Du Wei knit his brows hard and wanted to go up and say something, but then out of nowhere, a loud piercing cry came out from a soldier standing further behind him. Without any indication, one of the supposedly dead bodies on the ground had suddenly jumped back to life. Quick and fast, this deceitful person swung his de against the panicking soldier¡¯s neck. Du Wei¡¯s men may have been very well equipped, but this meant nothing in front of this sudden attacker. In mere seconds, a raining fountain of blood was spewing out of the now beheaded soldier¡¯s body as it slowly fell to the ground. The deceitful guy was obviously ready for this. After the initial strike, he only needed to make one long jump to make it to a nearby horse. Then with a hard kick to his newfound steed, this guy was able to smoothly break out of the encirclement and out of everyone¡¯s reach!! This sudden turn of event caught everyone off guard. When the closest Tulip soldier came back to reality and wanted to make chase for the enemy, the deceitful guy was already dozens of meters away. ¡°Damn it!!¡± Guptad was furious because he was already off his horse. Even if he were to mount his steed right away, there¡¯s no way he can catch up to the guy now. Knowing this, Guptad did the next best thing that came to his mind. Without any word, he grabbed a bow and arrow off one of the nearby Knights of the White Feather. Taking in a deep breath, he only needs to make a quick aim at the other person¡¯s back before letting the arrow fly! Woosh! ! Both urate and fast, this shot was magnificent; however, the prairie guy was even better. While still riding at high speed, he only needed to spin his body around to urately grab the arrow with his bare hands while it was still in midflight! Guptad may be angry at this oue, but he had to admit it: ¡°GOOD SKILL!!¡± Tossing the bow and quiver to the ground, he then picked up his spear and cast it out in one loud powerful throw. Unlike his first throw when the battle first began, this shot was even more rming. Filled with his fury, sparks of densely packed Dou Qi looked like it could break out of the spear¡¯s tip while it was grazing against the air! Despite the frightening attack aimed right at him, this prairie guy was in no hurry. Using the exact same arrow he stopped with his bare hand, he then pinpointed the spot where the spear is flying at and used the arrow head to brush against it when it came close. Using the momentum created by the recoil, he used his other hand to firmly take hold of the spear. Once in the clear, this guy rode another hundred or so meters away before shouting back at everyone in a loud cursing voice: ¡°Rnd pigs only know how to fight with more numbers! Thank you for the spear, HAHAHA!!¡± Hearing this, Guptad and all the Tulip knights were all fuming with anger, expecially Guptad because it looked like he could burst his lungs at any moment from how hard he was puffing. Not only did this prairie guy kill one of his subordinates in front of him, he also deflected his arrow and spear, if this is not a p in his face then nothing is. ¡°Humph, let me see you take another one then.¡± Du Wei suddenly coldly snorted. With the Nirvana¡¯s bow already drawn, he lets the arrow loose all the while standing upright on his steed¡­ ¡­ Whoosh! Before the guy even had time to react, a silvery arrow had already prated into his back and in moments, he copsed onto the ground! How powerful is the Nirvana¡¯s bow? Unlike an actual physical arrow, this shot is the result of a highly condensed form of energy created by Du Wei. Upon impact, the aftershock alone is enough to cause a flower of blood toe gushing out of the poor guy¡¯s back and send him flying to one side for over ten meters. Lying there on the ground without moving, this arrogant prairie wolf is now like a dead fish, unable to move even if he wanted to. Such power, anyone that witnessed Du Wei¡¯s shot was left aghast. ¡°Quit standing there.¡± Du Wei lowered the Nirvana¡¯s bow and lightly said, ¡°I didn¡¯t kill him ¡­ ¡­ Send someone to bring him back, humph!¡± At this moment, the Tulip troops suddenly erupted in thunderous cheers, particrly the 28 magic apprentices. How can they not when their beloved Dean shows off his might? Not very long after, two of the knights were already back with the guy in tow. Like before, Muse was still surrounded by his guardians, but this time around, his face looked somewhat stupor at what he was witnessing. From the worship like gazes aimed at Du Wei to the unflinching coldnessing out of Du Wei¡¯s eyes, all of this made Muse unable to exin the feeling that was growing inside of him¡­¡­ Chapter 225 Chapter 225 ¡°Target, Anglia City¡± Towards someone that had nearly caused the Tulip troops to lose their dignity, the soldiers would of course not be very kind in their manners. Dragging the guy back like a dead dog, this prairie warrior was then tossed in front of Du Wei. How powerful is Du Wei¡¯s single shot now? Although his level of control is already at the point where he can decide the power output at will, he still can¡¯t fully dictate the aftershock from the exploding energy upon impact. Therefore, the guy¡¯s back was unsightly to look from how gruesomely blood and mangled his flesh was. What should have been ayer of leather armor is nothing but seared remnants as blood continued to flow out of the wound. With a yellowish brown type of hair, different from the usual native color, this guy on the ground was already unconscious. In order to get a better look, two of the soldiers crudely flipped him over to expose the offenders face.. With a fierce look, Du Wei instinctively made an ¡°EHH??¡± sound. The reason for this is because the man¡¯s facial features were quite different from what he expected out of a native from the prairie desert. With a wide forehead and a high nose, these traits are clearly different from the usually narrow forehead and t nose he¡¯s seen thus far. This astonishing find was especially apparent in the guy¡¯s eyes. Although this person had his eyes closed, but from his face alone, Du Wei can tell the guy¡¯s lineage is not quite right. In addition, the guy¡¯s skin was much whiterpared to the usual yellowish tinge¡­. Of course, the most outstanding anomaly was his other characteristics: a short beard, thick lips, and the nose and ear piercings. Just when the two nearby soldiers wanted to kick the guy, Du Wei called out to them: ¡°Stop the bleeding from his wound, I want to question him.¡± Stunned by thismand, the two soldiers was of course not willing as they made a few grudging remarks; however, because it was a direct order from Du Wei, they can onlyply. Turning the guy around, the two soldiers removed the remaining leather armor strapped to the guy¡¯s body and somehow managed to stop the bleeding with some medicine. During all this, Muse was standing next to Du Wei so he was able to get a clear view of it all. Muse was already queasy to begin with, but the gruesome and bloody injury finally pushed him over the ledge. Crying out with his pale face, he then covered his mouth as he bent over to vomit. Giving this kid a discontented look, he coldly said: ¡°What are you afraid of! Listen up, in thisnd of the wolves; the more afraid you are of blood, the more afraid of death you are ¡­ ¡­ If so, you will die faster! Garbage!¡± When Du Wei rudely called out at Muse, he really didn¡¯t hold back. For the Lister knights standing nearby, none of these loyal followers were happy when their lord was being bashed at. Regardless of the angry resing his way, Du Wei turns his focus back to the person before him: ¡°Poor some cold water on his face and wake him up!¡± Ssh! Picking up a water skin, one of the soldiers began pouring the cold liquid atop of the guy¡¯s face. No surprise, when the man regained consciousness, the first reaction he had was to jump up. But who is Du Wei? Not giving the guy the chance, Du Wei urate raised a leg and stepped onto the guy¡¯s chest to force him back down: ¡°Don¡¯t move and don¡¯t struggle.¡± Nearly fainting at the immense pain, this guy amazingly managed to keep himself awake by sheer will. ¡°You are our prisoner now. Whatever I ask, you answer. If you resist or annoy me even once, I will remove a part from your body! Annoy me twice; I will remove a second piece! I will continue to do this until there¡¯s nothing left to cut, understand?¡± Upon hearing this, this person was filled with unruly arrogance as snorted. Like his prisoner, Du Wei did not say a word; instead, he spoke with action. Pulling out a sword, the man before Du Wei suddenly cried out in pain because he had just lost a pinkie finger on his left hand! Calm and cold, Du Wei spoke: ¡°You are a warrior, so you should know a pinkie finger would not affect your martial arts; nevertheless, what do you think would happen if I cut off your thumb? I believe I don¡¯t need to say more, right?¡± Letting a sh of bitterness cross his eyes, this man bit his lips as he replied: ¡°I¡­¡­ Understand!¡± ¡°Good, now tell me, where did your groupe from and where are you heading to.¡± Though Du Wei¡¯s smile was calm, but he was obviously giving off a dangerous vibe: ¡°You can¡¯t lie to me. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware of this already, but I¡¯m a magician, I have hundreds of methods to force to you to spill the truth, that¡¯s assuming I have to do that.¡± Sure enough, his words had the added effect. The guy originally wanted to spout nonsense, but when heard Du Wei¡¯s identity, a sh of frustration crossed his eyes. Coughing for a moment out of pain, he uttered his words in a low croaking voice: ¡°We are the royal court¡¯s Gold Wolf battalion.¡± While the guy said this, Guptad quickly followed up with an exnation from the side: The natives in the prairie follows tribalism, meaning the chief of the strongest and most powerful tribe can im themselves royalty. During the court hearings, this certain individual can then order other various tribes to mobilize their armies at his will. And without a doubt, the strongest and most elite warriors under the control of the royalty are the ¡°Gold Wolf¡± battalion. In general, the tribes living in the prairie ins will usually worship some kind of wolf or eagle for their deity god. For this reason, any entities that can carry the title with these names are extremely high in status. ording to their tradition, there are four generals directly under the royal family that controls their own respective army: gold wolf, silver wolf, gold eagle, and silver eagle. Compared to the empire¡¯s army ranking, these four are equivalent to an army head like General Rugaard of the Northwest Army. For the Gold Wolf battalion in question here, it¡¯s simr to a battalion that specializes in scouting and border patrol. Du Wei made a frowning hmm sound to indicate he heard all this. Inwardly, he was really impressed right now. For a mere scouting team, the guy in front of him can show such outstanding skills in horsemanship and take on multiple attacks without any problems! If not for the fact that his forces had superior numbers and a lot of magic apprentices to help , it¡¯s unlikely his men can overwhelm the opposition. Northwest prairie wolves, you really are amazing! ¡°Where did youe from and where are you going?¡± Du Wei asked again. ¡°From the lord of the great grasnd and master all masters, we¡¯vee at his order to search for something.¡± Gasping like he had trouble breathing: ¡°Our 300 member unit was heading south because it¡¯s said that the thing we are looking for likes to stay near the mountain¡­¡­.¡± ¡°Humph!¡± Without any exnation, Du Wei went down with his sword! Letting out a painful loud scream, the poor guy¡¯s left ring finger was chopped off by Du Wei¡¯s cruelty. ¡°Like I said, if you are not truthful, the one to suffer is only you!¡± Du Wei coldly reminded the guy: ¡°Since you are a part of the wolf battalion, then your group must only be a scout team dispersed from the main body. Speak, where is your main army!¡± Opening and closing his mouth back and forth, the guy seems be having trouble deciding whether to speak the truth. Seeing this, Du Wei gave a forceful stare: ¡°You already lost your pinkie and ring finger, do you want me to cripple your left hand entirely? Speak!!¡± As a reply, this guy suddenly shouted back with energy: ¡°Kill me; I¡¯m a son of the wolf god! By insulting me, the wolf god will punish you for this treachery!¡± ¡°PAYY!¡± Du Wei made a disgusted remark: ¡°What wolf god! You¡¯re a proper normal human being, yet you go and worship some animal god! I would love to see your wolf gode punish me. Even if he or she does show up, I¡¯ll turn that mutt into a fur coat!!!!¡± With that, Du Wei¡¯s sword is now threateningly aimed at the man¡¯s face: ¡°I¡¯m going to count three times. If by then you still don¡¯t speak, then I¡¯ll cut off your entire left hand. One¡­.. Two!¡± ¡°Stop, Stop!¡± The man suddenly eximed: ¡°I¡¯ll speak, I¡¯ll speak!¡± His eyes were filled with vicious poison as he bit his lips, ¡°Our Gold Wolf battalion is about 60 miles from here and their destination is Anglia City to the North!¡± When Du Wei heard this, he was immensely shocked: ¡°What?¡± Anglia city?¡± Since the man already popped the cork, he no longer had any reason to hold back. ¡°The Shaman King lost a very important magical beast and gave us 100 days to retrieve the damn thing¡­. Otherwise, the current prairie king can forget about keeping his throne. You people may not know this, but none in the grasnds can defy the Shaman King. As a result, our Prairie king made a deal with the Northwest Army and sent the Gold Wolf battalion out toplete this mission.¡± Both upset and angry, Du Wei questioned the guy some more: ¡°Why Anglia City?¡± ¡°We suspect the magic beast lost by our Shaman King was captured by your Duke Tulip. After careful consideration, we came to the conclusion that such an important creature wouldn¡¯t be kept in your capital. In addition, we received news that Anglia City was heavily fortified and is restricting ess to outsiders. Matching the time with when the Shaman King lost his pet and the time Anglia City was closed in, we believe it¡¯s highly likely the creature is hidden somewhere inside¡­.. Even if the creature isn¡¯t there, it¡¯s likely the Duke hid something very important inside. If we can somehow take control of whatever is inside, we can then use it to exchange for the Shaman King¡¯s pet. From rumors, there¡¯s only 3,000 soldiers stationed there, such number is definitely no match for the Gold Wolf battalion!¡± Chapter 226 Chapter 226 ¡°fight!¡± This mind-blowing news is not to be taken lightly because Anglia City is in fact Du Wei¡¯s lifeblood right now! Turning the now abandoned city into a closed off factory, all his secrets like the artificial mithril, gunpowder, and flying broom are all manufactured inside this ce¡­. Ignoring Gargamel, Seth, and Solskjaer that¡¯s currently inside the city ¨C his personal team of magic researchers ¨C there is also Knight Robert and his four thousand strong regiment that was left behind by Du Wei. If danger does arrive at their doorstep, Du Wei can already forget about relying on Seth and Solskjaer to defend the ce. As for the former mouse Prime Minister, Du Wei is well aware this white robed Gargamel is only at the sixth rank in strength. Let¡¯s face it, if it wasn¡¯t for the preservation of his rare transformation magic, there¡¯s no way the magic union would have given him the title of a eighth level mage. ¡°Your Gold Wolf Head General is personally leading the assault against Anglia City?¡± Du Wei takes in a deep breath after asking this. ¡°Yes.¡± This person reluctantly answers: ¡°General Gold Wolf head is a famed warrior of the royal court.¡± ¡°How many people did he bring with him?¡± What¡¯s most concerning is this point, and the answer he got is absolutely depressing! ¡°20,000.¡± This man was able to see through Du Wei¡¯s paleplexion so he followed up with another sentence to incite Du Wei even more: ¡°20,000 of the strongest warriors in the royal court.¡± Du Wei suddenly sneered at the guy¡¯s trick: ¡°You¡¯re trying to lie again? I know for a fact that you only have a total of 10.000 that sneaked into ournd!¡± ¡°That is only the first group.¡± The prairie man sneered back at Du Wei: ¡°The army head of the Northwest Brigade is a greedy and useless man. Our king only gave him some benefits and he easily let our vanguards through the Northwest Corridor. The job of us vanguards is only here to scout and harass the locals, and the second group is actually the main force led by General Gold Wolf Head himself.¡± Watching the guy¡¯s poisonous eyes, Du Wei was speechless to rebuke. After a while like this, Du Wei¡¯s lip suddenly curled into a grin: ¡°You¡¯re only a scout in the wolf brigade, how can you possibly know so much. Tell me, who exactly are you?¡± The prisoner¡¯s face immediately changed for the worst. Du Weiughed out: ¡°Just seeing the way you caught the arrow in midair earlier indicates your skills are far superior to that of a mere scout.¡± Realizing things are not going well, the guy¡¯s expression turned even more grave as he bit his tongue, refusing to say another word. Du Wei frowned as he gave this person a strange look over: ¡°Why are you still trying to hide your identity? Such important military secret already gave you away.¡± With that, Du Wei lifts his sword: ¡°If you don¡¯t speak up soon, I¡¯ll swing down with my sword! Think this over carefully; do you really want to lose your life over this?¡± Clearly struggling toe to a decision, the prisoner suddenly yelled out: ¡°I fear no death; I¡¯m just unwilling die like this without proving to those that looked down on me!¡± Du Wei made an ¡°Oh¡± sound as he retracted his sword: ¡°Talk, who exactly are you?¡± ¡°You ¡­ ¡­¡± When the prisoner¡¯s eyes came into contact with his, Du Wei realized the person below him that was giving him such an intense stare was not someone that should be stepped on by him like a ordinary captive. In fact, the impression he got right now was like a person that had just mistakenly stepped on a frog to only realize he had stepped on a snake! ¡°If I tell you, will you let me go?!¡± This person unyieldingly bites his lip: ¡°Will you let me leave? I won¡¯t go against you; I just want to return to the prairies!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hear it, but I won¡¯t make any guarantees.¡± Du Wei lightly utters this reply. Looking at how this guy was still hesitating, Du Wei smiles and began to push the guy over the edge: ¡°You are in no position to make demands because I¡¯m the winner and you are the loser. Think things over, if you don¡¯t speak, I will kill you. However, if you do talk, you still have the chance to live. I know you are a smart person, the choice shouldn¡¯t be hard to pick, right?¡± Another period of silence pursued. When Du Wei was about to lose his patients, this unruly man suddenly spoke up. Inwardly, Du Wei was thinking: This guy really is stubborn. Why is he still keeping his mouth shut when he already revealed such important military secrets? ¡°I ¡­ ¡­ My identity is the 13th son of the King of all kings.¡± Before the prisoner could even finish his sentence, Guptad that was standing nearby had alreadyughed out in mockery: ¡°Even if you want to lie, at least make up a better excuse. From what I know, the prairie king only has 12 children, so how can you be the 13th prince? Even the old gramps did get another son right now; you can¡¯t possibly be a newborn baby, right?¡± When the captive heard the insulting words from Guptad, the eyes from this guy suddenly became infuriated like that of a dying wolf in despair! ¡°Everything that I said is true!¡± The captive grits his teeth so hard that drops of blood began to drip down the corner of his lip. ¡°Guptad, don¡¯t say anymore and let him continue.¡± Du Wei suddenly came down with a thought. ¡°I don¡¯t have the status of a Prince.¡± The eyes of this person carried a sense of madness: ¡°Because I¡¯m just an offspring of a ve that can¡¯t be seen in public. My mother is a woman that was piged from the Rnd Empire and waster kept as a measly ve to sweep the king¡¯s tent. Although I have the king¡¯s lineage in my blood, but everyone just thinks of me as a dirty Rnd pig! They despise me! Humph¡­. But when have I ever respected them, they¡¯re nothing but a bunch of idiots! Only I, have the purest of the royal bloodline and not some dirty lineage of some lowly Rnd pug!!¡± Hearing all this, Guptad became infuriated with anger as he stepped forward to send a kick at this impudent guy¡¯s face: ¡°Son of bitch! How dare you insult the citizens of the Rnd Empire when your mother is one herself!!¡± ¡°Pehh!¡± This guy spits out the blood bleeding out of the corner of his mouth. With a unrelenting gaze, this prairie mutt looked at Guptad with knives in his eyes: ¡°I am a true descendant of the royal family! As for the ve woman that gave birth to me, she is nothing but a dirty ve! I¡¯m a child of the wolf god. Unlike the others, the wolf god only borrowed the body of that lowly ve to produce me! I¡¯m a purebred of the royal bloodline, not some disgusting Rnd pig!!¡± While this person said all this, his eyes betrayed a deep sense of pain and anger while his body numbingly trembled under Du Wei¡¯s feet. As for Guptad that was standing nearby, this mini 250 wanted to move up and beat the crap out of this insolent jerk that would insult his own mother. Knowing this, Du Wei only needed to casually pull Guptad away: ¡°He¡¯s only a madman that is overly obsessed with this parentage. Let him go on.¡± Du Wei says this to try to calm his subordinate. The captive looks up and grits his teeth: ¡°I was always the best! Whether it is horsemanship or martial skills, I was always above everyone else, but because of my lowly Rnd blood, I could never get any recognition. While my brothers all received their own tribes and nsman, I wasn¡¯t even given my own tent and must live with the other ves. When I finally grow up, I can only join the wolf brigade and climb from the very bottom!¡± Having said that, his eyes betray a hint of madness as he stared whole heartedly at Du Wei: ¡°You are the leader here! I¡¯m telling you all this because I want you all to know I¡¯m not afraid of death. I only want to go back to prove myself, I cannot die like this without doing anything!!¡± Du Wei was silent for a moment because he really wanted to chop this guy up immediately with a cleaver. For a guy that would even insult his own mother, Du Wei feels like he would even sully his own de by doing so. Slowly but surely, the once tight grip on his sword began to loosen. At this time, a sudden thought hit him in the head: ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Sdin!¡± Hearing this name, Du Wei gasps for air¡­.. Desert madman, Sdin¡­. The learning of this name really sent waves through Du Wei¡¯s heart. This guy has both skills and courage (this can all be seen from how he yed dead and stole a horse to flee), but above all else, his heart is already twisted to the core. Du Wei is a firm believer that personality decides destiny. If he let this guy that has the heart of an evil snake, a mind of a crafty jackal, and a personally of vile spider return to the prairie, this person will definitely rise to the top. But the question is: does he want to give this person the chance? Sdin ¡­ ¡­ Humph, this is also a famous name from his past life. Hesitating for a good while, Du Wei suddenly started to smile wickedly. Ah whatever.. ¡­ Since he had already created a Captain Jack Sparrow, a George Bush ¡­ ¡­ What difference does it make if he makes another infamous Sdin. (For those that don¡¯t know this name, you can check it out by Googling the name or for anyone that yed Age of Empire, it¡¯s the desert campaign guy.) Thinking of this, Du Wei¡¯s removes his foot that was stepping on top of this person¡¯s chest. ¡°Give him a horse, a knife, and a skin of fresh water.¡± Du Wei sent out thesemands to his men. Turning around, he then coldly made a littleugh at this Sdin: ¡°The opportunity is set before you, whether you can make it back to the grasnd alive is all up to you. Let¡¯s see if your so called wolf god will give you such blessings.¡± ¡°My Lord!!¡± Guptad loudly objects. Not waiting for Guptad to say anymore, Du Wei had already raised a hand to stop this mini 250 to go on. ¡°Listen up.¡± Du Wei thought for a moment and smiled yfully: ¡°I¡¯m quite interested in what you will achieve when you make it back to your grasnd home. In order to see that daye to fruition, I will ce a bet on you. When you need help, you cane to Lon City and contact me¡­. Remember my name, I am known as Duke Tulip!¡± With that, Du Wei pulls over Sdin¡¯s hand and casually stops the bleeding from his wounds. At the same time, he also secretly wrote a symbol in the palm of Sdin¡¯s hand. This symbol is obviously a Chinese character from his previous life. ¡°I¡¯ll give you another chance, when you need help in the future, you can send someone to Lon City to seek me out if you are unable toe in person. As for how much assistance I will provide, it will depend entirely on my mood at that time.¡± With that, Du Weiughs as he gently sent a kick to Sdin: ¡°Before I change my mind and decide to kill you, scat and move out of my sight!¡± Giving Du Wei a deep look, Sdin turns got up and walked towards the horse provided to him. Before leaving, this prairie madman gave Du Wei a deep bow and said: ¡°Duke Tulip, I will never forget your name! Whatever favor and humiliation you gave me today, I will be sure to repay everything I owe you in the future! Watching how much struggle it was for this guy to ride the horse to leave, Du Wei can only sigh at his own doing. ¡°My lord! Are you sure it¡¯s the right thing to do?¡± Guptad frowns as he watched the disappearing enemy that was far off into the distance: ¡°I have the sinking feeling this madman is a danger to us all. Why won¡¯t you let me kill him?¡± Du Wei nodded in agreement: ¡°Guptad, you¡¯re right, he¡¯s not only a madman, he¡¯s also a poisonous snake and a conniving wolf¡­. Nevertheless, he¡¯s a madman with abilities. Towards such a person, killing him is also a good solution, but then again.¡± After a pause, Du Wei¡¯s lip suddenly curled into a smirk like he was plotting something sinister: ¡°What if we let this spark that could turn into a raging ze back into grasnd? When he does explode, what image can you see inside your head?¡± Du Wei¡¯s smile was so chilling that even Guptad was shivering in disbelief. Subsequently, Du Wei pulls in his smile, in it¡¯s ce is a stern yet somber expression: ¡°All soldiers¡¯ attention, our next target is Anglia City!¡± With that, he gave Guptad a nce: ¡°Guptad, I have another task for you¡­.. Among everyone here, your martial arts are the strongest. Also, I have no other candidate that I could use here. I¡¯ll give you ten people and one day¡¯s worth of time. Remember, only one day! I don¡¯t care what methods you use, but you must locate the other three groups and have them charge towards Anglia City for rendezvous! I will wait for you there. Remember, my life is in your hands! If you don¡¯t arrive on time, you can be ready to collect my corpse by then!¡± Guptad became stern as he epted the order. Without falter in his actions, this mini 250 swiftly gathered the necessary people and rode away to carry out hismand. After Guptad¡¯s departure, Du Wei then mounts his steed to make his speech to everyone: ¡°Listen up everyone! Awaiting us in front are 20,000 prairie wolves! 20,000 elite Calvary riders! I Sir here will be leading you all here to meet those bastard wolves. I won¡¯t fool you, the chance of us dying from this encounter is extremely high, but even in death, I intend to drag those dead meats with me into the grave!! Is any of you afraid?!!!¡± ¡°No!!!!¡± The Tulip Cavalry all raised their sabers and began crying into the sky. Du Wei¡¯s face was stern with resolve as he turned to look at the Ziggy and the other magic apprentices: ¡°What about you guys, are you afraid?!¡± Leading all 28 magic apprentices, Ziggy and the rest gave Du Wei a deep respecting bow, their voices filled with excitement and emotion: ¡°Dean, since the day we stepped through the doorx of Hogwarts, we have already expected such scenes like today!¡± After their words, all of the students suddenly shouted out in unison. ¡°Those that only know how to climb can take the other road! Those that fear death must not enter!!!¡± Watching all of his subordinates before him, Du Wei suddenly tightened his reign as he screamed out: ¡°Onward!¡± Watching how organized his Tulips troops were marching, Du Wei looked up into the setting sky. Seeing the zing red horizon, a sense of unwavering courage flowed through every part of his body. Unable to stop himself, Du Wei suddenly had the urgency to curse out into the sky using chinese words: ¡°Fuck your MOM, only the eager will win!!!¡± ¡°What is the lord yelling about?¡± the troops were all looking at their prideful Duke, unsure what was going on. ¡°Who knows ¡­ ¡­ Perhaps some kind of magic spell?¡± One of the riders replied to the question. Chapter 227 part 1 Chapter 227 ¡°Breaking into the camp alone!¡± (Part one) Riding for one full night and day, Du Wei gave the order down that none is to rest. Such amand may be a bit cruel to the soldiers that had just went through a life or death battle, but the Tulip troops still carried it out without anyint. ¡°I know you¡¯re all very tire, but I¡¯m even more freaking tired!¡± Du Wei impolitely shouted this aloud so everyone can hear his voice: ¡°Unlike you guys that received intensive training for this type of hardship, I¡¯m only a frail mage. I¡¯m not afraid to tell you all this, but my butt and thighs are about to burst into mes from how painful they are. However, my brave warriors¡­. In front of us are 20,000 wolves ready to devour our brothers and ravage our sisters! We must insist and ride on!¡± Du Wei¡¯s powerful voice ranged through the ranks of every Tulip soldier. It must be mentioned his voice really did carry a lot of weight. After practicing the Star Dou Qi martial set for the past year, his body is no longer as weak as he once was. Also, he had secretly used a wind based spell on himself to make his body light as possible, thus reducing the burden on himself. The one that is truly suffering through all this is in fact Muse. Right now, this kid really wanted to cry out in pain because every fiber in his body was about to fall apart due to the excessive strain. However, Muse also knows that if he shows the slightest hint of weakness, this cruel Duke would not hesitate for even a second in tossing him aside. ¡°My Lord!¡± The scout furthest ahead pulled in his reign to retreat to the back of the pact for his report: ¡°Behind this hill is Anglia City!¡± ¡°Send the order down that all personal is to reduce speed!¡± Du Wei wipes his sweat filled forehead. So tiring¡­.. Though he did cheat by using a spell on himself and his steed, but the friction caused by the saddle is killing his crotch and thigh. It must be mentioned though that Du Wei really is blessed with good fortune. Despite the fact that the Gold Wolf General is personally leading his forces to assault Anglia City, there hasn¡¯t been any encounter with the other scouting teams along the way. Such an oue is more than weed because he¡¯s currently in a race against time. Before the enemy is able to block off Anglia City from any reinforcements, he must have his men enter the city for the impending battle. The hill before him now is small, or to be precise, it¡¯s merely a mound in thendscape. Having most of his men stay at the bottom, he and several of the soldiers dismounted and made their way to the top. Looking out from afar, Anglia City is right before his eyes! Filled with stars in the starry sky, the contour of the crumbling city is easy to make out. Although he did make some repairs to the wall, but it¡¯s merely a band aid job to keep the ves inside. If Du Wei had to bluntly describe the situation from a military standpoint, then Longbottom¡¯s description of this ce is perfect: ¡°he could easily overrun this ce with a single charge!¡± that¡¯s exactly what this 250 said. When Du Wei first climbed up the mound with some of his men, the first reaction they had was a deep gasp of shock. With Mount Kilimanjaro in the background, thend outside Anglia City is a vast stretch of openndscape! With more than 10 square miles of wastnd, the only exception was the gravel like brown bushes scattered across the ground. It can be said that there is no better ce for a force of cavalry riders to fight because thend has no obstacles to stop the charge. And now, the vast stretches of wastnd outside Anglia City are upied by the people of the prairie. Unlike the well-built base camp with walled fences of the empire, these prairie wolves only had tents erected in their camping ground. If Du Wei had to make a guess as to why this is so, it¡¯s likely because these people didn¡¯t have any supply wagons with them. Fortunately, the one relieving factor that eased his heart right now was the Tulip g flying atop of the rampart. The meaning behind this is simple, the city still hasn¡¯t fallen yet and Knight Robert is still inside! Showing a sh of hope in his eyes, Du Wei looks over to the other men by his side and said: ¡°It seems we have to find a way through the enemy camp.¡± From the looks of things, the prairie natives seem to have no intention of stopping their continuous assault. It¡¯s almost like they knew Anglia City didn¡¯t have enough man power to fully defend itself. Anglia City may have been the former capital of Desa Province, but the 4,000 men under Knight Robert is simply not enough to fully man the wall against 20,000 barbarians! Standing atop of the rampart, Robert¡¯s face was clouded with gloom as he peered down at the de wielding prairie wolves. These people were already here since this evening. Upon arrival, these bastards didn¡¯t even give any indication of their intent and made a premeditated raid against the city. Deadly and fast, it was clear to Robert they wanted to finish this as soon as possible regardless of the casualties. If it was any other general, the person in charge would have likely abandoned the ce long before the actual siege took ce. As to the reason why this loyal knight didn¡¯t give up was all due to Du Wei¡¯s words: ¡°Listen Robert, the factory in the city is everything I have! No harm cane to the things here. Remember, I¡¯m putting my lifeline in your hands!!¡± From his lord¡¯s firm grip, Robert can feel the importance of his responsibilities on his arm. In order to not disappoint the faith ced on him, Robert had always kept a vignt watch over everything, especially the defensive guards standing atop of the wall. When he found out one of the soldiers were dozing off on the job during one of his rounds, Robert had this poor bastard severelyshed in front of everyone. Witnessing such a scene, many of the soldiers were inwardlyining: ¡°why is he being so harsh when this city only has some ves and a workshop, it¡¯s not like anyone is going toe to such a remote ce when there¡¯s no valuables to take. Other than always forcing the soldiers to be on alert, Robert also took advantage of the city¡¯s greatest asset: stones!! Anglia City may not have anything of value, but it did have a lot of rocks. Despite theints, Robert had his men litter the wall with stones of certain sizes to be thrown over the ledge in time of need. Toward his over the top demands, it finally paid off on this day. During the prairie wolves first raid against the city, the soldiers were able to discover the attackers much sooner than what a normal watch could have usually done. In the first assault at noon, the prairie natives failed and had to leave behind 300 dead bodies in their retreat. On Knight Robert¡¯s side, he lost 200 people with 300 injured. In the absence of sufficient strength, Robert made a decisive decision and had the ves mobilized to defend the city. He didn¡¯t say much pretty words to persuade these ves, instead, he only aimed his de at the prairie natives down below: ¡°You see those people? They are the wolves of the prairie! If they make it in here then all of you will be killed! I assure you, they won¡¯t hold back! I¡¯m not asking you to help me defend this city, I¡¯m asking you to fight for your own survival.¡± Luckily, Du Wei had treated these ves well. Without much hassle or difficulty, these ves consciously picked up a weapon and joined in the fray. By the afternoon, the prairie natives hadunched another three assaults; fortunately, each attack was beaten off through thebined effort of soldier and ve. Nevertheless, the main problem was still ced in front of Robert: his mainbat force had already loss a total of 800 soldiers, almost one fourth of hisbat capability. As for the ves, their injuries and death are especially high due to theirck of equipment and armor. Taking advantage of the brief recess in the enemy¡¯s retreat, Robert gave the order to demolishrge numbers of abandoned houses to use their door and walls as shields. As nice as it was to have a brief period of relief from the continuous onught, the prairie natives seems to have no intent of letting Robert and his men recuperate. Detaching from the main body, two separate raiding parties were always attacking in rotation, leaving no time for Robert and his people to properly tend to their wounds. Looking down at the fearsome enemy, Knight Robert is starting to get worried. ¡°Is the gate sealed off properly?¡± He turns to look at one of his subordinate nearby. ¡°Yes it is my lord.¡± The person to reply is an officer ofmanding rank: ¡°We¡¯ve sealed off the gate with whatever rubble or rock we can find!¡± Sighing at the answer, Robert¡¯s face showed no sign of relief at the news because sealing off the gate is ast resort which he didn¡¯t want to do. Due to the natural terrain of the Northwest, most cities in this barrennd do not have a moat around the wall; therefore, the natives could easily charge right up to the fortification and begin their attack. One of the methods to breach a gate is to send a team of death squad ahead of the main force. Using a special type of iron hooked arrow, the natives could then lodge the arrow head into the gate and tie the rope to their mount. Using the pulling force of dozens of horses, no wooden gate would be able to withstand such a pulling force. During the first raid this afternoon, the other side did exactly just this and was able to breach the gate by ripping it apart from the hinges. At that time, Robert and a brave squad of full armored soldiers took to the front and stood their ground at the enemies charge. Through much effort and bloodshed, Robert and his brethren¡¯s did manage to repel the attackers, but as a consequence, his only heavy armored unit was lost during this skirmish. What¡¯s more, a horrifying scene containing a mountain of corpsey at the entrance, which was the real reason the enemy had to back off. After the crisis came to an end, Robert ignored the pain from his wounded arm and immediately gave the order to seal off the entrance! This way around, the city seems to be safe once again, but this also means that any hope for help from the outside is cut off. The reason is because even if reinforcement did arrive, Robert won¡¯t have a way to receive them into the city¡­¡­ Nevertheless, decisiveness is of upmost importance at the moment. If he had not blocked off the gate, the city might have already been lost by sunset. Under the illumination of the twinkling stars, a sharp blowing horn sound came from the tents erected by the natives. Hearing this familiar noise made by their own people, the riders that were constantly harassing Robert and his men suddenly turned back. ¡°What are they doing?¡± Robert frowns at the sight. Themanding officer nearby is a local of the Northwest. Thinking over the question, he looks up into the dark sky and said: ¡°My lord, it must be midnight. The prairie natives have a custom where they burn the corpses of their brethren at this time. In their minds, they believe midnight is the time where the soul of the dead ascends to the heavens. During this period, they will stop everything and focus on only that ¡­. I estimate we have about an hour before they resume their attack.¡± ¡°An hour?¡± Robert lets out a long relieving sigh: ¡°If so, we can finally rest for a bit.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so my lord!¡± Contrary to Robert¡¯s expression, themander had a look that was even worse than before: ¡°I think we have an even bigger problem on our hands!¡± ¡°Why?¡± Themander began to whisper his words, ¡°I went to the prairie before and my father even participated in the war 20 years ago. If these people are willing to go so far as to stop fighting in the middle of a battle, then there is only one exnation!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± The expression on this guy became very unpleasant like he didn¡¯t want to say the next part: ¡°Within their ranks is a SHAMAN!! Only a shaman is capable of sending off the soul of the dead. Like the magicians of the empire, these shamans wield powers beyond our imagination.¡± Robert could not say a single word. Turning to look at the tents down below, he could only smile bitterly at their situation: ¡°Magicians¡­. Shamans¡­.. GOD DAMMIT!! Why the hell did the shamans not attack us earlier with their main force this afternoon?¡± In return, themander shakes his head: ¡°My lord, my knowledge is notplete, but I¡¯ve heard the shamans are different from us because they follow their own set of strange rules. Unlike our magicians that can harm someone at will, Shamans will only retaliate under certain circumstances. This is especially true in times of war where they will only attack when the other side makes the first move. If a Shaman does kill someone without reason, it is perceived as a sin in their culture.¡± ¡°Strange rules¡­..¡± Robert¡¯s hand that was holding his sword tightens up a bit. ¡°My lord.¡± Themander suddenly made a pitifulugh. Though this guy is not handsome by any standard, but his eyes were carrying a sense of determination: ¡°I think by the break of dawn, the shaman will make his move¡­ Whether we can live to see the next sunset is questionable at this point, but I do want you to know it¡¯s been a great honor to serve by your side and die under the Tulip g!¡± Robert was silent for a long moment as he faced this usually quiet subordinate. Taking in a deep breath, Robert raises his own sword into the air and cried out in a loud voice: ¡°Everything is for the family!¡± ¡°For the family!¡± Thismander also drew his sword and gently tapped it against Robert¡¯s sword. Chapter 227 part 2 Chapter 227 ¡°Breaking into the camp alone!¡± (Part two) In the eyes of the defenders, this hour seems to be exceptionally long, but at the same time, it was also very short. Nevertheless, Robert knows that this time would likely be his end! Surrounded on all sides, he can¡¯t even send word to the young master of what is happening. From the camp of the prairie wolves, the sound of numerous horns began to blow out. To the people down below, this may have sounded like a mourning call to the dead, but to Robert and his men, this was like an orchestra of death! The reason is no other, once these people finish their ritual, they would undoubtedly begin their next assault. And this time¡­.. There will be Shamans in the uing battle! Finally, with the end of the ritual, Robert inherently puffed out his chest. Maybe it was because of his agitation, the wound on his arm and shoulder began to ache again. From below his bandaged arm, blotches of blood began to drench out again, thus making it very ufortable for the loyal knight. Ha! He¡¯s about to be a dead man already, why should he care anymore. Knight Robert can only bitterly sneer at himself. Resting the tip of his sword to the ledge, rays of killing and death beamed out of his eyes. With each buckling and nking,rge numbers of prairie riders marched out of their camp and filed into a somewhat orderly file. Then from the middle of the pack, dozens of bare-chested men carrying several huge stakes marched out of their ranks and began impaling their load into the ground. These human tall stakes were all stationed outside of Robert¡¯s reach. Unable to have his archers shoot the bastards, he became perplexed at their intent. But then the ensuing scene sent unbridled fury through every inch of Robert¡¯s body!!! Slowly but surely, the prairie natives started to carry outrge number of corpses from the back. With only a few nces, Robert could already make out these bodies were the corpses of his fallenrades. The reason these corpses are in the hands of these prairie wolves is because they had fallen off the wall after being shot by the enemy arrow or killed by the sword. Beside his own soldiers, there are also the ves!! Maybe it¡¯s due to theck of ore and metal in the prairie, but after gathering up the dead bodies, the prairie warriors quickly stripped the dead of their worldly possessions. Left with only their natural born birth clothes, every single one of the corpses were left naked with their former armor being crookedly worn by their murderers. Gathered up into a neat pile on the ground, one of the more bulkier looking native stepped out from the crowd and came right up to the corpses. Carrying a humongous curved de, this individual loudly said a few words before doing something unimaginable. From afar, Robert couldn¡¯t clearly hear what the guy was saying, but after the end of the speech, the rest of the prairie warriors all raised their own des and began crying out like wild animals. ¡°What are they trying to do?¡± Robert¡¯s face went dark at what is about to transpire. ¡°My lord! They just dered ¡­ ¡­ The massacring of the city!¡± The nearbymanding officer grits his teeth as he exined the next part. ¡°Massacring the city!?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± This officer suddenly punched the wall so hard that drops of blood were dripping off his fist: ¡°They¡­.. They are going to erect HEAD SPIKES!!¡± After his word, stream of tears leaked out the corner of his eyes. Not waiting for Robert to ask for more information, a loud booming roar came from the bulkier looking native. Like they had just received an order, the dozen or so bare chested natives all took out their butchering knives and began their job of decapitating the dead Tulip soldiers. Before long, isles of spiked bloodied heads wereid out before everyone¡¯s eyes! Such a move immediately sent fury and anger through all the soldiers up on the wall. If the gate wasn¡¯t already sealed, some of the Tulip soldiers would have likely rushed out to avenge their fallenrades!! It can¡¯t be helped. Even for the usually calm and self-controlled Robert, his eyes were bloodshot red with anger and due to the rage boiling inside; his somewhat handsome face be distorted. If not for the nearbymanding officer insistence to stop him, Robert might have already jumped down the wall to charge the enemy. ¡°My lord!!!!¡± The officer had veins popping in his eyes at this point: ¡°My lord! This is amon trick used by the prairie natives to lure the enemy out into the open! We mustn¡¯t fall for their scheme!!!!¡± Robert knew his subordinate was right. Letting out a frustrate roar at the people down below: ¡°Beasts! A group of wild beasts! If I get a chance, I will have you all turned into head spikes!!!!!¡± Like Robert, Du Wei was also watching everything from the distant hilltop. Using Eagle¡¯s eye, he was able to witness the entire thing unfold like he was next to the event. Though he didn¡¯t quite show the anger swelling inside but everyone nearby can tell their lord¡¯s body was trembling. Then when the part where the heads were finally impaled to the stake, an overwhelming chill erupted out of Du Wei¡¯s body. This was no magic, it was just pure hatred. ¡°My Lord ¡­ ¡­ You ¡­ ¡­¡± Ziggy (the leader of the magic apprentices) tried to speak. Turning his head, Du Wei looked over at this faithful student of his and said: ¡°It¡¯s a shame you couldn¡¯t see what just happened¡­. I really don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a misfortune or a fortune that you didn¡¯t.¡± With that, he forcefully calms himself: ¡°Gather up everyone, we will charge over!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t!!¡± Ziggy immediately objected. ¡°What did you say?!¡± Seeing the anger in Du Wei¡¯s eyes, Ziggy suddenly had a chill run through his neck: ¡°My lord, I was in the army for a while. In situations like these, the city garrison would usually seal the gate when they are vastly outnumbered! We are simply too few in numbers with only 800 riders to face off against 20,000 enemies. Whether we can pass through the enemy lines is one thing, it¡¯s another problem of making it inside the city. If we end up being trapped outside the city with the enemy well on our heels¡­¡­¡± Du Wei was silent for a good moment as he went over all the variables in his head. Without dy, he quickly came to a conclusion. ¡°Let¡¯s do this then, I will charge into the city alone. I¡¯m a magician; I can fly through the air and make it inside¡­..¡± Not letting Du Wei finish, Ziggy already wanted to object to this proposal; however, this kid was silenced with the murdering gaze from his lord: ¡°Ziggy, this ce is too close to the enemy camp so have them gain some distance, about two mile should do. By the break of dawn, Guptad should be here with reinforcements¡­.. When I give the signal atop of the gate¡­. You and everyone are to charge out at the enemy, understand?!¡± Hearing his orders, Ziggy still wanted to speak despite the consequences: ¡°But my lord, you are only one person¡­¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m asking do you understand!!¡± Du Wei suddenly cried out this sentence, his eyes tightly aimed at Ziggy: ¡°I¡¯m the Duke, all decisions are made by me, now obey!!¡± ¡°My lord, you are the leader, the Duke, but¡­.!¡± Ziggy continues to try. ¡°Ziggy, remember my words.¡± Du Wei takes in a deep breath before saying his next words very clearly: ¡°There are things one cannot do¡­.. But there are also some things one must do!!¡± Just as the barbaric prairie wolves were celebrating under the gruesome presence of the heads spiked, a dark gloomy cloud was quietly drifting over their heads without anyone¡¯s notice. Suddenly, a loud boom like a thunder¡¯s strike came down from their backs. BANG!!! With a loud explosive sound, the sky above their heads released a burst of thundering strikes, allnding right at the heart of the native¡¯s camp. In a sh, many of the tents sumbed to the rapidly spreading fire with numerous casualties caught in the ze. Riding on his brave steed, Du Wei stood alone as he charged at the enemy camp of 20,000! Just now, the thunder magic he used is the highest fifth ranked spell of that element in his possession. If not for the magic ring on his finger which he can tap into for replenishment, Du Wei would have already been drained by his little stunt. In the midst of the burning mes, many of the prairie wolves were already aware of the sudden intruder. Not needing any orders, dozens or so of the riders had already let their arrows loose in an attempt to kill the solo rider. Facing the shower of arrowsing his way, Du Wei did not want to take any risk. With one hard tap of his feet against the saddle, his entire body was already high up in the air. With his arms opened wide, he began to chant his next range of spells. Wrapped in a silvery glow, his open arms looked like he could embrace the entire sky itself! As the pressuring dark clouds moved in under his guidance, bolts after bolts of lightning began to spark around the looming mass. ¡°Die!!¡± With one point of his finger, another bolt of lightning came hammering down at the thickest crowd down below. In mere seconds, mes began embroiling the entire terrain!! As if he was the very incarnate of the thunder god, Du Wei¡¯s musical hand seems to have the mystical power to control nature itself. So long as he wills it, bolts of lightning will continue to rain down at the enemy on the ground; this was the very impression the prairie wolves had of him. Mixed in with the loud bangs, there would always be the screaming cries of pain and panic; What¡¯s more, mounds of burnt corpses would always lie in the lightning¡¯s wake. After sending 10 consecutive strikes down to the enemy, a two meter ravine was sted out of the t terrain by sheer force that went dozens of meters deep. For those that were lucky enough to survive Du Wei¡¯s punishing assault, just seeing the aftermath of what he did sent shivers down their spines. As expected of a fifth ranked thunder strike spell. Thanks to Du Wei¡¯s five colored magic ring, he was able to release such an intensive blow in one single go! Nevertheless, such a stunt hadpletely drained the ring¡¯s magic reserve he had so painstakingly built up. Under normal circumstances, Du Wei knows he would have already be a mummy by now from over exhausting himself. Giving a quick scan of his effort, Du Wei believes the casualties should be no less than a thousand people. Satisfied with the result, he began heading straight for Anglia City¡¯s wall after drawing out thest remnant of energy from his ring. Both angry and surprised by the sudden turn of events, many tried drawing their bow in an effort to shoot Du Wei out of the air. However, due to how high he was and the recoiling air blowing off his body, no arrow could evene close before being knocked off course. Just as things looked like nothing could stop Du Wei at this point, a strange voice suddenly echoed out from one of tents on the ground. The way this voice sounded was almost like how a mage sounded while chanting a spell, but it was exceptionally slow and piercing. When the voice reached Du Wei, his mind inherently became upset. Realizing this, Du Wei became shocked because out of nowhere, a huge blood-red g suddenly appeared before his eyes. Panning dozens of meters wide, the symbol of a red skull is clearly imprinted on this thing. A Blood Red Skull g? Hard pressing his body to a halt, Du Wei was barely able to stop himself from crashing into this weird g. Following a fragile intermittent sound, the strange voice seems to be able to pierce right into Du Wei¡¯s eardrum without any way for him to defend himself. ¡°May I know which Magician of the Rnd Empire made his presence today?!¡± Before the sound could even die down, a white robed old man charged right out from the ground and came up to the same height as Du Wei in the air. With long grey hair, most of his face could not be seen, but Du Wei can make out one feature, this guy¡¯s skin was way too pale. Like this, this person is casually floating atop of the blood red g. Matching the red with the paleness of this old man, it almost gave off the vibe that this person is a ghost! ¡°I¡¯m his grace¡¯s direct subordinate, Ivory Teeth shaman. Dear Rnd magician, please state your name!¡± State my name? ¡°Your MOM!¡± This is the only reply Du Wei gave. Chapter 228 Chapter 228 ¡°Surprise attack¡± Since Du Wei is already infuriated with these prairie natives, he would of course not be in any mood to answer this Ivory Teeth Shaman¡¯s question. Name? What¡¯s the point of being so fancy? Just get to the point and fight!! After leaving the Shaman bbergasted with his Chinese swearing, Du Wei took the initiative and made the first move. Respected by all in the prairie and a white robe shaman directly under the Shaman King, his strength is undeniable to all his peers. Moreover, this Ivory Teeth Shaman is also a well learned schr in all sorts of fields like: astronomy, geography, and medicine. However, no matter how upright and knowledgeable this schr is, Du Wei¡¯s ¡°Your MOM¡± ¨C spoken in Chinese ¨C is something he simply cannot understand. Just as this old man was thinking the name was very strange, Du Wei alreadyunched a hail of fireballs directly at him. Looking at the distance between the two, the gap can neither be called far nor close; therefore, is the only way Du Wei can sneak a strike into this hateful guy after exhausting his magic earlier to use the only trick left in his sleeve: GUNPOWDER! Not saying a single incantation, Du Wei only needed to raise both hands to release dozens of fireballs in rapid session. By the time this white robe Shaman realized what was happening, the assault was already in his face: ¡°Despicable!¡± This was all he could cry out in such short notice. With that, this old man hastily waves his sleeves and began to slide behind the red skull g under his feet. Nevertheless, this despicable move of Du Wei¡¯s is not so easily denied! The fireballs may seem simple at first but that¡¯s not the case. Some are slower, some are faster, some will change trajectory midway, and some will explode upon colliding with another. So many changing variables isn¡¯t something easy to foresee. Wave after wave, hundreds of fireballs has already surrounded the Ivory Teeth Shaman from all direction like fireflies in a wheat field¡­.. POW! With a single flick of his finger, one of the floating fireballs suddenly exploded. First is a mini explosion. Then like a domino effect, the rest of the ming balls all exploded in session to create a terrifying st that soon enveloped the entire vicinity near the Shaman. BOOMMM!!! If time were to be slowed down at this moment, the onlookers would be able to see that the first ming ball to explode is the one next to the Shaman¡¯s left rib. From the recoiling st, several other fireballs soon followed suit and from it, several strange ming chains appeared to tightly bound the Shaman on the spot. No matter how he struggled during that brief period, the poor Shaman just couldn¡¯t break free! This move was created following the event where he had to face off against Green Robed Gandalf. After digging deeper and deeper in what he can do, he was soon able toe up with a myriad of changes by using some simple skills he had from his previous life¡­.. Since Du Wei is from the 20th century, his favorite childhood game was tossing marbles during lunch hours. As anyone that yed the game, it takes quite the skill to toss the marble to the proper spot, right? With the sky lit aze, this white robed Shaman was instantly engulfed in mes. Quivering with rage over his own folly, this White Robe Shaman never once thought Du Wei would be so despicable. Unlike this kid, he is someone that participated in the war 20 years ago and had even crossed paths with numerous white robed wizards of the Rnd Empire. Compared to those people from the past, this kid doesn¡¯t have a single hint of a master¡¯s style! Fortunately any Shaman that came down from the snowy mountain ¨C especially someone like him a white Robed Shaman ¨C would have a lifesaving treasure on hand. With a single thought, the beaded ne that was hanging off his neck instantly turned dark, and from it, a ck cloud of air came gushing out of it to cover his entire body¡­. Nevertheless, the old man¡¯s attempt was still a tad toote. Mainly because of how vile Du Wei¡¯s sneak attack was, the mes were able burn some important parts of his old body before the ck cloud could fend it off. Although the ck smoke did form a transparent barrier to disperse the mes, but when it was all over, this old man was in so much pain that he nearly fell out of the sky right then and there. Not only was his right armpletely blown apart, the flesh on both his elbows were incinerated to the point where even the white skeletal bones underneath could be seen. Aside from the charred remnants of his white robe, many other parts of his body received certain levels of burns that left it hard to look at without wanting to puke. Both angry and afraid, Ivory Teeth Shaman kept questioning his own sanity at this moment. He was under the assumption a magician must say the incantation aloud in order to manifest a spell, yet this kid not only didn¡¯t say a single word when casting, he even started a fight without any forewarning. Since he seeded once, Du Wei became even more confident. Following his own ¡°Kick you while you are down¡± logic, Du Wei pulled out two bottles from his robe and uncapped it. Unlike the previous fire element, he is using a water based spell this time to pull out the green liquid inside the bottles¡­.. And what is this green liquid? It is the corrosive mucus he saved from the corpse eating monster he yed back in the frozen forest. Compared to a concentrated dose of sulfuric acid, this corrosive mucus is even more powerful because in one of the experiments he did back in hisb, a single drop of this stuff could even burn a hole right through a standard military armor! Seeing how Ivory Teeth¡¯s figure was starting to emerge from the exploding lights, Du Wei couldn¡¯t afford to overthink this. In one single swing of his hand, the liquid was sent flying towards the intended target. Poor Ivory Teeth, he was already a mess to begin with after being attacked in such an unexpected fashion; therefore, when he wanted to retaliate, the first thing to wee his sight was some mysterious green liquid. From the foul smell alone, he can already tell this stuff is not something good!! Without dallying about, he already had his body dodge to the side. Nevertheless, he was still toote like before. Though his main body was fine in the end, the green ooze still managed to cling onto his right arm¡¯s elbow. Although the pain alone from this repulsive liquid is enough to cause a regr person to faint away, but Ivory Teeth still managed to pull through because he knew that once this is all over, he can return to the snowy mountain and have his flesh regrown and reshaped using the secret arts of his people. However ¡­ ¡­ Just when he thought everything would be alright, a strange and unexpected ¡°buzzing¡± sound suddenly came from his elbow that caused his heart to skip a beat. Finding his eyes turning dark at that moment, Ivory Teeth didn¡¯t need to think anymore and simply bit down on his tongue. With blood spraying out of his mouth, his sight immediately turned to where the green slime was on his elbow. What he saw next is the scene of his flesh and bone rapidly melting away like an ice cube dunked in a cup of hot water! The shock this time around is no joke. Ivory Teeth may be able to regrow his flesh after expending some efforts, but if the bone in his right arm is gone too then he really will be a cripple. What¡¯s worse, not only did the slime eat away at his right arm¡¯s wound, the effects of the green ooze seems to be trending upwards towards his chest. Gnawing his teeth with unimaginable hate, Ivory Teeth really wanted to ignore everything and get vengeance at the kid before him; however, reason still got the better of this old Shaman. Without any doubt or hesitation, Ivory Teeth used his left hand to reach up to his right shoulder and with a single hard tug; he actually forcibly ripped his right arm entirely off¡­¡­. Grnack!! Under the crisp sound of bones breaking apart, a spray of blood rained down from the sky! While this Shaman known as Ivory Teeth is suffering from immense pain, Du Wei instead had a grinning face of sess. Taking the window of opportunity he created, Du Wei already had his sword drawn and was charging it right at the opposition. Since Du Wei already seeded twice, there¡¯s no reason he shouldn¡¯t keep going right? In fact, it wouldn¡¯t even make sense if he stopped now. He may have no prior experience in fighting a Shaman before but based on his impression thus far, these shamans shouldn¡¯t be much different from the magicians of the empire in terms of martial skills. Using the mithril dagger he got from the Lister Family, Du Wei intends to end it all with this thrust to the Shaman¡¯s heart. Ivory teeth may be heavily injured, but his mind is still clear. Seeing how Du Wei was charging at him with a de in hand, this old guy can already guess the kid¡¯s intent. Inwardly, Ivory Teeth was already filled with absolute hatred towards Du Wei. Not only did the kid sneak so many attacks against him, his right arm is even crippled for good. Even if he does make it back to the snowy mountain and heal his body, Ivory Teeth knows full well his strength will have to take a major blow due to his right arm¡¯s loss. Thinking of this, Ivory Teeth suddenly screamed: ¡°Despicable Rnd men, die!!¡± Grinning from corner to corner, this old guy not only didn¡¯t move back at Du Wei¡¯s charging dagger, he even moved forward to tightly grip onto Du Wei¡¯s body. Poof! Du Wei¡¯s dagger may have managed to pierce into Ivory Teeth¡¯s chest, but due to the rib cage¡¯s interference, the dagger somehow managed to lodge itself into one of the rib bones halfway in. Instead of letting out a painful cry like one should in these situations, Ivory Teeth only snickered a maddeningugh. In Du Wei¡¯s mind, he knew something bad is about to happen if he leaves things be. Moreover, this old guy even sprayed his face with a mouthful of blood that left him worrying about its properties. If it was anything like his green ooze¡­¡­ Just thinking up to here is sending him into a frantic state. Nevertheless, try as he may like, Du Wei just couldn¡¯t get this annoying old man off his body. It was at this moment what he feared the most began to take ce! Unlike the weight of a regr old man, Du Wei suddenly found this Ivory Teeth to be exceptionally heavy. At first he only thought this guy didn¡¯t fit his size, but it didn¡¯t take long for Du Wei to find something was amiss here because the word ¡°heavy¡± doesn¡¯t do this thin old man justice. If he had to find a word to describe this, it would be a mountain!! Though he didn¡¯t know the exact weight, but it only took one ¡°phew¡± sound to reach his ears to make Du Wei realize he and Ivory Teeth is falling towards the ground at high speed. Again and again Du Wei increased the power of his flight spell, but try as he may; it made no difference in their trajectory. At this point, Du Wei finally started to panic¡­¡­ ¡°This jerk, how heavy is he really? 1000 pound? 10,000 pound? Falling from such high altitude, even if I don¡¯t die, it¡¯s certain to cripple him!¡± Not good, old sir here is heading to the grave today! Just as this thought shed across Du Wei¡¯s mind, a warm hand suddenly began pulling against his waist. Looking down, the first thing that came into Du Wei¡¯s sight was a flutter of silver hair. Seeing this familiar scene, Du Wei inherently made a curse: ¡°Semel, you damn woman! Why the hell did you note out sooner! You just have to wait till I¡¯m about to die here!¡± Semel was already holding onto Du Wei¡¯s back with all her might. With her hair and red robe fluttering in the wind, she could only utter these words with a serious face: ¡±Stupid boy, shut up already¡­ ¡­ I ¡­ ¡­ I can¡¯t keep this up any longer. This guy is too heavy!!¡± Chapter 229 part 1 Chapter 229 ¡°Semel¡¯s real body¡± (part 1) Like this, the trio continued to drop out of the sky. Despite the constant struggle made by Du Wei and Semel, the two simply couldn¡¯t stop this Ivory Teeth Shaman. Knowing this, the duo was even more terrified by their situation. The spell from this shaman really is scary! What Du Wei didn¡¯t know is that this shamanistic spell used by Ivory Teeth allows him to call upon the nearby earth spirits toe to his aid. Once gathered, the body of the caster would then take on the properties of a whole mountain, so how can he not be heavy? Even for Semel, her usually crisp and delicate voice took a turn for the worse when she shouted out aloud: ¡°I got an idea!!¡± With a silvery glow in her eyes, Semel somehow managed to change the direction in where the trio was supposed to hit to a spot where arge haystack was located ¨C likely left in the enemy camp to feed the horses. With a loud thud, the trionded into the pile of straws like a meteorite smashing through the atmosphere. For Du Wei, this impact could only be called earthshattering because the first thing he noticed was the crackling sound running through his entire body. Who knows how many bones he broke in this fall¡­.. On the other hand, Ivory Teeth continues to tightly grip onto Du Wei¡¯s body like an iron mp, refusing to let go for dare life. Who knows where Du Wei got the sudden surge of strength. Instead of moaning out in pain, the first reaction he got was to pull the dagger out from the Shaman¡¯s chest and aim it straight towards the person¡¯s neck¡­.. soooosss!! With the dagger pierced into that frail flesh, a rain of blood sshed onto Du Wei¡¯s face. Knowing his end is here, Ivory Teeth had his eyes pinned onto Du Wei¡¯s and said this in his dying breath: ¡°You will die under the blood skull g!¡± With that, all life left Ivory Teeth¡¯s body to leave behind only a hateful grin. Noticing the burden above his body was starting to lighten up, Du Wei mustered up thest of his strength to push the load off of himself. Feeling the sharp pain that followed, Du Wei can already specte several of his bones were broken. Then abruptly, everything in the surroundings changed to a crimson red like he was in a sea of blood! And within this sea of red, a pair of dark wide eyes was floating there across from his sight which was filled with the vor of the person whom summoned it¡­¡­ After being stunned for a second, Du Wei immediately regained his thoughts because the image before him is clearly the blood skull g!! Even before death, this bastard just had to release the blood skull g to trap him and Semel inside it. Du Wei would of course understand the danger this g posed and sure enough, he immediately sensed the pressure that came with it on his body. He originally wanted to stab his dagger into this annoying g, but when he did try this little stunt, a sensation like an electric shock ran through his hand from the dagger¡¯s handle upon impact. Quickly letting the dagger go to protect his precious hand, Du Wei found that he did seed in stabbing his intended target, but in the end, his efforts did nothing to change the problem at hand. Melting away like cheese, the mithril dagger known to be exceptionally durable was quickly integrated into the blood skull g and leaving behind in its wake is Du Wei¡¯s somewhat charred hand. Right now, Du Wei as a whole was covered from top to bottom in this blood skull g. Knowing this, Du Wei began to curse: ¡°Fuck, what the hell is this ursed thing?!¡± ¡°Blood skull g.¡± Semel was also standing up now, and due to the limited room in this enclosure, Semel¡¯s body was up tight against Du Wei¡¯s. Flicking up a brow, Du Wei cried out: ¡°Quit it with the useless words, of course I know it¡¯s the blood skull g, but what exactly is this thing¡­¡­.¡± Speaking up to this point, a light fragrance suddenly wafted into his nose that caused Du Wei to jump out in realization. Giving Semel a weird nce, Du Wei is certain this smell wasing off from this woman. Then adding in the scene from earlier where Semel used her hands to help push his body in midair, he can onlye to one conclusion: ¡°You¡­.. You have a body?! You have a body now?!¡± This shock is no small thing because Semel was originally a magic creature that had no physical form. Yet, she not only has a physical body now, there¡¯s even a sweet fragranceing off from her?! Semel coldly looks at Du Wei like she was looking at a fool: ¡°You think this is the time to discuss such a thing?¡± Listening to Semel¡¯s tone, Du Wei suddenly had his emotions sink because her voice was very strange. The truth is that ever since he came into the possession of this magic creature, there had always been many many secrets surrounding this woman. At the beginning she was only an illusion that could teach him star magic and would sometimes tease him with those pair of legs of hers. However, with the passage of time, she abruptly revealed her magical powers in the frozen forest and even managed to duke it out with Hussein for a good while¡­..Such a task is not something a mere illusion can pull off. And it is exactly from that point on where things started to change. Though she would alwayse out in the critical moments to save him, but once it was over, she would forget the whole ordeal and would even make him describe the entire story to her. Thenter when she met Gandalf (the white one), her personalitypletely changed. Not only did she stop responding to his calls, the number of times she appeared before him nearly went to nil. It was as if the air surrounding this magic creature was starting to slowly change into the real Semel recorded in history. As for the magic illusion that would sh those pair of legs before his eyes, she was starting to fade away like she was being overshadowed by the new Semel¡­¡­ At this moment, Semel¡¯s face was serious and her eyes carried a sense of majesty that left Du Wei somewhat displeased by how he was being looked at. Giving this woman a deep nce, Du Wei thought: ¡°she couldn¡¯t really have be the same Semel recorded in history, right?¡± However, this moment is not the time to ponder over these issues because the blood skull g was starting to tighten up around the two. It was clear Ivory Teeth had used his dying breath to amplify the blood skull g to a bigger size. With the death of the caster, this ominous g began to shrink again and tighten its grip¡­¡­ ¡°So hot!¡± Du Wei frowns: ¡°The inside here is starting to get searing hot!¡± Grunting, Semel suddenly floated up to grab at the g. From the palm of her hand, an obviousyer of transparent ice had formed to counteract the heat; however, the attempt was for naught. With a thinyer of white smoke, Du Wei can only hear the painful cry of Semel before finding her retreating in haste. Then with another nce, theyer of ice had already melted away without any sign of it ever being there. ¡°This thing wouldn¡¯t really melt both of us in here, right?¡± Du Wei smiles wryly at his own words. ¡°I think this thing is simr to the empire¡¯s death magic. Like how a dark mage would use a dark crystal ball to absorb the souls of the dead, this g might be trying to absorb us like that too.¡± Semel¡¯s expression was dark and gloomy: ¡°Do you have any means to break it? Try your thunder strike spell.¡± Du Wei bitterly smiled: ¡°Sister, look at where you are standing! There¡¯s not a cloud in sight, how do you expect me to call down a lightning strike?¡± Little by little, the g continues to encroach against its prey. Seeing this, Semel suddenly took a step back. With her arms open wide, she wrapped her body around Du Wei¡¯s to shield him from danger. ¡°You!¡± ¡°I what!¡± Semel looked cold: ¡°I¡¯m a magic creature and this body was only created by me for this situation. As long as you live, I live!¡± Letting out a long breath, Du Wei suddenly found his back being pushed at by two soft mounds. Noticing his body was having a reaction; Du Wei had to keep reminding himself that this woman is the Rowling House¡¯s ancestor so stop having such wild thoughts!! Though he was thinking this, he still couldn¡¯t stop himself from gazing back at Semel. When his sight met with the woman behind him, the first reaction he got from her was a wide stare and an angry bashing: ¡°You¡­.. What the hell are you fantasizing?¡± Hearing this, Du Wei only then remembered this woman can read every inch of his thoughts, including the perverted ones he just imagined! Chapter 229 part 2 Chapter 229 ¡°Semel¡¯s real body¡± (part 2) With one strong wake up call, Semel¡¯s body began to gradually show signs of weakening. Surprised by this, Du Wei inherently looked towards her back where it was touching the crimson g and saw that it was fading into transparency. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. As long as you don¡¯t die, I won¡¯t die¡­.. It¡¯s just that this body I so painstakingly created will be useless so soon¡­.. Hurry and take out that bow of yours and shoot this damn thing!¡± She urged him in a hurry. After a pause, Semel then suddenly curled her lips into a smile: ¡°Boy, you better not have any more funny thoughts like just now when I show up in the future, otherwise, I will break those legs of yours!¡± With that, her body finally dissipated into nothingness after shattering into numerous glitters of light. As for what¡¯s happening outside in the enemy camp, these brutish savages were all rejoicing with great pride. Earlier when Du Wei single handedly charged into their ranks and decimated theirpanions with the lightning strikes over their heads, these natives were already infuriated by this. Then just when they thought the lone attacker would get away from their hands, their own white robed Shaman finally took action and flew into the air to stop the assant. Towards these prairie natives, a Shaman¡¯s status is not only mysterious and powerful, they symbolize hope. Now that the very figure which represented all this decided to make his move, these natives would of course believe the assant is doomed for sure! Nevertheless, the situation quickly took a turn for the worse. Not even a few rounds had passed; Ivory Teeth was already finished off by Du Wei. One really has to pity this old guy. If it was just aparison of strength between Du Wei and Ivory teeth, Du Wei would without a doubt be no match for this old Shaman. It¡¯s just that Du Wei¡¯s ability to pull off sneak attacks is simply too extraordinary. Even during the fight with Gandalf in the capital, Du Wei still managed to almoste out on top so how can this Ivory Teeth not suffer at his hands? Seeing their own Shaman and the enemy falling to the ground together, the prairie natives immediately swarmed to their location. But unlike the victorious scene they had so hoped for, these natives only saw the crimson g covering the two. Falling into disarray, the native army was only able to suppress the chaotic situation thanks to their leader¡¯s might. ¡°Scatter! Scatter!! Surround the Blood Skull g!!! Don¡¯t let that guy get away!!! No one will be able to flee from the Blood Skull g!!!!¡± Under this order, the prairie natives fanned out to form an enormous circle with the g in the middle. Riding a ck steed, this dominating figure of the native army is not only majestic looking in the way he held his head high, he even wore an armor that was extremely rare even in the Rnd Empire: an armor made of pure gold!! Due to theck of mineral deposits in the grasnd, the majority of the natives could only wear some form of leather armor, thus making their defense very weak. To be able to wear a full set of metallic armor, they can only be of senior general rank or higher. Therefore, one can only imagine how high this person really is when his armor is made out of pure gold. Needless to say, this person in question with his signature gold wolf helmet is the leading general of this attack ¨C Gold Wolf Head General of the royal court! ¡°Surround the blood skull g! He won¡¯t get away! Cut the bastard¡¯s head up and turn him into a spiked skull!!!¡± Gold Wolf Head General¡¯s roar was like a wild animal. In mere moments, all the native soldiers were obeying his orders without any sign of confusion or panic in their ranks. As such, when they saw how the blood skull g was shrinking in size, these barbarians were all grinning with contempt because in their eyes, none will be able to escape the deathly grip of the crimson g, even if the person in question is a magician of the Rnd Empire! However, just when Gold Wolf General thought all will end as predicted, his smile suddenly petrified like something unimaginable just happened. Instead of continuing to shrink in size, the blood skull g covering Du Wei suddenly began to swell up like a hot air balloon. In no time at all, the size became sorge that the nearby natives instinctively took a step back from where they stood¡­¡­ Beating like their hearts were about to explode, every native at that moment was thinking: Can it be this magician of the Rnd Empire¡­¡­. Just when they wanted to doubt this idea, a loud yet clear noise inside the crimson gpletely shattered any fantasy these natives still had lingering in their minds. BANG!!! In the very next moment, a subtle gold light almost the size of a needle prated out of the rapidly expanding balloon! Like the sun¡¯s ray, this light soared into the sky and continued to go at a speed like it could pierce the very heavens itself. Then almost immediately, a series of cracks began to form around the small needle hole on the g¡­¡­ With an ear piercing boom, the balloon like g finally shattered into hundreds of pieces! For those unfortunate enough to be too close to the source, they were sent flying out of the crowd from the violent aftershock of the explosion. Once the wave finally dissipated and the smoke cleared, the only figure left standing at the epicenter is the one and only Du Wei. With his bow in hand, Du Wei had one of his feet atop of the Ivory Teeth¡¯s lifeless body! Standing proudly, he gave every single one of the surrounding natives a victorious stare. Then without any sign, he bellowed out three bigughs: ¡°Humph, what shaman, what blood skull g, it¡¯s nothing much!¡± Once he said this, he scanned the audience like his gaze could zap them like ants in a thunderstorm. As if taken aback by his eyes, the natives instinctively took two steps back like their life depended on it. In their minds, these natives only had one thought: Impossible! Impossible! Not only was a white robed shaman so easily killed, the sacred blood skull g was even shredded to hundreds of pieces! This guy¡­. Is he even human?! Though Du Wei may beughing on the outside, he is in fact so weak that even standing is difficult for him. Feeling the pain in his chest, he didn¡¯t dare dy his departure as he took to the sky and went straight for Anglia city¡¯s wall. Despite watching Du Wei leave before their very eyes, these natives didn¡¯t even make a peep. Instead, their focus was solely aimed at the already deceased Shaman lying there on the ground. Then out of nowhere, Gold Wolf Head General suddenly had a burst of cold gleam spewing out of his eyes. Grabbing hisnce, this great general then jumped atop of his steed without mounting like he was readying his body for a powerful attack. Almost instantaneous, a searing me erupted from the spear just right before he shot it out towards Du Wei in the sky! Du Wei would of course hear the piercing sound of the spearing up from behind him while in midair, but due to depleting both his magic and physical strength, he was unable to dodge this frightening strike¡­.. Moreover, this Gold Wolf General is one of the strongest warriors in the prairie. An attack infused with the full might of this individual, how can Du Wei possibly dodge it in his current state when he can barely keep himself afloat? Though he did his best to move his body in the air, Du Wei in the end simply couldn¡¯t avoid being hit. Fortunately he did manage to avoid the fatal parts and had it pierce through his shoulder. Like a bird that had lost its wings, Du Wei began to stumble at first before finally falling out of the sky. Good news is that Du Wei was already above the city wall when this happened. Bad news is that when he came crashing down, he ended up breaking several stones along the way when Knight Robert jumped up to elevate his fall. ¡°My lord, my lord!!!¡± Robert heavily shook Du Wei in an attempt to wake his lord. As for Du Wei, he can only feel how life drainingly painful his shoulder was. When he finally opened his eyes, the first image Du Wei saw was the emotional expressioning out of Robert¡¯s face. With his heart sinking, Du Wei cried out: ¡°Lift me up, fast!¡± ¡°My lord, let me send you down to rest!¡± Robert begged. ¡°Help me up!!!¡± Du Wei growled in a low voice: ¡°I am the leader. After being shot out of the sky, the morale of our people will be gone if I don¡¯t show myself!!¡± With that, he suddenly bit his teeth. Who knows where Du Wei got the strength, but with one breath, he managed to stand upright with one of his hands leaning against the wall. As he peered out into the general direction of his attacker, it was obvious to him where this Gold Wolf General was located among the mes based upon the brightly lit gold helmet he wore. Mustering up his immense spirit, Du Wei straightened his body and began to loudly scold at those down below: ¡°Who was the bloody bastard that attacked me from behind?! If you got the nerve,e out and let old sir here have a look!!¡± Seeing how this guy was clearly shot down by his spear, Gold Wolf General was somewhat perplexed by how this person could still stand there and scold him in such a booming voice. Nevertheless, he is still the strongest warrior in the royal court. Riding forward to leave his men in the background, he snapped back: ¡°Listen up boy; I am Gold Wolf Head General of the royal court. If you got the courage, report your name!!¡± Laughing out in response, Du Wei gave Robert a signal by tilting his head a little Taking the hint, Robert immediately shouted back with the loudest voice he could muster: ¡°Foolish barbarians, this is the famous Duke Tulip and the youngest most talented magician of the empire!!¡± Once Robert¡¯s word ranged out, many of the defenders finally learned of the Duke¡¯s arrival. Due to the darkness of the night, most of the people atop of the rampart simply couldn¡¯t see what was happening out there other than the constant explosions running across the enemy camp. It¡¯s not like everyone can just use eagle¡¯s eye like Du Wei you know. And now that Du Wei¡¯s identity has been made clear, the defenders were only silent for a moment before breaking out in a full blown cheer. The Duke is here! The Duke is here to save us!! Unlike the rising moral of the Tulip defenders, Gold Wolf head General¡¯s expression can only be called dark. With a trace of worry in his eyes, he asked again: ¡°Oh! So you¡¯re the Duke of Tulip?¡± ¡°Aigh!¡± Du Wei suddenly sucked in a deep breath. Slowly, he took out his Nirvana¡¯s bow and aimed it right at the Gold Wolf Head: ¡°The one that assaulted your men was I. The one to kill your Shaman was I. Just now you attacked me from behind, for that, I should just kill you here and then. However, I believe I¡¯ve already seen enough blood today so I will let you live for now. As a little interest, I will let you have a little taste of what is toe tomorrow!¡± With his wordsing to an end, a silvery light came flying out from his bow and flew straight for Gold Wolf General¡¯s direction. Before one can even react, the gold wolf helmet that was made out pure gold was knocked out of the wearers head by the powerful force. Pang! With that sound, the helmet was already on the ground. Running a sea of cold sweat on his back, Gold Wolf Head General never thought this Duke could be so skilled. He is known as one of the strongest warriors in the prairie and his archery skill is top notch, but even he could never pull off such an amazing shot from such distance. If that kid had shot his vitalss instead of the helmet¡­.. Just thinking of this left him scrambling to hide. In a low and somewhat panicking voice: ¡°Retreat, retreat back to camp!!¡± Watching how the native army was retreating, the Tulip defenders were all cheering aloud with great joy. Like them, Du Wei could almost finally let out a sigh of relief. The truth is he really wanted to finish off the enemy general in that one shot too. It¡¯s just that due to hisck of energy and a painful wound on his shoulder, just the feat of knocking the enemy¡¯s helmet off is a miracle in itself, let alone actually hurting the guy. With a face as white as a sheet of paper, Du Wei barely manage to keep himself standing as he made a few steps down the stairs with the help of Robert by his side. Nevertheless, he soon found his body going numb as his consciousness slowly began to fade away. Both sharp and quick witted, Knight Robert immediately moved up to ck off the onlookers¡¯ line of sight with the help of the surrounding guards. Gasping for breath, Du Wei whispered hisst words: ¡°Fast¡­. Take¡­. Take me to Solskjaer¡¯s ce¡­¡­ Hurry!¡± With that, he finally fainted away as his head titled to the side. Right before he fainted, Du Wei only had one thought running through his mind: Damn it, a hero really isn¡¯t easy to be! If there¡¯s a next time, I definitely won¡¯t pull another one man charge into the enemy camp thing again¡­.. Being emotionally moved, Robert hurriedly ordered his men to send Du Wei down. All the while the defenders were still waving their banners as cheers run rampant. ¡°Long live the Duke of tulip!!!¡± ¡°Long live Tulip! Long live the Duke!!¡± In tonight¡¯s darkness, the Tulip g finally bloomed under the burning mes! Chapter 230 part 1 Chapter 230 ¡°Anglia city¡¯s secret!¡± (part one) Du Wei didn¡¯t know how long he was unconscious for, but as a magician, his mental control is much higher than others; as such, he already reminded himself to wake up before he fainted away. For this reason, the night didn¡¯t evene to an end when he awoke. Though the pain on his chest has eased by quite a bit, he still found himself suffering from immense dizziness when he tried moving his head. ¡°You be smart not to move and don¡¯t try to think of what¡¯s going on.¡± Gargamel¡¯s voice could be heard from the side. This little mouse once again transformed into a tall demi human mouse. If he were to show off this form to the others inside the city, the onlookers would do doubt die from shock and fear. ¡°My head is aching really badly.¡± Du Wei moaned loudly. ¡°This is normal.¡± With a cup in hand, Gargamel slowly forced fed the content into his mouth. Du Wei frowned: ¡°SO BITTER! ¡­ ¡­ What is ¡­ ¡­ Hmm, why do I smell a hint of ice berries in this stuff? It can¡¯t be you are feeding me this stuff?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just some drug ¡­ ¡­ I intentionally added in some ice berries to the concoction. You know it as well that ice berries will not only help ease the pain, it can also stimte the recovery of one¡¯s mental stamina. Although this stuff is heavily abused¡­¡­ But don¡¯t worry; I diluted the concentration to a level where it won¡¯t harm you.¡± Putting down the cup, Gargamel then grabbed a towel to wipe away the dregs that was clinging to Du Wei¡¯s mouth. ¡°When will I recover?¡± Du Wei impatiently asked this question immediately. ¡°I must warn you my Duke, my little genius magician!¡± Gargamel¡¯s voice carried a tone of mockery: ¡°First rule in the magicians¡¯ guideline: ¡°No magician is to ever deplete their magic under any circumstances. Otherwise, you will die a very ugly and horrible death. It can¡¯t be you don¡¯t even understand this simple rule, right?¡± Du Wei gave a bitterugh in return: ¡°Of course I do.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯m joking around.¡± Gargamel seriously warned him: ¡°For us Mages, our mind is the very root of our powers. If you overdraw on this source and exceed your limits, then problems will arise in your brain¡­¡­ I know for a fact that in history there has been madman¡¯s that drew on their magic excessively to the point where their very sanity was broken, do you want to be an idiot like them?¡± ¡°But I also heard overdrawing my powers will turn me into a human jerky.¡± Du Wei curled his mouth ¡°That oue is the worst result.¡± Gargamel angrily scolded him: ¡°Which would you like, be an idiot, or be a human jerky?¡± Du Wei shrunk his neck in: ¡°I don¡¯t like either option.¡± ¡°Then listen to me and don¡¯t try to overdraw your magic from now on. It was very dangerous this time¡­.. If not for the rainbow colored ring on you¡­.. You would have already be a human skeleton that was wrapped in ayer of skin. After giving out a long sigh, Gargamel stared down at Du Wei ¡­ ¡­ This scene really was funny: not only was a giant mouse staring at you, his eyes even carried a little hint of reproach and pity. But Du Wei could notugh because he can sense the seriousness in Gargamel¡¯s words. ¡°Right now, you are everyone¡¯s leader.¡± Gargamel shrugged: ¡°Whether we like it or not, this is the fact: you¡¯re our head! A lot hinges on the fate of your body, I, Hussein, Vivian, Queen Medusa¡­ ¡­ And those men of yours ¡­ ¡­ If something were to happen to you; the whole operation will be a mess. At least think about everyone else when you go on your little adventures even if you don¡¯t care about your life,.¡± After taking in the medication infused with a hint of ice Berries, the effect was very obvious. Before long, Du Wei¡¯s headache was already cured and as he struggled to sit upright, he was surprised by what he noticed when he touched his ribs: ¡°My ribs?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry; I didn¡¯t have you drink the water from the fountain of life.¡± The mouse shakes his head: ¡°I¡¯m quite capable in using some basic healing spells, though it¡¯s not very powerful, but a few bones is still within my reach.¡± Managing to climb down from the bed, Du Wei ces his hand on the bed side to steady himself: ¡°What time is it now?¡± ¡°If you go up to the window, you will see that the sun has just risen.¡± After a pause, Gargamel¡¯s tone suddenly became low: ¡°Du Wei, I must apologize to you ¡­ ¡­ Even during the natives¡¯ siege, I couldn¡¯t do anything to help.¡± Du Wei waved his hand back and forth: ¡°I understand ¡­ ¡­ There¡¯s no way you can go outside the way you are now.¡± Humans are one of the most brutal creatures in this world, especially towards extraterrestrials. If a humanoid mouse like Gargamel ran out all of a sudden, there¡¯s no doubt he would have been treated like a monster and caused a panic¡­.. In the worst case scenario, he would even incur hostility from their own side! The truth is that the only ones to know about Gargamel¡¯s existence are the members that had participated in the Frozen Forest adventure. In addition, there is Solskjaer and Cosette inside Anglia City that knows of Gargamel¡¯s existence. For someone like Solskjaer that has followed him from the beginning, Du Wei already considers this magic genius a core member of his crew. As for Cosette¡­. Du Wei already used some underhanded methods to cheat this guy out of the magic union, even if the big headed genius doesn¡¯t want to, he has no other choice but to follow him till the end at this point. This production base may be managed by Solskjaer and Cosette on the surface, but in truth, the two must constantly seek out the opinion of this mouse. Gargamel is after all a genuine magician that has been educated in the proper format of magic. Even if the two geniuses have talent in the field of magic, experience is something that can¡¯t be reced; moreover, Gargamel¡¯s level is still much higher than the two in reality. ¡°Soon my transformation magic will advance again¡­. At that time, I should barely be able to take on a human form¡­.. Taking that opportunity to drink some of the water from the fountain of life¡­¡­¡± Gargamel pulls the curtain apart. As the sun¡¯s ray lit the room, he then turns to one side to blow out the candle: ¡°I will be able to be a human again, but then my transformation magic will have to take a beating again.¡± Du Wei sighs at the information: ¡°Enough, let¡¯s not talk about all this. There are 20,000 prairie wolves outside, let¡¯s think of a n to repel these savages away first¡­.. I believe it wouldn¡¯t be wrong for me to assume you have some kind of surprise waiting for me, right?¡± Du Wei blinked and blinked. Hearing this, Gargamel nodded: ¡°Yes¡­ ¡­ That stuff is alreadypleted and the first batch is ready to go. Solskjaer and I tested it ourselves and felt it was pretty good. But you know, this kind of stuff is very consuming on the ¡®water of aging¡¯, especially when some of the saplings would wither away before we could force it to grow. My god¡­.. If not for the special spring water in our hands, I¡¯m afraid that even the richest emperor out there would not be able to afford such a thing¡­..¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Let me have a look.¡± Turning around, Gargamel ran over to a corner of the room and flipped over one of the floor boards to reveal a secret tunnel underneath. Du Wei eyes widened at the scene: ¡°My God, when did you excavate a tunnel here? Does it lead to the secret warehouse?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Gargamel sighs: ¡°Don¡¯t forget, I cannot go swaggering across the whole ce as I like while I¡¯m like this. Even if I do go out, it will have to be at night with my whole bodied covered from top to toe¡­.. This is very inconvenient and that¡¯s when I thought about digging a tunnel. From ourb here, I can directly head over to Solskjaer and Cosette¡¯s room without worry.¡± Walking over to the tunnel, Du Wei looked down and gave a wry smile: ¡°How much time did you spend getting thisrge tunnel ready? There¡¯s no way you could have asked the ves to help so did you dig it yourself?¡± Gargamel mysteriously smiled: ¡°Don¡¯t forget, I¡¯m a mouse and the specialty of a mouse is to dig holes!¡± The tunnel wasn¡¯t too wide, but as they made their way down, there are several forks and turns on the path. Not only that, it was cold, wet, and everywhere one looked are the glimmering patches of moss littered across the walls. This here is the original governor¡¯s mansion of Anglia City. Though it has fell into disrepair, Du Wei can tell with certainty the mouse did not dig this tunnel. Even if there were an army of mouse at his disposal, they still wouldn¡¯t be able to pull off such a big project like this tunnel! ¡°Where did this secret tunnele from?¡± Du Wei was surprised in a way. Gargamel finally smiled ¡­ ¡­ Coming from a mouse face, his smile just seemed very strange: ¡°Alright, I admit this tunnel wasn¡¯t dug by me. I did intend to dig a tunnel, but I only intended to make it big enough to fit my small mouse body. However, when I broke through the firstyer under my room, I suddenly found myself in this underground tunnel. I was also surprised like you at first over how there was such argebyrinth underneath the Governor¡¯s mansion¡­. Maybe the former governor made it.¡± Du Wei thought it over and decided to let it be. This Northwest ce, especially the Desa province, is the closest province to the desert prairie. All year round, this ce is infested with bandits and the constant harassment of the native tribes, so it¡¯s no wonder the locals would on a lot of asions build secretpartments in their homes and cers. For this reason, it¡¯s not that unusual to find some great houses creating some kind of secret rooms in their mansions. It¡¯s just ¡­ ¡­ Looking at all these forks and turns in this mysterious tunnel¡­. Isn¡¯t this project a little too big for emergency use? Du Wei also spent some time living in the old Governor¡¯s mansion, but never in his wildest dreams did he think there would be such a ce under his feet. Walking another 10 meters, what weed the two is a three way intersection. Seeing this, Gargamel smiled and said: ¡°This ce is way too big. To be honest, even I¡¯m not all that clear about this ce because I¡¯ve only explored about half this ce. Out of the three routes here, one leads to both Solskjaer and Cosettes room, the other to the secret warehouse. As for thest route, even I don¡¯t know yet¡­. Try to be careful as we walk, the floor isn¡¯t too safe so tread slowly.¡± Du Wei stopped in his track, his gaze serious as he looked at the mouse: ¡°You said even you haven¡¯tpletely explored this ce. When did you find this ce?¡± ¡°Uh ¡­ ¡­ About a month ago.¡± The mouse smiled like it was no big deal. Du Wei face became a little displeased:¡± Why didn¡¯t you send someone to inform me?¡± Gargamel reacted like he didn¡¯t care. Using a sighing tone: ¡°My little Duke, I¡¯ve already had a look around and while it is quite big down here, there is nothing to be found¡­¡­. I assure you, if I¡¯ve found something like a mountain of treasure, you would be the first to know. From my view, this underground tunnel is nothing but a shelter made by the previous governor, no need to make a fuss about it.¡± Unlike Gargamel, Du Wei was shaking his head as he spoke in a stern voice: ¡°Gargamel, you¡¯re wrong.¡± Suddenly taking a step backward, Du Wei then lowered himself to touch the ground and then listened to the subtle air currents. With that, he got back up and rubbed the dirt in his hand: ¡°My mouse prime minister¡­.. You really don¡¯t understand! Though you may be a magician, but it¡¯s apparent that you don¡¯t understand architect! My god, you actually thought this ce was an underground shelter? I¡¯m telling you now. Based on the architectural knowledge I have, this ce is definitely not a simple ce like a shelter!¡± Stamping the ground a few times, Du Wei then said: ¡°Did you notice? The floor here is not t; instead, it¡¯s a subtle slope from high to low¡­¡­ If not carefully observed, one will miss it! Whenever this is done, the intended purpose is to prevent flooding in the tunnels. As the water flow from the high ground to the lower part, the tunnel will remain dry!¡± Pausing, he then pointed to a far off part in the tunnel: ¡°You hear the sound of air moving? This shows there is an air vent somewhere, otherwise, a regr person will quickly suffocate aftering into the tunnel.¡± He then points to the fork in front of them: ¡°The most important clue is the amount of intersections. If you were to build a shelter, would you need so many forks and turns?¡± Gargamel shrugged: ¡°Maybe the builder was worried about the enemy entering this ce and had them built to confuse the intruder?¡± Letting out a smile, Du Wei didn¡¯t want to keep going with Gargamel because discussing something like architecture with a mouse is not a good idea. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re going the wrong way; the way we should be going is the left.¡± When he saw Du Wei heading to the right tunnel, Gargamel called out. ¡°I know, I¡¯m just curious about this ce.¡± Du Wei lets out a smallugh after saying this: ¡°Come on, let¡¯s have a look shall we?¡± Sighing Gargamel can only cave in and lead Du Wei into the unknown. Chapter 230 part 2 Chapter 230 ¡°Anglia city¡¯s secret!¡± (part two) Mouse¡¯s spection was justified. The secret tunnel was neither wide nor tall but at the very least it could fit two people through the tunnel even if barely. Continuing on into the tunnel, one will find that both sides of the tunnel were littered with cer like rooms excavated into the walls. ¡°This here should be used to hide people.¡± Gargamelughs at the conclusion. ¡°My dear mouse Prime Minister.¡± Du Wei snappily pointed to the egg like rooms: ¡°Based on your opinion, how many people do you think these rooms can fit? 500? 800? Hell¡­ If it was a ce to take refuge, the less that knows about it the better. Why go through all this trouble? Can it be that even when taking refuge one must have separate rooms to sleep?¡± Lastly, Du Wei measured the height of the rooms and was left with even more questions on his face: ¡°My dear Gargamel! You must have been a mouse for far too long and forgot a normal person¡¯s height. Take a look. Although these cers are both deep and big in size, the rooms are not high at all! If an average man were to go into these rooms, the best they can do is curl up into a ball!¡± After a pause, Du Wei looked back at Gargamel: ¡°Also, aren¡¯t you surprised? Despite walking for so long, do you notice anything?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ No.¡± Mouse shakes his head: ¡°There¡¯s nothing here but empty space.¡± ¡°It is exactly the empty part that is weird.¡± Du Wei frowned: ¡°This ce is underground! Despite this fact, we haven¡¯te across anything after walking for so long. Normally speaking, an underground construction would be deprived of light, thus making it ideal for rats, snakes, and centipedes to live in¡­¡­ But do you see a rat here? Do you see a single centipede or any insect for that matter? I¡¯ve been observing this ce very carefully; there wasn¡¯t even an ant around. Don¡¯t you find this surprising?¡± Gargamel finally became speechless. Coming to the end of the tunnel, what weed Du Wei is a wall. ¡°This is the end.¡± Gargamel speaks: ¡°I¡¯ve been here before and didn¡¯t find anything. Do you want to turn back and have a look in the other direction?¡± Du Wei did not reply, instead, he only stood there in silence while looking at the wall like he was thinking over some kind problem. ¡°Something is not right here.¡± Du Wei suddenly shakes his head: ¡°Something doesn¡¯t fit in here.¡± Pointing to the wall, then to the tunnel behind him: ¡°As we wereing here, I always felt this ce followed the basic principles in architecture¡­.. But here, the very end of the tunnel shouldn¡¯t be blocked by a wall! Have a look, the ground may seem t but is in fact a slope that is subtlety heading up. If this ce was used to store things then this spot should be the highest point in thisbyrinth. Since they built it like that, this spot should have been some kind of cer or room and not a b of wall.¡± ¡°Then¡­.. What¡¯s behind this wall? Can it be some kind of secret room?¡± Gargamel also became interested by this theory. ¡°We will know once we tear down this wall.¡± Du Wei smiles. This wall in the secret tunnel was built using the dense rocks of the Northwest. For an average person, this job may pose some difficulty, but it¡¯s another story for a magician. Conjuring up a spell of the earth attribute, Gargamel easily tore apart thispact wall like it was made of tofu. Once cleared, the first thing to wee the two is a giant gust of foul smelling odor. When Du Wei first got a whiff of this smell, he nearly fell backwards into a somersault by how disgusting it was: ¡°My god, what is in there! Can it be a toilet?¡± Like him, Gargamel also had a face like he would faint at any moment: ¡°I fear the outhouse can¡¯t even match this stink!¡± Behind the wall is indeed a secret chamber. Since it was sealed for so long and was suddenly reopened again, the stale gas pent up inside all gushed out at once when an opening was found, hence the reason for what just happened. Not willing to go into the room in its current state, Du Wei with his nose tucked into his shirt hastily conjured up a gust of wind to blow away the remaining gas. Only by doing this did he gingerly walk in. Pulling out a magic crystal from his pocket, he casually injected a bit of magic into the thing to activate it. Immediately the chamber was illuminated with light. Under the effects of the light, countless dust particles could be seen in the air. As Du Wei looked around, he was taken aback by what he saw. And like him, Gargamel exhaled loudly from the back: ¡°My god, what are these things?!¡± Scattered across the ground are numerous corpses¡­. No, the correct wording is skeletons! Who knows how many years had passed, the flesh on these bodies were already decayed to the point where only the bones remained¡­.. Just thinking of the foul stench from earlier left both mouse and man wanting to puke on the spot! As for the dust particles in the air, they were most likely the dried up flesh of these corpses after being left here to rot through the years. Du Wei looked pale. If he wasn¡¯t forcefully keeping it in, he might really be puking right now. Nevertheless, his curiosity still got the better of him. Steadying his breath, he leaned his body over to begin his examination of the bones. Arguably, bones will still corrode with time even if it is stored away for many years! But these skeletons were exceptionally strange. First up is their texture! Although some parts of the skeletons were a shade of ck from oxidization, there is clearly a hint of metallic luster in them!! Strange, how can the skeletons of a living creature have a metallic sheen? Enduring the nauseating feeling inside, Du Wei tore a piece of his robe off to wrap around his hand. Then gently tapping the bones, he came to the conclusion that these bones are exceptionally hard! If these were normal bones, they would be very brittle to the touch due to the loss of calcium, It¡¯s no wonder these skeletons remained in such perfect conditions even after their flesh had rot away! And the second point gave Du Wei the willies!! These skeletons¡­ ¡­ Does not appear to be human!! Or to be precise ¡­ ¡­ They are very close to being human-like, but not human. For example: the skeleton before him may have the general outline of a human, but from their volume and height, these things were more like midgets¡­. Nevertheless, their bone structure indicates their bodily strength was above the norm. Can it ¡­ ¡­ Be ¡­ ¡­ the dwarfs from those of legend?! Then there are the other skeletons present. Their structure was very simr to that of humans, with the exception of certain isted ces such as teethes, head, and fingers¡­¡­ ncing back at Gargamel, Du Wei found this mouse in a dull like state. ¡°Gargamel.¡± Du Wei¡¯s smile looked like he could go through someone: ¡°Do you know what these things remind me of when I look at them?¡± ¡°What?¡± Du Wei takes in a deep breath: ¡°Do you still remember the strange creatures that were killed by the dragons atop of the Holy Mountain? Those half man half beast races that were exiled to the far offnds by god?¡± Gargamel was speechless! There is no doubt that ¡­ ¡­ these skeletons before the two is clearly the same stuff! There are a total of six skeletons in the room. After checking them all, he found two of the skeletons were likely dwarfs based on their small statute with the remaining three looking like beastmen monsters. But what surprised Du Wei the most was thest one and also the sixth skeleton. ¡°Oh god! Gargamel,e look! It¡¯s a human, a genuine human!!¡± Du Wei screamed aloud. Stooping down, he kneeled beside thest skeleton lying there on the floor. Based on the shape of the bones and the skull features¡­ ¡­ This is obviously a human skeleton! So strange¡­ ¡­ Why among so many monsters is there a human? Stranger is that this human skeleton is tucked away from the rest as it huddled against the corner of the room. From its position, this individual was facing the corner and still maintained the posture of having its hands reaching out towards something. Gently touching the bones, Du Wei was surprised to find that this human skeleton was just like the rest in how metallically hard it was. He can still understand the weird biology if it was a monster, but a human? How did this individual be like this? Du Wei just nked out there as questions kepting one after another. Suddenly. Gargamel came over to Du Wei¡¯s side like he had discovered something: ¡°Du Wei, look! What is that on the wall!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Upon hearing these words, Du Wei¡¯s focus unintentionally went towards the gestured location. He was careless before due to being overly excited, but with Gargamel¡¯s reminder and the help of the illuminating light, he can finally make out the carvings engraved into the wall. From the posture of this dead man, it¡¯s likely these carvings were made by this individual. Also ¡­ ¡­ These markings were quite deep. Since there¡¯s no tool around, this can only mean this guy used his very own fingers to carve it out. ¡°The design¡­¡­¡± Gargamel¡¯s tone suddenly became very strange. Carefully staring at the patterns, Du Wei eyes was filled withplex emotions running from surprise, fear, and curiosity¡­.. The reason is because this pattern is clearly a waving g! A g with a ferocious skull that looked like it was grinning at its recipient! Blood Skull g?! The Shaman King¡¯s Blood Skull g?! At this moment, Du Wei¡¯s heart was beating so hard it was like a drum roll. Why is the mark of the Shaman King inside the empire¡¯snd and in a secret chamber of the governor¡¯s mansion for that matter? Can it be that this dead man here is a member of the prairie tribes, a shaman?? Then there are also the monsters here, what¡¯s the exnation for them? How can there still be exiled creatures on the Rnd continent? In the end, a clue was finally located by Du Wei after pushing aside the deceased man¡¯s skeletal body. Inscribed atop of a rock b hidden underneath, several lines of texts were left behind. From how careless these words looked, it was clear the person responsible for them was in quite a hurry. He¡¯s fine with it being a total mess to read, but how can someone write half his message in one unknownnguage and the other half in the Rnd Empire¡¯snguage? Clearly the writer was not of sound mind before his death. Thinking it over, Du Wei can only conclude the unknown part is thenguage used in the desert prairie. The message is as follow: ¡°Thest experiment was a sess ¡­ ¡­ But the result also proved my failure. ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ (Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s brother that was mentioned before), you were correct my greatest student. It¡¯s a shame that only now do I understand this point. Although I¡¯m unwilling, but thest test subject is already dead¡­.. (The next segment is written in the unknownnguage) The human body cannot tolerate it and I have proven it with my own flesh and blood¡­¡­ (Again, the next part in the text cannot be read) I finally realized your move of superseding the post of Shaman King was correct. It is you who are most fit to rule over Snowy Mountain. Indeed I am but a madman; however, the blood skull g should still have my name!¡± From here, the rock b suddenly had arge vacant space in-between the top and lower end of the message. It was quite obvious the writer was not only using his fingers to inscribe this message, he was also in an awful lot of pain from how deep those scratch marks were. Thest paragraph was easier to read: ¡°I don¡¯t know how many years it will be before then, but if someone can see this then you are the one i have chosen. Doesn¡¯t matter if you are a Rnd citizen, prairie native, orc, elf, or dwarf¡­¡­ I will give you the greatest treasure in my possession! Hidden underneath the rock b in the left corner of this room is the shaman craft I have honed all my life! Whether you like it or not, you will be my fourth disciple if you learn it! In return, I bestow upon you a mission¡­¡­ One day in the future, go up to the snowy mountain and tell ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ that even though he beat me and stole my title as Shaman King, I had never regretted taking him as my disciple!¡± Lastly is the signature: ¡°Snowy Mountain¡¯s 364th generation Shaman King, Gu Lanxiu! May the sacred Blood Skull g watch over the Snowy Mountain for all eternity!¡± Reading it all in one breath, Du Wei was frightened by what he just learned. A Shaman King? This guy is actually the former Shaman King?! Gargamel that was standing next to him also finished the text at this time. Looking up, both mouse and man stared at each other with a very odd expression, unsure what to say. Keeping silent for a long time, the first to break the silence was Du Wei¡¯s long sigh: ¡°This really is a big find!¡± Scratching his head with his paw, Gargamel could only smile wryly: ¡°Alright, so this thing was written by a guy named Gu Lanxiu and is supposed to be his will. In addition, he is the former Shaman King¡­.. After being defeated by his own disciple named ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯, he was forced to leave his home ande to our Rnd Empire¡­. Also¡­¡­¡± ¡°Enough, Gargamel.¡± Du Wei waved his hand, his smile a bit strange: ¡°This will here brought a lot of information¡­. But it also brought a lot of questions!¡± ¡°But why is a Shaman King in the Rnd Empire? More importantly, why is he a governor of a province? Then there¡¯s the question of this maze underneath the mansion?! Why did he go through so much trouble to build this undergroundbyrinth?¡± Gargamel was puzzled by all this. Du Wei pricked his brow: ¡°It just so happens I can answer the question.¡± Pointing to thest inscription on the stone: ¡°I just so happen to know of this Gu Lanxiu name.¡± Then he slowly exins, ¡°When I first came to the Northwest, I checked out all the lord and governors that had ruled over the Desa Province in the past few decades. This Gu Lanxiu was already the governor of this ce 35 years ago. His reignsted for more than a decade and it just so happens that when the war broke out 20 years ago is when he passed away! ording to the documents, he is thest governor of the Desa Province before this province became the domain of the nobility. Then as events continued, this ce was eventually put into the hands of Governor Bohan and thenter into my hands.¡± Looking at the mouse¡¯s astonished expression, Du Wei adds in: ¡°I read this from the official documents of the empire¡­. You know it too; I never forget anything I¡¯ve read before.¡± ¡°Please, someone help me¡­¡­¡± Gargamel moaned loudly: ¡°A former Shaman ending up in the empire after falling into ruin can still be exined¡­ But how in the world did he end up being a governor?¡± ¡°This ¡­ ¡­ I can¡¯t exin it.¡± Du Wei shakes his head. What Du Wei didn¡¯t know is¡­¡­ If a disciple of the Snowy Mountain like Mr. Blue Ocean can be a respected schr that even the royalty has to pay heed, then how difficult can it be for a former Shaman King to be a governor? Also, he seems to forget the Desa Province is a wastnd in the middle of nowhere. Anyone with a bit of power would avoid this ce like a gue. Looking at it from this point, it really isn¡¯t all that surprising for a powerful being like a former Shaman King to pull off something like this without too much difficulty. Looking at each other, Gargamel immediately jumped up and yelled: ¡°Quick, flip over that stone! Didn¡¯t the Shaman King say he left being his life¡¯s skill?¡­.. I¡¯ve always been interested in the natives¡¯ shamanistic art!¡± However, after the two flipped over the stone te, they were left stunned by what they saw. This Shaman King named Gu Lanxio did not lie because he did indeed leave behind a book. Apparently, this thing was soaked in some kind of chemical to keep it from decaying. However ¡­ ¡­ both Du Wei and Gargamel could not understand a single text on this damn thing! ¡°It¡¯s thenguage of the Prairie natives.¡± Gargamel sighs: ¡°We need to trante it.¡± Unlike the disappointing face on the mouse, Du Wei gave a sinister smile that would give anyone the creeps: ¡°Trante? Did you forget there are over 20,000 prairie natives outside the city? When ites to candidates, we can slowly take our pick!¡± Chapter 231 part 1 Chapter 231 ¡°reinforcements¡± (part one) Everything inside the tunnel was once again sealed up by Du Wei, but those bodies¡­.. The metallic bones that were nauseating to the touch ended up being removed from the ce and was given to Gargamel for safe keeping. ¡°You are responsible for cleaning up these things ¡­ ¡­ Then we can closely examine what they are.¡± Aftering out of the secret tunnel, Gargamel then led Du Wei to the storage warehouse. Ever since Anglia City was transformed into a colossal factory, the most important product that was being manufactured here is Solskjaer¡¯s ¡°gunpowder¡±. This stuff is mainly extracted through the refinement of the Fire Phosphorus Grass. Currently, Du Wei specifically set aside a portion of the city to grow this ingredient and as luck would have it, this nt had a very strong life force, thus making it easy to grow and harvest especially in this dry and aridndscape known as the Northwest. Under Du Wei¡¯s request, Solskjaer separated the refining process of the Fire Phosphorus Grass into multiple procedures. This way, not only is the efficiency increased, the ves in charge of actually working the factory will have no idea what they were actually making. Unless by some odd chance someone can piece together all the different steps, which is unlikely, his secret won¡¯t be leaked like this. As for the storage warehouse, it is buried deep underground because something like gunpowder is extremely dangerous, especially when there¡¯srge volumes of highly refined explosive materials mashed together in one ce. Adding in the fact that the gunpowder in this world is way more potemt than the stuff Du Wei knew of in his previous world, he absolutely doesn¡¯t want any incident of a spark going off anywhere near this stuff. If a disaster does ur, at least there will be some sort of cushion in-between those above ground and the main st. Pushing open the warehouse door, what weed our somewhat nervous looking Du Wei are numerous jars of pottery littered across the room. These ckened jars were very humble in their making, but he didn¡¯t care about this. What he did care about is the stuff inside. If an idental spark were to get in here and ignite several tons of gunpowder, Du Wei can forget about leaving here alive because even a grand mage would be incinerated to dust from the massive explosion. ¡°As per your request, I made the fuse wire.¡± Gargamel opens up a box in the corner: ¡°I tested it many times and found that the vine from the Fall Flower is more suitable for this objective. Unlike the cotton thread you asked me to use, this stuff won¡¯t easily get dampened by mmoisture and can still light up even if you dunk it in water.¡± Gargamelughs: ¡°I can already imagine it when we toss one of these jars with the fuse lit against the enemy camp. What a scene it will be!¡± But then Gargamel follows up with a frown: ¡°It¡¯s just, how far can we throw this stuff? Unless we use a muscle man, we won¡¯t be able to throw it very far. We could also use slings but those aren¡¯t very stable. If an ident urs during theunching process, we might end up killing our own men!¡± Du Wei smiles: ¡°Why must we throw and not drop it from the sky?¡± After a pause, he looked towards the stacks of jars that were nearly up to the ceiling: ¡°Let me see the flying brooms.¡± Flying brooms are currently the most expensive item being manufactured in Anglia City because this invention created by Old Alley may have been revolutionary for its age¡­.. But it also inherited the crazy characteristic of its inventor: It¡¯s impractical! Simply said, every time this old cahoot invents something, the resulting product is often more expensive than the original item it was meant to rece. This includes the Flying Brooms. Although this type of Flying Broom doesn¡¯t need the help of energy crystals to power it¡­.. This point alone is andmark achievement, but the problem doesn¡¯t lie there, it¡¯s in the broom itself! Unlike a normal broom that can be made using any old branch, the Flying Broom can only be made using a 50 year branch from the walnut tree. Everyone on the Rnd continent knows that the walnut tree is a very rare tree¡­. Maybe it¡¯s some kind of underlying biological rule at y here. Unlike the world from his past life where walnut trees were abundant, just one alone in this world is extremely hard to cultivate. Walnut trees, especially ones that are 50-years old, are the next best thing to store magic energies besides an actual magic crystal. For this reason, the majority of this stuff on the market is mainly used to craft high quality wands/staffs. Even for some of the richest wizards out there, not many could actually afford a genuine walnut tree in the 50 years range! What¡¯s more, the walnut tree branch used in the making of the Flying Broom is not ordinary even by their standard. ording to Old Alley¡¯s blueprint, his invention utilizes a synthetic version of this wood through the technique known as grafting¡­. Grafting is quitemon in his past life, but in this world, it¡¯s quite rare to find someone doing this. Through grafting, Old Alley managed toe up with a new variance in the walnut tree family and it is through this old coot that Du Wei managed to secure several saplings. Also for the same reason, Du Wei was able to notice a genius like Cosette. Through their conversations about the cultivation methods of the walnut tree, Du Wei was able to realize how much of a genius this big headed guy was despite the fact that none in the magic union appreciated his theories. It¡¯s not like he can snag someone like Old Alley out of the magic union, as such, his next best option can only be Cosette. From this point of view, this big headed genius is worth his weight in gold and more! The cultivation of this walnut tree variety gave Cosette quite the headache because just the survival of the saplings is a huge dilemma¡­.. Even with the water from the ¡°Spring of Aging¡±, nine out of ten times the nt would end up withering away before it can reach maturity. It can be said that Cosette is the biggest ck hole in terms of consumption of the spring¡¯s water. In another storage warehouses, Gargamel lowered the defense barrier surrounding this ce and then gingerly opened the door for Du Wei to enter. ¡°This stuff really is grown using the aging water! If measured at market price, then ¡­ ¡­ Each broom, just based on the fact that it¡¯s a mutated variance of the walnut tree, is at least worth more than 100,000 gold coins! Hell ¡­ ¡­ Why did you make so many brooms? It¡¯s far cheaper to make flying capes instead.¡± Du Wei smiles as he spoke his next words in an understating tone: ¡°The initial process in developing a new technology is always expensive¡­.. But it should be better now, is it not?¡± Only after staying silent for a good while did Gargamel finally agree with Du Wei: ¡°You are right. Cultivating this nt at the beginning was a big headache. However, after many tests, we finally found a delicate bnce. From then on, the efficiency became much higher and the cost became much lower.¡± ¡°As a result, the cost of producing a broom on average is lower than making a flying cape.¡± Du Wei sighed. In the room, the walls were aligned with lines of nice shelves and hanging off these shelves were piles of¡­.. Brooms. Not only did these walnut tree branches emanate a faint light due to their dark red hue, each broom handle was smooth and fine to the touch. In addition they were engraved with the magic patterns pertaining to the wind base attribute. ¡°These wind based magic drawings were designed by me personally. After I gave the outline to the craftsmen, I had them carve the symbols onto the handles. Don¡¯t worry, the craftsman only had the handle to the work with, they won¡¯t know it¡¯s a broom.¡± Lastly, Gargamel pulled a parchment paper out from his robe and handed it over to Du Wei. ¡°This is the data for the final test of these products. Both Solskjaer and Cosette tested these brooms and it was quite good. However, that Solskjaer is a dummy. His brain may be quite clever, but he¡¯s too clumsy and nearly broke his neck¡­¡­ This stuff is easy to handle. If one knows how to ride a horse, they will know how to fly a broom.¡± Looking over the final results in his hand, Du Wei was very satisfied by what he read. Due to the limitation of material and the limited supply of the water of aging, the first batch only yielded a total of 50 brooms. ording to the flight test data, the user only needs to keep his hand on the six pointed star symbol inscribed on the handle and inject a small amount of magic to active the function. Currently, the Flying Broom is capable of carrying two adult males at once. In terms of speed, it is about double the speed of a fast horse on ground. As for flying time, it will depend entirely on the user¡¯s own magic talent. ¡°If that Solskjaer can keep it up for a meal¡¯s time then that¡¯s more than enough.¡± Remember, Solskjaer¡¯s true strength is only at the magic apprentice level. Chapter 231 part 2 Chapter 231 ¡°reinforcements¡± (part two) ¡°Sir, are you really going to do this?¡± standing above the city wall, Knight Robert¡¯s face looked displeased. Unlike the loyal knight, Du Wei¡¯s face was stern without any hint of joking around. ¡°But ¡­ but ¡­ Your injury¡­¡­ ¡± ¡°My dear Robert, don¡¯t forget I¡¯m a magician.¡± Du Wei-stretches his body: ¡°This little injury isn¡¯t hard to treat for a magician, also¡­.. It¡¯s imperative that I go out!¡± ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous!¡± Robert still objected strongly, ¡°You carry with you the destiny of everyone around us. You are not only our boss, you are also our banner. If you were somehow faced with an unexpected incident¡­. I can¡¯t even imagine the consequence! In fact, if I was presentst night, I would have done everything in power to stop you from charging into the enemy camp alone!¡± Du Wei could only sigh as he pointed to the scene below the city. The sun has already risen for the day and through the bright light, the contour of the enemy tents was even more apparent. If Du Wei used his eagle¡¯s eye, he could even see some prairie warriors sharpening their des inside their base camp. ¡°My surprise attackst night was effective and I managed to take out one of their shamans¡­¡­ Thus hurting their morale. Even so, the native army won¡¯t back off so easily when they brought out such a force. Watch, they will be back on their feet by noon at thetest and make theireback.¡± Du Wei had a face full of cloud: ¡°Robert, you know very well how much resources we have at our disposal. Adding up all of our forces, we only have at best 20,000 soldiers¡­. And most of them are scattered across the province while 3,000 soldiers is currently present inside the city. Under normal circumstances, do you think 3,000 soldiers can repel 20,000 prairie wolves? Can repel these guys who are naturally skilled on horseback? We need reinforcements! That¡¯s why I need to go out¡­. This is the only way we can ovee the enemy.¡± After a pause, Du Wei smiles: ¡°Enough, you don¡¯t have to worry since I killed their shamanst night. While I go out, I¡¯ll keep myself high up in the air so the natives can¡¯t stop me.¡± Robert continues to insist: ¡°My Lord, what I fear isn¡¯t the fact that you are going out! I¡¯m worried that you will personally go out to battle! You are our leader! You shouldn¡¯t be in the front line fighting; instead, you should be in the backmanding us! I implore you to stay in the city and stay in the governor¡¯s mansion!¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t continue to debate the problem with Robert, he simply gave the order: ¡°By early evening at thetest, you must light a me in the city. I want it to be so big that anyone ten miles out can see the smoke and mes! Do you understand? If you ignite the mes, I guarantee you will receive powerful reinforcements. All you have to do before then is to ensure the Tulip g remains bristling atop of this wall!¡± With that, Du Wei¡¯s body was already slowly floating into the air. Robert could only sigh. Making a proper knight salute, he watched Du Wei¡¯s body disappear into the sky. Du Wei¡¯s spection was very urate. As he flew over the enemy camp, many of the natives were quick to notice him and since he made a surprise attackst night, many archers were standing by just for this scenario. Under the fierce volley of powerful archers from down below, Du Wei had no choice but to raise his altitude and make a detour around the native camp to avoid the arrows constantly flying at him. Since he depleted both his magic and the energy reserve in his rainbow colored ring, he simply doesn¡¯t have the strength tounch anotherrge scale thunder strike likest night. At best, his magic is only at 50-60%. Facing the opposite direction of the city, he soared away at rapid speed. ¡°Where is that Duke Tulip going?¡± Standing under his own tent, Gold Wolf Head General¡¯s face was gloomy as he watched Du Wei disappear into the horizon. ¡°General, maybe he fled.¡± A Prairie native sneers: ¡°There¡¯s not many people left in the city. It¡¯s only a matter of time before we break through their wall.¡± ¡°Idiot.¡± Gold Wolf Head General raised a corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with murderous gleam: ¡°He must be going for reinforcement! Humph¡­. Send four scouting team around a hundred strong to watch our backs. Also, inform the warriors to get ready. We must break through the city by nightfall! It¡¯s already a fact that a shaman is dead while in our care¡­.. I believe I don¡¯t need to exin the punishment awaiting us once we go back empty handed, right? Only by ignoring all consequences to achieve our goal can we beg for mercy!¡± With the calling of the battle horns, the prairie warriors began to line up into battle formation upon hearing the familiar sound. As for Knight Robert, he could only stand there atop of the city wall under the sun¡¯s ray as the chilling glow of the enemy de reach his eyes! ¡°Endure till the evening!¡± He suddenly drew his sword and shed down at the battlement in front of him. Then in a loud but clear voice, he cried out: ¡°Defend to the end!¡± Like him, all the close guards and lieutenant drew their sword into the air and shouted in unison: ¡°Long live Tulip! Man lives, City lives!!!¡± Following the same route he hade fromst night, Du Wei flew about seven to eight miles out in search of his own team. Finally, in a low, loose wood cluster, someone noticed Du Wei in the air and came running out to wave at him. Likewise, Du Wei also noticed the person and lowered his altitude. When he got a closer look, it was the captain of the magic apprentices Ziggy. The 800 men Du Wei had brought with him were all hidden in this wood cluster. As per his instruction, they had retreated to this spot in order to avoid being detected by the native scouts. Landing on the ground, Ziggy was greatly relieved to see Du Wei was still intact: ¡°Dean! It¡¯s great that you are safe! But didn¡¯t you tell us to wait here for the signal re from Anglia City? Why did youe here?¡± Du Wei taps Ziggy¡¯s shoulder: ¡°No time to exin!¡± With that, Du Wei walks into the wood. In the wood, all of the Tulip cavalry troops were dismounted and sitting on the floor, but there were some atop of some trees paying close attention to the far off distance. This forest cluster may not be very dense, but it¡¯s more than adequate to hide a thousand men. When Du Wei saw Guptad, this mini 250, the first thing this guy did was jump up ande running over to give him a hug: ¡°My lord, my lord!! It¡¯s a blessing to see you here! Damn it! I really want to kill these guys! How dare they let you charge into enemy camp alone! It¡¯s too risky!!¡± He shouts aloud like he was crying. The lieutenant that had let him run off is Guptad¡¯s men so when this mini 250 went off in search of reinforcement, this lieutenant was in charge of the team. But from his appearance and the traces of blood on the lieutenant¡¯s lip, it¡¯s quite clear Guptad gave his subordinate quite the beating. ¡°Enough Guptad! It was I who wanted to go in; they got nothing to do with it.¡± Du Wei smiles: ¡°Your men are all good fighters, they deserve nothing but merits. Also¡­. My harvest wasn¡¯t bad; I killed one of their shamans.¡± With that, Du Wei immediately asked: ¡°What about you? When did you get here any did you bring all of our men?¡± ¡°There¡¯s none, my lord.¡± Guptad¡¯s face was full of shame: ¡°I only found lord Alpha¡¯s 800 men¡­. As for the other two teams, I wasn¡¯t able to locate them¡­.. You required me to be here by this time, so I couldn¡¯t go any further.¡± Guptad suddenly knelt down: ¡°I did notplete your order, please punish me!¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°No, the me lies with me for not taking into ount of the actual situation. It¡¯s already a great thing that you were able to bring back a team. Where¡¯s Alpha?¡± Du Wei looks around for Alpha¡¯s presence, but tries as he might, he couldn¡¯t see the loyal retainer anywhere. ¡°He ¡­ ¡­ When he heard you went into the enemy camp alone, he went into a raging fit and ran off to the front lines in search of your whereabouts.¡± Du Wei had his heart skip a beat. Uncle Alpha¡­ ¡­ He really does care. But considering the knight¡¯s strength, he shouldn¡¯t be in any danger. With time pressing down against them, Du Wei was just about to speak when Guptad whispered into his ear: ¡°My lord, though I didn¡¯t bring back everyone, I managed to bring back some¡­. Guests.¡± ¡°Guests?¡± Guptad made an eye gesture. Immediately, Du Wei looked over to a deeper part in the woods and saw a group of soldiers wearing a different set of armor. These soldiers were also cavalry knights, but unlike the Tulip insignia on all his troops, these guests had the Thorn Flower emblem on their chest and their armor were those usually worn by the local garrison forces in the empire. The truth is Du Wei¡¯s troops were only his private army while these guests are the genuine army of the empire. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Du Wei asked with a tinge of surprise in his voice because these guys weren¡¯t small in number. From his initial assessment, there should be about five hundred to six hundred men. ¡°They are Governor Bohan¡¯s troop from Nuling Province.¡± Guptad replied in a low voice. Du Wei picked his brow at the news. Chapter 232 Chapter 232 ¡°start!!¡± When Guptad brought Du Wei over to the unfamiliar unit, the other side quickly got up and formed a defensive formation. Looking closely, the soldiers in front even had their hands on their sword hilt, ready to draw their de at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡°Insolent! This is Duke Tulip!¡± Guptad cries out: ¡°Have your captaine out!¡± At his demand, a middle-aged man stepped forward from the crowd. Wearing a standard military armormonly found on the knights of the empire, this new entry is of medium height with a strong looking build. Based on his walking posture, it¡¯s obvious he is both firm and collective in his way of handling matters: ¡°Everyoney down your arms and rest.¡± With that, this person then came up to Du Wei¡¯s presence and performed a proper knight salute: ¡°Captain of the third cavalry division of Bohan province¡¯s second local police force, Yaluoer pays his respect to the Duke of Tulip!¡± Du Wei nodded in return and then carefully looked over this officer iming to be Yaluoer. A cavalry captain is considered a lower mid tiered officer inside the military because they are usually left in charge of a unit consisting of 1000 soldiers. Adding in the fact that this guy had a 4th rank warrior badge on his chest, it¡¯s quite clear this person¡¯s strength is considered exceptional within the military. ¡°Knight Yaluoer, please tell me your reason foring here today.¡± Du Wei is still somewhat wary of Governor Bohan. Since the day he stepped into the Northwest, he had already suffered at the governor¡¯s hand. Now that a whole cavalry unit made their way into his Desa Province, Du Wei isn¡¯t certain if these guys areing with good intent or simply bad will. ¡°Your Dukeship¡­.. ¡± This Yaluoer is clearly the conservative type when doing things. Though his face looked slightly exhausted and his voice coarse, the way he spoke still sounded powerful: ¡°I¡¯vee here at Governor Bohan¡¯s order.¡± After a pause, he continued to speak: ¡°We of the second local police division was stationed along the border between the two provinces. Due to the annual spring drill, our unit was frequently moved around¡­.. As for the purpose, I¡¯m sure your lordship already knows¡­..¡± Du Wei smiles at the remark. Of course he knows. It¡¯s all in order to prepare for the Northwestern Army. Talking about this, Governor Bohan really is pitiful. Though Bohan¡¯s jurisdiction consists of the entire Nuling province, but due to the influence of the Northwestern Army, he only truly controls half thend in his name. The cause for this is no other, the main headquarter of the Northwest Army is within his borders. For this reason, Bohan was especially annoyed by Du Wei¡¯s arrival. It was bad enough he only controlled half the Nuling Province, even the second province under his jurisdiction ¨C Desa Province ¨C was snatched away by a kid. Now that the Northwest Army is getting active again during the spring drill, Governor Bohan can¡¯t possibly let his own garrison forcesy idle now can he? ¡°You lordship, we received word two days ago saying there were traces of native cavalry troops in your territory! When Governor Bohan got wind of this, it just so happens he was busy overseeing the military drills near the border. Considering the urgency of the matter and the fact that we got confirmed sightings of the enemy in three locations, Governor Bohan immediately sent you a letter¡­.. But it was sent to Lon City¡­.. Since you¡¯re here, I¡¯m assuming the letter never reached your hands. Governor Bohan said this is an emergency so we can¡¯t adhere to the rules during these times. He also knows you just came to the Northwest and might not have enough troops to quell this attack by the prairie natives, therefore, without your permission, our third cavalry division of the second police force was ordered to search out the native peoples trail inside your territory.¡± Speaking up to here, this Knight Yaluoer gave Du Wei a nce: ¡°Although this act of crossing into your territory is improper, but the interest of the overall situation is too important to ignore¡­.¡± Du Wei waves his hand in response, his face already donning a sincere smile: ¡°its fine Knight Yaluoer, you don¡¯t need to say more. I¡¯m grateful for youring! What Bohan said is correct; we should put aside the rules for the situation at hand.¡± Unable to stop his emotions, Du Wei really had to hand it to this Bohan. Although they had some small quarrels before, but this guy really is a true patriot to the empire. At the very least this Bohan would send aid the very moment he gets word of Du Wei¡¯s predicament. For this reason alone, it¡¯s enough to earn his respect. If it was changed to a jerk in this situation, Du Wei can already imagine the guy snickering behind his back and watching him fall. Looking at this Knight Yaluoer, Du Wei suddenly noticed this guy only had approximately five hundred to six hundred men in hismand, many of whom still had blood residue and battle scars on their armor: ¡°You guys¡­..¡± Yaluoer replies in a calm voice: ¡°Sir, we were already over the border two days ago. On the way here, we came across an enemy cavalry unit and had a brawl with the natives. Fortunately we outnumbered the enemy and was able to repel the invaders. If not for the run in withmander Guptad, we might not have been able to find our way to you.¡± Although the knight was downying their ordeal, Du Wei can already specte how savagely brutal the battle was based upon their losses. Starting from a thousand strong, they nearly lost half their men; it¡¯s obvious the causalities were quite serious! Watching these soldiers from the Nuling Province in silence, Du Wei found that although these men remained quiet as they stood there, they all had a glint of determination in their eyes despite the fact that some of them were still injured. ¡°We lost over 300 brothers along the way while some were seriously injured. In order to not affect ourbat capabilities, we could only send a part of our forces back early.¡± Yaluoer sounded a little sad in his voice. Hearing this, Du Wei had his emotions run high. Suddenly, he faced the brave men before him and gave a deep unwavering bow: ¡°The Tulip Family will forever remember your deeds today!¡± ¡°You do not need to be so polite Duke.¡± Knight Yaluoer gave a thoughtful smile: ¡°Our governor said¡­¡­ Everything is for the empire!¡± Being able to let go of small little grudges during critical times have left Du Wei with a different image of Bohan. ¡± Knight Yaluoer, while we may not have any fine wine here presently, but I guarantee that by this evening we will victoriously enter Anglia City! By then, I will personally host a celebratory banquet for all the brave warriors of the Nuling Province!¡± Finishing his words, Du Wei then tasked Guptad to care for these guests while he quietly left with the 28 magic students. Moving a mile away from the forest where a low lying terrain was, he and the students held a secret meeting. Taking off his wizardry robe, Du Wei then unbuckled his storage bag and began pouring everything out. ng¡­ Plop¡­.. ng¡­. Gasping at their respected Dean¡¯s action, these students can only watch on as a rainfall of brooms appear before their very eyes! That¡¯s right, a bunch of brooms! Several dozens of brooms were stacked into a neat pile. Some were simply left frozen, unsure why the Dean would take so many brooms out. Can it be that he expects them to PK with the Natives using a bunch of brooms? ¡°These will be your ¡­ ¡­ ¡®mounts¡¯! Come on, try your new mount!¡± Du Wei dered aloud: ¡°Everyone pick one¡­. No need to be picky and take one, they are all the same.¡± Once every student finished picking their broom with a face full of curiosity, Du Wei also picked one up for himself. ¡°The method to use these things are very simple. You guys see the six point star symbol on the handle? Insert your magic, that¡¯s right, like a wand. Come on, give it a try. However, make sure you don¡¯t add too much magic at once, if you do, don¡¯t me me when you break your head! Then put the broom between your thighs¡­.. Like how I¡¯m doing right now¡­..¡± With that, Du Wei was already doing it himself and making a live example of himself¡­.. It must be mentioned that he¡¯s actually quite nervous. Prior to setting off with the brooms, he never actually had the chance to test them himself. ¡°Like me ¡­ ¡­ insert your magic¡­.. Then give your legs a slight push off the ground¡­¡­¡± The second he said this word, all the students had the pleasure of witnessing their dean shoot into the air like a meteoric star! ¡°AH!¡± In a blink of an eye, Du Wei¡¯s bodily image was lost before everyone¡¯s eyes as he continued to soar into the horizon, thus leaving behind only the faint echoing cries of an rming scream. ¡°What¡¯s the Dean doing?¡± Some of the students were gawking at the sky, unsure what to make of this. ¡°No idea ¡­ ¡­ But he sure flew into the sky FAST!¡± By the time Du Wei managed toe back down to the ground, his hat was already lost into the air by the gusting wind. Bloody hell! He injected his magic way too fast and way too much! If he wasn¡¯t so quick in responding, he would have already smashed into a hilltop! But when he wasing back, Du Wei already figured out the proper method of controlling the damn thing. When hended, Du Wei kept up the pretense of being calm: ¡°You see that¡­.. The thing in your hand can help you fly, no spell required! This is a magic item.¡± At this, all the students became strongly interested. ¡°Ahem ¡­ ¡­ But be careful. When starting, be sure to hold back your magic and make sure to inject your magic slowly! Otherwise¡­..¡± Du Wei pauses, his tone a bit awkward: ¡°You will end up like me before. Remember to hold onto your broom handle. Pulling up is up, pushing down is down, and I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t need to exin what left and right will do. Also¡­. The more magic you insert, the faster your speed will be!¡± This thing really isn¡¯t that hard to operate. At the very least, no other student ended up darting ou into the horizon like he did earlier. Perhaps the reason was his little mishap earlier was due to his overly high magic reserve¡­.. In merely one hours¡¯ worth of time, every magic apprentice have pretty much mastered the basic flight maneuvers, while some could even pull off some acrobatic moves. It must be mentioned that these guys really are talented. It¡¯s like Gargamel said: ¡°As long as one knows how to ride a horse, they can ride these brooms.¡± ¡°All right, everybody quiet down!¡± When the apprentices came back from their one hour of free flight, what weed them are standing piles of dark y pots with a vine like rooting off the side of each lid. ¡°What I¡¯m about to say next is extremely important!¡± Du Wei became serious in his tone: ¡°These brooms I¡¯m giving you are not for fun because in a little bit¡­. You will be riding them to risk your life! This operation will be extremely dangerous! If any of you want to quit now, I will not stop you! You are my students, not warriors of my family! You have no obligation to die for me.¡± None spoke. Seeing this, Du Wei was very satisfied as he gave this group of faithful students a gratifying look: ¡°Now, take a look at these pots. They are no ordinary pot¡­.. They are lethal weapons!¡± With that, Du Wei gently ignited one of the flower vines and then threw the certain pot out into the distance¡­¡­. When the devastating sound of that huge explosion drifted into their ears, everyone had a face full of shock and disbelief! In these students¡¯ eyes, the strength of this pot filled with gunpowder is more thanparable to a low level fire based spell for even the ground was blown to smithereens, leaving behind a shallow pit in its wake! ¡°From now on, you will be the first¡­¡­¡± Du Wei deliberately paused to let his next words sink in: ¡°Aerialbat unit under mymand! In simple terms¡­ ¡­ Air force! Ladies and gentlemen, please remember this day because your existence will forever change the way we fight wars in the eons toe!!¡± After a good moment of silence, every student soon had a face full of unbearable excitement. ¡°This evening we will ride these brooms over the native¡¯s camp and blow these prairie wolves to dust!¡± Du Wei¡¯s yell was both empowering and motivating: ¡°You will forever be remembered as the first airbat unit on this continent¡­.. For that, you will get a name. Whenever an enemy hears your name, they will shake, they will tremble, they will FEAR!!¡± ¡°You Lordship, what¡¯s our name!¡± Ziggy excitingly asks. Du Wei chuckles, his smile unbelievably sinister¡­¡­ When the sun finally began to set towards the west for the day, Knight Robert felt like hisst ounce of strength was drained from his body because the prairie people justunched a frenzied attack that nearly overtook the city. Looking at the bodies littered across the ground below the wall, Robert could only let out a long gasping breath. Fortunately, his soldiers¡¯ morale remained intact due to Du Wei¡¯s appearance. Towards the Duke, these people all had a trust bordering on the line of fanatics. With only one-third of the soldiers remaining to defend the city, Robert knows the final moment hase! When thest ray of the setting sun left the rampart, Robert finally gave themand to light the shining beacon to hail for help! Under the raging mes that seem to reach into the very heavens, the Tulip g continues to bloom under the searing heat! Further away and fluttering in the night¡¯s breeze, Du Wei has been quietly standing atop of a hillside not far from the enemy¡¯s base camp. Taking in a deep breath, he then suddenly floated into the air with arms open wide: ¡°Let¡¯s go! Tonight is the night we break the enemy!¡± Behind him, a ck wall consisting of the 28 magic apprentices awaited hismand. Letting a little grin slip, Du Wei shouted aloud: ¡°Deceptions, rise up and fly!!¡± Chapter 233 Chapter 233 ¡°kill!¡± With a blood red afterglow devouring the sky, 28 Decepticons immediately spread apart and began making their way over to the 20,000 strong native army using their new found brooms, each fully stocked with dozens of explosive y jars. As for the native army that could only watch this swarm of unknown flyers swoop in from the sky, none knew how to react¡­. In their minds, they only thought: what the hell are they! Though Mages and Shamans are both capable of aerialbat, these individuals are usually equipped with enough power to not need assistance. Aside from that, who ever heard of a mage or shaman riding a broom in the air? But very soon, the natives will never forget the following nightmare that is about to transpire. By the time Ziggy first made his move, the kid was already a hundred meters into the native crowd. With one hand still gripping his broom handle, he was able to light the fuse on one of the jars using a ball of me from his other free hand. Then without any hesitation, he pulls a dagger out and slit the dangling pot from his care¡­.. When the first explosive container came falling down from the sky, the following people down below didn¡¯t even know what to expect. Out of instinct, some of the warriors only slightly raised their shields as a precautionary measure, which they would of course regret¡­¡­ Bang!!! With the beginning of the first exploding sound, more than a dozen prairie natives were swallowed up in mes while many more were either injured by the shooting fragments or sent flying backwards due to the aftershock. It must be mentioned that these makeshift bombs really isn¡¯t that lethal. Even if it was tossed into a dense crowd of people, not many would actually be killed in the resulting st. However, what¡¯s most devastating about this new form of weapon isn¡¯t the explosive power it carries; it¡¯s the shock it brings to the recipients! Just when everyone was still lost in thought over what just happened, the rest of the Decepticons were already readying themselves for the first round of intensive bombing! Due to the gravity of the situation, Du Wei never got the chance to properly discipline these kids in the way of aerialbat. Without the knowledge of using a proper bombing formation, Du Wei could only watch on as these kids sought out their own individual targets. It must be mentioned that this way ofbat really isn¡¯t all that efficientpared to a bombing raid Du Wei saw in the movies. Nevertheless, the desired effect was still achieved today. The natives were already bunched up into thick crowds to begin with so it didn¡¯t take much for the Decepticons tond a hit! ¡­¡­ Under the ruthless bombardment, the native army suddenly found themselves in a panic as roaring mes enveloped the entire battlefield while any semnce of order was lost to the wind. These men may be highly trained warriors, but humans are still inherently afraid of the unknown. Tallying up the result of the first sh, the death count easily shot up to the thousands. ¡°Calm down!! Calm down!!!¡± Gold Wolf Head General rushed out of the crowd and roared. Without any remorse for his fellow brethren¡¯s, he brandished his sword and mercilessly beheaded the two nearest disobeying soldiers: ¡°Everyone spread out!!!¡± After his order, he grabbed one of the poor soul¡¯s head and raised it into the air for all to see: ¡°Disobedience means death!!¡± He shouts with fury in his voice. On one hand he kept pulling soldiers into his influence, while on the other he also urged the warriors to spread apart and begin shooting arrows into the sky. Try as he might though, by the time a proper front could be established to retaliate against the swarm of locust like assants in the sky; all of the Decepticons were already pulling away after the first round of bombing, leaving behind only an angry mass in the background. Unlike the flying cloak, the greatest characteristic of these era defining Brooms are its speed! With the retreat of the 28 magic apprentices, the one to appear next is Du Wei! While his students were busy with the opening act, Du Wei had in fact, spent the first half of the day gathering up every bit of magic in the general area. Under themand of his incantation, a mass of dark looming clouds had begun to gather overhead as sparks began to run wild. For those down below, the new figure wasn¡¯t hard to recognize. Why is that so? It doesn¡¯t take much for the natives to recognize the guy that had not only caused devastating damage to their ranksst night, Du Wei is also the nightmarish being that killed their all-powerful Shaman! In these savages mind, the sacred Blood Skull g should have been invincible! Under the short recess of time gained by this reason, Du Wei was able to have an easy time finishing his spell. With a flick of his finger, a roaring thunderous strike came smashing down on the thickest crowd of ants down below. This earth-shattering loud bang immediately woke the prairie people up from their daze; nevertheless, it was already toote for the targeted archers to react. Almost electrifyingly numbing, numerous enemy soldiers ended up being swallowed up by the thunder strike with many more crying out in painful screams due to being burned alive by the searing mes enveloping their body! After the attack, Du Wei immediately found his body weakening to the point where it was getting dangerous to stay. Unlikest night where he had the rainbow colored ring to help restore his magic, he could only retreat to the back in a hurry to avoid any mishaps. At the same time, Du Wei¡¯s team of Decepticons was already readying themselves for a second wave of bombing after reorganizing their ranks! Unlikest time though, the prairie natives came prepared as they screamed to theirrades to scatter. Despite this, their ranks finally copsed into a state of confusion after the resulting sts. This time, no matter how many deserters were in by Gold Wolf Head General; none would listen to him anymore. Intensive bursts of mes continued to wreak havoc among the enemy soldiers and unlike the first wave of bombing, the team of Decepticons had begun to change their strategy. Dive, roll, evade, these basic skills are starting to be second nature to these fledglings and even more shocking, these kids began to spontaneously gather up into small groups to release a wave of indiscriminate attacks upon the enemy. Seriously though, this should have been expected. Back when these kids trained in the Hogwarts branch, one of the main lessons Du Wei taught them was TEAMWORK! When countless numbers of prairie wolves fell victim on this wave, many of these ruthless savages finally had their survival instincts triggered and came out of the shock brought on by these new weapons. Bringing out their bows, many capable of shooting an arrow began to show off their famed horseback archery at the annoying pests in the air! Although Du Wei¡¯s round of lightning strikes took out the main archery unit within the enemy ranks, this only guaranteed his team of Decepticons won¡¯t be threatened by a strong wave of retaliation from the ground. However, when they dived down to carry out their bombing procedures, these defenseless kids in the air finally started to get into dangerous situations. Eventually, casualties began to appear. When the first Decepticon was shot down by an arrow, this trainee decided to die than to be taken prisoner! Who knows how he pulled it off but before he crashed into the ground, this brave soul managed to pull himself together and forced his broom towards a heavily armed group of soldiers he noticed at thest moment. With beads of blood dripping all over his body, he used thest drop of his life to crash into the crowd¡­¡­ It must be said this Gold Wolf Head General really is unlucky because his personal guards were the only unit left with any semnce of order. As fate would have it, he just so happens to be in the middle of this 300 men crowd calling out orders to respond with bows and arrows¡­¡­ Just then, a swift shadow came crashing down at him from the front! Toote to dodge, Gold Wolf Head General suddenly had his heart skip a beat as he subconsciously jumped off his horse. Then the next moment, an intense BOOM came from behind him. The Decepticon that was shot down still had eight-nine jars of gunpowder dangling off his broom. In his final act of bravery before his death, he lit every jar aze and charged directly at the very center of the crowd. In mere moments, a towering ball of me bloomed into the sky! Combing the power of eight-nine jars together, the explosive force was over ten times that of a regr st. When Gold Wolf Head General rolled to the ground, the very next thing he felt was a monstrous amount of heating from his side! This force was so immense that even the horse by his side was lifted off the ground and ended up crushing down on his legs. Not only that, his eardrum was also damaged by the shockwave, thus making it impossible for him to identify what was going on during the miserable wails of pain and blood stter¡­.. This Gold Wolf Head really is a character. Knowing the crisis is not the time to be idling by; he forcefully bit down at his tongue to knock himself awake from the shock. Immediately struggling with his hands to push the dead horse off his body, it wasn¡¯t until he managed to climb up did he notice the sharp pain on his legs. It would seem the pressure caused by the dead horse against his body has broken some of the bones in his leg! Littered with the dead by his side, those lucky enough to live were constantly moaning out in pain as they struggled to survive. Bleeding inside, Gold Wolf Head¡¯s heart really was aching in pain¡­.. This 300 cavalry unit is supposed to be his elite troops. In the years he¡¯s been roaming the grasnd; it was this special unit of 300¡¯s that helped him defeat the countless numbers of hostile tribes! But today without even the chance to confront the enemy¡¯s main force, his most loyal followers were devastated by the enemy in the sky. Using his de to support his near crippled body, he kneeled there as he surveyed his surroundings. What he saw next nearly caused him to vomit blood due to how painful it was inside! Is this supposed to be the greatest soldiers in the prairie?!! A mess! Looking far and wide, the only word capable of describing this scene can only be this word!! While some continues to resist with their bows, too many were simply trying to flee and in some cases, the efforts made by those brave enough to make a stance ended up hurting their own people. Aside from human causalities, many tents and stacks of hays were churning out thick plumes of smoke due to the mes engulfing the main camp. Like this, even the sky was stained ck by the overly thick smoke. And exactly at this time, thest death bell rang out!! Woowoowoo¡­¡­. A long blowing h0rn sound with unlimited glory and power drifted into everyone¡¯s ear. For someone like Gold Wolf Head that spent years in the battlefield, it¡¯s only natural he would recognize this sound! It¡¯s the Rnd Empire¡¯s cavalry charge signal!! Look over at a hillside far off into the distance, an unmoving ck dot appears ¨C this is clearly a knight sitting atop of his mount readying to make a charge! Very soon, more and more ck dots appeared by the first one¡¯s side. Like a ck tide, the entire hilltop was covered by these figures. A Cavalry Brigade of the Rnd Empire?!!! Gold Wolf Head found his body quivering uncontrobly as his heart sank. Sitting atop of his mount, Guptad held hisnce as he overlooked the chaotic scene down below. Not only was the native army fleeing in all directions, zing embers of me had engulfed most of the enemy camp, leaving only death in its wake. As a soldier, Guptad only found this to be a great surprise because this is the perfect time to attack! The charging call is already nearing its end and his fellow knights have finished filing into their positions. With one loud shout, he points his spear to the natives down below and cried out: ¡°KILL!!¡± ¡°KILL£¡£¡£¡¡± Several thousands of Calvary troops shouted in unison and caused the very earth to tremble. Then without waiting, Guptad dashed out ahead of everyone and charged towards the enemy with his spear raised. Following in his wake are thousands of cavalry knights, each aiming to kill any whom gets in their way. Like a dark cloud that sweeps through anything and everything, the earth drumming horse beat would make any men boil with excitement! Chapter 234 Chapter 234 ¡°Victory and Alpha¡¯s decision!¡± Even though they only had a measly 2,000 Rnd Cavalry troops to face off against 20,000 elite enemy warriors, but all of this no longer mattered when one side already lost all will to fight while the other is a well-oiled fighting machine in the form of a triangle charging formation. Under the beating sound of the stampeding war horses, Guptad¡¯s leading assault force had already pierced into the enemy¡¯s rear end like a knife cutting through butter! With one hard hit, any semnce of a proper defense was shattered by their efforts. As their bloodiednces continued to pierce into one enemy after another, many more were killed under the trampling hooves of their fierce steeds that knows no mercy! Like that, this small force consisting of only 2,000 cavalry riders became the final straw needed in knocking over these prairie wolves by taking advantage of their heavy armor and overwhelming impacting charge, Leading at the very forefront, Guptad had long thrown away hisnce and resorted to using his de to fight. With every native he passed, there would always be a head flying in the air! Imitating theirmander¡¯s lead, the cavalry troops following close behind this mini 250 also threw away theirnces that had long lost its purpose. Like a harvest field, the swords that were supposed to be a weapon unique to the battlefield somehow had its role changed to a scythe used for harvest, but instead of harvesting wheat like in the farm fields, what these soldiers were harvesting this evening is the heads of the native army! Ever since the copse of the main army¡¯s battle formation, these natives of the grasnd had already lost any hope of putting up a resistance, though some of the leaders tried their best to gather up troops to make a stand, but their efforts were for not. With one loud shout, Guptad gave another swing of his de, but unlike before where he would lop off an enemy¡¯s head with ease; there was only air in his path. Looking up, this mini 250 suddenly found himself in front of the towering fortification wall of Anglia City. Covered from top to bottom in blood and flesh of those in by him, even his helmet was lost in the chaotic situation during that charge. Looking like an evil spirit with his disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, the first thing that came out of his mouth was: ¡°Come with me, we will give them a second helping!¡± He shouts this aloud as he turns his horse around. At his words, thest drop of sanity finally crumbled within these natives. Many simply threw their weapons away and tried to flee, but for those unfortunate enough to be incapable of fleeing, these poor bastards could only kneel on the ground and beg for mercy with tears running down their eyes. Meanwhile, Gold Wolf Head General was watching all of this happen before his very eyes from a distance. Earlier during the first cavalry charge where everything was a mess, some of the keener Tulip knights did in fact took notice of this leading figure amidst therge crowd, but due to the sacrifices of his loyal guards and his own remaining strength, this general managed to get off with only some scrapes atop of his earlier injury after breaking through the crowd. Just when his remaining loyal guards desperately dragged their heavily injured general up on his horse, Gold Wolf Head suddenly spouted a mouthful of blood after ncing over at the 20,000 warriors that was once under hismand: ¡°I let a shaman die under my care, I wasn¡¯t able to take the city, I even let our glorious army fall into shambles, how am I suppose to go back and face our king?!¡± After his words, this general already had his de out and wanted to aim it towards his neck. Seeing this, all of his bloodied looking subordinates scrambled up in a desperate struggle to pull the de out of his hand: ¡°Great Gold Wolf Head General, the eagle must survive in order to soar through the sky again! Please go back to the king and beg for forgiveness, maybe then you will have another chance to get vengeance!¡± With that, all of his loyal followers began to make their escape while keeping their leader in the middle of their protective circle. At this very moment in the wilderness, all these natives were like rabbits fleeing from a predator. No matter the direction, one could easily find signs of these frightened animals. When night finally took over for the evening, the Rnd Cavalry unit has been divided into countless smaller teams in pursuit of the scattered natives. There are after all 20,000 enemy running across this vast piece ofnd, even if they were to stand idle on one spot and let you kill, it will still take time! After this event, none would ever doubt Guptad¡¯s title of mini 250. Using his incredible stamina, he and his squad of 50 men ended up chasing as far as 10 miles out from the original battlefield. By the time they returned, every single one of them were carrying loads of heads on the side of their horses. However, like the merits that they so deserved, their physical body was so exhausted that movement was almost impossible, this was very clear from the crawling like pace their horses were moving at. He wasn¡¯t the only fierce beast on this night though. In thest moments of the battle, Robert had his men remove the blockading boulders from the gate. Then rallying thest able bodied men in his vicinity, he also rushed out to take part in the hunt. Although the majority of the soldiers inside the city areprised of mostly infantry troops that wouldn¡¯t be very effective against the enemy horsemen, but that doesn¡¯t mean they can¡¯t do anything. Knowing their own strength, Robert had his men scour the battlefield for any stragglers and exterminate those that tried to resist on foot. All the while, Du Wei watched the entire situation unfold atop of the fortification wall of Anglia City. Under the cloak of night, the battle outside the city was finallying to an end. Though there are still some sporadic fights here and there with the constant screams of death, but it was over. All that remains now is the cleanup (finishing off the wounded with a knife to the heart) work for the defenders of Anglia. When thest stubborn enemy was finally beheaded, the entire city suddenly erupted into wild cheers. Despite the victorious atmosphere surrounding Du Wei, he only stood there atop of the wall. Quietly, he scanned across the battlefield littered with the decapitated bodies of friend and foe. No matter where he looked, the scene was either ck or red, followed by the foul stench of burning flesh and blood. It¡¯s finally over ¡­ ¡­ This should be his first experience in the battlefield ever since he came to this world! From above the city wall, about 20 something dark figures swooped in from the sky andnded on the ground just outside the city premise. These new entries is obviously Du Wei¡¯s students, also known from here on out as ¡°Decepticons¡±, each of these kids held their heads high with pride as their hands firmly gripped onto their brooms. Thinking about it, the battle just now can technically be called their virgin fight. Considering the impact they had in turning the tide around, this new air force will most definitely be the worst nightmare an enemy can have, that is of course until an effective counter measure is found. Looking down at this batch of young faces, Du Wei can see the baptism of war had washed away the tenderness that had gued these kids. In its stead, every one of these ¡°men¡± had the look of determination carved onto their faces. Suddenly, Du Wei shouted aloud using his most powerful voice at these exhausted looking students: ¡°Nicely done, Decepticons!¡± Pretty much like reflex reactions, all 20 something students straightened their backs and lifted their right hands in a slightly tilted upward direction: ¡°All hail MEGATRON!¡± ¡°Megatron?¡± Knight Robert curiously peered over at Du Wei. In his own defense, Du Wei scratched his face and gave an odd smile before exining: ¡°This Megatron battle cry is my title for this air force unit¡­..¡± After cleaning the battlefield and going over the casualty count, the result is as following: the 20,000 native army waspletely defeated with about 10,000 enemy killed and 3,000 taken prisoner. What¡¯s worth mentioning is that half of the enemy¡¯s death was caused by the air force bombardment, but it wasn¡¯t due to the exploding bombs they used, it was due to the trampling that ensued due to the chaotic rush. In other words, a good number of the natives were killed by their ownrades. And on Du Wei¡¯s side, Guptad¡¯s Cavalry team numbering at 2,000 is only left with 1,000 people. As for the reinforcements that came from the Nuling Province, Knight Yaluoer reported he is only left with 80 soldiers, way smaller from his original 500. It would seem Governor Bohan may have exceptional administrative skills, but his capability in training cavalry troops is much lower than Longbottom¡¯s. Nevertheless, Du Wei still firmly announced his gratitude to all the soldiers that gave their lives today ¨C this included the friends from Nuling Province. Despite the heavy losses, Du Wei still thought it was fine considering it was war, but there was one thing that saddened him: he lost one of his magic apprentices with 9 other injured during the fight. Fortunately, the injured will heal with time, especially under the care of the magic healers. It¡¯s worth mentioning that among the wounded, one of the Decepticons really is unlucky. During one the kid¡¯s bombing dives, his skill was far from mature, and therefore, he wasn¡¯t able to pull up in time and nearly broke his neck in the crash against Anglia City¡¯s wall. Aside from all this, there¡¯s also one more thing that worried Du Wei a lot. After giving a head count, he noticed there is one person missing. Alpha! Captain Alpha is missing! Good news is that Alpha¡¯s body isn¡¯t among the dead and Guptad confirmed he saw Alpha during the battle. But after everything is over, the former loyal retainer of the Rowling Family is gone! Somewhere else under the scorching sun, a small party of prairie natives had never hated the sun so much in their life. Maybe even the Gods are against them because the current season is only spring, but unlike the mild weather of this season, the sun was exceptionally hot today like that of summer. Their party wasn¡¯t always thisrge. Along the way, they had gathered any stragglers they met and raised their number from the original 300 to 600. Leading this small force in the Northwest direction is Gold Wolf Head General himself. With his feeble body, he was leaning against his horse without any spare strength to keep his posture. Adding in the fierce heat, even the blood that had stained his skin turned in scabs of dried blood, making him look even more pitiful. And due to the fracture in his shank bone, he had to reluctantly strap himself to his straddle, though this will speed up his pace during the long track back home, but it also made his journey ever so more painful because he would feel every bump along the road. For three nights and day, he had endured this torturous ride! However, these defeated souls no longer had any sign of the famed elite army of the prairie natives. With many unarmed, practically every one of them could barely keep themselves going. Even more unbearable is that they are too few in numbers. More often than not, they are either injured or suffering from some kind of physical exhaustion. In the three days since they fled the battlefield, none of these men could go to a nearby vige for aid; instead, they could only take the quietest road without any supplies to replenish their bodies. That¡¯s not the worst of it for them. Every now and then, there would be groups of pursuers from both ground and air nearby, thus giving these people horrendous psychological damage. Without food, water, or medicine for their wounds, any normal person would fall apart after so many days like this¡­. Even for their mounts, these animals could only graze for short periods along the road to sustain their bodies. Also, about a dozen of theirrades with serious injuries died along the way without ever making it back home. With the sun hanging high above their heads, one of these native horsemen pulled out his water purse and pressed it against his lip. Try as he might though, not a single drop of water came out. In frustration, this guy tossed away his water purse and muttered something to himself. Gold Wolf Head General really was bleeding inside. Looking around at the dire state he and his men was in; his hatred towards that Duke Tulip grew ever more so strong. ¡°Once I¡¯m back in the royal court! Back in the royal court! Even if the king wants to kill me, I will still beg for a chance to avenge this humiliation! Even if it means joining the suicide death camp, I will still do it!!!¡± More than 600 horsemen continued to make their way home. The more they traveled, the longer their ranks stretched. For those in the back, they were the first to fall and once they did, they will never rise again. At this time, the wolf like characteristic in these savages began to reveal themselves because not a single one of theirrades decided to lend a helping hand to those that fell. Unknown to these natives, a lone figure was quietly stalking them from atop of a hillside. With eyes like that of a hunter gazing down at his prey, this mysterious person had his focus firmly ced on General Wolf Head¡¯s body. Spending a good moment like this assessing the enemy, Captain Alpha then sat down and pulled out his water purse and drank a mouthful. Currently, he is also feeling the fatigue hitting his body. During the battle that day, Gold Wolf Head thought no one noticed him fleeing, but Alpha did! Under the chaotic situation, Alpha simply had no way to inform his allies. Without any options left, he could only pursue on horseback by himself. After two day and two night of constant pursuit, he finally caught up with the fleeing soldiers. His goal is obviously the head of the enemy general! Chapter 235 Chapter 235 ¡°Sigh of the Frost Moon¡± Hiding behind the hilltop, Alpha rested there for a good while to regain his strength and to evaluate the enemy¡¯sbat capacities. As the general of a whole army, that Gold Wolf Head will definitely have some skilled subordinates standing by. Moreover, Alpha has no doubt that the enemy leader is at least on par with him in terms of skills despite being injured. If it¡¯s like this, then fighting alone against 600 soldiers and the enemymander will require some extra nning. It¡¯s not like Alpha is afraid of the risks involved, after all, even back when he fought for the Rowling family during the coup, he never once flinched when facing off against the Temple¡¯s Holy Knights. What he is afraid of though is missing the target. If he openly attacked, the enemy leader might use his subordinates as a shield and take that window of opportunity to escape; such an oue is not tolerable! Must wait for the perfect timing! Taking in a long deep breath, Alpha then climbed down from the hill and began tailing the natives from afar using his own horse to keep up. Finally, after persisting for half a day, an opportunity presented itself! Further ahead on the roadside wilderness, a deserted looking home appeared. Judging by the condition the building was in; it¡¯s likely been abandoned for a long time. However, what drew everyone¡¯s attention wasn¡¯t the ruined buildings; it was the water well beside it! When these natives saw this, even those that looked like they were about to die had their vitality reenergized. Like crazed animals, everyone began to swarm up to the well,pletely ignoring their surroundings. In mere moments, chaos ran rampant among their ranks. Taking advantage of this, Alpha quickly snuck passed the natives and hid himself behind a tangled mass of rocks nearby. Looking out, his heart began to race because what he had waited for so long finally arrived. A chance! Those natives had already flocked up to the well, ready to draw the water. However, whenever someone tries to toss the water bucket down, the guy from the back would immediately snatch it away with a heavy kick to the butt. Back and forth, this ridiculous scene yed out endlessly until all their resentments began to boil over after keeping it in for so many days. Like wolves, these people drew their des and began to face off against their so calledrades with blood shot eyes. ¡°You bunch of fools!!¡± A hoarse voice came from the back. Still sitting atop of his horse, Gold Wolf Head sat there and gave his men a painfully sad look: ¡°What are you people doing! Your des aren¡¯t used to kill your own brothers! Put those des down!!¡± Although he is seriously wounded, but Gold Wolf Head¡¯s oppressive status still carried some weight in these soldiers mind. Unfortunately, when they finally calmed down and had a closer look at the well, the harsh truth finally came out: It¡¯s dry! For those unwilling to ept this reality, they still dropped the bucket into the well to test their luck. Try as they may though, the only thing they managed to draw up is a bucket full of sand. Due to this reason, theirst bit of sanity finally cracked. Completely losing their calm, panic and despairpletely took root and practically devolved these humans into wild beasts. Then out of nowhere ¨C who knows which guy was it that lost his mind first due to hunger ¨C someone suddenly began to attack one of the war horses in their group. Hissing wildly at his assant, the horse wanted to pull away, but sadly that wasn¡¯t going to happen. Holding the reign with an iron grip, the fierce looking man then brandished his sword and began to repeated hack away at the horse until all life left the animal. Knowing he achieved his goal, this person rapidly smashed his head into the gory flesh and then swallowed a giant mouthful of blood. But before this person could take a second drink, a metallic sheen already arrived at his neck. Swoosh! With a clear crisp slicing sound, his head was sent rolling through the air. Turns out the new entry is in fact the owner of the in horse. Seeing how his beloved partner was just murdered before his very eyes, this guy wasn¡¯t just going to let it slide, ally or no ally. It must be mentioned that each warrior in the prairie would raise their own mount from childhood; therefore, a war horse isn¡¯t just a steed they use to travel, it¡¯s an irreceable entity in their life. Like a powder keg that was lit aze, the situation quickly devolved to the point of no return. Since the horse was already dead on the ground, those too crazed to think straight began to dive in without any care for the others. The owner reacted in the same way as before, but when he resisted, the crowd immediately massacred the poor guy into mush. This way, some of the first to move up managed to get a share of the horsemeat. However, there¡¯s no way a single horse can feed all these starving people. Following the first example, many more began to eye the other horses in their pack. Rob the horses! Rob the meat! Regardless of who it was, these barbarians began to ughter any horse in their vicinity and attack their ownrades. ¡°Enough!!!¡± With unbridled fury, Gold Wolf Head ignored the pain striking at his leg and jumped down from his mount. Then using his own weapon, he beheaded the two closest fighting men next to him. Gushing out a fountain of blood, the two headless bodies slowly fell to the ground, never to move again. ¡°All of you stop this now andy down your arms!!¡± He bellowed his words allowed. Unlike the first time where he managed to calm everyone down, his maneuver this time actually had the opposite effect. Before long, Gold Wolf Head suddenly found himself standing before a group of unfamiliar faces, each with eyes full of venomous greed. ¡°What are you all doing!!¡± Noticing the situation wasn¡¯t right, the 100 loyal guards immediately moved up to stand beside their leader, each with their des drawn and ready to fight. ¡°What bullshit Gold Wolf Head!¡± Spitting out a mouthful of foamed blood, this soldier began to scold in a mocking voice: ¡°The reason we lost this battle and lost a shaman was because of you. When we go back, your entire family will be ves, yet you still dare yell at us like that!¡± When the others heard this, they also began to follow up with more reprimanding words. For those more courageous: ¡°Why not just take his head and bring it to the Rnd people, this way we won¡¯t get punished and might even be rewarded!¡± Seeing how sparks were flying between both sides, the guards loyal to Gold Wolf Head brandished their des, ready to move up if any of the confronting soldiers tried to make a move¡­¡­ ¡°Infighting?¡± Hiding behind the pile of rocks, Alpha sneered at the scene: ¡°They truly are savages.¡± Tightening the grip on his sword, he was just about to move in when¡­¡­ Suddenly, the sound of galloping horses drifted over from the far off distance. Judging from the dust cloud kicked up in the air, the oing group should be of significant size. Like reflex, the two opposing parties immediately stopped the hostility they had towards each other. With nervousness in their eyes, the group huddled together and reformed their ranks while facing the Northwest direction where the noise wasing from. ¡°What are you all idling there for, hurry and mount your steeds!!!¡± Despite his current image, Gold Wolf Head¡¯s order still carried some weight. Nevertheless, it was already toote. Knowing the chance had slipped his grasp, Alpha immediately hid behind the rocks again when he had already took two steps out. Sighing, Gold Wolf Head thought: Is it the enemy? If they chased us all the way out here then we are finished, there¡¯s no way we can outrun the pursuers like this. However, when their distance shortened, the general was utterly surprised to find that the g flying in the air was ck. ck g? The Northwest army!! Numbering at around 2000 strong, Gold Wolf Head should have been happy to see who it was, but this experienced general can tell the other party didn¡¯te with good will. When they finally made contact, this unit wearingplete sets of ck armor from the Northwest Army immediately nked the natives on both sides and created a circr formation, thus leaving no room for escape. With cold eyes, these cavalry soldiers waited there in silence as if they were looking at a flock of sheep, ready to be ughtered at any moment. Still hiding behind the pile of rocks, Alpha found this unit from the Northwest Army to be extremely weird because the air they gave off was cold, so cold that it was numbing¡­¡­ Finally, when the oppressive pressure nearly crushed these natives, a cold voice came out from the Northwest Army. ¡°Further ahead is the respected Gold Wolf Head general?¡± Following suit, the cavalry riders of the Northwest Army made an opening in their ranks and what came forward is a young knight riding a perfectly ck steed. Alpha tried to get a clearer look at the mysterious figure, but unfortunately the guy had the upper part of his face hidden behind a metal mask, leaving only the mouth uncovered.. Nevertheless, Alpha figured the person is of a young age based on the voice he heard, this much he is certain. Watching the young knight, Gold Wolf Head had aplicated expression on his face: ¡°Turns out to be the young general! May I know why General Rugaard sent you here today, is it to intercept me and take my life?¡± Sitting atop of his ck steed, the young Knight may be smiling, but his eyes clearly had a flicker of cold light in it. ¡°Gold Wolf Head general.¡± This person referred to as the young General seems to smile: ¡°Indeed, it was my father whom sent me here today, but¡­ ¡­ He gave me two different orders.¡± Sensing danger, Gold Wolf head clenches his de: ¡°What, does the general intend to go back on our agreement?¡± ¡°No need to make it sound so bad.¡± The young Knight shakes his head: ¡°My father always lectured me in how there¡¯s no such thing as an evesting alliance. The so called trust is only built on one¡¯s self interest.¡± After a pause, this person¡¯s voice even seemed sweet to the ear as he gentlyughed: ¡°My father gave me two orders: first is if you win, I will wee you and even escort you back to the grasnd. Aside from that, I will even take over the job of exterminating the survivors inside Anglia City! As for the second order¡­.. If you unfortunately failed, then that¡¯s a shame. Entering the empire¡¯s territory without permission, the Northwest Army will need to take your head in order to make up for our negligence. Think about it, the Northwest Army sacrificed blood and men to repel the enemy and even took the head of the famed Gold Wolf Head General; don¡¯t you think the ending is perfect?¡± Speaking up to the end, this person¡¯s eye already has a clear burst of killing intent in it. After hearing those words, Gold Wolf Head knew his end is near. Nevertheless, he is someone that survived many hurdles. With a sad smile, he puffed out his chest and red at the young knight: ¡°The strong devours the weak; I knew you Rnd pigs can¡¯t be trusted! When the situation looks bad, you will definitely backstab us.¡± ¡°Dear Gold Wolf head general¡­ ¡­ Us Rnd people are like this, but aren¡¯t you prairie natives the same?¡± The young knight showed no signs of losing his temper while sitting atop of his mount: ¡°But, I¡¯ve always respected the strong. As the strongest warrior in the royal court, I will give you the honor of dying under my de.¡± With that, the young Knight leaps off his horse and swiftly removed his helmet: ¡°Gold Wolf Head, I¡¯ll give you an opportunity to have a fair duel with me. If you win I¡¯ll let you leave, either way, father wouldn¡¯t reprimand me much anyways.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Life immediately burst out from the general¡¯s eye. He may have been prepared to die, but no one in this world is going to let such a chance slide. ¡°Of course!¡± Although this young knight already removed his helmet to reveal the ming red hair underneath, but he was still wearing the face mask, as such, the only indication of his mood was the faint smile he had. With that, he raised one hand. At his order, the 2000 Northwest Army soldiers also raised theirnces in unison and pointed it towards the 600 native riders. ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous.¡± Looking at the nervous bunch before him, the young General gave a disdainful smile. Waving his hand, the surrounding cavalry knights silently pulled their horses back to expand the encirclement. Unable to decide what to do, Gold Wolf Head¡¯s expression was sometimes somber, sometimes suspicious, however, after his initial waver, he finally made a decision. ¡°Even if the guy is lying to me, so what? Its just death! At least I will have the chance to take another with me! The kid is the son of the Army Head, such a partner in death is perfect!¡± Finishing this thought, Gold Wolf Head raised his de into the air and pointed up at the sky. Suddenly, he uttered out a battle cry unique to the natives of the grasnd. EEAAHHH!!! One of his leg may be broken, but as of this moment, he looked nothing like a crippled old man, instead, the mighty warrior he was so well known for once again resurfaced: ¡°Come on kid! Let¡¯s see if you got the skills to back up your words!!¡± When his voice died down, many of the prairie wolves behind him began to shout out in cheers, after all, the enemy did say they can leave if their leader wins the duel. Crackle¡­ ¡­ Crackle ¡­ ¡­ Watching the rising momentum of his foe, the young knight seems oblivious to it all. Very slowly, he also drew his de and simply stared at the crippled general before him. Feeling ufortable at the intense stare, Gold Wolf Head suddenly charged forward with a yell and attempted to strike down at the kid before him. To be ranked as the Gold Wolf Head, this warrior of the grasnd is of course extremely powerful. The instant he made his move, a reddish ming hue already broke out from his sword to indicate the Dou Qi used in his attack. In one loud thud, Gold Wolf Head¡¯s strike had alreadynded. Despite his effort, the attack was easily blocked with a wave of the young knight¡¯s sword. Though it didn¡¯t work, the strike wasn¡¯t all for naught because the young knight¡¯s foot was firmly pressed into the soil due to the impact. In a flurry of maddening cries, Gold Wolf Head made another series of attacks that left even Alpha gasping for breath at the sight. This Gold Wolf Head really is strong! One strike stronger than thest, there was no room for retaliation. In one single breath, this native general managed to pull off 10 consecutive hits that sent sparks flying with every contact. In the end, even this young knight had to involuntarily move back. Compared with this giant like Gold Wolf Head, this young General of the Northwest Army seems to have been overshadowed. However, no matter how powerful or fast Gold Wolf Head¡¯s attack was, this young knight seems to be able to deflect it without so much as a cut. Panting, Gold Wolf Head is starting to run out of energy. He was originally injured to begin with, adding in the long days of travel and the sudden outburst of attacks he made, it¡¯s no wonder the de in his hand is starting to get heavy. What disturbed him though isn¡¯t the fact that he couldn¡¯t take down the enemy before him; it¡¯s the fact that the kid was able to stop all his attacks with ease. Noticing his foe was out of strength and was injured on the leg, the young general decided to take several steps backward to regain hisposure. ¡°Is this all you¡¯re capable of?¡± ¡°Quit yapping your nonsense!¡± Gold Wolf Head suddenly takes in a deep breath as his eyes turn red. Then out of nowhere, his arm that was holding the de began to expand till it was twice its original size. Meanwhile, the de in his hand also began to reverberate with a humming sound of intense stress. Jumping up into the air, Gold Wolf Head made another attack like an eagle shooting down at its prey! At this, the young general of the Northwest Army finally revealed a look of surprise and the sneer that was dominating his mouth all this time finally turned into a smile of excitement. Taking another step back, he suddenly kneeled down on one knee and raised his sword to block¡­.. Keng!! The clear crisp sound that came off their contacting swords seems to be able to pierce everyone¡¯s eardrum. For those unfortunately enough caught in the shockwave, they were sent rolling off their rolling back several meters. ck¡­.. Under the blinding red light, Gold Wolf Head suddenly heard the sound of something cracking. Then before he knew it, the de in his hand shattered into numerous pieces. In the end, he was sent flying back after coughing out a mouthful of blood. Slowly standing up, the young knight¡¯s breathing may sound rapid, but he was nowhere close to being injured: ¡°Truly powerful¡­¡­ It¡¯s a shame, if you weren¡¯t injured, you would have been able tost a bit longer under my sword.¡± With that, this young general suddenly revealed a weird smile on his face while aiming his sword at the defeated foe before him. Without any indication, a silvery light erupted from his sword that gave off an eerie chill to all the bystanders. Before anyone knew it, the sword looked like it was engulfed in ayer of ice and snow. In a whistling sound, the young general was already sweeping towards the native leader with the icy sword in hand. Secondster, the frost from the sword intensified till it was a storm and instantly transformed the giant warrior into an ice statue. Standing behind the pile of rocks, Alpha nearly gave himself away with a reactionary shout after witnessing the scene before him. Retracting his sword, the young general of the Northwest Army slowly came up to the ice statue and gave his opponent a cold and indifferentugh. Then with one fell sweep of his sword, the head of this once famed Gold Wolf was lopped off! Since the body was already frozen to the core, there was not a single drop of blood to be seen. Then picking up his trophy, this bone numbing young knight looked into the eyes of his beheaded foe and said: ¡°You¡¯ve really let me down. Humph, what Gold Wolf Head, merely a warrior of the seventh rank¡­¡­¡± With that, he gently tossed the head to the side and had his subordinates store it into a bag. Already mounted, this young general then turns around to look at the remaining native soldiers with their disbelieving eyes. In addition to being hungry and thirsty, this group of 600 was already at the brink of copse, adding in the fact that their leader was just murdered before their very eyes, the only emotion left in their minds now was despair, total and utter despair. ¡°Kill them all ¡­ ¡­ Leave none alive.¡± Leaving behind this sentence, this young general was already gone. And behind him were the painful cries of death and carnage. Standing behind the pile of rocks, Alpha made sure to hide every spec of his presence. Nevertheless, his sight instinctive went towards the direction of where the young general had gone off to. This young Knight ¡­ ¡­ is strong! Really really strong! That Gold Wolf Head should¡¯ve been simr to him in strength, yet that young knight¡­. What exactly is his level? Especially thest move he used! Captain Alpha¡¯s heart sank at the thought. The reason is because he recognized that move and even had the pleasure of witnessing it in action before!!! Rodriguez!!! There¡¯s no doubt about it, it¡¯s the signature move used by the Rodriguez, the saint knight!! Sigh of the Frost Moon!! Chapter 236 Chapter 236 ¡°The weasel makes a visit¡± By the time Alpha made his way back to Anglia City alone, the battlefield was already swept clean of the dead with only several vultures circling above the sky. Nevertheless, a strong scent still permeated the air due to the deep saturation of blood in the soil. As he drew closer to the city, the first thing Alpha saw wasn¡¯t Du Wei¡¯s weing presence, it was something else entirely unexpected. From the site where the native army made their camp, hundreds of cross shaped wooden posts were erected into the ground with a captive tightly bound to each one. Out of curiosity, Alpha decided to take a closer look, but when he did, the scene caused him to skip a beat! Stripped of their clothes, every single one of these prisoners was drenched in blood while their palms were nailed against the cross shaped posts behind them with wooden stakes! Though a majority of these people were still alive, many had already passed away due to the searing sun above their heads ¨C this is the main reason why there are so many vultures in the sky. And sitting nearby is Du Wei and his 10 guards, each with a face full of murderous intent. ¡°My Lord, this is thest batch.¡± One of the Tulip knight whispered these words from the back. ¡°Good, load the carts.¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°Remember to give them some food along the way so they don¡¯t fall dead, understand?¡± Bowing in acknowledgement, this cavalry knight then moved away to carry out his orders. After closing in on horseback, Alpha first dismounted beforeing up to Du Wei. ¡°You are finally back.¡± With eyes full of warmth, Du Wei gave a weing smile towards this uncle Alpha: ¡°I thought you had left me.¡± Alpha was silent for a moment before shaking his head: ¡°Young master, since I promised Mr. Raymond, I will not leave your side until the day of my death.¡± Du Wei may be smiling at the reply, but it was obvious his smile carried no happiness in there. Walking up to Alpha, he then looked over the loyal retainer of the Rowling Family and noticed how exhausted Alpha was: ¡°Let¡¯s talk inside. I think your disappearance these past few days must have some special reasons behind it, right?¡± Nodding, Alpha then suddenly looked over to the prisoners: ¡°They¡­..¡± ¡°It was I who ordered them to do this.¡± Du Wei softly uttered these words: ¡°Since these animals invaded our home, I don¡¯t intend to keep them alive to waste our food. I had them pinned to these posts so the patrolling soldiers can take them along to the viges scattered across the province. This way, we can send a clear message to everyone what the consequences are when they harm our people!¡± Indeed, this idea is a good method to win the hearts of the citizen and build up prestige. Sighing inside, Alpha somehow found his heart getting mixed feelings over the change in Du Wei. Unlike the young master that would hide away in the library, this young man before him was getting colder and colder with each passing day. And now the lives of thousands of prisoners were decided by him on a whim. Then again, Alpha isn¡¯t the type to show mercy to his enemies anyway. After a few nces at the group of dying men, his eyes quickly returned to normal: ¡°Young master, I was pursuing that Gold Wolf Head.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei eyes lit up. After sweeping clean of the 20,000 soldiers, this battle could be called the first big victory in the Northwest after 20 years. The only pity in it was the escape of that Gold Wolf Head: ¡°You chased¡­¡­¡± Du Wei was just about to ask if he managed to catch the guy, but looking at how empty handed Alpha was, he quickly changed his words: ¡°It must have been hard on you, let¡¯s go back to the city first.¡± Alpha shakes his head: ¡°I can¡¯t im it was difficult. I did manage to catch up to the target, but the chance to take the target¡¯s head never presented itself. However, I came across something even more amazing.¡± Inside the former governor mansion of Anglia City, Du Wei and many more carefully listened to the entire story from Alpha¡¯s mouth. When they heard how the Northwest Army intercepted the fleeing Gold Wolf Head, everyone present began to make indignant rants about the whole ordeal. ¡°What a crafty Northwest Army!¡± ¡°How hateful!¡± ¡°Despicable!!¡± For a short time, the one to yell the loudest was Guptad ¨C also known as mini 250. Unlike everyone else, Du Wei remained indifferent after hearing the story: ¡°This is not surprising. Switching to me, I would also do the same¡­.. This General Rugaard can be considered responsive if he can move so fast, humph!¡± It wouldn¡¯t be much if only a small contingent force was allowed into the empire to search the viges like before because there wouldn¡¯t be any evidence afterwards, but this time is different. Not only did they let a whole army containing tens of thousands of troops into imperial territory, the enemy even besieged a city! This is treason, a crime that warrants death! Such big news cannot be hidden for long and the centralmand will definitely get wind of this! Although the capital¡¯s grasp over the Northwest have been waning these past years, but at the very least the Northwest Army can still be considered honest thus far. Therefore, this maneuver the Northwest Army made is an obvious danger signal. Though it¡¯s not open rebellion, but it¡¯s just a matter of time now. Since it¡¯s like this, General Rugaard¡¯s move of taking the enemy general¡¯s head is likely a stall tactic to gain some more time until he is ready to make his move. Watching his outraged subordinates, Du Wei buoyantly smiled: ¡°Hmm, if my calctions are correct, the ones to take credit for beheading the enemy general should already be on the way to the capital.¡± ¡°Take credit?!¡± This mini 250 suddenly growled aloud in frustration: ¡°They still have the face to take credit? Our brothers wouldn¡¯t have died if not for those bastards, yet they still have the nerve to take credit? Those treasonous bastards should be hanged!¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t get angry as he watched Guptad: ¡°They had long betrayed the empire. If we really had the ability to hang them, do you think the military would put up with them for so long?¡± ¡°But¡­¡­ They shouldn¡¯t be able to swing it into a reward, right? No matter what, letting the native army in is treason, a crime that warrants death!¡± Guptad¡¯s face was pink red with anger. Du Weiughs coldly: ¡°And what else can we do? Humph! Don¡¯t you know that Gold Wolf Head is one of the four great generals of the grasnd? Let me ask you Guptad, do you remember thest time someone achieved such a feat in thest 20 years?¡± ¡°But the enemy was killed by us! The city was defended by us! And even those that died are our people! If anyone is going to take credit for this, it should be us!¡± Speaking up to here, Guptad added in another sentence: ¡°Also Governor Bohan too because he sent his own troops to help us!¡± ¡°So what ¡­ ¡­ Gold Wolf Head died under the Northwest Army¡¯s hand.¡± Du Wei sighed again: ¡°Both the centralmand and the Northwest Army doesn¡¯t want to fight, as such, this gesture of taking credit is just a way for both party toe to an understanding¡­¡­ Don¡¯t worry, they will only get a fewplimenting words and maybe some money as a reward.¡± Guptad is after all a ruffian, the only way he can release his frustration right now is to stamp the floor with his feet: ¡°Damn it, I just don¡¯t get it!¡± With that, this fierce warrior waltz out of the room to vent his anger. Looking at Knight Robert, Du Wei said: ¡°Robert, go follow this mini 250, don¡¯t let him do anything rash¡­¡­¡± Smiling at his words, Robert replied: ¡°Commander Guptad may have a bit of temper, but he¡¯s not one to be rash. At most he will just whip some of the prisoners to vent his anger.¡± ¡°Then that¡¯s good. If he¡¯s going to whip the prisoners then let him, even better if they die because of it.¡± Du Wei¡¯s finger began to knock at the table, his lip showing a weird smile: ¡°Oh Rugaard ah Rugaard ah, what exactly is in your mind. You may be able to quell the anger back in the capital, but there is still the prairie king. Even if you can calm that beast, there is still the Shaman King; are you not afraid of the Shaman King¡¯s vengeance? Oh snowy mountain¡­.¡± Thinking of this, Du Wei looked at Alpha: ¡°Uncle Alpha, are you really sure that Rugaard¡¯s son was able to use Ice Dou Qi? The Ice Dou Qi of Rodriguez? But from what I heard, Rodriguez is self-taught isn¡¯t he?¡± Alpha shakes his head; Rodriguez had always kept a low profile so his origin is not well known. Du Wei sighed and thought: he can only wait till he meets Rodriguez to get a proper answer. Back when Hussein returned from the Frozen Forest and brought back the legendary sword ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡±, this saint knight also brought news of how the dragon prince¡¯s intends toe seek revenge and how Rodriguez will swear allegiance to him after being persuaded by someone. But just who is that mysterious person? To be able to convince a saint knight, that person¡¯s ability must be in a league of his own. What Du Wei didn¡¯t know yet is that the mysterious person is in fact Mr. Blue Ocean, the famed schr back in the capital. Aside from this, he also didn¡¯t know that Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s real name is in fact Blue Ocean¡¯s Moon, also a disciple of the Snowy Mountain!! But more importantly, Du Wei is still unaware of the fact that the book he found in the secret tunnel is in fact written by Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s teacher, also known as Gu Lanxiu the former Shaman King!!! ¡°I understand then ¡­ ¡­ To think Rugaard¡¯s son is a master martial artist¡­.. What¡¯s your opinion on this Uncle Alpha, do you think he reached the saint level?¡± Alpha shakes his head: ¡°Probably not, but¡­¡­ Compared to me, I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be his opponent. From my initial assessment, I can say he¡¯s at the ninth level while I¡¯m only at the eighth rank.¡± ¡°Oooh, what a young genius.¡± Du Wei smiled oddly: ¡°Our Hus¡­¡± At this word, he suddenly coughed once: ¡°The traitor of the temple, Hussein, wasn¡¯t even at the eighth rank when he was that young, and he was said to be the strongest knight on the continent. If Rugaard¡¯s son was so powerful, why didn¡¯t we hear of this before?¡± Alpha lowers his head: ¡°It¡¯s my fault young master, I wasn¡¯t thorough enough when gather intel on the Northwest Army.¡± Du Wei shook his head in disagreement: ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, maybe it¡¯s because the other party was too low key up till now. If they wanted to hide this fact, it would have been extremely difficult for you to know.¡± After staying in Anglia City for the next few days, Du Wei finally got word from his men that the Northwest Army stationed outside Lon City has finally withdrawn. Like him, Longbottom and Hussein also heard of the big battle in Anglia City, therefore, the two quickly hurried over with their group to meet up with Du Wei. Everyone was just as angry regarding the backstabbing actions of the Northwest Army, but what else can they do? The other party is simply too strong right now. Going over the matter with all his men, they decided to have Longbottom and Guptad lead two forces to scour the entire Desa Province for any remnants of the native army. And in the end, Du Wei made one other strangemand. ¡°Have someone ready a carriage ¡­ ¡­ I¡¯m heading out. Then send the order down to have a banner made for me! It must be as gorgeous as possible without any room for doubt¡­¡­ As for the content of the banner, I want a couple of big words on it!¡± Alpha wondered: ¡°Young master, what do you want to write and what¡¯s the banner for?¡± ¡°Of course as a gift.¡± Du Wei sneered: ¡°Hero, and a model to follow, the bigger the better!¡± Alpha can already vaguely guess his intent by now: ¡°Young master, you¡­..¡± ¡°I want to make a visit to meet the infamous general Rugaard.¡± Du Wei smirked; ¡°It¡¯s impolite of me to not meet him in person even after spending one year here. Since he¡¯s not willing toe to me, I might as well go to him.¡± With that, Du Wei gave no room for Alpha to object and simply waved his hand to send the knight away. ¡°Du Wei, what are you nning?¡± Only Hussein and Du Wei remained in the room. ¡°I want to see that old bastard.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°We really suffered a heavy blow this time because of that sted Northwest Army. If we don¡¯t give them some trouble for all this, how am I supposed to keep my head high in this ce?¡± Hussein frowned: ¡°But you going in person to meet him¡­. Aren¡¯t you afraid that you will be a sheep in a lion¡¯s mouth?¡± Giving a strange smile, Du Wei exined: ¡°Since the Northwest Army took the initiative to kill that Gold Wolf Head, it means Rugaard doesn¡¯t want to rebel yet¡­.. Although the move is very clever, but it also exposed his limit! Instead of harming me, he will even do the opposite and try to protect me at all cost. If I were to get hurt in his ce, you can damn well expect his n to fall apart!¡± At this point, Du Wei slowly and casually said his next words: ¡°Thinking about it, another month is about to be here¡­. If I¡¯m correct, the next Dragon prince should be making his entry in the next few days. Why not let the 200,000 soldiers in the Northwest Army act as my bodyguard?!¡± Letting out a sinisterugh, Du Wei looked absolutely evil right now: ¡°Have the men spread the word, say Duke Tulip is making a personal visit to General Rugaard of the Northwest Army. I want to make sure that dragon prince knows I¡¯m there!¡± Chapter 237 Chapter 237 ¡°win-win¡± The news of Du Wei going off to ¡°reward¡± the Northwest Army really did spread like wildfire. For those that didn¡¯t know the ins and outs of the whole situation, these ignorant fools really thought the Northwest Army earned some great merit. Although the Tulip soldiers held some criticism towards this gesture, but Du Wei¡¯s ever expanding influence over these people eventually suppressed any grudge roaming through the ranks. Spending over two days to prepare the huge gift, Du Wei then had Alpha attach the magnificent looking banner to a gigantic pole stretching as high as seven to eight meters in height. Using a carriage and four healthy looking horses, Du Wei intends to make the trip like this with only 200 guards apanying him to the enemy¡¯s roost. Some had raised doubts over the small security team, but Du Wei quickly exined his thoughts for this: ¡°I¡¯m going to the enemy¡¯s den, bringing 200 or 2000 won¡¯t make any difference when the other party has over 200,000 soldiers standing by.¡± As he closed in to the Nuling Province, he made sure to openly disy the banner; in fact, he was so forceful about showing it off that even the neighboring viges outside his travel route got wind of it. This was especially true when he finally entered Nuling Province. Out of his own deliberation, he intentionally slowed down his pace to test the water because he wanted to know the Northwest Army¡¯s reaction to hising. Though Governor Bohan didn¡¯t make an appearance when Du Wei entered the old man¡¯s territory, but this loyal subject of the empire did send word to the local garrison forces that they are to protect Du Wei and his convoy along the way. Back when the battle for Anglia City came to an end, Du Wei¡¯s aid, Philip, already rushed over with a letter written by Bohan himself. This letter should¡¯ve been in Du Wei¡¯s hand long before the battle began, but because he wasn¡¯t in Lon City, the matter was pushed back. As for the context inside the letter, it was mostly exining how Governor Bohan went ahead and sent his own troops into Du Wei¡¯s territory without permission to fight the native soldiers roaming the Desa Province. Other than that, there wasn¡¯t much else besides one other phrase: ¡°For the state!¡± Bohan believed that even if he doesn¡¯t exin it in detail, Du Wei would still be able to grasp the meaning behind that one phrase. Just like how the old man predicted, Du Wei¡¯s first reaction when he read the letter was appreciation and gratitude. ¡°My Lord, we will soon be inside the Northwest Army¡¯s sphere of influence after we pass that small town ahead of us.¡± Sitting next to Du Wei, Philip was looking out the window with a faint sadness on his face: ¡°Since I brought it up, I really feel sorry for Governor Bohan. He may be the governor of Nuling Province, but he only controls about half the province under his name. Also, he¡¯s constantly under the pressure of the Northwest Army stationed inside his territory; it must be difficult for him.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei gave a faint smile. Phillip points his finger out the window and sighed: ¡°Your dukeship, look outside¡­¡­ To be honest, the more I learn about the terrain and state of affair in the Northwest, the more envious I be of Governor Bohan! Looking at it from a geographic standpoint, the Nuling Province is way better than our Desa Province. At the very least, they don¡¯t have to worry about the threat of the natives because we are there to act as a buffer. Then looking at thend, Nuling is way more fertile than our Desa Province. You can see it in their poption; it¡¯s twice the size of our province! Though with your dukeship¡¯s wealth, money and food isn¡¯t an issue you can¡¯t solve; however, the main problem we have is our soldiers!¡± When he got up to this point, Philip looked towards Du Wei to see if he should continue. Seeing there was no discontent on his lord¡¯s face, Philip felt it was safe to continue speaking: ¡°My lord, even if we round up the numbers in our rank, the soldiers under ourmand is at best 20,000. I know you are a bit dissatisfied with the recruitment method of General Longbottom, but you should also think about it. There are only so much people in our territory, 800,000 to be exact. Even if we openly recruited, how many more do you think we can get? Let¡¯s assume every family out there contributed their most abled body man to the cause¡­.. Let¡¯s not discuss the possibility of that happening¡­.. But if it did, the number still wouldn¡¯t be that significant. ording to the calction of me and my brothers, 50,000 troops should be the limit we can manage. Discounting the old, the young, and the women¡¯s, we could forcefully conscript up to 300,000 young men, but such a feat would no doubt cause panic to those down below! Unless it was a life or death situation, that idea is out of the question.¡± Nodding in acknowledgement, Du Wei didn¡¯t rebuke because he already knew all this way before Philip brought it up. Considering the poption in his own territory, the idea of creating a 200,000 strong army is extremely difficult. ¡°More importantly, there is a bigger problem on our hand.¡± Phillip smiles wryly: ¡°Even if we want to recruit soldiers, we won¡¯t be able to out recruit the Northwest Army. My lord, did you forget the wartime decree?¡± Standing between two provinces, the Northwest Army may have over 200,000 soldiers under their banner, but life and death is something unavoidable, as such, there will always be new and retiring soldiers moving in and out of that gigantic entity. Of course, the biggest influx of flesh blood is usually derived from the locals living in the Northwest. In ordance with the war time decree, once every two years, the Northwest Army is permitted to recruit new soldiers in order to replenish their ranks. Even more troubling¡­.. The wartime decree states that the Northwest Army gets priority over the new recruits if the matter coincides with the local garrison forces. This way around, the difficult job of recruiting new soldiers in this sparsely poptednd bes even harder. ¡°This is why I¡¯m so envious of Governor Bohan.¡± Philip smiled painfully: ¡°Nuling Province may be home to the Northwest Army, but its greatest asset is its poption, its way bigger than our Desa Province! What this mean is that the possible candidates capable of joining the army also increased exponentially ¡®if¡¯ the Nuling Province was ours. ording to my calctions, pulling in 100,000 soldiers shouldn¡¯t be a problem at all and it also wouldn¡¯t have any adverse effect on the territory. My lord, my biggest concern right now is the season for recruitment. It¡¯s not the main season at the moment, but when the New Year rolls around, the Northwest Army will be making their rounds across thend. When that happens, we can expect quite the headache.¡± ¡°I understand your words, but you can¡¯t just increase a poption at will. For a parent to raise a child to adulthood, they will need at least 10 to 20 years. And if we follow conventional means, the time frame needed to increase our poption will likely take three to two generations. Assuming we did encourage the citizens to procreate¡­¡­ Do you think a family will pump out so many kids if they can¡¯t afford it?¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°Philip, I¡¯ve been thinking about all this from many angles and found that there are so many problems hindering us. Adding in the issues thrown at us by the Northwest Army¡­.. It gets even harder!¡± Smiling sadly, Philip replied: ¡°Your honor, I think we should talk with Governor Bohan. Though you two don¡¯t get along too well, but after what happened back in Anglia City, I believe this is the turning point for us. Bohan may be a bit of a power hog when ites to authority, but he is still loyal to the empire. At the very least, our stance coincides with him regarding the natives and the Northwest Army. He got the people weck; we just need to find a way to help him tap into that resource for us.¡± Money is definitely not the issue here because Bohan was able toe up with the auction system. Then there¡¯s only one reason left as to why Bohan is facing so much trouble when recruiting more soldiers: his status. Unlike Du Wei whom is a Duke and a noble, Bohan is only a governor. ording to the sted war time decree, the wage and food supply of the local garrison forces must be distributed by the Northwest Army, meaning Bohan must send the money up before his own men can receive their wage. A simr example to what Bohan is experiencing should be Sin City where Du Wei is snatching a lot of his new recruits. Before Du Wei came along, the soldiers stationed at that prison could barely feed themselves, let alone be properly equipped. On this point, Du Wei is luckily able to bypass the problem faced by Bohan because a noble as big as a Duke can conscript his own private army. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be bad to cooperate.¡± Philip smiled: ¡°You are free to build up your military power and Bohan can rid himself of the sry constraint ced on him by the Northwest Army. Win- win, right? Du Wei was interested now: ¡°borate!¡± ¡°When the autumn conscription rolls around, we can make a deal with Bohan. ording to imperialw, cross province conscription is permitted so long as the proper paper work is sent up to the highmand. Considering your status and poprity, I believe those in the capital wouldn¡¯t make things difficult for us.¡± ¡°And Bohan is going to agree to all this?¡± ¡°That is the key here.¡± The way Phillip wasughing right now is extremely sly and cunning, almost like Du Wei when he¡¯s scheming something¡­ ¡­ It must be because Philip spent too much time around Du Wei. ¡°We can make an exchange with him.¡± Philip exined: ¡°Unlike him where he is constrained by the war time decree, we are perfectly capable of bypassing it. If you negotiate with him¡­. For example: he can take half the soldiers we draft.¡± Du Wei is a smart man so he already knew what Philip was getting at: ¡°What you mean is that he can take half the soldiers and use our ¡®Tulip¡¯ name to mask the issue. This way, those soldiers will still be under hismand while bypassing the hindrance from the Northwest Army, right?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± Philip softly replied: ¡°If that Bohan is not at ease, we can just let him appoint themanding officers. Also, we can even build a military base camp along the border of the two provinces and have the troops stationed there¡­.. If we go that far, what else can hein about?¡± ¡°Good idea!¡± Du Wei did not dilute hispliments: ¡°Philip, you are growing into a fine aid.¡± Smiling in satisfaction, Philip continues to speak: ¡°My lord, this is a good idea, but we still need Bohan to nod. Given Bohan¡¯s personality, that guy might put a crazier condition forward, HAHA.¡± ¡°Let him put all he want.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°If he wants some benefit, I be happy to give him. Anyways, I owe him this much when he went as far as to sacrifice an entire unit for me¡­.. Besides, I¡¯m notcking money.¡± ¡°Then without further ado my lord, pen a letter and I will make a visit to the governor right away.¡± Philip urged. Du Wei thought for a moment and shook his head: ¡°No, it¡¯s best not to leave any evidence behind for this type of thing. Who knows what would happen in the future, it might be lethal. I will personally make a visit to Bohan on the way back.¡± Chapter 238 part 1 Chapter 238 ¡°Rugaard of the Northwest¡± (part one) Helen Mountain, also known as a tail of the Kilimanjaro Mountain range, is a small mountain that made a clear cut through the center of the Nuling Province; thus, dividing the province in two. Though Governor Bohan and the Northwest Army didn¡¯t openly say this, but both parties are using this mountain line as a boundary between the two ¨C the south belonging to Bohan and the North to the Northwest Army. When Du Wei and his convoy finally reached Helen City located at the base of this mountain, the soldiers sent over by Bohan to escort Du Wei and his men were already turning away. The reason is no other, Helen city is controlled by the Northwest Army so it¡¯s only natural for Bohan¡¯s men to leave. From as far as 10li (500 meter per li) out from the city, the sound of horse beating against the ground could already be heard from the direction of the city. Unlikest time though, the attitude from the 1000 strong unit from the Northwest Army was much better than before. Stopping at a distance not far from Du Wei¡¯s convoy, one of the soldiers carry a ck g came out from his unit and politely requested an audience with Du Wei. As Du Wei got off his carriage to meet the guy, Du Wei was a little surprised to find that the person is an old acquaintance. Totoro: a general that specialized in the management of the logistic department of the Northwest Army. On many asions, this fatty had met with Du Wei to ask for military funds back when he first came to the Northwest. Despite being taken advantage of by this guy, Du Wei never made things difficult for this Totoro; as such, their rtionship can¡¯t be called too terrible. ¡°Duke, It¡¯s been a long time.¡± Getting off his horse, this Totoro then came up to Du Wei and performed a quick greeting gesture before pulling at Du Wei¡¯s hand in a friendly manner: ¡°Duke, I can¡¯t believe you actually came to visit. When the Army Head heard of youring, I was sent here to wee you.¡± Since he¡¯s here to be a guest, Du Wei can only push down the piled up anger inside. With a smiling face, he replied: ¡°I was worried my visit may be a bit reckless. As an uninvited guest, I fear general Rugaard will find my visit to be insensitive.¡± Exchanging some more useless words, Du Wei made sure to pin down any changes on this Totoro¡¯s face. Sure enough, this fatty would on asion shoot some rming gazes at Du Wei¡¯s men. Luckily Du Wei wasn¡¯t afraid of this fatty checking up on his people and luggage, after all, the whole reason for his visit is to openly waltz into the enemy home and bring some trouble along the way. Du Wei¡¯s thoughts at the moment: though his convoy doesn¡¯t have anything dangerous, but a dragon will soon be here in a couple of days! As for Totoro, this logistic general didn¡¯t find much interest in Du Wei¡¯s team after some careful assessment, but he did give a extra nce at Du Wei¡¯s coach driver. ¡°Eh? Duke, I didn¡¯t know you liked to use these types of barbarians from the Southeast.¡± Totoro smiled, his voice lowering: ¡°Our General Rugaard is the same. Just recently, he got a handful of beautiful ves from that region. Since you are here, you will also have the pleasure of seeing them.¡± Not replying, Du Wei only smiled. Seeing this, Totoro quickly pat his head like he just realized something: ¡°Foolish me, I got a big mouth here! Your Dukeship already has the fortunate of receiving the Marquise¡¯s favor, so why would these mediocre beauties stay in your eye.¡± When he said this, Totoro was always looking at Du Wei to see what his reaction would be. Though Du Wei knew he was being observed, he didn¡¯t bother exposing it. With a somewhat sly smile, he casually replied: ¡°General Totoro is too humorous, but to be able to see some woman from the Southeast on this visit, it seems General Rugaard and I are of the same kind!¡± As he finish, Du Wei began to pull Totoro¡¯s hand to board the carriage. Totoro never was much of a military man. Even inside the Northwest Army, this person is more like financial steward than a general. Seeing a chance to ride in afortable carriage with fine furnishing, this fatty would of course not deny the invitation, especially when the Duke is so insistent, right??? Once inside, Du Wei immediately pulled out a bottle of fine wine from the secretpartment under his seat. Using this as a starter, this fatty finally let¡¯s himself go after gulping down several cups of alchohol: ¡°Good wine! It truly is hard toe across such a fine wine in this impoverish ce!¡± Du Wei faintly smiled: ¡°This wine is made from a fruit in the Southeast. If General Totoro like, I can have someone send over a case or two.¡± Hearing this, Totoro continuously expressed his gratitude for the gift. However, just when this general was at a high point, Du Wei suddenly uttered something in a soft voice: ¡°But, General is the great steward in charge of 200,000 soldiers. I fear the raremodities in my possession can only be calledmon in the general¡¯s eye.¡± ¡°Of course not!¡± Totoro repeatedly denied this, his tone sounded a little pitiful as he shook his head back and forth: ¡°Your Dukeship is making fun of me. My post here may look morous on the outside, but I¡¯m merely a mouse that have put up with the troubles of both side. On one hand I have to handle the job of begging Governor Bohan for money, on the other, I have to deal with the division generals thate demanding for money. The truth is I¡¯m quite stressed about all this too, hence the reason why I was so happy to be given the job of weing your lordship.¡± Du Wei suddenly had a thought: ¡°Did you say General Rugaard recently bought some ves¡­.. I¡¯m guessing it was done through your hands too, right?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± At the mention of women, the eyes of this fatty were brimming with light: ¡°The girls from the Southeast are a bit dark in terms of skinplexion, but I must say, they¡¯re always silky smooth to the touch. Best of all, they¡¯re always submissive with many other benefits for the owner¡­.. HAHA, if Duke is interested¡­.. Oh no, no, I misspoke. If your Dukeship can get something as good as this wine, then there¡¯s no way you arecking in girls from the Southeast.¡± What, demanding a bribe now? Raising his lips into a fake smile, Du Wei began to test the water: ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to do¡­.. You know, I don¡¯t hold much interest in women¡¯s because of my Magician background, but getting my hands on some beautiful Southeast girls is not difficult at all. If General Totoro is interested, I¡¯ll have someone send over the best girls under my business along the wine of course.¡± At his words, Totoro became so happy that even his eyes had turned into the shape of a crescent moon. Noticing this, Du Wei decided to downy the situation to see the reaction: ¡°Oh that¡¯s right, since General Rugaard had you buy a batch of beautiful ve girls, surely they must be exceedingly beautiful. I fear mine wouldn¡¯t even be lookable inparison.¡± This fatty may be very good at covering his real emotions, but even he wasn¡¯t able to stop the reflex like reaction he leaked: ¡°Of course not! I¡¯m merely a housekeeper, how can my lowly status get one of those girls. General Rugaard had me buy them for the other generals as a reward for their hard work.¡± ¡°He¡¯s no soldier, he¡¯s more like a Babbitt businessmen found in the marketce!¡± This is Du Wei¡¯s evaluation of Totoro. If Rugaard really revolted, a person like this may not necessarily follow through with the n. Perhaps he can start from this angle and get an idea of whatever the Northwest Army is nning. ¡°One shouldn¡¯t be afraid of others being greedy, what they should fear is not knowing what they desire!¡± As his carriage continued to move forward, Du Wei gave the order to not stay in Hn City and head straight for the Northwest Army¡¯s headquarter. Since he¡¯s being escorted anyways, Du Wei is not afraid of any mishaps along the road at night. Looking back at the date, the second dragon prince should be here really soon, best make haste. In the never few days, Du Wei had practically won over this Totoro with his precious carriage. Showering the general with luxurious food and wine, there was no end in sight for the praisesing out of the fatty¡¯s mouth. It¡¯s to be expected. Totoro may be in charge of the logistic department, but thisnd is simply too barren. At best, you can only call him a soiled rich man from the benefits he reaped thus far from his job. Moreover, he is still inside the army. Even if this fatty likes to indulge himself in pleasure, it¡¯s still not proper to be so tant about it inside the army. If not out of consideration for Du Wei¡¯s identity, Totoro might have really called for some beautifuldies to apany him inside the carriage. Finally after two days like this, Du Wei and his convoy is finally at the main headquarter of the Northwest Army ¡°Watt¡± fortress. This is an intermediate sized fortress city built for the sole purpose of housing the military. With a nce up at the defensive wall, Du Wei estimate it¡¯s at least 15 meters in height. Seems the owner spared no expense when constructing it because the material used is obviously the rock-hard boulders somonly found in the Northwest. Then there is also the siege weapons ced atop of the ramparts. Are those catapults he¡¯s seeing up there? As for the ballista¡¯s, there¡¯s really not much to say other than too many! It wasn¡¯t just all about the fortress. Outside the wall, there are several big military camps stationed around the perimeter with a ginormous training field further out for the cavalry to train in. This city truly is militarized¡­¡­. Ever since the Northwest Army made their home here many years ago, pretty much all of the residence inside the city are the families of the soldiers serving inside the Northwest Army. In order to maintain loyalty from his men, this sly Rugaard intentionally had this done so these people can be kept as hostages if the soldier in question tried any funny business. When Du Wei¡¯s convoy first arrived at the gate, he took the initiation to actively get off his carriage just so he can ride on a horse. His visit today is to make it as high profile as possible, therefore, making an appearance at the front of his convoy is more ideal than stuffing himself inside a box. Following in his lead, Totoro also got on a horse and rode next to him, all the while introducing the sites in the city. Suddenly, something further ahead of the street caught his sight. With a dome shape structure, this building with stain ss windows also hung an iconic sign above the entrance that gave off a divine sensation to anyone that looks at it¡­¡­. ¡°EH?¡± Du Wei was slightly taken aback: ¡°This ce also has a temple?¡± ¡°Your Dukeship is too funny.¡± Totoro looked stern in the way he spoke because not even he dares to kid around when it came to the temple: ¡°Not only is the Temple of Light the state religion, many of our soldiers ¨C including many generals ¨C are devoted follower of the goddess. I believe I don¡¯t need to mention this, but itsmon knowledge anyone with power inside the empire are firm believers of the temple.¡± Du Wei may be nodding, but his real thoughts were: I¡¯m not, what you are going to do? Chapter 238 part 2 Chapter 238 ¡°Rugaard of the Northwest¡± (part two) Not long after they openly marched into town, a clear audible sound of horse beating against the ground could be heard from the front. As someone that lived in the Northwest for a while now, Du Wei is perfectly capable of distinguishing the identity of someone based on the rhythm of their horse. And this time, the rhythm was neat and steady, obviously from the army. Sure enough, not too far away in the middle of the street, a unit of ck cavalry knights were making their way over. Based on the respectful reaction of the citizens walking nearby, it seems these neers are quite well known around here. It¡¯s not the first time Du Wei met a soldier of the Northwest Army, as such, he was easily able to discern the difference between this unit and the rest. Wearing a full set of ck armor made of superior quality, even the horses these people rode were 1st ss that is hard toe by in the empire. What¡¯s more, even from afar, Du Wei can feel the suffocating atmosphere surrounding these hardened veterans. Looking at the outfit of these knights, the first thought that came to mind was the report given to him by Uncle Alpha. Aren¡¯t these the people that intercepted Gold Wolf Head and his men along the way? Then at 50 meters before colliding with Du Wei and his men, this group of ck knights suddenly came to a halt. ¡°General Totoro, I heard you went to receive our guests. I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s safe to presume this person beside you is the famous Duke Tulip?¡± The one to speak up is a young knight that had half of his face covered in a metal mask, clearly the leader of the pack. Instinctively, Du Wei got a weird vibeing off from this fe that made him get quite ufortable. Though the voice sounded gentle and calm, but there was an indescribable chill in there. ¡°I am Du Wei, Du Wei Rudolph.¡± With a smile, Du Wei then hauled his horse forward a few steps to get a closer look at the young knight: ¡°Sir is?¡± In a loud voice, Totoro hurries in to introduce: ¡°Duke, this right here is General Rugaard¡¯s son¡­¡­.¡± ¡°My name is Cybaster.¡± The young Knight introduced himself with a smiling face simr to how he looked when beheading the now deceased Gold Wolf Head General: ¡°Duke, forgive me for not saluting you properly for am under military orders. I have long admired your Dukeship and your achievements. Known as the strongest among your generation, I can¡¯t wait till the day I can ask you for advice.¡± Giving a few polite words back in return, Du Wei was cut off by a suddenugh from this young knight: ¡°You be sure to have a good long stay in ¡®Watt City¡¯ so I can ask you for advice. The truth is¡­. I have a strong interest in magic. For a famed magician like yourself to make a visit, I mustn¡¯t miss this rare opportunity.¡± Not talking anymore, Du Wei only watched on as the young Cybaster turned to leave, but before he left, he made sure to let Du Wei hear his orders: ¡°Continue forward, anyone that doesn¡¯t reach Helen City by nightfall, DEATH!¡± With that, Cybaster and his men flew right pass Du Wei¡¯s convoy. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Totoro shows a relieved smile: ¡°Duke mustn¡¯t take it to heart. Our little general here is always like this in nature, even in the face of General Rugaard, he is like this¡­¡­¡± Giving a few polite words, Du Wei then followed Totoro¡¯s lead to arrive at the general¡¯s manor. Though the ce was very grand, but it didn¡¯t give off a feeling of being overly luxurious, more like what you would find in those ancient majestic mansions. Waiting till Totoro waspletely gone from his sight because the fatty had to go in to inform the residence, Du Wei then turned to whisper at the guard behind him, ¡°Hey, wanted criminal¡­.. That kid just now is even more prideful than you were when we first met.¡± With an eyepatch covering a side of his face, this knight that Du Wei was talking to is none other than our Saint Knight, Hussein in disguise. Listening to Du Wei¡¯s assessment, our saint knight only gave a light snort of dissatisfaction. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re not satisfied? I say, how old is the kid? From what I heard, the guy¡¯s strength is already at the eighth level, way younger than you were when you were of that rank. I fear your title as the continent¡¯s number one knight won¡¯t stand very long at this rate.¡± Without anger in his voice, Hussein humorously replied: ¡°What number one knight of the continent, I¡¯ve never cared for that stuff¡­. But that boy though, I hear he is fluent in Rodriguez¡¯s ability, that I would like to see.¡± When their conversation got up to this point, a loud voice drifted over from the general¡¯s manor and broke their chit chat. ¡°For the Duke of Tulip to make a personal visit is truly an honor for I, Rugaard of the Northwest Army!¡± Giving off a rough soundingugh, this figure came out in big strides that weremonly found in a soldier. Just as Du Wei finished dismounting, the guy was already in front of him and gave Du Wei an enthusiastic embrace: ¡°Your father I and were good friends 20 years ago when we fought against the Northwest Natives. When I heard Old Raymond¡¯s son wasing to the Northwest, I was so eager to meet you, and now I finally do!¡± Only after finishing his words did he release Du Wei. Taking a step back, this old man then carefully looked over Du Wei with a face full of goodwill: ¡°Very good, what a handsome boy, truly befitting a child of the Rowling Family!¡± Like the foe before him, Du Wei also surveyed this evil warlord of the Northwest. The face of this Rugaard really didn¡¯t look all that crafty or evil, more like an average in person. If Du Wei didn¡¯t know better, he might really mistake the person before him as a heroic military man with great temperament. But then it¡¯s those harmless looking ones that are always the most dangerous. On this point, Du Wei is very clear on it. Of course, this General Rugaard does have some special characteristic that made him stand out. While standing before Du Wei ¨C a 15 year boy ¨C this old man is even shorter than him by half a head! Famed in the Northwest for his butchery deeds, ulterior motives, and collusion with the natives, this fear inducing warlord is a¡­¡­. Midget??? However, it¡¯s unlikely anyone in the Northwest would dare look down at this man! Though Du Wei never met with Rugaard prior to this, he did hear rumors about the guy. Now that he is face to face with this midget, Du Wei is somewhat surprised that this person is even smaller than what he originally imagined. Technically, Du Wei isn¡¯t a full grown adult yet, so using the calction from his previous world, Du Wei is only 160cm while this guy before him is only up to his nose¡­¡­ Also, this midget had a very big crooked nose, making his normally square face look dauntingly oppressive to those that meet him. ¡°General Rugaard.¡± Du Wei gently threw up a breather to force a smile: ¡°My father also mentioned you on many asions. I¡¯ve been in the Northwest for more than a year and I have to say it¡¯s my blunder for not visiting you till this now, please excuse my faux pas.¡± ¡°No need to be so polite!¡± Rugaard waves his hand heroically like it didn¡¯t matter: ¡°Your father and I fought a war together so you can say we are like brothers that went through life and death. Based on this, we can even be called family. Comeee, let¡¯s go inside!¡± After his speech, this old man started to pull Du Wei inside. Unlike the kind speech made by this old fox, Du Wei was thinking: I¡¯ll be damned if I be family with a traitor like you! Following Rugaard into the manor, the pair then came into an open living room that was already filled with several knights in armor ¨C this includes General Guhuaduoluo that led the troops against Lon City. As for the rest of the knights sitting inside, they were about thirty to forty years of age and each one of these fierce looking fes had a genuine knight¡¯s badge clipped to their chest, the lowest being a sixth rank. When they saw Du Wei entering the room, their eyes all gave off a sense of open hostility. And in the room, a feast was already set, but unlike the big feast tables found in the empire, it was set following the customs of the prairie natives where each guest had their own small table. Organized into a small circr formation, Rugaard then pulled Du Wei along to sit at the very top reserved for the Army Head. Unlike Hussein that was allowed to follow Du Wei into the banquet, the rest of Du Wei¡¯s people were led away to rest somewhere else. ¡°Comeee, let me make the introduction. This right here is the famed Duke Tulip of the empire, known as the most talented person in his generation! Ha-ha, the son of Earl Raymond of the Rowling Family.¡± The way this Rugaard said thest part greatly displeased Du Wei. What does he mean by that, is it to mock me? The son of the Rowling Family became the Duke of Tulip¡­. Is this not mockery or what? But then looking at the warm smile of this Rugaard, Du Wei could only sigh and think: This guy can act! ¡°Du Wei, you see? These here are all of my greatest warriors! I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t need to introduce General Guhuaduoluo again so I will do the others. Comeee, each one of youe toast the Duke and state your name. Whoever doesn¡¯t get drunk tonight will get their butts wacked as punishment!¡± Listening to General Rugaard¡¯s ¡°heroic¡± voice, Du Wei wondered. What type of person is this Rugaard really? Wu Sangui? Shi Jing Tang? Or is it ¡­ ¡­ An Lushan? Note: all of these names belonged to some of the worst traitors in chinese history. Every single one of them has at least one drama dedicated to their deeds, especially Wu Sangui because he literally sold out the entire country with one move. Thinking of this, Du Weiughed hahaly and took the initiative to raise a cup for a toast: ¡°General Rugaard is too kind. I¡¯m just a youngster, how can I have these well-known heroese give me a toast? Best let me go to them!¡± With that, he then grabs a cup to toast the guy sitting to the left of him. Based on the face and beard this guy had, Du Wei actually found this person to be simr to his own general Longbottom. Raising a cup to the guy, Du Wei smiled: ¡°This cup here is Du Wei showing his respect to the hero of the Northwest Army!¡± Despite his advances, this guy only gave a heavy grunt as a reply and never reached out to receive Du Wei¡¯s cup. As a result the atmosphere became frozen. Chapter 239 part 1 Chapter 239 ¡°Refuse a toast only to be forced a forfeit drink!¡± (part one) The atmosphere in the hall was cold. With the cup in his hand, Du Wei was stuck in an awkward position right now after being denied. Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t show an annoyed expression and merely gave Rugaard a nce. Sure enough, Rugaard puts on a pretentious face and immediately called out: ¡°Shrek, why are you not drinking when the Duke gave you a toast?¡± Shrek? Nice name, nice name! Looking at this big bearded guy, he couldn¡¯t help but sigh in secret: Why couldn¡¯t he be green skinned? If it was green then it be perfect. This Shrek grunted. Raising his head with confidence, he said: ¡°My Lord, drinking is never toote. I¡¯ve heard so much about Duke Tulip so there was always some thoughts irking at my heart¡­.. If I can¡¯t untie these knots then the wine wouldn¡¯t have any vor anyways!¡± With that, this big bearded Shrek then stared at Du Wei and said his next words in a low muffled voice: ¡°Duke Tulip, I heard from Guhuaduoluo that you were able to shoot an arrow as far as 10 Li¡¯s out. I¡¯ve spent all my life ying with the bow and have yet heard of someone shooting an arrow that far! Humph, likely some shameful magic used to deceive others!¡± Here ites! Giving a suppressedugh, Du Wei did not talk; instead, he stole a nce at the Generals seated in the room. Sure enough, everyone present had a faint smile on their face and even the wordsing out of Rugaard right now had a strange meaning behind it. Aigh ¡­ ¡­ Seems like they want to show their strength, but¡­.. Do they really need to make it so old fashioned?¡¯ Sighing, Du Wei said: ¡°General Shrek, what do you have in mind?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe someone can shoot an arrow 10 Li¡¯s out !¡± Speaking aloud, Shrek continues: ¡°I fear someone is ying a trick here. Duke Tulip, that day you managed to force our army to retreat 10 Li¡¯s with a single arrow. If word spread, others might really misinterpret the tale and believe your Dukeship is capable of repelling an entire army with a single arrow! I¡¯m unconvinced so I wish to ask for your advice in archery.¡± Du Wei made a smirk as he lowered his cup, ¡°Oh, what do you wish to consult in?¡± Letting out a hahaugh, this Shrek then loudly yelled: ¡°Bring out my bow!¡± Under hismanding voice, the side door in the room swung open and what came out are two splendid looking men carrying a bow in their hands. Based on the ck sheen it gave off, this is clearly a bow made of pure metal with an pull string constructed out of a mysterious material. Looking at how difficult it was for the two to haul it into room, the weight this thing held is most certainly not light. Aside from the bow, the guy in the back also carried a quiver in one hand. Though there are only 10 arrows inside, but the makeup of these arrows are totally different from what you would find in an ordinary arrow. Generally speaking, the shaft of an arrow is made using wood, the head using metal, the tail using feather plumes, but these arrows in the quiver¡­. Every single one of them was forged out of pure metal and was double the size of an ordinary arrow. Even more shocking, the tip of these arrows were made out of a metal that had a golden sheen to it! Seeing it was the right time to make his move, Rugaard picks up his cup and stood up: ¡°Du Wei ¡­ ¡­ This General Shrek here is our number one marksmen in the Northwest Army and the ¡®ck Gold Tread Bow¡¯ you see before us is famous even in the Northwest! Once upon a time, Shrek here used this very bow to shoot down another army¡¯s gpole with a single shot! If only talking about archery, you can say he is the number one man in the Northwest Army.¡± With that, he turned to this Shrek and said: ¡°General Shrek, have you forgotten the Duke¡¯s status, how can you ask him topete with you? Hurry and sit down. There will only be fun in this banquet and no other.¡± Du Wei wasughing inside because he found their act absolutely amusing. Clearly this was all a set up. He immediately made augh: ¡°General Rugaard, I¡¯m very much willing to see General Shrek¡¯s archery. Consider it my contribution to the banquet¡¯s entertainment.¡± With that, he looks at the big bearded guy: ¡°General Shrek, how do you want topete?¡± Using one hand only, Shrek lifts the bow and firmly grips onto it: ¡°My bow here can be called the strongest in the army, but even then it can only shoot as far as one kilometer. When ites to a bow, the stronger the pull string, the further the arrow will go. My bow may not be some legendary artifact, but in terms of strength, it is definitely hard toe by even if you scour the entire continent! In the Northwest Army, there are only five people that can handle this bow so to be able to shoot 10 Li¡¯s out, I Shrek, will not believe such farce!¡± So that is what this is all about! Before Du Wei arrived, Guhuaduoluo exined in detail about how he was forced to turn back 10 Li¡¯s and it was because of one arrow. When the upper level heard of this, especially this Shrek, they took it as a great insult and didn¡¯t believe it! To be able to shoot 10 Li¡¯s out¡­ ¡­ How strong does the bow needs to be? How tough does the wielder needs to be? There is no such thing in this world!! They immediately concluded that Du Wei used some kind of magic to secretly achieve the feat. Since everyone decided on this point, it¡¯s only proper for them to show off their might. Shrek then had some of the men open the room¡¯s main door. Then in big strides, he walked outside and cried out: ¡°Duke Tulip, you and I willpare our archery!¡± Du Wei only smiled: ¡°And how do you want topete?¡± Shrek then points to the main gate leading to the outside: ¡°Commander, let¡¯s move the banquet to the training field. This way the Duke and I can truly settle the matter!¡± Rugaard seems to nce at Du Wei before breaking into augh: ¡°Okay! We soldiers aren¡¯t the type to care for these customary practices anyway. Let¡¯s move the party into the training field and enjoy the show and wine!¡± Since this was all premeditated, of course Rugaard¡¯s subordinates aren¡¯t going to object; instead, the room erupted into loud cheers. Subsequently, some soldiers came and moved the stuff away. As the head of the army, this Rugaard would naturally have a private training field in his manor. In only a few minutes, the entire crowd was relocated to the training field. Under themand of Shrek, arge number of soldiers immediately brought out target boards to scatter across the field. Both close and far, the shortest being 50 meters while the furthest at a staggering 200 meters. In front of all eyes, Shrek suddenly picked up his ck Gold Tread Bow and jumped atop of a war horse that was brought over earlier. This big bearded general really is capable because the moment he got on, he not only neighed the horse forward, he also straightened himself into a standing position to draw his bow. Like this, shots began to fire from his hand as he made his round across the field. Shoop-shoop-shoop. Releasing nine shots in a single breath, not a single miss and all were bull¡¯s eye! Then before anyone could break into cheers, he suddenly switches his bow to a back drawing position and began to shoot. Shoop. When the final shot went out, the arrow was so powerful that it pierced through the first target board andnded on the one behind it. Apuding at the result, even Du Wei called out in amazement because this Shrek truly is a good marksman! It was at this moment an eagle was circling in the sky. Letting out a muffledugh at the sight, this big bearded guy suddenly rushed up to a target board and unplugged the lodged arrow. Then redrawing his bow again, this Shrek managed to pull so hard that the ck Gold Tread Bow in his hand was almost the shape of a full moon¡­.. Under the humming sound created by the vibrating bow string, the shot was released and flew straight towards the eagle¡­.. Shoop What came next is a loud cry of pain from the eagle as it dropped out of the sky. This finishing move created a deafening apuse from the crowd. This Shreknded all 10 arrows and even took down an eagle in the sky! This is just WOW. It wasn¡¯t just Du Wei that was amazed; even Hussein that was standing in the back was moved by the sight. If it was only talking about martial skills, even ten Shrek wouldn¡¯t be Hussein¡¯s opponent. But archery¡­. It¡¯s not something one can learn by just cultivating their Dou Qi! Chapter 239 part 2 Chapter 239 ¡°Refuse a toast only to be forced a forfeit drink!¡± (part two) Under the apuding cheers of the crowd, Shrek dismounted and proudly looked at Du Wei: ¡°Duke, your turn.¡± Sensing everyone¡¯s conceitedughter, Du Wei sighed and said: ¡°General Shrek¡¯s archery is amazing, truly worthy of being called the number one marksman in the Northwest Army! I fear it would be difficult for me to find another like you even among the prairie natives.¡± After a pause, Du Wei looked at the crowd and thought: If he doesn¡¯t disy his strength today, these people might really look down on him. It didn¡¯t matter anyways. He knew they just wanted to humiliate him today in front of everyone and wouldn¡¯t really rebel at the moment. Thinking of this, Du Wei smiled and said: ¡°General Shrek, would it be possible to show me your bow?¡± Letting out a proudugh, Shrek formally handed over the bow and smiled: ¡°Does the duke also want to try my bow? Ha-ha!¡± Following up, Guhuaduoluo that was standing nearby butts in: ¡°Duke Tulip, General Shrek¡¯s ck Gold Tread Bow is famous in our Army! Other than himself, General Rugaard, and our young general, there isn¡¯t any other that could handle this precious weapon. Let¡¯s not mention whether or not you can shoot with it, just being able to draw the bow is quite a feat in itself!¡± Still smiling, Du Wei ignored the warning and went for the bow with one hand. Sure enough, the bow was seriously heavy because the moment he held it in his hand, he can feel the weight pressing down against him: ¡°Oh? Even you can¡¯t draw this bow?¡± Flushing red at thement, Guhuaduoluo was hit in the weak spot. His greatest asset had always been his cautionary and prudent personality; as such, his martial skills really can¡¯t be matched in the league of experts. Forget about shooting the ck Gold Tread Bow, just drawing the string is enough to exert him of all his strength: ¡°I can draw the bow, but if we¡¯re talking about shooting it, then that¡¯s beyond my capability. I¡¯ll be open with you, unless your martial skills are above the third rank, you can forget about drawing the bow, let alone shooting 10 consecutive times at a distant target!¡± Acting like he didn¡¯t hear anything, Du Wei continues to caress the bow in an absent minded manner: ¡°Oh, 10 times eh¡­¡­.¡± With that, he secretly pulls at the draw string when one of his fingers hooked onto it. As expected, the string was exceptionally strong. Considering his current arm strength, it would be an extraordinary achievement if he can pull just one-third of the way. Seeing Du Wei¡¯s shameless attempt at drawing the bow, everyone in the crowd broke out intoughter. Not only is this Duke too young, but look at those puny arms, how much strength can he possibly have? Unlike Du Wei that have never used this ck Gold Tread Bow, just about every general present had in some way attempted to shoot with it. If even they cannot step up to the task, how can a pipsqueak like this kid do what they can¡¯t do? It¡¯s certain now; this Duke used some kind of petty magic trick to propel the arrow 10 Li¡¯s out. Giving off a gloating smile, everyone couldn¡¯t wait to see Du Wei make a fool of himself. ¡°Truly a good bow.¡± Du Wei smirked and turned to look at the surrounding crowd with a strange light in his eyes: ¡°General Shrek, your bow may be good¡­.. But it¡¯s only average in my opinion. To call this bow amazing¡­. How hrious!¡± Bursting into rage at thement, Shrek shouted: ¡°What did you say! Duke Tulip, if you can draw my bow 10 times then it¡¯s your win!¡± Du Wei lets out augh like he was stuck in a predicament. Shaking his head, he sighed: ¡°let¡¯s just forget about it¡­.. I¡¯m just a guest; it¡¯s impolite of me to win over the general.¡± Turning red from anger, Shrek grits his teethes and said: ¡°Quit bragging! Tulip, if you win, then ¡­ ¡­ I¡¯ll¡­¡­ ¡± As a reckless man, he was about to say something dangerous when Rugaard¡¯s cough brought him back to reality. Although Rugaard didn¡¯t believe the kid before him can win, but he¡¯s not someone foolish enough to be yed by a few provoking words. As a precautionary measure, he cuts in to take over: ¡°Shrek! If Duke Tulip wins, you are fined a drink! HA HA HA HA ¡­ ¡­¡± A drink? Du Wei makes a coldugh, his finger pointing to a huge jar in the middle of the crowd. Standing at more than a meter high, this jar can easily store over a hundred Jin worth of wine. Looking at it now, there should still be half a jar left, which is still a whopping 30-50 Jin of wine. (1 Jin is equal to 0.5kg) ¡°If I win, please drink the entire jar General!¡± After watching Shrek nod in agreement, Du Wei smiled and begins to draw at the bow string¡­¡­ Snip!! Just like that, this famous ck Gold Treat Bow was snapped in half like it was made of rotting wood!! This scene sent shockwaves across the crowd! Casually tossing the treasured bow to the ground, Du Wei turns to Rugaard andughed: ¡°I¡¯m sorry ¡­ ¡­ I used too much strength. Really though, this bow just isn¡¯t up to par¡­.. Since I ruined General Shrek¡¯s bow, I will be sure topensate him with a better one in the future.¡± Staring down at his now destroyed bow in silence, Shrek looked like he can burn a whole through the ground from how intense his gaze was! That¡¯s a ck Gold Tread Bow! This is his ck Gold Tread Bow!! Just being able to draw the string is an amazing feat! Yet in the hands of this youngster, it snapped like it was made of paper! How is this possible?! Illusion! This must be an illusion! Rubbing his eyes in disbelief, Shrek could only helplessly look at the tattered mess on the ground. Du Wei sneered as he watched Shrek¡¯s pitiful reaction: ¡°General Shrek, are you trying to go back on your words?¡± Flushing red like a beet, Shrek suddenly growled before turning to the giant wicker. Then with one fell swoop, he began jugging down the wine in big gulps¡­¡­ ¡°Humph! Refuse a toast only to be forced a forfeit drink!¡± Du Wei¡¯s little mutter sounded like he was deliberately talking to himself, but everyone present can clearly hear it like they were beside him. Poor Shrek, after only jugging down a dozen mouthful of this intense spirit, this big bearded guy was already having trouble keeping himself straight. It¡¯s to be expected, Even if this huge wine jar is half filled to begin with, there are still over 30-50 Jin worth of liquid inside! How do you expect a normal person to finish that much alcohol? Fine, even if not alcohol, just water is enough to stuff a person to death in such quantity! After a few more gulps of this intense spirit ¨C a specialty of the Northwest ¨C this Shrek finally caved in. With a slight nt of his foot, he came crashing down to the floor like all strength had left his body. Some of the neighboring generals wanted to move up to help the poor guy, but when they saw Rugaard¡¯s gloomy face and those burning eyes, not a single man had the nerve to step forward. ¡°Someonee.¡± Rugaard takes in a deep breath before pointing to the drunken mess known as Shrek: ¡°Bring him away and pour some water on this buffoon! Our guest is still here so get this shameful sight out of here! As punishment for hisck of manners in the banquet, he is to wash the outhouse for a month!¡± At hismand, several impressive looking soldiers walked up and took the drunken Shrek away. As for Du Wei, he himself picked up another cup and came in front of another General to make a toast. With a rxed smile, he said: ¡°General, this second cup is my toast to you¡­¡­ Hmmm¡­.. You¡¯re not going to make a bet with me again just to have a drink, right?¡± This second General is none other than Guhuaduoluo. Upon hearing Du Wei¡¯s somewhat threatening joke, this guy hastily picked up a cup and made a quick toast in return. Faintly smiling at the result, he was quite pleased by this because he didn¡¯t need to take the initiative anymore. When he finished pouring the third cup and was about to walk towards his next victim, the guy had already raised a cup at him. ¡°General Rugaard.¡± Du Wei sat there with a cup in his hand: ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a little nd for a dozen big masters to just sit around and drink? Isn¡¯t there some other entertainment up your sleeve?¡± Chapter 240 Chapter 240 ¡°Piercing assassination¡± Rugaard smiled: ¡°Of course! How can I neglect a guest¡¯s entertaining?¡± With that, he pped his hand. At his signal, several soldiers then strode in with arge wooden box and gentlyid it down onto the ground. Unlike the usual square shape one would expect, this thing is like a diamond. Then following suit, a gnome like figure that is likely shorter than Rugaard came out from beneath the banquet stage Though this person of darkplexion had stubby looking arms and legs, but he did have one hell of a big head. Wearing a hrious looking robe, his garment looked like it was woven together by using different fabrics. Then there was that long ponytail behind that head, is it touching the ground? Alright, let¡¯s forget about the garment and hair, but you simply can¡¯t ignore that face. Packing a ginormous nose, the poor guy looked like his eyes and mouth were pushed to the side, thus making him look extremely weird because of it. Probably a tribal native of the Southeastern Sea based on his appearance. Once he was in front of everyone, this gnome first made a bowing gesture to Rugaard before doing the same to everyone else. After that was done, this person turns out to be a mute from the handnguage he was making. Nodding, Rugaard said: ¡°Begin then.¡± Lifting a part of his robe, this gnome pulls out a flute from behind his butt and begins ying. Short and weird, the sounding off from the flute should have been eerie to the ears. But the more they listened, the morefortable it became. Pulse by pulse, their bodies began to involuntarily follow the beat like an impulse reaction. When Du Wei heard this sound, a strange thought came to mind so he studied the gnome carefully like he was looking for something. Magic? shing something across his eyes, Du Wei¡¯s eyebrow unconsciously wrinkled up. Every note this gnome yed was clearly infused with magic, but it was different from the typemonly found on the Rnd Continent. It¡¯s like the music itself could arouse the audiences mood to the users liking. At this moment, the box in the middle silently opened. Following the beat, a silky smooth arm like a young lotus root slowly stretched out from the inside. Almost like it was without joints, this arm began to move ording to the music. The skinplexion on the arm wasn¡¯t very white, more like a chocte ck. Nevertheless, the lustering off from the skin was so brilliant it was like satin. Subsequently, a foot lifted out of the box. With a slender instep and a tight arch, every toe was a marvel to behold that left the viewer breathless. As the foot continues to stretch out, the entirety of her long slender leg was finally revealed when it gently touched the ground. Then with one push of her waist, the women inside stood up with her back facing the box. The moment she came out, everyone inherently gasped for air and some even gulped without realizing it. Wearing a crimson short dress, the upper part of her gown was both tight and small that left her delicate waist exposed to the crowd.dancer Just like that on all four with her back facing the ground, this woman began to move that alluring body of hers. Almost like a snake, every wiggle she made was powerful yet not stiff. Then there¡¯s that leg of hers. No matter how difficult her posture was on the ground, she would never lose her bnce and even made some sexy postures along the way that would have been deemed impossible for a modern day gymnastic. As the tempo of the beats began to increase, the woman suddenly leaped slightly backwards andnded on one foot, all the while keeping the other bnced in the air behind her. Pressing her palms against her chest, she then began to slowly dip forward. This should have been extremely difficult, yet she made it look so easy in how steady she held herself. Then to finish everyone off, a part of her full bodied breasts could be seen under that deep ravine behind that short gown of hers. With every panting breath she made, those mounds would jiggle with rity that left no doubt about how big and firm they are! Without indication, the woman once again made a backflip and instantly pulled out two golden bells from the diamond shaped box. By the time she stood up again, the woman already had one on her left wrist and right foot. Her figure truly was stunning, so stunning that it was hard to look away. Not only was her waist flexible, she also came equipped with a pair of explosive breast that could hook onto any man¡¯s spirit. In the eyes of all, her figure is bordering on the line of perfection. Now, if only she would remove that gold mask hiding that face of hers. Soon afterwards, the woman stopped her showing off her body and began to dance ording to the gnome¡¯s flute y. The crowd originally thought her poses on the ground were a good illustration of how flexible her body was, but they were proven wrong. Every spin, every step, every leap, and every action she did looked like it was from a fantasy. Those stic and powerful legs, those plump delicate arms, her entire being is a burning me, a me that incites a man¡¯s coveting desire to control her every particle. Just imagine taking a woman like that into bed, what kind of difficult positions can the pair do when all barriers are broken¡­¡­ Many of the generals in the Northwest Army were already hypnotized by this woman. Fixating their lustful eyes on her body, their face looked like they wanted to swallow her whole if they can. Smiling smugly at the scene, Rugaard turns to Du Wei and asked: ¡°Du Wei, is this woman passable to the eye?¡± Du Wei slightlyughed: ¡°General Rugaard, this private collection of yours is truly precious! I¡¯m guessing you got her from the Southeast? I heard that the native girls born from the Southeastern Sea is naturally gifted with flexible bodies. But now that I¡¯ve witnessed it myself, I fear even our Rnd Empire¡¯s ¡®snake girls¡¯ is notparable!¡± Pleased at his own achievement, Rugaard¡¯s face was so proud when he talked: ¡°This girl is a ve I picked out from the batch Totoro brought in. Prior to today¡¯s performance, I never showed her off so if the Duke likes it, I can gift her to you.¡± Letting out a small chuckle, Du Wei replied: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare. Since she is the general¡¯s collection, how can I take her?¡± Pretending to be displeased, Rugaard follows up quickly: ¡°What! I and your father are formerrades; I¡¯m no different from your uncle. Besides, I never touched this woman after I bought her so she¡¯s technically not mine yet. Even if I give her to you, it¡¯s not much!¡± Just as his words died down, the girl suddenly jumped back a bit. Using that snake like arms of hers, she reached up and wrapped her hands around her bundled hair. Then with a slight tug, that long ck hair of hers was untied and began flowing over her shoulder.. At the same time, the flute tune became even more rapid. When the girl heard the change in the tempo, she suddenly stood on one foot and began to spin around! Faster and faster, her body soon became so fast that her fluttering long hair created afterimages that blurred out her body. Just when the crowd wanted to apud, Du Wei¡¯s face changed: ¡°General, be careful!!¡± He whispered the word in haste. The instant he finished the warning, the rotating body of the girl suddenly shot out two silvery objects right at Rugaard¡¯s face! Without premonition, this change caught everyone off guard that none could react in time. Right before the two silvery objectsnded on Rugaard¡¯s face, the army head instinctively grabbed for the te in front of him and used it as a shield. Pang-pang!! Following next is the piercing sound of two silvery objectsnding into the table next to Rugaard. Looking closely, it was two silver hairpins! In one delicate shout, the girl had already stopped her rotating spin and made a jump towards Rugaard with more needles clipped between her fingers! ¡°Assassin!!!¡± Up with a scream, the two general sitting closest to Rugaard had already pounced towards the woman. Letting out a grunt, Rugaard himself stood up and mmed his hand down against his own table. In one loud bang, the table flew up and shot towards the woman in the air. Unable to dodge while in mid jump, the woman can only use her silver pins to scratch at the iing object¡­¡­ Screechhhhh Splitting in half, what came next is the foul odor of corrosioning off from the two broken pieces of wood that was once used as a table. What a powerful poison! Du Wei¡¯s eyebrow picked up! By the time his sight went back to the masked assassin, this once delicate looking woman had been surrounded by more than 10 armed generals. ¡°KILL£¡£¡¡± Under that order, the generals pierced their sword into the woman at the same time! Strangely enough, not a single drop of blood came out of that youthful body; instead, a sh of golden light erupted and what should have been a delicate body suddenly turned into sand¡­¡­. This sudden change shocked everyone except for Du Wei. Sneering at the cheap trick, his eyes were filled with curiosity. Meanwhile, Hussein was already in front of Du Wei with his sword drawn. As for the gnome ying the flute, he was already under the custody of a team of soldiers that had rushed in after themotion. Screaming a few times like he was trying to say something, this gnome suddenly tilted his head and blood began to drip out of his mouth. ¡°General¡­¡­¡± A soldier took one look and was surprised by what he saw: ¡°He ¡­ ¡­ He¡¯s dead.¡± Rugaard¡¯s face was dark as all hell, same goes for all the generals present in the room. All of a sudden, the mood in the room went silent. Holding their breath, everyone was looking at General Rugaard to await his order. Giving the gnome another look, Rugaard waved his sleeve and coldly said: ¡°Guhuaduoluo¡­¡­ I leave this matter in your hands! Where was this woman bought from, by whose hand¡­.. Find out everything!¡± Guhuaduoluo hurriedly epts the order. Rugaard then nces at Du Wei. Forcing a smile on his face, he said: ¡°Du Wei, I¡¯ve let you seen a show today.¡± Du Wei faintly smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t mention it General¡­ ¡­ You garrison defends the Northwest, it¡¯s only natural that there are people finding you to be an eyesore. However, general¡¯s ability is high so of course you wouldn¡¯t be afraid of these despicable characters. It¡¯s just¡­..¡± Pausing for a second, Du Wei whispers: ¡°Looking at that woman and the flute yer, their ability seems different from our Rnd Empire¡¯s magic. Maybe¡­¡­. The Snowy Mountain¡­¡­¡± Speaking up to this point, Du Wei closes his mouth and looked up to see Rugaard¡¯s reaction. Sure enough, Rugaard¡¯s face slightly changed for the worse before he hid it away again: ¡°Who cares what they do. I, Rugaard have been roaming the Northwest for 20 long years. Am I supposed to be afraid of them?! Humph! It¡¯s a shame they ruined our mood today¡­. Someonee! Bring Duke Tulip down for rest and we will host another banquet tomorrow.¡± Disbanding on bad terms, Du Wei and Hussein was escorted to a faraway house inside Watt City. Regarding this ce, Du Wei was very satisfied because the 200 subordinates he brought along was also stationed in this house. Seems Rugaard doesn¡¯t think he will try anything while at their home base. Ordering his men to secure the ins and outs of the courtyard, Du Wei then closed the door to his room and began discussing the event with Hussein. ¡°That assassin really is from the Snowy Mountain?¡± Hussein watches Du Wei. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Du Wei honestly replied: ¡°I¡¯m not the Lord, how would I know? It¡¯s just a spection of mine. That tune from that gnome seems to be able to make the listener be despondent to their surroundings and weaken their reaction¡­.. And that woman¡­¡­¡± Du Wei suddenly frowned: ¡°Don¡¯t you think her body¡¯s flexibility and coordination is too great?¡± Hussein raised a brow and didn¡¯t reply. Watching Hussein¡¯s reaction, Du Wei smiled: ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, I have no intention of discussing woman with you. Humph, you¡¯re a blockhead without any interest in the opposite sex, I¡¯m well aware of that much. What I mean is¡­. Don¡¯t you find it suspicious in how she was able to train her body to flex like that?¡± Only then did Hussein understand Du Wei¡¯s meaning, ¡°Star Dou Qi!¡± His face turning white at the thought. Du Wei nodded and then spoke in a deep voice: ¡°The entry level Star Dou Qi martial set you taught me is simr; both requires the user to perform difficult poses. However, the level that woman showed off today is way above what I can do.¡± Hussein immediately shakes his head: ¡°Absolutely impossible! In this world, only I¡¯m fluent in using Star Dou Qi! The stuff you know is merely the entry level basics so there¡¯s no way others will know about it.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say it must be Star Dou QI. I just think it¡¯s a little odd.¡± Awhileter, someone came in to report that the Northwest Army is making their move. Mobilizing all their forces, the soldiers are searching through every house in the city for the assassin. Hearing the report, Du Wei had his people go down and smiled at Hussein: ¡°Seems Rugaard will be busy for quite a while¡­.. I¡¯m also wondering about that woman. How did she turn her body into a pile of sand and disappear? Even if I don¡¯t know what type of magic that is, I would have at least heard rumors of it before. If that¡¯s the case, it¡¯s likely Shamanism from the Prairie.¡± After a pause, Du Wei smirked: ¡°To show his loyalty to the capital, Rugaard killed Gold Wolf Head and offended the prairie natives in the process. I¡¯m willing to bet this assassination attempt is a way for the natives to get revenge.¡± ¡°There¡¯s always loss when there is gain.¡± Hussein nods: ¡°If it really is the prairie nativesing to get revenge¡­¡­ Then maybe¡­..¡± ¡°We must not intervene!¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°I also hate Rugaard and hope he dies too¡­¡­ But you have to understand the problem. As of right now, Rugaard cannot die!¡± Hussein is skeptical of this. Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°Hussein, a lot of things aren¡¯t so simple. For a giant entity like the Northwest Army, there are 200,000 people and a dozen or so generals under Rugaard! It¡¯s not ideal for us that the Northwest Army is united, but at the very least the Northwest region won¡¯t fall into a chaos. Now imagine Rugaard disappearing and the generals below him getting into an internal conflict. At that time, we might not just be having a civil strife on our hand; we might be facing the full force of the native army with their knives pointing at our back¡­¡­¡± Chapter 241 Chapter 241 ¡°Reversal of the situation¡± Hussein frowns: ¡°If you say it like that then is there no way to deal with the Northwest Army?¡± Du Wei smiles: ¡°No, the Northwest Army must be dealt with, but topletely annihte 200,000 soldiers is impossible. At the very least¡­. We must keep Rugaard alive until I can hammer my own nail into thisnd¡­¡­¡± With that, he goes over to the window¡¯s edge: ¡°Chaos will certainly ensue! But the important factor at y here is how will I benefit from this, that¡¯s the key question. If possible, three stable years would be optimal in strengthening my control. When that timees, I would have the ability to clean everything up. But now¡­. That¡¯s not going to happen!¡± Hussein was silent for a while before speaking up, ¡°Let¡¯s put aside the topic then. Earlier at the banquet, how did you snap that ck Gold Tread Bow? I couldn¡¯t figure out what you did! Even for me it would be impossible to do so without utilizing my Dou Qi!¡± Du Wei lets out a ha-haugh before turning around to pull out Hussein¡¯s sword ¨C a steel enforced de. Using his finger to flick at the de¡¯s edge to see if the recoiling sound is crisp, Du Wei then stroked the de back and forth for a moment: ¡°Watch carefully.¡± With that, he backs up a step and raises the sword into the air. Using the same finger, he flicks at it again. Hummm!!!! At that sound, the only part remaining in Du Wei¡¯s possession is the sword handle. As for the rest of the once solid de, it is now shattered into multiple pieces and scattered across the ground.. Hussein¡¯s face turned white at the scene: ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ When did your martial skills reach such level?¡± Du Wei began tough: ¡°You¡¯re not able to figure it out? Seems this trick of mine wasn¡¯t a waste of time after all, ha-ha-ha!¡± At that, he threw the remaining sword handle away and opens up his palm to reveal a ck crystal. ¡°This is something I only recently came up with. I call it Rust Iron Crystal. Hmm, the name is a bit tacky, but that doesn¡¯t mean its use is limited!¡± Du Wei smirked: ¡°Of course, I didn¡¯te up with the original form. It was passed on to me by that Old Alley back in the capital. Really though, that old man is nuts in the head. Using one of his forms, I added the substance into a magic crystal along with some special potions to create this thing. The end result is what you see in my hand. Oh, don¡¯t look down on it just because of its appearance¡­.. As long as I¡¯m holding this while rubbing my hand against a metal, I can insert some magic into the crystal and have it slowly drain away the metal elements inside the object!¡± Du Wei then exined: ¡°ording to Master Alley¡¯s research, for example a rock, contains many different types of earth elements. The more and condense the earth element, the harder the rock will be. And in metals, the same logic applies. The only difference is that the element is not earth, but rather a metallic substance. If we were to remove that substance from the metal, the item in question would decay and be vulnerable to breakage. At that time, one only needs a small amount of force to destroy the object in question!¡± He lifts his hand and smiled: ¡°All I did was hide this small little crystal in my palm while I deliberately rubbed the so called ck Gold Tread Bow. Then spouting some pointless words to drag out the time, the bow would of course snap!¡± Hussein pops his eye out: ¡°This thing is amazing! If we got this in our hands, no weapon in this world will be a threat you!¡± Du Wei sighs and bitterlyughed: ¡°It¡¯s not that amazing. This thing seems magical from the onset but is actually another impractical product. There are two weaknesses. The first being that it takes time¡­¡­. If I didn¡¯t intentionally drag out the duration of my contact, it would be useless. Think about it. If I were to do what I did during a fight, do you think my foe would give me the opportunity to carry out my n? If anything, my opponent would have chopped me into pieces the moment I got close¡­. In addition, this item inherited the greatest characteristic of Master Alley¡¯s inventions, it¡¯s absolutely expensive! Ignoring the manufacturing process and the equipment¡¯s needed to pull off the procedure; just the material ingredients needed to create this item is astronomical in terms of pricing!!¡± Taking the crystal into his hand, Hussein sighs while looking at it with a disappointed expression: ¡°If you say it like that then this thing really is useless. It¡¯s not bad if you use it to asionally scare someone, but it¡¯s pointless in the end.¡± ¡°HA-HA.¡± Du Wei picks up the thing again and smiled: ¡°And, it only works if you insert magic into the crystal. If you can¡¯t use magic, then it won¡¯t work even if you ce it directly onto a metal and rub it till next year.¡± But after a pause, Du Wei continues to talk: ¡°That¡¯s not the point of this thing anyways. When Master Alley gave me the form, it was clearly indicated in the text that this invention wasn¡¯t meant to destroy other weapons¡­¡­¡­ Instead, the old genius was trying to create the world¡¯s toughest metal for his goal of crafting the world¡¯s ultimate sword! But no matter what he tried, he simply couldn¡¯t find the right material. In the end, that crazy old lunatic came up with what you see here.¡± Du Wei holds up the crystal: ¡°This thing is designed to draw the ¡®metallic substance¡¯ out of a metal. Just imagine¡­¡­ If I take this thing and go around draining every weapon I find to further increase the density of this thing, would there be another alloy in this world capable of matching it?¡± Hussein really turned white this time! However, Du Wei quickly destroyed Hussein¡¯s hope: ¡°Don¡¯t be too quick in jumping the rope¡­.. I¡¯ll tell you now; this thing is another failure. Back in theb, I wanted to see for myself in how hard I can get this crystal to be. Therefore, I had it drain an enormous amount of old armor and weapons back at Anglia City¡­¡­ s, when I used a sword to test its durability, I was greatly disappointed by how easily I was able to chip off a corner. You see, this invention is impractical and would take who knows how long and how much alloy to finalize.¡± When night came around, Du Wei ordered his men to lock the doors but even then he can still hear the nking footsteps of soldiers running through the streets. It appears the Northwest Army wasn¡¯t through with their search yet. It¡¯s to be expected. Having his face pped in front of Du Wei like this, Rugaard must be fuming with anger. Continuing their conversation till the middle of the night, Du Wei finally decided to call an end to their discussions by heading back to his room. However, he immediately halted his steps when he entered¡­¡­.. Though the bedroom is smaller than what he is used to, but considering they are in a fortress city that is meant to house soldiers, it¡¯s already luxury ss. But what made Du Wei frown wasn¡¯t the size of the room, nor was it the shabby furnishing¡­.. It was¡­¡­ The sharp silvery hair pin tightly pinned against his throat: ¡°Is there a need? If you wanted to hide at my ce then just hide, this house is so big. If you stayed in one of the many barns here, nobody would have even noticed you for several days ¡­¡­¡± From the darkness next to him, a super alluring figure slowly emerged from the shadows. Unlike the dream like encounter during the day, that explosive rack and curvy body was much more realistic this time around, especially that small tiny waist¡­¡­. Oh crap, it¡¯s so small and tight! Using her delicate and weak voice, this woman made a hushing sound: ¡°Don¡¯t make any noise¡­. Come in and shut the door behind you.¡± Sighing, Du Wei slowly walked in without showing any fear on his face. ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ Sit down.¡± This woman may be covering that face with a mask, but based on the sound of that voice, her age is definitely on the young side. Finding a chair to sit down, Du Weipletely disregarded the fact that the hair pin was still tightly pinned against his throat. ¡°Why?¡± Du Wei whispered, ¡°Assassination is a job of skills. Since the first strike failed, you should have run as far away as possible and not be standing here to amuse me¡­.. Are you that confidant in your ability? Or do you not even know who I am?¡± ¡°You¡¯re Duke Tulip!¡± The woman began to pant like she was in pain. Du Wei frowned: ¡°Are you hurt?¡± Tipping slightly to the side, the woman¡¯s body clearly had some problems. ¡°Do not ask!¡± The woman slowly pulls back a step and took the seat next to Du Wei. The women wore very little clothes to begin with and now that she is up close and leaning towards him, our lucky Duke here can get some good glimpses at those tabooed parts. I know who you are, you are Duke Tulip! Throughout the entire northwest, the only one that can stand up to Rugaard is you!¡± Her threat sounded serious, but there wasn¡¯t enough intimidation. ¡°So what?¡± Du Wei rolls his eye back: ¡°You want me to help you?¡± ¡°I want you to take me out of the city!¡± Du Wei intentionally smiled: ¡°You kidding?! You only need to move a little and your entire body will turn into sand¡­.. Such an amazing spell, why aren¡¯t you using it?¡± ¡°I ¡­ ¡­ My spell cannot be used a lot, Besides ¡­ ¡­ It¡¯s not like what you think!¡± This hot woman smiled warily: ¡°The one you saw during the day is a fake I created with my spell. I can use my clone for assassination, but I have no way to send my real body out of the city, understand?¡± Du Wei chuckled: ¡°So what¡¯s this, a threat?¡± He looks at her with pity: ¡°Do you think a silly thing like that can threaten me?¡± ¡°My silver hair pin is coated with poison.¡± The woman¡¯s voice turned cold: ¡°You may not die from a simple stab wound, but I guarantee you will not live long after being poisoned by my toxin.¡± Du Wei became very happy in hisugh: ¡°Oh, there¡¯s also poison eh?¡± He suddenly lowered his head to sniff the hair pin: ¡°Humph, not bad at all. The aroma of Yey Flower masked the pungent smell given off by Dunmay Nuts¡­.. Ah, yes, there is also a hint of Malo Mushroom Powder mixed into the concoction, right? Hmm, looking at it in terms of potency, the toxicity is indeed very strong. What you said is true, I will most definitely die if you prick me with it¡­.. In fact, you can even kill a horse or two if you wanted to.¡± This woman seems to be taken by surprise over Du Wei¡¯s speech. Although her face was still covered by the mask, but those eyes gave her away: ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ Can smell it?¡± Du Wei proudlyughed as he nced at the girl: ¡°Humph, how old are you? Your body sure grew well¡­. But that voice is too tender. Sixteen? Eighteen? Let me tell you. When you were still crawling in your diapers, I was already studying medicinal herbs.¡± The woman became angry at his words: ¡°Nonsense ¡­ ¡­ How old are you!¡± Du Wei smirked and didn¡¯t reply. Technically he¡¯s not lying because he did start his studies at the tender age of three. To say she was still in her diapers is not an exaggeration. ¡°Enough of your crap, are you going to agree to my demand or not?!¡± Du Wei can feel the silver hairpin pressing in against his throat even further. Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t panic. Curling his lips into a sinister smile, his sight fell upon that explosive chest and sexy waist for a very long time without uttering a single word. The female assassin was used to being stared at by dirty old men, but the gazeing off from Du Wei somehow made her feel unusually ufortable, almost like her clothes were stripped away. Twisting her body to a more reserved position, she asked in an agitated voice: ¡°You¡­. What are you looking at?!¡± ¡°Let me tell you a few things.¡± Du Wei sighed as raised his hand into a three finger gesture: ¡°Firstly, I never yield to threats! If you had kneeled before me and begged¡­.. Or got naked to seduce me, I perhaps might have agreed to your demand. After all, among all the women I met, you are by far the sexiest one I came across. My god, what did you eat to grow those breasts, and that waist, damn! Secondly, I can forgive a mistake, but I cannot forgive ¡®foolishness¡¯. From what I can see, you are of thedder. People always say women are all chest and no brains, this phrase is a perfect fit for you! Those breasts of yours are certainly big enough, but sadly your brain is too stupid! Thirdly¡­.. Do you really think I would be so easily taken hostage by you? If I did, would I still be called Duke Tulip?¡± The woman seems to be tongue tied by how angry she was. Just when she wanted to do something, Du Wei looked up at the ceiling and casually said: ¡°Hey Semel, she is going to kill us soon. Are you really going to sit idly by and watch?¡± The second his voice died down, the female assassin suddenly felt her hands going numb. Then without indication, the silver hair pin in her hand flew into the air and impaled itself into the ceiling board. Slowly patting his sleeves, Du Wei casually stood up and faced the female assassin: ¡°I¡¯m really wondering what your IQ is right now. With your intellect, you daree out to assassinate¡­¡­¡± He shakes his head. Wanting to rush up due to the insult, the female assassin suddenly found her body retrained by an unknown force. Standing behind the girl, our red robed Semel stood there with a strange smile on her face: ¡°Is it because you know I¡¯m around that you feel so unthreatened?¡± Smiling in return: ¡°Our lives are linked. If I die, you die!¡± Semel grunted and disappeared into thin air. ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ Who are you talking to! Is there someone else here?¡± Unable to move her body, the female assassin revealed a trace of fear in her voice: In her view, Du Wei looked like he was talking to someone behind her, but when she turned her head around to look back, there was no one! ¡°Quit struggling.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°You¡¯ve been bound by an intermediate binding spell.¡± Du Wei then leaned against the chair, his eyes full of enjoyment while looked at the girl before him: ¡°Now then, I have a few questions I like to ask you¡­. Remember, I don¡¯t like lies. I¡¯m a magician so I know if you are telling the truth. If your answers are satisfactory, I may consider letting you go, otherwise¡­¡­.¡± From Du Wei¡¯s face, a malicious smile emerged: ¡°Every lie you make, I¡¯ll strip a piece of clothing from your body!¡± After he says this, his gaze rampantly ogled up and down over the girl¡¯s body: ¡°There¡¯s not much to strip anyways!¡± Chapter 242 Chapter 242 ¡°I¡¯m happy!¡± ¡°You¡¯re evil.¡± Semel¡¯s bantering voice came from the back of his mind: ¡°Must you tease the poor girl so? I recall Old Chris gave you the ¡®Eye of Enchantment¡¯. Using that, you could have made her divulge everything without any resistance.¡± Du Wei¡¯s mouth curled into a smile, his answer was very simple: ¡°It pleases me!¡± ¡°The first question.¡± Du Wei sat upright, his face stern while looking at the little prisoner before him: ¡°Tell me ¡­ ¡­ What training did you do to get such a great body?¡± ¡°¡­¡­? ? ? ? ?¡± The female assassin was probably in shock because she never thought the first question proposed by this noble would be such a silly one. Du Wei saw how stupefied the other side was so he continued: ¡°My patience is not so good. If you don¡¯t answer, I can immediately start my task of stripping your clothes away.¡± ¡°¡­¡­ I practice a special type of Taijutsu.¡± Finally, the female assassin caved in. Listening to her voice, it was obvious she was gritting her teeth when speaking. Once she was done, she stared nervously at Du Wei. Although her mask covered the majority of her face, the fear and worry in her eyes cannot be hidden. But ¡­ ¡­ Du Wei deliberately made a sighing sound: ¡°I¡¯m sorry ¡­ ¡­ The answer is too general, I¡¯m not satisfied with it.¡± Under the eximing cry of the female assassin, Du Wei casually flicked his fingers to remove the binding on the girl. However, before the female assassin can get her thoughts together after realizing her body was free again, a sharp ripping sound came from the location where her top skimpy garment should have been. Zzzzitttttt Next thing she knew, her upper garment was in shreds and her naked breasts were open for all to see! Du Wei watched on with great interest as the female assassin squealed in great surprise. He really had to hand it to her. Seeing those breasts without any cover was a sight to behold: big and round, yet firm and bouncy, truly the definition of an eye candy. Hmmm ¡­ ¡­ It¡¯s actually the incredibly rare ¡°Bamboo Shoot¡± type¡­¡­ Du Wei¡¯sugh became even more devious while the female assassin struggled to cover up her breasts with her arms. ¡°You!!! Despicable!!!¡± The female assassin wanted to shout aloud but was interrupted by Du Wei¡¯s threat: ¡°Go ahead and scream. Come on. When my men outside hear themotion, they will rush in all at once. Let me remind you, all my subordinates are men. If you don¡¯t mind shing your body to two hundred men in their prime, then by all means, go ahead and scream!¡± Sure enough, this intimidation was more effective than anything else. Upon hearing his words, the female assassin quickly closed her mouth and crammed herself into a corner of the room, all the while trying to keep her breasts covered from Du Wei¡¯s lecherous eyes. But unfortunately¡­ ¡­ Her ¡°natural capital¡± is just too good. By contrast, her slender arms are too small. Enduring his urge tough, Du Wei sat in his chair and whole heartily watched on as the girl gave him a good show. ¡°Well then, why don¡¯t we continue with the questioning? I believe with that lesson you will know how to properly answer me.¡± Du Wei coughed once to clear his throat: ¡°Same question as before, where did you train your body?¡± ¡°¡­ ¡­ Snowy! Snowy Mountain!!¡± Female assassin pressed down her voice and howled at Du Wei. ¡°Why do you want to assassinate Rugaard?¡± ¡°Because Rugaard killed Gold Wolf Head and betrayed the agreement between him and the people of the grasnd.¡± ¡°What is Snowy Mountain and who is your leader?¡± ¡°Snowy Mountain is the Holy Land of the Shamans ¡­ ¡­ Our leader is the great Shaman King.¡± The female assassin has beenpletely defeated. ¡°Thest question.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Your name.¡± ¡°Eir¡­ ¡­ Eir Aoi, my name is Eir Aoi.¡± Female Assassin¡¯s voice was full of weakness. (To make it easier to read, I will just call her Aoi.) Du Weiughs a little and suddenly stood up, his eyes beaming a strange light. Then gently lifting one of his fingers, he swayed it back and forth at the female assassin. Zzzzitttttt Under that ripping sound, thest cover to hide the female assassin¡¯s most important part was forcibly removed from her body. Following a loud scream, the female assassin¡¯s voice already sounded like she was crying. Then in desperation, she used one arm to cover her breasts and the other to cover her lower part: ¡°I ¡­ ¡­ I already answered your question, why did you ¡­ ¡­¡± Her face full of humiliation as she asked this. ¡°Because I want to see!¡± Du Wei showed an absolutely ¡®for real¡¯ face and gave a very scoundrel like reply. The answer nearly caused this girl called Aoi to faint. ¡°You see ¡­ ¡­ Isn¡¯t this much better?¡± Du Wei¡¯s mouth curled into a broad smile: ¡°Someone once told me a woman usually tells the truth when they are naked. And ¡­ ¡­ Your body is not only very tempting; you also seem to know how to show off your charms in the best light. During today¡¯s banquet, you clearly used your body to seduce the audience; in that case, I will look as I please.¡± Aoi no longer called out; instead, she gave Du Wei a hateful stare: ¡°You¡­.. Are you done looking yet!¡± ¡°No.¡± Du Wei made no attempt at hiding his scoundrel like thoughts. Meanwhile, Aoi wanted to puke blood as she struggled to keep herself from fainting. In a shameless smile, Du Wei continues to press on: ¡°Your body is in great shape, the best I¡¯ve ever seen. As I recall, whenever a manes across such a fine body, they usually want to do something else besides just looking¡­..¡± With that, Du Wei stood up. Female assassin really is frightened now: ¡°Don¡¯t youe here ¡­ ¡­ I-I will kill myself!¡± Though she says this, but the hups in her voice wasn¡¯t very convincing. The truth is Du Wei really wasn¡¯t afraid of the girlmitting suicide. Just when he wanted to say something else to mess with this female assassin, a discontent voice came from the back of his mind: ¡°Enough, this much is enough. Are you really going to use such means to deal with the girl?¡± Du Wei did not reply, his sightnding on Aoi¡¯s slender leg. Although the room¡¯s light wasn¡¯t very bright, but under this degree of light, Aoi¡¯s long legs was even more alluring as she tries to curl herself into a body. Her action may not had been intentional, but moving her legs like that is a perfect way to entice a man¡¯s desire to conquer! Suddenly, Du Wei spoke again, his gaze focused entirely on the female assassin: ¡°You must think my methods are very despicable, right?¡± ¡°You ¡­ ¡­¡± Female assassin hatefully replied: ¡°You¡¯re a contemptible scoundrel!¡± ¡°Oh, so I¡¯m a contemptible scoundrel for using a ¡®woman¡¯s¡¯ asset against you.¡± Du Wei stretches out his voice and pretends to sneer in contempt. Pointing his finger directly at the female assassin¡¯s face: ¡°You, did you not use your womanly charms to carry out your assassination attempt?¡± Aoi was at a loss for words. Du Wei really was sneering this time: ¡°So it¡¯s fine for you to use your womanly trait to kill others, while I¡¯m a despicable scoundrel for doing the same? Let me tell you, its woman like you that I hate the most! Hypocrite, a total hypocrite!! You listen and listen carefully¡­¡­ If you use your assets as a bargaining chip, then you better be prepared for others to do the same to you because the choice is yours! Don¡¯t shamelessly scold someone for your own decision, understand?!¡± After saying that, Du Wei points to the window behind the female assassin: ¡°You can pull down the curtain from the window and cover your body. Don¡¯t worry; I¡¯m not interested in you.¡± Despite his goodwill, the female assassin suddenly rolled hers eyes and passed out on the ground. Du Wei was stupefied for a second: ¡°Semel, you see? She at least has a sense of shame for passing out like that after my scolding.¡± From the back of his mind, Semel seems to sigh at hisment: ¡°Your thought pattern is really hard to understand.¡± The event of an assassin appearing in his room caused those down below to be tense for a good while. But instead of making a big ruckus out of the whole ordeal, Du Wei ordered the event to be hushed up and to have the girl stashed away into a crate. ¡°Don¡¯t give her food or water. Two or three days of hunger won¡¯t kill her.¡± Du Wei doesn¡¯t seem to have a sense of kindness to the opposite sex: ¡°Just keep an air hole open to not suffocate her.¡± The enemy is the enemy. Regardless of the gender, they are all the same. ¡°Snowy Mountain¡­ ¡­ Interesting.¡± Du Wei sighed. The room only had him and Hussein inside: ¡°What¡¯s your take on the matter?¡± He asks the Saint Knight. Hussein thought for a moment: ¡°I don¡¯t know. We have close to no information on this so called Snowy Mountain.¡± ¡°Wait till we go back, this female assassin will give us some information.¡± Du Wei sighs again at the troublesome situation: ¡°But then again, I¡¯m beginning to feel lucky that Alpha didn¡¯t take the native general¡¯s head. Letting the Northwest Army take credit for Gold Wolf Head ended up saving us some trouble.¡± When the next day came around, Du Wei got up veryte. By the time he did wake up in the afternoon though, he was quickly informed by someone that there was a messenger waiting for him outside. The messenger was already here by the morning, but because Du Wei was still asleep, the messenger didn¡¯t dare wake Du Wei up and could only wait in the living room. As usual, the person toe is none other than the fatty Totoro. Totoro no longer looked as well as he was a few days ago. For an assassin to appear during the banquet, the pressure hanging over his back is more than what this fatty desire. Although his peers wouldn¡¯t believe Totoro is a traitor that colluded with some outsiders to kill the Army Head, but¡­¡­ This charge of ¡°failure¡± is enough to make the fatty suffer for a good while. ¡°Duke!¡± Seeing Du Wei walk into the living room, Totoro promptly stood up to receive the Duke: ¡°General Rugaard sent me here today to invite your Dukeship to go on a hunting trip.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei was slightly stunned: ¡°Since its General Rugaard¡¯s invitation, then don¡¯t mind if I do. General Totoro, please wait a minute while I change my outfit.¡± Pausing, Du Wei suddenly dropped his voice and asked: ¡°Onest thing ¡­ ¡­ Just wondering if the female assassin is caught yet. When I was sleepingst night, I could hear the mping of soldiers running through the streets the entire night.¡± Totoro¡¯s face immediately turned ugly for a few seconds. Pausing in his words, he shakes his head: ¡°This ¡­ ¡­ Not yet. Duke, this event outraged General Rugaard and because of that, the soldiers in charge of security were harshly whipped for their ipetence. Also, there are the people involved with the assassin and the ve girl themselves. Aigh, such a shame, those beautiful girls that I bought¡­..¡± Du Wei blew a whistle: ¡°Seems General Rugaard is not the type to be gentle to the opposite sex. Ruining a good flower is a true crime. I must advise the general today when I see him.¡± Only then did Totoro show a smile: ¡°Duke, the general¡¯s mood is not very good. The people around him can¡¯t speak up so only you can persuade the general. After all, you are an important guest; the Army Head must give you some face.¡± Du Wei suddenly moved away from the subject: ¡°For today¡¯s hunt, the brave generals fromst night¡¯s party will be present right?¡± Totoro smiled: ¡°General Shrek offended you yesterday so he likely won¡¯t be able to participate today. Since he¡¯s being punished by washing the outhouse for a month, I can assume he¡¯s there right now.¡± Du Wei pretended to let out a sigh: ¡°Such a shame¡­ ¡­ General Shrek¡¯s archery is truly superb, I didn¡¯t want to offend him yesterday, but a bet is a bet, there must be a winner. Really, General Rugaard is just¡­..¡± Looking at Du Wei¡¯s face, Totoro thought: It¡¯s all because of you! Yet now you are making yourself out to be a good guy. The fatty may not think kindly of Du Wei, but Totoro is not brave enough to show it openly: ¡°Duke mustn¡¯t think like that. The Army Head is a man of right and wrong, everyone following him respects him for being unbiased.¡± Exchanging a few more words, Du Wei then headed back inside to change his clothes. Together with Hussein by his side, the trio made their way out of the city and into a forest not too far from Watt City. To be able to find so much green in this barrenndscape is a rarity in itself. In the army there aren¡¯t many activities to rx in; therefore, one of the most popr ways for a soldier to relieve their stress is by hunting. The hunt had long begun this morning. Under Rugaard¡¯s order, the one thousand soldiers he brought with him were currently making their round of driving the animals out of their hiding ce. By the time Du Wei reached the base camp set inside the forest, Rugaard was already ready to go in anticipation of Du Wei. Surprisingly, this midget was abnormally tough looking on horseback. Strapping a long bow to his back, he had his ck stallion carry his spear and sword on each side to make it easier for him to reach. ¡°Du Wei, was your restst night well?¡± Rugaard calls out from afar in a loud booming voice. Sitting on his horse, Du Wei faintly smiled and nodded: ¡°Not bad¡­ ¡­ There was just thete night sound of horse and men running through the streets.¡± Rugaard¡¯s face slight twitched but was promptly covered up with a smile. Turning to the people behind him, this midget orders: ¡°Last I had you go catch the assassin, not disturb our guest! Today forward, any soldiers passing through the Duke¡¯s residence are to make a detour.¡± The people in the back immediately followed with a nod. Exchanging a few polite words, Rugaard then points to a young man behind him, ¡°Come Du Wei, let me introduce to you my son! His age is simr to you so the two of you must talk some more.¡± Chapter 243 Chapter 243 ¡°Hunting¡± Du Wei immediately noticed the young knight standing behind Rugaard. He¡¯s the same person with the metal mask from yesterday. Still as valiant as ever, the only part that was off is how chilly that elegant smile was. ¡°No need for introductions.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°The young general and I already met yesterday. Sir Cybuster, I didn¡¯t expect you to return so quickly after leaving the city in such a rush.¡± Young Cybuster smiled and said, ¡°My men were gettingzy so I wanted to bring them out for a little exercise. Enough about me, I heard from some of my men that you made quite a show inst night¡¯s banquet. To think the Duke is not only a master magician, you are also an expert marksman. I fear all the glory in today¡¯s hunt will be monopolized by the Duke.¡± Rugaard smiles and waved his hand: ¡°Bring out the prey!¡± At hismand, arge cart with a gigantic cage began to roll out from one of the tents. At first sight, Du Wei almost couldn¡¯t believe his eyes when the soldiers removed the nketing veil¡­¡­. The truth is while the cage was being carted out of the tent; Du Wei could already hear the wailing cry behind that nket. Now that he got a closer look, his spection was confirmed! What prey? Inside that gigantic cage are clearly a dozen or so young girls! Judging by their skinplexion, these girls can only be the ve girls brought in by Totoro from the Southeastern Sea. Aoi may have managed to escape by herself, but her foolish actions have consequently harmed these poor girls in her ce. Once the cage was opened, these girls were eventually driven out to kneel before Du Wei and Rugaard. Du Wei really wanted to sigh at the scene. Not only were their pitiful cries painful to the ear, he can clearly see the bruises and whipshes on their naked body. What should have been delicate fine skins is now ruined because of someone else¡¯s fault. Looking over their ages, the oldest is at most 18 and the youngest is so small that he didn¡¯t know where to begin. No matter which face he scanned over, it was always filled with fear and terror at what is toe. There¡¯s no doubt about it, their eyes had the look of impending doom. ¡°General Rugaard¡­ ¡­ This is¡­¡­¡± Du Wei tries to ask a question. ¡°Hmm?¡± Rguaard raises a brow at his word: ¡°The assassin from yesterday is part of this group. Since I don¡¯t have the energy to interrogate them one by one, I thought, why not just kill them all? Better all than to miss one¡­¡­¡± At this point, Rugaard¡¯s eye revealed a hint of killing intent. Without showing any changes in his expression, Du Wei can only close his mouth. He may not be showing it on the outside, but his insides were churning at Rugaard¡¯s brutality. Just when his mind began to waiver over whether if he should do something to stop all this, his sight inherently fell upon Rugaard¡¯s firm gaze. In the end, Du Wei decided to let it be, he¡¯s simply not the type to do something he knew is pointless. ¡°Listen up!¡± One of the cavalry officers raised his de into the air, his voice thunderously loud: ¡°General¡¯smand, you girls should have been executed without exception for being aplices to the assassin! However, the general is merciful and is giving you a chance to live!¡± The officer then rides over to one of the camp fire to light up a torch. Using only one hand, the officer then stabs the torch into the ground and began to talk again: ¡°Starting as of this moment, you girls can flee into the forest. If you can somehow make it out of the woods without being caught after the torch burns out, you are free to live!¡± The officer then reveals a grin: ¡°Now then, RUN. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!¡± With that, he gives an eye signal to the other solders to cut off the shackles binding these naked girls. Likely too scared to face reality, all of these girls had a stunned look on their faces. For some that still believed they might get lucky by pleading, these foolish ones ended up with bloodied foreheads from how much bowing they were doing. Du Wei couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. He¡¯s not heartless like Rugaard. Biting his lips, he pulls out his sword and rode up to one of the pleading girls: ¡°QUIT CRYING! Your cry is annoying as hell! If you want to live then hurry up and flee!!¡± He then points the tip of his sword up to the girl¡¯s face. Seeing the chilling weapon in front of her, the girl reacted like she was just woken up from a dream. Looking up at Du Wei¡¯s eye, something in her mind finally clicked like a realization finally donned on her. Faltering a few times in her struggle to stand, this panicking girl began to make her way into the forest with all her might. If there¡¯s a first, there¡¯s a second¡­.. Very soon, all the girls began to make their way into the forest after understanding their fate if they don¡¯t. If they want to live, they must fight for it, and the only way right now is to make it out of the forest. Many of their tender feet¡¯s were harmed in the process due to the sharp rocks on the ground, but a little cut means nothing in the face of imminent death. Watching the dozen or so girls fleeing for their lives, Du Wei could only sigh: This is about all I can do for you girls. Forgive me¡­¡­ Letting out a ha-haugh on his horse, Rugaard raises his hand above his brow to overlook the forest: ¡°Very well! Brothers, let¡¯s begin the hunt!¡± With that, the old weasel nces over at Du Wei: ¡°Du Wei, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve hunted before in the capital, but¡­¡­ Hunting an animal cannot be as fun as hunting a person!¡± At this point, Rugaard pulls out his bow like he was itching to go at it. Seeing thest remaining girl still idling on the ground, Du Wei can already guess what the old bastard intends to do. Raising an arm to block Rugaard¡¯s aim: ¡°General, a moment please.¡± Looking up at Du Wei, Rugaard frowned: ¡°what¡¯s the matter?¡± Du Wei casually smiled: ¡°Since this is a hunt, it will only be interesting if there¡¯s difficulty ¡­ ¡­ Why don¡¯t we wait a while longer to let them gain some more distance. The further they run, the more fun it will be.¡± A cold voice drifts over from his side: ¡°Who would have thought the Duke is so kind to the opposite sex.¡± Without exnation, the young Cybuster rode up to the front and suddenly drew his own bow. Since the distance between him and Du Wei was too far apart, Du Wei couldn¡¯t make it in time to stop the arrow. Swooosh A spiked arrow shot through the sky and into the depths of the forest¡­¡­. From afar, a miserable cry of a woman¡¯s pain drifted into everyone¡¯s ear. Cybuster lowers his bow, his eyes clearly full of contempt: ¡°Its¡¯ definitely more fun if they run further away¡­.. However Duke, shooting one down to scare the others will encourage the rest to run harder.¡± His mocking smile was so obvious even a blind person can see it. Confronting the person behind that mask, Du Wei can somehow sense a killing intent shooting his way. Did he offend this young general, why is he so aggressive towards him? Du Wei rummaged through his memory but nothing came up. From behind Du Wei, Hussein suddenly made a cold grunt. Slowly, our Saint Knight rode up to Du Wei¡¯s side to stare down at this Cybuster. From the eyes to the chest, Hussein¡¯s gaze eventually stopped at the young knight¡¯s sword that was strapped to the waist: ¡°Eh? That sword looks very simr to the legendary sword ¡®Beauty under the Moonlight¡¯.¡± Hussein was clearly the fiercer beast in this meeting. Unlike Hussein that didn¡¯t feel threatened in the least, Cybuster felt like his chest was being pounded by an unknown force. From his usual arrogant and proud look, Cybuster for the first time revealed shock and surprise in his eyes as he looked over the mysterious person before him. Chapter 244 Chapter 244 ¡°The Grand Wizard that doesn¡¯t wear a white robe¡± Above the head of this creaking forest lies the cloudless blue sky. Birds chip, trees grow. For ages past, the trees of old had remained undisturbed by the violence of man. Yet on this day, a horrific scene is unfolding behind the lush canopy of this ancient forest. Panting from her struggle to run, a charming young girl deprived of any clothes was trying to make her way through the dense forest. Unlike how a beautiful maiden should appear, the only emotions running through that fine face is nothing but horror and fear. The moment those delicate ears picked up the sound of her approaching pursuers, the girl suddenly lets out a loud painful cry when she idently tripped over a rock on the ground, thus spraining her ankle in the process. At the same time, the faint sound of trotting horses was already at her neck. Showing their viinous grin, two hunters on horseback suddenly threw out their ropes andssoed the poor girl¡¯s hand. With a single tug from both sides, she was thrown into the air like she was nothing but prey. Flinging her feet in an attempt to struggle, there was simply nothing this girl can do to escape from her fate at this point. Following soon behind, a hideous and cruelugh utterly destroyed the tranquil scenery, ¡°Good, very good.¡± With that, a huge bulky man in hunting clothes came charging in with hisnce. Aiming true to his target that was tied in the air, the spear skillfully lunged through the girl¡¯s shoulder with undeniable force. Then from the hunter¡¯s mouth, a grotesqueugh radiated into the surrounding. Truly saddening. Raised above everyone¡¯s head like she was nothing but livestock, the hunter then flung the poor wailing girl from his spear against the cold hard ground. Under a loud snapping thud, what was once a living being is nothing but a lifeless corpse as sheid there unmoving for all eternity. By the time Du Wei and Hussein caught up to the rest of their hunting party, the pair just so happens to witness this scene. No matter how much Hussein deviated from the temples teaching, he was still once a Holy Knight, known for their righteous courage and valiant heart. To be forced to witness such tragedy, our Saint Knight would of course be displeased. Fuming with anger, Hussein¡¯s remaining blue eye was shouting ¡®murder¡¯ at the blocky big man. Knowing this, Du Wei promptly reached out to stop Hussein. ¡°Why.¡± Hussein coldly muttered this to Du Wei that was silently shaking at him. ¡°You can¡¯t save them, nor can I.¡± In a hushed tone: ¡°These girls are dead either way, if not today, then tomorrow in the prison.¡± The second his words finished, a light chuckle came from behind: ¡°The Duke is too fast.¡± Finally catching up, Cybuster had both his hands firmly gripped onto the horse rein: ¡°What is this? The Duke still empty handed?¡± Du Wei raises his brow and said, ¡°I¡¯m a guest; I wouldn¡¯t want to steal the hosts limelight.¡± ¡°Your lordship doesn¡¯t need to be so formal.¡± Cybuster suddenly tilts his ear to listen: ¡°There¡¯s movement up ahead, let¡¯s have a look!¡± With that, he kicks the horse¡¯s belly and stormed out. Doing the same, Du Wei followed from behind as he watched Cybuster¡¯s back. Since this part of the forest is so deep into the woods, adding in the fact that it¡¯s the summer season, the bushels are exceptionally thick here. Scanning the environment, Cybuster suddenly jumps off his horse and smiled at the foot trail left in the dirt: ¡°Humph, these two prey isn¡¯t bad. Smarter, at least they know how to hide.¡± At his word, Cybuster flew back into his horse and whistled for the others to gather at his location. ¡°Scour the grass and bushes. We will force them out of their hiding spot.¡± epting their order, the hunters began carrying out theirmand by cutting at the greenery. Continuing to ride forward like this, it didn¡¯t take long for the hunting party to achieve their desired goal. Letting out a painful cry, a girl came running out with a bloody shoulder. Sitting on his saddle with a simpering smile, Cybuster slowly drew his bow as he watched the stumbling woman trying to break away. Just when his arrow flew out, Hussein suddenly pulls out his sword and shot a de of light in the same way. In a clear crisp snapping sound, the arrow that was flying through the air was cut in half. Then without a word, Hussein rode out and snatched up the girl from the ground. Ignoring her struggle and fearful cries, Hussein gently knocked the poor little prey out with his hand. Despite having his arrow shot down, Cybuster showed no sign of anger and simply gave a deep observing nce at Hussein: ¡°Duke, you have quite the follower there.¡± Du Wei chuckles: ¡°Young general, your archery is not bad either.¡± As Du Wei and Cybuster¡¯s sight met, sparks seem to fly between their eyes like they were about to go at it. After a couple of seconds in this awkward stance, Cybuster lets out a loudugh and rides away. Quietly watching the hateful guy leave, Du Wei tightens his forehead to whisper at Hussein: ¡°You ¡­ ¡­¡± ¡°I can¡¯t stand it.¡± Hussein softly utters his word: ¡°I will save as many as I can. A knight¡¯s sword is not a weapon to ughter the innocent.¡± Du Wei was speechless because he knew he couldn¡¯t stop Hussein. If this Saint Knight was dead set on doing something, there¡¯s no way he can stop him. Unlike Du Wei and Hussein that wasgging behind, Rugaard and his generals had long spread into multiple groups to search for their prey. What was once a serene and peaceful forest is now littered with the hollering voice of hunters and the faint screams of fleeing prey. As the situation continues to worsen, Du Wei¡¯s expression also got darker with each passing minute. He won¡¯t im to be a good person, but such a brutality is more than what he can cope with. Just when he was about to lose it and speak up, his eyes lit up! Further ahead in the direction where the young general ran off to, a powerful magic disturbance was swinging in the air. Based on the unrestrained dark atmosphere, it¡¯s clear¡­. A wizard was in the middle of an incantation! It was then several mournful cries drifted over to the pair¡¯s ear. Giving Hussein a look, Du Wei hurriedly said: ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look!¡± By the time Du Wei and Hussein rushed over, what awaited the two is a strangely uncanny scene! Clouded in a big ck fog, this area of the wood looked like a veil of darkness had taken hold and wouldn¡¯t let go. With only a nce, Du Wei was already frowning because he knew what this disturbing substance was: A Dark Mage¡¯s energy!! Dark energy wouldn¡¯t have rmed the two to such extent, but in the middle of the lumbering mass of darkness, one of the naked girls was being restrained in the air by the strange fog. Stretched into an X shape, her lovely body parts were openly disyed before everyone¡¯s eye. And based on how the girl¡¯s hair was slouching in front of her face, it¡¯s likely she had already fainted. Standing nearby, a ck figure was currently busy chanting a spell with his ck crystal ball atop of a tree branch. Sporting a ck mage robe and a pointed tip hat, this person¡¯s face was so pale that it was ghastly to look at. Following the mage¡¯s spell, tentacle like appendages began to take form from the ck smog. Then going in from the girl¡¯s nose, mouth and ears, wisps of transparent white stuff was being spirited out of the girl¡¯s body. Du Wei immediately recognized what the Dark Mage was doing; he¡¯s drawing out the living soul of the teenage girl!! Not far away from the whole event, Cybuster was coldly watching this unfold atop of his own mount. Although this young general was aware of Du Wei¡¯s arrival, he didn¡¯t say a word, just a nce as a greeting. Right at this moment, the naked girl wrapped in the ck fog suddenly muffled out a painful cry. Then at a speed discernable to the naked eye, the youthful body of this girl began to wither away like its very life was being sucked out! Both angry and shocked at the scene, Du Wei finally snapped: ¡°YOU¡¯VE GOT SOME NERVE! DON¡¯T YOU KNOW USING THE LIVING FOR DARK MAGIC IS IN VOILATION OF THE FIRST COMMANDMENT!!?¡± With that said, Du Wei immediately chanted a spell to unleash two bellowing balls of light from his own hand. Upon contact, the ck fog instantly dispersed as a direct result of his actions. ¡°As fellow magicians, don¡¯t you know it¡¯s rude to interrupt someone¡¯s spell? Your actions are equivalent to a duel request!¡± The eerie voice came from the Dark Mage. At a wave of his ck sleeve, the girl¡¯s dried up body instantly turned to ash and was sucked into the Dark Mage¡¯s ck crystal ball. Du Wei knew the poor girl had already been drained of life before his arrival¡­¡­ But what pushed him over the line was the fact that this Dark Mage not only took her life, he intends to do something as appalling as turning her into an undead creature! Retracting all his dark energy, the Dark mage floated down from the branch andnded not far from Du Wei¡¯s location. In a tone filled with pride: ¡°Humph, you are also a magician? Why did you interrupt my spell cast?!¡± Du Weiughs in a ha-ha manner: ¡°Killing the living to create undead creatures, are you not afraid of the magic enforcement team? Or did youpletely forget the firstmandment?¡± At the mention of the magician enforcement team, even this Dark Mage trembled out of reflex. However, that onlysted for a second before he snapped back: ¡°Nonsense, I certainly know of the firstmandment! I¡¯m a recognized Dark Mage of the Magic Union, not some Death Mage! As to draining this woman¡¯s life¡­. Humph, her life belongs to General Rugaard. Since they had already been sentenced to death, it doesn¡¯t count as me breaking the firstmandment if the general gifts them to me!¡± Cybuster suddenly cuts in with a lightugh: ¡°Both of you mustn¡¯t misinterpret the situation. Let me do the introductions.¡± He points to Du Wei: ¡°This here is the famed Duke Tulip, Du Wei Rudolph, known as thest disciple of the great master Gandalf. During the coup in the capital, he yed a major role in overturning the rebels. Also, when he first came to the Northwest, he miraculously raised an entire city in merely three months!¡± At the end of the introduc tion, this Dark Mage suddenly showed quite the curious eye: ¡°You¡¯re that Duke Tulip? From rumors, you are the continent¡¯s strongest magic pharmacist¡­¡­ Hmff, magic pharmacist, what a joke¡­¡­.¡± Du Wei did not get mad, all he did was look at Cybuster with a threatening gaze: ¡°This person is?¡±tartaglia ¡°This here is the Northwest Army¡¯s chief magic consultant, eighth level grand magician Master Tartaglia¡­.. He is also known as the only grand magician that doesn¡¯t wear a white magician robe. As to the reason, I¡¯m sure you can tell by now, he¡¯s a Dark mage!¡± Chapter 245 Chapter 245 ¡°Bet!¡± Northwest Army¡¯s chief magic consultant? This title wasn¡¯t all that unexpected. In spite of the fact that certain wizards will sometime offer their services to the army, many of these cases will depend entirely on the mood of that individual. If ¡°Uncle¡± here is in the mood and liked you, sure, lending a helping hand when the situation requires isn¡¯t a problem. However, if the magician in question weren¡¯t up for it, these lords and masters of their own freedom might just turn around and stand idly by while you get ughtered. Situations like that isn¡¯t all that umon, hence the reason for the weird title. Magic consultant, a title that is neither subservient nor superior to the employer, perfect for a wizard that likes to be free of all restraints. Regarding the fact that the Northwest Army is employing their own wizard, Du Wei was hardly surprised. Think about it, the Northwest Army was able to stand up to the central highmand for over twenty years; do you think numbers are all they have in store? Bringing a few mages to the table is only normal. But what did surprise Du Wei is the fact that General Rugaard brought in a Dark mage and a eighth rank at that. Have this midget gone mad? In order to cultivate dark magic, the user must amass an astronomical amount of souls, and they cannot be taken from the living! So where did this person get so much soul? The answer is obvious, from the living! This person is definitely a Death Mage, Du Wei is certain of this. Continuing his surveying peek at this dark magician, Du Wei found that his foe was doing the same to him. Towards the confrontation between the two mighty wizards, all of the surrounding onlookers were very conscious in taking a step back for their own safety. ¡°Duke Tulip.¡± Dark Mage Tartaglia chuckles, hisughter filled with a strange type of weirdness like he would stop breathing at any moment: ¡°I¡¯ve long heard of your name ¡­ ¡­ But since you interrupted my spell just now, I take it you are trying to propose a duel?¡± Du Wei faintlyughed. Looking over at Cybuster, this young general seems to have no intention of being a peace maker. On the contrary, Du Wei can see the bastard gloating at him. Though Du Wei¡¯s heart sank at the sight, he had no intention of showing it. Forcing a cold smile, he turns to face the Dark Mage: ¡°If sir is willing to enlighten me, how can I refuse your goodwill?¡± Gently stepping on his stirrup, Du Wei¡¯s body began to rise from the saddle to stand parallel to the Dark Mage. ¡°Dark Mages, all they do is summoning undead creatures to their side. Humph!!¡± Du Wei still hasn¡¯t forgotten thest encounter. Even when his foe summoned a bone dragon, add in some deaths knights and skeleton soldiers, he still managed to wipe them clean! And now ¡­ ¡­ Look around dammit. As far as the eye can see, there are only trees, endless amount of trees! Fine then old man,e get some! Let¡¯s see who got more cannon fodders to use! If he wasn¡¯t afraid of a death mage back when his power are weak, why the hell should he back off when he¡¯s about to break into the sixth rank?! But he should still be wary of the situation. It¡¯s not hard to figure out this encounter is a set up by the Northwest Army, but what¡¯s worth pondering is why now? Can it be¡­ ¡­ Du Wei¡¯s heart jumped. Can it be Rugaard intends to kill him? Think about this, the confusing situation today is finally making sense!! Yes, this is most likely the case. Rugaard don¡¯t want to rebel yet, at least that¡¯s what Du Wei believes. If that¡¯s the case, Rugaard must be plotting to borrow Tartaglia¡¯s hand to kill him. Rugaard can¡¯t personally kill him. That would create too much trouble. So the solution is to have a magician do it, a magician killing a magician, what a perfect n. Even if word get out that Du Wei died while in his care, no one will do anything. In name Tartaglia is working for Rugaard, but no one is crazy enough to punish a grand wizard! The Northwest Army will just say: ¡°Hey, he¡¯s a magician; we can¡¯t control what they do!¡± Besides ¡­ ¡­ Even if he¡¯s wrong about Rugaard wanting to kill him, this move of sending out a Dark Mage implies they want to test him. Though Du Wei did not bring his wizard robe today, but he¡¯s nevertheless ready to go at any moment because what he did bring is his storage ring. With only a thought, he can summon his wand and the ¡°Life Horn¡± to awaken the trees. Fixing his sight on the Dark mage¡¯s hand, that ck crystal ball gave him the creeps from the ck swirling mass inside¡­¡­ It was in this moment, Cybuster that was nearby finally spoke up. Kicking his horse leisurely, this young general deliberately cuts in between the two: ¡°A moment please you two! Both of you are distinguished guests. If you two were to fight here, it will make things very difficult for me as a host¡­¡­So then, why not give me some face?¡± When Du Wei heard this, he nearly broke out intoughter. This young general is absolutely treacherous. Those words may sound pleasant on the surface, but it also made it clear that their fight have nothing to do with them. If you two ¡°guests¡± want to fight, then it¡¯s not the ¡°hosts¡± fault. Towards Cybuster¡¯s intention of watching a pair of tigers fight while he sits atop of a cliff, Du Wei couldn¡¯t stop the rage from boiling forward. Just then Du Wei recalled Cybuster¡¯s martial art is simr to Rodriguez¡¯s. From this, a wacky and wild idea sprouted in his mind! Humph! Act eh? Let¡¯s see how you will act after I do this! Not waiting to have a second thought, he suddenly chuckles at his own ingenuity. Stretching out from under his sleeve, his right hand currently holds a long sword veiled in ayer of ice crystal. Not far away, Dark Mage Tartaglia just then thought Du Wei was going to pull out his wand, but instead, Du Wei pulls out a sword. With a somber face, Tartaglia sneered: ¡°Master Du Wei, why have you brought a sword to a wizard¡¯s duel. Do you hold no honor for your status?¡± Du Wei rolled his eyes: ¡°What, can¡¯t I be fluent in both magic and martial art?¡± At the same time, he hastily looks over to Cybuster. Sure enough! Cybuster originally had looks of disapproval when Du Wei revealed his sword, but when his eyes got a closer look, there was only shock in those pupils. What was a smirking mouth promptly tightened. In its stead, there was only the gritting sound of teeth grinding against each other! Long and thin, the sword in Du Wei¡¯s hand was wrapped in ayer of transparent ice! Even under the dim beams of lighting through the forest leaves, the lustering glow cannot be covered up¡­.. Beauty under the Moonlight!ice-sword Rodriguez¡¯s Beauty under the Moonlight! It only took a second for Cybuster to pop his eyes. Momentarily stunned by what he was seeing, Cybuster¡¯s hand looked like it was quivering with excitement while he held the horse rein. ¡°Both of you.¡± Cybuster rides forward a few steps, his voice suddenly turning loud: ¡°Both of you are important guests so please keep calm. Regardless of who gets hurt today, it will be a huge loss to the empire! Father and his fellow generals are also inside the forest. If both of you mustpete, why don¡¯t we change the method? This way it won¡¯t hurt either sides feeling.¡± Cybuster was clearly making a subtle shaking gesture with his head towards Tartaglia. When he finished, this young general instead looked like he was afraid of Du Wei jumping the gun and starting the fight. Turning to the horseman behind him, Cybuster yells: ¡°Blow the horn!¡± After the horseman blows the signal, voices from all direction began making their way over. Under the cover of several generals, Rugaard came up to Du Wei. Then looking at the Dark Mage not far across from them, the midget¡¯s face seems to turn dark for a second before he broke out intoughter: ¡°Oh, so both Master Du Wei and Master Tartaglia is here. I¡¯m assuming you two already met so I won¡¯t bother with the introductions.¡± He then looks over to his son. From theplex gaze shooting back at him, Rugaard knew the circumstances have changed. Then turning his sight to Du Wei¡¯s hand, Rugaards eye fell on the ¡°Beauty under the Moonlgiht¡±. From within the midget¡¯s eye, a suddenly spark of light erupted. Like a starving ghost seeing food for the first time, like a molester seeing a beauty, those eyes wanted to devour everything within its sight! This only happened in a blink of an eye, but Du Wei¡¯s keen senses were able to capture it. Hmm ¡­ ¡­ Does Rugaard recognize this sword? ¡°Father.¡± Cybuster clears his throat: ¡°The Duke and Master Tartaglia seems to have a little misunderstanding and wants topete. Rugaard pops his mouth like he was shocked by the idea. Nevertheless, he responded very quickly: ¡°Is there a need? Both of you are my important guest. If either one of you were to get hurt, it will be a great shame on my end. Consider it¡­¡­.¡± Cybuster deeply breathes in and cuts off Rugaard: ¡°Father, it¡¯s a rare chance to witness two powerful wizards showcasing their magic. I¡¯m certain the others present would be happy to see a confrontation between two powerful masters¡­.. Since both want topete, why must we go against their will?¡± Since Cybuster is making it so blunt, how can Rugaard not get the hint? Changing from his unwilling attitude, this midget immediately became cooperative: ¡°It¡¯s not a bad idea, but a duel between magicians will inevitably cause¡­¡­¡± ¡°Then I have a good method to not hurt both sides.¡± Cybuster speeds up his words: ¡°There¡¯s probably still four to five prey left from today¡¯s hunt. Why don¡¯t we use this as a bet? Both will head out in their separate ways and within a certain time frame, whoever catches the most prey will be considered the winner. How is that?¡± This proposal is quite clever that left both sides unable to object. Du Wei thought: What¡¯s going on with this Cybuster? Ever since he saw the ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡±, this guy¡¯s been acting like he¡¯s afraid that I will really fight with the Dark Mage. Is he afraid I will kill this Dark Mage? Or is he afraid the Dark Mage will kill me? Though Cybuster suddenly made a change in the n, Tartaglia did not object. After all, he was supposed to y along with Rugaard¡¯s scheme anyways; a little change won¡¯t matter to him. Grunting aloud, he nods in eptance. Du Wei also smiled: ¡°This is good too. Able to experience Master Tartaglia¡¯s magic and not hurt General Rugaard¡¯s face, this idea is indeed perfect.¡± After a pause, Du Wei deliberately slowed his tone: ¡°However, since it¡¯s a bet, there¡¯s always winning and losing, may I know how this will be done?¡± Apparently Cybuster had this part thought out too. Without dy in his follow up, he said: ¡°Duke¡¯s word is right. Since it¡¯s a bet, then of course we need to have some kind of stake at y. But, we are in the Northwest Army¡¯s territory. If we were to make you gents pay out of pocket, then that will make the Northwest Army seem too stingy! Let¡¯s do this then¡­.. If Master Tartaglia wins, why don¡¯t we give the hundred or so inmates left in the dungeon to him? Father, surely you wouldn¡¯t stinge out on a few death rows?¡± Rugaard immediately nodded. ¡°If Master Tartaglia loses ¡­ ¡­ Then father, I would like Master Tartaglia to show me magic for a month. Consider this a request on my end.¡± Tartaglia is Rugaard¡¯s men to begin with, so of course he would nod in agreement. Du Wei sighs and forced a smile: ¡°Isn¡¯t this an inconvenience for our wager toe out of the Northwest Army¡¯s pocket?¡± ¡°Only like this will it show off my father¡¯s respect towards you two.¡± Cybuster¡¯s smooth reply made Du Wei think: this rascal is not an easy character to deal with! ¡°Likewise, if Duke wins, then the reward of being the winner will be, hmmm¡­¡­ I heard your Dukeship suffered quite the loss when the prairie army invaded. How about this, if the Duke wins: fine horses three thousand, superior quality armor three thousand!¡± Du Wei ponders the idea inside because the condition is quite tempting: ¡°Well then, what if I lose?¡± Cybuster¡¯s currentugh gave Du Wei the chills: ¡°Earlier I heard your Dukeship is fluent in both magic and martial art¡­.. Such talent is extraordinary! And, I find your odd weapon fascinating. So here¡¯s my request. If the Duke loses, I would like you to tutor me for a month using that weapon! Of course, I can¡¯t have your lordship staying here for so long. Here¡¯s my proposal. I will apany you back to Lon City alone for a month while you tutor me!¡± When his words came out, Du Wei was startled. It wasn¡¯t just him; even Rugaard was showing a surprised expression. Going back alone with Du Wei? Wouldn¡¯t this mean Du Wei can take this guy hostage if anything happens? Du Wei was full of doubt regarding this idea because this young general was clearly aiming for his sword ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡±. Is this sword really so important to him?! There¡¯s simply no way out of this. Du Wei loudlyughs: ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll take the bet!¡± After a pause, Du Wei saw Hussein¡¯s signaling eye next to him. Hurrying to add in: ¡°But I have a request¡­. In order to raise the difficulty of our hunt, the prey must be kept alive without being harmed!¡± Du Wei intentionallyughs: ¡°If Master Tartaglia runs off and uses a wide range ¡°Devouring Darkness¡± spell, then he can easily cover the entire forest to wipe out all life¡­. At that point, I can only watch on from the sideline.¡± Cybuster was obviously very anxious. Not even waiting for that Dark Mage to speak, this young general answered in his stead: ¡°Fine, we will do just that!¡± As expected! Du Wei sneered ¡­ ¡­ For this sword, the guy is willing to do anything!. Chapter 246 Chapter 246 ¡°Curse of the snowy mountain¡± There¡¯s no way Du Wei would believe Rugaard is the type to show kindness. Nevertheless, as a human being, he should still do his upmost to save as many lives as he can. ¡°So then¡­ ¡­ Begin!¡± Following the announcement from Rugaard, the host of this ce, dozens of horsemen began dispersing into the forest. Looking over at Master Tartaglia, Du Wei gracefully bends his waist and shows a hand: ¡°Master Tartaglia, please go ahead.¡± Not even bothering to be polite, Tartaglia used those unusually white eyes to send an icy cold re at Du Wei. Levitating into the air like a ghost due to his fluttering ck robe, this Dark Mage then drew a skeletal bone wand to begin his chant. Although the distance between the two weren¡¯t close by any means, but Du Wei can faintly sense an unnerving sensationing off from the mass of ck fog extruding out of that wand. It wasn¡¯t just Du Wei. Everyone that had remained at the scene also felt it. Like death itself was in the air, the onlookers instinctively took several steps back to the point where the light hearted found cover behind their peers. Under the crackling sound of the trembling ground, several skeleton soldiers began to make their way out from the dirt. First was the arm, then the head, then like dreaded ghouls breaking forth from their coffin, these unworldly fiends howled like they will feast upon this world. Following another series of spell chants, the air in front of Tartaglia began to mend and crack. Like an exploding void from hell, multiple death knights raced forward and broke through into the realm of the living. Extruding mes of pure darkness, these harbingers of death left no room for delusion regarding their ferocity. In the face of such deathly abominations, many of the finely trained war horses under these generals began to lose it. The soldiers were quick to react to their panicking steeds, but they were utterly useless in calming the animals down. Witnessing his own vile creations, Master Tartaglia¡¯s eerie but pridefulugh permeated everyone¡¯s tingling skin. Without dy, this dark mage waves his wand and summons all the undead creatures to his side. Uttering words that even Du Wei cannot understand, this pale old magician acted like he couldmunicate with the dead. Then with another wave of his wand towards the forest, all of the undead creatures reacted like they just received a clear and precise order. While the five Death knights rode into the forest at great speed, the skeleton soldiers didn¡¯t disappoint either. Taking advantage of their numbers, these lesser undeads fanned out in all direction of the wood to do their part. With a face full of contempt, Tartaglia sneers a nce at Du Wei: ¡°Duke, I¡¯ll be heading out first then!¡± Striking his arms downward, this Dark mage then flew into the forest like a ghost. Watching this Tartaglia disappear into the forest, Du Wei¡¯s face revealed a hint of gloom before covering it up with a smile: ¡°General Rugaard¡­.. This magic consultant you have sure is mighty!¡± Rugaard faintly smiles in return: ¡°Du Wei, no need to be polite. You are famed as the number one genius magician in this generation. Why not let us witness your amazing magic.¡± Du Wei ponders the problem for a moment: that Dark Mage is capable of summoning multiple undead creatures at once to aid him. Also,rge scale destructive magic is of no use here. So what can he do¡­¡­ He could summon treantpanions to help ¡­ ¡­ No! That won¡¯t do. Those trees called forth by the Life Horn are too clumsy for such aplicated task. They might have been useful forbor intensive jobs, but finding some naked girls in a forest without harming them is too much. Just as his mind got to this part, Du Wei¡¯s face revealed a delightful smile. Slowly levitating into the air, Du Wei suddenly whistles like he was summoning something. Just when Rugaard wanted to question him over his actions, a humming sound drifted over from within the woods. Like it wasing from all directions, an astonishing scene appeared before everyone¡¯s eye when the noise finally came to an end. Birds! Birds of all kinds, ranging from hummingbird, cuckoo bird, yellow bird¡­.. And even some owls known for their nocturnal lifestyle! Despite their vast numbers, the hundred or so birds obediently gathered around Du Wei in a circr formation. Under everyone¡¯s astonished eye, Du Wei whistled a couple more times like he wasmunicating to these birds. pping their wings, these birds all took to the air when he was done and fanned out into the forest like they just epted Du Wei¡¯smand. When the onlookers saw this, their faces only had one question imprinted on their forehead: what kind of magic is this? They heard of magicians summoning magical creatures to their side, but never once have they seen or heard of a magician calling in so many animals to their aid. What¡¯s more, this guy acted like he couldmunicate with these birds. What, can he speak bird¡¯s tongue now too? But Du Wei¡¯s shock to these people didn¡¯t just end here. After dispersing the birds, Du Wei howled like a wolf into the forest! Before long, the forest replied with several echoing howls. Sporting coats of grey fur, several massive wolves came running out of the wood to gather in front of Du Wei like he was the alpha. Frightened by the sudden intrusion, several guards stepped in front of Rugaard with their weapons drawn. Though these wolves looked massively strong, but their reaction showed they indeed hold certain levels of fear towards humankind. Baring their teethes at the soldiers, these wolves would growl here and there while nervously pawing at the ground. Ignoring all of this, Du Wei crouched down and beganmunicating with these canines. Not sure what kind of whimperingnguage that was, but when these wolves heard him, the pack all charged into the forest without stopping¡­.. ¡°HA-HA-HA¡­ ¡­ Du Wei, you really widened our eyes today!¡± Rugaard took the lead in breaking the silence: ¡°Du Wei, what kind of magic is this to be able to drive these animals to your call? I¡¯ve heard of undead creatures and magic creatures, but never once did I hear a mage summoning so many regr animals¡­¡­ You¡­¡­¡± Du Wei faintly smiles and bypassed the subject with augh: ¡°I better hurry now. Master Tartaglia summoned so many undead creatures. If I don¡¯t move fast, his summons will really take all the prey.¡± At his word, Du Wei dropped down to his saddle and kicked his horse to move forward. Galloping at high speed, Du Wei left for the forest with Hussein closely at his back. Once Du Wei¡¯s figurepletely disappeared into the forests, Rugaard¡¯s face finally became somber. ¡°Father¡± Cybuster whispers from the side. Raising a hand, Rugaard turns to look at his subordinates: ¡°All of you can move down.¡± At hismand, all of the soldiers and generals had their face turn dark. Regardless of their mood, all of them rode away to leave the father and son duo alone. ¡°Father, you see¡­¡­¡± Cybuster¡¯s voice was deep and full of worry. ¡°Indeed, that sword is ¡®Beauty under the Moonlight¡¯. But then shouldn¡¯t that sword be in Rodriguez¡¯s hand? That youngster¡¯s whereabouts had always been a mystery, forcing us to be fruitless in our search¡­..¡± Cybuster coldlyughs: ¡°If ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ knew the sword is in the Northwest, he will definitelye snatch it. Humph¡­. Without ¡®Beauty under the Moonlight¡¯, his Shaman King status will never be truly recognized!¡± Rugaard was silent for a while: ¡°Back when Gu Lanxiu (Former Shaman King) left Snowy Mountain, I had always worried about one thing when he took the sword with him¡­¡­.That is Blue Ocean. (Famed Schr in the capital) Who knows how manyyouts that guy secretly put in ce. Although ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ is strong, but there are many secrets that cannot be activated without the sacred sword of Snowy Mountain. I¡¯ve always spected the sword is in Blue Ocean¡¯s hand, unfortunately, the spy I nted never found any clue¡­¡­ In fact, I even wondered if Gu Lanxiu yed dead like before, or if that Rodriguez is Gu Lanxiu¡¯s newest disciple. Otherwise, how can ¡®Beauty under the Moonlight¡¯ fall into an outsiders hand¡­. But today, things got even moreplicated!¡± Cybuster thought it over and said, ¡°No matter what, the sword is in this Du Wei¡¯s hand now¡­..¡± Rugaard did not reply, his eyes filled withplex and contradictory thoughts: ¡°Do you think this Du Wei is a disciple of Gu Lanxiu?¡± Cybuster smiled: ¡°Father is so foolish! Gu Lanxiu¡¯s been dead for decades, how old is this Du Wei? From what I see, this Du Wei more like Blue Ocean¡¯s disciple. As to ¡®Beauty under the Moonlight¡¯, I say it was passed on to him by Blue Ocean.¡± ¡°Humph!¡± Rugaard snorted: ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡¯ may have been difficult to take under Rodriguez¡¯s hand, but now¡­¡­ We must not lose sight of it while it¡¯s under our eyes!¡± Cybuster sneered: ¡°Father, ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ only managed to step up to Shaman King because you didn¡¯t care for the post, yet why do you care so much about this sword?¡± ¡°What do you know!¡± Rugaard softly utters his words: ¡°As the current head of the Northwest Army of the Rnd Empire, Imand over 200,000 soldiers and can loft around in the Northwest. Who can control me? Compared to that ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ sitting atop of that bitter cold mountain, my life here is way better. However, the many secrets hidden inside that ce still temps me¡­¡­ Are you not temped too after I told you about some of those treasures?¡± Cybuster sighs: ¡°It¡¯s just so infuriating¡­. That old fart Gu Lanxiu favored Blue Ocean and his brother so much, yet towards you¡­¡­¡± ¡°Quiet!!¡± Rugaard suddenly snapped. Growling at his son: ¡°You better listen! I¡¯ve warned you many-many times! I may insult Gu Lanxiu, but you cannot! No one is allowed to insult Gu Lanxiu while standing before me! I forbid it, you understand!¡± Cybuster did not reply. Slowly stepping back a few paces, he lowers his head: ¡°Yes¡­. Father!¡± Only then did Rugaard nod in satisfaction. Slowly turning to look up at the sky, this midget lets out a long reminiscing sigh: ¡°No matter what¡­.. Gu Lanxiu is after all¡­.. My Teacher.¡± Unbeknownst to Rugaard, a hint of lethal sharpness crossed Cybusters eye while the kid pretended to look dejected. After a long moment like this, Rugaard finally continues the subject: ¡°What magic do you think that Du Wei just used? Doesn¡¯t it look like¡­..¡± Only then did Cybuster raise his head to looking at his father: ¡°I was wondering that too. To be able to drive so many normal animals to his side¡­¡­ If I remember correctly, father, you said Snowy Mountain have a shaman craft called ¡®animal speech, capable ofmunicating with any living animal in this world. But because of the difficulty of that skill, there hasn¡¯t been anyone capable of practicing that art for hundreds of years. This Du Wei¡­¡­¡± ¡°This is what I¡¯m worried about!¡± Rugaard clenches his teeth: ¡°This Du Wei¡¯s talent is very high. At such a tender age he¡¯s already earned quite the fame in the capital¡­.. This alone is enough proof that he¡¯s not weak! If he has ¡®Beauty under the Moonlight¡¯, then I¡¯m wondering if he learned the stuff from Snowy Mountain¡­. If he did, then our problem is huge!¡± ¡°Then why don¡¯t we make sure his life never leaves Watt City¡­..¡± Cybuster shows his murderous self. ¡°Cannot kill!¡± Rugaard suddenly reveals fear in his eyes: ¡°You¡¯re not a member of Snowy Mountain so you don¡¯t know! Any member of Snowy Mountain can never kill their peers. If they do, they shall be cursed forever and live a life of misery!¡± Cybuster apparently didn¡¯t believe it and wanted to shrug the superstition away: ¡°Father, you really believe such stuff?¡± ¡°Quiet!¡± Rugaard speaks coldly: You of course wouldn¡¯t believe it! But look at that ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ for example. Although I¡¯m conceited, but I have to admit that character is the greatest talent Snowy Mountain have evere across in the past several hundred years. Regardless of Shamanism or Snowy Mountain¡¯s martial art, ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ supersedes all of us in terms of cultivation speed. Can you imagine? For someone capable of defeating Gu Lanxiu with ease to be trapped atop of the Snow Mountain, how terrifying that curse must be! If not for that incident where he went off on a killing spree, I can guarantee ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ will topple any Magister or Saint Knight across this continent¡­¡­You remember it well and remember it hard. I may not know if this Du Wei learned Snowy Mountain¡¯s Shamanism or not, but for the sacred sword, we must kill him! However, if we find out he did learn shamanism, then by all means, we cannot kill him!¡± Cybuster grits his teeth, ¡°If so¡­.. Then that spell he used is clearly animal speech.¡± ¡°Then¡­. We can onlye up with another option.¡± Rugaard thought for a moment: ¡°If we must ¡­ ¡­ We can slightly give in to him. That is still within the eptable level.¡± ¡°Even If we can¡¯t kill him ¡­ ¡­ He is still within our territory. Father, we have hundreds of thousands of troops at our beck and call. I don¡¯t believe he can flee with so many enemies around him. Even if he is a Saint Knight, he can¡¯t possibly fend off the entire Northwest Army. As long as father doesn¡¯t personally kill him, then the curse wouldn¡¯t take effect.¡± ¡°No is no!¡± Rugaard suddenly became anxious: ¡°Cybuster! You just don¡¯t understand! There¡¯s some things I can¡¯t say to you right now! Anyways.. ¡­ You listen to me! As long as we can¡¯t determine if he knows Shamanism, then we can¡¯ty a single finger on him. From today onward, you are in charge of his safety!¡± Chapter 247 Chapter 247 ¡°Dark Magic¡± ¡°That just now isn¡¯t magic right?¡± Only when they were deep into the forest did Hussein ask: ¡°Seems you¡¯ve been quite diligent in your training.¡± Du Wei ¡°hmmm¡± in return. Looking around to make sure no one was ease dropping, he finally feltfortable speaking: ¡°I¡¯m starting to feel there¡¯s never enough time on my hand¡­¡­ Aigh, sometimes I wish I could just turn one day into two days¡­¡­ No, turn it into ten days! From managing the Desa Province to feeding the soldiers, I even have to think of ways to improve their fighting capabilities in secret, really, my brains about to be burnt out. Then there¡¯s my meditation period. That alone takes up half the day. After I¡¯m through with all that, I have to then find time to practice my Star Dou Qi¡­¡­ And I recently added archery to the list¡­.. Now in my hand is that Shaman craft technique.¡± Sighing at this point, ¡°More and more stuff just keep popping up¡­..¡± ¡°When did you learn that ¡®Druid¡¯ spell?¡± This one question from Hussein easily answered the question bothering Rugaard. Du Wei was silent for a while. Looking around the surrounding forest, he quietly said: ¡°Almost a year now¡­.. But with so many distractions in front of me, I only managed to learn the basics. Unlike Gandalf who can call upon any magic beast in the vicinity, summoning some basic animals is all I can do.¡± Hussein looks at Du Wei. From his usually determined face, a blip of warmth gave way: ¡°Du Wei¡­.. You¡¯ve been thinking of the old man right? You may not show it while he was alive, but I know you respected him a lot.¡± Eyeing Hussein, ¡°When did you learn to speak like an old woman?¡± Du Wei asks this in an indifferent voice. The two breaks out intoughter after exchanging a nce: ¡°But this nature¡¯sw cultivation technique really is hard¡­. Aigh, get close to nature with a pure heart¡­. How am I supposed to do that? Ever since I came to the Northwest, all I¡¯ve been doing is scheme against others and ughter my enemies. Under these circumstances, where am I supposed to find my pure heart? At this rate, who knows how many years will it be before I get to the level where I can summon magic beasts to my side.¡± Hussein was about to speak again but was cut off by a sudden howl. Turning cold, Du Wei yells: ¡°There¡¯s disturbance ahead!¡± Without dy, the two kicked their steeds and rode towards themotion. Riding a hundred meters into the distance, what weed them is a young panicking girl huddling inside a tree hole. Probably due to over exhausting her voice, even her screams were weak to the ear. Not trying to flee nor defend herself, this naked young girl simply curls herself into a ball as she stared intently at the outside. Meanwhile, the area around the tree was guarded by several massive wolves growling constantly at something. Despite their efforts, these predatory animals were being pushed back by their foe. Covered in rusted armor, a unworldly creature known as a skeleton soldier continues to wave its dark burning sword at the wolves. Though the mes extruding out of the weapon is weak, but the deathly scent it gave off is magnified by the animal instincts in the defending wolves. If the situation continues to go down this path, it won¡¯t be long before this skeleton soldier reaches the terrified girl. After all, these wolves are only ordinary beasts. How can they possibly resist an undead monster? Imprinting this scene into his eye, Hussein was about to dismount when Du Wei grabbed him. Not pleased by this, Hussein quickly turns to search for the reason and found Du Wei pondering at the scene. Subsequently, Du Wei himself dismounted and walked up to the fight. From his storage, he pulls out a ck crystal ball. This item is the dark crystal ball he purchased back in the magic union. Prior to this event, Du Wei only used it once when he idently absorbed the dead spirits left behind by the previous Death Mage. Now that he has another chance to pull it out, Du Wei intends to use it against this skeleton soldier. Following a series of incantation from Du Wei¡¯s mouth, Hussein only frowned and didn¡¯t step in to stop the whole thing. Just when the skeleton soldier wanted to wave its sword again, Du Wei already had his wand out pointing at the undead creature. In mere seconds, a ck stream of gasshed out to coil around the skeleton soldier and pulled it into the ck crystal ball. ¡°You really do practice everything don¡¯t you?¡± Hussein sighs in disbelief: ¡°When did you start learning dark magic?¡± Returning his crystal ball into the ring, Du Wei shows a greedy smile: ¡°Right after I established the magic learning society. There were so many dark magic contributions, how can I not learn them? That would be a sin in itself!¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡­¡± Hussein didn¡¯t look so well: ¡°Dark magic is not something good to learn. The more you cultivate it, the more unnatural you will be. Also, if you step over bound, the magic union¡¯s enforcement team wille kill you.¡± Du Wei chuckled, his voice unnaturally devious: ¡°The firstmandment forbids me from killing the living, but that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t take it from fellow Dark Mages!¡± After a pause, he whispers: ¡°Dark magic is not all about mass killing. Some spells are actually quite useful. It¡¯s just¡­¡­ ¡± Du Wei smiles wryly: ¡°Though this ck crystal ball is from the magic union, but its quality is only mediocre. If I were to continue using it, my achievement will not get far.¡± ¡°I think it won¡¯t hurt to stop learning Dark Magic.¡± Hussein continues in a persuading tone: ¡°You are too distracted. Remember, a person only have so much energy. If you learn everything, there will never be an end to it¡­..¡± Du Wei smiles: ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I don¡¯t have too much interest in Dark Magic either. The reason I¡¯m collecting so much souls is because I want to test a dark spell I recently acquired. Without the souls, the spell won¡¯t work.¡± With that, Du Wei casually dispersed the wolves with a druid spell. Walking up to the naked girl, heughs in a calming manner: ¡°Games over, you are safe now.¡± Poor girl. Because of the shock, she only managed to look Du Wei in the eye before passing out. Stepping forward, Hussein lifts the girl onto his horse. At the same time, Du Wei¡¯s ear picked up something again from the distance: ¡°Quick, we found something again.¡± Not waiting for Hussein to be ready, Du Wei already bolted towards themotion. Watching Du Wei¡¯s disappearing back, Hussein got the aching feeling something is not right about this. But as to why it¡¯s not right to learn Dark Magic, Hussein couldn¡¯t put it into words. Since an extra person is aboard with him, Hussein can only move at a cantering speed. Nevertheless, his pace wasn¡¯t slow by any means with his horsemanship. The problem though is that by the time he caught up to Du Wei, the whole thing was over. With the girl lying on the grass, Du Wei was busy sucking in the two skeleton soldiers with his crystal ball likest time. ¡°As expected of an eighth level Dark Mage.¡± Du Wei picks up the crystal ball and sighed: ¡°His undead creatures are such high quality!¡± Just like that with minimal work, Du Wei managed to save two ¡°prey¡±. Since there are only five preys remaining before the bet started, Du Wei only needs one more to win the contest. Just as he was preparing to listen in for more disturbances, a distant chilly voice drifted over: ¡°What a good Duke Tulip! I didn¡¯te making trouble yet and you¡¯ve already ruined several of my undead creatures!!¡± Chapter 248 part 1 Chapter 248 ¡°It¡¯s him it¡¯s him it¡¯s him!¡± (part one) As soon as the voice died down, a ck shadow appeared from out of nowhere. With eyes fuming in anger, this figure floating above a tree branch was none other than Tartaglia. Aside from himself, this dark mage also brought along two unconscious girls. Although this bastard managed to catch two of the ¡®preys¡¯, Du Wei wasn¡¯t disappointed. In fact he was relieved. Those two may have fallen into the foe¡¯s hand, but at the very least their life remains intact. Earlier when Tartaglia finished his deed of capturing the second ¡®prey¡¯, he already felt something was off when some of his undead creatures disappeared from his radar. At first he only thought they were destroyed by Du Wei, but never in his mind did he think the kid would suck out the spirits from within his pets. Dark Mages are the type to treat life like nothing to begin with. Adding in the fact that Du Wei offended him in such an unbelievable manner, Tartaglia would of course lose it. Without care for the consequence, Tartaglia drew his bone wand and waved it against the air. As a result of this, a stream ck me gushed out of the wand and surrounded his body, almost like a rainbow, but much darker. Then with another flick of his wand, a loud cracking sound filled the scene. Distorting the very fabric of reality in front of himself, a huge bone w stretched out from the rift and aimed straight for Du Wei. Hussein frowns at the sight. With one arm, Hussein pulls Du Wei with him as they retreated to the back. Though the two may be safe from the sudden attack, but Du Wei¡¯s horse wasn¡¯t so lucky. Under the crushing pressure of the bone w, the once living animal immediately became a mangled blob of flesh. After a booming dragon roar, the small crack suddenly stretched apart and from within the void came a massive skull! Bone Dragon! As expected, this dark mage also owns a dragon! While Du Wei was retreating, he really wanted to sigh and p himself for his own miserable luck. Why is it that every encounter he has with a Dark Mage ends up with his foe summoning a super rare bone dragon? Did dragons suddenly be amodity that anyone can just pick up? It¡¯s very obvious this bone dragon belonging to Tartaglia was far superior to thest one he encountered back in the capital. Whether it¡¯s the size or temperamenting out of that dragon skull, it¡¯s far bigger and way more oppressive! When the giant skull finally finished emerging from the rift, the first thing this undead creature did was spew a mouthful of ck mes at the pair. Snorting at theughable attempt, Hussein takes a step forward and raises a hand to create a golden barrier around himself and Du Wei. When the ck mes made contact, the deadly breath was easily deflected, but as a consequence, the surrounding greenery¡¯s was turned to cinder! Meanwhile, the great bone dragon took the window of opportunity to fully emerge from the rift. Standing at seven to eight meters tall, this creature only needs one howling roar to send all of the nearby trees flying across thendscape like a meteor justnded on the spot. Watching this enormous bone dragon, Du Wei could not stop himself from frowning. He may not be very fluent in dark magic, but he at least knows creating a bone dragon is one of the hardest and most powerful things to do in dark magic. Whenever a dark mage wanted to create a bone dragon, they must first meet three conditions: first is of course finding aplete skeleton! It¡¯s well known dragons have practically disappeared from the continent for millenniums. To solve this issue, many dark mages would take on the role of a tomb raider and scour thend. If not this, then a dark mage can also scrim through some old literature and attempt to unearth a dead dragon from those ancient battlefields. One good thing out of all this was that a dragones equipped with extremely tough bones. After thousands of years, their bone structures will remain intact and not rot or decay, but damages on the other hand are unavoidable. If a dark mage was lucky, they might spend a few decades to gather enough bones toplete an entire set. However, many might spend their entire life and never evene close! And let¡¯s say the dark mage in question do get lucky andplete a set, that doesn¡¯t mean the refining process for a massive creature like a dragon was easy because the amount of souls and spirits required was astronomical! If a dark mage¡¯s cultivation was not up to par, then they can forget about even attempting the feat. But then if they are powerful enough, it¡¯s likely the person in question was a death mage! At that time, the magic enforcement team would recognize that person as an evil entity and hunt him down. Under such circumstances, the opportunity to create a bone dragon bes miniscule, if not impossible for most. Alright, let¡¯s assume the dark mage in question meets the first two conditions¡­. Then thest condition is definitely the hardest! They need a Dragon Soul! To make a dragon ¨C a behemoth of a creature ¨C revive and listen to its creator, then the only way to achieve this is to utilize a dragon¡¯s soul! But then where was one going to find a dragon¡¯s soul? Everyone in this world knows there was only one resting ce for the dragon race ¨C the ¡®dragon cemetery¡¯ ¨C but that ce was impossible for a measly death mage to reach. Therefore, in order to locate the smallest trace of a dragon¡¯s soul, even if iplete¡­¡­ Many Dark Mages and Death Mages will rummage through the ancient battlefields where a dragon was unable to meet its end in the ¡®Dragon Cemetery¡¯¡­¡­ Even so, a wondering remnant of a dragon¡¯s soul is enough! However, whether the end product is powerful or not will depend entirely on the soul used. Looking at it from these three points, this bone dragon belonging to Tartaglia was without a doubt at the top of the top. After the first st of me was deflected by Hussein, this bone dragon promptly followed up with a whip of that long bone tail. Snorting again at the attack, Hussein grabbed Du Wei and flew into the air. Before they can do anything else, a quick session of snipping sounds came from below, clearly the trees in their previous spot was snapped and knocked to the ground. Seeing the failure of his tail whip, the bone dragon follows up with a howling roar and shot another breath into the air. Annoyed by this, Hussein did not dodge anymore. Hussein was the arrogant and prideful type to begin with, so why should he keep dodging? Even when facing the dragon chief, he wasn¡¯t afraid, let alone a knock off bone dragon! Releasing Du Wei, Hussein quickly pulls out his sword and turns to face the oing attack. Pointing his de at the ck me, numerous shining stars shot out from the tip and resolved the attack and continued to hammer down at the bone dragon¡¯s body! Howling in pain, several of the rib cages on the bone dragon began to crack under the hailing assault. Feeling his heart ache, Tartaglia watched on with great pain at the scene. This bone dragon forced him to spend a great portion of his life to create, how can he not shed tears over how easily his pet was harmed by a mere bodyguard?¡± For three master ss people like them, the space in this small forest was simply too cramped. Jumping down to his pet dragon¡¯s back, Tartaglia ordered the dragon to stretch out its wings and head for the the sky. ¡°You don¡¯t have to protect me.¡± Du Wei whispers to Hussein: ¡°You go find thest girl. I can deal with this Tartaglia fe.¡± While Hussein was hesitating at themand, Du Wei was already shouting ¡°go!¡± Next second, Hussein was flying through the sky in the opposite direction. Sneering at Tartaglia for charging at him with the dragon in toe, Du Wei immediately showered the entire air space with gunpowder. What? Du Wei¡¯s fighting style is like this and his greatest trump card is this fireball shower! Adding in his nearly limitless supplier known as Anglia City¡¯s factory base, Du Wei was even more unreserved in his powder tossing. In a blink of an eye, hundreds of fireballs were roaring down at his foe. Blinded by his anger at first, Taraglia was scared out of his wits when Du Wei¡¯s attack appeared so suddenly. This Duke Tulip ¡­ ¡­ Can use forbidden magic?! This move by Du Wei really did share some simrity to the forbidden spell known as ¡°Inferno City¡± at first nce. Although the destructive power is far inferior to the real thing, but as a bluff it¡¯s perfect. Tartaglia may have already made a good estimation of Du Wei¡¯s power, but never in his wildest dream did he expect the kid to be fluent in forbidden magic. Even for a eighth level grand mage like himself, his only option is to flee in front of a forbidden spell! Losing his boldness right off the bat, Tartaglia hastily raises his bone wand to create a ck barrier in front of himself. Under the onught of fireballs, half the sky looked like it was stained red during the explosion. Under the thundering boom, even Rugaard that was miles away in the base camp could hear it clearly ringing against his ear. The son and father duo was in the middle of discussion when the earth shattering explosion urred. When Rugaard reflexively looked up at the sky, the only thing weing his sight was a searing red sky and the mushroom like dust cloud hovering above the forest. Turning to Cybuster, Rugaard cries out: ¡°Fast! Go see what¡¯s going on!!¡± Chapter 248 part 2 Chapter 248 ¡°It¡¯s him it¡¯s him it¡¯s him!¡± (part two) In the face of Du Wei¡¯s sudden attack, Tartaglia can only feel a heat wave sweeping through his face and knocking him all over the ce. Although minimal in terms of power, but together, the destructive force of hundreds of fireballs was still staggering. As a desperate countermeasure, he could only forcefully shield his body at the expense of depleting a good portion of his dark spirit fog. While Tartaglia was busy fending for his life, Du Wei took advantage of the window of opportunity he created to sneak behind this dragon. Simr to the battle with the prairie army, Du Wei speedily began to summon a series of thunder strikes. Almost instantaneously, the pressure in the sky became heavy as electrical sparks flowed through the clouds¡­¡­. By the time most of the mes were dispersed, Tartaglia already knew he was tricked! If it was really a forbidden spell, how can he still be alive? The spell may appear shy, but the damage could hardly be called severe. Just when he wanted to summon forth a ¡°Devouring Darkness¡± spell to counter ¨C his heart only wants to turn this kid into an undead puppet at this point ¨C his ears suddenly picked up a rumbling sound from above. Next thing he knew, a thundering bolt of lightning was already striking down at him from the sky. Upon impact, this strike nearly sent the bone dragon crashing to the ground! Enraged by this, Tartaglia forcefully holds on by pumping out all of his dark energy fog into the air for protection. Under normal circumstances, Tartaglia would have been able to take on ten Du Wei¡¯s at once. However, he doesn¡¯t have a rainbow energy ring to replenish his magic continuously. After three loud bangs, although his anger was stronger than ever, Tartaglia had to face reality: his energy was slowly being worn away. Yelling out in anger at Du Wei: ¡°Let¡¯s see how many more thunder strikes you can summon!¡± In Tartaglia¡¯s view, even an eighth level grand mage would be heavily sapped by the enormous magic consumption from three lightning strikes and a gigantic fire st. Different from his foe¡¯s expectation, Du Wei insteadughs ha-haly and turns to distance himself from Tartaglia. Taking his Nirvana¡¯s bow out in the process, Du Wei then intentionally slowed his pace and took a shot at the source of the dragon roar in the background. How powerful is the Nirvana¡¯s bow? To put it into perspective, the meteoric arrow was already in front of Tartaglia before he could even hear Du Wei drawing his bow! Horrified by the sight, Tartaglia could only order his pet dragon to shield him out of reflex. Upon impact, one of the bone dragon¡¯s ws exploded like fireworks and scattered across the forest. Seeing his pet howling out in pain, Tartaglia can only puke blood! His precious bone dragon! How can he not bleed inside? Through sweat and blood, every single bone on this dragon was painstakingly gathered by him personally. Unwilling to let this slide, Tartaglia hurries his dragon to pick up speed. At the same time, a series of weird incantations began spouting out of the dragon¡¯s jaw¡­.. Draconian magic? Du Wei got a bad feeling about this. As soon as the spell finished casting, a st of dark energy violently charged towards Du Wei. Next thing he knew, Du Wei found himself fixed in mid-air, unable to move an inch from the spot! This was not some typical ¡°Cobweb¡± binding magic, it¡¯s the genuine deal: Draconian Magic! Unless the victim was vastly superior to the caster in terms of strength, they can otherwise forget about breaking free. Instead of panicking like he should, Du Wei showed a face of I don¡¯t care: ¡°You think this is enough to stop me?¡± Feeling the veins pop on his forehead, Tartaglia and his pet dragon were of the same mind at this point. With one swift charge to get behind Du Wei, the dragon promptly loosed a mouthful of ck mes at the kid. But even after burning the sky ck, no evidence of Du Wei could be found in the aftermath. Noticing this wasn¡¯t right; Tartaglia immediately activated his immense spiritual senses to scour the surrounding terrain. Surprising himself, Tartaglia managed to locate Du Wei¡¯s figure dropping nonstop towards the ground. How can he move when hit with Draconian Magic? But it didn¡¯t take long for Tartaglia to rpose himself for another attack. With one loud roar, his wand began to actively move again to summon a series of ck whirlpools along Du Wei¡¯s drop path. ¡°Why is it every time you get into trouble that I have to save you in the end?! Semel sighs at her own situation. The one currently dragging Du Wei through the sky and dodging the ck swirling pools was none other than Semel. Of course, all of this was invisible to Tartaglia. ¡°Because my death means your death. If you save me then it means saving yourself.¡± Du Wei answers like it¡¯s only proper. Completely lost for words, Semel coldly smiles: ¡°What are you going to do about that big dragon?¡± Du Weiughs aloud, his finger pointing to the front: ¡°What do you see over there?¡± Not far away was Watt City!! Semel¡¯s face turned gloomy: ¡°Could it be you want to hide inside the city? That will drag the civilians into this!¡± Du Wei lets out a coldugh: ¡°I¡¯m not that despicable¡­ ¡­ Besides, do I need to flee? He¡¯s only a eighth level mage. Even if I can¡¯t beat him alone, but with you, I highly doubt we will lose. It¡¯s just that I¡¯m toozy to do it myself. Don¡¯t worry. Once we are close enough to the city, someone will be there to help!¡± ¡°Help?¡± Although Watt City was already in sight, but the anger blind Tartaglia could care less at this moment! His precious bone dragon just suffered a crippling injury to one w, how can he just let it slide? Also, who knows how long will it be before he can find a recement w for his pet. His only wish right now was to shred this Duke Tulip into smithereens! The only problem was that this kid is full of too many trickery. In their exchanges earlier, the one to suffer the most was always himself. How can someone run after every blow, does this kid have no shame? Seriously, who ever heard of a magician running in a duel? A magician¡¯s dignity will be destroyed at this rate!!¡± Hurrying his dragon to elerate, another deep and draconian chant swept across thendscape¡­.. ¡°Perfect!¡± Du Wei suddenly smiles at Semel. Hovering above the city sky, Du Wei sighed: ¡°And here I was worrying about the guy not making a ruckus. Since he¡¯s making such a loudmotion with his bone dragon¡­. Then he can only me himself!¡± Sure enough ¡­ ¡­ The moment the bone dragon¡¯s roar ended, a monstrous roar that shook the very earth itself answered from within Watt City! Given the devastating boom in the air, the sound wave was at least three to two times bigger than the bone dragon¡¯s in terms of strength! And that¡¯s based on Du Wei¡¯s assessment while in the sky. Imagine what it must be like for those on the ground! Suddenly, a golden figure flew out of Watt City and into the sky! Though covered in golden mes, but the draconic might this being gave off cannot be imitated! Semel was shocked by the sight: ¡°Dragon?!¡± Du Wei sighs again: ¡°Counting the days, this dragon prince should¡¯ve long been here, yet he¡¯s never shown himself up till now. I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s because I was hiding inside Watt City. Not bad, he¡¯s not a fool like thest one. At least he¡¯s smart enough to wait till I leave the Northwest Army¡¯s stronghold before making an attempt at my life¡­.. I really have to thank that Tartaglia for luring this lizard out; otherwise, I might have resorted to my alternative n!¡± The golden med figure turns to face Du Wei, although hidden behind that light, the sharp scrutinizing stareing off from the dragon prince was unmistakable. ¡°Ha-ha, and here I was wondering who it might be! How kind of the dragon race to grace us with their presence!¡± Du Wei showed no fear in his words. Horrified, Tartaglia also sensed the overwhelming pressure! As someone that spent most of his life studying the dragon race, it didn¡¯t take much for him to identify the other party was not an ordinary dragon¡­.. Such a strong presence, the being was definitely a member of the dragon tribe, and very high up in the chain too! Following the arrival of Tartaglia not far into the distance, the golden figure turns to assess the Dark Mage. When this dragon prince firstid eyes upon the bone dragon beneath the human¡¯s feet, a towering roar erupted to fill the heavens and earth itself! ¡°Who!! Who is it!!! Who dare use the sacred remains of a dragon warrior to create this vile creature!! This is a tant insult to the dragon race!!!!¡± Under his enormous roar, the dragon prince¡¯s body transformed into a humongous dragon that wasparable to a small mountain!! ¡°Who! Which of you lowly humans here is responsible for this vile deed!¡± Gold Dragon continues to howl in rage. Standing in an obedient fashion not too far away, Du Wei waited till the dragon prince finishes his rant before pointing to the horrified Tartaglia: ¡°Him! It¡¯s him! He did it! He¡¯s the one who insulted the dragon race!¡± Upon being pinned by the dragon prince¡¯s eye that was engulfed in golden mes, Tartaglia felt like his world is about to end. Losing all shades of color from his already pale face, this once arrogant Dark Mage didn¡¯t know how to react except muffling out these few words¡­.. Gold ¡­ ¡­ Gold Dragon?! Towards any Dark Mage that was brave enough to create an undead dragon, the worst thing to happen to them was undoubtedly encountering a truly powerful dragon! For any member of the dragon tribe, they are inherently hostile towards any creature that defiles their fallenrades remain. To them, this was an insult not only to the dragon tribe, but to their predecessors as well. As such, for any member of the dragon tribe, they will without restraint kill the person in question using the most ruthless and cruel method they can muster. And ¡­ ¡­ Tartaglia himself understands. No matter how high his ability gets, he¡¯s no match for an adult sized Gold Dragon!! Da-Damn it! Why is there a dragon here? And not just any dragon, a legendary gold dragon! Despite being in the face of the monstrous dragon prince, Du Wei had the rxed look of someone going on a pic. Firmly pointing his fingers at the shadowy figure known as Tartaglia: ¡°It¡¯s him it¡¯s him it¡¯s him!¡± Du Wei cries out like a little kid in a yground. Chapter 249 Chapter 249 ¡°It¡¯s shameful to waste¡± ording to the legends of old, it was said that the ones to stand at the very top of the biological food chain are the Dragons. Whether it was speed, power, reflexes, orbat capabilities, they are supposedly close to what the world called perfection. Spanning a whopping thirty meters in length and eight meters in height, one adult gold dragon can not only ram through a city wall with ease, they also had absolute superiority in the air. But that¡¯s not the most troubling. Because of the natural hierarchy in the animal kingdom, draconian magic takes precedence over any other type of magic. Whether it was the humans or magic beasts, it means nothing in front of a Gold Dragon. Ever since Du Wei returned from the Frozen Forest and created the blood feud with that old chief, he¡¯s been spending a lot of time researching the dragon race, both their weaknesses and advantages. In the end, Du Wei finally had to admit the dragon race was naturally blessed by the all mighty creator. Unrivaledbat capabilities and an intellect no lower than the human race¡­. If not for their weak reproductive rate, it¡¯s likely this race would have conquered the entire world. ording to some of the ancient documents read by Du Wei inside the magic union, he came to one single conclusion after analyzing the data collected by the dragon yers of old: a dragon could almostpletely ignore all offensive spells inferior to their own rank! This advantage only gets more ridiculous as you move up thedder in the dragon specie, especially for the gold variant. For example: a gold dragon will reach its prime after living fifteen hundred years. At its peak, the dragon in question will reach a state where some have dubbed ¡°Immunity to all inferiority¡±, meaning they will truly be immune to all magic unless it was greatly superior to themselves. To put it bluntly, anyone unlucky enough to face off against an adult gold dragon was better offmitting suicide than to fight. Du Wei wasn¡¯t sure if this Dragon Prince was in its prime or not, but simply based on that monstrous roar and enormous body frame, this dragon was most certainly a force to be reckoned with! Tartaglia on the other hand could only feel his mage robe drenched in his own sweat because the pressureing off from his foe hadpletely overwhelmed his pet. Although this bone dragon was also a high quality product he so painstakingly scavenged from the ancient battlefields, but no matter what, it¡¯s still only an undead being. Compared to a real dragon, to be more precise, the king of all dragons, his pet could hardly be called magnificent. The ginormous entity further away had already turned its sight to fixate its sharp reptilian eyes against Tartaglia and his pet dragon. In a loud roar, nearly all of the surrounding clouds were blown away. ¡°All those whom insult the Dragons dignity shall DIE!¡± With a growl, Second Dragon Prince opens his huge jaw and spews a mouthful of golden fury at Tartaglia. Aside from the burning characteristic of the dragon breath, it also carried a deadly corrosive effect against any defensive magic. Crying out in shock, Tartaglia quickly waves his wand like his life depended on it to drive his pet away. When the golden mes came into contact with the dark fog he released earlier, a very thick burst of vapor immediately came up like how a bowl of hot soup would look when sshed onto a pile of snow. Seeing his life¡¯s work being destroyed in mass, Tartaglia could only suppress the aching pain while hurrying his pet to flee. However, there¡¯s no way the Gold Dragon was going to let him slip away. Under the monstrous roar of the Gold Dragon, it didn¡¯t take long for the Second Prince to catch up to the Bone Dragon. With one swipe of his golden w, the first thing to be grabbed was the Bone Dragon¡¯s tail. Horrified by the situation, Tartaglia quickly fled from his pet¡¯s back. Shooting himself further up into the sky, the only thing he could do was have his pet resist by releasing even more dark energy into it. But under the might of the Gold Dragon, how can a mere bone dragon resist? Though already dead, but the inherent characteristics of a real dragon still lingers within the soul used in its creation. With every roar it gave out, the whimpering and merciful cry became ever so obvious. After a few snapping sound, a good portion of the Bone Dragon was torn away. Then with another golden breath, the entire bone tail was painfully reduced to ashes. Bleeding inside, Tartaglia desperately tried tomand his pet to run. However, he quickly came to the realization his greatest creation was starting to disobey him. No matter what order he gave or what amount of energy he used, his pet dragon would timidly cower below its foe. Finally, after another snapping sound when the Gold Dragon bites down on its neck, a spark of ferocity was sparked inside the bone dragon. Retaliating with its remaining w by smacking down at the Gold Dragon¡¯s head, this not only didn¡¯t diffuse the disadvantage it had, it only angered the Second Dragon Prince even more. Brawling on the ground, this was truly a contest of strength at this point. But then how can the skeletal structure of the bone dragonpete with the hulking body of the Gold Dragon? Fearing for what was toe, Tartaglia continues to do his upmost to drive his pet to fight back. Just then, Du Wei¡¯s mocking voice drifted over from the distance: ¡°Oh honorable master Taraglia¡­¡­ It¡¯s no use. No matter what spell you use now, your bone dragon will not call upon its draconian magic!¡± ¡°Wh-why.¡± Under intense fear, Tartaglia asks this like a reflex reaction. Withplex emotions running through his eyes, Du Wei slowly answers: ¡°Because¡­.. Of the dragon¡¯s golden rule: Whenever a dragon encounters another dragon, the two can only rely on their physical bodies during the duel. This rule is set by the dragon god himself and no dragon can ever vite this decree. Even if your bone dragon is an undead creature, but in the end, it¡¯s still a dragon.¡± While Du Wei exined this, the unforgettable memories of his venture into frozen forest surfaced once again. In order to cover their escape, White Robed Gandalf sacrificed himself by transforming into a red dragon using druid magic. Taking advantage of the golden rule, the old fool was able to force the dragon chief into a physical brawl and stalled enough time for the party to escape sessfully. Now, watching the giant beings tearing at each other from afar, a sudden burst of emotions he couldn¡¯t exin was building up inside. The truth was Tartaglia also knew of this golden rule, after all, he spent his entire life studying how to create a bone dragon. Now that he was reminded by Du Wei, Tartaglia felt like he suddenly awoke from a daze. Stopping his futile attempt at driving the bone dragon, a sense of conviction filled Tartaglia¡¯s eyes as he grits his teeth back and forth. It¡¯s not hard for him to escape alone, but a majority of his life was spent on this bone dragon. For a Dark Mage, losing their most powerful undead creature equates to losing arge portion of their power, and if that happens today, he might really have the heart to kill himself right here and then! Irrational as it was, but as a man, therees a time in life where one must abandon all reason and risk it all. Thinking up to here, Tartaglia bites down on his lip and began to wave his wand at the sky. Following a series of incantations, the sky overhead began to turn dark and before long, flickers of light flew out. Watching this, Du Wei gasped: ¡°What a guy¡­. He¡¯s really going all in!¡± Casting a ¡°Life Drain¡± darkness spell at the wrestling behemoths down below, Second Dragon Prince suddenly found himself wrapped in a fog of darkness. What Tartaglia used just now was the mostmon darkness spell used by Dark Mages where it will suck out the life force of its living prey. In a loud roar, Gold Dragon uses one w to subdue its prey down below and growls at the interloper: ¡°Despicable human, how dare you attack me!¡± Then in a maniacalugh, Gold Dragon spews another golden breath at the ¡°Life Drain¡± fog and immediately destroyed Tartaglia¡¯s effort. Not willing to give up, Tartaglia musters up all of the surrounding dark energy and calls forth another spell. Forcing open several tears in the air, a series of dark scythes suddenly lunged out from the void and mercilessly cuts down at the Second Dragon Prince. As a Gold Dragon, the Second Prince naturally has an enormous body, adding in the fact that he was in a middle of a brawl with the bone dragon, the first scythe managed tond onto his back quite easily. Unfortunately for Tartaglia, the attack may havended, but it did no damage other than to infuriate the lizard even more. With one bite from his massive jaw, Second Dragon Prince shattered the remaining dark scythes still in the air. Feeling the recoiling back at him, Tartaglia immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood from his now sickly green face. Seeing how useless his dark scythes were, Tartaglia only had this in mind: is this dragon at its prime already? At this shocking revtion, his hands moved even faster to gather up more dark energy. With the tightening of his grip, the dark fog under his palm hardened to form a giant ck spear before lunging down towards the Gold Dragon. At the same time, the bone dragon on the ground was already paralyzed after having its wing ripped apart by the Second Dragon Prince. Still basking in his own victory, Second Dragon Prince¡¯s attention was pulled away by themotion behind him. When he turned to see what the sound was, the first image toe into sight was arge spear flying at him from the back. Roaring out in anger, he immediately incinerated the attack with another breath. Not missing the chance while Tartaglia was lost in his own madness, Du Wei quietly descended towards the Bone Dragon lying there on the ground outside Watt City. Just minutes ago this thing was still chasing him across the forest, but now, it could barely cling onto life with a wing torn and its neck twisted to one side. By the time Du Wei came up to its side, the Bone Dragon obviously sensed his hostility, but all it could do now was utter a low growl. Laughing in an extremely sinister fashion: ¡°Call all you like, no one is going toe save you even if you lose your voice.¡± With that, Du Wei already pulled out his ck crystal ball: ¡°Your dark energy is so pure¡­. Rather than letting that Gold Dragon tear you into pieces, why not benefit me¡­¡­¡± Bone Dragon¡¯s roar went from a weak growl and into a weak sigh. Not being polite, Du Wei immediately began to work his own dark crystal to suck out the dead spirits from within the Bone Dragon like small little streams running down a hill. Before long, thest brink of me was blown out from the Bone Dragon¡¯s eye socket. From what was once a dull ck ball, the crystal ball in Du Wei¡¯s hand now was a pearly ck. Pleased by this, he smiled in a very satisfied fashion: ¡°As expected.¡± With that, he pulls up his robe and stores the crystal ball away. For a person like Du Wei that never likes to waste stuff, he only needed to give the remaining dragon bones a nce to decide what to do with them. In one sweep of his hand, the remaining damaged bones were sucked into his storage ring for future use. Top grade bones are still top grade, even if they are damaged! ¡°It¡¯s shameful to be wasteful.¡± Du Wei nods his head like he was doing a great deed for the world. As soon as he finished his thievery deed, a loud and blood roar came from above. Chapter 250 Chapter 250 ¡°Du Wei¡¯s lifesaving technique¡± Left with nothing but a shambling mess of rags, Tartaglia had long lost his notable image of an eighth level mage. If not for his narrow escape by shielding himself with the dark fog, his body might have been turned to ashes by now. His intentions were simple: use the darknces to ovee his opponent. But apart from angering the dragon even more, it didn¡¯t have any effect. In desperation, he mustered up his remaining undead creatures to swarm in to no avail. With only a glimpse, all of the undead soldiers and death knights were wiped from existence. Fruitless as it may be, Tartaglia¡¯s suicidal charge did raise a certain amount of fatigue for the Second Prince after forcing him to continuously spew out his dragon breath. Feeling some of his rage subside, the Dark Mage was nothing but a clown in the serpent¡¯s eye. Nevertheless, Gold Dragon still retains some wariness towards the undead creatures summoned by this feeble human¡­¡­ This was especially true for that scythe attack. Though the spell didn¡¯t cause any real bodily harm, his body still aches with difort after being struck. It was at this moment Tartaglia sensed the sudden change from his bone dragon. Knowing his greatest creation had likely faced misfortune, the first person toe to mind was Du Wei. Coughing up a mouthful of blood from anger and resentment, hepletely ignores the Gold Dragon on his tail and charges for Du Wei in a maddening fashion. Just as he was finishing up his thievery deed, Tartaglia smashes down from the sky: ¡°Thank you for the huge profit.¡± Du Wei chuckles with great pleasure at the fool. At the end of his mockery, Du Wei disappears into the shadow. Tartaglia may be a mad tiger at this point, but apart from madness, he should never have forgotten about the terrifying enemy at his back. After all, there¡¯s no way Second Dragon Prince was going to let him off after insulting the dragon race. Next thing Tartaglia knew, a burst of blood was spraying out from his chest where his heart should be. ¡°Lowly human, this is your fate for your sphemy!¡± Coming down with one w, Second Prince firmly grips onto Tartaglia and causes the Dark Mage to cough up even more blood. Knowing his death was inevitable, Tartaglia cries out: ¡°Then let¡¯s die together!¡± Using hisst ounce of strength, Tartaglia shatters the dark crystal ball in his hand and releases every soul within his possession! Who knows how many lives were lost in the cultivation process for this crystal ball. Gushing out uncontrobly, not even the Second Dragon prince could withstand the deadly corruption. Letting out a painful cry, Second Dragon Prince felt like every scales across his body was burning in pain! This gush of darkness not only hurts the physical body; it also burns the victim¡¯s very soul! It¡¯s not like he didn¡¯t know the danger involved with dark magic, but he didn¡¯t expect a suicidal attack like this. Without dy, he lets Tartaglia¡¯s body go and harshly ps his wing to distance himself from the source. In the end, it was toote. From a brilliant glow to a dimly lit shine, the sheen from his scales were no longer the same after leaving behind the lifeless scene in the background. It was then Du Wei emerged from the shadows again. Covered in ayer of creamy white light, this spell he used just so happens to be a light spell he recently learned. Though light affinity spells are the natural enemy of darkness, but won¡¯tst long in this area contaminated with dark energy. Calmly taking out his crystal ball, Du Wei began to ravenously absorb the deceased souls in the air. In this venture, about forty to fifty percent of Tartaglia¡¯s dark energy ended up in Du Wei¡¯s hand. Watching the ball of darkness in his hand, Du Wei sighed at how glossily dark it was: ¡°It¡¯s a shame Tartaglia shattered his crystal ball, otherwise, I could have swapped this one with his.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you earn enough today?¡± Semel¡¯s mockingugh came from his side. Du Wei puts on an absolute serious face: ¡°You see the vast tracts of dead souls here? By taking them in, I¡¯m doing the innocent civilians a favor.¡± Semel sneered: ¡°Whatever, just worry about dealing with that dragon.¡± Though there are still souls in the vicinity, Du Wei decided it was time to put his crystal ball away because the damage the remaining souls could do to the area was minimal at best. While Du Wei was doing all this, Watt City was already sent into high alert. Closing their gates and manning the wall with every solider and weapon they had in possession, there was no question the popce was scared of the massive Dragon outside their gates. Dragon! A real dragon! Thousands of soldiers atop of the city rampart were watching the behemoth with both fear and awe! After all, the Rnd Continent hasn¡¯t seen a real dragon for a very long time. For many, probably all of them, the only information they had were from legends passed down through the ages. But now, a real dragon was just standing there in front of their eyes! Many officers tried to put up a front but the truth was, they were scared out of their wits. It¡¯s only natural. Smaller creatures are inherently afraid of anything bigger than themselves, human or no exception. While the officers struggled to order their subordinates to take up arms and take aim at the Gold Dragon, but based on the strained expression of their faces, these people probably didn¡¯t have much desire to fight. Landing down on the ground outside the city, Second Dragon Prince raises his head high above the city wall like all shall kneel before him. Contrary to how everyone was reacting, Second Dragon Princepletely disregarded the soldiers atop of the rampart like they didn¡¯t even exist. ¡°Former Du Wei Rowling, the one to humiliate the dragon race, you are now called Du Wei Rudolph, am I right?¡± Du Wei shrugged. Even when facing off against this terrifying creature, he did not falter: ¡°You got one point wrong. I did not bring any humiliation to the dragon race. When your father made the bet with me and lost, he deserves it.¡± ¡°Sharp tongue eh?!¡± Roaring out in disdain: ¡°Father said you are cunning, but in front of me, it¡¯s useless. No matter what type of lies and smooth words you use, I will have your head by the time I leave!¡± ¡°Oh, is that so?¡± Du Wei mockinglyughs: ¡°Then why did you wait until today to appear?¡± ¡°Because courage doesn¡¯t mean recklessness.¡± The Dragon seems be very good at finding excuses: ¡°You are very sessful tonight. Taking advantage of my anger, you lured me out¡­.. But don¡¯t think just because of that I won¡¯t be able to kill you.¡± Second Prince slowly lowers his head and eyes down at Du Wei: ¡°You better listen ¡­ ¡­ My father instructed me not to make a ruckus in the human word! If not for that, I can kill you even if you hide inside your capital. Like right now, I can squash you like a bug in front of all these troops.¡± Du Wei continues to smile: ¡°I heard that dragons are very proud creatures. Surely you¡¯re above something like assassination.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Gold Dragon proudly answers: ¡°I can give you a fair chance to fight. But the opportunity only applies once ¡­ ¡­ I heard you are a good magician. But you know, human mages are unable topete against dragons! That Dark mage is a good example.¡± Du Wei looks at himself and chuckles in surprise: ¡°Who said I¡¯m going to personally fight with you? My God ¡­ ¡­ Although I¡¯m a magician ¡­ ¡­ But I¡¯m mainly fluent in magic pharmacy. My grade is far lower than that guy!¡± Just as his voice died down, Hussein was already rushing over from one of the roads. He may not be riding a horse, but that didn¡¯t hinder his pace whatsoever. Like a meteor, it only took a few jumps for him to reach Du Wei¡¯s side. ¡°Is everything in ce?¡± Du Wei looks at Hussein. ¡°All of the ¡®preys¡¯ have been dealt with in the camp.¡± Hussein replied calmly, but his words exposed the Knight¡¯s dissatisfaction: ¡°You are too rash.¡± ¡°The greater the risk, the higher the profit.¡± Quietly tapping his robe, Du Wei smiles satisfyingly. ¡°The reward today is very good. My only concern now is whether or not our n will go ording to n.¡± Hussein turns his attention to the Gold Dragon: ¡°Let me take care of him then¡­ ¡­ While I keep him busy, you move further away and summon that red monster¡­¡­¡± ¡°No, no, no.¡± Du Wei immediately shook his head: ¡°Listen to what I say, brother, the one to lead today will not be you.¡± Gold Dragon finally became impatient after arrogantly watching Du Wei and Hussein¡¯s discussion: ¡°Are you two done with your chitchat? Who will fight me? Du Wei, no matter what, you only have one chance. In the end, I will certainly take your head back with me!¡± ¡°Ah ¡­ ¡­ Oh honorable Gold Dragon, we havee to a decision.¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice sounded nothing like how one should speak in a life or death situation, more like a friend toasting in a banquet: ¡°The result from our discussion¡­. It¡¯s regrettable, both I and my friend here are not your opponent¡­.¡± Gold Dragon was stunned: ¡°Oh, could it be you decided to give up? Then offer up your life.¡± ¡°No, no, no ¡­ ¡­ I think you must be mistaken.¡± Du Wei repeatedly shook his head, his eyes full of disdain towards the Gold Dragon: ¡°The way of the humans is to never give up, especially when a chance for survival is in front of them¡­.. Majority wise, we would usually resort to one option¡­¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± As expected, Gold Dragon asked out of curiosity. Du Wei¡¯s face emerged a strange smile. Turning to the thousands of troops atop of the city wall, he takes in a deep breath and began to cry out in the loudest voice he can muster. Upon hearing the wordsing out of Du Wei¡¯s mouth, Hussein felt like an anvil just dropped onto his head. Like a reflex reaction for this prideful knight, he almost wanted to choke Du Wei to death! The following content was as followed: ¡°HELP ME!!!!!!!!! HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± ¡°Stop!! You shan¡¯t hurt the Duke!!¡± A sharp hollering voice came from the distance. Equipped with a set of ck armor, this figure wearing a metal mask to cover the upper half of his face was unquestionably Cybuster. Finally, this person had shown up ording to Du Wei¡¯s n. Pointing his spear at the giant behemoth, the young general shouts: ¡°No matter where you are from oh honorable dragon sir¡­.. You must first answer to my de before killing the Northwest Army¡¯s guest!¡± With that, Cybuster shouts hismand at the city wall: ¡°General¡¯smand, all forces are to protect the Duke!!¡± His mouth may be saying this, but inwardly, Cybuster was in great turmoil. The only driving force keeping him going was the absolute trust in his father¡¯s decision! While Du Wei was leisurely smiling, he was suffering from an unimaginable amount of urge of not whistling at this critical moment. Sure enough ¡­ ¡­ The show was finally about to start. Chapter 251 Chapter 251 ¡°Retired Knight¡± After the passing of all themotion with the military spring drill, Lon City once again returns to its bustling and hustling. Taking advantage of its geographic location closer to the border, this ¡°City of Miracles¡± has gradually surpassed Governor Bohan¡¯s capital as the trading epicenter in the Northwest. It¡¯s worrying for the citizens that there are prairie marauders on the prowl, but nothing was more frightening than the unting encirclement by the Northwest Army. Fortunately, the news came quickly regarding the beheading of the prairie general. At the very least, this act by the treasonous bastards over at the Northwest Army conveyed one meaning; they didn¡¯t rebel. Currently in Lon City, Dadaneier ¨C chiefmander of the city garrison ¨C was busily carrying out the ¡°loose in tight out¡± policy instructed by Du Wei before he left. Scattering their forces across the province, this will ensure that trading and travel remains open between cities and towns. At the same time, loosening the grip inside the city wall will give the impression all remains well for the public. However, this was all a farce. Anyone remotely suspicious would be quickly tagged and secretly monitored the moment they stepped through the gates. Also, notices of conscription were being posted all across the bulletin boards set along the city entrances. For to this reason, crowds of people would constantly huddle around the boards for information. Exactly on an average evening like this, a lone middle aged man wearing nothing butmon wear was making his way over from the main roads in the North East direction. Although the man was already in histe forties, the martial physique he honed through many years of training could not be hidden behind that firm and tight grip of his over the horse reign. He should have been nothing but amon traveler in everyone¡¯s eye, but, there was one thing that stood out from him: he didn¡¯t carry a weapon. One must know, the Northwest is a ce of danger where it¡¯s not umon to find roadside bandits lurking at every corner. For this reason, merchant groups would always employrge numbers of guards to protect their caravans while traveling. So, the fact that there was someone unarmed while traveling in this barrenndscape was quite unusual, woman and children excluded of course. Like this, this lonesome man along with his horse made their way up to the city gate. ¡°Halt, where you from?¡± One of the soldiers asked. ¡°¡­¡­ The North. ¡± ¡°North? The North is big! I¡¯m asking you a question so be more specific. Where in the North?¡± The man smiles in return to this stern looking soldier. Without anger, he softly utters these few words: ¡°The frozen forest. ¡± At the answer, the interrogating soldier was even more confused. Fortunately, one of the officers nearby came up to ask: ¡°Frozen Forest? I¡¯ve never heard of someone living there¡­. I¡¯m guessing you were a mercenary? Looking at your getup, you should be a warrior?¡± The middle-aged man¡¯s patience sure is good. In a modest smile, he answers: ¡°I was once upon a time, but now¡­ I¡¯m retired.¡± The officer gave him a nce and thought: so little luggage and not even a weapon. If he¡¯s a retiring mercenary then that make sense.¡± ¡°Hearing your ent, you¡¯re also from the Northwest?¡± After a simple check, the officer¡¯s tone softened: ¡°Our Dukeship just so happens to be looking for talented individuals. Since you know some martial art, why not try your luck? Far better than going home and watching over a few crops ofnd.¡± The middle-aged man only smiled and bid his thanks before heading into the city. Once inside, the middle-aged man slowly made his way through the busy streets as he curiously assessed the scenery. From the traveling businessman to the local residents, everything was far different from what he remembered of this ce. ¡°To think the Northwest would have such a prosperous city after so many years away from home. Teacher ¡­ ¡­ Perhaps the advice you gave me was correct. Du Wei, he can really change the Northwest.¡± Randomly asking some passersby¡¯s for the Duke¡¯s residence, he was warmly received by the strangers and some even offered to guide him along the way. From their genuine attitude when speaking about this Duke Tulip, the middle aged man can tell these people wholeheartedly respected their lord. Continuing along his path towards the Duke residence, it wasn¡¯t hard for him to locate the building for it was the tallest structure in the city. Adding in the unting g atop of the castle tower, it would be truly difficult to miss. And when he finally came into the vicinity of the castle grounds, the middle aged man noticed something quiet peculiar. Unlike the ruckus back in the markets, the area around the Duke¡¯s residence was oddly quiet. However, it didn¡¯t take long for him to understand why. Anyone passing through the streets here would consciously lower their volumes like it was a crime. Looking at the suspension bridge littered with heavily armed guards, middle aged man was just about to head over when the sound ofughter drifted into his ears. ¡°Mrs. Dean, don¡¯t listen to what he say. I¡¯m sure you know the Dean¡¯s personality already. In this world, only the dean will scheme against others, not the other way around!¡± A somewhat calm voice came from the side: ¡°Watch your mouth while in public! Don¡¯t forget you still haven¡¯t finished your homework for today. If you keep spouting nonsense, I¡¯ll punish you by making you do a couple of hundred trips around the city with the broom!¡± Pausing, this steady and calm voice continues: ¡°Mrs. Dean, I think it¡¯s gettingte. Why don¡¯t we hurry back inside?¡± Looking over at the source, the first thing toe into middle aged man¡¯s sight was a group of youngsters surrounding a girl around the age of fifteen or sixteen. They were all dressed in mage robes, but the girl in the middle of the group was clearly different from the rest. Like the slightest mishap would offend this cute little girl, the boys all looked at her with awe and respect whenever they talked to her. The girl was beautiful to begin with, but because of her shyness, those plump little checks made her big watery eyes even more attractive than ever: ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ You guys. Don¡¯t call me ¡­ ¡­ Mrs. Dean¡­¡­. ¡± The girl protests embarrassingly. Watching the group, middle-aged man got a good idea of who they were by now. Instead of making way, he intentionally steps in front of the group¡¯s path. ¡°Who are you?¡± The calm young man was the first to call out and was also the first to shield the young girl behind him. His efforts may be valiant, but he seems to have forgotten how powerful the girl behind him truly was. ¡°May I ask.¡± Middle-aged man¡¯s voice was very calm: ¡°The ¡®Dean¡¯ you mentioned is probably Duke Tulip right? I happen to be here to meet the Duke on a friend¡¯s rmendation.¡± Needless to say, the youngsters here are of course the magic apprentices and the girl was our stuttering genius Vivian. Ever since that night where Vivian got drunk and made deration of love, these students hadpletely recognized her as the future wife. And because of her thin skin, Vivian would blush with great shame at her own brave confession whenever she was called out as Mr. Dean by these kids. Vivian originally intended to procure some ingredients in town today, but because these students kept calling her Mrs. Dean while she wasing back, she ended up wasting a lot of time blushing on the street. Then all of a sudden, a strange man came up to her and caused her to nk out for a second. The reason was because her instincts picked up something from the middle aged man. While standing in the middle of the street, the man acted casual, but the focus of the surrounding seems to be drawn towards this person. There¡¯s no doubt about it, this man was not ordinary. ¡°Please, may I ask ¡­ ¡­ Who are you¡­¡­¡± Vivian takes a step forward. ¡°Ah¡­¡­¡± Middle-aged man looks at the shy girl and smiled: ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, you are Master Vivian? My friend told me about you and there¡¯s nothing but praises from his mouth.¡± Vivian blushes again at thepliment. Giving a curious look at the middle-aged man, she determines the person was not a bad person: ¡°I ¡­ ¡­ I¡¯m Vivian. You, you are¡­ ¡­¡± Middle-aged man rummages through his pocket and pulls out a badge: ¡°This was given to me by my friend. He and I met in the frozen forest, but because he was in a hurry and I was injured, he came back first.¡± Vivian takes the badge and immediately recognized it belonged to Hussein. Beaming with light in her eyes, she cried out: ¡°AH! You are¡­¡­¡± ¡°My name is Rodriguez.¡± Middle-aged man chuckles: ¡°I used to be a knight, but now, I¡¯m just a cripple.¡± With that, he raises his right hand to shock Vivian. The right hand, no¡­. There wasn¡¯t a right anymore! Watching Vivian¡¯s shocked eyes, Rodriguezughed very calmly: ¡°I¡¯ve been pondering what a cripple like me should do after parting with my knighthood. Fortunately, the owner of this badge said Duke Tulip might be able to take me in, so¡­¡­ After thinking it over, I decided toe to the Northwest.¡± Chapter 252 Chapter 252 ¡°I can¡¯t believe this!¡± Rodriguez?! After hearing the name, Ziggy, and the other students¡¯ only disbelief in their eyes as they looked at Rodriguez. If Rodriguez was considered low key in the past, then after the coup d¡¯¨¦tat, his name had already exploded across the continent! After all, there hasn¡¯t been a Saint level warrior for over a century already. Hussein may be a Saint level warrior also, but that knowledge was hidden from the public eye so no one truly knows that. Therefore, Rodriguez status as the sole Saint Knight on the continent immediately sent shockwaves across the entire continent, so much so that he was even considered the ultimate goal for the other martial artists. Ziggy and his peers may be magicians, but they aren¡¯t blind to a legendary figure like Rodriguez. And now, standing before them all was the legendary master. Because they weren¡¯t ready for such an encounter, the kids didn¡¯t know how to react and became stutter mouths like Vivian. It¡¯s just ¡­ ¡­ This Saint Knight ¡­ ¡­ His right hand ¡­ .. Unsurprised by their reaction towards his right hand, Rodriguez smiles and said, ¡°Mage Vivian, may we go inside? I would really like to meet his Dukeship¡­. Though we¡¯ve crossed paths in the imperial capital before, but those encounters have always been in a hurry while not on the most friendly of terms. Nevertheless his Dukeship¡¯s ingenuity still impresses me greatly, especially after what I witnessed today along the streets. For this day, I¡¯ve been looking forward to it for a long time.¡± Only now did Vivian regain her thoughts: ¡°Ugh¡­ ¡­ Mr. Ro-Ro-Rodr¨ªguez ¡­ ¡­ Bu-but, Du Wei, he-he¡¯s not in the castle, he, went¡­¡­¡± Watching Vivian¡¯s difficult appearance, Ziggy couldn¡¯t bear it anymore and stepped in to take over. Using the most respectful tone he cane up with, he slowly exins: ¡°Dear Sir, our Dean went to the Northwest Army¡¯s stronghold. I fear it will be some days before he returns.¡± Rodriguez was slightly taken aback by the answer: ¡°Northwest army?¡± He knits his brow as he muttered the name. Looking at Vivian¡¯s concern face, he finally believed this was true. Giving a nod to indicate he understands: ¡°Hmm, If his lordship is not around¡­. Then¡­.. Is that cold guy here?¡± Others may not know this, but Vivian did. The one Rodriguez referred to as the ¡°cold guy¡± was none other than Hussein. Shaking her head, she smiles wryly: ¡°He-he¡¯s with Du Wei.¡± ¡°In that case ¡­ ¡­ I¡¯lle back in a couple of days then.¡± ¡°Ahh no!¡± Vivian hurriedly calls out to Rodriguez. She may be simple and innocent, but even she knew it would be inappropriate to let a guest leave like this. Out of desperation, her stuttering habits disappeared and her words began to flow: ¡°Sir Rodriguez, you ¡­ ¡­ Du Wei, he, while he¡¯s away, please stay in the Duke¡¯s residence for the next few days while you wait for his return!¡± Rodriguez hesitated for a moment before slowly saying: ¡°Are you sure? Mage Vivian, I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t understand my current situation ¡­ ¡­ Taking me in so casually ¡­ ¡­ I¡¯m afraid this decision can only be decided by the Duke himself.¡± Rodriguez¡¯s tone was serious. Indeed, he was not joking! During the coup in the imperial capital, he not only sided with the crown prince at the time, he also made two grant attempts at Prince Son¡¯s life. Looking at it from a reasonable standpoint, he should¡¯ve been a wanted criminal like Hussein that was hunted across the entire continent. Of course ¡­ ¡­ Any incapable ruler would have done exactly that. But, Prince Son fortunately had a sane mind unlike some other people. When the suggestion was made to hunt down all fugitives, the first thing Prince Son did when he saw ¡°Rodriguez¡¯s¡± name on the wanted list was to kick the person responsible out the door. ¡°Are you a madman or a fool? Putting a Saint Knight on the wanted list? Do you think those normal soldiers can achieve such a feat? If he gets a change of heart and decides toe for my life after we provoked him, do you think you or those people out there can protect me?¡± Prince Son then began to swear and scold at the trembling official lying outside the throne room¡¯s floor: ¡°Scram! In three days, have your things packed and forever leave the capital! I am to never see you again in my sight! I can forgive mistakes, but I cannot forgive stupidity!¡± Subsequently, Regent Son personally crossed out Rodriguez¡¯s name from the wanted list. As such, no pursuer ever came into contact with Rodriguez after the coup ended. ¡°I couldn¡¯t move fast enough to recruit such a strong expert, yet he wants me to go hunt him down¡­¡­¡± Prince Son may have been smart enough to not provoke such a person, but he¡¯s not generous enough to let someone else recruit such a master! After all, Rodriguez was still a member of the rebel faction in the coup. Changing it to any other person, would they be able to do such a thing? Vivian was still too fresh when it came to these matters so such thoughts never even crossed her mind. Fortunately Ziggy was a mature and attentive guy: ¡°Sir, I believe that if we let you go like this, I fear we will all be punished by the time the Duke returns¡­.. And, although the Dean isn¡¯t presently here, but Mrs. Dean¡¯s word carries the same weight as the Dean. With her authority, no one will object to the decision!¡± Whether it was this bunch of students or even the Duke¡¯s bodyguards, and pretty much everyone by now¡­¡­ They¡¯ve all recognized the beautiful Vivian as the future Duchess. While the Duke was away, the Duchess is king! Rodriguez only needed a minute before nodding in agreement. Meanwhile standing on top of the castle tower, the beautiful Marquise was peering out the window when she noticed a bunch of magic apprentices surrounding a middle aged man and the cute little Vivian. With only a nce at the group entering the castle ground, she easily recognized who the man was: ¡°Eh¡­.. He is, Rodriguez?¡± Subsequently, Madam Lister fell into deep thought inside her room. Du Wei ¡­ ¡­ How much secret did he hide? Even a guy like Rodriguez is knocking at his door? The more she thought about it, the more helpless she felt. Muse oh Muse ¡­ ¡­ I let you follow that guy around yet you achieved nothing. What shall I do with you if you waste my efforts like so¡­.. This Mage Vivian¡­ ¡­ Thinking of this, Madam Lister came before a mirror in the room and slowly touches her beautiful face. Made of crystal ss, this exquisite mirror finely reflects the impable image of its owner. Towards the image in the mirror, Madam Lister was filled with pride at her own reflection because she was convinced that none on the continent can match her for the gods have graced her body with the immunity of time. Delicate and firm, what should have been a skin of some middle aged woman was peerlessly soft. If she wills it, thousands will submit before her feet¡­.. There was no doubt that this was the standard contour of the Lister bloodline. For generations, men and women of the Lister house have been subject to this extreme appearances. For example: her father used his charming presence to seed within the aristocratic circle inside the capital. She herself also used her peerless beauty to snag numerous dignitaries under her skirt¡­¡­ Yet ¡­ ¡­ This Du Wei. In this world ¡­ ¡­ Can there really be a person capable of escaping the Lister Family¡¯s love spell? Marquise chuckles. Looking at herself in the mirror, she whispers these words with her attractive lip: ¡°I don¡¯t believe it! Du Wei, you will be my husband!¡± Contrary to the Marquise¡¯s wildish womanly thoughts, Du Wei could care less at this moment for he was currently hiding under the protection of the fortification wall of Watt City with Hussein. At themand of Rugaard, thousands of soldiers were readying their bows and arbalests for battle. Meanwhile, Rugaard himself was leading a thousand cavalry troops outside the city, their sights warily looking off into the distance. Cybuster on the other hand was already going full throttle into battle. From his regr silver Dou Qi to a faint gold shade, Hussein waspletely shocked by the sight! ¡°This young general is really that talented?!¡± While he still haven¡¯t broken through the biggest hurdle yet, but¡­.. This Cybuster was at least in the ninth rank by the indication of it! Not only that, a normalnce in his hands was like a ming torch, red and searing hot under that pressure he emits! Whoosh Whoosh Sweeping towards the Gold Dragon in a brink of an eye, countless ming Dou Qi spears shot out. Still, the Second Dragon Prince made no efforts to dodge other than avoiding the fatal points on his body. Though unharmed, he was annoyed by the fact that the masked man before him did have the ability to stand up to him! From the beginning of their fight, his perception of Cybuster¡¯s spear techniques was nothing but little pricks from a toothpick. Therefore, the proud Dragon Prince quickly found himself in a predicament of his own volition. Cybuster¡¯s attack appears to be incapable of damaging his perfect dragon body¡­.. But¡­¡­ Dammit, this human¡¯s speed was fast! So fast that he¡¯s like the wind! When Cybuster¡¯s speed reached the limit, the only people left capable of following their movement was Hussein and Rugaard. As for everyone else, including Du Wei, they were unable to keep up at ll! Standing from far, the scene looked like a gold dragon was being suspended in mid-air while being nketed by ming red spears shooting out from a silvery fly buzzing all over the ce. Cybuster had already threw out a hundred or so Dou Qi spears at the Gold Dragon¡¯s body: head, neck, chest, back, paws, feet, wings, just about every part you can imagine¡­.. Nevertheless, the insane defensive body of his foe was starting to grind against Cybuster¡¯s mentality. For any other enemy, the amount of attacks he made and the ferocity of his Dou Qi would have been enough to blow the target to smithereens, yet this was not so. If this keeps up, he feared what would happen next. In a sh, he instantly turned into a breeze of light and propelled himself a hundred meters away from the dragon. At this pace, Du Wei specte it would not lose out to the instant transportation spell used by those high level mages! Chapter 253 part 1 Chapter 253 ¡°Perfect Body¡± (Part One) With disheveled hair and a rapid fluctuation in his chest, Cybuster¡¯s current condition wasn¡¯t doing that great for even the spear in his hand was constantly shivering at his own inability to keep hold. Though he already cut off the flow of Dou Qi into his weapon, the spear was still a zing red after the series of firences. He knew very well, if he took another spin with the same attack, the metal inside would not be able to bear the heat and melt! Luckily Cybuster¡¯s spear wasn¡¯t one of those average first ss goods you find on any shelf; otherwise, his ninth level Dou Qi would have already shattered the damn thing. ¡°Pathetic human!¡± Gold Dragon may have been infuriated by that assault, but his powerful body received no substantive damage thus far. Arching his body up, he angrily watches the person responsible for his fury¡­¡­ Heck, the opponent¡¯s strength cannot hurt himself, but he¡¯s simply too fast! How was a human able to achieve such speed? Even those exiled races cannotpete and that¡¯s including the wind elves of old! (Just in case anyone didn¡¯t know. Elves in this story got wings like the fairies in western mythology.) But ¡­ ¡­ He¡¯s clearly a human! ¡°No matter how fast a bee fly, it cannot sting an elephant to death!¡± The Dragon prince actually uttered such a ¡°humanistic¡± analogy. After a short period of puffing, Cybuster suddenly smiles and tossed his spear away. ¡°Honorable Sir Dragon¡­¡­¡± Cybuster loudly yells out: ¡°You really are strong, but ¡­ ¡­ Based on my asssesement thus far, I¡¯m certain of one point despite not being able to harm you¡­¡­ You!¡± He raises a finger and points at the Second Prince: ¡°Haven¡¯t reached your adult form yet! Although your body is incredibly tough, but it¡¯s still not at the point of perfection! There is a weakness, and I shall find it!¡± Bang! With the sound of hisnce touching down the ground, Cybuster slowly unsheathes the crystal sword from his waist. Within moments, ayer of ice began to form across the surface of the de. Imprinting the image into his eyes, Du Wei exchanged a look with Hussein. Oh ¡­ ¡­ Finally showing his specialty? Naturally, Gold Dragon hasn¡¯t the slightest fear towards the human before him, but, the speed he witnessed did incite his curiosity. Nevertheless, speed was speed¡­. Using it to flee was usible, but to harm him, that¡¯s impossible. ¡°You¡¯re correct human! I indeed haven¡¯t achieved the state of perfection yet.¡± Gold Dragon roars with mockery in his voice: ¡°But with just you ¡­ ¡­ No matter your speed, you cannot possibly hit my weak points.¡± After calming his breath, the coldness from Cybuster¡¯s sword began to intensify to the point where a thickyer of frost covered the ground under his feet. ¡°Oh ¡­ ¡­ Is that so? If one of me is not enough¡­. Then, what about a thousand of me?¡± As soon as Cybuster finishes his words, he turns to wave at the people atop of the city wall. At the signal, all of the readied soldiers began to operate the arbalests¡­.. Under a roaring whoosh, the first dozen of catapulting arrows shot towards the Dragon Prince hovering in the air. Du Wei knew how powerful these arbalests were. Although not as powerful as true cannons of the modern age, but the pration strength of the giant arrows were enough to m through a wall if done right! Despite having a monstrously big his body, it didn¡¯t mean his movement was slow. Second Dragon Prince knew the siege arrows wouldn¡¯t be able to harm him, but it wouldn¡¯t be wise to confront so many with his flesh. The first reaction he had was to avoid! However, Cybuster did not give him the chance. Matching the sound of the arbalests, Cybuster instantly rushed in front of Gold Dragon to stab his icy cold sword at the Second Prince¡¯s eye! No matter how strong a dragon¡¯s body be, the eye remains rtively weak. With one angry roar, Gold Dragon¡¯s w promptly swiped at the thorn in his face. Just when the two were about to make contact, Cybuster suddenly twisted his body in the air and propelled himself backwards in the nick of time. Immediately after dodging the w, Cybuster swung his sword again and released a powerful de of Dou Qi towards the Dragon¡¯s eye again. At such close distance, plus the Ice Dou Qi of Snowy Mountain, the attack would have been lethal ifnded¡­¡­ In desperation, Second Dragon Prince could only close his eye lid for self defense. For the king of dragons, their eyelids are also covered in golden scales. Boom!! Roaring out in pain, Gold Dragon was knocked a few feat back in the air by Cybuster¡¯s attack. Then following the first blow, a series of siege arrows drastically pounded against his massive body. Together, the dozen or so arrows may not be enough to finish off a gold dragon, but it was certainly enough to knock the Second Prince out of the sky! In a thunderous BANG!! A gigantic being crashnded onto the ground and carved a deep crater into the earth. Gold Dragon may not have been blinded by Cybuster¡¯s sudden attack, but it¡¯s inevitable that he would suffer from some painful bruises for a while. Adding in the pounding he got from the siege arrows and the drop from high sky, Second Prince really was feeling the pain right now. Out of anger and spite, he immediately opens up his jaw and spewed a mouthful of mes at those hiding atop of the city wall. By the time Cybuster noticed what the dragon was up to, he had long recovered his bnce. Dashing through the air, he quickly drew his sword and swung it to form an ice barrier. At 10 meters in diameter, this blockade was immediately dissolved upon contact by the mes. Opening his eyes, Dragon Prince now knew his humongous body wasn¡¯t going to give him a real advantage in this battle. Angry at the thought, he cried out: ¡°Fine! Human, you forced me! I didn¡¯t want to do this!¡± With that, the golden mes around his body suddenly intensified to the point where it was blinding to watch. In seconds, Second Prince¡¯s body shrank and eventually took on the form of a human! Even looking at it from a human perspective, the body he had almost reached the state of perfection. Stretching a head higher than Cybuster¡¯s stature at almost two meters in height, his proportions were practically symmetrical without a hint of being ungainly in terms of muscle strength or sticity. Following the transformation spell of Second Prince, the golden scales also took on a new form more befitting of his new shape. Covering all the vital parts, an extremely extravagant armor was the perfectpany to the blonde wavy hair of his highness. Growling a low roar, he raises a hand above his head to form a golden spear the length of his body. From the tip, one can vaguely sense a monstrous killing intent radiating out of that spark of me trapped inside. ¡°Pathetic humans, let us have another go!¡± none could make out his face under that fierce golden me, but that voice was clearly filled with confidence. Cybuster also felt the change in his opponent¡¯s momentum. While the power may have dropped for the Dragon Prince, the advantage he had up till now in terms of speed greatly diminishes against this new form¡­¡­ After all ¡­ ¡­ His strength was still far below the dragon! Chapter 253 part 2 Chapter 253 ¡°Perfect Body¡± (Part Two) ¡°Loose the arrows!¡± Following Cybuster¡¯s order, thousands of soldiers released their grip and showered the sky with a nketing amount of arrows towards the Dragon Prince¡¯s location. Under a deep sneer, the spear in the dragon warrior¡¯s hand began to fly. Like a rotating disk, the spinning golden mesing off from his techniquepletely incinerated the arrows before they could even draw close. Gnashing at the spectacle, Cybuster whistles the sky into a sea of frost with his sword. Once all was gathered at his will, he lunges forward in a whirlpool of blistering frost at the enemy! Despite the unbelievable technique, the only reaction Dragon Prince showed was a cold smile. This time around, he finally showcases his formidable martial skills! Slightly taking a step back, Dragon Prince lifts the spear in his hand into a slight coil and lunges himself forward with his weapon. Zooshhh! With unstoppable force, the golden spear crushes down at the center of that ice vortex. Instantly, hundreds of millions of ice crystals shattered under the dominating light emitted by the golden spear. At the devastating impact, most of the soldiers standing atop of the ramparts were knocked to their feet. Taking advantage of that brief dy, Dragon Prince had already snuck behind Cybuster to attack the poor general. Knowing it was toote to dodge the iing spear, Cybuster bites down on his lip and blocks with all the Dou Qi inserted into his sword. But when he became ready to take on the full blunt of that strike, he suddenly found himself blocking air. At the thought of making the wrong assumption, cold sweat quickly stained his back¡­¡­ Unlike his other assets, Second Prince¡¯s martial skills were already at the Saint level, far exceeding that of Cybuster¡¯s. Therefore, when they were about to make contact, Second Prince skillfully bypassed the ice sword by tipping his weapon and severely puncturing Cybuster¡¯s chest with his spear! Peng! This loud thud caused all the onlookers to have their heart sink. Aside from the crushing sound of the armor being prated, the noise also contained the cking sound of numerous bones breaking! Rugaard¡¯s eye widened at the sight. Watching a spear run through his son¡¯s body and then being smashed into the wall in the most merciless fashion, no father can remain motionless¡­¡­ Boom!! At the impact, a huge hole was dug into the solid bs making up the city fortification. Like a domino effect, cracks started to reach outwards at the trembling quake. Eventually, nearly twenty meters of the wall copsed and Cybuster¡¯s body was eventually buried under that rubble. ¡°General ¡­ ¡­ Young general him¡­¡­¡± Unlike the eximing cries of his subordinate, Rugaard showed no signs of anger or sadness other than the initial surprise of his son being injured. Grunting, he hollers at everyone: ¡°Quit panicking!¡± As expected of the elites in the Northwest Army. Despite having their general beaten and a portion of their defensive wall breached, it didn¡¯t take long for the officers to force the archers to retaliate in full. Although the sea of arrows cannot harm a powerful being like the Dragon Prince, but¡­¡­. Under the guise of the arrows, several streaks of silver spear plowed towards the location where the dragon stood. ¡°Sneak attack eh!¡± the Dragon Prince sneered. Tightening the grip on his spear, he made an arcing sweep at the arrows and spearsing his way. As a result of his retaliation, all the artilleries were vaporized in midair while the remaining force ms down at the fortification wall. This time around, themotion was even greater. With at least an entire section of the wall crumbling apart, hundreds of soldiers became buried under the falling rubble. Through the entire process, Du Wei was always hiding behind Rugaard and his men. Then of all times to make a sound, he just had to sigh when everything was going downhill. Probably angered by this, Rugaard harshly red at Du Wei. Seeing that icy stare, Du Wei can already guess Rugaard had seen through his n and that this cmity was deliberately orchestrated by him. Just when Second Dragon Prince wanted to go on a rampage, several shadowy figures were already afloat in the sky. Laughing maniacally at the wizards above the city, Dragon Prince was just about to attack with his spear again when he suddenly felt a wave of magic gathering above his head. Looking up, he realized it was toote already. The second those wizards finished their chant, a pressuring beam of light came shooting down at the dragon! ¡°Ehh?¡± Du Wei reflexively called out. Looking at the lineup, these intermediate mages are likely the Northwest Army¡¯s trump card! Probably thugs they supported up till now. First round of their exchange was a binding spell manifested through the efforts of several mages working together. It did what it was meant to do, but what they got in return was a mockingugh from the Dragon Prince: ¡°Magic¡­.. Ha-ha! Did you forget I¡¯m a dragon warrior? Human magic can¡¯t trap me!¡± Under the Dragon Prince¡¯s piercingugh, the binding rope that was causing his body to make a creaking sound seconds ago were burned to a crisp under that searing me around his body. Unsurprised by this, the wizards quickly erected a barrier in front of the city wall to only have their efforts sneered at by the Second Prince. Turning away like they never existed, the Second Prince looks down at where Rugaard stood and shouted: ¡°Du Wei! Do you still intend to cry for help? No one can help you this time!¡± Rugaard deepens his voice: ¡°Du Wei ¡­ ¡­ You leave with your people first, there are us here.¡± Du Wei sighs: ¡°General, this monster came for me¡­¡­¡± How can Rugaard not know? Though angry inside, he could only press it down and softly utter his words: ¡°No matter what, you are our honored guest. If we let the Northwest Army¡¯s guest die while in our base, we can forget about keeping a foothold in these parts!¡± Not waiting for Du Wei to spout more nonsense, Rugaard unsheathes his sword and points it at the dragon warrior: ¡°Who will take his head for me?!¡± With a growl, a powerful looking man rushed out after drawing his sword. Du Wei recognized this fe from yesterday¡¯s banquet. If his memory serves him right, this general should be at the sixth level. One had tomend the guy for his courage; however, he onlysted four to five hits before being knocked to the ground with all his bones shattered. ¡°Who else will go?¡± Rugaard looked gloomy: ¡°My Northwest Army has no cowards! Together, go out and y this monster for me!¡± As soon as his voice died down, three sixth level knights rushed out. But this time around before the group could engage, a howling voice drifted over from the fallen rubbles of the city wall: ¡°Asshole, your opponent is me!¡± In one loud thud, severalrge boulders were blown away to reveal Cybuster¡¯s figure within the ensuing dust cloud. As he marched over, it was shocking to see how crooked his spines were. Nevertheless, no fear could be found in those eyes as he limped over with that broken sword in his hand. ¡°Huh?¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart skipped a beat! This Cybuster can take a hit!¡­¡­ AH!, No! NO!! There¡¯s no doubt his chest took a heavy blow earlier, even if he¡¯s a ninth level knight, his sternum should have been crushed! If not dead, this guy shouldn¡¯t be capable of standing up so fast! What¡¯ more, there¡¯s no scar or any sign of wounds on his chest! Looking at each other, Du Wei and Hussein both had the same thought sh across their minds: Something¡¯s strange about this young general! Like them, dragon warrior was thinking the same thing as he looked at this human knight. Grunting, Cybuster grabbed his remaining armor and tore it apart from his chest to reveal a muscr body of amazing constitution. Then with a sneering smile, he gently removes the iron mask from his face to reveal an unmistakable killing intent. ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ Honorable Gold Dragon, are the first to incite my wrath and also the first experteng-shen I came across!!¡± Cybuster¡¯s face can be called handsome, but what¡¯s most eye-catching wasn¡¯t his face, it was the slight crack in the middle of his forehead! If one didn¡¯t look closely, they might really mistake it for a third eye from afar! Narrowing his eyes, Du Wei carefully looked over this young general! Ah ¡­ ¡­ Leaving aside that strange crack on his forehead¡­. Du Wei came to a really dumb conclusion: This handsome young general looks nothing like his midget father! Suddenly, a voice surfaced from the bottom of Du Wei¡¯s heart. Semel¡¯s voice was filled with confusion, strangeness, and even a little sense of loss. ¡°Du Wei ¡­ ¡­ I ¡­ ¡­ Hmmm¡­¡­ ¡± ¡°What?¡± Du Wei¡¯s thought pattern began to run wild. ¡°This guy. ¡± Semel seems a bit hesitant: ¡°This Cybuster¡¯s body seems¡­.. To be one of those ¡®perfect bodies¡¯ from the legends!¡± ¡°Perfect body? What perfect body?¡± Du Wei became puzzled. But it seems that Semel was even more puzzled than he was: ¡°I ¡­ ¡­ I don¡¯t know, but I when I look at him, memories would suddenly surface from my mind. I don¡¯t understand either.¡± If you like this trantion, consider donating for a extra release. Chapter 254 part 1 Chapter 254 ¡°Feign one thing while doing another¡± (Part one) Although this so called ¡°perfect body¡± spoken by Semel makes one wonder, but Du Wei was already ustomed to her sudden memory shes from time to time. It¡¯s almost like lots of inexplicable memories are hidden behind that face of hers which even she couldn¡¯t tell what was true or false. With Cybuster rejoining the battle, the strength he presented this time far exceeded what an injured victim should have. Masterfully utilizing his Ice Dou Qi, even the Dragon Warrior became entrapped in ice after Cybuster pulled off two of his signature ¡°Sigh of the Frost Moon¡± skills. Unfortunately, his efforts didn¡¯tst long. Momentster, the ice began to shatter and what was a small ice mountain soon became miniscule ice shards scattered across the ground. Angrier than ever before, Second Prince once again used his spear to send Cybuster flying, but this time around, even amon soldier can see how lethal that attack was from the loud cracking sound it made and the trail of blood sttering across the air. Judging by how bent Cybuster¡¯s waist looked when he was being knocked back, Du Wei suspect that body wouldn¡¯t be much of a body anymore, more like two halves of a jumbled mess. Like before, Cybuster came crashing into the city wall, but unlike before where only a section came crumbling down, the entire structure was tittering on the edge of copse. ¡°Is¡­ ¡­ He dead?¡± Du Wei reflexively muttered this in a low voice. Hussein on the other hand only frowned: ¡°No, his Dou Qi is still around.¡± By the time Cybuster climbed out of the rubbles with his body intact, even the proud Second Dragon Prince was shocked. ¡°Perfect Body ¡­ ¡­ This is the so called Perfect Body?¡± Du Wei asks the woman dwelling inside his heart: ¡°Don¡¯t tell me this Perfect Body crap is what you call immortality?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as immortality in this world for even the all mighty Aragon cannot escape death.¡± Semel¡¯s answer sounded like she couldn¡¯t make ins and outs of what she said. ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ What exactly are you!¡± Dragon Warrior points his spear at Cybuster: ¡°You are not human! Humans don¡¯t have such self-restoring capabilities ¡­ ¡­ Even Saint level warrior are incapable of that!¡± Gently wiping away the bloodstain from his face ¨C he does indeed look like he didn¡¯t suffer from any injuries ¨C Cybuster sneered and slowly returned to the battlefield without answering the question. Unlike before, the fight this time aroundsted much longer than before. And from the way things are looking, the momentum seems to be tipping away from the Dragon Prince. Infuriated by this, Second Prince unleashed everything into his spear and mmed his weapon into the ground. Instantly,rge fissuring cracks littered thend as a result of this endeavor. ¡°Have you noticed Cybuster is stronger than before and the duration between their exchanges is much longer?¡± In return to Du Wei¡¯s question, Hussein only whispered this: ¡°He is studying the Dragon race¡¯s martial art!¡± Keng!! When Cybuster blocked the Second Prince¡¯s golden spear for the first time, Du Wei finally confirmed that spection. He really blocked it, not like before where he would be sent flying in a single strike! Though every muscle on Cybuster¡¯s body looked like it was about to burst from the impact, though he was forced back several steps in the process¡­¡­ But this time he really blocked it! Yes, the state he was in looked terrible, but that sword ain¡¯t going anywhere, and that¡¯s including the fact that the sword was something he randomly picked up from the ground along the way! His breathing may not be well, but Cybuster¡¯s face definitely had a grin stered there: ¡°Dear Sir Dragon¡­¡­ Did you run out of Dou Qi?¡± Du Wei skipped a beat because he suddenly noticed something was not right! Sure, Cybuster was getting clobbered up till now, but why wasn¡¯t he getting exhausted like the Second Dragon Prince? In fact, every indication was pointing towards his stamina increasing rather than decreasing! What, does he not get tired like a normal human? ¡°This time I¡¯ll directly twist your head off!¡± Gold Dragon roared in anger. This time he wasn¡¯t joking around for a sense of unease was starting to creep up on this high and mighty dragon. Sticking his spear into the ground, Dragon Warrior suddenly rushed forward at Cybuster with only his fists as his weapon. In one mighty punch against the chest, a clear sound of the rib cage cracking could be heard from the young general¡¯s body as he was sent flying through the air. Immediately, Second Prince raced ahead and followed up with an elbow m to the spine and snapping Cybuster¡¯s body into a clear ny degree angle. Watching such a sight, even Du Wei felt numb to the teeth. If he still doesn¡¯t die from a crippling injury like that then he can only be a monster! Just when Dragon Warrior¡¯s hand was about to twist Cybuster¡¯s head off for real, the young general suddenly howled a roar and broke free from his restraint after punching the Second Prince consecutively. Despite coughing hard and puking a fountain of blood, Cybuster still managed to put a dozen meters between the two. ¡°Stop!¡± Spitting out thest bit of blood, Cybuster slightly dragged one of his dislocated arm and snapped it back in ce. Flexing his muscles to release the tension, he really recovered from his injury! ¡°Stop!¡± Seeing Dragon Warrior wanted toe again, Cybuster suddenly drew back a step: ¡°Stop, I¡¯m not fighting anymore!¡± ¡°¡­¡­ What?!¡± Murderous intent filled Second Prince¡¯s eye. ¡°I said I¡¯m not fighting anymore.¡± Cybuster breathes in deeply, his appearance looking calm: ¡°You are indeed stronger than me so I give up. There¡¯s no meaning in fighting an opponent far stronger than I.¡± ¡°HA HA HA HA ¡­ ¡­¡± Dragon Warriorughs crazily: ¡°You think you can just stop if you say so?¡± Cybuster looked calm and rxed: ¡°Yes, if I say stop then we stop. Or do you think you can catch me?¡± Dragon Warrior was stunned. It¡¯s true, if purely based on speed, he really can¡¯t catch this guy. ¡°And¡­¡­¡± Cybuster seems to have figured out the pride of the dragon race was this Second Prince¡¯s weakness: ¡°Can it be the great and mighty dragon race can only challenge those weaker than themself? You clearly know your strength is far higher than mine, which is why you are so persistent. If my strength was higher, would you be so persistent in fighting?¡± Dragon Warriorughs crazily: ¡°Taunting me eh! Humph, even if you¡¯re right! You are still a very interesting opponent! I¡¯ll give you a chance. Enhance your strength and I¡¯ll give you another chance to fight me!¡± With that, Second Prince plucks the golden spear from the ground and turns to Du Wei¡¯s direction: ¡°Du Wei, are you still going to continue your cowardly act?¡± Du Weiughs and shouts back: ¡°Dragon Prince, it seems you are acting like this because you made up your mind that I¡¯m weaker than you.¡± ¡°This guy is different from you.¡± Gold Dragon sneered: ¡°You are my father¡¯s enemy. If I don¡¯t kill you, I won¡¯t be able to exin when I go back.¡± Du Wei coldly smirks and did not reply. Instead, it was Cybuster whom answered: ¡°Duke Tulip is a guest of the Northwest Army. Sir, if you must kill our guest, then even if your strength is more powerful, you can¡¯t possibly confront the tens of thousands of troops of the Northwest Army. We may not be the Temple or the Magic Union, but if we must sh today, forcing you to stay is not beyond the Northwest Army¡¯s reach!¡± On the rampart, the mobilized arbalests were loaded and aimed at the Second Prince along with thousands of troops and the team of Wizards in the sky. When Cybuster made such a threat, Du Wei already knew there was no more hope of hurting both sides today for Cybuster had pointed out all the stakes in this game. It¡¯s exactly like he said. If the Northwest Army must fight, it¡¯s very possible to finish off the Gold Dragon out of desperation, especially when there¡¯s an immortal monster like Cybuster in the fray. ¡°Duke Tulip.¡± Cybuster looks over at Du Wei and slowly spoke his words: ¡°Although we don¡¯t know what enmity lies between the dragon race and his dukeship, but since we are on the Northwest Army¡¯s territory, it¡¯s only natural we must secure his safety¡­.¡± Du Wei snickers inside: ¡°So be it. Today¡¯s result is more than enough. One mustn¡¯t be too greedy.¡± Thinking of this, Du Wei steps forward and makes his proposal: ¡°Dragon Prince, since you came for my life today, it is only right that I don¡¯t involve my friends in the Northwest Army. If you still care about the dignity of the dragon race then take my proposal. Ten days from now, I will wait for you over at Lon Lake and have our life and death duel then. At that time, it will be fair game for all!¡± It seems his intelligence gathering was very urate, although this Dragon was overly arrogant and proud, but he¡¯s not a reckless fe. Weighing the cons and pros of both situations, the second prince agreed with augh: ¡°Very well!! We shall meet in ten days at Lon Lake!¡± Sealing the agreement, the second prince swoops into the sky and disappears into the horizon. Sighing, Du Wei slightly bows to the nearby Rugaard: ¡°General, thanks for the aid tonight. Otherwise, I fear I really wouldn¡¯t be able to cope with this dragon alone.¡± Despite being hatefully angry inside, Rugaard can only put on a front of nonchnt: ¡°Since the Duke is our distinguished guest, we can¡¯t possibly watch on while you are facing trouble.¡± Looking back at all this, Du Wei did not get his desired effect, but the damage he caused was more than enough considering what he had to work with. Nearly half of Watt City¡¯s wall had copsed, the amount of fatalities numbered in the hundreds, and he managed to lure out this Cybuster into showing his real ability. More importantly, the Northwest army lost a magician in their ranks! Tartaglia, an eighth level Dark Mage, his strength equates to tens of thousands of troops if a number must be used to valuate him. With the receding of the Gold Dragon, it didn¡¯t take long for order to return to the city since this ce was a military base to begin with. Aside from that, the soldiers were already starting their restoration work for the city wall. Originally Rugaard invited Du Wei to attend a banquet, but Du Wei rejected it. Who was he kidding? Even if Rugaard didn¡¯t care, Du Wei did. If one thing goes wrong, those generals might really chop him to pieces out of fury this time. However, what did surprise Du Wei was theck of Cybuster¡¯s appearance after they returned to the city. As someone that stood up to a gold dragon and a ninth level knight at this age, this young general was a genius among the geniuses. In particr was the near-immortality he showcased today. Du Wei was curious about this, but the current situation wasn¡¯t the right time to fish for information. After returning to his dwelling, Du Wei immediately gave the order to lock the door for he and Hussein needed tomune over the recent development. Whening up on the topic of ¡°Perfect Body¡±, Hussein was also unfamiliar with this name and could onlyment over the recovery rate of Cybuster¡¯s body. Indeed, with that type of body, it does deserve the name ¡°Perfect Body¡±. Even for someone like Hussein, he wasn¡¯t sure either if he can stand above Cybuster if they shed. ¡°However ¡­ Can a human body really reach such a fearful feat? Or is it that this Cybuster isn¡¯t a human to begin with?¡± Du Weiughs bitterly. This problem could not be answered by either of them. But all of a sudden, shes of memories surfaced from Du Wei¡¯s mind. Because the idea went away so fast, he couldn¡¯t capture it in time. Oddly enough ¡­ ¡­ the strange bones he encountered in the secret chamber back in Anglia City kept popping up. Unfortunately his brain was too messy right now so he didn¡¯t pursue the thought. Overall, his harvest today wasn¡¯t bad considering he stole most of the souls from the now deceased Dark Mage of the Northwest Army. Best thing of all, he robbed it from another mage so there¡¯s no possibility of the Magic Enforcement teaming after him. ¡°It¡¯s a legitimate ie.¡± Du Wei was feeling so smug that it was stered on his face. If you like this trantion, consider donating for a extra release. Chapter 254 part 2 Chapter 254 ¡°Feign one thing while doing another¡± (Part two) Meanwhile over at the General¡¯s manor, Rugaard with his sour face did not give much heed to his men; instead, he waved them down and only left his most trusted confidant to stand guard while he entered the inner quarter. Technically speaking, the inner quarter could be called a forbidden zone here. As someone that originated from the Snowy Mountain, Rugaard specificallyid countless magic traps around the area. If an outsider were to intrude upon this ce, well¡­. You get the idea. Quietly walking over to a room alone, Rugaard angrily kicked open the door to only leave everything inside intact. He may be furious, but he¡¯s no fool to go smashing his own furniture¡¯s. Breathing in deeply to calm himself, he then slowly walked over to a cupboard and pushed it aside to enter the secret passage. Drip drip, woosh woosh¡­. The sound of dripping water and moving air was easy to discern in this damp tunnel. If Du Wei was here, he¡¯d be surprised to discover theyout and architecture of this passageway was exactly the same as the maze under Anglia City! As Rugaard went deeper and deeper, he finally came to a stone door. With a twist of the secret knob, a shrill of painful howl immediately sted out. Based on the emotion of that voice, the owner must be in a lot of pain. Rugaard¡¯s mood was bad to begin with but with thatmotion, his face became increasingly gloomy. Sliding through the crack that opened up, he slid himself into the chamber. Inside, the ground was covered in bloodstains while a naked and bloodied man rolled around in agony. Not only that, every muscle on his body ¨C including the face ¨C was already distorted to the point where the flesh and skin was ripping in many ces! Father ¡­ ¡­ Father ¡­ ¡­ Please, stop me! The painful cries was from no other, it is Cybuster, the young general that dominated the battle today!! Right now Cybuster¡¯s appearance was nowhere close to being the mighty warrior he once was. If anything, he was more like a lost dog moping around in a back alley. With muscles ripped and blood oozing from every part of his body, only the word ¡°grotesque¡± could be used to describe him. Reaching the limit of his pain, Cybuster tries to clench his fist but could only fail in his feat. Unable to do even that, he can only feebly roll around on the floor again out of agony. ¡°Control!!!¡± Rugaard majestic voice resounded across the chamber: ¡°Control!!! Don¡¯t use brute force; use your inner strength to control this body! You can do it, my son, you can do it!¡± Incited by Rugaard¡¯s words, Cybuster suddenly started to bellow out a crazedugh: ¡°Quit your nonsense you old bastard! All you ever do is say thoseforting words! If you keep yapping by my ear, I will kill you!¡± The next moment, this tyrannical voice suddenly took on a pleading sheepish tone: ¡°Father¡­. Knock me out, hurry¡­.. I can¡¯t control him¡­¡­ Knock me out, he¡¯s about toe out! He¡¯sing out¡­..¡± With his hand¡¯s trembling, Rugaard silently walked over to his son¡¯s side and squatted down with aplicated expression. ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ You! Old thing, go to hell!!¡± Cybuster suddenly went mad and ruthlessly threw a punch at his father with his left hand. But just when it was about tond, Cybuster had a change of emotion again: ¡°Don¡¯t hurt him!!¡± Using his right hand, Cybuster mercilessly pounded it against his left hand and deflected the punch that was about tond on Rugaard¡¯s left shoulder. ¡°Cybuster!! You are my son! You can control him! If you can control him before, you can do it again!¡± Rugaard sucks in a deep breath and gently ces his palm on top of Cybuster¡¯s disfigured forehead. Slowly, beams of white light squeezed out and gradually seeped into Cybuster¡¯s head. From heavy panting to a gradual calm, Cybuster¡¯s face suddenly went into a frenzy change. From violent pain, to a coward pity, then to erraticughter, Cybuster¡¯s face finally settled on a pale calm that left him exhausted. Who knows how long had passed; Cybuster suddenly lets out a long breather and slowly sat up. Breathing in a few times, the unsightly wounds all over his body rapidly began to heal and in no times at all, no traces of those wounds could be found. In his eyes, whether it was the violent craze or cowardly pity, none of it could be seen anymore. Instead, only the unnerving cold calm from before the battle took ce could be found. ¡°Father.¡± Cybuster suddenly sighed: ¡°You used that type of magic again. You should be aware that such spells will decrease your life expectancy with every use.¡± Rugaard remained silence for a moment before breaking out into a smile: ¡°I¡¯m old already, even if I die ¡­ ¡­ There will be you to inherit my all.¡± ¡°But ¡­ ¡­ I still couldn¡¯t make aplete fusion. If in the future you are no here and I still couldn¡¯t perfect my fusion, then¡­¡­¡± Cybuster shakes his head to remove that thought. ¡°You are my son.¡± Rugaard¡¯s eye suddenly showed a touch of pride: ¡°You are a descendant of the Snowy Mountain Sect. If I say you can do it, then you will seed!¡± ¡°But ¡­ ¡­¡± Cybuster chuckles: ¡°I¡¯m very worried¡­ ¡­ Let¡¯s say if one day, I really can¡¯t stop myself and kill you, what should I do?¡± ¡°Kill me ¡­ ¡­¡± Rugaard suddenly burst out into a fittedugh: ¡°Among the thousand year lineage of Snowy Mountain, I¡¯m not the first to offer up their life for progression. Since I¡¯m not the first, I won¡¯t be thest either.¡± After resting for a while, Rugaard pulls out a bottle and poured a drop of liquid onto his finger. Drinking that strange content from his finger tip, he lets out a soothing sigh: ¡°Are you feeling better now?¡± ¡°I think there¡¯s no problem.¡± Climbing up, Cybuster pats the dirt off his body and walked up to a cupboard in the chamber. From within, he takes out an iron mask that was usually covering his handsome face: ¡°I think there¡¯s no problem¡­. It¡¯s just that I think I¡¯ve been using my abilities too frequently.¡± After a pause, he suddenly lets out a gentle sigh: ¡°Father¡­. How far am I from achieving a ¡®perfect body¡¯?¡± By early next morning, Du Wei was already knocking at the General¡¯s manor. After a night of adjustment, Rugaard seems to have regained perfect control over his emotions when they met. One old and one young fox exchanging blows, their words may be friendly and kind on the surface, but every letter contained lethal blows that was sharp enough to kill. Like this, Du Wei and Rugaard negotiated for a whole morning while Hussein waited outside the study room. It¡¯s not that Hussein didn¡¯t want to go inside too, he couldn¡¯t because of Du Wei¡¯s instruction: ¡°No matter what happens and no matter what you hear, don¡¯t worry and don¡¯t act rashly.¡± Sure enough, when a loud hollering cry came from within the study room, the nearby bodyguards nervously charged in to only be driven out by Rugaard¡¯s roaring voice. It wasn¡¯t until noon did the two foxe out of their duel. While Du Wei had an obvious fake smile, Rugaard was clearly gnashing his teethes and fuming in anger. ¡°Since it¡¯s like this, General Rugaard won¡¯t need to escort me. I will leave by the afternoon¡­ You know, there are prairie horsemen lurking about in my territory. If I don¡¯t go back soon, who knows what kind headache will be waiting for me.¡± The cheekier Du Wei got, the angrier Rugaard became. Turning greenish red, Rugaard bites his next words out: ¡°Then I won¡¯t show you the way!¡± Not even bothering to say farewell, the general ms the door behind him. ¡°What did you discuss with him in there?¡± Asked Hussein. Seeing Rugaard disappear into the study room, Du Wei¡¯s smile also disappeared: ¡°Aigh¡­ Let¡¯s talk on the road. Negotiating with this old fox isn¡¯t easy. Many times during our negotiation, I can tell he was ready to draw his de at me! But whenever he wanted to, his anger would suddenly subside for some odd reason.¡± Although Rugaard said he won¡¯t escort him, there was still a unit of heavy armored troops awaiting them outside. However, the most important part wasn¡¯t the soldiers; it was the three thousand horses and weapons promised to Du Wei from the bet before. Aside from that, there are also the female ves saved from the hunt. It¡¯s a shame that not all of them were saved, but some was better than none. Using the cavalry troops to lead the way, Du Wei could finally let out a sigh of relief as the fleeting image of Watt City disappeared from his sight. ¡°What did you really say to Rugaard?¡± Hussein was also inside the carriage with him. Du Wei eyes beamed a mysterious light: ¡°The Northwest Corridor!¡± Northwest Corridor? Hussein blinked and blinked. ¡°Aside from being the only portal connecting the prairie desert to our territory, it is also our biggest weakness! The reason those prairie horsemen was able to sneak in is because the guards posted there turned a blind eye¡­. Humph, if they continue to pull that every so often, we won¡¯tst for long! Therefore, I requested it be returned to us. This way we won¡¯t have to worry about the prairie natives sneaking in.¡± Hussein sighed: ¡°Will Rugaard really hand such an important location back to you? You know, as long as he holds the Northwest Corridor, it¡¯s akin to taking our throat as hostage!¡± ¡°He has no choice but to let go.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°This is the biggest reason for mying to Watt City. During the entire morning, I used both coercion and inducement during our negotiation. In fact, I practically used every method in the book and some. Fortunately I was certain he didn¡¯t want to rebel, otherwise, he might have really killed me. Besides, he must make some kind of goodwill gesture to appease those in the capital. He may have killed Gold Wolf Head, but that¡¯s not enough. My suggestion to him was to hand over the Northwest Corridor so the Northwest Army can avoid responsibility for this event. However, I may have phrased my words a little too straightforward. When he heard my proposal, Rugaard immediately jumped up and pounded the table¡­¡­ Ha-ha, it was great watching him swear to heaven that he is absolutely loyal to the empire.¡± After a pause, Hussein suddenly asked: ¡°Oh yes, where did you send Philip off to?¡± He ¡­ ¡­ I sent him out of the city earlier this morning¡­. Hmm, I had him go meet Governor Bohan.¡± Du Wei grinned: ¡°Enough, once we are at Hn City, I believe Bohan will send for us to meet him at the governor¡¯s manor. Only then will our business on this trip finallye to an end.¡± After all that, Du Wei leaned against a corner of the carriage and began to meditate due to fatigue. He¡¯s really drained today. Looking at it from another view, the negotiation with Rugaard was no different from a soldier fighting in a war. Moreover, on several asions, Du Wei clearly sensed the opposition had already reached their limit. What he didn¡¯t understand though was why Rugaard would always suppress that anger whenever he touched the cord¡­¡­ There¡¯s no way Du Wei would relent. Retrieving the control of Northwest Corridor was an absolute must for the stakes are way too high. Furthermore, he even went as far as to indirectly threaten Rugaard that he will mobilize troops to retrieve control of that ce if he must! Either you rebel now or you hand it over! Under such conditions, Du Wei finally forced Rugaard topromise on the matter. But when Du Wei saw Rugaard¡¯s faint smile after agreeing to his demand, he seems to get the idea the old guy was looking at him like a joke was about to unfolding. Simply put, the Northwest Corridor was nothing more arge canyon terrain that has a width as wide as ten miles! Such a broad channel was no easy to task to guard, this was even more true if he wanted to station a garrison force there! Firstly was that Du Wei¡¯s troopscked the resources. Secondly, there¡¯s no direct water source in that area. If he wanted to station tens of thousands of troops there, he will need to transport astronomical amount of water from afar. There¡¯s no way he could do that for the supplies alone would drag him down! Yet such a difficult geographic environment was his only portal into the prairie¡­.. Sending troops won¡¯t work but not sending won¡¯t do either, what a dilemma. Rugaard ¡­ ¡­ You want to see me make a joke out of myself? Fine, then let¡¯s see who gets thestugh! Two dayster, Du Wei and his men arrives at Hn City where Governor Bohan and the Northwest Army marked their border. From here, the Northwest Army¡¯s one thousand horsemen escort took their leave and handed off the job to Bohan¡¯s garrison cavalries that had been awaiting Du Wei. Aside from Bohan¡¯s men, Philip was also in the mix. By the time Du Wei attempted to get off his carriage, Philip had alreadye up to make his greeting. With a face full of smile, the young Philip speaks: ¡°Duke, Governor Bohan is very interested in the ¡®win-win¡¯ proposal you asked me to pass on. He¡¯s waiting for you in the governor¡¯s manor.¡± Watching Philip¡¯s fatigued getup, Du Wei sighed: ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard.¡± Indeed, Philip¡¯s maneuver of moving ahead and convincing the stubborn old man was taxing on his weak body. Du Wei then turns to Hussein and winked at the Saint Knight: ¡°Look Hussein¡­. We will soon have plenty of recruits!¡± However, Phillips subsequently gave out a wry smile to dampen the mood: ¡°Duke, I fear things may not be as optimistic as it sounds¡­.. Because Bohan raised a condition that might cause us some difficulty!¡± ¡°Condition?¡± Du Wei frowned. If you like this trantion, consider donating for a extra release. Chapter 255 Chapter 255 ¡°Everything is for the state.¡± When Du Wei once again came face to face with Bohan inside the governor¡¯s manor, their meeting was without a doubt far more enjoyable than thest. After exchanging some polite greetings, Du Wei went straight to the point and expressed his gratitude towards the soldiers that gave their lives and was willing to assume all thepensation towards the deceased¡­¡­. Once that was out of the way, Du Wei picked up the honey vored tea and took a sip: ¡°Dear Governor Bohan, my aid, Philip, told me you have other requests towards my cooperation n, is this correct?¡± When Du Wei asked this his brow was vaguely wrinkled because he was slightly unhappy about it. Reflecting back on his offer, there shouldn¡¯t be anything to nitpick about. Although it was because his own territorycked the needed poption to conscript the required number of soldiers, he¡¯s already offering a great deal of paying all financial costs involved. Sure, he¡¯s taking half of the forces, but in name, they are all under Bohan¡¯s name! So what else does he want? Du Wei¡¯s certain Bohan will not refuse his offer because if he was in his shoe, he will definitely ept it. Compared to him, Bohan¡¯s need for an army was far more pressing. ¡°I think the terms I proposed already expressed the sincerity of the Tulip Family.¡± Du Wei carefully treads his word to test the water: ¡°Dear Governor Bohan, the people are yours, the soldiers are yours, all I¡¯m doing is equipping them with equipment and paying their sries¡­.. I believe these terms will not be found in any other ce across the continent.¡± ¡°But in the end you are taking people from mynd.¡± Bohan rudely rebuked. ¡°No, the correct word is, ¡®people of the empire¡¯.¡± Du Wei softly returned the blow: ¡°Last I remember you are but a Governor of the Empire, not a Lord.¡± ¡°This makes it even more imperative that I take responsibility for the people under my care.¡± Bohan picks up a cup for a sip. Du Wei could only sigh at the answer. Bohan¡¯s tone really have some¡­ ¡­ Exorbitant taste in there. Regarding the new terms involved, Du Wei was really having some trouble with it. Bohan asked Du Wei to provide additional help on top of the original terms: an excellent cavalry general to train the new recruits ¡­ ¡­ Meanwhile, he also needs Du Wei to provide magic assistant. Magical assistance? inly speaking, he wants Du Wei to provide a magician! ¡°Cavalry general isn¡¯t a problem.¡± Du Wei calmly answers: ¡°Once conscription begins, I n to construct a military barracks between our borders that mainly specializes in training. I may not have a lot of good talents capable in cavalry training, but I do have General Longbottom. I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t need to go over his merits and capabilities¡­. Although I can¡¯t lend you General 250, I will allow your soldiers to train under him.¡± Thinking it over, Bohan finally nods: ¡°I agree that this proposal is feasible, but how are you going to solve the magic issue?¡± Du Wei rubbed his nose and wryly smiled: ¡°Governor Bohan ¡­ ¡­ Although I¡¯m a magician, but please understand that I can¡¯te in person to help you.¡± ¡°But ording to my information, you have over 30 mages gathered under your banner.¡± Bohan points out this key info. ¡°Most of them are merely magic apprentices without any real fighting capabilities.¡± Du Wei shakes his head and smirked slyly: ¡°Besides, they belong to the magic academy and are only here for their internship program. Once that is over, the students will return to the capital to continue their schooling¡­.. Even if I promised you, I fear both the regent and the magic council will not permit.¡± ¡°Duke¡­¡± Bohan stands up and closely looked at the closed door: ¡°There are only two of us here so let¡¯s put aside the charade. I¡¯ll make it blunt; you have no intention of letting the twenty eight kids go back to the capital do you?¡± ¡°The correct number is twenty six.¡± Du Wei revealed a trace of sadness on his face: ¡°Back in the battle at Anglia City, I lost two excellent students.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ ¡­ But you won¡¯t let these people go will you?¡± Bohan slowly uttered his words: ¡°And, in addition to the twenty six trainees. I know you have a number of excellent magicians too¡­. For example, the eighth level grand mage Vivian.¡± Du Wei¡¯s eye suddenly turned sharp: ¡°Governor Bohan, do you think I would send my wife to a ce six hundred miles away from me?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Wife?¡± Bohan became slightly startled by the news. Damn it! Didn¡¯t the information say this Duke intends to marry those Lister girls? How did it end up like this? ¡°Then¡­ ¡­ What about the two leading teachers from the academy? They should be adequate since they are intermediate level mages.¡± Bohan immediately gave up on the idea of asking for Vivian. As a man, he also knows there are some things he should go after and shouldn¡¯t. Besides, Du Wei already brought out the word ¡°wife¡±. He be damned if he doesn¡¯t get the hint by now. In this world, no real man would throw their wife into another man¡¯s care! Du Wei smiled: ¡°Governor Bohan ¡­ ¡­ You may not know the identity of the two leading teachers. They are Master Alley¡¯s disciple! Aside from being genuine members of the magic union, they are also outstanding teachers of the academy. In any case, neither institution would cede such great people from their ranks!¡± This time Du Wei was telling the truth. Although Du Wei certainly would have wanted to stay the magic trainees in the Northwest, but Alley¡¯s two disciples was beyond his reach for they still need to go back to the academy to teach more students for him! ¡°Why aren¡¯t you requesting help from the capital?¡± Du Wei got straightforward and raised this question. In his view, Governor Bohan shouldn¡¯t have much problem requesting for backup since he¡¯s stationed in the Northwest. For someone as brilliant as Prince Son, it shouldn¡¯t be hard to get several court mages. Bohan smiled wryly, his face looking tired as he walked up to edge of the window: ¡°Duke, you¡­. Seem to be unfamiliar with my background.¡± After a pause, he whispered: ¡°Years ago when I came to the Northwest from the South ¡­ ¡­ The man to endorse me was none other than his highness, the former crown prince. From a political standpoint ¡­ ¡­ I, he-he ¡­ ¡­ Can be called a part of the Crown Prince¡¯s faction. Now that Prince Son is the Regent, it¡¯s already amazing that I wasn¡¯t immediately removed from office, let alone ask for help. Therefore, what do you think the answer will be when I ask for help?¡± The answer was of course no! Although Du Wei did not say this out loud, his heart already that would be the case. Indeed, even if Prince Son was wise and generous, those under him would never allow such a thing to happen. ¡°Also¡­¡­ Even if Prince Son did send a magician.¡± Bohan chuckles: ¡°I¡¯m afraid the people sent over will also shoulder the task of ¡®monitoring¡¯ me! If I have to worry about every move I take, how am I supposed to get anything done?! Court mages are out of the question and I don¡¯t have connections in the magic union¡­..¡± At this point, Bohan suddenly gave a deep bow to Du Wei; his eyes could not conceal the fatigue lingering in that spirit of his: ¡°Du Wei ¡­ ¡­¡± He actually abandoned the official form of greeting and directly called out Du Wei¡¯s name, this left Du Wei startled. ¡°Du Wei ¡­ ¡­¡± Bohan slowly uttered his words: ¡°I¡¯ve stayed in the Northwest for years ¡­ ¡­ In my heart, although I was referred by the former Crown Prince, but, I never saw myself as a part of any faction. I, Bohan am an imperial official, a citizen of the empire! If I favored politics, I would have never came to this band known as the Northwest! Back then I had plenty of ways to stay in the capital¡­.. However, as long as the Northwest rebellion isn¡¯t quelled, this will always be a cancer to the empire. Day after day, I carefully tread my steps to rein in the Northwest Army, but no matter what I try, there hasn¡¯t been any tangible progress. One day things will spiral out of control here, this is a must¡­. But while I grow older, I remain powerless to do anything!¡± At this point, Bohan grew sincere: ¡°I know you probably still hate me for causing trouble when you first came to the Northwest¡­. I can apologize to you right here and then¡­. When you first came, I naturally had some grievances. To me, it felt like the capital was trying to trim my authority. Considering your age, I never thought you would amount to anything. For that, I resented you, hence the reason for my actions.¡± After a pause, Bohan sighed: ¡°In one year, seeing your every move in the Northwest, I was finally convinced by your ability to uplift the Desa Province. I thought and thought. We may have a barrier around us, but our goal is one and the same. That¡¯s when I made a decision¡­..¡± Reaching here, Governor Bohan came before Du Wei and deeply bowed with sincerity: ¡°Duke, everything is for the state. Looking at this old and tired Bohan, Du Wei¡¯s heart shuddered with realization. Standing up, he also gave a deep bow of respect: ¡°Five people and no more¡­ Also, the group will rotate every three months. In addition¡­. I will try to get you a real mage. Govnernor Bohan¡­.. Everything is for the state!¡± Only at that response did Bohan let out a relieving sigh. ¡°Du Wei ¡­ ¡­ Our bond isn¡¯t deep¡­ ¡­ So let me say a word of truth. Even if this barrennd known as the Northwest is cleaned up, I fear I won¡¯t have the pleasure of keeping my post when that dayes! I know Prince Son is a wise ruler¡­. But politic is politics. As long as he needs me here I will be safe from his ire. But when the dayes when I¡¯m not needed¡­.. Duke, the Northwest and its people will need you to lead them in the future!¡± By the time Du Wei came out from Bohan¡¯s study room, he was personally led by this loyal subject of the empire. Without dy, he immediately left for his destination. Inside the carriage, Philip couldn¡¯t help but be touched by the story: ¡°Lord¡­. You really promised him?!¡± Du Wei nods and smiled: ¡°Not only did I promise to give him people; I also agreed to give him our newly developed weapons from Anglia City. You remember those jars of gunpowder? He is offering to pay us for them.¡± Philip knits his brow. After endured for so long time, he finally caved in and bitterly asked: ¡°You¡­.. isn¡¯t that a bit too generous?¡± When those words came out, even Du Wei couldn¡¯t help butugh. Looking back at it, this really wasn¡¯t a match of his style! Whenever he does things, he¡¯s always been hardheaded and wouldn¡¯t give any advantage to the other side. Yet, he not only epted the other party¡¯s proposal, he even added icing to the cake. Of course ¡­ ¡­ It¡¯s one thing to spread the product; it¡¯s another to spread the actual form for the gunpowder. ¡°I help him because he is truly a good official.¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°Unlike those selfish aristocrats, he¡¯s a good guy. Everything is for the state!¡± If you like this trantion, consider donating for a extra release. Chapter 256 Chapter 256 ¡°Poor Aoi¡± It was already the eighth day when Du Wei returned to Lon City. Originally he had a bunch of things to take care of first, like interrogating the female assassin he caught, but he was delightfully surprised to hear of Rodriguez¡¯s arrival when he stepped into his home. For this reason, he tossed everything aside and rushed off to meet this famed Saint Knight! It can¡¯t be helped! Amazing people takes precedent! Why? Because the only two Saint Knight on the continent was now in pocket! However, when Du Wei excitedly came to see this Saint Knight in person, his heart quickly sank when he noticed the undisguised disabled right hand hanging there before his eyes. How can he be so heavily injured? Why didn¡¯t Hussein tell him about this? ¡°You¡¯re looking at my hand?¡± Rodriguez calmly smiled as he pointed out Du Wei¡¯s thought: ¡°You must be thinking right: ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy to get such a good fighter toe, yet when he came the guy is crippled, right?¡± Sighing, Du Wei smiled wryly as he sat down next to Rodriguez. But it didn¡¯t take long for Du Wei to notice something was different here. Du Wei had seen this Saint Knight before. The first meeting was in a hurry when Rodriguez was still in service to the former crown prince. His impression at the time wasn¡¯t all that strong for he was too busy dealing with that Death Mage, but the monstrous auraing off from Rodriguez was undeniable! Then the Second time was during the confrontation outside the royal castle. In front of thousands of people, this Saint Knight used his formidable strength to y a ninth level knight in one strike¡­.. Such a scene cannot be forgotten even if he wanted to. At that time, Rodriguez was like a sharp de that¡¯s deliberately hidden behind a sheath. But no matter what, the greatness could not be hidden behind a simple cover. But now, the Rodriguez in front of him¡­¡­ A strange feeling was growing inside of Du Wei. Seriously, is this middle aged man in front of him really the real Rodriguez that he once saw? The dominating aura seems to havepletely disappeared, like a sword had lost its sharpness¡­. No matter how he looked at it, this person was nothing more than a pale, quiet middle aged man. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you must be somewhat disappointed.¡± Rodriguez smiled. ¡°Not disappointed.¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°Just shocked¡­. Your hand?¡± Du Wei coughed at his carelessness: ¡°I think there shouldn¡¯t be anyone capable of taking your hand in this world. If I had to think of someone, there should only be one guy¡­.. But that old lizard is unlikely to appear anywhere near the empire.¡± ¡°It was I whom chopped off my right hand.¡± Rodriguez¡¯s answer really surprised Du Wei! ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ yourself?¡± Du Wei forcefully gulped. For those that had reached sainthood, it won¡¯t have too much impact on their fighting capabilities even if they lost a hand. After all, sainthood is at the point where the individual had already broken through the so called sheer strength and into the level where ¡°control¡± is the key. ¡°I remember I asked Hussein to bring ¡®Beauty under the Moonlight¡¯ to you.¡± Rodriguez¡¯s voice seemed to have a touch of loss in there: ¡°When I gave up that sword, I was already ready to give up my right hand.¡± Seeing Du Wei was still somewhat in a daze, Rodriguez continues to exin: ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight never belonged to me. Years ago, my teacher only ¡®lent¡¯ me it to use. And today, this de not only cannot help me advance, it became a chain that holds me back.¡± Lifting his right wrist up, he rubs the end as he chuckles in a self-deprecating way: ¡°This was a difficult decision to make for me. When I wielded both the Ice Dou Qi and the legendary sword Beauty under the Moonlight, I had enough power to stand at the top of this world¡­¡­Yet, I had to abandon all of this. I feared my own weakness. I feared I was going to fall into my own temptation! In order to end all attachment, I ruthlessly lopped off my right hand! Only by doing this will I be able toe out of the shadow of that sword.¡± Du Wei couldn¡¯t fullyprehend the idea, but if Hussein was here, that guy would havepletely agreed with Rodriguez. When you already had a mountain of gold, could you so easily let go of it? Of course not! Du Wei may not be able to fully understand their logic, but he had to give props to Rodriguez¡¯s supreme perseverance. For this reason, he didn¡¯tment on it. Like a way to mask his inner thoughts, Du Wei picks up a cup and wryly smiled: ¡°Well then Sir Rodriguez. I heard from Hussein that you came to the Northwest to help me under advice from someone. I hope this is true, otherwise I will be greatly disappointed.¡± Rodriguez smiled: ¡°I may have lost my right hand, but I believe I wouldn¡¯t fall so low to be a useless trash. Duke, if you are willing to ept me, I¡¯m willing to assist you in theing future. All right then! Only like this can Du Wei truly be relieved. A Saint Knight is a Saint Knight, even if the person was missing a right hand; the power of a saint level warrior was still there. ¡°I still have a question.¡± Du Wei suddenly thought of one thing: ¡°The question has been bothering me for a while now¡­.. I¡¯m afraid only you can give me the answers.¡± At this point, Du Wei takes in a deep breath: ¡°Your unique technique, Ice Dou Qi, and ¡®Sigh of the Frost Moon¡¯¡­¡­.. Did you impart your skills to any other people? I recently met a young man whom also knows these techniques, and his Ice Dou Qi was at a considerable level already.¡± What disappointed Du Wei next was the tightly knit brow that came out of his question. Shaking his head, Rodriguez answered: ¡°No. My martial skills were all passed on to me by my teacher¡­.. I believe my teacher didn¡¯t teach anyone else either. Though my teacher has a lot of students, I seem to be the only one that learned martial arts from him.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s your teacher?¡± Rodriguez grinned: ¡°Blue Ocean.¡± Peng! The sound of Du Wei¡¯s cup shattering into multiple pieces reverberated across the deadly silent room. After Du Wei finished his conversation with Rodriguez, our main hero walked out of the room with eyes full of gloom. ¡°Bloody hell ¡­ ¡­ Ice Dou Qi, Snowy Mountain¡¯s disciple¡­. Damn it, this whole situation is so damnplicated! Cybuster¡¯s martial skills are actually that of the Snowy Mountain sect! What, so that Rugaard is rted to the Snow Mountain?¡± Things just got way out of hand¡­¡­. ording to Rodriguez¡¯s request, a separate courtyard was set aside for him to train. With that out of the way, Du Wei¡¯s first priority now was to go interrogate that poor female assassin. If this female assassin was part of the Snowy Mountain too, then what¡¯s Rugaard¡¯s rtionship with that sect? A disciple of the Snowy Mountain assassinating another disciple of the Snowy Mountain, now that¡¯s rich! Ever since Aoi was seized by this Duke Tulip back at Watt City, she really suffered a lot in his care ¨C sealed inside a crate for eight full days. Aside from the cramp space and inability to move, things got worse when stacks of hay were dumped on top of her, thus making her feeling like a wrapped dumpling. Then there was the air. Though a vent hole was made to let her breath, she still felt like she would suffocate multiple times during the ordeal. Damn this Duke Tulip¡­ ¡­ What is he nning to do with me? Eight days long, never once did he look at her. It¡¯s almost like she didn¡¯t exist in his eyes¡­. But ¡­ ¡­ Aoi¡¯s heart does feel a little lucky at the oue of not being ¡°interrogated¡± anymore. Though she¡¯s been trained since small to utilize her womanly charms as a weapon, but¡­¡­ Those eyes from this young man when he stripped her of all her clothes¡­¡­. Aoi wasn¡¯t blind. Those eyes weren¡¯t full of sexual desire when looking at her; instead, there were only a deep sense of mockery and contempt. Like a cat looking down at a mouse! Whether it was anticipation or fear, Aoi was psychologically prepared for whatever is toe. Well, she may say that but that wasn¡¯t actually the case. Rather than saying prepared, it¡¯s more appropriate to say she had ¡°given up¡±. For this reason, when Du Wei first stepped into the cell where Aoi was shackled against the wall, he never expected the first word toe out of this seductively poised girl would be: ¡°You¡­ ¡­ Finally came to XXXX me eh!¡± (It means he came to rape her) Du Wei: ¡°¡­¡­¡± (Utterly speechless) If not for the reason that he needed to maintain an ¡°interrogator¡± image, Du Wei would haveughed so hard that he be rolling on the floor. ¡°What did you say ¡­ ¡­ XXXX? Did I hear you right, did you really mean ¡®XXXX¡¯?¡± Du Wei painfully tried not tough, but his move only made his face look awkwardly weird. As such, his goodwill only made this female prisoner even more ufortable. ¡°Am I not right?!¡± Aoi reluctantly raised her head high to retaliate. Only by doing this can she hide her fear: ¡°Isn¡¯t those methods the most efficient way for you to deal with a female prisoner?!¡± This girl may have the greatest body out there¡­.. But this girl seems to have a screw loose in that head of hers. Du Wei sighed. Are they all crazy up there at Snowy Mountain? Sending a simple minded girl to perform such a task. With keen interest, Du Wei deliberately approached Aoi to the point where his nose nearly touched the girl¡¯s face. Then with a malicious grin, he carefully looked over the attractive body before him¡­¡­. Those eyes looked very picky¡­.. Aoi¡¯s first reaction was this weird thought. As if there¡¯s no appreciation ¡­ ¡­ But picky! Like this damn noble was using a critical, or dissatisfactory gaze to look at her amazing body!@! Such eyes suddenly caused Aoi¡¯s grievance to erupt after suppressing it for so many days. He¡¯s actually dissatisfied? What qualification does he have to not be satisfied! It took a lot of work and training to tone her body into this work of art! Even those back on top of the mountain considered her to be a true beauty! Yet her seductive and alluring pose right now isn¡¯t enough to satisfy him?! Although these dirty thoughts kept popping up in her head, Aoi still tried her best to hide her bottom part with her legs from Du Wei¡¯s forceful eyes. ¡°Your assets are really good.¡± Du Wei deeply sighed. Listening to this ¡°praise¡±, Aoi¡¯s eye suddenly began to tear up. Somehow, those words gave her a sense of humiliation that she couldn¡¯t figure out where it wasing from. After being stripped naked that day, this sted noble tied her up and then threw her into a crate like a dead dog. These days, all she had was the same dirty red dress from that banquet. Both stinky and smelly, she never felt so dirty in her life from all the dust and stains¡­. Even if he wanted to execute her, couldn¡¯t he at least let her take a bath?! ¡°You are lucky today.¡± Du Wei crossed his arms and took several paces back: ¡°My mood today was really bad after receiving some really bad news. Before I came here, I was nning to punish you hard to vent my anger and frustration. However¡­. Your luck is good. When I walked in the door, your first sentence made me very happy. As a reward for pleasing me, I can now let you go. But¡­¡­¡± Du Wei gently raised his hands and made a snipping gesture with two of his fingers. At that, the shackles binding Aoi instantly cracked and split apart. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a chance, an opportunity to suffer less. Now you can make your body feel better while I get someone to bring you a pen and paper. I want you to write all that you know¡­. Your history, the Snowy Mountain behind you, I want to know it all. One by one, I don¡¯t want a single piece of information missing by the end of it. If you are smart, you will do as I say. And I mean everything and anything you know, even if the details are¡­¡­ uhumph, dirty and elicit, including how they go to the toilet and how they pee, I want to know it all! I¡¯ll give you three days to write them all out. Then when Ie back in three days¡­.¡± At this point, Du Wei deliberately paused and looked the female prisoner in the eye: ¡°If, however, three dayster, I¡¯m not satisfied with what I get¡­. Dear Miss Aoi, you can expect some serious punishment from me.¡± After saying all this, Du Wei took a step forward and gently pinched Aoi¡¯s chin. Lifting her head up to face his, Aoi¡¯s fear became tantly obvious. Subsequently, under Aoi¡¯s low shrieking voice, Du Wei¡¯s hand quickly slipped from the chin and made its way down to the girl¡¯s mountainous breasts¡­.. From there, all sorts of groping actions began to take ce! ¡°This ¡­ ¡­ bastard! He¡¯s not only touching me, he¡¯s even pinching my tit!!!¡± Retracting his hand back after satisfying his desire, Du Wei pulled his hand up to his nose and sniffed it with great pleasure. Then watching the pathetic and pitiful prisoner, he lets out a deep sigh in a very obvious mocking tone: ¡°Ahhh¡­.. Dear Miss Aoi, I must rmend you this¡­. It¡¯s time you took a bath!¡± After saying that, Du Wei left the cell while cheerfullyughing his way out. And just before he closed the door behind him, Du Wei made sure to leave behind a word that left Aoi somewhat puzzled. ¡°Humph, 35D*Breast Size*¡­ ¡­ Remember, you have three days to satisfy my demand¡­.. If by then you can¡¯t meet my demand, I guarantee your suffering will be ten times more tragic than whatever ¡®XXXX¡¯ that you spoke of.¡± In a loud thud, the cell door heavily closes to leave behind the terrified looking Aoi. What does this jerk mean by that ¡°35D¡±? Chapter 257 Chapter 257 ¡°Fatal beauty¡± ¡°Hanyue¡± is a very beautiful name; likewise, Hanyue herself is also a beautiful girl. (Her name is a direct trantion, meaning ¡°Regretful Moon¡± which will fit nicely with her role in the story. If you guys remember where I said this story has a rape segment, she¡¯s it!!) However, like the old saying goes: ¡°beauties don¡¯t live long¡±, Hanyue is destined to not live a happy life. Hello everyone, this is Bcat This is a experiment on my end to test something because there¡¯s been a surge of sites stealing my work without permission. This is not a proper release, just something i pulled from google trante. For those disappointed, sorry about this but i¡¯ll have this chapter out tonight aspensation. Here¡¯s my message to those that¡¯s reading off the congestion sites stealing other trantions, including my work, please stop doing that. If you must use a congestion site, use http://.novelupdates/ or reddit, otherwise you are just killing themunity. Hanyue is sixteen years old this year; she does not have milky white skin like the girls of the Rnd continent Rnd city girl so milky white. But slightly suffused light wheaten colour, like a satin smooth. People who like Hanyues, considered her eyes really like Moon so bright in the night sky. However, such a beautiful face, brought her nothing but disaster. Hanyues mothers and fathers do not Rnd, although she was born in this city, on the continent. With very little time, and told her parents, who are from the South, in the beautiful depths of the sea, in the distance, is a rich and beautiful ce, that ce, Rnd on the continent, it is known as ¡°South Pacific¡±. Parents are in their youth by the Imperial expeditionary forces looted back. Father is said to be the son of a tribal chief, and the mother is not beautiful, can only be regarded as an ordinary woman. But this was lucky, because is superior because it does not face, makes the mother of Hanyues, Rnd as well as other ve and ve owners on the Maind¡¯s ything. With a very urate Word, mature vepletely summed up with Hanyues of identity. She was born in the city of Rnd, although skin and appearance with obvious characteristics of Nanyang, but she says that city, Rnd, Rnd city for even simple text to write their own name. However, being a ve child Hanyue originally was destined to be ves ¡­ ¡­ And it is sad that, she was given a revealing a stunning beauty. And ve gathering ce. Hanyue when young, unable to understand is: why they¡¯re better than the other kids look good, but those people always to look with pity and a shame to her. After slightly grown up a little, Hanyue and finally understand the meaning of the eye. Beautiful, it did be her biggest sin! At age 12, Hanyue was from a ve sold to another ve hands. She was forced to undergo training ¡­ ¡­ The shameful practice. You can imagine, a 12-year old girl, beganpulsive deprived of their dignity. Every day to learn how to ¡­ ¡­ ¡­¡­ To please men. If you follow the normal life of a beautiful ve girl, Hanyues since the age of 12, had silently see their future fate: Yes, because of her beautiful body, her future will be bought by a wealthy Aristocrat or businessman, and then became a ything of letting men ravaged. After master tired, being thrown to others ¡­ ¡­ In future, if we let her autumnal day. Any appeal had been well, she might have just been married a also a ve driver or in the ntation and ves ¡­ ¡­ And then have a child if she had not been men tortured to death. Then again ¡­ ¡­ Her future offspring, are also expected to continue to be the ves, gave birth to a son, will face a lifetime of endless toil. If it is a daughter ¡­ ¡­ If she is beautiful and Hanyues repeat the tragic fate! This is the ve. So, when the Hanyue and after a girl was sold to the Northwest army of Doro. She has despaired of life as a child, mother whispered to her about the beautiful Southeast Asia, exactly the same as Pearl on the distribution in the blue sea of the ind. Pearl ¡­ ¡­ Hanyue well seen in this life. Subsequently, the fates and the big joke on her and is two. The first time, she was told, that he would be ¡® rewarded ¡® give a hand heavily to the Northwest army generals. What is the Northwest army, Hanyues do not know, but she knew. She is about to say goodbye to his career as a young girl, what they were trained for many years ¡­ ¡­ Going to practice. Also, she may not do anything to upset their future master things, otherwise, her parents will suffer a miserable fate. A dayter, things have changed, she and the other girls, thrown into a dark cell. That was full of terrible foul taste cells. She didn¡¯t even see the bones and remnants of shackles on blood. Then many girls are there also has been a whip even tortured. Hanyues of this time, also did not know. Because the party ¡°kill¡± their ves, had been the Northwest Army Commander in Chief General Rugaard, were sentenced to death. Another day, naked girl children were locked in the cage, brought to the outskirts of the forest. Their ything, became ¡°prey¡±. The second time she had thought he was dead, those rude barbarian soldiers with shining on them waving the knife, as identical to drive animals into their Woods. All those horrible soldiers proud and cruelughter. When running in the Woods, her beautiful legs were scratched by thorns, manual how can quickly drain not drain it? well she has a day and a night to eat well drink. Hanyues is ready for great dead ¡­ ¡­ Perhaps, to die here, his is a good thing. At least, death, always more reassuring than the tragic fate of the future. However, when listening to the Woods around other girls screaming from the far, Hanyues cannot suppress their fears. At this moment, as if the desire to survive was rekindled from the human instinct toe out. She struggled to run, supple bare feet had originally cut by sharp stones, but she seems to feel no pain ¡­ ¡­ Atst¡­¡­ She fainted. No exaggeration to say that this twist of fate twice, with Hanyues brought apletely different ¡°the future.¡± Wake up when she and several girls together ¡­ ¡­ Let her cry is, with more than 10 girls are kept in a cage, leaving only six, including her own. Q: can survive? is still ¡­ ¡­ His hand also was handed over to a new owner? ything became a new owner? Hanyues and her girls are put into the cart. Then ride, well people tell them where to go. However, luck is that the new owner, seems to be more humane, or at least gave them clothes and gave them food and water. Eight dayster, the Hanyue came to a big city. Her surprise was. In the Northwest over the years, she has never seen such a big city! Carriage carriage is not sealed, containing Hanyues huddled in the corner, from the small holes can be seen on a Board outside. She saw the walls of Xiong Wei, was seen wearing strange clothing prairie people, see herds of livestock herds, see gant soldier, saw the satisfied smiles on those faces on the street. Atst. They were brought into a castle. Here and did not mistreat them, and Northwest Armypared to the rude soldier, bodyguard here serious and quiet, was locked in a room after a day, even at night time. Hanyue a piece filled with aroma of hot bread. She huddled in a corner, like a greedy little mice gnawed desperately, then night holding knees sat by the window, looking out at the moon. Another day came to the Castle. Hanyues finally see their own ¡°new owner¡±. When the young people with a faint smile on your face when you walked into the room, he looked so young ¡­ ¡­ As if age does not have its own bar. But can feel with Hanyues, stood behind the young man¡¯s bodyguard, to the lesser nobles, worship and veneration of the eyes is no doubt. Heartbeat is more Hanyues, this young man ¡­ ¡­ The way he smiles, really nice ¡­ ¡­ ¡°From now on, I¡¯m your new master. You can call me master. Or ¡­ ¡­ Duke adult. ¡± This is the first time I hear the sound of Du Wei. ¡°And, starting today, you will find that I am that you¡¯ve met the kindest master. But ¡­ ¡­ Being a return, you must give me satisfaction. Because I give you a chance to change the fate. ¡± Du Wei looked at it six frightened rabbit before the same girl. His words are slow, very clear, ¡°here with me, you can getfortable clothes, delicious food, and appropriate freedom. But you must understand that. Your life is mine. I won¡¯t you casually give some guy wantonly spoil ¡­ ¡­ But as your master. You must always be ready to die for me. Who in return, I will meet you requirements ¡­ ¡­ However, just one chance. ¡± Here at the time, Du Wei have noticed that Hanyue. There is no doubt that, even if her face is filled with tired, even though her leg is also carrying an injury, even if she just kneels down in obscure corners. But with Hanyues of beauty, is still all these ¡°prey¡± among the most outstanding. Her beauty is like a flower growing strong in the mountain rock crevices of snow Lotus, feminine, is full of the beauty of life. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Du Wei looked at the girl smiled, his smile was gentle. ¡°¡­¡­ With Hanyues. ¡± In a low voice, but has a beautiful voice. Du Wei nodded: ¡°tell me, what is your greatest wish?¡± Du Wei¡¯s eyes calm, but Hanyues suddenly instinct gives birth to a fear to! although the young owner is very nice, although the way heughed, people can not help but have a feeling of wanting to get closer. But¡­¡­ His eyes, really scary! ¡°Speak, my child. ¡°Du Wei suddenly went through several other kneeling in front of the girl¡¯s side, Du Wei¡¯s hand gently on the shoulders of a Hanyue, he has a soft voice:¡± tell me, what is your greatest wish? ¡± Although his age is notrge, but no one hears the tone, exactly like it felt very natural. It seems, the young master, was born to be so high. ¡°I¡­¡­¡± Hanyues suddenly raised her eyes, her beautiful like a Hanyue in General eyes, Du Wei sighed a bit. ¡°I hope ¡­ ¡­ No longer a ve. ¡± After you finish this sentence, Hanyues had closed his eyes. She did not know where it came from this courage. But experience tells her that dares to say so, the next encounter, I am afraid, is a mercilessly whip! For a long time, expected to whip well, Du Wei¡¯s hand gently under her face, on her face gently, and then Hanyues heard in my life. Since 16 years of her life, the most wonderful voice! ¡°OK, so starting from today, you¡¯re no longer a ve. ¡± Hanyue¡¯s mind immediately mercilessly beating up, she looked up, watching the young master. ¡°But ¡­ but ¡­ Your life is still mine. ¡°Du Wei light way:¡± can I let your father and your mother. Your family, your friends ¡­ ¡­ Take off the ve status. But in return, your life is mine, at any time, any ce. Any of my words, it will be your highest mission. ¡± Finally, Du Wei tapped her forehead: ¡°from now on, you are their boss. ¡± Out of this room, Du Wei can obviously feel. Shut the door the moment, call that included Hanyues of pretty little ve in the door that, from that hurts the eyes. Enjoy breath, Du Wei pondered the question for a moment, both on the side of the good manners Division issued themand. ¡°Q: see these girls?¡± Du Wei before watching a 40 years old woman, this woman is the etiquette of the Rowling family divisions, other than at court even had work experience. ¡°Starting from today, I will receive the best education and training ¡­ ¡­ I ask that all of the girls here. Future also possess temperament could beparable to the aristocratic girls¡­¡­ ¡°Du Wei said, smiled:¡± that girl called Hanyue ¡­ ¡­ I ask you to turn her into a Princess! q: understood? Princess! ¡± As head of the ups and downs of life in aristocratic circles etiquette teacher, two middle-aged women what not seen? immediately guessed the young Duke¡¯s intentions, quickly with the most humble tone. Du Wei sighed: beautiful, has always been the most deadly weapons. Xyster! invisible knife, sometimes even better than thousands of bikers! Hussein faces apathy as Du Wei left, ran out of the time, and met with other guards. The Pdin was suddenly cold tone: ¡°Du Wei. You¡­¡­ ¡± ¡°How do I?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know what you want to do. ¡°King Hussein slowly:¡± Du Wei, do not believe that the use of these poor innocent girls I¡­¡­ ¡± ¡°You?¡± Du Wei suddenlyughed: ¡°or do you think such a move a bit dirty ¡­ ¡­ Rider conduct inconsistent with you? or. Am I evil? ¡± Hussein did not speak, but his eyes had replied to questions Du Wei. ¡°Hussein. ¡°Du Wei took a look out at the sky, above the gray sky, a miserable:¡± you see! Northwest of here! well, bright sunshine, well soft spring breeze! it¡¯s just cruel and cold! ¡± Then he turned, Knight looked at before: ¡°I Du Wei what? my strength better than robust high! in the Northwest than the Foundation of Bohan! my powers as the prairie people! mages far not much snow around me witch! in this ce ¡­ ¡­ But I must survive! I¡¯m not alone! there!, I, Longbottom, Robert, Dardanelle ¡­ ¡­ And so on and so on, all the people! Tulip family behind me there are tens of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of thousands of people! and my family! I loved ones! everyone must survive! ¡± Hussain picked up an eyebrow. Du Wei very dignified tone: ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m mean or evil ¡­ ¡­ If so, I wouldn¡¯t mind doing more evil thing! in order to survive here ¡­ ¡­ I¡¯m not a rider, I¡¯m reluctant to do a demon! ¡± Finally, Du Wei gently enjoying the breath, but his tone more firm: ¡°If you think I¡¯m evil ¡­ ¡­ So congrattions, you guessed it, is because I sure am!! ¡± Chapter 258 Chapter 258 ¡°stood up¡± Finally the determined date has arrived and everything was set in order while Du Wei waited outside of Lon City for the Dragon to arrive. ¡°Hussein, go call Vivian and our beautiful snake girl, hmm ¡­ ¡­ Also bring out our Ice Dou Qi knight, just go call everyone. We will y a game of dragon ying.¡± Du Wei nned everything out already. When the Dragon arrives, he will have Hussein take the first round. Though both of them are at the saint level but a dragon¡¯s body far exceeds that of a humans; therefore, Hussein will be at a slight disadvantage. Nevertheless, considering how stubborn this guy was, Hussein should be able to ovee that and force a stalemate. Adding in Rodriguez, though this Knight was missing a hand, the condition was set for certain victory with his support. But the only worrying part was his Lon City. It wasn¡¯t easy to build such a grand city from scratch; he can¡¯t afford to have it destroyed when the battle takes ce. To insure this doesn¡¯t happen, he along with Vivian and Medusa will support from the back and forcefully push the dragon away to another location¡­.. It¡¯s just a dragon Prince. Based on the strength of his party now, no being other than that old lizard in the north should be able to kill him, let alone resist their might¡­. Dragon ying, this will be a breeze! Of course, the best results are: his side taking turns to face the dragon prince. The aim wasn¡¯t to kill the guy; it¡¯s to keep him here for good without any ability to run. Then when everything was set ¡­ ¡­ He will summon that red monster and subdue this dragon. This way around, Du Wei will be able to be the sole magician on this continent to have a dragon as a pet. One has to admit¡­. This n was very good. Unfortunately things never go as n¡­¡­. Considering how prideful the dragon race was, the Second Prince wouldn¡¯t try any funny business like attacking from the shadows. He will definitely make a grandiose entrance. That¡¯s what he was expecting anyways¡­.. Starting from this morning, Du Wei¡¯s being sitting atop of the city wall sipping tea, drinking wine. As the sun hanging over his head got more intense, he went as far as to cast an ice spell to cool himself, almost like a pic outing¡­¡­ By the time afternoon rolled around, the wind started to pick up and the sun was soon covered by clouds of dust. Facing the dimly lit sky, even Du Wei felt the heat of battle drawing near. Although the sun was no longer zing hot, the wind will still give someone a headache from how hard it blew. Tick tock, tick tock, time continues to move, yet that sted dragon was nowhere in sight. Waiting a whole day like this with his party, Du Wei was starting to wonder if the dragon race had learned how to deploy strategy in their fights. ¡°It can¡¯t be, is that guy nning to do a night raid? Crap, did he underestimate the IQ of theserge reptiles?¡± But, unfortunately, when night took hold and the twinkling stars blossomed across the sky¡­. One of the standing guards came to report that midnight has arrived. That was when Du Wei sighed and stood up from his chair. Looking around at thepanions beside him, he made a sad and bitter smile: ¡°Umm ¡­ ¡­ As things stand now, there is only one possibility. Everyone ¡­ ¡­ I think we¡¯ve probably been stood up.¡± Who would have thought that the dignified and proud dragons would pull something as despicable as standing up a foe after they issued a ¡°duel¡±. Worst of all, some of the strongest people on the continent ended up waiting a whole day for nothing because of it. Du Wei didn¡¯t know whether to cry or tough ¡­ ¡­ Or worry whether this dragon will make a surprise attack in the future. ¡°Alright, alright ¡­ ¡­ Fighting likely won¡¯t happen today. Let¡¯s go back and have a good sleep after washing up.¡± Just when Du Wei finished his sentence, Vivian¡¯s surprised voice came from behind him: ¡°Ah! Look!¡± She points a finger into the distance. Some distance away on the main road, a figure was slowly making its way over in the darkness. Is it that Gold Dragon? Doesn¡¯t seem like it ¡­ ¡­ Silver hair, fluttering dress, sleek body, this person was like an ornament that brought life to its surroundings. Finally, when this person was approximately two hundred meters away from the city gate, this woman raised her face and smiled directly at Du Wei. Despite the long distance, Du Wei could clearly make out that beautiful face due to his exceptional senses. Those cold yet prideful eyes, there¡¯s no way Du Wei can forget that violent temperament. ¡°I say, what are you people waiting for?¡± The woman standing out there smirked even harder: ¡°I think the guy you¡¯re waiting for won¡¯t being.¡± With that, she reached behind herself and pulled something out to wave it in the air. Then throwing it over, this shiny objectnded right in front of the city gate. Peng! This object was obviously the goldennce used by that Second Dragon Prince. But unlike before, the grip was broken and cracks circted across the entire rod. Following suit, the air behind the woman warped and a green robed figure slowly came into existence. Compared to theirst encounter, this person didn¡¯t look so well. Aside from the two holes in the chest area of his robe, even his iconic green hat was missing. Then there¡¯s that white silvery hair of his, scattered and messy, even that beard looked shorter than before Ughhh ¡­ ¡­ Are those burn marks? Du Weipsed out for nearly ten seconds beforeing out of his stupor. Then taking in a deep breath, he gave the neers a serious look: ¡°Hey! I say, as one of the strongest being on this continent, how can you make a habit of always being te¡¯!¡± The agreed date was supposed to be three months after their separation, but from their appointed day, this guy and his female disciple waited one year and twenty three days to show up in the Northwest. After opening the gate, Du Wei personally led hispanions to greet the master and disciple duo. Vivian on the other hand kept squirming behind Du Wei and left only half her head out like she feared the pair: ¡°Sis-sister.¡± Joanna picked her brow as she watched her sister: ¡°I thought you would be stronger after staying so long in the Northwest¡­. Hey, why are you cowering behind this guy? It¡¯s not like I¡¯m gonna eat you!¡± Du Wei on the other hand was too busy assessing this green robed guy to pay attention Joanna¡¯sint. Looking at it from a magician¡¯s perspective, Du Wei got the distinct impression that this old man was very weak at the moment. It¡¯s almost like he just came out of a fierce battle, and not just one at that. That robe¡¯s clearly been burned. Then there¡¯s that beard of his¡­. Who can possibly drive this Magister into such a mess? ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Green robed Gandalf unkindly hollered at Du Wei. ¡°I¡¯m just guessing who on this continent can beat you so badly.¡± Du Wei raised one corner of his mouth before coughing once to clear his throat: ¡°I say dear teacher¡­. You said you will seek me out in three months, yet one year had passed since then. Don¡¯t you think a little apology is in order for being sote?¡± Green robed Gandalf rolled his eye at thement: ¡°Quit yapping gibberish. I¡¯m in a bad mood right now. If you cross me right now, I don¡¯t mind turning you into an ice crystal to sooth my fury. Now show me the way. It must be veryfortable here in your ce. I need one hundred barrels of wine and afortable room¡­.. Within the next month, don¡¯t bother me.¡± Du Wei also rolled his eye like the old gramps, but he did notice the long flute hanging off of Gandalf¡¯s waist ¨C only half of the flute remained. Du Wei knew this old guy had some weird habits so he¡¯s wise enough to not rattle the ho nest. Besides, he can just ask Joanna afterwards. ¡°We went to the North. North of the Frozen Forest.¡± Joanna¡¯s answer made Du Wei gasp. ¡°Teacher said he really want to see that Dragon Chief whom killed him once. For the dignity of a powerful individual, he wants vengeance.¡± Du Wei shrugged his shoulders. Revenge? This vengeance really was odd. Hmm, what, you kill me once and now I¡¯m going to get revenge for myself? ¡°Did you see that old dragon?¡± Asked Du Wei in a whispering voice. Joanna sighed: ¡°Who do you think can beat my teacher so badly?¡± Du Wei nods: ¡°Able toe back alive is a real eye opener already.¡± Hearing their conversation, Green robed Gandalf suddenly turned around and cut off their dialogue: ¡°Although I hate to admit it, that old lizard is stronger than me. We originally couldn¡¯t make it back, but fortunately when we made our escape, that dragon encountered some trouble up at the mountain and couldn¡¯t pursue us. That¡¯s when we managed to get out of the tundra field.¡± Before Du Wei could ask what that trouble was, Joanna already followed up with the next part. ¡°As we made our way back, we encountered that little dragonst night. We were fuming already after our encounter with that old lizard, so when we saw him¡­¡­¡± Gandalf sneered loudly: ¡°We saw him as an eyesore so we killed him.¡± Du Wei smiled wryly inside. Can¡¯t take the dad so kill the son? Hmm ¡­ ¡­ This approach may be a bit low ss, but¡­¡­ It¡¯s very much in line with this Green Hat¡¯s style. Chapter 259 part 1 Chapter 259 ¡°hot potato¡± (part one) Looks like the injury on this Green Hat wasn¡¯t light. After returning to the Duke¡¯s Manor, Du Wei immediately searched for a clean room in the castle¡¯s cer. This was Gandalf¡¯s request. He asked for a room without any possibility of lighting through. In fact, his injury was so strange like he that it sounded like he was afraid of the sun¡¯s light. Racking his brains out, Du Wei could only temporarily vacate the castle¡¯s cer for the old guy to use. And regarding the hundred barrels of wine, it wasn¡¯t a joke! He reiterated the request very seriously the moment they stepped into the castle ground. Though the request was a little ridiculous, it won¡¯t stump Du Wei. It¡¯s not like the Desa Province wascking in food like before, in fact, there¡¯s a surplus of grain to make wine this year. Although there¡¯s not enough stock in the residence, Du Wei sent the soldiers out to make a round across town to round up the needed supply. As such, many of the pub owners were woken up in the middle of the night by the banging on their door. At first these people were frightened by themotion, but when the soldiers exined everything that it was the Duke¡¯s request, it didn¡¯t take long for the task to be finished. In fact, many of the pub owners offered to donate their stash out of gratitude to the Duke. But because Du Wei gave specific orders to pay for everything, nothing was taken for free. After all the wine was moved into the cer, old Gandalf immediately closed the cer door and left behind only one sentence: ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone bother me within a month, including you.¡± To seal the deal, this old fart went as far as to set up a silencing spell around the ce. Even if the outside was facing armageddon, he could still sleep with the wine barrel in his arms. Therefore, even if Du Wei had a rack full of questions to ask, he could only run off to Joanna for the answer. At the very least Du Wei was no longer that afraid of this abusive woman¡­¡­ Although she would still threaten to turn him into an ice crystal or turn him into an ice wraith at every turn, Du Wei wasn¡¯t too concerned for his safety at this point considering his own strength. ¡°That¡¯s what happened.¡± Joanna raised the biggest cup on the table and generously gulped the wine down: ¡°Your wine here is pretty good. Guess being a powerful nobleman can be quite beneficial.¡± After a good while of immersing himself in Joanna¡¯s story, Du Wei finally reorganized his thoughts and asked: ¡°You¡¯re saying, you and your teacher¡­¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s our teacher.¡± Joanna quickly corrected the error in Du Wei¡¯s phrasing: ¡°Teacher already promised to take you in as a disciple, so, whether you like it or not, you have to refer to him as your teacher.¡± ¡°Alright, our teacher!! After leaving the capital, you and our teacher went directly to the north? And from the Frozen Forest, you came to the tundra field and eventually reached the Dragon Mountain?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Our teacher challenged the dragon chief ¡­ ¡­ And then¡­¡­¡± ¡°At the beginning the other side didn¡¯t take us seriously, but those big flying reptiles quickly knew the seriousness of their mistake. Teacher personally beat the leader of their patrol team to the point where the ck guy could barely breathe. Only then did that old lizarde out.¡± Du Wei sighed and imaged the scene where Green robe Gandalf faced off against that dragon chief: ¡°That must have been quite the dramatic scene.¡± Du Wei smiles wryly at himself. He can already imagine the face that old lizard would make when meeting Green Robe. It¡¯s not often one gets to meet someone they just killed not so long ago. By the way, Du Wei was careful to ask for the timeframe. It¡¯s clear that by the time Green Robe and Joanna reached the Holy Mountain, the three dragon prince had already left for Du Wei. On this issue, Du Wei was utterly speechless over Joanna¡¯s exnation. ¡°It¡¯s not like we ever went to the Holy Mountain before. Teacher and I ended up roaming around in that sted forest for months. I can¡¯t even remember how many magic beasts we killed along the way. At first we would asionally encounter some humans in our path, but as we continued to head north and pass the great circrke, there wasn¡¯t a single sign of human activity. Once we were left alone, we didn¡¯t know where to go. All we knew was head north, but north was so big, how are we supposed to know which path led to where?¡± That¡¯s why this pair of directionally challenged duo could only arrive at the Holy Mountain after spending so much time in the Frozen Forest. By the time they did reached the dragons¡¯ home, the three prince was already on their way to Du Wei. As to the PK between Green Hat and the dragon chief, there¡¯s not much to talk about. Back when White robe Gandalf, Hussein, and Medusa fought together against that old lizard, the result still ended up in their loss. Therefore, Green Robes had no chance of winning. And the loss was in a very miserable way both asions. The lucky part though was that the old lizard also paid a hefty price when Du Wei and his party escaped that day. Though it can¡¯t be called a heavy injury, they did force the Dragon Chief to use the ¡°Dragon God Armor¡± and ¡°Dragon Blessing¡± after dealing some decent hits, both of which can only be used once every hundred years. In theory, these two tricks should give that old lizard absolute defense to both magic and physical attacks. As such, Green Robed got off easy in his encounter because the old dragon couldn¡¯t utilize his greatest trump cards. ¡°You said the Dragons themselves had trouble on their hand?¡± Du Wei¡¯s more concerned with that problem than anything else. ¡°Think it was some kind of enemy from the northern part of the mountain.¡± This part from Joanna sounded like an understatement, but Du Wei knew better. North? ording to his spections from before, what lies beyond the dragon mountain are the exiled races: elves, dwarves, beastmen, and maybe even more¡­¡­. The dragons responsible for guarding this mountain were the first line of defense to the human world. Since ancient times, this barricade has never been breached. But what does that ¡°trouble¡± mean? Can it be that the races in the north have grown so powerful that even the mighty dragon race was beginning to worry? The stuff Du Wei needs to consider was this: If such a powerful group of people broke through the dragon barricade and returned to the Rnd continent, what kind of impact will it bring to the human world? If the dragons can¡¯t hold them off, how was the human race supposed to? Just like that, Du Wei randomly thought of all of this in the splurge of the moment. Looking back, even Du Wei felt silly for worrying so much. It¡¯s not like he¡¯s the king of this empire, he¡¯s only a duke. There are plenty of people that should be worrying about this before he does. For example: the Pope from the temple, or the Regent himself. Though this method of selfforting was very pleasing, he could not stop the unease lurking in his heart. Ultimately, he found that things are spiraling beyond his control. Du Wei can tolerate the stuff going on in the Northwest, why? Because whether it was the prairie natives, Northwest Army, or Bohan¡¯s request, all of this was within his area of expectation. At the very least, he still has control over his next course of action. But the Dragons in the North, the exiled races beyond the mountain, none of them are within his control. Du Wei¡¯s mindset was always like this: he doesn¡¯t hate difficulties, he hate difficulties that are outside his field of control. Damn it¡­¡­ Survival of the human race¡­ ¡­ What the hell does it have to do with him! Du Wei gave himself this conclusion. Whatever the result of the battle between the dragon race and the exiled races¡­.. Joanna doesn¡¯t know. Because by that time, she and ¡°our teacher¡±, had fled in a panic already. ¡°Enough, my dear senior sister.¡± Du Wei squeezed a smile out: ¡°No matter what, let the dragons deal with whatever headache is over there. At the very least they got that psychotically powerful old dragon there. Hmm, I almost forgot to say, wee to thend of the Tulip Family. If you wish to have a stroll outside then go right ahead. If you like anything then buy it. Here, you can enjoy the finest food and finest wine while living infort. But promise me this for the sake of sharing the same teacher; please don¡¯t go making trouble by sting someone to smithereens because they are an eyesore to you, alright?¡± ¡°I want to find something to do.¡± From the way she sounds, there¡¯s no way Joanna will behave. After hurting his brain, Du Wei came up with something: ¡°Let¡¯s do this then. Bohan from the Nuling Province has been asking me to give him a little aid in the magic field. He¡¯s upfront against the Northwest Army so he¡¯s in dire need of a Mage to support him. I already promised to send him a batch of five magic apprentices to aid him in two months. If you like, you can act as these kids temporary mentor. Their talent ain¡¯t so bad if I do say so myself.¡± Pausing here, Du Wei quickly put this woman¡¯s personality into consideration and emphasized his next part: ¡°I can ignore how you train these poor kids, but my request is in two months, they muste back intact. Not a single finger can be missing from them, understand? Also, I want to see obvious improvement in their strength. If you can¡¯t do this much in two months then I will consider this job unfit for you.¡± Joanna¡¯s eyes lit up and a cruel smile emerged from her lips: ¡°Oh, be a nurse for a bunch of rookies? The job sounds very interesting¡­. Fine, I ept!¡± ¡°Please remember the two conditions!¡± Du Wei once again reminded her with a tinge of panic in his voice. ¡°I got it! No injury allowed and a definite improvement in their strength, does that please you?¡± Joanna showcased a disregarding smile: ¡°I promise to uphold your requests¡­.. And make sure their physical bodies remain unharmed¡­¡­ But I can¡¯t guarantee whether or not they wille back without psychological trauma!¡± Du Wei sighs¡­ ¡­ Oh merciful creator, did I just bring in a demoness? Chapter 259 part 2 Chapter 259 ¡°hot potato¡± (part two) The priority now was that Du Wei needs to figure out whether or not will the Third Princee making trouble for him after the death of the second brother. Fortunately, the problem quickly solved itself out. On the second day after Gandalf and Joanna¡¯s arrival, Du Wei had anxiously sent the twenty six magic apprentices away with their new ¡°mentor¡± in tag to Anglia City. Reason why it¡¯s ¡°lucky¡± was because a very special guest arrived right after Joanna left. If not for this, Du Wei feared that Lon would otherwise be a battlefield engulfed in mes. When afternoon first rolled around that day, a deafening roar came from the sky and caused panic to run rampant throughout the city streets. Fortunately, the situation quickly came under control through the efforts of the experienced soldiers of the Tulip Army. Everyone saw it that day. The massive ck object in the sky with its long wings, long tail, gigantic body, and a hulking big head¡­.. ¡°Dragon!! A real Dragon!!!!¡± After the first shout exploded, numerous responses followed suit. A great ck Dragon. After circling over the city sky, this massive being gradually lowered its altitude and began to speak in a humanistic tongue after making sure the soldiers weren¡¯t shooting at him. ¡°Duke Tulip! I want to see the Duke!¡± As result of this deration, Du Wei could only brace himself and meet this dragon warrior atop of the highest tower in his castle. ¡°How are you ¡­ ¡­¡± Even though there were still some distance between him and this ck guy, Du Wei¡¯s face felt like it was being scraped at by des every time this behemoth pped its wing. Butpared to the previous two Dragon Princes, this ck Dragon was an old acquaintance. ¡°Oh ¡­ ¡­ Du Wei! You hateful man.¡± ck Dragon reduced his altitude even more to get a closer look at Du Wei. Reacting with little care for his nickname, Du Wei shrugs his shoulder: ¡°Oh honorable captain of the dragon guard, distinguished dragon warrior, and wise.¡­. It can¡¯t be that you are here to raise another question right?¡± Just recalling how he used a simple math question to trick this stupid dragon was enough to make Du Wei want to giggle. Talking about his own embarrassment, this Dragon captain also became angry: ¡°Oh cunning man! Even now I still couldn¡¯t figure out whether or not your answer is correct. Damn it! There are not enough fingers atop of the Holy Mountain, let alone that many room!¡± ¡°You can take your time calcting.¡± Du Wei curls his mouth into a grin: ¡°Alright then honorable captain. Could it be your arrival today is to dere war on me? Oh ¡­ ¡­ I almost forgot to thank you for your information; otherwise I might have died at the hands of the previous two princes. So, are you here to represent the youngest prince?¡± ¡°Third Prince is dissatisfied with your methods.¡± The stupid Dragon sighed, though it was only a sigh, it still sounded like thunder. ¡°Dissatisfied?¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°But the Second Prince wasn¡¯t killed by me.¡± ¡°As if I would care about who killed that weakling. Being a mighty gold dragon, king of our race, that weakling can¡¯t even beat me. A weakling like that can just die!¡± ck Dragon appears to be very proud of his own strength: ¡°The reason Third Prince is displeased with you is because you only killed one. Why did you kill only one and not the other?!¡± ¡°Uhh ¡­ ¡­ If I also killed the elder one then there wouldn¡¯t be anyone left topete for the position of chief right?¡± Du Wei chuckles. Humph, the wisdom of theserge reptiles really are limited. Such clumsy schemes, how can theypete with us humans? ¡°That¡¯s why Third Prince is displeased.¡± The ck Dragon snorts and ended up spraying a gush of me directly at Du Wei. Fortunately Du Wei was able to resolve the situation with a simple barrier: ¡°Honorable Guard Captain, please tell me what else does the Third Prince wish for me?¡± ¡°Peace.¡± The ck Dragon seems be dissatisfied with his own answer: ¡°His highness ordered me to tell you this. No matter what, you still made some contribution, thought small, it¡¯s still something. His highness is a merciful leader. For this reason, he decided to reward you with something.¡± A warm smile immediately surfaced from Du Wei¡¯s face, ¡°Oh? Then may I know what the Third Prince intends reward me with?¡± ck Dragon stretches out its massive ws and then gently opens it up. From his palm, a round crystal like bead rolled out. ¡°What is this?¡± Du Wei clearly sensed a glimmer of magic fluctuating from it. ¡°This is a fire repent bead.¡± The ck Dragon continues in an arrogant tone: ¡°This kind of thing is useless for us powerful dragons. But for you mere humans, this is more than adequate for a reward. In addition, the Third Prince said he is satisfied with your achievement thus far. Next time when he has something for you to do, you mustply.¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t care about the other sides¡¯ arrogant tone¡­.. Facing these simple minded fools, what¡¯s there to mind about in the first ce? Cautiously epting the ¡°gift¡±, Du Wei suddenly gave a crafty smile at the ck Dragon. Hmm, from the guy¡¯s tone, Du Wei can guess the Third Prince likely won¡¯t being back to make trouble for him anytime soon. ¡°What a shame ¡­ ¡­ I wanted a dragon pet.¡± ¡°Oh, the Third Prince should have returned to the Holy Mountain by now right.¡± Du Wei¡¯s sudden question surprised ck Dragon, especially that disturbing chuckle: ¡°Are the exiled racesing from the North again? Oh, don¡¯t get me wrong. I only wish to express my most sincere concern for the great dragon tribe. If it¡¯s alright with you, I¡¯m willing to offer my pitiful amount of assistance if needed.¡± ¡°Humph, the great dragon race does not need any help!¡± ck Dragon outright refused Du Wei, but the brainless guy did reveal some information: ¡°Those guys would organize an invasion every couple of decades, but every time we would crush them in the end. Therefore, you don¡¯t need to care about this! For us, they are merely there for the sake of filling the abyss! I wish there would be more of them. The more heads there are, the faster the dragon race can fill up the abyss and be free!¡± ¡°Just worry about your own concerns!¡± The ck Dragon chuckles in a condescending way: ¡°The Third Prince and the Eldest Prince have already returned to the Holy Mountain. As for you¡­ His highness tells me he¡¯s quite fond of you after seeing your work. If you continue to work hard for his greatness, he might even degrade himself and consider you a friend.¡± Humph, be friends? More like I¡¯d love to be his owner. Du Wei chuckles inside: ¡°Then¡­.. Is there anything more?¡± ¡°No!¡± The ck Dragon roars and began to p his wing. Before the big loaf disappeared into the sky, he left behind this sentence: ¡°¡­¡­ Next time we meet, can you teach me the calction method to that question?¡± Looking at that huge figure gradually disappear from his view, Du Wei sighed a breath of relief. Truth be told, he wasn¡¯t the slightest bit afraid of this ck Dragon. Considering his current strength, downing this big guy was no problem with the help of hispanions. And¡­.. Let¡¯s not forget about that Green Hat lurking in his castle cer. As luck would have it, that old grandpa just so happens to be fuming over the dragon race and it¡¯s majorly clear who yed the Second Prince. But unlike the previous encounters, Du Wei doesn¡¯t want anyone to kill this stupid dragon. After all, he just learned about the exiled races and their invasion n¡­¡­ Better off leaving the dragon race with more manpower then to waste his own. Looking at it now, it appears the trouble with the Dragon Princes are temporarily solved. Du Wei wasn¡¯t afraid of the Dragons, but having these monsters constantlying to harass him wasn¡¯t something he¡¯s fond of. Moreover,pared to the elegant Elder Prince, this Third Prince doesn¡¯t seem to be a good guy at all. Facing a strong foe wasn¡¯t so terrible, facing a foe with bad character that likes to hide in the shadow was, and troublesome at that. Now, he can take it easy for the next while and focus on the Northwest Corridor. How to guard a stretch ofnd spanning 10 kilometers in width¡­¡­ But at this time, another matter found its way into Du Wei¡¯s hand. This time, the trouble was from the capital regarding the invasion of the Desa Province. No matter what, Regent Son cannot ignore such a grant vition of territorial sovereignty. Even if Du Wei knew the empire wasn¡¯t prepared to wage a full out war with the prairie natives, things cannot remain silent. Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t be any way to salvage the dignity of the empire. Even if this charade was just to save face, they still had to put up a tough stance. Likewise, the royal court in the prairie seems to be putting up a conciliatory attitude and sent an envoy to the imperial capital. ording to rumors, themanders in chiefs back in the capital had already blown their heads out over this matter and smashed dozens of tables in the process as protest. For some of the younger generals, these people even wrote to the Regent for war¡­¡­ Also, the negotiations with the prairie natives didn¡¯t yield good results either. In the end, both sides couldn¡¯te to an agreement. The prairie natives don¡¯t want to fight and the empire didn¡¯t want to fight even more. So from their initial talks, things geared up into a cat fight between their mouths. From beginning till now, the negotiations havested well over a month long by now, yet nothing was achieved. Of course, in order to match the negotiation, some symbolic gestures were made. For example: ordering the Northwest Army to be ready for battle and to organize small scale military exercises throughout the Northwest¡­¡­ And Du Wei knew better than anyone else that these orders were no better than dog farts that held no weight. Make the Northwest Army go intobat? Are you kidding?! The Northwest Army¡¯s beenbat ready for the past decade! And, once war breaks out, numerous supplies and money are going to be sent to the Northwest¡­.. Who are they going to send it to? The Northwest Army? Help the Northwest Army supply their troops? Regent Son¡¯s not that stupid! One thing¡¯s certain though: until the problem known as the Northwest Army is solved, the empire will not go to war with the prairie natives, hence the reason why the negotiation table had be a ce for politicians to show off their amazing verbal skills. While the pro-war faction was busy trying to persuade everyone to go war, the anti-war faction kept bringing up the financial strain on the empire¡­¡­ This whole thing was a total farce, but such farce just so happens to be the most popr gossip news in the capital. It can¡¯t be helped. The capital¡¯s been at peace for a very long time that left its residence with little awareness for horror of war. Back in the capital, Du Wei¡¯s business manager, little Zack, had been passing him all kinds of messages. At the beginning Du Wei was somewhat pleased to see the whole thing flop, but his positive attitude quickly changed when Regent Son got nosy and dumped the whole problem on his head! urately speaking, it was eighty days after the battle in the Desa Province where an envoy from the capital arrived at Du Wei¡¯s doorstep. Bringing with him a band of royal guards, this pest also brought with him an appointment order from the Regent. ¡°Duke Tulip of the Rnd Empire, Imperial schr, court magician, Pce Astrology teacher, member of the Imperial Academy of Magic., Governor of the Desa Province, you are hereby appointed the mediator between the empire and the royal court of the prairie!¡± (Signed) Emperor of the Rnd Empire, Augustine the 6th. The order takes effect immediately ording to the year 961, 8th month, day 16 of the Imperial calendar! The one to bring this dreaded order was none other than an old acquaintance of Du Wei¡¯s. Earl Biliaibuer faintlyughs at Du Wei¡¯s unsightly expression: ¡°Duke, bestowing upon you this important task shows how much the Regent trusts you. Now the well-being of the empire and the prairie people lies with you!¡± Du Wei jaw droppingly held onto the appointment order, unsure whether to rip it to shreds or to force it down the bastard¡¯s throat. Damn you Son! You actually tossed this hot potato into my hands¡­¡­ Forcefully suppressing his urge to rage rip this order and yell at this smug viin before him, Du Wei dragged this unwanted guest into his study room. After closing the door behind him: ¡°Earl Biliaibuer,st I recalled you never got involved in these types of things. Why did youe to the Northwest?¡± ¡°Due to the ties I have with the people of the prairie from my family business, his highness wishes for to assist with the negotiation.¡± ¡°HAHA ¡­ ¡­¡± Du Weiughed a few times: ¡°Is that so? Then I¡¯m the main negotiator and you are the sub negotiator?¡± Earl Biliaibuer wipes some of the sweat from his bitter face: ¡°Isn¡¯t it¡­.. I also got caught up in this hard job. Your Dukeship, you are the most trusted person of his highness, I will definitely follow your lead.¡± ¡°Humph, you bastard trying to push all the responsibility to me¡­¡­¡± Du Wei sts the guy in his mind: ¡°Fine, now¡¯s not the time to get a headache. Since the Regent sent you to me, there should be a message too.¡± Biliaibuer turned sullenly dark, ¡°When I came, the Regent only left me with these words for you.¡± ¡°Oh? What did his highness say?¡± Earl Biliaibuer¡¯s face suddenly took on a strange look. ¡°His highness said: ¡°Do as you see fit.¡± This finally made Du Wei lose it: ¡°Fuck!¡± If you like this trantion, consider donating for a extra release. Chapter 260 Chapter 260 ¡°Its only natural one will turn ck if they go near the ink.¡± Aside from being depressed at the situation, Du Wei thought: this Biliaibuer really was crafty in shirking off the responsibility to him. Whether the oue was peace or war, he will still end up offending a wack tone of people. Some time ago back in the capital, Du Wei already had the pleasure of interacting with this Biliaibuer so he knew full well how slick this guy was. In order to show his sincerity after his steward offended Du Wei in the ve market, this Biliaibuer went as far as to break the poor guy¡¯s leg. To top it off, this Biliaibuer had the injured fe tossed in front of Du Wei¡¯s doorstep for a day. To be able to do something as fabulous as to ps one¡¯s own face, this Biliaibuer demonstrated he was someone of great endurance. The truth was, this Biliaibuer never had to lower himself to Du Wei. Sure, a Duke¡¯s title was higher than an Earl¡¯s, but Biliaibuer was still a favored figure in the Regent Son¡¯s eye. If not for this reason, how can this Biliaibuer climb up so fast andpletely absorb the former Solomon Family¡¯s assets and responsibilities right after the coup? Towards people like this, Du Wei had to be extra careful! Thinking of this, Du Wei slowly formed a smile: ¡°Earl¡­¡­¡± Biliaibuer quickly smiled in return: ¡°You and I are old friends, no need to be so formal. Since there are no outsiders around us anyways, why don¡¯t I call you by your name instead? That is if you don¡¯t mind. Likewise, you can call me Biliaibuer.¡± Du Wei thought for a moment: ¡°This¡­ Your age is way older then mine, and you are my father¡¯s friend. If you don¡¯t mind, I will call you uncle.¡± Earlughed: ¡°Then from now on in private I will call you Du Wei. I hope you won¡¯t think of it as me taking advantage of you.¡± After exchanging some pointless polite words, the two began to get serious: ¡°Uncle Biliaibuer, your familiarity with the natives and their methods will help greatly in the negotiation table. Although the Regent appointed me nominally responsible for the event, I¡¯m still young and inexperienced. For the difficult details, you will have to preside over them.¡± Biliaibuer immediately shook his head and smiled: ¡°You are too reserved with those words. Du Wei, you may be young, but your fame far exceeds mine. Who doesn¡¯t know the Tulip name, who doesn¡¯t know your name, the grand Duke of the Northwest whom created countless miracles in this barrenndscape? Although the Northwest Army took credit for beating off the native army, but who doesn¡¯t know it was really you whom defeated the enemy? It¡¯s only natural that his highness values your talent greatly. This matter mustn¡¯t be pushed aside¡­.. As for me, it¡¯s more than enough to waive the g in the background.¡± Du Wei cursed the sly guy in his heart. Their faces may look intimate but knives were flying in their words: ¡°Uncle Biliaibuer¡¯spliment is embarrassing me! No matter what, you are older than me and your insight in these issues outweighs mine¡­¡­¡± ¡°But that¡¯s only because I¡¯m born several years earlier than you. Du Wei, the Regent sent me here to assist you and I will do just that without fail.¡± Even after going at it for half a day, the two couldn¡¯t get anywhere because Biliaibuer refuses to drop the ¡°assistant¡± excuse. At this annoying word, Du Wei can only give in and sigh: ¡°In that case, Uncle Biliaibuer, what¡¯s the tone of his highness and those back in the capital?¡± Du Wei attempts to get a clearer picture by fishing for info. Biliaibuer¡¯s eye promptly turned sharp: ¡°Capital? Humph¡­.. What can those bosses back in the capital do? Every day all they do is argue this and argue that, even his highness is troubled by this. At first things were kept internally between the military, then it was with the financial department over the budget, then with the intelligence department, then the argument gets tossed back to the first department and the ming cycle begins again. Considering how much of a mess the capital is in right now¡­. Humph, let me speak a word of truth. The reason his highness chose you and this ce is likely because the Regent didn¡¯t want the natives to see what a joke those bosses have be.¡± Du Wei became furious at the answer. Rambling on and on, this sted Biliaibuer only mentioned the gossip news¡­. Does this guy think he wouldn¡¯t pick up these gossips on his own? It¡¯s not like he doesn¡¯t have his own methods of gathering information. Darn it, the guy¡¯s lip simply refuses to open. Thinking of this, Du Wei couldn¡¯t stop the discontent from showing on his face. Putting the tea cup down, Du Wei cuts to the chase: ¡°Uncle Biliaibuer, we¡¯re behind closed doors, why are you telling me all this? Once we are out of this room, no other will know what we talked about today. What I want to know is whether to go to war, or aim for peace.¡± Seeing Du Wei had lost his patience, Biliaibuer understands he cannot continue the act. Its fine to put on a show sometimes, but overdoing it wasn¡¯t good: ¡°You¡¯re too impatient. Hmm¡­. If you must hear my opinion¡­..¡± Taking a sip from his tea cup, Biliaibuer nces over at the locked doors before speaking in a hushed tone: ¡°Cannot fight!¡± Du Wei nods, his eyes continuing to stare at him. Unsettled by Du Wei¡¯s gaze, Biliaibuer follows up with more: ¡°The following words must be kept private¡­. In my opinion, the prairie and the empire are like a child and a sick adult, both sides wishes to knock each other down but can¡¯t due to difficult circumstances.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°if you say both sides don¡¯t want to fight, then?¡± ¡°Not entirely so.¡± Biliaibuer sighed: ¡°Both sides understand their foe¡¯s situation. The young child knows he needs time to grow, but if he does wait till he grows up, the adult would have recovered from his illness. By then, fighting will be difficult. Likewise, the sick adult thinks the same way¡­. Here¡¯s where the contradiction lies.¡± The truth was that Du Wei knew about all this mentioned by Biliaibuer, but he needed this ¡°assistant¡± to be upfront about it. Thinking up to here, Du Wei asked: ¡°Since it¡¯s a contradiction either way, why not fight? Rather than prolonging the pain, why not end it now? No matter what, both sides will eventually have to fight.¡± Biliaibuer¡¯s heart jumped at what he heard. Looking into Du Wei¡¯s cold eyes, the only word that came into his mind was ¡°cruel¡±. ¡°Your idea is exactly like those pro-war factions in the capital¡­¡­ It does make sense, but it will be difficult to realize. Let¡¯s say we do attack the prairie natives, can we be certain the Northwest Army will side with us? If they side with the empire then everything will be great, but if they turn on us and stab us in the back¡­. At that time, the empire will be in serious peril!¡± Thest part was spot on. The empire¡¯s current situation simply can¡¯t afford to endure another war. Whether it was the newly appointed Regent Son or the empire itself, both needs time to stabilize. After hearing some true words from Biliaibuer for once, Du Wei finally showed a satisfied smile: ¡°It appears what Uncle Biliaibuer said is correct, we cannot fight!¡± Biliaibuer quickly cuts in: ¡°This ¡­ ¡­ This is only my opinion. It cannot be taken for fact! Du Wei, you¡¯re the main negotiator in this mediation, you must make the final decision and not blindly follow my words. If you do decide to go war, I believe the Regent will support you! Before I came here, his highness already went two nights without sleep from all the talks!¡± Du Wei sneered inside, ¡°Is he really handing him the power to decide? More like make him out to be the bad man here!¡± No matter what decision he makes now, he¡¯s going to offend one faction. After talking for another short while, this old fox finally excused himself and left Du Wei alone. Not waiting for a minute longer, Du Wei immediately ran off to consult Philip ¨C a subordinate which he¡¯s been growing increasingly reliant on. At first Du Wei despised this young man butter learned to respect Philip for his brain has the workings of a chancellor. Once Du Wei exined everything, Philip promptly offered a solution after contemting the problem. ¡°Duke, I think this whole thing is a hot potato that will burn you either way. Since the Regent tossed the decision making to you, couldn¡¯t you toss it to someone else?¡± Du Wei smiled wryly: ¡°I¡¯d like to toss it to Biliaibuer but that guy is as smooth as oil.¡± Philip smirked, ¡°If we can¡¯t toss the problem to our own people, why don¡¯t we toss it to the prairie natives?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Du Wei¡¯s eye lit up like he had just found a guiding light inside a fog. Giving Philip an appreciating nce, Du Wei suddenly bursts out augh: ¡°Oh Philip, your ideas are getting more cunning by the day!¡± Philip answered with a ¡®you got it right¡¯ smile: ¡°Working by your lordship¡¯s side¡­. Hmmm, what was that saying you told me before¡­. Ah yes: turn red if you get close to red, turn ck if you get close to ck.¡± Du Weipsed out for a second: ¡°What¡­ My words were ¡®a person¡¯s personality is decided by whom they associate with¡¯.¡± The people of the Rnd Empire truly can¡¯t understand Chinese culture, but Du Wei didn¡¯t care: ¡°Philip, you¡¯re saying you learned it by copying me eh?¡± Philip smiled: ¡°It¡¯s only natural one will turn ck if they go near the ink!¡± Since a solution was thought up, Du Wei became much more rxedpared to before. Therefore, he ordered those down below to prepare for the negotiation event. On this visit Biliaibuer also brought with him many crates full of documents pertaining to the negotiations. But after Du Wei had a scan over these papers, he quickly came to the conclusion that they were all useless. To simplify the contents of those papers, it was all ¡°you hit first if you dare, I dare if you dare!¡± Seriously, what differences are there between these politicians and a bunch of quarreling kids in a yground? Hmm ¡­ ¡­ Throwing this hot potato to the natives¡­. What a great idea! Chapter 261 Chapter 261 ¡°Hospitality¡± Lon City has been in an uproar ever since the news of the prairie emissarying to negotiate spread across the Northwest. Day after day, the topic was heavily discussed in the streets, pub and inns. Their talks weren¡¯t anything special, simply spections of what the results will be. However, the majority of citizens were leaning more towards the pro-war faction due to Desa Province¡¯s geographical location. As the first in line to face off against the prairie marauders, the people of the Northwest inherently hated the barbarians. Also, they now have Du Wei to lead them. With someone capable of creating numerous miracles, how can they possibly lose? Perfect timing to give some nasty payback for all the years of suffering they faced. But differences in opinion do exist. For example:rge merchant groups that have connections with the natives. No matter what, merchants love nothing more than peace and talks so they can get on with their business. To this group of people, having ess to procure cattle and horses from the natives was a major source of revenue for them. In addition, they can double their profit by bringing silk, satin, and basicmodities on their way in. If this trade route was suddenly cut, their losses would be astronomical. Therefore, many merchant groups,rge or small, were paying close attention to what the Duke¡¯s intentions were by having their members wait outside the castle gate day after day. While opinions run rampant outside the castle, Du Wei on the other hand was leisurely waiting around for the emissary¡¯s arrival. To him, this meeting was nothing more than a little y fight to trample the opposition. Finally, the day hase. Escorted by a thousand imperial guards from the capital, the emissary group containing a whopping hundred natives arrived at Lon City. Led by a person named Hamuye, Du Wei was already aware of who this person was. At forty years of age, this high ranking individual in the royal court of the prairie was the uncle of the current Prairie King. In short, a prince if you will. (His status isn¡¯t exactly a prince but close enough since there¡¯s no proper trantion for his title. More like a half Duke half prince like status.) Although the majority of the documents sent over from the capital pertaining to the negotiation were mostly useless, the information towards this Hamuye wasn¡¯t. ording to the intel given to Du Wei, this person was the chief of a small tribe that had business dealings with the Empire. Among these natives regarded as savages, Hamuye was much more civilized than his peers, a rarity among his people. Truth be told, Hamuye himself was also very depressed at the current situation. After wasting loads of energy in quarreling with those diplomats back in the capital, he not only didn¡¯t make any progress, he was then pushed over to the Desa Province. Most importantly though, Hamuye was one of those rare individuals naturally savvy in politics. The prairie natives are a group of people that put strength above all else, but Hamuye himself on the other hand wasn¡¯t an excellent fighter. Different from everyone else, he took advantage of his lineage and inherited his tribe. Then after decades of nning and careful observation, he stood keenly beside his nephew and secured his status in the royal family. To put it cleanly, he¡¯s a person that uses his brain first among a society that values brute strength above all others. One has to admit, he¡¯s got some skills. But, the negotiations in the capital really struck a cord with Hamuye. While he negotiated with the officials on the surface, he was constantly gathering information in secret regarding the attitude of Regent Son. He knew full well Augustine the 6th wasn¡¯t the one in control anymore; therefore, even at the expense of exposing the spies he nted years ago, he still made a move. When it came to negotiations, the key to gaining the upper hand was to learn the attitude of the supreme leader. Only by learning what the enemy wanted will onee out on top. Unfortunately Hamuye was greatly disappointed. After pulling all the strings and throwing money left and right, he couldn¡¯t get a single whiff of useful information. Then all of a sudden, he finds out the negotiation will be relocated to the Northwest and all decisions will be handed off to this Duke Tulip¡­.. What is this? Do these Rnd people want to fight or not? Or is it¡­ ¡­ This Duke Tulip may be younger than Regent Son, but Hamuye wasn¡¯t foolish enough to think it would be easier to deal with his new foe just because he was a kid¡­.. Whether it was politicians or officials, Hamuye could always find their weaknesses. Why? Because there was always a pattern to people like that. This Duke though was different and posed a serious problem for Hamuye. If the person was a simple kid, he can make some decent guesses based on the rash habits of a young mind. But he¡¯s a Magician of all things! It¡¯s no mystery that Mages are irrational in their behaviors and does things on a whim. These days, Hamuye¡¯s been wracking his brains out scanning through the information he hastily gathered on this Duke Tulip. In the end, he reached a very frustrating conclusion: he¡¯s a tiger biting a turtle, no room to get in. Greed? They will most likely have that but how was he possibly going to satisfy a magician? The opposite sex? The young Duke¡¯s only 15 years old ¡­ ¡­ And it¡¯s said that he even rejected the number one beauty of the empire. Fame? He already had that down. Power? Bloody hell, he¡¯s a Duke for goodness sake! Boldness? From his actions thus far in the Northwest, it¡¯s most definitely true he¡¯s a bold person. Cowardly? Seems like it too since he backed off from the Northwest Army¡­.. Cautious? Yes, he¡¯s on the cautious side. At least from the administrative perspective, he¡¯s managed to maintain control over an entire province with merely 20,000 troops¡­.. For a young men of his age, that¡¯s a very difficult task. Reckless? Definitely reckless! Waltzing into the Northwest Army¡¯s base alone¡­.. That¡¯s clearly reckless to the extreme! Finally, Hamuye came to a conclusion that nearly drove him crazy: This opponent, Duke Tulip, was someone that¡¯s not greedy, not perverted, with immense fame,pletely bold in his actions, super cautious, and utterly reckless¡­.. This ¡­ ¡­ What kind of fucking bullshit conclusion is this! If anything, the only chip Hamuye had to work with here was that the military friction happened on the Duke¡¯snd ¨C Desa Province. Maybe this kid would favor war due to his anger¡­. Or maybe back off due to cowardice. ¡­. That¡¯s still not enough to go on! With a sense of dread, Hamuye finally arrived in Lon City of the Desa Province. Back when he was heading to the imperial capital for negotiation, he intentionally bypassed this city in order to avoid trouble. However, the first reaction he got when he firstid eyes on this ce was: The Northwest actually had such a grand city?! Though the rumor of the ¡°three month build one city¡± spread quite quickly, but this world nevertheless had no television. Whether it was true or not, it certainly left those that didn¡¯t witness it first hand with some doubts. And now that Hamuye finally got the chance to see this city in person, he really had to gasp at the sight: ¡°Is this city really built in three months?¡± ¡°Humph ¡­ ¡­ I bet it wasn¡¯t actually three months. Rnd People are known to be deceitful.¡± While Hamuye remained in his carriage and his convoy heavily guarded by soldiers, it wasn¡¯t hard for him to faintly sense the hostilitying from the people¡¯s eye. ¡°Hmm ¡­ ¡­ If the people are like this then the leader shouldn¡¯t be too far off.¡± Hamuye didn¡¯t take it to heart over the civilian¡¯s attitude because his mind was too busy wondering what kind of attitude should be appropriate when meeting the Duke. Friendly or aggressive? Finally, his convoy arrives in front of the Duke¡¯s castle with both sides of the street heavily blocked off by soldiers. With his carriage stopping in front of the suspension bridge, Hamuye got off his carriage with the help of two of his young guards before taking a closer look at the officials that came to greet him. Wearing his official outfit, Dadaneier came right up to introduce himself: ¡°Emissary, pleasee with me.¡± At the reception, Hamuye was slightly resentful. Even if the Duke himself wasn¡¯t going toe out to greet him, they should at least send a deputy and not a simple leader of the city defense. What, is he deliberately doing this to spite him? Following Dadaneier into the castle, Hamuye was eventually brought into a luxurious reception room. Right before entering, he was still somewhat looking forward to meeting his opponent that looked down at himself. Unfortunately, the first thing that weed him when he pushed the door open was¡­.. A forth rightful looking fatty. When the two made eye contact, this big fatty quickly stood up and gave Hamuye a big hearty hug like they were close friends. ¡°What a pleasure to have an old friending to visit! It¡¯s a shame this is not the prairie, otherwise we can get some good horse milk wine for entertainment!¡± Hamuye became somewhat confused by the warm weing. After taking a step back, he managed to figure out who the fatty was: ¡°Oh ¡­ ¡­ Why isn¡¯t it General Longbottom! It¡¯s been so many years yet your body is still so strong! I heard you joined the Tulip family. Looking back at things, we wouldn¡¯t have gotten to know each other if not for our fights!¡± Longbottom smiled like a careless ingrate as he dragged Hamuye into the reception hall. Once seated, Hamuye scanned the surroundings before asking: ¡°May I know where the Duke is?¡± ¡°Oh, our Duke¡¯s been busy sincest night on a new set of magic equipment. Therefore, he told me to receive you in his ce today.¡± Longbottomughed wholeheartedly: ¡°Friend, you know our Duke is a magician so it¡¯s natural he would have odd habits. Don¡¯t worry, we are old friends, feel free to speak your mind!¡± Brimming with displeasure, Hamuye had no choice but to suppress it: ¡°In that case, I might as well go back to rest. When the Duke is free, we¡¯ll sit down and talk.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t rush, don¡¯t rush!¡± Longbottom grinned and pulled out a document from inside his robe. Wrinkled and smelly, it looked like it was drenched in sweat when ced atop of the table: ¡°His Dukeship already mentioned this. Despite the friction between the empire and the people of the prairie, the friendship between our people is too deep to be tarnished by a simple misunderstanding. Since were such good friends, why not sit down and talk?¡± ¡°Now that¡¯s more like it!¡± Hamuye murmured, ¡°This is¡­¡­¡± Looking at the crumpled document which gave off a nauseating smell, Hamuye frowned. ¡°This is our Duke¡¯s first draft of the agreement. We are all good friends; we should just forget this little misunderstanding. His Dukeship already said: big problems should turn into small problems. Small problems should turn into nothing. Friend isn¡¯t supposed to care about these things.¡± ¡°Agreement?¡± Enduring the impulse to throw up, Hamuye picked up the agreement to have a look. With only one nce, he immediately flew into a rage and mmed the table: ¡°Longbottom! Is the Duke messing with me here!!¡± ¡°It¡¯s clearly written here in this ¡°agreement¡± that as the instigator of the tension between both parties, the prairie mustpensate the empire: 30,000 horses, 50,000 cattle, ves 5,000, and the cost of rebuilding Anglia City¡­..¡± ¡°Longbottom!¡± Hamuye fumes with anger: ¡°It seems the Duke is not sincere enough to have our peace talk. In that case, there¡¯s no reason for me to be here and endure this farce!¡± Longbottom rubbed his nose, the smile fading from his face: ¡°Hamuye, have you ever seen me kid around like this after spending so many years in the Northwest?¡± With that, he stood up: ¡°I¡¯m only doing as I was ordered. My job is done. If you must leave then I won¡¯t keep you¡­. But the Duke did say Lord Hamuye is a wise man. Taking into ount the friendship between both sides, I¡¯m sure you wouldn¡¯t be rash. Moreover, this thing isn¡¯t set in stone. We can always talk things over¡­.. Why don¡¯t you take this with you and look it over tonight¡­.. Whatever you don¡¯t ept, you can take it up with the Duke when you two meet.¡± Hamuye¡¯s mind suddenly calms down ¡­ ¡­ ¡°Humph, this Duke Tulip looks to be in the pro-war faction with a strong stance¡­.. Whatever, a strong stance is also a method of negotiation.¡± Think up to here, he instead started tough: ¡°Fine then, I¡¯ll keep this for now. When tomorrowes around, the Duke and I can slowly talk things over.¡± With that, Hamuye fights to keep his anger down while maintaining a strong smile on his face: ¡°Then please excuse me. I¡¯m exhausted from all the traveling; may I know where I¡¯ll be staying tonight?¡± Longbottomughed: ¡°Old friend, our Duke is a hospitable person and would never snub a friend! Arrangements are in ce and will definitely please you!¡± With that, this fatty personally led Hamuye through the backdoor and into the ¡°specially prepared¡± resting location. Originally Hamuye could still endure the humiliation, but the second heid his eyes on the Duke¡¯s so called ¡°hospitality¡±, he nearly lost it! ¡°Longbottom! you¡­¡­¡± Longbottom continues on with his warm smile: ¡°The Duke said he respects the mightiness of the prairie men. We know your people aren¡¯t ustomed to living inside a building; therefore, we racked our brains out and came up with this idea! The Duke said the highest level in entertaining a guest is to make them feel right at home. Don¡¯t you think this method is perfect? Old friend, can it be you¡¯re not happy?¡± Right before the two in the back of the castle grounds, a bunch of tents were erected on the in hard ground. Looking at how poorly made these makeshift tents were, it¡¯s definitely leaking air¡­.. If you like this trantion, consider donating for a extra release. Chapter 262 part 1 Chapter 262 ¡°Topple¡± (Part one) Indeed, the nomadic natives of the prairie had a practice of living in tents. Following the flow of the river, they¡¯ve led their lives following the grazing route of their livestock¡¯s with no fixed address¡­.. However, for someone like Hamuye, a distinguished individual, his tent must be ofvish quality. Evenpared to a home in the empire, his tent wouldn¡¯t be too different¡­¡­ Yet the tent provided by the Tulip House was merely those used by the army. At best, one can stuff three to four people in there for a night if needed. Originally Hamuye wanted to wave his sleeves and turn away at the insult, but thinking of how hardline the Duke was acting, he pressed the mes down once again: ¡°If this Duke is so firm in his stance, it¡¯s apparent the little trickster wants to irritate me.¡± Thinking of this, Hamuye does what he does best and managed a difficult smile: ¡°In that case, please give my thanks to the Duke!¡± Once that was said, Hamuye did not say anymore out of fear of losing it and attacking his host. Lifting one of the tent curtains, he headed in to his ¡°abode¡±. Unlike him though, the attendants Hamuye brought along all had faces of great displeasure at the sight of the ce. Not only were there not enough tents to go around, the tents were drafty for goodness sake! Regardless, they couldn¡¯t do anything orin because as servants, they mustn¡¯t speak before their master does. Longbottom on the other hand only stood there smirking his ass off: ¡°Well then, please rest well while I excuse myself.¡± Meanwhile in the tent, Hamuye attempts to quell his anger while going over the agreement and figuring out what the Duke really wanted. Of course, it took a lot of effort to not shred the paper to bits in the process. It was originally close to the evening when Hamuye and his convoy arrived. Aside from the horrible reception, he never would have thought the Duke would go so far. Sitting in his tent sulking over the whole ordeal, he waited and waited, but no servant ever came to serve dinner! Seriously, don¡¯t mention food; there wasn¡¯t even a drop of water in sight. Eventually, hunger and thirst got the better of him: ¡°Someonee!¡± At the call, two young warriors came in: ¡°Yes your lordship.¡± ¡°What time is it? Is it dark already?¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Yes.¡± Hamuye knits his brow and immediately walked out of his tent. Looking up at the starlit sky, he could not help but ask: ¡°Why are we having dinner yet?¡± Up until today, whether small orrge, he would always be weed with feasts on the dinner table despite the constant bickering in the negotiations. ¡°Why is no oneing to invite him to dinner yet?¡± Think up to this point, a crazy idea emerged from his heart: ¡°Damn this Duke Tulip¡­ ¡­ He-he, it couldn¡¯t be that he¡¯s not taking charge of food, right?¡± At the thought, an ominous feeling took hold of him. Immediately, Hamuye sent someone to find a person in the Duke¡¯s residence for answers. This time around, the one toe meet him wasn¡¯t Longbottom, it was the housekeeper Marde. Politelying in front of the prairie personnel¡¯s, Marde gave a courteous bow and smiled, ¡°Honored guest, is there something wrong?¡± Hamuye hesitated for a second because the question he wanted to ask was somewhat indecent for a guest. If he rushed to the point, it would be improper on his side. Who knows, maybe the other party was already preparing the feast and was simply not ready yet. After all, he did arrive a bitte¡­.. But then again, it shouldn¡¯t be thiste for dinner to be served. ¡°Uhh¡­¡­¡± Hamuye whispered, ¡°Housekeeper Marde, I like to ask¡­.. Does the Duke¡¯s ce not eat dinner?¡± ¡°Dinner?¡± Marde showed an innocent daze like appearance that left no doubt about how harmless he was: ¡°What is sir saying? How can people not eat?¡± At the answer, Hamuye could only feel his stomach rumbling uncontrobly. Nevertheless, he became relieved that dinner existed in these peoples mind: ¡°Then, I like to know when the feast will begin. This way I can freshen up before heading in.¡± Marde seems to be even more confused at the question: ¡°This¡­. Guest, what banquet? Everyone in the Duke¡¯s castle has already used dinner.¡± ¡°¡­¡­ What?!¡± Hamuye really couldn¡¯t take it anymore. ¡°This bastard Tulip¡¯s really not going to care about his food! What, he wants to starve me to death?!¡± Brimming with the impulse to draw his sword, he grits his teeth and whispered: ¡°Oh, everyone inside have already used dinner? But me and my people are still hungry after the long travel.¡± Marde became absolutely clueless to his words: ¡°Huh? Honored guests still haven¡¯t eaten yet? It can¡¯t be that your customs are so different from us Rnd people that you don¡¯t eat dinner?¡± ¡°Bullshit! You don¡¯t give us food so what are we supposed to eat? What, eat wind?¡± Hamuyeined inside. Livid with anger, Hamuye exins very clearly to Marde: ¡°We may have different customs, but we still eat dinner!¡± Marde then replied with something that nearly caused Hamuye to puke blood: ¡°Oh, in that case, please enjoy your dinner.¡± By any standard, Hamuye could be called a man of culture but even he could hardly bare it anymore. Keeping his anger in check, he whispers again: ¡°Then Mr. Housekeeper, please tell us where we should have dinner.¡± ¡°Ughh ¡­ ¡­ Is there a difference? If you like, the tents here will be fine.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± Hamuye continues: ¡°Then I will have to bother Mr. Housekeeper to bring the food over here.¡± Hamuye wanted to turn away after hismand, but Marde suddenly giggled behind him like an honest farmer: ¡°Lord Emissary seems to be mistaken¡­.. Ah, everyone inside the castle had already used dinner so the kitchen staff¡¯s already went home. You see? It¡¯s already sote. There should still be two restaurants open outside on the street though. If you are interested, you can go have a taste, they aren¡¯t bad if I do say so myself. But you must hurry. If anyter, they might retire for the night.¡± He got it now! This abominable Duke really won¡¯t feed him! Bleeding inside, when have he ever faced such horrid hospitality as a prince? Pinning Marde like he wanted to pierce through this old housekeeper, he released an extremely abnormal shrillugh: ¡°Good! Very good! Thank you for your hospitality!¡± Marde on the other hand did not bother wasting any words and simply walked away after a slight bow. ¡°¡­ ¡­ Come! Someonee!!¡± Hamuye screams with unbridle fury. At their leader¡¯smand, the surrounding people flocked over with their hands armed and ready to draw their des: ¡°Master, we will go chop these Rnd pigs to pieces this instant for insulting your honor! They will atone for their sins with a thousand knives through their heart!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! Kill them all and we will return to the prairie!¡± ¡°Master, we will kill them!¡± ¡°My Lord, quit wasting words, we will kill these Rnd pigs!¡± Brandishing their des, shouts of outrage came again and again. But unlike the rest, Hamuye suddenly turned quiet after a short period of cussing. Gritting his teeth, this political leader squeezed out these words: ¡°Send ¡­ ¡­ Someone to go buy food!¡± Chapter 262 part 2 Chapter 262 ¡°Topple¡± (Part two) ¡°The one in the middle is Hamuye?¡± Looking down from above, Du Wei watches the entire scene unfold before him atop of the castle tower. With his arms crossed and a faint smile, he¡¯s guessing these ¡®guests¡¯ are having nothing but a rough time at this moment. Though far, Du Wei did not have any problems seeing everything. After all, he¡¯s a magician, and magicians have a useful spell called the ¡°Eagle¡¯s Eye¡±. Philip on the other hand though wasn¡¯t so fortunate. Standing behind Du Wei with a telescope, this schr struggles to get a closer look at their expressions: ¡°That¡¯s right sir, the one in the middle with the fine clothes and a gold ring on the head is Hamuye.¡± Squinting his eye, Du Wei surveys his counterpart: medium build, not so sturdy looking buildpared to his peers, a face more like a Rnd aristocrat then a native, and somewhat handsome for a guy. Despite being livid with anger, this person could still keep it in check and not explode. ¡°A very patient guy¡­. Not bad, that¡¯s hard toe by nowadays.¡± Du Wei smiles and nces over to Philip: ¡°What do you think of him?¡± ¡°My Lord ¡­ ¡­ Don¡¯t you think we¡¯re going overboard like this?¡± Asked Philip: ¡°He is still an emissary from another state. Such neglect may be a bit¡­..¡± ¡°Humph, what¡¯s so excessive about this?¡± Du Wei softens his voice: ¡°They invaded our territory, attacked our city, killed our people, isn¡¯t that going overboard on their end?¡± ¡°But in the end we shouldn¡¯t be so neglectful even if both sides fight; this is the empire¡¯s custom.¡± ¡°Screw the customs.¡± Du Wei faintly chuckles: ¡°You pick, eating is more important or fighting is more important. This Hamuye isn¡¯t stupid. As a prince of the prairie, he can¡¯t be an idiot like the rest. Even if I be harsher in my treatment and he gets angrier then now, he still won¡¯t start a fight with us over such miniscule matters. At most he will just throw a little fit to release some air. Otherwise what else can he do? Humph¡­..¡± After a pause, Du Wei smiles again: ¡°If the people of the grasnd really began a war over a little snub like this¡­. Then their IQ can¡¯t be very high. I wouldn¡¯t mind either if they want to have a go at it. Having an enemy with no brains wouldn¡¯t be a cause for concern at all. Heck, I pray they are that stupid then I wipe them out for good.¡± Philip may be showing a bitter smile but he had to admit the Duke¡¯s logic was correct. No matter how angry this prince gets, the foe wouldn¡¯t start a war over a bad reception. If they really did, then that just means they are that reckless and stupid. An enemy like that wasn¡¯t a cause for concern, yes¡­ ¡°Oh that¡¯s right, are my orders passed along to those down below?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ ¡­ Everything is in order.¡± Philip bows: ¡°I¡¯ve sent the word to all the shop owners and carefully instructed them on what to do. Whenever someone in prairie attirees knocking at their door, they are to raise the price of their items by three fold or higher.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Du Wei ps his hand andughs: ¡°This Prince Hamuye seems quite rich from his appearance so let¡¯s have him contribute to our economy.¡± By the timete night rolls around, Du Wei did not linger around with Philip; instead, he slowly went down to the dungeon to visit someone: ¡°Let no onee ten meters near this ce.¡± He orders the guard in a stern voice. Once that was said, he pushes open the door and enters the cell where the female assassin Aoi resided. Unlike the guests, Du Wei did not make things difficult for this poor minded girl. Not only did he feed her well, he made sure her quarters are kept tidy and specially arranged the maids to help her bath. Not only that, he even removed her shackles and gave her absolute freedom inside the room. Of course, he made sure to set up a barrier around the ce so she couldn¡¯t escape. However, maybe it was the devil working inside of him; Du Wei intentionally forbid Aoi from wearing any decent clothes. Rushing a batch of dresses from the market, Aoi could only wear the same type of sexy and revealing clothes she had when they first met. The intent behind this¡­ Well, it¡¯s pretty obvious at this point. When Du Wei pushed open the door and walks in, the first reaction from this poor female assassin was a startle like freight that left no room to question how tense she was at the sight of him. From her crouching position, Aoi instantly jumped up and began to back away. ¡°Don¡¯t worry I¡¯m not here to XXXX you.¡± Du Wei¡¯s first sentence instantly caused Aoi¡¯s face to flush red with shame. ¡°You getting used to living here?¡± Du Wei came close and deliberately raised the girl¡¯s chin so he can sniff her: ¡°Not bad, much better than before.¡± Turning cold at his words, Aoi stepped back even more like he would jump her any second. Unfortunately for this na?ve girl, there was no room left for her to move back anymore. The only thing she could do now was to tape her body against the cold hard wall and lower her head deeply into her breasts to avoid making eye contact. Looking at the frightful appearance of this female prisoner, Du Wei shows a satisfied smile before freely stepping back to pull out a sheet of paper: ¡°I¡¯ve finished reading your statement and I¡¯m very happy with it¡­. It¡¯s very, very detailed¡­.. But there is just one thing.¡± ¡°But-but what¡­¡­¡± Aoi shivers uncontrobly. ¡°Haha, I think you seem to have forgotten the warning I gave you¡­¡­ If you dare lie to me in this statement, I will perform things ten times worse than the XXXX stuff you mentioned as punishment.¡± ¡°But-but¡­ ¡­ I didn¡¯t lie.¡± At this point, Aoi¡¯s voice also begins to shake and her head lowers even deeper into her breasts. ¡°It¡¯s true you didn¡¯t lie, but¡­. You intentionally left one thing out.¡± Du Wei smirked: ¡°You mentioned the Shaman King¡¯s name is ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ and there are two hundred shamans atop of the Snowy Mountain? And this¡­..¡± He also picks up the other sheets of paper and scrims through them: ¡°And this, you said you were under orders by the Shaman King to assassinate Rugaard, you kidding me? If the Shaman King sends such a stupid girl like you to kill the head of the Northwest Army then he can only be an idiot!¡± ¡°Ah!¡± Aoi began to shake even harder: ¡°You¡­ ¡­ You¡­¡­¡± ¡°Me what?¡± ¡°You dare insult the Shaman King!¡± ¡°So what?¡± Du Wei curls his lip like she¡¯s an idiot: ¡°Sending a brainless girl like you to carry out this important task, how am I not right in saying he¡¯s an idiot? Yes, this ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ is definitely an idiot, right?¡± ¡°You¡­ ¡­ The Shaman King is omnipotent and is regarded as a god by the people of the grasnd! How can you spat such words! The shaman King will definitely know of this!¡± Du Weiughs at her: ¡°Really, so godly? What a joke! What, he has the farseeing eye? That beastly? That omnipotent? Humph¡­..¡± Du Wei then shakes his head: ¡°Quit dreaming and quickly confess why you would go assassinate Rugaard. I don¡¯t believe this Shaman King is that big of a fool like you are making him out to be.¡± Aoi remains silent for a while before drooping her head without indication: ¡°Kill me then.¡± She mutters like the end was near. ¡°Kill you¡­ ¡­¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°What a boring set of lines. Can you note up with a more imaginative phrase? Seriously, you think I would kill you so easily?¡± Eyeing this female assassin a couple of more times, Du Wei sighed like he can only resort to drastic measures: ¡°I in fact have easier methods to make you talk, but honestly, I feel those require no technical skills whatsoever. If you won¡¯t talk then don¡¯t me me for it then.¡± With that, he swiftly presses his hands against her shoulders. Surprised by the sudden advancement, Aoi felt her legs going numb at the next thought: is he going toe XXXX me now?! Mercilessly pining Aoi against the bed sheet, Du Wei slowly raises her chin and deeply peers into the girl¡¯s eye: ¡°Look into my eye.¡± His voice soft and persuasive. In the face of such aggressiveness, the only thing in Aoi¡¯s mind right now was how handsome those eyes were. Like a ck whirlpool, her soul slowly felt like it was being sucked out of her body and into endless darkness while peering at it. Hmm, why does a man look so good? And his eyes ¡­ ¡­ How can a man¡¯s eye be so charming¡­ ¡­ ¡°Now, tell me, why did you try to kill Rugaard.¡± When those words reached her ears, Aoi¡¯s body suddenly shivers like she was resisting some unknown force. But under Du Wei¡¯s captivating gaze, that struggle gradually faded away from her face. In its stead, the only emotion left in her eyes was a melting gaze only found between loves: ¡°I¡­. I don¡¯t want to get married¡­..¡± ¡°Getting married? Marry who?¡± ¡°Ru¡­ ¡­ Rugaard¡¯s son. Cy-cyb¡­¡­ ¡± Struck by lightning, Du Wei hurries his voice to continue his interrogation: ¡°Your identity?¡± His voice remaining as sweet as ever. ¡°Eir, Eir Aoi¡­ ¡­ Eir Aoi Linna.¡± With thest bit of resistance disappearing from her eyes, Aoi suddenly throws herself into Du Wei¡¯s embrace. ¡°Your identity!¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice rises even more. ¡°Eir Aoi Linna¡­ ¡­ White-White River¡¯s Sorrow is my mentor.¡± As her body melts away, Aoi¡¯s arm took the initiative to wrap around Du Wei¡¯s neck while her breasts desperately tries to cling onto his. In a soft moaning voice, shees up close and began whispering into his ear, ¡°Love ¡­ ¡­ Love me¡­¡­ Hurry, hurry and make love to me¡­¡­¡± Du Wei wanted to say something again but was suddenly attacked with a sweet set of soft lips: ¡°As expected, this enchantment eye is powerful!¡± Heins inside. Just as he wanted to push this woman away, Du Wei¡¯s hand incidentally grabbed h old of something dangerous. Tender, soft, and full of volume, those mountain like melons are indeed Aoi¡¯s breast. Wiggling at his slightest touch, Du Wei was taken aback by the fact that this woman somehow managed to loosen her upper wear without his notice. ¡°Love me ¡­ ¡­ I want you to love me¡­¡­¡± Aoi kept rubbing herself against him without any intent of letting go. From those ming red cheeks and pleading watery eyes, Du Wei¡¯s heart was having a very difficult time not breaking out in fire at that seductive body. As a full grown man trapped in a kid¡¯s body, Du Wei¡¯s spirit was technically not a virgin¡­. Well, his spirit may not be, but his body was! Over the years, he had abstained from any sexual rtionship and honestly speaking, he did feel like he¡¯s been too harsh on himself. Nevertheless, a child¡¯s body can¡¯t satisfy a man¡¯s urge even if he wanted to. Then as he grew older from a kid, a silly littless known as Vivian appeared in his life. Maybe it¡¯s his child like body at work, but over time, he unwittingly became addicted to that foolish girl and the urge to vent his sexual desire gradually dampened. In his heart, he nned to wait for the girl to grow up and tie the knot. That was his n¡­.. Besides, he¡¯s a practitioner of magic. Whatever excess energy he had to begin with were used in meditation so it¡¯s no wonder he didn¡¯t have the urge to find other women¡¯s. Otherwise¡­ ¡­ With his status as a Duke, would he stillck women circling around him? But now, this female assassin in his arms really was hypnotizing. Days ago he already had the pleasure of witnessing her dance moves. From that unbelievable curvature and amazing disy of flexibility, it¡¯s like a passion of love incarcerated into this shy girl¡¯s body. So, how can he not be tempted after abstaining from sex for so many years? Holding his impulses in check, Du Wei forcefully removes that peachy lip from his and wheezed out his next words: ¡°Hey, if you do that again then I won¡¯t be able to stop myself from XXXX you in the wildest fashion!¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡­¡± Aoi¡¯s only response to his threat was a love like hum before pouncing again at her prey. Damn it! This is too bullish! You really think MR HERE is a eunuch and can¡¯t XXXX you! If the evil inside a man is lit then no man can possibly blow it out again! Under the effect of Du Wei¡¯s devil eye, Aoipletely lost control of herself and fell madly in love with him. Therefore, Du Wei can only do what the situation calls for. Pushing this female assassin down to the bed, hepletely rips apart her upper wear. Under the dim lighting of the jail room, this girl was like an exposed littlemb, shy and ripe for the taking. It¡¯s time! Push it! Push it! It¡¯s time to topple it! Must tear it down!! It¡¯s already at this point, how can I be a man if I back off now! Du Wei takes in a deep breath, his pair of evil ws already reaching out. Just as he was about to reach his target, a low whispering voice came from Aoi¡­¡­ ¡°You-you-you-you-you ¡­ ¡­ What are you doing¡­¡­ You-you-you ¡­ ¡­¡± The familiar voice, the familiar words, instantly iced Du Wei¡¯s brain. Very quickly, the evil fire in the air dissipated to less than half of what it was. And as result, an elegant figure with a pure, innocent shy face appeared: ¡°Please, please, please god, bless poor, poor little Vivian.¡± At once, the figure of that stuttering girl clogged up his mind and destroyed any sort of charm from the female assassin under him. Du Wei breathes in deeply and swore at the heavens: ¡°Fine, fine, fine! Consider it me having no balls this time then!!¡± With that, he hatefully stands up and mercilessly wrapped Aoi up with the bed sheet. Frightened and unwilling, Aoi screams and flings around in order to struggle but were swiftly knocked out by a chop to the neck. Looking at the fainted captive, Du Wei could only sigh at himself, ¡°Consider yourself lucky today that god watched over you.¡± He whispers like a deted balloon. Chapter 263 part 1 Chapter 263 ¡°three birds with one stone¡± (Part one) Poor Hamuye. It¡¯s been two days since his arrival and Du Wei¡¯s done nothing but toss him around left and right. Indeed he was angry at first over his poor treatment, but as an experienced bureaucrat, he quickly subdued his anger. Also, he strictly forbade his men from making trouble in the Duke¡¯s residence. Otherwise, his young subordinates would have been fed up with everything and started a brawl with the guards. Though Hamuye and his people are behaving well these days, it¡¯s no secret to everyone that he¡¯s being intentionally snubbed by Du Wei. As an envoy from another state, Hamuye was forced to go procure his own food from the local restaurants. This has to be the first case of its kind in the history of the Rnd Empire ¡°They sure have been quiet these two days.¡± Hiding next to the window atop of the castle tower, Du Wei peers down at the tents. As a routine procedure, Hamuye would always ask Marde everyday whether the Duke was ready to begin the talks. Likewise, Marde would reply with ¡°the Duke will naturallye meet his guests when he¡¯s finished with his magic experiments¡±. Who knows if it was intentionally or unintentional, Marde would sometimes follow up with another sentence: ¡°Duke said sir should give the draft from before a good lookover. If there are any questions or objections, sir should bring it up in the meeting to avoid wasting both party¡¯s time.¡± The meaning was simple: we will keep asking for an over the top price and all you can do is pay on the spot. However, the offers must be said from your mouth to work. That may be the n, but it seems Hamuye wasn¡¯t in any hurry either and was determined to drag it out with Du Wei. ¡°It seems irritating him won¡¯t be effective.¡± Du Wei sighs and nces over to Philip on the side: ¡°Do you have any other n?¡± Philip thought for a moment before smiling: ¡°My Lord, we are merely testing their limit. The results we got from these two days are very good already.¡± Du Wei rubbed his nose and nodded: ¡°You¡¯re right. If the people from the grasnd intended to take an aggressive stance, they would have already lost it and quit ying games with us.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true, they likely don¡¯t want to fight. It¡¯s just that they are in the wrong this time by sending their army into ournd so they are stuck in a predicament. They don¡¯t want to fight but they also don¡¯t want topensate us, that¡¯s the problem.¡± ¡°Then¡­ ¡­ Why don¡¯t we be even more aggressive?¡± Du Wei pinches his chin and smiles slyly. ¡°I feel it¡¯s about time.¡± Philip reacted somewhat anxious: ¡°We after all don¡¯t really have the power to wage war. If we identally push them too far¡­¡­¡± ¡°No matter what we must get some kind of benefit orpensation.¡± Du Wei shakes his head. Other than this dying tactic, Philip didn¡¯t have any better idea either at this point. After all, they didn¡¯t want to fight, and the other side didn¡¯t want to fight either. For Du Wei to take such an aggressive stance by throwing out those ¡°harsh¡± conditions, neither the pro-war or anti-war faction can question him for he has done nothing damaging thus far. It¡¯s not like Du Wei doesn¡¯t understand the meaning behind the phrase ¡°three stooges is better than one Zhuge Liang¡±. Although Philip¡¯s been growing at a dramatic pace, his decision making was still hindered by the traditional thought patterns ingrained into his body. Therefore, Philip wasn¡¯t skilled in taking the off road when it came to these matters. (Zhuge Liang is a famous strategist in the three kingdom period of china.) Left with no choice, Du Wei simply sought out his generals to discuss their next course of action. Longbottom, Dadaneier, the heroic mini 250 from the battle at Anglia City (now promoted to Longbottom¡¯s deputy), uncle Alpha, Old Smoke, and others¡­.. ¡°I called everyone here today to discuss our next course of action in dealing with this Hamuye.¡± Du Wei asks his generalsid out before him: ¡°I know you guys aren¡¯t used to these type of things, but who knows, maybe we cane up with some extraordinary idea bybining our minds.¡± Hurting their brains in the process, the one to speak up first turns out to be Guptad- the mini 250. Full of killing intent, this man lowers his voice: ¡°Duke, are they not sending people into the town everyday? We can send our men to disguise themselves as thieves and teach them a lesson by beating them up. I would like to see them keep this up after we kill one or two of them!¡± Du Wei simply sighed at this mini 250 after giving him one look. Picking up a pen, he hands it over to Guptad and said: ¡°My dearest General Guptad, hold this pen. Over there is the wall. You can crouch down and draw circles to pass your time¡­..¡± Du Wei then turns to Longbottom: ¡°Dear General, do you have any good suggestions?¡± ¡°If not, we can have someone pose as an assassin and kill this Hamuye. Use poison or whatever¡­.. We don¡¯t really have to kill him, just enough to seriously injure him. Once that¡¯s done, the prairie will have to send another person. Maybe the second one will be easier to deal with.¡± Staring at Longbottom for a second, Du Wei passes a pen to this bigger fool and points to the corner: ¡°Dear general, why don¡¯t you go apany Guptad over there and draw some circles¡­..¡± By the time Du Wei looks over to Old Smoke, this intelligent man took the initiative and said: ¡°My lord¡­. Please give me a pen too.¡± Dadaneier on the other hand was more useful. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly spoke up: ¡°Perhaps¡­ ¡­ I have a solution. But I¡¯m afraid I will need General Longbottom to coordinate with me.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei¡¯s eye broughtened up. Dadaneier then brought out a weird idea: ¡°Hamuye is currently firmly refusing to open his mouth so both sides are testing each other¡¯s patience. Your Dukehip is correct in keeping him hanging, but Hamuye is no fool. The chips in our hand aren¡¯t enough and he knows full well the Empire doesn¡¯t wish to go war either. Therefore, even if we keep him hanging like we are doing now, he won¡¯t need to care. My lord, forgive me for being blunt. In this negotiation, since both sides don¡¯t want to fight, we have one point inmon. If that¡¯s the case, there are only two problems on our hand. Firstly is that we cannot offend the anti-war faction in the capital. Asking for peace is a must, but it must note from our mouths first. Otherwise, this incident will give the pro-war faction in the capital an excuse to reprimand you as weak will and sold the empire out. Once that happens, your career will have a blemish and it will be difficult to gain support in the future. Ideally, we need Hamuye to make the proposal first so we can have an excuse to follow along.¡± A glint of happiness shed across Du Wei¡¯s eye as he looked at Dadaneier: ¡°Keep going.¡± Dadaneier coughed once to clear his throat and went on: ¡°That was the first, now¡¯s the second¡­.. Ughh, this second problem is the benefits! Looking at it from a logical perspective, it is their side in the wrong. If we are to make peace, they must make somepensation. The more they pay the more prestige your lordship will get as the lead negotiator. Here¡¯s where the problem lies because all indication points to them not wanting topensate at all. They are like us right now, dy and dy for they know they cannot afford to fight. As such, it doesn¡¯t matter if we put up an even stronger stance, it won¡¯t change anything to them. I specte this Hamuye intends to drag it out and notpensate at all after letting this incident slide over. We mustn¡¯t let that happen!¡± Du Wei¡¯sugh became even more oundish: ¡°Hmm, in the end, the two problems you mentioned is but the same thing: figuring out how to make the prairie people make peace and pay for the damage.¡± Dadaneier smiles strangely and scratched his head: ¡°That¡¯s pretty much it, but¡­¡­ There is always loss when there is gain. If we simply asked forpensation, they will most certainly refuse. Then¡­¡­ Why not we make an exchange?! Make a deal with them. As long as the deal is to our advantage and we gained some tangible benefits then that¡¯s good!¡± Du Wei nods and looked Dadaneier in the eye: ¡°You don¡¯t have to hide it, just point it out. What do you have in mind?¡± ¡°Did your lordship forget? There¡¯s still a cavalry division consisting of 20,000 men stationed inside the prairie! Although this force isn¡¯t huge, it¡¯s not small either. Every year the empire has to waste an enormous amount of supplies to maintain this group. Aside from being an eyesore to the people of the grasnd, I really don¡¯t see any significance to their existence! If that is so¡­. It¡¯s better off removing this force!¡± Just when his words stopped at this part, Longbottom suddenly called out and red at Dadaneier: ¡°What did you say! Remove!? You¡¯ve got to be kidding me! If not for this army of 20,000, those guys on the prairie will be even more outrageous!¡± Dadaneier smiled in return and unhurriedly exins: ¡°General, if it was still the same division back when you were inmand then the people of the grasnd may consider twice before acting¡­. But now, ording to my sources, the effect of this army of 20,000 is seriously limited. After you left, your sessor was simply too ipetent. In addition to being aplete eyesore to the people of the grasnd, I really don¡¯t see their use other than to consume vast amounts resource every year! Think about it, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s funny to keep such a force that holds no real value? If it was the same army back when you were inmand then yes, it¡¯s worth it. But now, it¡¯s simply not worth it!¡± Longbottom was silent for a while. Although he didn¡¯t want to admit it, but what Dadaneier said was true. Chapter 263 part 2 Chapter 263 ¡°three birds with one stone¡± (Part two) ¡°One cannot always take a tough stance when ites to things like negotiations. In order to make the other side take a big step forward, we need to first make a small step backwards. Who knows, like us, Hamuye may also be waiting for an opportunity to get off the stage.¡± Dadaneier thinks for a second, ¡°I believe this is an excellent chance for the Duke to propose the withdrawal of the 20,000 soldiers stationed in the grasnd¡­¡­ Of course, the deal cannot be made public. Otherwise the citizens of the empire will misunderstand our intent and take us for traitors. Underneath we will withdraw those soldiers and on the surface they arepensating us.¡± ¡°What else?¡± Du Wei happily smiles at Dadaneier. ¡°Also¡­ ¡­ I feel this is the perfect opportunity to pocket these men¡­. That would be the best oue! From what I heard, the bosses back in military headquarters had long wanted to retract this force. After all, their expense far exceeds their worth. If we propose this now, it¡¯s likely we can persuade this force to join us.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t work!¡± Mini 250 Guptad shakes his head: ¡°Throughout the history of the empire, there have only been cases of private armies turning into imperial forces! Whoever heard of imperial soldiers demoting themselves into private soldiers?! The military would never agree to this n!¡± Dadaneier smiles once again and turns to Longbottom: ¡°That¡¯s why this will depend on General Longbottom to work! And of course, we cannot be so direct in saying we will take this army off imperial hands. To the soldiers and to the bosses back at military headquarter, that will be too shameful to pass. Therefore, we will say as a token of loyalty to the state, Duke Tulip is willing to look after the expenses of these 20,000 personnel. At the same time, we will make a request to have these men stationed along our province¡¯s border, all in the name of troop shortages of course. My lord, just think. If this force stays on ournd and ispletely supplied by us -eat, drink, wear ¨C eventually they wille to rely on us! Slowly and surely, they will fall into our hands. Though nominally they are still imperial soldiers under the government¡¯s control, but in reality they are your private army.¡± Du Wei¡¯s eyes grew deeper at the thought. Lastly, Dadaneier took one long look at Longbottom: ¡°There¡¯s another detail that may require some sacrifices on General Longbottom part.¡± ¡°What¡­¡­¡± ¡°I know you hate the empire¡¯s militarymand and swore never to return, but¡­.. In order to help the Duke seed in his greatness, we need you to break your oath.¡± Dadaneier turns around to look at Du Wei: ¡°Duke, you just need to propose your intent to bear all expenses and write another document on your behalf. The content should be about your loyalty and as a token of devotion for their help; you are offering General Longbottom to be their captain! While the centralmand is bogged down by other matters, they will likely agree to your request! By then, the soldiers are paid by us and¡­. Besides, General Longbottom is their originalmander. With his authority and prestige, it won¡¯t be long before we control those men!¡± Finally, Dadaneier concludes: ¡°The truth is the military and the Regent will definitely know of our n. However, it¡¯s clear the Regent trusts your Dukeship from how he made you fully responsible for this negotiation. It¡¯s not like centralmand doesn¡¯t want to rid themselves of this burden, we¡¯re simply paving the road for them! As for the people of the prairie, they will most likely agree to our conditions. That is of course after we make them bleed hard from thepensation, three birds with one stone so why not?¡± This gush of ideas left everyone dumbstruck! This includes the well learned Philip as this schr watched Dadaneier with amazement in his eyes. Though Dadaneier remains quiet and doesn¡¯t talk much, he¡¯s not known to be exceptional despite being responsible in his duties. Who could have thought this man cane up with such a great n? Rather it was Du Wei whom broke the silence, ¡°In this case let¡¯s give it a try. Philip, you stay and help me draft a letter first¡­. Now then everyone, you can leave for now while me and Dadaneier go over the n.¡± After sending everyone away ¨C including Philip ¨C to leave only the two of them alone, Du Wei¡¯s first word was a long sigh: ¡°My friend¡­. You didn¡¯te up with this tactic did you?¡± Dadaneier smiled and scratched his cheek like he was caught red handed, ¡°Your Dukeship is correct. I, Dadaneier, don¡¯t have such a good mind. Hmm¡­.. This ploy was thought up by the Marquise. She knows you¡¯ve been fretting over the negotiation recently. Sost night, she deliberately called me over and told me to pass this idea onto you when the chances arise. She said as a woman and an outsider, she¡¯s not in a position to directly interfere with state matters.¡± Du Wei only ¡®hmm¡¯ in return and didn¡¯t say more. Only then did Dadaneier realize something and immediately kneeled down with a face full unease: ¡°My lord, are you ming me? I¡¯ve already sworn my loyalty to you. The reason I decided to pass this idea to you is because I also felt it was a good idea, not because of any sentimental attachment to the Lister House. I will never have a change of heart!¡± Du Wei hurries to pick up his old friend: ¡°My friend, you are mistaken. Both of us went through life and death together, nothing can change that bond between us. The reason I became distracted is because of my admiration towards the Marquise¡¯s intelligence. Such a tactic really is good. Although she¡¯s a woman, one can¡¯t help but admire someone like her.¡± After a pause, Du Wei turns to Dadaneier: ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s do this then. Since the Marquise gave me such a great idea, I must show some gratitude so help me ask if she needs anything. Also¡­.. Our business in the North, you can set it up to give the Lister family ten percent more profit on our deals.¡± Dadaneier grins: ¡°I think the Marquise wouldn¡¯t care much about money since the Lister House is rich to begin with¡­.. Hmm, your honor, if you wish to express your gratitude, why not go see the Marquise instead?¡± ¡°Heyhey!¡± Du Wei happily coughs twice: ¡°Dadaneier, it can¡¯t be that you also want to set me up for marriage now are you?¡± Dadaneier turns serious: ¡°Your honor, I indeed do. However, the reason isn¡¯t due to my origin from the Lister House. I only feel that the Marquise with her unrivaled beauty is a great match for your intelligence and great foresight¡­¡­ Although the age difference is a bit steep, but I can see the Marquise is sincere. For your cause, the Lister House will be a great asset to have.¡± Du Wei tapped Dadaneier¡¯s shoulder: ¡°I understand that you¡¯re not doing this out of selfishness, but my marriage¡­. I don¡¯t want to settle so early. And¡­.. Political marriage isn¡¯t my thing. I¡¯m very willing in coopering with the Lister House, but must there be marriage between both families for there to be an alliance?¡± On the contrary, Dadaneier shakes his head, obviously not agreeing with Du Wei¡¯s view: ¡°This is your personal business, but as a Duke, your identity is different. Your marriage naturally involves more than you what you wish! To be perfectly blunt, if you¡¯re amoner then who you marry is your private affair. But as a lord, your marriage is no longer just your affair. The truth is, most of us are in favor of you closing the knot with the Lister Household. I talked with Sir Philip before and even he is faintly showing his weight towards this idea. It¡¯s just that we all know you have Ms. Vivian on your mind so we didn¡¯t have the heart to tell you¡­.. And, forgive me for saying this, you¡¯ve already went through youring of age ceremony! Within the empire¡¯s noble circle, which young noble isn¡¯t engaged at a young age? Considering your identity and status, you don¡¯t even have anything set¡­. This is absolutely inappropriate.¡± Du Wei remains silent for he knows Dadaneier spoke the truth. What can he do? Only he knows his own problem. He¡¯s not some innocent boy. In fact, he wouldn¡¯t mind a one night stand here and there. It¡¯s true Mrs. Lister is beautiful and he¡¯s been tempted to take her on many asions, but that¡¯s purely based on carnal lust as a man. If it was just a fling with a lover then he can ept that. But marriage? Screw that! The only one to give him the idea of wanting to spend the rest of his life together was that immacte littler stutterer. As for the previous night where he nearly pacified that female prisoner and ended up stopping midway was all because of his strange emotions towards Vivian. More importantly, Du Wei may not be in the innocent camp, but he¡¯s no animal that can¡¯t control his lower part. It¡¯s not a problem conquering that female assassinst night; the problem lies with whates afterward. That girl¡¯s after all a member of the Snowy Mountain, and the Shaman King¡¯s disciple at that! There¡¯s enough trouble in his hand already, he¡¯s in no mood to get more by ¡°tarnishing¡± the Shaman King¡¯s disciple! ¡°Damn it¡­¡­ Why is it that others get to be the yboy when they reincarnate and I only get to y the innocent good boy? Thinking about it, the whole thing is kind of hrious!¡± Mrs. Lister ¡­ ¡­ Mrs. Lister ¡­ ¡­ Du Wei thought and thought, then suddenlyughed: ¡°It¡¯s true having someone else convey my thanks isn¡¯t very sincere. Let¡¯s do this then, tell herdyship I would like to have dinner with her tonight.¡± Chapter 264 Chapter 264 ¡°such conditions¡± By night fall, Du Wei had ordered Marde to decorate a small ballroom and the kitchen to prepare some exquisite dishes while he waited for the Marquise¡¯s arrival. When the door finally opened, thedy toe in nearly blinded his eyes with how dazzling she was. Filled with elegance, Mrs. Lister¡¯s body was like a blossoming rose due to the red evening dress she wore. From the slim waist to the graceful style of her steps, this unrivaled beauty gave of a pure yet mature charm that somehow made it unbefitting of that girlish face. To put it simply, this woman had a body of a demoness and a face of an angel. Under his ogling eye, Mrs. Lister smiles in return and gently performed a curtsy bow: ¡°Your Dukeship, am Ite?¡± Du Wei gave a loud cough. Standing up, he personally pulled the chair out for thedy and said: ¡°Of course not. It¡¯s just that I lost myposure when looking at your gracefulness. Mrs. Lister softly looked Du Wei in the eye, her gaze filled with a strange yearning: ¡°I fear the Duke is disingenuous. I¡¯ve been in the Northwest for so long and this is the first time you invited me for dinner between the two of us.¡± Du Wei turned around and pretentiously went to grab a wine bottle just so he can avoid the Marquise¡¯s eye. Waving his hand in the process, the waiters all left the room. Once the door was closed, Du Wei had already positioned himself beside the madam. Pouring her a ss, he then smiled: ¡°Then thedy is ming me for snubbing my guests? If the citizens back in the capital learn of my poor manners, I fear I will be the first person in the empire to be drowned by the peoples spit.¡± Du Wei then returned to his seat and sat down. Raising his own ss for a toast, he wanted to show his sincerity: ¡°This first toast will be my apology to yourdyship.¡± Not denying the gesture, Mrs. Lister followed suit with the toast. While Du Wei gulped it all down in one go, the madam only took a shallow sip befitting that of a nobledy. Du Wei then promptly poured himself another ss: ¡°This second cup is my sincerest wish for yourdyship¡¯s eternal beauty, and to the evesting bond between the Tulip House and Lister House.¡± The Marquise giggles this time and drank a bit more than thest. Du Wei then pours another cup to reach the third toast: ¡°This third cup is my thanks to you¡­.. Dadaneier said to me¡­..¡± Not waiting for Du Wei to finish, Mrs. Lister cuts him off with that half angry, halfining mouth of hers: ¡°Your Dukeship, you keep toasting me again and again, it can¡¯t be that you want to get me drunk now are you?¡± She teases him with eyes that could melt any man. ¡°Of course not!¡± As if he couldn¡¯t be awed by her charm, Du Wei cried out his reply without batting an eysh, ¡°The third cup is my thanks for offering me such a good idea. Hmm, you don¡¯t need to drink this third cup, I will drink it myself.¡± After three consecutive drinks, Du Wei also felt a bit tipsy. Gently sighing, he puts down his ss and looked towards the Marquise: ¡°The truth is, other than gratitude, I also admire yourdyship a lot. If not for your idea, I don¡¯t know how long of a headache I be forced to endure.¡± The madam purses her lip and softly said: ¡°What could possibly stump your Dukeship when you are so clever. I feared I might have offered some bad advice and be ridiculed by everyone. I just hope you won¡¯t think of me as a bbermouth. As a woman, I understand my knowledge is limited. Therefore, I can only ask Sir Dadaneier for help.¡± ¡°Madam¡¯s goodwill will forever stay in my heart.¡± Du Wei sternly brought out this sentence. The Marquise suddenly looks up and peered into Du Wei¡¯s eye, ¡°It seems the reason for the dinner invitation tonight is for that. If not for my help, are you going to keep ignoring me?¡± Unwavering in her emotions, a strong signal was being sent from her gaze. Du Wei coughed ufortably. Just as he wanted to speak again¡­.. ¡°Hmm, your Dukeship.¡± Madame Lister tilts her head to think. She had to admit, her move just now was a bit too charming: ¡°Your Dukeship¡­. If you want to say thanks then that¡¯s not needed. If you are really grateful then I have a request.¡± Du Wei skipped a beat¡­ ¡­ It can¡¯t be another wedding proposal again? Hmm, shouldn¡¯t be. ¡°As long as I can satisfy it without go against my will.¡± Du Wei first locked down his terms to leave no possibility for a loophole. The Marquise snorted augh because she found Du Wei absolutely charming in his reaction. Those eyes of hers clearly indicating: knew you would say that! ¡°You can rest assure that my request isn¡¯t difficult for you. In fact, it¡¯s very simple.¡± Du Wei got ufortable inside and felt regretful over his own folly: ¡°It was going so well, why did I ever decide to invite this troublesome woman to dinner? Seriously, what was my head thinking?¡± Only by being alone with this woman can he feel the overbearing beauty and charm extruding off that body of hers. ¡°I believe you know that my Lister family is a family of business. Although I ¡­ ¡­ Hmm, although my life has been faced with misfortune with the premature death of husband, but I do have a Marquise title thanks to his majesty¡¯s goodwill. However, my title is only generational and cannot be inherited.¡± The Madam clearly and slowly spoke: ¡°Because my Lister Family isn¡¯t a noble house, we are not privileged to a territory, but we do have a strong foundation in the north after years of taking root there.¡± Once the marquise began her exnation, Du Wei became somewhat relieved and started to get interested. ¡°¡­¡­ Your Dukeship knows it too. My family started off by constructing trade in the maritime. But in recent years, the empire had been cutting back more and more in their naval expeditions. If I had to specte, Prince Son¡¯s n is topletely cut off military spending to this region. Probably within the next few years, the maritime trade of the empire will be unprofitable. Therefore, I¡¯ve already decided to move my family¡¯s business out of the Southeast region.¡± Speaking up to here, she deliberately paused to sweep Du Wei a nce just so she can show off the hypnotizing side of her face while taking a sip of wine. Clearing his throat: ¡°Lady¡¯s decisiveness is admirable. Trade in the Southeast is huge, but yourdyship¡¯s ability to look into the future is beyond the ordinary.¡± The Marquise giggles at thepliment: ¡°Your Dukeship shouldn¡¯t praise me so early. I fear you are going to frown after I tell you the next half.¡± Du Wei ponders the idea for a moment. Picking up his ss, he also took a sip: ¡°Madam, you said you got things to tell me¡­. Does it have anything to do with your family business?¡± ¡°It¡¯s exactly this.¡± Madame Lister deliberately moaned a graceful sigh: ¡°I am a woman. Despite being the head of the house and as fortune would have it, I managed to live up to my father¡¯s trust. But these years, I¡¯ve grown extremely tired from the burdens. My brother and sister are still young and I¡¯ve been forced to support everything alone all this time, the stress has really hurt my heart¡­. s, my only wish is to not see my father¡¯s work fall into decline, leaving me to continue to resist by myself.¡± Du Wei did not chime in for he knew the next part was the main show. ¡°While the maritime continues to falter and shrink, I thought and thought¡­. That¡¯s when you came up. Your Desa Province grows with each passing day and is thriving under your rule. Though the tension in the region isn¡¯t so peaceful, but it¡¯s the main bridge between the prairie and the empire, meaning plenty of opportunity for trading. Hmmm¡­.. After a long time, I finally came to a decision. I hope I can support you.¡± Du Wei can faintly guess what she¡¯s getting at: ¡°Your meaning is¡­.¡± ¡°I intend to move the Lister Household to the Northwest!¡± Listening to the Marquise say this in a serious fashion, Du Wei could not help but be overwhelmed. Watching his face, the Marquise broke into augh: ¡°See, you frowned the second I tell you this.¡± Embarrassed by hisck of manor, Du Wei gave a small chuckle to cover up his mistake. Fortunately, the Marquise didn¡¯t pursue the issue and continues: ¡°In the near future, the Northwest here will be filled with opportunities¡­.. Furthermore, forgive me for being disrespectful. Even if the empire does go to war with the people of the grasnd, the Desa Province will y a key strategic role. Whether it be weapons, food, tents, these are all opportunities for business. The Lister Family is capable of covering all this. It¡¯s better to take up roots now then to startter in the future.¡± Du Wei ponders the idea for a moment. The reasoning is about right, but he got the aching feeling the reason behind her request isn¡¯t what she¡¯s making it out to be! ¡°Your Dukeship, only you can call the shots in the Desa Province. If I wish to move here, I will need your support.¡± ¡°This is only natural.¡± Du Wei agrees right away. In cases like these, he¡¯s in no position to reject such a great proposal. ¡°Hmm, I believe in the Duke¡¯s credibility, but there are some things that will still need your personal attention.¡± The Marquise thought for a moment before asking: ¡°There are several requests I would like to make, I hope you can promise me.¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°Please say.¡± ¡°This first one, I ask that Lon City be the location for my home residence. My Lister Family may not be big, but including staff, attendants and horse groomers, there are still something around three thousand five hundred people. Hmm, be best if it was located near the Duke¡¯s residence with a wide street where public security is good. As for the payment for thend, I can pay the official price.¡± ¡°Secondly, since I¡¯m moving, the White Feather knights will naturally follow. Although nominally there are five hundred men in their ranks, but you know very well there are in fact approximately two thousand personnel in total. Of course these cavalry knights cannot live in the city, and¡­..¡± At this point, Mrs. Lister smiles at him: ¡°Since I¡¯m willing to work with your Dukeship, it¡¯s only natural I put my trust in you. Before I needed this force to protect me and my family, but now, they are no longer necessary. I firmly believe you would protect us if anything happens. So I thought and thought, the best solution I cane up with is to station them with your soldiers outside the city. From now on let¡¯s have them take up the Tulip crest on their armor. I only need three hundred fifty knights around. As for the rest, they will follow your deployment. Regarding the expenses for the White Feather Knights, the Lister Family will dly bear half of the costs involved.¡± ¡°Then the third¡­ ¡­ I know your Dukeship¡¯s army is equipping itself with the gears from that Tanshan fe. My Lister Family may not be as big as that fatty in the weapon¡¯s industry, but we are of some size. Consider it me taking advantage of you this time. From now on let my Lister Family be in charge of equipping the Tulip army. Considering my rtionship with that Tanshan, I believe he wouldn¡¯t hate me for stealing his business. As for the costs of each weapon, I¡¯ll do fifty percent less than that fat man.¡± ¡°Then the fourth ¡­ ¡­¡± The more he listened, the more stunned he became. Eventually his thoughts were written all over his face. This¡­¡­ This woman! How is she asking him for a favor? This is clearly give one give another! Gift upon gift!!! Her conditions may sound like it¡¯s her terms for moving to the Desa Province, but she¡¯s clearly doing this to stimte the economy and to strengthen his forces! Literally throwing money and man power into his arms!!! If such a good thing were to fall into any other official of the empire, assuming they are not idiots, none would ever decline such an offer! This Mrs. Lister has a great deal of verve to be so daring in tightly sticking her family with his without question. ¡°Madam.¡± Not waiting for her to finish the fourth condition, Du Wei waves his hand to stop her: ¡°Your conditions¡­.. I think as along as the recipient isn¡¯t stupid, none would reject it. It¡¯s just that I feel a little unease at taking such a big gift. ¡°It¡¯s just business.¡± Madame Lister smiles: ¡°I may appear to be paying a lot today, but I believe with your talent, my Lister Family will be greatly rewarded in the future.¡± ¡°In this case¡­¡­¡± Du Wei ponders the question for a moment and said, ¡°I cannot just ept everything like this, otherwise I fear others will say I¡¯m greedy. If yourdyship moves to the Northwest then all taxes will be exempt on the first year followed by a fifty percent tax reduction in the following three years. Afterwards, all your businesses will only pay eighty percentpared to the market!¡± Contrary to his expectations, thedy¡¯s face turned glum when he stated his terms: ¡°You¡­. Just can¡¯t ept my kindness, is that it?¡± On such a fine night where wine and beauty was with him, even Du Wei cannot deny his manly instincts. Slightly trembling at thedy¡¯s gripe with him, he hurriedly gulped down his ss of wine and tries to change the topic: ¡°The dishes tonight is something I specially requested from the kitchen, I hope you will like it.¡± Though Mrs. Lister¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change, her head did droop down a little: ¡°It¡¯s a little stuffy in here. Duke, why don¡¯t you apany me for a walk in the garden?¡± Chapter 265 Chapter 265 ¡°make you love me¡± Summer, a season of warmth and life in this world. But here in the Northwest, there are no flowers, only a dryness that shifts from warm to cold during the day and night. Nevertheless there are exceptions. Currently inside the castle garden, the flower to bloom the most beautifully happens to be the Empire¡¯s signature emblem ¨C Thorn Flower, a nt most suited to be grown in harsh conditions. Walking in front of Du Wei, Mrs. Lister with her slender hands gently waves through the flower bed. Mixed with her red outfit, it¡¯s enough to confuse the audience from distinguishing which was in fact a real flower, her or the nts. From behind, Du Wei had kept his eyes fixated on this woman the entire time for he was quite ufortable inside. With the moon¡¯s light shining down at her, Mrs. Lister suddenly stopped between a batch of flowers and peered into the sky. Sighing, she spoke in an almost moaning voice: ¡°I¡®ve already forgotten how long it¡¯s been since Ist saw such a brightly lit moon.¡± Du Wei smiled in return with his arms behind his back: ¡°In the Northwest here, the wind is usually really strong, thus making it very clear during the night. ¡°It¡¯s not because of the weather, it¡¯s the human heart.¡± Mrs. Lister shakes her head with a trace of mncholy surrounding that face of hers. How can Du Wei not understand her words with his intellect: ¡°You¡¯re right, it¡¯s not because of the weather, it¡¯s the person¡¯s heart.¡± Mrs. Lister slowly turns around. Under the effect of her bright red dress and the illuminating night light, her figure was enough to make anyone lose their breath: ¡°You¡­.. Still refuse to ept my offer?¡± Du Wei lightly knits his brow: ¡°I¡¯m merely fifteen years old with hardly any experience. Sure, I¡¯m knocking a Duke¡¯s title, but my strength cannotpete with the Northwest Army and the people of the grasnd. Also, my foundation cannot hold its own against Governor Bohan, meaning my n to take up roots here isn¡¯t assured. So madam, aren¡¯t you afraid of making the wrong bet on me?¡± Mrs. Lister did not directly reply, instead, she only whispered her next words: ¡°You¡­ ¡­ We¡¯re not at a party or formal asion right now, is it that hard for you to call me by my name?¡± Only after a pause did she sigh: ¡°Why must youe up with these excuses with your intellect. I admit I indeed want to have both families form an alliance and that there are some selfishness involved, but that¡¯s not all there is to it¡­. After all, I¡¯m also a woman.¡± Du Wei could not say anything so she did the honor. Slowly stretching out her palm, she touches one of the thorns and pierced the tip of her finger. Crying out in pain with her mesmerizing voice, drops of blood began to drip out from the wound. Seeing the situation, even Du Weipsed out for a second at her maneuver. Seemingly satisfied with his response, Mrs. Lister flushed a shade of red on her face: ¡°I married my husband when I was young. Although he was already of quite the age by that time, he¡¯s still the first man to treat me genuinely¡­.. For this reason, I still can¡¯t forget him. Did you know? On our wedding night, I identally said something about one of the flowers in the garden being pretty and he actually jumped off the balcony just to pick it for me.¡± Speaking up to here, she brought her punctured finger into her mouth and gently sucked on the wound, ¡°I¡¯m a woman. Since the tender age of thirteen, I¡¯ve already listened to numerouspliments and endured countless aggressive looks from other men. Even at that period, I had more men fall under my skirt than I can count¡­. But these people in my mind can never match up to my husband. Although he died early, he gave me the most peaceful and happy years of my life. He was already quite old, but even then he would apany me on my trips to collect the morning dew. To me, his slightest cough during the night was enough to bring peace to my heart.¡± Though she¡¯s talking about another man in front of him, the amount of emotion running through those words were overwhelming and somehow managed to change Du Wei¡¯s initial disgust towards her. Hmm ¡­ ¡­ It seems she¡¯s not just a woman that only knows how to exchange benefits. Tactfully turning around to face him, the Marquise softly smiles, ¡°I ¡­ ¡­ I said so many things about another man in front of you, are you angry?¡± Du Wei shakes his head and said: ¡°You are not wrong ¡­ ¡­ You are after all a woman, even though strong and wealthy, you are not motionless.¡± He then formed a kinder smile: ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to tell me these things about yourself.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a whim.¡± Mrs. Lister softly sighs and slowly came up to Du Wei. Before the two knew it, their faces were already close enough to feel each other¡¯s breath. ¡°The truth is¡­ ¡­ Since his death, I haven¡¯t spent much time moon gazing over the years¡­. Nor have I had a day where I can truly rx.¡± Mrs. Lister shakes her head, ¡°Maybe everyone only knows me as someone that strives to expand the family business, but in my heart, I had always been looking for someone I can rely on and take me in.¡± She looks up and stares at Du Wei with her crystal like eyes: ¡°Women are like vines. Though strong, it must still find a strong tree to dwell on. Over the years, I struggled and struggled, but have never been truly happy.¡± ¡°I¡­ ¡­ It¡¯s been a long time since I received any flowers.¡± She talks with great sadness in her voice. Du Wei didn¡¯t know where the impulse came, but before he knew it, he had already reached out to a nearby bush and plucked one of the yellow flowers from its vine: ¡°A flower to match a beauty. Though this Thorn Flower cannot match a thousandth of your beauty, please ept it.¡± ¡°Flowers are all equal. It¡¯s the person whom gives it that puts meaning into them.¡± Right this instance, her beauty knew no boundaries: ¡°If it¡¯s a gift from your honor, even if it¡¯s a bunch of hay, I will love it.¡± After a pause, a hint of pleading surfaced on her face: ¡°You¡­.. Couldn¡¯t you call me by my name?¡± Du Wei is still man after all. Before a beauty bordering on the line of a cmity, it¡¯s only natural that his mind gets steamy hot from being hit on: ¡°Hmm. Mrs. Lan.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ ¡­ You calling me like this makes me very happy.¡± She flushes red and drops her face down in embarrassment.¡± Using this simple move nearly caused Du Wei to lose his soul, and inwardly, he wanted to exim at her resourcefulness: amazing! It¡¯s true what the people of old say, ¡°A beauty is more dangerous than a sharp knife if used right!¡± ¡°In thirty years of my life, you are the most handsome man I¡¯ve encountered thus far.¡± The Marquise¡¯s boldness caused Du Wei to drop his jaw. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong.¡± Mrs. Lister smiles: ¡°Although your age is on the small side, you give off the feeling to others that you are naturally born with a temperament to stand above others. Even if tossed into a crowd, your aura cannot be covered. In my life, you are the first to give me this strange sensation. Though I still don¡¯t love you right now, but no matter how I think about it, you are the best candidate to be my husband. In my entire life, the men that I admire the most are those with intellect and strength. Since I¡¯m aware of my self-worth as a vine, it¡¯s only natural that I go looking for a big tree to take hold.¡± Du Wei appropriately plugged in another segment, ¡°Unfortunately, my tree is nothing more than a sapling right now.¡± The Marquise suddenly chuckles before sighing: ¡°Do you really need me to give you the entire Lister Family before you are willing to ept me?¡± Du Wei did not speak. ¡°You¡­ ¡­ What does it take to make you consent to marrying me?¡± Contrary to what she expected, Du Wei found it even more difficult to speak when she¡¯s being so straightforward. A moment¡¯s hesitation, Du Wei manned up and spoke: ¡°Madam, you are truly stunning and attractive. I fear in this world no man is a match for you. I¡­. am no exception. To be honest, a part of my heart also finds it hard not to fancy you. It¡¯s just that my personality is quite stubborn. No matter what, I can¡¯t bring myself to use my marriage as a tradeoff under any circumstances. Maybe you will find my exnation ridiculous, but I don¡¯t mind telling you. Whatever Northwest conquest, whatever power control, I never had those in my mind. Since the day I came to this world and became sensible, I only had one simple goal, ¡®to be free¡¯! This ideal may perhaps be ridiculous in your eyes, but I¡¯ve stuck to it till this day. Everything, from beginning till now, it was all for this so called freedom. Of course, if anyone wishes to get in my way or take it away from me, I won¡¯t hesitate to remove them from my eyes. Now do you understand? If I use my marriage as a chip in our exchange, wouldn¡¯t my so called freedom be a joke?¡± Mrs. Lister widens her eye in utter surprise. Du Wei continues: ¡°It¡¯s not that you¡¯re not beautiful, nor is it because the Lister Familycked appeal to me. It¡¯s just that a hopeless guy like me is on the slow side.¡± Savoring the meaning behind this so called ¡°freedom¡±, it was the Marquise¡¯s turn to be quiet. Du Wei was gradually starting to clear up. Putting some distance between him and thedy, soberness retakes his mind: ¡°There are two reasons behind tonight¡¯s dinner invitation. The First is naturally to thank you for the advice and the other¡­¡­¡± After ncing at her and seeing there are no resistance, Du Wei continues: ¡°Mrs. Lan¡­. The worry in your heart is nothing more than the thriving future of your Lister Household. While I don¡¯t want to be that big tree that you wish me to be, but if all you need is a tree to cling onto, I can help you find one! Therefore, I believe the alliance between both families doesn¡¯t necessarily mean it has to bepleted by us.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± She tenses up. ¡°I have a younger brother named Gabri.¡± Du Wei slowly said, ¡°We share the same mother and father. The only difference between us is that his surname is Rowling and mine being Rudolph. Though he¡¯s only ten years old right now, his gifted intellect is already showing. It¡¯s true the Rowling House has fallen into ruin but considering my influence and power in the empire, I guarantee that within twenty years I can uplift my family back into its former glory and more with careful guidance. Conservatively speaking, a simple title of a Count wouldn¡¯t be an overstatement. Of course, his personality and character doesn¡¯t need boration. I believe such a man wouldn¡¯t be a dishonor to thedy of the Lister Household.¡± Finishing her eye popping: ¡°You¡­ ¡­ You mean¡­¡­ Are you saying to let your brother and my sister get marry? But¡­ ¡­ But my little sister Angel is already fifteen years old, and¡­..¡± ¡°Fifteen is only five years older than Gabri.¡± Du Wei nce at Mrs. Lister, his meaning very clear: our age gap is at least ten years apart, I don¡¯t see youining? ¡°But, Angel will never agree to this. The girl is still fondling over you¡­. If you refuse to marry her then that¡¯s that, but to make her marry your brother, she will absolutely refuse.¡± Mrs. Lister firmly states her piece. Du Wei smiled: ¡°Angel is but fifteen years old, how much rtionship matters can she possibly know? She is currently in love with me¡­. Hmm, her crush is merely based on those rumors and stories she overheard from others. If I add up all the times I met with her, it can¡¯t even match one hand, let alone the miniscule amount of dialogue we racked up in three days. Just wait till she passes her pubic period. By then she will naturally understand the differences between true love and young love. My brother is a clever boy. With his fame in the capital, he will definitely be a fine match for the young miss of the Lister House.¡± ¡°Enough!¡± Mrs. Lister suddenly revealed a hint of disappointment as she faces Du Wei: ¡°Even if you turn me down, you don¡¯t have toe up with such an idea!¡± She suddenly presses in against Du Wei with her soft and fragrant body. Posting her arms around Du Wei¡¯s arm, she asks again without any intent of letting go: ¡°Tell me please, what does it take to make you marry me?¡± ¡°Unless I¡¯m in love with you¡­ ¡­¡± Du Wei firmly answers her without any indecision. ¡°Fine!¡± Madame Lister suddenly changes her tone to that of determination: ¡°Du Wei! I will defiantly make you love me!¡± After saying her statement, this woman gazes deeply into Du Wei that left his heart palpitating with unease. Watching the Marquise turn and walk away, Du Wei then moves his hand to gently caresses the nearby flower bed and ended up piercing one of his fingers: ¡°A flower with thorns sure is dangerous!¡± ¡°You¡­ ¡­ Don¡¯t you think your methods are a little too harsh?¡± The voice of Semel surfaced from deep within him ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Are you really willing to drag that little Lister girl into a political marriage? You know it too¡­. She¡¯s still not over you yet.¡± Only after a while of forethought did the corner of his mouth change to that of a smile: ¡°Semel, my dear Semel, did you know? I recently read a book called ¡®The continent¡¯s history¡¯. There¡¯s a phrase in there that left a deep impression on me.¡± ¡°¡­¡­ What?¡± Du Wei took in a deep breath, his face full of indifference: ¡°A lot of times, one may think destiny is in your own hands, but in truth, you¡¯re merely moving inside destiny¡¯s palm.¡± It was Semel¡¯s turn to go silent. ¡°Do know who said this statement?¡± Du Wei smiled indifferently: ¡°It¡¯s Aragon Rnd!¡± ¡°¡­¡­ But this Lister woman said she will definitely make you fall in love with her.¡± Du Wei shrugged and got close to one of the Thorn flowers and sniffed it: Wait till the day I actually fall in love with her then we can talk!¡± The next day, the prairie emissary, Hamuye, finally lost his patience. As such, Du Wei decided it was time to meet with this Prince of the grasnd. Though he spent days in those horrible tents and ate dozens of takeout meals, Hamuye¡¯s spirit was pretty good when they mey. Adopting Mrs. Lister¡¯s n of letting the foe take the initiative, Du Wei pulled away from his tough stance to lead the guy along. Sure enough, when Du Wei hinted that he can have the twenty thousand cavalry knights removed from the grasnd, this proposal greatly piqued Hamuye¡¯s interest. ¡°No matter what¡­¡­¡± Du Wei very clearly indicated his position in this deal: ¡°This use cannot be written on the contract! Even if made public, the empire will never admit it!¡± Du Wei¡¯s biggest concession was that once the peace talk ended, he will immediately act on behalf of the centralmand and order those knights out of the grasnd. Towards this tempting proposal, Hamuye became so interested that he was able to ignore the days of bad treatment he endured till now. Likewise, Du Wei finally showed off his ¡°generosity¡± and prepared a hospitable dinner for this guest, thus ending the days of Hamuye eating takeout orders. Considering their stances, the first meeting between the two can be called good and friendly. And once the talks ended, Du Wei immediately consulted with Philip to draft a letter for the imperial highmand back in the capital ¨C the contents pertaining to the abolishment of the cavalry division in the grasnd. When Philip first read the title, this aid promptly objected for the word ¡°abolish¡± was too sensitive to send out. No matter what, To an outsider, the situation will look like Du Wei got manhandled into giving into the prairie dog¡¯s demand. They be lucky if they didn¡¯t get turned into traitors. ¡°Why don¡¯t we change the word ¡®abolish¡¯ to integrate or expand?¡± Philip pleads: ¡°This way, the oue won¡¯t change but the term will sound better.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. You can decide on how to draft the document.¡± Du Wei simply tossed the issue to Philip. But then Philip suddenly raises a new question: ¡°Oh that¡¯s right¡­ ¡­ On the treatment of this Prairie emissary Hamuye, my lord, I suddenly got an idea. Although it may sound a little mischievous on the surface, but perhaps it might work.¡± ¡°What?¡± Philip¡¯s face took on a dim shade: ¡°Snowy Mountain! Maybe we can use the prairie people¡¯s belief to our advantage and make some news!¡± Du Wei tightly pursed his lip and carefully looked over this Philip like he wanted to find something out of the ordinary from this guy. Snowy Mountain¡­ ¡­ Du Wei thought inside: Rodriguez told me he¡¯s Blue Ocean¡¯s disciple and the guy is also from the Snowy Mountain. Then this great schr sends eighty of his best students to him and asks that he does his upmost to defend the empire from being invaded by the prairie natives. Quite clearly this was not some simple patriotic thinking. There¡¯s bound to be some hidden meaning. These days Du Wei may know about the rtionship between Blue Ocean and the Snowy Mountain, but he¡¯s still quite fond of Philip for the guy¡¯s talent and growth was simply too outstanding. Philip, this young man, is hepletely loyal to him ¡­ ¡­ or is he still loyal to Blue Ocean ¡­ ¡­ Or to the Snowy Mountain?! Or maybe, as a disciple of Blue Ocean, he¡¯s merely a child of the empire¡­. Or¡­¡­ Is this guy already aware of some inside information regarding the Snowy Mountain and hiding it from him? Oh what to do, what to do¡­¡­. Chapter 266 part 1 Chapter 266 ¡°Harboring evil intentions¡± (part one) This disciple of Blue Ocean¡¯s actually took the initiative to mention Snowy Mountain, for this, Du Wei got on the alert. Though that may be the case, Philip doesn¡¯t look anything like someone trying to hide something. Maybe¡­¡­ Despite Blue Ocean being a member of the Snowy Mountain, a regr student like Philip was clueless to the whole situation. Thinking it over for a moment, Du Wei asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The prairie natives have always regarded the people of Snowy Mountain as absolute beings. To them, the Shaman King cannot be disobeyed.¡± Philip slowly exins: ¡°From what I¡¯ve perceived thus far, this Hamuye did not bring with him any shamans¡­¡­ My lord, did you forget the confession from that captured female assassin?¡± Causing such a bigmotion from the assassination attempt back in Watt City and how Du Wei captured the girl, Philip would obviously hear about it. Then under Du Wei¡¯s persecution, Aoi ¨C female assassin ¨C finally caved in and coughed up all that she knows in her confession letters. As Du Wei¡¯s trusted aid, Philip would also be privileged to read the content. Now that Philip mentioned it, Du Wei¡¯s mind began to work in the right direction. Sharing a nce with each other, both men began to chuckle in a strange fashion. It¡¯s true that the Snowy Mountain was indeed a mysterious ce. Not only are they capable of cultivating shamans with powers equal to the wizards of the Empire, every member are firmly worshipped by the locals. If there were one difference between the Temple of Light and the Snowy Mountain, it would be that the highest authority of the Empire remains in royal hands. At the very least, the royal family of the Empire was still capable of putting up a stand against the Temple of Light while the Prairie King had to kneel before the Shaman King. ording to Aoi¡¯s statement, the highest authority up on the Snowy Mountain naturally falls into the Shaman King¡¯s hand. To be recognized as the next generation Shaman King, the individual must be appointed by its predecessor. This rule had no exception and has been carried out for generations past, meaning ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ also had to go through this process. Though the current Shaman king reached his status by usurping his master¡¯s throne, everyone greatly respected this person, ording to Aoi¡¯s im that is. Aoi may have painted her master in a bright light, it¡¯s no secret in her confession that a great battle ensued between master and disciple. What was surprising though was that after ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ defeated his master, the former Shaman King did somethingpletely out of expectation and shocked everyone. Not only did the author of that booklet Du Wei found in Watt City leave the Snowy Mountain, the former Shaman King also left behind a letter stating he approves his disciple and openly admits ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ as the new Shaman King! This move was definitely strange by any standard, yet it was precisely because of this that it worked out so well. Matched with his extraordinary strength and rebellious nature, ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ was able to win over everyone¡¯s heart and firmly control his seat as the new Shaman King. Aside from this, there are many more strange rules atop of the Snowy Mountain that scared the daylights out of Du Wei. The problem though was that Aoi wrote the information downpletely based on her thought pattern, thus making the whole confession letter disorganized and messy to read. Firstly, the most mysterious thing on the Snowy Mountain was of course Shamanism ¨C a power capable of standing up to the Empire¡¯s magic system. In Aoi¡¯s statement, Shamans have a very different take in their learning systempared to the Empire¡¯s wizard system: they value the exchange of knowledge! Comparable to Du Wei¡¯s little achievementst year where he created the so called ¡°spirit of sharing¡± back in the magic academy, Snowy Mountain had long pursued this route before anyone else did. Likewise, the Snowy Mountain also had a precise and clear divide in their division ofbor. Divided into threeyers, the lowest being the ¡°into the world¡±yer. Out of the two hundred or so Shamans living atop of the Snowy Mountain, a hundred or so belonged to this ¡°into the world¡±yer. Their jobprises mainly of traveling into the outside world to spread their belief, cure diseases, teach locals new knowledge, regte tribal disputes, and to recruit new members. Most importantly though, these shamans are forbidden from epting gifts from those whom they help, making them worshipped like gods wherever they go. On a side note, unlike the Wizards of the Empire, Shamans don¡¯t just focus on shamanism; they also know medicine, astronomy, geography, mathematics and many more¡­.. But there are things they don¡¯t do and that was interfering in politics! Whether it was a change on the throne or war with foreign powers, every shaman aren¡¯t allowed to reach out unless specified by the Shaman King. After Du Wei learned of Blue Ocean¡¯s identity, he immediately matched this famed schr with these so called ¡°into the world¡± shamans. Unbeknownst to Du Wei, he¡¯s absolutely correct. Blue Ocean wasn¡¯t just a member of this group; he¡¯s the leader of it back when this famed schr was still living in the grasnd. Aside from the ¡°Into the world¡±yer, the next level up was called the ¡°Scripture Gathering¡±yer and their job shocked Du Wei down to the bones. The number of shamans inside thisyer was around seventy to eighty people and these people almost never leaves the Snowy Mountain, or in many cases, they never do! ording to Aoi¡¯s description and Du Wei¡¯s view, this strange group of people was no different from the scientific researchers back in his previous world. Other than researching new and old shamanistic spells, these lunatics practically never gets involved with anything else, regardless of the situation in the outside world. Lastly and highest of the threeyer are the ¡°Raising¡±yer. Their job primarily involves educating new shamans after the ¡°into the world¡±yer brings in the qualified children from the outside world capable of bing shamans. The number of members in thisyer may be the smallest of the three with only ten to twenty people, but that doesn¡¯t mean they are the weakest, on the contrary, they are the so called white robed shamans simr to the white robed wizards of the empire! However, unlike the ranking of the empire¡¯s Wizard system, shamans of the Snowy Mountain only have a two color system: white and grey. After a certain level and with the consent of the Shaman King, a grey robed shaman will don on a white robe to indicate his status of High Shaman. Then paramount to the threeyers was the Shaman King. ording to Aoi¡¯s exnation, her master¡¯s existence was a mystery to even their own. Though she herself was a disciple of the Shaman King, Aoi would only get to meet her ¡°master¡± a few times a year. The reasoning was because out of a whole year, the Shaman King would remain in secluded cultivation at the very peak of the mountain. Unless summoned by the Shaman King himself for an audience, no one was allowed to disturb him. To put it into perspective, even if the Prairie King himself personally made an appearance at the bottom of the Snowy Mountain to seek advice in some major decision making ¨C like going to war with the empire ¨C the Shaman King still won¡¯te in person. Instead, one of the regr shamans will transfer the message with the Red Skull g back up to the mountain to proceed. Likewise, if the Shaman King got any instruction to pass along to the royal court, it will be done through the Red Skull g. ¡°It can¡¯t be that you want to impersonate as a Shaman of the Snowy Mountain?¡± Du Wei shakes his head like he almost couldn¡¯t believe his own words. Philip giggles: ¡°It¡¯s not my fault now is it? From the information we gathered, the connection between the royal court of the prairie and the Snowy Mountain is practically one way. As long as the Prairie King doesn¡¯t go confirm the truth, no w will be found. It¡¯s just that we don¡¯t have a proper candidate to be the impersonator. We can ask that female assassin to help, but if she¡¯s not willing, then it¡¯s best to abandon the idea for risk of being caught.¡± ¡°The female Assassin ¡­ ¡­¡± Du Wei thought and thought: ¡°She will likely listen.¡± The negotiation the following day was much more enjoyable because Du Wei finally managed to strike a deal with Hamuye under the table. The only problem though was that Hamuye still wouldn¡¯t yield an inch on thepensation terms. ¡°Duke, I think your country is somewhat exorbitant in your terms! Eighty thousand war-horses? On your first draft, you only wrote thirty thousand!! It¡¯s already impossible at that number, let only eighty thousand!!!¡± Du Wei immediately retorted: ¡°But Hamuye, the terms before never included the withdrawal of our troops from the grasnd. We¡¯ve alreadye to a concession, why couldn¡¯t your side pay a little more?¡± ¡°Eighty thousand war horses¡­ ¡­ That¡¯s simply too much!¡± Hamuye repeatedly shakes his head: ¡°It¡¯s true the grasnd has a lot of horses, but war-horses are different. Out of every five horses born, there might not be a single one capable of meeting the requirements of a war-horse!! I looked over the terms and I can ept the numbers for the cattle, but I absolutely cannot ept the other half!¡± Du Wei¡¯s face darkened and immediately shakes his head: ¡°Absolutely not, I can easily get two sheep with a single good quality sword of the empire! With so many cattle, what am I going to do with them?¡± Hamuye lets out a grumbling smile: ¡°Duke¡­. Since were making a peace talk, then that means both state will be brothers after we sign the paper. What good will so many war-horses be when there¡¯s no battles to be fought!¡± Du Wei counterattacked: ¡°Then why do you need so many war-horses?¡± Just like that, both sides went at it all morning and eventually decided on the thirty thousand number. Seeing Hamuye finally agreeing to his terms, Du Wei didn¡¯t know whether to be happy in his heart or feel disturbed. When your enemy can discard thirty thousand war-horses so easily, it makes one wonder what their true potentials are. From rumors, a singlerge tribe like Hamuye¡¯s can easily amass tens of thousands of horsemen for battle. If that¡¯s true, then some of the biggest tribes in the grasnd will be able to amass over a hundred thousand horsemen for war with one calling!! Now then, if the Prairie King mobilizes the entire grasnd for war, how many horsemen will that be when there are hundreds of tribes under this king¡¯smand?! With the horses out of the way, the next part in thepensation will naturally be the cattle. At first Hamuye proposed ten thousand cattle in the deal but was immediately rebuked with a sneer by Du Wei. His argument: you¡¯ve already conceded thirty thousand horses, why do you care about some measly cattle. Can it be that you value cattle more than your horses? After a long period of back and forth, the final numbers came up to twenty thousand cattle and thirty thousand horses. In addition, Du Wei managed to add in ten thousand fine leathers outside of the deal, of course, the extra leather was for the empire and not himself, but he can¡¯t let this Hamuye know that now can he? Hamuye was very cooperative on Du Wei¡¯s unreasonable demand because this Prince was well versed in the politics of the empire. If Du Wei didn¡¯t take the initiative to make this private demand, Hamuye would find it odd and be on the alert. Ten thousand leather, pfff¡­.. That¡¯s really nothing for the people of the grasnd. Chapter 266 part 2 Chapter 266 ¡°Harboring evil intentions¡± (part two) As smooth as things went so far, there was one issue that came to a deadlock in their negotiation: Du Wei asked for five thousand ves but Hamuye absolutely refused him. The poption in the grasnd wasn¡¯t much to begin with, thus making the young adults extremely precious and valuable in the prairie. Even if the person in question was a ve, the prairie natives will not easily concede such a personal. Main reason for this habit had something to do with the way the natives go about their business in periods of war. Whenever war breaks out, the Prairie King will always hand down an order to allow every ve to join in the fighting. If the ve in question achieves a certain amount of merit, these individuals will be freed from their envement status, hence making these individuals extremely ferocious in battle. During the meeting today, Biliaibuer had always been standing by next to Du Wei and listening in on the conversation. Towards Du Wei¡¯s persistence in asking for ves, Biliaibuer became puzzled over the odd demand: ¡°Duke, it¡¯s not like the empire iscking in ves. Why must we struggle over a couple of thousand ves?¡± Despite his questioning, the response Biliaibuer got in return was only a smile. Du Wei would of course not care about a few thousand ves. In terms of price value, five thousand ves only equate to a hundred gold coins in the empire. It¡¯s just that Du Wei¡¯s focus lies with the ves originating from the prairie. Unlike the vesing in from the Southeastern Sea, the people of the prairie, including ves, are very skilled in breeding and caring for horses. More importantly, none canpete with these people in terms of horseback riding! He must get his hands on these people and integrate their skills into his own!! Once that¡¯s done, he can toss these people away if he needed. ¡°Count Biliaibuer¡­ ¡­ These five thousand ves are for myself. As to for the reasoning, I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t go into details.¡± Giving Du Wei a quizzical look, Biliaibuer thought inside: what¡¯s going on? This kid is already rich enough so why spend so much effort on some ves? Wanting to end this negotiation early, Biliaibuer took it to heart and specially sought out Hamuye behind Du Wei¡¯s back and made things clear during the break. Likewise, Hamuye also wanted to stop wasting time: ¡°So it¡¯s the Duke whom wants the people¡­. In that case, things are different. Hmm, regarding this ve matter, we can simply leave it out of the agreement. My tribe may not be huge but I can at least gather some ves. It¡¯s just that five thousand is beyond my reach in such short notice¡­. Consider it my personal gift and we can settle the numbers at two thousand!¡± When Biliaibuer brought the new proposal up, Du Wei¡¯s first reaction was to put on a face to push it away; however, his hand was already signing the paper before he could even finish his sentence. Biliaibuer had always wanted to get on Du Wei¡¯s good side and now that the opportunity presented itself, he would of course not let it go: ¡°Could it be that your Dukeship wants to build a new city by taking in so many ves? If you don¡¯t mind, my family just so happens tond on a batch of ves recently. Tomorrow I will write a letter back home and have two thousand men sent over to the Northwest.¡± Du Wei thought inside: the ves I want are the prairie ones. Like I becking ves when the future king of that United Nation is in my hands. ¡°Uncle Biliaibuer is mistaken. I intend to open a ranch here so regr ves won¡¯t be any good.¡± Hearing this, Biliaibuer thought for a moment: ¡°So its wranglers that you want. The problem is that we haven¡¯t been at war with the natives for so long that there is shortage in the market. Let me go home and have a look, I¡¯m sure I can gather up a couple of hundred for you.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case then I¡¯ll give my thanks!¡± Du Wei did not beat around the bush and epted the offer. Afterwards, Philip couldn¡¯t resist and secretly asked Du Wei: ¡°¡­ ¡­ Why do we need so many ves? Those people are brutes and are not easy to tame¡­ ¡­ Besides, thend around here is so deserted, it won¡¯t be easy to run a ranch.¡± ¡°Who said I¡¯m getting it for myself!¡± Du Wei smiled and shook his head: ¡°Hmm, you heard from Guptad right? Last time back at Anglia City we came across a guy called Sdin. That guy got skills, ambition, and most importantly, he got the royal lineage in his blood. With that dangerous guy back in the grasnd, it would only be a matter of time before he bes unsettled and raise a cloud of trouble in his wake. Right now he¡¯s alone and can¡¯t do much in the short term¡­. Therefore, I will gift these ves to him. You can say it¡¯s my way of sending him along the road¡­. Haha!¡± Seemingly enlightened by the exnation, Phillip bursts outughing at the n. By the afternoon, the talks continued smoothly and Hamuye didn¡¯t request for anything out of the ordinary. It¡¯smon knowledge the people of the prairie craved for metal, but the Empire strictly forbade this term; therefore, Hamuye didn¡¯t go after this area in the agreement because he knew it would be denied. That may be so, but when it came to the wording in thest part of the agreement, Hamuye raised hisst objection because Du Wei requested the ending be a written apology to the Empire. Towards the people of the grasnd, both proud and untamed, such a statement would be difficult to ept. Cattle and horse can be given, but ¡°apology¡±? Definitely not! Standing firm, Hamuye had no intent of budging an inch on this part. Angered inside, Du Wei did all this just so he can avoid being branded as a traitor. If he doesn¡¯t achieve thisst part, Du Wei feared that within a week of the news reaching the capital, his name would be dragged through the mud and be forever shunned! What¡¯s more, his Desa Province was the biggest victim in this whole thing. If the other party doesn¡¯t apologize, then do they expect him to apologize?! But it seems that the limit of this Hamuye happens to be this part. They can make thepensation, but admitting their wrong? Impossible!! Du Wei did not say more and simply stood up to give Philip a nce, his meaning was simple: it appears they need to do ¡°that¡±! Seeing Du Wei leave with great displeasure on his face, Philip could only smile wryly at Hamuye and say: ¡°Alright then, the day is already gettingte. Let¡¯s rest for the night and continue the talks tomorrow.¡± That night, Du Wei made sure to dismiss the guards around the dungeon before heading in to visit his captive. When he finally opened the door, the first image to wee him was Aoi dazing out in the corner of the room with her hands holding her knee. It¡¯s been several days since the sexual assault case and not once did Du Weie visit her. Matched with the istion involved with being imprisoned inside a dungeon room, Aoi would naturally be depressed inside. ¡°That¡­¡­ That terrible Duke actually, actually¡­¡­.¡± But to her horror, Aoi found that inside her heart, not a trace of hatred was there over the incident. Instead, a strange sort of longing kept surfacing whenever he thought of Du Wei. Not only that, her heart would flutter at the slightest memory of the guy¡¯s face. ¡°He ¡­ ¡­ The way he smiles, and his eyes, looks so handsome¡­¡­¡± There¡¯s definitely shame and humiliation in Aoi¡¯s heart, but it¡¯s far from the hate given to those of an enemy: that fucking guy stopped! What, am I not attractive? Left alone in the cell by herself, these few days really felt like years to Aoi. Like an overpowering and undeniable force, the image of Du Wei¡¯s face would alwayse nagging at the back of her mind¡­.. Finally, when she heard the sound of the door opening, her body instinctively quivered at the thought of meeting him again, ¡°He, he¡¯s here!¡± Looking up with longing in her eyes, the first emotion to run through her mind was the sense of surprise! The man that came into the room was dressed in white, clearly the same type of wardrobe of the white robed shamans atop of the Snowy Mountain!! Struck by a thundering shock, the first thought to run through her head was: does the Snowy Mountain value her so highly that master himself would send a White Robed Shaman to retrieve her? But then the next thing she heard was a cunning and malicious chuckle, clearly the same despicable voice that¡¯s been torturing her these past few days. Panic immediately overtook her body. Letting out a loudugh, Du Wei promptly pulled back his hood to reveal his devilish face before the female prisoner: ¡°You see, do I not look like a Shaman?¡± ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ You, why do have a Shaman robe?¡± Aoi faltered as she asked this question. ¡°Humph.¡± Du Wei grumbled: ¡°I killed a white robed shaman back at the battle in Anglia City. Though my memory is good but just to be sure, help me have a look to see if there¡¯s any w.¡± Lapsing out, Aoi did not even pay attention to the question for her soul instantly flew to Du Wei¡¯s body. Then like a nk sheet, she reflexively answered the question, ¡°Mmm¡­ The robe should be a little shorter, other than that, nothing else.¡± Nodding with satisfaction, Du Wei draws his dagger and immediately cut a section of the bottom part off. Then from his storage ring, Du Wei pulls a baggage out and tosses it over to Aoi: ¡°Alright, your clothes are inside, hurry and put it on. We will be doing something in a bit.¡± Clo-clothes? Hurrying to open the bag, Aoi couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. Inside was a robe like the one worn by Du Wei, but instead of white, it¡¯s grey. ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ What are you nning to do? Why¡­¡­¡± Du Wei did not answer her question and spent the time assessing himself: ¡°Aigh, there¡¯s still a w. Though a shamans robe is simr to a wizards robe in appearance, the texture is still different. If my memory serves me right, the texture should be soft and smooth, but at the same time strong and stic, definitely not made by ordinary materials. Oh well, it¡¯s not like someone will dare touch a shaman¡¯s gown.¡± ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ What are you doing?¡± Aoi may be falling heads over heels at Du Wei these past few days after being hypnotized by the devil¡¯s eye, she¡¯s still a member of the Snowy Mountain. Out of habit and instinct, she can vaguely sense Du Wei¡¯s evil motives. Grinning, Du Wei slowly stepped forward and quietly whispered his n into Aoi¡¯s ear. Turning green from what she just heard, Aoi pleads: ¡°You¡­.. I will never do such a thing! Please, just kill me! I can never betray the Snowy Mountain!¡± ¡°Again with the ¡®kill me¡¯ line.¡± Intentionally blowing a whistle, Du Wei reaches out with his hand and gently punches the girl¡¯s chin. Aoi could have dodged the move with a simple tilt of her head, but her body refuses to listen and began to match Du Wei¡¯s momentum. Getting close, Du Wei looked her in the eyes and smiled: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you will definitely do it!¡± In the present of the ¡°Charming Eye¡±, Aoi could only mutter: ¡°I ¡­ ¡­ I ¡­ ¡­ I¡­¡­ ¡± ¡°You what?¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice seems to have the power to strike into her heart. ¡°I will do¡­¡­¡± Aoi sounded like she was talking in her dream: ¡°I¡¯m willing to do whatever you want me to do¡­¡­¡± Chapter 267 part 1 Chapter 267 ¡°Framed once again¡± (part one) Night time, Hamuye had been musing over the interaction with Du Wei inside his tent the entire day. At first he was still somewhat wary of the kid, but now things are heading in a direction that almost seems too easy. Things like cattle and horses are abundant in the grasnd, so this cost was to be expected before he even came for the talks. As the uncle of the Prairie King and a core member of the royal court, he¡¯s fully aware of the impending war with the Empire. Twenty years ago, the people of the grasnd bled too much, so much so that time can never wash away this hatred. While this huge Empire may seem strong on the surface, there are many points offort hidden underneath. In fact, after some careful studying, it¡¯s not difficult to see the many points of weakness lurking about. Due to the emperor¡¯s muddleheaded decisions, the majority of the Empire¡¯s strength and energy have been wasted away in those ridiculous expeditions out at sea. Not only did it not benefit the empire in the long run, the giant fleet eventually became a supermassive ck hole that grew to consume most of the empire¡¯s finances. Adding in the corrupt and greedy nobles, this once strong entity has be something akin to a withered tree. With only a little push, it can be toppled with patience! Then there¡¯s the friction between the Northwest Army and the centralmand, plus the many noble lords spread across the empire with their ownnd, this massive state was nothing more than a despot existence. And regarding that massive and powerful fleet¡­. Humph, can a fleet be driven into the prairie? Of course not! Today¡¯s talk may cost the people of the grasnd a pretty penny, but if this small little expense can bide more time for his people, then it¡¯s totally worth it. Another five years, no, another three will do. By then, the young pups will have grown to adulthood and sharpened their fangs and ws. Once that day arrives, it will be the moment when the grasnd cuts down this big tree! Compared to this great goal, what can a few sheep and horses be? This Duke Tulip¡­ ¡­ Humph, doesn¡¯t seem like much. Originally he thought this kid was clever, but in the end this Duke¡¯s another greedy noble that can be bought with a bribe. However, demanding his people to take the initiative in apologizing was something he can¡¯t approve. Hamuye does understand that as a massive state like the Empire, it would be a disgrace if they did the honor. Nevertheless, he will keep biting on this condition to test the Rnd people¡¯s limit. Just as Hamuye was thinking about all this, a sudden shout from the outside disturbed him: ¡°Who is it!¡± Then the next second he heard a humph sound! Hamuye may not be very fluent in martial skills, but as a native of the grasnd, he¡¯s well ustomed to the sound of fighting. Judging by the sound made by his people, he can deduce someone¡¯s been knocked to the floor. shing a stroke of panic, the first thought toe to his mind was: can it be this Duke Tulip wants to kill him? The Rnd people are going all out? The idea onlysted a second before he scrambled out of his tent to get a good look at the perpetrators. And the image of the two shadowy figures instantly caused his face to change! Under the moonlight, two figures ¨C one small and one tall ¨C stood a short distance away from where he was. From their appearance, one was clearly a man and the other a woman. And the two guards that were supposed to be standing outside his tent had already been knocked to the floor. Alerted by themotion, all the warriors hade running with their des drawn. The only problem though was that the appearance of the two neers was simply too striking for some even sheathed their des and kneeled to the floor. The reasoning for this strange reaction was nothing extraordinary, merely a few words from the woman: ¡°We havee from the Snowy Mountain, all shall be silent!¡± From the vast amount of good deeds brought to them by the shamans whom roam the grasnd, any woman or man of the prairie will know of how a shaman dresses. Either grey or white, it¡¯s notmon to find a regr person of the grasnd wearing loose garbs for it was easier to move around in tight fitting clothes. This was especially true for the woman because an insignia representing the Snowy Mountain was clearly etched onto the chest area of her robe. There¡¯s no bias when it came to genders for a shaman, but to see a female shamaning down from the mountain, now that¡¯s a rare sight. What¡¯s more, the most amazing part of it all was the outfit of the man¡­.. White robe, the highest entity in the order of shaman hood! In the face of such a person in the midst of the night, how can they not be honored? For the ones that raised their sword earlier, these fools can only wish they could undo their sphemous actions ¡°SILENCE!¡± This onemand from the woman instantly sent shivers down their backs. Pale and shivering with uncertainty, Hamuye can only brace his nerves and step forward: ¡°Turns out to be honored guests of the Snowy Mountain. Sir¡­ Noble Shamans, please¡­¡­¡± ¡°Talk inside the tent, our words mustn¡¯t be heard by others.¡± Though Aoi¡¯s voice sounded a bit tender, it wasn¡¯t enough to raise the rm. What did bring up some doubt was the fact that her face was covered in a scarf. Fortunately it¡¯s not unusual in the desert to cover ones face with something to battle against the harsh sandy wind, so Hamuye could only ignore his worry. Also, the guy beside the woman wore a white-robed! Forget his own status of a prince, even the Prairie King will have to lose some ground in the face of someone so prestigious. Likewise, Du Wei in his getup was also covered from top to bottom to leave only his eyes uncovered. Considering the fact that the interaction between both party¡¯s onlysted a afternoon, plus Du Wei intentionally used some dye and dough to change his facial contour, he highly doubt Hamuye can recognize him in the dead of night. Glum inside, Hamuye can only specte the reasoning for the sudden visit by two Shamans would only mean an important message. Not daring to dy any longer, he hurriedly wees the two into his tent. ¡°We don¡¯t need to sit.¡± Just as Hamuye wanted to offer them a seat, Aoi rudely interrupted him: ¡°Prince Hamuye, ept the Shaman King¡¯s edict.¡± Turning ghastly pale, Hamuye bowed down on both knees with his hands lowered to the ground. ¡°The Shaman King says: the matter cannot be dragged on. If this Duke Tulip asks for anything, you are to meet his demand and under no circumstances are you to offend him! Understand?¡± EH? Upon hearing Aoi¡¯s message, Hamuye became stoned and could not process the message properly. It¡¯s already extremely rare for the Shaman King to directly hand down an order, plus the strange content in this message, Hamuye was starting to seriously raise some doubts in his heart over the legitimacy of these two. ¡°Lord Shaman, the meaning in the Shaman King¡¯s message is¡­¡­¡± Though Hamuye still had his head down, he persists in testing the water. Aoi pauses for a second before whispering her reply, ¡°The Shaman King only said this much. I¡¯ll leave the rest to your own discretion.¡± More and more doubts were starting to bud inside. All of a sudden, Hamuye smelled something fishy going on here so he asked: ¡°Excuse me, may I know your honors name¡­..¡± ¡°My name is Eir Aoi Linna. You shouldn¡¯t have heard of my name, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard of the Raising Layer.¡± Trembling at the name, Hamuye would of course know of that name! As the highestyer in charge of overseeing and managing the Snowy Mountain, Hamuye¡¯s doubtpletely vanished because no outsider can possibly know of this information! ¡°The Shaman King is my master and the reason for mying today is for the issue rted to the Rnd people¡­.¡±Aoi pauses here to let her words sink in. ¡°Master is worried about my safety while trespassing on enemy territory, so as a precaution, he tasked another White Robe to escort me.¡± The Shaman King¡¯s disciple? The only thing Hamuye can feel right now was the rain of sweat pouring down his forehead. If he had been rash earlier and said some offensive words, not even the Prairie King can save him from punishment. Not even daring to look up at the female shaman, Hamuye¡¯s courage level only allows this poor guy to sneak a peek at Du Wei: ¡°Might I be privileged to know who this White-Robed Shaman is¡­..¡± Fortunately Du Wei prepared ahead of time prior to this undertaking so there¡¯s plenty of excuses to use: ¡°The Shaman King is quite unhappy over Master Ivory Teeth¡¯s death at Anglia City, so I¡¯ll get to the point. This right here beside me is Master Ivory Teeth¡¯s junior, also an elder of the Raising Layer.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, yes! So it¡¯s an elder of the Raising Layer!¡± Hamuye didn¡¯t dare ask for more and nodded his head like he just offended the two. Du Wei on the other hand was putting on a high and mighty act with his hands behind his back and his head looking to the side. Towards this lofty appearance, one can¡¯t really find a w in his appearance. Then after another moment of pondering, Hamuye asked once again: ¡°The Shaman king¡¯s order stated not to offend this Duke, then does that mean¡­¡­¡± ¡°Humph!¡± Aoi intentionally made the sound to show her anger: ¡°You dare question my master¡¯s decision?¡± ¡°Of course not, I would never dare!¡± Hamuye kowtowed again and again like a chicken pecking for worms: ¡°It¡¯s just that the demands prescribed by the Rnd people are very harsh¡­¡­¡± (Kowtow is the chinese way of saying bow) ¡°Hamuye.¡± Aoi snapped: ¡°You also know that my master lost an important pet! That pet is majorly important and we are certain this Duke Tulip has it in his hand. Know this. That pet is rted to my master¡¯s cultivation and there¡¯s only one of its kind in this world. Losing it will mean a major blow to my master¡¯s power. If by some chance you anger this Duke Tulip and he kills my master¡¯s pet in a fit of rage¡­. Humph, you will not be able topensate the loss with your head!¡± Hamuye nearly wet himself at this point! No wonder! The Shaman King¡¯s power is bordering on the line of godhood. If this pet can help such a omnipotent being raise his cultivation level, it¡¯s no wonder the Shaman King would make such a bigmotion even at the cost of risking war! And of course, as a prince, Hamuye would know the reasoning for the battle at Anglia City ¨C it¡¯s all for this magic beast. Now that this female Shaman mentioned the pet again for this strange edict, Hamuye became convinced that these two are the real deal! If the Shaman King was willing to raise a storm for that pet, then this strange edict made a lot of sense. Chapter 267 part 2 Chapter 267 ¡°Framed once again¡± (part two) Remembering this small detail, Hamuye hastily nods: ¡°Yes, yes, yes! I will obey the Shaman King¡¯s word and be sure to not offend this Duke. Uhhh¡­¡­ Is there anything else you need of me? If the Shaman King¡¯s pet really is captured by this Duke Tulip, I can have my men here do some spy work¡­¡­¡± ¡°No need!¡± Aoi bluntly refused: ¡°Master¡¯s message is clear. We sent you guys here to handle the matter before and you not only ended up failing the task, you even lost a White Robe Shaman in the process. Your inability greatly disappoints my master. This problem shall not need your interference. Your only worry is to finish your assigned task and nothing else! Once you settle the matter with the Duke, you are to return to the prairie at once. As for me, I shall personally see to the retrieval of my master¡¯s pet.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, yes ¡­ ¡­¡± Only then did Aoi¡¯s voice soften: ¡°Master said one cannot always take a tough stance against a foe. When toughness doesn¡¯t work, you can try softness. Only by being flexible can one walk the king¡¯s road.¡± The phrase may be a bit old fashioned, but there¡¯s no way Hamuye can contradict Aoi¡¯s word for this so called master of hers was the Shaman King ¨C highest being in the prairie! The only thing he can do was nod his head again and again like a fool. ¡°Get up!¡± Aoi waves her hand: ¡°We have other matters to attend to, you don¡¯t need to escort us out.¡± ¡°Yes, yes!¡± Trying to please, Hamuye offers to help: ¡°Oh respected one, there¡¯s many guards in this castle, please allow my people to act as a cover for you two¡­..¡± ¡°Humph, if we cane as we please, then we can go as we please. With the elder beside me, mere soldiers mean nothing.¡± Aoi flings her hand in the air to show her impatience and led the way out of the tent. Once outside: ¡°Master¡¯smand mustn¡¯t be told to others. If youpromise the mission¡­. Then you know the consequences!¡± Aoi¡¯s word caused Hamuye to shiver down to his bone: ¡°Other than the reward for the royal court, there may be something else set aside specifically for you if my master¡¯s mood wills it.¡± Exulted at thest part, Hamuye could already see the great future awaiting him! Hamuye may be a member of the inner circle in the royal court, but because he¡¯s not martially skilled, many would look down at him and mock him behind his back as someone that got to his position through lineage. If he seeds and receive some form of a gift from the Shaman King, no one will ever dareugh at him again! Just as he wanted to bow again to show his gratitude, Aoi cuts in and softly said: ¡°No need. For fear of any changes in the circumstances, we will take our leave now.¡± ¡°Oh respected one, please wait a moment.¡± Scrambling to pull out an object covered in a block cloth, Hamuye offers it with his hand: ¡°This thing is something I procured through a high price from the Rnd people ¨C a rarely seen magic crystal. Naturally, the wizards of the Rnd Empire cannot match the shamans of the prairie, but the magic tools they create are quite useful. I know your greatness is busy cultivating your powers and wouldn¡¯t care for these worldly possessions, but this crystal will still be a useful if you ever have a need for it, so please¡­..¡± Hearing this, Aoi became infuriated: ¡°Hamuye, how dare you! Did you forget the iron d rule of the Snowy Mountain? No shaman shall take a single copper or silver from those whom they interact with. For those that break this rule, only punishment awaits them once they return! You want to bribe me, or to send me to my death?!!¡± Trembling with hups, Hamuye wanted to cry at his only folly for pping himself: ¡°No, no, please don¡¯t misunderstand! I only bought this because I didn¡¯t want to waste the money I spent and the connections I used. I originally wanted to bring this gift to the Shaman King after this was all over as a offering to show my sincerity, so please, forgive me for giving you the wrong idea. I only wish for you to help me pass it along to the Shaman King in my stead.¡± Just as she was about to refuse again, Du Wei suddenly pulled against her sleeve from the side. Understanding the hint, Aoi changes her tune: ¡°Very well, i shall help you since you meant well.¡± ¡°Also¡­ ¡­¡± Hamuye turns to look at his two subordinate lying on the ground: ¡°These two are my personal attendants that had followed me for years. Although they were rude to your greatness, please don¡¯t punish them for they didn¡¯t mean to offend you two. Please, I beg of you, have mercy.¡± After Aoi nodded, Du Wei deliberately lets out a hoarse chuckle. From his slightly raised hand, a green mist was flickered out from his fingers at the two unconscious guards. ¡°Duckson Lokjai¡­¡­¡± This incantation may be short, but it was enough to ease the tenseness in Hamuye¡¯s heart. As a prince of the prairie, it¡¯s not the first time Hamuye witnessed a shaman at work. Therefore, any form of doubt was dispelled atst when he heard the familiar words of the Snowy Mountain. While Hamuye was at ease, Aoi on the other hand was overwhelmed with shock. If she wasn¡¯t wearing a mask at the moment, the entire act would¡¯ve been blown apart. The truth was, the mist that came out of Du Wei¡¯s finger just now was no spell of the Snowy Mountain. It¡¯s merely a potion concocted by Du Wei to remove the drugs he injected into the two unconscious fes on the ground earlier. Seconds after the green mist seeped through their skins, it only took a moment for the men to wake. Shooting up with a back flip, the first reaction they had was to draw their des at the outsiders because they are still unaware of the situation. Crying out in panic, Hamuye wished he didn¡¯t wake these two fools: ¡°Idiots, stop!¡± Having some senses knocked back into their heads, it only required a simple nce by one of the two ¡°shamans¡± to send a rattling fear into their eyes. ¡°Forgive my subordinates for being stupid, please¡­¡­¡± Listening to Hamuye¡¯s plea, Du Wei suddenly had an idea pop into his head: Though the act tonight might be enough to fool Hamuye, there¡¯s bound to be a day when he finds out¡­. When the timees, those atop of the Snowy Mountain are bound to know the truth when someone starts investigating¡­. If so, then why not¡­¡­ Frame someone? But then who was he going to frame after showing off a shaman spell? Blue Ocean? That won¡¯t do, he¡¯s an ally. Then¡­ ¡­ General Rugaard and General Cybuster, I¡¯ll have to wrong you two! Letting out a grunt, Du Wei suddenly turns around to slowlye up to the two kneeling natives. Then with a brushing sound, he suddenly unsheathes the swords from the two men in front of him! Despite knowing their impending doom, the two warriors didn¡¯t dare look up. All they can do now was to kneel on the floor with great shame and fear running through their blood. With both swords firmly gripped in his hands, Du Wei recited a spell for real this time in his mind and at the same time, he used the hidden ¡°Metal Abortion Crystal¡± in his sleeve to destroy both swords. Matching the trick with the ice magic spell he casted, a thinyer of ice instantly coated the swords to create a mystical effect! Then flicking his wrist around a bit more, the once sturdy metallic swords began to break apart, piece by piece, bit by bit. Now, the only remnants of the des were nothing but icicle debris, littering the cold hard dirt in the night. Witnessing this scene, Hamuye immediately popped his eyes as wide as possible. From his memories, a vague legend surfaced from his mind: ¡°Ice Dou Qi!¡± He murmurs like he couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. Sneering, Du Wei deliberately took a look at Hamuye, his meaning simple: you got quite the eye! This way around, Du Wei threw away the two hilt handles and walked back to Aoi¡¯s side: ¡°Seeing as it is you who¡¯s asking, I will only destroy their swords¡­.. Consider this as a form of punishment for their mistake.¡± Afterwards, Aoi and Du Wei ignored the two kowtowing guards behind them and quietly faded into the darkness. As for the prairie people that were left behind, they could only praise the extraordinary abilities of the shaman craft in their heads. Meanwhile in another ce, Du Wei wasughing his hearts out: ¡°Ice Dou Qi? Very good, very good! If you made up your mind on the Ice Dou Qi thing, then that¡¯s great! In the Northwest, the only ones to know Ice Dou Qi should be only Rugaard and his son, Cybuster! At that time when the Shaman King wants to settle the score for tonight¡¯s incident, he can go looking for that son and father duo!¡± Without incident, Du Wei and Aoi quietly sneaked out of the castle for he had removed the nearby guards from the area in advance. Once out and certain there were no one tailing them from the back, the pair promptly returned to Aoi¡¯s dungeon room in another direction and closed the door. Then without dy, Du Wei tore the facial mask off and began rubbing the makeup from his face. Once that was all well and done, he turns around and smiled at Aoi: ¡°I never would have thought you be so good at this stuff. While your head is a bit simpleminded, your lines do fit the role very well. From my observation, that Hamuye should¡¯ve fallen for our trick.¡± Though he wasplimenting her, Aoi didn¡¯t show any form of happiness. Instead, the girl only had a hollow look in her eyes as she stared at the floor board. Then without indication, she tore her shaman robe off and sat on the bed, slowly, tears began to drip down from the side. ¡°I ¡­ ¡­ I betrayed the Snowy Mountain. I betrayed my master. In this life, I will forever be a traitor.¡± There¡¯s an obvious tinge of despair in Aoi¡¯s voice: ¡°Why¡­ Why did I help you do such a traitorous deed! I¡­..¡± Suddenly jumping up, she rushed towards the wall with the intent of mming her head against the bricks. Aoi may be fast, but thankfully Du Wei was even faster for his aplishment in magic hase to maturity. Teleporting in front of the suicidal girl, Du Wei used body as a cushion to shield Aoi from the impact, thus saving her from any injury. ¡°You¡­ ¡­¡± Aoi quivered at the sensation of Du Wei¡¯s masculine chest, ¡°Why won¡¯t you let me die¡­ I¡¯m already a traitor, I don¡¯t want to live!¡± Though she says this, theplex feeling inside her heart left he churning. Sighing, Du Wei tries to persuade her by patting her head, ¡°I forced you, even if there¡¯s guilt, the sins on me. As a girl, it¡¯s only natural you¡¯re unable to resist a bad man like I.¡± ¡°But ¡­ but ¡­ but¡± Aoi¡¯s face suddenly turns red: ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ You didn¡¯t hit me, nor did you yell at me. You, only¡­¡­.¡± Her tone lowers at this part: ¡°You only asked me, then my mind lost any will to resist¡­..¡± Likewise, a tinge of guilt was also biting at Du Wei after watching the reaction from this simple minded girl: as a man, did he go excessively overboard by taking advantage of a weak girl like her? ¡°When ites to rebelling, you had long rebelled. Did you not rebel the moment you decided to go after Rugaard¡¯s life? That¡¯s already going against your master¡¯smand, which is more of a sin then what you did tonight. As the saying goes, sin atop of a sin is nothing to cry about, and itch on top of an itch is only one scratch. You are not guilty of anything! Since it¡¯se to this¡­. From now on¡­..¡± Du Wei thought for a second on how to phrase his words: ¡°You shall follow me. As long as you behave, I won¡¯t mistreat you.¡± After a pause, Du Wei remembered another thing: ¡°When you talked with Hamuye earlier, why did you give your real name? Did I not tell you to make up one? If your master investigates, you will be found out instantly.¡± Aoi sadly shook her head: ¡°I¡¯ve already rebelled. What does it matter if master finds out? That day will eventuallye, it¡¯s just a matter or sooner orter. Even if he does investigate, what difference will it make now?¡± Du Wei contemted the problem and agreed. During the assassination attempt on Rugaard, a lot of people witnessed the scene. If ¡°White River¡¯s Sorrow¡± began tracing the origin of the imposters, the clues will naturallynd on Rugaard¡¯s end. Think of that, this problem became unimportant. Chapter 268 part 1 Chapter 268 ¡°Bloody hell¡± (part one) Aoi suddenly looks up at Du Wei, her face solemn, ¡°I ¡­ ¡­ I have a question. Who exactly are you? Just then I clearly heard you chanting one of our Snowy Mountain Sect¡¯s spell¡­¡­ Something like that can never be done by an outsider! How did you learn this?¡± Du Weiughs hard at the question: ¡°You don¡¯t need to know so much about my things, you only need to focus on helping me in the future. Humph¡­ If your master ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ can teach you shamanism, I can also do it too. What¡¯s so amazing about some spell from the Snowy Mountain? If you want to learn, I can slowly impart my knowledge to you.¡± In his heart, his thoughts were: the Shamanism booklet was left by Gu Lanxiu, and ¡®White River¡¯s Sorrow¡¯ is the student of that author. If that¡¯s the case, the knowledge should be the same. As for the reason for the former Shaman King¡¯s defeat at the hands of his student, it¡¯s merely a matter of talent between each individual. Seeing how Aoi was drenched with shock, Du Wei didn¡¯t bother saying more and began drawing a random symbol on the table with his finger dipped with water ¨C the symbol was the icon of the Snowy Mountain. With only a nce, Aoi¡¯splexion became even more amazing to look at. Cracking augh at the reaction, Du Wei¡¯s only thought now was that this chick¡¯s brain can have a fight with his lovely Vivian. Now, what should he do? Leave her here alone in this room? That won¡¯t do. He¡¯s afraid she willmit suicide again after her mind runs amok once he leaves. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s his business that someone kills themselves, but there¡¯s going to be a bad taste lingering in his mouth this time if that does happen for this whole situation was partly his doing. Thinking about this, he decided to go outside to summon one of the guards. Using the soldier as a messenger, he called for the ¡°preys¡± he saved from Rugaard¡¯s ce. Incidentally, the one to make the most impression on him from before was Hanyue, the brave yet beautiful girl. Therefore, he specifically named her when giving out the order. Before long, Hanyue and two other girls were brought over. In merely a few days, the gaunt expressions on their faces had faded away to be reced by a neat and tidy appearance. Especially Hanyue, she was exceptionally beautiful that stood above the rest. Since Aoi had already done him this big favor, there¡¯s no reason for Du Wei to keep this girl in this jail cell. Calling some servants over, he instructed them to prepare a room for Aoi and also ordered Hanyue and her peers to carefully watch over Aoi: ¡°Your training will remain the same as usual, but you are to take care of this girl. Her minds on the slow side so I¡¯m afraid she might do something foolish likemitting suicide. If she were to die in your care, the three of you can forget about living too, understood?¡± Trembling at his order, the three girls carefully replied to show their acknowledgement. Then looking over at the sad faced Aoi, Du Wei could only sigh at the lifeless girl. Gently pinching her chin, he raises her face up to his and slowly whispered the next sentence in a hypnotizing tone: ¡°Obey my words, you are not allowed to die.¡± Only after getting a raving reply from Aoi¡¯s mouth did Du Wei let go of the murky eyed girl. During the entire process, the other girls were all terrified even after Du Wei finished his filthy deed, yet there are exceptions ¨C Hanyue, the only one to remain calm and brave enough toe forward. Slowly, this beautiful former ve squatted down beside Aoi and said: ¡°You¡­. How are you feeling?¡± Looking up in a trance like state, Aoi finally regained herself somewhat once she saw the face of a girl that was even more beautiful than herself. Stunned by the stranger, Aoi¡¯s brow tightened even harder: ¡°You ¡­ ¡­ Who are you¡­¡­ Don¡¯t bother me, just leave me alone.¡± Pondering for a moment on what to do next, Hanyue slowly sat herself next to Aoi and carefully hugged the distraught girl: ¡°Hmm¡­. I know you must be afraid of his Dukeship, right? You don¡¯t need to you know. His lordship isn¡¯t scary at all; in fact, he¡¯s very good to us.¡± Getting no reply from Aoi, Hanyue voice became even softer: ¡°The truth is¡­ ¡­ I¡¯ve heard that the Duke has quite the good heart. It¡¯s not just me saying this, everyone in the Northwest praises him too. If you follow hismand from now on, his Dukeship won¡¯t scold you, I promise.¡± In her muddled state, Aoi whispered her reply: ¡°Hmm¡­. Just do as he says, is that it?¡± After Du Wei¡¯s little show tonight, the negotiation that followed went perfectly smooth with Hamuye. Not only was the attitude from this Prince of the grasnd more cautious, Du Wei only needed to stand a bit firm on his stance to force the terms to go his way. As a result, the strong and weak in the talks became tantly apparent. Besides the previous cattle and horse terms, Hamuye eventually conceded to the term that they were in the wrong. Aside from being greatly relieved by the oue, some fancy ideas started to pop inside Du Wei¡¯s head: If he knew posing as a shaman would be so beneficial, he would have begun the talks with some exorbitant terms instead of hisme duck numbers. However, that idea quickly died in his mind for he knew going overboard would pique the other side¡¯s suspicion. Fortunately, this worldcks something like a phone, thus making it impossible for those leaders back at home to oversee a negotiation. Otherwise, it would be a cake walk to check his identity. When thest day of the negotiation arrived and the peace treaty signed, the final terms came up to the prairiepensating the empire with cattle, horses, and a deration stating they were in the wrong. In addition, both sides signed another section stating both states will never undertake hostile actions against each other and be forever friends and so on and so on¡­. Of course, thest sentence waspletely ignored by Du Wei. Eternal friends? Only a moron would believe a non-aggression treaty can be trusted. After both sides recuperate, these peace treaties are nothing but worthless paper. Originally Biliaibuer refused to put his name on the treaty, his argument was that he¡¯s only there to help Du Wei. But as the negotiation went smoother and smoother, any form of worry had left this cautious fe. Biliaibuer did find it strange as to why Hamuye would act like he was afraid of Du Wei, but with nothing to go on, he can only leave it be and do as Du Wei asked. Also, the treaty doesn¡¯t immediatelye into effect after both parties¡¯ put their initials on it for it must be reviewed by the Regent back in the capital first. Therefore, Hamuye would need to stay at Du Wei¡¯s ce for a while longer until news returns. But from Hamuye¡¯s initial reaction to the idea, it seems like this prince really did be afraid of those tents prepared by Du Wei. Besides that, Hamuye worried that if he stayed any longer, he might somehow incidentally upset this Duke without intent and ruin the Snowy Mountain¡¯s n. To mitigate this risk, Hamuye offered to follow Biliaibuer back to the capital, his excuse was to ensure the process goes smoothly. Once Du Wei sent away these two men, he specifically wrote another letter for Prince Son in secret exining his concerns and the abolishment of the cavalry army in the prairie. Then following suit, news came from his men down below that the Northwest Corridor has been cleared of any soldiers from the Northwest Army and that control has been handed over to him. Honestly speaking, Du Wei still hasn¡¯te up with a n to effective control this corridor. When the Northwest Army was in charge of overseeing the protection of the corridor, the ce was merely an essory with no real benefit. But now that he¡¯s taken it back, he can¡¯t just leave it be. Thinking back and forth, no real idea came up. Fortifying the entire corridor waspletely out of the question. Ignoring the cost of building a wall, the cost of food and water alone will murder his finances. Du Wei did have the idea of mining for groundwater, but this world was after all different from his old one. Something like groundwater here was merely something like a small well, at best a few meters down. Compared to what his previous world had, digging for an underground well will need to go as deep as a hundred meters down, simply impossible with the technology of this world where science practically doesn¡¯t exist. Thinking this won¡¯t work, that won¡¯t work, Du Wei eventually came to a crazy idea of simply blowing the corridor to smithereens. With both sides copsed, he can just forget about the prairie altogether! But this idea was quickly revoked by himself. As the only route into the prairie, this Northwest Corridor acts as the life blood for many people: merchants, aristocrats, and even the royal family got dibs into this route. If he dare go against the entire world, simply relying on his current savings will not keep himself secured. Then there¡¯s the countless nobles that wille making trouble for him after he cut off an arm from their coffer, just thinking about all the trouble that will follow hurts his head. Then¡­ ¡­ Build a water pipe connecting to the Northwest Corridor? This thought onlysted a second before he pped himself for being silly. Like that would be easy! Lon Lake was the biggest water source in the Northwest and the distance between the two was huge. Considering the current smelting technology of this world, connecting a single pipe across the vast distance will be a technological feat he simply can¡¯t surmount with the current situation. Then there¡¯s the issue of theft¡­. Just thinking of the robbers eyeing his pipes made his brain numb. What was he going to do to keep this corridor safe¡­¡­. Damned Rugaard, he must be waiting tough at him right now. Since there¡¯s no real good strategy for the time being, Du Wei might as well take the plunge and station a hundred soldiers at the corridor. Though this will not effectively secure the ce, but at the very least, it will be a good way to give him ample warning if there¡¯s ever an invading forceing from the grasnd. Rapidly, a month had passed when news returned from the capital: the Regent signed the treaty and agreed to all the terms Du Wei proposed. Surprisingly, both the pro-war and peace factions had no objections, thus ending the whole thing with Hamuye returning to the grasnd with the treaty in hand. Funny enough, Hamuye intentionally avoided Du Wei when returning home. Not even a simple greeting on the way through, this prince even made a big roundabout just to leave no chances of meeting our Duke. It¡¯s not like Du Wei doesn¡¯t understand why Hamuye would do this, but to take a giant detour¡­. Isn¡¯t that a little too much? It¡¯s not like he bites like a dog! Once again, Biliaibuer made another visit to Du Wei¡¯s castle and brought with him a secret letter sealed with a wax stamp. The moment Du Wei held the letter in his hand; he can already feel a wave of magic circting around the envelope, clearly a spell used to prohibit others from peeking inside. As expected, it¡¯s a handwritten letter from Prince Son to him. The intro of the letterplimented Du Wei to no end saying he both kept the empire¡¯s face and sought to get as much benefit from the prairie as possible. Then moving down to the middle section, the Regent mentioned how great he was in fending off the enemy army at Anglia City and faintly hinted in his letter that though the exploits were taken by the Northwest Army, Du Wei¡¯s achievement will not be forgotten. Then near the bottom half of the middle section, Prince Son dered that half of thepensation from the treaty will be given to him as a reward for the fine job he did in the negotiation. Thest part may sound like it was for the treaty, but in truth, it was Prince Son¡¯s way of making up for the victory at Anglia City. Understanding the hidden meaning behind Son¡¯s letter, Du Wei became satisfied: this Son sure knows how to please someone! But good things neverst, and his good mood quickly diminished into a frown when Du Wei read thest section. Regarding the abolishment of the twenty thousand cavalry knights in the prairie, the militarymand had long wanted to do this. However, this force cannot be gifted to Du Wei. Though Du Wei did as Mrs. Lister said and proposed the idea in a way that the army will remain within the imperial ranks, but the head officers refused this idea. Therefore, Prince Son gave Du Wei two choices and that was two Calvary units after much haggling with the military heads¡­¡­ Six thousand people? Reading this part, Du Wei nearly caused his nose to bend at how angry he was. What decision by the military heads, it¡¯s clearly the Regent refusing to give him this force! What, it¡¯s bad enough he¡¯s stuck in a bind between the Northwest Army and the people of the grasnd. With this twenty thousand cavalry force, he can at least use it as a deterrent. But six thousand? Who the hell would care? Chapter 268 part 2 Chapter 268 ¡°Bloody hell¡± (part two) Fortunately, Prince Son probably understood that Du Wei will be unhappy over this. Aspensation, Du Wei will be allowed to pick his six thousand men directly from the twenty thousand cavalry roster without breaking them apart. After Du Wei gets first dib, the rest will have to be sent back to the imperial capital to enrich the numbers in the royal guards. There are some dissents in Du Wei, but his heart eventually relented: twenty thousand seasoned warriors, how can the capital not take heed of this force? Sure, it was expensive as all hell to feed this group for they were inside the prairie before, but now that they are withdrawn from the front lines¡­ Who wouldn¡¯t eye this well trained cavalry unit! Prince Son wasn¡¯t a fool. Just recalling his own n before made Du Wei realized how much of a mistake he¡¯s done to look down at the Regent. ¡°Fine, six thousand it is then.¡± Du Wei lets out a deep breath and secretly thought to himself: ¡°He already has three thousand cavalry, plus this six thousand and the two thousand White Feather Knights of the Lister House; he will only need to recruit no more than ten thousand people to make a proper regiment. Though not as great as he would like it to be, but beggars can¡¯t be choosers at this point. After looking through this secret letter, Du Wei immediately tossed it into the fire pit to erase its existence. Once that¡¯s done, Du Wei ordered his people to summon Biliaibuer over for some more talks. ¡°When I set out, the militarymander had already issued the withdrawal order to the cavalry division in the prairie. If my estimates are right, it will be another day before they arrive at Lon City. As to the details of their cement, the Regent should have stated everything in the letter so I won¡¯t bother repeating it.¡± Compared to theirst encounter, Biliaibuer looks to be in higher spirit and became more talkative. Apparently, without the burden of being a negotiator, this guy¡¯s quite the talker. Du Wei nodded: ¡°So what¡¯s the situation back in the capital now?¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite funny now that you mentioned it.¡± Biliaibuer grins at him: ¡°Both the pro war and peaceful faction have gradually be less noisy over this matter, after all, the issue is settled the moment we signed the treaty. It¡¯s just that the temple is acting somewhat unsettled these days. I heard they are spreading some rumors veiling harsh criticism towards your Dukeship.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei frowned. As far as he¡¯s concerned, Du Wei doesn¡¯t recall ever crossing the Temple¡¯s path has he? Biliaibuer chuckles: ¡°Did you not imprison all the prairie soldiers after the battle of Anglia City and then tethered them to a post? In the end, none of the captives survived. That¡¯s the reason why the Temple is on your tail. Ha-ha, especially the Holy Maiden. She even publicly criticized you as a cruel tyrant and that your methods do not follow the Goddesses teaching of showing mercy to the world¡­..¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°Holy Maiden¡­ ¡­ Hmm, then what¡¯s the Temple¡¯s opinion?¡± ¡°The Temple? Though they didn¡¯t openly support the rumors, underneath, there¡¯s indication they are following this opinion too by not revoking it in public.¡± Biliaibuer hesitated and said, ¡°Duke, I have a suggestion, just not sure¡­..¡± ¡°Please speak, uncle Biliaibuer.¡± Du Weiughed: ¡°Did you forget? In private, you don¡¯t need to be so formal and call me Duke.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Earl Biliaibuer nodded: ¡°I heard that the Temple originally wanted to set up a branch in your capital, but through your interference, the idea was banished¡­..¡± Du Wei indignantly rejected this im: ¡°When did that happen!! The Temple did send someone, but that¡¯s because they didn¡¯t want to purchase thend themselves. How can they me me when they refused to pay the fair price? My city is newly founded, so of course the market rate is higher than normal!¡± Biliaibuer smiled and embarrassingly nced at Du Wei: ¡°Throughout the Empire¡­ ¡­ When have a lord asked the Temple to purchase their ownnd for a new location? Really, this Duke has to the first.¡± ording to conventional means, local officials or noble lords will never ask the Temple to use their own money fornd purchases. Even if not gifting a property with a building attached, thend should at least be free of charge, this was a must to show their respect towards the Temple and their followers. Exining his view, Du Wei spoke in a soft voice: ¡°My city is newly constructed and I¡¯m not even a devotee of the Temple. How can they hate me for not donating? Plus, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m the only noble lord that doesn¡¯t follow the Temple, am i? Biliaibuer smiles: ¡°That¡¯s merely one of the reasons. Hmm¡­.. If I had to guess, it¡¯s likely the Holy Maiden is trying to shame you for thete crown prince. Don¡¯t worry; attacking you is the same as attacking the Regent. No matter what, the Regent will side with you on this.¡± Du Wei nods with understanding: ¡°But, the Regent is already very tolerant of this woman¡­.. Aigh, from what I can tell, this Holy Maiden doesn¡¯t have much of a brain.¡± Biliaibuer broke out into a bellowingugh, ¡°This eh, I heard from his highness that in order to beat a mouse, one must put their hand into the hole. As long as there¡¯s so much as a tail to grab on to, the entire mouse will be caught. The Temple is the same. Leaving this Holy Maiden in the Temple, it¡¯s just a matter of time before she causes amotion big enough for the Regent to use as leverage against the Temple. Despite the Temple siding with the Regent during the coup, royalty and religious power can never mix. Since both sides will continue to fight in the future, why not leave this virus inside the opposition?¡± This exnation can be called straight to the point. Du Wei was quite perplexed over this¡­.. Why is this old fox being so honest with him? Whenever a big issue arises, this person would always start yawning and pretends to be stupid. Pondering the issue, Du Wei kept his eye on Biliaibuer without looking away. Sure enough, Biliaibuer followed up with the real reason: ¡°The truth is, in addition to the message from his highness, I was also trusted with another request. It¡¯s just that the matter is private and needed me to pass it on to you in person, hence the reason for my trip today.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei¡¯s mind began to work. Earl Biliaibuer sweetly smiled: ¡°Du Wei, you¡¯re already fifteen years old. ording to the customs of the Rnd Empire, you are considered an adult. Within the noble circle, fifteen is the age when a man gets married you know. Even if not immediately, a set of engagement should be in ce. Yet you, immensely favored with overwhelming authority, don¡¯t even have a target. I¡¯ll let you know, there are many eyeing you right now. If not for the harsh conditions of the Northwest, I don¡¯t even know how many nobles would dump their daughters at your doorstep. Ha-ha¡­. I¡¯ll be blunt. If I had a daughter myself, I would¡¯ve thrown her at you by now.¡± Du Wei scratches his cheek while smiling for he got a bad vibeing. ¡°The Regent appears to be very good towards you, this is glory in itself. Looking back at history, I don¡¯t believe I can find another monarch like Prince Son. I¡¯ll get to the topic. Prince Son tasked me to ask you a question¡­. Hmm, his highness has a sister, fifteen years old. This princess shares the same mother as Prince Son and their rtionship is the best among all the princes and princesses. Aside from being famously beautiful in the capital, it is said that she¡¯s on par with the miss from the Lister Household. Although I never met Miss Angel from the Lister House, but I did meet the princess so I can say for certain, she¡¯s absolutely gorgeous! Both royalty and a beauty, what a perfect match¡­.. So, his highness sent me here today to ask you about your marriage!¡± Du Wei could not help but be a bit displeased, yet his face could not show it: ¡°Hmm¡­. Uncle is here to arrange a marriage.¡± ¡°This can¡¯t be called a formal marriage arrangement.¡± Biliaibuerughed: ¡°Prince Son made it clear to my face. When ites to this subject, both sides must be consensual; after all, his highness knows you¡¯re not the type to care about marrying into the royal family. Even so, his highness wanted you to know this is an option on the table and to get your opinion. Anyways, it¡¯s almost year end. I also wanted to pass on another message from his highness. With the friction between the natives sorted for the time being, he wants you to return to the capital to join in on the end of the year banquet. Last year he knew you were busy sorting through the problems on yournd, therefore he didn¡¯t ask you to return, but this year is different. If you, the current most popr noble in the empire doesn¡¯t attend, the ceremony will lose a lot of life in it. Secondly¡­.. Ha-ha, the princess will also attend the banquet. This will give you and the princess a chance to share some time together.¡± Du Wei was dumbfounded ¡­ ¡­ What is this? Blind date? But¡­ ¡­ The fact that Prince Son didn¡¯t outrageously direct him into a marriage was already very liberal. It¡¯s just that¡­¡­ If he¡¯s not willing to marry the Lister girls, why would he want to marry a princess? If he did agree to this arrangement, it would be akin to having a spy next to him in bed every morning¡­. No bloody way, can¡¯t let that happen! ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s everything. By end of the year, you must return to the capital to attend the event. As for the official order, it will be sent over through official channels very soon.¡± Biliaibuer grins at him: ¡°The Princess is a real beauty! I can already see her followers eyeing you with envy when the timees.¡± After a pause, Du Wei wanted to say something again but the next words toe out of Biliaibuer caused him to be speechless. ¡°The Regent said, if¡­ ¡­ All goes well in your marriage with his sister, then you will be royalty! Though before¡­¡­ Hmm, the Rowling Family was demoted, but because of your connection with the princess, they will naturally be royalty. ording to thew of the empire, royalty has the privilege of enjoying immunity to thew. At that time, both your brother and father¡¯s sentence of forever not be used by the royal court will be banished!¡± This suggestion immediately caused Du Wei to raise an eyebrow. What a good Prince Son! What a good Regent! Very calctive! Ha-ha, you really hit the epicenter of my weakness! Just as Du Wei was struggling in his indecision, a loud wildugh suddenly came from the outside. Based on the way the voice sounded, there¡¯s obviously a surge of pride in thatugh. ¡°HA HA HA HA HA HA ¡­ ¡­¡± Though separated by a door and a window, it was still very harsh to the ear. Upon hearing this, Du Wei¡¯s expression promptly changed. That Green Hat¡­ ¡­ Is he finallying out of the cer?! Aigh, teacher, its fine for you toe out, but do you need tough in such a scary manner? Looking over at Biliaibuer, Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but smile at the reaction: ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry uncle. Theugh¡¯s from an elder of mine. He¡¯s a magician so his personality is on the weird side. Please rest here for now while I go have a look. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± With that, Du Wei made his way out but was quickly stopped by Old Smoke at the staircase. From how flushed this guard captain looked, it¡¯s clear he came over in a hurry. ¡°My lord! My lord!¡± ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Dripping with sweat on his forehead, Old Smoke cried: ¡°That¡­ ¡­ The old magician living in the cer, he¡¯s out!¡± Du Wei raised a corner of his mouth: ¡°I know¡­ That old guyughed so loud, how can I not know? It¡¯s not like I¡¯m deaf.¡± ¡°No ¡­ ¡­ It¡¯s not that!¡± Old Smoke bitterly smiled: ¡°Things aren¡¯t looking good! When the old magician first came out, he just so happens to bump into the Marquise! And then when herdyship shared a nce with the old guy, unsure of the reason, she got so scared that she fainted on the spot! Right now, several of the white feather knights are protecting thedy from the old magician. I fear both sides have already starting fighting!¡± Now this time Du Wei was starting panic! Green Hat and the Lister Family fighting?! Oh¡­ Oh shit!!!! Chapter 269 Chapter 269 ¡°Mrs. Lister¡± Not even caring about Old Smoke anymore, Du Wei rushed down the stairs and directly jumped through the window just so he can save a few milliseconds of time. Meanwhile in the castle garden, Mrs. Lister was spending the day distracting herself from the problem of the heart involving Du Wei. Unfortunately, as fate would have it¡­. Themotion of that old Green Hat were simply too big. It¡¯s not known why all the big shots woulde out of their long meditation periods with a big bang, but when fate takes a turn for the worse, this is it¡­.. Directly blowing through the ceiling wall, the location where the old fart emerged coincidentally happens to be the castle garden. When Du Wei finally arrived at the scene, the first thing to wee this master of the house was a fearfully white Mrs. Lister and a litter of fallen White Feather Knights on the ground. There were still two White Feather Knights protecting thedy, but anyone can tell these two loyal followers were also in distress from the terrible expression on their faces. Strangely enough, the Marquise would repeatedly utter a ssic line like in the movies of old while she continues to retreat backward in utter fear: ¡°You¡­. Don¡¯te any closer!¡± She screams with great anxiety. The first reaction Du Wei had was to sweep his senses through area. Confirming the knights on the ground were only unconscious from an unknown spell and not dead, some of the urgency inside of him finally relented a bit. Then watching the two White Feather Knights making their stand against the terrifying old man, Du Wei could do nothing but sigh. If excluding the old dragon up at the north, without a doubt, this Green Hat would be regarded as the maind¡¯s top expert. As such, how can a few White Feather Knights stand up to an opponent like him? If they somehow annoyed this entric old man, Du Wei can¡¯t guarantee this old guy won¡¯t outright turn everyone into corpses. From the way he appears, Green Robe Gandalf doesn¡¯t look half bad, clearly rejuvenated by the month long retreat inside the cer. Ignoring the two knights aiming their swords at him, Green Robe leisurelyughs at Mrs. Lister and tauntingly said: ¡°Oh what a surprise¡­. To think I would have the pleasure of meeting this beautifuldy again on this fine day!¡± Feeling his forehead going numb, Du Wei quickly picked up the meaning behind those words: ¡°Does this old guy know the madam? Don¡¯t tell me this guy is a womanizer.¡± Bringing with him this strange idea, Du Wei hurriedly ran over to step in between Green hat and thedy: ¡°Stop, stop this instant!¡± He then looks over at Green hat and smiled wryly: ¡°This¡­.. Dear teacher, thisdy is my distinguished guest, you, this¡­..¡± Facing Du Wei, Green Robe Gandalf narrows his eye at him and said: ¡°Eh, your guest?¡± Coincidentally, the old grandpa also turns his sight at thedy behind Du Wei and carefully assessed the gorgeous madam. After a good moment of careful observation, Green Hat gives off a face of profound understanding like he just became enlightened. ¡°This, consider it my request¡­.¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t even have the chance to finish his words before Green Hat cuts him off with a wave of his sleeve: ¡°Fine, fine, fine¡­¡­. Although her blood is good, but old grandpa here doesn¡¯t particrly must have it. Ha-ha, since she¡¯s your friend, I will let her off the hook.¡± Momentster, he rummages through his robe and pulls out a bottle to toss it over to Du Wei: ¡°Considering it¡¯s you, I will lower my demand¡­.. I originally intended to bleed her for studying, but since she¡¯s your friend, I won¡¯t get physical. I don¡¯t need much, just fill up the bottle with her blood for me.¡± Once Du Wei finished apanying this old geezer to a resting ce, he specifically ordered his men to arrange a room as far away as possible from the madam for this old man. Only by doing so did Du Wei feel slightly relieved. Likewise, with the old man out of her sight, Mrs. Lister finally loosened her tense body and partially fainted against Du Wei¡¯s shoulder when he returned. Normally Du Wei would find this ufortable and question whether the madam was faking it or not, but this clearly wasn¡¯t case. Completely deprived of energy, Mrs. Lister looked so frail and helpless when tears began to well up in her eyes: ¡°Who¡­¡­ Who is that man¡­ Du Wei, that terrifying old man, what did you just call him¡­..¡± Coughing once, Du Wei thought it be better to not reveal his rtionship with this old man. Changing the topic, he counters the question with one of his own: ¡°Madam, you¡¯re acquainted with this guy?¡± Mrs. Lister seems to be a little frightened as she looked Du Wei in the eye, her face somewhatplex: ¡°Du Wei, you really don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°Know what?¡± There¡¯s some doubt in her mind, but after assessing Du Wei¡¯s reaction for a good moment, Mrs. Lister determined Du Wei wasn¡¯t lying: ¡°Do you still remember how Dadaneier met you in the frozen forest? He was there in order to procure a Golden Eye Python for me and it¡¯s precisely this guy whom cursed me with a spell that nearly caused my death.¡± Upon hearing this, Du Wei literally popped his eyes out in disbelief and recalled the story of how the madam got cursed by a strangely dressed old man! ording to Dadaneier¡¯s story, the old man wanted to flirt with thedy but was eventually driven away by one of the Temple¡¯s Holy Knight. Although Dadaneier mentioned the guy wore green clothes, but Du Wei never in his right mind imagined the womanizer would be someone like the Green Hat. The main reason for this mindset had to do with the fact that in the story, the lewd womanizer got repelled by an eighth level Holy Knight! No matter how you weighed it, Green Robe here would never lose to someone like that. If anything, this entric old man only needs to wave his hand once in order to turn any Holy Knight into a corpse. Regardless, considering the Green Hat¡¯s status, Du Wei had some serious issues imagining the old man doing something like harassing ady. While Du Wei was busy thinking all of this, Mrs. Lister had been keeping her eyes pinned at him for any signs of mistruth: ¡°This, I didn¡¯t know. However, this old man has some serious background so I believe there must have been some kind of misunderstanding between you two¡­. I don¡¯t doubt the old man¡¯s entricity, but it¡¯s really hard for me to look at him as a lustful person.¡± ¡°No, no!¡± Mrs. Lister¡¯s eye turned red and watery: ¡°It¡¯s true he didn¡¯t try to tease me, it¡¯s just that I have my own difficulties. Back then when I first encountered him, he indeed didn¡¯t tease me, it was for another reason¡­. Then when the Holy Knight of the temple arrived to drive him away, I needed toe up with an exnation of why he harassed me so I came up with the story of him trying to flirt with me.¡± Only like this did Du Wei nod his head in agreement. When ites to being strange and entric, the old man definitely fits the bill, but a womanizer that harasses ady? Du Wei had some serious doubt on this one. But then why did Green Hat bother her? Subconsciously, Du Wei tightened the grip on the bottle in his hand and asked: ¡°He¡­. Could it be that he wants your blood?¡± Turning paler at the question, the Marquise bes even more helpless while in Du Wei¡¯s embrace: ¡°I¡­ I.¡± Coming up with an idea, Du Wei slowly helped thedy regain her posture and called for the two knights toe over: ¡°You two first bring the madam back to rest ¡­. Hmm, as for the rest here, you can also bring them back. They are merely unconscious due to a spell. In a few moments, they will likely awaken.¡± His reasoning was simple: The madam is a clever woman. Even if he asked, she might not necessarily speak the truth. If that¡¯s the case, it be easier for him to go ask Green Hat. Sure enough, Mrs. Lister appeared quite reluctant at the idea but had no choice but to leave with the help of her two escorts. Curious inside, Du Wei also hurries over to Green Hat so he can get the whole story. Following Du Wei¡¯s instruction earlier, Old Smoke had arranged for a room at the highest floor of the castle for the old man. This floor was usually reserved only for Du Wei¡¯s use, but in this case, exceptions had to be made. When Du Wei arrived, the first thing to wee him was the strange sight of Gandalf leaning against a chair, curiously eyeing QQ in the corner. To be suddenly gazed at by a strange magician, this penguin didn¡¯t know how to react and could only freeze there on the spot from the unease creeping down his tingly spine. Fortunately Du Wei walked in at this time; otherwise QQ wouldn¡¯t know what to do in this awkward situation for up till now, it had always been him living alone in Du Wei¡¯s room. ¡°Hmm, back already? Did you bring the woman¡¯s blood with you?¡± Du Wei opens up his empty palm and asked: ¡°Nope, first I need you to tell me what¡¯s going on.¡± Green robe Gandalf pricked his brow: ¡°Kid, I don¡¯t need much. Considering it¡¯s you who¡¯s asking, I decided to only ask for a small bottle. Otherwise, I would have simply taken her away for careful studying if I followed my usual pattern. What, is she your lover?¡± ¡°No.¡± Du Wei waved his hand to motion QQ to leave. Releasing the tension in his body, QQ hurriedly pped his wing and waltz out of the room using that penguin walk of his. Sparkling with light at the sight, Gandalf asked: ¡°EH? Your bird is weird, it understands your words right? You only waved your hand and it knew your meaning.¡± Grabbing the wine bottle on the table, Du Wei poured himself a cup and chucked the wine down his throat: ¡°Let¡¯s not focus on this topic¡­. First tell me what¡¯s your rtionship with that woman and how did she pique your interest?¡± Then, not waiting for Gandalf to speak, Du Wei went over what he and the madam talked about earlier: ¡°ording to her, it¡¯s you who originally petrified her.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s me.¡± Green Robe Gandalf shakes his head with a face full of indifference: ¡°If not for that Holy Knight, I would have snatched her away already.¡± ¡°An eighth level Holy Knight would have been wiped clean with a single finger of yours.¡± Du Wei looked puzzled: ¡°How can someone like that drive you away?¡± Green Robe Gandalf shakes his head again: ¡°At that time my other self was still in this world. ording to our agreement, we will conduct a duel between us for the right to use Gandalf as our identity after a certain period. The winner gets to use Gandalf as their identity and the loser must go into hiding while keeping a low key. I¡¯m a man of my word. I lost to my other self at the previous duel so I had to keep a low profile. If I suddenly killed an eighth level Holy Knight, themotion will definitely rm the Temple. By then, it would be no different from me viting the promise between my other half. Therefore, I decided to deliberately act like I was driven away by that Holy Knight.¡± Du Wei nodded for this exnation solved a question lurking in his heart. Indeed, before the main Gandalf perished in battle, this Green Hat always kept a low profile. Otherwise, with his extraordinary strength and level of knowledge, he would have be an illustrious master famed across thends. Sitting down, Du Wei continues with his questioning: ¡°Then what¡¯s so interesting about this Mrs. Lister?¡± Green Hatpsed out for a second, his eyes looking somewhat shocked: ¡°Ha-ha! Kid, I heard you are well learned, guess there are things you don¡¯t know either. From your question, I can tell most of your knowledge was learned from the books right?¡± Speaking up to here, Green Hat lowers his voice and grinned triumphantly: ¡°You don¡¯t see the abnormality in the woman?¡± ¡°Abnormality?¡± Du Wei thought about it: indeed the madam is quite outstanding, both remarkably beautiful and clever. Other than that, he couldn¡¯t see anything else. ¡°Besides beautiful and clever ¡­ Hmm, she also looks younger than her actual age¡­. I don¡¯t see anything special or out of ce.¡± Chapter 270 Chapter 270 ¡°This woman is not human¡± ¡°Hey-hey¡­ It¡¯s exactly like what you just said, ¡®she only looks younger than her actual age¡¯! Boy, I also know of her, this Mrs. Lister. She should be in her thirties¡­ Don¡¯t you feel that her outer appearance is too young? If you don¡¯t ask her age, anyone would mistake her for an eighteen year old girl!¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°This is not surprising, she¡¯s born of a wealthy family. From childhood till now, her lifestyle been superior to the rest. Naturally, I¡¯m not excluding the possibility of her using some beauty technique to upkeep her looks.¡± ¡°Hem hum ¡­¡± Green robe Gandalf repeatedly sneers at him, leaving Du Wei confused: ¡°Du Wei, how old is your mother this year?¡± ¡°What about my mother?¡± Du Wei thought and thought, that¡¯s when he found himself frowning all of a sudden. The truth was, Du Wei originally also had some questions surrounding thedy. He simply didn¡¯t know where the problem lies. Moreover, thedy¡¯s constant marriage proposal was a real headache in itself. Rather than go looking for the madam, Du Wei would have nothing else better but to stay as far away as possible from thedy. So, where would he find the time and patients to think about these questions? Now that Green Hat mentioned it, Du Wei immediately understood where the problem lies! Even if the heaven¡¯s blessed her and that she was fortunate enough to maintain her body well, she¡¯s still a thirty year old woman. No matter how good a beauty technique was, it¡¯s impossible to maintain the appearance of a young maiden! Moreover, thedy was in charge of overseeing a huge family. Just the stress andbor involved would cause the person in question to age exceptionally fast! But thedy¡­. To say wealthy birth and superior living style, Du Wei¡¯s own mother was the living example of this! Prior to marriage, the countess was the young miss of a highly prestigious nobility. To say living conditions, she wouldn¡¯t lose out to the Marquise one bit. Also, Du Wei¡¯s mother was known as a beauty within the noble circle. Despite consuming the same quality of food, living the same quality of life, and having ess to the same level of beauty care, she remains iparable to the Marquise. To be blunt, for one to be able to maintain the appearance at the degree of what Mrs. Lister shows off, it¡¯s simply too overwhelming, practically unnatural! Seeing Du Wei¡¯s silent treatment, Green Robe Gandalf smiles with pride on his face: ¡°It¡¯s no surprise you don¡¯t know this. Boy, I can¡¯t me you for being ignorant. About this, I specte there are only a few who knows!¡± ¡°You just like to leave me hanging¡­.¡± Du Wei muttered: ¡°Humph, you are now my teacher so quit hiding it. If there¡¯s gossip to be had then say it!¡± Gandalf smiles mysteriously and then whispered his next sentence: ¡°This woman¡­. She¡¯s not human!¡± Upon hearing this, Du Wei nearly fell off his chair from his shaking body. Not a human? A monster? It can¡¯t be, a demon? What, does this world have something like fox demons too? Is my manly essence going to be sucked dry? Only after receiving the wanted expression from Du Wei did Gandalf continue with his exnation: ¡°Hmm, this will be quite long if we talk about it¡­.. You should know something about the ancient history of this continent, right?¡± Du Wei breathed in deeply to calm his emotions: ¡°A little bit¡­.. I know that in ancient times there existed other beings aside from us humans. But due to a massive war, the other races were eventually banished by the goddess and forced to migrate to and far to the North. Pass the Holy Mountain, there, the exiled races can never return for the dragons guard the only passage back to the main continent.¡± Speaking up to here, Du Wei vaguely guessed something: ¡°This Listerdy, she¡¯s not human? What, is she a member of the banished race? She doesn¡¯t look like that of a beast race, nor a dwarf¡­. Elf? AH! Its true elves are known for their legendary beauty, but I also know elves tend to be shorter than ordinary humans. And, their ears should be pointy.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, she¡¯s an elf.¡± Gandalf faintly smiles:¡± But she¡¯s not a pure breed. Humph, the other races on the continent were banished. If there are still elves or other ethnicmunities present on the continent, the temple would have long ughtered them all. So how can there be a pure bred elf on this continent? This Mrs. Lister, I suspect she¡¯s likely a mix between elf and human, this much I¡¯m sure. It¡¯s just that after so many generations of cross breeding, most of her elf characteristics became masked by her human lineage. Nevertheless, the strongest point elves have over us humans of being exceptionally beautiful remains with her.¡± Du Wei¡¯s jaw dropped: ¡°But¡­ But we can¡¯t conclude this based solely on her image.¡± Gandalf raised his brow and pointed at his own eyeball: ¡°This is certainly not the only proof I have. I¡¯ve consulted many books and sciptures¡­ Humph, the first time I saw this woman was two years ago. You probably haven¡¯t noticed it, but did you look at her pupils?¡± A moment of pause, Gandalf exins: ¡°We Rnd people have variations in the color of our eyes, brown, green, and blue¡­. Indeed, her eyes are blue, but unlike ordinary people, her pupils are different. That day I vaguely noticed something strange about her aura. Although the average person wouldn¡¯t notice the small variation in her, a mage can through our induction of magic of our surroundings. That day, I carefully observed her and that¡¯s when it happened. From an angle, the pupil in her eyes gave off a faint purple tint!¡± Gandalf¡¯s statement left Du Wei greatly shocked: ¡°Elf lineage?¡± ¡°You think it¡¯s possible for my judgment to be wrong?¡± Gandalf humph with dissatisfaction: ¡°Elf lineage is very precious! I only needed one look to raise my predatory appetite. Not only is it a miracle that there was still someone remaining on the maind with elf blood in their veins, it¡¯s said that elves are naturally attuned to magic. Although their magic cannot bepared to draconic magic, it¡¯s still very mysterious. After immersing my life in the research of magic, how can I let her go after encountering such a rare specimen. Unfortunately, that Knight from the temple just had to show up at the worst timing. In order to not break my promise to myself¡­. Humph, I spared his life and retreated. It¡¯s just that my curiosity got the better of me. I was curious so I deliberately cursed her body to see what effect will be on a mixed blood.¡± Du Wei asked: ¡°That¡­ Why didn¡¯t you go look for her again after you¡¯ve cursed her? Green robe Gandalf shook his head: ¡°I temporarily leftter on¡­ Humph, if we must trace the problem to its core, you are mostly to me for the entire mess! Though my apprentice, Joanna, usually spends her time fooling around in the outside world, we would always keep in contact through our magic bond. However, that day I suddenly lost contact with her. My heart couldn¡¯t stay put over how worried I was so I waspelled to¡­ Although an elf hybrid is precious, my apprentice came before everything. In order to locate her, I hurriedly left.¡± Coming up to here, Green hat smiled: ¡°Only untilter on did I remember this elf hybrid. I was in such a hurry that day that Ipletely forgot to remove the petrifaction spell on her. I didn¡¯t know her status at that point but I already knew the results. Either she died from my curse, or her family was powerful enough to find another magician to cure her.¡± Listening to the story, Du Wei could not help but swear¡­.. This old man was too daring, treating other people¡¯s lives like dirt! But this old man gave Du Wei a difficult problem: ¡°I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this woman again today¡­.. But since she¡¯s your friend, I can¡¯t have you, my student, lose face. One bottle of blood isn¡¯t too much now is it? She¡¯s a full grown adult; one bottle won¡¯t hurt her at all. One day¡¯s worth of rest and she will be up and running again¡­..¡± Almost afraid of Du Wei refuting, Green Hat adds in another line: ¡°Some time ago I came across a scripture containing the remnants of some ancient elven magic. I wanted to try it for so long; unfortunately the chance never came¡­. If you can get me a bottle of her blood, ha-ha, boy, you are my disciple. If I seed in my research and resurrect that magic, you think I won¡¯t teach you?¡± Towards elf magic, honestly, Du Wei didn¡¯t hold much interest. In his hand, there are already too many things to learn. Aside from the Star Dou Qi and Star Magic, he also has Shamanism from the Snowy Mountain. To master any one of these will take extreme efforts with no end in sight. If he suddenly adds Elf magic to the list, Du Wei wasn¡¯t sure if he can handle it. Just that¡­ This Green Hat only asked for his opinion to give him some face. If he disagrees and annoyed this entric old man, he¡¯s not sure if the old fart would outright kill him here and then. Then there¡¯s the possibility of the old man being bent on taking the madam. If Green Hat does take her by force, Du Wei knows for certain he can¡¯t block it. Thinking up to here, Du Wei sighed: ¡°Fine then¡­ A bottle of blood isn¡¯t a big deal¡­ However, only ONE! I will not go running to the other party for a second bottle when you waste it all away in your study, got it?¡± Gandalf pricked his brow: ¡°Elf Magic is difficult to understand and I only salvaged a small remnant of the original spell. I really fear a single bottle wouldn¡¯t be enough. Besides, I¡¯m only doing this because it¡¯s you. If I run out, you need toe up with something.¡± Sure enough¡­ This scuzzball decided to be unreasonable. But this old madman wasn¡¯t someone Du Wei can provoke at this time. Helpless to resist, Du Wei was eventually rushed off by the old man to see the Marquise. Back in her own room, the madam waspletely scared out of her wits for she knew her secret had been leaked. No matter where it was on the maind, elves are always considered heretics. Once the secret spreads, the first one toe out to find her would no double be the Temple. Even if the Lister Household grew even bigger, she could never avoid the fate of being doomed to the fire pir in the main citadel of the Temple. For this reason, she was terrified at what awaited her. And when Du Wei came seeking an audience, her first thoughts were: does he know too?! If her memory serves her right, Du Wei called him ¡°teacher¡±. If that¡¯s the case, things can¡¯t get any worse! When Du Wei first entered the room, the first scene toe into his eye was the scene of thedy trying to hide her unease. Though she pretends to be calm, the panic in the eyes betrayed her. Not able to bear the thought of making things difficult for thedy, Du Wei decided to cut to the chase: ¡°Madam, this way please¡­..¡± Understanding his meaning, Mrs. Lister immediately dismissed her attendants. Once the room was cleared, Du Wei sighed in a depressing tone and said: ¡°Lady¡­. I won¡¯t y my words so you can rest assured, there won¡¯t be anyone else to learn of your secret. My teacher may be entric, but he¡¯s no loudmouth. In order to make sure he doesn¡¯te making trouble for you, I need you to offer a little sacrifice on your end.¡± With that said, he ces the small bottle on the table and whispered: ¡°Not much, just a bottle of your blood.¡± Shuddering at the demand, Mrs. Lister¡¯s voice began to tremble: ¡°You¡­ You know too?¡± Du Wei faintly smiled: ¡°Lady, please, don¡¯t worry¡­ I¡¯m Du Wei, not some follower of the Temple! Whatever teaching the Temple spout has nothing to do with me.¡± Only at his words did Mrs. Lister be slightly calmer. Not saying another word, she suddenly drew a silver dagger from the drawer and made a small tiny cut on one of her delicate fingers. The whole process was very awkward for both of them. Watching a beauty like the madam slowly fill the bottle with her blood made him feel somewhat evil. ¡°Okay.¡± Although it¡¯s only a small bottle of blood, she¡¯s still a woman. From her shaky hands, the madam attempts to pass him the bottle: ¡°Take it.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Slightly guilty inside, Du Wei reaches out to grab it: ¡°I¡­..¡± ¡°No more.¡± Mrs. Lister breathes in deeply. Within moments, she reverted back to the appearance of a powerful family head where her voice sounded indifferent: ¡°Also Duke, don¡¯t forget your promise! The survival of my Lister Household rests in your hands!¡± After that, she decisively turns around without giving Du Wei another nce. Sighing inside, Du Wei could do nothing but to pick up the bottle and leave. After Du Wei left, Mrs. Lister suddenly plotted down to the floor like all energy had left her body. The strong image she portrayed earlier was merely an act, a way for her to not show her weakness in front of the other side. Now that she¡¯s alone, her real emotion of fear and horror fully takes hold of her face. When Du Wei brought the bottle of blood back to the old man, the first reaction from Green Hat was excitement and joy. Carefully looking over the bottle, this old man then pops open the cork and sniffed the content. If Du Wei wasn¡¯t around, this old man might really have tried to have a taste of some elf blood. Fortunately Du Wei made a timely cough to bring Green Hat back to reality. Nevertheless, the old man remains very happy at the disruption: ¡°Very good! You¡¯ve done so well that I should be teaching you some spells by now after you called me teacher so many times. But with this blood in my hand, I can¡¯t wait any longer. Let¡¯s do this¡­ I¡¯ll give you something nice to keep you busy for a while. I¡¯m certain you will like it.¡± Finished, he rummaged through his robe for a long time before pulling out a ck crystal ball! With only a nce, Du Wei can already see how darkly ck the fog fluctuating inside was. Though it was incredibly thick, Du Wei can still faintly see a streak of gold circting across the globe. Yes, it¡¯s certainly dark energy inside the crystal, but at the same time, not exactly pure. ¡°This is ¡­¡± ¡°Ha-ha, this is not dark energy so don¡¯t be mistaken. It¡¯s a crystal ball used to imprison the soul of the dead!!¡± Green Robeughs sinisterly: ¡°On the day I wasing here, I came across one of those lizards. I ughtered that gold snake and trapped his soul inside this crystal. Now I¡¯m giving him to you¡­. This here is the best material one can get for undead creations so its uses are endless!¡± Pausing a bit, Green Robe frowns at his own folly, ¡°Sadly¡­ You probably don¡¯t know any dark magic¡­. And I don¡¯t have any spare time to teach you. Otherwise, I can take you for a run across several ancient battlefields to procure some dragon bones. Using this soul as a base, I would¡¯ve taught you how to turn a gold dragon¡¯s soul into a bone dragon! Never in history has anyone turned a gold dragon into a bone dragon! Oh, what a feat!¡± Chapter 271 Chapter 271 ¡°Double head?¡± Bone Dragon? Du Wei skipped a beat. When it came to a dragon skeleton, he does indeed have a set. Although slightly iplete, he can improvise if needed. Just when he wanted to speak again, an idea popped in his head: ¡°Teacher is very stingy! Say what? Bring me to the ancient battlefields to scavenge dragon bones? Humph, you killed a gold lizard already and even trapped his soul. I¡¯ll be dead before I believe you didn¡¯t take his carcass with you.¡± Green robe Gandalf became stumped at being caught. Making a guilty smile, he scratches his head: ¡°This, ughhh¡­..¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°Teacher you don¡¯t have to say anything, since it¡¯s teacher¡¯s treasure, I be embarrassed to make this request.¡± Gandalf immediately shouted: ¡°Who said I can¡¯t give you! Humph, merely a set of bones¡­. It¡¯s just, there¡¯s two problems.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Hearing there¡¯s opportunity; Du Wei immediately revealed an affectionate smile. ¡°Aigh ¡­¡± Green Robe Gandalf sighed: ¡°That day when I met that little gold lizard, my heart was stuffing with steam from being injured by his old man. At first I intended to hold back, but my discretion went out the window whenever I recalled my defeat. In the end, I bombarded that thing into dozens of pieces and only managed to salvage a third of the body¡­. Ughhh, fortunately, there¡¯s a lot of scales left. If you use the gold scales, you can make a lot of nice things with them.¡± A little pauseter, he exins, ¡°Before in history, it is rarely known for the carcass of a gold dragon to be refined into an undead dragon. For one thing, gold dragons are the royalty among their kind, powerful and dominating. Who can kill such a tough creature and take away their carcass? Secondly, as royalty, theirpanions would always take away their bodies for burial in the legendary tomb of the dragons. Never would they leave the carcass in the outside world. And most importantly, thest reason is¡­ Let me tell you, the bones of a gold dragon are vastly different from the rest of their counterparts. It¡¯s already quite the feat to refine a ordinary bone dragon, imagine doing it with a gold dragon¡¯s carcass? You be dead long before you manage that feat. Then there¡¯s the problem of gathering enough dead spirits to power your spell. You aren¡¯t profoundly attuned to dark magic. Even if I help you, I¡¯m still not an authentic dark mage. If we gather some regr bones to make one, I can still manage for the power of an ordinary bone dragon is limited. The ideal situation now is to use some ordinary bones and then add in the soul of that gold dragon. By doing so, the creature woulde out exponentially stronger than an average undead. But if you get greedy and forcefully use the skeleton of a gold dragon, the number of undead spirits required will increase several fold¡­. Frankly speaking, throughout the ages, none has achieved such a feat. I¡¯m no different, nor do I have such arge amount of dead spirits in my inventory. If you go on a killing spree and attract the attention of the magicw enforcement team, I¡¯m not going to help you settle the trouble!¡± Du Wei thought and thought before whispering at Gandalf: ¡°Teacher, maybe things aren¡¯t that difficult.¡± Subsequently, Du Wei pulled Gandalf out of the castle and headed for the house in the back of the castle. Normally guarded by a set of guards outside and a series of barriers, this here was the forbidden ground ced under Du Wei¡¯smand. Before Du Wei would often use this area as a ce to do some simple magic experiments, but as Anglia City grew into his personal production base, Du Wei rarely came back. Following Du Wei into this magicboratory, Gandalf¡¯s first thought was how satisfied he was with the furnishing and equipment¡¯s of this ce. After all, most of the things in here were given to him by Master Alley from the magic union. ¡°Teacher, my space magic is really meager and could only open up this much space in this house¡­. And the stuff I¡¯m about to take out can¡¯t be seen by outsiders¡­ You see, can you¡­¡± Gandalf nodded and had a look around with his arms behind his back. From the outside, this magicboratory looked like it could only fit a few rooms. But once inside, the space was at least three to five timesrger. Apparently Du Wei expanded the space using spatial magic. Going a circle around the room, Gandalfughed: ¡°Don¡¯t me yourself. You only started learning magic recently. In such a short time frame, you did very well already to manage this much.¡± After that, the old guy rummaged through his robe and pulled out several silver badges from his pocket. Stacking it in his hand, he ran to the four corners of the room and decorated all of Du Wei¡¯s original inscriptions with the badges and a set of magic crystals. Then with a little rumble, the sight in front of Du Wei changed and began to distort. From a space equal to a giant house, the space expanded to be a big stadium! As expected, a Magister sure is amazing! Still somewhat dissatisfied, Gandalf sighed: ¡°The magic circles you ced were originally too small, thus I can only do this much. I don¡¯t have time to help you redo the magic inscriptions so you will need to modify it yourself¡­. Okay, what did you want to show me again?¡± With a space as big as a stadium, Du Wei immediately pulled out the bone dragon inside his storage ring! Seeing the twenty meters long body suddenly appear in front of the two, Gandalf immediately narrowed up his eyes with light beaming inside. Gandalf¡¯s after all a super magician, he knows it when something good appears before him. Can¡¯t even wait for Du Wei to react, Gandalf rushes up to touch, knock, and praise it again and again. Once the old man got the excitement out of his old body, he turns to look back at Du Wei: ¡°Good stuff you got here! Boy, where did you steal this eh?!¡± Du Wei smiles embarrassingly like he was caught red handed. From how he went to Watt City and how he scammed that Dark Mage into fighting the second prince, he carefully went over the story. Upon hearing the name Tartaglia, Gandalf¡¯s brow picked up: ¡°Tartaglia? I vaguely remember that name. Humph, who would have expected this¡­ A dark mage reaching eighth rank is no easy feat and extremely rare toe by. Yet he met his end because you scammed him? Boy, you really are cunning you know that.¡± Speaking up to here, Gandalf suddenly remembers his own experience with Du Wei back in the capital city. From how he was tricked by Du Wei and how he was shamed by running away, this entric old man hurries to change the topic: ¡°Hmm, this skeleton is already considered top grade! I don¡¯t know how much time the dark magician spent rummaging through the ancient battlefields, but from one look, I can see at least three to four kinds of dragons mixed in here. Some are even top grade material! Unfortunately, the quality is uneven where some pieces are barely passable for use. But overall, this can be considered top grade. And¡­..¡± Pausing for a moment, he reaches out to gently knock on the bone dragon. From his fingers, a faint hint of ck smoke leaked out from the tip. Du Wei recognizes it, that stuff was the dark energy produced from dead spirits. Du Wei¡¯s not surprised that this old man had dead spirits in his inventory. After all, this old monster lived long enough to match his life span several times over. But this spec of dark energy released by Gandalf was very soon absorbed by the bone dragon. Laughing, Gandalf exins: ¡°And look¡­. The most wonderful part of this bone dragon is that it¡¯s not a newly gathered set! It was already a finished product created by a high level dark magician, just that the dragon soul inside is destroyed. After being killed, you were lucky enough to pick it up for cheap. Unlike a fresh skeleton, we don¡¯t have to go through the usual process of pouring dead spirits into it, saving us quite the trouble and time involved. The simplest way now is to inject the gold dragon¡¯s soul into this skeleton. Using the dark spell, which I¡¯m going to teach you, we can directly turn this thing into your pet¡­ However, it will be such a waste to use this skeleton like it is now!¡± Hearing thest part, Du Wei started to get excited¡­ This Green Hat¡¯s finally willing to give him something nice! Like him, Green Hat¡¯s eyes were also full of excitement. Like a chef facing a rare ingredient, a magician would love to have wing at any rare material. Finally tossing his stinginess away, the old man summons his storage item. And from it, the carcass of a gold dragon appears beside Du Wei. Sure enough, the identity of this thing was the poor second dragon prince! Oh how majestic this prince looked back then. Holding that golden spear, this guy took on tens of thousands of soldiers alone and never backed down. And now, this prince was nothing more than pieces of meat and bone on the ground. At least the head remains intact, but other than that, every other part were lopped into pieces or broken by some major impact. After taking everything out, Gandalf sat his buttocks down and simply ignored Du Wei. Carefully eyeing the stuff in front of his old eyes, this old geezer began to brood over what to do. Du Wei knew this old mage was busying figuring out the best way to fuse the two bodies together, therefore, he decided to leave him be. Running to the side, Du Wei decided to amuse himself by picking up some gold scales to look over. As expected of a gold dragon¡¯s scale. Even without the dragon aura circting across these scales, the hardness of the material alone was enough to make it a rare product. Compared to ordinary metal, this scale was heavens above everything else. If used to make weapons and armor¡­ Thinking up to here, Du Wei quickly scurries over to collect all the scales. Aside from the ones on the floor, there are still many left on the body. Not being polite, Du Wei pulled out a dagger and began his efforts of prying them off. However, he soon realized a simple dagger wasn¡¯t going to do. Luckily in his possession was the legendary sword ¡°Beauty under the Moonlight¡±. Using this razor sharp sword, Du Wei spent his afternoon king the poor corpse and stripping it of all its glory. After Du Wei finished his task of stripping the scales, Du Wei found that the old man was still busy brooding over what to do. Not wanting to disturb the old guy, Du Wei decided it was far better for him to go somewhere else for now. Tossing the scales into his storage ring, he made his way outside and left the old man to daze around all day. It didn¡¯t take long for Marde to bring over all of the best cksmiths in the castle ¨C every one of these craftsmen were hired by Du Wei through tremendous costs. Originally these people had their own business in the capital, but considering the fact that Du Wei would expand heavily in the Northwest, these cksmiths decided the prospect in the Northwest were better. Aside from the very high preferential treatment given to them by Du Wei, each one of them also brought along at least ten apprentices. As craftsman with the highest paying wage on the continent, they would naturally serve Du Wei without faltering. Dumping a bunch of the gold scales in front of these expert craftsmen, Du Wei asked: ¡°Have a look, what kind of weapons can you guys make?¡± Puzzled, one of the cksmith picked up a scale to be surprised by how light it was. Knocking it, this guy frowns and asked: ¡°Duke, this isn¡¯t metal is it? If I recall, the magic beast scales you tasked us to craft before in the capital are simr to these scales. But those scales were nowhere close to being this big.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Indeed, these aren¡¯t metal¡­ Hmm, these scales¡­. Yes, they are scales of some magic beast.¡± At the answer, the cksmith became depressed: ¡°My lord, we wasted so many of those scales thest time. If you ask us to craft these again, I¡¯m not sure how many more we will waste.¡± ¡°The method of refining is not your concern. What I want to ask is if I give you the method, will you be able to craft me some armor and weapons?¡± The cksmith mused for a while and said: ¡°It¡¯s not hard if its armor. Many of the generals nowadays are wearing those ¡®leaf styled¡¯ armors, simr to how these scales look. It¡¯s just that these scales are a little bit on the big side. But that¡¯s fine; we can grind and polish it to size. The problem though is the shoulder pads and arm guards¡­ I¡¯m not sure if we can bend these to size¡­. My lord, I can¡¯t give you a definite answer right now. The only way is to test it first.¡± Du Wei nodded and handed three pieces of the dragon scales for these craftsmen to study. These dragon scales really are the best material to build armor! Best thing of all, they are naturally attuned to magic. Though mithril can do the same, that stuff was too hard toe by and way too expensive! If he can manufacture several sets from these scales, ha-ha, can¡¯t be lower than artifact ss. Thinking about it some more, Du Wei decided to throw in the gold spear for the cksmiths to study too. Although the thing¡¯s broken in half, but the original product was too big to begin with. With only half the spear, it just so happens to be the perfect size for human use. However, Du Wei wasn¡¯t without precaution. After leaving, he ordered his guard captain, Old Smoke, to monitor these craftsmen. As a world traveler, it be shameful to let someone stick a spy in his ranks. Handling this matter, Du Wei again returned to theboratory. By now, Gandalf was already up and busy measuring the skeleton while constantly mumbling something like he was very distressed: ¡°Aigh¡­ Just can¡¯t have the best of both worlds! No matter what, there¡¯s always waste¡­. What to do, what to do!¡± Seeing Gandalf was no longer stuck in his meditating pose, Du Wei went up and asked with augh: ¡°Teacher, what did you say?¡± Gandalf looked at Du Wei: ¡°This is good stuff. If we leave any bones out, it will be a total waste. I intended to expand the size of the dragon to include both skeletons, but sadly, I can¡¯t seem to make it work without sending it off bnce. Excluding the rejections deprived from their different affinity, it alwayses out either too bloated or too small somewhere. Either oue will end up affecting itsbat capacity. Then there¡¯s the problem with the head. That part is the most precious in both dragon and mostplete. Losing either skull in the final product is horribly wasteful!¡± Not even blinking, Du Wei suddenly smiled: ¡°Teacher¡­ You¡¯ve blinded yourself this time! If you don¡¯t want to waste either skull, then why not make a double headed dragon?¡± ¡°Double¡­ Double-headed dragon?¡± Gandalfpsed out for a second before a gleam of light sparkled out of those eyes of his. Shouting, Gandalf screams with great delight: ¡°Awesome, perfect, wonderful!@!!¡± Chapter 272 Chapter 272 ¡°What the hell is this thing?!¡± Refining a Bone Dragon was no simple matter, and disassembling and reassembling two sets together are even harder. Though Gandalf himself was quite anxious to study the elf blood, fortunately this old man couldn¡¯t resist the urge to meddle with such fine working materials. In the end, Gandalf couldn¡¯t bring himself to move those old legs of his and obediently stayed to join in with the fiddling of the dragon bones. It¡¯s just that Du Wei¡¯s original idea of taking advantage of Green Hat backfired on him. Without mercy or remorse, Gandalf sternly refuted Du Wei¡¯s suggestion of working together on the construction project. Instead, Gandalf made it clear he will only give pointers while sitting on the side line and that Du Wei will need to rely on himself to figure out which goes where. ¡°I¡¯m already so old, how many years do you think I have to live? I¡¯ll leave the heavybor stuff to you youngsters. Besides, this is the perfect opportunity to teach you this stuff bit by bit. Different types of undead creatures, their uses, their refining process, and how to distinguish their proficiency; I will take this opportunity to teach them all to you. Don¡¯t getzy here now, get moving!¡± Saddest part of all, other magicians usually had a few apprentices to help with such drudgery. And him? Du Wei can only painfully bust his balls lifting and pushing the giant bones back and forth while being reprimanded by the old fart. Every day, his body would be deathly tired by sun down. At the very least during the breaks the old man would teach him how to distinguish the bones from: their weight, origin, hardness, shape, pattern, and the type of dragon they were from. Not only that, the old man even took the chance to teach him the various properties of each species. From their special skills, to their importance within the dragon race and so on and so on, the old man left nothing out. Although our little Duke became exhausted every day, it didn¡¯t hinder his learning. Fortunately fate was kind to him and gifted him with a clever brain, matching that with his strong personality, it only took four days for him to memorize the information. Atst, in order to test Du Wei, Gandalf did something that made Du Wei want to vomit blood: summoning a giant gust of wind, the old man scattered thepleted set of dragon bones into a pile of mess. Unreal, unbelievable! Du Wei spent six days to piece the two skeletons together and this old fart destroyed his effort in one wave of his hand! ¡°Okay, yourst lesson. Using the knowledge I taught you in the past few days and your own judgment, I want you to reassemble the bones into a single two headed dragon¡­. Boy, don¡¯t think you can do it by only relying on your memory. During the lessons I intentionally gave you some wrong details, so if you simply piece the bones together to the way they were, you fail! Kid, don¡¯t think being my apprentice will be simple! I don¡¯t keepzy people around me so hop to it. You need to judge and analyze what is right and what is wrong on your own. If you can figure out which part of the stuff that I taught you are wrong, I¡¯ll give you another reward.¡± Though Du Wei didn¡¯t say anything in return, his stomach was already boiling at this point after suffering so much in the past few days. Like the other Gandalf, this Green Hat had one skill exactly the same as his other half: both are good at puppet maniption. That year in the frozen forest, the kind Gandalf would on asion control Du Wei to p himself! And now this Green Hat had the same sted habit of doing the same thing! Although the days of adventuring were long past him, Du Wei still had no ability to resist this torturous punishment. If he were to ever bezy during the day or even show any sign of annoyance, Green Hat would bluntly shoot a green light out. Instantly, Du Wei would lose control of his body and ruthlessly p himself on the face. Du Wei really wanted to swear. Why does both the good Gandalf and the bad Gandalf have the same habit of pping him? Does his face make people want to p him? After Gandalf gave his instructions, the old fart left with an ear piercingugh that radiated in Du Wei¡¯s eardrum. Crossing his legs on the floor, Du Wei didn¡¯t hurry to begin the job. Instead, he racked his brains in an effort to locate the misleading information taught to him by Green Hat. Like that for the entire night, Du Wei would on asion scratch his head and fiddle with the bones. Although he¡¯s a magician that can replenish his spirit easily through meditation, Du Wei¡¯s brain eventually caved in and he fell asleep on the ground. But this sleep weren¡¯t for naught! In his dream, an idea suddenly came to him. So, from his slumbering pose, Du Wei jumped up without indication and shouted: ¡°I got it! I got it!!!!¡± After ditching Du Wei inside theboratory, Gandalf didn¡¯t leave like predicted. Instead, he sat himself outside the house: ¡°Good apprentice, I¡¯m not deliberately torturing you, but only through this method will you truly keep the knowledge in your heart. In the future, you will be able to flexibly use it to your advantage; otherwise, you are nothing more than a powerful book reader.¡± These few days could be considered their first interaction together. Towards Du Wei¡¯s ingenuity, Gandalf got nothing toin about. Sure, his apprentice Joanna could pick up any spell far faster than this kid byrge margins, but the concepts and questions brought up by this brat literally made his jaw drop. Gradually, the evaluation of Du Wei has somewhat exceeded Joanna in this old man¡¯s heart. Just that¡­ Can he really pass the test by only using the knowledge he gained in only a few days? Gandalf spectes: this kid may learn fast, but to truly master the skill of building a bone dragon, it will take another seven to eight days of teaching¡­.. Even if the time frame goes as high as fifteen to sixteen days, it¡¯s still within his expectation. But Gandalf didn¡¯t leave despite the long wait ahead of him. All he did was sit outside theboratory in the broad daylight and wait for Du Wei toe out. The mood inside Gandalf should roughly equate to a parent waiting for their child to finish their entrance exam. Yes, a parent waiting for their child, that¡¯s about right. (In china, the entrance exam after highschool is a really big deal that will decide what university a person can apply for) Magicians don¡¯t need sleep for they can rejuvenate their strength from meditation, so, two days straight, Gandalf waited and waited. Finally, on the third day of waiting, Du Wei quietly came out of theboratory. Slightly opening a line in his eye, Gandalf sighed: ¡°Howe you came out so early? Is there a question you want to ask me?¡± Du Wei smiles triumphantly and ran over to Gandalf, ¡°Teacher¡­. I finished it.¡± ¡°Finished¡­¡­ !! ¡°Gandalf jumped up like he just stepped on a nail. Then the old man¡¯s face sank: ¡°What trickery are you ying now! I¡¯m telling you, this matter is no joke! If you arezy, you will never master anything in the future!¡± Finished? Only three days and he finished it? No way will he believe his words! Du Wei spreads his hand out and smiled: ¡°Teacher, you will know once you go inside and have a look. I¡¯m not lying.¡± Fluttering inside, a thought suddenly struck Gandalf on the head. Can it be? My apprentice is a genius among geniuses? Overwhelmed with excitement, Gandalf¡¯s body instantly disappeared with a gust of wind and shot straight into theboratory. Meanwhile, Du Wei rxingly followed from the back. Plowing through the door, the first thing toe into his sight was a gigantic monster stretching more than thirty meters in length. nking out for a good while, the color on Gandalf¡¯s face began to change. From red to ck, from ck to purple, from purple to green, all kinds of color began to fluctuate as the veins pop on his forehead. Waiting a long time, this old man finally turned around and abruptly roared at Du Wei, ¡°sted kid! What kind of nonsense is this thing!!!¡± The monster before the two was nowhere close to being a two headed dragon. Indeed there are two heads on this thing, but, but¡­.. One head¡¯s in the front and the others on the butt!!! And the shape of this thing was absolutely nowhere close to being a dragon! Let¡¯s not mention the slightest form of a dragon, nowhere in the sky, the earth, the sea, or any living creatures for that matter came close to looking like this monster!! Pieced together into a long oval shape with pointed ends, this structure was more like¡­.. Okay fine! The monster in front wasn¡¯t a bone dragon, it¡¯s a structure constructed out of dragon bones! A SHIP!!!! A BLOODY SHIP!!!@!!!! Or more urately, it¡¯s a flying ship because the wings from the dragons were installed on the underside of the boat. What¡¯s more, the part that caused Gandalf to rage even harder was the mast! Wasting the precious thigh bones, this sted kid used it for the ship¡¯s mast!! Trembling down to his fingers, Gandalf stared right at Du Wei: ¡°You! What did you show me?!¡± ¡°Flying dragon¡­¡± Du Wei only managed these two words before he felt the murderous gaze from Gandalf. Hurrying to exin, he didn¡¯t even dare to breathe: ¡°It¡¯s a flying dragon battleship!¡± ¡°What fly, what Dragon, what battleship?! What nonsense are you spouting?!¡± Gandalf scolds without holding back. Du Wei sighed and carefully took two steps backward: ¡°Teacher, please listen to my exnation.¡± Then coughing once, Du Wei ran over to the ¡°battleship¡± and began to loudly make his argument. ¡°Teacher, I thought about it. If simply building a bone dragon, even stronger, it¡¯s merely a pet used to brawl with a single enemy. With my strength, do I need to fear anyone if they are alone? To me, a single bone dragon doesn¡¯t mean much, with or without one. But this thing¡­ kekeke, this thing is way more amazing!¡± Pointing to the hull, ¡°You see, this hull is pieced together with the dragon bones. Although it¡¯s not sealed tight, I¡¯m not using it to drift at sea anyways! As long as a person can stand on top and not fall through, that¡¯s more than enough. ording to my rough estimation, using its wings and some wind enhancement spells inscribed by me, the speed of this ship carrying several hundred powerful knights coupled with arbalests¡­.. Hohoho¡­.¡± Du Wei then points to the bow and stern where the two heads were located: ¡°These two heads, I ced them back and front because I intend to use them as my main cannon! A dragon¡¯s breath isn¡¯t some normal me that can be repelled by just anyone, perfect as a LONG RANGE ASSAULT WEAPON!¡± Du Weiughs like he has truly lost it at this point. Also pointing to the mast above: ¡°You see, I also considered the propulsion problem. Although the energy of a Bone dragon is very strong, but even that has a limit. Only relying on its wing and some wind inscriptions to move will be too draining. So, I copied the logic of a regr ship and ced a mast on it. Using the powerful winds in the sky, the ship will get a major boost!¡± Finally, Du Wei summed everything up: ¡°Can carry people, can fire from afar with its main cannon and long range arbalests. If too close, I can send out my elite knights tobat any invaders. Such a thing far exceeds some bone dragon, don¡¯t you think so? Teacher, imagine this battleship facing an army consisting of a hundred thousand solders. While the enemy is stuck on the ground with no way to hit me, my forces can freely zoom through the air and rain down arrows and mes from above at my foe. I can already see the ughter fest in my head!¡± But the most important reason was intentionally left out by Du Wei. This dragon battleship was the true incarnation of what Du Wei considered a real air force! Or rather, this was more like an aerial fortress! In this world with nearly no aerialbat forces, this thing definitely equates to a super weapon of this era, the nuclear bomb of the middle ages!! Chapter 273 part 1 Chapter 273 ¡°The newest contribution of QQ¡± (Part one) Although Green hat started off being very annoyed by Du Wei¡¯s ¡°nonsense¡±, but after listening to the exnation, most of his old temper subsided for he found some logic in this ¡°product¡±. There are still many minor defects around, but overall, the structure basically took advantage of the various aspects of each bone segment and utilized it to its fullest. Of course, in Du Wei¡¯s heart, his main intention was to position this aerial battleship to something akin to an ¡°aircraft carrier¡±. In his mind, there are still many ces for improvement like increasing the load limit from a few hundred people. His preliminary n was this: use the Decepticon squadron as the mainbat force aboard this warship. This way around, the ship can use its main cannon for long range auxiliary attacks and the Decepticon squadron can fight alongside the ship. Also, he can equip the ship with some other siege weapons like arbalests or catapults if needed. As for ammunition, this problem was even easier to solve. Bring one or two storage bags full of gunpowder and that should be enough to supply any mission. But nothing was perfect. His Decepticon squadron may be the first aerialbat force on the continent, but their arsenal was too limited and unteral. And then there¡¯s this battleship, there¡¯s a great w too. Strictly speaking, Du Wei may have designed this ship using the ¡°aircraft carrier¡± concept as its blueprint, but it¡¯s far inferior to the real thing from his previous life. Even if you include the battle strength of the Decepticon squadron, it¡¯s still not up to par. The biggest w lies in: This dragon ship, plus the Decepticon Squadron, can only attack enemies on the ground with hardly any means of air-to-airbat! The main power of the Decepticon squadron lies in their bombs. Although the dragon ship has its head to shoot out dragon mes, but¡­. Those balls of fire are too slow! If the opponent was capable of fast movement in the air, thisrge warship will get pummeled. Escort ¡­ Escort! Du Wei knows, evenrge air cargo nes, if without the proper escort, are nothing more than big target boards. But, luck¡¯s on his side. In this world, there¡¯s no other aerial force topete with him for now. The only weapon that¡¯s likely to hit his troops in the air are crossbows, but that has its limit too and could easily be dodged with high altitude. But¡­¡­ What about the future? There¡¯s the dragon race in the north! If by the odd chance they encountered a dragon¡­ Dragons being the lord of the air, then¡­¡­ There are also those exiled races from the legends. It¡¯s highly unlikely there are no races capable of flight in that group. Okay fine, let¡¯s think about something moremon. In the southern marshes, there¡¯s a monster that lives in packs: the Griffins. This type of gregarious monster has the ability to fly and fight in the air. Even towards this enemy without any seriousbat ability, his warship bes almost obsolete. Right now¡­ The warship ims to be an aircraft carrier, but in actuality, it¡¯s merely a giant bomber carrying a bunch of smaller bombers. Du Wei may be dissatisfied inside, but he had to admit, doing this much was already quite a lot. After all, he¡¯s only one person and not a god; he can¡¯t have everything his way. Thinking up to here, Du Wei¡¯s mind suddenly came up with something. Those magic cannons atop of the defense wall in the capital¡­.. This idea onlysted a second before he dismissed it. The manufacturing process of those things had long been lost and he has no confidence in replicating a set. If the empire was capable of pumping out magic cannons¡­ Then why the heck would the empire stress over a bunch of natives in the prairie?! If mechanical weapons appear, then the era of cavalry wille to an end. Du Wei¡¯s very certain of this fact. (note: From many aspects, magicians can in many cases take on the role of mechanical weapons. The only problem lies with how scarce this group of people was, meaning the era of mechanical weapons hasn¡¯t really started yet.) ¡°Fine then ¡­¡± Only after a long time did Gandalf relent with a long sigh: ¡°Until I can prove this thing is a total waste, let¡¯s do this¡­.¡± Though he didn¡¯t object, there¡¯s a clear hint of worry in his voice: ¡°For such a test, we might be wasting the precious soul of a gold dragon. If the product fails, we won¡¯t be able to extract the soul back out of the finished product.¡± Du Wei took the initiative to take out his own ck magic crystal ball. Handing it over with a smile: ¡°Teacher, there¡¯s a lot of dead spirits in this thing. They aren¡¯t mine. I got them from that dumb Tartaglia after he died.¡± One nce and Gandalf was already gasping at the thing in his hand: ¡°So much!¡± A grand magician¡¯s lifelong collection of dead spirits wasn¡¯t to be taken lightly. Even though Du Wei only collected forty to fifty percent of the total volume, it¡¯s quite a lot already! ¡°With this much, it should be enough to refine a bone dragon right?¡± Du Weiughs very affectionately: ¡°If not enough, teacher, please make a contribution. You¡¯re not a dark magician anyways; leaving some dead spirits in your bag won¡¯t do you any good. Why not benefit me, your adorable apprentice here?¡± In the next two days, Gandalf began to teach Du Wei the methods of refining the dragon soul. Though this old man wasn¡¯t a dark magician himself, but as a magister, his method definitely ranked among the best. ¡°Before refining a soul, the first thing would of course be to erase its will. Without its ego, the remaining soul will be much easier tomand when you turn it into your pet. I won¡¯t be able to help you on this part for you must do it using your own magic and bond the soul to your spirit.¡± Subsequently, Gandalf helped Du Wei inscribe a magic circle around theboratory for the ritual: iid with magic crystals at the top and inscribed with magic runes on its body, the dozen of pirs ced around the circle will be the catalyst for invoking the spell. Finally, thest step was to ce the crystal ball confining the soul of the dragon in the middle of the circle. ¡°Remember, you will experience some difort from being drained of energy. But since you have the rainbow colored ring to act as a reserve, this shouldn¡¯t be a problem. I will also be on the side to help.¡± Afterwards, Gandalf began to chant the necessary spell to invoke the magic circle. Following the primitive wordsing out of his old tongue, bursts of faint ck smoke began to seep through the floor and slowly, a condensed cloud of dark energy that looked like a blob of ck liquid formed in the air. From it, a tumbling angry roar howled out. Then finally, the contour of a dragon¡¯s head faintly emerged. Facing Du Wei, the soul growled: ¡°Despicable human, you dare imprison the soul of the great Dragon race! You are¡­.¡± Gandalf didn¡¯t even let him finish before interrupting the poor guy: ¡°Despicable? Grandpa here beat you fair and square. What else do you have to say?¡± Then he pointed to the dragon ship behind him with a smile: ¡°Can you sense it?¡± The Dragon Soul turned his sight around and stared for a long moment. Suddenly, the head roared with great anger: ¡°Human! You defiled my body! The body of I, a gold dragon, turned into this spheme. I will¡­¡± At this part, the soul roared and came charging down at Du Wei. Unfortunately, the dragon soul only managed to move a few paces before the crystal pir on the ground stopped him. Triggered by the attempt to flee, a curtain of light shot out from the crystals and sent the Second Prince bouncing back like he had hit a wall. Not willing to give up, the dragon soul continues to collide against this wall of light, but in the end, his repeated efforts were for naught. Howling even louder, the dragon soul became angrier and angrier, but Du Wei could distinctly hear the helplessness and despair in that voice. Chapter 273 part 2 Chapter 273 ¡°The newest contribution of QQ¡± (Part two) ¡°Begin then.¡± Gandalf looked at Du Wei to indicate him to go over. Nodding in return, Du Wei walked up to thergest crystal pir and began invoking the spell with his magic. Following the increasing volume of his incantation, the curtain of light also began to spin. Faster and faster, the speed grew more and more intense to eventually be a vortex of light. On the other hand, the howling voice from the dragon soul inside began to gradually weaken. From the original angry tone, the sound gradually turned into panic and despair. Then finally, the voicepletely died down and the contour of the dragon soul began to melt into a blurred image. ¡°Lowly¡­. Despicable, humannn!!!¡± With thest of his powerless roar, the dragon soulpletely disintegrated into the yellow vortex and fused into the light. Just like that, the will of the dragon prince was grinded away into nothingness! ¡°Almost! Gandalf gives out a reminder. Focusing even harder, Du Wei continues his incantation while stretching out his hand to shoot his energy out. Like tentacles, his spirit pierces into the curtain of light by using the crystal pirs as a medium. Buzz!! At that, Du Wei promptly felt the depths of his mind turning cold!! As if he could hear the roaring voices of thousands of dragons by his ear, this sudden outburst almost caused Du Wei¡¯s spirit to bepletely sucked into the vortex. Fortunately Du Wei woke up in the nick of time. Steeling his mind, Du Wei refuses to let go of his only connection with the light ¨C the strand of spirit he shot out ¨C and began to draw a series of symbols onto the crystal pir in front of him. Under the intensity of this whirlpool of light, Du Wei soon found his body being strained to the limit. Not daring to dy, he crazily pulled out all the reserve stored inside the ring on his finger. By virtue of his own resilience, Du Wei can finally sense the chaotic mess that was known as the dragon soul slowly reforming. But this moment of delight came with a price. Growing paler by the second, both his forehead and hair were already covered in sweat. If things don¡¯t end soon, he¡¯s unsure how long he willst. Yet he can¡¯t stop now for the ck mist inside that hurricane of a light was almost at the desired state he needed. Finally, with thest ray of darkness extracted, the light once again returns to the calm curtain that it once was. Gandalf can see the exhaustion on Du Wei¡¯s face. To keep him from falling over, this old man went up and ced his hand on Du Wei¡¯s shoulder as support. Then with a wave of his hand, the light around the magic circle stopped rotating at his order. ¡°Hurry, this is the moment!¡± Gandalf reminded: ¡°Now that the Dragon Soul has been restored to its newborn state, you must sign a contract with it now. And then he¡¯s yours for good!!!¡± Originally a Bone Dragon doesn¡¯t get to choose the affinity of its breath attack for the soul used was the deciding factor, meaning you can¡¯t expect to create a water type creature with a fire type soul. But this rule had exceptions. A Gold variant was the king of the dragon race with the power to wield all the element! This second prince may be a martial freak, but that doesn¡¯t change the fact that he¡¯s naturally attuned to the other elements. So, when the moment came for Du Wei to choose the affinity of his ¡°battleship¡±, he only needed a few seconds toe to a decision: Fire! Of course, when the timees in the future where Du Wei bes powerful enough, he can certainly add some other stuff into the me to increase itsplexity. (Like corrosive me or volcanic me or something like if you didn¡¯t understand) Then came the final process, this part was much simpler. Taking the refined soul of the second prince, he only needs to slowly inject the soul into the dragon ship and then throw it into his storage ring along with a hefty sum of dead spirit so it can brew to fruition. ¡°A newborn bone dragon still needs to sleep for a period. As long as there¡¯s enough dead spirit inside, it will be fine. And don¡¯t forget to feed your storage ring with more dead spirits for after a certain period, the dark energy will be consumed by the thing.¡± Gandalf smiles at Du Wei: ¡°Also, don¡¯t forget to bring it out once in a while. You must on asion interact with your pet to strengthen your spiritual bond, otherwise it won¡¯t obey you as well as you would like. Now, whether or not this thing is a total waste or not, only time will tell.¡± The creation of this bone dragon consumed nearly every ounce of Du Wei¡¯s spirit. Not only that, the pool of reserve energy inside his ring were wiped clean in this ritual, and that¡¯s on top of the fact that this skeleton was a finished product to begin with. It¡¯s not hard for Du Wei now to conceive now how difficult it truly was to create a bone dragon as a pet. Exhausted to the brink of fainting, Du Wei had no strength left to converse with Gandalf at this point. Taking his leave, Du Wei left the old man to his own bidding of studying the elf blood he extracted from the Marquise. Like that, Du Wei returned to his own room inside the castle and fell asleep without any other thought on his mind. By the time he awoke, a full day and night had passed. Opening a lid in his eyes, the first thing toe into his sight was something he didn¡¯t want to see: the chubby penguin squatting down beside his pillow and staring down at him with those beady eyes. ¡°What do you want now?¡± Du Wei impatiently asked this mooching penguin. All day long, the only thing this penguin does was to be dishonest. Who knows how many more secrets this bird was keeping from him!! Humph. ¡°Just now I heard the person outside calling for you; it¡¯s your servant Marde. But without your permission, he didn¡¯t daree in so he only knocked on your door from the outside.¡± Du Wei made an ¡°Oh¡± sound before pushing himself up. Likewise, QQ also jumps off the bed. Twisting that chubby body of his, QQ runs up to Du Wei and asked: ¡°You¡­ n to use some type of sturdy scale to forge a series of armor, right?¡± Du Wei knits his brow as he stared at this elegant bird: ¡°How did you know?¡± QQ looked very innocent in the eye like he didn¡¯t mean it: ¡°Just now I overheard Mr. Marde saying there are several cksmiths seeking an audience with you. Supposedly, they found a way to forge the scales into what you want after studying the scales you gave them.¡± Du Wei couldn¡¯t believe it: ¡°Why would Marde be talking with you?¡± QQ sighed: ¡°It¡¯s boring being in here every day, really, really boring¡­ ¡­ So, when your housekeeper knocked on the door and didn¡¯t get a reply, he didn¡¯t daree in without your permission. However, because he and I were separated by a door, I decided to kill some time by asking for the details.¡± When it got to this part, QQ flushed a little like he¡¯s embarrassed: ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m sorry, I imitated your voice.¡± ¡°Imitated¡­ My voice?¡± Du Wei viciously eyed this sly bird. Doing an elegant bow with that chubby body, QQ made no effort to hide the cunningness in his eyes: ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve forgotten to tell you that, in addition to being fluent in the ¡®beast tongue¡¯, I¡¯m also very good at imitating other peoples ¡®voices¡¯.¡± Du Wei silently looked at this hateful bird. Then likeughing like he should have expected this result, Du Wei asked: ¡°How many more things did you forget to tell me?¡± Penguin shakes his head: ¡°This¡­ I don¡¯t know. I said ¡®forgot¡¯, then it¡¯s only natural that I myself wouldn¡¯t know. If I do remember, I be sure to tell you.¡± If¡­¡­ ¡°If you¡¯re not Aragon¡¯s pet, I would really like to throw you out right now!¡± Du Wei viciouslyined inside. As if he didn¡¯t even hear Du Wei¡¯s threat, QQ suddenly jumps over to the nearby chair and said: ¡°I almost forgot¡­. Hmm, while you were asleep, I remembered something again. You¡¯re trying to forge some special armor right? I heard from the housekeeper that you gave the cksmiths some kind of special scale for crafting. Since it¡¯s a rare material, you must turn them into armors of great quality, only then will you not waste them!¡± Du Wei sneers: ¡°What, you know the method to making some special armor?¡± QQ shook his head: ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ But, back in Aragon¡¯s time, master had twelve sets of powerful armors for his Saint Rnd Knight Regiment. I remember clearly how each one looked! And¡­.. ¡° QQ made a sharpugh of achievement: ¡°And, while you were asleep just now, I was bored and decided to draw them out! Maybe their designs will help you.¡± Du Weipsed out for a second: ¡°Draw? You don¡¯t even have hands, how did you hold the brush?¡± QQ made a nomnom gesture with his peak: ¡°I used my beak of course¡­.¡± Du Wei immediately ran over to the desk to confirm the bird¡¯s story. Sure enough, on the table were several sheets of paper with the image of a dozen knights in armor. But unexpectedly, Du Wei only needed one nce to nearly faint from shock! Turning his disbelieving head at QQ, he asked: ¡°This is the Saint Rnd Knight Regiment? The legendary force under Aragon all wore these armors?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Getting the affirmation from QQ, Du Wei wanted to pull his hair out from how crazy he felt. The reason was because in the picture, the great and legendary regiment, Saint Rnd Knights, all wore¡­.. Oh, what a familiar sight to behold¡­. Taurus, Leo, Aries¡­. And Pisces! Oh fuck his mother!!! What Saint Rnd Knight? These are clearly the armors from the anime: SAINT SEIYA!! Du Wei remained speechless for a long time. Finally, he helplessly sat himself down on a chair and began to mockinglyugh at himself. ¡°Alright, that damn Aragon¡¯s not only a world traveler like himself, the guy¡¯s also a big anime fan too¡­. Damn it, Saint Seiya knights, the guy actually conquered the continent with a team in that getup¡­..¡± Hmm, and here Du Wei thought his little y with the Decepticon squadron was badass. Who would¡¯ve have thought the founding emperor of the Rnd Empire was even more of a joker than himself!! shiryuPointing to one of the pictures on the table, Du Wei reflexively made an upward punching pose in front of QQ: ¡°Hey¡­ Did Aragon ever tell you what this pose mean?¡± QQ blinked and blinked, then smiled innocently: ¡°Ughhh, I think it was called something like the ¡°Rising Dragon Fist¡± or something like that.¡± If one wishes to know what a person looks like when they want to throw up blood, look no further. Du Wei¡¯s expression right now was the perfect example of someone doing just that!! Twitching in the eye, a strange image of Rodriguez wearing one of the Saint Seiya armor suddenly shed across his mind. ¡°Hmm, the Golden Saint Aquarius Armor is also of the water attribute¡­. Exactly like Rodriguez¡¯s Ice Dou Qi!¡± Oh mama¡­ Should he go persuade Rodriguez to change the name of his signature skill to Diamond Dust? Looking at how awkwardly silent Du Wei remained, QQ ufortably asked: ¡°Master Du Wei, these drawings, do you still need them?¡± ¡°¡­..¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t reply right away, but then all of a sudden, he screamed: ¡°Ya, why not!! If Aragon can pull off something like this, why can¡¯t I? So be it, the new armors shall be crafted in ordance with these drawings! The color of the scales are gold anyway, HAHAHAHHA!!!!!!!¡± Chapter 274 part 1 Chapter 274 ¡°Political tactics of the royal house¡± (part one) In a blink of an eye summer was over. As the westerly winds began to blow on the tenth month of this year, which was when the busiest timees to an end, notices of conscriptions were posted all along the town junctions of both the Desa Province and the Nuling Province. Sanctioned by the imperial highmand, thisrge scale cross border conscription sent the entire Northwest into an uproar for the number of soldiers reached an astronomical number of sixty thousand people! To the surprise of everyone, in the announcement from the Duke of Tulip, he levied that the pay and treatment of the his family¡¯s private army would be slightly higher than that of the government¡¯s offering. Facing such a situation, the Northwest that was gradually calming down after the battle from before livened up again. Looking back in time, suchrge scale conscription hasn¡¯t happened for many years. Even if the poption of the Desa Province doubles in size from what it was now, sixty thousand soldiers in one go was still a heavy burden to shoulder. But to the surprise of the outsiders, it seems that the governor of the Nuling province, Bohan, was quite supportive of this n. Even at the expense of the poption and some winter exercises, he specifically drew a number of his officials and soldiers from other events to maintain order at the recruitment sites. And on Du Wei¡¯s side, the person sent over to be responsible for the cavalry conscription was the reputable ¡°Mini 250¡±. Although the guy¡¯s a little on the rude side, but there¡¯s no denying he¡¯s a good hand when it came to leading cavalry charges. As for the one in charge of the infantry recruitment, it¡¯s none other than Knight Robert, this faithful follower of Du Wei¡¯s. ording to Du Wei and Governor Bohan¡¯s secret agreement, an infantry and cavalry division will be split fifty-fifty between the two. And the area close to the border of both provinces, a permanent military stronghold had already been constructed. Then in the following year, this base will be further expanded to eventually house an army exceeding a hundred thousand soldiers. From a geographic perspective, this military fortress will certainly y a role of mping down at the Northwest Army¡¯s continuous growth. Conscription was a tedious andplex process; therefore, Du Wei ordered the process to be strictly done by the book in order to minimize the possibility of hostile forces infiltrating his ranks. With the help of Governor Bohan, each new recruit would have their background screened before eptance. Fortunately, Bohan¡¯s been operating in the Nuling Province for many years. When it came to administrative work, this person¡¯s experience shined like no other. In addition, Du Wei also ushered in some very good news. Du Wei¡¯s old friend, Snow Wolf Mercenary group¡¯s leader Beinlich, personally brought the next cargo shipment from the north and expressed his wishes: many retired mercenaries would often face misery in their senior years. Although some have umted enough savings to get them through their remaining life, many more faced a serious problem of having poor financial skills. Or to be exact, through the long years of living an adventurer¡¯s life, these people have umted a strong habit of spoiling away their money on drinking and gambling. No matter what, these people are still veteran mercenaries, it be a pity to let them fend for themselves just like that. Upon listening to Bienlich¡¯s request, Du Wei immediately pped the table and made his decision: in the future Du Wei will ept any retired individuals sent by the Snow Wolf Mercenary group, regardless of their original employer if the person in question was willing. After all, these people did spend their life adventuring through the harshest terrains of the continent. Though disabled and old, they are perfectly suited as martial art instructors for the new recruits in his private army! Towards Du Wei¡¯s generosity, Bienlich was extremely grateful. Without dy, he immediately sent letters out to some of the smaller mercenary groups he was acquainted with and instructed them to send over any retired brothers that needed help. This way around, Du Wei naturally did a big favor for the other side. But in actual fact, Du Wei also solved a serious problem at hand and that was the shortage of manpower. Like Bohan that was going full throttle in his work of conscripting new recruits, Du Wei wasn¡¯tzing around either. Following themand of the imperial highmand, the twenty thousand strong cavalry regiment finally arrived at Lon City and has stationed themselves outside the city barracks. Naturally, Du Wei handed the matter over to General Longbottom to pick out the best among this group. ording to the secret agreement between Du Wei and Prince Son, he¡¯s allowed to take six thousand cavalry knights for himself. Regarding this force, Du Wei held some very high expectations! After all, they are not fresh recruits, they are experienced soldiers once known to be the elite among the elites. Not to mention many of the officers were personally trained by Longbottom himself back in the day, this corrtion definitely yed a key part in Du Wei¡¯s expectation of their fighting capacity. On this matter, Du Wei held nothing back from Prince Son. Tasking Longbottom to the job, this General 250 rode out to the city barracks and paraded through their ranks to choose only the best among the young. Then with one swing of his pen, Du Wei sealed the deal. Though Prince Son retains most of the soldiers and left him with only six thousand men, Du Wei have practically stripped it clean of its most powerful assets. And using the war-horsespensated by the people of the grasnd, Du Wei assigned a good portion of it over to Longbottom for his newly absorbed strength. As for the ten thousand pieces of cowhides ¡­ Du Wei had other ns for it over at Anglia City. No more than five dayster after the leather shipment arrived at Anglia City, the first batch of hot air balloons were officiallyunched into the air. Hot air balloons, Du Wei yed with this toy back when he was living in the Rowling ins, but at the time the technology was far from mature. At most, it could only transport small batches of letters or small amounts of valuables. Mainly limited by the dye used in the cowhide to retain heat while in flight, this limitation was finally resolved through thebined efforts of Du Wei and the researchers over at Anglia City. Using the form provided by Du Wei as the base, the dye form was then redesigned to include over sixteen herbal extracts and diluted through special machinery to get a workable concoction. As a result of this major improvement, the heat retained by dipping the cowhides into this special dye produced a product that gave the best result in terms of buoyancy and stability Like everything else inside Anglia City, the form of this dye was highly confidential and the manufacturing process separated into different steps to preserve its secrecy. Du Wei knows it himself that his monopoly on this technology may not be longsting, but one extra day was still one extra day, any advantage he can get was warmly weed. Leaving nothing behind, the entire load of ten thousand cowhides were rushed through production to the manufacture his fleet of airships. ording to the weight to load ratio, thergest airship can carry somewhere along the lines of four to five tons in weight. Du Wei¡¯s mind was clear on this. In terms of speed and defensibility, this product was very fragile and cannot be used in the frontline as his mainbat force. At most, he can only utilize it for logistic purposes. However, this was still an extra power in his hand. At the very least, you can say it¡¯s a coating topliment his ideal image of an ¡°Air Force¡±. Once the news spread through the use of his letters, Du Wei¡¯s original business back in the Rowling ins, ¡°FedEx¡±, immediately came to set up a branch in the northwest ¨C the first location would of course be inside Lon City. Subsequently, the details of the balloon airships became the hottest topic among the denizens of the northwest region. It¡¯s a shame that Du Wei had no knowledge in regards to stuff like steam engines and other industrial mechanics; otherwise he would have loved to bring forth an industrial revolution. Nevertheless, even if he couldn¡¯t reach that far, the results weren¡¯t bad at all after going through his hand: total soldiers recruited numbering sixty thousand with a cavalry division stripped from a highly experienced division on the prairie. Aside from his ground forces, he also retains the only air force unit on the continent. Best of all, there¡¯s not a single opponent that could pose a threat to this power at this time. And then looking at his direct subordinates, he can say almost every one of them are masters in their own right: two fearless saint knights coupled with several outstanding magicians. (This includes Gandalf and Medusa, both of which are terrifying beings that mustn¡¯t be trifled with) With such strength, whether it be the Northwest Army or prairie natives, it wouldn¡¯t be farfetched for him to say gaining a foothold on thisnd was within his reach. The only thing that worries Du Wei now was his first knight Rolynn. Taking his entire fleet out to sea, it¡¯s been over a year since Rolynn voyaged out for the ransom money, yet there¡¯s been no word whatsoever¡­. Could it be that the United Nation in the Southeastern Sea changed their mind and wiped out his fleet? But this possibility was slim to none. Du Wei knows, with the boats of those indigenous tribes, it¡¯s next to impossible to intercept his entire fleet. Moreover, Du Wei trusts Rolynn ability to resolve any danger she encounters. Even if anything does happen, a messenger should have returned with some news and not like the current situation. Chapter 274 part 2 Chapter 274 ¡°Political tactics of the royal house¡± (part two) Day by day, the end of the year quickly approaches. And with the wind getting chillier with each passing day, the people finally realizes that winter wasing. Although this year Du Wei didn¡¯t disy his miraculous feat of bumping the harvest to the level of making everyone go crazy, it didn¡¯t matter. Through a year¡¯s worth of preparation, this winter won¡¯t be difficult to get through for the grain reserve was sufficiently stocked. But out of his expectation, Du Wei encountered a new problem. Earl Biliaibuer and that fatty weapon¡¯s merchant Tanshan both sent someone to see Du Wei: they are both interested in Du Wei¡¯s hot air balloon. In terms of technical difficulty, this thing wasn¡¯t hard to produce by any means. The biggest key was the dye used on the leather! Unless chemically processed, your average materials aren¡¯t capable of staying afloat by simply using hot air! More importantly, Du Wei deliberately diluted the source concoction just so he can monopolize this technology. There¡¯s no way he¡¯s willing to take it out to share with others. There¡¯s no denying he¡¯s on good terms with these two and that he received a fair amount of benefits from them, but¡­. The sky¡­. For the foreseeable future, Du Wei wishes to remain the dominant force in the air! Towards the two representative sent by Earl Biliaibuer and fatty Tanshan, he could only find some excuses to drag the matter out. Very soon, year 961 of the imperial calendar will soone to pass. ording to Prince Son¡¯s order, he must leave for the capital to attend the New Year celebration. However, Du Wei¡¯s very clear on what awaited him once he does¡­. Towards Prince Son¡¯s proposal, this issue¡¯s been pressing down at his heart. Finally, before returning to the imperial capital, Du Wei couldn¡¯t keep it in anymore and sought his subordinates out for he needed to thoroughly discuss this matter. After announcing Prince Son¡¯s proposal, the reactions from his men¡¯s were all different. Longbottom only showed an indifferent face, his meaning obvious to see: what does that have to do with me? Dadaneier on the other hand was somewhat better: Happy for Du Wei because he can be a member of the royalty, but at the same time a bit regretful that Du Wei couldn¡¯t link up with the Lister Household. And the other generals were simply happy for him without other thoughts in mind. Yet the only one to remain silent was Philip. After everyone expressed their opinion and thoughts, the first one to object was this trusted aid of his. ¡°Your Dukeship.¡± Philip sighed: ¡°Although my words will sound, mmm¡­. Somewhat treasonous, but everyone here are trusted colleagues, so I¡¯ll be frank.¡± Pausing, he looks around and lowered his tone: ¡°This matter isn¡¯t a blessing; on the contrary, I fear it will bring an endless amount of trouble for us!!¡± The many generals present were somewhat surprised by his words and Du Wei had his eyes light up: ¡°Go on!¡± ¡°My Lord.¡± Philip slowly exins: ¡°When you were in the capital, did Prince Son ever hint of engaging his sister to you? If not, then I can only conclude this idea was born only recently. Well then, can any of you guess the reasoning for this? Prince Son can be regarded as one of the most outstanding emperor of this era¡­. Hmmm, although he hasn¡¯t officially ascended to the throne, but judging by his performance, we can safely assume he¡¯s not only smarter than his father, Augustine the 6th, by a tiny bit. Now, suggesting marriage at this time¡­Hehe, of course, we all know his lordship is highly favored by his highness, but why now and not before? Why this time when his Dukeship is just starting to gain a foothold in the Northwest? Regarding the intent behind the sudden move, it¡¯s definitely worth pondering. To the east is the Northwest Army; to the west are the prairie natives, and through the numerous urrences in the past year and how your lordship persevered through it all, it¡¯s enough to let everyone understand how talented and amazing your lordship is! So, the proposal this time is a reach out and a temptation to consolidate your loyalty. Do I need to say more? It¡¯s well-known by now the Marquise of the Lister Household wishes to marry you. As the emperor, Prince Son would never wish for a powerful subordinate to bond with another powerful force to challenge his authority!!¡± Du Wei nodded and countered with a question, ¡°And if I directly reject the Regent¡¯s proposal?¡± ¡°Then ¡­¡± Philip sighed: ¡°Then, I¡¯m afraid the Regent will slowly estrange you or even be suspicious of you. After all, you control tens of thousands of soldiers in the palm of your hand now. And the situation in the Northwest isplex and difficult to manage! Ladies and gents, have you not noticed by now? The imperial capital has little to no control over this region. It can be said that if his lordship wishes to rebel¡­. Hehe, even if our lord here has no willingness to do such a thing, do you think Prince Son, as a ruler, can ignore a situation like that?¡± Thest sentence caused everyone in the room to turn dark. Thinking it over carefully, it seems that the imperial capital does indeed have little to no control over the Desa Province. Everything here was self-supported and has no reliant on outside forces. From the financials to politics, if Du Wei wanted to crown himself king, he could do it and be the second Northwest Army!! Seeing the silence in everyone¡¯s faces, Philip could only sigh again: ¡°My lord, if I were in Prince Son¡¯s shoes, even if admire you more, I can¡¯t just turn a blind eye to an unregted power like us. No matter how generous the emperor is, there¡¯s bound to be ack of trust.¡± Du Wei¡¯s expression also looked very serious: ¡°Philip, so you also think I should agree to the proposal in order to calm the Regent¡¯s mind?¡± ¡°No!!¡± Philip promptly denied Du Wei¡¯s idea and confidently answered, ¡°My lord, no matter from which angle, I firmly opposes the idea of you intermarrying with the Royal Family!!¡± Du Wei and several of the generals present became stunned by the outburst. ¡°Mr. Philip, but you just said Prince Son will be suspicious of his lordship if the marriage doesn¡¯t go through¡­.¡± Dadaneier asked with confusion in his words. ¡°To eliminate suspicion doesn¡¯t necessarily mean bonding through marriage.¡± Philip smiles cunningly: ¡°My lord, the reason we can be so free in the Northwest is because we are far away from the chaotic situation of the capital. The politics here is rtively simple. Although it¡¯s stressful with the Northwest Army and prairie natives at our sides, but everything¡¯s out in the open. If we suddenly involve the Royal Family, the problem will be unmanageable! My lord, you should understand very well that although the Regent has his power firmly gripped into his hand, but he still has his own issues to deal with. Firstly is the never ending battle between royal authority and the Temple¡¯s authority. The Temple may have lent a hand to Prince Son at the crucial moment during the coup, but there must¡¯ve been a deal under the table for that to have happened. Once you get involved with thepetition between these two factions, any matter will beplicated! It¡¯s only a matter of time before you be the Temple¡¯s enemy once you get pulled into the Royal Family¡¯s side¡­. Then there are also other things to consider in the long run. My lord, please don¡¯t take my words as being disrespectful. If you marry the Regent¡¯s sister and remains truthful to your old love, Miss Vivian¡­ There¡¯s no way you can treat both wives equally. In the future when ites to the matter of session, the only child to take your title and inheritance will have to be the one between you and the princess!!¡± Du Wei nodded in agreement. ¡°If that does happen ¡­ My lord, yearster when you and everyone else are no longer around, do you think the Tulip Family will continue to exist? If the child between your Dukeship and the princess inherits all your possession¡­ Then the line between the Tulip name and the Royal Family bes blurred. At that time, as long as the Royal Family cleverly controls the next several generations through marriage, it will just be a matter of time before the Tulip Family gets swallowed up.¡± Speaking up to here, Philip began to whisper his next words: ¡°I¡¯m not being an rmist. Historically, this is the Royal Family¡¯s customary trick. In the face of a powerful external family that cannot be eradicated and must be guarded, the mostmon procedure is to use this ¡®soft knifing¡¯ technique to slowly cut it down to size! If thirty years won¡¯t work than fifty! If fifty years won¡¯t work than a hundred! Eventually the target will be mowed down! Historically, there have been several examples of this already! This is what you call an emperor¡¯s technique!¡± Suddenly turning his sight at Du Wei, a strange flickering light could be seen in Philip¡¯s eye: ¡°We don¡¯t need to look very far for a good example. My lord, your Rowling Family is a living example of this technique!¡± Du Wei became startled for a second: ¡°Rowling Family? Howe?¡± Philip bitterly smiles: ¡°This¡­ My lord, you don¡¯t know this?¡± His expression looked like he¡¯s starting to regret his words. Taking a deep breath, Du Wei steadies himself: ¡°Philip, go ahead and say it. I convened everyone here so we can discuss this topic, there¡¯s no taboo here today.¡± Gently tightening his hand into a fist under those sleeves of his, Philip takes a step backward to slightly bend his body down to show his sincerity: ¡°Then please excuse my words.¡± After straightening himself again, Philip begins: ¡°The glory of the Rowling Family began in the start of the Augustine Dynasty. My lord, your ancestor is a hero that salvaged the empire from the brink of destruction. Honored with the title of Imperial Marshal and rewarded with the Rowling in as your family¡¯s hereditarynd. Regarding the glorious story of how your ancestor achieved such a feat, I won¡¯t bother going over it. Think about it, Imperial Marshal, how glorious is that ranking? At the time your family could be said to be the number one family of the empire! But then on till now¡­ Although thest few generations did fairly well like your father, Earl Raymond, but the momentum is far from its yester years¡­. This I have to say, is the result of the Royal Family¡¯s maniption!¡± ¡°My lord, I know you are proficient in badges and heraldry. Regarding the crown on top of the Rowling Family¡¯s logo, do you know its meaning?¡± ¡°Of course¡± Du Wei replied: ¡°That is the royal logo. When my ancestor Rowling Marshal earned his great merits, the emperor bestowed upon him a princess for a wife¡­ Because of this marriage, the Rowling Family was taken in as a rtive of the royalty.¡± Philip faintly smiles, ¡°Look¡­ Like the situation today, how simr eh?¡± Du Wei knits his brow, still unclear over what Philip was hinting at. Not waiting, Philip continues: ¡°See, this is the Royal Family¡¯s first move against the Rowling Family, forming an alliance through marriage! Itsmon knowledge of how loyal the Rowling Family is to the empire, so using this long term soft knife technique is just fine without any danger involved¡­. Rtively speaking, you can say a part of your lineage contains royal blood.¡± ¡°Keep going!¡± Du Wei could vaguely guess where this was going. ¡°From the perspective of a bloodline, ording to the prevailing standards of eptance, its three generations! That is to say, starting from the Rowling Marshal generation; the child produced from the princess already contains fifty percent royal blood. Then following the Royal Family¡¯s n, that child continues to marry another princess or someone from the Royal Family, the child ¨C third generation ¨C will have over seventy five percent royal blood! At that time, can you still say the child is not royalty? Alright, even if we skip a generation, but if this trend continues for five generations, six generations? By the time the descendants reach the seventh generation, how much of the Rowling blood remains are questionable.¡± Thest question left everyone present stiffly cold. Finally, Philip made the final blow: ¡°As long as the session continues to contain royal blood, then after three generation, the final result is a child carrying mostly the lineage of royalty. Naturally, the family will eventually be merged into the royal family!¡± Du Wei¡¯s face has gradually darkened for he implicitly remembered something! Sure enough, Philip¡¯s face also changed: ¡°Back then, if I¡¯m not wrong, the Rowling Family¡¯s influence was too big. So, the Royal Family used this soft knife technique to slowly weaken your family into what it is today. After three generations of effort, the Rowling Family was just about ready to be absorbed. But¡­ Something unexpected happened near the end and was eventually terminated.¡± ¡°Duke, I read in the history books that one of your ancestors had an earl that was originally arranged to marry a princess. Sadly this ancestor of yours is a hard lover. He fell in love with a very famous astrologist at the time and finally married this woman as his wife despite going against his family¡¯s wishes¡­. This move greatly displeased the Royal Family. And eventually, this Earl met an early death and left behind a young child as his sessor. As a result, the Rowling Family entered a low period in your family¡¯s history, that is until a few prominent figures revitalized itter on in the future.¡± In love with a female astrologist? Marry that woman? Oh Du Wei certainly knows who Philip was talking about! However, Philip¡¯s seems to be vaguely hinting at another meaning behind those words. Die young? What, is there some kind of conspiracy inside? Once Du Wei¡¯s thought began to run wild, the remaining words from Philip could no longer enter his mind. The only part Du Wei managed to recall was how the Rowling Family went into decline due to the repression from many fronts and that it wasn¡¯t until the Rowling Family could no longer threaten the Royal Family that theter generations could have a chance to revitalize itself. Du Weiplexion turned stiff, but suddenly a faint sigh knocked him back to his senses from the back of his mind. ¡­¡­ Semel! Chapter 275 part 1 Chapter 275 ¡°Du Wei¡¯s proposal¡± (part one) Du Wei never imagined that the Rowling Family would have such a rtionship with the Royal Family. Based only on this remark alone, Philip was worthy of being rmended by Mr. Blue Ocean. Clearly, this trusted aid of his had a strong theoretical foundation; otherwise, how can he perform so outstandingly in a short span of one year. Du Wei may be clever, may be well learned, but everything he knew was self-taught from his childhood. When it came to something as deep as a king¡¯s political tactic, he needed others to enlighten him. Not to mention the topic involved the Rowling Family itself. If Semel¡¯s husband, his great-great-great grandfather, died from unnatural means¡­ Then the incident must have definitely been covered up by the family¡¯s inner circle. Regarding the taste of being softly cut by a knife, Du Wei really has no clue on its vor. Maybe the only one to truly understand this feeling would be his father, old Raymond back in the Rowling ins. Think up to here, Du Wei couldn¡¯t take in anything from the outside for the faint sigh that came from Semel had left him frightened to the point of being scared to specte on the possibilities. The only thing Du Wei could do now was repeatedly attempt tomunicate with Semel, but this woman refuses to respond. sted woman!! She¡¯s supposed to be only a magical creature, but more and more, this woman¡¯s bing more like the real Semel¡­.. Philip was in the middle of discussing the matter with the rest of the crowd when he noticed Du Wei¡¯s absentmindedness, ¡°My lord, my lord!?¡± He calls out in a whispering voice. ¡°Huh?¡± Du Wei frowns and reacted to the call. Giving everyone present a reluctant smile, Du Wei finally speaks up: ¡°The stuff Philip just said is quite fascinating.¡± Musing for a moment, he asked, ¡°Philip, ording to your analysis, this should be a trap set by the Royal Family then¡­¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right!¡± Dadaneier was the first to call out for he wholeheartedly wished for Du Wei¡¯s well-being: ¡°Since it¡¯s a trap¡­. Humph, the Augustine Family is too deplorable! Our lord here isn¡¯t even trying anything and they are already using these dirty tricks!¡± Noticing Philip giving him a bitter nce, Du Wei knew what this aid wanted to say. Waving his hand to stop Dadaneier from continuing, Du Weiughed it off: ¡°Their methods aren¡¯t sinister or deplorable; it¡¯s merely a technique for the emperor to maintain control over his subordinates. A king must always keep the power bnce in check. If a ruler ignores this and lets his underlings run wild then that person is truly a fool.¡± These generals are undisputed when it came to war, but when it came to political trickery; they simply aren¡¯t cut out for it. Surprisingly though, the one to keep their heads together right now was Longbottom. This General 250 must have learned something after suffering so many years in that jail cell. Longbottom may not be fluent on the ins and outs but his words definitely hit the target: ¡°Since it¡¯s like this, marriage willnd us in a trap. But if we don¡¯t agree to the marriage, it will arouse the Royal Family¡¯s suspicion¡­. Both options seem contradictory, but since Mr. Philip here can analyze it so well, I presume he has a solution ready for us.¡± Look at this fatty¡¯s eye, it¡¯s clear he meant these kind of indirect conflicts are best suited for you aids that works in the background. Philip had always been on the calm side of things. Matching it with his cautious personality and polite attitude, the majority of the people here had a good rtionship with him. At the moment everyone in the room was waiting for this young aid to speak. But ultimately Philip was still young. Facing everyone¡¯s anticipating stare, he couldn¡¯t help but blush while he coughed to clear his throat: ¡°Everyone, I already stated my opposition towards the marriage proposal. Although in the short term the marriage will help raise the Duke¡¯s poprity, but¡­ He-he, forgive me for not being respectful. My lord, I presume you wouldn¡¯t want to have a spy from Prince Son sleeping next to you each night now do you?¡± Du Wei softly smiles: ¡°Get on with it, don¡¯t beat around the bush.¡± ¡°Winning Prince Son¡¯s favor is inevitable! But the marriage won¡¯t be necessary. Fortunately, the regent really values your Dukeship and holds a deep trust in you. So, the proposal this time¡­. The Regent took a soft approach and didn¡¯t forcefully dump it on you. Otherwise, as the emperor of the empire, he could have brought the topic up during the banquet to make youply. In front of all the nobles and lords, you can¡¯t refuse no matter how unwilling your heart is!¡± Thinking it over, Du Wei agrees with Philip. If he refused Prince Son so openly, it would be no different from embarrassing the regent in front of the entire upper ss of the empire. ¡°So, fortunately Prince Son doesn¡¯t seem to be so resolute on this decision, or that he simply can¡¯t make up his mind either. My lord, this is our chance¡­. Before you return to the capital, you must settle your marriage here and now!¡± Du Wei widened his eyes like he couldn¡¯t believe it: ¡°What¡­ You want me to marry right away?¡± Then he repeatedly shook his head: ¡°No, that absolutely won¡¯t do!¡± In Du Wei¡¯s heart, there was only one woman he can currently ept as his lifelong partner. As for the other females in his life like Mrs. Lister and Angel, he just can¡¯t do it. But, to take Vivian as his wife now? No matter what Du Wei dide from another world. Although the girl¡¯s very attractive and cute, but how was he supposed to take a fifteen year old that hasn¡¯t fully matured yet? Towards such a beastly act ofying his hands on a premature child, he simply can¡¯t do it! Damn it, fifteen years old doesn¡¯t even qualify the person to get an ID! Although Du Wei didn¡¯t say ¡°no¡±, but looking at his face, Philip and everyone else in the room can tell the future duchess will have to be that pure hearted young magician. Laughing, Philip continues: ¡°My lord, I did not say you have to marry immediately. After all, you are a Duke, how can your marriage be done so hastily? Even if you want to hold a wedding, your father Earl Raymond and your mother the Countess must be present to attend it¡­. What I meant is your engagement. Spread the news and tell everyone ¡®you have taken a precious flower¡¯!¡± Du Wei could only smile wryly at Philip¡¯s effort: ¡°It¡¯s ¡®a precious flower has found a host¡¯.¡± ¡°Ah yes, that¡¯s right! A precious flower has found a host!¡± Philip guiltilyughed: ¡°Following you around for so long have really turned me ck from your ink! That phrase you told me is so true.¡± Du Wei sighs: ¡°Your meaning is to have me engaged?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. The engagement ceremony doesn¡¯t need to be huge, just big enough to invite those with some background to help spread the word for us¡­. I fear it¡¯s not just the Royal Family eyeing you my lord. There¡¯s the Lister Family and many giants in the empire. As soon as the news goes out, those that wanted to link up with you will lose the thought and save you some trouble. Besides, Miss Vivian¡¯s been living in the castle for a long time now. Although the two of you nominally share the same master, but she¡¯s still a girl. One day she will step into the realm of womanhood. At that time, gossip is bound to spread.¡± Dadaneier was the first to object from the side: ¡°But even if the Duke gets engaged, it doesn¡¯t necessarily mean the Royal Family will relent. In ordance with the imperial code, a Duke can only have one Duchess, but that doesn¡¯t mean he cannot marry more than one women. Being a noble, it¡¯s not unusual to find someone with several wives. By that time if the emperor decides to have his way and forcibly marry his sister over, then it won¡¯t be fair to Miss Vivian. As a princess, the Duchess title will have to go to Prince Son¡¯s sister. I for one am in favor of Miss Vivian. She¡¯s not only kind to everyone; she¡¯s also friendly to approach. Moreover, Miss Vivian doesn¡¯t have anyone else in this world beside the Duke. If she loses the status of main wife too, then I will feel too sorry for her!¡± Philip gently smiles: ¡°General Dadaneier, don¡¯t be hasty and let me finish exining the third benefit of the engagement with Miss Vivian. It doesn¡¯t matter who the Duke marries, the Royal Family can still force the princess onto his lordship, the only exception being Miss Vivian! Let¡¯s not forget Miss Vivian¡¯s background. Let¡¯s not talk about robbing the Duchess title, just mentioning of stealing Miss Vivian¡¯s husband is a taboo for the Royal Family.¡± Philip¡¯s smile may be gentle but it immediately reminded the bosses in the room of something important. Chapter 275 part 2 Chapter 275 ¡°Du Wei¡¯s proposal¡± (part two) That¡¯s right, what was Vivian¡¯s background? The continent¡¯s number one Magister, Master Gandalf¡¯s disciple. Not including anything else, even now there¡¯s a bunch of old monsters inside the magic union that was nominally her senior! Then there¡¯s Vivian herself, a genuine eighth level magician! Compared to a regr noble, Vivian¡¯s status was far more valuable not only by a small margin. Not to mention she¡¯s still young. It¡¯s not unusual to say she¡¯s likely to advance to the ninth level, or even more amazing, saint ss! Taking all of these factors into consideration, the Royal Family would not want to offend this future master! And there¡¯s also the influential old monsters looking out for her if anything happens¡­. ¡°Even in the face of Mrs. Lister, the princess can rob the main wife status away. But against Vivian? That¡¯s the magical part; she¡¯s not a noble but a magician! Would the princess have the face to contend with a magician? Of course not! She be too embarrassed to lower herself to fight against amoner. So what does that leave her with, a status as a concubine?¡± ¡°Amazing, absolutely amazing!¡± Longbottom happily pats Du Wei on the shoulder: ¡°Boss, what are you waiting for, hurry and go pick some flowers to propose!¡± After beingughed at by this gang of unscrupulous ¡°uncles¡±, Du Wei had to admit this n was the best solution¡­. Moreover, Vivian¡¯s the one he¡¯s fond of the most. It¡¯s not like asking for marriage was anything outrageous. Think up to here, he bites down and blew out of the door. At night, in the garden, Du Wei tightly clenched his hands against a bouquet of Tulip flowers. These flowers were specially nted in the garden to fit the Tulip Duke name. In the Northwest here there¡¯s no flower like a rose, so, the best he can do was to use these Tulips. He wanted to go find Vivian and make his move, but in the end, he ended up pacing back and forth in the garden without taking a step forward. Why? It¡¯s ridiculous just mentioning it because, he¡­.. Hmm, our little demon Duke suddenly felt very nervous! Yes, it¡¯s nervous. In the face of the Dragon King, he wasn¡¯t nervous. In the face of the devil¡¯s servant, he wasn¡¯t nervous. When dueling the Green Hat, he wasn¡¯t nervous. And now he¡¯s suddenly getting the cold feet when trying to propose with a bouquet in hand¡­. How embarrassing! ¡°Hmm¡­ What is he supposed to say?¡± Du Wei coughed twice to clear his throat and began to mutter to himself: ¡°Hey, silly little girl, I see your face isn¡¯t bad, so be mine¡­.. Ughh, isn¡¯t that a little too much like what that 250 would do?¡± Shaking his head, he changes his tone: ¡°Dear Vivian. I¡¯ve liked you from the bottom of my heart for a very long time. If you are willing, please be my wife and we will spend the rest of our life together¡­.. Oh how vomiting!! That¡¯s too creepy, NO!¡± Thinking about it again, he changes it to a serious tone: ¡°Vivian, let me tell you, I encountered an extremely dangerous issue. This matter is very troublesome so would you please help me? Oh, you¡¯re willing? Then hurry and change into your new clothes and we will go hold an engagement ceremony¡­ Hmm, if I say it like that would she p me out of anger?¡± Scrambling his hair out with his fingers, he ended up scattering the flower petals all over the ground because he used too much force: ¡°AHHH, someone please tell me! What is the proper way to propose¡­..¡± He screams like he¡¯s about to lose it. Just as Du Wei¡¯s voice died down, a timidly shy voice drifted over from his back. ¡°You-you-you ¡­ What did you say to me? You-you¡¯re¡­ Proposing to me? Upon hearing this sentence, Du Wei nearly dropped to the floor from going numb. Turning around, the pretty figure looking at Du Wei had a delicate pink face, clearly the look of someone blushing. Staring straight into Du Wei¡¯s eye, this stuttering little girl was none other than our favorite female magician, Miss Vivian! Du Wei¡®s jaw literally dropped. Spending a good while staring at each other, Du Wei began to mutter erratically: ¡°You-you-you¡­. Why are you here?¡± Vivian suddenly hung her head down. Her pair of small hands began to rub against her robe while she whispered her words: ¡°General Longbottom, he-he-he said you-you were looking for me. So, I came down to find you¡­.¡± It was then Du Wei suddenly felt a cold chilling from the side of his neck. Sure enough, when Du Wei nced around the corner, the crafty image of this sted 250 hiding behind a bushel of flowers became obvious to see. Knowing he¡¯s been caught, Longbottom jumped out and gave a trivialugh: ¡°Duke, I solved a big problem for you! The rest is up to you now!!!¡± At that, he boomingly walked out of the garden with a bigugh. Annoyed and upset, Du Wei¡¯s only form of relief was a straight up middle finger at this shameless fatty. But then Vivian suddenly interrupted his shenanigan: ¡°You¡­ What you just said now, is it true? You¡¯re really asking me for marriage?¡± With thingsing this far already, Du Wei knew there were no turning back now. Steeling his heart, he musters up his courage and formally asked: ¡°Yes! I¡¯m proposing to you¡­. Are you willing?¡± Immediately, Vivian revealed a face full of happiness. Just when she wanted to nod, a puzzled look appeared instead: ¡°But just then¡­ Your look at General Longbottom didn¡¯t seem very happy¡­ Your gesture right now is?¡± Looking at his middle finger, which was still raised, Du Wei hurriedly retracted it and guiltilyughed: ¡°This, you don¡¯t understand, I am very happy. Also, this¡­. It¡¯s my way of thanking him. This gesture is¡­ You see, its meaning is how one shows their gratitude.¡± Speaking up to here, Du Wei suddenly saw Vivian¡¯s wless appearance. Scolding himself for being an idiot, he hurries over to hold her hand and began to kneel down on one knee. Vivian wanted to jump back out of surprise but was stopped by Du Wei¡¯s firm grasp: ¡°It¡¯s okay, a proposal should be like this, don¡¯t move.¡± ¡°But-but, you¡¯re the Duke, how-how can you kneel¡­¡± Du Wei smiled; his grip tightening a few notches against her small hand: ¡°Vivian, I don¡¯t know how to say this. I just know that in your mind you also understand what I mean. You¡­. If you feel I¡¯m a good man. Then be mine!¡± Let the gods be his witness, the cunning and vile Duke, for the first time in his life became incredibly humble. If this were to ever spread, who knows how many would drop their sses out of shock. Turning a little teary red, Vivian¡¯s eyes were brimming with happiness. But then all of a sudden, she began to panic and before she knew it, her face returned to the super shy girl while she answered, ¡°mhmm.¡± Not catching it clearly, Du Wei became anxious and asked again: ¡°This¡­. Vivian, please say a word. Yes or no¡­ Please give me an answer.¡± But Vivian¡¯s personality was that of a shy person to begin with. Being raided by this embarrassing question, her courage to reply grew thinner by the second. Wriggling her body, an idea popped up. Raising Du Wei¡¯s firm hand, she then¡­. She then ¡­ Towards Du Wei, Vivian raised her slender and beautiful middle finger at him¡­. Du Wei¡¯s face immediately copsed: ¡°This ¡­ ¡­ What does that mean?¡± Vivian minced her words: ¡°You, did you not say, this means that ¡­ ¡­ I am. My heart is very happy, gratefully happy¡­.¡± Du Wei: ¡°¡­..¡± Okay¡­ All right. For the first time in his life that he proposed to a woman, the reply was a middle finger. Ughh ¡­ Should he be crying now or should he beughing at the positive answer? Chapter 276 part 1 Chapter 276 ¡°Major event!¡± (part one) The moment the proposal was sealed, his following generals and officials were already going at it. Naturally, old housekeeper Marde would be at the core of the preparation work. Before the sun was even up for the morning dawn, this faithful follower had sent a dozen men out for procurement. Despite the fact that the shops were still closed, it didn¡¯t matter. The Duke¡¯s engagement wasn¡¯t your average event. Undeterred by anything, the henchmen¡¯s did what they must; knock on the door till the sleepy owners were awake so they can exin their purpose. Du Wei¡¯s prestige in the northwest was high to begin with. After hearing the Duke¡¯s n to get hitched, there were noints whatsoever for the disturbance. By early morning, the news of the Duke getting engaged had spread like wildfire. With the castle decorated and the guards re-uniformed with new outfits, all the servants were busy rushing about through the castle grounds, especially the ballroom. But of course, while there are those genuinely happy for the event, there are bound to be some unhappy faces. After hearing the explosive news, the members of the Lister Household immediately ran to report this to the Marquise. Recently Mrs. Lister rarely saw Du Wei. Firstly was because of how busy Du Wei was, secondly was due to her secret being discovered. If anyone else finds out, the Lister Household will be finished so how can she not be worried? Inexplicably, she began to avoid Du Wei whenever possible out of fear. It¡¯s just that today¡¯s sudden news of Du Wei getting engaged hit her like a thunderbolt. From her fear and dispirited emotion, everything vanished under this immense pressure. ¡°He¡¯s going to be engaged, with that mage woman?¡± Mrs. Lister¡¯s beautiful face was soplex that she couldn¡¯t say it aloud: resentment, unwillingness, sorrow, and all sorts of strange vor. Suddenly standing up, she deres: ¡°No! If we don¡¯t do something now then we will truly have no chance!¡± In the room there were only Mrs. Marquise and her sister Angel. Unlike her sister, Angel¡¯s face was more straightforward. Ever since that night Angel had seldom met with Du Wei. This would¡¯ve been a good thing for distance will calm a young maiden¡¯s heart¡­ But that only applies if the person in question can let go of their feelings. If they couldn¡¯t, the issue will reach a point where even a dozen hands cannot pull them out of it. If Angel had been living far away from Du Wei during this process, she would¡¯ve likely forgotten this young crush. But she wasn¡¯t, she¡¯s been living in the same castle as him. Day in and day out, the servants would boast about the young duke around her until Du Wei became peerless under the heaven sky. What story about repelling an entire army with one arrow, what story about diving into enemy territory alone, what story about forcing the prairie natives to yield and so and so on¡­¡­ Think about it, Angel¡¯s a young maiden that¡¯s at the stage of finding her first love with a powerful attachment to Du Wei. It¡¯s perfectly normal for a girl to forget their first love after being away from that person, but day after day, her mind¡¯s been bombarded with the dazzling image of Du Wei, the perfect knight in shining armor¡­¡­ At this point, Du Wei was no longer just a crush to Angel; it¡¯s more along the lines of perfection that could only be found in a hero within the story books. So, how can you expect a maiden to forget such a perfect man? Compared to the Marquise¡¯s silent deliberation, Angel¡¯s reaction was way simpler: sadness on her face and teary red eyes that were close to dripping down. Looking at her sister, Mrs. Lister sighs and began to console her: ¡°Angel, I know your heart is hurting¡­ But this is something I had anticipated, I just didn¡¯t expect it toe so soon.¡± Suddenly lifting her head, Angel stares at her elder sister like she couldn¡¯t recognize the woman in front of her: ¡°Sister¡­. Have you not given up yet? You still want to marry him?¡± In return, Mrs. Lister reveals a look of anxiousness: ¡°You should understand, we women of the Lister House are like this from birth.¡± After that, she sighs and loosened her arms around Angel. Turning her body away from Angel¡¯s sight, the Marquise speaks in a calm voice: ¡°I¡¯ve longed known about that female mage and the fact that Du Wei likes her. I also spected that he would likely marry that Vivian girl too. Although she¡¯s not a noble, I fear her background isn¡¯t lower than ours.¡± ¡°But now he¡¯s already engaged!¡± Angel cries out in a hoarse voice: ¡°You! Elder sister! Considering your status, you don¡¯t intend to be the Duke¡¯s¡­..¡± She¡¯s after all a girl from a wealthy family. When it came to the final part, she finally stopped. ¡°Humph, you¡¯re correct.¡± Though her voice wasn¡¯t loud, Mrs. Lister¡¯s tone sounded adamant: ¡°Even if not his main wife with the title of Duchess, I must marry him!¡± She finally turns around to face Angel: ¡°You must understand my efforts. Angel, it¡¯s not me trying to fight with you, it¡¯s just, I¡¯ve told you before: whenever a man likes a woman, there are only two reasons. First is that the man truly likes the woman, whether ugly or beautiful, clever or foolish, he simply likes her! For example, Du Wei and Vivian clearly falls into this category. And you, Angel, attempted to fit into his heart several times and came out with nothing. He doesn¡¯t like you. Now, the second kind is the type of women that can help her man. Asking myself, I can¡¯t say I can satisfy the first type of making him love me. But¡­. What I can do is impress him using thetter: I¡¯m useful to him! I don¡¯t expect to be able topete for his heart against that Vivian, but I will let him know I, Lan Lister, can give him tremendous aid in his career! As long as this reason catches his eye, he will be tempted.¡± Speaking up to here, Mrs. Lister lowers her head and began to muse. Before long, her eyes sparkled with light and a smile appeared: ¡°Hmm, I was also curious, why did the news of the Duke getting engagede so suddenly¡­. My heart was a little confused, but now that I¡¯ve calmed down, I¡¯m starting to understand. Some days ago I heard he was afraid of returning to the capital for who knows how many noble families are eyeing him with their daughters. To avoid attracting too much trouble, he decided to get engaged to avoid being harassed. It¡¯s a good idea I admit¡­. Hmm, can¡¯t be that simple. With his status, it shouldn¡¯t be hard for him to outright refuse those nobles. To be able to force him to get engaged so hastily¡­.¡± At this part Mrs. Lister¡¯s eye brightened, but her expression became even more worrisome: ¡°The royal family also wants to offer him a marriage? Hmm, indeed, refusing the Royal House won¡¯t be easy. Then that means he can only find a heavyweight woman to dissuade the Royal Family from the idea!¡± If Du Wei and Philip were to be present during the Marquise¡¯s reflective analysis, the two would no doubt shower her with admiration. Indeed, Lan Lister truly deserves to be the supporting pir of the powerful Lister Household. Catching only the slightest clue, she manages to deduce the overall n. Showing a glimmer of determination, Mrs. Lister suddenly gazes up at Angel. ¡°El-elder sister.¡± A faint hint of unease crept into Angel for her sister¡¯s eye looked strange, as if¡­.. ¡°Angel, I can¡¯t keep risking things.¡± The voiceing off of Mrs. Lister was firm: ¡°I originally wanted to take things slowly and step by step lure Du Wei to my side. But now things won¡¯t permit me to wait¡­ Urgent matters call for urgent methods. Du Wei is about to return to the capital. If by then the Regent forces him to marry¡­. Then I, the daughter of the Lister House, can only be the third wife. Such humiliation isn¡¯t something I can swallow! Though the possibility isn¡¯t high, I can¡¯t risk it. Now it seems, I can only¡­. Only resort to special means!¡± After that, Mrs. Lister became adamant: ¡°Angel, go help me do something and order some people to procure some ingredients for me in town¡­.. Hmm, Lon City should have a drugstore. I¡¯ll write the ingredients down for you on paper. Also, the special wine we brought from home, bring that to me too with a bucket, I have use for it.¡± ¡°Elder sister?¡± Angel was puzzled and asked again. Against her objection, Mrs. Lister suddenly raises her voice and shouted: ¡°Go now!!¡± In less than two hours, everything Mrs. Lister requested wasid before her. Angel didn¡¯t understand why these ingredients were needed. Looking over the medicinal herbs, there¡¯s nothing special, just some nerve calming stuff and fatigue relief grass, nothing heavy.¡± Originally Angel still had some doubts because the Duke himself was a magic herbalist. Inside the castle, what drug can¡¯t they find? But when she asked why, her sister strictly forbid it. At her request, two White Feather Knights brought over a bucket of wine. This wine was brewed on the inds located in the Southeastern Sea. Though the level of culture in that part of the world were far below that of the Rnd continent, their brewing abilities were on another level. Whether it was the vor or smoothness, it was unmatched; thereby making this type of wine very demanding in the market. As a family focusing in maritime trade, it¡¯s only natural the Lister House would rely on wine trading to make a fortune. And of course, this barrel of ¡°Louis Secret Brew¡± was the best of the best. Originally prepared for entertaining guests, this barrel that was transported to the Northwest only retains half of its original content. ¡°Everyone go out.¡± Mrs. Lister¡¯s voice sounded deep like that of the ocean: ¡°Close the door and stand at least ten feet away from it. Whoever dares to wander around or eavesdrop will be expelled from the family!¡± Leading the family for so many years, hermand naturally holds authority. Bowing slightly, the White Feather Knights meticulously implemented her orders and left the room. Seeing Angel¡¯s attempt to leave, the Marquise called out for her to stay. ¡°My dear sister ¡­ You needn¡¯t avoid the situation.¡± Mrs. Lister sadly sighs, her face dignified: ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time before I have to tell you, and, I also need your help on this.¡± Then Mrs. Lister ran over to a mirror across the room. Gently touching the snowy-white ne on her neck, she uses two of her delicate fingers to remove the pendant. This was a humanoid shaped statue that looked like it was kneeling down to pray. Graceful and pure, the silvery glow made the meticulous carvingse alive. Despite the amazing craftsmanship, it¡¯s obvious this pendant had some age to it for the base of the pendant had evidence of it being polished away. ¡°You recognize this thing?¡± Mrs. Lister smiles and ces it in her palm to show Angel the pendant. ¡°I do.¡± Angel whispered: ¡°This is the thing father handed you, also the leadership token for the Lister Household.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just a token.¡± Mrs. Lister shook her head and whispered: ¡°It¡¯s also the keepsake of a big secret for our family.¡± After that, she gently pulls her sister¡¯s hand over and softly asked, ¡°Look at the statue carefully, do you notice anything special about it?¡± Keeping silent, Angel carefully reaches out to pick this small pendant up. Inside, she was in fact feeling uneasy about this. Back when she was still a child, she once attempted to touch the pendant out of curiosity. As a result, her actions angered her sister and were mercilessly scolded for it. Towards her sister and brother, Mrs. Lister had always been very careful and gentle, never once did she yell at them. But that time, and the only time, Angel was ever scolded by her elder sister. After attracting the ire onto herself, Angel never again attempted to touch this thing since that day. Now all of a sudden she was permitted to freely observe this ornament, Angel simply didn¡¯t know how to react and nked out. Looking at Angel¡¯s expression, Mrs. Lister could guess why. Sighing, she spoke in a soft tone: ¡°It¡¯s fine, that time you were too young so I was worried you couldn¡¯t keep the secret. Now that you are bigger, it¡¯s time you knew.¡± Holding the small ornamental statue in her hand, Angel began to carefully observe the trinket. Aside from the slight chilling sensation, there are indeed some oddities about it. The first was the statue of the woman. The face may be hidden by its posture, but if looked closely, one can faintly see two subtle tips from the sides where the ears should be. Then turning it around, one would unexpectedly find that the woman was bare on the back, like she wasn¡¯t wearing any clothes. Then from her shoulder de, two vague markings could be made out if carefully observed. Angel can only suspect the original carvings were polished away over time. Yet, the outline of this part was symmetrical!! If it was due to carelessness from casual use, the remaining markings wouldn¡¯t be this urate. ¡°This¡­¡± Angel lifted her head. ¡°This is what father handed to me and it¡¯s what his father handed to him¡­¡± Mrs. Lister smiled and gently reached out to stroke Angel¡¯s hair: ¡°My dear sister, the woman in this statue is actually our ancestor¡­ She¡¯s not human. That is to say, you and I, all of our Lister family, are not purely human.¡± At this point, Mrs. Lister revealed a faint sadness on her face: ¡°Unfortunately our race has vanished from this continent. Today, our identities and our lineages are our greatest secret. If leaked, the temple will see us as heretics¡­ Even if our family bes bigger or richer, they will not hesitate to eliminate us! Angel¡­ You¡¯ve read the books. In the records of the Temple, they will burn any heretics they catch at the pir of fire. I¡¯m sure you understand the meaning of my words.¡± Angel gasped and wanted to exim, but her internal instincts stopped herself as her hands cupped her mouth. Widening her eyes, she could only look at her sister in disbelief. Seeing the fear from her sister, Mrs. Lister showed pity in her eyes. Gently stroking Angel¡¯s hair, the Marquise whispered: ¡°This is the biggest secret of our family! You, I, and Muse, the three of us aren¡¯t purely human. And the identity of this woman, her true identity is an¡­. Elf.¡± ¡°E-Elf?¡± ¡°Yes, elf.¡± Mrs. Lister smiled: ¡°I¡¯m afraid on the maind one will rarely see any records of the Elf race, so it¡¯s not surprising you don¡¯t know. Elves are a race that is naturally equipped with magic. They look like humans, but possess many traits that humans don¡¯t have. Like naturally attuned to nature, physically fragile, and have different living habitats andnguages to the human race. Most importantly, this race may be kind and fragile, but they are naturally prideful. On the continent, everyone believes the sons and daughters of the Lister House are always born beautiful and handsome¡­ What they don¡¯t know is that ites from our Elven lineage. This must never go out. If any outsider were to ever learn of this secret, our family will face destruction, you understand?¡± Turning pale from the heavy burden, Angel didn¡¯t know things woulde to this: ¡°I¡­ I, understand.¡± ¡°Alright, you needn¡¯t feel too burdened by this. Everything can be shouldered by me, you needn¡¯t worry so much. You just be your usual self like nothing has happened.¡± Although she says this, her eyes shed a hint of worry. Regarding this secret, the old magician knew it and now Du Wei does too¡­. Biting her lip, Mrs. Lister brought the statue over and pressed a small button on an unknown spot. Making a subtle sound, the arms of the woman statue opens up slightly and from the center, a grain sized thing rolled out. This thing was only the size of a rice grain but extruded an exotic fragrance from its darkish red flesh. If looking closely, one will notice the tone of its skin will change to several different colorations depending on the reflective light. ¡°This is?¡± ¡°This is the only treasure that our ancestors left behind.¡± Mrs. Lister whispered: ¡°Our ancestors are the flower elves of the elven race. In ordance with the natural order of the elves, flower elves are in charge of overseeing all the flowers and trees in the world¡­.. So, this thing is the seed of a peculiar flower. But now, the nt is extinct and hasn¡¯t appeared anywhere in this world since ancient times. This statue here has been handed down through our family for generations. Originally there are supposed to be ten seeds inside, but by the time it reached my hands, there were one left.¡± Mrs. Lister¡¯s voice began to tremble somewhat at this point: ¡°When father handed me this thing, he told me its name. It¡¯s called ¡®Thousand Year Gaze!¡± Chapter 276 part 2 Chapter 276 ¡°Major event!¡± (part two) Angel¡¯s heart inexplicably jumped. Whispering, she asked: ¡°Thousand Year Gaze?¡± Although she doesn¡¯t quite understand the meaning behind the name, but her body¡¯s quivering cry faintly told her this had something to do with her lineage. ¡°Regarding the Elven race¡¯s history and civilization, I don¡¯t know much either. In fact, our father is the same. We may be a cross between human and elves, but by today¡¯s standard we are no different from a regr human for the elven blood in our veins is too thin to affect us. Moreover, after so many generations of inheritance, there¡¯s bound to be certain pieces of information missing. I¡¯ve tried doing some research in private pertaining to the lost history and literature of our family, but there¡¯s only so much left after a millennium of tarnish.¡± ¡°Then, what¡¯s the use of this-this ¡®Thousand Year Gaze¡¯¡­¡­? Looking at her sister¡¯s puzzled expression, Mrs. Lister¡¯s eye revealed a hint of piety: ¡°Father had once exined to me that the flower elves are known to have the longest life span among the elves. Their life can go up to a thousand years, and this ¡®Thousand Year Gaze¡¯ is said to the fruit of love produced from a magical flower of our ancestors. ording to legends, whenever a flower elf wishes to court the opposite sex, the couple will pick one of these fruits. If consumed, the two will forever fall in love!¡± Angel¡¯s eye brightened: ¡°Fall in Love?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, fall in love.¡± Mrs. Lister whispered: ¡°The way to use it is to have both parties gaze into each other¡¯s eye. When their sight makes contact, that is when the fruit must be consumed to activate its power. From then on, both will be lovers with an unbreakable bond¡­.¡± Angel can only feel her heart pounding like it can¡¯t be stopped: ¡°As long as they eat it¡­. And make eye contact, that¡¯s all?¡± Mrs. Lister nces at her sister: ¡°What, you want to use it?¡± Angel¡¯s face blushed red, her thoughts obvious to read. But with another thought, Angel realizes that her elder sister likely didn¡¯t bring the seed out for her to consume, but for herself. At the thought, the girl¡¯s face instantly went pale. Seeing her younger sister¡¯s expression, Mrs. Lister can easily guess why: ¡°My dear sister¡­. This seed may be magical, but I cannot give it to you to use. It can only be consumed by me.¡± ¡°Why-Why!!¡± Angel suddenly cried, ¡°If you had such a thing to begin with, why didn¡¯t you take it out earlier? If you had given it to me, I-I¡­..¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have suffered like so, right? That¡¯s what you wanted to say?¡± Mrs. Lister sighs: ¡°Don¡¯t hate me; I didn¡¯t want to bring this seed out either because once consumed, the bodily harm it causes is huge, even for a flower elf.¡± ¡°Harm?¡± Mrs. Lister smiled wryly before slowly uttering a cruel fact: ¡°The loss of life!¡± Then her tongue grew cold: ¡°Father told me, a pure flower elf can have a life expectancy of up to a thousand years, but¡­. Once they consume this magical fruit, they are in fact exchanging their life for love! ording to what I know, a flower elf would lose approximately half their life span from this, meaning five hundred years! Naturally, due to our thin elf lineage, the members of our family can never match up to a real flower elf. Take our father for example; he only lived till he¡¯s seventy before passing away. So, if we consume this seed like our ancestors did, I fear we won¡¯t live pass forty¡­.¡± By the time thest few words left her mouth, the Marquise¡¯s voice was obviously shaky. Likewise, Angel was also blown away by the information. Mrs. Lister showed a ghastly smile: ¡°Sister, aside from making our family flourish, my lifelong desire is to let you and Muse live a happy life. I-I¡¯ve already devoted my life to the family, but I don¡¯t want to see you and Muse fall into the same path as I did! Do you understand? You are young and beautiful with many years of wonder toe¡­. We carry the blood of elves in our veins so your youth will continue for a long time like our father. Even at sixty years of age, he remained young and handsome. I want you to live a good life, so I won¡¯t permit you to end it short!¡± Angel began to tremble for she finally understood what her sister meant. Crying out, she pleads, ¡°No! Please no! Sister, you can¡¯t eat this thing, otherwise you will¡­ will¡­.¡± ¡°Then I will only have a few years left.¡± Mrs. Lister¡¯s voice was calm as if she didn¡¯t care: ¡°As long as I can make him love me, then I will do it. I will have him marry me as soon as possible. Then using everything within my means, I will give birth to a child of his! After a few years, my wish will be satisfied. Angel, our family needs an heir, don¡¯t you understand this?!¡± ¡°But-but this is not¡­ Not going to work¡­¡± Angel suddenly fell into tears: ¡°But this way you will¡­. I don¡¯t want to see you die!¡± Atst she couldn¡¯t bare it anymore and rushed up to hug her elder sister. Letting her dear sister cry her hearts out in while her embrace, Mrs. Lister gently loosened her grasp and whispered: ¡°I¡¯ve made up my mind for the situation leaves me no choice.¡± As Angel continues to weep, Mrs. Lister consoles her using soothing words: ¡°My sister, I know you like Du Wei in your heart¡­ hmm, after I die, he will take care of you based on our bond. At that time, there¡¯s bound to be opportunities for you¡­ And, fortunately¡­..¡± She reluctantly smiled: ¡°Fortunately, my father said to me the side effects of this thing only works on the elven race. In other words, the damage demerits will not hurt Du Wei¡¯s life.¡± Seeing Angel had no intent of stopping those tears of hers, Mrs. Lister hardens her tone: ¡°That¡¯s enough, don¡¯t cry anymore! Tonight is Du Wei¡¯s engagement, our time is short. Now, help me mix these drugs together with the wine. Other than having a calming effect, these ingredients can also mask the fruity aroma of the seed. At tonight¡¯s ceremony, you will apany me and I will give Du Wei a toast! At that time¡­.¡± She stretches out a slender finger and nipped her thin nail against the ¡°Thousand Year Gaze¡± seed, thus dividing it in two. This engagement ceremony may have been organized in haste, but considering Du Wei¡¯s status and wealth, everything¡¯s in order. Those present for the event would naturally include his subordinates within the city. Then there are also the two disciples from Master Alley¡¯s end and the representatives of severalrge merchant groups. In the evening when the sun has just set, the dinner party officially began. In the grand ballroom of the Duke¡¯s castle, this room that had hosted Du Wei¡¯s fifteenth birthday will also take host to Du Wei¡¯s engagement ceremony. There were hundreds of guests gathered in the ballroom. Aside from Du Wei¡¯s own people, there are also officials from Governor Bohan¡¯s side and several senior officers from the recently recalled cavalry regiment. ording to the Rnd continent¡¯s custom, the main heroin must keep herself out of the public¡¯s eye during the initial phase for the main man needs to do his part of entertaining the guests. Then under the auspices of the family elders, the engagement will bepleted under the public¡¯s witness. And now, Vivian was dutifully experiencing the greatest happiness of her life in the back room. Shy and nervous, several maids and etiquette madams were pampering this lovely maiden with dresses and makeup. While in the banquet hall, Du Wei was fending off the endless amounts of congrattory words from his guests, he even forgot the number of ¡°Thank You¡± he returned. But this was only the appetizer; the best was yet toe. As tradition demands, the guests will take turn toasting Du Wei to a drink during the party! If he can¡¯t finish each toast he¡¯s given, he can¡¯t proceed to the next part! The implication of this act was: The road to love is as intoxicating and mellow as the wine. The meaning was of course good, but more often than not; the main host would end up totally drunk and cause a stir ofughs among the crowds. Currently Mrs. Lister and her sister had positioned themselves at the end of the group, patiently waiting for Du Wei to finish his rounds of toasting with the other guests. Fortunately the guests were aware of Du Wei¡¯s identity and weren¡¯t overly presumptuous in their act. They did as traditions called for, but every cup they poured was shallow and minimal, leaving Du Wei only slightly tipsy by the end. s, the time hase for Mrs. Lister toe forward. The moment she stepped out of the crowd, the room suddenly fell into a quiet calm with many strange eyes focused on thedy. The reaction from everyone was to be expected, after all, the uproar from the Madam¡¯s initiative to tempt Du Wei into a marriage was a well-known secret. Disregarding the looksing her way, Mrs. Lister remains calm with her sister in toe, the young premature girl tightly holding a small wine bottle in hand. This pair of flower sisters was bewitchingly beautiful under the illuminatingmp light, leaving everyone to recall the scene of the Madam giving Du Wei a kiss in public not so long ago in this very same ballroom. But now, everything has changed with the main hero wanting to marry another woman. No doubt the mood inside the Madam wasn¡¯t very good. In particrly was young Angel for she made no efforts to hide her real feelings. Sad and weeping with sorrow, that weak and helpless appearance of a yearning flower would make any men go crazy. Though everyone¡¯s sentiment towards Miss Angel weren¡¯t entirely incorrect, it only made up a part of her sadness. What she¡¯s really sad about right now was for her own sister! Because once the Madam consumes the wine, her elder sister won¡¯t have long to live! As such, Angel with the bottle in hand had the strong desire to smash the container from where she stood. Sadly, under her sister¡¯s attentive gaze, Angel lost every nerve to take action. And among the guests, there are a few with malicious thoughts: will tonight turn into an entertaining y where three womenpete for one husband? That will be quite the funny scene! Ah whatever! Let¡¯s wait and see what the Madam will do when she toasts. Du Wei came in front of the Madam, his face a little awkward. Nevertheless, this difort onlysted a moment before he rposed himself. ¡°Mrs. Lister.¡± Du Wei slightly bows his body: ¡°Thank you foring.¡± Mrs. Lister slightly shakes her head, sighing with a smile: ¡°Duke needn¡¯t be polite; it¡¯s our honor to be invited to this gathering¡­. Please, please ept my blessing.¡± At that, she turns to Angel beside her and nodded. Trembling at the signal, Angel tightened her grip around the bottle. Du Wei did not miss that reaction, but he mistook it as Angel¡¯s way of showing she wasn¡¯t quite over him yet. This misconception caused Du Wei to feel slightly guilty about his treatment towards the pair. Softly whispering: ¡°Miss Angel, I¡­ Also thank you.¡± But Angel did not pay heed to Du Wei; she only had her sight pinned on her elder sister. This greatly confused Du Wei. Not batting an eysh, Mrs. Lister removed the bottle of wine from Angel¡¯s hand and gently poured a cup for herself and Du Wei. Her movements were subtle to begin with. When pouring the wine, she secretly added the two halves of the ¡°Thousand Year Gaze¡± seed hidden underneath her nails into the cups. Being so secretive, adding in Du Wei¡¯s absent mindedness, there would naturally be no one noticing her swift maneuvers. Mrs. Lister may be calm on the surface, but her heart wasn¡¯t made of stone, there would of course be some sadness inside¡­.. Oh Du Wei, in order to marry you, I¡¯m paying such a high price! Hmm, once we consume this wine and peer into each other¡¯s eye, you and I will fall in love¡­. I will love you, and you will love me, forever till the end! I may only be left with a few years to live, but¡­¡­ With that short period of time, I hope you can treat me with all your heart! Thinking up to here, she crossed her heart and was about to raise the cup¡­.. But just at this very moment, an indifferent voice clearly that of a woman¡¯s came from the back: ¡°Du Wei, why did you not invite me to your engagement?¡± The voice may be tender and soft, but the tone was totally indifferent, devoid of any emotions. Everyone in the room turned their sight at the source, their gazes all showcasing utter surprise and a disbelieving sigh. Beautiful, too beautiful, this woman is simply too beautiful! Donning an extremely simple robe, this newly entered woman had her hair loosely hanging down. Though there¡¯s nothing fancy about her wear, that face of hers was simply indescribable with words. Some in the room even found themselves thinking it was a sphemy to even look at that face, so much so that panic was starting to take hold in their hearts. How can there be a woman so beautiful? That face¡­ It¡¯s simply too scary! Her lips looked as if they were devoid of blood, but with very step she took, that gracefulness sent everyone¡¯s imagination running wild. And the most breathtaking part of all was that¡­. This woman had her eyes closed. That delicate face alone was enough to blow the crowd away, imagine that pair of eyes opening¡­.. What a sight will that be! But of course, that image will need to be left to one¡¯s own imagination. (If only they knew what the consequences were for those eyes to be opened, its certain no one would even dare go down that route.) Having such a woman walk in, every female in attendance suddenly had their positions knocked down a notch. Besides Mrs. Lister being able to put up a front, even Angel found herself unable topete. This beauty that could rival even Mrs. Lister¡¯s, depending on whom you ask, would be none other than Queen Medusa, Miss Nicole¡­. Other than Dadaneier and Hussein, there¡¯s no other in the crowd that has met Queen Medusa before. Right now Dadaneier was a nervous wreck, fearfully afraid the Queen would idently open her eyes¡­ If that happens, what a huge problem that would be! ¡°Du Wei.¡± While everyone was still shocked by Medusa¡¯s beauty, Nicole had begun her speech: ¡°You really make me angry. What did you promise me when you took me away from home? Ever since I came out with you, all you¡¯ve done is leave me to myself. I know you are busy and can¡¯t always apany me, but you didn¡¯t even invite me to your engagement. I¡¯m also close with Vivian, this is not fair.¡± She protests dispassionately. This remark caused quite the stir among the crowd. Those unfamiliar with the ins and outs began specting thedy¡¯s background. Ohooh¡­¡­ And here they thought it would be three women fighting for one husband, now it¡¯s evolved into four women fighting for one husband. What¡¯s that phrase again? ¡°What did you promise me when you took me away from home¡­.¡± Anyone with a sane mind would misunderstand the meaning behind that sentence. Gently sighing, Medusa continues: ¡°I will forgive you. When I just came I overheard that I should give you a toast as a friend on this asion¡­. ording to your standards, I should be your friend right?¡± Queen Medusa¡¯s power may be terrifying, but she¡¯s not a human, meaning she¡¯s ignorant of human etiquette. If she says she wants to toast, then she will toast, she won¡¯t care about so many things. But this toasting ritual was already nearing its ending, where was Du Wei supposed to find more wine? Apart from the two cups of wine from Mrs. Lister that is! Unfamiliar with the world, Queen Medusa came over to Mrs. Lister¡¯s side and picked up the sses without any consultation. Jolted awake by the sudden urrence, Mrs. Lister wanted to stop her, but¡­. Who¡¯s Queen Medusa? There¡¯s no way someone like the Madam could hinder Nicole¡¯s movement. With a simple bypass, Nicole easily snapped the cups away and came up to Du Wei. Handing him one, she faintly smiles and said: ¡°Okay, I will consider today to be another lesson. Remember to not leave me alone so often. It¡¯s simply too stuffy and boring by myself.¡± At that, she raises the cup: ¡°Is this how you toast, directly swallowing it?¡± Du Wei smiled in return. Not thinking too much of it, he directly drowned the entire drink in one swing. Queen Medusa smiles and did the same ¨C lifting it above her lips and chugging it down¡­.. There it goes! ¡°NOOO!¡± ¡°AHHH!¡± The Lister Sisters both screamed in unison, but their voices fell on deaf ears. Seeing the empty sses on the table, Mrs. Lister stared at Medusa and Du Wei repeatedly¡­. Eventually her heart fell into despair. The ¡°Thousand Years Gaze¡±¡­ Thest of the ¡°Thousand Years Gaze¡±¡­ Unlike her sister, Angel¡¯s mind was much simpler. At first she was caught by surprise, but it didn¡¯t take long for her to rx. After all, the n may have been destroyed by the sudden appearance of this beauty, but this means her elder sister wouldn¡¯t have to face an early end. Only problem was¡­ Once this beauty opens her eye, both of them will fall in love, right? What Angel didn¡¯t know then was that this toast will one day be the triggering point to something absolutely huge in the future. For better or for worse, none will know until then. Chapter 277 part 1 Chapter 277 ¡°Because I am Du Wei!¡± (part one) Everyone in the party was curiously looking at this intrusive beauty, wondering what her identity and rtionship was with the Duke. And Old Smoke, responsible for the banquet security outside, was somewhat surprised by this woman. How did she silently bypass the guards and break in without rming anyone? Toward this question, Dadaneier was no stranger. He¡¯s one of the few guests present who knew the truth behind Medusa¡¯s identity. A few measly guards can stop this snake woman? Dream on! Angel¡¯s heart thumped hard while she nervously eyed Queen Medusa. On one end she¡¯s happy over her sister¡¯s safety of not having to consume that life draining concoction, but on the other end¡­¡­ ¡°Who¡¯s this amazing woman?¡± As a fellow female, and as a beautiful girl with extraordinary beauty, Angel found her own curiosity faintly drawn in by Medusa. But most importantly¡­.. After drinking the ¡°Thousand Years Gaze¡±, this woman, she¡­ Why isn¡¯t she opening her eyes? She only needs to open her eyes for Du Wei to fall in love with her, right? She, she¡­ Angel carefully assessed Medusa¡¯s face, afraid she might miss that critical moment when that happens. However, to Angel¡¯s surprise, Medusa kept those eyelids shut without any inclination of ever opening them. This woman¡­ She wouldn¡¯t be blind would she? Angel¡¯s heart began to wonder. Unlike her sister¡¯s fancy little thoughts, Mrs. Lister¡¯s mind was much simpler. After having her wine sses robbed in front of her, this calctive woman that had prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice finally lost it. Her mind became empty over the devastating shock. It¡¯s over! That¡¯s thest of the seeds passed down in her family! Reacting like she¡¯s unaware of the surrounding gazesing her way, this unparalleled beauty gently ces her ss down: ¡°Hmm, I heard you are going to the imperial capital. This time you must take me with you and not leave me behind, otherwise¡­. I¡¯m going to be very angry with you.¡± Thest few words were so threatening that Du Wei found the backside of his head going numb from a slithering cold. This great snake Mistress was no subordinate of his. The only reason she¡¯s even following him around was solely dependent on her mood. If he annoys her¡­. And irritates this woman, he would have quite the trouble at hand. Thankfully without any bumps or hurdles, Queen Medusa turns around and took her leave. Behind her was a crowd people all thinking the same thing: Our young Duke here is quite the flirtatious one. Following Medusa¡¯s departure meant dreadful mood the Lister sisters were in. During the toast, both girls had an obvious paleplexion like their spirits were sucked out of them, but when asked if they were ill, the Madam became flustered and refused to say anything. Puzzled, Du Wei¡¯s heart unavoidably became suspicious, but with no clue to go on, he could only leave it be and not dwell on the matter. Later, after the toast was over, Mrs. Lister excused herself by saying she¡¯s unwell and left without waiting for the engagement to finish. Making amenting sigh, Angel took a long deep look at Du Wei before following her sister out. For many guests tonight, this was merely a small interlude for these little foreys were nothing but gossip materials when they return home. To these esteemed guests, the next part in the ceremony was what they truly considered to be the highlight of tonight¡¯s event. With the trumpeting blow of the entertainment troupe, the main entrance to the ballroom opens. Superbly dressed, Vivian finally appears in front of the public. Fifteen years of age this year, Vivian may not have the stature of a fully grown woman, nor does she have the charm of a maturedy, but she had the benefit of being pure and lovely. Indeed, the tailor and etiquette madams employed by the Duke deserved every copper of the hefty sums they were paid. For this special day, this group of specialists had poured their hearts into the young girl, dressing her up into a pure white dove that would stand out even from afar. This perfectly matched Vivian¡¯s na?ve personality and that white color represented the holy and pure nature of tonight¡¯s ritual. Vivian seems a little ufortable when she walked in. Not daring to make eye contact with anyone in the room, she became more and more nervous with every step she took. Eventually, even the bouquet in her hand was shaking due to the trembling of her body. Vivian¡¯s chest size wasn¡¯t big by any means, but due to the narrow waist design of her dress, it greatly entuated her female assets and gave off a illusionary effect. Then there¡¯s her hairstyle. After careful trimming and styling, her original supple hair was pulled up to expose her tall neck curves, giving her a more womanly taste. Now, standing before everyone tonight wasn¡¯t the same underage girl that everyone had known up till now, instead there¡¯s only a youngdy entering the realm of womanhood. This kind of appearance left Du Wei at ease¡­. No matter how he consoles himself, he¡¯s going to be quite guilty inside if he had to take a Lolita up to the engagement pedestal tonight, Somewhat nervous, Vivian¡¯s pace was faster than she should have let on. Before the etiquettedies could bow to her, this pure hearted girl had made her way up to Du Wei¡¯s side. Looking at how finely dressed she was, Du Wei¡¯s happiness could not be masked for even his eyes were smiling. Seeing the gorgeous appearance of his sweetheart, Du Wei can only guess she must have endured quite the session induced by those makeup masters. Blossoming red lips, flushing cheeks, there¡¯s no doubt in Du Wei¡¯s mind of how embarrassingly shy this girl was in front of him. Stretching out his hand to hold onto hers, he can feel a bit of sweat on that delicate palm. Smiling with great happiness, he whispered by her ears: ¡°Are you cold?¡± Vivian raises her head, blinking several times: ¡°No¡­ Not cold.¡± She mutters in a soft gentle voice. In reality, it¡¯s already the winter season. Although they are within the castle grounds with a burning ze by the firece, Vivian¡¯s outfit remains thin despite being a long dress. Plus, magicians are known to be physically weak. Feeling the cold sensation on Vivian¡¯s hand, Du Wei¡¯s heart gave birth to a great idea. Pulling her by the waist, he had her tightly bound to his body to let his warmth slowly sooth her. At first Vivian was a little surprised and nervous by the intimate posture they were in, but feeling the protective embrace she¡¯s in, her heart suddenly rxed. Many guests had their sight focused on Vivian by now. Though everyone knew beforehand the position the Lister sisters were in, then there¡¯s the episode of that mysterious beauty, but to them, those were merely gossip material. But when Vivian appeared, this pure and beautiful maiden immediately won the goodwill of all the guests with her innocent characteristics. Oh Duke¡­ Your tastes are very fine to be able tond a beautiful sorceress like Miss Vivian! ording to customs, because Du Wei¡¯s not a believer of the temple, this engagement ritual will be hosted by an elder of the family instead of a religious member. And due to Du Wei¡¯s parent being absent from the event, Marde will act as the family¡¯s elder in their ce. Marde may be a lowly horse groomer, but this servant has truly been faithful to him. To Du Wei, he¡¯s no different from family. Besides, if the Duke himself doesn¡¯t mind, who in the audience would object? After a pledge of oath, the engagement between the two will be formally set. Coming next would be the presentation of gifts by the guests. With a hundred precious pearls from the Southeastern Sea and a variety of jewelries, the title of providing the most valuable gifts would have to belong to Earl Biliaibuer. However, unlike other females that would dly fond over these worldly processions, Vivian was more inclined towards General Longbottom¡¯s gift. This 250 presented a pair of newly born sheep herding puppies from the prairie grasnd. ording to his words, the lineage of this pair was as pure and noble as theye¡­. Naturally, the other guests would likewise bestow upon the couple with their own series of gifts. Thinking about it, Du Wei can say he suddenly found himself with a tiny windfall of wealth from this engagement. After a brief and simple ceremony, the guests eventually dispersed for the night, leaving Vivian to ease that tense body of hers. Due to the low profile lifestyle she¡¯s been living up till today, it¡¯s difficult for her to suddenly adapt to these asional gatherings. Vivian was fine for a while, that was until Du Wei brought her into their room. Looking at Du Wei slowly closing the door behind him, the only route for escape, Vivian¡¯s heart began to flutter as her throat turn dry¡­.. He-he¡­ It couldn¡¯t be he wants to¡­.. Her thumping beat instantly hit 180! (Car speed analogy if anyone¡¯s wondering) Her heart may have long went to Du Wei, but prior to today¡¯s engagement, the furthest she¡¯s gone with him were merely hugs and a little kiss here and there. Sure, those little gestures may be enough to make Vivian blush for the day, but¡­.. Tonight, can it be tonight¡­.. With apletely ¡°I¡¯m a good person¡± face, Du Wei smilingly came in front of Vivian and noticed his fianc¨¦e fidgeting with her fingers like a frightened little fawn. Understanding why, he moves up to her and pulls them both to the edge of the bed. This may be Vivian¡¯s bedroom, but it¡¯s not like its Du Wei¡¯s first time in here. Furthermore, this evening was special. To Vivian, every move made by this man carried a taste of ¡°ulterior motive¡±. If the situation does devolve to that step, it doesn¡¯t necessarily mean she will resist for her hearts already prepared for what¡¯s toe. However, she¡¯s still a maiden, being tense on the first nights unavoidable. Holding Vivian¡¯s wrist, he can feel the rapid beating of her pulse: ¡°Your pulse is very fast, are you afraid of me?¡± ¡°Um ¡­¡± Nodding unconsciously, Vivian then realized that the answer was inappropriate. Hurrying to shake her head, she tries to exin: ¡°Ah no!¡± Every time he saw the wlessness in her panicking appearance, Du Wei always found himself winding up wanting to bully her: ¡°Then what¡¯s wrong?¡± He whispers in a soft gentle tone. ¡°Um ¡­¡± Noticing him drawing closer, so close that Du Wei¡¯s breathing was hitting her face, Vivian heats up like fire. Stretching her mind to the extreme, her head went nk, unable to think properly. Then unsure why, her mind suddenly recalled the stuff those etiquette madams taught her early today, those shameful things a woman does with a man in bed¡­.. Drawing close to her nerve¡¯s limit, her imagination began to run wild¡­. Does, does she really have to do those stuff? After all, this man was no longer some stranger for ¡°Du Wei¡± will one day be her husband in the future. Thinking up to here, Vivian crossed her heart and convinced herself with the same determination of someone ready to die. Still stiff in her gestures, she nervously spoke in a trembling voice: ¡°Duke, allow me¡­. To help you undress¡­..¡± She said it exactly like she was taught by thosedies. At that, her face went apple red like blood could be squeezed out of those cheeks. While her hand continues to shake, Vivian braved herself to begin the job of unbuttoning his shirt. Chapter 277 part 2 Chapter 277 ¡°Because I am Du Wei!¡± (Part two) Looking at this simple minded maiden making a wife¡¯s appearance, Du Wei could barely hold in hisughter. He had to admit, she¡¯s done her homework. Problem was, her constant stuttering impeded her attempt and caused that voice of hers to lose any sense of appeal, especially the ¡°mellow¡± aspect, there¡¯s none. Then there¡¯s her shivering hands. While trying very hard to help Du Wei unbutton his shirt, the air she gave off was more along the line of a timid person in fear than that of a lover. As she got more and more nervous with every mistake she made, Vivian eventually caved in. Going sour in her nose, her iconic tears began rolling down her eyes. Sighing, Du Wei pulls the silly girl in his arm and ces her atop of hisp. With one hand lightly holding her waist, he uses his remaining hand to wipe away those droplets: ¡°It¡¯s okay, this is my fault. I shouldn¡¯t have made you do this kind of stuff. As a man, I should have taken the initiative. Besides, it¡¯s only expected for a simple girl like you to get scared.¡± He makes a very sweet and soft smile at her. At his words, Vivian felt even worse and wrapped her arms around his neck, ¡°You¡­. Wouldn¡¯t think I¡¯m not womanly enough for you would you?¡± Womanly? Laughing, Du Wei asked: ¡°These things were taught to you by those etiquette madams today weren¡¯t they? Haha, do you even know what being womanly is? So walking with one¡¯s hip swiveling about and pinching one¡¯s nose high is called womanly?¡± Looking at Vivian¡¯s eye, Du Wei carefully exins: ¡°You know, I like you very much, but what I like is the Vivian that I know: stuttering when she talks, simple minded, extremely shy, and easy to talk to¡­..¡± ¡°But¡­.¡± Vivian acted like she¡¯s hesitant to speak her mind. But when she did break it out, her words surprised even Du Wei. ¡°But ¡­ I know, I can¡¯tpare with Mrs. Lister.¡± This sentence was very smooth, without the slightest hint of stammering. It¡¯s obvious this thought has been poking at her mind for quite a while. ¡°Why do you think so?¡± Du Wei was a little surprised by her. Faintly sighing, she speaks in a low voice: ¡°I¡­. I know the truth. Mrs. Lister, she wants to marry you. I¡­ I¡¯m not as beautiful as she is, nor as graceful. Even her sister, Angel, is more elegant than I. She¡¯s more befitting of a nobledy, while I¡­. I¡¯m merely a secluded girl without any insight of the outside world¡­. I, I¡¯m afraid. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be a good Duchess.¡± His heart ached. It seems that though this girl, though simple minded, had her own form of worries. Based on her tone, he can tell this issue¡¯s been bothering her for a long time. Making up his mind, Du Wei decides to let everything out today, avoiding any possible stress in the future. ¡°Vivian, I¡¯ll tell you the truth.¡± Du Wei tightly wraps both hands around her waist, then smiled: ¡°I admit, Mrs. Lister and her sister are both very beautiful¡­ And it¡¯s true they are very tempting. In all honesty, I¡¯m afraid few men in the world can resist their charm. But you have to understand, this ¡¯emotional temptation¡¯, and my feelings for you, arepletely different. You understand? Looking at Vivian¡¯s confused eye, Du Wei gently smiled: ¡°You need to understand a male¡¯s mind. Towards the charm of a beauty, it¡¯s a man¡¯s natural instinct to be tempted, but some will be more obvious while some have better control over their feelings. However, that¡¯s not to say every time a man gets tempted they must marry that woman as their wife. The temptation is only temporary. Saying it bluntly, a man¡¯s temptation is mostly out of physical need, an instinctive desire to mate. If¡­ Haha, if a man gets the woman and satisfy their urge, the impulse will likely disappear. But if the pair truly likes each other, that will be different. I like you very much. You make me feel at ease and I¡¯m veryfortable when I¡¯m with you. I¡¯m always very rxed and happy.¡± Speaking of this, Du Wei suddenly makes a sigh, whispering: ¡°Everyone thinks I¡¯m very glorious right now, powerful and authoritative. However, I can¡¯t go a day without feeling the stress pressing down at me. Every day I have to figure out how to calcte against others, calcte today, calcte tomorrow, it¡¯s always scheming this and that, it never ends. I¡¯m tired, I can¡¯t rest, but with you¡­..¡± Du Wei suddenly gazes into Vivian¡¯s eye, his pupils giving off a hint of infatuation: ¡°As long as I¡¯m facing you, seeing your clean smile, I can toss away the burdens in my heart. At least, at that moment, I don¡¯t have to think of anything else. What rivalry, what Northwest Army and Prairie native, I don¡¯t have to think about any of that. These feelings¡­ No one else can give me, you understand?¡± ¡°A wife is a very simple existence to me.¡± Du Wei continues: ¡°I hope my wife is that simple: always apanying me, help me watch over my home, and be my woman with all her heart. In the very least, when I¡¯m exhausted outside, return home, return to my room, I wish to see a warm smile weing me, a simple environment. With you, I don¡¯t have to think about every sentence being embedded with some profound meaning behind it, or some kind of probing. And, I don¡¯t have to worry about your every smile being fake or real¡­. This is the expectation I have for my wife, my family. Only then can I let myself go andfortably rx, be myself.¡± He then looked at Vivian and gently whispers, ¡°Only you can give me these things. As for the Mrs. Lister that you mentioned¡­ Let me tell you the truth. Whenever I talk to her, I must think twice about the meaning behind her words¡­ Even if she¡¯s more beautiful, do you think I would have fun living a life like that? Day in and day out, I have to guess at her thoughts.¡± Vivian finally bes enlightened. Slightly relieved, she couldn¡¯t resist asking again: ¡°But¡­ But, I know, Mrs. Lister, she is very, very clever. You have a lot of issues at hand, a lot of trouble, she, she can help you¡­.¡± Du Weiughs hard at her thought: ¡°Help me? Vivian oh Vivian, who told you this stuff? Am I looking for a wife or an aid? If I need help with my career, I have Philip and everyone. Philip could help me too, am I supposed to marry Philip then?¡± Vivian became shocked, eximing: ¡°Ah! He¡¯s a man though!¡± ¡°Exactly!¡± Du Wei immediately follows up: ¡°You see? If Mrs. Lister can help me in my career, I can be friends with her, or we can be allies. Let¡¯s assume she¡¯s willing, I could even hire her as my aid¡­ Why must she be my wife? Is it because she¡¯s ¡®useful¡¯ to me? You have to understand, marriage is about mutual affection, not about being ¡®useful¡¯ to the other party. If marriage bes purely based on the exchange of benefits, then what joy is there?¡± Speaking up to here, Du Wei inhales deeply: ¡°My biggest wish now is to be free to control my life and not to be manipted by others! If even my own marriage bes a chip on the table, what freedom is there to be had? Such a life, can it still be called a life?¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Du Wei frowned: ¡°There¡¯s no but.¡± He stretches out his hand and gently pinches Vivian on the nose: ¡°I¡¯ll make a my statement as simple as possible.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a big difference between you and Mrs. Lister.¡± Du Wei¡¯s eye was full of tenderness as he stared intently at the fianc¨¦e in his arms: ¡°Do you think Mrs. Lister would still marry me if I¡¯m not the Duke? You on the other hand, even if I¡¯m not the Duke, I know you will still be the same to me inside!¡± This was the real difference, and also Du Wei¡¯s sincere words! Hence the reason why Du Wei remains unmoved after the Madam relocated her entire family to the Northwest and ced all of her family¡¯s power into Du Wei¡¯s hand. This was the simple truth! Du Wei understands deeply, if he was still the same unfavoured Rowling young master from back then, Mrs. Lister would never bat an eysh at him. Even if he saved her life, the most he would get was gratefulness and not the idea of marriage. To the Madam, she¡¯s marrying the Duke of Tulip, not him, not Du Wei!! However, Vivian¡¯s different. The one she likes wasn¡¯t the Duke, but him, the same young kid from back when they were trapped on the ind and ate nt roots together, that¡¯s who Vivian liked! Feelings are not an exchange of benefits. Perhaps others would be willing to exchange their marriage for certain benefits. But I don¡¯t want to! I will go the way I choose! Because, I am Du Wei! On this night, Du Wei did not ¡°touch¡± his little fianc¨¦e. Simply put, he didn¡¯t want to destroy this flower that hasn¡¯t blossomed yet, perhaps when she¡¯s a bit more mature first. They talked about a lot of things that night, and eventually Vivian became exhausted and fell asleep in his arms. After daybreak, Du Wei left Vivian¡¯s room early in the morning, leaving behind his sleeping fianc¨¦e to tend to his daily matters. Then in the following days, Du Wei became unusually busy. Returning to the imperial capital was no casual trip in the park. As a lord of a powerful region, he would naturally have to meet many dignitaries in the process and kindle some rtionships while at the same time making new contacts. In the end, gifts will be inevitable. Du Wei¡¯ wasn¡¯t trying to curry any favors with this bunch; after all, with his current status, most would be trying to curry favors with him instead. Nevertheless, making friends was a must.¡± Then there¡¯s the issue of him leaving the Duke¡¯s castle, many things needs to be arranged before he¡¯s gone. Finally, Du Wei made a decision. Summoning his men, he announced his choice on who shall lead when he¡¯s at the capital. ¡°If there¡¯s indecision, ask Philip on internal affairs and Longbottom on external affairs!¡± In truth, thetter half of his sentence nearly came out as ¡°ask 250 on external affairs.¡± Fortunately, taking into ount of the general¡¯s identity, his words changed on thest second. In addition, Du Wei had to think long and hard regarding the candidates to apany him back to the capital. This time, he suspects there wouldn¡¯t be much danger involved. After all, the situation in imperial capital was more stable than before. And he himself currently being one of the most highly favored individuals in the empire, the likelihood of someone wishing him harm was low. As long as he doesn¡¯t encounter some peerless master of the continent, it¡¯s not an issue for him to put up a fight. However¡­¡­his worries over the dragon n mustn¡¯t be neglected. Now that the old lizard has lost a son, there¡¯s no chance the old fossil would leave him alone now. He really had to wonder if the fighting between the banished races and the dragon n was done yet. If it dide to an end, he needs to make necessary arrangements to have some master ss bodyguards around him for protection. Only issue was, Hussein became the first to be ousted from the list. Don¡¯t kid around¡­ He¡¯s the most wanted man by the Temple of Light. If someone from the temple recognizes this Saint Knight, everything will be ruined. Rodriguez too, Du Wei had to deny this great warrior for this trip. It¡¯s well known this Saint Knight yed a major role in the coup on the former crown Prince¡¯s side. If Prince Son finds out he¡¯s hiding this great swordsman, surely the Regent would not take kindly to his impudence. Then¡­. Green robe Gandalf was also banned from the list. He¡¯s the least trustworthy among his choices. Considering the old man¡¯s temperament, who knows what kind of trouble he would cause. Finally, left with no alternatives, Du Wei can only choose Queen Medusa. He¡¯s been neglecting this snake beauty long enough, and it was obvious Nicole¡¯s gradually bing more and more dissatisfied with him. She originally came out with him on the agreement that Du Wei will teach her about humanity, but most of her time¡¯s been spent sleeping in her own room. Honestly, if Du Wei were in her shoes, he would be quite grumpy about the treatment too. Also, on the day of the engagement, she¡¯s already gave word of her demands. If he goes and refuses her, then having this Queen turning on him was not something fun to experience! Fortunately, while Medusa¡¯s temperament was also on the entric side, her personality remains rtively simple. Unlike that Green Hat who would go on a rampage if he pleases, Du Wei has full confidence he can make Nicole listen to him if they do encounter any sudden issues. Besides, the strength of this beautiful snake was also very scary. Taking her on the road with him was akin to having a top notch master. Just like this, three days after the engagement, Du Wei readies everything and begins his journey back to the imperial capital. This time, beside his bodyguards and the captain (Old Smoke), he also brought along the snake beauty and the stinken bird (QQ) on the road. When leaving, the rest of the staff, as well as his fiancee Vivian, all came to send him off. As for the Lister sisters, they were missing from the audience. It turns out ever since the engagement party, Du Wei has rarely met with them again. As for that Muse brat, he intentionally tossed him somewhere far away, mainly to some of Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s students stationed across the province, because the kid was such an eyesore. Standing beside the carriage, he personally said his goodbyes to everyone, andst but not least, he gave his little fianc¨¦e a good hug. Then, just as Du Wei was about to head into the carriage, the crowd suddenly shouted in unison using their majestic voice: ¡°We pray for the Duke¡¯s return to the capital and may your dukeship be rewarded with status and wealth!¡± After that, more than ten majestic looking generals raised their middle fingers at him in unison¡­.. Facing this, Du Wei nearly flipped backwards from disbelief and shock. Looking at Vivian, he asked: ¡°This¡­ I¡¯m guessing you taught them right?¡± As a response, his beautiful fianc¨¦e followed everyone¡¯s lead and cocked her own middle finger at him. At that instance, Du Wei had a serious urge to kill himself. Gnashing his teeth, Du Wei climbed into the carriage and angrily ordered his coachman: ¡°Lufei, go!¡± Lufei: the future king of the United Kingdom in the Southeastern Sea, and Du Wei¡¯s current coachman. After spending a year in the Northwest by Du Wei¡¯s side, this young kid from back then has be more robust and taller than before. Giving Du Wei a fearful nce, he harshly whips the horse¡­. After around ten miles out of Lon City, they encountered several white horses awaiting them at the peak of a small hillside east of the main road. Looking closely, it¡¯s clearly the White Feather Knights of the Lister House. Most of the White Feather Knights has been incorporated into Du Wei¡¯s Cavalry Division by now, and these few are the remaining knights left as attendants to the Madam herself. A white Feather knight rode towards Du Wei¡¯s entourage. To indicate he held no malicious intent, this knight intentionally raised his hand up from afar to show he¡¯s unarmed. Seeing this White Feather Knight, Du Wei¡¯s heart moved¡­. ¡°Your Dukeship.¡± The knight rode up to Du Wei¡¯s carriage and promptly made a saluting bow, then politely said: ¡°Under the Marquise¡¯s order, we¡¯ve been waiting here for your lordship. The Marquise said your return to the capital will be quite busy, but with your distinguished status, there are bound to be some small matters you are unable to care for in person. Our Lister House has many businesses and manpower left in the capital, if you need, you can utilize them to your will. The Madam ordered me to hand this badge to you. With this, you can dispatch any resource under the Lister Household.¡± After that, he got off his mount and respectfully hands the badge over to the carriage window. Without another word, he turns to his horse without forgetting to pay his respect, then departed by riding away like he came. Looking at the departing knight, Du Wei squeezed the badge in his hand and exhaled deeply. This woman still hasn¡¯t given up¡­.. What should he expect on this second return to the capital, and what will be awaiting him when he arrives, oh the anticipation! Chapter 278 part 1 Chapter 278 ¡°Bloody¡± (Part one) Their motorcade moved slowly towards their destination. The return to the capital wasn¡¯t an urgent matter, purely in attendance to the year-end feast. Calcting the travel time, it would take approximately twenty days to arrive. Du Wei¡¯s in no rush to get there anyways, even if he does arrive early, it will only extend the number of endless feasts atop of the main one with the Regent. Setting off for ten days, their journey pushes them through the Nuling province, and along the way, he made sure to give Governor Bohan a visit for this loyal official of the empire never received his invitation to the banquet by Prince Son. Prior to the former crown prince¡¯s failed coup, Bohan would always return to the capital for the annual feast and to receive his usualmendation for his service. But since that incident, he hasn¡¯t returned to the capital at all, an obvious sign he¡¯s losing the trust and favor of those high above, also the consequence of his faction losing power. However, Bohan seems to have epted this reality with no impulses of frustration. On the contrary, Bohan became frank, asking Du Wei to help him visit his family members in the imperial capital and to help bring gifts for him. ording to the customs of the empire, every governor of a province like Bohan, an important figure with military control, would always leave behind their families in the capital when taking office. The reasoning behind this was obvious enough so boration was not needed. Another ten days ¨C a total of twenty by now ¨C of traveling in the carriage, their group has officially left the boundaries of the Nuling province and would technically ce them in the central regions of the empire. If they continued like this, they would eventually reach a port connecting to the Lancang Grand Canal after heading east then south on the main road. By boarding a ship there, and then heading down river, they would be able to directly travel into the imperial city without any hurdles. Although taking thend route would be a bit faster, a boat was far morefortable. Besides, Du Wei already prepared a ship in the port to be awaiting his arrival. Mingfan Port was one of the most upstream harbors on the Lancang Grand Canal, also thest stop for anyone wishing to head west. Any further, the original excavation work done on the Grand Canal woulde to an end and the main river would fork into several smaller tributaries with dangerous winding rivers. As thest stop on the main river before breaking into the smaller streams to the west, this harbor would always be one of the busiest stops at the end of the year. In many cases, the level of livelihood here would beparable to the annual summer festival. Countless caravan groups have to go in and out of this ce yearly, the western caravans rushing to head home before the year end, while the eastern caravans have to take advantage of this time to transport their goods to the northwest before winter hits. At this time of the year, the river would always be busy with ships actively moving about. As an ind harbor, Mingfan Port can already be called very big in terms of scale; however, on this day the dock remains fully parked with merchant vessels, forcing many of the smaller merchants to stay at the local inn in await of their turn. This was a matter of necessity; after all, the cost of river transportation was far cheaper than that of onnd, usually upwards of four times as expensive. It can¡¯t be helped,nd requires wagons and a convoy, while a big ship can transportrge amounts of goods in one go. Du Wei and his people arrived at Mingfan Port around the evening this day. Thanks to this bustling port, the small town located on the side benefited greatly as a result and has be a lively market due to the exchange of goods from the traveling caravans. With the big influx of fanciful goods, there are a lot of shops opened here and even some high end porcin stores for a poption no more than twenty thousand, this urrence was very rare indeed. Prior to Du Wei¡¯s arrival, he didn¡¯t bother sending people out to inform the local mayor and security officer. As a result, they were directly stuck outside the town. There are simply too many merchant groups here. From rumors of these few days, this little town had received over forty caravan groups, packing the local inns full to the brim. Forget about finding a room to stay, even the kitchens were booked, and the warehouses around the port, those had long been stuffed full of goods. For some of the caravans that often frequented the northwest, they were used to the outdoor lifestyle anyways. Instead of sending people into town to check for vacancies, these people would rather set up camp on either side of the main road to save themselves the trouble. The streets were not too broad to begin with in this little town, adding in the many convoys and horses clogging up the space, Du Wei¡¯s convoy ended up wasting two hours before they reached the port. Finally, when the river official in the port saw the family emblem of Du Wei¡¯s entourage, both the mayor and security officer of the town hurriedly ran over to wee this Duke. It¡¯s not that the river official was versed in the knowledge of emblemry, rather, the ¡°Burning Tulip¡± insignia was too iconic here, there¡¯s only one in the empire! Even an idiot would recognize it. Due to the shortage of rooms in the local inn, the mayor proposed to use his home as a resting ce for Du Wei but was firmly refused. Instead, Du Wei¡¯s decision was to board the ship immediately. But when Du Wei asked for the time of his departure, the river official¡¯s face turned terribly grey, cold sweat filled his forehead as he stammered his words: ¡°Yo-your honor¡­ I¡¯m afr-afraid it will be difficult. Then, under Du Wei¡¯s doubtful gaze, the river official reluctantly exined the reasons. Du Wei¡¯s ship has been parked in the harbor for many days. It was because Du Wei¡¯s casually slow travel pace along the way that has caused this to happen. The river official didn¡¯t know when he would arrive. In order to vacate a spot, this guy ordered the ship to be moved into a smaller watercourse channel to free up some room. Du Wei¡¯s ships are after all sea worthy, even the smallest was many timesrger than ind vessels used for something like the Grand Canal. Out of consideration for this busy peak season, the river official thought it be a waste to let a unused ship upy a berth that could park over two merchant boats. Returning the fifteen days¡¯ worth of parking fee, the spot that was originally reserved for Du Wei was bumped for other traveling merchant ships. This guy originally thought the Duke would be furious over his decision, but Du Wei just smiled and patted this pale faced river official on the shoulder: ¡°Hmm, the me is not on you, it¡¯s my fault. You¡¯re a very good official¡­ Well then, I¡¯ll just stay on the boat for tonight, but I like to know when I would be able to take my ship out onto the river.¡± ¡°Probably tomorrow¡­. Tomorrow morning.¡± The river official breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Alright.¡± Du Wei shrugged his shoulders:¡± Well then gentlemen, don¡¯t be too nervous, for me, it¡¯s also a wonderful experience to have a close look at Mingfan port¡¯s night scenery.¡± Sending both men away, Du Wei even refused the security officer¡¯s goodwill of deploying soldiers to his location. This was after all the busy season and the town only had two hundred security soldiers. If they sent anymore men over, the staffing problem would be even more intense, ¡°You¡¯re not going to punish these officials? They upied your berth despite your payment.¡± When everyone left, Queen Medusa asked Du Wei: ¡°This doesn¡¯t seem to fit with what I know of your human nobility¡¯s usual doing.¡± ¡± ¡°The nobles doing?¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Who told you these doings?¡± ¡°Your fianc¨¦e.¡± Queen Medusa¡¯s tone was very calm: ¡°In the town outside the capital where she apanied me during those days, I had her read a lot of your human books to me. ording to what I know of your human nobilities, I¡¯m afraid they would have immediately ordered the river official to be hoisted up and whipped.¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°He¡¯s a good official. My ship may not have raised our g while parked here, but there are sailors and a captain aboard, there¡¯s no way he wouldn¡¯t have known who it belonged to. Even so, he still did it, meaning he¡¯s a very pragmatic officer. The fault lies not with him, but with me.¡± The ship in question was a Sea Cloud ss warship, but for the ind rivers, Du Wei¡¯s ship could be called very big already. That night Du Wei boarded this seaworthy ship using a small boat, the only thing keeping him from departing now was the go ahead from the river official. By early next day, his ship finally docks in the berth for loading. The river official and security officer both came to see Du Wei off that morning. Knowing the Duke¡¯s about to leave, they both breathed a sigh of relief knowing their worries are about toe to an end. Du Wei may have been friendly enough while in their presence, but his status was simply too big, no lowly town official can afford to risk offending such a bigshot. While in the middle of a tea session inside his cabin, Du Wei¡¯s leisure time was interrupted by a loud mor of shouts and harsh words from the outside. The voices didn¡¯t seem far away, thus catching his attention. Ordering his men to open the cabin window, he immediately saw a group of Northwest Natives dressed in fur making a ruckus under his boat, and some had even climbed atop of his ship, giving the sailors some bruises in the process. Fortunately Du Wei¡¯s guard saw this and rushed up. With both sides drawing their weapons, a confrontation ensues. These grasnd natives appeared outrageously rude and hard to reason with. Seeing Du Wei¡¯s guard, although armed with swords, these brutes not only didn¡¯t back down, their voices grew even louder. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Du Wei turned his head back to the river official and security officer behind him, causing the two to break out in sweat on their foreheads. Not waiting for Du Wei to order him, the security officer apologizes and rushes out to gather the soldiers standing vigntly not far away from their location. Even so, the natives showed no sign of backing down. After another hail of shouts from some of the more daring individuals, another group of these unruly brutes ran over and surrounded the pier on all sides, easily outnumbering the defending soldiers. These grasnd natives may be traders in name, but they¡¯re culturally inclined towards violence whenever they deemed it necessary, thus the reason for them being armed with scimitars. Not wanting to be caught up in the dangerous conflict, the onlookers all stepped back out of fear of being dragged into the mess. Although the security officer personally intervened, the natives didn¡¯t give a care and began cursing at the poor guy in all sorts of manner. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Du Wei turned his head again and cast a stare at the river official: ¡°Are these prairie merchants always so outrageous here? Even in the face of the imperial security officer, they are so defiant.¡± Against the bitter expression and hesitant attitude of this river official, Du Wei turns cold: ¡°And here I was looking well on you from yesterday¡¯s encounter. Why are you cowering in front of these grasnd foreigners, did you take bribes from them?¡± ¡°Absolutely not!¡± The river official bolted at the usation and poured everything out. So in Mingfan Harbor here, this ce acts as one of the main stopping hub for those wishing to take to the river, and among many of them are merchant groups hailing from the grasnd. As prairie natives, their personalities are culturally unruly with the tendency to fight. To these foreigners, the one with the hardest fist is the boss. In particr are times like this where the harbor¡¯s packed full of vessels, no caravan trade group would be willing to abide by the rules and await for proper amodation from the port officials. However, dishonest merchants would only at most quietly try to bribe their way in. Coming up to here, Du Wei smirked at him: ¡°Oh, you must have earned a lot recently then?¡± ¡°No, of course not!¡± The river official hurries to exin himself, his face depressingly glum: ¡°Your Dukeship, I may hold a small bit of authority in my hands, but I would never ept bribes! My men too, I would often warn them severely of the consequences for taking bribes and randomly arranging the ships! You can send someone to inquire. The people in town all know of my reputation and my whips for breaking the rule!¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°Hmm, alright, since you got the courage to dy even my ship, then I can tell your ethics are trustworthy enough based on your actions. Well then, let¡¯s talk about those prairie people instead.¡± The river official a made a hateful face: ¡°Your lordship¡­.. If it were caravan groups from the empire, the most they would do is make some petty gestures like bribery and such, but these prairie natives don¡¯t do that. If they are ever in need of a cabin or warehouse for their goods, they would often simply pull out their knives to take by force!¡± ¡°Continue.¡± Du Wei went dark, his expression unreadable. ¡°The prairie natives had always done business using these barbaric methods, but because of the huge profits involved, many businessmen would take the risk regardless of the danger involved by dealing with these people. Among the merchant groupsing to Mingfan Harbor, around ten to twenty percent are from the prairie grasnd. And¡­. And the differences, they are often very united. If one group enters into a dispute with anyone else, the other trade groups woulde running with one blow of the whistle, armed and ready to fight. It¡¯s been quite the headache managing them. Even in the face of the local security soldiers, these natives wouldn¡¯t hesitate in the least to draw their des. Mingfan Harbor only has two hundred security soldiers, it¡¯s fine if we only need to deal with a single trade group from the grasnd, but if more than one gathers up together, it won¡¯t just be a dozen or so people anymore, the numbers might go up to a hundred.¡± ¡°During busy times like these, there¡¯s bound to be tensions on the harbor. If the goods stay in storage for a day, then that¡¯s an extra day of profits lost. In order to rob a warehouse or spot from others, these natives would often employ amon trick bying up to the port to see which berth space was open. Or if a ship was in the middle of loading their cargo, these barbarians would gather enough of their men and swarm the victim¡¯s ship and stay there, refusing to leave under any circumstances, some would even throw other peoples cargo into the river if they are ill tempered. Then if other caravan groupse reason with these natives, the only reply they would get was the draw of the knife. Even if the security soldiers arrive to handle the situation, they would just sit their asses on the deck, refusingply. Because of all these past experiences, the merchant groups here will usually consider it their misfortune and move out of the way if they encounter them. Merchants are out to make a profit, not to put their lives on the line. While these native traders on the other hand, they are different. Regardless of the conflict, they would fight like their lives depended on it. They are rogues without any semnce of order.¡± Chapter 278 part 2 Chapter 278 ¡°Bloody¡± (Part two) The more he listened, the gloomier Du Wei became, ¡°And the security office here just sits idly by and does nothing? What about the businessmen that has suffered losses, are there no reports orints?¡± He asked with contempt in his voice ¡°Of course there is¡­ But Sir, as I said just now, the security office is understaffed¡­¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± Du Wei became infuriated: ¡°What understaffed, I only see cowardice! The temperament of the prairie natives are like wolves, prey on the weak and cower in front of the strong. If you guys had steeled yourselves and fixed them before, things wouldn¡¯t havee to this point!!¡± Upon hearing this, the river official upped his head and defends himself, ¡°Your Dukeship! I understand everything you just said, and¡­.. We did make the effort. However, the oues were¡­. it made us cold to our bones!¡± Du Wei became stunned: ¡°¡­. Tell me.¡± ¡°Last year of this time the natives were running rampant. To remedy the situation, I and the security officer at the time became determined and decided to teach them a lesson once and for all. We gathered every security soldier in town and armed most of the river workers for the ensuing fight. They were vicious, attacking other merchants, robbing their space, and destroying other people¡¯s goods, such acts have long defied thews of the empire! Moreover, after our people went to confront them, these bastards resisted our arrests and openly attacked us! A crime on top of a crime. After a grim struggle, three of our soldiers died with dozens more injured. In total, we apprehended more than sixty of these barbaric mongrels! Although we grieved greatly over our dead, but we were convinced it was for the greater good if we can clean up this corruption! By normal standards, these criminals should¡¯ve been sent to death by imperial decree, or in the very least sent to Sin City to beborers! ¡°Yes, you did a good job.¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°And then?¡± ¡°And then?¡± The river official looked him in the eyes with grief and indignation: ¡°My lord, guess what happenedter.¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart skipped a beat for he can vaguely guess the results. The river official¡¯s face was grey as gnashed his teeth, ¡°Later, the sixty or so prairie natives that we confined were ordered to be released, even their cargo and horses were returned! Worst of all, the pension for the families of the dead were dyed for several months before it was handed down! As for the security officer in charge of that arrest, the poor guy was removed from his post in the end! My lord, don¡¯t you agree that the results are bone chilling? We are not afraid of the prairie natives, but with oue of our efforts¡­. This¡­.¡± In the end the river official suddenly turned red in the eyes, tears slowly sliding down from the corners. Hearing the story, Du Wei could not say single word. He¡¯s well aware of the Empire losing control over the Northwest in recent years. For fear of rebellion, the officials back in the capital are blindly seeking security by constantly appeasing the prairie natives. It¡¯s not like Du Wei never seen the outrageousness of the prairie merchants. In fact, back when he met Governor Bohan in the Nuling Province, he had already seen the knife drawing habits of intimidation from these barbarians. That¡¯s a provincial governor of the Empire we¡¯re talking about here, imagine what it must be like for a lowly port official. Because of Du Wei¡¯s strict approach to governing the Desa Province, and what became of the battle of Anglia City, the prairie merchants would remain honest while traversing on hisnd. However, once they are in the central regions of the empire, that¡¯s a whole different matter once you include the weak minded approach of the governing officials, they be even more unscrupulous! Judging this river official, he seems to be a hot blooded patriot, but sadly, due to the weak minded policy from above, his heart¡¯s been thoroughly hurt. Thinking up to here, Du Wei stood up and passed a handkerchief to the guy: ¡°Alright, wipe your tears first. These things are not your fault and I can understand why you are so hurt.¡± Receiving the handkerchief from him, the river official not only didn¡¯t stop weeping, the tears flowed even harder. Not minding the sobbing cries, Du Wei walks up to the cabin entrance and peers outside, he can tell the ruckus was bing louder and louder. These prairie natives are increasing in numbers as they gather, around a hundred or so now. After seeing Du Wei only had around thirty to fifty on deck, their attitude became even more arrogant and unruly. From their experience, a little intimidation now should be enough to make these weak minded Rnd people forfeit their spot. Sweating profusely, the security officer attempts to stop the intruders with only a couple of soldiers he found: ¡°All of you get back!¡± He shouts again at the leader of the mob: ¡°You bastards, this is not your ce to be! This ship here is for official use, not some private vessel you can take! It belongs to a nobleman!¡± Not waiting for the officer to finish his words, the leader of the mob raises his scimitar and loudly scolds back: ¡°I care not if it¡¯s a freight ship or a private ship! All I know is that our goods been in the warehouse for well over a day, and the more dy there is, the closer winteres to an end. Do you expect my leather to sell during the warm season? Even if it¡¯s a private ship, we are going to have it transport our cargo! What noble? We prairie people don¡¯t care so stuff it!¡± ¡°Nonsense! That¡¯s nonsense!¡± This security officer seems to be an ipetent person by the anxiousness creeping up in that voice of his: ¡°There¡¯s plenty of caravans waiting for days already, how can you demand this when you only waited a day? Listen to me and go back, otherwise, if you anger the prominent person aboard, you¡­..¡± ¡°We will what!¡± Outrageously rude, the prairie leader points his de right up to the officer¡¯s face and derisivelyughs: ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re robbing the ship, we¡¯re merely borrowing it!¡± Seeing the security officer losing control of the scene, some of the more unruly ones mouthed off against the soldiers and began pushing forward. Before long, the defenders were losing ground with every retreating step. Watching the ipetence, Du Wei sneers in contempt and calls for Captain Old Smoke to hand down hismand. Running out immediately after getting the order from his lord, Old Smoke whispered a few words into security officer¡¯s ear and caused quite the stir. Lapsing out for a moment, the officer gave an incredulous look like he couldn¡¯t believe his own ears. Not missing the opportunity, the unruly mob rushed forward and swarmed aboard the ship, at the same time, the river official lost his bnce in the chaos and fell into the river. There were many other vessels on the side and many crowds of people from different caravans watching this unfold on the dock. They may be from different regions of the empire, but they all had the same mindset and expression right now: shaking their head in disappointment over the ipetence of their protectors. Receiving Du Wei¡¯s order, all of his men aboard the deck intentionally made way for the intruders so they can board ¨C around a hundred prairie natives crowded around the deck. Likely because they had done this sort of robbery so many times, their maneuvers were very smooth without any wasted efforts. Calling out to his men, the leader orders: ¡°Send a few of our brothers into the interior and find us some empty cabins, then get some of our men out to the warehouses and transport everything over! The reste with me!¡± After that, this prairie man grins at the security officer sshing about in the river: ¡°We¡¯re on the boat now! If you want us to get off then you will need to ask my scimitar and my brothers here if they are willing!¡± By now Du Wei was standing atop of the second level of deck. Seeing the daringness of the people below him, he grins coldly: ¡°OLD SMOKE!¡± ¡°My lord!¡± Old Smoke answered immediately from the side. ¡°Pass my order down, raise our g, and then¡­¡­ Have someone remove the boarding nks! NONE OF THESE FOOLISH PUPS SHALL LEAVE HERE!¡± The rioting mob finally calms down after a brief period of mor, but just as they wanted to carry out their orders, these people noticed the strange behavior of the sailors on deck. Reporting this to their leader, the underlings were abruptly interrupted by the booming sound of the horn blowing. From the side of the gpole, the banner of a ming golden tulip rapidly rose from the string¡­. Attracted by the horn, they all looked up and saw the g fluttering in the air. Knowing who this banner belongs to; most of the intruders had a major change in their expressions! Even the unruly leader turned ghastly pale when seeing the g. These prairie people are here to do business so it¡¯s a must that they pass through Du Wei¡¯s territory. After the great battle of Anglia City, the prairie natives lost over twenty thousand of theirrades, and even their respected Gold Wolf Head General was yed in the process. Above all, a white robed shaman was one of the casualties in that fight, how can they not know of the Tulip g after that? Also, in the aftermath of the battle, many of the captives were either beheaded, or strapped to a cross shaped pole to be paraded around the province! Such bloody means has deeply engraved the terror of Du Wei¡¯s name into these peoples heart! The natives of the grasnd are like wolves, bully the weak and fear the strong. With Du Wei¡¯s bloody means, coupled with the ughtering of the prisoner and the exposure of the corpses in the sun, no trading caravan from the grasnd will dare act rashly while in the Desa Province. So, now that the Tulip banner was flying in the air, everyone present was terrified with some eximing out of reflex¡­. At this time, dozens of fully armed Tulip soldiers had rushed out onto the deck from both sides. Equipped with military crossbows, their bolts are locked and aimed true to the densely packed group of intruders. By now the natives are in full panic mode, and the leader himself had lost all semnce of the unruly man he portrayed moments ago: ¡°We¡­ We are merchants, you can¡¯t hurt us so casually ¡­ We¡­ ¡± Still standing at the second level of the deck, Du Wei dispassionately asked the river official nearby: ¡°Hmm, I ask you, ording to imperialw, what¡¯s the punishment for offending a duke?¡± ¡°This¡­ should fall under ¡®contempt of thew¡¯, thirtyshes for a heavy punishment, and something light should be¡­..¡± Lashes of the whip? Du Wei sneered in disdain: ¡°Hmm, what if it¡¯s not ¡®offence¡¯, but assassination? What¡¯s the charge of conspiring to assassinate a duke?¡± Shuddering at Du Wei¡¯s question, the river official understood now what he intends to do: ¡°Assassination¡­. Is, is death on sight¡­.¡± ¡°Very good.¡± Du Wei smiles, his finger pointing to the people down below: ¡°You are the local official here so you be my witness! My g was clearly raised, yet they still swarmed my ship with weapons. If they are not trying to assassinate me, than what else can it be?¡± The river official felt a chill run through his spine. The Duke¡¯s smile may be mild and vague, but the image of a bloodthirsty lion was as clear as day in front of this river worker. Nodding repeatedly, he didn¡¯t dare saying anything out of script: ¡°Yes, yes, I will know how to write my report!¡± ¡°Very good, you¡¯re very good, I see bright futures for you.¡± Du Wei gave only this praise and turns around to Old Smoke instead: ¡°Have your men begin.¡± When thismand came out, the river official went numb on his legs. Fortunately the guy stabilized himself before so his didn¡¯t fall. Clearly trembling in his voice, ¡°My lord¡­ you¡­.¡± Ignoring him, Du Wei gave more orders to Old Smoke: ¡°All assassins are to be beheaded¡­. Hmm, don¡¯t these natives have a habit of making human stakes with their victims head? So many heads here, I¡¯m sure we can get a hundred or so out of them. Have their heads staked on the dock for three days in the open sun!¡± Finishing his words, Du Wei pats the river official on the shoulder with a sincere smile: ¡°This way, your work on the port will be much easier from now on.¡± Du Wei¡¯s smile had not an ounce of re, but to the river official¡¯s eye, this was the incarnation of cruelty¡­.. Pale and unable to think properly, thest thing the river official remembered was the Duke¡¯sst piece ofmand: ¡°y them all without restraint, leave none alive!¡± Chapter 279 part 1 Chapter 279 ¡°Boat Ride¡± (Part one) Dozens of military crossbows, mainly used only by the royal guards or the elite troops of the army legions in the empire, not even the ordinary soldiers of the army can be equipped with them. By utilizing a mechanical noose to project their bolts, the arrows fired from these weapons can pierce even a soldier¡¯s armor. Known as ¡°Armor Piercing Arrow¡±, the cost of manufacturing each bolt was not only costly, it¡¯s outright difficult to procure. Fortunately, with Du Wei¡¯s wealth and resources, only he can afford to equip each of his bodyguards with these lethal weapons. Now, forget about armor, these rabbles atop of the deck didn¡¯t even have leathers for armor, merely coats of fur you would find anywhere. Moreover, Du Wei¡¯s mind was merciless. In secret, he had ordered his people to design the bolts into a three pronged shape. Once shot, the blood loss would increase exponentially on the victims wound and make it difficult to mend the bleeding. Now with Du Wei¡¯s go head in killing everyone, these Tulip soldiers will show no mercy! After a short volley of the crossbow, about a portion of the prairie natives fell victim. Watching theirrades¡¯ drop one by one, these thugs finally came out of their shock and understood one thing: these Rnd people are serious about ending them! Howling in rage, the majority of these people are inherently ferocious. Seeing there¡¯s no chance of escape, they instead raised their scimitars and charged forward at their assants. They knew full well, unless they strike a path through this blockade, there¡¯s no way they can live! Unfortunately, the moment of hesitation from then was enough to give the Tulip soldiers time to reload and fire another volley of arrows. With the addition of the second volley, the numbers of intruders were only left with no more than half. Even for those still left alive on the floor, their deaths weren¡¯t far away as they groaned in agonizing pain while blood seeped from their wounds. Knowing its time, the guards tossed away their crossbows and drew their swords. Charging at the prairie natives, they began their final sweep at the enemies before them! Although these natives are ferocious, but they are neverthelessmon rabbles, how can theypete with Du Wei¡¯s highly trained soldiers? Many of his men are ranked individuals. Even against ordinary soldiers, one can take several at once if needed! Around thirty or so soldiers stormed into the crowd, swinging their swords without mercy. These thugs originally wanted to rely on their fierceness to survive, but it didn¡¯t long for them to fall into despair at their futile efforts. These Tulip soldiers held nothing back as they sliced and diced, making quick work of the vegetables and fruits before them. In less time it took to sip a cup of tea, not a single intruder was left standing! Though there¡¯s not a single casualty among the thirty guards, everyone looked retched from the amount of blood covering their faces and armor. Meanwhile, Du Wei continues to watch on from above with a gentle smile like he¡¯s seeing some kind of beautiful scenery. As for the river official, he looked deathly ill. Never in his life did this river official witness such bloodshed, such brutality! He¡¯s after all merely a small town official, how can he endure so much carnage in one day? Moreover, these Tulip soldiers fought like they have gone mad, ruthless and cold as they chopped through arms and legs like they were nothing. Some of the flesh and blood was still dripping or clinging onto the railings! Nauseated, the river official couldn¡¯t keep it in and began throwing up while Du Wei watched him from the side with a pleasantly sweet expression. Some of these Tulip ¡®guards¡¯ were selected from veterans that had experienced the battle of Anglia City. On that day they watched on bared witness to the brutality of the native army. After witnessing their college¡¯s head being decapitated and turned into human stakes, how can they possibly go soft of these people? A river of blood flowed through the deck while broken limbsy scattered across the board. For some that were lucky enough to survive the first volley, they were either crying out for mercy or desperately crawling away in hopes of getting away. But these faithful guards will have none of that. Executing Du Wei¡¯s order with no chance of failure, these men prowled back and forth between the mounds of bodies and followed up with another stab of their de to the back, regardless of whether or not the victim¡¯s dead or alive. The river officer was so out of his wits by now that he couldn¡¯t resist asking in a whisper: ¡°Duke, Duke¡­ This, they are already dead. Their heads, we can leave their heads¡­..¡± Indifferent to the question, Du Wei looks to Old Smoke to answer the river official: ¡°Sir, you don¡¯t know this. Head stakes are a favorite custom among the prairie natives! If you want to object, feel free to ask my brothers down there if they are willing. I warn you though, among them are those that had to witness their brothers being killed and turned into human stakes!¡± As soon as the river official heard this, he hurries to shut his mouth by cupping it. It was then that there came the sshing sound of someone drowning. Du Wei originally thought it was from a dying native attempting to flee by jumping off the deck, but his spections were immediately answered by a report from someone. Unbelievably, it was the same ipetent security officer from before. Seeing the carnage and bloodshed unfolding above the ship, this cowardly man was so out of his wits that he lost his bearings again and fell back into the river. Making a disdainful smile, Du Wei had his men go salvage that shameful guy. Then turning to the river official next to him, he pats the guy on the shoulder with a great bigugh: ¡°Well then, the smell of blood here it too pungent, why don¡¯t you and I go downstairs into the cabins and talk some more.¡± ¡°No¡­. No need.¡± The river official inhales deeply and then solemnly said, ¡°Your excellency, now that this has happened¡­. Hmm, there are still two to three caravan groups from the grasnd. Knowing their usual doings, I fear they will make a fuss and riot after getting wind of the news here.¡± Picking his brow, Du Wei made a soft smile: ¡°Oh, is that so?¡± He then loudly called over Old Smoke andmanded: ¡°You are to personally take half of the brothers here, along with the river official, and disembark into town. Help him deal with anything rted to the prairie merchants. If those people dare make trouble, you know what to do.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± The chilling tone in Old Smoke¡¯s voice caused the river official to shudder at the thought: ¡°If anyone makes trouble, we will kill on sight! ¡°Very good, go then.¡± Du Wei nodded. It¡¯s then the river official found his legs giving way like there¡¯s a tonne of weight attached to them. He can only hope these prairie merchants would behave themselves somewhat, otherwise it¡¯s going to be a big deal in town today. If the Duke¡¯s soldiers does kill everyone in the native caravans, then¡­ Oh goddess of light, please let these savages be more sensible!¡± Du Wei¡¯s men¡¯s were very efficient. In no less than an hour, all of the heads from this skirmish were lopped off and quickly impaled with a stake. Then gathering them all in one spot on the pier, these heads were disyed for all to see. This event had already blown up across the whole port and town because everyone that was watching from afar saw how bloody the scene was. Never in their imaginations did the crowds of people expect the lord aboard the ship to be so gruesomely ruthless. Not only did he order the thugs to be killed, he even had their heads decapitated and impaled with a pole as demonstration! Many attempted to inquire about Du Wei¡¯s background. For those close enough to get a glimpse of Du Wei¡¯s banner, these people immediately understood why and thought it was only to be expected! Without doubt, there¡¯s only this young man who would dare do something like this to these prairie savages. And the river officials ¡®prayer¡¯ seems to have worked. When the other two to three caravan groups in town heard of this news, some that had their brains ignited immediately pulled out their scimitars and wanted to fight. However, that all came to a halt once Old Smoke and his men came rushing over with murderous air surrounding themselves. It did help greatly when there¡¯s plenty of blood stains and remnants of human flesh clinging onto the armor and weapons. The prairie natives are inherently afraid of the strong and bully the weak. In the face of a hundred or so soldiers radiating killing intent, these native merchants naturally lost any will to resist and could only behave themselves. Some with more brains secretly sent people out to the dock to inquire about the event. Therefore, when the messengers returned with more details and the horrifying scene of all those human stakes on the pier, every single one of the remaining merchants from the grasnd broke out into cold sweat. With Du Wei¡¯s ughtering, much courage was inspired today and Mingfan Port will thereafter never suffer from the provocation of the prairie natives again. asionally there would be some small quarrel with the native merchants, but whenever this happened, the locals would point to the direction of today¡¯s battle and say with puffed out chests: ¡°Last time there¡¯s a hundred heads here, do you want to be the hundred and one?¡± Often when these words are spelled out, the grasnd merchants would lose all grounds in retaliation. After this event, the security of the Mingfan port became exceptionally good and practically every merchant became grateful to this Duke Tulip. Though the methods used by Du Wei today was cruel and ruthless, inspiring fear among his victims, but it¡¯s precisely because of this fierceness that everyone respects the Duke. Chapter 279 part 2 Chapter 279 ¡°Boat Ride¡± (Part two) After killing so many people, Du Wei couldn¡¯t just leave immediately anymore. Getting his people to clean up the bodies and wash the deck, this easily took up half the day before everything¡¯s done. Besides, the matter was done by him, he can¡¯t just leave like this; otherwise the river official will be screwed. He¡¯s after all not the type to do things without worrying about the consequences. Others may enjoy themselves and leave behind a mess for others to clean up, but not him, he¡¯s not that repugnant. Once the river official made his report, he will sign his name on the document. This way around, those above will know what to do and not make things difficult for the poor guy. At the very least, his career will be protected. As for the security officer, Du Wei could care less after witnessing his performance today. The guy may be a low ranking officer, but he¡¯s still a ranked personal in the imperial military! But in the face of aggressive provocation from foreign personals, this ipetent fool actually fell into the river without so much as a blow! As a military officer, such ipetence was beyond rescue. In Du Wei¡¯s opinion, it be better if this guy was removed from his post! Just like that, Du Wei spent another day in Mingfan Port before raising his sail and heading off for his destination. In order to leave from the dock, every ship must wait their turns in line to depart onto to the main river, but when they saw Du Wei¡¯s banner flying overhead, every ship nearby proactively moved out of the way in concession. Du Wei didn¡¯t know why at first, but when someone from down below reported to him it was all because of yesterday¡¯s massacre, he finally got it. These people were showing their gratitude for helping them vent their frustrations at the prairie merchants. ¡°Yourmand from yesterday differs from what I know of your human customs.¡± On deck and facing the gentle breeze, Queen Medusa raises her own doubt in a gentle whisper while standing shoulder to shoulder with Du Wei. ¡°Hmm, say it then.¡± Du Wei smiles. ¡°ording to what I know, most of you humans believe in the goddess of light, and the teachings of the goddess of light are based on forgiveness, not advocating violence. Hmm, besides, I¡¯ve heard that you humans have philosophers that preaches, ¡®Violence can¡¯t solve all problems¡¯, isn¡¯t it so? But yesterday you used the most violent and bloody means possible to solve the issue the moment you stepped in. I¡¯ve always found you very different from the people in those books I read.¡± Du Wei ponders the question for a while, then showed a great smile: ¡°Well then, dear Nicole, why don¡¯t we continue on our lessons today?¡± Looking back and forth, his sight quickly fell onto a boat parked not far away next to the shore. The vessel was vastly different from the merchant ships actively moving about on the river. With brightly colored sails, one could faintly hear the sounds of woman giggling from the inside. In addition, the ship wasn¡¯t packed with the usually rugged looking sailors found elsewhere, instead, there were many gorgeously dressed women waving their silken handkerchiefs at the passerby¡¯s. If sniffing the air, a faint aroma of strong wine could be caught fluttering about. ¡°There¡¯s a boat over at that ce.¡± Du Wei stretches out a hand and points to the distance. Chuckling, he continues: ¡°I know you can¡¯t open your eyes and see, but with your spirit senses, I know you can determine what¡¯s happening inside.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Medusa answers with her usual indifferent voice. ¡°Then, I tell you, that ship is not some proper ce. Technically, it¡¯s a brothel on a river. These plying merchant ships with their sailors on board must find some kind of entertainment after spending so much time on the water. With nowhere else to vent their manly frustrations, these kind of brothel ships are one of the most popr attractions to a sailor.¡± At that, Du Wei inadvertently peered over to his side. Sure enough, several of the sailors were wandering their eyes over to that ship, a sense of longing were stered onto their faces. ¡°Brothels?¡± Medusa frowned: ¡°What is a brothel? The books I read never mentioned anything like that.¡± Du Wei bellowed out augh: ¡°The books you know are all read to you by my fianc¨¦. Haha¡­ The little sweetheart is super shy herself, how can she possibly recite such embarrassing things to you? Besides, most of our human books only know how to record pious things, rarely would you find anything demeriting in those literary books.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have tough at me, tell me what is that ce.¡± ¡°A brothel, is a ce where men find women.¡± Du Wei¡¯s face was frank when he said it: ¡°Men always want to vent their desires, and these women are using their bodies to make money by satisfying that desire. You can say it¡¯s a kind of exchange.¡± ¡°You mean to say¡­ Mating?¡± Medusa bluntness left Du Wei speechless. Smiling wryly, Du Wei replied: ¡°Hmm¡­ yes, it¡¯s mating.¡± Even for Medusa that had always remained disturbingly calm; a faint blush could be clearly made out on those cheeks. This sort of redness was extremely rare for a beauty of her nature. While her appearance could kill with that level of beauty, she had alwayscked a sort of human vor, ¡°a human but not so human like¡± nature. Just getting close to her would make others lose their breath. And now, with the added blushing on her cheeks, her attractiveness immediately increased exponentially, but in a good way. Losing some sharpness, and increasing in tenderness. She¡¯s a beauty among beauties to begin with, a rarity at the level of a disaster that could only be matched by someone like Mrs. Lister. Now that a rare hint of shyness appeared on that dangerous face, Du Wei became stunned after being caught off guard. With reddish cheeks, medusa¡¯s brow wrinkled with a slight disgust in her murmuring voice: ¡°But¡­ I¡¯ve heard that one of the greatest distinctions between humans and beasts are your mating rituals, ording to your books that is. The mating between animals are a blind yet simple estrus process, but humans¡­ Often because of love, will have physical contact, is that not so? If you can mate by spending money, then what about love? I remember your books stated money cannot buy love.¡± Bellowing out augh without restraint, Du Wei reacted like he¡¯s just heard the funniest thing in this word after listening to her words. Oh heavens, the level of simplicity of thisdy canpete with his stammering little fianc¨¦e! ¡°Fine, my dear Nicole, I have to say that you were deceived once again by the books.¡± Upsetting Medusa with hisugh, Du Wei hurries to his exnation: ¡°Remember when I told you humanity isplex? Let me tell you, humanity is this world¡¯s fakest race! Human beings tend to set lofty moral standards for themselves, and then ce these codes into our books to advertise it¡­ However, most people in this world will never adhere to such social standards. This is the so called say one thing and do another.¡± ¡°You mean¡­ Lying?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, a lie.¡± Du Wei answered without disguising anything: ¡°Dear Nicole, I know you must not like to lie, but I can tell you, humans are born to be good liars, and most people would lie. Lying is one of the skills that you must have to survive in the human world! If you want to fit into the world and be a real human being, then whether you like it or not, you¡¯ll have to learn to lie! Otherwise¡­.¡± Du Wei made a faint smile like he didn¡¯t want to spell it out: ¡°Otherwise, even if you are more powerful, sooner orter, you will die a miserable death. In this world, those that don¡¯t lie don¡¯t live very long.¡± Although his speech was a bit extreme, but it must be said, his words do carry wisdom in them. The world of humans was like this. However, Du Wei seems to be oblivious to one important factor! The state of Medusa right now was very close to that of a white paper, simple yet pure. Among her understanding of humanity, there are many blotches of nk empty space. Like a newborn baby, whatever you teach her will make up her personality in the future! So, with Du Wei¡¯s evil mindset, instilling such dark ¡°truths¡± into Medusa¡¯s infantile mindset would be no different from a dark overlord reshaping a good consciousness into an evil one! Du Wei may be clever, but he¡¯s definitely not a qualified educator. Blindly staining this white paper with dark blotches of evilness, it will merely be a matter time before this queen gets reshaped into the darkest form of humanity¡¯s horror. What will be of Nicole at this rate? That will truly be something to look forward toter in the future. All in all, Du Wei naturally wouldn¡¯t think much of it right now. Making a slight grin, he concluded his lesson with a final summary. Pointing to the distant brothel boat, he smiled and said, ¡°Look at this hooker boat, and think about how many people I killed at the dock yesterday.¡± Pausing for a moment, Du Wei inhales deeply: ¡°Money can¡¯t buy love, but it can buy a woman! Violence cannot solve all problems, but it is often the most effective and direct solution.¡± Musing over his words, Medusa¡¯s expression right now was hard to determine. Another two days have passed since then and the ship had to make another stop at a nearby port to replenish their food and water supplies. When Du Wei¡¯s boat firstnded, the local port official was already standing there in wait. So the news of Du Wei making a big ruckus at Mingfan Port had long spread without his knowledge. Onnd, the message was carried using horseback to swiftly pass the news to allyers of the regional government, and due to Du Wei¡¯s slow pace on the river, the news arrived before he did. It¡¯s only natural that the local officials in town would do their upmost to wee him now that the Duke of Tulip¡¯s boat was moored here. He originally wanted to ignore the ttering officials and stay aboard his ship, but those down below came to him saying the locals had something important to report. Reluctantly, Du Wei can only agree to let the mayor in. Coming in, the mayor respectfully bowed to Du Wei and rigidly exined something. The matter wasn¡¯t too difficult to solve, but the way he said it sounded like the mayor was afraid he would offend the Duke at any moment. ¡°What did you say? Someone wants to ride my ship to the capital?¡± Du Wei smirked, intrigued by the request. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the Archbishop of the northern diocese of the Temple of Light, Lord Maximos and his entourage.¡± The mayor smiled bitterly: ¡°Your lordship, it¡¯s like this. Archbishop Maximos and his entourage is heading to the capital from the northern diocese in order to attend the year end celebration. But you know, it¡¯s difficult to find a boat on the river during this season. Originally his holiness had his own boat, but that sted ship broke down all of a sudden, leaving lord Maximos stranded onnd. Now they are heading to this town using the main road after abandoning their boat. The order given to me from above was that no matter the circumstances, I must locate a ship in the dock within a day¡¯s time. This way around, the archbishop could sail for the capital and not be dyed. Your Excellency, the order was sent directly from the governor¡¯s office of the province, and you know, our governor is a devout follower of the Temple.¡± ¡°So you chose our boat?¡± Du Wei makes an indecipherable smile. Spilling cold sweat on his forehead, the mayor would cry if he could right now as his knees went limp: ¡°Your lordship¡­ I¡¯m out of options now. I don¡¯t know who spilled the beans to those merchant ships docked in the port, but once they got wind of the order, those people fled like no tomorrow! The remaining boats are either too small or too retched to carry the Archbishop. His holiness brought along many attendants and luggage, I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s no other ship around big enough¡­. Other than yours that is¡­.¡± Speaking up to here, the mayor muttered bitterly: ¡°Those ck-hearted businessmen, refusing to let the archbishop ride their boat and running away, I¡¯ll be sure to give them a hard time when theye back again.¡± Listening to the story, Du Wei immediately understood why those businessmen ran away and was unwilling to let the Archbishop board their ship. If they had to make room for the Archbishop and his entourage while their vessel¡¯s full of cargo, there had to be sacrifices, meaning the one to lose out would be the merchants. What are merchants? Businessmen that puts materialistic profits above all others. In front of their own interest, who would care about some religious faith? Moreover, these people from the temple would never pay anypensation. For them, it¡¯s only a matter of course for others to pay their dues as a form of devotion to the goddess. Du Wei may not be a stingy person and had little affection for the temple, but he¡¯s also unwilling to offend the temple over nothing. On the Rnd continent, the archbishop of a diocese can be considered to be a very powerful figure! The Temple of Light divided the continent into eight dioceses, each with their own archbishop overseeing four Archdeacons, whom was responsible for administrating the diocese¡¯s affair like: tax collection, appeasing the faithful¡¯s, managing the state, and preaching the teachings of the temple and so on. Speaking about it, this would be the Temple¡¯s equivalent form of a ¡°governor¡±! And, judging from the territory overseen by an Archbishop, thend this person controls far exceeds that of a real governor of an empire. After all, a governor only controls one province, while the territory within a diocese spans over four to five provinces! Even more importantly, aside from tax collection and management of the state, the Archbishop also controls their own military force! The Holy Knights Order was stationed across each diocese district with around a thousand knights per brigade. With their own finances and military, what difference was there between an Archbishop and a real governor of the empire? Moreover, their influences were far greater than their status. And most importantly, ording to the tradition of the Temple, every single one of these Archbishops was a true core member of the Temple of Light. After the death the current pope, these Archbishops would converge and choose the new pope within their ranks! At the time of selection, the public standard was to list the achievements of each archbishop during their time of tenure. This includes tax ie, indoctrination of believers, number of new believers, etc. In other words, the archbishop who had asked to take his boat back to the capital, whatever his achievements or status in the temple, he was still nominally one of the sessors to the Temple¡¯s throne. This alone was enough to strike fear into people. Towards such individuals, though unwilling, Du Wei nevertheless didn¡¯t want to offend such a personal: ¡°Alright then, I have a lot of empty space on the ship anyways. What time will he be here?¡± ¡°Should be around tomorrow morning.¡± The mayor loosened his voice and hastened to answer: ¡°After the archbishop¡¯s ship broke down, they immediately abandoned the ship ashore. His carriage is currently on the road and should be arriving shortly in the morning.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll stay here one day and wait for the archbishop to arrive.¡± Sending away the mayor, Du Wei made a deep sigh. After all, the mayor already went so far in his request. Regardless of his answer today, the oue will definitely reach the ears of that Archbishop. Besides, although he¡¯s afraid of the temple with his current strength, Hussein¡¯s not with him right now! Even with someone so high up there in the temple with him, there¡¯s nothing to be worried about. As long as¡­ Du Wei touches his head reflexively. He was already ustomed to having long, thick hair covering his horn. Du Wei designed the hairstyle himself, this way he can cover what¡¯s needed without anyone noticing. If anything, he can just wear a very big mage¡¯s robe with arge pointy hat. Humph, there¡¯s no way an Archbishop would randomlye up to him and pull down his hat to check his hair right? Chapter 280 part 1 Chapter 280 ¡°Maximos¡± (Part one) The Archbishop of the central northern diocese did not let Du Wei wait long for he arrived the very next morning. The arrival of an archbishop who masters over several provinces would naturally cause an earthquake among the local officials. Compared to Du Wei¡¯s Duke status, the identity of an Archbishop can only be higher and not lower. Moreover, this person was in charge of overseeingrge sums of yearly fiscal revenue, inmand of arge battalion of Holy Knights, have millions of faithful believers within their diocese¡¯s, and may be the future Pope! Unexpectedly, such a person was vastly different from Du Wei¡¯s imagination based upon the image created by the mayor¡¯s wording from yesterday. The Archbishop¡¯s entourage wasn¡¯t big when he arrived, in fact, contrary to Du Wei¡¯s expectation of receiving a full convoy, only a carriage arrived at the pier the next morning. Surrounded by local officials, the archbishop and a few of his entourage boarded the ship together and met with Du Wei. It can be said their first meeting was friendly enough. Archbishop Maximos, a gracious old man that wore a ck clergy robe of the inest order. One can easily notice the traces of wear on the corners if observed closely. With well-kept silver hair, matched with his warm smile and gentle face, he resembled nothing like an influential Archbishop of multiple provinces. Rather, he looked more like a priest in some small local vige, in and simple with a kindred heart. That¡¯s until you looked him in the ¡°eyes¡±. His eyes were clear and deep, shing the wisdom and shrewdness peculiar to someone of his age. ¡°Oh respected Duke.¡± Archbishop Maximos was the first to begin the greeting with a slight bow: ¡°First of all, I would like to thank you for allowing me to ride your ship back to the capital, and I have to thank you for waiting a full night.¡± Du Wei returned the greeting with a smile: ¡°You are too kind. It is my honor to have such an esteemed guest like yourself on my ship, and staying here another night isn¡¯t bad at all, the night scenery of the river bank here is very good.¡± After a few pleasantries, the Archbishop began introducing his entourage. In truth, Du Wei found it very strange for someone of his status ¨C an archbishop of an entire diocese ¨C to bring along such a small number of followers. When he came aboard, there were only three of them. Excluding the Archbishop himself, there¡¯s the coachman, an old clergyman, and a knight in armor that went away to help carry the luggage. Then sending away the local officials, Du Wei personally invited Maximos into his cabin. ¡°Please sit, sir archbishop.¡± Du Wei smiled and sent his men to bring over the tea: ¡°To be honest, you are the highest ranking cleric I have ever seen.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Maximos¡¯s face moved: ¡°Your dukeship, you are born in the capital. With your status and identity, I¡¯m perplexed that you¡¯ve never seen his majesty the Pope. Though in recent years his majesty rarely appears before the public, he will still personally preside over the Temple¡¯s annual shrine celebration.¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°I have not. Oh, I¡¯m sorry I forgot to mention I¡¯m not a believer, so I never attended the Temple¡¯s annual shrine ceremony. ¡± This Maximos was indeed very charismatic. After listening to his bluntness, there were no signs of any awkwardness in his expression. Instead, he only made a casual smile: ¡°I will pray for the day when your lordship enters the Goddess¡¯s embracing arm. If you ever change your mind in the future, I will dly baptize you myself.¡± Then Maximos followed up with the introduction of the old man next to him: ¡°This here is my close assistant and most faithful friend, Father Lamu, he¡¯s also one of our Vice-Bishops in the central northern diocese.¡± Pausing to let his words sink in, he continues with a smile: ¡°We are heading back to the capital in order to attend the Temple¡¯s annual shrine ceremony. At the same time in ordance with tradition, we must meet with his majesty the Pope to report in on our work done in thest year. Unfortunately, our ship broke down and was stranded ashore with our entourage. I would¡¯ve preferred to bring them along, but the travel speed of arge crowd was far too slow. In order to rush over here to meet you, I can only ride ahead alone with a select few.¡± Du Wei nodded and thought: no wonder you¡¯re so anxious to return. In order to gain some more merits during thepetition for the throne, you want to be in the best light before the Pope. Contrary to what he thought, Du Wei gave the most sincere smile: ¡°Sir, you don¡¯t have to worry, I have a lot of servants on board. In my ce, you will get the best treatment given only to a distinguished guest. I¡¯ve already had someone clean out a cabin for you. Well then, I¡¯m sure you haven¡¯t had a breakfast yet, let me order the servants to ready the food.¡± While the two exchanged some more pleasantries, Father Lamu was constantly making a disturbed face on the side. Compared to Maximos¡¯s demeanor, this Vice-bishop was more vulgar. Like an ordinary old man with a skinny build and an unpleasant face, those pupils of his definitely had more white than ck. As Lamu watched on, there were several asions where he wanted to cut in but stopped due to his own hesitation It was then a forceful and mighty voice came from the outside. Even with a wooden door ced in-between them, the voice was like a muffled thunder, difficult to ignore. ¡°Your holiness, the luggage is organized.¡± Upon listening to that voice, Maximos¡¯s face revealed a sincere smile: ¡°Oh, this is my escorting guard, Rhine. Duke, please let him in.¡± With Du Wei¡¯s permission, the cabin door was pushed open and from the outside came a big fe of magnificent size. Even if Du Wei¡¯s ustomed to seeing a variety of fierce warriors, including his own Longbottom and Guptad, there¡¯s also Rugaard¡¯s men when he visited the Northwest Army¡¯s base, but even so, in the face of Maximos¡¯s guard, Du Wei couldn¡¯t resist making a very deep gasp! This guy¡­ Is he really a warrior? From a visual point of view, this so called Rhine guy was at least two meters tall! And could even be called a little giant for his head¡¯s about to hit the ceiling by simply standing there! He was wearing the biggest knight armor Du Wei¡¯s ever seen, also the type found in the Holy Knight¡¯s order. With a prospecting stout bodyparable to a full grown bear, every fiber of those muscles radiated explosive force! Compared to the ¡°bodybuilders¡± from Du Wei¡¯s past life, this man will put any man to shame with those bulging mountains. Du Wei can¡¯t be certain how strong the big man was¡­ But he¡¯s certain of one thing from his visual inspection: the guy¡¯s arm was definitely thicker than his own thighs, twice over at that! Such a monster¡­ Is he still human? His appearance was also very strange, a square shaped face. The contours are still normal, but that face definitely didn¡¯t match a human¡¯s. The lion¡¯s snout,bined with the eyes that looked like a bronze bell, gave him the image of a lion¡¯s incarnation. Then there¡¯s the long brown hair of his, that¡¯s definitely a lion¡¯s mane! Such a person, if encountered during the night instead of the day, he will definitely cause the other person¡¯s leg to go soft from shock and fear ¨C they will mistake him as a monster with a lion¡¯s head and a human¡¯s body. Currently, beside Rhine was two of Du Wei¡¯s guard. Inparison when standing side by side, these ruggedly built soldiers somehow became dwarfs once stationed next to him. Also, for some reason, Du Wei got the strange impression of a strong sense of wildness in those eyes of his. Watching Du Wei inspecting his escort, Maximos smiled and began the introduction: ¡°Lord Duke, this here is my escort and my most loyal subordinate. It was I who gave him the name Rhine. Because of his strange appearance since birth, his life¡¯s been a pitiful one. Years ago, I found him in the wild following a group of wild animals. It was as if he¡¯s raised by the animals after being abandoned by his parents. Out of pity, I took him in and raised him from a young age. Thinking about it, it¡¯s been well over ten years now. Don¡¯t judge him by his appearance; he¡¯s actually a really kind child.¡± After that, he waives his hand at the big fe toe forward, his face full of love: ¡°Rhine,e pay your respects to the Duke of Tulip.¡± ¡°Yes¡± Again with the voice like a muffled thunder. Kneeling on one knee, this giant performed the grandest salute a knight can do. But in Du Wei¡¯s eye, he¡¯s only worried about the floorboard giving way from the big guy¡¯s weight. He can clearly hear some strong creaking sound going on! ¡°My respects to the Duke of Tulip.¡± The muffled thundering voice almost shocked Du Wei¡¯s eardrum to the point of causing pain. Seeing this mighty and fierce figure, Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but give a liking to this fe. Hurrying him to get up, Du Wei immediately called for someone to move a chair over for him to sit. Problem was, every time this giant sat down, the chair would give way under his butt¡¯s pressure and crack after a ¡°click¡±. Looking at the puzzled expression on Rhine¡¯s face, Maximos broke out into augh: ¡°This knight of mine is far heavier than an ordinary person, at least five to six times so no chair will fit him. Duke, please let him stand instead.¡± Following his lead, Du Wei also bellowed out augh: ¡°It¡¯s no secret the prairie natives and I have issues in the northwest, so my favorite people are knights like Rhine here. Its fine if there¡¯s no chair that can fit him!¡± Then he made a loud shout to have his people bring over a small table for Rhine to sit, and he also had the kitchen begin serving the prepared meals. In addition, he made special arrangements for Rhine to be served a big barrel of wine and a pot of beef befitting a big man of his stature. Among everyone here, Du Wei had the most interest in this Rhine because of the big gulping gestures he made when devouring that wine. With a few gurgle and a big burp, about half the barrel was gone! ¡°Thank you, it¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve drank so much.¡± The big guy smiled honestly at Du Wei when he made this statement Du Wei literallypsed out for a second: ¡°What, do you usually not drink? Although I remember the Holy Knights require penance during their training, but I don¡¯t recall being banned from alcohol.¡± From the side, Maximos¡¯s face sank: ¡°Rhine, you forgot my words again? Why are you not praying before eating?¡± Rhine immediately ces the wine barrel down, his face full of shame: ¡°Yes.¡± Then Maximos, along with the Bishop Lamu, shared hands to begin their prayer: ¡°Thank the goddess for allowing us to have food to eat and to have clothes to wear¡­.¡± Their murmuring voices were true and sincere. Although Du Wei didn¡¯t hold much care for this kind of prayer, but looking at Maximos¡¯s pious face and sincere heart, he decided it be best not to say anything to suit the mood. Out of politeness, he ces his utensils down and waited for them to finish their prayers. Finally, when the three opens their eyes again, Du Wei smiled and asked: ¡°Good Bishop, aren¡¯t you a little too harsh on this knight by not even giving him wine to drink?¡± Slightly embarrassed, Maximos smiled wryly and whispered: ¡°You don¡¯t know this lord Duke. Rhine is muchrger than the average man, same goes for his appetite. On a daily basis, the amount of food he consumes is five to six times the average person, and liquor is easily ten times that amount. I may be an Archbishop, but my sry is limited, usually not enough to buy him wine to drink.¡± Du Wei was amazed at his words. Sry? Don¡¯t kid around! A dignified archbishop was living off a sry? Although Du Wei also knew that any official clergy would be paid by the temple¡­.. But, he¡¯s an Archbishop, equivalent of a prince! How can someone overseeing the finances of several provinces and armed with military forces be living off a sry?! Chapter 280 part 2 Chapter 280 ¡°Maximos¡± (Part two) How can a person like he say that about himself, was he trying to show off his integrity? Du Wei has never had good impressions of the Temple of Light and its members because in his opinion, those guys are nothing but frauds. Among the priests that he knew from the local chapels in the northwest, all of them appearedpassionate in the public, but behind the scenes, they are always basking in luxurious indulgences at the price of the ordinary folk¡¯s sweat and blood. Both are levying taxes, but handing money over to the authorities was vastly different from handing it over to these fraudulent swindlers. At the very least, Du Wei can say for himself that he can face the people without feeling guilty. Today he will repair a bridge, tomorrow he will fix a road, there are plenty of civil affairs he needs to do for the people from those taxes. But those overly fat swindlers are doing what with those taxes, sit in the cool temp cathedrals and pray a few words during a hot summer day? Just like that and they can take the hard earned wealth of their believers? This Archbishop Maximos¡­. He¡¯s showing apletely different face of integrity than those swindlers. This an act, or was this the real him? From Du Wei¡¯s view, this person was either a truepassionate, a role model of the ages, or a true evil with a ck heart! Looking at Du Wei¡¯s expression, that Vice bishop Lamu made a smug face and began opening his mouth to speak. He¡¯s not only vulgar, that tongue of his was sharp and caustic, very unpleasant to interact with: ¡°I do not deny that in other ces some clergymen have put shame to their robes. But in Archbishop Maximos¡¯s jurisdiction, including ourselves and every clergyman under our watch, we all live under a strict guideline within the means of our sry. There are definitely no acts of misappropriation of funds and no ugly acts of corruption.¡± At the mention, this Bishop Lamu points to the delicacies on the table in front of his te: ¡°It¡¯s thanks to your lordship¡¯s blessing that we were able to enjoy such fine food today. Normally back in the chapel, I and Lord Maximos can only enjoy a bowl of stewed beef with beans for lunch.¡± Du Wei¡¯s face became strange as Lamu continued: ¡°As for wine¡­ Lord Maximos have always advocated saving. Wine is a luxury, and a food that wastes a lot of material to brew. Therefore, in our central northern diocese, lord bishop has always exhorted the believers not to advocate drinking. ¡± After listening to this, Du Wei carefully inspected the group and began doubting himself. Maximos and Lamu both wore robes that had clear signs of aging, and this Rhine, the style of his armor was also very old, even those leather boots of his were obviously worn. Thinking about it, these guys only came aboard his ship on a momentary notice, there shouldn¡¯t be anything for them to hide since they had no corrtions with him. Moreover, with a mere nce, one can tell this Rhine was the honest type, unable to lie even if he tried. Can it be ¡­ These few men here from the Temple are truly thepassionate type that could only be found among one in a million? Thinking of here, Du Wei¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t resist showing a form of respect for them. Calling for a servant to bring another barrel of wine, heughed: ¡°Since it¡¯s like this, then so be it. Today on my turf, let us and Knight Rhine here drink to our heart¡¯s content.¡± But this Rhine, instead of asking for more after drinking a barrel, modestly ces the wine down and said: ¡°Thank you Duke, but¡­. One barrel is enough. I am in charge of protecting Godfather¡¯s safety; I cannot let myself be drunk.¡± He states this firmly. Godfather? Du Wei nced at Maximos, and in return got a smile: ¡°Hmm, yes, this child was raised by me, I have officially baptized him and he also recognizes me as his godfather.¡± Du Wei nodded in understanding. Looking at this Rhine, his heart suddenly moved and his sight fell upon the knight¡¯s badge on his chest. Watching it, Du Wei was a little stunned by what he saw. Du Wei¡¯s Hussein, who was once the leading figure of the Holy Knights order, had long taught him how to identify the insignia of the Holy Knights. In general, a Holy Knight would wear two badges on their chest, one symbolizing their ranking in the Knight¡¯s Guild, the other representing their status in the Holy Knight¡¯s order. But on Rhine¡¯s chest, there¡¯s no badge of the Knight¡¯s Guild ¡­ In other words, he¡¯s not a formal knight with rank? And even his only badge that symbolizes the identity of the Holy Knight ¡­ ording to what Hussein told him, this emblem was of the lowest rank! A ¡°backup Holy Knight¡± badge! Backup? That was to say, such a huge man, incredibly, still wasn¡¯t considered to be an official Holy Knight, but merely a backup. Du Wei wasn¡¯t a fool to judge a person by their outer appearance, and of course he wouldn¡¯t believe this guy¡¯s ability was amazing just because he¡¯s big. However, for this Maximos to have the courage to bring only this single convoy with him on the road, this can conclude Rhine must be of great skills. It¡¯s just that he¡¯s a ¡­ Backup knight? Coming down with a thought, Du Wei deliberately asked: ¡°Since Rhine¡¯s a Holy Knight, he should also have a sry right? I have heard that the Temple is extremely privileged to the Holy Knight¡¯s Order, so shouldn¡¯t he have money to drink?¡± Lamu seems to be very good at observing and discerning others. Upon hearing his question, he smiles and exined: ¡°This¡­ Rhine is not officially part of the Holy Knight¡¯s Order. In order to follow his grace around, we merely hanged the name on him for convenience sake.¡± Maximos smiles too and softly said: ¡°Rhine¡¯s been following me around for a long time, I also don¡¯t want him to leave my side. Duke, you also know this. If he wants to be a true Holy Knight, he will have to leave me and undergo rigorous training at the Holy Knight¡¯s headquarter. Since ten years ago when he came to me, he¡¯s never left my side. I couldn¡¯t bear to let him go, and he himself doesn¡¯t wish to leave.¡± Pausing, heughs again: ¡°And, Rhine is really not suitable for martial arts and swordy, he merely relies on his brute force. Therefore, I¡¯m afraid that even if he wanted to receive the training of the Holy Knight¡¯s, he would be unable to pass the examination. Lamu is correct. Hanging the Holy Knight¡¯s status on him is merely a mean of convenience for him to stay by my side.¡± Reaching here, Du Wei also couldn¡¯t ask any further, otherwise that would be impolite. Their conversation moved onto things like the local scenery of the Northwest and some topics concerning the diocese¡¯s function. After dinner, Du Wei was about to send them back to the cabin for rest when Old Smoke suddenly barged into their room, ¡°My lord¡­ Above the river.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Old Smoke hesitated but Du Wei didn¡¯t mind: ¡°Go ahead and be direct.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Old Smoke¡¯s face was solemn: ¡°This is the narrowest part of the river, and there is a big ship parked in the middle of the passage. We gged to ask them to make way, but their reply was that their ship¡¯s broken.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we bypass them?¡± Du Wei frowns. ¡°My lord¡± Old Smoke inhales deeply: ¡°Their ship is not small, and is horizontally parked on the river with a lot of smaller rowing boats moving about. Our g bearer told me they are readying their boats to ship their cargo ashore. But then, we wouldn¡¯t be able to pass for they are blocking our passage. And I also found their boats to be a bit odd¡­ I ordered our brothers to slow the ship down and be on guard to see what they are nning.¡± Du Wei made an ¡°hmm¡± sound, his face unreadable without any change in hisplexion. The only thing he did though was to give Maximos and his people a slight glimpse. Sure enough, Lamu¡¯s face immediately took on a major change, but Maximos¡¯s remained calm as he sighed: ¡°Duke, it seems we¡¯ve caused you trouble.¡± ¡°Trouble?¡± Du Wei smiled. Maximos looked a little embarrassed. Pondering for a moment, he proposed: ¡°Duke, please stop the ship and give us a boat, we¡¯ll go ashore. They are aiming for us; it would not be good to involve someone as honorable as yourself.¡± That said, Du Wei¡¯s heart became tied: ¡°Good sir, what are you saying in the middle of the day¡­ As an Archbishop of a diocese, who would dare intercept you on the way? Is it the Pope¡¯s order?¡± Vice bishop Lamu grunted, ¡°How could the pope have done such a thing! Humph, his Majesty has always appreciated our bishop. It¡¯s just¡­¡± Speaking up to here, Maximos coughed to cut Lamu off, warning him to close his mouth. ¡°Duke, please give us a boat, I¡¯ll go ashore.¡± Maximos¡¯s face looked sincere: ¡°This is the Temple¡¯s internal affair. If the matter somehow drags you into this, it will cause you great trouble. I thank you for the boat ride, but I¡¯m going to let you get involved.¡± Finishing his words, he cries out to Rhine: ¡°Rhine, the guys from yesterday hase again, let us take our leave.¡± ¡°Yes, godfather, you wait here while I first take care of them!¡± The giant man immediately lost the beef leg in his hands and stood up to head outside. Meanwhile, Old Smoke was looking at Du Wei, awaiting his lord¡¯s order. Du Wei first nced at Maximos, then back at Old Smoke. His words are correct, he have no need to get involved¡­.. However, if he goes and throws his guests out the moment troublees knocking, how will he continue being the prominent Duke of Tulip? He will lose all face at this rate! Besides, looking at it, this should be the Temple¡¯s internal conflict. Internal conflict ¡­ Good, very good! Thinking of it, Du Wei¡¯s facial expression turned emotionless: ¡°Your grace, please sit. Since you are aboard my ship then you are my guest. I, Duke of Tulip, may not be some great person, but I¡¯m no coward.¡± Then Du Wei also stood up, giving hismand to Old Smoke: ¡°Go, raise my Tulip g. I want to see who will dare intercept my ship!¡± Waiting until Old Smoke left the room; Du Wei gave Maximos a deep look again and spoke in a stern voice: ¡°Sir, you don¡¯t have to say anymore words about disembarking! Regardless of you leaving my ship or not, I will not be able to avoid this trouble since you are aboard my ship. Anyways, if I allow my guests to be hurt while under my care, then I won¡¯t have the face to continue on as the Duke of Tulip.¡± Then he stepped forward a couple of steps and whispered: ¡°What trouble is it? I think you have the obligation to give me some details.¡± Maximos¡¯s eye shed a hint of gratitude. Giving out a long sigh, he indirectly answered Du Wei¡¯s question with an understating sentence: ¡°The pope¡¯s body is getting worse and worse over these past two years¡­¡± These words sounded as if it had no corrtion with Du Wei¡¯s question, but with a quick thought, Du Wei finally got it. Making a seemingly smiling face, he turns around to Lamu and inscrutably asked: ¡°Is it the people from the south?¡± Lamu hesitated for a moment, and whispered: ¡°Should be the people from the southeastern diocese.¡± Hearing this, Du Wei¡¯s heart rxed a bit, but an idea soon surfaced from his mind. The Temple¡¯s infighting? Since that¡¯s the case, then I won¡¯t dodge it even if you wanted me to! Deliberately making an angry face, he cries out: ¡°The people of the southeast actually reached their hands into the north, do they seriously believe we don¡¯t have people of our own?!¡± After that, Du Wei strode out of the cabin without looking back. Chapter chapter 281 Chapter 281 ¡°Monster Rhine¡± With his shiping to a near full halt, the timing was precisely midday when Du Wei came above deck. Seeing their lording out of the cabin, all of the nearby soldiers began gathering by his side with their weapons out and crossbows loaded. After Old Smoke received hismand, he had ordered the guards to be vignt, thus the reason for everyone to be armed. That Rhine also came onto the deck, just a tad further up in front of Du Wei. His body was like a tower as he stood there, overshadowing everyone in his presence. Du Wei didn¡¯t know where this guy got his weapon from, but Maximos did not lie. Rhine doesn¡¯t use the sword. His weapon of choice was a giant battle axe of gargantuan proportion. That thing should weigh well over a hundred pounds, but he waived it so casually around like a broom, sweeping it left and right with ease. As he stood there squinting his eyes, Rhine exuded the wild aura of a fierce animal about to pounce at its prey. Now above the river, arge ship was indeed parked in the middle of the channel, blocking his way of passage. If Du Wei wished it, it¡¯s possible to bypass the other by winding left or right, but it seems the foe has made up their mind to intercept his ship ¨C those people had ced several rowing boats down on all sides of the river. These guys have a lot of guts, blockading the river in broad daylight¡­.. Du Wei was somewhat displeased by this: ¡°I¡¯d like to see what these religious frauds have to say!¡± By now the other side has realized Du Wei¡¯s ship hase to a full stop and wasing over to Du Wei¡¯s ship with the smaller boats, each vessel riding dozens of people. All of these men worerge cloaks to hide what¡¯s underneath, but with Du Wei¡¯s exceptionally keen eye senses, he can see from afar the concealed swords and armor under those garments. At the moment, Du Wei¡¯s Golden Tulip banner has already been raised above the g pole, but he¡¯s not expecting a simple g would be enough to scare the enemy away. For one, the other side¡¯s courageous enough to aim for the archbishop of a diocese, so what good will his Duke status do here? Secondly, they actually dare intercept his ship in broad daylight. It¡¯s obvious enough that they knew Maximos was on his ship and was willing to offend him to get to this clergyman. Old Smoke stood at the front of the deck, staring down at the little boats approaching, ¡°Who dares intercept the Duke¡¯s ship! Hurry and make way!¡± He hollers using his booming voice. Not replying, the other side waited until there were only a hundred paces between them before the leader shouted: ¡°Do it!¡± Suddenly, all the people riding the boats flung away their cloaks to reveal the weapons underneath, half with their bows drawn, the other half exposing their armor and swords in hand. Using a surrounding formation, the boats all gathered in front of Du Wei¡¯s ship. Making a coldugh, Du Wei casually used a spell to entuate his voice into the distance: ¡°Didn¡¯t you lot say your ships broken? Humph, can it be bandits trying to rob on the river? Heyhey, do all bandits these days wear the uniforms of the Holy Knights to rob people?¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice was relentless and full of ridicule. Upon reaching the ears of these people, discoloration overtook their faces with only the middle-aged leader in the center boat remaining calm. Inhaling deeply, this person replied with crisp rity. ¡°Duke, we know this is your ship, but this is the Temple carrying out its internal affair. I ask that your Dukeship not intervene!¡± At that, the man slightly bows. ¡°Nonsense.¡± Du Wei sneers: ¡°The temple? Even the temple doesn¡¯t have the power to blockade the river and openly intercept the ship of an imperial Duke! Who gave you the power to do such a thing? Is the ruling family of the Rnd Empire not the Thorn Flower house anymore? Who gave the temple freedom to trample over the Empire¡¯sw? You are intercepting my ship, a Duke¡¯s ship, a crime worthy of treason! And your lie about your ship breaking down¡­. Since when did the Holy Knights start using such despicable means?¡± His ending words were thunderously loud and the Tulip soldiers took it as the signal to step forward with their shields up to protect their lord. The crossbows were also ready forbat, but the range of these military weapons wasn¡¯t suitable for long-range warfare. The guy on the other boat looks to be the leader of the entire operation. After listening to Du Wei¡¯s scolding words, he didn¡¯t get upset; instead, his voice went deep: ¡°Duke! We lied about our ship because there are several criminals wanted by the Temple on your ship. We¡¯ve been instructed to capture them¡­.¡± ¡°What criminal.¡± Du Wei smiled. ¡°Your lordship, it¡¯s the former archbishop of the central northern diocese, Maximos and his entourage!¡± This leader¡¯s voice was loud: ¡°I have here the signed arrest warrant by the presiding Judgement Lord of the Temple of Light. Maximos betrayed the temple and went against its teachings, he¡¯s been judged to havemitted treason. I¡¯m here on behalf of the Judgement Lord to arrest him! Your Excellency, this is the Temple¡¯s affair, I implore you to not interfere.¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t expect this. The other party has an arrest warrant from the presiding judge? It¡¯s at this time the angry voice of Vice-bishop Lamu came from behind Du Wei: ¡°Duke, don¡¯t listen to his nonsense! The current presiding judge is a big conspirator with ulterior motives! He is the leader of the Xi¨¦ni faction; of course the guy would want nothing more than to kill us all on this side! Moreover, ording to the Temple¡¯s canon, if a high-ranking cleric at the level of archbishop is to be disposed of, the Temple must convene a meeting of the elders, and the Archbishop in question shall have the right to defend himself before the participants. Then when the decision is made, only the Pope can carry out the punishment with his personal signed document, only then will it take effect! The presiding judge does not have the authority to bypass the eldermittee, let alone judge a cleric at the level of Archbishop!¡± When it came to the end, Lamu turned furious as he shouted into the distance: ¡°Damn Geppede! This is clearly a conspiracy, a setup! The presiding judge is not empowered to issue such orders! You are openly trampling on the Temple¡¯s canon!¡± Unfortunately, Vice-bishop Lamu wasn¡¯t free to use magic to entuate his voice like Du Wei did, thus his words didn¡¯t reach far. Du Wei¡¯s heart rxed somewhat upon hearing this. The messier things be, the more he likes it. He was actually worried for a moment there because the other side said they are following orders from the pope. If that was really true, then he wouldn¡¯t have an excuse to intervene no matter what he said. But now that it¡¯s all a lie, he knows where the limits are. ncing at Lamu, Du Wei whispered: ¡°No need to be so upset Vice-bishop. Towards people like that, there¡¯s no reasoning with them.¡± Lamu¡¯s face reddened from anger. Listening to Du Wei¡¯s persuasion, he unwillingly nodded and added another sentence: ¡°Duke, be careful, this person is called Geppede, a Holy Knight of the seventh rank from the southeastern diocese. His martial arts are very powerful.¡± Du Wei nodded and turned back to the man called Geppede in the distance: ¡°Knight Geppede, don¡¯t think you can cheat me by thinking I don¡¯t know the Temple¡¯s canon! ording to the rules, the presiding judge has no right to make such an order, that¡¯s usurpation of authority!¡± Geppede grunted, ¡°Duke Tulip!¡± He said angrily. ¡°I¡¯ve already said it very nicely; it¡¯s you who must meddle in the affairs of the Temple! You are not a member of the Temple, what gives you the right to challenge the validity of the presiding judge¡¯s order. I give you onest chance. Duke Tulip, I have here the signed document by the presiding judge and the entire trial hall¡¯s member list. In the name of the Goddess of Light and the discretionary power granted to me by the Temple, I will hereby carry out my orders. Don¡¯t me me for being rude, I¡¯ve warned you!¡± Du Wei bellowed out augh after hearing this: ¡°Rude¡­. Geppede, are you trying to scare me? Discretionary?¡± From afar, Geppede¡¯s facial expression turned dark and gloomy. Furious in his voice, he roars: ¡°Duke Tulip! I¡¯ll give you to the count of ten to lower your weapons! The goddess of light is merciful and will forgive your mistakes! Let my people board and arrest the criminals, otherwise¡­.¡± ¡°Screw you.¡± Not waiting for the Holy Knight to finish, Du Wei suddenlyshed out with this sentence using his emotionless voice. Caught off guard, Geppede widened his eyes and reflexively retracted the words from his tongue. Looking at Du Wei, he roared: ¡°What did you say?¡± Flicking his middle finger up at the guy, Du Wei made a disdainful face as he tipped an ear up: ¡°What, you don¡¯t have ears or something? I said ¡®screw you¡¯!¡± Geppede turns livid with anger, but Du Wei didn¡¯t care and kept going: ¡°I care jackshit about your fucking judge and fuckingmand! Effective or not effective, I don¡¯t give a rat¡¯s ass, you understand?! I¡¯m not a believer and sure as hell not one of your dogs! I¡¯m an imperial official, a Duke of the Empire! Even if the Pope himself gives the order, it will depend entirely on my mood if I want to follow it.¡± This slew of undiplomatic words sent Geppede into a fury rage. No longer trying to reason with Du Wei, he begins announcing his order: ¡°I will now start the countdown. At the count of ten, we will begin if your people do not lower your weapons! One! Two! Three!¡± When he counts to three, his right hand made a cutting motion with his sword to signal the archers. Knocked and ready, all of the bows had their arrows aimed right at Du Wei¡¯s location. Evidently enough, those arrows are clearly wrapped in some kind of mmable substance. For when he counted to ¡°five¡±, someone was quick to give each archer a share of the torch, igniting the arrow heads into ming projectiles. Seeing this, Geppede¡¯s nerve became reassured: ¡°Duke Tulip, I¡¯ve counted to five! You see it too, I¡¯m sure you know what will happen when so many ming arrows fly towards your wooden boat¡­. Six!¡± ¡°Wait a minute.¡± Du Wei sighed. Hearing Du Wei¡¯s word, Geppede¡¯s facial expression loosened: ¡°Oh, you finally change your mind? Duke Tulip, though you are rude, but as long as you¡­¡± ¡°You sure talk a lot of crap.¡± Du Wei raised his hands like he was swatting a fly in front of his face. Coughing once to clear his throat: ¡°You think a few crummy arrows are so amazing?¡± As he finished, he shouts to the sailors below the deck: ¡°Brothers, they want to intimidate us with bows and arrows, what do you say we should do?¡± The sailors all fell into aughing fit, their fingers pointing to the rowing boats in the distance. Then, not waiting for Du Wei¡¯smand, a dozen or so sailors ran up to the front of the hull and removed the tarps along the deck. Immediately, the things hidden underneath those covers were exposed! These sailors were well-trained as if they had gone through some kind of rigorous training program. Momentster, the things were pushed to the forefront and aimed straight at the small rowing boats in the water. Originally the people aboard the rowing boats all had proud looks on their faces, but as soon as they saw the objects sitting aboard the Duke¡¯s ship, their faces copsed. Even Geppede¡¯s face changed as a result. The things aboard Du Wei¡¯s ship were nothing new, it¡¯s the ¡°Crossbow Cannons¡± dedicated for use on sea bound warships! (Should¡¯ve been Giant Arbalists, but had to change it to match the next paragraphs) This type of crossbow cannon was definitely not something mere bows and arrows canpete with. In this world where weapons are still stuck in the dark ages, these crossbow cannons are no doubt equivalent to long-range siege weapons. Though the name includes the word ¡°cannon¡±, but it¡¯s nothing like a modern day cannon. With an iron winch to act as the release lever and metallic bolts the size of a spear, the pration force of this thing can easily pierce through a city fortification wall from a thousand meters away! In naval warfare, this thing was considered to be the strongest long-range weapon a ship can utilize. For the enemy, they never thought Du Wei would have something like this on the ship! But let¡¯s not forget, these ships aren¡¯t those luxurious cruise boats used by the wealthy nobles, nor was it the cargo ships used by the merchants¡­.. His ships are refitted from pirate ships! What do pirates do? They rob and pige out at sea! asionally, pirates would even fight with the imperial navy, therefore, weapons like these crossbow cannons would naturally be brought into the equation. Currently there aren¡¯t a lot of these crossbow cannons aboard the ship, only four, but all four were aiming at the enemy boats. As long as even onends, the pration force from the metallic arrow will tear a hole right through the enemy¡¯s hull! Towards a weapon of such devastating force, the other side would naturally recognize it. As such, when they saw the crossbow cannons aiming at them, the men aboard the rowing boats turned ghastly pale. Thening in at the perfect timing, Du Wei made a boomingugh and said to his sailors: ¡°What are you all doing! Don¡¯t aim at the small boats to the side; aim at the one in the center! Hmm, it¡¯s the guy that opened his mouth earlier. Whoever cannd a hit on his head I¡¯ll reward him with a hundred cold pieces afterwards!¡± Many sailors cheered, and immediately turned the muzzle of the four crossbow cannons at Geppede¡¯s boat. Geppede¡¯splexion suddenly took on a ck and blue hue, making him look absolutely unsightly. Although he has the strength of a seventh level knight, but those are the most powerful siege weapons avable to the navy! Moreover, there¡¯s four of them aiming at him in unison, even he will get cold feet from this! What¡¯s worse, the firing range of those arrows can reach up to a thousand meters, meaning the impacting force will dramatically increase due to his close range! Even if he¡¯s confident in dodging the impacting blow with his skills, what about therades behind him on the boat? They will be destroyed by the resulting hit!¡± Du Wei just had to smirk at this time to make things harder: ¡°EH? Knight Geppede, why you stop counting? In this case, if you don¡¯t count than I will. I don¡¯t need to count to ten, I only need five then I will begin firing! One! Two-three-four¡­..¡±¡± Du Wei was super quick in his countdown. By the time he reached five, an old and vigorous voice came from afar. ¡°Duke Tulip, you are too impudent!¡± The voice hasn¡¯t even died down yet and Du Wei already saw a white figure flying up from the enemy¡¯s main ship. Donning a white robe, an old man began drifting over to their location at rapid speed. ¡°Mage?¡± Du Wei pricked a brow. ¡°It¡¯s the temple¡¯s divinest, only the divinest from the hall of trials will wear a white robe.¡± Lamu¡¯s urgent voice came from behind again: ¡°Duke, this fellow is a member of the trial hall, be careful¡­.¡± Before he could even finish his words, the white-robed old man had begun casting a spell in mid-air. From both his sleeves, gusts of wind started to form and very soon, two small tornadoes were hurling towards Du Wei¡¯s ship at the speed discernable to the naked eye. The other side was very direct, say fight and they fight. But Du Wei¡¯s not afraid. Making a sneer, Du Wei raised a sleeve and tossed a magic scroll directly at the oing attack. Du Wei had long expended the magic scrolls given to him by white-robe Gandalf, but luckily, there¡¯s green-robe Gandalf by his side now. Gotta say, the entric old man got quite the skills in making magic scrolls. So during these days, Du Wei made it a mission to ckmail a lot of good stuff out of him. Seeing the two mini tornados sweeping at him, Du Wei did not hesitate in the least to throw one of the scrolls out. In a brilliant and violent gold light, an arch-shaped light curtain shielded Du Wei and his people from the coiling attack of the wind outside the barrier. The voice of the divinest who¡¯s chanting in the sky was vastly different from the chant of a mage¡¯s. Like a priest singing in a cathedral, the sound was pleasant to the ear as if there¡¯s some kind of mysterious power drawing you in. Despite having his first spell dissolved, the divinest remains unshaken. Immediately after the first incantation ended, Du Wei promptly felt a sudden tremor under his feet. In one loud bang, the river under the boat suddenly exploded and sets off a big wave, swaying the ship fiercely in the aftershock. The deck wasn¡¯t doing much better either. The sailors who were leaning against the crossbow cannons lost their footings, and some ended up falling overboard and directly sshing into the river. Du Wei grew angry and immediately shouted: ¡°Fire! Hit their ship!¡± At that, he stamped his feet and propelled his body straight into the sky, his finger constantly pointing at the divinest: ¡°You religious old fraud lets fight then, think I¡¯m afraid of you!¡± He scolds harshly without holding back. Waving his sleeve, Du Wei unleashes his signature move: Invincible fireball assault. Although divinests are tough, but Du Wei¡¯s indiscriminate fireball assault would frighten anyone if he suddenly flings a hundred or so of these ming balls at once. Besides, Du Wei¡¯s specialty was pulling sneak attacks, which was exactly the case here. For example, that white-robe Ivory Teeth Shaman and green-robe Gandalf all suffered at his hands using this attack because they were careless. Caught off guard, the divinest was left with no choice but to retreat at rapid speed, his mouth inhaling hard. Du Wei immediately stared wide eyes at what he saw then! This was the first time Du Wei witnessed a divinest performing their spells. Prior to this, he only heard rumors of there being priests capable of using special spells, said to be handed down by the Goddess of Light herself, and that their form of power was the true incarnation of the divine¡¯s will. Of course, this im greatly infringes on the Magic Union¡¯s belief and was hence refuted by all mages in the union. To the regr magicmunity, they believed the special techniques used by the divinests are merely another form of magic, but elevated using the Temple¡¯s status and rebranded as ¡°divine techniques¡±. But on today¡¯s encounter, Du Wei noticed something vastly different about it! By sucking in air, the old man¡¯s chest swelled up and sent the rm bells ringing in Du Wei. Noticing the oddity, he hurries to get away. BANG! Countless streams of air sprayed from the old man¡¯s mouth and sent the hurling fireballs under Du Wei¡¯s control into a chaotic mess. Colliding and exploding together from the conflicting impact, the vast majority of the fireballs didn¡¯t make it, but those that did make it out of the smoking mess were repelled by a silvery light on the Divinest¡¯s body which radiating a sacred glow. The first failure of the Du Wei¡¯s fireball assault was a little irritating for him, so he summoned his wand by willing it out of existence in his hand. shing repeatedly, the crystal on his wand fluctuated with energy from Du Wei¡¯s power. And as soon as Du Wei finished his quick chant, a fire birdprised entirely of mes opened it wings and shot directly at the divinest, the sharp sound created by the friction between the fire and air sounded very simr to a bird¡¯s call. The divinest was no push over either. Pointing in quick session at the river, the water below gushed out like a long hose and shot straight into the sky to form multiple water masses. Following themand of the divinest¡¯s moving fingers, the water masses shot out like water bullets and collided into Du Wei¡¯s fire bird, the resulting impact created a cloud of fog due to the water evaporating from the searing heat. And the fighting down below was also getting quite busy right now. The divinest¡¯s intervention just then created a big tidal wave, causing Du Wei¡¯s boat to wobble uncontrobly and dmissioning two of the crossbow cannons in the process. Du Wei saw through the foe¡¯s intent and timely called for the immediately firing of the siege weapons, but it was toote. With only two of the siege weapons left, the effectiveness was far and in-between with the first arrownding five meters away from Geppede¡¯s boat in the middle. Even so, this was enough to send those onboard into a terrible fright from the aftershock. Luckily the aim of the second shot was very good and didn¡¯t disappoint. Watching the oing arrowing at him, Geppede knew he couldn¡¯t dodge; otherwise, those behind him will perish. As a seventh level knight, and as a holy knight, his pride wouldn¡¯t allow him to abandon therades behind him. Steeling his heart, he drew his sword and charged head on into the javelin like arrow flying at him. Gleaming a sharpness of an eagle and the ferocity of a lion, his speed reaches full velocity as he slices down at the death reaping projectile. What came next was a clear and crisp ¡°peng¡± sound of metal bending! Geppede body¡¯s trembled uncontrobly and even his hand holding the sword was about to let go due to the numbness circting across his body. But the all-out blow of a seventh level knight was not to be taken lightly, and immediately, the arrow head became crooked from the resulting impact. Even so, the projectiles fired by these crossbow cannons are no simple matter either. Despite having its arrow heads damaged and velocity changed, the initial inertia propels the metallic arrow to continue forward even at a nted pose. Making a whistling sound against the wind, the object ruthlessly smashes into Geppede¡¯s body! Fortunately for Geppede, he does have some skills. Despite having some of his ribs broken from the impact, he was able to break free by pushing himself away with his sword. In the end he did get out of the way, but this left hisrades wide open behind him. The two archers aboard the small rowing boat only had lightweight armor to begin with. With a loud ¡°plop¡± sound, the heads of the archers were literally smashed off of their bodies, brains and skull fragments sttered everywhere onto the river surface. And therades behind the archers weren¡¯t much better either. Getting pounded in the stomach, it¡¯s obvious enough that their spines were snapped in half from the steep curve they were bent in. Lastly, but fortunately, the remaining two furthest back were able to react in time. Jumping into the river, they were able toe out unscathed. Geppede was not only a seventh level knight; he¡¯s also a holy knight of the Temple. Suddenly suffering this big failure, his heart flew into a monstrous rage after recollecting himself. Breaking out into a loud roar, he robbed one of hispanion¡¯s swords and stamped his feet against the water, propelling himself like an eagle towards Du Wei¡¯s ship. The one to face him was Rhine, loyal protector of Lord Maximos. Rhine¡¯s size was the biggest, so it¡¯s natural he would be the obvious target for Geppede as he was in the air. Under his fury, the Battle Qi of this seventh level knight reached its peak and manifested itself into a vindictive coat of zing silver ¨C the specialized Dou Qi used by only the Holy Knights. Making a whistling sound as it slices through the air, adding in the fact that Geppede wasing down from above, the momentum from his attack gave Geppede the illusion of someone capable of cutting this big man (Rhine) into two halves with ease! At the same time, Du Wei was in the middle of the sky struggling to deal with this divinest, their fight evenly matched. Du Wei summoned even more fire birds to peck at the divinest during this time, but the guy was a master of the water, deflecting everything he threw at him with the water pirs. Regardless of what both sides used, there are no weaknesses to be found in their defenses. By now both men are annoyed by their fight, but Du Wei¡¯s situation was by contrast slightly better. His body only suffering some sshes of water on his clothes, meanwhile the divinest had charred holes all over his white clergy robe and even his hair was a little burned. Du Wei may be floating in the sky, but he didn¡¯t forget to observe the situation down at his ship. He may not be very fluent in martial art, but even he would learn something by now after spending so many days in the presence of Hussein and Rodriguez, both unparalleled masters of the sword. Against a seventh level knight that haspressed every ounce of his Dou Qi into the sword for one strike, most people would choose to avoid it, but this Rhine¡­.. This monster actually had absolutely no intentions of dodging¡­ Who knows if it was because his massive body¡¯s too bulky and couldn¡¯t move in time, or was it his inner consciousness forbidding him, either way, he¡¯s not moving! Holding his gargantuan battle axe, Rhine, like a wild beast, roars and physically stepped up to receive Geppede¡¯s attack from above with his weapon¡­. Seeing this, Du Wei¡¯s heart instantly sank. It¡¯s true he really admires this Rhine, there¡¯s no lie in that, but watching this big man going head on against a seventh level knight with a mere axe (no Dou Qi used here), Du Wei can already foresee the bloody scene that¡¯s about to unfold. Instinctively, he closes his eye and turns away. He simply can¡¯t bear to see this big guy get cut in two¡­. But it was exactly after Du Wei closes his eye that an ear deafening roar like a muffled thunder reaches out to him. Bang!!! This sound nearly overtook the entire river! By the time Du Wei opens his eyes again, the first thing toe into his sight was the eagle like Geppede iling about in the air, blood gushing out like arrows across his face as he flew backwards¡­.. No, it¡¯s not fly, it¡¯s shooting backwards! In one loud bang, Geppede, this seventh level knight has been sent shooting back into his rowing boat. Not slowing down in the least from the impacting crash, a gaping hole was blown through the bottom! Pleasantly surprised, Du Wei hurries to turn his sight on Rhine but was weed with the picture of numerous cracks and a human shaped hole in the sturdy ship deck. Blinking a few times, Du Wei had trouble devouring this image. Then the next thing he knew, a loud roar like muffled thunder came from underneath. First was the dusty arm, then the dusty body, Rhine crawled out of that hole unscathed without a spec of injury. ¡°Damn it!¡± He said, ¡°It¡¯s so painful from that hit!¡± Rhine suddenly uttered a thunderous roar as powerful and dominating as a lion¡¯s roar! Watching this, Du Weipsed out for a moment from being overly shocked¡­.. Without any Dou Qi, purely physical strength of the flesh, he was able deflect a seventh level knight¡¯s vindictive blow? And, he was able to beat the foe till they puked blood and crash back into the boat! To top it off, this Rhine¡¯s not hurt, merely sore from muscle pain? This guy ¡­ Is he really human? But this moment of distraction gave the divinest the opportunity to gain an advantage over Du Wei. Repeatedly calling for more water pirs, the fire birds under Du Wei¡¯s control quickly lost the edge and were eventually doused out into puffs of smoke and vapor. At this moment, the sky above where the two were making their confrontation was filled with a thick fog, impairing the vision of both parties. By the time Du Wei noticed the situation, it was already toote and he has already fallen into the enemy¡¯s ploy. Following the foe¡¯s extendedugh, Du Wei¡¯s body suddenly sank, his whole body unable to move as if there¡¯s a heavy weight pressing in at him. Binding magic? Du Wei¡¯s after all a sixth level mage himself now, even if he fell into a binding spell of the enemy, he should be able to break free from the shackles using his own methods. However, as he exerted his magic to forcefully loosen the grip on him, he found that his spell hadn¡¯t the slightest effect! The divinest repeatedly sneered: ¡°Stupid fellow! You think this is magic? It¡¯s impossible to disarm the Temple¡¯s divine power! This power is the holiest of all forces! It¡¯s not some magical element that you magicians think it is!¡± Indeed, Du Wei cannot break free from the binding of this sacred force. By now the divinest had pulled a silver nail out from his pocket, those old lips curving into a grin: ¡°Duke Tulip, I won¡¯t kill you, but this holy nail will seal your magic for good once I pierce it into your heart. At the very least, you won¡¯t be able to make trouble for us again in the future.¡± Once done, he quickly pounced towards Du Wei with the nail in hand, the goal clear, it¡¯s Du Wei¡¯s heart. But how can Du Wei just submit like so? In times of crisis, his brain went into overdrive¡­. Holy power? Then the only force capable of dispelling this holiest of holy powers should be the darkest and most vile force in this world. Thinking up to here, Du Wei dared not hesitate and promptly released a dark object from within his storage ring, gases as dark as ink swirled about inside. This was the dead spirits collected from the dark mage Du Wei indirectly killed from before. Sure enough, this kind of thing was the greatest natural enemy of the holy power. Wrapping around Du Wei¡¯s body, the miasmic mist began to rot and infect the invisible chains, loosening it enough for Du Wei to forcefully break free. Once out of the way, Du Wei hurriedly retreated, making sure to give as much distance between him and the divinest. The old man¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t necessarily higher than his own, but the issue was hisck of knowledge regarding the Temple¡¯s divine power, putting him at a disadvantage. At the moment he was angry, so angry that he¡¯s about to bring out his Nirvana¡¯s bow and directly blow the old man to smithereens to vent his frustration. But just as he was about to carry out this thought, an indifferent voice of a woman came from behind him: ¡°Go take care of your people, leave this guy to me.¡± Stunned for a second, Du Wei turns around and was weed with the beautiful face of Nicole with her eyes closed: ¡°Nicole, you¡­.¡± Queen Medusa made a nd smile, but that chuckle of hers remains devoid of emotion: ¡°Didn¡¯t you take me on the road with you because you wanted me to give you a helping hand? No need to exin yourself. Since I followed you out here, it¡¯s only right I do this. Hmm¡­ ording to your human nature, this is the so called mutual exchange, right?¡± With that said, Queen Medusa flew towards the divinest with her robe fluttering from the wind. Du Wei¡®s heart became moved and epted the offer. Slowly, he descended. The deck has be a mess by now. The other side originally nned to overtake the ship by their superior numbers, but out of expectation, their leader, Knight Geppede was sent flying by Rhine¡¯s devastating blow with the battle axe. This impedance will of course lower the momentum of the attackers. Also, the Tulip soldiers were all equipped with crossbows, making the level of difficulty in boarding rise exponentially. Adding in this Rhine with his monstrous strength, any person unfortunate enough to face off against this giant with his battle axe will be immediately severed and smashed back down into water. The enemy did have a few strong characters, but these warriors were all around the third level, nothing threatening in the face of Rhine¡¯s onught. Merely after two to three pushes, the assants were forced off of the ship. As for those unable to escape, they can only jump into the river to save their lives. The remaining archers on the rowing boats continued to fire their arrows at Du Wei¡¯s men, but the Tulip soldiers were well prepared since the beginning with their shields raised early on in the fight. Angered by these annoying arrows, Rhine decides to retaliate by picking up one of the enemy¡¯s corpses. Holding the body by the legs, he rips the human corpse in two! The natural born strength of this giant was indeed appalling. Throwing the two halves of the corpse into the other side¡¯s boat, the archers that were constantly harassing him moments ago couldn¡¯t ingest the gruesome scene and began throwing up to the side. Mangled meat, bowel fluid, and all sorts of bodily excrement¡¯s were sttered about on the boat, some ending up on the attackers boot. By now Geppede has been fished up from the river. This seventh level Holy Knight was pale like paper once out of the water, drenched and soaking wet, he was absolutely ghastly from how weak and powerless he looked. From the corner of his mouth, blood continues to stream down the side, indicating how injured he really was inside. Now that he¡¯s defeated, Geppede and everyone on their side can only ce their hope on the battling divinest up in the sky. As long as the divinest can defeat the magician on Du Wei¡¯s side, they can still make a victory here today. But this idea onlysted long enough for the people to think about it because a loud eximing voice quickly broke them out of that illusion. From above the sky, a white silhouette, heavy looking, came crashing down at one of the boats! Bang!! Torn asunder, a gaping hole was blown through the hull by that object and was about to sink at any moment. Others looked, but they all fell into a desperate fright once recognizing it! It¡¯s not some random thing that fell from the sky, it¡¯s the divinest that everyone ced their hope on! Only issue, the old guy¡¯s been turned to stone! When he fell from the sky, the old man was still a statue, but once it smashed into the boat, the statue was shattered into countless pieces. ¡°Dead¡­. Is he dead? His grace fell victim to a petrification magic and died¡­.¡± Geppede¡¯s jaw were gaped open, unable to take in the reality: ¡°How can this be!! How can Duke Tulip have such a powerful sorceress by his side?!¡± Other than Du Wei himself, it¡¯s likely no one else would know of the reason for this divinest¡¯s demise. Chapter 282 Chapter 282 ¡°The Legacy of History¡± The opposition suffered heavy losses and was firmly defeated. In the face of Queen Medusa, their divinest did notst so much as a single round and was instantly killed. As for the rest of the attackers, they are either dead or too injured to keep going. More importantly, their leader, the seventh level knight Geppede, was also seriously injured, forcing them to retreat in haste with their boats. Du Wei did not order his forces to pursue, nor did Maximos give any indication of wanting to end the survivors, hence the reason the enemy was able to flee in a panic. Then strangely, Maximos came to Du Wei with an odd request: he asked Du Wei to release the two captives in their possession. Seemingly dissatisfied by this oue, this vulgar old man, Vice-bishop Lamu, was the first to raise hisints to Maximos: ¡°My grace¡­. Why are you still being so kind? Don¡¯t you see, they¡¯ve decided to kill you! Aigh¡­ Even if you¡¯re not willing to do too much killing, don¡¯t want to kill more, but at least keep the captives with us. If we can take them to the imperial capital and have them stand in front of the Pope, those guys won¡¯t be able to shake off the me during the confrontation.¡± After listening, Maximos just smiled and patted Lamu on the shoulder: ¡°My old friend, things aren¡¯t so simple.¡± Then he did not exin anymore, instead, he looks to Du Wei: ¡°Duke, I¡¯ve let you seen a joke today. But please, I implore you not to mistake the followers of the Temple to be so ugly. Most of the clergymen¡¯s are still bathed in the glory of the goddess, they are still pure.¡± Du Wei smiled indifferently: ¡°I do not care too much about these things, but I am more inclined towards Vice-bishop Lamu¡¯s position. Why did you let go of the surviving captives?¡± Maximos¡¯s expression went dim, and then his eyes moved to Old Smoke and the others behind Du Wei. Understanding, Du Wei had his men leave the room and asked a servant to bring in some tea. Outside the deck there would naturally be sailors and soldiers to clean up the battlefield, and Rhine¡¯s godlike strength can once again shine on this asion. Towards this brave warrior, Du Wei¡¯s admiration and fondness grew even more after what he witnessed today. Ordering some of his people to bring a new set of armor from the cabin, he gifts it to Rhine as a reward: ¡°Knight Rhine, I admire your bravery very much, and to express my friendship, I want to give you a gift. Hmm, I see that you are using a battle axe as a weapon. Though sharp, it¡¯s been damaged in the fight just now. To tell the truth, I personally feel your martial art is not suitable for this type of thing. So to remedy this, I want to give you a weapon of your choosing. This way, it will be more convenient for you to fight in the future.¡± Rhine became very happy after listening to hispliment, but then he began scratching his hair in distress: ¡°Duke, but ¡­ I¡¯ve tried a lot of weapons and their weights are all too light. This axe here ¡­ s, it¡¯s barely passable. If the weight of the new weapon can be double this axe then it will be about right.¡± Du Wei makes a wide grinning smile: ¡°You may not know this, but I have a shop in the imperial capital that specializes in manufacturing unique weapons. If you want to, you can go have a look once we return to the imperial capital. I promise they will ready something to your liking.¡± Then Rhine also left the cabin, leaving only Du Wei and the two bishops in the room. ¡°Lord Maximos, I believe we need to have a good talk now.¡± Du Wei¡¯s face turned serious as he sat down calmly: ¡°I personally do not want to participate in the internal disputes of the Temple, but after today¡¯s event, I believe I wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge it even if I wanted to anymore, right? Now that things havee this far, I believe I have the right to know.¡± Maximos¡¯s face remains expressionless as he pondered Du Wei¡¯s demand. Then exchanging a nce with his friend, Vice-bishop Lamu understood and nodded in return: ¡°Duke, how much do you know of the Temple of Light¡¯s history?¡± Lamu asks. ¡°History?¡± Du Wei frowned and thought: ¡°I do know a little, but what I know is mostly from the history books. But then, to tell you the truth, I think the contents in the history books aren¡¯t very reliable, mostly lies glorified by the historians.¡± Pausing, he and the two bishops shared a nce and all three men began to smile in understanding: ¡°Hmm, the Temple¡¯s history should be very long, but the official records only go as far back as nine hundred and sixty one years ago, the time of the Rnd Empire¡¯s founding by the great king Aragon. (When referring to Aragon and the word great, Du Wei could resisted adding in another ¡®jerk¡¯ word to the sentence in his heart) During that period, his highness unified the continent and founded the Rnd Empire with much help from the religion of Light. In return for their aid, the religion of Light was recognized as the official religion on thisnd with legal legitimacy. In the same year as the Empire¡¯s founding, the Temple of Light was official founded and the base of operation was established in the imperial capital, this remains unchanged to this day. Before then, though the religion of light had always existed¡­. But with all due respect, before the unification of the continent, the religion of light had no orthodox position on the maind, and at that time, there were so many small countries with different pagan beliefs, am I right?¡± Lamu nodded: ¡°Duke has a very good understanding of history, and you are right, the books¡­. It¡¯s true that¡¯s how it was written. By helping his majesty unify the continent, the religion of light was able to gain the orthodox position on the maind by the grace of his majesty, Aragon.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a win-win situation.¡± Du Wei smiled. ¡°For outsiders, it¡¯s already considered to be not easy to know all of this; after all, the books in cirction out there won¡¯t have records of the things you mentioned. However, Duke, things are not so simple. If you are interested, maybe I could tell you a few stories from history.¡± Du Wei made augh: ¡°Story? Very good, my favorite pass time is to listen to stories.¡± Lamu coughed once to clear his throat, then slowly began to give the details: ¡°The history of the Temple of Light is nine hundred and sixty one years old, there¡¯s no lie in this truth. But the Temple¡¯s existence is far more than that. As to the specifics of when it was founded, there¡¯s no way to investigate now. However, before the founding of the Empire and the unification of the maind, there are indeed other religions besides that of the religion of light with many deities¡­.. Oh, may the great goddess forgive them, those poor heathen. All right, let¡¯s get back on topic. Hmm¡­. In fact, the history of the Temple of Light is long and old, and when it came to assisting his majesty Aragon in unifying the maind, we have to mention someone of great importance. This man is our first leader in history, his majesty Muyaba Huxie. Oh, the name is a little awkward to say, but whenever the future generations mentioned this great majesty, they would always call him using a very intimate nickname: intelligent Muyaba or prophet Muyaba.¡± Before the Rnd Empire unified the maind, there are many religions on the continent, but the religion of light remains one of the biggest. Sadly though, we may have been one of the biggest, but we most certainly weren¡¯t one of the most powerful because at that time, the structure within our ranks weren¡¯t unified and even had dangerous signs of division. Ultimately, it came down to our beliefs. Although everyone believed in the Goddess of Light, but there are many different takes in the view of our teachings, and there is a great deal of ambiguity on how to spread the teachings of the Goddess ¡­.¡± Speaking up to here, Du Wei¡¯s heartughed: What ambiguity, what different views in the teaching? In the end it¡¯s nothing more than self-interest and uneven distribution of power. At that time, there were three schools within the religion of light, namely the Xieni faction, Mosa faction, and Heishan faction. Among them, the Xieni faction advocates the cruel treatment of the infidels, and that they also believe the Temple¡¯s power should preside over the king and all secr powers of this world. To them, the divine is the one and true master, nothing stands above this authority. Anyone or anything who dares challenge this belief, they will use any means to eliminate their existence¡­ Umm, I personally find their methods to be too brutal. By the way, I and lord Maximos is part of the Mosa faction. What we advocate is the improvement of one¡¯s self through cultivation and self-enlightenment. By influencing others with our teachings, we believe it will teach everyone around us the greatness of the goddess. Also, we firmly believe there should be no intermingling of worldly powers with the goddess¡¯s will.¡± Listening up to here, Du Wei cursed inside: what Xeini faction and Mosa faction, just doves and hawks of the same roost. Thinking of it, he asked again, ¡°Then, what about the Heishan faction?¡± ¡°The Heishan faction was at that time a rtively small group of people among the three factions, but don¡¯t be mistaken, their strength is the most powerful. The reasoning for this is because the Heishan faction focuses on enduring harsh training and strives to improve their understanding of the goddess¡¯s teaching while keeping a distinct line between themselves and the outside world. As such, they are also known as the ¡®harsh training faction¡¯, or ¡®hidden faction¡¯. Although their numbers are small, but because of their intense focus on cultivation, their average level of strength is among the highest. They are generally aloof. As long as you don¡¯t go interfering with their practices, these people will not get involve with anything unrted, the only exception being the Temple of light. If anyone threatens the existence of the Temple of Light, these hermit like beings wille out in force, decimating any obstacles that gets in their way of protecting their faith. Therefore, the Heishan faction can also be considered the guardian power of the Temple. As long as this power remains, no threat will be able to touch the core values of the Temple.¡± ¡°The three schoolspeted for hundreds of years, but the dispute mainly revolves around the Xieni faction and the Mosa faction, while the Heishan faction stood neutral. But a thousand years ago, things changed following the appearance of ¡®intelligent Muyaba¡¯. Du Wei nodded: ¡°I think I understand. This Muyaba, also known as the first Pope, resolved the internal disputes of the three factions, and then he formed an alliance with his highness Aragon.¡± ¡°Presumably so. His Majesty is exceedingly clever, and his divine powers are mighty, plus he¡¯s a natural born leader with a charismatic personality. ording to legends, he unified the scattered followers across thend, and through helping Aragon in his conquest of the maind, Mayuba was able to convince his highness to proim the religion of light as the only orthodox religion and all other religions are nothing but evil pagans.¡± Du Wei couldn¡¯t resist and butted in with a question: ¡°Then¡­ what faction is this Mayuba part of? Xieni, or Mosa?¡± As soon as this question was put forward, both Lamu and Maximos shared a face of bitterness. ¡°No one knows.¡± Maximos that had been quiet up till now suddenly interjected: ¡°This is the question that has caused the Temple¡¯s inner quarrel tost over nine hundred years!¡± Somewhat surprised, Du Wei pushes for more: ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because until now, it is impossible to confirm which faction his majesty Mayuba was a part of.¡± Lamu also sighed: ¡°ording to the records, in those years his Majesty Mayuba never once openly admitted to being a part of any schools. He remained silent all his life, and others cannot press him to answer either.¡± ¡°If we can ascertain his majesty¡¯s school, then the internal strife within the Temple wouldn¡¯t havested over nine hundred years. In the midst of the infighting, it¡¯s not known how much blood has been shed, and who knows how many of those so called ¡®heretics¡¯ have been burned at the fire pir¡­. Aigh¡­.¡¯ Maximos made a heavy sigh, his face shamefully sad. Chapter 283 Chapter 283 ¡°Scandal¡± The room fell into utter silence for a moment, ¡°How did that happen? Since this Mayuba was able to unite the three schools at the beginning and be the first Pope of the Temple, shouldn¡¯t everyone know of his background, why would¡­..¡± Du Wei frowns. ¡°Speaking of his majesty Mayuba, his tale is legendary.¡± Lamu continues to y his role as the storyteller while Maximos remains silent on the side. ¡°His majesty Mayuba isn¡¯t a leader of any school back then, in fact, tracing through his history, he¡¯s actually a priest of a local chapel. He and the founding emperor of the Rnd Empire were fellow countrymen of the same region, and old acquaintances. His Majesty Aragon was born of a small aristocratic family in the central southern part of the continent, and his majesty Mayuba is the priest of that area. It was a small chapel in a not so bustling vige, and due to the scarce poption of the settlement, there were few clergymen dwelling in that chapel. His majesty Mayuba was born of a devoted family to the faith, and at the age of sixteen he offered himself to the faith and became a clergyman. Then at age twenty two, because of the death of the old priest, Mayuba reluctantly stepped forward to carry on the mantle of his predecessor¡­. It¡¯s because there were no other options avable. As we all know, his majesty Aragon had a few years of adventuring from his early years and caused quite the trouble for himself. There had even been an asion where the local authorities wanted to arrest him. It¡¯s said that for some time Aragon had fled back to his homnd and didn¡¯t dare go home, spending that period hiding within the local chapel under his majesty Mayuba¡¯s care. ording to what we know, a deep bond of friendship was formed from then on. Subsequently, after his majesty Aragon ascends to the throne of a small country, it seems all historical records of his majesty Mayuba strangely revolves around the founding emperor¡¯s side. Whether it be recruiting the faithful for the army, or to raise funds, his majesty Mayuba would always be there to lead the efforts with his influence. And before that, there were no records of the cooperation between Mayuba and Aragon. To say it bluntly and forgive me for being disrespectful, it seems that the two men just suddenly got together without prior contact ¡­ Of course, there is one popr saying that is approved by the popce, prior to the founding emperor¡¯s revolution, his majesty Mayuba had already been a close ally of Aragon. Thenter, in order to help with the unification war, Mayuba persuaded the various schools belonging to the religion of light and convinced many to join in the grand war. Afterwards, in the midst of the unification period, the cooperation between the religion of light and the founding emperor deepened. At first his majesty Mayuba only took on a liaison role between the two powers, but as things progressed, his majesty Mayuba gradually mastered the various schools into one and unified the scattered believers. If it can be said that the Temple of Light helped Aragon create the empire, then it can also be said that the founding emperor Aragon objectively created Mayuba¡¯s position within the faith. After all, in the beginning he was the middleman between the Aragon and the Temple, and because he¡¯s also a priest, he eventually became the spokesperson for the religion of light. Atst, through his efforts from the unification war, he was beloved by the worshippers and was formally recognized as the first Pope of the Temple of Light after its founding. Objectively speaking, the fact that the Temple of Light is able to have this level of achievement and status has to be greatly credited to his majesty Mayuba. If not for his effort, it¡¯s likely the religion of light and its worshippers would remain a disorganized bunch scattered across the continent, let along earn the merit of being the only orthodox religion in thesends. His majesty Mayuba is not only a wise leader, he¡¯s also good atmunicating, good at connecting and uniting different powers. Above all else, he¡¯s good at bringing everyone together to work towards one goal. Unfortunately, even the wise and intelligent Mayuba cannotpletely eradicate the divisions within the Temple. So, when he¡¯s alive, his influence can only temporarily keep the unity of the three factions in line until the internal differences resurges once again. In fact, during his majesty¡¯sst few years, almost all his time was spent quelling the internal power struggles within the Temple. And, in thest few years of his term, it said that his majesty had already lost control over the infighting. After all, during the unification war the three schools had one objective goal and would work towards it hand in hand. However, once the empire was established, that goal no longer existed, thus the resurgence of the division. He died in the third year after the establishment of the Empire, and his Majesty Aragon personally presided over his funeral. Though his majesty Mayuba passed away in his bed, but the frustrating part is¡­..¡± When he reached this part Vice-bishop Lamu exhaled deeply like he couldn¡¯t bear to say it aloud. Peering over at Maximos, he hesitates. ¡°Go ahead Lamu.¡± Maximos sighed deeply: ¡°This secret is a scandal of the Temple, but there¡¯s no meaning in keeping something so disgraceful a secret. Now that you¡¯ve said so much already, you might as well spill everything.¡± Lamu¡¯s original vulgar appearance became even more wretched as he inhaled deeply and slowly: ¡°Duke Tulip, bear in mind this matter is only known between a certain few within the leadership of the various schools. Also, it¡¯s an absolute secret and would never be spread around in the public for this secret is simply too disgraceful.¡± ¡°Hmm, what¡¯s so disgraceful about it?¡± Du Wei frowns: ¡°Is it ¡­?¡± His voice suddenly turns into a whisper, ¡°Can it be this Mayuba was murdered?¡± Lamu jumped with shock at the usation. Profusely shaking his head, he exins: ¡°His majesty Mayuba may have lost control over the disputes of the three schools in hister years, but his prestige among the followers remains extremely high, especially among themon folks. If anyone within the Temple dares harm him, then the faction or person responsible would need to face the ire of the millions of faithful followers on the continent! No one would be foolish enough to do that kind of thing, and¡­ and¡­. although the internal conflict between the three schools have been fierce, but plotting something so outrageous as to assassinate the Pope¡­ Who would dare?¡± Du Wei smiled deviously and thought: wouldn¡¯t dare? I doubt it. Lamu calms himself before continuing: ¡°The truth is¡­ It¡¯s said that during hisst days in this world, his majesty Mayuba had been under house arrest by the three schools because they wanted him to announce his will. Unable to make contact with anyone from the outside, the only one by his deathbed was an old servant loyal only to his majesty.¡± Du Wei¡¯s brow pricked up: ¡°So they wanted him to announce his sessor?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s not it. When he became the Pope, his majesty Mayuba had already thought of this problem and announced the procedures in selecting the session in line. A Pope isn¡¯t appointed by the former; it¡¯s voted on by the eldermittee and the various high ranking clergymen of the Temple after deliberating the candidates merit and performances over the years. Once the decision is unanimous, the results will be published in order to avoid any devious or ipetent individuals from wrangling control of the entire Temple.¡± ¡°Then what use is Mayuba¡¯s will?¡± Du Wei became puzzled. Bitterly smiling, Lamu sounded like he didn¡¯t want to say: ¡°This is where the problem lies! At that time it¡¯s only been three years since the founding of the Empire and the end of the unification war. In terms of merit and achievements, the archbishops of the various dioceses should be rtively the same¡­ If that¡¯s the case, how are they supposed to choose an individual that everyone can ept? That¡¯s where the emotional votese into y, and it¡¯s the most important!¡± ¡°Emotional vote?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lamu lets out a long deep sigh: ¡°This is also one of the great contributions offered up by his majesty Mayuba!¡± I said so before, between the dispute of the Xieni faction and the Mosa faction, the Heishan faction had always stood neutral. By cleverly utilizing this advantage, Mayuba was able to break the stalemate by creating the eldermittee. They are the best candidates for arbitration and are not tempted by oppressive influences. As a result, the eldermittee at the time wasprised mostly of those from the Heishan faction during those years. The council of elders does not assume any power or participate in the Temple¡¯s daily functions; their only focus is their own cultivation and training. Though the eldermittee may seem like nothing but a name, but once the election for the next Pope arises, the importance of the elder council surfaces. Also, because of the incredible strength of each member of the Heishan faction, neither the Xieni faction nor the Mosa faction would provoke them, thus allowing them to be impartial during the tie breaker. Hence the reason for the emotional vote of the eldermittee¡­.¡± ¡°You mean ¡­¡± Du Wei frowns once again. ¡°The birthright of each school.¡± His voice turns deep: ¡°At that time, it was thought that the position of Mayuba would ultimately decide where the tide turns to, Mosa or Xieni. Though he has no right to directly instill the new pope, but his prestige was simply too big. Most important of all, he has never publicly stated whether he belongs to the Xieni faction or the Mosa faction. That¡¯s when both schools came up with the thought of forcing Mayuba to publicize his stance. If it bes public knowledge of where his majesty stood, the elders on themittee would heavily sway towards that school, thus tipping the bnce heavily! Duke, think about it. When the candidates from both factions are evenly matched, what do you think would happen if Mayuba announces he is in fact a part of a certain school¡­ Then because of his enormous prestige among his followers, the elders and the vast majority of the followers would lean towards this school for ages toe!¡± ¡°I see, so that¡¯s why they pressured him to say his school at his death bed, right?¡± Lamu¡¯s face reddened with embarrassment, his mouth wordlessly mped tight. Coming in at the perfect moment to break the silence, Maximos said: ¡°That right¡­ Duke, what you said is the truth. It was a big scandal! While his greatness was meeting his end, the heads of the two conflicting schools bullied his majesty Mayuba at the deathbed, bullied someone so great and magnificent¡­.. Such an act is humiliatingly shameful. I may be a part of the Mosa faction, but I personally feel a deep disgrace towards that part of our history.¡± ¡°The past was done by the people of the past, and the people of now need not take responsibility of the scandal done by those long dead.¡± Du Wei waves his hand in a dismissive way, ¡°My concern is¡­ What happen afterward?¡± ¡°Then what happened afterwards caused the Temple of Light to fall into divide for over a millennia¡­ Moreover, the Temple of Light finally fell through with the royal household, henceforth the great divide between imperial power and the divine right. This fight of supremacy continues on till this day from a thousand years ago and rages on fiercely!¡± The one to say this was Maximos. From his frustrated old face, that pair of eyes were inscrutable to interpret: ¡°Duke, the following parts are even more secretive, you sure you want to hear it?¡± He¡¯s not blind. Du Wei understands that if he were to listen to this story, there be a price to be paid. But he seemed to be very rxed regardless: ¡°The beginning has been said, if we don¡¯t continue to the end, I won¡¯t be able to sleep at night. Your grace, we¡¯re on the same boat now, you¡­ go ahead and say it!¡± Chapter 284 Chapter 284 ¡°Big deal¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± Seemingly afraid to keep going,mu turns to Maximos for aid. Maximos softly smiles: ¡°I believe it¡¯s better for me to borate on the next part. His majesty Mayuba remained silent in his deathbed till the very end and those who kept him under house arrest couldn¡¯t and didn¡¯t have the courage to do anything to him. After all, if anyone had the nerve to kill him, then the one responsible will be immediately discredited and despised by millions once the news gets out. No one would do that kind of thing. Then something happened after that, and that part waspletely erased from all literary texts. The only clue to its existence remains through the oral transmission of the heads of each factionary school.¡± ¡°Say it, what happenedter on?¡± ¡°Later¡­¡± Maximos sadly smiled: ¡°Later, it was said that at thest moment before Mayuba¡¯s life came to an end, his Majesty Aragorn caught wind of the news and forcefully breached the Temple¡¯s main cathedral with the twelve members of the Saint Rnd knights. As the strongest being under the stars, along with the peerless personal knights, none could obstruct his path. Moreover, he¡¯s the ruling emperor of the Empire, who would openly go against him when he demands to see the Pope? So, it is said at thest moment before Mayuba¡¯s death, his majesty Aragorn entered, and, reportedly, because of the guards refusal to back down, his majesty used force out of desperation and killed several high ranking priests and clergymen of the Temple on the spot. Finally, he came to the deathbed and saw Mayuba, weak and frail. Before his grace passed away, his majesty Mayuba managed to whisper a few words into Aragon¡¯s ear. Then with a smile, Mayuba left this world while holding Aragon¡¯s hand.¡± After saying these, Maximos sigh unceasingly. Du Wei also made a sigh: ¡°Those words must be very important if Mayuba had to say it to Aragon before he passed away, but what did he say?¡± ¡°This¡­¡± Maximos made a face of helplessness: ¡°This, no one really knows. This can be said to be a historical secret of the millennium. But the most important part isn¡¯t just these words; rather ¡­ It was because of this event where Aragon had to watch his old friend suffer such humiliation at the hands of the different schools before his passing. He was furious, and out of impulse, Aragon did something so outrageous that it¡¯s been kept hidden all this time, unknown to anyone outside the leadership of the Temple.¡± ¡°What?¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart began to pick up speed. Maximos whispered: ¡°We all know that in order to get help from the Temple, his majesty Aragon openly epted the baptism of the Temple in order to show his sincerity towards their coboration. And the one to preside over the ceremony was Mayuba himself! Aragon, along with his twelve Saint Rnd Knights, all became followers of the faith and proimed the Goddess of Light as their one true deity.¡± ¡°Yes ¡­ I know that.¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°So in the end what did Aragon do¡­.¡± ¡°It is said that¡­¡± Maximos¡¯s face was full of weariness: ¡°Sorry, we seem to have said a lot of ¡®it was said¡¯ today, but the truth is we don¡¯t have any written records of the event, purely knowledge of it by passing it on orally from generation to generation.¡± Coughing once to clear his throat: ¡°It is said that at the time Mayuba held onto Aragon¡¯s hand and left this world with a smile on his face. Despite the objections of all the clergymen present that day, Aragon, in a fit of rage, lifted Mayuba¡¯s body into his arms and came out to the cathedral¡¯s main worshipping hall! The situation at the time was very tense because Aragon had intruded into the Temple, causing all the masters and powerful experts in residence toe out and surround him and his twelve Saint Rnd Knights. But in the face of the heads of the Mosa faction and Xieni faction, plus the old secluded masters of the Heishan faction, along with the judges and Holy Knights of the time, his majesty, the first founding emperor Aragon, remains fearless. Ripping off his chest badge symbolizing his status as a follower of the faith, Aragon publicly mmed the symbol onto the ground and stamped it twice to show his displeasure. Then with a sneer at all the members of the Temple, he left this sentence, ¡®such a Temple, such a religion, brings shame to all its believers. From today forward, Aragon is no longer a believer of the faith, and I believe my old friend here wouldn¡¯t want to stay in this filthy ce either.¡¯ With that said, Aragon gantly turned around and strode away with Mayuba in his arms. Following his majesty¡¯s lead, the twelve Saint Rnd Knights also ripped their badges off and hurled it in front of the crowd and departed. The words said by Aragon that day left everyone present in utter shame, but some turned their shame into anger and wanted to step forward. However, because everyone knew his majesty Aragon was the strongest being under the stars in that period, no one had the courage to jump out and challenge him.¡± Exhaling, Du Wei could not help thinking of that period. Like himself, a traveler from another world, this founding emperor would forsake all lofty sentiments for the sake of hisrade and take on the encirclement of hundreds of masters from the Temple. What a heroic character, what bravery, what courage, who can tackle someone of such high spirit? ¡°But¡­ regretful to say, this matter also raised the tensioning differences between the royal family and the temple, thus began the big break. Afterwards, both the Mosa faction and the Xieni faction both hated Aragon for ruining their affairs, and the rtionship only got worse overtime.¡± Maximos sighed. Listening up to here, Du Wei¡¯s heart was deeply moved. Who could have thought there¡¯s a passage like this hidden within such aplex story? He certainly knows of the contradictions between Aragon and the Temple, but, looking at it from the view of this story, Aragon and Mayuba were best of friends. Then only after the death of the first Pope did the crack develop between the two forces. Recalling what Hussein said about the badges of the Saint Rnd Knight being kept in a hidden chamber and cursed for all eternity, Du Wei¡¯s heart thumped with fright when a banging sound came from within the room. Both he and Maximos¡¯s face abruptly changed to a ghastly grey as they shared a nce. Frowning, Du Wei screams: ¡°WHO!¡± Getting up, he walks up to the door leading into the inner cabin room and swings it open. Tensely peering in, the first thing that came into Du Wei¡¯s sight was the sacred beast, master penguin QQ lying on the floor as if he just fell from the table. Looking at this sacred beast, although this penguin didn¡¯t have any facial expression from the quirky bird face, but paying close enough attention to the eyes, Du Wei can discern a faint sense of emotions running through those pupils. Ramping his brain to the max, Du Wei turns around to face Lamu and Maximos with a fake smile: ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry, you see, this is my pet, it identally fell off the table just now.¡± Maximos and Lamu nced at each other and then became reassured after seeing the strange looking bird. The stuff they were talking about was after all scandals of the Temple, they can¡¯t turn a blind eye if someone were to ease drop on them. Sure, the bird¡¯s on the weird side, but a bird¡¯s a bird, it can¡¯t talk. Technically, the story didn¡¯t end here, but considering the strange look from QQ¡¯s eye, Du Wei can vaguely guess there¡¯s some hidden passage from this abominable bird regarding the event! Thinking of here, he returned to the main cabin room and made augh at the bishops: ¡°Both of you, I give my thanks for sharing the story with me today. For you to be able to share something of such importance with me, I can see the trust you ced in me. Ahh, after what happened today, I¡¯m sure both of you are tired by now. Why don¡¯t you two take a good rest and we can continue our discussions tonight over dinner, how about it?¡± Finishing his words, Du Wei found Lamu immediately making a discontent face: ¡°Duke Tulip, you¡­..¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Vice-bishop Lamu, you don¡¯t have to say it, I¡¯m not a fool. For you to tell me such a secret, I know you have something to ask of me, am I correct?¡± Lamu blushed from having his thoughts brought to light. Meanwhile, Maximos only make a inscrutable smile as he whispered: ¡°Well then old friend, the Duke is wise, much wiser than us old ones here. Needless to say, sometimes we don¡¯t need to say things aloud to understand each other.¡± At that, Maximos made a slight bow to Du Wei and then smiled indifferently: ¡°Duke, I¡¯m happy to hear you understand our intentions. Also, I hope you can give us a clear answer once you finish deliberating our request. As for the story, we can continue over dinner.¡± Du Wei bellowed out augh, then made a farewell gesture to dismiss the two: ¡°I would love nothing more. I¡¯ve prepared two good rooms for the both of you, let us talk again this evening.¡± Contrary to Maximos¡¯s calm and rxed manor, Lamu was reacting more worried as they slowly headed out the door. When they went out, Du Wei immediately signaled the guards outside his door with a wink to closely guard the entrance without letting anyone in. Then closing the door behind him, Du Wei hurries into his inner cabin to see QQ, the sacred penguin beast. QQ had by then restored his graceful appearance once Du Wei entered the room. As this bird watched Du Weie in, the usual slyness that enveloped this bird was instead reced with a rarely seen nervousness. ¡°Well then, my dear lord sacred beast.¡± Du Wei sat opposite to the bird: ¡°What have you got to tell me this time after ¡®remembering¡¯? Is your amnesia temporarily healed again?¡± Unlike in the past, this time QQ didn¡¯t taunt Du Wei, instead, the cunningness and yfulness in his voice was gone and reced by a serious and regretful tone. ¡°Du Wei, do you not want to know what Mayuba said to Aragon before he passed away?¡± Du Wei eyes immediately popped: ¡°Say what?¡± QQ exhaled a sigh: ¡°He said, old friend, I¡¯m sorry I have to leave so soon, I¡¯m afraid I cannot help you through with the rest and finish your n. It¡¯s such a pity¡­ When I die, the Temple is bound to be the cancer of the maind.¡¯ Hmm, that¡¯s about right, not a word off.¡± Du Wei couldn¡¯t resist a shiver at that sentence!! For the meaning behind those words are too¡­ too shocking!! It¡¯s as if¡­¡­ Does it mean that Mayuba had always been of the same heart with Aragon? He only became the Pope to help Aragon weaken the influences of the Temple after the unification war and ensure it doesn¡¯t endanger the rule of the empire? ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, and know what you¡¯re guessing at.¡± QQ looked at Du Wei¡¯s expression: ¡°And, I can tell you, you guessed right. Mayuba was never a true believer; he¡¯s always been and always will be a close ally of Aragon. From the moment of Aragon¡¯s revolution, Mayuba¡¯s been by his side, aiding him, and supporting Aragon with the power of the Temple! It¡¯s a pity Mayuba died so early. If he had lived another ten years¡­ No, just five more will do, than Aragon and Mayuba would¡¯ve been able to dissolve the power held by the Temple by working from the inside out. Pity¡­ things didn¡¯t pan out as nned.¡± Du Wei¡¯s face instantly changed, and then he jumped up abruptly: ¡°You ¡­ You know all this ¡­ Why? QQ sighed: ¡°Du Wei, you clearly guessed it, why are you hesitating in saying it?¡± Then, the bird¡¯s eye suddenly turned sharp and gave the small body of this bird a sense of awe-inspiring aura! ¡°It¡¯s simple, because, I¡¯m Mayuba!¡± Thump! Du Wei franticly fell from his chair. Struggling for a good while, Du Wei expended great efforts in order to climb back up again. Staring intently at this funny looking fat bird, he opens his mouth with great difficulty: ¡°You ¡­ Are you the creator of the Temple of Light? The representative of the goddess of light in the world? The greatest figure in the history of the Temple of Light, the first Pope?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, I am he!¡± QQ¡¯s tone was serious as he said it. Du Wei moaned in agony and fell back down; his all four sprawled wide as hey there on the floorboard. Chapter 285 part 1 Chapter 285 ¡°Mayuba, the religious fraud¡± (part one) shing wisdom from his pair of bean like eyes, QQ slowly spoke with a smile stered on his face: ¡°Master Du Wei, you like to listen to stories right? Then I¡¯ll also tell you a story¡­ about Mayuba. Just that,pared to Maximos¡¯s version, mine is a little different¡­.¡± Hearing this, Du Wei abruptly bolted off from the floorboard with a somersault, his expression not discernable to be happy or angry as heughed with his finger pointed to the sacred beast: ¡°Alright! What a good Aragon! What a good Mayuba! What a good QQ! You¡¯ve won, I submit! Tell me then; what sensational story do you have for me now? Be sure to say everything, I rather you note around every couple of days and give me a big fright!¡± To be honest, Du Wei was a little angry now¡­ Damn it! Looking back, he can say his own psychological endurance has been very strong up till now! Back when a white and green Gandalf suddenly popped up, he endured it. Back when he found out the founding emperor Aragon was a world traveler like him, he endured it. Even when this sted bird QQ said something like ¡°an iron rod will be grinded into a needle pin if the harem¡¯s three thousand strong¡±, he also endured it! (Cough cough, the iron rod idiom means even a strong manhood will be a weak manhood if there are too many girls to go around) But now? You just have to say that the greatest man in the history of the Light Temple, the first Pope, was¡­ was a damn bird! This kind of news, anyone would go crazy after learning the truth! By now QQ¡¯s calm demeanor has returned to him. Smiling at Du Wei, this self-proimed graceful bird blinked and blinked, then asked: ¡°Well then, have you calmed down yet? If you are, can I begin my story?¡± ¡°Say it, say it¡­¡± Du Wei held his head in agony: ¡°I am mentally prepared now. Even if you suddenly pull out a cross and proim yourself to be Jesus Christ, I won¡¯t be surprised anymore¡­ SAY IT!¡± ¡°Jesus Christ¡­ Hmm, in that case I will. I don¡¯t know what that means, but Master Aragon once mentioned something simr too.¡± QQ dazed out for a moment like just recalled something hrious, then began his version. ¡°What Maximos and his followers said were mostly true; it¡¯s just that there aren¡¯t many that know about my origin. About a thousand years ago on the Rnd Continent, oh, I forgot to mention, at that time thisnd wasn¡¯t called the Rnd Continent. The name you know of today was only established after the founding of the Rnd Empire¡­.. Back then, the name of the continent is¡­..¡± Up to here, Du Wei impatiently interrupted: ¡°There¡¯s no need to borate on these needless details, focus on the main subject.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± QQ seems to disapprove of Du Wei¡¯s impatient attitude; nevertheless, he follows through with the request and jumped across the ¡°unimportant details¡± by speeding up. ¡°Aragon¡¯s home is located in the southern central part of the maind, a ce once known as the Rosset Kingdom. By today¡¯s geography, it¡¯s approximately six hundred kilometers south of the imperial capital in the area of the Rona Valley. The Kingdom of Rosset isn¡¯t big by any standard. Compared to the dozens of countries at the time, it can only be regarded as medium in terms of size with a mediocre military strength¡­. Unlike the dominant countries, Rosset Kingdom isn¡¯t famed for their knights or warriors, they are known for producing quality wine. As you can imagine, a weak state like that would no doubt be bullied on a regr basis. Aragon and I were both born in a small town to the south of the Rosset kingdom. There¡¯s no lie in that, but regarding the part where Maximos said I¡¯m a priest of the local church, haha, that¡¯s what the official records say anyways. Truth is¡­. In my entire life, I¡¯ve never once believed in that whatever goddess of light.¡± Du Wei firmly believes it. If thest part just now gets out, it will make the entire Temple of Light go mad! One of the creators of the Temple of Light, the great founder, the first Pope, actually opened his mouth and said he never once believed in the goddess of light. In that case ¡­ Hehe! ¡°Back then the town and its surroundingnds all belonged to Aragon¡¯s family, whose father was also a nobleman. To survive, the family relied on the production of wine from the surrounding viges and towns under their name. Master Aragon was the youngest son of that family, and I, was the son of a farmer for one of their vineyards. If everything hadn¡¯t changed and followed the normal trajectory, I would have followed in my father¡¯s footstep and became a grape farmer too. My age was two years younger than Master Aragon, and even at that tender age, Aragon was the boss of all the kids around the manor. He¡¯s not only smart; he¡¯s also strong, decisive, and a natural born leader. Oh, of course, he had one big problem too, he¡¯s very perverted. I still remember it clearly. When we were but ten years old, he would often bring me out at night to peep at the daughter of the farm¡¯s housekeeper during her bath sessions. Ugh, it was just outside the house. I¡¯m squatting down on the ground and Master Aragon would step on my shoulders to peer over the window. Afterwards, he would say to me while looking inside, My good brother, you will certainly like these lovely women in the future.¡¯ At that time I was still young so I didn¡¯t know what he meant by those words, but it didn¡¯t matter, he liked me very much and trusted me the most. Then the day came where my father passed away. At that period I was still very young, incapable of doing the heavy farm work around the manor. In that age, if one cannot work then they will starve to death. I worked very hard every day, I really did, but I simply couldn¡¯t finish any of the work handed to me. It was Aragon who saved me back then. Every night he would sneak out with some bread he stole from the kitchen and let me eat it. If not for his generosity, I wouldn¡¯t havested. Later, when things got really tough, Aragon feared that I would eventually die from starvation, so to save me, he pleaded with his family to have me repositioned as his personal servant. From then on, I stopped calling him by his name and would call him ¡®master¡¯. Du Wei, you are the smartest person I¡¯ve ever met ¡­ But, in my opinion, Aragon is just as clever as you. You got your hot air balloons that can fly in the sky. You also organized ser games in the military for the soldiers as an exercise game. Hmm, you might be very surprised by this, but a thousand years ago Master Aragon had already thought of the same thing as you. When I was still his servant and by his side, he once drew a bunch of pictures and the contents were exactly like your hot air balloon. He told me it can fly in the sky so I became exceptionally excited. However, once Master Aragon finished his drawings, he promptly burned the sheets to erase any traces of their existence. I asked him why, but he didn¡¯t reply to me, he only looked at me and muttered to himself: ¡®what meaning is there to do it again¡­ You won¡¯t understand, everything is but a repeating cycle¡¯. He is a person like that, often spouting some inscrutable thing and confusing his peers. Hmm, Du Wei, those characters that you had me look at a while back, it was also Aragon who taught them to me. I don¡¯t know what those texts mean, but I adored him for being capable of creating his ownnguage. But now it seems¡­ It wasn¡¯t created by Aragon, but rather, thenguage had always been around, right? I may be his servant, but he is more like my teacher, teaching me all sorts of things. Later, many would call me the ¡®wise Mayuba¡¯, the ¡®schrly Mayuba¡¯, but almost everything that I know is taught to me by Aragon. He was that clever. Unlike his two brothers, he never once tried topete for the right to the family¡¯s wealth when he was at home. Because he had never attempted to win his father¡¯s favor, Aragon¡¯s two brothers never made things difficult for him, so our days went by very peacefully and enjoyable. Things continued like that until Master Aragon reached sixteen years old. That year he decided to leave home and what he told me was: ¡®the world outside is very, very big, and the world is about to change¡¯¡­. Oh, I¡¯ve seem to have forgotten the next part. He said a lot of things to me back then, but my memories are a blur now. It has been way too long since then. That year, he was sixteen years old and I was fourteen when I followed him out of the manor. I asked him many questions back then, like why now, and why choose now. His only answer to me was because the ¡®time¡¯s upon us¡¯. I never really understood his heart, but I can tell that Aragorn was lonely all his life because there seems to be a lot of secrets buried underneath. He trusted me, took me as his closest friend and taught me all sorts of things; this way, he can sort of elevate the loneliness in his heart by having me to talk to. I still remember those words he used to say to me: ¡®thanks to you, I now at least have one person to talk to.¡¯ For what came next, you can go refer to the founding Emperor¡¯s life record. We both went adventuring afterwards. When he joined a mercenary Corps as a knight, I acted as his squire, helping him scrub his weapons and feed the horses. When he was in business, I was his valet and helped him calcte the sale and profit margins of the goods. Then on thest adventure out at sea, I stayed ashore because I was seasick. As a result, his boat capsized not long after his departure. I was very sad when I got the news because I thought Master Aragon had perished out at sea. I waited and waited at the port, then a month passed and my wishes were granted, he returned. Upon seeing me, the first words he said to me were this: ¡®Alright, remember today for the legend begins on this day!¡¯ On that shipwreck, he almost lost all of his property, including the umted wealth we saved from our mercenary days. Everything sank to the bottom of the seafloor. Even so, Aragon didn¡¯t seem sad nor discouraged, instead, he gleefully returned home to his family. Then, his father soon passed away, and as the youngest son, he didn¡¯t have the right to inherit the title and could only make a im on a small portion of the family¡¯s wealth. And then ¡­ Du Wei, as you probably know from the history of the maind chronicles, Master Aragon used his inheritance to organize a small private army. This move was greatly ridiculed by those around us, but Aragon didn¡¯t mind. We contacted all of our friends from our adventuring days and gathered them up for our venture. Sure enough, Aragon¡¯s approach was right. In less than two years, war broke out across the continent, and the kingdom of Rosset soon became involved in the turmoil. As you know, a small kingdom in the bliss of war would most certain face destruction. Grasping onto the opportunity from the chaos, Aragon slowly made his fortune from the battles and eventually stepped onto the grand stage of history. At the beginning the first few years went by very smoothly. I was always by his side as his trusted assistant¡­ Oh, just like you and Philip working together. He would discuss a lot of things with me and seek advice from me; however, he didn¡¯t have me take up any post in the public, merely a personal advisor in the background. Among many of those that followed him, they didn¡¯t even know of my existence. Regardless, I didn¡¯t care. In my opinion, as long as I can be of help to Master Aragon, I don¡¯t mind dedicating my entire life to him. And¡­¡­ Reality has proven. He had already made bigger ns for me so I¡¯m not fit to be in the limelight.¡± ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Du Wei listened attentively throughout, but he suddenly interjected with a shout: ¡°This isn¡¯t right! Wait, no! ording to Maximos¡¯s story, and historical records, Mayuba should¡¯ve been a priest of a small vige. But ording to your version, you¡¯ve been following Aragon since you were fourteen when he left home?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± QQ shot Du Wei a nce: ¡°Didn¡¯t you say so yourself? Books are often deceiving. The story isn¡¯t as simple as that.¡± Chapter 285 part 2 Chapter 285 ¡°Mayuba, the religious fraud¡± (part two) ¡°One day, Aragon suddenly sought me out in private and said to me, ¡®there is something very important I need you to do for me, this matter is very important and dangerous. Especially¡­ when there¡¯s no other he can trust besides myself.¡¯ I did not hesitate. For him, I¡¯m willing to sacrifice everything. Later, we talked for a long time and began our n, which was privately called ¡°Usurpation of God¡± by Aragon and me! Its meaning is the usurpation of the gods¡¯ power! There were many religions on the maind at that time with various religious institutes, various faiths¡­ and all kinds of gods. Merely expanding the army cannot solve all the problems we would face and would no doubt be unable to conquer a person¡¯s mind and heart. So, we decided to put our sight on using one of these religions! But due to the constraint of time and effort, we couldn¡¯t create our own; we had to use one that¡¯s already in existence. In the end, we chose the religion of light because their numbers were thergest. With their connections and power, it would greatly aid in Master Aragon¡¯s mission. After that, I began to embark on my own stage. First we secretly came back to our hometown with some of our own men. Due to war, the local priests of the vige had all been killed, leaving only the documents. After carefully reading through each and every one, Aragon and I burned any possible evidence that could hinder our quest, and of course, we left only those documents that could be advantageous to us. With that out of the way, I then used a special magic potion to dye my hair because a normal dye would discolor over time when the new hair grows out. That drug really was painful after applying. My skin ached and itched profusely as all my original hair fell off. Once a month passed, and my new hair fully grown, the coloration went from deep ck to a golden shade. The next part was changing my voice. Through the use of a secret concoction we obtained, the tune of my voicepletely changed after I ingested the foul liquid. And then Aragon taught me a skill that allows me to change my bone structure, thus raising my height and body shape. By then, two months had psed. The entire process was very painful, but for Master Aragon, I am willing to dedicate everything. With all our preparationsplete, I finally donned the mantle of a priest belonging to the goddess of light. Before Aragon departed, he left me these words, ¡®Remember, from today onwards, your name is Mayuba, a young priest of the religion of light from a remote vige. All of your resumes are clearly written on these materials, but I believe you should¡¯ve memorized them by now.¡¯ And of course I did. Aragon trusted me and he taught me a lot of things. On many asions, he would tell me he¡¯s sorry for holding me back. To him, I was someone very talented with a great mind. With time, he believed I would achieve something great on my own. During those painful two months, I endured and endured. Despite all that pain on my throat, my skin, my body, I kept reciting the teachings of the religion of light. I swear with my own soul, my knowledge on the topic would not lose out to a real priest! That¡¯s when we started the ¡®Usurpation of God¡¯ n! From that day forward, I was officially renamed ¡®Mayuba¡¯, and my identity was no longer a farmer¡¯s son, no longer a servant of Master Aragon. My identity is Mayuba, a young priest of the religion of light!¡± QQ¡¯sughter became increasingly sly and sinister by this point: ¡°Then, using my newfound identity, I began contacting the other powers belonging to the religion of light. In that era, the religion of light may be huge, but their organization was loose without a unified system. As a priest of the same religion, I was able to easily prate into the core of their ranks. Of course, no one would suspect me considering my impable records and my background as a devout follower from a young age. Using the funds given to me by Aragon, I was able to quickly gather a group of people around me. Then using the influence of the organization, I first bribed the smaller powers to support Aragon. This continued on until Aragon began negotiating with the leaders of the various schools. As for what happened afterwards, I believe I don¡¯t need to tell you for you already know!¡± No matter how strong willed Du Wei was, even he will break out into a cold sweat after hearing this secret! This was the history of Mayuba! The true secret of Mayuba!! What founder of the Temple¡­? What greatest follower of the goddess? All bullshit, a total conspiracy!!! ¡°Usurpation of God¡± n¡­ Oh heavens! ¡°That is to say, the real Mayuba had perished long before the beginning of the war, and you, are an imposter imnted by Aragon into the religion of light after conspiring together from the very start. Your goal was to use the organization¡¯s power and influence to help conquer the continent, then crush them from the inside out after the unification war.¡± Du Wei exhaled deeply: ¡°What a good n, what a shady and deviously good n!¡± Repeating the word ¡°good¡± several times, Du Wei had to hand it to Aragon to be so calctive. ¡°Actually, we may be using the religion of light to our convenience, but we soon discovered a major problem. As the power of the Thorn Flower banner grew, the influence of the religion of light also grew with us. That was definitely not a good sign. In order to have a stable state, there cannot be two authoritative entities; otherwise, conflict will arise. To make things worse, those foolish followers in positions of power suddenly began to have ambitious andughable thoughts. For example, gods authority¡­. They began to fantasize about harnessing the influence of the religion of light and making all secr powers bow down to their rule. What king, what noble, they wanted everyone to obey their holy rule. They are greedy as pigs, yet vicious like snakes. Even if the entire empire does fall into their hands, would those religious frauds know how to run a country? Of course, I didn¡¯t pay much heed to those religious frauds at first. They may be greedy and vicious, but they were at least useful to us at the time. However, Master Aragon thought otherwise. When he learned of this, he grew exceptionally worried. Especially after that event which happenedter on! Du Wei, I believe you read the Temple¡¯s canon. Then you must have read the famous ¡®miracle¡¯ segment.¡± Du Wei nodded. Like the bible of the Christian faith from Du Wei¡¯s past life, the Temple¡¯s canon was a book of simr order. Beyond the teachings of the goddess, the canon also procedurally deified and beautified the creation of the Temple of Light. Among one of the most important chapters within the canon, Du Wei found it to be utter nonsense in his opinion after reading: Back during the time when the empire was first founded, the influence of the religion of light was already very powerful. At that time, there were many calls for the establishment of a powerful and sacred organization, a united front to control the educational affairs of the regions where the goddess¡¯s glory had enshrouded its people. Under this echoing call, a miracle finally urred! This led to the popr belief that the religion of light was truly authorized to represent the goddess in this world. Towards this record, the majority of the non-believers only looked at it with contempt, and for anyone wiser, it¡¯s merely a beautiful fabrication by the Temple. Of course, this includes Du Wei himself and the majority of the Magic Union. The event went like this: Thest page of the opening chapter of the first volume of the canon is called ¡°The goddess bestows upon the temple eternal radiance.¡± ording to the legend, on the eve of the founding of the empire, the head of the religion of light, also known as Mayuba the first Pope of the Temple of Light, received guidance in his sleep. Supposedly in his dream, the goddess told him that on the following day at noon, he is to head west of the imperial capital in order to ept the miracle of the goddess atop of a hillside. Therefore, his Majesty bathed and fastened until that moment. Without any attendant, he trekked barefooted up the mountain. Even if sharp stones made the arduous journey painful and bloody, he did not falter, for his Majesty¡¯s pious heart gave him the strength to ovee all the pains in his heart! And just like the dream indicated, at noon when the sun hanged directly above the head, the goddess¡¯s miracle arrived! A red radiance overtook the sky, shadowing everything upon this world, and for a thousand miles, faint tremor could be felt by all living things. In the end, numerous meteorites began crashing down from the sky! At first everyone thought it was a disaster and began to panic, but once one of the meteoritesnded inside the imperial capital, exactly at the location where the current headquarter of the Temple of Light resides, the mysterious object suddenly slowed down, gently touching down to the ground without causing an impact. When the members of the Temple gathered around to investigate, they discovered there were numerous carvings of all kinds etched densely along the surface. The content of those texts were as follow¡­. The Goddess hase to bestow upon the Temple her ¡®Divine skills¡¯! With these so called ¡®divine skills¡¯ from the goddess, the members of the Temple of Light will hence forth be able to protect the honor and authority of the faith. Prior to that, the religion of light may berge in numbers, but everyone was but amoner, this included the leaders of the various schools. However, after this event, the first ever divinest appeared and was able to contend with the magicians of thend. This matter was written into the canon by the Temple of Light to show off their power in this world, that they are empowered by the goddess herself! And, this also greatly relieved the followers of the religion of light. The reasoning was because there hasn¡¯t been a miracle from the goddess for a very long a time, well over hundreds of years. To the followers, this was a great embarrassment and was heavily mocked by hostile religions of the opposing faith: always with the saying that they¡¯ve been abandoned by the goddess. The descent of this miracle not only gave the Temple of Light the coat of legitimacy, it also solved their biggest crisis, faith! From then on, their momentum grew even louder. Of course, the first people to scoff at this so called miracle were the Magic Union! The Magic Union had never recognized those whatever ¡®divine skills, to them, the true essence in grasping the power of the gods were through the research of magic. And the divine abilities of the Temple were nothing more than some magic spells stolen by those frauds. After some tampering, it was used to beautify themselves. As for this miracle, most magicians had a simpler exnation: it was all fabricated by the Temple. Within the magic union, their members believed they are in fact the most loyal to the gods. By devoting themselves to the art of magic, they are devoting themselves to the lifelong practice of delving into the mysterious power of the gods! (This was a time back when people could still worship other gods) If the gods wanted to bestow a miracle, it would never be on those religious fraudsters, it should be on the magic ss of society. ¡°I have read the scriptures, and I of course know about the story of that so called miracle.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°But wasn¡¯t all of this fabricated by you guys? Objectively speaking, it was precisely because of this miracle that you were able to establish your unshakable status within the Temple and be the first Pope of the new order. You were the first to be contacted by the goddess, so you were regarded as her voice in the mortal world! If not for that, I doubt the leaders of the various schools would idly stand by while you take the throne.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right on the second point. Indeed, because of this incident that I was endowed with a cloak of divinity, and when I took the throne, none opposed me orpeted with me. But¡­ Your first point is wrong! That miracle isn¡¯t fabricated¡­ It¡¯s real!¡± QQ¡¯s tone turned stern and dignified: ¡°The goddess of light really did manifest herself! And that¡¯s when it started¡­ when I began to believe in the existence of gods.¡± Du Wei¡¯s expression turned strange, quietly waiting for QQ to give him the next half. ¡°That day, I dreamed and saw the will of the goddess in my sleep. At first I thought it was merely a dream, but then I discovered a thing under my pillow, a rock. In my sleep, the goddess told me to take the stone up to the mountains and ept her iing miracle. So, I then understood this was no dream, its real!¡± Listening to this, Du Wei suddenly made a strange smile: ¡°I say, this goddess isn¡¯t very capable is she¡­. Humph, you are clearly a viin hiding within the Temple, yet she decides to bestow her miracle upon you¡­ How foolish.¡± ¡°You¡¯re wrong again, Du Wei.¡± QQ sighed: ¡°The goddess of light is not so kind. You really think she would choose me to be her spokesperson in the mortal world? Then I¡¯ll tell you now, you are wrong, utterly wrong¡­. That goddess would never choose anyone! In the gods ¡¯view¡¯, us humans are all insignificant. Would you look down whenever you step on a bug? Would you think the act is evil or good? The same applies to the gods; we humans are no different from ants in their eyes!¡± ¡°Then¡­ That miracle¡­¡± QQ tone¡¯s changed: ¡°Don¡¯t you find it strange when looking at this part of the scriptures? If those god stones directly descended into the Temple¡¯s base, then¡­. Why would I be called upon to the top of the mountain? To greet what? I¡¯m certain this part hadn¡¯t been recorded in the canon now is it?¡± Indeed! His words immediately reminded Du Wei on this oddity. Frowning, he asked: ¡°That¡¯s right, why did youe back empty-handed from that hill?¡± QQ did not directly answer the question, instead, he leisurely countered with a question: ¡°Du Wei, if you are a herdsman, would you choose one of your grazing cattle to serve as your manager in order to ease the herd¡¯s management?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Du Wei shook his head. ¡°They will not trust us humans¡± QQ exhaled: ¡°Like the herdsmen, they will rather choose to send a shepherd dog for the job. So¡­¡­ the reasoning for the Goddess in sending me up the mountain is so she can send her ¡®shepherd¡¯ dog! The gods do not trust us humans, they will only look down at us. In order to maintain the faith in this world, the goddess would never choose a human as her ambassador! Instead, she will bestow her own!¡± Speaking up to here, QQ¡¯s eyes turned somewhat erratic: ¡°That day, I came up to the top of the mountain to receive the goddess¡¯s miracle. What descended was an angel.¡± Du Wei¡¯s eye lit up¡­. An angel?! Chapter 286 part 1 Chapter 286 ¡°Will there be an answer?¡± (Part one) Du Wei certainly won¡¯t be unfamiliar with the word ¡°angel¡±. It¡¯s just that he would find it hard to believe the angels of this world would be the same as those from his previous world where wings grow out of their back. Then again, it didn¡¯t matter for the following recount from QQ would send chills down anyone¡¯s heart if they listened! ¡°From that day forward, I gave up thest glimmer of illusion about the so-called Gods. Though I didn¡¯t believe in God prior to that, I would not go out of my way to maliciously attack those divine beings¡­ But after that day, I understood that the so-called gods never held any sort of kindness or mercy towards us! Regarding our worship and admiration, it¡¯s merely our subjective and wishful thinking. For the gods, we humans are no more than cattle, merely ants under their feet. Herdsmen graze cattle in order to harvest their goods, how can benevolencee into y in the equation?¡± ¡°The angel you are talking about, what are they like? borate for me please.¡± Du Wei scoffed augh: ¡°Do they have wings growing out of their back¡­.¡± QQ suddenly smiled: ¡°Your statement matches exactly like the one Aragon asked, hmm, beings with wings on the back, things weren¡¯t like that. After the dream that night, I awoke to see the stone under my pillow, that¡¯s when I realized the seriousness of the matter. The usurpation of god n we came up with before was merely a way for us to manipte the religion of light, but the deity behind the religion seems to have materialized for real. No matter what, this urrence wouldn¡¯t be good for our ultimate goal. Imagine how difficult it would be for to weaken the influence of the religion of light if a real deity were to back them. So, I did not immediately tell anyone about my encounter, instead, I secretly went straight to Master Aragon to discuss the situation. We mused over the problem for a long time; finally, we decided to temporarily halt publicizing the information to the public until we figured out what¡¯s happening. Aragon and I took to the mountains first in order to receive the miracle and see what that so called goddess wanted¡­. And so we went, concealing the news to everyone around us. As you can imagine, he being the emperor of the Empire, and I being the Pope of a whole religion, both of us can only briefly leave the public¡¯s eye until someone figures we¡¯re missing. Following the instruction of the dream, we came up to the mountain at the predetermined time¡­. Hmm, how did the saying go with the story again? Ah yes, I bathed and fastened until the destined moment. With only my bare feet, I trekked up the rocky mountain terrain and reached my destination after my feet became mangled by sharp cuts¡­. Naturally, all of that is bullshit. What really happened is Aragon, with his sword in hand, came up to the mountain with me! Master seems to be very weary of that so called goddess, and from his demeanor that day, I can tell he came in the state ofbat ready. Exactly on the noon of that day, I came to the destined spot and saw a magic inscription etched along the ground of that rocky peak. Based on the linings and charred marks, this was clearly the work of lightning striking down from the sky. I confirmed this from the locals of the nearby vige that was a storm the previous day. Like instructed, I ced the stone in the middle of the magic circle, and immediately, the entire world around us changed. Exactly like the Temple¡¯s canon, red radiance overtook the sky. I originally thought the miracle from the goddess would be nothing more than an order of some kind, maybe prophecy if not, but never in my wildest dream did I expect her to send an angel! I saw it with my own eyes as I stood there. Striking down from the sky, a beam of radiance distorted the very fabric of reality and created a pir of light for that golden figure to descend. Despite its contour looking simr to that of a human¡¯s, that being wasn¡¯t one of us, merely a mass of light without a true body. By then I was directly in front of that thing, and from the very bottom of my soul, I instinctively became overwhelmed by fear and oppression. The experience is impossible to exin, I can only say it¡¯s a direct impulse from our very core to want to want crawl down on the floor and worship. Luckily, I managed to refrain myself from doing just that by pure will. Then it spoke to me and said, ¡®Are you the servant chosen by the goddess?¡¯ I said I was. At my answer, the thing seemed a little dissatisfied and its voice grew very angry, ¡®Why do you not kneel in front of the messenger of the goddess? Can it be you humble creatures have forgotten to revere the gods?¡¯ I of course grew very angry after hearing this; nevertheless, I endured and asked it who you are. I remember it telling me that it was the messenger of the goddess, ¡®responsible for guiding us lostmbs in this world¡¯. Upon hearing this, I instinctively felt a bad omen! Then it became a little impatient, ¡®there¡¯s not enough time to say anymore superfluous nonsense. Hurry and obediently offer up your body to me in the goddess¡¯s name.¡¯ I didn¡¯t quite understand its meaning at first, but then I eventually understood! When that golden light reached out its arm to me, I rapidly found my body being invaded at the subconscious level, almost like my very soul¡¯s being devoured. I couldn¡¯t move, I could only watch on as the hand slowly reached into my head. Just as my mind was about to turn dark, images of all my life, fragments of my childhood, everything emerged little by little, faster and faster, everything shed across my eyes. I felt my head breaking under the pressure, and then¡­. I suddenly felt very tired, as if trapped in my past and slowly being torn from existence. I remember thest thing I heard the Angel say was, ¡®This body is too weak¡­¡¯ Hmm, I think it was very dissatisfied with me¡± Speaking of this, QQ looks up at Du Wei: ¡°Do you know what this means?¡± Du Wei gulped heavily at the question. Nodding, he replied: ¡°It¡­ It wants to take away your body? The light angel being should be an existence without a body, so¡­ it wants to take your body?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± QQ bellows out augh: ¡°You are absolutely correct! See, this is the so called gods! The first thing the goddess does when sending her servants down to this world is to kill me and seize my body!¡± ¡°And then?¡± ¡°And then¡­ I finally realized the danger. In thest moment before I fainted, I cried out ¡®Aragon¡¯ with all my strength, then I lost consciousness without knowing what happened afterwards. When I woke up again, the time was already evening and Aragon was sitting by my side. Upon watching me open my eyes, Master Aragon¡¯s first word to me was, ¡®My dear brother, I almost lost you there,¡¯ he was genuinely smiling the entire time. Of course, I immediately asked him about ¡®that angel¡¯. He brought out a crystal ball from his pocket at my question¡­. Hmm, let me tell you, that is no ordinary crystal ball, it¡¯s made of the same rainbow colored stone on your storage ring! Master Du Wei, I know your stone is quite big, butpared to Master Aragon¡¯s, it¡¯s simply too small. He brought out that rainbow crystal ball and said to me, ¡®The guy¡¯s been killed by me and I imprisoned thest remnants of its body inside this ball.¡¯ I then knew while I was unconscious, Master Aragon that had been lying in wait nearby made his move and dealt with that ursed angel.¡± The corner of Du Wei¡¯s mouth twitched and twitched as he reluctantly squeezed out a bitter smile: ¡°Killed¡­ An angel?¡± QQ¡¯s voice became very low: ¡°Yes¡­ Though I fainted and didn¡¯t witness the battle first hand, but when I awoke, I can tell Aragon was very tired. Master was almost invincible back then, but that day, I knew he was too tired to even stand up! As for what the Temple¡¯s canon talking about radiance overshadowing the sky and the earth trembling and so on, it¡¯s all a lie. In actual fact, those were the results of the battle between Aragon and the Angel. That mountain used to be a very good mountain, but during the process of that battle, the middle section had been thoroughly ttened, thus separating it into two opposing slopes. Haha¡­ Du Wei, you in fact went there yourself.¡± His reminder quickly jolted Du Wei¡¯s memory: ¡°You¡­ You can¡¯t be mean flying horse hill. That¡¯s where I met Green Robe Gandalf and¡­. ¡°That¡¯s where Miss Vivian waited for you!¡± The ce that used to be called ¡®Brokeback Mountain¡¯, exactly dozens of miles away from the imperial capital. Looking at Du Wei¡¯s wordless appearance, QQ seems to be very proud of himself as he continued: ¡°Themotion that day was simply too big, plus, we were still atop of the mountain when the rocks filled with the strange carvings descended. Despite being unaware of what¡¯s happening, we knew it be impossible to conceal anything at that point. In particr was when we returned to the capital. Long before we even stepped into the imperial city, we kept hearing the passer-by preaching about the sacred carvings from the heavens. I was shocked by the news because I only divulged the goddess¡¯s message to Aragon; no outsider should¡¯ve known anything. Then as I returned to my residence, I learned from my followers of the divine skills bestowed upon the Temple that afternoon. That¡¯s when I finally understood everything. The goddess wanted me to go up that mountain in order to deceive me and reap me of my body. Then using her angel to rece me, she can then directly control the Temple using those despicable means.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± Du Wei shook his head and frowned: ¡°Even if she wanted to send an angel down, wouldn¡¯t it be easier to reveal it to everyone. I¡¯m sure that among her fanatical followers, there be bound to be one willing to offer up their body. Why go through so much trouble in sneaking around to harm you? This kind of n can easily be done in the open.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the point.¡± QQughs: ¡°Master Du Wei, you need to understand, the era¡¯s different! Back then the Rnd Empire had just been established and the religion of light had barely warmed up to its dominant position on the maind. Compared to today, that halo around the Temple was far from stable! In that era, there were many religions, many gods of varying beliefs. In particr are the methods used during the unification process. Taking advantage of their legitimate status granted by the Empire, the Temple swallowed many of the other religions in existance, and eradicated any dissident factors involved. This process of annexation cannot possibly wipe every opposing person out, for if they did, it¡¯s likely there wouldn¡¯t be many humans left alive afterwards. After all, in that time period, almost everyone believed in some kind of different god, not just the light goddess. Therefore, with the exception of a few recalcitrant elements, many were forcefully forced to change their faith. As you can imagine, this type of knife bearing threat cannot truly change a person¡¯s heart. So, at that time, the Temple¡¯s position was still far from stable, with the majority of their followers being forcibly added into their ranks. Can you imagine the panic it would cause if all of a sudden the explosive news of the goddess wants to kill one of her believers in order to possess their body ande into this world? Its fine for those that truly believe, but for those that don¡¯t, this would be a big threat. In addition, after Aragon and I analyzed the situation, he told me the goddess is likely not nning anything good! Me being a non-believer and a spy inside the Temple, why would she choose me over her other faithful followers? If she can peer into my dreams, I¡¯m sure she can tell what my heart¡¯s thinking! After that event, I truly believed in the existence of those whatever gods, just that they are not as benevolent as we thought.¡± Regarding thest part, Du Wei fully agrees with QQ¡¯s statement. Chapter 286 part 2 Chapter 286 ¡°Will there be an answer?¡± (Part two) ¡°By the time we went back to the city, the entire ce was in an uproar. We knew then it couldn¡¯t be concealed anymore. So, I simply went back to my residence and announced how I received the miracle from the goddess atop of the mountain today. As to what guidance I got, who would dare ask me if I don¡¯t say? Hehe, being in a position of power has its perks you know. Even if there are ambitious individuals out there that coveted the leadership position, they can¡¯t just jump out to question my words considering a miracle just urred in broad daylight. Therefore, because of this event, my position as the head of the religion became rock solid. Only issue though was that through the intervention of the goddess, our initial n became interjected with many variables outside our expectation. If the goddess can manifest herself once, then there¡¯s going to be a second time! Meaning we can¡¯t harm the Temple for the goddess herself wouldn¡¯t ept that! It¡¯s not difficult to deal with an enemy, but dealing with the gods is not a simple matter!¡± Du Wei nodded, agreeing with his im. ¡°After that event, the momentum of the Temple became very high and those within the religion that didn¡¯t believe before had their faith strengthened as a result. How can they not? The goddess of light herself has bestowed upon her believers the power of protection. This news shocked the four corners of the continent, and the momentum grew so high that it looked like it cannot be stopped. As a result, the current structure of the Temple of Light was born. Fortunately, I may not be able to stop the process, but I managed to be the first Pope. From then on, I spent all my energy on settling the ¡®disputes between the inner frictions of the Temple¡¯. Hehe¡­.¡± Upon reaching this part, QQ halted and issued out a creepyugh. How clever was Du Wei? With a little thought, Du Wei quickly connected the dots and figured out the whole thing. Eximing, he freaks out, ¡°AH! You didn¡¯t try to calm them, you¡­ you were trying to intensify their disputes!!¡± ¡°Of course!¡± QQ said it without disguise it: ¡°A united religion would no doubt wield greater power than the empire. For the empire, for Master Aragon, I had to limit the power of the Temple, always keeping them in a state of division and infighting!¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°So that¡¯s why you never revealed your school when you were in office. Ha, I should¡¯ve guessed. If the Mayuba from history really was a devote follower, a great religious leader! Then from a leader¡¯s point of view, the best way to quell civil strife would be to make a clear cut, fast and urate, not stray back and forth between each faction! You weren¡¯t trying to appease or sooth them, you were clearly letting them indulge in their disputes!!¡± QQ nodded: ¡°You are absolutely correct.¡± If those words were to ever get out, it¡¯s likely the majority of the devout followers out there would lose their mind! The greatest prophet in the canon, the saint, the first pope whomitted his entire life to the construction of the Temple, was in fact a leader who intentionally allowed the various schools to indulge in internal dispute! Who would believe such a truth even if it makes it into the public? ¡°But¡­ What happened afterwards?¡± Du Wei asked, ¡°How did you die? And, why did you be, be¡­. A penguin?¡± QQ pondered the question for a while, then slowly opens his beak: ¡°This, we will have to start from where Master Aragon defeated that angel then.¡± ¡°Others may not have seen the great battle between Master Aragon and that angel, but I knew he did not have an easy time achieving his victory. This result worried him greatly. He¡¯s already invincible in the mortal world, but he felt it was insufficient. He told me if he had such trouble against a mere messenger of the goddess, what would happen if one day¡­ he really faced off against the gods? How was he supposed to win against an enemy like that? Therefore, after defeating the Angel and sealing part of its soul inside the crystal ball, Master Aragon managed to pry some precious information out of that angel¡¯s mouth. For example¡­¡­ The transference of the soul! Since the angel can use its own soul to reap a human¡¯s body, it¡¯s only natural there would be a spell among the divine techniques capable of transferring one¡¯s soul. I may have diedter, but that¡¯s only the death of my aging body, not my soul. Our soul cannot perish, in a sense, souls are immortal. But, the answer Aragon obtained from the Angel was that the soul¡¯s a purely spiritual force. Only by clinging to a body can the existence safely live on. Otherwise, the soul that¡¯s without a body would quickly dissipate and vanish from existence! So, in other words, if you can always find the right body and transfer yourself out before it gets damaged, you can technically live on as an immortal!! After he had captured the angel, Aragon took to secluding himself inside the pce in order to study the various messages he obtained. And the thing that came next is basically no different from what that Maximos said. Before I died from illness, the two schools imprisoned me inside the Temple in order to fight for power. I thought I was going to die back then, but that¡¯s when Master Aragon came to my side. I was so ovee with joy that he came for me that I don¡¯t know how to describe it. I held onto his hand with my dying breath and said to him, ¡®I¡¯m sorry I have to go so soon, I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t help youplete your goal.¡¯ Then like the story went, he took me out of that prison and openly turned against the Temple for my sake. And I should¡¯ve died then, but I when woke up again¡­ I realized I was still alive! But by that then a long time had passed since my body¡¯s death¡­.¡± ¡°Why is that so?¡± Du Wei asked anxiously. ¡°Master Du Wei¡­ You should be able to understand that when a person thinks he¡¯s dead, butter found himself alive again, what type of emotions would he be in. To say surprise is about right, but not entirely just that, in particr is when you wake up and find yourself in the body of a bird.¡± Du Wei can rte to QQ¡¯s mood. ¡°Therefore, when I woke up again, my mood was very emotional and weird; you can even say I was a little grumpy and joyful at the same time. In short, it¡¯s veryplicated. Then I became relieved when I saw Master Aragon by my side. He told me it was he who managed to revive me. Since that day he brought my body out from the Temple, he immediately found the crystal ball to imprison my soul, supposedly, this method of imprisoning the soul, this type of magic, undead magic, can temporarily stabilize the soul and allow a dark mage to create their undead creatures. Only issue with this was that dark magic can only achieve a short-lived preservation period. As such, the amount of time left for Aragon to research the divine techniques weren¡¯t much. He told me he had racked his brains and finally managed to progress a little. It¡¯s just that¡­¡­ It¡¯s just that¡­¡­ He wasn¡¯t able to yet transfer a human¡¯s soul into a human body. With the time ticking before my soul truly vanishes, he can only temporarily do what his limited knowledge allows, that was to transfer my soul into something simpler, a body of an animal. And¡­¡­ the despairing part was that, ording to the angel¡¯s word, the soul transfer technique can only happen once! Perhaps the gods would know how to do it more than once, but the divine techniques grasped by that angel are limited. In other words, while I may be alive, I can only live on as just a bird!¡± Du Wei¡¯s eye suddenly went bright: ¡°Maybe there is a way¡­ You can learn magic, learn how to transform and take on a human form¡­¡­¡± ¡°Yes, that is a good idea.¡± QQ pinched his beaks back and forth: ¡°Sadly, did you forget something? Not everyone has magical talents! If one can learn magic by simply wishing for it, wouldn¡¯t thisnd be crawling with mages?! Pity that I¡¯m not a magic genius, otherwise, the n would¡¯ve been a good one. Back then Master Aragon also thought of this idea, but even with his immense power, he could not change my fate and let me learn magic.¡± Du Wei¡¯s excitement immediately became deted, sighing: ¡°But¡­ But it¡¯s too cruel for you.¡± ¡°On the contrary, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s all that bad.¡± At this part, QQ suddenly jumps off from the chair and wiggled his fat body up to Du Wei: ¡°I may have lost my human identity, but the longer I¡¯m like this, the more I like my current circumstances. Though I¡¯m faithful to my master and is willing to do everything for him, but those years managing the rivalry within the Temple has exhausted me. I¡¯m tired. As a bird, I got nothing to worry about every day. It¡¯s not so bad, I¡¯m actually quite happy about my life.¡± Not waiting for Du Wei to say more, QQ continues without stopping. ¡°After that, I remained with Master Aragon as a bird¡­ I can even say that, in addition to our good childhood, that period was the most carefree time in my memories despite being a bird¡­ Unfortunately, that part was too short! Master Aragon became very busy as he pressed for more secrets out of that angel. The greatest of those secrets would perhaps be the north¡­ As such, he took me with him and we both left the imperial capital and headed for the frozen forest in the north. At the valley, we encountered those clumsy but lovable treants and stayed with them for a period because Master Aragon had learned of the spring of eternal youth from those trees. The water may not be able to increase a human¡¯s longevity and can only solidify a human¡¯s appearance, but it does work on animals and can increase their life span. So, I ended up drinking the water from the spring of eternal youth¡­. Dear Du Wei, this is why I remained alive when you woke me up! Otherwise, how can a bird live for a thousand years? Leaving the frozen forest, we continued northward. The goal of Master Aragon was to find the banished races mentioned by the angel. I don¡¯t know why he would go looking for those things¡­. But Master Aragon seems to have mentioned to me that he had made a deal with someone to do that for him. But then, when he reached the mountain of the dragon n, he decides to leave me there. I asked him why and he told me it¡¯s because he didn¡¯t have confidence in returning alive! So, for my safety, he made some kind of n and had me stay in the holy mountain. As you know by now, he defeated the dragon chief and through their gamble, I was sealed inside the stone coffer for a thousand years with his mighty magic. Until you arrived to wake me up, I remained asleep¡­¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart began to beat harder for he can finally ask the biggest question that¡¯s been burning at him: ¡°Aragon, he knew there would be one of me in a thousand years? He knew I would be there to wake you? That¡¯s why he left you atop of the holy mountain and had the dragon n guard you?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ He does know.¡± QQ nodded. ¡°Why!¡± Du Wei clenched his fist: ¡°Why does he know I exist?!¡± This dilemma has been bothering Du Wei for a long time! If there was anybody left in this world that can answer Du Wei¡¯s question at this point, it can only be this sted bird in front of him! After all, apart from the old dragon, this guy here was the only other person that¡¯s from Aragon¡¯s era! Du Wei stares intently at QQ, his eyes hopeful for an answer¡­ Chapter 287 Chapter 287 ¡°Betting¡± Du Wei was currently looking at this sacred beast with great anticipation, his heart leaping crazy fast. ¡°What I know isn¡¯t much.¡± Without a doubt, this sentence from QQ intensified Du Wei¡¯s adrenaline rush! ¡°Not knowing much means he at least knows something, even a little will do! Likely due to the intensity from his eyes, QQ¡¯s head shrank a little due to the awkwardness: ¡°Fine then¡­ I think you probably know that ording to the legends, the gods possess the ability to prophesize the future, and of course, there are also legends mentioning this skill isn¡¯t reserved for only the gods. As long as your strength and ability reaches a certain level, such as the state where you are close to the realm of the gods, you can also predict the future and its people. In particr is the meteorite rock bestowed upon us by the goddess, there¡¯s a prophecy like spell recorded there¡­. Unfortunately, there¡¯s no way the goddess would include anything profound on that piece of rock. I believe those divine skills gifted to us is no more than some low-level stuff, the really deep and powerful spells were excluded. As the head of the Temple at the time, it¡¯s only normal that I would have a look. As such, I secretly made a copy for Master Aragon to screen. Hmm, I suppose perhaps because he was very close to the realm of the gods, that¡¯s why Master Aragon sealed me inside the holy mountain after defeating the dragon chief. Before I went into my slumber, he said to me, ¡®One day someone wille wake you. He will inherit my all and he will take good care of you. I like you to help him then.¡¯ After those words, I fell into deep sleep for a millennium. I know he must have crossed over the holy mountain and went far north, all the way into the banishednds. It¡¯s just that I was already asleep, so what came afterwards is unknown to me.¡± Du Wei¡¯s face did not look good at the revtion. Prophecy skill? TO Hell with the prophecy! As if Du Wei would believe it¡¯s something as simple as a prophecy skill! What about those words from Lufei¡¯s feet ¨C the kid from the Southeastern Sea Inds ¨C how do you exin that? It¡¯s as if Aragon¡¯s shadow was constantly haunting his every step, carefully calcted by that dead person from a millennium ago. Even if Aragon does have the ability to predict the future, it¡¯s not possible for someone to know so many minor details. That¡¯s already beyond the bounds of a simple prophecy! ¡°Then¡­ What about the Southeastern Sea?¡± Du Wei exhaled: ¡°How much do you know about that ce and what about those words left for me on that kid¡¯s feet?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± QQ shook his head: ¡°I know nothing about that area. Perhaps master left those words after putting me to sleep. Hmm, I specte he must have gone north first then headed back to the inds out there. Yes, it must be like that.¡± From the looks of it, QQ seems to have spilled everything that he knows. But once Du Wei had a careful look over the guy, his heart doubted this, there¡¯s no way the bird¡¯s that honest! Just based on the guy¡¯s usual performance, he got reason to suspect there¡¯s more secret being concealed. ¡°QQ.¡± Du Wei sighed and did his upmost to be as nice as possible: ¡°I say¡­ Now that Aragon left you to me and tasked you to help me, I feel you should be more honest. You see, you kept all these important details from me until today; therefore, I feel¡­ you should tell me everything that you know. This way around, it will be more beneficial to me than concealing what secret you have left. Can you tell me the truths, okay?¡± Upon hearing his words, QQ suddenly eximed, iming innocence: ¡°Aiya, Master Du Wei, I truly am not hiding anything from you¡­. I can swear to you, swear in the name of the goddess of light!¡± Du Wei could not even look anymore, scolding: ¡°Go die! You don¡¯t even believe in the goddess of light! Who¡¯s going to believe in you if you swear by the goddess¡¯s name?¡± Now he¡¯s certain, this hateful bird is concealing something else from him and not saying it. Though steaming, Du Wei simply got nothing on this bird. Finally, QQ loosened that beak of his after seeing the grumpy face on Du Wei: ¡°Dear Master Du Wei, there are many things that are not useful right now even if I say. Only after you grow strong enough will it be good for you because some things are not necessarily good when introduced early.¡± Du Wei rolled his eyes: ¡°Humph, that¡¯s easy for you say! Why are you telling me this all of a sudden today?¡± ¡°Because I feel today¡¯s timing is good.¡± QQ¡¯s tone suddenly changed from his usual joking attitude to a very serious tone. ¡°Timing?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± QQ sternly said: ¡°Dear Master Du Wei, I feel that your newfound acquaintance, Bishop Maximos, is a good opportunity to reach your hands into the Temple. Remember when I told you about Master Aragon¡¯s n? Since you are his heir, we might as well continue our usurpation of god n.¡± ¡°Go die.¡± Du Wei sneered without concern: ¡°Am I not able to support myself? Why would I take the initiative to seek out trouble while I can happily live in the Northwest as the Duke!¡± Not only did QQ not get angry, he hinted a smile: ¡°Your words are not right there my master, there¡¯s bound to be a day when your rtionship with the temple ruptures. Look¡­¡­ Let¡¯s not mention anything else; just your current situation is a big taboo, for example¡­ Hussein and Queen Medusa. You see? You may be able to conceal these secrets for now, but you cannot keep it hidden for a lifetime. If one day the Temple finds out¡­.¡± ¡°Then we can talk when that day arrives.¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°I just want to be able to freely live my days. To subvert the temple? I¡¯m not interested, and¡­. Quit yapping about that whatever mission I inherited from Aragon! What does a mission of a dead corpse from a thousand years ago have to do with me?!¡± ¡°It seems you want to avoid the matter¡­ But then, can you say for sure that you¡¯re truly capable of dodging it?¡± QQ smirked: ¡°Master Du Wei, think about it, Bishop Maximos is already on your boat and you¡¯ve helped him rid himself of those hunting him, this is tantamount to offending the Xieni faction of the Temple! Also¡­ that daughter of the former crown prince, current holy maiden of the Temple, can you truly say she won¡¯te making for you just because you avoid her? And then there¡¯s that dinner with Maximos tonight¡­.¡± Du Wei went silent for a moment: ¡°I indeed cannot avoid the Temple, but let me tell you, I might deal with them or maybe do something else¡­. Regardless of all that, I¡¯m not going to join in with your whatever usurpation god n, In my opinion, the Temple is just the same as the Magic Union, which can be used, can be traded with, but definitely not an entity to be made an enemy of! So, I might trade something with Bishop Maximos, but subvert the temple? Humph, I¡¯m not interested in such a great cause.¡± Finishing his promation, Du Wei left QQ to his own bidding and left the room. Looking at Du Wei¡¯s back, QQ sighed and then began muttering to himself: ¡°See, I¡¯m right. Even if I tell you everything it¡¯s useless because you would only avoid the problem and not take responsibility. Hmm¡­ You think dealing with the Temple is so easy? My dear master¡­ The Temple is a quagmire. Once you plug your feet in there, it¡¯s difficult to pull it back out!¡± After that conversation, Du Wei continues to ride his ship downstream. By evening of that same day they have finally arrived at thest bend in the stream, and after thisst curve, the stretch of water will gradually widen and be much easier to navigate. Also, more boats will appear along the river with them, thus terminating any chances of assassination from the temple while in broad daylight. As arranged, Du Wei invited the bishops to dinner that night, but he was surprised to find only Maximos attending the feast while Father Lamu and Rhine non-attendant. ¡°Lamu¡¯s suffering from a bit of seasickness so I had him stay in his room. As for Rhine¡­ He doesn¡¯t know much manners so I thought its best if he didn¡¯t attend the Duke¡¯s dinner.¡± Maximos had changed into a clean robe for the asion, though old, it¡¯s very neat and tidy. And based upon his outer appearance, he should¡¯ve bathed in the afternoon for his hair was meticulous. From his look, he¡¯s truly befitting the image of a neat and simple looking old priest. Du Wei understands, this bishop likely has something he needs from him and would like to ask for a favor; therefore, it¡¯s not a bad idea to be left alone for the conversation. Not wasting time, the two immediately sat down and began digging into the feast, especially the wine, which was a delicacy from the Northwest. Once their mood reached a certain point, Maximos didn¡¯t beat around the bush and directly got into the main topic. ¡°First of all Duke, I would like to thank you for your help today. Please allow me to give you a toast.¡± At that, the bishop raises his ss. After the two drank to the toast, Maximos ces his ss down and continued: ¡°Only I am very worried¡­ What you have done today is akin to ruining the Xieni faction¡¯s n to assassinate me. Their style had always been decidedly brutal. I think¡­..¡± ¡°Humph, the climax ising.¡± Du Wei sneered inside his heart, but his face remains pleasantly peaceful: ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not worried though. Revered bishop, even if I offended these guys, I believe that in the great temple these Xieni scoundrels cannot possibly do everything they want now can they?¡± ¡°It¡¯s as you say¡± Maximos sighed: ¡°But now it seems the momentum is moving to the Xieni faction and is putting pressure on us Mosa faction. After all, their teachings are more in line with the people. And we¡­ Advocating the conservation of hardship and self-cultivation in this world, are not many. To the general popce, expanding the influence and power of the Temple is more in line with their appetites. Of course, while the Xieni faction wouldn¡¯t do anything rash at the moment because they are not yet in power, but when they do get there¡­..¡± ¡°The right to seed the Pope?¡± Du Wei smiled. ¡°Yes.¡± Maximos sighed: ¡°If we allow the Xieni faction to seed the Pope, then¡­¡± Speaking up to here, he deliberately paused to show off an even more sincere look: ¡°In the end, these troubles are because of me. If I didn¡¯te aboard your ship then you will not be involved.¡± Du Wei waved a hand and softly said: ¡°There¡¯s no meaning in saying this now. Your eminence, let me be frank, today¡¯s matter is not entirely in order to protect you! After all, if words get out that I allowed my guest to be killed while on board my vessel, how am I supposed to continue to stand in the political circle in the future?¡± His words may be a bit rude and rough, but it does stand. Nodding, Maximos said: ¡°Hmm, Duke is right, but in the end it was you who saved me, this cannot be ignored. No matter what, once I return to the capital I will do everything within my power to stop those people from retaliating against you for so long as I live.¡± ¡°His words sure sound nice.¡± Du Wei secretly sighed inside because he really had to wonder why these religious frauds got to make a simple act like asking for a favor so high and mighty sounding. ¡°As long as I am still alive in the temple, I will not allow them to retaliate against you.¡± This sounds good at first, but in fact it means that if you want me to keep this promise, you must make sure I seed in the power struggle! Only by making me the power wielder can I protect you! It¡¯s that simple. Du Wei understood this was Maximos¡¯s way of verbally testing the water. If he epts it, then the next part was conducting the discussion over the conditions ced on both parties Thinking of here, Du Wei brings his wine cup up to his face and ponders for a short moment: ¡°Bishop, do you know why they are so anxious to assassinate you on the road? Can it be the Pope, his majesty¡­.¡± Even if you want me to ce a bet, you must make me see if you are worthy of my money first. Du Wei smiles like a harmless critter. Chapter 288 part 1 Chapter 288 ¡°Who is scheming against whom?¡± (Part one) Maximos of course understands the meaning of Du Wei¡¯s word. This bishop may be the type to appearpassionate and noble on the outside, but Du Wei¡¯s not wrong: the more simplistic he appears, the more likely he¡¯s plotting something big and great! This was especially true after today. Du Wei had never been convinced the members of the Temple are saints in this world even on the best of days¡­ And now that he learned the truth regarding Mayuba, the founder of the Temple, his opinion became even more conclusive. Rather than calling this Maximos a priest, it¡¯s more befitting to call him a politician in the temple. Likewise, Maximos knows that in order to win the support of Du Wei and have this Duke bet on himself, he must let the other side know how handsomely the reward will be by doing so. ¡°Duke.¡± Pondering for a while, Maximos slowly spoke: ¡°I believe that you have a certain amount of understanding regarding the rules of session in the Temple.¡± ¡°Yes¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°ording to the rules of the temple, you are considered to be one of the heirs to the throne. However, I would say, since there are a total of eight of you, you¡¯re not necessarily certain to be the final winner.¡± ¡°Oh almighty goddess.¡± Maximos made a face full ofpassion: ¡°It¡¯s not my wish to covet the throne, but since I have dedicated myself to the goddess and the Temple, I can¡¯t idly stand by and watch as those guys from the Xieni faction tarnish the glory of the Temple.¡± Despite the wondrous speech, Du Wei remains indifferently deadpan, waiting for the bishop to continue. ¡°The battle between the Xieni faction and our Mosa faction is long-standing. In this generation of battles, especially over the past two years, their actions have be more than excessive. Our Mosa faction may control only three of the eight dioceses, but our standing contribution points is far exceeding that of the Xieni faction despite the fact that they control over five dioceses. The reasoning for this oue is because their preaching is too harsh and too bloody. Their methods advocates¡¯ torture against those they deem heretics. For example, a case six years ago in the southeastern diocese, they openly burned six people in the name of purifying the heretics. Then there¡¯s the case three years ago in the southwestern diocese, they hanged a nobleman on charges of sphemy. These measures are too intense and have already caused many aspects of discontent among the ruling ss, especially three years ago when they hanged that aristocrat. That kind of practice was regarded by the upper ss as a kind of demonstration by the Temple. As such, there¡¯s a strong level of friction within the noblemunity living in the dioceses controlled by the Xieni faction. These examples are only one of the few; the worst is the case regarding the taxation policy a while back. Because of the tax problem in the south a few years ago, they kept using the empire of being too harsh on their tax collection, forcing the people to hand over most of their ie to the imperial officials. As you can imagine, without excessive ie in the hands of the citizens, the amount of religious tax and contributions the Temple can receive will dramatically drop, as was the case back then. This greatly strained the rtionship between both sides. Moreover, the Xieni faction advocates the teaching of ¡®divine authority stands above all others¡¯, naturally, the royal family will not be pleased by this.¡± ¡°That is only natural.¡± Du Wei shrugged his shoulders: ¡°I may not be fully acquainted with the events you mentioned, but I have heard of them.¡± ¡°Over the years, our Mosa faction may control only three dioceses, a minority, but our prestige within the Temple is far higher than the Xieni faction. This was especially true within the eldermittee where we are heavily favored. But because of the incident two years ago, we were dealt a heavy blow. If not for that, our Mosa faction wouldn¡¯t have fallen into our current circumstances.¡± Maximos sighed deeply when he came upon this topic. Shooting Du Wei a look, he asked: ¡°Duke, I¡¯m sure you must have heard of the name ¡®Hussein¡¯ right?¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart jumped, his face making a surprised expression: ¡°Hussein, of course I have heard of him. He¡¯s the most wanted man in the Temple and the most powerful genius knight on the continent. But didn¡¯t he betray the temple?¡± ¡°It is Hussein¡­ s, because of him, our Mosa faction became implicated by that scandal. It can be said that due to Hussein¡¯s betrayal, the Mosa faction lost the supportive strength granted by the Pope and the upper echelon¡­¡± ¡°What does Hussein have to do with you?¡± Du Wei questioned. Maximos made a wry smile: ¡°Duke, there¡¯s a reason Hussein became what he is: the strongest Holy Knight, one of three leadership knights in the order, youngest genius to likely reach Saint ss, and other titles.¡± Pausing, he slowly spoke: ¡°Hussein¡­ He¡¯s part of the central northern diocese, and to the public, he belongs to the Mosa faction.¡± Now that¡¯s news, Du Wei never heard of this. Although Hussein has been with him for a while now, that cold face indifferent man seems to have taken his betrayal to the Temple as his greatest scar and would seldom mention anything rted to that topic. If Hussein won¡¯t talk about it, Du Wei¡¯s not going to ask and rip open the wound. ¡°Hussein was born in the diocese under my rule and was chosen to undergo the Holy Knights training when he¡¯s very young. Now that we¡¯re on topic, I can say it¡¯s unavoidable that our Mosa faction had a hand in pushing him and clearing the way for Hussein to reach one of the three leadership post in the Holy Knights order. After all¡­.¡± Smiling bitterly, Maximos continues: ¡°Although the elder council has remained neutral for over a millennium, the Holy knight¡¯s order on the other hand had long been out of the Heishan faction¡¯s sphere of influence. Everyone knows that in order to hold authority, one must first control power. As the strongest fighting force within the Temple, both the Xieni faction and the Mosa faction has been for hundreds of years doing their utmost to infiltrate the Holy Knights. After all, unlike the Holy Knights order, the seats of the eldermittee arergely controlled by the Heishan faction. In order to enter the council of elders, there must be a nomination by the Pope himself, and then a vote must be cast within the Council in order to be epted. Their faction is a very united, so it¡¯s very difficult to have every member lean towards the same direction during the election. Meanwhile, the Holy Knights are different. They are chose from a young age and cultivated throughout their life. As fate would have it, my diocese was fortunate enough to have some gifted children¡¯s capable entering the Holy Knights training camp. As long as these children are chosen, no one can say anything ording to the rules of the Temple. Moreover, because of the agreement reached by the Empire with the temple hundreds of years ago, the Holy Knights may not be stationed within the capital other than a select few. Since the majority of the Holy Knights must be scattered across the dioceses to guard the local chapels, it¡¯s very difficult to remain impartial in conditions like that when they are constantly being exposed to the influence of outside sources. Though the Holy Knights haven¡¯t been fully prated by the Xieni faction and the Mosa faction, it¡¯s no secret that a portion of the higher ranks within the Holy Knights Order have taken sides. For example, that seventh level knight sent to assassinate me.¡± Maximos sighed: ¡°Speaking of Hussein, he was indeed the most gifted and talented of all the chosen teenagers. It didn¡¯t take long for him to stand out while under our care. Then after the selectionpetition, he was quickly sent off to the headquarters of the Holy Knights Order for training. Since then, his career has skyrocketed and our Mosa faction regarded him as our shining hope!¡± Two of the original knight leaders within the order is only loyal to the Pope and is a part of the Heishan faction. If our Mosa faction can install one of our own knights into that post, then it¡¯s certain we will stand above the Xieni faction. But as you know, the catastrophic incident with Hussein urred and we were forced to take a very passive stance. More importantly, because of Hussein¡¯s betrayal, the Pope became furious and personally ordered the internal cleansing of the Holy Knights Order, thus giving the Xieni faction a big opportunity to suppress us. If that¡¯s not enough¡­ during the process of chasing down Hussein¡­.¡± Listening up to here, Du Wei¡¯s mind paid extra close attention. ¡°In the course of the hunt for Hussein, there was the presiding judge at the time, Lord Murray, and several eighth to seventh level Holy Knights in the pursuit team. But¡­ To tell you the truth, Judge Murray, is also one of the backbone of our Mosa faction. And the eighth level knights like Gefeite and the other seventh level Holy Knights are also our men which we spent many painstaking years to produce¡­ As a result, following the death of Lord Murray in the hunt for Hussein, our side sacrificed a great deal from the trauma and was heavily weakened. The Xieni faction didn¡¯t miss this opportunity and when the call for a new presiding judge was made, they managed to instill their own people into the trial hall and grabbed those important positions¡­¡± Du Wei nodded. In truth, Du Wei does know about the death of the previous presiding judge because that Holy Knight named Gefeite holds a certain rtionship with himself. Back when Du Wei first entered the frozen forest and found the snow grave, the diary he read was precisely that of Gefeite¡¯s. Also, Gefeite was the Holy Knight whom repelled Green Hat from harassing Mrs. Lister. Based on these alone, Du Wei can deduce Maximos must be telling the truth. ¡°Reverend Bishop.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°I believe everything that you said are the truth¡­ Just that I don¡¯t understand, why are you telling me this when you are technically in a very dangerous position? Logically speaking, as a smart investor, why should I ce my bet on someone that¡¯s about to be toppled over. Oh, please pardon my wording, but if you can¡¯t answer the question in my mind, I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t make a decision.¡± Maximos not only didn¡¯t get angry, he instead smiled and looked Du Wei in the eyes: ¡°You are a wise man Duke! I have no doubt about that. As to why I believe I can convince is because of two reasons: first, a smart person knows it¡¯s easy to tread together during times of prosperity, but it¡¯s often providing help in the hours of need that can move a person. If you choose to support the Mosa faction in our hours of need, I promise you, the Mosa faction will be your most faithful friend in the future! Of course, this is only a small part of the reason. I believe my second reasoning is enough to temp you. This other¡­ think about it. If the Xieni faction is certain of their victory, why would they be so anxious to assassinate me on the road? Once this move fails and bes exposed, it will inevitably cause an uproar, yet they still chose to take the risk, why? It¡¯s because they are aware of the danger! As soon as I get to the imperial capital, I can turn the whole situation around!¡± Du Wei involuntarily nodded. Indeed, the more extreme they be at killing Maximos, the more apparent they are at fearing Maximos¡¯s arrival in the capital! ¡°Do you have any bargaining chips in your hand?¡± Du Wei scoffed augh. ¡°There is one.¡± Maximos smiled: ¡°It¡¯s just, please forgive me, this secret involves some of the greatest secret within the temple so I cannot tell you.¡± Du Wei was silent. Chapter 288 part 2 Chapter 288 ¡°Who is scheming against whom?¡± (Part two) After deliberating for a moment in his heart, Du Wei finally straightened his back and asked in a whispering voice: ¡°How much do you need me to bet?¡± Maximos smiled: ¡°Duke, I know you are not a believer, so I thought¡­ It would be my great pleasure if I had the opportunity to personally preside over your baptism.¡± Du Weiughed: ¡°Dear Bishop, you¡¯ve set your sight on my head now?!¡± Indeed. As a duke who controls the military power of an entire province, also a famed magician of the Empire, leaving his true strength aside, Du Wei¡¯s basically regarded by the general popce as one if not the most talented individual of the new generation. This outlook has been ironed out ever since his outstanding performance at the day of the coup. Such a man, who holds enormous power and deeply trusted by the royal family, imagine what it would be like for the individual that can convince this person to be a believer of the Temple!! This feat would be far greater than spreading the word of the goddess to tens of thousands of ordinary people. As a bishop, their main duty was to preach the teachings of the goddess and make more people believe in the Temple, which was also an important criterion for earning merit. But if all you bring in was people of the ordinary ss, it would be pointless for they hold no power. On the other hand, bringing in a prominent figure would be another story. And Du Wei¡­ Who on the continent can possibly im they are more favored in the eye of the current regent? Du Wei didn¡¯t agree at once, instead he continues to ask, ¡°And what else?¡± ¡°I have heard that in your territory the attitude towards the temple is not very friendly.¡± Maximos smiled: ¡°I think, it¡¯s pointless to bring up the past now. In the future I will personally send some clergymen to your territory to preach the teachings of the goddess. My request to your lordship is that you show a friendly attitude towards the members of our Mosa faction.¡± ¡°Haha! So you want to also pull my Desa Province into your diocese too?¡± Du Wei couldn¡¯t resist augh. ¡°It is as you say.¡± Maximos didn¡¯t try to conceal his intent and came clean: ¡°ording to the custom of the temple, for a piece of virginnd that hasn¡¯t been developed yet, it will be zoned into the diocese of whoever can pioneer it. The clergymen sent to your territory before were merely small characters from the main cathedral in the capital, hardly high enough to warrant that reward. I willter send my own people from the central northern diocese¡­¡± ¡°But you have to understand that the Desa Province is a barrennd without many riches to be found. I can hardly force my impoverished citizens to pay religious tax atop of my own.¡± Du Wei frowned. ¡°In order to express my friendship, I am willing to exempt Desa Province from religious taxes for three years. As the archbishop of a diocese, this is within my power and authority. And once three years had passed, if¡­.¡± Maximos smiled: ¡°Of course, it¡¯s just hypothetical. If I could step up to that position, the tax-exempt decree would be extended.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°Fine then, aside from having me convert and allow your missionaries into mynd, what other request do you have?¡± Maximos¡¯s smile now was mildly adrift: ¡°Duke, you see, I am not an insatiable old man. My request is not too much, if you can promise me two points, then I will be extremely grateful. Of course¡­¡­ If you are generous, I would like to add just one tiny bit of a request, just a very small one.¡± ¡°Say it.¡± Maximos¡¯s eye beamed with delight: ¡°ording to the decree of the Temple, all of the Holy Knights stationed in a diocese is controlled by the local archbishop and is obliged to insert fresh blood each year into their ranks. Although¡­ The Holy Knights are loyal to the Pope, they are after all stationed many miles away. With time, it¡¯s hard for anyone to remain pure to their cause. So, I believe it¡¯s my duty to do what I can to control the Holy Knights within my watch. Umm¡­ What I mean is, in due course, I need the assistance of your army when a time of crisis arrives.¡± Du Wei furrowed his brow: ¡°Have you gone mad? ording to every decree in the Empire, no military official or army is allowed to involve themselves into the dispute of the Temple! You want to bring imperial authority into the Temple¡¯s dispute? If that happens¡­..¡± ¡°No, no, no, you misunderstand me. What I mean is¡­ Once some kind of ¡®urgent or special¡¯ circumstances arise, I think I can give you a name.¡± Maximosughs: ¡°For example, let one of your army under your name put on the armor of the Holy Knights Order, what do you think?¡± Du Wei was really shocked this time. ¡°You¡­ Maximos, are you sure you want to do this? This is already far beyond the boundary!¡± Du Wei warned. ¡°Beyond the boundary?¡± Maximos¡¯s old face revealed a glimmer of fortitude: ¡°The Xieni faction dares to openly issue a disorderly decree. Is this not way past what is allowed without the Pope¡¯s permission?¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t have this authority.¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°You are only the bishop of a diocese. The establishment of a new Holy Knightspany must be ordered by the Pope himself! The local bishops can only control the existing Holy Knights, not form a new one! Your Excellency, even if you give me this name, it is uwful and illegitimate.¡± ¡°Duke, that¡¯s why I said ¡®special¡¯.¡± Maximos softly spoke: ¡°I mean, if one day I seed in that position and my Holy Knights are not enough to suppress the Xieni faction, then I will need more power! As the ¡®Pope¡¯, I would have that power and authority to immediately authorize the formation of a new Holy Knight¡¯spany!¡± Du Wei inhaled deeply at those words. He suddenly found the courage of this peaceful looking old man to be exceptionally big! He immediately bellowed out augh: ¡°Of course! If the Pope gave the order, then it iswful. As a believer, I would have to offer my aid to the Pope, this is only natural.¡± After both men exchanged an understandingugh, Du Wei was the first to retract his smile and happy looking face: ¡°Bishop, for you to make this request¡­ I would like to know what benefit I would receive by making this investment. Hehe, please don¡¯t say anything like friendship and that sort, I¡¯m a very worldly person. I expect real tangible benefits!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve already received the benefit.¡± Maximos made a faint smirk: ¡°Duke, think about it. Imagine you having a Holy Knight¡¯spany in your ranks; wouldn¡¯t your situation in the Northwest improve magnificently? I know your biggest enemy right now is Rugaard of the Northwest Army Legion, right? Let¡¯s say one day you do dere war on Rugaard, what would the enemy soldiers think when they are surprised to find the banner of the Holy Knights in your army? To the enemy soldiers, this would be tantamount to dering war on the Temple itself! I think¡­. Such a benefit is beyond the measures of mere money or other conditions I can give.¡± ¡°I need to get a guarantee from you.¡± Du Wei deres. ¡°I ept.¡± Maximos made a big grin: ¡°If I became the pope, then you, Duke Tulip, will receive the sacred badge of the Temple from the Pope himself! With such a badge, you will have a legitimate post in the Temple and your wishes will be equal to the will of the Temple itself in the Northwest! If anyone were to be your enemy, then they would be the enemy of the Temple. This is my final promise.¡± Very good! Du Wei¡¯s heart suddenly began tough maliciously! How awesome it would be to hang the banner of the Holy Knights Order on one of his cavalry division! Only I can hit someone and they can¡¯t retaliate; otherwise, it would be dering war on the Temple of Light! At this very moment, both men were joyouslyughing at their agreed deal, and each with their sinister under thoughts. After the dinner, Du Wei graciously sent the bishop back for rest while he himself immediately sought out his personal bodyguard, Old Smoke. ¡°You take a small boat and return ashore at once! Then swiftly mount a horse and return to Lon City, along the way there cannot be any dy.¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice was stern as he peered into the eyes of this loyal bodyguard: ¡°Go find Sir Rodriguez and tell him I underestimated the situation and that great changes areing. I need a powerful and strong support for my return to the capital. Pass my words to him and have him rendezvous with me in the capital, hurry!¡± Old Smoke epted the order and bolted out the door. Meanwhile, QQ¡¯s voice drifted over from the back room: ¡°You have to be careful, the people of the Temple are not easy to deal with. They are undoubtedly tigers in disguise!¡± Du Wei bellowed out augh: ¡°Tiger? Humph, we will see whether it is they who will skin me or me skinning them!¡± Night finally came and the stars twinkled with light in the sky like they should. While their ship treaded slowly down river, Du Wei¡¯s heart became more and more excited as they got closer to their destination. He originally thought his trip back to the imperial capital would be a smooth one without any big event, but from the looks of it, other than the coup of the royal family fromst time, he¡¯s going to experience another coup, but this time it¡¯s the Temple¡¯s turn! Chapter 289 part 1 Chapter 289 ¡°Nothing to be gant about¡± (Part one) Originally Du Wei also worried about those Xieni guys not giving up and would try for another roadside killing again, but the following afternoon his subordinates came to report there appears to be a team of knights following their ship on both sides of the river. Coming out of his cabin and up the deck, Du Wei promptly saw the Holy Knights in silver armor, armed and riding along the river bank in parallel to Du Wei¡¯s group. At first he frowned, but then Maximos came out and smiled at him, exining: ¡°Duke, these Holy Knights are from the Heishan faction. They are here to protect us.¡± He then went on to exin that due to his ship being wrecked after the first attack, he used the Temple¡¯s special method of transmitting information back to the capital and requested for aid. These Holy Knights should be the safety precautions sent from the Heishan faction to protect him. The Heishan faction has always advocated neutrality, recognizing only the standard of thew and not the person, justifiably fair in that regard. No matter how bloody the fight between the Mosa faction and the Xieni faction bes, they will not get involved even if death urs. However, if the Xieni faction continues to attempt an assassination on the archbishop while under their protection, the members of the Heishan faction will absolutely not allow it. This group of Holy Knights consisted of approximately a hundred knights. After Du Wei¡¯s men waved them down with their g, he sent one of his smaller boats to the shore and received the leader of thispany. Out of Du Wei¡¯s expectation, this leading knight was incredibly an eighth level master knight. Ever since Hussein rebelled two years ago, as one of the top three knights in the order and the one responsible for ying the other two knight leaders, some of the strongest knights remaining was only at the eighth level. For the Temple to send out an eighth level knight on this mission, it¡¯s obvious the Heishan faction regards Maximos as a person of great importance. This eighth level knight was clearly a person of indifference. Upon boarding the ship, this person remains emotionless in his salute and only uttered a set of dry words to brief the bishop on his order of protect him until they reach the capital. In addition, towards Maximos¡¯s expression of gratitude, the knight actually reacted like he was ungrateful and only replied with a soft mutter: ¡°The responsibility is mine, bishop need not be polite.¡± To call this fellow lukewarm was an understatement. Against Du Wei, a duke, this knight had little to no respect and only nodded before turning away. Afraid Du Wei would be angry at the disregarding attitude, Maximos was the first to step in to exin: ¡°Duke, please don¡¯t me him for theck of etiquette. These fellows from the Heishan faction are always like this. They advocate harsh training so they don¡¯t hold much care for secr things like status and power. For the people of the Temple, we¡¯ve been long ustomed to these monsters from the Heishan faction. Privately, they¡¯ve been given a nickname by us. Rather than calling them the Heishan faction, it¡¯s more suited to call them ¡®ck faced¡¯ faction.¡± (Heishan and ck face sounds very simr in chinese so it¡¯s like a rhyme) Well Du Wei¡¯s not the vitriolic type to hold grudges. Besides, after learning all the dirty secrets of the Temple, his view towards these Heishan fes that advocates harsh training for self-cultivation was in fact the most favorable among the three big factions. If every member of the Temple was like the Heishan faction, then this world wouldn¡¯t have to face so much trouble. Thinking of this, Du Wei¡¯s sight fell upon the mounted knights moving slowly in parallel to his ship, his mind falling into a trance without his notice¡­. With the Holy Knights of the Heishan faction as their protector, the following trip became exceedingly peaceful. The Xieni faction likely knows it¡¯s not possible to carry out their plot at this point so the n for assassination was likely dropped. On the contrary, in addition to the reception on the first day, that eighth level master knight never once boarded his ship again in theings days as if he¡¯s constantly on alert. For the first time Du Wei can say he has gained his first glimpse into the harsh training style of these members of the Heishan faction. On the course of the next few days aboard his ship, Du Wei naturally lived well and ate well without exerting himself in any way. But these hundred or so knights had always remained by their side as an escort, never leaving their sight, not even once to the point where they would eat and sleep atop of their horses! For three days and three nights, they carried out their duties impably as if they are men of steel! Du Wei may be living infort, but he had to admire these guys. It¡¯s as Maximos says, aside from carrying out harsh training, Du Wei must add another word to their name, ¡®abusive¡¯. During his chats with Maximos, this old bishop was also frank in his words. Although the Holy Knights had long been infiltrated by both the Xieni faction and the Mosa faction, but the backbone of the Holy Knights areprised mainly of the members of the Heishan faction. Towards the knights that was bordering on the line of being masochistic, it¡¯s only natural the knights that endures the harshest training would achieve the strongest strength. Heaven rewards the diligent; this truth remains true whether it be the ancient times or the modern era. After so many days of travel, his ship finally docks in a small pier about thirty miles away from the capital city. Once onnd, Du Wei and his entourage abandoned the waters and took to the horses for the remaining trip. Naturally, Bishop Maximos would ride with Du Wei in the same carriage, but when this old man saw the coachman was a dark skinned ve from the inds of the southeastern sea, he could not resist being amazed by the sight. After all, Du Wei hails from an old aristocratic family. Whether it be a horse groomer or a servant, these type of old generational noblemen would mostly choose from a strict line of trusted branch families or aids that had been in the n for a long time. In the end it¡¯s all about appearances and status. Towards a travel distance of thirty miles, one day was enough for them to arrive at the west gate. Illuminated by the setting sun, this imposing yet mighty fortification wall gave off a faint brilliance as if a paint of gold was washed over the surface. Watching this magnificent scene, Du Wei could not resist being stirred by emotions. To think this was his second time returning to the capital. The first time he was still a disfavored son of his father, but now, he returns as a Duke with massive military power. Meanwhile, his father was back at home, dethroned from his title and rank. Thinking of this fact, Du Wei can¡¯t help but make a deep bittersweet sigh at the irony. Seeing Du Wei sigh from the side, Maximos can¡¯t help but ask: ¡°Duke seems to be in a bad mood.¡± Du Wei smiled in return: ¡°Your grace, I¡¯m just a little down about the cycle of life. One day you are high and mighty, the next you are down in the trough. You see this majestic city in front of us? How many heroes and influential figures have treaded this path in the thousand year history of the empire, yet none of those individuals, sess or failure, can endure the passage of time.¡± Maximos was taken aback by Du Wei¡¯s thought pattern. The Duke in front of him was but a young man, yet the wordsing out of him should only be found in the wisdom of the old. It¡¯s truly unfathomable to specte what was going on in that bleak mentality, ¡°Duke, we of the Mosa faction believes in a saying ¡®there¡¯s no eternal right or wrong, only the eternal truth¡¯.¡± Musing over his word, Du Weiughs after a brief moment: ¡°That saying is very reasonable. After all, the Mosa faction is different from the Xieni faction whose doctrine is too extreme. Likely due to their obsessive rigidly to a moment of right or wrong, they are blind to the truth. This is a good lesson. Like this majestic wall in front of us, this here is the truth, unyieldingly unchanged through the ages while the influential figures disappear. Whether you are right or wrong, up or down, none of it matters for everything will disappear with time.¡± Smiling, Maximos looks at Du Wei: ¡°Your grace, you are indeed clever. If a smart character like yourself bes a follower of the goddess, it will be the honor of the Mosa faction.¡± Naturally Du Wei would make a sincere smile at that, but inwardly, he was crying slut goddess that sleeps with a thousand men. Before their horses even reach the city¡¯s west gate, the ce was already crowded with soldiers to receive them. Aligned neatly into two adjacent rows next to each other, approximately a thousand security soldiers were in formation. And directly below the gate were a hundred or so royal guards led by a dozen or so individuals dressed in luxurious clothes. As soon as Du Wei¡¯s entourage approached, a band of the honor guards atop of the wall immediately blew the trumpet, raising the triumphant tune normally reserved for only a war hero returning from his battle. This was the unique horn call of the imperial army so Du Wei would of course recognize the music. Hurrying to stop his carriage, he peers out to find the majority of the people in that small group waiting for him below the west gate were either aristocrats, dignitaries, ministers, or military representatives. Seeing this, he cannot help but be surprised inside. Before he can say a word, a loud voice came from afar: ¡°Duke, you are finally here! We¡¯ve been waiting for a good half of the day already. You see that Tanshan fatty over there? He¡¯s been screaming bloody murder for hours now. If you don¡¯t arrive soon, I fear he might have given up and ran off to look for a warm ce to rest.¡± Now this time Du Wei really was shocked! It was already the end of the year, a season of cold. Although the first fall of snow wasn¡¯t here yet, the climate remains very cold with constant bursts of bone chilling wind from the north. Among the group were some of his old friends, Earl Biliaibuer and that weapons merchant Tanshan. Aside from that, there¡¯s the financial minister Baron Sack, formerly the security chief of the capital. Due to his willingness to give up his authority in the security department after the coup, Baron Sack managed to win the favor of Prince Son and was entrusted with the financial minister post. And standing beside him was that ¡°undercover spy¡± Kami Siro, also the one that spent huge sums of money to order that overly luxurious looking armor from Du Wei¡¯s shop. As for the rest, they are all trusted individuals of Prince Son¡¯s inner circle and hold a certain amount of power in the capital. For all these people to brave the cold wind and stand in front of the gate just to greet him, Du Wei honestly didn¡¯t expect his face to be so big to warrant such a grand reception. He may be a duke, but he¡¯s honestly not in the position to put on air against so many people like this. Hurrying to abandon his carriage, he strode over in wide steps using the warmest smile he can muster: ¡°HAHAHA, this is too overwhelming to have so many high figures standing at the gate to meet me. I Du Wei can¡¯t even express my gratitude right now.¡± Chapter 289 part 2 Chapter 289 ¡°Nothing to be gant about¡± (Part two) Aftering up to greet these subordinates of Prince Son in an enthusiastic manner, that Kami Siro was the first to converse with him in private: ¡°Duke, you¡¯ve thanked the wrong person! We¡¯re old friends already so I¡¯ll speak the truth. Brother here is of course happy you came back from the Northwest and would love to exchange a few cups to warm our bellies, but even I wouldn¡¯t stand out here in this cold wind! Haha!¡± This Kami Siro can be regarded as one of the few favored individuals under Prince Son, so the fact that he¡¯s willing to tell him these words only made Du Wei feel more affectionate towards this person: ¡°Oh? Then the reasoning for all you old friends to be here is¡­.¡± Kami Siro bellowed out augh: ¡°Duke, don¡¯t mention others, just this vulgar Tanshan is a perfect example of someone that can¡¯t endure any hardship. Although we are all good friends here, this fatty definitely wouldn¡¯t be willing to wait out here in the cold for you! Our friendship is definitely a part of the reason, but it¡¯s the Regent¡¯smand that willed everyone here to the gates. See? With only the authority of the few people here, we can¡¯t possibly mobilize so many royal guards to the outskirt of the city.¡± Only then did Du Wei break out an enlightened smile. Generals, high ranking officials, army soldiers, royal guards, and honor guards, this was obviously the weemittee reserved only for a generaling back from a victorious battle. ¡°Gentlemen, now that¡¯s a headache isn¡¯t it haha!¡± Du Weiughs aloud: ¡°This setup you guys posed for me looks like a reception reserved only for a generaling back from war, and I, only stayed in the Northwest border for two years, hardly enough to call a triumph.¡± Earl Biliaibuer came up to Du Wei¡¯s side and tugged at his clothes to whisper into his ear, ¡°Du Wei, this is his highness¡¯s intention. Aigh¡­. It¡¯s true the head of the enemy general was brought back by the Northwest Army, but the Regent knows it was you who deserve all the merit for defeating the twenty thousand cavalry of the prairie legion. This credit belongs to you. His highness said he can¡¯t allow you to feel mistreated upon your return, so here it is, the wee reception deserving of a hero!¡± Hearing this, Du Wei cannot resist being slightly moved inside, but apart from that, he also cried amazing inside! This Prince Son was indeed amazing! To use this method to attract others to his side was truly brilliant! Although he understands the means behind this, Du Wei still can¡¯t help but be emotionally warmed from the heart. Then under the unified call of the horn, Du Wei and the dozen or so dignitaries entered the capital city in a grandiose fashion while being escorted by the soldiers and royal guards. And Maximos, as a man of the Temple, did not appear; instead, he went his own way and left for the main cathedral under the escort of the Holy Knights that came to protect him. Watching Du Wei¡¯s strong momentum as they went their own way, this old bishop honestly felt like he did the right thing and partnered up with a powerful reinforcement. Naturally, with so many soldiers and making such a bigmotion, Du Wei and his peers would of course raise the curiosity of many onlookers in the city. After a while of travel, Du Wei noticed something odd, the direction they were heading in was wrong: ¡°Eh¡­ Huh¡­?¡± Watching the group heading into the main left road next to the pce, a familiar structure soon came into his sight, the former Rowling manor which housed him during his childhood. Ever since his father Earl Raymond failed during the coup, the mansion in which his family upied for years have been seized by the court, and since he wasn¡¯t going to stay in the capital, he simply left it be. From what he learned, the finance minister had resold the ownership of this ce after his father was convicted of treason. But this time back, he found that the main gate and all of the surrounding bricks and streets had been magnificently refurnished. Not only that, his burning golden tulip insignia was heavily embroidered on the surface of the main gate. So that¡¯s how it was, what used to be the Earl¡¯s mansion has be the mansion of the Tulip Duke. Du Wei was puzzled to see this but Kami Siro soon whispered the answer to him in a broad smile: ¡°Duke, this manor was specifically readied for you by the finance minister at themand of his royal highness.¡± Du Wei¡¯s mouth gaped open: ¡°Oh? But thest I remember, this manor had been resold to someone else by the time I left the capital.¡± Kami Siro smirked: ¡°Humph, who would dare disobey when his highness made the order himself. Even if there¡¯s a new master, that person can only obediently hand it back out.¡± The financial minister Sack from the side also cut in with augh: ¡°Duke needn¡¯t be so polite. The funds used to buy the mansion were set aside by his highness himself. Sire said your current mansion is simply too small, unbefitting of your status. Although this manor was once part of the Rowling n, but considering your rtionship, everyone around will understand so there¡¯s no need to make any cover work. People tend to lean towards nostalgia, so we decided to expend great amounts of money to take this manor back for you at any cost!¡± At that, this finance minister pulled at Du Wei¡¯s hand to lead the way inside: ¡°Come,e and see for yourself if you are satisfied! Many of the things inside were chosen by that fatty Tanshan. Honestly, I¡¯m so envious of your ce. I say, Tanshan may be vulgar in his demeanor, but his taste in furniture and decorations are one of a kind. Compared to my home and Kami Siro¡¯s, our ce is like a barn when looking at your home.¡± As Du Wei went inside and walked around, he could not resist gasping at the sight! It seems that in order to curry up some goodwill with him, the regent spared no expense to overhaul the entire structure: luxurious, grand, and most importantly, overwhelmingly gorgeous. Aside from the countless amounts of carefully orchestrated garden nts set along the road path, dozens of servants were standing in wait, fully ready to serve at his beck and call. ¡°It was us who found these people for you; also, we made sure to have some etiquette teachers run them through to meet your expectation.¡± Going all the way inside, Du Wei suddenly halted his step because he saw a mismatched building in the middle of all the grandiose structures. This building wasn¡¯t something new; it was the same study room of Earl Raymond located in that small courtyard. While the rest of the manor has beenpletely overhauled, only this rustically quaint room remains untouched. ¡°This was my idea.¡± Earl Biliaibuer whispered: ¡°Since this is your old home then there needs to be a trace of your memory. During the reconstruction, I overheard this building was the Earl¡¯s personal study room, so after some thought, I asked that it be stayed. s¡­. Du Wei, I know you are the reminiscent type.¡± Even while outside, Du Wei can see the calm quietness exuding out of the ce. Unlike the grandiose structures next to it, one could hear the faint rustling sound of wind blowing against the grass in this courtyard. Who knows if it was due to the servants carelessness of not blowing out the candlestick after cleaning the ce, but Du Wei was surprised to find a faint glowing out of the study room¡¯s window. Looking at this scene, a part of Du Wei¡¯s heart suddenly felt like it¡¯s been hit by something heavy and memories of his childhood began flooding into his mind!! Back when he was young, that ¡°Father¡± would bring him to this yard and tease him in order to make himself talk. Then in order to let himself learn martial art at a young age, that ¡°Father¡± had tasked captain Alpha with the job of assessing his body. Andter, it was also in this ce where Mage rk from the Magic Union checked his magic talent. At that time, his father was disappointed at himself again and again¡­ Hmm, the scene must have been a big blow to that man. After all, as an Earl, as a chief of a n and a household, the responsibility shouldering at that man¡¯s body was far too heavy to allow his son to be a useless trash. Then down the road when he first returned to the capital from the old family territory, this was also the ce where his father attempted to repair their rtionship. However, it was also here in this study room where father and son finally fell apart! He still remembers it clearly. On that summer day before the coup, it was in this study room where his father confessed to the act of sending assassins to kill himself¡­. Recalling back to that moment, how cold and hurt his heart was! The sky may be warm as a summer breeze, but the heart¡¯s as hollow as an abyss¡­ Hmm, what a good saying. (It¡¯s an old chinese saying used for those really hurt) At this time Du Wei heart was filled with much sadness at the current state of things. Without knowing it himself, his mind had wondered off into the past. And next to him, those that came with him were likely able to read his mood, therefore, no one bothered to disturb his train of thought. After a good while of this somber quietness, Du Wei inhaled deeply before turning around at the people behind him, his voice deep and poised. ¡°Everyone¡­. Thank you!¡± This ¡°Thank you¡± from Du Wei had been genuinely from the heart. Smiling at the gracious word, it was that fatty Tanshan whom broke the corny mood: ¡±Okay enough Duke, everyone¡¯s here has already waited half a day for you! Originally we wanted to pull you away for a drink, but since we know you are tired from your travels and considering howte is it, we can only leave it to tomorrow. It¡¯s just that fatty here needs to go back and warm up, otherwise, I will really be a popsicle at this rate.¡± Hearing those words, the crowd broke out into aughing fit. Then Du Wei made a few more words at retaining his guests, but since they all knew it¡¯s not the time to disturb him, they all took their leave. After sending the crowd away, Du Wei decides to call for his personal guards to send the new servants away, allowing everyone to get some rest. As for himself, he went towards the memorable study room on his own. The interior of the study remains unchanged, even the desk was that of his father¡¯s¡­ He honestly doesn¡¯t know where those fes managed to find this old relic. Coming around to the desk, he seat himself in the same position as his father did. Then subconsciously, he casually turns around and reached for the bookshelf. Sure enough, he found a bottle of wine hidden behind a bunch of books. Watching the bottle in his hand, Du Wei grinned: ¡°What a good Biliaibuer. To keep even this thing here, he sure knows how to pry into a person¡¯s mind!¡± Rubbing the bottle several times, he then uncorked the lid to take a sip. Hmm, In the past¡­ Father must have also drunk like this alone in the study room. He was the head of the family, shouldering the responsibility of the entire n, but I as his son only disappointed him. Towards the heavy burden, father can only sneak a few sips here and there to relieve some pressure. Hmm, mother had always been worried about father¡¯s body, not allowing him to drink more, thus the reason why father would hide a bottle behind the bookshelf. Thinking of this, Du Wei¡¯s heart first turned sour, then went warm. At this point he didn¡¯t even know what his emotions were anymore. While he¡¯s busy recalling the past, Du Wei hadpletely forgotten about QQ that was still ced inside his cage. Ever since he¡¯s been imprinted with the status of being the ¡°Duke¡¯s pet¡±, QQ would generally stay inside a specially craftedrge cage while in front of the public. And since everyone¡¯s gone and out of sight, QQ had no reason to keep himself locked up and jumped out of the cage. This cage had never been locked, merely for looks. It can¡¯t be helped. Ever since Du Wei found out QQ¡¯s true identity, the founder of the Temple and first Pope in history, he honestly didn¡¯t have the face to lock a historic figure like that inside an animal cage. ¡°The expression on your face is so strange at the moment! You¡¯ve been in the Northwest for over two years, yet I never once saw you make such a face.¡± QQ sighed. Du Wei shook his head: ¡°You won¡¯t understand these things.¡± Then he rubbed his face and smiled: ¡°Alright, we are finally back now, but the regent gave me quite the big surprise.¡± QQ nonchntly said: ¡°Surprise is a surprise, but I fear there are conditional strings attached to his goodwill.¡± Du Wei very casually chugged another sip of wine, his mouth slightly smiling: ¡°That is of course! As a monarch, he must always be in control of his subordinates, meaning his methods are ever-changing. But in the end, his strategy can only be nothing more than a carrot and a stick!¡± Rubbing his nose, he wryly smiled: ¡°First he mobilized so many dignitaries in the capital to orchestrate this reception, that¡¯s the first carrot by giving me this huge face. Then he sends me back to this manor to y the emotional card! So many carrots to sweeten the deal¡­ I can already specte the stick that¡¯s about to fall won¡¯t be a light one.¡± Chapter 290 part 1 Chapter 290 ¡°What a heavy handed stick¡± (Part one) With an anxious face, Du Wei can¡¯t resist worrying about the future. ¡°One who is unountably solicitous is hiding evil intentions.¡± (Idiom used in chinese culture a lot. Meaning those that are being too kind without reason is with ulterior motives.) Towards his merit in the Northwest, Prince Son has already given him quite the hefty reward. Back during the negotiation with the prairie people, he not only benefited greatly in terms of material wealth, he also snagged six thousand elite cavalrymen from the group stationed inside the grasnd. But as soon as he returned today, Prince Son immediately came out with this gesture¡­. Can it be¡­ Hmm, must be it! Du Wei plucked his brow up. I¡¯m already engaged, it can¡¯t be that he wants me to get marry to someone else now can he? If not marriage, then what other kind of request could it be? After a long period of musing over the issue, Du Wei couldn¡¯te up with an answer. In the end, he decides to leave it be and deal with the problem when ites knocking. A night without words went by just like that. By early next morning, one of the servants under Zack¡¯smand came over to invite Du Wei over. As the servant made his report, this poor fe was deeply troubled. It¡¯s well known that Zack was Du Wei¡¯s trusted personal, tasked with the management of his business in the imperial capital, but to directly request the Duke¡¯s presence without immediatelying to greet their lord, this sort of attitude had to be rude. But Du Wei did not mind, he knew this little Zack was a genius in the business field and does things like this. Besides, Du Wei¡¯s not the type to dwindle over these small formalities. There must be a reason for the guy to not personallye greet him. This Zack recruited by Du Wei has been brewing up a storm in the capital for the past two years. As a person naturally gifted with a fast and reflexive mindset, Zack would oftene up with ingenious business ideas that could draw in crowds of important dignitaries in his door. As such, Du Wei¡¯s business been flourishing in the past year, so much so that even that fatty Tandshan became jealous. If not for Du Wei¡¯s status and rtionship with himself, that fatty would¡¯ve alreadye over to poach the monkey gori. Before Du Wei manages to step through his door, another servant came over to report again. This time, it was about Biliaibuer¡¯s steward and Tanshan¡¯s steward wanting to invite him over for dinner tonight. Not only that, there¡¯s the finance minister¡¯s people, several other generals in the military, and a bunch of other stewards from different aristocrats stating their wish to dine with him during tonight¡¯s dinner. Du Wei furrowed his brow as soon as he heard all these requests. It¡¯s one thing for the first two because he¡¯s friends with Biliaibuer and Tanshan. Heck, it¡¯s passable even for the finance minister Kami Siro because he¡¯s a trusted official under Prince Son, but why those military generals and the other aristocrats? And in such a hurry too, why? It¡¯s only been a single night since he came back and now there are so many invitations already, it¡¯s almost like they are in urgent need to meet with him. What¡¯s more suspicious was the fact that over half of the invitations are from people outside of Prince Son¡¯s inner circle, but rather they are among the elites that remained neutral during the coup and had barely any rtionship with himself. Pondering the situation for a while, Du Wei figured its best not to act rashly in rejecting the invitation. Who knows if he might idently snub these highly influential figures inside and outside of the high circle. Therefore, he sent the servant back out to inform the stewards from the various houses that he will be hosting a dinner party for any guests that wishes to attend tonight. Since he can¡¯t dine with them individually, he might as well gather them up to see what¡¯s the deal. Besides, he needs to go see what¡¯s going on with Zack since his business been growing bigger by the day. Compared to when he first started with that single merchandise shop, his business has been prospering and even expanded into the hotel industry. After all, Zack¡¯s original field was in the amodation industry so it¡¯s not a bad idea catering to what he¡¯s good at. Once he had someone go return the message and finish on this end, Du Wei called several guards over and rode for Zack¡¯s office. And of course, he¡¯ll need to see the regent when the timees. However, Son¡¯s status wasn¡¯t like before where Du Wei can just go knocking at the door, he¡¯s the regent of the entire empire now. No matter how prominent or influential Du Wei was, he can only wait until he receives the summon from the court before getting an audience. This formality must be kept up. It¡¯s not like Du Wei didn¡¯t want to go meet Son right away. Ever since he received the carrotst night, he¡¯s been aching to know what the stick was. It¡¯s just that, he¡¯s not the type to go looking for a beating on his own so in the end, Du Wei left the issue alone. Anyways, moving back on topic. Du Wei¡¯s original merchandise shop was located on the busiest street in the capital city. As the main epicenter for trading and politics, it¡¯s only natural that there would be a portion of the city divided into a hub for merchants of all ss and background. Like the busy intersections from Du Wei¡¯s past world, this street had a variety of shops, including no less than various hotels and enterprise like businesses, all formally owned by people or entities of power. After two year of management by Zack, this shop has now expanded three times over, absorbing the various buildings next to it and even turning a couple of the shops across the street into hotels. Without a doubt, Du Wei¡¯s business has upscaled into an enterprise. Traveling lightly, Du Wei did not make a scene and only brought the guards with him as they leisurely strolled through the streets. Nevertheless, his identity was simply too prominent. Even from afar, themon folks can see the fine wardrobe worn by him and his guards. Consciously moving aside for him, it was sort of odd for Du Wei that he didn¡¯t have to crowd through the civilians on his horse. Until he finally reached the busy street which housed his business, Du Wei was pleasantly surprised to find things drastic differentpared to when he was still around. Indeed, Zack has excelled in his post for this entire street, nearly half of the shops been turned into the assets of the Tulip household. Du Wei can easily spot the original shop he opened from afar, but the size of the structure was heavily renovated with an extremely magnificent doorway at the forefront, indicating to everyone how grand this ce was. Although the time of day remains early in the morning, it didn¡¯t impede customers from visiting for several beautifully adorned carriage were parked outside his shop. There may be a lot of new people working at this ce now, but that didn¡¯t impede the more senior workers from recognizing him and running out to greet Du Wei. How can they not? It doesn¡¯t take much to recognize their lord and master when he¡¯s so handsomely young and powerful. As Du Wei stepped inside, he found that it wasn¡¯t only the outside that¡¯s been changed. Theyout of his shop was also not the same anymore. Waiters and waitresses were standing in wait on all corners of the shop, ready to answer and serve the customers at a beck and call. At first these people were somewhat shocked by Du Wei¡¯s arrival, but it¡¯s clear they are well trained. After the first greeting gesture towards him, all of these workers went back to their duties without falling into disorder. Seeing this, Du Wei was very pleased. Continuing along, he finally saw Zack once he was in the back. Upon seeing this monkey Zack, Du Wei almost couldn¡¯t hold in hisughter. Over a year of not meeting, this big monkey that Du Wei picked up from the inn actually found himself a big coat of white fur to wear, thus making him look incredibly awkward. Zack may appear very silly with that getup, but Du Wei had to admit, this guy no longer seems so frivolous and gave off a more mature aura. To think this guy offered him that ¡°Golden Service package¡± back when they first met, just remembering that moment made Du Wei want tough. ¡°Oh my dear boss, I haven¡¯t seen you for more than a year now yet you look absolutely fabulous.¡± His words may sound nice and respectful, but Zack had a worrisome look as he greeted Du Wei,pletely different from his usual happy go lucky attitude. Shooting the monkey a nce, Du Wei casually walked into the room and assessed the office: ¡°My dear Zack, you look good too. It¡¯s been over a year now and you seem to be doing well, I¡¯m very happy.¡± Although he¡¯s been mingling with the upper part of society during this period, Zack remains a man of themon wealth. In public he will put on a proper appearance, but once out of everyone¡¯s eye, he reverts back to his old sketchy and improper attitude: ¡°Please don¡¯t tease me boss¡­ You never know, in a moment you might begin cursing at me instead. Just to be clear, you can¡¯t beat me nor chop me with a knife.¡± At that, this monkey unconsciously surveyed the area. Following his lead, Du Wei swept the room with his eyes. Sure enough, not a single knife could be found in the room, not even the fruit knife that should be present on the fruit bowl. Furrowing his brow, Du Wei asked: ¡°Say it then, what¡¯s the matter? You sure are big now, making your own bosse see you in person.¡± ¡°I¡¯m unable to leave.¡± Zack blinked and blinked: ¡°You see, there¡¯s a big event at noon today. I would¡¯ve liked to meet youst night, but¡­. s, this matter can¡¯t be exined in one or two words. Sit down first and allow me to slowly give you the details. Just please, don¡¯t get mad and use me as a beating bag afterwards.¡± Jokes aside, Zack¡¯s face went deep as he lowered his voice to speak up close: ¡°My duke¡­ You¡¯ve came back at the perfect timing. The capital¡¯s been exploding these past few days. This ugh, I recently procured some interesting and unique items for the auction this time. After I sent the news out, the admission tickets for our ce was snatched up in minutes. So far, the price for a ticket has skyrocketed to a hundred gold pieces in the second hand market. In particr are the few VIP tickets we sold, the price for those are said to be astronomical in the market.¡± At that, Zack raises five fingers up. ¡°Five hundred gold coins?¡± ¡°Five thousand!¡± Zack rolled his eyes at the insignificant guess. Du Wei gasped with fright. The auction idea was something Du Wei mentioned to Zack back then. With only a few rules and operational ideas from Du Wei, Zack cleverly adapted the n to suit the market inside the capital city. Due to the scarcity of some rare products, it¡¯s not ideal to sell them like the othermon goods in Du Wei¡¯s merchandise shop because if you sell to one prominent figure, the person next to him will also want one. This sort of business style will have a high likelihood of offending other buyers. Therefore, using auction as a mean to deal with those rare items became the ideal solution. Not only will it not offend potential buyers, it will also fire up the asking price for the rich figures that patron the auction house. Just like that, Zack managed to rake in the cash easily and effectively. But¡­¡­ ¡°What precious thing did you prepare this time to fire up the ticket price so high?¡± Du Wei frowned. Little Zack shook his head: ¡°The catalog for the auction is indeed valuable, but those things could never pull in such momentum. It¡¯s just that one of the listings isn¡¯t one of our own this time; it¡¯s something someone ced in our auction for sale. Business is business. Since the beginning of this year, I¡¯ve set up a system to allow different sellers to use our auction house as a medium to sell their goods, and we as the middle man will take a percentage of the final proceeds. It¡¯s been very profitable thus far, but this time we¡¯ve hit some trouble.¡± ¡°What the hell are we auctioning?¡± Hearing Du Wei¡¯s question, Zack¡¯s face became very strange. Smiling bitterly, he whispered using a timid voice: ¡°It¡¯s not a thing that¡¯s auctioning, it¡¯s a promise!¡± ¡°Promise?¡± Du Wei furrowed his brow. Zack sighed: ¡°This event is something that suddenly came up several days ago. I originally rushed someone to bring news to you the moment I heard it, but it seems they missed you on the road. I also wanted to tell you this the moment you came back yesterday, but seeing the dozen of lords by your side, I figured it¡¯s not the time to bring it up to you in front of so many outsider, hence the reasoning for your audience this morning¡­.¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°Don¡¯t bother exining, quickly tell me what¡¯s going on.¡± Zack wryly smiled: ¡°We will have to begin from ten days ago then¡­¡± What came next was a long line of Zack¡¯s confession, the more he listened, the more Du Wei frowned. Chapter 290 part 2 Chapter 290 ¡°What a heavy handed stick¡± (Part two) So, ten days ago, Zack released news that he¡¯s going to carry out his monthly auctioning event, and exactly at that time, an incident urred that was neither big nor small. During the winter of this year, one of the provinces in the southern part of the empire suddenly suffered a catastrophic snowstorm. The climate in the southern reaches rarely snowed, but it¡¯s not unheard of for this anomaly to ur. Naturally, the finance department would be responsible for carrying out the relief efforts on this disaster It¡¯s just that this incident coincided with the annual gathering of the various archbishops in the Temple of Light. When his majesty the Pope ¨C who has been living reclusively for many years ¨C heard this news, hepassionately made a decree to void the religious taxes on the parishes involved in this disaster for one year. You can say that it¡¯s not a big deal, but with the Pope leading the effort, it¡¯s only natural that the powerful followers of the Temple would make their own contributions. In the end, many wealthy nobles began donating significant sums of money to the cause. This matter caused quite the stir in the capital for several days. Eventually, the situation devolved into an embarrassing scenario for the court: With one call from the Pope, the amount raised reached an astronomical number of three million gold. There¡¯s no doubt the Pope¡¯s appeal was strong within the Temple, but there¡¯s likely another yer pushing from behind. And exactly at this time, a malicious rumor began to spread around the capital saying the regent only managed to raise thirty gold coinspared to the three million that the Pope gathered in his name, evident proof that the Pope¡¯s prestige was far higher than the Regent¡¯s. Such rumors are naturally filled with ulterior motives, but the facts are there in front of them, how can the court deny this when the Pope did indeed raise that amount? In no time at all, the prestige of the Temple went into high gear while the Regent loses face with each passing day. The fighting between the royal family and the Temple has been longstanding. What made this stand out was the Pope¡¯s uncharacteristic high profile maneuver to snub the royal family. For all these years, that old man had lived a low profile life and remained reclusive, but now suddenly hees out and makes a scene? Something¡¯s not right here. Everyone in the elite circle are old weasels. With only a little sniff, these sly bastards can easily smell the different vors hidden underneath. If things went ording to the norm, these dignitaries would immediately stop donating to the temple when such rumor arises, otherwise, their actions would be no different from pping the Regent¡¯s face. Yet that¡¯s precisely what happened here, it¡¯s weird! Prior to the rumor, the pace of the relief collection inside the Temple was lively enough as it was, but when the words from the rumor broke out, the situation practically surged overnight! This phenomenon was extremely abnormal! It was said that during those few days, the faithful¡¯s who heeded the Pope¡¯s call to donate was so high that the line outside the cathedral covered nearly two streets and more! In the end, even the Holy Knights had to be summoned to maintain order around the crowd. What was originally three million gold coins incredibly doubled in less than two days! This way around, the Pope¡¯s appeal would awe anyone that learns of this. In turn, the Regent¡¯s side seems bleaker. ¡°Are these rich people in the capital all blind and deaf?¡± Du Wei frowned: ¡°It¡¯s obvious someone¡¯s pushing the tide and cheering for the Pope while covertly losing the Regent¡¯s face! Are they not afraid of offending the royal family to join in on this type of show?¡± Zack shakes his head: ¡°My Duke¡­ You¡¯re wrong! Strangely, the majority of those who run to the temple to donate are not from the rich part of society. I¡¯ve asked around and noticed most of these people have a foreign ent, as if they are from the south¡­. I don¡¯t know why there are so many southernersing to the capital city recently, but all of them seem to be carryingrge sums of money with the sole purpose of donating before they depart¡­ This thing is an obvious and deliberate move to make the royal family lose face.¡± ¡°Southerners?¡± Du Wei coldlyughed: ¡°How could the capital suddenly emerge so many rich merchants from the south? It¡¯s obvious someone organized this!¡± ¡°I know right?¡± Zack smiled: ¡°It¡¯s a shame you didn¡¯te back earlier. Two days ago, the scene outside the Temple was like a sea of people, endless!¡± Du Wei shakes his head and asked, ¡°What about the royal family, how are they reacting?¡± ¡°It¡¯s precisely because they have no response which makes it weird.¡± Zack smiles wryly: ¡°Even an idiot can see this is the Temple¡¯s deliberate provocation, very inconsistent with the Pope¡¯s usual manner of doing things! Strangely though, the Regent is having no reaction, remaining silent and¡­.¡± ¡°And what?¡± ¡°And you don¡¯t find it odd? To say apetition of wealth, do you think the Regent is afraid of the Temple is that field? Let¡¯s not mention the royal family, merely Earl Biliaibuer and Count Tanshan can easily throw over several million gold coins to stack the odds, so why? There¡¯s so many rich individuals in the Regent¡¯s faction, yet none are speaking.¡± Du Wei began pondering with question. For this matter to be so obviously carried out¡­ It can¡¯t be a scheme against the royal family for its too clumsily nned. The Temple of Light¡¯s been doing well so far, why suddenly challenge the authority of the Regent? Then there¡¯s the people from the south¡­¡­ Can it be the Xieni faction? But what¡¯s the reasoning for the Xieni faction to do this? Other than provoking the ire of the royal family and raising unpleasant rumors, what good can they get of this? Too many questions and too little answers, Du Wei can only set aside these questions for now: ¡°Hmm, what does that incident have to do with the auction today?¡± ¡°Just two days ago, someone came to us and listed one of their ¡®item¡¯.¡± Zack¡¯s face turned very ugly at the topic: ¡°Guess who sent this item? ¡°¡­¡­ Who?¡± ¡°The Temple!¡± Zack showed a face full of bitterness: ¡°The presiding judge of the temple personally came here and handed me a decree from the Pope himself! The decree is one of the items for sale today and has been deposited in our vault for the past two days!¡± His Majesty¡¯s orders were very clear and that the decree will go to the highest bidder! As for the proceeds from the auction, it will all be used for the disaster relief fund in the south and the winner of the auction shall receive a personal signed pledge from the Pope: Whoever gets this promise, regardless of their background or status, good or bad, dumb or smart, faithful or unfaithful, that person¡¯s child will receive the honor of being personally baptized by the Pope himself and the child will also be formally recognized as a god child of the Pope. Now that¡¯s newsworthy, even Du Wei could barely keep himself upright on his chair. The Pope himself presiding over the baptism ceremony? HOLY CRAP!! Every generation of the pope will never give a baptism to any ordinary person, that was of course unless you were the emperor of the Empire!! In the nine hundred and sixty years of the Rnd Empire and the Temple of Light, this tradition has never been broken, nor will it ever be allowed to be broken! In a way, this could even be called a standard of legality for the reigning emperor to im legitimacy! Unconsciously, people have even erected such a concept: without the Pope¡¯s personal presence during the emperor¡¯s baptism, that emperor is notwful! And flipping it around, as the supreme ruler of the Temple of Light, the pope mustn¡¯t casually perform a baptism! This is the ironw!! ¡°Is his Majesty the Pope insane?!!!¡± Du Wei suddenly jumped up: ¡°What the hell is that old fraud thinking, is he stupid?¡± This is provocation! A tant provocation! Du Wei¡¯s face was pale too as he stared at Zack: ¡°You are also stupid! How can you take on something like that!¡± Zack¡¯s face was white too as he shouted, ¡°Oh heavens, my Duke! You think I¡¯m a fool?! You think I don¡¯t understand the weight of the situation? You think I want to ept something like that? It¡¯s just that back then the presiding judge was standing in front of me and waving the Pope¡¯s personal decree at my face! You think I can deny it? I¡¯m not you, I¡¯m not a Duke! I¡¯m merely a small little steward managing your business. In front of a character at the level of the Pope, how do you expect me to refuse? I have to say yes even if every fiber of my body screams no!!¡± Thinking it over, Du Wei had to admit¡­ In front of the Pope¡¯s personal decree, he himself wouldn¡¯t be able to refuse, let alone this monkey. On the whole continent, who can openly say no in front of the Pope? ¡°Besides.¡± Zack made a face full of bitterness: ¡°That day right after I epted that thing, I immediately sent someone out of the capital to find you on the road. At that time, you should¡¯ve been halfway to the capital, did you not meet them?¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart grew gloomy. Calcting the time and day? Hmm, two days ago, wasn¡¯t that exactly the time when he saved Maximos from those Xieni assassins on the river? ¡°I did not meet the messengers you sent out.¡± He hastened to ask: ¡°Then what about Prince Son? What does the Regent have to say about this news?¡± Zack¡¯s face was weird before he made a strange smile: ¡°Justst night, I wanted to seek you out in the middle of the night¡­ But I was intercepted by a messenger of the court and handed a copy of the Regent¡¯s order, and then¡­.¡± ¡°And what?¡± ¡°Then that person took the listed item away, which is the Pope¡¯s decree.¡± Hearing his words, Du Wei felt like his face had been punched. Fuming with fury, he screamed: ¡°Took it away?!¡± Swelling with anger, Du Wei mmed the table with his palm and snapped at the monkey: ¡°Zack! Why did you not tell me something so importantst night! Why now!!!¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to, I really wanted to.¡± Zack shook his head: ¡°The messengers from the court kept me busy here throughout the night. Without so much as a word, the two men stormed into my office and just stayed here. I couldn¡¯t even find a mage to transmit the message to someone because they had me pinned down like a hawk. Forget about leaving to inform you, I was even followed into thetrine for goodness sake!¡± Du Wei nodded. He did find it odd that Zack did not receive him at the gate yesterday. As his lord, it¡¯s only natural the steward would be there, yet even this morning the monkey had to call for an audience at the shop instead ofing to his residence. ¡°It wasn¡¯t until this morning did the court messengers allow me to invite you over. I don¡¯t understand what the Regent is doing either, I can only do as they say and call for you. Even just now those people from the court were still here, but minutes prior to your arrival, they left. I¡¯m willing to bet they ced some lookouts on the street.¡± Pausing, Zack smiled bitterly before continuing: ¡°I sent multiple people to inform you two days ago because of the urgency of the matter. Aside from the road, I also had them take the river to find you, but looking at things now, I can see they¡¯ve been intercepted by either the Temple or the royal family.¡± Du Wei slowly calms himself down. It seems this was done intentionally by Prince Son. Deliberately blocking the news along the way and not letting himself learn of these matters until hees back to the capital, what was he nning? As for Earl Biliaibuer and the others, those guys also didn¡¯t poke a word eitherst night, obviously ordered by the Regent too! But why all this, what¡¯s the point? Seeing Du Wei plunging into a long muse, Zack bitterly smiled and said, ¡°Milord, now is not the time to dwell on these questions, what¡¯s urgent now is the auction at noon today¡­. But we don¡¯t have the decree that everyone¡¯s waiting for, Prince Son took it awayst night! What are we supposed to do when our hands are empty, is the Regent intentionally messing with you?¡± Du Wei furrowed his brow¡­ Prince deliberately messing with him? That¡¯s not it. If the Regent did have that thought, then why shower him with a grandiose ceremony upon his arrival and gift him with the old family manor of the Rowling n? There¡¯s no reason to set this up today to frame him. Take away the Pope¡¯s personal decree? It¡¯s a good way to ruin the auction that¡¯s for sure, but there¡¯s no reason to embarrass him like this. Exhaling deeply, Du Wei finally clears his mind: ¡°I understand now¡­¡± Rubbing the muscle on his face, Du wei sighed, ¡°The meaning of his highness is obvious¡­ Deliberately sending someone to snatch the decree up before the auctioning is to not allow anyone else to get their hands on the item! His point is very clear: use any means necessary. Win the auction and not let anyone get their hands on the Pope¡¯s promise!¡± ¡°Then what should we do at the auction?¡± ¡°This is the part where we need to find our own solution.¡± Du Wei sighed: ¡°Now that we¡¯re on topic, the only way out of this is to buy it ourselves. At the auction, no matter how high the calling price is, we must win!¡± Damn it, to be forced to bid for something at his own auction house, what kind of irony was this? Zack was slightly stunned, but he was also a wise man. With his eyes lighting up, he eximed: ¡°I understand now! This must be what the Regent means! Just that, why didn¡¯t he discuss the matter with you prior to this event? Instead, he sends someone to snatch it away and not let me inform you?¡± ¡°This is to not give me a chance to y any trick.¡± Du Wei grunted with displeasure. From the looks of it, this Prince Son seems to understand him very well. Fearing Du Wei wouldn¡¯t want to touch this troublesome matter, the Regent forcefully dumps the problem into his hand without letting him know until thest moment! Prince Son will never admit to the fact that he took the decree away. If Du Wei doesn¡¯t have the item at hand after someone wins the auction, he will be stuck being med for the crime of ¡°losing the Pope¡¯s decree¡±. In order to not bear this usation, Du Wei can only bid for the item himself and win it. But as a result, Du Wei will end up being the bird that stands out! Based on Du Wei¡¯s style thus far, it¡¯s a certainty that he would absolutely be unwilling to stand at the cusp of this! So, the Regent simply made the decision for him and cut off any escape route, forcing him to do so without his consent! Du Wei sighed inside: And herest night he was still worrying about the stick after the carrot. Seems the stick is quite the heavy handed one! Chapter 291 part 1 Chapter 291 ¡°The holy maiden¡± (Part one) With all this talk, it¡¯s only to be expected that Du Wei would fall into a state of cold sweat. Likewise, Zack was also pale white like his lord. After a long period of this eerie silence, Du Wei finally sighed: ¡°Fine then. Things have alreadye this far, we can only act ording to his highness¡¯s will.¡± His mouth may sound helpless, but inwardly he was thinking: What¡¯s strange about this is why it must be me? Why push me into a corner and make me be the shy bird? Taking the Pope¡¯s decree away is certainly a method to deal with the Temple¡¯s defiance, but isn¡¯t he thinking too highly of me? Why didn¡¯t he pick Earl Biliaibuer and Kami Siro, those two would¡¯ve loved to take on this shy post¡­.. He¡¯sining inside but since it¡¯s not fit for Zack¡¯s ear, he could only keep this quiet. Settling himself, Du Wei sent the monkey away to make preparation for today¡¯s important event. It¡¯s not necessarily true that the Rnd Continent doesn¡¯t have anything simr to an auction house prior to Du Wei¡¯s arrival, for example: those bidding wars in the ve market are an earlier adaptation of the same thing, it¡¯s just that Zack used the knowledge imparted to him by Du Wei and systematically upgraded that infantile system into an auction simr to the business format in Du Wei¡¯s past life. Currently, the day hasn¡¯t even reached noon yet and the empty lot outside the shop has already parked eight to ten carriages belonging to some noble giants. With the many lords inside and seated, the remaining attendants they brought along reached a whopping hundred people as they stood outside. It¡¯s to be expected with how fantastic the auction house has been operating in the past year. Unlike the single story building Du Wei started off with, a separate two-story building has been erected next to the main store. Withvish furnishings and elegant seating, the seven to eight rooms on the second floor of this ce was reserved solely for the VIP members. Towards this form of extravagant spending, the auction house of the Tulip banner has be an important monthly activity among the members of the elite circle in the capital. No longer was this a simple form of unting ones wealth, to participate in the auction was a symbol of status, a way to tell others of your importance. And the seven or eight VIP rooms on the second floor was heavily booked throughout the year, leaving only one or two rooms for temporary rental. Within these VIP rooms on the second floor, there are softfortable couches, free wine, and a wide variety of service girls to satisfy the customers need. Naturally, such an offering would make this ces stand out among the rest. Aside from these small things, there are a few more important benefits to be had: the VIP status of these special rooms has be the symbol of status for the elites in the capital. It can be said that as long as you don¡¯t hold a seat in one of these rooms, you can¡¯t be called an elite. This may be a stretch, but there¡¯s partial truth to this saying. Aside from the most favored political figures of the time and some big shots from powerful aristocratic familyies, the average wealthy snob can forget abouting inside even if they wish to pay. And Zack being a very sly person himself, auctioned off the seating arrangement of these VIP box rooms from the very beginning, thus earning Du Wei a fortune without any work. In addition, each month workers of the auction house would provide ¨C free of charge ¨C various catalogues to the members of the VIP rooms. Just like how top brand names does it in Du Wei¡¯s previous life, these catalogues would detail the goods in its finest light and allow the potential buyers a glimpse into the uing products. As a result, not only will it enforce the halo of their VIP status, it will also raise the status of the Tulip auction house in the hearts of the capital¡¯s upants. At this point, merely seeking an ordinary ticket to enter this ce was damn near impossible unless you had some sort of connection. And based on the current result, it¡¯s obvious today¡¯s ¡°listing¡± has made an uproar in the capital and attracted more customers than usual. Zack had already stepped out to get things ready, but even so, by the time Du Wei came around there¡¯s already a dozen or so people sitting inside the auction before him. Sweeping a nce at everyone present, he can see just about every first rate noble family has a representative here today. ording to the rules of the auction house, only the ticket bearer may enter. As for their servants and attendants, those people can only stay outside and wait for their lord¡¯s return. As Du Wei entered for the first time into the gigantic hall used for the event, many of the guests immediately recognized him. Many of these people may not have met Du Wei in person, but for a young teenager like himself toe into this ce, it doesn¡¯t take much to guess his identity. In addition to the scroll containing the decree from the Pope which caused the current uproar, there are also other items of great value, especially the products manufactured by Du Wei¡¯s personal craftsmen. Using the materials trafficked from the frozen forest in the north, there are quite a few valuable pieces of jewelry up for bid today. As seen here, there are some nobledies hailing from some of the most prominent households in the capital. Of course, there are also those who have ulterior motives in mind. Knowing the Duke¡¯s return to the capital, these fathers calctively brought their most beautiful daughters out today in hopes of catching Du Wei¡¯s fancy and thus clinging onto this big tree in the process. But those are merely the minority with most of theming to snoop around and getting wind of any news regarding Du Wei¡¯s reaction. After all, this was quite the unusual act by the Temple so it¡¯s rming for everyone. Since he¡¯s already here at the auction site, Du Wei decides to keep silent and not bother with any questioning at this point. With a collected and calm mindset, his eyes radiated perseverance as he strolled through the aisles. In a matter of fact, this was Du Wei¡¯s true character. Though he may seem clever and cunning at times, often taking shortcuts and ustomed to scheming, but if there¡¯s a real crisis cornering him with no escape route, he will erupt an inherent toughness that wouldn¡¯t yield to anything. In other words, if the situation forces him to choose only one path, he will notck the courage to walk to the end and into the darkness. With a fortified heart, Du Wei removes any distracting thoughts from his mind and focuses on the current problem. Naturally, Du Wei¡¯s face would seem indifferent and hard to get close like this. As he walked inside, many did want to go greet him, but the bone chilling aura exuding out of his body stopped anyone who tried. After all, the temperaments of a mage are hard to grasp and unpredictable, thus no one wanted to test that water at this current moment. Moving all the way to the back, a circling staircase of extravagant design led the way to the upper floor where the VIP boxesy. Sure enough, some old acquaintances like Tanshan and Biliaibuer were already there inside the rooms. A highly trusted official of Prince Son, an industrial giant dealing in sales of weapons, both their identities are more than enough to warrant a seat on this floor. As for the other people present, they are also top notch giants in the noble circle. Seeing Du Wei¡¯s arrival, the first toe greet him was Biliaibuer, followed by the fatty Tanshan and his blubbery smile. And to think he held some gratitude towards Biliaibuerst night¡­. What aughable joke. They clearly knew about the auction today, yet they pretended like it¡¯s nothing and hadn¡¯t said a word to him. Du Wei knew it must have been Prince Son¡¯s order, but he simply can¡¯t avoid holding some resentment in his heart. Nevertheless, against these two old friends, Du Wei simply can¡¯t keep up his grumpy attitude despite being upset at the situation. Du Wei may not say his thoughts out loud, but both of these weasels are already old veterans in the aristocratic circle. Taking the initiative, it was Biliaibuer who came clean: ¡°Du Wei, I know you must be quite dissatisfied with us right now but this matter was ordered by his highness himself, we simply can¡¯t defy him. Umm¡­ So this morning I sent someone to invite you to dinner tonight, I wanted to apologize to you in person.¡± Likewise, fatty Tanshan also spouted something of simr order from the side. Hearing their exnation, Du Wei now understands why there were so many invitations this morning. Since they areing clean like this, and Du Wei¡¯s not the grudge bearing type to begin with, he can¡¯t hold it against them: ¡°Both of you are my good friends so these words are not needed. It¡¯s just that¡­ Aigh, this hand from his highness is giving me quite the headache.¡± As old foxes, these two only dryly smiled and kept the topic away from judging Prince Son: ¡°His highness has always done things with deep meaning. As his courtiers, we only need to do as he instructs. This time is of course no exception.¡± Tanshan mutters from the side, afraid Du Wei might not get it. Du Wei knew of course they were throwing evasive words to shirk off any responsibility; even so, he can¡¯t me them. With a broad smile, Du Wei invites the two into the VIP room. Like the concerto halls from Du Wei¡¯s past life, these VIP rooms are arranged in an arc like shape with a wide opening to allow its upants to watch the stage. Walking into the box that Zack arranged for him, Du Wei had just seated himself when he noticed an ufortable gazeing from the box left of him. Looking over, there sat a young nobleman dressed in a ck robe embroidered with yellow-gold threads on the sleeves and a variety of fine gemstones on the waist. The man¡¯s style of wear wasmon among the nobles to the south. The people to attend this event today are usually in their forty or fifties, seldom would there be a man as young as this person. As such, Du Wei gave extra notice to this guest. Based on his contour and outline, the young man could even be called handsome, but thatplexion was simply too pale thus causing him to appear frail and weak. Du Wei may not like the extra white shade to the skin but that doesn¡¯t mean others thought the same. To many nobles, having a white skin color was the ideal shade of beauty. What¡¯s worse, Du Wei can clearly tell this man had rubbed powder over his face and worn a glossy red lipstick over his lips. Towards the gesture of a man putting on makeup, Du Wei hated that the most and found it nauseating. Then peering behind this young nobleman, Du Wei saw a intellectual looking old man, clearly a steward of that family. As Du Wei looked over the young man again, he found that the other person was doing the same to him. Maybe it¡¯s his imagination, but from those eyes, Du Wei vaguely sensed an unfriendly glimpse of light shing across those pupils. As soon as this young nobleman noticed Du Wei¡¯s assessing gaze, he immediately retracted his eyes and looked away. To anyone else, this hasty retreat would be enough to fool the foe, but not Du Wei. Right before he moved away, Du Wei clearly saw a smear of gloom. Considering Du Wei¡¯s current status and power, the nobles in the capital would love nothing more than to curry favor from him so why would someone like this show such hostility? What¡¯s more, this young man seems very strange and not someone Du Wei recognize as a local. Struck with a thought, Du Wei casually turns to the attendant on his side and asked with his finger pointing to the box next door. This attendant was sent by Zack himself to serve Du Wei, very clever and sharp witted. Without any need to ask why, this servant immediately leaned down and whispers the answer into Du Wei¡¯s ear, ¡°Milord, that box was reserved by Marquise Senna. A few months ago, Marquise Senna booked that box for half a year using forty thousand gold coins. Usually the marquise would attend in person, but it¡¯s said that the marquise has fallen ill recently and hasn¡¯t frequented our auction house for a while. Hmm, the young lord over there should be one of the three sons belonging to the marquise, lord Dupont. He may be the youngest son in the marquise¡¯s household, but due to the fact that he¡¯s born from the main wife, lord Dupont¡¯s status within the family is said to be very high and highly favored by his father.¡± Du Wei nodded in understanding. Marquise Senna? Du Wei have heard about this name. ording to his knowledge, there should be some blood rtion between this household and the royal family, but that¡¯s already hundreds of years ago. Regardless, the Senna n itself holds a long and old history and was a bonafide ancient family with immense influence in the noble circle. Aside from its strong foundation, their political choices have been sound over the years and had hardly gotten themselves mixed in any political struggle, thus the reason for their century long standing. It also helped when this n was a very rich one with arge number of businesses in the south. Back during the initial call for the construction of the empire¡¯s naval fleet, the Senna n was one of the first to step forward to donate to the cause. As a result of their choice, they received heavy admiration from the emperor and was given the opportunity to reap inrge sums of war money from the expeditions. Aside from their massive wealth, their family also produced some very senior naval officers thatmandedrge patches of water. And in the past, there had been someone in their lineage that reached the post of a high ranking governor overseeing one of the most powerful provinces in the empire. To put it inly, this Senna n was a first ss family with a long line of historic figures. It¡¯s just that¡­. As for as he recall, Du Wei don¡¯t remember ever offending the Senna household. Chapter 291 part 2 Chapter 291 ¡°The holy maiden¡± (Part two) As Du Wei was thinking all this, that Dupont once again snuck some more nces at him; however, those onlysted for a brief moment when he noticed he¡¯s been caught. Quickly turning away his eyes in a panic, that master Dupont didn¡¯t look back. Displeased by this cowardly act, Du Wei openly red at the guy and refuses to turn away, sending bolts of difort at that stiff looking young master. As this awkward standoff went on for a while, a gradual impatience overtook that Dupont¡¯s eye. Knowing this won¡¯t do, the steward behind this young man stepped in and made a very friendly and respectful bowing gesture at Du Wei. Precisely at this moment, Zack that was down at the main stage for the auction went up to the pedestal, indicating the beginning of the event. Changing into ck formal attire, this steward of Du Wei¡¯s appeared much more solemn today. With a small gold hammer in hand, he coughed a couple of times to clear his throat, thus attracting the audience¡¯s attention: ¡°Thank you everyone foring to this month¡¯s auction. We will now begin the event, please keep your voices down.¡± As he finished, Zack then bowed at the audience before turning to one of the tables behind him. In the past when the auction house was first established, Zack would personally preside over the auctioning bids. But following that, he becamezy and left it to the professional staffs in which he trained for the job. However, today¡¯s different. He can¡¯t entrust the job to anyone else while something so major was happening. Nowadays, Zack was a rather well-known figure among the elite circle of the capital for he¡¯s the representative of the Tulip household while Du Wei¡¯s away. Seeing Zack¡¯s announcement, those noisy conversations immediately disappeared. ¡°Everyone,¡± Zack coughed then made a stern face: ¡°Today¡¯s auction will officially begin. First off, I like to wee everyone foring to our Tulip auction house. Without further ado, the first item for today is¡­.¡± Zack began with the introduction of several goods, all of which were expensive jewelry, or valuable products manufactured from parts of a magic beast. The most expensive among them were but the ¡°Saint Knight Armor¡±, appraised around a hundred fifty thousand gold. Naturally all of these things would be popr in the past, but today, Du Wei can see the crowd below didn¡¯t hold much interest. There were exceptions of course. Among the couple of female guests present, these nobledies exposed a deep longing for some of the finely crafted jewels exhibited today. Then when Zack¡¯s introduction got to the scroll containing the decree from the Pope, the entire audience practically came alive. Straightening their neck, the crowds all had a serious look in their eyes. With that out of the way, the auction was truly starting. The goods in the front didn¡¯t make much waves and went by very smoothly. Perhaps it¡¯s because of the special circumstance of today¡¯s event, there were little interest and caused the selling price to be very low. Watching this oue, Du Wei can¡¯t resist being a little sad because the one losing out was him. If the auction house earns less, it means he will earn less. Before long, the early items on the listing were gone within a meal¡¯s worth of time. This pace was much faster than usual and didn¡¯t look well for Du Wei¡¯s business. At the end when the Pope¡¯s decree finally came up, Zack had to first wipe the sweat from his forehead due to his own nervousness. Clearing his throat he began: ¡°Ladies and gents, we are going to carry out thest piece of today¡¯s¡­.¡± He wanted to say ¡°goods¡± but found the wording disrespectful towards something like the Pope¡¯s personal promise. Unable toe up with the proper wording, he can only vaguely let this sentence slide and continue: ¡°Everyone knows, the Pope is kind andpassionate. For the victims of the south, his majesty will donate all the proceeds earned today to those affected by this year¡¯s disaster. First let us thank the Pope for his gracious heart and may the glory of the goddess bless upon his majesty.¡± Not falling behind, everyone hurries to make a solemn and sacred face. Pausing at this part, Zack lets the audience have a moment of silence before continuing: ¡°Well then¡­ I hereby dere, under themission of the Temple of Light, this decree signed by the Pope himself shall have no ceiling price and is open to all whom wishes to bid. Please go ahead now.¡± When thisst sentence came out, the whole audience fell into a deadly silence instead of making amotion. Even after a good while, the dozens of dignitaries present only looked at each, attempting to figure out their peers¡¯ intention. Taking this in, Du Wei can¡¯t resist sighing at the sight. For those who are loyal to the royal family, there¡¯s no doubt they won¡¯t have the courage to bid for this. As for those siding with the Temple, these people are without a doubt here to stir up trouble, Finally¡­ ¡°Five hundred thousand.¡± The first person to call was a man sitting in one of the back rows on the first floor. Tall and thin withvish looking clothes, Du Wei can tell this man hailed from the south. Winking at the attendant next to him toe over, this servant began whispering the details into Du Wei¡¯s ear: ¡°Duke¡­ I¡¯ve never seen this man before. It¡¯s strange; there are a lot of unfamiliar faces today.¡± Making a mmhmm sound, Du Wei said: ¡°Are strangers also allowed into the auction house?¡± This attendant lowered his voice again: ¡°Umm, half the seats are usually fixed, but there are some that are openly sold to the public. Our auction is only conducted on a monthly basis so the tickets are always sold within weeks before the scheduled date. And in the ck market, some of our tickets are being resold for ridiculously high prices. I¡¯m specting these new faces came in through that channel.¡± Nodding, Du Wei didn¡¯t say more. Following the start of the bidding, the price quickly soared to a million after the first offer. Du Wei was utterly surprised by this¡­. Are these people not afraid of dying? To coax the price of this thing would be akin to fighting the royal family! Are these people messed up in the head? But Du Wei did manage to find some peculiarity. These people calling the prices are all unfamiliar faces while those rich and powerful aristocrats living in the capital remained silent on the side. When the price reached the million mark, the voices started to die down. Struck with a thought, Du Wei understands now. These unfamiliar faces are clearly sent by the Temple, especially the few calling with a southern ent, they are extremely suspicious. Hesitating for a moment, Du Wei was just about to make his own call when a voice came from the corner: ¡°A million and two hundred.¡± Peering over, Du Wei saw that the man responsible was a typical wealthy businessman of the capital. As soon as this man called the price, another person with a southern ent raised it to one and a half million. Then the merchant of the capital closed his mouth and turned to nce at one of the box rooms on the second floor. Surprising Du Wei, the direction of the merchant¡¯s eye was aimed at Tanshan and Biliaibuer¡¯s VIP box. Du Wei was just frowning when a sudden knock came from the door behind him ¨C it was a servant carrying a message from Biliaibuer. ording to the servant¡¯s word: This thing cannot be bought by an outsider. As courtiers of the regent, it¡¯s only natural that we would help elevate his problems. We¡¯ve contacted several other elites of the capital and have conjoined together to take down this thing. The decree cannot fall into the Temple¡¯s hand and we cannot let them make news out of this event.¡± Du Wei nodded. It seems the two didn¡¯t know about the secret order from the Regent and the fact that the decree has already been taken away. For them to send a message over at this moment, it¡¯s the same as stating their position. After all, Du Wei¡¯s status right now was the highest among everyone so it¡¯s only natural they would ask for his opinion. Contemting inside, Du Wei understands this was their way of showing loyalty to Prince Son, and also a way to show their position was with him on this. Knowing this, Du Wei made a sigh and softly said: ¡°Two million.¡± This call from Du Wei may not be loud, but his words were as clear as day when it drifted down from the upper floor. Meanwhile, Earl Biliaibuer and Count Tanshan were both gazing at him, their lips curling into a smile as they nodded. Then Tanshan also sent another person over, stating: ¡°If Duke¡¯s going to make a move then they will not butt in. If there¡¯s anyck of fund, they be willing to lend their support if needed.¡± What a good Tanshan. From those words alone, Du Wei can deduce the fatty had figured out there¡¯s a secret order from Prince Son. At his own predicament, Du Wei can only sigh. As soon as his two million call came out, another man with a southern ent immediately raised it to two and a half million. At this point everyone in the hall was gasping. They know, the true bidding war was about to begin now! Who doesn¡¯t know Du Wei¡¯s identity? If it was a simple auction of something, no one would want to continue the bidding war with him. It¡¯s not a matter of wealth at that point, it¡¯s a matter of giving the Duke some face. But these southerners seem to havee prepared and showed no sign of giving Du Wei any face. At that, Du Wei was even more certain these southerners are the Temple¡¯s people! This y by the Temple sure was interesting. Have the Pope write up this order then have someone buy it back. For them to do something so oundish, the meaning can only be very deep. After all, the Pope himself was presiding over the baptism and will serve as the intended child¡¯s godfather. This would be tantamount to openly provoking the royal authority. And, this sort ofmitment can¡¯t be done so casually, thus the need for the excuse of raising funds for the disaster. What a high sound reasoning they are giving! And the second step was the key, which person will bended with thismitment?! Let¡¯s assume¡­¡­ If, just if, this falls into an ambitious man with power, then this would mean this ambitious man would receive the same treatment as the royal family! The most subtle part of this was, ¡°the Pope¡¯s personal baptism¡± has been regarded as the symbol of legitimacy for the throne! Without this sacred halo, you can¡¯t be recognized as the ruler!! If the Temple wishes to strike at the prestige of the royal family, then the most effective way would be to find ways to have their own people buy this thing back, and then deliberately arrange for a lowly vulgar rich man to ept the Pope¡¯s baptism. As a result, everyone will inevitably think: If a vulgar upstart can so casually receive the same treatment as the royal family, then the legitimacy of the throne will no longer seem so sublime.¡± And if dug deeper¡­ Let¡¯s say a certain ambitious man receives this promise, like a feudal prince or Rugaard from the Northwest Army. If people like that get the Pope personal baptism, then it¡¯s inevitable that others would think: wouldn¡¯t they also have divine legitimacy for the throne? Once opened, such association would be very dangerous! Du Wei sighed ¡­ In less than a tea¡¯s cup worth of time, the calling price has shot up to five million. Du Wei¡¯s heart would of course be aching in pain for his money didn¡¯t fall out of the sky. Plus, he¡¯s not getting anymission out of this because everything must be handed over to the Temple, that¡¯s the deal! When the price went up to eight million gold coins, the voices finally died down from the first floor. This should¡¯ve been good, but Du Wei¡¯s heart felt uneasy for some reason¡­ It¡¯s this simple? Isn¡¯t it too easy to destroy the Temple¡¯s n? Sure enough! Du Wei¡¯s thought didn¡¯t even have time to process when a crisp and melodious voice of a woman came from the main doorway of the auction house. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have disturbed everyone. I know it¡¯s very impolite to bete, so please forgive me.¡± The voice was delicate and pleasant to the ear. Oddly though, there¡¯s a sense of sacredness to it that wasn¡¯t quite right. The voice didn¡¯t even die down yet when the main doorway was pushed open. Walking in, a tall yet slim blonde haired woman sporting a long white dress of the Temple slowly strolled in through the door. As she stood there at the doorway, all she needed to do was sweep through the audience with her gaze to attract everyone¡¯s attention. The woman was young, with traces of purity only found in the followers of the faith, but unlike the usual clergies, she had an air of a nobleness only found in someone of high standing. Du Wei didn¡¯t need much to recognize who this was for that voice sounded very familiar. This was the daughter of thete crown prince, the holy maiden of the Temple! This holy maiden princess may have covered the bottom half of her face with a white veil, but her eyes were crisp and sharp. With every graceful step she took, her body exuded a powerful form of temptation and allure, yet at the same, an aura of pure sacredness enshrouded her entire being. Seeing the arrival of this woman, Du Wei¡¯s heart immediately sank, his lip falling into a heavy frown. And at this time, Du Wei suddenly heard the young master from the Senna household issuing out a short low call from the box next to his. Turning his head at the source, Du Wei found this Dupont had a face full of surprise, but more importantly, those eyes radiated a furious me of excitement as he stared at the princess. As if meeting the call from this young master, the princess slightly raises her head to look at Dupont. Maybe it was prearranged or something, but this young master suddenly blushed and called out a astronomical number like he just got injected with a jolt of encouragement: ¡°TEN MILLION!¡± He loudly calls this out without hiding. Chapter 292 part 1 Chapter 292 ¡°Farce¡± (Part one) This sudden shout from the young master of the Senna household astonished everyone in the hall. Towards his action, the nobles, including the elite members of the capital, all looked at Dupont with an incredulous and denouncing gaze. At the same time in a faraway box, both Tanshan and Biliaibuer had a dark gloominess on their faces for this bid was akin to challenging Du Wei. Then under the surprised andplex gaze of the audience, this princess slowly strode up to the second floor and sat shoulder to shoulder with this master Dupont,pletely disregarding the public¡¯s opinion. Seeing the intimate posture of this woman, even Du Wei was a little taken aback¡­. Then without care, this holy maiden whispered something into the young man¡¯s ear. Nodding in understanding, Dupont once again called out using a discontent voice: ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve called my bid. If there¡¯s no other buyer, this should be my win right?¡± As Dupont finished his words, the middle aged steward behind him fell into shock and hurries toe forward: ¡°Young master, you mustn¡¯t do this! You can¡¯t!!¡± The Steward whispers. Turning around to look at this servant, Dupont angrily res at the middle aged man: ¡°What did you say?! Like I need your advice on purchasing something!¡± Making a face full of panic, this steward urgently whispers some more: ¡°Young master! This thing cannot be bought so randomly¡­ If you do, you are going to bring disaster to the family! After returning, old master will definitely be furious¡­.¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± Dupont retorts in a reprimanding tone: ¡°Buying this thing is a kind deed, why would father scold me.¡± The steward was speechless now. He¡¯s a sensible man so how can he not know this thing cannot be touched. If the young lord does purchase this, it will no doubt bring catastrophe to the family. He may be extremely anxious inside, but with the presence of the holy maiden here, this steward simply can¡¯t speak his mind: ¡°But the Marquise¡­ Marquise¡­.¡± ¡°Father is ill for several days now and I¡¯ve got word to make my own decisions. I don¡¯t need your intervention when I make my choices.¡± After being talked back by his own servant in front of the holy maiden, Dupont became flustered by embarrassment. Angrily shouting again: ¡°Ten million, I¡¯m taking this! Hey you down there, why aren¡¯t you announcing the winner?!¡± Now all eyes were pinned to this box. With only a rail in-between the upants and everyone else down below, anything that urs now could be clearly seen by the audience. Plus, Dupont¡¯s voice was exceptionally loud, thus giving the crowd a good hear. For someone as smart as this steward, how can he not know the weight of this product and the meaning behind it? What he doesn¡¯t understand though was why his young lord would do something like this? It¡¯s true the young lord can be arrogant and spoiled at times, but never once would he pull off something of this magnitude. Obviously a faithful man to the family, even before a scene of this kind, this steward refuses to stop at the expense of offending his young lord. Hurrying over to the rail guard, this middle aged man calls out to Zack that was standing on stage: ¡°Mr. Zack, the offer just now doesn¡¯t count. The Senna family won¡¯t pay for it.¡± ¡°Damn thing!¡± Master Dupont flew into a furious rage. As the youngest master of the Senna house, when has he ever been treated like so, let alone be retorted by his own steward in public? Ashamed and angered to the brink of exploding, he points a finger at the steward and began yelling: ¡°Tak! You¡¯re too presumptuous! You are but a steward, with what can you¡­¡± ¡°Young Master!¡± Pale white, this steward firmly shakes his head: ¡°You are wrong on this. I absolutely won¡¯t allow you to bring this kind of disaster to the family! The reason the Marquise tasked me to follow you is to prevent troubles of this kind, how can I ignore it?¡± ¡°You ¡­¡± Under the heat of rage, Dupont became speechless for he¡¯s always been a straw head. Like this steward said, his father sent the guy over in order to restrain him from doing anything rash. But suddenly, a ¡°giggling¡± voice came from the side as if things weren¡¯t troubling enough. With a charming smile and a crisp voice, the holy maiden leisurely said: ¡°Hmm, Dupont, for a steward to interfere with his lord¡¯s decision, your Senna house is indeed different from the rest.¡± Like adding oil to a fire, Dupont¡¯s face immediately flushed red and began cursing at the poor man: ¡°Tak! You are but a servant in my family, a dog we own! How dare you overstep your boundaries?!¡± At that, Dupont actually disregarded his identity and walked up to the steward in an attempt to kick the man. Dodging in the nick of time by swirling to the side, this steward stared at the holy maiden with indignation in his eyes: ¡°Young master, no matter what you say today, I absolutely won¡¯t let you, I will stop you¡­. AH!¡± Not getting a chance to finish, a painful cry came out. When Dupont found that his kick had missed just then, this heated young man conveniently grabbed a teacup and threw it at the steward. Because their distance weren¡¯t far to begin with, blood began pouring out of the wound on the guy¡¯s forehead due to the shattering impact. To do something like this in a fit of rage, the nobles down at the seats all frowned at Dupont, many holding contempt and anger at this foolish young lord. Covering his wound with his fingers, this steward Tak took a step back and shouted: ¡°Young master, if you must misbehave like this then you leave me no choice, I can only go back and invite the Marquise over!¡± After that, he once again loudly called out to Zack on stage: ¡°Mr. Zack, our young lord¡¯s bid is invalid. He¡¯s not the chief of the family, nor can he afford ten million gold coins because he doesn¡¯t have that authority in the family. I¡¯ll go invite the Marquise here now.¡± With that said, he turns to leave the VIP box. Dupont couldn¡¯t hold it anymore. In a flurry, he suddenly pulled a dagger from within his sleeve and rushed to stab the steward from the back. Those that got good eyes down below gasped at the sight of the dagger, and Du Wei on the other side also furrowed his brow at the scene. One of the first rules in the auction house was that no weapons are permitted inside regardless of the circumstances, anyone attending would know about it. But it¡¯s simply all toomon to find situations where one ends up guarding against a gentleman versus a viin. After all, who here wasn¡¯t of noble status, how can the doorman search every one of them? Fortunately this steward Tak was an agile one. Hearing the exmation from the audience, he knew something bad was about to happen and hurried to dodge. His speed was fast and he did manage to avoid being stabbed, but the dagger was simply too sharp and ended up making a cut over his shoulder, thus causing blood to gush out of the wound. Filled with murder in his eyes as he held that blood stained dagger, Dupont realizes his failed attempt and rushes up to send a powerful hard kick. Then without hesitation, this blinded young man makes another attempt to stab at the steward while mouthing off at his target: ¡°You dog, this is what you get for disobeying me!¡± Seeing this time the attack will end the steward¡¯s life, Du Wei grunts from across the box and raises a finger. From his tip, a fireball shot out and engulfed Dupont¡¯s hand holding the dagger. Overtaken by pain, Dupont makes a loud shrill scream and immediately loosened his grip, thus dropping the dagger to the ground. Du Wei¡¯s fireball mustn¡¯t be taken lightly. From the hand, the ming sparks sshed out across Dupont¡¯s clothes and lit up numerous areas across his body. All of a sudden, this young lord was repeatedly crying out in pain and fear, begging for help as he rolled around the floor. While everyone in the hall watched on as this yed out, it was that steward on the floor who stepped in. truly a faithful servant of the Senna house. Without worrying for his own safety despite being injured, he jumped atop of the ming young lord and began patting out the mes with his bare hands. In the distance, Tanshan and Biliaibuer were both looking at each other as this scene unfolded. They both knew Marquise Senna well. The old chief of that house may not be a loyalist to the royal family, but there¡¯s no questioning the Marquise wouldn¡¯t want to get mixed up in these kind of trouble and would prioritize self-preservation. Based on this knowledge, they can deduce the actions of this young lord hadn¡¯t been instructed by his old man the Marquise! Then it can¡­. Turning to look at the princess seated not far from the young lord, both Tanshan and Biliaibuer had a look of understanding: a woman¡¯s seduction. At the moment there were finally some attendants rushing up to the VIP box. Swinging the door open, the staffs hurries to pull the two apart. Showing no regret or gratitude for saving his life, the first reaction this Dupont had after having his mes extinguished was to send a heavy punch across the steward¡¯s face. Immediately, the nose of this steward named Tak was bleeding profusely, his eyes showing bitter disappointment at the young lord. Forcibly shirking off the two staff holding him, Dupont turns to shout at Zack standing down at the stage: ¡°What are you still dazing around for! If there¡¯s no other call then this thing belongs to me!¡± Watching this farce from the stage, Zack not only didn¡¯t fall into a panic, his heart became rxed and turns to look at his lord the Duke. Seeing the indifference on Du Wei¡¯s face, Zack then knew his lord had his own ns and decided to keep quiet. Sneering inside, Du Wei slowly stood up and walked up to the rail guard. Then making a soft smile, he asked Dupont from across the VIP box: ¡°Hello lord Dupont. I would like to ask you, are you absolutely certain you must have this thing?¡± Returning the look from Du Wei, Dupont didn¡¯t hide his hostility and heavily grunted: ¡°Of course Duke, this thing is mine for sure.¡± As he said that, Dupont nces back over to the holy maiden. Although several attendants had rushed into the VIP box in order to separate this young lord from his steward, but this holy maiden was also a princess of the empire, who would dare touch her? With no other alternative, these staffs of the auction house can only stand side by side next to the princess without doing anything. Du Wei didn¡¯t miss it. This Dupont originally had a ferocious look when looking at him, but when turning to face the holy maiden, his eyes immediately changed to adoration without any attempt to hide it. Narrowing his eye, Du Wei instead turns to assess the woman and was returned with a gaze of her own. Making eye contact, both of them made a cold smile as invisible sparks flew out. ¡°Very good.¡± Du Wei nodded then turns to point at the young lord of the Senna house: ¡°Making a mistake is not terrifying. What¡¯s terrifying is ignorance. I pity you.¡± Then he turns to the crowd down below and spoke aloud, ¡°Distinguished guests, as the master here, I dere that the auction for this particr item is suspended due to the situation that just happened.¡± Dupont suddenly sprang up, his voice filled with anger: ¡°Based on what can you do this!¡± Du Wei softly smiles: ¡°Based on these words are said by me.¡± His face gradually turning cold as his voice spread to the entire audience: ¡°Whoever feels I¡¯m not qualified can stand up now and speak.¡± The people on the royal family¡¯s side would naturally not oppose, and those from the south couldn¡¯t stand either when their gaze met with Du Wei¡¯s. From that oppressive and deadly re, these southerners instinctively went numb on their legs and began shivering uncontrobly! Du Wei¡¯s been in the northwest for two years now. Killing by his stare was as natural as eating rice. By revealing his murderous aura and killing gaze, who can resist him in this ce filled with weaklings? Chapter 292 part 2 Chapter 292 ¡°Farce¡± (Part two) ¡°Duke.¡± The holy maiden smiled leisurely and said: ¡°Don¡¯t you think by doing this it will harm your auction house¡¯s reputation of being fair?¡± Casually standing up, she stands off against Du Wei from across the railings, her eyes without a trace of fear: ¡°I¡¯ve long heard that the Tulip auction house is the fairest out there, but your order today seems inconsistent with this saying don¡¯t you agree?¡± Coldly smiling, Du Wei turns his head to the side to face the woman: ¡°Seems your grace has an opinion on my decision?¡± Making a greeting gesture, she then slowly said: ¡°Lord Dupont¡¯s scuffle with his disobedient servant is their private affair. Now that things have subsided, it¡¯s only natural the auction must continue. Or is it¡­ because your dukeship wishes to win this bid and decides to change the rules at will? Ah, I almost forgot, you are after all the master of this ce.¡± Not getting annoyed or angry, Du Wei insteadughs: ¡°I see, so your highness is using me of being unfair. Very well, the reputation of my Tulip auction house cannot be so easily defamed.¡± Pausing, he slowly said, ¡°Your highness, you want fairness? Then I¡¯ll give you fairness!¡± Speaking up to here, Du Wei¡¯s face suddenly sank, his whole body exuding a majestic dominance: ¡°Guards, get the hell out here!¡± As soon as his voice died down, two guards wearing servant clothes of the auction house had rushed into the VIP box on the second floor, their posture kneeling on one to the ground. ¡°You two are the doorman today?¡± His eyes cold. The two looked at each other and replied in unison, ¡°¡­ Yes milord. ¡± ¡°Very well.¡± Nodding, Du Wei presses his fingers on the railing and began tapping it slowly: ¡°I ask you, what is the fourth rule of the auction house?¡± The two men exchanged nces and immediately went pale. While the man on the left was so scared that he couldn¡¯t speak, the one on the right mustered up his courage and replied by gritting his teeth: ¡°Milord¡­ The fourth rule of the auction house is: Once the auction begins, all doors are to be sealed and no other person is allowed inside, regardless if they are a ticket holder!¡± ¡°Humph! You recite it very smoothly.¡± Du Wei¡¯s tone sounded very gloomy: ¡°Then I ask you, why did more people enter earlier when the auction has proceeded more than halfway through!¡± The person on the right raised his head and began faltering in his words: ¡°Milord¡­ because¡­ because¡­.¡± ¡°What are you stuttering for! As a member of the Tulip house, can¡¯t you at least speak properly?¡± Du Wei pricked his brow, thus sending off a killing intent to the man before him. Sensing the dangerous aura hovering over his head, the guard bites his lip and hurries to speak: ¡°Milord! It¡¯s because the person is the holy maiden and a princess, we don¡¯t have courage to block her!¡± ¡°So you are afraid of stopping them because their status is high?¡± Du Wei¡¯s face may not look well, but inwardly, his heart was chuckling to no end: ¡°Toe to my auction house then they must follow my rule, and all tickets bes invalid once they arete! This is the rule here! Regardless of identity, regardless of their ticket, once the auction starts, all doors are to be sealed! You are the doorman, how can you destroy the most basic rule I have here?! Who here isn¡¯t of noble status? Who here isn¡¯t a wealthy giant? If every time I hold an auction and a lord or knight demands they get special treatment, then why do I need these rules? Why do I need to hold an auction? Why don¡¯t I simply sell the items off ording to each individual¡¯s status?¡± The man to speak was a clever one. Picking up on his lord¡¯s meaning, he hurries to lower his head: ¡°Yes milord, we are wrong! We wish to ept our punishment!¡± Du Wei¡¯s facial expression slightly loosened: ¡°Starting from today, you two no longer need to take up the doorman post in the auction house. Go down and receive tenshes per person!¡± The two guards nodded and scrammed out the door. Du Wei¡¯s momentum was overwhelming and none in the audience dared object to his methods. Then turning back to the holy maiden standing in the VIP box next to his, he coldly said: ¡°Your highness, I have punished my men for breaking the rules, but your manner of entering in the middle of the auction is not permitted here. Although your identity is honorable, but in the world of business, my ce here only looks at money, not status and background¡­¡± Irritated and angered inside, this holy maiden couldn¡¯t resist bing dissatisfied: ¡°Duke Tulip, can it be you want to drive me out?¡± Du Wei bellowed out augh: ¡°You are the Temple¡¯s holy maiden and a princess of the royal house, how can I possibly throw you out? Since you rarelye to my auction house, I specte you must¡¯ve not known about my rules so it¡¯s the doormen¡¯s fault for not warning you.¡± As he reached this part, the holy maiden¡¯s eye revealed a hint of relief. But then, Du Wei followed up with another part: ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°Just what?¡± The holy maiden frowned. It¡¯s not the first time she confronted Du Wei. Two years ago during their first confrontation at the ve market, Du Wei had cleverly ced her in a bind. So of course, her memories of that incident remain fresh in her mind. Hearing the ¡°just¡± word, her heart immediately became rmed knowing how cunning this Duke was.¡± ¡°May I ask your highness, since you are here today, you must have a ticket in your hand correct?¡± ¡°Of course I do.¡± The holy maiden coldly answered. ¡°Good.¡± Du Wei nodded, his voice bing softer and more disturbing to the princess: ¡°It¡¯s just that your highness probably doesn¡¯t know the rules here. Although you hold a ticket for entry, but your ticket only applies to the seats down below, not for the VIP box up on the second floor.¡± ¡°You!¡± The holy maiden turned furious, but that onlysted for a second before she squashed that me. With a soft smile: ¡°Duke Tulip, why so stingy? Besides, this here is lord Dupont¡¯s box. What¡¯s wrong with inviting a guest along?¡± ¡°Business is business.¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°First, your identity is noble so your visit is an honor in itself. However, the state has itsw and a family has its rules. Although you are distinguished, but who here isn¡¯t of noble birth? You may be the holy maiden and a princess, but even you shouldn¡¯t be breaking our rules now should you? Otherwise, if news spread that as long one is a princess, they cane along and sit in my VIP box without spending a dime, wouldn¡¯t I be ruining my business? What¡¯s more, every person that sits in these VIP boxes has spent big money to earn a ce here. If I allow you to pass without doing anything, it would be unfair to my customers.¡± When Du Wei pointed this out, anyone siding with the Regent began calling out in support. Though this holy maiden covered her face with a silk veil, but there¡¯s no doubt her expression can¡¯t be good at the moment. It was then that this ignorant young master of the Senna house began shouting angrily again: ¡°Du Wei! This box is bought by my Senna family! Based on what can you force her to leave!¡± Suddenly shooting this young man a re, Du Wei made a heavy grunt through his nose and caused this Dupont to go limp in his legs and fall into cold sweat. As someone that¡¯s been scything people down like grass in the Northwest, Du Wei¡¯s little grunt naturally carried a powerful force. ¡°Dupont Senna.¡± Du Wei directly called out his name in a cold way: ¡°Remember your identity! You may be the son of Marquise Senna, but you are without title, a in white sheet not much different from any noble. While me, I¡¯m the Duke of Tulip. What makes you think you are worthy to directly call me by my name?¡± These two sentences immediately caused Dupont to turn cherry red. His face may radiate murder, but no word came out for hecked the courage. Among the aristocratic circle, one must pay close attention to their etiquette. Unless you are close friends with that individual, one mustn¡¯t call them out by their name in public and can only use their surname. Otherwise, this would be considered impolite and rude. Just now, in a fit of rage, Dupont did just that which would be considered extremely rude and may be taken as a provocation in some cases. Therefore, Du Wei¡¯s sarcastic and somewhat caustic remark just now wouldn¡¯t be considered his fault. To the audience, it¡¯s only natural. ¡°Also, Dupont Senna, my rule here is that no one in the auction house is permitted to carry a weapon. You are a regr here, so it¡¯s safe to presume you know about this. Yet¡­. You not only brought a weapon in here knowing this fact, you openly wounded someone in front of me. What do you think my auction house is? Your home garden?¡± Unlike his aggressive words, Du Wei¡¯s voice was more smooth and soft as he talked. But in Dupont¡¯s view, those eyes from Du Wei radiated a bone creeping chill that stroke fear into him the more he looked. ¡°I¡¯m very sorry. Because you vited the membership rules here and embarrassed your identity, from this point forward, I¡¯ll be revoking the Senna household¡¯s eligibility to enter the VIP area. Now, I would ask you and your entourage to leave this box. In order to express my respect for your father, Marquise Senna, I will return the money paid by your father for this box room.¡± Watching the sturdy attendant and guardsing to drag him away, this young master Dupont still wanted to put up a fight and began struggling to break free. In the end, he could do nothing and be pulled out of the room. As they left, the steward first wiped the blood off his face and turned to give Du Wei a grateful nce before leaving. On the other side of the hall, Biliaibuer and Tanshan were exchanging looks at each other, their hearts both thinking the same thing: ¡°This Senna house sure is unlucky! Marquise Senna had always been steady throughout his life. Who would¡¯ve have thought that when he gets old, he would be dragged down by an idiotic son like that.¡± Seeing that even Dupont was taken out, it¡¯s only natural this holy maiden wouldn¡¯t be allowed to stay in the VIP box. But instead of leaving quietly, she turns to Du Wei and smiles: ¡°Duke Tulip, are you really going to have me go downstairs?¡± Not getting angry, Du Wei bellowed out augh in return: ¡°Rules are rules, it mustn¡¯t be broken. It¡¯s true that one can invite guests along, but since this Dupont Senna has lost his eligibility¡­ Hmm, if your highness wouldn¡¯t mind my box here being too humble, then pleasee over and rest.¡± Beaming a smile, her voice bes softer as she gracefully epted the invitation with a slight curtsy: ¡°How can the box of Duke Tulip be too humble for me. I graciously ept your invitation.¡± As she finished, she incredulously moved into Du Wei¡¯s VIP box without a second thought. Seeing this, the attendant standing behind Du Wei hurries to open the door for her. And just like that, this holy maiden casually walks in as if nothing had happened and sat next to Du Wei in a rxed manor. To witness this, Du Wei had to give it to her. She and her father, the former crown prince, are both real characters, totally shameless. ¡°Well then everyone. Let¡¯s keep the auction going now that things have settled.¡± After he made this announcement, Du Wei found that from below, that ignorant young lord Dupont was shooting him a venomous gaze despite being dragged away. At this moment, before he could say anything, the princess on the side whispered the most annoying sentence to his ear: ¡°Ohoho, Duke, seems you¡¯ve offended someone today.¡± Pinching his mouth to one side, Du Wei mildly replied: ¡°Offending others is an unavoidable thing, but if the recipient is an ignorant fool, then it¡¯s nothing. Making a mistake is not a terrifying thing, what¡¯s terrifying is being ignorant.¡± ¡°The Duke is indeed witty.¡± She blinks several times before deliberately making a smile: ¡°Just that Duke, are you not afraid of offending me?¡± Du Wei returned with augh: ¡°Oh? Your highness, did I offend you?¡± ¡°Certainly not.¡± The princess¡¯s voice sounded very rxed: ¡°You invited me to sit in your room, for that, I can¡¯t thank you enough.¡± Both of them may be exchanging happy nces and conversing joyously, but inwardly, they were both carrying ulterior motives. Meanwhile, the attendant standing behind Du Wei was having a nervous breakdown at the sight. Inwardly, he couldn¡¯t resist sighing at his lord: Big people sure do things different from us simple folks. Just moments ago the Duke can kill with his stare, then minutester he canugh and converse like nothing had happened¡­. The following auction didn¡¯t have as much twist and turns like before. Though those mysterious southerners did try topete with Du Wei, but in the end, Du Wei bought the ¡°Pope¡¯s decree¡± with a calling price of sixteen million gold coins. Sixteen million gold coins¡­ Du Wei¡¯s heart was without a doubt hurting inside. Even so, unease wouldn¡¯t stop nagging in the back of his mind: How can the Temple¡¯s scheme be so easily dissolved? ording to the rules, the product must be inspected uponpletion of the auction, but since Du Wei was the master himself, this step was omitted. (There¡¯s no product to inspect anyways) Rather, it was this holy maiden that was acting strange right now. Not making any trouble, she continues to badger Du Wei with pointless conversations. Graceful and delicate, bursts of fragrance kept drifting into Du Wei¡¯s nose every time she got close to him. Du Wei had to hand it to her. Against this type of aggressive beauty, it¡¯s no wonder that Dupont became captivated by her. With the auctioning to an end, many bid their farewell without saying much. To them, seeing such a show today was worthwhile for this trip. Also, some knew Du Wei would definitely go see Prince Son after this so they took the opportunity to dere their loyalty to the Regent through Du Wei¡¯s mouth. In the end, it was this princess who remained till the end. Before she left, she suddenly turned back to give Du Wei a nce and whispered something: ¡°I say Duke, which would be better? The Xieni faction, or the Mosa faction?¡± Not waiting for Du Wei to reply, she chuckled slightly and walked away.. Standing there, Du Wei furrowed his brown, his face stern and serious. Chapter 293 part 1 Chapter 293 ¡°In your dreams!¡± (Part one) This farce in the auction house has finallye to an end. Du Wei attempted to grasp Prince Son¡¯s intentions on all this, but try as he may, he didn¡¯t have a clue still. Most importantly, this was his second day after returning to the capital, yet he still haven¡¯t met with the Regent. ording to the rules of Rnd Empire, ¡°outer officials¡± like Du Wei can¡¯t just waltz into the pce and demand an audience. Sure, Prince Son wasn¡¯t the emperor and was only a regent, but his position wasn¡¯t much different at this point considering the authority of the current emperor was but an empty husk. But of course, favored characters like Du Wei tends to get special treatment and wouldn¡¯t have to go through so much formality. With a single message to the pce, he would usually be summoned at once. Yet this time, Du Wei still hasn¡¯t been summoned despite the fact that he sent a messenger on the day of his return! Now the meaning behind this was worth pondering¡­ Seems that Prince Son wishes to drag this out and not meet with him right away, but why? Just remembering the auction today makes him unhappy. Du Wei can only specte the dy was likely to keep him out of the loop and corner him for the event today. With the auctioning to an end and the guests dispersed, the first thing Du Wei wanted to do was run off to ask that sted Prince Son what the deal was. Hurrying another messenger to the pce, he impatiently waits for news of his summoning. Mister here has spent the money and did as you wanted, if you still won¡¯t see me then that¡¯s too much! After all it was you who called me back to the imperial capital! To leave me hanging like this, that¡¯s too unprofessional. Not getting time to finish his thoughts, Zack had alreadye running with a report: The Temple has sent someone over. Du Wei furrowed his brow at the news: ¡°What is the templeing here for, isn¡¯t this situation not troublesome enough? What else could they want now?¡± Zack then went on to exin that the temple wasn¡¯t here for anything special, they are here for the money. Du Wei did after all ¡°buy¡± the Pope¡¯s decree at a whopping sixteen million gold, it¡¯s only proper he pays this sum. His face turned even more unpleasant: ¡°The auction only ended at noon and they are here for the money already, how can they be so fast?!¡± At that, he brooded for a moment before mildly replying: ¡°Go tell the people from the Temple that no matter how rich a business was, a sum of that size wouldn¡¯t be kept in the treasury at one time. Give me a few days to raise the fund and I¡¯ll have it sent over in person.¡± Going down to give Du Wei¡¯s answer to the people of the Temple, Zack returned with another message that they agree. However, before departing, they stated that three days was the max and that the Duke should gather the necessary funds as soon as possible because it¡¯s needed for the refugees in the south. Hearing this, Du Wei felt even more annoyed in his heart. He only came back a day and what did he get? A triumphant return ceremony that gave him some face, but can someone¡¯s face be exchanged for real money? Then there¡¯s the Rowling manor. That estate originally belonged to his family so it¡¯s no different from returning it to him. Compared to what he spent today, that manor was peanuts inparison! Just thinking about all this annoyed Du Wei to no ends. Waiting in the shop for a while, Du Wei begins to have evil thoughts. Sneering, he told himself: if that Son doesn¡¯t see me soon and give a good exnation, then don¡¯t me me for being ruthless. I¡¯m no pushover! His mind was still in the middle of all these dangerous thoughts when the people he sent earlier finally returned with news from the pce. ording to their words, Prince Son was summoning him. And apanying Du Wei¡¯s people was a court emissary. Upon meeting him, this emissary was very polite because the guy didn¡¯t know about the auction today. To the emissary, he only knew Du Wei was the current most favored official in the empire and could definitely be called the number one personnel in the court. Hearing that Prince Son was summoning him, Du Wei¡¯s brow immediately pricked up. Not wasting time to chit chat with the emissary, he promptly called for a carriage and headed straight for the pce. On the other hand, the court emissary was shocked by this for he was already a senior in the pce. ording to tradition and customs, a vassal, no matter how favored they are would first return home to freshen up and change their wear to formal clothes before entering the pce. But this Duke Tulip¡­ Aside from keeping on his casual wear, his face was showing an obvious displeasure. Hearing Du Wei¡¯s order of leaving immediately, the court emissary hurries to stop him and began faltering in his words: ¡°Your lordship¡­. This, isn¡¯t this a little too hasty¡­¡± Du Wei immediately red at the fe for saying something like this: How can I not be anxious? I just spent sixteen million gold, who wouldn¡¯t be! ¡°This ¡­ ording to the rules, shouldn¡¯t you, shouldn¡¯t you have a change of wear?¡± The court emissary sighs. Narrowing his eyes: ¡°Do you not see the clothes on my body, or am I naked to you?¡± Frightened by the remark, the court emissary hastened to remind him: ¡°Of course not, just that¡­¡± He can see the impatience in Du Wei so he got straight to the point of etiquette. However, Du Wei didn¡¯t let him and grew furious: ¡°I¡¯m a magician, whatever rules of the court doesn¡¯t apply to me.¡± At that, Du Wei went ahead and left the court emissary behind. Knowing this wasn¡¯t his problem, the guy followed suit and knew best not to offend someone as favored as this Duke. Coming up to the pce gates, the guards on duty easily recognized Du Wei¡¯s carriage due to the court emissary and the Tulip banner. Making a few random checks, Du Wei was quickly let through without much hassle. Thening into the court, the first person toe greet him was a herald carrying the message from the regent: he¡¯s been invited into the pce garden to meet Prince Son. The pce garden of the Rnd Empire, this ce was what they called a oddity on thisnd. Normally in the gardens of wealthy individuals, it would be decorated with all sorts of valuable nts and gorgeous looking flowers, but this was not so here. In the garden of the emperor, the ruler of thisnd, his garden seemed very shabby even by amoner¡¯s standpoint. It¡¯s not for anything special, it¡¯s because there was only one nt being grown in this garden: Thorn Flower. This Thorn flower may be the insignia of the royal family, but in fact it didn¡¯t look very good at all. As the name implies, the nature of this flower was a thorny nt living in harsh arid conditions. Like the thorn vines in Du Wei¡¯s past life, small tiny white flowers would grow like dots all over the barbs. Rather than say this was beautiful, it¡¯s better to call it a tenacious nt with strong vitality. Pity the royal pce. In order to conform to the ¡°Thorn Flower Family¡± tradition, the only flower allowed to be grown inside the pce was this nt, thus making it look depressing to the eye: what¡¯s so good looking about all those thorns and vines? By the time Du Wei came to the garden, he could already hear the faintughter of children ying from afar with a group of royal guards standing by in a circr formation. So with a brief introduction, he was allowed inside. The season was winter so there weren¡¯t much to see in the garden, merely strips of withered thorns and the like. Despite this, a pair of children dressed in fine clothes was ying together in the garden while the maids on the side watched on nervously, afraid they might idently run into the thorny bushes. It was here that Du Wei finally saw Prince Son. The youngest regent of the Empire and the one responsible for him in spending sixteen million gold today. Dressed in a simple elegant white robe, this ruler of the empire was currently watching the two children ying together with a smile. Paying close attention, Du Wei began assessing Prince Son¡¯s appearance¡­. Not meeting for a year and a half, this Prince Son seems more mature and sedated. They only knew each other for a few days prior to the coup back then, but the vigor of a young man was obvious on this man despite being the same profound and mysterious person that he was. But now nearly two years had passed. This young regent seems to have retracted his temperament and grew more dignified,pletely different from someone that¡¯s not even thirty years of age yet. Seeing Du Weiing over from afar, Prince Son smiled and activelyughed aloud: ¡°Du Wei, you are finally here. Hurry and let me have a look. Two years in the northwest huh, you sure grew taller.¡± The tone of the remark was exceedingly affectionate, as if it were the tone of a brother who had not met for two years. Against this level of affection, Du Wei¡¯s temper somehow couldn¡¯te out and seems to be subsiding somewhat. Frustrated, Du Wei can only press down his temper and walk over. Coughing once to clear his voice: ¡°Your highness.¡± Giving Du Wei a careful look over, Prince Son¡¯s tone grew gentler: ¡°Du Wei ¡­ My friend, spending two years in the frigid winds of the northwest have made your skin darker then when you were in the capital.¡± Du Wei smiled mildly, hisnguage proper: ¡°The environment in the Northwest is almost perennially cold and windy. Against such bad conditions, I would of course have to do more.¡± Patting Du Wei on the shoulder, Prince Son then cast him an apologetic look. For someone like his status, it¡¯s likely only this Regent would dare pat Du Wei so casually outside of the family elders in the n. ¡°It¡¯s been hard for you¡­ I will remember your sacrifices.¡± Prince Son softly smiles and pointed to the pair of children ying over there: ¡°Come, this here is my daughter and son.¡± Chapter 293 part 2 Chapter 293 ¡°In your dreams!¡± (Part two) The majority of the royal members often marry early in their life. At the tender age of sixteen, Son had taken his current wife and became a father at eighteen. Du Wei was aware of this and knew the boy was eight and the daughter six this year. It¡¯s just that Du Wei never met this pair of children before until today. Due to their reclusive lifestyle inside the pce, this pair of children had hardlye into contact with strangers. This included most of the court officials because Son rarely brought them out. Now that Du Wei was standing in front of their father, the two were fascinated by this handsome young man and was eyeing him curiously with those big tiny eyes. Though both children had received the pce¡¯s educational training, it was the boy who first came out of his startled like state and remembered the etiquette manners imparted to him by the pce tutors. Moving forward several steps with a serious expression on his face, though the boy still retained his innocent childishness, the young prince faces Son and calls out father before returning his sight on Du Wei. ¡°This here is the Grand Duke of Tulip.¡± Prince Son made a point to remind his child. Immediately, the eight year old prince revealed a typical face of someone performing a proper court greeting. With a slight bow, he forcibly spoke in a mature manner using that immature voice of his: ¡°Greetings Grand Duke of Tulip, I¡¯m Charlie Augustine.¡± Looking at this eight year old child trying to put on a unbefitting appearance for his age, Du Wei could only sigh inside. Returning the gesture, he slightly bows: ¡°Hello young prince.¡± Among the two, it was the six year old princess who acted more of her age. With a timid look, she remains hidden behind the young prince with only half her body shown, her eyes constantly eyeing Du Wei. Then suddenly, she uses her childish voice to inquire: ¡°You ¡­ Are you the magical Duke that built a city in three months?¡± Her voice stammered slightly, but at the same time soft and sweet. Against this familiar style of speech, Du Wei couldn¡¯t resist thinking back to her little wife at home. Looking at this beautiful doll, Du Wei makes a gentle smile and softly replied: ¡°I am indeed that Duke, but not some magical Duke. Furrowing his brow, little Prince Charlie drags her sister out from behind and coughs: ¡°Karina, did you forget your manners?!¡± The little girl spat her tongue out, but nevertheless came forward to make a courteous curtsy befitting a princess. Although Du Wei don¡¯t hold much fondness over these cumbersome formalities, he can only return the greeting with a gesture of his own in front of the Regent. Prince Son¡¯s children were very beautiful with Charlie inheriting a good portion of his father¡¯s handsome features, especially those eyes which in essence looked the same. Du Wei didn¡¯t notice when they were ying, but with the kids quieting down and standing there, he can already see the results of the strict royal traininging out of that young boy¡¯s face. Maybe it was due to her young age for Karina didn¡¯t act like her older brother. Retaining her baby fat on that roundish plump face, her cheeks were pink and lovely. Matched with those curled blonde hairing down the sidelines and her big blue eyes, it gave her an angelic appearance that others would want love and hug at will. ¡°Grand Duke of Tulip¡­¡± Karina timidly looked at Du Wei. Finally under Du Wei¡¯s reassuring smile, she loses her shyness and muttered her question: ¡°I-I heard the Northwest is very fun, can you tell me some stories? Is it true¡­ You built a city in three months?¡± Du Wei smiled and nods. Squatting down, he couldn¡¯t resist teasing the girl on the nose with a small pinch: ¡°If your highness is interested, you cane see for yourself in the future when you grow up.¡± Karina¡¯s cute little face flushed red at the gesture. Hurrying back a step, her eyes glittered with light but were overshadowed by a long disappointed exhale: ¡°Again, I have to grow up first¡­.¡± Prince Sonughed at thatment. Looking to the attendants, he ordered: ¡°Take them down for now, it¡¯s gettingte and their lessons for today is about to start. I and the Duke here still have some official matters to discuss.¡± As the attendants standing by came over to guide the princess and prince away, Charlie continues to hold up his manners by making a parting bow while his sister, Karina, only kept looking at Du Wei with a curious gaze even when she was carried away up by her nanny. With the children gone, only Du Wei and Prince Son remains in the garden. The guards stood outside the premise to give the two privacy. Making a faint smile, the Regent asks: ¡°How about that, what do you think of my kids?¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°Smart and Beautiful, your highness, you are very fortunate.¡± Prince Son¡¯s eye narrowed slightly before making a sudden sigh: ¡°Being born in the royal family¡­ May not necessarily be some kind of blessing.¡± At that, he shakes his head and makes a ridiculing chuckle: ¡°Looking at how close those two are now reminds me of brother and I when we were young¡­ Hmm, back then, elder brother once took me on a horse ride too¡­ Haha.¡± With the mention of the former crown prince from the coup, Du Wei closed his mouth and said not a single word. Suddenly changing his tone, Prince Son gazed directly into Du Wei¡¯s eye and began speaking in a very serious voice: ¡°Du Wei ¡­ Will you promise me one thing? In the future please help me guide my children, okay?¡± (In case anyone is wondering, what Son is asking Du Wei to do is be the main royal tutor (Tai-Fu) for the two. Like the second inmand, this post is the most senior in the court and is to provide moral guidance to the emperor.) Du Wei became stunned: ¡°Your highness means¡­¡± Though he disguised it well with that rxing smile, a glimmer of turmoil flickered across Prince Son¡¯s eye: ¡°My son Charlie is eight this year and has begun his lessons from the court tutors. However, you are after all with the title of being a schr of the court, and I know are knowledgeable in many things. Plus your age is young, only eight years older than my son. If you are willing to teach my children, it would be better than those white bearded schrs. No matter how good they are, a child will inherently resist the teachings of an old man.¡± Brooding inside, Du Wei was still trying to grasp the meaning of that remark when Prince Son continued along: ¡°This son of mine is smart enough so my expectations for him are very big¡­ Hmm, what I¡¯m saying is I would like to ask you to be his teacher.¡± This sentence no doubt contained severalyers of meaning. Expectations are big ¡­ Does Son want to make Charlie as the next heir to the throne? (In case you guys forgot, Prince Son made a deal with the Temple that he won¡¯t ever take the throne.) Let oneself be the prince¡¯s teacher, then he will be a Tai-Fu of a generation. This position is indeed sublime. Du Wei smiled: ¡°If your Highness is confident enough in me, I certainly won¡¯t refuse¡­ Just that, I am in the northwest all year round, I fear I won¡¯t have enough time to tutor the prince and the princess¡­.¡± Prince Son shakes his head, smiling at Du Wei: ¡°Haha, my dear Duke¡­ Are you going to live the rest of your life in the northwest? That region is cold and bitter. Any other lord would¡¯ve long chosen a governor and excused himself back to the capital. Rather it¡¯s you. You seem to be very happy living in the northwest and never once returned to the capital.¡± Returning the gaze, Du Wei mildly chuckles: ¡°Your highness is joking¡­ Considering the situation in the Northwest, would you allow me to even if I wanted toe back? But of course, I¡¯m certain there would be some that would love nothing more for me to return.¡± They exchanged augh and said nothing more afterwards. Strolling through the garden together, it was Prince Son whom broke the ufortable silence: ¡°When the situation stabilizes in the future, you will eventually have to return. Du Wei, I¡¯ve always held you in high regard and saw you as someone more than a mere governor of a province.¡± High expectations? Du Wei bitterly smiled inside. Mister here would love nothing more than you to hold me in low regards! Back in the Northwest, I¡¯m the biggest and can do whatever I like, what a carefree life I had! Instead, the moment I returned to the capital and I already ate a bad one at your hands. Looking at Du Wei¡¯s face, Prince Son could guess what¡¯s on his mind. Stopping, he spoke in a whispering voice: ¡°Hmm¡­ Alright, I know what you wish to say so you don¡¯t have to keep it in. You must be displeased with me since I didn¡¯t inform you beforehand of today¡¯s event and forcibly dragged you into it.¡± Even if Du Wei was dissatisfied inside, how can he say it aloud? Glimpsing to his side using the corner of his eye, he slowly said: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare. You are the regent and I¡¯m your servant, your courtier. It¡¯s only natural that I must help carry your burden.¡± Prince Sonughed at that. Then looking at Du Wei: ¡°Very well, that sixteen million gold coins, I won¡¯t have it out of your pocket. Now you should be relieved, so don¡¯t make that bitter face. Since this wasmanded by me, I will fund it instead.¡± Oh? Workce expense? Du Wei¡¯splexion became a little better but remains wary. Inwardly he understands full well that this wasn¡¯t a good symptom because this highness wouldn¡¯t offer up a benefit without cause! Sure enough, not even a few steps out, Prince Son had shifted the topic to the situation in the Northwest. ¡°I heard during yourst encounter with the prairie natives you made a great victory at Anglia City. Not only did you defeat that Gold Wolf Head General and his twenty thousand strong legion, you also took down a white robed shaman. Even with the odds against you in numbers, you still managed toe out on top. Du Wei, I find that all members of your Rowling n are natural born military leaders, this really surprises me¡­ Although I read the reports, but those are only on paper and not enough details, why don¡¯t you tell me more about the battle at Anglia City?¡± Referring to the ¡°Rowling family¡±, Du Wei unavoidably became a little ufortable; after all, his surname was nominally changed to Tulip. Luckily he knew Prince Son wasn¡¯t taking this fact to satirize him. Pondering a bit, Du Wei then recounted the entire event from top to bottom: First was the Northwest Army¡¯s collusion with the prairie natives, then how soldiers came and encircled the Desa Province¡¯s capital and using this time to allow the natives to infiltrate the empire. Afterwards he went on to exin how he wittingly forced the Northwest Army to retreat hundreds of miles out to allow him to divide his forces into several groups and charged out of the city. Then along the way, Du Wei gave the details pertaining to the encounter with the enemy¡¯s scouting party and the battle which ensued under the walls of Anglia City¡­. Du Wei¡¯s tongue was good to begin so his story was very clear and easy to follow. The entire time, Prince Son listened attentively and never once interrupted. After that, Du Wei added: ¡°Your Highness, this victory, there¡¯s actually a lot of luck in there. If not for the idental encounter on the road with that scouting party, we wouldn¡¯t have ever gotten news in time to rescue those at the city. And¡­ the governor of Nuling Province, Bohan, also sent reinforcement in the nick of time. Those loyal soldiers, most of them died fighting for the empire¡­¡± ¡°These I know.¡± Prince Son waved his hand, interrupting Du Wei to suddenlye up with his own question: ¡°But this still doesn¡¯t solve the puzzle¡­ The prairie natives were doing just fine. Why did they suddenly infiltrate ournds and besiege Anglia City?¡± Du Wei became stunned for he knew full well why. The natives came at order of the Shaman King to find the lost pet currently in his hand, but there¡¯s no way he¡¯s going to say that. Casually finding an excuse to get by, he lied: ¡°This I don¡¯t know either, presumably something to do with the collusion of the Northwest Army and the natives. Take advantage of the siege at Lon City and then use the natives to raid across the province for loot.¡± ¡°If it was just a raid then they wouldn¡¯t have sent their main battle force and their prided war general.¡± Prince Son shakes his head, pondering for a moment: ¡°This whole thing is a bit strange. No matter what it must be investigated.¡± Not following with more words from his end, Du Wei quietly stands to the side. Following a period of silence, Prince Son suddenly smiled and looked at Du Wei: ¡°And, I heard during the battle of Anglia City, you used some kind of powerful new weapons, am I correct? Hmm, jars that can explode. I heard the explosive firepower is iparable to ordinary weapons. This was also one of the main reasons for the defeat of the enemy¡¯s legion.¡± At that, Prince Son squints his eyes and happily grins at Du Wei. Sensing his heart sinking, Du Wei cried foul! Then again, he did use the gunpowder jars in open sight that day, everyone saw it, enemies and allies. Even if he wanted to conceal the truth, he can¡¯t. Smiling wryly, Du Wei came clean: ¡°It¡¯s true¡­ that is indeed a new toy I came up with, but the damage is not as powerful as the rumor makes it out to be. It¡¯s just that the noise and fire light it causes from impact can give quite the scare.¡± ¡°I fear it¡¯s not that simple is it.¡± Prince Son grins even wider at Du Wei, his eyes sparkling with anticipation. With Du Wei¡¯s heart sinking deeper and deeper, the Regent continues the conversation: ¡°I heard if you throw one of those jars into a crowd, the ensuing explosion will be enough to kill scores of enemy in one go. It was this devastating effect which truly defeated the native legion. And there¡¯s that team of broomstick mages you employed. I¡¯m assuming the results of throwing the jars from above are surprisingly good right?¡± The more he heard, the more Du Wei furrowed his brow. Understanding where the Regent was getting at, he decisively closes his mouth and stopped talking. ¡°s¡­¡± Prince Son suddenly made a dissuading sigh and looked Du Wei in the eye: ¡°Du Wei, I know asking you for this new weapon like this are a bit excessive and overboard, but you are smart. I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t need to point out a war in the northwest is inevitable. Three to two five years top before the prairie legions invades the empire. By then, in face of the prairie natives and the Northwest Army legions, how will your Tulip house withstand that force? I have been secretly overhauling the military¡¯s armaments sincest year. This new weapon of yours, if you can equip the Imperial Army, it will have the greatest effect in the future war and greatly reduce the causalities.¡± How can Du Wei not understand this? It¡¯s not like he¡¯s refusing to give Prince Son the gunpowder to equip the imperial army; after all, he already gave Bohan some so another Prince Son won¡¯t be any different at this point¡­. It¡¯s just that there are still some pent up steam inside he can¡¯t let out! Chapter 294 part 1 Chapter 294 ¡°The Secret of the coup day¡± (Part one) Du Wei remembers clearly. Back when he went to the northwest, he was almost empty-handed and the central authority of the empire never supported him with a single soldier or coin. Everything he built so far, the current status of his territory, it was through self-reliance and self-perseverance! But now that he¡¯s nted the tree, this guy wants toe pick the fruit with a single word? Where in the world is there something so easy? Besides, the sixteen million gold he just spent still haven¡¯t been recouped yet! ¡°I know there¡¯s bound to be some unwillingness inside your mind.¡± Prince Son mildly smiles: ¡°I won¡¯t ask you without offering anything in return. After all, I know this new weapon must havee at a heavy expense to develop¡­ Let¡¯s do this, how about I give you ten million gold coins to buy your manufacturing process? The broom, I will also provide six million. Haha¡­ I¡¯m also very interested in your so called ¡°Decepticon Air Force¡±. If we can make tens of thousands of that air force thingy, whatever advantage the prairie natives have over our cavalry soldiers will be moot!¡± Coming to the end, his voice began showing excitement. Thousands? Hearing this idea, Du Wei snickered inside at that n. Does he think the flying brooms are so easy to make? Even if Master Alley personally watches over the manufacturing process, he would still need his ¡°water of aging¡± to have any chance of sess. Even now, the number of brooms he managed to make was few in numbers. And he¡¯s saying tens of thousands, dream on! Besides, the user of the flying brooms must be a person of magic! At the very least a magic apprentice! Otherwise, the broom won¡¯t fly if the controller can¡¯t infuse his own energy to power the item. There are only a couple of hundred true mages on the continent and maybe a thousand or so apprentices¡­. Where in the world are they going to find so many magic users to man the air force? Prince Son doesn¡¯t understand the ins and outs of this so he¡¯s getting ahead of himself. But ¡­ Gunpowder ten million, broom six million ¡­ This guy is thinking it too nicely for himself! Using this method to return what he owes me and still wants to take my two trump weapons card? When did the world have something so easy toe by? Thinking up to here, Du Wei sneered inside. ¡°Your Highness, this may not be workable.¡± Du Wei made a regretful face as he exhaled deeply. Prince Son furrows his brow. Looking at Du Wei, he smiles wryly: ¡°What is it? My Duke Tulip, are you displeased with my price and think it¡¯s too low? I know you are taking the short end of the stick on this, but truth be told, my financial situation isn¡¯t well-off either. After all, it hasn¡¯t been that long since I took power and many things haven¡¯t stabilized yet. Just the military spending alone is huge and I¡¯m in the middle of preparing for a future war by overhauling the armaments. The amount of change I have to spare is limited¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a question of money.¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°Your Highness, let me carefully exin it to you.¡± His face may look very sincere and truthful, but inwardly: You want to extort me so why can¡¯t I scam you back? Taking a deep inhaling breath, Du Wei takes a step back and makes a deep bow: ¡°Your Highness, I know my title and status is all given by you. Your favor towards me is known by all and I¡¯m fully aware of this. This weapon or whatever it is, I made it all for the sake of dealing with the natives and the Northwest Army. Your logic and reasoning, I understand them well. But the actual operation of what I created is not as simple as it sounds.¡± Against that honest face, Prince Son didn¡¯t get angry despite being refused: ¡°Oh, then exin. Which area or part is not workable.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the brooms first.¡± Du Wei smiled bitterly: ¡°My highness, don¡¯t be fooled by my magic students just because they can ride around in the air with those brooms. This mini unit of Decepticons was created through the pure use of piling up gold on top of each other! It¡¯s fine if it¡¯s kept on a small scale. It can be used for raiding and such, but absolutely impossible on arge scale if we do ording to what you say. First of all, the manufacturing process for this flying broom, a magic tool, is extremely difficult to begin with.¡± Reaching this part, Du Wei went all out and divulged the manufacturing methods to the Regent. Moreover, Du Wei concealed the important factor that he used the ¡°water of aging¡± to let the walnut trees grow. Even with the full technique to graft those mutated saplings, the chance of sess from each batch was miniscule or none! ording to Du Wei¡¯s estimation, the chance of survival for this mutated walnut tree was at best twenty percent. Just this factor alone would be enough to deter anyone from wanting to attempt it. Making a rough calction inside, Prince Son couldn¡¯t resist gasping at the number that came up! ¡°If you say it like this ¡­ A broom, without hundreds of thousands of gold, it¡¯s impossible to make even one.¡± Prince Son had a face full of worry and disappointment. Taking advantage of the situation, Du Wei added in another sentence: ¡°Hundreds of thousands of gold¡­ I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not enough. If we include the rate of sess into the equation, I fear the lowest cost would be in the millions per one.¡± This number was truly enough to make a person fall into despair! Even if Prince Son was the ruler of thisnd, the richest in this world, he would understand such heavy spending on a weapon was absolutely unrealistic. In a year, the average revenue ie from taxes and such for the Rnd Empire usually hovers around seventy to eighty million. After deducting the court spending, governing body spending, military spending and so on and so on, the remaining amount left wouldn¡¯t be much. Making this calction, Prince Son immediately dispelled any silly thought of touching this magic tool. Even so, he still had some doubts: ¡°But Du Wei ¡­ I¡¯m afraid you didn¡¯t tell me all the truth now did you? If it was that expensive, how did you manage to make a dozen or so then?¡± At that, he leans sideway and eyes Du Wei with an inspecting gaze. Pumping in his heart, Du Wei sighs: ¡°It¡¯s all luck. The first batch of my walnut tree seedlings was very fortunate to have a high survival rate. Even then it¡¯s pure gamble. Since the first attempt, whatever I nted always yielded unsatisfactory results, most dead by the end. God, I don¡¯t even know how much money I threw into that bottomless hole by now. Your highness, don¡¯t think of me being stingy, this process truly is difficult. If you don¡¯t believe me, I can have someone hand over the entire cultivation method for you to try. Then you¡¯ll know yourself.¡± This manufacturing process can be real, but without the ¡°water of aging¡±, whatever they try will be a failure. This much Du Wei was certain. ¡°And also, even if we do manage to produce thousands of flying broomstick¡­ I fear it still won¡¯t work! I believe I¡¯ve made it clear to you by now. A flying broom must be controlled by a user of magic, at the very least a apprentice! Where in the world are we going to find that many magic users on the continent?¡± Prince Son nodded, believing in his words: ¡°Then what do you suggest we do?¡± Falling heads over tails inside, Du Wei understands he absolutely cannotugh at this moment or show any hint of smugness on his face, otherwise his fox tail will be caught! Deliberately making a worrisome face as he brood over the question, he slowly replied: ¡°I have an idea, but it¡¯s still immature. Hmm, maybe we can try it because there¡¯s a possibility it might work.¡± ¡°Say it!¡± Prince Son pricked a brow. Du Wei stood upright, speaking as he gestured with his hand, ¡°Your Highness, this flying broom¡­ I¡¯ll be blunt. Its main advantage over the enemy lies in the fact that it can stay aerial duringbat, but that advantage doesn¡¯t necessarily mean it has to be a broom¡­¡± Prince Son¡¯s eyes lit up with delight. He¡¯s a smart man so he immediately caught onto whatever Du Wei was leading to, ¡°Your meaning is¡­¡± ¡°Air balloons.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Your Highness, my family business has something called a hot air balloon. I believe you haven¡¯t forgotten about that now have you? There¡¯s been some improvements on my invention in recent years, it¡¯s bigger and can carry more weight. This contraption may not be as fast as the flying brooms in the air, but there¡¯s one upside to all this: the use of the hot air balloons doesn¡¯t require a user of magic. The controller can be anyone with some experience and knowledge. Most importantly, the cost per balloon is much, much cheaper than a flying broomstick.¡± Contemting the idea, the more he thought, the more feasible Prince Son thought it might work. Nodding: ¡°What you said is correct, especially the point about air superiority! Humph! If we can have our soldiers fly around in the air at all times, then we won¡¯t have to worry about the cavalry legion of the prairie army!¡± Pausing, he suddenly smiled again: ¡°Du Wei, this hot air balloon thing, what¡¯s your suggestion?¡± Du Wei knows this wasn¡¯t a time to be polite; otherwise he will suffer another loss again. Biting the bullet, he went for it: ¡°Your highness, this hot air balloon may have be popr in recent years, but I¡¯ve never divulged the manufacturing process to the public. Although there¡¯s been imitations here and there, but those can never match up to those made by my Tulip House! Your highness, if you wish to form an air force, I would like to be the first to support it. However, my pocket may have some funds to spare, but I don¡¯t believe it¡¯s possible to support the entire aerial force through my house alone.¡± Prince Son bellowed out augh: ¡°I won¡¯t let you eat a loss on this. I¡¯ll leave this matter to the military procurement department and have them purchase only from you in the future¡­. Hmm, that won¡¯t do! It¡¯s better to organize a big workshop to produce it on a mass scale. Du Wei, I want you to sell me the manufacturing process for the hot air balloon. Otherwise, I fear you won¡¯t be able to handle the orders with what you have.¡± Du Wei was also very happy: ¡°Your Highness, there¡¯s no need to sell you the hot air balloon blueprint, I¡¯ll directly give it to you instead.¡± Making a delighted expression, Prince Son was just about to say the word ¡°reward¡± when he abruptly swallowed it back in. He knows Du Wei too well. This guy would never take a loss without reason. Suddenly being so generous, there must be some kind of scheme behind this act. Changing the word from ¡°reward¡± to some praising phrase, ¡°Haha! You probably have some other conditions don¡¯t you.¡± ¡°Not exactly a condition, but a difficulty.¡± Du Wei was full of wryness as he smiled: ¡°Your Highness, with just the crafting technique for this hot air balloon is not enough to make it fly¡­ One of the key features to this contraption is the fuel! Only through the burning of a specially formted concoction can the balloon rise into the air. Otherwise¡­ this thing would be nothing more than a piece of garbage.¡± ¡°That fuel ¡­¡± Du Wei immediately cut in and continued: ¡°This fuel form absolutely cannot be sold!¡± Prince Son furrowed his brow: ¡°Du Wei, this matter is of great importance, rted to the imperial armament and the affairs of the state. If you feel displeased, I¡¯ll make it up to you¡­¡± Du Wei still shakes his head. Using a righteously tone, he said: ¡°Your Highness, let me tell you a story okay?¡± ¡°Story?¡± He furrows his forehead. Chapter 294 part 2 Chapter 294 ¡°The Secret of the coup day¡± (Part two) Not waiting for him to say anything more, Du Wei went ahead: ¡°Once upon a time there was a man and he had a lot of chickens in his home. Then one day, one of the hensid some eggs. The man was very happy of course and took the eggs away in exchange for money. Once or twice was fine, but after a long period of continuous harvest, the chicken stoppedying eggs altogether. It¡¯s not due to any special reason, it¡¯s because the hen saw that her eggs were being taken away so casually despite her efforts, leaving it with nothing in the end. This alone wouldn¡¯t be anything major. One hen¡¯s egg would only mean an egg or two per day less for the master, but there were other hens in the home. Those other chickens were also nning toy their own eggs, but seeing what awaited them, none did so out of fear. Why? They didn¡¯t want to lose their eggs after spending so much effort toy them. From then on, whenever an egg woulde in the future, those hens would secretly stash it away, never willing to pass it onto their master. Your highness, help me do the math for the chicken master. In order to reap the small benefit from the first chicken, he lost out on the eggs from all the other chickens. What would be his loss? Just think about it. If that master had held some discretion and didn¡¯t take every single egg, or just half will do, then he wouldn¡¯t have fallen into that dreaded situation! In order to earn a quick buck, he incurred more damage than he could ever recoup!¡± Prince Son was a clever person so he immediately got the hint. Smiling: ¡°Du Wei you are good. After beating around the bush, you are indrectly scolding me saying I¡¯m being too ruthless and peeling too hard now aren¡¯t you?¡± Du Wei shakes his head: ¡°Scold you? Of course not, I wouldn¡¯t dare! But your Highness, to tell you the truth, if you must have it then I will still give it to you. But these things are after all inventions I created through much effort. To give it away so casually, my heart is bound to feel unconvinced¡­. These are my true words. Even in front of you, I¡¯m still going to say this. You have treated me very well thus far so a gift here and there is not an issue. However, what aboutter in the future? I¡¯m the hen in your hand. I¡¯m not going to produce only this one egg now am I? What are you going to do when I produce more eggs? Are you just going to ask me to hand it over again? To tell you the truth, even if we have a good rtionship, do you expect me to ept such a thing after being continuously robbed of my asset?¡± Furrowing his brow, Prince Son ponders for a moment before nodding: ¡°You are correct. Even if it was me, I most certainly wouldn¡¯t be happy about it.¡± ¡°And!¡± Du Wei slowly spoke: ¡°There are so many magicians on the maind, we have nocking of talented people! When the magic academy was established, we also started the spirit of sharing philosophy. At first you had your doubts, but its proventer that many mages out there have their own exquisite researches, they just didn¡¯t take it out to share. So, other than myself, there are many other intelligent people out there who cane up with fresher and newer things with time. Perhaps some of those ideas will be greatly beneficial to the country! But if everyone knows that I, Du Wei, was immediately robbed of my invention by the royal family upon reveal¡­ with that example at the forefront, do you think other hens out there would be willing toy their own eggs? Even if they didy an egg, they would stash it away and never see the light of day!¡± This logic was nothing more than a revised version of the ¡°Golden Goose¡± story. If this exnation was said to an overbearing monarch or Prince Son¡¯s father, this logic would fall on deafs ear. But Du Wei understands Prince Son was an intelligent person, so this reasoning should impress him and not rouse his anger. Of course, it¡¯s not difficult for Du Wei to y a little trick to slide by on this asion regarding the balloon fuel, but what about the future? When this Regent finds out about the gunpowder and other technical things he didn¡¯t show yet, how was Du Wei going to deceive him yet again? Small little tricks can only be used once or twice, any more than that and the effects won¡¯t show. In that case, why don¡¯t I end it all for once by using some heavy logical persuasion? Moreover, Du Wei does have some confidence in this Prince Son. He¡¯s not a fatuous monarch and should be quite open minded. Although Prince Son was a little unhappy inside, but after careful consideration, he knew it¡¯s the smart thing to do. With a faint smile: ¡°Your reasoning is correct. Umm, in this case, you must¡¯ve an idea already don¡¯t you? Quit hiding it, how should we proceed with this business?¡± ¡°Very simple, I¡¯ll sell the finished goods like the hot air balloon to the military at a below market price and serve as the long-term supplier for the army. However¡­ I won¡¯t sell the techniques involved in the manufacturing of my goods.¡± As he said that, Du Wei pondered for a moment before continuing: ¡°I can give the military about twenty percent less than the market price, and I guarantee the reliability and quality of the balloon airships produced by the Tulip House! But in return, I demand three things: the first is not to default on my payment, and in addition, I ask for a long term exclusive right as the supplier and a contract agreement signed directly by your highness the Regent of the empire. Business is business, clear and precise. If we ever encounter any small disputes, we can rely on the basis of the word.¡± Noticing Prince Son¡¯s face turning gloomy again, Du Wei hurriedly added another sentence: ¡°We can openly preach about our deal to the public and make this a precedent. Once others know about this, there¡¯s bound to be more hens willing toe forward to let you have a taste of their eggs!¡± (I don¡¯t know why, but this part gave me the weird vibe of a womaning to let the guy taste her) Only with thest sentence did Prince Son look somewhat better. Brooding over the entire proposal, he finallyughs: ¡°Du Wei! You are so clever! Fine, I¡¯m convinced! We shall do as you say. It¡¯s just that since the deal involves the imperial armament, are you sure you can provide that much supply?¡± Du Wei replies: ¡°This is not something you need to worry about. I¡¯m also prepared to expand the size of my workshop. Now that the army wishes to procure from me in bulk, I intend to establish a new factory in ordance to an idea I got in the northwest.¡± ¡°Factory?¡± ¡°Yes, ¡®factory¡¯.¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°Not a workshop, a factory. This factory will specialize in the manufacturing of hot air balloons and rted products to the military armament. Umm¡­ I¡¯ve got the name all figured out. This new industry, I¡¯ll call it: Boeing Airlines.¡± Then Du Wei immediately developed a n: the manufacturing process of the hot air balloons wouldn¡¯t be difficult. Du Wei even made a price quote on the spot. In ordance with the different sizes of the hot air balloons in his possession, he divided it into three sses and set the price ordingly. Based on the existing technology, thergest balloon can at most carry a dozen personal at best. From high to low, the biggest will cost eight thousand gold, six thousand for the middle sized, and a thousand for the smallest balloon. But the key here wasn¡¯t the balloons, it¡¯s the fuel. Priced at fifty gold coins per barrel, he epts the military¡¯s procurement n. Carefully making a rough calction, Prince Son¡¯s eagerness to form his own air force was too obvious. Right away, he issued out six million on the budget line for the order. With the hot air balloon thing out of the way, Prince Son continues tough as he watches Du Wei: ¡°You¡¯ve had this idea in mind from the very start didn¡¯t you? Hmm¡­ then I¡¯m assuming that exploding jar thingy will be the same. You are only going to sell me the product and not the technology behind it right?¡± Du Wei smiled and said, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m also in the middle of improving its lethality and I¡¯ve already sold some to Governor Bohan of the Nuling province. Your Highness, if you have the military make the purchases from me, I¡¯ll be happy to lower the price by another ten percentpared to Governor Bohan¡¯s price.¡± With the two business deal down, Du Wei became overjoyed. He may not be making much on the hot air balloon ¡­ But the fuel was a consumable! As long as your hot air balloon takes to the air even once, you will consume the fuel! This type of consumable business was the most lucrative! And there¡¯s the gunpowder too! Like this, he has practically monopolized the imperial army¡¯s weapons order. With these results, how can he not strike it rich? In the remainder of the time, both men avoided to mention the Pope¡¯s decree again. If the Regent¡¯s not going to mention it, Du Wei¡¯s not going to do something so silly either. The main reason Prince Son had Du Wei buy the thing down was because he didn¡¯t want it leaked into the public and have an outsider receive the baptism of the Pope! Du Wei¡¯s got it nned out already. The Pope was selling the decree in the name of aiding the relief fund, then he can just spread the news that he bought it for the sake of the refugees! To the outside, he will say: Although Duke Tulip is not a faithful follower, but as gratitude to the Pope¡¯s kindness, he purchased it as a form of contributing to the southern disaster relief fund. However, since he¡¯s not a believer, the part about the baptism by the Pope can be voided. As for the decree, he can use it as a souvenir or momentum in his collection. Hmm, yes, let¡¯s do exactly that. With the business end done and over with, Du Wei can sigh a breath of relief. In their following conversations, Du Wei brought up some gossip news of the Northwest¡¯s uniqueness and of how he yed the ambassador from the prairie grasnd. Before they knew it, the two had conversed till sun fall. Just as Du Wei was ready to take his leave, Prince Son suddenly exhaled a long sigh. From his handsome face, a hint of gloom flickered in his eyes. Seeing this, Du Wei¡¯s heart moved¡­ To tell the truth, this time upon his return Du Wei kept getting the weird feeling that Son has changed a lot, especially his speech and tone. Compared to back then, there seems to be a lot of worry mixed into his words. When Du Wei first became acquainted with Prince Son, this young man was merry, intelligent, calm, and extremely calctive. A first rate character in Du Wei¡¯s opinion! But now two years have passed. Meeting once again, Du Wei found the rxed and easy going person from back then has changed. How should he put it, mature? Or the scent of aging? Just imagine. The Prince Son from back then can riddle the enemy to his end by keeping up with his merry and carefree attitude! But looking at him now, that smile, those eyes, there¡¯s always a shadow of fatigue in there. Seeing Du Wei was about to leave, Prince Son suddenly sighed and whispered: ¡°Du Wei ¡­ It¡¯s been so long since someone can apany me and talk about all this with me¡­ Hmm, since you returned this time, you might as well stay longer and not rush back to the Northwest. There¡¯s not going to be anything major happening anyways, so wait till spring before you go back.¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Oh?¡± Du Wei became stunned. Prince Son made a faint smile, but that smile was particrly strange: ¡°There¡¯s going to be a show if you stay. Hmm¡­ Very few people knows about this matter. In another month when springes around, I¡¯m going to make a lively show for everyone to see!¡± ¡°Lively show?¡± A flicker of sharpness came from Prince Son¡¯s eye. As if smiling in a very rxed manner: ¡°Du Wei, I know you have a question that¡¯s been bugging at you all this time but never asked me¡­ Aren¡¯t you curious as to why on that celebratory day the Temple would suddenly mobilize their Holy Knights to aid me? After all, my brother¡¯s daughter is the Temple¡¯s holy maiden. Based on their rtionship alone, the Temple should¡¯ve sided with my older brother, yet they took my side. Why?¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart began pumping, his face utterly calm as he quietly eyed the Regent. Now this was the Son that he knew, the Prince Son who had secret cards up his sleeve one after another and sent the crown prince to his death. He smiled darkly: ¡°Because ¡­ I promised the Pope one thing! For centuries, the Temple has tried and tried again, but they never could aplish this thing!¡± ¡°¡­¡­ What?¡± In the end, Du Wei eventually couldn¡¯t resist eximing. Without emotion, Prince Son¡¯s eye became utterly determined! ¡°I promised the pope that I would openly ept his baptism, and then formally recognize him as my godfather! Using a godchild¡¯s identity, I will give him a gift and the ceremony will be held a month from now in the spring.¡± Upon hearing this, though Du Wei doesn¡¯t hold much loyalty to the guy, he still can¡¯t help but voice his opinion: ¡°Your highness, this cannot happen!¡± Du Wei looks aghast, shocked by the absurdity of the promise: has this guy gone mad to make this type of promise? Imperial authority and religious authority has been fighting for nearly a thousand years! And never once has the Temple ever yielded. In fact, they¡¯ve been doing nothing but try to dominate the royal family! And now Son was saying he will bow down to the Temple? Even to this day, the rivalry between both sides has never truly ced a winner. But¡­¡­ Who¡¯s Prince Son? He¡¯s now the Regent! Although Augustine the 6th was nominally still the emperor, but everybody knows that the true ruler of thisnd now lies on this prince. In the future, Son has to take the throne and be the emperor! Having such an identity, how can he recognize the Pope as his godfather? Don¡¯t joke around! The Emperor of the Imperial Empire is taking the Pope as his godfather? Never once since the founding of the empire has something so oundish happen!!! Du Wei¡¯splexion went into turmoil and took on multiple shades of white. Prince Son wasn¡¯t a fool so how can he not understand the meaning behind his move, but why? He quietly looks at Du Wei: ¡°Do you want to say, I am the future emperor and this is tantamount to the royal family bowing down to the temple?¡± This is theoretically saying the Temple¡¯s influence is above the authority of the imperial power, right? The damage will be far reaching, right?¡± Du Wei¡¯s face turned series and dignified: ¡°Yes ¡­ That¡¯s exactly what I want to say. However I like to hear your side first because I know your highness isn¡¯t someone so shortsighted! You¡¯re not the type of person topromise very foundation of the royal family just so you cane out on top of the coup.¡± As if smiling, he looks at Du Wei with some warmth: ¡° ¡°Du Wei, only you know me this well. If I was to let Biliaibuer and the others know, they would no doubt cause an uproar. I¡¯ve made the preparations and have stabilized the situation with enough power in my hands. If there¡¯s anyone making trouble when I make the announcement, I¡¯m confident I can squash any riot. Du Wei¡­ I¡¯m d I didn¡¯t make a mistake, I was right about you. You are very smart.¡± Chapter 295 Chapter 295 ¡°Royalty¡± At the moment Prince Son¡¯s voice sounded very soft and delicate, exactly like the romantic prince from back then that has yet to grasp full authoritative power. ¡°Du Wei, I know it too. I may be high and mighty right now, but it¡¯s inevitable that someone will talk behind my back, saying I¡¯m a traitor who killed my own brother and is bullying father. Big brother may have started a rebellion, but he did die in the end. And as promised, I did not deprive him of his royal identity after his death and gave him a royal burial ording to hisst wishes. It¡¯s just that, regardless of my grace, people are bound to feel sympathetic towards the dead. Besides¡­ Although I may seem to be basking in glory as the Regent, but my status right now is still a little awkward¡­. And my father, humph! My father hasn¡¯t been all that restless either in the pce these past two years. I know public opinion of me isn¡¯t unanimously good out there, and there¡¯s bound to be those that wishes to cause trouble using this, but what else can be done? That day it was either I die or my brother, and who¡¯s the one that pushed us into that situation? Its father I tell you! I may not have personally killed my brother that day, but I know there¡¯s blood on my hands and it¡¯s all because father never did anything to mitigate it, in fact, he pushed it even harder for his own wishes!¡± Thest remark made Du Wei¡¯s face take on a different shade¡­ What? Is there some kind of secret in the royal family again? ording to the current normal logic, the coup from two years ago in the capital has alreadye to a verdict. The mainstream view was: Although Augustine the 6th have already crowned his eldest son as the crown prince early on in his years+, but then as he aged, he suddenly wishes to change it to his youngest son. This eventually threatened the crown prince¡¯s position, forcing the eldest son into a coup. Can¡­ Can it be that wasn¡¯t the case? ¡°Indeed, that wasn¡¯t the case!¡± Prince Son beganughing hard at Du Wei¡¯s surprised expression: ¡°Du Wei, I can probably guess what you are thinking. How can I not know about the sayings out there? Unfortunately, whether it¡¯s me, or my big brother, we¡¯re both nothing but victims of my father!¡± Speaking up to here, Prince Son suddenly swings around and calls out to the pce guards over in the distance: ¡°All of you go down. I and the Duke have some private matters to talk about in the garden! Whoever eavesdrops will be killed on site!¡± Making a salute, those golden armored knights obediently left the premise. Then making an exhaustive face, Prince Son directly plops to the ground and sat there on the spot. Because the season was still technically winter, the greenery in the pce had all withered away, leaving nothing but cold hard dirt. Watching the ruler of the empire sitting there on the withered greens, Du Wei blinked out of hesitation before sitting down next to the Regent. ¡°Du Wei, want to hear a story?¡± The remark causes Du Wei to make an extremely awkward smile. Damn it ¡­ What the heck? These days I seem to be constantly listening to others telling me stories. First was Maximos, then QQ¡¯s different version of himself, and now this? But whether Du Wei¡¯s willing or not, this story must be heard: how is one supposed to refuse the Regent of an empire when he demands to tell you a story? Besides, Du Wei¡¯s curious too¡­ Making a small sigh, Prince Son stretches out his hand and plucks a thorny vine from the bushes. Then using those slender fingers, he removes all the thorns before slowly starting his story: ¡°I was ten back then¡­. From a very young age, I have always thought that I am the happiest person in this world. The glory and honor of being born in the royal family, the noble blood and status of a prince¡­ Those around me would always boast to me about my intellect, saying I¡¯m a genius prince with wisdom and looks. Truth be told, I¡¯ve always known those words were merely hypocriticalpliments. And I, was merely a child that became sensible at an age earlier than the rest. Everyone thought father favors me very much¡­. Hmm, I guess you can say he favors me. I am after all his youngest son, a son he got at fifty years of age, so it¡¯s only to be expected I¡¯m a little more precious than usual. ording to the stories, my father had always wanted another son, but the royal concubines could only give him princesses, he even killed one of his concubines out of rage after the baby turns out to be a girl¡­. Ha! Finally, when my mother gave birth to me, she was relieved. But¡­¡­ When I was little, I didn¡¯t know why, but I¡¯ve always had a strange feeling, this feeling¡­. It¡¯s from my dearest father! Yes, my royal father! I became sensible early on so my wisdom showed itself earlier than the rest. It was also because of this reason that I was lectured so young. Whether it was the court schrs, star readers, or court magicians, they would alwayspliment me about my ingenuity and how gifted I am. But, maybe it was my imagination? Because every time those people praise me in front of my royal father, those eyes he made, it¡¯s strange¡­ It¡¯s not like that of a loving father¡¯s looking down at his favorite son. That look, it¡¯s more like ¡­ more like a gradually aging lion looking down at a cub that¡¯s about to grow old enough to flex its w! He saw me as a threat, a potential threat of the future. That kind of look, I felt danger, an instinctive unease like someone¡¯s life was being threatened! Although ¡­ Father hid those eyes deep, deep inside himself, but I have already vaguely understood one point by then: Truth was, father doesn¡¯t favor or dote on me as much as everyone makes it out to be. Perhaps, his fondness of me was merely an act he intentionally did for appearance sake. When I was little, I didn¡¯t understand why. But at ten, I finally understood! That year was father¡¯s sixtieth birthday. Though he¡¯s the supreme ruler of the Empire, the emperor of the continent, the most powerful man on the continent, but he¡¯s sixty by then. A person will inevitably grow old, the world is like that. Yet people never change. When they age, they tend to hold onto things even harder and refuse to let go! That year I was only ten when my mother came to my bedroom at evening after father¡¯s birthday dinner. She was so full of joy when she told me the news: father have indicated he wishes to change the crown to me! The only thing was, father only leaked a little bit of his intentions when the nobles present that night fiercely opposed the idea. The matter was then strictly forbidden to be aired around the capital so very few knew about the incident. Circting outside right now is that father intended to transfer the crown to me at age seventy and me twenty, but in truth, he had long wanted to do that even back when I was but ten. Alright, let me continue what happened that night when I was ten¡­ Mother, she¡¯s not a wise woman. She just instinctively thought that if I could be the crown and be the future emperor, it would be a great thing. So she was very happy, after all, if father had this meaning, then perhaps this wille to fruition in the future. Also, mother isn¡¯t a scheming woman. Because of how happy she was, she couldn¡¯t resist the urge and immediately sought me out to tell me the news that night. But that night, that¡¯s when I truly felt the danger! It¡¯s the kind of chill that runs thoroughly inside the body!! Everyone was correct in calling me smart becausepared to my peers, I was sensible earlier than the rest. At that time, I have already understood one logic: this world will never give you something without reason! Yes, I was very young and wise, and my teachers praised me for it. Even a lot of the aristocratic ministers in the banquet would praise me for my youthful wisdom¡­. However, no matter how smart or talented a ten year old child was, would a father change his mind and rece a crown prince? You know, at that time my big brother was already over thirty that year. His means of doing things were good and he also participated in the early years of the war in the Northwest. Although his performance can¡¯t be called stunning, he does deservee credit. And in those years, he had already begun to gradually gather a group of loyal followers under his team befitting a crown prince. Considering all things, my big brother did well for his age. He handle the state affairs well, he dealt with matters thoroughly, and¡­. A ten year old boy, even if I was more gifted back then, my performance only circles around my studies. How can a never before tested young boy overwhelm a thirty year old man who have honed himself within the ruling ranks? Others may believe it¡¯s possible, but I personally don¡¯t! Would father let go of a thirty year old son that have proven himself over the years and pick a ten year old child that¡¯s still wet behind his ears? I say not! No normal person would think that! Funny part was, my mother still thought that the news of father¡¯s intent was a good thing! But I knew it then¡­ danger wasing! From that day forward, everything changed. My attendants and maids, as well as the court tutors, their attitude towards me became much more respectful. In their eyes, I wasn¡¯t just the same old ¡®Prince Son¡¯; I was the Prince Son who might possibly be the next emperor! More importantly ¡­ Even my dear brother the crown prince, his attitude towards me also took a drastic change! When I was young, my eldest brother once hugged me. I even remember clearly that when I was little, he taught me how to ride a horse. He held me atop of the white steed, and then said to me, ¡®Our Augustine family is the master of thisnd. As a man of the Augustine family, we must have the spirit of a warrior because our family gained all that we have through military means!¡¯ At that time, he was like a real brother. After all, father may have a lot of children, but he only had two sons. For that, big brother was in fact very close to me. But it was because of my father¡¯s intentional leak of attitude on that birthday party that my big brother changed towards me. Never again did he teach me how to ride a horse, never again did he apany me in learning martial art, and never again did hee see me¡­. I still remember my brother¡¯s promise back then. He said he will bring me out of the pce a month from then and have a drink with me. But that promise never came to be¡­ Not even until he perished on that day outside the pce! And the one responsible for all this change was father! It was because he revealed his intent to change the crown, forcing big brother to take me as his enemy! But are things really that simple? Father, does he really want to make me the crown prince? I say not! Since that very day, I¡¯ve been doubting that saying! I say, no normal person would give up a mature thirty year old for a merely unadulterated child. This logic should¡¯ve been obvious to anyone with a bit of brain. Therefore, I was certain father had ulterior motives behind his move. Of course, the ten year old me back then wouldn¡¯t be able to figure out something thatplicated. But I also understood I can¡¯t just waltz up to my father and ask something so dangerous¡­ More importantly, I had an instinctive fear of father at the time. Although I didn¡¯t understand at the time why, but it¡¯s there, I guess it¡¯s my natural instinct telling me so. Since I couldn¡¯t think of the answer myself, I can only go ask someone else. I remember three monthter after that incident, a chance finally came. My court tutor was telling me of some interested news around the capital at the time. There was a schr named ¡®Blue Ocean¡¯. The schr was smart and knowledgable. It was said there¡¯s nothing in this world that he doesn¡¯t know. Geography, astronomy, medicine, biology¡­ He seems to know everything. And at a gathering of various schrs around the capital, he used his great wisdom to utterly make his peers speechless by oveing all debates. After my court tutor told me this story, I became very curious and wanted dearly to meet this legendary schr. Finally, that day my teacher revealed to me there will be another debate gathering because the various schrs around the capital lost so hard to Mr. Blue Ocean that some remains unconvinced and called for other famous individuals across the various provinces. I admired that Blue Ocean and begged my court tutor to bring me along. Fortunately my teacher was also very interested, so in the end he took me with him¡­ Back then I was still young so leaving the pce was very inconvenient. By the time my teacher managed to bring me over to the debate gathering, Mr. Blue Ocean had already utterly made his opponents speechless. I saw how the crowds were cheering from the outside. Civilians inmon clothes, schrs and wealthy individuals, they all looked at Mr. Blue Ocean with admiration. Then as Iy sight on this outstanding schr, I knew then he was no ordinary man. This world is like that. Many pretentious people would desperately dress themselves in gorgeous clothes to hide their shallowness, but Mr. Blue Ocean wasn¡¯t like that. He had no need for fancy clothes to make his wisdom shine. Later ¡­ After the gathering, I ignored my court teacher¡¯s objection and secretly followed Mr. Blue Ocean home with several of my people. Then ordering the rest to wait outside, I alone went up to the door and knocked on Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s door. I did not conceal my identity, nor was he surprised by my identity. I can feel that his calmness wasn¡¯t fake, but his true emotion. Blue Ocean is that kind of person¡­ When standing in front of him, you will feel like you are facing a vast ocean with unfathomable knowledge and wisdom. As for yourself, your instincts will tell you how small and insignificant you are in the presence of that man. At that time, the young me made a request to him, I wanted to ask a question but needed him to keep it a secret. Mr. Blue Ocean thought for a while, then said to me ¡®If it was five yearster, I would¡¯ve have refused your request. But since its now, I will promise you.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t untilter did I understand the meanings of those words: If it was five yearster, I would¡¯ve had be an adult, an adult that would be at the stage where I can be cruel for power. I might¡¯ve have killed him right after he gave me the answer. But luckily, I was still ten back then, an age still innocent enough to not do something so cruel. That day, I raised the question that¡¯s been hidden within my heart: Father him, why would he suddenly want to make me the crown prince? Does father really think a ten year old child is more suited than a thirty year old adult? Schr Blue Ocean pondered the question for a while after listening. Then he finally gave me the answer. And that answer, after hearing it, that¡¯s when I knew what a bone chilling cold was inside your bones! For the first time in my life, I found that being born in the royal family wasn¡¯t necessarily a blessing! Blue Ocean¡¯s answer wasn¡¯t difficult to understand, only a sentence: if you must find something to me then you can only me on your father¡¯s body being too good and your brother growing up too fast. I didn¡¯t quite understand his meaning when he said that to me, nor did he borate. And by then I was running out of time and needed to return to the pce immediately. That entire night, I brooded over the answer inside my room. I thought about father¡¯s love towards me, the eyes he made at me while in public, and the frustration my brother asionally revealed¡­. Finally at daybreak, I figured it out! Blue Ocean is absolutely correct! The biggest reason for all this is that father¡¯s body is too good and big brother is growing too fast!! Father, Augustine the 6th, is an emperor who has a near radical possessive desire for power. What father and son affection? In his eyes there are only the throne! The throne is his all, his heart! To him, there¡¯s only the power thates with the supreme throne to the continent, that¡¯s all there is in his eyes! So, despite being sixty years old, he still seems energetic without any means to let go. He¡¯s that type of person. He even wants tounch another war against the northwest¡­ His mind only has room for those kind fanatical thoughts. He wishes to be the greatest emperor of the Augustine dynasty. To him, there are still too many magnificent ns to carry out and many more wishes not realized. In times like that, how can he be willing to let go of his authority? He still thinks he¡¯s not old, he still thinks he has many things to do. If he gets his way, he would likely want to be the emperor for another hundred years if he could, humph! But the problem is ¡­ Realistically, he¡¯s already sixty years old. Sixty is more than old. And his son, his legal heir, my big brother, is more than 30 years old by then! Thirty years old, is a man¡¯s peak, the most mature and energetic part of their life! And men of this age, no doubt, are eager to vent their energy in the cause, to achieve their own great legacy¡­ But this is where the contradictions lie! In those two years, big Brother already had a considerable team at his side. Among the royal army of the capital, there are brother¡¯s own men inside. And in the military, there¡¯s his young friend Earl Raymond. It can be said, big brother¡¯s hand has reached into every major part of the court and military, a must for a crown prince. You can even say he had his own organization going by then. A political organization like that was quite mature already¡­. Mature enough to be able to take over the session of the crown!! Big brother was waiting for father to pass him the throne; in fact he was urgently waiting for the throne. But father was still too energetic, too ambitious without any intent to let anyone have a single coveting thought against the throne. This includes his own sons!! Chapter 296 Chapter 296 ¡°The Regent¡± Du Wei¡¯splexion may be calm, but his heart was making waves inside. Blue Ocean? It¡¯s actually Blue Ocean again? By now Du Wei has be aware of Blue Ocean¡¯s origin ¨C a mysterious schr from the Snowy Mountains. He not only trained a group of great students like Philip in Du Wei¡¯s rank, this outstanding person also taught a peerless swordsman like Rodriguez! And now this Blue Ocean also had a hand in the great struggle for the throne involving the royal family? How did he suddenly get involved in all this? Intentional or unintentional? In the past when Blue Ocean introduced Philip to aid him in the Northwest, Du Wei had only taken this old schr as a concerned elder of the empire. But now, knowing his origin was that of the Snowy Mountain, the sentence of ¡°not letting the prairie natives cross over the mountain¡± took on a different meaning¡­. A storm may be brewing inside his mind, but Du Wei dared not show a spec of doubt. Instead, he can only continue to carefully listen to the Regent¡¯s story¡­. ¡°In a group of wolves, the pack leader has be old yet refuses to give up his status. And at this time, he could do nothing but watch one of the younglings grow old enough to be a strong alpha, strong enough to be a threat to his own status. So what should the father do? The answer is simple: he will turn his focus on me. I am young and I am but ten years old! I¡¯m also praised as the gifted young prince. Let¡¯s say if¡­¡­ If the crown did change to me instead of my mature older brother, then that would mean father has a reasonable im to make me wait another ten years or more before I take over. He didn¡¯t really love me that much, nor did he think I¡¯m more talented and smarter than my big brother who¡¯s thirty by then. The only reason is: Making me the crown prince will mean another decade or two before he has to recede from the throne because I¡¯m not old enough! This is the ¡®love¡¯ my father gives me, the rumored ¡®recognition¡¯ from my father!! Ha ha!!¡± Speaking up to here, Prince Son¡¯s voice became very deep as he looked to the sky: ¡°Du Wei, you won¡¯t be able to understand. That night when I finally understood Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s words¡­. I don¡¯t even know how I managed to live through it. It was the hardest part of my life. Compared to that night, the emotions I felt on the eve of that coup two years ago is nothing!¡± Watching this highness reacting like so, Du Wei suddenly found that the seat of a ruler wasn¡¯t so nice to sit in. Hesitating for a moment, Du Wei sighed and whispered, ¡°Maybe ¡­ I can rte because I have also experienced something simr to what you say.¡± As Prince Son faces Du Wei, the corner of his eyes slowly revealed a tinge of happiness: ¡°Indeed¡­ You are one of the few people who can understand what I went through. Du Wei, this is why I¡¯m so in favor of you! You, once the heir to the Rowling family was banished from home due to not being favored by your father, and then because of the great Magister¡¯s tutge, you returned to the capital¡­. Your experience in your family may be different from mine, but your situation and mood back then was quite simr. Du Wei, this is why I felt so close to you when we first met, why I value you like so!¡± Du Wei was silenced. It¡¯s not hard for him imagine what it must¡¯ve been like on that night ten years ago for a child. Sitting there in the cold, staring up at the night sky, realizing his father¡¯s love wasn¡¯t love but a y. What¡¯s worse, his own father was also pushing him into the stove to be baked¡­ Recalling back to how his own father sent assassins to kill him on the road, Du Wei can say its true, their situation and mood really was simr. They exchanged a smile again, but this time their smiles were more sincere without falsehood. Then Prince Son continues his tale. ¡°After that time I finally figured out a lot of things. That chilling night did not drop me into utter despair; in fact I even felt a little lucky inside at finding out sooner. It didn¡¯t take long for me to realize that being born of royalty wasn¡¯t as glorious as it seems. Once you are involved in the supreme interest, then everything around you will be a dangerous threat. I didn¡¯t me big brother for drifting away from me. When I thought things through, I knew it wasn¡¯t his fault. After all, we may be brothers before, but we are still candidates for thatughable throne. And the most hrious part of it all was that brother didn¡¯t even realize that father never intended to pass me the crown. To father, I¡¯m also a contender for the throne, a threat just like big brother! The only lucky part of that situation was that father took me as a child, a shield he can use! If I had been more than twenty years old, my father would¡¯ve never said he would like to change the crown to me! Pity ¡­ Father doesn¡¯t have a younger son than I; otherwise, I believe he will no doubt choose the smaller one! Elder brother regards me as the enemy, but funny thing is I never wished topete with him! The throne, in my opinion, is of little appeal. Therefore, I attempted to give my brother a message in disguise. I hoped that would¡¯ve been enough to make him feel at ease. The Augustine Dynasty was founded through military means, hence the reason why every children of the royal family must learn horsemanship and martial art. But I refused that tradition. I even openly expressed my interest in magic and ran off to learn it because we all know that wizards don¡¯t covet worldly power and are creatures of the transcendent world. Moreover, other than the founding emperor Aragon, no other wizard had ever took on the title of an emperor! If you learn magic you will gradually lose interest in secr power, this is the norm. Therefore I deliberately ran off to learn magic. That was my mean of letting my big brother understand I have no wish to contend with him. Unfortunately elder brother didn¡¯t seem to understand my intent. And what¡¯s more ridiculous is that my study of magic ended up being regarded as a defiant move for a child. My court tutors all objected to the idea, but only my father favored this and supported it. That¡¯s how the ¡®doting¡¯ rumor started and was taken by the public as my father ¡®loving¡¯ me by indulging me with support. But is it really like so? The seen through it all me at the time already knew what father was thinking: he couldn¡¯t be more happy that I¡¯m learning magic. With my time bogged down by magic, my interest in the throne will waiver. This way, even if I did be the crown prince he won¡¯t have to worry about letting me seed in his post until far in the years! Unfortunately, my concession didn¡¯t let elder brother leave me alone. At the age of eleven, I experienced the first assassination attempt at my life! I almost died that time! A maid who took care of me from the age of five personally brought over a bowl of poison and nearly killed me. Luckily for me, at the time I¡¯ve already begun my studies in magic and had some dabbling in potions and such¡­.. Humph! Don¡¯t think it¡¯s that easy to poison a magic pharmacist! (Just letting you guys know. I messed up before. It¡¯s not magic herbalist, its magic pharmacist. My brother inw came in one day and pointed out my mistake) I knew it can¡¯t be father trying to kill me because he still needed me to be his shield! So, the one who wants me dead can only be one person, my big brother! That event finally shattered any disillusion I had inside my mind! I read the history books so I know how the saying goes: in the face of the throne, family bonds are meaningless! I became enlightened after that event. Blindly conceding won¡¯t guarantee my safety! Today he can bribe my maid to poison me. Then tomorrow he can bribe my guards to stick a knife in me while I¡¯m asleep! I don¡¯t want to die, I want to live. To do that, I have no choice but to walk on the path of being brother¡¯s enemy! The beginning of the road was the hardest. I was but a child without a trusted team, a hollow prince without power. With no chips in hand, you can say I had next to nothing to secure myself. At the beginning I can only desperately run off to please the Court Wizards. I eventually took the chief court wizard as my teacher, and for a period, I made myself out to be a child obsessed with studying magic. Every day, eat or sleep, I would always stay by my teacher¡¯s side¡­ Teacher was delighted over my diligence. He even thought I was very gifted in the magical arts and regarded me as his proud disciple. But in truth, I was only using that as an excuse to stay by his side for my own safety. It was because I had no other option. Court wizards are only loyal to the emperor and will never side with a faction. Also, my teacher¡¯s magic was very high, high enough to protect me if needed, that¡¯s the most important factor. That period of my life was very difficult and very miserable, but at the same time it also resolved my heart. Although I don¡¯t hold much desire for the throne, but in order to live, I must have the strength to do so! Fortunately, after some days, I managed to cleverly pass on the news to my father¡¯s ear about the maid attempting to poison me. That incident finally reminded father of my importance. Putting on a furious act, he executed several pce attendants at the beginning. Then he began to confront the question: In order to make sure this shield to the throne doesn¡¯t die so easily, he had to give me some sort of chip for self-preservation. That¡¯s the biggest chip I have and my biggest reliance, my father. He won¡¯t let me die! It¡¯s not because I¡¯m his son or because he loves me, it¡¯s because I¡¯m still needed for his n. From then on my father finally handed me a little bit of power. He gave me a team of royal guards and nted several court wizards by my side to act as my personal magic consultant. With free ess out of the pce, I was then slowly able to gather up my followers and build up my own chips. Little by little, I created my own power faction and then strived to bring in the big sharks like Tanshan and Biliabuer¡­ Starting from then on, the curtains to the ten year long war between brother and I finally began!¡± Sighing, he coughed to give a pause: ¡°I don¡¯t want to be the emperor, I never did. But for self-preservation and to live, I had to confront my brother¡­. Because I knew, I knew that if I slip up in the slightest, big brother will not hesitate to kill me! And with the start of something there¡¯s going to be more toe! Later, even if I don¡¯t want to hurt brother, it¡¯s unavoidable because I won¡¯t have a choice. It¡¯s because I know my brother too well. He was born a little extreme in his personality, and under the long years of oppression by father, his character gradually became warped to something that¡¯s ruthless and cold. Originally I thought that if I had enough power to protect myself then that¡¯s enough, butter I realized, I realized it¡¯s useless. Brother has taken me as his sworn enemy! The greatest goal in him by then was to rid me from this world. Poor brother, even in death he still didn¡¯t know the truth. It¡¯s father who took me as a shield to hinder his path, not me standing in his way. His true opponent wasn¡¯t me; it was our dear father I tell you. And that¡¯s exactly where my best advantages lie. I know father would never allow me to die, that¡¯s his bottom line. When my life was threatened, father will step in to protect me! Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have the leeway to look back either at that point. Because of my understanding of brother, even if I blindly wait for him to step onto the throne and be the future emperor, he won¡¯t tolerate me in the end! So, my goal in confronting him eventually changed. I originally only wanted to protect myself, butter I understood that¡¯s not enough. In order to truly save myself, I needed to drag him down and never let him stand as the emperor. So, our battle became more and more intense, finally to the point of life and death.¡± Du Wei sighed inside. it doesn¡¯t take much for him to image the ten year old boy treading through perilous hurdles inside the castle. It¡¯s true that Prince Son¡¯s methods can often be taken as sinister and cold at times, but for a child to survive all those years, these sorst of excessive means are a must. A child losing his innocence and then being tossed into a political struggle to witness the dirtiest of mires in this world, that¡¯s what created the current Prince Son! People say he¡¯s a murderer that killed his own brother, but who would know the difficulties he experienced to havee this far? ¡°Big brother¡¯s n for a coup was known to me early on, but I did not stop it beforehand despite being capable of it. That¡¯s my biggest chance to knock him down, my only way to survive and to win the battle. I am not greedy for the throne, I¡¯m purely fighting for my basic right of living! To live and to survive, I did all sorts of things before the coup. In order to gain the support of the temple I secretly made the deal with the Pope. My niece may be the holy maiden, but my offering was the Temple¡¯s long sought after victory over imperial power. So, during the coup the temple did as agreed and poured all their resources onto me and mercilessly dealt a heavy blow to my brother!¡± Speaking up to here, Prince Son¡¯s face gradually reveals aplicated smile: ¡°The Pope must be very proud right now because anyone would think that it¡¯s only a matter of time before I truly be the emperor. If they can make the emperor recognize the pope as his godfather, then that would symbolize the royal family¡¯s status is below the divine right! But he¡¯s wrong! Everyone thinks I hold a lot of weight over the throne, but in truth, I don¡¯t!¡± Then, Prince Son winked at Du Wei: ¡°If the Pope can scheme against me then couldn¡¯t I scheme against him? Humph, he wants to make an emperor his godson? He wish! Before I made the agreement with him, I¡¯ve already made a decision. For my entire life, I will never be enthroned as the emperor! The title, let¡¯s leave it to my children and I will forever stay as the Regent!¡± Chapter 297 part 1 Chapter 297 ¡°The inflection point of history¡± (Part one) In all my life, I will never be enthroned and will only be known as the Regent! In front of Du Wei, Prince Son went ahead and dered his determination that¡¯s been hidden all this time. This explosive confession naturally would surprise Du Wei. After spilling this secret, he seems to have be tired too. Looking up at the sky, Son made an indifferent smile: ¡°Alright, let¡¯s end the story here for today. Remember my words and stay longer in the capital. When springes around, I hope you can attend my baptism ceremony. Ha, I fear when I break the news out, the capital will fall into chaos for a while.¡± Pausing a moment, he grins: ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. I originally wanted to invite you for dinner but I am a little tired, and I also know you won¡¯t be at ease when we dine together. I¡¯ll let you off then. I¡¯m sure Tanshan and Biliabuer and those guys are waiting to entertain you. If you don¡¯t have anything to do in theing days, doe find me in the pce. I¡¯ve informed the people down below so none will block your path when you wish to see me.¡± Du Wei hastened his farewell and then left the pce garden with a belly full of shock. Today¡¯s harvest really was big. In all honesty, Du Wei never expected all this. The person whom wields full authority in the empire, the one that¡¯s all but in name the emperor, would willing give up the throne! Once outside the garden, Du Wei was immediately escorted by one of the royal guards to the exit. But not even a few steps out the door, a young woman dressed in a court maids outfit had ran up to him from the side door: ¡°Grand Duke of Tulip, please wait a moment.¡± She whispers to him in a huffing voice. Pausing, Du Wei turns back to meet the maid. No more than twenty, this girl had aely yet beautiful face, and her demeanor was clearly nurtured through the inner pce. (inner pce, where the emperor¡¯s family resided or where his women lives. Pretty much a harem location for the king) Du Wei had some knowledge of the inner pce¡¯s rules and ranking system, so with only a nce, he can tell her status among the maids weren¡¯t low. But due to her shyness at bowing her head the instance he greeted her, Du Wei can figure the girl had rarelye into contact with the outside world. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Can it be the Regent still have some message for me?¡± Du Wei began sizing up the girl. Flushing, the girl¡¯s voice was soft and small like a gentle butterfly: ¡°Grand Duke of Tulip, I am the court maiden specifically assigned to taking care of Prince Charlie and Princess Karina¡­ Umm, the Regent did not send me; it¡¯s the prince and princess¡­¡± Hearing this, Du Wei became a little confused: ¡°The prince and princess?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Inhaling deeply, the court maiden shook away her shyness: ¡°The highnesses said it¡¯s an honor to meet the great Duke of Tulip and tasked me to give their greetings to you. Also¡­ I¡¯m assuming you are aware of the Regent¡¯s meaning so the prince and princess will be under your tutge from now on. Although they haven¡¯t officially be your students yet, but the two are looking forward to your teachings. Originally I was tasked to ask you to make a visit today, but the sky is getting dark so I won¡¯t¡¯ dy your time. However, in order to express their admiration towards you, both highnesses ask that your dukeship leave behind a little lesson for the two, consider it as a formal enlightenment gift.¡± Those words are indeed very proper, but Du Wei doubts it was the kids who came up with this speech. It¡¯s true that Charlie had a little bit of an adult air to him, but such high sounding words cannot be done by an eight year old child. Knowing this, Du Wei smirked and smiled at the court maiden: ¡°Hmm, what¡¯s your name?¡± Blushing red on the cheeks, she bowed her head first then gracefully made a curtsy: ¡°Your dukeship, please call me Lan. I also serve as their highnesses etiquette teacher.¡± Hmm, turns out to be a court-etiquette teacher, it¡¯s rare to find one so young. This girl named Lan may not be extremely beautiful, but her graceful demeanor makes those around her veryfortable. Du Wei ponders for a moment. Since the Regent has taken the initiative to offer his children as students to him, plus the guy revealed the hidden stories about his childhood and how he would never be the emperor, then that means the throne will surely fall to Prince Charlie. Entrusting the future emperor to himself, guess that¡¯s one form of a reward. Hmm, refusing is out of the options then. Moreover, one of his titles was also a court schr. It would be difficult to find an excuse with that hanging over his head. On the Rnd continent, especially among the aristocratic circle, there¡¯s this custom that any schr acting as a child¡¯s first teacher would hand over a gift upon their first meeting. The gift will act as an enlightenment gift for the child. For example, let¡¯s say the teacher gives a book to the child. The implication from that means the teacher wishes for the child to read more. Or if the gift was an exquisite goose feather brush, it will mean the teacher wishes for the child to make more notes. And if the teacher wasn¡¯t quite ready during the asion, it¡¯smon to find the teacher making a question for the student to solve. Or in some cases where the teacher was a follower of the Temple, it¡¯s not unheard of to find them giving their students a copy of the Temple¡¯s canon. This form of gifting was a kind of tradition among the aristocratic circle to show their respect towards one another when bing teacher and student. For example, Du Wei himself had an enlightenment teacher when he was young, Mr. Rosia, the one he scared away with those crazy talks of spinning and power decentralization. For his enlightenment gift, Du Wei got a book called the ¡°History of the continent, Volume I¡±, meaning to learn more about history. Seeing this girl named Laning to ask for an enlightenment gift from himself, Du Wei can already guess this was orchestrated by the Regent and not by the kids. Still¡­. Pondering for a moment on what to give, Du Wei rummages through his pockets and pulls out a thick textbook from his magic storage ring. This book was the very same enlightenment gift Du Wei got when he was young from Mr. Rosia. Of course, the history of the continent cannot be recorded on just a single volume, there¡¯s many more out there aside from this first volume. Handing it over, Du Wei makes a smile: ¡°I¡¯m alsocaught off guard by the Regent¡¯s arrangement so I didn¡¯t prepare any gifts ahead of time. But this history textbook was given to me by my first teacher as his enlightenment gift. During my read through, I¡¯ve made some notes and opinion pieces inside. Some of the viewpoints may not necessarily be correct, but luckily it¡¯s still a novelty to read. Take it and give it to his young highness.¡± Solemnly receiving the item, Lan made a courteous bow before turning away. ¡°The regent has quite the expectation for his children.¡± Shaking his head, Du Wei then left the pce for good. Since he has an appointment with Biliabuer and the others today, it¡¯s only natural that he would return to the Duke¡¯s manor to change. Circled by all these powerful figures of the Regent¡¯s faction, he went off to socialize for the remainder of the day. That evening with the presence of Biliabuer and Tanshan, it¡¯s unavoidable that they would run off to that gold spending cave again. Wine and fine beauty, pleasure all around. Though he may not be enthusiastic about these things, he must still give his peers some face; otherwise others will take it as a snub when they organized everything just for him. As to what happened that night with Duke Tulip and his colleagues, there¡¯s not much to say other than to say it¡¯s a man¡¯s perfect wet dream. Chapter 297 part 2 Chapter 297 ¡°The inflection point of history¡± (Part two) After the encounter with Du Wei at the pce gate, this female court maiden called Lan returned to the inner grounds and headed for a reception hall. As soon as she entered the room, she was bombarded by a pair of kids, which was exactly the eight year old Prince Charlie and his cute little sister Karina. With eyes full of excitement, Charlie voices his demand: ¡°Lan, hurry and let me see what good stuff the Duke gave us.¡± At that, he ripped the textbook from Lan¡¯s hand. However, with only a glimpse at the title, Charlie¡¯s expression turned into a face full of disappointment and annoyance. Throwing it back: ¡°That Duke Tulip is so stingy! Why would he give me a secondhand history textbook about the continent? Humph, does he think I won¡¯t have something like this in my study room? As if I would need him to give me something so worthless¡­. Ughh, so disappointing!¡± Not waiting, Charlie promptly stomps away without looking back, leaving Lan and his sister behind in the hall. Lan may be feeling helpless inside at the prince¡¯s reaction, but she didn¡¯t have the courage to say anything in front of the princess. Instead, she thought of a n: ¡°My dear Princess Karina, this book here is the enlightenment gift your father tasked me to get from the Duke, can you help me pass it onto his highness Prince Charlie?¡± Since Lan has taken care of her since she¡¯s a baby, plus this maid¡¯s demeanor have always been soft and gentle, Princess Karina was very affectionate towards her. Hugging Lan on the leg, Karina asks with her childish voice: ¡°Sister Lan, is this book given by that Duke Tulip? Does brother not like it? If he doesn¡¯t then give it to me, I want to read about the stories of the Duke defeating the natives and the miraculous castle he built.¡± Smiling wryly, Lan didn¡¯t know what to do right now as the princess robs the book right out of her hands. Hurrying, she pleads: ¡°Princess, this¡­ This is the enlightenment gift for Prince Charlie.¡± ¡°Then that means it¡¯s also for me.¡± From her na?ve face, little Princess Karina reveals the unique naughtiness only found in a child: ¡°Brother¡¯s teacher will also be teaching me, so giving me is the same as giving him.¡± At that, she began bouncing away happily with the book in hand. Once this little princess took Du Wei¡¯s ¡°General history of the maind¡± textbook away, she promptly returned to her room to read it. As a princess and a very clever child like her father, Karina had learned to read from a very young age. Before today, she had heard of the legendary tales pertaining to the great Duke of Tulip so her curiosity has long been piqued. Happilying back to her quarters, her high hopes were quickly reced with disappointment upon skimming through the pages because the contents weren¡¯t what she expected. This ¡°general history of the maind¡± was the official issue released by the authorities. Although these sort of historical texts tends to be somewhat gloried and bias, the views does remain rtively objective and to the point. The history length of the Rnd Empire spans over a thousand years, how can a single book be enough to record all the events? So, of this series, there are over a dozen books. As to Du Wei¡¯s volume, his was the first in the series which contains a general introduction such as the continent¡¯s geography, customs, imperial system, religious power, and so on and so on. Originally these things would be a bit deep for a child of six. Likely after a short read the kid would find it a bore and toss it to the side. It¡¯s just that Karina truly was an abnormality. Like her old man Prince Son, Karina was exceptionally smart for her age. Though she could barely understand the content of the book, but among the lines are a lot of densely packed notes andments written by Du Wei himself. Thesements can¡¯t be called a great insight, merely just random thoughts and ideas he wrote down during his lessons as a child when he was bored. After a few pages of quick read through, Karina¡¯s interest became hooked. On a part where the book talks about the separation between imperial power and religious power, the following crooked lines went like this: ¡°What have the gods given mankind? Why should mankind worship the gods? While ordinary people contribute their hard earnbor to the gods, what does the gods do when the people starve and go hungry? Will one fill their belly by chanting a few sentences to the goddess?¡± As the book introduces the Temple of Light and the clergies behind it, Du Wei thenments down below: ¡°The so-called clergies, aka religious frauds, can only reap in the rewards of others without working. That¡¯s clearly a deadbeat worm! If everyone on the continent can only sit in the temple and mouth off long live the goddess! Then everyone in this world will starve!¡± The book says clergies aren¡¯t allowed to marry and have children. Du Weiments: ¡°Bullshit! If no one has sex and reproduce, then humanity will go extinct! What thriving temple, more like extinction Temple!¡± Originally there are some vulgar words in there unsuitable for a child, but since she didn¡¯t know what those meant, Karina only took it as some sort of interesting phrase. As she read more and more, Karina could no longer put the book down¡­. In truth, Du Wei did write quite a few sphemous insults in there and would technically warrant him the crime of treason and heresy. It¡¯s not like Du Wei was being reckless today in giving this book away, but thosements were written years ago. After writing it down in the heat of the moment, Du Wei himself had forgotten about it not long after. It didn¡¯t matter all that much anyways. Since the royal family didn¡¯t take kind to the Temple either, it won¡¯t do any harm if the little highnesses learn of what he thought. Problem though was little Karina here. Still at the pure and innocent stage of her life, she¡¯s very susceptible to outside influences. A in white sheet if you will. Being exposed to all these views made by Du Wei without any forethought, it¡¯s unavoidable that she will be affected! It didn¡¯t take long for evening to arrive that day. As little Karina continues to lose herself in her reading, dinner became unimportant and was quickly disposed of. Finally, as she came to thest nk page of the book, Du Wei left behind something lethal: Any religion in this world is only holding onto the title of god to fool others. Whether deities exist is their own business. Yet these religions like to make it so that once a man dons the robe of god, they are given the right to oppress other human beings! In essence that¡¯s just ¡°human¡± oppressing other humans, what does that have to do with the deities? A robber taking a knife to rob someone of their money is a criminal offense, but if the robber changes his knife to a robe and say to the victim, ¡°this is all in the name of the gods¡±, then he¡¯s notmitting a crime, he¡¯s doing a noble task! The followingst sentences weren¡¯t thought up by Du Wei; rather they are phrases from a famous online novel he saw in his previous life: I want this sky to never conceal my eyes! I want thisnd to never bury my heart! All sentient beings will know my will! All gods and demons will perish! These few sentences that had shocked who knows how many people in Du Wei¡¯s past life instantly blew Karina away! Though Karina¡¯s still limited by her age and can¡¯t fullyprehend the meaning, but the boldness and courage in those words will unavoidably make one boil with excitement. The more she looked, the more turbulently excited she became. As she focused more and more, her mind eventually fell into a trance¡­. Du Wei never would¡¯ve have expected this. The book he so carelessly handed out would inadvertently be a small interlude in the history of the Rnd Continent, a changing point! Although Karina still can¡¯t understand all these meanings right now, that doesn¡¯t mean she won¡¯t when she grows older. As she ages, Karina would always keep this book close to her side and would sometimes revisit the notes left by Du Wei. With the passage of time, these thought patterns would eventually shape her personality and even her character! Du Wei¡¯s impacting influence was so big that none could have expected this! What¡¯s more, because of this insignificant book as an enlightenment gift, Du Wei has inadvertently created an important figure in the canals of history that has yet toe!!! ¡°In my life, I do not have a god that I believe in. If I must truly believe in something, then my faith lies in man¡¯s heart! We can have the spirit of faith, but we mustn¡¯t blindly believe in an idol god!¡± ¡°For me, I can be suspicious of anyone but him. He not only created what I am, he also taught me everything that I know!¡± Yearster in the Rnd Empire, these quotes were left behind by a figure known to the public as the ¡°Bloody Thorn Flower Empress¡±. Chapter 298 Chapter 298 ¡°Deadly scheming¡± Nine hundred and sixty two year of the Rnd Empire, this year¡¯s winter was exceptionally cold. Once out of the pce, Du Wei did as he intended and participated in a weing party orchestrated by Biliabuer and Tanshan on this evening. In this banquet, over ny percent of the participants belonged to the Regent¡¯s faction. So when they finally met up, those that had weed Du Wei outside the city gate all made an ufortable and awkward face when looking at him. These usually affectionate dignitaries knew it themselves too. Due to the issue of the auction house, mainly because the Regent handed down the tight lip order from above, they have indirectly snubbed Du Wei by catching him off guard and pushing him up to the stage. For that, Du Wei¡¯s bound to be dissatisfied inside. Du Wei sneered inside because this was the so called nobility circle. On the surface they will intimately call you brother, but behind¡­. This may be, but he also knows this was an unavoidable phenomenon so he didn¡¯t dwell on this matter. After all, he did leave the imperial capital for close to two years now, it¡¯s about time he strengthened his bonds with these dignitaries. Pushing down his annoyance, he makes a heaping smile and never once brought up the Pope¡¯s decree again. After all, one must have quite the level of thick skin to be able to reach this high in their status. Since the Duke himself wasn¡¯t mentioning the awkward topic, these underlings naturally won¡¯t be stupid enough to go rattle the cage. Momentster after downing a few cup of wine, the atmosphere immediately warmed up. In order to curry favors with Du Wei, the fatty Tanshan had spent quite the hefty sum on this party. However, everyone knows by now this Duke Tulip wasn¡¯t all that fond of the opposite sex. Back when Prince Son, Biliabuer and Tanshan had gifted Du Wei with a set of beautiful quadruplets, forget about touching them, he didn¡¯t even take the girls back home and directly tossed the quadruplets into his shop for work. If the Duke¡¯s not into womanizing, then¡­. If one was a magician, then they are bound to like different types of precious gemstones. Not for the sake of value, but for the sake of using them as research materials and making magic tools. Tanshan was after all the number one weapons merchant on the continent. During the banquet, this fatty gifted Du Wei with over fifteen strands of purple crystal ne: ¡°I heard the Duke just got engaged and that the future Duchess is also a powerful sorceress. This set of crystal nes can count as a gift to the future duchess. Aside from being a beautiful essory, these crystals can also be used as magic material in experiments. A gift fit for both worlds.¡± Towards all the gifts, Du Wei didn¡¯t hold back and epted them all. Lasting until midnight with only a few guests remaining, Du Wei hasn¡¯t enjoyed a red nightntern feast of this type in a rather long time since moving to the Northwest. He may be a Duke, but his lifestyle has remained rtively simple so this truly was a treat. And as luck would have it, because he¡¯s already engaged, the nobles that have been eyeing him thus far finally gave up the idea of trying to sell their daughters to him. Oncete into the night with the majority of the guests departed, Tanshan, Biliabuer, and as well as the financial secretary Sack, invited Du Wei into a small private room for a meeting. This Gold Spending Cave outside the imperial city was truly luxurious. Aside from the handmade carpets paved along the floor of this tiny room, even the crystalmps were glowing in a variety of colors. First sitting himself on a veryfortable sofa filled with velvet cushions, Du Wei raises a cup of wine up to his lip: ¡°Well then, is there something you three like to say to me by asking me here?¡± Exchanging a look with the other two, Tanshan was the first to speak as he smiled: ¡°My Duke¡­ Now that there are only the four of us here in this room, I won¡¯t beat around the bush then.¡± Biliabuer also nodded: ¡°Du Wei, since there are no outsiders here, then I¡¯ll get to the point. The three of us have something we would like to discuss with you.¡± Du Wei bellowed out augh as his face became friendlier: ¡°Uncle Biliabuer, no need to say discuss, that¡¯s too polite. If you have any request then feel free to say it, I won¡¯t turn it down.¡± Du Wei¡¯s one call of ¡°Uncle Biliabuer¡± immediately made the guy¡¯s face turn red with happiness, even Tanshan and Sack on the side was making an envious face. Baron Sack coughed to clear his throat before opening his mouth. In this room, the one with the lowest rank was this Sack. In terms of status and rank, he¡¯s only a Baron that¡¯s working as an official in the financial department. And in terms of seniority¡­. For example, Biliabuer and Tanshan have for years been part of Prince Son¡¯s faction before the Regent¡¯s reign began. But this Baron though, he wasn¡¯t even part of Son¡¯s faction before the coup, he was merely a chiefmander of the security forces in the capital city. To top it off, this Sack was overwhelmed and imprisoned inside his own office by one of Son¡¯s own undercover agents. Then seeing the tide has receded, this Sack finally sumbed to Prince Son¡¯s authority. Once the coup was over, he then voluntarily surrendered his authority over the security forces. It can¡¯t be helped. He wasn¡¯t part of Prince Son¡¯s faction back then and there are over ten thousand security soldiers in the capital. Originally Sack had nned to give up his power and then return to his hometown for retirement with his family, but unexpectedly, this very conscious move of leaving on his own will attracted Prince Son¡¯s appreciation. Rejecting his request to leave, Sack was then reassigned to the financial department since that day. Due to the fact that he wasn¡¯t originally part of the inner circle to begin with, Sack worked extra hardpared to his peers and left no room forpromises in the cases he handled. And as expected, Sack¡¯s performance was very good over the past year and was vigorously promoted for his effort. ording to the rumors, though there are still a few people above him in the financial department, it¡¯s said that once the current financial minister retires, Sack will be taking over that post and be the head of the department. So, that¡¯s why he has the qualifications toe into this small room to talk today. Du Wei, Biliabuer, Tanshan, and Baron Sack, these four can almost represent all of the big giants inside the Regent¡¯s faction. ¡°Your dukeship.¡± Baron Sack coughed to clear his throat, then immediately spoke in a solemn tone: ¡°The truth is¡­ After you left the pce this afternoon, I was immediately summoned to the pce by his majesty the Regent. Umm, his highness discussed something with me. It was about the future supplies for the military. His highness tasked me to make a preliminary budget n¡­.¡± Du Wei¡¯s eye lit up and looked at Tanshan and biliabuer. One was in charge of handling the royal family¡¯s asset, and the other the biggest weapons merchant in the empire. To invite him here can only mean they also want a slice of the pie. Thinking up to here, Du Weiughed at the idea: ¡°Hmm, just perfect. I was going to discuss it with Uncle Biliabuerter too, but since Tanshan you are also interested, and we are here already, then we might as well talk about the cooperation.¡± The hanging fat off of Tanshan¡¯s face began to tremble, hurrying: ¡°Interested, of course I¡¯m interested!¡± Pondering for a moment, Du Wei immediately made the decision. To provide such a huge entity like the imperial army will be a little strenuous by himself. Moreover, a ce like the northwest was limited in manpower and material resources. Over the next two to three years, the main spending¡¯s need to be focused on expanding his own military armaments. If he allocated all of his resources on this business instead, he might end up hindering the development of his forces in the northwest. This business may be huge, but at its core it¡¯s nothing more than fuel for the hot air balloons and gunpowder, and the others¡­ The technical knowhow wasn¡¯t high, and the cost was huge too with rtively low profit margins. Since it¡¯s like that, why don¡¯t he just let others do it so they can owe him a favor. With an idea in mind, Du Wei took the initiative to put forward his own n: hand over the hot air balloon production piece to Tanshan and Biliabuer and let the two divide it among themselves. There are already imitations out in the wild, and Du Wei knows that Tanshan had some hot air balloons of his own running. As the four talked deep into the night, the matter was pretty much finalized by then. Du Wei, Tanshan, and Biliabuer will choose a plot ofnd in the vicinity of the imperial city and set up a specialized factory workshop supplying only hot air balloons to the military. This was the idea Du Wei mentioned to the Regent earlier today, which was the ¡°Boeing Airline¡±. On the investment side Tanshan and Biliabuer will split it between themselves, and on the profit end, Du Wei will get twenty percent for providing the technology knowhow while the remaining eighty percent gets split between Tanshan and Biliabuer. And Baron Sack here, the one in the financial department responsible for the procurement process, will naturally get his own set of benefits so that doesn¡¯t need borating. Du Wei doesn¡¯t care either way. The expenses for the factory are all covered by Tanshan and Biliabuer. As for the bribes to the military bosses in charge, there¡¯s Baron Sack to handle that on the financial end. Du Wei himself only needs to sit tight and wait for payment. As for gunpowder and fuel, Tanshan and Biliabuer knows very well Du Wei won¡¯t hand over something that valuable, so they didn¡¯t even bother mentioning the topic. Discussing for an entire night, Du Wei didn¡¯t feel much fatigue since he¡¯s a magician, but the other three did fare so well. Exhausted, the only thing keeping these three going was therge amount of profits that¡¯s about tond into theirps, making them very excited. But in the end, Du Wei made an additional request. ¡°The production of hot air balloons will require a lot of leather goods, so it¡¯s unavoidable that our joint factory will need to procure from an outside source¡­ On the maind, though there are cattle and sheep in the north, it wont be enough for us, and the price and quality are far inferior. So, for our sourcing, I rmend purchasing it through the natives of the prairie grasnd! At least until the rtionship between the Empire and the nativespletely crumbles, we will do it this way!¡± Tanshan and Biliabuer both thought for a moment before the fatty spoke up: ¡°What the Duke said is true. The prairie natives are good at herding so their cattle and sheep are all indeed top rate goods. But¡­ We are talking about the military supplies. If we purchase only from the enemy, won¡¯t we risk putting the production into dy when the Empire breaks off with the natives?¡± It was Biliabuer who managed to think further ahead: ¡°Du Wei, this type of big business will benefit the natives no matter how much we suppress the purchasing price in the long run. They are our enemy. I fear¡­¡± Du Wei smiled as he slowly said: ¡°Gentlemen, how can I not know of the situation with the natives when I¡¯m living in the northwest. I understand what you two are getting at, naturally, I have a n. As I just said, we will purchase leather from the natives¡­ However, we will only procure sheepskin and not cowhide! This means we will only buy sheep from the natives and not cattle!¡± ¡°Only buy sheep?¡± Tanshan and Biliabuer both looked at each other, confused over Du Wei¡¯s meaning. But seeing the resolute appearance of this Duke, both men thought it didn¡¯t matter since this issue wasn¡¯t all that important. Sheepskin or cowhides, both are still leather in their eyes. Maybe the Duke has a special attraction towards sheepskin¡­? It was Baron Sack who had unintentionally hit the mark with his joke: ¡°Only buy sheep and not buy cow¡­ Such a big deal, I fear even hundreds of thousands of sheep each year will not be enough! Such high demand and profit, I say the natives might just forgo their cattle and directly focus on raising sheep! HAHA! After we¡¯re through with them, I fear we might not get to taste the famed beef of prairie in which they are so famous for! Heck, I say the natives would end up having to buy beef from the north of the empire instead, hahaha¡­.¡± Those words caused Du Wei¡¯s eye to flicker so slightly, but none in here noticed it. Only Du Wei himself knows. This extra demand was in fact a carefully orchestrated scheme of his to deal a deadly blow to the natives!! Du Wei already knew about this deadly scheme in his previous life. It was a country called Japan. That country used this exact scheme to make his mothend suffer greatly during turbulent times. Animals like sheep arepletely different from cows. While herding in the grasnd, though cows and sheep will both graze, but they do have some important distinctions. Unlike cows, sheep are a kind of animal that likes to eat not only the grass, but the roots too! Thus if one lets arge number of grazing sheep loose in the field, the pasture will quickly dry up and wither away! And what¡¯s the most important resource on the grasnd? Not gold! It¡¯s their vast, lush pastures! As long as they have the grasnd, they can herd and breedrge number of horses! But with this invisible knife tactic of letting the prairie natives earnrge profits by raising their sheep counts, it will only be a few years before their vast stretches of greenery be withered and barren! By then, we will see what will they use to graze their horses! As a race of nomadic people, the prairie natives will always chase after the greenery for survival, meaning the grasnds are their lifeblood! In a few years when thend bes barren and dry, can the differing tribes still band together when their livelihood are at stake? Of course not! There¡¯s bound to be a fiercepetition for the right to the remaining pasture fields, meaning the trigger for war between themselves will be pulled! Such deadly scheming¡­ Though Tanshan and Biliabuer are both clever individuals, but without the experience of Du Wei¡¯s past life, they cannot understand it like he does. Unmoving in hisplexion, Du Wei did not bother exining while constantly sneering inside¡­. Chapter 299 Chapter 299 ¡°Friends or foe?¡± The party finally came to an end before the break of dawn. Each with their own carriage, Biliabuer didn¡¯t miss the opportunity to make another invitation to the guests, iming this was Tanshan¡¯s turn to host and he will do the next one. After some more pleasantries, the crowd then dispersed for their own homes. After a long night of discussion, Du Wei himself also felt a little tired and took the freed-up space to rest inside his traveling carriage. Though on the surface he gave a lot of benefits away, but Tanshan and Biliabuer aren¡¯t fools, they are bound to return the favor in the future. No matter how high standing his status was, being absence from the main political scene for long periods can¡¯t be good. That¡¯s where those twoe into y. Based on their rtionship, there will be times when they will speak up in his stead while he¡¯s absent. As for money¡­ essentially Du Wei¡¯s not a businessman that only knows how to chase after profit. He¡¯s very rich already, earning a little less doesn¡¯t mean anything to him now. Though the imperial capital¡¯s curfew remains in ce during the early morning, prohibiting ess with the shuttered gates, but who¡¯s Du Wei? He¡¯s someone that has the personally signed free passage document issued by the Regent himself, naturally he will be able toe and go as he pleases. Aside from the haziness of the pitch-ck darkness before dawn and the asional stamping sound of patrolling soldiers in the distance, there really aren¡¯t anything else going on this early in the day. Forget about pedestrians, not even the usual hoot-hoot sound of owls or cawking calls of winter birds in the night could be heard. Du Wei was still resting in his carriage when it happened. Abruptlying to a full halt, Du Wei¡¯s eyes were jolted awake by his coachman¡¯s (Lufei) fearful words: ¡°My-my lord, someone¡¯s blocking our path up ahead.¡± Furrowing his brow, Du Wei wondered who could it be that¡¯s blocking his path in the middle of the night. Can it be an assassin? Standing further ahead up in the street was a thin yet tall shadow draped in the typical gray servant¡¯s wardrobe attire. Oddly enough though, aside from the strange roundish hat on the guy¡¯s head, none of Du Wei¡¯s men could make out the person¡¯s appearance. To everyone else, this creepy man standing there alone in the darkness of the night only looked like a blur as if some unknown force was blocking off his facial features. Not backing down, the two of the escorting Tulip guards had already stepped forward, their hands pressed against the sword hilt. ¡°Who dare block the road, hurry and move aside!¡± One of the guards hollered at the stranger. Despite the demand, the man reacted like he didn¡¯t hear a thing and continues to stay put. Then before the guards knew it, the two furthest in front suddenly felt an indescribable chill running through their spines as if they were pinned down by a pair of piercing cold eyes. Even their horses were moving back involuntarily due to the fright. Some of the more seasoned guards have by now noticed the problem. Dismounting, they moved forward with their swords drawn. It was at this time the shadowy figure made a faint sighing sound: ¡°Duke Tulip, will youe out and have a meet with me?¡± The head of the guards shouted back instead: ¡°Who are you, do you think the Duke is someone you can meet so easily!¡± At that, the head guard signaled hispanions to move in using an encircling formation. Just then, Du Wei had opened the carriage door and walked himself out. Calling out to the guards to ¡°stop¡±, he then stepped forward a few steps to find Lufei shivering in cold fright when he shot the kid a nce. Frowning, Du Wei calls out to the distant man: ¡°Who are you, and why do you want to see me?¡± Du Wei was also a little wary. Although his location remains far from the man, but as a magician with acute senses higher than the average person, how can he not see through the darkness? Yet, the shadow hovering over the mysterious man remains a blur to even him. Like a mist that has melted into the night¡¯s darkness, Du Wei can only see a muddy shadow. It¡¯s clear to him now, this man either used a spell or some sort of special means to hide his identity. Upon seeing Du Weiing out to greet him, the gray figure¡¯s voice no longer sounded so ghostly and became a little warmer ¡°Duke Tulip, it¡¯s not I who wishes to see you, it¡¯s my master.¡± Du Wei tightly furrowed his forehead: ¡°Oh, and who is your master?¡± The man seems to chuckle at his question, but in the next moment Du Wei¡¯s eye lit up when the air around the dark figure began to bend and warp. Like a dismissing fog, bit by bit, the contour of the man began to show himself. A thin face with a sharp chin, just like a rodent. If an ordinary person had a face like that, there¡¯s no doubt others would find that face to be shrewd and wretched looking. However, this wasn¡¯t the case here. For this person, the only feeling Du Wei got was a striking urge to show his respect at the auraing his way. The person¡¯s eyes were very bright and alive when he looked at Du Wei. Curling his mouth into a faint smile, this man in gray then raises his left hand from under his sleeve and flicked the air. Next thing Du Wei knew, lines of frosted frozen white were drawn from nothingness, floating there like countless subtle ice particles¡­. Seeing this scene, Du Wei knew right away who this ¡°master¡± was. Making a smile: ¡°I see, I know who your master is then. Hmm¡­ Since he¡¯s inviting me, why do you need to stop me in the middle of the road and at night too? Considering your master¡¯s identity, he can easilye find me during the day at my residence.¡± The person seems to chuckle again but with a stain of mockery: ¡°Your lordship is a busy person, and master said you are unlikely to meet him. You see, you¡¯ve returned for two days already and yet you never even sent a message despite my master doing you such a big favor. What a disappointment.¡± Against a man like that, a tone of that nature, how can Du Wei¡¯s men not get angry? Even so, Du Wei remains very polite: ¡°Hmm, you are correct, I¡¯ve been rude. I¡¯ll follow you and see your master right away.¡± Despite his subordinate¡¯s strong opposition, Du Wei orders his people to return to the Duke¡¯s residence and walked towards the mysterious man: ¡°Where is your master? Bring me to him.¡± Making a grunting smile, the man didn¡¯t say more and began leading the way towards the other end of the street. As Du Wei followed from behind, the guards also did the same from a far distance but was quickly dismissed by his harsh order: ¡°No one is to follow!¡± As dawn slowly drew overhead, two pacing figures were making their way across the lifeless streets of the imperial city. One in front, one in back, their distance remains approximately ten meters apart. Du Wei tried several times to speed up his pace to close the gap, but it¡¯s almost like the person in front of him was constantly deliberately keeping the distance. Regardless, whether he go fast or slow, it¡¯s always like this. Du Wei was certain the guy had a special ability. Based on that fast walking posture, it¡¯s like the man was floating on air, likely some sort of special martial technique. Matching it with the ice move he used earlier, Du Wei was even more certain of his spection. (The snowy mountain has a special body training technique to make them more flexible as mentioned back when the dancer girl was captured.) As men with special abilities, their speed was magnificently fast despite going in a straight line. Before dawnpletely takes the sky, they were already at the western part of the city despiteing from the east end. Then from the west to the north¡­. The man seems to be very familiar with security patrol routes. Zigzagging left and right, he bypasses all of the soldiers without raising detection. Finally, they came to the riverside of the Lancang Grand Canal north of the city. This segment of the Lancang Canal was home to thergest pier in the capital, also the spot where Du Wei¡¯s father, Earl Raymond, arrived at when he received the grandiose weing ceremony aftering back from the expedition down south. Like a slumbering giant monster, the pier stretches far and wide into the canal, long enough to hold thergest Sea-God ss warships the navy has to offer. And at each end of the port, stretches of bustling isles of buildings were erected along the streets, especially the upstream segment where many businesses and teahouses reside. Overlooking the riverside and watching the sailing boats while sipping tea, this level of enjoyment was truly elegant, thus making this spot a very famous location in the capital for both locals and tourists. It¡¯s just that the pier right now was a little lifeless with only a few boats moored here, some fire light, and a few early morning workersboring away at the port. Peaceful for a usually bustling area. As Du Wei continues to follow from behind through the empty streets next to the riverside, the man leading him then makes an abrupt turn and enters a small tea house that came into sight over the next corner. Compared to the bustling businesses in the area, this tiny teahouse seems a little shabby inparison. Walking up to it, Du Wei can see the sign hanging off the door, which read: ¡°Common mortals do not enter.¡± Seeing this line, Du Wei could not resist augh and pushed the door open. Once inside, there were no one else present other than a shabby looking staircase leading upstairs. He can only specte that person had gone up already. Not hesitating, Du Wei also goes up too to be weed by a drape screen at the entrance. Entering, the second floor was but a small room with windows on all sides, the only one being open was the side facing the river. Due to the morning wind blowing inside, the room felt very cold. And next to that window was a man sitting in front of it with his back facing Du Wei, a silver pot and two cups ready for serving on the table. From behind, the person looks to be a bit old due to the slightly crouched back shrinking against the chair. Even so, the man doesn¡¯t seem to take heed to the chilling cold in the room, only covering his body with a thick nket. Meanwhile, the one responsible for leading Du Wei here was standing behind the person in the seat, almost like a statue, unmoving and unyielding. Making a long heaving sigh, Du Wei then looks at the figures back and smiled: ¡°Overlooking the river is nice, but don¡¯t you think the weather is a little too cold for this so early in the morning?¡± At that, Du Wei scoffs augh and takes two steps forward. Without looking back, an old voice came from the seated man: ¡°Duke is a busy man. If I didn¡¯t choose this time, I fear you won¡¯t have any free time.¡± Despite thatment, Du Wei continues to slowly move up: ¡°You are being too polite. If it¡¯s you inviting, I would squeeze time out toe meet you regardless of the day. There¡¯s no need to have this master heree guide me now is there? Honestly, I was a little surprised, when did the ¡®ice Dou Qi¡¯ be something so worthless that any road stopper in the middle of the night can use? Then again, I guess only a person like you can produce a master apprentice like him.¡± The seated man smiles: ¡°He¡¯s not my apprentice, just someone close to me.¡± By now Du Wei was standing in front of the table. Not being polite, he takes a seat and pours himself a cup for a sip. Frowning: ¡°Seems I¡¯ve made the wrong judgement. Sitting next to the riverside and enjoying this fine scenery, I expected you to be drinking some hot wine to fight off the cold weather. But for someone of your status and background, why are you only drinking in water? Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s too nd and tasteless?¡± This person pricks his brow and smiled: ¡°Duke never heard the saying? The more wine you drink, the warmer you be. The colder you are, the colder the water bes! My heart has been cold for decades, so drinking water is just right for someone like I who¡¯s cold in the heart.¡± At that, he raises his skinny old hand and points to the open window: ¡°Duke, you see out there? Although the wind is cold and bitter for everyone else, but for me¡­ this cold sensation is a form of reminiscence¡­.¡± Forming a faint smile, Du Wei faces the wind and inhales deeply to let the cold frosted sensation reach down into his lungs. Laughing, ¡°Reminiscence, so you are reminiscing the snowy mountain¡¯s cold? Mr. Blue Ocean.¡± Blue Ocean did not smile, instead his old face seems to fall into a long ponder. After a while, his bright eyes flickered a hint of helplessness: ¡°Du Wei, what you say is correct, I really do miss the Snowy Mountain. It may be freezing cold up there, but in my heart, it¡¯s warm while here in the capital is cold.¡± Du Wei bellowed out augh: ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, then let me, a warming person, apany you in sharing a cup of chilling water!¡± Emptying the cup in one full swing, Du Wei heaves out a long puff of satisfaction. Smiling wryly: ¡°I never thought I would feel so satisfied by drinking a ss of cold water in this type of weather, what a great feeling.¡± As Du Wei made that statement, Blue Ocean suddenly began to cough harshly. Immediately the gray robed servant came up to pat him on the back in a smoothing motion but was promptly waved away by his master. Regaining himself, Blue Ocean wraps himself tighter with the nket and looked even frailer than before: ¡°Duke, you took away my eighty students yet didn¡¯t evene visit me when you came back, don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a little unreasonable?¡± Du Wei eyes turned sharp and said: ¡°Mr. Blue Ocean, I doubt your original intention in giving the eighty students were that simple. Of course, I am also grateful for your help, but¡­ before I met with you again, I wanted to make sure of a matter first.¡± ¡°What matter?¡± Du Wei ces the cup down and eyes Blue Ocean, ¡°Are we friends or foe now that we meet again?¡± He asks this clearly and slowly. As soon as his voice died down, the entire room immediately became enwrapped in a suffocating level of murderous intent that shook the very foundation of the ground!! Chapter 300 Chapter 300 ¡°The man from the Snowy Mountain¡± The entire room was encased with a powerful murderous intent as a bone piercing cold shook the very core of Du Wei¡¯s entire body. Though the servant behind Mr. Blue Ocean remains unemotionally quiet, but those eyes are like an eagle¡¯s, sharp and inequivalently dangerous. To Du Wei, he¡¯s like helpless frog being gazed down at by a preying cobra ready to strike. The guy was clearly dressed like any other servant out there, but that face, that expression, the only time Du Wei ever felt such dominating aura was from Hussein and Rodriguez. So why? Why does a servant have such might about him? Peng! At that crashing sound, the cup in Du Wei¡¯s hand shattered into numerous pieces on the ground. Du Wei may not be feeling all that well in front of this grey robed servant, but he¡¯s not going to let himself be pushed around like a toy. Turning his head like he felt nothing, Du Wei unreservedly faces the servant¡¯s dangerous gaze and then turns to smile at Blue Ocean: ¡°Mr. Blue Ocean, it seems you¡¯ve already made a decision,¡± he sighs to make himself look tougher than he appears. Huddled in his chair against the biting cold, Blue Ocean looks like nothing more than a frail old man with his tightly wrapped nket. Trembling in his hand as he sips from the tea cup, he makes a long deep sigh before answering in a whispering tone: ¡°Lord Duke Tulip, if I had wanted to make you my enemy, then why would I send you my disciples?¡± Making a faintugh, Du Wei shes a glimmer of light in his eyes: ¡°Mr. Blue Ocean, as I just said, your original intentions may not be as pure as you make it out to be. I fear your reasons in helping me quell the chaos in the Northwest isn¡¯t necessarily without selfish reasons. Like your invitation today¡­. As the saying goes, murder is best done at night when the moon is high above the head¡­.¡± Speaking up to here, Du Wei inexplicably turns to look at the sky out the window. Making a indifferent smile, he faces Blue Ocean and stares directly into the old man¡¯s eye and continues to speak in a dignified voice: ¡°Though the sky is no longer dark and the moon is long gone, but this ce is quite secluded. Don¡¯t you think it would be quite elegant to kill someone in this beautiful ce with fresh breeze and a beautiful patch of water? Once done, you can easily bury the body under your feet and no one will ever notice. I must say, to be able to die here where there¡¯s the soothing sound of water flowing isn¡¯t so bad.¡± Hearing this, Blue Ocean fell into a hardugh before raising a dismissive hand, indicating the gray robe servant to leave. The man in grey at first refused and showed hesitation in his eyes, but Blue Ocean¡¯s persuasive words changed that: ¡°Although you¡¯ve been with me all these years, but the present you isn¡¯t enough. While in that person¡¯s presence, you won¡¯tst even one exchange. So, you staying won¡¯t make a difference. Don¡¯t worry. Since I¡¯m willing to stay here, it means I got some confidence.¡± Unwilling still, the grey robed servant can only do as ordered after seeing his master¡¯s resolute face. Slowly walking out, he closes the door behind the two. When the room was only left with them, Blue Ocean chuckles before continuing: ¡°Now do you feel morefortable? Or can it be that the great grand Duke of Tulip is afraid of a frail old man like I?¡± Making a bitter smile: ¡°There are no useless people in the Snowy Mountain Sect.¡± Pausing to rethink his words, he continues: ¡°What do you mean by ¡®that person¡¯? Is there someone elseing aside from me today?¡± ¡°Not exactly an outsider, just an old friend.¡± Du Wei¡¯s face twitched so slightly at the mention of ¡°old friend¡±. Looking out the window, Blue Ocean inhales deeply: ¡°There are many types of old friends, and this old friend is one of those that wants me dead.¡± After stating this, he turns to face Du Wei with a frank expression: ¡°Duke, do you feel relieved now? The truth is, I invited you here today to be a witness, that¡¯s all.¡± Du Wei makes a disregarding face: ¡°Witness? I usually don¡¯t have the hobby of being someone¡¯s witness. Whether it¡¯s you doing the killing or someone is killing you, I can¡¯t say I¡¯m fond of either scenario happening in front of me. Or is it that you sir here has such a hobby of watching someone being murdered?¡± Smiling at that usation: ¡°I of course don¡¯t have that type of hobby, it¡¯s just that the witness today must be you. I think your grace would be quite pleased with the guest I¡¯m having today, after all, the visitor in question is from the Snowy Mountain.¡± Although Du Wei¡¯s stomach was full of questions, but against that inscrutable face on Blue Ocean, he didn¡¯t know how to ask. For a time, the atmosphere in the room became awkwardly silent as the two went about with their own thoughts. Finally after who knows how long, thest remaining shadow of the night had receded and out came the rays of the morning sun. Looking out into this beautiful sunrise, Blue Ocean was the first to break their silence with a whisper: ¡°The time is almost here, that person should being. I¡¯ve had this appointment with him many times already, never once was he everte, and today will be no exception.¡± In the next second Du Wei felt something. As a magician, his spirit will of course be higher than an ordinary person¡¯s. His ear may not have heard anything from the outside just now, but his spirit field had encased the entire tea house like a cage, thus allowing him to notice any peculiarity within his extended range. It may have been momentary and light, but it was definitely there. However, Du Wei can tell the new arrival was way more capable than himself in terms of control because he lost track of the intruder right away. Just when Du Wei wanted to bring up his findings, Blue Ocean had already spoke up, ¡°He hase.¡± Following this sigh from the old man, Du Wei¡¯s heart instantly turned vignt like it was resonating with an rm in his soul. Raising his head towards the entrance of the room, the wind screen that should¡¯ve been devoid of a presence stood a silhouette of a man. Like a ghost, this freaky person began to speak: ¡°Even after all these years, your ear is still very good.¡± The voice was very soft and easy on the ears. When heard, one might even grow fond of it out of misguided feelings, which was what¡¯s happening here with Du Wei. Strangely attracted to that voice, Du Wei¡¯s concentration was shattered like a puddle being smashed by a rock. The turbulent waves in his heart making it impossible for him to refocus. Meanwhile Blue Ocean remains disturbingly unfazed by all this as he sat there in his chair. Not bothering to look at the figure behind the screen at the entrance, he just smiles with his back facing the person: ¡°You indeed never disappoint me, nor have you ever beente.¡± ¡°But you¡¯ve let me down instead.¡± Before his words ended, the man hade forth from behind the screen. Now Du Wei finally got a clearer picture of the man¡¯s appearance. Donning the same type of white robe used by a shaman, the man¡¯s silvery gray hair was a little disorderly as several loose strands hung over his forehead. Despite the eyes being covered by his hair, the twinkling light radiating from it was as bright as the starry sky in a winter¡¯s night. Though there are strong simrities with the man¡¯s getup with the other White Robe Shaman he met back in Anglia City, there are some differences. Like that golden belt on the waist, there¡¯s a typical scimitar used by the prairie natives holstered to the side. The design of that scimitar may be verymon, but its shorter and had a pearl iid on the hilt. Du Wei may not be a specialist in martial art, but his intuitions are telling him that the short little scimitar was by no means an ornament. It¡¯s just that ording to his knowledge of the Snowy Mountain, limited but still enough, there aren¡¯t anyone in the sect who¡¯s a dual wielder of magic and martial art. Moreover, as a shaman who openly wears a weapon on his waist, it¡¯s a certainty this shaman¡¯s fighting capability are very high. Even more strange, ording to Du Wei¡¯s estimate this man should be no older than forty years of age. Blue Ocean mentioned the man was an ¡°old friend¡±, so shouldn¡¯t they be simr their years? No matter how Du Wei looked at it, that pale white skin with barely any wrinkles could hardly be called old. Aftering out from behind the wind screen, the man only stared at Blue Ocean¡¯s ocean back for a while, his voice calm as he spoke: ¡°These years you have grown old. I remember thest time I was here you didn¡¯t have so many wrinkles on your face. Did your injuries not heal from ourst meeting?¡± Then the man turns to look at Du Wei. As soon as those razor-sharp eyes swept over Du Wei, our poor boy here instantly felt like he¡¯s been seen through right down to his soul, very unnerving. Showing some surprise and apuding light in his eyes, the man continues: ¡°It seems you haven¡¯ t been idle all these years either to be able to take in an excellent disciple like so. Along the way here I heard the people talking about an individual famed for their use of the Ice Dou Qi. The name should be Rodriguez if I¡¯m not mistaken. You should be proud for your disciple for reaching the Saint ss at that young age. Though our own Snowy Mountain has a lot of disciples, there isn¡¯t many in this generation capable of reaching the same height.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand, he is not my disciple.¡± Blue Ocean shot Du Wei a nce: ¡°This is the famed Duke Tulip of the maind, and the direct disciple of Lord Gandalf, also known as the number one magician on thesends. All things considered, you can say this young man here has some ties with our Snowy Mountain. I asked him toe today so that he can be our witness, and if I die, there will be someone to bury me in the end.¡± At the mention of the name ¡°Gandalf¡±, the man¡¯s eye flickered a gleam of dangerous light. Curling his mouth into a grin: ¡°Oh? Gandalf, the self-proimed number one magician on the maind? So this kid here is that person¡¯s disciple, I see, no wonder.¡± At that, he nods and turns his attention away from Du Wei. Du Wei didn¡¯t miss it. At the mention of Gandalf being the strongest mage on the continent, this person not only didn¡¯t show a spec of respect, there were a clear taste of disdain on that tongue. ¡°Well then, you and I have been waiting for this day for far too long. Since it¡¯s like so, we might as well begin.¡± The man wrinkled his forehead after assessing the old man: ¡°But can you even stand right now?¡± Blue Ocean gently makes a sigh: ¡°What difference is there if I can stand or not. Since you waited so long for this day, you might as well make your move.¡± That sigh may be soft and gentle, but there were so many emotions contained in there: regret, hate, refusal to ept, and many more. Before the sound of the sigh could evene to an end, the man had already disappeared in a sh. For someone like Du Wei that has exceptional awareness, even he couldn¡¯t keep up and could only realize when the man was standing in front of Blue Ocean. With his hand raised, that dangerous hand radiating heat in the middle of his palm came striking down at the old man¡¯s forehead. Still wrapped in his nket, Blue Ocean¡¯s appearance remains exactly like before, frail and weak. Yet in a quick turn of event, the nket blew apart like it had just been shredded to pieces. Bits and pieces of cloth fluttering in the air, a silvery-white light enveloped that frail old body and changed him into an entity of someone that cannot be touched without retribution. Raising a finger of his own, Blue Ocean retaliates by shooting a tiny little beam of condensed cold at his attacker¡¯s chest in an attempt to freeze it. Making a smile, the shaman slides back instantly to avoid being hit and thenpletely dissolved the beam of ice with a wave of his hand. In return, the manunches another attack with his palm, but this time the strike was a st of red light radiating searing heat as it whistled towards its target. Not waiting, Blue Ocean met the st with his own using that dejected and scrawny arm of his and shot out two sets of deep chilling white mist using his own hands. Red and white, fiery hot and chilling cold, the two-natural opposing forces should¡¯ve made a devastating explosion upon impact, yet there wasn¡¯t the slightest bit ofmotion. It¡¯s as if the very life of the air around their exchange was sucked out of existence. Blue Ocean¡¯s hair waspletely raised by now as both his sleeves became torn by his own strength, it¡¯s obvious the old man had went all out just now. Meanwhile on the opposing side, the shaman remainspletely unfazed, only taking a step back to make some distance. With one hand behind his back, he nods and smiled: ¡°Seems you haven¡¯t aged to the point of being unable to move yet.¡± Du Wei¡¯s distance wasn¡¯t far so he can tell, Blue Ocean was having trouble fending off this attack of pure power based on that heaving chest. The white mists shot out by the old man continues to wrap around the ball of searing heat, but despite his every effort to extinguish it, the red energy just won¡¯t let up and continues to inch closer. In the end, Blue Ocean can only pull one of his hand back to aim at the water inside the silver pot on the table. Immediately, the water inside was sucked out like a whip. If that ball of searing heat can overwhelm even ice, how can a mere pot of water be enough to stop it? But that¡¯s not the point of it. Using the water whip as a release vent and a guide, the trajectory of the heat st was redirected with the water line and flew towards the table. Instantly upon impact, both the water and silver pot was vaporized, leaving nothing behind, not even steam. Watching the two entities exchange blows, Du Wei felt dizzyingly numb by the fast and short moves used in this bout. This was especially true for that me used by the white robe shaman. Just recalling the image of the me incinerating the silver pot and even the water steam made him shiver from fright. Du Wei can honestly say he¡¯s quite the expert when it came to fire magic, but that surge of heat expelled from the man¡¯s palm was astoundingly terrifying. How hot must the mes be to achieve that result? The magic of the Snowy Mountain is truly mysterious and powerful. Just at this moment, a figure from the outside suddenly charged into the room. It¡¯s the gray robe servant from before. Covered in a silver coat of Dou Qi, the man was making a murderous face as he shouted: ¡°Don¡¯t you dare hurt him!¡± As soon he finished his words, the gray robe servant stretches out his palm and released a highly concentrated beam of Ice Dou Qi to create a real sword made of ice. Without another word, he charges at the assant and makes a swing at the enemy with unrelenting force. From the tip of that ice sword, a vortex of ice particles became wrapped around the body of the de, making it like an ice tornado from first gaze. Seeing this, Du Wei¡¯s eyebrow pricked up. Based on his assessment of the Ice Dou Qi used here, this unimpressive looking servant wasparable to that young general Cybuster from the Northwest Army. At the very least, this servant should be at least of the eighth level from what¡¯s showcased here. Chuckling, the white robe shaman faintly whispers at the servant: ¡°Ice Dou Qi isn¡¯t supposed to be used like that.¡± While the shaman¡¯s word was very slow, the sword from the servant was moving at immense speed. But just when the sword was about tond, the space around the two seems to distort. Next thing the gray robe servant knew, he had missed his attack despite seeing his sword slicing into the shaman¡¯s face. This wasn¡¯t the first time Du Wei had seen this distortion of time and space. The first word that jumped out of his mouth was this: Saint ss!!! Chapter 301 Chapter 301 ¡°The strong against the strong¡± Looking back at the day of the coup when Rodriguez used his peerless swordsmanship to utterly defeat the Grey Robed Sword Saint, the movement he showcased back then was just like now, seemingly slow and unrestrained by thews of this world and disintegrating the opponents attack using a detached space. This was the iconic signature of someone who has stepped into the realm of sainthood. The more Du Wei looked, the more shocked he became inside. Who the heck is this white robe shaman to have such incredible power? Can it be the legendary Shaman King of the Snowy Mountain? But that person is clearly wearing a white robe! Du Wei¡¯s not wrong to suspect the foe may be the Shaman King for a regr white robe shaman cannot possibly have such horrifying powers to this extent. Otherwise, the person to do die back at Anglia City wouldn¡¯t be Ivory Teeth, it would be Du Wei himself. Who the hell is this man? Seemingly carefree still, the white robe shaman gently smiles as he spoke: ¡°Did the person whom taught you the Ice Dou Qi not tell you this power will be nothing more than a fanciful flower vase if you can¡¯t concentrate the energy flow into one point?¡± Despite his leisurely words and unmoving self, the opponent¡¯s sword continues to miss regardless of how many stabs or swings of the de rained down for his body. Then finally, this idling man made a gentle beckoning call with his hand at the ice crystals in the room. Like a suctioning vacuum, every spec of ice was ruthlessly sucked into his palm to form a giant whirlpool. As the momentum picked up, the swirling force grew inrge but at the same time, the ice crystals began to condense andpact until only a few strands of silvery light remain swimming in his grasp. ¡°You see? This is the true meaning of power.¡± With a hint of indifference, his hand took the initiative to greet the ice sword made by the grey robe servant. At this very moment, time and space itself seems to have stopped regardless of what they did: ¡°These are the Ice Dou Qi you released just now, and now I¡¯m returning it to you after reforging them.¡± As soon as his words died down, the tiny sliver of silvery lights had touched the tip of the ice sword. Next second, only a crackling sound could be heard as a gloss of icy white instantly overtook the original ice sword made out of Dou Qi. From what used to be a de became a giant pir of transparent crystal. Before the grey robe servant could even react and retract his hand, the cold had already spread up to his wrist-arm. First were the fingers, freezing to the point that the flesh itself became icicles. Then soon it became apparent the wrist was lost too with the elbow not far behind in being devoured by the cold¡­ Still sitting in the chair at this time, Blue Ocean finally makes his move. In a sh of light, this frail old man had stepped up to his servant¡¯s side to intervene. Tugging hard to break apart the bond holding the ice and the servant, Blue Ocean swiftly retreats back to his original chair with the injured servant in toe. Not waiting a second longer, this old man immediately turned two of his fingers into a w shape and pierced deeply into the grey robe servant¡¯s elbow, puncturing a gaping hole right through the frozen flesh as a result. Due to the extreme cold, not a drop of blood came dripping out. Gloomy at the sight, Blue Ocean gnashes his teeth and did not hesitate. Turning his sight to the shoulder area, he reaches out with his palm and strikes down at the remaining good flesh¡­. Pop~!! Blood sprayed everywhere from this, causing the servant to grunt heavily for an instant due to the extreme pain of losing his arm at the shoulder down! Not only did the servant¡¯s wardrobe get fully stained by the showering blood, even part of Blue Ocean¡¯s white robe got specs of blood droplets here and there. Frighteningly enough, the gue like chill on the limb didn¡¯t slow down in the least even when it was severed from its host. Still in mid-air as it was falling, the entire arm had be frozen solid right before itnded on the floor. Next second, a crisp and clear sound of ice shards shattering into countless pieces radiated across the entire room. Fine ice littered the floorboard, leaving no traces of evidence that these fine granr pieces once belonged to a human being!! Just seeing this sight gave Du Wei the willies¡­ What a frightening Ice Dou QI he used there!! But one must hand it to this grey robe servant. Despite the obvious pain he was in based upon the downpour of sweat on his forehead, this servant refuses to give in and clenches his teethe without issuing out a single cry. Hurrying to tear apart one of his sleeves, Blue Ocean quickly began his efforts to mend the blood ridden wound with his makeshift bandage. Once that was done, this old man then did something Du Wei never expected. Chanting at rapid speedparable to Du Wei himself, this old schr reaches out his hand to touch upon the bleeding wound and performed a light-based healing spell. This was truly an eye opener for Du Wei because he now knows Blue Ocean was also versed in the Rnd Empire¡¯s magic system! Truly a legendary schr of the age! Under the influence of magic, the blood stream was quickly stanched, but the pain thus far had been so intense that the grey robe servant could no longer stand and ended up flopping down to the floorboard. Regardless, Blue Ocean sighed a breath of relief as he slowly spoke: ¡°I said so already, your Ice Dou Qi won¡¯t be able take one round with him. Aigh, but I understand your faithfulness to me. It¡¯s just that your arm¡­¡± Pausing, he lowers his voice: ¡°Your arm may be lost, but today you have witnessed the true form of the Ice Dou QI. If you can grasp onto the truth from what you¡¯ve seen today, it¡¯s not impossible for you to stand at the peak of thisnd with the rest of the strong beings.¡± The gray robe servant¡¯splexion looked ghastly as he nodded. Turning to the white robe shaman, he forcibly nods while staring intently at the culprit: Tha-thank you¡­ Thank you for the advice!¡± Not acting in the slightest like a culprit, this white robe shaman calmingly nods in return: ¡°Your teacher says it well. If you can grasp onto the truth of what I demonstrated, you might just have the opportunity to be one of the strong ones in thesends. However, the current you are far from being my opponent. Now move along to one side.¡± Shaking his head vigorously in refusal: ¡°No, if you want to hurt teacher than you must walk over my body first!¡± Furrowing his brow, the white robe shaman coldly grunts and changes his voice to a frosty chill: ¡°I do not like needless killings. You are indeed a master among the ordinaries, but in front of me you are no more than a baby. Moreover, as long as you don¡¯t die today and go back to reflect upon what you learned, then there¡¯s a real chance you may be a true master¡­ But if you die today, then that chance will leave you. Are you sure you want that?¡± Still shaking his head with a pale face, the grey robe servant was resolute in his words: ¡°No! If you wish to kill the teacher than you must kill me first!¡± After that, he raises his remaining hand to release every ounce of Ice Dou Qi he can call forth, his face determined for the end. Still on the sideline, Du Wei originally didn¡¯t want to get involved. After all, he hasn¡¯t figure out whether Blue Ocean was a friend or a foe yet. Although on one end he did get eighty disciples from this old schr, but on the other end Du Wei¡¯s certain there are ulterior motives behind it. Watching this white robe shaman turning cold in the eyes and the unwavering loyalty from the servant, Du Wei couldn¡¯t bear to let this go on anymore. Gently sighing, he slowly stepped forward and said: ¡°Halt!¡± Whispering, Blue Ocean tries to persuade Du Wei: ¡°Duke, I know you mean well but I invited you here today to be a witness. This matter isn¡¯t something you are able to meddle in with your present state.¡± Finishing his words, Blue Ocean shakily stands up from his chair and inhales deeply, his frail body abruptly making a drastic change. Like an expanding balloon, the withered skin and husk like body began to revitalize itself, giving the skin a new lustering glow while the muscles and arm sweltered up to a massive size of power! Shockingly, even the heavy wrinkles etched along that old prune like face were gone, something most woman would dream to have at any cost! Watching this, Du Wei¡¯s eye began to twitch unceasingly while his heart jumped at extreme pressure¡­ Youth rejuvenation? When did the Snowy Mountain have something like this, and why doesn¡¯t the booklet left by that Gu Lanxiu not mention anything like this shaman craft? Gu Lanxiu (former shaman king) It¡¯s not just Du Wei being surprised by this, even that white robe shaman was perplexed by the change and uttered a ¡°Eh?¡± out of reflex. Watching Blue Ocean continue to revert back to a youthful young man and the immense pressure returning, this person began tough instead of being rmed: ¡°Very good! Seems you managed toe up with something new after all these years! Good, very good! This strange spell may be great, but for someone like you who always advocate the flow of natural order, how will it affect the direction of your cultivation though? What you are doing now is rebelling against the natural order of things, there are retributions for that!¡± In mere moments, Blue Ocean¡¯s appearance had reverted back to a middle-aged man in his thirties. From what used to be a slightly hunched old man, Blue Ocean was standing upright and very tall, most importantly, he was handsome as all hell. Making a faint smile: ¡°Whether the direction is wrong or not, the immediate urgency is to deal with you right now. Otherwise, all this bbery about the right direction in my cultivation is moot if I die by your hands today.¡± ¡°Your words are good, I would like to know how your rejuvenation spell works. Very well,e and let me give it a try.¡± The white robe shaman¡¯s face radiated excitement, and those eager eyes were just like a child¡¯s gaze looking at a brand-new toy. Du Wei was about to say something again at this moment when a soft gentle force shook his body, pushing him to a corner with no chance to resist. Then in the next second another figure came flying over from above. Hurrying to catch the person, Du Wei had just reached out his hand when Blue Ocean¡¯s voice drifted over: ¡°Help me watch over him.¡± At that, the real confrontation between two truly powerful masters have begun!! The two were just standing there at first, then before Du Wei knew it, he had lost sight on the two in a sh of light. What came next were blurry images of two different beings exchanging blows all over the room without a single second of dy in their movements. Such extreme speed, Du Wei can¡¯t even make heads or tails of the afterimages! As the searing heat and chilling cold collided together, the whole room fell into a strange distortion as if space itself was being bent and reshaped at will. Eventually Du Wei couldn¡¯t take it anymore for his eyes were suffering from fatigue and pain. This phenomenon wasn¡¯t because of how shy their exchanges were, on the contrary, the duel between the two masters were eerily silent! Compared to all the earth-shattering confrontations between powerful beings witnessed by Du Wei thus far, the radius of their battle can be said to be extremely small that it was ridiculous. They aren¡¯t weak at all, rather it¡¯s because the two have grasped the true meaning of power! Every bit, even the tiniest trace of power, are condensed to one point without a shred of it being leaked and wasted into the air! What¡¯s more, the confrontation between two saint ss warriors have created a mini dimensional space for their battle. No matter how intense the ripples of power was inside, it wouldn¡¯t cause any real harm to Du Wei¡¯s physical body! And the reasoning for Du Wei¡¯s visional difort was due to his excessive use of his eyes. By stressing it to the limit with the aid of his spirit, he had indirectly harmed himself by attempting to follow the movements between the two. Du Wei¡¯s not weak by any means, but with his current state, how can he keep up with the speed of two saint ss warriors? Finally, after a brief bout at extreme speed, the two masters suddenly slowed down to a crawl in the room. In Du Wei¡¯s eye, this was no different from a slow-motion scene in an action flick, but in no way, does he think he can defend against that type of attack! This was a certainty, not a spection! Why the two was slowing down had to do with their utilization of their saint ss powers. By bending and changing the rules of time and space in the air around their body, the user would be able to force their foe into submitting to the rules set by themselves, thus making them omnipotent in this small little realm, which was what¡¯s happening here between the two masters as they vied for control of the area. Then what came next was a real eye-opener for Du Wei! The highest level of confrontation he had seen before was no doubt the battle between Gandalf and Hussein teaming up against the Dragon n chieftain. And today¡­ The attacks of these powerful beings may not necessarily be more insane and shy than thatst battle, nevertheless, the methods and way these two fought made Du Wei¡¯s heart tremble like crazy!! Wielder of magic and martial art!! This is the true epitome of magic and martial wielding in unison!!! Like a fish swimming in water, Blue Ocean and the white robe shaman were now fighting in ways like they were unhindered by the world itself. While they were exchanging blows with their martial art at every exchange, the other free hand would constantly be pointing at each other while chanting some type of words to shoot out weapons made of a concentrated dose of Dou Qi. Their spells and physical attacks were relentless with no end in sight. Du Wei may not have practiced any of the shaman craft yet, but he does have the booklet left by the former shaman king. Based on what he can identify, the two had already disyed well over a dozen shaman spells in this short time frame, and they are all extremely dangerous and difficult to use!! In truth, this seemingly slow-paced battle right now was in fact far more intense and tragic than that fast-paced fight by a hundredfold! Blue Ocean first disyed a spell known as ¡°whirlwind wheel¡±, a magic that creates an extremely violent air vortex around his body that would cull down the foe if they are uncareful bying in too close! In return, the white robe shaman immediately brings out a spell known as ¡°Giant Seal of the Snowy Mountain¡±, a move capable of sealing the movement of everything within his vicinity. Whether it be a light feather or the wind itself, upon contact with this spell, it will condense down to the floor and be unable to move! ording to the legends, it¡¯s said that once a user masters it to the advance realm, even the air itself will be solidified! Chapter 302 Chapter 302 ¡°White River¡¯s Sorrow!¡± Once Blue Ocean¡¯s ¡°Whirlwind Wheel¡± copsed under his foe¡¯s affect, he immediately bit his tongue and sprayed a mouthful of blood out to summon a ¡°blood imp¡±. In human form with ws ready, this creature promptly pounced at the white robe shaman. ording to Du Wei¡¯s reading of the shaman craft booklet, this sort of blood imp was a terrible and foul creation simr to the undead creatures used in dark magic. Once stained by the blood imp, the creature will cling onto its victim like a parasite, continuously sucking every drop of life force from the foe until nothing remains! To make things worse, this blood imp doesn¡¯te in a fixed form. As long as the original summoner doesn¡¯t die, it will quickly rebuild itself no matter how many times it¡¯s been blown apart. Against this terrifying summoning, the white robe shaman just sneered instead of falling into panic. Taking several steps backward to keep the blood from touching his body, the guy suddenly takes a deep breath and opened his jaw, widening it dozens of times bigger than what it should humanly be possible. Then in one fierce blow, a slew of arrows made of concentrated air were shot out form his lung, raining down from above at the creature like hail. Against this tyrannical form of attack, Blue Ocean didn¡¯t dare resist and hurriedly moved out of the way to dodge. But the blood demon wasn¡¯t so lucky. Sttering across the floorboard like blood clots due to being blown apart, the scattered remnants of the blood demon began to slowly creep back together in an attempt to reform. However, there¡¯s no way the white robe shaman would permit this to happen. Spraying out another series of air arrows, the blood clots were nailed deeply into the floorboard, killing any chance it had left of swimming back together! The spell used here was called ¡°soul seal¡±, one of the many strange sorcery practiced on the snowy mountain. Under normal circumstances, ordinary masters can also produce arrows of simr nature, but in no way, would the arrows have such longsting affect like the ones showcased here because they would simply disperse after impact. The two continued this constant exchange for a while, disying their respective spells and martial attacks back and forth. In Du Wei¡¯s view, the martial techniques from the Snowy Mountain was both bizarre and mean in their initiation! Unlike everything he¡¯s seen thus far, it¡¯s too unconventional. For instance, the female assassin he captured had a bizarre ability to flex and twist her body at will like a stretched-out noodle,pletely disregarding the limitations of the joints. But here, that ability was brought to the level that no human should be capable of doing, biologically and spiritually. This wasn¡¯t a simple form of Jujitsu anymore, its beyond words!! There were no indications whenever the two bent their bodies!! For one moment, they could be fighting like normal, then the next¡­. Du Wei even saw the white robe shaman twist his body into a curled donut ring for an instance and then revert back to normal like nothing happened!! Generally speaking, the one on the lower end remains with Blue Ocean as his attacks be dissolved and dissipated every time. ¡°You really disappoint me.¡± That white robe shaman suddenly sighs: ¡°You seem to be a little rejuvenated, but that only applies to your physical body while your Dou Qi and magic remains the same¡­ Aigh, what use is there for you to cultivate this rejuvenating spell when it¡¯s so pointless?¡± At that, the white robe shaman suddenly sprang forward like a loach, tumbling about around Blue Ocean then slipping up to the old man¡¯s chest area from the forefront. By taking a direct hit to the heart, Blue Ocean could no longer withstand the assault and blood began to gush out of his mouth. Laughing maniacally at the sight, the white robe shaman began to slither around his opponent¡¯s body at rapid speed and eventually entangled Blue Ocean from top to bottom. Using his fingers, this dangerous man then repeatedly striked at the vital Qi points of the old man to clog the flow of energy. Finally falling on his butt, this old schr could no longer take it after puking over eight mouthfuls of blood! Not pressing the chase, this white robe shaman stepped back instead, his eyes cold and disappointed: ¡°Speak! What have you been doing all these years. Thest time you can still fight me, but this time¡­ Why have you regressed so much?¡± Biting his lip on the floor, Blue Ocean lifts his right hand¡¯s forefinger and forms a thin, long air of frost. Like a sharp sword, he sends it flying over at his foe. Faintly smiling, the white robe shaman only needed a casual wave of his hand to disperse the attack with a me: ¡°Speak! If you had ¡®Beauty under the Moonlight¡¯ in your hand, then maybe you can still be eligible topete with me using your Ice Dou Qi, but now¡­ You¡¯re making me lose interest in even killing you.¡± Still sitting on the floor, Blue Ocean suddenly makes a strange chuckle, drips of blood still leaking out from the corner of his mouth: ¡°Don¡¯t getcent just yet, look at your feet first.¡± Looking down, the white robe shaman then notices the oddity in the blood stains on the floor. One here, one there¡­ the locations vaguely forms a subtle pattern! Now the white robe shaman¡¯splexion finally changed color. Eximing in surprise: ¡°Soul binding Seal?! Blue Ocean, you are as cunning as ever!!¡± He immediately leaned back, but Blue Ocean expected as much and deliberately waited for this moment! Through the use of his saint ss power, Blue Ocean instantly changes thew ruling over this small space, revoking any movement inside. Therefore, the white robe shaman may have taken several steps backward in haste, but his location remains the same without changing in the slightest. Seeing this, the whiter robe shaman¡¯s face became gloomier by the second. Inhaling deeply, his entire body promptly emted out into mes, incinerating the various shackles andws that had bind his body. In front of absolute power, tricks mean nothing! Having his bindings barbarically ripped apart once again, Blue Ocean spills another mouthful of blood, but this time it was deep red instead of the usual light hue. Nevertheless, the time he earned was enough to let him finish his incantation to activate the final spell. In an instant, the blood on the ground came to life! Eximing like he¡¯s seen the most terrifying thing, the white robe shaman retreated repeatedly without the slightest hesitation. It¡¯s like an infection. Whenever the blood lightes into contact with his body, a faint green puff of smoke would leak out of the flesh like he¡¯s been burned from the soul down! Though he withdrew himself from the blood circle extremely fast, but by the time he managed to break free, half his body already looked like it¡¯s been melted. No different from a crumbling snowman, he looked absolutely horrifying in appearance. The damage has been delt, but Blue Ocean¡¯s expression became uglier than ever. In the end, the foe managed to escape his final setup so he can only sigh in regret. Gnashing his teeth, the white robe shaman radiated murder in his eyes as he red fiercely at Blue Ocean: ¡°Fine! You manage to escape this time again! In the end you managed to put up a fight so I¡¯ll keep my promise. Humph, since you managed to injure me, then I won¡¯t kill you and let you live another nine years and ninth months!¡± After that statement, his body quickly retreated to a corner of the room and melded into the wall, disappearing from sight once and for all. Only then did Blue Ocean shakily stand up from the ground, his mouth still dripping blood with no signs of ending. In front of Du Wei¡¯s eye, the original swelling muscles instantly reverted back to the scrawny limbs and what used to be an old face became even older, deep wrinkles obvious at every corner. Blue Ocean appeared extremely tired right now as he faced Du Wei. Smiling wryly: ¡°Duke, I believe you just witnessed quite the eye-opener today. Just about everything that I had as an undercard were shown to you.¡± Full of questions: ¡°You ¡­ Blue Ocean! Who the hell are you? You and that white robe shaman just now, are both saint ss masters? That guy, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s not just an ordinary white robe shaman! I¡¯ve met one before, and it¡¯s absolutely impossible that one would be that powerful!¡± ¡°Him?¡± Blue Ocean mildly smiles: ¡°He most certainly isn¡¯t some ordinary white robe shaman! With his immense strength, where is one supposed to find someone stronger than him? Humph, Du Wei, let me tell you, that just now is the current Shaman King of the Snowy Mountain¡­. His name is White River¡¯s Sorrow!¡± White River¡¯s Sorrow? Although the answer was a little surprising, it instead calmed Du Wei¡¯s heart. So it is that Shaman King! Only the Shaman King should have that kind of power! Otherwise¡­. what¡¯s he supposed to do if some random dude from the Snowy Mountain was that strong? If that was the case, Du Wei might as well forget about resisting the enemy, he¡¯s better off thinking about how to surrender. In Du Wei¡¯s view, he fears the strength of this White River¡¯s Sorrow wouldn¡¯t be any lower than old Green hat or Hussein. Although both are saint ss masters, but unlike this person, Green Hat and Hussein are only fluent in one aspect, either magic or martial art! But this crazy lunatic¡¯s different, he¡¯s a practitioner of both and had mastered it to an extremely high state! Thinking of this, Du Wei couldn¡¯t resist giving Blue Ocean a deep assessing gaze¡­ To be able to fight the Shaman king to this degree, this Blue Ocean is also a master of his own! ¡°Mr. Blue Ocean, I never knew you would have such immense power! To be able to fight the Shaman King to the extent of wounding each other, I¡¯m going to assume your position up at the Snowy Mountain is not ordinary, is it?!¡± Du Wei tightly stares at the old man without fazing in the least. ¡°Wounding each other?¡± Blue Ocean shook his head and smiled: ¡°You are overestimating my strength. Duke, with my ability, it would be quite a miracle if I was to be able to face a few rounds with him when his strength is intact!¡± ¡°But just now¡­¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart sank. ¡°Just now¡­¡± Sighing: ¡°The one to stand here just now isn¡¯t the real White River¡¯s Sorrow. Due to a very special reason, he¡¯s not able to take a step down from the Snowy Mountain! He may be limited in his movement, but every ten years he¡¯s able to use a unique spell to seize and attach his soul to another body. So in order toe here, White River¡¯s Sorrow borrowed the body of one of the apprentices under him with a limitation. The spell onlysts three months before it expires.¡± Paused for a moment, he bitterly chuckled: ¡°Fortunately, this method of possessing another body only allows him to utilize no more than twenty to thirty percent of his powers. Otherwise, I would¡¯ve never been able tost this long and became a corpse years ago.¡± Twenty to thirty percent?!! Cold sweat overtook Du Wei immediately. Twenty to thirty percent? Then¡­ If White River¡¯s Sorrow were to be in his perfect condition, wouldn¡¯t he be as crazy strong as that old dragon in the north? To think a human being can reach that level, is it even possible? ¡°He is indeed a genius among geniuses, a being born to grasp onto true power! When we were following our teacher together up on the Snowy Mountain, his martial art was stronger than any of us. Whether it be magic or martial techniques, he only needed one demonstration to master it. Then at thirty years of age, his strength finally surpassed our teacher! No one on the Snowy Mountain could deny his status as the strongest!¡± Gently sighing with a regretful tone: ¡°Pity though, he has a fatal weakness in his personality and that is: arrogance! His arrogance is deeply ingrained into his very core, the blood, the bones, his soul, everything! But even so, I have to admit he does have the capital to be arrogant. Looking back at the past three hundred years of history in thesends, I say there isn¡¯t a single being who could evere close to him inparison¡­¡± Hesitating, Blue Ocean continues anyways: ¡°Maybe-maybe that person from a millennium ago will be a match, King Aragon might be able to stand up to him! He often mentions this, ¡®if only he was born a thousand years ago¡­ then the person to be the strongest under the stars would be his¡¯.¡± If this statement was said by another person, Du Wei would definitely scoff it off as a joke andugh his teethes out! However, the words areing from this famed and knowledgeable schr, then that¡¯s enough reason to put some weight into it. ¡°In truth, even if he uses this spell to possess a body to seek me out, he can easily kill me regardless of the limitation in his powers. As you saw earlier, regardless of what I did, he can easily dispel my attacks. But he¡¯s too arrogant with too much pride! Knowing this fact, I took advantage of this and cheated him into making a vow. That is, if he¡¯s going to kill me, he needs to take my life while keeping himself unharmed! Otherwise, he cannot kill me if I manage to injure him. Haha¡­. If not for this oath, I would¡¯ve been dead for decades!¡± Chapter 303 part 1 Chapter 303 ¡°Naturally Strong¡± (part 1) Despite the old man¡¯s voice growing weaker by the moment, Blue Ocean didn¡¯t seem to have the slightest intention of resting. Slowly sitting down, he first recoups his breath before making a weak smile at Du Wei: ¡°Duke, aside from inviting you here today to be a witness, I also like to ask you to listen to some details regarding the Snowy Mountain.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Du Wei frowned. ¡°It¡¯s because ¡­ Duke, aren¡¯t you interested in the Snowy Mountain? Speaking of it, I fear the matter is somehow rted to you too.¡± His voice became ever so weak. Instead of being surprised, Du Wei¡¯s heart became calmer now that he¡¯s heard this. At least he wasn¡¯t called here to be secretly killed. That grey robe servant who led him here had long been knocked out by Blue Ocean prior to the battle with the Shaman King, so in this small building right now, there¡¯s only Du Wei and the old schr still awake looking at each other¡­. ¡°For many, many years now, the great Snowy Mountain has been regarded as the holynd and guardian deities of the grasnd in the eyes of the prairie people. No matter where the shamans of the Snowy Mountain walked, they would be looked at with awe and respect. What¡¯s more, the Shaman King¡¯s status is universally recognized among the prairie people as the personification of the gods themselves in the secr world!¡± Bitterly chuckling, Blue Ocean smiled wryly: ¡°But, when ites to the origin of the Snowy Mountain Sect itself, no one knows for certain of where we came from. And the strangest part is¡­ Duke, don¡¯t you find it odd that the people of the grasnd look so different from those up on the Snowy Mountain? The people in the grasnd usually have t noses with brown eyes and brown skin, meanwhile the majority of the people in the Rnd Empire have high noses with blue eyes and white skin. If we mustpare simrities, you can even say the residence of the Snowy Mountain with their high nose and deep eye sockets resembles more closely to those from the Rnd Empire. Isn¡¯t that strange? The guardian deities of the prairie grasnd look more like foreigners than the indigenous locals. As the most mysterious and mystical ce on the grasnd, the martial art and magic we practice up in the Snowy Mountain is also vastly different from those used by the locals. Regarding this difference, not even the residence living up there knows why, nor does the records saved over the millenniums give enough details to this mystery. It¡¯s as if everything just suddenly happened all of a sudden from ancient times, like the lineage of the Snowy Mountain just popped out of existence. How did the Snowy Mountain Secte to be, why did they settle up on the Snowy Mountain, and what sort of people were the earliest settlers, none of that is recorded in the old history texts. But in my personal opinion, this is just spection though¡­ we of the Snowy Mountain aren¡¯t actually guardians of the prairie people and that the natives of the grasnd are in fact the true indigenous residence of that region. What we know of the current Snowy Mountain Sect is in fact foreigners thatter migrated up to the Snowy Mountain from a far-offnd.¡± Speaking up to here, Blue Ocean¡¯s face became a little strange when Du Wei interrupted the old man: ¡°Migratedter on? You mean the exiled races?¡± Blue Ocean¡¯s eye lit up: ¡°Hmm, so you also know about the exiled races. These tales and legends passed down from ancient times are unfortunately mostly iplete so I don¡¯t know much either. However, you can say that¡¯s a possible theory. Whether or not the first settlers of the Snowy Mountain are in fact one of those banished races is up for debate, but I do know that after so many years down the road, the blood running through the veins in the people up there are without a doubt genuine denizens of the Rnd Continent. There are naturally some shamans specializing in roaming the secr world, but that doesn¡¯t mean other shamans wouldn¡¯t on asione down from the mountain. During those periods, if the shaman in question finds a good seedling with good posture and talent, the shaman would bring the child back with them for cultivation. It¡¯s just that once selected, the child¡¯s memory would be wiped clean using special means only known by the Snowy Mountain! This is to keep the Snowy Mountain¡¯s independence from outside forces!¡± Du Wei nods in acknowledgement. ¡°My original name is not called Blue Ocean. ¡®Blue Ocean¡¯s Moon¡¯ is my real name.¡± He sighs and speaks in a whispering tone: ¡°My name was given to me by my teacher. Looking at it from my appearance, I should¡¯ve been a citizen of the Rnd Empire but waster brought to the mountain by a wandering shaman.¡± Hearing this, Du Wei hurries to ask: ¡°Blue Ocean¡­ Umm, Mr. Blue Ocean¡¯s Moon, is there not some sort of inheritance up there in the Snowy Mountain?¡± ¡°You mean¡­¡± Du Wei smiles: ¡°ording to what I know, there are female disciples up there so wouldn¡¯t some of the couples in the mountain produce some kind of offspring? That way around, wouldn¡¯t they rather focus on their own descendants instead of selecting some unrted person from below? Like you for example. As a child, you wouldn¡¯t understand the pain of being taken away from home, but your parents do. Having one¡¯s child ripped away from them must¡¯ve been a sad turn of events! Such a practice is really contemptible to me.¡± Blue Ocean¡¯splexion became a little strange as he hesitated in his reply: ¡°There¡¯s an iron d rule up in the Snowy Mountain. As a member of the Snowy Mountain Sect, one cannot marry or have offspring¡¯s, only forever fated to train and cultivate one¡¯s mind and body! Something like rtionships and feelings between male and female is strictly forbidden; otherwise the consequences will be dire.¡± This ideology was greatly looked down upon by Du Wei: ¡°This sort of cultivation is too sickly and messed up.¡± ¡°You are a magician yourself so you should understand. The majority of the mages out there will never marry or have children, spending their entire life in the research of magic and its mystique. The disciples of the Snowy Mountain Sect aren¡¯t much different from that if you want to look at it that way.¡± Getting up to this point, Blue Ocean didn¡¯t want to contend with Du Wei on this topic and made a smile: ¡°Duke, I¡¯m too weak to debate with you on this so please, don¡¯t interrupt me and let me finish my story.¡± Now Du Wei didn¡¯t know whether he shouldugh or to cry¡­. Gotta listen to a story again? First was the Temple¡¯s story, then the Royal Families story, and now the Snowy Mountain Sect¡¯s story? ¡°My memory before the age of eight ispletely nk.¡± A glimmer of nostalgia passed through Blue Ocean¡¯s eye. Slowly whispering, he continued: ¡°Because once I entered the Snowy Mountain, all of my prior memories till then were erased! Among our group of children that year, only three of us were eventually selected and were considered to be very good and talented. And as fortune would have it, the leader at that time, the former Shaman King, selected us as his direct disciples. Our teacher is called Gu Lanxiu, and he is the Snowy Mountain¡¯s Shaman King. In my memories, he is a very kind person, at least in front of us disciples he were. I remember my name was also coined by him. At our first meeting, I was still very young so I only thought the scenery of the drifting snow around me was very beautiful. In front of my teacher, I was smiling the entire time, hence the ¡®Moon¡¯ word in my name. As for White River¡¯s Sorrow, his face was very cold even from back then. Our teacher only needed one look at him to realize it. Sighing, our teacher then said ¡®I fear this child will never be able to be happy in his entire lifetime¡¯, hence the ¡®Sorrow¡¯ word in his name.¡± Du Wei had long known about the former Shaman King¡¯s name and the booklet in his possession was also written by that Gu Lanxiu fe. As such, it came as no surprise to Du Wei that Gu Lanxiu had three disciples in his lifetime. But of course, he¡¯s not going to start running his mouth and reveal what he knew. Deliberately making a face of intrigue, Du Wei asked: ¡°Third disciple?¡± ¡°The third disciple was a man of decisiveness and strong will, so, his name included the word ¡®resolute¡¯. The full name for the three of us went like this: Blue Ocean¡¯s Moon, White River¡¯s Sorrow, and Scarlet Water¡¯s Resolute. Exnation time: Blue Ocean¡¯s Moon = the crescent moon¡¯s reflection in the ocean looks simr to a smile, meaning this person is a happy fe. White River¡¯s Sorrow = what this meant is the sadness in the flowing river of spirits that will never end. Scarlet Water¡¯s Resolute = this is just bad naming scheme again by the author but the meaning is that the person is a man of perseverance and unyielding nature. After giving us our names, I then remember teacher Gu Lanxiu testing the three of us separately. The first one to test was me. Teacher brought out a skull g, a scimitar, and a book for my choosing. I did not hesitate, I chose the book right away¡­ I don¡¯t know, maybe it¡¯s my nature propelling me into it. Therefore, teacher thought my character was more suited to learn about things in the books. For many years since then, I delved myself into all sorts of fields: astrology, geography of the maind, history, medicine, and all sorts of things normally not taught in school. I fear that the library collection in the pce would pale inparison to what I had at my disposal back then. Teacher was also a great help during my learning with his vast knowledge, answering any questions I had along the way. It can be said that what I am today is thanks to my teacher and his tutorship. After that teacher continued with the testing, asking White River and Scarlet Water to step forward with their choices. Of the two, White River didn¡¯t budge at all when told to, only standing there silently while Scarlet Water moved as instructed to take up the scimitar. Then when its White River¡¯s turn to pick, there was only the skull g left. The skull g represented the shaman craft of the Snowy Mountain while the scimitar symbolizes the martial art. Since the scimitar was taken, that left White River with only the shaman craft. But what happened next on that day left such a strong impression on me that I cannot ever forget even to this day! The youngest of us three, White River, picked up the skull g and then turned to Scarlet Water to demand the scimitar too! As a child, Scarlet Water would of course not be willing with his young temperament. So, without hesitation, White River sent a punch right into Scarlet Water¡¯s face and made him cry, snatching the scimitar away in the process. Watching this unfold on the sideline, our teacher only sighed and then asked White River a single word, why? White River then answered our teacher, ¡®if I must learn then I must learn them all, otherwise how am I supposed to surpass teacher in the future?¡¯ To think an answer like that cane out of a child that barely graduated from their mother¡¯s milk. It¡¯s truly shocking. At the beginning both me and Scarlet Water didn¡¯t like him very much because White River was simply too proud of himself. Butter on, the facts proved he did have the ability to be arrogant and proud. In reality, teacher never intended to only teach us one thing when he tested us, it was merely to examine our characteristic nature. When it came to actually learning, there were no limits. Shamanism, martial art, knowledge, we were taught them all without exception or bias. It¡¯s just that White River¡¯s outstanding talent became apparent very soon, overshadowing every one of us! Whether it¡¯s geography, astronomy, history, and other misceneous things, he would be able to learn it very fast¡­ far faster than I and my junior can handle. Unfortunately, he never held any interest in those things so often after learning it, he would not continue the study in that subject. In the end, he will only ¡®know¡¯ without ever truly understanding the field. In addition to his outstanding academic abilities, he also had amazing talent when it came to martial art and shamanism! For a single shaman spell, I and Scarlet Water would need over a month or two to be able to use it, but White River, he only needed a demonstration to be able to use it after a few days of practice. You know about the Ice Dou Qi we of the Snowy Mountain Sect like to use? I feel ashamed just bringing that up. I needed three years to master the basics while my junior needed two years, that¡¯s already considered very fast by normal standard. But White River, he¡­ he only needed three months to raise his mastery to a level equivalent to a fourth rank swordsman!! This speed made even our teacher Gu Lanxiu fearfully surprised because never in history did our Snowy Mountain Secte out with someone so gifted! That¡¯s why I would say White River is a person fated to be strong! Indeed, he is a person at the epitome of arrogance and pride. We continued our trainings without incident until we were twenty years of age. In that year, our teacher came to us and gave each of us an evaluation. He said that if I, Blue Ocean, were to live in the outside world, whether it be academic knowledge or the tacticians of a ruler, none will be able to surpass my hand. Unfortunately, I am part of the Snowy Mountain Sect so my talents would never have the chance to showcase itself. But teacher¡¯s meaning¡­ it wasn¡¯t to pity me, rather it was his way of indirectly telling me he wishes for me to take over the post of being the next Shaman King. As the Shaman King, one is forever doomed to stay atop of the Snowy Mountain during their entire lifetime with no chance to ever enter the secr world. Even if White River¡¯s skill be more earth-shattering or heaven turning, it¡¯s pointless if he has no use for it while staying atop of the mountain forever. That¡¯s where I came in. Teacher felt my mind and heart was peaceful, a perfect fit for someone that must stay in one ce forever. And as for my junior, Scarlet Water, his shaman craft is the worst among us three with his martial talent second only to White River. During the sparring matches, I wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against White River while Scarlet Water can endure for a brief period before being defeated. As his name implies, Scarlet Water is a resolute person who wouldn¡¯t give up so easily. To make up for the shame White River gave him when we were young, Scarlet Water practiced day and night, year on end, all in order to reim the shame of that punch. His talent may not be as gifted as White River, but Scarlet Water¡¯s mastery of the Ice Dou Qi did eventually reach a very high level, proving his perseverance had paid off. Teachers also said that if Scarlet Water had left the Snowy Mountain and entered the secr world, he would without a doubt be an unparalleled master of a generation. And when it came to White River himself, teacher didn¡¯t get even get a chance to give an evaluation because White River asked a question first. At that time, he said, ¡®The three of us are indeed gifted, there¡¯s no doubt about this fact, otherwise teacher you wouldn¡¯t have taken us as you apprentice. But¡­. what point is there if we can¡¯t leave the Snowy Mountain? God ying magic, demon destroying techniques, heaven sundering power, what significance is there to all this when we are stuck like this? Since we are forever doomed to stay in one ce, is there supposed to be a difference if we learn or not learn? Our teacher couldn¡¯t answer that question and White River didn¡¯t press for an answer either, he only smiled while our teacher left the assessment alone. But when the next day came around after that question, White River announced a shocking decision! The decision left all of us thinking he¡¯s simply too arrogant and too proud despite his amazing talents. Because, he said that he will no longer continue his cultivation of the Ice Dou Qi!! Chapter 303 part 2 Chapter 303 ¡°Naturally Strong¡± (part 2) You must know, the Ice Dou Qi is a top ss martial technique polished through the ages of the Snowy Mountain! Du Wei, you saw how I fought today and Rodriguez¡¯s Ice Dou Qi, so you must know how amazing this skill is! But the twenty years old then White River shocked us all when he dered he won¡¯t continue cultivating it in front of everyone! We thought he went mad back then, but he then said to us, ¡®The so-called power, in spite of its ever-changing nature, is no more than a path. Only by grasping onto the rules of power will one grasp onto its truth! Ice or fire, what difference is there as long as one can master the rules?¡¯ When his reasoning came out, even our teacher Gu Lanxiu became extremely shocked because a person of that young age can figure out such deep knowledge on his own. I¡¯m ashamed to say¡­ Du Wei, it wasn¡¯t until I turn forty did I be enlightened to those words. White River¡¯s talent far exceeded ours, and the path he chose is far more difficult than what we will ever tread on! You saw his fire Dou Qi today right? The terrain of the Snowy Mountain is most suited for training the Ice Dou QI, but even so, White River said, ¡®If you want to master the rules, the most direct method is to break the rules and re-establish a new one!¡¯ Back then he chose a path we all thought was a path that went against the heavens: he wanted to carve out a new form of Dou Qi up in the frigid weather of the Snowy Mountain, the Fire Dou QI! And the results were¡­¡± Speaking up to here, Blue Ocean¡¯s eye became a little strange before he started to cough harshly, throwing up some blood once again. Unable to bear the sight, Du Wei whispered: ¡°Mr. Blue Ocean, why don¡¯t I first take you back to rest for now.¡± Shaking his head: ¡°Rest¡­ Humph, after a person dies they can rest all they want, why hurry to do that now? I¡¯m fine.¡± He then sighed: ¡°And afterwards the results were¡­ At that time, many of us felt he was crazy, but eventually all of these doubters were left eating their own words!¡± Growing bitter in his voice: ¡°Everyone is forbidden to privatelymit violence atop of the Snowy Mountain. If one does, the person responsible for starting it will be severely punished! However, this doesn¡¯t include the disciples in the sect from sparring with each other. It¡¯s just that, if you don¡¯t want to then no one can force you to take up arms. It can be said that although the ce is cold, but as long as you have a passive nature, you can also live a leisurely life without anyone provoking you. At twenty years of age, White River forfeited his Ice Dou Qi cultivation and never once showcased his strength in front of others for the next ten years! Gradually, many of us had forgotten about the once gifted young man thought to be the greatest talent we ever had. Many thought he had gone astray so his strength would¡¯ve certainly diminished, hence the reason why he never contested with the others. However, there¡¯s also a rule above the Snowy Mountain that once every decade, there will be a hugepetition between the disciples. At that time, the Shaman King will assess and judge the disciples before assigning them to various posts in the threeyers of the sect.¡± Regarding the threeyers of the Snowy Mountain, Du Wei had long learned about it from the female assassin¡¯s confession. Not making more questions, he only nodded. ¡°That year, when we were thirty years of age, we allpeted. Everyone thought White River had gone astray so no one expected him to show after ten years of istion at the peak of the mountain by himself. Yet it was on that year, White River he¡­ he made his move!¡± Closing his eyes, Blue Ocean¡¯s body began to slightly tremble. Clearly the event from the past had left a deep impression on this old man. Making a weak faint sigh: ¡°He gave up his cultivation of the Ice Dou Qi for ten years so we all thought he¡¯s not capable anymore, but the results shocked all of us! I and Scarlet Water found that his strength not only didn¡¯t decrease in the slightest, the gap between him and us became evenrger than what we could imagine!! I used my Ice Dou Qi to face him that day and couldn¡¯t evenst three exchanges before he tore apart my scimitar! And then when it came to Scarlet Water¡¯s turn to fight him¡­. Hehe, Scarlet Water¡¯s prestige among the other disciples were very high during White River¡¯s self-imposed istion. It¡¯s to be expected since Scarlet Water¡¯s (Rugaard) talent is extremely high, second only to White River, and it also helped when he never cked off in the slightest in all those years! In Scarlet Water¡¯s heart, he was hell bent on paying White River back for the shame he received during our childhood. But when it came to their duel, I knew then White River had gone easy on me. Not even one exchange, White River destroyed Scarlet Water¡¯s de and utterly crushed him under his feet without mercy! Afterwards, White River continued to face the others inbat with only one scimitar and one white robe on him. A total of eight white robe shamans eventually fell under his might in battle. Whether it be martial art or shaman craft, he only used his scimitar and the Ice Dou QI. But at that time, his strength had already stepped into the Saint level, making him invincible and without equal among the other disciples! After the defeat of the eight white robe shamans, he looked up at our teacher sitting on the stage with his arms crossed. Among those who lost to him were some that weren¡¯t willing to ept the results. These people went on to say, ¡®he¡¯s a treacherous viin who clearly went back on his words, iming he won¡¯t practice the Ice Dou Qi but had in fact been honing his Ice Dou QI for the past ten years! In spite of the insults, White River only smiled, ¡®people like you lot who only knows the form and cannot grasp the essence will never be able to understand the true nature of power!¡¯ No matter what everyone said, we all had to admit then that White River is the number one disciple of the Snowy Mountain. But at the end of the day where no one was willing toe challenge him anymore, White River only stood there in the field, refusing to step down. Finally, he raises his scimitar and points it at our teacher, Gu Lanxiu. The meaning of that pose in the greatpetition is ¡®challenge¡¯¡­ Everyone was shocked, cursing at him for being incredibly rude at the supreme Shaman King. But unlike the others, teacher only stood up slowly to nce at White River. In open view, our teacher actually epted the challenge. Since the beginning of the great Snowy Mountain, no disciple has ever openly challenged the Shaman King! But this time, the practice was broken by none other than White River! After that battle, we knew then White River was telling the truth. He easily defeated us not because he practiced the Ice Dou Qi, but because he mastered the rules of power! And in the face of teacher Gu Lanxiu, he finally revealed what he so painstakingly cultivated, the Fire Dou Qi by going against the heavens! In order to maintain a me under the frigid conditions of the Snowy Mountain, one must exert far more effort by condensing their energy in into a very small point. Compared to the Ice Dou Qi, the level of control required for the Fire Dou Qi is a miracle in itself. But he did it. White River did something we all thought to be impossible!¡± Du Wei finally couldn¡¯t resist his curiosity and asked: ¡°Then¡­ did White River lose?¡± Blue Ocean shuts his eye again and shakes his head: ¡°No ¡­ It was my teacher who lost, it¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°Just what?¡± In a sigh, Blue Ocean continues slowly: ¡°The duel between them¡­ It¡¯s a shame we weren¡¯t at their level back then and couldn¡¯t see through their amazingness. Both are masters of the rule of power so their fight wasn¡¯t as shy as what you would expect.¡± At those words, Du Wei immediately remembered the battle of Blue Ocean and White River from earlier. ¡°¡­. We could only see their movements juggle between fast and slow at times. Out of all their exchanges, I fear all of us couldn¡¯t even make out half of it. One afternoon down, teacher Gu Lanxiu finally cuts down White River¡¯s scimitar and splits it in two. We all thought White River lost after that! Standing there, White River only stared nkly at the remaining part of his de in hand. Although we all thought he lost, but to be able to fight the Shaman King to such an extent, none of us could refute his ability and thought he fought admirably. However, after a while of silence, teacher Gu Lanxiu uttered a sentence that none of us expected, ¡®You won, I lost.¡¯ Hearing this, all of us became stunned. But White River only shook his head: ¡®A lost is a lost, and a win is a win. You¡¯ve cut my de in two so it¡¯s my lost.¡¯ Gu Lanxiu: ¡®My weapon is the Beauty under the Moonlight while your weapon is amon scimitar. In terms of weapon, I¡¯ve been fighting with an advantage over you.¡¯ White River: ¡®Even if so, I still can¡¯t be regarded as the number one master of the Snowy Mountain. My martial art may be higher than teachers, but my shaman craft is far inferior to yours!¡¯ After stating this, White River leans down to the ground and picks up the other half of his destroyed de and stores it away. Smiling, he then said to our teacher, ¡®Teacher, this is my first defeat in my life so I will keep this de safely away as a reminder of today¡¯s defeat. Ten years from now, let¡¯s fight again.¡¯ With that said, he drifts away like the falling snow of the mountain! And in the following ten years, he no longer practiced his martial art and focused entirely on his shaman craft¡­. The only thing out of the ordinary was the broken de. He re-forged it and continues to use it to this day!¡± Captivated by the story, a sense of respect gradually blossomed in Du Wei¡¯s heart for this man. A extremely prideful person with amazing talents and abilities, how can one not show a hand of respect? ¡°Then what happened ten yearster? White River, did he¡­.¡± Blue Ocean suddenly opened his eyes and looked straight at Du Wei: ¡°Hmm, you guessed it, ten yearster he once again challenged our teacher! It¡¯s just that none of us could¡¯ve have foreseen the end results that day!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Du Wei went into high spirit: ¡°What exactly happened?¡± Though Blue Ocean seems to be smiling, but his smile was very bitter: ¡°Since ten years ago on the day of thatpetition, none on the mountain dared to look down at White River again. Even Scarlet Water fell into despair afterwards and needed a whole year before he managed to regain his spirit. Though White River hasn¡¯t in name be the Shaman King yet back then, everyone knew it¡¯s just a matter of time before he inherits the title! Another ten years down came the arrival of the nextpetition. Everyone was filled with expectations that day. All of us wanted to see how much progress White River has made this time around. Strangely enough, on that day none of us bothered to contest with one another. It¡¯s like an unsaid rule was in ce as we all waited for White River¡¯s emergence! Under the gaze of the hundreds of disciples of the Snowy Mountain, White River was thest to arrive but was also the first to step into the arena. It¡¯s been a long time since he showed up in front of someone, but his majestic image back then with the scimitar in hand and the snow like white robe he wore was too impressive to forget. But this time around, his appearance confused us all. He had long hair hanging over his face, a scruffy beard, and dirty clothes that looked like he hasn¡¯t bathed in years. If one stood close enough, they could even smell a sour odor. Only thing was, those eyes are still the same like the scimitar he used ten years ago. Then finally, he went to the middle of the arena and said to the former Shaman King, ¡®Teacher, I¡¯vee.¡¯ And then¡­ Just like ten years ago, teacher Gu Lanxiu epted his challenge¡­ But this time, what we thought would be an even more exciting confrontation turns out to be¡­¡± Blue Ocean¡¯s face muscles began to jump erratically, his eyes shing a glimmer of despair! ¡°My teacher, the supreme Shaman King, Gu Lanxiu! In the face of his disciple for the first in ten years¡­ Hehe, we kept an hourss to one side for the fight. If I¡¯m not mistaken, there should¡¯ve been enough sand in there for a meal¡¯s worth of time. White River didn¡¯t even unsheathe his scimitar and still managed to deflect all of our teacher¡¯s attack with the legendary sword Beauty under the Moonlight! Not even a third of the sand had leaked down yet and a winner was already decided. My teacher did his best, utilizing both martial art and shamanism to the finest, but incredibly, he couldn¡¯t evenst that much in front of White River!! Finally, teacher sat there on the ground and looked at his apprentice: ¡®You are the strongest master on the Snowy Mountain, what now?¡¯ White River didn¡¯t even return teacher¡¯s gaze, instead, he only looked nkly at the environment when he suddenly uttered a sentence. That sentence¡­ even to this day I can still remember it clearly in my dreams!¡± ¡°What did he say?¡± He said: ¡°What a pity, there¡¯s not a single person left in this world who can make me draw my de!¡± Chapter 304 part 1 Chapter 304 ¡°Captured¡± (part one) Blue Ocean didn¡¯t have the heart to keep going once the story reached up to here. Meanwhile on the side, Du Wei was soul-stirringly moved by the story and couldn¡¯t resist imagining the scene of a white figure standing alone up in the mountains with his scimitar in hand, sighing in great regret as he peered down the icy slopes. Such a person, whether it be friend or foe, deserves one¡¯s admiration! Whispering: ¡°White River, he¡­ he is indeed a man of a generation. My teacher Gu Lanxiu is already considered to be the greatest Shaman King in the past three hundred years, but it turns out White River is far more amazing then he! I and Scarlet Water may have suffered defeat at his hands several times, but we are convinced that the both of us can never defeat him in our liftetime.¡± Du Wei ponders for a moment and said: ¡°This man is indeed extraordinary¡­ Just that, he may be glorious above the Snowy Mountain, but to say no one in this world can force him to draw his de is a little presumptuous¡­. With the world so big, there are many amazing characters out there like for example, Gandalf the number one magister, and the mysterious Pope of the Temple. He didn¡¯t fight these people so how can he im to be number one so easily?!¡± Blue Ocean shook his head: ¡°With his temperament, he¡¯s certain to break away from the Snowy Mountain if no one can suppress him. People like Gandalf the Magister and the Temple¡¯s Pope, he will of course go knocking at their doors for a challenge¡­. But he never had the chance!¡± Du Wei immediately remembered, this daring to the extreme Shaman King seems to be unable to step down from the Snowy Mountain due to some special reason and can only do so every ten years by possessing another body. ¡°This incident happened after he defeated our teacher. White River¡¯s dominatingly strong so there¡¯s no way he will obediently submit to someone inferior to himself. He might have if there was still someone above him, but once he defeated our teacher Gu Lanxiu, there was none left capable of stopping him. Moreover, the great Snowy Mountain¡¯s foundation may great and profound, but the Ice Dou QI and Shaman craft you saw was merely a tip of the iceberg in this world, there¡¯s no way he¡¯s going to be satisfied with only that much. Aside from defeating our teacher, he was also determined to snatch away the title of Shaman King from our teacher! Ambitious and young, White River wanted to achieve great things! However, all these ideas went against everything the Snowy Mountain stood for so our teacher Gunxiu refused him. It¡¯s just that, White River¡¯s power was too immense. The three of us, Scarlet Water and I, plus our teacher, all three us of ganged up on him for a final showdown to be utterly defeated! Among the eight great white robe shamans under the former Shaman King, White River managed to y six of them. Helpless to do anything, our teacher Gu Lanxiu used thest of his powers to trap White River to bide me and Scarlet River enough time to flee. Prior to our departure, teacher confessed to us: unless we can ovee White River in our lifetime, never return to the Snowy Mountain. Considering his temperament, there¡¯s no way he would let us off. But as long as we don¡¯t return to the Snowy Mountains, then our life won¡¯t be in danger. At the time I didn¡¯t understand the meaning behind those words until teacher revealed to us the curse of the Snowy Mountain! The people who founded the great Snowy Mountain, it¡¯s unsure how they managed such a great feat, but to prevent future generations frommitting genocide against each other and those below, a special curse was ced inside the shamanism techniques taught to all disciples. From the very beginning of their training, all those whom learned shamanism is imprinted with a powerful curse regardless of their abilities. The more powerful one¡¯s shaman craft bes, the more severe the curse are! As long as one is a disciple of the Snowy Mountain, they are not allowed tomit violence in private or go on a killing spree, this is an iron d rule from ages past! If someone breaks this rule and kills one of our own, the curse will immediately take effect. Even for someone like White River, who¡¯s power is beyond words, can¡¯t rid himself of the shackles of this binding! In order to rob our teacher of the Shaman King position, White River went on a killing spree and immediately triggered the curse. Teacher told me, one of the most terrifying effects of the curse is being able to cause a person to instantly age like they were poisoned by time itself! Every second, every minute, the body would rapidly age until they perish. No matter how tenacious and strong your body was, that person will certainly die in half a day! Just that, this White River simply can¡¯t be judged bymon logic. He relied solely on his own strength to fend off the curse! That day when we fled from the mountain we already expected it. Someone like that, someone with such extraordinary power, couldn¡¯t possibly be killed by only a curse. As a result, I did not immediately leave the grasnd after fleeing down from the mountain, I stayed for several more days to eventually learn of my teacher¡¯s fate. White River, he¡­. he broke through the seal and killed my teacher! Teacher Gu Lanxiu met his end by falling down the mountain cliff, leaving not a body behind for a grave. Then using his tyrannical strength, White River yed anyone left who defied him and then suppressed the remaining people left alive willing to yield. Only like that did White River win over the seat of the throne. I knew it, I knew that the curse couldn¡¯t possibly kill someone like that! When I and Scarlet Water got the news, both of us fell into despair! After a long discussion, we ended up deciding to return to the Snowy Mountain to inquire about the situation. I wanted to go back up there with him, but he said to me, ¡®Only you and I are what remains of teacher¡¯s line. If you and I both perish up there, who¡¯s going to continue teacher¡¯s legacy?¡¯ So, Scarlet Water decided to return on his own while I waited. Three dayster he returned with serious injuries to his body, he was very close to dying! At that time I was very worried about White Rivering down to chase us so I hurried to leave with my junior, but then Scarlet Water said to me in a happy voice, ¡®don¡¯t bother to run, he can¡¯t catch us!¡¯ I asked carefully, that¡¯s when I learned the harvest this time was quite shocking! So what happened is that White River may be able to resist the curse, but he couldn¡¯t dispel it! In less than a day after White River went on his killing spree, the curse began to take effect. To circumvent the aging process of the curse, White River found an ice cave above the mountain and using the perennial frost of the snow, he ced his body in a stasis mode to suppress the effect of the curse! He seeded, but the price to pay was that White River could no longer take a step out of that cave again! At that time when Scarlet Water learned of this news, he immediately got the idea of going off to kill White River, thinking he¡¯s weak and ripe for the taking. But once inside the cave, the harsh truth of reality kicked in again. Aside from being unable to leave the cave, White River was free to roam inside as he please. Although Scarlet Water wasn¡¯t his opponent, but he¡¯s also teacher¡¯s disciple. With only escape in mind, it¡¯s possible for him to make it out of the cave alive. That¡¯s when we came up with the idea. Since White River couldn¡¯te out of the cave, the two of us can return to the mountain at once and regather our forces to fight! But the world is cruel¡­. and I was wrong! White River couldn¡¯te down in the flesh, but even back then he had mastered one of the most profound shamanism spells possible: soul possession! He could note in person, but he could easily grab a disciple to temporarily possess the body! The moment Scarlet Water fled from his grasp, White River had already made ns to possess a body toe pursue us! We are afraid of him, but in fact he also feared us! This soul possession spell can onlyst for a short period and can¡¯t be constantly used. He feared that once we get far away he won¡¯t be able to kill us, then we would be privy to return and cause a revolt in the sect. So, he needed to kill us then and there! We endured a big battle after being caught under the mountain, fortunately, the soul possession spell was wed from the very beginning of its inception. Because he only recently mastered this spell, he could only retain about ten percent of his ability! Back then I and Scarlet Water were both not at the Saint ss level yet, but even with merely ten percent of his power, the two of us couldn¡¯te out on top, nor could he kill us. White River¡¯s been a proud person all his life. We hated him but we also knew he¡¯s not one to go back on his words. At the time he did not hide his intent and said, ¡®once I return to the ice cave and cultivate some more, I will definitely pursue you two endlessly until both of you are dead!¡¯ And on our end, if we disregarded our lives and ced everything on the line, it¡¯s possible for us to make him stay forever by paying a heavy price. Stuck in a deadlock, I and Scarlet River came up with a scheme, a scheme to make him take a vow! Finally, the three of us took an oath. He cane take our life whenever he wishes, but because of his pride, I forced White River to swear that unless he can defeat us unscathed, he cannot take our lives even if he defeated us in battle! And like his arrogant and prideful self, White River took the oath on the spot. And for I and Scarlet Water, unless he died, the two of us will never step into the Snowy Mountain ever again! As a result, White River turned back immediately while the two of us fled the prairie. It¡¯s just that¡­¡­ Later, I and Scarlet Water experienced a breakup due to differing opinions. Scarlet Water¡¯s temperament was always strong and tenacious, but after experiencing one downfall after another, his personally gradually became extremely gloomy. Back at the Snowy Mountain there remains a lot of secret and hidden treasures inside the peak top. But due to the lock ced on it, only the legendary sword Beauty under the Moonlight can open it. This legendary sword was gifted to me by teacher prior to our escape, and Scarlet Water wanted to use this to open up the door to the secret chamber containing the treasures of the Snowy Mountain Sect. If we did that then it means we will have a chance to stand up to White River again. I refused this request right away. Firstly, teacher said it already, never to return to the mountain. Secondly, we will be breaking our oath with White River. Considering that person¡¯s strength, its likely we will meet our doom long before we can do anything substantial. I¡¯m not afraid of dying, but with only the two of us remaining back then, I can¡¯t allow teacher¡¯s legacy to end with me or Scarlet Water. I and Scarlet Water ended up in a quarrel eventually, and to make things worse, my junior wanted to forcefully take the sword from under me. After I saw through his n, the two of us almost broke out into a fight, then finally we departed and went our separate ways¡­ It¡¯s a shame, to think the three of us from the same school would have such an ending. I was despairing and couldn¡¯t bear to stay in the grasnd. Making up my mind, I packed what little that I had, I changed my name and settled in the capital of the Rnd Empire. At the beginning of the first ten years here I spent day and night cultivating my powers in hopes of one day oveing White River. Then suddenly I did it, I advanced into the Saint rank. But fate is cruel. After I advanced, I thought back to the day when White River faced off against teacher. The strength he showed and the scene of my teacher being defeated, I increasingly understood the gap between him and I were so big that I couldn¡¯t possibly ovee him!¡± Blue Ocean sighs as he says this, his face looking bleaker than ever. ¡°Then¡­ what about Scarlet Water?¡± Du Wei stiffens. Faintly smiling: ¡°Scarlet Water¡­. He¡¯s just like me, he resettled in the Rnd Empire after changing his name. But unlike me, he devoted himself to the political arena of the court. Hehe, he came to me and said, if you want revenge then we need more strength, it¡¯s impossible with only us two in our lifetime. But the umtion of hate in his heart over time has changed him, he¡¯s no longer the same Scarlet Water that I knew. He¡¯s too dark, taking his hate for White River and directing it at everyone atop of the Snowy Mountain. He said no matter how powerful White River gets, he can¡¯t ovee thebined might of every person on the continent. In the end, White River¡¯s but a person, not a god, he can¡¯t fend off millions of soldiers with only one person!¡± Hearing this, Du Wei¡¯s heart began to thump hard and loud because his mind suddenly thought of one person¡­. ¡°Can it be¡­ can it be that Scarlet Water, he¡­.¡± Blue Ocean slightly smiles: ¡°That¡¯s right, Scarlet Water is also in the Northwest right now. ording to the ranking of the military, he¡¯s themander of the Northwest Army using the name ¡®Rugaard¡¯. It¡¯s just that, my temperaments been gettingzy in recent years, but knowing him, he wouldn¡¯t have given up hope and would likely be training hard every day. I specte his strength should be far higher than my own!¡± Now the doubts and questions that¡¯s been guing Du Wei were finally solved. Chapter 304 part 2 Chapter 304 ¡°Captured¡± (part two) Rugaard! Rugaard, he is indeed a man of the Snowy Mountain Sect!! And a direct disciple of the former Shaman King at that, Scarlet Water!! Even his son, Cybuster, have already learned the Ice Dou Qi, wielding strengthparable to a ninth level swordsman! Just that, it¡¯s likely Rugaard and White River doesn¡¯t know this either, that year Gu Lanxiu didn¡¯t die after falling off the cliff! Like his disciples, he came to the Rnd Empire and took on a new alias to be the governor of Anglia City, building the underground catbs underneath the city in the meantime. And Du Wei, by luck or by fate, incredibly became Gu Lanxiu¡¯s fourth disciple after discovering the notebook left behind by the former Shaman King. But Du Wei¡¯s not going to divulge these secrets to Blue Ocean. Inwardly, he¡¯s still holding some doubt towards the people of the Snowy Mountain Sect regardless of what they say. Who could¡¯ve have thought the Snowy Mountain would be that powerful, four Saint ss warriors?! Though Rugaard never revealed his true powers while in my presence when I was visited to his base, but¡­. Blue Ocean already said it, that Scarlet Water already surpassed this old man. If so¡­. isn¡¯t this a little too overwhelming? Four Saint ss warriors dammit!! Think up to here, Du Wei rolled his eyes: ¡°Mr. Blue Ocean, I know there¡¯s always a price to be paid when listening to a story. I don¡¯t have much of a rtionship with the Snowy Mountain, so there must be a motive for you to call me here today to see this good show.¡± Blue Ocean¡¯s smile was very weak but very profound. Against this sort of person, Du Wei simply couldn¡¯t see through him. ¡°Your dukeship, I have lived in the empire all these years, to be urate, I¡¯m a citizen of the Rnd Empire to begin with and was only brought to the Snowy Mountain when I was young. Then at forty years of age, I returned to thend of my birth and lived here ever since. Now in my heart, I have long regarded myself as a denizen of this ce. I¡¯m just a decrepit old man your grace. Compared to my time on the Snowy Mountain, this ce gives meaning to my life. Every day I walk through the streets and see the smiles my neighbors give me, the respect my students give me, they are all sincere and kind¡­ In my heart, I¡¯ve long looked to this ce as my home.¡± Speaking up to here, Blue Ocean began coughing again with great difficulty: ¡°In this world, no one understands White River better than I. He¡¯s arrogant and proud to the extreme. Back then he questioned our teacher and gained unimaginable power, and eventually usurping the position of Shaman King too! But in the end what does it matter? He controls the throne to the Snowy Mountain but can only watch over that single ce, is there meaning to that? When he was young he mentioned something to me, andter in the years my heart would still tense up just thinking about it!¡± ¡°What did he say?¡± Du Wei asked. ¡°He said, ¡®I hear the Rnd Empire worships that whatever goddess of light¡­. Humph, what deity, I don¡¯t know who they are. If it was I, I wouldn¡¯t worship them even if the gods themselves stood in front of me! One day, I will make the world itself bow down at my feet! And the statues in the Temples will be carved in my image¡¯!¡± Blue Ocean bitterly smiles, ¡°When he said this he was but a teen¡­ But now, I¡¯m afraid it wasn¡¯t just a child¡¯s offhand remark. Du Wei, if it wasn¡¯t for the curse which forbade him from leaving the mountain every ten years, what do you think would happen? Once he unifies the horde of the grasnd, who can stop him in this world then when he mounts his invasion at the empire? He be unstoppable with forty thousand cavalries behind his back!¡± Thest part raised every fiber of hair on Du Wei, causing him to break into cold sweat!! Who can resist him? Who can resist White River?! In his mind, Du Wei was fast-forwarding through all the known peerless masters in this world. Hussein? Rodriguez? Both of them may be at the Saint ss, but Hussein and Rodriguez are about equal in strength, plus, Rodriguez is but a disciple taught by Blue Ocean. If the teacher can¡¯t stand up to White River, its needless to think the student can! Then¡­ Green Robe Gandalf? Thinking it over again, Du Wei shot down that idea too, The old geezer may be strong, but the current state of that old man isn¡¯t strong enough to be White River¡¯s opponent!!! Going back and forth in his mind, the only being that popped up as a possible candidate was¡­. Maybe in this world, mostly likely, only that old lizard living up in the north can stand up to White River!! Coming to this conclusion, Du Wei can¡¯t even fathom how terrifying it would be to face White River in person. How old is the old dragon again? And how long did White River live? Given enough time for him to grow, it¡¯s no exaggeration to say White River can mature to the degree of matching that bastard Aragon. Seeing Du Wei couldn¡¯t talk back, Blue Ocean bleakly sighs: ¡°In all these years White River and I met twice, and every time his strength continues to grow increasingly more powerful! In my view, the curse from the Snowy Mountain may be amazing, but my heart¡¯s been growing more and more unsettling inside. For a man like him, it¡¯s impossible to judge him withmons sense! I fear that one day the curse will lose its effect and at that time, there will finally be nothing left in this world to stop him. Once that dayes, the world will have to endure his might and the carnage of the native horde¡­¡± Reaching up to this point, Blue Ocean exhales deeply: ¡°Duke, back then I gifted you with eighty of my disciples is for these very reasons.¡± At that, he struggles to make a courteous bow: ¡°I¡¯m telling you all because I want you to know what sort of horrifying foe awaits you in the Northwest. I already consider myself a Rnd citizen; therefore, I absolutely do not want to see that fearful day in the future. Duke¡­ Please, no matter what you do, don¡¯t let the prairie people step through Mount Kilimanjaro!¡± This time Du Wei truly was moved, and in his heart he had gradually started to believe the old man¡¯s word based on those sincere eyes. Gritting his teeth: ¡°Mr. Blue Ocean¡­¡± ¡°Just call me Blue Ocean.¡± The old man faintly smiles, ¡°Since I¡¯m a citizen of thesends, then I¡¯m no longer Blue Ocean¡¯s Moon, only Blue Ocean.¡± ¡°Very well, Blue Ocean!¡± Du Wei slowly continues: ¡°Since White River is so powerful¡­ Then I don¡¯t believe you can¡¯t see through my ability, I¡¯m in no way his opponent. Why ce so high of a bet on me, aren¡¯t you afraid of losing everything?¡± Smiling, the wrinkles on the corner of Blue Ocean¡¯s wise eyes tightened: ¡°Duke, I¡¯ve met countless people over the years in the imperial capital, but never once did I meet someone like you who I can¡¯t see through. If I must go over the excellent individuals in the Rnd Empire, then only you are on the list. Hmm¡­ I met the regent when he was young too. He is indeed smart and very intelligent, but in my opinion, he¡¯scking in wisdom. Thenter you came to me, that¡¯s when I knew it must be you. Only you gave me hope when I saw you!¡± Pausing, he slowly raises his mouth into a smile: ¡°My apprentice Rodriguez handed you the sword Beauty under the Moonlight, I hope you will make good use of its secrets.¡± Du Wei skipped a beat: ¡°Your meaning¡­¡± ¡°The things with the Snowy Mountain is long past my times. I only want to live out my old age and do my part to keep the peace for all living things on thesends.¡± Showing an indifferent smile: ¡°That year Scarlet Water wanted to steal away the treasures left behind by the Shaman Kings of old, and this sword is the only key to opening the door behind the peak of the mountain. I thought about it afterwards and thought the idea was viable. It¡¯s just that, I was simply too disappointed by Scarlet Water¡¯s drastic change in his personality back then. If this sword were to fall into his hand, the danger he would pose may not necessarily be any less than White River. I swore to never step into the Snow Mountain again, so I won¡¯t break that oath! But you, you aren¡¯t bound by that oath! One day, take Beauty under the Moonlight to the Snowy Mountain and have a look at the scenery if you will!¡± Hearing this, Du Wei¡¯s expression couldn¡¯t keep calm anymore: ¡°Mr. Blue Ocean¡­¡± ¡°Say no more.¡± Blue Ocean exhales deeply: ¡°I know my own situation the best. In order to cope with meeting White River this time and to make him underestimate me, I¡¯ve been musing over many ideas and came up with this rejuvenation spell. The truth is, my body¡¯s already greatly damaged. Forget about living another ten years, I likely won¡¯t live for another few years before I go to the grave. With my remaining time left, let me enjoy being a leisurely old man.¡± Standing up, he humbly bows to Du Wei, his demeanor bing very rxed all of a sudden: ¡°Duke, this burden, I¡¯m sorry but I will have to hand it to you from today onwards.¡± Finishing, he bellowed out augh before suddenly grabbing for the unconscious grey robed servant over at the corner. Then floating down the staircase, he leaves Du Wei behind alone in the room. Quietly sitting there for a while, Du Wei suddenly made a wry smile: ¡°What a good Blue Ocean! What a good Snowy mountain! What a good White River!¡± He honestly didn¡¯t know what sort of expression to make right now, cry or tough? Looking at the empty room for a second time, he then got up to head downstairs. By the time he made it out onto the streets, the skies already lighting up with pedestrians graduallying out for the day. Since he¡¯s alone, Du Wei can only head for his residence by walking. But when he got to the small pathway next to his home, he only needed one more turn to make it to his front gate, a voice that sounded like it was affixed to the back of his head suddenly came from behind. ¡°Duke Tulip, I left in a rush earlier so I forgot, but now I do so I came back for you!¡± Du Wei numbingly gasped when the cold and indifferent voice fell into his ear. Looking back, a lone figure in white was standing less than half a foot from where he stood. If it¡¯s not White River then who else can it be?! ¡°The pet I sent my men to retrieve should be in your hands right? It¡¯s rare that I¡¯m able toe down from the mountain so I wanted toe find you, but the thought left my mind earlier because of all the rush. Now is perfect since you are here.¡± White River looked calm and indifferent,pletely different from earlier, even his body¡¯s been fully restored! In the face of such a powerful guy, Du Wei¡¯s expression changed several folds before he could break into augh, ¡°What a good White River! To think I held some admiration for you. Never would I expect someone like you to do something so low, waiting until Blue Ocean leaves to make trouble for me!¡± Not angry or happy, White River slowly spoke: : ¡°So young yet your psychological tricks are not bad. If I want to make trouble for you then it makes no difference if Blue Ocean is here or not. It¡¯s just that I like to keep my promises so I didn¡¯t want to act in front of him.¡± Finishing his words, he actually smiled at Du Wei: ¡°I heard quite a bit of your tales in the Northwest. So young. To think you can achieve so many incredible things and even take out a white robe. You are not bad.¡± He may be smiling at Du Wei, but the gazeing from this guy was no different from looking at an ant, indifferent and cold. Speaking in a mild tone: ¡°It¡¯s a pity to kill someone as interesting as you. Very well, if you give my pet back to me then I¡¯ll let you go. Otherwise, I will have one less interesting opponent in this world to y with. Don¡¯t you think a world without foes is a boring one?¡± After that, he only stood there in front of Du Wei, silently looking at him. Sweat came pouring out of Du Wei now for the red monster pet was in his magic storage bag right this instant! To tell the truth, Du Wei¡¯s not the type of tough guy to die to keep up his face, he¡¯s the adaptive type. Plus, Du Wei knows very well there¡¯s no chance for him to resist. Since the guy said he will leave once he returns the pet, then Du Wei¡¯s not going to doubt those words because he already learned this White River¡¯s the type to keep his promises. It¡¯s just that¡­¡­ how can Du Wei return it? That monster has long been subdued by him with a soul contract! If he wants to give the monster back, then he will need to first break the soul contract, and since when can a soul contract be so easily broken? Seeing the silence from Du Wei, White River made a ¡®ah¡¯ sound like he just got it. Smiling: ¡°I understand then. A little magician like you must have signed a soul contract right away after seeing such a good pet. Pity¡­ what a pity¡­¡± Shaking his head, he sighed before making a regrettable face at Du Wei: ¡°Then I¡¯m very sorry. Although you are quite interesting, but my pet is very important to me so I can only bring you back with me to the Snowy Mountain and attempt to split the soul contract from your body. Don¡¯t worry, I will do my best to not kill you and preserve your life.¡± Finishing his words, he didn¡¯t move and simply eyed Du Wei: ¡°Will youe with me on your own, or do you want me to do it?¡± Hesitating for a moment in his heart, Du Wei sighed helplessly, ¡°Do I have a choice?¡± As if smiling too at the question, ¡°Likely not.¡± Du Wei spreads his hand out: ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ I can¡¯t afford to offend an adversary like you. If you go crazy, I fear even the whole capital won¡¯t be able to stop you. I¡­ I will go with you¡­.¡± Nodding, White River simply turned his head and began making his way for the intersection. But with two steps out, he suddenly turned back to nce at Du Wei: ¡°I know what¡¯s on your mind, you want to firste with me and then find a way to escape at the first opportunity. But you better not get any funny ideas. Unlike you Rnd people, we do things differently. If my mood is good then I can be polite to you, but if you irritate me, I might just kill you then and there. I¡¯m sure you got friends and families around¡­ good, very good.¡± Now Du Wei¡¯s heart was sinking deeper and deeper for the guy read his mind. Originally the storage ring in his sleeve was fully loaded already, with one wave of his hand, a hail of fireball wille raining down. But against this foe, who¡¯s strength was terrifyingly high, Du Wei lost all hope. Then at this moment several voices came from the road behind the direction of the duke¡¯s manor, it¡¯s some of Du Wei¡¯s personal guardsing out from inside the residence. Since Du Wei was invited away prior to the rise of dawn, these guards naturally can¡¯t be at ease in spite of being ordered to return. Now that they are hearing voices from outside, it¡¯s to be expected that some of them woulde out to check: ¡°Your lordship, its wonderful that you are back!¡± Stopping fully in his steps, White River only smirked at Du Wei, awaiting what he will do next. Making his decision right away, Du Wei smiled wryly at the guards, ¡°You lot go back first, I suddenly remember I have something important to do. Also, none of you are allowed to follow me!¡± The order may being from Du Wei directly, but many of them found it strange and for those with keener eyesight, they can see how unnatural their lord was acting. Just as these men wanted to inquire again, Du Wei cut them off by saying: ¡°That¡¯s right, you guys hurry and fetch me some good horses! This here is my good friend, quickly now!¡± No other choice, the guards can only go back to fetch the horses. White River nods, indifference filling his eyes: ¡°Very good, you are smart. If you had done otherwise just now, your entire duke residence wouldn¡¯t have a single living soul left.¡± Du Wei smiled bitterly: ¡°The boss is always the one with the biggest fist. I¡¯ve known this truth for many years already.¡± Pausing for a moment, he shakes his head before sighing: ¡°I say boss, you can¡¯t expect me to walk to the Snowy Mountain with you, do you? Unlike you, I can¡¯t fly for thousands of miles without breaking a sweat. Since we¡¯re here already, we might as well take some of my horses, they are quite good and wouldn¡¯t lose out to the prairie variety.¡± White River seems to be pricking his brow at the suggestion, his eyes seemingly filled with interest: ¡°Very good very good! I rarelye down from the mountain so I didn¡¯t expect to encounter someone as interesting as you.¡± Shaking his head helplessly in response, ¡°On the contrary, it¡¯s my great misfortune to encounter you.¡± By now several of the guards have returned with some horses. Taking over the reins from his men, Du Wei made a ¡°please¡± gesture with his hand: ¡°I say boss, please go ahead and mount.¡± Not refusing, White River first mounted and went ahead without waiting for Du Wei. As one of the strongest beings on thisnd, White River didn¡¯t have to worry about Du Wei fleeing because he could easily catch back up to him in minutes! Bitterly making a smile at what awaited him, Du Wei waves his guards away and said: ¡°Well then, you guys go back first, I fear it will be several days before I can return again. If anyone asks, say I had some matter to attend to.¡± Du Wei knows very well even if he tells these guards his predicament, there¡¯s nothing they can do. Without another word, he kicked his horse to chase after White River. While on his horse, Du Wei¡¯s mind was working overtime, trying hard toe up with a n to escape. Going to the Snowy Mountain means I will have to go through the Northwest¡­. Aigh, in the end its Green Hat in the Northwest¡­ Perhaps I can make my escape with his help!! Otherwise, hmm¡­ trick this boss into going to the Northwest Army¡¯s base to be a guest?? General Rugaard, Senior Scarlet Water! No matter what, I¡¯m still the fourth disciple of our teacher Gu Lanxiu! As a junior, it¡¯s the senior¡¯s duty to help the youngest, right!! I got no other options but to drag you into the water with me¡­. Chapter 305 Chapter 305 ¡°Leave you your life¡± (Part one) The horses in the Duke¡¯s manor are naturally of superior quality. Back when Du Wei negotiated with the prairie prince forpensation, he had received a good number of ves and horses as promised in the deal. And as a show of respect, the prince also selected a couple of the finest prairie steeds for Du Wei himself. The timing of the day was still early in the morning so the gate had just opened with crowds of citizens lining in wait to leave the city for business. As a boss, White River couldn¡¯t care less about the rules. To this peerless master of the ages, he could easily destroy anything that hinders his path, soldiers or non-living entities, he only needs one palm strike to squash them like an ant. As the soldiers at the gate saw how careless White River was galloping over, totally disregarding the safety of the pedestrians, these guards immediately gathered around with their swords drawn in an attempt to stop the intruder at the intersection. But as a entric personal, White River couldn¡¯t care less and didn¡¯t make any efforts to stop or to slow down. Luckily these horses are well trained. Watching the soldiers in front, the horses themselves reduced speed and eventually came to halt of their own voalition. ¡°Who dares to sh with the gates of the imperial city, do you not want to live? Hurry and state your name!!¡± A junior officer loudly shouts this demand. Towards these lowly mortals, White River didn¡¯t even want to waste his words, let alone lift a finger. Du Wei, who¡¯s not far behind, would of course not dare let this Shaman King loose on the crowd. Hurrying to kick his horse¡¯s belly to pick up speed, it only took a few seconds for him to rush over. Reining his steed to a stop in front of the soldiers, he shouts: ¡°I am Duke Tulip and have urgent matters to attend to outside, hurry and get out of the way!¡± Du Wei¡¯s reputation in the capital was immensely popr, who wouldn¡¯t know his name? Also, this junior officer seems to have recognized his face so the guy immediately came forward with a face full of smiles: ¡°So it¡¯s your lordship, is this also yourpanion?¡± Du Wei¡¯s face turned dark: ¡°Quit it with the nonsense. Hurry and get out of the way, otherwise all your heads wouldn¡¯t be enough to pay the price.¡± As if a lowly officer like this guy would dare offend Du Wei. Hurrying to open a line in the crowd, this officer orders the gate to be widened enough to allow Du Wei and White River passage first. The pedestrians on the side would naturally be discontent over this treatment. Even so, White River didn¡¯t say a single word and lead the way out the gate without batting an eysh. ¡°What an arrogant guy. I¡¯ve seen many people in the high circle before, but even the nobles and royal family members aren¡¯t this arrogant.¡± The junior officer grumbles to himself. ¡°So many words, your mouth is better off sealed!¡± Du Wei red at the yapper mouth harshly scolding him in the process. His words may be mean, but Du Wei made sure to toss a couple of gold coins out from his pocket as he passed by: ¡°This is a reward for you to buy some drinks, from now on watch what you say.¡± At that, Du Wei himself also left, leaving behind the grinning to the balls officer at the gate: ¡°Duke is the greatest, knowing the pains we guards go through!¡± Just as the officer wanted to say some more ttery words, Du Wei¡¯s back was long gone. In this situation, Du Wei didn¡¯t have room to care about the emotions of the pedestrians for if this White River goes on a rampage, nothing can stop him! Their travel speed can¡¯t be called a thousand miles in one day, but it¡¯s still very fast considering the quality of these fine steeds. In just a few hours where the sun had just risen overhead, their distance from the imperial capital was very far already as they headed in the Northwest direction. Further ahead, a small town wasing into view. Getting a closer look, Du Wei knew then where they were at. This wasn¡¯t any special ce, it¡¯s the very same ¡°Flying Horse Hill¡±, orter renamed by the locals as ¡°Brokeback Mountain¡±. Speaking of this ce, its rather quite famous. This was the very same ce Du Wei first met with that Green Hat and the ce where Du Wei found little Vivian starving to death at night. And before that, through his conversation with QQ, Du Wei learned this ce was in fact the very same mountain from the stories of Mayuba receiving the miracle of the goddess. It¡¯s just that, the Temple¡¯s Canon may have records about the incident, but it never once named this ¡°Brokeback Mountain¡± as the location. Perhaps it¡¯s purpose was to protect this miraculous mountain. Otherwise, if everyone in the public knew of this fact, then the swarms of pilgrims on the continent would¡¯ve came running to this area, likely destroying it in the process. If that does happen, it be no different from a sphemy to the goddess herself. Coming into the town¡¯s outer premise, Du Wei kicked his horse to match White River¡¯s speed. With a smile: ¡°I say Mr. White, the day¡¯s not early anymore, why don¡¯t we find a ce in front to stay and to get some rest.¡± Shooting Du Wei a nce, this Shaman King speaks in a emotionless tone: ¡°Oh? Are you that impatient that you will try to pull a stunt now? This ce is still very close to the imperial capital, I thought you would at least wait until we reach the next city before trying to flee.¡± Du Wei silently cursed inside, but his face can only make the sincerest look he cane up with: ¡°Now this is just wrong. Mr. White, you are the world¡¯s number one master, in front of you, how can I possibly y games? Even if I try, does it look like I can be your match? You see,st night I spent the entire time drinking with my fellow peers and couldn¡¯t rest at all¡­ I may be a magician and could go without sleep for a night, but ordinary people still needs to eat. After drinking all night and then being called to witness your fight with Mr. Blue Ocean this morning, I still haven¡¯t got a grain in my belly yet¡­¡± Hearing this, White River first frowned before breaking out into augh: ¡°A person like you is too interesting, to think you cane up with such ideas while being a captive.¡± As if not in the slightest bit afraid of this guy, Du Wei smiled: ¡°Riding westbound to the northwest corridor will require no less than seven to eight days if we¡¯re fast, ten if we¡¯re slow. After that there¡¯s still the desert to cross, then the grasnd, and then finally the Snowy Mountain to climb. With my calction, it will take no less than a month to reach our destination, why rush? It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t have time. I heard from Blue Ocean you have three months until the spell wears off.¡± Hearing thest part, White River¡¯s eye instantly revealed a wisp of coldness, causing Du Wei¡¯s body to tremble slightly. Shaking his head to remove the difort, Du Wei continues with a forceful smile: ¡°Mr. White, it¡¯s rare for you to get a chance toe down from the mountain, why be in such a hurry to go back? Let¡¯s take some time to enjoy the scenery as we go travel, it¡¯s also a form of entertainment and enjoyment in life you know.¡± Appraising Du Wei up and down, White River suddenly makes a smile: ¡°Very well, your idea is quite interesting.¡± Finishing his words, White River suddenly raised a hand and gently pressed down at his horse¡¯s backbone! To be suddenly hit with a mountains sized pressure on its back, the horse suddenly issued out a long scream while in galloping speed. Then without another step forward, all four hooves of the horse stopped on the spot, unable to move an inch! Du Wei didn¡¯t have the same level of terrifying strength as White River. Hewing his horse to a slow stop, Du Wei looks further ahead and said: ¡°The town up there should have some ce to eat, let¡¯s go and see.¡± Then the two dismounted and slowly walked towards this town under the ¡°Brokeback Mountain¡±. The town wasn¡¯t far from the capital and was quite prosperous from first nce. After entering, the biggest building in sight would of course be the chapel belonging to the Temple of Light. The Temple of Light was at the zenith of its influence, leaving its mark everywhere across the continent with its chapels and cathedrals. This small town in particr was especially special because it was here that Mayuba, the first Pope of the Temple, received the goddess¡¯s miracle. Though the name of the location was concealed from public eye, but the internal structure of the Temple would of course know this fact. Therefore, the branch in this town was much different from the rest! Due to its close proximity to the imperial capital, all of the clergymen here are directly appointed by the main cathedral where the Pope resides. And because of that reason, though they are only known as regr officials in the Temple, every one of these faithful clergymen are elites among the elites, there are no weaklings here in this town. As luck would have it, Du Wei and White River came at the perfect timing for today was one of the two annual worshipping ceremonies taking ce per month. When they were walking by the chapel of the town, the streets outside were bustling with people, looking lively as ever. For this worshipping ceremony, every clergy inside the chapel would be required to wear a whole set of religious robes to preside over the event. By opening its door to the public, all believers are permitted on this day to enter the house of the goddess to worship her statue while at the same time preach the teachings of the Temple. In addition, several boxes would be ced in front of the chapel door because this worshipping ceremony also coincided with the timing of the temple¡¯s tax collection date. For this reason, all of the nearby faithful believes would gather at the chapel on this day to pay their religious taxes. For some that¡¯s more of a devout follower, these brainwashed fes would contribute extra taxes on the side. Unlike regr tax collection agencies in other small towns where they would need the local garrison to maintain order, this specific ce will only be guarded by the Temple¡¯s very own Holy knight¡¯s regiment. This would normally be against the rules, but whenever the datees around, the cathedral in the capital would find some excuse and send a team of Holy Knights to this small town all because of the significant meaning of this ce. Du Wei and White River was freely walking around the area when the auspicious hour was here. Ringing the giant bell hanging in the chapel¡¯s tower, the overcrowded followers began making their way towards the inside of the building with priests preaching at the doorway. And outside the main door, the team of Holy Knights in their silvery armor all dismounted after hearing the gonging sound of the bell. Facing the direction of the religious crowd, they raised one hand to their chest in an awe-inspiring salute. It didn¡¯t end there. Next to the tax boxes near the doorway, several clergies were busily epting the taxes of the followers like their hands couldn¡¯t even keep up. Watching this scene, White River¡¯s face immediately revealed a hint of disdain: ¡°Humph, only you Rnd people would believe these stupid gods.¡± Hearing thatment, Du Wei couldn¡¯t resist making a retort because he¡¯s also one of those Rnd people: ¡°Over at the prairie, I believe there isn¡¯t ack of believers of the Snowy Mountain among the regr herdsmen either.¡± Shaking his head, ¡°This is different from that.¡± He smiled coldly: ¡°The people of the grasnd believes in the Snowy Mountain, that¡¯s true, but we never levy a single penny from the people of the prairie! The iron rule of the Snowy Mountain, whenever a shaman descends into the mortal world, they are not permitted to receive any benefits from the people. Otherwise, they will receive severe punishment if found out! What our shamans drink is water. What our shamans use to travel is not carriages or horses, it¡¯s our own two feet¡¯s! When roaming the prairie, even if a herdsman offers our shaman a bowl of goat¡¯s milk, we must repay them with money! And if the herdsman was having difficulty with their livestock, like sickness and such, our shamans are obliged to take the initiative to help them without reward! These things, can any of your Rnd clergymen do?¡± Indeed, Du Wei was left speechless¡­ Looking over at the clergies standing at the chapel, which of them wasn¡¯t fat and healthy looking? The hard-earned money by the people are used to feed these religious worms every year¡­. Smiling, White River speaks again: ¡°If the gods love the people, be kind to the people, then there¡¯s no wrong in respecting them. But this Goddess of Light you Rnd people worship, what ounce of benefit did she give your people? What kindness did she bestow upon her children aside from asking for more?¡± Against those reasonings, Du Wei can only sigh¡­ These religious frauds, what good have they done for their people. Aside from the constant preaching of this and that, chanting this piece and that piece, and singing some hymns once in a while¡­. there hasn¡¯t been a single tangible good dead. Like this time for example. That Pope came forward calling for donations from its followers¡­ But did the temple ever take a penny out themselves? Humph, saying it prettily is ¡°calling for donations¡±, but to say it bluntly, why didn¡¯t you yourself donate a penny?! ¡°That¡¯s why you Rnd people are stupid.¡± White River sneered. Seeing the change in this boss¡¯s expression, Du Wei suddenly got a bad ominous feeling inside his heart. Sure enough, this Mr. White River really was fearless when his temper starts acting up! Although Du Wei also didn¡¯t find this scenery pleasing to the eye, but he doesn¡¯t have the chips to stand up to the Temple. The most he can do was to curse a few sentences in his mouth and call it a day! One careless daze in, Du Wei was already screaming ¡°not good¡± when he came back to reality! Seeing White River loosening his grip on the horse, this Shaman king swaggered towards the Chapel! Shocked with every hair on his body raised, Du Wei hurriedly chases after the guy. It may be crowded in front of the chapel, but who¡¯s White River? With an unknown method, the crowd was involuntarily split into two groups on each side, forcing a path open for himself. With the road cleared, this arrogant man came in front of the collection box. What¡¯s mostudable about all this was that the priest standing next to the box remains blind to the death staring his way. At first this priest was stunned by the white robe worn by White River, but after some careful examination, he realizes the gown wasn¡¯t the same style as the white robe normally worn by a magician or a priest. The clergyman pondered for a moment before putting on a pious face: ¡°Are you also here to contribute to the goddess? Very well, the goddess will bless you.¡± At that, this fool then grabbed for one of the talismans piled atop of a nearby table to pass it to White River. As if White River would look like someone wanting to donate. Facing the priest, he suddenly asked: ¡°I heard that the priests in the temple know some special skills known as Divine Spells, do you know them?¡± The clergyman was stupefied, but White River was done with him now. Stretching out two fingers like someone shooting out a bullet, this poor priest was immediately blown away like he¡¯s been rammed by a horse, mming right into the wall of the chapel behind him. Rolling his eyes white, this priest instantly fainted away, still pinned against the crater on the wall. Several of the priests were furious over the unprovoked attack, but White River didn¡¯t want to waste more work on these ignorant people. Pointing his fingers out again like before, around seven to eight of the clergies were sent flying with heavy injuries. The scene immediately exploded with screams and shouts everywhere as the people fled in a panicking frenzy. Losing his patience at the racket, White River mumbled: ¡°Fools.¡± With one wave of his sleeve, a giant torrent of wind came flying out, sending dozens of people across the air and thus emptying the entire area next to White River. ¡°Madman, how dare you make trouble in front of the chapel!!¡± One hollering call, more than ten Holy Knights came running over to stop the assant. The more agile nimble ones couldn¡¯t wait for the crowd to separate and leaped into the air to get the first strike in. Smiling in a mncholy fashion, ¡°So you lot are the Holy Knights? What a pity¡­¡± Shaking his head, its unsure if White River was disappointed over their skills or for some other reason. Surrounded on all sides, White River didn¡¯t pay heed to the swordsing down at his head; instead, he only made a slight turn of his body with his hand raised to make a small arc in the air¡­. Immediately, several of the Holy Knights could feel a gust of wind blowing into their face like des scratching at their skin! Subconsciously, some of the attacking knights promptly raised their swords in front of their body to block, but for those unfortunate enough to not realize this, they were blown away with heavy injuries. Vomiting blood afternding on the ground, these injured knights could only make onest disbelieving stare with their pale face before finally losing their breath. Then in the next second the only noise that could be heard was the sound of swords shattering to pieces, leaving only a handle behind in each knights hand. Everyone was dumbfounded right now as they looked at White River, unsure what to do next. Making a light smile: ¡°So this is the infamous Holy Knight of the Rnd Empire? Such a disappointment.¡± As soon as those words died down, a cold and loud voice reached everyone¡¯s ear: ¡°What arrogance! Heretic, where did youe from! How dare you show contempt for the goddess!¡± Chapter 305 ¡°Leave you your life¡± (Part two) Following the parting of the crowd, a tall knight strode forward. d in silver armor, this man was around thirty years of age, the prime of a man. The only issue was the paleplexion on that thin face, he looked a little sick. Du Wei originally nned to make a run for it when White River ran off to make trouble, but with one step out, a sharp voice directly went into his ears: ¡°If you dare run then I will cripple one of your legs!¡± This threatening voice would of course be from Mr. White over there! Sighing, Du Wei can only feel his scalp going numb as he obediently stood to one side. But when he noticed the identity of this new entry, his eyes lit up. The reasoning for his reaction was because he recognized this person! Back when his ship got intercepted at the river, the one leading the assassination on Archbishop Maximos was this very same man. Seventh rank knight of the Xieni faction, Geppede. Speaking of this Geppede, this guy really had some bad luck on his side. After failing to take Maximos¡¯s life and allowing the Archbishop to enter the capital city, this knight would naturally be reprimanded by his superiors. As for his injuries at the hands of Rhine, it wasn¡¯t that big of a deal, needing only a long rest to recuperate. However, due to the sensitive matter of the incident on the river, it¡¯s unavoidable that an investigation would ensue over the perpetrators. To avoid getting caught, Geppede¡¯s been ordered to leave the capital city and stay on a low profile for now. As coincidental as it may seem, this guy just so happens to be stationed at this town next to the Brokeback Mountain during the religious tax period. To his misfortune, this also collided with White River wanting to make trouble here, making his luck even worse than before. Geppede¡¯s been fuming over the greatest humiliation of his life thus far, and now that someone was making trouble in front of him today, its unavoidable that this seventh rank Holy Knight would want to vent some steam. If it were any other person from the Temple, Du Wei might¡¯ve attempted to save them based on his working rtionship with Maximos, but this guy was the enemy from the river. Knowing this, Du Wei simply kept his mouth shut and wanted to see a good show. Pulling out his sword, Geppede points it at White River with an angry face: ¡°Either you obediently kneel for your sins, or I will tie you up and take you back for punishment! Otherwise, for your desecration towards the goddess today, I will y you in her name. Know this, when ites to heretics, my sword never show mercy!¡± Making an indifferent smile, White River only looks at this fool: ¡°Howudable¡­ Based on what can you say I desecrated your goddess? It¡¯s strange I tell you. If your Goddess of Light were to stand before me today then I might show some respect towards her, but you¡­ you little small fries are quite interesting. I¡¯m clearly looking down at you lot, but when you can¡¯t fight back, you lot just hides behind your so-called goddess to scare the people.¡± Flying into a fit of rage, Geppede didn¡¯t waste another word and directly thrust his sword forward. Under his anger, the shy aura of Dou Qi on his sword caused a strenuous metal sound as he wielded it, thus making him look very valiant like a hero. Forming a smirk, White River snickered, ¡°Now that¡¯s a bit better, at least there¡¯s something.¡± Just as the sword was about tond, White River raises two of his fingers and clipped it in mid thrust! Greatly startled by the scene, Geppede knew now the foe cannot be taken lightly. Shocked and frightened, Geppede struggled repeatedly to make his sword move, but it was to no avail. Despite his aura rising to the point of showing a silvery light, the unique Dou Qi only used by the Holy Knights, he couldn¡¯t make it move. Back or front, it¡¯s like he¡¯s at the whim of this man. And so, a freaky scene unfolded. A seventh level knight exploding with magnificent amounts of Dou QI was being controlled like a puppet by a schrly man in white. ¡°What knight ranking are you?¡± Asked White River. Unable to react in time to the sudden question, Geppede reflexively answered: ¡°Rank seven.¡± ¡°Hmm, for you to have such strength at the seventh rank is not bad already.¡± At that, White River faintly smiles to suddenly loosen his fingers without indication. Geppede¡¯s been struggling the entire time, so to find his sword suddenly be free without any expectations, he slipped and started to stumble forward. Exactly at this moment, White River made his move. Against the staggering Geppede, he easily bypasses the knight to the side in a nearly slow motion sidestep. Then with his hand, White River didn¡¯t forget to press down at the knight¡¯s shoulder and hitting one of the guy¡¯s pressure points¡­ Poof!! Spraying out a mouthful of blood, Geppede went flying through the air and smashing into the donation boxes, spilling all the silvery coins onto the floor as a result. As for his sword, the high-quality de was shattered into pieces as it littered the ground. Instantly uponnding, Geppede¡¯splexion became deathly pale like his spirit just took a major blow. As for his decades of cultivation, it was destroyed in that instant. Forever now and into the future, Geppede will never be able to use the slightest bit of Dou Qi in his life. So what happened just now was that when White River touched the guy¡¯s shoulder and pressed down at a pressure point, this Shaman King had inserted his own tyrannical Dou Qi into the knight, wreaking havoc wherever it went inside Geppede¡¯s body. And now, not a trace of the knight¡¯s power was left. He¡¯s no different from a cripple. That wasn¡¯t the only thing White River did. While his Dou Qi was running through the Knight¡¯s vein line, this Shaman King had taken the liberty to snoop around the makeup of the unique Dou Qi only used by the Holy Knights. By the end of it, this peerless master had figured out fifty to sixty percent of the cultivation method that had been heavily guarded by the Temple! Although the sacred Dou QI can¡¯t be so easily stolen, but through some deep thinking and testing, it¡¯s only a matter of time before White River fully figures out the entire makeup of the sacred Dou Qi once he returns to the Snowy Mountain. Pity this Geppede. A body full of abilities was instantly destroyed by White River. Now he¡¯s even inferior to amon folk! Making a lightugh, White River was just about to leave when a vigorous and steady voice came out from within the chapel: ¡°Where is the wicked who wounded my Knight, and defiled our great prayer!¡± As soon as the voice died down, the door to the chapel swung open and a clergyman in ck came out. The man was about fifty something years old, with a pointed chin and a very thin look. Like his age, those pair of eyes had more grey than white, making him look almost blind and ufortable gloomy. Not wasting another word, the moment this man came out into the open he had shot two beams of red me at the assant ¡°Oh? What kind of magic is this?¡± White River became intrigued. Casually moving his body back to dodge, White River was delighted to find the air and everything around himself warped, like a powerful pressure was pushing in against him, ¡°Oh, so this is your divine spells right?¡± As the mes came up to White River, he ticked one of his fingers and instantly sucked the entire attack onto the tip of his finger. Then condensing it until it looked no more than a miniature star, the light was eventually sucked entirely into his sleeve with a wave, leaving behind nothing at all! White River¡¯s action was very rxed and calm, but the ck robed priest on the other hand was trembling inside over the fact. When Geppede noticed the arrival of the ck robed priest, his face immediately showed hope despite throwing up another mouthful of blood, ¡°Your grace, lord judge, this man¡­ this man¡­.¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t miss those words¡­. Judgement Lord, can it be the Temple¡¯s Judgement Lord? If so, then this Judgement Lord is also part of the Xieni faction and that ambush in the river is done in this priest¡¯s name! Du Wei didn¡¯t miss the mark. The ck robe man standing here was in fact the present Judgement Lord of the Temple of Light. After the former one was in by Hussein during his escape in the Frozen Forest, this ck robe priest took the opportunity to seize the position and spread his influences. Like Geppede, after the failure of the river incident, the Xieni faction had relocated this Judge to this small little town so that when Maximos brought up theints to the Pope, there won¡¯t be anyone he can pin it on in person. Seeing how easy White River managed to dispel his attack, this Judgement Lord was shaking even harder inside. Not daring to stay put, his arms got to work as he murmured a set of words to raise a transparent wall around himself. Like the mages, divinists aren¡¯t skilled in meleebat. In order to avoid the foe from pushing him into a disadvantage by forcing a close fight, he hurriedly erected a defensive barrier to bide time until he can cast his other powerful spells. Taking it all in, White River not only didn¡¯t attack, he stepped back to give the priest more space. Faintly smiling: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t take the opportunity to hit you. If you got any other powerful spells then go ahead, I want to see what¡¯s this fuss about the Temple¡¯s divine spells.¡± White River¡¯s absolute confidence caused this Judgement Lord to be even more frightened inside. After gritting his teeth, this priest ripped the sacred badge off his chest and invoked a spell. Making a dashing bright light, a silvery brilliance burst out of the badge and reformed into a staff. Not daring to be slow, this priest worked quickly and mouthed a series of strange notes like a hymn. Then under a dazzling holy glow, this man was bathed in an aura of white that gave off a soothing and warm feeling. The only thing missing was theck of bowing followers to indicate how high and mighty he was. Even from afar, a lot of the people still around to watch the fight was on their knees, following along with the hymn. The only ones not affected at this point was White River and Du Wei. ¡°Humph¡­ nothing but a charming effect.¡± By now the Judgement Lord was done with his preparations. Raising the staff high above his head, rings of halo were shooting out of the staff head and flying over to White River. Not dodging or blocking the rings of light, White River just stood there to let the halos wrap around his body. In a brief instant, the gentle and soothing halos around his body began to spin, bing dangerous and deadly. Still the same overconfident face, White River randomly waves his sleeve around to shoo away the halos like shooing away a fly. In the moment his sleeve touched one of the light rings, that specific halo instantly turned into a pir of light and disappeared. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Conceited fellow, under the cleansing light of my Goddess of Light, hurry and kneel for forgiveness!!¡± ¡°Cleansing?¡± White River narrowed eyes to carefully look at the halos around his body. Then suddenly making augh, ¡°Just a bluff, and you even went as far as to make up a frightening name. If you can, I like to see youe cleanse me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s you who is seeking death, not me being cruel!! Oh merciful goddess, let this wicked being ept your judgement!¡± The Judgement Lord shouts, his staff pointing at White River. Following their caster¡¯smand, the halos started to contract, and in no time at all, the halos have enveloped White River in a pir of light thatpletely overshadowed his figure! It was dazzling, it was blinding, it was magnificent! Once the light receded, nothing remains on the spot, not even a trace of hair! ¡°Humph, who knows where this arrogant man came from. Relying on his little bit of strange magic, he dares toe make trouble in the house of the goddess. Under the cleansing light of the goddess, I have wiped him from existence!¡± The Judgement Lord exhales deeply and throws a few righteous words out there to defend his actions. Just when this priest thought it was all over, a voice came from behind his ear: ¡°Arrogant? I say it¡¯s you who¡¯s arrogant.¡± All of a sudden from the air itself, a white hand stretched out and grabbed the priest on his neck. In a flutter of panic, the Judgement Lord lost his grip and dropped the staff in his hand. ¡°No! Not possible!¡± The priest struggled: ¡°You¡­ You¡­¡± Coming out from the air, the figure of White River gradually emerges, ¡°What¡¯s impossible?¡± You must be wondering why I haven¡¯t been purified by your light yet right? Or is because I can easily bypass your barrier?¡± The priest can only feel the hand on his neck gradually tightening. Despite his struggles, he couldn¡¯t utter another word at this point. But that¡¯s not enough for the Shaman King. Moving in close, he smiled and whispered something into the priest¡¯s ear: ¡°A lowly being like you can never understand the true meaning of power! What goddess¡¯s purification?? What a joke! That¡¯s nothing more than a charm spell and a dposition spell mixed together! Giving it a facelift with a new name and you call it a divine spell? What a load of crap!¡± Pausing, he added another part to make the final blow: ¡°As for your defense barrier¡­ Poor fool, let me tell you. Once you understand the rules of the strong, these sorts of things are absolutely pointless! Your defensive barrier is only in front of you, but for the strong, they can distort the very space around themselves! So, what use is a barrier when space itself can be bent?¡± Finishing his words, White River tightens his grip on the neck. Filled with fear, the Judgement Lord only had one thought in his mind: I¡¯m going to die today! A little more pressure and the priest would be dead, but White River suddenly had a change of heart. Lightly tossing the priest to the ground, he said: ¡°This knight over there calls you the Judgement Lord, are you the Judge of the Temple of Light? Very good! Then I would like you to do one thing for me.¡± White River took a step back. Looking down at the priest in a condescending manner, he makes a very calm smile: ¡°You go back and tell your Pope, say I am very interested in him. Pity my time out here is too short and don¡¯t have time to visit him. If there¡¯s a chance in the future, I hope I can meet him. Hmm, I pray that he stays safe, no sickness and stay in good health. When I go look for him in the future, I would like to see what a true divine spell is like. I hope he won¡¯t let me down like you did.¡± Gasping unceasingly, the Judgement Lord looked towards White River with great fear: ¡°You, who are you!¡± Instead of replying, White River gradually disappeared from the spot and reappeared before Du Wei, ¡°Let¡¯s go then shall we.¡± Two steps out, White River suddenly turned around and said something totally unbefitting the situation, ¡°Are you still hungry?¡± Twitching in the corner of his mouth, Du Wei made a bitter smile: ¡°I was hungry, but with themotion you just made, I lost my appetite. Let¡¯s just go instead¡­¡± Making a smile: ¡°You are very clever, just now you didn¡¯t run away.¡± Du Wei sighs: ¡°Under your eyes, do you think I¡¯m able to run?¡± Bellowing out augh, White River rolled onto his horse and left first, behind was the dejected looking Du Wei following in his heels. Coming out of the town, the two continued to head westward to the north. ¡°I say Mr. White, with the noise you are making, I fear the Temple will immediately dispatch their Holy Knights to pursue us.¡± Shaking his head: ¡°No they won¡¯t. If that Pope of yours is smart, he will not send those knights after us after seeing what I did to that Judge. And even if they did send someone to pursue us, it will have to be someone that can contend with me. For someone that can be the Pope, I think he¡¯s not that stupid.¡± Exhaling, Du Wei threw out another remark: ¡°You are very kind today. You made a lot of noise, but you didn¡¯t kill a single one of them.¡± Speaking in mncholy attitude: ¡°In my eyes, these people are but ants on the ground. Trampling them or not is no different to me, I can¡¯t even call it evil or good. Would you consider someone evil if they squash an ant?¡± Pausing for a moment, he looked at Du Wei again: ¡°If you think its nd to not kill them then I can go back and clean them out at your request. To me it¡¯s no more than lifting another finger.¡± Du Wei shrunk his neck at thest remark: ¡°Let¡¯s just forget what said!¡± But his heart immediately came up with a deadly scheme: ¡°Mr. White, since you are so strong and proud, why you don¡¯t directly go find that Pope since you want to meet with the strongest?¡± White River suddenly reined his steed to a stop, his eyes carefully assessing Du Wei. After a long moment of this awkwardness, White River suddenly burst into a longugh which disturbed Du Wei greatly. ¡°Boy, your understanding of me seems to be biased. Indeed, I¡¯m a very prideful and arrogant person, that I admit myself¡­ But, I am no fool so please, remember this fact firmly in your mind! Along the way, if you want to y any tricks then first understand this point. Running off to challenge the Pope is indeed something I really want to do. However, I¡¯m sure that Blue Ocean told you this, I¡¯m only able to exert thirty percent of my strength with this body. Besides, I¡¯m the Shaman King, I got many big things waiting for me to do, why do I need to go do something as stupid as to dig my own grave? If I did do as you say, I wouldn¡¯t be arrogant or prideful, I would be reckless and foolish! Eventually I will meet with the Pope, but now¡¯s not that time.¡± Flustered under that gaze, Du Wei turned his eyes away until White River continued to ride forward, leaving him behind alone. That¡¯s right! This genius monster is absolutely not someone I can trick with a few provocative words. Whether it be shamanism or martial art, this guy¡¯s notcking in either department. And from the looks of it, his intellect is quite high too. From this point forward, I can¡¯t make any more mistakes, or else¡­.. Chapter 306 part 1 Chapter 306 ¡°He¡¯s Human¡± (Part one) Considering everything that has happened in town after they left Brokeback Mountain, it¡¯s a certainty the Judge and the Holy Knights would rush a report back to the main cathedral. Even so, none of that matters to Du Wei at this point for he¡¯s too busying up with a ruse to escape. This White River wasn¡¯t only monstrously strong, he¡¯s also very intelligent and not the type of blind fool that only follows his ego. Along the way Du Wei kept thinking, what sort of tricks he could use to fool this guy. Maybe he can pull it off if he tried, but what then afterwards? Considering the guy¡¯s strength, it¡¯s unlikely he will make it very far before he¡¯s caught again by this Shaman King. And that time, things won¡¯t be as pretty once the guy¡¯s mood turns sour. However, this White River did treat Du Wei decently well along the road and not like a captive. As long as Du Wei didn¡¯t run away, anything else was free game with no limit. asionally, this White River even conversed with Du Wei a few times. Another two dayster as they headed west, the two ended in a predicament: they missed the closest town for a sleepover this evening. This can¡¯t be med on Du Wei alright! One was a high and mighty Shaman King that onlyes down from the mountain every decade, the other was prestigious noble with a Duke title, how do you expect these two to know something so trivial as to n a travel path? As a result, the two missed their opportunity to lodge in the town they crossed over earlier this afternoon. Riding fast, both of them are now stuck in the wilderness when the sun¡¯s about to set. Exchanging a nce with each other, both monsters ¨C one small and one big ¨C had a strange tacit understanding in their eyes. Breaking out intoughter, it was Du Wei who first spoke: ¡°It seems we will be sleeping in the wilderness tonight, what a shame, I didn¡¯t bring a tent with me.¡± In a mild tone, White River replied: ¡°That¡¯s nothing much. All year round up in the mountain cap, I¡¯m always surrounded by ice from where I stay.¡± After that, the two dismounted and found a slightly t area to set up camp for the night in the wilderness. It¡¯s still the winter season currently, the farther northwest they went, the colder the weather becamepared to the south. After Du Wei built a fire, he looks up at the distant clouds in the sky and bitterly smiled: ¡°Let¡¯s hope it doesn¡¯t rain tonight.¡± Instead of agreeing, White River didn¡¯t show the teensiest bit of interest; instead, he directly sat beside the bonfire and started to dust off his clothes. Then finding a thick tree branch, this man uses this hard lump to be a pillow and lies down. He was the Shaman King, and Du Wei was his captive right now. Naturally, Du Wei¡¯s not foolish enough to think this man had the virtue of taking care of his captives. By spending a whole day trotting around on his horse, Du Wei¡¯s whole body felt like it¡¯s about to fall apart already, sores and aches littered his muscles. What¡¯s more, his stomache was empty and hungry right now. He¡¯s not going to expect this guy to find him food, but Du Wei haven¡¯t seen this Mr. White eat or drink at all. Is this guy aiming to be a god? Sighing, Du Wei went ahead to scour the terrain. After spending two days with this guy, Du Wei has ascertained the personality of this White River. His conclusion, this man was superzy with a totally indifferent attitude towards everything. Du Wei may be his captive, but this guy acted like he didn¡¯t care at all and allowed him to roam hundreds of meters away without observation. One time Du Wei went off to search for food. During that asion, he did consider making a run for it, but as soon that thought cross his mind, Du Wei instantly felt a murderous chill locking onto himself. Since then, Du Wei gave up on any idea of that sort. On the bright side, at least it¡¯s not difficult to find food at this moment. After all, technically this wasn¡¯t Du Wei¡¯s first time being someone¡¯s captive. Compared to his journey through the north with White Robe Gandalf, this trip with this Shaman King was way morefortable. At the very least, this Mr. White wouldn¡¯t use that disgusting puppet maniption spell to make Du Wei p himself on the face. Digging up several groundhog burrows in the wilderness, Du Wei found it very easy to catch these little critters. It¡¯s the winter season, meaning thesezy animals are hibernating in their burrows and not moving, making them easy prey. Not longter, Du Wei returned with two fat groundhogs and a flower snake. Cleaning the animals of all unnecessary parts, he washes away the dirty grum from the skin and skewered the groundhogs for roasting. Then summoning a pot from his storage ring, Du Wei shows off his fantastic cooking skill by brewing up a snake soup. Just a reminder, this pot was no cooking utensil, it¡¯s Du Wei¡¯s personal equipment meant for magic alchemy. To say Du Wei was a master chef was a little over the board, but he¡¯s after all from China in his previous life. China, a country of centuries worth of renowned cooking tradition and knowledge passed down through the ages, Du Wei had to have picked up something in his time there. Like thest time in the north where that undying old fool Gandalf would always praise Du Wei for the unique vors, this time it was Mr. White¡¯s turn. In minutes, a wafting aroma of roasting groundhogs soon permeated the camp. White River may be the Shaman King above the Snowy Mountain, but considering his temperament and fixation on the pursuit of power, there¡¯s no way this guy would even think about his appetite. Besides, the Snowy Mountain was a ce of frost and cold. Even if there were meat and vegetables up there, it would freeze in no time at all. Against those odds, how can they pull off anything tasty there? Lying there at this moment, White River can only smell that incredible aroma hitting him in the nose. Never in his life did he smell something so fine, so out of temptation, he couldn¡¯t resist getting up to look at what Du Wei was doing. His eyes full of curiosity as he watched. Du Wei¡¯s full concentration was set on the snake soup right now. Stirring the gurgling pot of liquid, he gives himself a taste test by making a spoon out of some bark he peeled off a branch. One sip in, he couldn¡¯t help but exhale in statisfiyng tone. Turning around to see White River¡¯s curious gaze, Du Wei smiled: ¡°Mr. White,e have a taste. In this world, the number of people who can eat my food is¡­ Hmm, should be no more than five so far.¡± At that, he picks up a skewered groundhog and hands it over to the Shaman King. Receiving the roast meat, White River immediately bites down at the hot flesh without realizing he will get burned. As someone that spent most of his life above the Snowy Mountain, White River¡¯s only means of gaining sustenance was to find whatever edible material in his vicinity and chug it down. As for water, that¡¯s even easier. When he¡¯s thirsty, just grab some ice water or snow to quench it. Now that he got burned by his careless action, White River felt a little embarrassed by hisck ofmon sense. Watching this peerless strongman acting like so, Du Wei had a moment where he wanted to justugh, but instead he only chuckled so slightly. For someone that has no trouble wrecking a Saint ss warrior, this White River was simply too much. As White River eyes the skewer in his hand, he frowned at first while contemting what to do. Likely because he felt the temperature was too high, he suddenly raises a finger and points at the roast meat. Under a crackling sound, Du Wei¡¯s popped from being dumbfounded. Shooting out from White River¡¯s fingertip, a beam of Ice Dou Qi instantly turned the steaming hot roast meat into a chunk of icy meat. Not minding the fact that it¡¯s cold and rocky hard, this Shaman King takes a big bite right out of the meat. Then under the crunching sound of ice breaking, he frowned: ¡°Howe it¡¯s not as good when cold?¡± Taking it all in, Du Wei originally wanted tough at the foolish question. But when seeing the confused expression on White River, Du Wei¡¯s heart suddenly showed somepassion towards this heaven turning powerhouse. This trace ofpassion was honestly a little absurd. White River¡¯s a person that get whatever he pleases at a thought, why would he need Du Wei¡¯s pity? It¡¯s just that the dazed like eyes from White River, Du Wei just couldn¡¯t watch on¡­. It¡¯s true what they say, ¡°no one knows your suffering best unless they are you.¡± This man, this Shaman King, holds immense power that could rock the entire continent, but was his life entertaining enough to be worth living? He¡¯s indeed at the pinnacle of this world¡¯s power, but the cost of it really made one wants to sigh at it. The enjoyment of life, the different clothes one could wear, the different food one could eat, it¡¯s likely this man never once ever enjoyed any of it. What meaning was there to such a life even if they can raise their cultivation to a level that can rock the heavens? Thinking of this, Du Wei can only sigh inside. Squashing any urge he had of mocking White River, he smiles and picked up the other groundhog skewer and blows at it slightly to cool it down: ¡°Mr. White probably never ate anything like this. You can¡¯t use ice on this thing so let me roast your skewer again. Take mine here while I warm up the other one, but remember, this time you mustn¡¯t use Ice Dou Qi to freeze it. Just keep it in your hands and blow at it, then it will cool on its own.¡± Receiving the thing from Du Wei¡¯s hand, he rolls it back and forth while looked at it. Shaking his head, he said: ¡°Let it cool? This thing is so hot. If I had to wait for it to cool, wouldn¡¯t I have to wait for a while? Aigh¡­. almost every minute of my life is spent in training, so stuff like eating is apetition against time for me. If I can find something to fill my belly then that¡¯s enough for me, where do I find the extra time to wait for it to cool? If I have to do this every time I want to eat, then who knows how much time I could be wasting instead of training my cultivation.¡± Du Wei literally went speechless at that exnation. Contemting on what to say, Du Wei carefully asked: ¡°Mr. White, in your opinion then, is your current life that¡¯s spent entirely in training and cultivating really that happy?¡± Hearing Du Wei¡¯s question, White River went silent for a while. Shaking his head, he replied in a whispering tone: ¡°I ¡­ I don¡¯t know, and I never thought about it. I only know that I want to be stronger, the stronger the better. That¡¯s the only pursuit in my heart.¡± This statement caused both of them to fall silent, unable to follow up with the conversation. As the frosty cold of the winter¡¯s night slowly diminished the bonfire like their mood right now, it was White River who broke the ufortable silence after a long hiatus: ¡°You¡¯re right, eating it like this is far more delicious.¡± Breaking out into augh, the two of them no longer seemed like a captor and a captive, more like friends sharingpany in the wilderness. White River didn¡¯t seem like it at first because up until now this guy barely ate at all, but his appetite was seriously big. Devouring both meat skewers, he also gobbled up the rest of the snake soup with ease. ¡°This is great!¡± White River states with a smile. After finishing his meal, White River looks up at Du Wei and smiled, his tone bing very sincere: ¡°This meal is my mostfortable one in the past several decades. I must say, this is all thanks to you.¡± Du Wei never expected this tough man to be so polite to himself. Lapsing out for a moment, it was White River who spoke first: ¡°I White River will never owe another a favor. Let¡¯s do this¡­ As repayment to the delicious food you gave me, I will help you do something. But just to be clear, I¡¯m not going to let you go. That red monster is too important to me so I can¡¯t give it up. Beyond that though, I can meet one of your wishes as long as its within my means.¡± Pausing for a moment, he suddenly made an indifferent smile: ¡°Is there any enemies in your life? It¡¯s not like I need to immediately return to the Snowy Mountain so there¡¯s still time. Tell me and I¡¯ll help you kill him right now.¡± Chapter 306 part 2 Chapter 306 ¡°He¡¯s Human¡± (Part two) Those words from White River definitely had a tone of belittling the world, but then again, this Shaman King does have the qualification to be that arrogant when he¡¯s among one of the strongest in this world. Du Wei alreadypared all of the masters that he knew, and he can¡¯t say any of the candidates in his mind could be Mr. White¡¯s opponent. So, if he says he can kill someone then he can definitely kill that person! Now Du Wei¡¯s mind was starting to get a fantastic idea: maybe¡­ I should ask him to help me kill that old lizard? A battle between the shaman king and the millennium old dragon king, what a fight that will be! It¡¯s just that this absurd idea onlysted a fleeting second before Du Wei threw it to the back of his mind. This White River already made it clear it enough, he¡¯s not stupid and not foolish. For a single meal, this guy¡¯s not going to put his life at risk in a life and death duel¡­ Moreover, Du Wei¡¯s also aware of the situation over at the Holy Mountain. ying that old dragon for his own wishes right now may not necessarily be a good thing when the banished races are encroaching on human territory. But most importantly of all, it¡¯s the amount of time needed for the request. From here to the north, passing through the Frozen Forest, making it across the cial tundra and then climbing the Holy Mountain, all of this needs time. When they are finally there, several months would¡¯ve passed, meaning its outside Mr. White¡¯s promise of ¡°within his means¡±. ¡°Mr. White, in your view for a person like I, is there any desire I couldn¡¯t realize?¡± Du Wei leisurely asks this. ¡°I am a Duke of the Empire, holding power over millions and admired by the populous. Whatever I want to eat, whatever I want to wear, I can easily attain it without even flicking a finger because I got subordinates to get it for me. And if I want women to please me, I can freely choose from hundreds of willing females that wille stand in front of me of their own volition. A person¡¯s greed in life can¡¯t stray too far off from these things, and I got all of it. Power? I¡¯ve tasted one of the highest form already. Woman? I got my woman waiting at home for me. Wealth? I¡¯m one of the richest in thesends in terms of money. A life like this, how can I not be satisfied?¡± Musing over his words for a while, it¡¯s uncertain what meaning was running through White River¡¯s eye when he looked at Du Wei: ¡°You are correct. A life like that, you should be satisfied.¡± Skipping a beat, Du Wei added in another sentence: ¡°Mr. White, speaking of status, you are the real master of the Prairie. Compared to my position, yours is far higher. Pity though, in my opinion, your life is far from being as wonderful as mine despite you being invincible in this world.¡± Raising a brow, White River replies in a mncholy tone, ¡°Oh?¡± Caged by his eyes, Du Wei immediately felt a cold chill running through his spine: ¡°That¡¯s right! If you think I¡¯m wrong then I¡¯ll ask you a few questions. If you can answer then consider it me being wrong. How about it?¡± Gritting his teeth, Du Wei manages to push these words out. ¡°Ask then, I¡¯ll listen.¡± White River¡¯s gaze became even stranger. Inhaling heavily, Du Wei raises a finger: ¡°I have an intimate lover sharing her heart with me. I have her, and she have me. No matter if I¡¯m poor or rich, umon ormon, strong or weak, famous or unfamed, she will always love me with her all her heart. Such feelings, such a partner, Mr. White, I like to ask you, have you ever experienced anything like so before?¡± Keeping silent for a moment, White River finally shakes his head, ¡°No.¡± Du Wei nods and raises another finger: ¡°I was born of wealthy background so my father¡¯s expectation of me was very high, but I have a kind and loving mother and a brother that idolizes me as his hero. When I was young, I fell deathly sick for a while after suffering a severe cold due to the heavy rain. To pray for my recovery, my one and only mother kneeled in front of a statue all night without sleep or rest, all for my wellbeing. Without demand, she took care of all my living necessities regardless of my performance! Mr. White have you ever experienced such affection, such love?¡± Going silent like before, White River shakes his head again, ¡°No.¡± Sighing, Du Wei raises a third finger: ¡°I have good friends that I endured life and death situations together! We trust each other with our heart. Even if one day therees a situation where we must hand over our life to each other, I¡¯m certain my friends wouldn¡¯t hesitate! He knows my ambition, and I know his dream! This kind of friendship, may I ask you Mr. White, have you experienced anything like it?¡± This time was an even longer silence, but in the end its another shake of his head, ¡°No.¡± Du Wei smiled and cocked his fourth finger: ¡°I have faithful subordinates. I know they respect me and love me. I¡¯m their sky, I¡¯m their lord. Not because they fear or somew that binds them, but because they want to. Even if one day I¡¯m no longer the Duke, no longer in a position of power, they will still wholeheartedly follow me! Such faithful followers under me¡­ Mr. White, do you have anyone like that?¡± Suddenly smiling, White River didn¡¯t hesitate and directly shook his head this time: ¡°No. My status above the Snowy Mountain may be prestigious, but I know that the people up there only respects me because they are in awe of my power and that they fear me. Years ago when I took over the Shaman King position from my teacher, it was also through sheer strength and power. If one day I lose all of my abilities, I fear none of my subordinates will follow me again.¡± Du Wei wanted to continue to say more, but White River¡¯s smile suddenly became even more strange, his eyes coldly staring at Du Wei: ¡°Duke Tulip, did you know that many years ago someone had in fact asked me questions of simr nature?¡± Freezing in his heart, Du Wei reluctantly smiled: ¡°Oh?¡± Nodding, White River¡¯s gaze finally releases Du Wei and drifts off into the distance, his eyes showing a trace of nostalgia: ¡°Years ago back when I was about to kill Blue Ocean and Scarlet Water after catching up to them on the Snowy Mountain, it was Blue Ocean who said the exact same thing to me. Not word by word, but the questions were very simr. Humph, Blue Ocean is indeed very clever and scheming. Knowing he¡¯s not my opponent, he vainly used his intellect to shake me resolve! But for a person like I, how can I be shaken by a simple statement? So¡­¡± His head turns to face Du Wei again, his smile cold: ¡°Du Wei, your intentions in saying these stuff to me is the same right? You can stop wasting your efforts then because stuff like this is useless on me. That year Blue Ocean thought he was smart, but all he did was invoke my ire, convincing me to kill for good! I am not a person with a good temperament. Even if I might regret it afterwards, but if you do anger me, I won¡¯t hesitate to kill you first. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t say it then.¡± Du Wei smiled wryly. Faintly smiling, White River waves his sleeve and sends a beam of me right into the core of the bonfire, sending life back into the smoldering mes. With the temperature back up again, he slowly lies down to the ground for rest: ¡°Sleep then, there¡¯s no need to say anything more! If tomorrowes around and you say you don¡¯t have strength to move then don¡¯t me me.¡± Sitting there watching the fire, Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but call himself stupid. If his little words can shake a person like this then he¡¯s not White River!! Depressed in the heart, Du Wei gave in and took to resting for the night too. But things never go that smoothly. As if jinxing himself, a gust of chilling wind knocked Du Wei out of his slumber in the middle of the night. Sitting up in a hurry, Du Wei looks up to the sky where the rolling clouds were closing in on them: ¡°I really had to go jinx myself didn¡¯t I? Pray it doesn¡¯t rain and it goes and rain instead!¡± Without indication, White River suddenly rolls his body to one side and shot Du Wei a nce: ¡°Foolish boy, it¡¯s not going to rain, it¡¯s going to snow. I¡¯ve lived on the Snowy Mountain all year around, if it was snowing, I can tell with a single sign.¡± He states this coldly. Smiling wryly, Du Wei replied: ¡°And you still have the mood to lie there? Whether its rain or snow, it still means we can¡¯t stay here for the night. Hurry and get up, I think there¡¯s a mountain further ahead. Maybe we can find a cave for the night.¡± Instead of agreeing, White River only smiled: ¡°You just sleep, nothing will happen.¡± Since he said so, Du Wei can only lie back down as ordered. But in no less than a minute, a frosty chill hit him hard and fast, sending Du Wei shivering from the cold. Then came the drifting snowkes to signal the start of the storm. Naturally, the temperature in the air dropped a lot following this. Although Du Wei was a magician with immense spiritual powers, but his body¡¯s not strong enough to shirk off the elements at will. Unable to bear it, he shakily gets up and rummages through his storage ring and pulls out a robe to drape over his body. But this act was futile for his jaws quickly dropped the moment he looked up to the sky. Enshrouded in a faint shroud of golden light, the snowstorm that¡¯s wreaking havoc in their vicinity were repelled without distinction, leaving Du Wei and White Riverpletely fine in this umbre effect. Du Wei knows this feat was done by White River, but even so, he can¡¯t help but sigh at the sight¡­ This can be achieved with magic too, but Du Wei and many masters are not the type to waste precious magic materials to produce something of simr order. That¡¯s simply too wasteful. However, it seems only abominations like this White River would go ahead and waste his own energy to do something so fruitless. Unbeknownst to Du Wei, unlike right now, White River had always trained in an open environment during his cultivation. Enduring the cold and ice with frigid winds smashing against the body, that sort of training without moving an inch can yield the best result in bringing out a human¡¯s potential! Unable to sleep from the frigid cold, Du Wei decided to outright sit there with his coat: ¡°Mr. White, I have a question I like to ask you.¡± ¡°Say it.¡± With his back against Du Wei, White River only replied with this little sentence. ¡°You said Blue Ocean also mentioned those words to you back then, that it can¡¯t shake your resolve and can only anger you to the point of wanting to kill. So why didn¡¯t you kill Blue Ocean back then?¡± White River was silent for a while before he slowly answered: ¡°These things, did Blue Ocean not tell you? Back then I still haven¡¯tpletely mastered my shaman craft, making it difficult for me to kill the two with only ten percent of my strength.¡± Du Wei shakes his head instead: ¡°I would¡¯ve believed those words before I met you, but now I don¡¯t. Mr. White, although my interactions with you only consisted of the past two days, but you are a super egotistic person. If you are determined to kill someone, I believe you will carry out your deed regardless of an injury orck of strength at the time!¡± Suddenly sitting up, White River turns to look at Du Wei. With his silvery gray hair fluttering in the wind, this man actually grinned: ¡°Humph, so you think you know me very well now eh?¡± Silently speechless, Du Wei didn¡¯t say a word and only looked at White River, awaiting an answer. ¡°It¡¯s nothing much even if I tell you.¡± White River thought for a moment before smiling: ¡°Those words can never shake my resolve, but it¡¯s not without affect. Instead of getting angry at his questions, a hint of my curiosity was roused in me. Though I will never waver in my heart and question my ambitions, but I did be somewhat interested in what Blue Ocean said about family, love, friendship, and so on. You don¡¯t need to think about, I¡¯ll tell you. The biggest reason why I let Blue Ocean live was because of his argument about family.¡± Pausing, he smiles at Du Wei again: ¡°There¡¯s a little piece of information you probably don¡¯t know. Blue Ocean, he¡¯s my flesh and blood, my blood rted brother. So, I got soft at back then and decided to not kill him. But Blue Ocean really is a clever one, forcing me to vow never to kill him in the future if I can¡¯t take his life without keeping myself unharmed.¡± ¡°Indeed, this oath is too disadvantageous to you. Even if you are strong enough to ovee any Saint ss experts you meet, but toe out on top unscathed, that¡¯s a little hard even for you, isn¡¯t it? Do you not regret making that vow?¡± Du Wei smiles after asking this. Beyond Du Wei¡¯s expectation, White River actuallyughed at thatst remark: ¡°I certainly regret it. The moment I returned to the Snowy Mountain I was already regretting it.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Du Wei became stunned. Looking at White River, he never expected this man to say something so out of character. ¡°And what if I regret it?¡± White River pricks his brow, his smile cold: ¡°Who am I? I am White River, Shaman King of the Snowy Mountain. If I make a vow then I will see through it to the end! Denouncing my own words is not something I will do!¡± After answering Du Wei¡¯s question, White River looked at him, his eyes turning cold again: ¡°I only told you all this because my mood is good today after eating your food, however, there¡¯s not much patience left in me at this point. So, I suggest you to close your mouth now. From now until dawn, if you make another peep then I¡¯ll cut your tongue out! Don¡¯t question my words if I will do it or not. If you don¡¯t believe me then go ahead and try it.¡± After stating this, he lies back down to sleep. Bitterly smiling, Du Wei can only close his mouth tightly for fear of his tongue. But there was a thought brewing in his heart: Blue Ocean says he doesn¡¯t care, but is that true? Who knows, maybe only the person in question here can answer that question He may wield absolute strength, but he¡¯s still human! One night of heavy snow fall had left the wilderness covered in a nket of silvery white this early morning. With sparkling icicles of the winter¡¯s night hanging off of the branches, Du Wei¡¯s morning exercise to warm himself up had sent some of these ice shards crumbling down to the ground in unison. Only issue was, after a night of bad sleep, coupled with theboring travel of the past few days, had left his body achingly tired. Making his decision, Du Wei moved over to an open space with more room and tossed aside his coat. Then following the strange movement sets of the ¡°Stars Dou Qi¡± training manual taught to him by Hussein, Du Wei began to practice the basics like how he did in the north. This foundation from the Stars Dou QI really was magical. Completing one set and his body was already feeling much better than before, plus the heat inside him was rising quickly. Aside from raising his body temperature, the aches and sores were also slowly dissipating. White River had also awoken by now. At first he only watched on from the sidelines with his indifferent face while Du Wei performed the strange moves, but after the first set was over, this Shaman King revealed a glimmer of surprise in his eyes and made a ¡°Eh?¡± sound. Picking up a snowball, this man shoots it right into Du Wei¡¯s knee and sends poor Du Wei staggering forward due to the sudden attack. ¡°Where did you learn this set of moves?!¡± White River asks this with a stern face. Though his expression remains cold like before, but that enthusiasm and agitation cannot be concealed in those eyes!!! Chapter 307 Chapter 307 ¡°How rare, but what a pity!¡± Du Wei¡¯s first reaction to White River¡¯s question was to be vignt! He can say for certain he didn¡¯t learn squat from Aragon¡¯s Star Dou Qi, but Du Wei did manage to get this basic foundation routine down. First was Gandalf¡¯s half, then Hussein¡¯s half. Combining both together, Du Wei can technically say he¡¯s learned two sets in total. Anyways, after learning this and practicing for a while now, it¡¯s a definite fact his body¡¯s been greatly improved since his childhood. Unlike his sickly self from way back then, he¡¯s seen such a drastic change to his body in the past two years thatpared to amon person of his age, his body was a level higher than the rest. It¡¯s just that, no matter how ipetent he himself was at learning martial art, this basic foundation routine was still rted to the Star Dou Qi. A skill that was said to be used by the invincible Aragon in his conquest of the world. Something this important and amazing was only known by Hussein in this era, and even then, the guy only learned a bit of it. Now that White River suddenly asked himself so eagerly, Du Wei had to wonder what sort of intent this guy had in mind. Can it be¡­ this crazy strongman saw through the secret of this routine and is coveting it? See Du Wei¡¯s refusal to answer, White River grunted heavily, his eyes gradually returning to normal. With a cold smile: ¡°You must be thinking I¡¯m coveting your routine there right? What a joke. Your routine is nothing more than a set of moves to stimte a person¡¯s muscle growth and maneuverability, making the practitioner¡¯s skill more powerful than usual when used. It¡¯s not like my Snowy Mountain doesn¡¯t have anything of simr nature. It¡¯s just that, ording to my knowledge, the martial art of the Rnd Empire shouldn¡¯t have something like this. I¡¯ve always thought this form of training is unique to my Snowy Mountain, but it seems the world is a big ce and simr things can exist without ever crossing paths.¡± Du Wei shook his head after listening: ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly either. This set of routine was taught to me by a friend of mine.¡± White River also shook his head at the excuse: ¡°Your words are insincere. Too much hesitation and too dishonest. This is clearly a basic foundation for some sort of extremely formidable martial technique that requires high maneuverability rate and extreme muscle strength. To meet that requirement, this set of moves were created by the original creator to allow future users to achieve the needed physique to practice the higher level stuff.¡± Du Wei became aghast at that spection, This White River is truly formidable. One look and he can make an approximate guess at the truth! Seeing Du Wei bing stunned by his own words, White River coldly smiled: ¡°Fine then, I only asked because I wanted to confirm something and see if it¡¯s simr to my Snowy Mountain¡¯s version. Since you are worried about me stealing your routine then I¡¯ll be generous today. First I¡¯ll show you my Snow Mountain¡¯s version to make up for peeking at your performance earlier. I, White River, isn¡¯t the sort to steal from others behind their back.¡± At that, he didn¡¯t wait for Du Wei to speak and stepped into a clearing on the snow: ¡°Look carefully now!¡± he shouts. Suddenly, his body surged and gained several inches in height. Carefully looking over, Du Wei saw that it was due to the posture White River was making. Then without indication, the guy started to twist and turn his body in a freaky and strange way! Every action, every movement, it¡¯s as if he¡¯s moving in a way beyond human limitations. Reversing his back, waist, arms, shoulders, every joint can be freely and randomly twisted and turned in a three sixty-degree angle. Just looking at this gave Du Wei the willies and left him shocked beyond words. It¡¯s not the first time he¡¯s seen this action routine before. In fact, he already knew about this from that female assassin and even had Aoi perform it in front of himself several times already. But unlike all those times, White River¡¯s disy was simply too jaw dropping! It¡¯s too detailed, too masterful! He didn¡¯t catch onto it before due to Aoi¡¯s inability to truly bring out the essence, but White River¡¯s done it. Like the man said, this routine of the Snowy Mountain had a lot of simrities to the Star Dou Qi¡¯s version that Du Wei simply can¡¯t deny. This simrity didn¡¯t lie in the way of the posture or the movements, it¡¯s the method and principles behind it! The only difference was¡­ Du Wei¡¯s Star Dou Qi version only focused on muscle strength and maneuverability. As to joint flexibility on the bones, it had very little involvement. Compared to his own, this version on the Snowy Mountain can only be called bizarre. If the Star Dou Qi¡¯s version was the version of a yoga training on the muscles and tendons, then this Snowy Mountain was the yoga version of the bones¡­ No! That¡¯s not it. This level of flexibility was already beyond what simple yoga can aplish! If Du Wei had to roughly estimate both routines, then the Star Dou QI version trains roughly seventy percent of the muscle while the remaining thirty on the bones. As for the Snowy Mountain¡¯s version, its seventy percent on the bones and thirty percent on the muscles!! They arepletely pr opposites of each other using the same philosophy. After White River finished the first set in the clearing, he repeated it again out of worry that Du Wei couldn¡¯t remember it. Three times down, he finally stopped. Watching this over and over again, Du Wei couldn¡¯t resist making a sigh: ¡°Oh heavens¡­ If people can master this set of moves then anyone can be a ¡°Transformer¡±, bending and changing their shape at will!!¡± ¡°Did you see it clearly? If you didn¡¯t then I can repeat it again.¡± White River asks this with a tinge of coldness in his voice. Hurriedly nodding, Du Wei would love nothing more than to see it again. A little bit annoyed inside over Du Wei¡¯s eagerness, White River did as he promised and disyed the moves again in front of him. Not missing any of it, Du Wei focused with all his willpower and memorized every step, every move, everything that urred down to the miniscule eye movement. Watching Du Wei¡¯s dumb attempt at simply memorizing everything without understanding anything, White River coldly chuckled at his efforts: ¡°From the looks of it, a person like you seems to have no talent in martial art. Years ago, Blue Ocean only needed two days to nail down this set of moves while Scarlet Water needed half a day. A person like you wanting you learn it all will likely require half a month or more.¡± Despite being ridiculed by White River, Du Wei didn¡¯t get angry and instead thought: I don¡¯t need you telling me this. I knew I had no talent for martial art way back when I was three, that¡¯s a well-known fact. Even so, he couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°And you? How long did you require?¡± Smiling: ¡°Back then teacher Gu Lanxiu only showed me once, then I can follow him exactly on the second time.¡± Spatting his tongue out, Du Wei was even more determined to notpare himself with this sort of monstrous being. At this moment, White River suddenly stepped over and grabbed at Du Wei¡¯s palm. Chuckling, White River¡¯s hand worked its way up to Du Wei¡¯s wrist, elbow, shoulder, then finally sliding down Du Wei¡¯s spine. Frightened by the sudden encroachment, Du Wei wanted to jump away but couldn¡¯t under the guy¡¯s constraint. Then once the madman finished checking all of his bones, this bastard grabbed him on the waist and lift Du Wei right off the ground and into the air. Spinning Du Wei like a disk, this crazy Shaman King keptughing the entire time until he finally tossed Du Wei back to the ground. ¡°You¡­ What did you do that for?¡± Du Wei got a serious creepy feeling inside of him right now. Bellowing out augh: ¡°Duke Tulip, speaking about it, it¡¯s not necessarily a bad thing that you met me. Maybe it¡¯s even a good thing for you.¡± ¡°Good thing?¡± Du Wei became a little annoyed. ¡°Of course.¡± In a mild tone, White River exins: ¡°A person like you, seriously, your physique is simply too poor. I don¡¯t know how much talent you have for magic, but considering you could kill one of my white robe shamans with your age, then I¡¯m assuming it¡¯s not bad. It¡¯s just that, your talent for martial art is simply too unsightly. I can say for certain, any one of the disciples in the Snowy Mountain Sect can wipe the floor with you. But the me is not on you. Your body¡¯s weak from birth and didn¡¯t have a good foundation to work with. What¡¯s more, your bones and muscles also had issues when growing. However, you¡¯re lucky and managed to learn that weird movement set before growing too old. After practicing it for a few years, your physical conditions have improved dramatically. This way around, your qualifications have increased a lotpared to before. If only speed and strength were to be considered, then you are superior to most of your peers around the same age.¡± Hearing this, Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but get a little cheeky. He¡¯s known all his life that he¡¯s not suitable for martial training, but inwardly, he¡¯s like any teenager with a rebellious nature. Through the constant training with the basic foundation of the Star Dou QI, he did have some thoughts about be a powerful martial art master one day! After all, every man has their time where they dream to be a hero: riding a valiant horse and swinging a glistening silver sword in his heroic white armor. Sure, a magician was powerful too, but it¡¯s not manly enough to win the girls! But White River quickly crushed that dream: ¡°Don¡¯t get too proud of yourself. Although you repaired most of your horrible foundation with that weird training move, but it can only improve your muscle and tendons, leaving your bones and joint structures vulnerable. Therefore, if you hadn¡¯t met me, then the furthest you can go is at most an eighth level swordsman after many years of diligent training. Maybe when you reach fifty then you will get there, but that¡¯s all, you will not reach the top!¡± Level eight? Du Wei spat his tongue out again. To tell the truth, Du Wei himself never expected to reach that far. Even so, Hussein already exined this to him back in the frozen forest. Although he himself was lucky toe across the foundation to the Star Dou Qi, but he will never reach the peak level of a martial artist with that alone. It seems that both of these Saint ss experts are of the same opinion on this subject. Grinning, White River continues: ¡°Your luck is meeting me. The taijutsu of my Snowy Mountain emphasizes on one¡¯s bone and joint structure. This is also your body¡¯s biggest w! Fortunately, you are still young. If you were twenty years of age or older when you encountered me, then even if you do learn my Snowy Mountain¡¯s taijutsu, it will still be useless. You should be fifteen years old, right? Now that you have learned my taijutsu, you can cover up your weakness. Through diligence, your growth will be far reaching. Even if you do abandon your Rnd people¡¯s magic in the future, it¡¯s not impossible for you to break into the Saint ss by going down the martial art path.¡± Breaking into Saint ss with martial art?! Hearing those words, Du Wei¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t stop beating like a bomb! Then doesn¡¯t this mean he can be as strong as Rodriguez and Hussein? ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡± White River remains cold as ever, ¡°If you look down at yourself then that¡¯s your issue. With both forms of taijutsu in your hands, it¡¯s not that difficult now to reach Saint ss even if your constitution is utterly crap!¡± Contemting the idea, Du Wei eventually sighed anyways: ¡°Even if I do reach the Saint ss, what¡¯s the point if I¡¯m going to be seeing monstrous beings like you every once in a while. I can¡¯t even hold a punch against you before I get ttened.¡± Grunting, White River unexpectedly didn¡¯t get angry: ¡°A guy like you really is interesting. You are clearly holding a treasure yet you don¡¯t know how to use it. Humph! You need to know, since ancient times, most peerless masters can only specialize in one form due to their limits: magic or martial art! But you, your talent in magic is superior to the rest and now you alsonded yourself with two forms of taijutsu skills to propel yourself to the Saint ss as long as you work hard! In the past millennium, how many are there with your fortune and encounters?!¡± Now that literally knocked him out of his depression. Trembling in his heart, Du Wei couldn¡¯t hold down his excitement. Narrowing his eyes, White River carefully looked over Du Wei, the curiosity bing more intense. Finally noticing this ufortable gaze, Du Wei smiled wryly: ¡°Mr. White, Boss White, your Majesty White, please stop looking at me like that!¡± White River repeatedly sighed: ¡°How rare! To think I would see a glimmer of hope again today!¡± Pausing for a moment, he shook his head again: ¡°What a pity, why did it have to be you, aigh!¡± His words carried a hint of frustration. One moment he¡¯s spouting ¡°rare¡±, then the next he¡¯s saying ¡°pity¡±. This left Du Wei in a bit of a daze. Pondering for a moment. White River continues to stare at Du Wei: ¡°To tell you the truth, I¡¯m quite happy inside to meet such a strange kid like you!¡± Meanwhile, Du Wei was thinking: To meet a strange old monster like you is heaven¡¯s punishment on me! He may be thinking this, but he didn¡¯t dare say it aloud. Shaking his head to throw himself back to reality: ¡°So why are you so happy again?¡± ¡°I exhausted my life in order to pursue the summit of power! Just that, the higher I climb, the lonelier I feel inside! This feeling, someone like you would never understand.¡± It must be the devil controlling him because Du Wei unconscious threw out this sentence without thinking it through: ¡°You are feeling frustrated because no one in this world can make you draw your de, right?¡± White River¡¯s gaze immediately became anxious: ¡°That¡¯s right! The loneliness in my heart is precisely because of this! Just that, you caused me to see hope again!¡± Whispering: ¡°The masters on this continent is few and in-between. Blue Ocean is one, Scarlet Water and my teacher is also in there, then there¡¯s that Pope of the temple¡­ Pity that Gandalf is already dead ording what I hear. Besides these people, there¡¯s also someone by the name of Rodriguez. However, the guy is Blue Ocean¡¯s apprentice and a user of the Ice Dou Qi. Humph, no matter how powerful he is, he can never stand up to me using that skill. So, we can skip him too. Both Blue Ocean and Scarlet Water isn¡¯t my opponent, that¡¯s a fact. And my teacher¡¯s already dead too, leaving only the Pope left on my list. From what I hear though, every generation of the Pope is weak and frail, only knowing that divine magic of the goddess. Even if his divine magic is more power, how can he stand up to my dual wield? Sadly, the most promising of the bunch, Blue Ocean, is already on hisst breath. As for Scarlet Water, he¡¯s even more disappointing and lost his ways to his own demonic heart. It¡¯s true, there¡¯s none left out there that can be my opponent.¡± But Du Wei thought differently: that is not necessarily true. When ites to dual wielding, that old dragon in the north is definitely your match with his draconic magic and dragon martial art. Plus there¡¯s that perfect constitution of the gold dragon specie. With all those variables together, how can they not be your opponent? ¡°But you gave me hope! You are so young but is already a famous magician. Needless to say, your magic talent is definitely there. And now you also got the two set of taijutsu moves to help your body, a definitely plus to pushing yourself into the Saint ss. That¡¯s why I¡¯m saying it¡¯s so rare!¡± ¡°Then¡­ What about the pity?¡± Du Wei asked. Turning cold on his face, White River seems a little angry: ¡°Pity is that you robbed me of my magic pet! And you also went ahead and formed a soul contract with it! If I want to take it back then I¡¯ll have to destroy the contract at the level of your soul! I may not want to kill you, but stripping your soul out and then removing the contract is bound to cause some damage even if it doesn¡¯t kill you. At the very least, your magic will be weakened due to the impact on your spirit. In the end, you won¡¯t be my opponent either. s, the pet is too important to me so I can¡¯t let you go¡­ What a pity!¡± Feeling cold inside, Du Wei¡¯s image of this guy can only be regarded as depressing. One second those eyes are warm, then the next second it¡¯s cold¡­ Chapter 308 part 1 Chapter 308 ¡°Gat1her Together¡± (part one) Du Wei have always believed if a person were to be extremely talented in one area, then they are bound to have some certain peculiarities in their personality. Like this Mr. White for example. To call him a genius was saying it nicely because if Du Wei were to be blunt, he¡¯s better deserved to be called a madman! Riding westward all the way with Du Wei, this guy for some reason refuses to board a boat no matter where they were, only willing to travel on road. Even though he was strong, but Du Wei wasn¡¯t a warrior at the spiritual level or the physical level. Moreover, even for a knight that had gone through strict training would be like him after days of continuous journey. Howfortable it would be to ride a boat¡­ Du Wei can only sigh in his heart over this idea. Seeing through his mind, White River coldly left him this statement: ¡°People like you who only covet afterfort can never achieve anything great, even if you do, it will be limited! Who in history that¡¯s sessful hasn¡¯t endured great difficulty to hone themselves?!¡± Not replying or trying to defend himself, Du Wei can only stick his tongue out again after hearing the lecture. Fortunately, after learning that set of taijutsu moves from the Snowy Mountain, his body¡¯s been faring far better than before. Every day when they stop to rest, Du Wei would endure the aching fatigue on his body and force himself to practice several times before calling it a day. At first the aches and pains almost caused him to shed tears for this type of hardship wasn¡¯t something amon person can endure. Du Wei may have be ustomed to an extravagant lifestyle in recent years, but hidden underneath thatzy and scheming personality was the same hard working and determined temperament from his past life. What¡¯s more, in front of White River¡¯s contempt eyes and smirking mouth, Du Wei didn¡¯t want to be looked down upon even more. Along the way Du Wei may have suffered immensely, but eventually those pains did pay off. For on the fourth day, he was delighted to find his body greatly improved than before! Originally when they were journeying, the most painful time was the morning. He would be aching with pain like his entire body and bones were falling apart. However, this morning when he woke up again, his body felt light and rxed without a bit of soreness running through it. Pleasantly surprised inside, Du Wei¡¯s delight didn¡¯t go unnoticed though. White River who was beside him only shot him a nce before dragging him back down to reality: ¡°This is only the first stage where your body goes through some minor improvement. Fifteen dayster it will usher in a period of fatigue, which will bring pains like you never felt before. After repeating this process twelve times, about a year or twoter, then you can im to have achieved some sess. Right now, you are still a long way off.¡± Since White River refuses to ride a boat along the Grand Canal, the two can only travel along the bank as they headed west. By noon of the fourth day, they eventually arrived at a small town along their path. The settlement was more or less only a few miles away from the Grand Canal, making it a popr resting point for merchants that have moored their ships nearby. The town didn¡¯t have much of anything, but it did have a lot of taverns and brothels with a wide variety of prostitutes for the sailors to choose from. A heaven for those that spent months away on the water without returning. Riding into town on their horses, Du Wei immediately raised a suggestion when he saw how bustling the ce was: ¡°I say Boss White, we¡¯ve endured many nights in the wilderness already, why don¡¯t we find a hostel and enjoy ourselves. My stomach¡¯s been protesting nonstop during this period and we can also take the chance to clean ourselves. Even if you want to bring me back for severing or beheading, at least let me enjoy a full meal before dying!¡± Getting a nod from White River, the two found a seemingly clean hostel and entered the ce after handing their horses off to a waiter. The town wasn¡¯t very big by any means, but this hostel did fairly well when it came to boarding. Picking out a spot furthest inside the dining hall with a window opening, Du Wei ordered a wide variety of dishes to cover the table. It seems it wasn¡¯t just Du Wei who¡¯s in a fine mood today because this Mr. White also shared a toast with him. Something that didn¡¯t happen often on this journey. Taking advantage of the fact that the sun¡¯s about to set in the west now, Du Wei took the opportunity to suggest that they lodge here for the night. Getting the agreement from White River easily, Du Wei was just about to call a waiter over to book their rooms when the sound of some footsteps caught their ears. Coming in from outside the dining hall: ¡°What, you still not giving up? We fought six times and you lost all six times. Even if we continue to fight there¡¯s no meaning to it.¡± The voice was calm and indifferent, but it was also vaguely familiar. A secondter, Du Wei¡¯s eye brightened for he knew who it was! Immediately, from the front door first came in a middle-aged man. The person was of thin build, wearing an ordinary martial robe that looked in and simple with his hair randomly bundled up with a rope. The man didn¡¯te armed with a weapon and his right hand was always hidden inside the sleeve. Nevertheless, the person had a handsome face that looked peaceful at first nce. But then, once you look up to those eyes, it was deep with meaning like he could take on the world. This man was the one and only one-handed Saint ss Knight, Rodriguez!! Back when Du Wei was heading for the capital, he had sent Old Smoke back to Lon City to get help. Back and forth, the help didn¡¯t even arrive yet and Du Wei was already snatched away by White River. As fate would have it, the two parties wound up bumping into each other in this small little town like it was destined. Seeing Rodriguez, Du Wei¡¯s scheming characteristic instantly red up. Looking through the entire world, the only possible candidates to rescue him from the grasp of this old monster would have to be a Saint ss warrior. Though barely, but Rodriguez should be passable for this task. He¡¯s not going to expect the knight to defeat this old monster, but saving himself and making a run for it should be enough. Upon entering the hostel, Rodriguez was followed up with several more people from the back. The first one to follow would naturally be Du Wei¡¯s guard captain, Old Smoke. Then the second one toe inside was ady with long silver hair and a tall stature. This girl had an extremely hot body with an enchanting face, but this was all marred by the fact that she carried a fierceness that would drive any man away. Aside from this, she didn¡¯t carry any weapons like Rodriguez, only a green flute tugged away on her waist. Naturally, this person would be Green Hat¡¯s disciple, Joanna, or better known as JoJo to her closest kin! Finding JoJo here also, Du Wei was a little surprised by this. So, what happened was that after Rodriguez received news about Du Wei needing aid in the capital, he immediately set off with Old Smoke. However, when he was passing through the capital of the Nuling Province, he identally met JoJo there. Finding out it was Du Wei who gave Rodriguez the order, this violent sorceress took the opportunity and ditched the stuffy residence at Governor Bohan¡¯s ce. It¡¯s not like Bohan didn¡¯t treat Joanna and the magic apprentices at his ce well, in fact, he worshipped them like deities. Catering to their every need, gathering every material they asked for, nothing was impossible. But the problem was, after the peace talk with the prairie natives, the Northwest Army, for some unknown reasons, becamecent again and didn¡¯t rouse up any trouble during this period. Without action or danger ahead, JoJo can only idly stand around doing nothing, leaving her extremely bored. Sure, she had the magic apprentices to torture, but even that sort of amusement would wear off eventually. It must be mentioned, JoJo may be rough and violent at times, but she did have her own style when it came to training people. Through her careful and brutal tutge, the overall strength of the magic apprentices that went with her to Bohan¡¯s ce had soared like never before. Just as she was moping around after losing all interest in her surroundings, that¡¯s when she met Rodriguez. Guessing immediately at why Du Wei would summon a powerful knight like Rodriguez to the capital, JoJo knew there¡¯s bound to be some amusing things happening at wherever they are going. As such, she ditched everything at Bohan¡¯s ce and tagged along for the ride. Rodriguez¡¯s personality was calm and kind to begin with, vastly different from the violent and ruthless Hussein. Against the forceful and overbearing Joanna, he simply couldn¡¯t say no. Not to mention, who doesn¡¯t know in the Duke¡¯s residence that this Miss Joanna shared the same magic teacher as the Duke! Moreover, the future Duchess was thisdy¡¯s younger sister. With that level of intimate rtionship with the duke himself, how can Rodriguez refuse such a person? It¡¯s definitely true that Du Wei wasn¡¯t expecting to find JoJo here today, but she¡¯s not the one that surprised him the most. When Rodriguez first entered the hostel, the words he said weren¡¯t directed at JoJo, but someone else further behind! Coming in after Joanna, another stalwart looking young man also came inside. Wearing a standard warrior outfit with a cape fluttering in the back to match his long hair, this was the man that Rodriguez was referring to: ¡°Mr. Rodriguez, it¡¯s not like we arepeting against each other. To lose to you six times only means that your Ice Dou Qi is far superior to my own! The reasoning for my travel is to improve myself. Though you and I don¡¯t agree on many things, but as a warrior yourself, you should understand my heart of wanting to pursue the martial path!¡± Once this young man came inside, he followed up to Rodriguez and said: ¡°To be able to meet a strong master like you is too rare of an opportunity to ignore. Unless you kill me, I won¡¯t go anywhere.¡± Just the demeanor and tone of this person was enough to startle Du Wei, but once he got a clearer picture of the man¡¯s face, he can only think of one word: absurd! Wearing a metal mask that only showed his mouth, if this wasn¡¯t the young general of the Northwest Army, Cybuster, then who else can it be?! Rodriguez only frowned at that reasoning, but he didn¡¯t get angry or impatient. Instead, he replied with a mild tone: ¡°Young general, I would of course understand the heart of a warrior, but I¡¯m on business here, hardly the time to be teaching. If you are interested, then wait until I¡¯m finished with my task and I¡¯ll personally make a visit to the Watt fortress.¡± Still shaking his head: ¡°How can I just leave with such a good chance in front of me. I may have lost to you six times in a row, but I also gained more insight with every battle. I won¡¯t cause any dy for you, just pretend I¡¯m a guest that¡¯s sending you guys off to the capital. Once we are there, I¡¯ll take my leave and stop entwining myself.¡± Rodriguez didn¡¯t even get a chance to speak when Joanna interjected due to impatience. Staring at the young general with a bit of gloom in her voice: ¡°How can a person like you be so annoying! Seriously, I¡¯ve never seen anyone that likes to get beat up so much! You say you won¡¯t dy us, but just the fact that you keep tangling with us have dyed us far longer than what we would like! If you continue to be so thick skinned and not leave, then don¡¯t me me for not warning you. Mr. Rodriguez may be kind enough to not harm you, but I¡¯m not him! If I don¡¯t like you then watch and see if I won¡¯t turn you into a popsicle. I don¡¯t care if you are a general or not, if I want to kill someone then they are dead meat, humph!!¡± As she says this, JoJo was already folding up her sleeves with her chest puffed out: ¡°Didn¡¯t you like to fight?! Come on then, let¡¯s get on with it. I¡¯ll send you flying with one finger. What Ice Dou Qi, I¡¯d like to see it!¡± She shouts with clear disdain in her voice. Seeing the tyrannical Joanna, Cybuster smiled and took several steps backward. Slightly making a bow in the knight¡¯s standard, he slowly spoke: ¡°Deardy, I am a knight, how can I possibly face ady like yourself. Moreover, your strength may be respectable, but my goal this time isn¡¯t with you. I only want to raise the level of my Ice Dou Qi¡­ If I were to practice magic in the future then I will most certainly seek your advice.¡± At that, he stands there with his hands tucked to his sides,pletely ignoring Joanna¡¯s challenge. JoJo immediately became furious, her eyes turning cold: ¡°Humph, you ungrateful deadbeat. What escorting us to the capital, more like you are afraid of going into the city. Your Northwest Army is nothing but full of treasonous rebels. If you take one step inside the capital then you will definitely be arrested and hanged on the spot!¡± As soon as her words came out, Rodriguez, Old Smoke, and Cybuster, all three of them looked somewhat unnatural at this point. Although itsmon knowledge now among the higher ups that the Northwest Army and court are on odd terms, but nominally they are still part of the imperial army. Everyone may be aware of this fact, but that paper between the window has never been pierced yet. Hearing that usation, Cybuster didn¡¯t dare dy and quickly rebuked this im: ¡°Dear sorceress, what you say there is not right now. My father is faithful to the empire, even the regent himself gave my father amendation. What rebel, that¡¯s utter nonsense!¡± Chapter 308 Part 2 Chapter 308 Part 2 JoJo was going to say something more, but Rodriguez only smiled and pulled on her sleeve, before pulling her along with him as he walked away, no longer willing to argue with Cybuster. The elder guard Old Yan nced at Cybuster, but said nothing and followed along. Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but feel conflicted. Finally he was seeing some of her strongpanions show up on the scene¨Cit was a rare chance for escape! But even so, he was fearful of White River¡¯s strength. If it came to fighting, all of his people might not even be enough for this one weirdo. But if he just let the chance go¡­that would be more frustrating than he could say! The thought that this guy was going to take him up the snow mountain and¡­peel his soul away? Was that something to joke about? His mind spun quickly, yet he was already secretly prepared. Sitting there, his hand went into his sleeve. Sure enough, after Rodriguez and his bunch walked in, the hotel¡¯s hall wasn¡¯t big, but there was ample light. Plus, anyone who was a warrior would always subconsciously look through their environment. Rodriguez and hispanions immediately spotted Du Wei sitting in the corner. They were all surprised, not expecting to meet a duke here. Du Wei¡¯s expression, on the other hand, was quite odd. He coughed, but before he could speak, White River had already smiled and said in a low voice, ¡°Hm, these people, you know all of them, don¡¯t you¡­that one is Rodriguez? Hm. That¡¯s him? Your subordinate?¡± As he spoke, his eyes shed with mockery. When JoJo saw Du Wei, she cried out loudly, ¡°What? Why are you here?¡± She walked on over without even looking at White River and sat next to Du Wei, her tone more than a little displeased, ¡°Du Wei! You didn¡¯t even think to talk to me you got engaged to my sister? You didn¡¯t even invite me to the ceremony? What the hell is that supposed to mean?¡± An awkward smile on his face, Du Wei shed a look at JoJo. Unfortunately, his violent femalepanion refused to read into his expressions and only got angrier. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you speaking to me? What the hell are you doing, rolling your eyes like that at me!¡± She mmed her palm down towards the table, hard. Although she wasn¡¯t much of a warrior, she was still a seven or eight level fighter in terms of strength. If she had actually made contact with the table, it would be a goner by now. But JoJo felt that as her hand pressed downwards, an icy frost pricked her palm, almost shooting through her hand, numbing her whole arm. In shock, she drew back her arm and stepped back, her eyesnding on White River. ¡°You¡­¡± Taking a deep breath, she nced at Du Wei and snapped, ¡°Is this person also your subordinate? When the hell did you get such a good fighter! Hey! What a guy. I¡¯m trying to talk to your duke, and you have to interfere?¡± White River wasn¡¯t going to get mad over something like this. He looked up at Joanna and said softly, ¡°I¡¯m eating. I don¡¯t like it when someone interrupts my meal.¡± JoJo had always been a proud, fiery-tempered person. Hearing his words only made her angrier, ¡°Hmph! You don¡¯t like people interrupting? Try and stop me, then!¡± Already she had pulled out her flute. A silver battle aura swirled around it. Waving it, she brought it down on the table. How could Du Wei have the time to stop her? A sliver of light seemed to sh through White River¡¯s eye, and JoJo cried out in pain. Her flute hadn¡¯t even reached the table when a tremble ran through her body and she flew backwards. With a clunky sound, her flute was also missing a piece. She flew out quickly, yet she also seemed to be frozen in ce in the air, unable to move. A slight bit of shock shed through Rodriguez¡¯s eyes as he suddenly took a step up, extending his left hand. Seeing JoJo fly out towards him, he grabbed the corner of her clothes and spun her around in the air before gently lowering her to the ground. After shended, JoJo felt a sudden weakness in her legs. Before she even stabbed the table with her flute, a harsh, cold air had broken through her battle aura and shot up her wrist, freezing her through and through! Shended on the ground, feeling chills through her body as her teeth chattered together. But she was proud and unwilling to look weak in front of others, so she mped her jaw shut, preventing any noise froming out. Even so, her eyes were full of shock and anger as she red at White River. Rodriguez¡¯s power was levels above JoJo, so his gaze was much different. Even so, JoJo was also quite strong. Being beaten back immediately after attacking like that, without even being able to see the enemy¡¯s moves¡­ Rodriguez wore a serious expression. He was experienced, of course, and he had been wandering all his life. Seeing the helplessness in Du Wei¡¯s eyes, he had already made a guess at the situation, and slowly walked up. Eyes fixed on White River, he said slowly, ¡°May I ask who you are?¡± When White River returned his gaze, there was for once admiration in his eyes. But he didn¡¯t respond and turned to Du Wei instead, ¡°What do you say? Are you going to try and see if you can escape now?¡± Chapter 309 Chapter 309 ¡°In person! ¡± Magnifying the seriousness on his face after that lecture, Rodriguez appears troubled at first before making a deep bow with his head after acknowledging the truth of those words. ¡°Thank you for your guidance. Indeed, this form of thinking is something I never came across. If there¡¯s a chance in the future then I would surely dive deeper into it for self-cultivation. However¡­.¡± Hisplexion bing gloomier as he raised his voice: ¡°The fact remains that you are still trying to kidnap his dukeship in front of me. Even if I know I am not your opponent, I must fight you regardless! No matter the desperate struggle, I firmly believes that so long as I go all out then its still within the realms of possibility that I can injure you!¡± Instead of getting angry at that outburst, White River only replied in a mild tone like he¡¯s known the oue all along: ¡°This is your duty so it¡¯s not strange or surprising for me. I don¡¯t like to take advantage of others so I¡¯ll tell you the truth. I am currently in a special state the way I am right now. That little cut I did earlier, it¡¯s an ability I created by myself called Dimensional sh. Its definitely beyond the grasps of yourself, but it¡¯s also very demanding on the body, meaning I cannot freely control it as I please in my current state. So, though my level ofprehension is higher than you by many levels, the current I cannot muster the true powers within me. If you do go all out with your absolute strength, its definitely within your means to confront me. Go ahead, fight to your hearts content for there won¡¯t be many chances to do the same in the future.¡± Sure enough, Rodriguez was definitely a bit more at ease after being told the truth. He may be a saint ss warrior of the highest standard, but not even he can pull off an attack that rips apart the very fabric of reality itself! Now to learn such a power can¡¯t be wielded at the user¡¯s will repeatedly, it meant there¡¯s still a glimmer of hope. ¡°Saving his dukeship is the most important here. Everyone attack together!¡± Gnashing his teeth, Rodriguez roars out the order to the rest of hispanions. It wasn¡¯t only the saint knight who¡¯s very uptight here, even Joanna too hadpletely withdrawn her haughty temperament and reced it with a serious one. She may be rash at times but she¡¯s no fool, she can tell the foe across from herself held powers far beyond even her own teacher. To stand before someone so powerful, how can she still y around? With her heart decided now, there¡¯s no need to hold back at all here as she mustered up a sweltering level of Dou Qi around her divinely fit body. As the spell rang out from that delicate hands of hers, a stream of roaring water gushed forward, whistling towards its intended target like it wanted to devour the very man¡¯s existence. Yet, instead of getting serious or fazed by the attack, White River only revealed a faint smile like the torrent of water mattered not to him. Sure enough, he proved once again he was the superior one with that wisp of ming Dou Qi he flicked over. Though the spark itself was small, miniscule even, but how can it bepared to an ordinary me? Just like how he did with Mr. Blue Ocean during their fight, this small tiny firepletely decimated the torrent of water, evaporating it upon contact like a one-man army against thousands. To make matters worse, it didn¡¯t just stop there after dispelling Joanna¡¯s spell, it continued to chase after her through the stream of residual magic in the air! Shocked by the returning attack, the haughty girl was now at a loss on what to do. She dodged and dodged, but wherever she moved so did the me. Now there¡¯s only inches of space between her sleeve and that horrific me¡­. Fortunately for the woman, just when all hope was lost, a silvery sword of slender construction had stretched over and blocked the igniting st through sheer will. This abrupt interruption was the action of Cybuster, the young general from the Northwest Army who¡¯s been heckling the party all this time. The youngster had only intended to have a taste of the Shaman King¡¯s power to measure his own; however, the end result was far more devastating than he could have ever imagined. There were no dys in his decision. On the very second that the de of ice contacted that fire, he immediately released the full force of his Dou Qi to repel the invading force against his body. Sadly, even then that wasn¡¯t enough. As ast-ditch resort, Cybuster could only m his sword forward and shoot it at the man responsible for it all. A metallic sword of exceptional construction that¡¯s covered in freezing ice, this should¡¯ve been a huge threat for any who were unfortunate enough to stand in its wake. In light of this fact, White River didn¡¯t dodge or swing his head around to move, rather a puff of me suddenly flew into existence before his very figure and vaporized the sword into nothingness. There¡¯s no residue matter left from this, nothing at all, not even a puff of smoke! ¡°Well then, do you also intend to get involved?¡± The man asks, intrigued by the power portrayed by the young general just now. As stoic and unyielding as Cybuster was, not even he can remain unfazed in front of that daunting gaze from the Shaman King. Showing a flicker of fear, he was actually fumbling for a correct response: ¡°My father often told me about you and of how you are the strongest being in this world. Please do not misunderstand my intentions. My journey out into the world this time is to meet exceptional individuals like you so I can further hone my skills. Shame though, I was hoping you would¡­.¡± He pauses, letting his tongue correct itself: ¡°Out of consideration for my father, you wouldn¡¯t kill me during the fight now would you?¡± ¡°Haha, very well, you can join in too if you please.¡± In spite of the affirming nod, White River¡¯s voice didn¡¯t sound like he wanted to spare the person at all. As for Joanna, she was ready to have another go at the bastard who embarrassed herself in front of everyone. Without the unting of any shy moves like she did earlier, she quickly chanted her binding spell and swung it forward without a second thought. Towards this foolish attempt by the girl again, the man himself onlyughed: ¡°Didn¡¯t I say it already? I am a being standing beyond the realms of this world. The rules andws of this dimension cannot bind me.¡± With that said, the Shaman King was now done with Joanna and shifts his gaze over to the saint knight instead. The burden nowpletely lies on Rodriguez now, meaning other than him, everyone else here was nonexistence to the man¡¯s eye! Its not like the knight wanted to stand idly by when hispanion was under assault earlier, just that he knows far too well the opponent hadpletely locked onto him. If he so much as moved there, even an inch, it would give the foe the opportunity to strike. That¡¯s not something he can afford, not here in front of this peerless master who can take a life with a single blow. Furthermore, there were no lies in White River¡¯s word. Though the person didn¡¯t continue to use that Dimensional sh like he said, but just the pressure exuding from his presence alone was enough to make the knight falter. If Rodriguez had to describe his current situation, it would be equivalent to when he faced off against that warrior during the coup d¡¯¨¦tat, only difference here was that his position was being reversed to the losing end. Knowing there¡¯s no other options left, Rodriguez can only revert back to the basics and be reckless. It was but a sh, but that¡¯s all he needed to muster up the pinnacle of his powers to freeze over the space itself and attack three times in that split second. I¡¯ve got you! That¡¯s the only thing Rodriguez could think about when the attack was about tond. Sadly, what came nextpletely destroyed the small glimmer of hope inside the knight¡¯s heart, thrusting him into the abyss. Originally the knight¡¯s Ice Dou Qi had already mmed straight onto the Shaman King¡¯s chest, evident by the contact on that clothing, yet things weren¡¯t turning out as the way it should. There¡¯s no impacting blow, no sound, nothing¡­. Furthermore, Rodriguez can distinctly feel his own powers being overwhelmed by another force from the other side. Now that¡¯s when his eyes came face to face with something so horrific that he never thought possible ¨C the Ice Dou Qi that he released, the essence of frost and cold, was being frozen over like a popsicle!! How can Dou Qi be frozen too??? For a second there Rodriguez actually thought he was hallucinating there. Yet everything too real that he can¡¯t deny the facts. To makes matters worse. In light of White River also using his own form of the Ice Dou Qi to counter the knight¡¯s attack by freezing it over, the retaliation didn¡¯t just end there. Like an infection during a gue, the frost continued to prate across the air like a malicious virus before entering into Rodriguez¡¯s body. First was the fingertip the knight used, it practically imploded from within at the structural bone level. Afterwards everything was free game since the initial entry point has been made. Coughing hard at the damage rampaging across his innards, Rodriguez didn¡¯t even know where to start in fending for his life. In fact, he can already see patches of blood seeping out of his pores at every angle, making his appearance dreadfully frightening like a character from a horror story. But who was this knight? A saint level warrior! The damage was but a physical one, not a spiritual one. With an immense burst of his will and a blinding level of light, he forcefully expels the foreign matter out of his flesh through raw power! Surprised by the capability of the youngling, White River clearly didn¡¯t think the knight could do that. Elevating his foe¡¯s standing using his eyes, the Shaman King approves the man using those meaningful eyes of his: ¡°Very good, very good indeed. You are far stronger than your teacher Blue Ocean. If he was in your position now and at your age, I can say for certain he wouldn¡¯t have been able to do the same as you.¡± After giving his praise, the next course of action from the Shaman King was absolutely astounding. Without so much as an blink or even eye contact, White River only needed to will it to dispel the sneak attacking from Cybuster. This time there were no sparks of me like thest, in fact it was purely his will manifesting into reality that knocked the young general back and across the inn. As for Du We, the cause of all this fighting, he only stood there on the sideline waiting. Unlike Joanna who knew nothing of the incredible powers wielded by this man, he¡¯s already seen it first hand the other night. So, in order to bring his chances of sess to the maximum, he¡¯s been waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike with his Nirvana¡¯s Bow! No matter what its still a sacred relic, it should be able to cause him some trouble right?! But in front of this daunting scene, the boy himself cannot help but have second thoughts about moving. Its Joanna, Cybuster and Rodriguez here, that¡¯s a force to be reckoned with at any ce across thends. For the trio to be destroyed with ease, it begs to wonder what level of sess can he pose with a single bow. This White River¡­. is he really impossible to match? Even if I can locate Green hat Gandalf in the future, I fear¡­. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the Shaman King was turned against him with the back wide open. With a whisk of his sleeve, Du Wei finally makes his move! Sadly for Du Wei, in light of his continuous firing, none of the fireballs were hitting. It¡¯s as if an unknown force now shields the man and kept them fromnding. Before long, his control over the mes were lost like the kites in the wind. Aware of what the boy was doing by now, White River turns to face Du Wei using an almost amused smile on that face: ¡°You are quite interesting you know. Is this your mages so called ¡®instant cast¡¯? Hmm, it¡¯s not the real thing is it? You used some kind of means to achieve said result. What a joke! If it was truly an instant spell then maybe, just maybe it would¡¯ve caused me some trouble. Let me teach you something, a true instant cast is creating something from nothing! No matter how little movement you used there for this hail of fireballs, you still moved, meaning you still left traces of your bodily movement in the air! Such a travesty. A fine ability like instant casting is now tarnished by the half-hearted attempted by the likes of you.¡± Finished with his reprimanding, the Shaman King only needed to give a small blow of his breath to extinguish the mes like its nothing. ¡°Now then, what else do you have up your sleeve? Go ahead, show me.¡± Exhaling a sigh at how easily his spell was dispersed, Du Wei figured he might as well forget the part about bringing his Nirvana¡¯s Bow out at this point. Smiling bitterly: ¡°I yield, I am not your opponent.¡± ¡°Good,¡± White River nods, already expecting said reply. ¡°I said I will give you an opportunity. Now you¡¯ve used it. Since you recognize now of the facts, let us continue on our journey.¡± With that said, the Shaman King finally gets up from his seat. And as a form of constion, he also whispered something while passing the talented Rodriguez¡¯s side: ¡°Your talent has surpassed your teacher, but your current powers are still inferior to his.¡± This greatly vexed the saint knight. Gnashing his teeth, Rodriguez wanted to continue the fighting only to be stopped by Du Wei in the nick of time: ¡°Mr. Rodriguez, there¡¯s no more need to fight. I¡¯ll go with him.¡± Pausing to let his mind collect itself, the boy sighs and offers the best n he cane up with: ¡°He is not someone you can deal with. Go find the others. Maybe with everyone together then maybe, just maybe we would have a chance at defeating him without senseless sacrifice.¡± Going white in his face, the saint knight gives a heavy nod after exhaling a sigh of regret: ¡°Yes Duke! I will definitelye back and save you!¡± As bitter as this was for Du Wei, he didn¡¯t want to drag this out. Following White River out the door of this inn ¨C which was mostly destroyed with the roof gone and half the walls copsed ¨C he didn¡¯t want to postpone their departure anymore than it needs to be. There¡¯s already a huge gathering of civilians outside. If the local soldiers also got involved then it would be a bloodbath. It didn¡¯t take long for the two to leave town, but instead of riding fast like normal people would under these circumstances, White River had in fact deliberately slowed down their paces as if the act alone would make the world understand he doesn¡¯t fear anyone! Towards this level of arrogance, Du Wei was absolutely speechless. He was starting to seriously doubt if he will ever get away from this madman because nothing seems to work. To be clear though, he doesn¡¯t hate the Shaman King for his own predicament, he hates himself for being so useless. Du Wei understands full well how fortunate his life has been: He¡¯s the son of a powerful aristocrat in the empire. He¡¯s the student of a legendary mage. And he himself was a reincarnated soul from another world! Matching all these factors together, he should¡¯ve been able to stand at the very height of this world. But what does he do? Squander away the opportunities all because he was a little clever in the head. Now, to make matters worse, he gotzy,zy after being bestowed with a position of power and has nearly forgotten that true strength will overturn everything! If I had worked hard from the beginning, pursued the strength that I should¡¯ve, would I have fallen into this state? If it was anyone else, they would¡¯ve have at least put up a fight with the help of a saint knight. And what did I do? I can¡¯t even hold a single blow¡­.. For the first time ever in his life, Du Wei never felt such craving for power. Not missing the self-reprimanding face of the boy while they rode along the road, White River was the first to break the silence: ¡°I hope your people wouldn¡¯t bring any weakling along the next time they find us, otherwise it would be quite boring.¡± Talk about giving off the final blow. Because of that casual remark, Du Wei almost couldn¡¯t control himself and nearly started a panic attack. With the event behind them, nothing special urred for the next while. However, they did eventually arrive at a part of the road where it¡¯s exceptionally rugged due to the two mountain slopes on each side of the path. But that¡¯s not the most defining feature of this part of thendscape, it¡¯s the ruins up ahead. Called the ¡°Lonely Mountain Pass¡±, this used to be a major military checkpoint that shielded the empire from the Northwest. But as development of the Grand Canal took aim across the central parts of the empire, this once major structure had be effectively useless overtime and was thus abandoned at some point. Now from afar, there¡¯s nothing but weeds and crumbling rocks, evident of the passage of time on this ce. ¡°I remember back when the Rnd Empire was at war with the prairies, this was the very spot where our warriors would constantly dream of breaking through. Now look at it, the once great Lonely Mountain Pass has fallen into a state that could barely be recognized anymore. How the times have changed since then.¡± Sighing at the sight, White River was oddly sentimental here. Sneering aloud, Du Wei had other views in mind: ¡°Since when did the great Shaman King have things they couldn¡¯te to terms with!¡± Scoffing augh at the sarcasticment, White River had wanted to say something back when his senses picked up someone else nearby. No longer yful in his eyes, he exposed a level of seriousness never before seen on that face. ¡°Good! Good! Very good!!¡± Inhaling deeply, he excitedly cackles augh like he¡¯s extremely pleased by the neer: ¡°To think there would be such a powerful figure aside from myself here. How wonderful!¡± After saying that, he then suddenly dismounted from the horse and faced the ruins: ¡°I am White River, the current Shaman King of the Snowy Mountains, pleased to meet you!¡± Stunned by the abrupt greeting, Du Wei follows that line of sight to soon locate a scrawny looking elder hiding in in sight. The person didn¡¯t just appear out of thin air, nor did he try to hide his presence with some sort of spell. All this person did was stand there like he had merged with the surrounding environments, truly astonishing. ¡°Greetings to you Shaman King of the Snowy Mountains. It¡¯s good that I didn¡¯te toote and finally managed to intercept you here.¡± The old man¡¯s voice seems to carry magic in there. Though hoarse and rough like he¡¯s about to kick the bucket at any time, it¡¯s very gentle to the ears. Narrowing in on his eyes, White River wasn¡¯t pleased though, ¡°Hmm, for someone like you to wait for me here, it can¡¯t be just to meet me now is it? Tell me, what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Me¡­¡± The old man sighed as if he¡¯s only talking to himself: ¡°My name is¡­ let me think on it. For many years now there hasn¡¯t been anyone who would address me by my name¡­. Hmm, my name is Saint Igor Paul ¡­ Yes, that is it.¡± While the Shaman King remains unmoved by the name, Du Wei on the other hand was literally popping his eyes in absolute shock!! In the entirety of the Rnd Empire, even an idiot would know this point: no matter how influential, no matter how powerful you are, the only person to ever have the right to add the prefix ¡°Saint¡± to their name was only one! That person would be the Temple of Light¡¯s very own Pope ¨C Saint Igor Paul XVI (16)! Chapter 310 Chapter 310 ¡°Broken Painting e came alone today. Saint Igor Paul XVI, the current pope of the Temple of Light, finally confronts White River on this Lonely Mountain Pass! In light of who this elderly old man was, the Shaman King¡¯s expression remains calm the entire way, in fact it¡¯s dreadfully calm. However, Du Wei didn¡¯t miss that burning excitement in the man¡¯s eye like his spirit was gushing with energy. This monster is truly terrifying, he¡¯s actually materializing his battle intent to the point where I can actually feel it like a real tangible force! ¡°You are the Lord of the Temple of Light while I am the Shaman King of the Snowy Mountain. Why are you blocking my road when our paths are different? Or is that you are here to challenge me?¡± White River coldly asks,pletely dismissing the rude tone in his voice. In response, Saint Igor Paul XVI only issued a sigh like he¡¯s regretting the confrontation: ¡°I heard that you injured one of my followers on the road. Although I too am not very fond of that presiding judge myself, but his strength is alreadyparable to an eighth level mage so I can¡¯t ignore what you have done. ording to the description of the perpetrator that they described, I could only really think of one in this world that can match the description of your outfit and be so omnipotent. Shaman King, my old bones cannot handle the level of strife you raise you know. But as the representing agent of the Goddess of Light, I have a duty to subdue any who brings spheme to humanity and her followers. Sadly the talent within the Temple is dying. Unless Ie in person today, I fear not a single soul would be able to stand up to you¡­.¡± After giving all that ranting, the Pope once again exhales a long sigh after coughing hard like he¡¯s a true elderly old man. The two stopped talking at this point; however, Du Wei¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t sink any deeper from this point forward. There¡¯s an invisible pressure in the air like he¡¯s beingpressed from nothing. Without a doubt, this was the result of the two over there and that he¡¯s simply the casualty for being far too close to their power exchange. The situation was growing dire for Du Wei. As hisplexion became more and more pale with each passing second, blood also starts to seep out of his nose, a direct consequence of overexerting his spirit to defend against that force. If this continues then it¡¯s just a matter of time before his body gives. There¡¯s no question that Du Wei wanted to simply copse and faint away into the darkness under that strain, but that¡¯s not a usible option right now. Because of what he did earlier by using his spirit to peep at the Pope and Shaman King, he¡¯s now stuck in limbo within that raging vortex. So what does that mean? It means that if he doesn¡¯t retain control over his own spirit while the two monsters are going at it, he will be ripped from his body and consumed by that intangible vortex until he bes shredded. Even if he does survive at the end, the only oue would be him bing a drooling idiot. That¡¯s not something Du Wei ¨C a person known for his wits and intellect ¨C can ept! Then just when he¡¯s about topletely sumb to the pressure and copse, a critical moment for him, Du Wei suddenly became overwhelmed by a creeping chill from the front. The sensation was dreadfully cold, no doubt about that, but that¡¯s not what he cares about. What he does care about here was the fact that his spirit has been released from that crushing vortex. ¡°Ignorant brat, do you think someone of your lowly calibre can pry into a confrontation of our level? Stay there and be good like the child that you are.¡± With his warning said, White River then waves his hand to shoo the kid away. While this was nothing much for the Shaman King, Du Wei on the other hand wasn¡¯t all that fond of being tossed aside like a ragged doll. Not only did he lose his bnce from that little sweep, his stomach felt like it wanted to puke like he¡¯s nauseated from the most horrific park ride in this world. Nevertheless, there was one good thing from this and that was his spirit hadpletely returned to his body in its entirety. Safe and sound, Du Wei cannot ask for more. Unfortunately for him, just when the boy wanted to give his thanks for the kindness shown today, White River¡¯s damning remark had shot over again: ¡°You don¡¯t have to thank me. I don¡¯t care whether or not you are dead, I only care about the wellbeing of my pet. If you die then he goes too due to the contract. That I cannot allow.¡± Insults aside, White River did do a damn good job of throwing Du Wei far off into the distant. From his estimation, he should be over a hundred meters away by the time hended again, giving the boy ample room to watch the fight unfold without getting caught up in it. Sadly this also meant he would have a hard time hearing what the two monsters are saying in their conversations. ¡°What a good Pope that you are. The kid is still a Duke of your Rnd Empire yet you didn¡¯t hold back at all. Did you intend to kill him as well?¡± Sneering in his tone, the Shaman King attempts to ridicule his opponent for thatst bit. ¡°In the face of the great Shaman king, how can I not go all in? I fear even a split second of carelessness would mean the end of me don¡¯t you agree?¡± The Pope didn¡¯t get offended, instead he only smiled like a kind elderly old man. A total contradiction of what he did just now. ¡°Humph,¡± scoffing that im with a snort, White River then initiated his next attack by stepping forward. One step, that¡¯s all it took for this great monster to send his foe into high alert! ¡°Goddess once said, I will allow the existence of darkness, but the darkness will never be above the light. Otherwise, thou shall face my fury and its pure light¡­.¡± The Pope¡¯s sentence sounded like he was merely murmuring to himself, yet it was still clear and loud enough to reach even Du Wei into the distance! Then before the boy knew it, the words hade gushing into his soul like a thousand tidal waves, sending the poor Du Wei off his rockers from how painful it was. In light of the very air shaking like its being bombarded by the sound waves, White River continues to march forward. Step by step, it¡¯s almost like this man cannot be hindered by anything! Che~ Following that tiny snickering click of his tongue, that¡¯s when the Shaman King finally countered. First it was just several strands of silvery light materializing in front of the Shaman King. This was very strange. Though the strands of light appears to be harmless without a spec of danger to them, it¡¯s actually slicing apart the very sound itself, acting like a shield in its use. But the Pope wasn¡¯t a pushover either. Knowing his attack was ineffective in its current state, it¡¯s only normal that he would intensify it even further. In a split second, this was no longer just a simple bombardment of the sound, it¡¯s literally a nuke, a sound nuke. Blowing away even the clouds in the sky and shattering the ground itself, anything that ends up standing in the path of this second wave was instantly vaporized. Fortunately the vaporizing part of the spell only effected the closest things next to the caster, otherwise Du Wei would be in a whole heaps of trouble right now. Now that didn¡¯t sit well with the Pope at all. Bing even sterner in his old face, the spiritual leader of the empire knew he had to take further action. Pointing out his finger at the foe before him, the elder once again began chanting a majestic mantra: ¡°If you worship me then you shall have my mercy, if you belittle me then you shall face my punishment!¡± There were no extravagant explosions like thest to be had here, nor was there a soul wrenching pain that hit Du Wei¡¯s head either; instead, there was utter silence and the sudden expansion of space between the Pope and the Shaman King. It¡¯s as if the three of them were suddenly thrust into a void, devoid of the environment that was supposed to be here aside from the endless road under their feet. That¡¯s the true essence of the Pope¡¯s sacred arts. Extending that short path between him and the Shaman King until it¡¯s unreachable, this was the power of a saint level being twisting thews of this world! Finally stopping, not even White River will continue doing something that¡¯s fruitless. First frowning at the new obstacleid before his eyes, the Shaman King then began looking up and down at the elder¡¯s existence before testing the water. One step¡­. two step¡­. three step¡­.. The more he walked, the further their distance actually became! Despite the freakiness of the spell, there¡¯s no panic to be found in the man¡¯s eye either though: ¡°Interesting, how interesting. I didn¡¯t think I would be honored toe across another saint ss master like you today. Allow me to give my thanks. Because of you, I have once again furthered my understanding of this world in a different light!¡± The Pope¡¯s spell wasn¡¯t an offensive or defensive spell, rather it¡¯s an illusionary type that falsified the rules of the space they were in. So long as White River cannot shatter thews ced on the environment then he can never move forward or backwards for that matter. Naturally this scene didn¡¯t escape Du Wei¡¯s eye. As result of their confrontation, adding in his own previous experiences from various saint ss warriors fighting, the boy has finally grasped onto the edges of what it means to be someone at that sainthood, or at least the theory behind it anyways. First off, for those that want to step into the realm of sainthood in their cultivation, it¡¯s imperative that they are able to be grasp the secrets of their own powers. That much was clear in the boy¡¯s head. However, that doesn¡¯t mean there aren¡¯t variations in how they do it. Take Rodriguez¡¯s (Ice Dou Qi knight) ability for example. The knight understands how to utilize thews of this world to enhance his personal powers to ovee the opponent, that¡¯s likely the most rudimentary type for one to advance into sainthood. Now for what the Pope was using, it¡¯s the pr opposite of that. Instead of enhancing his own physical strength by bending the world, the elder was modifying the world instead to fight for him! This was likely a step up from the former because of the level of difficulties involved. Like a baby trying to learn how to move their limbs, it¡¯s always easier to feel for something that they actually own than something that¡¯s not theirs to begin with! In simple terms, Rodriguez¡¯s power was based on thew of ¡°utilization¡± while the Pope¡¯s power was based on thew of ¡°modification¡±. Wait, what about White River¡¯s then? But just when Du Wei was brooding over the source of that monster¡¯s power, White River voice had once again broke out, thus interrupting his train of thoughts. ¡°Genius, truly a genius! Your Majesty (pope), you truly brought me great joy today.¡± In light of thepliment, the Pope doesn¡¯t seem to be taking it so kindly or faring so well for that matter. Exhausted in his old face, that skinny arm seems to tremble with every word he made: ¡°You are too polite. As the great Shaman King, I fear even with my best ability it would not be enough against someone of your calibre.¡± Pondering as if he¡¯s having a hard timeing up with a reply, White River actually furrowed his brow there for a second: ¡°Since you didn¡¯t disappoint me then how can I do otherwise? Although you are able to change thews binding this world, a real marvel in of itself, sadly you are still¡­.¡± When reaching this point, the man seems to be hesitant to continue; nevertheless, he did so anyways but with a much quieter voice, ¡°A-MAN-WITHIN-THE-PAINTING!¡± Cackling a strange and eerieugh, the Shaman King then raises his finger to converge all of the silvery light strands out in the air to that point, thus forming a thin long de in the process. The effects were stunning: cold, radiant, and absolutely stunning, this was not the same ice sword that Rodriguez created with his Ice Dou Qi, rather it¡¯s a beam sword created by the constructive will of hisw! Raging with a power that seems to want to tear the very world apart, White River knew this should be enough. So, with a sh of his newly founded beam saber, he takes aim not at the Pope like he should though, but the world itself! Chapter 311 ¡°Storming Chaos The North, Frozen Forest. It¡¯s always snowing here, spring, summer, fall, and especially winter. Yet, even so, it seems to be particrly bad this year after Beinlich took a look up the sky. He and his brave souls of thirty are currently trekking through forbidden grounds here. Try as they might with the thin nks strapped to their boots though, the snow still reached up to their thighs with every stride. st this weather, it¡¯s been nine days since ourst haul. It¡¯s as if the wild animals here are all hibernating or something¡­. Due to how bad their hunt has been going, Beinlich was extremely dissatisfied thus far. In addition, the weird weather has left him feeling all jittery inside and he didn¡¯t like it one bit. Ordering the men to set up camp now that they¡¯ve arrived at the Great Circle Lake of the Frozen Forest, Beinlich wanted some alone time. Climbing one of the tallest ice encrusted cliff by theke to overlook the northern part of the divide, he recalls back to the distant past. He could still vividly remember that event years ago. Duke Tulip, the one boy who saved his men and himself that night from the dangers lurking underneath the water. If not for that experience, his Snow Wolf Mercenary would¡¯ve never achieved such size and connections. It was because of the deep rtionship they created that day. Casting another longing look to the north, He went and returned from the great beyond, seen things I have yet to see¡­. One day, one of these days, I must do the same. I¡¯m an adventurer, I refuse to slowly wither away by the bed like so many others. Such humiliation will not befall my head! Feeling the heroic pride coursing through his veins, the leader of the great Snow Wolf Mercenaries boiled with a sense of adventure. But then, his eyes inexplicably shifted back to the yapping voices in the background where the younglings are working. Sighing at the scene, What a shame, I still have to lead these brothers of mine to continue this work. If I had no baggage, had no responsibility, I could just run off now with nothing but a sword and pack, exploring the unknown to my hearts content. But now, I have a duty to these men, a duty to make sure the Snow Wolf Mercenary would be led by an experienced and prestigious leader. That is¡­. until my timees and a fitting recement is found. It¡¯s been two years since Du Weist met with the Snow Wolf Mercenaries. New and old faces came and went, many retired, but some never made it through their life¡¯s journey. For those who Beinlich had to bury with his own hands in this frigid ce, he would never forget their faces or their names. He has a duty to them, to remember them, to not let their story be left untold. No matter how strong this great adventurer was inside, time would eventually polish away even the sternest of wills. Nowadays, he was really starting to doubt if he would ever get the opportunity to carry out his dream¡­. But just as things wereing together in the background, snow cleared and bonfire set, Beinlich suddenly found his brain being overwhelmed by a dizzying state. He didn¡¯t know how to react to this, but he didn¡¯t need to. Before the man knew what was happening, a ringing rumble had swept over the entirendscape from all directions. Themotion so intense that it sounded like it came from the very heavens itself, crushing their body and into their very soul! And as if to meet this chorus of destruction, thends reacted. Trembling until the very earth itself shook like a giant earthquake, cracks formed underneath the ground, trees tumbled, and the air itself blown apart like a magnificent shockwave that would tear the world apart. Beinlich kept shouting wildly at his men to take cover, but try as he might, nothing would work. Its as if something was caught in his throat and corked it. Thankfully this frightening anomaly did eventually subside. Though the event was brief, no more than a minute in reality, but to these mercenaries, it was no different from a lifetime. They are scared, very scared in fact by what they were witnessing and of how much destruction and carnageid around themselves. ¡°Is anyone hurt? Those alive call out your names!¡± Reluctantly climbing down from his position, Beinlich promptly calls out to hisrades to confirm their numbers. Fortunately the news came back as good, only some minor scratches and wounds, nothing a few bandages and healing creams wouldn¡¯t solve. This undoubtedly ced the man¡¯s heart at ease after what they just witnessed. Chapter 311 Part 2 No matter how brave Beinlich and his men were at heart, confronting a natural disaster of this grand scale would bring any living sentient being to their knees. This wasn¡¯t something as simple as facing off against the fiercest and deadliest of creatures, this was an untested power of nature itself, a force beyond reckoning by mere mortal standards. ¡°We¡¯re staying here for the night only. Tomorrow morning we¡¯re turning back!¡± This was the conclusion the leader of these mercenaries came to. Its far too dangerous with all these unknown variables around. Then someone shouts: ¡°But Leader, we went through so much and worked so hard to get here, to return without any harvest, isn¡¯t this toome?¡± Beinlich remains firm: ¡°No, I have already decided! Everything is just wrong along the way! Even in winter those magic beasts shouldn¡¯t just disappear without a trace to be found! Furthermore, did none of you see that scene just now? Who knows what¡¯s going on beyond these parts! For everyone¡¯s safety, I would rather return empty handed than to lose one of you!¡± He¡¯s the head of their group, if he¡¯s determined and set on the decision then the others won¡¯t object to the idea. But things won¡¯t go as smoothly as this great adventurer wishes it. Not long after their tents were reset and the bonfire up, Beinlich suddenly jerked up in horror at the north. Beyond the Great Circle Lake, his ears had picked up the constant wave of animals howling out in the distant. Combining that with the trampling sound of hooves and ws against dirty, he¡¯s certain arge number of creatures are nearby. ¡°Leader! Fast! Fast! Look!¡± One of the scouts suddenly cried out in panic, his fingers pointing up ahead with vignce in his action. Following hisrade¡¯s direction, the man hurried to gain some height in order to see. That¡¯s when he lost all senses of blood from his face. It was hundreds, if not thousands of magic beasts running along the opposite shores of the Great Circle Lake. Whatever Giant Ice Bear, whatever Ice Demon Wolf, whatever Venomous Snow Rat, there¡¯s even that Evil Faced Spider Queen among their ranks! Like a stampeding horde, these creatures were rushing over to their location with no signs of slowing down in their speed. There¡¯s just way too many of them. Thousands versus thirty brave souls, forget a couple, just a single middle-ranked magic beast would be enough to wipe their entire group out at this rate. Against this one-sided odd, only despair weed these mercenaries by this point as many had given up their will to run. ¡°Everyone¡­ everyone¡­¡± Gritting his teeth, the man cries out in desperation: ¡°Everyone get around me quickly! Find a ce to hide¡­ or climb up the tree at least!¡± The mercenaries needed no urging after that order. The younglings in the group were the first to seek a hiding spot, followed closely by the more experienced who yelled at them to climb the trees instead. But it was Beinlich who noticed the subtle oddity within this stampede. Yes, they are afraid of the magic beasts, but the creatures themselves are also in fear! For so many different species to be running together, and in such cramped formations, there must be something even more frightening in the background whom they couldn¡¯t see yet. That¡¯s experience telling him this, otherwise, none of this would make sense! Howling roars of the predators, pping wings of the flyers, jumping of the creepy crawlers, and the colliding impact of the sturdier brutes, none of the creatures paid these thirty or so humans any heed. They just kept rushing towards the south¡­. By the time Beinlich opened his eyes again after closing them earlier, a drench of cold sweat had filled the man¡¯s back. He couldn¡¯t believe this, he¡¯s alive. Then looking around the area, he was shocked to find none of his men were dead either, only a few unlucky few who got away with some minor scratches after their trees were knocked from some impacting creature. Peering over to the north, Beinlich inhales a deep breath, The North¡­ There must be something big happening in the north!! Exactly as everything was taking ce elsewhere, Beinlich wondering what¡¯s happening and Du Wei fretting over the confrontation between the Pope and Shaman King, another major event was currently taking ce under the Holy Mountain of the far-off north. Hundreds of dragons opened their wings and hovered above the sky. Theserge, high-level creatures are howling in anger and anguished pain. And the mountain itself, corrected¡­. There¡¯s no ¡°Holy Mountain¡± here anymore! Chapter 311 Part 3 Chapter 311 ¡°Storming Chaos (p3)¡± From what used to be like a sword striking up at the heavens, this sacred mountain supposedly granted by the gods themselves, has now copsed. There¡¯s only a small truncated peak left in its wake! And on the ground, numerous cracks are scattered along the surface to the point where it¡¯s impossible to count. The dragons still don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening, or why their home has been decimated to such a state. All they knew was that just minutes ago the earth shook, causing the mountain walls to crumble due to violent tremor. Out of a sense for survival, these giant serpents fled without a second thought from their nests. But not all dragons are mourning in hysterical howls, there¡¯s one particrly big golden one floating quietly in the sky. Its sharp draconic iris gave off a vengeful light as it eyed the former mountain base. Holy Mountain! How can the Holy Mountain copse? The dragon chief cries out in anger from within, Can it be, the great dragon god have abandoned the proud dragon race?! This wasn¡¯t something as simple as just losing their home or nests. Inside the Holy Mountain contained the veryir which housed all the eggs to their race. Due to how fast the dragons had to evacuate, they weren¡¯t able to take even a single one with them, meaning all of their future younglings are now trapped within this catastrophe disaster, or worse, killed by the falling boulders! It¡¯s no secret the dragons are a race of terrific strength, but their fertility rate left a lot to be desired of. In fact, it¡¯s the direct opposite. Due to the extremely low rate of birth, every single egg are invaluable treasures to the race as a whole. Though there were only twenty within their, it¡¯s still everything they had. That¡¯s hundreds of years of work! ¡°This¡­ this¡­¡± The dragon chief¡¯s muttering finally devolved into a howling roar of raging resentment, ¡°What exactly is going on!!!!!!!¡± ¡°Chief!!!¡± A ck adult dragon suddenly swoops over from the front. The chief could recognize this one, it¡¯s one of the adults in charge of overseeing the border to the banishednds. Showing nuisance in his draconic expression: ¡°What is it!¡± ¡°North¡­ the North¡­¡± The ck dragon growls whisperingly, his face actually showing a touch of panic. Damn it! How can the great dragon race, our proud dragon race, show such timidity! North! What of the North! Even if those damn sinners areing to trespass then so what? As if the great and proud dragon race would be afraid of them! In a release of his worldly might, the dragon chief roars out against the heavens, letting his voice spread across thendscape. Suddenly, all of the dragon warriors had gathered around his location after that summoning from their leader. ¡°Chief¡­the North¡­they havee!!¡± To the north of the Holy Mountain lies only a barren wastnd riddled with sharp protruding rocky barbs. It¡¯s a natural barrier to fend off the sinned races from marching south to the human realm. But now¡­. If even their majestic home, the Holy Mountain, could not escape unscathed, what odds are for the rest of the ice sheets around their nest? Of course there¡¯s going to be nothing left! Everything was destroyed from that violent oscition of the earth just now, meaning the great barrier was gone as well! And now further up North¡­. yes, beyond the dragon¡¯s home and into the banishednds, a faint ck line was quickly drawing close. Who knows how many figures there truly are in order to cover the entire view line, but the pressure was suffocating in every manner of the word. From the ground to the air, it¡¯spletely covered with various beings! Hundreds of thousands? A million? Or more? ? Boum! Boum!! Boum!!! A heavy pping of the battle drums resonates out of that ominous line. Narrowing in his golden iris, the dragon chief had to take a moment to focus in on the source. But he saw it, at the forefront of that mass. Standing at no shorter than a fully-fledged adult dragon, these dozens of monstrous creatures with their crimson red warring eyes were ferocious and menacing in every manner of their existence. Who knows how much explosive power those bulging muscles carried, but its certainly not to be trifled with once unleashed. But the most eye catching wasn¡¯t their golden colored skin or menacing dangerous apparels, it¡¯s the giant drums strapped around their necks with those thickly braided ropes. With every step these monsters took, they would bang the battle drum with their front arms like a warring battlecry. Chapter 311 Part 4 Chapter 311 ¡°Storming Chaos (p4)¡± Behemoths!! The strongest type of creatures possible to be tamed by the beastmen race?! The heart of the dragon chief sank at the realization. Damn it, when did the beastmen race manage to re-raise these things? Aren¡¯t they supposed to be long extinct? They¡¯ve never dispatched such monsters during their past invasions! An adult behemoth, whether it be their ferocity or strength, its allparable to an adult dragon of the strongest kind. Now there are over a dozen of these things at the enemy line, ready to rip into the dragon¡¯s rank at the first call by their masters. But its not just the ground that¡¯s ominous and oppressive here, there¡¯s still the endless number of flying and dancing figures in the air¡­. Light as a fluttering snowke, agile as the fastest bird in the sky, these beings carried wings as thin and beautiful as a butterfly. But unlike a human or beastmen though, these entities are little bit more petite in terms of size with one clear difference, they are much more beautiful in terms of outlook and had a longer pair of pointed ears. That¡¯s right, these are the elves of legend! They may look harmless and even adorable in many cases, but make no mistake, they are definitely not to be messed with for each of them carried a small set of bow and arrow. Others may not know this but the dragons do, those are no toy and could reap a life with ease if not careful. ¡°Elves¡­¡± The dragon chief mutters: ¡°No¡­ no! This is impossible!¡± The elf¡¯s fertility is super low, it can even beparable to us dragons! So how, how can they muster such numbers? There¡¯re at least tens of thousands of them! In the past whenever an invasion urs as a result of the sinned races encroaching, its always numbering in the hundreds at best, and that¡¯s extremely rare. But now, not only are there the elves and beastmen, there are also that huge army of other banished races in the background. Finally stopping about a kilometer out from the Dragon¡¯s territory, the first to give aplete picture was the beastkins. There are cowmen, horsemen, tigermen and bearmen at the front, each and every one of them faceting snarling fangs and weapons at the opponent. Too much¡­ too much¡­ this is really too much¡­. The dragon chief¡¯s heart gradually loses hope as well. Sinners¡­ how can they muster such a force? Where did they find the resources to feed such numbers?! Looking back at his own dragon warriors, the dragon patriarch knew this was a losing battle. Inparison to the millions of enemies at their doorstep, they themselves only numbered in the hundreds. Although the heart in him was filled with doubt and disbelief at the incredulous sight, but as the leader of his race, he could not bring shame to the title of being the ¡°strongest race¡± in existence. That¡¯s an honor he would not allow to be blemished! ¡°My children, this will be the cruelest war we have ever encountered.¡± The slow resonating sound of his voice reverberates across his fe dragons: ¡°Tell me, are you afraid?¡± Two hundred dragons roared out in unison. For a time, the sound of their howling cries of anger and rage actually overshadowed the cries of the oppressive legion in the horizon. ¡°Very good, as long as we are here, us dragons are here,¡± the dragon chief proudly raises his head above the rest, ¡°no sinner shall step foot across the Holy Mountain! Because, this is our objective, our life¡¯s mission!¡± Chapter 312 part 1 The biting cold may be strong today, but its nowhere close to being strong enough to sniff out their pent-up desire for revenge. That sted mountain, the insurmountable barrier sealing us off is just up ahead. Now, it¡¯s nothing but a pile of rubble! We must destroy these giant lizards once and for all!! For us, for our ancestors, for our future! Mutually of one in this idea, the screaming roars from the banished races and their nking weapons was, in essence, their battle cry. Nevertheless, a sound signature was still in order. Following the drumming of the colossal instruments hanging off of the behemoths neck again, the first wave of assault by the beastmen has begun. They varied greatly even among their own kind. ws and fangs, matched that with their stout bodies, it¡¯s no different from confronting a nightmare. But their armaments on the other hand left a lot to be desired for though. New and old, it¡¯s unsure how many years it has been since some of these supposed armors or weapons were forged. But one thing¡¯s certain, anyone would a clean sight could literally see the rust eating through the sheets of metal use to create these things. Even so, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that those bulging muscles are more than capable in pummeling their opponents to the ground. At first the tens of thousands of warring creatures only moved in slow strides, then it got faster, and faster, and faster until it became a sprinting run. Duh~ Duhhh~ Duhhhhh~ Their feet were crushing, destroying the gravels and ice under their legs as the earth shook. This was the forbidden ground, thend which barred their ancestors for all ages from returning. But now, s, they are here, they have returned to take what¡¯s theirs, the very home that was ripped from their hands so long ago. Naturally the dragons are well aware of how these sinners fought since they¡¯ve been at it for a whole lifetime. So, the dragon patriarch and his children knew it was time for battle as well in light of the contempt in their eyes. Humph, it¡¯s been thousands of years already and these foolish sinners still don¡¯t learn! The dragon chief raises his head high and bellowed out a draconicugh that rumbled everything in his near vicinity. Following the signal from their leader, one of the biggest and strongest ck dragons among their rank had started to move as well. Swooping down from the air, this huge massive being was none other than the ¡°Strongest Warrior¡± whom Du Wei toyed with using his math trick back then. He may not be all that capable when it came to using draconian magic, but his physical strength was unequaled aside from the dragon chief. Therefore, the fact that this leading figure would lead the charge gave courage for the rest in these times of crisis. In no time at all, a charging ¡°V¡± shape formationprised of dozens of ck dragons had formed. Their target, the army that¡¯s charging at them from the ground. The beastmen are no cowards by any means. In fact, this race was known for their courage, though adamantlycking in intelligence in some areas, they are nevertheless strong individuals who won¡¯t back down in front of the enemy. Unfortunately, their opponents today are dragons, a superior race in every manner of the word. As much as their spirit wanted to hold strong against those resounding roars from above, the biologicalws presiding over the different races are stronger and left them wavering. Yes, that¡¯s right, this was fear they are sensing. The fear of the ¡°dragon¡¯s howl¡±, a canal that could not be ovee by mere courage. And without surprise, what ensued next was pure carnage. Burning everything in their wake, the ck mes of the dragons incinerated everything at the forefront, leaving not even ashes behind at the intense heat. As for the unlucky ones who took the lesser brunt of that force in the background, they could only wail in agony as the intense heat slowly took them. It¡¯s a cruel way to go for any being, and for a while, all anyone could hear or see were ck masses of burning pirs fleeing in all direction while the looming death swooped in and out like bombarding airnes. The tide definitely fell in favor of the dragons right now. However, no matter how strong these lizards are, they are few in number and are destined to fatigue. But what about the beastmen? They are thousands strong, legion even. The first wave may be decimated beyond reckoning, but there are the second, the third, and many more waves toe. A few dozen ck dragons won¡¯t have an easy time destroying them all. And sure enough, after a long and exhausting aerial ughter, the proud warriors of the dragons are finally out of breath and must resort to physical attacks with their ws next. This definitely opened up a way for the beastmen to attack since not all of them are so weak. Pity for these brave souls though, their brethren¡¯s have long lost the will to fight. While most were fleeing back to the main body, only these select few were willing to put up a fight to no avail. A team of well-organized ck dragons are more than a match for a solo beastkin, that much was obvious in how quickly they were ughtered. Taking in this battle scene from above, the dragon chief huffs out a cold snickering grin: ¡°Humph, these sinners are always the same. So what if they got more people? it¡¯s pointless!¡± Chapter 312 part 2 While all of this was urring at the same time, there were several disheartened eyes within the main legion body showing disappointment at the sad picture. ¡°My brothers, it seems like we are going to have to listen to that guy in the end to make this work.¡± Standing at three meters in height, the one speaking here was a monstrous being that carried a heavy voice that¡¯s constantly causing the nearby ground to rumble with every word he made. This was a rhinoman, a beastkin that had a single horn on his forehead and super thickyer of skin simr to elephants. ¡°Rock! Are you telling me that us beastkins must submit ourselves to those elves?! Damn it, just looking at those scrawny elves is enough to aggravate me to no end! What¡¯s more, if we bow down to them now then there¡¯s no going back. We will forever be their ves, moving as they order in the future! I cannot endure such humiliation! Us, Beastmen as a race, are many times stronger than they are physically, how can I ept being ordered around by those sissies!¡± The one protesting in a rolling howl next to the rhinoman was a demi-human with the traits of a lion. Unlike his friend though, this being didn¡¯t have any horns on the forehead, but rather a golden tattoo of the word ¡®king¡¯ instead. What¡¯s more, the color of his fur also glistened with a golden tint if the light got on it in the right angle, that¡¯s the sign of a true ruler among his tribe. Understanding his friend¡¯s frustration, the rhinoman known as Rock attempts to sway the lion back to his sense: ¡°I hate those guys as well, especially that person! However, my dear Liger, we have to temporarily submit to them no matter how unwilling we are¡­ You know it as well. After we left the main continent, our beastkin suffered heavily and lost almost our entire aerial force. Aside from the scarce members of the eagle tribe who can still fly, we have nothing left to confront those sted flying serpents. Yes, our warriors are brave, but a pair of feet is still a pair of feet. We have no means to grow a set of wings!¡± After saying that fine speech illustrating their frustration, Rock then shifts his attention over to the other side where his tone inherently grew colder in terms of friendliness: ¡°And what about you Dominus? What¡¯s your opinion?¡± This guy whose name was hailed as Dominus stood around five meters away from the other two leaders of the beastkin army. Unlike the two massive monsters though, this individual was much smaller in terms of size with one exception: he had a massive wolf as a mount! The canine stretched over two meters in length from front to back, its fur ck and coarse, and those fine ws and fangs were abnormally long and ferocious, evident by the deep gnashes on the ground. As for Dominus himself, his whole body was in perfect proportion to his size. Wide shoulders, arched back, and a powerful waist to keep himself mounted at all times. But the most eye-catching had to be his armor though. Unlike the rusted garbage the other beastkin tribes wore, this individual had a neatly strapped te to his chest and a wolf shaped helmet to boot! ¡°Do as you will!¡± Dominus¡¯s voice may be hoarse and cold, but the bloodthirstiness he held could not be denied: ¡°Its your business that you only have two legs. We, the proud Wolf Riders, will not submit to any elf. No one aside from me can ever hope tomand my Wolf Riders!¡± After saying that much, the arrogant wolfman then pats down at his steed¡¯s head, indicating it to leave. ¡°Humph¡­ just ignore him.¡± Watching that departing back disappearing off into the distance, Liger¡¯s mood swiftly turned sour: ¡°These sted wolfmen are only relying on their huge numbers to unt their attitude.¡± Rock nods in turn: ¡°Fortunately Dominus is a clear minded guy even if he¡¯s a bit annoying. As long as those elves don¡¯t actively provoke him then he¡¯s not going to object to the idea.¡± Meanwhile back over at the wolf leader¡¯s side, the proud wolfmen didn¡¯t go too far, merely back to his tribe¡¯s location in the leftmost wing of the formation. The area was a natural pit, allowing him to easily gain an easy height advantage by jumping up to a three-meter-high rock to face his people. ¡°Wolf Riders! The time for battle is soon upon us!!¡± Sword drawn, he points it at the sky where the enemy lies. Awhooo~~~~ Owwhooo~~~~ Just like their leader, multitudes of differing wolfmen are howling out at the sky with their steeds. There are ck ones just like Dominus¡¯s, but there are also other colors like grey and white as well. Regardless of their coloration though, each are significantly better armed than the other beastkins with their leather garbs and a long knife as their main weapon of choice. That¡¯s right, this ck pressuring mass was the strongest force under the Beastmen race, the Wolf Riders! Chapter 313 part 1 Chapter 313 ¡°Elf King¡± The first wave of the sinners¡¯ attack has been sessfully disintegrated, thus alleviating the dragon chief¡¯s fear. It seems these fools just don¡¯t learn, always recklessly charging forward like foolish buffoons. Don¡¯t they know a ground force can never ovee the superior advantage of air? Following the first confrontation, what ensued next was an eerie silence. The beastmen army made no further attempt at charging after the first assault, nor did the elves constantly circling above the air join the fray. For the defenders, the battle force led by the ¡°Strongest Warrior¡± undoubtedly raised the dragons¡¯ moral; however, the cost of such a feat was the exhaustion of their Dragon Breath and a fatigued body. Knowing this fact, the Chief knew they couldn¡¯t continue like this and led his brethren tond. They didn¡¯t go far, staying close to their ruined home as if struggling to dig something out of the rubbles. Thankfully, their efforts paid off with what little reward they could salvage. ¡°Father,¡± rushing over in his human form, the first prince of the Dragon n appeared right beside his father¡¯s presence with delight in that voice: ¡°I¡­ we found them¡­.¡± After saying that, he then opened up his arms to reveal the egg in his possession! This wondrous news brought on a show of excitement in the Chief¡¯s eye. Carefully cing his massive draconian head up to the egg, he stretched his tongue out to give the roundish object a gentle lick like a parent: ¡°And what else? How many more did you manage to recover?¡± Issuing a deep sigh, the old dragon looks up to his son in anticipation for the answer. Dull in his face, the First Prince¡¯s voice grew weak and dim: ¡°Aside from this one, there¡¯s only eight that we¡¯ve managed to recover from the rubbles. Six are still intact but two of them are damaged from the crumbling rocks due to the cave-in. Our tribesmen are currently working hard to heal them using their Dragon Breath, but the rest¡­ they¡¯re all¡­.¡± When it came to thest part of his sentence, the voice croaked and lost all air in them. ARGGHHHHHRRRR!!!!!! The old dragon¡¯s deafening roar could be heard even across the mountains, shaking thendscape in doing so by his intense rage and resentment. Gods! Goddess of Light!! In order to bear the mission you ced on our shoulders, us Dragons have defended this spot for a thousand years. Is this the sort of reward you give us?!! Night time. On the opposite end of the ice sheet, there were countless burning embers from within the legion army of the Sinners. It¡¯s unsure how many tents were erected, nor were anyone able to count the number of teams ordered to boil water, but it¡¯s clear none on this side intended to fight tonight. As for the dragons themselves, they got nowhere left to go aside from perching above their ruined home to rest. For the proud dragon race to be reduced to such a state, it¡¯s humiliating and it¡¯s a true grievance for these lizards. But not all could rest on this night though, especially for the old chief who¡¯s eyeing the picture as a whole and making sure the two damaged eggs are being looked after by the green healers in their ranks. In every right, he¡¯s an excellent leader for someone so old. The Chief wanted to do more to help his brethren¡¯s, but confronted with all these changes that seems to have sprouted out of the ground from nowhere, he too was feeling helpless and unsure. Then shifting his gaze over to the looming ck mass in the horizon that was the legion army made up of tens of thousands of enemies, not even the dragon chief could remain indifferent at heart. Morning, when the light had just broken through the horizon. Many of the slumbering dragons were still fast asleep when they were rudely awoken by themotions happening in the enemies¡¯ side. The natural reaction for someone in this situation would of course be irritation and anger. Who likes to be disturbed during their beauty sleep? But that soon changed to curiosity after seeing the strange movements of these Sinners. First and foremost, instead of the main beastmen army acting as a charging vanguard, this time the ones showing the biggest movement were many small figures that came running out from the back. ording to the dragon warriors in charge ofbat, they could recognize these small little beings as ¡°Dwarves¡±. These dwarfs may be stout and short, but they are natural born craftsmen. What¡¯s more, its even said that their blood holds some rtion to the Giants of old. Chapter 313 part 2 Chapter 313 ¡°Elf King (p2)¡± The dwarves are doing something and it couldn¡¯t be any good. Those old rudimentary carts, the hundreds of master craftsmen hammering away with their tools, they¡¯re obviously trying to assemble something huge and there¡¯s many of them! Some of the dragon warriors had trouble recognizing what these strange contraptions were, and some even attempted to fly closer in order to get a better look. However, that¡¯s a terrible mistake¡­. The elves who didn¡¯t appear in the battle of yesterday aren¡¯t sitting idle anymore. As soon as one of the more reckless lizards got too close, hundred of these small flying elves had already taken up their bows, letting loose their gleaming arrows in a volley of death! Many of the dragon warriors were fine, but one of the younger of the bunch wasn¡¯t so fortunate. Due to his reckless action, his belly was instantly pierced by dozens of arrows. It¡¯s unsure what sort of magic has been imbued into the sharp edges, but it¡¯s obviously more than what this young dragon¡¯s natural resistance to magic could handle, thus causing it to plummet straight out of the sky and bing easy picking for the force down below. If not for hispanions risking their life to drag the injured fe back, it¡¯s likely the beastmen would¡¯ve already swarmed around the lizard and used him as breakfast. But the dangerous situation wasn¡¯t over quite yet. Coming out to the front line by now was the dragon chief. This old dragon wasn¡¯t able to get much sleepst night due to his woes, so he was a bit staggered in moving his colossal body to the forefront. Nevertheless, it only took a glimpse at what the dwarves were making to turn hisplexion green. Most of the younger and weaker dragons have never left the mountain due to the barriers surrounding their home, but that doesn¡¯t apply to the Chief. He¡¯s seen many things in his life and went to many ces, so he immediately recognized what those strange tforms are used for and what they intended to mount on it! Yes, the long line of siege weapons weren¡¯t ramming poles, nor were they wall mounts used in human warfare, they¡¯re long-ranged artillery arbalests that could shoot down even a dragon ifnded properly! But the bad news didn¡¯t just end there. The elves were also moving in the background, constantly flying back and forth carrying barrels of slimy substances to drizzle over the arrow tips. Considering the creepy green color of that ooze, the Chief could be certain it couldn¡¯t be anything good. Mostly likely poison if his spections are correct. There¡¯s good reason for that spection of course. Elves aren¡¯t just good at archery, they¡¯re also attuned to nature right from birth, that makes them especially good at recognizing the effects of various ingredients in nature. For this reason, they¡¯re the perfect race for being a Magic Chemist ¨C the profession that¡¯s alsomonly known as Poison Master in the human world. Note: Since I¡¯m retranting the old chapters, I¡¯m changing magic pharmacist to chemist. These Sinners¡­ When did they be so smart?! The old dragon¡¯s scalp had turned numb at the thought of what¡¯s toe, WE CAN¡¯T WAIT ANYMORE! If those are left unhindered then my side will suffer greatly by those huge arrowsced with poison! ¡°Rivino! Gather your brothers and go destroy those siege tforms! GO NOW!!¡± The old dragon roars, ordering his strongest warrior to attack. Sadly, the Chief¡¯s order to his ¡°Strongest Warrior¡± ¨C also the one who got tricked by Du Wei ¨C was toote¡­. Suddenly, movements could be seen within the legion army again. First it was the beating of the drums hanging off of the behemoths neck, then it was the two team of elves flying out in a neat formation from the sky. Unlike the other elves that¡¯s battle ready in the background, these ones were exceptionally well dressed based on their gold and silvery armors. If one had to guess, this special force was the strongest unit the elvish army had to offer. But unlike the previous day where the beastmen just blindly charged forward to fight, this ceremony looked nothing like that. In fact, it¡¯s almost like they are readying themselves to await the entry of someone very important¡­. Clop~ Clop~ It was the sound of hooves pping against the ground. Chapter 313 part 3 Chapter 313 ¡°Elf King (p3)¡± By the time it became apparent where the source of that sound originated from, everyone ¨C including the ferocious beastmen ¨C were involuntarily showing awe at the new entry and instinctively took a step backwards from their initial location. Their behavior was no different from a devotee being graced with a higher being, that¡¯s how imposing the new entry was. Furthermore, the most eye-catching characteristic of the creature was neither its pristinely white skin nor the enchanted golden hair, it¡¯s the horn on its forehead! Made out of an unknown crystal-like substance, the thing constantly radiated a soft glowing light that cried out to the world of its sacred nature. Even whenpared to the intimidating aura of the dragon race, one would find it hard pressed to say it¡¯s inferior and showed signs of being just as powerful. So what sort of creature was this? A unicorn!! That¡¯s right, the mythical animal of legends, the purest and most beautiful of all existence in this world blessed by the almighty creator. And right now, this proud and magnificent animal was currently submitting itself to be ridden as a mount by someone! One may ask, who could possibly tame such a creature? Well, for one, the man that¡¯s currently riding on the unicorn had an insanely handsome face, the kind that could make a wave of females faint at the slightest nce. In fact, that face was so intense that it could even be called a travesty to allow some mere poet or artist to ingrain that face onto their artwork! Just that, there¡¯s one issue¡­ the man¡¯s an Elf! Although its widely recognized that elves are beautiful by nature throughout their legends, this one has blown past all of that bias and made the word his own. First and foremost, it wasn¡¯t just his face that¡¯s damningly beautiful, his armor as well, it¡¯s a true work of art. Glistening with a silvery light, the markings on that armor indicated its heavily enchanted with some sort of spell unique to their race. Then there¡¯s his long hair that¡¯s stretched all the way down to his waist, it¡¯s a pure purplish shade! Obviously this individual held a position of power among his brethren¡¯s, yet no weapons could be found among his body aside from that harp on his back. That¡¯s a strange sight, even for the dragons watching this unfold. ¡°Oh great Dragon Patriarch, the proud ruler of the Sacred Mountain.¡± The voice was awe-inspiring, yet it was also melodic and smooth like a hundred songs ying at once. For once in this savage battlefield, something harmonic has appeared. ¡°¡­. before we begin the war, pleasee forward for a meeting. ording to the great old traditions, as leaders of both sides, we should at the very least pay our respect to one another.¡± The following smile from him carried an undeniable charm that seems to eclipse even the sun over their head. Roaring out a long heartyugh at the invitation; the Chief immediately took to the sky and stopped a hundred meters away from the elf. Making a snarling face, the old dragon shoots a contemptable look at the unicorn before facing the elf: ¡°Despicable sinners! You have all been subjected to the punishment of the divine, yet you dare vite the sacred decree by returning to the Rnd Continent!¡± The elf only made a soft smile, showing no signs of anger or depression at the supposed truth. ¡°Sin?¡± looking like he¡¯s murmuring to himself, the man shakes his head in disappointment: ¡°No matter how much of sin our ancestorsmitted, a thousand years has gone and past. I ask you, oh great lord of the dragons, what crimes could possibly warrant such condemnation?!¡± ¡°Humph!¡± The massive golden existence that was the dragon chief releases his absolute might, pressing down at the small elf: ¡°Speak your name, Elf!¡± Under the pressure of the strongest dragon in existence, this elf seems indifferent like he¡¯s unaffected in the slightest . Gently stroking that purplish hair, the stalwart figureughs and returns the roar with a humble smile: ¡°I was born in midsummer, but on that day the world suddenly blew up a snowstorm. Tomemorate that strange event, my father gave me a very special name¡­ Oh honorable lord of the dragons, allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Drifting Snow, Snow for short, and I am the Elf King.¡± Chapter 314 part 1 Chapter 314 ¡°White River¡¯s de (p1)¡± Ten steps! Merely ten steps, that¡¯s all it would take for White River to arrive before the dehydrated and frail looking figure of the Pope. Though this spiritual leader of the Temple of Light held unbelievable strength when it came to spells and magic, but he¡¯s no exception when it came to the universally recognized weakness of those in his profession and that was, they¡¯re weak at close-range melee! ¡°What level of attack is that? How could you break thew I ced around the area so easily?¡± The Pope gasps as he asked. Right now, hisplexion was whiter than ever before after witnessing the destruction of his greatest ability. It¡¯s not only a strike at his physical strength, but his will to confront this monster as well. ¡°Law?¡± Smiling still, White River appears amused at this point, ¡°Hahaha! Even though you can change thews around us and bend it to your will, that is of no importance to me. All I need to do is break it all with my power, that¡¯s the difference between you and I!¡± As the Shaman King says this, he continued to move forward by another three steps, closing the gap till only seven steps remain. Going whiter till his veins are showing now: ¡°Pity¡­ Pity¡­ Oh Goddess have mercy on this lost soul. I didn¡¯te all this way to have a death match with you Shaman King. If only you can see the pain of my heart then you would understand the regret I¡¯m feeling.¡± Having said up to this point, Igor the Pope then suddenly smiled again: ¡°Shaman King, why don¡¯t we stop here, how about it?¡± That actually caught White River by surprise, leaving him unsure how to respond for a second. Giving this dastardly old man an examining nce: ¡°No matter what, you are still one of the strongest individuals out there. Are you implying you want to flee in front of a fight?¡± Shaking his old head: ¡°As a servant of the Goddess, I do notck courage. Just that I traveled thousands of miles not for the sake of fighting, but to send you off properly.¡± ¡°Send me?¡± The Shaman King suddenly burst into aughing fit: ¡°Oh you are hrious. Sure, I am a guest in the Rnd Empire, but I never indicated I want to leave just yet. Everything is so interesting, I might just stick around to sightsee the offerings of your people. That should take another week or month if I have to put an estimate to it!¡± Continuing on with his insincere smile, the Pope squints his eyes dangerously to no effect: ¡°I came all this way in person, how could you not go? Out of manners of course.¡± ¡°You see, I am an entric person.¡± Shaking his head, White River continues to dismiss the old fe¡¯s threat: ¡°The more someone wants to force me to do something, the more I like to defy their will.¡± After saying his part, the man once again raises his murderous aura till it has enshrouded the Pope¡¯s entire body. ¡°Pity¡­. What a shame¡­¡± The old man shakes his head: ¡°I originally wanted to settle this peacefully and did not mean to offend you. In fact, if you epted my persuasion and made one more promise as well, I can even act on the name of the Temple to make some concessions to the Snowy Mountain.¡± Now that did raise some interest in the Shaman King¡¯s heart: ¡°Concession?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± all majestic looking, ¡°concession.¡± A flicker of light shed within White River¡¯s eye in that split second: ¡°I thought the servants of the Goddess have always taken people like I as heretics. Aren¡¯t you worried about what would happen when word spreads of your dealings with me? I¡¯m sure it wouldn¡¯t bold well for the Temple of Light¡¯s reputation.¡± Making a bitter expression, the Pope¡¯s eye grew stern: ¡°Difficult times calls for desperate measures. I have no choice but to make this decision. Shaman King, as long as you promise me this and leave the Rnd Empire for five years, never to step into our boundaries again during this timeframe, I can promise you our forces would leave the prairies as well without encroachment. And¡­¡± Suddenly drawing something with his hand from thin air, the Pope materializes a golden scepter from his sleeve it was always there. Using this, the old senior makes a gentle sweep across the earth¡­. Though the strength wasn¡¯t strong by any means in that movement, but following the sharp glowing radiance from the head of said rod, the ground immediately split apart, revealing a long slit across thendscape like it¡¯s been ploughed by a single move. Chapter 314 part 2 Chapter 314 ¡°White River¡¯s de (p2)¡± ¡°I, Saint Igor Paul XVI, swear in the name of the Temple of Light, that as long as you hold your words using my terms, then I will grant the hundred-year dream of those living on the great prairie! I heard your people have always wanted to take this Lonely Mountain Pass, did you not? Fine then! Using this line that I marked as the boundary, everything west of here shall be ceded to the Snowy Mountain, this includes the Desa Province and Nuling Province!!!¡± Talk about earth-shattering. Even for White River, a man of few emotions, he too was astounded by the amazing offer. As for Du Wei, he himself naturally flew into a fit on the very second he overheard this outrageous use. ¡°NO! Absolutely not!¡± Jolting up from the ground like he¡¯s been reinvigorated with energy, the boy points usingly at the Pope: ¡°Even if you are who you are, the spiritual leader of the Temple of Light, that does not mean you can openly interfere with imperial power! The Rnd Empire has been founded for a thousand years, never have we ceded a single plot ofnd since it¡¯s conception. That is irond, a rule never before broken. What you are doing is treason and beyond your right!¡± Du Wei¡¯s anger right now overshadows everything, including his fear of the two powerhouses before himself. Concedend? Concede the Desa Province? Go fuck your mother you piece of shit! I am the real master of that plot ofnd. Based on what can you just gift my property to someone else?! Unfazed by the usation nor threat, Igor the Pope uses his murky eyes to confront Du Wei¡¯s enraged face like he¡¯s powerless as well: ¡°You must be Duke Tulip. Yes, you are right, I shouldn¡¯t be interfering with imperial power or the matters of the court. However, change ising. What is normal for the past thousand years doesn¡¯t mean it will forever continue on like that. If that¡¯s the case, an irond rule is no longer irond, it¡¯s merely a brittle obsession that can be broken at any time.¡± Not only did it not calm Du Wei¡¯s fury, his statement only added fuel to the fire: ¡°No matter what! Pope, you are not the ruler of this continent! Besides, the Desa Province is my territory, based on what can you¡­¡± Shaking his old head to dismiss the boy¡¯s argument, Igor the Pope let¡¯s out a long sigh: ¡°Naturally I would consult with His Highness the Regent, and I will also have my means to persuade him to agree. As for you, Duke Tulip, I can ask His Highness to give you a new territory instead.¡± Speaking up to here, the old fe stopped and returns his attention back to the Shaman King: ¡°That¡¯s all I have to say. If you still won¡¯t believe my sincerity then I can¡¯t do anymore than this.¡± White River couldn¡¯t deny the offer was very gracious. Lowering his head like he¡¯s contemting the idea, the eventually lifts it again like he¡¯s decided. ¡°In my entire life, I have never taken someone else¡¯s pity. So, like always, I will use my very own hands to take whatever I wish at the time that I dictate, not you!¡± ¡°And if you want me to submit to your terms then you only have one choice and that is to defeat me today. On the contrary¡­.¡± The dangerous elements in the Shaman King¡¯s eye seems to intensify at this point, ¡°If I were to kill you today, the leader of the Temple of Light, wouldn¡¯t the benefits of my feat far outweigh the gains of two simple provinces?!¡± No longer giving the old pope anymore time to think, the man has already lunged forward by making a leap and killing off the remaining distance between them both. But this wasn¡¯t going to be enough to corner someone of their calibre. In an open arm gesture, Igor¡¯s (pope) presence instantly blew up into a shining radiance like a holy deity. Next thing the world knew, the senior¡¯s body has already shifted many meters away and out of reach again. Chapter 314 part 3 Chapter 314 ¡°White River¡¯s de (p3) Both monsters were done ying at this stage. Releasing their saintly powers until the very fabrics of reality were starting to distort, rocks and even the air itself were trembling under their might. If an outsider were to carelessly trespass onto this space, it¡¯s almost a certainty nothing would remain of the third party. Understanding that much, Du Wei didn¡¯t want to test his luck again by releasing his spirit force like thest time. He came far too close to losing his sanity so he hurried to distance himself for the impending exchange. First to act was undoubtedly the old pope. Releasing over dozens of binding spatial spells in quick session, any regr foe would¡¯ve been pinned by this assortment of restraint. Except, the enemy was the Shaman King¡­. White River didn¡¯t stop nor budge from his forwarding steps. Instead, he waved off every light that came his way using an invisible force that could neither be touched or seen. Then that¡¯s when the Pope revealed a bizarre sh of silvery light from his old murky eyes. Suddenly, a twisting gush of wind envelops that old body and warps the space as if the power within the senior just exploded! To be clear, the Shaman King didn¡¯t underestimate his foe at all this time nor did he intend to let the old timer go. However, what happened next was beyond his expectations because he actually lost control of his lock on the enemy, which allowed the foe to disappear from his sightpletely with no traces to follow. This twist of event puzzled the egotistic man. But he didn¡¯t give chase for he was able to quickly lock back onto the foe that¡¯s currently standing atop of the crumbling wall of the fortress here. ¡°What sort of power is that?¡± His eyes burning with eagerness to know, ¡°The way you dodged just now is beyond the level of what you disyed earlier. This is not merely a bending of reality¡­. Don¡¯t tell me, were you hiding your strength during our first exchange?!¡± The old pope only exhaled a sigh in response. Lifting his tired hand to wipe the sweat off of his forehead, the senior smiles wryly: ¡°Shaman King, my strength is far inferior to yours, there¡¯s no falseness in my words about that. However, I will make you agree to my terms today even if I have to put my life on the line. That¡¯s my conviction and my duty to the humans under the protecting embrace of the Goddess!¡± With that said and done, the old fe then suddenly raises his golden rod up into the air and increased the strange silvery light in his eyes. For every subtle movement he made henceforth, the world itself would move with him like he¡¯s no longer part of it. In fact, even his voice now seems to be out of this world anding forth from the void¡­. ¡°The abiding rules andws presiding over this world did not exist in the beginning until the Goddess willed it. If you are defying saidws then you are disobeying her rule, disobeying the very world in which we live in!¡± Following his majestic promation up at the crumbling wall, the senior¡¯s entire robe promptly began to flutter like a mystical force has descended upon this world. This was confirmed by White River who sensed the change in the air. Not going to take the chance, the Shaman King roared and shot himself forward like a bolt of lightning. This time around, he did not release the blue beam saber created by the extreme manifestation of ice, rather it¡¯s his true weapon of choice: two ming des on each of his hands that¡¯s whistling at the foe. ¡°Goddess said, everything in this world is given by me. I can give, and I can take.¡± The senior¡¯s gentle words onlysted a brief moment in reality, but when heard, the power it carried was eternal and evesting. Sure enough, there are indeed powers within his words. For Du Wei who was still watching this from a safer location, he could see and feel it first-hand that time has stalled before his very eyes. Chapter 314 part 4 Chapter 314 ¡°White River¡¯s de (p4) The winds frozen over, and the mountain stopped eternal in time. Everything in this world hase to a standstill, even the light was no exception! Meanwhile, Igor the Pope continues to chant his verse like he¡¯s free of all restraints: ¡°The Goddess said, she will give light, and so shall there be light.¡± As if acting upon that summon, the clouds dispersed and a brilliant pir of zing sunlight suddenly descends from the heavens to enshroud the Shaman King¡¯s entire existence who was still frozen over in the air. ¡°Goddess said, light is good so darkness must be separated. So, ¡®day¡¯ and ¡®night¡¯ was thereby created in this world.¡± Immediately after that, the light pir splits into two parts: ck and white. This left no other color within the space that White River upied. ¡°Goddess said, there should be symbolic differences to signify the difference between day and night. As a result, ¡®time¡¯ was henceforth born into this world from that day onward.¡± Strange things were happening to White River then after that promation. His body muscles ¨C all of it ¨C began to go through a series of deformations like life itself was being repeatedly ripped from him and then reinjected following the warping of the two contrasting colors. This caused immense pain for the man, to have his body contorted and bent against his will with no sensible pattern to it. ¡°Goddess said, the world is too nd and monotonous, hence life was born from those words¡­. But, if said life is to go against my will, I will take it back!¡± That¡¯s thest verse and the signal for the final fiesta of this orchestra. Firstly, the light and darkness had stopped warping and twisting together, slowly returning to their initial separate forms before finally rescinding back to the heavens in which it came. Though White River could finallye back to his senses from that strange experience, there were something else that had stayed behind within him. more had stayed behind. So what was it? The answer was a w¡±. Slowly but surely, bits and pieces of his life energy began to drain away by this unfathomablew! Struggling to stare up at the perpetrator, he roars out in agonizing pain: ¡°YOU! This is not your power! This strength!!! This¡­ it¡¯s¡­. this power, it¡¯s not of this world at all!!!¡± In light of the foe being down on one knee already, the Pope somehow looked even weaker than White River despite the change in tide. His whole body trembled with every movement and his old face now looked shot like his soul was slowly consumed. Even so, that frail looking arm did not falter in the least when hold up the golden rod in his possession¡­. The astonishment didn¡¯t only apply to the Shaman King either of course. Du Wei as well was shuddering over the unbelievable exchange. No¡­. the correct description should be he couldn¡¯t shudder anymore because his heart had lost its beat from the shock. This power¡­.. White River is right, this is no longer something of this world. The Pope could never create such force! That eternalw, a power that¡¯s surpassed even White River¡¯s ability to shatter the constraints in this world. This was not something a mortal should have¡­. At this very moment, Du Wei suddenly came down with an unbelievable thought, Can it be, the power of the gods?! He¡¯s not randomly making this guess, there¡¯s good usible reason for this conjecture. Back in the Frozen Forest, White-Robed Gandalf have already mentioned it to him that there are supreme powers beyond mortalprehension. Its name: The Grand Prophecy Spell! Is this that legendary power, the Grand Prophecy Spell capable of dictating the past, present and future? If that¡¯s the case, this is no longer a spell or power ofw, it¡¯s the power of creation! Gasping at the horrific revtion, Creation¡­. The power to create, the power to create a world, create a new world! The Pope is creating a limited new world right now!!! Chapter 314 part 5 Chapter 314 ¡°White River¡¯s de (p5) Yes, it must be the power of the gods to be able to suppress someone of White River¡¯s level. Otherwise, how else can they exin this mystery? After a long while of this suppressed mood, Du Wei honestly thought the Shaman King would be done for then, especially when the man¡¯s skin had turned translucent like its disappearing from existence. However, it was then that the person actuallyughed¡­. That¡¯s right, White River wasughing! ¡°Haha¡­ Haha¡­¡± There¡¯s no falseness in that glee like he¡¯s achieved his greatest dream, that¡¯s the sort of happiness Du Wei got from the tone. ¡°Haha¡­. HAHA¡­ HAHAHA¡­.¡± Theughter only grew louder the more he corroded away, ¡°Thank you, Pope. I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything, you have my gratitude!¡± As a result of that misced and odd phrase, a sense of unease was quickly brewing within Igor¡¯s heart. From what used to be firm and stead, the senior¡¯s hand now trembled and swayed. ¡°Thank me?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, I thank you,¡± heaving out a long sigh, ¡°I¡¯m thanking you because I¡¯ve finally found what I¡¯ve been looking for.¡± All of a sudden, the Shaman King¡¯s body jerked and propelled himself high up into the air. In light of that surreal might of the godly power pressing down, White River now moves like he¡¯s free again! ¡°Because of you, because of you Pope¡­.¡± The man¡¯s voice lowers into a murmur, ¡°I¡¯ve finally found a reason to draw my de!¡± As his words came to an end, White River¡¯s hand have alreadynded on the handle strapped to his waist. Next moment, a faint glowing light dazzles the world as he draws it. Though it¡¯s not blinding nor extreme, but the effects were difficult to describe due to its spreading characteristic. That¡¯s right, it¡¯s spreading¡­. Du Wei have to say he¡¯s never seen something this strange before. Light doesn¡¯t just spread like an infection, it¡­ it simply doesn¡¯t! Furthermore, the Shaman King¡¯s ailing body have reshaped itself once that light came into contact, reconstructing and breathing life back into him. The Pope naturally didn¡¯t want his foe to regenerate when he¡¯s done so much, but his faltering self could do no more as he had no energy left in his veins. Besides, the sh that came flying down from above as a result of White River¡¯s next attack was critical. First came the seeping blood around the corner of Igor¡¯s mouth, then it was the sleeve bursting apart before blood came dripping down from the arms like threads of silk! It¡¯s quite apparent the Grand Prophecy Spell has been broken with that swing, but that definitely came at a huge cost to the user as well, evident by how hard the Shaman King came crashing down to the ground from the air. Staggering upon contact, White River now needs to use his de to act as a cane in order to stand upright. ¡°Grand Prophecy Spell,¡± still weak his voice, ¡°Pope, you nearly killed me there with that legendary ability. To think you would have something of that magnitude up your sleeve. Tell me, did your goddess give you that power? Pity though, with your current grasp of things, you are not able to fully wield it just yet. Otherwise, I probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to ovee your control.¡± Letting his words to fully sink in, White River originally wanted to say more there. However, his attention was grabbed by the rolling stick that bumped against his feet ¨C It was the Pope¡¯s golden rod and it has shattered in half after being dropped from that blow. With a nce, the man frowned and showed a strange expression over what he saw. ¡°Haha, Haha, Hahaha.¡± On ground as well after losing his reason to stand, Igor¡¯s suddenughter sounded almost hysterical when he saw the foe picking up his rod: ¡°Yes Shaman King, that is indeed the Grand Prophecy Spell like you suspected. Just that, the power wasn¡¯t given to me by the goddess, but from that thing!¡± The old fe then points to the broken rod in White River¡¯s hand. Chapter 314 part 6 Chapter 314 ¡°White River¡¯s de (p6) The specified ¡°thing¡± was a hexagonal shaped badge hidden within the rod¡¯s core. There¡¯s a lot of blemishes on it due to age, but the biggest one had to be the crack running through the middle ¨C obviously the damage was caused by the sh just now. Stern in his face, White River stares off at the crazed looking old senior: ¡°You mean¡­ just now, the power which transcended mortal means is from this simple looking badge??! This is impossible! This badge is nothing but an earthly creation. Even if someone did seal some sort of power within the construct years ago, who could have such strength?! This can¡¯t be, the power capable of killing I, White River, is nothing but an object sealed a part of someone¡¯s strength?!¡± Blood dripping hard from his mouth, Igor continues tough hysterically when speaking next: You¡­ you¡­ flip it over and see, see what¡¯s written on the back.¡± Flipping it over as told, White River didn¡¯t find anything oddly special, only several characters engraved onto the surface during its original casting. Though the font has aged quite severely, it still retains the quaint yet beautiful letters of a name! ¡°Aragon¡­ Rnd¡­¡± Popping his eyes for the longest time, the man didn¡¯t say more. White River honestly doesn¡¯t know whether he should be angry or crying. The power, the force that nearly took his life, was nothing but a wisp of Aragon¡¯s will left behind a thousand years ago!! To be clear, the man has long taken the founding emperor of the Rnd Empire as his only rival, but now that he¡¯s confronted with the truth, its abundantly clear to him its nothing but his own willful thinking. What rival? A man from a thousand years ago only needed a wisp of his original power to nearly take his own life! The Shaman King may be arrogant and egotistic, but he¡¯s no moronic idiot. The gap in power went as far as a chasm, unsurpassable and unbridgeable. Trembling all over, blood suddenly came blurting out of the man¡¯s mouth, yet, thatughter only grew wilder with every second. ¡°Hahahaha¡­. To think, to think the only one capable of making me draw my de in all these years is someone that¡¯s been dead for a thousand years¡­. What irony! What farce!¡± It was then when the battle came to a standstill, the earth shook. The thundering rumble initially sounded faint and far, but that tremor quickly rose until it¡¯s so strong that everything became effected: the ground, the cloud, and the water as well. ¡°AH! Earthquake! It¡¯s an earthquake!!¡± Du Wei exims out of nowhere after losing his bnce along with the twobatants. White River and Igor the Pope was stunned at first over this abrupt interruption, but it soon changed after numerous cracks started to take shape along their path. They¡¯re not big by any means, but there¡¯s so many that it¡¯s like veins etched along the surface of the world. Struggling to get up, the old senior was the first to act on the changing situation. Showing an extremely bizarre face that bordered on the line of infatuation, the elder¡¯s eyes stared off into the northern horizon: ¡°They¡¯re here!¡± Du Wei didn¡¯t understand what sort of madness the old pope was spouting at the moment, but he he didn¡¯t care, his attention was more focused on something else entirely. It was a badge that ended up rolling to his feet after White River dropped the thing during that earthquake. For some reason, he¡¯s not sure why, but the boy had the strangest urge to take it for himself. Which he did act upon the idea by sneaking it into his pocket when the two weren¡¯t looking. Now that he¡¯s free again to look back to his surroundings, Du Wei naturally had a question mark in his head over the old fe¡¯s crazedment: who¡¯sing and what? ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.. Imperial calendar, nine hundred and sixty-two years after the founding of the Rnd Empire, an immense earthquake rocked thends that reached as far as the southern parts of the continent. And in the north, disaster struck¡­. Because of the immense tremor,rge flocks of magical creatures stampeded out of the Frozen Forest and headed south. This caused tremendous damage and casualties to the stationed soldiers around the border there. For a while, inexplicable fear had taken hold of the northern regions and the citizens living in those provinces. Chapter 315 part 1 Chapter 315 ¡°Am I Very Old? (p1)¡± The most divine existence in the mortal world, the voice of the Goddess of Light, the closest existence to the divine, despite all these forms of address and titles, Igor the Pope looks no better than any decrepit old man in his depleted state. Adding in the fact that he¡¯s mumbling to himself repeatedly while facing the North, the grandpa¡¯s image looked almost senile and confused. ¡°They¡¯re here¡­. they really havee¡­.¡± At this moment, even with Du Wei¡¯s limited ability, he could still perceive the strong level of fear hidden within the old fe¡¯s eye. Earthquake¡­ the north? Coming? A sh of unease quickly grips onto the boy¡¯s heart. However, before he could figure out why this sensation was sprouting within himself, another more pressing matter has caught his attention ¨C it¡¯s the condition of the two monsters over there. Both the Shaman King and Pope were wasted by this point. Igor appeared powerless and weak, one of his arms to the point of being crippled after that exchange. As for White River, the man was bleeding right out of his nose and mouth. Though the egotistic man wasn¡¯t violently coughing up blood like the foe, but it¡¯s a clear indication of the severity of his injuries. Suddenly, Du Wei had a crazy and heart pounding idea, It couldn¡¯t be¡­ a double knockout? In that case, wouldn¡¯t that mean I can¡­. Unable to hold himself back despite the numbness in his feet, he climbs up from the ground in haste and eyes the two monsters. First it was Igor the Pope, then White River who seems to be also watching him as well at the moment. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be thinking that you are now able to escape, would you?¡± The Shaman King¡¯s voice carried a strong level of mockery. Du Wei couldn¡¯t deny it. Giving a frank nod: ¡°Mr. White, we are not allies after all. If I don¡¯t take this chance to run then am I supposed to stick around so you can snatch me away to the Snowy Mountain¡¯s?¡± Giving a grin in return: ¡°You are right. If you want to escape then this would be the best chance you would have.¡± The two exchanged a meaningful nce with each other before bursting out into a brief heartyugh. ¡°Although I was captured by you and brought here against my will, I can¡¯t deny the respect I have for someone like you.¡± Giving a respectful bow, Du Wei looks straight into the man¡¯s eye as he spoke: ¡°And, never once during our journey have you been disrespectful or maltreated me in a bad manner. For that and the special jitsu you taught me, you have my gratitude. I hope that in the future if we ever meet again, the conditions would be on better terms.¡± After saying his piece, Du Wei was then ready to leave for good when another voice stopped him in his steps from behind. It was the Pope, the dastardly old man who nearly took his life. ¡°Duke Tulip, please hold your steps!¡± Swinging around, his attitude grew stern and harsh without a hint of politeness: ¡°Oh, Your Majesty the Pope, do you have some other order for me?¡± Du Wei honestly couldn¡¯t say he¡¯s all that fond of this decrepit old man. Of course, the fact that the person nearly killed him had a major part in the reasoning, but it¡¯s also the disrespect in gifting the Desa Province away without permission. So what, the true owner¡¯s here and a outsider¡¯s deciding what to do with other people¡¯s property? Where in the world does such reasoning makes sense? ¡°Duke Tulip, you can¡¯t go, you mustn¡¯t go!¡± Coughing hard over the excessive exertion, Igor¡¯s voice grew hoarse and painful, ¡°I beg you to do something!¡± ¡°Scratching his head, Du Wei suddenly makes a bitter smile: ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­ you want me to¡­¡± The Pope inhales deeply then, apparently the injury was more severe than it looks in how sunken his lunges were. ¡°Duke Tulip, I¡¯m asking you this now, kill him immediately!¡± Hurrying to take a step back, Du Wei shakes his head profusely: ¡°Kill him? Oh Your Grace, you jest! Killing someone like the Shaman King¡­ I can¡¯t do it.¡± Make a futile effort to get up using the remaining half of his golden rod in hand, Igor in the end did not seed and stumbled back to the ground. Sighing hard: ¡°That Grand Prophecy Spell is not something of this world and I was intending to use such a power to subdue the Shaman King today. But to think, someone would actually be able to contend with my trump card. Sadly¡­ no matter what, I cannot allow someone so dangerous to leave less he agrees to my terms. No matter the consequences!¡± Chapter 315 part 2 Chapter 315 ¡°Am I Very Old? (p2)¡± Still shaking his head in refusal: ¡°Your Majesty, I am sorry, but I still can¡¯t listen to your demand. Although you are the Pope, the highest presence within tens of millions of followers on this continent, it won¡¯t change my mind. Unlike them, I am not a believer of the Temple of Light! I have not been baptized by the Temple, nor have I ever stepped foot inside one. I can show my respect to you, but I am in no way required to obey your orders. Not to mention¡­.¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice gradually growing stone hard in terms of sternness: ¡°You just tried to conduct a deal with the Shaman King of the Snowy Mountain. Even if you are the Pope leading the Temple of Light, you hold no such authority. Strictly speaking, what you did there is equivalent to treason! I¡¯m no believer, but I am a noble, a duke of the Rnd Empire!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand Duke Tulip, you do not understand¡­¡± Heaving a sorrowfulugh, Igor the Pope looks like he¡¯s also pained by the fact: ¡°The Rnd Continent is about to suffer the greatest cmity it has ever faced in a thousand years! If the Shaman King here agrees to my terms and promises not to trespass upon our borders for ten years, then I would have no reason to object to his departure. However, as you can see, he¡¯s refusing it. So¡­.¡± Truly, Du Wei had no will here today to kill White River. Although their position pushes them to opposite ends of the spectrum, but towards this lonely and peerless figure, he honestly couldn¡¯t bring out any hatred. In fact, he¡¯s starting to hold a faint level of affection for someone so prideful and of high standard. ¡°Your Majesty, even if the Empire and the natives of the prairie is at odds with each other, it is not your duty to guard against the Northwest. It is I, Duke Tulip, lord and master of the Desa Province who needs to worry about such matters. Since you are the master of the Temple of Light, your responsibility lies in spreading the Goddess¡¯s teaching. Aside from that, you have no duty to dabble in others business.¡± All disappointed now in his ghastly white face, Igor shakes his head in vain: ¡°You don¡¯t get it, you just don¡¯t.¡± Exhaling hard then like he¡¯s trying to breath out his difficulties: ¡°Duke Tulip, I really don¡¯t have anymore energy left to speak so loudly. Come closer to me, I will tell you the truth.¡± Unsure at first over the request, Du Wei nevertheless approached the old senior. He¡¯s been wondering as well why the Pope would go so far and this would answer that question. Ten paces away, ¡°Alright, you can say it now. Honestly speaking, I don¡¯t trust you at all. I¡¯ve heard a lot of things I shouldn¡¯t have today and is very much afraid of you taking my life in order to hush it up!¡± Making a hard cough to clear the blood, Igor smiles in a self-derisive manner: ¡°Duke Tulip, do you want to know the meaning behind that massive earthquake?¡± Dismissive still over that remark, Isn¡¯t that just an earthquake? For you religious fanatics out there, such a tremor would surely be seen as a supernatural phenomenon. But I¡¯m not from here, humph, I¡¯m originally from a scientific world so I know these are merely the effects of the tectonic tes shifting. ¡°This giant tremor is indeed a great disaster¡­ a disaster so great that humanity has never faced before. s, the fact that you wouldn¡¯t know about these things is within reasons so I can¡¯t me you for being suspicious.¡± Intrigued then, Du Wei was ready to inquire for the details when White River¡¯s nkly cold voice interjected itself: ¡°Pope, the source of that earthquake seems to have originated from the north did it not?¡± ¡°You¡­ you know?¡± Shuddering at the question, Igor the Pope widens his eyes at the enemy: ¡°It looks like its not just us in the Temple who knows about this ancient legend, the Snowy Mountain knows it as well.¡± Getting serious as well in his face, White River took a long minute to think about something. Then as if decided, he looks on into the northern horizon with a frown: ¡°The North¡­ can it be¡­¡± This immediately roused a ring look from the Pope. Shaking all over in his voice: ¡°The North¡­ the great barrier, I¡¯m afraid it no longer exists.¡± The old fe¡¯s face grew even more frail and sickly to the point where one might take him as a walking corpse instead. ¡°This won¡¯t do, absolutely not! Shaman King, since you know about this legend then I cannot permit you to leave under any circumstances. Unless you swear upon my demand, I will put my life and everything on the line to stop you from returning to the prairie!¡± Chapter 315 part 3 Chapter 315 ¡°Am I Very Old? (p3)¡± After finishing those words, he then turned a beat red in his skin tone like someone bleeding through. With a huff of air, those old bones promptly stood up and slowly paced towards the Shaman King. Du Wei was shocked of course by the abrupt movement. Hurrying to get away, he had no intent of facing this person head on or getting in their way. Fortunately for him though, the Pope¡¯s goal wasn¡¯t a clueless brat, clearly evident by the silvery cross that¡¯s aimed at the figure opposite to himself. White River didn¡¯t look so good when he saw what the item was. Slightly pale and very angry, ¡°How? How did you know about that thing! You¡­¡± Gnashing his teeth, the Pope¡¯s sweat was now pouring out as a result of the exertion: ¡°Shaman King, I knew your magical powers are amazing prior toing, but a person will always have a weakness. Someone has told me, if I use a silver cross inscribed with a soul eating spell, it will be able to kill you¡­¡± A raging me now resides within the egotistic man¡¯s eye: ¡°Who told you this? Is it Scarlet Water¡¯s Resolute, or Blue Ocean¡¯s Moon!¡± Note: Its Rugaard of the Northwest Army and Mr. Blue Ocean in case anyone forgot. Inhaling deeply, the Pope¡¯s hand seems to tremble even harder now as he tries to stab the foe with the silver cross: ¡°I don¡¯t know any of the names you mentioned above.¡± Sighing now, the Shaman King understands: ¡°I see, the person who told you must be Rugaard.¡± Though still fearful of theing cross trying to stab at him, White River nevertheless musters enough to strength to stagger backwards and fling out a shot from his fingers at the attacker¡¯s left hand. Swoot! But it was not meant to be. A yellow radiance promptly emerged to act as magical defense for the other side. While it may be enough to keep the Pope safe from harm, the force still manages to sway that hand enough to make him drop the silvery cross to the floor. ¡°I see then Shaman King, I knew you still had some energy left in you. But no matter, you won¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer in your current state.¡± The remark brought on a new wave of fear into the egotistic man because the Pope¡¯s unsteady body actually uprighted himself some more as that white silvery hair regained some of its luster and became a ck color. This horrified Du Wei of course because its no different from someone regaining their youth from old age. Pity though, the amazing feat was marred by the faintly showing wrinkles, indicating this couldn¡¯t be longsting. Snorting at the sight instead, White River didn¡¯t take kindly to this as well. ¡°And what about you? How long do you think that silly power of yours can hold up your body?!¡± Unfazed at being caught, Igor the Pope knew what must be done. Spurting out a mouthful of his blood onto the silvery cross, the thing immediately lit up with a holy glow. ¡°Huh? Your holy powers can still be used in this fashion?¡± Making a stunned face, White River didn¡¯t expect something like this based on his expression. Making a begrudging smile in return: ¡°What holy power, it¡¯s nothing but a technique to infuse an object with anotheryer of power. The ignorant would call this holy power, but in front of someone as strong as you Shaman King, it¡¯s nothing but a coat up job. It¡¯s aughable weapon by all means, however, it¡¯s the best weapon to bring the most harm to someone like you in your state.¡± Finished there, Igor the Pope slowly reached over again after picking up the cross. He wanted to stab the Shaman King with it this time to make sure the cross would at least do some serious harm with the new coat of energy. Sadly, it was to no avail because White River¡¯s de had blocked it with a sh in the struggle. To be clear, their measures of fighting revolved around slow motioning movements, a far cry from their earlier bout using thews of this world to bend and twist space and time. ¡°Despicable! Despicable Rnd people. Despicable fakes.¡± White River cries out wildly, enraged by the fact that he had dropped his scimitar due to theck of strength. ¡°You did not beat me! It was not you! So based on what can you kill me!¡± Chapter 316 Part 1 Hello guys, i have picked this novel. I am going to release 2 chapters/weak for now because i am also tranting other novel (World Of Warcraft) which is going to be finished soon. Once it is finished, i will increase release rate of LOD. I am going to use names used by previous rantor as much as possible but if you spot some difference/mistake. Please inform me bymenting. For every 5 positive reviews/votes left on NovelUpdate, I will 1 Bonus Chapter. Current Votes = 430 Current Review = 40 ¡­ Pope also gasped for a moment: ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter what method I use, for the continent, I have to get rid of potential threat like. The goddess, your servant has no choice!¡± At this moment, Continents¡¯ two most powerful persons were fighting like dog and cat. Du Wei couldn¡¯t take it anymore, he went up and grabbed the Pope¡¯s wrist gently, then took Cross. If the Pope still had even half of his power at this moment, how could Du Wei behave so rudely? But now he was helpless. After being shaken by Du Wei, he sat down on the ground. Du Wei nced at the Cross and frowned. ¡°It¡¯s not a particrly powerful weapon, but it¡¯s just simply blessed.¡± White River sorrow smiled weakly and to Du Wei: ¡°Stupid boy, have you forgotten my current situation? I am not afraid of any spells, but this pure holy force breaks down my seizing magic. Once this thing is stabbed in my heart, I have to leave the body. I am still a thousand miles away from my Snow Mountains, without body how can I¡­ cough cough¡­¡± He coughed again and again and couldn¡¯tplete his sentence. Du Wei sighed: ¡°Mr. White, since this thing can kill you, then it is your Achilles¡¯ heel, why are you moving around?¡± White River sighed and said proudly: ¡°Hey! If I am not injured to this point, how can someone pierce me with this thing? I will just kill him first. In addition to Pope and Lan Haiyue, others do not know my weakness!¡± The Pope smiled bitterly and then he looked deeply at Du Wei: ¡°Duke of Tulips, do you have to protect his life? Once this person returns, he will fight you in the future and can you resist him then? You still don¡¯t know¡­now the north¡­¡± Du Wei thought in his heart, ¡®This Pope kept saying that the north is¡­¡¯ Suddenly he thought of the dragons there. Does the Pope know something? The Dragon was the first barrier to protect the human world. The Pope was so worried, unless it was a dragon¡­ However, just as Du Wei thought to this point, he dismissed this thought. The old dragon was the most powerful creature. Du Wei does not believe that in this world, there was someone stronger than the old dragon! But this earthquake¡­ Killing White River? If Pope was right, he really should do this and such a choice could be considered ¡°reasonable.¡± But Du Wei still had some emotions in his heart. He knew all the things done by white river for these days. Du Wei respected this peerless power. Although he was an enemy, Du Wei¡¯s heart refused to do kill him in such way. ¡°Shaman King¡­¡± Du Wei sighed and whispered: ¡°In any case, he will not be able to enter the Rnd continent within next ten years because of his injuries¡± The Pope immediately said: ¡°The Duke of Tulips¡­¡± Du Wei became angry. He couldn¡¯t help but shout: ¡°Don¡¯t say it again! I won¡¯t kill him.¡± The Pope smiled and said softly: ¡°Then¡­ you kill me.¡± Kill the Pope? This matter was a bit too big. The Pope continued: ¡°I am hurt too much. I am afraid that even if he will recover earlier than me. Even if you don¡¯t kill me, he will kill me. And¡­ Duke of Tulips, if you don¡¯t kill me. Are you not afraid that I will pursue the matter of today?¡± Du Wei stared at old man¡¯s eyes: ¡°You¡­ you are not confused? You are obviously forcing me to kill you!¡± White River sneered: ¡°Du Wei, don¡¯t listen to him, you can¡¯t kill him. If you kill him, it will lead to a big disaster! I heard that there is another kind of magic in the temple, once a high-ranking Personnel dies, the situation before his death will be transformed! The temple will know everything happened here!¡± The Popeughed and looked at White River: ¡°I am still thinking about how to convince the Duke, but you have said it yourself. I want you to say it! Otherwise if I speak it myself, I am afraid young Duke will not believe me!¡± Soon, hoof of the horses was heard from outside. After listening to it White River was frowning while the pope was smiling. White River suddenly said: ¡°Hey. Kid. Go away from here, I am afraid that a holy knight ising!¡± Du Wei asked: ¡°How do you know?¡± Chapter 316 Part 2 White River sneered: ¡°Look at the Pope¡¯s face.¡± The Pope smiled lightly but don¡¯t talk. Du Wei was furious in his heart. He had urged to kill this bastard¡­ But Du Wei calmed and thought it through, for now he had just offended the pope. But if he really kill him, Church would pursue him like dogs. White River sighed: ¡°Du Wei, let¡¯s go.¡± Du Wei went up and said: ¡°Mr. White I will take you away.¡± White River was stunned but he soon recovered and said: ¡°I am afraid enemy is not an ordinary knight. It must be a master among the holy knights. If you go by yourself, they may not chase you. If you bring me, then they will definitely chase you!¡± Du Wei said with a smile: ¡°You are still thinking about me!¡± The three knights came from far away. They stopped in front of Pope. Suddenly joy appeared on the Knights¡¯ face, they came down from the horses and immediately sat on one knee: ¡°Your Majesty!!¡± Their voice was very excited: ¡°I finally found you!¡± The Pope coughed twice and was about to talk. The fourth knight behind them jumped down from his horse. This man had a dark horse, wearing a ck armour. Du Wei looked at him calmly but his heart was in turmoil! The long hair, a cold and expressionless face with a strange smile on the corner of his mouth, his eyes sweeping around himself and White River¡¯s body¡­ But it was the Iron Face General, Sebasta!!! He smiled and said: ¡°You are here, the Pope.¡± As he said, he took two steps ahead. When Pope saw him, he became slightly alert. Sebasta¡¯s smile was bing more and more strange. ¡°Well, your majesty, it seems that you are hurt very heavily.¡± Sebasta suddenly sighed: ¡°Snowy mountain¡¯s Shaman King is really powerful, even you failed to kill him.¡± After he finished, he took out the long sword and slowly walked forward two steps. He stared at Shaman King and said softly: ¡°Shaman King, I am afraid that you didn¡¯t expect to be killed by me.¡± Sebasta smiled slightly, but the murderousness in his eyes became more and more intense. He took two more steps ahead. Suddenly the sword trembled and the sword edge stabbed like a viper! The sword of Sebasta was like a viper, attacking from an unimaginable angle! Du Wei was shocked! The Pope seems to be stunned! Because the sword of Sebasta did not pierce the white river, it twisted at a strange angle and pierce the chest of the eight-level holy knight beside White River! Poor the eight-level holy knight, he did not even have time to react before he died! Body of eight-level Holy knight fell on the ground and became a headless corpse! Two other low-level Holy knights pulled out their sword. The eyes turned bloodshot, they roared and rushed to Sebasta. Unfortunately, Sebasta did not put them into his eyes. He killed the most powerful eight-level knight. You must know, Sebasta¡¯s strength had almost reached ninth level! His sword made a fascinating curve in the air and quickly harvested the lives of the two! The two knights were unwilling to die. Sebasta gently lifted his sword and wiped the blood on it, then put it back into the scabbard and then revisited the Pope and White River. The anger on the face of the Pope had disappeared; he stared at Sebasta and suddenly sighed: ¡°I am wrong, I am wrong¡­.¡± Sebasta sighed and looked at Du Wei: ¡°Duke, I have to kill you to keep this matter secret!¡± Du Wei¡¯s expression was weird. He looked at Sebasta who was exuding murderous aura without any fear. He just sighed: ¡°My young general, you really surprised me¡­¡± Not waiting for Sebasta to speak, Du Wei suddenly put a trumpet in front of his mouth and screamed while looking up at the sky. ¡°Zeng Zeng Grandmother, someone wants to kill me! If I am dead, you will die too! Help me!~~~¡± As soon as the voice fell, Du Wei heard a sigh of sorrow. ¡°It¡¯s like the second time I¡¯ve heard you cry for help. As a descendant of the Luolin family, when in danger, call for help! How can you be so impotent! ¡°After a pause, the delicate voice said in dissatisfied tone: ¡°Can you not call me ¡®Zeng Zeng¡¯. Well, am I very old?¡± Chapter 317 Part 1 In Du Wei¡¯s past life, there was a ssic saying: ¡®A woman, no matter of what age she is, be it 18 years old or 80 years old, is always afraid of being called old.¡¯ Therefore, after the emergence of Samuel, Du Wei immediately changed his tone and smiled: ¡°I just want to express my respect.¡± Samuel was a magical creature that is sustained by Du Wei¡¯s spirit. With the current strength of Sebasta, he can¡¯t see nor hear her voice at all. When Sebasta watched Du Wei standing still and talking to himself, he could not help but be a little surprised. His expression changed several times. It seemed that cunning Duke of Tulips was trying to deceive him, but Sebasta had feeling that something was amiss! Let¡¯s first kill him and end future troubles! After making decision, Sebasta grinned and said: ¡°Duke of Tulip, you are going to die!¡± The de of the long sword surged with hissing sound! Sebasta was strong in Martial Arts. At such close quarters, Du Wei who was not good at Martial Arts, was definitely in a tough situation. Seeing that long sword had arrived in front of him, Du Wei¡¯s heart was pounding like a drum but he did not try anything to resist the attack. He believed that Samuel would never let him die. Sure enough, when the long sword arrived at a distance of less than half a meter away from Du Wei¡¯s body, it suddenly slowed down and finally halted. Sebasta felt that sword was stuck in the puddle of mud. It seemed that there were countless invisible ropes in the air stopping sword from advancing. He was shocked. The strength of the 9th-level knight was not to be underestimated. Before Sebasta could recover from his shock, Du Wei took this chance to escape this ce. ¡°You want to escape?!¡± Sebastian¡¯s de shook like a viper. Du Wei was in cold sweat. He did not have chance to cast spells because of the close distance. He didn¡¯t have the ability of cast real instantaneous-cast magic. To cast magic, he must have time to cast the spells and sense the fluctuation of magic elements. But Sebastian¡¯s sword seemed to have its own will. As soon as he opened his mouth to cast spell, a strong gush of wind created by Sebasta¡¯s sword interrupt him. Sebastian was about to catch up with Du Wei. But as he was about to kill him in one sword stroke, he felt something wrong and turned alert! Sebastian could feel presence of something on his shoulder. He was a clever man and immediately understood that someone¡¯s hand was on his shoulder. At this point, his half body suddenly felt a wave of magic. His brain grew dizzy and he knew that he was under the effect of magic. Sebastian was aghast. Who casted the magic? At the moment, Du Wei was trying to escape. Besides Du Wei, was it¡­ the Pope or was it White River? Had they recovered from their injuries? He immediately became desperate. If any of the two recovered their strength, as long as they regain even half of their full strength, he would be in big trouble. Sebasta¡¯s mind was in chaos but he forced himself to calm down and suddenly turned around in the same ce. His waist twisted at an incredible angle. His entire body exuded splendid silver light and destroyed the magic¡¯s effect. But when his eyes looked behind, there was nobody. The Pope and White River were sitting very far away. Samuel¡¯s sneak attack had already seeded. At first Sebasta slowed down but he recovered soon and released incredible aura. Although she did not have the actual flesh, she still felt the danger from the aura. She couldn¡¯t help but drift away immediately, she pointed her fingers and chanted a spell. Suddenly cracks began to appear on the ground, with load roars, some earth element giants with their whole body made of rocks emerged and rushed towards Sebasta. Chapter 317 Part 2 Their huge palms mmed towards Sebasta¡¯s head. Sebasta had no time to think. He snorted and golden light shed in his eyes. All of a sudden, his body once again twisted at strange angle, enabling him to escape the giant hand of the earth element. Then he waved his sword and struck the body of the earth element giant. The earth element giant froze into a huge ice block in an instant and after that huge cracks appeared on it. Atst it broke apart. Sebastian¡¯s long sword released a powerful aura, the scope of Frost Fighting Spirit covered almost an area of seven or eight meters around him! The remaining two earth element giants suddenly began to move slowly, and the joints of their arms, legs and feet began to freeze. Sebasta swept his sword a few times. The two earth elements giants were cleaved into halves immediately by him!! After he had solved the trouble, he turned around and looked at scene with great surprise! He saw Du Wei running to White River then he picked up White River before fleeing. White River was worried about his injuries. When Du Wei picked him up, he felt his skin hurt like hell! He could not help shivering. White River pointed at Pope before suddenly saying: ¡°Take the Pope together!¡± Du Wei was stunned for a moment and thought to himself ¡®When did Mr. White be so kind?¡¯ White River shook his head and gave a deep stare to the Pope: ¡°Fast! Don¡¯t talk nonsense!¡± Pope immediately replied, ¡°Duke of Tulip, take me away. We will turn from enemies to friends in the future.¡± Du Wei smiled and thought to himself ¡®I can¡¯t believe what you old guy said¡¯ but there¡¯s no time to talk at that time. Du Wei quickly took out a thing from the storage ring. It¡¯s a Flying Broom! He immediately straddled up, grabbed White River in one hand and said in a loud voice, ¡°Mr. White I have to control this thing. I can only grasp you in one hand. Please take the Pope!¡± With that, he pushed hard on the ground, the Magic got injected into the flying broom and it began to fly away! Sebasta saw Du Wei sitting on the broom, already flying up to the sky! He rode on the broom while holding the handle of the broom with one hand and grasping White River with other one. White River was caught by Du Wei while White River grasped the pope with his free hand. From a distance, it looked like a chain. Sebasta watched the three fleeing away with anger in his eyes. How could he give up? Today he killed Three Holy Knights andpletely dropped his facade! If he let the three people escape, then afterwards¡­ Du Wei would not be able to do much, but the revenge of the Pope and White River waspletely different story! In any case, he must kill them! After thinking to this point, Sebasta screamed and flew in the direction Du Wei escaped to. Du Wei was also not faring better. The Flying broom was originally designed to carry single person, it could not bear the weight of three persons! This time, it was a serious ¡°overload¡±. At the beginning, Broom began to shake. After making an arc in the air, then it began to fall. After all, Du Wei rarely rides this Flying Broom. If he was reced with any other member of highly trained ¡°Decepticons¡± squad, even if he was forced tond, he would never fall like Du Wei. With a load ¡®thud¡¯ Du Wei and others crashed to the ground. Chapter 318 Part 1 Here is the 2nd chapter of the weak. I am going to use names used by previous trantor as much as possible but if you spot some difference/mistake. Please inform me bymenting. For every 5 positive reviews/votes left on NovelUpdate, I will release 1 Bonus Chapter. Current Votes = 431 (Increased by 1) Current Review = 41 (Increased by 1) ¡­ After the dust dispersed, Du Wei was covered with the dust because of the unexpected crashnding. Actually he did not fall on the ground; he could feel himself being pulled up as if someone had held him softly beforending. But White River and the Pope¡­ were not so lucky. One of these two was the King of the Snow Mountain, the Shaman Kings, while other was the Temple Pope. They were one of the most powerful people on the maind, but they had almost smashed their heads. The old bones of the Pope almost fell apart. White River¡¯s white clothes were ruined and full of dust. Du Wei knew that Samuel had helped him at thest moment, he could not help but toment: ¡°Samuel, since you helped me, why didn¡¯t you help them too?¡± Samuel¡¯s voice immediately resounded in the mind: ¡°Hey! What do I have to do with their lives? As long as you don¡¯t die, everything is fine. I don¡¯t know why but I can¡¯t stand it when I look at The Pope. I just hate him.¡± Just after this ¡°short-lived¡± flight, they crashed to the ground. Du Wei knew that Sebasta would absolutely not give up, he was afraid that he would pursue them. ¡°Samuel, I remember your strength was very strong. When you were in the frozen forest, you even dared to fight Hussein and almost defeated him. How can you not deal with that boy today?¡± Samuel kept quiet for a while before replying: ¡°I have said earlier, I didn¡¯t remember anything about that time. I know how powerful I am. I feel that my strength has increased recently. But when dealing with a level 9 knight, you¡¯re asking too much of me! ¡± Du Wei froze for a moment and thenmented his bad luck. Indeed¡­ Samuel, to some extent, was really fierce! Very strong! However, it was necessary to recognise the current situation. Basically, Samuel¡¯s personality was spit into two different identities. Meaning, she had a split personality disorder. Sometimes, she appeared as magical creature, like today. In this personality, she liked to run around in front of Du Wei with bare legs. Moreover her strength was also not that powerful. But if the real Samuel came out, then she would have a powerful mana! And so Du Wei probably had bad luck today, because the magical creature version appeared instead of the real powerful Samuel. Du Wei opened his mouth: ¡°So if the iron-faced boy catches up, you probably can¡¯t stop him, right?! What am I doing here? Escape!¡± He turned his head and looked at the ground, but he could not help but cry out loud! The Flying Broom, at the time ofnding, snapped into two pieces and could not fly anymore! At this moment, Du Wei had an awful expression. Originally he thought about counting on Samuel, but it was a pity that real Samuel did not appear this time. Did these two split personalities have begun to take turns on duty? It¡¯s just that he was not lucky today; that Samuel appeared in her magical creature personality¡­ The Flying Broom was busted. Du Wei had brought only one with him. A Flying Broom was a rare thing, he only bought it for fun. How can I escape now? Flying by myself? He could control the wind and fly by himself. Moreover, with his strength, it¡¯s not a problem to fly by himself but to bring two men along with him¡­ NOT possible. ¡®Hateful¡­ my Flying Dragon Warship, which has not beenpleted yet, can¡¯t be used now¡­ Otherwise, I would have fled away.¡¯ Chapter 318 Part 2 Looking at the horizon behind him, he saw a ck spot bingrger as time passed in the sky. No doubt that that ck spot in the sky was Sebasta who was arriving very fast. When Du Wei was thinking hard to himself, Samuel said to him in dissatisfied tone: ¡°What are you hesitating about? These two guys are neither your fathers nor your sons. What are you hesitating about? Let¡¯s go!¡± Du Wei did not answer; the White River on the ground also sat up and sighed: ¡°little Du Wei, you go!¡± Du Wei was finding it really hard to make decision. It¡¯s absolutely not a problem to escape alone. That Sebasta was not a magician. He could not fly too far and fast. If he used magic to fly, he would be safe. But¡­ leaving White River? To let this lonely but powerful man die in the hands of such a despicable guy as Sebasta, he really couldn¡¯t bear to let such a person suffer such a fate! ¡°Damn it, just once!¡± Behind him, the Sebasta was only few kilometres away. An ordinary people have to run for a while to cover this distance, but for a level 9 knight, it would take just a moment! Du Wei took a deep breath and then looked at the distance; he found a small forest some distance away. His eyes brighten up. He hurried over and picked up both men and then rushed to the forest. Above northwest wilderness, the trees grew very poorly. This forest was sparsely popted with only a dozen trees and they all were malnourished. The trunk, and the leaves were yellow and half dead. Fortunately, Du Wei had been practicing hard for two years, and the basic movements of the Star Fighting Spirit (T/L: Not sure about that name) had made his body a lot stronger. He also used agility techniques and dragged both men all the way past towards the forest. But behind him, Sebasta was also catching up! The distance was getting closer and closer, even the voice of Sebasta was clearly audible! ¡°Duke of Tulips! You have nowhere to run! You will definitely die! In this ce, who can save you?!¡± After he finished saying, he jumped up and leaped into the air like a kangaroo. Now, he was just a hundred steps away from Du Wei! Du Wei had already rushed to the edge of the forest. He finally sighed and leaned down to the ground. He refused to reply to that guy and he gasped a few times, then he took out a golden coloured Horn. He turned around and looked at Sebasta: ¡°You little son of bitch, no one is here to save me? Let me tell you, this Duke is very lucky. You wish to kill me, it is impossible!¡± After he finished saying that, he blew the horn¡­ The whining sound of horn immediately awakened the trees in the woods. With a silent groaning noise, the trees swayed and the roots came out of the soil, shaking off the dust and dead leaves as if they were humans. Du Wei raised the horn high, then pointed to Sebasta and shouted: ¡°Go! Kill this little bastard!¡± More than a dozen Treants became alive, immediately twisted their bulky body and surrounded rushed toward Sebasta. Sebasta was stunned at first. He had never seen this kind of strange ¡°magic¡±, but he soon recovered his mental state. He immediately noticed that these Treants, except for theirrge and strong bodies, had nothing to worry about. If people encountered dozen such of such monsters, they might be shocked, but if they were strong enough, they could turn them into a pile of smashed wood. Sebasta said withughter: ¡°Duke of Tulips, is this your life-saving trick¡­¡± T/L Note: Hello guys, there will be no chapters for 2 week because of my exams. Please bear with it. Don¡¯t worry I will make up to you once my exams are over. Chapter 319 Part 1 T/L Note: Guys, I am back! My exams are finally over! There will be 1 chapter per day for at least one month. ¡­ Sebastian said with augh: ¡°Duke of Tulip, is this your life saving skill?¡± He hasn¡¯t finishughing, when he saw a huge ck shadow charging towards him. Sebasta reacted quickly and quickly retreated back, but a Treant appeared behind and smacked him with huge rock. Sebasta was furious for being sneak-attacked. His sword shook and with a piecing sound, it cleaved the Treant¡¯s body into two! Several other Treants surrounded Sebastian and their huge trunks smashed down violently. Although Sebastian was not afraid of these things, he had to be careful while dealing with these guys. Otherwise, it¡¯s not fun to be hit twice by such a huge guy. Sebastian¡¯s body was extremely sturdy and had strong self-healing abilities. Moreover, he also had magical ability which could heal wounds rapidly while also granting physical boost but this unique skill could not be easily employed. Once it was used, it would leave severe after-effects. Only his father, Chishui Duan, could help him in negating it with mysterious magic. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable. He was currently not with his father now so he couldn¡¯t use that magic. Sebastian was really worthy of being Ninth level knight. He had a strong frost fighting spirit. A dozen of Treants were chopped into pieces by him in an instant. But when he turned to look for Du Wei, he found that Du Wei and others were long gone again! From afar, he heard a burst ofughter! It didn¡¯t matter how much self-control Sebastian had, hearing thatughter he was burning in rage! At the other end of the forest, Du Wei was escaping! On the ground, more than a dozen strong wolves were running with their full strength. White River and the Pope were riding two strongest male wolves running in front of the pack. Du Wei, however, was flying leisurely in the sky using wind control magic. ¡°Dear little general, you are really good at cutting wood (Treants). If you are not a general in the future, you may as well be a woodcutter, and you will not die of hunger.¡± Du Wei turned his head around and deliberately said with a loadugh. Sebastian face was livid and his body was shaking because of anger. He could not control himself from shouting: ¡°Du Wei! Even if I have to chase you to the ends of the earth, I will not let you off!¡± After that, he continued to pursue Du Wei. Although the wolves were running fast, but after all, their speed was limited by their physique which was far weaker than the horse. They could not keep running for long time. Sebastian continued to pursue them without resting. He was determined to kill them: In any case, these people could not be allowed to return alive! Du Wei flew in the sky and looked at Sebastian, then heughed. Fortunately, I have a horn of life with me and I have learned the Druid¡¯s Nature technique. Looking far away, he saw a mountain in the distance. The mountain had arge forest. Du Wei couldn¡¯t help butugh. He whistled and directed the wolves on the ground to run toward the distant mountain¡­ On the ground, Sebastian was still chasing them with full strength. Although he was wearing armour, his running speed was no less than that of a horse! Du Wei was feeling very anxious now. Seeing the boy chasing faster and faster, Du Wei calcted the distance between the distant woods. He was afraid that Sebasta would catch up with the wolves before they could enter the woods. He couldn¡¯t help but feel anxious. He turned his head and shouted to Sebasta, ¡°Little general. I¡¯ll make a bet with you. Do you dare? ¡± While chasing, Sebasta didn¡¯t want to talk with Du Wei. But when he heard Du Wei, he wanted to know what kind of trick the Duke was up to. He snorted and said coldly: ¡°Duke, what else do you want!¡± Chapter 319 Part 2 Du Wei smiled: ¡°I heard that young general is very skilled in martial arts. You are ranked first in the Northwest Army except Marshal Lu Gao (Sebastian¡¯s father). You are remarkable at horse riding and archery.¡± In fact, Du Wei¡¯s words contained no falsehood. This guy had strength of Level Nine Knight. Among the North-western Army, he was afraid that apart from Sebastian¡¯s own father, no one was better than him. There was nothing wrong with this. ¡°Hey!¡± Sebastian did not reply. With a heavy hum, he covered the distance of more than 100 meters. Then he suddenly raised his hand and sword in his hand made a beautiful arc in the air. At the end of the wolf pack, the two wolves were suddenly yelped and their bodies split into two! Fortunately, this wolf pack was summoned by Du Wei with Druid Technique. If it was an ordinary wolf pack, whole pack would had panicked and descended into chaos. Yet, Sebastian did not feel disappointed by these turn of events. Du Wei smiled and said: ¡°The young general, do you have any interest in having a bet with me? When I was in the Northwest Army, I was ¡®hunting¡¯ in the woods, I saw you nocked an arrow on a bow and shot a ¡®prey¡¯. Your archery is really extraordinary. Today, I really want to give and take some pointers.¡± Sebastian couldn¡¯t help but to feel a chill creeping in his heart! He had long heard that the Duke of tulip had extremely terrifying archery skills. This legend had spread in the northwest! His heart sank at the thought. Looking up, he saw that Du Wei was flying in the sky with a long bow and arrow with a peculiar shape. The long bow was like a curved moon but ends of the bow were extending out like knifes with some strange marks on it! That uniquely shaped bow was in Du Wei¡¯s hand. Du Wei smiled and then gently pulled the bowstring with his arm; the arrow was pointing at the Sebastian below: ¡°Young general. You and I will shoot an arrow on each other. What do you think?¡± Sebasta became nervous seeing that strongly shaped bow in the Du Wei¡¯s hands as well as his confidence. Finally Sebastian made up his mind to ensure a safe distance. With a scream, Sebasta¡¯s speed increased by three points. Du Wei took a deep breath and then gently flicked his fingers. The bowstring oscited. With a piercing sound, arrow nocked on the bow released!! Although Sebastian was in middle of a run, he was on alert. Suddenly, he felt that a something approaching him with terrifying speed. He was shocked! How could an arrow have this kind of speed!! But, after all, he was Level Nine Knight. In the moment of danger, his instincts were definitely kicking in. Du Wei¡¯s arrow almost reached his body, but suddenly his body bent at strange angle like his waist suddenly snapped. The whole body folded in an unthinkable manner like a cloth doll. Du Wei¡¯s shot had missed. Sebastian heard a load ¡®bang¡¯. As he looked behind, he saw that on ground behind him, there was arge crater with a radius of more than two meters and stone debris were flying everywhere. Obviously power behind the arrow was terrifying. The power of Du Wei¡¯s arrow can actually reach such level!! If Du Wei shoots a few more arrows, I am afraid that I may not be able to dodge them all. Sebastian couldn¡¯t help but to feel anxious. He calmed himself down and sorted out his thoughts. Although Du Wei¡¯s arrow was very powerful, his shooting skills were not that impressive. Chapter 320 Part 1 Du Wei¡¯s shooting abilities were not as good as he thought they would be. Even if the uniquely shaped magician¡¯s bow was really powerful, however since it¡¯s notpletely mastered by Du Wei yet, the arrows shot out with it could only demonstrate a small part of its true power. Moreover Du Wei had never known anything about archery before. He was only able to ¡°shoot¡± by using wind magic and other skills as a Magician. The most important aspect of archery was, of course, locking to a target and Du Wei easily handled that part by using his Eagle Eye skill. Du Wei had tested it himself and found a weakness of this skill and that was if one shot a fixed target then it rarely missed. However, ¡­ If the target was moving fast, it would be very difficult for Du Wei to shoot. However if target moving at high speed was locked with Eagle Eye Skill, it could still be shot. But why would your enemy give you time to aim slowly and calmly? Opportunity was fleeting! So mastery of archery required years of hard work. It couldn¡¯t be mastered in a short time. It was ten times as difficult to shoot a moving target than a fixed one! That¡¯s the truth! Although the power of this arrow terrified Sebastian, yet Du Wei himself was not satisfied with it. Du Wei always reminiscent of the scene he witnessed involving Young General Sebastian in Fort Watt that day. The fight between Prince of the Dragon race, the Golden Dragon Warrior and Sebastian really amazed him! The Golden Dragon Warrior hit Young General hard in a flurry but no harm could be done to this Young General. Although his strength was only of Level Nine, his ¡°immortal body¡± was really abnormal. Du Wei didn¡¯t n to kill this Young General with this Imprisonment arrow just because he was worried. His Imprisonment arrow was powerful. But was it more powerful then Golden Dragon warrior¡¯s strike? Even the strike of the Golden Dragon Warrior couldn¡¯t kill this guy so it was even more impossible for this arrow. But Du Wei didn¡¯t know that Sebastian had a mysterious secret skill. After it was used, it leaves severe after-effects. At this moment, Sebasta was alone so he could not use that secret skill easily. Then Du Wei fired three more arrows in a row. The uracy of these three arrows was even worse. The first two arrows could hardly be regarded as shooting near Sebastian¡¯s body. It gave Sebastian a sense of caution. But thest arrow had a big misdirection. It¡¯s almost another seven or eight meters away from Sebasta. Fortunately that was enough to create distance between the pack of wolves and Sebastian. After all he had to slow down to dodge the arrows and maintain a safe distance. When Du Wei saw that he had aplished his objective, he smiled and said: ¡°Oh Young General. It seems that my arrow still can¡¯t shoot you. After I return, I must practice hard. If I have the chanceter, I wille and seek for advice!¡± Then heughed and suddenly his sleeves fluttered. After a moment, two Wind des ejected out of his sleeves. Sebastian had no choice but to turn back in the air and block these two wind des. He shouted: ¡°Duke! You can only hide in the distance and attack. If you have the ability, thene down andpete with me!¡± Chapter 320 Part 2 Du Weiughed in the sky: ¡°My little general, I think you are a fool! Dude, I am a magician! Have you ever heard of a magician who takes the initiative to fight with the Martial Arts Master in close quarters? That¡¯s not courage. It¡¯s stupidity! At the moment, Sebastian grew truly annoyed thought for the first time. His father had so many magical long range attacking skills, but his father only taught him his Frost Magic and said that it was most powerful Art so he had not learned many long range attacks! Otherwise, Du Wei would not be able to flee again and again. The wolf group finally entered the woods. Du Wei looked at the forest and felt relieved. In an instant, he turned around in the air while flying toward the forest and said withughter: ¡°O Young General, if you are not convinced,e in and look for me!¡± Sebastian ran to the edge of the forest, but he stopped suddenly. Looking at the lush forest in front of him, he could not help but feel uneasy. Just some time ago, the Duke summoned Treants to fight him but then there were only some trees around; but now, arge lush forest was ahead! With the level of Sebasta¡¯s cultivation, fighting dozens of Treants was not a problem but if he encountered thousands of Treants, he would not be able to fight all of them. How many trees were there in thisrge forest in front of him? Sebasta was actually scared of Du Wei¡¯s strange skill. He did not know that Du Wei could only use Horn of Life once a day. Du Wei had already used it once so he could not use it anymore. He looked at therge forest in front of him. He couldn¡¯t help but hesitate for a while. Finally, he made up his mind. He still had to kill White River and the Pope. They couldn¡¯t be left alive. He entered the woods while holding sword tightly in his hand. He didn¡¯t dare to rx at the moment. Even after a while, there was still no movement. Sebastian was a Young General of the Northwest Army. He usually hunted on weekends and was good at it. Although Du Wei and others had already stepped in the woods and at this moment, they might have already hid somewhere, yet Sebastian was also good at tracking the traces of his prey, therefore, with so many wolves running through the forest, they must had left a lot of footprints behind. He traced the footprints all the way and gradually proceeded into the woods. After walking for a while, he suddenly heard sound of footsteps and saw a huge cave. This cave was dark and a strange scent wasing from inside it. Sebastian, who was used to hunting immediately recognized the smell, this was a bear cave. Looking at the footprints on the ground, he entered the cave. ¡°Hey! Hiding in the cave! You think that I won¡¯t be able to find you.¡± Sebasta sneered. He was one of the best at hunting in the Northwest Army! Du Wei, even if you could fly to heaven, this general will catch you. Hiding in the cave, you are seeking death! There is no ce for you to run in the cave! The space in the cave is small and it is the best ce for melee battle! See how you die when I arrive! He jumped into the mouth of the cave with one jump. Looking in, he suddenly saw faint silver glow in the cave. Look carefully again, Du Wei was sitting on the ground and his face seemed to be looking at him with fear. In Du Wei¡¯s hand was the ¡°Beauty under the moon¡±!!! Sebastian was in a state of ecstasy and agitation. He was rxed his vignce. His heart was pounding hard. He rushed in and shouted ¡°It¡¯s time for your¡­¡± However, before he could utter word ¡°death¡±, he suddenly heard a roar of angry beasts in the cave! ROAR!!! Chapter 321 Part 1 Then a dark, burly, huge ck shadow rushed out, colliding with Sebasta. Faced with that strong smell of fishy smell, the first thought in experienced Sebasta¡¯s mind was: this is an adult ck bear! But then, the second thought was: Did they hide the bear in the bear hole? The third thought: ¡­ fooled! The distance was too close and Sebasta temporarily lost his vignce because of temptation of Beauty of the Moon. Seeing the human rushing into its cave, the huge adult ck bear rushed over! The huge adult bear¡¯s paw stuck. The distance was too close so Sebasta failed to escape. Huge bear¡¯s paw hit his chest. His body was sent flying out of the cave like a kite with a broken thread. He mmed heavily on the ground and before he could get up, knight armour on his chest had been smashed by the palm of this giant bear. His ribs were sore and he didn¡¯t know how many were broken! The ck bear seemed to be mad, and rushed out of the cave, with a gust of wind, and rushed to the ground of Sebasta again! At the moment, although Sebasta was injured, how would a ninth-level knight be afraid of a bear? He got up and jumped up from the ground. At this moment, he was furious and didn¡¯t care about pain in his chest. He went to face the ck bear. Bear viciously attacked with its w. In the air, Sebasta¡¯s body twisted and his sword edge was inserted into the ck bear¡¯s brain. Then the skull of the ck bear suddenly exploded into a mass of blood mist and that blood mist was instantly frozen into ice! The body of the ck bear ran for a few steps before it crashed. Sebasta also fell to the ground. Because of body movement, his wounds were pulled, causing a lot of pain. His heart was full of anger. He was a young general of the Northwest Army. He even fought Golden Dragon Warriors. Today, he was actually wounded by a beast. It¡¯s a shame to say it out! He was furious in his heart but Du Wei¡¯sughter made him vomit blood. ¡°You ¡­ aren¡¯t you in the cave!¡± As soon as Sebasta¡¯s words came out, he said angrily, ¡°Okay! You¡¯re ying tricks again!¡± Du Wei reluctantly smiled and shook his head, ¡°I respect the major general, the lovely major general, the poor major general ¡­ I really sympathize with you. Don¡¯t you know ¡­ illusion magic also exit? I set up an illusion in that cave. I was crouching on this tree to watch a y. Iwatched you enter the cave ¡­ hahahaha, it¡¯s a really funny.¡± Sebasta felt his throat sweet and almost spit out blood. Staring at Du Wei hardly, he barely suppressed the desire to spit blood in his heart and gritted his teeth, ¡°It¡¯s just a trick of a worm! Du Wei, you just rely on ying with these little clever things! What do you deserve to be proud of?¡± He erected his fingers and said one by one: ¡°First, I must be able toy out fake footprints on the ground, so that I can convince you that we have really hidden in the cave. Second, I must be good at using magic. In order toy out the illusion that deceives you in the cave. Third, I still have to guess what was most enthusiastic to your mind. I guessed right it was Beauty of the Moon. ying petty tricks also require wisdom which you don¡¯t have! Hehe¡­¡± Sebasta felt dark before his eyes and finally couldn¡¯t hold down the anger in his heart. He opened his mouth with a ¡°wow¡± and finally spit out his blood. He didn¡¯t vomit blood because of the injury but because of Du Wei¡¯s damn words! Du Wei watched Sebasta vomit blood and pped hard deliberately. He also added: ¡°Pretty and beautiful! Young General, your vomiting posture is really pretty! You should vomit more. Hehe¡­ ¡± Sebasta¡¯s sword suddenly shot at Du Wei. The de was light-like; it reached Du Wei in an instant! How powerful was a nine-level knight? They were only a dozen meters away, how could Du Wei avoid it? Chapter 321 Part 2 He saw Du Wei yelling and then the sword actually shot through his body ¡­ The long sword passed through his chest but it made Du Wei¡¯s body twist a bit, but it didn¡¯t leave a drop of blood. The ¡°Du Wei¡± figure shook a few times before disappearingpletely. Sebasta heard Du Wei¡¯sughing voice: ¡°Poor, poor¡­ young general, how many losses have you eaten all the way. I know that you are a nine-level knight. I am a magician. Why would Ie close to you? You see, you just got cheated by my illusion. Now it¡¯s been a second time!¡± This time, Sebasta was fooled again and also lost his sword. He stood there and stood still for a while before yelling. Du Wei¡¯s voice came from all directions: ¡°Sebasta! Don¡¯t be angry, you are unlucky to meet me. Come,e and start the real performance now. Look there are so many big trees around here, how lush they are! You cut wood very well. Well, Young General, do you want to show me the skill of ¡®cutting-wood-with-bare-hands¡¯? ¡± Sebasta¡¯s heart was also shocked. Looking at the woods in all directions, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill in his heart and couldn¡¯t help being annoyed. He bit his lips and said, ¡°You ¡­ where have you taken the Pope and the Witch King!¡± Du Wei sighed andughed: ¡°Rest assured, I will not wait here for you to kill them. I have hidden them for a long time. There are so many big trees in this wood. I just casted a magic spell and turn them into a big tree. As long as they are sitting still, they will be safe! ¡± After that, heughed aloud again: ¡°Come here, I can¡¯t wait anymore. Young General, quickly give me a good show of ¡®cutting-wood-with-bare-hands¡¯!¡± After the words fell, he heard a sound of horns in the forest. When Sebasta heard the sound of the horns, his scalp suddenly became numb. Of course, he remembered that after Du Wei blew the horns before, he awakened those big trees! He was hurt at the moment. He also lost his weapon. Facing hundreds of thousands of trees in the woods ¡­ was not something he could handle! His expression changed several times. He finally roared loudly with infinite anger and unwillingness in his voice but finally made up his mind and escaped to the direction opposite of the source of sound. He really made the final decision and did not dare to hesitate. At this moment, it is important to save his life. After all, he ran away helplessly. After Sebasta left, a faint ripple appeared in the air from therge tree at the entrance of the cave and then Du Wei¡¯s body slowly appeared. He looked at the distance and then took a long breath. He was already sweating a lot! Don¡¯t pay attention to what he said just now. Those words were just to annoy Sebasta¡­ ¡°Fuck. I was actually forced to use the ¡®empty city n¡¯¡­ s.¡± Du Weiughed bitterly. In fact, it was by no means easy. The Summoner Horn could not be used for the two times per day! If that Sebastian didn¡¯t leave, Du Wei was really in big trouble! As for White River and the Pope ¡­ Du Wei sighed and nced at the far away bear corpse on the ground. He smiled bitterly: ¡°I¡¯m sorry. But you saved use! No one can think that a living person was living in a hole with a bear. This is the blind spot of human psychology! ¡± Then he turned around and went into the bear cave. Smell made Du Wei frown tightly. He walked inside and randomly took out a magic gem from his pocket. With light wave of his hand it released a ray of light. He saw Pope and White River lying in the corner of the cave. ¡°My two majesties, I have to hide you in this stinking cave. I just couldn¡¯t hide you elsewhere. That kid is muscr but his brain is not so good and was fooled by a few words. ¡± White River opened his mouth sadly but finally didn¡¯t speak and just smiled bitterly. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here now.¡± Du Wei hesitated for a moment and then said, ¡°It¡¯s just that I can¡¯t send two of you back. We all have different positions. Speaking of which, you may not be my friends. ¡± White River whispered, ¡°Du Wei, I always repay any favour. You saved my life this time ¡­ Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t catch you again. That pet will be my gift to you. ¡± As he said, he slowly shook his head, and his tone was full of desolute. Chapter 322 Part 1 The Pope said, ¡°Duke of Tulip, Rock City is not far from here. In my opinion, we can travel northeast for one hour, we can reach the Locke small town. From there we can go to in the city. We will be safe there.¡± Du Weiughed, ¡°Rock City? His Majesty, I dare not go to that ce! I heard that Locke town is very religious! When you enter the city, you will give an order and call the holy knights. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to run again then. ¡± The Pope smiled bitterly: ¡°I will never do that.¡± Du Wei also bluntly said: ¡°Sorry, but I can¡¯t believe you now.¡± After a pause, he said: ¡°Pope, I took you out of the woods. As for where you want to go from there, that¡¯s your business. I don¡¯t care! I don¡¯t think I am too clever but I wouldn¡¯t do something like throwing myself into the trap! As for His Majesty White River, I will personally take him away and I won¡¯t go all the way with you! ¡± The Pope carefully looked at Du Wei and whispered, ¡°You ¡­ you really decided to do this? When Mr. White Riveres back tomorrow, I¡¯m afraid it will spell disaster for the empire! Will you not regret it? ¡± White River suddenly said at this moment: ¡°Pope, you can rest assured, I will never take the opportunity to attack! After all, although I hate you Rnd people, but I, after all, am a human!¡± The Pope was so happy: ¡°You ¡­ do you really agree?¡± White River looked cold: ¡°I never say a lie.¡± The Pope nodded: ¡°Okay! His Majesty, I also promise that after going back, I will definitely not look after you!¡± He turned to look at Du Wei and said, ¡°Duke of Tulip, about today¡¯s matter I will never bother you afterwards. You don¡¯t have to worry about my words. ¡± The Pope smiled bitterly and continued: ¡°The Rnd Empire is facing a crisis that has not happened in a thousand years.¡± When Du Wei heard this, his heart became more and more unease: ¡°Your Majesty, you are saying about the north ¡­ Is it ¡­¡± At the end, Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but have feel a chill in his heart ¡­ Is it really the Dragon¡­ He hadn¡¯t finished asking and the Pope hadn¡¯t spoken yet, but he suddenly heard a gruesome voice outside the cave! ¡°Duke of Tulips! Now you say again, whether you have fooled or me!¡± That voice was with infinite hatred. Du Wei¡¯s face changed immediately after listening it. Sebasta! This iron-faced boy actually went and returned?! Sebasta¡¯s voice came word by word: ¡°Duke of Tulips, you blew the horn. Why don¡¯t you summon your Treant? If you can summon, I¡¯m afraid when I first entered the forest, you would have summoned them! That magic can¡¯t be used, right? Huh, you think you scared me away and you rxed? I went out and overbred the situation from far away. Just as I expected, after you saw me gone, you went to look for two His Majesties! I didn¡¯t expect that you actually hid the two His Majesties in this cave!¡± With that said, Sebasta¡¯s voice gradually softened: ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter, now that you are all in this cave, where else can you go?¡± Du Wei could not help but sigh and looked at White River and the Pope again. White River still looked indifferent but the pope frowned. Du Wei spread his hands and smiled honestly: ¡°Two Majesties don¡¯t look at me. Honestly, that was myst trick. Now, there is no other way. I will dy him for a while, let¡¯s also think about a solution carefully.¡± Chapter 322 Part 2 Du Wei spread his hands and smiled honestly: ¡°Two Majesties don¡¯t look at me. Honestly, that was myst trick. Now, there is no other way. I will dy him for a while, let¡¯s also think about a solution carefully.¡± After speaking, Du Wei strode to the entrance of the cave but before he left, he waved his sleeves and shot out seventeen or eight wind magic des in one breath. He was worried that the Sebasta was also hiding in the cave, so he shot first. But when he reached the mouth of the cave and looked out, Sebasta stood honestly more than ten meters away. Obviously, this young general suffered Du bitterness again and again. He already had a shadow in his heart and did not dare to push too much, but stood far away and did not dare to rush in. ¡°Young General, how are you? Nice to see you again!¡± Du Wei smiled slightly. Sebasta¡¯s eyes were filled with deep hatred: ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re not happy seeing me!¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Why not happy? I¡¯m so happy!¡± After speaking, he waved his arms and took out a magic scroll. He held it in his hand and smiled: ¡°Young General, you are right. In this cave, I really can¡¯t fly away and I can¡¯t even run. What a pity¡­¡± Sebasta sneered and said: ¡°What pity? Pity you are going to die here?¡± ¡°No ¡­¡± Du Wei shook his head and said solemnly: ¡°Unfortunately, although you are talking big, you really seem to be afraid of me. Therefore, although you have seen through my tricks, you did not dare to charge in immediately. You know that I am in the cave, but you dare not rushed in and stood outside. You see, the opportunity was missed. ¡± After that, he threw the magic scroll to the ground! With a bang, a magical me shed and a circr magic halo suddenly shot out ¡­ ¡°This is a high-level defence magic ¡®Guardian Demon Enchantment¡¯!¡± Du Wei continued with a smiled: ¡°Young general, although the cave is not easy to escape ¡­ but you don¡¯t understand the principle of ¡°easy to defend and difficult to attack¡±. Juste and fight! I¡¯m not afraid to tell you that even if your father came here, depending on his ability, he will not be able to break this advanced defence magic enchantment! As for you, hum, you slowly think of it! ¡± After that, he stopped ncing at Sebasta who turned blue from anger and walked back into the cave. Looking at the two top masters in the corner, Du Wei shook his head and smiled bitterly: ¡°This enchantment willst for a maximum of one or two hours. When the sun sets, he will certainly enter inside. I can rush in. What should we do?¡± In his heart he desperately summoned Semel: ¡°I said great-grandmother, do you have any ideas?¡± In his mind, Saimel¡¯s voice said in unpleasant tone, ¡°I told you to run away early but you don¡¯t want to. What can I do now! I can¡¯t beat him myself!¡± Du Wei was helpless and couldn¡¯t help thinking: If it was the true Saimel personality that was summoned, Sebasta would have to flee. ¡°Can you go out for help? Anyway, he won¡¯t be able to detect you.¡± ¡°No, I can¡¯t leave you too far. If I leave your body more than one kilometre away, I¡¯m afraid I will not be able to sense your mental power and will disappear!¡± After answering this sentence, there was no response at all. In the darkness, White River suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes were sad. Looking at Du Wei, he slowly spoke¡­ ¡°Du Wei, would you use a machete?¡± T/L Note: My previous novel ¡°World of Warcraft¡± has beenpleted so i can give more time to this novel. Moreover i will also increase release rate as much as possible. Thanks everyone for support. If anyone spot any mistake pls inform me byment i will correct it. Chapter 323 Part 1 Scimitar? Du Wei stunned and then sneered: ¡°Boss White River, I¡¯m a standard magician. In fact, when ites to knives ¡­ I can only use table knives and kitchen knives. I have not used a scimitar.¡± He asked me if I could use a scimitar ¡­ what? Is it the legendary ¡°Teaching Divine Power¡±? Well, yes, definitely yes, it must be right! Dewey suddenly rejoiced. This was the way story proceeds for every male lead! From this point of view, whenever male lead went for adventure and a viin blocked the cave, good things always happen! ¡­ Does this pie dropped from the sky actually fall on my head? Du Wei thought of this and looked at White River¡¯s eyes. He could not help but stare at them as if he was looking at most wonderful thing! What was the skill of His Majesty White River? Well, he was the Witch King and the first strongest man in the world today. He must be able to teach me something and it must be not an inferior thing! White River sighed slightly and nodded: ¡°Well, good, you haven¡¯t use a scimitar. It¡¯s great. I¡¯m still worried. If you have learnt any other martial arts before, this art (trick) will not work. ¡± It looked like, for learning peerless art, one was required to be a nk piece of paper, the whiter the better! His Majesty, I didn¡¯t know any scimitar martial arts, which was exactly in line with the characteristics of this ¡°white paper¡±! Ok. Boss White, you really do have the rightst name ¡°white¡±! Du Wei swallowed his saliva vigorously andughed, ¡°Well, Mr. White, are you going to teach me your set of scimitar skills?¡± White River nced at him coldly and said: ¡°Huh, teach you? Did you suddenly be stupid? That Sebasta has the strength of a nine-level martial artist! Even if I am willing to teach you something, in such a short amount of time, will you be able to increase your strength and beat a nine-level martial artist?¡± These words were like a bucket of cold water. Immediately extinguishing the eagerness in Du Wei¡¯s heart, he suddenly calmed down. He had to admit that White River saying truth. Is there any magical art which can make an ordinary person¡¯s strength leap over so many levels and directly defeat a nine-level martial artist? White River ignored the change in Du Wei¡¯s expression. His face sank as he whispered, ¡°Come here!¡± Du Wei walked to White River¡¯s side; White River took a deep breath and pointed at him: ¡°Sit down!¡± Du Wei was full of doubts. Since White River was not going to teach him any art (skill), then what are he going to do? After he sat down with a nk expression on his face, White River suddenly stretched out his hand and Ripped Du Wei¡¯s shirt. Although he was seriously injured, he had a lot of strength in his hands. After tearing off the clothes of White River¡¯s upper body, he tore off his sleeve too. Du Wei had a terrible look ¡­ Boss White River, he took off my clothes and then his own clothes ¡­ Damn, Did he want to try that kind of thing before he died? White River¡¯s face became more serious as he said: ¡°Du Wei, listen well, although that brat Sebasta is annoying, his strength is not bad at all! Hum, at his age, he can never cultivate to this level. Presumably it is his old man who has used some special method to forcibly improve his (Sebasta) strength!¡± Chapter 323 Part 2 ¡°Originally, even if you use my method, it will not let you defeat him. However, there is a catch ¡­ we people from Snow Mountain all practice all frost type art. That Sebasta is no exception. But this frost type art has some weaknesses and disadvantages. These disadvantages can only be ovee with their own understanding of the art unless the strength reaches the Holy Order. Fortunately, this kid¡¯s strength has not yet reached the Holy Order. So, as long as you can master these weaknesses to deal with him, you can still cope for a while. ¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that you know almost nothing about martial arts. Even if I teach you, you can¡¯t have any substantial improvement in short while. So, although I¡¯m very reluctant to do this, I can¡¯t care about it at this moment.¡± White River breathed a sigh of relief before continuing: ¡°I¡¯m seriously injured now, but although I am seriously injured, my realm is still there. It¡¯s just that my mana and vigour have been damaged and I can¡¯t recover much in a short while. But only little Yuan Qi is left. Although this Yuan Qi is not too much, at least it can still barely support me. With my injury, if I can safely pass this ce, I can recover most of it after three or five days. It can be fully restored in up to one or two months. But ¡­ but if I don¡¯t even have thisst Yuan Qi¡­ then I must return to the snow mountain as soon as possible. Without practicing for three or four years, I can¡¯t even think about recovery! But now things are so urgent and I have no choice. Both of us old guys can¡¯t move and fight that guy. I have nothing but this Yuan Qi¡­¡± ¡°Yuan Qi? What Yuan Qi?¡± Du Wei was moved. White River smiled a bit weirdly and said: ¡°My so-called Yuan Qi ¡­ is a ¡®seed of power¡¯! This is the purest source of strength I have cultivated. It is not a me or frost, but one of the purest understandings of the power of the rule. Even if I am injured again as long as this seed is left in the body, it will continue to restore my strength! But now ¡­ Du Wei, you are optimistic, this is the seed of strength!¡± White River stretched out his right index finger and dazzling light suddenly burst out from his fingertip. Although the light was dazzling, it did not have slightest temperature. Du Wei looked at it but felt a shocking pressure. It contained inexplicable rule¡­ ¡°Every warrior has a different understanding of Rules.¡± White River said with a sneer: ¡°This seed has myprehension of Rule of Power. So as long as I inject this seed into your body, you can learn myprehension of the rules of power! In other words, if you work hard, you can save the decades that I had spent trying toprehend this rule! With yours talent, within five years, if you meet that brat outside, you can abuse him if you want to abuse him!¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart was beating hard! ¡­¡­Wow! Is it seed of power? Chapter 324 Part 1 ¡°This ¡­ Boss White, if you gave me thisst bit of Yung Qi ¡­ then you will¡­¡± Du Wei swallowed hard. White River said with a sneer: ¡°This is just the purest strength I have ever cultivated. If I give it to you, my recovery rate will be slowed down but it¡¯s still better than dying here. ¡± After that, he frowned continued: ¡°It¡¯s just a pity that this purest power cannot be directly transmitted to you. This is the source of my flesh-and-blood power. Unless I use special method to upy your physical body and transfer this power to your body, it is impossible to transfer it. If I did so, you will die. ¡± Du Wei was startled. White River only smiled lightly: ¡°You can rest assured that because of serious injury I can¡¯t cast the possession spell. Moreover, you should also know that my spell can only be used once every ten years. Even if I ¡¯m not hurt now, I can¡¯t use it. So I can only use extraordinary methods to pass it to you! I will not only pass on it to you but I will also give you my flesh and blood! Otherwise, you can¡¯t withstand it!¡± White River was sweating all over and his face was as pale as white paper but the tip of his right finger that was sticking out was releasing more and more dazzling light. White River did his best to push thest trace of power to his right arm and then suddenly whispered something. He put his finger on the heart of Du Wei¡¯s chest¡­ His fingertips were like the sharpest des. He made a circle on the chest and immediately ¡°cut¡± a piece of flesh of the left side of Du Wei¡¯s chest. Du Wei screamed but White River continued and Du Wei did not even have time to dodge. The round piece of leash on his chest was ¡°spinning¡±! The blood was flowing nonstop. Du Wei had never suffered from this kind of pain. His pain was so severe that he yelled, ¡°White ¡­ White River, do you want to kill me?!¡± White River warned ¡°Shut up! I can¡¯t support it for a long time, if you move again, it¡¯s over!¡± Then, White River suddenly raised his left hand. His palm like knife stuck his right arm shoulder¡­ With a tearing sound, White River¡¯s right arm was cut off!!! (T/L: That¡¯s right. White River cut off his own right arm.) White River¡¯s face was death pale because of pain but he still sneered and said, ¡°Don¡¯t move around, otherwise, don¡¯t me me when you die.¡± After speaking, he continued his work¡­ Terrifying and painful screams of Du Wei resonated in the cave. Ah, ah¡­ When Du Wei woke up, he felt that something was wrong with his body and his chest was faintly painful. He was lying with his back on the ground. He opened his eyes and saw White River sitting beside himself, looking at him strangely. Du Wei immediately sat up by supporting himself with his both hands. He felt that his face was sticky and itchy as if stained with blood. He raised his hand and wiped his face¡­ Du Wei suddenly snapped! Hand? Hand?? Du Wei looked around and found that his original two hands were on the ground. How did I wipe my face? He looked down and saw his chest and found something bizarre. A hand was attached to the left side of his chest which was previously cut out by White River! He didn¡¯t know what spell White River used but he connected that extra hand with him perfectly even blood was flowing to it. Chapter 324 Part 2 It almost caused Du Wei to faint again. He bit his tongue hard. With severe pain, he didn¡¯t faint and opened his mouth wide. He looked at his chest and then looked at White River: ¡°You you you¡­ I, I ¡­ Your hands ¡­ I, I ¡­¡± ¡°I lent it to you.¡± White River¡¯s face was bleak and his voice was weak: ¡°Your strength is worse than that boy. Although you have good magic, you still can¡¯t use them. With that arms andst bit of strength, you could barely fight him!¡± Du Wei suddenly wanted to jump up and curse! ¡°You! I am not mistaken! Three hands! I have be a monster with three hands! Hey, with this¡­ how can I go out in the future? I still need to see people!!!¡± White River sneered and said: ¡°That extra arm has the seed of the rules of power. With it, the seed will be slowly digested by you and you will get the benefits. Come on, don¡¯t me me! As for that arm ¡­ it was my arm. I have temporarily connected it with Snow Mountain sorcery and after a few days, it will fall off by itself. What are you afraid of?¡± His voice was gradually wheezing. He cut off his arm by himself so it was bleeding too much and he could prevent it. Du Wei recovered and took out some medicine from the storage ring to apply on White River¡¯s arm. He watched that extra arm on his chest and couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°I have injected the seed of power into that hand! Even if seed is no longer with me, you can use its power. This arm will use the Scimitar ording to instinct! Just let it be and don¡¯t care about it. Nature can help you¡­ ¡± Help me? Du Wei smiled bitterly ¡­ this was really an ¡°add-on¡±! ¡°Boss ¡­ you ¡­¡± White River interrupted: ¡°You don¡¯t need to thank me. If I don¡¯t do this, everyone will die. I¡¯m not doing it for you but just for living. I give you an arm because you can¡¯t bear the power of seed.¡± Hey on the ground and raised his left hand and passed his scimitar. Du Wei silently took over, White River sneered: ¡°My scimitar can¡¯t easily get out of the sheath. Once it is sheathed, you can¡¯t lose! Don¡¯t lose honour of this scimitar!¡± The Pope sighed and said: ¡°Your Majesty the Witch King, you have very strong perseverance! Come here, I still have a trace of holy power and can barely perform a healing technique. I will heal your wounds first. ¡± Outside the cave, Sebasta was anxious and regretted. Just now he was fooled by Du Wei a few times, and he was afraid of it. He lost an incredible opportunity¡­ But he knew that this magical enchantment could notst for long! When the timees, this magical enchantment disappears naturally. Then he would kill all three of them! Sure enough, as the sun gradually tilted westward, the magic enchantment gradually faded and finally disappeared! Sebasta lost his sword so he picked up a sharp and strong branch to use. But before he could enter, Du Wei walked out by himself! Chapter 325 Part 1 When Sebasta looked at Du Wei, his heart began to burn with angry but he also felt that something was wrong with Du Wei. This kid¡¯s face seemed to be little weird. He didn¡¯t know if he (Du Wei) was scared or it was something else. Did he want to do anything more? In particr, the guy wore arge robe over his body, holding a staff in his hand. It was just that the robe was too wide and seemed to be stolen. Du Wei¡¯s heart was in misery. In his storage ring, only one set of clothes was left, thisrge magician robe. ¡°Huh!¡± Sebasta squinted his eyes and said: ¡°You are finally out! Oh ¡­ you put on the magician¡¯s robe. Do you want to reflect your dignity as a magician before you die?¡± Although he said that in taunting tone, his eyes did not dare to rx. After all, he had been suffering from the hands of Du Wei again and again. Du Wei sighed and the staff mmed heavily on the ground: ¡°Come on, Young General, don¡¯t be afraid.¡± ¡°What a joke! I¡¯m not afraid, you should be afraid!¡± Sebasta immediately argued. The branch in his hand pointed sharply at Du Wei: ¡°You have no chance now even if you want to escape! At such a short distance, even if you immediately use the wind control technique to escape, I can stab you down before you fly ¡­ Moreover, will you even have a chance to chant a spell?¡± Du Wei frowned and raised his staff with both hands ¡­ in a weird posture. It was definitely not the way a magician casts spell. He was holding the staff like a samurai holds a spear. Sebasta smiled and said: ¡°Not using magic to fight me, you are looking for death!¡± After that, he sprinted toward Du Wei and stuck his branch at Du Wei¡¯s heart. Sebasta really hated Du Wei and he went up to the vital part. Du Wei¡¯s eyes shed with a strange colour. Seeing that Sebasta was in front of him, he waved his sleeve and threw it away. Sebasta¡¯s branch poked on Du Wei¡¯s sleeve but he couldn¡¯t pierce it. With a bang, it seemed as if something hard had been stabbed. Sebasta felt an impact in his hand and suddenly branch snapped in two. Then Du Wei suddenly rushed forward and hit him hard. Before Du Wei came out. He blessed himself with a brute force so the force behind the attack was even more powerful. The Sebasta felt as if he was hit by a running horse. However, he was a nine-level martial artist after all. How could he be injured by a rookie like Du Wei? In face of such attack, he was not harmed at all. He just stepped back slightly and then stood still. However, Dewey felt as if he had voluntarily hit a wall. His head was dizzy and he almost fell. With a half-stick in his hand, Sebasta immediatelyunched attacked at Du Wei¡¯s neck! Although it was just a branch, however under the fighting spirit of the ninth-level warrior, it was harder than the iron rod. If Du Wei really got hit, Du Wei¡¯s neck would definitely be broken. Before branch couldnd, Du Wei suddenly heard the cold voice of White River from the cave: ¡°Turn on the sixth style!¡± Du Wei couldn¡¯t respond immediately but the ¡®arm¡¯ hidden beneath his robe immediately acted on its own. It contained the seed of power left by White River. It was in perfect harmony with White River. Chapter 325 Part 2 With a gurgling sound, a sharp de burst out from Du Wei¡¯s chest and immediately divided Du Wei¡¯s robe into two. The sharp de cut the branch of Sebasta. Speed was extremely fast and Sebasta stared at Du Wei¡¯s body in shock. Suddenly, there was such a weird reaction. The sharp de ran along the branches all the way up, destroying the entire branch along the way. If Sebasta did not let the branch go, the fingers holding the tree branch would not be safe. He immediately loosened the tree branch and immediately retreated. After that, he looked at Du Wei. ¡°You ¡­ what the hell are you!¡± Sebasta stared at Wei with his mouth wide open. Du Wei¡¯s chest had an third arm which was holding a scimitar in his hand. At this moment, Du Wei¡¯s shape was exactly like the god in ancient Chinese mythology that had three heads and six arms but two heads and three arms were missing. Sebasta looked at Du Wei¡¯s weird look and he couldn¡¯t help but feel weird. He looked at the sharp scimitar. This Du Wei was just a magician, how could he use scimitar in such a refined manner. However, Sebasta soon recovered and stretched out his hand. The moisture in the surrounding air was extracted by him and after condensing, it became an icicle. The icicle was sharp. He pointed the icicle at Du Wei and said: ¡°Let¡¯s do it again! Let¡¯s see how many attacks you can take with your weird magic!¡± As soon as Sebastian¡¯s icicles shook, Du Wei felt a white light shing in front of him. In the white light, Sebasta¡¯s body seemed to be a phantom. Under the full force of the Nine-level Martial Arts, it was extraordinary! Although Sebasta was just stabbing, Du Wei felt that the icicles were attacking from all directions! How could he resist such advanced martial arts? Suddenly Du Wei suddenly heard White River¡¯s voice from the cave: ¡°Bend!¡± It was toote to react for Du Wei. He stood there without any movement as if he was petrified. However, his waist seemed to have broken suddenly and his upper body suddenly fell back. Even his head almost hit the ground. Such a move that almost exceeded his physical limit. He narrowly dodged Sebasta¡¯s attack. If he was hit, he was afraid that his upper body would bepletely smashed! He had just learned this Snow Mountain Body Technique body technique for a few days? To be able to aplish such feet was amazing. At this moment, this bend was too sharp, his waist was hurting. At this moment, if he wanted to stand up again, he could never do it. Sebasta was also practicing the martial arts of Snow Mountain, Snow Mountain Body Technique. How could he not recognize it? Seeing Du Wei, he immediately understood: ¡°Well, it must have been taught by White River.¡± However, he was even more disdainful. He started exercising this technique from a young age so Du Wei was far from catching up with his skills. This abominable guy (Du Wei) wanted to deal with him with what he knew best. Isn¡¯t he seeking death? With Snow Mountain Body Technique, one could bend his waist to unimaginable degree. After bending one had to perform ¡®one of the three movements¡¯ to stand up in an instant and avoid enemy¡¯s attack. This could catch an opponent off guard. Sebasta did not know how many times he had performed those three movements since his childhood. The icicle in his hand suddenly stabbed for seven to eight times and the three subsequent movements were all blocked! If Du Wei was following the ¡°genuine¡± Snow Mountain Body Technique, then no matter which of the three movements he uses, he would face the attack of Sebasta and would meet his death¡­ Chapter 326 Part 1 But¡­ No one knew if Sebasta was unlucky or Du Wei was lucky. Because Du Wei had learned this Snow Mountain body technique to halfway! He had never learned of bending! Just now, that bending motion was identally happened by ident. And ¡­ speaking of which, those following ¡®three movements¡¯ have a premise that the person must first try to ¡°stand up¡±! But Du Wei¡¯s body bending down was already an ident so¡­ Du Wei could not stand upright even if he wanted to. Therefore, no matter how clever Sebasta was, nothing was going to happen. The people like White River could not help but praise him for his sword movement. Unfortunately, it was all for knot. At this moment, Du Wei couldn¡¯t hold on to this ¡®folding waist¡¯ movement. Suddenly Du Wei¡¯s centre of gravity shifted toward his head. Using this momentum, Du Wei turned over and his feet suddenly left the ground and stood high¡­ (T/L: That¡¯s right! He is upside-down now.) Bang! When Du Wei¡¯s legs were in the air, they just happened to have a ¡°close contact¡± with Sebasta¡¯s chin¡­ After a bang, Du Wei felt that his feet seemed to have hit something. He was in awkward situation. Finally, he stood up by using his hands. After Sebasta¡¯s chin was ¡°kicked¡± by Du Wei, he was not harmed at all. It¡¯s just that the anger and humiliation in his heart were burning more violent than ever before! He had always been conceited. But now with his strength, he was actually kicked by a martial arts rookie in the chin! What a shame? ¡°You ¡­ you ¡­ you ¡­¡± Sebasta¡¯s body shook because of anger: ¡°Unforgivable! Unforgivable bastard! You actually hit my face!¡± His original appearance was somewhat pale, apparently because he wore a mask all year round andcked sunlight. His appearance was also handsome but Du Wei felt strange ¡­ There was no scar on his face. Why wear an iron face? Silver light suddenly enveloped Sebasta and a strong aura emanated from around him. The aura made Du Wei breathless. He stepped back step by step. Watching this guy vigntly¡­ Sebasta¡¯s eyes have turned into strange silver. He suddenly raised his hand and gently touched a big tree in the distance. With that, the big tree was broken. Then he cut the tree into more than two meters long stick like a spear. The spear flew into Sebasta¡¯s hands; he held it in his hands. The spear spun like a flywheel and leaned towards Du Wei! At this moment, even White River who was hiding in the cave was a surprised. Because the martial arts disyed by the Sebasta was not the martial arts of Snow Mountain at all! It¡¯s the Golden Dragon Gun skill he learned when duelling with the golden dragon warrior that day!! This was the unique skill of the Dragons. When Golden Dragon Gun was exhibited, one end of that spear was full of fierce pr fighting spirit so powerful that it could destroy everything! Du Wei felt as if he was standing in front of a mighty wave. Shocked, he could only retreat quickly! When Sebasta¡¯s wrist shook, dozens of spears attacked him. Dozens of shots stabbed in a breath. Because of fierce speed, Du Wei couldn¡¯t even hide in time! The violent fighting spirit disturbed the air around Du Wei¡¯s body. He tried to cast a spell with his mouth but he couldn¡¯t open his mouth. Chapter 326 Part 2 Du Wei was terrified. Naturally, he was desperately meditating on the mantra. He had no idea what the use was. Dozens of spears arrived almost at the same time. Different from the false tricks in ordinary martial arts, each of these dozens of spears was true. Neither Du Wei could cast magic and nor he could hide. In despair, he could only close his eyes and wait for death. Dozens of spears stabbed the Du Wei¡¯s body like a tide. Du Wei closed his eyes as he had given up in his heart, but suddenly he heard a ¡®ding¡¯ sound like a rain-like collision. That frantic attack did not hit him. He opened his eyes to see and saw that Sebasta had stepped back a dozen steps. He stood there with surprised look. The tip of the wooden spear had been cut off and there were spotty cracks on the spear! Although spear was made of wood, it was infused with Yuan Qi which made it harder than iron. At this moment, it seems that someone had cut it more than a dozen times with a sharp de¡­ Du Wei saw the third arm on his chest was holding White River¡¯s scimitar in his palm. The other side¡¯s dozens of blows werepletely blocked by his third arm!!! Du Wei was suddenly sober and he felt a pain in the third arm! The arm was clearly not his own, but he felt pain like it was his own hand! It turned out that when Du Wei¡¯s mind nked out; he was faintly in line with that ¡°White Paper¡± theory. White River¡¯s arm took action instinctively! How powerful was White River¡¯s ¡®seed of power¡¯! Actually, itpletely blocked the storm-like attacks of Sebasta! Unfortunately, although the realm of this rule was high, Du Wei¡¯s true strength at the moment was too poor so the strength of this arm was weak too. Although it blocked the attacks, it was damaged by the opponent¡¯s fighting spirit. All the muscles and bones were greatly damaged. Du Wei looked down. The blood was faintly flowing from his fingers and falling to the ground. Whether it was his own blood or White River¡¯s, it¡¯s hard to tell. Sebasta was even more frightened, staring at Du Wei¡¯s third arm¡­ There was no one in the world that could resist that attack unless someone had reached Holy Order! Because the father once said that under the Holy Order, he could already be regarded as the first in the world! As long as he didn¡¯t encounter any Holy Order warrior, no one was his opponent! The series of blocks just now clearly showed that the strength of the opponent was actually not strong, but it was very precise. To block such powerful attacks with weak block! Such a state¡­ Sebasta gave Du Wei a shocked look ¡­ Is this bastard reached Holy Order? But that thought was rejected at second thought. If Du Wei had really reached Holy Order, he would have been killed by him. Anyway, be sure to kill him! Must kill him!!! Chapter 327 Part 1 Du Wei was both surprised and depressed at the moment. The surprise was that this third arm was so useful; it was equivalent to bringing an automatic defence system with him! What depressed him was that this thing was too ugly. He looked like a monster. Sebasta took a deep breath as he took a step forward. Starting from the ground beneath his feet, a faintyer ice gradually spread on the ground. Du Wei saw that frosting towards him. His third arm suddenly gave birth to a weird power. This strange power travelled from the arm to his entire body. He suddenly felt warm and his body seemed to be glowing with a very faint red light! This surprised Sebasta even more! Although this red light was faint, it was standard and genuine ¡°Fighting Spirit¡±! Being able to give birth to fighting spirit and make it spread out of the body, this was already a sign of level-four martial artist! It could be said that unless one had reached level four or higher realm, it¡¯s absolutely impossible to let ones fighting spirit reach this level. Du Wei ¡­ this bastard, he was really amazing! He was obviously a magician who had no clue about martial arts. In a moment, he had achieved such aplishment? Ten meters area surrounding Sebasta was filled with frost fighting spirit. Therge trees close to it suddenly condensed into ice. When the cold wind blew, a tinkling noise came out. Obviously, Sebasta had gone all out! He didn¡¯t use any unusually fast speed this time but instead he just held the spear and slowly walked towards Du Wei step by step. Every time he took a step forward, the pressure of frost fighting spirit seemed to be more dignified, pressing Du Wei¡¯s heart as if huge wall was falling on him. A soft red light was covering his body, resisting the pressure of frost fighting spirit. No matter how great the pressure was, it was a held back! Du Wei stopped at the cave entrance and did not let the frost invade the cave. Sebasta walked slowly, step by step. The momentum seemed to have increased a little more. Although Du Wei didn¡¯t quite understand what Sebasta was doing, he had a weird hunch in his heart. The third arm suddenly acted on its own,pletely disregarding thoughts of Du Wei. It held the scimitar¡­ Above the scimitar, a pale red me emerged, startling Du Wei because it was actually White River¡¯s unique skill and mes. The temperature of this pale red me was far more than a hundred times the temperature of ordinary mes. A faint red light shot out and instantly incinerated a path of fire. Wherever it passed, the ground¡¯s frost was dissolved. It looked like it¡¯s trying to stop the opponent¡¯s frosty attack. Unfortunately, the strength was far inferior to the other party. No matter how hard it worked, the frost on the ground melted and then re-condensed instantly. And at this moment, Sebasta finally came in front Du Wei! The spear in his hand was raised and stabbed at Dewey at a strangely slow speed! This attack seemed to be not fast. But in the Du Wei¡¯s eyes, it was blurry as if moving at an extremely fast speed. His body could not dodge. It seemed to have exceeded the limit of speed! If there was a Holy Order martial artist here, he would have immediately notice that the strength of Sebasta was already standing at the peak of the ninth level. It was only one step away from breaking through the Holy Order. With all his strength, he seemed to have showing faint signs of breaking the rules of time and space¡­ Du Wei¡¯s third arm immediately felt it. It once again found the weakest point of the opponent¡¯s spear attack. With a bang, the spear and the scimitar collided. Sebasta¡¯s arm shook slightly but he did not retreat. Although the spear was blocked, he continued to thrust forward without stopping. Du Wei¡¯s scimitar rubbed on the spear and immediately cut off the edge of the wooden spear. The corner of Sebasta¡¯s mouth, however, showed a strange smile. Chapter 327 Part 2 The corner of Sebasta¡¯s mouth, however, showed a strange smile. Du Wei felt the pain in the fingers of third hand but he still continued to try to gasp the scimitar. He was being overwhelmed by the opponent¡¯s fighting spirit¡­ The scimitar cut the whole wooden spear and reached the hand of Sebasta. Then it began to attack the hand of Sebasta. The sound of the bones breaking was clear and audible! Facing this scimitar, Sebastian suddenly smiled strangely and released the hand that was cut. Then the scimitar, without any obstruction, went to attack the chest of Sebasta¡­ Blood burst out and sprayed on Du Wei¡¯s face. At this moment ¡­ Du Wei¡¯s (third) hand was suddenly destroyed by the fighting spirit on the opponent¡¯s spear! His fingers cracked dozens of times and blood bleed out! On his right finger, he originally wore two rings, one was a multi-coloured stone, and the other was a magic ring for storage. Under the frost fighting spirit, they also suddenly broke! The ring stumbled to the ground and the multi-coloured stone ring was just broken into several pieces. After the storage ring was broken, the underlying space magic was destroyed and the things were stored in it were thrown out and fell on the ground. Among them, there was such a small badge, but it was caught by the barb on the wooden spear and did not fall to the ground. But it stuck at the spear point¡­ Bang! Du Wei felt the coldness in his chest so he looked down and saw a spear pierced his chest. He felt no pain because of coldness. Frost fighting spirit invaded his body¡­ It¡¯s so cold! That icy spear pierced his body. It began to rub his bones. Sebasta stabbed Du Wei¡¯s body but his face did not show any change. He retracted the spear from the Du Wei¡¯s body and then Du Wei¡¯s body fell down. Snapped! When Dewey¡¯s bodynded on the ground, he hardly felt anything. His body seemed to havepletely frozen instantly by the frost fighting spirit and then destroyed. He felt that his mental strength was weakening quickly, just like the leaking balloon. He began to lose consciousness¡­ Am I going to die? Du Wei stretched out his hands as if trying to grasp something, but he didn¡¯t grasp anything. Atst, his hands fell down on his chest¡­ Fresh blood was gushing out from the ce pierced by the spear¡­ Just as Du Wei felt that consciousness was about to fade away. There was a badge on his chest¡­ The Holy Knight badge left by Aragon. The badge used by the Pope to perform divine magic which waster picked up by Du Wei¡­ Du Wei¡¯s blood flowed on the badge. The badge was originally covered with various scratches and sh marks. In the previous battle, it was almost split by White River¡¯s attack. These scars, after being soaked in Du Wei¡¯s blood, slowly mended at an extremely strange speed! Chapter 328 Part 1 At this moment, if someone nearby looked closely, he would find that the metal texture on this badge seemed to suddenly be a living thing. After slowly dissolving, the scratches were mended one by one¡­ And ¡°Aragon-Rnd¡± was written on the back of the badge. Its ach stroke suddenly began to dance and twist briskly back and forth. Finally they reconstituted a new name¡­ Finally ¡­ killed this nasty @sshole! Seeing Du Wei dying slowly, Sebasta finally heaved sigh of relief. After that his body trembled and he began to cough violently. Then he looked at the wound on his chest. That weird third hand and scimitar were really amazing! The armour of Sebasta¡¯s chest was easily cut open and the scimitar prated deeply into his lungs. There was even a trace of fighting spirit trying to prate further in. However, this power was really much weaker so he immediately stopped it. It¡¯s just ¡­ the injury was really not minor. He sneered twice and took a deep breath. Suddenly a strange sound came out of his body¡¯s bones, and then the scars on his chest healed quickly and the blood stopped flowing. Even wounds on the back of the hand disappeared instantly. Instead, he was angry. This abominable Du Wei finally finally forced himself to show this perfect body! However, it was important now to kill two old guys at once and then rush back to the Northwest Army¡¯s Watt Fortress to meet his father at the fastest speed! Looking at the entrance of the cave, Sebasta seethed in excitement! Pope? White River? Humph! After a while, they will be ghosts! After killing the Pope, Rnd Empire would fell into chaos! Once prairie lost the blessing of the White River, those cavalry soldiers were nothing! Just he took two steps forward, but suddenly he heard a small voice next to him. He turned his head to look and suddenly his face changed: ¡°Impossible! You ¡­¡± The ¡°corpse¡± Du Wei had already stood up. The look on his face was indifferent as if nothing happened. The big wound caused by spear on his chest quickly healed¡­ Damn it! How can that be! How can he heal faster than my perfect body? Suddenly, he saw ¡°Du Wei¡± frowning gently and ncing at the third arm on his chest and muttering: ¡°How can this perfect fusion be achieved with this impure power?¡± Snort! He suddenly raised his hand and pulled it hard. He tore off his third arm! At the original fusion site, the wound healed instantly. No trace was left. Subsequently, ¡°Du Wei¡± looked up at Sebasta and the kind of indifference in his eyes even made Sebasta¡¯s heart cold! Yes indifferent, absolutely indifferent! It¡¯s like a giant ncing at the ants under its feet at random. This indifference was definitely not deliberately disguised but the kind of instinct and nature. Just being nced at by ¡°Du Wei¡±, Sebasta suddenly felt that his whole body was pressed by a monstrous power, so great that he was drenched in cold sweat. He unconsciously raised his spear and murmured, ¡°You ¡­ you ¡­¡± ¡°Du Wei¡± stared nkly and finally indifference in his eyes gradually disappeared. Then a trace of surprise shed in his eyes. Then, he finally spoke slowly¡­ ¡°Courting death!¡± Sebasta suddenly felt that the entire space in front of him was suddenly distorted a bit. When he saw clearly again, ¡°Du Wei¡± stood in front of him. The two were close and they were only two steps away. He was terrified, and was about to attack with his spear but suddenly he felt a stiffness on the spear. Looking down, Du Wei¡¯s hand was already holding his spear! He ¡­ he ¡­ how did he ¡­ how did he do it? This was thest thought in Sebasta¡¯s mind! Chapter 328 Part 2 He ¡­ he ¡­ how did he ¡­ how did he do it? This was thest thought in Sebasta¡¯s mind! The next moment, he suddenly felt that the space around him had locked down. Then he felt a powerful force forcibly entering his body. Blood flowed out from his pores! At this instant, time seemed to have slowed. He could clearly see the blood flowing out his every pour¡­ Boom! After a loud noise, there was a long trench of hundreds of meters! Sebasta¡¯s body was sent flying far away. The force was extremely powerful. When he was sent flying, he passed through the entire forest and did not know how many trees he had hit along the way! When Sebasta felt that his body hadpletely fallen apart, force behind the attack finally disappeared. When he finally fell to the ground, he vomited blood¡­ He was like a ragdoll that was torn up! A big one-meter long cut on his chest cut almost his entire body in half! Sebasta almost fainted. How can he held back his strength at this moment? Desperately exerting the perfect body to work hard to heal the body¡­ When he finally stood up staggering, he looked at the distance again¡­ He was horrified. He didn¡¯t know how far he was sent flying just now! Du Wei ¡­ Du Wei¡­ How could Du Wei have such strength! He was terrified at the moment, where would he dare to go back? With a roar, he turned around in the direction of the northwest and fled away. In the woods¡­ ¡°Du Wei¡± stood there. His face was indifferent as if he had no consciousness. His empty eyes swept over things scattered on the ground. He went over and reached out his hand from this pile of things. He grabbed the strangely shaped bow. His fingers gently stroked the long bow¡­ Suddenly, his expression changed and a strange colour shed in his eyes. He suddenly reached out and grabbed something in the air! With a pained sound, a red figure appeared in the air! Semel was frightened and her neck was caught by Du Wei. Her eyes were full of horror, looking at the ¡°Du Wei¡± in front of her. ¡°You¡¯re peeping at me.¡± There was a slight disdain in Du Wei¡¯s voice as he said: ¡°Hum, a magical creature without a body.¡± Semel was caught by her neck and she was very afraid! Obviously she had no actual body, just an illusory shadow! But this person in front of him could actually ¡°grasp¡± her! It seemed that he was not bound by rules! ¡°You ¡­ you ¡­ aren¡¯t you Du Wei?!¡± Saimel¡¯s voice trembled. A hint of rity appeared ¡°Du Wei¡±. He lowered his head for a moment and then said with smile: ¡°Well, I remember ¡­ I was dead long ago. Hmm ¡­ It¡¯s been too long, I have forgotten almost everything.¡± ¡°Du Wei¡± looked at her carefully and added: ¡°Oh ¡­ rest assured the real ¡®Du Wei¡¯ will soon wake up.¡± Semel¡¯s beautiful face paled: ¡°You, who are you!¡± ¡°Du Wei¡± shook his head and then pointed at her, then pointed to himself and said slowly: ¡°Actually, you and I are the same. Rest assured, he is not dead, otherwise you will disappear, Right?¡± After a pause, he sat down slowly. His voice gradually getting lower and weaker¡­ Hisst sentence was: ¡°After he wakes up, help me say some word to this kid ¡­¡± ¡°What ¡­ what?¡± Semel hesitantly replied. ¡°Tell him ¡­ work hard! Whether it¡¯s all over or not ¡­ it¡¯s up to him ¡­¡± Seeing that his eyes were about to close, Semel suddenly moved and leaned back: ¡°You ¡­ who are you?¡± The man finally opened his eyes a little¡­ ¡°Me? I am ¡­¡± Chapter 329 Part 1 As if paused, he suddenly opened his eyes and suddenly a powerful aura unfolded all over his body! It seemed that the aura was spreading. In an instant, Semel felt as if she was standing beside a high mountain! Then Du Wei reached out his palm and gasp something gently. In the palm of his hand, it was exactly that badge! Du Wei felt as if he was standing in a void. He looked down at his body and found that his body was intact. But all around is a dream¡­ Is he already killed by the iron-faced boy of Sebasta? Is this ¡­ this is the hell? So dead? I don¡¯t know if I can return to my own world¡­ However, there was nothing in the sky and there was no road¡­ Du Wei suddenly shouted with all his strength¡­ ¡°ANYONE HERE?¡± In the void, a voice answered suddenly. What surprised Du Wei was that this voice, that voice ¡­ was exactly the same as his own!!! ¡°What do you think ¡®Human¡¯ are?¡± Du Wei stunned: ¡°Human? Human is human ¡­¡± ¡°Then what is God?¡± ¡°God?¡± Du Wei thought for a moment: ¡°I don¡¯t care what god is! In my opinion, the gods on this continent are just **** and that goddess of light is just a bitch who deceives the world!¡± The voice burst intoughter: ¡°That¡¯s good! That¡¯s good! That goddess of light is just a bitch!¡± After a pause, the voice asked again: ¡°Tell me, do you want that bitch kneel in front of you and lick your toes one day?¡± Du Wei: ¡°¡­¡± Du Wei was silent. The voice was too boastful. Making the goddess kneel in front of her and lick his toes? Even if he really wanted to do this, Du Wei was very self-aware that he did not have qualifications. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Scared? Scared?¡± The voice mocked. What makes Du Wei ufortable was that the voice was clear his own voice! Even the tone when mocking people was the same as the tone when he mocked and sneered at other people! It sounded like I am being mocked by myself. He shook his head and said: ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m not afraid. It¡¯s just ¡­¡± He paused before continuing: ¡°It¡¯s just that my strength is not great then that bitch! Really, she might kill me with two fingers. ¡± ¡°Hehe¡­¡± The voice smiled: ¡°Of course you are not the goddess¡¯ opponent now just because you haven¡¯t recovered your strength!¡± Chapter 329 Part 2 It sounded like I am being mocked by myself. He shook his head and said: ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m not afraid. It¡¯s just ¡­¡± He paused before continuing: ¡°It¡¯s just that my strength is not great then that bitch! Really, she might kill me with two fingers. ¡± ¡°Hehe¡­¡± The voice smiled: ¡°Of course you are not the goddess¡¯ opponent now just because you haven¡¯t recovered your strength!¡± Ok? How did those words sound so familiar? Du Wei¡¯s forehead was sweating hard. Before he could say anything, that voice continued: ¡°As long as you find the Moonlight Treasure Box ¡­¡± ¡°Stop! Stop! F*cking ¡­ stop!¡± Du Wei screamed and shouted in agitated voice, ¡°Your mother! Are you ying me? What moonlight treasure box! You thought this is ¡°Journey to the West¡±! You, who are you?¡± The voiceughed and then said more serious tone: ¡°Sorry, I have been sealed here for a thousand years. I am really sullen. It is rare that you cane in and talk with me. I can¡¯t help but joke around. Okay¡­¡± Suddenly Du Wei came up with an extremely absurd idea: ¡°You ¡­ who are you! How could you know about Moonlight Treasure Box and Journey to the west? These are impossible in this world!¡± The voice was finally silent and then finally sighed: ¡°Me? Am I not you?¡± This sentence made Du Wei¡¯s heart pounding. All kinds of weird things he encountered in his life were not as puzzling as today¡¯s events. This voice imed to have been sealed for a thousand years, and said ¡°I am you¡±. Nonsense!!! Du Wei really wanted tough a few times and then severely rebuke the other side for such absurd jokes. But unfortunately, although heughed a few times hard, hisughcked confidence and were somewhat forced. ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have tough anymore.¡± The voice said quietly: ¡°Strictly speaking. I, the guy who is now outside to help you drive the Sebasta and you ¡­ the three of us are actually one. But ¡­ oh, that¡¯s a long story.¡± ¡°I am afraid it¡¯s toote today. Only a trace of the divine thoughts we left are left in this badge. Originally, your mental strength was pathetically weak so it¡¯s absolutely impossible for you to get in. But before you die, you happened to open the badge.¡± ¡°How to put it, it can¡¯t be said fate because, I experienced it once before. But that time I was not as lucky as you. When you came in, I am here to speak with you but when I came in, there was no here. I was all alone. Even after screaming for a long time, no one responded to me but after waking up, that Sebasta outside was already driven away¡­¡± That being said, more Du Wei heard, the dizzier he became. Chapter 330 Part 1 ¡°Don¡¯t you understand?¡± The voice grinned. ¡°Time is almost up. Finally, I can show you a little something ¡­ After reading; you probably want to wake up¡­¡± That¡¯s it, no more. Immediately, Du Wei saw a light curtain appearing in the void, and there seemed to be a door in the light curtain. As soon as he thought in his heart, he walked directly past it. After passing that light door, he felt that the surrounding space was distorted a bit. When he suddenly turned around, he found that he was already in apletely strange ce! Surrounded by a splendid pce with golden walls, he was sitting on a chair. Under the pce, there were hundreds or thousands of gold armoured warriors kneeling on one knee. Du Wei¡¯s heart jumped up and felt the surrounding environment so familiar¡­ He couldn¡¯t help exim to himself: ¡°This! Isn¡¯t this the pce?!¡± Although this building was not the same as theyout of the pce that I had seen, the positions of the pce towers were roughly same! Especially in the middle of the pce, that tall white tower! The pride of the empire, the patron saint of the imperial capital, White Tower! ¡°Long live Your Majesty! Long live Rnd!!!¡± Suddenly, the thousands of majestic golden armoured warriors suddenly shouted in unison. That mighty voice startled Du Wei! But no matter how hard he tried, it seemed as if situation was out of his control or as if he was watching a movie ¡­ a ¡°first-view¡± movie! Later, Du Wei felt that his body stood up and raised his hand and waved gently. Everyone warrior showed a kind of fanatical admiration. ¡°From today on, the white tower will be Peugeot of the empire! As long as the white tower does not fall, the empire willst forever!¡± The majestic voice came from his mouth. The thousands of warriors shouted again. Du Wei, without looking at them, turned around and walked out from behind the pce. Through the long corridor, along the way, every court maids in Chinese clothes immediately bowed their heads deeply with the most obedient attitude, seeing him from afar. Later, Du Wei felt that after entering a door, he crossed a secret passage and came to a room. There were no windows on all sides of the room. Only a few magic gems around it gave off a soft light. What made Du Wei feel strange was that in this room, huge mirror was arranged on a wall! Du Wei felt the body walking slowly in front of the mirror, so ¡­ Du Wei could finally see himself in the mirror! At this look, he was immediately shocked! This ¡­ Isn¡¯t this exactly me? Although the edges and corners of that face were a little more refined than him, but the eyebrows, eyes and even the corners of his mouth were exactly what he looked like! However, it seemed that he was much older than himself, about 30 or 40 years old. And that golden arm or, the style was luxurious and arrogant. Du Wei looked at the person in the mirror and from the reflection of the mirror, that person seemed to be looking at him¡­ Right? Du Wei suddenly felt that person was not looking at himself, but¡­ me? Chapter 330 Part 2 Du Wei suddenly felt that person was not looking at himself, but¡­ me? There was a panic in Du Wei¡¯s heart. At this moment, as if to confirm Du Wei¡¯s deduction, the face in the mirror blinked at him and then smiled! He didn¡¯tugh at himself! But to Du Wei! This was Du Wei¡¯s only thought at the moment! Then, a hand was slowly raised. A faint white light burst out from the fingertips of his slender fingers, writing a sentence on the mirror¡­ That was written in Chinese! The content of that sentence was: ¡°When you wake up, you will understand everything!¡± Reading that, Du Wei became unfocused immediately. When Du Wei read that sentence, he felt that he severely hit by a sledgehammer in his heart! What happened? What does it mean? What do you mean? The surrounding scenes became fragmented instantly, turning into countless channels of light and shadow. Instantter, Du Wei found himself back in the void. The familiar voice finally sounded again, the voice was weak¡­ ¡°In the past, a person who did not belong to this world came to this world. After he was born, his name was Aragon. He thought it was fun to travel and thought it was a great aplishment. In the end, he became the founding emperor and became the world¡¯s strongest person. He even reached the realm that human beings can¡¯t reach¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a pity that God can¡¯t tolerate human beings to peep at the god level, so this bes his biggest bane! Aragon can¡¯t tolerate this world where mankind was like amb for gods. He cannot tolerate himself be on the mercy of the gods, so he challenged the gods¡­¡± ¡°But unfortunately, he was not able to deal with that despicable goddess of light, that despicable bitch. Finally, He failed.¡± ¡°However, Aragon¡¯s power has reached the realm of threatened the gods. He has crossed the stratum of human beings and can already see through time! Therefore, he can see the future. He found that one thousand years, the bitchy goddess of light will encounter a great crisis and will be at her weakest. Therefore, Aragon began toy out a lot of ns. He let his soul travel through the time ande to the thousand yearster Rnd Empire. He was born into a noble family. The family is the famous Wu Xun family of the empire and this reincarnation of Aragorn has a new name¡­ Du Wei!¡± Chapter 331 Part 1 When the voice said to this point, Du Wei felt his heart pounding¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the story ends here and it doesn¡¯t have much to do with you. This Du Wei is not you. Let¡¯s call it ¡®Du Wei 1¡¯ and this ¡®Du Wei 1¡¯ is me. Unfortunately, thew of reincarnation is irreversible. After all, Aragorn has not yet broken through the god level and his power is still limited so when he reincarnated, the memories of his previous life disappeared. And ¡®Du Wei 1¡¯ forgot memories of Aragon¡¯s life. I only remember that I was a reincarnation but I don¡¯t remember all about Aragon¡¯s life.¡± ¡°Fortunately, ording to many guidelines and things left by Aragon himself thousands of years ago, ¡®Du Wei 1¡¯ got the direction. He started to get the job done step by step!¡± ¡°The life ¡®Du Wei 1¡¯ had been through and the life you had been through are basically same. For example, I also experienced the battle with Sebasta, but at that time, there was only ¡®Aragon¡¯ in this badge and no ¡®Du Wei 1¡ä.¡± ¡°In the lifetime of ¡®Du Wei 1¡¯, he got best opportunities. The bitch of the goddess of light encountered great crises and he almost seeded! Unfortunately, that bitch, although she was a bitch, she was God after all! Aragon could predict so could she! So she had anticipated our n and also conspired, and this conspiracy ¡­ Huh!¡± ¡°In the end, just as I was about to seed, that conspiracy attacked me! That damn bitchughed at the end again! Thousand years of n till failed. ¡°But we were not reconciled. Although that bitch could defeat us, she couldn¡¯t destroy us! Because of our strength already stood near tipping point.¡± ¡°God, you could not kill God!¡± ¡°So, we thought about it again. We reversed through time, came to the time when ¡®Du Wei¡¯ was just born and once again because of thew of time and space, the memory of ¡®Aragon¡¯ and ¡®Du Wei 1¡¯ was erased. Let¡¯s call this new-born guy ¡­ ¡®Du Wei 2¡¯.¡± Du Wei said dryly: ¡°Du Wei 2 ¡­ Du Wei 2 ¡­ Could it be¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s you.¡± The voice in the void smiled: ¡°We were originally the same person. But, I am ¡®Du Wei 1¡¯, your previous life. That¡¯s it! In this life, traps of the goddess of light will not work again! You must do it well and then ¡­ all will be over!¡± Du Wei suddenly cried: ¡°I don¡¯t want it! I don¡¯t care about Aragon or ¡®Du Wei 1¡¯. I don¡¯t care about it! It doesn¡¯t matter if it is against the Heaven or against the God! What it has to do with me! It¡¯s my choice! I don¡¯t give a damn to mission!¡± The voice smiled: ¡°Your reaction is also very interesting ¡­ It¡¯s exactly the same as before I awakened. However, you are still just a pure ¡®Du Wei 2¡¯. When your power reaches a certain level, your memory will naturally awaken. When that timees, the memory of Aragon and ¡®Du Wei 1¡¯ will return to you. When you are fully awakened, you will naturally not think so! That bitch brought us all the hatred, all the anger!¡± ¡°That ¡­ then I don¡¯t want to awaken! I don¡¯t want to have any shit power!¡± Du Wei clenched his fists. ¡°This is destiny and all processes will follow history.¡± The voice smiled. ¡°You can rest assured that neither Aragorn nor I will force you, but after a certain time, you will naturally desperately want power! Naturally longing for awakening! Because as soon as you awaken ¡­ then you will be this world¡¯s strongest person under the stars! And¡­¡± ¡°And what?¡± Du Wei asked in a deep voice. Chapter 331 Part 2 ¡°And what?¡± Du Wei asked in a deep voice. ¡°And ¡­ even if you don¡¯t want to do it ¡­ but the goddess of light, will she let you go? That bitch is not only God! There are other Gods in this world! Did you forget the old Chris on Alcatraz Ind? Forget the demons? And the exiled races in the north, the Gods they believe in! Where did they go? Let me tell you, although the Gods are impossible to be killed, they can be sealed and suppressed! For example, the old Chris on Alcatraz Ind! Wait to be sealed by that bitch for the endless years. It is almost ¡®eternal¡¯ seal! Do you want to be imprisoned for thousands and thousands of years? If you don¡¯t want to, just work hard!¡± Du Wei was really discouraged. ¡°¡®Du Wei 2¡¯ ¡­ ¡®Du Wei 2¡¯ ¡­¡± he murmured and then finally smiled bitterly: ¡°It¡¯s fucking enough!¡± He suddenly said: ¡°Yeah, you said that goddess of light set up a trap. It was that trap that made you fail ¡­¡± ¡°Not you, it¡¯s us!¡± The voice corrected Du Wei¡¯s wording: ¡°In essence, we are one. As for the conspiracy ¡­ I can¡¯t tell you yet!¡± ¡°Why?!¡± Du Wei suddenly became angry: ¡°Fuck! ¡± Before Du Wei could say anything else, the voice said, ¡°Okay. Time is up! Now you should wake up. Remember, you can¡¯t open this badge again until you get powerful. Aragon and I can¡¯t help you anymore. Everything has to be done by you. ¡± ¡°But ¡­ but I didn¡¯t open the badge today, how Ie in¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s a coincidence.¡± The voice sighed: ¡°You¡¯re dying. Naturally, your mental strength skyrocketed. Under extreme danger, entering this badge is also a coincidence. It can be said to be a one in ten chance. If youmitted suicide, there are 99,999 chances out of 100,000, you will die and can¡¯t enter inside again. If you don¡¯t believe it, you can¡­ uh, forget it. Anyway don¡¯t try it, otherwise, if you die, our memory in the badge will disappear together.¡± Later, Du Wei felt as if he was pushed outside by some force and everything darkened around him. Faintly, the voiceughed, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that it has been sealed here for a thousand years, and everyone speaks. It¡¯s inevitable that today¡¯s local dialect will be a little more ¡­ Hey, I said Du Wei 2, you need to be early Awaken, let¡¯se out ¡­ ¡± There was no sound. Du Wei only felt a faint pain in his brain and opened his eyes wide. He seemed to be in the carriage of a carriage. A gentle voice rang beside him, ¡°Okay, he¡¯s finally awake.¡± Du Wei opened her eyes and saw a beautiful face, staring nervously at him. Her long silver hair wereying on his chest. Du Wei barely opened his mouth and said in hoarse voice: ¡°Se¡­ mel¡­ Semel?¡± Chapter 332 Part 1 ¡°What Semel?¡± The surprise on that face instantly turned into a deep loss and then into anger: ¡°Hum! What woman will you see when you wake up! Semel? Who is that woman! See, I¡¯m Jojo! You asshole, you are engaged to my sister but you are thinking of another woman.¡± With this series of fury, Du Wei looked at her quietly and warmth spread into his heart. Yes, it¡¯s Joanna, its Jojo. (T/L: Can¡¯t understand what author meant!) Although this girl had fiery temper, Du Wei¡¯s dry seemed to have injected with warmth! He finally smiled then rested his eyes on Jojo and replied, ¡°Well, yes, you are Jojo, my little aunt¡­ haha. And I ¡­¡± He sat upright and stretched himselfzily: ¡°I¡¯m Du Wei! I am not 1234 ¡­ I¡¯m Du Wei!¡± Jojo looked at him and couldn¡¯t help frowning: ¡°Did he be a fool after two days of fainting? What does one, two, three, four ¡­ mean?¡± After sitting up, Du Wei felt extremely light. The original injuries on his chest had disappeared. And after ncing at Jojo, he immediately asked: ¡°Am I saved by you? Then ¡­ white ¡­ and ¡­¡± Jojo nced at Du Wei and was about to speak. Suddenly he heard someone knocking on the window outside the carriage and Rodriguez¡¯s voice came: ¡°Is the Duke awake?¡± Du Wei opened the window and felt the sun outside shining brightly on his face. Rodriguez was riding on a white horse, wearing light armour, looking at himself with a smile. Du Wei looked back. Behind the carriage, there were hundreds of cavalry guards. ¡°Knight Rodrigues, did you save me? Then I am with ¡­¡± Rodriguez smiled and then whispered: ¡°Master Duke, do you mean the Witch King? He ¡­ After leaving the hotel in the town that day, I immediately took Miss Jojo with the guards. We decided to send some soldiers to Northwest Lon City to ask Hussein and your teacher toe together. To be honest, that His Majesty the Witch King is too powerful. I am by no means his opponent so my idea is to make every effort to dy Witch King¡¯s speed as much as possible to win the time for reinforcements. But that day¡­¡± After a pause, Rodriguez sighed: ¡°I was looking for you all the way, but I felt strange movements. Others don¡¯t know but I can feel that Holy Order strongmen had caused it. I immediately took Miss Jojo to rush with me. Unfortunately, I was a step toote. We only found bodies of three divine knights nothing else. Later we saw footprints on the ground. We chased all the way and finally found the woods. When we entered the woods, we saw you sitting alone there, your long bow in your hand.¡± ¡°So, what about White River?¡± Du Wei immediately asked: ¡°And¡­ what about the Pope?¡± ¡°The Pope?¡± Rodriguez¡¯s face changed. ¡°The Pope? Did you see the Pope?¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°This matter will be exinedter. Tell me first; when you found me that day, what was the situation?¡± ¡°I saw you sitting there alone, originally I was surprised. I also looked around and found no other people. It seems that Mr. White River has left.¡± Du Wei frowned: ¡°In the woods, you found me, there should be a cave in the back.¡± Chapter 332 Part 2 ¡°I saw the cave, but there was nothing in the cave, there was only some blood on the ground.¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°There was on the ground ¡­ But where did White River go?¡± That guy left by himself? Or was White River taken away by the Pope? No, no ¡­ The Pope¡¯s injury was more severe than White River¡¯s injuries unless a holy knight came to help. But if the Holy Knight came to help, then Pope would have killed me, how could he leave me there? So to speak, the two old guys both left after finding themselves out of danger? ¡°The mess in the woods obviously indicated that a very fierce battle happened. Especially in the west ¡­ almost half of the forest waspletely destroyed by some very powerful force! There are dozens of trees broken. It seems that something bumped into them. There was long mark left on the ground. Those who can exert such power must not be ordinary experts. However, although I can¡¯t figure it out, I was able to retrieve you safely, which is my greatest luck. ¡± After Du Wei heard, he was silent. After a while, he suddenly patted his head: ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so stupid! Of course you don¡¯t know anything!¡± After that he thought of Semel. What happened that day, Semel must know. Du Wei then returned to thepartment and smiled strangely at Jojo: ¡°This ¡­ Joanna, can you go out first? I want to take off my clothes and look at the injuries.¡± Jojo rolled her eyes and said, ¡°Hum, do you think I am willing to sit with you? Rodriguez begged me to take care of you. If you conscious, I would not bother to sit next to you! Huh! This ce is small. Sitting with you, a half-dead guy, was very upsetting! Now that you are awake, I can¡¯t wait to go out to ride the horse to show how happy I am!¡± Seeing Jojo suddenly getting angry, Du Wei was shocked. He wonder why Miss Jo suddenly became so angry. But as soon as he gave it some thought, he immediately understood a few points and quickly said sincerely: ¡°Ah, I am wrong! Jojo, you have taken care of me for so long, I haven¡¯t said thank you to you yet. I just woke up and told you to go out. It¡¯s really my fault! Thank you for taking care of me¡­ Also, I don¡¯t dislike you staying in the carriage, I just want to take off my clothes, it will not be convenient if you are by my side. ¡± Jojo¡¯s anger quenched somewhat but her tone was still unpleasant: ¡°Huh! Who wants you to thank me! I just saw you half-dead and was worried if you died my poor fool sister would be widow. As for the injuries on your body ¡­ Huh, there is nothing wrong about it! I don¡¯t know if you got luck! Whole forest was in messy but you¡¯re not hurt at all! The Rodriguez has thoroughly examined you and you haven¡¯t even lost a strand of hair! ¡± After that, she kicked open the door of the carriage and jumped out. There was a soldier right next to her. When Jojo came out, he came to her and asked in ttering tone: ¡°Miss, what do want?¡± ¡°Give me your horse!¡± Chapter 333 Part 1 After closing the carriage door, Du Wei took off his shirt and looked down. His chest did not have any scars. Then he pondered for a while and then summoned Semel. The voice of Semel was heard in his ear: ¡°Are you finally awake? Hey, these two days has been hard for the girl named Jojo. You really shouldn¡¯t drive people out that way just now. Go out. You¡¯re hurting a girl.¡± Du Wei replied, ¡°What are you talking about? I told her to go out for the convenience of talking to you! Tell me, what happened after I passed out that day?¡± But Semel did not answer but instead said: ¡°The girl named Jojo ¡­ she seems to like you very much, right?¡± Du Wei suddenly felt that his whole body was overwhelmed: ¡°What are you talking about! She ¡­ she is like a female dinosaur, would she still like a man? Even if she is interested in me, I am afraid that she wants to make me into a soul crystal or something like that¡­ The two of us arepletely opposite. Don¡¯t make such a joke!¡± ¡°Hum.¡± Semel smiled as she said: ¡°Is it? Am I wrong? But when you are not awake, the girl is sitting next to you with a tense expression. That expression was not like she was thinking about refining you into soul crystals.¡± Du Wei still shook his head. He never thought that Jojo that violent girl would have interest or affection for him. She was mostly likely disgusted with him. Semel¡¯s tone suddenly changed: ¡°Is that girl old apprentice of Gandorf? I don¡¯t have a good opinion of Gandolf. I just hate this guy and I always feel that he has some rtion with me. Not to mention ¡­ Hum, this old guy took in a girl who looks like me as an apprentice¡­ I¡¯m afraid he doesn¡¯t have any good intentions! If you don¡¯t like this girl, then it¡¯s better! I¡¯ve always wanted to make myself a body so as not to be like a ghost-like existence. Since you don¡¯t like her, let me kill this girl and¡­ ¡± Having said that, the tone couldn¡¯t help but rise up¡­ Du Wei was startled and quickly shook his head: ¡°No, no! You are bing more and more absurd! This is absolutely not possible! Jojo is Vivian¡¯s sister. You must not have any her idea about her!¡± Semel smirked and sat in front of Du Wei with her pair of white legs crossed. She looked at Du Wei with a grin: ¡°Look, I just said a few words and you be this nervous. Well, you don¡¯t have to refute, I don¡¯t say that.¡± After a pause, her face became serious: ¡°What happened that day, speaking about it made me scared! That thing is really weird, you ¡­ you ¡­¡± Subsequently, Semel described how he woke up when he was about to die that day and used his powerful strength to easily beat Sebasta and made him flee for his life. Chapter 333 Part 2 ¡°I knew that he, at that time, was definitely not you. You couldn¡¯t have such ability. And ¡­ when he grabbed my neck, I was really scared to the extreme. I don¡¯t have a physical body. I¡¯m just a phantom but he can still catch me easily. He apparently has broken through thew of space which is definitely the strength above the Holy Order! At that moment, I have a feeling that as long as he wants to kill me, I¡¯m done for! Well, at that moment, you are almost like someone else¡­ Well, it¡¯s like you were possessed by ghost! ¡± When Du Wei heard it, he smiled unconsciously: ¡°Possessed by ghost? I am really possessed by ghost!¡± He knew immediately that the person who got possessed him must be the memory of ¡°Aragon¡±! When his soul entered the badge and talked with ¡°Du Wei 1¡±, Aragorn ran out and drove the Sebasta away. ¡°So, what happenedter?¡± ¡°Later ¡­ Later, after he made Sebasta flee, he told me a few more word. He told to tell you something. After that, he held the long bow and just sat there. It¡¯s over. Well, what he told me to tell you is, ¡°Work hard! Whether you can end it all depends on you.¡± Well, that¡¯s it. ¡± ¡°What about White River and the Pope?¡± Semel shook her head and said: ¡°You sat there all night long! Later White River went out of the cave with the old Pope and the two stood by you for a long time. The pope seems to be curious about you. White River checked on you and saw that you were not injured. Then both of them sat by your side all night.¡± ¡°At dawn, White River suddenly said to the Pope, ¡®You should leave now. I¡¯m afraid that after I have recovered a little strength, you can¡¯t go away if you want to go. Even if you stay here, I won¡¯t let you touch this kid!¡¯ Then the old pope was helpless so he went away. White River was worry so sat beside you again until noon. At that time, Rodriguez and others arrived. White River also seemed to have recovered some strength so he left quietly. With his strength, as long as he recovered a little, he was definitely not someone that Rodriguez could detect. In fact, White River¡¯s departure and Rodriguez¡¯s arrival were just one after the other. ¡± Speaking of which, Semel¡¯s tone seemed strange: ¡°The old Pope seemed to have some bad feelings for you. But because White River was there, he couldn¡¯t do anything.¡± Du Wei knew that White River left safely. He didn¡¯t know what had happened with White River so he was relieved now. After speaking, Semel suddenly got a little annoyed: ¡°Speaking of it, you really asked for this! Whether White River and the Pope die or not what it has to do with you. Are they your rtives or friends? At that time, you could have just fled but you just didn¡¯t go! Hmm ¡­ As a result, you almost drove yourself to a dead end! You are so smart. Howe are you so stupid regarding this matter? ¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°You don¡¯t understand. Although I also hate the pope but he can¡¯t die for now. The Pope and White River talked vaguely about something I don¡¯t understand (regarding north)¡­ In addition the pope said that the barrier was broken and a disaster is about strike! If¡­ if¡­¡± He suddenly remembered the corpses that he saw under the mountain when he went to the Dragon God Mountain. The orcs who looked very different from humans! If he was really from those exiled races¡­ He was afraid that it was really a crisis that human beings had never encountered in a thousand years! Chapter 334 Part 1 At such time, how could the Pope die as a spiritual leader of the human world? Even if Du Wei did not like him, he couldn¡¯t let him die at this time. About White River, if he was saved, then with his disposition, he would not forget how he was bullied by Sebasta. After returning, he would definitely avenge himself! In this way, Snow Mountain would definitely find trouble of the Northwest Army which was greatly beneficial to Du Wei. Therefore, Du Wei¡¯s kindness to White River was not entirely because of emotions. But Semel didn¡¯t seem to understand it and was angry with Du Wei: ¡°If you want to take risks, it has nothing to do with me! You can y with your own life all you want to but do not forget that my life is linked to your life! Risking your life is same as dragging me down! If you die, I won¡¯t survive! In this way, I really hate you kid! Not only did you almost kill yourself, you almost killed me too! ¡± Semel seemed to be getting more and more angry. She suddenly flung her sleeves and said: ¡°Boy, you have offended me greatly this time. For a month, don¡¯t call me out to help you again!¡± ¡°Wait ~!¡± As Semer was about to disappear, Du Wei hurriedly said, ¡°One more thing! I remember that my storage ring was broken by the Sebasta and everything fell out. Where did those things go? I have a lot of treasures in it!¡± Semel¡¯s voice sounded in his head: ¡°It was all stored away by the little girl, Jojo. If you want to get them back, go to her.¡± After that, Semel said no more, no matter how Du Wei called. No one responded, it seemed that she was really angry this time. Du Wei shook his head. He was thinking about how to get things from the Jojo. Everything else could be lost but not that badge. It was very important. However, just now it seemed that he had offended Jojo. Looking for her at this moment would not be end up well. As he was pondering, he heard someone¡¯s knocking on the window and then he heard Jojo¡¯s stubborn voiceing in: ¡°Hey Du Wei! Listen, it¡¯s not me who is looking for you! It¡¯s the guy Rodriguez has mee and ask you, if you are hungry or not. We have to pass a town. Would you like to go in and eat something? ¡± With a bang, the window opened and Du Wei¡¯s grinning face protruded from the carriage. Jojo looked at the face that made her hate and nervous. She could not help but her heart speeding up. ¡°This guy is so annoying when heughs but ¡­ what am I nervous about!¡± ¡°I ¡­ what happened to me? I obviously hate this guy!¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s annoying! How could he marry my fool sister! Most importantly, he didn¡¯t even tell me!¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right! I just hate him!¡± Jojo thought so in her heart. Her face could not help but grit her teeth. Du Wei said with a smile on his face: ¡°Ms. Jojo, if you don¡¯t say it, I¡¯ll forget it. Now I¡¯m really hungry. Tonight let¡¯s rest in a small town. In this cold weather, riding (horse) outside is not good for you; you cane in the carriage.¡± Chapter 334 Part 2 Du Wei said with a smile on his face: ¡°Ms. Jojo, if you don¡¯t say it, I¡¯ll forget it. Now I¡¯m really hungry. Tonight let¡¯s rest in a small town. In this cold weather, riding (horse) outside is not good for you; you cane in the carriage.¡± Jojo¡¯s face unconsciously turned red but she still responded viciously: ¡°Huh! Do you think I¡¯m the weak girl from Vivian! I¡¯m an ice magician. Does this cold weather make me ufortable? It¡¯s just a joke! Anyway didn¡¯t you tell me to go out just now! Huh, now I¡¯m invited in again? Your broken carriage is dull and boring, so I don¡¯t want to go in!¡± The smile on Du Wei¡¯s face became more and more kind: ¡°This ¡­ it was my fault just now, but you are ady after all, what is the reason for ady to ride a horse and a man ride in a carriage? Come in quickly.¡± Seeing that Jojo was still holding his chin high, Du Wei suddenly turned his eyes and whispered, ¡°Oh, I suddenly feel dizzy¡­ this feels strange¡­¡± Jojo couldn¡¯t control herself and concerned expression appeared on her face and her anger disappeared without a trace. She said, ¡°Ah! What¡¯s wrong with you? Is your head hurting? Where is it hurting?¡± Then, she got off the horse and got into the carriage and yelled at Du Wei, ¡°You¡¯re not well, lie down quickly! You ¡­ what¡¯s wrong with you? I don¡¯t think you look well.¡± Having said that, she actually took a pillow and then helped Du Wei to lie on his back. Seeing this ¡°gentle¡± side of the violent girl, Du Wei¡¯s heart suddenly jumped up! He was not a fool, let alone an emotional idiot! Seeing Jojo¡¯s appearance at this moment, he suddenly remembered what Semel had just said¡­ This ¡­ this girl, she won¡¯t really like me¡­ The carriage was bumpy all the way but Du Wei did not feel the slightest pains during the journey. Just because he had Jojo beside him! He didn¡¯t know why Miss Jojo¡¯s temperament suddenly changed in the past two days but she was extremely considerate to serve Du Wei along the way. She held the water and poured it into his mouth to feed him. When it was hot, Miss Jojo performed an ice magic to cool down the temperature. When he felt hungry, Jojo immediately ordered someone to bring food. She was also worried that Du Wei was physically weak after injury so she took out a knife to cut the food into small pieces and sent them to his mouth. Even ¡­ even when Du Wei identally said that was having headache, Ms. Jojo frowned and after hesitating for a while, she actually got to Du Wei¡¯s side and gave Du Wei head Massage with her slender fingers carefully¡­ Of course, Jojo had never massaged anyone in her life. This massage method was naturally extremely bad. For Du Wei, there was no such thing as enjoyment. However, looking at Jojo¡¯s concern, how could he dare to criticise her? If he said something wrong, he would anger this female devil! He felt more and more uneasy. This ¡­ Jojo, she won¡¯t really¡­ Before he asked for his stuff, Jojo took out a magical storage ring and handed it to him. It was all the stuff she helped Du Wei collect. After Du Wei nced over and found the badge, he exhaled a long breath and pinched it carefully. Chapter 335 Part 1 This is a Holy Knight badge of the temple. Why do you have this kind of thing?¡± Jojo looked at what Du Wei was holding in his hand and saw Du Wei with a tense expression on her face. The Holy Knight badge was absolutely impossible to be obtained by outsiders! You ¡­ you have forged this badge! Do you forge the holy knight badge? No¡­ maybe you stole it! ¡± Du Wei smiled bitterly: ¡°This thing is really ¡®mine¡¯!¡± Jojo didn¡¯t believe him and she said as shook her head, ¡°You can¡¯t lie to me. This Holy Knight badge is stamped with Holy Power and the owner¡¯s name is printed on the back of each badge. Even the magician cannot forge it. If you say that the badge is yours, turn it over and show it to me. ¡± Du Wei froze. On the back ¡­ Aragon¡¯s name was engraved. Should I show this to this woman? Du Wei was in distress but Jojo sneered and snatched it. After all, Jojo was also a high level warrior., Du Wei was an ordinary mage. How can she stop her? Jojo grabbed the badge and turned it over. When she saw the back, she suddenly covered her mouth and eximed, ¡°Ah¡±. Then she looked at Du Wei again with strange look. Just as Du Wei sighed and wondered how to exin it, Jojo said with a weird look: ¡°Here, this thing is really yours? I can see that the badge doesn¡¯t look like a fake but how could the temple give you this kind of badge? Do you have faith in the temple?¡± Du Wei was shocked. He took the badge from Jojo and nced at the back, his expression couldn¡¯t help but change. The name on back was no longer ¡°Aragon-Rnd¡±! A brand new name was engraved on the back! ¡°Du Wei!¡± Du Wei opened his mouth and took a deep breath before he smiled reluctantly: ¡°Look, I said it was my thing but you didn¡¯t believe it.¡± He quickly put the badge in his arms. Jojo narrowed her eyes as she said: ¡°I do not doubt that you don¡¯t believe in the temple but you really don¡¯t have much respect for the goddess. Even if everyone in the world believes in God, you won¡¯t be. I know you well. ¡± Having said this, Jojo suddenly had a rare and gentle smile on her face, especially when she said ¡°Know You¡±. She immediately noticed that she looked different. She coughed quickly and then said in a deep voice: ¡°But you got this Holy Knight badge. Do you want to y with Gods? I just want to remind you that Gods are not easy to mess with. ¡± Du Weiughed twice¡­ this was not easy to exin. ¡­ Du Wei and his team moved in the direction of the Imperial City. In the evening they reached a small town. As Du Wei ordered, the team decided to rest here for one night. This move was immediately unanimously supported by the apanying cavalry. Du Wei couldn¡¯t help sighing as he watched thesezy guards. He had seen the elite Northwest Army under themand of Lu Gao in the northwest. They were well-trained, disciplined and hard working. They were real elites! Chapter 335 Part 2 Du Wei couldn¡¯t help sighing as he watched thesezy guards. He had seen the elite Northwest Army under themand of Lu Gao in the northwest. They were well-trained, disciplined and hard working. They were real elites! Not to mention the cavalry of the steppe, theirbat effectiveness was amazing. Coupled with the excellent horsemanship and their high defense of the prairie people, it was the world¡¯s strongest cavalry! But the quality of garrison in the Empire¡­ They had traveled for two days. But this group of old soldiers were already exhausted. Their backs were sore and were yawning. If it was not due to military orders, they would have most likely left long ago. These junk-like soldiers should have been kicked out of the garrison long ago if they were under themand of Northwest army. The Imperial Army conducted spring exercises every year, it was just a good tradition that had been maintained for thousands of years. Although it had wasted a lot of military expenditures, it was intended to maintain army¡¯sbat power. In some ces, spring exercise had be perfunctory. After all, the system was dead and people were alive. Moreover, even if spring exercises could be strictly performed, it happened only once a year. Thebat effectiveness of the army could not be maintained by just once a year spring exercises. Thergest hotel in this small town was naturally booked up by Du Wei¡¯s party. One hundred cavalrymen did not wait for Du Wei to order, they entered in the hotel like a master. It gave huge freight to hotel owner. He hurriedly brought tea and water. One after another soldiers unloaded their armor. Seeing their action, Rodriguez shook his head. Du Wei was toozy to care about these cavalry guards. Du Wei didn¡¯t even give much thought to food and wine. He just ate something casually. He was tired and had to go to rest. When he left, the cavalry immediately became drink fine wine and eatrge chunks of meat. Rodriguez looked them sneered. The cavalry drank freely during the march. Drunk! If these soldiers were under the Duke of Tulips, they would have long been dragged out and executed! These guys seemed to be ustomed to it. Even the officers in the team turned blind eye to it and began to drink. Rodriguez was a standard knight and he couldn¡¯t see the scene so he followed Du Wei. In the evening, Du Wei was in the room. He was holding the badge and thinking in his heart. Then he suddenly heard a horse¡¯s hoof¡¯s sound outside the hotel downstairs! The sound of the horse¡¯s hoof sounded from far to near, but it sounded extremely neat. Horses were in formation without any chaotic! The horse¡¯s hoof sounds neatly stopped at the door! Obviously these people were extremely good at riding and they control the horses! ¡°In the empire, there are still troops of this quality?¡± Du Wei was curious and couldn¡¯t help but push the door and walked out. Chapter 336 Part 1 In the lobby of the hotel, he saw more than twenty horses parked outside the door. Horses were wearing bright hard armour and leather robes. Short crossbow only which was only equipped by the main battle army was hung on them. Each cavalryman was wearing with a gray cloak. A strong and majestic voice resounded, ¡°Everyone dismounts and organizes the equipment. We will eat here! Everyone must keep their swords and bows! In addition ¡­ leave three people to take care of the war horses and not leave the horses alone!¡± After speaking, the man jumped off and the twenty cavalry behind him also dismounted. These people acted neatly. Even when they came into the lobby, the sound of that rustling leather boots seemed so energetic! The rear cavalry coldly rejected the hotel waiter¡¯s move to pull the horse. Three people separated from the group and took the horse and let the waiter lead the way to the stable. ¡°During the march, military horses must not be taken care of by idle people! This is a military rule! Horses be must be fed by our hands!¡± After that, head of the group entered the lobby, he was wearing silver armour. He had already extremely burly and majestic body. Unlike the men behind him, his cloak was bright red. The man strode in and saw such the drunkards inside. His eyes could not help but show a deep sense of contempt even a hint of anger. He was about to say something but he gritted his teeth and sneered. Ignoring the drunken guys inside, he went straight to the corner and sat down. The dozen cavalrymen behind him maintained vignce even in the walking position. When they came to the leader, he faintly formed a defensive position. The drunken garrisons next to them saw these dozens of peopleing in and immediately calmed down. Although they drank a lot of wine, after all, the Imperial military costume could still be seen! They saw the leader wearing a red cape in the middle of a dozen men and he looked like he was about thirty or forty years old. His face was resolute even though he was slightly tired at the moment. It doesn¡¯t diminish its might. And ¡­ on his chest, the badge he wore on clearly showed his identity. He was a genuine general! Moreover, those cavalry in gray cape¡­ proved that these people were one of the empire¡¯s main battle corps, stationed at the southern end of the frozen forest in the north! The owner of this hotel was also a clever man and hurried up but he was stopped by the cavalrymen. He didn¡¯t dare to approach and only respectfully asked: ¡°Dear guests, what do you need?¡± ¡°Food and clear water! Be clean and quick. We have to hurry.¡± The bossughed again, ¡°Sir, we have some famous local wines here, do you want to ¡­¡± The general¡¯s eyes suddenly red and he snorted heavily. The boss¡¯s legs softened and he almost sat down. He heard the general¡¯s sneer: ¡°Drinking alcohol on the march is a crime!¡± What he said was very loud and when the garrison next to him heard it, many people showed disapproval expressions. But other party was a general, everyone was afraid to speak. The lobby was quiet. Chapter 336 Part 2 What he said was very loud and when the garrison next to him heard it, many people showed disapproval expressions. But other party was a general, everyone was afraid to speak. The lobby was quiet. After a while, the leader of the garrison team barely sorted out their thoughts. He coughed twice and came to salute honestly. The general nced at him and saw that the officer was flushed with red eyes and his eyes became even colder but he ignored it. ¡°Master, we are in the xx city xx garrison. I am the second-level captain of the team leader. It is our pleasure to meet an Empire¡¯s General here!¡± Then the general sneered: ¡°You are still soldiers? If you was in my squad, all your heads would have been cut off! Disappear from my eyes! I have to worry about other things and I am toozy to care about you, otherwise ¡­ Humph.¡± The officer was stunned and quickly pleaded guilty but the soldiers of the garrison were all unhappy. Of course, because they couldn¡¯t drink wine. Half of them ran out of the lobby dimly and there were some unwilling people. They took the wine jug and left. They seemed to have gone to the room to continue drinking. After the hall was quiet, the general sighed softly: ¡°So quality of these garrison ¡­ Well, how can we fight when we are in danger!¡± The cavalry next to him seemed to be his cronies so whispered tofort: ¡°Generals, Imperial army is still good and the Imperial Navy ¡­¡± ¡°Navy!¡± The general said with a bitter smile: ¡°No matter how powerful the warships are, can they fight onnd! This time ¡­ oh, let¡¯s not talk. Everyone sits down and eats. After we finished eating we will depart!¡± ¡± Only after he gave an order, the cavalrymen standing around him dared to sit down. Everyone was sitting still. After the food was delivered, some people inspected it then everyone ate up one by one, but no one said a word. After a while, after eating and drinking, the general stood up and was about to leave but suddenly he heard augh above him. ¡°Ah ¡­ if I remember correctly, this is General Andrea of ??the Stormwind Corps!¡± Later, he saw a teenager in a Chinese suit walking down the stairs. When General Andrea heard this, he immediately turned around and looked deeply. This boy was naturally Du Wei. Du Weiughed and said: ¡°General Andrea, have you forgotten? I am Du Wei, the originally Du Wei Rollin but now Du Wei Rudolph. When I left the frozen forest, you and Mage rk brought someone to me. We were talked a few days together.¡± General Andrea thought for a moment and immediately remembered then hurried up two steps and gave a military salute: ¡°It is the Lord Duke of Tulips! Andrea the Stormwind has seen the Duke of Tulip!¡± Du Wei stepped down and came to Andrea¡¯s table and pulled him to sit down. Andrea hesitated but finally decided to sit down with patience. ¡°General Andrea, you are not in the north, why are you here? I remember the Imperial Army Law. Soldiers must not leave their garrison without permission. Is there anything urgent for you to go south this time? When Du Wei asked, the general Andrea wore a heavy face. He hesitated and whispered: ¡°Master Duke, I will not hide from you ¡­ there is indeed a mess in the north. At themand of General Rostock, I went back to the Imperial capital to report to the military headquarters and¡­¡± He smiled bitterly: ¡°At the same time, I also met His Royal Highness and asked for¡­ reinforcements!¡± Chapter 337 Part 1 After hearing this, Du Wei¡¯s heart trembled! Reinforcements? The Rnd Empire had 200,000 soldiers in the north! The Stormwind Corps ranks among the four main army of the Empire. Whether it was about equipment¡¯s orbat effectiveness, they were all outstanding among the Empire¡¯s army! The 200,000 soldiers were ced at the southern end of the frozen forest. Not only it was to prevent beasts in the forest but also to prevent smuggling into the forest ¡­ In fact, there was another important role that was to train troops! Only in that difficult environment could strong soldiers be trained. Du Wei had been to Stormwind Legion. When he was first brought into the frozen forest by Gandalf Baipao, he had been in the sentry outside the forest and saw with his own eyes the soldiers of the Stormwind Legion training with their upper body naked in cold water. That kind of scene had left a deep impression on Du Wei. With such a strong warrior, thebat effectiveness of the Storm Legion is evident! And on the way south of the Frozen Forest, this General Andre led his cavalry to find himself, and the mighty lineup was indeed called the first-ss empire of the Empire! Such a powerful Storm Corps¡­ actually ¡­ Have to ask for reinforcements? ¡°What is in the north that can¡¯t be suppressed by Stormwind Legion?¡± Du Wei asked. ¡°Is it ¡­ the frozen forest¡­¡± General Andrea¡¯s face changed and he shook his head as he said, ¡°Master Duke, I¡¯m sorry, I have no right to tell you these things. I have to go to the Imperial City to report directly to themander in chief and if possible to face the Royal Highness¡­¡± Du Wei was anxious in his heart but he smiled. He took the kettle on the table unhurriedly and poured a ss of water for General Andrea. Heughed: ¡°General Andrea. Of course I understand military discipline. After all, I have born in the Rollin family. Rest assured, I won¡¯t force you but ¡­ this matter is important not just for your Stormwind Corps but for empire also. I am also going back to the Imperial City. I think I can be of some help to you. ¡± Andrea was about to say something but he heard a gentle voice from the back, ¡°General Andrea, Lord Duke of ours has absolutely no intention of spying on the military secrets. Besides, with our Lord Duke¡¯s current status, regent will inevitably ask the Lord Duke to discuss it. After all, you are in the foreign ce and don¡¯t know much about the environment of the Imperial City. There are certain things that you can¡¯t expect them to be done efficiently but if the Lord Duke helps things will be a lot easier. ¡± As soon as Andrea looked back, he saw Rodriguez standing behind him, his face changed. The cavalry around him also looked surprised. It turned out that Rodriguez came behind him silently and no one noticed it. Chapter 337 Part 2 As soon as Andrea looked back, he saw Rodriguez standing behind him, his face changed. The cavalry around him also looked surprised. It turned out that Rodriguez came behind him silently and no one noticed it. Andrea took a deep breath and slowly said, ¡°It turned out to be Silver Sword Master! Lord Rodrigues, have you joined the His Majesty Duke of Tulips?¡± Du Wei stunned: ¡°Silver Sword Master?¡± Rodriguez smiled bitterly: ¡°This weird nickname. I don¡¯t know who made it for me.¡± It turned out that when Rodriguez killed the chief warrior of the court with the strength of the Holy Order, Rodriguez¡¯s fame spread to the maind already. Rodriguez stood next to Du Wei and said with a smile, ¡°General Andrea. It¡¯s been a long time. You¡¯re a lot more tired than when youst met.¡± After a pause, he smiled again: ¡°But your practice paid off. When you metst time, were you a sixth-level knight?¡± At this moment General Andrea¡¯s chest knight badge had be level-seven. Andrea said suddenly: ¡°I make a breakthrough with the guidance of your Silver Sword Master.¡± At this point, the two seemed to recognize each other. Du Wei nced at Rodriguez and Rodriguez smiled: ¡°Master Duke, do you remember that I went to the northern frozen forest after that coup? At that time, before I entered the forest alone, I coincidentally encountered the patrol cavalry of the Stormwind Legion. Its leader was actually Andrea. General Andrea wanted to stop me from entering the forest, but I didn¡¯t listen¡­¡± Andrea snorted angrily: ¡°You don¡¯t have to say it so politely. It was me who tried to stop you at first but it turned out that I am not your opponent. You were defeated a few times. You are a Holy Order martial artist someone invincible on continent. I was a small sixth-level knight but there were hundreds of cavalry around me but I still can¡¯t stop you. You¡¯re kind and haven¡¯t hurt anyone.¡± Rodriguez replied, ¡°Speaking of which, I still sincerely respect the soldiers of the Stormwind Corps. The soldiers in the Stormwind Corps are really strong. Let me tell you¡­¡± He nced at Du Wei and Du Wei immediately nodded. Rodriguez looked calm and continued: ¡°General Andrea, you haven¡¯t been to imperial capital and you don¡¯t know what the empire is like. I¡¯m not going to ask you what¡¯s going wrong in the north. Do you think that asking for reinforcements is simple? Probably you don¡¯t know, it is extremely difficult to ask the Imperial Headquarters to send troops in the current situation of the Empire!¡± Andrea stared: ¡°But the situation in the north¡­!¡± Rodriguez interrupted him and said, ¡°I agree that there is something wrong in the north but is there peace in other ces? Let¡¯s take northwest as example! You know what happened in the northwestst year, right? When the prairie people invaded, 20,000 cavalry besieged the city of Gilyat and fought a great battle! To be honest, we suffered some losses in the province of Desa. But what happenedter? Only peace talks! ¡± Andrea nodded: ¡°I know this, it¡¯s written in the military¡¯s month newspaper.¡± Rodriguez smiled: ¡°But, it said that the Northwest Army repelled the prairie, right? Well, although you are not in the capital, what is the situation of the Northwest Army, don¡¯t you know? When Andrea heard this, his expression changed. A sudden look of realization sh in his eyes. Chapter 338 Part 1 ¡°You want to reinforcements for the Stormwind army, but we also have to reinforce the army in the Northwest! Whom to help first? Rodriguez¡¯sst question made the Andrea speechless. When Dewey heard this, he couldn¡¯t help but admire Rodriguez. This Rodriguez seemed to not only have great martial arts skills but also deep insight! ¡°So, this call for reinforcements ¡­¡± Andrea became anxious. ¡°As I said, you have not been to the imperial capital and you don¡¯t know what the emperor is all about. The Duke of Tulips is the most trusted minister of the current regent and only he can influence the decision of the regent! Some word of politeness, even if the Prime Minister today says ten words, it may not be equal to one word of our Lord Duke. You have to go to the emperor to ask for reinforcement. You might as well talk to the Lord Duke first to see if he can help you. What¡¯s more, this is not considered as leak of military secrets. As long as the Duke returns to the Imperial City and you inform this matter to emperor. Within a day, the Regent will tell the Duke about it.¡± Andrea weighed it in his mind. In the end, this was indeed not a very confidential military secret. Anyway, when he arrived in the capital, the news would always spread. Secondly, this Duke of Tulips has been extremely powerful in the past two years. He had heard his reputation when he was in the north. Many people even believed that the young Duke who is under the age of 25, can be the youngest prime minister in the history of the empire! (The current Prime Minister is the old man of Augustine VI. Although the regent did not remove him, everyone knows that he has no real power.) If such a great man talks for about this issue personally, maybe this time¡­ General Andre sighed with his eyes full of anxiety. He finally patted the table and said: ¡°Send a few brothers to guard around, do not let idle people approach. I want no one here!¡± Immediately, ten cavalrymen stood up and pushed the owner and waiters out of the hotel. They the checked the entire lobby and guarded the entrances. After all this was done, General Andrea gritted his teeth: ¡°Lord Duke, six days ago you should have also felt the abnormal movement of the earth¡¯s oscition?¡± Six days ago, Du Wei calcted the days. It was the day when White River and the Pope faced each other! Then Andrea dipped his fingers in water and drew a pattern on the table¡­ The water was dripping on the table and it seemed that General Andrea was not good at drawing. Fortunately, although the painting was rough, the meaning was clear. Andrea pointed at an arc in the drawing: ¡°Look at this, this is the border line at the southern end of the frozen forest. Speaking of it, although our storm group has 200,000 male soldiers but this damn forest is really too big! The border line at the southern end is as long as a province! Although we have 200,000 troops, it¡¯s very difficult to station them to cover whole border. In fact, for many years, we have adopted the strategy of focusing on garrison and sending more patrols and cruises. This is barely met the requirements. ¡° Chapter 338 Part 2 Andrea pointed at an arc in the drawing: ¡°Look at this, this is the border line at the southern end of the frozen forest. Speaking of it, although our storm group has 200,000 male soldiers but this damn forest is really too big! The border line at the southern end is as long as a province! Although we have 200,000 troops, it¡¯s very difficult to station them to cover whole border. In fact, for many years, we have adopted the strategy of focusing on garrison and sending more patrols and cruises. This is barely met the requirements. ¡± He casually drew a few small circles under the arc that symbolized the southern border of the frozen forest: ¡°Our army is stationed in several ces ording to the division, close to the southern end of the forest. At the same time, with the cavalry squad as a unit, they patrolled back and forth every day and night ording to the set route. The soldiers worked hard. Fortunately, there have been no major disturbances in these years. There is one point, other legions are different. Our Stormwind Legion does not have a main camp! There is alwaysck of soldiers. Even General Rostock¡¯s regiment only have 20,000 people which are stationed in a ce slightly south. This is not a secret for a long time so it¡¯s okay to tell you.¡± ¡°The earthquake six days ago was really scary. As I came to the south, I also asked people along the way. It seems that the situation here is okay, but in the northern frozen forest, it¡¯s different! There is major avnche! Unfortunately, our two cavalry battalions were stationed in a valley. As a result of the avnche, they were buried alive below the snow¡­¡± After saying that, Andrea¡¯s eyes turned red and his tone choked. After all, he was a soldier in nature so took a deep breath and calmed him and continued to draw a few south-facing lines in the arc. ¡°No one in the army or general has experienced this kind of thing. For a time, everyone was frightened even if they were generals. Although everyone calmed down, their hearts were still uneasy after all. Sure enough, in the afternoon, the disaster happened! I don¡¯t know where it started first. Anyway, arge number of beasts attacked simultaneous from the six directions! Although I have been in the North for many my whole life, I have never seen so many beasts! Most of beasts have some intelligence even if it is low-levelled one. If a head of beasts meets our patrol team, they often know when to attack and when to retreat. Unless they meet some powerful, our soldiers will be killed. Moreover there were arge number of beasts, not one, not two, not tens or hundreds, but thousands! Moreover, even if we are training hard, most soldiers are just ordinary people! They do not have magic items; they only use knives, bows and spears! After that soldiers retreated in the military fortresses. Later, we decided to use the fortress walls to defend. The soldiers stood on them and shoot arrows¡­ But those beasts did not stop and became more brazen! The soldiers were already fighting for their lives! But those things are too much! Later, there were even some brothers who choose decisive death. They organized the cavalry to fight back with those beasts and set fire all the way, trying to scare them away. This fire trick is very useful previously. But this time, it didn¡¯t work. Just that afternoon, we lost tens of thousands of people! The two big camps on the west were breached and those beasts crossed our line of defence and went south! Afterwards, General Rostock was furious. He immediately mobilized the cavalry from behind to hunt and at the same time issued a death order to keep attacking until all the beasts are dead. Unless thest person was killed in the battle, soldiers must not take a step back! Chapter 339 Part 1 The military order was like a mountain. That night, I apanied General Rostock in the general camp, but after a while, amander ran to report the situation, saying that many people died and the situation is critical and requested reinforcements¡­ Next morning, when I was about to take my guard to the battlefield, General Rostock said to go to reinforce the fortress. I went to the frontlines. We saw battlefield filled with corpses of ourrades. We met many beasts and fought my battles in the south. My soldiers under mymand lost their lives. ¡°The battle continued for two days. After two day, beasts finally retreated and gave us breather. After that General decided to send to ask for reinforcement from Imperial Headquarters.¡± With that said, Andre, the brave general suddenly smiled bitterly: ¡°I actually survived that battle and now I think of it, I am quite lucky!¡± ¡°To deal with these beasts, we need more and stronger power! Its better ¡­ it¡¯s better to have a magician! Only magicians can deal with this kind of Warcraft!¡± When Du Wei heard this, it became quite. Faint fear began to envelop his heart! North ¡­ frozen forest! Why do those beasts suddenly go south? Or swarm south? Is it just the earthquake (which led to avnche) that shocked these things that led to mass migration? Or? Anyway, what happened to the Dragons? At the moment, Du Wei was most concerned about the exiled races in the north. Had they defeated the dragon territory? If yes ¡­ then was exactly what the Pope said ¡°a crisis never encountered in a thousand years!¡± It also seemed to in line with what the Pope said! Du Wei worked hard to calm down the confusion in his heart and his voice was a bit dry: ¡°General Andrea, please allow me to pay tribute to the heroes of your regiment generals! You are true Imperial soldiers! You have defended your honour and Duty! Defend the people of the Empire! I will inform the Regent truthfully about everything I heard today. At the same time, I will do my best to convince him and give more support to the North! This is my promise!¡± After talking, Du Wei stood up and bowed to the general deeply. Andrea quickly got up to pay his respects and after getting Du Wei¡¯s promise, he seemed to be little excited. Rodriguez next stood up and gave a solemn knight bow to Andrea. ¡°So, after beasts retreated. You hurried to the south immediately?¡± ¡°Three days and three nights without sleeps.¡± General Andrea smiled bitterly: ¡°When we set off, each of us brought two extra horses, all of which were the best horses we picked! Half of them were already dead and some unsustainable horses were handed over to the local garrison officers on the road. ¡± Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but feel moved. Coming here from the north, more than a few thousand miles? Three days and nights, sleepless! These guys can really be called iron men. Chapter 339 Part 2 Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but feel moved. Coming here from the north, more than a few thousand miles? Three days and nights, sleepless! These guys can really be called iron men. ¡°Today I saw that the brothers seemed to be unable to support themselves so I ordered to enter this small town to eat something. Otherwise, everyone have to continue to carry dry food on horseback.¡± When General Andrea said to this point, Du Wei noticed that, as the matter of fact, all the cavalry he apanied looked thin. Although they were still in defensive stance, fatigue couldn¡¯t be masked. Du Wei asked, ¡°I am worried about the North ¡­ Those beasts suddenly migrated on arge scale ¡­¡± Du Wei used the word ¡°Migration¡± instead of ¡°Invasion¡± because it was really difficult to judge whether these things were caused by natural migration after the earthquake or by some force. ¡°Besides, are there any other movements or anomalies in the frozen forest?¡± General Andrea shook his head: ¡°Sorry, Lord Duke, I don¡¯t know any of this. When I set off, General Rostock had organized two death squads and sent them into the frozen forest to explore. But because I set off immediately, so I don¡¯t know if they found out any news. But I think¡­ ¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I think mercenaries and adventures teams go in and out of the Frozen Forest all year round. There are also some magicians who will enter the Frozen Forest to find the beasts they need. Maybe in those days, someone noticed something¡­ Before I left; I had already suggested about it to General Rostock. ¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°This is a good idea.¡± Then he nced at General Andrea: ¡°Well, I think you are already very tired, I think you might as well take your warriors to rest here tonight. After all ¡­¡± Andrea immediately shook his head: ¡°No! Lord Duke, thank you for your kindness. Before I set off, General Rostock made a decree that I must arrive at the capital in five days. The official document I carry with me has the order and time limit signed by him personally. That decree must be signed bymand in chief and confirmed by the military ministry beforepleting the task. Otherwise, if we do not arrive within the time limit, we will be guilty of viting militaryw!! Moreover, it¡¯s urgent and can¡¯t be dyed. Although I¡¯m exhausted, the dead brothers are watching me! If I dy time, I will be condemned! ¡± Du Wei admired General Andrea more and more. After sighing, he took out found out two bottles from his space ring and passed them to General Andrea before saying, ¡°I believe you also know that I am also a magician. This is a magic potion I prepared to treat injuries and it can help people recover quickly. Please ept my gift. Drinking it can also relieve some fatigue of your subordinates. ¡± After a pause, Du Wei said to Rodriguez again, ¡°Go to those cavalry who guard us and let them give away the twenty best horses to General Andrea and his men. General Andrea and soldiers¡¯ horses have travelled so far, I am afraid that they cannot maintain full speed.¡± General Andrea was immediately grateful. He kept the two magic potions of Du Wei and took a deep breath: ¡°Lord Duke, thank you for your kindness! I also ask you not to forget your promise and go back to imperial capital to meet regent¡­¡± ¡°I will do my best!¡± Du Wei solemnly swears. Du Wei asked for a horse. How could the cavalryman dare to refuse, he picked out twenty best horses and gave them to Andrea and his men. Then General Andrea and his men nodded to Du Wei. Without saying much, he sighed and took his twenty horses and went south like the wind. Chapter 340 Part 1 After a day¡¯s journey, Du Wei quietly returned to the capital and did not cause much reaction. After all, nobody knew about Du Wei being capture by White River, not even Du Wei¡¯s guards at the Duke¡¯s House. Only people who went with Du Wei knew about it. Therefore, Du Wei returned quietly to the Duke¡¯s Mansion and his guards only thought that the Duke had returned from the private affairs. However, someone reported that in the early morning, someone came from the pce and passed the order of the regent which required the Duke to go to the pce immediately. Du Wei nodded. It seemed that the news brought by General Andrea had been reported to the pce. Du Wei did not dy along the way except that he arrived at the Imperial City one dayter than General Andrea. Du Wei quickly changed his clothes and immediately went to see the Regent in the pce. When he saw Emperor Chen this time, he was not in leisure as in the gardenst time. Du Wei was directly taken by battler into a very solemnly furnished hall. When he walked in, he saw two familiar faces. One was the imperial finance minister. Du Wei almost got engaged to the finance minister¡¯s granddaughter, but he waster changed with his brother Gabri. The other one was the Marquis Rob Scher, the current prime minister of the empire who had been ¡°sick¡± at home for half a year since the imperial capital coup. In addition, there were several militarymanders present. When Du Wei came in, he found that the atmosphere was extremely tense. ¡°Expansion and expansion! You guys in the army are thinking about expanding the army all day! But expansion need money!¡± the Finance Minister shouted angrily: ¡°The Empire has a million local defence forces. Are those military forces can¡¯t use it! Does the Ministry of Finance have tens of millions of gold coins in the military budget every year? Can¡¯t those local forces be used? In this case, it would be better to abolish those local defence forces first! For military expansion, we at least million gold coins! Hughes, do you know what a million gold coins signify? It is a province¡¯s ie for one year! One million? Now the Ministry of Finance does not have it! This year, the southern snow disaster has already cost two million! And the southern snow disaster has affected the ie of several provinces! Loss now has not been fully estimated! Now you have to expand the army again! You have to use troops to directly organize those local defence forces!¡± Military General Hughes also replied in fierce tone: ¡°Nonsense! What I want is the main battle army! What is the use of the garrison in those ces! Don¡¯t you know what the situation in the north now is! You ¡­¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t I know?¡± The Minister of Finance slumped his neck: ¡°You say that the garrison is useless! Then why do you spend so much money on it every year! Remove them; I will naturally have money for your main battle army! Damn ¡­ don¡¯t you know how tight the empire¡¯s finances are now! ¡± After all, Camisilo had some friendship with Du Wei. When he saw Deweying in, he gently pulled him, smiling kindly and whispering: ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised, this kind of scene is quitemon¡­ The two big brothers have been arguing for a lifetime ¡­ We have long been used to it. ¡° Chapter 340 Part 2 ¡°Why don¡¯t I know?¡± The Minister of Finance slumped his neck: ¡°You say that the garrison is useless! Then why do you spend so much money on it every year! Remove them; I will naturally have money for your main battle army! Damn ¡­ don¡¯t you know how tight the empire¡¯s finances are now! ¡± After all, Camisilo had some friendship with Du Wei. When he saw Deweying in, he gently pulled him, smiling kindly and whispering: ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised, this kind of scene is quitemon¡­ The two big brothers have been arguing for a lifetime ¡­ We have long been used to it. ¡± The Regent took a look at Du Wei and the corner of his pursed mouth finally loosened a bit. He stared at Du Wei and coughed. With this cough, the two old guys in the quarrel quickly closed their mouths and took a step back. ¡°Du Wei, you are finally here.¡± The Regent Wang smiled like a spring breeze. ¡°Come here, this is the first time you are participating in such meeting. Sit down; I want to hear what have to say. ¡± After speaking, he yelled, ¡°Bring a chair for Duke of Tulip.¡± As soon as he said this, everyone couldn¡¯t help it! In this room, there are many empty spaces on both sides. So after regent spoke, four servants came in immediately along with a very beautiful and luxurious chair but when they were about to put it down¡­ The Regent smiled and said: ¡°Move closer to me.¡± The four servants tried to move the chair up a bit. ¡°Get closer! What are you doing so far away?¡± The regent seemed a little dissatisfied. The four servants immediately realized their mistake and hurriedly tried to move the chair up. Finally, the regent smiled with satisfaction: ¡°Well, here it is. Du Wei, sit down and listen to this with me.¡± Then, he pointed to the chair¡­ The audience became silent! Because the position of this chair¡­ Although Du Wei was the duke and the lord of a province in the northwest, from his seniority and age, he definitely did not rank high among the people in this room. But the position of this chair¡­ Rob Scher, the current prime minister of the empire, was sitting in the first position on the left. Just now, at the request of the Regent, Du Wei¡¯s chair was moved in front of the old prime minister! Bottom left first position! ording to the tradition of the empire ¡­ this was the seat of prime minister?! In the face of the Regent¡¯s smile, Du Wei could not help but feel a little uneasy. He smiled bitterly in his heart and looked at the chair as if a nail was standing on the chair at the moment. Then, under the attention of everyone, Du Wei took a deep breath and walked daringly, and then sat down slowly as if he was carrying thousands kilos of weight. And at this moment, Rob Scher, the old prime minister sitting next to Du Wei narrowed his eyes. He looked carefully at Du Wei and a ray of light shed in his murky old eyes. That peculiar colour disappeared immediately and his eyes narrowed again. Everyone looked at Du Wei and then at the Regent. Regent Chen smiled slightly and said: ¡°I think everyone has been talking for a long time and should be tired. Now, let¡¯s listen to the words of Duke of Tulip!¡± Chapter 341 Part 1 Du Wei¡¯s mood at this moment was weird. This Prince Chen did something really unexpected. Is he ying tricks at such time? What does he want to do? Push me into pit? Supporting the Minister of Finance would offend the military. Supporting the expansion of the military would offend the Minister of Finance. Just as everyone in the hall was staring at Du Wei, Dewey suddenly smiled. He slowly stood up. ¡°His Royal Highness!¡± Du Wei smiled softly, but there was a hint of slyness in his eyes: ¡°Everyone sitting here are wise seniors. I am just a junior¡­¡± After saying that, he pause for a while and then said in low voice, ¡°I saw the Prime Minister sitting firmly all the time. Lord Rob Scher seems to have a good idea. His Highness, why don¡¯t we listen to the advice of the Prime Minister? With his rich experience, maybe there is a better way. ¡± With these words, he kicked the ball to an old prime minister. Although this hot potato was thrown to Old Rob Scher by him. However, it seemed that the old prime minister was not very angry. His half-closed eyes finally opened slowly, as if he had looked at Dewey, and there was no dissatisfaction in that look, but there was a sh of appreciation. Hmm, this youngd can understand that he is not strong and hides his powers¡­ It seems that he is a good candidate but he is still too young. Just ¡­ let me make a final little contribution. When Prince Chen heard Du Wei¡¯s words, he smiled slightly and could not help but be satisfied. This was indeed a test and a test. If Du Wei really listened to him and dared to evaluate the Minister of Finance and the military leader, that would be a stupid performance! No matter how aggressive you are, no matter how talented you are¡­ in this circle. What matters is seniority! Even if you are right, you are smart. But in some things, if you don¡¯t have enough qualifications, then don¡¯t talk about it! Retreat when needed¡­ It seemed that this boy had been doing well in Northwest for more than a year. This little boy was still on correct road! ¡°Well, then Prime Minister please tell what thoughts you have.¡± The regent looked at the old Rob Scher who had been dozing off with a smile. The old prime minister smiled and he barely stood up. His old body looked even weaker but at this moment his smile showed the calmness of an old politician! ¡°His Royal Highness!¡± Rob Scher said with a smile. ¡°Please forgive my silence ¡­ but I have only been thinking about two issues.¡± ¡°What is the problem?¡± The old man raised his two fingers: ¡°One is ¡®Urgent¡¯ and the other is ¡®Rx¡¯.¡± He turned around calmly and looked at the Minister of Finance and the old General Hughes: ¡°In my opinion, both of them are justified. There is no right or wrong in this matter itself, one is an ¡®urgent¡¯ and other is not so ¡®urgent¡¯. ¡° Chapter 341 Part 2 The old man raised his two fingers: ¡°One is ¡®Urgent¡¯ and the other is ¡®Rx¡¯.¡± He turned around calmly and looked at the Minister of Finance and the old General Hughes: ¡°In my opinion, both of them are justified. There is no right or wrong in this matter itself, one is an ¡®urgent¡¯ and other is not so ¡®urgent¡¯. ¡± The old man opened his mouth. After all, he had been the prime minister for twenty years. Although he had gradually be dormant in recent years, his words still has weight. When he spoke, none of the heavyweights below spoke, but he quietly listened to the old man. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the Minister of Finance¡¯s suggestion¡­ the problem of thebat effectiveness of the local garrison in the empire. Well, we must understand that there are some things that can be done quickly! But some things are not solved in a day or two! Thebat effectiveness is low, yes. The numbers are toorge and it is true also. Military expenditure is too wasteful, it is also true.¡± He nced at the old General Hughes who seemed to want to argue. But before waiting for the other party to speak, he said: ¡°Hughes, my old friend. Don¡¯t refute these issues first because they are indeed facts. Of course ¡­ I also don¡¯t agree with the idea of ??removing local defence forces now. After all, it is not a good time! We are facing many problems. The empire is not stable. What is more important is that the vast territory of the empire requiresrge number soldiers to guard it. This problem needs to be solved slowly and even if disarmament took long time. ¡± Old Hughes¡¯ face was a littleplicated. He finally shook his head and didn¡¯t speak. ¡°Next¡­ about the situation of the Stormwind Corps is urgent! It is urgent. Theck of military force is an undeniable fact.¡± Rob Scher took another look at the Minister of Finance: ¡°Well, Munes, you too don¡¯t need to refute. I think your idea of ¡®Let the local defence forces go to the north¡¯ is a very stupid idea. Thebat power of the Stormwind Legion in the north is second to none in the Empire¡¯s main battle army! If they even can¡¯t stop those damn beasts ¡­ Oh, sorry, Your Majesty. My words are a bit rude and I lose my identity¡­¡± He said calmly, but Du Wei suddenly opened his eyes! Because in this sentence that the old guy just finished, his title to Prince Chen seemed to be habitually wrong. Or deliberately ¡­ his title, unconsciously, changed from His Highness to ¡°His Majesty¡±! About this title, Prince Chen seemed to be unaware of it¡­ ¡°If even the Stormwind Legion can¡¯t stop those beasts, so what reason do we have to believe that the local defence forces can do better than the brave Stormwind Legion? Munez, my old friend, I understand your financial concerns. In fact, I also agree with you, but you must understand that¡­ In the north, there is a vast fertilend! If the north is chaotic, then this spring the financial revenue will be greatly affected! So, if you are worried about financial issues, then you need to consider more. If we do not inject fresh and reliable fighting power into the Northern Stormwind Corps, once our northern barrier is lost¡­ then north will be in chaos. Fiscal revenue will be even greater! Gentlemen this is a difficult time! I can¡¯t think of a perfect solution, but we may be able to weigh the advantages and disadvantages. Then choose a more important and more urgent problem to solve as for the other disadvantages, we might as well endure it for a while. ¡± Du Wei heard and sighed¡­ Is this the experience of an old politician for a lifetime? Using soft and hard approach at the same time¡­ He clearly used the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Military Affairs but at the same time he also supported the two¡­ Finally, he expressed his position politely. ¡°So, do you agree with the expansion?¡± The Prince Chenughed. ¡°No, Your Highness, I don¡¯t agree with ¡®expanding the army¡¯, but I think we can make some adjustments appropriately. My suggestions are that this matter should be done in three steps! The first step, we can start with the mobilization of Wangcheng Guards to north immediately! The second step, which can be carried out at the same time as the first step, was to order the Southern Army stationed in the Southern Marsh to send a division to supplement the Wangcheng Guards! Last step is recruiting! But these recruits are used to supplement the Southern Army. And this recruitment must be conducted in ordance with the fighting standards of the main army. At the same time ¡­ I suggest reducing some of the military spending on local defence forces next year and we can make some adjustments. ¡± Prince Chen thought for a while and murmured: ¡°Take the two divisions of the Wangcheng Guards to the north ¡­ Prime Minister, will this be a little risky? Northwest¡­¡± The ¡°Northwest¡± was sensitive topic. Everyone was silent, especially the army leader General Hughes. His face was a bit ugly; after all, it was Lu Gao of the Northwest Army who got promoted vigorously. This was almost an indelible stain in his political career. ¡°So, I think this is a decision that requires courage.¡± The old prime minister said a word gently but they seemed to carry a heavy weight. ¡°The decision that requires courage¡­¡± Prince Chen nodded his head and after a while, he smile: ¡°Well, yes, this does take courage. However, my Augustin family nevercks courage! Not to mention in the short term, I think we have a well-known Duke of Tulip in the Northwest! ¡± He finally nced at Du Wei. Chapter 342 Part 1 It seemed that things had be clear, but the old general Hughes seemed to be somewhat dissatisfied: ¡°His Royal Highness, I have no opinion regarding the transfer from Wangcheng Guards. Your Highness, everyone knew about the situation of the Southern Legion. Historically, for many years, each time the Empire expanded the navy, it was from the Southern Legion to recruit troops. Today only one legion is left¡­¡± ¡°Then let the soldiers of the navy return to thend!¡± said Price Chen! Return tond? These new words shocked everyone! In the past two decades, the Empire¡¯s military strategy had been to emphasize the sea expansion, it was a recognized fact! The warships were getting bigger and bigger, the navy was expanding continuously¡­ Although the recent expedition had been less profitable than before, it was still profitable every time. Even the Minister of Finance had to admit that the expedition could bring benefits to the empire. This concept of ¡°return tond¡± was beyond everyone¡¯s imagination! For military general Hughes, each army was his lifeblood. He was reluctant to abolition of any army. When he heard this, his face immediately looked changed. He was about to oppose loudly but felt a pair of eyes staring from the side. It was the Rob Scher, the old prime minister. Rob Scher¡¯s eyes had a deep warning and discouragement. Old Hughes immediately felt cold, knowing that old prime minister was hinting to not go against the regent. ¡°The soldiers of the Imperial Navy have risen to nearly 150,000 and Warships have risen to nearly thousand!¡± Prince Chen said lightly: ¡°This year, there are twenty newrge-scale warships about to be built! What a huge number! Huh, indeed. Everyone is enchanted by the strength of the navy, the navy is invincible ¡­ but I would like to ask you a question. Such a powerful navy, such an invincible navy ¡­ I want to know what use it has. ¡± Prince Chen mmed the table with a banh. Everyone was shocked. Prince Chen continued: ¡°Useful? To deal with the indigenous peoples of the Nanyangnd? To deal with those who can only row in small canoes. They use spears made of wooden sticks and stones to fight. They use bows and arrows made of branches to fight. Just to deal with these Indigenous people, it will cost my Rnd Empire millions of military expenses each year. We are actually intoxicated by this ¡®victory¡¯! It¡¯s just a joke! It¡¯s a shame! The navy is invincible? It is indeed invincible! That¡¯s because there are no maritime enemies in this world! Since there isn¡¯t, what is the use of such huge navy?¡± Every word poked straight at the heart. In the pce, everyone was speechless. Only Du Wei kept his face calm but he couldn¡¯t help looking at the Regent¡¯s eyes and suddenly a thought came to his mind ¡­ Did he¡­ The regent suddenly called: ¡°Hughes! General Hughes! You tell me why the armyckingbat power. You only want to expand your army! However, when you see the navy costing imperial finances, you are doing nothing. As a military minister, are you all dumb? Have you gotten old or are you selfish? ¡± ¡°¡­¡± Old Hughes didn¡¯t dare to say a word. Prince Chen became even more merciless: ¡°Huh! Hughes. Last year¡¯s disarmament n is your first chance! The n to suspend shipbuilding earlier this year is your second chance! Both opportunities are given to you¡­ and you¡­¡± (T/L: Last year disarmament n was suggested in the court but Hughes opposed with his full strength. Later on, n to suspend the ship building was also suggested in the court but Hughes also opposed it. Building ships needed a lot of finances so if Hughes did not oppose the n then lot of financial resources would have been saved. Because of these reasons Regent was angry.) Chapter 342 Part 2 The regent suddenly called: ¡°Hughes! General Hughes! You tell me why the armyckingbat power. You only want to expand your army! However, when you see the navy costing imperial finances, you are doing nothing. As a military minister, are you all dumb? Have you gotten old or are you selfish? ¡± ¡°¡­¡± Old Hughes didn¡¯t dare to say a word. Prince Chen became even more merciless: ¡°Huh! Hughes. Last year¡¯s disarmament n is your first chance! The n to suspend shipbuilding earlier this year is your second chance! Both opportunities are given to you¡­ and you¡­¡± (T/L: Last year disarmament n was suggested in the court but Hughes opposed with his full strength. Later n to suspend the ship building was also suggested in the court but Hughes also opposed it. Building ships needed a lot of finances so if Hughes did not oppose the n then lot of financial resources would have been saved.) As he spoke, his voice became colder. At this moment, everyone knew that today¡¯s matter was blown up. Did Prince Chen want to use this opportunity to deal with the Hughes? In the whole scene, only Du Wei and the unpredictable old prime minister remained calm. Although Du Wei was surprised, he was not that shocked. He knew that Prince Chen had been dissatisfied with the military for a long time, especially during the coup d¡¯¨¦tat. How could any monarch tolerate the presence of military department that did not listen to his orders? It was just that he did not touch the military in short term. After more than two years, Prince Chen had firmly controlled the Royal Imperial Army. He finally decided to take action against military! Others couldn¡¯t figure it out. Obviously today they were discussing the reinforcements of the Stormwind Corps, how suddenly it turned into a spearhead and pointed at the head of the military? Du Wei sighed in his heart. This prince Chen decided to make move without giving you any warning in advance! But ¡­ Du Wei suddenly looked at the Prime Minister Rob Scher again. The old man was also calm and didn¡¯t seem surprised. ¡°In your heart, is there any regent? No! Is there any empire? No! Is there any honour for the soldiers? No! You only have the military department! Only the military department! In your eyes, defending your military is more important than the great cause of the Empire, the overall situation of the Empire and the loyalty! Isn¡¯t it?!¡± After a series of interrogations, Hughes¡¯ head almost stuck to the ground. Prince Chen finally sat back in his chair and his chest gasped heavily. Obviously, what he said just now finally vented his anger for two years. In the hall, for a while, even the sound of a needle falling to the ground could be heard. The only thing was that both Prince Chen and General Hughes gasped heavily. No one dares to say one more word at this moment. After a long time, Prince Chen¡¯s voice seemed to have calmed down but it was scary cold¡­ His voice was low and prolonged. He said coldly word by word: ¡°Imperial Minister of Military Affairs General Hughes has lifetime loyalty to the empire. For his hard work and loyalty, the Empire rewards one hundred gold coins, ten boxes of Nanyang pearls, the title of duke and the title of court military schr to General Hughes. The post of military minister was temporarily suspended until I think of a new candidate!¡± Old Hughes kneeled down and his body trembled constantly. Finally, after a long time, he reluctantly said in a husky voice: ¡°Thank Your Highness for your reward ¡­¡± Then he staggered to his feet but using great perseverance, he didn¡¯t fall. Instead, he walked to his own chair and sat down. However, everyone knew. The imperial military minister¡¯s political career waspletely over! ¡°Rob Scher, you are the prime minister of the empire. Now the post of vacant minister of military affairs, I don¡¯t have any good candidates now. You have also served the military in the past. Until I find suitable military minister, you will temporarily take charge of the military affairs as the prime minister.¡± Uproar! Who would have thought that the old prime minister who had been identified aspletely out of favour was suddenly given the power of actingmander of the militarymand? There was no trace of joy on Rob Scher¡¯s face but he sighed softly and a bitter smile appeared in his eyes. He nodded and replied: ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡± Chapter 343 Part 1 ¡°Your Majesty, I have a small request?¡± said Rob Scher. ¡°What?¡± asked Price Chen with a smile? ¡°This old man¡¯s body is weak. I think I will not be able to handle both position of Prime Minister and Minister of Military at the same time so request Your Majesty to provide me someone to share my burden?¡± said Rob Scher. ¡°Do you have any rmendation?¡± asked Prince Chen. ¡°It will be my honour to have His Majesty as mypanion¡­¡± said Rob Scher. ¡°OK! We will do so¡­¡± Price Chen continued with slight smile ¡°By the way, your way of address me is not correct. Prime Minister Rob Scher keep this in mind in future¡± Hearing this, Rob Scher gave a bitter smile. The old Prime Minister who had been considered to have almost finished his political career, suddenly came back to life! He also received such a great authority to control the military! As for General Hughes ¡­ no one bothered him. Politics was so cruel! Although he used to be the Minister of Military Affairs, before the meeting today, he was also the star of the crowd. Everyone came to him to greet him. But now ¡­ he left alone, but others refused to look at him any more¡­ ¡­ A moth had passed from thest discussion¡­ Today, after meditating for a while, Du Wei didn¡¯t feel anything at first but after a moment, he suddenly opened his eyes and touched his head. Aaa¡­ Then he looked at the sky outside. Time ¡­ how long has it been? Du Wei jumped out of bed and ran to look at the huge hourss in the room. ¡°Hell! Hell!¡± Du Wei eximed. When Du Wei, Du Wei found that the recovery of his mental strength had almost reached 70% to 80%! ¡°Why so fast?¡± ording to Du Wei¡¯s experience, after he used up his magic power in the past and wanted to fully recover, at least two days were required. Especially after the magic power strengthened, each time he ran out mana, it took longer to recover. But today ¡­ just this short moment¡­ With surprise, he sat down again. He closed his eyes and continued meditating. He used his spiritual force to explore what happened to his consciousness. Finally, he quickly discovered something strange! In his conscious, it seemed that there was such a thing that he didn¡¯t know about. It was spinning back and forth, like a small vortex. With every rotation, it derived spiritual force to increase his consciousness slowly. Du Wei¡¯s discovery was no small feat! You must know that the magical power of the magician was directly rted to spiritual consciousness. The basic principle was this: the spiritual consciousness of human beings is like a bucket and the spiritual power (ie magic power) is the water in this bucket! The meditation of a magician could only restore the water in the bucket. It required years of hard work to make your spiritual consciousness grow. It¡¯s not difficult to fill the bucket. But it is extremely difficult to make this bucket bigger! Every breakthrough required a lot of effort and even luck. In theory, therger the spiritual consciousness, the more water can that bucket hold. Larger the bucket, the higher the overall magic power would naturally be! If the spiritual consciousness of a low-level magician waspared to a small water ss, then his magic power was naturally only a ss of water. The spiritual consciousness space of a senior magician was muchrger and the capacity was naturallyrger! This was one of the important differences between the strength of a low-level wizard and a high-level wizard! Chapter 343 Part 2 If the spiritual consciousness of a low-level magician waspared to a small water ss, then his magic power was naturally only a ss of water. The spiritual consciousness space of a senior magician was muchrger and the capacity was naturallyrger! This was one of the important differences between the strength of a low-level wizard and a high-level wizard! But Du Wei now found that deep in his spiritual consciousness; something was slowly rotating, driving his entire ¡°bucket¡± to rotate little by little. It¡¯s like a water mill was rotating slowly and every time it rotates, the entire spiritual consciousness was getting bigger and bigger! Although this speed was still very slow, it¡¯s still more than ten times faster than normal practice! ¡°Semel! Semel!¡± Du Wei immediately shouted in his mind: ¡°Did my star magic finally break through?¡± Unfortunately, Semel really ignored him for a month. They were not talking for a month. No matter how Du Wei called, there was no response. Du Wei¡¯s mind was puzzled so he once again decided to meditate. At the same time, he carefully stretched out his spiritual tentacles to look at the little whirlpool in the spiritual consciousness. That little whirlpool was infinitely mysterious. It seemed to have its own spiritual consciousness. It felt like a hidden little ¡°universe¡±! Every rotation makes the universe gradually expand. Du Wei, after all, was from modern word. He immediately thought of a previous theory: The entire universe is slowly spinning and gradually expanding infinitely with rotations! It seems that this theory can also be applied to little whirlpool? Soon, Du Wei found that his mental strength had beenpletely restored! How much time did it take? Du Wei opened his eyes and looked at the sky¡­ Twenty minutes? Or half an hour? In the past, if he wanted to reach this level, he had to sleep for a day or two. Fast recovery¡­ Du Wei thought and then suddenly remembered something! Wasn¡¯t White River said something about this? ¡°As long as this seed of power is in my body, no matter how badly I am hurt, I can recover in a short time!¡± said White River He remembered that in the small building of the imperial capital, White River and Lan Haiyue fought. He was obviously injured, but when he rushed to catch himself after a blink of an eye, he had already recoveredpletely! Seed of Power ¡­ Seed of Power! When White River gave him ¡°Third hand¡±, didn¡¯t he also inject it with a seed of power? Du Wei felt moved! This ¡­ that seed of power is finally taking root in my own body! Du Wei estimated that with the slow rotation speed of the seed, it would gradually expand his spiritual consciousness. Then, he was afraid that it would take less than a year for his own mental strength to jump to eighth level! Eighth level? That was already defining line in realm of ¡°senior¡± magician! How many senior magicians were there in the entire continent? He was only 17 years old now! Although it was littleter than Vivian and Jojo, but don¡¯t forget that Vivian and Jojo had practiced magic since childhood. They had always been taught by the most powerful men on the maind. How about him? From the starting of learning magic to today, it had only been two years! With this seed of power, how many years of hard work have been saved? The other ascetic people are facing a towering mountain peak and climbing hard slowly. But if you have the seeds, it seems that you are automatically provided with a shortcut to heaven. No, this is not a shortcut, it is simply an elevator! These thoughts shocked Du Wei as well uplifted his mood. Chapter 344 Part 1 Time flew and thest day of the 962 years of the Empire came¡­ On this night, the ¡°fireworks¡± invented by Du Wei became the best-selling thing. Even the pce had purchased several carts. Shops of Duke of Tulip (Du Wei) were selling fireworks like hotcakes. In addition, Du Wei also ordered the factory to make a batch of small fireworks suitable for civilian use for public sale to the civilians of the imperial capital. Taking advantage of the happy season at the end of the year, arge number of gold coins flowed into Du Wei¡¯s pocket again. That night, the sky above the capital was illuminated with brilliant fireworks. The square of the Royal Pce issued special regtions ording to which therge quantity of fireworks had to be given to the royal family by Du Wei. This thing was much more magnificent than the ¡°Goddess of Forgiveness¡± that Du Wei had made to celebrate his mother¡¯s birthday. Looking at the huge fireworks blooming in the sky, Du Wei did not go to the square to observe the ceremony at this moment. Even though countless nobles went to the square in front of the court tonight to see the ceremony, but Du Wei imed to be sick and rest at home. He was sitting alone on the top of the highest building in the Duke¡¯s Mansion, his legs were leaning on the eaves, and beside him was a bottle of fine wine. Even though the coldness was heavy at night, Du Wei seemed to be veryfortable. ¡°It¡¯s another year ¡­ I¡¯m alone again.¡± Du Wei sighed, took a sip from the bottle. Then heughed, facing the starry sky in the distance and said loudly: ¡°Happy New Year!¡± Suddenly a strange sense of loneliness arose in his heart. Du Wei hade to this world for many years. He felt that he had gradually adapted and even mixed into this world. He was already used to being a ¡°Rnd¡±. But as the Chinese saying goes great: think twice about the season. Only at the festive period when everyone celebrates, the inner loneliness will came out. In fact, now Du Wei thought about it, he felt this feeling bit ridiculous. Originally, he thought he was a pure person who came from the different world. But now he knew that he had actually lived in this world for several lifetimes! Aragon, Du Wei 1¡­. If one counted in this way, he had spent much more time in this strange world than he did on the earth in the previous life. In the distance, there is a lively hustle and bustle on the streets. That street was in festive atmosphere which could be felt from here. Just then, Du Wei¡¯s heart fell silent¡­ Now that he was here, why bother with things which were not in his control? Why not enjoy this atmosphere and be happy? After he took thest sip, he threw the bottle down from the top of the building, flipped his clothes, andughed: ¡°Stupid, stupid!¡± Then he flew down from the top of the building. After hended on the ground, he strode toward the outside. In the front hall of the Duke¡¯s Mansion, when the servants saw the master, they immediately stood still and saluted. Du Wei just smiled and walked away quickly. He walked to the door and listened to the sound of crackling fireworks and firecrackers from the distance. The impulse in Du Wei¡¯s heart became even more vigorous. He waved his hand to let the guards back down: ¡°I¡¯m going out alone. Don¡¯t follow me ¡­ uh ¡­¡± After that he went to that bustling street and enjoyed the different things and atmosphere there¡­ Chapter 344 Part 2 At the same time in the northern frozen forest¡­ The frozen forest behind was in the mess andrge numbers of trees had copsed and broken. In this icy snow, all had been frozen. In front of it, there was a vast t ice field, seemingly white and boundless. Hussein stood on the edge of the woods, with cold eyes, staring at the ice field. Behind him, Rodriguez sat cross-legged on the snow. He grabbed a handful of snow and put it in his mouth, then took a bite of the dried food that had been frozen hard. After a while, Rodriguez smiled suddenly and said, ¡°Today should be the first day of the New Year. If I was in the Imperial capital or in Lon city, I would have been enjoying myself. ording to the tradition in our Duke¡¯s Mansion, Mr. Mard should have instructed the kitchen to make a lot¡­ well, what is that thing, the name of the food invented by Lord Duke? Hussein did not look back but simply answered with single word: ¡°Dumpling!¡± ¡°Ah, yes, it is dumplings. Speaking of it, the taste of that thing is really good. s, now we two are drinking ice water and eating dry food. I can¡¯t help but miss the taste of that thing. ¡± Hussein then turned around and nced at Rodriguez with a frown, ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened. In the past two days, we did not find even one beast.¡± Rodriguez nodded, ¡°Yeah, we have been eating dry food for two days, but we can¡¯t even find a prey.¡± Hussein sat next to Rodriguez and put a handful of snow into his mouth. But looking at the ice field in the distance: ¡°Let¡¯s wait for another day. If there is still no clue ¡­ I want to go north to see.¡± Rodriguez frowned: ¡°North? You mean the ce where the dragons live in the northern part of the ice field?¡± Rodriguez was entrusted by Du Wei to investigate the situation of north. Along the way, he met Hussein and the two went north together. They entered the frozen forest and then proceeded north to explore the news. After crossing the Great Lake they finally entered the forest. The forest was unexpectedly quiet. Although the two found a lot of footprints of big beasts, they did not encounter any beast personally. They seemed to have hiding in arge forest. Along the way, Hussein also understood Du Wei¡¯s meaning, so they decide to go to the north of this frozen forest. Behind the ice field, there was a god mountain which was the ce where the dragons lived. However, the two reached the edge of the forest, they still found nothing. At the northern end of this forest, they had been sitting for two days but they had not found any clues. Hussein was so eager to move that he had the idea to go north to explore the news of the Dragon Territory. ¡°But, you said, there is a huge magic barrier on the ice field. Can you pass this magic barrier?¡± Chapter 345 Part 1 Hussein thought about it: ¡°When I came herest time, I had seen through the weakness of this magic array. The stronger you are and more you resist, stronger the power of the magic array (barrier) will be. As long as I carefully retract my aura, I will only encounter a small scale storm. There is no need to fight back so it will not trigger arge-scale attack from the array¡­¡± Although he said so, he must still have some confusion. Rodriguez thought about it and said: ¡°Now that you decided. Let¡¯s go together.¡± Hussein shook his head: ¡°Journey to the north is much greater more dangerous. In this forest, with ourbined strength, we are not afraid of encountering beasts. But if we go to north, we will enter into territory of the Dragon n and the leader of the dragon n has animosity toward me. This encounter will most probably end up in deadly battle. I am not his opponent so it is extremely dangerous to go. Even with you, it is the same so I¡¯ll go alone. You stay, just in case ¡­ if I can¡¯te back, you can continue to help Du Wei. ¡± Rodriguez was about to say something, but suddenly he felt something unusual in the distance. He looked up to the north and blurted out: ¡°Look!¡± The two looked north together. Above the originally calm ice field, a storm wasing from far to near! There were overwhelming dark clouds in the sky! Under the storm, there seemed to be a very faint figure, shaking in the storm, struggling to advance¡­ Rodriguez and Hussein nced at each other and at the same time, flew toward the figure in the north of the ice field¡­ Far away, on the horizon, the outline of that forest was already faintly in sight! How far was it? Three kilometers? Four kilometers? If it was on some other day, as long as he flied for some time, he could easily cover it. It¡¯s a pity now¡­ There was deep wound on the chest. The damn wind like countless knife hit the wound¡­ The blood on the chest began to flow again ¡­ this time it bleed even harder. Unfortunately, the wound that was originally started to heal once again opened as he walked. He constantly used magic barrier to protect himself from the onught of storm. At this moment, he took a deep breath and found that he had run out of magic power! No more magic could be cast! The magic barrier was getting fainter and the enveloping area was getting smaller and smaller under the suppression of the storm¡­ He felt a dizzy and the forest seemed to be out of his reach¡­ Dragon Prince hurriedly embraced the things in his arms¡­ To die is to die ¡­ even if I can¡¯t get out of this ice field alive, I can at least send the things in my arms to the forest¡­ Otherwise, my family¡­ His body went numb and his feet could no longer move. Finally, he fell to the ground with a thump. At this moment, his magic power had been exhausted and blood was dripping from his eyes and nose! Supporting himself with one hand, he was still trying to get up¡­ But, where is the strength left? Plop ¡­ plop ¡­ This was not the sound of his own heartbeat, but it wasing from the things in his arms¡­ This strange and rhythmic sound seemed to have inspired hisst potential. He yelled suddenly with endless resentment and sorrow in the sound of dragon howling! He pressed the two things in his arms under his body and used his back to resist the wind strikes that! Ugh ¡­ countless cutting sounds¡­ Why ¡­ can¡¯t feel the pain at all¡­ Am I already, dead? Before thest trace of consciousness was about to dissipate, he suddenly saw two figures appear. Human figure! The silvery light shed across the sky and the storm in the sky suddenly burst. Then he finally closed his eyes¡­ Chapter 345 Part 2 Before thest trace of consciousness was about to dissipate, he suddenly saw two figures appear. Human figure! The silvery light shed across the sky and the storm in the sky suddenly burst. Then he finally closed his eyes¡­ When he woke up again, he found himself lying in the woods and the surrounding trees seemed to have been broken into pieces after a disaster. It had shown how terrible disasters have been here. The next reaction. He immediately reached out and touched his arms. Fortunately ¡­ two things were still there! He was finally relieved and immediately became vignt. A voice came around: ¡°Are you awake?¡± He tried to open his eyes. It was gradually clear that a human stood in front of himself and looked at himself condescendingly. ¡°I recognize you, you are the prince of the dragon n, right?¡± Just when he was shocked, the next word from the man reassured him. ¡°I am not your enemy. I work for the Duke of Tulips. My name is Rodriguez.¡± Du Wei ¡­ Du Wei ¡­ Well, that was the human who made friends with him. The Dragon Prince was finally relieved. He didn¡¯t know how long he had been asleep. The severe pain caused by the slight movement of his body made me almost faint again. He reluctantly said in hoarse voice, ¡°Please, please help me up.¡± Then a pair of powerful arms raised him. Dragon Prince turned to look at the man. The handsome middle-aged man was smiling at him mildly: ¡°My name is Rodriguez.¡± ¡°Dear Dragon Prince.¡± Hussein stood next to Rodriguez. ¡°We were entrusted by Du Wei toe here to inquire about the news. Is something bad happened to the Dragons?¡± Dragon Prince kept silent for a while and his eyes shed. Finally, after a long time, he smiled abruptly: ¡°There are no dragons in this world!¡± ??? Hussein and Rodriguez looked at each other. Prince Dragon took a deep breath to calm himself. Although his chest was so painful that he was trembling, he still gritted his teeth and whispered, ¡°I ¡­ I am going to die because of heavy injuries but I am lucky to meet you before dying.¡± Then he gasped hard and his breathing was getting irregr. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Rodriguez sighed. The Pdin looked helplessly at the dragon prince on the ground: ¡°I checked your injury ¡­ you are too hurt, we can¡¯t help it. I felt a powerful force in your body that destroyed half of your lungs and that power is still in your body. If it was not for you desperately suppressing it, I am afraid you would be already dead. Unfortunately, you are not human. You are a dragon so human healing magic has no effect on you. And¡­¡± Hussein also sighed: ¡°Also, there was a spring that could cure your injury. Unfortunately ¡­ the spring has dried up after the earthquake.¡± Dragon Prince smiled hard: ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, I ¡­ I can only hold on for a little while, so please tell the Duke of Tulip what I am going to say. Because ¡­ In my opinion, among human beings, I¡¯m afraid he alone can stop this disaster¡­¡± ¡°The Dragons have suffered arge attack from those sinners in the north. This time, they came fiercely with in huge numbers. In order to preserve the power of the Dragons, our great patriarch, my respected father, epted the challenge issued by the leader of sinners, a guy named ¡®Elf King Fall Snow¡¯. If my father wins, then the elf king promises to let retreat his army. And if my father loses, then the dragons have to surrender! ¡± When Hussein heard this, his heart jumped: ¡°Is it ¡­¡± Look at this Dragon Prince in such a bad situation; does the patriarch of the dragon n, the powerful and almost perverted old dragon king lose? Prince Long nodded and his action immediately made Hussein¡¯s heart sink to the bottom! ¡°Father¡¯s decisive battle with that elf went on for three full days and three nights, and finally¡­¡± Chapter 446 Part 1 ¡°In the end, my father lost but he did not surrender to that elf and chose to go back on his word and die with dignity. Heunched final attack to create opportunity for me to escape with golden dragon eggs¡­ Beforeunchingst attack my father tasked me to take golden eggs and escape because that was only way to preserve the golden Dragon¡¯s bloodline. My father¡¯sst attack took enemy by surprise, giving me opportunity to sessfully take Golden Dragon eggs and escape. But unfortunately, things did not go as father nned and my younger brothers along with tribe members chose to surrender. My younger brothers chose to discard their dignity as a golden Dragon and offered themselves as the mount to that elf king. My brothers noticed me and attacked me to show their loyalty¡­ I ended up being seriously injured. After sessfully escaping, I got stuck in the storm. Moreover to minimize the bacsh caused by the magic barrier, I transferred myself into human form which in return increased by magic consumption. Gradually my mana began to decrease and finally it ran out. But fortunately I got rescued by you two¡­ Moreover that damn elf king wants to use dragon blood to slowly wear down the magic barrier cast by goddess of light. Once that magic barrier was lifted that elf king along with his army would attack the south. It will take three years and in these three years all Dragon tribe members will be killed one by one to weaken the seal¡­¡± As Dragon Price recounted everything, anger, hatred and helplessness shed on his face. Finally everything was reced by slight smile and relieved expression¡­ The Dragon Prince seemed to have reached the limit. The blood in his mouth kept pouring out and finally he reached out his hand and lifted the two dragon eggs in his arms: ¡°Please ¡­ please give these two¡­ to Duke of Tulip!¡± (T/L: That¡¯s right. The two things Dragon Prince was carrying were two Golden Dragon Eggs.) At this point, it seemed as if his hands could not hold anymore and his hands fell down heavily. Fortunately, Hussein and Rodriguez hurried one by one and hugged the dragon eggs. Rodriguez sighed and leaned down. Rodriguez came close to Prince Long¡¯s ear and said softly: ¡°Do you have anyst words to say?¡± The Prince suddenly opened his eyes and a bitter smile broke out on his face: ¡°I ¡­¡± After Rodriguez heard this sentence, a weird expression appeared on his face but he finally said with a sigh: ¡°Be assured! Leave this matter to us.¡± The vitality in Prince Long¡¯s eyes gradually dissipated and the signs of life in his pupils finally disappeared, but before his death, the slight smile on his face did not disappear. Soon, the Dragon Prince died, and his body transformed from a human form into a dragon body. Rodriguez and Hussein also respected the Dragon Prince. Hussein took a look at Rodriguez and then took a step back. He pulled out his sword with a sigh and attacked the ground in the distance! Chapter 446 Part 2 Soon, the Dragon Prince died, and his body transformed from a human form into a dragon body. Rodriguez and Hussein also respected the Dragon Prince. Hussein took a look at Rodriguez and then took a step back. He pulled out his sword with a sigh and attacked the ground in the distance! With a bang, a huge deep pit appeared on the ground. The two put the dragon¡¯s corpse into the deep pit. Then Rodriguez cut off dozens ofrge trees and made a tomb. The Dragon Prince was buried. Eight dayster, in the Duke Mansion of the Imperial Capital, Du Wei looked at Hussein and Rodriguez with a serious look. After the incident, the two Pdins told everything to Du Wei, causing Du Wei¡¯s face to turn ugly! He sat on the chair with his brows knitted. He didn¡¯t know how long he had been silent. Finally he heaved a sigh and said, ¡°Three years ¡­ three years ¡­¡± Suddenly he jumped up and couldn¡¯t help cursing: ¡°Three years! Three years of hell!! Three yearster, millions of orcs and elves will cross the ice field! There is also an elven king stronger than the old Dragon King! Damn it! Damn it!! ¡± Du Wei clenched his fists: ¡°What do we have? An almost crippled Northern Stormwind Corps? A rebellious Northwest Corps? A Southern Army Corps which is only empty shell? How can they fight with Orcs, Elves and dwarves? Three years, three years!¡± Rodriguez groaned: ¡°This cannot be handled by one family alone. If it is to be done, it should be done by entire continent¡­¡± Du Wei nodded, but his expression was not rxed at all: ¡°The whole continent ¡­ what¡¯s the whole continent? Can the entire continent¡¯s strength be used ¡­ well, the Pope of the Church seems to know something already. Maybe you can count on the help of the Church but what about the power of the empire? Although soldiers in the army of the empire reach two million but the garrison in those ces is like garbage, can it deal with those ferocious orcs? And the Northwest Army¡­¡± Du Wei thought more and more, causing headache. Finally he could not help but yelled out: ¡°Why should this matter fall on my shoulders alone? Dragons ¡­ Dragons are finished! Then ¡­ what about the goddess of light! Didn¡¯t she cover it from the maind? Nowes the door? To carry it, it should be her big boss, right? ¡± He suddenly remembered something! When his soul entered into the badge that day, Du Wei 1 seemed to have mentioned: ¡°This is the biggest crisis that the bitch of the goddess of light has encountered! It is our good chance to defeat her.¡± Well, he didn¡¯t remember original sentence but it probably meant that. Thinking of this, Du Wei calmed down. At least, this experience should have been experienced by ¡°Du Wei 1¡± before. And Du Wei 1 did not tell him that human beings perished in the hands of those sinners. Then¡­ things could still be changed. After some reassurance, Du Wei asked Rodriguez: ¡°What are thest words of Dragon Prince before his death? Rodriguez shook his head and smiled bitterly: ¡°He said that he only hoped that those two dragon eggs were a male and a female. Otherwise Dragons race would really be extinct.¡± Du Wei hesitated for a moment. He never imagined that the Dragon Prince would say something like this before he died. Chapter 447 Part 1 The seventh day of the New Year! In the morning, the sun had just risen. On the Lancang Canal leading to the imperial capital, a long fleet of ships was sailing towards the imperial capital. There were twentyrge ships. The boatmen who got up early on the shore were surprised. These big ships were all sea ships! Compared with these behemoths, the other merchant ships in the river were much smaller. In the river near the Imperial capital, there were naturally patrol boats of the security department of the capital. These patrolling boats saw the huge fleet in the distance but they did not dare to block it. Seeing the gs on the ships, they even immediately sent people to clean up the river and ordered all ships to step aside and let this huge fleet go ahead. ¡°Whose fleet is this? You see, the ships on the river have to make way? Is it the royal family?¡± A man sitting on the dock couldn¡¯t help asking. Thepanion next to him was much older than this person. After listening, heughed and cursed: ¡°Look at your eyes! Didn¡¯t you see the g on this ship? Royal? This is not a royal ship but it is not much worse than the royal! On the foremost ship of the fleet, the mast stood up. A me tulip g flutters! This firstrge ship was huge but it was covered with dents as if it had experienced an extremely long and difficult voyage¡­ On the ship¡¯s side and on the deck, there were many traces left after the battle. Even some sailors and others were bandaged. However, all of these sailors were defiant even the injured people look so spirited! Above the boathouse, a woman stood silently, holding her hands in front of the fence. With a calm look, she looked at the outline of the imperial city that was getting closer and closer. She didn¡¯t look more than 20 years old. Her face was slightly thin and her long voyage on the sea made her skin not as fair as most Rnd women. She looked slightly wheat-colored but thisplexion did not reduce her beauty but added a bit of healthy sensuality. ¡°Master Ruolin, We are here!¡± Behind him, a giant man with a strong body like a savage cow came over and bowed his head respectfully. The barbarian giant was dressed up as a sailor with a headscarf on his head and a ck eye patch on his left eye. Ruolin looked at this subordinate and remembered when they first went to sea. His eyes are still intact. He was even somewhat afraid of water. ¡°Well, yes. We are back.¡± Ruolin nodded. After tempering of the sea, thest trace of the naivety on face of Ruolin was worn away. At this moment, Ruolin¡¯s eyes showed her tenacity and resilience after the storm. She waved her hand: ¡°Everyone on the boat stands by. Without my permission, no idle people are allowed to board the ship and everyone is not allowed to leave their post!¡± On the dock of the Imperial Capital, there were already two hundred soldiers wearing Tulip family guard uniforms waiting. The leader was none other than Zach. Chapter 447 Part 2 On the dock of the Imperial Capital, there were already two hundred soldiers wearing Tulip family guard uniforms waiting. The leader was none other than Zach. Xiao Zach was already waited anxiously for a while. Seeing that the fleet was finally at the shore, he heaved a long sigh of relief. His monkey like face showed sincere joy. He whistled and the soldiers approached the dock. Xiao Zach saw a familiar figure appearing on the ship¡¯s deck andughed loudly: ¡°My beautiful boss, you are finally back! It¡¯s been a year since you¡¯ve gone. I thought you have be pirate in Nanyang.¡± Ruolin went down the deck and nced at Zach. With a smile on her face, she patted Zach¡¯s shoulder lightly: ¡°You are also an important person under the master¡¯s hands.¡± Xiao Zach smiled hesitantly: ¡°I was d to see youing back and was naturally excited.¡± Ruolin raised her eyebrow but then she saw a little sincerity in Zach¡¯s eyes without any ridicule so she nodded and said in milder tone: ¡°Well, it¡¯s been a long time since I talked. This time, the voyage at sea is much more difficult than imagined. But fortunately, it is sessful!¡± Xiao Zach looked at Ruolin and felt that this former beauty boss seemed to have a strange change. It couldn¡¯t be specifically said but at this moment Ruolin¡¯s entire being was like a polished gemstone which naturally emitted a bright light. ¡°What about Lord Duke?¡± Xiao Zack quickly replied: ¡°The Lord Duke has received the message you sent and has arranged everything on the dock. He sent me to pick you up. I have prepared hundred big carts. You also don¡¯t have to worry about unloading. I¡¯m watching here. You can meet Lord Duke at the Duke¡¯s Mansion! ¡± Ruolin raised her eyebrows and smiled: ¡°A hundred cars? I¡¯m afraid ¡­ it¡¯s not enough.¡± Later, Xiao Zach immediately sent someone to pull the horse over and then led Ruolin to go back to the Duke Mansion. As for these twenty ships, Xiao Zack immediately mobilized all the manpower. Originally, there were many boatmen and coolies specializing in living at the docks. Seeing such arge fleet docked, they all came to find work. If Ruolin rode all the way into the city, she didn¡¯t stop at all. She came to the towering and luxurious Duke¡¯s Mansion. As soon as she jumped off the horse, she saw that the door of the Duke¡¯s Mansion had been opened. Many servants and guards came out to greet her and then someone brought Ruolin inside and went all the way to Du Wei¡¯s study room. This small room was the small study room used by Du Wei¡¯s father, Count Raymond. At this moment, Du Wei was like his father. When Ruolin pushed the door and came in, Du Wei was sitting behind the desk. When she saw Ruolining in, Du Wei just looked up and smiled. Du Wei said, ¡°Well, are you back? Fine, sit down.¡± The tone was light and t as if Ruolin hadn¡¯t been to the sea for more than a year but just sent by him to go around the city at random. When Ruolin saw Du Wei, she only felt that the young duke seemed to have grown up a little bit. The eyes that had made her dare not look at him now seemed even more unfathomable at the moment! Although his face isughing, his eyes were shining more brightly. Lord Duke seemed to have gone through many things. Chapter 448 Part 1 Bonus Chapter~ Ruo Lin kneeled on one knee and gave a solemn courtesy as a family guardian knight. Her original most formal identity was the family guardian knight received by Du Wei. Then she sat on a chair that Du Wei pointed to. ¡°Let¡¯s talk.¡± Du Weiughed: ¡°I haven¡¯t received any news for more than one year. I¡¯m really worried. I¡¯m afraid those Nanyang people are too brave and dare to go against you. In that case, I have to encourage the Regent (Prince Chen) tounch another expedition to save you. ¡± Ruo Lin smiled a little, her temperament was much calmer than before: ¡°Sir, this time going to sea is a lot harder than we expected. We have face my unexpected situations to reach Nanyang Kingdom. ¡± ¡°Hmm ¡­¡± Du Wei nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve reached that Nanyang Kingdom. What does it look like?¡± When mentioning this problem, Ruo Lin couldn¡¯t help but a strange look appeared in her eyes. After a long time, she sighed and said: ¡°It is beautiful! Very beautiful! I have never seen something so beautifully in my life!¡± Then she took out a scroll from it and slowly unfolded it. It was a carefully drawn map of Nanyang Kingdom. ¡°Master, before I set out, you told me to pay attention to the voyage all the way and I must draw a map. Well, this is the map¡­¡± Du Wei took the map, put it on the table and slowly unfolded¡­ This map was painted on waterproof canvas! The dotted inds in South Ocean, Ruo Lin also drew a few routes. These routes have avoided some dangerous sea areas, reefs, and vortex zones. And the southernmost tip of the imperial capital was a big ind! Du Wei pointed at the big ind and said, ¡°Here it is ¡­¡± ¡°Sir, this is where the United Kingdom of the South Sea is located. This is thergest ind I know in Nanyang. The area of ??this ind is asrge as the two provinces of our empire. More than 20rge and small tribes live on this ind and the poption on this ind alone is about 5 million. And ¡­ Master, there is a strange thing on this ind in my opinion! ¡± ¡°Weird?¡± Du Wei became interested. Originally, he was full of expectations for Nanyang, as for weird things he never thought about it. Then Ruo Lin told him about a myth and a sentence mentioned in that myth¡­ Hum, ¡°Du Wei, how are you? Surprised?¡± Damn, what could be weirder than this message? Du Wei could not helpughing. It seemed that it was really difficult to figure out what was happening. However, in his mind, a guess came out. Aragon? Right, who could it be other than him. After all, only he was powerful enough to leave a myth in Nanyang Ind and was rted to him¡­ Du Wei put away the map and suddenly a thought came to her mind: Maybe, if I have a chance, I should go to Nanyang? Chapter 448 Part 2 Right, who could it be other than him. After all, only he was powerful enough to leave a myth in Nanyang Ind and was rted to him¡­ Du Wei put away the map and suddenly a thought came to her mind: Maybe, if I have a chance, I should go to Nanyang? He took another look at Ruo Lin: ¡°That¡¯s all for this myth and legend. You talk about how much the Nanyang Kingdom paid as the ransom to redeem their little king? How much good stuff did you bring me back this time?¡± Speaking of this topic, Ruo Linughed¡­ At this moment, her smile resembled Du Wei very much. It¡¯s like Du Wei¡¯s sinister sile, so insidious and cunning¡­ ¡°Sir!¡± Ruo Lin smiled slightly. ¡°This time when I went out, I took more than thirty boats together. Before going out to sea, I tried to get some more. In the end, our fleet reached a full eighty. It¡¯s a year back and forth. We lost three boats on the road due to storms and reefs and some idents during the voyage. This time I brought back a total of 77 boats! This time, twenty ships arrived in the imperial capital but therge troops stayed at the Walker port on the southeast coast of the continent. Moreover, because the Lancang Canal was too narrow after all, all thergest sea boats could note in and stopped at the Walker port. Because the harvest this time is too big, I can¡¯t bring it to the capital at once¡­¡± Du Wei¡¯s heart began to beat violently¡­ ¡°The harvest is too big? How big is it?¡± Ruo Lin thought about it: ¡°Master, Nanyang is rich in gold and gems as well as ivory and spices. These things are valuable things that are scarce on our continent. The eighty big ships I brought back were full of these stuffs. If you sell all these things, you can get the¡­¡± Ruo Lin seemed to groan for a moment: ¡°60 million gold coins! This time we made this windfall. I am afraid it can be equal to the total financial ie of the Empire for five or six years!¡± Equal to total fiscal revenue of the empire in five or six years?! Even though Du Wei had already made psychological preparations, he could not help but suck cold air hearing this number: ¡°So much?!¡± He stood up and looked at Ruo Lin and solemnly said, ¡°Ruo Lin, you have done a good job this time. I am very satisfied! In the future, you don¡¯t have to stay at sea. After this time, you will follow me back to the northwest and serve in the Tulip family army! I think you are a talented leader. Since you have made great contributions this time, I won¡¯t treat you badly. I¡¯ll appoint you as themanding officer. There will be a war soon. As long as you do a good job, you will be my first female general in the future! ¡± Ruo Lin took two steps back immediately, kneeling on one knee. Du Wei nced at her and continued: ¡°Also, made a list of the warriors who went with you to Nanyang and sacrificed their life, their family¡¯s pensions will be increased to¡­ ten times!¡± After reporting everything, Ruo Lin returned from a long journey so she was quite tired. Du Wei was about to let her go to rest, but Ruo Lin suddenly remembered another thing: ¡°Master, when I am returning from Nanyang this time, I also bring a thing. This thing is said to be left by the gods in the ancient temple. My Lord, you told me to fetch any some strange things I encounter so I also brought this thing.¡± After speaking, Ruo Lin went out immediately and after a while came in with a long wooden box. She solemnly ced in front of Du Wei. ¡°Oh? God left?¡± Du Wei murmured in his heart. Is it something left by Aragon? Chapter 349 Part 1 He took a deep breath and opened the box with a solemn look. But when he nced into it, his mouth immediately widened as if someone had suddenly inserted seven or eight eggs into Du Wei¡¯s mouth. Du Wei stared at the contents of the box with a stunned expression, not knowing whether to cry orugh. ¡°This ¡­ is this thing?¡± He eximed with a throaty voice. Ruo Lin was curious: ¡°Is this ¡­ what? Lord, you seem to recognize this?¡± Du Wei reached out and stroked the neat rows of things in the box. Damn, this ¡­ this ¡­ Isn¡¯t this fucking Mahjong! F%ck! It is really Aragon! Du Wei: ¡°¡­¡± ¡­ *Next day* What surprised the personal guard next to him was that the duke, who had never paid any respect to the gods, went to the Church of imperial capital for three days! On the first day, when Du Wei went out and instructed his men to drive to the church, the men almost thought that they had heard something wrong, right? Our Lord was famously disrespectful to the gods so how could he go to the temple? After arriving at the temple, Du Wei directly let people in to report: Duke of Tulip want to see the Pope! Will the Pope just meet him? The next thing shocked everyone. The Pope actually sent someone out immediately and kindly asked the Duke of Tulips to enter. Du Wei then stayed in the Church until dark. After that, the Duke went to the Church for three days and he sought to see His Holiness the Pope every day, staying in the Church from morning to night. Nobody knew what they talked about. Du Wei was very kind to his subordinates. A curious and bold personal guard couldn¡¯t help but ask him about reason. Du Wei grinned and said: Your master, I, decided to spread the glory of the God and sincerely serve God and be an honest believer. As soon as these words came out, everyone was absolutely shocked silence. Everything is possible but this. On the fourth day, Du Wei no longer went out. He locked himself along with Hussein, Rodriguez, Queen Medusa and Miss Nicole in the study. He also ordered no one to disturb. Several people stayed in the study for the whole day. At the same time, something strange happened in the Pce. He never went out all the year round. His Holiness the Pope of Rnd actually came to the pce in person and asked to meet with the Regent! How is it possible! A few days ago the rtionship between the two parties was already very tense. Now does His Majesty Popee to see the Regent King? Could it be that the fight is not fun so they make up? Less than half a day, this piece of news spread throughout the core circles of the imperial capital, especially the dignitaries of several empires. After all, the meeting between the Emperor of the empire and the spiritual leader of the empire was bound to be extraordinary. ording to news, His Majesty the Pope and His Royal Highness had an intimate talk for an entire afternoon. After His Highness the Pope left the Pce at night, His Royal Highness was obviously exhausted and weird. Nobody knew what had affected His Royal Highness¡¯s mood. That night, His Royal Highness slept in his study. Following day, His Royal Highness the King seemed extremely strange. He locked himself in the room, no one was allowed to disturb him and even his closest personal guard who was the most trusted subordinate was frightened by the kind of murderous look on the face of the Regent. What the hell was going on? Chapter 349 Part 2 Following day, His Royal Highness the King seemed extremely strange. He locked himself in the room, no one was allowed to disturb him and even his closest personal guard who was the most trusted subordinate was frightened by the kind of murderous look on the face of the Regent. What the hell was going on? Another dayter, the Regent seemed to be getting more and more manic and his mood was extremely unstable. He even ran out of the room in the middle of the night barefoot and drove away the waiters and guards who followed him and ran to the ¡°white tower¡± in the middle of the pce. Then, the lord of the empire, considered to be the wisest young monarch in the empire¡¯s history locked his brow tightly. He sat barefoot on icy ground beneath the white tower, wearing light clothes all night! All the guards, under his strict order, were not allowed to stand near him. Next day when the sun rose in the morning, the tired Prince Chen finally calmed down, he stood up and walked to the white tower. He stretched out his hand and stroked the white marble on the wall of the. He suddenly whispered to himself, ¡°Oh, Your Majesty the Aragon, you have spent countless thousands of years to build this white tower, leaving this powerful magic circle, is it to deal with the current situation? ¡± Well, yes, it must be. At that time, the continent was unified. Under the leadership of the Great Aragon, the army of the Rnd Empire was invincible. There was no threat to the existence of the empire or the world. In this case, why did Aragon make such a huge magical array that had consumed the empire¡¯s countless financial resources and manpower? After all, there was not any necessity. In the north¡­ Thinking of what the Pope had talked with himself, Prince Chen frowned. If they were just words of the Pope, maybe Prince Chen might not believe it. This was normal. How can you believe such a major matter casually? Just imagine that now the Pope of the Vatican suddenly ran to the president of the United States and said, ¡°God entrusted me with a dream. I know that the aliens will invade the earth three yearster. Now you quickly order a national war preparation.¡± Someone might think that the Pope was crazy. Simrly, Prince Chen would not just believe such things. After all, it was associated with the recent sudden outbreak ofrge number of beasts in frozen forest which had never happened in the Empire for thousands of years. Moreover, in addition to the words of the Pope, in fact, there is an ironw inside the royal family of the Rnd Empire, which has been passed down from generation to generation! It was ¡°under no circumstances, the magic circle of the Empire must not be abandoned!!!¡± Each generation of emperor even had to invest new financial resources to repair or even perfect this magic circle. Even the most dreadful emperor adhered to this ironw. More importantly, regarding the northern part of the maind, beyond the extreme north of the frozen forest, there were also some exiled races ¡­ ordinary people werepletely unaware of it. But Prince Chen knew! In the royal family, there were naturally some most secret and most precious documents handed down from ancient times. Although they were only vague records with only a few words, he could also make a vague guess. Chapter 350 Part 1 The Pope of the Church also brought some ancient documents that were not kept in the Church for many years, all of which reminded the young monarch: All this is true, it really happened! In the northern part of the maind, there were a group of fierce enemies, much more powerful Northwest Army! And soon, they would go south and attack the empire! Prince Chen stroke white tower gently and whispered, ¡°What a heavy burden¡­¡± It was also after this day, the military sent an urgent military report, written by the head of the Stormwind Corps Rostock. It turned out that immediately after the beast wave retreated, the head of the Rostock army immediately recruited a death squad to venture into the frozen forest to investigate the situation. At that time, the hundred elite soldiers who had been recruited entered the forest with the determination to die. General Rostock¡¯s order was to go venture inside as much as possible. Everyone knew that if you did not have the strength of a magician and a warrior above intermediate level, then entering the frozen forest was purely a risky suicide. Frozen forest was full of beasts. Fortunately, this death squad team entered the forest all the way to the north. Along the way, they did not see any beasts! Those beasts disappeared overnight or went underground to hide! Along the way, it was so safe that these soldiers who thought they were going to die, almost took this adventure as a tour! It¡¯s so peaceful! Along the way, only one soldier identally sprained his foot. Apart from that, they did not encounter the slightest danger. Soon, they actually came to ice Lake, which has been called the ¡°end of adventurers¡±! Soldiers knew that the iceke could not be crossed. However, due to General Rostock¡¯smand and coupled with the surprising calm adventure till now, these soldiers decided to continue northward! Soon, a few dayster, they reached the northern end of the frozen forest! When walking to the north end, these soldiers almost thought they were dreaming! For thousands of years, countless powerful martial artists and magician to go died at this ce. Countless strong masters couldn¡¯t cross thiske but ordinary soldiers like them did it easily! And ¡­ still no casualties! To the north of the forest was a t ice field. At such time, the leaders of these soldiers immediately made a decision: ¡°Continue north!¡± However to be at safe side, the officer made a clever order: let half of them stay here while the other half will continue to go north. As a result, this order saved the lives of fifty soldiers. Under the eyes of the fifty soldiers left behind, fifty soldiers embarked on the ice field and have not yet gone out of sight. After about a few hundred meters, huge storms suddenly appeared in the original calm sky! The strong wind blew the soldiers on the ice fields down! If Du Wei was here, he would tell them: Don¡¯t make any resistance and retreat immediately! Chapter 350 Part 2 Under the eyes of the fifty soldiers left behind, fifty soldiers embarked on the ice field and have not yet gone out of sight. After about a few hundred meters, huge storms suddenly appeared in the original calm sky! The strong wind blew the soldiers on the ice fields down! If Du Wei was here, he would tell them: Don¡¯t make any resistance and retreat immediately! Unfortunately, these soldiers made one of the most wrong choices: they took out a low-level magic scroll given by a magician adviser in the army when they set off. But it¡¯s just this magic that killed them! The first moment when the magic scrolls were used, it immediately triggered a soft light, blocking the surrounding wind. But before these soldiers could cheer, the next moment¡­ Next moment, the storm in the sky as if triggered by this little magic light suddenly became ten times more violent! Countless wind des destroyed that magic barrier in an instant! Fifty soldiers were cut into pieces by countless wind des in an instant! Just under the eyes of everyone, only a puddle of blood was left behind. This scene was really scary. It took a while for the rest to recover. The leader had some insight and immediately recognized: ¡°There must be a powerful magic barrier here.¡± They did not dare to send someone forward to death, but could only retreat all the way back. Who would have thought that in the frozen forest, there was no danger back and forth all the way, but after walking out of the frozen forest, half of the people were suddenly lost. Soon, the fifty soldiers who survived reported the experience to General Rostock, themander of the legion and General Rostock immediately wrote an emergency military intelligence and passed the matter to the Imperial capital. Because of the importance of matter, the military department had sent people to the north at the fastest speed. In the base camp of the Northern Stormwind Corps, a special magic array had been set up. With this magic array, the military situation could be passed to the imperial capital. ¡°There is no beast in the Frozen Forest. To the north, there is an ice field and a huge natural magic circle that cannot be passed¡­¡± After receiving this military prince, Prince Chen carefully thought about it for a while. It could be said that it was this situation thatid thest nail in the determination of Prince Chen! Because, before the Pope visited and talked with him, the Pope once said about the huge natural magic barrier in the north of the Frozen Forest. ¡°This is thest barrier that Goddess of Light gave to humanity¡­¡± These were the original word of the Pope. From the military situation of the Storm Team, this is obviously true! Well, the Pope didn¡¯t lie ¡­ disaster really came. Boom! Prince Chen smashed the table with a fist and then the young monarch, with a sombre face, burned the emergency military intelligence to ashes. In the afternoon of the same day, the royal ministers who had always expressed surprise at the sudden meeting between the pope and the regent suddenly received a call from the pce at the same time. His Royal Highness ordered to go to the pce to discuss immediately. As the Prime Minister Rob Scher, Minister of Finance Munez and Camisillo etc¡­ More than a dozen dignitaries holding significant imperial power came to the pce. To their surprise, this meeting was not a secret meeting gathered in His Royal Highness¡¯s study or in a small hall as usual. Chapter 351 Part 1 ¡°It looks like something big has happened.¡± All the dignitaries who were called had such a thought in their hearts at the same time. When they entered the hall, they saw the gold armoured warriors standing on both sides of the hall, and then they saw the regent sitting high above them. His gloomyplexion confirmed the guess in their hearts. Sure enough, after all the big shots entered to the Hall, Prince Chen spoke: ¡°I invited everyone today to announce one of my decisions.¡± The regent stood up and his eyes cold slowly swept over the audience: ¡°Imperial Prime Minister, Acting Minister of Military Affairs, Rob Scher.¡± The old prime minister immediately stood up and owed slightly. Prince Chen¡¯s voice was low and slow, echoing word by word in the hall: ¡°Expand army by 200,000 ording to the standards of the Imperial Army Corps. The Minister of Finance Munes will provide financial. The four main armies of the empire will simultaneously recruit soldiers. At the same time within one year ¡­ no, half a year, I want to see Empire¡¯s new Main Battle Legion! ¡± Rob Scher¡¯s body trembled. He looked at the face of the Regent and was about to say something but he closed his mouth stiffly? A few days ago, didn¡¯t you just make a decision on things in the north. Aren¡¯t you decided to just deploy troops from the south? Why did you suddenly decide to expand? Oh my god, this is a whole main battle army! The Minister of Finance¡¯s body trembled. His skin was crumpled up on his old face. He bit his teeth severely and walked forward and said loudly, ¡°His Royal Highness, I oppose it!¡± The regent¡¯s gloomy eyes nced at Old Munes: ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No money!¡± The Minister of Finance brazenly stared at the eyes of the Regent. The old man felt that today Your Highness was particrly majestic. ¡°Hmm.¡± Prince Chen sneered: ¡°Munes, from today taxes in the eight provinces in the south except for the two provinces affected by the snow disaster and northern area will be all doubled!¡± ¡°Ah!¡± The Minister of Finance shuddered suddenly and eximed abruptly, ¡°His Royal Highness! This is definitely not possible!¡± Unexpectedly, the regent did not get angry because Minister of Finance opposed hismand. The young monarch took a deep breath, his eyes showedplicated look and then he slowly said word by word: My decision will not change. ¡± Minister of Finance Munes seemed to see deep weight in the eyes of the young Highness! It¡¯s too heavy to breathe. However, as the finance minister of the empire, he still remembered his duties firmly, the old guy bit his teeth and suddenly fell on his knees. He raised his head and looked at the Regent: ¡°His Royal Highness, increasing taxes is impossible! The empire has huge and overwhelming military spending for many years. Although the provinces in the south are wealthy, taxes have been increased six times over the past ten years for military spending! The establishment of a main battle corps must start at least 10 million in the first year, and the annual military expenditure in the future must also be at least 8 million! With the current financial strength of the empire, it is simply impossible to do so! Then ¡­ I am afraid that in less than two years, the South will be rioting! ¡° Chapter 351 Part 2 The fierce look in the regent¡¯s eyes returned again and he suddenly said with a sigh, ¡°Munes, I know everything you said. That¡¯s way tax will be increased for only one year and it will be restored next year! But this year¡¯s tax must be increased!!! As for the future ¡­ let¡¯s talk about itter.¡± Talk about itter? The Minister of Finance could not help but re up! What do you meanter? He regarded the Regent as the hope of the imperial family. How could he be so irresponsible?! Army of 200,000ndlord soldiers will cost at least 10 million gold coins to set up! Then, these 200,000 people had to be supported each year. The weapons, horses, and grains (food) must be maintained and acquired. No matter how you save, you need more than 8 million gold coins every year! Taxes would be raised this year and not next year. Then where will the 8 million gold coinse for each year? Do these 200,000 people starve to death?! Unfortunately ¡­ the Old Finance Minister didn¡¯t know that thoughts of the Regent at this moment were different! Annual military expenditure in the future? Hmm ¡­ don¡¯t have to think about it anymore! Once the war begins, whether it is 100,000 people or 200,000 people ¡­ when money is not required for the war? Moreover¡­ Do we have a choice? In the hall, everyone was stunned, not knowing how could their wise monarch suddenly decided to expand army. Everyone was suspicious but didn¡¯t dare to speak¡­ Suddenly, outside the hall, a court attendant hurried in. Then he knelt on the ground and said: ¡°His Royal Highness! Grandpa Tulip arrives¡­¡± The Regent raised his eyebrows and looked at the court attendant in annoyance: ¡°Now that Duke of Tulip is here, just let him in directly! What else do you want to report?¡± The waiter was frightened, and said quickly: ¡°His Highness ¡­ Duke of Tulip, he is not alone. He brought a hundred people and fifty carriages. He said that all these things should be brought in and shipped to the entrance of this hall. The guards want to check the contents of the carriage, but Duke did not allow it¡­¡± ¡°Oh?¡± The regent chuckled. Even if Du Wei waste today, why did he bring dozens of carriages and drove the carriages to the entrance of my pce hall? Don¡¯t let the guard check yet? What the hell was he doing? After a moment, Prince Chen made a decision: ¡°Let him enter! No one stop him; please invite Duke of Tulip and his people toe in! Well, I¡¯ll see what this guy is up to.¡± Everyone looked at each other in the hall including the old Finance Minister Munes who was kneeling on the ground. After a while, everyone heard the sound of leather boots outside the hall. Subsequently, Du Wei came in. To everyone¡¯s surprise, Du Wei did not wear his usual magician attire. Nor did he wear aristocratic ornate costumes. When he came in, he was wearing close-fitting leather armour and on the back was a cape. It gave a little heroic feeling! Chapter 352 Part 1 Outside the gate of the main hall, everyone heard wheels rolling. Dozens ofrge carts, under the close supervision of the Imperial Pce Army, had stopped at the door. ¡°His Royal Highness!¡± Du Wei looked up and smiled, ¡°I¡¯ll give you a big gift!¡± ¡°Gift?¡± The Regent brow frowned. ¡°What gift?¡± ¡°Money!¡± Du Wei¡¯s answer surprised everyone. After speaking, he turned abruptly and walked to the doorway outside the hall. He stood next to the carriage closest to the hallway, and then suddenly pulled out the sword from the waist of an Imperial Pce army soldier around him. He mmed it on a big box on the carriage¡­ Click! Wow¡­ Everyone in the hall whispered in surprise! Gold!!! A box full of gold coins! However, this was not enough. Du Wei smiled and raised five fingers to the people in the hall: ¡°Military expenses! 50 million ¡­ Gold coins!¡± This time, everyone in the hall changed colour! 50 million gold coins? What is that concept? It is almost equal to the total fiscal revenue of the entire Rnd Empire for one year! The Regent couldn¡¯t stand anymore; he stepped out of the hall suddenly, walked in front of Du Wei and carefully looked at the box that had been cut in front of him. It was filled with piece gold coins! ¡°Du Wei, where do you get so much money from!¡± The Regent approached Du Wei and suddenly grabbed his shoulder tightly. Du Wei smiled and then whispered, ¡°His Highness, I earned all this money. Would you like it or not?¡± Prince Chen¡¯s eyes turned and then weirdly smiled: ¡°Yes! Why not!¡± But after a pause, he whispered, ¡°What about your condition? Well, if you don¡¯t get anything in return, I am afraid you won¡¯t do it. Right, you ¡­ what do you want? ¡± Du Wei no longer smiled, his face was dignified and then he took a deep breath and said his answer: ¡°I want to ¡­¡± His voice suddenly changed from low to firm and decisive! ¡°I want the Emerald River renamed as Rowing River! I want the Kurt province to be renamed as Rowling province! I want the Rowling family to be acquitted and my brother Gabri to take over the Rowling family! When Prince Chen heard the request, he immediately did a quick calction in his heart and then came up with a result. The 50 million gold coins was enough to establish an elite main battle corps and the support in the next few years could be done without worrying ¡­ a main battle corps, for a Rollin in. As for restoring the title of the Rowling, although it was a bit shameful to change his own order, it may be a loss of face ¡­ but at this time, face was not important. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m sure.¡± Prince Chen immediately nodded and promised. ¡°Oh, there is a second condition.¡± Du Wei grinned. Chapter 352 Part 2 ¡°Okay, I¡¯m sure.¡± Prince Chen immediately nodded and promised. ¡°Oh, there is a second condition.¡± Du Wei grinned. Du Wei said indifferently: ¡°His Royal Highness, I have paid a lot of money so naturally you have to pay more.¡± Prince Chen looked at the gold coins scattered on the ground: ¡°Say it.¡± ¡°Since the return of the Rowling ins, the title of the Rowling family had also been restored ¡­ then the private army of the Rowling family must be re-established!¡± Du Wei said indifferently: ¡°I don¡¯t want much, just 50,000! The original Rowling family have more private troops, but I know that His Royal Highness, you will not be relieved if aristocratic family have many private soldiers. So I don¡¯t want much, only 50,000. Prince Chen looked at Du Wei strangely: ¡°50,000 private troops is not much. Moreover I will not interfere with the private army of the aristocracy. You don¡¯t have to discuss it with me.¡± ¡°But¡­ I demand these 50,000 private troops to be transferred to the northwest!¡± Du Wei¡¯s this sentence immediately changed the face of Prince Chen. ¡°Don¡¯t be too surprised, my Highness.¡± Du Wei smiled: ¡°Obviously, in order to deal with future wars, I guess, you must rush to smooth out the internal problems first. Otherwise, things will not end up well. So I think you must n to solve the Northwest Army as soon as possible. My poor army is not enough to protect ourselves from the chaos in northwest. Rowling family is originally mine. I want the private army of the Rowling family to help me in the northwest. This may require you to nod, otherwise, tens of thousands of troops will be transferred at will and it will be considered rebellion.¡± In this court meeting of the Empire at the beginning of 963, the fifth main battle corps of the future Rnd Empire and a well-known invincible army division inter generations was born! From the birthce, this legion had deeply rted to Du Wei. And this legion also had a loud resounding name in history. Thor¡¯s Whip! ¡­ The carriage was on its way to Kurt Province. Du Wei was sitting in the carriage. Opposite to him, a middle-aged man was sitting. This man was wearing a gorgeous robe with a golden belt around his waist, which was obviously a nobleman¡¯s dress. This man was no one else, but a nephew of the old Minister of Finance of the Rnd Empire, Munes, who had also served in the army before being transferred to the Imperial Supervision Office as a deputymander and a baron. After donating 50 million gold coins for military expenses, Du Wei was granted a pardon order for the Rowling family. This time, he was going to his hometown to announce this big event himself. The fellow who apanied him, as an official of the Empire Supervision Office, was the person ordered by the Regent to transmit a pardon order. ¡­ Actually, the reason why this person was sent to the Rowling in with Du Wei also had another meaning. This guy was the nephew of the Minister of Finance Munes and the Rowlings have a marriage contract with the Minister of Finance¡¯s family. Du Wei¡¯s younger brother and the Minister of Finance¡¯s young granddaughter had signed the marriage contract when they were Childs butter when the Rowlings fell down, no one mentioned about it again. If the Rowlings had no hope of resurgence, then this marriage contract would probably be invalidated. After all the members of the Rowling family were not fools. They would not think that the families which had copsed could marry the granddaughter of the imperial finance minister. The rtionship between the two had gradually faded. However, this time with the pardon order signed by the Regent himself, the Rowling family had hopes of resurgence. Although the political career of the Earl Raymond had ended because the pardon order signed by the Regent only agreed to restore the title of the Rowling family, while allowing the Rowling family to decide for themselves the sessor of the Earl title. Earl Raymond¡¯s official position had not been restored. After all, he used to be one of the coup leaders. It was impossible to forgive such a grave crime. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t the regent p his own cheek? Chapter 353 Part 1 Although it was impossible for the old Raymond to return, Gabri was young and everyone was optimistic! This little guy who had been known as a genius since he was a kid in the imperial capital was originally very clever. Now the Rowling family title was restored. Not to mention, he also had an elder brother who was currently in limelight, the Duke of Tulips! In the future, this little guy¡¯s future was considered bright! Under these circumstances, repairing the rtionship with the Rowlings became a top priority for the Minister of Finance Munes. This time his nephew went to the Rowling ins with Du Wei. On the one hand, a pardon order was issued in the official capacity of the Imperial Supervision Agency. Another important thing was to use show goodwill to restore the rtionship with the Rollin family. Du Wei had a good impression on this guy. This guy once served in the Empire¡¯s army. He did not aristocratic temperaments, but rather a bit of manliness. Although he had been working hard all the way, he had not revealed any slight dissatisfaction. He talked and behaved decently. Today, they reached formal Emerald River which was now known as Rowling River. Du Wei knew that by crossing this river, he had officially entered the Rowling in (formal Kurt province). He couldn¡¯t help remembering the scene when the apanying cavalry soldiers of the Rowling family cheered and shouted ¡°Going Home¡± when he came here for the first time. Home ¡­ Here it should be my home. On the fifth day of the journey, he arrived at the castle of the Rowling family where Du Wei had lived for a year. It was just that the private army guards stationed outside the castle were removed long ago. The carriage came all the way to the outside of the castle and there were no guards from the Rowling family to greet them¡­ At this time, Rodriguez¡¯s voice came from outside: ¡°Master Duke, we have arrived.¡± Du Wei opened the window and looked at the towering Rowling family castle and the high tower¡­ Mother, I haven¡¯t let you down. The Rowling family¡­ have finally been restored by me! The carriage team entered the castle and it was still the old butler Hill who came out to meet him. After Du Wei jumped out of the carriage, the old housekeeper¡¯s face seemed a little excited. They must have been already informed. Sure enough, just after the old housekeeper greeted the Du Wei, he heard a cheerful voiceing from the gate of the castle: ¡°Brother!!!¡± Later, a young boy rushed out and threw himself at Du Wei. Du Wei smiled and hugged his brother hard and then pushed him away to take a closer look. I haven¡¯t seen him in the past two years. This younger brother seems to have grown up a lot. His body is getting stronger. Moreover at the moment he is wearing a white ground samurai practice suit and a short sword at his waist. Du Wei knew that this was not the right ce to talk and introduced the baron and then looked inside: ¡°What about mother?¡± There was a hint of anxiety in Gabriel¡¯s eyes as he answered: ¡°Father has not been very well recently. The mother is with him in the room. Moreover, the mother was originally going toe down to see you, but because a guest came, the mother said ¡®She is a family member and it is inconvenient toe out without seeing them.¡¯¡± Not very well? Du Wei frowned slightly and then he said politely to Baron Cope. ¡°Baron Cope, I¡¯m sorry for inconvenience. Please go with me to see my father in the room. The pardon order will be read out in the room.¡± Chapter 353 Part 2 Not very well? Du Wei frowned slightly and then he said politely to Baron Cope. ¡°Baron Cope, I¡¯m sorry for inconvenience. Please go with me to see my father in the room. The pardon order will be read out in the room.¡± Cope did not care about this and quickly nodded in agreement. Later, Du Wei and Cope led by Gabri entered the castle and reached the master bedroom upstairs. As soon as the door was opened, Du Wei heard a heavy coughing from the room. This voice made Du Wei¡¯s heart jump. Pushing the door, he saw arge bed in the middle of the room. Old Count Raymond was lying there. His original burly body seemed to have lost a lot of weight. Hisplexion was no longer rosy. It looked very yellow and the eye sockets were deeply recessed. Even those morous eyes seemed to be a little muddy¡­ Du Wei looked in his eyes and couldn¡¯t help but feel bitter. Count Raymond was dismissed from all official positions and lost his ancestral titles and territories. Although his father was lucky and did not die, he returned to his hometown, but he must have reproached himself in his heart! As the patriarch of the Rowling family, the Rowling family had been ruined in his generation by his father. It must be very painful in the past two years. The formal famous figure of the Empire had now be a weak sick man¡­ The countess was standing by the bed. In Dewey¡¯s eyes, the mother was still beautiful. Although her eyes had already been wrinkled, time had gradually invaded her beauty, but she was wrapped in light makeup. Standing there so quietly, looking into his own eyes, the tenderness and tenderness that filled him, but Du Wei¡¯s heart immediately became hot. He took a deep breath and strode into the room and then knelt on the bed with one knee: ¡°Father! Mother! I¡¯m back!¡± The countess had a deep love on her face. She walked up and gently hugged her son. Then she gently stroke Du Wei¡¯s hair with her fingers without speaking. Count Raymond on the bed struggled to sit up. Looking at his kneeling son in front of the bed, he coughed a few times and then whispered: ¡°Du Wei ¡­ you have worked hard for two years.¡± Later, the Baron Cope came in and after greeting the two; he read the pardon order signed by the Regent before the count Raymond. After reading, the eyes of the old Count Raymond suddenly burst into surprise! At this moment, he seemed to be reverted to the formal famous empire of the former military expeditionarynd. He took a deep breath: ¡°Unexpectedly, my Rowling family has opportunity to makee back!¡± He looked at his eldest son and said in low voice: ¡°Du Wei! Thank you! Otherwise, the Rowling family will have really died in my hands. In that scenario, even if I die, I can¡¯t forgive myself!¡± The baron Cope smiled: ¡°Raymond ¡­ you and I are also old acquaintances! Uncle wants to pass greetings on his behalf. ¡± Count Raymond smiled: ¡°Well, Baron Cope, please help me convey my gratitude to Lord Munes.¡± Chapter 354 Part 1 Cope said: ¡°It¡¯s just a pity, old friend. You can¡¯t recover your official rank. I think you can understand that. The regent has restored the title of the Rowlings. This time, in addition to issuing a pardon order, Regent wants you to decide the next heir to the Earl title. When I go back, I will report it back to report to the Lord Regent and the Royal family. After all, the Rowling family is also considered a part of the royal lineage. ¡± Heir? Who else besides Little Gabri? Old Raymond smiled and immediately asked the special envoy to rest in the finest guest room. When the family of four was left in the room, Earl Raymond had a heavy expression on his face: ¡°Du Wei, this is an order of the Regent. It didn¡¯t need you toe personally. Since you are back, presumably is there anything else important? ¡± Du Wei nodded, his expression never rxed: ¡°Father, I does have something important. On the one hand, Ie for a pardon order, on the other hand, to seek family support! After my brother became Earl, I need the full support of the Rowling family! And the family¡¯s private army¡­¡± He hasn¡¯t finished talking yet. Count Raymond suddenly smiled and cut off: ¡°Okay, don¡¯t talk about these things now. Du Wei, I¡¯m weak and need to take a break so let¡¯s talk about it tomorrow.¡± Du Wei froze for a moment. Then he smiled and nodded: ¡°Okay, father, then tonight¡­¡± Originally, he wanted to say that he would go back to the room to rest tonight. But before he finished, Earl Raymond suddenly said, ¡°No, you can¡¯t go back to your room to sleep tonight!¡± ¡°You¡¯re sleeping in the study tonight!¡± Earl Raymond looked at his son with his eyes shing. He said word by word: ¡°This is our tradition!¡± Pass on ¡­ tradition? Du Wei couldn¡¯t help feeling weird. Tradition is right ¡­ but. I am no longer the heir to the Rowling family! Looking at his father in the hospital bed, Du Wei did not raise any objections but obediently went out. The old butler Hill was ready for everything. Tonight, Du Wei was still sleeping in the castle¡¯s study. Gabri was left in the Count Raymond¡¯s room. He looked at his little son and suddenly felt guilty: ¡°Gabri, would you be dissatisfied with my decision?¡± Gabriel¡¯s face was young but it was full of determination: ¡°No, father, I think all your decisions are correct.¡± ¡°You are very smart, my son.¡± Count Raymond suddenly reached out and called the younger son to the bed and stroked his face lightly: ¡°But I don¡¯t think you can lead the family to glory. So my decision is to have you inherit my earl¡¯s title. But ¡­ the position of patriarch, I have decided to let Du Wei take over! ¡± Gabri didn¡¯t have any objection. From the perspective of young Gabri, it was natural to follow his brother. ¡°I know myself, I can¡¯t live long.¡± Old Raymond smiled. Old Raymond gently held his wife¡¯s hand and then looked at the younger son: ¡°Gabri, remember my words! Don¡¯t forget them!¡± Chapter 354 Part 2 ¡°I know myself, I can¡¯t live long.¡± Old Raymond smiled. Old Raymond gently held his wife¡¯s hand and then looked at the younger son: ¡°Gabri, remember my words! Don¡¯t forget them!¡± ¡°¡­ Father, what?¡± ¡°Your brother!¡± Old Raymond said in a more serious tone than ever before: ¡°Follow him! Follow him all his life, be by his side and be loyal to him!¡± Du Wei returned to this astonishinglyrge study room. He looked at the oil paintings on the walls. He found Semel here. I¡¯m going to live in the study again tonight¡­ tradition The tradition of the Rowling is that the patriarch or heir after returning to the castle must live in the study on the first night. (This tradition was introduced earlier in this book). But me ¡­ now, in terms of name and identity is not considered as the member of the Rowling family. In the study, the servants had already delivered food and water. When the door was closed, Du Wei was left alone. When he lived here before, he was still a young master who had no power and lost his favour. But now, he was already a sessful Duke. With his just one sentence, he could summon tens of thousands of people to die for himself! Looking at the oil painting on the wall, Du Wei suddenly smiled. ¡°Everything started from here! I don¡¯t know if there will be any interesting things tonight¡­¡± The next day, Du Wei was in his father¡¯s room. Du Wei told his father his ns, including the re-establishment of the Rowling Family¡¯s Private Army in the Rowling ins, as well as ns for the formation of an army he envisioned. ¡°Five thousand soldiers are enough. If there are more, it is not necessary. I think the empire will soon deal with the Northwest Army in the next year. I must form a reliable army as soon as possible within one year. Otherwise I am afraid that under the war, I do not even have the ability to protect myself. There is a small poption in the northwest. I need sufficient troops and the support of the family! The Rowling in was run by the Rowling family. For hundreds of years, the soldiers recruited from here, whether morale or loyalty, are more reliable¡­¡± Du Wei had not finished before Raymond in bed interrupted him: ¡°Just do what you say.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Du Wei was stunned. Old Raymond coughed a few times and then looked at his son: ¡°The family was restored by you, it can be said that you gave the family a rebirth. Do as you deem fit, I believe your ability and judgment. Since the war in the Northwest is about to begin¡­ then, this is also an opportunity to restore the fame of the family! I believe that under your leadership, the glory of the Rowling family will be revived in this war.¡± Du Wei was a little surprised: ¡°Father. You mean¡­¡± ¡°Everything is entrusted to you. If you need to recruit, just go. Whatever you want, as long as it is on thend on the Rowling in, you can take them away!¡± ¡°But ¡­¡± Du Wei hurriedly said, ¡°This established army still needs you tomand!¡± ¡°Me?¡± There was a gleam of gloom on Old Raymond¡¯s face. Then he smiled and looked at his son: ¡°Du Wei, I am old. It has been proven that I am a loser. And ¡­ I cannot help youmand this army.¡± ¡°Father, although the regent did not restore your title, you can stillmand this army secretly. You are the head of the family. I don¡¯t think this is a vition of imperialw.¡± ¡°This is not a problem, my son.¡± Earl Raymond had exhausted expression on his face: ¡°My son, I am old! And, I know my own body. I am afraid it is difficult for me to live to see the Rowling family regain its glory one day!¡± Chapter 355 Part 1 Du Wei frowned because his father¡¯s body was indeed weak. However, as a general (warrior) who had fought before, he should be able to recover. He was not that old, he was just defeated in the past which was a heavy blow to his self-confidence. At least, Du Wei himself thought so. ¡°I have made a decision.¡± Raymond was lying on the bed. His eyes did not have slightest glory of the past, but at this moment his eyes were full of love as he looked at Du Wei. He said in hoarse voice: ¡°I oncemitted a mistake, a big mistake and that was I didn¡¯t trust you! But I will notmit same mistake a second time in the future. ¡± Du Wei heard Raymond whispering to himself: ¡°Son,e here,e closer.¡± Du Wei immediately moved closer. Old Raymond struggled to sit up and then he stretched out his skinny hands. God, seeing his father¡¯s skinny arms, Du Wei was startled! Is this father? Is this the famous general that once stood above all? Was it the rebellious hero who dared to lead tens of thousands of soldiers to the trapped pce? Watching my father¡¯s hand¡­ ¡°Father, you ¡­¡± Old Raymond smiled. He looked at Du Wei and slowly said, ¡°Du Wei, stop talking about family matters, now ¡­ I just want to hug you, my son!¡± Just want to hug you, my son. At this moment, Du Wei suddenly wanted to cry. The news of the recovery of the Rowling family spread out and soon spread throughout the Rowling ins. The people of the Rowling ins immediately felt excitement! And soon, the order to re-establish the private army was issued. In the surrounding towns, long queues were lined up in front of recruiting ces. In some ces, people had even upied the entire the street. The entire street was blocked. Everything went smoothly and quickly! Originally, there were private soldiers in the Rawlings family. At the end of the crime of the Rawlings, these private soldiers were forcibly demobilized. Those excellent soldiers left the army and went to the home. Most of them picked up farm tools and became farmers. But after this news spread, the same thing happened in many ces on the Rowling in. That strange scene was: Many farmers who heard the news dropped the hoe in their hands almost immediately and then flew back. When they reached home, they pulled out their armour and sword from under the bed and then ran to the horse, rushing towards the city closest to them! One by one¡­ These people gathered together on various roads in the city. Many people gave each other a tacit understanding. They didn¡¯t even say hello. When these farmers who were sitting on the horses faced each other, they directly performed a military salute. A special military salute of the Rowling family private army! One monthter¡­ In just a month, the private army of the Rowling Lin family was re-established. Arge number of veterans returned to the army. There were also many warriors who were loyal to the Rowling family. After hearing the call, they all put on their armours and rushed from all parts of the Rowling in to the army to report. Chapter 355 Part 2 In just a month, the private army of the Rowling Lin family was re-established. Arge number of veterans returned to the army. There were also many warriors who were loyal to the Rowling family. After hearing the call, they all put on their armours and rushed from all parts of the Rowling in to the army to report. The formerly abandoned military camps thrived with vitality and the energetic soldiers practised hard. Later, the local officials and local defence forces originally appointed by the Empire sessively withdrew from the Rowling in. As before, the Rowling in had almost be a small independent kingdom again, a ¡°Rowling Kingdom¡±. Du Wei clearly underestimated the enthusiasm of the people of Rowling in (Kurt Province). He also greatly underestimated the appeal of the glorious name ¡°Rowling¡±. Soon, the 50,000 private soldiers were recruited but the streets were still full. At this time, Du Wei simply made a decision. Although the agreement with Emperor Chen was of recruiting 50,000 soldiers, Du Wei was not an honest guy. He issued the order to recruit another 20,000 reserve. Well, the reserve should not be considered a regr army. Old Raymond could not give directions because of sickness. The Gabri was still young. During this month, Du Wei assumed almost the same responsibility as the patriarch. After the empire¡¯s local officials were withdrawn, the important posts of local government were served by arge number of members of the Rowling family. The Rowlings who were pardoned naturally thanked Duke Du Wei. Du Wei spent a lot of time reviewing documents every day. Of course, he did not forget his younger brother, when he was dealing with these official tasks. No matter how unhappy Gabri was, Du Wei forced the kid to follow him. Du Wei¡¯s intention was very clear. Although youthful yfulness was the nature of young people, Du Wei still educated his brother many times. You are the future earl. And now the family¡¯s situation is special so you have no time to enjoy your innocent youth years! You must grow up and mature as soon as possible! You must be familiar with these things in shortest time¡­ Looking at his younger brother¡¯s tender face, Du Wei also felt a little soft-hearted but he still hardened himself. ¡°Gabri, don¡¯t me me¡­ Since I¡¯m leaving the Rowling in soon, this burden will rest on your shoulders in the future!¡± In fact, on the Rowling in, even the small vendors and coachmen knew that although the nominal heir of the earl title was Young Master Gabri and those documents were signed by Young Master Gabri, in reality the person who really made all kinds of decisions was the Duke of Tulips! Anyway, Master Du Wei, Duke of Tulips, was also our family member. The citizens of Rowling ins also rarely use the name ¡°Duke of Tulips¡± for Du Wei. Most people were used to call him ¡°Big Master¡± to appear intimate. On this day, after the signing of the final appointment document, the transfer of military and political power in the Rowling in had beenpletely ended. Du Wei removed dozens of people who were already seriously ill or old from the local government and position of the rest of members of Rowling had been restored. In the army, arge number of old ministries were recalled no matter whether it was senior officers and grass-roots officers. Du Wei was not too much worried about it. Du Wei was very familiar with these troops, even far more familiar than Gabri¡­ Speaking of which, this was still a bit shameful. After all, Du Wei had extensively engaged in that ¡°football league¡± in the army. For this reason, Du Wei¡¯s rtionship with these officers was very good. Thest appointment was about the head of the family guards. Old Uncle Alpha had gone with him to the northwest and the position of the head of the family guards was vacant. Du Wei considered this for a long time and then Gabri proposed a candidate. ¡°Butcher!¡± Gabri said to his brother, ¡°Although this guy is a little boring, he is also a man trusted by his father. He has followed me for two or three years and his martial arts are very good.¡± Du Wei immediately remembered that when he first returned to the Imperial Capital and saw his brother for the first time, there was an indifferent guard standing next to his brother. Finally, he decided to go with Gabri¡¯s proposal. Chapter 356 Part 1 In order to rebuild the private army of the Rowling family, Du Wei could be said to have invested a lot of financial resources. After all, the Rowling family was had long lost its former glory and there was not much money in the family treasury. Although Rowling in was now Rowling family¡¯s territory, the next tax would not be paid until next year. Now all the military expenses were borne by Du Wei. Fortunately he had some savings. Otherwise, he would have been in debt. At the same time, Du Wei¡¯s mood was not good. His mood was getting heavier day by day because¡­ The body of his father Raymond was getting weak and sickly by each passing day! Raymond¡¯s illness began after he was fired and returned to his hometown. A general who practiced martial arts like him for a lifetime was strong and would not get sick easily. His illness and wounds from war were actually nothing. The most important reason was emotions and low self-confidence! His mother told Du Wei that after returning to the Rowling in, Old Raymond looked at the former family¡¯s territory. The original Rowling gs that had been hoisted in various ces had be the g of the Thorns and Flowers. The supporters of the Rowling family who were extremely supportive remained silent on Raymond¡¯s return! This silence hit Raymond even more! He deeply felt that he was the historical sinner of the Rowling family! The glorious family was ruined in his hands. Originally when he returned, he was ready to be cursed and hated by Rowling citizens. Even if someone threw stinky eggs or rotten tomatoes at him, he would feel better. But there was no swearing. People across the in heard that the former patriarch had returned, but everyone remained silent ¡­ This is a kind of silence full ofplex meanings, full of pain, anger, despair, and many other emotions. But the good-natured citizens didn¡¯t aim at their old patriarch. What made Raymond even guiltier was that some of the loyal family members of the loyal family around the castle had even followed the previous rules and willingly hand over taxes to the family! Although formal local government officials had been reced by Empire, thousands of these stubborn Rowling citizens rushed to the castle in a carriage and demanded that their taxes must be paid directly to the castle to show their loyalty. It was these things that finally defeated the old Raymond! He felt very guilty. One night he even suddenly vomited blood. Originally, when Du Wei first came here, he still had an optimistic attitude towards his father¡¯s illness. He believed that his father¡¯s body was very good and he was only emotionally unstable. With the Pardon Order brought by him, the hope of reviving the family should be able to calm the father¡¯s unstable emotions and then he would naturally recover slowly. But in a month, Du Wei¡¯s heart lost hope little by little! Not only did the old Raymond¡¯s disease not improve but it became much worse in one fell swoop! Although he was lying on the bed, he could get up every day to take a walk in the castle garden. But after the good news about the family¡¯s revival arrived, his illness became so severe that he could not get out of bed! Several of the best doctors were invited in the family and a lot of drugs were used, but there was no effect at all. Du Wei himself was a magician and an excellent magic pharmacist. He also had deep knowledge of various medicines. He checked his father in person and tried many ways. But those drugs had very little effect on his father¡¯s body. Although he didn¡¯t say anything Cleary, he knew in his heart that vitality of his father¡¯s body was passing away quickly and could not be restored. The symptoms of old Raymond¡¯s vomiting blood became worse and he always felt pain in his heart and chest, which made him unable to fall asleep. A tough guy who was originally dignified thinned. Du Wei couldn¡¯t bear it and finally made up his mind to use some ¡°Ice Berries¡± for his father. This analgesic medicine could relieve pain. Chapter 356 Part 2 What annoyed Du Wei was that any other drug had no effect on the old Raymond, but these ice berries still had effect. It acted just as a pure analgesic drug that could only relieve the pain of his father but it had no effect on his illness at all. In the following days, Du Wei was busy with everything but did not leave as nned. He stayed at home and stood by his father¡¯s bed all day long. Although his mother secretly cried every day and Gabri was flustered because of his young age, Du Wei showed the temperament of pir of the family. He calmlyforted the sad mother and took care of the panicked brother¡­ What no one knew was that the young Duke sat in front of his father¡¯s bed every night with his eyebrows knitted. For many days, he didn¡¯t sleep for a minute, not even doing meditation. He stayed with his father all the time. Even when Raymond was lethargic, he stared at his father with an affectionate look. In order to save his father, Du Wei even took out the ¡°Spring of Youth¡±, hoping to use this legendary item to save his father¡¯s life¡­ but he was disappointed with the results again. Obviously, my father¡¯s illness is not caused by injury or debase. My old man has exhausted his vitality! Du Wei had never been this depressed. He had always done everything smoothly and almost without disadvantages. But facing his dying father, none of his methods worked. Although he was a magician and a man who could create miracles, after all, he was not a god! He was human! He also once hid in the study to read all the books he could find, wanting to find out any method that can rejuvenate people¡¯s vitality. But how can such method be recorded in the books? Old Raymond also seemed to understand that his body was hopeless. As long as he woke up, he would endured the pain and speak with his son with a smile on his face. Finally, in the middle of the second month after return of Du Wei to Rowling in¡­ To this day, Dewey gave his father a bit of Ice Berries. Although he was still smiling while Comforting mother and brother, his heart was sinking as day passed. He has been in charge of his father¡¯s medication and he knew very well: These days, father¡¯s demand for ice berry is growing and the effect of ice berry on his father¡¯s body gradually diminishing. This afternoon, Old Raymond refused to eat ice berries. He said he wanted to be sober: ¡°Eating this thing will make me unable to concentrate. I want to hear you, son, I don¡¯t want to miss single sentence.¡± Du Wei felt wet on his eyes. He quickly turned around and wiped his tears vigorously. Then he quietly grabbed a ss of water and helped his father take two sips. ¡°So, father, what do you want to hear today?¡± Despite his heartache, Du Wei still had a smile on his face. He raised his skinny hand and gently stroked his son¡¯s face and then slowly said, ¡°Actually, I should have said a lot to you. Maybe I should have told you to take care of your mother, take care of your brother¡­ but I know that you are a sensible child. I need not say these words. You will do an excellent job¡­¡± Du Wei was silent for a while then his trembled fiercely. He said with a smile, ¡°Father, wait for your health to recover then we will go to the Northwest together. We are going to deal with the Northwest Army. Together with family¡¯s Army, we now have 100,000 soldiers. You are the bestmander! ¡± Old Raymond didn¡¯t answer this sentence. He looked at his son and there was a gleam in his murky eyes. Chapter 357 Part 1 ¡°Son, go and get my sword.¡± Old Raymond made this weird request. Du Wei did not hesitate and immediately turned around and took off the hanging sword from the wall. This was exactly the old sword of the old Raymond. This sword apanied the old Raymond through most of his life, from the northwest to the south ocean! Although he was too weak to hold the sword, Raymond still held the sword in his arms and his trembling fingers stroked gently on the sword¡¯s de. He said: ¡°Do you know? I first officially led the troops on the battlefield twenty years ago in the northwest! And this sword followed me from that time. ¡± Du Wei immediately said: ¡°Trust me, father. In the next Northwest War, you will take this sword with the army! Lu Gao that guy is definitely not your opponent!¡± Old Raymond smiled. He smiled veryplexly, then put down his hand and stared at Du Wei: ¡°Son. I know that you can do a great job without me. You are my best son and also the best talent of the Rowlings. I know that no matter what you do, you can do a great job¡­¡± Du Wei finally couldn¡¯t bear it anymore, and tears came out of his eyes: ¡°Father ¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t cry!¡± At this moment, the glory of the once glorious great general returned to him: ¡°I have lived for so many years and my glory has passed. Even if I die, it is already worth. We are members of the Rowling family. Death, to us Rowlings, is nothing terrible. ¡± Then Old Raymond took a deep breath ¡­ even though his voice was weak. But the kind of determination and decisiveness in the tone still seemed to be of a Great General: ¡°Son, go, call your mother and brother, I have something to say!¡± Du Wei took a deep look at his father and suddenly he guessed something¡­ Time hase! A few minutester, the countess and Gabri stood by Raymond¡¯s bed. To everyone¡¯s surprise, Old Raymond seemed to be full of vitality. He even had a much better spirit. Without any help, he sat up hard and leaned on the bed. Then, the Patriarch watched his wife and son quietly. ¡°Gabri,e here.¡± He looked up and beckoned his younger son. Gabri who already had tears in his eyes walked to his father. Raymond gently stroked his little son¡¯s head and said softly, ¡°I know, these days, I only let Du Wei apany me and not let you stay in my room¡­ My son, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t love you. I love you very much. But, you know what? I just want topensate your brother. Since he was very young, I have been bad to him. In the time I have left, I decided topensate him more and spend more time with him. I believe that smart child like you can appreciate my painstaking efforts.¡± ¡°I ¡­ I understand ¡­¡± Gabri burst into tears. Then Raymond turned his head to his wife. There was a deep tenderness in his eyes: ¡°Alice ¡­ my dear Alice ¡­ You are the love of my life. The happiest thing in my life is to have you by my side. But sorry, my dear, our children will be entrusted to you in the future. ¡± The countess, who had always been weak, seemed to have be stronger now. With a charming smile on her face, she looked tenderly at her husband¡­ but she miraculously did not cry. She slowly walked over and gently held her husband¡¯s hands. She only said a very short sentence: ¡°I ¡­ understand!¡± The husband and wife have been together for many years and the countess expressed her emotions with only eyes. Chapter 357 Part 2 The countess, who had always been weak, seemed to have be stronger now. With a charming smile on her face, she looked tenderly at her husband¡­ but she miraculously did not cry. She slowly walked over and gently held her husband¡¯s hands. She only said a very short sentence: ¡°I ¡­ understand!¡± The husband and wife have been together for many years and the countess expressed her emotions with only eyes. ¡°My life has been wonderful. I have been glorious, brilliant, sessful, and failed ¡­ I am so satisfied to have such a life.¡± Raymond sighed and then coughed again. A contented expression appeared slowly on his face, ¡°I thought I was going to die with sin, but fortunately, I have a great son who helped me to redeem my sin and saved my family. Even if I die now, I will not have any regret. Du Wei,e here. ¡± The famous empire finally called his eldest son. The father and the son looked at each other for a long time. The eyes of the two men intertwined for a long time and then old Raymond opened his mouth. The general¡¯s voice was choking at this moment. ¡°The most person I am sorry in my life is you, my son. I want topensate you but my life doesn¡¯t allow me to do so much¡­ Unfortunately, I will continue to be sorry for you, my son. Because I can¡¯t bear the burden of the family anymore, I will pass this burden to you, my young son¡­ I feel really guilty. But I know you will fare fine, right? ¡± Du Wei looked at his father¡¯s eyes and then he took a deep breath: ¡°With me Du Wei here, the glory of the family will not go away! Father, this is mine, Du Wei Rowling¡¯s promise to you!¡± Raymond was relieved. With a trembling hand, he passed the sword in his arms to Du Wei¡¯s hand. With the surrender of this sword, the light in Old Raymond¡¯s eyes faded quickly and he seemed to be unable to support himself anymore andy down gently. ¡°Du Wei ¡­ my son ¡­ the most in my life, the person I¡¯m sorry ¡­ yes, it¡¯s you. And my most ¡­ the most regrettable thing ¡­ is ¡­ yes ¡­¡± At this point, his voice faded gradually and Du Wei hurriedly took two steps to put his ear on his father¡¯s mouth. The once-great general finally expressed his greatest regret in his life. It wasn¡¯t a mistake made in the coup nor was the family almost ruining in his hands. In hisst words, the greatest regrets of his life were: ¡°¡­ Yes, when you were born, I was in the ocean. I as a ¡­ father couldn¡¯t watch the birth of¡­ my first son!¡± Then he closed his eyes for¡­ forever. The once well-known general in the history of the Augustine dynasty finallypleted his life that was difficult to evaluate. When he was dying, he was lying in bed with his dear family to say goodbye. It could be said that for a general, it should be a very happy ending. Du Wei¡¯s arms held his father¡¯s sword, only to feel its heaviness. His brother Gabri was crying but Du Wei felt that his heart was empty, so empty that he had no desire to cry. ¡°I sent you to my hometown of Rawin, I hope you are good!¡± ¡°You are a magician and even a member of the Rowling family!¡± ¡°He is no longer from my Rowling family!¡± ¡°Son, you are better than me¡­¡± ¡°I just want to hug you, my son¡­¡± ¡°The most regrettable thing is not being able to watch you born.¡± ¡°I know ¡­ you will do well.¡± Du Wei was holding the long sword in his arms. His fingers had been whitened because his grip was too hard. Finally, he pulled his younger brother harder. He gently wrapped his shoulders and gritted his teeth, ¡°Okay, don¡¯t cry!¡± At this time, the beautiful countess slowly walked to the bed. She bent down and kissed her husband¡¯s forehead gently and deeply. Then, she even stretched out her hand and sorted out the quilt covering the old Raymond, making the dead Raymond look as if he had fallen asleep peacefully. The countess¡¯ movements were exceptionally gentle. Later, the mother turned around and looked at her two sons. Her beautiful eyes fell on Du Wei¡¯s body. ¡°Du Wei ¡­¡± his mother whispered to him, ¡°Now you are the only adult man in the family!¡± Du Wei raised his face and looked at his mother. The mother¡¯s expression was sad as she wept silently: ¡°Your father once said ¡­ he wants you to be the chief of the Rowling family.¡± Chapter 358 Part 1 In the early spring of the Empire¡¯s 963 year, the Rowling in was covered with ck gs. All the Rowling gs in all towns were changed to ck to show mourning to the deceased former patriarch Raymond. Count Raymond¡¯s funeral was not grand. ording to the tradition of the Rowling family, there is a valley behind the Rowling Castle. Behind the valley, there was a cemetery where the patriarchs who died over the years were buried. The death of Earl Raymond brought a haze to the celebratory atmosphere that was originally spread because of the restoration of Rowling family. On the day of the funeral, the countess fainted once and little Gabri was crying from beginning to end. But Du Wei, the eldest son of the Rowling family, was in a ck suit. He was holding the sword left by his father. He always remained silent and no tears flowed. Everyone else saw the Duke of Tulips with a little fear. Just two days before the funeral, the young duke ordered a red carpet from the castle all the way to the cemetery and sent hundreds of people to collect tons of petals. He even mobilized the guards to stand on both sides of the red carpet. Wherever the coffin went, they yed the triumphal trumpets. It was nothing like a funeral but more like a celebration on the general¡¯s triumphant return. Although some people thought that doing funeral in such a way was a bit wrong, Du Wei didn¡¯t care a bit. He just used this kind of behaviour to make up for his father¡¯s grief. Prime Minister Rob Scher, the Finance Minister Muner and so sent messengers to mourn. Du Wei behaved as if he were a real homeowner and thanked the messengers from all sides for their arrival. He was very mature and even indifferent. After the night of funeral was over, Du Wei again locked himself in the study room. In the study, on the walls, where the oil paintings were hung, there was an extra oil painting of Earl Raymond at the end. The Earl Raymond in the picture was in armor and looked full of vitality. Du Wei sat quietly in the study for one night and no one knew what the young duke was doing in the study. After dawn, Du Wei walked out of the study and went to visit his mother first. The Earl¡¯s death caused the countess¡¯s body to have some problems. Du Wei talked with her and checked her body. She did not want to add too much burden to her son at this moment so no matter how she was, she always tried to be as calm as possible. After Du Wei went to see his mother in the morning, he immediately called the old housekeeper Hill. Then made a decision: To hold family meeting. The Rowling family was a family of martial arts. In addition to Earl Raymond, the patriarch, there were of course many other people who had previously upied important positions. The family of hundreds of years of history naturally had firm foundation. In addition to the patriarch¡¯s title of earl, there were also some people in the family who served as empire officials, forming a small political group of the Rowling family. Some were in the military, two were Barons and others were government officials. After the coup d¡¯¨¦tat, this political group had beenpletely eliminated by Prince Chen and none remained. However, with the order of pardon, except for Count Raymond, who was the leader of the coup, all others were pardoned and their titles were restored. Raymond was no longer alive so seat of patriarch was empty. So it was natural to rmend the new Rowling patriarch. This was an old tradition. So when the news of the meeting came out of Rowling Castle, no one was surprised. Some people were even prepared for it but some simply left without waiting after the funeral. Chapter 358 Part 2 Raymond was no longer alive so seat of patriarch was empty. So it was natural to rmend the new Rowling patriarch. This was an old tradition. So when the news of the meeting came out of Rowling Castle, no one was surprised. Some people were even prepared for it but some simply left without waiting after the funeral. The venue of the n assembly was located in a hall of the castle. A long tablerge enough to amodate dozens of people was ced in the hall. It had long been filled with the figures of the various people. When Du Wei and his younger brother Gabri stood outside the conference hall, there was already a lot of discussion in the room. Everyone had been arguing and the sound almost overturned the ceiling. Some of them were noisy, some were screaming, some were sneer, some were spective and some were ambitious. As soon as Raymond died, many people in the n immediately became ambitious. After the Rowling family recovered, some people even saw this as opportunity! After Raymond¡¯s death, originally ording to tradition, the first heir was naturally the oldest son, Du Wei. But Du Wei had publicly left the Rowling family. He changed his surname to Rudolph and became the Duke of Tulips. So it was impossible for him to inherit the earl. And the second heir was naturally Gabri. In fact, the royal family had determined that the heir of the Earl title was Gabri, but the problem was that Gabri was now eleven years old. Four years were left before he be an adult. Before he could be an adult, he could not hold any official position and title. Everything had to be waited till he be adult. Well, this was a loophole. Although Earl Raymond hoped that Du Wei could assume this responsibility during his lifetime, after all, Du Wei was officially an ¡°outsider¡± so he could not hold position of Patriarch. When Du Wei walked into the room, some people yelled and pped at the table. The noisy people were divided into two factions. One faction was loyal to Raymond and insisted that the young master Gabri should be the patriarch. The other faction was made of some ambitious guys. They wanted to appoint an Acting Patriarch till Gabri bes adult. Du Wei was ready for this kind of pediatric noise. He just sneered twice and then patted his brother. He asked softly: ¡°Gabri, look, these people can¡¯t wait to swallow you. Are you afraid?¡± Gabri shook his head and looked at Du Wei¡¯s eyes: ¡°I¡¯m not afraid because you are here.¡± Du Wei smiled and then¡­ Boom! With a loud noise, Du Wei kicked the door of the conference hall open. The quarrelling people inside were startled by the voice and then calmed down. Du Wei kicked the door open then took his brother¡¯s hand, and strode in. Both brothers wore extremely elegant aristocratic suits, long robes, golden belts, and fur cors. While Du Wei was wearing a pair of white gloves, Gabri was wearing ck once. As the two walked across the table, everyone was staring at them but Du Wei didn¡¯t care. He walked to the top of the long table, and then pointed to the position of the patriarch¡¯s office in the middle, and said to Gabri: ¡°Sit down!¡± Gabri sat down like this. Someone immediately couldn¡¯t help but said, ¡°This ¡­ Master Gabri, your position doesn¡¯t seem to be there, please¡­¡± Gabri didn¡¯t speak. Du Wei immediately stared at the talking guy fiercely. He stared, deliberately using his powerful mental power as a magician. The other person felt as if he was suffocated by powerful mental power. He clenched his teeth and stopped speaking. Du Wei looked at the silent crowd and then summoned a servant. He moved the chair and sat next to his brother. Then he said lightly: ¡°Now, choose the patriarch.¡± After he spoke, no one dared to speak for a long time. After a while, someone said, ¡°Duke of Tulip, the n meeting of the Rowing family is going on, you ¡­¡± ¡°What am I?¡± Du Wei asked indifferently. ¡°Duke of Tulip, ording to tradition, outsiders are not allowed to attend meetings within the n.¡± The man groaned, staring at Du Wei. Chapter 359 Part 1 The guy who spoke was obviously one of the main figures of the opposition. Du Wei remembered this guy vaguely. He was a well-established old guy in the Rowling family and had Baron Title. He also owned a lot ofnd. His words immediately aroused the opposition of Earl Raymond¡¯s family. ¡°Nonsense! Who can you say young master is an outsider?¡± ¡°Is Master Du Wei an outsider? You old bastard!¡± ¡°I think you just have a guilty consciousness, otherwise why are you so afraid of Master Du Wei!¡± The opposition did not show weakness and some people immediately called out: ¡°Who says he¡¯s not an outsider!¡± ¡°Just ask him! Hisst name is Rudolph or hisst name is Rowling!¡± ¡°He has left the family openly and there is no falsehood about it!¡± When the crowd was about to quarrel again, Du Wei suddenly stood up, then suddenly pulled out the long sword left by his father. Then he held it with both hands and suddenly chopped it at the table! Huh! The sword was nailed to the table. Everyone quietened immediately. Du Wei¡¯s face did not show unhappy or angry expression. He just looked at the guy who questioned him coldly and asked lightly, ¡°You say I¡¯m an outsider?¡± ¡°You¡­¡± The man had guilty conscience but after looking at hispanion, he couldn¡¯t help oppose strongly: ¡°Duke Tulip, you are no longer a Rowling.¡± Du Wei was a Duke! Now it¡¯s a n meeting! ording to the imperial decree, no one should interfere in the internal affairs of the noble family, not even the royal family. Even if you are spoiled by the royal family, you could not interfere noble family. ¡°Very good, you¡¯re right.¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°Legally, I¡¯m not really a Rowling family. But¡­¡± He suddenly smiled. With a faint smile, he said to the guy slowly, ¡°But. I¡¯m sitting here today, not as the member of Rowling family but as¡­ the future Lord Gabri Rowling¡¯s Chief Magician Adviser! Such an identity is enough? ¡± ¡°Magician ¡­ Magician Advisor ¡­¡± Everyone had nothing to say. Nobles recruit magicians to work for themselves, it was amon practise on the maind. The number of magicians was scarce and precious. They often work as right arm of nobles. Nobles often obey the magician¡¯s opinion because of their preciousness. ¡°But you ¡­ your identity ¡­ you are the Duke of the Empire ¡­¡± Du Wei sneered: ¡°Whichw of the empire prohibits the duke from being a Magician Adviser to the Earl? I am willing. Does it matter to you?¡± When he said this, his palm was resting on the hilt. Finally, the opposing guys looked at each other and said nothing. ¡°So now that everyone has no opinion, let¡¯s start choosing the Patriarch.¡± Du Wei sat down again. ¡°When I came in just now, everyone seemed to be arguing, right?¡± Immediately someone replied, ¡°Master, we think we should let Master Gabri be the patriarch, but these guys are against it.¡± Du Wei nced at his brother and smiled: ¡°Oh, what is the reason for the objection?¡± The opposition immediately shouted: ¡°We think that Master Gabri is naturally qualified to be the patriarch but he is still too young after all. ording to the imperial decree, anyone below 15 years old could not hold any official position. The Rowling family has so muchnd and so many things. Master Gabri is still too young to handle them! Of course, we dare not object Master Gabri. After all, he is the heir to the Earl Title¡­ but we think that we should appoint Acting Patriarch till Master Gabriel became adult.¡± Someone with good rtionship with Raymond shouted, ¡°After a few years! A joke! After a few years, God knows how much the real estate of this family has been swallowed up and corrupted by you! Your gang¡­¡± Before he finished speaking, Du Wei waved at him and then Du Wei nodded again and again. He suddenly smiled and said, ¡°Well, right, right. Ah! ¡°Then he turned to look at his brother:¡± Gabri, they said that you are young and you cannot be the patriarch, do you think it¡¯s true?¡± Gabri immediately said, ¡°I think that¡¯s right.¡± The boy stood up and looked at the crowd sincerely: ¡°After all, I am only eleven years old. At such a young age, I really can¡¯t take on the responsibility of a family. I also feel that I am now It =¡¯s not suitable to take on heavy responsibilities right away, um ¡­ now that everyone thinks that someone should be asked to help me, I think it can be done. ¡± Opposition hurriedly added: ¡°Must be a member of the Rowling family! Outsiders must not intervene!¡± ¡°Oh ¡­ So, was anyone chosen?¡± Du Wei asked lightly. Those who opposed looked at each other in dismay. They felt weird in their heart because these two brothers seemed to agree too easily. It¡¯s inevitable that it¡¯s a little disturbing. However, there was no room for retreat at this time! Think of the fertile Rowling ins, those astronomical family businesses ¡­ though the Duke of Tulips was a bit tricky. Fortunately, he was already an outsider. And ¡­ he couldn¡¯t stay in the Rollin in forever! He would leave Rowling ins to go back to the northwest. At that time, the two ces are thousands of miles apart. Where could he have time to take care of this ce? And that huge family finances made people greedy¡­ Chapter 359 Part 2 Think of the fertile Rowling ins, those astronomical family businesses ¡­ though the Duke of Tulips was a bit tricky. Fortunately, he was already an outsider. And ¡­ he couldn¡¯t stay in the Rollin in forever! He would leave Rowling ins to go back to the northwest. At that time, the two ces are thousands of miles apart. Where could he have time to take care of this ce? And that huge family finances made people greedy¡­ ¡°We have elected several highly respected candidates from the family, everyone can vote! This is the most fair!¡± Some people in the opposition cried. Du Wei looked at these greedy guys ¡­ Huh, if I didn¡¯t bring a pardon order; you idiots will still be sitting at home! Want to take advantage of it now? He sneered: ¡°In this case, please tell us who they are. Let¡¯s discuss it.¡± Soon, the opposition named two people, one was the loudest person just now and the other was an old man with white hair. Du Wei recognized this guy. He was owner ofrgends on Rowling in and holds Baron Title. ¡°Sir Dirk served as the head of the family private army in the early years. We think he cane forward to help Master Gabri manage the family private army. Baron Shawn is an excellent financial manager who can help Master Gabri Finances.¡± Someone said aloud. ¡°Sir Dirk, Baron Shawn?¡± Du Wei looked at the two guys. It was the Baron Shawn. The old man looked a little calm, but ¡­ was he a finance manager? Joke! Du Wei couldn¡¯t helpughing. This guy was just a loan shark. ¡°Is the two candidates elected?¡± Du Wei looked at the two, the old guy who loaned us a lot, as if he smiled politely at himself. It was this Sir Dirk, because he talked aloud to himself when he came in. He was a very arrogant guy and dared to stare at himself. Du Wei turned his head and looked at his brother: ¡°Gabri. What do you think of these two candidates?¡± Gabri smiled and blinked: ¡°I have no opinion.¡± ¡°Well. Dear brother, you have no opinion? Good. We might as well sign a document. I think it is better to write everything in ck and white.¡± Du Wei thought for a moment: ¡°Let¡¯s draft a one-point agreement. Everyone must sign on it and rmend these two gentlemen as assistants to the patriarch. What is the term of office ¡­ I think it will be four years. After four years, you can be an adult.¡± Four years ¡­ Everyone in the opposition thought about it. In four years, enough benefits could already be obtained. Soon, the agreement was written. Because of the deliberate silence of Gabri, Raymond¡¯s faction did not object. Then everyone signed the documents one by one¡­ At this moment, Du Wei suddenly asked: ¡°A four-year term ¡­ Can you change people during the term?¡± ¡°Of course not!¡± The opposition shouted unanimously. ¡°Really not?¡± asked Du Wei. ¡°Absolutely not!¡± The opposition was very strong. ¡°Even ¡­¡­ if there is any special reason for it,¡± Du Wei frowned: ¡°substitutions cannot be done?¡± ¡°In any situation, substitution is not allowed!¡± Consistent opposition insisted. ¡°Okay.¡± Du Wei seemed topromise. Soon, the agreement was written. A total of forty-four members of the Rolling family signed the agreement and took a vow, saying that no one was allowed to vite the agreement. After all this was done, Du Wei looked as if nothing happened and he was not frustrated because of the losses. This attitude made the opposing faction feel a little confused¡­ Does this Duke of Tulips care little about the wealth and business of the Rowlings? Well, it may be so! After all, he was now the Duke. He had a province and everyone heard that business was doing well in Imperial City. Moreover, he had won the trust of the Regent. After thinking this, a bunch of greedy persons was at ease. ¡°Two people, I¡¯ll rely on you to help my brother in the future. It required a lot of work.¡± Hearing this Sir Dirk and Baron Sean were caught off guard. Du Wei even pointed at the top of the table and smiled politely: ¡°Since the two of you have different identities now, you can no longer sit here. Please sit there to present you identity as the patriarch. ¡± Dirk was feeling unease. Although he felt that something was wrong, but after all, the agreement had been signed in ck and white. Everyone had signed and swear the agreement. That could no longer oppose him. In this case¡­¡­ He couldn¡¯t help but feel a little bit fluttering. He nodded to Du Wei politely but his expression showed a little greed as looked at the position on the long table¡­ The Sir Dirk took a deep breath and walked up¡­ Suddenly¡­ Thump! ¡°Oh¡± The moment Sir Dirk stepped up. Suddenly a foot stretched out right under his foot. Sir Dirk was caught off guard. He stumbled and fell down with his face down. Fortunately, he turned his head around. Otherwise, he would have lost his front two teeth. He climbed up, only to see that it wasn¡¯t anyone else who was stretching out his feet to trip over him. It was this gentle-looking Duke of Tulips just now. ¡°Master Duke! You!!!¡± Sir Dirk looked angry. Du Wei¡¯s original smile waspletely gone and it was reced by gloomy expression. He looked at the Sir Dirk coldly: ¡°You stepped on me!¡± Sir Dirk froze. Stomp on you? Obviously you tripped me! It is clear to everyone¡­ Is this calm and collected looking guy do this kind of boring thing to vent his anger? Huh, He is a child after all! ¡°It¡¯s you ¡­¡± at this moment, Dirk was calmed down a little. Even though he fell down, he didn¡¯t want to quarrel with a Duke on such boring things. He gritted his teeth before he held back his anger and said, ¡°Okay, I identally walked, Lord Duke, please forgive me.¡± He was about to walk away but Du Wei grabbed his shoulders and pulled him hard. Then he stared coldly and said: ¡°I said, you stepped on me!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Dirk froze, everyone froze. Du Wei slowly said word by word: ¡°I don¡¯t care what your Rowling rules are! But I have my rules! In my Duke Rudolph¡¯s rules, this is an offense against me. No one can just offend me casually and go unpunished! Sir Dirk, I ask you to apologize to me immediately. Now, immediately lie on the ground and wipe my shoes clean!!! ¡± What ¡­ what? Everyone was stunned. But I just stepped on my feet¡­ Do I need to lie down in public to clean other person¡¯s shoes? After all, I am also a Baron. If I do this, will I still be able to see people in the future! Moreover, everyone saw clearly. Just now it was clearly that Du Wei who stretched his leg to make me fall down. ¡°This ¡­ is this a malicious provocation against me?¡± Sir Dirk felt little cold in his heart. ¡°I don¡¯t like to talk repeatedly. Now, kneel down and clean my shoes.¡± Du Wei¡¯s eyes were already a little chilly. ¡°If ¡­ if I refuse!¡± Bark Dirk insisted. ¡°Oh ¡­ you refuse.¡± Du Wei nodded and then took a deep breath: ¡°Stepping on my foot is offense toward me, offence toward the majesty of the Tulip! Then, Sir Dirk, I demand this matter to be settled as Nobles! ¡± After speaking, Du Wei suddenly took off his two white gloves and mmed them on the other part¡¯s face fiercely: ¡°I demand to fight you!¡± Chapter 360 Part 1 ¡°Duel ¡­ Duel ¡­ Duel?!¡± Baron Dirk eximed: ¡°Prince Tulip! You ¡­ you ¡­ are you deliberately provoking me? You¡­ you¡­¡± Duel with Du Wei? Are you kidding me! He was a well-known and powerful magician on the continent! He cried abruptly: ¡°I ¡­ I¡¯m the Acting Patriarch rich of the Rowling family¡­ You ¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Du Wei spread his hand and shook his head. ¡°You are indeed the Acting patriarch. Unfortunately, I am an ¡®outsider¡¯. Even if you are the Acting patriarch of Rowlings, I have no reason to take orders.¡± ¡°That ¡­ that ¡­¡± Sir Dirk sweated heavily: ¡°I ¡­¡± He had a sudden inspiration, as if he had found some life-saving straw: ¡°ording to the traditions of nobility, if my body is not suitable for duel, I can choose a loyal subordinate of my family toplete the duel for me! You can also send loyal subordinates toplete the duel! This is also fine.¡± Du Wei smiled evilly: ¡°Okay, I ept. I will wait for your message. Within two days, please choose a suitable candidate and then we willplete this duel.¡± Sir Dirk rxed a little and thought that it should not be difficult to find strong person if heavy reward was offered. Just as he thought that everything was settled for now, he suddenly saw Du Wei¡¯s hand stretching toward him¡­ Snapped! A p firmlynded on Sir Dirk¡¯s face, causing his cheeks to swell. In front of everyone, he was pped and even if he feared Du Wei, he couldn¡¯t take it lying down. But before he could say anything, Du Wei was ¡°annoyed¡± first. He heard Du Wei ¡°angry¡± voice: ¡°Sir Dirk!!! Why did you hit me with your face!!!¡± Use ¡­ my face ¡­ to hit your hand? Dirk almost didn¡¯t spit out blood when he heard this. Du Wei has continued quickly: ¡°You hit my hand with your face! This is another insult to me! I offer you a second duel! Sir Dirk!¡± When Dirk heard this, he almost vomited blood. In such situation, even the calmest people couldn¡¯t control himself. Everyone understood it clearly: the Duke of Tulips was deliberately looking for trouble with Dirk. Second duel? Sir Dirk felt like he was about to faint. But how could Du Wei let him off so easily? He saw Du Wei walk up, raise his leg and kick him hard on the chin with his foot. One had to say that Du Wei¡¯s body was flexible and physical fit after training. It was getting more and more powerful. After getting kicked on the chin, Dirk screamed and fell backward with his mouth full of blood. Du Wei became ¡°angrier¡±. He yelled indignantly: ¡°Well, how bold of you, Sir Dirk! You have offended me twice in a row but you still dared hit my foot with your chin! You ¡­ you don¡¯t take me too seriously!¡± Uh¡­ When Gabri heard the words ¡°hit my foot with your chin ¡°, even though he had a tacit understanding with his brother beforehand, he couldn¡¯t helpughing at this moment. Chapter 360 Part 2 Uh¡­ When Gabri heard the words ¡°hit my foot with your chin ¡°, even though he had a tacit understanding with his brother beforehand, he couldn¡¯t helpughing at this moment. On the ground, Dirk yelled miserably and spat out blood with his two teeth. His tongue was bitten by the teeth. At this moment, he angrily eximed: ¡°Duke of Tulips ¡­ You bastard ¡­ you¡­¡± Du Wei¡¯s face ¡°sank¡± immediately. With a look of injustice, he shouted loudly: ¡°You all listen! He actually scolded me! This is a naked attack on a nobleman!¡± The people around were already stunned. Someone could not help but want to say to Du Wei: Naked words attack? You have already done ¡°physical attack¡±¡­ Du Wei went up and stepped on Sir Dirk¡¯s chest. Then he bent down and punched the Dirk before shouting: ¡°Oh, Dirk. How dare you ¡­ oh. You again hit my hand¡­¡± Just in front of the eyes. A magnificent person was actually beaten by Du Wei so much. Poor Dirk began to yell and scold a few times. Later, he couldn¡¯t bear it. Although Du Wei was also an aristocracy, he practiced the starrybat moves. So how could a ordinary person resist him? Dirk had already yelled for help. He also counted on thosepanions who wanted to reap beefits. But these guys did not dare to intervene. Who dare to go forward and offend an famous Duke? Even if someone wanted to go over but a thought crossed their mind: If I touch the Duke¡¯s arm, I¡¯m afraid he would bite back and say I ¡°hit¡± him, wouldn¡¯t it be bad? As a result, for a moment, the ¡°Acting Patriarch¡± was beaten by Du Wei, but on one dared to speak. Du Wei had yed enough. When he stood up, he felt happy after venting the depression. He took a deep breath, then looked at Dirk on the ground and said fiercely. : ¡°Sir Dirk, you hit me a total of sixty-six times so you owed me sixty-six duels! Hurry up and go back to find sixty-six men who are willing to give you on their life and are ready to duel for you! ¡± Dirk breathed roughly for a long time before recovering. He sighed indignantly and said, ¡°Dou Wei! You have harmed me! This is naked bulling! You ¡­ you are a murderer! I will sue you! Even if you have high powered but the imperial code will not allow let you off!¡± pped! The answer to him was a p. ¡°Sixty-seven!¡± Du Wei raised his hand and smiled slightly: ¡°Sue me? Hum, Sir Dirk, see what it is.¡± Du Wei slightly opened his cket, revealing a badge inside: ¡°Look carefully, this is the magician badge! The significance of this badge not only represents my magician status, but also ¡­ that I have immunity to empire¡¯s statute! Want to sue me and condemn me ¡­ my dear Baron Dirk. Do you know what procedures are required to convict a magician? ¡± Du Wei squatted down and smiled, ¡°First of all, you must have full evidences and the witnesses. Physical evidence must beplete. Then, you must first go to the local Magic Union to file the case and then go to the Imperial Empire in person to report my crimes¡­ You must get the document signed by the Minister of the Imperial Supervision Office and then deliver it to the Pce in person to get the permission of the regent. After doing this, you have to hand it over to the Magic Union! In the end, Magic Union will decide whether I am guilty or not¡­ Even if I proved guilty, the punishment for me can only be carried out within the Magic Union. ¡± Du Wei sighed sadly and then looked at Sir Dirk with pitying eyes: ¡°Let me tell you one more thing, for the thousand years since the founding of the Empire, the magicians who were punished for breaking thews of the Empire, you know how many are there?¡± Du Wei opened his palm and then clenched it again:¡± Zero¡­ no one. If you have mood and interest, then go ahead and sue me¡­ as long as¡­¡± Du Wei stood up and looked at the guy on the ground coldly: ¡°The premise is that after our duel, you still have a life to speak.¡± Chapter 361 Part 1 Looking at the audience, Du Wei¡¯s face regained that gentle and respectful smile: ¡°Do you have anyments?¡± The hall was silent. All of Raymond¡¯s faction almostughed out but they all suppressed it. Those who were originally in the opposition because of greed, at this moment broke out in cold sweat. They finally understood. In the face of absolute strength, how ridiculous their ideas were. It could be said that if Du Wei was determined to go on killing spree¡­ they were afraid that no one could stop this guy. Du Wei snapped his fingers casually. The two warriors rushed in immediately. Du Wei pointed at Dirk on the ground and said: ¡°Throw him out for me and then have someone to ¡°send¡± him home. Also arrange some people to watch firmly outside his home, not allowing him to run away. This guy owed me sixty-seven duels!¡± The guards nced at each other. At the same time, pity surfaced in their eyes. Poor guy ¡­ I don¡¯t know how you offended our Duke. Those who offend Lord Duke generally do not have good ending. Sixty-seven duels? I¡¯m afraid even if this guy has goddess¡¯s blessings, this guy is dead. Seeing Sir Dirk dragged out like a dead dog, Du Wei smiled and turned to look at the other ¡°Acting Patriarch¡± ¡°Baron Shawn¡­ please sits here to match your acting patriarch¡¯s identity.¡± When Du Wei¡¯s ridiculous words fell into Baron Sean¡¯s ears, the expression on the face of the old guy immediately changed. His face turned blue and then red and finally white. After all, this ¡°wealth management expert¡± could still crux of the matter. He quickly stepped back and smiled. The old guy seemed to have suddenly changed. He was more sensitive than a rabbit. He rushed to the table inrge strides and grabbed the ¡°agreement¡± signed by everyone on the table and then stuffed it into his mouth. He chewed twice desperately and swallowed as soon as he stretched his neck. The old guy coughed hard and then turned around. He looked right at everyone around him and said: ¡°What acting patriarch? Is there such a thing? Why don¡¯t I know? Do you know?¡± The answers to his question was~ ¡°¡­¡­we do not know.¡± ¡°¡­ right, never heard of it.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, is such thing happened?¡± ¡°What acting patriarch? Our patriarch, Master Gabri, is sitting here. What is need of acting patriarch?¡± In an instant, everyone changed their position. No one wanted to die¡­ Everyone could see that Lord Duke will kill every opposition! Old Shawn felt that he was not safe enough so he gritted his teeth and said with a smile: ¡°Guys, I think Master Gabri is smart but he needs someone to help him. What about this¡­ Lord Duke, you are the eldest son of the old Earl and the elder brother of Master Gabri! Please do not shirk from this responsibility. Anyway¡­ the family needs you!¡± Then, old Shawn¡¯s eyes turned red and a few tears flowed out. Du Wei sighed and looked at the crowd: ¡°Do you have any opinions?¡± Seeing no one objected, Du Wei frowned: ¡°But ¡­ it¡¯s not good, after all, I¡¯m now an ¡®outsider¡¯.¡± Chapter 361 Part 2 Du Wei sighed and looked at the crowd: ¡°Do you have any opinions?¡± Seeing no one objected, Du Wei frowned: ¡°But ¡­ it¡¯s not good, after all, I¡¯m now an ¡®outsider¡¯.¡± Old Sean immediately sternly cursed: ¡°Which bastard says Master Du Wei is an outsider! Who is it, stand up! Stand out! Huh, which bastard says this kind of thing, I don¡¯t think he is a human! I don¡¯t want him to live! ¡± He yelled loudly. He thought to himself: Sir Dirk, I am sorry! But I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t live without it. Everyone: ¡°¡­¡± The family meeting of the Rowling family ended sessfully and everyone unanimously elected Master Gabri as the patriarch of the Rowling family, and unanimously ¡°begged¡± the Duke of Tulip to act as the ¡®guardian¡¯ of Master Gabri as well as act as the acting patriarch before Master Gabri bes an adult. Then the meeting was over and the crowd dispersed. Watching people go out of the room, Gabri jumped off the chair and walked to Du Wei. He had a little hesitation on his small face: ¡°Brother ¡­ you won¡¯t really kill that Dirk.¡± There was a hint of indifference on Du Wei¡¯s face: ¡°Why not?¡± He nced at his brother. Slowly: ¡°Gabri, don¡¯t you understand what I¡¯m doing today? Well, my time is very precious. If not for you, why should Ie to y this farce with you? I will send hundreds of cavalry and directly kill those bastards! Which one will dare to oppose me? Wouldn¡¯t it be more straightforward than doing this farce here? I¡¯m actually doing this all for you, my brother! Today I¡¯m teaching you the first lesson. I hope you understand something from this whole farce and remember it forever. Don¡¯t forget! Just now you saw, what¡¯s the use of the agreement? What¡¯s the use of vows to the ancestors? I¡¯m stronger than them so he has to eat that scrap of paper in front of me! ¡± Speaking, Du Wei pressed his brother¡¯s shoulder¡­ ¡°The so-called talk of justice is not as effective as a hard fist!¡± Du Wei sneered: ¡°As long as you are stronger than others, you can casually reinforce so-called ¡®justice¡¯ and so-called ¡®fairness.¡¯¡± Gabri thought about it for a while and then a hint of rity finally shed on the immature face, but after all, he was still a young man and couldn¡¯t help saying: ¡°That ¡­ Sir Dirk.¡± ¡°Kill!¡± Du Wei¡¯s single word determined the destiny of that guy. ¡°Brother, at least one day they didn¡¯t think wrong. I really can¡¯t stay here all the time. After I leave, how can I be assured that you are safe? You are still young and your temper is too simple and kind. Those people are greedy¡­ I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t control those guys so I have to take some strict measures and kill someone to set as example! ¡± This is the first lesson in life after little Gabri took office. There was no doubt that his respected brother gave him a good start. But he still had to depend on himself from now on. Chapter 362 Part 1 Special Flying Broom! ording to thetest news from Giliate City, Du Wei can already equip 300 people. This number was absolute limit. Because after the earthquake, the bad news brought by Rodriguez and Hussein included one: the spring in the valley dried up because of the earthquake. Whether it is ¡°The Fountain of Youth¡± or ¡°The Passage of Time¡±, they have all dried up. Only gods knew when the spring water would be produced again. What was certain was that in the short term there was no need to count on these springs to help. Du Wei¡¯s reserve of spring water, after making three hundred brooms, could no longer continue this costly production. In the future, those mutated walnut trees would need to be cultivated by themselves. Of course, Du Wei also kept a small amount of spring water in his hands but he might use it in the future. It couldn¡¯t be used now. When Du Wei arrived here, apart from recruiting new regr soldier, he also ordered to train some new soldiers for Decepticon team. At first, he recruited 600 trainees. This whole thing was kept secret from everyone. After rigorous training, only half of them have the opportunity to be pilots of the Decepticon team. And the remaining half would be eliminated¡­ However, Du Wei will not waste these talents. Despite being eliminated, those who have undergone such crude ¡°pilot training¡± were also valuable in their own way. Du Wei intended to have these people join Air Force¡¯s airbat units made of hot air balloons. Of course, there was also the ¡°Dual Dragon Battleship¡±. Du Wei heard the news from the Imperial City. The nationwide order to recruit new recruits had long been conveyed and the military was now extremely busy. A new main battle corps was being formed. The regent once again issued a controversial order: order to have 20,000 navy soldiers to take off their navy uniforms and re-join the army. He also ordered that southern shipbuilding base would no longer create new warships for next three years. Local garrisons in various ces have also begun rigorous training and selection. It was foreseeable that the time of war was approaching! Moreover, the first step of the Regent must be¡­ Northwest! ¡­ Rnd Empire, Year: 963. During this year, a lot of important things happened in the Empire. From all angles, the things that happened were worthy of being recorded in history books. In particr, these things happened before theing years of the violent War which highlighted these subtle things¡­ At first, in the early spring of the Empire of 967, Earl Raymond, who had made great contributions to the Empire, was known as thest master of thete Augustine dynasty died. The great general who had participated in the Northwest war more than 20 years ago and personallymanded two Nanyang expeditionary warspleted his life. Although there was a stain in his career: a coup. But this did not obliterate the achievements of his life. In the evaluation of the generals in theter generations, there was one more interesting thing: Chapter 362 Part 2 At first, in the early spring of the Empire of 967, Earl Raymond, who had made great contributions to the Empire, was known as thest master of thete Augustine dynasty died. The great general who had participated in the Northwest war more than 20 years ago and personallymanded two Nanyang expeditionary warspleted his life. Although there was a stain in his career: a coup. But this did not obliterate the achievements of his life. In the evaluation of the generals in theter generations, there was one more interesting thing: ¡°Throughout the life story of this general, whether it was the outstanding performance in the First Northwest War on the Prairie or credit for the expedition to the Nanyang has beenparable to that of any famous historical person. However, this is not the greatest contribution that great General made to the empire. Many people believe that Raymond¡¯s greatest contribution to the Rnd Empire ¡­ to the continent and to the people ¡­ is giving birth to a good son. ¡± The second thing that happened this year was the start of arge-scale conquest across the continent. The Empire had invested a lot of financial and material resources, extracted elites from the reserve and local defence forces on arge scale. The third thing that happened that year was the empire¡¯s baptism ceremony in the spring of 963 in the capital. The current actual ruler of the empire, the supreme master of the continent, His Royal Highness the Prince Regent Wang Chen, epted the religious baptism given by Pope Paul XVI. Although every emperor of all ages must be baptized by the Pope to be considered a legitimate emperor, the baptism of the regent was extremely rare. After he announced in public that he was baptized, Pope Paul XVI would be his godfather! The ceremony was very lively that day. Tens of thousands of citizens of the imperial capital attended the scene to watch the entire baptism process. This matter had encountered strong opposition from many royal nobles. In everyone¡¯s opinion, this was definitely a great shame for the royal family and even a strategic failure! In the thousands of years that the royal family and the church have fought against each other, the royal family had always maintained its pride and dignity, and never bowed to the church! The future monarch, who was a young and wise man, did this kind of ¡°stupid¡± thing which made everyone extremely puzzled. On the third day of the baptism ceremony, the Regent issued a notice: ording to the instructions of His Majesty Augustine VI. Chu Jun is the first heir to the imperial throne! Until the crown prince became an adult, the state affairs of the empire will still be under the control of His Royal Highness Prince Chen. Simultaneously, Prince Chen was awarded the title of Prince. Emperor Chen used his actions to actually give up the throne ¡­ although he was actually the actual ruler of the empire. The temple side suffered losses: they didn¡¯t get an emperor godson. They only got a prince godson. The political significance of the baptism was greatly reduced. Everyone thought that the temple would be greatly annoyed and wouldunch a series of counterattacks against the royal family. But everyone¡¯s surprise the temple and the royal family be even more united! After several meetings and consultations, the Pope and the Regent signed a series ofnd agreements in the next three years. The temple expressed its willingness to abandon religious taxes in some areas and then donate them to the Imperial Army as a free donation to show its support for the Imperial military expenditure. This attitude of the temple showed their stance: repair rtions with the empire and live in harmony. The fourth major event of the year, the news of the ravages of beasts in the north had spread throughout the continent and then the empire issued a ground-breaking order officially announcing: all kinds of private mercenary adventure teams across the maind can go to all parts of the northern continent for the hunt of beasts. The empire even issued a very detailed list, all kinds of beasts showed a clear amount of bounty. You could collect bounty from the local government for any beast you hunt! After such notice was issued, some wise people immediately felt that something was going on! Chapter 363 Part 1 In the Rnd Empire, mercenary system has been legalized ever since! This announcement undoubtedly had special significance! It stimted the vigorous development of mercenary adventure organizations in various ces and arge number of low-level warrior¡¯s sses who had fallen into disappointment without work and food finally found a way out. In the north, arge number of newly-built mercenary guilds issued a notice of recruitment! And ¡­ this did not burden empire¡¯s finances much. Although the reward for hunting beasts was to to be paid, the empire was not without ie¡­ Any mercenary regiment must dere their earnings to the empire. The Empire even opened an official mercenary jurisdiction and each mercenary regiment must maintain its legal identity. Taxes must be paid annually to the empire. Some people supported this decree, and some were against it. Supporters thought that this could effectively solve the problem of the raging beasts in the north. Opposition were worried that once the mercenary system legally opened its mouth, it would be great threat to public security in the future! This was not what people wanted to see. Du Wei only smiled when he got the news. He was a supporter. His attitude was: ¡°Even if the empire does not issue this order anyway, various mercenary guilds will be opened in the north. Since it can¡¯t be stopped, it might be better to open the ban and then collect more taxes. ¡± The fifth big thing happened that year. The Imperial Army announced that they would build arge military fortress in the north of the empire, about ten miles away from the southern end of the frozen forest. In order to create this military fortress, the military ministers once again quarrelled with the finance minister for a few days. And finally it was still the Duke of Tulips who solved their problems. Lord Duke Tulip, once again donated 10 million gold coins in the private name. Such a move surprised everyone. Everyone wondered¡­ how much wealth does this Duke of Tulip have? It is no longer a secret that he has donated 50 million gold coins. Under the leadership of the Duke of Tulip, mercenary guilds also expressed its willingness to donate weapons worth three million gold coins to arm the new main battle legion in the future. Nobles like also donated tens to millions of gold coins. In the summer of the year, on Du Wei¡¯s sixteenth birthday, Du Wei received a small gift from the military. The messenger sent by the military stated that because this military fortress was built by the military donation donated by Lord Duke. So in order to show their respect, they were willing to ask the Duke to name a new military fortress. So, in the face of the messenger sent by the military, Du Wei wrote something on document and gave this future fortress a name¡­ Kaspersky¡­ (T/N: I also don¡¯t know why he gave fortress such weird name.) The sixth major event of the year¡­ At the same time, a big incident happened but no one noticed its urrence and process. And it wasn¡¯t until the result of this incident showed that people noticed it. It could be said that the pattern of the continent was changed by a very subtle, even insignificant person. Completely reversed¡­ Chapter 363 Part 2 Year: 963 years,te autumn. Lon City, Northwest Desa Province, the House of the Duke of Tulips¡­ Du Wei frowned and his fingers gently stroked the centre of his eyebrows as if trying to smooth the anxiety between the eyebrows. He was looking at a document, more exactly a report. Philip stood in front of Du Wei. The young man was more mature, with a hint of calmness between his eyebrows. His hands habitually folded in his sleeves. He was standing there quietly. His whole body exuded an unspeakable aura. Du Wei finished reading the documents in front of him and then slowly closed them. On the cover, there was a big red line: Top secret! Northwest military ns for the next three years. Du Wei pondered for a moment and then nced at Philip, ¡°Is this written by you alone?¡± Philip smiled. ¡°No, I listened to General Longbotton¡¯s opinions and the Knight Ruolin also gave me some inspiration.¡± Ruolin? Du Wei raised an eyebrow. This year, Ruolin did a pretty good job. To thoroughly develop Ruolin¡¯s military talent, Du Wei simply transferred the female knight to his army. At the beginning, Du Wei let hermand a cavalry brigade. After one year, due to her outstanding performance and Du Wei intentional promotion, Ruolin had be themander of the 3,000 cavalry battalion. Du Wei looked at Philip and then sighed: ¡°The n is good ¡­ but it will be a lot more difficult and required a lot of work¡­ Philip, we now seem to have a big career and 100,000 soldiers ¡­ but you have to understand. In terms of quantity, our army is not as good as Lu Gao¡¯s Northwest Corps! All of his 200,000 soldiers are elite, and all the generals under hismand are old general. ¡± ¡°Also, we have to guard against the prairie in the west.¡± Du Wei sighed. ¡°I mean¡­¡± Du Wei tapped the table lightly: ¡°The Northwest Corps is keeping an eye on us. We have an ally, Bohan. Even if anything went wrong, he will take lead. Our goal is to deal with the prairie people before the northwest army starts to fight back. At least we should make sure that in the future, when we deal with Lu Gao, the prairie will not stab in the back!! ¡± Philip smiled and then he said leisurely: ¡°Since this is the case ¡­ Lord Duke. Mr. Alpha, you should be back soon.¡± Captain Alpha, Uncle Alpha. For the past six months, he has not been by Du Wei¡¯s side or even northwest. In the Duchess of Tulip, most people didn¡¯t know where the Knight Alpha had gone. Only few in the core circles knew where Alpha went. Alpha was in the Prairie. To be precise, he had been staying in the grasnd for time being. The sun on the prairie darkened hisplexion. Drinking horse¡¯s milk and eating mutton almost turned him into a prairie and even his hair was dyed by Du Wei into amon brown among the prairie. Moreover, a long scar was deliberately made on his face, which allowed him to cover his face tantly. Alpha¡¯s current public identity was the number one general near Sdin. His name was ¡°Igo¡±. ording to thenguage of the Prairie, this name means ¡°eagle on the Prairie.¡± Chapter 364 Part 1 Sdin! At that time, Du Wei put Alpha with the boy named Sdin who was the thirteenth son of the Prairie king. After suffering that defeat, Prairie king suffered a lot in the beginning. Because of the defeat, the anger of the Prairie king was vented on all the deserters who were lucky enough to flee. Even after the execution of hundreds of deserters, the Prairie king was so furious that he almost degraded his son as a ve. Fortunately, he was persuaded by people around him, saying that ¡°After all, he is your bloodline. If he became a ve, it will also damage your majesty.¡± The prairie king didn¡¯t know that these people, in fact, received many benefits for doing so. Of course, the person who paid was Du Wei. After being fortunate to escape the punishment, Sdin was forced to leave the Wang Ting and was sent far away to graze the horses, cows and sheep. In fact, it was actually to let him fend for himself. Then, the captain Alpha, with more than two thousand prairie ves given to him by Du Wei, came to the Prairie. Half of them were bought by Du Wei from all around the maind. Half of them were given by the Prairie Prince during the peace talks. Du Wei picked two thousand obedient ves and have them led into the Prairie by Alpha. He ordered the Alpha to contact Sdin. Du Wei asked Alpha to give Sdin: That¡¯s all I can do. If you can no longer get the job done, it only means that you are ipetent. With his superbmands, Sdin quickly made these two thousand ves surrender and then formed them into a cavalry. He robbed several small prairie thieves, his subordinates quickly increased to 4,000 people. Within half a year, he formed a small tribe. These things did not attract attention of Wang Ting. After all, the tribe formed by Sdin was only a small tribe with a poption of less than 10,000. It was full of old, disabled and the sick people. But then, the power of Sdin grew like a snowball! Alpha became the liaison between him and Du Wei. Du Wei provided Sdin with many high-quality weapons produced by the Empire! There was ack of minerals on the grasnds. Although the prairie cavalry was strong, itcked high-quality armor and weapons. This was their greatest weakness. After Sdin got Du Wei¡¯s weapons, he became even more powerful. He was originally a very capable guy. After another year, the poption under his control reached tens of thousands and he controlled more than 20,000 soldiers. In any case, this number was enough to be considered a moderate tribe on the prairie. What¡¯s more, in order to increase his strength, Du Wei even sent two magic students under hismand! When Wang Ting finally noticed the abandoned son of the Prairie king, the Prairie king was surprised at the amazing development momentum shown by the son. But he didn¡¯t like it and was slightly dissatisfied. But soon, Sdin made a move. He took initiative to volunteer his tens of thousands of people and 20,000 cavalry to work for Wang Ting. He said that they were willing to obey the orders of the Prairie King. They were the most loyal fighters of the Prairie King. And the only condition he put forward made people feel that this was not even a condition. His request was: ¡°I just beg my father to treat me as a son! After all, you are my father.¡± The Prairie King was naturally very happy. With only one gesture, he could get tens of thousands of people and 20,000 cavalry. No one would refuse such a thing. In the following month, Sdin sent a lot of cattle, sheep and horses to Wang Ting¡­ Although the prairie king did notck these, they were given by his son. He was satisfied with this kind of filial piety. Chapter 364 Part 2 The Prairie King was naturally very happy. With only one gesture, he could get tens of thousands of people and 20,000 cavalry. No one would refuse such a thing. In the following month, Sdin sent a lot of cattle, sheep and horses to Wang Ting¡­ Although the prairie king did notck these, they were given by his son. He was satisfied with this kind of filial piety. Moreover, Sdin didn¡¯t even bring any followers and went to Wang Ting alone! Then that day, in the King¡¯s court, where many chiefs of the tribe and a dozen other sons of Prairie King were present¡­ Sdin actually knelt down in public and made the most solemn and respectful etiquette on the Prairie: Kiss the feet of the Prairie King! This obedient attitude even moved the Prairie King. He even felt that he seemed too harsh on his son. After all, although he was born to a ve woman, he could still be considered as his own. And ¡­ It looked like he¡¯s quite capable and respectful. Then something happened that dispelled thest suspicion of the King of Prairie about Sdin. Here¡¯s the thing. The defeat of the 20,000 cavalry soldiers at the Golden Wolf made a tribe that was originally loyal to Wang Ting had resentment against Wang Ting. The tribe decided to move away and no longer obey Wang Ting¡¯s orders. This angered the Prairie King and he ordered to conquer this disobedient tribe. And Sdin volunteered to do it. He did a great job. He soon wiped out the tribe and handed the head of the tribe chief back to the Prairie King. He destroyed this tribe and all the poption, cattle, sheep, horses and all of the captivends were turned in. He himself did not intercept it at all. More importantly, his cavalry suffered great losses in this battle. More than four thousand people died. Almost a quarter of the power was lost. However, he did notin at all but sincerely stated on the king¡¯s golden ount: that he was his father¡¯s son. His cavalry is father¡¯s cavalry. Sdin was fierce enough, and he exchanged the death and blood of four thousand men for the trust of the Prairie King. Let the prairie king believe that this son was not a selfish; he was indeed an obedient guy willing to bleed for him. In less than two years, in such a short time, Sdin jumped from a son of a female ve to be one of the sons trusted by the king of the prairie in the court. At this time, Du Wei was still recruiting in the Rollin in. Du Wei knew all the processes and all the things about this Sdin from the letter sent back by the Uncle Alpha. When Du Wei heard that Sdin kissed Prairie King¡¯s feet in front of everyone¡­ Do not know why, Du Wei suddenly felt a chill run down his spine! After sending Philip away, Du Wei again took out the letter from Uncle Alpha and he read it again. Then he sighed softly, ¡°It¡¯s almost time!¡± Later, Du Wei walked out of his study and he didn¡¯t let any guards follow him. He went through the long corridor and reached a small building behind the castle. Across the distance, a melodious sound of organ came from the room. Du Wei pushed in the door and saw all the charming girls. Everyone was dressed in a veil and were dancing to the rhythm of the organ. They performed standard court dances with the best court etiquette. All the girls here were the poor ¡°prey¡± that Du Wei brought out from the Northwest Army camp. Du Wei¡¯s eyes quickly fell on the girl sitting in the middle of the house ying the organ. There was no doubt that she was the most beautiful of all the girls. Her eyes were as calm as her name. When Du Wei walked in, the people here saw him and everyone stopped moving immediately. Then the girls turned around uniformly and bowed to Du Wei. Under Dewey¡¯s waving hand, they retreated quickly. ¡°You stay.¡± Dewey pointed at the girl ying the organ. The room quieted down. The girl seemed a little nervous but strict training made her still stand up gracefully and then smiled at Du Wei like a spring breeze and gave a court etiquette. Du Wei squinted his eyes: ¡°You¡¯re called Han Yue, right?¡± Han Yue¡¯s cheeks slightly reddened and she bowed her head, ¡°Yes, Lord Duke.¡± Du Wei took two steps forward. He suddenly raised his hand and gently lifted Han Yue¡¯s chin. He carefully looked at every detail on her face. Han Yue¡¯s face blushed, her eyes dodged a little because of shyness. ¡°I remember you. I remember you from the beginning. You are a very beautiful girl.¡± Du Wei let go of her face. His face showed satisfaction but he was not addicted to beauty. Obviously, he hadn¡¯t finished speaking yet, so Han Yue listened quietly. ¡°How have you been here for more than a year?¡± Han Yue immediately looked up and solemnly said: ¡°My life was saved by the Duke. I live here very well and am very happy. I have never lived such a happy life in my life.¡± Du Wei nodded. ¡°So, are you grateful to me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Han Yue¡¯s voice trembled: ¡°I ¡­ I¡¯m willing to repay the Duke with everything I have.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Du Wei smiled and said in a steady and calm voice. ¡°So, it¡¯s time you repay me.¡± Chapter 365 Part 1 Du Wei gave the girl named Han Yue a few days and ordered everyone that no one should restrict the girl¡¯s freedom in these days. She could do everything she wanted in the castle. Du Wei had already bought all the girls¡¯ families back and arranged them to work in the castle. Han Yue¡¯s family received a gold coin but they were only told that their daughter had performed well and this was the reward from the Lord Duke. When Han Yue and her family got together, she kept her mouths shut and did not reveal anything strange. A few dayster, Han Yue was called by Du Wei behind the castle, in the Lord¡¯s magicboratory. The beautiful girl knew that this was a forbidden ce in the Duke¡¯s Mansion and no one could enter this ce without the order of the Lord Duke. Du Wei wore a magician¡¯s robe. When Han Yue walked in, she clearly felt that the Duke¡¯s look was indifferent. ¡°Are you resting these days? Are you ready?¡± Han Yue nodded. There was no sorrow on her face. Her expression was calm and there was still a little firmness in her eyes. Du Wei sighed, and suddenly his voice softened slightly: ¡°Do you ¡­ have any other wish?¡± Han Yue thought about it for a while, she looked up, looked at Du Wei eyes and whispered, ¡°Master Duke ¡­ I ¡­ I have heard my mother tell me since childhood that my parents were born in Nanyang. I am also a Nanyang citizen. I have never been to Nanyang in my life. I have never even seen the sea. As a child, my mother told me that there are many small inds in Nanyang, like pearls scattered on the vast ocean. I haven¡¯t seen my hometown, so in my heart, every time I think of my hometown, I can¡¯t help but think of the pearl that my mother said ¡­ but I have never seen a real pearl in my life. So¡­¡± Du Wei nodded, and he turned around as if looking for something. When he turned around, he stretched out his hand, holding a round pearl in his palm. This was a fine pearl from Nanyang. Whether it was fineness or weight, it was of best quality. ¡°This pearl is for you.¡± Du Wei smiled slightly. Han Yue picked it up. She looked at it for a while and gently stroked her finger on the pearl¡­ not very cold. There was a hint of warmth, well, it was slippery. Just then, Han Yue heard the voice of Lord Duke. ¡°Now, take off your clothes.¡± Han Yue¡¯s look was very calm. She didn¡¯t hesitate at all then under the eyes of Du Wei, she began to take off her clothes one by one and showed her youthful and attractive body without reservation. When she stood naked in front of Du Wei, even he couldn¡¯t help but take a cold breath. What a beautiful girl! But Du Wei did not lose himself. He took a deep breath and supressed his throbbing heart. Then he quickly took out a special pen and a bowl of prepared magic decoction. Later, Du Wei approached the girl. He dipped the nib lightly in the potion and then gently wrote on the delicate skin with Han Yue¡­ Du Wei remained focused all the process which was not easy at all especially when you were close to a beautiful girl like Han Yue. Han Yue also cooperated well without moving during whole process. Although she felt embarrassed to let a man see her naked from so close, she still hold on. Chapter 365 Part 2 Du Wei remained focused all the process which was not easy at all especially when you were close to a beautiful girl like Han Yue. Han Yue also cooperated well without moving during whole process. Although she felt embarrassed to let a man see her naked from so close, she still hold on. Finally, after finishing his masterpiece, he threw the paintbrush and took a two-step back. He took a deep breath. After calming himself, he looked at Han Yue¡­ These magic lines have a magical effect. Du Wei raised his hand and pointed at Han Yue. After casting few spells, a thin ray of light shot from his fingertips and quickly enter into Han Yue¡¯s body. Afterwards, a faint magic light shined on the girl¡¯s delicate body. Atst, the magic lines on her body disappeared little by little. After some time, they disappearedpletely! This was a stealth potion carefully formted by Dewey. Du Wei looked at the naked girl. He saw the blush on the girl¡¯s face. Then Du Wei slightly thought about it and took off his robe. He went up and covered Han Yue with it. Suddenly, the Han Yue suddenly felt a tremor in her heart. When she watched the action of the Lord Duke, she couldn¡¯t help but whisper: ¡°Am I not beautiful enough?¡± Du Wei smiled and looked at the girl and then shook his head. ¡°No, you are beautiful, very beautiful. But¡­ for your mission, you must be a virgin.¡± Du Wei stepped back and his expression has be serious: ¡°You still have a chance to regret it.¡± The softness in the Han Yue¡¯s eyes faded away. With her beautiful voice, she said firmly: ¡°No Lord, I am willing to ept it.¡± Du Wei pulled out a grain-sized bead from his sleeve and had Han Yue open her mouth. Du Wei carefully inserted it into the gap between the teeth of the Han Yue¡¯s mouth. ¡°After doing your thing¡­ this medicine can make you free from pain.¡± When he said this, even Du Wei couldn¡¯t help but feel that this was too cruel. Looking at the girl¡¯s face, Du Wei sighed and waved: ¡°You go on¡­ There is still a day. You will set off after a day. Cherish the freedom of thisst day.¡± After a pause, Du Wei said: ¡°Well, there is one more thing. Your loved ones will also set off on the same day¡­ but they will not go with you. They will leave the northwest and proceed to the southeast. I have arranged a boat there which will send them back to Nanyang.¡± She remained silent but she did not leave immediately. But as if she had made a decision with great determination, she whispered: ¡°Duke of the Duke. I¡­ I have a wish.¡± Du Wei looked at this girl and couldn¡¯t help but soften a little: ¡°Say, your wish, I will fulfil it!¡± The Han Yue took a deep breath and then the girl slowly walked a few steps. She walked over to Du Wei and then gently kissed on Du Wei¡¯s face. After turning around, she said with a smile: ¡°This is myst wish. Now, it is done. Duke, my life is yours. I am willing to do anything for you!¡± Chapter 366 Part 1 The great king of the tribes, the Prairie King saw Han Yue for the first time, he waspletely stunned. Although he was almost sixty years old, as a savannah man, he could still ride the strongest horse, drink the strongest wine and sleep with two or three women at night. At the same time, his arms were still strong and he was still spirited when he walked. However, when he first saw this woman named Han Yue, the Prairie King suddenly felt his mouth dry and he even felt that his hand holding the wine ss was a little weak. The only thought in my mind was to tear up the woman¡¯s clothes and press her under him! When Sdin saw Han Yue, his heart also trembled fiercely and he took a deep breath to calm down. At this moment, even he couldn¡¯t help but his shake head: For such a beautiful person to be sent here¡­ Sdin was a cunny person. He slowly put down his ss. Then he walked up and smiled at his father: ¡°Greeting of the Prairie King, my father. This woman is bought by my subordinates from a Rnd. You see, she is so beautiful. Moreover, she is not a humble woman. She is the daughter of a patriarch of arge tribe in Nanyang. Because her tribe was conquered by the Rnd, she became a ve. Those damn Rnd people actually nned to sell her 100,000 gold coins ¡­ Well, unfortunately, although I don¡¯t have 100,000 gold coins, I have sharp Knife!¡± The Prairie King only nodded subconsciously. In fact, at this moment, his entire mind was on the girl. What Sdin said, he didn¡¯t hear a word. But thest sentence, he still heard. ¡°¡­ Such a beautiful woman can only be enjoyed by the noblest King on the prairie so I give her to you.¡± The prairie king was very satisfied. He stared at the son carefully and then smiled. ¡°I¡¯m satisfied. I reward you with five thousand cattle, five thousand sheep, and five thousand horses!¡± Then he stopped paying attention to the son and stared at the girl almost greedily. Suddenly a though rose in his heart. He wanted to¡­ tear her cloths! Fu#k her! Make her scream and cry under him! The prairie king did not know whether this though came because of wine or something else. He felt that his whole body began to heat up, especially something under his lower abdomen. But then, he noticed that the eyes of the others tribe chiefs were almost the same as himself. They were staring greedily at the beauty in front of him. Even the sons and the generals he trusted looked as if they wanted to swallow this delicate beauty. ¡°Hmm!¡± The Prairie King suddenly felt very annoyed. Even he himself did not know where this anger came from. In fact, for these nobles on the prairei, the so-called woman was nothing but ythings and property. The Prairie King used to exchange female pets with his subordinates and even his sons. He even rewarded his own women to his subordinates or his own son. Such customs were undoubtedly ¡°barbaric¡± and ¡°not moral¡± in the eyes of the Rnd people. At this moment, the prairie king looked at the girl standing in front of the quiet, suddenly had an impulse to fully possess her! Yes, fully possess!! Only belong to me! No one is allowed to have her! Chapter 366 Part 2 At this moment, the prairie king looked at the girl standing in front of the quiet, suddenly had an impulse to fully possess her! Yes, fully possess!! Only belong to me! No one is allowed to have her! ¡°Humph!!¡± Then, the prairie king turned around with an angry expression and went out of the banquet, leaving behind the people. He mmed open his room¡¯s door and then he heard an exmation inside. The beautiful girl turned and looked at him in horror. Without nonsense, the Prairie King immediately quickly removed his armor. Then he pounced on the girl. Girl was pressed by the Prairie king under his body. The prairie king felt the tender girl under his body tremble. This trembling inspired the impulse in his heart. He grabbed the hands with the Han Yue and tore open her clothes. When his rough fingers finally touched the delicate skin of the girl, Han Yue closed her eyes. After the clothes were removedpletely, the Prairie King gasped fiercely. When he grabbed the neck with the Han Yue, he seemed to have grasped something. Han Yue suddenly opened her eyes and struggled. Her struggles were no longer symbolic. Instead, she tried her best to struggle. Finally, she finally got back round pearl from the hands of the Prairie King. The Prairie King did not care why this girl valued a pearl so much. His interest was ced on her body¡­ Soon, the man¡¯s heavy gasp came from the room apanied by the girl¡¯s pain shouts¡­ He himself did not know how many time he had fu#ked that girl. On the third day, the warriors did not see their kinging out of the tent until the sun rose to the top of the head. The footsteps came from the tent and then the curtains were pulled. When everyone saw the king, everyone was shocked! Prairie King¡¯s face was covered with wrinkles and his original brown hair was faintly pale, with two white spots¡­ Where was the glory of the Prairie king? He seemed to be a weak, aging old man! He couldn¡¯t even go to the horse and he was helped by several warriors. He barely sat on the horse, but his body was a little skewed. On this day, when everyone aged prairie king in the court, they were surprised. When prairie king felt the strange gazes of everyone, he felt angry. When he saw an empty position in the tent, he found outlet to vent his anger: ¡°Howe one person is missing!! Wang Ting¡¯s court, some people dare note!!¡± Feeling the doubts shing in the eyes of everyone below, the Prairie King felt that his dignity was deeply stabbed! He was very angry and felt fear in his heart. He felt like he was aging and bing weak. However as a prairie king, he was afraid of being called weak! Because of that, he would lose his dignity! Prairie King was angry! He was very angry! He did not understand himself. Where did this angere from? This anger wanted to devour his soul. A raging fire that couldn¡¯t wait to find a ce to vent! Finally, less than half of the day¡¯s deliberations, the angry prairie king ordered the execution of a courtier, just because this guy didn¡¯t look at his eyes when talking to him! ¡°What are you afraid of? Are you afraid of me! Or you don¡¯t respect me in your heart, so you dare not look into my eyes!¡± The prairie king shouted and then he jumped up in front of everyone and pulled out the knife stuck on the head of the poor guy. The warm blood was sprayed on his face. The prairie king was stimted by the blood and felt good as he finally got a little relief after venting. Then, he looked at those surprised eyes in the court and his heart was filled with endless irritability again! These guys ¡­ you, you guys look at me like this! I¡¯m not old yet! Not old! He rushed out of his tent as if to escape and then ran out. He didn¡¯t return directly to his room. Although he wanted to go back and see the woman who made him go crazy¡­ At the end of the day, he was still a king and a kind of instinctual vignce born in his heart. He also faintly felt something wrong and he needed to think it over carefully. Finally, after staying outside Wang Ting for some time, the wind of the prairie seemed to have healed the anxiety in his heart. He decided to go back and see the woman¡­ Is she¡­ Chapter 367 Part 1 When Prairie King was returning back to his room, he saw a few maids outside the room from a distance. They were looking at him with some fear and surprise. Suddenly, he vaguely guessed something in his heart. Sure enough, when he reached his room, he heard the voice of a man and the woman¡¯s resistance whispering. Han Yue¡¯s heart was cold but her face was still panicking. She sat in the room dressed and waited quietly. Sure enough, a young man came in the morning. Han Yue knew that this was a certain son of the prairie king ¡­ As for which one, Han Yue did not care. Was there any difference? These guys looked at her with greedy eyes and then fantasize about tearing up her clothes and then pressing her under their bodies. The man was a little scared when he came in, but when he saw her for the first moment, Han Yue saw naked desire in his eyes. Then she immediately pouted a few times which further stimted the other party. When this man approached her, she pulled her hand as if trying to distance herself from him. Han Yue struggled a few times. During the struggle, she cleverly tore her clothes torn, exposing her delicate human legs. She saw the man swallow a few mouthfuls of saliva desperately¡­ Just then the curtain of the tent opened. The prairie king growled. He rushed in with a scimitar. The young man shuddered in shock and then he jumped up like a rabbit, dodging the machete¡¯s chop. But at this time Han Yue cleverly tripped him with his own body. ¡°Ah ¡­¡± Hearing the scream, the warriors outside Wang Ting rushed toward the prairie king¡¯s room. When they came close, they saw with their own eyes the six princes rushing out of the tent, looking very panicked. He was chopped and blood was flowing. The prairie king then snarled and rushed out. He held his golden scimitar high and chased after him. Then under the eyes of everyone, he shed on the back of his son! The scimitar passed through his chest. The sixth princes didn¡¯t even shout before falling down. At this time, the warrior next to him rushed around. Some tried to calm down their king, while others hurriedly watched the life and death of the Sixth Princes. ¡°You guys! Are you anti-me too?¡± The prairie king¡¯s eyes were red and he quickly cut down a warrior who was trying to calm him. At this time, he heard an exmation and another son of his rushed over. This was his eleventh son. When he saw this guy, the prairie king had a vicious idea! ¡°You! What are you doing here! You are also having idea about that woman. You want toe and steal her!¡± His eyes were red and suddenly he ran across like a furious male lion. Before the young son could say anything, he was chopped around the neck with a scimitar and fell down sideways. Hisst sentence was: ¡°Father¡­ I, I just heard noises so I came over to see ¡­¡± ¡°Go! Go! Get away from me!¡± The prairie king threw away the scimitar vigorously. He stepped back for a few moments and looked at the warrior around him and the generals who came around: ¡°Everyone, go away from me! Leave these corpses here! Don¡¯t touch them! No one is allowed to touch them! ¡± Suddenly he ran back to his tent. The prairie king saw Han Yue sitting there. Her clothes were torn and her long legs were bare. Her breasts were exposed, showing beautiful curves. ¡°You! You¡­ all of you!¡± Chapter 367 Part 2 Suddenly he ran back to his tent. The prairie king saw Han Yue sitting there. Her clothes were torn and her long legs were bare. Her breasts were exposed, showing beautiful curves. ¡°You! You¡­ all of you!¡± The prairie king roared and violently rushed up. At the same time, he tore off the Han Yue¡¯s remaining clothes and desperately separated her legs. There was no sorrow in Han Yue¡¯s eyes. She even felt indifferently toward prairie king entering her body in anger and then almost immediately¡­ The prairie king felt that the valve of his desire was suddenly andpletely opened. He felt the strength and vitality of his whole body quickly leaking out. Finally he felt a trace of despair! He yelled and his body trembled fiercely. Finally, his body fell down on Han Yue¡¯s soft body. Blood oozed from his mouth, nose and eyes! Han Yue silently pushed away the dead and then sat up. She pulled her clothes. She heard the exmation and hurried footsteps outside the tent. She didn¡¯t panic but walked to a mirror in the tent. She stood in front of the mirror and gently folded her hair. In the mirror, she was still as beautiful as ever and her eyes were still as calm as moonlight. ¡°I ¡­ my name is Han Yue.¡± She looked at herself in the mirror: ¡°Master Duke, he said¡­ he said I am beautiful.¡± In the end, she held the pearl on her neck with her fingers and severely broke the medicine hidden in her teeth¡­ Wang Ting was in a mess. The king¡¯s two favourite princes were killed by him and then people saw the dead king and the woman¡¯s body in the tent. In addition to surprise, there were also some clear-headed people who immediately thought of an urgent problem! The forces on the prairie were about to re-rank! Three princes, after getting the news, ran back to their tents immediately and then dispatched soldiers and those generals also quickly departed back. Ironically, no one paid attention to the two bodies in the tent. And in this busy period, no one noticed that Sdin, the youngest son of the king, quietly took all his men and his subordinates and left Wang Ting early this morning. ¡°Kill each other! After you enough killing, you will be exhausted and then I wille back again to take your lifes!¡± ¡­ When Alpha¡¯s secret letter was received again, Du Wei opened the letter. This time, there wasn¡¯t a lot of content in the letter, just a short sentence. ¡°Done!¡± Alpha¡¯s letter did not say ¡°n seeded¡± or ¡°all went well.¡± Instead, the word ¡°done¡± seemed to be somewhat ambiguous. Alpha ¡­ he¡¯s not happy with me too. Du Wei was silent for a while, then slowly picked up the letter and burned it off with the candle on the table. He was sitting on the desk in the study, looking out the window. He was looking northwest. The distant sky was gray. The girl named Han Yue was dead now. Yes ¡­ she is just a pawn. I originally took her in and trained her for such a day. But why do I still feel that this is despicable and shameless in my heart? At this moment, suddenly, with a m, the door of the study was opened and a figure in red clothes rushed in. With anger and disbelief on her face, she shouted to Du Wei, ¡°I ask you, where is Han Yue?!¡± Du Wei narrowed his eyes and looked coldly at the woman who broke in. She was the female prisoner he captured. ¡°Get out!¡± This was Du Wei¡¯s answer to her. Ai Lu opened her mouth and her beautiful face was a bit distorted: ¡°I ask you again! Han Yue! Where is Han Yue? Where did she go? Where did you send her?¡± Chapter 368 Part 1 Du Wei now faced the girl. His voice was very low, even with a hint of chill: ¡°First, I remember I said, without my orders, no one is allowed to enter my study room. So, I can immediately drag you out. Second¡­¡± The veins on Du Wei¡¯s head bulged out and he seemed to be suppressing his anger, ¡°Poor little Nizi, you forgot your identity, who are you to question me?¡± ¡°You!¡± Ai Lu seemed to be desperate. Since staying with Du Wei, she has been arranged by Du Wei to live with girls such as Han Yue. She even danced with them every day. Ai Lu was not a fool. Although she was not much clever, she was not an idiot. She had long guessed in her mind that this demon-like young duke was raising these girls to use in the future¡­ There was no doubt that Han Yue was best in these girls. Han Yue¡¯s beauty, her tenderness and her carefulness, all made Ai Lu extremely kind to her. In these days, Han Yue suddenly disappeared. There was a vague guess in Ai Lu¡¯s heart. She couldn¡¯t bear it today and rushed to Du Wei for questioning. Du Wei pointed at the door and faintly said: ¡°Since this is the first time you have disobeyed my order, I can forgive you once. Now¡­ get out and then you remember, this ce is not where you cane in.¡± Having said that, Du Wei has continued to look at the table and stopped paying attention to the girl. Ai Li seemed to want to say something. But she felt the chill radiating from Du Wei¡¯s body. She couldn¡¯t help it and still left a sentence: ¡°If ¡­ if you treat her, I ¡­ I ¡­¡± In the end, she stomped her feet hard and left. After she went out, Du Wei looked up and then he sighed: ¡°It seems that I¡¯m really a shameless man.¡± After saying so, Du Wei strode out of the study room. Everyone passing by saw the duke¡¯s face and realized that the duke¡¯s mood was extreme bad. No one dared to go up and talk to him. They just saluted him from afar. Du Wei rushed into the garden behind the castle like an injured lion. Here, Vivian was standing in the garden, holding a branch in her hand. She was surrounded by a dozen Hogwarts practitioners. Vivian was using the branch to draw some magic lines on the ground to demonstrate magic array principles. In fact, after Du Wei became more and more busy, the task of teaching these students was all undertaken by Vivian. After watching the Dean suddenlye in, the students immediately stood up and saluted Du Wei. A few guys with good eyesight immediately understood that the dean was in a very bad mood. Soon, they exchanged nces with each other and then made excuses and backed out. Du Wei didn¡¯t say anything. When everyone left, he suddenly sat on the ground like a deted balloon. Vivian looked at her fianc¨¦ tenderly and then she walked carefully to Du Wei¡¯s side. Du Wei pulled Vivian into his arms. Then he sniffed deeply the smell of Vivian. ¡°You ¡­ what¡¯s wrong with you.¡± Vivian looked at Du Wei gently. ¡°Vivian, little silly girl.¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice was tired: ¡°I ¡­ I did one thing, a very bad thing. It can even be said¡­ despicable and shameless. But there is no other way, I have no choice. Because this method is most effective and with least casualties but¡­¡± Chapter 368 Part 2 ¡°Vivian, little silly girl.¡± Du Wei¡¯s voice was tired: ¡°I ¡­ I did one thing, a very bad thing. It can even be said¡­ despicable and shameless. But there is no other way, I have no choice. Because this method is most effective and with least casualties but¡­¡± He sighed heavily and then leaned his head against Vivian¡¯s arms. He looked at the sky: ¡°But, I still feel guilty in my heart. It¡¯s painful!¡± Vivian didn¡¯t know what happened, but she didn¡¯t ask and let Du Wei lean in her arms. Then she stroked Du Wei¡¯s hair gently like a kind mother. After a while, she said in a stuttering but gentle voice: ¡°Du Wei ¡­ Du Wei ¡­ You worked very hard. Do¡­ you regret it¡­¡± ¡°Do I regret it? Yes¡­ But if I do it again, I still have no choice. One person is dead but ten million people live ¡­¡± Du Wei seemed weak: ¡°Pure conscience ¡­ I am not qualified to talk about these things. Vivian¡­ I am the leader of everyone, do you know what a leader is? The lives and deaths of millions of people rest on my shoulders. Sometimes, it forces you to do things you don¡¯t want to do¡­ Knowing that this is sick role, but for everyone, you must continue to y this f#cking role. This is¡­ the fucking leader. ¡± Vivian did not speak; she just stroked Du Wei¡¯s hair gently, very gently¡­ No one knew that the situation in the northwest of Rnd waspletely changed because of a beautiful girl named Han Yue. She was like a beautiful and fragile butterfly, but her death had affected the prairie, the northwest and even the future imperial national movement. At this time, few people think of this. Few people know this. In the governor¡¯s office of Lon City, the capital of the north western province of Desa, Du Wei had fallen asleep because of a hard work. In the dream, he murmured in his mouth¡­ ¡°Pearl¡­ likes a spilled pearl¡­¡± Chapter 369 Part 1 It could be said that from any perspective, the situation on the grasnd during this period was undoubtedly ¡°ridiculous¡±. The sudden death of the prairie king after killing his two beloved sons, made Wang Ting, which was originally united, fall apart. Within a short period of ten days, what made people cry andugh was that five ¡°Prairie Kings¡± actually appeared on the grasnd. Obviously, this is far from the final figure. Because he died too suddenly, thest king of the steppe did not designate his heir. And the remaining sons he left immediately tore up all the hypocrisy for the throne of the king and directly started massacre. During the four days of the death of the prairie king, tens of thousands of warriorsunched severalrge-scale battles. Those warriors killed their formalrades. Horseshoe trampled on their carcass. The killingsted for four days. Atst, some weak sons of prairie king were uprooted and their tribes were annexed. The remaining four powerful princes were exhausted. Finally, they stopped fighting. The pastures around Wang Ting were covered in blood. Countless dead bodies, burning tents, gs, and thick ck smoke could be seen everywhere. The once lively Wang Ting had be a dead ce. The four-day killing made the most powerful tribe in the prairie suffer huge losses. In the end, the four princes finally got a tacit understanding and gave up on killing each other. When the first of them started to retreat, the remaining three made the same choice at the same time. Four beasts were exhausted. Realizing that they could not kill all opponents, they finally gave up and retreated. The once lively Wang Ting quickly became a ce of death. After the war, no one had time to clean up the battlefield. The pasture here had been burnt into a scorched earth and the corpses were everywhere. Once the most powerful tribe on the prairie was badly hurt. There was no doubt that gave other ambitionists on the prairie a chance! The customs on the prairie were different from those of the Rnd people. The barbaric prairie people had no ¡°hereditary¡± rules, they believed in the strength. The throne of ¡°Prairie King¡± was not passed from father to his son but to the chief of the tribe which had the strongest strength. The original tribe of the Prairie king was the most powerful tribe on the prairie, with hundreds of thousands of people. It had upied the position of Wang Ting and Prairie King for many years. However, after the killing, there were heavy casualties within the tribe. More than 40,000 soldiers defending thend died in these four days of fighting. In addition, while fighting for the poption of the tribe, nobody knew how many ordinary people and herdsmen died in the ughter of rival. Finally, the tribe, which had already been devastated, had been divided into four under the rebellion of the four princes! When the four princes chose to leave with their subordinates, the decline of the strongest tribe on the prairie was basically announced! Soon, within ten days, all other chiefs on the grasnd received four orders on blood-stained sheepskin. This was the symbol of king on prairie. Of course, the ¡°kings¡± who sent them were four princes, who all stood on their own as the new prairie kings, demanding that all tribes obey their orders and summons. They ordered to assemble their armies to battle against ¡°rebellion.¡± Of course, the so-called rebellion was their own brothers. Only a few weak tribes epted the call of the prairie king(s). These small tribes had to ept it because the Princes¡¯ army was still stronger than their own tribes. Chapter 369 Part 2 Of course, the so-called rebellion was their own brothers. Only a few weak tribes epted the call of the prairie king(s). These small tribes had to ept it because the Princes¡¯ army was still stronger than their own tribes. The vast majority of the tribes remained surprisingly silent! When some powerful tribes heard about the division of the royal family, they even unceremoniously sent people to use the whip to drive out the messenger who sent the letter. At the same time, they said, ¡°The position of the prairie king is rmended by everyone. Now that the king is dead then the new king should be elected by everyone. You little boy want to give me orders?¡± There were even some big tribes which immediately assembled the cavalry. They were not going to help a prince but they were going to ¡°take a share of cake¡±! As the younger brother of the prairie king, Hamuye was once in Wang Ting. He was also a think tank trusted by the prairie king and he was most familiar with the culture of the Rnd people. He was a ¡°civilized man¡±. Of course, the ¡°peace talk¡± with Du Wei also improved his status in the prairie court. After the start of the civil war in Wang Ting, this clever guy refused help his nephews and then took all his people with him overnight. He even abandoned a lot of cattle. He with his tribe left Wang Ting at the fastest speed! The wise Hamuye knew that there would soon be a bloodbath there. If he stayed there, he would be involved in this ughter and then he would perish! His choice was wise, because within a short period of four days after the start of the civil war in Wang Ting, several small ns in Wang Ting had be cannon fodder during the war. Along with their master, they were killed. On the fifth day of migration, tens of thousands of people were exhausted because of the migration process. Finally, Hamuye saw Sdin. To be precise, Sdin was carrying a full 10,000 elite warriors. Each cavalry was wearing a high-quality armor owned by Rnd warriors and a scimitar in their hand. They are all made with the finest iron of the Rnd people! This 10,000 cavalry, like a ghost, suddenly appeared in front of the migrating tribe. They were full of murderous intentions! Then the messenger sent by Sdin brought only a sentence to Hamuye. ¡°Uncle, either obey me or die.¡± Hamuye looked at the people behind him. His tribe was not strong. The poption was only 30,000, and the army was less than 10,000. Coupled with the day-to-day migration, people were sleepy and the other party was clearly prepared. If they fought, Hamuye believed that they would be defeated without doubt! More importantly, Hamuye knew very well that he was not a brave man. Unlike most prairie people, he preferred to use his brain instead of using a scimitar to solve problems. Even when the prairie king was alive, most of the time he acted as the think tank for his brother. Although his brother trusted him, those military generals did not like him much. Because of his bad reputation for cowardice, his subordinates alsocked brave generals. And so, Hamuye reached to the decision only after considering it for a short time. ¡°Everyone put down your weapons!¡± When Hamuye saw Sdin again, he immediately saw apletely different temperament from the face of this guy! Decisive, cunning, cruel¡­ Chapter 370 Part 1 Where the guy who once kissed his father¡¯s feet in the court? ¡°From now on, you follow me. I will be like ¡­ no, I will trust you more than that old guy.¡± When they met, this was Sdin¡¯s first sentence to his uncle. Old man ¡­ Hamuye was not a fool. He heard a bit of resentment from Sdin¡¯s tone. He thought of that beautiful woman which caused king¡¯s death. Does all this need to be exined? What a wolf in sheep¡¯s cloths¡­ The most important thing was that he could bear all that humiliation to achieve his goal! Resolute! Cruel to himself! Hamuye sighed. Perhaps, this wolf cub could really make to the end. No matter what, do he have a choice? He and his tribe were surrendered by Sdin¡¯s 10,000 elite soldiers. And looking at a well-equipped army of Sdin¡­ behind this guy, there must be someone, Rnd! Otherwise, how could he equip his army with so many elite weapons and armors with his ability? Sdin was slightly dissatisfied with Hamuye¡¯s silence, so he reminded his uncle a little. Hamuye decided to work for Sdin. He raised his hands above his head and then bowed his head to Sdin and spoke loudly with a respectful voice: ¡°Noble, great prairie Master, the king of the ministry ¡­ I, Hamuye, am willing to surrender to you. I will be your eyes, your steed, your leather whip, your scimitar ¡­ your will is mine mission!¡± Then, without any nonsense, Sdin looked at his uncle, the only ¡°civilized man¡± in the king¡¯s court. He was very satisfied with the obedience shown by the other party and then he straightforwardly asked his question: ¡°Uncle, can you give me any ideas for the current situation?¡± In the western part of the prairie, more and more tribesmen gathered. It includes four princes who stand on their own as ¡°Prairie kings¡± and more than a dozen small tribes following them. Here, more than 200,000 soldiers and horses have gathered. Although some big tribes also sent their soldiers, they did not join the battle and just watched the battle from a distance. The four princes were not outstanding talents, even short-sighted. Because pride and ambition, they didn¡¯t even notice that their tribe had lost the majesty of suppressing the entire prairie after passing through the internal strife. And the position of the ridiculous ¡°Prairie King¡± didn¡¯t seem to be so good. The ¡°king¡¯s degree¡± issued was despised by severalrge tribes and it was only some small tribes that acted. Even among them, there were many ambitious guys. Now they regret it. But they had no choice! They must fight. If they step back now, with their current strength, they were afraid they would be swallowed up by others soon. All four people have only one choice: to kill their other three brothers, to consolidate their army and tribe, and then to have the power to protect themselves! Of course, they also made thismon move at the same time. At the same time, they sent a brave messenger to ride the fastest horse to the Snow Mountain on the prairie to see His Majesty, the omnipotent Witch (Shaman) King! If you can get the approval of His Majesty the Witch King, then the position of your own prairie king will be determined. Chapter 370 Part 2 Of course, they also made thismon move at the same time. At the same time, they sent a brave messenger to ride the fastest horse to the Snow Mountain on the prairie to see His Majesty, the omnipotent Witch (Shaman) King! If you can get the approval of His Majesty the Witch King, then the position of your own prairie king will be determined. It was a pity that after the messenger was dispatched; there was no news for many days. This situation made the four princes very anxious. Finally, this day they got a good piece of news. At the same time, the four ¡°Prairie kings¡± all received a secret letter which was shot into their camp with a bow and arrow by someone. At the same time, the four Prairie Kings received an ¡°investment in good faith¡±! In fact, the contents of these four letters were almost the same. The contents of the four letters were generally the same except that the recipients have different personal names. First of all, He praised them in a humble and respectful tone and addressed them as ¡°The Great Prairie King¡±. After that, he showed his determination to lead allegiance. Finally, it was agreed that on the day of the decisive battle, he would lead a 40,000 soldiers. He would enter join the battle and serve the great king! At the same time, in order to sneak attack the enemy and take them by surprise, he asked the great prairie king to keep this matter secret. After defeating the enemy in battlefield, he would bow down before the king¡­ The signature at the end of the letter was Sdin, the son of the ve woman who had always been looked down upon by several princes. If it was only Sdin¡¯s signature, the four princes might not believe it. But the problem was that after Sdin¡¯s letter, four people received another letter at the same time! And this letter made all four ¡°Prairie kings¡± fool! This was an letter from Hamuye. Like the previous one, the letters received by the four princes this time were actually the same. In the letter, Hamuye said in a sincere tone that he had not epted your summon when he was in the court but left with his people because of fear and defection. After all, if he has a small tribe. The poption is only 30,000 and the military strength is only a few thousand, it will not help much. His departure was actually to save strength but also to find a strong support for them! And now, he has already convinced Sdin, the youngest prince. Sdin has expressed his willingness to support you together with me. I and his troops together have tens of thousands of soldiers. In this way, we can greatly help you. On the day of the decisive battle, he and Sdin will bring their soldiers and horses from the side of the battlefield and then¡­ After receiving this handwritten letter from Hamuye, the four princes were really fooled. Who was Hamuye? He was their uncle and their father¡¯s brother. In the royal court, he also had a great personal rtionship with the princes. No one believes that Hamuye will harm them ¡­ and no one thinks that Hamuye will ¡°trust¡± Sdin. After all, Hamuye is the true noble prince! And Sdin ¡­ it was just a female ve-born kid, a bastard, who reached this level with the ttery of their father! Humph¡­¡­ Moreover, what must be mentioned paragraph at the end of Hamuye¡¯s letter, which stated¨C ¡°Dear King. Although I think Sdin agreed to help us, we can¡¯t fully trust this little bastard. I will help the King to monitor him carefully¡­ But my strength is limited and it is very difficult to control him effectively. Therefore, please send some people to assist me. I don¡¯t need a lot, just give me another five thousand soldiers so I can keep an eye on this guy firmly. If he dares to do something wrong, I can¡­¡± It was thisst paragraph that moved the four princes. Each of them is so happy that they thought of making Hamuye their future think tank! Huh, that bastard boy is probably unreliable! Moreover, my uncle only needs 5,000 people and I can still squeeze some out! Moreover, that bastard boy has to send 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers! Thus it is a very worthwhile thing. Therefore, after receiving the ¡°secret letter¡±, the four ¡°prairie kings¡± dreamed that they got the support of Sdin and Hamuye, and agreed to Hamuye¡¯s request. Four princes immediately ordered to separate 5,000 soldiers and had them quietly leave camp in night. The address in each ¡°secret letter¡± was different. So this scene appeared: In the next three days, four different times, at four different locations¡­ After the soldiers arrived at the designated meeting point, they all met the ¡°loyal¡± Prince Hamuye and his soldiers. Chapter 371 Part 1 Soldiers were deceived by Hamuye so they were not prepared for any sneak attack. After they reached the designated ce, they got ambushed by Sdin. After getting surrounded, soldiers dropped theirs weapons. They could only ept their fate and surrender to be reorganized! What Hamuye had to do was to send letters to four ces and perform four ys in three days. Sdin didn¡¯t use a single soldier but with just a letter, he got more than 20,000 men! Even Hamuye, known as the ¡°think tank¡±, admired this wild and bold idea. What he didn¡¯t know was that this idea was not something Sdin could think of. Afterpleting this n, Sdin secretly met with Alpha. Facing this prairie man, although he (Alpha) didn¡¯t like this guy, but because of his loyalty to Dewey, he still fulfilled his mission brilliantly. ¡°This is thest when Master Du Wei helped you for free. We will not give you any more free help. Starting from today, any help wille at a price. ¡± The four ¡°Prairie Kings¡± believe that they have gained an advantage in strength with the support of the Hamuye and Sdin coalition forces. On the day of the decisive battle, cruel reality shed their illusions! The four princes finally made up their minds to fight! Because they could no longer hold on, they must defeat their brothers as fast as possible and then take the position of prairie. It was only way to make those tribes surrender. So, this morning, the four princes¡¯ soldiers gathered on this prairie. The drums of war were beating and the horns sounded. The cavalry polished their machete, the horse¡¯s nose sprayed white gas¡­ And ridiculously, the four princes were looking at the side of the battlefield at the same time ¡­ waiting for their ¡°reinforcements¡±. At noon, when the sun was shining overhead, faint sounds of horseshoes came from the side of the battlefield. And then above the horizon, there was arge cloud of dust. Nobody knew how many cavalrymen wereing. The dust that covered the sky was no doubt stimted the confidence of the four ¡°prairie kings¡±! Finally, a team of cavalry holding banners revealed itself. It was exactly Prince Sdin and Hamuye! The most ridiculous and ironic scene happened at this moment. The four prairie kings, almost at the same time, pointed at the flying dust in the distance and then turned around, and shouted at their subordinates with a confidence of the winner: ¡°Look! Do you see those in the distance! Those are the reinforcements that Prince Hamuye brought to us! Our reinforcements have arrived! The victory belongs to us! Now, raise your weapons and charge at your enemies! ¡± Although there were some people who though that something was not right¡­ but at this tense moment, no one had time to think about these issues. So ¡­ the horn of charge rang, the soldiers raised their scimitar and urged the war horse. They began an unscrupulous charge¡­ ¡°Aren¡¯t they fooled?¡± Sdin smiled at Hamuye, who was next to him. Hamuye thought about it. He immediately said, ¡°Yes! My lord¡­ I really admire your strategy, huh. It only took a thousand soldiers and horses dragging logs to spread dust¡­ They must be thinking that we are reinforcement. ¡± Sdin smiled gloomily: ¡°So ¡­ now, let¡¯s get our men on board and get ready to go.¡± Chapter 371 Part 2 Hamuye thought about it. He immediately said, ¡°Yes! My lord¡­ I really admire your strategy, huh. It only took a thousand soldiers and horses dragging logs to spread dust¡­ They must be thinking that we are reinforcement. ¡± Sdin smiled gloomily: ¡°So ¡­ now, let¡¯s get our men on board and get ready to go.¡± On the prairie, more than 100,000 soldiers fought each other fiercely. Like a huge meat grinder, they crushed all life that was involved! Whistling, killing, shouting, screaming¡­ When the battle went on for a while, the four ¡°Prairie Kings¡± found out that their ¡°reinforcement¡± who they had high hopes for did not join the battle! And the scouts sent back a bad piece of news that made four ¡°prairie kings¡± so angered that they almost vomited blood and passed out! These so-called reinforcements came but there were only a thousand people¡­ the dust in the sky was caused by the logs tied behind the horses. And when the battle started, they¡­ all ran away! ¡°Damn Sdin! Damn Hamuye!¡± The four ¡°prairie kings¡±, in their respective military formations, issued the most vicious curse at the same time. But they still made an inconsistent decision. It was impossible to stop the battle! In the current situation, whoever retreated would die! The four kings, at the same time, ordered theirst reserve team to rush up! Life and death depend on this moment! Where was Sdin at this time? He sent four teams; each team was of 5,000 soldiers. And these 5,000 men, respectively, put on the dresses of the 5,000 men and horses sent by several brothers at first. They fought on the battlefield for some time and slowly approached the four Prairie King¡¯s Base Camp¡­ The order from Sdin was simple. ¡°Fast! Everything must be done fast! What you can grab, grab it! If you can¡¯t take it, burn it down!¡± The four princes invested everything in this decisive battle so their base camps were exposed to Sdin¡¯s minions. This time, he decided to vent his anger into this battle! Rnd Empire, winter, 963 years! Du Wei who was sitting in the Governor¡¯s Mansion in Lon City received thest secret report on the prairie. This was also thest letter sent by Alpha. Subsequently, Alpha would also end his two-year prairie career and return to Desa province. During the decisive battle of the four ¡°Prairie Kings¡±, Sdin sent his troops to attack the camp of four people, plundering a lot of materials, wealth and ves. Atst he went away. On the battlefield, the fierce battle continued until dark. In the end, the two princes died on the spot. And one saw that the situation was bad and decided to leave the battlefield with his remnants soldiers. When he fled, there were less than 6,000 cavalry left and most of them were wounded. Thest ¡°victor¡± was the eldest son of the former prairie king. Unfortunately, the winner also paid a huge price. After he finally did calction, it was found that, after adding prisoners of war, his overall strength was less than 30,000. Moreover, most of them were heavily wounded. And¡­ his base was also copied by Sdin. With only less than 30,000 disabled soldiers, was he still prairie king? So, in the dark, the ¡°victor¡± set a fire and burned the battlefield. After that, he led his people and left in a southeast direction. And the only winner of this war was Sdin! Chapter 372 Part 1 His strength had inted to next level. After the war, his tribe already had a poption of nearly 100,000 and owns 60,000 soldiers! This strength, on the grasnd, was already considered a first-ss tribe. Moreover, the clever Sdin firmly remembered the opinion in the letter that Du Wei once wrote to him: Don¡¯t be rushed! From beginning to end, he didn¡¯t erect the king¡¯s banner and he didn¡¯t support himself as the prairie king. But with his army, he devoured everything that could be found around him step by step. Then taking advantage of the disintegration of Wang Ting, the forces in the southern prairie briefly vacuumed which in return rapidly increased his capital¡­ By the time winteres, Sdin already has more than 100,000 troops! He has be one of the most powerful leaders on the prairie! And thest two of his remaining brothers, one who fled with thousands of disabled soldiers at first, lost their prestige after being defeated and were killed by the rebels. In addition, the great prince took 30,000 men south, but was annexed by another great tribe, and the head of the great prince was also chopped off. In the winter, on the prairie, severalrge tribes issued a joint deration, asking all local tribal leaders to bring people to the Wang Ting to convene a prairie tribe conference. They wanted to re-elect a new prairie king. When Sdin received the news, he just sneered and tore up the letter. Sdin then smiled, showing her white teeth. Looking at Uncle Hamuye next to him, he sneered: ¡°The Duke of Tulip told me not to believe any so-called ¡®rmended king¡¯. Getting true loyalty by so called ¡®rmendation¡¯ was impossible! The only way is to use your scimitar to conquer! Completely conquer the enemy and kill the disobedient. In the end, the remaining people will be loyal to you.¡± ¡°So ¡­ we¡¯re not going to this conference?¡± Hamuyer asked. ¡°Participate, why not.¡± Sdin said: ¡°You go as my representative. But remember, we only rmend kings who are absolutely inappropriate.¡± ¡­ After Du Wei read thest letter, he handed it to Philip. Philip read it with a smile and then nodded: ¡°Master Duke, it seems¡­ for the next ten years, we don¡¯t have to worry about the threat of the prairie.¡± Du Wei nodded and agreed with Philip. ¡°In the past, the prairie king was powerful enough to calm the prairie so the prairie would be united under any outside threat. But now, the most powerful tribe has disintegrated. The remainingrge tribes are far from enough to calm and unite the entire grasnd. There is no overwhelming advantage. So, even if someone is elected as the king, soon a new challenger will stand up and set off the new civil war. ording to our calctions, the prairie people¡¯s civil war mayst at least seven or eight years and there is also an ambitious guy Sdin. The time may be longer. So within these ten years, we don¡¯t have to worry about these prairie people.¡± From the beginning, Du Wei never thought about conquering the prairie. He knew that with the current state of the empire, it would not be possible to do this, neither in strength nor in time. Du Wei never thought of sending troops into the prairie. Even if the prairie people were greatly injured, even if Du Wei could win the war, ¡°victory¡± and plete conquest¡± werepletely different. Chapter 372 Part 2 From the beginning, Du Wei never thought about conquering the prairie. He knew that with the current state of the empire, it would not be possible to do this, neither in strength nor in time. Du Wei never thought of sending troops into the prairie. Even if the prairie people were greatly injured, even if Du Wei could win the war, ¡°victory¡± and plete conquest¡± werepletely different. It was easy to win the war. It was necessary to conquer the prairie¡¯s people. It was sefinitely not something that could be done in the short term. In that case, they would drag their army into a endless cycle. Therefore, Du Wei¡¯s goal was to get the prairie into chaos. Severe civil strife and years of civil war would make the prairie torn apart and its strength would be greatly reduced! In this way, Du Wei could concentrate all his attention with peace of mind to deal with more important enemies. ¡°Then, we can let the small army stationed in the Northwest Corridor evacuate.¡± Philipughed. ¡°For the past six months, we have been transporting water every day. We have consumed too much.¡± ¡°Withdraw¡­ half.¡± Du Wei thought for a moment. ¡°The border cannot be left empty, leaving half of them is enough.¡± In the afternoon, Du Wei walked out of the study. He rubbed his sore temples and sighed long. Looking at the sky, it seemed that it was going to snow. Without any attendants, he walked straight through the corridor to the other side of the castle and came to a room upstairs. Pushing open the door, sight of few beautiful girls dancing and sitting in the middle greeted him¡­ Du Wei suddenly felt a little stunned and sighed after he saw it clearly. Ai Lu, the female assassin of the Snow Mountain, was wearing a Rnd dress. She was sitting in the middle and was ying organ. Du Wei waved his hands, indicating everyone to leave except Ai Lu. Ai Lu¡¯s expression was gloomy. She even looked at Du Wei with a provocative look. In fact, in the months following Han Yue¡¯s death, her attitude towards Du Wei had always been the same. But Du Wei did not bother her. Even if she caused serious problem, Du Wei just locked her up for two days, nothing more. ¡°You ¡­ what are you doing here again?¡± Ai Lu stared at Du Wei: ¡°Are you going to send someone to die again this time?¡± Du Wei shook his head and then stretched out his hand. A light shone in his hand. He had taken something out of the magic ring and held it in his hand. This was a pair of small organs and the crystal strings were obviously scrubbed carefully every day, spotlessly clean. ¡°You y the organ very well,¡± Du Wei said gently. ¡°So, this organ is for you.¡± Ai Lu didn¡¯t speak. Du Wei¡¯s next sentence made Ai Lu suddenly tremble. ¡°This organ¡­ was left by her. This organ has been in my hand since she left.¡± Ai Lu took the organ and flicked her fingers across the strings. Later, Du Wei walked to the window, looked into the distance. Then he turned his back to the Ai Lu: ¡°y something for me!¡± Ai Lu wanted to oppose but when the words were about to came out of her mouth, she didn¡¯t know how to. She finally said: ¡°What do you want to hear!¡± Du Wei remained silent for a while before replying, ¡°Whatever song she used to y, you can y it.¡± The soft and harmonious melody sounded. The smooth tune fell into Du Wei¡¯s ear as he sighed. His eyes fell far away into the distance. The direction he was looking at was north! The dark clouds were moving in the sky¡­ ¡°It seems to be snowing,¡± Du Wei murmured as if whispering: ¡°It¡¯s been a year now. It¡¯s been a year¡­ there are two years left. Time flies really fast. Only two years are left now.¡± Although this guy turned his back to her and she couldn¡¯t see his expression, Ai Lu obviously felt that the Young Duke was exhausted at this moment! Yes, tired. It¡¯s the kind of exhaustion that seemed to be hollowed out of your heart. ¡°Two years¡­ what does he mean by two years? Why he always says it¡¯s raining, it¡¯s snowing etc. What makes him so worried, so tired ¡­¡± Ai Lu thought to herself. Chapter 373 Part 1 Here is the 10th chapter~ The year 963 passed¡­ At the end of the year, thest big thing that affected the future of the Rnd Empire happened. At a huge prayer ceremony in the Temple of Light held at the end of the year, Pope Paul XVI finally publicly announced his designated future temple heir, Archbishop Cardinal Maximus. This designation did not cause any surprises. After all, as the chief cardinal, Maximus had already be the future pope candidate in people¡¯s minds, but it was only a matter of time. The Archbishop Maximus did something that surprised and admired everyone. The empire¡¯s most popr character, most appreciated by the Regent had many legendary stories and many glorious titles. For example, ¡°Genius Junior Magician¡±, ¡°Court Schr¡±, ¡°Duke Tulip¡± and so on¡­ Some time ago, he generously donated money almost equal to one year of the Empire¡¯s financial revenue to support the Empire¡¯s military expenses. Thus people gave him a new nickname ¡°the richest man on the continent¡±. Almost everyone knew that this distinguished gentleman was not a devout believer and he had not been baptized. Because of his unbelief in the Goddess of Light, the clergy of the temples received some unfair treatment in his territory. ording to some gossip and even news from the Duke¡¯s Mansion, it was said that the Lord Duke does did have much respect for the goddess. He even used some very impolite words to describe those priests in private ces. It was said that a wild horse that has always been out of the glory of the goddess had finally tamed by the great Archbishop Maximus. Just on January 1st of the year. On the former square of the Governor¡¯s Mansion in Lon City, the provincial capital of Desa, the Duke of Tulips held an introductory ceremony of his own. In the presence of tens of thousands of onlookers, he received the baptism of the Archbishop of Maximus. Archbishop Maximus personallypleted the ceremony to ept the Lord Duke Tulip and also awarded an ¡°Outstanding Contribution Medal¡± to the duke who had just been enshrined. Generally, this badge was only awarded to those who have made outstanding contributions to the church. When the Duke received the medal, only five minutes had passed since he became a believer. Du Wei then announced in a high profile that his territory, Desa, was officially open to the church. And the close friend of Archbishop Maximus, the former bishop of the North and Central Parish, Rams came to serve as the archbishop of Desa. In addition, Du Wei stated that he would fully support the establishment of the parish in the Desa. He was also willing to be the Holy Knight of Desa and provide a good training ground. He also generously donated five hundred excellent horses. On behalf of the church, Maximus announced a resolution. In order to express its sincere gratitude to Lord Duke Tulip, the church decided to exempt all religious taxes in the province of Desa for the next five years. At the same time, ording to Du Wei¡¯s huge poprity in Desa, the church¡¯s Presbyterian Council made a decision saying that Du Wei would be awarded the title of ¡°Honorary Bishop¡± in Desa. The title of honorary bishop was more than just an ¡°honour¡±. Legally speaking, due to his status as bishop of the church, Du Wei will have immunity to anyw of the Empire in the future. Although Du Wei didn¡¯t care much about this ¡°legal immunity¡± because he already had the status of a magician, he was also of a legal privileged ss. However, the title of honorary bishop had more functions than a magician: There was a function what Du Wei desired most. In order to show respect for the honorary bishop, the church made a resolution saying that church would grant status of ¡°Holy Knight¡± to 500 soldiers of Du Wei! Moreover, this cavalry could only follow themand of the honorary bishop. Of course, the premise was that this cavalry must ensure that each of them was a believer of goddess. Chapter 373 Part 2 However, the title of honorary bishop had more functions than a magician: There was a function what Du Wei desired most. In order to show respect for the honorary bishop, the church made a resolution saying that church would grant status of ¡°Holy Knight¡± to 500 soldiers of Du Wei! Moreover, this cavalry could only follow themand of the honorary bishop. Of course, the premise was that this cavalry must ensure that each of them was a believer of goddess. Moreover, ording to some legal loopholes, a formal knight could have up to 2000 retinues and these retinues were not counted. Therefore, Du Wei could expand the number of ¡°holy knights¡± who belonged to himself to 2,500! Five hundred of them were full-fledged knights and two thousand were in the name of ¡°retinues ¡°, and all of them were legal. ¡°Killing a holy knight is seen as a full deration of war on the Temple of Light.¡± ording to this code, Du Wei¡¯s ¡°Holy Knights¡± squad would be a very effective weapon in the future Northwest War. No matter how arrogant the Northwest Army was, it was not easy to dere war on the continent¡¯s temple of light. Moreover, there were also many soldiers in the Northwest Corps who were church believers themselves. When the enemy soldiers faced the Holy Knights, it was difficult to imagine how much morale these soldiers would have left. It was worth mentioning that Du Wei gave this ¡°holy knight¡± squad to Hussein tomand. Hussein was a true holy knight. He was familiar with the strict methods of training all holy knights and knew how to lead such a knight. Subsequently, Du Wei announced another matter. He was going to build a military fortress in the eastern part of Desa Province, at the border with Nuling Province. This was aplete military fortress but there was also a religious ce inside which could be used by the knights to pray. Later, at the junction of Desa and Nuling provinces, there were three military forts. The first was a new army barracks jointly constructed by Du Wei and Governor of the Nuling Province two years ago. After two years, Du Wei had stationed two-thirds of his army there. The second was a ce builtst year to house the tulip private army. Now this was the third. In this way, Du Wei had stacked more than 70,000 soldiers on the border between his territory and Nuling Province. In addition, there were also 30,000 soldiers of Governor Bohan. That made total of 100,000 soldiers. What made Du Wei feel strange was that during this year, the Northwest Army seemed to have been quiet¡­ Lu Gao, what is he thinking? Du Wei was waiting. Now the situation had entered the most critical moment. He was waiting for a signal, a signal from the emperor. And the arrival of that signal would dere the peace period on the continent hade to an end! The war ising? No no no, it should be said: war is about to break out! Trantor Note: Guys, I have something to tell you. I am also a human and need money to sustain my living. Now, I have two choice left. One, I drop this novel. Two, you guys help me in earning something. Since I personally like this novel, I will not drop this but I have to decrease release rate to 4 per week or even lower. My goal is not too high, just 50$ in total (Patreon+ko-fi+Paypal). Current Amount: 10$. 40$ away from goal. Only you help me now. Chapter 374 Part 1 The prelude to the war began with a document from the capital. ¡°The emperor of the Rnd Empire orders themander of the empire¡¯s northwest corps, Lu Gao, and the generals of the northwest army. Because of the high casualties in Stormwind army, the army of Northwest will march to north to guard against the beast tides. Within one month after receiving the order, the Northwest Army will go to Imperial Northern Theater in ordance with the marching route stipted by the Military Command. The Northwest Army will take over the Northern Theater. The personnel arrangement in the Northwest Army will not be changed. The leader of the Northwest Army Corps, Lu Gao, will be themander in the northern theatre. The sries of all army generals will be double. Stormwind army will take over the northwest. Signed by Robb Scher, Acting Military General. ¡± This document was sent to the Northwest Army¡¯s Watt Fortress at the same time and an exact copy was ced on Du Wei¡¯s desk. Without any doubt, even after the content of this document was spread even idiots knew that it was time to fight. Everyone knows what it meant to ¡°change the defense.¡± For the Northwest Army, their turf covered half of Nuling Province and had been operating in the Northwest for twenty years. If this time ¡°changing defense¡± was equivalent to leaving their territory. The big tree which had no root would only end up dead. Moreover, the Northwest Army had not listened to any orders of the empire for past two decades, but it was still an imperial army in name. For Lu Gao,mander of the Northwest Army, he was also very clear that this was a final signal of the empire. He had to made life-threatening decision. Either epts the empire¡¯s order to change defenses and then waiting for northwest army to be disintegrated by the empire after it reached the north. Or, refuse Empire¡¯s imperial order. As long as he refuses, it was the crime of ¡°defying the military order¡±, ¡°treason¡±, etc. Next, it will be¡­ war. This year, the empire recruited arge number of recruits and then Du Wei also dispatched 100,000 soldiers in the northwest. Moreover, Governor Bohan was also actively preparing for the battle. The Imperial City Guards sent another division northwest ¡­ Everything was already very obvious. As for the Northwest Army, it seemed that there were very few army movements. Lu Gao was also very clear in his heart that everything he had been able to do before was because the empire did not want to start a civil war that would hurt its vitality. In order to stabilize and maintain peace on the surface, the emperor was reluctant to wage civil war. But now, he didn¡¯t know why, that young regent made this decision! Lu Gao knew better than anyone else that once the empire made up its mind. Even if it had to pay arge price, it would likely win in the end. No matter in terms of poption, military strength, war potential etc., empire was far stronger than him. He was a general facing a huge empire. He had to make the smartest decision now. Northwest Army, Watt Fortress, The Northwest Army Commander House. Chapter 374 Part 2 Lu Gao knew better than anyone else that once the empire made up its mind. Even if it had to pay arge price, it would likely win in the end. No matter in terms of poption, military strength, war potential etc., empire was far stronger than him. He was a general facing a huge empire. He had to make the smartest decision now. Northwest Army, Watt Fortress, The Northwest Army Commander House. Lu Gao was sitting on the top position. Seriousness in his eyes forced the generals in the hall to feel heavy. ¡°Don¡¯t talk anymore?¡± Lu Gao coldly said, ¡°This is a life and death moment! The regent kid of the empire made it clear that we have to make decision. Do you have no opinion at all?¡± Soon, a big fierce argument broke out in the generals. Lu Gao was silent. None of the opinions of the generals below were satisfactory to him. Watching these generals¡¯ quarrels, Lu Gao gradually lost patience and he coughed hard: ¡°Stop!¡± He stood up and looked at the generals. He was very disappointed. These guys allck abilities to think of big picture¡­ well, except for one person. Lu Gao nced at Guwadolo, that calm and silent middle-aged man. He was Lu Gao¡¯s most respected and trusted general. Although his strength was not best among the generals, some people even mocked him for not being brave enough. However, Guwadolo¡¯s position in Lu Gao¡¯s heart still could not be shaken. ¡°Guwadolo, you stay! Everyone else will disperse.¡± Lu Gao already made a decision but he felt he needed to stabilize his general¡¯s confidence so he deliberatelyughed a few times and then addressed the generals: ¡°Okay! You don¡¯t have to worry too much¡­ well¡­ the regent is just a little child! Even his father, Augustine VI, can¡¯t take us down, what that child can do? Huh ¡­ Don¡¯t worry, he must be under a lot of pressure. I don¡¯t think he dares to really fight. Even if he really fights, once he suffers losses, I am afraid he will not be able to bear it. Youths are impulsive and as soon as he loses his spirit, he will immediately soften. Who have we been afraid of in Northwest for so many years! ¡± Feeling the grandeur and boldness in the words, the generals could not help but regain a bit of confidence in their hearts. Then, after the crowd left, a hint of anxiety appeared on Lu Gao¡¯s face as he faced Guwadolo. ¡°Well, Guwadolo, tell me what you think.¡± Chapter 375 Part 1 ¡°Sir.¡± The middle-aged man looked at hismander steadily and then he asked a strange question: ¡°Do you think we have a chance to win this time?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Lu Gao stared at the most trusted subordinate and then he told the truth: ¡°Small.¡± ¡°I also think it¡¯s very small.¡± Guwadolo nodded and sighed slightly. He then whispered, ¡°The Empire has not been able to defeat us all the time. It¡¯s not because it¡¯s weak but more because it does not want to start all-out war. But now, they have made up their mind. Once the war begins, let me speak out¡­ no matter what the process is, maybe with the bravery of our soldiers or with the wisdom of ourmanders, we can get some victory, but¡­ in the end, we will inevitably fail. The only difference is that it may happen sooner or letter. That¡¯s all. ¡± ¡°So what do you think?¡± Guwadolo closed his mouth and seemed afraid to say. ¡°Don¡¯t stop talking! Guwadolo, I just want to hear your true thoughts.¡± Lu Gao said. ¡°Let¡¯s set aside victory or defeat.¡± Guwadolo shook his head: ¡°I would like to ask the general, what are your expectations? What is the ultimate goal? Is to capture the world? Capture the throne? Or just want to fight? Or, are you willing topromise in order to save your life? I think, before making any choice, I need to know what general¡¯s goal is. ¡± Lu Gao¡¯s eyes were serious: ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°If you decide to take to capture the throne, then I will repay your kindness and stick with you to the end! Although I think this goal is impossible to achieve. If your goal is just to fight, then I think we should march the army to the east and then trap the emperor. Even if we got defeated in the end, it will make the continent remember our name forever! If¡­ you feelpelled to save your life, then I am also willing to follow you even if you decide to throw the entire Northwest Army into a fire pit. ¡± Lu Gao was silent. ¡°You see, you didn¡¯t think about it yourself, so how can I answer your question?¡± Guwadolo sighed and then he reached out and took up the military official document on Lu Gao¡¯s table. He ripped it into pieces and finally kneeled down in front of Lu Gao: ¡°Master, my life is yours. Over the years, you know my secrets but you always kept me by your side. Trust me and reuse me. Even my colleagues have some opinions but your trust in me has not changed. I have nothing to return to you, it is only my life. No matter what choice you make, I, Guwadolo swear to stood by your side till myst breath.¡± At this moment, the steady middle-aged man revealed a few crazy meanings in his eyes. He smiled at Lu Gao and then stood up. He turned around and walked out of the hall. ¡°My¡­ choice¡­¡± Lu Gao frowned, thinking for a while. Then he suddenlyughed. ¡°Prince Chen, if you want to y then I will y this game with you!¡± After speaking, he grabbed the pen on the table and quickly wrote a document. Then he called his soldiers toe in and then have him deliver this document quickly. The content of the document was very simple. ¡°Lu Gao,mander of the Northwest Army Corps, was prepared for a change of defense!¡± He actually epted the order to change the defense?! After throwing away the pen, Lu Gao strode into the inner hall and then went directly into the secret passage in the inner hall. There was a beast-like roar filled with despair and anger. Chapter 375 Part 2 ¡°Lu Gao,mander of the Northwest Army Corps, was prepared for a change of defense!¡± He actually epted the order to change the defense?! After throwing away the pen, Lu Gao strode into the inner hall and then went directly into the secret passage in the inner hall. There was a beast-like roar filled with despair and anger. At the end of the tunnel was a square stone room. Lu Gao stood at the door. The door of this room was made of iron. He just stood at the door and saw the stone room. A ck figure shouted toward him fiercely. Boom! This figure hit the iron door fiercely, causing the whole room to shake. The entire body of man inside was covered with blood. Nobody knew how many minor scars were on his body. He had a pale and handsome face. Sebasta, this was the Young General Sebasta of the Northwest Army! Sebasta¡¯s eyes were looked like that of a beast. He held the iron door with his hands and shook it hard. The iron door made a clicking sound. Sebasta roared like a beast. There was no trace of rity in his eyes. They werepletely murderous and beast-like. Lu Gao stood outside the door with deep sadness in his eyes and looked at his only son. Lu Gao raised his hand across the iron door, as if to touch his son¡¯s head¡­ ¡°Poor son!¡± Lu Gao sighed. ¡°You havepletely be a beast now! A beast with no humanity¡­ I really should kill you.¡± After thest attempt to kill White River and Pope failed, Sebasta, who was severely injured by ¡°Aragon¡± had to use ¡°perfect body¡± to quickly flee to Northwest Army. But what was the strength of Aragon? Being able to survive because of ¡°perfect body¡± was already incredible feet. However, his ¡°perfect body¡± had a fatal w, that was after activation he lose his mind. After he returned to the Northwest Army, the side effects of the perfect body broke out immediately. Moreover, because of injuries caused by Aragon, the use of perfect body had exceeded the limit of any previous time. Now, even Lu Gao¡¯s snow mountain spell could no longer calm Sebasta down. He had be a beast full of bloodthirsty and destruction desire! No humanity was left and he had be a bloodthirsty beast! As ast resort, Lu Gao could only confine his son in this stone house and he used snow mountain spell to arrange the matrix around the house, making Sebasta unable to use his strength. Otherwise, how could a stone house hold Sebasta who was ninth level martial artist? At this moment, Sebastian had been held in this stone house for more than a year. He did not see the sun all year round. On the stone wall, there were scratches of his nails. The nails of his ten fingers were destroyed and blood was flowing but he seemed to feel no pain. Lu Gao stood outside the door like this, silently looking at his only son. Although he hated his face, there was deep sorrow in his eyes. Chapter 376 Part 1 When Lu Gao¡¯s official documents were passed to the imperial capital, a group of staff and generals in themander¡¯s office thought something were wrong. Was Lu Gao really surrendered so easily? The Northwest¡¯s great general that had caused the Empire a headache for two decades just epted the military order? One year of ns,rge-scale army mobilization, preparation of weapons and other materials¡­ all of them did note in handy? At this time, the one who yed major role in all this was the acting military minister Rob Scher. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Although the old prime minister was old, he still had strictness in his tone: ¡°Immediately send another military order and order the leader of the Northwest Army Corps Lu Gao to report to the imperial capital within ten days after receiving the military order!¡± The old prime minister snorted. Huh, Lu Gao. No matter what trick you have under your sleeve but do you really dare toe to Imperial capital alone? If you refuse toe, we can still charge you for disobeying military order. ¡°Please help the magic union to pass the military order in the fastest way!¡± This is the decision of the old prime minister. After making the decision, the old prime minister smiled and looked at Camisiro next to him. He said in polite tone: ¡°Master Camisiro, please report this to His Royal Highness. It is urgent. I think His Highness will agree. ¡± Emergency military orders often exchanged between the Imperial Capital and the Northwest Army. At the beginning, as expected by the old Rob Scher, the Lu Gao immediately responded to his letter and pleaded, saying that the Northwest Army had been deployed northward for recing defenses. He needed to deal withrge amount ofplicated military affairs. Then Robe Scher wrote an extremely stern document, ordering Lu Gao to return to the capital. Otherwise it was disobedience. At the same time, the Stormwind Corps was only a hundred miles away from Nuling Province and a division of Wang Cheng Guards had reached the Sin City. Strategically, the siege of the Northwest Army has beenpleted. To the west of the Northwest Army was Du Wei¡¯s army. To the south was Governor Bonham¡¯s army, to the southeast was Wang Cheng Guards, and to the northeast was the Stormwind Corps. Of course, all of this army was mobilised under the excuse of ¡°Spring Exercise.¡± Copy of document sent by Lu Gao was ced on Du Wei¡¯s desk after an hour it was received by the military. This was a file transmitted by the Magic Array of the Magic Academy. Du Wei, as one of the founders of the Magic Academy and a member of the Magic Academy, had made full use of the resources at hand. Although the regent did not say anything but this time to deal with the Northwest Army, the main nner was Du Wei. On the military side, the Regent did not specify a clear leader. It meant that everything was headed by the Duke of Tulips. After all, in terms of military strength, Du Wei controlled more than half of the army. If it weren¡¯t for his qualifications, Regent would have ordered his appointment asmander. ¡°Sly Lu Gao!¡± After Du Wei read Lu Gao¡¯s excuse. Chapter 376 Part 2 On the military side, the Regent did not specify a clear leader. It meant that everything was headed by the Duke of Tulips. After all, in terms of military strength, Du Wei controlled more than half of the army. If it weren¡¯t for his qualifications, Regent would have ordered his appointment asmander. ¡°Sly Lu Gao!¡± After Du Wei read Lu Gao¡¯s excuse. Then again, Lu Gao made an unpredictable move. ording to thetest military report from the Northwest Army, themander of the Northwest army, Lu Gao, finally agreed to return to the capital. Moreover, he actually only took two hundred cavalry to follow him as guard. When this piece of news came, even Du Wei was surprised. News of Lu Gao¡¯s visit to capital spread everywhere because Lu Gao did not try to hide his tracks. Whenever they passed through towns on the road, Lu Gao also met the local defensive government officials in a grand manner. Naturally, the spies of the imperial capital passed the news back to the imperial capital one by one. For three days, Old Rob Scher received all the news about what city Lu Gao went to, who he met, and what road he took! So, problem was¡­ whether empire should fight or not fight? In the imperial capital, someone immediately imed that tiger had left itsir. Empire should immediately send someone to arrest this guy. Once the enemymander got captured, the Northwest Army would be like a hen without head. (T/N: in simple words, not knowing what to do) But the proposal was immediately rejected. Catch? Is there need to catch him? Now that Lu Gao was heading to empire with only two hundred people. He had already thrown himself into the so do they still need to send someone to catch him? If Lu Gao really gave up and decided to surrender to the empire. Honestly ¡°shifted¡± the Northwest Army to the north. At this time, even Rob Scher and Prince Chen were vaguely shaken: Lu Gao maybe really surrendered. After all, this was a war that would inevitably result in defeat. Lu Gao didn¡¯t need to fight as long as he surrendered back to the empire. Speaking of it, although he had never epted orders from the emperor, he never really rebelled. He also had some merits as long as he surrendered his military power and became a pure minister with peace of mind, the Regent would not kill him. Instead, he would give him position of senior official. At most, he would only lose his power but keeping his life would not be problem. Maybe as long as he was honest, he may live prosper life. After all, without charge, the empire would not tantly execute a high-ranking general such as a former armymander. Even so, the regent was shaken. An order was immediately given to the troops on the northwest front. ¡°Stand by.¡± ¡°Stand by?¡± Du Wei cursed after receiving the order. Then he shrugged off the order with disdain. Old Rob Scher was old. Are you dizzy, Prince Chen? Who is Lu Gao and how can he easily give up? Huh, Lu Gao, you can deceive others but you can¡¯t fool me, Du Wei! Chapter 377 Part 1 When Du Wei received the order, he left Lon and arrived at the barracks on the border of Desa province. There were 20,000 Tulip family troops and 50,000 private army of the Rowling family. ¡°What do you think?¡± Du Wei nced at Philip. ¡°The people of the imperial capital are fooled.¡± Philip was indeed a student of the blue ocean and immediately said: ¡°I only hope that the attacking direction chosen by Lu Gao is us! At this time, the army was ordered to stand by¡­ If the Northwest Army suddenly attacked at this time, I am afraid that those troops will suffer heavy losses. ¡± ¡°Send the message to Governor Bohan immediately!¡± Du Wei sighed and looked at the sky: ¡°I hope it will not be toote.¡± ¡°I only hope that Lu Gao chose to attack us.¡± Philip was also worried. Empire, 964, February 2. This day was firmly remembered in history because it was given a name¡­ Outbreak of Civil War! The news came back that Lu Gao, who was going to report to imperial capital, had boarded the boat at the Lancang Canal two days ago and went to Henan. Many people gave a sigh of relief¡­ It seemed that the battle was not necessary. Even Bohan and General Andrea, who had been closely following Lu Gao¡¯s movements, were relieved. Lu Gao really went to the imperial capital. At the same time, a division of the Northwest Army had been deployed northward under the supervision of the Second Division of the Stormwind Corps led by General Andrea. They were marching slowly on the arranged route without any trace of deviation. But soon, the experienced Andrea found a slight w. After all, he was an excellent general of the Stormwind Corps. After learning that the Northwest Army epted the order to go north, Andrea sent more than two hundred scouts to closely monitor this northwest army. At the same time, he ordered his generals to be at alert. But over time, Andrea¡¯s doubts grew. He even risked causing a dispute and sent two cavalry units to stop the Northwest Army¡¯s march to the north, asking to check their vehicles. If this requirement was on regr day, it would be excessive. But the Northwest Army actually agreed. And after the search, there was no problem at all. The heavy truck was loaded with grain, weapons, ordnance and various supplies¡­ These things were not fake. As if Lu Gao really decided to move the northwest army home to the north. What really made Andrea suspicious was themander of this northwest army! A thing made Andrea very sceptical. The Northwest Corps was the Empire¡¯s main battle army. So, itsbat effectiveness should be quite good. His Majesty Lu Gao was also a giant. However, the general of this Northwest army was actually an insignificant fat man! This fat man¡¯s name was Dodoro. When the people sent by Andrea returned, they reported that the fat man was a wretched guy and greedy for money. Andrea knew right away! Chapter 377 Part 2 This fat man¡¯s name was Dodoro. When the people sent by Andrea returned, they reported that the fat man was a wretched guy and greedy for money. Andrea knew right away! The division that marches forefront was the vanguard of the army. Anymander would send his most trusted general for this task. But this was co-called Dodoro was definitely not like an excellent general! Although Lu Gao was rebellious, Andrea did not deny that Lu Gao was an excellent militarymander, so how could he arrange such garbage-like guy to lead the vanguard¡­ Andrea immediately made a decision that waster considered wise! ¡°The whole army set off and stop the Northwest army!¡± These 20,000 members of the Stormwind Legion were elites and they were still under Andrea¡¯smand. 20,000 elite cavalry set off. Soon after a day they caught up with the army and stopped them outside the city. Subsequently, Andrea immediately sent someone to send orders to the other party. The opposing Northwest Army was ordered to immediatelyy down all their weapons and undergo investigation. By the time this decision was delivered, Andrea was ready to fight. But what surprised him. The general Dodoro, the leader of the Northwest army, did not even consider it for a quarter of an hour and epted his own ¡°inappropriate¡± request. Soon, the 20,000 Northwest Armyid down their weapons and Andrea ¡°captured¡± Dodoro and his men without spending a single soldier. Then after interrogating this poor fat man, Andrea immediately sweated coldly! They were tricked! This Dodoro was indeed a general but he was just a general in charge of logistics! It was not a main division of the Northwest Army at all but a logistics division! A group of reserve soldiers plus misceneous soldiers in the logistics department! After discovering the truth, Andrea was sweating on his forehead. The opponent used such a misceneous army to buy himself enough time to lead his elite cavalry division to elsewhere! ¡°Hurry up! Send the news right away! Hurry up!¡± Andrea ordered that three thousand people would remain here look after these prisoners of war. The other cavalrymen immediately mounted and marched. They headed towards the Northwest Army Watt Fortress without rest. However, a question lingered in his heart. Will they reach in time? Just when Andrea was sweating, the governor of Nuling Province, Bohan, was also sweating! He received news that shocked himst night! The Northwest Army returned! And then these 10,000 elite North-western soldiers abruptly went south. After the Northwest Army broke through the blockade of an infantry division of Bohan, they did not stop at all but hurried toward the capital of Nuling Province. One dayter, army was outside the city! Helpless, Bohan sent a message for help. He was very angry. An infantry division that had been on the front line was so easily broken through. Because of the order, they were at ¡°stand-by.¡± They were caught off guard by the Northwest Cavalry who attacked. Moreover, when the Northwest Army rushed over, they did not fight too much with Bohan¡¯s soldiers as if they did not want to fight at all. Instead, they used the advantage of the cavalry and focused on breaking through the line of defense. They went straight south, aiming at the capital of Nuling province. Bonham looked at the 10,000 Northwest Cavalry outside the city and sent a call for help, but he suddenly stopped himself! Then he immediately ordered to open the city gate and sent his army to fight against them. During the fight, the army that Bonham had trained for many years did not humiliate him. His most elite army was engaged in battle. After half a day of bloody fighting, the Northwest Army suddenly gave up fighting. Then the army retreated. After counting the results, the losses on both sides were roughly equal. Bonham has suffered a little bit but the ratio was within his eptable range. Chapter 378 Part 1 The opponent¡¯s remnant cavalry actually made an almost absurd move! They gave up their attempt to attack the capital of Nuling Province and went on all the way! Bohan ordered his cavalry to chase them all the way, attacking them from behind. The two sides fought for two full days. This Northwest Army was very stubborn. Despite the huge losses, they fought until the end with only 3,000 people. At this time, it had been two days! Then, he received a signal from Bohan for help. A division of the Wangcheng Guards had already arrived quickly. The two sides joined forces and finally surrounded the cavalry¡­ Seeing victory in sight, Bonham was not happy at all. Because he understood that he was fooled! Lu Gao used 10,000 logistics troops to impersonate the main division. And he also took out a lot of heavy weapons to use as bait, dragging Andrea of the Stormwind Legion. Another 10,000 death cavalry was sent to attack Bohan and the Bohan whocked military experience sent a signal for help. As a result, these 10,000 soldiers kept Bohan¡¯s army and the Wang Cheng Guards busy. So, where was the real force of the Northwest Army?! A total of 70,000 cavalry was marching in the wilderness. What a spectacr scene! Under the ck g of the Northwest Army, Lu Gao wore a full set of armor and sat on the horse! During this strategy, he took a lot of risks and even suffered a lot of losses! After all, in order to deceive Andrea the Storm Legion, the supplies he sent were genuine. Those supplies were umted by him over the years. But Lu Gao knew that he could get them again in future, this chance to win was avable only once! As for the ¡°Lu Gao¡± who went to the imperial capital. It¡¯s just a susbtitute for him. The people of the Imperial Capital still don¡¯t want to fight. Hum ¡­ they want a peaceful solution. Where is there such a cheap thing! His true target was Du Wei! ¡°March toward Du Wei¡¯s fortress! Don¡¯t stop until we reach there! If Du Wei sends someone to block, let the reserve team fight! It¡¯s race against time! Breach this guy¡¯s defense! ¡± Moreover, in addition to the 70,000 cavalry, there were more than 40,000 elite soldiers behind Lu Gao. Their mission¡­ ¡°Was to die.¡± Lu Gao sighed. His n was not to stop or fight with Du Wei. It was to rush directly over Du Wei¡¯s military fortress. Then, the infantry behind willunch full attack on the military fort. The infantry will immediately upy this military fortress. When the Stormwind Corps, Bohan¡¯s soldiers and the Wang Cheng Guards found out the truth and chase after them, the infantry here would buy time for main 70,000 cavalry. Those 70,000 cavalrymen would sweep through Desa province like a whirlwind and then proceed¡­ into the northwest prairie! That was Lu Gaio¡¯s final destination. Themander in charge of the elite heavy infantry was Lu Gao¡¯s most trusted minister! After crossing thest hillside, not far away, a military fortress revealed itself to everyone! Lu Gao¡¯s horse stood on the hillside, faing the fortress in the distance. He immediately issued an order. ¡°Charge!¡± Chapter 378 Part 2 ¡°Charge!¡± Tens of thousands of cavalry was charging across the fortress like a wave. Above the fortress¡¯s walls, Du Wei stood, watching the rushing tide in the distance. He sighed in a relieved tone: ¡°What a spectacr scene.¡± The city g had been raised. Above the walls, archers and soldiers were ready. But Du Wei shook his head: ¡°No need to attack! Lu Gao didn¡¯t want to attack the city at once¡­ Huh, he is busy right now. How can he go on war with me?¡± Sure enough, when the wave of tens of thousands of soldiers was thousands of meters away from the city wall, the northwest cavalry automatically separated from the main battle army. The huge army split into two and passed from both sides of Du Wei¡¯ city wall. They were far away even beyond the range of the archer! Du Wei did not let the archers waste their arrows. He did not even order the army to intercept the army. After a full hour, huge cavalry passed the fortress from both sides. Du Wei even saw in the Northwest Army¡¯s line-up. Under a huge ck banner, a general in ck armor was galloping under the guard of everyone and it must be Lu Gao. ¡°Looks like, you are in hurry.¡± Du Wei smiled. ¡°But when his cavalry reached the front and saw the gift I gave him, he would be very surprised.¡± Du Wei then turned around and issued an order to the men behind him. ¡°Order all the infantry divisions guarding the city walls to be prepared for the battle. Also order the Longbatten Cavalry Division to be ready. After half an hour, they will open the city gate and pursue the Northwest army¡­¡± Du Wei smiled with an evil expression. Lu Gao waited for about a quarter of an hour and was surprised that bastard Du Wei didn¡¯t send army to intercept them! Is he timid? Or does he just give up afterparing the military capabilities of both sides. Does he feel that there is no chance of winning? However, Lu Gao would not ept Du Wei¡¯s kindness! He had already thought about it. Once he crossed the defense line of Du Wei and entered the province of Desa, his cavalry would burn and plunder all the way! After all, although the cavalry¡¯s mobility was strong, it couldn¡¯t carry too much food and supplies! If he wanted to rush through Desa province into the prairie as fast as possible, he must plunder supplies¡±. This was the only way. ¡°Du Wei, I will definitely thank you for ¡®letting me go¡¯!¡± Lu Gao sneered but then he saw a scene that made him angry! The cavalry in front suddenly reduced its speed and then the galloping cavalry gradually slowed down. Finally itpletely halted. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Lu Gao growled angrily. Someone actually disobeyed his orders! Don¡¯t these bastards know that time is the most precious thing now! ¡°Commander¡­ you¡­ you bettere to the front!¡± A general rushed over from the front with a look of rashness on his face. Lu Gao¡¯s face was gloomy. Resisting the urge to beat this guy with a whip, he immediately ordered the front cavalry to separate. He rushed to the front to take a look. Then, Lu Gao saw the ¡°gift¡± given to him by Du Wei. When he saw the scene in front of him, Lu Gao¡¯s first reaction was to take a deep breath! God¡­ this, what is this?! Chapter 379 Part 1 In front of the wilderness, there were arge number of ditches! Each trench was two meters wide and over one hundred meters long. Looking from here, he didn¡¯t know how many trenches there were! One thousand? Two thousand? Damn it! Moreover, each ditch was very wide and the two sides of the ditch have been extended out! How can cavalry charge over! What made Lu Gao¡¯s heart even more desperate was that if there were only these trenches, it wouldn¡¯t matter. Even if he lost some soldiers and war horses, he could barely fill the ces and rush over. The problem was these ditches were also filled with an endless series of weird things. And they were in ¡®U¡¯ shape. These things were mostmonly used in some of war movies seen by Du Wei on Earth. Barbed wires! Barbed wires were densely packed. They were several kilometres long! You couldn¡¯t see their end. Rush? Can¡¯t rush at all! Send someone to open the way? Heck¡­ how to open? Filling the trenches may not be difficult. But how to get rid of these barbed wire? The most annoying was¡­ This Du Wei obviously had the ability toe up with such a ¡°trap¡± so why didn¡¯t he use it in front of the fortress¡¯s walls? In wars, how can you ce the ¡°ditches¡± behind you?! Lu Gao calcted in his mind for a moment. If he wanted to get rid of this weird ¡°wires¡±, he would have to spend at least day! ¡°Turn around! Find the way from both sides!¡± Lu Gao scolded indignantly: ¡°That bastard Du Wei. He can¡¯t make the entire Desa province like this!¡± But as soon as he gave an order to turn around, he heard the news from the othermander. ¡°Master, the Tulip family cavalry has caught up from behind!¡± This was not the only bad news. Suddenly a soldier eximed, pointing at the sky: ¡°Look! What are those?¡± In the sky, from the direction of Du Wei¡¯s military fortress in the back, there was a dense mass of dark cloud flying over here! After distance was close, they could see clearly what these dark clouds were. There are literally hundreds or thousands of hot air balloons! There were thousands of them! So densely packed that they blocked the sun in the sky for a while! ¡°First bombard from the air and then the ground troops wouldunch attack ¡­¡± Du Wei stood on the city wall and smiled to himself: ¡°Who said that trenches could not be ced behind?¡± Chapter 379 Part 2 After distance was close, they could see clearly what these dark clouds were. There are literally hundreds or thousands of hot air balloons! There were thousands of them! So densely packed that they blocked the sun in the sky for a while! ¡°First bombard from the air and then the ground troops wouldunch attack ¡­¡± Du Wei stood on the city wall and smiled to himself: ¡°Who said that trenches could not be ced behind?¡± When Lu Gao growled in anger, the first wave of the hot air balloon group had reached the head of the Northwest Cavalry. Then, after a whistle, ck things fell from the sky¡­ When those things could be clearly seen, the cavalry soldiers of the Northwest Army immediately recognized them. Those ck things looked like iron cans. But soon, they knew that this was a mass murder weapon! A ck bomb fell into the cavalry and the explosion that followed next swallowed hundreds of cavalry in an instant! As the hot air balloons poured down numerous bombs. These dense ck bombs fell from the sky, as if the call of death¡­ The raging explosions sounded from all directions along with screams of Northwest Army cavalry. At this moment, they could not even escape! There were trenches and barbed wire in front and both sides! (T/N: Trenches were dug in ¡®U¡¯ shape, blocking three sides¡­) They could only retreat back! ¡°Retreat back! Back! Back team bes front team! The whole army turn around!!!¡± Lu Gao growled loudly, the Northwest Army generals desperately wanted to restrain the soldiers. The soldiers may be elite, brave and powerful¡­ Unfortunately, their warhorses were not¡­ The explosions, fire, sound waves and smoke caused many war horses to get out of control. They became afraid and even soldiers could not control the war horses. Situation became more and more chaotic. And this chaotic situation made the bombing even more effective! The Decepticon squad was finally put to great use. The battlefield had be a mess. There were fire and thick smoke everywhere. The bodies of cavalry and war horses were colliding which caused cavalry to unable to retreat. The Northwest Army cavalry waspletely in a state of chaos and only a small number of the soldiers of the rear team could quickly make a U-turn. Most of them lost their way in the thick smoke and fire and they were dressed like headless flies. And just after the first wave of bombing was over, the hot air balloon in the sky had flown away. And at this time, they heard the shrilling sound. In the distance, hundreds of guys on Broomsticks were flying in the air! Speed of these guys was extremely fast! Moreover, they quickly skipped over the chaotic Northwest Army. The men sitting on the Broomsticks were holding the Broom by one hand and a crossbow in another. They were shooting arrows at random, shooting and killing the chaotic cavalry! Moreover, they seemed to be very good at shooting. Many officers had been shot dead by the Decepticon squadrons and the cavalry who had lost their officers had fallen into even more chaos! At this time, Lu Gao finally attacked. He roared and his body jumped up immediately. When he was in mid-air, he pulled out his sword and attacked the hot air balloon in the distance. The hot air balloon that was divided into two by the sword exploded. Lu Gao¡¯s heart was bleeding because of losses. He was almost gone mad. He spotted the hot-air balloon group not far away and rushed forward desperately. At this time, he heard a cold voice from behind, ¡°Northwest Army¡¯s Lu Gao?¡± Chapter 380 Part 1 Lu Gao turned around and saw a knight in light armor standing in the sky, wearing a magic flying cloak and holding a sword in his hand. The knight had only one eye and brown curly hair, but his body exuded a sharpness that made Lu Gao moved! This knight was, of course, Hussein. He did not have the Snow Mountain spell like Lu Gao. As a pure knight, Hussein was not good at flying so Du Wei gave him a flying cloak. The top of the sword¡¯s edge Hussein¡¯s sword was radiating fighting spirit¡­ ¡°Fight me!¡± ¡°Holy Order?¡± Lu Gao¡¯s eyes sank. When he felt the power of this opponent¡¯s sword¡¯s fighting light, , he immediately concluded that other party had reached the level of the holy order. But¡­ I heard that Rodriguez is only holy order warrior under Du Wei¡¯smand. But this man is not Rodriguez because he is one-eyed. There was no time for nonsense. Hussein had an extremely cold and violent temper. After greeting, he raised his hand and hacked it. His golden fighting spirit shone and dozens of starry spirit beams burst out from his sword. Lu Gao was startled. What the hell¡­ He quickly lifted the sword and then drew an arc. The cold air permeated, and he used the frost to fight. Above the sky, the fighting spirit of the two holy order warrior collided together. A bang was heard immediately. A shockwave spread out from the ce of impact, causing both of them to separate. The two only fought for a while and Lu Gao felt the power of this opponent. Lu Gao felt as if surrounding air had solidified. His movement became more and more stagnant as time passed. This was not the feeling of being locked by the opponent¡¯s fighting spirit but it seemed that the opponent¡¯s fighting spirit could actually create a strange force field. In this force field, Hussein seemed to be getting quicker and his movements were more and more agile. The two men exchanged dozens of blows in single breath. With a bang, the swords in their hands broke at the same time! That stunned both Holy Orders. ¡°What a powerful man.¡± Hussein muttered, taking a deep breath. Immediately after that he shouted and nobody knew from where he pulled out a slender sword. ¡°What a weird spell.¡± Hussein muttered, taking a deep breath. The body suddenly jumped up, and then shouted, and did not know where he pulled out a slender sword. The sword was slender and shimmering. It was releasing a faint chill. Lu Gao only nced in the distance, and his heart jumped suddenly! Beauty Under The Moon! Du Wei actually gave this guy the beauty sword under the moon? The beauty under the moon was the exquisite sword inherited from the Witch (Shaman) King of the Snow Mountain. With a sword in his hand, his power increased immediately and his starry spirit covered the sword again. Lu Gao¡¯s goal was not to fight Hussein but to get rid of those hot-air balloons as soon as. He spotted a hot-air balloon closest to himself in the distance and quickly flew toward it. But when he was in the air, he suddenly felt something was wrong and quickly dodged to the side. Huh! Chapter 380 Part 2 Lu Gao¡¯s goal was not to fight Hussein but to get rid of those hot-air balloons as soon as. He spotted a hot-air balloon closest to himself in the distance and quickly flew toward it. But when he was in the air, he suddenly felt something was wrong and quickly dodged to the side. Huh! A cold light passed almost in front of his nose and Lu Gao was the most familiar with that cold fighting spirit. Looking to the side, he saw a figure floating slowly out of the thick smoke of the sky. It was Rodriguez! At this moment Hussein had also chased behind him, the two Pdins sandwiched Lu Gao. Lu Gao said coldly: ¡°Huh! Do the Holy Saints like you want to fight one-verses-two? Do you have no dignity?¡± Hussein had not spoken yet, but Rodriguez said lightly: ¡°This is a war and we are fighting against you.¡± After that, a sword hacked down. Lu Gao had no choice but to fight his own fighting spirit. Above the sky, the three holy order warriors are fighting. Since level of power of everyone was simr, Lu Gao was already struggling. Fortunately, he cultivated snow mountain spells which enabled to fight both Rodriguez and Hussein at same without losing till now. Du Wei had told Rodriguez and Hussein to not fight desperately with Lu Gao. They had to corner Lu Gao step by step so they were not in rush. The Northwest Army¡¯s cavalry finally restored order but there were corpses all over the ce. There were many injured people rolling and mourning. The injured horses also blocked the way back. The explosion caused the fire to spread everywhere, roasting dead bodies. For a while, atmosphere was full of the smell of barbecue. The Decepticon squadron had already retreated but it didn¡¯t mean that trouble for Northwest army was over. Because remaining generals received another piece of bad news¡­ At this time, someone ran over to generals to report: ¡°The army of the Tulip Family was approaching from behind! The army¡¯s retreat path was blocked by these people, general¡­¡± Lu Gao was still fighting two Holy Order powerhouses in the sky but the Northwest Army generals remembered that Lu Gao¡¯s order was to retreat and rush out of this ce. How can they hesitate at this moment? They ordered the army to take formation and then charge back! After taking formation, the Northwest Army found that they had lost tens of thousands of soldiers and horses (of which less than half died, most of them were injured). The Northwest Army was well equipped. Soldiers wore armors so as long as bombs did not explode near them, they would be injured. They could still fight. But there was no armor on the horses! Those horses were injured and they could no longer run. How muchbat power cavalry had left without horse? What was even more frustrating was that they had lost 10,000 soldiers without causing a bit of damage to enemy. The Northwest Army generals were extremely confident in theirbat effectiveness. They didn¡¯t believe that an army trained for only two years could beat them! It¡¯s annoying that they just ate such a big loss just now. It¡¯s too embarrassing! They did not expect the other side to dig arge trench in the rear. And those hot air balloon¡­ hell! Chapter 381 Part 1 Northwest cavalry charged with their full strength. Whole army was exuding murderous aura. The hoofs of horses caused the dust to fly. The cavalry charged like a tide, causing the earth to tremble. The enemy cavalry ahead did not move. This made the experienced Northwest Army sneer. Hum, we all rushed up but you remained still¡­ You have no momentum at all. How can you be my opponent! But at this moment, general of Northwest army saw the fat man riding on the horse raise his hand and yell. Later, the Tulip Family¡¯s army split into two and revealing the back¡­ Fuck! It¡¯s not cavalry behind! There was a dense row of Ballistae which were emitting cold murderous light! In the Rnd, Ballistae were recognized as the strongest heavy weapon. There were at least two hundred of them in the row. The cavalry of the Northwest Army was already sprinting at full speed so it was impossible to stop at this moment. Hundreds of soldiers fired ballistae at the same time. Then everyone heard a series of terrible whistling sounds. Two hundred giant ballistae suddenly burst out. Each of these giant ballistae had the size of an ordinary cavalry spear. What¡¯s more terrible was that it wasunched with a mechanical noose and had a strong prating power. Even the wall could be easily prated! Every soldier was firing ballistae with simple target: shoot at the crowd! With a bang, more than two hundred ballista bolts smashed into the cavalry formation of the Northwest Army at the same time. The most terrifying heavy weapons of Rnd empires were truly extraordinary. All the soldiers who were hit by ballista bolts were killed right away. Even then its speed did not decrease and passed through three or four soldiers behind! When it finallynded on the ground ¡­ Boom! A huge explosion! (T/N: Ballista bolts were bombs which explode afternding on thend.) The horses thousands of soldiers of Northwest Army turned over because of fear. The horses were scared of explosions caused by ballistae so it was difficult to calm them down. After experiencing such explosions again and again, these horses were shocked. Many horses even scrambled uncontrobly and others directly raised their forefoot and made the soldier on them fall straight away. After a round of firing, only a few hundred people were left to ride on the horse. Most of the others were lying on the ground. On the battlefield, hundreds of frightened horses were running around and fleeing. The Northwest Army Generals werepletely shocked! This way of fighting went far beyond what they had learned in their lifetimes! This waspletely beyond their cognition and philosophy! But the enemy didn¡¯t wait for them to calm down the chaotic situation¡­ In the army of the Tulip family, some officers loudly ordered, ¡°Everyone! Attack at thirty degrees!¡± The soldiers hurriedly adjusted the angle of the ballistae. With a bang, two hundred ballistae were fired again. After adjusting the angle this time, they shot farther! The Northwest army watched ballista bolts shoot into the sky and then fell from the sky tond on their heads! Chapter 381 Part 2 With a bang, two hundred ballistae were fired again. After adjusting the angle this time, they shot farther! The Northwest army watched ballista bolts shoot into the sky and then fell from the sky tond on their heads! It was not that the Northwest Army¡¯s generals were ipetent, it¡¯s just that they never thought those ballistae could shoot so far. There was still a lot of open space for the cavalry to disperse. They also believed that with such a long distance, the opponent¡¯s bows and arrows could never shoot them. Yes, bows and arrows could not reach. But the range of the ballistae was 1,500 meters! Moreover, throughout the history of continent, who would use a heavy weapon such as a ballistae in arge-scalend battle? Although the prating lethality of the ballistae was strong, the coverage area was almost equal to zero! If it weren¡¯t for Du Wei¡¯s ¡°bomb¡±, ballistae could only be used in naval battles. Northwest army had never experienced such thing so they once again fell in chaos. The generals of the Northwest Army finally understood that if they didn¡¯t work hard now, they would be dead! It¡¯s toote to reorganise the army. Regardless of whether the army was still chaotic or not, all the Northwest Army soldiers who were still on the horses quickly turned their horses around andunched a desperate charge¡­ Although the formation waspletely messed up, it waspletely disregarded! There was only one thought in everyone¡¯s mind: the other party¡¯s long-range attacks were terrible so the only way to survive was to rush over to the other side! At this time, General Longbatton of the Tulip Familyunched his fatal blow! At this moment he had eight thousand cavalry but that¡¯s enough! These thousands of cavalry were the strongest elite he had carefully selected. Every one of these was selected from the imperial cavalry stationed on the prairie! The Northwest Army was in chaos. Although the soldiers of Northwest were several times of themselves, but to Longbatton, it was nothing more than a frightened group of ducks. The cavalry of the 8000 elites quickly took formation under the leadership of Longbatton. They were ready to charge. Longbatton raised his long sabre and yelled: ¡°Kill these bastards!¡± Although there were many people on enemy¡¯s side, most of them were in chaos and panicked. Some of them haven¡¯t even turned around. Although the number of people on their side was small, they were well-equipped and were in formation! The two armies collided fiercely! Longbatton was in the lead and his huge body was covered with a thickyer of steel armor. With his tremendous strength, the long sabre in his hand waved immediately and sshed a flurry of blood! After killing four or five North-western soldiers in a row, Longbatton was also stabbed in the shoulder by a spear from the opponent. However, his huge body was like a meat wall. The thick steel armor blocked most of the opponent¡¯s strength. The opponent tried to retreat the spear. Longbatton grinned and hacked at the head of opponent! ncing at the opponent¡¯s face, Longbattonughed wildly: ¡°Roy! It¡¯s you asshole! I had a dozen fights with you then! I said earlier that you are not this father¡¯s opponent!¡± The guy killed by him was a general of the Northwest Army! Chapter 382 Part 1 Although the Northwest Army charged desperately, their formation was too loose. Tulip cavalry was like a sharp knife inserted into a huge but loose beef. It entered very smoothly! The screams rose on the battlefield. Although some North-western soldiers finally rushed to the front of the Tulip family¡¯s ballistae¡­ But what made them angry was that none of their enemies could be found there! They were all wondering just now. How can two hundred ballistae be carried here so quickly? When they finally saw them up close, they found that those ballistae were equipped with wheels. In the back, there were hundreds of cavalry but they did not wait for the Northwest Army to kill them and ran away! These cavalry were ¡°transport teams¡± invented by Du Wei. The reason why these two hundred heavy crossbows could be quickly carried here was that Du Wei ordered to pull each of the ballistae by two horses! These cavalrymen were specifically responsible for the horses and ballistae. They did not wear any armor or weapons to reduce the weight. Seeing the approaching enemy, these cavalry did not hesitate to abandon their weapons and quickly retreat! This was also Du Wei¡¯s order: When in danger, they should abandon these weapons and retreat. Anyway, on the battlefield, soldiers of the Northwest Army did not have the ability to take them away! We¡¯ll just take themter. Of course, some people felt unfortunate. If these weapons were discarded on the battlefield and left to the enemy, then the enemy would inevitably destroy these ballistae. The cost was too high! But Du Wei¡¯s answer was very simply: ¡°The cost is high? Cut the crap! Ick everything but money! I will just smash the Northwest Army with money!¡± The battlested about half an hour. The remaining tens of thousands of the Northwest Army were defeated by Longbatton¡¯s eight thousand cavalry! Longbatton had been bathed in blood all over his body. The enemy¡¯s minced meat was still hanging on his shoulder armor. At this moment, he looked like a devil with blood on his beard. After the long battle, Northwest Army finallypletely copsed! Almost at the same time, the remaining Northwest Army yelled and suddenly countless soldiers started to flee. Even the officers could not suppress them or some of the officers fled together! At this time, Longbatton immediately jumped off the horse and looked at the corpses all over the ce, as well as the Northwest Army who were still fighting reluctantly. He cleared his throat and shouted loudly: ¡°Everyone surrender!¡± Many North-western soldiers immediately dropped their weapons and jumped off the horses, and knelt on the ground. Some who were still trying to resist suddenly looked up and saw that hot air balloons seemed to being here again¡­ The Northwest Army was frightened by those aerial bombardments. The resisting soldiers no longer had any intention to resist and surrendered quickly. Some who did not want to surrender tried to flee. On the battlefield, countless people knelt on the ground. Longbatton ordered his men to gather these people but found that there were too many of them. Thousands of them could not take care of them. So he called reinforcement. Du Wei sent an infantry battalion. The results of this battle were extremely brilliant! A total of 70,000 Northwest Army cavalry were defeated by Du Wei! Chapter 382 Part 2 On the battlefield, countless people knelt on the ground. Longbatton ordered his men to gather these people but found that there were too many of them. Thousands of them could not take care of them. So he called reinforcement. Du Wei sent an infantry battalion. The results of this battle were extremely brilliant! A total of 70,000 Northwest Army cavalry were defeated by Du Wei! Out of the 70,000 North-western soldiers, 34,000 were killed, 16,000 were injured and more than 19,000 surrendered (half-injured). As for Du Wei¡¯s losses, only less than three thousand were left out of Longbatton¡¯s 8,000 elites and all of them were wounded. Two hundred ballistae were destroyed by the angered Northwest Army¡¯s soldiers who rushed to the front. Any of those whoter learned of the results of the war were horrified by thebat effectiveness of Du Wei¡¯s Tulip army! With less than 6,000 casualties, they defeated a whole 70,000 most elite Northwest Army cavalry?! And after Du Wei got the result, he just sighed softly and then said something that made his generals feel moved. ¡°The era of cavalry has ended in my hands.¡± At this time, after checking the battlefield, Du Wei¡¯s only unease was: What about Lu Gao?! Rodriguez and Hussein were both ordered to intercept Lu Gao. As a result, the three strong men fought farther and farther above the sky. Nobody knew where they were fighting. Lu Gao must die! After sending the Decepticon team to search for Rodriguez and Hussein, Du Wei ordered the army to prepare for battle in the city! Killing the cavalry of the Northwest Army was of course, a brilliant result. But Du Wei knew that he was ¡°tricked¡±! No archers, no heavy weapons, no ballistae, no magicians¡­ when such cavalry encounter the Air force (Hot air Balloons), they could just take beating passively. But infantry left by Lu Gao was different. Lu Gao had high hopes for the infantry. He hoped that the infantry could drag on arge number of enemies and buying him time to escape to the prairie so he left the magicians in the infantry army. This could increase the strength of the infantry. Infantry was equipped with all heavy weapons. Of course, Du Wei would not be dazzled by this victory, nor would he think that his Air force was invincible all over the world. ¡°All the soldiers in the city get ready!¡± Du Wei quickly issued an order: ¡°The infantry behind the Northwest Army is about to attack! Order all the hot air balloons tond in the city. No hot air balloon is allowed to take off!¡± Chapter 383 Part 1 Looking at the iprehensible look of Knight Robert, Du Wei sighed: ¡°Although infantry walk slowly, they carry a lot of weapons! There were bows and arrows. There maybe even have ballistae! In that case, won¡¯t hot air balloons be in danger?¡± Du Wei stood up and looked at Knight Robert: ¡°The General Longbatton haspleted his mission and beautifully killed Lu Gao¡¯s cavalry! As long as we can kill their infantry¡­ Northwest will not be threat anymore!¡± After pausing for a while, Du Wei slowly said: ¡°Generals receive my order. Anyone who beheads the enemy will receive ten bounty coins! Catch one alive and reward twenty!¡± ¡°The living is more valuable than the dead?¡± Someone asked. Du Wei sighed: ¡°After all, they are also the people of the empire. Moreover, captives are better than corpses.¡± Later, Du Wei took the generals to the tower. Above the horizon, a line of infantry appeared. A huge ck g in the middle showed the uniformity of this army. ¡°Guwadolo!¡± Du Wei sneered, holding the city wall lightly: ¡°It was you who led the army to besiege my capital city. Now, it is you who brought the soldier to hit me.¡± The trumpets and war drums throbbed. After these infantry arrived under the city, instead of rushing to attack the city, they actually started to camp. It looked as if he was preparing for a protracted battle! Du Wei looked at the distance and sighed softly: ¡°What a Guwadolo! It seems that he is going to die for Lu Gao¡¯s loyalty! Huh, have you decided to send a cannon fodder? Fight a long-term battle to hold us back and let Lu Gao run as far as possible? Unfortunately, this guy hasn¡¯t got any news yet. Lu Gao has been wiped out.¡± Du Wei was right. Guwadolo had not heard that Lu Gao¡¯s entire army had been annihted. After ordering the camp, he looked at the Tulip battle g on the far wall and sighed softly. Lord Lu Gao, I, Guwadolo havepleted my mission! You can run as far as possible! I will stick here like a nail. Whether it is the army of the Tulip family, Bohan¡¯s soldiers, the WangCheng Guards or the Stormwind Corps¡­ I will fight them all for you! Instead of rushing to attack, he ordered to set camp and returned to his tent. Around the tent, Guwadolo kept two hundred guards outside and no one was allowed to approach. He entered the tent. A square iron cage made of metal was ced inside. There were depressing beast like roarsing from inside. Guwadolo¡¯s face wasplicated, looking at the man in the cage. He sighed in a low voice: ¡°Oh, Young General¡­ You might as well die if you live like this. But rest assured that before I die, I will personally kill you so that you won¡¯t be captured by the enemy!¡± In the iron cage, the injured Sebasta was trying to get out of the iron cage but every time he tried to destroy the iron cage, an electric light burst from the iron cage and hit him, knocking him down. Guwadolo sighed. After that he firmly held the hilt of his sword at the waist and said arrogantly, ¡°Generals! Fight to death!¡± Having said that, he raised the curtain and stepped out of the tent, ordering no one to enter inside. He then called his lieutenant and asked, ¡°Have the war drums been yed?¡± The lieutenant sweated heavily and replied, ¡°Yes, General! A moment ago, I have a soldier shot arrow with letter at the fortress, asking for battling tomorrow.¡± ¡°Um.¡± Guwadolo nodded. Chapter 383 Part 2 Having said that, he raised the curtain and stepped out of the tent, ordering no one to enter inside. He then called his lieutenant and asked, ¡°Have the war drums been yed?¡± The lieutenant sweated heavily and replied, ¡°Yes, General! A moment ago, I have a soldier shot arrow with letter at the fortress, asking for battling tomorrow.¡± ¡°Um.¡± Guwadolo nodded. But then the vice general replied with a look of embarrassment: ¡°General, they have just replied.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Guwadolo said, ¡°Responded? Did they agree? Du Wei, that guy must have hated me in his heart. After all, I have onceunched siege on him before. He must have agreed to have decisive battle tomorrow with me.¡± ¡°No ¡­¡± Lieutenant General¡¯s voice became stranger. ¡°No? How did he answer?¡± Lieutenant General took out something from his arms: ¡°This is a reply from the city just now.¡± After Guwadolo opened the letter, he took a nce and his facial colour changed immediately! In the reply that Du Wei ordered soldiers to shoot with a bow and arrow, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s fight slowly! You are not in a hurry and I am also not in a hurry.¡± Guwadolo nced at it and felt like Du Wei had seen through his own n! This Duke of Tulips knows that his task is to dy time here? I¡¯m not in a hurry nor is he in a hurry? What does it mean? Did he know the intention of General Lu Gao to leave the infantry here? Or did he arrange soldiers to block General Lu Gao in Desa province? In this era there were no telephones, no telegraphs, not evenmunication systems. At this time, the wisdom and abilities of themander-in-chief would be fully tested. Although Guwadolo was full of suspicion, he didn¡¯t know that Lu Gao¡¯s army had been already annihted. He didn¡¯t know that he had been duped by Du Wei. Du Wei stood on the city wall and looked away for a while, seeing the movements in Guwadolo¡¯s barracks. This guy was very capablemander. The barracks was heavily guarded. Although everyone was busy but it was not chaotic, it could be seen that the Northwest Army was indeed elite. And what made Du Wei feel funny was that this Guwadolo actually ordered to set giant wooden fence around the camp to make a circle around the camp. He even had some people dug a trench outside the camp¡­ It seemed that he was very attentive. The more Du Wei looked the more funny he became. Then he summoned Longbatton¡¯s subordinates and asked how they were going to deal with those prisoners of war. Then he said, ¡°Send a team of thousand soldiers to search for any escape roots on the Northwest Cavalry battlefield. Also ensure that Guwadolo¡¯s scouts did not cross our line of defense. Don¡¯t let Guwadolo know that Lu Gao¡¯s cavalry is finished!¡± Some people were puzzled: ¡°Master Duke, we have won a great victory. If we let Guwadolo know, I¡¯m afraid they will be even more desperate, isn¡¯t it better?¡± Du Wei shook his head: ¡°Dogs jump over the wall, don¡¯t you understand this? They just came here. They are full of vigour. At this time, if we let them know this news, maybe Guwadolo¡¯s temper will re up and he will attack us hard.¡± One of the generals said: ¡°Sir, we are not afraid of their attack!¡± Chapter 384 Part 1 Du Wei looked at the soldiers and smiled slightly. Wen Yan said, ¡°I naturally know that you are all loyal warriors. I also trust your ability and courage. The Northwest Army is bound to perish. This broken ship will definitely sink. Now we just need to watch slowly from one side. Why should we provoke the other party¡¯s madness? By give them chance to bite us before dying? Since we can minimize the sacrifice of the soldiers, we should. Just follow the previous n, wear off their spirit and then wait for them to receive the news of Lu Gao¡¯s defeat. At that time, it will be the best opportunity. Moreover this way our reinforcement will also arrive then we can surround them. ¡± ¡­ Three dayster For the next three days, Guwadolo also sent several teams to attack the city symbolically every day. Rather than siege, it would be more appropriate to call ¡°harass¡±. Du Wei also took this opportunity to let new recruits know how real battles were like. How was it felt to be on battlefield? Three dayster, 20,000 new recruits took turns on the battlefield. They saw the blood and corpses. Although these battles were not too fierce and even a bit turbulent, at least the temperament of these soldiers had finally changed. After all, the real army was trained on battlefield! Guwadolo thought that he was using the ¡°dragging¡± tactic to the fullest. Sometimes, he sent fifty to sixty soldiers in one day and took turns to attack the city. Each attack only took a while. They immediately withdrew after some time. They were hoping to use this frequent harassment tactics to keep Du Wei busy so that Du Wei would not have the energy to send soldiers to chase Lu Gao. But they didn¡¯t know it, it was exactly what Du Wei wanted. And Du Wei¡­ He was more worried about Hussein and Rodriguez at the moment! It had been four days since the two men chased Lu Gao but they have not returned. There was no news at all. Even the Decepticon team sent out to search around could not find any clue. ¡­ Six dayster s, six days, six days, Lord Lu Gao should have passed through Desa province to enter the northwest corridor. Soldiers and other general did not know that they were abandoned. If they knew they would definitely try to flee for their life. Only Guwadolo knew the real purpose of infantry. The ordinary soldiers were easy to be deceived but those officers and themanding generals were no fool. His lies deceived the soldiers. But those officers were military individuals. Guwadolo could clearly feel that these past two days some officers looked at him with dim eyes. Guwadolo was getting really anxious now. Lord Lu Gao, have you sessfully reached Prairie? However, no matter how anxious Guwadolo was, he had no way now. The only thing he could do was to buy as much as time possible. By the eighth day, the crucial moment came! The soldiers on the lookout tower looked at the distance in the east and then yelled in horror. They immediately went tomander tent to inform Guwadolo¡­ At noon, everyone heard the sound of an army march from the distance, the sound of rustling footsteps. It wasing from few miles away¡­ After everyone saw the g of enemy armys, it was a huge blow to the confidence of Northwest military generals! Chapter 384 Part 2 The soldiers on the lookout tower looked at the distance in the east and then yelled in horror. They immediately went tomander tent to inform Guwadolo¡­ At noon, everyone heard the sound of an army march from the distance, the sound of rustling footsteps. It wasing from few miles away¡­ After everyone saw the g of enemy armys, it was a huge blow to the confidence of Northwest military generals! Everyone could see those gs. It was the Stormwind Corps of the North! There was also g of WangCheng army! More than 10,000 northern elite cavalry led by Andrea of the Stormwind Army came from the northeast and quickly entered the Northwest Army¡¯s alert range. Then they did not immediately attack but bypassed the Northwest Army¡¯s battalion and ran all to the way the side of the Tulip Family Fortress. Finally, they began to set up camp in the north of fortress. To the south, the 20,000 infantry of the WangCheng Guards was also arriving. They advanced with steady pace. They stayed behind the Northwest Army camp and started camping without any hassle. Some veterans in the Northwest Army climbed up to the lookout tower. They could probably guess the number of these enemies based on the opponent¡¯s g. The regr army of the Empire wasing! There were at least 10,000 cavalry and more than 20,000 infantry. And to make the situation worse, the soldiers of the Tulip family in the city just surrounded their army! In the evening, thest trace of hope was also lost. A new army arrived again in the south under the g of the Governor of the Nuling Province, Bohan. They were at least 30,000 of them. The Northwest Army waspletely surrounded and even thest gap was blocked. All Northwest Army soldiers understand: We are surrounded! And the enemies are several times in number than us. At this time, even if the General Lu Gao returned, they were afraid that it would be difficult to win. Moreover, who¡¯s sure that General Lu Gao will return? The army¡¯s heart began to sway and even Guwadolo could not stabilize the army¡¯s heart. He understood¡­ it¡¯s time! He bought eight days of time for Lu Gao and had basicallypleted his n. Next step was to fight the enemy in a real battle, to kill enemy as much as possible and to made the empire lose its soldiers and horses¡­ General Lu Gao, I hope you are safe now. Chapter 385 Part 1 Guwadolo coldly nced at everyone and then announced in a loud voice: ¡°Who is messing with our army and talking nonsense, I just cut his head off! I assure you everything is going ording to the n and the enemy has been attracted by us! Marshal Lu Gao¡¯s cavalry ising and when the timee, we will wipe out the enemy!¡± How many people still believe this statement, Guwadolo didn¡¯t know. But he knew that this was a critical moment. He immediately sent people to the warehouse behind his tent to carry out more than 20rge boxes. Then, he looked at the anxious officers and soldiers. Looking at the crowd of more than a thousand people gathered around him, Guwadolo went to boxes and pulled out his long sword. A fierce sword strike shattered the corner of the wooden box and a lot of gold coins flowed out of the box. Guwadolo grabbed some gold coins and shouted with his head upright, ¡°This battle is crucial! Ladies and gentlemen, if we lost¡­ then you don¡¯t need me to say it! Lord Lu Gaomanded me to reward brave soldiers and kill cowards! Pass my military order; we will fight decisive battle tomorrow morning. Tonight every soldier in the army will be rewarded with a pound of meat and each tent will be rewarded with a pot of wine! In addition, each person will be given double sry!! ¡± Regardless, Guwadolo¡¯s approach worked. Suddenly, everyone¡¯s fighting spirit reignited. Even some officers who had lost their courage long ago looked at the golden gold coins and could not help but feel fired up. Gold Coins! Who doesn¡¯t like gold coins? Watching theirmander made a guarantee, there was meat to eat and wine to drink¡­ who was not happy? Looking at the cheering soldiers around, Guwadolo was relieved. But a bit of bitterness was born slowly. Tomorrow ¡­ Do we have tomorrow? After instructing his subordinate officers to distribute the wine and meat, Guwadolo quietly left. He first came to a huge, almost luxurious tent behind the military tent. It wasn¡¯t anyone else who lived here, but the ¡°Noble Guests¡± of the Northwest Army, a dozen respectable magicians. Compared to the soldiers, these magicians did not bother Guwadolo even though they were more difficult to serve. These distinguished gentlemen demanded the best treatment. Some of them ask to drink fresh honey every day. Some of them asked that one hundred meters area around their tent should not be disturbed to avoid disturbing their magic test. Other magicians required a living creature to be sent every day. Of course, cows, sheep, chickens and ducks were all right. Guwadolo satisfied these ¡°Noble Guests¡± one by one. In addition, these magicians didn¡¯t care at all whether they were abandoned or not. Because they were magicians, it didn¡¯t matter if they end up as cannon fodder. In the minds of these magicians, they were invited to help by Lu Gao of the Northwest Army. In the end, they helped him fight a battle. As for winning and losing, they didn¡¯t care as long as they worked hard. They were noble magicians! Lu Gao could only ask them but he could not order. Moreover, even if they knew Lu Gao was rebellious, it didn¡¯t matter. Magicians have legal immunity. As long as you go to the magic union to express your attitude, you will be fine. In the empire¡¯s history, empire never held the magicians responsible. They were still a ss who was above thew. Therefore, they did not find Guwadolo troublesome until thest minute. After greeting these magicians, Guwadolo carefully told them that there would be a real war and he hoped to get their help. With the promise of the magicians, Guwadolo left. Chapter 385 Part 2 Because they were magicians, it didn¡¯t matter if they end up as cannon fodder. In the minds of these magicians, they were invited to help by Lu Gao of the Northwest Army. In the end, they helped him fight a battle. As for winning and losing, they didn¡¯t care as long as they worked hard. They were noble magicians! Lu Gao could only ask them but he could not order. Moreover, even if they knew Lu Gao was rebellious, it didn¡¯t matter. Magicians have legal immunity. As long as you go to the magic union to express your attitude, you will be fine. In the empire¡¯s history, empire never held the magicians responsible. They were still a ss who was above thew. Therefore, they did not find Guwadolo troublesome until thest minute. After greeting these magicians, Guwadolo carefully told them that there would be a real war and he hoped to get their help. With the promise of the magicians, Guwadolo left. He couldn¡¯t help feeling a little envious of Du Wei. He had heard that the Duke of Tulips had many magicians under his belt and they¡­ were really obedient to him. Unlike himself who had to serve these guys like an uncle. Guwadolo returned to his tent and ordered his guards to not let anyone approach his tent. After entering the tent, Guwadolo stood outside Sebasta¡¯s cage and watched him squatting inside the cage, like a beast. The young general squatted there, whispering something to himself. He clutched his own hair like a poor guy. Guwadolo threw a piece of cooked beef into the cage. Watching this former young general who stood out as a brave man, squatting there like a barbarian and eating beef, Guwadolo sighed softly. ¡°Sebasta, tomorrow, it¡¯s all over. At that time, I will give you a sword and bring you to the battlefield. By that time, I hope you can die on the battlefield. On top of that, it¡¯s considered as dying with some dignity.¡± ¡­ Unfortunately, Guwadolo guessed wrongly, ¡°Tomorrow¡± was not the end. The next day, Guwadolo already held the belief that he would die. He summoned all the senior officers in his tent and then ordered the whole army to be ready to battle¡­ In the early morning, fifty thousand soldiers of Northwest infantry came out of the barracks to battle. They stood for an hour under the cold wind but no one came to fight¡­ ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Even Guwadolo was surprised. Looking at Du Wei¡¯s reinforcements yesterday, he immediately ordered someone to shoot a letter again with a bow and arrow. Then he quickly got a reply from Du Wei: Let¡¯s fight tomorrow! Guwadolo then made up his mind. He took out gold coins, meat and wine to stir up the morale of the soldiers! But the cold wind blew his face and the fortress in the distance was still closed. The soldiers above the city wall looked at the Northwest Army below as if they had no interest at all. The Tulip family¡¯s army never came out of fortress to battle. Chapter 386 Part 1 Guwadolo was angry, very angry. As a self-confided soldier, he felt that Du Wei insulted the sacred word ¡°Military¡±! Guwadolo was like a little girl who had been teased. He immediately rushed to write a condemnation letter reprimanding Du Wei forcking courage and no military honor and then ordered people to shoot it into the city with bows and arrows. This time Du Wei still gave a reply very quickly but after seeing Du Wei¡¯s reply, Guwadolo almost passed out. Du Wei¡¯s reply was this: Today I¡¯m in a bad mood and don¡¯t want to fight. Oh shit! You can insult my people but you cannot insult my IQ! Guwadolo felt like he was p hard. No! I have to write a letter and scold this asshole! Scolded him for not being a man! Guwadolo pushed his men away and grabbed his pen. But at this time, the attendant rushed in and reported anxiously, ¡°Sir! It¡¯s bad. Some assholes gathered the soldiers toe to the military tent toin, saying that there is no wine and meat for lunch today. They are very dissatisfied. They want to eat meat drink wine. ¡± At this moment the Guwadolo¡¯s face was very ugly, staring at the attendant with murderous eyes. After a long time, he suddenly waved weakly like a discouraged ball: ¡°Go.¡± ¡°But ¡­¡± The attendant who didn¡¯t get an urate response from the general still asked hesitantly: ¡°Do I send wine or meat? ¡°Wine! Beef! Give them to eat! Damn!¡± Guwadolo¡¯s growl came from the tent. Three days passed and simr thing happened again and again, making it hard for Guwadolo to handle the soldiers. As time passed, soldiers became more and more anxious. No matter how hard Guwadolo worked, even if he had the ability and experience to lead the army, morale would gradually copse. Most importantly, he was not the realmander of the Northwest Army. If Lu Gao was here, or he could rely on his status as the leader of the Northwest Army and many years of benevolence, to get the soldier¡¯s sworn allegiance. But Guwadolo did not have this ability. The wine, meat and the temptation to get promotion may be effective once or twice, but if it was used too much, it was useless. Why is it useless? Although most soldiers were not educated, after all, they were no fools. Providing reward for three days was weird. They were surrounded by the enemies. They were expecting ¡°General Lu Gao¡¯s return¡±. On the evening of the tenth day, Guwadolo got a piece of news. The deserters appeared! Many people were sceptical of the current situation. That night, a small group of soldiers tried to flee. When the other patrolling soldiers found them, they immediately drew arrows. They shot and killed more than a dozen people on the spot and caught three. This incident made Guwadolo¡¯s heart cold. He was even a little absent-minded even when dealing with these deserters He only casually said the word ¡°kill¡±. In the evening, Guwadolo thought for a long time and finally made up his mind: Don¡¯t continue to dy! Tomorrow, no matter what, the whole army will decisively fight and take the initiative tounch an attack! If I wait a few more days, I am afraid that Northwest Army will not have much fighting power left. At dawn, Guwadolo stepped out of the tent and conveyed the order for everyone to prepare for battle. He nned tounch attack at noon¡­ This order was only transmitted for less than an hour and Du Wei shot an arrow again. This time, Du Wei gave Guwadolo a blow. Is really deadly! Chapter 386 Part 2 In the evening, Guwadolo thought for a long time and finally made up his mind: Don¡¯t continue to dy! Tomorrow, no matter what, the whole army will decisively fight and take the initiative tounch an attack! If I wait a few more days, I am afraid that Northwest Army will not have much fighting power left. At dawn, Guwadolo stepped out of the tent and conveyed the order for everyone to prepare for battle. He nned tounch attack at noon¡­ This order was only transmitted for less than an hour and Du Wei shot an arrow again. This time, Du Wei gave Guwadolo a blow. Is really deadly! When the sun just rose, the trebuchet of the Tulip family suddenly threw dozens of things. Soldiers were surprised, not knowing what was happening. Those thingsnded about 100 meters outside the Northwest Army camp. Guwadolo immediately yelled at the soldiers behind him: ¡°Send a hundred people! Bring those things!¡± Soon, a hundred soldiers rushed out and ran onto the battlefield. He carried back the thing thrown out of the city with a trebuchet. But when he saw these things, Guwadolo was dumbfounded! Armors! All were armor! They had scratches, blood stains and lot of them were broken¡­ But the problem was that all these armors were of the Northwest Army¡¯s cavalry! The 70,000 cavalry that Lord Lu Gao took away all wore these type of armors! Du Wei threw these things out, what is he trying to do? Want to mess with my army? Make me think that Lord Gao¡¯s cavalry is defeated? An officer under him saw these things and eximed aloud, ¡°Ah! It is the cavalry armor of our Northwest Army! Brothers¡­ are the brothers who have gone west ¡­¡± Thump! He hasn¡¯t finished talking yet. Guwadolo went up and he kicked on officer¡¯s hips and cursed, ¡°You are an idiot, aren¡¯t you? General Lu Gao has 70,000 soldiers! Now the Tulip family¡¯s army is staring at us from the city. How can General Lu Gao fail! Does Du Wei have so many soldiers?! Stupid! ¡± His words were deliberately said aloud and many soldiers and officers who heard him around nodded. Yes, to defeat the 70,000 elite soldiers, the opponent¡¯s soldiers must have at least 70,000! Although his Duke of Tulips imed to have 100,000 coalition forces (Tulips and Rowlings). Most of them were new troops and there were definitely not powerful as 70,000 cavalry! It was impossible to defeat the cavalry led by our general Lu Gao. Correct! These armors must have been forged by the other side to cause chaos in our army! This must be the case! ¡°Haha¡­! Du Wei, you are too na?ve. You think you can deceive our army with dozens of sets of forged broken armor!¡± Guwadoloughed deliberately. But after a minute, he really couldn¡¯tugh. Dozens of armors can be forged¡­ but what about hundreds? Thousands? Not enough? What about hundreds of prisoners of war? Chapter 387 Part 1 Almost all of the ground-based trebuchets started throwing armors for more than hour. For more than an hour, Guwadolo didn¡¯t know how many armors that had been stripped from prisoners of war were thrown out. Du Wei thought it was okay. With the wave of hand, the city gate opened and 500 cavalry of the Tulip family rushed out on horseback. They quickly passed the battlefield and threw the armors on the ground. Then they turned around and ran back. For a while, at least thousands of armors were ced in the middle of the battlefield! Guwadolo couldn¡¯tugh. He couldn¡¯t even say a word! Even if Du Wei is crazy, he won¡¯t made thousands of armors¡­ Is it true that Lord Lu Gao has already lost?! Fake! It must be fake! With the financial strength and cunningness of the Duke of Tulips, forging a thousand sets of armor¡­ is not difficult! Guwadolo wanted to convince himself like this but then city gate opened again. From there, more than a hundred soldiers of the Tulip family came out, followed by hundreds of dejected prisoners of war. These were captives of the Northwest Army including twomanders. The captives were tied with a rope one by one. The soldiers of the Tulip family behind them threatened them with the swords. They rushed down from the city toward the Northwest Army Camp. As they ran, they were yelling because of fear that someone would shot. Guwadolo¡¯s face was pale and he finally lost thest trace of hope in his heart. Watching these hundreds of people running on the battlefield, a trace of viciousness shed in his heart. He was about to order the archers to shoot them dead but he turned around and saw many officers and soldiers behind him. All had a look of despair and paleness. Guwadolo knew that it was no longer possible to kill people. He could only sigh and waved to send someone out to respond. ¡°Take these hundreds people back and watch them carefully. Also send someone to guard them. Without my order, no one is allowed to contact others!¡± Guwadolo sighed and gave order. But even he knew that this order actually didn¡¯t make much sense. At this moment, a huge Tulip g was raised above the fortress wall in the distance and Du Wri came on the wall with armour and then smiled slightly. Taking a deep breath, he said word by word. Because of using magic, his voice spread throughout the battlefield. ¡°Guwadolo! Your cavalry of the Northwest Army has already been defeated by me! The 70,000 Army copsed and Lu Gao was either killed or captured! Your Northwest Army is over! Now that you have no chance, it is better to surrender early and let these soldiers have a way of life! I guarantee in the name of the Duke of Tulips that those who surrendered will not be killed!¡± At this moment, the hundreds of captives had already entered the Northwest Army¡¯s camp. When Du Wei¡¯s words spread throughout the site, thousands of North-western troops rushed to the camp and some of them couldn¡¯t wait to ask the prisoners of war for evidence. It was only under Guwadolo¡¯s order that his close soldiers scared them with weapons. Moreover, no one was allowed to approach those prisoners of war nor were they allowed to speak. At this moment, the tension in the barracks was so intense that thousands of soldiers rushed to Guwadolo¡¯s tent to verify it. Guwadolo ordered to kill anyone who dared to disobey military order. Under the strict militaryw, those soldiers were gradually dispersed¡­ but evenw enforcement soldiers dare not look at the faces of their colleagues. Everyone had already believed Duke of Tulip. General Lu Gao really lost?! 70,000 cavalry was defeated?! That night, the deserters appeared again in the Northwest Army, but this time, Guwadolo was toozy to control it, he knew that things were irreversible. Morale had fallen to its lowest point. When the number of soldiers was counted the next day, more than a thousand people disappeared. When Guwadolo inspected, he could feel those soldiers were looking at him with faint anger. But to this day, Du Wei and the Empire¡¯s army had not yet attacked. Guwadolo had understood that Du Wei was not going to attack any soon. The main cavalry in the west hadpletely failed. The news spread throughout his barracks. The soldiers had no fighting spirit and evenrge-scale deserters have appeared. Du Wei was not in a hurry now, he was afraid this guy didn¡¯t even want to fight! Just wait another two days and his army would copse on its own. Chapter 387 Part 2 At this moment, the tension in the barracks was so intense that thousands of soldiers rushed to Guwadolo¡¯s tent to verify it. Guwadolo ordered to kill anyone who dared to disobey military order. Under the strict militaryw, those soldiers were gradually dispersed¡­ but evenw enforcement soldiers dare not look at the faces of their colleagues. Everyone had already believed Duke of Tulip. General Lu Gao really lost?! 70,000 cavalry was defeated?! That night, the deserters appeared again in the Northwest Army, but this time, Guwadolo was toozy to control it, he knew that things were irreversible. Morale had fallen to its lowest point. When the number of soldiers was counted the next day, more than a thousand people disappeared. When Guwadolo inspected, he could feel those soldiers were looking at him with faint anger. But to this day, Du Wei and the Empire¡¯s army had not yet attacked. Guwadolo had understood that Du Wei was not going to attack any soon. The main cavalry in the west hadpletely failed. The news spread throughout his barracks. The soldiers had no fighting spirit and evenrge-scale deserters have appeared. Du Wei was not in a hurry now, he was afraid this guy didn¡¯t even want to fight! Just wait another two days and his army would copse on its own. ¡­ Early that day, after the whining horn blew, the imperial forces in several directionsunched attacks simultaneously. Guwadolo was originally prepared to fight protracted warfare and the fence outside the barracks surrounded the entire Northwest Army. Moreover, they did notck long-range attack weapons and even strong ballistae. They also dug many trenches around the Northwest army barracks. An infantry division under themand of Governor Bohan was the first one tounch frontal attack. Soldiers rushed forward, holding shields to resist the bows and arrows of the Northwest Army. After paying the price of 1,000 people, they barely filled the trenches in the south of Northwest Army with sandbags. Immediately after that, Guwadolo organized a team of 1,000 trusted soldiers to kill out. These tant guys didn¡¯t even wear armor. They rushed out and chopped the soldiers sent by Governor Bohan to fill the ditch. Blood was flowing like a river and the dead bodies were everywhere. After all, Bohan was not born as a general andcked military talent. Seeing this, he did not order to send reinforcements but instead ordered people to retreat. At this time, WangCheng guards also attacked. Soon they sessfully killed 1,000 soldiers sent by Guwadolo. After that joint forces of WangCheng Guards and Bohan attacked the Northwest Army. Battle continued till dawn and finally WangCheng Guards and Bohan emerged victorious. In all this mess, Du Wei sent his soldiers to capture Sebasta who was set free by Guwadolo. It was very hard to stop but finally he was anaesthetized by drug made by Du Wei. In this battle Du Wei did not participate at all. Chapter 388 Part 1 Finally on this day, Du Wei received a message that he had waited for many days! Rodriguez was back! The Rodriguez came back alone and his face was not very good. After returning, Rodriguez brought Du Wei a piece of bad news¡­ When fighting Lu Gao¡¯s cavalry that day, two Pdins were responsible for intercepting Lu Gao on the battlefield. Although Lu Gao was also very strong, after all, it was still far from being the White River. Under the pinch of the two Pdins, he could only flee. Lu Gao was really decisive. Seeing that his army was defeated, he actually did not turn around and went back to the Guwadolo round. He actually made a difficult decision and abandoned his defeated army. He ran away to the west! Anyway, the soldiers had been defeated. The defeat of the cavalry had caused his entire battle n to fail and it was meaningless to go back to join Guwadolo. Lu Gao fled to the west. Under the close pursuit of Rodriguez and Hussein, the three men went west. They ran across the entire Desa province. They even passed Lon City and ran straight into the northwest corridor! Lu Gao was not to be underestimated. With the support of Frost Fighting Spirit and Snow Mountain Witchcraft, he could still flee so many days under the pursuit of the two Pdins. Three entered the desert area outside Mount Kilimaro. If they continued to run forward, after crossing the desert, they would enter the northwest prairie. And at this time, finally, Rodriguez and Hussein caught up with Lugo! The three Holy Order warriors had a big battle over the desert. Hussein stabbed Lu Gao with the sword. He also cut off the right thumb of Lu Gao on the spot. Lu Gao was desperate and seeded in heavily injuring Hussein. Lu Gao ran away. Hussein was unable to chase because of serious injury and Rodriguez could only return with Hussein. Rodriguez left the Hussein in the Lon City to heal and returned alone. ¡°Hussein¡¯s injury is not a big problem but I¡¯m afraid it will take a while to heal. As for Lu Gao¡­ this guy is really cunning. His frost fighting spirit is very powerful. The two of us worked hard to stop him. He was pierced in the chest by Hussein¡¯s stab. His right thumb was also cut off. Even after his injury, his strength will be discounted in the short term. Just unfortunately, he finally ran away¡­¡± Du Wei nodded: ¡°Well, I know. In fact, I should have thought of Lu Gao. His greatest enemy in his life was White River. I think he tried leading the army westward to enter the prairie, not only to escape but also to rely on his 70,000 cavalry to make waves on the prairie. His final goal is still Snow Mountain. Now he ran back to the prairie alone. With his temper, he will certainly not give up on revenge. I am afraid that he remains dormant for a short time. But after all, the prairie is White River¡¯s territory. White River will not let Lu Gao live.¡± Du Wei was in deep regret, though. After all, Lu Gao would definitely try to take revenge. Doing things like assassination was quite easy for him with his abilities. He was afraid that he would cause many troubles! Although he was quite powerful now and there were many masters around him, after all, he had rtives, friends and fianc¨¦e. If Lu Gao started to deal with those people, it was also inevitable¡­ it was a headache. But looking at Rodriguez¡¯s pale face, Du Wei knew he couldn¡¯t me him, after all, he and Hussein had done their best. Lu Gao was a disciple of the former Witch (Shaman) King. He was afraid that his strength was above the Rodriguez¡¯s teacher. Chapter 388 Part 2 Du Wei was in deep regret, though. After all, Lu Gao would definitely try to take revenge. Doing things like assassination was quite easy for him with his abilities. He was afraid that he would cause many troubles! Although he was quite powerful now and there were many masters around him, after all, he had rtives, friends and fianc¨¦e. If Lu Gao started to deal with those people, it was also inevitable¡­ it was a headache. But looking at Rodriguez¡¯s pale face, Du Wei knew he couldn¡¯t me him, after all, he and Hussein had done their best. Lu Gao was a disciple of the former Witch (Shaman) King. He was afraid that his strength was above the Rodriguez¡¯s teacher. After letting Rodriguez go to rest, Du Wei frowned for a while. After thinking for a long time, he sighed and sent a secret letter to the prairie to Sdin. He told the guy to pay more attention to the situation. Besides this, Du Wei had no other way. This was not good news but Du Wei calmed himself, after all, he had a lot of work to do now. The captives of the Northwest Army had all been handed over to Longbatton to bring them together. The official document of had been sent to capital. And Du Wei was concerned about another important thing. Sebasta! This guy, who had be a beast, had been detained by Du Wei using a magic spell in his residence. Over the past few days, Du Wei had tried several methods, and he was unable to awaken the consciousness of Sebasta. This poor fellow had lost all his memories andpletely turned into a beast without wisdom. But even so, Sebasta¡¯s strength still surprised Du Wei. Sebasta seemed to have evolved. Previously, he was only good at frost fighting spirit but now his fighting spirit had faint mix of light and dark magic waves in it! Moreover, his weird physical state made Du Wei curious. In the past few days, Du Wei had taken the time to do some research. He even took a bit of blood from Sebasta to study. Du Wei had already made a simple microscope based on his previous life knowledge to study Sebasta¡¯s blood. Unfortunately, Du Wei¡¯s original knowledge of this aspect was almost nk so no results were found. Chapter 389 Part 1 One day, an idea suddenly stuck him. He bought two dogs and took out a bit of blood from the Sebasta. First, he fed a dog a few drops of bloods. As a result, the poor dog took less than a moment to die miserable. Du Wei took out a simple needle tube he made and injected a few drops of blood into another dog. As a result, after a while, the dog transformed. It became crazy and its strength increased by several times. Even the cage that held it almost sted apart! The iron rod with the thickness of a thumb was bitten in a few bites! The whole body also became extremely strong. The soldiers around it cut seven or eight times before hacking the dog to death. This result surprised Du Wei. However, he was still confused and he quietly flipped through the notes left by his predecessor. He was looking for some records on the ¡°perfect body¡±, but unfortunately he could not find any. He immediately remembered that in the secret passage under the governor¡¯s house in Giliate City that there seemed to be the corpses of the strange creatures left by the former Witch (Shaman) King Gu Lanxiu for experimentation. It was a pity that he was busy with things, he intended to wait for the matter to be dealt with. He would take Sebasta to the city of Giliate. He would re-enter the secret passage and dig out the bodies of strange creatures to take a closer look. (T/N: There is a side story here. I will trante itter) ¡­ The civil war that broke out in the Empire of Rnd in the spring of Year 964 which had caused the Empire a headache for many days finally ended with the defeat of Northwest Army. In order to win this victory, the Empire paid a total of 14 million gold coins for the war. The headache for the Empire was that after the war, the Northwest Corps disappeared so there was no one to guard the Northwest. Another debate broke out whether to rebuild the Northwest Corps in the north western region of the empire to defend the border. Over this, arge-scale dispute began in the imperial court. Some people think that there were prairie people in the northwest of the empire. Even though there were some internal disturbances on the prairie, the prairie people were brutal and barbarian. They were like wolves. Others believed that the Empire now had the Duke of Tulips in the northwest and the Duke¡¯s territory, Desa Province, was on the border area. The Tulip family already had tens of thousands of private troops which were enough to serve as the empire¡¯s frontier. The two sides argued over this issue. After all, rebuilding the Northwest Army Corps, such a major matter involved interests of various parties. Rebuilding a new Northwest Army Corps naturally required the promotion of arge number of senior general officers. It was also the position of heavy power. Many of the nobles in the empire which had military backgrounds were naturally trying their best. They hope that this resolution could be passed and after the reconstruction of the Northwest Army, people from their families could get in and gain a high position. Chapter 389 Part 2 The opposing party was a group of imperial officials headed by the Minister of Finance, who insist that there was no need for a major army in the Northwest. For prairie people, it was enough to have the Duke of Tulips guarding the Northwest of the Empire. Moreover, the Minister of Finance had listed a series of figures, indicating that if the Northwest Army was to be rebuilt, the empire¡¯s finances would bear a huge burden. Even with the generous donation of the Duke of Tulips, the imperial finances would probably be into a serious crisis in the next few years. Most puzzling thing was that in this debate, as the lord of the Empire, the regent had never said a word. His silent performance was even more profound. Many people on both sides of the dispute had tried every means to try to understand the true thoughts of the regent through various channels. The only clue was: When the Regent was alone in recent days; he was in a very good mood. Someone people even heard the Regent hiding in his room andughing. Prince Chen was indeed in a good mood. Watching these ministers quarrel these days, he actually didn¡¯t care at all. It was true that he hid in the room andughed wildly. To be precise, the regent Chen was in a very good mood now. This good mood came from a top-secret battle report! ¡°A thousand hot air balloons bombarded from high altitude and took less than an hour to defeat the 70,000 cavalry! The ground troops only lost a few thousand people and wiped out the 70,000 cavalry of Lu Gao¡­ Seeing this report, how can Regent not be ecstatic? With joy, he was even more determined to engage in special Air forces! The Northwest Army was so powerful that it made the entire continent look at them with awe. But under the aerial bombardment, they were defeated easily! The result of this battle made Regent agree to the n of Du Wei ¡ª Building an air force on arge scale. With such a powerful weapon of war, what are you afraid of war two yearster! Humph! As for the quarrel in the court, Regent remained on the side-lines. With his cleverness, of course, he knew what was going on in the hearts of ministers in favor of rebuilding the Northwest Army Corps¡­ Well, a bunch of stupid people fighting for power! Chapter 390 Part 1 Regent had already nned about the Northwest Territories. There was one most important thing now. That was the construction of the hot air balloons by joint operation of Du Wei and the military. A production base was put into production by the Empire in a military forbidden area thirty miles south of the imperial capital half a year ago. What Du Wei named it¡­ hmm, ¡°Boeing United Airlines¡±. That¡¯s right, it was a weird name. This was a production base jointly invested by Du Wei and the military, specializing in the production ofrge hot air balloons. Du Wei generously handled some hot air balloon production technology to Empire. This secret production base was only known to some core figures in the empire. At present, ording to the progress reported, 1,400 hot-air balloons had been produced in the past six months. In addition, Du Wei also informed him that the gunpowder had been produced and the first shipment would be delivered within one month. In addition, Du Wei also proposed a special n, a set of special training methods designed to train soldiers of aerial squad. What no one knew was that these days the old prime minister had secretly reached an agreement with his assistant, Lord Camisiro. On this day, there was a good piece of news: the old Prime Minister Rob Schell will marry one of his granddaughters to the Empire¡¯s neer 30 year old Camisiro. This marriage also received the blessing of the Regent. As you could imagine, this was a marriage that was obviously politically coloured. Camisiro had been regarded by many as the future military star. At this time, he married the aristocrat giant with a long history, the old Prime Minister Rob Scher¡¯s family. Undoubtedly, the young Camisiro had got a huge political background and his future would be brilliant! Everyone couldn¡¯t wait to offer their own blessings, whether it was sincere or not. The house of Camisiro was full of guests at this time. Another good news came out from the court! His Royal Highness, Regent Wang Chen, the current lord of the Empire, announced that he would marry again! Although he was not crowned as emperor, the Regent Chen was already regarded as the emperor. ording to thews of the empire, although he already had a legitimate wife, he could still marry two princesses. This time, the woman that Prince Chen decided to marry was from an ancient family with a long history from the southern Empire. This family was once glorious before the rise of the Augustinian dynasty. Although it was slightly decayed, it still had a deep foundation. The girl Regent decided to marry was called Delly. Delly was from the Liszt family in the north. At the same time, there was a noteworthy detail¡­ especially one that Du Wei would give special attention! The girl named Delly had a brother who was the division head of the Fourth Division of the Imperial (WangCheng) Guards and had just been promoted a year and a half ago. General Alpai! After the news came out, it made another sensation in Empire! Chapter 390 Part 2 The girl named Delly had a brother who was the division head of the Fourth Division of the Imperial (WangCheng) Guards and had just been promoted a year and a half ago. General Alpai! After the news came out, it made another sensation in Empire! The young monarch of the empire married the most famous beauty in the southern aristocracy of the empire. People with a keen sense of politics immediately think of something! Especially after knowing the military achievements of General Alpai in the just-concluded North-western War, everyone realized: I¡¯m afraid this will be a rising star again! Although General Alpai had just hurriedly led the army back to the capital, his home had already been visited by dozens of guests. Everyone couldn¡¯t wait to curry favor with this rising star. For a time, Camisiro, Alpai, these two names became the hottest focus in the Imperial City. Everything was just like when Du Wei suddenly rose to be the Duke of Tulips. Subsequently, the regent suddenly made his own decision without asking any minister¡¯s opinions, and issued several orders in one breath. ¡°In view of his outstanding achievements in the war and his great contribution to the empire, honored Duke of Tulip, Du Wei Rudolph, was awarded with the empire¡¯s Outstanding Medal and the Title ¡°Countess of the court¡± was given to the Countess Vivian, fianc¨¦e of Duke Rudolph (lifetime, not hereditary)¡­¡± If this order ended here, it could be considered as within everyone¡¯s expectations. After all, Du Wei had contributed a lot. Everyone knew that his reward was indispensable. These rewards were indeed quite good. But then, thest paragraph of this order was outside everyone¡¯s expectation! ¡°¡­ At the same time, in view of the Duke of Tulip¡¯s heroic performance for the empire in the war, the Duke of Tulips was appointed as the Chief of Military Affairs of the Northwest Empire. He was also awarded the rank of General! General rank?! What¡¯s the meaning of the new official title of ¡°Chief of Military Affairs of the Northwest Empire¡±?! However, more surprising thing was yet to be disclosed¡­ A general¡¯s rank, they didn¡¯t know how many people¡¯s hairs turned gray but can¡¯t obtain General Rank. But this young Du Wei, at the age of seventeen, was awarded the rank of general¡­ Although he did not serve as the actualmander-in-chief and did not directly lead the empire¡¯s army like other generals, this rank was still very important! Being a general at the age of seventeen was already anecdotal. Being a general at the age of seventeen was an eternal anecdote! Never seen before! If this order shocked everyone, then the second order almost made people think that the Regent had gone crazy! Chapter 391 Part 1 The secondmand: ¡°Given the situation in the Northwest region, the Imperial Northwest Corps was abolished and a new ¡®Northwest Independent Division¡¯ was established. The Northwest Independent Division was established with 40,000 soldiers and the divisionmander will enjoy the treatment equivalent to the rank of the Imperial Corps. At the same time, the Northwest Theater was preserved and adjusted and the province of Desa was divided into the Northwest Theater. The temporary imperial decree about the Northwest Theater was abolished. The Northwest Independent Division stationed in the Watt Fortress and was responsible for the defense of the Northwest¡­¡± The order till here was quite normal and the reconstruction of the Northwest Army was rejected. The Northwest did not need to station another 200,000 soldiers and it was just reasonable to relocate a 40,000 soldiers. As for the abolition of the ¡°War Zone Decree¡± issued more than 20 years ago, it was also expected. After all, that Decree made the Northwest too reliant on the Northwest Army. In order to prevent the emergence of new warlords in the future, it should be abolished. The original Northwest Theater had two provinces, Nuling and Desa. Now Nuling was separated, leaving only one province, Desa. It was also in a stable situation in the northwest and the theater did not require much consideration. But ¡­ Did Regent forget that the Desa Province was the territory of the Duke of Tulips? When did the Empire ssify a noble¡¯s private territory as an Empire war zone?! And thest few words of this order were enough to make everyone sigh. ¡°¡­ The Northwest Independent Division is responsible for the defence of Northwest and is not responsible to the Empire¡¯s Command. All military supplies are supplied on-site by the Northwest Theater. General Andrea was transferred from the Stormwind Corps to be the lieutenant general of the Northwest Independent Division. He will enjoy the treatment of themander of the Imperial Corps. At the same time, the special order, the military affairs of the Northwest Independent Division are subject to themand of Northwest Military General Du Wei.¡± What does it mean? Does the Regent really decide to handover Northwest to Du Wei? Then you can simply seal him as ¡°Northwest King¡±! What Northwest Theater¡­ what Northwest Independent Division¡­ does it make sense? Although the Northwest Independent Division maintained the designation of the Imperial Army, all the military supplies were supplied by the ¡°Northwest Theater¡±. Damn it! This so-called Northwest Theater was the domain of Du Wei! It was equal to Du Wei paying to support the army! After a long time, hadn¡¯t this army be a private army of Du Wei? What a joke! The soldiers of Northwest Independent Division were all sent by Du Wei. So, of course, they were loyal to Du Wei! Everyone regarded Du Wei as a food and clothing providing parent! Chapter 391 Part 2 And ¡°military affairs are controlled by the General of the Northwest Theater¡±¡­ These words made people speechless. This Independent Division was restrained Du Wei¡¯smand. Damn¡­ wasn¡¯t it a private army?! Even if the Regent trusted Du Wei, it was more like a blind believe. What about the General Andrea? His rank was Lieutenant General. But Du Wei was the General! Didn¡¯t you tell everyone to obey Du Wei¡¯s orders? As a result, those who had tried hard to rebuild the Northwest Army were disappointed. Regarding this, the regent¡¯s response was very cold. He did not listen to anyone¡¯s opinions at all. He even avoided the process of soliciting opinions and issued orders directly. What¡¯s more, in the face of all the ministers who once bickered, the young regent coldly said a sentence: ¡°Anyone who wants to oppose shut up! I didn¡¯t ask your opinion. I just ordered you.¡± The first two orders have surprised everyone¡­ The third order: ¡°General Alpai, Chief of the Fourth Division of the Wangcheng Guards, is transferred to the rank of the newly established ¡®Thor¡¯s Whip¡¯ Legion and promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. Given that General Alpai part pated in the eradication of the Northwest Rebellion, he is awarded the Earl¡¯s title (hereditary) for his outstanding performance. Major General Camisiro of the Imperial Command was sessful in logistics and nning in the Northwest battle. He is promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed as Deputy Minister of the Imperial Command.¡± This order was surprising though. But the degree of surprise was not as good as the first two. After all, Alpai had be brother-inw of Regent so his promotion was forecast by many¡­ ¡­ Du Wei was in the Giliate city. More specifically, he was in theboratory in the old governor¡¯s house in Giliate City. Du Wei has already received the awards and appointment orders. Du Wei was surprised by the rank of General of the Empire. Regent Cheng was really daring! And as for the Northwest Independent Division, Du Wei could only smile bitterly. In fact, Du Wei and Regent Chen had reached a tacit understanding. This so-called Northwest Independent Division wasposed 40,000 soldiers. Out of which 20,000 were regr cavalry infantry mix and the other 20,000 were actually¡­ Air force! This was a new army secretly established by the Empire. Prince Chen had no other option. Only Du Wei was the initiator and creator of this n. Only he could handle it properly. The army of the Northwest Independent Division was actually the future Imperial Air Force. He borrowed Du Wei¡¯s birdhouse to incubate his eggs. But it didn¡¯t matter¡­ Du Wei was now nervously studying histest results. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!