Translator: Legge
The Kingdom of Sorcerers was not located in a main disaster zone during The Cataclysm. It was only affected by the sudden cold weather that followed, but there were no fallout or explosions that occurred here.
At that ti, Ren He could already completely crush Russell in a fight. Therefore, even during The Cataclysm, as long as this Rider remained in the region of the Kingdom of Sorcerers, he definitely could have survived it.
But Ren He made a different choice. Just as he had said, he had his responsibilities.
Therefore, on the eve of The Cataclysm, which was also the day before the global war, he chose to return ho to lead his people towards another path of survival.
He had succeeded, but that success ca at the cost of his life.
“What exactly did he leave behind at Russell’s place?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“A sealed box with no password,” Sumr answered. “It’s hidden in the Rose Monastery in Ghent City.”
“Rose Monastery?” Ren Xiaosu wondered.
“Mhm, that used to be the Russell family’s property. After our ancestor was persecuted, that place was seized by Ghent City and converted into a monastery,” Sumr replied.
The so-called monastery was basically a chapel-like building filled with statues of sorcerers from either the House of Norman or the House of Tudor.
That was because Ghent City was simply too large. It was so large it was several tis the size of Vaduz City. Therefore, the residents there could not gather in front of the sa cathedral for their worship service all at the sa ti. At the beginning of each month, everyone would put on their red robes and go to a monastery near their hos where junior sorcerers would conduct worship services.
It was very ironic for a place of killing to be turned into a monastery.
Ren Xiaosu asked, “When can I retrieve it?”
“When this matter related to the underground is over, I’ll take you there.” Sumr said, “But before that, can I ask a favor of you?”
Ren Xiaosu asked, “What is it?”
Sumr glanced at l and asked Ren Xiaosu, “Can you take him away from Ghent City? As a reward, I’m willing to give you a gold Eye of True Sight and a sorcery manuscript compiled by my ancestor. There’s a lot of recorded spells and ditative visualization diagrams in it, all of which are for high-level spells.”
l had been standing off to the side for a long ti already and was bored. While Ren Xiaosu chatted with his sweetheart, it was as though he was invisible.
But it just so happened these two people in front of him were engaged in a serious discussion, and it was even on a topic he couldn’t get a word in about.
l also wanted to join the conversation, but he really did not know what to say.
Should he say he couldn’t bear to leave Sumr? That would make him seem overly lodramatic as a man.
Or should he say that he would be fine with Ren Xiaosu’s protection, so there wasn’t a need for him to leave Ghent City? But that would make him sound like a thug.
When l heard that Sumr was trying to chase him away again, he quickly gave Ren Xiaosu a knowing look in hopes he put in a word for him.
Ren Xiaosu imdiately understood and said, “Are you looking for the bathroom?”
“No, I’m not.” lgor snapped, “I don’t want to leave Ghent City!”
“Can’t you just say it plainly then?” Ren Xiaosu glanced at him. “If you’re too afraid to even object when others ask you to leave, how are you going to handle big issues in the future? Don’t worry, I won’t bring you back to the south. Since we’re already here, we should at least kick up a row, right?”
Sumr frowned. “The gold Eye of True Sight is the best offer I can give.”
“What’s important is not what you can offer, but what I want to do.” Ren Xiaosu said, “Do you really think that those good-for-nothing scions of the aristocratic families are sincere in starting a revolution with you? Just look at how class-conscious they are. After overthrowing the old aristocracy with their help, they’ll just rise up to beco the new aristocracy.”
“I’m not intending to rely on them completely, obviously,” Sumr said calmly. “For now, my only aim is to make the House of Tudor pay with their blood. As for overthrowing the old aristocracy, there’s still a long way to go.”
With that, Ren Xiaosu understood Sumr was not an impatient person. She was planning to take things slowly.
Sumr continued, “Although I don’t know why you brought lgor to Ghent City, do you know you’re putting him in danger by doing so?”
“Before this, lgor told that his sweetheart is soone with her own mind. But no one told that you’re Russell’s descendant, nor that you’re such an independent thinker.” Ren Xiaosu thought for a mont and said, “However, I’m quite curious about sothing. Since you’re so worried about him, why didn’t you send soone to protect him when he was sent to the border?”
“Of course I did. I got the Sanctuary’s people to protect him. It was only after they realized he wasn’t in much danger that they returned to Ghent City.” Sumr said, “Not only that, but we even had gladiators secretly send him food, clothes, and dicine regularly so he wouldn’t starve to death.”
lgor exclaid, “I thought I hired those people with money?”
Sumr looked at l. “The money you offered wasn’t enough at all. No one would keep going to such dangerous places for that small amount of gold coins.”
“I see.” Ren Xiaosu nodded.
He finally understood. Ren Xiaosu had thought about this before. l, a barely capable sorcerer, had been sent to Fortress 178 to observe the enemy’s movents. However, that guy’s wilderness survival skills were not even passable, so how did he survive there for the past two years?
It turned out Sumr was the one who made sure lgor survived his mission.
This girl was really thodical in her ways. She really was soone who was ant for great things.
As for l the moocher, he was really too thorough in mooching.
As he thought about it, Ren Xiaosu even had the thought of supporting Sumr to beco the one to lead the Prosperous Northwest’s branch office. No matter how you saw it, she seed more suitable for the role than l…
Ren Xiaosu was a little puzzled. “Why are you so good to him?”
Sumr said, “He’s too na?ve. He’ll get hurt if there’s no one to protect him.”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. How the hell was this romance? This was practically motherly love!
But no matter what it was, that was between the two of them.
Ren Xiaosu looked at l. “Do you understand now? She was just making an excuse not to implicate you when she said that she didn’t want you to implicate her. You should work hard and not keep making others worry. Do you know what you have to do now?”
l nodded vigorously. “I do!”
“Then what’s your plan?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“Stay obediently by your side. With your protection, she won’t have anything to worry about,” l said.
Ren Xiaosu was speechless.
He got so angry he laughed. But when he thought about it carefully, this decision by l was still the wisest!
If he were to make l continue practicing his sorcery, he couldn’t beco an archmage without at least eight to ten years of training. Therefore, in a situation where his efforts were futile, he might as well accept his situation and not burden everyone.
With Ren Xiaosu’s protection, there wouldn’t be too many people in the vast Ghent City who could do anything to him.
Honestly, Ren Xiaosu did not know now if l was actually stupid or just playing dumb.
Ren Xiaosu told Sumr, “Don’t worry, l will be fine with protecting him. I won’t ask you about your plans anymore, and neither should you ask about mine. I’ll start taking action after I’ve retrieved what Ren He left for . At that ti, all you need to do is wait for an opportunity.”
“What opportunity?” Sumr wondered.
“An opportunity that I’ll create for y’all.” Ren Xiaosu said calmly, “I’ve said this to Chen Jingshu before. My arrival from the Central Plains is the best opportunity for y’all to overthrow the old aristocratic rule of the Magi.”
When Sumr heard this, she looked at l in surprise. l sighed and said, “You’ll get used to it. Besides, I can’t refute his claims.”
Sumr sized up Ren Xiaosu in front of her. Although she did not know where Ren Xiaosu’s confidence ca from, she sohow chose to trust him fully.
Suddenly, she rembered what her grandfather had told her before he died. “If soone from the Central Plains cos searching for clues related to the Riders one day, you can get them to help with any difficulties you might encounter.
“It’s an amazing nation, and that Rider is the most amazing person in that nation.”
At that ti, Sumr was only a child and did not understand what her grandfather ant. She often wondered if that Rider could really be so trusted by the entire Russell family.
Sumr suddenly said, “My grandfather told when the Rider took away the Eye of True Sight, he promised that in the Russell family’s ti of need, he would repay them with a favor. If he were no longer around to keep that promise, the favor would be repaid by his descendants. Since you’re his descendant, can I depend on you?”
Ren Xiaosu thought for a mont. Since Ren He had used the Eye of True Sight to save him, he was naturally willing to fulfill the promise made in exchange for the Eye of True Sight. “Sure, what do you want to do? Destroy the House of Tudor?”
“No.” Sumr shook her head. “Can you make sure to protect l?”
“Sure, but this doesn’t count. It’s a promise that I’ve already made to l personally, so I’ll naturally keep my word for that.” Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, “Alright, you can hold onto that favor for now. We’ll talk again when you need it to be repaid. I’ll leave you two to catch up while I go inside and have a good chat with my new sorcerer friends.”
With that, Ren Xiaosu stepped through the enchanted doorway.
l suddenly felt what Ren Xiaosu ant about having a good chat with his new sorcerer friends was not that simple.
There was no one else in the tunnel anymore. l slowly walked towards Sumr. The divine dragon painted on the wall was all quiet, as though it could not bear to disturb them both.
On the other side, Ren Xiaosu was a little stunned when he saw the scene behind the enchanted doorway. He was no longer in the underground. Instead, he was standing at the top of a tall, gray-bricked spire.
Beyond the spire was a cliff, and below it was a turbulent sea.
As the seawater crashed against the rocks, the shimring surface of the blue sea could be seen in the distance.
The vast sea that stretched as far as the eye could see instantly gave rise to an endless sense of magnificence within Ren Xiaosu. After that, he felt an endless calm in him.
This must be the sea Li Shentan talked about wanting to see. He wondered if he had already seen it.
When Ren Xiaosu turned around, the others had already entered the interior of the spire through the stairway. Only Xu Anqing was still waiting out here.
The man smiled and asked, “Is this your first ti seeing the sea?”
“It’s probably not my first ti.” Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, “I got an inexplicable sense of familiarity when I saw the sea, but I think I’ve already forgotten everything that I’ve seen in the past.”
“This is the enchanted doorway created by An’an’s father.” Xu Anqing said, “Every ti he cos back to Ghent City, he’ll co to the top of this Sorcerer’s Tower by himself. Sotis, he’ll sit here for an entire day and night. I asked him why he keeps looking at the sea. Initially, I thought he would tell it helps to broaden one’s heart, but his answer to was that those who have seen the sea learn to feel reverence.”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned for a mont. However, he quickly found these words to be very interesting. In the face of the vast world and sea, humans were indeed insignificant.
Then Xu Anqing asked, “I wonder, what was the feeling you had when you saw the sea?”
“Calmness,” Ren Xiaosu answered. “By the way, when you emphasized that this enchanted doorway was created by An’an’s father, does it an that everyone’s enchanted doorway is different?”
“Before The Cataclysm, the enchanted doorway was an exclusive spell of the Russell family. Later, Russell made this spell accessible to all to show his determination to break the sorcerer clans’ stranglehold on power.” Xu Anqing explained, “However, there’s sothing special about the Enchanted Doorway spell. It can only be opened once in a person’s lifeti. After that, the spell will remain in place forever.”
“What if the person who opens this enchanted doorway dies?” Ren Xiaosu asked curiously.
“The enchanted doorway will not disappear with their death.” Xu Anqing said, “There’s only one way to destroy an enchanted doorway, and that’s to completely change the terrain where it is located, such as destroying the wall we just ca in through.”
Ren Xiaosu frowned. “Isn’t that really dangerous then? If soone outside were to destroy the wall, wouldn’t we all be trapped here?”
Xu Anqing realized the young man across from him was a really cautious person.
When other people passed through the enchanted doorway, the first thing they were attracted to was the magic of this spell. But the first thing that Ren Xiaosu paid attention to was how to get back to the other side!
“Don’t worry.” Xu Anqing explained with a smile, “If anyone tries to sabotage it from the outside, all of us who passed through the enchanted doorway will ‘fall’ out. Therefore, there’s no such thing as not being able to return to the other side.”
“Where’s this place?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
Xu Anqing shook his head. “We’re not sure where this is either. After it was activated, it beca our secret base. We only know that the entrance of the enchanted doorway and this place we’re at exist in the sa dinsion.”
“Is there any principle behind how these enchanted doorways are created?” Ren Xiaosu asked curiously.
“We think it probably opens up to a place where a person wants to go most?” Xu Anqing said, “I once had a friend plagued by bladder issues. When he activated the enchanted doorway, it turned out to be his ho bathroom on the other side….”
“What the hell?” Ren Xiaosu did not know whether to laugh or cry. “It really opens up to the place you most want to go then?”
“That’s most likely the case, but there’s also very strong randomness to it,” Xu Anqing said aningfully.
“What do you an by randomness?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“Not everyone knows where they want to go most.”
Ren Xiaosu fell silent for a long ti. There was even a hint of philosophy in those words.
He moved on from that thought and asked again, “Are there any flaws with the enchanted doorway?”
“Of course.” Xu Anqing said, “The enchanted doorway is fixed. If you wish to get to the ‘opposing shore’ through it, you have to go to a fixed location to access the portal. Sotis, it can be quite troubleso, just like how Chen An’an’s father has to return to the underground below Ghent City if he wants to co here.”
Ren Xiaosu suddenly took out a large tal door from his storage space and asked, “Then if I create the enchanted doorway on this door and carry it around with , would that make my enchanted doorway portable?”
Xu Anqing was a little confused as he stood on the spire atop the Sorcerer’s Tower with the sea breeze blowing at him. “I… I guess so?”
When he saw Ren Xiaosu’s serious expression, he suddenly felt a little helpless. Logically, the enchanted doorway could be made portable through the thod he had just suggested. But the problem was, why the fuck was he carrying a tal door with him?
Where did he get that from!
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