Chapter 327 Upholding Some Promises

Shaoke quickly released his mental force and found that Lan Wei'er, her face flushed, quickly opened her eyes. He looked at her and said, "Why are you here? Don't you know you're not supposed to enter someone else's room without permission?" Then, to break the awkwardness, Shaoke reached out and ruffled Lan Wei'er's hair, signaling her to leave.

"But this time, I came with my mother's permission," Lan Wei'er said, thrusting out her chest slightly before curiously glancing at Shaoke's lower body. "Is there something wrong with that?" She then casually grabbed a sheet and threw it over Shaoke to cover his naked body. She hadn't expected that a mage as old as him would still be in such good shape. This embarrassed her a bit, but she forced herself to stay and watch him, partly to make her nominal father feel awkward.

"Leave now. I need to get dressed," Shaoke said, frowning at Lan Wei'er as he gestured for her to leave again. Finally, she pouted and left the room to wait outside.

After Lan Wei'er left, Shaoke quickly dressed, then called her back in and asked about the purpose of her visit. "What's the matter?"

"Mother said someone is waiting for you outside. Right now." She glared at him fiercely before running off quickly. Shaoke quickly washed up, straightened his robe, and went to the living room. There, as Lan Wei'er had said, people were waiting for him—many people.

There were seven or eight Eighth-order beings and seven or eight Rulers. Mage Roman and the White-robed Cleric were acting as hostesses, offering hospitality to the guests. Lan Wei'er, who had left Shaoke's room earlier, stood nearby, observing etiquette silently as she listened to the conversation.

When Shaoke arrived, Mage Roman and the others followed protocol and left, as they were not Rulers or Eighth-order beings and had no reason to stay long. Shaoke greeted each Eighth-order being in turn, and it was then that he noticed the Blue-robed Female Mage was unusually covered in a blue cloak, her entire body wrapped in a cloak inlaid with countless magic scripts. He then nodded to the seven or eight Rulers and sat down without speaking further. Since he had only met two of these Eighth-order beings before, he felt somewhat constrained.

"Everyone, according to the military's regulations, you are to hand over all the gains you obtained in the underground city. The military will then allocate rewards accordingly," an Eighth-order Mage whom Shaoke had never seen before stood up and spoke first. This news immediately angered Shaoke and another Ruler who was a warrior. Just after leaving the underground city, the Eighth-order Blue-robed Female Mage had explicitly stated that these items did not need to be turned in. Moreover, when entering the underground city, and even earlier when the plans were made five or six years ago, the Eighth-order beings had implicitly assured them that any gains from this mission would be theirs to keep.

"Honorable Mage, I believe we have the right to keep our gains," Shaoke stood up to refute, "We were given such a promise when we undertook the mission." He stared intently at the mage who had made the announcement, while the warrior Ruler also stood up to express his dissatisfaction. However, the other Rulers did not follow suit, for reasons unknown to Shaoke—but he no longer cared about those reasons.

"Are you testing an Eighth-order mage? You are defying the military's orders," the Eighth-order Mage said calmly, slowly turning his staff in his hand, clearly displeased with Shaoke's behavior. The Blue-robed Female Mage suddenly stood up and loudly refuted the Eighth-order Mage's decision. She had never expected that the mage sent by the military this time would bring such news.

"Who authorized you to give this order? Their gains from the underground city were obtained with my consent. Are you trying to revoke my promise with just a single sentence or a piece of paper?" The Blue-robed Female Mage glared fiercely at the middle-aged Eighth-order Mage, extremely dissatisfied.

"It was the military. I am merely carrying out the military's orders, which have been approved by the royal family," the Eighth-order Mage said with a twisted smile. "The underground city contains many precious original books. These are not things that lower-ranked individuals are qualified to possess." He then took a scroll from his bosom, clearly stating the military's orders.

"The royal family would never interfere in such a matter," an Eighth-order Warrior whom Shaoke knew waved his hand lightly. "Don't use the royal family's orders to pressure us. I only know that a promise made by an Eighth-order being cannot be revoked by any external force." He then lifted his cup and took a sip, signaling the Blue-robed Female Mage to sit down. "Besides, we deceived them back then. But the dozen of us made a common promise that all their gains from the underground city would belong to them." The Eighth-order Warrior then closed his eyes and said no more, though his large hand slowly caressed the flail in front of him, the spikes of which could not harm his hand.

"They are dead now, so the promise you all made together will not be recognized," the Eighth-order Mage said, shocking Shaoke and all the Rulers. That was a dozen Eighth-order beings! They hadn't felt much danger when exploring there. Unless those Eighth-order beings had gone into even more hidden and dangerous areas to explore...

Thinking this, Shaoke silently sneered. He had seen the wands and weapons of hundreds of Eighth-order beings who had died, let alone a dozen. With that thought, his shock gradually subsided. But the other Rulers remained astonished, given how long they had known those Eighth-order beings.

"Two of them still survive in this world," the Blue-robed Female Mage said softly from within her cloak. "If you want to carry out that military order, kill me now, or let me kill you." She stepped forward toward the middle-aged male Eighth-order mage and stood still before him.

"If you want to defy the military's orders, I don't mind killing you now," the middle-aged Eighth-order mage sneered, shaking his staff. The Eighth-order Warrior wielding the flail suddenly stood up, strode over to the mage, and shouted loudly.

"If you even think of that again, I'll wring your head off right now." He swung his flail, making it whirl around above the mage's head. "Don't bring up that foolish order again, or I can't guarantee you'll make it back to the capital alive." The Eighth-order Warrior then fell silent.

At that moment, three more Eighth-order Practitioners stood up and moved behind the middle-aged Eighth-order mage, calmly watching the Blue-robed Female Mage and the warrior with the flail. It seemed that if conflict broke out, they would unite against the Blue-robed Female Mage and her companion. The other two Eighth-order Practitioners sat quietly in their seats, as if oblivious to the situation.

"Don't force the military's orders on us," Shaoke suddenly stepped forward. "My organization is the Wandering Mages, and we are not subject to any military orders. We joined this mission only for the rewards. If you now try to take what I have earned, you are mistaken." He stared at the Eighth-order Mage.

"You have no right to resist the military's orders. Those who resist will disappear forever," the middle-aged Eighth-order Mage said slowly. "Your Wandering Mage Alliance can be easily destroyed by the military. Do not mistake the military's mercy for your arrogance." The Eighth-order Mage then spoke at length, insisting that Shaoke hand over the original magic books, as he was unworthy of possessing them.

At this, Shaoke felt a roar in his meditation space—the roar of the owner of the golden horn. Under that roar, he forgot that the opponent was an Eighth-order being. He only knew that he must defend his own interests; anyone who tried to take them would be torn to pieces.

Perhaps due to extreme agitation, his eyes involuntarily turned bloodshot. Those red eyes now represented his madness. "You have no right to say that to me. If I wished, I could kill you right now," Shaoke said, and the staff on his back burst into green flames, as his emotional surge caused mana to leak and ignite the green flame.

Shaoke's words infuriated the Eighth-order Mage. The mage twisted his mouth and suddenly released a massive wave of mental force to assault Shaoke's meditation space. Under attack, Shaoke instinctively cast his spell 'Death Gaze' instantly.

This spell Shaoke had not used for a long time. He had carefully kept it, hoping that those unfamiliar with it would suffer from it. The effect was clear: the special spell Death Gaze fixed the mage in place, and then Shaoke instantly cast a Fourth Rank Rending Ray aimed at the mage's head.

"Void," a mage behind the middle-aged Eighth-order Mage quickly spoke the two words in modern magical language, and Shaoke's Rending Ray dissipated completely. The middle-aged Eighth-order Mage standing before Shaoke was then moved elsewhere by his companion's Arcane Secret.