Chapter 419 Still Ongoing

After some trivial matters were settled, Shaoke began his secluded cultivation once more. A magic script was written by the mage, inscribed on crystal stone paper. Although these papers had been soaked in elemental water, the powerful magic of the scripts still quickly burned them.

When the last piece of crystal stone paper was consumed by the strange magic scripts, the mage had to helplessly stop his work. He fetched some hides from Pseudo-Dragons and other eighth-tier magical beasts, and began crafting unique parchment according to the Arcane Secret. These hides, after being treated with special medicines, became extremely thin. After processing the skins of dozens of magical beasts in this manner, he placed them on a small altar engraved with a formation.

The mage carefully filled the altar with magic materials and precious crystals, then chanted a spell. Magic scripts flew from his mouth and merged into the hides. The altar slowly rotated; after the chant ended, a black light enveloped the hides. When the light dissipated, only a large piece of hide floated above the altar. The mage retrieved it and used it to bear the magic scripts. Through experimentation, he found that this parchment could indeed withstand the magic scripts. Once everything was ready, he wrote thirteen magic scripts on it consecutively, then stopped to quietly contemplate the information carried by these scripts.

Although these magic scripts existed within the mage's meditation space, he could not glean much information from them there. He could only perceive the information from the dozens of magic scripts on the altar, not those forming the spell incantations. The reason was that these scripts were embedded into the altar in a peculiar manner, different from his previous embedding methods.

After advancing to the tenth tier, the mage's spiritual power grew stronger than before, making it much easier to comprehend these magic scripts. Scattered information flowed from the scripts into his mind. These were the insights of spellcasters from the same era as the Giant Beasts. The towering hundred-meter-tall spellcasters ran freely across the land, feeding on all sorts of strange giant beasts.

As the mage observed, he noticed that some plants appearing in these visions bore great resemblance to those on his altar, and even some animals looked quite similar. Realizing this, his emotions grew so intense that he exited that state.

After a brief rest, the mage recovered his condition through meditation by evening. By then, the female spellcasters had returned to the room, where they had prepared an exquisite dinner for everyone to share. Over this period, the White-robed Cleric had stabilized her emotions. The grief over her child's death had been suppressed, for the dead cannot be resurrected, not even by gods. Of course, legends spoke of liches who could keep souls lingering in the world through special means, but the cost was enormous, and such beings could not truly be called revived, as they were no longer human or any other life.

Three years passed. The mage finally fully consolidated his tenth-tier strength. He could now fully unleash the three tenth-level spells at his peak. Through practice and employing some spellcasting techniques, he could cast them relatively quickly.

After dinner that day, Shaoke told Mage Roman to summon their three daughters. "I plan to leave tomorrow for the Fallen Imperial Capital. I want to know if the Blue-robed Mage is there." He glanced at his two wives and added, "She took great care of me back then. Now that she's in trouble, I must find her. Perhaps she's waiting for my rescue."

Mage Roman nodded. She did not mind him seeking another woman, as that ninth-rank spellcaster had greatly helped her man, and their relationship was purely platonic.

"Let me come with you," said the Cleric, adding some snow honey to Shaoke's water cup, making the drink more pleasant. Mage Roman, meanwhile, continued sipping her favorite red wine.

Shaoke shook his head. He didn't intend to bring anyone this time. "If danger arises there, you wouldn't be able to help me." He patted the Cleric's head gently. "It's very dangerous there. If something happens, I can escape quickly, but you can't." He would never forget the events in that ruin years ago.

After a night together, the next morning his three daughters accompanied Mage Roman and the others to the guest hall. When breakfast ended, Shaoke kissed and blessed each of them, then left the Wandering Alliance stronghold in the Blue Feather Empire. Though he knew the women were watching him from behind, he did not look back, merely telling them he would return as soon as possible.

After flying some distance, the mage easily tore through space and made a long-distance teleportation. Several days later, he arrived at the Fallen Imperial Capital. The moment he descended, dozens of powerful beings scanned him. Shaoke estimated they were at least ninth-order beings, and he even sensed several tenth-tier professionals among them.

"Outsider, can we help you with anything?" As the mage surveyed the Fallen Capital, a man in blood-red armor suddenly appeared nearby. A crimson spear, with fresh blood dripping from its tip, was a striking sight. The mage was unfazed; the thick scent of blood actually made him more comfortable. He quickly produced his identification and handed it to the Bloody Knight before him, believing this tenth-tier knight would not trouble him.

"Mage Xueye. He led a group into that ruin years ago, but none of them ever emerged. I don't advise you to search that ruin. The Death Mage Corps and our Bloody Knight Corps have already lost over a dozen tenth-tier professionals inside." After examining Shaoke's credentials and hearing his intent, the knight tried to dissuade him. But nothing could change Shaoke's mind; he could not forget the help the Blue-robed Mage had given him.

Seeing his determination, the Bloody Knight sighed and handed Shaoke some maps—charts drawn from their explorations of the ruin. If Shaoke followed the marked routes, he would surely find Mage Roman, for that was the path she and her group had taken.

Shaoke took the maps, quickly departed, then activated his defensive spell and entered the ruin passage beneath the lake. There, he seemed to recall the time when the Blue-robed Female Mage had accompanied him here. After pausing briefly, he flew deeper inside.

After an unknown period, he arrived in a vast stone chamber, where he found a shattered skeleton. Through investigation, he determined it belonged to a powerful warrior—a tenth-tier warrior. His armor was broken, but the emblem on it was still clear: the Mage Guild's symbol.

Seeing this, the mage severed the warrior's skull and removed his spatial ring, then continued onward. Not far ahead, he encountered more skeletons—some belonging to the Mage Guild, some to the military, and many he couldn't identify, as they bore few markings. Nevertheless, he strung their spatial rings onto a golden chain and stored them on himself. Most of the deceased were tenth-tier professionals, with only a few ninth-order beings among them, and they carried many valuable resources.

After another magic hour's travel, there were no more markings on the maps. At that point, Shaoke felt the constant locking sensation disappear. Still having found no trace of Mage Roman, he pressed on.

The magic scripts and formation patterns on the walls gradually dwindled. After turning a corner, the walls were completely bare of any magic writing. But in the narrow passage, he found another corpse. A black ice sculpture hovered in midair, frozen in a desperate flight pose. The person inside—a mage—looked terrified. When Shaoke extended his mental power, he could even detect residual mental fluctuations from the corpse.

Shaoke cautiously reached out with his own mental power to contact it. The being in the ice sculpture sent him a simple message only: leave immediately, don't look back, flee now, or else he would be turned into an ice sculpture too. No matter what additional messages Shaoke tried to send, the mental power within the ice gave no further response.