Chapter 352 Forced Entry and Struggle

After a while, the officer who had glanced at Shaoke stood up and said, "Everyone, regardless of any past conflicts between the Empire and you, I hope you can state your stance today. I believe you all know the consequences of this choice." With that, the officer performed a mage's salute toward Shaoke and the others, then stood there and continued explaining the matter for which he had invited them.

"The Empire is about to go to war with another nation again. I hope you'll all join this battle." At this point, the Legion Commander paused briefly, then scanned the crowd and added, "If the Empire emerges victorious this time, we will not only become a medium-sized empire, but you will also be eligible to obtain the method to advance to the Ninth Rank." After speaking, the Legion Commander sat down, giving Shaoke and the others time to consider.

The group remained silent for a long time. Finally, a very aged-looking male mage stood up, performed an ancient spellcaster's salute, and said, "When we destroyed the Esuoer Empire, you did not summon us Wandering Practitioners. But now, you have done so. May we know which empire our opponent is?" After speaking, the old male mage performed the ancient spellcaster's salute again and added, "We also need the method to advance to the Tenth Tier, original magic books, mental attack Spells, and some special types of spells." He then sat down and said no more.

The Scribe recorded the old male mage's demands. Then another mage stood up—a young female mage. She also performed a mage's salute to the Legion Commander and expressed her thoughts. "Respected Lord Legion Commander, I hope that after the war, we can be allocated various magic books and spell knowledge below the Tenth Tier. If we die, I hope those items can be delivered to our respective families, and I wish for the Empire to protect our families from oppression by others for a thousand years." After speaking, the female mage sat down, and other mages scattered their own demands.

As for the target of this battle, none of the mages asked, as it was unnecessary. After all, obtaining the method to advance to the Ninth Rank without being controlled was worth risking their lives for.

Nearly three magical hours later, the mages' demands concluded. The Legion Commander, who had been listening, thought for a moment, then signaled everyone to rest. He took out a golden crystal ball, infused some Aura into it, and repeated the demands he had heard. The crystal ball was silent for a long time. Just as Shaoke and the others were waiting patiently, a voice suddenly came from the crystal ball, saying, "All their demands are granted." Then the voice added, "I believe you know that the Empire has never broken its promises, and this time will be no exception." After that, the voice faded.

Many Eighth-order Practitioners seemed to recognize the voice from the crystal ball. They respectfully performed a mage's salute toward it and then asked which empire the enemy was, so they could prepare for the upcoming battle.

"The Luanyun Empire," the middle-aged officer stood up and said softly. "A large nation, so I hope all of you will be careful in this battle." After speaking, the middle-aged officer glanced at Shaoke and the others again and explained the reason for the war. This explanation was mainly for Shaoke and the other newly promoted Eighth-order Practitioners.

It turned out that the Luanyun Empire had always been a deity-worshipping empire. It had existed for millions of years, and other empires had no energy to launch a war of annihilation against it. However, some time ago, a princess of the Maple Leaf Empire went missing during a visit to the Luanyun Empire. Subsequently, the Maple Leaf Empire demanded that some small empires under their rule join this battle.

Of course, Shaoke did not believe that the Maple Leaf Empire would go to war with a large empire just because of a missing princess. He was sure there were other reasons behind the Maple Leaf Empire's decision to completely destroy the Luanyun Empire.

"Everyone, this is the situation. We don't need to know why the higher-ups are going to war, but I hope you all understand that after this battle, the Empire's promises will not be broken." With that, the officer signaled the Scribe to take out a magic bag containing a large number of identity tokens.

A small pale blue scepter was distributed to Shaoke and the others by the Legion Commander. This blue scepter was more exquisite than the one the female Blue-robed Mage had given Shaoke. According to the middle-aged officer, this scepter was the only item to identify each person's identity, as dozens of empires' Eighth-order Practitioners were joining the siege of the Luanyun Empire. Of course, these scepters had minor differences, but we won't go into detail here.

Finally, the middle-aged officer set a gathering time for the mages. He then had Shaoke and the others collect some advanced auxiliary medicines and dismissed them, as they needed to prepare. Later, Shaoke and the others would use the teleportation array to leave the Blue Feather Empire and arrive at the border of the Luanyun Empire. There, their main goal would be to hunt down the Eighth-order Practitioners of the Luanyun Empire.

As soon as Shaoke returned to his room, the female Blue-robed Mage sent him a message through the scepter. "I think the situation has changed. The battle between us, the nobles, and the Mage Guild is about to end." She seemed somewhat relieved as she said this, then added, "I will go to the capital tomorrow. By then, I believe you will understand why the battle is ending."

Shaoke smiled bitterly, then took out the scepter he had just received and showed it to the female Blue-robed Mage. "I think I already know now." He sighed. "Is joining this battle the only way to obtain the method to advance to the Ninth Rank?" Shaoke asked in confusion.

"Killing Nine-rank Professionals. You can get advancement methods from them."

The Blue-robed Mage twitched the corner of her mouth, rubbing her head irritably as she added, "I think joining such a war is the easiest way to get the advancement methods. After all, some mages have been stuck at the Eighth Tier for thousands of years. If they were hunting Nine-rank Professionals, there wouldn't be so many stuck at the Eighth Tier." She changed the subject and talked about the upcoming war with Shaoke for a bit. The Female Mage also gave Shaoke a detailed explanation of the Luanyun Empire she knew, which greatly aided him in future battles.

After the discussion with the Blue-robed Mage ended, the White-robed Cleric and Mage Roman came to Shaoke's room together. They might have heard some news, as their expressions were not very good when they saw Shaoke. Especially Mage Roman, who looked at him with an uneasy face. "Can you tell us what exactly is going on?" Mage Roman wanted to know why so many Eighth-order Practitioners had gathered here.

Feeling there was nothing to hide, Shaoke told the two Female Spellcasters about the summons from the Legion Commander earlier. Finally, he added, "I think there's no danger, since dozens of countries have joined this war. Our High-order Practitioners will definitely outnumber those of the Luanyun Empire." He tried to comfort them with this explanation, hoping to ease their worries about his safety.

The Male Mage's explanation did not satisfy Mage Roman at all. She shot him a glare and said, "Do you know where the Luanyun Empire is? Do you know how many Eighth-order Practitioners are joining this war? Don't forget, the Luanyun Empire is a large country, and they must have allied empires." Pausing, she continued, "What's more, they worship gods. If their gods aren't stopped by the top-tier beings during the battle..." She sighed and fell silent.

Shaoke didn't take Mage Roman's words to heart. He felt the battle should be relatively easy. It might drag on for a while, but he thought there wouldn't be much danger. "It's just hunting down pros at the same level. I don't think there's much risk," he said, adding, "Besides, my Spellcasting ability is as good as mages who advanced many years ago."

When he said this, the mage had some hidden confidence, but he didn't explain it here. Mage Roman didn't ask further, and instead, along with the White-robed Cleric, she eagerly sought physical intimacy with the Male Mage, hoping to conceive a child before she or Shaoke left the capital.

A few days passed, and Mage Yija sent Shaoke another invitation, hoping to invite him to a banquet at his family estate. But Shaoke refused without hesitation. He felt that just sending him an invitation was beneath his current status.

The Blue-robed Mage also returned to the capital with a large group of Wandering Mages. Strangely, the professionals sent to suppress them came back together as well. The Blue-robed Mage was quite helpless about this situation, as it was not the time for internal conflict. If they continued fighting the Eighth-order Practitioners from the Mage Guild and Noble families, the Blue Feather Empire would surely step in to wipe them out.

The arrival of the Blue-robed Mage made Mage Roman and the others very wary, especially Lan Wei'er, who was openly hostile toward her. Fortunately, the Blue-robed Mage was missing an arm, which secretly pleased Lan Wei'er.

As time passed, the various legions gathered in the capital dispersed again, just as before. Shaoke got teased by the Blue-robed Mage over this. However, more and more Eighth-order and even Nine-rank Professionals gathered in the capital over time.

During this period, some merchant guilds inexplicably went bankrupt. Shaoke guessed that these guilds had refused to comply with the Blue Feather Empire's demands and were thus completely eliminated. Fortunately, when the major noble families heard about the coming war, they unreservedly provided all their professionals above the Eighth Tier, thus avoiding destruction by the Blue Feather Empire.

The war came much later than Shaoke had guessed. On the day the blizzard arrived, Mage Roman and the others followed the Blizzard 33rd Corps toward the Bloody Fortress. Lan Wei'er, for some unknown reason, chose to accompany her mother to the fortress.

On the day Mage Roman and the others left, Shaoke held her in his arms and flew around the capital a few times. He had never forgotten his promise from years ago, even though it was fulfilled a bit late.

"Remember, after the battle in the Luanyun Empire ends, you must come to the Bloody Fortress to find us," Mage Roman said, hugging Shaoke tightly as she left the capital. As for Shaoke's concerns about safety, no one mentioned them, as they all knew about the past situation in the Bloody Fortress.

However, the only regret Mage Roman had when leaving was that she hadn't had time to tidy up Shaoke's long hair, which sometimes led her to complain about her busy work. This complaint made the White-robed Cleric beside her somewhat uneasy, but Shaoke quickly comforted them both, knowing that the two female spellcasters cared about him. When Lan Wei'er left, she suddenly burst into tears.

After repeatedly reassuring the three female spellcasters, Shaoke personally saw them off from the capital. He accompanied them for two days' journey before swiftly flying back to the capital. There, the eighth-order practitioners had a brief get-to-know-each-other session and began seeking companions to prepare for the upcoming battles.

Nearly all of the eighth-order practitioners of the Blue Feather Empire gathered in a mountain forest not far from the capital. Here, there were over ten thousand practitioners at the eighth order and above. The most numerous were mages, who accounted for more than half of the total. This was mainly because mages had extremely long lifespans; for example, an eighth-tier mage, without accidents, could live for seven to eight thousand years. Warriors and other practitioners did not have such longevity; most could only survive for a thousand years at the eighth tier, and if they couldn't break through, time would claim their lives.

Shaoke's team consisted of only four people: the Blue-robed Mage, the Flail Warrior who had explored the underground ruins with them years ago, and another mage—the handsome mage who had organized them to carry out random slaughter in the Fallen Capital back then.

Among this team, Shaoke was only unfamiliar with the young mage. After asking, the young mage told Shaoke to call him Mage Meigan. Mage Meigan's strength was formidable; at least Shaoke couldn't tear space yet, but the other could already do so. More importantly, Shaoke had never seen his spellcasting method before—he used structures composed entirely of magic scripts to cast spells, and these spells were extremely powerful.

Shaoke also asked the Blue-robed Mage about the other's spellcasting method, but she didn't know Mage Meigan's specific origins or why he used such a peculiar casting method. Shaoke speculated about Mage Meigan's situation, while the Flail Warrior frequently returned to the capital to seek physical pleasure with young female mages, a pattern that continued until their departure.

The group floated in the sky for a full magic hour, but during this time, no one spoke. They just hovered silently in the air, each lost in their own thoughts. This battle was still very dangerous for them, but faced with the temptation of the ninth-rank promotion method, they had gathered here without hesitation. After this war, they didn't know if they would be able to return to their families.

According to the Blue-robed Mage's speculation, the Blue Feather Empire had never possessed such technology before. She guessed that this long-distance, random teleportation technology was constructed using documents seized from the Esuoer Empire years ago.

Of course, the Maple Leaf Empire had provided some technical assistance to a certain extent, but such assistance was of little use to the current Blue Feather Empire. This was mainly because the Blue Feather Empire had been researching this technology for years, but they could only study the existing items within the Death Mage Corps, not from the fundamentals. It wasn't until the Blue Feather Empire acquired some knowledge from the Esuoer Empire that they could independently build such long-distance teleportation arrays.

As for whether this guess was correct, Shaoke had no time to ponder now, because after a brief dizziness, they had already arrived at a strange place. While the Blue Feather Empire was experiencing a blizzard, here it was a warm, blooming spring day—everything was so serene and gentle.

The four eighth-order practitioners quickly regained their senses. The Blue-robed Mage carefully extended her mental energy to probe the surroundings, while Mage Meigan frowned and took out the small scepter issued by the military. Using the method provided by the military, he quickly checked whether any other practitioners from the Blue Feather Empire or allied empires had shown up in this area. Before his search was complete, Shaoke felt a powerful aura lock onto them. This hostile aura lock made Mage Meigan quickly put away the scepter, then with a wave of his hand, he tore a small spatial rift and vanished into it.

The Blue-robed Mage, pale-faced, signaled Shaoke to flee immediately. By then, the Flail Warrior was already flying frantically into the distance. Blink—without hesitation, Shaoke followed the Blue-robed Mage, rapidly blinking away. He hadn't expected that after teleporting into the Luanyun Empire, they would immediately run into a tenth-tier being. The powerful aura lock had turned into a faint golden thread chasing after Shaoke and the others. The entity was approaching them at high speed, occasionally sending out golden beams from the thread, which the Blue-robed Mage and Shaoke continuously blocked with spells.

In the midst of their frantic escape, Shaoke quickly detected that the tenth-tier being was rapidly closing in. The Blue-robed Mage had been attacked due to her earlier probing, and now her condition looked dire. Had she not been an eighth-order practitioner for many years, relying on her powerful magic and mental energy to sustain her resistance, Shaoke doubted he could withstand the opponent's attacks alone.

After pursuing for a while, the warrior Shaoke assumed was tenth-tier abruptly stopped his chase, instead frenziedly slashing out aura slashes before halting and flying back the way he came. Shaoke and the Blue-robed Mage continued their escape for some time before slowly coming to a stop.

"Bad luck this time," the Blue-robed Mage panted slightly. She sat cross-legged on the ground, took some medicine, and began recovering from the injuries she had sustained. Shaoke, having expended little energy, carefully stood guard for her.