Chapter 389 This Isn’t Bloody or Cruel, Right?

You can go now! Mage Roman said lazily as she rubbed her shoulders. The previous day, the mage had gripped her shoulders until they ached. "Perhaps they have important matters to discuss with you!" The White-robed Cleric beside her nodded in support of this idea. Shaoke then sorted out his belongings and left the room.

In the reception hall, a mage was waiting anxiously. He couldn't be sure whether the master of the place would receive him. However, since no guard had come to announce his presence, he still waited with hope.

"Honorable Lord Mage Xueye." Just as the mage was thinking, Shaoke entered alone. The mage quickly stood up and bowed to Shaoke, then stood there nervously, waiting for the master's next move. The aura emanating from Shaoke and the Nine-pointed Star Magic Array flashing in his eyes were truly overwhelming for him.

Of course, to maintain politeness and due respect, he slightly lowered his head.

Shaoke nodded and then gestured for the golden-haired middle-aged mage in front of him to sit down. "Mage Yija, what brings you here?" He then took out wine for the other, but the guest poured the wine himself without letting the host serve him. Shaoke only asked for a glass of water to drink. "You can call me Mage Xueye as before," Shaoke said after nodding in thanks.

"Honorable Mage Xueye, I have come to seek your help." After many years without seeing each other, Mage Yija had advanced to a Seventh Tier Mage, but he did not dare to be presumptuous before the current Shaoke. "My daughter has offended a member of a great family, and now they are besieging our family. I want my daughter to come here for shelter." After speaking, Mage Yija looked at Shaoke uneasily; he hadn't seen him for many years and had no idea what his current temper was like.

Shaoke frowned and finally asked in a low voice, "Just her alone? Which family is besieging you?" He thought for a moment but still did not express his intention to help, since they no longer had much connection. Moreover, he did not want to return to the Blue Feather Empire to get involved in some inexplicable affairs.

"No, also her husband and some young children of our family." Mage Yija stole a glance at Shaoke and then detailed the reason why his family had offended the other party.

It turned out that his daughter was very beautiful. At a banquet, she met a young man from a great family, who then pursued her. However, after dating for a while, the woman refused to marry him and only wanted to maintain a simple lover relationship. The young man was unwilling to give up and finally used his family's power to threaten her. Of course, this reason was just a trigger; the real reason was that there were rumors that the Yija family had obtained a divine magic item, so they launched a plunder.

"Is there really such an item?" Shaoke asked with a frown. Back when they hunted Divine Avatars, after the gods died, their weapons and jewelry completely dissipated without remaining in this world, so he was very skeptical about this reason.

Mage Yija opened his mouth and whispered, "A young child of my family did obtain a strange magic item, but I cannot be sure if it was used by the gods. However, that child has now left our family with the item. Others simply don't believe this has happened and continue to besiege us." After saying this, Mage Yija sighed. He then sat quietly on the chair holding his wine glass, lost in thought. The firewood in the fireplace burned quietly, and the kettle made a sizzling sound, preventing the room from falling completely silent.

"Let them come here! Living in this territory, no one will dare to touch them." Shaoke said this for a reason. Because the entire civilian residential area completely forbade violence. Of course, this Ward forbade combat among practitioners above the Third Rank, while other Low-order beings were ignored. Naturally, the formidable patrol teams and the dozens of Eighth-order Practitioners guarding the area ensured the enforcement of this rule.

In response to Shaoke's agreement, Mage Yija gratefully thanked Shaoke. He then took out several magic bags and handed them to Shaoke as his payment. The mage accepted these items, as the territory was in great need of such resources; even a small supplement would increase the territory's strength to some extent. Seeing that the master had accepted the items, Mage Yija breathed a sigh of relief. After briefly mentioning other matters, he hurriedly left.

After Mage Yija left, Shaoke sat quietly in the chair, thinking. He wondered if what Mage Yija said was true. He thought for a long while.

He told this matter to the Blue-robed Female Mage. The female mage then ordered the compilation of current information about the Blue Feather Empire and dispatched dozens of Eighth-order Practitioners to inspect the items carried by the Yija family members. After that, the matter faded from the mage's mind.

Shaoke, who lived daily in the mage tower on the mountaintop, was unaware of the troubles at the foot of the mountain caused by his sheltering of some Yija family members. Fortunately, the patrol teams were formidable, so nothing too serious happened. Only a group of Seventh-order Practitioners came to try to assassinate some of the Yija family, but they were stopped and destroyed by the Eighth-order Practitioners. After a few such incidents, no more families from the Blue Feather Empire came to fight. At this time, Shaoke, Mage Roman, and Blue-robed Mage, along with some other Nine-rank Spellcasters, were researching something.

A strong man, wearing no clothes, was suspended in the air, held by several blue chains. Faint blue light occasionally flowed through these chains into the man's body. The White-robed Cleric occasionally waved her small hand and threw a ball of golden light that sank into his body. Beside them, Shaoke, Blue-robed Mage, and other Ninth-order beings, with brushes, drew patterns and text on his body, while Mage Roman took care of the blue chains and recorded data. Although the man appeared to be in great pain, not a sound came from his mouth.

As Blue-robed Mage was drawing patterns on the man, he suddenly struggled violently, pulling three or four chains taut, then threw his head back and howled. However, Blue-robed Mage continued her work regardless. Shortly afterward, the man burst into flames; a blue flame erupted from his body, then he turned to ashes and disappeared.

"This man is not strong enough. Perhaps we should capture a Seventh Tier Warrior for the experiment," Blue-robed Mage said, throwing down her brush. "I think that way, it will be easier to create powerful combat puppets." She then reviewed Mage Roman's records with mild regret and handed them to the other Nine-rank Spellcasters for review. But Shaoke did not bother to check them; he just stood there quietly, recalling the situation while drawing the patterns and text to look for errors.

"I've said it many times: this kind of experimentation won't lead to lasting strength. Those who only know slaughter will eventually destroy themselves." The speaker was Mage Meigan.

Shaoke opened his eyes and looked at the other, saying, "Those who only know slaughter, puppets that obey orders completely—these are what we need. Those with thoughts are just warriors, not fearless death warriors." Shaoke calmly refuted him. "We still need to continue the experiment, but we shouldn't pick warriors who have already cultivated Aura. They cultivated to stimulate Aura. I think the original Aura generated in ordinary people due to panic or a burst of potential is the material for our experiment." After speaking, Shaoke signaled Mage Roman beside him to explain. Although she hadn't spent as much time in the Bloody Fortress as Blue-robed Mage, she was very familiar with the various levels there. Therefore, she was the best person to explain the situation.

"According to statistics, ordinary soldiers in the Bloody Fortress who experience a flare-up of Aura in battle have a higher chance of growth afterward compared to those who cultivate through talent." Mage Roman thought for a moment and added, "I don't know much about it, but the Blizzard Warriors of the Blizzard Legion all evolved from such soldiers." After speaking, Mage Roman rubbed her head. Their experiments had failed hundreds of times, representing the silent deaths of hundreds of warriors above the Fifth Tier. Although these warriors did not belong to this territory, gathering such people still represented a powerful force!

Blue-robed Mage shook her head. "Are we going to set up a combat area similar to the Bloody Fortress? I think we alone are incapable of doing that." After speaking, she grabbed the chain in annoyance and pulled it down. The blue light seemed to have no effect on her. Although everyone regretted the destruction of the chain, they said nothing, since these things were controlled by Blue-robed Mage herself.

"We only need to breed a few death warriors like the Blizzard Warriors, not too many, just enough for low-level combat," said the Space Mage. He glanced at Blue-robed Mage, somewhat dissatisfied that she was wasting materials. "Don't forget, our main purpose is to improve the aptitude of our family's descendants, not to train those warriors." After speaking, the Space Mage instantly disappeared from the underground laboratory.