July 1, 2026 — 4:22 am

After the white light exploded, it didn't just vanish into the air; instead, it formed a silver-white ball again and exploded once more. Shaoke and the others watched the silver ball nervously, but Anling showed no reaction.

After the silver light ball exploded nine times in a row, it slowly faded into the air and disappeared. "She carries your bloodline," the Blue-robed Mage beside him said with relief to Shaoke. "I believe that in a few hundred years, your family will thrive." With that, the female mage looked at Anling, then kissed her forehead to bless her. The other Nine-rank Professionals also did the same. As for her mothers, the White-robed Cleric and Mage Roman also blessed her, welcoming her into the family.

"From now on, you must call Anling 'big sister'; she's older than you," Shaoke said to Lan Wei'er and Moyu'er, who were next to him. "If anything comes up, you can talk to her about it. She's spent way more time outside than you have, and she'll teach you stuff in detail." After speaking, Shaoke fixed his gaze on Anling, who nodded to show she'd take care of it. Then the mage let out a sigh of relief.

After the banquet was over, Mage Roman grabbed a thick book and came to Shaoke's room. At that time, all the family members gathered there at Roman's request. "Xueye, this is the family tree that the Cleric and I put together. I think you should formally write down all the family's info in it now," she said, handing him the blue-covered book, along with a quill and ink. Shaoke nodded, took the stuff, and started writing carefully at the desk. This recording was, of course, very official. The mage wrote in Ancient Magic Script.

First came the family name, which was simple: the Snow Night Family. Then Shaoke carefully noted the time and place the family was founded, as well as the outside situation at the start. After that, he wrote his own name on the next page and jotted down a few of his experiences. Naturally, it wasn't a full list; any big events later would have to be added. Next were the names and stories of Mage Roman and the White-robed Cleric. Finally, he listed Lan Wei'er, Moyu'er, and Anling. Once that was done, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, because only then was the family truly formed.

Even if the family died out tens of thousands of years later, there would be written proof that a powerful mage family had once existed in this world. Of course, in the future, the family would also have a dedicated Scribe, who wrote biographies for family members. Only family members who reached Eighth Tier or higher were allowed their own biographies. But there were exceptions for folks with standout skills in some area, and they'd get biographies too, though that didn't happen often.

After these small tasks were settled, it was already late at night. The young Moyu'er had gotten sleepy and was lying quietly in her mother's arms, asleep. Meanwhile, Lan Wei'er and Anling stood quietly, waiting for Shaoke to finish writing. Finally, they used an Arcane Secret to drop their own blood and Moyu'er's blood onto their names in the family tree. After that, Lan Wei'er looked like she'd lost something, her face really pale. Eventually, at Roman's signal, she picked up her little sister and left with her older sister.

Once the kids had left the room, Shaoke hugged Mage Roman and kissed her hard. After a wild session of lovemaking, the three of them lay in bed whispering in detail about what had happened in the Maple Leaf Empire a year ago. They went on until dawn, and after another round of lovemaking, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

The following days were boring. Mage Roman and the White-robed Cleric slowly shifted their main focus to their own experiments. Teaching Moyu'er fell to Lan Wei'er and Anling. Shaoke got busy again, because the organization got a bunch of books thanks to the Blue-robed Female Mage. Even though these books were only hers, she still let the empire's mages study them, but for a price, and they couldn't share the stuff outside. Still, the Blue-robed Mage kept a lot of books to herself without letting anyone else look.

Shaoke didn't jump into studying those books right away. Instead, he went back alone to the Bloody Fortress in the Blue Feather Empire. There, he met with the Death Mage Corps to trade books for Anling's freedom, like they'd agreed on. Naturally, that went smooth, because high-order practitioners always followed through on their promises to avoid looking bad and losing their dignity and honor.

The one who met Shaoke was a Tenth Tier Death Mage. After hearing Shaoke's request and taking a quick look at the books, he agreed easily. After some simple paperwork, the Death Mage handed over the book with all of Anling's records to Shaoke. "Mage Xueye, you stayed in the Death Mage Tower before, right?" The mage looked into Shaoke's eyes and added, "I never thought that after all these years, someone would finally master the Death Will spell."

Shaoke quickly flipped through Anling's records, then put them away and said, "Can I trade for some books on the Death Will spell with you? I feel like I haven't fully tapped into its power." He added, "Whatever it costs, I think I can work something out." So saying, he pulled out all the books he'd treasured for the Tenth Tier mage to look through.

After a long wait, the mage said he needed to check with others, since he couldn't decide alone. While he was gone, Shaoke sat in the room, resting quietly.

Almost two magic hours later, the Tenth Tier Death Mage came back. He took off his cloak, pulled out three thick books, and handed them to Shaoke. "Sorry, you can't read the originals, but these copies are all yours now." He added, "Since the Death Mage Corps got this spell, only five people have learned Death Will in the last hundred thousand years. You're the sixth." After that, he grabbed the books Shaoke had left on the table for the trade and vanished on the spot. Shaoke glanced at the books, then took another look at the Bloody Fortress still in the middle of bloody fighting, before quickly leaving, ripping through space to get back to his base. In just half a month, using better and better space magic, the mage made it home.

After getting back, Shaoke told Anling the problem was solved, which made her, who never smiled, happy. Since the Death Mage Corps still had wards in her mind, she had to go back to them to get those wards removed with special methods. Naturally, she could handle that on her own. The Death Mage Corps wouldn't break the deal on something like that. A rampaging Nine-rank Professional in a crowded place like the Blue Feather Empire could cause huge damage. Of course, that was just one reason; there were others we won't go into here.

After sending Anling off through a teleportation circle with Mage Roman and the others, Shaoke went to the Blue-robed Female Mage's place. There, he would study some spell books she'd kept for herself, which no one else in the alliance was allowed to read.

"You seem in a much better mood," Shaoke said, noticing the Blue-robed Mage without her crown on her forehead looked more relaxed than before. The Blue-robed Female Mage nodded. "Yeah, I think giving up that powerful magic item for these precious books was worth it." She added, "A lot of the books we've already gone through have been really helpful to us spellcasters." She handed Shaoke a newly copied book for him to look at.

This book had notes on things to watch out for when advancing to Tenth Tier. Shaoke casually flipped through other books, which had tips on spells and training for specific jobs. He then realized these were the books the Blue-robed Female Mage had put out for everyone to study. She had another set of books she kept private, which only Shaoke was supposed to decode, because they were written in Ancient Magic Script mixed with other languages nobody else understood.

After skimming these books, Shaoke took some that the Blue-robed Female Mage had given him to study. But his main focus was still on the books about the Death Will spell from the Death Mage Corps. As he read, he got a deeper understanding of the spell. After three years of study, he managed to nearly double its power. Only then did he start focusing on the books written in Ancient Magic Script and other languages. By the way, Anling had come back to the base a year earlier, and the wards in her meditation space had been successfully removed by the Death Mage Corps. Even though she'd been hurt, after a long rest and treatment from the White-robed Cleric, she got fully better a year later.