Chapter 369 End and Refusal

Other practitioners have arrived here. Shaoke could no longer hold his resolve as the Blue-robed Mage landed on the ground. By now, of the fifty-plus practitioners, only over twenty remained alive; the rest had been killed in the recent battle by members of the Violet Family. Among the survivors, seven or eight mages had lost their spellbooks, severely weakening their combat effectiveness, while others had sustained injuries in the fight, leaving them with almost no fighting capability.

Only a few warriors remained at full strength.

The group did not rest long; they quickly gathered the spoils of the battlefield. The golden light spheres of two Tenth-Tier mages were very helpful to Shaoke and the other mages, but unfortunately, the golden sphere of the Eleventh-Tier mage had vanished. Everyone tacitly avoided mentioning the death of that Eleventh-Tier mage and focused on collecting the battlefield's treasures.

The massive mage tower had collapsed. In the explosion of that giant, all the defensive spells on the tower dimmed, and then, with the protective spells gone, cracks appeared in the giant stones, leading to the collapse. Of course, due to the tower's construction, it had not completely fallen.

The eerie silence of the mage tower puzzled Shaoke and the others. Though the tower had collapsed, it seemed impossible that no living beings remained inside. Shaoke had probed it several times but detected no signs of life, only the fluctuations of countless magical materials.

Despite their hesitation, the group entered the tower anyway. Since they had come this far, there was no way they would not abandon the greatest spoils and leave for no reason after the hunt. After brief discussion, they entered the ruined tower together. The powerful magical fluctuations prevented them from clearly detecting the interior, so they had to rely on their eyes to observe.

Inside the tower, the chaotic floor was horrifying to behold. Headless corpses lay scattered about, eerily drained of all blood, their withered bodies resembling dried wood. Of course, Shaoke and the others knew better than to mistake them for dried wood.

"Don't worry about these things; finding what we want is most important," the Blue-robed Mage called out to the somewhat dazed practitioners. Then they began their work. The corpses on the ground were thoroughly searched, including those bearing the insignia of Ninth-Tier practitioners.

They paid little attention to the magical materials, quickly gathering all the books they found. Inscribed stone tablets or metal plates were also collected. Though these items were unlikely to contain methods for advancing to Ninth Tier, they still collected them. Soon, the entire tower had been searched, and the Blue-robed Mage, skilled in examining wards, discovered a hidden chamber in the lowest stone room, which held a large number of books. In that chamber, they found another hidden room, from which they retrieved more books. The near-complete absence of protective spells made it easy for the Blue-robed Mage to detect these hidden chambers; otherwise, she would never have found them.

After collecting a large quantity of items, they quickly left. Of the fifty or sixty practitioners who had come, only a little over twenty returned, casting a somber mood over everyone. The Space Mage once again used a teleportation array to send them back to the ruined family estate of Mage Meigan. There, they parted ways. Three Archers and some warriors spoke with the Blue-robed Mage before leaving, leaving only Shaoke and the other mages, along with the Summoner. Now they needed to find a safe place to fully decipher the books obtained from the Violet Family, hoping to find advanced methods for advancing to Ninth Tier.

This time, they chose the Blood Fortress for deciphering. Shaoke felt it was the safest place, where they would not face possible retaliation. As for the Empire's attitude, they already knew: after the battle, the Empire had not sent any practitioners to arrest them. Clearly, the Military Department had detected the battle's magical fluctuations but chose to ignore them.

Whether the Violet Family had any Twelfth-Order practitioners was unknown to Shaoke and the others, as they had not encountered any during the fight. They decided not to worry about it for now; as long as they stayed cautious, it shouldn't be a problem.

The deciphering work, involving over a dozen mages, lasted nearly ten days before it was completed. The greatest contributor was not one of the Ninth-Tier mages but the Blue-robed Mage, who specialized in warding. After all, the books were filled with numerous wards and magical traps. In the end, they achieved great results.

Some books from the hidden chambers contained detailed notes on precautions to take when advancing to Ninth Tier. Most importantly, they obtained several methods for advancing to the Ninth and Tenth Tiers, though they did not find methods for Eleventh Tier. Even so, Shaoke and the others cheered with joy. This battle had achieved its goal.

Copies of these advancement methods were made for everyone. After exchanging contact information, they left separately, each seeking a remote place to prepare for their advancement. Before leaving, the Blue-robed Mage had a private conversation with Shaoke.

"Mage Xueye, we have succeeded this time. I hope that in the future, when there are matters requiring our cooperation, I can still count on your help." She looked at him steadily, wanting his assistance for some matters after she advanced to Ninth-Tier. Of course, this would not be needed for a long time; now she was just reminding him to be prepared.

Shaoke thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "As you wish. I believe we will still need to cooperate on some matters in the future, as acting alone will still be quite difficult." With that, he bowed to the Blue-robed Mage, and they parted. Shaoke returned to the massive mage tower to meet with Mage Roman and the others.

"Everything is fine," Mage Roman hugged Shaoke tightly. Over the past decade, she had rarely seen him, as she had been busy with magical experiments while he was occupied with deciphering work. Now that things had improved, she felt they would have a long time to spend together. The White-robed Cleric was also delighted, as she too wanted to spend more time with Shaoke rather than seeing him only once every few months.

Setting aside all work, the three indulged in passionate intimacy in the bedroom. Perhaps due to the long separation or a strong desire for a child, Mage Roman repeatedly entangled with Shaoke, writhing and seeking to be conquered. After several rounds, the White-robed Cleric had no energy left, so she lay lazily, watching the two engage in various positions, eventually taking over from the exhausted one to satisfy the other.

In the following days, Mage Roman and the others' experiments entered a relaxed phase, and they spent almost every day together. However, they did not always engage in intimate acts; instead, they spent considerable time studying magical knowledge, understanding that such matters were secondary to their foundation.

One day, Shaoke was studying the books from the Violet Family while the White-robed Cleric lay lazily on him, reading her golden book. The reading was silent, but countless golden characters emerged from her mouth and landed on the book. As time passed, the golden book slowly turned, stopping only when the Cleric finished reading.

A soft knock at the door interrupted their studies. At Shaoke's signal, the White-robed Cleric sat up, opened the door, and welcomed the guest, who turned out to be Lan Wei'er, whom they had not seen for a long time.

Seeing Shaoke and the White-robed Cleric in such an intimate state, Lan Wei'er pouted in dissatisfaction. Finally, she took a letter from her bosom and handed it to Shaoke. "Father, this is a letter from the imperial capital." She added, "It's from the powerful Orpheus Family in the capital." She then sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, but under Shaoke's gaze, she obediently moved to the chair opposite.

After carefully checking the letter for any hazards, Shaoke read it. The content was simple: the aristocratic mage from the Orpheus Family whom he had once met was getting married and hoped Shaoke would attend the ceremony. The letter was signed Rona Orpheus.

After reading, Shaoke frowned deeply. He wondered why the other party would invite him at such a time, given that he had once participated in actions against the Orpheus Family, even if only for profit. Going now felt very awkward. Finally, he instructed Lan Wei'er to prepare ink and paper, then quickly wrote a reply.

The gist was that he was currently busy and would likely be unable to attend the wedding, hoping the other party would understand. Of course, he did not mention what exactly he was busy with.