Chapter 386 Some Underlying Issues

The mage spent the entire day conducting his experiments, and he often took time to let Mage Roman rest, because Mage Roman was about to give birth, and Shaoke had to spend time with her. Meanwhile, the Cleric was busy teaching the young children various subjects for the future construction of the family.

This day was the critical moment of the experiment. The four-meter-tall stone statue stood silently in the basement, and Shaoke had already prepared enough magic materials to complete the final step. As he chanted the spell, complex magic array structures were slowly imprinted onto the stone statue. Shaoke continued this work for nearly a day before resting briefly. By then, the stone statue had shrunk to about three meters in height, with occasional Arcane Fire flying out and burning the floor. Fortunately, the floor was carved with numerous defensive magic arrays and remained undamaged.

After a short rest, Shaoke released his mental power, which condensed into silver-white threads that looked quite beautiful. These mental threads quickly merged into the stone statue, and then, following a special method, the mage made some settings in the statue's chest and head. Once this work was completed, Shaoke suddenly released his new spellbook.

The flower-shaped spellbook slowly expanded under the mage's control, then opened, releasing countless white soul fragments into the stone statue. As these soul fragments entered the statue, it seemed to come to life. Its eyes opened, emitting two beams of crimson light that focused on Shaoke. Shaoke then quickly chanted the spell. After nearly half a magic hour, a milky-white light flew out from his meditation space—this was the mage's own soul fragment. Now, he needed to place this soul fragment into the stone statue as the main controller.

Fortunately, the previous work had gone smoothly, and his soul fragment successfully entered the statue. When this was done, Shaoke briefly inspected the statue's condition, then removed his clothes and sat in an elemental pool to meditate and rest. The black stone statue walked over to stand silently beside Shaoke, closing its eyes without moving.

Losing a portion of his soul caused severe damage to the mage. His entire meditation space shrunk by a third. Fortunately, the space was sturdy enough, and the mage used ancient techniques to separate his soul, so the meditation space did not collapse. Nevertheless, many cracks appeared in it. After a short rest, Shaoke went to find the White-robed Cleric to heal him. It took nearly half a year for his meditation space to fully recover, mainly because the altar was also severely damaged during the soul split.

As soon as the mage recovered, Mage Roman gave birth to a baby girl. As the mages had detected, the infant was a female with the bloodline of the Roman Family. Although Mage Roman had anticipated this result, she couldn't help feeling sad. She knew she could never bear a child with her man's bloodline. However, Shaoke did not care about this. He and the Cleric tried every way to comfort Mage Roman, which made the female mage feel somewhat better.

"Moyu'er, Moyuman," Shaoke said affirmatively to Mage Roman, then took out a pitch-black crystal pendant to hang around his first child's neck. The pendant contained the stone statue puppet he had just created not long ago. This puppet statue would automatically emerge to protect its master when danger arose. Its power was formidable; according to the mage's experiments, an ordinary Nine-rank Professional could not kill it, but would instead be killed by it.

For his first child, Shaoke expended great effort. He used extremely precious medicines daily to bathe and feed the infant girl. Additionally, he collaborated with Mage Roman and the Cleric using arcane secrets to permanently carve a magic array onto the infant girl's body—the spell of Spell Disruption. Shaoke believed that this permanent spell would grant the girl a high degree of safety in the future.

However, carving this magic array severely injured Shaoke, who had just begun to recover. His meditation space, which had only begun to heal, shrank significantly again, nearly returning to the size it was when he had just advanced to Ninth Rank. This was because he used arcane secrets for the carving; otherwise, the carver would drop a rank. Mage Roman was very pleased with Shaoke's actions.

Of course, as the child of the most powerful Ninth-order beings in the Wanderers Alliance of the Blue Feather Empire, the infant received blessings from Ninth-order professionals shortly after birth. Following the ancient incantations passed down for countless ages, the Ninth-order beings blessed the child. Although each blessing slightly reduced their meditation spaces, Shaoke was glad to see their willingness.

Some blessed Moyu'er with beauty and youth, others blessed her with safety and peace. While these blessings might not necessarily come true, the energy expended during the blessings would protect the young child until it faded away over time. It was said that the blessings of Legendary Masters could linger on a child for tens of thousands of years. The blessings from Shaoke and his companions would only last a few thousand years. Even so, the mage gratefully thanked them and hosted a simple banquet in his mage tower as a token of appreciation.

Notably, the blessing from the Blue-robed Female Mage pleased Mage Roman the most. She blessed: "I bless this infant girl: Moyu'er Man will find her happiness in the future. The love of a man will not make her weep, and the jealousy of women will cause her no harm. No one will betray her, and no one will hurt her, until she leaves this continent."

Shaoke was most attentive to his child's upbringing. Playing with the baby, he abandoned most of his cultivation time to take her around for fun. Of course, necessary education was not neglected. He often sat with Mage Roman, holding the baby, teaching her simple symbols and trying to make the little girl learn them. Following the White-robed Cleric's advice, he also spent time each day placing Moyu'er among the adopted infants to let her spend time with ordinary children.

Since having the child, Mage Roman had almost given up all cultivation. After completing necessary lessons, she busied herself around the baby, either watching her crawl on the floor or watching her play with other infants—all of which made her feel happy. The Cleric, on the other hand, rarely had time to look after the baby because, with the help of large amounts of top-grade medicines, she was on the verge of advancement. If nothing unexpected happened, she would advance to Eighth-order Practitioners along with Lan Wei'er. Shaoke also spent a lot of time with them.

"Xueye, just now Moyu'er could say a simple common word," Mage Roman said as she temporarily shifted her attention from the child when Shaoke arrived. "I plan to wait a while before teaching her some simple modern magical language." She then turned her gaze back to the child playing in a mud pit with other children. She didn't mind her daughter getting dirty now, as she wouldn't have such opportunities when older.

"Wait a few more years. Moyu'er is not yet able to withstand the magic power of magic script," said Shaoke as he watched his first child from afar. He noticed that Moyu'er had stopped playing and was crawling toward him, with several other older infant girls following her.

"Absolutely possible," said Mage Roman, taking Shaoke's arm. "Moyu'er's talent is even higher than Lan Wei'er's. I'll start teaching her in a while." As she said this, baby Moyu'er arrived with the other children, tightly grasping the hem of Shaoke's mage robe, her silver-white eyes fixed on him. Fortunately, the mage's powerful mental power had already shielded the magic damage on his robe, so the baby was unharmed.

Perhaps because she had been ignored by her father for too long, or because she couldn't see his face after looking up for a long time, the baby pouted, as if about to cry. Shaoke quickly picked her up and used magic to clean her. The baby girl then laughed happily, her small hands grabbing at Shaoke's face.

"She will definitely become a great Spellcaster," Shaoke said, kissing his daughter's cheek before setting her down. Having received her father's comfort, the baby began crawling around on the ground again, playing with grass and twigs.

"Lan Wei'er said the same thing when she was young," said Mage Roman, looking at Shaoke with slight dissatisfaction, then suddenly laughed. "From now on, Moyu'er's education is your responsibility. If she doesn't become a great spellcaster in the end, I will never forgive you." She then walked a few steps forward to see her daughter more clearly. Shaoke remained standing, nodded, and then turned back into the mage tower.

Continuous consumption forced the mage to spend a lot of time repairing his damaged meditation space. With the White-robed Cleric preparing for advancement, his progress was very slow without her help. But Shaoke didn't mind; time was what he lacked the least.

One day, after absorbing some memories from Divine Avatars and planning to go outside, the Blue-robed Female Mage suddenly sent him a message: "Mage Xueye, come to the meeting room. There's something we need to discuss." After that, she closed the communication. Shaoke organized his belongings and went.

In the upper layer of the mage tower, all twelve Ninth-order beings had gathered. The Blue-robed Female Mage sat in the center with a grim expression, while the others sat quietly. When Shaoke arrived, the Blue-robed Female Mage said, "Everyone, the military and some families of the Blue Feather Empire have sent people here, intending to establish a garrison. Do you think this is permissible?"

"Cannot be permitted," said Shaoke first. "According to the rules we set when the alliance was founded, no nobles are allowed here. When we fought with the Mage Guild here years ago, they didn't come to help. Now that everything is stable, they want to set up a garrison here—it's impossible." He added, twirling his staff, "I suggest we drive them away immediately and not allow them to establish a permanent garrison."

The Blue-robed Female Mage did not speak, but a female warrior frowned and rebutted Shaoke. "Mage Xueye, you should know that the rules we made did not restrict our own country's military from stationing here. Besides, the nobles from the families won't stay long—they will leave after establishing a post here." She continued, "Other empires have accepted their own people; we should too."

"The duration of residence here is ten years," said Mage Meigan with a frown. "After ten years, all personnel must be replaced. I welcome them to do business here, but I don't like them treating this as their base." He added, "If there are any people from the Orpheus Family, I will never allow them here."

The Blue-robed Female Mage looked at Shaoke's displeased expression and persuaded him, "These families and the empire just want to establish a trading post here, not a military garrison." She repeated that when the rules were established, such posts were not explicitly prohibited.

A heated debate ensued. In the end, Shaoke compromised, as he was the only one opposing the military and others from setting up here. However, he proposed several conditions, which the rest of the Ninth-order beings accepted. These conditions addressed Shaoke's concerns:

1. No long-term stationing of military or family personnel.

2. No professional practitioners from major families are allowed to stay.

3. All personnel must be recruited from local residents.

4. No recruitment of talented children.

After laying down these rules, Shaoke immediately left, having no further interest in the subsequent discussions. Of course, the Orpheus Family was also forbidden.

Leaving the meeting on the upper floor of the mage tower, Shaoke did not return to his residence but aimlessly wandered the streets. The city was well-planned, thanks to the scholars. There weren't many merchants, but it looked prosperous. After walking for a day, the mage returned to his residence. It had been a long time since he had walked among ordinary people, and he felt he could no longer integrate into their lives.

As Mage Roman had said, Moyu'er's education fell entirely on Shaoke. With the help of Mage Roman, he spent a great deal of time teaching his daughter language. For some reason, Moyu'er felt a natural closeness to Shaoke, sometimes arousing jealousy in her mother. Shaoke felt that Moyu'er's mental power was very strong, and she had a great talent for learning languages—she could often learn pronunciations in one try, which made him feel a bit relaxed.

Days passed slowly. Soon, Moyu'er was one year old and could run quickly. After learning to run, she clung to Shaoke even more. Often, when the mage was reading books, she would climb onto his lap and stare at the books, imitating him. Of course, the mage always put her aside because she couldn't read those books yet.

"Father, I want to read," Moyu'er would say pitifully every time, but Shaoke always refused. This would make Moyu'er tearfully go to her mother and cry. No one minded this—it was just a child's curiosity and fragility.

One day, while Shaoke was teaching Moyu'er modern magical language, he suddenly sensed powerful fluctuations coming from outside the settlement. These fluctuations carried strong hostility, prompting him to immediately stop teaching. He instructed Mage Roman to take care of the child and then tore space to leave instantly, not noticing his daughter's surprised expression.

The hostile fluctuations came from a place far from the settlement. When Shaoke arrived, he found over a dozen Eighth Tier Mages emitting powerful mental energy and magic to detect something. The symbols on these people were recognizable—they were from the Hebrews Wanderers Alliance.

"What are you doing?" Shaoke looked at them, displeased by the hostile detection. "I don't think you should show hostility here—it might cause misunderstandings."

"Respected Mage," one Eighth Tier Mage, noticing the black crown on Shaoke's head, quickly bowed and said nervously, "We have obtained permission from your organization. A Descender has descended in this area." He quickly handed over their identification documents and then stood nervously, waiting for the mage's response.

Shaoke inspected the scroll and threw it back to them. At that moment, the Blue-robed Female Mage and the other available Ninth-order beings arrived with nearly a hundred Eighth Tier mages. They hadn't seen each other for about half a year; the Blue-robed Female Mage looked somewhat haggard. She nodded to Shaoke and then asked the mage for details.

"Mage Xueye, if you have time, could you help us detect the Descender?" She looked at him hopefully. This was their first meeting in half a year since the dispute over the Blue Feather Empire's garrison.

"Of course," Shaoke nodded. Then the hundred Eighth-order professionals dispersed in the air to search, focusing mainly on the roads, as they were crowded and hard to distinguish. Shaoke and the Blue-robed Female Mage flew slowly together.

Finally, the Blue-robed Female Mage broke the silence: "Descenders have been appearing more frequently recently. Without the detection from the Hebrews, we would have known nothing about them."

"Our previous conflicts were too intense; otherwise, these Descenders wouldn't have come here," Shaoke replied calmly. Just then, a huge teleportation array appeared in the air, from which emerged hundreds of Eighth-order professionals, including a few Ninth-order beings. The Blue-robed Female Mage looked uneasy upon seeing them, took out a magical communication device to say a few words, and then welcomed them. Shaoke and the other Ninth-order beings accompanied her, as she was now the ruler of their alliance.

After some conversation, they learned that these people were from neighboring settlements, having received news from the Hebrews and come to help find the Descender. As they were talking mid-air, a distant Eighth-tier mage sent a message that he had found the Descender.

Hundreds of people capable of flight hovered in the air, causing great panic among merchants and pedestrians below. They bowed deeply, performing the most solemn ritual. The Eighth-order professional pointed to a corpse in front of a mercenary and said, "He should be the outsider. The strange fluctuations on him haven't dissipated. According to witnesses, his language was odd—not our common tongue. He came from the wilderness over there," pointing to an area outside the road.

That area was still barren. Since mages hadn't had much time to purify it, they only used special plants to clean up residual magic fluctuations. It seemed desolate; Shaoke estimated it would take another hundred years for the violent fluctuations to completely disappear.

The Descender wore strange clothing made of unknown material that emitted peculiar fluctuations, and he had a silver-white horn on his head, looking bizarre. After confirming that he had died from trauma, the group destroyed his body and all belongings, and spent some time searching for his unspent soul, burning it with magic fire.

"Perhaps he was a powerful being from another plane who unfortunately landed here," a Space Mage sighed. They had found that his soul was quite strong and had tried to communicate with them using soul waves, but to no avail. Such Descenders had to be utterly destroyed; even if they brought messages, the Ninth-order beings would not bother to listen—they had no capacity to meddle in other planes' affairs. -- Updated tomorrow around noon