1st District, 85th Block, Rapid Wood Tower.
It had been over a month since Ivan had taken over the new sorcerer tower. This particular morning, the fifth floor’s doorway of the sorcerer tower swung wide open, and a beautifully crafted airship slowly emerged, pausing beside the tower.
“Boss, it’s not fair, I wanted to witness the maiden voyage of the Lanque too,” a figure stood by the slowly closing door, his voice full of grievance. It was none other than Locke.
“You’re seeing it now,” Ivan said indifferently.
“No, not like this, I also want to go to Tidal Island, to visit the far-off homeland. Take me with you,” Locke pleaded.
“Don’t you have tasks to complete?”
“I’ll handle them when I return, there’s no rush, right?”
“Hopeless.”
“Heh heh, boss, does that mean you agree?”
Seeing Locke’s pitiful look, Ivan waved his hand in annoyance and agreed to his request to return together to Tidal Island—it was not a big deal anyway.
Originally, after thoughtful consideration, Ivan had sent a reply to Hotter, the President, choosing to deal with the Spiritual Body issue.
Locke had an identity—a great grinder—and possessed a fantastic item, a bracelet that could subdue Spiritual Bodies. It could offer power feedback upon clearing Spiritual Bodies, and he was capable of disguising himself as a Spiritual Body.
Additionally, the problem with the Spiritual Bodies had been prioritized by President Hotter.
Under the influence of these factors, Ivan finally chose the Spiritual Body issue for further investigation and study.
After that decision, he had Locke stay in East Capital to conduct preliminary investigations and gather materials from various sources to facilitate the handling of these matters upon his return.
Locke had initially agreed readily, but suddenly changed his mind after a few days.
Fortunately, there was no urgent need to address the issue at the moment. Considering Locke’s previous merits, Ivan did not refuse his earnest request and allowed him to return with him for a visit.
As a result, only the Silkworm Queen and the Rapid Wood Silkworm clan remained to guard the Rapid Wood Tower.
After leaving the Rapid Wood Tower, the Lanque glided slowly towards the outskirts of East Capital.
“Ah, standing here enjoying the view is wonderful—standing high and seeing far, it’s really great, truly marvelous.”
“Stop showing off, come back inside.”
Ivan, annoyed by Locke’s constant babbling, shooed him back inside the cabin while he himself remained on deck, where he felt none of the slight restrains that the earth-heaven array would usually impose.
Interestingly, not only did the Lanque have flying privileges, but he himself had also become a privileged individual like Angus, freely flying high in the sky, a badge of honor as a distinguished scholar of East Capital.
He had been inquiring carefully of late; being a distinguished scholar was indeed a rare appointment, hardly one emerging every few decades.
The last appointment of a distinguished scholar in East Capital dated back sixty-six years.
Above distinguished scholars were the Great Sages, even rarer, appointed only by the sorcerer world’s highest institution—the Botta Supreme Council, and only by Level 4 Sorcerers.
He had also found information about the arcane scrolls.
Arcane scrolls were Level 4 magic scrolls, typically crafted for use by Level 3 Sorcerers.
Enjoy new adventures from My Virtual Library Empire
Such scrolls generally came in two types: one was a general-use magic scroll, which consumed a significant amount, draining a Level 3 Sorcerer of most of their spiritual power and Mana within a few seconds, often not very practical.
The other was a blood rune scroll, a custom-made magic scroll requiring the blood of a Level 4 Sorcerer during production.
Generally, blood rune scrolls were crafted by elder family members as gifts for beloved descendants to use for life-saving purposes, inactive in anyone else’s hands.
Since they were personalized, they only needed a branding to activate, and could even automatically activate in critical moments.
Unquestionably, blood rune scrolls were not easily crafted, with the difficulty lying in Level 4 Sorcerers being significant figures, willing to spend time and energy for others.
Ivan himself was in a fortunate case; he received one part from President Hardi and one from Philomena City Lord, combining to shield against two Level 4-level assaults.
After learning the details, he felt the pressure on him became even greater; he could not let down those who valued him.
“Marichadon scholar, may your journey be pleasant.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Not long into the voyage, the Lanque arrived at the gates of East Capital’s gate tower, which was different from the one used by pedestrians and horse carriages.
After a brief verification of identity, Ivan, under the reverent gaze of the guards, directed the Lanque to leave East Capital and fly towards the Blood Plains further east.
The airship traveled both swiftly and steadily, unlike the rough experience of riding a swamp ant.
As a high-end small airship, the Lanque’s speed was among the best of airships, obviously surpassing the Belizi family’s Ice Chimera by a considerable margin.
High-end airships naturally have high-end configurations.
One such feature was the small energy particle pool, which could automatically absorb and store Earth-type and Water-type element energy.
Another was the combined runes sorcery array, which integrated effects of levitation, acceleration, protection, camouflage, and deterrence, making the voyage resemble that of a terrifyingly powerful large bird.
There were also stored spells in the control crystal ball.
This aspect was somewhat similar to a sorcerer tower; the Lanque could store a spell template, but it was limited to ten uses and could not be adjusted or changed.
Over time, the power of the stored spells had become quite impressive.
…
Moon Pincer Peninsula, Gangster Rift Valley.
The Ancient Tree Ridge Academy was, as always, situated in a corner of the Great Rift Valley, resembling a stable mountain entrenched there.
However, this was merely superficial.
Deep beneath the ground where the academy was located, outside a certain pass, a group of uninvited guests who called themselves ‘dark elves’ had forcefully broken in with brutish attitudes and ferocious strength, shattering the recently repaired pass.
This had frightened the wizards of the Ancient Tree Ridge Academy, who had no choice but to quickly retreat to the surface, taking advantage of the remaining protective layers to gather their elite forces and convene an emergency meeting.
“What should we do? The enemy’s strength surpasses ours by a class, should we temporarily abandon the campus and seek help from other academy wizards in the Highland Alliance?”
“Our relationship with other academies is just so-so; it’s already decent if those wizards don’t kick us while we’re down.”
“Where on earth did these women come from? Their strength is too bizarre and terrifying.”
“Where else could it be but from that underground world? When we decided to explore below, we had anticipated encountering such a dilemma. This is just our prediction coming true.”
“This moment, several deans looked rather distressed, whether it was the aged Adolf or the middle-aged stable Lai Te.”
Undoubtedly, the Ancient Tree Ridge had faced the greatest crisis since its founding, a crisis originating from underground.
“Who’s there? Step forward,” Adolf suddenly shouted towards a corner.
“I am Kolebas, High Priest of the Dark Elves, greetings to all wizards,” unexpectedly, from that seemingly empty corner, emerged an old woman holding a staff.
“You are also among those women, we at Ancient Tree Ridge have done you no harm, what exactly do you want?” In an instant, a group of wizards encircled her in the corner, prompting Lai Te to question her.
“Nothing much, just wanted to borrow a way and ask a question,” Kolebas, as the High Priest of the Dark Elves, was used to grand appearances and appeared calm and composed. “Please, do you recognize this person?”
She manifested an exceptionally handsome face.
Seeing this familiar face, Lai Te and Adolf looked at each other, recognizing her as the woman who had been with elder Marichadon that day.
“Hehe, it seems you do know her. Please, I must know who she is and where she is now,” Kolebas observed this scene, her aged face breaking into a smile.
“I can tell you, however—”
Thinking of the stolen Pan Iron Root and their current situation, Lai Te didn’t hesitate much.