Badge in Azure

Saleen chuckled. “Sika, I’m not playing you. Go ask Teacher to craft you some weapon suitable for long-range use. You’re not fit for adventuring.”

Sika let Saleen go. Both of their children had fallen asleep, and she pushed Saleen to the ground.

Saleen startled. “Sika!”

Sika gagged Saleen and whispered in his ear, “wake the kids, and I’ll make mincemeat out of you.”

Sika’s breath riled Saleen’s libido up. Having fought so often lately, he was feeling stress piling up inside him. Saleen had almost forgotten that for a while. Sika’s sudden invitation for playtime caught Saleen by surprise.

Sika used some unknown techniques and had the hard floor grow soft green grass. They played hard and naughty with each other before Sika turned and fell asleep.

Saleen sat up and put on the Starline Armament, heading for the seat he had been using for meditation and searched his memories for secrets regarding earth magic.

Jalin’s knowledge about earth magic was vast and had formed its own unique system. There were some standards of measurements laid down by Arbola, determining where her earth magic would head when reaching high levels.

Saleen did not search specifically for the skills that enabled her to move in such a way. He observed and pondered the principles and rules of earth magic instead.

He only looked into Jalin’s mystical movement abilities after feeling that he had learned enough about the unique traits of earth magic.

The earth was a star. All weight originated from the effects of gravity of stars.

The power of earth still remained in the void. It was hidden and undetectable.

A theory regarding astrology came to mind when Saleen searched that particular part of the memories. From the perspectives of astrologers, Myers Mainland was a large star. The power of the earth coined by mages was also a type of power of the stars.

The power used by astrologers was usually derived from stars existing in astronomical numbers in the void, which included the land beneath their feet. Furthermore, they used the land as a center point and laid out a huge network of stars, deriving the power of countless stars using that network.

Battles of astrologers were fought by absorbing the power of stars into a Star Gathering Needle, which boosted their combat capacity. If they did not have a needle with them, astrologers would use the power of the earth instead.

Saleen felt vigorous and conjured a series of earth magic within his mind, using spirit type magic. The conjured magic included structuring and sequencing of the elements and so on.

He researched until dawn and was finally able to master some of the frequencies of the earth element.

In Saleen’s case, it was impossible for him to learn Jalin’s skills right then. He was only able to mimic them, solidifying his water element and synchronizing the elemental vibrations of water with the earth element. Even so, the earth magic that he mimicked was ice.

The knowledge that Saleen was able to get in touch more with the knowledge regarding the power of stars. The flying problem that Jalin was unable to get around was nonexistent for Saleen.

There was the power of stars everywhere in the sky, especially the upper atmosphere of the mainland where the air was thin. The higher he went, the more ample the power of stars was.

Saleen did not mimic Jalin’s magic. He researched his own, adjusting the sequencing of the elements again and again.

No one else was capable of such a feat. It was a coincidence that Saleen’s understanding of the power of stars was at level nine, which was about the same as his knowledge of magic.

Saleen’s pondering had him working for an entire day and night. Emissaries from Holy Rock City and Alchemy City arrived in Daliang City. They went to Lex’s palace to discuss how to deal with the Holy See.

Holy Rock City and Alchemy City had never sat down to discuss what to do with their enemies for the past hundreds of years.

When Emperor Chanake was ambushed and killed, Alchemy City sent out sorcerers on their own to retaliate against the Holy See. Alchemy City did not communicate with Holy Rock City whatsoever.

Alchemy City sent three emissaries; all of them were level nine sorcerers and at the peak of training. They did not advance suddenly due to rising power levels across the mainland.

Holy Rock City sent a level nine sorcerer, a golden grand swordmaster, and an archer. The depth and vastness of the Grukos was demonstrated. The number of level nine archers was pitifully small, far rarer than level nine sorcerers and golden grand swordmasters.

The one working with Lex had only just advanced to level nine, yet the one sent by Holy Rock City was struggling to keep their powers contained, which made them on par with golden grand swordmasters.

Every step the archer took contained great pressure, and their eyes seemed to be capable of seeing through the people before them.

That archer was so powerful that being gazed at from afar was enough to cause goosebumps

It had nothing to do with the archer being cocky. It was simply due to their powers having reached the limit of that level and on the verge of going out of control. Only by advancing to the next level would they be able to keep their powers in check, looking peaceful and hardly different from normal people.

There were also few level nine sorcerers in Lex’s Daliang City. Stephanie was the most powerful without taking Saleen’s subordinates into account. However, if Lex were to use the secret arts of her family and the God’s Ring, Stephanie might not have been able to match her blow for blow.

Both cities sent the same number of emissaries, which was a gesture of sincerity.

They were not able to afford brushing the threat aside. If they scoffed at Daliang City and the Holy See actually took Daliang City out, they would suffer later.

It was very good news for both cities that Lex had reached out to them by sending magic letters asking for cooperation.

They spent half a day negotiating. The matters discussed earlier were easy to deal with, as both cities agreed to send an ample number of powerful ones and equipment to help with Daliang City’s defense. It was the distribution of the ruins that put them in a deadlock.

Lex insisted on dividing the findings in the ruins in four parts: herself, Saleen, Alchemy City, and Holy Rock City.

Neither Holy Rock City nor Alchemy City was able to comprehend why Lex wanted to divide the findings like that. The Principality of Bitterwater was allied with the Kingdom of Metatrin after all, which meant that getting one share was already considered quite a good deal.

The level nine sorcerer who was the leader of the emissaries of Holy Rock City said to Lex, “Your Highness, while it is true that His Highness Saleen is a king, the total population of both of your nations is less than 50 million. The population of the Qin Empire is near 200 million. You’re an heir of an empire yourself. Surely you understand that Qin cannot be put at the same level as a kingdom.”

The sorcerer was being polite. They thought that if someone became the emperor, they were welcomed to take everything, but Qin was in the prince’s control at the moment.

The people of Alchemy City grew frustrated. The sorcerer thought the population of Alchemy City plus the regions under the city’s control was less than 10 million. If things were to be calculated in such a way, wouldn’t Alchemy City only be getting one-tenth of the share?

“Your Highness, we all know what you and His Highness Saleen are capable of, but as it stands now, the powers of the kingdom and the principality are too scattered. If Daliang City is to be kept safe, you will need a lot of manpower from our side.”

Lex smiled. “Things are indeed as you put it, but Saleen has been helping me with defense all this while. Daliang City would be lost without him. Furthermore, Daliang City has earned Golden Plains’ support…”

The reason why Lex said something that was because she saw Saleen arrive outside the hall. Nailisi was right behind Saleen.

Saleen was able to hear the fuss in the hall from afar. He also knew that Lex was simply buying time, waiting for him to come to wrap things up with a final compromise.

Furthermore, things in that cemetery were deemed inauspicious and share of the loot hardly mattered. You think I’d be happy to get one more share in that curse of the King of Glory?

“Saleen, you’re here,” Lex called out softly. Saleen passed through the hall and stepped onto the platform. Lex’s seat was on top of the platform while the emissaries were seated at the sides.

Saleen nodded in acknowledgment and sat beside Lex. Nailisi stood behind him.

The emissaries of both cities nodded to Saleen. All of them were level nine powerful ones. If Saleen cast away his status as a king, he would stand at the same height as all emissaries present.

“It seems like everyone is rather displeased with the distribution of loot,” Saleen said with a beaming smile.

The sorcerers did not reply, waiting for him to speak his mind instead.

“That is normal. I’ve put in too many resources and too much effort into Daliang City. Manpower too. Even the ruins was something I broke through. If you were in my shoes, surely you would find it irksome too, no?”

Seeing how both sides remained silent, Saleen changed the subject. “There is little point arguing. The area below us is being taken over by the Holy See. If Daliang City is lost, tactically speaking, we’d have lost high ground as well. The Holy See sees taking down Daliang City as an imperative. If Holy Rock City and Alchemy City are willing to provide supplies and help build Daliang City, then I’d be willing to give up my request, taking only one-third of the share with Lex.”

“Just like that?”

The emissaries were rather startled. They were told that Saleen was stubborn and calculative. Yet the conditions offered by Saleen were lofty.

While great expenses had to be made for building a city that was all magical, with Daliang City drawing the attention of the Holy See, they would have a lot to earn by taking down the ruins.

“Of course, Lex’s family name is still Grukos. So there is little difference to how much we’re able to get from the ruins.” Saleen took out a contract.

He put it on the long table. “Here are the comprehensive details regarding the content of the trade. Feel free to have a look. If you find it satisfactory, we will resume our cooperation.”

Some of Lex’s personal guards took the contracts and handed them to the emissaries of Holy Rock City.

None from Alchemy City was displeased. They looked at the emissaries from Holy Rock City curiously. The expressions of the emissaries of Holy Rock City were vivid. The contract had thousands of words on it, and when the scroll was laid out, it was several meters long.

The emissaries from Holy Rock City were level nine sorcerers as well. They were able to quickly read all the words and have the personal guards hand the contract scroll over to the emissaries from Alchemy City.

The emissaries took the contract, and the list of materials to be supplied was enough to render them dizzy.