Badge in Azure

The darkness completely engulfed the princess’ castle. Outside the window, the mist was thick as the clouds veiled the stars. It was going to rain.

Nailisi did not lie on the bed. Instead, she paced about the room anxiously. As she sensed that the presence of lightning was in the clouds, she had an urge to charge into the skies.

She could not, and did not dare to, however.

The skill called the Lightning Guardian released too small a current. In comparison to the lightning in the skies, it was like a firefly in the face of the sun. The bloodline of Luoluokaluo was finite, it could not devour and convert all kinds of powers. The power of thunder contained the majesty of the plane, and even the gods would fear it.

Saleen could not rest either, he had conjured the notion of killing Bifano. This was the first time he wanted to kill someone. It was not because this person was trying to harm him, but because this person might adversely affect his future.

Whenever Saleen killed someone in the past, it was mostly out of desperation or vengeance. It was different this time around. Profit was the motivation this time.

Finally, a torrential rain ensued. It was as though Saleen had returned to Ceylon City, a ruined city. When he was still a beggar, he always had to trudge forward in the rain. Back then, all he wanted was a mouth of rice.

“Nailisi.”

“Master?”

“Come over, and chat with me.” At the moment, Saleen was getting increasingly fatigued. It seemed as if he had veered off the path of magic, no longer pursuing the truth of this world. So tired…

A flash of lightning slashed through the darkness. Nailisi turned around, her face draped in green. Following that was a thunderous boom. The colored glass windows gave off a few bursts of crackles, it was really misleading.

The room lit up for a moment, before sinking into darkness once again. Nailisi could sense Saleen’s emotions. This time around, she did not try agitate him. She simply went to his bedside quietly and sat down.

“Master, what do you wish to say?”

“Tell me, if I become the most powerful person on this plane, will all my troubles disappear?”

“I don’t know, but I will help Master fulfill this ambition.” Nailisi lowered her head, using her hands to adjust her long hair hanging down.

“Why do you not speak the truth anymore? Nailisi, you are still craving for freedom, right?” Saleen was in low spirits, he was subconsciously transforming himself.

“I crave freedom, but I also can’t bear to leave you Master,” Nailisi replied gently, totally unlike a demon.

“I should actually be overjoyed hearing you say that…”

“Master, I have read a poem written by a human in the past. Every youth will eventually die. That’s why you are behaving like this, right?”

“Nailisi, don’t you miss your childhood?”

“Not at all. My childhood was filled with painful memories, I can’t recall any happy days ever.”

“Same here, but I am still very depressed because… I can never return to that phase.” Saleen buried his face in the pillow, his both eyes were dry, there were no tears.

“Master, do you adore Sister Sika more, or Lex more?” Nailisi asked an unrelated question out of the blue.

Saleen began contemplating this question carefully. It would be a lie to say that he was not fond of Lex. The both of them had experienced immense suffering after all and Lex herself was an extremely outstanding lady.

In the days where Lex and Sika were gone, he thought of Sika most of the time, however. Other than meditating, his memories consisted of the days spent with Sika.

Back then, he was a mere grade-1 mage, traveling the mountains with Sika. After nightfall, they would snuggle in a cave, but still feel cold. Grade-1 mages guarded their magic chords fiercely. As a result, all the prey had been hunted by Sika. Saleen relied on Sika to leave the mountainous region. Sika still said that he performed outstandingly, however.

Since there was such a Caucasus person, Saleen had to have her. Saleen did not mind spending a fortune on acquiring high level leather armor for Sika, and helping her to form a team.

As Saleen was still basking in his memories, Nailisi whispered, “Master, I finally understand. Do you want to hear my suggestion?”

“Say it.”

“If Lex objects the way Sister Sika treats you, then don’t be with her. Even if she can give you the things you desire.”

“What do you mean?”

“If Sister Sika wants to have children with you, then go ahead. You don’t have to care about what other people might think regarding such matters. You can still marry Lex. After marrying her, you won’t have to be vexed over many issues anymore.”

“Nailisi, I will not do such a thing!” Saleen suddenly spoke in a determined voice. He sat up on the bed, and in the darkness, he said, “I will choose my own life.”

As the violent rain pelted down on the windows, Saleen felt more collected. His motivation to kill Bifano did not form just because he was fond of Lex.

“Master, I am smart right?” Nailisi smiled smugly. She could keenly detect the concerns in the depths of Saleen’s mind. If she did not lay it out in plain sight, Saleen might never know what he was being frustrated about.

Saleen was also jubilant. This was the first time he felt that having a demon was pretty good. Even though the demon created trouble for him, its intelligence could help him solve many vexing issues.

Opposite this building was a house with four stories. On the highest story of this house, a candle remained lit.

Bifano’s room was humongous. Behind a colossal table, Bifano was managing some official documents. His method of management was to toss stack after stack of documents into a magic array, shredding them.

Seated across the table was a mage clad in a gray robe. There were three magic markings on the chest of this mage.

“Bifano, why are you in such a hurry?” The mage’s voice was quiet yet pronounced.

“Teacher, I can feel the symptoms of the appearance of the magic chords. I have to attain that person’s legacy. I will otherwise die when the Sword Aura and the magic chords clash.”

Bifano’s words were as astounding as the thunder, he actually wanted to produce the magic chords. He was a person who had reached the standard of a grand swordmaster, while his teacher was a mage.

The gray-robed mage sighed, “Aye, Bifano, I have brought harm to you.”

“Teacher, this is my choice. Since someone has succeeded in the past, then I can do it too.” Bifano handled his documents calmly, his hands being unusually steady.

“Can you feel how much longer it will take?”

“At most six months. Even if I stop training, the magic chords will also take shape.”

“Lex is not a person to be trifled with…”

“I know, I don’t plan to kill her. It doesn’t matter even if she learns of this secret.”

“You also cannot trifle with the mage who came with her.”

“Why not?” Bifano stopped fiddling with his documents and looked at his teacher in bewilderment.

“This person has hints of the Alchemy City, and several other soul imprints which I cannot identify. The secrets he has will not be any less than yours. If you cannot kill such a person instantaneously, then you shouldn’t touch him at all.”

“But…”

“No buts. If you regard me as your teacher, then dismiss the original plan,” the gray-robed mage said worriedly. He could notice many astonishing things on Saleen’s body. If he did not have the legacy of an astronomer, he would not have discovered those things.

Saleen’s destiny was even more contorted than Lex’s was. To anyone who had the abilities of an astronomer, Saleen was akin to a catastrophe. They could not predict it, much less direct it.

Bifano lowered his eyelids and went back to settling his documents. He did not really give a hoot about that mage’s words. “So what if it’s the Alchemy City. As long as I can attain that person’s legacy, I won’t have to be concerned about anyone else.”

Currently, the issue of utmost importance was conquering the Pink Army’s secret base within half a year. Back then, that person came out from that place.

“The Goddess of Myers’ temple. Heh heh, it seemed like no one knew that so much fortune was hidden in every temple.”

By possessing magic and martial arts at the same time, it was equivalent to destroying the rules of the plane. Only the gods on this plane could creature such a mighty skill.

“That Saleen cannot stay. Since he actually has the key to open the temple, he must know the location of at least one of the temples. Once I obtain both abilities, I will force him to reveal it. As for Lex? She must have secrets which are related to the temple as well. Lex cannot come to harm at the moment. Once I seize control of more than two temples, I won’t have to worry about the Holy Rock City anymore.”

In Lex’s room, two female mages were accompanying Lex. The torrential rain was getting increasingly intense, as continuous streams of thunder boomed. Unless a mage was in a magical tower, they would not meditate in such weather. The thunderclap would disrupt all proceedings.

At the moment, Lex was practicing a kind of weird skill. She spit out a ray of golden light, which lingered in the room. The two female mages kept casting low grade spells and the Magic Shield. All elemental magic disappeared wherever the golden light went past. It was just like the Elemental Annihilation, but there were zero energy vibrations.

It was only when the two female mages had exhausted a large part of their magic chords did Lex stop, swallowing the golden light. When that ray of golden light entered her mouth, it ejected from her nose before being absorbed once again. This action repeated several times before the light got subdued by Lex.

The two female mages were jubilant, then said, “Viscountess, is it successful?”

“Still a long way to go.” Lex inhaled deeply. Her family’s secret arts had finally solidified, they now had real battle capabilities. This power was still measly compared to her father’s though. If it was used against a sorcerer, it could only rely on the element of surprise. Nevertheless, a swordsman would pose a lesser threat to her now. Even a grand swordmaster would not be able to resist her golden ray assault.

After several years, Lex was disappointed meeting Bifano once again. All she saw on Bifano was greed, ruthlessness, and hypocrisy. In a span of just a few years, Bifano had transformed into a different person. Lex still had to cooperate with Bifano. She had to accomplish her objective on this trip.

That was why Lex was so depressed. Furthermore, she did not have an avenue to let it out, so she could only remain in her room and practice the secret arts. Unexpectedly, she had achieved a breakthrough in the secret arts that evening, finally stabilizing them at the standard of grade-6.

“It is really impressive. Our Magic Shields couldn’t even defend against such an attack.”

“That’s because they were low level spells. If the Magic Shield was at level-7, then I wouldn’t be able to break it, unless the enemy was using a scroll.”

“Don’t we have other methods to deal with sorcerers?”

“Don’t spout nonsense, the walls have ears.” Lex spoke strictly. It was better to remain vigilant in this castle. This castle was built by the Cloudflow Empire, there might be some secrets to it.