Badge in Azure

“Mm, another Ring of Gifts. This follower of yours doesn’t have a suitable weapon yet. Before you leave, I will prepare a suitable one for him,” Joey remarked casually. Seeing that Saleen had changed into the devil set, he then took out ten sets of armor and two drawings.

“These are the drawings for the devil armor, and ten sets of finished armor. Using this drawing, you have to craft armor for the swordmasters, you can do it on independently by following the drawing. As for the task you need to complete for me…” Joey paused for a moment, then continued, “It has something to do with Fycro, I will go look for you when the time is ripe.”

When Joey first asked Saleen to do something for him, he had not even thought about it yet. He only said that on a whim to exert pressure on Saleen. Joey could not ignore the fact that Fycro and Saleen had signed a contract, Saleen had to carry out certain tasks. A deed executed by the first oracle had to be pretty horrifying. Not realizing the consequences, Saleen had acceded to Fycro’s demands, but he did not know that this thing might create a catastrophe for Myers mainland.

“Sir Joey, can the Sound Transmission Magic Array be used in this armor?”

“There is a range of ten miles. If in the mountains, the straight-line distance will be shortened to between six and eight miles. Any farther, and the user can only transmit very simple sounds, like magic passwords.”

Even though a distance of ten miles was slightly short, no fixed coordinates were required. To an army, this was pretty good. Usually, an assault undertaken by a normal army and the coordination between the different arms were reliant on experience and training, while message transmission depended on the war drums or flag signals. Only an elite squad would be equipped with the Sound Transmission Magic Array. In most circumstances, only the commanders would use it to communicate information.

“During the third dynasty, the power of humans had begun deteriorating. As a result, many appliances which helped to boost human abilities emerged, and the proliferation of these items peaked during the fourth dynasty. Of course, in those days, a normal human would be around the standard of a swordmaster even without cultivating the Sword Aura. Back then, grade-12 magic beasts were still roaming Myers mainland and the dragon race have not gone extinct yet. The drawings and armor I have given to you are items from that era.”

Saleen listened in silence. Cuisi had stopped moaning softly, as his body gradually shrank and reverted to the appearance of a female human. He appeared extremely frail, but very exhilarated. A bottle of unknown medicine had opened the channels for his advancement. In less than a month, he would be able to evolve into a true supreme demon.

Joey glanced at Cuisi, then handed a piece of magic paper to Saleen, and said, “This is a prescription. This medicine doesn’t possess much risk to a demon. Imps and demonic spirits have a one-third chance of dying immediately, and another one-third chance of having no effect.”

“Would a demon evolve into a supreme demon after drinking it?”

“Impossible, he already possessed the possibility of advancing to a supreme demon, that’s why there was such an effect. For a normal demon, their powers will only be boosted to their peak, but they will not undergo advancement.”

Saleen thought to himself, “This is not bad at all. Nailisi can abduct a large number of creatures from the demonic plane. Demonic spirits at this grade are still a little weak. If she summons imps or demons, she will consume too much strength, so there will be a limit to how many creatures she can summon. With this prescription, Nailisi will be able to summon a large number of demonic spirits, then make them undergo forced advancements. Since Joey adheres strictly to the principle of fair exchange, I have no reason to refuse either.”

Cuisi eased, then immediately prostrated on the ground and kowtowed. He said respectfully, “Thank you so much Sir.”

Joey pretended to hear nothing. He had no emotions towards a supreme demon worshipping him.

“Saleen, in at most a year, Holy Rock City will be able to push the battle back to central Loulan. I heard that Holy Rock City is extremely dissatisfied with you, you better be prepared. I will help you write a letter to ask an earl to defect to you. He can lead troops and is trustworthy. As for Fycro, I will have to wait until you become a sorcerer before thinking of a way to kill him. All these things should be able to equal a godly item right?”

“It should be equal. Even with that godly item in my possession, I don’t dare use it.” Saleen acknowledged Joey’s reasoning. The Seal of Divine Power was an offensive godly item, containing immense power, but it was a hot potato in Saleen’s hands. If this thing got discovered, the Holy See would come after him no matter what. Even Fycro might think of a way to dissolve the contract and kill him first.

It was very fair to exchange a godly item for a bunch of relatively low level equipment and an earl’s loyalty.

“In that case, we have no more transactions between us. Lex asked me to help you, but I don’t have the patience to travel to Metatrin City. Stay here for a week, I will give you guidance on magic. How much you can absorb will depend on your luck.”

Saleen knew that Joey could give him many items, but it would be better to increase his own power first. If Saleen died in an accident, then it would difficult for Joey to trick Fycro.

It was a pretty good option that Joey was willing to coach Saleen for a week. It was no problem for a mage to stay awake for a week. In these six days, Saleen would try his best to absorb magic knowledge so as to pave the way for his advancement to a sorcerer.

In this world, there had to be some loss with every gain. Saleen had planned to take the Seal of Divine Power to the hell of the God’s Punishment and study it. There, he could wield this godly item at will. That could only take place after becoming a sorcerer, where he could examine godly items. After advancement, his top priority would be entering the Six Elements’ Space and becoming a grade-9 sorcerer as soon as possible.

Saleen did not mind losing a godly item, he had already obtained the four withered divine trees and two of their seeds. After becoming a grade-9 sorcerer, he would be able to use the withered trees to produce items which were as sturdy as godly equipment. Following the increase of his powers, these items could be repeatedly refined. Those four withered divine trees were thus Saleen’s most treasured possessions.

“Come over.” Joey pointed at Su. Su stood up, then came before Joey and sat down. Joey observed his armor, then said, “Saleen, so you are the heir to Sregl Island. The Water Flame Alchemy is considered a very powerful skill already.”

Saleen felt astounded. It was really inconceivable that one could tell the remnants of inheritance from a piece of equipment. After the production of every equipment, a universal technique called curing would be applied. Other than being able to identify the level of attributes in a cured equipment, no one could yet determine the type of alchemy skill which had been applied to it.

“Joey seems to be omnipotent!”

“Such a young Silver Grand Swordmaster, it is a little unsuitable for you to be wearing magic armor. I have a set of leather armor here which hasn’t been touched in a few hundred years, I will give it to you.”

“I don’t have anything to exchange for it.” Su lowered his head, he could not promise Joey anything on behalf of Saleen.

“You are not a mage, you don’t have to follow certain habits. I just find you very pleasing, so here’s a gift for you.” Not accepting rejection, Joey took out a set of leather armor.

This leather armor was thick and filled with magic patterns. Without these magic patterns, it would look like a set of seamless armor which had been crafted by alchemy. The whole armor did not contain any traces of seaming, riveting or sewing.

“A grade-10 assassin had worn this before, even though it belongs to an assassin…” Joey did not continue talking. Back then, he had just advanced to grade-10, and then he ran into such a powerful assassin. If it was not for someone’s help, he would have been dead. The person who aided him carried the Grukos surname, and as a result, he owed his life to the Grukos family.

The Grukos family never demanded him to return anything, until Lex’s generation.

Due to a sense of indebtedness, his grade had remained stagnant, there was neither improvement nor deterioration, he could not advance. Since the Grukos family, especially the biological daughter of Emperor Chanake, had met with trouble, Joey had to help. Once Lex’s troubles were resolved, he would leave the Holy Rock City and go overseas to seek the disappeared remains of the second dynasty.

The second dynasty reigned over a larger area than the first dynasty because the states in the Eastern Sea were within its area of dominance. Before the fourth dynasty, nobles were already absent in that place. Gradually, the local aboriginals gave rise to thousands of countries.

Joey thought that he would never repay this favor anymore, because the Grukos family was too powerful. There was conflict between Lex and Prince Safilos, so Lex had to tap on Joey’s might, giving him a chance to repay this favor. From Joey’s perspective, Lex was the best candidate to inherit the throne, so he had peace of mind helping her.

When Joey was teaching Saleen, he had chased Su and Cuisi out of the room. Saleen took out the second Shenhe he had obtained, then said to Joey, “Sir.”

“I will be coaching you for six days. You are not considered my student, but you can call me Teacher,” Joey interrupted Saleen.

“Teacher, this is the Shenhe, I want to produce a water puppet, but my current powers are inadequate.”

“You are a grade-6 mage already, and your mental strength is very much stronger than other average grand mages, why can’t you produce grade-6 water puppets?”

Saleen extended his left hand, then said, “I want the water puppet to have life, so the Power of Life has to be added in. I am powerless.”

To Joey, producing water puppets was a piece of cake. As he received the Shenhe, a concentrated water element suddenly shot out from the small calabash. Joey kneaded this water element, forming the shape of a transparent human. Saleen did not dare be tardy, a green radiance was released from his left hand, and then it infiltrated the embryo of the water puppet.

Naturally, the Power of Life formed the skeleton, blood vessels and organs. Nevertheless, all these things were condensed from the water element. Joey had his own methods, so he was not envious of Saleen’s Power of Life. In the space structure of his room, the outside world wouldn’t be able to discover the presence of divine power in here.

This was also the reason why Saleen asked Joey for help. Crafting water puppets unabashedly in any other locations would easily attract the Holy See’s attention, unless Saleen did not want this water puppet to possess the attributes of life.

The water puppet gradually took shape, having human features, it looked energetic, just like a live human. Just that its body was transparent, and its internal organs had a pale green hue. Saleen had never crafted something so successfully before, the whole process only took half an hour. In this thirty minutes, he had been assembling the internal structures of the water puppet, the functions of these structures were similar to that of a magic array.

In the past half an hour, Saleen had gained more insight into alchemy than all the other past attempts combined. Joey had simply used the power of elements to sculpt the water puppet, like a hawker who sold candies shaped like living things. His control over the elements had reached a legendary level. Any magical spell had become part of his body, there was no need for any preparations.

A flash of golden brilliance appeared in Saleen’s eyes, then a foreign magic symbol imprinted itself on the forehead of the water puppet. At this point in time, Joey was a little astounded, then he asked, “What is this?”