Translator: AnubisTL
Elosia City, the heart of the kingdom, bathed in the afternoon sun.
Within its towering walls, broad stone-paved streets teemed with people and carriages.
The bustling prosperity stood in stark contrast to the days of wilderness travel Jieming had endured.
The mansion Otto Reich III had bestowed upon Jieming was located in the royal capital's mid-tier noble district. Though not lavish, it occupied a substantial plot of land, complete with pavilions, terraces, and courtyards.
The mansion's gates remained tightly shut, its surface tranquility concealing the watchful eyes of several pairs of eyes hidden in inconspicuous corners. These observers, dispatched by the Royal Palace, were monitoring every movement within the residence through a subtle monitoring array.
In their eyes, "Lord Jack" possessed a mysterious background and extraordinary abilities. While His Majesty the King had showered him with praise, he had never let his guard down.
"Today's target is behaving normally," a monitor in a standard-issue robe murmured into a crystal ball, his gaze piercing through its illusory surface to focus on Jieming's figure in the study.
Within the crystal ball, Jieming sat at his desk, propping his chin with one hand while casually tossing a few copper coins with the other.
The coins flipped through the air, clinking crisply before landing precisely back in his palm or scattering across the desk.
The rhythmic clinking of metal coins was so monotonous that even the surveillance personnel felt drowsy. Ever since arriving at the estate, Jieming had spent hours each day engaging in these "boring" activities.
"It's been almost a week now. All he does is play with those copper coins, read books, or take walks," one of the monitors yawned, his boredom evident.
"Is he being overly cautious? Or is this typical behavior for an orc spy? Perhaps he's afraid to make any sudden moves in a new environment?"
"Who knows? His Majesty the King said Jack's origins are unknown and that he might be an orc spy. The fact that he survived and brought back those nobles after all five legendary figures of Golden Harbor fell is suspicious in itself." The first monitor frowned. "Better safe than sorry. Even if he's just an ordinary adventurer, someone of his caliber warrants our surveillance."
"Ugh... this is so boring," the younger monitor complained, though his eyes remained fixed on the surveillance screen. Gradually, their vigilance began to wane.
Meanwhile, the "boring" Jieming was staring at the copper coins scattered across the table, a faint, almost imperceptible smile curving his lips.
He gathered all the copper coins into his palm and tossed them lightly into the air once more.
The coins clattered as they landed, forming an obscure and difficult-to-interpret divination pattern.
Divination... it's still quite useful in this environment, Jieming mused inwardly, his fingertip brushing against a coin, a complex glint in his eyes.
Given Jieming's interest in cultivation civilization, he had naturally studied divination, though not in depth. Still, he considered himself reasonably proficient.
During his time on Noren Plane No. 13, he rarely employed such cultivator methods.
This was primarily because both the Noren Plane and the Noren Workshop belonged to the wizard civilization, and ninth-tier wizards within that civilization were overwhelmingly powerful.
The contract Jieming had signed upon entering the academy wasn't merely with Noren Academy. Beyond clauses regarding military service, a significant portion of the contract stipulated that the signatory must never betray the wizard civilization in any form.
This mandatory contract, imposed from the very beginning of one's cultivation journey, served as one of the foundational pillars enabling the wizard civilization's conquest of the multiverse.
To ensure wizards couldn't be forced to divulge any information if captured, these contracts were directly linked to ninth-tier wizards.
Theoretically, every wizard was indirectly connected to a ninth-tier wizard through cause and effect.
This left Jieming feeling utterly helpless.
Divination, though seemingly mystical, was deeply intertwined with the fabric of reality. A single misstep, a brush against the causal threads of a ninth-tier wizard, would lead to certain death.
Moreover, divination fundamentally involved manipulating the world's essence. Arriving in a new plane with no understanding of its rules, Jieming had no means to perform it.
In most cases, it was far more direct and effective to simply hire a fate-type wizard for divination.
Yet now, under constant surveillance from all sides, divination revealed its unique advantage.
To outsiders, he merely appeared to be idly playing with coins, showing no signs of anything unusual.
Since his time in Golden Harbor, Jieming had been meticulously studying the Heaven and Earth Rules of the Elosia Plane, tracing the flow of spirit veins, and analyzing the chaotic qi within the Mortal Faith Network.
Through two months of research, he had gained a profound understanding of this world's rules, finally enabling him to employ this hidden divination technique.
Just moments ago, using divination, he had precisely calculated the only blind spot in the mansion's surveillance network.
It wasn't exactly a blind spot in the monitoring array itself, as professional magic formation experts wouldn't make such a basic mistake.
Strictly speaking, it was a visual blind spot for the monitoring personnel.
At specific times and angles, the monitoring staff would subconsciously overlook certain visual points due to various reasons.
"The time is almost right," Jieming's eyes flashed.
He rose from his seat with feigned boredom and strolled from the bedroom toward the study on the other side of the mansion.
His movements were natural and fluid, indistinguishable from his actions over the past few days.
As he passed through the corridor, his fingers twitched subtly.
In the crystal ball used by the monitoring personnel, Jieming remained under surveillance, entering the study, selecting a book, and settling down to read.
But within the mansion itself, a reckless smile curled at the corner of Jieming's lips.
Just moments ago, he had used his spell artifact to cast an intricate illusion magic across the entire study area.
The mansion's monitoring magic was diverse and complex, making it extremely difficult to infiltrate each system individually.
Moreover, the servants throughout the mansion served as additional eyes and ears, rendering simple alterations to the surveillance useless.
Therefore, using illusion magic to simulate his activities within the study was the most convenient and covert method.
The servants wouldn't dare enter the study without his explicit permission, as books were considered highly valuable possessions in this world.
To the outside observers, Jieming would continue to appear within their "sight," going about his daily routine of reading, pacing, and even idly playing with his copper coins.
Glancing at the several monitoring arrays now shrouded in illusion magic, Jieming smiled faintly as the chamber door closed softly behind him.
He could finally act freely.
From his space expansion pouch, Jieming steadily retrieved various materials: rune stones shimmering with faint light, parchment scrolls radiating elemental qi, and even several metal components refined using specialized techniques.
He carefully arranged these materials in the center of the chamber, then began assembling them according to the instructions.
Several days later, as night fell, the Royal Palace blazed with light.
A grand welcome banquet was underway, honoring the visiting delegations of orcs, elves, and dwarves.
Jieming, in his capacity as "royal special advisor," moved through the throng of clinking glasses and mingling guests, clad in a perfectly tailored noble's formal attire.
A practiced smile graced his lips as he occasionally engaged in conversation with nobles, ministers, and priests, subtly gathering information from their various perspectives.
"Advisor Jack, tales of your valor have spread throughout the royal capital! You are a hero of the kingdom!" a corpulent duke declared, raising his goblet in praise, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of awe and curiosity.
"I am deeply honored by Your Majesty's and your lordships' graciousness," Jieming replied with a smile, though his heart remained unmoved.
As he surveyed the scene, Jieming's eyes narrowed slightly.
The nobles' myriad desires and emotions coalesced into a chaotic miasma of worldly qi, which the talisman seal within his dantian silently absorbed.
Suddenly, his body stiffened almost imperceptibly.
Perhaps due to his recent excessive use of divination, his senses had undergone a subtle shift. Jieming abruptly detected several anomalous qi signatures.
These qi signatures remained unchanged compared to their surroundings, yet they carried a subtle, threatening vibration that Jieming sensed instinctively.
The fact that they posed a threat meant these individuals were exceptionally powerful, likely surpassing even second-tier beings.
However, the truth was that legendaries were exceedingly rare at the banquet, and each one was positioned prominently, far from the area Jieming sensed.
Most importantly, while their power felt threatening, Jieming also experienced a sudden, inexplicable impulse.
He couldn't yet decipher the meaning of this impulse, but intuitively, it didn't feel dangerous.
Driven by curiosity, Jieming's gaze quietly scanned the crowd, eventually pinpointing the sources of these qi signatures.
The first was a dazzlingly beautiful female elf from the elven delegation.
Her flawless features and elegant demeanor drew the attention of countless nobles.
Her smile was perfect, yet Jieming sensed a subtle sharpness beneath her noble facade, like a wolf in sheep's clothing.
On the other side, within the orc delegation, a burly and boisterous orc warrior was devouring meat with gusto, his loud laughter echoing through the hall.
His language was crude, his temperament reckless, and his entire being exuded a primal wildness.
Another member of the dwarf delegation, a boisterous and rugged female dwarf, was guzzling ale from a barrel. Aside from her conspicuous beard, she appeared utterly unremarkable.
All three happened to be members of foreign delegations.
Strange...
Jieming observed them covertly for some time. Though wary of alerting them, he couldn't detect any connection between these individuals and himself.
Should I try divination? No, no, better not tempt fate.
After all, this world was governed by divine beings. Any first-tier creature capable of making him feel threatened likely had ties to a god.
If he were to divine the deity behind them, Jieming would probably drop dead on the spot.
Tch, let's just wait and see what happens.
Meanwhile, the nobles were growing restless. Jieming glanced sideways and couldn't help but marvel inwardly:
The sage's disciple? I never imagined such a prominent figure would attend this banquet...
Shaking his head, Jieming plastered on a smile and rejoined the festivities.
(End of the Chapter)
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