Translator: AnubisTL
As dawn broke, the royal capital of Elosia City stirred from its slumber.
Jieming changed into simple mercenary attire and left the mansion alone.
Sunlight pierced the thin mist, casting golden patches on the densely packed houses. The laughter of children, the cries of street vendors, and the clip-clop of horse hooves blended into a vibrant symphony of life.
Watching the lively scene before him, Jieming couldn't help but sigh. "Ah... finally, I don't have to act like a fool over there anymore..."
The past few days had been anything but pleasant. Under the deliberate guidance of the three mission leaders, negotiations had ended in arguments daily.
Occasionally, bad luck would escalate into group brawls.
The dwarves appeared drunk during negotiations, but when fighting broke out, they became more spirited than even the orcs, their fervor bordering on fanaticism.
Even as an observer, Jieming was drawn into the fray several times. At first, he restrained himself to maintain his image. But when he could no longer bear it, he began greeting everyone with a punch, leaving them with black eyes and bruised faces.
Come to think of it, that had actually worked.
Even King Otto Reich III grew impatient. He realized that if Jieming continued his aggressive tactics, there would soon be no one left in the Foreign Envoy Delegation capable of representing them. He hastily ended his observation session.
Jieming breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, he had time to properly explore the royal city.
As he walked through the streets, Jieming couldn't help but ponder the three foreign envoy chiefs.
"It's truly strange. What are their real goals? To prevent the union of several civilizations? No, no one would be that foolish."
Indeed, though the negotiations seemed to be going poorly, everyone, including Jieming, knew that humanity would ultimately reconcile with the orcs. The reunification of the various races was only a matter of time.
As is widely known, international relations are typically driven by self-interest, with personal emotions playing almost no role.
This holds true even in other planes, though in the Elosia Plane, another factor influences inter-state relations beyond conventional interests: divine beings.
Strictly speaking, the will of divine beings can be considered part of national interest—and a very high-priority one at that.
With the will of divine beings pressing down, the reunification of these nations was inevitable.
More importantly, both the indigenous gods of the Elosia Plane and the wizards actually hoped to form an allied force.
After all, the best way to weaken the plane's origin was through the mass slaughter of its born creatures. Only by uniting the indigenous peoples of the Elosia Plane in perpetual warfare could the wizards more efficiently achieve their goals.
Even the wizards' earlier tactical retreat was intended to give the indigenous peoples of the Elosia Plane a brief respite, preventing them from becoming too desperate and giving up entirely.
What they hadn't anticipated was the short-sightedness of the world's nobles. Merely a temporary easing of the offensive was enough for them to start scheming behind the scenes, ultimately causing the collapse of the Elosian Allied Forces.
Thus, Jieming couldn't understand the motivations of the three mission chiefs. Whether they were apostles of divine beings or wizards disguised as spies, they should have done everything in their power to facilitate the formation of the allied forces.
"Forget it. I don't care what those guys are up to. As long as it doesn't interfere with my own actions, that's all that matters."
Shaking his head, Jieming dismissed the matter and began his true actions for the day.
On the surface, he strolled leisurely, but in reality, his senses were fully engaged, perceiving every pulse of the royal capital.
As a cultivator in the foundation establishment realm, he could clearly sense the Mortal Dust Qi permeating this vast city.
The Mortal Dust Qi here was far more abundant and complex than in Golden Harbor, almost overwhelming him.
The joy of the common people, the greed of merchants, the loyalty of guards, the arrogance of nobles, the despair of beggars... all these emotions flowed like countless streams into the talisman seal within his dantian, causing it to emit an even more brilliant radiance.
He could feel that his rate of absorbing Mortal Dust Qi had reached unprecedented levels in this city.
Is this the power of the heart of civilization? Jieming mused inwardly.
The Mortal Dust Qi here was so abundant it almost gave him a sense of disorientation.
Suddenly, Jieming's brow twitched.
He casually turned into a secluded alley, where pedestrians were scarce and only a few ordinary residences stood.
At the end of the alley, beside an ancient stone well, several withered trees entwined with vines stood eerily.
Jieming approached the well and, as if casually, lowered his head to examine the well wall. In truth, his mental power instantly spread, probing deep into the earth.
He sensed something unusual.
Beneath the moss and mud clinging to the well's lower wall, faint energy fluctuations rippled outwards like ripples.
These were neither the sacred runes nor the mundane magic arrays common to the Elosia Plane. Their structure was unique, containing a power system that transcended this world.
Could this be... remnants of a runic array? Jieming's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained impassive.
The runes were hidden with extreme care. Without his advanced knowledge of rune studies and keen perception, he would never have noticed.
He observed them silently, his mind racing with questions.
I can confirm this is likely from the wizard civilization's runic system. It's definitely not from the Elosia Plane.
The energy from these runes was faint, suggesting they were merely insignificant nodes within a larger magic formation.
Without alerting anyone, he quietly slipped out of the alley, continuing his "aimless stroll."
However, with this discovery, he began deliberately extending his senses to every corner of the royal capital, paying particular attention to seemingly unremarkable places with faint energy fluctuations.
Just as he was lost in thought, a commotion arose on the street ahead.
"It's the sage's disciple!"
"Lord Reiss! Lord Reiss is here!"
Jieming looked up to see a group of residents surrounding a slender man in a scholar's robe.
The man was smiling and greeting the crowd, his face radiating a modest and refined smile.
"Lord Reiss, we heard you advised His Majesty at the royal palace yesterday. You must have worked so hard!" A middle-aged woman with a grateful smile offered him a basket of fresh fruit.
Reiss accepted it gently and replied softly, "This is merely my duty as a subject of the kingdom. There's no need for such formality, everyone."
In the crowd, a ragged child stumbled and fell, scraping his knee and bursting into tears.
Seeing this, Reiss immediately approached and knelt down.
He extended his hand, and a faint, gentle light emanated from his fingertips, softly landing on the child's wound.
The wound healed visibly before their eyes, the pain vanishing as the child's tears turned into a smile.
"There you go, little one. Be more careful next time." Reiss gently patted the child's head, his genuine care earning him even more praise from the surrounding people.
"Lord Reiss is truly kind!"
"With the sage and Lord Reiss by our side, our kingdom is sure to triumph!"
"Yes, he always offers the best advice to His Majesty. With Lord Reiss, we have hope!"
Jieming stood a short distance away, observing everything. He silently evaluated the scene:
"Tsk tsk... This method of winning hearts is far too old-fashioned. The actors around him are too stiff and unconvincing. Unacceptable, all of them!"
"However... a sage's disciple?"
The so-called sage was a unique figure in the Elosia Plane.
Not only was he immensely powerful, but he also possessed extraordinary intelligence and charisma.
To put it plainly, during the wizard invasion, the sage single-handedly united the Elosian Allied Forces for the first time.
The sage's origins were well-documented, and his life story was even performed in operas.
One could only conclude that he was a genuinely capable indigenous person, not a wizard spy.
But the sage's disciple was rather peculiar.
He recalled the intelligence he'd gathered about Reiss at the banquet: this disciple always offered "visionary" advice at crucial moments, guiding the king and ministers in their decisions. Some even claimed he could foresee the future, charting a course for the kingdom.
Beyond that, there was almost no other information. All they knew was that the sage had suddenly announced his apprenticeship not long ago, causing quite a stir.
Seeing him in person now, Jieming's doubts only deepened.
It wasn't that the crude methods of winning hearts and minds were unusual for high-ranking figures; such tactics were commonplace. What truly surprised Jieming was the faint sense of threat he detected from the man.
What the hell? Did this world secretly update its version without me knowing? How can anyone I casually encounter pose a threat to me? Aren't I supposed to be a genius?
Seeing that the man hadn't noticed him, Jieming slowly withdrew from the crowd and headed in another direction through the market.
Soon, he discovered similar rune markings beneath another abandoned warehouse in the ancient market.
Then came the backyard of a secluded temple, the side of a forgotten drainage ditch... These runes were scattered throughout the royal capital, yet seemed interconnected, all vaguely pointing toward a central hub.
Jieming's mind raced as he began to connect these scattered points, sketching a rough outline in his mind.
The scale of the magic formation formed by these runes was immense, their interconnectedness suggesting a purpose of large-scale energy transmission or conversion.
As night fell again, Jieming returned to his mansion.
He entered the secret chamber shrouded in illusion magic and gazed at the partially sketched map of the capital's underground rune network on the table, his eyes gleaming with deep insight.
Drawing upon his knowledge of rune studies, Jieming quickly deduced that their arrangement seemed to be guiding or converging some form of energy, all subtly directing it toward the most heavily worshipped area in the capital—the church district.
(End of the Chapter)
---
📖Read (𝗪𝗜𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗗) on the Site till Ch227. (95 Chapters Ahead)
💲Read upto Ch162 for ABSOLUTELY 𝙁𝙍𝙀𝙀! ℕ𝕠 𝕃𝕠𝕘𝕚𝕟
⚡15 Novels | 9.3k+ Chapters | 15.4M+ Words [𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐥.𝐜𝐨𝐦]