Chapter Ninety-Nine: A Formal Wizard

Shadowflight carried Qi Xiao through the forest, the wind howling past them, and time itself seemed to freeze in the midst of that rapid journey.

After a while at full speed, Shadowflight began to slow, and at last came to a stop in a broad meadow, letting out a low whinny. The air here carried a faint fragrance of flowers, and sunlight streamed down through the treetops, gilding everything in the grass with a wash of gold.

Qi Xiao naturally understood that Shabu must live somewhere within this meadow. He dismounted, left Shadowflight waiting where it was, concealed himself as best he could, and proceeded forward with care.

As he ventured deeper into the meadow, a peculiar wooden cottage came into view. It blended seamlessly with the surrounding natural world, as though it had grown from the earth itself.

The cottage was antique and graceful in appearance, built from the branches and trunks of many different kinds of trees. Its roof rose to a pointed spire and was thickly thatched, while the walls slanted slightly inward, giving it a sense of both steadiness and warmth.

Delicate patterns were carved into the doors and windows: vines, flowers, and all manner of forest creatures, so lifelike that one could almost believe they might move at any moment. Clearly, the owner of this house held a sincere and profound love for nature.

Around the cottage grew a profusion of strange and wondrous plants and flowers, all of them, like sunflowers, turning toward the house and aiming their blossoms in its direction.

When Qi Xiao’s gaze passed over these uncanny plants, he finally saw the girl in front of the cottage. She sat there in silence, as though she were the finishing touch to this natural beauty, harmoniously fused with the world around her.

Shabu sat on a chair woven from branches and vines. Her posture was elegant and unforced, her back held perfectly straight, her hands resting lightly upon her knees, though her eyes were somewhat vacant, as if she had drifted into a daze.

She was lovely, her features refined and delicate. Apart from a pair of small, exquisitely curved goat horns atop her head, she looked no different from a human at first glance. Her hair cascaded down like a waterfall, shining with a faint golden luster. Her skin was a milky white that, from a human perspective, seemed suspended somewhere between healthy and unhealthy.

A layer of soft wool covered her body; it was immaculate and pure white, gleaming silver in the sunlight. She wore a simple green long dress, its hem stirring gently in the breeze, perfectly complementing the meadow and flowers around her.

Her feet were a pair of carefully tended goat hooves, delicate yet sturdy, and even seated as she was, one could tell that when she moved, her steps would be as light as a goat’s.

Beside her, several small animals were even playing carefree games, their trust and affection for Shabu evident in the way they would nuzzle up to her feet from time to time, seeking a stroke or a pat. For a moment, Qi Xiao nearly believed he had stumbled into the world of some fairy tale.

At that moment, he did not even dare breathe too loudly. He concealed himself to the fullest of his ability and studied Shabu as though she were some flood-tide monster.

Other than occasionally stroking the gray rabbit beside her, Shabu did nothing at all. She simply sat there, idly emptying her mind. Had Qi Xiao not known her background, he might truly have thought her nothing more than a carefree young girl.

“She and the Mother of the Black Goat... there must be a connection, and it must be a direct one.”

It was an inexplicable intuition, one that made Qi Xiao tremble from the depths of his heart.

He was not one to trust intuition lightly, but the evidence already in his possession was not insignificant either. Taken together, they convinced him that it was best to stay far away. The waters surrounding the flock ran far too deep; for a mere intermediate wizard apprentice like himself to wade into such murky depths would likely only mean drowning. His master would not hold it against him simply because he failed to complete a trial.

Qi Xiao made up his mind, crouched slightly, and began to retreat slowly. But just as his left foot took a step back, a clear and pleasant male voice, full of curiosity, suddenly sounded beside his ear.

“Young wizard, where are you going?”

Qi Xiao’s pupils contracted. He whirled toward the source of the voice and saw a young man in red sitting on a tree branch nearby, holding a short stick in his hand, watching him with amused interest.

He was young and handsome, with healthy wheat-colored skin and sharply defined, deep-set features. His long hair burned red like fire, draped naturally over his shoulders, with a few strands stirring in the wind now and then, giving off a strange impression of both sharpness and heat.

His red robe was embroidered with golden patterns, and those patterns gleamed beneath the sunlight, forming a design that resembled a holy chalice.

His gaze was deep, yet faintly frivolous, as though he could see straight into a person’s heart. The corners of his eyes lifted slightly, lending him an even brighter, more spirited air, while a confident smile rested at his lips, carrying a trace of shameless irreverence.

He simply sat there and did nothing, yet the instant Qi Xiao looked at him, it was as though he had fallen into the middle of a decadent cosmic revel. In an instant, his ears were flooded with sensual sounds, and the scene before him was overrun by a wash of blood-red color. Beastlike humanoids were mating and tearing into one another at the same time, swaying their waists while chewing raw flesh in their mouths, their faces twisted with ecstasy.

“A full wizard!”

A word flashed through Qi Xiao’s disordered mind. Without the slightest hesitation, the Thunderwing Dragonflame Staff in his hand instantly transformed into an elemental dragon forged entirely from pure lightning and flame. Spreading dragon wings more than thirty feet long, it wrapped itself around Qi Xiao.

The Starlight Moon Guard flared brilliantly. Even in broad daylight, moonlight and starlight could be seen covering the elemental dragon, adding a trace of eerie stillness to its terrifying form.

Under the protection of these two layers, Qi Xiao finally managed to exert a small degree of control over his body and forcefully shattered the ring on his index finger.

The moment the ring on Qi Xiao’s finger crumbled into dust with a soft sound, a powerful surge of magical force erupted from his position. Centered on Qi Xiao, that shockwave spread in all directions, causing the entire space to begin trembling.

Distorted ripples appeared in the surrounding space, as though an invisible giant hand were plucking at the tapestry of reality and sending waves through it.

And beyond the barrier Qi Xiao had erected, a massive fissure tore open in space. It expanded gradually, forming a twisting black vortex that devoured the light around it and annihilated everything in its vicinity.

From within that rift, a halo descended slowly. The halo was inscribed with runes formed from intricate spatial nodes, each rune flickering with a dazzling silver-black radiance.

At the center of the halo, a figure gradually took shape. He wore a black robe whose hem fluttered in the wind, and one hand rested lightly on a staff nearly as tall as himself, revealing an air of extraordinary power and presence.

With Midiel’s arrival, the spatial nodes of the entire forest began to resonate with him. The trees, the meadow, even every particle of magical energy in the air began to tremble in response.

The instant Midiel appeared, time seemed to stand still. All movement ceased, and only his presence remained as the sole current point in this expanse of space.

The halo around Midiel began to spread, forming small spatial vortices that spun upon the ground and locked everything nearby firmly in place.

His aura was so formidable that it could affect the structure of space itself, making the air around him thick and heavy. Every step he took was accompanied by a shudder in space.

Yet the young man in red whom he was looking at did not seem to be much affected. His expression only shifted slightly in surprise before he gave a soft laugh.

“How interesting. It has been a long time since I last saw a wizard with such profound comprehension of the way of space. I look forward very much to the path of legend you will pursue in the future.”

Midiel’s gaze swept over the pattern on the red-clad youth’s robe, and his brows drew together slightly. As the spatial nodes quivered, his low and resonant voice rolled out.

“And who might you be? There is no one like you in the Northern Realm of Wizards. Why have you laid hands on my disciple?”

The red-clad youth’s voice remained amused. “Since you recognize the emblem on my robe, you naturally know where I come from. And you should also understand that I have not laid hands on your beloved disciple. Otherwise, how could he have summoned you here?”

Midiel fell silent for a moment. He naturally understood this principle. The gap between a full wizard and an apprentice was like a chasm beyond crossing. If this red-robed wizard had truly intended to target Qi Xiao, then Qi Xiao would have turned into a pool of blood in an instant, with no possibility of even the slightest struggle.

Or rather... that would have been the case if he had not possessed a wizard-grade protective artifact. The ring Midiel had given him could withstand a single attack at full-wizard level, prompting Midiel to come at once. But since the ring had been shattered by Qi Xiao of his own accord rather than triggered passively, that meant the red-robed wizard had not come with killing intent. This situation, then, was not one of irreconcilable life and death.

Still, some interest had to be paid. Midiel glanced at Qi Xiao, stroked his staff once, and Qi Xiao vanished from where he stood.

“You crossed into the Northern Realm of Wizards without any registration. As one of the organizers of the Sky Barrier Project, I must inquire into the matter. Please come with me.”

Midiel instantly transported Qi Xiao across more than half the wizarding world and back to his own room. Even as he brought Qi Xiao back, he had incidentally dispelled part of the effects Qi Xiao had suffered, but the haunting illusions still lingered before his eyes and in his ears. Qi Xiao could only seal off his senses, lie quietly on the bed, and do nothing at all, not even meditate.

After lying there for nearly three hours, Qi Xiao finally felt much better. Though he still kept his senses sealed, he could at least manage some simple thought.

A full wizard... truly terrifying.

Qi Xiao still felt lingering fear. It was not as though he had been ignorant of a full wizard’s terror before, but he had already seen quite a few full wizards, and every single one of them had been connected to his master. At the very least, none of them harbored any hostility toward him, and they had all actively restrained their own power. As a result, Qi Xiao had not possessed much of a visceral sense of just how frightening they were. Perhaps he had even developed the illusion that they were “nothing special.”

This experience had allowed Qi Xiao to recognize himself for what he was in an instant.

That full wizard had borne him no ill will whatsoever. He had simply failed to restrain his aura, and the brief instant Qi Xiao sensed it had already plunged him into such peril, to the point that he had nearly lost control of his body.

Full wizards were no longer the same kind of being as ordinary humans. Each full wizard was an independent life-form. Though they had not yet reached the level of legends, where they had even become conceptual existences, they were already horrifying enough. The scene when his master had appeared, like a force capable of ending the world, was still vivid before his eyes.

Qi Xiao drank a potion to calm the spirit and soothe the soul, preparing to sleep with his five senses sealed. He was far too exhausted now, as though every cell in his body had been drained of vitality and then forced to run a marathon.

No one knew how long he slept before Qi Xiao finally awoke. Slowly, he opened the seal on his senses and, upon feeling his sight and hearing return to normal, let out a long breath of relief.

He weakly got out of bed and opened the door. Blood Whisper and Blood Lotus had clearly been waiting outside for a long time. When Blood Whisper saw Qi Xiao emerge, she first froze in surprise, then said happily, “Young master, you’re finally out. The clan leader said you were injured while out there, and that the master sent you back. We were worried sick.”

After all, they knew that Qi Xiao had been sent away for training. An injury serious enough to require Midiel to cross more than half the wizarding world to retrieve him clearly could not have been simple.

Blood Lotus also visibly relaxed, then handed Qi Xiao a cup of strong tea wreathed in a faint blood aura and said softly, “This is blood tea we vampires drink to replenish our vitality after injury. Even the master praised it highly after drinking it. Please try some.”

Qi Xiao had just finished being tormented by illusions, so for the moment he kept a certain distance from things made of flesh and blood. He managed a strained smile and said, “No need. My injury is not physical. Replenishing my blood energy might have the opposite effect. I’ll be fine after resting for a while.”

Then he asked, “Where is Master? Has he returned?”

Blood Lotus quietly withdrew the blood tea and replied with some unease, “The master has not returned... but with his strength, there probably isn’t anyone who can threaten him, is there?”

There was nothing wrong with that. So long as no legendary being appeared, even if a peak third-tier Truth wizard made a move, Midiel might not be able to win, but he would certainly be able to escape. The Vault of Ten Thousand Spirits had not lacked legendary beings in the past, and very few people would want to offend a spatial master of that caliber.

Qi Xiao could not see through the strength of that red-robed wizard, but in any case, it had clearly not reached the level of a third-tier wizard. If so, then the threat to his master would not be too great.

More than that, this was his master’s domain. He could summon friends for aid at any time. That, too, was the terrifying flexibility of a high-level spatial wizard, and the strategic significance such a wizard held in planar war. After all, no one had more than two hands, and the ability to surround an enemy’s stragglers wherever and whenever one wished was far too dreadful. Any attempt at counter-encirclement would only end with the other side slipping away the moment the tide turned against them, which was why they were infamous across the worlds.

Hearing this, Qi Xiao nodded and did not worry too much, though the wizard had only appeared after he had been observing Shabu. The emergence of the Mother of the Black Goat was clearly tied to that person, and behind the wizard there was obviously an even greater power. Qi Xiao worried that this might drag both himself and his master into some vast conspiracy.

He had truly been too careless.

Knowing full well how terrifying the Mother of the Black Goat was, he had still gone alone to seek confirmation. Perhaps the smooth progress he had enjoyed after arriving in the wizarding world had made him a little too complacent. After this ordeal, Qi Xiao had at last been awakened to reality.

In other worlds, and within other systems of power, there are often one or more realms dividing a wizard apprentice from a full wizard. After all, the transition from apprentice to wizard is a leap in the very essence of life, and not merely a single step upward at that. As a result, practitioners from other worlds who have any understanding of wizardry are often left awestruck by such a path of cultivation, finding it both unimaginable and fearsome. One cannot help wondering what sort of absurd, wildly unrestrained method of cultivation could exist in this world, and yet not only has it never severed its inheritance, it has instead stood firm at the summit of all worlds.