Caravan

"Lord Locke, you're here."

When Locke arrived at the merchant guild, an old man greeted him with a smile and a bow.

"My apologies, President Luqi. Something delayed me and kept you waiting."

"Not at all, not at all. It is my honor to receive Lord Locke's favor."

"I have already prepared a carriage for you, Lord Locke. Please, this way."

With a smile, President Luqi led Locke to an exceptionally luxurious-looking carriage. He drew back the curtain and said to Locke, "Lord Locke, please have a look. Are you satisfied with this carriage?"

"If you are not satisfied, I will have someone prepare another one at once."

"President Luqi, this carriage is already very good in my opinion. There is no need for further trouble."

Hearing Locke say this, President Luqi visibly let out a sigh of relief.

"Then, Lord Locke, I will not disturb your rest."

"Mm. President Luqi, if you need anything along the way, you can come directly to me."

"Hahahaha, many thanks, Lord Locke."

President Luqi laughed heartily. Hadn't he done all this for that very sentence?

The Luqi Merchant Guild was the very merchant guild Locke had previously asked to deliver a letter home for him.

The Frost Snow Empire was enormous.

After all, it was a super empire founded by a god that had unified an entire plane.

It was only because the god of the Temple of Light had invaded the Vakanda Plane over a century ago, established the Temple of Light, and begun a campaign against the Frost Snow Empire to contend for faith that forty percent of the Frost Snow Empire's territory had been occupied.

Even so, the Frost Snow Empire, which occupied more than half a plane, was no smaller in area than Blue Star, the world Locke had lived on in his previous life.

Locke's hometown was in Enbo Territory.

Like Bidia Territory, Enbo Territory was also the domain of a duke of the Frost Snow Empire.

Like Bidia, Enbo had been a Saint Domain for several centuries.

Even if Locke traveled at full speed, it would take him at least a month to get from Bidia Territory to Enbo Territory.

However, since he had decided to become a free wanderer, Locke did not intend to treat himself poorly.

Living rough in the wilderness certainly sounded romantic, but having already experienced a month of flight, Locke had no desire to experience that kind of life again. So, he contacted a merchant guild traveling to Enbo Territory and hitched a ride.

As it happened, after learning that Locke wished to return to Enbo Territory, the Luqi Merchant Guild, which had delivered his letter, approached him and hoped to receive his protection.

After all, in order to have the Luqi Merchant Guild deliver his letter, Locke had displayed his Legion Emblem.

Under certain circumstances, a Rank 6 Mage was even more intimidating than an ordinary Rank 7 Warrior.

After all, there was simply no comparison between the attack range of a mage and that of a warrior.

With Locke, a Rank 6 Mage, protecting them, the Luqi Merchant Guild could transport far more valuable goods.

If things went well, the profits from this trading trip could even rival more than a year's income for the merchant guild.

All the Luqi Merchant Guild needed to do was prepare a luxurious carriage for Locke and provide him with good food and drink along the way.

Over the following days, Luqi began contacting other merchant guilds interested in making the journey to Enbo Territory.

However, because the Luqi Merchant Guild had Locke overseeing the journey, any other merchant guild that wanted to ride along needed to pay the Luqi Merchant Guild a certain fee.

Before long, Luqi and the others had settled everything, and the merchant guild set out.

Upon careful count, nearly forty fully loaded carriages formed a long convoy and began heading toward Enbo Territory.

More than a hundred warrior guards patrolled back and forth around the carriages.

Although there were no Rank 7 experts among these warriors, even the weakest were Rank 3 or higher intermediate warriors.

Such a massive caravan was bound to attract plenty of attention.

After learning the destination of this caravan, some shrewd merchants quickly purchased goods as well, then drove their carriages and followed the caravan from afar.

In their view, anyone who dared to assemble such a huge convoy surely had powerful experts escorting it.

Following behind the convoy would make them safer as well.

After the convoy left the city, more than twenty additional carriages laden with goods gradually followed behind the forty-odd carriages.

Of course, since these people had not paid Luqi, whenever they drew too close to the convoy led by the Luqi Merchant Guild, they would be driven away by the caravan's guards.

After all, no one wanted to work for others for nothing, only to be mocked behind their back.

This huge caravan attracted not only independent merchants, but also the bandit factions gathered between Bidia Territory and Enbo Territory.

Along the way, many people in the convoy could occasionally see figures flashing through the forests by the roadside.

However, whether it was the luxurious convoy led by the Luqi Merchant Guild at the front or the twenty-odd carriages a thousand meters behind it, neither was something ordinary small bandit groups could swallow.

Therefore, when encountering such large caravans, bandits would generally join forces to attack them.

Both the caravan and the bandits were already well accustomed to this.

Before those bandits gathered together, the caravan was safe.

It had to be said that President Luqi was exceptionally thorough when it came to hosting Locke.

Not only did he arrange for Locke to ride in the most luxurious carriage, but the food was also the most lavish.

After reaching Rank 7 Mage, Locke reduced the time he spent analyzing magical incantations and devoted more time to refining Magic Power and improving his Mental Strength.

He wanted to reach the Saint Domain in the shortest possible time.

At that point, with Saint Domain-level Mental Strength, he would be able to analyze magical incantations and comprehend Profound Mysteries far more quickly.

Moreover, only upon reaching the Saint Domain could he fully unleash the power of the Profound Mysteries he had comprehended, allowing his strength to rise tremendously.

Below the Saint Domain, weak Mental Strength simply could not allow one to remain in a state of "Unity of Heaven and Man" for long.

Whether comprehending Profound Mysteries or using them, Mental Strength—in other words, Soul Power—was the foundation of everything.

Of course, comprehending Profound Mysteries before reaching the Saint Domain allowed one's Mental Strength to be tempered by those Profound Mysteries, enabling it to grow rapidly.

The more Profound Mysteries one comprehended, and the stronger they were, the faster one's Mental Strength would improve.

Just like Locke.

His Water Element Affinity was merely average.

Generally speaking, with Locke's talent, he would not have had a chance of touching the Rank 7 threshold until after the age of forty.

Yet, because Locke had comprehended a trace of the Profound Mystery of Illusionary Fog, his Mental Strength had been tempered by the Law of Heaven and Earth, allowing him to become a Rank 5 High Mage at the age of eighteen.

Now, at the age of twenty-four, he had even become a Rank 7 Archmage.

If word of this got out, people would likely praise Locke as a genius seen only once in ten thousand years.