Ready for Departure

Sky City.

This time, Saine's infusion of knowledge into Arcane Light proceeded quite quickly.

Although he had not imparted all of his Truth Arcana to Arcane Light during this period,

Saine's academic achievements in fields such as Mechanical Fusion Arcana, Magic Cube Arcana, Fortress Robot Transformation Arcana, and Intelligent Robot Creation Arcana alone

were enough for him to finally touch upon the threshold of the Level-7 Arcanist title.

Sure enough, with Saine's current reserves of knowledge, he was already capable of advancing to the rank of a sovereign.

An Arcanist's rank was not an actual life level, but to magicians, higher-ranking Arcanists were even more respected than magicians of the corresponding level.

After advancing his Arcanist rank and receiving a massive amount of Arcane Points, Saine continued his Truth Exploration and studies in Sky City.

Unfortunately, Saine still had many matters demanding his attention lately, so he could not immerse himself entirely in Sky City.

He could only try to first find answers to the major difficulties currently hindering his Truth research.

In particular, the various research problems he had encountered during his tens of thousands of years in Despair World might all be answered in Sky City.

This life of wandering through the ocean of truth left Saine deeply engrossed.

Around the seventy-third year after Saine arrived in Sky City,

he happened to encounter his grandmaster, Cuilisi.

That was right. Cuilisi had also mentioned at the Sect Gathering that she would soon be heading to Sky City to seek answers to certain questions regarding truth.

Saine saw only Cuilisi and not Luluenman.

That meant Cuilisi had come alone.

Just as Saine noticed Cuilisi, Cuilisi saw him as well.

Afterward, the grandmaster and disciple made their way to a secluded magic coffee shop on one of Sky City's lower-level commercial streets.

Seeing his grandmaster sitting before him with dignified poise, gently and elegantly lifting the cup before her, Saine could tell that Cuilisi's anger had subsided considerably.

He had no idea what Luluenman had said to her.

As Cuilisi sipped her coffee, Saine sat upright the entire time, prepared to listen to his grandmaster's teachings.

Yet even after she finished an entire cup of magic coffee, Cuilisi still said nothing.

Only as the two of them left that quiet magic coffee shop did Cuilisi's mental transmission reach Saine's ears.

>"Treat Luluenman well from now on."

With that, the magic robe behind his grandmaster fluttered loudly. A gust of wind swept past, and Cuilisi vanished before Saine's eyes.

"Grandmaster..." Saine stood there for a long while, looking in the direction she had left.

After completing a fulfilling period of study in Sky City, Saine swiftly returned to his Land of Ashes.

Time was still far too tight.

If the Faelun Continent War had not been about to begin, and if the Twenty-Sixth Wizard Alliance Assembly had not been about to be organized, Saine would have wanted to hole up in Sky City for several thousand years.

Studying in Sky City was far more pleasant and comfortable than exploring alone in Despair World.

Special leisure venues like the magic coffee shop Saine had visited before were everywhere throughout Sky City's middle and lower levels.

Anyone living there would never have to worry about being bored.

Back in his younger days, Saine had once entertained the thought that when he grew old and his state of mind reached a certain level, opening a small alchemy shop in Sky City might not be a bad idea.

Upon returning to the Land of Ashes, Saine immediately summoned Meili and asked about the recent war preparations of Ash Holy Tower, as well as all the Holy Towers and Knights' Halls throughout the Land of Ashes.

Thanks to Saine issuing his orders early enough, all Combat Legions in the Land of Ashes had already prepared for departure.

This included the Member Planes affiliated with the Land of Ashes.

"Perhaps word somehow got out that you're about to advance to True Spirit-level Magician."

"In recent years, quite a few newly advanced Level-4 powerhouses have wanted to establish Holy Towers and Knights' Halls in our Land of Ashes."

"Not all of these young powerhouses came here because of your reputation."

"They heard that the Wizard World provides tremendous rule-based support and resource allocations to the areas surrounding newly established True Spirit Towers."

"These young powerhouses came to join the Land of Ashes because they hoped to obtain certain benefits as well," Meili told Saine.

All bustle under heaven was for profit; all striving under heaven was for gain.

Wizard Civilization itself was not a Top-Level Civilization that heavily promoted personality cults.

The fact that these newly advanced Level-4 Knights and magicians had come to join the Land of Ashes for the sake of profit instead relieved Saine.

At least he would not have to worry about being troubled by fanatical young magicians.

Moreover, bonds formed through interests were often more solid than simple emotional Bonds.

However, not just anyone could join the forces of the Land of Ashes.

Saine's plan for the future was to establish an organization similar to the Flame Conclave.

Thus, Saine said to Meili, "We warmly welcome any young powerhouse who wishes to join the Land of Ashes, but we must also screen these Level-4 Knights and magicians."

"If any Knights or magicians at Level 5 or above wish to join, have them come directly to me. I will assess them personally."

"As for those powerhouses who are truly talented and willing to contribute to the development of the Land of Ashes, I have never been stingy." Saine smiled.

Meili, however, wearily rubbed her forehead and said, "You really gave me a wonderful job. I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a moment to rest."

Saine comforted her, saying, "The capable must shoulder more work. Without your help, Meili, I truly wouldn't know how to manage this Holy Tower, or the True Spirit Tower of the future."

Saine's trust and reliance warmed Meili's heart.

But she also knew that relying on her strength alone, she would likely find it difficult to continue handling so many affairs.

Although many Holy Tower Vice Deans were still assisting Meili with her work, those Vice Deans could at most handle the trivial internal matters of the Holy Tower Academy.

What Meili needed was a true assistant.

Thus, right in front of Saine, Meili directly recommended someone—someone Saine knew as well: Ping Ke Man, a Level-4 Peak magician.

Saine remembered Ping Ke Man. This magician who had embarked upon the path of a mechanist was one of the earliest Vice Deans of Ash Holy Tower.

He was also one of the Level-4 Magicians who had emerged from Ash Holy Tower.

But after Ping Ke Man advanced to Level 4 back then, he left after fulfilling his dean's contract with Ash Holy Tower. Saine had heard that he went to the City of Steel for further study.

That had been quite some time ago.

Several thousand years had passed, and Ping Ke Man had risen from newly entering Level 4 to the Level-4 Peak. Saine had not expected that after all his twists and turns, he would return to Ash Holy Tower.

Ping Ke Man wished to rejoin Ash Holy Tower primarily because he wanted to continue pursuing the arcana of Mechanical Element magic at Saine's side.

After all, this place was very likely to become the site of the Wizard World's second True Spirit Mechanical Tower.

Saine did not mind that Ping Ke Man had left back then.

The man had only departed after fulfilling his contract. Had Saine himself not once served as the dean of other Holy Towers?

Faced with Ping Ke Man's return and Meili's strong recommendation, Saine nodded and accepted his application to rejoin Ash Holy Tower.

He also took the opportunity to sign another two-thousand-year Holy Tower Vice Dean contract with Ping Ke Man.

Ping Ke Man himself had requested that contract duration.

Otherwise, given his Level-4 Peak life level, even a contract of only one thousand years would not have been an issue.

They could discuss renewal terms and benefits afterward.

Regarding Ping Ke Man's return to the Ash Holy Tower family, Saine asked curiously, "Master Ping Ke Man, why don't you establish a Mechanical Holy Tower of your own?"

Ping Ke Man replied, "Master Saine, I do not have the energy or time to establish and manage a Holy Tower."

"My daily life is consumed by all sorts of experiments."

"In truth, I played very little role in assisting Master Meili with the Holy Tower's development. I must also thank Master Saine and Master Meili for being willing to accept me again." Ping Ke Man performed a mage's salute and respectfully addressed the two of them.

Meili smiled. "Master Ping Ke Man, you are far too modest."

Saine also said at the appropriate moment, "If you wish to establish a Holy Tower in the future, you may choose a site and build it directly within our Land of Ashes."

"We will give you all the assistance we can."

"Thank you, Master Saine!" Ping Ke Man immediately lowered his head in gratitude.

After settling the matters concerning Ash Holy Tower, Saine prepared to depart for Black Domain in the Western Islands.

Rose had returned to the Wizard World Not Long Ago.

Through certain channels, she had also contacted Ash Holy Tower and hoped Saine could go to Black Domain as soon as possible to speak with her.

The matter Rose wished to discuss was naturally the Faelun Continent War.

That spider woman was even more anxious than Saine.

And judging from the information she had sent, quite a few things seemed to have happened on Faelun Continent in recent years.