136 Reunion with Malphite

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's apology, the Hextech Hextech Yuan Chen the past two weeks, displayed a variety of expressions.

It's important to know that Yuan Chen's image in the eyes of Hextech Craftsmen is definitely not good.

The most important reason for this was that Yuan Chen always exuded an indescribable arrogance.

This arrogance is not based on ignorance, but rather on a kind of arrogance that says, "I knew it," "I told you so," "See, I told you so," or "What's so difficult about that?"

Undeniably, Yuan Chen 'Yuan Chen knowledge is respectable, but his expression of emotion always makes the Hextech craftsmen uncomfortable...

Now, sensing the apology and humility in Yuan Chen's words, even Jayce, who was always eager to express himself, was momentarily at a loss for words.

"Your change is too drastic..." Rosa, the forge manager standing next to Jayce, said with a sigh, scratching her head.

"I was thinking before, you were so proud in Piltover, you'd be even prouder when you got back to Ixialia. Now it seems I was wrong."

In contrast to the Hextech craftsmen, the masters of Ixialia nodded with delight.

Master Tina had used the Wind Axiom Air Axiom to synthesize a toxic atmosphere that caused a large number of the Grey Legion soldiers to suffocate and suffer from blood clots, breathed a sigh of relief after adjusting her glasses. She then said:

"It seems Master Yuan Chen hasn't changed; the convincing Ionia scholar is back!"

Haha! Yes!

Upon hearing Master Tina's words, Master Odh, who had a long beard, nodded happily and said:

"Master Yuan Chen seemed like a completely different person to me recently. He was so humble and polite in Ixialia, but he changed completely when he arrived in Piltover... Now it seems that he was indeed trying to better stimulate Piltover's competitive spirit."

Master Odh stroked his beard and said, "This will attract more attention from Hextech scholars... although it might not seem very polite."

Upon hearing Master Odh's words, Yuan Chen nodded and said:

"This is also my first time going to Piltover... Although it's my first time, Piltover is different from Ixialia. Even though knowledge and truth hold a high position in Piltover, it is still influenced by the inherent concepts of the Valoran Continent."

"Like those powerful families, the career advancement path in Piltover has become rigid under their control... I had considered whether it was possible to resolve this through slightly gentler means, but it turns out that it was pointless."

"Piltover and Zaun will be reborn... You should be able to feel this more clearly when you return to Piltover."

Upon hearing this, the people from Piltover exchanged glances, and then subconsciously looked back at Piltover —although they were far apart, they could still vaguely see the towering outline of the Sun Gate.

However, unlike before, the Sun Gate has now been smashed in the middle.

Without the obstruction of the gate, the sunlight, rising from the horizon, could now penetrate the previously closed portal. This meant that it wasn't just Piltover was basking in the sunlight... but also Zaun.

Nestled in the crisscrossing rifts of Zaun, laborers and children gathered in twos and threes at the cliff edge, gazing at the shattered Sun Gate and the restless Chem-Baron...

Once, the Sun Gate brought Piltover a constant stream of wealth... But now, with the gate shattered, a new chapter will be written in the relationship between Zaun and Piltover, whether it be trade or smuggling.

"Those children and laborers who have lived in the shadow of the Sun Gate since birth will also bask in the same sunlight as Piltover."

Standing beside the alchemy transport vehicle, Viktor's eyes gleamed beneath his mask. "What a glorious advancement."

Upon hearing Viktor's words, the Piltover craftsmen present merely distanced themselves from him with some discomfort.

While the group was still moving forward in silence, not long afterward, Yuan Chen, sitting in the carriage, suddenly raised his head as if he had sensed something.

"What's wrong?"

Qiyana pulled back the car curtain and looked at Yuan Chen: "What's on your mind?"

Yuan Chen simply shook his head, not particularly surprised that Qiyana had noticed his emotional fluctuations—the carriage curtain was made of a special Silk Material. One could clearly see out from inside, but one could not see in from outside.

After adjusting his mindset, Yuan Chen said to Qiyana beside him, "I need to take care of something related to Malphite. You guys go ahead, I'll catch up later."

"...Okay." Qiyana wasn't surprised to hear that Yuan Chen was leaving for a while. Or rather, Yuan Chen had often voluntarily left the caravan for a period of time before they arrived. For example, last time, he even brought back a cat and a magical Book of Thresholds.

However, that cat was clearly too mischievous, and now it's off somewhere to slack off again.

Just as Yuan Chen was about to leave, Jayce, who had noticed the Book of Thresholds at Yuan Chen's waist, slapped his forehead and asked:

"Speaking of which, don't you have a teleportation Book of Thresholds?"

"Yes, the Book of Thresholds." Hearing Jayce's question, Yuan Chen didn't hide anything. "A Magic Item from the Yordle realm, but its author is unknown."

Hearing Yuan Chen's response, Jayce breathed a sigh of relief—in fact, Jayce had long wanted to find an opportunity to study the matter of the Book of Thresholds.

Because the project Jayce was researching was closely related to teleportation magic. When Yuan Chen appeared with the delegation at the Sun Gate Bridge, Jayce had taken note of it and was originally planning to find an opportunity to talk to him.

However, during his time in Piltover, Yuan Chen's arrogance and domineering nature made Jayce was also naturally competitive, feel a sense of alienation...

Born believing himself to be the greatest genius, he would never allow Jayce to bow down. Moreover, unlike Qiyana's Qiyana spirit, which stems from a neglected past and can be considered an overcompensation for her inferiority complex in some ways.

Jayce, on the other hand, was confident in his own abilities, believing that he could complete his research even without help, and then he could thoroughly humiliate this country bumpkin from Ixialia, letting him know that Jayce was the greatest inventor in the world.

But now, after Yuan Chen apologized to them for his previous rudeness, Jayce temporarily put aside his resentment.

Well, the main reason is that Jayce used to be just as arrogant. Apart from Viktor understands each other's talents and abilities and can have normal conversations with him, Jayce is much more arrogant than Yuan Chen at other times.

After going through various trials and tribulations, Jayce finally changed.

Now, thinking about the difficulties he had encountered recently, Jayce said somewhat embarrassedly, "Um... could I borrow it later?"

Back in Piltover, Yuan Chen and Jayce reached an agreement on certain aspects of Hexgates cooperation—such as providing comprehensive portal data and spatial coefficients.

However, the amount of data provided was very limited. In fact, it was precisely because of this interesting data that Jayce became exceptionally curious about the contents of the Book of Thresholds.

Yuan Chen's answer to this was also very simple.

"No."

"Well?"

Hearing Yuan Chen's straightforward refusal, Jayce's face showed a hint of embarrassment, but after thinking for a moment, he didn't say anything more, only nodding helplessly.

"Alright... I admit I was being a bit presumptuous. Such a precious Book of Thresholds should be a closely guarded secret among mages... However, I still believe that mutual exchange is essential for the progress of civilization."

Sensing Jayce's attempt to save face, Yuan Chen chuckled twice, then shook his head and said:

"No, you're mistaken. It's because this Book of Thresholds isn't mine."

"Huh?! It's not yours?"

Jayce seemed somewhat surprised.

Yuan Chen simply nodded in response, then said, "The owner of the Book of Thresholds is named 'Norra,' a Yordle witch who disappeared due to an accident. This book and Yuumi, the little cat, have been searching for Norra. However, I discovered some clues, and since our goals are similar, we've teamed up."

"The Book of Thresholds itself possesses its own intelligence and thinking ability. Although it is currently with me, to be honest, I cannot control it. Even with my previous teleportation, I had to tell it what to do, and then it would operate it. I cannot directly control the Book of Thresholds itself."

As Yuan Chen spoke, the Book of Thresholds seemed to realize it needed to assert its presence, and flipped through its pages without anyone touching it.

The sound was whirring, but unfortunately Yuumi wasn't there. Without this feline translator, nobody knew what the Book of Thresholds was trying to convey.

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's explanation, Jayce nodded thoughtfully. "So, those data are also..."

"Yes, the Book of Thresholds itself agreed to provide it."

"Okay..." Hearing this, Jayce seemed a little speechless. But after thinking for a moment, Jayce still asked with some curiosity:

"If that's the case, why don't we just open a portal and go to Ixialia?"

Jayce gestured with his chin toward the Book of Thresholds and said, "Just like when you appeared at the Sun Gate Bridge, we opened a portal and went back immediately, didn't we?"

"The consumption is too high."

Yuan Chen shook his head indifferently and said, "The same teleportation channel has a threshold for teleportation within a short period of time. If Norra, the owner of the Book of Thresholds, were here, she might be able to do this. But Norra isn't here, and I can't reduce the impact of the threshold by controlling the Book of Thresholds."

"In this situation, the farther away and the more people there are, the more unstable the portal becomes. The incident at the Sun Gate was meant to give you a warning; in reality, we were already close to the Gate of the Sun Gate bridge, just below the coast in a blind spot."

When Jayce learned that Yuan Chen and the others' stunning entrance was actually pre-planned, and that they were actually nearby, he stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

A moment later, rubbing his temples, Jayce said with a speechless expression, "Fine... at least you've achieved your goal of shocking us."

"Since I'm new here, I definitely need to show some skills to get noticed." Sensing Jayce's speechless expression, Yuan Chen shrugged and said nonchalantly:

"If you feel resentful or angry... would you feel better if I apologized to you?"

Feeling the teasing in Yuan Chen's words, Jayce waved his hand unhappily. "No one would feel good about that!"

Although he said that, even Jayce himself did not realize that during his conversation with Yuan Chen, most of the distance and resentment in his heart had dissipated.

They didn't quite reach the level of friends, because Jayce has always had very few friends... or even none at all.

At least in his mind, there was no genius who could be his equal.

However, it would be enough if Jayce could just subconsciously communicate with others in an equal manner.

Thinking it over, Yuan Chen nodded and said, "I have some things to attend to, so I'll take my leave first. Don't forget to give my regards to the other Hextech scholars—once we arrive in Ixialia, I'll give you a proper introduction to this amazing country!"

Before Jayce could react, two sharp blades flew out from Yuan Chen's waist. Stepping on them, with a whooshing sound, Yuan Chen's body instantly disappeared into the boundless canopy of the Kumungu Mountains.

Accompanied by the sound of the wind rushing through the air, Yuan Chen soon passed through the dense forest and arrived at a coastline.

After waiting a moment, feeling the warmth on the back of his right hand, Yuan Chen knew that Malphite had arrived.

Just as I was thinking this, the coastal cliffs behind me emitted a rumbling sound, giving the impression that the mountain was collapsing from the inside.

This made Yuan Chen slightly concerned, because before this, even when Malphite traveled through the ley lines and walked among the rocks of the mountains, he wouldn't make the slightest noise. But now, just moving around was causing such a commotion, which clearly meant that Malphite had encountered something during this time.

Yes, Yuan Chen noticed this at the Sun Gate; Malphite was noticeably larger than when he first saw him in the mine tunnels.

However, the situation was rather special at the time, so Yuan Chen didn't ask rashly and waited until now.

A moment later, on the massive rock formation of the seaside cliff, Malphite's face, made entirely of rock, emerged.

The enormous head swayed from side to side, and after seeing Yuan Chen, it nodded slightly and said, "The Void... is stirring."

I had a fever last night, rested all night and felt better, but then a gust of wind made me catch a cold again. I took some Jin Gan capsules, but they didn't seem to help; instead, I felt drowsy. I'll just stay on 4K for the next couple of days and resume updates once I'm fully recovered...