Wesport smiled faintly, looking as though he had everything under control. He picked up the teacup on the table, took a light sip, and waited for Jonathan's answer.
Jonathan paced back and forth around the sitting room, thinking it over again and again.
He seemed hesitant, but he had already made up his mind.
Before leaving, I'll fleece the Dark Church one last time!
And I'll turn everything the Bred Family owns that can be sold into gold coins.
A while later, Jonathan put on the expression of someone who had finally made up his mind. "Since you think so highly of me, sir, I'll accept your offer."
Wesport's smile deepened. It was more or less what he had expected.
"However, I've heard there's a treasure in this world called a Space Ring. An organization as powerful as the Dark Church should have one, right? I want one."
"Hmm?"
Wesport's brows drew together abruptly. Asking for a Space Ring was far beyond what he had expected.
Though Space Rings were rare, the Dark Church still had quite a few. Most of them, however, were in the hands of Saint Realm experts.
"A Space Ring? What do you want one for?"
Jonathan answered bluntly, "It would be convenient. The last few times I went to the Magical Beast Mountain Range to train, I regretted that I couldn't bring back some of the materials. I could only pick up the important ones."
"If I had a Space Ring, it would be much easier. Don't you agree, Lord Wesport?"
Wesport smiled. He really was still a child at heart.
"Space Rings are extremely rare. Even a king might not have one. I'll have to report this to the Pope before I can make a decision."
"All right. But I'm still young, and it wouldn't be right for me to take on such a heavy responsibility all at once. Besides, I need to focus on my cultivation. There's no harm in waiting a few years before I officially join the Dark Church. What do you think, sir?"
Wesport considered it for a moment before replying, "I understand."
"We've talked enough for today. I'll visit again next time."
Wesport left with his men. A gray-robed priest beside him said, "Jonathan really doesn't know how to appreciate a good thing. You personally came to visit and invited him, yet he still had the nerve to make demands."
"I'd be surprised if he hadn't made any!" Wesport glanced at the gray-robed priest. "A magical genius as outstanding as he is will be treated with courtesy wherever he goes. The Four Great Empires and the three major merchant associations would certainly offer him generous terms if he were willing to join them."
"What I offered at first was only average, really. After all, he's one of our people in the Dark Alliance, so if he had to choose, he'd naturally favor us. If he refused..."
"But what surprised me was that he asked for a Space Ring. That's truly strange."
"A Space Ring is certainly convenient, but aside from storage, it's of no use to its owner."
"Not to mention that he's a marquis with a vast fortune. Even without that status, a Level 7 dual-element mage like him would hardly be short of money."
"Then what should we do about him, sir? He seems willing, but not entirely."
"I can't decide on the Space Ring myself. I'll have to ask the Pope first. As for his attitude, he is still young and has plenty of potential. Waiting a few years won't hurt. As long as he doesn't betray the Dark Church, anything can be discussed."
"Let's go. We'll return to Fulai City first."
Fulai City was the Dark Church's headquarters, no more than five or six days' journey from Black Phoenix City.
After they left, Jonathan gave a cold laugh, returned to the cultivation chamber, and continued studying the Magic Array.
Time passed swiftly. In the blink of an eye, nearly half a month had gone by.
After completing the Magic Array's preliminary design, Jonathan began setting it up. The magic was extremely complex, and even as an 8th-level Magister, it took a great deal of mental energy.
He placed six Level 4 Magic Crystal Cores at the six corners of the Magic Array, then activated it with his mental energy.
The Magic Array began to glow in waves of light. A moment later, the Magic Crystal Cores began to flicker, bright and dim.
Three of the six Magic Crystal Cores were Earth-element, and the other three were Dark-element.
Jonathan could clearly feel the power inside the Magic Crystal Cores being drawn out by the Magic Array and continuously pulled toward the center.
Besides drawing out the magic power in the Magic Crystal Cores, the Magic Array could also purify it, allowing human mages to absorb and refine it quickly.
An hour later, Jonathan entered the Magic Array, sat cross-legged, and began absorbing the abundant, refined elements within it.
In less than half an incense stick's time, he had absorbed all the elements in the Magic Array, converting them into his own magic power.
Jonathan opened his eyes. "This magic research really is astonishing. In just a moment, it gives me as much magic power as I'd accumulate over several days."
"However, the Magic Crystal Cores don't seem to be used very efficiently. At most, only sixty percent gets converted. That's a bit wasteful."
Jonathan stood up and began replacing the Magic Crystal Cores.
He was only attuned to Earth and Dark Elements, so he could only refine those two types of Heaven and Earth Elements into his own magic power.
However, Jonathan had already asked Hilton to send people to buy Earth-element and Dark-element Magic Crystal Cores, and to exchange for them using Magic Crystal Cores of other elements.
By now, he had accumulated quite a number.
More than half a month passed in a flash. Most of the Earth-element and Dark-element Magic Crystal Cores had been converted into magic power inside his body, bringing his accumulated magic power to the peak of Level 8.
"My magic power is already saturated. All that's left is to focus on increasing my mental energy."
"But when an 8th-level mage breaks through, the Dao Fruit strengthens the soul, and my mental energy jumps straight to the middle stage of Level 8. That saves me quite a bit of time."
Jonathan vaguely felt that the higher his cultivation reached, the more the Dao Fruit's soul-strengthening effect increased. It was truly baffling.
Before he knew it, the year had reached 9998 on the Yulan Calendar.
On Yulan Festival, all of Black Phoenix City was bustling with activity. It was much like the Spring Festival of his previous life and the most important holiday on the entire Yulan Continent.
Jonathan had Hilton generously reward the servants, guards, and maids in the residence, and gave them three days off as well.
Everyone was deeply grateful.
Hilton, however, did not leave. He continued serving Jonathan at the residence.
Jonathan was quite pleased.
Other than cultivating, he did nothing but cultivate. At his current rate, if he wanted to reach Level 9 Great Mage within two years, he couldn't afford to slack off at all.
The cultivation chamber was filled with Magic Weapons, one after another. Most had a single Micro Magic Array engraved on them, though some had two.
As for weapons with three, there was only the dagger Jonathan used regularly.
That dagger had been a gift from Xue Yan. It was an exceptional weapon, every bit as good as the one he usually used himself.
Even so, a weapon of that quality could barely withstand three Micro Magic Arrays.
Based on Jonathan's extensive experiments, it was clear that the more Magic Arrays a weapon had, the sturdier the materials used to forge it needed to be.
The chamber's floor was littered with weapon fragments. They had shattered as soon as the Micro Magic Arrays were activated because their materials weren't strong enough.
Jonathan engraved Micro Magic Arrays mainly to train his mental energy. He didn't care much whether the weapons shattered or not.
It was like Linley carving stone sculptures: the main purpose was cultivation, and selling the finished sculptures was merely an extra source of wealth.
On the second day of Yulan Festival, Ford, Collette, and Charles came to visit.
For once, Jonathan stopped cultivating and spent time chatting and eating with them.
I'm currently in the first round of recommendations, brothers, so please give me a hand! It feels like I'm going to get eliminated in the first round again. Sob, sob...
Before you continue