Light Magic

Kuhn handed his daughter Laina over to Liewen.

Liewen had expected Laina to cry intensely, but to his surprise, the little one was sleeping soundly.

Liewen told Kuhn the address of his residence in Hess City.

Kuhn memorized it firmly, then took one last, reluctant look at Laina.

"I leave her to you, Mr. Liewen."

Kuhn's eyes were slightly red. After saying this, he turned and headed toward the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Liewen strapped Laina to his back, wrapping her tightly with a strip of cloth.

He was ready to attend to his own business.

The level nine ascetic was still unconscious, so he dragged the man into a civilian house by the side of the road.

There were bloodstains on the walls of the house; the owners had already died at the hands of magical beasts.

Liewen severed the tendons in the ascetic's hands and feet.

The pain caused the ascetic to wake up.

"I need all Light-style magic from level seven up to Forbidden Spells," Liewen said coldly.

The ascetic's face was twisted in agony, but he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

Liewen used his sword to slice off the nail of the man's right thumb.

The ascetic let out a pained cry, yet still refused to yield.

Liewen sliced off his second nail.

Half an hour later, Liewen dragged the ascetic's battered corpse out of the house.

He had successfully obtained all the Light-style magic he desired.

Liewen's decision to save Kuhn was only partially motivated by his interest in the Tiger-striped Warrior; the primary reason was to acquire Light-style magic.

Magic from level seven to Forbidden Spells was held by major factions and was not made public; it was impossible to obtain through ordinary means unless one joined a faction or resorted to extreme measures.

He dug a large pit and buried the ascetic along with the two experts from the Religious Inquisition.

Liewen wanted to destroy the evidence.

In truth, if left there, their bodies would eventually be devoured by magical beasts, but for the sake of caution, Liewen decided to bury them anyway.

After finishing this, Liewen took little Laina and headed toward Hess City.

On the way, he constantly pondered the Light-style magic he had obtained, hoping to find some inspiration regarding the Profound Mysteries of the Laws of Light.

Profound Mysteries and magic were, in fact, closely linked.

Many years ago, the Sovereigns of various elements vied for the faith of those in the material planes. To spread their faith, they compiled magic based on the Profound Mysteries of their respective Laws and passed them down to their believers.

Magic was, in essence, simplified Profound Mysteries.

This Light-style Forbidden Spell, Angel Descent, seems connected to the Profound Mysteries of Light Elements; both involve manipulating light elements to condense into specific shapes.

The Light magic Soul Shock must be simplified from a type of soul-attack Profound Mystery.

And the Forbidden Spell, Light of World Purification—what kind of Profound Mystery is that?

As Liewen pondered the Profound Mysteries while traveling, he arrived within the borders of the Hess Kingdom.

Upon reaching this area, the scenery along the way finally changed; there were no magical beasts, and the cities and villages showed no signs of death.

Although there were few people left, it was likely they had migrated north out of fear of danger.

Liewen continued forward and saw endless rows of military camps.

In addition to the Hess Kingdom's army, there were also knight orders and mage legions from the Holy Union.

The Holy See was clearly attempting to establish a defensive line within the Hess Kingdom to block the horde of magical beasts.

Liewen passed through the checkpoints set up by the military and traveled another three hundred miles before finally arriving at Hess City, the capital of the Hess Kingdom.

Hess City was already overcrowded with nobles and wealthy individuals from various countries who had fled here.

Liewen entered the city and found the residence he had purchased.

Among the many properties he had bought, most were intended for resale; only one was kept for his own residence.

The influx of nobles and the wealthy into Hess City had caused prices and hotel room rates to skyrocket.

A decent meal that might have originally cost one hundred gold coins now cost several thousand, and even then, demand outstripped supply.

During his months in the countryside, Liewen had already commissioned the Dawson Chamber of Commerce to hire a group of servants and stock up on daily necessities, so he did not need to worry about the cost of living.

He had originally considered opening a hotel or restaurant, but he was too busy with his cultivation and didn't want to expend the effort to manage one, so he gave up on the idea, choosing instead to buy and flip properties for a quick profit.

Liewen returned to his residence.

The property he chose for himself was not in the central area of Hess City; it was relatively quiet and would not be disturbed by others.

The servants in the residence had already received word and were waiting at the main gate.

"Greetings, sir." The servants bowed to him. In the Hess Kingdom, Liewen was no longer a viscount, so the servants all addressed him as sir.

"That's enough, go back to your work." Liewen waved his hand, dismissing them.

"Steward Edward, please help me find an experienced wet nurse to take care of the young miss."

Liewen handed Laina over to the steward. To the outside world, he claimed that Laina was his younger sister.

Infants of this age all looked much the same, so he wasn't worried about being discovered by the Radiant Church.

"Understood." Edward cradled Laina. He was an elderly man with white hair combed meticulously, a straight back, and impeccable manners; one look was enough to tell he was a highly experienced noble steward.

"Sir, for the past few days, people have been coming to the door wanting to purchase the mansion. Since you were away, I turned them all down. Would you like to meet with them?"

Liewen smiled upon hearing this. Recently, many nobles and wealthy merchants had flooded into Hess City. These big shots were used to luxury and naturally couldn't stand staying in ordinary inns or hotels, so they were looking to buy mansions.

The price of mansions in Hess City had already multiplied several times over.

A mansion that would normally cost two or three hundred thousand gold coins was now selling for over a million.

"Fine, send them over." Liewen had been waiting for these people.

Over the next two days, Liewen met with a succession of nobles and wealthy merchants, selling off almost all the mansions he had on hand and earning over a hundred million gold coins.

There was a small incident during this time when a down-and-out noble came to cause trouble.

One of the mansions in Liewen's possession was one he had bought from this man. The man was a spendthrift who had sold his family's ancestral home to Liewen.

The price had been the market rate at the time.

But now that the value had multiplied several times over, he felt unbalanced and came to Liewen demanding a share of the profits, only to be thrown out by Liewen.

One day, while Liewen was in the courtyard contemplating profound mysteries, the steward approached him.

"Sir, there is a guest here to inquire about purchasing a mansion."

Liewen opened his eyes. "Take him to the study."

He had only one mansion left for sale, located on Keyan Street in Hess City—a very ordinary residence, not in the central district.

He had bought it for two hundred thousand gold coins at the time; of course, to buy it now, it would cost a million.

In the study, Liewen met the buyer. He was a man with short green hair. Judging by his attire, he was a guard, clearly inquiring on behalf of his master.

The mansion was eventually sold for a price of one million gold coins.

Liewen also learned the true identity of the buyer: Sha Ke, the second prince of the Fenlai Kingdom.

The green-haired man left, and Liewen knew that the next witness event was approaching.

The next witness mission was to witness the death of Doehring Cowart.

On the Day of Destruction, after Linley escaped the Radiant Temple and left Fenlai City, he had encountered Sha Ke, the second prince of the Fenlai Kingdom, on the road.

Linley had assassinated Clayde in Fenlai City, but because he had used his Dragonform at the time, most people assumed the one who assassinated Clayde was a monster.

The Radiant Church had also sealed off the news, which resulted in many people not knowing that Linley had assassinated Clayde.

Sha Ke didn't know either, so he didn't suspect Linley and traveled with him to Hess City.

When fleeing Fenlai City, to avoid attracting the attention of Saint-level magical beasts, the members of the Fenlai royal family had left in three separate groups. Hess City was one of the meeting points agreed upon by Sha Ke and Clayde.

Linley followed Sha Ke specifically to find Clayde.

Sha Ke's purchase of the mansion was also intended as a temporary residence for himself and Clayde.

In Hess City, Linley successfully killed Clayde and also learned from Clayde's own mouth that his mother had been offered to the Radiant Church by Clayde.

Because of her pure soul, Linley's mother had been offered to the Radiant Sovereign by the Radiant Church.

After Linley killed Clayde, he was besieged by six special deacons from the Religious Inquisition of the Radiant Church.

Linley and Bebe were outnumbered. In the end, it was Doehring Cowart who exhausted his final soul energy to cast the Earth-style forbidden spell, Meteor Fall, to save Linley.

Doehring Cowart's soul dissipated completely as a result.