The Empire's Anomaly

Clive felt a sense of disdain in his heart.

Genius was nothing more than a word; the Roland Empire saw countless geniuses emerge every year, yet those who could ultimately reach the Saint-level were few and far between, appearing only once every few centuries.

In the eyes of these descendants of Saint-level families, a genius who had not yet matured was simply not worth paying attention to. At the very least, one had to be a genius at the level of a Great Magus of the seventh rank or higher to be worth the effort of these Saint-level family scions to recruit.

At thirteen, Lynn was, at best, an intermediate magus. There was no guarantee he wouldn't die accidentally before he even matured, so there was no need to place too much importance on him.

In the future, if Lynn truly grew up and broke through to the seventh rank to become a Great Magus, Clive felt that with the influence of his Zorn Family behind him, it wouldn't be too late to recruit him then.

There was no need to waste energy now. Clive's main targets were the descendants of other Saint-level families; Lynn was simply not as important as them.

After offering a few perfunctory words, Clive walked away.

"Looking down on people with those dog eyes." Sensing Clive's attitude, Kasa watched his retreating back and cursed under his breath.

After saying this, Kasa turned to look at Lynn. "This Clive doesn't have high talent. His elemental affinity is only average, and his spiritual strength is insufficient, making it impossible for him to become a magus. At best, he'll be a seventh-rank warrior in the future. Just because he relies on his family, he actually dares to look down on you, Boss, whose talent far exceeds his. What a guy who can't see reality!"

"There's no need to lower yourself to the level of such a person." Lynn shook his head. "If great power does not belong to one's own body, one is nothing but a handful of dirt after a hundred years. Everything they manage now is nothing more than a joke."

In other worlds, all living beings fought tooth and nail, sometimes even engaging in fierce battles over a single spirit stone, or in extreme cases, causing the very Great Dao of their worlds to collapse, all just to pursue eternal life. Yet here in the Coiling Dragon World, a world where Saint-level meant eternal life, Lynn actually didn't understand. Logically speaking, shouldn't the living beings of this world be even more fanatical?

In other worlds, eternal life was merely a legend, yet it could drive countless beings to madness. But in the Coiling Dragon World, eternal life was a tangible reality. Ordinary people were one thing, but these descendants of Saint-level families absolutely knew this fact.

Living in the world most conducive to eternal life, yet failing to cherish it—if the struggling Supremes from neighboring worlds saw this, they would likely be so enraged that they would immediately burn their life force to reach their peak, declaring that these people were courting death.

The gathering continued, and this small interlude did not affect Kasa and Lynn. Under Kasa's guidance, Lynn was introduced to some descendants of Saint-level forces who had close ties with the Rivas Family behind Kasa.

They were Colin from the Gonzalez Family, Wally from the Harris Family, Percival from the Rost Family, and Zena from the Riley Family—three men and one woman in total.

Among them, Zena, like Kasa and Lynn, was a magus, while the other three were warriors.

The group stood together, chatting casually. Since almost everyone present was a direct descendant of a Saint-level family, their intelligence-gathering capabilities were not weak. Even in casual conversation, the information revealed allowed Lynn to broaden his horizons and learn much that he had not known before.

For instance, the royal family of the Laine Principality had been sidelined by the principality's Grand General, leaving the Laine Principality a mere shell of its former self.

Or, for example, the City of Wind and Snow in the far north of the Azeron Continent had been struck three days ago by the Saint-level magical beast, the Nine-Headed Hydra Emperor. The city lord had been killed in battle, tens of thousands of civilians had been killed or injured, and it had now become a paradise for magical beasts.

"I remember the City of Wind and Snow is territory of the Thorn Principality. If that Saint-level Nine-Headed Hydra Emperor attacked the City of Wind and Snow, did it not know that the Thorn Principality is a subordinate state of the Roland Empire?" Percival asked in confusion.

It was no secret that the three great empires of the Azeron Continent were backed by gods; even many ordinary people knew this. How could a Saint-level magical beast dare to take action against forces within the territory of an empire?

The intelligence of high-level magical beasts was no lower than that of ordinary humans, and the intelligence of Saint-level magical beasts was even greater. Logically, they shouldn't make such a low-level mistake.

"Heh... sea-dwelling magical beasts are arrogant and wild by nature. Is there anything they wouldn't dare to do? Besides, in the eyes of the empire's upper echelons, the destruction of a mere subordinate town is not a big deal!" Colin sneered, his words filled with sarcasm.

The Gonzalez Family behind Colin was a Saint-level force on the seas, so he naturally understood the temperament of the magical beasts in the ocean.

The ocean was vast and boundless, encompassing everything. As long as they didn't completely offend the gods, these Saint-level sea beasts could occasionally come ashore, eat a few people to satisfy their cravings, and then flee back to the deep sea. Ordinary Saint-level experts couldn't catch them, and the high and mighty gods wouldn't waste their time paying attention to such things.

Seeing Colin steering the conversation in a negative direction, Lynn spoke up to change the subject. "By the way, I heard the Church of Light has been making quite a stir lately. What do you all think?"

"What else can we think? We just sit and watch!" Zena said playfully, easing the heavy atmosphere.

Wally, who had short red hair and a rugged face, was drinking strong liquor. He set down his glass and said, "The Church of Light?"

"They haven't had it easy lately. Apparently, the Pope of Light mobilized branches across the entire continent to find someone, causing quite a commotion. The Zhongyuan Empire and the Roland Empire, in particular, were key areas of investigation. Just the number of special deacons dispatched was no less than twenty!"

"I heard that too. It's said the Church of Light even sent out angels—those are powerful beings who are at least Saint-level!" Percival added, a hint of envy in his voice.

Angels living in the Light Divine Realm, even the weakest two-winged angels, were at least at the early Saint-level. In a material plane, that was enough to establish an immortal family.

"But it's strange. To find this person, the Church of Light controlled quite a few towns directly under the two empires this time. You could say they touched the bottom line of the two empires. Logically, given the overbearing style of the two empires, they should have held the Church of Light accountable long ago, yet there hasn't been any movement." Colin looked puzzled.

"Didn't they kill a team of special deacons?" Percival asked, confused.

"That was just a group of ninth-rank warriors whose potential had been exhausted. To the powerful Church of Light, what is that small loss worth?" Colin smiled dismissively.

"Given the overbearing style of the two empires, in the face of such overstepping by the Church of Light, they should have killed everyone the Church sent, not just a single team of special deacons," Kasa said, rubbing his chin.

"Who knows what the empire's top brass is thinking? It's also possible the Church of Light paid some price in secret to appease the anger of the two empires!" Wally said carelessly.

Lynn listened to their conversation, lost in thought.

...Panshi Town, behind the mountain, Xiao Yan leaned against a rock.

"The three great empires have jointly ruled the Azeron Continent for thousands of years. In those thousands of years, there has been no lack of forces challenging them, but every one of them was suppressed in blood."

"And yet, the punishment for the Church of Light this time seems a bit like all thunder and no rain."

"Something is wrong. There is something very, very wrong!"