Healing and Siege (Seeking Follows)

Confirming that Asers could heal Yao Lao, Xiao Yan's expression lit up with joy.

"Is there anything I need to prepare?" Yao Lao asked.

"Prepare what?" Asers looked puzzled, not understanding what Yao Lao meant.

"For instance, magic cores... or other treasures to assist with the casting?" Yao Lao said, weighing his words.

Asers frowned.

"What kind of joke is this!"

"I am a dignified Life Sanctuary, and I need external items to help me heal a ninth-rank warrior? If word of this got out, wouldn't it be a laughingstock?"

"You brat, if there is a next time, I will definitely not—"

"Ahem—" Xiao Yan let out a cough.

"...I will definitely heal you!"

...Twenty miles outside Starfire City, on an unnamed hillside.

At the summit of the unnamed hill, there was a hot spring emitting wisps of steam.

In the center of the spring, Yao Lao was shirtless, suspended in mid-air, held up by the immense spiritual power of Asers.

In front of Yao Lao, Asers wore a solemn expression, his lips moving continuously as if he were chanting a magic incantation.

Countless tiny green specks of light appeared on the hillside, and then, guided by the spiritual power of Asers, they surrounded Yao Lao.

"Take this chance, circulate your battle qi!" Asers commanded in a low voice.

Hearing this, Yao Lao did not dare to be careless.

Fiery red battle qi circulated within his body, absorbing fire-type elements from the world. The green specks of light, guided by Asers, were drawn into Yao Lao's body as he absorbed the fire elements.

The green specks traveled along the meridians in Yao Lao's body, and before long, they entered his dantian.

There, in the very center of Yao Lao's dantian, was a circular hole of moderate size, its edges wrapped in a mysterious aura that carried a sense of holiness.

"Hiss... this aura, could it be from a High Inquisitor of the Church of Light?"

Controlling the green specks, Asers felt the aura at Yao Lao's dantian, and a few guesses flashed through his mind.

However, as this was a critical moment in the treatment, Asers did not say more, focusing on using the green specks to drive out the sanctuary-level aura from Yao Lao's dantian.

Under the treatment of Asers, the hole in Yao Lao's body soon shrank by a circle.

In the distance, Xiao Yan, who was guarding the two, leaned against the branch of a large tree with a blade of grass in his mouth, his gaze sweeping over Yao Lao and Asers from time to time.

"Teacher's dantian has indeed recovered quite a bit... and there is no other residual aura left inside."

"It seems Asers didn't try anything funny during the treatment."

As the sky grew dark, Asers, exhausted from the excessive consumption of his spiritual power, withdrew his palm from Yao Lao's dantian with a weary face.

"Alright, that's enough for today. This trace of sanctuary-level aura has remained in your body for too long, and your dantian has grown accustomed to it. If I remove it all at once, it will cause secondary damage to your dantian."

"It must be removed in stages, step by step, to give your dantian enough time to adapt."

"However... after this initial treatment, your battle qi strength should be restored to that of an ordinary ninth-rank warrior, and you can resume your cultivation."

"Many thanks!" Yao Lao cupped his hands.

Seeing this, Asers curled his lips and glanced at Xiao Yan, who was dozing off against the tree in the distance.

"No need to thank me, I'm just a kind-hearted person!"

...Over half a year passed.

In the Zhongyuan Empire, at the border between Rivas Province and Mobius Province.

Qingli City, the base of the sanctuary-level Rivas Family, was also the largest city in Rivas Province.

On the dozens-of-meters-high walls of Qingli City, Kasa, dressed in a mage's robe, looked with a grave expression at the Church of Light army stationed ten miles away.

A middle-aged soldier operating a defensive ballista swallowed nervously.

"My lord, we'll be counting on you when the fighting starts; you must imbue our bolts with magic!" Looking at Kasa's youthful face, the other soldiers operating the ballistae urged him with concern.

By now, Kasa had long since become a veteran fifth-rank mage.

He had mastered wind-type spells like Cutting and Sharpness.

If such spells were combined with the immense power of the defensive ballistae, they could even threaten seventh or eighth-rank warriors, greatly enhancing the defensive strength of Qingli City.

Therefore, there were quite a few wind-type mages like Kasa on the walls of Qingli City at this moment, scattered throughout the ramparts, ready to imbue the bolts with magic the moment the battle began.

"Keep your guard up, I'll be right back." Facing the soldiers' reminder, Kasa, who had grown much more mature, showed no change in his expression. After giving the calm order, he turned and walked toward a wall platform.

Entering the platform, he found many others already there—all wind-type mages like himself, including quite a few members of the Rivas Family.

"Kasa, you're here!" a burly man in black robes shouted.

"Cousin." Kasa walked over quickly.

Half a year of warfare had made the once-youthful boy much more mature, and Kasa had not smiled in a long time.

"Supplies are getting scarcer by the day. Rumor has it that the Empire intends to abandon Rivas Province," the burly man in black robes said in a low voice, stuffing black bread into his mouth and chewing.

Kasa, who was drinking hot water, felt his fingers pause slightly.

"Have they given up?"

"Perhaps it is for the best..." Kasa touched the scar on his left cheek, a hideous mark that cut across half his face from the corner of his eye all the way down to his chin.

This was left behind three months ago during an assault by the Church of Light, inflicted by a soldier who had betrayed the city. If the burly man in the black robe hadn't arrived in time, Kasa would have died right then and there.

"The Church of Light has been besieging Rivas Province for quite some time now. Aside from Qingli City, all other cities have already fallen. The people inside have long been in a state of panic; retreating is for the best!" Kasa said with extreme composure.

"I naturally understand that logic, but it's just a pity for Leizi and the others. If we abandon Rivas Province now, wouldn't the deaths of Leizi and the others who died defending the city lose their meaning?" the burly man in the black robe said indignantly.

"The higher-ups have already made their decision; our opposition is useless." Kasa shook his head, his gaze shifting toward the window.

A sudden change occurred.

Whoosh!!!

The sky was filled with a dense swarm of arrows, occupying the entire firmament.

"Enemy attack!" a soldier shouted from atop the city wall.

"Everyone return to your positions, prepare to counterattack!" A deep, commanding voice rang out from within the ramparts.

Kasa and the burly man in the black robe both stood up from their seats and quickly ran back to their posts.

"Draw your bows, draw your bows!"

"We must not let the people of the Church of Light set even half a step onto the city wall!"

Kasa roared, commanding while chanting magic, as arrows enveloped in cyan elements were shot rapidly toward the outside.

Under the cover of night, Kasa's face looked ferocious atop the city wall.

Below the wall, a massive, swarming sea of soldiers was launching an assault on Qingli City.

Leading them were several men in black robes with indifferent expressions and eyes filled with coldness.