Victoria

Olivier and the others followed the boy Hank to his home.

Hank's home was an old residence, weathered by time and clearly steeped in history. It was not large, nor was there anything valuable inside.

Hank's ancestors had once been nobles of the Yulan Empire, glorious for a time. Later, the family began to decline. Generation after generation, by Hank's time, only the old family residence remained.

Moreover, three years ago, Hank's father had gone out adventuring and never returned. Only Hank, his mother, and his younger sister were left to depend on one another. His father had not left behind any property after his death.

Hank's mother had been born a commoner and knew neither battle qi nor magic. She supported the family of three by washing clothes for others, which was far from easy. At only eight years old, Hank had begun scraping by in the imperial capital to help support the household, taking on simple jobs or stealing when he could.

"I want to earn money and buy food for Mother and my sister." Hank was very filial.

By chance, Hank encountered the old man from the restaurant. Seeing the old man's money pouch, Hank made his move.

Naturally, he was caught by the old man, a Saint-level Archmage. At the same time, the old man discovered that Hank possessed exceptional Fire Element magic talent, as well as outstanding spiritual energy.

"Kid, are you willing to learn magic from me? I can give you, your mother, and your sister good food to eat," the old man said to him.

Not only did he not blame Hank, he even wanted to take him as his disciple.

"Really? I agree."

Thus, Hank gained a teacher named Gandalf, who was also the owner of the restaurant.

Hank's sister, Victoria, was two years younger than him. Their mother did not allow her to leave the house, so she had always stayed at home. Half a month ago, they found Victoria unconscious in her room. Hank and the others had invited several Light Element magi to treat her, but it had been ineffective. In the end, they had already given up on treatment.

Unexpectedly, after half a month had passed, she suddenly began to improve.

"Her soul is rapidly growing stronger. A soul mutation should also cause corresponding elemental fluctuations. The Light Element, Water Element, and Life Element in the room seem somewhat more active, though not noticeably so. Could it be because she has never cultivated magic?"

Olivier found it rather strange.

"A three-element soul mutation?"

In truth, a soul mutation would indeed trigger mutations in the corresponding magical elements. Linley's mutation involved the four elements of earth, wind, water, and fire, while Olivier's soul mutation involved Light Element and darkness.

That did not mean they could not cultivate other Laws or Edicts. Both Olivier and Linley possessed Sword-Shaped Souls and could cultivate the Laws of Destruction. It was simply because they had not absorbed destruction elemental essence that the Laws of Destruction fluctuations during their soul mutations had been negligible, and no one had noticed them.

Victoria, meanwhile, had only just turned eight and had never cultivated magic, so there had been no particularly obvious fluctuations during her soul mutation.

"Linley's four-element soul mutation took more than thirty years. My two-element soul mutation took three months. I was already at the Saint level when my soul mutated, and my soul was countless times stronger than this girl's. If hers were only a two-element mutation, it should not take this long. It must be a three-element soul mutation. And it is actually about to succeed. What a miracle."

Olivier looked at Victoria and thought to himself.

Olivier estimated that Victoria's soul mutation would take about another month. During the first half of a soul mutation, the soul weakened until it reached its limit. Then it began to strengthen. The strengthening phase took roughly as long as the weakening phase, but its rate was many times faster. Thus, after a successful soul mutation, the soul would be countless times stronger than before the mutation.

He did not tell the others. A three-element soul mutation was extraordinarily precious, and it was best if no one knew. He had already begun considering how to take Victoria away. The thought of teaching a three-element soul mutant into a peerless expert filled Olivier with a sense of accomplishment.

"Olivier, do you know what is happening here?"

Gandalf examined Victoria and had also noticed her condition, but he did not understand it.

Victoria's mother and Hank also looked at Olivier expectantly, hoping he could give them an answer.

"Don't worry. The most dangerous stage has already passed."

Olivier said with a smile.

Gandalf, Hank, and the others all breathed sighs of relief.

Then, he made a startling decision.

"I have discovered that Victoria has excellent Light Element talent. Once she wakes up, I have decided to take her as my disciple."

"What?"

"Ah!"

Gandalf knew that Olivier was extremely powerful, but he had not expected him to suddenly take on a disciple.

Sophie and Jessica had not expected Olivier to value this girl so highly either.

Hank and his mother found it too sudden. They had only met for the first time, yet he already wanted to take her as his disciple.

At the same time,

within a luxurious noble estate in the imperial capital.

"That girl still isn't dead? And she's even beginning to recover?"

A young nobleman spoke.

"Yes, Young Master."

A middle-aged man dressed in a black mage's robe replied.

"Didn't you guarantee that even if that girl did not die, she would become an idiot? How is she recovering?"

The young nobleman asked again.

"Young Master, you know the consequences of being struck by my Soul Spear. That girl's soul had already become extremely weak, but for some unknown reason, it suddenly began growing stronger."

The middle-aged mage said.

The young nobleman also knew the power of Soul Spear. After thinking for a moment, he said,

"Keep a close watch on that girl's condition. She has seen what we look like. Once she wakes up, she may expose us, so we cannot leave her alive."

"Also, we absolutely cannot let Gandalf discover this."

The middle-aged mage nodded. He understood Gandalf's terror well. Even their entire family could not compare to Gandalf alone.

After the middle-aged mage left,

"Where exactly is the treasure mentioned in the ancestor's journal? I've searched everywhere, yet found nothing."

The young nobleman muttered to himself.

Victoria's home.

"Lady Mary, congratulations. This is Olivier, a Saint-level warrior from the O'Brien Empire."

Gandalf introduced Olivier to Victoria's mother.

"Ah, a Saint-level warrior." Lady Mary was stunned. "Greetings, Lord Olivier."

"Lady Mary, no need to be so polite. I feel that I have a great affinity with Victoria and wish to take her as my disciple. I wonder whether you agree?"

Olivier said with a smile.

"Ah, I agree, I agree."

Lady Mary froze for a moment, then hurriedly answered. It was such a tremendous blessing.

"Good. Once Victoria wakes up, let her formally become my disciple," Olivier said again.

"All right, thank you, Lord Olivier!" Lady Mary replied.

Truly, misfortune could be a blessing in disguise.

Lady Mary looked at Olivier with fear, surprise, and admiration. He was a Saint-level warrior.

"Lady Mary, you need not be like this. In the future, I will be Victoria's teacher, while you are her mother. We can associate as equals. This old man Gandalf is also a Saint-level Archmage, so just treat me as you would treat him," Olivier said with a smile, seeing her expression.

Hearing that, Lady Mary turned her gaze toward Gandalf, looking utterly incredulous.

Clearly, she had not known Gandalf's identity. Although Hank had taken Gandalf as his teacher to learn magic, Lady Mary had thought that a mage working as a cook could not possibly be that formidable.

After her shock passed, Lady Mary was overjoyed. Both her children had become disciples of Saint-level experts. What an incredible thing that was.

After Gandalf understood the situation, he left and returned to his restaurant.

Sophie and Jessica returned to the academy, as they still had classes.

Meanwhile, Olivier found an inn nearby and settled in.

Olivier's decision to stay near Victoria's home had been made on a whim.

At present, the Yulan Continent held few secrets for Olivier. There were only a handful of God-level experts, and aside from Beirut, Olivier had already reached the very pinnacle.

Beirut was an exalted Sovereign. Other than Paragons, peak Seven-Star Fiends like Azure Fire and God-Eater Rats like Bebe were not worth Beirut's concern, given his temperament.

They could be ignored entirely.

Only the Graveyard of the Gods still held some interest for Olivier.

On a sudden whim, he had encountered a genius like Victoria. Olivier was filled with enthusiasm, wanting to train an expert comparable to Mos, or perhaps even stronger.

Victoria had never been mentioned in the original story. Either she had never embarked on the path of cultivation, or she had died young.

Furthermore!

Olivier had inadvertently discovered several suspicious people lurking around Victoria's home, seemingly watching the house.

Therefore,

Olivier did not want any accidents to occur.