Chapter 33

A few days later, Ryan and his treasure-hunting team arrived beside that unremarkable patch of open ground.

The traces of their previous excavation had not yet fully faded, so they didn't even need to pinpoint the location this time. Ryan didn't have to do any of the manual labor; his subordinates, eager for the treasure, surged forward before he could even give the order. Shovels swung rapidly, and in no time, they had dug a deep pit into the ground.

When the magic circle at the bottom of the pit was finally unearthed, the men couldn't help but cheer.

Ryan, however, was not so quick to celebrate. He ordered his men to step aside and invited the mage to inspect the damage to the circle.

"The damage isn't severe," the mage said confidently after a careful examination. "It can be repaired, though it will take some time."

Time was something they had in abundance. For this expedition, they had prepared enough supplies to live in the wilderness for a month, and they had used less than a quarter of them so far.

And so, the group settled in, occupying the very same campsite where Gerald, Palin, and Ryan had stayed during their initial treasure hunt.

Driven by the yearning for wealth and visions of a bright future, the exhausted treasure hunters drifted off to sleep.

But they were unaware that, in the low sky just above them, a massive floating jellyfish was watching them, smiling coldly.

Inside the treasure cave, Gerald and Palin were also sneering.

"It seems they think they have us in the bag," Gerald said. "We've been underestimated. Heh."

His two chuckles were truly meaningful; beyond the mockery, there was a murderous intent.

Nien, the man once known as "Baldy," was a ruthless character who had once flown into a rage and fought against noble private soldiers, even killing their leader. After being a wanted man for so many years, he had managed to flee all the way to the Four Northwest Towns and even hide securely in White Leaf Village, having survived countless life-or-death struggles along the way.

If they wanted his life, they had better be prepared to be cut down by him first!

Palin said nothing, merely sneering as he gently stroked his beloved magic book. Since his resurrection, due to some reason he could not comprehend, his magical abilities had undergone strange changes. Some spells were completely unusable, others were greatly weakened, but some had inexplicably strengthened to an unreasonable degree.

His magic book contained few spells, and he had only tested two powerful ones. The first was Cold Ray; this spell was originally a low-level cantrip, usually used for entertainment, with negligible combat utility. In his hands, however, it had become shockingly powerful. He had tested it once: a single Cold Ray could completely freeze at least five or six feet of ground, and if it hit a person, it would likely kill them on the spot.

The other enhanced spell was Frost Dagger. This spell could summon a short ice dagger that dealt minor cold damage alongside physical strikes, but its power was mediocre—perhaps using a regular dagger with more force would be more effective. However, after being strengthened, he summoned a one-handed longsword made of ice, with an exaggeratedly sharp blade and an overly sturdy body. He had once gripped the hilt with both hands and slashed hard at the nearby rock wall; the ice sword remained unscathed, while a chunk of the rock was severed. The cut was incredibly smooth, with a layer of frost condensed upon it. Gerald had reached out to touch it, and his entire palm had been frozen to the surface, taking quite a while to thaw.

Palin already understood Gerald's magical resistance. The frost that could freeze this big guy would surely leave an ordinary person frozen stiff at the slightest touch, with no guarantee of survival.

Unknowingly, he had acquired power far exceeding what he had in life. This left the young mage surprised, while also giving him a more intuitive, personal understanding of the immense power of His Majesty, the Void Mask.

This kind and approachable deity not only possessed the profound power of resurrection—capable of restoring life to a body that had lost its soul, allowing it to speak and act exactly as it had in life—but could also bestow such miraculous power upon his followers. It was simply incredible!

"Perhaps... His Majesty's divine portfolio is concentrated in the domains of 'Life' and 'Cold'?" he speculated, reporting his thoughts to Sui Xiong.

Sui Xiong actually knew what was going on: he certainly didn't have a "Life" domain, and his method of "resurrection" didn't look like any orthodox technique. However, the "Cold" domain was definitely correct; perhaps Palin's growth was due to the influence of his own power in that regard.

"If I want to truly seek godhood, perhaps starting from the direction of cold and transforming the Cold domain into a Cold portfolio is the most reliable path..."

But a Cold portfolio was not easily obtained. There were many gods who possessed it; for instance, the powerful God of Water Element held a portfolio in that direction. And among the gods of the Northern Wastelands, more than one controlled this portfolio.

Once he possessed this portfolio, he would inevitably have to deal with them. Those powerhouses who had grown up in the frozen wastes and eventually ascended to godhood were cold and vicious by nature. If he could not demonstrate power sufficient to make them back off, what awaited Sui Xiong would be a joint assault by a group of gods.

When that time came, those vicious gods would swarm him like hungry wolves smelling blood, tearing him apart and devouring him!

Palin had also emphasized this risk to him. New gods being defeated, devoured, and having all their divine power partitioned—leading to their eventual fall—had happened more than once. Even a young mage with limited knowledge like him knew of several such instances.

Although Sui Xiong was quite confident in his own strength, it was better to avoid unnecessary risks.

"My suggestion is that Your Majesty could join a pantheon of good gods. Although good pantheons have many rules and one cannot act entirely as one pleases, the gods look out for one another, which is very helpful for a newborn deity," Palin suggested.

Unfortunately, Palin was, after all, just a young, low-level mage, and his perspective was too shallow. He racked his brains but couldn't think of a single good pantheon that would be suitable for Sui Xiong.

Regardless, his suggestion had greatly inspired Sui Xiong, giving him a clearer understanding and positioning for the future. If all went well, once matters here were concluded, he planned to head south to the truly prosperous regions of the continent, contact those churches of good gods, and see for himself which deities he could get along with and potentially befriend.

But before that, he had to properly punish Ryan, that treacherous, faithless villain!

As for the thieves who had followed Ryan to hunt for treasure, he wouldn't take their lives, but he would certainly make them suffer a bit to teach them a lesson, so they would be more cautious in the future, stop doing evil, and honestly try to be good people.

To this end, he had specifically researched and developed a spell that would ensure they would never forget this day for the rest of their lives!

Time slipped away in the anticipation of both sides. A few days later, the mage in whom Ryan had placed such high hopes finally repaired the teleportation circle and completely cracked it, removing the bloodline restrictions so that anyone could enter or exit freely.

"This circle is an older type, quite popular about five hundred years ago, but it's obsolete now," he said with a hint of showing off. "This type of spell structure has been phased out, mainly because it's easily cracked. I wonder who designed this circle originally? Judging by the technique, this predecessor mage was quite skilled, perhaps even better than me—but alas, time is the most powerful weapon. For a mage who relies on knowledge rather than brute force, the obsolescence of knowledge is the true obsolescence!"

As he spoke, he took out a gem containing a large amount of magic power and activated the magic circle.

Pale green light flowed out like water, enveloping the vanguard team selected to be the first to rush into the treasure cave and teleporting them inside.

Waiting for them was the hypnotic circle that Palin had long since set up and activated.

Blue-green light flickered, and one by one, the thieves felt dizzy and sleepy before they could even see their surroundings. The only one who managed to resist the hypnotic power of the circle was struck by Palin, who was waiting behind, swinging his staff to send him into a dreamland through physical means.

As for whether this guy would have a headache when he woke up, no one knew.

The vanguard team never returned, leaving the thieves deeply uneasy. The mage then cast a divination spell, hoping to determine the life or death of the vanguard.

"They are all alive," the mage said after casting the spell. "And they seem healthy... It seems there isn't any particular danger over there; perhaps the trap malfunctioned."

Thus, the second vanguard team was teleported over.

Their encounter was naturally no different from the first, or perhaps even worse. Palin, eager to try again, raised his staff, hoping to test the effect of "physical hypnosis," but none of these enemies could resist the hypnotic power of the spell, which left him very disappointed.

With two consecutive groups gone without a trace, and only the spell reporting "safe," the thieves became anxious. Seeing this, Ryan and the mage realized it was impossible to force these demoralized thieves to take more risks, so they simply cast various protective spells on themselves and activated the teleportation circle to head to the treasure cave to see what was going on.

The pale green light faded, and the two appeared inside the treasure cave. Although the power of the hypnotic circle immediately surrounded them, trying to send them into a dream, Palin's shallow magic could not exert much effect in the face of the defensive spells they had already prepared, and it failed to affect them at all.

Seeing Gerald and Palin standing there safe and sound, positioned in a pincer formation, Ryan's face changed drastically. He subconsciously put on a smile, trying to use words to confuse the two and buy time for the mage.

But Palin didn't give him the chance; he leaped forward, swung his wooden staff, and smashed it hard toward Ryan's head.

With a bang, a pale white magic shield appeared, blocking the blow.

Gerald did not attack; he didn't even take off the axe on his back, just sneered as he watched Ryan.

He understood Sui Xiong's power far better than Palin, and his fanaticism for his faith was something the mage Palin could never hope to match. In his view, how to deal with these guys was a matter for His Majesty, the Void Mask; he only needed to wait for His Majesty to issue a verdict and then carry it out.

"When you were plotting against us, did you ever think this would be the result?" the mocking voice echoed in the cave. "What should I call you? Ryan? Or... the head of the Glimmerstone Town Thieves Guild?"

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