Trouble Never Ends

Shifting his gaze from the crystal window, the elderly mage coughed and rose to his feet. He gripped his staff, seemingly struggling to maintain his balance. Aging and weakness had become indispensable and inescapable companions in his life. Although he currently possessed powerful magical abilities, what meaning did it all hold for the old man?

"What is the latest situation with the Book Aolaier Empire?"

The old man stared at the crystal ball, seemingly asking himself a question. Soon, the crystal ball, which had been silent, began to emit a faint light, and turbidity replaced clarity, taking over its contents. Then, a distorted, pale face emerged from within.

"Your Excellency, it is my honor to meet you."

Although he spoke respectfully, his pale face remained expressionless.

"Report the situation."

The old monk repeated his question. Although patience had always been one of his strengths, anyone would unconsciously become impatient and wish that annoying face would disappear immediately.

"Certainly."

The other party's attitude did not change because of the old mage's words, but he stopped talking nonsense. After all, for someone in his profession, time and life were equally important.

"The Aolaier Empire has become increasingly assertive at the negotiating table recently, demanding that we provide them with 30% of the magic crystal reserves. To date, the Aolaier Empire still claims that the land was originally their territory and demands half of the mining rights to that mine. I think this round of negotiations may end in failure again."

"Of course it will fail."

The old monk let out a long sigh.

"Don't worry about those trivial things. You know what I'm asking about."

"..."

The pale face remained silent for a moment before speaking again.

"According to intelligence, the Aolaier Empire seems to want to break the royal ban in order to find 'that thing'."

"That thing?"

The old monk suddenly stepped forward, staring at the crystal ball in astonishment.

You mean...?

That's it.

His pale face grew even paler—though he appeared unchanged, his voice was as if frozen in ice, cold and filled with fear.

"Something has likely gone wrong. What should we do?"

The old mage remained silent for a moment, then waved his hand. He severed the connection without offering any answer, a matter that deeply troubled him; it was not good news. After all, that was a demon from a thousand years ago. If it were unleashed... no, it wouldn't happen with the book. The Five-Nation Alliance was formed precisely to prevent such a situation. Although they often disagreed, their common enemy and goal had never changed.

But now, things have clearly changed, and are developing in a less favorable direction.

Perhaps I'm overthinking it.

The old mage shook his head. The years had brought him not only old age and power, but also a lot of hesitation and indecisiveness. Thinking back to his youthful days of reckless abandon, the contrast with his present state was stark. The old mage had wondered if he should trade everything he had now for the recklessness and naivety of his youth. At least back then, although he had faced countless dangers, he had experienced unparalleled joy. Now, although he held a high position, he had lost that joy—the deadly joy.

The old monk quickly snapped out of his reverie. He chanted the incantation again, trying to find his men, for now was the time to use their help... not to have them robbing others in the city.

For Li Lin, Goddess of Fortune's departure didn't bring him any more trouble. The two unlucky fellows were only at the level of low-level mages, and he could easily deal with them without even casting a spell. Of course, in Li Lin's view, they weren't even mages at all; such blatant arrogance was a major taboo for mages.

The two mages had no idea what Li Lin was thinking. In fact, they had simply stumbled upon Li Lin and his group while strolling down the street. After feasting their eyes on the beautiful young women, these two novices noticed the "Eternal Library" beside Li Lin. Even with their pitifully limited knowledge of magical artifacts, they could easily guess that what they saw was a magical item. Li Lin's attire, however, didn't resemble that of a mage at all; he looked more like a scholar. Therefore, the two mages prejudicially assumed that this man was just a complete country bumpkin who had somehow obtained this spellbook. Although they couldn't identify what it was even with their limited knowledge, it didn't matter. After all, their teacher was the most learned mage; if they gave him the book, they would surely receive praise or a reward.

Although there was only one book, the matter of fighting over the unequal distribution of the loot could wait until the stolen goods were in hand.

"Hand over that book!"

Angela frowned slightly, but she didn't speak—although the little one seemed incredibly wicked and extremely violent, her venomous words would only come out like a machine gun when Li Lin gave her permission to speak. Angela was always excellent at reading people. She wouldn't actively cause trouble for Li Lin, but she certainly wouldn't hesitate to take the initiative to deal with it.

"I refuse."

Li Lin glanced gently at the "Eternal Library" beside him, and answered decisively and firmly.

"Unless you can provide a sufficiently convincing reason, I'm afraid I won't participate in this blatant robbery."

"You dare disobey the orders of the Beacon City Mages' Association?"

One of the bald sorcerers stepped forward, and magical power began to slowly condense in his hands.

"So..."

He didn't finish his sentence, because at that moment, the magical power that had been condensed in the man's hand suddenly began to expand violently and uncontrollably. This unexpected change startled the man. Although he was of low status, he was still a mage and naturally understood the consequences of chaotic magical power. He no longer cared about Li Lin in front of him, but instead focused his mind on suppressing the power in his hand. However, to his surprise, this power not only failed to be suppressed, but instead grew stronger and stronger. Finally, a surging surge of magical power erupted, forming a pale blue flame that flashed from his palm and then transformed into a huge firework.

"Ooh!"

Despite being prepared, the man was still blasted away by his own magic, crashing heavily to the ground. His right hand was a bloody mess, appearing almost completely crippled.

What exactly happened?

Seeing his companion suddenly meet with such misfortune, the remaining mage was also greatly shocked. He stopped paying attention to Li Lin and quickly retreated. He didn't understand what was going on, but he absolutely couldn't stay here any longer. Although the Mages' Association wouldn't issue any warnings for minor crimes, if one went so far as to get injured while committing robbery, then they would be completely finished.

However, the sudden whirlwind left the mage with no chance to escape. He could only stand helplessly by, watching the old figure slowly emerge from the violently spinning whirlwind, while secretly cursing his own stupidity.

What exactly happened?

After the whirlwind dissipated, an elderly man with white hair and beard appeared. Upon seeing him, the onlookers almost simultaneously took a step back, clearly indicating that this old man held considerable prestige in the city.

"It's none of my business, teacher!"

Stupidity is sometimes not just about a lack of strategic vision.

Upon seeing the old monk appear, the poor wretch hurriedly spoke.

"It was Suosi... he... he wanted to cause trouble for that gentleman. I, I just..."

The old mage silently watched the young mage lying on the ground, unable to do anything but groan. Then he looked at Li Lin, and after noticing the spellbook beside Li Lin, he remained silent for a moment before shaking his head.

"I apologize for disturbing you. I hope this won't leave you with a bad impression of Beacon City. I'll take these guys back and discipline them properly."

That would be best.

Li Lin stared into the old monk's eyes.

"As a traveler, I only expect to be treated fairly and justly, not robbed or anything like that."

I apologize to you for their foolish actions, young man.

The old monk coughed as he spoke, nodding at the same time.

Li Lin gazed at the old mage, his fingers lightly tapping across the surface of the spellbook, as if playing a beautiful melody. The old mage, in turn, quietly stared back at him, awaiting his response. Finally, Li Lin took a step back.

"Then, I accept your apology."

With that, he took Angela's hand and walked back to the carriage shop. Soon, a luxuriously decorated and comfortable carriage drove out and sped towards the city gate.

The old monk watched the carriage disappear into the distance with a solemn expression. Then he walked up to the young monk who was writhing and wailing, and a flash of emerald light turned him into dust.

"Teacher..."

Watching the old mage do all this, another survivor began to tremble, unsure whether the fate of the man who had turned to dust would befall him. But the old mage turned and looked at him.

"Go and notify the Mages' Association to dispatch five mages of intermediate or higher rank, as ordered by me. Then go to the carriage and horse stable and inquire where that man and his party were headed."