Chapter 1272: 1272
Sika did not object . If it had not been for Saleen needing her around, she would not have wanted to leave her children behind . Both of her children were growing fast, at least twice as fast as common children . They were already capable of learning some skills .
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Everyone within the temple was a teacher to the two children, yet they only had one mother .
Saleen left Sika behind and he dared not bring Daniel and the others along with him either . He brought only Nailisi, Eleanor, Jola, and Nicholas on that trip . While Eleanor had yet to advance to level-10, her Seven Nights would have a formidable offensive capacity once its powers were restored .
Furthermore, Eleanor’s flight speed was getting faster . If she had the Wings of An Elf with her, she was even capable of reaching over 300 miles per hour in flight .
The Winged Skull had to return to the outer regions of the Oceanic Ice Block . That place was apparently as safe as it had once been . The number of magic beasts there had seen an explosive spike . If Alchemy City were to hunt magic beasts there, they would gain huge amounts of magic nuclei . As such, Saleen had to be on guard .
Saleen even had Aini help the Winged Skull out at the outer regions of the Oceanic Ice Block . Aini only needed a few years to advance . If he was lucky, he would get another shot at advancing by the end of the year .
Death mages were commonly seen advancing during battles, the complete opposite of elemental mages . In the latter’s case, even if they were to learn something from battle, they would have to return and research their findings carefully before being able to advance .
That was the very reason Saleen had arranged for Aini to get to the outer regions of the Oceanic Ice Block—to increase Aini’s speed of advancement . Aini’s two ways of summoning spirits would be of great help to the Winged Skull as well .
Saleen would have to build a spirit army sooner or later, as taking on the Holy See would end in massive casualties among conventional troops, and Saleen hated to see that .
While he might have been brutal enough to raze the entirety of Ironwall City, he was reluctant to see even one of his own troops die .
He had illustrated his worries about Sreeger Island to his teacher, yet Jason was hardly fazed . He simply smiled and said to Saleen, “Do what you need to . If the need arises, I’ll take back Sreeger Island . ”
Saleen was not irked seeing his teacher so relaxed . He then took his people and left Metatrin City, heading straight for the Chaotic Swamp .
Phoenix was totally under Saleen’s control by then . He headed straight for Deep Forest Town, entering the Chaotic Swamp through the Beast Jungle . The jungle had expanded several times over, but that was due to Eleanor sending people to plant all manner of magic fauna .
The jungle posed next to no danger to Saleen . The long, narrow forest became a barrier to the west side of Phoenix . Towering trees were everywhere in the jungle and the number of magic beasts found within had seen a spike as well .
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Saleen did not fly over it . Instead, he chose to pass through it, listening to Eleanor talk about the magic plants .
Eleanor was a royal elf and she had traversed planes to Myers Mainland . The equipment she had with her was nearly destroyed, yet she kept many high-level elvish plant seeds within her body . Those seeds were nurtured using royal blood, making it possible for them to stay intact for over ten thousand years .
Eleanor had been reluctant to have them planted until she had changed her surname to Metatrin .
From then on out, Myers Mainland had been her home . It was only then that she took out all of the seeds, planted, and nurtured them . She nurtured even more magic seeds at the southern garden of Metatrin City before spreading the seeds in various locations throughout the rest of the mainland .
Magic plants were extremely resilient, yet without nurturing from elves, it was difficult for them to bear fruit . Those plants only had a chance of bearing fruit after living for thousands or even tens of thousands of years in the wild .
As such, Eleanor had no worries about the plants being taken away . Furthermore, few would have known much about those plants . Even sorcerers would have known next to nothing about them .
The elf plane and Myers Mainland had been separated for too long . Any knowledge pertaining to the elf plane was basically lost .
Saleen listened to Eleanor’s introduction and felt interested in the layout of the beast Jungle . According to Eleanor, if 10,000 elves were stationed there, it would make the place into an impenetrable line of defense . All magic plants were capable of serving as an elf’s weapon after all .
It was a pity that Eleanor had no means of summoning elves to do battle . It was difficult for the elf plane and Myers Mainland to form a connection . They would probably need to wait for Myers Mainland to continue advancing before being able to connect both planes again .
Of course, it was still possible to summon one or two elves, as planes were never completely separated from one another .
Saleen did not care about summoning elves . He was only concerned about being able to craft equipment using those plants .
Eleanor felt rather reluctant in that regard and said, “Saleen, the plants are living beings as well . It would be a waste making equipment out of them . It would be nice having them here as a barrier nonetheless . ”
Saleen smiled and did not insist .
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Elemental creatures were living beings as well, yet he had no qualms about chucking them into magic power furnaces . But since Eleanor did not like the idea of using her plants in such a way, he saw no reason to insist on it .
He had plenty of thundercloud wood at his disposal . The ancient humans had cut down a good number in the giant plane in ancient times after all .
Eleanor was right as well . The Beast Jungle formed a natural barrier . After the magic plants grew, some groups of adventurers found it difficult to survive there . Even the Deep Forest Town looked rather dilapidated as a result .
If it had not been for Saleen keeping the town alive, the place would have been deserted altogether .
Nailisi pointed at a river up ahead as they passing out of the Beast Jungle and said, “Master, do you remember this place?”
Saleen nodded . There was no way he could have forgotten . That was where he’d passed when he ran all those years ago . The river was filled with bloodsucking bugs that were also venomous . It was Nailisi who had carried him when he ran . The presence of an imp repelled the bugs .
Saleen would not have been able to cross the river otherwise, as he had been incapable of flying back then .
He’d run into a hill cyclops and had almost died at the hands of that brainless creature . Coming back to the jungle now, the only danger in the Chaotic Swamp was Fycro .
“Someone’s here,” Saleen said, bringing Nailisi and the others across the river . He cast a vortex, collecting some venomous bugs within .
Mages usually collected these bugs for alchemical purposes and Saleen was no exception . He was already capable of crafting magic equipment using metals, and etching magic arrays required a lot of poisons .
Over 100 black-robed high priests appeared from the distance . The high priests were all being led by one person that Saleen knew .
“Picasso, is that you?”
Saleen looked at the high priest . While he was actually excited, memories flooded into his mind nonetheless . When he’d first met Picasso, he was but a level-6 holy master Now, Picasso had reached level-9 . Furthermore, it was apparent that he had betrayed the Pivotal Council and joined the Oracle Corps .
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“Lord Saleen, I’ve come to receive you,” Picasso said, smiling . He looked just as dashing as ever . Both of them had been very different in terms of powers . At present, even though Saleen had practically walked up to him, Picasso seemed to have felt nothing at all .
Saleen nodded and Picasso took out a huge carriage, inviting Saleen onboard . Two unicorns were pulling the carriage .
Fycro had even been able to nurture unicorns, so something was definitely up with him . Saleen thought about it for a bit and boarded the carriage . Eleanor and Nailisi followed suit, but Nicholas and Jola refused to get onboard .
Nicholas summoned two nightmares from his Scepter of the Fallen . Both he and Jola rode on a nightmare respectively and followed the carriage at its flanks .
Picasso did not mind at all . He took the reins of the carriage and brought Saleen deep into the Chaotic Swamp to meet Fycro .
Picasso handed the reins of the carriage to his subordinates after traveling for a dozen miles before getting inside the carriage .
“There are things that I need to tell you in here, Lord Saleen,” Picasso said . He was composed, appearing neither subservient nor condescending .
“Speak . ” Saleen had a deep impression of that holy master, as Picasso had once let him go . While Saleen had his own tricks, it was also clear that Picasso had not intended to kill Saleen back then .
“Lord Fycro said this…” Picasso explained seriously . “Laiyin cannot have people of the Nature Faith in it . Conflict will result sooner or later . If we were to divide the Pivotal Council, Lord Fycro needs control over this route . Please do not take the regions north of Kroraina . We shall draw the line at the center of Kroraina, and the rest shall be handed to the Principality of Bitterwater . ”
“The price?” Saleen did not say whether he agreed to it or not . Instead, he asked what was it that Fycro was willing to pay to seal such a deal .
“Lord Fycro’s people shall never cross that line . As long as the adherents of Nature Faith keep their hands to themselves, Lord Fycro’s men shall not attack as well . ”
Saleen shrugged . A promise made by word of mouth alone in such matters would have amounted to nothing . He would have been foolish if he were to agree to that .
“We could forge an alliance . The Goddess of Myers is not someone stingy after all,” Picasso smiled and said .
“Myers is not, but I am,” Saleen answered seriously . The so-called will of the goddess was in his control after all . One word of his would have been as good as a decree to the Nature Faith .
“What do you plan to do then, Lord Saleen?” Picasso seemed to have known that Saleen would refuse, and so he continued asking without being flustered .
Saleen took out a magic map and drew a circle, saying, “This is where Fycro has control . The rest shall be mine . ”
Picasso took one look at the map and felt troubled . Saleen had generously given half of Sikeqinya to Fycro, yet that took Laiyin and Kroraina away . That half of Sikeqinya would be of little use to Fycro .
Saleen smiled and, seeing Picasso getting speechless, said, “Picasso, Fycro sent you because you’re one of my acquaintances . Regardless of how irksome your words might be, I wouldn’t have made a move against you, and the incoming negotiations will not affect you . Right, I understand . Fycro is being sincere indeed . He’s only testing me with you . What we discuss here may not actually be something concerning the problem . ”
Picasso’s face twitched as he listened to Saleen’s very forthcoming words, yet he was unable to do anything .
“Thank you, Lord Saleen . I was being rather offensive before and I was lucky that you did not mind . ” Picasso lowered his head and apologized to Saleen .
“Picasso, how about you come over to the Nature Faith then?” Saleen blurted out all of a sudden .
He pondered that for a bit and said, “To tell you the truth, Lord Saleen, Lord Fycro told me before I came that you’d try to buy me over . What made you do so, if I may ask?”
“First of all, it is because you are capable . Second, you’re not of blind faith . Third, it is my gesture of gratitude for letting me go all those years ago and my way of sparing you as well . ” Saleen looked at Picasso with an amused expression .
“I shall report it to Lord Fycro . If he is willing to let me go, I shall swear allegiance to you, your highness . ” Picasso changed the way he addressed Saleen and Saleen knew why he did so . Picasso would have never joined the Nature Faith, but he could still work under Saleen’s name . This person’s faith was anything but pure .
Picasso then added after seeing Saleen go silent, “Your highness, forgive me . I’ve had enough of religions . If I were to believe in some gods again, I’d fall in a matter of days . ”
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