Chapter Nineteen: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada

Before the blood-red sun sank beyond the edge of the sky, the holy knights who had entered Fragrant Leaf City finally marched out once more.

From the depths of his heart, Xiu Yi felt a surge of relief—no matter how meticulous a plan, outside interference was always unwelcome. The surprises they brought rarely did more than ruin a perfectly crafted scheme.

So, when the holy knight squad departed from Fragrant Leaf City, he felt that Lady Luck was still smiling on him, at least for now.

The night streets were quiet, almost devoid of any sign of life.

Xiu Yi walked along the deserted road, with the wind thrush scouting ahead for him. Pulling himself away from the embrace of stunning beauties like Cong Daisy and Lantina was a severe test of will for any young man. Sometimes, Xiu Yi even doubted whether the path he had chosen was tinged with self-abuse—perhaps fate had parachuted him into the troupe in hopes he might finally enjoy a peaceful life, but instead he had chosen a far more perilous road. That destined him for a life far from the warmth of beautiful women, and left him only with intrigue and bloodshed.

The lord’s manor was just up ahead.

Having watched the place for over a month from the Black Palm Tavern, he was intimately familiar with its layout. This was the time when the lord’s manor was at its weakest defensively—Master Abulite was not present, as was his custom; he was at a villa outside the city, conducting his space magic experiments. He would not come here unless it was absolutely necessary.

Two warriors guarded the main gate.

For a mage, sneaking past warriors to enter the lord’s manor was not such a difficult feat. The real challenge lay in determining where Electra’s notebook was kept—Xiu Yi already knew that Abulite had a secret treasure chamber in the manor; the only question was its precise location.

He intended to use a simple yet effective method to solve this problem.

“Red, it’s your turn,” he said softly.

A pair of blazing birds shot up into the sky, circling above the manor before suddenly opening their beaks and spewing torrents of fire down below.

A flood of fire element erupted like a volcano, raging wildly in all directions, turning the dark night into a sea of bright flames.

The blaze plunged the manor into chaos. Large groups of warriors, guards, and servants rushed out, shouting and hollering.

Standing on a rooftop under the eaves, Xiu Yi raised his hand, releasing three wind thrushes to fly toward different parts of the manor—these were the places most likely to conceal a treasure chamber.

When a captain led a large crowd toward the rear courtyard, Xiu Yi saw it through the wind thrush’s eyes and knew he had found his target.

He was in no hurry; the fire would keep the guards occupied for a while, so all he needed to do was wait.

Red and Green, the two arsonists, had already returned, perching on him and showing off their deeds. As a reward, Xiu Yi handed each a fire crystal.

Both stretched their necks to swallow the crystals and burped contentedly. Little Dragon Xu looked up at Xiu Yi with pleading eyes, but Xiu Yi tweaked its ear: “No reward for idleness.”

The little creature whimpered in sorrow, lying at Xiu Yi’s feet, its tail wagging incessantly.

The wind thrushes brought back the guards’ voices:

“Reporting, Captain, no enemy intruders detected.”

“Reporting, the secret chamber is secure.”

“Reporting, the fire is under control, no casualties.”

“Did anyone see how the fire started?” came the captain’s voice.

“Yes, someone saw two birds flying overhead. They looked like fire-elemental birds.”

“Fire-elemental birds? Impossible!”

“Maybe just ordinary fire-magic birds, but someone did see them breathe fire down.”

“Were they being controlled?”

“No sign of a magical contract glow.”

“Oh, damn! Am I supposed to tell the lord that two random magical beasts passing by set his manor ablaze for fun?”

“...I’m afraid that’s the only explanation, Captain.”

This was followed by a string of curses from the ill-tempered captain.

Xiu Yi grinned at Red and Green: “Well done, ‘random magical beasts passing by,’ eh?”

Red and Green raised their heads proudly.

Neither Red, Green, nor Xu had signed any form of contract with Xiu Yi. His respect for them was the foundation of their friendship. Though they always followed Xiu Yi, they were truly free creatures. Their relationship was one of equals, built on mutual respect like true friends.

As the flames died down and the crowd dispersed, peace returned to the night.

Standing on a distant rooftop, Xiu Yi softly chanted a spell and opened a spatial gate.

Stepping through, the next moment he was inside the lord’s manor.

He casually released a mana shield, drawing hungrily on Xu’s magic to replenish himself. The power needed to open a spatial gate was far beyond what Xiu Yi could currently muster on his own, but the little dragon played the role of mana battery admirably. Compared to potions and magical stimulants, the little fellow was a much more economical solution.

Xu grumbled in protest, so Xiu Yi tossed it a crystal as a reward.

He then strolled leisurely through the manor as if it were his own backyard.

Abulite’s secret chamber was hidden in an artificial rock formation in the rear courtyard. Opening the way inside required a special technique.

Arriving before the rockery, everything was just as he’d guessed. Strange runes were carved all around the rocks. To the untrained eye, they looked like childish graffiti, but to Xiu Yi, each line and symbol held unique meaning.

Alchemists are the most versatile mages in the world. They delve into every magical theory, their understanding of arrays and wards far surpassing that of ordinary mages. Although Xiu Yi was no expert in alchemical arrays, with his knowledge of space magic, he was confident he could break the barrier set by a space mage. The real difficulty was Abulite’s sheer strength; breaking his array without leaving a trace or alerting the master would be quite a challenge.

After a moment’s thought, Xiu Yi decided to use the safest method.

Advanced space spell—Barrier Break.

This was a fifth-level spatial spell. For a beginner space mage, it would normally be impossible to cast. Fortunately, Xiu Yi was also an alchemist. The wonder of alchemists lies in their ability to accomplish spells by other means, regardless of rank, relying instead on knowledge and resources.

He began to set up the Barrier Break array. This formation could substitute for the spell, though not as effortlessly or as powerfully as a true space mage could, and each use consumed materials and energy crystals. But even so, it was proof of the unique strengths of alchemists.

In direct combat, alchemists might be the weakest, but given time and preparation, they could achieve feats impossible for even grand magi. This truth had been proven time and again.

The array, once activated, produced a faint crackling, but Xiu Yi had set up a soundproof barrier just in case. With a flash of white light, Abulite’s defensive ward was dispelled, and a dark passage appeared within the rockery.

He sent in a wind thrush to scout, and in his palm, a phosphorescent plant cast a soft blue-green light on his path.

He advanced inward.

There were no traps in the passage; apparently Abulite trusted his own spatial barrier completely. Space magic had always been supreme in warding; only another space mage could hope to break such a barrier. In the Lanse Empire, none had yet surpassed Abulite in the art of space magic.

So it never occurred to Abulite that an alchemist could so easily find his secret vault and break through his defenses. Even crafting a Barrier Break array was not something just any alchemist could do.

After walking a short distance, Xiu Yi saw the glow of magical lamps up ahead.

Before him stood rows of shelves, each holding small wooden boxes. Inside were mostly magical gems, rare alchemical materials, and some magical scrolls.

In the center of the chamber stood a small platform.

There, in plain sight, was what he had come for—another of Electra’s notebooks.

No one could say how many alchemical journals Electra had left behind. But for alchemists, even an ancient artifact could not rival the value of Electra’s notes.

From Pierre, Xiu Yi had obtained a notebook of Electra’s early musings on golem creation, which was not of great importance to him. Unless Xiu Yi could build a golem army capable of contending with the Lanse Empire, thousands of golems were less useful to him than a single bottle of disguise potion. After all, golems, being soul-bound, could not be stored in a space ring, and an army incapable of facing his enemies would only expose him further.

Therefore, he longed for a notebook detailing Electra’s other achievements. Alchemy was an immense and varied field, and Xiu Yi believed he still had much to learn.

The notebook before him drew him in.

But he did not seize it at once. First, he scrutinized the surroundings for traps. Only after confirming none were present did he take up the notebook.

Opening the first page, a familiar hand appeared:

“Notes on the Making of Magical Inscriptions.”

This was clearly a later work of Electra’s, far more valuable and accomplished than the one from Purgatory Island. The earlier volume had been written in Electra’s student days, focusing mainly on golems and was riddled with immaturities.

However, as Xiu Yi leafed through this one, disappointment crept in. It was not a record of successful magical inscriptions, but rather Electra’s research notes on the subject. There were no definitive results, only a wealth of fresh ideas.

For Xiu Yi, these ideas would be invaluable to his future growth, but for the present, it could not be called a great treasure.

After storing the notebook, Xiu Yi’s gaze swept the chamber.

He hoped to find other items of value.

The collection of a sixth-level space mage was impressive, but to Xiu Yi, after his time on Purgatory Island, these rare materials and gems could not compare to what was in his own ring. Of course he would take them, but they hardly thrilled him.

While lamenting that he’d entered a treasure trove only to find little of value, a map caught his eye.

It was a map of the Northern Continent, rough and crudely made, hardly a masterpiece. What surprised Xiu Yi was a thick red line running across the entire Lanse Empire, marked with bold symbols at various locations.

One place was circled in ink with a note: “Red Sun Mountains, Electra’s Second Laboratory, emptied, obtained two notebooks (confirmed).”

Xiu Yi’s heart pounded uncontrollably.

—He finally understood how the Purgatory Island notebook had come to light.

There was no doubt: the Lanse Empire had been searching for Electra’s labs. They must have pieced together his route from legends and records, drawn up this map, and dispatched teams to hunt for any hidden laboratories.

After years of searching, they finally found one such place and recovered two notebooks. Clearly, Space Mage Abulite had been among those in the original search, as space magic offered unique advantages in breaking wards and locating hidden chambers.

Of the two notebooks, Abulite kept this one on magical inscriptions for himself. Given his exalted status, not even the emperor would force him to part with it. In truth, the spread of magical inscription techniques would not benefit the Lanse Empire—it would undermine the very foundation of the social order, as magical talent was the key distinction between mages and commoners, the cornerstone of noble privilege. Popularizing magical inscriptions would threaten the hierarchy and weaken noble control, just as the proliferation of weapons could erode government authority and disrupt society.

Thus, the Empire pursued every facet of Electra’s genius, but kept the magical inscription techniques sealed and forbidden to all. This perhaps was why Abulite could keep the notebook, no matter how hard Heinz had begged for it—yet now it had fallen into Xiu Yi’s hands.

But to Xiu Yi, the map was of even greater practical value.

It was clear the Lanse Empire had cataloged and studied every likely location for Electra’s labs, and continued exploring them. Although only one had been found, the map proved that other hidden labs might yet exist.

For Xiu Yi, who had longed to follow in Electra’s legendary footsteps ever since leaving Purgatory Island, this map gave him a direction in life.

With it, he now knew where to go, what to do, and what to pursue—no longer would he fret over the path ahead.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

For Xiu Yi, pursuit and being pursued might well become the theme of his life.

At this thought, Xiu Yi could not help but laugh.

He put the map away and continued searching for anything else of interest.

A simple, ancient-looking black jade ring caught his attention.

To his surprise, with all his experience, he could not identify the material from which the ring was made.

Even more astonishing, when he gazed at it, a shudder ran through his soul, as if his very spirit was being drawn into the ring.

Startled, Xiu Yi quickly steadied his mind and suppressed the trembling in his soul.

He hurriedly stored the ring and, after sweeping the vault clean, drew a magical longsword.

With the blade, he carved upon the wall: “Master Abulite, it seems your treasure vault needs replenishing. —Xiu Yi Grel.”

Then, with a flourish, he departed.