Chapter 91 – Eternal City

Lin Wei frowned as he looked at Adrishig. “So, you knew about me…”

“The relationship between memory and the soul is still not fully understood, but the souls of spirit channelers like you always have something special,” Adrishig said. “I wasn’t particularly surprised.”

The Tower Master’s pale silver eyes flickered with a strange light… So, did that mean he and Lin Wei were the only two people on this continent who truly understood what had happened? Teacher Adele was also a spirit channeler, but she didn’t remember anything—perhaps because she had already died before the events unfolded.

Adrishig had probably known since the moment Lin Wei asked the question, “Can time be reversed?”—or even earlier, when Lin Wei chose to enter the Magic Academy—that he retained some memories.

But he hadn’t shown any hostility toward Lin Wei because of the war in their previous lives, nor toward the Empire. This man’s mind was solely focused on the survival of the Magic World.

Perhaps he believed that the issue of the gods was far more important than the threat of the Empire’s military power, or perhaps in his current plans, the Empire would also be drawn into this “Second War Between Humans and Gods”—if the Elemental Storm were to come again, the Empire, and indeed the entire human race, would inevitably face a severe crisis.

Lin Wei thought for a moment, then asked, “What if we fail this time—will you flip the hourglass again?”

“The hourglass will not be flipped again,” Adrishig said before disembarking. “I only have this one chance to correct the wrong choices I made in the past—tampering with time comes with a price beyond time itself, such as losing certain abilities… and so on.”

They made a brief stop in the Valley of Flame for a day.

Adrishig and the clan leader of this family stayed behind, while the rest of the clan left with the Magic Wheel.

This family was much livelier than the ones Lin Wei had seen in the Valley of Wind and the Valley of Metal, and the atmosphere was more cheerful—just as Adele had said, fire mages were always so vibrant.

“I’m Shui Lan’s sister,” said a female mage with fiery red wavy hair, her plump, fair arm resting on Lin Wei’s shoulder. “How’s my dear little brother doing?”

Lin Wei thought of the scatterbrained young mage on Siren Island and replied, “He’s doing well.”

The female mage smiled happily. “I didn’t think I’d ever return to Siren Island—both of my younger brothers are there.”

After saying this, she gazed at the receding crimson volcano and the glowing, molten lava with a brief look of confusion, then turned away. “Let’s go. Take me to find a room.”

“Don’t you want to look a little longer?” Lin Wei leaned against the ship’s railing.

“Well—but I’ve been looking at it for over twenty years. There’s really nothing more to see,” the female mage said, her voice like fine silk. “Even though I know I might never come back.”

Lin Wei didn’t say anything more. During his time in the Magic World, he had come to understand some of the common traits of mages—they rarely became attached to a place, had a very loose concept of blood ties, and didn’t value their lives as much as people on the continent did.

“Tell me,” she leaned closer to Lin Wei, her gaze indicating Adrishig, who remained on the ground. “Who is he? What does he want? Why did he just say a few words and easily convince our clan leader to order the entire clan to leave?”

“He’s a mad bard trying to save the Magic World,” Lin Wei said with a faint smile, watching Adrishig’s figure, and casually tried to probe for more information. “Did your clan leader say anything else?”

“Hmm… He said the clan’s mission is over, and we’re free now,” the female mage replied with a smile. “Does that mean I can marry a mage instead of an ordinary person? By the Creator God, I’m so happy—I’ve decided to confess to the vice president of the Magic Association right away. I’ve always admired him since our academy days!”

“I’m sorry… but you can’t do that yet,” Lin Wei had to stop the female mage, who was so overjoyed that she seemed ready to fly off the deck straight to the Floating Sky Capital. “We’re facing a powerful enemy. Your generation—the ones with elemental turbulence in your bodies—are all in danger. I need to take you to a safe place.”

The female mage let out a disappointed “tch.” “Alright, I knew it couldn’t be that simple—so you’re taking us to Siren Island?”

Lin Wei shook his head.

“Then to the Astrology Tower? The Floating Sky Capital? Or the legendary Hieru City?”

“You know about Hieru City?”

“Of course! Every mage has heard the legends of Hieru City. It’s the safest place in the world, the last refuge of the Dark Age!”

Lin Wei’s fingers unconsciously tapped against the ship’s railing, a small gesture that often indicated he was deep in thought.

“The process of awakening the gods will take a few days. After I finish here, I’ll wait for you in the Valley of Wind—by then, you’ll need to have formed soul contracts with the descendants of these two elemental valleys. Then we’ll officially awaken the gods of wind and fire,” Adrishig had explained to him. “We need to act before Asa realizes what’s happening and take the descendants of the elemental valleys still on Siren Island to your swamp or Hieru City—both are absolutely safe places.”

“Siren Island could also be in danger? Hieru City… where is that?” Lin Wei had asked, puzzled.

“Asking questions comes with a price,” Adrishig raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you remember the full name of your Imperial Capital?”

—What did that have to do with the Imperial Capital?

Just as mages had long been accustomed to calling the Main City of Kalaway the “Floating Sky Capital,” the name of the Imperial Capital was rarely mentioned among the people of the continent.

Alright, the full name of the Imperial Capital… Hieruskopos City.

He snapped out of his thoughts and said to the female mage, “Perhaps it’s Hieru City.”

The female mage’s eyes widened in surprise. “That city really exists?”

Lin Wei: “…Yes.”

He escorted the female mage back to her cabin and ran into Haitie and Daniel, who were also helping to settle the descendants of the Valley of Flame.

Daniel asked, “Schneider told me we’re going to Siren Island—and then?”

“The Imperial Capital,” Lin Wei replied. “We’ve encountered some trouble and need to negotiate with the Empire… something like that.”

Daniel rolled his eyes dramatically. “So we’re just being ordered around by him—damn Schneider, I shouldn’t have left Siren Island to find you. He should’ve handled it alone.”

Lin Wei suddenly realized that although Daniel had always had a bad attitude toward Adrishig, he generally still obeyed him, not just treating him as a mere appraiser from the Trade House. So he asked, “Do you know Schneider’s identity?”

“I know a little—he’s probably a very powerful person? Actually, the moment you were taken away by that plectrum, he appeared in my room and asked me what had happened to you.”

“Alright,” Lin Wei rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. “He really is everywhere.”

Haitie’s eyes lit up when she heard about the Imperial Capital. “We’re really going there?”

Lin Wei nodded.

“What about Mr. Gregory?”

“He’ll get his wish to return,” Lin Wei said coolly, crossing his arms. “The Magic World escorting the Crown Prince back to the Imperial Capital provides a legitimate reason to engage in dialogue with the Empire. From that perspective, he’s still of some value.”

“Mr. Gregory once said that if there was a chance, he’d invite me to visit the Imperial Palace… I heard there’s an endless sea of roses planted there. Is that true?”

“That’s right. The Flaming Rose is the symbol of the Imperial Family,” Lin Wei observed the obvious delight on Haitie’s face and noticed that this girl seemed unusually enthusiastic about Gregory.

“Remember what I told you that day,” he said to Haitie.

Haitie recalled Lin Wei’s earlier warning and nodded with a hint of reluctance.

“I have a question for you—what is Hieru City?” Lin Wei asked Daniel and Haitie.

“The City of Eternity, the Eternal City, the last refuge—that’s what it’s called in our legends,” the knowledgeable alchemist answered first. “But it seems like it’s just a legend now. Like the Knight’s Holy Mountain, its exact location has been lost in the records.”

“That’s right, it often appears in bedtime stories,” Haitie nodded. “Legend has it that at the end of the Dark Age, Hieru City protected many lives.”

As Lin Wei walked back to his cabin, he pondered this so-called “Hieru City.”

According to Adrishig, “Hieru City” was the Imperial Capital, and the so-called “end of the Dark Age” was the period when the Elemental Storm devoured the entire continent.

Many races suffered heavy losses at the end of the Dark Age and gradually disappeared over the long years that followed. Only the human race managed to survive, establishing the Empire, thriving, and eventually becoming the most prosperous and powerful race on the continent… No matter how this history was interpreted, it was filled with danger and the miraculous—humans were simply too small and fragile compared to races like the elves and the Dragon Clan.

But if this “Hieru City” had protected the Empire and the human bloodline during the Elemental Storm, then the Empire’s rise to power and prosperity amidst the extreme adversity of being surrounded by powerful enemies… didn’t seem so impossible after all.

In other words, the Empire’s rise was supported by a powerful force, one even the Magic World acknowledged?

—But in the war of their previous lives, half of the Imperial Capital had been reduced to ruins, which didn’t sound at all like the “Eternal City.”

Lin Wei decided to stop thinking about such complicated matters. After all, with Adrishig now in the picture, things were already completely different from their previous lives. He chose to believe that this thousand-year-old monster would handle everything properly.

The journey went relatively smoothly. Daniel, who had mastered the method of resisting the Elemental Storm, piloted the Magic Wheel across the southern part of the continent, then took the eastern route through the Siren Sea to reach the Magic Academy.

Lin Wei sent another letter to the Tidis residence in the Imperial Capital during the journey.

“Changes in the Magic World. Gregory will return.”

Teacher Ansel silently welcomed them, not flying into a rage as he usually did. The entire atmosphere of the Magic Academy was filled with a tense calm. Lin Wei thought that this was probably because Adrishig had “stopped by” on his way, and the academy had learned some things.

The Magic Academy didn’t offer them any additional support. The descendants of the elemental valleys were already among the most outstanding young mages, and Duan Yu had become an Archmage—with Mr. Sylvester away, there was no second Archmage in the academy.

The most noteworthy thing for Lin Wei on this trip was… the Magic Academy had the authority to certify mage levels, so he naturally brought back the white robe he had been longing for from the certification office.

“Runes, I want golden runes—the more beautiful, the better. There aren’t any special requirements for the enhancements,” Lin Wei was negotiating with Daniel.

“Decorative runes? That’ll take a lot of effort from me—price increase!”

“My magic crystals have almost all been eaten by that damn little cat… I can buy you a few jewelry stores in the Imperial Capital—I know you can dig out valuable things in places like that.”

“Deal,” Daniel smiled happily. “Do you want to inlay some Flowing Gold Sand or Starlight Stones?”

“A little is fine,” Lin Wei thought for a moment. “But don’t overdo it.”

An excellent alchemist completes his work quickly.

An excellent alchemist has extremely high standards for the aesthetics of his work, even if he’s a strangely dressed green-robed alchemist.

Lin Wei was very satisfied.

He took the magic robe from Daniel and quickly headed upstairs.

Daniel watched his back and blinked. “His behavior is strange—I think he floated up there. Did I make the magic robe so perfect that he’s completely obsessed with admiring it?”