Zither Emperor

Chapter 4 – Zi’s Power (I)

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To the side, Zi’s heart skipped a beat. Qin Shang really did not feel at ease with Yin Zhu journeying alone. Seeing Yin Zhu open his mouth, Zi rushed to say, “I think it is unnecessary. Yin Zhu and myself will be more than enough. Let’s go.” His head didn’t even turn around as he dragged Yin Zhu with him and left the Magic Guild.

Di Ya La wanted to stop them, but he had seen Zi’s eyes flash with a cold light. Closing his mouth, he turned around to look at the six standing corpses. He sullenly said, “What’s to be done? What should I do? The Wavast emissaries died here……”

Pi’er Luo pulled Di Ya La to the side and said in a low voice, “Vice-President, people should not see anything when they come here; even if someone investigates, we cannot confess! It’s best if you handle this immediately, and then report to the president so he can make a decision.”

Di Ya La hesitantly said, “You mean, to burn and destroy the corpses?”

Pi’er Luo looked at Lu Fei Te’s corpse with disgust and hatefully said, “They were already damned. I just didn’t expect the president’s disciple to be so strong. His strength is apparently merely a Red Rank! It’s hard to imagine.”

Di Ya La had practiced magic for many years. He gradually calmed down and said, “Well now, this matter cannot be leaked, especially pertaining to the child. You should forget everything you saw. Let them handle it. Do clean this up a bit.”

Pi’er Luo’s eyes flashed with an icy brilliance. “Destroy and burn the corpses? This is the expertise of us Fire mages.”

Yin Zhu was unaware of how much trouble the magic guild was in as he walked the streets of Luna City. He faced Zi, who was by his side, “Zi, I just killed someone; was I right to do that?”

Zi’s gaze gentled as he looked at Yin Zhu, nodded seriously, and said, “It is only natural to eliminate enemies, otherwise you will give yourself numerous inconveniences. The best method is to destroy the enemy. You were exceptional today.”

Yin Zhu was like a blank piece of paper and smiled admiringly at Zi. His earlier hesitation completely disappeared. He smiled and said, “That’s good. In the future, I will kill my enemies. But Zi, Grandfather Qin asked the magic guild to instruct me on general knowledge about the continent. Walking away like this, this is not good!”

Zi stopped walking and sternly said, “Yin Zhu, do you trust me?”

Yin Zhu nodded without even a bit of hesitation and said, “Naturally, I trust you. You are my best friend.”

Zi smiled. “Thus, I will teach you everything about the continent. We will need to go buy things first, and then we will set off.”

Yin Zhu couldn’t help but feel warm in his head when he looked at Zi’s smile. Without thinking, he followed him with complete faith. Unfortunately, Grandfather Qin and Grandfather Li absolutely did not expect he would reject the guidance and kill people before even leaving for Milan. They obviously did not plan for this to happen.

Zi led Yin Zhu in their walk to a family store and stopped in front of it. “Yin Zhu, do you have money?”

Yin Zhu nodded and materialized a gold coin in a silvery flash of light. “Grandfather gave me what seems like hundreds of these gold coins. Is this what you want?”

Zi nodded, took the gold coin Yin Zhu proffered, and led Yin Zhu into the store.

The store echoed with an unceasing sound of tinkling bells with their entrance. A middle-aged man was inside with a lazy appearance. He stood up upon seeing Zi enter. “What do you want?”

Yin Zhu curiously looked around and saw all kinds of weaponry and armor hanging on the walls. He had never seen these things before and couldn’t help but ask Zi, “What are these?”

Zi replied, “These are the armor warriors wear and the weapons they use.”

Yin Zhu said, “Do we need these? They look nice, you want these?”

Zi nodded and told the middle-aged man, “Give me a large two-handed heavy sword.”

The middle-aged man lazily inquired, “There are many kinds of big two-handed heavy swords, which kind do you want? You can choose from my right — these weapons made here are well-known throughout Arcadia.”

Zi impatiently exclaimed, “Nonsense, why does the kind matter? As long as its weight is heavy; the heavier the better.”

Zi’s rude words angered the middle-aged man. He saw Zi’s powerful build, however, and didn’t dare to question him. With a gloomy heart, he replied, “You want heavy? Well, I’ll give you heavy.

“Follow me.” As he said this, the middle-aged man turned around and walked further inside.

Yin Zhu and Zi followed him inside and saw a few men dripping with sweat as they casted and molded weapons. Arcadia was already hot enough; the addition of the stove made it boiling. Yin Zhu and Zi were not affected by the heat as they walked inside, unlike the constantly perspiring middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man pointed his finger to a corner and explained, “This is the heaviest two-handed heavy sword. If you can lift it, I’ll sell it to you.” His face displayed a trace of oppressiveness as he said this.

In the corner was a black object. In all honestly, it absolutely could not be considered a sword. It was more like an iron stick. It was approximately two meters long with one end thick, while the other end was thin and slender by several times. The thin end was as wide as an adult’s arm while the thick end was the size of a human head. It was also severely layered with dust.

“This is the two-handed sword you spoke about?” Yin Zhu angrily asked. Although this was the first time he left the Desolate Jade Sea, he clearly knew what kind of sword this was.

The middle-aged man said, “This is a special sword. Did you not want a heavy sword? In here, this is the heaviest. As long as you can lift it, I will gift it to you.” As he said this, the teasing in his eyes became more evident.

Zi’s gaze was serene, but Yin Zhu could faintly sense that Zi’s current mood was not at all pleasant. Zi stepped forward and gripped the iron stick by its thin end, the handle, and began to use all of his power. His mouth couldn’t help but issue a light gasp of surprise, his eyes displaying amazement. The corners of his mouth held a trace of a smile as he picked up the two meter iron stick. “Good.”

The middle-aged man saw Zi effortlessly pick up the iron stick, and his eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. No one had ever been able to lift this iron stick since its weight was too heavy. The iron stick was inadvertently found while extracting an iron mine. He knew the weight was nearly equal to ten iron ores, surpassing at least 500 kilograms. If not because of his greed thinking that it was made from a special metal, it was unlikely he would have even brought the iron stick back. Later, he was disappointed, as no matter the strength of the flame, having even paid handsomely for a Fire mage, the iron stick could not be melted down to be reforged. Over the years, the iron stick was overlooked and left in the forge. He could not believe that a person could easily lift this iron stick up without the use of dou qi. Moreover, this person before him looked very young.

“We are leaving.” Zi simply said three words, walking out with Yin Zhu.

“Wait, wait a moment.” The middle-aged man’s voice came from behind them.

Zi knitted his brows and challenged, “Don’t tell me that you are reneging on your word?”

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Pertaining to the protagonist’s kill, Little San is here to explain. First of all, Ye Yin Zhu did not receive a lot of instruction about the outside world during his childhood. It is possible to say that he did not understand the implications of killing someone. In his pure heart, there were only two types of people: good and bad. At the same time, he killed them with his music blade in the blink of an eye, that was all. It appeared that the motionless mages just died, nothing more. Furthermore, the scene has no cruelty. Therefore, why should he believe it was a frightening matter? From another perspective, Ye Yin Zhu faced against the strength of an Indigo Rank mage, one whose true magical strength surpasses him. Against such tremendous pressure, he could only employ his strongest attack against the enemy. Because of the nature of his particular magic, it succeeded on the first attempt. Frankly, he should be glad he defeated his formidable opponent. His tranquility and newborn innocence and purity gave him a gentle mentality. As a Divine Music mage, under any circumstances, the most important thing was that he preserved the purity of his heart in any situation.

At this point of writing, Little San has carefully considered this question. Although the protagonist left Desolate Jade Sea as a pure youth, Little San did not want to depict him as weak. Cultivating Bamboo Dou Qi required resembling the bamboo’s lofty and unyielding character. Confront an enemy ruthlessly, that was the Bamboo Sect’s objective. Everybody please continue to read on, it will only become more and more exciting and interesting.

It was only killing someone, that was all. This is, after all, a xuanhuan novel. In the future, it is likely that large battle scenes will appear. Don’t tell me that Ye Yin Zhu using zither magic to kill opponents at a higher level than himself in a single swing, killing for the first time, is bad?

In addition, Zi’s influence on Yin Zhu was rather large. You’ll see that Zi explains the morality of the kill to Yin Zhu. The more innocent a man, the easier it was to disregard the consequences.

At this point, Little San would like to say, the protagonist won’t be held responsible for his act of killing. Consider this a little spoiler, it’s basically where the monk can run away, but the temple won’t run with him. The Arcadian Magic Guild is out of luck, or more like the kingdom of Arcadia. Simply to say, this is a small foreshadowing.

Friends, don’t force all the hints out from Little San. Hehe. Everyone has a lot to look forward to. Little San absolutely guarantees more marvelous scenes. Furthermore, speaking in passing, this novel of Little San does not have a manuscript, and Little San has been working hard on writing. In order to write it better, Little San slowed down the writing speed. However, new chapters aren’t delayed. This only requires Little San to devote more time to writing it. I hope friends can understand and don’t rush Little San.

Chapter 4 – Zi’s Strength (II)

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The middle-aged man promptly waved his hand, alarmed, and cried, “No, no, I’m merely asking whether you desire armor? We can discuss a good price.” He was not an idiot. To the contrary, as a merchant he was exceptionally shrewd. Because Zi was able to effortlessly pick up the heavy iron stick, he could already see that Zi and Yin Zhu were absolutely not ordinary people. As a weapon-dealing merchant, meeting such a powerful warrior was a happy occasion. His lazy expression vanished, desiring to sell some armor next.

Zi coldly replied, “I do not need armor.” Saying his piece, he and Yin Zhu left together.

With Zi leading, the two of them once again went to purchase some daily essentials in Luna City, left the capital city of Arcadia, and followed the main road to the north.

……

Desolate Jade Sea.

“Father, I am worried about Yin Zhu. That child has never left home before. Shouldn’t we secretly follow him? We should at least send him off to school personally,” Mei Ying apprehensively said.

Ye Li slightly smiled and proudly exclaimed, “My Ye family’s descendents naturally possess a strong ability to adapt. Besides, he has the letter from your Uncle Qin and will have a mage from the magic guild to accompany him. Nothing will happen.”

Mei Ying was still worried, “I am afraid that Yin Zhu, this child, won’t get along with people. If he suffers in school, what should we do?”

To the side, Qin Shang smiled and said, “Do you still not understand Yin Zhu’s strength? Besides, the Divine Music chairmen at Milan’s Institution of Magic and Martial Arts is my friend. Furthermore, he has my recommendation letter. Yin Zhu is unlikely to have any trouble. He has cultivated his Pure Zither Heart for years. It is time for him to leave and fight his own battles. Only in this way will he be able to mature. I just don’t know what my old friend will think when he is introduced to such a young teacher. Can you imagine their reaction? Hahahaha.”

……

“Zi, you are so awesome!” Walking down the main road, Yin Zhu curiously looked around at the scenery while talking to Zi.

The heavy black iron stick rested on his shoulder as Zi asked, “How am I awesome?”

Yin Zhu said, “You bought so many things, as if you were familiar with the outside world. But I remember you coming to the Desolate Jade Sea when you were small and apparently never leaving after.”

Zi’s eyes flashed with a cold light and indifferently responded, “That is a matter of the past, Yin Zhu. I’ll explain more later.”

“When is later?”

“When you actually mature.”

The kingdom of Arcadia was really pitiful; in comparison, it was less than a third of the kingdom of Wavast. Luna City was quite close to the northern part of the kingdom. The two of them, after ten days of walking, had already reached the borders of the Wavast Kingdom.

After entering Wavast, the air became very cool and refreshing. Comparing Wavast Kingdom to Arcadia, the two felt completely different. Its roads were twice the width of Arcadia’s and filled with numerous pedestrians. Not only that, the majority of them rodegnus.

Gnus were rank 1 magical beasts and were named as such because of the two horns atop their head as well as their robust bodies. Even as a rank 1 magical beast, they were the most inferior existences as they had no attack power. It did, however, have exceptional endurance and was the best civilian transportation tool. In Arcadia, only the wealthy had the ability to possess gnus.

“Zi, we also need to buy gnu to ride. How much does a gnu cost?” Yin Zhu looked at the pedestrians riding gnus and couldn’t help but have an envious look. After all, he still had a childish temperament and was easily tempted by new things.

Zi thoughtfully said, “Good idea, this way we could move a bit faster. If we go on foot, we wouldn’t be able to reach Milan within two months. Approximately 15 kilometers ahead is the most southern city of Wavast, the Rolle City. We can go buy ourselves a gnu there.”

“A gnu?”

“En. One gnu is enough. I do not need one. I do not need a gnu as I run just as fast as one.” Zi looked and smiled at Yin Zhu. His smile would only emerge in front of Yin Zhu. To outsiders, he would always have an ice cold appearance.

“I do not believe that, let’s race,” Yin Zhu laughed.

Zi glanced at him, “Let’s start.” His body was already lunging forward as he spoke, his inhuman speed not the slightest bit affected by his tall body and the heavy iron stick.

“Ah! You are shameless.” Ye Yin Zhu stared at Zi who was already beginning to run. Hastily, he began running as well. Pushing off the ground with his foot, he swiftly chased after Zi.

Zi sprinted steadily. Each big step powerfully carried his body forward. Yin Zhu was unusually agile as well, barely touching the ground. The gap between each step exceeded five meters, and extremely quickly, with several leaps, he had reached Zi’s side.

“Zi, I am faster than you,” Yin Zhu said with pride.

Zi sent him a strange look, “Are you?” He stomped a foot against the ground, and Yin Zhu suddenly felt the earth beneath him tremble. He saw that Zi had caused the tremble with his stomp. The next moment, Zi ‘s body catapulted forward like an arrow. This time, the jump covered close to 20 meters. It was so explosive that he already left Yin Zhu behind.

Yin Zhu didn’t sense dou qi and felt alarmed in his heart. Although he was akin to a blank, white piece of paper, he was still extremely intelligent. He knew that relying only on physical strength to produce this fast speed was absolutely impossible. ‘Zi, how many secrets do you have?’ he thought. He quickly accelerated forward to catch up.

All of a sudden, there was the deafening sound of hooves up ahead, just in front of Yin Zhu and Zi’s path. In the distance, a large dust cloud rose up, resembling a long earth dragon as it approached them at lightning-speed. Furthermore, some pedestrians on the road begun to act strangely. Currently, each and every one of them were about to lose their heads out of fright as they dodged to the side of the road. As the “earth dragon” got closer, a cry of alarm sounded.

It was a squadron of approximately a hundred calvarymen, all wearing heavy black armor and with four meter long lances in their hands and a large, heavy iron shield tied to their saddle. As they pressed forward, the imposing aura caused the pedestrians to shrink back in fear. They didn’t ride gnus, but rank 3 magical armored beasts. They looked similar to gnus but were hornless and plated with a layer of keratin armor. Extremely heavy and powerful, it was the best beast for the common cavalry to ride on the continent. Throughout the continent, heavy cavalry were the main combat force for war, but expensive to create. Arcadia’s heavy cavalry, when summed up, only amounted to a squadron of ten thousand personnel, nothing more.

The combined weight of the armored beasts and the heavy cavalry, when added up, was absolutely terrible. This cavalry force basically ignored the pedestrians on the public road.

Zi and Yin Zhu, dashing forward, stopped almost simultaneously. The armored beasts and heavy cavalry increasingly advanced closer, but they did not dodge to either sides of the road. Yin Zhu was curious about the armored beasts and heavy cavalry, while Zi simply did not have the two words ‘make way‘ in his vocabulary.

“Fuck off.” Shouting out loud explosively, the head of the heavy cavalry was surprised to see two individuals on the road not evading.

Zi didn’t move, but his gaze was ice-cold and serene. Yin Zhu also stayed still because Zi did so. He said that he would protect Zi so he subconsciously stepped forward, shielding Zi with his body. He didn’t even ask Zi why he didn’t move.

The armored heavy cavalrymen’s eyes appeared to exude malevolent rays of light. Since they failed to move, they could just go to hell! In the Wavast Kingdom, the heavy cavalry was the privileged military branch. During the execution of a order, interfering civilians could be killed without them being convicted. Thus, they basically had no conscience obstructing them.

Closer, increasingly closer. Soon, the armored heavy cavalry arrived in front of the two of them. The front row of five heavy cavalrymen harshly, and unreasonably, raised their spears. Without the slightest doubt, before their eyes, the rough heavy cavalrymen’s spears would easily run through the bodies of the two civilians.

“Roar ~” The cruel bellow was similar to God’s thunderous fury. As Yin Zhu’s body was light, he actually flew high when he was thrown up. Underneath, the scenery gradually became smaller. Soon, he began to see a strange scene.

Chapter 4 – Zi’s Strength (III)

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Zi raised his head to the sky and roared, causing the powerful heavy cavalry that had been steadily advancing to almost instantly change. All of the armored beasts in the front had, at almost the same time, forced the humans riding them to an abrupt and screeching stop. Due to the powerfully fast momentum, the armored beasts in the rear collided with those in front. The sound of heavy cavalry armor clashing against each other repeatedly resounded. In addition, the spears of the cavalrymen pierced through each other’s bodies and was accompanied by blood-curdling screams. The previously imposing and threatening squadron of a hundred men on the heavy armored beasts had unexpectedly fell into chaos in a split second.

Ye Yin Zhu firmly believed that he would never be able to forget Zi’s appearance when he roared. That violent mood, bloodthirsty aura, and ice-cold expression — everything deeply branded itself into the deepest parts of his mind.

The heavy cavalrymen were shocked, not knowing what happened. They merely felt a deafening bellow internally, making it seem as if their hearts had wanted to leap into their throats while their eyes desired to jump out of their sockets. And now, those following their expedition of war armored beast unexpectedly stumbled around, trembling at the scene. Some of their mouths and noses even frothed and foamed, spraying out.

“Fuck off.” Zi growled. At this moment, Yin Zhu fell from the sky and landed right behind him.

Zi’s speed was not quick, but each step forward projected upon people a rock-solid and unyielding feeling. Most of the armored beasts in front of him were already lying weakly upon the ground. Looking on as this violet-haired young man approached closer, the cavalrymen subconsciously pointed their spears in Zi’s direction.

Zi moved, his movements nimble and simple. He swept the two meter long black-iron stick out, causing the five cavalrymen and their spears to almost instantly and explosively fly and fall into a pipeline ten meters away. Unexpectedly, the cavalrymen’s fine steel spears had already been bent to resemble snakes.

Zi had already begun walking in front of the now riderless armored beasts and, with an equally simple motion, swept with his right foot. The armored beast, weighing more than 200 kilograms, flew away, cries of lamentation one after another echoing out. In the same move, the five armored beasts were completely kicked to the side, clearing Zi’s path significantly.

Other than the heavy cavalryman who were injured in the previous exchange, were at this moment crawling out from under the armored beast. The cavalryman felt no dou qi during Zi’s assault, and yet he had this tyrannical strength, which made their courage run entirely cold. The five armored cavalrymen had explosively flown out in one strike. The once fierce armored beasts unexpectedly resembled rice straw as they were sent flying, not even daring to resist in the slightest. What frightening strength!

“Get lost.” Zi growled once again. This time, the heavy cavalrymen did not even dare to issue an attack again. In front of this absolutely terrifying power, they silently separated and yielded the road. They even worked together and used all of their strength to drag the paralyzed armored beasts lying on the ground to the side.

Zi strode forward with his head held high, basically not catching sight of the flickering, shining, sunlit cavalrymen’s spears on either side. Yin Zhu inquisitively stared at Zi’s body in front of him. Immediately afterwards, he followed and began walking together with him. This was the first time he saw Zi use his combat force. He didn’t think Zi’s strength would be so powerful, not to mention that it was only his raw physical strength.

No one dared to obstruct them; even the bystanders who saw this scene did not dare to breathe loudly. When Zi’s and Yin Zhu’s silhouettes disappeared at the end of the road, those armored beasts gradually regained the ability to move.

One of the five heavy cavalrymen, previously sent flying explosively by the iron stick, had an inch-long fracture in his right hand. Their mounts, the armored beasts, could not even get up, their fragmented visceral organs spewing out of their mouths.

“Zi, you’re a warrior?” Yin Zhu asked.

“Essentially.” The irritation in Zi’s eyes had already disappeared completely, turning tranquil once again.

“Zi, why did you do that just a moment ago?”

Zi glanced up at the dark blue sky and indifferently said, “Because there is no magical beast that can make me yield, not even a dragon.”

Yin Zhu looked at Zi deeply. “Zi, you know? Just a moment ago, you gave me a very powerful feeling, but I don’t sense the origin of your power. Can you use dou qi?”

“Not at all. Because I don’t need to.” Zi sent Yin Zhu a glance and suddenly displayed a trace of a smile. “Will you still protect me?”

Yin Zhu smiled, “Of course. For as long as you want, I will forever stand in front of you to protect you. Although next time, don’t throw me so high.”

Rolle City was a bustling, small town. To say the least, the people living here had a busy appearance, not resembling the laziness of Arcadia. The cool and refreshing air brought an invigorating feeling to people. This was a much more suitable temperature for living.

The handsome Ye Yin Zhu and steadfast Zi garnered the attention of the people bustling around, especially those young girls. Some of them were even daring enough to throw coquettish glances. Naturally, Zi’s ice-cold appearance and Yin Zhu’s frequently reciprocated smiles, handsome and gentle, made it easy for those young girls yearning for love to pay attention. If those young girls knew what Yin Zhu was thinking in his heart, regretfully, their hearts would be indifferent and nonchalant.

“Zi, why do we look different from those girls and women? Their pectoral muscles are so robust!” Yin Zhu somewhat enviously inquired.

Zi’s face stiffened for a split second before he softly questioned, “Your parents haven’t told you?”

Yin Zhu shook his head and said, “You were with me for the longest time in the Desolate Jade Sea.You saw that, till the end, whenever we were together my parents didn’t tell me anything about the outside world in order to not influence the cultivation of my Pure Zither Heart. Do you know why a girl’s pectoral muscles are more robust than ours?”

Zi helplessly looked at Yin Zhu, “I don’t know.”

“As it turns out, you also don’t know. It is a pity that I have no female friends to ask. Zi, let’s go buy a gnu. Now, are we standing here or continuing on our journey?”

Yin Zhu asked this when suddenly, Zi’s complexion greatly changed. As he was very close to Zi, Yin Zhu could sense Zi’s muscles instantly tense, a strange aura beginning to emanate from his body. Yin Zhu was unclear of what this wrathful feeling was; however, it seemed very agitated.

Following Zi’s gaze, a nearby delegation of ten people ahead of them was walking over. Zi watched them attentively. One of them had his whole head covered with golden colored hair, a gloomy appearance, and a stature somewhat taller than Zi. His whole body was brimming with a wild aura, his clothed muscles full of explosive strength. He had high cheekbones and unusually thick facial hair. With a single glance, it was easy to see the difference between this man and an ordinary person. The others he was with were dissimilar to ordinary people as well. Yin Zhu even saw a person in the rear with a long tail. The pedestrians on the street saw these people and subconsciously stayed out of their way, apparently terrified.

“Zi, what’s going on? Who are those people?” Yin Zhu asked.

“They are beastmen from the Northern Wastelands. They are led by a beastman of the Royal Family, the Lion Tribe,” Zi gloomily said.

“Beastmen? What are beastmen? Are they people?”

Chapter 4 – Zi’s Strength (IV)

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“I don’t know how the beastmen came to be, but they can be said to be a hybrid of man and beast. There are some that are even purely beastial. Throughout the continent, beastmen are the closest race to magical beasts. Their disposition makes them suitable for war as they possess extremely powerful strength. Because they are not good at magic, the three great human kingdoms have suppressed them constantly, lest they invade the humans inland. Now they can only live in the bitterly cold Northern Wasteland. Since the Northern Wasteland borders the three great wealthy kingdoms, there has not been even a decade of peace between them. The beast races could only trade their few Northern Wasteland specialities in exchange for some food and daily necessities with human countries. I didn’t expect them to come to southern Wavast.” As he spoke, Zi exuded a contemplative appearance.

As far as Yin Zhu was concerned, the beastmen were novel as he had not seen a race like this before. He couldn’t help but send over numerous curious glances. This time, the lionman’s gaze darted over to them at that moment and swept over Yin Zhu’s body as well as Zi’s. When he saw Zi, instantly, his golden hair rose up. With a greatly ominous glint in his eyes, he strode over to Zi and Yin Zhu.

A faint green layer of dou qi circulated in between the golden hair all around his body. It was just that the dou qi radiance was awfully insipid, indiscernible without careful examination. However, only mages who trained their spiritual magic power like Yin Zhu could easily sense it.

Zi suddenly raised his head and met the lionman’s eyes. The lionman’s steps suddenly stopped. Looking at Zi’s ice-cold eyes, he nodded slowly. He turned around immediately, returning back to his troop.

Yin Zhu did not know what happened so he merely looked at Zi and then the lionman. Zi sighed and bowed his head to Yin Zhu. He said, “I’m sorry, Yin Zhu, I’m afraid I cannot accompany you to Milan.”

“Eh?” Yin Zhu exclaimed with great alarm. “Zi, for what reason? Didn’t you promise…….”

Zi lifted his hand to grasp Yin Zhu’s shoulder. He smiled bitterly as he said, “I’m sorry. I promised to accompany you, but I currently have something I must take care of. The map you received is good; follow the path the map points out, and you’ll reach the Milan Institution of Magic and Martial Arts. If you don’t know the route, try to find someone to ask. Once I handle this affair, I will come and find you at the school.”

Yin Zhu received the map that Zi handed over. In an instant, his heart brimmed with the feeling of disappointment. For ten years, he had not been separated from Zi. Now Zi suddenly said that he had to leave. With a firm expression in his eyes, Yin Zhu’s heart stopped being sorrowful as he completely emptied the emotions in his heart, even as he lost his most important person.

“Zi, you apparently have many secrets, but unexpectedly haven’t told me any. If you need my help, shouldn’t you tell me? I am your brother!” Yin Zhu impatiently said.

“Brothers.” Zi’s eyes burned scorchingly bright. He clapped Yin Zhu’s shoulder, hard. “That’s right, we are good brothers. Yin Zhu, you head on to the institution of magic and martial arts first. It is unlikely for me to take long. I will find you; this is my promise to you. Remember, on the road, you must not wantonly trust people. At the same time, you must conceal your strength as much as possible. Never let a stranger know the true extent of your strength. This is the only way for you to protect yourself better. Do you understand? Take this, use it when you need to do something and do not want anyone to know.. Just a moment ago, we were on the road and had a conflict with the Wavast heavy cavalry. In order to avoid trouble, you should leave here as quickly as possible.” While he spoke, Zi withdrew a object from bosom and handed it to Yin Zhu. Not turning his head back, he advanced in the direction the lionman from earlier had disappeared to.

Only after Zi completely disappeared did Yin Zhu regain his vision. Although Rolle City’s city streets were lively, his heart felt kind of lonely. In addition to being lonely, he felt helpless. From now on, he was on his own.

Finally looking down at the object Zi gave, he did not know what materials the mask was made of. Feeling it, it was unusually soft. Carefully, he stored it in his bosom as he walked down the road with a gloomy heart. ‘Zi, you should have come to me earlier! Now I truly can only rely on myself. First, buy a gnu. Then, go to the Milan Institution of Magic and Martial Arts as quickly as possible to wait for Zi.’

As he thought about his plans, the helplessness and loneliness gradually disappeared. He asked someone on the street and found out that gnus were being sold at the slave market near the north gate. With a lively step, he walked in that direction. Zi told him that on the continent, gold was the most common national currency. 1 gold coin was equivalent to a 100 silver coins. Generally, people only used silver coinage as currency because a family household’s living expenses for a month would amount to only a dozen or so silver coins, that was all. Buying a gnu should only cost, at most, a few gold coins.

Throughout the continent, almost every human town had a slave market as it was absolutely essential. The social class system was extremely rigid, and the slave market dealt with human trafficking from the lowest classes. But as the continent developed, the operating slave markets expanded and began selling all the races and magical beasts on the continent. Naturally, the only magical beasts sold were of low rank, nothing surpassing rank 3.

On the continent, there were ten ranks of magical beasts. The first three ranks that were rank 3 or lower were comprised of rudimentary magical beasts. Rank 4 to rank 6 consisted of advanced magical beasts. Ranks surpassing rank 6 had magicals beasts called sentient magical beasts. Rudimentary magical beasts, generally speaking, were docile. Even if they were ill-tempered, their destructive power was not very large compared to advanced magical beasts, who became quite terrifying, and sentient magical beasts, rank 7 to rank 10, who became extremely horrifying existences. Rank 10 magical beasts were also calledmythological beasts as they existed only in legends.

The two most powerful magical beast races were the Behemoth family of the Northern Wastelands and the dragon race secretly surviving in the eight human countries. Genuine dragons and genuine behemoths are extremely rare. So much so that throughout the continent’s history, there has never been more than a thousand at any point in time.. Their strength, however, was extremely formidable. If it was a genuine dragon or behemoth, even if they were the weakest, they were still Rank 7 or higher. However, the dragon race had an advantage over the behemoths, as they had comparatively a lot more next of kin then the behemoths, this is closely related to the innate promiscious nature of the dragon race.. After a thousand years of evolution, the genuine dragon race is rather sparse while the different variation of dragons were numerous. Eventually, humans were able to successfully tame some of these variations of dragons, becoming what was known as an domesticated dragon. Although they cannot compare to the genuine dragon race, they still possessed dragon blood. Even the dragon variations with the most diluted blood had at the very least the strength of rank 3 or higher while the purer bloodlines could even be compared to a genuine dragon. By having these dragons, it made the human empires extremely powerful. This allowed them to suppress the beastmen of the Northern Wastelands and prevented them from leaving the bitter cold land. Naturally, humans could not invade the Northern Wastelands as the environment was not suitable for human survival.

“I’m so pitiful! My mother died when i was 3 years old and my father left me when i was ten.. Lords, ladies, please take pity on me. Bestow a few gold coins so that I can eat a meal.”

With great difficulty, Yin Zhu found the entrance to the slave market. Having just arrived, he caught sight of the beggar who sat and bawled by the slave market entrance. The little beggar had a small build, his upper and lower body adorned in tattered clothing. With messy hair and a dirty face, black dirt already completely covered his face and clothes except for a part of the cloth with a hole. Set up in front of him was a broken bowl. He sat there crying to the heavens, pleading to passing strangers.