Chapter 174

Facing He Xi's slightly sharp evaluation, Tang Ni Kunxi Ese remained silent.

For someone like him, who had considered himself the center of the world since childhood, He Xi's emotionless evaluation was more painful than anything else.

At that moment, the blood in his body seemed to rush to his head, making his brain buzz and his face burn like fire.

He used every ounce of his reason to restrain the emotions in his heart, only then managing not to lose his composure.

Tang Ni Kunxi Ese silently took the rune diagram he had painstakingly drawn and was so proud of from He Xi's hand, then bowed his head to He Xi and turned to leave, his figure quickly disappearing into the lonely corridor.

Watching Tang Ni Kunxi Ese's departing back, He Xi shook his head.

He knew Tang Ni Kunxi Ese's thoughts perfectly well.

He was indeed getting old, and it wasn't as if he hadn't considered finding someone to pass on his rune knowledge to.

But the problem was, even if he lowered his standards as much as possible, Tang Ni Kunxi Ese's level was still a hundred and eight thousand miles away from the minimum standard required to inherit his rune knowledge.

Better to have nothing than to settle for less.

If even the minimum requirement could not be met, then even if he passed on all his rune knowledge, it would be like casting pearls before swine; it would be better to take it to the grave.

Originally, He Xi had already given up on the idea of passing it on, but who would have thought that Gao De would appear at this time.

As for this student whom the academy had forced upon him, the more He Xi spent time with him, the more he liked him.

First of all, Gao De's talent in runology was so good that it made him marvel more than once.

In addition, Gao De had a clear mind and was not rigid; he understood many things at a single hint, and no matter what he taught him, he could understand it quickly and draw inferences, completely without needing him to worry too much.

Most importantly, his character was excellent, he was focused in his work, could endure loneliness, and despite his young age, he had a sense of steadiness.

This made He Xi feel both fortunate and deeply regretful at the same time.

The fortune was that at the final juncture of his life, he could still meet such a student.

The regret was that it was only at the final juncture of his life that he met such a student.

Tang Ni Kunxi Ese paced in the lonely corridor, his figure and face buried in the shadows, making it hard to see him clearly.

He walked very slowly, and only after a long time did he step out of the shadows.

Under the sunlight, it was clear that Tang Ni Kunxi Ese's face, which always maintained a humble and polite appearance, was now full of gloom, and his eyes were filled with unwillingness, anger, hostility, and malice.

Although he had always presented himself as a polite noble mage, in essence, he was a person with a narrow mind and extreme hostility.

As long as others offended him even slightly, he would harbor resentment and try every possible way to retaliate.

In order to learn the rune construction technology mastered by He Xi, as a member of the Kunxi Ese family, he did not hesitate to "lower his status" to enter this rune department that had been declining for who knows how long, and put on a respectful posture in front of He Xi.

He had been acting like this for several years.

Now, He Xi's faint evaluation had completely broken Tang Ni Kunxi Ese's defenses.

"This old man has nothing; a dignified third-rank rune constructor reduced to this state, he can be considered a freak."

"If I were a third-rank rune constructor, in the Saint Xi En Principality, I would have long been above one person and below ten thousand, so why would I be holed up in this broken place, being squeezed out by some stray cats and dogs!"

"He's just a useless old stubborn, only that bit of rune knowledge on him is worth mentioning."

Tang Ni Kunxi Ese no longer hated Gao De now.

Just a small mage apprentice, he didn't look down on him at all.

He now hated He Xi.

He hated He Xi's stubbornness, hated He Xi's lack of vision, and hated He Xi for refusing to teach rune construction knowledge to him, the chief student of the rune department.

The Kunxi Ese family, even in Saint Xi En City, was a top-tier great noble family.

Such a huge family, of course, could not have just one heir. And he considered his greatest bargaining chip to be his certain talent in runology.

If he could go a step further and learn rune construction technology from He Xi, he would have the qualifications to change from one of the heirs to the sole heir.

After all, rune construction was one of the most powerful forces in this world.

Now, Tang Ni Kunxi Ese understood that this bargaining chip, which he regarded as his greatest asset for fighting for the position of heir, was no longer viable.

However, he was not discouraged.

Just now in the shadows of the corridor, he had already thought of everything.

"Since you refuse to teach me the rune construction technology while you are alive, then I will take it myself after you die."

Tang Ni Kunxi Ese's gaze became extremely sinister at this moment, and the anger accumulated in his heart was burning fiercely.

Gao De was not aware of the story that happened in the rune workshop after he left.

He had already arrived at the classroom and was attending his elective course, "Racial History."

The instructor, Filai, was spitting on the podium, passionate and high-spirited: "In the vast mage plane, we are not the only native race of humanity..."

"In the largest and only jungle region of the Terra Continent, the Forest of Chants, the Elf race also resides; they are skilled in spells related to healing, beast taming, and plants. The Elf race coexists with the Treant race and the Sprite race."

"In addition, there is the Dragon race, which wanders in the absolute forbidden lands of the world and is regarded as a transcendent existence. It is said that in some archipelagos of the Central Continent, there still exist Dragon Nests, inhabited by groups of dragons."

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"Even among humans, besides the broad human race that has the largest population and occupies most of the world's area, there are several different branches with strange abilities, the most famous of which are four."

"First are the Ice-born and Wolf-born races in the northern realm of the Nolan Continent; the former are famous for the unique ice elemental spells in their bloodline;"

"The latter are usually called Vikings by us, famous for their most powerful barbarian combat arts and unique berserker spells."

"Their spells can ignite their own bloodline, granting their bodies unparalleled power."

"Then there are the Sun Descendants located on the Terra Continent; they contain the power of the sun in their bloodline and have a transcendent control over earth and fire elemental spells by nature."

"Finally, there are the Dragon-born, who are now very rare and almost extinct."

"These four branches are also the origin of our human mages."

"A long time ago, when the plane we are in was not yet called the Mage Plane, it intersected with another plane, which is now called the Earth Vein plane by us."

"At the intersection of the planes, plane channels appeared, namely the Earth Veins, and many powerful Earth Vein creatures surged out from them."

"Facing the powerful Earth Vein creatures, humans had not yet mastered the power of spells at that time and were extremely weak, treated as prey and food by these Earth Vein creatures, with no power to resist."

"But also after the intersection of the two planes, the magical energy on the Mage Plane became increasingly abundant."

"Under the nourishment and stimulation of abundant magical energy, a small number of individuals among our human race had the power in their bloodlines awakened; this power allowed them to master the power of spells without a teacher."

"Compared to mages, their spellcasting ability was not acquired through learning, but originated from their inherent bloodline, which they possessed by nature."

"The appearance of the Ice-born, Wolf-born, Dragon-born, and Sun Descendants gave humans the ability to resist Earth Vein creatures for the first time."

"But this was far from enough; after all, the proportion of these four descendants in the human race was too insignificant, and compared to the number of Earth Vein creatures, it was not worth mentioning."

"However, humans possess wisdom. After the appearance of the innate spells of the four descendants, sages studied the innate spells, and the first person to master spells through acquired learning rather than bloodline awakening appeared, and then such people began to increase."

"We call these people Ancient Mages."

"Under the constantly growing desire for knowledge and exploration and the infinite wisdom of the Ancient Mages, they created brand-new knowledge concepts, constantly perfected the spell system, and humans began to establish their own mage civilization, until now."

(End of chapter)