Chapter 359: Returning to the Northern Realm

Because she was only five years old, there was still a faint scent of Sidian lavender on Anna's fingers.

At this point, Anna's identity was almost certain.

One thing might be a coincidence, but so many things matching up meant it was inevitable.

And in the very end, the introduction to the contemporary Sidian royal family clearly pointed out that the contemporary queen had given birth to two daughters and one son in succession.

After listening to what Gao De said, Aisha fell into a long silence, seemingly not knowing what reaction to make.

Clap, clap, clap!

Crisp applause rang out abruptly.

Anna's small palms were clapping hard, her big eyes blinking, full of worship and excitement, "Big Brother is so smart!"

Aisha looked down at the "carefree" Anna, feeling a sense of helplessness that made her want to support her forehead.

Anna seemed to have sensed Aisha's thoughts and looked up to comfort her sister, "Sister, Big Brother won't do anything to us."

Although she was young, she knew she couldn't reveal her identity. The reason she wasn't panicked even after her identity was exposed was because she knew Gao De had no malice toward them; this was a child's unique intuition.

"How can you be sure I don't have a clear place to stay?" Aisha took a deep breath and asked again.

But her posture clearly told Gao De that he had guessed right.

"Because you haven't even prepared the most important funds for buying a boat; the possibility that other places are prepared is very low," Gao De explained unhurriedly.

"There were some unexpected situations..." Aisha tried to explain, opened her mouth, felt that this explanation was more like being stubborn, and finally stopped abruptly.

"Although the Harland two-masted sailboat is considered a small boat, it is also the largest and most expensive type among small boats. You didn't have enough funds but insisted on purchasing the Harland two-masted sailboat instead of settling for the next best thing, which shows that the two-masted sailboat just happened to meet your needs; if you went any further, it wouldn't work."

Gao De continued: "And what is the biggest difference between the Harland two-masted sailboat and other small boats? It's in the ocean-crossing ability. The two-masted sailboat is a small sailboat with relatively stable ocean-crossing ability."

"Princess Aisha, you want to cross the ocean via the Harland two-masted sailboat and go to another continent."

"The Central Continent is in another direction, so it can basically be excluded, so your goal should be to set sail from Lagos port, sail south through the Sword Sea, cross the Radiant Sea, and enter the Terra Continent."

"With the power of the Sidian Kingdom, it is absolutely not enough to arrange a fixed place to stay on another continent."

"So you should only have a rough destination of the Terra Continent. As for where to stay after arriving at the Terra Continent, you have no plan at all."

"The Terra Continent is all boundless deserts, and the Holy Empire's legions are conquering inward from the coastline of the Terra Continent, in a state of combat readiness. You taking Anna there is not safe."

"That's none of your business." Aisha gave a bitter smile, although she didn't answer directly, this posture was already telling Gao De that everything he said was right.

"Since that's the case, why not change to another place?" Gao De didn't care about Aisha's stiff attitude but rubbed Anna's head and proposed his own idea.

"You didn't hesitate to take such a big risk to go to sea to the Terra Continent, which shows that the Duchy of Evga is determined to get the two of you. But going to the Terra Continent, even if you can avoid the tracking of the Duchy of Evga, has various dangers; after all, it is a completely unfamiliar continent."

"You alone would be fine, but you are also taking Anna."

"Although the Nolan Continent is large, where is there a place for us to stay?" Aisha said slowly after being silent for a moment.

"Why not?" Gao De continued: "Isn't there another choice?"

"Hmm?"

"The Northern Realm," Gao De "showed his cards" and said directly: "Why don't you go to the Northern Realm? The voyage is far shorter than going to the Terra Continent, and the effect is no different from going to the Terra Continent."

Although the Northern Realm is also on the Nolan Continent, with its isolation from the world, in fact, saying it is another continent is not a problem.

"What is in the Northern Realm? The Northern Realm only has boundless snowfields. If we go there, Anna and I can only survive like wild people."

"Clean drinking water, sufficient food, warm shelter—none of these exist in the Northern Realm, and the Aisi people in the Northern Realm are xenophobic. It's not as good as going to the Terra Continent; at least in the Terra Continent, money can solve most problems." Hearing Gao De's suggestion, Aisha's first reaction was that it was too absurd and shook her head repeatedly.

"If these problems can all be solved, would you insist on going to the Terra Continent, or would you turn to choose the Northern Realm?" Gao De asked.

"Perhaps... the Northern Realm?" Aisha thought seriously and said uncertainly.

"Since that's the case," Gao De got a satisfactory answer and smiled: "Then go to the Northern Realm."

"What do you mean?" Aisha was confused.

"I have some connections in the Northern Realm," Gao De thought for a moment and used a relatively conservative way of saying it, "As long as you arrive in the Northern Realm, all problems including places to stay, food, and drinking water will be solved for you. You don't need to worry about the so-called xenophobia; the people there give me a lot of face and will not be disrespectful to my guests."

"Some connections in the Northern Realm?" This time Aisha was dumbfounded, even doubting if she had heard it wrong.

Such a fresh way of saying it.

"If you don't believe me, do you know 【Domain of Honesty】? I can cooperate with you for verification." Gao De saw Aisha's hesitation and said generously.

"I haven't mastered 【Domain of Honesty】..." Aisha shook her head, thought for a moment, and asked: "Why are you willing to help us?"

"We have never had any intersection before."

"Because of Anna." Gao De said truthfully.

"Because of Anna?" Aisha instinctively hugged Anna and looked at Gao De suspiciously.

"Anna is a genius," Gao De expressed helplessness at Aisha's reaction and said earnestly: "I hope she can learn runes with me."

"Anna is a genius?!" Aisha's eyes widened even more.

Aisha's reaction made Gao De stunned for a moment, and after a while, he couldn't help but ask: "Why, haven't you ever discovered Anna's talent before?"

"She is indeed very smart..." Aisha tried hard to weigh her words, her eyes revealing a trace of confusion, "But in terms of learning, it seems she has never shown anything outstanding."

"You seem to mean she has talent in runology, but..."

Aisha thought for a moment and confirmed: "Aisha isn't even a magic user and has never learned runology?"

"Hmm?" Gao De frowned after hearing this, looked at Anna, who was sitting "obediently," and after a while, said slowly: "If Anna hasn't learned runology, how did she remember those runes?"

"When I went to play with those big toys, they were drawing and drawing on the side, and after watching too much, I remembered..." Anna said blankly.

"Then have you never revealed these things to your sister, father, or mother?"

Anna stuck out her tongue, blinking her eyes somewhat embarrassedly, "If I told them, they would definitely make me like my sister."

Gao De turned to look at Aisha.

"I learn things quickly, so since I was four, my father arranged many teachers and courses for me." Aisha answered "expressionlessly."

Not only a big smart one, but also a little smart one... Gao De couldn't help but laugh.

"And..." Anna said honestly: "They all said I had no talent and was far behind my sister."

"?"

"Anna's magic user talent is very average. With the royal family's resources, she has only just become a first-rank magic user apprentice..." Faced with Gao De's questioning gaze, Aisha explained for Gao De.

In the end, this world is ultimately a world of magic users. Magic user strength is the most fundamental thing and the most important indicator for judging talent.

And not to mention anything else, just in terms of runology, this happens to be a discipline with the most distinct levels. A first-rank runemaster must be a first-circle magic user and must never be crossed.

So, with average magic user talent, it is almost certain that Anna's future achievements in runology will be extremely limited.

From this perspective, saying Anna's talent is average is not a problem.

"What a waste of heaven's gift!" Gao De couldn't help but sigh.

Saying so, he also knew that this judgment was reasonable and based on realistic logic.

In the existing runology system, magic user talent is an important hurdle that runemasters cannot bypass.

If your magic user talent is average, you cannot become a high-level magic user, and if you cannot become a high-level magic user, you naturally cannot become a high-level runemaster.

And Anna's most outstanding talent in runology is calculation, an innate, unparalleled sensitivity to runes and numbers.

This talent, for now, is still too advanced and cannot be used.

Fortunately, it wasn't too late when Anna met him.

"Are you serious?" Aisha was half-believing.

Gao De nodded, "None of you realized how incredible Anna's talent is."

"So, you must go to the Northern Realm even more," he said extremely seriously: "Because only I can fully tap into Anna's potential in runology."

When Gao De finished speaking, the room fell into a long silence.

Aisha was in deep thought, her heart undergoing a fierce struggle.

To be honest, she couldn't fully believe what Gao De said about "having connections in the Northern Realm" and "Anna having incredible talent," and even suspected more.

After all, to her, Gao De was just a stranger.

But the problem is, if the latter is true, if she refuses Gao De's proposal at this time and takes Anna to the Terra Continent, wouldn't that delay Anna's outstanding talent?

Even if there was only a slight possibility, Aisha didn't want to delay Anna's future.

Anna was her only relative in the world and her own sister.

It was this point that made Aisha start to waver and gradually shift toward Gao De's proposal.

Gao De also saw Aisha's entanglement.

"Perhaps, you can also ask Anna's thoughts. Although she is only five years old, for such an important decision, she also has the right to express her own opinion, doesn't she?"

Aisha was startled.

She looked down at Anna, "Anna, what do you think?"

"I believe Big Brother."

Aisha was stunned, "You mean..."

"I believe Big Brother, I think going to the Northern Realm is better!"

"Good, then I know." Aisha closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I agree to your proposal," she opened her eyes again, the confusion in her eyes had faded, leaving only determination. She looked at Gao De, "How exactly do we go to the Northern Realm?"

Gao De was also well-prepared. He took a piece of parchment from his pocket, spread it on the bed, and then leaned down slightly, pointing at it with his right hand.

"This is the coastline of the Goldfinch Empire and the coastline of the Northern Realm. You set sail from Lagos port."

Gao De pointed to the point representing Lagos port on the parchment, his finger moving slowly and steadily, "After sailing out of the Sword Bay, sail all the way north along the Sword Sea."

"After crossing the Eryinlaya Range," Gao De's finger paused briefly at the line representing the Eryinlaya Range before continuing forward, "You continue to sail north along the coastline. To be honest, I don't know how long this journey is or the specific situation, so you need to explore the path yourself, and by the way, help me complete the outline of the coastline."

"Until you see such a bay, it is called Valaer Bay," Gao De's finger landed heavily on the area representing Valaer Bay, "This is an extremely deep bay; as long as you sail along the coastline, you will definitely not miss it."

"You land at Valaer Bay, and someone will meet you there."

"The boat for the voyage will also be provided by me."

"Is that okay?" Gao De asked.

"Okay." Since she had made the decision, Aisha no longer struggled, nodded immediately, rolled up the parchment, and put it away.

"However, I must take Anna away first. It's too dangerous here. The Evga people being able to chase to Lagos shows that Magic User Kess has already had an accident. The trackers are very strong, at least third-circle magic users."

She stood up, pulled up her hood, and added: "If you want to find us, just go to the Haiyin Ronggu Yuan in the city; that is my current place to stay."

"No problem."

"Goodbye, Big Brother!"

Sending Aisha and Anna away, the room returned to silence.

Although there were twists and turns, it was considered smooth... Gao De secretly calculated.

The next most important thing is to raise the funds needed to buy Harland Shipyard.

He knew the truth that long delays lead to trouble. Now the Evga people are searching for Aisha in Lagos. Even if he has blocked the shipyard, no one can be sure what accidents will happen if he drags it on.

Every day he delays, the danger increases by one point, so he must act as soon as possible.

Gao De stood up immediately and took all the luggage he had prepared.

After confirming there were no omissions, he extended his right hand.

"Astral Portal." Gao De recited in his heart.

The next instant, the back of his hand suddenly lit up.

The light turned from dark to bright, spreading rapidly, forming a complex and mysterious silver rune. The lines of the rune were twisted and agile, containing endless mysteries.

Dreamlike five-colored radiance poured out from the silver rune like mercury.

Gao De stared quietly at this strange scene.

About ten seconds later.

No more five-colored radiance poured out from the silver rune.

And a portal made of countless fine light particles appeared in front of Gao De.

Light and shadow flickered in the portal, constantly changing various wonderful scenes, as if connecting to another mysterious world.

This was the astral portal returning to the Northern Realm.

Gao De took a deep breath and stepped into it.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 360 =====