[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-above-the-mage":3,"chapter-above-the-mage-above-the-mage-chapter-68":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Above the Mage!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2257072,4404,"Chapter 68: Sewers","above-the-mage-chapter-68",68,"\u003Cp>Giving it away isn’t a transaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it’s not a transaction, then there’s no smuggling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s acceptable too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The problem is, why would anyone give you something so precious? Gao De asked himself, and also wanted to ask Pierre.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, he owed Pierre many favors, and he felt he could never repay him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Gao De freeze, Pierre seemed to understand his thoughts and reassured him: “Just take it. These three spells will definitely be useful to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That small amount of money is useless to me—it makes no difference whether I have it or not.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment’s thought, Pierre took paper and pen from beside the counter, scribbled a few lines, and handed them to Gao De.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s this?” Gao De took the note, still not reacting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s my address in Bremen,” Pierre explained. “If you ever go to Bremen and can’t find a place to stay, come find me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course, if you arrive too late, I can’t guarantee I’ll still be there.” The old man chuckled warmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De fell silent for a moment, then tucked the note away, placed a hand over his chest, and bowed his head sincerely: “Thank you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After seeing Gao De off, watching his backpacked figure vanish from sight, Pierre took a gulp of tea, his gaze already drifting far away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among mages, there’s a widely circulated saying:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Magic is a private domain open only to the gifted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But those who’ve truly experienced it know magic is a private domain open only to the wealthy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Low talent doesn’t necessarily prevent one from becoming a High-Grade Mage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But without money, one can absolutely never become a High-Grade Mage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s often said that cultivating magic is hard, but the degree of difficulty varies enormously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Commoners struggle just to survive—how much harder must it be for them to learn magic compared to wealthy youths? He himself was born common, and barely carved out a path through sheer effort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now his own path has reached its end. Seeing Gao De now felt like seeing his younger self.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his youth, he desperately wished someone would reach out to help him—but he never had that luck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If so, then now he would be the one who reaches out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s just a small, costless favor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pierre fell silent, poured himself another cup of tea, and drank it down with gulps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Precursor signs of emerging ley lines: magical energy concentration, increased ley creatures, missing population.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On his way back, Gao De kept repeating these key phrases in his mind, feeling he had nearly grasped a crucial point—but had overlooked it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t figure it out until he returned to the herb garden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deep in thought, Gao De stepped into the herb garden, and, troubled, headed first to the herb fields to check on the growth of the seedlings he’d planted earlier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amy and Lei Meng were tending the seedlings, loosening soil and fertilizing them, chatting as they worked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Amy, when you’ve been practicing the Guidance Technique lately, have you noticed that for some reason, magical energy concentration seems to have increased a lot?” Lei Meng asked casually.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Definitely. These past few days, two hours of practice equals what used to take three—amazing!” Amy sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No idea why.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who cares? It’s a good thing, anyway.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two chatted aimlessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De stood frozen in place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Magical energy concentration has increased a lot?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He immediately turned back, returned to his room, sat cross-legged, and swiftly entered the calm state of the Guidance Technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As usual, countless specks of stardust appeared in Gao De’s consciousness, drifting around him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this time, he clearly sensed their number had increased by nearly fifty percent. The next instant, Gao De snapped open his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes were filled with shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lately, he’d been practicing the Guidance Technique using Basic Magical Elixir.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since drinking the magical elixir bypassed the step of drawing external magical energy into the body, he hadn’t realized until now—through the two apprentices’ words—that environmental magical energy concentration had risen so dramatically.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why would magical energy concentration suddenly increase?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before the question fully formed, he already knew the answer: “Magical energy concentration!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two precursor signs of a new ley line emerging—magical energy concentration and increased ley creatures—had both been confirmed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The herb garden is on the outskirts, far from the city center and near the wilds, so it’s the first to sense changes in magical energy concentration.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also now understood why the city’s elites—including Pierre—hadn’t noticed this obvious shift.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because they lived in the more central part of Hogen City, where the effects of magical energy concentration hadn’t yet reached.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A new ley line really is forming—outside Hogen City.” Though he couldn’t be certain, to Gao De, this was already a near-certainty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De rose and paced around his room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The phenomenon of magical energy concentration has already reached the herb garden—meaning the ley line’s formation must have begun long ago.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait.” Gao De remembered something else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two months ago, at Pierre’s general store, city guards had delivered a notice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guards’ exact words were: “The number of Dark Mire Crawlers in the city sewers has sharply increased and become unusually active.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you replace “Dark Mire Crawlers” with their true identity—“ley creatures”—doesn’t that match exactly the ongoing anomaly outside the city?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if so, the anomaly actually began two months ago, inside the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sewers—it’s the sewers!” Recalling his experience in the sewers, a pair of deep red eyes suddenly flashed through Gao De’s mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mystery that had plagued him for so long was solved at once:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He might have found where the ley creature causing the city’s strange events originated—and where it was hiding! Two months ago, he entered the sewers to help Pierre clear out the Dark Mire Crawlers, and there gained his second Source.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he left, he’d vaguely seen a pair of deep red eyes in the sewers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But at the time, the threat from Seda Mage loomed large, leaving him no time to dwell on it; as days passed, he’d forgotten—until this moment, when it suddenly returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How did the ley creature bypass Hogen City’s outer defenses and reach the city center?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And how had it hidden so long without leaving traces?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was what Pierre and the city’s elites couldn’t figure out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the answer was absurdly simple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Use the sewers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Above ground, everyone is watching—sneaking into the city center is hard. So go underground, through the sewers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>City guards searched repeatedly, yet never found the hidden “ley creature.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because they never looked in the sewers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why did disappearances always occur near the commoner and commercial districts, while the slums remained untouched? Because Hogen City’s sewer system is underdeveloped—only wealthier areas have rudimentary sewer facilities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The slums have no sewer system at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The poor simply dump their wastewater directly into streets and nearby rivers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De had long been repulsed by the slums for this very reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The so-called slime left at crime scenes? It’s just sewer waste, isn’t it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everything now had a logical explanation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1186,"2026-06-19T14:28:48.629Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","976699b50eacca13527828788b1c11256d7a8494d31e75a6e793b82a91456b72","above-the-mage-chapter-69","above-the-mage-chapter-67",529,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fabove-the-mage-cover.jpg"]