Chapter 163: The Blessing

Dawn, Morning Wind Street.

The pharmacist resembling a monkey and the handsome man dressed as a magician stared at each other.

“Is there anything else you need?”

Feeling the magician’s overly eager gaze, Yude shrank back, shoulders tense with unease.

He suspected the man was a pervert who enjoyed tormenting deformed people—he’d encountered such types before in his life.

The magician fell silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled brightly across his handsome face, and slowly spoke:

“You’ve suffered greatly, carrying this deformed body.”

“I swear by my god, I can give you a brand-new life—free from discrimination, hatred, insults, deception, or harm.”

He silently added in his mind: anyone who dares to do those things to you will cease to be human.

“Interested in coming with me?”

The magician removed his white glove, bent down, and extended his palm toward Yude.

His expression was solemn, his posture humble.

This sudden gesture left Yude’s mind blank—he stared, frozen, before finally snapping back to awareness.

“Sir, thank you for your invitation, but I’m already content with my life. I’ve found someone I wish to serve for the rest of my days—I no longer need a new life.”

Yude spoke with sincere earnestness; he could feel the magician’s genuine kindness, yet as he’d just said, he was truly satisfied.

Before meeting the Sage, he might have accepted without hesitation, chasing that new life—but

Now, meeting the Sage was the world’s redemption for him, illuminating his dark existence.

The magician fixed his gaze on Yude’s face, searching his amber-yellow eyes for any trace of deceit.

But those pupils reflected nothing but unfeigned light and calm.

He was telling the truth.

The magician froze upon reaching this conclusion.

In all the invitations he’d issued over the years, rejections weren’t unheard of—but never for this reason: I’m already content. I don’t need a new life.

“That’s truly a pity. If I could, I’d very much like to meet the person who brought you this change,” the magician murmured.

Yude said nothing—he wouldn’t reveal any information about the Sage. He simply bowed slightly, then hurried off toward the direction of Foxfire Castle.

The magician watched his retreating figure in silence, then vanished without a trace, leaving only a wisp of white smoke and a few petals drifting slowly down to the ground.

A few passersby who happened to glimpse the scene rubbed their eyes in disbelief, convinced they were hallucinating from lack of sleep.

Foxfire Castle, dining hall.

Xia Mingyu was just fastening his napkin under the golden-haired girl’s service, ready to attack the golden fried egg and thick-cut smoked pork ribs, when he received word that Yude wished to see him.

“Let him in.”

Moments later, Yude appeared in the dining hall, eyes dark with fatigue, breathing heavily, clutching a box.

“Your Highness, I brewed six full bottles of perfect-grade mana potions overnight!”

The moment he saw Xia Mingyu, Yude leaped forward, beaming with pride.

“You’ve worked hard. Sit down and have breakfast first.”

Xia Mingyu halted Yude’s attempt to open the box and firmly pushed him into a chair at the table.

This guy’s dark circles are nearly as bad as a panda’s—if he doesn’t rest and eat soon, he’ll drop dead on the spot.

“Anliya, bring him breakfast—same as mine.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Soon, the golden-haired girl smiled as she placed a plate of fried egg and pork ribs before Yude. The pharmacist, never treated so kindly by such a beautiful girl, stammered out thanks.

With fingers yellowed from years of handling potions, he carefully picked up knife and fork, and placed a slice of smoked pork rib in his mouth.

The moment he bit down, the crispy crust shattered delicately between his teeth—like cracking thin ice—and a rich smoky aroma exploded in his mouth, carrying the lingering scent of burning oak and bay leaves.

Hss!

After reluctantly swallowing the meat, Yude drew in a sharp breath.

This… this… how can it be so delicious?

Even better than evening tea!

Moreover, after swallowing the rib, he clearly felt warm currents flowing through his body, as if soaking in a hot spring.

His body, weakened and heavy from days of sleepless potion-making, suddenly felt light.

“Your Highness, this is the most delicious food I’ve ever eaten—and it nourishes the body like a potion,” Yude sincerely praised.

Xia Mingyu smiled without replying. Anliya’s food was indeed delicious, but calling it potion-like was a bit exaggerated.

As the black-haired youth thought this, he gently pierced the fried egg with his silver fork—the golden yolk oozed out like molten sunlight, spreading across the white porcelain plate into an inviting lake.

The moment he placed the yolk in his mouth, the thick, buttery liquid coated his tongue, and warm currents surged through his body like a spring.

His mind, foggy from days of overexerting his mana, cleared instantly, reviving his entire demeanor.

This… it’s gone beyond the realm of food.

Xia Mingyu turned to look at the golden-haired girl in her white dress beside him.

Seeing his gaze, Anliya’s lips curved slightly, revealing a beautiful, mischievous smile on her porcelain face.

“Your Highness, last night while studying recipes in the kitchen, I was blessed by your favor and ascended.” Her voice was soft, like a mountain stream brushing the heart, soothing and healing.

The next moment, beside the plain white text above her head, a new line of emerald-green text appeared—“The King’s Cook.”

Xia Mingyu: “???”

He remembered the girl had only just gained the Apprentice Chef blessing a few months ago—now she’d ascended to an extraordinary class, and even a variant profession!

Life-class professions typically took far longer to ascend than combat ones; thus, Anliya’s breakthrough was unquestionably as extraordinary as Boge Chu’s.

“This blessing grants me the ability ‘The Mother’s Hearth’—any dish I prepare with care randomly carries effects such as healing, enhancement, or inducing sleep.”

“The breakfast I prepared today carries the healing effect,” Anliya explained patiently.

She turned ordinary ingredients into potions?!

Good heavens, every alchemist in the world would be green with envy—like Yude beside her, whose eyes were bulging as if about to pop out.

Xia Mingyu fell silent, feeling this ability was just a bit too overpowered.

The name was just a little off—“The Mother’s Hearth” made it sound like Anliya wasn’t his lover but his mother.

“Your Highness, I can finally help you now.”

The girl gently placed her hand on Xia Mingyu’s, her sky-blue eyes filled with tender devotion and admiration.

She had watched him exhaust himself for days, crafting food for the starving.

Every time she saw him resting his head on her lap, his eyes shut but brows still furrowed in pain, she felt as if knives were slicing through her heart.

She wanted to help him—even if it cost her everything.

So after tucking him in each night, she’d sneak to the kitchen, spending the silent hours alone studying recipes and ingredient pairings, striving to create better food to ease his burdens.

Now, with her ascension and the “Mother’s Hearth” ability, she was finally no longer a burden to him.

“Yude, you’ve worked all night—rest well in the castle.”

Feeling the softness on his hand and the girl’s heartfelt gaze, Xia Mingyu paused, then spoke after Yude finished eating.

Once Yude was led away by servants, the grand dining hall was left with only him and the golden-haired girl.

Xia Mingyu rose silently, pressed her wrist against the wall, and kissed her petal-soft lips with force.

Mwah, mwah, mwah~

It was a breath-stealing kiss.

Foxfire Castle, library.

Afternoon.

Beneath a lavish crystal chandelier, towering shelves of oak and bronze stacked layer upon layer, nearly brushing the ceiling.

The air carried a faint scent of aged paper and raw wood, as quiet as the afternoon after final exams.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

With the whisper of wind rustling tree branches outside, sunlight filtered through stained-glass windows and fell upon the heavy grimoire in Xia Mingyu’s hands. He gently opened it, revealing a complex, intricate pattern composed of hundreds of lines.

This was a magic diagram—a pattern requiring precious Yingji mana crystals ground to powder, and painstakingly drawn by a mage who had awakened the spell, spending immense time to perfectly capture the flow of mana along every line.

That was why every grimoire was so precious.

Sometimes, a grimoire recording a powerful spell cost more than an entire estate—something so rare that those who obtained it hid it as a family heirloom, passing it down through generations.

“This is way too hard to learn!”

After staring at the magic diagram until his eyes ached, Xia Mingyu closed the book and sighed deeply.

To master the spell recorded in the diagram, you had to memorize the entire pattern perfectly—and crucially, remember the mana flow of each of the hundreds of lines, and draw them flawlessly.

Beyond that, you had to visualize the spell’s release in your mind and understand its fundamental origin.

One word: hard. Three words: impossibly hard.

In the past, when he read books mentioning that a mage typically needed a full year—or even two or three—to learn a single spell beyond their innate one, Xia Mingyu had secretly mocked those mages as weaklings.

Spending years to learn one spell? In any fantasy novel, that’d be laughed out of existence.

But now, facing the grimoire himself, Xia Mingyu suddenly felt a year was fast, two years wasn’t enough, and three years was just right.

“Sigh… let’s see who wrote this grimoire.”

Still sighing, he flipped to the last page of the grimoire.

Because creating a grimoire was so difficult and consumed vast amounts of a mage’s meditation time, every mage who produced one always recorded their name on the final page.

It was a unique honor, distinct from knighthood, reserved solely for mages.

It signified their unique contribution to the Chuancheng and development of magic—so even if a thousand years passed and the world changed, as long as the grimoire remained intact and the spell was still used, their name would endure, revered by future generations.

"Baiyas."

Xia Mingyu slowly read the name recorded on the last page of the book.

"Baiyas?"

He didn’t react at first upon the first recitation; only on the second repetition did he snap back to awareness.

The next instant, his pupils contracted sharply, his entire expression overtaken by shock, and the heavy grimoire nearly slipped from his trembling hands.

The author of this grimoire was none other than Baiyas—the one who left an irreplaceable mark in all of human history, universally recognized as the founder and ancestral master of magic, the first Grand Magus.

Before him, the elf race, favored by magic, could wield spells—but only through instinctive talent. It was only after Baiyas appeared that magic gained structure, clear ranks, and truly became a complete transcendent path.

"A grimoire drawn by the founder of magic himself, and very likely his own awakened innate magic."

Xia Mingyu’s fingers trembled slightly as he gripped the pages; he realized the immense value of this grimoire.

Even for the noblest families or royal houses on the continent, this book was a treasure worthy of eternal transmission.

If it appeared at an auction, even the greatest nobles would fight over it, driving the price to a sum sufficient to buy an entire family castle.

It could truly be called a rare relic of human heritage, its value impossible to measure simply in gold.

"I truly owe Taemelan a great debt!" Xia Mingyu couldn’t help but exclaim.

To obtain this grimoire—even as the Grand Pope’s grandson—Taemelan must have exerted tremendous effort.

After his moment of awe, Xia Mingyu eagerly turned the page past the magical diagram, to the section detailing the spell.

"O successor, I am Baiyas. When you obtain this grimoire and begin learning its magic, even I cannot help but envy your fortune."

"This is my innate magic, awakened when I ascended to the rank of Morning Star Mage: Absolute Cold Hell. I am certain that no matter how far magic evolves, it will forever remain among the pinnacle ice spells."

(End of Chapter)