Chapter 406: The Path of Survival

Luo Qi felt as if he had awakened from a dream; the crisp sound of cups and plates clinking suddenly rang in his ears again, the sound of the pipa was fading, and the flute music was clear and resonant. The old woman was just taking the roasted meat handed to her by Du Zhengyi. Luo Qi blinked and heard the old woman speaking to Du Zhengyi, "... The deer in the forest has revealed its tracks, so those with their own agendas will all take notice. Some want to set up an altar to pray for the forest deer to bestow blessings. But I fear some only want to catch the deer."

"Are we having roasted venison?" Luo Qi asked.

Du Zhengyi placed a piece of sizzling roasted meat on his plate. "We were saying you should change your name to Forest Deer. What are you rambling about now? What reason made you zone out again?"

Luo Qi cautiously avoided this terrifying question, poked at the meat while thinking, then stealthily moved the meat into Du Zhengyi's plate, deciding to taste what the dipping sauce Du Zhengyi prepared was like. This action earned him a slap from Du Zhengyi. He didn't mind, eating the roasted meat with satisfaction, and lifted his eyelids to glance at Shi Xiansheng.

He had felt it was strange just now; the Shi Xiansheng he saw in the Consciousness World lacked that bit of living aura, and he felt it wasn't Shi Xiansheng's entire soul. Now it seemed that was indeed the case; ginger is still spicier when old, and she had not underestimated Du Zhengyi's fox-like cunning. The image of Shi Xiansheng that connected with him in the Consciousness World and appeared before him must have been a segment of Yajian she had pre-set before coming here. That segment of Yajian was like a computer program made by humans, containing a simple simulated shell and a simple response mode used to converse with Luo Qi (Luo Qi didn't want to explore right now why he had been so easily calculated in the difficulty of the conversation, or whether he was truly too superficial). Furthermore, the most important thing was the information core, the Memory Package she wanted to hand to him.

Luo Qi never cared about his one-second delay in front of Du Zhengyi; he was just slow-witted, and Du Zhengyi had long been accustomed to him zoning out. If he were as sharp as a tack from morning till night one day, Du Zhengyi might have finished him off, thinking he was a fake swapped in.

However, returning to the matter at hand, analyzing it this way, Shi Xiansheng had actually long since decided to give him this package. She had made all kinds of preparations, all for the sake of smuggling it past Du Zhengyi's nose. The conversation she set for herself was actually like a personal declaration, expressing her attitude—she did not support the rebirth mechanism of the Qionglin, but she supported Luo Qi in causing a ruckus in the Heavenly Palace.

After this declaration, which Luo Qi felt was completely ineffective and had no magical binding force, came the substantial material she truly bestowed. In order to allow Luo Qi to cause a ruckus in the Heavenly Palace, she did not hesitate to gift her own power to him. She believed Luo Qi was the Child of Reform, likely because he had the ability and the inner drive to cause a ruckus in the Heavenly Palace. She hadn't come to give him a golden collar; she had come specifically to gift him a Golden Cudgel.

Luo Qi didn't know what to say; he didn't even know how to use this generous gift yet, but the value of the gift went without saying. He felt a bit flattered. Then, thinking that they were actually doing this business right under the noses of the Gushan Guards, he couldn't help but feel a little excited.

"It is better to rely on oneself than on others," the old woman said. "If I were you, I would have him take some Battle Mage courses. Du Mage, you are the best Battle Mage I have heard of in two hundred years; do you not intend to take on an apprentice?"

Upon hearing this, Du Zhengyi looked at Luo Qi, and Luo Qi, while biting into the roasted meat, also subconsciously looked at him. The fire of the roasting stove made his cheeks flushed, his lips were stained with the grease of the meat, and his pair of black eyes were wide and round with curiosity. Du Zhengyi felt a headache the moment he looked at him; could one really expect him to be a tough guy looking like this?

He sighed. "Shi Xiansheng, the workload is a bit heavy. If there were any other possibility, I would not want to choose this path."

Luo Qi rolled his eyes, understanding what Du Zhengyi meant; it meant that he was the exact opposite of someone with a gifted constitution.

The beef rib Luo Qi was biting into was roasted a bit hard; his mouth was occupied, and in his urgency, he angrily kicked Du Zhengyi.

Du Zhengyi let out a surprised and annoyed "hiss." Luo Qi realized what he had done, stayed dull for a moment, and then suddenly became excited. "Brother, my leg works! My sensation has returned! My leg can move again!"

Du Zhengyi gave him a death glare and said to the old woman, "Shi Xiansheng, you see, teaching Luo Qi is basically an impossible task. Luo Qi has his strengths, but I fear we can only tailor the approach to the individual."

The old woman truly appraised Luo Qi with a tailor's eye and spoke gently again, "Du Mage, if it were peaceful times, what you say would not be without reason. But the times are different now. Nowadays, Mind Archmages are already a scarce resource. He is a rare Great Mage, yet so young and easy to manipulate. There are so many people stirring with ulterior motives now; do you still think this child can grow to have full wings like birds in ordinary years?"

Luo Qi saw that Du Zhengyi had truly taken it to heart and was somewhat silent. Given Du Zhengyi's level of intelligence, after a moment of silence, he didn't know where he had already pondered to. He didn't want to disturb him on the side, eating the roasted meat silently and drinking wine to cut the greasiness. The old woman's tone of voice was truly interesting; both were being polite, sounding like two old neighbors from the Republic of China era, yet they could discuss matters of life and death in such a gentle tone.

Shi Xiansheng waited leisurely for a while and then said, "I still say the same thing: do not forget that no news can ever be truly kept hidden. Whether from the Black Market or from within the Qionglin, news will eventually leak out that Luo Qi released Magic of the Progenitor Mage level on the Highland. Perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, from a certain moment on, no one will believe you if you say you have not mastered the Magic information of the Progenitor level. No one has ever been able to prove their own innocence; only the strong can truly have a clear conscience, and ordinary people cannot even obtain this."

Luo Qi watched as Du Zhengyi nodded in rare, sincere conviction, accepting the other's good intentions.

Luo Qi couldn't help but say, "Pei Shu already agreed to let me participate in the Battle Mage course; I might even be able to take the exam. My brother didn't say I couldn't participate either."

Du Zhengyi glanced at him. "I just think it's better for you to be busy than idle; you cause trouble when you're idle. If it weren't for the poor coordination of that bunch of losers, which created so much free time for you, you wouldn't have run out to cause trouble."

"Ow," Luo Qi said unhappily. "I told you before I went out to play, and you said it was okay. It was only because it was okay that I went out to play. I reported to my leader early and late, not being sloppy at all."

"Shut up," Du Zhengyi said, annoyed as usual.

Shi Xiansheng smiled slightly and said to Luo Qi, "I am talking about letting Du Zhengyi teach you personally. He has more combat experience than anyone else. With the best warrior of the Qionglin in several hundred years guiding you, your future survival probability will increase."

Luo Qi couldn't tell how many meanings her words had; she was speaking to him and Du Zhengyi at the same time, but the implications were rich. He hesitated, and was caught red-handed by Du Zhengyi, who looked at him laboriously and asked, "What do you mean by this? You actually don't trust me to teach you?"

"You are too young, after all," Luo Qi said offhandedly, "and simple and crude."

"What?" Du Zhengyi raised his hand and slapped the back of his head.

Luo Qi cried out "Ow" and clamored, "See, that's just it! How many beatings do I have to take to learn from you! The Highland Mages never hit me; they are especially loving toward me."

The old woman laughed out loud. "Whether to learn from the sheep or the wolf, my dear grandson, you had better think it over."

"I don't need him!" Luo Qi said angrily, rubbing the back of his head. "Any Magic teaching requires Magic guidance. Du Zhengyi is not suitable for this; there is simply no need to say anything more!"

The other two fell silent at the same time. After a long while, Du Zhengyi looked at him and said, "Then I will only participate in the teaching; I can evaluate the teaching process."

Luo Qi did not look at him. He was unhappy every time such words were said, but the fact was that he needed to constantly remind Du Zhengyi, to remind him that he could no longer use Magic.

"That is also very good," Shi Xiansheng said gently. "My journey is coming to an end, and you will continue to move forward. Who knows? The truth of this world was originally left for the Mind Archmage; perhaps one day you will be able to know what you are looking for."