Chapter 497: The Great Mage's Olive Branch (3)

"However, I still have one question," Luo Qi asked. "Highland Mages are all Mind Mages, right? I assume the Other Shore you seek truly exists, but are the gates of heaven only open to Mind Mages?"

"Progenitor Mages are only a step away from gods, and among the Mage population, Mind Mages are the closest to Progenitor Mages. You have likely already discovered that all the Magic that other Mages can use, Mind Mages can actually master through training and study. Our Telepathy relies on the mind and intellect to exist, while other Mages' Magic must borrow external Magic power through incantations." The Highland Mage smiled and raised an index finger to point upward. "One day, Magic power will wither away, and at that time, only a few rare types of Magic will still be usable; Telepathy is one of them."

"I have never heard that Mind Mages are more precious than others; I have only heard that Mind Mages are very rare. Mage society is even somewhat hostile toward Mind Mages; you have seen for yourselves what a huge scene they are making right now," Luo Qi said, frowning.

"That is very common. Those who are far ahead of the group will always be considered heretics by their ignorant kin. Just like the human Bruno; the humans burned him to death in their own square," Mage Hashi said.

"I am not some giant of the era; I am no different from anyone else."

Mage Hashi looked into his eyes searchingly, as if he had gained something. He subconsciously checked his own defenses again, confirming that he had not been breached by Telepathy. But then he realized that the Highland Mage was observing him using the life experience and wisdom of who knows how many individuals, and he himself was not actually someone particularly difficult to understand.

Mage Hashi nodded as if he understood. "I see. You cannot tolerate unfair thoughts. You do not allow others to look down on you, but you also do not accept being looked up to by others. You believe you are different from the crowd because you believe everyone is different from the crowd, so you loathe being a puppet whose individuality has been erased to fill a massive whole."

"Yes," Luo Qi said in a low voice.

"Everyone calls for fairness, but everyone's fairness is defined by themselves. For example, in the stories of humans and Mages, the underestimated hero must eventually obtain supreme glory; that is the fairness of compensation."

"You mean to say that I should be a loser who makes a comeback, be worshipped and revered by the world after turning things around, ride on others' necks to take a dump, and then recall the glorious years of the past, spending the second half of my life in the joy of becoming a Dragon King," Luo Qi said calmly.

"You put it very crudely, Luo Mage, but it is indeed very real," the Highland Mage said. "When someone calls you Great Mage Luo Qi, what will you want to do?"

Luo Qi pondered for a moment and said, "I should open a pet shop, fifty bucks for a dog wash, boarding included."

The Highland Mage smiled slightly. "I understand what you mean. However, in a few years, there is a great possibility that Qionglin will be yours. Are you really not interested in power? At your age, who would not crave success and fame, to build a career?"

Luo Qi's eyes narrowed slightly, likewise scrutinizing the Highland Mage. "I have heard that some people cannot distinguish between the essence of power and the patterns on its surface."

"What is the essence of power?" the Highland Mage followed his words closely. "Glory? Wealth? Power? Undying achievements?"

"None of those," Luo Qi said. "The essence of power is the pleasure obtained from tormenting others."

The Highland Mage smiled, and this time his eyes also brimmed with laughter. Luo Qi suspected this was how these liars laughed heartily; they were not truly devoid of emotions, just different in how they expressed them.

"Does tormenting others not make you happy?"

"It does not."

"Truly rare. You were born among the Lowland Mage population, yet you are the most likely to succeed in your cultivation and reach the Other Shore," Mage Hashi said, looking at him.

"I have no interest," Luo Qi said; the Highland Mage looked like a charlatan. "Back to that point just now, I don't think I am superior to others. For example, Du Zhengyi; he is not a Mind Mage, yet he is much stronger than me." "No," Mage Hashi said gently. "Du Mage's powerful Magic comes from his surname. For the blood descendants of Progenitor Mages, their power mainly comes from their bloodline. Mind Mages are new Mages born from among Mages, especially you, child; you do not know what a subtle miracle your existence is."

Luo Qi pondered for a moment. "You say Du Zhengyi is a blood descendant of the Progenitor Mages; do you have evidence, or are you just saying that based on legends?"

"When you see the leaves move, you naturally know the wind has passed," the Highland Mage said.

This sentence did not answer him directly, but it spoke into Luo Qi's heart. He remembered the past events mentioned by the old captain in the Black Market. The old captain, who was also of the Du Clan, had once followed a young Pei Shu to the Seal Land beneath Xingtai Mountain. As a Mind Mage, Pei Shu could drive the Magic required by the Seal Land, but he still needed a Du Clan member to go with him. According to the logic of the Magic World, the Du Clan possessed special bloodline Magic.

But at the time, he had another thought: the so-called bloodline Magic might have another way of being interpreted. Over a hundred years ago, perhaps they could only say it was bloodline Magic, but a hundred years later today, perhaps one could borrow the human worldview to look at this problem. The Seal Land was sealed by Progenitor Mages; what unlocked it was not Magic, but the genes of the Progenitor Mages.

Mages view Progenitor Mages as gods and consider themselves descendants of gods, but the details in between are severely missing. Descendants of gods could be Demigods born, or they could be creations of gods. In human legends, gods created humans in their own image and created livestock to provide for humans. In Mage legends, the Progenitors created Mages in their own image and created humans to provide for Mages.

"So Du Zhengyi's Magic Ability is significantly higher than the entire Magic society," Luo Qi said in a low voice; he already knew this was very possible. "But this clan has now reached its end, yet Qionglin is not particularly worried."

The Highland Mage shook his head and did not answer his question.

Luo Qi himself knew that people are so complex that every ending is hard to tell in a few words, and he did not have the energy to study things that were already a foregone conclusion at this moment. Today's conversation with the Highland Mage made his brain spin so fast it was about to explode. He asked with a final glimmer of hope, "If he really has the bloodline of the Progenitor Mages, although the bloodline has been diluted after thousands or tens of thousands of years, according to your words, isn't his distance from the gods also very close? He must also be able to reach the Other Shore through cultivation, right? Aren't you considering recruiting him?"