Chapter 608: The Limitations of a Mind Mage

No one spoke; silent yet grand music surged from the depths of time. Finely crafted segments billowed within the vast and boundless expanse, their intricate structures embedded in a magnificent expression. The walls, like flowing sculptures, moved in harmony with the art of time, rushing past them. Perhaps no one would ever come to listen and appreciate this again, but the intense emotions of Zhao Jiaozhu, which were infectious, stimulated Luo Qi's consciousness so strongly that it was like a noisy club-goer, forcibly blasting him out of his state of awe.

Perhaps all political figures and leaders possess a side of romanticism; if not, they would hardly be able to stir hearts and lead the masses. From this perspective, although the former Leader passed away suddenly, the successor chosen could not exactly be called a mistake. Comparatively, Luo Qi had to marvel at Du Zhengyi; his emotions were strictly restrained within his own controllable range. To make Du Zhengyi lose control, even an ancient artist would not suffice.

However, in this mind bewitched by art, Luo Qi could not help but notice Clownfish. Du Zhengyi only responded to the power of art in a low-frequency manner, but Clownfish's emotions were nothing but a blank slate. His heart had long been a barren land shrouded in the hue of death, and Luo Qi had smelled the scent of death from his heart more than once.

He also sensed Luo Qi's prying, abruptly slamming his Consciousness Gate shut, locking Luo Qi completely outside.

Luo Qi felt no shame. He had been gifted an unretrievable Yajian Pianshu, and the fragment of consciousness clung to Luo Qi's ear like a cold, damp snake, mocking, "While your sun has yet to set, enjoy this beautiful moment of sunset." Luo Qi rubbed his ear, goosebumps rising; Clownfish was even better at being disgusting than he was.

"What is it?" Du Zhengyi asked.

"Nothing, when will the welcome music end?" Luo Qi asked casually.

"Does the music disgust you?" Du Zhengyi asked with confusion, and as he spoke, the music stopped abruptly.

Luo Qi looked up in surprise and scanned his surroundings. The light-and-shadow reliefs surging on the four walls had also vanished. The light became brighter and steadier than before, shifting into a daily illumination mode. Replacing the light and shadow on the walls were real reliefs, with regular decorative patterns interwoven evenly across the walls.

"What happened?" Zhao Jiaozhu asked with regret, his expression dazed, as if he were still immersed in the art and unwilling to wake up.

Luo Qi said in confusion, "Because I said end?" He thought for a moment and tentatively said, "Start? Reboot? Loop?"

No one answered.

"Alright, Luo Mage," Zhao Jiaozhu smiled. "You are too deep in the human world; there is no Siri assistant here." "Truly stupid," Clownfish said in a low voice. "Can't you just think it in your heart? Must you try it in public? How could the ruins of an ancient Mage understand this year's Chinese?" Luo Qi was struck by a blow to the head, suspecting in his heart that Clownfish was specifically targeting him today.

Clownfish was indeed specifically targeting him, because Clownfish continued, "Besides, why would this place respond to you? Who are you? Why are you so conceited? If this place were to respond, it would only respond to Du Zhengyi. What makes you think an ancient Mage could have predicted that a nameless descendant like you would stand here and specifically design a Magic Protocol to deal with you?"

Luo Qi really wanted to pout.

What was going on? Usually, the one standing in such a place and roasting others was always him, Luo Qi; today, he had actually been usurped. He irritably speculated whether Mind Mages just came with an annoying attribute. Because they could often see into people's hearts, were they particularly cynical and found everyone displeasing?

Just then, the faint, elusive wind that made Luo Qi alert blew over again. He abandoned the chance to bicker with Clownfish, turned his head abruptly, and glared at the pitch-black archway, which had opened at some unknown time.

"Let's go," Du Zhengyi said in a low voice, grabbing Luo Qi's wrist and pulling him into his own controllable range. Luo Qi just managed to feel the uncontrollable twitching of Clownfish's consciousness; if translated into facial expressions, it would be a grimace. He pondered over Clownfish and subconsciously reached out, but Du Zhengyi said without even looking, "Don't touch that crack."

Luo Qi pulled his hand back sheepishly. There was a hard-to-spot crack on the archway; he didn't know what had attacked the metal archway, tearing it like a block of wood. He had thought only he saw it.

"I thought the material your family uses to make weapons was the hardest metal in the universe," Luo Qi said.

Clownfish interjected from behind him, "I thought you were old enough to have been weaned off comics and movies. Have you been thinking he's Wolverine, wielding Adamantium?"

Luo Qi forcibly restrained the urge to kill him. What made him even angrier was that upon careful thought, he and Clownfish shared the same attributes; even if he wanted to attack Clownfish, he likely wouldn't win. Thinking further about the grievances between them, it was hard to even explain clearly. Du Zhengyi was dragging his wrist, preventing him from doing anything else, and he was forcibly hauled into a hexagonal hall.

He whistled in resignation, "Whoa, this looks a bit like the hall in the school's faculty building. Is a honeycomb design also a form of retro? Wait, if this place is all honeycomb-style, how many rooms are there, and what could we possibly find? As many Seal Beasts as a hive of bees?"

The Battle Mage who followed in shuddered at these words. That person was standing next to Wen Lin, and Wen Lin smiled and said in a low voice, "What a jinx."

"The important thing is, if the structure is really that complex, we don't know where to go either," Luo Qi said while looking around, hoping to see some traces of navigation, but the music and reliefs did not reappear, and the lighting remained as usual. The decorative lines on the walls became more concise, carrying the strangeness and ultimate elegance of a prehistoric civilization.

The hall was empty, with six archways leading in six directions. The entrance they came through was behind them, and in front was only a small table waist-high.

"What is that?" Luo Qi asked Du Zhengyi, "A reception desk?"

"Perhaps a podium," Yan Hao followed from behind, glancing at Zhao Jiaozhu.

Luo Qi almost laughed out loud; Zhao Jiaozhu's Magic Artifact seemed naturally suited to be a podium. He covered it up and took the opportunity to ask Zhao Jiaozhu, "The door key has opened the door for you, would you mind entering the startup password?"

"What password?" Zhao Jiaozhu asked in return, staring into Luo Qi's eyes.

Luo Qi didn't know why he asked that, but upon reflection, he himself didn't seem sure what the password would open either. His mind raced, and he said, "It's empty here, there's nothing at all; that's not normal, is it? You should have some Spell that can restore this place to its original appearance, right? At least you could call out the hidden things?"

A trace of subtle annoyance and irritation flashed across Zhao Jiaozhu's face. Luo Qi's heart sank; Zhao Jiaozhu hadn't expected there to be nothing here! And he... he, the clever little Luo Qi, had actually... actually boarded a fool's ship!

It was like this: outside the door, he was certain Zhao Jiaozhu wasn't lying, so he was inclined to follow and see. But now he realized that Zhao Jiaozhu hadn't lied because he was certain that everything he was looking for was behind the door; he had a completely devout faith in the boundless power of the Ancestor Mage.

Luo Qi found it simply unbelievable. You see, this is the limitation of a Mind Mage; they can easily discover if the other party is lying, but judging whether the other party is a fool can only be cultivated step by step through life experience.

I haven't been updating very well, but I didn't expect so many people to stay with me. Thank you all for your constant votes, tips, and comments. I don't even know why you are so good to me, /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~ I... will definitely finish writing this story.

(End of chapter)