Chapter 164

The duke's coronation ceremony is being prepared in full swing.

The Holy Weilan Great Temple is very concerned, as it wishes to inform the world that no matter how you toss and turn, Weilan remains a part of the Natural Alliance.

The Aidelian family is concerned, for they wish to tell the world that the Weilan dukedom was given by the Aidelian family and must thereafter be passed on to the Aidelian bloodline.

Regardless of whether the next duke bears the Aidelian name, his body must contain half Aidelian blood.

Luosen intends to follow tradition.

Mother Nature's faith still holds great influence among the Weilan populace.

Although this influence will surely wane in the foreseeable future, it cannot be ignored for now.

Following tradition will make his seat more secure.

Just the evening before the coronation, a lurking observer appeared.

Luosen was strolling in the Dawn Garden when a strange female voice suddenly surfaced in his mind.

"Luosen Sachs, descendant of the Steel Dragon, find a quiet spot; I want to have a proper talk with you."

The voice sounded like someone in their early thirties, soft, with a hint of faint fatigue, as if just waking from a great dream.

Luosen was walking beside a large clump of sea‑wave rose trees when he noticed a flower‑viewing hall nearby, so he headed toward the small hall.

Upon entering the hall, he set aside the wind‑blocking mist gauze beside the flower‑viewing hall and then dismissed Guard Ailiya to wander about at will.

Ailiya harbored no suspicion, after all the Dawn Garden was heavily guarded and perfectly safe; she merely assumed Luosen wanted some time alone.

Luosen waited patiently on a flower‑viewing chair.

About five or six minutes later, a figure materialized out of thin air in the hall.

She had sunlight‑like blond curls, pure emerald eyes that seemed to glow, was in her early thirties, with delicate features full of maternal gentleness, and wore a simple orchid‑white priestess robe.

Upon seeing her, Luosen immediately rose and bowed, addressing her as 'Mother Nature'.

He then promptly set out a chair for her.

She glanced at Luosen, nodded, then sat down, her back straight, long legs stretched to one side, her posture like that of a young lady not yet come of age.

Luosen also seated himself: 'Mother Nature, I never expected you to grace us with your presence.'

He had anticipated dealing with Mother Nature soon, but not this quickly.

He also felt it strange, thinking Mother Nature bold indeed to dare come alone to his Dawn Castle.

Because the sensitivity of a Ten‑Ring mage told Luosen that this woman's power was roughly at the peak of the Eight Rings, considerably stronger than the Queen of Sirens Nefiloniya, yet she had not yet broken through to the Nine Rings.

Such strength would crush ordinary folk, but Dawn Castle is heavily garrisoned.

The woman seemed to read Luosen's thoughts, smiling faintly: 'Do you think, if I revealed myself before the crowd, would the soldiers aid me or aid you?'

Luosen pondered, then replied: 'Roughly half would help me, half would hesitate.'

"But if I truly moved against you and even succeeded in killing you, I would bear the infamy of god‑slaying, instantly becoming the public enemy of the Natural Alliance, and countless Weilan believers would thus abandon me."

"First, because this is after all the Natural Alliance."

"Second, because the Nature God is not only Mother Nature."

"As far as I know, there are still several high‑ring mages, and even the Heavenly Father of Nine‑Ring Power may not be dead—perhaps merely in a deep slumber."

"If the current Mother Nature were slain, the alliance's great temples would immediately issue divine edicts; the alliance's states, already fretting over where to extort money, would surely unite to raid Weilan for this convenient pretext."

"That would be a huge mess."

Mother Nature nodded: 'You are clear‑headed; that is good.'

"Speaking, she asked: 'The next Dawn Duke must be Selena's child, right?'"

"Without doubt, but I cannot guarantee which child, for Selena and I have more than two offspring."

Mother Nature nodded approvingly: 'It doesn't matter which, as long as there is one.'

"She added: 'Tomorrow's duke coronation, I will still manifest a sign of the Nature God to confirm the legitimacy of your dukedom.'"

"After a pause, she said: 'But I still have some conditions.'"

"Luosen at once said: 'Your Grace, please speak.'"

Mother Nature did not answer directly, but countered: 'You possess Ten‑Ring power, is that not so?'

"Upon seeing Luosen's surprised expression, she continued: 'After all, this is the Natural Alliance; we began monitoring you when you forcibly married Selena.'"

"As you have progressed step by step, we have gradually increased our attention to you."

"The news of your Ten‑Ring power came from my grandfather, who had secretly observed you."

"For this, he exhausted what little lucid time he had left."

When she said this, Mother Nature Qi Ge Rui La Na's face darkened somewhat.

"If what she says is true, there is indeed reason for it, for that is the supreme existence of the Nature God, the sole Nine‑Ring mage in history to have revealed his identity."

Luosen's astonishment grew, and he secretly rejoiced that he had always followed the strategy of 'respecting spirits and gods while keeping distant.'

"Had he consistently displayed an atheist stance, even if he did not die mysteriously, he would surely have encountered many inexplicable obstacles on his path forward."

Mother Nature went on: 'In terms of magical cultivation, you can indeed be called one of the White Continent's foremost geniuses.'

Luosen's heart stirred: 'Could there be other Ten‑Ring mages?'

Mother Nature nodded: 'Of course there are; the Lord of Radiance is a Ten‑Ring mage, still alive, though now in slumber, but he should retain at least fifty more years of lucidity.'

"You have also witnessed his achievements—the founding of the vast Radiant Empire."

Luosen's heart gave a little jump: 'Indeed, geniuses are countless in the world.'

"The Holy Elf Empire has two, known as the Twin Supreme Elf Mages."

"The situation across the sea is rather complicated; judging by the current state of affairs, it is not optimistic, for someone has taken a wrong turn on the path of sorcery and drawn in a terribly frightening power."

"After a pause, Mother Nature looked at Luosen: 'My second demand is that you may study sorcery, but you must not delve into summoning magic; best to avoid any research into it altogether.'"

Luosen startled: 'Why?'

He of course knew summoning technique, which is the magic that uses spells to summon extraplanar life.

But I don't know why, summoning magic was declared a forbidden art in both the Radiant Empire and the Natural Alliance; not only is research prohibited, but even related spell knowledge has been destroyed.

It was destroyed so cleanly that only the name remains, with no concrete knowledge to be found.

Mother Nature's face showed a hint of worry; she waved her hand, and a rainbow-like halo instantly appeared in the air. 'The Genesis Law Rings, from bottom to top, from inside to out, total eleven rings.'

'Inside the rings is our mortal realm; the rings continuously precipitate matter, gradually condensing into our world.'

'Outside the rings is infinite void, and the void is not entirely empty; there are other law rings that precipitate other worlds.'

'Through resonance of the law rings and soul path markers, we can summon beings from other worlds into ours, and vice versa naturally.'

'That is the fundamental basis of summoning magic.'

Luosen suddenly understood somewhat: 'The continent across the sea won't summon demons, will it?'

'You guessed right.'

Mother Nature's eyes showed a hint of pity: 'The Great Demon King Bak, a peak powerhouse of Ten Rings mana, masters many fearsome Ten Rings spells, his mana at least fifty percent richer than that of the Radiant Lord.'

'Fortunately, the endless sea blocks him, but looking at the current situation, I don't know how long it can hold.'

After sighing, Mother Nature's expression relaxed again.

'But times have changed; even the strongest cultivators struggle to withstand the latest thunderbolt weapons.'

Luosen immediately said: 'Then perhaps we should release some summoning magic knowledge to construct a law ring barrier, completely barring powerful beings from outside worlds.'

Mother Nature smiled: 'Maybe, but now is not the time, and back then the eradication of the art was thorough, truly leaving nothing behind.'

Saying this, she raised another finger, the third.

'The Temple of Nature will not lightly interfere in the kingdom's internal power struggles; with your ability, you likely have a great chance to unify the Natural Alliance.'

'So my third condition is to treat the nature-born kindly, just as you treat the Adrian family.'

'That's not too difficult.'

Luosen immediately promised: 'I will.'

Mother Nature raised another finger, her face showing a hint of embarrassment.

'The fourth condition—I know there are many conditions, and given the current state of the Nature Divine System, we lack the capital to discuss so many with you, but I must say it.'

'Whether you agree or not is up to you.'

Considering the Natural Church's still enormous influence among the common folk of the Natural Alliance, Luosen readily nodded: 'Your Highness, say what you will; besides four, as long as you support me, even ten are no problem.'

Mother Nature nodded in satisfaction, but she did not speak immediately, instead gazing at the sea‑rose thicket outside the pavilion, as if harboring some unspeakable worry.

After hesitating for a dozen seconds, she finally spoke: 'The Nature Divine System—ah, never mind, we'll talk about it after you firmly secure your position as Duke Weilan.'

'Here, this is for you.'

While speaking, Mother Nature kept her eyes on the sea‑roses, and even when she handed the item to Luosen, she did not turn her gaze.

The item she gave was a book titled *The Secrets of Divine Natural Power*.

Plus an amulet.

It is a necklace amulet; the amulet's body is a round plaque resembling jade, its interior carved with many silver filigrees, the wiring extremely complex, looking like a ball of burning fire.

'This is the Boiling Moonfire Amulet, obtained by my grandfather as a reward from one of the Twin Absolutes mages of the Holy Elf Empire, the Moon Goddess Duola, through exchanging high‑ring knowledge.'

'Wearing it, you can not only perfectly conceal your mana aura, but also block a fatal strike from a peak Ten Rings attack.'

Luosen felt a surge of joy; he was just lacking high‑ring knowledge.

He also liked this powerful Ten Rings amulet.

What he liked was not the amulet itself, but the high‑ring spell knowledge it contained.

After receiving the spellbook and amulet, he asked: 'Why don't you just tell me directly what I should do?'

Mother Nature still did not look at Luosen: 'No rush; after you firmly secure your position as Duke Weilan, I will come find you.'

She rose to leave.

Luosen, however, still had many doubts, and he pressed: 'Your Highness, what counts as being firmly settled?'

'Resolve the crisis of Aaron's fleet heading north.'

Luosen again asked: 'Has anyone advanced to the Eleven Law Rings?'

Mother Nature shook her head without hesitation: 'No.'

'Not even one?'

'Not even one, and I am quite certain about that.'

Luosen felt somewhat disappointed; he had always wanted to see the scenery of the Eleven Top Rings, but it turned out he was already standing at the pinnacle.

Mother Nature finally turned her head to look at her; her face, resembling Selena's by seventy or eighty percent but gentler and more maternal, bore eyes that showed a gentle light.

'Young mage, every path in the world has an end, including the path of cultivation.'

'Why?'

'As far as I know, it is because the attributes of the law rings below Ten Rings are inwardly convergent, while the Eleven Rings are divergent; mortal souls cannot withstand their power.'

'Of course, I heard this from others; I cannot guarantee its truth.'

Having said that, the air around her twisted, and in less than half a second she vanished into the air.

Luosen focused his spirit, faintly sensing the trajectory of her departure, but once the distance exceeded twenty meters, he completely lost her signal.

'No wonder it's a family‑passed art; this invisibility spell is truly formidable.'

But he was still unwilling in his heart.

'How could there be no Eleven Law Rings? In theory it should be possible to break through, yet I've been stuck; just where is the problem?'

'But if mortal souls cannot bear it, then breaking through would be suicide—truly a sigh‑worthy regret.'

He wanted to know more, but there was nowhere to seek answers.

Fortunately, he had newly acquired the spellbook and a powerful amulet, enough to keep him researching for a while.

As for the coronation, since Mother Nature has given her promise, there is naturally no problem.

It's just a routine ceremony; Luosen no longer takes it to heart.

The most urgent thing now is to face Aaron.

(End of chapter)