Chapter 275

While boarding another hired lightning car and rushing to the Blossom Saint's hiding place, Luosen gazed out the window at the street scenery, still savoring Glenfiel's dream realm.

According to the quality of power, the soul is slightly greater than mana.

They share many similarities, can be converted into each other, but also have many differences.

The soul is more suited to Huan Wai Xu Kong, while mana is more suited to driving the elements.

My biggest weakness now is that although my soul is strong enough, its scale is too small; once the soul is isolated alone, it immediately reveals the frailty of a mortal.

Within the magic circle, he used various legendary magical items to achieve a mana scale close to that of void life, but his true soul remained that of a mortal.

That's why the dream realm is terrifying—it strikes at my greatest weakness.

The fundamental solution is to craft a large-capacity soul container similar to a legendary crystal, dedicated to storing souls, thereby strengthening my true soul.

Does such a soul container exist? Luosen didn't have one before, but after obtaining the branch of the Tree of Life, he now does.

Within a mortal's brain, there exists an elemental structure capable of containing the soul.

I used the Tree of Life to cultivate this structure specifically, then attached it externally to my soul, thereby fundamentally strengthening my soul.

This method is akin to attaching an external super power bank to a phone, essentially solving the problem of mortal soul frailty.

By the way, this method is intended for fighting void gods and demons.

Against mortal divine-demonic emissaries, magic remains the most effective.

Gah—

The vehicle came to a stop, and the driver's voice sounded.

"Sir, we've arrived at the Hundred Flowers Inn."

"Oh, very good."

Luosen paid the fare, got out, and looked at the inn.

It is a very upscale villa-style hotel, far more luxurious than Weilan's Blue Whale Mansion, and its rear courtyard also has a very large, meticulously maintained garden.

Although it is winter now, the climate in Mei Da Xilin remains warm, exactly the season when violets bloom.

Even separated by the garden wall, Luosen could clearly smell the delicate, fresh fragrance of orchids.

"It seems this Blossom Saint is someone who really appreciates ambiance."

After focusing his senses, he soon detected a weak but highly concentrated aura in the hotel's backyard.

Laifu immediately concluded: 'Base soul strength 7, base mana strength Legendary 13, mana scale 400 Luosen, power attribute unknown.'

He is on par with the Dream Saint Glenfiel, though I have no idea what a fight between them would look like.

Wearing a gentleman's top hat and holding a ghost-resonance staff shaped like a gentleman's cane, Luosen strode into the Hundred Flowers Inn like an ordinary customer.

A young, beautiful attendant immediately stepped forward: "Welcome."

Whoosh—

Luosen took out a 100-thila deposit slip, flicked it with his finger to roll it into a small cylinder, and slipped it, without any trace of smoke or fire, into the cleavage of the attendant's low-cut uniform.

"Get me a top‑grade room; the change is yours."

"My name is Luobin, from Aelilio City in the Northern Goth Province."

"All right, don't bother me—I'm a regular guest at this inn, and now I want to go to the backyard to admire the flowers."

His manner was completely natural, leaving the attendant stunned; by the time she came to, Luosen had already walked out of the front hall and entered the flower‑viewing corridor of the backyard garden.

Through a lush thicket of violets, Luosen saw the Blossom Saint Laresiya.

She was a beautiful woman, dressed in a light‑purple gown, wearing several exquisite gold ornaments, with gentle eyes and graceful, dignified bearing—like the lovely mistress of a respectable noble household who manages the home and educates the children.

It's hard to imagine that she would be a void‑god servant preparing to cause a great disturbance in the Radiant Imperial Capital.

"Really, you can't judge a person by their appearance."

Legendary powerhouses are extremely sensitive; after Luosen glanced a few more times, Laresiya noticed him.

She lifted her head and looked at Luosen; her similarly light‑purple eyes flickered with a hint of confusion, but that confusion lasted less than an instant before turning solemn.

Almost at the same moment, Luosen felt the garden tremble slightly, as if the air had solidified.

Even more remarkably, the few guests in the garden each froze in place, motionless, as if turned into lifeless statues.

Luosen's own thoughts were also affected by the spell formation, resulting in a momentary stagnation.

He immediately realized that the saint had activated her Blossom Spell Formation, which has a powerful effect of solidifying the soul.

Even mortals, and even legendary powerhouses whose soul strength is lower than hers, will have their thinking speed greatly affected.

Fortunately, Luosen possesses a base soul strength of Legendary 12; otherwise, he would have been defeated outright as soon as the fight began.

Almost at the same instant, the Heart of the War God responded.

At the same time, a thought flashed through Luosen's mind like lightning.

"The reaction speeds of the divine‑demonic emissaries are astonishingly fast."

Although its absolute value cannot match Laifu's, considering that activating power itself takes time, this means that when facing divine‑demonic emissaries, Laifu cannot hold an absolute advantage in casting speed.

Tick‑tock—

As if in a stagnant spacetime, it began to rain.

After the raindrops fell, they quickly unfurled into numerous flawless water mirrors drifting everywhere; at the same time, countless violet petals in the garden floated up and swirled about.

The petals were already numerous, and being reflected countless times by the water mirrors, they formed an immeasurable sea of flowers where reality and illusion could not be distinguished.

"What a splendid Blossom Formation! It looks gorgeous, and the spellwork is exquisitely refined."

This is not only magic, but also soulcraft, and it also employs light‑shadow principles, giving people a dreamlike, illusory feeling.

Yet the terrifying killing intent lies hidden within this gorgeous sea of flowers.

A great number of petals flew toward Luosen at lightning speed, silent and soundless—like a assassin's gentle caress, seemingly soft but extremely deadly.

Faced with such an extremely complex situation where reality and illusion are indistinguishable, Luosen himself could only resort to a head‑on combat method.

But this is a bustling urban area, the Empress's birthday banquet is about to begin, and making too much commotion would cause panic.

Therefore, the best method is to overcome ingenuity with ingenuity.

There are three kinds of petals.

One is a magical power illusion, one is light and shadow, both are meant to confuse perception.

There is also a third kind, which is the truly lethal petal.

The opponent possesses mana bestowed by gods and demons, with a strength of Legendary 13, so the lethal petal's attack power reaches up to Legendary 13.

By borrowing the +8 focus of the Endless Crystal, Luosen can reach a mana strength of Legendary 19, which is nearly the limit, so he can actually achieve frontal defense easily.

But the recoil from a head‑on clash would turn this garden into a mess.

Thus, he adopted indirect defense, using the ordinary Four‑ring Divine Movement Technique, dodging each time by a hair's breadth.

As for the confusing ordinary petals, he let them strike his body's defensive barrier.

How to distinguish 'real' from 'illusion'? Naturally, that's Laifu's job; it has no special trick, just uses superstrong computing power to calculate directly.

Before, it was impossible; even if it could be figured out, there wouldn't be enough time.

But after Luosen's basic soul strength rose to Legendary 12, Laifu's computing power surged almost exponentially, making it possible.

Thus, Luosen walked out from the rain‑shelter corridor at a walking pace, step by step toward the target.

About every three steps, his figure would suddenly accelerate to dodge; the acceleration lasted only a fraction of a second—about half a second—and the dodge distance was also only a few tens of centimeters.

Sss— sss— sss—

Petal after petal brushed past Luosen's body, looking extremely dangerous, yet never managing to touch him.

About ten seconds later, Luosen crossed thirty meters and came beside Flower Saint Laruixiya. Laruixiya remained seated, she slightly raised her head to look at Luosen, a strange smile appearing on her face.

Luosen also smiled.

He suddenly raised his hand, pointing the magic staff at the air beside him.

Pff—

The staff struck something, and instantly light and shadow shifted; the saint on the seat vanished, while a silhouette appeared before the staff.

The silhouette solidified—it was the true Flower Saint Laruixiya.

She covered her right wrist with her left hand, and a matte‑black rune dagger fell to the ground beside her.

The dagger was no ordinary dagger; it was a tremendously powerful Legendary Anti‑Magic Dagger, apparently coated with deadly poison—one scratch meant instant death.

The reason Luosen could simply knock it out with his staff was that she had not placed any protective spell on herself.

The reason was to remain absolutely concealed.

With the true Flower Saint now revealed, the previously near‑stagnant spacetime resumed its normal flow.

The garden had few guests to begin with; the battle caused little commotion and lasted only a short while, and their thoughts were frozen by the formation, so no panic arose—only surprise.

Luosen did not continue attacking, because the outcome was already decided.

He directly shattered the Flower Formation, and in the final blow he spared the opponent's life.

For he could have ended her life with a single spell.

Obviously, the opponent understood this as well, so she stood rooted, unmoving.

Luosen lowered his staff, his face calm: "Miss Laruixiya, there's a little tavern over there; let's go have a good talk?"

Laruixiya knew she had no choice; the earlier battle had already shown that the opponent's strength far surpassed hers.

If she refused to cooperate, death awaited her.

She nodded lightly: "All right."

She bent to pick up the dagger, but before she could move, Luosen stepped forward and pinned it under his foot.

He twisted his leather boot slightly, and the Legendary 19 mana‑driven Disintegration Technique burst forth, turning that Legendary dagger into powder that merged with the flower‑soil.

"Miss, your status is now my prisoner, and a prisoner is not worthy of possessing weapons."

"Very well."

Laruixiya's eyes flickered with shock as she couldn't help asking: "Sir, your mana focus strength has reached at least Legendary 15, right?"

A quite ordinary Four‑ring Disintegration Technique could shatter a Legendary artifact; the only explanation is that the mana strength has reached an inconceivable level.

Luosen did not hide it either: "Legendary 19.9."

Laruixiya's pupils contracted again: "How is that possible?"

Luosen gave a faint smile: "I am the Radiant Imperial Capital Guardian—how could I guard the capital without some ability?"

Before, he wouldn't even dare imagine such a thing; achieving a Legendary 12 superimposed‑wave focus already felt extremely impressive.

But who let him forge a 'divine artifact'?

Laruixiya was stunned, she set aside all extraneous thoughts and cooperated honestly.

A few minutes later, the two arrived at the small tavern inside the Hundred Flowers Inn and found a seat in an inconspicuous corner.

Luosen took a sip of wine, smiling, and asked: "Miss, I'm curious— as a mortal with outstanding talent, why do you willingly serve the Void Lifeforms?"

After dealing with two saints in succession, he felt that saints all retain free will.

That is to say, they have the ability to resist.

Laruixiya spread her hands: "It's simple—because the Void Lifeforms are far stronger than we mortals."

"If there were a way stronger than the Void Lifeforms, would you also wish to break free from its control?"

Laruixiya nodded readily.

"It's obvious— which powerful being would willingly serve a weaker one?"

"But it's plain that we mortals are utterly weak, with no chance to oppose the Void Lifeforms; for the survival of our species, submission is the only choice."

Luosen gave a noncommittal reply: "Do all saints share similar thoughts?"

Laruixiya thought a moment, then nodded: "Saints are pretty much alike in their thinking; even the gods know our thoughts."

"We are master and servant, yet our statuses are relatively equal as master and servant."

This reply made Luosen's heart twitch slightly, and he secretly thought: 'That is to say, whoever is strong follows whoever.'

"I understand, thank you for sharing the news, ma'am."

He drained the wine cup on the table in one gulp: "I don't want to kill today; for this reason I let Gelunfeier go. Now I also let you go."

"Leave this plane."

La Ruixiya was somewhat surprised, her violet eyes fixed on Luosen.

"Who exactly are you?"

Luosen chuckled: "If you often come to my plane, we'll have frequent dealings from now on."

"You will soon know who I am."

"Also give your master a message from me: tell him we fear no war, even if we sacrifice a million, ten million, or even a hundred million mortals, we will not abandon utterly annihilating them."

"Let him think it over carefully before wading into this muddy water."

La Ruixiya's face grew grim upon hearing this, but she was clearly not intimidated.

"The biggest flaw of mortals is short-sightedness; a brief unity may unleash great power, but it cannot withstand the erosion of time."

"Even as strong as the Nawat Republic has fractured; your Radiant Empire surely won't remain glorious for long."

"Then let's give it a try."

Luosen put his hat back on, turned to leave, but then heard the other's voice: "This is the will of Great Adele; even my master has no choice."

Luosen's steps halted, he turned with a smile: "Then please convey the same words to Great Adele on my behalf."

"You are the Natural Emperor Luosen, right?"

Luosen did not turn around; he merely raised his hand and waved, acknowledging the guess.

"You are indeed a very powerful battle mage, and possess astonishing magical power."

"I've heard you've slain many demons, but they were only minor characters; a mortal's soul is nowhere near a match for a mighty deity, let alone a great one."

"You should be clear on this!"

Luosen gave no reply and walked straight away.

La Ruixiya also did not break her promise; after a while, a phase-shift fluctuation arrived.

She left this plane.

So, in the imperial capital, only the Elven assassin remained.

These guys hid well; they could fool others, but not Luosen, who possessed the Branch of the Tree of Life.

But the Golden Warrior is indeed formidable, famed as the mage's bane.

If they really fought in the city, the commotion would be huge.

Fortunately, he had begun preparations in Mondaniya long ago.

Quietly subduing these fellows is no problem.

(End of chapter)