Chapter 40

Late night.

The luxurious grand guest room in the courtyard of Maple Leaf Castle.

Selena was training her magic power.

Luosen appeared to be training, but was actually closely monitoring his wife's condition.

She had been stuck at the advanced peak for a long time, and her magic power fully met the basic requirements for advancing to the next Magic Ring.

The reason she remained stuck is that advancing a Magic Ring is like jumping a step: either you make it in one go, or you stay in place.

In other words, if the magic power gained in a single training session falls short of the minimum needed for advancement, she can never reach a higher Magic Ring.

And the gap between the fourth and third Magic Rings is especially large, which is why countless mages remain stuck for life.

In Luosen's perception, Selena had fully adapted to the improved training method, and her 'jump height' had reached ninety-six percent of the 'step height'.

This was an increase of a full half compared to before.

But that final half‑gap was capped by her ability limit; even advancing a hair further was as hard as climbing to heaven.

"Still not enough; it looks like I need to lend a hand."

If his wife could achieve the Master Realm, it would greatly aid his next plan.

With a slight thought, Luosen silently cast an extremely hidden spell, pressing down the 'height' of the fourth Magic Ring in Selena's area by a half.

Although it was only a half and a tiny area, it consumed twenty percent of his magic power every second.

"Pa—"

The next second, Selena 'jumped' up, and then, utterly exhausted, she promptly fell into a deep sleep.

The Magic Ring height around her immediately returned to normal.

Luosen let out a quiet breath.

"For now I can only suppress the height of the fourth Magic Ring; perhaps after I break through the last ring, I'll be able to suppress the fifth Magic Ring's height."

In terms of Magic Ring layers, he has already jumped extremely high, but the actual effect is far less mystical than everyone claims.

From the sixth to the seventh, magic power intensity increases by thirty percent, the biggest jump; thereafter each ring only increases by ten percent.

Even if one reaches the eleventh and top ring, a sword through the heart still means death.

In short, there are no true gods in the mortal world, and personal power is ultimately limited.

Returning to his thoughts, Luosen also prepared to rest.

But while people rest, matters still need to be handled.

"Laifu, activate Number One, secretly search for information on Mage Kao in Shialin City."

"Command received, already entered secret search mode."

"Begin background training, duration eight hours."

"Command received, begin training."

In the blink of an eye, it was already six in the morning.

When Luosen woke from sleep, Laifu pieced together a rough outline of the event from the fragmented information it had gathered.

He glanced at it and couldn't help but smile.

"I said it before: in such a great Shialin City, how could no one see through Mage Kao's fraud? It turns out to be a conspiracy of collusion inside and out."

The information said that Shialin City's upper society had four powers.

The largest overt power is the Earl.

He commands the military and is the nominal lord of Shialin City.

Besides that, there are three other powers.

They are respectively the 'Natural Temple' serving the gods, the 'Mage Guild' managing knowledge, and the 'Administrative Department' serving the Dawn Duke.

Although there appear to be four forces, in reality they are intertwined; no one has absolute control, and everyone wants more power.

Currently, the Mage Guild's power is rising at an extremely rapid pace.

Essentially, this fraud incident involving Mage Kao is a covert power grab by the Shialin City Mage Guild after its rise in strength.

But as for who specifically masterminded this fraud, Levin has not yet found out and dare not dig deeper.

He fears both startling the snake and exposing himself.

But this is already enough.

Luosen rested his hands behind his head, narrowed his eyes, and pondered the ins and outs of the matter.

"If Mage Kao's fraud succeeds, the Earl will suffer a major loss, face a financial crisis, and be forced to borrow money to tide over."

"The Mage Guild will then step in, fill the gap, and use that money to buy some powers from the Earl, such as bridge tax rights and partial port management, and so on."

In this way, step by step, they could gradually strip the Earl of real power, turning him from the actual city lord into a mere figurehead.

"What should I do?"

Luosen opened his eyes, gazed at the morning light streaming through the cross‑shaped round window, and his thoughts grew clear.

"The growth of the mage class is already as unstoppable as a rising sun."

"But the Mage Guild as it stands now represents only the interests of the upper‑tier official mages, who are merely a small fraction of the mage class."

"So, if the Earl is willing to heed my advice, he still has a chance to be saved."

"Then save him?"

Luosen recalled the geography of White Sturgeon Island and Shire County, and an idea formed in his mind.

"As an island lord, one should prevent the continent from spawning a strong power, and let multiple forces check each other in order to profit from it."

"Now the Earl is clearly weak, so out of sentiment or self‑interest I must lend him a hand, lest he fall into ruin."

"Finally, since I have caught the Mage Guild with such a leverage, I ought to make this bunch of filthy‑rich scoundrels bleed heavily, hehe."

As he pondered, a knock sounded on the door.

Knock knock knock~

The door was knocked, and the voice of the steward Abru came from outside.

"Your Highness, Baron, the Count invites you to have breakfast together."

"We'll be there right away." "No need to rush; the Count said arriving within half an hour is fine."

"Okay."

Luosen stretched on the big bed, turned his head to Selena beside him and said, "It seems the Countess's persuasion went smoothly."

Selena was also awake but hadn't gotten up, gazing at Luosen with her clear, translucent emerald eyes, her expression somewhat dazed.

"Dear, I successfully touched the Fourth Magic Ring."

Luosen wore a look of 'surprise' and immediately gave his wife a big hug.

"Oh~ Thank you, Mother Nature, thank you, Sage Levin—this is truly great news."

"It feels like a dream."

Selena was still quite dazed.

She got up in a daze, washed up in a daze, and was led by Luosen in a daze to the Count's dining hall.

In the dining hall were the Count, the Countess, and several of their children.

The Count and Countess looked well, chatting and laughing, with no trace of yesterday's resentment.

Obviously, their communication last night had gone smoothly, and Luosen was well aware of it, for the Detect Guard silently etched upon the Countess had already recorded everything.

Upon seeing the two, Count Robert immediately lowered the county newspaper in his hand and greeted them with a smile.

"Good morning~~ you two youngsters."

Seeing Luosen about to perform a formal salute, he laughed heartily: "It's just a family meal—no need for such formality; sit, speak, otherwise everyone will tire."

"Luosen, by relation I'm still your distant uncle—just call me uncle."

Thus, Luosen relaxed considerably and addressed him as uncle.

Selena naturally followed suit and changed her address as well.

The breakfast atmosphere was much better than yesterday's dinner, and everyone chatted and laughed.

Especially Alice, who repeatedly asked Luosen during the meal for the magical details of fresh-meat food preparation, and Luosen naturally answered patiently and meticulously.

It truly resembled a family.

After a brief rest following the meal, the Count said, "Come on, you two—I'll take you to meet the Arcane Master from Kao."

Luosen had been waiting for this, and he immediately said, "Uncle, after thinking it over carefully yesterday, I feel your concerns are quite reasonable; for me, a low-level mage, to inquire would indeed be rude."

The Count blinked: "So then?"

"So, I've organized the relevant questions, and I'll have my lady ask them on my behalf."

"She is the Dawn Princess; last night she also touched the Fourth Magic Ring, achieving the realm of an Arcane Master—her status and magical prowess are sufficient to match the Kao Grand Mage, so those Kao people naturally have nothing to say."

Luosen spoke calmly, but Count Robert was greatly shocked.

"Your Highness has actually advanced to the Master Realm?"

Noble households live in comfort, while the path of cultivation is arduous; thus, most nobles don't obsess over reaching the Master Realm—they stop at the High-tier level and consider it enough.

But if a noble truly cultivates to the Master Realm, they would gain great prestige not only among the common folk but also within the noble hierarchy.

For a moment, Count Robert's gaze toward Selena changed, filled with a respect that came from the heart.

Selena finally snapped out of her daze, gave a composed smile: "Thanks to Mother Nature's favor and Sage Levin's guidance, I was fortunate to succeed."

Count Robert originally looked down on this couple, thinking the man mediocre and the woman willful.

Now, however, his opinion has greatly improved; he finds both of them quite remarkable, fearing their future achievements will not be low.

Originally, he hadn't been keen to let them sit in, but now he truly values their presence.

"Then later, Your Highness, you'd better give me a good look."

"That's natural."

Selena nodded confidently.

Last night, Luosen and she had already worked out the specific details.

Soon, the group arrived at the entrance of the council hall.

Luosen immediately stepped to Selena's side, while Selena followed behind the Count, acting as his temporary arcane consultant.

The three entered the conference hall one after another.

Already in the conference hall were two groups of people.

One group was the Count's arcane advisors, numbering about thirty.

The strongest among them was a white-haired mage with a Mediterranean hairstyle; the blue aurum insignia on his chest marked him as an Arcane Master of the Fourth Ring with twenty-four stars.

Luosen knew this man was Sir Nord, vice-chairman of the Mage Guild, hailing from the ancient Nord family, with countless disciples and acquaintances, a true notable of Shire County.

Besides that, the weakest among them was a High-tier mage whose lowest achievement still reached Three-ring fifteen stars.

One could say this is the batch of mages with the highest reputation in all of Shire County.

The schemers behind the fraud are surely among them.

The other group is the Arcane Master Lukawado, whose hair is also completely white, possessing early Fourth Ring status and an impressive thirty-star arcane achievement.

Behind him are three High-tier mages, each with casting ability of eighteen stars or more.

Further back are all Mid-tier mages, each with casting ability of twelve stars or more.

In comparison, the Count's arcane advisors are somewhat stronger in magical cultivation, but the Kao mages surpass them considerably in casting ability.

One can also clearly sense that, although Shire County has many mages, their aura is visibly weaker than that of the Kao mages, even appearing somewhat timid.

The Kao mages, however, act high and mighty, with a critical expression, as if they weren't here to discuss cooperation but to bestow charity.

When the Count arrived, the Shire County arcane advisors all rose to greet him, while the Kao mages each remained seated in their spots, unmoving, merely nodding in acknowledgment.

Everything was very natural; the count didn't notice any abnormality.

Because Kao is a powerful nation of magic, the mages from Kao ought to be arrogant and proud.

Luosen secretly sighed: "These days the world develops quickly, magical knowledge changes day by day."

"Being a great lord isn't easy either; a little carelessness and you get swindled by partners."

(End of chapter)