[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces":3,"chapter-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-302":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon of a Thousand Faces",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269948,4431,"Chapter 302: A Not Particularly Loyal Ally","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-302",302,"\u003Cp>Li En’s sudden idea progressed with unusual ease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the third day, after the rain stopped and the city resumed operations, Li En went to see his nominal master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Participate in frontline development under the guise of cooperation? I have many disciples—what kind do you need?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Star Burner” Alcaste agreed immediately, even with some eagerness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What kind? One who can fight? One who looks impressive? Or one who can do both?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That place will be my vital base—I need someone who can command respect. If they’re of noble birth, it’ll save me a lot of trouble.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The master gladly agreed, after all, this was a mutually beneficial arrangement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Previously, Dainya had enlisted a distant royal relative, a grand mage, to build her mage tower underground—same reasoning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under these circumstances, the only ones who can somewhat balance the royal family, the nobles, and each church seem to be the grand mages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dominance of spellcasters needs no elaboration—they’ve always been a neutral, stable force, and their clustering in Mage Street is the clearest proof.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They need to exchange resources, knowledge, and connections to advance, and often maintain relatively reliable ties with one another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you truly need a trustworthy third party to balance the local churches and great nobles, perhaps the academically inclined spellcasters are the only option.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike nobles or churches, most of them have no real interest in land or population, and no fundamental conflict of interest with the crown. What they care about—“magic materials”—can be obtained simply by continuously exploring ruins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huicheng has so many mages because it truly has the resources they seek.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For as long as anyone can remember, the kingdom’s land has hosted far more spellcasters than its size should support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These spellcasters have virtually no “loyalty,” but at this moment, they might become the most “trustworthy” allies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our town is now the deepest into the underground ruins—if there’s any rare material, it’ll be traded there first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grand mages rarely lack money—they lack materials and components, which are always an endless void.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spellcasters consume vast quantities of magical materials and research components—some use monster tissues, others analyze monster essences to transform them into their own supernatural abilities, weapons, or equipment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For instance, a magical creature might possess three or four innate spellcasting abilities; spellcasters all attempt to dissect them, extract these natural magical modules, and convert them into reproducible, learnable ring-level spells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Imitation and learning are the very roots of spellcasters’ continuous advancement—and their quiet rise to becoming the most powerful spellcasters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But sometimes, acquiring certain rare materials is impossibly difficult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, a spellcaster researching the “Sacred Sun Beetle” needs vast quantities of golden beetle materials—if he searches normally, he’d have to journey far into the Desert Kingdom, and even then, his yield would be wildly unstable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He might have to excavate hundreds of tombs to luck into one or two specimens, and even after finally obtaining the material, he’d need a lab, other components for auxiliary research, and possibly help from other mages—round trips could take years. If the research fails, he starts over from scratch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many spellcasters spend their entire lives mostly gathering components, which is why they issue countless hunting and collection tasks to “adventurers.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in Huicheng, as long as enough people descend to fight monsters, these rare materials are reliably produced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The underground ruins yield not only abundant but diverse materials, and can even be actively triggered to induce targeted mutations for urgently needed components.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With sufficient materials and mages clustered together, their internal trade and mutual aid can resolve most research problems.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rare materials may not even be Huicheng’s most valuable asset—most mages who come here further fuel the prosperity of Mage Street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For many mages, being able to buy research results outright is simply too cost-effective.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Best find a strong older brother—one who can command respect, and who can go wild if necessary.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, how about my disciple Kuen Hida? Though he’s relatively young among grand mages, he’s a local, of noble birth, and has five years of military experience—though he’s the third son without a noble title, his reputation among locals is nearly sufficient, isn’t it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En nodded eagerly—he hadn’t expected such a perfect candidate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Noble heirs without inheritance rights are still seen as insiders by the circle; while a true feudal lord needs a title, acting as a lord’s proxy is more than enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if, as the master said, this older brother is merely a novice grand mage—he’s still a grand mage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spellcasters advance slower than any other profession, and their early-stage power is quite delicate—but after reaching fifth-rank grand mage, they’re all treasures; their practical value isn’t something a few great warriors can even pretend to match.\u003C\u002Fp>",785,"2026-06-19T21:45:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","ce112d278d237bb44998bfc9941f4d1ec085b628067244d8a134361bbf5d9391","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-303","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-301",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]