Chapter 241

Aisudolia's eyes were injured during a failed attempt to cast a forbidden spell, shortly after she had just advanced to the rank of Arcane Mage.

Magical backlash is an extremely severe accident—it can cause minor injuries or even explode the caster's body; she survived by sacrificing her vision.

But this didn't seem like a bad thing—though blind, Aisudolia's perception of magical elements became far more acute, and her grasp of magical energy became more three-dimensional and vivid.

This propelled her understanding of magic to unprecedented heights, eventually breaking through the boundary between Arcane and Truth, becoming a Truth Mage, and awakening the Forbidden Field—a domain known as the enemy of mages—earning her the title of Truth God of Elemental Death.

"Perhaps it's because I'm blind that I sense elements more keenly," was Aisudolia's conclusion.

So now, all her students must cover their eyes during their apprentice phase.

Yet there were drawbacks—her blindness had become a barrier to her further growth, preventing her from ascending to higher levels, and causing some deeply awkward situations.

She perceived objects through elemental fluctuations; nearly everything emitted elemental responses—for instance, elves' bodies contained vast amounts of water element, and in her perception, these elves or humans were nothing but walking clusters of water element.

Earth, wind, fire, light… countless elements formed her colorful world of perception, yet one glaring problem arose: perceiving through elements lacked fine detail—like a dirty face, a torn skirt, or stepping in dung…

Thus, it was common to see a Truth-tier powerhouse trudging through dirt and filth; because of her status, no one dared to remind her, and many simply assumed it was her eccentric style.

Later, she began floating when walking, and before going out, she always coated herself in water element and dried it with wind—regardless of whether she was clean or dirty, she washed first.

These minor lifestyle embarrassments were easily solvable—just hire a few servants. Hiring or marrying a few male elves to attend to her daily needs would be entirely reasonable given her status.

But her personality disliked having people constantly moving around her; she never kept pets, let alone tolerated male elves, so she had to be more careful herself.

If her eyes could be healed, these daily inconveniences would disappear—especially after seven or eight hundred years, when she grew old and frail, she wouldn't be left helpless in her own home.

Yet healing her eyes was no simple matter—even the Light Church, famed for its healing magic, could regenerate severed limbs but could not restore blindness.

Elves were also skilled in healing, but every elf healer who had examined her had declared it impossible.

"The magical backlash caused massive necrosis of the nerves behind your eyeballs. Restoring the eyeballs alone is useless—you must reconnect the nerves to the eyeballs. But these nerves link directly to your brain; any intervention is extremely dangerous and could easily turn you into a fool. So unless you can revive this section of nerves, it's impossible to cure."

The previous Grand Druid had given her this verdict.

Aisudolia had long believed her eyes were beyond repair—how could one revive necrotic nerves connected to the brain?

Until recently, while staying in Meishencheng, she discovered a teeth-whitening treatment package…

"Your teeth-whitening package can revive necrotic nerves in rotten teeth and regrow them—it must be able to heal my eyes too. If you cure my eyes, you'll gain the loyalty of a Truth-tier powerhouse."

Aisudolia spoke with absolute confidence—she truly believed no one could refuse such an offer, no one could refuse the loyalty of a Truth-tier powerhouse.

Though a Truth-tier powerhouse's value couldn't be measured in gold, some still sought side income—for example, that guy from the Star Republic, Diruni, charged fifty thousand magic crystals per service, and refused any job involving violence.

Like escorting cargo, protecting patrons, assisting in forging by "adding heat," or altering terrain during dam construction—all acceptable—but he would never kill or breach a city.

Thus, a single service from a Truth-tier powerhouse was worth at least fifty thousand magic crystals—how much was the loyalty of a Truth-tier powerhouse worth?

Priceless.

And how much was the loyalty of an *elf* Truth-tier powerhouse worth?

Priceless, multiplied by sixteen. Because elves live longer, and their magical peak lasts at least sixteen times longer than a human Truth Mage's—simply put, my life is longer, so I'm worth more.

Many human knight novels portrayed the greatest family heirloom as a lineage-bred elf…

It got one of her young acquaintances constantly pestering her: "Come join me—I'll pay you top salary!"

Of course, all this talk about healing and loyalty was just an excuse. The real reason, she had already told Gellard: "Elves cannot survive without the World Tree. Use every means to seize it. If you can't seize it, build strong ties—so one day, your entire race can pledge allegiance to it and beg for its protection."

That "it"… Aisudolia unconsciously glanced upward at Ang's head—where a pot should have been, the sapling would cling to the rim, peering out curiously, and upon seeing something unfamiliar, it would make it grow—

Because she glanced at Ang's head, she lost focus and heard a question—but thought she'd misheard, and asked instinctively: "What?!"

"Can you farm?" Ang repeated.

"Farm?" Aisudolia was stunned—why ask that? She wasn't a Druid. She immediately shook her head.

"No." Ang replied instantly—no one who can't farm is wanted.

"Huh?!" Aisudolia wore an expression of existential doubt—because she couldn't farm, Ang rejected the loyalty of a Truth-tier powerhouse? Had she heard right?

Has the job market now required Truth-tier powerhouses to learn farming first?

Naigelisi chuckled helplessly, but didn't oppose Ang's decision—even if she could farm, Naigelisi didn't want to get too entangled with this elf, for the elf always gave him a sense of danger.

But such a blunt refusal was unwise, so Naigelisi quickly defused the tension: "He's just joking. By the way, what's your specialty as a mage?"

Aisudolia was still dazed, and upon hearing Naigelisi's question, she obediently replied: "Nature Arcane."

"Oh, so you're an Arcane specialist? That's too bad—we don't currently need that specialty. Go home and wait for news. We'll contact you immediately if we need you." Naigelisi smiled.

Aisudolia didn't know how to react—but if she'd ever worked in a human mercenary guild, she'd know this was a hollow, insincere platitude.

After a long pause, Aisudolia finally understood—she'd been rejected. Because she was a Nature Arcane mage, her specialty didn't match, so they'd rejected the loyalty of a Truth-tier powerhouse?

That couldn't stand—even though she hadn't truly intended to pledge loyalty, if they wouldn't take her, she couldn't stay near the Little Life God.

Aisudolia immediately panicked: "What specialties do you need? I understand a bit of everything."

Understand everything? How bold! Even the God of Knowledge wouldn't dare say that.

After thinking, Naigelisi picked a difficult specialty they urgently needed: "We need an Arcane-level Spatial Mage."

Spatial magic was nearly the hardest to learn, because space was intangible—it wasn't like elemental magic, where elements were visible and tangible, and once sensed, could be mastered.

What *is* space? It's an abstract concept.

Some people get lost just walking down the street—their sense of direction is terrible. And direction is a fundamental component of space; those with poor direction sense can never learn spatial magic.

Naigelisi didn't believe an Arcane mage could also master the hardest magic—spatial magic.

As expected, Aisudolia's face fell with disappointment: "I don't know spatial magic."

"Then I can't help you," Naigelisi spread his hands, looking helpless.

"But I know a Spatial Arcane Mage—I'll call her over to help. Can you let me pledge loyalty?" Without waiting for Naigelisi's refusal, she tilted her head upward, and a pulse shot from her brow.

Naigelisi's brow scales wrinkled—was this even possible?

He'd heard of exam-cheating and body doubles, but never a substitute applicant. Even if a Spatial Arcane Mage arrived, what he wanted was the Mage—not you.

Now he was certain: this elf had ulterior motives. Fine. Let's see what trick you're playing.

Naigelisi settled back calmly, his little claws wanting to clasp together—but they were too short, so he crossed them over his waist instead.

One second… two seconds… ten seconds… a minute passed…

Aisudolia glanced at the sky, embarrassed: "Maybe… maybe something came up and delayed her."

As she prepared to send another signal, a series of screams suddenly echoed from the sky: "Ahh… ahh… aaaaaah!"

A figure flickered downward from above, falling a distance before vanishing, then reappearing elsewhere, erratic and unpredictable.

Ang and Naigelisi looked up—both felt the same eerie familiarity: this scene… was too familiar.

Aisudolia helplessly covered her face—this wasn't the first time it had happened. She expertly extended her Mage Hand and caught the falling figure before it hit the ground.

"Phew…" The disheveled figure landed before Aisudolia, sighing: "I nearly died—I nailed the coordinates, but forgot the altitude. Too high. My legs went weak."

Naigelisi recognized the figure and gasped: "You?!"

The female spatial mage turned, puzzled, and glanced at Ang and the others, hesitating: "You're…?"

Naigelisi said nothing—just had Ang retrieve the spatial bag she'd previously discarded: "You dropped this. We borrowed a few scrolls. Hope you don't mind."

"Huh? My spatial bag? How did it get… AHH!"

The female spatial mage instantly remembered where she'd lost it—and realized what they'd seen. Her face flushed crimson to her neck, abandoned the bag, and darted behind Aisudolia.

Aisudolia's gaze flickered between the female mage, Ang, and Huang Tong, searching for clues—but her eyes were blind, so she saw nothing.

Once the female mage calmed slightly, Naigelisi asked again: "Your spatial bag."

"Keep it. Throw it away," the female mage mumbled, face buried in Aisudolia's chest, too ashamed to look up.

"Throwing it away is wasteful. If you don't want it, I'll empty it and use it to haul bird droppings—recently, bird droppings can't be transported efficiently, and soil fertility has dropped sharply."

The female mage's blush vanished. Her shame vanished. She stormed over, snatched the bag, and glared furiously at Naigelisi.

Naigelisi was baffled—she'd said she didn't want it. Why not use it for transport? What was she so angry about?

Using spatial artifacts for transport was perfectly reasonable—only their high cost made most people unwilling to waste them on fertilizer. But here was one already discarded.

With this interruption, the spatial mage ignored them entirely and whispered to Aisudolia: "Great God, why did you call me?"

As she called her "Great God," the female mage's eyes sparkled with worship—this was the Truth God, who had taught her so much magic.

Aisudolia smiled: "I wish to pledge loyalty to Lord Ang, but they rejected me because I'm an Arcane mage—they want an Arcane-level Spatial Mage. So I thought of you—please help me secure this opportunity."

As Aisudolia spoke, the female mage's eyes widened in disbelief—as if she'd seen a ghost.

She pulled Aisudolia aside, whispered urgently, confirmed she wasn't possessed, under a mind spell, soul-infiltrated, or coerced—then reluctantly said:

"But… but I'm busy right now. If it requires an Arcane Spatial Mage, it must be something extremely difficult."

Naigelisi nodded: "It's not simple. We need to locate a fragment of shattered space within a dimensional void, using a vague coordinate, and enter it."

The female mage rolled her eyes: "You use such technical terms—you know how hard this is. Do you want me to die?"

Naigelisi quickly added: "There are dimensional beasts."

The female mage perked up, suddenly serious: "Dimensional beasts? That's not outright suicide—but the risk is still too high. I'm too young. I haven't lived enough. I won't risk it."

"Failure means no reward—that's risk. But if you get paid regardless of success, that's not risk—that's security. Tell us what guarantee you need—we'll pay upfront." Naigelisi coaxed gently.

The female mage shot him a scornful glance: "Are you insulting me with money? Do you think I'm that shallow? Even if you piled magic crystals before me, I wouldn't even glance at them."