Chapter 144: Apprentice and Wizard

Old Lun Se immediately put on an expression of serious contemplation.

"Mr. Lun Se." Irene couldn't help but speak up from the side.

Old Lun Se's train of thought broke off; he curled his huge dog mouth and once again threw the chain in his hand, pinning the figure in the mucus in place.

As he passed by Luge's side, Old Lun Se said: "Worthy of being my nephew; we uncle and nephew will discuss in detail when we get back."

The strange bug beast gradually returned to its original appearance, scales hiding beneath the skin one by one; fixed in place it had no other reaction, merely twitching occasionally.

Old Dog Head Lun Se took out various bottles and jars, and began pouring them down the fixed bug beast's throat; some he splashed on its body, and he even directly took out a dagger, sliced open a wound, and poured unknown things into it along the cut. Luge watched silently from behind; while Old Lun Se operated, he also checked the other party's condition, adding more things from time to time.

Thinking back now, even if Luge had gone to call Old Lun Se on an adventure last night, they would probably have waited until dawn to come this way, because after dawn the other party's strange bloodline would be soothed by the Blood Sun, and would recover more easily.

Old Lun Se busied himself for a good while; a large amount of black mucus was expelled by the bug beast, the monster's figure also shrinking continuously, until finally it turned into a short, bald little old man probably not even up to Luge's shoulder.

"Stop pretending to sleep!" Old Lun Se rudely kicked the other party in the buttocks.

The skinny old man was kicked directly, flying out along the mucus on the ground, smashing through the only remaining room on the third floor.

Luge and Irene stood silently to the side.

A moment later, the bald old man walked out from the hole in the wall wearing a brand new robe, his face gloomy.

"Old Dog, you have a pretty good nephew." The bald old man spoke as he began pulling out large chunks of magic stones.

Obviously he still remembered the words he heard when he turned into a monster earlier.

"Not enough," Old Lun Se curled his big dog mouth, "this time I came to save you while in poor condition, so add five more pieces on top, and that Gold Grain Weeping Insect."

Hearing this, the short bald old man glanced at Irene.

Irene smiled cheerfully and nodded.

The old man, face gloomy, continued pulling things out, then went to the room behind him, took out a small cage, and began picking at the golden granules on the insect inside; under his picking the insect let out bursts of cries like weeping.

"It's almost been picked to death by you." Old Lun Se glanced at it, as if he had already guessed this would happen, and said listlessly.

"Hmph, the agreement was to give you the insect; the newly grown Bitter Grains on it are not yours. As a Wizard one must be rigorous."

The bald little old man looked not young, but his hand movements were both fast and precise; Luge couldn't help but admire — at least far more impressive than when he himself concocted potions; perhaps this was also a benefit of Bloodline Transformation; even without breaking through to a One-ring Wizard, despite his age, he could still maintain his condition at an outstanding level.

A moment later, Old Dog Head Lun Se humming a little tune, led Luge away in big strides.

The streets after the rain were very deserted; they walked a while before seeing two people.

Uncle and nephew walked one behind the other.

"Uncle, compared to a Wizard Apprentice, what is a true Wizard like?" Luge asked casually, seeing Old Lun Se was in a good mood.

Old Lun Se hummed a melodious tune: "What, my humble nephew, do you think yourself very impressive, that a Wizard Apprentice can no longer arouse your interest in exploration?"

"Just curious, want to hear Uncle Lun Se's insight." Luge said with a smile.

"Then, what do you think a Wizard Apprentice is?" Old Lun Se seemed quite talkative for the moment.

"Metamorphosis, initially contacting the Supernatural, striving to master more Spells, tempering and raising one's Spiritual Power through Meditation Methods; powerful Spiritual Power allows one to further contact and learn things of the Supernatural Realm, to see more Supernatural Knowledge." Luge said after consideration.

"A decent understanding, also a vulgar understanding, an understanding seen everywhere."

Old Lun Se shook his big dog head, ears swinging back and forth.

"A Wizard Apprentice, in this stage striving to contact more Spells and Knowledge, is merely one aspect of apprentice life; it is for the sake of making a choice, to find one's own path," Old Lun Se said, "because the Supernatural Realm is boundless, Supernatural Knowledge is also never finished learning, so one must make one's own choice; to go far, one must not only make a choice, but make the correct choice; even those so-called Erudites among Wizards have their own focus, and under their feet there is also a straight, unbranching road."

Old Lun Se laughed again: "This is what my Mentor said to me back then; of course, this is also an insight I acknowledge; pity I can only count as a Failure."

"As for compared to a Wizard Apprentice, the truly powerful Wizards I have seen are in pursuit of a kind of simplicity; speaking purely of Spells, most Wizard Apprentices pursue complexity, to cope with different situations, while powerful Wizards walk ever simpler; their simplicity, if you break it down, becomes incomparably complex," Old Lun Se said, "Some powerful Wizards, even for decades or centuries, no one has seen them use a second Spell."

Old Lun Se's words made Luge involuntarily open his mouth in surprise; for a moment it was somewhat difficult to comprehend.

What is simplicity, and what is true complexity?

The two chatted idly along the way, circling around puddles, returning to the shop at a leisurely pace.

The first thing upon returning to the shop was to each drink a bottle of Purification Potion.

"Drink another bottle; it's free, already accounted for in that old fellow's fee," Old Lun Se said, handing over five large magic stones, "This is for you, my dear nephew."

Luge merely accepted silently, putting them into his Storage Pouch, not bothering to quibble over the amount.

"Uncle, your condition still hasn't recovered?" Luge said.

"Recovered long ago; recovered yesterday. Don't worry about me; we still have many things to complete next," Old Lun Se said excitedly, "Now, within three days, make at least three thousand bottles of Purification Potion; of course, together; you do your best, I'll complete the rest."

Since this stuff sells so well, why haven't we seen any customers come to the door yet? Luge looked at the shop door and thought.

"No, of course not here; I refuse to sell even a single bottle of Purification Potion here, hehehe," Old Lun Se rubbed his hands, "Three days from now, you accompany me out of the city to deliver goods; the sudden arrival of Blood Rain, sell to those fellows for at least double, maybe consider triple... you're stronger than I imagined; that Spell is very strange; it can save me a lot of effort; you know, going all out is no good for people in our condition, very easy to trigger Aberration, my nephew."

"Yes, Uncle."

Luge curled his mouth and walked upstairs.

For the trip out of the city in three days, he was equally expectant, though it sounded like some minor friction might occur.

(Chapter End)