11. Do not bring up past grievances.

  "Nine... nine-tier... ma... magician?" Ah Meng's mouth was agape and he forgot to close it, his speech becoming stuttered.

  He heard it clearly, the old madman said was a magician, not a divine technique, but a person who learned divine techniques without the permission of the gods. This kind of person should be punished by the temple, and yet they have gained power equivalent to that of a demigod, it's unbelievable!

  The old man didn't speak, his gaze piercing through the wall as if staring at a very distant place, lost in thought. It wasn't until half a day had passed that Ah Mon came back to himself, cautiously asking: "So you're also a 'magician'?"

  "Yes, I am a magician. But my achievement is not as good as that of the students, only an eighth-level magician." The old madman replied with certainty, but did not turn his face to look at Amun.

  Amun had petrified, staring at the old madman for a long time before asking in a low voice: "Your student..." He stopped here, unsure of how to continue.

  "He's called Bell, and if he hadn't become a divine being, he'd probably be dead by now. The last time I received news from him was thirty years ago, brought by Xue Dingyuan. At that time, he had abducted the holy maiden Cong Nian from the Isis Temple and was being pursued by a large number of divine arts practitioners and warriors. He wanted to come find me, but couldn't escape, and then there was no more news."

  Amon was as if he had been enchanted, unable to speak. The old madman's few words just now contained too much shocking information. Firstly, it said that the magician would have died long ago if he hadn't become a god, obviously hinting that mortals can become gods. And in all the prophecies, humans are not supposed to be immortal like gods, let alone magicians cursed by gods?

  Secondly, it was the news that Xue Dingyuan brought thirty years ago. So this cat has been alive for at least thirty years and can still deliver messages among magicians. What a magical cat! Ah Meng recalled his childhood experience, that gluttonous and dirty fat cat had been in Old Man's house since he could remember. However, Xue Dingyuan was really too lazy, sleeping soundly in the corner all day long, almost no one would notice it.

  The most astonishing thing was that the magician named Bell had actually abducted the Holy Maiden of the Isis Temple thirty years ago. At this time, Amun still wasn't entirely clear what the Holy Maiden was, but he knew a magician couldn't openly cause trouble, yet the great magician Bell had caused trouble in the temple as if he didn't care about his identity at all.

  Amon fell silent, but the old madman withdrew his gaze and turned around to look at him, saying: "You don't dare believe it, do you? He entered the Dream Flying Temple, accepted the invitation to become an Honorary High Priest, actually to fulfill my wish. But even I didn't expect that he would take away the Holy Maiden and the Tears of the Gods together, truly audacious, more mad than this old madman!"

  Always in a petrified state, Ah Meng finally heard something wrong, "No, no, no, how is this possible? The magician was not abandoned by the gods and hunted down by the temple, how did he become the honorary high priest of the Dream Flying Temple?"

  The old madman smiled, his most common expression, with a sarcastic cold smile: "What I introduced to you just now about the divine art and body technique are all sayings from ancient times on the Tianxu continent. They seem to be both prophecies and facts, but may contain many errors and lies. I teach Bell everything, only hoping that he can fulfill one of my wishes, which is to uncover the true secrets of the gods."

  Ammon's mind was not working well at the moment, and he couldn't think about so many complicated questions for a while. He asked again: "You haven't told me yet, how can a magician who is despised by the gods become the high priest of the Temple of Dreamflight?"

  The old madman's cold smile became more apparent: "So-called nobles are qualified to learn divine magic and need to obtain the permission of the temple, these statements I think are just lies by those gods and priests who try to monopolize divine magic. Private practitioners of divine magic are called mages, cannot be tolerated, if you are only a low-ranking or mid-ranking mage, the situation is indeed so, will be punished by the temple or even hunted down. But if you have become a great mage, the situation changes and becomes very dramatic."

  "What play?" Ah Mon's confusion grew. Since he was young, the only plays he had seen were those praising gods during the town's annual festivals.

  The old madman retorted, "Amun, would you sacrifice a whole flock of sheep to hunt down a wild beast that has not even provoked you and is willing to help you?"

  Ammon: "Of course not, I'm not an idiot!"

  The old madman snorted and said, "The priests in the temple aren't fools either! The cost of eliminating a great magician is too high. Surrounding and capturing a great magician requires suffering heavy losses, so who would be willing to do such a losing business unless they had no other choice? If a great magician appears within the territory of a certain temple, as long as he doesn't reveal his identity or become an enemy of the temple, the priests will gladly pretend not to know. If he reveals his identity and must be dealt with, they usually use another method first."

  Ammon gradually understood a bit and asked: "In what way?"

  The old madman turned his head towards the wall again, his gaze seeming to penetrate through the house and into the distance as he began to tell Amun about Bell's past.

  When a powerful magician appears in the territory, the wisest approach is to "eliminate" him without losing or even strengthening one's own power, and then negotiate. Persuade and buy him into joining the temple, accept the blessing of the gods, give him a noble identity, and become an honorary priest. This way, all troubles are resolved, and there is no need for a bloody fight to the death.

  The great divine masters are transcendent existences everywhere in the Tianxu Continent. Every temple naturally hopes to have more great divine masters to preside over, which is also a symbol of power and status. For such things, even kings secretly approve, who doesn't hope to have more great divine masters serving themselves?

  And the magician transformed into a divine spellcaster, no longer having to worry about his identity and enjoying an honorable status. The temples that can recruit great divine spellcasters enjoy vast wealth and resources, where one can cultivate divine spells and receive people's reverence, which is much better than being a magician who cannot be seen in public, what's not to love?

  So this negotiation is often pleasant and enjoyable, with both sides being happy. However, there are exceptions. Those who can privately practice divine magic and have high achievements are all rare geniuses in the world, among whom there are not a few proud ones who may not accept such an invitation. But as long as he does not openly become an enemy of the temple, the temple will promise benefits or give generous gifts in private, as long as they get along peacefully.

  Only in openly hostile relationships, the great magician is an enemy of the kingdom and the temple, at which point they must be eliminated. That would be an exceptionally brutal extermination war, even mobilizing various powers to participate.

  Bell was a student of the old madman Nietzsche, and thirty-six years ago when he entered the city of Dreamflight, he was already an eighth-level great magician. He got straight to the point, went directly to the Isisis Temple to reveal his identity, and demonstrated his magical achievements, astonishing the Saintess and the three chief priests at the time. What followed was a matter of course, Bell became the Honorary High Priest of the Isisis Temple, a great divine artificer revered by all.

  Meng Fei Si Shen Dian publicly declared that Bell had been quietly cultivating divine techniques for many years, never minding the fame and glory, until he became an 8th-level Grand Divine Technique Master, and only then accepted the honor of being a Great High Priest. How devout, humble, and determined he is!

  At the beginning, Bell only had a symbolic identity as a high priestess and did not hold actual power. However, three years later, the situation changed again. During his tenure as honorary high priest of the Ishtar Temple, he advanced to 9th level in divine magic, becoming an existence equivalent to a demigod. To put it into perspective, the saint girl Onia, who represented the highest authority of the Ishtar Temple at that time, only had 8th-level divine magic achievements.

  Bail's status not only became extremely honorable in the Isis Temple, but also became one of the elders of the Egyptian Empire's Shentong Council. He was qualified to participate in the discussion of the highest mystery of Shentong, and could point out the practice of Shentong for nobles and priests, and could also check the ancient books and records of the Isis Temple and the Egyptian Shentong Council archives. —— This was Bail's original purpose when he first entered the Isis Temple.

  It was the old madman Nietzsche who taught him everything, only hoping that he would fulfill one wish: to figure out how spirits became spirits. If you know this secret, then perhaps you can answer two questions - Can ordinary people also become spirits? And if so, how do they become spirits?

  The difficulty of fulfilling this wish was almost beyond imagination, and the old madman didn't require Bell to succeed, as long as he tried his best. As far as the old madman knew, Bell might have already been close to success, even if he hadn't solved all the problems, but at least he had grasped the key to unlocking this puzzle, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to abduct the saintess of Isisis Temple.

  It was the abduction of Saint Girl that completely changed Bell's fate later on. If it hadn't happened, Bell would have continued to enjoy his honorable status and might have become one of the greatest divine magic users in the history of the Egur Empire, or he might have even fulfilled the old madman's wish thoroughly. However, things cannot be reassumed, thirty years ago, Bell left the Isis Temple, taking not only Saint Girl Onion but also the Tears of the Gods that Onion was in charge of.

  Here is the translation:

  "Speaking of which, the old madman suddenly said with a sigh: 'Those in the know say that Bell kidnapped the Holy Maiden, but I think that Holy Maiden was more than likely willing to be taken by him. She has the Tears of the Gods, and even if she couldn't defeat Bell, if she had decided to fight to the death, she wouldn't have been taken away... Until thirty years later, right here, you personally excavated the Tears of the Gods again, and that Maria will become the new Holy Maiden of the Isis Temple. They finally have a Holy Maiden once more!"

  Amon was shocked again and asked a question that he cared about the most: "Maria! She will become a Saint! What kind of person is a Saint?"

  The old madman poured another full cup of wine, but didn't rush to drink it down. He swirled the cup in his hand and replied, "Don't interrupt me yet, I was just about to say this..."

  The main god worshipped by the Egu Empire is King Horus, and the Egu Pharaoh claims to be the spokesperson of God Horus in the world. The kings of Egu are all located in Bish City, Upper Egu, and the Temple of Horus in Bish City is the main temple of the whole Egu, equivalent to the national highest divine authority center, and temples all over the country also obey it, and the chief priest of the Temple of Horus is naturally taken by the Egu Pharaoh himself.

  However, the Pharaoh himself usually lived in the palace to handle government affairs and only ascended to the altar of the temple as the chief god officer during major festivals. Therefore, there was a chief priest in the temple who represented the Pharaoh to offer sacrifices to Horus and other gods at ordinary times. In addition to the chief priest, the Temple of Horus had three high priests in charge of daily affairs, whose status was far higher than that of the high priests in general local temples.

  In the Temple of Horus, there was also a group of high-ranking priests who were the most honorable groups in the empire. The Council of Mages and the Academy of Magic, which represented the highest authority of magic in the empire, were also located here.

  Upper Egi is located in the fertile river valley of the upper reaches of the Roni River, and another important territory of the Egi Empire is Lower Egi, which is located in the delta region of the lower reaches of the Roni River. In history, Egi was once divided into two countries, with the capital of Lower Egi being Meng Feisi, and later the Pharaoh completed the unification.

  The main temple of Mefitis is the Temple of Isis, which is also the most important temple in Lower Egypt. The nominal high priest is still the Pharaoh of Egypt, symbolizing his rule over Lower Egypt, but the one who represents the Pharaoh to offer sacrifices to the gods is the Holy Maiden.

  The main deity worshiped in the Temple of Isis is Isis, who is the mother of Horus in mythology and the goddess of fertility worshipped by the Egyptians. She is also the guardian deity of Memphis since ancient times. In the Temple of Isis, not only Isis but also various Egyptian deities enjoy sacrifices. The central hall enshrines a statue of Isis holding baby Horus.

  Isis in Egypt was revered as the Holy Mother, with an ancient tradition where a person representing the people to offer sacrifices to the goddess is called the Holy Maiden, also known as "Guardian Holy Maiden of Isis". The tears of the gods on her sceptre symbolize the identity of the Holy Maiden, representing Isis' loyalty, kindness and gaze that looks down upon humanity with pity and blessings.

  The holy woman is pure and devout, dedicating everything to the goddess Isis. Therefore, no adult man can touch her, only kissing the mud under her feet to show reverence.

  According to records, thirty years ago, Isis' priestess Cyanne, relying on the power granted by the goddess, eliminated an evil 9th-level great magician, but unfortunately fell herself. The Gods' Tears on the sceptre were damaged in this tragic battle. — This is the official statement of Egu, whose authority is unquestionable.

  That evil great magician was, of course, Bell. This event in the history of Eg is known as "The Disaster of the Magician". And according to the old madman, what actually happened was that at the time, Isis' Temple's Honorary High Priest and 9th level Great Divine Magic User, Bell, abducted Saint Chione and took away the Tears of the Gods. This was absolutely intolerable and had already offended and shaken the divine authority ruling the empire.

  The Pharaoh issued a secret order to eliminate him, and the powers of all the temples in Lower Egypt participated in the encirclement operation. Bell dodged everywhere, but eventually could not stay in Egypt, escaped through the desert and crossed the border, and came to the deep mountains at the junction of Assyria, Babylon, Hatti and Egypt.

  Egyl led a large group of mages and warriors to cross the border and hunt down, but none of them returned. Since then, there was no news about Bell and Saint Onion.

  After this incident, all records of Bell as the Honorary High Priestess of Ishtar's temple and elder of the Council of Mages were destroyed, and it was forbidden for anyone to mention her again. In official records, she is a wicked sorceress who was eliminated by Saint Chionesia at the cost of her own life.

  The old madman fell silent again, and the house was quiet for a long time without any sound. The old and young were both lost in their own thoughts.

  Amon finally understood the identity of the Holy Maiden and knew what Maria would become, and he couldn't help but feel a little downhearted. Although he understood that nothing could happen between him and Maria again, there was always an indescribable sense of regret in his heart, and he couldn't help but think of her silently, letting out a deep sigh. Just hearing this sigh, he didn't seem like a fourteen-year-old kid at all.

  Finally, it was Amun who broke the silence first: "You said your student - the great magician Bell, he is close to successfully deciphering the secret of the gods, what concrete evidence do you have?"

  The old madman replied in a trance-like state: "It was the last message he sent thirty years ago, which confirmed many of my guesses over the years, but I'm not sure how much of the mystery he actually solved. The situation with the divine technique and physical technique that I just introduced may have led to many people's misunderstandings! ...The divine technique and physical technique were intentionally separated, and there is still a lack of crucial content. — That must be the secret of the divine spirit!"

  **

  Character Appearance Table for This Chapter

  Bail: The student of the old madman, officially recorded as an evil 9th level great magician in Egu, said to have been eliminated by the Guardian Saintess of the Isis Temple thirty years ago.

  Onion: Thirty years ago, the previous Guardian Saintess of the Isis Temple, according to official records, was the one who eliminated the evil Great Magician Bell and sacrificed herself in battle.

  **