18、Most proud work

  Perhaps Gyeol was too excited, his voice broke through the ban imposed by Old Man Poong, and Amun couldn't hear the rest of the conversation, only the two people in the house knew.

  The old madman sat there with a cup of wine, making a gesture of pressing down on the air: "You may not believe it, but when that day really comes, I hope you remember what I said and have some preparations... Don't say these things, all these years I've been living in Duketown, getting along peacefully with you, even helping you out with a few small favors, right?"

  "When I first met you, I was just a fifth-level divine technique master. You didn't bother me at all and even helped me solve some troubles several times, pointing out many things about my divine technique cultivation. Otherwise, I wouldn't have advanced so smoothly to become a great divine technique master. From a personal perspective, I've always been grateful to you, this is undeniable."

  The old madman surprisingly also had a humble moment, he waved his hand and smiled: "Your own achievements don't need to thank me, I just shared some of my experiences and insights, and you also let me read many scriptures in the temple, I thank you too. But today, how about the little favor I asked you to help with?"

  Ge Lie fell silent for a moment, then replied with a faint sigh: "No problem, we all know that the child is innocent. I'm afraid everyone on the entire continent knows. Dasiti is a clever person, this matter will be easy to handle, and the messenger from the imperial capital won't arrive until three days later."

  The old madman stood up and said: "Then let's go find him, I'll accompany you together. He won't dare not follow your wishes, nor will he dare to mention today's events."

  Ge Lie smiled: "At that time I will naturally not make things difficult for him."

  Two people were about to leave, when the old madman suddenly said again: "Ge Lie, although you don't let me say it, I still want to mention it one last time. If a great disaster really comes, I hope you can survive and not die in vain. Don't lose hope for your own beliefs. I understand your achievements, you will become a 9th-level divine master."

  Ge Lie stopped in front of the door and stood still for a moment before saying, "Is there anything else you want to entrust me with?"

  The old madman thought for a moment: "If Amun comes back one day, I hope you can comfort him and help him if possible."

  ……

  Ameng stood in the corner of the wall for a long time, suddenly seeing the old madman's courtyard door open, and two people came out. The guest was an old man with a goat beard. It wasn't very clear at night, but the old man looked over here, and his eyes were quite clear and sharp in the dark. Ameng just wanted to take a step forward, but involuntarily stood there without making a sound.

  The old madman and Song Lie went to the town mayor's house, which was the small building where Maria used to live. What are they going to do at the town mayor's place so late?

  Ammon gazed far away at the small building, and the second floor seemed to have a bright light but not like a lamp. After a while, he suddenly opened his mouth wide with a shocked face, clearly seeing a human shadow flying out of the window. The person was like a large bird, a giant eagle, or a night owl, directly rushing into the sky and disappearing into the night curtain, incredibly flying away in mid-air! Looking at the silhouette, it seemed to be that guest, Ge Lie.

  ……

  "Old crazy man, who was the guest that came today? He can actually fly!" This is what Ah Mon asked. At this time, the old crazy man had already returned from the mayor's house.

  The old madman chuckled: "What's the big deal? I can fly too, otherwise how would I have a chance to observe on the battlefield? It's just that I think it's too tiring, walking is more comfortable... Someone like me, an 8th-level great magician, can fly freely without relying on any divine artifacts. Actually, even a mid-tier divine magician can fly, but they need to rely on some tools."

  Amon's habit of speaking was always to make sure he understood something before asking another question, and so he asked again: "You still haven't told me who Song Lie is."

  Old Crazy: "Don't be in a hurry, you'll find out who he is sooner or later. If one day you encounter some trouble in the Syria City-State, maybe you can go look for him... Ah Meng, what brings you to see me at night?"

  Amun: "I've passed the 'Purification of Body' test, which means I'm a 2nd-level warrior by general standards. But according to you, I should learn 2nd-level divine magic, yet I'm not even a 2nd-level mage, so how can I learn?"

  The old madman looked at Ah Mon and said thoughtfully, "If my speculation is not wrong, you are not only a second-level warrior now, but also can learn magic to become a second-level magician. Whether it's true or not, you'll understand if you try it yourself."

  Amun: "But you haven't taught me the second-level divine technique yet."

  The old madman laughed again: "There's no such thing as a second-level divine technique, only lower-level divine techniques. I've almost taught you all of them. Being able to use one divine technique with different skills is already the standard for a qualified first-level divine technique master, and you're already outstanding beyond that. Being able to use two different lower-level divine techniques separately, achieving an effect of mutual enhancement and increased power, is the standard for testing second-level divine technique masters in the temple. Go test yourself. Take this branch back, and these three divine stones."

  The old madman stretched out his hand and somehow pulled out a fine iron branch from nowhere, and with the other hand grasping at thin air, three divine stones of different colors appeared on the table in front of Amun.

  Looking at Ah Mon's shocked expression, the old madman laughed again: "The red one is called 'Flame Spirit', the black one is called 'Earth's Pupil', the white one is called 'Wind Charm Dance'. Together with the 'Deep Blue Water Heart' I gave you earlier, all four special divine stones are now in your possession. Don't be surprised, a great magician over 100 years old, who has also been a miner in Duketown for many years, it's only natural to gather these. You carry them with you and try out their different uses yourself, explore and cultivate other divine techniques."

  Armon thought for a moment, the old madman's words made sense. As an old miner in Du Ke Town since childhood, he had been here for over 100 years. As a great magician, it was easy to collect these things. For someone like the old madman, money wasn't important; what mattered was whether something had a use. Now, the greatest use was helping Armon cultivate his divine skills.

  So Ah Meng did not decline, carefully picked it up and put it away, and then took out the stick to look at it for a long time, but did not find any changes, and instead looked more like a tree branch. Seeing the old madman not speaking, only smiling ambiguously at him, Ah Meng also moved his mind, using the method of awakening divine power to concentrate and "touch" this stick, feeling that there were several places that felt different from before.

  He then used his hand to pry at every joint of the "tree branch", and finally found that there was a very hidden mechanism in the place with a texture similar to wood grain, which required great strength to open. Amun almost broke his fingers, and found four recesses on this iron tree branch, each recess just enough to hold one divine stone.

  "Is this... magic... a divine staff?" Ah Meng asked hesitantly.

  The old man nodded and took the refined iron branch away, saying: "The wands of magicians and divine arts are the same, but as a young low-ranking magician, holding a wand is almost like declaring your identity to everyone, which is almost like looking for death. So I'll modify this refined iron branch into a wand."

  The material of the entire staff has changed, but it can still be used as a melee weapon. The inlaid sacred stone was quite troublesome for me to deal with, and even damaged the sacred stone just to use the complete mineral core shell material to disguise it, not a great magician would find it difficult to discover that it is a staff. Even if a ninth-level magician is not careful, they may not be able to detect it, as long as you don't use the staff to cast divine spells in front of them.

  There are five grooves in total, and the four hidden grooves on the staff can be inlaid with various divine stones. You can of course inlay all four divine stones, which would make it the most versatile. On the top of the staff, there is another extremely hidden groove. Even if you know about it, unless you simultaneously possess the achievements of a mid-tier warrior and a mid-tier magician, you won't be able to open it. After I finished processing it, even I couldn't open it myself; perhaps only a divine being would be able to discover it.

  If possible, this slot is reserved for embedding the Tears of the Gods in the future. If you embed the Tears of the Gods on the staff, the other four slots cannot be embedded with other divine stones at will, and must be embedded in sequence: Azure Water Heart, Flame Spirit, Earth's Pupil, and Wind Charm Dance. This is similar to the structure of Isis' Guardian Goddess staff, but looks completely different, and the effect may also have some differences.

  "You know I'm a great magician, but what you may not know is that I'm also perhaps the best craftsman on this continent. The branch-like thing in your hand is one of my most proud works."

  The old man finished speaking in one breath, rubbing the iron branch with both hands, and a hint of pride appeared on his face. Perhaps it was because he had too many lice and wasn't itching anymore. If an ordinary divine technique master saw these crystals and this staff, they would probably drop their jaw. But Amun had been shocked too many times in a row during this period, so his nerves were already quite tough, and he was extremely calm. He stood up and only said three words: "Thank you!"

  The old madman waved his hand and said: "It's unclear between us who should thank whom more, whether it was I who led you onto a path that may be the most difficult in this world."

  Amun: "What's it to you, do you think I'd be unwilling? Do you want me to spend my whole life as a miner like my father, stuck in Duketown, maybe even losing a finger by now?"

  The old madman looked at Ah Mon, his eyes seeming to study something: "Ah Mon, you are a child who can hide things in your heart, just like this iron branch can hide the divine stone and make people unable to see that it is a magic wand. But you have been hiding a question in your heart for a long time, about me. Today, speak it out, I can understand the look in your eyes when you saw these divine stones."

  Amun lowered his head and said, "Since that's the case, I'll ask you then. The mine core that extracted the Tears of the Gods was borrowed from you by my father. That's why I've had so many misfortunes, and as you said, since the moment I extracted the Tears of the Gods, many things would inevitably happen. Was it intentional on your part? If only I knew that the mine core contained the Tears of the Gods!"

  Armon finally spoke out the doubts that had been bottled up in his heart for a long time. The old madman was actually made to feel a bit embarrassed by him, and he lowered his head to look at the iron branch: "Among all the great mages and great sorcerers, I should be the one who knows the most about divine stone mining. It's impossible for anyone else to have been a miner in Duketown for over 100 years. The mine core is a mysterious thing, and no one dares to confirm that there must be divine stones inside before it's opened, let alone what kind of divine stones they will be."

  I spent my whole life and still didn't fully understand, only knowing that this one mineral core was different from all the other familiar ones, so it's likely to be the Tears of the Gods that I've never mined before. You borrowed it from your father, opened it, and indeed it was the Tears of the Gods! I wasn't wrong."

  Ammon was about to say something but stopped and said: "Then why didn't you...?"

  The old madman took over his words and said, "Then why don't I just keep it for myself? The tears of the gods are no longer of great use to me, and besides, it was Bell who abducted the saintess of the Ishtar Temple and took away the tears of the gods. In the end, it's all because of me. One more tear of the gods and one more saintess is just fine... Besides, if I don't let you excavate the tears of the gods, how can I proceed with my plan smoothly? You're right, I did it on purpose."

  Ammon didn't mean to continue asking, he just nodded and said, "Oh, I see."

  "The old madman pointed to the black divine stone and said: 'The use of special divine stones is not limited to one, for example, this Earth's Pupil is the best auxiliary object for using earth element divine techniques, and can also assist some power system divine techniques. At the same time, it can also serve as a carrier for information divine techniques. I recorded all the cultivation content I know in the form of writing divine technique scrolls, you can slowly read them. But my information divine technique has a special feature, only when your divine technique achievement reaches a certain level, can you see the content of a certain stage, after reading it, the recorded information will automatically disappear.'"

  Then he pointed to the white divine stone and said: "Wind Charm Dance is not only the best auxiliary object for casting air magic, but also one of the best carriers of space magic. However, it sometimes needs to be processed. This Wind Charm Dance has been with me for many years, I have processed it into a space law instrument, which can hold many things inside, but now it's empty. If one day you become a sixth-level magician and can use advanced space magic, then you can open it and use it."

  "Isn't a 6th rank a mid-tier magician? How can he use high-tier divine magic?"

  The old madman laughed: "It's not that only high-ranking divine masters can use high-ranking divine techniques. In fact, all kinds of divine techniques can be performed with the help of auxiliary tools, and the standard for measuring a great divine master is another meaning. Actually, in the temple, when evaluating a sixth-level divine master, the evaluation standard is not just passing the 'Devil's Temptation' test, but also includes being able to use high-ranking divine techniques with the help of tools, and performing at least one high-ranking divine technique without using any tools. It's still too early for me to talk about these things with you now. The information recorded in the Earth's Pupil will all be there, and when you can see it, you'll naturally know."

  Amon suddenly felt that the old man's behavior today was somewhat unusual, as if he wanted to clarify everything at once. He couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong with you today? Am I leaving immediately?"

  Old Man: "Poor child, you're so clever. Tomorrow morning, you'll be banished, and tonight is your last night in Duke Town! There are still a few more things I'll entrust to you when I see you off tomorrow. Now, I'd like to ask, have I ever said that you're my student, and have you ever called me teacher?"

  Ah-Meng only then realized that he had never actually called him "teacher", but rather always referred to Nietzsche as "old lunatic". Not out of disrespect, but simply because it was a habit formed since childhood. Upon hearing this, Ah-Meng knelt down and kissed the mud in front of Nietzsche's feet, saying: "Teacher Nietzsche, in my heart you have long been my teacher, and I am naturally your student."

  The old madman didn't stop Amun's most solemn ceremony, but instead laughed loudly and said: "Amun, if one day you can unlock the secrets of the gods, even be called a god, then today's scene must be very memorable, or have an absolutely wonderful ironic meaning! I've already recorded this scene in the Earth's Pupil, kid. You don't need to call me teacher. Actually, I didn't teach you much, nor do I hope you become my student or another me. It's just that I want you to fulfill my wish, and it seems like no one can teach you that, which is a bit of a problem for you."

  Amun said respectfully: "I won't forget."

  The old madman seemed to be infinitely sentimental, saying: "Forget or not forget, who can say it clearly? I recorded two pieces of information in the pupil of this earth that will never disappear. One is the scene where you just knelt down and paid homage to me, as for the other one, it's related to Maria, do you want to see?"

  Ammon was very curious: "Maria? I want to see!"

  Old Crazy: "You haven't cultivated the Information God Technique yet, let me demonstrate it for you first."

  Before the words had fallen, Amun saw that the black divine stone on the table turned colorless and transparent, with glowing edges, becoming a twelve-sided crystal ball. Then this crystal ball expanded and grew larger, inside appeared a three-dimensional picture, which was a line of elegant script written on the wall - "Amun, my name is Aike."

  Seeing Ah Mon's puzzled expression, the old madman explained with a smile: "That was a line written by Maria in her room. She wanted to tell you her name but didn't say it, only writing it in a corner of the room, but later erased it. This is probably the last time she used this name and also the last time she wrote secular words. You say, did she forget or was it hard for her to forget? Even spirits can't make it clear!"

  ……

  The next day, while people were still eating breakfast, the bell in the Mu Yun Temple rang again to gather the townspeople. When they hastily finished their food and rushed to the square in front of the temple, they found that this time the bell was rung by Dasti himself, and the town mayor's expression was very solemn.

  As the crowd had almost gathered, the mayor of Dastin opened a scroll and read aloud: "By order of the Empire of Egur and the Kingdom of Hatti, an irrevocable decree. All regions under the jurisdiction of the City-State of Syria shall dispatch brave warriors to assist in the pursuit of the evil sorcerer Bell, whose last known location was in the forest of Yuboti Valley west of Duk Town, Syria."

  Having read this far, Dast spoke in a measured tone: "Bail is an evil sorcerer; those who pursue him must be true heroes. He fled from the Isis Temple of Egi to the Yubari Forest and whoever can find and destroy him will have received the blessings of both Isis and Mune. Finally, such a hero has appeared in this town, and I have decided to send him to carry out the kingdom's decree."

  Xiao Gu was not there, and in the town of Dasiti, except for the old madman and Ah Meng, only the town chief himself could read. No one noticed that the sheepskin scroll in his hand was very old, nor did they know that what was written on it was a decree from thirty years ago.

  **