I Ascend to the Divine Throne through Arcane Means

"How's the situation with the Floating City?"

Joyce looked at Lis and handed him a glass of wine.

"The maintenance is almost complete; it's running normally now."

Lis nodded and sat down in front of Joyce.

"Why did you decide to announce the Floating City news now?"

Joyce smiled and spoke, his words carried no particular meaning, just pure curiosity.

After all, this was a long-kept secret of the Kane family, and compared to its value, he valued the Floating City's significance more.

"There are other reasons, but mostly to recruit people."

Lis explained to Joyce.

"After all, it's a Floating City; a few people alone can't keep it running."

"I see..."

Joyce nodded; what Lis said was indeed true.

After all, he was just an assassin, not a mage, and he wasn't particularly concerned about how the Floating City operated.

"Little Lis, do you still need any help in particular?"

Joyce pondered for a moment and then looked at Lis.

"What do you mean?"

Lis was a bit surprised and looked at Joyce.

"I've seen you collecting those Extraordinary Materials; is there anything you're short of?"

Joyce had been observing what Lis had been doing during this time.

Especially all those resources that continuously arrived at Danerluo Port and then disappeared; Joyce knew they were all sent to the Floating City by Lis.

Joyce would occasionally visit the Floating City to check the progress of its maintenance.

Joyce knew the maintenance of the Floating City required massive consumption of Extraordinary Materials; he had been waiting for Lis to come asking for help, but Lis never did.

For this reason, he even sorted through his collections over the years in advance.

In the end, he watched as Lis sought help from the Feis Kingdom, the Church of the Gods, and the Elf Kingdom, managing to gather most of the needed Extraordinary Materials smoothly.

Seeing the Floating City almost repaired and Lis preparing to unveil it, Joyce also felt a bit antsy.

"Oh, that's so kind of you..."

Lis looked at Joyce with surprise, smiling somewhat flatteringly.

"Saying that to me?"

Joyce glanced coldly at Lis, handing him a silver ring.

A storage ring?

Lis received the ring from Joyce and, noticing it lacked a spiritual mark, immediately infused his spiritual power into the ring.

Soon, Lis discovered the space within the ring was filled with piles of Magic Materials, various precious Extraordinary Materials stacked like mountains, emitting either gentle, blazing, or deep lights, weaving a dazzling and brilliant picture.

Each pile of Extraordinary Materials radiated strong magical waves.

"Wow!"

Lis looked up, staring at Joyce in shock.

Isn't this a bit too much?

Lis looked at the composed Joyce in front of him and asked:

"Uncle Joyce, how come there are so many good things?"

As the Lord of Kane Floating City, Lis had seen quite a few rare Extraordinary Materials, especially those for maintaining the Floating City, all of which had passed through his hands.

But the storage ring given by Joyce was different.

Strictly speaking, the quantity of Extraordinary Materials in the ring wasn't too much, but the average quality was significantly higher.

Mithril, Refined Gold, and Advanced Magic Gems were considered relatively ordinary in there.

Lis even spotted three gemstones with a deep gray luster, whose unique magical waves made his eyes widen instantly.

He took out these gemstones and examined them closely in his hand.

"Wow!"

Could these be the Original Elemental Gems?

This feeling, could it be the Shadow Origin Element Gem?

Original Elemental Gems are beyond top-grade Elemental Gems; Lis had witnessed such level of gemstones before.

The Legendary Accessories [Sphinx's Wisdom] that Lis possessed had four Original Elemental Gems.

They were the Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind Original Elemental Gems.

For Lis, it was his first time seeing a Shadow Origin Gem.

Seeing Lis's attention was drawn to the three Original Elemental Gems, Joyce smiled and said:

"I found these Original Gems while wandering in the Shadow Plane, faced a few troublesome Shadow Creatures back then."

Listening to Joyce's understated description, Lis knew it likely wasn't as easy as it sounded.

Original Gems represent more than just treasures; they contain the essential essence of the Shadow Plane.

For the Floating City, these Shadow Origin Gems can't be used, but their significance for Lis is different.

With these three Shadow Origin Gems, Lis could potentially create even more powerful Magic Equipment.

Playing with the three Shadow Origin Gems in his hand, Lis felt an itch and was tempted to start crafting Legendary Equipment directly.

Seeing that Lis liked his gift, Joyce was quite pleased.

For him, these Extraordinary Materials weren't a big deal.

Although he hadn't been a Legend for long, with the special Skill of the Shadow Clone, he could sit at home and adventure across the world.

Not only was there no life-threatening danger, but Joyce could also use his Shadow Clone to explore regions extremely dangerous even for Legends, acquiring a bounty of good things.

It was for this reason that [Judgement Flame] Stephens sought his help, and they eventually became friends.

Otherwise, a typical Legendary Assassin wouldn't be able to help this peak Legendary.

Also, as a Legendary Assassin, Joyce didn't consume many Extraordinary Materials and thus accumulated them, giving them all to Lis this time.

"My respect, Uncle Joyce."

"You've helped me a great deal, so I'll gladly accept this."

Lis raised his glass to clink with Joyce and said with a smile.

"Let me know if you need anything, you're not alone."

Joyce chuckled and drank it all, advising Lis.

"Got it."

Lis nodded, feeling quite reassured to have such a powerful ally.

"By the way, there's one more thing."

Joyce, in good spirits, handed another silver badge to Lis.

Lis took it and saw it was a badge engraved with a delicate design of a mask and a dagger, examining it before asking Joyce:

"Uncle Joyce, what is this?"

"This is the Guest Elder badge of the Assassin Guild."

Joyce poured himself a drink, laughing as he explained:

"I'm the Honorary Elder of the Fanor Continent's Assassin Guild. With this badge, you can get assistance from the guild."

"Of course, with your current strength, you might not need the guild's help for most things, but you can still seek them out for information."

"Including intelligence from other continents and different planes."

"Understood."

Lis glanced at it and then put the badge away.

For the Assassin Guild, the connection with Joyce meant they definitely wanted to attract Lis, though he didn't mind this.

After chatting with Joyce and having a few drinks, Lis left.

Though he had gained a lot from Joyce, there was still something else on his mind.

"I wonder how those two little girls are doing now?"

Lis looked at the city below, somewhat troubled.

His spiritual power quickly covered the entire city, and Lis soon found the location of the two.

Taya and Risa were still together; judging by the location, they seemed to be dining in a restaurant.

Lis appeared in a flash in front of Taya and Risa.

"Risa, try this!"

"Risa, this is so delicious!"

"Risa, next time you come to Bright City, you must visit me, I'll take you to eat something good!"

Seeing the two lively in front of him, or rather Taya's one-sided liveliness, Lis was a little surprised.

However, while Risa's face was flushed, she didn't look bothered.

Actually, upon noticing Lis, she seemed a bit shy.

What's going on here?

Well-read though Lis was, he was genuinely confused now.

"Lis!"

Taya waved at Lis, pointing to Risa as she said:

"Look, this is my newly adopted sister!"