Sorcerer: I want to be an Academic Prodigy

"Sorcerer Ivan, please take care," Jenny said.

"And you as well, Jenny, and everyone else," Ivan replied as he prepared to depart at the gates of Yuyue City. Perhaps worried he would lead people astray, the High Priest had specifically come to see him off, along with her chief guard, Rosa.

Unexpectedly, Lulu Xiya also hurried over upon hearing the news.

Ivan and Lulu Xiya had hardly spoken a few words to each other, so naturally, there wasn't much to say when parting.

He gestured a farewell to the group before mounting a swamp ant as his steed and setting off on a new journey, with the flame scorpion and Meg still accompanying him. Soon, they vanished into the distant horizon.

After he left, Lulu Xiya invited the High Priest and the Holy Daughter to her royal carriage, preparing to take them back to the temple.

"Lulu Xiya, do you have a premonition about something? It's unlike you to pay so much attention to that man," Kolebas asked her in the carriage as she glanced at Jenny.

"How can I not pay attention? If it weren't for your interruption last time, that man would have become my prince," Lulu Xiya said, clearly irritated.

"You're not embarrassed to say such things, don't think you can fool me," Kolebas said with an unamused look, her voice solemn.

"You spoiled my chance at marriage; what else do you expect me to say?" Lulu Xiya replied, somewhat resentfully.

"Are you serious about that?" Kolebas inquired, sensing something different.

"It's just one possibility, but next time it will be reversed; he will no longer be my prince. Now, tell me, have you not ruined my chance at happiness?" Lulu Xiya expressed sorrowfully.

Hearing this, Kolebas fell silent, with only the sound of the night qi pulling the carriage click-clacking steadily.

She was well aware of her old friend's gift of foresight, which seldom strayed far from the truth, comparable to certain prophetic abilities. If Lulu Xiya had foreseen this possibility, there was a high chance it would come to pass.

This meant that the Komal Empire might have more significant interaction with that man in the future. Kolebas wondered whether sending him away now was good or bad, and what impact it might have later.

Kolebas thought of many things, but after looking at Jenny again, she found herself feeling more at ease. Read exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire

With the Holy Daughter present, no matter how the situation changed, it couldn't go too poorly.

Jenny, deep in thought, took Lulu Xiya's words to heart, planning to tell Sorcerer Ivan next time they met.

...

The West.

The Centaur Race had long become a thing of the past; now, the Western Lands were dominated by a race known as the "stone people," who had established the Hammer Stone Empire.

Ivan, coming from the Southern Lands to the West, did not venture deep into the Hammer Stone Empire's territory; instead, he took a detour to reach the Westernmost Land.

From his experience with the Komal Empire, he surmised that the Hammer Stone Empire would likely be trouble and best not provoked unnecessarily.

On his way, Ivan stumbled upon many valuable things.

He theorized that the reason was that the resources needed by sorcerers and those needed by subterranean races only partially overlapped; what he found was what the subterranean races deemed worthless.

This indeed proved that, for sorcerers, the underworld was a treasure trove, and the retreat strategy of the Five Leaves Spear was wise.

However, he had not found a safe passage for sorcerers to enter the underworld en masse, nor a safe method.

Regarding this issue, Ivan had specifically asked the High Priest.

In recent days, the High Priest had been responsive to all requests and questions and had not concealed the Dark Elves' method of traversing magma. Skimming through the outer layers, Ivan deduced there were two main reasons.

One involved a Secret Technique related to bloodlines, allowing the Dark Elves to become deeply shadowed and avoid damage from the magma.

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The tribute to the Dark Night Mother Goddess was the only thing that allowed some lavafire lords to turn a blind eye, as long as the dark elves offered some items.

This method only allowed a small number of dark elves to travel between the surface and the subterranean, and it couldn't be too frequent.

Kolebas also mentioned a piece of information, saying that the subterranean lava, like the tides of the sea, would rise and fall every four to five hundred years. There would be a period when the lava would recede significantly—the desiccation period—during which some underground passages were completely devoid of lava and could be crossed directly.

However, the desiccation period wouldn't last very long.

Such a method had too long of a cycle, and the timing couldn't be precisely predicted, so Ivan naturally wouldn't consider exploiting this small gap.

What the sorcerer needed was a conventional method, a way to travel between the surface and the subterranean on a regular basis.

"Sorcerer Ivan, there are some strange people below."

"Don't mind them, our destination is further ahead."

Hearing the swamp ant's words, Ivan glanced below where there was an indigenous tribe's village, which likely belonged to a smaller stone tribe.

Living in such a remote place, their bloodline was probably quite diluted among the stone tribe.

The arrival of the swamp ant caused some disturbance, but they didn't pay much attention and continued flying westward until they reached a pitted area and stopped.

Looking at the 'Pan Ti Mountain' in front of him, Ivan was suddenly taken aback.

The place was a complete mess.

Pan Ti Mountain had been excavated haphazardly; pits and sole pillars were everywhere, bearing no resemblance to the Holy Mountain described by the Centaurs; the maps he had originally deduced were now entirely useless.

"After a thousand years, the world has transformed, so such changes are within reason," he muttered to himself, after a while resignedly.

In the end, countless ages had passed since the Centaur Race disappeared, and those ancient texts were already outdated.

"Swamp ant, go down to the surface below and see if there's anything to discover," he instructed next.

"I'll go too." Meg felt ashamed for not having contributed much along the way and volunteered to help.

"Everyone go, search thoroughly, and report back if you find anything unusual." Ivan didn't refuse, and even sent the eagerly watching flame scorpion along to search around the original Pan Ti Mountain.

Following his directions, the swamp ant burrowed directly into the ground, while Meg also made her way underground in her own manner.

The flame scorpion could only obediently enlarge its body and crawl forward; its speed wasn't slow, and the ground behind it was left scorched and blackened.

After a while, Ivan heard some noise from behind him—it was the stone tribe from that village.

He had a moment of inspiration, pretending to be unaware as he stood in place.

"Who's this pale face daring to trespass into our tribe's rock mining land?" Soon, a group of stone tribe warriors approached, with the leader loudly scolding him.

"Is this the place your tribe has hollowed out?" Ivan turned to look at them.

The stone tribe's appearance was somewhat similar to humans, but with significantly rougher skin, resembling stone in texture, yellowish in color, and they were generally tall and robust, embodying the term 'all brawn.'

"Of course, this is our tribe's rock mining land and has been for generations; don't think for a moment you can take away even a single rock."

"Which stone tribe do you belong to?"

"Pale face, are you blind? Didn't you see the tails behind us? We are from the 'Stone Tail Tribe.'"

His words made the men across from him become somewhat agitated, and Ivan followed their gaze behind them, indeed finding several tails, thin and short, and quite mismatched with the stone tribe's bulk.

Ivan knew that there were different divisions within the stone tribe like Stone Eye Tribe, Stone Skin Tribe, Stone Horn Tribe, Stone Armor Tribe, and so on, but he had never heard of a Stone Tail Tribe.

Still, since these Stone Tail Tribe people had lived here for generations, they must be quite familiar with the surrounding area.

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