Chapter 119: The City of Miracles

These rings were wreathed in strange, black mist. Xia Ya had initially assumed this was the power of the undead, but hearing Dodoro speak of it in such a way made him feel rather curious.

The power of life? But why did it look so evil and terrifying?

"It is quite simple," Dora sneered in his mind. "Because this life force was forcibly stripped away. Furthermore, the magic used to extract life force was itself derived from an improved version of necromancy."

The unfortunate mage who had died at Xia Ya's hands had his pockets thoroughly emptied by Xia Ya and Dodoro, and indeed, a well-hidden parchment was found. Xia Ya snatched it up, only to find it covered in symbols that looked like ghost runes.

"This is Magic language, the specialized tongue of mages. This is the magic of life extraction," Dodoro sighed immediately, staring greedily at the parchment in Xia Ya's hand.

"When Hilafinkya last appeared in the imperial capital of Osgiliath, he left words at the Church headquarters and inscribed a set of magical runes on the wall. Those runes were his method of using necromancy to extract the spirits of the dead and refining them into a technique for harvesting life force!"

Dodoro was somewhat excited. "Although those runes were strictly forbidden by the Church, they still spread through certain channels. This was likely Hilafinkya’s original intent. However, it is a great pity that the magical runes left by this madman were incomplete. At the very least, he did not leave behind the complete extraction method. Therefore... if one were to practice according to those methods... over the past few hundred years, I do not know how many mages have tried, but regrettably, none have been able to reach the level Hilafinkya achieved back then."

The spirit of Hilafinkya lay in this: using shortcuts so that more people could attain power. Yet even a shortcut is not without its threshold—it is simply that he greatly lowered that barrier.

To practice the "Life Curse" left by Hilafinkya, one must first be a necromancer! You must learn the method of extracting soul essence, and only on that foundation can you extract life force.

The second threshold seemed to have been left intentionally by Hilafinkya himself... The cultivation method he left behind was incomplete—a fragmentary version. By practicing according to this version, a practitioner would discover that while they could extract the life force of others, they would still consume their own life force when casting magic—only the extent of the consumption was significantly reduced.

When a spell is cast, the majority of the cost is drawn from the extracted life force, but at the same time, the mage’s own life force is consumed in small amounts.

This "small amount" is only relative. While the consumption for each spell is minor, it accumulates, and as more magic is used... the mage himself is destined to have a short life.

Hilafinkya intentionally did not publish the complete version of the cultivation method; no one could understand his true intentions.

As later generations speculated about the actions of this genius, one concept emerged and was accepted by a small minority:

Essentially, Hilafinkya was a "noble" fellow. Even though he caused several plague disasters and killed many, his intent from beginning to end was the pursuit of power. Even this pursuit was a manifestation of "selflessness."

His significance lay in the fact that he left behind a possibility for the world, opening a door and pointing to a new path! As for how that path was to be walked once it was pointed out, he did not care. It required the world to exercise its own wisdom to delve deeper.

If he had simply published the complete method, it would have instead bred human laziness: one would simply follow the instructions.

Therefore, Hilafinkya's significance was not in telling people exactly what to do, but in using his own actions to show them: everything is possible!

In his own words: "Give me a flock of sheep of sufficient size, and I can challenge a Magister! Give me an even larger flock, and I could challenge even more powerful existences..."

What are those more powerful existences?

It leaves one with infinite imagination...

Regrettably, this intention of Hilafinkya was not carried out by his successors. In the hundreds of years after his death, the Life Curse he left behind was never brought to its full potential.

On one hand, this was due to the Church's restriction and suppression of the Life Curse. On the other, it was because the incomplete version of the magic had many flaws, and no genius like Hilafinkya appeared among his successors to complete the work.

If... every time you cast a spell, you had to sacrifice several years of your life, the cost would be unacceptable to most, unless one were in a desperate situation intending to take the enemy down with them...

And the third reason was the most critical: the incomplete version of the Life Curse had a "wicked" flaw in its cultivation!

***

If it were the complete version of the Life Curse, what would be the result of the cultivation?

Theoretically speaking, as long as there were enough living beings nearby, the mage’s own power would be infinite! Just as Hilafinkya himself said: "a flock of sheep of sufficient size!"

In any case, one would not need to consume one's own life force.

But with the incomplete version of the Life Curse, this effect of infinite power is gone! Because the mage still needs to consume their own life force, only... the degree of consumption is reduced.

And this imperfection brought about a subtle result:

The division of levels.

This result is quite thought-provoking.

Other magic has levels, from low to medium to high, first to ninth tier. Hilafinkya’s genius was that he himself could ignore these levels!

However, the incomplete version of the Life Curse created a division of levels. This division was no longer based on magical power, but on the level of the mage's own life force.

Or rather... it is determined by the amount of life force you are willing to sacrifice!

If you are willing to sacrifice more life force, you gain greater power; conversely, it is weaker.

Many could not understand why Hilafinkya, after breaking the rules, intentionally created such a rule—some even viciously speculated that Hilafinkya was intentionally taking revenge on the world.

***

Xia Ya did not immediately agree to Dodoro's request. Instead, he sent away the disappointed mage attendant and, while alone, patiently sought advice from Dora:

"The Life Curse is generally divided into three categories of power, so its correct name is not 'Curse,' but 'Incantation,'" Dora’s voice turned serious. "Do not laugh! What is so funny about divination? Prediction itself is a magical power. Whether it is the high-ranking clergy of Byzantium or the High Priests of Odin, they all possess abilities in this domain. The Life Incantation itself originates from magic; it is not strange to have such capabilities."

"The second category is blessing, enhancement, and support. This includes mental and physical support: courage enhancement, wound healing, strength enhancement, speed enhancement, and even life force enhancement, and so on..."

"The third category is offensive magic, which is exactly the opposite of the second: stripping the enemy of courage, deepening the enemy's wounds, absorbing the enemy's life force, and so on... Because the Life Incantation does not belong to other schools, it inherently lacks offensive attributes related to wind, fire, water, or earth."

"According to the summaries and classifications made by human mages over the past few hundred years, the highest-tier Life Incantations are divided into nine spells:"

"Insight: Divination category."
"Courage Enhancement: Support category."
"Healing, also known as Life Replenishment: Support category."
"Strength Enhancement: Support category."
"Speed Enhancement: Support category."
"Courage Deprivation, also known as Panic Spell: Offensive category."
"Life Deprivation, also known as Wound Deepening: Offensive category."
"Strength Deprivation, also known as Weakening Spell: Offensive category."
"Speed Deprivation, also known as Slowing Spell: Offensive category."

"As you can see, the support and offensive categories almost completely reverse the effects of the same type of magic."

"From the perspective of level division, the Life Curse is now divided into four tiers based on how much life force the mage is willing to sacrifice."

"The first tier allows for three spells: you automatically gain the divination spell 'Insight,' plus one from the support category and one from the offensive category."
"The second tier grants five spells: on top of the first tier, you gain one more from each category."
"The third tier allows for seven spells: again, one more from each category."
"The fourth tier allows for the full use of all nine spells."

"However, even so, existing mages who practice the incomplete Life Curse can only reach the fourth tier with nine spells, which is far from being comparable to Hilafinkya back in his day; their strength is roughly equivalent to a mid-tier mage."

"Therefore, the Life Curse must have higher levels, but... now that the complete version of the cultivation method is lost, it is impossible to gain further understanding."

As expected of a knowledgeable genius among the Dragon race, Dora’s explanation was very detailed. But after finishing, Dora asked Xia Ya in a strange tone: "Do you really intend to let your mage attendant practice this magic? His magical power is truly too meager. Practicing the Life Incantation is not a bad way to quickly increase his power, but..."

"But what?" Xia Ya chuckled.

Dora snorted. "You will know later! Power increase is never so simple! Hilafinkya did not leave the complete cultivation method back then, but intentionally wrote an incomplete version; I fear there is a deeper meaning! Furthermore, have you noticed? The nine existing Life Incantations, in a confrontation between mages, are almost useless! Whether it is offensive or support magic, they seem to focus on physical power while ignoring magical power! They possess neither magical offensive nor defensive capabilities."

"Such Life Incantations might gain the upper hand if the enemy is a warrior, but once encountering a duel between mages, how much use do you think a 'Slowing Spell,' a 'Weakening Spell,' or even 'Wound Deepening' has against a mage fighting at a distance with incantations?"

Xia Ya was stunned.

"The mage you encountered today, although he practiced the Life Incantation, used necromancy when attacking you! This fellow is a necromancer himself; it is not strange for a necromancer to study a bit of Life Incantation. But nowadays, no necromancer would take the Life Incantation as their primary power. For instance, today, the spell that mage used to attack you was a type of necromancy called 'Flesh Decomposition.' That is standard necromancy."

Xia Ya recalled the terrifying black light the mage had emitted, which could directly "melt" a person's flesh, leaving only a skeleton, and felt a chill in his heart.

If it hadn't been for the defense of the dragon scales today, he would likely have been reduced to a skeleton himself!

"In short, my view is that without Hilafinkya’s complete version, the existing incomplete version does not have much value, especially when facing a mage. Pure Life Incantation cannot resist the attack of any school of magic. At the very least, there is no magical barrier; the Life Incantation cannot resist any magical attack. Among these nine spells, there is not a single defensive one!"

Xia Ya thought for a while and first dismissed the idea of practicing this magic himself: Are you kidding? It consumes one's own life force! Although the extent of consumption has been reduced, he was in the prime of his youth and did not want to become a withered old man after casting a few spells.

Moreover, even for the Life Incantation, although it does not require high magical power, it still requires at least some meager magical foundation. And Xia Ya... he was not a mage.

"Then... let that fellow Dodoro practice it!"

Xia Ya took out the parchment, looked at it carefully for a while, and made his decision.

"Your decision... I hope you will not regret it." Dora’s tone was mocking. The bumpkin felt a sense of unease, but no matter how he asked, Dora would not respond again.

***

That night, the group rested in the woods. This ambush had caused heavy losses; in particular, Aferkat’s Wolf-Tooth Warrior Corps had lost most of its strength. It was foreseeable that even if they reached the capital, they would not achieve any good results in the tournament.

The people of Landis did not seem to have much dissatisfaction; Gulo even enthusiastically brought some wound medicine. However, Xia Ya declined, saying he needed rest due to his own injuries, and did not say much more to Gulo.

The next morning, Xia Ya called the mage attendant over. Dodoro clearly had not slept all night; his eyes were bloodshot.

"First, I need to make something clear to you." Xia Ya looked into Dodoro’s eyes. "Regarding the Life Curse, you certainly know more than I do, since you claim to be a mage... Uh, alright, don't glare, you really are a mage. Then you should know that the Life Curse consumes your life force. The cultivation method Hilafinkya left behind is incomplete. After you practice this magic, it is very likely... well, not very likely, but certain that you will lose a portion of your lifespan. Are you willing?"

Dodoro’s wretched face was filled with determination, and he replied without hesitation: "I am willing!"

"...Why?" The courage erupting from the mage surprised Xia Ya: this fellow was usually cowardly and greedy.

Dodoro suddenly puffed out his chest, and his wretched, ugly face seemed to glow. He clenched his fists and said loudly: "Because I am a mage! I, Dodoro, am a mage! A noble and powerful mage! A mage should not be a groom, should not be a blacksmith! A mage should be a noble and powerful existence!! A mage should be a powerhouse standing in the clouds, not a stray dog rolling in the mud!!"

Xia Ya listened, looking at Dodoro with a half-smile: "Oh? It seems you have accumulated a lot of resentment in your heart..."

Dodoro immediately shrank his neck and put on a respectful, flattering smile: "Where! I wouldn't dare! Master, even if I am a mage, I am still your humble servant and attendant..."

"Then... let it be as you wish!"

Xia Ya’s decision sounded like a gospel from the gods to the mage. Dodoro was overjoyed and jumped up with a cheer, nearly grabbing the bumpkin to give him a fierce kiss.

Fortunately, the bumpkin kicked Dodoro away in time—although he was also heavily injured, he still had the strength to kick Dodoro away.

In the morning, Xia Ya and Dodoro separated from the others and quietly walked into the deepest part of the woods. He told Gulo and the others very clearly: "My attendant needs a quiet place to cast magic."

Gulo and the others were sensible enough to show respect and naturally would not send anyone to peek. In any case, peeking at a mage casting magic was a dangerous business. Besides, Gulo’s current order was to befriend Xia Ya, so he would naturally not offend him.

Walking to the deepest part of the woods, Xia Ya took out the parchment.

Additionally, there was an item found on the dead mage—a magic scroll, a simple contract scroll.

Xia Ya threw the contract scroll in front of Dodoro, touched his chin, and chuckled: "You should recognize what this is, right?"

Dodoro only took one look, and his face turned somewhat ugly. He was silent for a while before smiling bitterly: "I know. This is a magic contract scroll. Once used, the magic contract resides in the soul and cannot be violated. If violated, the laws of magic will backlash, reclaiming the contract breaker’s power..."

"It’s simple." Xia Ya did not hide his intent: "You are my attendant, but I am also very clear that your loyalty... is a bit worrying to me. You want to gain power, so you must pay a price. I am a fair person. I killed this dead mage, his belongings are my spoils of war, and you didn't contribute a bit. I can give them to you, but I can also choose not to; that is my right. I have no obligation to give you such a big gift for free, right?"

Dodoro sighed: "I understand."

"So you have one more chance to choose. If you are not willing, I will take these things back. You can continue to be my attendant; in the future, when you earn money, you can redeem your freedom and stop following me. But if you insist on wanting this Life Curse, then I must ensure that you are loyal to me. The items are my spoils; if you want them, you must pay a price... This is very fair."

"It is very fair." Dodoro’s attitude calmed down. He did not hesitate, immediately picked up the magic scroll, and gave it a light shake. With a trace of magical power, the magic scroll quickly began to burn automatically. A strange silver light emerged and invested itself into Dodoro and Xia Ya respectively.

"I, Dodoro, sign this magic contract. For the rest of my life, I am willing to serve as Mr. Xia Ya’s loyal servant and shall not betray him."

He chanted twice, once in Magic language and once in common tongue. Xia Ya nodded and also loudly said a word in Magic language: "Deal."

This simple word was learned from Dora last night.

Soon, the magic scroll finished burning, and the two rays of silver light vanished into their bodies.

"Then... let's begin." Xia Ya touched his face. There seemed to be no unusual reaction, and he felt somewhat excited—this was the first time he had carefully experienced the feeling of magic being cast on himself. It didn't seem any different...

Dodoro stripped off all his clothes and placed all the items he had scavenged from the dead mage in front of him. He first opened a bottle, took out a specially made pen, dipped it in some powder that Xia Ya did not recognize, and began to draw magical runes on his own body, especially on his chest and heart.

These runes were drawn exactly as they appeared on the parchment for the Life Curse.

This process took Dodoro nearly two hours. He was sweating profusely, but his expression was extremely serious and earnest, ensuring that every rune was drawn without the slightest error, before he finally dropped the pen and let out a long sigh.

His entire body was covered in black patterns. Xia Ya asked about it, and Dodoro explained: these special powders were made by grinding bones mixed with special magical potions, which were items specialized for necromancers. Since the Life Curse was improved based on necromancy, these things were the basic requirements for cultivation.

Next, Dodoro held up the parchment with both hands, his face filled with a devout expression. He sat there naked, holding the parchment above his head, and began to chant the spell recorded on it.

He chanted in the Magic language of mages, with rhythmic intonations and strange phonetic symbols that Xia Ya could not understand at all. As Dodoro chanted, the mage’s expression grew increasingly tense. Soon, a faint mist appeared on his face. This mist was very thin, but Dodoro was clearly exerting all his strength; he chanted energetically, his forehead covered in sweat, his complexion growing weaker and more fatigued...

Finally, the black runes on his body faintly began to glow, but the light was still very dim, even flickering. However, Dodoro seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

Soon, the runes began to flow; they seemed to come alive, flowing over Dodoro’s gaunt chest, then gradually submerged into his skin and disappeared!

A layer of light suddenly erupted in Dodoro’s eyes, and the sudden brightness of the light startled Xia Ya!

"He succeeded; he has merged with the magical runes." In his mind, Dora sighed. "This fellow is very lucky; his magical power is truly too meager, barely reaching the minimum standard for practicing the Life Curse."

Because there were outsiders present, Xia Ya did not communicate with Dora. He gave an "hmm," and then heard Dora say in his mind: "The next step is the most critical... the choice!"

"Choice?" Xia Ya finally could not help but ask in a low voice. Fortunately, Dodoro was fully focused and did not notice Xia Ya’s "muttering to himself."

"It is the choice." Dora sneered. "He must decide for himself how much life force he is willing to sacrifice to perform the initial cultivation of the Life Curse."

At this moment, Dodoro’s face was filled with struggle and pain, as if he were hesitating about something. He was covered in sweat, yet he still chanted a spell in a strained voice...

The phonetic symbols of this spell were strange, and Xia Ya still could not understand them, but Dora in his mind suddenly exclaimed: "My god! Your attendant is crazy!! He... he..."

Dora seemed somewhat surprised and finally said: "He chose to sacrifice half of his life force!!"

Half?!

Even Xia Ya was somewhat shocked.

This Dodoro, his desire for power was actually this strong?!

Half of his life force was equivalent to giving up half of his lifespan!

As Dodoro finished chanting the spell, the last rune on his chest completely disappeared. Dodoro’s body began to tremble. He quickly grabbed a dagger he had placed in front of him, a flash of determination in his eyes...

*Slash!*

He cut off one of the small fingers of his left hand with his own hands! A mass of black energy swirled around it... soon, the flesh and blood on it dissolved, turning into a white bone joint.

Dodoro’s expression was extremely tense, staring fixedly at the piece of white bone in front of him...

Finally, the white bone slowly split... into two sections... three sections...

The breaking stopped there.

Looking at the white bone that had only split into three sections, a sense of immense loss and frustration appeared on Dodoro’s face. However, he gritted his teeth, took a breath, and continued to chant the spell.

The three sections of bone slowly floated up in front of Dodoro. Soon, they changed into different colors: one turned crimson red, one turned black, and the last one turned green...

When Dodoro finished the last note, he seemed extremely weak, fell forward, and collapsed on the ground, his hands tightly gripping the three finger bones.

The mage struggled twice and sat up again, holding the three bones in his palm, but his face was filled with frustration and disappointment.

"Poor fellow..." In his mind, Dora sighed. "Although his determination is great and admirable, his own body and life force are too weak. Even though he sacrificed half of his life force, the total amount is still too small, so he only reached the first tier of the Life Curse... which means he only acquired three Life Curse spells. The red bone is 'Insight' divination, the black one is 'Life Deprivation,' and the green one is 'Life Healing'."

Xia Ya also sighed. Poor Dodoro, having made such a great sacrifice...

At this moment, Dodoro’s face suddenly changed, and he fainted with his eyes closed. The three bones in his palm quickly vanished into his palms.

"Don't worry, he is just emotionally overwhelmed. Those three bones are now magical artifacts that have achieved life-fusion with him and can be hidden in his body at any time. They can only be summoned and used when casting magic."

"Insight divination... Life Deprivation and Life Healing." Xia Ya frowned. "First tier, three spells; I can understand that. After all, this fellow’s physical condition was not good to begin with. His total life force could not have been much. But... how is it decided which three spells are obtained at each level? Is it also determined by a division of levels?"

"No..." Dora seemed to hesitate. "It is probability. Basically, it is coincidence and luck. I don't know exactly how it works, but Life Magic is just like that. Each level increase grants two more spells, one support and one offensive, but it is impossible to determine exactly which two spells are obtained. Because it is power obtained through the conversion of life force, generally, it will reflect the strongest aspect of the mage himself. The spells acquired initially are the strongest aspects of the mage's own qualities."

After a pause, Dora explained: "Your attendant acquired 'Life Deprivation' and 'Healing' at the first tier, which means that among his comprehensive qualities, life force is already his greatest advantage."

Xia Ya rolled his eyes!

Dodoro’s constitution was already very weak, and yet life force was still his greatest advantage?!

That means... the other life magic spells: courage, strength, speed...

Compared to Dodoro’s weak life force, this fellow’s courage, strength, and speed were even worse...

He really... really is a loser...

With this sigh, Xia Ya went over to check on Dodoro and felt relieved when he saw that he was indeed just in a simple coma.

"Oh? He has already lost half of his life force, hasn't he? Why does he not look aged?" Xia Ya asked curiously.

"This is a characteristic of the Life Curse magic. Generally, aging only manifests at the very last moment. Simply put, if a mage originally had a lifespan of sixty years, after sacrificing half, he can live to thirty. But only in his thirtieth year will he suddenly age rapidly within that year. Before he dies, his appearance will remain as it was at the time of the first fusion; it can be considered a kind of eternal youth, in a way... Perhaps this is the compensation and balance of the laws of life for those who practice this type of magic."

Xia Ya was stunned.

The bumpkin suddenly couldn't help but think of a thought: "Oh? In that way, the Life Curse actually has some special uses! I hear that women all hope to maintain their eternal youth! If a woman were to practice Life Magic and sacrifice one year of her lifespan at the age of twenty, it would only be a loss of one year of life! Yet, she could maintain her twenty-year-old appearance until the day she dies! Most women in the world would probably be willing to do this!"

Dora seemed stunned, and then the mother dragon sneered unhappily: "You idiot, do you think the laws of life are something you can exploit so easily?! Hmph!! To achieve the effect of eternal youth, you must first master the Life Curse magic! You must reach at least the lowest first tier! But to reach the first tier, do you think sacrificing one year of life force is enough? Don't forget, this fellow in front of you sacrificed half of his lifespan to reach the first tier!!"

Xia Ya sighed.

After a while, Xia Ya said: "In any case... this fellow can be considered to have some strength now, right? Hmm, Life Healing and Life Deprivation can be considered two decent spells. In the future, when fighting others, if I get hurt, this fellow can help me heal the wounds immediately. And when dealing with enemies... Hehe! Life Deprivation is also a very lethal spell!"

Dora’s response was a strange, cold sneer.

There seemed to be some disdain, some mockery, and even more... it sounded like... gloating?!

It seems... this mother dragon is up to no good? Why does he have the feeling of being tricked?

Xia Ya felt a trace of unease in his heart.

***

After Dodoro woke up, he didn't look much different, except for the missing finger on his left hand. After simple bandaging and applying some medicine, the mage could barely endure it.

However, Xia Ya was quite excited and could not help but ask Dodoro several times to demonstrate the newly acquired magic... Dodoro was very helpless about this.

"This... respected Master, you must know that every time I use the magic I have acquired, it consumes life force..." Dodoro was between laughter and tears.

Xia Ya was still reasonable; thinking that it was excessive to let his attendant lose several years of his life just to satisfy his own curiosity, he gave up on the idea.

After getting enough rest, the group set off again. The black-armored warrior Aferkat’s injuries were quite serious, and he was clearly in a very low mood. This time he had led his men to the capital, hoping that with his own skills and the team’s excellent combat power, they could achieve good results in the tournament, win a generous prize, and improve the fame of his warrior corps.

But now, encountering an ambush halfway and suffering heavy losses, he couldn't help but feel discouraged.

After burying his fallen comrades, he had already abandoned the idea of continuing to the capital for the tournament. With his current injuries, the shoulder wound would take at least several months to heal completely, and the tournament was within the month; there was no way he could make it in time.

Lacking his core combat power and with most of his subordinates killed or injured, there was no hope for success in the team competition.

Thinking of this, Aferkat felt like giving up, but since many of his comrades were injured, they still needed to find a doctor in the nearest town for treatment.

Learning of Aferkat’s thoughts, Xia Ya thought for a moment, found Aferkat, and without beating around the bush, asked straightforwardly: "You lost so many comrades, are you really willing to quit just like that? And not get revenge for being ambushed by that so-called Silver Python Warrior Corps?"

Aferkat’s face was pale. A trace of unwillingness flashed in his eyes before it was hidden. He gritted his teeth and said: "What if I am unwilling? In terms of strength, the Silver Python Warrior Corps is far stronger than us. They have money and power, while we are just from a small place... That Philip himself has connections with some nobles, and the Silver Python Warrior Corps works for nobles and receives their funding. I... I..."

Xia Ya snorted, looking at Aferkat: "I don't have any other meaning. If you want to give up, that's fine. It’s just... I don't have such a good temper. You don't want revenge, but I still have to go and make trouble for them."

Aferkat listened, and his face immediately showed a moved expression. But before he could speak, Xia Ya waved his hand: "Don't be grateful to me; I am just doing it because I can't swallow this. That guy ambushed me on the road. Hmph, daring to provoke me, I won't just let it go! But, I will ask you one thing... do you dare to work with me?"

Aferkat’s face immediately flushed red, and he puffed out his chest and shouted: "Dare! Why wouldn't I dare!! I, Aferkat, am not a coward! How can I not avenge my fallen brothers! I can't swallow this either!"

Xia Ya didn't say anything more, patted Aferkat lightly, and turned to leave.

"What do you want to do? Really taking in underlings?" In his mind, Dora sneered. "Or do you intend to swallow this small warrior corps? I am very confused; what is there in such a small warrior corps worth you spending your effort on?"

"Hmph, I just want to compensate them." Xia Ya said unhappily. "You ghost, do you think everyone is like you, thinking of scheming against others? That Life Curse... let’s not talk about it! You must be hiding something from me! I learned this guy’s swordsmanship through trickery, I can't just show nothing in return. Besides, that damn Silver Python Warrior Corps provoked me, and I was almost killed by that mage. Daring to provoke me, I will definitely bite back!"

***

Because there were many wounded in the team, the speed of travel slowed down.

Fortunately, there were no more ambushes or obstructions on the road. Presumably, Philip was also intimidated by Xia Ya’s show of force in killing the mage and did not dare to come and cause trouble again.

It took quite a bit of time along the way, and it was not until the seventh day that they finally reached their destination...

The imperial capital of the Byzantine Empire, the greatest city on the continent, Osgiliath.

At noon that day, as the group walked along the main road, they saw the majestic silhouette of the city emerging bit by bit on the horizon in the distance.

Xia Ya was on his horse. When he first saw the appearance of this thousand-year imperial capital, the greatest and most prosperous city on the continent, the bumpkin felt his heart being fiercely shocked at the very first moment!

He opened his mouth wide, stunned, staring fixedly at this miracle of humanity in front of him.

He shivered and then muttered to himself: "Fuck... it’s so damn spectacular!! How was such a huge city built?!"