Above the mage

Chapter 700 Difficult to Coax vs. Easy to Coax

"Yes." Gao De hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, but finally nodded.

Upon hearing Gao De's affirmative answer, the light in Madam Wang Mian's eyes shone even brighter.

Adhering strictly to the rules for mages, she didn't inquire about the specific details of Gao De's expertise despite her high position. Instead, she focused on the most crucial core question: "Can your expertise grow and become stronger?"

"Yes." Now that he had admitted it, Gao De became much more decisive.

"What external conditions does it need to grow?" Madam Wang Mian's face flashed with undisguised joy before she asked again.

"Whatever is needed, our Wang Mian family will provide it to the best of our ability. In this plane, there should be few things that Wang Mian cannot provide."

Clearly, this is a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

At this moment, Gaode could easily add other treasures to the actual conditions to gain more benefits for himself.

Because expertise is inherently random, whatever he says is necessary for growth, that's what it is.

The Wang Mian family has no way of verifying the authenticity of this claim.

As long as he can ultimately improve the efficiency of absorbing the divine light energy and alleviate Liu Ying's pain, the Wang Mian family will have no objections.

However, Gaode Maps did not intend to take advantage of this.

Not even a single thought of that had ever crossed his mind.

At least, he didn't want to use the fireflies to benefit himself.

"It's not that I need any external things..." Gao De paused slightly. Even though he was telling the truth, he felt inexplicably guilty in front of Liu Ying's mother.

"What do you need? Just tell us, whatever your request is, we'll try our best to fulfill it."

"I need to spend more time with Liu Ying," he said, taking a deep breath and feigning calmness.

"More contact?"

Gao De's answer surprised even the well-informed Lady Wang Mian, a hint of astonishment flashing across her face.

She never expected that Gaode's requirements would be so special, so special that they exceeded her expectations, and she was momentarily speechless.

She quickly snapped out of her daze, her gaze fixed intently on Gao De, and asked earnestly, "Why is that?"

"Madam," Gao De met Lady Wang Mian's gaze calmly and slowly explained, "Just like a mage's cultivation, the more magic power he absorbs, the higher his mage level becomes, and the more efficient he is at absorbing magic power."

"The same applies to my specialization. The more divine light energy I absorb, the higher the level of my specialization becomes, and the stronger my ability to absorb divine light energy becomes."

"And as you can see, only by being in contact with fireflies can I absorb divine radiant energy."

Gaode's statement avoids its core "adaptive" mechanism, but accurately reflects the truth of adaptive evolution.

Never let others know about your magic or special skills.

Over the years, Gaode has gained a deeper understanding of these rules.

Especially since the special ability of "Adaptive" can be life-saving in many situations, it is reasonable to keep it hidden.

"I see..." Lady Wang Mian remained silent for a moment before replying.

She had just gone through her experience in the Desolate Soul Realm from Liu Ying's perspective in her mind and found that everything did indeed match what Gao De had said.

At the beginning, Gao De did not demonstrate his ability to absorb divine light energy; he only suddenly acquired this ability one day later.

According to what Gaode just said, that period should have been the growth period of his expertise.

She was even certain that Gao De's specialization allowed him to absorb energy from a wide range beyond just the divine radiance energy within Liu Ying's body.

Otherwise, how could such a coincidence happen?

However, this condition of "more contact" caused Madam Wang Mian to have a momentary concern, but this concern was only fleeting.

Faced with his daughter's life, all his concerns became insignificant.

Gao De chuckled, then suddenly asked seriously, "Madam, did you summon me here today just to discuss Liu Ying's situation?"

Lady Wang smiled naturally and said softly, "I just wanted to confirm whether your ability can be improved."

If that's the case, I'd like to trouble you to enhance this ability as much as possible to help Liuying fight against the divine radiance energy within her.

Having "been used" to Lady Wang Mian's superior demeanor, it was a rare sight to see her in this "gentle" form, leaving Gao De momentarily speechless.

"If you can help Liu Ying, our Wang Mian family will owe you another great favor." Madam Wang Mian's tone became serious again.

She paused, remained silent for a few seconds as if making an extremely difficult decision, before speaking again slowly: "If you need assistance at some point in the future, even if it violates the classical doctrines upheld by the Wang Mian family, or even harms the interests and reputation of the Wang Mian family, I will still step in to at least save your life and repay this favor."

Gao De's eyes narrowed slightly after hearing this.

Although Lady Wang Mian spoke cryptically, he was not stupid and naturally understood the deeper meaning behind her words.

If the Wang Mian family were royalty, this promise would be practically equivalent to a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Even though the Wang family was not royalty, given their power and influence in the Golden Flower Dynasty, this promise was almost equivalent to a get-out-of-jail-free card.

"Madam, I am Liu Ying's friend. I am willing to help Liu Ying without any conditions. I don't want to see her suffer," Gao De said softly, but did not respond.

Lady Wang Mian couldn't help but give Gao De a deep look.

In this situation, it is quite remarkable that Gaode could still say such a thing, whether it was sincere or not.

She did not pursue the matter further.

As the head of the Wang Mian family, her promises were absolute and she never went back on her word.

"Also, I need your help with a small favor." She suddenly leaned slightly closer to Gao De, lowered her voice, and said to Gao De solemnly.

"Huh?!" Gao De didn't react for a moment.

Just then, Madam Wang Mian gently knocked on the door beside her.

After a brief wait, the door was suddenly pulled open.

A girl stood behind the door.

She wore a robe that concealed light, and a faint golden light surrounded her, which, combined with the girl's lively temperament, seemed to be inlaid with a holy golden edge.

However, on the girl's beautiful face, her nose was wrinkled and her eyes were still angry.

"Master Gaode, this is the favor I need from you right now. Please help me appease Liuying. She's really difficult to deal with once she gets angry... Please help me."

At that moment, Gao De suddenly heard a soft message from Madam Wang Mian transmitted through the [Communication Technique] in his mind.

His tone carried a hint of helplessness and pleading, a stark contrast to the composed demeanor he usually displayed.

Gao De was speechless for a moment.

He never expected that the matter that Lady Wang Mian had so solemnly entrusted to him was this matter.

But when he looked up and saw Liu Ying's angry face turn into one of surprise upon seeing him, and saw the undisguised joy emanating from her sapphire-like eyes, he couldn't help but smile slightly and greet her gently, "Long time no see."

"Long time no see!" Liu Ying instantly forgot her grudge and asked with her clear blue eyes, "What brings you here!"

"It was Madam who invited me here. Actually, she's been looking for me these past few days, but I had something to do and wasn't in Mithril City, so it was delayed until today," Gao De said with a smile, his tone tinged with apology.

At the same time, it can be seen as keeping Lady Wang Mian's instructions in mind, and adding a sentence to ease the small gap between mother and daughter.

"Come in quickly!" Liu Ying didn't seem to hear her, but simply turned to beckon Gao De.

Gao De turned to look at Lady Wang Mian and Marcus beside him, his eyes filled with a hint of inquiry.

Lady Wang Mian's eyes flickered slightly, and it was unclear what she was thinking. However, when she met Gao De's gaze, she nodded gently.

Having obtained permission, Gao De had no more reservations and stepped into Liu Ying's boudoir.

Liu Ying glanced at Madam Wang Mian, let out a soft "humph" through her nose, and quickly turned around to close the door.

This expresses the mother's dissatisfaction with "asking" Gaode to leave.

However, upon hearing Liu Ying's soft hum, Lady Wang Mian actually breathed a sigh of relief:

Previously, Liu Ying simply ignored them, which was the most difficult situation to deal with.

The fact that she is now willing to express her emotions frankly shows that her anger has subsided considerably.

Facing the closed door, Madam Wang Mian turned to look at Marcus beside her.

The latter had already crossed his arms and hung his head slightly in front of his chest, his eyes fixed on the ground, displaying a respectful posture that said, "I didn't see or hear anything."

Lady Wang Mian glared at Marcus with annoyance and said softly, "Let's go first and let the young people catch up on their own."

"Anyway, Gaode said that he should interact with Liuying more so that his expertise can be improved. Let's just consider it as a way to improve his expertise."

""

Madam, are you saying this to me, or to comfort yourself...?

Marcus, with his head bowed, silently complained to himself, but maintained a respectful expression on his face, bowing slightly and replying, "Yes, Madam."

After entering the room, Gao De subconsciously looked around, feeling a bit curious.

This is the boudoir of the most noble young lady in the Golden Flower Dynasty.

Sunlight from the highlands streamed through the carved windows, casting dappled shadows on the floor covered with a silver-gray, dark-patterned velvet carpet.

The room was simply furnished.

A desk covered with a snow-white cashmere cushion was placed by the window, with books laid out open on the table.

On the silver candlestick beside it, there is a white crystal that can stabilize the light element.

What is truly eye-catching is that the walls, the floor uncovered by the carpet, and even the ceiling of the entire room are neatly inlaid with extremely conspicuous spiral mithril runes.

The silvery-blue halo rose and fell slowly like a living thing, silently suppressing the faint, sacred energy within the room.

Occasionally, when there is a surge of energy, the runes will glow slightly.

A faint, sweet scent filled the air, like the fragrance of a young girl, clean and pure.

Before Gao De could even speak, Liu Ying had already eagerly gone to her desk, quickly pulled open the bottom drawer, and took out an exquisite rosewood jewelry box.

The box is decorated with a pattern of intertwined silver flowers, and it is imbued with many magical spells, making it clearly no ordinary object.

Liu Ying placed the jewelry box on the desk and opened the lid.

The moment the lid was lifted, a soft magical light slowly wafted out. The box was filled with many ornaments, but they were not arranged in a deliberately neat manner; they were arranged very casually.

Liu took out a pendant from the pile, hooked it with his finger, and showed it to Gao De: "Look, the real star pendant."

The pendant was made of a fine material and was wrapped with intricate star patterns. As the light moved, the star patterns slowly changed, making it both lively and fantastical.

Just as Liu Ying said at the Obsidian Antique Dealers Association, the star pattern on the Star Silver will constantly change.

Such a peculiar phenomenon is far superior to that fake item made of ordinary ancient star silver with unchanging star patterns; the difference in quality can be seen at a glance.

However, Gao De's attention was not entirely on the star pendant; his gaze unconsciously drifted toward the box filled with various ornaments.

The box contained a vast array of ornaments, both in quantity and variety.

There is a small silver bracelet with fine vine runes wrapped around its body and inlaid with a few pigeon-blood red crystal fragments;

There are also gold hairpins, with the head of the hairpin being a blooming broom flower, and the petals adorned with tiny crystals;

There are also pearl bracelets, each pearl is bright white and translucent, with a very faint elemental halo flowing on the surface;

There were also a dozen or so gemstone rings, some inlaid with pale purple shadow crystals to conceal faint traces of one's presence, others adorned with translucent ice jade to alleviate the scorching heat from the light element...

Each piece of jewelry is exquisitely crafted and reveals an extraordinary origin.

The main point is that these ornaments can be placed together with the star pendant at will. Could it be that each of them is an extraordinary item of the same level as the star pendant?

It's worth noting that the Starry Pendant was considered the grand finale item by the Obsidian Antique Dealers Association.

But here at Liu Ying's place, she could just casually pull out a whole box of them?!

What does it mean to be "exorbitantly expensive"?

That's it.

Gaode instantly gained a clear understanding of the strength and foundation of the Wang Mian family.

After showcasing the shimmering light, she put the starlight pendant back into the jewelry box and turned to look at Gaode.

Her sapphire-blue eyes were full of seriousness as she said in an extremely solemn tone, "You promised to wait for me, but after I finished, I couldn't find you."

"I'm sorry," Gao De apologized sincerely, "it was my fault."

"I know it's not entirely your fault. It was Mother who asked you to leave. Even if you wanted to wait for me, you couldn't," Liu Ying said again.

"Don't blame her, she was just trying to help you."

"You can't use that as a reason to disrespect my ideas." Liu Ying didn't accept Gao De's attempt to make amends for Madam Wang Mian, and her tone remained clear.

"So, I'm very angry and have decided that I won't talk to her again until I see you."

Upon hearing this, Gao De's lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile: "Now that you've seen me, can the gag order be lifted?"

Liu Ying looked at him, remained silent for a moment, then softly hummed in agreement and nodded.

Gao De has always liked girls like Liu Ying who can speak logically and reasonably, and he doesn't think that young girls are really as difficult to deal with as Madam Wang Mian said.

Therefore, he didn't think that Lady Wang Mian really needed his help at all.

After all, Liu Ying is not difficult to coax.

Despite his achievements in the fields of magic and talisman literature, Gao De is still completely ignorant about matters of dating the opposite sex.

At this moment, he had not yet grasped a simple yet irrefutable truth:

All girls in this world are actually quite difficult to deal with.

If you think she's easy to fool, it's not because she's actually easy to fool, it's just because you're the one standing in front of her.