Above the mage

"Father was very angry... If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have made it back from the Desolate Soul Realm this time." Liu Ying lowered her eyelashes and spoke softly, "After learning everything, he silently left Liuge County and hasn't returned since."

"My brother too, he went with Father."

"Before leaving, my father specifically instructed Marcus that I was not allowed to leave the room without his permission for a short period of time. I was originally planning to sneak out to find you." Liu Ying said this with a hint of sadness.

But she was completely unaware that even without her father's grounding order, she wouldn't be able to find Gao De even if she sneaked out.

Because they had never exchanged addresses or agreed on a place to meet next.

It was as if Liu Ying had been holding back her words for a whole month and finally found an outlet, rambling on and on.

There is no clear main plot or dramatic storyline; it only talks about things that seem very ordinary to her.

She was even a little worried that these things might be too trivial and insignificant for Gaode to be of any interest.

But her world was only so big, confined to this one room, and besides these things, she had nothing else to share. So, as she spoke, she "cautiously" observed Gao De's expression out of the corner of her eye.

She would stop as soon as Gaode showed signs of impatience or boredom.

But Gaode remained very focused throughout, listening attentively even though he didn't respond.

So, Liu Ying quickly finished telling her story.

These are indeed just trivial matters from Liu Ying's perspective.

However, as the saying goes, no matter is insignificant in royalty. For a top-tier noble family like the Wang Mian family, every word and action carries hidden messages. This is especially true of the trivial matters Liu Ying mentioned.

The most obvious sign was the anger of that Grand Duke Wangmian.

The meaning behind this is not simple.

The fact that Liu Ying was trapped in the desolate and barren Soul Domain is now confirmed to be a long-planned trap by the Imperial Mage Mei Qiang.

As the head of the Wang Mian family, how could Grand Duke Wang Mian not be furious when his only daughter was in such a dangerous situation and almost lost her life? More importantly, Grand Duke Wang Mian left Liuge County and has not returned to this day.

His departure most likely indicates that he has already taken action, launching a retaliation or counterattack against the empire.

However, the specific method of retaliation remains unknown.

In any case, given the strength of the Wang Mian family, things will definitely not be easy for the Empire during this period.

In addition, Grand Duke Wang Mian's confinement of Liu Ying might indicate that the Empire will take action again.

Gao De's eyes gradually deepened as he pondered deeply.

"By the way, do you want to hold my hand?" At this moment, Liu Ying seemed to suddenly remember something, her eyes narrowed slightly, she looked at Gao De seriously, and suddenly spoke.

"Cough...cough!" This sudden turn of events caught Gao De off guard, causing him to speak for the first time, his eyes still showing a hint of surprise.

What kind of development is this?

"I heard everything you and Mother said at the door."

Liu Ying met his astonished gaze earnestly and then extended her hand to Gao De: "Come on, let's improve your specialty."

Gao De looked at Liu Ying's outstretched hand; her slender, delicate fingers were as white as jade, and her fingertips glowed with a faint light.

He told the truth: "That's how it is, but something feels a bit strange."

Then, he very honestly reached out and solemnly took Liu Ying's slender and delicate hand in his.

Although Gao De quite enjoyed the soft, boneless touch, he wisely stopped short and withdrew his hand. Because, in less than three seconds of contact, a sharp burning pain shot up his palm.

It was as if countless tiny blades of light were frantically gnawing at his flesh.

It was as if an invisible flame was burning wildly in his palm.

He looked down.

His palms were charred black, and his skin was covered with tiny blisters and cracks.

You can still vaguely see the reddish flesh underneath.

"This is what you call a relationship regressing by a year..." Gao De thought to himself, frowning.

After evolving the [Primary Radiant Body], he was able to have unimpeded contact with the Radiant for extended periods in the Desolate Soul Realm. But upon returning to this mage plane, everything went back to square one, even worse than before.

Although he was still the only one who could have "intimate contact" with Liu Ying, the "intimate contact" could only last for a few seconds. Not even a second longer.

However, the adaptive mechanism is already activated at the same time as the pain occurs.

[You have been harmed by pure divine radiant energy. Your body has begun extreme adjustments in response to its survival instincts. Your tolerance to radiant energy is gradually increasing, your resistance to radiant damage is increased by 103.5%, and the rate at which divine energy erodes life is reduced by 104.4%....] [Your body has been burned by divine radiant energy. Your body's recovery ability is increased by 104.5%]

Of course, even with adaptive effects, based on our previous experience, it will take at least a full natural day to eliminate the damage from Holy Light.

Finally, after spending about an hour in Liu Ying's room, Gao De quietly said goodbye to her.

Leaving the young girl's room and closing the door, just as I reached the end of the corridor, a tall and straight figure came into view.

Marcus was waiting there quietly, clearly having been waiting for quite some time.

Marcus looked up and saw God. His gaze paused for a moment, then fell on God's pale face. His eyes flickered slightly, and he subconsciously lowered his gaze, which landed precisely on God's right hand.

The burn marks on that hand were still clearly visible, and the charred skin had not completely faded.

The tiny cracks are particularly noticeable at the knuckles.

Even though Gaode deliberately curled his hand slightly, it was difficult to completely conceal it.

A trace of divine, radiant energy still lingered on it.

He was taken aback at first, then his expression of understanding quickly turned into admiration.

Gao De had no idea what was going through Marcus's mind at that moment, but he could sense the change in Marcus's emotions.

"It's just to absorb more divine light energy and raise my feat level," he explained.

"No need to explain, I understand everything." Marcus nodded, revealing an ambiguous smile.

What exactly did you understand...? Gao De pondered to himself.

"After each absorption of divine radiance energy, I need time to slowly digest and stabilize it."

The higher my mage level, the faster this digestion and stabilization process will be, so please tell Madam that I won't be coming too frequently." Gao De added, essentially patching up his own position.

He has many things to do, and grinding through the adaptation progress is at most a side quest; it absolutely cannot affect his main storyline.

"I will convey this to Madam as truthfully as possible. In fact, Madam also means the same thing. With your current strength, she doesn't expect you to do much more." Marcus pondered for a moment before speaking, revealing a little of Madam Wang Mian's thoughts.

"Focus on improving your strength and don't waste your talent. As a grassroots mage with no background, your achievements are truly remarkable. Madam actually has high hopes for you." He encouraged Gao De again.

"I will," Gao De said.

"Furthermore," Marcus's expression suddenly turned serious, and his voice lowered, "Master Gaode, I hope you can keep the fact that you can absorb the divine radiance energy within His Highness Liuying's body a secret as much as possible, and absolutely not reveal it to anyone."

"There are too many eyes on the Wang Mian family. It's impossible to completely hide your comings and goings from the Wang Mian inner court. We will release some false information to confuse the public, and we will need your cooperation."

"This is Madam's wish."

Gaode nodded, having no objection.

He was naturally aware of the stakes involved.

Although the Golden Flower Dynasty has stood in the mage plane for ten thousand years, and the Wang Mian family has shared glory with the royal family and is one of the most prominent noble families in the mage plane, this does not mean that they are safe and sound.

In fact, precisely because of their prominence, countless people and forces were secretly eyeing the Wang Mian family.

The fact that the Imperial Mage had premeditatedly framed Liu Ying is enough to prove this.

Moreover, not to mention external troubles, there were also undercurrents within the dynasty itself.

Therefore, Gao De knew that the problem of Liu Ying's constitution could be resolved, and it was not suitable to expose it.

This is not only to protect Liu Ying, but also to protect himself.

After all, it would be extremely difficult for outsiders to disrupt this matter and deal with Liu Ying, who resides in the inner court of the King.

But dealing with a grassroots mage like him was a piece of cake.

Therefore, once this matter gets out, it will inevitably bring him a continuous stream of big troubles.

"Thank you for your understanding, Venerable Master Gaode," Marcus said with a smile. Compared to his "politeness" last time, this time his politeness contained more respect: "Let me escort you. The inner court is too large and the paths are complicated. I don't want you to get lost."

Because Gaode now possesses a value that even Lady Wang Mian cannot ignore, he must show it sufficient respect.

Gaode did not refuse, but simply nodded slightly.

The two remained silent the entire way, the only sound in the corridor being their steady footsteps.

After walking for a while, Marcus suddenly stopped, hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn't help but ask, "Master Gaode, there's something I've always been curious about."

"you say."

"You possess the ability to absorb the divine radiance energy within His Highness Liuying's body, and you must also know what this ability means to the Wang Mian family, and how much benefit you can gain from it."

Marcus's tone carried a hint of doubt, "But why didn't you mention this ability when you spoke with your wife a month ago? If Princess Liuying hadn't brought it up, you might have missed this opportunity to forge a close connection with the Wang Mian family."

This question was direct and revealed the biggest doubt in the minds of Marcus and even Lady Wangmian.

In his view, a grassroots mage with no background should have no reason not to seize such an opportunity.

However, Gaode Maps did the opposite, deliberately concealing the truth, which is truly puzzling.

"If I bring it up myself, it will become an exchange of benefits, a sale or transaction. In that case, I will be inferior to the Wang Mian family, and there will be an extra barrier between me and Liu Ying in the future."

When asked about this, Gaode simply smiled faintly, his tone calm yet firm, each word clear:

"Now, my helping Liu Ying is just mutual support between friends. There is no distinction between them. Even if there is, it is because I am helping the Wang Mian family that I am superior."

Marcus's expression was somewhat strange.

Gao De actually wanted to maintain an equal relationship with the Wang Mian family.

A mere Sea Sentinel Mage with no background and a mere third-ring mage level actually harbored such an "extremely audacious" thought. However, Gao De's expression and tone revealed not a trace of such wild imagination; he simply stated it calmly. Mithril City, Mage District.

The shops on both sides of the street are lined up one after another, and most of the pedestrians are dressed in monks' robes.

Gao De strode out of a magic supplies store, carrying a dark-colored bag in his hand.

The main and auxiliary materials for magic potions that he had collected were neatly arranged inside.

After leaving Wang Mian's inner court, he continued with his original plan:

Search for the main and auxiliary materials needed for spell potions, concoct spell potions, and unlock more third-circle spells.

He knew in his heart that if he wanted to, he could just ask and the Wang Mian family would deliver all the magical materials he needed to him in the shortest possible time.

He didn't need to go through any trouble, nor did he need to spend a single gold coin.

But he stubbornly remained unmoved and did not do so.

Gao De was well aware of just how enormous the Wang Mian family was.

In the face of such a behemoth, ordinary people should not even dare to hope for the right to have an equal dialogue.

What we should really do is cling to this big tree and grow quickly under its protection.

Even though he is different from ordinary people, he has some "bargains" that even the Wang Mian family cannot ignore.

But the principle is still the same.

But just because the reasoning is there doesn't mean we have to follow it.

If you choose to rely on a big tree, you will never become a big tree yourself.

Because while it shelters you from the wind and rain, it also blocks out the sunlight.

If you rely on others, you will always live in the shade of the tree, losing the possibility of growing upwards or even surpassing the tree.

With the main and auxiliary materials he had collected, Gao De did not return to the Silver Feather Inn where he had previously stayed.

After all, the proprietress there already knew about her slight connection with the Wang Mian family.

He found a quiet little hotel near the Silver Feather Hotel.

The hotel was small, but very quiet.

The boss was a taciturn old man, which suited Gao De's taste perfectly.

After settling into his lodgings, Gao De borrowed the boiler from the kitchen owner, mixed up the magical potion, and then drank it all in one gulp.

After that, they began to focus on building spell models while waiting for the arrival of the Unparalleled Spell Battle Tournament.

Time passed slowly, and another month went by in the blink of an eye.

During this period, Gaode visited Wang Mian's inner court twice, had two brief encounters with Liu Ying, and refreshed his light adaptation skills.

As for spells, he prioritizes building models for combat spells.

The progress is going very smoothly.

The spiritual power boost from the mage's level increase when breaking through to the mid-stage of the third ring, while not allowing his spiritual power to break through the upper limit of the third ring, was merely a numerical stagnation; its strength had certainly improved further.

The increase in mental strength makes spell model construction much easier and more effortless.

On the very day the Gym Challenge officially concluded, three useful combat spells were successfully added to Gaode's third-circle spell library: [Vibrant Aura] (Evocation, third circle), [Intellectual Barrier] (Protection, third circle), and [Summon Lightning] (Conjuration, third circle).