Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 496 Rice: Gryffindor, I will definitely resurrect you!

"Rice, it's been a long time!" Cedric said with a happy expression when he saw that it was Rice who had called out to him.

This guy disappeared for half a semester, which worried all of them who knew him quite a bit. But thankfully, judging from his complexion, he seemed to be alright.

"It has indeed been a while since we last met. I was seriously injured in the alchemy world and had to find a place to recuperate for a while."

"Oh, I see. It looks like you're recovering well." Cedric smiled and nodded, genuinely happy for Rice's recovery.

"What are your plans for the holiday? I heard you were invited by Yang Qingyue to visit his sect?"

"That's true," Cedric nodded. "But Professor Dumbledore said..."

"It's not a big problem." Rice waved his hand, indicating that as long as he was strong enough, he could ignore Dumbledore's words.

Rice's confidence wasn't blind; it stemmed from genuine ability. After all, he was one of Dumbledore's key figures and a source of Dumbledore's confidence.

Cedric: ?

"This isn't quite right..." He was starting to get tempted.

Yang Qingyue's invitation was very appealing to him; he really wanted to go to the distant East to explore the mysterious magic of the East.

"What's wrong with that? Professor White should have already explained it to you, right?" Rice leaned mysteriously against Cedric and whispered to him, "The real reason Dumbledore warned everyone."

Cedric grunted in agreement.

The teacher did tell him that the seal on the underworld had been broken, and that many dangerous things might happen during the summer vacation. He was advised to be careful, not to run around, and not to go too far from the British Isles.

He wasn't very clear about the "Penglai" that Yang Qingyue mentioned, but it was obviously very, very far away from England.

"The danger actually comes from evil spirits that have slipped out of the underworld, but if we are stronger than those evil spirits, then the source of the danger is actually us—the evil spirits should be worried about encountering us, shouldn't they?"

Cedric suddenly felt enlightened.

At this moment, the outside world is like a forest, where the roles of predator and prey are constantly changing.

"That……"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to the appointment!" Rice said to Cedric in a seductive voice.

Cedric thought Rice made sense. However, before setting off, he realized a small problem.

"Rice, where are you planning to go this summer?"

Rice smiled brightly: "I'm planning to go with you to Yang Qingyue's hometown."

"Just as I thought!" Now Cedric understood why Rice had urged him to go to Yang Qingyue's invitation. It turned out he also wanted to experience Eastern magic!

Cedric had no objection.

He felt it was safer to travel in groups; he still vividly remembered being ambushed by the secret order when he was alone last time. In these turbulent times, it was better to stick together.

Cedric didn't hold any prejudice against Rice just because he didn't even participate in the finals of the tournament. As someone who had faced Hermione in the semifinals, he knew Rice's true strength all too well.

Hermione won the championship using the phantom image of Rice within her domain!

If the phantom is this powerful, how strong must the real one be? Cedric has always believed that Rice is the best fighter of his generation, but he has always kept a low profile.

The reason given for withdrawing from the competition due to serious injury is actually quite suspicious.

After the two reached an agreement, Cedric took Rice to find Yang Qingyue.

As Rice had predicted, Yang Qingyue had no objection to Cedric's request to bring a companion along.

The three agreed that they would set off as soon as the school year ended.

"How do we get there? Do we fly there first—?"

"Rely on this." Yang Qingyue pulled out a few small flags from his pocket, with patterns drawn on them that the two of them couldn't understand.

"As long as we plant them in the ground to form an array, it will resonate with the arrays I left in other places before, and then teleport us back," Yang Qingyue explained.

Rice and Cedric both stared wide-eyed.

They had never experienced this kind of teleportation before, and they were determined to see it for themselves today.

Soon, the day to leave school arrived.

While the young wizards headed to the Hogsmeade station together, Rice, Cedric, and Yang Qingyue found a secluded spot on the outskirts of Hogsmeade.

Watching Yang Qingyue plant the small flag in the ground, Rice narrowed his eyes.

It's amazing!

The flags originally had only a faint magical fluctuation, but after being planted in the ground, they resonated with the other flags, amplifying the weak fluctuations considerably.

By the time the last flag was dropped, the magical fluctuations had become extremely strong, and even Cedric could easily detect them.

Through the fluctuations of magic, Rice discovered that this array was very similar to his own teleportation magic circle, a complex version of Apparition.

The three stepped into the formation, and the next moment, they all disappeared, and the flags on the ground were all shattered, turning into a pile of garbage.

Rice experienced something similar to FlooNet, spinning rapidly in mid-air for a while before the three of them landed in a wilderness.

"Where is this...?" Cedric looked up, trying to figure out their location.

"Transfer station." Yang Qingyue's face showed a hint of embarrassment.

His skills were still lacking, and he couldn't traverse Eurasia in one go.

A moment later, he set up another formation, ready for a second teleportation.

Looking at the flag on the ground, Rice was too embarrassed to ask him how much such a teleportation would cost; it might just be a waste of human energy.

After the second teleportation was completed, Rice felt a sea breeze on his face.

"We've arrived," Yang Qingyue said succinctly.

They have arrived at Penglai, a fairy island on the coast of the East China Sea.

Led by Yang Qingyue, Rice and Cedric headed into the mountains on the island.

Yang Qingyue walked at the front, holding a lit incense stick in his hand, with Rice and Cedric following closely behind him, following his instructions without missing a step.

As he walked, Rice raised an eyebrow.

He could sense that the three of them had entered a giant magic circle, just like outsiders stepping into the Hogwarts domain.

Although Yang Qingyue meant no harm, Rice secretly became more vigilant. He secretly assessed the strength of the defensive magic circle and evaluated whether he could get Cedric out.

After realizing that he could no longer be trapped, Rice regained his composure.

Soon, Yang Qingyue led the two of them to a seemingly ordinary wooden building. After pushing open the door and going inside, they found an elderly man with completely white hair lying on a recliner, sunbathing.

"Oh? We have guests?" The old man looked up at Rice and Cedric, his gaze lingering on Rice for a moment before turning to Yang Qingyue.

"Take the blond guy to the backyard for tea. I have something to discuss with the black-haired guy."

After hearing his master's words, Yang Qingyue glanced at Rice in surprise, but without saying anything more, he led the bewildered Cedric to the back room.

Rice stayed in the front yard and sat facing the old man.

"Fellow Daoist's skill is so profound that you have even survived the tribulation of life and death. You are truly extraordinary." The old man spoke, but in fluent English.

Now Rice knows where Yang Qingyue learned his English.

To show respect, Rice did not choose to speak to the old man in English, but instead used a language fluent technique on himself.

"Now we can communicate without any problems."

"Your spells are quite convenient, fellow Daoist."

"Magic is like this; there are many kinds of magic that make life more convenient."

Does reincarnation magic count?

"Oh?"

"Fellow Daoist, you must not have been a human for this lifetime. Such methods truly leave this old man in awe."

Rice did the math and realized that, strictly speaking, he had only lived two lives. The transformation into a snake and shedding his skin in his first life was merely a method to increase his lifespan; the subsequent reincarnation was the real beginning of his second life.

"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on taking a step on the path to immortality that is beyond the reach of ordinary people."

"I can share the method with you—"

"No need. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the natural order of the universe, and I have no intention of breaking it." The old man and Rice looked at each other.

Rice noticed that the old man's eyes were clear and bright, which reminded him of Dumbledore.

However, the old man refused his "kindness," which was quite perplexing. Why should someone help him remove Loki's soul from Godric's body for no reason?

"I think we should be more direct," Rice decided, getting straight to the point. "I have a good friend who's been possessed by a deity. Do you have any way to expel his soul from his body? I've heard that Eastern magicians have a deep understanding of the soul..."

"Possession?" The old man pondered.

"There is a way." After a few seconds, he replied lightly, "There is a kind of pill that can help a person's primordial spirit leave the body after taking it. If your friend has been possessed, then taking this pill will allow the possessor's primordial spirit to leave your friend's body."

Rice's eyes widened immediately.

This is absolutely fantastic news!

"Excuse me—" Rice understood the principle of not accepting something for nothing, so he wanted to know what price he would have to pay to obtain such a pill.

"This pill is no easy feat to refine," the old man's voice softened considerably. "It requires many rare and ancient herbs, and the refining techniques are almost lost to time. The resources needed are simply immeasurable. Even so, do you still want a single pill? Is it really worth it, that person?"

Rice glanced at him, and her tone became firm.

"Just give me a quote, no matter the price, I'll find a way. He still has one mission to complete."

"Gryffindor, I will definitely resurrect you!" Rhys murmured to himself. "The founders have decided that you will be the next Headmaster of Hogwarts; this is a mission you cannot escape!"

The old man sensed an unwavering will from Rice's tone, which greatly surprised him: he never expected that someone who had reached such a level would still have someone he couldn't let go of.

He told Rice that he didn't need those things like gallons or pots; what he needed was "mutual exchange."

Rice understood the other party's needs.

The old man in front of him actually had something in common with Rowena; what he needed was "knowledge," specifically knowledge about Western magic.

Coincidentally, he was a wealthy man in terms of money, and a top-notch tycoon in the field of knowledge.

Rice immediately pulled out a pen and paper and began writing down his insights on magic and the realm.

He didn't care what the consequences of this knowledge leaking out were—these things were all in the Hogwarts library, and how could those young wizards possibly learn them all? Don't be ridiculous.

The old man stood up shakily and went to prepare the materials for alchemy.

For the next few days, Rice and Cedric stayed on Penglai Island until the day the old man had chosen for alchemy arrived.

During this time, Cedric wandered around Penglai Island with Yang Qingyue, their footprints covering the entire island. Yang Qingyue even took him a trip ashore.

Rice, on the other hand, stayed indoors, memorizing the amount of money he needed to pay the old man.

One sheet of paper after another was filled with dense writing, but the old man showed no sign of stopping, so Rice continued writing.

It wasn't until the day of the alchemy session that the old man asked Rice to put down his pen and come to the alchemy room to watch him refine the "Divine Journey to the Void Pill".

Rice readily agreed.

He thought he might be able to gain some inspiration from Eastern alchemy and further improve his potion-making skills.

A huge Tai Chi diagram was painted on the floor of the alchemy room, and at the eye of the Tai Chi, there was a bronze cauldron, each about the height of an adult's forearm.

The old man stood between the two tripods, quietly waiting for the auspicious hour to arrive.

When the auspicious time arrived, he lit a fire under each of the two cauldrons and then threw in a pile of medicinal herbs and animal products.

Rice frowned as he watched, his trust in the old man gradually eroding with each of his actions.

In his eyes, the old man had simply burned a pile of things to ashes. The supposedly precious materials did not produce any unusual phenomena in the cauldron, nor did they resonate with the surrounding natural environment.

Forget about getting any inspiration from potions; if this scene happened in Snape's Potions class, Snape would have already rolled up his sleeves and started hitting him on the back of the head with his textbook.

Rice was already starting to lose his composure when the old man poured the two clumps of ashes into a box and then rolled them into a large mud ball with honey.

He began to seriously consider the possibility that he had been scammed.

"It can't be that bad, it can't be that bad... His hideout is right here, he can't escape." Rice kept reassuring herself.

As Rice was consoling himself, the old man rolled the mud into a long strip and then cut it into pills using a wooden utensil.

After shaking it in the wooden box for a while, more than ten round, golden pills were made.

The old man took out a hollowed-out gourd, poured the pills into it, and then handed the gourd to Rice.

"Take it with warm water, one pill will be effective, the rest are free."

Rice: ...

He didn't know what to say for a moment, and simply put the gourd into his pocket.

It's time to go back to Hogwarts and give Godric his medicine.

Rice secretly vowed to himself that if the pills didn't work, he would come back and demand an explanation!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Update delivered, goodnight everyone~

The update tomorrow night will be at midnight.

(End of this chapter)