Cthulhu Gonfalon

“Eh?! Senior, what brings you here?” Tu Ya’an asked. He was very happy to learn of his senior’s visit and came out of his magic tower to welcome him.

Given his status as a Legendary Master, for him to personally come out to receive this guest, it could be seen how much honor he was giving this old mage. Even Easter, who had accompanied the old mage on this visit could not help feeling a little surprised. He felt that perhaps he had somewhat underestimated this old man.

In their world, legendary and below legendary were two completely different levels. Some masters, the extreme ones, even felt that any living thing that was below the legendary level simply did not qualify as “humans”; they were nothing more than mediocre and incompetent beings that were “living.” Even for masters who were relatively more liberal-minded, most of them would not see the humans who had yet to step into the Legendary Realm as equals. At most, they would cast friendly looks at them, but they did so from a commanding position.

This was not only because of the power gap but rather, the more important reason was because of the difference in each other’s mortality level. The Legendary Masters had long lives and all kinds of wonderful abilities. Moreover, they had taken the first crucial step towards breaking through the limits of being mortals to enter the Legendary Realm. In the near future, they had the possibility of obtaining immortality, or even the hope of being sealed gods.

They were like boulders, tenaciously putting up a resistance to avoid being washed away by the river of time, and they thought little of the storms and the change of dynasties within the mortal world.

By contrast, no matter how much hard work was put in, the mortals who could at best live up to a hundred years old, were simply incomparable to them. It was even difficult trying to establish a common language for one another. They could probably eat and drink together, and chat about those earthly yet mundane topics. But if they were to really discuss those solemn and profound matters, any mortal below the legendary level would find it difficult to keep up with the pace beyond a few sentences into the conversation.

Once or twice would be fine, but over time, a huge gap like a deep chasm would naturally take form between the Legendary Masters and the mortals who were below the legendary level.

Under such a situation, for Tu Ya’an, a master with prestige who had entered the Legendary Realm, to come out in person to receive this languid old man, it was certainly kind of strange. One look at this old mage and anyone could tell that he must have exhausted all possible means to extend his life. Without much luck, he probably only had a few remaining years in this lifetime. It was definitely impossible for him to enter the Legendary Realm.

Easter was filled with doubts, but he showed no traces of it on his face. He merely smiled and followed the two into the magic tower. At the same time, he quickly related the entire matter, from start to end, to Tu Ya’an—via the method of mental communication.

After listening to what Easter had told him, the smile on Tu Ya’an’s face froze, and he could not help cursing and swearing in his heart.

The main reason why he ran out to welcome his guests was because he had been too idle during this period, so idle that he felt bored. Occasionally running into a familiar face, of whom he could have a discussion with, was still better than nothing, even if the topic was something close to home.

But he had not expected this senior of his, who must be getting so old and muddle-headed to actually have plans for Jane.

Hey, that’s not your average human, she’s a clone of a real god ah!

Regarding Jane’s identity, Sui Xiong had explained to Tu Ya’an in detail. Whenever he thought of he himself having an ulterior motive previously, where he wanted to steal the divinity from her, even up till today, Tu Ya’an still could not help but feel the cold shivers running down his spine as he panicked.

And this senior of his, though old enough, his strength was not fantastic. At best, he would just have made it up to the level of advanced not too long ago—at his peak, his strength might perhaps reach a level that was near to the legendary level. But as the years added on to his age, for the sake of prolonging his life, he had used several methods that were detrimental to his own strength, which was why his strength had been continuing to decrease. Being able to maintain the advanced level had not been easy either.

With such mediocre capability, he dared to toy with the idea of having plans for the clone of a real god?

That was simply courting death!

And… even if there was hope, he should be first in line!

This senior of his, this fellow, had gained an entire legendary magic tower from him, was it still not enough for him? To think this fellow could still make use of those clues that Tu Ya’an had inadvertently left behind to steal the opportunity that belonged to him…

Hey! You shouldn’t be so shameless!

He was fuming mad inside but did not show it on his face; to his guests, he was still all smiles. He even got his apprentices to prepare some tea and juice to serve these two guests of his.

At present, there were about 50 apprentices in Tu Ya’an’s magic tower, of which, only four were under his guidance. The rest were educated by these four mages, who strictly speaking were his disciple’s disciples. Usually, these disciple’s disciples, in addition to learning, were tasked in maintaining the operations of the magic tower, and along the way, they would have some miscellaneous errands to run.

Tu Ya’an was not a harsh and stringent kind of mage. This magic tower, hand-built by Sui Xiong, was not a tower that the old magic towers could be compared to. It was extremely highly automated. From hygiene to meals, tower spirits with intelligence controlled almost a hundred puppets and statues of all sizes to aptly bring every task to completion. They completed their work so well that apprentices usually did not have many opportunities to do manual work.

The tea and juice were served shortly, and these apprentices, having been taught by professionals, had a certain degree of discernment, so they bowed to take their leave. Before leaving, they even closed the door of the meeting room and called two statues over to guard the door so that no one would come to disturb them.

Tu Ya’an held up a cup of herbal tea, which was so bitter that one sip of it could bring tears to one’s eyes. He sniffed deeply to take in the simple, exquisite tea aroma, and then lightly, he took a sip. Relishing in the fragrance that followed the bitter aftertaste, he could not help smiling.

“Senior, I could fairly say that I know of your purpose in coming here, but why would you think of doing such a thing?” he said point-blank. “This is really beyond your ability. Remember what you taught us in your lessons, didn’t you emphasize that as mages, the most important thing we needed was wisdom, and the key to wisdom was to know what we could and couldn’t do?”

The old mage, who had aged so much that his entire face was full of wrinkles, gave a bitter laugh and said, “Of course I knew the principle, but when I was in the face of the situation, I was unable to rein in enough control.”

He also held up a cup of herbal tea and took a sip. The extreme bitterness of the tea caused his eyebrows to knit into a frown. It took a long while for him to finally recover from the effects of the tea, and he could not help but exclaim his compliment.

“What fine tea! My tongue almost lost all its ability to taste, and yet I could feel its bitterness and fragrance. The ingredients used for this tea must be extraordinary.”

“There is nothing uncommon about it, it is mainly made out of the young leaves from the Divine Tree and the ashes of Legendary Dead Souls,” Tu Ya’an said lightly. “The key is the combination of the two and the skill used during the manufacturing process. If you like, I can pack up a few pounds of it for you later on, and you can bring it back and slowly enjoy the drink.”

The senior mage laughed bitterly; then shaking his head, he said, “I don’t have many days left to live. This time, it’s all thanks to you, so since I can make it back alive, I should make arrangements for my funeral. This tea… just a packet the size of my palm will be enough for me. Any more than that will go to waste.”

Tu Ya’an sighed gently then urged, “Actually, if you want to live a few more years, it is not impossible…”

“You mean, turning into a dead soul, right?” asked the senior mage as he laughed and shook his head. “I am, after all, a city lord. I can die, or I can commit some heinous crimes or do some shady deals and get killed in the process—there’s really nothing I can’t do. But if I were to opt for turning into a dead soul, that would be going overboard. Even if I don’t care about my dignity, I need to think about the future of my descendants, and above all, I have to consider our teacher’s dignity.”

Hearing this, Tu Ya’an could not suppress a bitter laugh. He shook his head gently and never mentioned that suggestion again.