Volume 4: The Winds and Clouds of the Western Blue Sky Chapter 3: Development Society
The feeling is no different from when I entered the Donghua Continent.
It’s like passing through a strange “membrane”.
When Qi Ji reacted, he was already standing among the ruins.
This is a dilapidated relic.
The light of the blue light gate behind him slowly dissipated and turned back into a majestic stone door frame.
Melina saw the question in Qi Ji's eyes and took the initiative to explain to him: "This was once a temple. An ancient church came here to welcome the "Son of God" bestowed by heaven. They firmly believed that the Son of God who came from another world would definitely become the "Emperor" and then lead the church to maintain its glory."
" In fact, this church did have two emperors who led them to glory for a long time. However, they later disappeared into history for unknown reasons, and the temple they left behind became a ruin."
Then she said with deep eyes: "In a sense, their logic is very reasonable. The extraordinary people who can cultivate from the Earth with no "magic power" to "transcendence" and descend from the Earth are undoubtedly absolute geniuses, and have a much better chance of achieving the throne of emperor than ordinary local geniuses."
"Magic"? "Emperor"?
Qi Ji made a simple deduction and concluded that it probably corresponds to the names of supernatural factors and fifth-order demigods in the Xicang Continent?
If you don't understand, just ask. Qi Ji asked, "From the various terms you mentioned in the past two days, it seems that the various terms for supernatural in the Western Cang Continent are different from those in the Eastern China Continent. Can you give me a brief introduction?"
Melina nodded, and after organizing her words a little, she said, "In the Western Cang Continent, the extraordinary factor is called "magic power". According to the degree to which a person possesses and manipulates magic power, the ranks of extraordinary people are also divided into five levels, and they are given corresponding titles. They are the first-level lord, the second-level baron, the third-level viscount and earl, the fourth-level marquis and duke, and the fifth-level emperor."
She added: "The reason for this distinction is that the people of the Western Cang Continent believe that a person can gain the right to occupy and manage a territory based on their strength. For example, a baron can manage a small town-level piece of land, a viscount and earl can manage a small or even medium-sized city, a marquis can manage a large city, a duke can manage a very large city or manage several large cities, and the emperor is qualified to be the ruler of a country."
"The third and fourth levels both have two titles, because the gap in strength between the lower and top levels of this class is relatively large. For example, someone who has just entered the fourth level is called a marquis, while the top powerhouse in the fourth level is called a duke." Melina said.
She then continued, "This grading system is actually used to classify extraordinary people who follow the 'Way of the Knight'. The essence of the Way of the Knight is people who use magic to strengthen their bodies. It is the path of warriors."
"And the secret organization I belong to, the "Witch Society", studies the "Way of Magic", which is a "forbidden school" that focuses on the "spiritual" and relies on the spirit to attract external magic power and use various spells. So Mr. Qi Ji, please don't reveal my identity as an "apprentice witch" on the Xicang Continent, which will cause a lot of unnecessary trouble."
Qi Ji quickly digested the popular science knowledge provided by Melina and expressed his understanding clearly.
He looked at Melina curiously: "I don't see that you exude an extraordinary aura. Can an apprentice witch like you use magic? How do witches divide their strength levels?"
Melina smiled and said, "A witch like me who already knows the basic knowledge of magic and can use her mental power to activate the "low-level spells" stored in the "tools" or "scrolls" is an apprentice witch, a one-star witch."
After that, she showed Qi Ji the ring on her right little finger that she had introduced to him before, and said, "In this 'Evil Spirits Repel', my teacher has stored ten charges of the lowest level of fire magic 'Ignite Flame' for me. Now there are five charges left. Let me show you how to do it."
Then, Melina calmed down, half-closed her eyes and began to meditate. After about three seconds, she came back from her meditation and snapped her right fingers lightly.
Then a small ball of flame the size of a palm ignited in front of her right hand, and then disappeared.
Qi Ji: “…”
Lancelot and Gawain, who had been listening carefully, said : "..."
It seems like it's of no use.
When Melina saw the silent expressions of Qi Ji and the others, her usually quiet little face showed an expression of embarrassment and annoyance for the first time.
She couldn't help but explain: "After all, I am only a one-star apprentice witch. If I reach two stars and become a formal witch, I will be able to instantly cast these low-level spells stored in my equipment. If I reach the level of my teacher's "five-star witch", the destructive power of my movements will even be greater than that of a duke-level knight."
While Melina was speaking, two quick figures came running towards them from a distance, and in just over ten seconds they arrived in front of Qi Ji and the others.
After they stood still, Qi Ji and the others were able to see the two people's faces clearly.
One is a tough Nordic uncle with a big gray beard, neatly combed back hair, cloth clothes, and metal protective gear such as chest armor, shoulder armor, and gauntlets.
In his left hand he leaned on a thin, straight cane, and on his left waist hung a knight's sword.
The other was a person of unknown gender wearing a tin mask in the shape of an old man's face, a narrow-brimmed feather hat, cloth clothes, and plate armor on the upper body.
Around his (her) waist hangs a long sword shaped like a Nordic two-handed sword.
"It's Melina and the two lords and knights. Good afternoon, everyone." The bearded uncle smiled when he saw it was Melina.
The arrival of the two saved Melina from embarrassment. She immediately smiled and bowed to greet them: "Uncle Terrence, Sister Rukatiye, good afternoon."
Lancelot and Gawain followed suit.
The two visitors responded with greetings, and then looked at Qi Ji together.
The uncle named Terrence asked, "Who is this gentleman?"
Melina introduced Qi Ji: "This is my partner on Earth - Mr. Qi Ji, a knight who has just been promoted to the first level."
Then she turned her head to look at Qi Ji and introduced him, "This is Uncle Terrence, the deputy leader of the Pioneer Knights under the Pioneer Society, and a powerful third-rank earl."
She pointed to the masked man who had not spoken so far and said, "This is Sister Rukatiye, one of the vice-leaders of the Pioneer Knights and also a master at the earl level."
Qi Ji bowed slightly to the two of them and said, "Good afternoon, seniors. I am Qi Ji."
Rukatiye gave him a slight nod of greeting.
Terrence smiled and praised: "Qi Ji, you look very young. As expected, just like Lancelot and Knight Gawain, those who can descend from the Earth are all terrifying geniuses."
Lancelot immediately shook his head in disagreement with Terrence's analogy.
Gawain waved his hands and said, "Uncle Terrence, don't compare him with us. He is a true monster-level genius. Compared to him, the two of us are nothing but fished out of a stinking ditch."
Terrence was amazed when he heard this.
You have to know that Lancelot and Gawain are both young talents with great reputations in the Pioneer Society. They are the reserve members who inherited the title of "Knights of the Round Table", the elite team of the society. Now they actually emphasize categorically that they are far inferior to Qi Ji.
He looked at Qi Ji's faint smile, and for a moment he actually felt something unfathomable.
The other party...although he called himself a senior, he seemed to be communicating with them in a neither humble nor arrogant manner.
What is the basis for your confidence?
Then, without waiting for Terrence and Rukatiye to continue asking, Melina took the initiative to explain to them the purpose of her trip, which was to lift Qi Ji's curse, and she recounted in detail how Qi Ji blocked the blood clan curse in order to save her.
Terrence was moved after hearing this, not because of the curse on Qi Ji, but because he was surprised by the fact that Melina said, "Qi Ji, with his strength after his promotion, killed a second-level vampire who had used the 'Blood Burning Technique'."
Wouldn’t it be true that a second-level vampire who used the Blood Burning Technique would be close to the third-level in strength?
Even Rukatiye, who had been calm and silent, couldn't help but tremble his head slightly.
How on earth did this young man accomplish such an incredible thing?
But everyone has their own trump cards and secrets, and it is very impolite to rashly explore other people's secrets.
So the two of them tacitly did not ask in depth about Qi Ji's strength, but instead brought the topic back to the curse on Qi Ji.
"A curse from a second-level blood demon..." Terrence stroked his beard and frowned slightly: "I am good at fighting. I am afraid I can't do anything about this kind of curse knowledge."
Instead, Rukatiye, who had been silent the whole time, gave some advice. Under the mask, an elegant and deep female voice said, "You can ask the Curse Research Department. They are relatively good at the curse field."
Terrence immediately nodded in agreement: "It is indeed a good idea. I will take you to ask the Curse Research Department."
Melina smiled and nodded, "That's what I planned to do."
So, Terrence led Qi Ji and others to the base of the Development Society.
But Rukatiye didn't keep up - she had other patrol work to do.
…
The base of the Kaituo Society is a giant multi-story circular building built around the ruins of a temple with a central reception gate.
Each ring of the building houses a large collection of books. Based on the popular science provided by several people, Qi Ji knew that the more inner the ring, the higher the confidentiality level of the knowledge collected. The second-to-last ring on the outermost side is the research laboratory of each research department.
Here they found the Curse Research Department and its head, Ek Perkins.
Ek was an old man with presbyopic eyes and wearing single-lens glasses. After hearing Melina and Qi Ji's description of the symptoms of the curse, he brought a few people to the book warehouse in the upper building, took out a thick book from a bookshelf in a corner, pointed at the contents on it, and spoke in a hoarse voice.
"According to Mr. Qi Ji's feelings about the curse on his body, combined with the fact that the blood clan baron claimed to be from the Lesenbula family, then as described in the book, this should be a curse that only the direct descendants of the blood clan demon party family can cast at the cost of their lives. It is called the Demon Banquet Blood Curse."
"Thirty days after the curse, those who are cursed will be hunted periodically by members of the two clans of the Demon Party, who are getting stronger and stronger."
"There are currently two known solutions. The first is to survive the last round of hunting by the Duke-level vampires, and the curse will be automatically lifted."
"The second is to find the Lesombra clan of the vampire clan and ask their vampire prince to personally "agree" to give up the pursuit and lift the curse."
"The book also says that there is a rumor that someone who was also cursed by this curse traveled thousands of miles to visit the "Witch Association" in the Witch Forest and asked the witch to remove the curse for him..."
Ike stroked his glasses, looked at Melina, and said, "I'm afraid, Melina, you have to do it yourself."
Melina sighed: "Although I expected this, I'm afraid this is the only way."
She turned to look at Qi Ji: "The Witch Forest is on the west side of the continent, and it's still a long way from the border. Even if we hurry, the journey will probably take more than half a month. We'd better set off immediately."
Qi Ji nodded. There was no better way now.
