...
{3rd Pov}
“Do you think this world has any meaning?” Ye Chang asked her friend.
Rumy looked at her in confusion before tilting her head cutely.
“I think... it's to better ourselves, right?” she replied after thinking for a moment.
Ye Chang let out a faint sneer.
“Our luck is truly terrible, don't you think?” she asked. “Humanity is barely managing to survive against those monsters. If one day even a single High Emperor were to become enraged with humanity and decide to attack us would we even stand a chance of surviving?”
“You know...” Rumy said as she calmly took another sip of her tea before setting the cup down. She then looked directly at her friend. “This is precisely why the common population is kept in the dark most of the time.”
“They aren't told everything from the beginning. Instead, they are slowly exposed to the truth as they climb higher and higher along the path of magic. Only after reaching greater heights do they finally realize just how insignificant they truly are in the grand scheme of this world.”
“They spend years believing they have become powerful... only to eventually discover that, compared to the true monsters standing at the top, they are still unbelievably weak.”
“As expected of one of the Monarchs of the Star Clan, I wouldn't have expected any lesser answer,” Ye Chang said with a faint smile. “Though... that wasn't the answer I was actually seeking.”
Their meeting appeared surprisingly peaceful.
At first glance, it looked like nothing more than two close friends casually discussing the burdens and responsibilities they carried. The atmosphere was calm, and heartwarming.
However, neither of them truly understood the depths of the person sitting across from them.
To Rumy, Ye Chang was merely a Super Tier Mercenary Mage who had gone into hiding because of her past with the Parthenon. She believed Ye Chang was simply trying to live a quiet life while avoiding the complications tied to her former identity.
In reality, she was Salan.
One of the Cardinals of the Black Vatican.
The infamous Red Vatican herself, a woman counted among the most notorious villains in the entire world.
As for Ye Chang she viewed Rumy as nothing more than one of the Monarchs of the Star Clan and a convenient gateway through which she could manipulate and make use of the Star Clan's immense resources for her own objectives.
At the same time, she had been subtly trying to uncover the identity of the mysterious Emperor, the true leader behind this overwhelmingly powerful organization.
What she didn't know was that the Emperor she had been searching for already knew her true identity.
He was also fully aware of her so-called friendship with Rumy from the very beginning.
In fact, Astreo had never told Rumy anything about Ye Chang, despite already knowing about the friendship between the two women.
The reason was simple.
If he revealed Ye Chang's true identity, Rumy's attitude toward her would inevitably change. The moment that happened, someone as observant as Ye Chang would immediately notice that something was wrong.
Not to mention Astreo firmly believed in keeping your allies close and your enemies even closer.
Although he still didn't know what Ye Chang's current plans were at any given point, having her operate in the open where he could constantly observe her was undoubtedly far more advantageous than forcing her back into the shadows.
“Hmm... this is some nice tea,” Ye Chang remarked after taking the final sip from her cup.
“As expected of British tea,” she said with a satisfied smile. “Although, to be fair, Indian chai and Japanese tea aren't any worse.”
She had already tasted those two varieties several months earlier.
Of course, the reason she had been in those countries at the time wasn't exactly tourism.
It was because she had personally orchestrated two separate operations there.
Those plans had ultimately resulted in the deaths of well over a hundred thousand people combined.
“So, what resources do you need this time?” Rumy asked with a smile after finishing both her tea and pastries. She gracefully wiped the corners of her lips with a napkin, although she fully intended to wash her face properly later.
Ye Chang immediately blushed in exaggerated embarrassment before puffing out her cheeks.
“Come on, Rumy,” she pouted. “Do you seriously think I only come here whenever I need resources?”
“What else?” Rumy replied without hesitation, rolling her eyes.
Ye Chang clicked her tongue in defeat.
“Tch... you got me.”
She leaned forward slightly.
“This time I need a few Star Ocean Veins.” She then smiled brightly before adding, “And since we're such good friends, you'll throw in a little discount for me... right?”
She looked at Rumy with sparkling eyes full of expectation.
“Hehe... a few Star Ocean Veins, and a discount?” Rumy couldn't help laughing. “Ye Chang, even if I understand your circumstances... forget it. There won't be any discount.”
She shook her head firmly.
“Not even a little?”
“Not even a single penny.”
Then Rumy added with complete seriousness, “Do you have any idea how bad that would make me look in my Lord's eyes?”
The moment she mentioned her Lord, a faint trace of obsession appeared within her purple eyes.
To outsiders the Lord she referred to could only be one person.
The mysterious Emperor of the Star Clan.
“Pretty please? Pretty please?” Ye Chang pleaded shamelessly, completely swallowing her pride for the sake of obtaining more resources.
If Mo Fan were to witness this scene, he would probably cough up blood before fainting on the spot.
After all this was the very same woman who had orchestrated the deaths of thousands of people in Bo City.
A woman who, on average, was responsible for the deaths of well over a hundred thousand people every single year, almost as though she were trying to fulfill some annual quota.
“You know,” Rumy said with a teasing smirk, “if you want this many resources so badly, you could always join the Star Clan.”
The corners of Ye Chang's eyebrows twitched the moment she heard that suggestion.
'This girl is the most brainwashed woman I have ever met!'
'Seriously... just how amazing can this so-called Lord of hers possibly be?'
Of course, she had absolutely no idea that Astreo had once been an adorable little shota and had now grown into an undeniably handsome young man.
That probably explained a considerable portion of Rumy's unwavering loyalty.
In reality, Ye Chang had genuinely considered infiltrating the Star Clan before.
However, joining the organization required signing a Psychic Contract.
She had personally witnessed them using Super Tier Psychic Contracts to bind even Intermediate Mages.
Rather than making her dismiss the organization, that only made her even more interested.
A faction capable of casually using Super Tier contracts on ordinary members...
Its true foundation had to be unimaginably deep.
At the very least, Ye Chang was convinced of one thing.
The mysterious Emperor leading the Star Clan was an existence of terrifying strength and probably very, very terrifying.
After all, the Shadow Monarch was publicly recognized as the face of the Star Clan. To the outside world, everyone believed he was the organization's true leader, and that there wasn't any mysterious figure standing above him.
However, thanks to her friendship with Rumy, Ye Chang knew that wasn't the truth.
There really was an "Emperor."
And judging by the way every member of the Star Clan referred to that person with absolute reverence, Ye Chang concluded that this mysterious existence had to be unbelievably powerful.
At the very least she believed this Emperor possessed enough strength to casually kill an Emperor-level Magic Beast.
Otherwise, there was no reason for an organization filled with powerful mages to revere a single person to such an extent.
As for why she was so convinced that this mysterious Emperor truly existed instead of believing it was merely some fabricated title the answer was simple.
Just look at Rumy.
She was, without question, the most lovestruck woman Ye Chang had ever met.
Of course, that thought itself was rather hypocritical.
Once upon a time, she had been exactly the same when she was deeply in love with Wen Tai.
Even now everything she was doing, every plan she orchestrated, and every atrocity she committed ultimately stemmed from that past.
She sought revenge for everything that had happened.
She wanted humanity to experience absolute despair.
Only then, in her twisted view would true heroes finally rise.
“Come on, Ye Chang, you'll like it,” Rumy said with a mischievous smile as she unconsciously licked her lips.
"The taste of my Lord is the best you'll ever experience," she said lewdly.
Ye Chang merely snorted.
“I seriously doubt you've ever had that kind of experience with any man, much less your so-called Lord.”
For some reason, Rumy often wore an expression that made her look like some sort of child predator. Thankfully, that strange look had improved considerably over the past two years. Nowadays, instead of looking like a dangerous weirdo, she simply looked like a hopelessly obsessed woman madly in love.
“I don't need any man,” Rumy declared proudly.
“I only need my Lord.”
As she spoke, her eyes became dreamy, and a tiny trail of saliva slowly dripped from the corner of her lips.
Ye Chang could only let out a helpless sigh.
‘There she goes again... wandering off into her own fantasy world,’ she thought to herself.
Truthfully, she didn't mind conversations like this with Rumy.
For one, she genuinely enjoyed teasing her friend whenever an opportunity presented itself.
And secondly their casual chats often allowed her to gather bits and pieces of valuable information regarding the Star Clan without Rumy even realizing she was revealing anything.
“Leaving aside the fact that you're trying to recruit me into your Lord's harem again,” Ye Chang said in a sarcastic tone. Over the past few months, she had met several other Monarchs of the Star Clan, including Yumeko and Lisa, and she had noticed the exact same madness lurking within their eyes whenever the topic of their Lord came up.
“So...” Ye Chang continued, deciding to return to the important matter, “what about the Star Ocean Veins?”
She genuinely needed those resources.
Ever since that dumbfuck Wu Ku had died back in Bo City, most likely at Lisa's hands, her plans had become considerably more troublesome. He had been a surprisingly useful pawn despite his stupidity, and replacing him had proven to be far more difficult than she had initially expected.
Initially, she had even suspected that Rumy had already discovered her true identity and was merely pretending not to know.
However, after continuing to meet with her time and time again, Ye Chang gradually realized that this hopelessly lovestruck woman genuinely knew absolutely nothing about who she really was.
“Eh...” Rumy scratched her cheek awkwardly. “You know I already said it. I really can't give you any discount.”
She paused before a mischievous grin slowly spread across her face.
“Though...”
“I might make a tiny exception...”
“...if you say the magic words.”
Ye Chang's face immediately flushed red.
This time it wasn't fake embarrassment.
It was completely genuine.
She silently took a deep breath before hardening her resolve.
“East or West, Lord Emperor is the best! The entire world shall bow before the Lord Emperor of the Star Clan!” Ye Chang declared with a perfectly straight face, while internally feeling completely dead inside.
Seriously was this mysterious man who called himself the Emperor actually suffering from Eighth Grade Syndrome?
Then again considering that he genuinely possessed overwhelming strength and had managed to keep his true identity hidden from the entire world, just like she had hidden hers, the label didn't really apply to him at all.
An actual chuunibyou pretended to be powerful.
This guy was apparently powerful enough to back up every ridiculous title he gave himself.
“And?” Rumy asked with a satisfied grin.
Ye Chang immediately facepalmed.
She had a terrible feeling she already knew where this was going.
Unfortunately, she really didn't want to pay the full price for those resources.
After taking a deep breath, she forced the words out through gritted teeth.
“Lady Rumy deserves to become Lord Emperor's number one wife...”
Her face turned even redder.
“...and she must bear him ten children!”
The corners of her lips twitched violently as an overwhelming sense of shame washed over her.
She had finally surrendered.
What about dignity?
Please.
She was Salan.
A woman who deceived people, manipulated entire organizations, and ordered countless massacres without feeling the slightest remorse.
If she could sacrifice other people's lives so casually, would she really hesitate to sacrifice her own dignity just to save some money for her so-called noble cause?
Absolutely not.
Money saved was money earned.
Even the infamous Salan had to respect basic economics.
“Hehe... my Lord,” Rumy giggled to herself as countless indecent fantasies flashed through her mind.
Watching that foolish smile spread across Rumy's face, Ye Chang's own expression twisted in utter disgust.
Although that outright child-predator expression Rumy used to have had thankfully disappeared over the past few months, she was still the same hopelessly crazy woman underneath.
No amount of improvement could change that.
“So,” Rumy finally asked, still wearing that blissfully foolish grin, “how many do you need?”
“Five...”
Ye Chang paused before immediately changing her mind.
“No, make that seven!”
She held up her fingers to emphasize just how desperately she needed those Star Ocean Veins.
Rumy pretended to think about it for a few moments before finally speaking.
“Thirty percent discount.”
The moment those words left her mouth, Ye Chang's eyes lit up.
Without any hesitation, she immediately grabbed both of Rumy's hands.
“Rumy! Rumy! You're the best!”
“My besto friendo!”
Rumy couldn't help smirking proudly.
“Don't get arrogant.”
“Hehe, I just might,” Ye Chang replied with a bright smile. “Considering how amazing my friend is, I think I've earned the right.”
Outwardly, she looked delighted but inwardly she was silently weeping.
One day she swore she would wipe that smug smirk right off Rumy's face.
And as for this mysterious Lord Emperor or whatever the fuck he actually was, one day, she would turn him into yet another chess piece for her grand cause.
...
Dean Xiao slowly stroked his beard as he studied the information file lying on his desk.
It contained everything the university had managed to gather regarding the maid named Xyra.
‘The Star Clan truly is filled with hidden dragons and crouching tigers,’ he thought, his expression gradually turning serious.
While everyone else's attention had been completely captivated by Astreo shamelessly aura farming during the Beast Tournament, Dean Xiao's focus had been on an entirely different person.
The woman who had suddenly appeared carrying that music box.
From Dean Xiao's judgment, she was, at the very least, a Super Tier Space Mage and she was also almost certainly a Super Tier Fire Mage who possessed either a Soul Seed or perhaps even a Heavenly Seed.
What disturbed him the most, however, wasn't her cultivation.
It was the way she had appeared.
Judging from the magical fluctuations she released after arriving, he could confidently determine that she was indeed a Super Tier Mage.
Yet somehow, she had completely fooled his senses until the very instant her teleportation had already finished.
Even someone of Dean Xiao's level had failed to detect her approach beforehand.
If that wasn't enough there was also the purple fire she had casually used to evaporate the entire ice-covered arena so Astreo could begin his ridiculous dance performance.
That fire was a testament to her control over the Fire Element was anything but ordinary.
Dean Xiao leaned back slightly in his chair.
Then for some reason, his thoughts drifted back toward the ending of the tournament.
‘Well...’
‘His dance wasn't actually half bad.’
A nostalgic look briefly appeared on his face.
‘Though...’
‘I definitely had better moves back when I was young.’
The next second, Dean Xiao immediately coughed into his fist and straightened his expression.
'Ahem.'
Some thoughts were better kept to himself.
At the end of his investigation, Dean Xiao realized he had managed to gather almost no useful information regarding Xyra.
Because there simply wasn't any as every intelligence network available to him had practically come back empty-handed.
The only consistent piece of information he had managed to verify through a handful of low-level sources was that she had occasionally been seen acting as Astreo's maid... or perhaps more accurately, his caretaker.
‘A Super Tier Mage working as a nanny for an Intermediate Mage...’
The corners of Dean Xiao's lips twitched slightly.
No matter how many times he thought about it the image simply felt absurd.
Naturally, he had already formed his own speculation.
In his opinion, Xyra was most likely one of the mysterious Monarchs of the Star Clan.
After all, only a handful of Monarchs had ever revealed themselves publicly. Several still remained completely unknown, with neither their appearances nor their identities ever being exposed.
However, even among those terrifying Monarchs the one who worried Dean Xiao the most was Shadow.
A Dual Element Forbidden Curse Mage capable of independently casting Forbidden Spells without assistance.
That feat was powerful enough to place Shadow among the twenty strongest human mages in the entire world, without taking into account the Holy City and its Archangels.
As for Dean Xiao himself he believed he would rank even higher.
At the very least he could confidently claim to be, if not arguably then almost certainly, the strongest mage currently residing in China and in top 10 in the world.
‘Hmm... are they really raising Astreo as some sort of living weapon?’ Dean Xiao wondered with a serious expression.
The thought lingered in his mind for quite some time.
At the same time, however, he couldn't understand one thing.
Why would the Star Clan invest such an astronomical amount of resources into cultivating a single child instead of using those same resources to increase the cultivation of their own top experts?
It simply didn't seem like the most efficient decision.
‘Or... perhaps their resources are only enough to create one monster of that caliber?’
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable that explanation became.
After all, they had already burned through billions of yuan just on Astreo's cultivation alone.
Even for a colossal organization like the Star Clan, that couldn't possibly be a small amount of money.
‘Maybe he possesses some extraordinary innate talent?’
Dean Xiao stroked his beard thoughtfully.
‘Well... considering he awakened the Psychic Element at the Novice stage and the Space Element at the Intermediate stage, there's no question that he's exceptionally talented.’
Very few people in the world possessed even one of those rare elements.
Astreo had awakened both.
The only question was just how much more was there that Dean Xiao still didn't know?
‘Now then...’
‘What exactly should I do now that someone like him has enrolled in this university?’
Dean Xiao let out a quiet sigh.
Although he had never supported the excessive influence of the Magic Clans, he also wasn't someone who blindly hated or discriminated against clan mages.
In his eyes, a person's background wasn't what mattered most.
As long as they possessed the ability and as long as they were genuinely willing to fight for China and for humanity, he would support them without hesitation, regardless of where they came from.
However, from Dean Xiao's perspective, Astreo was practically the definition of a pay-to-win Mage.
Even so he couldn't deny one thing.
Regardless of how many resources the Star Clan had invested into him, Astreo himself must have worked unbelievably hard to reach his current level.
Perhaps he had spent years undergoing brutal life-and-death training.
Perhaps he had been pushed to his absolute limits over and over again.
Whatever the method was, strength like his couldn't be achieved through money alone.
After piecing together every bit of information available to him, Dean Xiao ultimately arrived at a single conclusion regarding the unreasonable existence known as Astreo.
He was a monster deliberately cultivated by the Star Clan.
Rather than distributing their vast resources evenly among all of their experts, the Monarchs had apparently chosen to concentrate everything on one individual.
They had forged Astreo into a weapon.
The sharpest sword the Star Clan possessed.
A sword meant to cut through any obstacle standing before them.
‘Treating a child like a weapon...’
Dean Xiao frowned before letting out a quiet sigh.
As uncomfortable as the thought made him feel, it wasn't really his place to interfere in another organization's internal affairs.
There was, however, another problem he needed to solve.
How exactly was he supposed to ensure that Astreo didn't completely ruin every competition held within Pearl Magic University?
After thinking for a while, a grin slowly appeared on Dean Xiao's face.
‘I know.’
‘I can simply use him as the goal every student should strive to surpass.’
The stronger Astreo appeared the harder everyone else would be forced to work.
After all, regardless of how monstrous Astreo was, he still possessed one obvious limitation.
His mana wasn't infinite and neither his resources.
As long as the overall quality of the university's students continued improving semester after semester one day, they might actually be capable of exhausting him.
Even if it took sacrificing a few hundred students first.
To be continued...