Chapter 41: The Final Journey

The sun had been shining brightly just a moment ago, but suddenly, the people on the ground were greeted by a darkening sky that felt gloomy and oppressive. In the blink of an eye, the sky’s pale gray face darkened and was replaced by a heavy, grayish-black color. The mischievous wind scurried everywhere, gloating over the people’s discomfiture, while the trees shook their heads helplessly. Lightning flashed in the heavy rain clouds, and dense water vapor shrouded the entire land.

The rain fell drop by drop at first, but soon turned into silver-gray, sticky spider silk, weaving a soft net that trapped the whole autumn world. Together with the dark sky, it formed a roof covered in spiderwebs like that of an ancient house. The gray-white clouds shifting in the sky looked like dust constantly peeling off the roof. Under the shroud of this old roof, everything felt unusually dull.

Inside the carriage, George was burying his head and writing something with intense concentration. A layer of fine sweat beads appeared on his forehead, as if he had forgotten everything around him. After a while, it seemed like something was stuck; George had to move his gaze away from the fine white paper before him and put down the Quill Pen with its silver tip.

“Ah—” George, who had just stretched, finally noticed that the sky had changed. George shook his head self-deprecatingly. ‘It seems I was too focused just now. However, if I didn’t have these eyes that could see in the dark, such an obvious change in light would have affected my writing.’

‘It seems that writing a legendary “martial arts secret manual” is not a simple task.’ Feeling a bit distressed, George lay down in the reclining chair inside the carriage.

He looked at Ilena, who was lying on the table nearby, almost drooling. George rubbed his head helplessly and thought, ‘It looks like I really have spoiled this Little Maid; no one else in the Territory dares to act like her in front of me.’

“Tap! Tap! Tap!” George extended his right hand and tapped the table with his index finger. Ilena, at the other end of the table, suddenly threw her head back, then shook her sleepy face and looked at George, saying, “Young Master George, do you have any orders?”

“Can’t you see the sky right now? Hurry up and light the lamp.” George pointed to the dim sky outside the window.

Ilena opened her big eyes and looked out the window, suddenly blurting out, “Oh my—I actually slept for so long, it’s already dark. Young Master, you haven’t had your dinner yet, have you? I’ll go prepare it for you right now.”

After speaking, Ilena lightly knocked on her own head.

Seeing Ilena looking so dazed, George immediately sprang up. His legs accurately passed through the narrow gap between the reclining chair and the low table. After getting up, George immediately extended his right hand and gave Ilena’s head a knock.

“Thud!” The punished Little Maid squatted on the ground, holding her just-knocked head, and the mist in her eyes quickly thickened.

George waved his right hand, which had just come into contact with Ilena’s head, and said in exasperation, “This is to remind you. In the Bolerum Territory, with me protecting you, perhaps no one will say anything. But in Karada, it’s different. Your behavior just now would be enough for Head Maid Sarah to kick you out. By then, even I wouldn’t be able to speak up for you. By the way, it’s not completely dark yet. Look carefully outside, isn’t it raining? Also, hurry up and light the lamp for me.”

Accompanied by the lighting of the covered lantern in the carriage, the orange light immediately illuminated the entire carriage.

Perhaps it was a habit formed in his past life, or perhaps it was the Human’s natural yearning for light. Even though there was no urgent need, George felt much more comfortable when the carriage became bright.

These days, besides constantly recovering his Divine Soul, George’s main task was to compile the Secret Art of Qi and Blood Separation into a book. The so-called compiling into a book was not as simple as some people imagined. This wasn’t just dictating a text from memory; he had to adapt the theory in his mind into expressions commonly used in this world. Plus, he had to make it easy to understand for people who hadn’t seen much of the civilization of The East, which made George spend who knows how much brain power . The situation just now was a sign that George had temporarily run out of ideas.

As for why George wanted to create such a Secret Art scroll, it all started from that injury. After the injury, Knight Val guided George into a secret technique that could mobilize the user’s own physical essence to nourish the Divine Soul. Beforehand, the other party might have been concerned about George’s injury and didn’t think too much about it, but unexpectedly, George learned it by a stroke of luck. Afterwards, George had secretly probed Sir Bart for news about this kind of Secret Art.

Knight Bar’s answer was disheartening. Secret Arts that could convert flesh and blood into spirit were extremely rare on the Continent. Legend had it that only a few families with divine blood flowing in their veins or families with exceptional merits might possess them. Hearing this news, George realized that he might have caused a huge disaster this time. It might even endanger the people around him, and even Knight Val, who unintentionally taught him, might be implicated.

Having caused such big trouble, George decided to make amends. After choosing and choosing, George finally selected the Secret Art “Qi and Blood Separation” as a gift of apology.

First of all, whether it was a spell like the Golden Light Spell or the Primordial Qi Great Grappling, one needed to understand the Taoist worldview and philosophy to have any possibility of practicing them.

Secondly, these two were George’s greatest assets for settling down and getting on with his pursuit at the moment. In particular, the Primordial Qi Great Grappling, which could be considered a divine-level Secret Art, George was really reluctant to bring it out.

Finally, and actually most importantly. The Secret Art of Qi and Blood Separation could explain why George immediately learned that kind of Secret Art after being guided by Knight Val. This could show from one aspect that he did not deliberately steal the knowledge.

As for whether the other party would be interested in the Secret Art of Qi and Blood Separation, George could say with absolute certainty that they would be. Although the explosive state effect in it was only a little better than the Barbarian’s Rage, which was not very rare and could even be considered common stuff. But it also had the effects of relieving fatigue and temporarily stabilizing injuries. A Secret Art with multiple functions like this could be considered high-end goods no matter what; the other party might not lack the interest to learn from it and find new ideas. Most importantly, it could organically combine with that Secret Art that strengthened the spirit, so George wasn’t afraid that the other party wouldn’t buy it.

Moreover, George had lowered his posture so much. As a famous righteous family, even for the other party’s sake, they probably wouldn’t just slash him with a sword. As long as there was room for negotiation, there was hope.

However, it seemed that the plan was not going very smoothly at the moment. He hoped to get it done before those who might come to punish him arrived.

The convoy slowly turned to the right. On the ridge ahead under the gloomy sky, the shadow of an ancient castle slowly emerged in the drizzle. Among them, three towering pointed towers appeared particularly obvious. This was the defensive barrier of the capital Karada in the northwest direction—Costa Castle. Passing it meant truly entering the radiating range of the capital of the Duchy of Nohan.