167: Chapter 167 Xie Feng Becomes a Hot Commodity

Xie Feng had a small bronze badge and that rank-three jade tablet hanging from his waist, making a crisp and rhythmic clinking sound.

This commotion drew attention on the flagstone streets of Comorion, but he didn't care at all.

Now that he had the certification mark of the Magic Association, he finally wouldn't be mistaken for a wandering swindler without a travel permit; right now, he just wanted to quickly find a wizard who knew the inside story and ask for the whereabouts of Noph-Keh.

He walked far down the flagstone street, the clinking sound at his waist gradually fading into the grayish-blue twilight of the Old Capital.

He continued to harass the passing wizards.

Inside the council chamber deep within the stone corridors of the Comorion Branch of the Magic Association,

That scrawny old examiner squatted in the corner, still pinching that rune stone which had turned bright red, repeatedly muttering the words 'Magic Penetration Spell' and 'native cold crystal Ore', the expression on his face hovering between shock and wild joy.

"Such profound magic penetration! What he used is definitely not the most basic Magic Penetration Spell! He completely changed the color of a native cold crystal Ore from its internal structure, and the color is extremely uniform and stable, with no local overheating and no residual magic power. This shows that his precision in controlling magic power has already reached the level of a Grand Mage!"

When he placed the Ore onto the stone platform, he didn't set it down steadily, and he flurriedly caught the Ore and held it in his arms, as if holding some precious and fragile antique.

Actually, that wasn't the case at all; it was just that Cthugha had overheated to the point of altering the structure of this stone.

Sitting opposite the stone platform was a short, plump middle-aged mage wearing a deep blue magic robe, who was the vice president in charge of daily affairs for the Comorion Branch.

He thrust his quill into the ink bottle and crossed his hands over his belly:

"Even if his magic control is pretty good, it still doesn't prove that he is a Grand Mage stranded on the periphery. Over in the Northern Wilderness, a few unorthodox mages occasionally pop up, specializing in one or two minor Spells, which is more than enough to get an Association certification. But if we really want to invite him in as a mentor..."

"Whether the capabilities and knowledge system he teaches to apprentices are sufficient is still up for debate. Besides, the things he carries are indeed quite eclectic; they don't look like they were nurtured by the orthodox Hyperborean magic system, but rather like... more like he came from somewhere even farther than the Northern Wilderness."

"Precisely because he comes from an extremely distant place, he should be invited in all the more!" Another medium-built old mage wearing an off-white magic robe abruptly stood up, his robe cuffs sweeping over the ink bottle in front of him.

"Just think about it, the White Worm is still advancing south. After the Northern Cities fell, how many truly capable mages are even left in the Association? We can barely even scrape together a complete choir for the sacrificial ritual!"

"At this time, a stranger suddenly pops up who can casually use magic penetration to alter the structure of a native cold crystal Ore and carries the auras of several Old Gods on him, and you still want to push him away?"

"Although I don't recognize the crest on that jade tablet at his waist, it is an exotic official crest. This person is definitely not an ordinary wandering mage!"

"Wait a minute." A pale woman wearing a dark gray magic robe sitting at the innermost position of the stone platform suddenly spoke.

Her voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the council chamber quieted down.

She was a Senior member of the Comorion Branch who specialized in researching the communication Spell of Noph-Keh. Before the fall of the Northern Cities, she had worked for a long time in the core library of the Mu-Thuran Magic Association. Among everyone present, she had the deepest understanding of the world outside Hyperborea.

She was precisely the wizard Xie Feng had been searching for. It was just a pity that the snake-men's intelligence had an error; in reality, this person had long since held a high position in the Wizard Association.

"Just now when he was filling out the registry in the assessment room, I glanced at his name."

"He is a person from Jiuzhou."

"Jiuzhou is not Hyperborea. Jiuzhou has a cultivation system completely different from ours; they call that a 'Cultivator', not a mage. But there is a person from Jiuzhou, and all of you know who it is!"

She paused, her fingertips gently brushing past the edge of the stone platform.

The old examiner froze in place holding that red Ore, the vice president poked at the quill in the ink bottle, and the old mage sat back down on the stone chair with his hands crossed over his knees, not saying another word.

"The name Liu Yanqing should not be unfamiliar to anyone present."

"Back then, he also came to Hyperborea in the capacity of a Jiuzhou Cultivator, registering his mage qualifications in Mu-Thuran."

"The Association's old archives record that he was initially just an ordinary member who passed through an independent assessment, but later..."

Her fingertips gently rubbed against her dark gray magic robe.

"Later, he dragged the White Worm to the Northern Cities. The fall of the Northern Cities was certainly related to the White Worm itself, but if not for Liu Yanqing's intervention back then, at least those mages could have held on for several more generations."

"Now another person from Jiuzhou has come, also using the independent assessment channel and not belonging to any known Hyperborean magic Legacy system, while also carrying the auras of several Old Gods on him."

"I am not opposed to inviting him in; I am saying that we should at least figure out first whether he has any relation to Liu Yanqing."

Several people opened up the archive books, checking Liu Yanqing's registration records page by page and item by item, wanting to thoroughly investigate all possible connections between this newly arrived Jiuzhou person and that lunatic from back then, before deciding whether or not to invite this 'Grand Mage stranded on the periphery' into the Association.

It looked like the psychological trauma Liu Yanqing left behind for their Seniors back then was quite profound.

Meanwhile, in the very corner of the stone chamber, two mages wearing dark gray magic robes and skin so pale that almost no trace of blood could be seen were also whispering to each other.

They had been sitting there the whole time without participating in the argument, nor had they flipped through any archives.

"The Magic Penetration Spell used by that Jiuzhou person is very pure, not an unorthodox path. It's so orthodox that even those old men can't spot any flaws. Do you think he might also be coming for the Old Gods ruins?"

"Should we rope him over? Such a talented wizard must have an incomparably powerful Soul, and we need such a powerful wizard to join us."

Another person with similarly pale skin fell silent for a moment.

"It's possible. But no matter what he's looking for, now that he bears the Association's mark, he's one of our people. Since he's one of our people, that entity will see him sooner or later. No rush; let's wait until he asks around about a few more things. Word from the road is that he is also looking for the location of the God of the Ivory Throne."

The two exchanged a glance and did not speak again.

The others in the stone chamber were still arguing about whether to invite Xie Feng to serve as a mentor, while the two of them simply sat quietly in the corner, their pale fingers crossed over their knees.

As for Xie Feng, he didn't care about the wizards' discussion; he was still tirelessly and impartially harassing every passing wizard on the streets of the Old Capital.

"Brother, brother, don't leave. I'm also a wizard. Do you know any wizards who study Noph-Keh? Do you know Contact Nophke...?"