A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 114 The Abyss Cult

In the huge conference room, three young alchemists stared at each other, looking utterly shocked.

Let's rewind to an hour earlier.

Jiang Shuzhou arrived at the conference room half an hour early. As soon as he entered, two scrutinizing gazes fell upon him.

Upon seeing the alchemist's badge on Jiang Shuzhou's chest, their gazes instantly softened.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Derek, a low-level alchemist."

"Marcus, a low-level alchemist."

"Navis is also a low-level alchemist."

The three greeted each other and then fell silent.

Jiang Shuzhou took out a book from his spatial ring and began to read.

Seeing this, the other two followed suit.

For a moment, the entire conference room was filled with the rustling sound of pages being turned.

Until an hour later.

Where are they?

"Why isn't Angelo here?"

It was quite obvious that Angelo Walton, the host of the meeting, was not present.

"Young Master Angelo will be here soon; he has some personal matters to attend to."

Angelo's followers stood to the side and responded upon hearing this.

It's like nobody doesn't have that.

Angelo's behavior greatly displeased the three alchemists present.

At the same time, they also wanted to know what could be so important to him that he would be willing to be late for the meeting.

Finally, after the alchemists waited for another half hour, Angelo finished his "important business" and entered the conference room.

"May I ask, Your Excellency Angelo, what is it that matters so important to you that you would skip your meeting to attend?"

Before Jiang Shuzhou could speak, Marcus asked a question first.

This is also what Jiang Shuzhou wanted to know.

"I'm sorry, Miss Sophia kept pestering me to tell her a bedtime story. You know, ladies always need a little romance."

For a woman?

The three alchemists present did not look too good.

The other two alchemists did not react on the spot, but Jiang Shuzhou was different.

"To serve the lady to this extent, it seems that Lord Angelo has perfectly inherited the noble virtues of a knight."

He immediately started using sarcastic and sarcastic language.

Saying that Angelo adhered to the code of chivalry was a veiled criticism of him, implying that the mage had failed to inherit his family's legacy.

This is also a strategy that Jiang Shuzhou recently learned.

We should speak frankly and bluntly to civilized people, but we must be sarcastic and sarcastic towards these uncultured and vulgar people.

"Thank you for the compliment. I have always been chivalrous, and it is my honor to serve such a beautiful lady."

See, he even has to thank me.

Angelo's words left the alchemists present speechless.

Even though the words were so clear, the person still thought it was a compliment.

"In that case, Marquis Angelo, please chair the meeting."

Upon hearing this, Marcus and Derek almost lost their composure again.

This is saying that Angelo is not an alchemist, or even a mage; the only reason he can preside over meetings is because of his title, which is the glory of his ancestors.

In this situation, Jiang Shuzhou naturally couldn't openly curse people; a few sarcastic remarks would suffice. Otherwise, even a fallen camel is bigger than a horse, and the Walton family still had some inheritance left.

When Angelo squanders all of this inheritance, the Walton family will come to an end.

Next, Jiang Shuzhou finally understood why the mages were unwilling to hold meetings.

"With declining grain production, should we request subsidies from within the alliance?"

"What does this have to do with me? Go if you want, I don't care."

"Revitalizing the Walton City industrial area..."

Jiang Shuzhou didn't care about any of that. He only raised his eyes when Angelo proposed a motion that required the signatures of three people to apply for resources from above.

"Yes, I support the proposal to revitalize the industrial zone."

"But in exchange, I demand that Hamlet receive a three-year tax exemption and sign a decree immediately. If the bill fails, you will have to pay my taxes."

Angelo was eager to pass the bill to demonstrate his "achievements" and agreed without thinking.

It all depends on how strong the connections left by the Walton family are.

Having achieved his goal, Jiang Shuzhou continued reading, letting Angelo perform as he pleased.

"The last item on the agenda."

"Proposal on handling the demon cultists who have appeared in the remote mountain area."

"What? Why are you only telling me now about something so important?"

Marcus's expression changed drastically. Wasn't the Far Mountain region their place?

The remote mountain region is not large, only about 150,000 square kilometers, of which Walton Territory occupies the majority.

The reason why Marcus looked so bad was quite simple.

Demon cultists are an extension of the forces of the abyss, and are synonymous with chaos and death in the prime plane.

If these lunatics were to seize the opportunity and open a portal to the abyss, the entire surrounding area would be rendered useless.

Jiang Shuzhou had also experienced the power of the devil firsthand; just by living, he could pollute the environment.

He didn't want the entire Hamlet territory to become that desolate, lifeless, and stinking land.

"I propose that we immediately organize a team to jointly hunt down these lunatics!"

"I second that! We must immediately organize a joint patrol team to wipe out these lunatics!"

"I second that!"

"Why the rush? They're just a few sneaky mice!"

"How about this, I'm short-handed right now, why don't you all join our Walton family, and your safety will be guaranteed then."

Jiang Shuzhou has truly broadened his horizons. How could there be such a stupid person in the world?

However, when he thought of his great-grandfather, Jiang Shuzhou smiled with relief.

An alchemist who can drive himself to the point of being abandoned by everyone is truly a rare breed.

His great-grandfather, Macon Walton, was notorious.

It's important to understand that within the alchemist community, being infamous is just as difficult as being extremely famous.

Generally speaking, there is nothing wrong with conducting experiments on ordinary people, and it will not bring any bad reputation, unless it is a large-scale, long-term experiment on ordinary people.

Macon Walton was an ordinary alchemist in his youth, but his reputation was ruined in his later years.

This is mainly due to the lousy things he did.

He forced his apprentice to sign an unequal contract, demanding that he be forever loyal to the Walton family.

Is this a matter of human affairs?

The mages were alright, but the alchemists were the ones who placed the greatest emphasis on passing down their skills and knowledge.

Most elderly alchemists seek apprentices; some spend their entire lives searching for one, while others succeed.

Once an apprentice is found, a harsh contract is signed.

The alchemist will then pass on all his knowledge to the other person, and the alchemist's territory, legacy, and even family will be handed over to the other person to manage.

The reason is simple: the true continuation of alchemists lies not in bloodline, but in spirit.

When he died, his apprentices who inherited his knowledge and methods were the continuation of his life.

So when Macon Walton forced his apprentices to sign unequal contracts, the alchemists had only one thought in mind.

This idiot is crazy.

Family is nothing. If you really care about bloodlines, why not just get a bloodline transplant?

The apprentice becomes the biological son, the kind of person who can pass a paternity test.

Ultimately, with the interference of other alchemists, the Walton family only gained the apprentice's loyalty for twenty years.

"Since Marquis Angelo thinks this is a trivial matter, then we won't trouble him."

"Master Marcus, Master Derek."

"I propose that the three of us join forces, with those having money contributing funds and those having manpower, to form a patrol team and immediately conduct a thorough search and clearing of our respective territories. All spoils will be distributed according to the proportion of investment. What do you two think?"

Ignoring Angelo's offer, Jiang Shuzhou and his two companions quickly reached an agreement and formed their own patrol team.

As for Angelo?

Let him drown here, clinging to his past glory.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

The three alchemists quickly reached an agreement and formed an alliance to attack and defend each other.

They need to work together to deal with this.

"With your limited forces, can you possibly conduct a thorough search?"

Angelo dismissed this.

"No need for you to trouble yourself with that."

Jiang Shuzhou has plenty of money; he can just hire some mercenaries when the time comes.

As long as the town is defended, large-scale sacrifices can be prevented.

As long as large-scale sacrifices are prevented, the portal to the abyss is not so easy to open.

As long as we hold on, that's fine.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In a dark and damp cave in a remote mountainous area.

Several deformed figures flickered in the dim light of the fire.

"You must remember, our target is the Ovi Empire."

"Within the established order of the Mage Alliance, it is difficult for us to bring the blessings of the Abyss upon the world."

"clear"

"but……"

"I think Walton's is quite nice."

"The Abyss needs souls, and the Walton Territory is in chaos, which is exactly what the Abyss needs."

Accompanied by chilling laughter, the flames gradually died out.