Chapter 103: Thinking Of You

The Path to Ascending to Sage is Still Too Early for You to Consider.

Mortel shook her head, pointing out the flaws in the girl’s theory.

As her master, she still had a certain responsibility to guide her.

“The throne of a god is hard to sit on, but what’s even harder is to step down from it. The path you’ve envisioned is a bit unfeasible. A school of magic shouldn’t be limited by just one route.”

“But…”

She smiled lightly, “It’s enough to ascend to sage, though.”

Jiang Cha still had a lot of gaps in her knowledge. Although she was well-rounded, she hadn’t accumulated enough yet. Her “attic of knowledge” lacked high-level theoretical understanding.

Even if she could produce some results, they weren’t enough to make her a figure of great significance.

It was like an exceptionally good high school student who came up with a creative invention.

Is she a genius?

Absolutely.

But can you say she’s an academic master?

Not possible.

“Have witches studied the path of creating artificial gods?”

When Jiang Cha heard Mortel’s correction, she wasn’t disappointed. Instead, she blinked her eyes cutely and curiously asked.

“Of course. In fact, there are quite a few madmen who’ve tried it in the multiverse. The current Lord of Holy Light is one of them. He was an angel researcher who succeeded, which is why the Holy Light school lost its vitality. The angels, once at their peak, have now fallen, and they’re left clinging to an ever-shrinking domain.”

“So, I guess I understand.”

Jiang Cha sighed. She indeed hadn’t learned enough.

A throne of a god without a master—no self-awareness—mechanically becomes a god-power server for all spellcasters, which is fine.

But what if the ‘god’ has desires, thoughts, stubbornness, and a path of its own?

It would fix the path for that school of magic—or divine arts, or whatever you want to call it.

Explorers whose paths differ too much from that god’s will inevitably become heretics.

That’s a given.

“But don’t worry too much. The road to omniscience and omnipotence is indeed an exploration. But the path to becoming a grand sage has already been summed up for us long ago.”

“Hm… This matter is too distant. You should focus on adjusting your magic power for now.”

“I can already smell that deathly, decaying aura from far away. Here’s your reading list for next month. Study these first.”

This time, Mortel was unusually generous.

Although she spoke of giving a reading list, she directly tossed a stack of space bracelets, each containing a complete, simplified magic tree of Creation Magic.

It was the same gesture and expression as when Mephisto had handed Jiang Cha a whole set of Necromancy magic trees.

That elegant air had already been ingrained in them.

Plain, without a trace of condescension or flattery, as if she was giving away something utterly insignificant.

“Is the Karel family always this generous with their investments?”

“Oh, you mean that little guy Mephisto? It’s fine. Just take what she gave you and don’t overthink it.”

Mortel waved her hand, clearly not wanting to discuss this topic further.

Jiang Cha could guess some things.

This free-spirited witch seemed to have some lingering attachment.

After all, no matter how incompatible their personalities were, it was still the family she grew up in.

Witch families weren’t like human ones. Unwarranted coldness and the scheming of internal conflicts didn’t happen between witches. They valued mutual investment and return, and naturally placed great importance on the power of emotions that could create miracles.

It was an unbreakable bond—no matter how far they drifted, the rope wouldn’t snap.

When Mortel became successful, tired, and mature, she could always look back and find her home and family still there.

But the thing was, Jiang Cha also realized that this attachment was precisely why Mortel’s current situation resembled a rebellious child running away from home—a child who, although clearly mentally exhausted by the rigid parents, still stubbornly refused to admit it.

And so, both sides stood still, and fifty years passed.

After all, witches live long lives. A few decades of a child sulking and leaving home isn’t a big deal—just like how a human child going out to experience life for a year or two would be.

Jiang Cha had learned about the situation from Mephisto. This senior seemed particularly unwilling for Jiang Cha to be involved in the conflict between Mortel and the Karel family. So, in an idle chat, Mephisto had brought up this matter.

The purpose was to tell Jiang Cha that although the two parties involved in this “runaway” incident seemed to be enemies now… well, you know.

Jiang Cha immediately understood.

She secretly chuckled to herself but didn’t dare say it out loud.

After all, Mortel didn’t stop her from accepting the Karel family’s investment, which could be seen as her way of showing her stance. Although she was still angry, they weren’t at the point of being mortal enemies. After all, it wasn’t that serious.

The conflict between Mortel and her family was basically a “missed marriage and a secret love child” drama.

Very cliché, but it felt so real in Mortel’s case.

After all…

“My master’s personality, if she could just get into an arranged marriage, that would be the weird thing, right?”

The girl secretly rolled her eyes, then got a tap on the head from Mortel.

“Stop daydreaming.”

“Go back for now. I’ll be busy preparing for my ascension to sage. It will be a bit hectic, and after that… um…”

Mortel paused for a moment, scratching her head, looking a bit troubled. “After that, it’s probably still going to be busy. If you need anything, just contact me. I’ll come find you when I have time.”

Newly ascended sages have to do all sorts of hard labor at the Sage Council.

Knowing this, Jiang Cha didn’t object. She just giggled quietly and whispered, “Master, do you really have the patience to deal with all the paperwork?”

“What else can I do if I can’t?”

Mortel rolled her eyes.

“The Sage Council is managed by the First Grand Sage, and I don’t want to get under her radar.”

“Alright~”

The girl kept laughing.

Mortel didn’t care much.

Laugh away, laugh away—she was already used to this mischievous disciple of hers.

Actually, she found that it was easier to get along with Jiang Cha like this. If she had a disciple who constantly clung to her and obeyed her every word, she wouldn’t even know how to handle it.

“The mark of a sage is the preliminary mastery of the power of rules. The magic they wield will no longer be restricted to magic circles and runes, but can be cast freely with just a release of magic power.”

Leaving Mortel’s little magic shop, which was likely going to be closed for a long time, Jiang Cha muttered to herself as she returned to her own shop.

“So… does that mean I need to master the rules of wisdom?”

“What are you thinking about so seriously?”

With her hands behind her back, Annie suddenly popped into Jiang Cha’s line of sight, smiling playfully and cutely while standing on tiptoe.

Jiang Cha didn’t change her expression. She smiled and looked at her, who was just a hair’s breadth away.

“I was thinking about you.”

……