Chapter 239: The Threshold of the Ninth Circle and a Southern Rumor

When the two returned to the mage tower, Adèle was walking out of the kitchen carrying a tray of freshly baked soufflés, the rich milky aroma instantly filling the entire living room.

“You’re back! Come and try these; it’s a new recipe I’ve been researching, extra honey.”

Seeing them, Adèle’s eyes lit up, and she greeted them warmly.

“I feel like I just stepped off a battlefield.”

Lia threw herself into the soft sofa, slumping in an unladylike fashion while picking up a piece of soufflé and stuffing it into her mouth.

The melt-in-your-mouth sweetness soothed her frayed nerves considerably.

“That honorary professor title is a literal curse,” Lia complained indistinctly.

“And that Master Albin—is his brain still stuck in the age of using stones to count?”

Klein sat down beside her, poured himself a cup of red tea, and said calmly, “He simply cannot accept that the theory he spent his entire life upholding has been completely overturned.”

“That’s his problem, not mine.”

Lia picked up another piece.

“I only told the truth. He couldn’t handle it himself and nearly resorted to violence.”

Adèle asked curiously, “And then?”

“Then?” Lia glanced at Klein, who was quietly sipping his tea.

“Then Master Klein gave him a taste of what the pressure of an Eighth-Circle mage feels like.”

Adèle had a realization, then couldn’t help but laugh.

***

Just as Lia was enjoying her rare moment of peace and planning to finish off two more desserts, the short-distance teleportation array in the center of the living room suddenly lit up with a soft white light.

A lady wearing an elegant water-blue mage robe appeared in the center of the array.

She possessed a gentle temperament and a beautiful countenance; time seemed to have left no marks on her face, with only wisdom and composure settled deep within her eyes.

It was none other than the wife of Archmage Horace, the peak Eighth-Circle elementalist, Eleonora.

“Master Eleonora.” Klein stood up and gave a slight nod in greeting.

Adèle also hurriedly performed a bow.

“I hope I haven’t disturbed you.” Eleonora smiled, her gaze landing on Lia on the sofa.

“Of course not, please, have a seat.” Lia quickly sat up straight, swallowing the soufflé in her mouth and tidying her slightly messy hair.

Facing this friendly elemental mage, she remained quite polite.

Eleonora did not sit down; instead, she walked slowly to Lia and looked at her earnestly.

Her gaze was very focused.

“Professor Lia, I have come here today specifically to thank you.”

“Thank me?” Lia was stunned. “For what?”

She couldn’t recall helping Eleonora with anything recently. Had Archmage Horace done something strange again that required her help to clean up?

“For this.” Eleonora extended her right hand, and a shimmering, mana-constructed Periodic Table of Elements appeared in her palm.

Under the control of her mental power, the table was stable and orderly, with every elemental symbol radiating pure magical fluctuations.

“The bottleneck that has plagued me for decades has finally been broken.” Eleonora’s voice carried a hint of emotion and relief.

“In the past, my understanding of elements was chaotic, based solely on experience. I could feel their power, but I could not comprehend their order.”

She looked at Lia, her eyes incredibly sincere.

“It was your theory that gave me a complete map. I spent several months shattering all the perceptions of elements within my mental world, and then I rebuilt everything using this Periodic Table as the foundation.”

The living room was silent, with only Eleonora’s gentle voice echoing.

Adèle was already dumbfounded. ‘Shattering the mental world and then rebuilding it?’ What kind of concept was that?

For a mage, the mental world was the foundation of everything; the slightest mishap would result in mana going out of control and complete insanity.

And yet, Master Eleonora had used Lia’s theory to complete such a massive gamble.

Lia was also somewhat stunned. She knew her theory was important, but she hadn’t expected it to become the cornerstone for a peak Eighth-Circle mage’s advancement in such a manner.

“That… that was too risky,” Lia said dryly. “I just… organized the findings of predecessors and drew a table.”

“No, it wasn’t just organizing; you revealed the laws of how the world nurtures all things.” Eleonora shook her head.

“To me, this is the only path leading to truth.”

With a gentle wave of her hand, the mana-constructed Periodic Table dissipated.

“Now, my mental world is more stable than ever before. I can already clearly feel that door to the Ninth Circle.”

‘The Ninth Circle!’

Adèle gasped. In the entire Kingdom of Violet, there were only a handful of Ninth-Circle Archmages on the surface. Every advancement was a major event that shook the entire continent.

And now, a new Ninth-Circle was about to be born before her eyes.

“So, congratulations?” Lia blinked, not knowing what else to say for a moment.

“It is too early for congratulations.” Eleonora smiled, her expression full of confidence.

“I still need some time for final preparations. On the day I officially challenge the Ninth Circle, Professor Lia, I hope I can invite you to witness it.”

“Me?” Lia pointed at herself.

“Yes,” Eleonora nodded. “You are the most important guide on my path to advancement; I hope you can witness it all with your own eyes.”

“Moreover, with your mind, you will reach this step sooner or later. It will not hurt you to understand it in advance.”

The weight of this invitation was immense. To observe a peak Eighth-Circle mage advancing to the Ninth Circle was an opportunity countless mages dreamed of; the experience and insights contained within were of incalculable value.

“Alright, I will definitely be there,” Lia promised solemnly.

Having received Lia’s promise, Eleonora’s smile brightened. She exchanged a few brief pleasantries with Klein and Adèle before activating the teleportation array once more and departing gracefully.

***

It wasn’t until the light of the teleportation array had completely faded that Adèle finally snapped out of it.

“My god! Lia! Master Eleonora is going to advance to the Ninth Circle! And it’s because of your Periodic Table!”

She grabbed Lia’s shoulders excitedly and shook her vigorously. “Did you hear that? She said you were her guide!”

“I heard, I heard! If you shake me any more, I’m going to fall apart.” Lia felt dizzy from the shaking. “Let go, my soufflé is going to get cold.”

Klein looked at Lia, his eyes containing a hint of a smile and an imperceptible pride. His girl always seemed to change the direction of the entire world, almost unintentionally.

***

The afternoon sun was warm and bright, and a quiet peace filled the mage tower.

After Adèle’s excitement calmed down, she remembered something and pulled the latest issue of Kingdom Gossip from her spatial storage ring.

“Oh, right, there’s a very interesting rumor in the kingdom lately.” She spoke as she read. “Have you heard? That place in the south…”

“Riley Kingdom?” Lia thought for a moment, having no real impression of the name.

“It’s just a tiny country in a corner of the south, not even as big as one of our kingdom’s counties,” Adèle explained.

“Supposedly their king suddenly announced that something called the ‘True God Religion’ has been established as the national religion.”

“National religion?” Lia raised an eyebrow. “People still do that these days?”

In this world where knowledge was power and mages held high status, religion had long since lost its market. Aside from some ignorant villages in remote areas, almost no one believed in some ethereal deity.

“Yeah, so everyone is passing it around as a joke.” Adèle pointed to a small section of the newspaper.

“Look, it says here that the Pope of this ‘True God Religion’ claims to be the deity’s spokesperson on earth, capable of performing miracles.”

“He also says that all of the mages’ power comes from their ‘True God’ and that mages are thieves who have stolen divine power.”

“Pfft—” Lia nearly spat out the juice she had just sipped.

“Thieves? Then what about those of us who study physics? Are we ‘usurpers’ shaking the foundation of the gods?”

She felt this was simply the funniest joke she had heard all year.

Klein also glanced at the report, his brow twitching imperceptibly.

“What are their doctrines?” he asked.

“Doctrines?” Adèle looked closer. “It doesn’t seem to specify. It just says believers must be absolutely devout and sacrifice everything to enter the Kingdom of God and obtain eternal life after death… the same old rhetoric.”

“Sounds like a not-so-clever organization of scammers,” Lia concluded.

“That Riley King must have been kicked in the head by a donkey to believe in such a thing.”

“Who knows, maybe life was too boring and he wanted some excitement.” Adèle shrugged and tossed the newspaper aside.

“Anyway, it’s so far away from us, it won’t affect us. Let’s not talk about that—what are we having for dinner? I want flame-grilled steak!”

“Seconded!” Lia raised her hand immediately.

The conversation quickly shifted from the strange rumors of a distant small country to their sumptuous dinner.

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