Chapter 1264: Section 1265: Gazing into the Profound Secrets
This scroll of parchment was simply encrypted and only had the name labeled at the beginning.
—— “Twin Ring Moon Wheel Guiding Method”.
This Guiding Method wasn’t anything particularly extraordinary, the only thing worth noting was that it was a free Guiding Method with no affiliation. That is to say, no Wizard organization could claim this Guiding Method as their proprietary technique. Learning this Guiding Method wouldn’t spark any disputes among the major Wizard organizations or Wizard families, hence many wandering Wizards and wilderness Wizards chose this Guiding Method to study.
Naturally, as a free Guiding Method, there wasn’t anything particularly remarkable about it, nor was there any guaranteed value to speak of, and it certainly couldn’t be compared to the “Singularity Scattering Meditation Method” that Angel had learned.
However, the reason Angel was interested in this Guiding Method was due to a piece of “Starfrost” parchment he had obtained from Wodell.
The source of that parchment was an item from the Sin City Walker, Pusio.
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Pusio was a True Knowledge Wizard from Frostmoon, and in relation to the Frostmoon Alliance’s “Starfrost”, the only thing Angel could think of was the “Star Frost Meditation Method”.
Yet that piece of parchment was encrypted with a Wizard’s cipher, preventing Angel from confirming it. He had planned to ask Sanders about it, but after returning to the Southern Domain, he had forgotten the matter; it was only upon seeing this Guiding Method that he remembered.
“When I return, I can ask my Mentor if there is a way to remove the encryption from that piece of Guiding Method parchment,” Angel thought to himself, considering if it truly was the Star Frost Meditation Method, it might be something he could give to his brother, Lyon, for his cultivation.
Besides a Guiding Method of insignificant value and a few weapons, there was nothing else on the stall that caught Angel’s attention. He didn’t plan on staying any longer, and prepared to walk around the “flying stall” to leave the place.
However, just as Angel was about to leave, a sudden clanging of bells echoed from afar.
Angel turned around and found that the sound originated from the very center of the Underground Market—the Sky Tower.
As the bell rang out, the cables that spread from Sky Tower to various parts of the Underground Market began to move, with countless cable cars heading towards Sky Tower.
It was worth mentioning that Angel noticed the cables connected to the higher floors of Sky Tower, specifically above the tenth floor, also began to move.
There were fights in the higher floors of Sky Tower every day. However, it was rare to see such orderly, simultaneous boarding of the cable cars.
As Angel turned back to observe, he noticed that the crowd around him was slowly diminishing. On closer inspection, he found that people seemed to be converging towards the Sky Tower.
Their expressions and eyes were filled with excitement and eagerness.
“Could it be that there’s some famous competition at Sky Tower recently?” Angel shook his head, not giving it much thought.
After all, no matter what competition it was, it had nothing to do with him. He certainly wasn’t about to enter the fray now; not to mention that the rewards were negligible for him, and he wasn’t like Blackjack, taking pleasure in crushing newcomers.
With that thought, Angel avoided the crowd heading towards Sky Tower, making his way to Promy Alchemy Shop.
When Angel arrived at Promy Alchemy Shop, he found the entrance deserted. He remembered how just a few months ago, when he had come by, the entrance was lined with Apprentices queuing up to buy Tang Blades. It seemed, as he had learned before, that David had not made Tang Blades recently, so the number of people queueing had dwindled.
Entering the Alchemy shop, Angel didn’t see David; only Baruba was there, busy organizing the shelves.
Baruba, paying no attention to Angel, simply said in a deep voice, “Pick what you need on your own, and come to me to pay when you’re ready.”
Angel looked around and then approached Baruba, tapping lightly on the counter.
Baruba, looking up in confusion, saw that in front of the middle-aged man, a layer of ripples appeared. As the ripples spread, the despondent man vanished, replaced by a handsome, blond youth.
Baruba was stunned for a moment before belatedly realizing, “An… Angel, no, Mr. Pat! You’re back?!”
“Just call me by my name,” Angel wasn’t particular about the form of address, instead, he glanced around, “Is it just you here? Where’s David?”
Angel knew that ever since David became Lianna’s Apprentice and had been able to perform Alchemy on his own, Master Promy had completely handed over the management of the Alchemy shop to him.
David himself didn’t have much time to manage the Alchemy shop either, so he hired Baruba to mind the shop, while he, like Promy before him, played the role of an absent shopkeeper.
It turned out to be the right decision on David’s part. Baruba was very capable himself. Despite his rugged appearance, he was meticulous at heart, fully capable of managing the books, sales, and inventory.
Most importantly, Baruba was very masculine and handsome, which attracted countless female Apprentices, ensuring the business never lacked customers.
When Angel had previously entered the shop, he had seen a female Apprentice with flushed cheeks, holding some Demon Plant that she probably didn’t even know the use of, staggering out of the store.
“David has gone to the Sky Tower for the promotion competition,” Baruba stated truthfully.
Baruba’s answer surprised Angel. He had once heard from David that he had mixed in the lower levels of the Sky Tower’s competition arena, but he really wasn’t cut out for fighting. After getting beaten black and blue, he quietly ignored the Sky Tower competitions.
Based on what Angel knew about David, he indeed had little interest in the Sky Tower’s competitive battles. Compared to fighting, David was more passionate about alchemy.
One could say that David was someone obsessed with alchemy. His participating in the Sky Tower competition was simply preposterous… But wait, there seemed to be another reason.
“Could it be that he went to test alchemical creations?” Angel asked. When he first met David, it was because David couldn’t find anyone to test his creations and went to solicit Toby. So, if David truly went to participate in the Sky Tower competition, it was probably for that reason.
However, Baruba still gave a negative answer: “He’s not there to test alchemical creations; he’s there to participate in the promotion match, aiming to obtain the New Star qualification.”
New Star qualification? What’s that?
Half an hour later, Angel and Baruba found themselves seated in the spectator stands of the Sky Tower’s fourth level arena.
People were gradually arriving around them, filling the seats. Some of the common folk who worked at the Underground Market even pushed small carts around the stands, shouting and selling snacks. For these people, hawking their wares here earned them much more than outside. Many apprentices might not have Magic Crystals, but they certainly had plenty of Gold Coins and silver coins, and any coin that fell from their pockets could keep these commoners carefree for half a year.
A food cart also approached them, and although Angel actually had plenty of food stored in his bracelet, to blend with the atmosphere of the event, he did not refuse. With a casual silver coin, he purchased a pile of dried jerky and a cup of fizzling, aromatic fruit juice that relieved greasiness.
Baruba bought some snacks as well, but only meat, whether it was honey-roasted fresh meat or salted dried meat, typical of a pure meat lover.
By this time, the countdown had already begun on the light screen above the arena.
“Is it really alright for you to leave the work at the alchemy shop like this? If you want, I can talk to David later,” Angel turned and said to Baruba beside him. When he learned that David’s New Star match was today, he had wanted to come and watch by himself, but upon hearing this, Baruba closed the shop and came along.
“David invited me to watch his match when he left this morning, so it won’t be an issue,” Baruba responded to Angel.
Angel looked at Baruba, remembering that when he had visited the Promy Alchemy Shop before, Baruba had shown no intention of coming to watch the competition. It was not until he mentioned it that Baruba proposed coming together. It seemed that Baruba had refused David’s initial invitation to watch the match?
“Alright,” Angel didn’t dwell on the topic and instead asked, “What exactly is this New Star competition you mentioned earlier?”
Just as Baruba was about to reply, a wave of enthusiastic cheering suddenly erupted around them.
A young man with a skull tattoo on his robe and skull earrings, displaying all the signs of being a teenager in his “edgy phase,” also stood up excitedly with the crowd.
Following the audience’s gaze, Angel realized that the excited cheering was due to the light screen above the arena showing the last ten minutes of the countdown.
At the same time, images of two faces appeared on both sides of the light screen.
It seemed they were entering the final countdown. Angel came to his senses, having experienced Sky Tower competitions before, so he found it familiar. But he hadn’t expected this so-called New Star competition to be this popular. Previously, during fourth-level battles, Angel had never seen such a crowd.
Angel’s gaze settled on the two faces displayed on the light screen. One of them was, of course, David. But interestingly enough, the person fighting against David was someone Angel also recognized.
It was a dark-skinned man with a large bow and arrow on his back, his face painted with colorful tattoos, a crest of colored feathers on his head, and wearing nothing but a tiger skin around his waist.
Angel remembered that when he was a Junior Apprentice watching his first battle in the Sky Tower, it was this man’s match.
He believed the man was called…
At that moment, the nicknames of both combatants appeared on the light screen, with flamboyant fonts full of a murderous atmosphere.
‘Gazer at the Profound VS King of Beasts’
A realization flashed through Angel’s eyes, his memory had not deceived him; it was indeed the “King of Beasts.” The first match he had watched as an audience member had been between the “King of Beasts” and the “Immortal Ice Emperor.”
While the titles sounded impressive, as for their strength, that was a different story.
As for the other, “Gazer at the Profound,” there was no doubt it was David. The nickname was quite typical, not too embarrassing, and “Profound” referred to the esoteric faction of Metallography.
By using this nickname, David was essentially declaring his ambition.