Chapter 450 The Sky of Truth <TOC> Chapter 452 Incident
Translator: SumTLMan
Pride picked up the sample publication, which temporarily had no cover, and the pages inside were pulp paper. When the final version was printed, the cover would use magic sheepskin paper that would never decay, and the outer cover would be engraved with eternal magic runes to keep it from decaying, being eaten by insects, or becoming old over time.
Pride flipped through the pages, examining them carefully. Although he had participated in the whole process of collecting stories and editing, he still needed to conduct a final review of the layout effect.
After a while, Pride put down the sample publication.
“How is it? I’ve looked at it myself, and I think it’s pretty good,” Joline asked.
Pride nodded: “The effect is there, especially these two submitted articles. The contributors are simply well-versed in the psychology of the readers.”
Joline looked at the table of contents that Pride was referring to: —Shocking! The powerhouse from a thousand years ago returns to the Southern Region, and the Wizarding World may be reshuffled!— and —Shocking! The Mysterious Alchemist was actually crafted into a magic puppet, and the reason is…—
Joline covered her mouth and laughed: “These two submissions are from the same person, who goes by the pen name ‘Your Stone Grandpa.’ It’s an interesting name.”
Pride also laughed: “This month’s issue can have these two articles as exclusives. Especially the first one, I’ve consulted Mr. Fonsman, and he was shocked too. He never expected that Isabelle, the Twilight Queen, would have such a big background! Mr. Fonsman is very optimistic, estimating that this issue could dominate the market with just this exclusive article.”
“As for the other one,” Pride looked at the second article submitted by Your Stone Grandpa: “I initially had higher expectations for this one, but when I asked Mr. Fonsman, he shook his head after reading it, saying that the gimmick was good, but it contained a lot of false information. A wizard apprentice couldn’t possibly come into contact with a mysterious level.”
“However, Mr. Fonsman said that it’s not completely worthless. After all, Bogula’s… ahem… hobbies are well known, and people would still be interested in gossip,” Pride said.
“Should we modify it a bit, remove the Mysterious Alchemist part, and only keep the latter part?” Joline suggested.
Pride thought for a moment, then shook his head: “Let’s not. Let’s respect the contributor. Your Stone Grandpa’s choice of words and sentence construction are very deliberate and engaging. Besides, the suspense left in the story shows a deep understanding of human nature… If we remove half of it, it feels like it would lose a lot.”
Pride noticed that Your Stone Grandpa also mentioned in the text: this blond, blue-eyed young man has an incredibly strong background, and perhaps even Bogula might have bitten off more than he could chew.
Although even Fonsman didn’t believe it, who knows if it’s true or not? If it is true, then his rise to power this time would be a perfect beginning.
Joline nodded: “I see. Are there any other problems with the publication?”
Pride thought for a moment and pointed to Your Stone Grandpa’s second submission: “I remember, Brother Flesh contacted the attendant at the teleportation hall and took a picture of Bogula’s return. There should be the young man mentioned in the article, right?”
“I’ll go find it. I remember Angel even specifically asked a painter to draw it, and Formation Fink hesitated whether to use it or not.” Joline left for a while, and when she came back, she was holding a painting.
“Here it is.” Joline reluctantly handed the painting to Pride: “Indeed, he looks very good, both in temperament and appearance.”
Pride saw Joline’s expression and felt a bit jealous. When he took a look at the painting, he had to admit that the boy’s appearance was indeed exceptionally beautiful. It was Bogula’s usual preference—
Straight golden hair, eyes as clear as the sky.
Pride: “No wonder Master Bogula chose him.”
Joline sighed slightly: “Blue face disaster.” She paused, then Joline recovered from the whirlpool of good looks and resumed her professional attitude: “Pride, do you want to add this image?”
Pride nodded: “Add it, of course!”
After resolving this issue, they continued to talk about other things: “I think we can apply to Mr. Fonsman to have ‘Your Stone Grandpa’ open a special column…”
…
Time passed, and the Morning Star had risen.
A metal tower made entirely of mechanical shafts stood tall in the reflection of Sky Mechanical City. The tower had been closed for a day and a night, and the apprentices outside were discussing it. It was said that representatives from all the major wizarding organizations in the Southern Region had come and were locked inside, discussing some important matters concerning their future.
“Some say they’ve discovered the coordinates of a new plane, and all the wizards have gathered to discuss the exploration!” someone said.
“No, our Sky Mechanical City never participates in planar conquest, right? Even if the wizarding masters chose to discuss this, they should go to Frost Moon, shouldn’t they? Don’t they just love doing this kind of thing?” The person’s tone was obviously disdainful, clearly not liking Frost Moon’s aggressive planar conquest style.
“You’re all wrong. It’s planar fusion! The Devil’s Sea has shown signs of planar fusion, and the wizarding masters must be searching for new subsidiary planes to obtain resources sooner,” said a nerdy boy with glasses, holding a newly purchased magazine. He had just discovered an “old” piece of news and shouted it out after embellishing it a bit.
“Nerd Adam, is this the new gossip monthly? Let me see!” A fierce-looking young man walked up to the nerd and tried to snatch the magazine from his hands.
Adam, of course, was unwilling and struggled to resist. Just then, the door of the tower suddenly opened…
“Old friend, I didn’t expect you to come in person this time.” A strange old man with white eyebrows reaching his chest, a small curled beard, and a triangular wizard’s hat with blue and black embroidered orchids came out. Next to him stood a cold-looking man in black, with a deeply handsome and chiseled face, dressed like an old-fashioned nobleman, wearing a black and gold cape, white silk gloves, and holding a delicate black short staff.
All wizards who passed through here kept their distance as if facing a formidable enemy.
If Angel were here, he would find that this person was none other than his cheap mentor… Sanders.
“Purification Garden has encountered an incident, and as a mentor, I naturally need to come and take a look,” Sanders said indifferently.
“I see, I did hear that you took on a new disciple.” The white-browed old man nodded: “My stubborn apprentice arrived at Mechanical City some days ago. It’s a rare opportunity for a gathering, so why not bring your new disciple to my residence?”
Sanders glanced at him. This old man was named Canter and had the nickname “Like the Night.”
He was the current head of the “House of Lilith” and had entered true knowledge for more than six hundred years, even longer than Sanders. As for strength, like Sanders, both of them were still one step away from being a third-level wizard.
The House of Lilith was just a small wizard organization, and its population had always been scarce. However, no wizard organization dared to underestimate them because the wizards of this lineage almost had someone entering true knowledge in every generation. Thousands of years ago, the House of Lilith even had several legendary wizards at the same time, making them the peak of their time.
Like the Night’s Canter was also a well-known figure in the contemporary wizarding world, and he was one of Sanders’ rare good friends in the wizarding world.
Sanders understood Canter’s meaning, which was for everyone to gather, let the younger generation get to know each other, and expand their connections. It was a mutually beneficial thing.
“No need. I don’t know if my student has arrived at Sky Mechanical City yet. It’s not too late to wait until he arrives,” Sanders said indifferently.
Canter nodded with a smile: “That’s true, your disciples are not the kind to stay put.” He recalled the situation with Flora back then. He took his disciple to visit the Savage Grottoes, stayed on Phantom Island for almost ten years, and only saw Flora once.
And Sanders’ earliest disciple, Sumesh. He said he would go out to find a breakthrough in the path of true knowledge fifty years ago, but he hasn’t returned yet.
Sanders had a slightly strange expression and shook his head at Canter: “It’s not the same, this disciple of mine hardly ever goes out on his own initiative. He doesn’t even do tasks, staying at home every day… This time he went out, it was forced.”
“Oh? It seems that you’ve found a worry-free student this time,” Canter teased, and the “worry-free” in his mouth may not necessarily be a commendation.
Sanders shook his head again and said with a bitter smile: “He’s not a worry-free person either.”
Just the matter of the Twilight Auction, Angel almost recreated the apocalyptic disaster when the Abyssal Great Demon descended on the Southern Region. Could this be considered worry-free? He was so frightened that he couldn’t sit still. Originally sitting in the VIP room watching Angel’s performance, he was finally forced to clean up the mess for that brat. In the end, he consumed countless materials and cut off the Nightmare Domain, integrating it into Angel’s body, and all the benefits went to Angel.
Upon thinking of this, Sanders sighed in his heart. Angel hadn’t even paid him back for the material costs yet…
Sanders’ expression didn’t seem to be fake, which aroused Canter’s interest: “Hearing you talk about it, I’m even more curious to see what kind of person he is.”
Sanders didn’t respond, as he wasn’t sure whether Angel would actually come to Sky Mechanical City or not.
However, since the prophetic wizards said he wasn’t dead, Sanders believed Angel would probably come, unless some unexpected event occurred.
The two of them walked out of the tower, and the purpose of their invitation to Sky Mechanical City was now clear. The Purification Garden had indeed experienced an unexpected event, but for all the wizards, it was undoubtedly a beautiful surprise.
However, for the wizard apprentices who entered the Purification Garden, they might not think the same.
“What do you think of this Purification Garden incident?” Sanders asked.
“Sky Mechanical City has already reserved ten spots; for others who want to compete for the remaining spots, I’m afraid it will be another bloody storm,” Canter sighed.
“Really? I don’t think so. Reserved spots? Just because they enter the Purification Garden doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed those spots,” Sanders said, revealing a bloodthirsty smile.
As they talked about the Purification Garden, they walked outside.
Curious wizard apprentices filled the outside area, making a lively and noisy scene. When Sanders and Canter came out, everyone immediately fell silent.
Sanders frowned: “Sky Mechanical City is too lenient with the apprentices.”
“After all, they are a group of wizards passionate about alchemy, and their education for apprentices is laissez-faire,” Canter didn’t seem to care much and flew up directly.
Just as Sanders was about to fly away as well, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a golden human head emblem out of the corner of his eye.