61: Chapter 58: Omen of Change 61: Chapter 58: Omen of Change “The child named Ian has awakened his Spirit Energy, hasn’t he?”

Though the sentence was phrased as a question, the viscount’s tone was one of certainty, “Elder Prude, this is my city.

You couldn’t possibly hide it from me.”

“My lord…”

The old man furrowed his brow slightly, turned around, and wanted to explain, “The child said so himself, I haven’t had the time to confirm it yet…”

“That’s enough, Prude.”

Viscount Grant raised his hand, signaling the other to stop speaking, “You and I both know that’s an excuse.

How many years have we been working together?

Is there really a need for these word games?”

“I had you stay today just to talk about one thing.”

Sitting back in his chair, the man shook his head slightly, “Whether it’s you Chalk People or the Crimson Sand People like Lamar, or we of the Iron and Gold People, are fundamentally one and the same, all of us Plains People, those below the Ridge.”

“At the end of the day.”

Raising a finger, the viscount spoke calmly, “We are all citizens of the Empire.”

“Assistance from the Imperial Capital will arrive around this autumn, and this native attack, it’s a crisis, but also an opportunity…

If the native forces of the South Ridge could be severely weakened with the support of the Imperial Capital, it would undoubtedly be a tremendous success.”

“We all need to seize this accomplishment.”

Viscount Grant’s words were pointed, yet the old man understood.

Elder Prude looked deeply at the viscount, and bowed respectfully, “I understand, my lord.

The White Folks will spare no effort in supporting all your actions.”

“I will teach the artisans within the city how to maintain the Dwarf Alchemy Cannon…

not just the White Folks.”

“Very good.”

Viscount Grant replied with satisfaction, “This is indeed for me, but also for yourselves.”

At the moment, his hands crossed in front of his stomach, he spoke with ease, “According to the laws of the Empire, a self-awakened Spirit Energy User should be granted an Inheritance for Sublimation by the local lord or chief official, to guide the advancement.

You know very well, this is the Empire’s compulsory recruitment, not allowing any civilian Spirit Energy User, any Sublimator to grow freely, and it ensures that all rogue Sublimators belong to the Empire.”

“And this time, I’m not competing with you.

Of course, I also don’t have the time to mentor a child.”

“He can be mentored by you, teach him anything.

He is yours now.”

“But remember, Prude,”

At this moment, the noble who was nearly the same age as Elder Prude but looked much younger, emphasized each word, “Both you and that child are citizens of the Empire, my subjects.”

“I have been quite permissive with you, so do not make things difficult for me.”

After speaking, he closed his eyes, signaling the end of the meeting, “Go.

Next time you come, remember to bring the child.”

“Let me see what kind of fine material the first self-awakened Spirit Energy User in my territory really is.”

Silently nodding and bowing, Elder Prude turned and left the Viscount’s Mansion.

The elder’s expression was solemn at first, but after leaving the street where the Viscount’s Mansion was located, his brow relaxed.

“More agreeable than I expected.

As a price for granting the legal Inheritance, I thought that in addition to the methods to maintain the Alchemy Cannon, even the nominal right to mentor Ian would be taken away.”

The one who had been prepared for a worse scenario murmured, “It seems the actions of the natives are not so simple, hitting a sore spot for the lord…

he no longer has the energy to engage in power struggles with us old folks.”

“But what he said is indeed correct, this is truly an opportunity.”

“If I could earn recognition for achievements…”

Shaking his head slightly, Prude decided not to dwell on this question, as it was meaningless, “Forget that, it’s better to consider how to mentor Ian.”

“How did my mother enlighten me on The Path of Sublimation back in the day…”

Pondering this question, the white-haired elder disappeared at the end of the street, surrounded by his guards.

Within the Viscount’s Mansion.

Standing by the window, looking out at the distant sea, the man who had been relaxed and content, his face became gradually solemn.

“Natives…”

The man, alone, savored the term under his breath.

He closed his eyes, then opened them, his pale blue eyes flickering, and his tone became stern, “Indeed, those savages, they have come to know of the existence of the Ruins Labyrinth in the depths of the Southern Sea.”

“But they are destined to return without success,”

“Because they do not have the ‘Key’.”

After a long silence, Viscount Grant gazed at the distant sea and finally sighed softly, “The Duke of Steep Ridge was able to become independent from The Empire by obtaining the nation-stabilizing sacred object ‘Apocalypse Armament’ from the ancient ruins labyrinth of the previous epoch…”

“My ruins labyrinth…”

At the same time.

In the dead of night, south of Harrison Port where the near sea meets the far sea.

A shadow cleaved through the waves, racing across the sea in the darkness.

With a longsword at his waist and reins in hand, Hiliard stood on a native canoe.

The canoe had neither oars nor sails, yet its speed was incomparably fast, crossing a hundred meters in just a few breaths and speeding into the depths of the sea.

The power propelling the small boat was naturally unrelated to him.

At the other end of the reins in the gray-haired knight’s hands, a huge shadow was rapidly moving under the water.

Judging by its dorsal fin and the sturdy scales surrounding its body, resembling iron armor, the shadow was indeed a large predator of the surrounding waters, an adult Ironclad Shark.

Riding the Ironclad Shark, making it pull the small boat across the sea area like a dog pulling a sled, Hiliard quickly arrived at his destination.

Directly above a deep, gloomy shadow in the sea.

“Good, stop.”

With a gentle call, the swimming Ironclad Shark obediently ceased its movements, its whole body plunking down towards the sea’s depths like a stone, eliciting a chuckle from Hiliard, “What a stubborn head…

Swim around here for a bit, I’ll call you when I need you.”

After clearly instructing it, the shadow in the water twisted and then obediently departed, leaving the old knight alone in his boat, standing still.

Once the Ironclad Shark had temporarily left, Hiliard carefully watched the rolling waves before extending a hand, palm facing downward.

A golden Origin Quality radiance condensed in his palm, the intense light like a flame, forming a small sun that dispelled all the surrounding darkness.

The radiance was also extremely concentrated, piercing directly into the sea’s depths, intent on illuminating the ancient, vast, and profound entity hidden below.

For a moment, the fish wandering the sea, the floating jellyfish, and all sorts of bizarre creatures were attracted by this brilliance, instinctively wanting to draw closer—yet an invisible authority prevented these brainless beasts from recklessly approaching.

They could only hover in place, looking up in reverence and fear at the light above the ocean.

But the light had its limits, Hiliard’s Origin Quality radiance dived nearly a thousand meters deep into the sea, yet he still could not reach its bottom.

However, this was never his goal.

“It’s coming.”

In a low voice, Hiliard sensed that his Origin Quality had received a response.

He hastily withdrew his light of Origin Quality and then furrowed his brow, scrutinizing the unusual movements of the shadow deep in the ocean.

Then, in the next instant.

As the golden Origin Quality light retreated, deep within the sea’s bottom, a huge and square shadow suddenly lit up with golden-red light spots that flickered like flames, releasing terrifying heat and brightness.

They were so hot and bright that they scattered throughout the surrounding sea area, twinkling intermittently like stars ignited against the dark, deep sea curtain.

The fish and various sea creatures fled in panic at the moment the light spots lit up as though escaping from the impending death.

Even the Ironclad Shark that had been nearby hurriedly fled, only daring to turn its head back to shiver and gaze at the area of the sea that had started to boil from far away.

And some sea creatures that were too slow to escape disintegrated silently under the light’s radiance, their flesh stripped away, their organs completely cooked, leaving only increasingly brittle white bones to slowly fall toward the deep sea bottom.

Above the sea area, vast swathes of White Mist had risen, with even tiny flashes of lightning spreading through the mist, crisscrossing.

The flames of villages and outposts along the shore blazed fiercely, while deep in the dark mountain range at sea, a fire was also rising and burning fiercely.

“As expected.”

Gazing at the fire in the water, among the bubbles steaming up from the sea and the white vapor clouds, Hiliard spoke in a heavy, low voice, “The ruins cluster…

is undergoing an anomaly.”

“If this continues, an unimaginable disaster will sweep across the entire South Ridge, and even the coastal areas of the southern Sea of Terra.”

“And the more pressing issue is…”

Looking up and turning back to look at the cities and villages along the coast, Hiliard watched the flames that had gradually been extinguished, muttering to himself, “Where is the Key?”

“Who holds the ‘Four Keys’ that can unlock the Labyrinth early, resetting the ruins?”

At this moment, inside Harrison Port.

Back at home, Ian sat on his bed, taking slow breaths.

He was regulating the flow of Origin Quality within his body, gradually gathering it at his heart, intermingling with the virtual Primordial Seed, and deriving various structures.

The flame within the boy was also burning.