Chapter 84 Chapter 84 You are a genius.
It was already morning when Su Cheng woke up. She took a shower, changed her clothes, and saw Camus when she entered the living room.
The blood mage sat on the sofa reading a book, his golden hair shining in the sunlight.
He straightened his back, his posture quite elegant. Hearing the noise, he asked without looking up, "Have you rested well?"
"Not bad," Su Cheng looked at the empty ground. "Did Lu Xia take the piano away?"
Camus suddenly looked up and stared at her.
Su Cheng: "What?"
Camus: "...what an intimate term."
Su Cheng felt a headache. "That's his alias, and I'm not the only one calling him that."
Camus clearly didn't want to discuss this further. He slammed the heavy tome shut and said, "Let's go. Breakfast shouldn't be over yet."
As they headed downstairs to the restaurant, they discussed what happened at the auction, especially the identity of Black Mist.
"The Kagami," Camus whispered, "is an ancient organization that worships the God of Illusion. They believe that identity is merely an illusion, and the true self does not exist. They possess the secret art of form-shifting, stealing the appearance, voice, and even certain memories of others, infiltrating the royal aristocracy, merchant guilds, the military, and even the Vatican. They lack a fixed identity, or rather, each official member possesses multiple 'identities.'"
Su Cheng blinked. "...I remember the Phantom God was an ally of the Dark God, right? If even the Church could infiltrate, that's truly impressive. You're talking about the Black Mist, right? Are they doing this for profit, or to prove something to the gods?"
"I think it should be both."
After a brief silence.
"I see," Su Cheng nodded. "I guess impersonating the prince was some kind of mission, either given to it by someone else or chosen by it itself. I've disrupted it, or perhaps I've discovered a secret. They might have some kind of rules, so it's coming back to take my identity. Hmm, I'm quite curious about how it's going to do that. Impersonating a divinely favored being is no small feat."
Camus frowned slightly, "You know it means it's going to kill you, right?"
"...Yeah, but there are too many people who want me dead, so just one or two more won't make a difference."
Su Cheng muttered, "I was even thinking of killing it, but it also discovered my secret."
The blood mage raised his hand and hit her on the head.
“Ouch!”
Su Cheng covered his head.
Even though he didn't use much force, she still subconsciously exaggerated a bit, "I was just talking to that...wait, what was that lunatic who smashed the auction house yesterday?"
"An out-of-control Dragonborn," Camus said calmly. "Sasha has already discovered the man's identity. For a Dragonborn, their desire for wealth, love, power, and other things can be infinitely magnified by dragon blood, causing them to lose their minds and be completely destroyed. He wants to obtain those dragon bones, resurrect those ancient dragons, gain their blessing, and become a true dragon."
Su Cheng thought of the chaotic scene yesterday and couldn't help but frown. Then his expression changed again, "The leader is also a dragonborn, right?"
The Blood Mage's eyes were a little subtle. "...I don't think you need to worry about him going crazy."
Su Cheng thought for a moment, "He's at least a thousand years old. If he was going crazy, he would have gone crazy a long time ago, right? And he doesn't look like that kind of person—"
She still remembered Kai once saying that even if he was looked down upon, he didn't care that much.
Such people may not have too strong obsessions.
Very good.
Su Cheng almost subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
Breakfast in the dining room downstairs had not yet been cleared away. Under the soft and bright light of the crystal chandelier, the marble floor and silver tableware reflected a luster.
The air was filled with the aroma of roasted meat and bread, mixed with the scent of fragrant flowers, fruits and wine.
On one side of the door is the cold cuts area, where crystal clear shrimp and shellfish, and thinly sliced ham are piled up into small hills, dotted with brightly colored pickled olives and pickles, and a few cut poultry are placed in the middle, the meat roasted into an attractive honey color.
Lunch time will be here soon. There are very few people in the restaurant right now. The lobby, which can accommodate hundreds of people, has only three or five tables occupied.
Su Cheng took out the plate and began to fill it with food. He paused for a moment, "Wait, you said Jingyin Society is a group of worshippers of the phantom god. They master the spells of changing form, which are also the illusion spells and shape-shaping spells in the magic of the opposite arts, right?"
She had read some books on the subject, so she at least knew the difference between the two types of magic.
Basic illusions only affect vision, and only after advancement can they affect smell, taste, touch, etc., and the range also expands as the level increases.
But overall, it's primarily a spell that targets the senses of others.
Just like a person wearing clothes, the clothes can be any color, but the body inside is the same.
Illusion is like clothes. To those who can see through them, these clothes don’t exist.
Only shaping spells can truly change a person's appearance, just like when she turned into Vanessa before. Even if there was a magic circle against illusions in the Golden Marigold Palace, it could not remove her disguise.
Because her bone shape, skin color, condition, etc. have all undergone real changes, although they are temporary, but the only thing that remains unchanged is her soul.
There are many kinds of shaping spells, and blood magic shaping is just one of them.
"But that person didn't use an illusion, because Aguilar's body was rotten, so it didn't look like some kind of illusion, nor was it a shaping spell—"
If it is a shaping spell, then the body is also your own.
"That black mist seems to be controlling the corpse," Su Cheng whispered, "It said it with its own mouth at the time. Think about the difference between this body!"
"Anyone can learn corpse manipulation," Camus frowned, "but if it's a real corpse, it may not be able to avert divine punishment."
Su Cheng nodded, "The leader said before..."
Camus glanced at her subconsciously.
Su Cheng didn't notice his look. "Depleting the soul to just a tiny bit is like being dead. You can't do anything, and you won't respond to external stimuli. But according to some spell rules, you're not completely dead."
"I know many similar spells, but if impersonating the prince is the plan and the mission, it's very much like the Kagami-in-kai's style."
Camus pondered for a moment. "Most of the Mirror Hidden Society are believers in the God of Illusion, but there are also some who follow the God of Dreams. Many dream-related spells are spiritual magic that can directly affect the soul. For example, there is a spell called 'Sleep Death', which causes the human soul to sleep forever."
This sounds like it could be connected.
Su Cheng felt that this possibility was very high. "Speaking of which, learning elemental magic requires the ability to resonate with a certain element, but these magics just now don't have this requirement, right? They test more of your comprehension and your brain? Just like blood magic?"
"In principle, that's true," Camus said solemnly, "but the elemental magic system is more complete. Once you resonate with it, it's very easy to learn—compared to any of the types we just discussed. Some blood mages can't even complete the most basic spell after years of learning."
Su Cheng couldn't help but raise the corner of his mouth, "So I'm still a bit of a genius, right?"
The blond man next to him sighed softly, helplessness appearing in his cold, steel-blue eyes. "Do you like hearing me praise you?"
Su Cheng nodded vigorously, "I like it."
Camus choked.
Perhaps because the sincere answer was irrefutable, he had no choice but to comply.
"Yes, you are a genius. Although I have never actually taught anyone, I know a few blood mages and apprentices, and none can compare to you."
"Well," Su Cheng's mouth corners became higher and higher, "Not only have you never taught others, you haven't taught me seriously either. I haven't even started yet."
Camus squinted at her. "...Do you really want to get started? Even if you extract magic power as quickly as possible, it will take you several months to accumulate enough magic power to cast spells. I've already compressed this time to the extreme."
Su Cheng coughed lightly, "You seemed reluctant to teach me before, so I just mentioned it casually. By the way, someone asked me about you at the banquet before."
"To you?"
"Yes, he thought I was Vanessa. He said he heard that Mr. Lodge had a student who was good at blood magic and memory. He asked me if I knew him. Of course I said no."
"Vanessa doesn't really know me," Camus said nonchalantly. "What does that guy want?"
Su Cheng shrugged. "I don't know. He asked me if I could send a message for him, and I just brushed it off. Since he didn't agree to my terms, the conversation didn't continue."
Camus raised his eyebrows slightly, "What conditions?"
Su Cheng: “?”
He actually asked?
He actually asked???
She thought this guy wouldn't be interested in such things.
Su Cheng: "Do you remember what I said before about my curse taking effect?"
Camus placed the plate on the table. "You wanted to sleep with this person, but this person refused—and then Lukesara solved it for you?"
Su Cheng blinked. "Since you are so smart, I won't bother to explain it to you any more."
Camus: “…………”
He silently picked up the plate and left.
Su Cheng still had something to ask, so he had to chase after him. "By the way, what else did Sasha find out? Has the attack on the Jinzhan Palace auction been spread?"
On the other side of the entrance, in the dessert area, stands a towering white cake, like a castle covered in icing and chocolate bars. Surrounding it are various pastries: berry tarts piled with wild berries, cream pudding dotted with cherries, and puff pastry rolls stuffed with wine-soaked apple filling.
"...No." Camus said as he took the cake, his expression still somewhat gloomy. "But I suggest you pay attention. It would be easy for Duke Oulu to confirm your identity."
"I was already like that at the time. I didn't actually try to hide it from him. At most, I would have denied it to the death. Besides, it wasn't me who ruined his business."
Su Cheng was almost piling up the plates. "Come to think of it, didn't many people send me invitations before, inviting me to banquets or wanting to date me? He didn't send any. I'm talking about private invitations. The invitation to Jinzhan Palace doesn't count. There are so many other people invited."
Camus put down the clip. "You were still in the Vatican's temple at the time. I don't think Duke Oulu would openly show his favor to you in front of the Vatican."
Su Cheng: "...Isn't he a person favored by God?"
Camus glanced at her and asked, "He used the power of the Blessed One in front of you?"
"Yes, he turned the Dragonborn into a golden statue," Su Cheng said with a smile, "the God of Wealth, right?"
This person is also the main god of the alliance with the God of Light. If Duke Oulu is his favored one, then he should also be the target of the Holy See's efforts.
"actually--"
Sasha had entered the restaurant at some point and appeared beside them like a ghost.
"The God of Wealth is different from other gods. Duke Oulu has made various huge donations to the Holy See, but if you go to the temples he has renovated, you'll always see various marks of the God of Wealth hidden inside—"
The main gods followed by the Holy See are the God of Light, the Sun and Moon Gods and other minor gods under his command. The other main gods of the allies are not among those worshipped.
So this move is tantamount to provocation.
Sasha turned to look at the wide variety of food on the table. "...Think about it, if you were rich and needed to establish good relations with the Vatican to do something, would you let your workers and overseers tamper with it and put the mark of the God of Contract on a corner?"
Su Cheng immediately looked up at the sky, "How beautiful he is! There's even a mark!"
The two men next to her immediately looked at her.
"Oh," Sasha curled her lips. "What's the meaning of this bitter tone of voice after a quarrel between young lovers? Do you two have a past? Or are you two just getting along?"
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