Chapter 40: Star Domain

The man before him wore a Tree Shadow Cloak and carried a huge longbow on his back, but there was a bow and no arrows.

The curve of his longbow was like a crescent moon. From the top down, three magic arrays were carved: “Breath of the Wind God,” “Brutal Charge,” and “Power of Blazing Flames.” Magic light flickered, dazzling to the eyes.

“Very good!” Yu Qian nodded, a look of satisfaction on his face. “Even better than I imagined!”

Among the magic arrays, there were none like “Eagle’s Eye” or “Steady Palm.” This was enough to show that Hong He was very confident in his archery. Besides, his longbow’s killing power would be especially strong!

The reason for having a bow but no arrows was because he was a magic archer. He did not need physical arrows but could turn mana into arrows.

“Your magic cultivation, is it already at the Spell Apprentice Realm?”

After getting a positive reply, Yu Qian sneered. Using a big knife to kill a chicken was certainly enough!

“This person has a mark left by an elder on him. Once activated, he can escape.” He thought for a moment and carefully instructed, “Since you are a magic archer, you probably don’t need anyone to teach you how to kill with one shot, right?”

“You want to kill him?” Hong He’s expression changed slightly, and he said with dissatisfaction, “This is different from the original condition… Shooting and injuring a student from Dawn Cliff and killing him have very different consequences!”

“What are you afraid of? He’s just an Outer Academy student!” Yu Qian scolded, a sinister smile appearing. “Every time the Beast Gate opens, countless hunters join the hunt. Mistaking people for magical beasts and killing them happens countless times! Such ‘accidents,’ nine times out of ten, just fade away without result.”

“In that case, fine, but the price has to double.” Hong He showed hesitation, pausing for a moment before saying, “I’m taking risks too.”

“Double?” Yu Qian laughed wildly. That little money really wasn’t a concern to him. “Kill him, and I’ll give you four times!”

“Deal!”

Hong He looked satisfied. His previous expression was just an act.

There was one point he didn’t mention. The power of his “Shattering Sky Bow” was so great that compared to killing people, it was actually harder to injure without killing.

Also, he really enjoyed the feeling of shooting prey, especially living people!

He left quickly, walking along a forest path. Suddenly, his eyelids began to twitch uncontrollably. Hong He touched his eyelids, and a thought popped into his mind.

Was it—Mage’s Intuition? An omen?

As soon as the thought arose, he laughed.

In the past two years, he had shot nearly thirty strong practitioners at the Spell Apprentice Realm. Could he possibly capsize in the hands of a Half-Step Mage?

…

The magical glow faded. Four raging giants fell apart one by one, dissolving into pure elements that drifted around them.

Even though the demonstration was over, Gu Yanran still had more to say. She pointed out every detail carefully.

“Elemental Wraiths can be considered a mix of Elemental Life and Undead Creatures, but they also inherit the weakness of Undead Creatures—fearing sunlight. Especially dew wraiths and air wraiths need a thick layer of mana as skin to resist sunlight.”

“Hmm!” Li Yi nodded.

“Additionally, their souls are wraiths, which has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that wraiths have the ability ‘Soul Devour,’ which allows them to advance in rank, and the summoned creature grows along with it. The weakness is that they are extremely vicious and might rebel against their master!”

While explaining verbally, Gu Yanran was not idle with her hands. A dark rune rose on her fingertip, and she gently tapped Li Yi’s forehead.

A dim light flashed, and the rune sank into his head.

Li Yi felt a sudden, faint soul connection with that continuously wailing, Twisted Wraith.

“This is the enslavement contract for this wraith. It can restrict its behavior and let you command it. But there’s something you need to be careful about. If this wraith grows into a ‘Fierce Spirit,’ you’ll have to be very cautious. If it reaches the ‘Malignant Spirit’ level, you absolutely must not use it anymore. Send it back to me immediately! A Malignant Spirit is not something you can control yet!”

When Gu Yanran reached this point, she was especially solemn, emphasizing with stronger tone.

“Yes!”

Li Yi responded again, rubbing his chin with a thoughtful expression.

“What’s wrong? Kid, what are you thinking about now?”

Gu Yanran knew very well that this young man in front of her had a quick mind and lots of clever ideas, so she couldn’t help but ask.

“I was thinking,” Li Yi said as his thoughts flowed, speaking out almost without thinking, “The main mental and mana cost for Elemental Summoning is actually communicating with and summoning spirits from other worlds. ‘Elemental Wraiths’ skip this step, greatly reducing the mental and mana requirements for the mage! Since that’s the case, why not try spells with higher costs like ‘Thunder Summoning’ or ‘Star Domain Summoning’?”

“Oh?” Gu Yanran’s expression changed.

Li Yi paced back and forth, his mind racing, mumbling to himself. “‘Thunder Summoning’ probably wouldn’t work! Thunder and wraiths have opposing attributes. Striking a wraith with lightning wouldn’t be good. ‘Star Domain Summoning’ might be worth considering… But outside of Dawn Cliff, gathering astral power is a bit troublesome. Huh? Teacher Gu, what are you looking at?”

Gu Yanran looked utterly astonished, as if she didn’t recognize him. She thought to herself: How is this kid’s brain wired? Not only does he grasp things immediately, but he can also infer other things from one example! Others take one step and look at the next, but he hasn’t even taken a step yet and is already thinking over ten steps ahead!

“Li Yi, would you like to become my disciple?” She suddenly made up her mind, her autumn-wave-like eyes shimmering, her expression very sincere. “Next year, I can be promoted to Superior Spell Seal and gain the right to take on Outer-Disciples!”

“Me?” Li Yi was a bit stunned. He hesitated for a moment, his voice soft. “Why me?”

“You’re different from everyone here. You have an unconstrained way of thinking and creativity!” It was the first time she had praised Li Yi to his face, and Gu Yanran couldn’t help but blush. “The necromancy lineage has been suppressed for a long time. It’s decayed and stubborn, stuck in old ways. It needs someone pioneering and enterprising to open up new ground.”

“Teacher Gu, you really think too highly of me…” Such a big compliment was a bit overwhelming for Li Yi.

“So? Are you willing?” Gu Yanran’s gaze, soft and liquid, flowed toward him.

Li Yi was very hesitant.

Being an Outer-Disciple was not what he wanted.

The treatment for Direct Disciples was far above that for Outer-Disciples.

Moreover, Li Yi’s main goal was still to go home, and necromancy was precisely the least relevant type of magic for that.

“It’s still a bit early to say. Who knows what changes a year will bring?” Li Yi thought for a moment and didn’t give a definite answer. “Let’s see a year from now!”

“You kid, you actually know how to be evasive? Then, a year from now it is!” Gu Yanran was somewhat disappointed and said half-temptingly, “You know, I have an ‘Evil Corpse-Nurturing Ground.’ Inside, there’s a Formless Celestial Ghost that might be about to form! I was planning to give it as a gift to my disciple…”

“Formless Celestial Ghost?” Li Yi’s heart skipped a beat, but reason still prevailed. He said noncommittally, “We’ll talk about it then!”

“Stubborn brat, if soft talk doesn’t work, then have some hard talk! Black Moon, throw him out!”

Seeing that Li Yi still wasn’t biting, Gu Yanran got annoyed. With a light snort, she loudly commanded.

This woman, how could her mood change faster than flipping a book?

Before Li Yi could even complain inwardly, the world spun around him. He passed through the wall and dove headfirst toward the ground!

…

Back in his room, he sat quietly for a moment to regain his composure. Then, Li Yi contacted Fatty Wang Sheng.

Wang Sheng was a master of magic arrays and had deliberately left a Voice-Transmission Array for him, so contacting him was very convenient.

“Li Yi, perfect! I was just about to contact you. Let me tell you, our business…”

As soon as the array was activated, a rough, duck-like voice from within almost shattered the glass.

“Wang Sheng, I need some Starlight Liquid. Can you get some for me…”

Li Yi knew that if he let him ramble on, it would probably never end. He quickly interrupted and got straight to the point.

“Starlight Liquid? What do you need that for?” The fatty’s voice carried a hint of surprise. “Kid, don’t think that just because we have the ‘Well of Stars’ right above our heads, this stuff has strict quotas. Even I can’t easily get it… When do you need it?”

“I need it tonight. About ten tubes should be enough!”

“Ten tubes? How can I get that in one night? Tonight, three tubes at most!” The fatty’s voice sounded quite helpless.

“Three tubes? Three tubes then, barely enough!” Li Yi thought about it and didn’t demand more. “But you must get them before dawn!”

“Alright, wait till I’m ready, I’ll come right over! Actually, I have something to discuss with you too!”

The light flickered, and the other party had already closed the Voice-Transmission Array.

This fatty was unusually swift and decisive for once. Could it be that something was up?