Chapter 109: The Arcane Emperor

Odo waved his hand, signaling the intelligent mechanical golems aboard the mothership to bring three drinks.

Soon, the mechanical golems returned with three glasses of juice. Rando glanced at the alcohol in front of Odo, then looked at the faintly purple glowing juice before him and couldn’t help but purse his lips.

Taking a small sip, Rando’s eyes brightened. The taste was a delightful balance of sweet and sour. As the cool liquid spread through his body, it washed away the exhaustion he had accumulated recently. To his surprise, it was quite delicious.

Alice and Leia also looked very pleased with their drinks.

Odo shook the glass in his hand, chuckling inwardly. “Kids these days!”

He first turned to Leia and said, “Next, I’ll send you back to the Silver Tower headquarters. It would put my mind at ease to hand you over to Old Master Simon as soon as possible.”

Leia tilted her head, looking a bit puzzled, then replied, “Grandpa Simon mentioned that after I come out of the Crystal World, I should go to the Silver Tower Academy with Mr. Odo to study for a while.”

“Pfft!”

Odo, who had been leisurely sipping his drink, suddenly spat it out, laughing. Then an invisible wave swept through the air, freezing the liquor mid-air before tossing it into the trash bin.

Waving away the mechanical golems who came over to clean up, Odo was silent for a long moment before he could only sigh and say two words, “Alright then.”

Leia was full of question marks, while Alice smiled so broadly that her eyes curved into crescent moons.

Ignoring Leia’s comment, Odo looked at Rando with a smiling squint and said, “I heard you gained quite a lot this time. Playing the fool while hiding your strength until the end, then striking to seize the greatest benefit of that world, manipulating everyone like puppets in your hands—ha! Not bad, not bad. Reminds me of how I used to be!”

“…”

“Well, not everyone was fooled. At least Alice saw through my little tricks,” Rando said with a smile, glancing at Alice.

Alice returned the smile warmly. “That’s because I know your special talents and guessed a bit. You were smart to see through Stran’s plan early and used his own scheme against him to turn the tables in the end!”

Watching the two disciples compliment each other and Leia looking on with admiration, the harmony and tacit understanding among the three made Odo suddenly feel a bit superfluous… Should I just leave then?

After some friendly mutual flattery with Alice, Rando turned to Odo, who was quietly drinking with a weary and somewhat melancholy expression.

“Master, are you alright?” Rando asked with concern.

“Nothing. Just feeling that youth is truly wonderful!”

Rando, Alice, and Leia exchanged puzzled glances.

“By the way, Master, I have something I want to discuss with you privately.”

Before Odo could reply, Alice took Leia’s hand and said, “You two chat. Leia and I are going to take a bath and rest. After so long traveling and roughing it outdoors, we really want to soak and relax, hehe.”

Watching them leave, Odo sighed, “Such good girls!”

“Mm!” Rando nodded in wholehearted agreement.

Odo glanced around and said, “Let’s go to my room.”

They arrived at the room specially prepared for Odo aboard the mothership. Odo gestured for Rando to begin.

“Master, I don’t want this conversation to be recorded,” Rando said.

Odo nodded. After a few simple commands, he said, “I’ve taken temporary control of all the intelligent surveillance in this room. You can speak freely now.”

Rando nodded and began recounting what had happened since he arrived in the Crystal World, up to the defeat of the crystal golems. Odo listened quietly; in truth, he already knew most of it, but hearing it from Rando made the details more vivid.

When Rando mentioned the node crystals were about to cascade in collapse and the world’s destruction was imminent, Odo couldn’t help but interrupt, “Wow, you really could destroy a world! Impressive. Wait, something’s off—I haven’t sensed any disturbance from the Crystal World’s destruction on this side.”

Rando didn’t immediately answer but continued his story, describing how invisible waves froze the world, how all the arcanists were teleported away, and the communication between the crystal lifeforms in the void and the envoys from the Arcane Empire.

Seeing the square crystal Rando took out, and listening to his final words, Odo had to prop his chin with one hand as if in deep thought, afraid that if he moved, his chin would drop to the floor.

“Master Odo, Mr. Maier said this crystal is worth an entire floating city. Is the Crystal World really that valuable?”

After a long breath, Odo explained, “The value of the Crystal World itself goes without saying. Whether in terms of energy concentration or the richness of resources, it undoubtedly meets the standards of a high-tier world, but that isn’t the most important part.”

“In the composition of a Grand Arcanist’s power, there is one aspect called ‘Familiar.’ It is incredibly complex for a Grand Arcanist to create and nurture their own familiar species; many difficulties must be overcome. However, possessing a familiar species leads to a leap in the Grand Arcanist’s strength.”

“For a Grand Arcanist, the native lifeforms of the Crystal World represent the best foundation for building their familiar species. In terms of value, saying it can be exchanged for a floating city is no exaggeration.”

Rando blinked and suddenly said, “Master, I’ve been under your guidance for so long but never given you anything decent. This Crystal World is just right. Please use it to create your own familiar species.”

Odo was stunned. He hadn’t expected Rando to say such things. A flicker of emotion passed through his eyes, and with a warm smile, he patted Rando’s head hard and said, “Good boy, I haven’t spoiled you for nothing! Haha. But I appreciate your kindness. Your master here has also had many extraordinary encounters and is a child of destiny. I already have my own familiar species, so you don’t have to add to that!”

“Hmm, but it’s not safe to keep this on you. Let your master hold onto it for now. I’ll return it when you need it.”

For some reason, although the scene had been so heartwarming moments before, Odo’s last words made Rando suddenly feel like a child receiving New Year’s money from his parents, who smiled and said, “I’ll keep it safe for you now and give it back when you’re older.”

“By the way, you were quite lucky this time. Not only did you befriend a great being, but you also met Grand Arcanists Maier and Lex. They hold a very high status in our lineage. Even Old Master Simon salutes them as seniors when he meets them.”

“Those two are Grand Arcanists from our Silver Tower lineage?” Rando was puzzled. Wasn’t the Silver Tower home to just three Grand Arcanists, including his master Odo?

“It’s more accurate to say the Silver Tower is a branch of their lineage. Those two are the official disciples of that great presence. So the figure you saw on the throne is very likely the origin of our school…”

“The Seventh Arcane Emperor, Lord Edison Cornett!!!”