Chapter 165: The Grand Elder’s Intentions 2

“That’s true. I nearly forgot just how famous your alchemy has become.”

The Grand Elder smiled knowingly.

“You needn’t worry about that. You are an Honorary Elder of the dark elf race. Anyone who dares bully you is no different from bullying us dark elves.”

The Grand Elder could see through Kent’s little scheme perfectly well.

By emphasizing his talent for alchemy, Kent was obviously trying to suggest that he was not particularly capable when it came to actual combat.

Unfortunately for Kent, the Grand Elder already knew far more than he realized.

Over the past half year, Daphne had occasionally mentioned bits and pieces of what had happened during the Great Trial. There were naturally many things even Daphne did not know, but the Grand Elder had always paid close attention to Kent.

If nothing else, Kent’s astonishing rate of advancement alone was enough to make him impossible to ignore.

If anyone else heard how quickly he had risen through the ranks, they would probably think the whole thing was some absurd joke.

“Then I really must thank you, Grand Elder.”

Kent relaxed considerably after hearing those words.

His current strength might no longer be weak, but he could hardly spend every few days dealing with one troublesome person after another.

More importantly, the Grand Elder had already warned him that advancing too quickly would inevitably attract envy and unwanted attention.

The more Kent thought about it, the more uneasy he became.

In barely half a year, he had gone from a low-rank mage to a high-rank mage.

Even ignoring the two major bottlenecks he had crossed along the way, that speed alone was enough to make countless people covet whatever secret they imagined he possessed.

If Kent himself heard that someone else had advanced so quickly, he would probably rack his brains trying to learn how they had done it.

And that was only ordinary curiosity.

What about those cultivators who had already reached the limits of their potential and knew that they might never advance another step for the rest of their lives?

People like that could become truly desperate.

And desperate people were capable of anything.

By the time Kent thought that far, cold sweat had already soaked the back of his clothes.

The Grand Elder, meanwhile, watched him in silence.

The more he thought about Kent, the more mysterious the young man seemed.

His skill in alchemy was already extraordinary. With nothing but the poorest-quality magical materials, he had somehow managed to beat back an entire kobold assault.

Then came the Great Trial.

Countless people had wanted to get their hands on Kent, yet somehow he had vanished into the second level instead.

And when he finally returned, he had even managed to bring back a draconic magical beast.

Not just any draconic beast, either.

A Legendary-rank one.

It was almost impossible to believe.

And then there was Kent’s terrifying rate of advancement.

How exactly had he managed to reach the seventh rank so quickly?

The Grand Elder himself had already been over three hundred years old by the time he reached that level.

Had it not been for Her Majesty the Queen’s explicit instructions, he might genuinely have been tempted to seize Kent, sit him down, and demand a complete explanation.

But the moment the Queen came to mind, that faint impulse disappeared without a trace.

“Grand Elder... if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going?”

Kent noticed that the old dark elf seemed lost in thought.

More importantly, there was something distinctly unsettling about the way the Grand Elder was looking at him.

Kent’s heart skipped a beat, and he cautiously tested the waters.

The Grand Elder snapped out of his thoughts and nodded.

Then, as though suddenly remembering something, he asked, “Haven’t you gone to see Darkya yet?”

“I don’t know where she found it, but she brought back some kind of magical beast cub. The little thing spends every day running around and causing trouble.”

Kent blinked.

“Grand Elder, that’s Pike.”

“Darkya and I picked him up together while wandering through the market.”

He shook his head.

“As for what kind of magical beast he actually is, I still don’t know. He might even be some sort of mutated species.”

At the mention of Pike, the image of a round, plump little piglet immediately appeared in Kent’s mind.

Then he thought of Big Nose.

The Gold-Eating Rat had become every bit as fat as Pike.

At the moment, Big Nose was deep in hibernation, which almost certainly meant that he was preparing to advance once again.

Kent was hardly surprised.

The little glutton had eaten far too many good things while they were underground—magic cores, high-grade magical metals, and all sorts of other treasures.

If he didn’t advance after eating all that, it would have been stranger still.

For now, Kent had left Big Nose safely at home.

He certainly did not dare put the Gold-Eating Rat inside the dimensional space.

Who knew what that deranged puppet might do?

If it happened to mistake Big Nose for some sort of magical material and quietly sort him into one of the storage warehouses...

Kent did not even want to imagine it.

“Mm. Go ahead and take care of your own business.”

The Grand Elder waved a hand casually.

“But Darkya... I’m leaving her in your care. From now on, she’s your responsibility.”

The moment those words left his mouth, the Grand Elder turned and hurried away.

Kent stared after him.

No matter how he looked at it, the old man seemed less like he was leaving and more like he was fleeing.

“Grand Eld—!”

Kent had barely shouted the first few syllables when the Grand Elder vanished from sight.

Kent stood there speechless.

To be perfectly honest, he had never been particularly fond of girls like Darkya, with their spoiled tempers and highborn airs.

What puzzled him even more was the attitude of the dark elves.

Hadn’t they always looked down on humans?

Then why was the Grand Elder constantly trying to win his favor?

And what exactly had he meant by suddenly declaring that Darkya was now Kent’s responsibility?

The more Kent thought about it, the more confused he became.

With a helpless shake of his head, he walked out of the Grand Elder’s residence.

As he went, he silently began circulating the secret technique the Grand Elder had given him.

With Kent’s current mental strength, memorizing and controlling a mere battle-aura circulation route was ridiculously easy.

The results appeared almost immediately.

Just as the Grand Elder had promised, the magical fluctuations radiating from Kent’s body became noticeably more obscure the moment he began circulating the technique.

As his control grew smoother, the effect became even stronger.

Eventually, his outward magical aura settled at roughly the level of a second-rank mage.

Kent could not help feeling even more wary of the dark elf race.

If they possessed a secret technique capable of concealing strength this effectively, then how much power were the dark elves truly hiding?

Kent had no way of knowing.

And that uncertainty alone was enough to make him cautious.

Still, there was little point dwelling on it now.

He had magical materials to buy.

As for Darkya...

She could do whatever she pleased.

With that thought, Kent turned toward the central square and continued on his way.

“Your Majesty, it has just been confirmed.”

Back inside the residence, the Grand Elder bowed respectfully before a figure completely wrapped in a dark cloak.

“Kent truly can read the ancient script.”

He lowered his voice.

“The moment he stepped outside the residence, the magical fluctuations around his body began to recede. He clearly understood the scroll we gave him.”

The title alone revealed the identity of the cloaked figure.

This was none other than Her Majesty, the Queen of the dark elves.

“Let Daphne and Darkya do as they wish.”

A melodious voice emerged from beneath the cloak.

“We will not interfere with them.”

Then her tone became more serious.

“But the contents of that scroll must be deciphered completely.”

“You know that I can no longer suppress my strength for much longer.”

“If my true power is exposed, people from the Sanctuary will come.”

“So you must hurry.”

The Grand Elder’s expression changed immediately.

The Sanctuary.

That was the world where Legendary experts ultimately gathered.

Once someone reached the peak of the Legendary rank, envoys from the Sanctuary would come and take them away.

Yet according to the rumors, the Sanctuary was far from the paradise its name suggested.

Sanctuary-level magical beasts were said to roam everywhere within it, and the situation of humans there was extremely difficult.

Her Majesty had already remained at the peak of the Legendary rank for more than two hundred years.

All this time, she had deliberately suppressed her own strength to avoid drawing the attention of the Sanctuary.

The scroll given to Kent today had been passed down from the ancient era.

Although the Queen could recognize most of the ancient characters written upon it, a secret cultivation technique was far too dangerous to interpret approximately.

One mistaken word could completely alter the meaning.

A single error might turn a powerful technique into something useless—or even fatal.

The Grand Elder hesitated for a moment before asking, “But how exactly does Kent know how to read that ancient language?”

The cloaked Queen gave a faint sigh.

“You people know far less than you think.”

Her voice carried a trace of helpless amusement.

“You all believe Kent’s advancement is frighteningly fast, don’t you?”

The Grand Elder’s confusion only deepened.

Unable to restrain himself, he asked, “Is there something unusual behind it?”

“Unusual?”

The Queen gave a soft laugh.

“In my view, Kent reaching the divine rank is almost a certainty.”

The Grand Elder’s eyes widened.

The Queen continued.

“Across the countless planes, there occasionally appear individuals who are unlike ordinary people.”

“They possess extraordinary natural talent, but talent alone is not what makes them special.”

“They also seem to encounter opportunities others could never hope for. They acquire rare secret arts, strange inheritances, and methods capable of allowing their strength to rise at an astonishing pace.”

Her voice lowered slightly.

“We call such people... the God-Favored.”

The Grand Elder’s brow twitched.

Anything connected to the word god was never something trivial.

He slowly repeated the unfamiliar title under his breath.

“God-Favored...”