Chapter 2109: Reincarnation Underworld

Mentoring an apprentice was truly no easy task.

As time went on, Sein gradually realized that even between mentor and apprentice, there could be considerable differences in temperament, interests, and aptitude.

Lorianne and Sein were one example. Sein and Catherine were another.

After teaching Catherine for some time, Sein discovered that she had almost no natural aptitude for mechanics.

More importantly, she seemed to have little interest in the subject at all.

Since Catherine had no desire to explore the field of mechanics, forcing her to study it would only waste both of their time.

Fortunately, she performed quite well in Verdant Flame magic and showed decent talent in the fundamentals of alchemy.

Sein had once asked Catherine why she chose to study pyro magic when she was still an initiate.

Her answer had been refreshingly candid.

Back when she was studying at the public magic academy in the Byrne Empire, Minor Fireball had simply been the most destructive spell she could learn in a short period of time.

That was all there was to it.

There had been a time when Catherine was almost obsessed with gaining greater power.

However, after advancing to the intermediate initiate stage and taking part in more than a hundred missions to eradicate mountain bandits alongside other initiates from the Divine Tower of Radiant Sun, the hatred and obsession buried in her heart gradually faded over time.

By the time Catherine became a senior initiate, she had begun to realize that the pursuit of power alone was not enough. For a mage, the exploration of truth and the deeper principles behind magic were equally important.

That realization alone had already set her apart from many Quasi Mages of her generation.

Sein was naturally pleased with her answer.

He appreciated Catherine’s honesty, and once again, he caught a glimpse of his younger self in her.

As for her poor performance in mechanics, Sein briefly wondered whether he had simply assigned her too much work lately, leaving her with too little time and energy to properly explore the subject, or if she simply lacked a natural aptitude for it.

Either way, there was no need to force the matter. Being able to inherit even a portion of Sein’s knowledge was already no small achievement.

Besides, Catherine might not remain his only apprentice forever.

Perhaps someday, Sein would meet another apprentice with greater talent and a genuine interest in mechanics, and pass that part of his legacy on to them.

***

Although Catherine resembled Sein in many ways, there were also areas where the two were completely different.

Sein had never been particularly fond of teaching at divine tower academies.

Back then, he had felt that dealing with magic initiates who barely understood the fundamentals was a waste of time that could have been better spent on his own experiments. He would much rather immerse himself in the pursuit of truth.

Catherine, however, felt differently.

The contract she had signed with Marie included a clause requiring her to teach at the divine tower academy.

As a result, aside from studying the advanced academic knowledge Sein imparted to her each day, Catherine also had to set aside time to prepare lessons and teach the young initiates.

Sein had once offered to help her turn down those teaching assignments, but Catherine politely declined.

She only taught two classes a week, she explained, so it would hardly interfere with her pursuit of truth.

Besides wanting to honor the terms of her contract, Sein could also tell that Catherine genuinely enjoyed being around those energetic initiates.

“All right. It’s up to you. I’ll still check your assignments regularly.”

He paused briefly before continuing, “You should have gained a basic understanding of Verdant Flame magic by now. We’ll start with the Verdant Flame Body-Tempering experiments very soon.”

At the dinner table, Catherine’s hand trembled slightly, sending faint ripples through the pale yellow elemental juice in her goblet.

“Do we really have to?” she asked somewhat timidly.

Sein raised an eyebrow at her. He took a sip of the juice Azelia had poured for him before replying, “Of course. It’s one of the hallmarks of our Verdant Flame Faction.”

“Your mentor, meaning me, as well as your... um... great-grandmaster and other elders have all undergone body tempering,” he explained.

After studying under Sein for some time, Catherine had gradually come to realize just how extraordinary the faction she had joined truly was.

Sein alone was already a peak Rank Five grand mage, yet the Verdant Flame Faction also had several other law-wielding powerhouses.

Of course, no faces came to mind when Sein mentioned those elders, since Catherine had never met any of them in person.

There was one person she was extremely curious about, though... Her grandmaster, Sein’s own mentor.

“Master, did Grandmaster also practice body tempering?” Catherine asked, blinking curiously.

“Uh... that’s something you’ll have to ask your grandmaster yourself someday.”

Sein cleared his throat before continuing, “But I can tell you this. Your great-grandmaster, the founder of the Verdant Flame Faction, is an exceptionally powerful peak Rank Six body-tempering mage.”

Having already advanced to Rank One, Catherine had gained a general understanding of the power hierarchy among the middle ranks of the Magus Civilization.

Peak Rank Six mages already stood at the very top among those capable of establishing divine towers. The next step beyond that was Rank Seven, the level at which one could establish a soul tower.

Yet to Catherine, whether Rank Four or Rank Six, such heights still seemed impossibly distant.

For now, her goal was to advance to Rank Two within three hundred years.

That was the target Sein had set for her.

He did not necessarily expect Catherine to reach Rank Four someday, but he believed Rank Three or its peak should be well within her reach.

As for advancing to Rank Two within three hundred years, he considered that a perfectly reasonable goal.

There was no need to rush her advancement.

A firmer foundation at the lower ranks would only benefit Catherine more as she climbed higher in the future.

***

Not long after accepting Catherine as his apprentice, Sein took a break from his experiments and made a video call to Lorianne, who was still stationed far away on the front lines.

Naturally, he told her the news.

The moment Lorianne heard that she finally had a grand-apprentice, she could barely contain her excitement.

She immediately began reminding Sein to guide Catherine well.

Not long afterward, she even prepared a large batch of low-grade potions she had personally brewed and arranged to have them sent back to Magus World for her dear grand-apprentice.

When Sein heard that, the corner of his mouth twitched.

“Catherine hasn’t even started her body-tempering experiments yet. She probably doesn’t need that many potions and tonics, does she?”

“Oh, what do you know? Not every potion is for restoring stamina and vitality,” Lorianne shot back. “Haven’t you noticed how beautiful your grandmaster’s skin has always been?”

She stroked her chin thoughtfully before adding, “Bernice has lovely skin color too, of course, but I still personally prefer a fairer complexion.”

Sein was momentarily taken aback and instinctively glanced down at his own arm.

Because of his constitution, and perhaps the potions Lorianne had given him over the years, his skin was indeed rather pale.

Noticing where he was looking, Lorianne blushed slightly and scolded him in amusement, “What are you looking at? I was talking about myself!”

“Oh,” Sein replied.

After catching up on a few recent family matters, Lorianne mentioned that Gregory would likely be returning to Magus World soon to recuperate.

Not long ago, Gregory had sustained some injuries on the battlefield of the Grand Apocalypse World.

Considering his fighting style, which was even more ferocious than that of many knights, it was hardly surprising that he had gotten injured.

Lorianne told Sein to visit Gregory at the Divine Tower of Whispering Flame when he had the time.

Since she was stationed on the front lines of the Valthwain Star Domain battlefield, Lorianne also had access to plenty of information that Sein, who remained in the rear in Magus World, would normally have difficulty obtaining.

“Did you know? Another wave of Immortal Realm forces will be arriving on our Magus Civilization battlefield soon. I guess the number of Immortal Realm cultivators fighting alongside us will only continue to increase from here,” Lorianne said.

“Oh? Which forces are coming this time?” Sein asked.

“I heard from Lady Jefferny, a Rank Six mage stationed at the logistics base, that it should be a legion from the Chan Sect,” Lorianne replied.

“Oh, aside from that, there seems to be another faction from the Immortal Realm heading our way as well. I think it’s the Wu Clan from the Reincarnation Underworld...?” she added, uttering another foreign-sounding name.[1]

“Reincarnation Underworld...?” Sein murmured thoughtfully.

Recently, thanks to the corpse of the Rank Four Immortal Realm cultivator he had obtained from the Phantom Crow King, along with information gathered from several other sources, Sein had gained a better understanding of the Immortal Realm civilization.

From what he knew, the Chan Sect was another top-tier Daoist faction within the Immortal Realm.

Since they were only arriving on the Magus Civilization battlefield now, they were unlikely to be heading toward the Gallant Federation’s main theater of operations.

More likely, they were being deployed to the front against the Amenkha Empire.

Honestly, Sein was quite interested in the war currently raging in the Grand Cosmic World as well.

If the opportunity arose, he hoped to request a transfer there the next time he returned to the front lines and see the battlefield for himself. After all, a considerable number of Magus Civilization legions were already fighting there.

As for the faction from the Reincarnation Underworld... Based on what Sein had recently learned about the Immortal Realm civilization, one possibility immediately came to mind.

“Could they be some kind of undead faction?” he asked.

Lorianne merely shrugged. She had no idea either.

1. Important Translator's Note for Champion Readers (you may safely ignore this message if you have seen this note in Chapter 2031): The Wu Clan here refers to the group from Primordial World. Yes, they were previously translated as the “shamans“. The character “Wu” can be translated as shaman/sorcerer/witch, which was why I originally chose “shaman”. However, after doing more research into a future character, I realized that “shaman” isn’t really the best term for them. Going forward, I’ve decided to keep “Wu” untranslated. I’ll share more about the Wu Clan and their lore in a future chapter. For now, please accept my apologies for not researching this thoroughly enough when the term first appeared! Thankfully, this term change mainly affects Chapter 1865, which has already been fixed. ☜