Chapter Eight: The Author Ought to End His Own Life as an Apology to the World
In the royal palace gardens, Linley began his cultivation practice. After several days, the true energy within his body had circulated enough to form a small lake, still ceaselessly absorbing magic from the outside and converting it into true energy. According to the levels described in cultivation novels, he was likely at the Qi Refining stage.
But that wasn’t the main concern…
“Invisibility spell!”
Linley shouted, drew out a rune, and carefully pressed it to his forehead. A white light surged from his head to his feet, and in the blink of an eye, those around him could no longer see his original form.
“Can you still see me?” Linley asked.
The three maids standing before him all nodded: “We can see you very clearly, Your Highness.”
“Really?” Linley was incredulous. He had clearly used the invisibility spell—how could they still see him?
“It’s true, Your Highness. We can see everything clearly.” The maids’ gazes were fixed intently beneath Linley: “Your Highness, you’ve grown fur!”
Startled, Linley looked down and discovered his entire body had become bare, everything exposed.
“That cursed Sphere of Light is tricking me!” he fumed, tearing off the rune, and his hidden clothing reappeared on him. “Is this an invisibility spell or a stripping spell?!”
That morning, he’d given the array to the Sphere of Light, who had in turn supplied him with some cultivation runes. Yet no matter how he used them, their effects were always wrong.
That same morning, a strikingly handsome elven youth arrived at the royal mage tower.
“Isn’t that the Chief Mage’s treasured grandson?”
“That’s right. I hear he’s a top student at the Paladin Academy.”
This youth was the grandson of the Chief Mage, Wang Xiong. Unlike his grandfather, he wasn’t a mage, but a righteous, compassionate paladin. Only less than one percent of elves qualified to become paladins—a rare honor. This youth was a celebrity idol in the kingdom, second only to the two princes of the royal family.
The mages, seeing him, were immediately inspired with new schemes.
“We can make use of this young man!”
“If dyeing the little prince green didn’t break him, we’ll have to rely on external help.”
The mages had long heard that this youth hated evil, and with his paladin training, his physical strength was formidable—certainly not inferior to the little prince.
“Come on, let’s coax him into action!”
“Everyone, remember not to call him by his name.”
“Why?”
“Because if I say his name, I’ll laugh.”
“…”
The mages stopped the youth and began to pour out their grievances about the little prince’s misdeeds. Their emotional complaints lasted three hours without pause, leaving the youth furious and indignant.
“The little prince is such a person!”
He had already harbored some misgivings about the prince, and now, after hearing the mages’ complaints, his prejudice deepened.
“Despicable, truly despicable!”
His upright nature could not tolerate the prince’s tyranny against the mages. Even if he was a prince, rules must be observed!
“So my sister was sent to the convent because of his plot—how hateful!”
While recounting their woes, the mages also pinned the matter of the future princess being sent to the convent on Linley. The youth, who cherished his sister, could not endure this and insisted on teaching Linley a lesson. The mages couldn’t stop him.
“Young man, don’t be impulsive!”
“Don’t try to stop me! Where is that wretched prince?”
“He’s not in the garden, young man, really, don’t be rash, he’s not in the garden!”
“The garden—he must be in the garden! Where is it?”
“We don’t know, but don’t go left, really… hey, hey, don’t go left!”
Their efforts were in vain; the clever youth soon located the garden where Linley was practicing.
“Which one is the prince?”
“Quick, tell the little prince dressed in green to run!”
The mages were deeply worried for the prince’s safety.
Upon hearing “green,” the youth immediately locked onto his target—the only green creature in the garden practicing magic. He was shocked: “That’s the little prince? Grandfather wants my sister to marry such a green monster?”
It was simply evil—just one look and he could tell this prince was villainous.
Yet the youth felt something was off: “Wait, I heard the little prince was supposed to be handsome.”
The mages all agreed.
“Exactly, that’s definitely not the little prince. The prince isn’t in the garden.”
“How could the little prince look like that? The royal family never exaggerates his looks to uphold their dignity—never!”
“Young man, I think you should just head back!”
The youth thought the mages underestimated his intelligence. So it was all just royal propaganda to protect the prince’s reputation—makes sense, that must be it!
Heaven help his poor, adorable sister, destined to marry such a green thing—her brother couldn’t stand it!
“Sister, let me save you!”
The youth rolled up his sleeves and strode forward, full of anger, while the mages hid nearby to observe.
Linley was still practicing, unable to use the runes properly. In frustration, he tossed the runes aside, memorized their inscriptions, and directly activated his energy.
As the youth drew closer, he saw something even more horrifying—the evil prince’s training methods were bizarre; while others practiced with wooden posts, he had tied a bear monster to a pillar for practice!
Cruel, truly cruel!
The youth’s rage intensified, and he quickened his pace, just a few meters from reaching the prince’s back. Suddenly, he paused—something was wrong, the air around him felt icy cold. He saw snowflakes and frost swirling about the prince.
“What is that?”
Alarm bells rang in his mind, but before he could figure it out, a loud shout erupted.
“Witness my Frost River Mirror Fist!”
Linley suddenly launched a punch forward. Ice-cold energy swept out in a surge, overwhelming the youth. He saw a flash of white light, and his body was plunged into a frozen hell.
…
When the chill faded, Linley looked at the bear monster before him—completely unharmed. Another failure.
Not even a blade of grass had frozen in front of him, let alone the bear monster.
“The programming on those runes is definitely faulty. I need to lodge a complaint with that damned Sphere of Light; the rewards it gave me are worthless!”
Linley muttered, his mood for practice utterly gone. He turned to leave, only to find a statue of ice behind him.
“When did a sculpture get placed here?” Linley patted the ice statue. “Huh, there’s a glowing person inside? Hey, brother, aren’t you cold…”
The youth, frozen within the statue, couldn’t speak. The holy light barely protected his consciousness. He stared wide-eyed at Linley—wasn’t that obvious? How could he not be cold in this state? Hurry up and let me out, I can’t hold on much longer.
Seeing no response from the statue, and the glowing person glaring at him, Linley shrugged.
“…Alright, alright, stop glaring. I shouldn’t have disturbed your experience as an ice sculpture. I’ll just go!”
Linley skirted around the statue and left, puzzled: What is it with elves these days and their peculiar hobbies? What’s so appealing about staying in ice?
The mages hiding nearby were silent, having witnessed the entire scene. Their mouths hung open wide enough to fit an egg. When Linley passed by, their eyes lit up again, and they rushed out.
“Your Highness, what was that just now?”
They made sure to keep a distance of at least three meters from Linley.
He was a little puzzled: “What do you mean?”
“That thing you were practicing just now…”
“Oh, that’s called Frost River Mirror Fist,” Linley replied. “The runes say to model true energy as ice elements and then project it… Too bad I haven’t mastered it yet—it’s so hard to learn.”
The mages’ eyes sparkled even more. Difficult? Oh no, you’re nearly there; didn’t you just freeze someone inside?
“This move is powerful!”
“The direction’s a bit off, but that’s a minor issue. It’s truly formidable!”
“Your Highness, you’re amazing!”
“Cultivation is indeed wonderful, marvelous! Cultivation is superb!”
The mages were ecstatic—this was their first time witnessing the power of a cultivator. Though they themselves could cast freezing spells, the little prince’s technique required no incantation, just direct energy from the body—it was utterly novel.
In their excitement, the mages forgot all about the youth frozen in the ice statue. Only half an hour later did someone rescue him, but by then he was barely clinging to life.
Linwen received the report and found Linley that afternoon: “Did you hit Wang Elephant today?”
“Who’s Wang Elephant?” Linley was perplexed.
“The Chief Mage’s eldest grandson—the one frozen in the ice sculpture today.”
“Oh, that enthusiast? I didn’t hit him!” Linley was surprised. “His name is Wang Elephant? Wang Xiong is his grandfather? Their family really embraces the beast theme. Then his sister must be… Wait, what’s her name again?”
Linley suddenly realized he hadn’t asked the girl’s name when he’d summoned her for a favor.
Linwen was exasperated and sighed helplessly. He worried for nothing. The king had chosen a bride for his brother, but in the end, it would depend on whether the two accepted each other when they grew up—this heartless brother hadn’t even remembered the girl’s name!
He sighed softly, feeling powerless.
Linley’s attention had already shifted to another matter.
“By the way, Brother Lin, why do elves have Chinese names… Oh, I mean, why do we name things just like the cultivators in my dreams? Isn’t this a fantasy world?”
After ten years of reincarnation, Linley suddenly noticed a crucial detail he had overlooked.
“Chinese names?” Linwen was a bit confused, but he did have an answer: “Since ancient times, elves have been named this way. Maybe that cultivation civilization is our long-lost distant relative.”
Linley was speechless. Impossible—if that were true, the author should commit seppuku in apology to the world!