Near Marital Saint Light Cavalry Man
The dragon and human pair were now on their way to Profound Orchid City. Salamandhys didn’t make any more trouble for Nian Bing, as they slowly meandered along the road like a pair of friends. Salamandhys never had a concept of time. He had lived so many millennia, so he only lived to enjoy life. Nian BIng originally thought of using magic to travel, but he was stopped by Salamandhys, who said he wanted to walk on his own legs to better get a feel for the beauty of the human world.
The wintry days marched on. A thread of warmth unfurled as the year entered March. After several months of rest and reorganization, the Profound Orchid Empire that had received heavy blows was in the midst of recovery. At least, they were on the surface.
“Nian Bing, how far are we from Profound Orchid City?” Salamandhys observed the budding trees on either side of the avenue.
Nian BIng smiled. “I just looked at the map; with our current speed, it’ll take at most three days.”
Salamandhys was excited. “So I will soon be able to eat good food?”
Nian Bing smiled bitterly. “Mighty Salamandhys, haven’t you eaten a lot on this trip? Forget about a going through a capital, even if you pass through a small village you gorge for days before continuing on.”
On this journey, he had more belief that Salamandhys was helping him raise his body strength in order to continue making him good food. The moment they arrived at a place where they could purchase sufficient ingredients, Salamandhys had to stop and make Ninan Bing cook him delicious food for days. Although it was very good for training his culinary skills, Nian Bing was more worried that with this speed, that he might not have time to go to the Harmonic Flower Empire to participate in the Rising Mage Tournament after delivering the letter.
However, he was slightly eased by the fact that since leaving the fire dragon’s cave, his advancement in magic was enough to send him frantic with joy, and he also even had a qualitative leap in his physical strength. Magic power cultivation required time, but he was already very pleased with his magic control skill as well as the potential use of mimicry magic.
Salamandhys eating well was certainly not anything bad. Every time Nian BIng met with a problem, as long as he made him a delicious meal with his heart and soul, he would definitely be able to pluck something he needed from that mouth. For Nian BIng, right now Salamandhys was a mobile magic treasure trove.
Salamandhys snorted. “Don’t forget that my true body is very large; of course I have to eat a lot to maintain my excellent physique. What about it? Are you dissatisfied with something?”
Nian Bing responded ill-humoredly, “There is nothing I’m dissatisfied about. It’s just that you are so wealthy, but every time you eat you use this puny human’s money. My savings are no more. You should pay with your own money to fund our meals from now on.”
“Ey, you stinky brat, you want to destroy the mighty Salamandhys? I have no money; I didn’t bring a single gold coin. Didn’t you say you could sell magic scrolls for money? When we get to Profound Orchid City, go and sell some.”
Nian Bing’s face showed signs of his long suffering. “I need magic scrolls to trade! I’ve already used up all my magic scrolls back in the Tiandang Mountains. You’ve eaten away all my money, so I can’t even by a blank scroll. How am I supposed to sell them?”
Salamandhys smiled like a kid, exposing his white teeth. “That’s your problem; it has nothing to do with me. If it comes time and I don’t have any delicacies to eat, you better be careful. I don’t mind bringing you back to the Tiandang Mountains for more rounds of training. Anyways, I have the time to play with you.”
“You…” Nian Bing knew he could do anything against Salamandhys’ rascally nature. Against such a self-centered bastard, he could only be patient.
They were walking again when the sounds of carriage wheels and chafing on the earth came from the front. The sound gradually got clearer. Nian Bing raised up his head and saw what looked to be a caravan coming at them.
At the very front of the caravan was naturally the most popular component–mercenaries. Over ten mercenaries formed a ‘人’ shaped defensive formation in front of the carriage. The carriage appeared ordinary from the outside. There were over ten carriages, but there were actually over one hundred mercenaries protecting it. Based on the mercenaries’ appearance, they should be not bad, some high-grade warriors. It looks like this caravan’s grease is quite thick!1
“Ee, Nian Bing, this is one of your human caravans.” Salamandhys was also looking where Nian Bing was.
Nian Bing nodded. “It should be, otherwise there wouldn’t be this many mercenaries.”
Salamandhys chuckled. “Our problem is solved. Aren’t you out of money? There are so many people here that there are definitely quite a few expensive things. You go and rob them, and we will have food expenses.”
Nian Bing stared at Salamandhys who spoke so easily. His voice rose, “You want to make me steal?”
Salamandhys wore a ‘yes, of course’ expression. “Naturally, if you don’t have money, you steal. Anyways, they were just going to spend it. We will spend it too. Same difference. Hurry up; you only have to steal enough money. How about this, if you do it, I will tell you the answer to the question you asked me yesterday about light element. It’s a pretty good deal.”
Nian Bing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “But Mighty Salamandhys, I am a chef, or I should say a mage. I’m afraid it’s inappropriate for me to perform daylight robbery. If we encounter an officer of the empire, I could not wash myself clean by jumping into the Sky Azure River. Right now, we are in the Profound Orchid Empire, if we became rats on the street2. We wouldn’t be able to eat any good food.”
Salamandhys snorted. “What’s with all that rubbish? All that legal nonsense has nothing to do with me. I just now that money can buy food. Hurry up. If you don’t, don’t blame me for being impolite. Don’t forget, I can take that puny life of yours at any time.”
Although Nian Bing knew that Salamandhys would hate to kill him, he knew that if he did not go along with what Salamandhys wished, he would not be able to live well in the future. He sighed helplessly. Taking advantage of the caravan not paying attention to them, he hurriedly took out his magic reaper costume and put it on. He then put on a mask, and felt slightly better.
When he saw Nian Bing’s dress up, Salamandhys broke into a laughter. “Why are you copying a clown? Hurry up; I’ll wait here for you. Ey, what are you looking at. You think that the noble, mighty Salamandhys would do something as shameless as stealing?”
No words. You cannot be shameless, so you make me shameless instead. What sort of reasoning is this? Oh, that’s right, you never had any logic. Nian Bing cast a snowstorm. Right now he did not have the protection of his magic scrolls, so he had to be more careful.
The distance between Nian Bing and the caravan shrunk. Nian Bing travelled in the center of the road, forcing the caravan to a halt. Salamandhys was already reclining by the road while watching the show.
The mercenaries naturally noticed this uninvited guest. Each of them took out their weapons, but Nian Bing was just a single man; not enough to make them nervous. Three people broke out from the mercenaries in the front, urging their horses to charge at Nian Bing faster. In a blink, they were right in front of him.
The middle mercenary was tall and looked to be a bit over forty years old. He wore the standard issue mercenary armor, giving him a very imposing and threatening aura. His bald head gleamed under the sunlight. He looked very rough around the edges, like a very straightforward person. “Friend, we wish to pass through this road. I must ask you to step aside.” He was very polite. After all, the mercenary was just fulfilling his mission; no one wanted more trouble.
Nian Bing sighed in his heart. He deliberately made his voice a note raspier, “Cut the crap. If you pay me toll I’ll let you go. I am a robber.” This was his first time doing such a thing, so he could only come up with this line.
For the three old hands at the mercenary business, they knew that Nian Big was a noob bandit just by listening to him. The two mercenaries in the side were about to take action but were stopped by the first mercenary who spoke. He rubbed his shiny, bald head and said carefreely, “Brother, when you are at home you rely on your parents, and when you leave home you rely on your friends. Our Knife King mercenary troop will take you as a friend. Everybody calls me Liu Lang3, or by my nickname Gold-plated Knife. You can take this money.” He took out a small purse and tossed it at Nian Bing.
Nian Bing caught the purse and was surprised to discover that there were actually over ten gold coin inside. He couldn’t help feel suspicious; were bandits so well-received these days? He could get money with just words? That was too easy. Although he was thinking this, he felt good. This way he wouldn’t have to force himself to commit robbery.
He was about to get away when Salamandhys’ terrifying voice spoke in his ear. “That’s way too little; it’s not even enough for me to eat once. Their caravan is so big; this little money is no good. You go try again.” Although he didn’t know how he was hearing his voice, Nian Bing knew for sure that he was the only one who could hear him.
Nian Bing cursed Salamandhys’ eighteen generations of answers in his heart, but he could not refuse. He could only put on a brave face. “Brother Liu Lang, although you are generous, this is not enough to buy your passage.”
Liu Lang frowned. The reason why he chose money to buy his passage was mainly because this fellow had a faintly discernable intimidation about him. Liu Lang looked rough on the outside, but he was a very meticulous guy; he didn’t want to antagonize others too much. At the moment, the other party had taken his money but still hadn’t let them pass. Liu Lang could not help but curse this noob’s lack of knowledge. He said calmly, “So you’re saying you don’t plan on letting us go?”
At this point, Nian Bing didn’t have any hopes for good luck. He said coldly, “A thousand gold coins, and I will let you go. Think it over well.” While saying this, he continuously chanted his magic. He stuck his right arm out to the side and a red, blue streams of light floated outwards. The color of the streams was not easily discernible. In the moment the three mercenaries were stunned, an explosion sounded.
Red and blue light immediately formed a giant ball of light on the ground on the side of the road, causing an intense explosion. Three large trees were even uprooted, and a giant hole appeared. Although it was a bit shallow, it indicated the strength of the explosion. Some of the broken branches had been scorched, or were covered in a layer of frost.
Nian Bing was secretly pleased. The leap in his Ice and Fire Source’s power meant that he didn’t need to use a different hand for each magic to bring out the strength of the Ice and Fire Source. Directly using a rank 1 Ice and Fire Source spell didn’t even require a chant. With the effects of mimicry training, he even could use rank 2 Ice and Fire Source without a chant. Right now, Nian Bing didn’t know if he resembled a mage or a warrior.
The unexpected happen. Nian Bing’s impressive attack did not faze the horseback mercenaries, especially the middle one, Gold-Plated Knife. He was still calm and fiercely upright on top of his horse. He looked at Nian Bing, smiling but not smiling. “Your performance is done? So you used Cold Ice Raging Fire Palm; I haven’t seen that kind of qi in years. Good, good ,good! It seems you are worthy of a warm-up.” He pushed off the saddle, sending his tall form into the air before he landed heavily in front of him. The other two mercenaries’ faces looked as if they could do with some popcorn.
Now that they were closer, Nian Bing carefully studied the mercenary in front of him. Liu Lang was taller than him by over half a head and his shoulders were extremely broad. At the moment, he had already taken of the massive machete off his back. Nian Bing was surprised to discover that this large machete was identical in every way with his own Holy Light. Liu Lang moved the machete like it had no weight and he pointed it at him. “Boy, come. Let’s see whether you are worth one thousand gold.”
The opponent’s calm and leisurely attitude made Nian Bing a bit nervous. He was no careless person. He clapped his hands together and the Ice and Snow Goddess’ Sigh and the Flame God’s Roar appeared in either hand. Ice and fire began to leak from him.
With a chuckle, Liu Lang smiled, showing his teeth. “That’s some good knives. It’s well matched with your Cold Ice Raging Fire Qi. Come. Let me see how far you have cultivated.”
Nian Bing was sweating. His opponent actually thought he was a warrior. But that was good; his misunderstanding would give him more opportunities. He pushed off on his tiptoes lightly. Because of his comprehension of the ice element, the snowstorm he was using was invisible. Unless they sensed the air spinning rapidly around him, no one could tell that he was being assisted by the snowstorm spell.
Gold-plated Knife Liu Lang’s gaze suddenly changed. He slammed his right forward and gripped his knife with both hands. With a shout like thunder, his giant knife the same shape as Holy LIght suddenly slashed down like lightning. A faint golden light arced straight at Nian Bing. The reason why he was taking Nian Bing lightly was actually because he knew of the Cold Ice Raging Fire qi. That kind of qi really did exist and was tyrannical, but because of the conflict ice and fire it was harder to cultivate to higher level, so he wasn’t afraid of him.
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