Chapter 916: Equivalent Exchange (Part 2)

Saleen was filled with regret. Without Starlight Imprisonment, his mental strength would no longer be able to stay in the necklace for such a long time and would not be able to study the lightning magic patterns. If only he had tried to provoke the Elder even more!

Saleen’s train of thought was similar to that of Nailisi’s. Although the Elder might be powerful, he had no idea what Saleen was thinking so he only smiled at Saleen and said, “You are a mage, so the rule of equivalent exchange should be important to you, right?”

“Yes, one must be willing to sacrifice something of equal value for what they want. Sir, this is applicable if you want my help, but you have just imprisoned me for 1,800 years. Don’t forget that.”

Saleen’s words were straight to the point and the Elder was unable to refute him. He could only say, “Since you agree to equivalent exchange, tell me, what do you want?”

“I don’t want anything. If you want me to stay here, I can continue staying here to train.” Saleen was stubborn. He could tell that all the souls in the Imperial City of the Abyss were constantly thinking about leaving the place. Without help from people from the outside, the souls be trapped there and could only turn themselves into soul energy to roam around the dimension.

Perhaps the Elder had a longer lifespan, but there was not much of a difference.

The Elder was troubled. He could easily kill a junior mage like Saleen, but astrology had advised him that his fate laid with that weak little king.

“Junior mage, we both have something that the other person needs, don’t you think so?”

“Finally, you’re talking. Where are my two subordinates?” Saleen began to speak more courteously since the Elder was no longer putting on airs.

“Neither of them are humans. I’m afraid I may injure them if they are to enter this place.”

“Those who are not humans cannot…?”

“I’m talking about my room. They are now at some level below us. They can leave with you,” the Elder explained patiently. He only wanted to make a deal with Saleen. Since Saleen’s grade was so low, it would be easy for the Elder to set a trap for him. What he was most afraid of was that Saleen was determined to stay, although that seemed quite unlikely.

The problem was that Saleen was his only hope.

“You want me to learn astrology so that I can help you leave that shell of a figure?” Saleen asked very directly. Since the Elder was already so forthcoming, there was no point beating around the bush.

“Exactly. Sometimes, mages are still more likable,” the Elder replied with a smile.

“What can you give me?”

“Whatever you want.”

“I want this astrologer’s tower.”

“If you can help me leave this shell of a figure, the astrologer tower is yours.”

“What grade were you when you were alive?”

“Grade-18.”

“What grade do I need to be in order to rescue you?”

“At least grade-16.”

“I am only at grade-8 now. Can you afford to wait?”

“Compared to those fellows at the graveyard, I have a lot more time on my side. Although this figure is annoying, at least my soul will not dissipate so quickly. In the astrologer’s tower, I will be able to retain my memories until the day my soul dissipates. I will never become an empty soul.”

“What if I die outside?”

“This has to do with your luck. After you learn astrology, you will be able to avoid dangers. You have the equipment refined for you by the Grandmaster and you have also obtained plenty of elemental creatures as your subordinates. By the time you return to the Mainland, there are very few people that will be able to harm you. With the combined power of astrology and magic, if you meet with any mishap, I can only accept my luck.”

“It’s that simple?”

“Yes, it’s that simple.”

“I suppose we will need to sign a contract?”

“Of course,” the Elder replied with a smile.

“But I have some conditions that are beyond this contract. It’s the price for imprisoning me for 1,800 years.” Saleen brought up an extra request. He was afraid that the Elder would try to set some traps like the Grandmaster. He was determined to bring up the price of 1,800 years of imprisonment separately.

“Do you need another contract for this?”

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“Yes, then I can rest assured.”

“Looks like the Grandmaster was not too friendly to you!”

“I am only a grade-8 mage. What right do I have to ask for your goodwill?” Saleen countered.

“Alright, tell me, what can I help you with?” The Elder moved on quickly. Since Saleen had already agreed to sign the contract, anything else could be discussed.

“I need a set of magic equipment that can only be controlled by me.”

“That’s all?” The Elder was surprised. An imprisonment of 1,800 years was actually very cruel to a grade-8 mage, but what Saleen was asking for was hardly of equivalent value!

“That’s all. Did you think I was a greedy person?”

“No, of course not,” the Elder quickly agreed with Saleen. He was afraid that Saleen might change his mind and request something that was unacceptable to him.

Saleen thought to himself, “Of course I am not a greedy person. I will settle my equipment first. Once I leave, there is nothing much that you can do to me. It will be too suspicious if I asked for too much.”

“Then, let’s begin.” Saleen took out the devil suit that the Grandmaster had refined for him, and a pair of gloves that seemed perfectly fine. The pair of gloves was not refined by the Grandmaster on the spot. Saleen was afraid that they were refined by a mage of an even higher grade so that he would not be able to spot any hidden dangers.

The Elder took a look at Saleen’s suit and said, “The Grandmaster is still so stingy, how did you manage to remove the magic arrays in them?”

Saleen relaxed. He had not left behind any traces of how he removed Grandmaster’s traps with his Star Gathering Needle. Even the Elder was not able to tell that Saleen had used an astrologer’s equipment, could that mean that the Needle was of a very high grade?

“The price of that secret is not something you can afford.” Saleen acted mysteriously. In actual fact, he was just afraid of losing the Star Gathering Needle. The Needle consisted of the lineage of an astrologer. Saleen never thought of learning astrology from the Elder. One must grasp their own fate. He could learn on his own, but he would never let the Elder become half his teacher.

If that was the case, there would be no end to the equivalent exchange.

The Elder was merely curious, but since Saleen was not willing to tell him, he had to let it go. He pointed at the devil suit that Joey had refined for Saleen and said, “I am not a mage. Although I can replicate the equipment of a mage, it may not be as well-refined as the Grandmaster’s. Take off this set of equipment and I will merge it with the ones that the Grandmaster has refined.”

“What about the grade?” Although the equipment that the Grandmaster had refined for him was problematic, they were all of very high grades, On the other hand, Joey’s equipment probably could only advance to grade-11 at most.

“Haha, do you think that the equipment that Grandmaster has refined for you is of very high levels? The items that astrologers can replicate are at most grade-12.”

Saleen was depressed after hearing that. The Elder continued, “Although this suit of yours might be of a low grade, the magic lineage of the person who has refined it for you is comparable to that of the Grandmaster. The only difference is in their grades. When you advance in the future, you can refine this set of equipment again without affecting its functions.”

“I guess that’s the only way.” Saleen felt disappointed as he took off his devil suit and handed it to the Elder. The Elder threw them into the Starlight on the wall and became very silent. Saleen did not dare to disturb him and waited patiently by the side.

After about 15 minutes, the Elder stretched out his hand and grabbed the new devil suit from the wall. He handed it to Saleen and said, “The person who refined this suit for you has done it quite well. There was nothing problematic that was left behind. I have merged the two suits together and the unnecessary materials have been removed by the power of constellations. You will be able to use this suit until you are grade-16.”

“Many thanks. Is there any problem with the gloves?”

The Elder took a look at Saleen’s gloves and could not be certain about it. He had no choice but to throw them into the starlight once again. The Elder took out the gloves after only half an hour before telling Saleen, “There is no problem with the gloves, but they are meant for warriors…”

Of course, Saleen would never mention that he needed them to defend against the counter-reacting forces of a unique technique he possessed. There was no need to explain that much to the Elder, so he quickly took back the gloves and handed over the magic staff.

The Elder did not mind. The magic staff was easy to inspect and did not require any repairs. He even helped Saleen store three spells in it.

Saleen decided to remain cautious by not taking out his War Drum of Fear, his broken jade, or the two Shenhe. After thinking about it, he decided to let the Elder take a look at his magic books. The Elder did not take over the books and said, “Magic books will not have any traps. Go ahead and use them.”

“Sir, I have a magic tower that used to be capable of flying…” Saleen probed.

The Elder frowned and said, “Give me a moment. How tall is your magic tower?”

“28 levels and each level is nine yards tall.”

The Elder silently wrote some words in the air with his fingers. Saleen did not recognize the words, but the moment they were written, starlight was immediately sucked in. They began to expand and occupy an independent space in the room.

The Elder sighed and said, “It feels terrible to be without a body. By right, it should not be this troublesome. Junior mage, take out your magic tower.”

Saleen raised his head. The star sky was right above him.

He quickly took out a dimensional stone from his Devil Ring and carefully released the magic tower. With the towering magic tower in front of him, the Elder took out a clear needle and threw it out.

It took everything for Saleen to conceal his shock. Saleen recognized the needle that the Elder had just thrown out. It was a Star Gathering Needle. The only difference was that the Elder’s Needle might be of a lower grade compared to his own. Saleen could not be sure since he was not able to observe it closely. What he could see was that, after the Elder threw the Needle at the magic tower, the Needle was taking a long time to clean up the tower and was not as swift and decisive as his own Needle.

Could it be that the Star Gathering Needle that he had snatched away from the figure was even better than one possessed by a grade-18 astrologer? The whole thing felt a little ridiculous. If that was really the case, then Saleen must have been very lucky.

Luck had always been something that astrologers commonly referred to. By right, mages should not believe in such things.