Chapter 491: Deus Ex Machina
Just as Li Wei was pondering his suspicions about the Ice Queen’s identity,
the Ice Queen had already made her decision.
She ordered, "Valkyries and Ice and Snow Guardians, starting today, you are to devote all your efforts to preparing and constructing the Divine Sacrificial Altar. The Divine Worship Ceremony must be completed before the Ice Emperor arrives."
"As you command." "Yes."
Monis, the leader of the Valkyries, and Lina, the leader of the Ice and Snow Guardians, accepted the command and left the room.
They went to carry out the Ice Queen’s orders.
Li Wei looked at the Ice Queen, a little surprised. He hadn’t expected her to be so decisive.
According to the Ice Queen, she would lose her rule over Fred City the moment its residents began to worship the Divine Spirit.
For her, it would have been more convenient to simply abandon the city.
There was absolutely no need to go through all the trouble of holding a Divine Worship Ceremony just to hand the entire Fred City over to the Divine Spirit.
However, after Li Wei’s persuasion, the Ice Queen had come to realize that running away was not the solution.
In the end, she couldn’t bear to see Fred City, which she had built from the ground up with her own hands, be destroyed.
Nor did she want to see the people of Fred City displaced and lose their homes.
Given the current situation, Li Wei couldn’t very well ask the Ice Queen if she was really an Ice Elf.
The Ice Queen looked at Li Wei and said, "I have a very important task for you."
"What is it?"
"I want you to help monitor the Ice Emperor’s location," the Ice Queen said.
When Li Wei didn’t answer for a long moment,
she said, "I know it’s dangerous, but it’s incredibly important to me and to Fred City."
She glanced at Gu Sewei and added, "Right now, there’s no one else suitable for this task besides you. Gu Sewei has something even more important to do."
Gu Sewei looked surprised to hear this, extremely curious about what this "more important thing" the Ice Queen mentioned could be.
Li Wei was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, I accept."
The Ice Queen thanked him. "Thank you."
She continued, "Of course, I won’t ask you to take this risk for nothing. Here are some Treasures of Heaven and Earth I collected in the Extreme North Icefield. They will be of great benefit to you."
An Ice Jade Color Spatial Ring appeared in the Ice Queen’s hand.
She handed the Spatial Ring to Li Wei, completely unconcerned that he would take the items and flee.
Ever since Li Wei and Gu Sewei returned, she could tell that the relationship between them had changed.
There was no way Li Wei would abandon Gu Sewei and run away by himself.
The Ice Queen kept Gu Sewei behind alone, having something important to discuss with her in private.
Li Wei and Saint Xi left the Ice Jade Palace. He took Saint Xi to get some barbecue.
He had also invited Gu Ze to join them.
By the time Gu Ze arrived, Li Wei and Saint Xi had already started eating—or rather, Saint Xi was the one doing most of the eating.
After taking a seat, Gu Ze looked at the golden-haired girl sitting next to Li Wei, her head buried in her food, and asked curiously, "Who is she?"
Li Wei smiled and said, "My sister."
Hearing this, Saint Xi snorted without even looking up.
Gu Ze was quite puzzled. ’I know Li Wei is an orphan, so where did this sister come from?’
’The girl has an extraordinary air about her, too. For all I know, she could be the princess of some Kingdom.’
’Did Li Wei really go and kidnap someone’s princess?’
In terms of status, Saint Xi was indeed a princess—not of a Human Empire, but a Dragon Race princess.
Gu Ze saw that the golden-haired girl didn’t seem to have been forcibly abducted; on the contrary, she was very close with Li Wei.
So he didn’t say anything.
Gu Ze asked, "How is my sister?"
Hearing this, Li Wei felt an inexplicable sense of awkwardness.
Gu Ze was more than ten years his senior, but Gu Sewei was only about three years older than him.
In terms of age, there was nothing wrong with Li Wei and Gu Sewei being together.
The problem was that Gu Ze was Li Wei’s teacher, and getting involved with his teacher’s sister felt a bit...
Li Wei shook off the stray thoughts and said, "She’s doing great. Not only did she return safely, but she’s also become a Tier Six Great Mage."
"Huh? How many days have you been gone? And she’s already a Tier Six Great Mage?" Gu Ze was astonished.
Li Wei explained to Gu Ze what had happened in the Time Secret Realm.
Gu Ze stared at Li Wei in amazement. "Are you saying you and Weiwei spent eight years in the Time Secret Realm before you came out?"
"But it’s only been twelve days since you left Fred City."
Li Wei thought for a moment. Excluding the travel time and the indeterminate period they spent in the Extreme Cold Abyss, that meant eight years inside the Time Secret Realm was equivalent to only two or three days in the outside world.
’That does line up with the situation when we encountered those enemies.’
’Those people didn’t seem like they had found the Ice Emperor’s slumbering place long ago.’
’Otherwise, they wouldn’t have waited until Gu Sewei and I arrived to hastily set up the Awakening Ceremony Array.’
’It was just a pity that neither I nor Gu Sewei saw through their true method of awakening the Ice Emperor.’
’We were deceived by the Awakening Ceremony Array they set up.’
’The Awakening Ceremony Array might have been useful, but it definitely wasn’t the key.’
Li Wei nodded and said, "Yes, that’s what happened. The flow of time in the Time Secret Realm is completely different from the outside world."
Gu Ze sighed. "Ah, if only I had gone too."
Li Wei knew he was frustrated with his own lack of strength.
He took out an Ice Soul and handed it to Gu Ze, saying, "Teacher, this is for you."
"Huh? This is... an Ice Soul!"
Gu Ze looked at the item in Li Wei’s hand, his face filled with shock.
An Ice Soul was a supreme treasure coveted by every Ice Mage.
Li Wei had obtained six Ice Souls, five of which he had given to Gu Sewei to use.
He had saved one for Gu Ze.
For someone at Gu Ze’s level of strength, a single Ice Soul would be enough to last him a very long time.
Gu Ze felt a bit awkward accepting it. "This is too valuable. You should take it back."
Li Wei pushed the Ice Soul directly into his hand. "Teacher, why be so formal with me?"
"Is there any need for such politeness between us?"
"Besides, it’s not like that was the only Ice Soul I got. Just use it without worry."
"Just now, the Ice Queen gave me another huge pile of good stuff. You don’t need to worry about me."
Seeing this, Gu Ze had no choice but to accept it.
He looked at Li Wei and said, "With the help of this Ice Soul, I should be able to break through to Tier Two this year."
A year had passed since Gu Ze broke through to Tier One and became an Official Mage.
Judging by his cultivation speed, he wasn’t actually slow.
His progress was that of a normal Mage.
It was Mages like Li Wei, who jumped several levels in a single year, who were abnormal.
Li Wei just didn’t tell Gu Ze that he himself was about to break through to Tier Six.
Otherwise, Gu Ze would probably have been too shocked to eat.
After meeting and eating with Gu Ze,
Li Wei and Saint Xi left the City of Ice and Snow, Fred.
They sped off in the direction of the Extreme Cold Abyss.
Saint Xi transformed into a Giant Dragon and carried Li Wei through the wind. Sitting on her back, Li Wei began to examine the goodies the Ice Queen had given him.