Chapter 151: Lizard Godmother (2)
On the hillside, a bright star seemed to slowly rise.
Under the prostration of many Lizardmen, Selena ascended her throne atop the wizard tower.
The surrounding mountains and forests seemed to cheer and jump for joy. Plants grew wildly as green vines sprouted from the base of the wizard tower, crawling all the way up its walls.
"Godmother!"
Numerous lizards prostrated themselves on the ground, guttural, ancient syllables rumbling from their throats.
Within the Lizard Tribe, the two factions of Lizardmen that had been slaughtering each other gradually ground to a halt. They looked around at one another. Some of the Lizardmen seemed to sense something, dropping to the ground in awe. They buried their heads deep into the dirt and raised their tails high in the air—the ultimate mark of submission among the Lizardman race.
No matter which faction they belonged to, all the Lizardmen quieted down. Yet, an intense will for war pulsed beneath the silence of the tribe.
"Hiss—"
Hissing echoed through the sky, followed by a long, skyward roar.
The green dragon circling above stared down for a long time. Eventually, it descended from the sky, lowering its massive head beside the wizard tower to show its reverence.
As for Selena, standing at the pinnacle of the wizard tower, her aura grew increasingly mysterious. Fine, dense scales slowly began to sprout across her arms.
"Interesting. I sense an elevation in status," Dyo said.
"The Lizardman race?" Lynn asked.
"I suppose so," Dyo replied. After all, she was only sensing it from afar and hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes.
Lynn thought back to Instructor Harlin creating various sub-species of the Lizardman race, and something clicked in his mind.
Perhaps it was related to Dyo's advancement ritual this time.
Instructor Harlin really thought highly of Selena, didn't he?
"Consider these a gift from me. Just use them as you see fit," Maesys whispered into Lynn's ear.
"These cavalrymen?" Lynn scrutinized the squad of Golden Cavalry standing before him.
Although they were knights, they gave Lynn a very peculiar feeling.
In his perception, while these knights could move and were technically living creatures, his senses told him they weren't exactly living humans.
Stepping up to one of the golden knights, Lynn brushed his hand against the cold armor.
The armor looked bright and brand new, but to the touch, it felt strangely slimy and freezing cold.
If he had to describe the sensation, it felt like the slick moss clinging to wet coastal reefs.
"There were dormant seeds lurking within their bodies. I conveniently activated them, and added a little something of my own along the way," Maesys explained. "Fused with the power of another deity alongside my own, their vitality will prove vastly more tenacious than you might expect."
"Furthermore, they now possess a few other traits. They can breathe underwater without losing any speed, and their recovery and healing rates far surpass those of ordinary races." Maesys continued listing their features to Lynn.
Lynn narrowed his eyes. It certainly sounded pretty good.
However, accepting this order of knights meant tying himself to Maesys's ship—at least when it came to facing the other deity whose divine portfolio governed monsters.
"Alright, I accept," Lynn agreed to the partnership.
Those gods were all hiding in the Celestial Realm, not daring to descend at all. The Feilan Plane was currently swarming with wizards scavenging like starving wolves. If a deity dared to show up in broad daylight, plenty of wizards would swarm them in a heartbeat.
Besides, Maesys still owed him ninety-five strands of divine power. His future plans relied entirely on this divine battery to keep running.
A faceless entity, whose visage seemed entirely composed of countless scales, flew over from the distance and landed directly in front of Lynn.
This scale-faced, faceless entity wore a purple and gold robe. What protruded from its cuffs were not arms, but slippery tentacles tightly wrapped around a longsword caked in kelp and waterweeds.
"It is the leader of this cavalry, and it will obey your commands from now on. I searched its memories and found that it was the Count of a nearby territory. I need you to help me spread my faith across its lands," Maesys said.
The Count of a nearby territory?
Lynn thought back to the intelligence he had looked up before coming here.
If it was a Count of a nearby territory, it could only be the Count of Mount Heidu.
Rumor had it that the Count of Mount Heidu was the quintessential grassroots success story of the Blue Sea Empire. He possessed excellent talent and considerable strength, being a recognized Swordmaster.
On the Feilan Continent, apart from spellcasters like mages, there was another class that relied entirely on their physical bodies and close-quarters combat known as the Swordmaster!
Through the research of wizards, this was identified as a cultivation system that absorbed ambient energy into the body to continually temper and elevate the physical form. Refined by wizards, it had been molded into a supernatural progression path that could reach all the way to the absolute peak—a Tier 7 Sword Saint.
A Swordmaster equated to the combat power of a Tier 4 supernatural professional. However, Lynn received a rather unexpected surprise: the true strength of this Count of Mount Heidu standing before him wasn't just a Tier 4 Sword Master, but a Tier 5 Great Swordmaster.
He had kept his true strength hidden. Not that there was any real difference between Tier 4 and Tier 5 in front of Maesys.
"From now on, your name is Mount Heidu," Lynn commanded, bestowing the Count with his new title. Whatever his name used to be didn't matter; this was all he needed to be called now.
The commotion on the mountain didn't gradually die down until the sun was just about to set.
Selena's silhouette appeared at the edge of the forest.
Lynn observed her closely. The current Selena seemed to have undergone some changes compared to before, but at the same time, it felt like nothing had changed.
A distinct shift had taken root in her aura and temperament, yet her physical form remained entirely the same.
Lynn fell into deep thought.
"Are you an official wizard now?" Lynn asked.
A brilliant smile bloomed across Selena's face. "That's right."
"You'll have to hurry up and catch up, you know," Selena said.
"I'll do my best," Lynn nodded.
"Do you know where I can earn merit points?" Lynn asked.
He needed merit points to exchange for core materials. Since Selena had been here for so long, she definitely knew far more about the place than he did.
"I do, but I'm afraid it won't be viable until you become an official wizard. The risk is simply too high for you right now." Selena shook her head.
Noticing Lynn's expression, Selena continued seriously, "If you want to earn merit points, the easiest way is to head to the turbulent frontline regions."
"Turbulent frontline regions?"
"Yes, in the eastern territory. That area has a high incidence of spatial rifts. Otherworldly creatures frequently descend there, and exterminating them rewards you with merit points," Selena explained.
"However, the strength of those otherworldly creatures varies wildly, because you never know exactly what might crawl out of those rifts."
Lynn nodded thoughtfully.
Having achieved her primary goal for coming to the Feilan Continent, Selena was in a fantastic mood.
She looked at Lynn, knowing full well that his purpose for coming to the Feilan Continent was also to become an official wizard.
"I can help you with whatever you plan to do next," she offered.
In her eyes, Lynn had a very strong chance of becoming an official wizard.
Although his foundational reserves weren't exceptionally deep, many of Lynn's metrics had already met the requirements.
If Lynn was willing, he could even become an official wizard right this very moment. But then again, even among official wizards, there were vast differences in strength and potential.